Saturday, November 15, 2014

Sat Nov 15th Todays News

Corruption must be fought
Victoria's ALP leader's staff have warned that Daniel Andrews is too close to developers. He is also too close to the CFMEU. Voters should not have the choice of voting for the avowedly corrupt. ALP in Victoria is unreformed. It is the same party as which campaigned on not knocking down houses for a free way, but which knocked down houses for a free way with a set of lights, calling it a motor way instead. It is the same party which tries to profit from domestic crime. The same party which drowns desperate asylum seekers because it is more compassionate than allowing in genuine refugees. The same party which built an expensive desalination plant, but not a dam. The same party which burnt much of the country by refusing back burning. 
ABC fighting reason
Economic issues regarding growth world wide are challenging. Socialist governments in the US, France, Italy and China threaten world prosperity through poor economic policy. The free trade agreement with China is great, but the planned nature of the Chinese economy is restrictive. Italy's socialist government has taken on the compassionate drowning that marked the ALP's migration policy. France is struggling since her war on rich people. US is only beginning to awaken from a Democrat led torpor. In Australia, the ABC begs for politicians to slam on the breaks and limit growth by taxing the air people breathe and the food plants need to grow. Worse, the ABC recently admitted it lied to Australia in a comedy skit aired during a current affairs program. It claimed Mr Abbott had not talked with Mr Putin on the serious issue of MH17 when it knew he had, effectively. 

 The small cuts to the SBS and ABC seems to be offset by Mr Turnbull allowing them to advertise in prime time, sucking dollars away from commercial networks. They are far larger than any of the commercial networks by regulation preventing cross media ownership. 
Who let the dogs out? 
Some Palmer United Party PUPs are still loyal to a fault. Palmer outrageously arranged for an inquiry into the Queensland Newman government as a fishing expedition ahead of an election. Newman's government has done nothing wrong. However the review has backfired and now questions are to be asked of Palmer, if PUP Lazarus ever stops blocking the questions. Meanwhile Lambie is acting as an independent under the PUP name, as legal advice is taken as to PUP being able to vacate her position and employ someone else. Meanwhile Dio Wang, a WA PUP, remains loyal to Palmer by commenting sensibly on Queen Lambie. 
Random stuff
Sixteen years is the length of a pause in global warming, but a recent decline of two years is being hidden by activists at the G20.

 One ALP member, Joe Bullock, is opposing the party line in opposing a republic for Australia. Only one member. The ALP as a modern democratic party is dead.

 Putin explains the four defence ships off the Australian coastline are testing their range in case they do AGW research in Antarctica. Lol. 

Historical perspective on this day
In 565, Justin II succeeded his uncle Justinian I as emperor of the Byzantine Empire. In 655, Battle of the Winwaed: Penda of Mercia was defeated by Oswiu of Northumbria. In 1315, Battle of Morgarten: The Schweizer Eidgenossenschaft ambushed the army of Leopold I. In 1532, commanded by Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conquistadors under Hernando de Soto met Inca Empire leader Atahualpa for the first time outside Cajamarca, arranging a meeting on the city plaza the following day. In 1533, Francisco Pizarro arrived in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire. In 1705, Battle of Zsibó: Austrian-Danish victory over the Kurucs (Hungarians). In 1777, American Revolutionary War: After 16 months of debate the Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation. In 1791, the first U.S. Catholic college, Georgetown University, opened its doors. 

 In 1806, Pike expedition: Lieutenant Zebulon Pike saw a distant mountain peak while near the Colorado foothills of the Rocky Mountains. (It is later named Pikes Peak.) In 1859, the first modern revival of the Olympic Games took place in Athens, Greece. In 1864, American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman burned Atlanta, Georgia and started Sherman's March to the Sea. In 1889, Brazil was declared a republic by Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca as Emperor Pedro II was deposed in a military coup. In 1914, Harry Turner became the first player to die from game-related injuries in the "Ohio League", the direct predecessor to the National Football League. In 1920, first assembly of the League of Nations was held in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1922, over 1,000 were massacred during a general strike in Guayaquil, Ecuador. In 1923, the German Rentenmark was introduced in Germany to counter hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic. In 1926, the NBC radio network opened with 24 stations. In 1928, the RNLI lifeboat Mary Stanford capsized in Rye Harbour with the loss of the entire 17 man crew. 

 In 1935, Manuel L. Quezon was inaugurated as the second President of the Philippines. In 1939, in Washington, D.C., US President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial. In 1942, World War II: First flight of the Heinkel He 219. Also, World War II: The Battle of Guadalcanal ended in a decisive Allied victory. In 1943, The Holocaust: German SS leader Heinrich Himmler ordered that Gypsies were to be put "on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps". (See Porajmos.) In 1945, Venezuela joined the United Nations. In 1949, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were executed for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi. In 1951, Greek resistance leader Nikos Beloyannis, along with 11 resistance members, was sentenced to death by the court-martial. In 1959, the murders of the Clutter Family in Holcomb, Kansas, which inspired Truman Capote's non-fiction book In Cold Blood. 

 In 1966, Project Gemini: Gemini 12 completed the program's final mission, when it splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. Also, a Boeing 727 carrying Pan Am Flight 708 crashed near Berlin, Germany, killing all three people on board. In 1967, the only fatality of the North American X-15 program occurred during the 191st flight when Air Force test pilot Michael J. Adams lost control of his aircraft which was destroyed mid-air over the Mojave Desert. In 1969, Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collided with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea. Also, Vietnam War: In Washington, D.C., 250,000-500,000 protesters staged a peaceful demonstration against the war, including a symbolic "March Against Death". In 1971, Intel released the world's first commercial single-chip microprocessor, the 4004. In 1976, René Lévesque and the Parti Québécois took power to become the first Quebec government of the 20th century clearly in favor of independence. In 1978, a chartered Douglas DC-8 crashed near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 183. In 1979, a package from Unabomber Ted Kaczynski begins smoking in the cargo hold of a flight from Chicago to Washington, D.C., forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.

 In 1983, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded. Recognized only by Turkey. In 1985, a research assistant was injured when a package from the Unabomber addressed to a University of Michigan professor exploded. In 1985, the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed at Hillsborough Castle by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald. In 1987, Continental Airlines Flight 1713, a Douglas DC-9-14 jetliner, crashed in a snowstorm at Denver's Stapleton International Airport, killing 28 occupants, while 54 survive the crash. In 1987, in Brașov, Romania, workers rebelled against the communist regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu. In 1988, in the Soviet Union, the unmanned Shuttle Buran mades its only space flight. Also, Israeli–Palestinian conflict: An independent State of Palestine was proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council. Also, the first Fairtrade label, Max Havelaar, was launched in the Netherlands.

 In 1990, Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis launched with flight STS-38. Also, the Communist People's Republic of Bulgaria was disestablished and a new republican government was instituted. In 2000, a chartered Antonov An-24 crashes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola, killing more than 40 people. Also, Jharkhand state came into existence in India. In 2002, Hu Jintao became General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and a new nine-member Politburo Standing Committee was inaugurated. In 2003, the first day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings, in which two car bombs, targeting two synagogues, exploded, killing 25 people and wounding about 300. Additional bombings followed on November 20. In 2006, Al Jazeera English launched worldwide. In 2007, Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh, killing an estimated 5,000 people and destroying parts of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans. In 2012, Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and a new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee was inaugurated. In 2012, Four people were killed and 16 others were injured in the Midland train crash after a Union Pacific train struck a parade float in Midland, Texas.

from 2013
I believe the reason for Rudd's sudden departure is entirely because of an unforeseeable event. I won't explicitly state it, but it has to do with accusations and leadership. Were Rudd to stay, it might be interpreted that he caused the allegation to come into being. Even if Rudd hasn't, he can't prove it because of past behaviour. He would be treated worse than Mal Colston.
Rudd's agenda is driven by fear. It may be irrational fear, but still paralysing. 
Mundine used to be an atheist, but he found Islam. Now mysteriously, his place has been firebombed. No one knows why. No one even guesses a reason. A bit like Rudd leaving the parliament. However, there is an excuse, given by an Australian, Uthman Badar, who says ASIO is at fault for investigating .. Presbyterians (?). ABC is primed and ready to blame Mr Abbott, and Mr Turnbull should he succeed him before Christmas. 

ALP believe in foreign aid. It is important and many people are reliant on it for their livelihoods .. like ALP campaign workers. Latham isn't sure. But he thinks it is a bad thing if Rudd did it. Sixty five of three hundred pedophiles recently arrested are Australian. Some in professions entrusted with the care of children. No word yet as to how many were in the ALP. On that issue alone, journalists are begging not to be told. 
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This column welcomes feedback and criticism. The column is not made up but based on the days events and articles which are then placed in the feed. So they may not have an apparent cohesion they would have had were they made up.
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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

Or the US President at
https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-change-this-injustice#
or
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/change-injustice-faced-david-daniel-ball-after-he-reported-bungled-pedophile-investigation-and/b8mxPWtJ or http://wh.gov/ilXYR

Douglas Sutherland-Bruce via David Daniel 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.net) which 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 Zarayah Israel, Seng Win, Barney Day and Andrew Cheng. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
Emperor Pedro II of Brazil
It is strength to show mercy. Elves march to the sea. Brazil is nuts. Never in cold blood. We have a new secretary. Let us party. 
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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2014
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On The Bolt Report tomorrow, November 16

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (10:16am)

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On The Bolt Report on Channel 10 tomorrow at 10am and 4pm.
Editorial: The great hoax: the five lies about Barack Obama’s climate deal with China.
My guest:  Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on dealing with Putin and a trade breakthrough. 
The panel: Cassandra Wilkinson and Michael Kroger.
NewsWatch:  Gerard Henderson on the latest ABC scandal.
So much to discuss, including the latest warming hysteria, the Palmer circus, the looming Budget disaster, the media siding with our enemies and more.
The videos of the shows appear here.
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Daniel Andrews’ staff warn Labor too influenced by lobbyist

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (10:05am)

An extraordinary bit of whistleblowing:
STAFF in Daniel Andrews’ office have broken ranks to blow the whistle on what they say is excessive influence on policy by a lobbyist. 

The Herald Sun has spoken to three members of the Opposition Leader’s office who have flagged serious concerns over the access and power wielded by Andres Puig. Broader concerns have also been raised by members of the shadow Cabinet and other party figures.
The Civic Group, where Mr Puig is a director, last night acknowledged it had made multiple donations to Labor’s campaign and Mr Andrews’ own re-election push through the purchase of “seats” at fundraisers…

Mr Puig is a former assistant secretary of the state Labor Party and an occasional consultant in Mr Andrews’ office.

The three staff members spoke separately to the Herald Sun on condition of anonymity. Internal concerns have been raised over two recent policy planning decisions involving Civic Group clients.
The first matter involved a decision by Labor to oppose a proposed expansion of the Boral Recycling site at Ravenhall.... [T]he state lobbyist register reveals Mr Puig’s Civic Group represents Mount Atkinson, the company charged with building a 555ha development earmarked as a new Melbourne suburb and immediately adjacent to the proposed tip site.
Mr Puig is also believed to have influenced party authorities’ decision to gag local Labor opposition over a second ­development at Torquay. The lobbyist represents WA-based Amex Corporation — one of the developers involved in the controversial Spring Creek project at ­Torquay. 
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ABC bored, but there’s an economy others are trying to save

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (9:14am)

Climate change, climate change, climate change, yammers the ABC. Why won’t the G20 summit - meant to boost economies and create jobs - talk instead about climate change, climate change, climate change.
Is this boredom with wealth creation the result of having much of the media now dominated by state-funded broadcasters who think the source of all funds is the government?
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Paul Kelly on the real story of the next week - a deal that helps secure our future rather than cripple it with Labor-style carbon taxes and renewable energy boondoggles:

IN a tangible recasting of Australia-China ties the free trade agreement to be announced on Monday both eliminates market discrimination against Australia and gives many Australian service industries an unmatched position in China’s economy…
The critical point in the negotiations came when both sides, facing concessions that were too hard politically, agreed to postpone for three years the “deadlock” issues.
This makes it a two-stage deal. The main items deferred for the next stage are Australia’s decision on investment liberalisation for China’s state-owned enterprises and China’s decision on better entry for our rice, sugar, cotton and canola…
Referring to the rapidly expanding middle-classing of Asia and China, [Trade and Investment Minister Andrew] Robb says: “...If we can just capture the premium end of some of these Chinese markets we will set up Australia for the next 50 to 100 years...”
In relation to services, the FTA has about 40 areas where China has improved Australian access so it becomes equivalent or superior to that enjoyed by other nations. An illustration of the potential is the access the Australian aged-care industry will now have to China’s market…
Services constitute 80 per cent of our gross domestic product but only 15 per cent of exports. [Robb] sees the middle-classing of Asia as the opportunity for a range of expanded services such as finance, insurance, tourism, health and medicine, education, construction and water management....
Under the FTA, a wide range of Australian agricultural exports (beef, most grains, seafood) will see tariffs reduced to zero between now and 2021.
On investment, Australia has accorded Chinese private investment the same threshold as US and Japanese investment. This means investment proposals below the $1.08 billion threshold will not require Foreign Investment Review Board approval…
China has agreed to reverse the higher duties it recently imposed on our coal exports. The coking coal duty will be reduced to zero. The thermal coal duty will be cut from 6 per cent to 4 per cent at once and then phased out across two years.
Careful provision has been made for China to bring skilled labour to Australia. Temporary access can be negotiated for major projects worth more than $150 million, if the skills are not available in Australia. This would be negotiated on an enterprise-by-enterprise basis…
“I think we are on the cusp of a new wave of foreign investment from Asia,” [Robb] says, given that China has $4 trillion in reserves, about the size of its equity market.
As for the G20, it has a massive challenge before it to help humanity, and, no, it’s not global warming. Henry Ergas warns:

­Although the US recovery con­tinues to gather pace, there is considerable debate about whether the American economy can achieve annual growth rates of per capita incomes much above 1 per cent over the longer term. The prospects are even bleaker for the eurozone, whose economy is standing still, with 18 million ­people out of work and a youth unemployment rate of 23 per cent.
For sure, economic growth is stronger in the developing world; but there, too, a weakening is ­evident. Growth rates of per capita incomes in the emerging economies, which were of 6 per cent to 7 per cent annually in the period leading up to the global financial crisis, are trending to below 4 per cent.
And even China, which re­corded an annual average growth rate of 9.4 per cent over the period from 1988 to 2013, is heading to a growth rate of about 7 per cent, while India (where average per capita incomes are still only $1500) faces serious constraints from deteriorating competitiveness, large fiscal and current ­account deficits and too high ­inflation. 
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Global warming is the last refuge of the scoundrel. Take Putin…

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (9:08am)

Green makes anyone look clean to the Left:
RUSSIA has for the first time explained the presence of a fleet of warships off northeastern Australia, saying that the ships are testing their range capability, in case they have to do climate change research in the Antarctic.
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Why will Malcolm Turnbull let a state broadcaster take more advertising that rival outlets need?

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (8:56am)

I don’t understand why the Abbott Government would weaken rivals to the state broadcasters who are already far too dominant in this democracy.
The ABC and SBS should have their functions cut and merged, rather than have their budgets padded by taking in more of the advertising that commercial rivals desperately need to survive:
THE heads of the nation’s commercial free to air TV networks have joined together to condemn plans to increase prime time ­advertising on SBS, accusing the Abbott government of preparing to betray its pro-business credentials. Cabinet is expected to consider a proposal as early as this week to allow SBS — which is heavily taxpayer subsidised — to increase the amount of advertising it screens.
The Seven, Ten and Nine networks argue the decision would amount to a government-initiated transfer of wealth from private shareholders to the commonwealth and wreak havoc on the commercial industry…
The multicultural broadcaster can currently air five minutes of advertising per prime time hour. Commercial broadcasters are allowed 13 minutes during peak viewing hours, up to a maximum of 15 minutes but averaged over the six hours of prime time.
Any increase in SBS’s cap, which could see it doubled to 10 minutes, would allow it to offset funding cuts by screening more advertisements during its drawcard programs, including the Tour de France, the Eurovision Song Contest and the FIFA World Cup....
The powerful TV networks argue that by eroding their revenue base, the government would compromise their ability to invest in high-quality Australian content and be “yet another tax on commercial broadcasters’’…
Network Ten chief executive Hamish McLennan, who described the current plan to increase the SBS advertising cap as “getting a bit nutty’’, challenged the attack on the commercial sector.
“We have the government making declarations for reform and to be pro-business and yet they continue to prop up the ABC and SBS,’’ Mr McLennan said. “The ABC and SBS have a $1.3 billion annual budget and aren’t required to make a profit. The ABC spends more than $10m of taxpayers’ dollars on marketing.
“Now, SBS gets another free kick with more advertising, while our industry is being challenged by the internet and other technologies,’’ Mr McLennan told The Weekend Australian.
(Declaration: Network 10 airs The Bolt Report, a News Corp production.) 
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Farce: Palmer’s senators hiding him from the inquiry he called into Queensland corruption

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (8:34am)

Clive Palmer grossly abused the power of his Senators by getting the Senate - with the vengeful support of Labor and the Greens - to hold an inquiry into the Queensland Newman Government to dig for dirt in the lead-up to next year’s election. It is scandalous that this kind of vindictive fishing expedition can be endorsed by this Senate.

The only bright side to this is that it’s backfired badly:
CAMPBELL Newman and his cabinet will snub the Senate inquiry into the Queensland government as allegations emerged that former rugby league star Glenn Lazarus is blocking moves to call his party boss, Clive Palmer…
Coalition senators on the inquiry have repeatedly asked for committee meetings to vote on their push to call Mr Palmer but Senator Lazarus allegedly refused to accept the motion. Senator Lazarus’s office did not return calls.
Queensland Nationals senator Barry O’Sullivan this week emailed Senator Lazarus accusing him of deliberately sabotaging ­Coalition calls to grill Mr Palmer.
“You know that I have now made no less than three attempts to submit names for consideration on a witness list, principally and importantly that of witness Mr Clive Palmer ...,’’ Senator O’Sullivan wrote.
“You have improperly blocked my requests making their way on to the agenda for consideration.
“In the absence of any alternative explanation I would respectfully suggest that your conduct leaves you open to a predictable assertion of having a conflict of interest in frustrating the proper conduct of the inquiry in examining ... his serious and unproven ­assertions of corruption in the Queensland government.’’
(Thanks to reader WaG311.) 
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ABC in crisis

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (7:55am)

The ABC has crossed the line with its bias and malevolence - particularly after peddling an untruth to mock the Prime Minister.
On its flagship current affairs show, 7.30, it ran a juvenile satire of Abbott based on a falsehood:

KIRSTEN DRYSDALE, REPORTER: It was supposed to be the showdown of the century.
(male voiceover): Tony “Tough Talk” Abbott versus “Virile” Vladimir Putin. How much macho can you take?
TONY ABBOTT, PRIME MINISTER: I’m going to shirtfront Mr Putin. You bet you are - you bet I am.
KIRSTEN DRYSDALE: Two great men with a phobia of fabric and a penchant for pectoral promenading set to meet face to face in the world’s grandest car park, the G20…
KIRSTEN DRYSDALE: So ... this was as close as it got. Just two dudes who finally had a meeting behind closed doors away from the cameras, almost like grownups…
LEIGH SALES: Kirsten Drysdale there. And the Kremlin has released a statement. Asked if Tony Abbott managed to shirtfront the Russian leader, a spokesman replied, “It appears that he did not try.”
In fact, even Laurie Oakes, no friend of Abbott, says Abbott delivered:
CREDIT where it’s due. Tony Abbott said he would shirt-front Vladimir Putin over the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine, and he did not squib it.
At their brief meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Forum in Beijing, the Australian prime minister delivered a strong condemnation of Russia’s failure to accept responsibility for its role in the atrocity.
Gerard Henderson:
As ABC spinners have conceded, 7.30 was aware of the conversation between Prime Minister Tony Abbott and President Vladimir Putin concerning the downing of MH17 over Ukraine some 40 minutes before the program went to air. But, ABC producers decided to run Ms Drysdale’s attempt at Abbott ridicule for a longer time – and ahead of – the real news…
This was a huge misjudgement of news and comedy by ABC producers. According to the available evidence, 7.30 presenter Leigh Sales did not support the sketch going to air…
[After] he took the position as ABC managing director in 2006, Mark Scott ...virtually welshed on any editorial and appointment decisions made by ABC producers. This has led to the situation where the public broadcaster has not one conservative presenter, producer or editor in any prominent television, radio or online outlets.
Moreover, Mark Scott walks away from any situation which would require supervising and instructing ABC staff as to proper editorial standards. Hence his silence on the 7.30 sketch this week which even senior figures at the ABC recognise was a disaster… And no one on the ABC Board shows any inclination to insist that the managing director and editor-in-chief should do the job for which he is well remunerated.
Janet Albrechtsen:
As an ABC board member committed to a vibrant and impartial national broadcaster, I had deep reservations about Scott’s ability and willingness to take on this editorial role. Having watched the ABC hierarchy up close, I saw how most of those in senior positions too often wanted to be loved by staff, rather than respected…
Worse than wanting to be loved, Scott and ABC honchos have grown drunk with cultural, editorial and political arrogance. That is the inescapable conclusion arising from Tuesday’s 7.30 program.... Host Leigh Sales introduced the segment as “lighthearted”, but even she seemed uncomfortable with the questions it raised about the ABC’s distorted political and cultural antenna…
From top to bottom, from Scott to ABC chairman Jim Spigelman, to members of the ABC board, to the all-powerful but little-known executive producers and highly paid program hosts, and all manner of well-paid management between, the ABC is deliberately delivering two fingers to those who fund the ABC — us…
(P)rogram producers operate with impunity and immunity, directing much of the ABC at the left-leaning, inner-city tweeting community. It points to a moral vanity that the values of this tiny community matter more than the wider Australian community…

It may suit Scott and Spigelman to depict criticism as another broadside in a culture war. But they miss the point at their peril. The ABC should not be right-wing any more than it should be left-wing. This is not a culture war. It is a cri de coeur about the legitimacy of the ABC as a publicly funded ­vibrant, innovative, intellectually curious, philosophically open-minded media organisation…
Trotting out favourites on ABC news programs — Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young on asylum-seekers, Tim Flannery on climate change and so on — may titillate the tastes of the trendy Left, but what about the views and values of the rest of Australia? 
Roger Franklin:
7.30 ... , allegedly a serious news magazine, had lots of ABC-style fun with an outrage that claimed more than three dozen Australian lives. Those of us who pay the national broadcaster’s bills (and the stupendous salaries of its managing director and family circle of married-to-each-other talking heads) might see little opportunity for levity in an episode of mass murder, but that just proves why normal Australians don’t figure amongst the broadcaster’s stars: dim suburban creatures, they just don’t recognise that market-failure niche we’ve heard so much about.
Managing Director Mark Scott, who bills himself as the broadcaster’s “editor-in-chief”, knows better. If commercial broadcasters aren’t clambering atop a mound of butchered Australians to laugh at a Prime Minister determined to seek justice in their name, then Scott’s minions must loosen their jocularity straps and let fly with the thigh-slappers…
Some people might be offended, sure, but one gathers the ABC sees their feelings as unworthy of consideration – not when there is an opportunity to ridicule a Prime Minister of the wrong party, a leader who had brazenly announced his intention to confront the leader of the nation that sponsors those who fired the missile which snuffed out 38 of his fellow citizens. 
The biggest joke about the ABC’s bias? To discuss it, the ABC’s Q&A has assembled a panel that actually demonstrates that bias:
Q&A presenter Tony Jones announced next week’s panel: 
Next week, on Q&A, with the Government’s decision on ABC funding imminent, we’re joined by the Minister for Communications Malcolm Turnbull; the Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek; former Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes, Daily Telegraph opinion editor Sarrah Le Marquand; and comedian and author Ben Elton...
Yes, folks, it’s another 4-2 stack with not one established ABC critic on the program. Presenter Tony Jones and Jonathan Holmes have received most of their income in recent years from the ABC.... Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull believes that the ABC should be more efficient but he is not generally critical of the ABC’s political culture – unlike many of his Cabinet colleagues. Sarrah Le Marquand is not a leftist but nor is she an established ABC critic. Indeed, Ms Marquand supports same sex marriage – one of ABC personnel’s favourite causes. Tanya Plibersek is a leader of the ALP Parliamentary Left and a strong supporter of the ABC. Ben Elton is a British leftie.
What a joke. What a scandal.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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Why Lambie won’t quit (although she really has)

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (7:41am)

Jacqui Lambie has done everything but formally quit Clive Palmer’s party:
REBEL Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie has dropped the PUP logo from her website as speculation about her future with the party continues.
The website now refers to “Jacqui Lambie Putting Tasmania First”.
Here’s one possible reason Lambie won’t take that final step against a man infamous for dragging poorer people off to court:
It has also been made clear to Senator Lambie that if she quits the party she could face expensive legal action aimed at kicking her out of the Senate and replacing her with another PUP senator.
Senators are allowed to quit their parties and sit as independents. Any legal action would most likely fail in the long run, but not before it potentially bankrupted Senator Lambie, which would disqualify her from Parliament.
“She hasn’t got a cent as it is,” one PUP source said.
The threat is real:
The Palmer United Party has been asked to back an impending High Court challenge that will test whether a political party or an individual senator owns their seat in Parliament.
The case, being prepared by the Democratic Labour Party against Senator John Madigan, who defected from the party in September but remains in Parliament, could have ramifications for the escalating stoush between PUP senator Jacqui Lambie and leader Clive Palmer…
PUP and at least two senators from a major political party have taken briefings on the DLP’s intention to run a landmark constitutional challenge to test whether a party should have the right to select a replacement for a senator who defects or is sacked.
If the case, expected to be lodged in January or February, succeeds, PUP could potentially expel Ms Lambie or take back her seat if she has already quit.
Any ruling would probably also have consequences for Australian Motoring Enthusiast senator Ricky Muir, who has lost virtually all his staff amid claims that party founder Keith Littler – a confidant of Mr Palmer – has designs on taking the seat for himself or his wife, Sharyn.
The DLP’s case will test for the first time a 1977 amendment to the constitution that says a replacement must be elected from the same party in the case of a vacancy.
Constitutional experts believe there is a low probability of success for the DLP because Senator Madigan’s defection did not create a vacancy as he continues to sit as an independent.
The DLP has taken a range of legal advice and the essence of its case will be that 99 per cent of voters choose a party “above the line” on the Senate ballot paper rather than going below the line to choose an individual.
It would be very dangerous for the High Court to give unelected party officials the power to sack an elected representative of the public and replace them in Parliament with someone not just unelected but quite possibly unelectable. How long before dummy candidates are run so that parties can later replace them with the Svengali? I can imagine some backstage operator even nominating a dozen candidates, each swapping preferences, and then taking the seat of the winner.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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Why are the warmists using two-year-old data that hides the decline?

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (12:56am)

Global warming - dud predictions

Professor Michael Asten is astonished that global warming activists are using dated data to hide the recent decline in temperatures:

THE climate lobby will be working the corridors of the G20 ­meeting in Brisbane this weekend, using the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Synthesis Report and Climate Council ­commentary…
Both the Synthesis Report and the Climate Council report use old plots that show a steady rise in smoothed temperature to 2010 (the decade of the start of the hiatus).
Yet NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies’ global temperature graphs are updated monthly, show five-year averages, are publicly available on the internet and show average temperatures peaked in 2004 and show a decline for the following eight years…
The dichotomy between observational data and models is similarly marked with sea-level data of the past 120 years. The rate of rise across the past century is 1.7mm a year and has increased to about 3.2mm a year across the past 20 years. The data shows that the fast 3.2mm a year rate of rise has occurred twice in historic times (around 1860-80 and 1930-50). The IPCC modelling studies of sea level rise to 2100 show up to 80cm of total rise by 2100, increasing from the present 3.2 to a predicted huge 15mm a year....
Yet neither the IPCC nor the Climate Council, or the publicly funded CSIRO on its website, even admits the existence of recent data such as that by Anny Cazenave and co-workers at the Geophysical and Oceanography Laboratory, Toulouse, which shows that from 1994 to 2011 the rate of observed rise in global sea level decreased from 3.5 to 2.5mm a year.
Oh, and as for the excuse that the missing heat is hiding in the deep ocean:
This has been studied in a series of important papers, most recently by William Llovel and co-workers at the California Institute of Technology who used quantitative observations of global ocean mass and temperature profiles to show that the deep ocean has in fact cooled slightly in the past decade.
That warming activists and politicians don’t mention these facts tells me they are not interested in the truth and cannot be trusted.
UPDATE
John Spooner is a lone voice at The Age:
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Joe Bullock is the best of Labor - a conservative

Andrew Bolt November 15 2014 (12:21am)

Joe Bullock represents the kind of Labor I worked for and am very worried is gone:

WA Senator Joe Bullock has again put himself at odds with Labor policy in declaring himself firmly opposed to Australia becoming a republic.
In a speech to the Australian Monarchist League, Senator Bullock ... argued the monarchy played a role in safeguarding democracy and protected Australia from the “dangers inherent in republicanism”.
“I suspect that Labor’s historical ambivalence towards the monarchy has its origins in the high numbers of Irish immigrants who once featured within Australia’s working class,” he said.
“More recently, as the Labor Party has increasingly identified itself with so-called progressive causes, republicanism has established itself as Labor orthodoxy.
“Nevertheless, as I constantly remind my colleagues, we are not the Progressive Party. We are the Labor Party - the clue is in the name."…
Senator Bullock told league members the presence of a monarch protected people from “the oppression of a totalitarian regime”.
“An hereditary constitutional monarchy is particularly well suited to embodying in a living human person a focal point for all the best sentiments of patriotism, duty and public spirit,” Senator Bullock said.
I apologise to Senator Bullock for damning him with my praise.
(Thanks to reader Suzanne.) 
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Dio Wang: maybe Lambie wants to be “Queen of the country”

Andrew Bolt November 14 2014 (7:33pm)

Dio Wang has always struck me as serious and the smartest member of the Palmer United [sic] team, and would be formidable if he had the courage to break loose from Clive Palmer - which he must do one day to save his own reputation:
PALMER United Party senator Dio Wang has spoken out over the row between rogue senator Jacqui Lambie and PUP leader Clive Palmer…
“Maybe she is frustrated that she is not a Queen of the country but the fact is we can only do what we can do and by her making such blunt statements publicly she is effectively putting the government in a corner and giving the government less room to move,” Mr Wang said in an interview on ABC radio in Perth today…
Mr Wang said: “When we get together as a team we need to figure out who is the most suitable as a leader … it’s not a question for me, I am pretty sure Clive Palmer is the better leader…
“Of course I would want us to be as united as possible and to be frank with you having a parliamentarian getting paid two thousand grand (sic) a year taxpayer money for doing nothing but to vote no to everything is a disgrace,” he said… “Jacqui needs to learn a bit how to work in a team...”
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Post by Matt Granz.

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"To be born Australian, is to have won the lottery of life" ! - Unknown.


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Post by Craig Kelly.

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Post by The Galileo Movement.

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=== Posts from last year ===
Why Blame John Kerry? - Op-Eds - Israel National News
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/14109#.UoVmxwvJvCB.facebook
He did not initiate the rejection of Israel's rights to Judea and Samaria. Dr. Moshe Dann
Kerry has responsibility. If he can't exercise judgement over it, he shouldn't have it. There are those in Israel who agree with Kerry's position .. that is going to happen in a modern democracy. To inflate a stupid position over such an important matter is wrong I don't blame those within the liberal democracy. I blame them who have been given a burden of responsibility, yet abrogate it in favour of gross negligence.  - ed
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That's what it's all about - ed
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Jacqui featured in a YouTube video, where she sings a cover of Scott Alan's 'Kiss the air'.
Jacqui Beck was born with no vagina; can't have sex or babies
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/jacqui-beck-was-born-with-no-vagina-cant-have-sex-or-babies/story-fneuzlbd-1226761028957
JACQUI Beck had no idea she didn't have a vagina until she was 17.
Sex does not define life  - ed
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Jayant Patel, with his wife, left, at a recent Brisbane Supreme Court appearance.
Medical negligence charges dropped against former Bundaberg surgeon Jayant Patel
http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/medical-negligence-charges-dropped-against-former-bundaberg-surgeon-jayant-patel/story-fnii5v6w-1226760877448
JAYANT Patel is likely to be free to return to his home in the US late next week after all charges of medical negligence, including claims he killed two patients, were dropped.
Doctors bury their dead .. ed
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No cure as the pain of Obamacare gets worse
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/no-cure-as-the-pain-of-obamacare-gets-worse/story-fni0cwl5-1226760094991
IN politics, leaders live and die by their promises. Julia Gillard effectively wrote her government into the history books when she went back on her assurance that "there will be no carbon tax under a government I lead".
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Patriot-News retracts 1863 editorial calling Lincoln's Gettysburg Address 'silly'
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/14/patriot-news-retracts-1863-editorial-that-dismissed-lincoln-gettysburg-address/
One-hundred and fifty years after Abraham Lincoln passionately enunciated the necessity of the Civil War in the Gettysburg Address, the Patriot-News of central Pennsylvania, known back then as the Patriot & Union, is retreating from its stance in 1863 that Abe’s speech was “silly,” according to a re...
Democrat press is just being silly - ed
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Last-surviving 'I Love Lucy' actress Shirley Mitchell dies at 94, report says
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/11/14/last-surviving-love-lucy-star-shirley-mitchell-dies-at-4-report-says/?intcmp=features
Shirley Mitchell, who was believed to be the last surviving cast-member of the hit CBS sitcom “I Love Lucy,” died earlier this week, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Love still survives .. although the lover may not .. ed
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Behind the three selfies of Kevin
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/behind-the-three-selfies-of-kevin/story-e6frgd0x-1226760162071#mm-register
KEVIN Rudd is shattered. The drives that consumed every waking moment of his adult life are scattered to the political winds. It will take a very long time for him to reassemble the pieces.
I disagree .. I believe the reason for Rudd's sudden departure is entirely because of an unforeseeable event. I won't explicitly state it, but it has to do with accusations and leadership. Were Rudd to stay, it might be interpreted that he caused the allegation to come into being. Even if Rudd hasn't, he can't prove it because of past behaviour. He would be treated worse than Mal Colston. - ed
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Stone-tipped spears predate existence of humans by 85,000 years
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/11/14/stone-tipped-spears-predate-existence-humans-by-85000-years/?intcmp=features
Remains of the world’s oldest known stone-tipped throwing spears, described in a new paper, and so ancient that they actually predate the earliest known fossils for our species by 85,000 years.
Them kids used to throw rocks at me .. barely human .. same species .. ed
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“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"I will cut off them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham."
Zephaniah 1:5
Such persons thought themselves safe because they were with both parties: they went with the followers of Jehovah, and bowed at the same time to Malcham. But duplicity is abominable with God, and hypocrisy his soul hateth. The idolater who distinctly gives himself to his false god, has one sin less than he who brings his polluted and detestable sacrifice unto the temple of the Lord, while his heart is with the world and the sins thereof. To hold with the hare and run with the hounds, is a dastard's policy. In the common matters of daily life, a double- minded man is despised, but in religion he is loathsome to the last degree. The penalty pronounced in the verse before us is terrible, but it is well deserved; for how should divine justice spare the sinner, who knows the right, approves it, and professes to follow it, and all the while loves the evil, and gives it dominion in his heart?
My soul, search thyself this morning, and see whether thou art guilty of double-dealing. Thou professest to be a follower of Jesus--dost thou truly love him? Is thy heart right with God? Art thou of the family of old Father Honest, or art thou a relative of Mr. By-ends? A name to live is of little value if I be indeed dead in trespasses and sins. To have one foot on the land of truth, and another on the sea of falsehood, will involve a terrible fall and a total ruin. Christ will be all or nothing. God fills the whole universe, and hence there is no room for another god; if, then, he reigns in my heart, there will be no space for another reigning power. Do I rest alone on Jesus crucified, and live alone for him? Is it my desire to do so? Is my heart set upon so doing? If so, blessed be the mighty grace which has led me to salvation; and if not so, O Lord, pardon my sad offence, and unite my heart to fear thy name.

Evening

"And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn."
Genesis 29:26
We do not excuse Laban for his dishonesty, but we scruple not to learn from the custom which he quoted as his excuse. There are some things which must be taken in order, and if we would win the second we must secure the first. The second may be the more lovely in our eyes, but the rule of the heavenly country must stand, and the elder must be married first. For instance, many men desire the beautiful and well-favoured Rachel of joy and peace in believing, but they must first be wedded to the tender-eyed Leah of repentance. Every one falls in love with happiness, and many would cheerfully serve twice seven years to enjoy it, but according to the rule of the Lord's kingdom, the Leah of real holiness must be beloved of our soul before the Rachel of true happiness can be attained. Heaven stands not first but second, and only by persevering to the end can we win a portion in it. The cross must be carried before the crown can be worn. We must follow our Lord in his humiliation, or we shall never rest with him in glory.
My soul, what sayest thou, art thou so vain as to hope to break through the heavenly rule? Dost thou hope for reward without labour, or honour without toil? Dismiss the idle expectation, and be content to take the ill-favoured things for the sake of the sweet love of Jesus, which will recompense thee for all. In such a spirit, labouring and suffering, thou wilt find bitters grow sweet, and hard things easy. Like Jacob, thy years of service will seem unto thee but a few days for the love thou hast to Jesus; and when the dear hour of the wedding feast shall come, all thy toils shall be as though they had never been--an hour with Jesus will make up for ages of pain and labour.
Jesus, to win thyself so fair,
Thy cross I will with gladness bear:
Since so the rules of heaven ordain,
The first I'll wed the next to gain.
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Today's reading: Lamentations 3-5, Hebrews 10:19-39 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Lamentations 3-5

1 I am the man who has seen affliction
by the rod of the LORD’s wrath.
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness rather than light;
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old
and has broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness and hardship.
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape;
he has weighed me down with chains.
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer.
9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked....

Today's New Testament reading: Hebrews 10:19-39

A Call to Persevere in Faith
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching....
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Rachel

The Woman in Whom Romance and Tragedy Were Blended
Scripture References - Genesis 29; 30; 31; 33:1, 2, 7; 35:16-26; 46:19, 22, 25; 48:7; Ruth 4:11; 1 Samuel 10:2; Jeremiah 31:15; Matthew 2:18
Name Meaning - Rachel was the first person in the Bible to have a proper name derived from the brute creation. Wilkinson remarks, "that, for the most part, the formation of a human name from that of an animal is traceable to some peculiarity either observed or desired in an individual, which would thus be most intelligently expressed in a rude and simple age." Rachel, the name of Jacob's beloved wife means "ewe," employed more or less as a title of endearment, just as the word "lamb" is among ourselves. Laban, accustomed to tenderly nursing the weak ewes as they were born, thought "ewe" to be a fitting name for his second daughter.
Family Connections - Rachel was the daughter of Laban, the son of Bethuel and Rebekah's brother. Rachel became the second wife of her cousin Jacob and the mother of his two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. (Compare material under Leah.)
As we have already shown, the characteristic feature of the Bible in pairing certain individuals, compelling us to compare and contrast the lives they lived together, makes it difficult to separate any couple and deal exclusively with one or the other. Invariably, as in the instance of Leah and Rachel, their lives were lived out in close association. Yet we must try and isolate Rachel from her sister, for the galaxy of the Bible's famous women would be incomplete without such a star. Surely, the much-loved wife of Jacob, and mother of Joseph, Israel's saviour, and also Benjamin, could not have been an ordinary woman even though she shone with reflected glory. From the many references to Rachel we have the following facets of her life and character -
She Was Naturally Beautiful
It would seem as if Rachel had all the loveliness of her aunt, Rebekah. The sacred record speaks of her as "beautiful and well favoured" (attractive). Her sister Leah was "tender-eyed," meaning some form of eye blemish making her less appealing than Rachel who prepossessed Jacob physically. Seeing her in all her natural charm and beauty, Jacob loved her. Although beauty may be only skin deep, it nevertheless wins admiration. The Hebrew form of Rachel's description ( Genesis 29:17) suggests that she was "beautiful in form and beautiful in look." That God does not look upon the outward appearance merely is evidenced by the fact, of which Ellicott reminds us, that "it was not Rachel, with her fair face and well-proportioned figure, and her husband's lasting love, that was the mother of the progenitor of the Messiah, but the weary-eyed Leah."
She Was Divinely Guided
While, as the younger daughter, it was Rachel's task to go to the well and draw water for her father's sheep, it was no mere coincidence that she went that day when Jacob arrived. She might have been sick or indisposed, and if Leah had had to go for the water that day, what a different story might have been written of Jacob, as well as of the history of Israel. Fleeing from his home to Haran, Jacob met God at Bethel and left it "lifting up his feet" (Genesis 29:1 , margin), implying a lighthearted alacrity as he continued his journey with the divine promise in his heart, "I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest" (Genesis 28:15). Thus, with the assurance of the divine presence and guidance as a guarantee of favor and safety he met the shepherds who told Jacob of Rachel (Genesis 29:6 ) - the name that was to charm his heart the rest of his life. That meeting between Jacob and Rachel was of God, and it was His providence that ordered the first glimpse of each other at the well. We are apt to forget that often the most seemingly ordinary incidents in life are as much of the divine plan as the smallest parts of a watch, and upon these smallest parts of the plan all the others depend. Our steps, when ordered by the Lord, lead to great issue.
As far as Jacob and Rachel were concerned that meeting was unforeseen and unpremeditated. "A divinely directed life is often shaped by circumstances that human prescience could not have foreseen." As soon as they met it was love at first sight, at least with Jacob. The first sight of his cousin's beautiful face and figure cast a spell over him and he "kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept." As she was his cousin, Jacob was not prevented from kissing Rachel by the etiquette of the East, which was the home of warm feelings and demonstrative actions. Probably the tears Jacob shed were those of gratitude to God in bringing him to his mother's relatives, and also tears of joy because he knew instinctively that the lovely maiden he kissed would be his wife. Jacob removed the stone from the mouth of the well, helped Rachel water the flock, acquainted her with his story, and was taken home by an excited Rachel where he was hospitably welcomed.
George Matheson draws our attention to the interesting fact that the meeting of Jacob and Rachel is "the first courtship in the Bible growing out of a cousinly relationship - in other words, as having its roots in a previous friendship." Jacob, a poet by nature, dazzled by Rachel's beauty, broke out into a deep lovebefore marriage - a thought to ponder in these days when young people are being told that pre-marital experiences are quite in order, to test whether they are suited for each other. Jacob was to prove that the typical trial of love is waiting, and he had to wait many a year before the one whom he loved, as soon as he saw her, became his wife.
She Was Deeply Loved
We are distinctly told that "Jacob loved Rachel," and that the seven years he served Laban for his daughter, "seemed to him but a few days, because of the love he had for her" ( Genesis 29:18, 20 ). Even after Jacob found that he had been deceived by Laban and had been given Leah instead, he served and waited for Rachel another seven years because "he loved her more than Leah" (29:30). From the first moment Jacob saw Rachel he loved her, and she became his choice as a wife. But while she alone was in the heart of her lover, "the real choice was not Jacob's but God's, and for the first place God had chosen Leah." In his second marriage, Rachel only received half of Jacob, the other half had been given to her rival sister.
While Leah might have had "the keys of Jacob's house, Rachel had the keys of his heart. Leah seems to have influenced his judgment: Rachel never ceased to hold his love. Leah bore Jacob six stalwart sons, Rachel was the mother of only two: but the sons of Rachel were dearer to him than the sons of Leah." Jacob is outstanding among male lovers in the Bible for the true, romantic, abiding love he bore for Rachel. Whether such a deep and ardent love was reciprocated we are not told. The Bible has no reference to Rachel's love for Jacob. She appears as a somewhat placid character. We have no record of any grief she felt, or protest she made when she discovered how Leah had taken the first place in Jacob's life. We would like to believe that Rachel's love for Jacob was as romantic as his was for her, and that also the years she had to wait for him seemed but a few days because of her heart's affection for Jacob.
She Was Cruelly Deceived
The deceit perpetrated by Laban upon Jacob, Leah and Rachel, adds color to the record. Laban cunningly beguiled Jacob into marriage with Rachel's elder sister and less beautiful sister. Jacob had accepted Laban's terms to take no wages for his labor in his fields, and at the end of the seven years' waiting expected to receive Rachel. In the gloom the bride appears closely veiled, according to custom. The ceremony is performed and the wedded pair return to their bridal chamber. But in the light of early morning Jacob discovers Laban's duplicity - a duplicity in which Leah must have had a part. How shocked Jacob must have been to behold the plain-looking, undesired Leah instead of the face of his dearest Rachel.
Leah, by her father's deceit, had stolen her sister's blessing. Isaac had blessed Jacob, believing him to be Esau, and now Jacob marries Leah believing her to be Rachel. In the moment of his surprised discovery did Jacob remember how he had stolen his brother's birthright by covering himself with a hairy skin and venison-smell, and making himself appear as Esau? Was this a retributive providence for his own deception of his blind and dying father?
Laban condoned his unrighteous act by declaring that in those times the younger daughter should not be given in marriage before the first-born. He should have told Jacob this when he covenanted to serve the first seven years for Rachel, or before the marriage anyhow. Jacob then became involved in two marriages, which were not deemed unfitting in an age when polygamy was tolerated even by godly men. For another seven years Jacob toiled bravely on, true love enabling him to persevere until Rachel was his. What interests us is the absence of any recorded protest on Rachel's part against her father's deception! Why did she not cry out when she saw that Leah, instead of herself, was being given to Jacob? If Rachel had resentment at the hour of marital vows between Jacob and Leah, she must have suppressed it. Why was she so placid amid such a calamity, at least for the man who loved her so deeply? Unmurmuringly, she goes on waiting for another seven years, ere she is able to share Jacob with the woman who by that time had borne him many children. Perhaps the deep, unchanging love Jacob had for Rachel found little echo from her own heart.
She Was Lamentably but Not Finally Barren
Once Rachel became Jacob's second wife, her continued barrenness created an unreasonable and impatient fretfulness within her soul. Seeing Leah's many happy children made her jealous. What anguish is wrapped up in the phrase, "But Rachel was barren" (Genesis 29:31 ). Says Donald Davidson, "Rachel would taunt Leah on not having the love of her husband, while Leah would find revenge in the childlessness of her rival." Rachel's whole being was bound up in the desire to become a mother, so she cried to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die" (30:1). Rachel should have cried to God instead of Jacob whose anger was kindled against her for her impossible request. Certainly he loved Rachel with a true and tender love, and indignation because of her, must have been a source of bitterness. He should have thought of the bitterness of Rachel's disappointment, and quietly pointed out to her the withholdings of Providence.
Poor, childless Rachel was not forgotten by the Lord for He remembered her and opened her womb (30:22-24). She gave birth to a son, and thereby took away her reproach. The grateful mother became a prophetess for she called her baby Joseph, which means, "The Lord shall add to me another son" - which was not merely the language of desire but the prediction of a seer. Of all the children of Jacob, Joseph became the godliest and greatest. Renowned as the saviour of Israel he stands out as the most perfect type in the Bible of Him who was born of woman to become the Saviour of the world.
She Was Secretly Idolatrous
The time had come for Laban and Jacob to part. While Laban had learned by experience that he had been blessed for Jacob's sake the patriarch likewise had been blessed, and with his wives, children and rich possessions found he could no longer live at Haran. So he set out for his old home, and took with him all that God had given him. Laban was loathe to lose the diligent partner who had worked with him so faithfully for twenty years. While Laban was absent for a few days caring for his many sheep, Jacob gathered all his family, cattle and possessions and secretly left. Returning home and finding Jacob gone, Laban set out to overtake the travelers. Catching up with them Laban took Jacob to task not only for leaving so secretly but also for stealing some of his household goods and gods.
It was this accusation that revealed Rachel, lovely as she was, in an unlovely light. Although the wife of the heir to God's promises, she evidently was a secret believer in old heathen superstitions. She stole the household goods, and when Laban sought for them among the goods of Jacob, she had them hid beneath her person. In her cunning in hiding the small images in human form used for divination and which had a religious significance ( Judges 17:5; 18:14, 17, 18, 20 , etc.), Rachel manifested something of her father's duplicity. It was not until Jacob reached memorable Bethel that he buried those strange idols under the oak at Shechem. Those lifeless deities, the size of a miniature doll, were regarded as "indispensable evidence as to the rights and privileges of family ownership. Hence, Laban's query, 'Wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?'" (Genesis 31:30 ). Because of his superstitious beliefs, Rachel likely stole the gods to insure a prosperous journey. Such relics from the old home would guarantee all continuance of the old good fortune. Jacob's trust was in the great God at the top of a ladder with its ascending and descending angels, but Rachel wanted humbler gods that she could see. Further, those household divinities suggest the laxity of true worship in the home.
Thus, although living in a polygamous state, maritally, Rachel was also guilty of religious polygamy. There was a professed relationship to the God of Israel, yet at the same time she was married to idols ( Genesis 30:23, 24 ). Rachel had no right to carry away what was not her own. Had she known that those stolen images would become a terrible snare in Jacob's family, perhaps she would not have taken them (35:1-5). Images and relics have always been dangerous elements in connection with true religious worship. How prone the human heart is to forsake the spiritual for the material, the Unseen for the seen and temporal! May ours be the constant desire to obey the apostolic injunction to keep ourselves from idols! (1 John 5:21).
She Was Tragically Taken
We now come to a feature peculiar of Rachel as a mother. Hers is the first recorded instance in the Bible of death in childbirth and her sepulchral pillar is the first on record in the Bible. It would seem as if Rachel had surrendered her idolatry before the death stroke fell on her. The hallowing influences of divine blessing on her husband and his seed as the result of Bethel, begot within her a sense of divine awareness. Young Joseph's great reverence for God bespeaks of Rachel's godly training in his boyhood years. Jacob's love for her and his stronger faith (Genesis 35:2-4) helped to purify her character and she lived on long after her death in the life of her noble son.
While Jacob and his host were on the way from Bethel to Ephrath, tragedy overtook Jacob when Rachel died in giving birth to her second son, Benjamin (35:16). She had named her first son Joseph, meaning, "The Lord shall add to me another son," which prediction was fulfilled when Benjamin was born. How often the brightest anticipations of life are clouded by the gloom of the grave! Rachel prayed for children, but the beginning of her second son's life was the ending of her own. What travail and anguish are resident in the phrase, "Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour ... she died" ( Genesis 35:16, 18). Facing death she called her son, Benoni, meaning "son of sorrow." Suffering had brought her to the gates of death and the gift she coveted proved to be a crushing burden under which she sank. But Jacob chose another name for their child and called him Benjamin, signifying, "the son of the right hand," and showered much affection upon the motherless child.
The last cry Rachel uttered as she died was "Benoni" - son of sorrow - and it is in the spirit of this Benoni that the Bible portrays Rachel. When Jacob came to die in extreme old age, he spoke sorrowfully of the early loss of his beloved Rachel who through her years had been caught in a web of much sorrow and unhappiness. He had loved her at first and ever afterward. Brokenhearted, Jacob buried Rachel on the way to Bethlehem, and set up a pillar over her grave. In "his heart that grave remained ever green, and he never ceased in fancy to deck it with flowers." In a previous grave at Shechem he had buried Rachel's idols, and with them her superstitious beliefs. Now he stands at the grave containing the dust of his beloved one and the pillar he placed over it was a sad memento of a broken heart. In later days Rachel's tomb became a conspicuous landmark (1 Samuel 10:2). With Leah, Rachel had helped to build the house of Israel (Ruth 4:11). One day Rachel's precious dust will be reanimated and she will sit down with the glorified with "Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."
She Was Symbolically Recalled
Rachel's cry for children was prophetic of the slaughter of the innocents when Christ was born (Matthew 2:16-18). Jeremiah pictures Rachel as rising from the grave to weep over the children being carried away to Babylon, never to return (Jeremiah 31:15 ). Thus the "Benoni" of Rachel's heart as she died has been re-echoed throughout the entire history of Israel. Often it does seem as if tragedy triumphs, but the key to the mystery of sorrow can be found in the words of the church which for centuries has been singing for Rachel whom Jacob loved -
Sad-eyed Rachel, do not weep,
Your children die as martyrs go;
They are the first-born of the seed
Which from your blood began to grow;
In spite of tyranny's dread days
They bloom in glory to God's praise.
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Aram

[Ā'răm] - exalted.
  1. A son of Shem (Gen. 10:22, 23; 1 Chron. 1:17).
  2. Son of Kemuel, Abraham's nephew (Gen. 22:21).
  3. Son of Shamer, of the tribe of Asher (1 Chron. 7:34; Matt. 1:3, 4, Luke 3:33). Also the name used of the whole country of Syria (Num. 23:7), and of the hill country north of Canaan ( 1 Chron. 2:23).
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