Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Tue Jun 11th Todays News


Conservatives lose a bright light

Piers Akerman – Tuesday, June 11, 2013 (4:47am)

ADELAIDE journalist Christopher Pearson, who died at the weekend, was a significant contributor the national debate.
His was not a household name but he was held in the highest regard by substantial politicians from both sides of the political spectrum.
He was a former speech writer for Prime Minister John Howard and assisted Opposition leader Tony Abbott with some of his major speeches as well as editing his three books.
To the wider public he was known through his well-constructed columns in The Weekend Australian and in South Australia, through The Adelaide Review, which he resuscitated and edited from 1984 before selling his interest.
As the editor of The Adelaide Advertiser in the late eighties I had the highest regard for his skills and the stable of writers and critics he assembled.
Mr Howard was genuinely shocked when told of Mr Pearson’s death, saying: “He was a gentle, true intellectual, a man of great faith and naturally talented, with great instincts.
“The force of his Christian decency made him friends across the political divide.
“He had an extraordinary literary knowledge. His writing was so transparent. It was always hard for anybody to be a political speechwriter, but I found him to have an immense knowledge of Australian literature. I am really very sorry, it is very sad.”
Mr Abbott said Pearson had been “a very strong influence and family friend for 20 years”.
“Australia will miss him,” he said. “His death has shaken many people. There is a profound sense of loss this evening. His influence went far beyond his writing and editorship of The Adelaide Review. For the last 20 years he has been the glue that held conservative thought together in Australia.”
Former SA Speaker and current Health Minister Jack Snelling, to whom I was introduced some years ago by Mr Pearson, described the writer as “a very generous person, generous with his time and (who) always made himself available to help and offer advice”.
I last spoke with him before going on leave six weeks ago and he told me he was struggling with his health.
I would not normally comment on an individual’s sexual bent but Mr Pearson, who had campaigned for the decriminalisation for homosexuality in the seventies and was honest about his leanings.
He was a conservative Catholic and a conservative homosexual and a strong opponent of same-sex marriage.
His sexuality was not a first order issue for him but conservative thought and intellectual freedom were.
The Australian’s editor-in-chief, Chris Mitchell, said: “He was a rare breed—a man with literary and political insight, fully engaged in the life of the mind, the spirit and the body.”
I can only concur and will miss our conversations, his amusing insights and his well-considered and constructed arguments.

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Rudd’s credibility is lost at sea

Miranda Devine – Tuesday, June 11, 2013 (7:56pm)

AS Kevin Rudd prepares to blitz western Sydney this week, he might like to explain why he engineered Labor’s greatest shame, for which he and Gillard bear responsibility - restarting the boats.

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KNOT FOR TURNING

Tim Blair – Tuesday, June 11, 2013 (8:19pm)

The Prime Minister sticks it to blue-tie wearers: 
Julia Gillard has played the gender card as she fights for electoral survival, warning the Coalition’s “men in blue ties” would marginalise female politicians …
“I invite you to imagine it, a prime minister, a man with a blue tie, who goes on holiday to be replaced by a man in a blue tie, a treasurer who delivers a budget wearing a blue tie,” said Ms Gillard. 
The PM has a point. It is indeed frightening to imagine a treasurer in a blue tie delivering the budget. Such as, for example, Wayne Swan this year:

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Labor seems to be infested with blue-tie guys. Here’s Craig Emerson:

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And Bill Shorten:

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Perhaps Gillard should worry less about men in blue ties and instead keep a look out for men in white coats. The lady is unravelling.

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LOBES OCCUPIED

Tim Blair – Tuesday, June 11, 2013 (3:33pm)

He’s inside their heads: 
A slip of the tongue by one of Julia Gillard’s top ministers has drawn howls of laughter in Brisbane.
Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus accidentally called the prime minister “Julia Abbott” after being asked whether he’d be better off campaigning under Kevin Rudd. 
The PM herself is similarly obsessed: 
Abortion will become the “political play thing” of male politicians if the coalition wins the September federal election, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.
Addressing the launch of Labor’s Women for Gillard campaign, the Prime Minister said women would “once again (be) banished from the centre of Australia’s political life” under a government led by Tony Abbott. 
It’s midnight in Altona. She is alone now.
UPDATE. Tony Wright summarises recent Labor and ACTU polling: 
An almost bearable resignation had settled across the party for many months about its loss of support in NSW – a basket case for numerous reasons, not least the rottenness within its state machine – and Queensland, where Labor voters had never forgiven the party for tossing aside one of their own, Kevin Rudd, for a southerner, Julia Gillard.
Labor MPs and the union movement knew it was serious – and in Western Australia, too – but they had little idea of the scale of the catastrophe down south until internal polling and research undertaken by the ACTU in Victoria began returning figures in the past couple of weeks that flabbergasted the most hardened.
The definition of a marginal seat had to be re-written. Electorates on what might normally be considered comfortable margins of 8-10 per cent were suddenly facing wipe-outs, according to those professing to be in the know. There was barely a Labor seat in outer-metropolitan Melbourne or an industrial or migrant-dominated area that the ALP could be sure of holding.
More polling showed South Australia had joined the rush, with the likelihood of the ALP losing almost two thirds of its 11 seats.
Victoria and South Australia were supposed to be relatively reliable Labor strongholds.
Further south, all Tasmania’s five seats were considered in great jeopardy. 
Kevin Rudd will take his “people power” leadership campaign into must-win western Sydney seats later this week … 
He’ll enjoy western Sydney. It’s full of mummy bloggers and everybody eats Alaskan King Crab.

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THE REALM OF EVIL

Tim Blair – Tuesday, June 11, 2013 (5:32am)

According to former Labor leader Mark Latham, some form of demonic possession is driving Kevin Rudd’s hostility towards the ALP: 
Latham: It’s three years of concerted revenge. He knows that every day that he gets in the media cycle he’s knocking Gillard down a notch or two in the polls. This is a program, a jihad of revenge the like of which we’ve never seen before in the history of Australian politics.
And it goes beyond the normal human reaction of revenge. You’re getting into the realm of evil here with Rudd. The realm of evil, where someone who has gone well beyond the normal practice, has split his party in two and now effectively …
Tony Jones: I’m going to have to pull you up on the notion of evil …
Latham: Well it is, it is, because …
Jones: It seems so way beyond the pale to suggest that someone’s ambition to be Prime Minister equates to evil.
Latham: You’re getting now into the sabotage of a second Labor campaign. Not just turning them from a 20-seat majority to the torture of a hung parliament in 2010, but now getting to the sabotage of Gillard’s campaign a second time. And, you know, it’s different when you’ve been in these leadership positions and you know the cycle of getting past revenge.
With Rudd, he hasn’t got past that, so how do you explain it? I say you’re getting into the realm of evil. Sabotaging your own party twice, Tony, is something you’ve never seen in Australian politics before, and unless you’ve got some other explanation for it I stand by my statement. 
Kevni is Cthulhu! Kind of obvious, when you think about it.

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LABOR FLATLINER TELLS IT LIKE IT IS

Tim Blair – Tuesday, June 11, 2013 (5:07am)

Pure truth from the PM: 
Julia Gillard is digging in against another round of leadership speculation, telling supporters she is“going nowhere” … 

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MAD PANDA

Tim Blair – Tuesday, June 11, 2013 (5:06am)

It’s the lone pandy bear of the apocalypse:



Featuring an all-Adelaide cast, naturally.
(Via observa)

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CAST OF THOUSANDS

Tim Blair – Tuesday, June 11, 2013 (5:03am)

Instead of policy, we get pretending: 
Actors are being used in emotive TV ads warning Afghans they will be sent to Nauru or Manus Island if they attempt to travel to Australia by boat.
The Australian-funded campaign, the first by any foreign government in Afghanistan, uses teary characters to explain how they have no guarantees of being granted asylum. 
Why doesn’t the government use actual asylum seekers? There are plenty available: 
Nearly 1500 asylum seekers from Afghanistan have arrived in Australia so far this year – the second highest of any nationality. Only one has been returned home by the government.
This comes after 2012 saw 4256 Afghans arrive, following on from 1603 in 2011.
Only three were returned in 2012 and 7 the year before. 
That’s 11 returnees from a total of 7359 – a return rate of less than 0.2 per cent. With Australia’s truth in advertising regulations, these ads wouldn’t be allowed here.

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CAST OF THOUSANDS

Tim Blair – Tuesday, June 11, 2013 (5:03am)

Instead of policy, we get pretending: 
Actors are being used in emotive TV ads warning Afghans they will be sent to Nauru or Manus Island if they attempt to travel to Australia by boat.
The Australian-funded campaign, the first by any foreign government in Afghanistan, uses teary characters to explain how they have no guarantees of being granted asylum. 
Why doesn’t the government use actual asylum seekers? There are plenty available: 
Nearly 1500 asylum seekers from Afghanistan have arrived in Australia so far this year – the second highest of any nationality. Only one has been returned home by the government.
This comes after 2012 saw 4256 Afghans arrive, following on from 1603 in 2011.
Only three were returned in 2012 and 7 the year before. 
That’s 11 returnees from a total of 7359 – a return rate of less than 0.2 per cent. With Australia’s truth in advertising regulations, these ads wouldn’t be allowed here.

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Julia Gillard’s most ludicrous campaign pitch: beware of men in blue ties

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (6:36pm)

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Julia Gillard used to peddle that hoary - and false - feminist complaint that female politicians got judged by what they wore, while men didn’t:

“I joke with my male colleagues about how easy they get it. All they have to do is pick a suit, pick a shirt, pick a tie. They get to wear sensible, flat shoes and no-one ever says anything about it and if they wear the same suit a few days a week, no-one ever says ‘gee they have got the same suit on’.”
Ms Gillard said for her the questions were asked “how come she’s got the same jacket on? Why is she wearing flat shoes? If she’s in high heels is she going to stumble over today?”
She said the focus was slowly switching from commentary about her clothes to the things that matter.
Her political patron also used to peddle that hoary feminist complaint that male politicians (unlike female ones) played the gender card:
JOAN KIRNER: … I believe that there has been a deliberate use of the Prime Minister’s gender, and indeed premiers and others before her, to not judge them on their performance, but to not allow people to get to that important debate by putting up personal criticisms as the central issue.
But Gillard today is the sexist monster she damned.
Today she launched the most blatantly sexist campaign - the Women for Gillard movement - seen in Australian politics, and did so by not just lying about Tony Abbott but mocking his choice of clothes:
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has played the gender card as she fights for electoral survival, warning the coalition’s “men in blue ties” would marginalise female politicians and treat abortion as a political plaything…
“I invite you to imagine it, a prime minister, a man with a blue tie, who goes on holiday to be replaced by a man in a blue tie, a treasurer who delivers a budget wearing a blue tie,” said the prime minister.
I invite you to imagine the outrage if Tony Abbott began a speech:

I invite you to imagine it, a prime minister, a woman with pearl earrings, who goes on holiday to be replaced by a woman in pearl earrings, a treasurer who delivers a budget wearing pearl earrings.
That would immediately be decried as misogyny.
This is rank hypocrisy and sexism of the cheapest, nastiest kind - a deliberate attempt to divide and belittle on the grounds of gender. 
It is also a joke. No shortage of blue ties on Gillard’s side:

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Blue tie alert!

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(Thanks to reader David.) 

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Send boat people back to say it in person

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (3:28pm)

Why not simply send real Afghan boat people home to deliver the message in person?
Actors are being used in emotive TV ads warning Afghans they will be sent to Nauru or Manus Island if they attempt to travel to Australia by boat.
The Australian-funded campaign, the first by any foreign government in Afghanistan, uses teary characters to explain how they have no guarantees of being granted asylum.
They don’t? In fact:
Nearly 1500 asylum seekers from Afghanistan have arrived in Australia so far this year – the second highest of any nationality. Only one has been returned home by the government.
What are the people back home going to believe? The facts or this ad?
And why use actors when there are so many real Afghan boat people around to send the message?
But I guess the relatives are hearing from them already. From 2011:
IMMIGRATION detainees and asylum seekers are spending more than $5 million a year on government-issued telephone cards to call relatives overseas and to talk to their lawyers.
With more boats than ever coming over, I suspect the testimony of real boat people doesn’t match what’s said by the actors. 

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Just 100 women say they’ll vote for Gillard

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (2:37pm)

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The gender card at its crudest - vote for the woman - is all Julia Gillard has left, and even then there aren’t many buyers.
And see how Gillard once again uses lies to appeal to fear as she divides Australians on the basis of identity:
ABORTION will become the “political play thing” of male politicians if the coalition wins the September federal election, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says.
Addressing the launch of Labor’s Women for Gillard campaign, the Prime Minister said women would “once again (be) banished from the centre of Australia’s political life” under a government led by Tony Abbott.
“We’ve got a hard fight ahead but it’s a fight for women we must wage and we must win on the 14th of September,” she told a crowd of around 100 women in Sydney today.
One hundred people is a “crowd”? Is that miserable few all that can now be mustered for the Prime Minister as she rants about some great ogre coming to deny women abortions?
But, heavens, what a liar.

Is Abbott really threatening to limit abortion? No.
Would an Abbott Government comprise only “male politicians”? No.
Would an Abbott Government have women “once again banished from the centre of Australia’s political life”? No, unless you really thought all women’s political progress depended solely on keeping Gillard as Prime Minister. Instead, an Abbott Government would continue to have a Queen as the head of state, a woman as Governor General, a woman as deputy Liberal leader, a woman as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff and women in many senior ministries.  Should we have concluded men had been “banished from the centre of Australia’s political life” just because Gillard was Prime Minister?
Gillard’s remarks show once again her inability to unite, and her unfitness to lead.
UPDATE
Extraordinary and, I suspect, a freak of the margin of error. Essential Media has Labor support inching up, to a 46 to 54 split.
On the other hand:
Last weekend’s Morgan Poll shows support for the L-NP at 56%, up 1% in a week (since May 31-June 2, 2013) cf. ALP 44% (down 1%) on a two-party preferred basis according to the multi-mode weekly Morgan Poll.
Betfair’s Daniel Bevan writes:
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I thought you may be interested to see the following graph from Betfair’s market on who will lead Labor to the next election.
While the betting has stabilised now, cheerleading for Rudd across the weekend saw him spend considerable time as clear favourite with the biggest movement taking place in the hours after Insiders and your own show when it appeared consensus had formed around a change of leadership.
Unlike betting with bookmakers, punters on the Betfair exchange bet against one another at odds they themselves choose, meaning markets act like a real-time opinion poll of public sentiment.

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AWU insists its Julia Gillard must stay

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (2:34pm)




The Australian Workers Union stands by its puppet:
JULIA Gillard is digging in against another round of leadership speculation, telling supporters she is “going nowhere"…
Key Victorian powerbroker [former AWU secretary] Bill Shorten yesterday moved to hose down speculation that his support for the Prime Minister was wavering…
Senior union and political figures responsible for installing Ms Gillard in June 2010, including Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes, also reaffirmed their support for the Prime Minister.
UPDATE
Paul Howes, unusually low-profile in recent months, has bobbed up to tell MPs to can the leadership talk. The AWU seems to have reached a firm decision:

The Australian Workers Union secretary ... urged MPs to ‘’get back onto the job of taking the task up to Tony Abbott, looking at the issues that matter.’’
‘’What is happening at the moment, and you can’t deny it, is a lot of whispering going on behind closed doors ... and that is truly distracting in terms of what the Labor Party should be doing during this election campaign,’’ he told Seven’s Sunrise program.
UPDATE
How confident can Labor MPs be in a leader who does not dare meet journalists, just three months out from the election?


[Julia Gillard] threw a ‘’give a Gonski’’ garden party [at Kirribilli House] for dozens of parents and their children ...  to telegraph to voters the benefits to schools and students of Labor’s proposed multibillion-dollar education reforms…
Only approved camera-wielders were admitted, and journalists bearing notebooks and microphones and, presumably, questions about leadership, were kept outside the gates.
When Fairfax Media offered to withhold questions and simply observe, even that was judged out of bounds.
Awkward, awkward TV pictures. Wonder why she bothered.
UPDATE
But Shorten’s faction would rather their puppet be in charge, keeping the seat warm:

Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten and other powerbrokers sticking by Prime Minister Julia Gillard will be held responsible if Labor is trounced at the September 14 election as the polls predict, say those mounting one last push for a leadership change…

Those pushing Mr Shorten to switch are citing a heightened sense of urgency created by internal research…
Victoria and South Australia were one-time strongholds for Labor. It holds all five seats in Tasmania and all are deemed at risk.
Regarding Victoria, one senior party source said Labor had done “a shitload of polling down there’’ and “they’re getting the same swings we’re getting in NSW’’…
In South Australia, where Labor holds six of the 11 seats, the source said Labor was in danger of losing four, including the seat of Adelaide, which is held by the Minister for Employment Participation, Kate Ellis.
UPDATE
Rudd will this week attempt to show he has what Gillard doesn’t - and what Shorten lacks, too:

With western Sydney shaping as a wipe-out for Labor, Mr Rudd will step up his push to win back the leadership when he visits a number of electorates on Thursday and Friday. These will include the seat of McMahon, held by former cabinet minister Chris Bowen, who has been tipped to become treasurer if Mr Rudd returns to power.
It is expected Mr Rudd will visit around three electorates, all of them expected to fall to the Coalition on September 14, based on current Labor polling.
Do any of the candidates in those Labor marginals want Bill Shorten to come meet-and-greet? Do they consider him a vote magnet, too?  Or is he instead wildly over-rated by the press gallery?
UPDATE
Gillard speaks! But, curiously, not to Shorten:

Ms Gillard said she had not spoken to Victorian Labor powerbroker Bill Shorten, who was reported at the weekend to be preparing to withdraw his support for her.
“Mr Shorten has indicated publicly that he is supporting me as I get about this important work for the nation,” Ms Gillard told reporters at a Brisbane primary school.
”I will certainly be leading Labor at the next election… Yes there’s rumour-mongering and speculation. It’s wasted breath.”
UPDATE
But reader Tassie Tim believes he spied some backdoor communications:

Was catching up with a friend at a bar in Fitzroy Fri night and did see Shorten and Mcternan on the other table ( I assume it was a job interview wink As my friend is a rusted on labor voted it took every fibre of my being not to go over and offer my services as a office removalist smile
UPDATE
Revenge for that “captain’s pick”:
RETIRING Labor Senator Trish Crossin says Kevin Rudd is a popular leader who would give the government its best chance of re-election.
The Northern Territory senator lost her number one position on Labor’s Senate ticket in January when the ALP’s national executive endorsed Olympian and indigenous advocate, Nova Peris. Senator Crossin said voters were not listening to the Gillard government.
(Thanks to readers Michael and Baldrick.) 

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The ETU demonstrates how low the Left will go

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (1:59pm)

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The Electrical Trades Union digs deep into the sewer to run this full-page ad in the Courier Mail. If they really believe this stuff, they are mad. If they don’t, they are bad.
How low can the Left go? What is it about their brand of morality that excuses them from acting morally themselves?
That ad is authorised by this man:
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UPDATE
Catherine Deveny joins the Left’s fury at a “die of shame” insult:

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But Catherine Deveny doesn’t mind such insults at all when the target is a cultured and civil conservative:
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As so often with collectivists, it’s not the principle that counts but the side.
UPDATE
More on the manners of the Left. Just check the last paragraph of Sam de Brito’s latest vomit of hate and marvel that it is published by Fairfax, the formrer employer of Deveny.
(Thanks to readers Michael, Brendan, Erin, Andy and others.)  

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With Greens advisor and an ACTU boss, the Australia Institute is not “independent”

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (10:48am)

Warmist Richard Denniss, head of The Australia Institute, pens another attack on coal for the Newcastle Herald:

The community has good reason to reject the coal facility [planned for Newcastle]. Aside from the significant health and environmental concerns, PWCS admits the terminal will create no new jobs.
Dennis sells The Australia Institute as “independent”, with “no formal political or commercial ties”:

The Australia Institute is the country’s most influential progressive think tank… With no formal political or commercial ties, the Institute is in a position to maintain its independence while advancing a vision for a fair and progressive Australia.
This is not quite accurate. Note the names in bold:

Who is The Australia Institute?..
Board of Directors

Lin Hatfield Dodds (Chair)
National Director, UnitingCare Australia [and former Greens candidate]
Richard Denniss
Executive Director, The Australia Institute
Elizabeth Cham
Former CEO of Philanthropy Australia (96-06)…

Gerardine (Ged) Kearney
President, Australian Council of Trade Unions
Samantha Hardy
Philanthropy Adviser, Callum Hardy Consulting

Ben Oquist
Chief of Staff, Senator Christine Milne
David Morawetz
Clinical/Counselling Psychologist
Founder/Director of the Social Justice Fund

Hugh Saddler
Managing Director, Energy Strategies Limited
Barbara Pocock
Director, Centre for Work and Life, University of South Australia
Spencer Zifcak
Allan Myers Professor of Law, ACU and Barrister and Solicitor,
Supreme Court of Victoria
The links to the ACTU and the Greens are one thing. Another is The Australia Council’s link to those who profit from the global warming scare,
Take Hugh Saddler’s consultancy work:
The bulk of his consulting work over the last few years has been in analysing and developing policy for governments, (especially the Commonwealth Government,) on greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy, developing workbooks, for example for the Electricity Supply business, and work of a more technical nature such as the compilation of the National Greenhouse Gas inventory for energy related emissions. Throughout 2003-04, Dr Saddler has been engaged in the preparation of ‘A Clean Energy Future for Australia’, a major back-casting scenario study of demand, supply and greenhouse gas emissions from the stationary energy sector in 2040, for the World Wide Fund For Nature and a consortium of industry associations, published in March 2004.
Time this “independent think-tank” tag was dropped.
UPDATE
The ABC and Fairfax play a game of selling Leftist think-tanks as either “independent” or of no leaning worth disclosing, while the IPA and CIS come with leper bells of “conservative” or “Right-wing”.
Reader Peter of Bellevue Hills gives an example:
AB, curious intro on ABC 24’s The Drum last night.
Guest panellist Alexander Philipatos was introduced as being from ‘conservative think thank’ Centre for Independent Studies...but no disclaimer of where his fellow guests - Essential Media’s Peter Lewis and The Chaser’s Chas Licciardello - sit on the political spectrum.
Even Essential Media concedes it’s well to the Left, showcasing people of the Left, so why won’t the ABC disclose the same?
We know our approach works because when organisations work with [Essential Media] they win:

- With the ACTU we drove the Howard Government out of power with the Your Rights at Work campaign
- With the AEU we secured billions of dollars in federal funding
- With The Wilderness Society we have stared down Gunns as they attempt to destroy the Tasmanian wilderness
(Thanks to readers watty, John Smith and the sunshine grocer.) 

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Sydney Muslims tell 60 Minutes the near-beheaded Lee Rigby was a “dog”

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (10:07am)

First we give their families a home, and then they give their loyalty to head-hacking enemies of the West, as 60 Minutes discovers to its surprise.
Our immigration program has endangered the security of Australians. It has been reckless and criminally naive, protected from proper scrutiny by the self-censorship of the media, of politicians and of police. And, of course, there is the official censorship imposed on discussions of faith and ethnic identity. 

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How much longer can email last?

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (9:34am)

How much longer before email drowns in its own sludge? Of the 130 fresh messages I woke up to this morning, 88 could be deleted without reading, being spam, familiar cranks and those tiresome group-sent “jokes” and alarums. On reading the rest, just 22 were emails that justified the sending. But just a handful were worth the reading.
In another couple of hours I’ll need to go through the same sorting again. And then two or three times more before day’s end.
How many other people are wasting their lives sorting emailed rubbish?
(Thanks to reader Kingsley for forwarding the song.) 

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Turkey on the edge, and it could take Europe with it

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (9:30am)

Is this a protest against the Islamisation of Turkey and the rise of authoritarianism - or a sign of its progress?

Police again deployed tear gas and water cannons to quell more than thousands protesters that gathered in downtown Ankara. Just a few kilometers away, the Turkish PM was addressing his supporters after warning his patience with the demos “has a limit”.
A secular, democratic Turkey has been vital to Western security.  

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Even New York Times concedes a “lull in warming”

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (9:23am)

Global warming - general
If even the New York Times can admit it - albeit through gritted teeth - how much longer can the ABC and The Age be in denial?
The rise in the surface temperature of earth has been markedly slower over the last 15 years than in the 20 years before that. And that lull in warming has occurred even as greenhouse gases have accumulated in the atmosphere at a record pace.
The slowdown is a bit of a mystery to climate scientists.
By “slowdown” the NYT of course is referring to no statistically significant rise at all.
But baby steps.... 

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And this year’s Oakeshott medal goes to… ?

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (9:12am)

Peter Costello hands out this year’s Oakeshott medals:

But as the 43rd Parliament draws to its sorry close, it is worth reflecting on why the standing of MPs has sunk so low and acknowledging those who can take credit for such an outcome.
I suggest we call these awards the Oakeshotts.
It will be remembered, of course, that in the self-indulgent speech of the decade the New South Wales former-National-turned-independent, Rob Oakeshott, took 17 minutes to explain why, representing an electorate where the Labor vote was 13.5 per cent, he was going to install a Labor government to office…
The Prime Minister herself must be a candidate for the Oakeshott…
I heard one of Labor’s backbenchers, Richard Marles, on the radio a week or so ago, defending the level of MPs’ salaries and entitlements. The Prime Minister, he said, was paid only at the lowly rate of a partner of a middle-sized law firm. It apparently did not dawn on Mr Marles that this was precisely the job Ms Gillard had at Slater & Gordon before she had to leave in a bit of a hurry in 1995…
Victoria Police is conducting an investigation into some of the matters Ms Gillard dealt with as a solicitor. I cannot remember an occasion when a sitting prime minister was caught up in a state police investigation like that.
Then, of course, there is Craig Thomson, who in any normal Parliament would be a shoo-in for the Oakeshott. Just think: he is under 173 criminal charges…
The Oakeshott lifetime achievement award must surely go to Peter Slipper. Although he is only on three charges, Mr Slipper gets extra points for being the one-time Speaker, the highest office in the Parliament (as opposed to the Government). It is alleged that Mr Slipper pioneered an ingenious scheme to use taxpayer-paid travel entitlements to go on winery tours.

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It’s not just Rudd or Gillard. It’s the guilty party

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (8:52am)

Julia Gillard is broken, and Kevin Rudd may yet take over as a “fresh” face.
How should the Liberals prepare? Not just by attacking Rudd personally, but by repeating the highly successful approach the Victorian Liberals took in 1992 and 1996 - to target the “guilty party”.
I can’t find the 1992 ad, but here is the 1996 reprise:

Rudd, Gillard, Shorten, whatever. What you’ve seen is Labor dysfunction, treachery and deceit.
The Liberals couldn’t trash Gillard’s reputation any more thoroughly. But what it can do is deny Labor the chance of simply scapegoating Gillard, and starting anew under Rudd. It should portray Labor itself as the truly guilty - untrustworthy under any leader.
UPDATE
Related is the first question to be asked of Kevin Rudd should he take over. “The last time voters made you Prime Minister they wound up with Julia Gillard instead. Who will take over if Labor gets sick of you again?” 

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But it’s Obama, so mute the outrage

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (8:41am)

If the president were a Republican, this would be a scandal screamed from every newspaper:

A series of mounting controversies is exposing both the risks of political promise-making and the limits of national-level governing while undercutting the core assurance Obama made from the outset: that he and his administration would behave differently.
The latest: the government’s acknowledgement that, in a holdover from the Bush administration and with a bipartisan Congress’ approval and a secret court’s authorization, it was siphoning the phone records of millions of American citizens in a massive data-collection effort officials say was meant to protect the nation from terrorism. This came after the disclosure that the government was snooping on journalists.
Also, the IRS’ improper targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny as they sought tax-exempt status has spiraled into a wholesale examination of the agency, including the finding that it spent $49 million in taxpayer money on 225 employee conferences over the past three years.

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Barrie Cassidy just needed time to see through Gillard

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (8:10am)

My opinion on March 21, after Julia Gillard quashed the leadership (non) challenge of Kevin Rudd:
“The whole business is completely at an end,” declared Gillard afterwards of Rudd’s leadership ambitions. But it isn’t, of course. Not while the polls show Gillard is poison and Rudd is Labor’s only antidote.

Barrie Cassidy’s opinion on March 22 was closer to Gillard’s:

HOW could (Simon) Crean stick his neck out as far as he did without first getting a rock-solid commitment from Kevin Rudd that he would not be left without a candidate? . . . Now Julia Gillard faces a monumental task to rebuild the government from the rabble that it has become . . . There are lessons too for political journalists who enthusiastically embrace the destabilisation that Rudd supporters generate. At what point will they say to Rudd supporters, stop pulling our chains. You took us once again to the brink and did nothing. Even at the last minute, journalists were running the argument as to why Rudd should return to the leadership, only to be left red-faced. That won’t stop many of them because they too have invested so much in a return to Rudd. But they must now know that their candidate is unreliable, and badly damaged.

But as I often note, the difference between a conservative and the Left is often just a question of time.
Barrie Cassidy now agrees Rudd is not finished, after all:

IT galls many in the Labor Party that the leadership could return to Rudd . . . But politics is not just nasty, it’s pragmatic as well. Since March, Gillard has had the clear air she needed . . . and all to no avail. Rudd has again demonstrated just how effective he can be . . . The intriguing element now is that it might favour Bill Shorten if Rudd was to take back the leadership . . . Rudd would deliver a better base from which to launch an attack on Tony Abbott . . . if Rudd was to lose, the caucus would judge that at least he was eventually given his chance, that he fell short and therefore should depart the scene for good . . . if Rudd leads . . . Rudd could take advantage of the obvious honeymoon, catch the Coalition with its pants down, and go as early as August 10 . . . A whole new ball game would be under way with every previous assumption made redundant.
Much of the Canberra press gallery, though, shared Cassidy’s view in March that Rudd was now finished forever. They still didn’t get it: Gillard was and remains unelectable, destroyed by lies and incompetence.
But their failure to read the minds of their own audience encouraged Labor to stick with a loser until it was too late. For that, conservatives should be grateful, I guess. 

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How Mark Dreyfus helped make a safe seat a loser

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (7:31am)

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus this year described an electorate not familiar from crime reports:

One third of Australians were born overseas and Greater Dandenong is home to citizens representing 150 different nationalities… Our community is a wonderful example to others of a modern, diverse and harmonious society.
Dreyfus, who lives 20 km away in leafy Malvern, was describing a city that lies partly in his electorate of Isaacs, and parts of which in fact are harmonious as a mugging:
Community leaders have joined police on regular patrols in Dandenong as the force tries to improve ties with troubled ethnic youths. The ethnically diverse city has crime rates almost 40 per cent higher than the state average… Pacific Islander and Sudanese community leaders were informed by Victoria Police last year that their populations were overrepresented in crime statistics.
The city centre lies just over in the electorate of Bruce, but voters in Dandenong South can see perfectly plainly what’s happening to their city, which they must use, too - and in which many must try to find work.

It may not surprise then, that vocals prefer a member more in touch - as well as Prime Minister more trustworthy and more capable of stopping the boats:

VOTER support in the once safe Labor heartland seat of Isaacs has collapsed by 17 percentage points, fuelling the anti-Gillard angst among Victorian colleagues and alarming strategists attempting to sandbag electorates…
Isaacs, held by Mr Dreyfus with a 10.4 per cent margin, is ... the party’s poorest result in Victoria…
Heavily reliant on manufacturing and the automotive industry, its suburbs are culturally and financially diverse.
Local government statistics show that in Dandenong South, for example, more than 40 per cent of residents were born in Australia, while Afghan-born residents make up more than 10 per cent of the population.
Islam is the dominant religion…
In more affluent Chelsea, the dominant religion is Catholic ...

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Three Labor leaders prove the party has a problem

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (7:03am)

This is not just Mark Latham talking about Kevin Rudd on Q&A. This is one former Labor leader talking about another:

Latham: It’s three years of concerted revenge. He knows that every day that he gets in the media cycle he’s knocking Gillard down a notch or two in the polls. This is a program, a jihad of revenge the like of which we’ve never seen before in the history of Australian politics.
And it goes beyond the normal human reaction of revenge. You’re getting into the realm of evil here with Rudd.
How is it that Labor voted for these men to lead it?
We must also ask how Labor did nothing for three years as Julia Gillard destroyed its reputation with lies and ineptitude. Veteran Labor pollster Rod Cameron once called Tony Abbott “unelectable”. Now he thinks the word belongs to Gillard:

ROD CAMERON, FORMER LABOR POLLSTER: The situation facing Labor is quite simply cataclysmic. They’re heading for an electoral disaster of absolute epic proportions. I suspect that a percentage vote in the low 30s and a number of seats in the low 30s is the very, very best that Labor can do, and quite probably they’ll do worse, as long as Julia Gillard remains Prime Minister…
The problem for Julia Gillard is her lack of credibility. Her credibility is absolutely zero in the electorate. Fairly or unfairly, the electorate is just not listening to her. If they do listen to her, and not many do, but if they do, they get angry and it reinforces their decision not to vote Labor. It hurts me to say that Julia Gillard will bear huge personal responsibility for the train wreck coming to Labor, because so much of the anti-Labor vote is directly attributable to the Prime Minister. 

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Even Clover Moore thinks stopping global warming not worth the dollars

Andrew Bolt June 11 2013 (1:30am)

Planet saving costs too much even for Clover Moore:

A deal to provide low-emissions “green energy” for Sydney’s massive new Green Square development has collapsed, in a setback for Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s plan to take the city off the coal-fired energy grid.
The City of Sydney said on Tuesday morning that it would not proceed with its agreement with Cogent Energy to develop the Green Square plan - which included several “trigeneration” power plants sprinkled around the inner city suburb.
The trigeneration plants, which burn gas but capture extra heat for warming and cooling and are much more efficient than standard fossil-fuelled power plants, have now been deferred indefinitely.
Cogent Energy had been unable to provide a plan that was remotely close to the council’s cost ceiling of paying about $25 per tonne of CO2, Cr Moore said.
UPDATE
What Climate Commissioner Tim Flannery said in 2007:

Although we’re getting say a 20 per cent decrease in rainfall in some areas of Australia, that’s translating to a 60 per cent decrease in the run-off into the dams and rivers. That’s because the soil is warmer because of global warming and the plants are under more stress and therefore using more moisture. So even the rain that falls isn’t actually going to fill our dams and our river systems, and that’s a real worry for the people in the bush. If that trend continues then I think we’re going to have serious problems, particularly for irrigation.
What Climate Commissioner Tim Flannery says now:

But as I say, that’s a worst case scenario and that’s the overall picture, but if you look at the detail, you see at some river basins, the study suggests are going to be prone to much more frequent and heavier flooding. Other river systems will have less flooding, so if you look at the map for Australia for example, you see there’s an increase in the incidence of flooding across northern Australia and eastern Australia, but some parts of the Murray-Darling Basin and in the south-west of Western Australia are projected to have less flooding.
That last quote is from an ABC interview which failed to ask Flannery to explain the first one.
Thus are alarmists protected by the very media organisations which fell for their scares.
(Thanks to reader Steve.) 

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"When your heart is crooked, you don't realise your tongue is forked."
- Zen proverb.
The man who is hungry:his heart is pure. The cannibal who is hungry: stay away, stay ahead. -ed
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
And now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.(Genesis 11:6, AMP)
God is interested in our vision. Before your dream comes to pass, you have to see yourself accomplishing that dream. You’ve got to get a picture of it. Before you lose the weight, before you break the addiction, you have to see it happening in your imagination.
Today, instead of thinking about your problems, think about God’s promises. Get a vision for what He has in store for your future. Imagine yourself living in victory. Imagine yourself healed. Imagine yourself walking in abundance. Imagine yourself blessing other people. Just imagine what God has in store for you because nothing is impossible with Him.God bless you.

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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
PRAY.
O Lord my God, today I set my heart and mind on You. Give me Your vision for my future. Help me to see myself the way You see me so that I can imagine and live in the blessing You have in store for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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"Smuggy, I Am Your Father"

Our last photo taken about 3am this morning, as the Milky Way hovered over Bear Lake in the Rocky Mountain National Park. That's me on the left, and Casey McCallister and his wet pants on the right. He had just fallen in the lake when attempting to jump to another rock. He ain't the most agile guy, that Casey.

Thanks Natalia Stone for hitting the shutter and light painting the awesome SmugMug logos on our hoodies!


Check out the full res and much bettter version on my SmugMug site
http://www.mb-photography-sf.com/Night/Night-Photography/i-zpHLDPT/0/X3/IMG_7513-2-X3.jpg

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5 Awesome Tricks To Optimize Your Life!

1. If you want to buy the cheapest airline tickets online use your browser's incognito mode.

Always Clear your browser's cookies before booking flights online or simple use your browser's incognito mode. Many airlines and travel web sites (such as Expedia, Kayak, etc.) track how many times you've visited their websites. In so doing, they provide different offers and deals depending on the user.

Click to know 4 more tricks : http://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2013/05/5-awesome-tricks-to-optimize-your-life.html
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What the Hail??? — in Newcastle, OK.
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“Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die”
Love fulfills the law - ed
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4 her
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Allyson Christy via Barry Shaw
"What a strange perverted world we live in. At a time when Bahrain calls Hezbollah a terrorist organization, and a Jordanian leader calls for jihad against them, it is cultured Europe that refuses to define Hezbollah as synonymous with terror." - Barry Shaw
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Yes Vivid did have its moments! A preview of shots taken by the wonderful Lalirra Doube, a tiny homage to the great Gene Kelly!
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Afterwards, Lassie also makes a good meal and a warm coat - ed
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Today Hekia Parata released the 2012 National Standards results, which show improvements in reading, writing, & maths.
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Thanks everyone who came and celebrated my 26th birthday with me. Had such a wonderful time with everyone!!!! Off to Qld on Thursday with Max to continue the birthday celebrations! Yay!
Aprille Lim
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Have you read Ps Brian Houston's blog on worship? It's a great resource for church worship teams. Read it & share with your teams:http://hil.so/8b6o
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"Everything changes. Only God's love is permanent." -- Pastor Rick Warren
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Due to popular demand - we've brought this classic recipe idea back. Spinach Cob Dip:http://bit.ly/11DGEST
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This is a great new look Air NZ! Check out the silver fern livery that most of the fleet will be wearing later this year.
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Bill O'Reilly: "You know I'm a very tough guy on national security."

What does the Factor host REALLY think about the NSA program? http://tinyurl.com/o5c8b7t
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Cory Bernardi
Who's the worst Prime Minister in Australia's history? Head to my website and log in to vote in this week's poll! www.corybernardi.com
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Many thanks to our fantastic volunteers who are helping spread the message of Hope, Reward and Opportunity here in Dobell.
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Quote of the day from Barry Shaw, The View from Israel.

"Israel is the one country in the Middle East that is not going up in flames , going down the drain, or going back to the Middle Ages, so leave us alone and stop telling us how terrible we are."
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See one of these this morning? Click the 'Like' button and head to http://startthechange.com.au/ for find more.
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Retaliation?

Master Sgt. Nathan Sommers, who was told not to read books by conservative authors while in uniform, now faces charges -- which cropped up shortly after he went public with his complaints.

Sommers' attorney and retired Navy Commander John Bennett Wells said, "It's suspicious. No matter what's happening, it looks like a graduated attempt to build a case against him on some really ridiculous charges."

Read more from Todd Starnes: http://tinyurl.com/k2t22er
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Larry Pickering
SHORTEN A CHAMELEON FOR ALL SEASONS

A confidential US cable, discloses a secret meeting Bill Shorten had with the US Consul General in Melbourne on the 11th June 2009. The meeting, solely to present his Prime Ministerial credentials, was within the time-frame of the unions' decision to replace Rudd with either him or Gillard. 

A desperate attempt to gain the nod over Gillard failed as his profile was not equal to her's of Deputy PM.

In the end, Bill Ludwig and the NSW Right opted for Gillard, at the same time giving Shorten an assurance he could consider himself heir apparent.

Seeking to pad a somewhat dull union CV, Shorten had discussed his political leanings and ambitions with the Consulate. His description of himself varied wildly from reality.

A US diplomat in attendance wrote, “Shorten was highly critical of current Australian union leadership. He was at pains to show he was business friendly. He said he had an MBA from Melbourne University and he kept talking about how close he was to the late cardboard king billionaire, Richard Pratt.

“He continually criticised union leaders saying he, unlike them, was willing to listen to business concerns.”

Shorten also told the diplomat that the Federal Government “already has plenty of duties” and that he, “did not want to see additional powers delegated to Canberra.”

In his written report back to Washington the Consul General wrote: “Shorten makes no bones about his ambitions. Despite his lukewarm relationship with Prime Minister Rudd, he struck us as highly ambitious but willing to wait (at least for a while) for his moment in the sun.”

Mmmm, it appears when appearing to be rational to the Yanks, Shorten’s Marxist views are nowhere to be seen.

This cable was buried in thousands of a Wikileaks bulk release.
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Anyone could benefit Eric has the skill and experience to teach you.
Don't want to join the gym?
Bored of doing the same old gym routine?
Sick and tired of mundane gym machines?
Intimated to train by yourself?
Don't know what to do to reach your goals?

Well... ScarE-ric is now offering 1 on 1 personalised outdoor sessions

PM me for more information

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Hondo – Man Should do What He Thinks Is Best
- Film Clip -

At this link:
http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/hondo-man-thinks/
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The headline is digital, but if you click on it it changes
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"Mr. Matt's Wild Ride"

I took a quick moment while students were trading places for different vantage points at this weekend's Aperture Academy workshop, and got a nice little pic of my own looking up the famous street instead of down. The students are in this image but because of the effects of a long exposure, they were all rendered invisible. — atLombard Street.
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Pastor Rick Warren
God wants you to THINK wisely. You are to be "transformed by the renewal (not removal!) of you mind." Rom 12:2

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‘Til My John Wayne Comes Along – Shantell Ogden
- Music Video -

At this link:
http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/til-my-john-wayne-comes-along-shantell-ogden/
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" Ergo sum ego Facebook " 

I Facebook therefore I am
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4 her
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via MAgnificent STuffs

Amazing Sketch.
Visit our Page MAgnificent STuffs For more photos
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via ANdroid ARena
Portable Home Space
Visit our Page -?ANdroid ARena?- For more photos
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4 her
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John Wayne: Still Tops

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/john-wayne-tops/

Forget the youthquake. What America really loves is… old. Whatever Wayne represents — the Old Testament God, a Mount Rushmore face with a permanent scowl, the craggy soul of Frontier or Sunbelt America — he has made the list in each of the Harris poll’s 13 years, and he’s figured in the top three slots eight times.
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Friend,
Moneybomb
Barack Obama and his bureaucratic allies believe that if they hit us hard enough, they can scatter the conservative grassroots.
My goal is to prove them wrong!
Please make a generous contribution of $35, $50, $100, $200 or whatever you can afford to our historic $100,000 Stand Up for the Grassroots money bomb. 
You see, this month Patriots Voices celebrates our One Year Anniversary.  So, to "celebrate," we've launched a massive effort to defend grassroots conservatives across America from the Obama Administration's attacks.
And we need to raise $100,000 in the next 21 days!
This is the largest single grassroots fundraising drive in Patriot Voices' history.
Now, more than ever, we need to show the big-government tyrants in Washington, D.C. that grassroots conservatives will never, ever back down.
We need to show them that despite their attacks we are stronger and more determined than ever to defeat their liberal agenda!
Every single day we learn something new about how the Obama Administration has been plotting against conservatives.
They've investigated our grassroots groups.  They've treated our volunteers like terrorists and painted them as racists.  The IRS has hounded perfectly legitimate local organizations. 
They've demanded to know what we, the grassroots, say to God when we pray.  They've ordered our activists to promise to never protest at Planned Parenthood.
And they've even audited our donors and volunteers!
And that's why we need to show them we won't back down.
Please make the very best donation you can to our Stand Up for the Grassroots money bomb.
We've posted a special counter on our website so that the liberal politicians, the bureaucrats, the left-wing media and even Barack Obama himself can watch in real time as the American people take a stand.
That means I really need you to help us reach our $100,000 goal by contributing RIGHT NOW.
Then, please forward this email to everyone you know who is interested in defending the conservative grassroots movement and standing up to Barack Obama's bureaucrat goons.
On July 1st, I want to be able to tell the media that ordinary Americans pulled together and helped us raise and incredible $100,000 in just 21 days!
That will send the big government bureaucrats in Washington a message they will never forget.
And it will be a great way for everyone involved in Patriot Voices to celebrate our one year anniversary!
My friend, please make the most generous contribution you can today.  $100,000 is a huge amount of money.   And I know we can't reach that goal without YOUR help.
So please, make the very best donation you possibly can right now to help us reach our $100,000 money bomb goal.
Thank you, and may God bless America and the conservative movement!
Sincerely, 
Rick Santorum signature 
Rick Santorum
P.S.  Please tune into Patriot Voices Radio tomorrow at noon ET to listen to our One Year Anniversary show.  You can listen live athttp://www.patriotvoices.com/radio or by phone at (347) 857-3462.  You can also call our "Shout-Out Line" 24/7 at (512) 827-0033 to leave a message for Patriot Voices or Rick Santorum.  Listen for your message on our next show!

Donate Today button

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mm banner28413-0
michelle at garden of the gods
Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for June 10th. Enjoy!

From the Blog

Supreme Court watch: Harris v. Quinn; families battle SEIU over thuggish home invasion tactics

Loyal readers will recall that in the fall of 2009, I published special reports on the parental revolt against Big Labor’s attempts to force their way into the homes and lives of families who care for developmentally disabled loved ones...

Sometimes it seems the only people the Obama administration doesn’t spy on are themselves

The Obama administration is expected to open a criminal probe into the NSA leaks...

Top House Dem on IRS scandal: Case is solved, time to wrap it up and move on

Wow, that was fast and easy...

More From the Right Side of the Web

Michelle's Top Tweets

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And ... Our Hate Tweet of the Day

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Nice try, pal.

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Alabama Governor George Wallace defiantly protesting desegregation at the University of Alabama

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