Thursday, July 24, 2014

Thu Jul 24th Todays News

How one grieves is related to how they love. Such was the lesson of the women survivors of Birkenau-Belsen who prayed for their jailers to come to know God as opposed to facing secular justice. So in the wake of the tragedy of MH17, a couple who lost three children and their children's grandparents grieve by affirming that their love is stronger than the evil which claimed those lives. Such love is humbling. It is terrorism which claimed these lives, and it is clothed as an accident. It may well be an accident, but an accident that suits the purposes of terrorists. Ukraine has not been asked to address salient points regarding this. For justice to be done, that must happen. Two more military jets of Ukraine have been shot down since the incident. Clearly no civilian craft should have been cleared to fly through that war zone. It is doubtful that Malaysian airways would have ignored a directive to avoid a war zone. Russia is being blamed for supplying the separatists. Ukraine is responsible for the civilian casualties in their war zone. As far as religion is concerned, there is forgiveness. As far as secular administration is concerned, justice is not being served while Ukraine ducks responsibility. 

A counterpoint to the pain and love and loss being experienced over Mh17 is the issue of an Australian woman in Lebanon who has been arrested for adultery. The mother is in her twenties and separated from her husband. She has flown to Lebanon for a vacation with her intended second husband. Her first husband has called Lebanese authorities and the woman now faces jail for adultery. International law is clear, it is up to local law to sort the matter. The woman's family have disowned her. None of the family seem particularly devout in Islam and so it seems inappropriate that Islam should deal with her .. she is no threat to Islamic couples, neither is she an example. I could be wrong. Perhaps all Islamic relationships are so fragile that if that woman got away with it then Islam would be threatened. She would have had a better holiday had she gone to Israel. Even Gaza would have been cheaper. However, the issue of terrorism is important. Australia must take a stand against it, we cannot tolerate Australans being radicalised and threatening Australians. A case could be made regarding the Australian based husband and family in this case .. inciting religious hatred overseas on an Australian is a low act of bastardry. Maybe these people should be deported lest they become a threat to other locals? 

A fur trapper in New France set up a trading post on this day in 1701. It became Detroit years later. The trapper, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, was influential and successful, and so when the corporation Cadillac was begun in the early twentieth century, they chose the name in tribute. In 1487, Dutch peoples went on strike over the issue of a ban on foreign beer. Five centuries on, little has changed in attitude. In 1567, Mary Queen of Scots abdicated her throne in favour of the future king of England, her son. In 1814, the war of 1812 had advanced so far as to become US troops invading British territory. In 1823, Chile abolished slavery. In 1847, Salt Lake City was settled as some Mormons completed an eighteen month journey. In 1901, the brilliant writer O. Henry was released from prison for embezzling from a bank. In 1911, Machu Picchu was rediscovered. In 1922, draft for British Palestine was accepted by the League of Nations. In 1929, League of Nations renounced war as foreign policy. In 1935, global warming meant Chicago reached 43 degrees centigrade. In 1937, Alabama dropped charges against the Scottsboro Boys. In 1943, Operation Gomorrah began with bombing of Hamburg, killing over 30000 people in the months up to November. In 1959 Nixon and Krushchev had a kitchen debate. in 1969, Apollo 11 splashed down. In 1983, riots in Sri Lanka began the civil war. Also in 1983, the Pine Tar incident meant the Yankees won a game they had lost. In 1990, Saddam Hussein committed a delayed suicide by amassing troops on Kuwait. In 1991, Manmohan Singh gave a budget speech which initialised the liberalisation of the Indian economy. In 2001, the last Tsar of Bulgaria became her elected Prime Minister. In 2001, 14 terrorists damaged an airport in Sri Lanka. In 2002, a Democrat was expelled from congress for corruption. 
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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

Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may;I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - ed

Lorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.

I have begun a bulletin board (http://theconservativevoice.freeforums.netwhich will allow greater latitude for members to post and interact. It is not subject to FB policy and so greater range is allowed in posts. Also there are private members rooms in which nothing is censored, except abuse. All welcome, registration is free.
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Angela Vivian-BoltAndy LeJessica Nortel. Born on the same day, across the years, along with John Newton (1725), Simón Bolívar (1783), Alexandre Dumas (1802), Robert Graves (1895), Amelia Earhart (1897), Anna Paquin (1982), Natalie Tran (1986) and Bindi Irwin (1998). Pioneer Day in Utah (1847)
1411 – Forces of Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, and Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, fought at the Battle of Harlaw near Inverurie, Scotland.
1783 – The Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and the Russian Empire signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, establishing Georgia as a protectorate of Russia.
1943 – Second World War: RAF Bomber Command began Operation Gomorrah, the strategic bombing of Hamburg, Germany, eventually killing at least 50,000 and leaving over a million others homeless.
1963 – Bluenose II, a replica of a major Canadian symbol, was launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
1991 – The government of P. V. Narasimha Rao and his finance minister Manmohan Singh introduced reforms that began the ongoing economic liberalisation in India. That decision in 1991 .. over a billion Indian peoples should celebrate. Cheers

Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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JOYBAT

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 24, 2014 (5:53pm)

Enjoy the therapeutic benefits of wearing a man’s word
Yes! You, too, can look this good and feel so happy with a purchase at the frightbat store! 
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SCHOOL OF ROCKETS

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 24, 2014 (5:03am)

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency reports
Today, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip. As soon as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn from the premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of rockets. 
It’s enough that rockets are stored in schools. This yet again confirms the IDF’s view:

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VODKA, TOMATO JUICE … AND CLAMS

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 24, 2014 (3:41am)

This week’s posts are brought to you by the Bloody Caesar – Canada’s oddball shellfish-inclusive version of a Bloody Mary.

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Above are the key ingredients: Clamato juice, Alaskan Rock* vodka and various vegetable, citrus and condiment additives. Mix them in any proportions you prefer, but please lean heavily on the Clamato – a zesty combination of tomato juice and, seriously, clam broth.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'VODKA, TOMATO JUICE … AND CLAMS'
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MATE AGAINST STATE

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 24, 2014 (3:27am)

Our friend Jim Treacher has defeated the US State Department. This is basically like … no, it’s exactly like an Indiana boy taking on one of the largest arms of the entire US government and winning.
Jim may visit Australia later this year on a victory tour. Encourage him to do so.
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FAME IS THE NEW BLACK

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 24, 2014 (3:07am)

Rapper Kanye West gave a 45-minute toast to himself following his marriage to Kim Kardashian. It included a claim that “celebrities [are] being treated like blacks were in the Sixties, having no rights”, which West – who might just have one or two ego issues – now explains: 
“I said that in the toast. And I had to say this in a position where I, from the art world, am marrying Kim. And how we’re going to fight to raise the respect level for celebrities …” 
Kanye West is worth $120 million, by one estimate. Forget moving to the back of the bus. At current prices, West can buy hundreds of them and ride wherever he likes.
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IT GREW ON HIM

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 24, 2014 (2:11am)

Taking a brief break from answering fan mailSydney Morning Herald columnist Mike Carlton discusses his “air hellair” UK radio accent with a British follower: 
If only you knew how much trouble I get into here in Oz for that Brit accent that grew on me... 
It just grew on him. Kind of like the blond hair that grew on Mike a few years ago.
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“Interfaith harmony” is as fragile as peace in the Middle East

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (5:48pm)

So much for all this “community harmony” guff. Ethnic conflicts cannot be contained even at the top, where, of course, the (now) most numerous win:
Community Relations Commission chairman Vic Alhadeff..., who is also chief executive of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, issued an apology on Thursday for offending Sydney’s Muslim community by defending Israel’s actions in the deadly conflict with Gaza…
Mr Alhadeff’s controversial remarks were contained in an email to the Jewish community two weeks ago…
The apology came just hours before Mr Baird was due to host an Iftar dinner at NSW Parliament House to mark the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which Mr Alhadeff is attending.
Arab and Muslim groups intend to boycott the event, saying they will not “break bread” and celebrate interfaith harmony while Mr Alhadeff remains head of the commission...

Mr Wakim, a former Victorian Multicultural Affairs Commissioner and founder of the Australian Arabic Council, ... claimed Mr Alhadeff had long been “a mouthpiece for the Israeli government, who many regard as an occupying force...”
The Australian National Imams Council, which represents Muslim clerics in every state and territory, has also expressed concern over Mr Alhadeff’s “divisive and one-sided comments [that have] incited disharmony and intolerance.”
I believe “intolerance” means not pleasing Muslim Australia.
Welcome to our future. 
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Abbott leads. UPDATE: sends in police

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (5:20pm)

Niki Savva:
Abbott has shown all the empathy and strength people look for in a leader at a time of crisis.
For some it will come as a revelation, especially to those who have been surprised at how surely he has handled foreign policy, much more surely than domestic.
It is no surprise to those who know him well, who have known of his long-term interest in foreign affairs, which seems to be the one area where expert advice reaches him unfiltered.
But the Left do not want to credit a Prime Minister they are determined to loathe:
On Monday, I participated in an Insiders presentation with host Barrie Cassidy at the Noosa long-weekend festival.
The audience showed its approv­al when Malcolm Farr suggested the US might have reacted more forcefully if it had been a US plane which had been shot down or more Americans had been on board. They applauded Dennis Atkins when he said Putin should be treated like a pariah. More muted was the response to my remarks that Abbott had handled the situation extremely well, and this was an opportunity for people to reappraise his leadership.
Greg Sheridan:
TONY Abbott has performed quite remarkably in response to the tragedy of the senseless killing of the innocent passengers and crew on Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. His emphasis so far is quite rightly on the bereaved Australian families — securing the remains of the dead, seeking justice for them and whatever comfort can be provided for their families…
However, his actions have wider strategic consequences for the country as well… US Republican senator John McCain is singing Abbott’s praises. McCain is still the most influential Republican voice on foreign policy....
He has also become a trenchant critic of what he regards as a lack of leadership and serious purpose in the Obama administration…
But the most interesting thing from the Australian point of view is that Abbott is earning similar rave reviews on both sides of politics in the US. Earlier this week I interviewed the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Danny Russel. He too was full of praise for Abbott, and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, and their response to the tragedy in Ukraine.
Russel is of course a non-partisan public servant, but he is the voice of the Obama administration in Asia.
And McCain and Russel, from their differing points of view, both praise the same things in Abbott’s response — its forthright and clear nature, its measured and effective lobbying of international actors, and its sheer energy.
UPDATE
Good move, but it will require protection by Ukrainian forces on what’s rebel-held territory:
TONY Abbott has pre-deployed 50 Australian Federal Police to London, where they’re waiting to join an international team to go and secure the MH17 crash site.
Mr Abbott announced his plans for Australian police to secure the crash site after he had a private conversation with Russia’s leader Valdimir Putin again.
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Hamas wants its people to die

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (9:57am)

THE Hamas Islamists who run Gaza love dead children. Not just dead Jewish children but Palestinian ones.
And it’s working. Media reports keep asking: why are so many Palestinian children dying as Israel now strikes back at Hamas?
The easy and lazy answer is because Israel is firing missiles and tank rounds at targets in the heavily populated Gaza area.

But there are two more relevant answers.
(Read full article here.)
UPDATE
The way some pro-Palestinian protesters behave even on Melbourne’s streets tell us plenty:

The woman is brave.
In France, pro-Palestinian thugs attack Israeli soccer players:
These thugs don’t seem to want peace, to judge by their actions and the swords. They just think the wrong side is winning:
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(Thanks to readers Graham and Tom.) 
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How warmists use the Press Council to hound sceptics

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (9:33am)

The Press Council today unwittingly demonstrates how it is being used to distort the global warming debate.
It rebukes The Australian for not correcting even more prominently an error it made and later corrected in an article claiming the IPCC had admitted that “over the past 60 years the world has in fact been warming at half the rate claimed in the previous IPCC report in 2007”. 

The Council has concluded that the erroneous claim about the revised warming rate was very serious, given the importance of the issue and of the need for accuracy… Given Professor [David] Karoly’s expertise and the importance of the issue, his letter [published, and pointing out the error] should have triggered a prompt and thorough investigation by the publication.
But what the Press Council does not do, to my knowledge, is correct equally mistaken reports which falsely claim unprecedented warming - false reports which haven’t been corrected as fully, either, as The Australian corrected its own. 
Here’s one example, involving the very same David Karoly so praised by the Press Council, whose warmist activism I’ve noted before:
[The ABC’s] AM: 
TONY EASTLEY: For the first time scientists have provided the most complete climate record of the last millennium and they’ve found that the last five decades years in Australia have been the warmest…
MATTHEW CARNEY: Lead author of the report is Dr Joelle Gergis.
JOELLE GERGIS: Well I think it’s significant for a number of reasons - firstly that it does show that the post-1950 warming is unusual in the Australasian region
The paper’s other lead author was ... David Karoly. And it was Karoly who had to admit to critical bloggers they were right - his paper indeed contained errors, requiring it to be “put on hold”:

An issue has been identified in the processing of the data used in the study, which may affect the results. While the paper states that “both proxy climate and instrumental data were linearly detrended over the 1921–1990 period”, we discovered on Tuesday 5 June that the records used in the final analysis were not detrended for proxy selection, making this statement incorrect. Although this is an unfortunate data processing issue, it is likely to have implications for the results reported in the study. The journal has been contacted and the publication of the study has been put on hold.
The Journal of Climate now says the paper has not just been “put on hold” but withdrawn:

Due to errors discovered in this paper during the publication process, it was withdrawn by the authors prior to being published in final form.
Mark Hendrickx last year noted how the ABC didn’t correct the record, other than in on-line amendments:

About this time last year the ABC gave two prominent Australian climate researchers almost carte blanche access to its radio, TV and online networks to spruik a paper they had written that claimed recent temperatures in Australia were the warmest in a 1000 years.
David Karoly and Joelle Gergis scored almost blanket coverage on the ABC’s AM, Radio National’s Breakfast program, Radio Australia, ABC TV news and The Science Show. It was even tweeted by ABC Local Radio and was featured on ABC’s online website. None of these articles featured criticism from independent experts.
Gergis and Karoly’s paper was short-lived. Online climate sceptics led by Steve McIntyre of Climate Audit found methodological problems with the work, and the paper was withdrawn from publication, to the embarrassment of the authors. Its withdrawal was covered by News Limited and Fairfax press but not the ABC. To my knowledge no formal correction was broadcast on ABC radio or TV, only a brief editorial comment was posted at the end of ABC online articles.
It seems the Press Council is used by warmists to shut down the debates that sceptics are happy to hold. Sceptics are more inclined to defend free speech, it seems - or maybe they know the Press Council’s politics too well. 
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Chinese partners accused Clive Palmer of ‘fraud’

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (8:49am)

This is rapidly getting serious for Clive Palmer, now wielding so much political power:
CLIVE Palmer is embroiled in claims of “fraud” and “dishonesty” levelled by his estranged Chinese business partners, who have significantly raised the stakes in their legal row with a powerful document that holds him personally responsible for more than $12 million in missing funds.
The document, filed yesterday in the Queensland Supreme Court in Brisbane, discloses that Mr Palmer personally signed two cheques — for $10m and $2.167m — that drained the Chin­ese funds from a National Australia Bank account shortly before the federal election last September.
The $10m was funnelled into Cosmo Developments, a company controlled by Mr Palmer, in early August while the $2.167m went to a Brisbane agency, Media Circus Network, which placed much of the costly advertising for the Palmer United Party during the election.
Mr Palmer has repeatedly and strenuously denied wrongdoing and insisted that the funds were his to spend, but he has said he could not recall whether he had signed the cheques…
In the detailed legal document filed yesterday, the subsidiary companies of Citic Pacific, which is owned and controlled by the Chinese government, said ... Mr Palmer’s company had not provided any legitimate explanation for the expenditure, despite it being bound to spend China’s funds only on the costs of running a port at Cape Preston, in Western Australia.
The Chinese allege Mr Palmer’s company, Mineralogy, “was not in possession of the port, had not budgeted to provide $10m worth of services to the port … and had no plan to incur any such expenditure”. Nor did it have the need “to incur expenses in relation to the port or for port management services at the port in the sum of $2.167m”. 
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Mr Putin, hand over the murder weapon

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (8:39am)

WE’VE finally been given back most of the bodies of the MH17 dead. But why hasn’t Russia produced the murder weapon?
Where is the Buk missile system that almost certainly brought down the Malaysian airliner?
In any murder investigation, the weapon is usually second only to the body in the search for physical evidence.
That the Buk has not been produced proves Russia is actually hiding evidence of a crime — one in which it is deeply implicated.
The Buk is so massive it should be the easiest thing for Russian President Vladimir Putin to find. It’s nearly 10 metres long and four metres high. The killers can’t drop it down a drain or toss it in a dumpster.
Moreover, it is an incredibly lethal and expensive weapon that no army would somehow lose.
(Read the full article here.) 
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What do the Abbott haters say now about Jacqui “are you well-hung” Lambie?

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (8:32am)

Tony Abbott winks back at the mugging ABC host Jon Faine when a hostile caller says she’s a phone sex worker hurt by his budget.
PUP Senator Jackie Lambie asks a caller on radio if he’s “well hung”, because that’s what she looks for in a man.
Now compare:
Disaster! Jane Caro, Crikey, May 28:

THE budget is not necessarily a disaster for Abbott — but I would argue that his winking while on radio is.
Sympathy! ABC1’s The Drum, Tuesday:

JANE Caro: Jacqui … speaks absolutely fluent average Australian … It’s also sad, in a way, because it indicates what she’s really been missing, poor woman.
And what will the ever-sanctimonious Sarah Hanson-Young belatedly say of Lambie to match what she said of AbbottAbbottAbbott:
Doorstop, May 21:

SARAH Hanson-Young: What a creep. What a total creep.
Such hypocrites. Yet more evidence that anti-sexism is just a weapon for partisan political advantage. 
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A book Hockey should only have helped once he’d actually got a Budget through the Senate

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (8:15am)

I simply cannot understand why Treasurer Joe Hockey has allowed himself this damaging indulgence - other than to announce his leadership ambitions:
His launch this morning of the authorised biography — Hockey: Not Your Average Joe — only confirms colleagues’ concerns and prejudices, reinforces the impression he is not concentrating on selling his first budget and gifts Labor more material to beat an already beaten government.
That Hockey wanted an even tougher budget with even more pain not only hurts him and the “team” in the eyes of his cabinet colleagues, it is a clear inference that Tony Abbott was not up to the task.
That Hockey will never again trust Malcolm Turnbull, in the words of his wife, Melissa Babbage, feeds division and rancour.
I doubt he’s impressed a single one of his colleagues, whose votes he will need.
UPDATE
Hockey is acting like he’s been in office for years, or is looking back on a long record of achievement. But here he is destabilising a government still struggling to find its feet:
Tony Abbott gave media proprietor Rupert Murdoch a detailed briefing on his controversial $5.5 billion paid parental leave scheme before he announced it without consulting his shadow cabinet or MPs.
The revelation about the scheme ... is in a new biography of Treasurer Joe Hockey. In the book, Mr Hockey claims Mr Abbott only made a vague reference to the plan to him before it was announced in opposition…
The book argues that Mr Abbott “had alerted Joe to the plan, but Joe recalls the subject as a brief add-on in a telephone ­conversation, with no specific date or details attached”.
“Abbott’s recollection is of a slightly more involved conversation,” Ms King writes.
“‘Joe was one of the very few colleagues whom I discussed the paid parental leave proposal with ... I don’t want to verbal Joe but he certainly saw the merit in it – that’s not quite the same as saying he enthusiastically supported it,’ Abbott says.
“Joe says he didn’t think too much more about it, believing it was an un-costed proposal, not an Opposition policy. At least, that was until Abbott announced it publicly.”
UPDATE
Reader John notes the obvious error in the first part of this conspiracy story, passed on by the Financial Review’s Laura Tingle:
Tony Abbott’s book Battlelines was published on 17 December 2009....this idea & indeed the framework for a paid parental leave scheme was included in the book...and everyone know that!
Ms King and Ms Taylor Tingle, I don’t understand that you are not able to grasp that the year 2009 comes before the year 2010.
(Apologies. This post earlier accused Lenore Taylor of something actually done by Laura Tingle.) 
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Abbott mulls over sending in the troops

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (8:07am)

The Abbott Government has for a few days now pushed Europe to send in a multi-national force:
UP to 100 Australian Federal Police officers and military ­personnel could be sent to help secure the MH17 crash site in Ukraine, under one of a range of options the Abbott government is considering to bring home the bodies of Australian citizens and residents killed in the disaster.
As Tony Abbott spoke of his deep concern that some of the victims might never be found unless urgent action was taken, he revealed he had instructed military and civil agencies to look at options to protect the crash site as scores of bodies remained missing…
As Foreign Minister Julie Bishop headed to The Netherlands last night, it emerged that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had invited Australia to be part of a peacekeeping force in eastern Ukraine, as part of a multinational effort to secure the crash site.
It could mean a dangerous confrontation, given Russia hasn’t been shamed into cutting off support to the rebels:
TWO Ukrainian fighter jets have been shot down in the rebel-held area where Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed, allegedly by missiles fired from Russian soil.
“According to preliminary information, the rockets were launched from Russian territory,’’ Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council claimed…
Kiev added that the Su-25 jets were flying at an altitude of 5200 metres. Pro-Russian rebels have insisted on several occasions that they were not equipped with weapons capable of hitting targets above an altitude of 2500 metres.
However, a spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said its fighters had shot down the two aircraft… The White House says the downing of the two fighter jets is part of a pattern of Russian-backed separatists using Russian weapons to pose risks to aircraft.
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Greens hijack Sydney’s Christmas

Andrew Bolt July 24 2014 (7:30am)

Clover Moore and her green believers seem to be blaming immigrants for their own intolerance:
[Sydney] Lord Mayor Clover Moore has more than doubled the budget for this year’s “secular” Christmas celebrations, amid bizarre warnings from shopping centre bosses that decorations could cause offence to non-Christians.
“Evergreen Sydney, City of Christmas trees,” has been chosen as the theme for this year’s festivities…
A council tender document described why the theme was chosen: “Historically secular and recognised by many cultures, the Christmas tree reaches out across communities with a message of inclusion, generosity and celebration — green, global and connected.”
If you want to be “secular”, don’t celebrate Christmas. If immigrants are offended by Christian symbols then stay away.
But what Moore and her anti-Christian minions seem in fact to be doing is turning a Christian celebration into one of their green faith, and deflecting the blame to innocent minorities.  
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4 her, so she can see how I see her






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I like migrants and refugees. The best immigration policy we have had in Australia, imho, was Mr Howard's including the pacific solution but also the expanded program for refugees. The Pacific Solution was fairest because it stopped boats. The boat person migration is dangerous, indiscriminately killing 4% of victims who use it. Victims who have destroyed their own ID papers because of UN migration processing policy. It is at great cost to each victim, some $10k each. Pirates profit from it. Meanwhile refugees in camps wait many years for the opportunity and some 10 millions are waiting .. Some 1400 people have drowned from Rudd's compassion, and that has nothing to do with processing. My sister, Rachel, is vice President of refugee advocates and one of those idiots calling for no detention of boat peoples. That Greens policy hasn't been countenanced by the ALP for a reason .. even those corrupt abusers willing to say anything, promise anything for power know it won't help. It isn't compassionate to kill desperate people. - ed
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The recent decision by French President Francois Hollande to abolish homework from French schools has reignited the long running debate about homework.This debate has been around for more than a century…
Bad policy is always tempting. There must be a feeling of liberation administrators might feel at implementing such a policy. A feeling almost as good as the satisfaction a student feels at being up to date or ahead. In denying a challenge, we deny the reward. Homework is a real problem for some families. They might not have room at home for study. It might mess up a routine of chaos. Then there are families where homework plays a role, where parents interact with their child in a new setting and meet challenges successfully. But where homework is a problem, it is rarely (I believe never) the root problem. Banning it won't solve the problem struggling families have, but will cause issues for families that successfully incorporate it. - ed

I'm staggered at the lack of general knowledge some kids have these days. I love learning and love to share it. Clearly there is the issue of too much homework, but there is also the issue of no homework. Brains don't switch on at the school gate, neither do they switch off. Could anyone give me a reference to academic researchers advocating no homework? I would like to claim easy credit in savaging them.- ed

Excellent Nicole. I come from a public education background. So I am willing to argue for those who haven't a voice. I think families shouldn't be dysfunctional but many are. In one of my first schools, one surly aggressive child was woken up most morning by his drunken dad hitting him with an iron pole. He couldn't do homework. Is that reason to deny those children who could? As a child I was very arrogant (some things don't change) and learned things I did not care for much through homework. Things my parents did not value. Civic values, stories of peoples I'd no experience .. sometimes adults need to be in charge. Children are motivated to fit in. They resent it when goalposts are shifted to 'make it easier for them' when all they really wanted was to be shown the way up. - ed
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Obama targeting Marines & Outlawing Christianity ?
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A unanimous jury found beyond a reasonable doubt, Aafia Siddiqui attempted to murder Americans serving in Afghanistan, as well as their Afghan colleagues. On July 17, 2008, SIDDIQUI was detained by Afghan authorities, who found a number of items in her possession, including handwritten notes that referred to a "mass casualty attack" and that listed various locations in the United States, including Plum Island, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge. Other notes in SIDDIQUI's possession referred to the construction of "dirty bombs," and discussed various ways to attack "enemies," including by destroying reconnaissance drones, using underwater bombs, and deploying gliders.
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It takes a village idiot! Hillary Clinton offers absurd advice to royal couple; Gets schooled ==>http://twitchy.com/2013/07/23/it-takes-a-village-idiot-hillary-clinton-offers-absurd-advice-to-royal-couple-gets-schooled/
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Larry Pickering
DROWNING IN A KEVIN RUDD MESS

Drowning is a nasty death. You will cling to the last piece of jetsam in the hope it will save you. Desperate others will join you until it soon loses its buoyancy. Pleas for help fall silent as familiar faces, now contorted in fear, sink around you. 

Your mind races for a full three, maybe four, minutes trying to determine what went wrong, how this could have happened.

Just before everything shifts from grey to permanent black you look at the piece of jetsam you are still clutching and glimpse a flash... it’s a full colour image of Kevin Rudd.

Why a drowning ALP chose Kevin Rudd to cling to in a time of crisis is a complete mystery. If anyone was to be saved it would never be by grasping at Kevin. It was he who scuttled the boat in the first place.

Now I’m really angry. Kevin doesn’t fix it, that’s not what he does... Kevin fux it! He always has.

I have always prided myself in political judgment but this time I was so, so wrong. I was certain the ALP would never again turn to a man who had almost destroyed them. “Not even the ALP could be that stupid”, I thought to myself.

Kevin’s return was laced with promises of inclusion, a commitment to embrace the opinions of others, a kinder, gentler Kevin.

But Kevin has only demonstrated a will to cement his own position before immediately reverting to type.

I was right about one thing: Illegal immigration will be the overarching election issue and there is no worse person than Kevin Rudd to attempt to fix it.

Tony Abbott’s statement that he “welcomed” Rudd’s PNG solution was breathtaking and he deserves criticism for an alarming lack of foresight.

If current conditions on Narau, Curtin and Christmas Is. are sufficiently horrific (and they are intended to be) to cause regular riots, sewn lips and unreported murders how can Port Moresby be worse?

PNG could never be more than just another southern processing centre. But being in PNG is a simple matter of rolling up your trouser legs and wading to Australia.

Rudd’s idiotic PNG solution will ensure more women and children get on boats without so much as floaties because they won’t be sent to PNG.

The ALP’s mindset is an addiction to throwing money at problems.

The PNG solution is a worse catastrophe waiting to happen and the man who has never fixed anything is in charge of it.

The solution is not in PNG, nor is it in offshore processing nor TPVs nor even turning boats around. The solution is in Jakarta, it always has been but it takes tweaking a few noses and filling a few pockets of those in high places.

The solution to this illegal boat tragedy lies with the country they are allowed leave from. Is that really too hard to figure out?

Turn off that damned Indonesian tap or stand by and watch thousands more drown.

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Scouts Australia
If Obama was a scout .. wouldn't there be a record? - ed
Did you know 11 of the 12 people to have walked on the moon were Scouts. Other famous former Scouts include Sir Paul McCartney, Barack Obama, Richard Branson, Taylor Swift, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hillary Clinton, Mariah Carey, Barbara Walters and Nelson Mandela. The Scouts Australia Ambassador is Andrew Lock OAM, Australia's most accomplished mountaineer and Australian business man and entrepreneur Dick Smith said that Scouting was the most fantastic influence on his life!
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It doesn't matter who you vote for, if you vote ALP. To make your vote count, vote for the LNP
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Would you reply to this message or does it sound strange to you? You should not. It’s taken from an actual scam email.

We will never send you an email requesting you to confirm, update or disclose confidential details via email or social media. Find more tips on our online security at http://ato.gov.au/onlinesecurity
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
Dear Lord we take a pause out of our day to just say we love you forever!!!!!!!
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Britain failed to deliver to us the land that they were mandated to give us at that time. Not only that they restricted Jewish immigration and opened the flood gates of Arab immigration into the land during the mandate period. They also started the first expulsion of Jews from east Jerusalem in 1935. As a consequence Jews had no homeland to flee to in WW2.
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Nat?
That awkward moment you walk past someone's car & you hear the familiar click of doors locking.
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Pastor Rick Warren
Always preach tough topics with a loving heart, a humble mind, and a tender voice.
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The more Kevin Rudd talks, the more we are reminded why Labor’s faceless men removed him in the first place: his chaos and bad decisions.http://www.liberal.org.au/ruddfacts/

Now he’s back, we see the same thing happening: his chaos and bad decisions are leading to job losses in the car industry. This is another hit on families who are seeking to get ahead and plan their futures with confidence.
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Exotic particles called neutrinos have been caught in the act of shape-shifting, switching from one flavor to another, in a discovery that could help solve the mystery of antimatter.http://oak.ctx.ly/r/88uj

Below, the Super Kamiokande neutrino detector in Japan is a cylindrical stainless steel tank that holds 50,000 tons of ultra-pure water.
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A north Italian bar. A visitor to the town sees a customer and strikes up a conversation. "Hi, my name is Mike." he says in a friendly way. "What is yours?" The customer groans. "A name? What is in a name! I will tell you about names if you buy me a drink." A drink is bought and Mike settles to hear the story. The customer is getting elderly, white hair, paunch, farmers clothes. "I was a young man when I first came to this village. I saw the stream, the land with strewn rocks and knew if I moved the rocks, the land would be good for farming. But do they call me 'The Farmer?' .. no!" The customer seems outraged at the snub, but goes on .. "Everyone said that this mountain country is too hard to live on which is why nobody does. But I showed them, I built my house here. But do they call me 'The builder?' No!" The customer was moved, but still gulped his drink, indicating he wanted another. Mike complied, fascinated. "Others saw what I had done. And they came to live here. They prospered, and the town was born. But do they call me the 'Town Planner?' No! Instead, one cold winters evening, I get out of my bath to get some soap from the garage, and the door swings shut and locks me out. I can't get back in. I am dripping wet and it is bitterly cold. A sheep passes nearby, and I hold onto it to stay warm. I fall to sleep, and that is how the town people find me. And do you KNOW WHAT THEY CALL ME? It was only once!"
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Mark J Jackson
Older & wiser?
Sheila’s grandson and his wife were coming to visit her in her new Florida condo for the first time. She gave them very detailed directions to her apartment: “You come to the front door of the Coral Bay Tower. Near the door, you’ll see a big panel of buttons. I am in apartment number 1408 on the fourteenth floor. With your elbow, push the button for 1408. I will buzz you in. Come inside the lobby; the elevator is on your right. Get in it, and with your elbow, hit the button for the fourteenth floor. When you get out, I am on the left. With your elbow, hit my doorbell.”
“That sounds easy, Grandma,” her grandson said, “but why am I hitting all these buttons with my elbow?”
She snapped, “What, you’re coming empty-handed?”
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Caption this photo from Anthony Weiner's press conference! (Why is there a man poking his head up from behind the cubicle?) http://tblz.us/ngaTd
You can't hide talent - ed
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Pastor Rick Warren
"Discipline isn't something you do to someone; it is something you do FOR someone." Coach Lou Holtz
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FABULOUS MUST SEE VIDEO OF ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU ON WHY WE MUST SAY NO TO A PALESTINIAN STATE! http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/young-pm-netanyahu-a-palestinian-state-is-only-to-destroy-israel
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Phil Box Remember how the left howled in outrage over Peter Hollingworth. The Hollingworth affair was at best very tenuous and yet when a member of the left's side commits a far more egregious crime they are silent and in fact cover it up and shred evidence after they abort an inquiry into the affair. Just plain and simply evil.
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Maudie and Bear by Jan Ormerod
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The Detroit skyline as seen from Windsor, Ontario
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Events[edit]

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“Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”” Matthew 19:14 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Even thou wast as one of them."
Obadiah 1:11
Brotherly kindness was due from Edom to Israel in the time of need, but instead thereof, the men of Esau made common cause with Israel's foes. Special stress in the sentence before us is laid upon the word thou; as when Caesar cried to Brutus, "and thou Brutus"; a bad action may be all the worse, because of the person who has committed it. When we sin, who are the chosen favourites of heaven, we sin with an emphasis; ours is a crying offence, because we are so peculiarly indulged. If an angel should lay his hand upon us when we are doing evil, he need not use any other rebuke than the question, "What thou? What dost thou here?" Much forgiven, much delivered, much instructed, much enriched, much blessed, shall we dare to put forth our hand unto evil? God forbid!
A few minutes of confession may be beneficial to thee, gentle reader, this morning. Hast thou never been as the wicked? At an evening party certain men laughed at uncleanness, and the joke was not altogether offensive to thine ear, even thou wast as one of them. When hard things were spoken concerning the ways of God, thou wast bashfully silent; and so, to on-lookers, thou wast as one of them. When worldlings were bartering in the market, and driving hard bargains, wast thou not as one of them? When they were pursuing vanity with a hunter's foot, wert thou not as greedy for gain as they were? Could any difference be discerned between thee and them? Is there any difference? Here we come to close quarters. Be honest with thine own soul, and make sure that thou art a new creature in Christ Jesus; but when this is sure, walk jealously, lest any should again be able to say, "Even thou wast as one of them." Thou wouldst not desire to share their eternal doom, why then be like them here? Come not thou into their secret, lest thou come into their ruin. Side with the afflicted people of God, and not with the world.

Evening

"The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
1 John 1:7
"Cleanseth," says the text--not "shall cleanse." There are multitudes who think that as a dying hope they may look forward to pardon. Oh! how infinitely better to have cleansing now than to depend on the bare possibility of forgiveness when I come to die. Some imagine that a sense of pardon is an attainment only obtainable after many years of Christian experience. But forgiveness of sin is a present thing--a privilege for this day, a joy for this very hour. The moment a sinner trusts Jesus he is fully forgiven. The text, being written in the present tense, also indicates continuance; it was "cleanseth" yesterday, it is "cleanseth" today, it will be "cleanseth" tomorrow: it will be always so with you, Christian, until you cross the river; every hour you may come to this fountain, for it cleanseth still. Notice, likewise, the completeness of the cleansing, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin"--not only from sin, but "from all sin." Reader, I cannot tell you the exceeding sweetness of this word, but I pray God the Holy Ghost to give you a taste of it. Manifold are our sins against God. Whether the bill be little or great, the same receipt can discharge one as the other. The blood of Jesus Christ is as blessed and divine a payment for the transgressions of blaspheming Peter as for the shortcomings of loving John; our iniquity is gone, all gone at once, and all gone forever. Blessed completeness! What a sweet theme to dwell upon as one gives himself to sleep.
"Sins against a holy God;
Sins against his righteous laws;
Sins against his love, his blood;
Sins against his name and cause;
Sins immense as is the sea-
From them all he cleanseth me."
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Today's reading: Psalm 33-34, Acts 24 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Psalm 33-34

1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.
6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm....

Today's New Testament reading: Acts 24

Paul's Trial Before Felix
1 Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. 2 When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: "We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. 3 Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. 4 But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly....
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