Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Wed Jun 19th Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns Vicki Smith and Phoebe Dela Cruz. Born on the same day, across the years. On your day in 1269, Louis IX of France imposed a fine of ten livres of silver on Jews found in public without a yellow badge. In 1816, The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, rival fur-trading companies, engaged in a violent confrontation in present-day Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 1953, Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed as spies who passed U.S. nuclear weapons secrets to the Soviet Union. You see injustice, and the fur flies and none can escape .. nor should they. It is your day.
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THE REAL JULIA

Tim Blair – Wednesday, June 19, 2013 (3:29pm)

Julia Gillard wasn’t quite so sensitive about personal abuse when in opposition:



(Via Alan R.M. Jones)
UPDATE. The Prime Minister has a problem with men in blue collars: 
Confidential political polling conducted for the ACTU has confirmed Labor is facing huge swings in a raft of ALP seats, results described by leading union officials as “diabolical” and “disastrous” for Julia Gillard …
The ACTU-commissioned polling conducted in recent weeks predicts sitting Labor MPs in Wakefield in South Australia, Petrie in Queensland and Chifley in NSW would lose their seats on the back of double-digit swings against them. 

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WILL NOBODY STOP THIS MONSTER?

Tim Blair – Wednesday, June 19, 2013 (6:38am)

UPDATE. A statement from Tony Abbott: 
Ms Eckerman’s claims are wrong.
As I stated when I wrote to Ms Eckerman at the time, I reject any suggestion that I acted inappropriately.
That, also, was the view of my friend who was with me in the café during our breakfast meeting.
The respected journalist and columnist, Christopher Pearson, who died tragically this month, was with me at the cafe. I spoke to him after Ms Eckerman made her complaint and he endorsed fully my version of events.
I would be concerned if this false accusation has only re-surfaced after Christopher’s death when he cannot again endorse my account.
This is nothing more than a baseless smear. 
Tony Abbott is accused of touching someone inappropriately. To comprehend the full extent of his wickedness, please continue:

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BLUE TIES SMILING

Tim Blair – Wednesday, June 19, 2013 (4:55am)

“I am really OVER the blue tie thing,” complains Fairfax favourite Mike Carlton, who has never run a comic idea into the ground, ever. “It was mildly amusing ten days ago, but no more.”
Mike was mildly amusing 30 years ago. Meanwhile, Liberal MP Jane Prentice rocked a blue tie in parliament yesterday along with almost all of her fellow Libs (and Kevin Rudd, who has worn blue ties constantly since Julia Gillard’s epicblue tie whining). Readers, too, maintain their blue tie enthusiasm: 

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ROXY COXED

Tim Blair – Wednesday, June 19, 2013 (4:21am)

Sexist brutes at the Sydney Morning Herald ridicule Nicola Roxon:

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“C” is a long way from “R” on a standard keyboard. The dreadful slur has since been amended.

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THERE HAS TO BE A WORD

Tim Blair – Wednesday, June 19, 2013 (4:19am)

Maybe the Macquarie Dictionary can help out: 
Asked if the party’s position was diabolic, a senior Labor strategist had this reply yesterday: “There’s not a word for the situation we’re in.” 

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HULL ON EARTH

Tim Blair – Wednesday, June 19, 2013 (4:13am)

A couple from Hull, England, return to their homeland following an unfortunate Australian experience: 
They booked themselves on to a 32-hour flight leaving from Newcastle airport on September 3.
They even sent their eight- year-old Dalmatian Molly to have vaccinations and get a pet passport.
Arriving in Adelaide, the family found themselves in a two-bedroom apartment, complete with swimming pool, however, their dream life did not last long.
Mrs Goodfellow said: “We knew almost straight away that something wasn’t right, but we just didn’t say anything to each other …”
Despite their disastrous first attempt at settling in Australia, Mrs Goodfellow admits she could be tempted to try moving abroad again in the future. She said: “I would go back to Australia, to Perth or Sydney or Melbourne, but not to Adelaide.” 
(Via David G.)

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THE LADY IS A CHAMP

Tim Blair – Wednesday, June 19, 2013 (2:56am)

God bless you, Dorothy Rabinowitz.
(Via Brendan R.)

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Something in the culture doesn’t make for peace

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (6:41pm)

There is a common cultural factor, and a common fear for Western countries asked to help:

More than half all refugees come from just five war-affected countries, namely Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria and Sudan. 

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Playing for Channel Nine

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (5:12pm)

This sounds a bit wrong:

THE Nine network says it will have some say in team selection and scheduling as part of its new broadcasting deal with Cricket Australia.
Nine Network’s managing director Jeffrey Browne said the rotation policy that rested Australian team members from certain matches was a “real worry” in Nine?s strong relationship with Cricket Australia…
He said a compromise was being formalised in the contract but “I am not pushing a black letter print solution because I believe the discussions we’ve had with them so far will give us a solution”.

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Denied: Chloe Shorten is not fighting for Gillard

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (11:08am)

A news report I linked to has been denied:
Chloe Bryce didn’t even attend the Women for Gillard launch last week which is now part of the leadership debate, and she has no formal position in the organisation, Labor sources said today.
A Labor source denied Ms Bryce had been made president of Women for Gillard. But she does have links to it through a separate women’s group.
UPDATE
Not so fast. Reader Peter says Chloe Shorten and her Women for Progress group helped to set up Women for Gillard:
The domains ‘womenforgillard.com’ and ‘womenforgillard.net’ were registered by Chloe Bryce’s ‘Women for Progress’ organisation on 6 June 2013, only five days before Gillard’s ‘Blue Tie’ launch speech.

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Labor’s spin unspun:

Early this year a group, Women for Progress, was formed with Ms Bryce as a director, according to a Labor source.
The source described it as a “politically progressive” group without any express political allegiance.
Ms Bryce recently was made its president.
No, everything is so independent that it’s a miracle to find Julia Gillard’s spin master, John McTernan, in the same room with the head of “Women for Gillard”, former Gillard staffer Clarabella Burley, discussing how to use the social media to whip up votes for Labor.

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And hey presto, an instant astro-turf movement is laid, with Chloe Bryce’s help.  Burley fronts an instantly confected “Women for Gillard” movement:


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The movement is so representative, so widely supported, that almost 100 women turn up for the big gala launch featuring the Prime Minister. Unfortunately, Labor banned TV cameramen from filming the event themselves - and the footage it released curiously gives on the briefest glimpse of the vast crowd that was assembled:

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Carbon tax hurts Holden jobs

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (10:39am)

How mad that carbon tax is - killing jobs without doing a thing to cut the temperature:

HOLDEN boss Mike Devereux says the carbon tax has placed an unwanted additional burden on the company as it struggles to keep its Australian operations going.
A day after he asked workers to take a pay cut, Mr Devereux suggested the company wouldn’t be considering such action if the carbon tax had been axed.
”There is no question that a tax on electricity, in making it more expensive in input costs, makes it more difficult for me to make money building cars,” he told ABC radio in Adelaide.
So what did the ACTU chief, then head of the main auto industry union, say about the carbon tax back when he had a chance to stop it?

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) national secretary Dave Oliver ...  says doing nothing about climate change will guarantee job losses and the AMWU fully supports the government’s move to impose a price on carbon.
Unions sacrificed their members to the global warming cult of the urban elite.
Shame.
Time some acted on their threats:

Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes has warned the Government that “if one job is gone, our support [for the carbon tax] is gone”.

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Holden demands more of the subsidies it’s wasted on unions

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (9:26am)

Reader Peter of Bellevue Hill:

What was the go with Holden’s announcement yesterday: 
Today Holden told 2,100 of its workers in Adelaide they must improve productivity and reduce pay and conditions or Holden will have to follow Ford and exit Australian manufacturing…
There was also a stern warning for Canberra: unless government funding is maintained or improved, Holden says it will also have to leave.
Yet as recently as 24 May:

Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux reinforced the company’s intention to continue producing cars at its South Australian manufacturing plant until at least 2022.
‘’We remain committed to working with both the government and the Coalition on securing the long-term future for Holden in this country,’’ Mr Devereux said.
‘’The fantastic VF Commodore is a key step in that future. We believe the VF will retain the Commodore’s rightful place as one of the best-selling cars in the country - it’s that good.’’
How can a company’s business plans alter so dramatically in less than a month? It’s becoming a little tiresome that taxpayers are being played for complete mugs over subsidies to the car industry.
Judith Sloan is unimpressed by Holden’s demand for more of the grants it’s just blown on stupidly generous deals with too-greedy unions:
Mike Devereux, chairman and managing director of General Motors Holden, ...  has fleeced the federal and state governments for cash handouts - close to $2 billion in the past decade - and threatened politicians with factory closures unless the steady stream of money, courtesy of the taxpayer, continues to roll in.
He has made a promise, probably unenforceable, that GMH will continue its local operations until 2022, for which an extra sum (about $275 million) was handed over by the federal, Victorian and South Australian governments…
He now wants workers - read unions - to agree to pay cuts to allow the company to deal with an “extremely challenging and competitive car market in Australia with unprecedented price competition and discounting"…
But why was the company happy to sign off on the Holden Enterprise Agreement 2011? It was perfectly obvious that GMH was in for a rough trot, but the agreement provides for 3 + 3 + 3 per cent annual pay rises as well as a cash payment of $3750.
And the agreement is loaded to the gills with all sorts of restrictions on management’s ability to actually run the operations efficiently.
UPDATE
Terry McCrann says Holden is demanding subsidies in a way that destroys its chances of actually selling cars:

Before yesterday, anybody contemplating buying the new Commodore would have been confident the product was here to stay, at least through 2022 - the current end-date of Holden’s deal with the federal, Victorian and South Australian governments.
With all that meant to confidence about parts and servicing to re-sale value. And crucially, to confidence in the build quality of the car.
All that potentially got shredded in an instant yesterday. Talk about undermining your own marketing.
There’s only one thing worse than buying the proverbial ‘Monday car’. And that’s buying the car made on the last ‘Monday’, figuratively speaking. The last ones made before the plant is shuttered.
Sounds to me that Holden chose subsidies over sales. Safer bet. 

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Detroit dies: an American warning

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (9:15am)

Death of Detroit:
1 - Detroit was once the fourth-largest city in the United States, and in 1960 Detroit had the highest per-capita income in the entire nation.
2 - Over the past 60 years, the population of Detroit has fallen by 63 percent.
3 - At this point, approximately 40 percent of all the streetlights in the city don’t work.
4 - Some ambulances in the city of Detroit have been used for so long that they have more than 250,000 miles on them.
5 - 210 of the 317 public parks in the city of Detroit have been permanently closed down.
6 - According to the New York Times, there are now approximately 70,000 abandoned buildings in Detroit.
7 - Approximately one-third of Detroit’s 140 square miles is either vacant or derelict.
8 - Less than half of the residents of Detroit over the age of 16 are working at this point.
9 - If you can believe it, 60 percent of all children in the city of Detroit are living in poverty.
10 - According to one very shocking report, 47 percent of the residents of Detroit are functionally illiterate.
11 - Today, police solve less than 10 percent of the crimes that are committed in Detroit.
12 - Ten years ago, there were approximately 5,000 police officers in the city of Detroit.  Today, there are only about 2,500 and another 100 are scheduled to be eliminated from the force soon.
13 - Due to budget cutbacks, most police stations in Detroit are now closed to the public for 16 hours a day.
14 - The murder rate in Detroit is 11 times higher than it is in New York City.
15 - Crime has gotten so bad in Detroit that even the police are telling people to “enter Detroit at your own risk”.
16 - Right now, the city of Detroit is facing $20 billion in debt and unfunded liabilities.  That breaks down to more than $25,000 per resident.
Links at the link.
A metaphor? Or maybe just a lesson and a warning - as Mark Steyn suggests.
Steyn says compare Hiroshima with Detroit and “you’d think Japan had won World War 2”. It’s now like the Third World, he says:

Hang around for the report after Steyn’s comments. Astonishing.
(Thanks to reader Peredur.) 

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How warmists such as Lewandowsky discredit their cause

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (9:05am)

Ben Pile exposes the grave flaws in Professor Stephan Lewandowsky’s ludicrous paper suggesting sceptics of climate alarmism were like moon-land-conspiracy nuts, and concludes:

The consequence of this should be alarming to everyone who takes an interest in the climate and other scientific debates, no matter what their view on climate change. Lewandowsky demonstrates that the academic institutions do not produce dialogue that has any more merit than the petty exchanges — flame wars –that the internet is famous for. Dressing political arguments up in scientific terminology risks the value of science being lost to society — its potential squandered for an edge in a political fight. After all, if Lewandowsky’s work is representative of the quality of scientific research in general and the standards the academy expects of academics, what does that say about climate science and the quality of the scientific consensus on climate change? If the scientific argument about the link between anthropogenic CO2 and climate change is only as good as Lewandowsky’s claim that ‘Rejection of climate science [is] strongly associated with endorsement of a laissez-faire view of unregulated free markets’, then perhaps climate sceptics should be taken more seriously.
One question remains: how did Lewandowsky’s paper survive peer review?
(Thanks to reader Rocky.) 

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Which brand of evil do we support?

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (8:33am)

Vladimir Putin puts a rather good argument for not arming the Syrian rebels.

One hardly should back those who kill their enemies and, you know, eat their organs. Do we want to support these people? Do we want to supply arms to these people?
It’s an argument echoed by Boris Johnson, the Conservative Mayor of London:

Just over a week ago, a 15-year-old boy called Mohammed Qataa was selling coffee from his stall in Aleppo. A friend of his asked for a cup, and said that he would pay him back later…
Young Mohammed said that he didn’t take credit, and wanted payment for the coffee there and then. Indeed, he went on casually to say that even if the Prophet Mohammed had come down, he would not give him credit.
Alas, his jocular remark was overheard. Three members of a movement called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria decided that they took exception. So they kidnapped the kid, and took him off to beat him; and then, in the early hours of Sunday morning, they brought him back — with whiplash marks on his body — and dumped him, still alive, by his coffee stand. A crowd gathered around, and a member of the brigade made a little speech of explanation.
“Generous citizens of Aleppo, disbelieving in God is polytheism and cursing the prophet is polytheism. Whoever curses even once will be punished like this!”
And in full view of the crowd, which by now included the boy’s parents — pleading hysterically — this man fired two bullets from an automatic weapon into Mohammed Qataa’s head, killing him instantly....
Odious, twisted, hate-filled thugs; arrogant and inadequate creeps, intoxicated by the pathetic illusion of power that comes with guns; poisoned by a perversion of religion into a contempt for all norms of civilised behaviour.
They are fighting not for freedom but for a terrifying Islamic state in which they would have the whip hand — and yet there is no dodging or fudging the matter: these are among the Syrian rebels who are hoping now to benefit from the flow of Western arms.
How is it supposed to work? How are we meant to furnish machine guns and anti-tank weapons to one set of opposition forces, without them ending up in the hands of men like the al-Qaeda-affiliated thugs who executed a child for telling a joke?
Mind you, it’s not quite that simple:
Iran has sent its proxy army of Hezbollah into the war in support of the Assad regime… With Hezbollah’s help, Assad’s army retook the strategically important town of Qusair two weeks ago…
But Iran is going further. According to a report in Britain’s Independent on Sunday newspaper, Iran has decided to send about 4000 of its own troops into Syria in support of the regime…
On the rebels’ side are the three other rising powers of the region - Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
What unites these very disparate nations? They don’t like the Assad regime, but, more importantly, they fear its great sponsor, Iran…
[The conflict] is pitting Sunni Muslim against Shiite Muslim… Assad’s main ally, Iran, has Shia as its state religion. So the Shiite states are on one side.
And the rebels in Syria? Chiefly Sunnis. The Islamic-majority countries lined up in support of the rebels - such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar - are all Sunni-dominated.
No, not that simple - although I don’t quite trust the either-or assumption in this argument for arming the rebels:

With 93,000 of Syria’s citizens dead, a kill rate in the country higher than in post-invasion Iraq, and one of the world’s most murderous and tyrannical regimes poised to win a historic victory thanks to western inaction, Johnson can only fret about hypothetical dangers.
In fact, it is the west’s failure militarily to support the Syrian National Coalition and its principal military counterpart, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), that is strengthening the hand of al-Qaida in Syria. The SNC is formally committed to the establishment of a “democratic and pluralistic civil state” and is recognised by Britain, the US, the EU and the Arab League as legitimately representing the Syrian people. Yet demoralised by their shortage of arms, soldiers of the FSA have been defecting to the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra militia, which is, according to some sources, the best-equipped rebel force in Syria. The double-headed monster traditionally oppressing the Arab world – brutal dictatorships in power and opposition channelled into Islamist extremism and terrorism; the very combination that spawned al-Qaida and the 9/11 attacks in the first place – looks set to be resuscitated in Syria, as Johnson and other conservatives do their best to undermine western support for the only viable alternative.
PS:
I didn’t know Putin could actually speak fluent English:


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Pictures for Wayne Swan’s Fix-o-Gram

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (8:02am)

Sounds useful:

Wayne Swan launched his ‘’Fix-o-Gram‘’. Described by the Treasurer as a ‘’real game changer’’, the smartphone app will enable the people of Lilley to photograph problems in their neighbourhood, like pot holes and traffic jams, and send them straight to Wayne.
‘’The Fix-o-Gram ensures people are one photo away from action being taken on a local issue,’’ he said.
Some photos for Swan’s Fix-o-Gram:

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Cameron, Carr blast sacking of too-white Senator Crossin

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (7:57am)

One of Julia Gillard’s brain-waves was to sack Senator Trish Crossin for not being Aboriginal, replacing her with Nova Peris. Last night there was blow-back:

Senator [Doug] Cameron said he remained appalled at the ‘’abominable’’ treatment meted out to Senator Crossin and hoped it would never be repeated.

‘’You should have been treated with fairness and dignity and you were not, and that’s a shame for the Labor Party to have been involved in that,’’ he said.
Fellow Labor senator Kim Carr said there was never any case for disendorsing her.
‘’… I still maintain that Trish, you were treated unjustly,’’ he said.
Senator Crossin took a parting shot at Ms Gillard in her valedictory speech, saying:  ‘’Do we need more women in Parliament? Well, of course we do. But not at the expense of each other.’’
‘’And do we need indigenous representation? Most certainly. But not in a vacuum without plan or strategy,’’ she said.
The party veteran, who has been in the Senate for 15 years described the way she was dumped as ‘’grossly unfair, undemocratic and not the Labor way’’.
If that’s what Labor MPs think of Gillard’s racist decision, I wonder whether Northern Territory voters will be any more impressed. 

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All John Howard need do is watch cricket to make us regret

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (7:46am)

John Howard is a bit of media tart here, but, gee, a few seconds of screen time will make millions yearn for the days when an adult was in charge.
UPDATE
Speaking of cricket, kind of, I’m loving this new Commonwealth Bank ad. Very moral message:



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Age overheated: this is emoting, not reporting

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (7:38am)

Global warming - propaganda
“Greenhouse gas time bomb”? “Defuse”? Such hysterical language suggests The Age has lost its head completely to the global warming scare:
Australia’s rush to acquire airconditioners and fridges is creating a greenhouse gas time bomb, which the Greens and environmental groups say existing regulations, including the carbon tax, are ill equipped to defuse.
UPDATE
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Reader Mull spots a business opportunity following this warning from former admiral Chris Barrie, a warming alarmist:

There’s a one in two chance that by 2100 there’ll be no human beings left on this planet. The planet will exist, but it’s just that my granddaughter won’t be part of it. And I think that’s a pretty alarming statistic, probability, one in two chance if we don’t correct out behaviours.
Writes Mull:
Andrew, all my life I have been missing out on investment opportunities because I have been too slow to respond to market demands. But this time I am getting in at the ground floor.
According to our latest Global Warming guru, it’s a [50-50 chance] that no humans will be alive on the planet by 2100—just 87 years away. So I have decided that now is the time for me to start up a funeral business. There are going to over seven billion funerals in the next 87 years.
I tried doing a cost-benefit analysis, but my desk-top calculator doesn’t do billions. Anyhow, who needs a cost-benefit analysis nowadays—that’s so last century. So when you see an old bloke slowly driving his 15-year-old Hilux ute down your street, ringing an old school bell, and crying out, “Bring out your dead! Bring out your dead!” that will be me. 
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An important reason not to vote for Clive Palmer

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (7:30am)

I think it suspicious and sinister when someone aspiring to be Prime Minister sues journalists asking legitimate questions about his business interests:
QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman has called on tycoon Clive Palmer to be fully accountable and to stop trying to “fob off journalists” examining his conduct in his quest to be prime minister.
Mr Newman revealed he was worried about the future of Mr Palmer’s businesses, particularly his nickel refinery at Townsville, amid revelations in The Australian of mounting financial losses and demands by Mr Palmer for massive cash injections from a major Chinese company.
Mr Palmer ...  has linked the leak to The Australian of a legal letter - in which he warned the Chinese company, CITIC Pacific, three months ago that he required about $200 million in cash urgently or more than 1000 Australian families would be affected by having their jobs cut - to a criminal conspiracy, break-in and computer hacking in his Brisbane office.

Mr Palmer’s lawyers, HopgoodGanim, yesterday issued Queensland Supreme Court defamation proceedings against the newspaper and two of its journalists, seeking damages of about $800,000.
Not fit for high office. Not even fit for a humble seat in Parliament:

Mr Palmer sent text messages accusing this reporter of having lived close to Buckingham Palace and of relying on sources to write about the royal family.
Asked if he would be interviewed, Mr Palmer replied: “Not interested in fantasy from a 4th class jurno (sic) that we will be suing.”
My tip? This buffoon will not win a single seat in Parliament. And will turn out not to be as rich as many now think.
Compared with Palmer, Melmotte was a great success and a very model of how a wheeler-dealer should buy his way into Parliament. 

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Who’d have thought Russell Crowe’s political judgment was so bad?

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (7:16am)

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Who’d have thought? Well, me:

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Still, one man might be surprised by Rusty’s declaration of support. Might feel a bit betrayed after all that effort back when he was somebody:

THE phone rang in Kevin Rudd’s office one day last week. It was Russell Crowe. Well, not Rusty himself, but his people.
“Mr Crowe understands that Kevin will be in Washington over the weekend,” said the Gladiator’s personal attache. “And Mr Crowe would like Kevin to know that Russell will be available on Sunday if he wants to catch up."…
And Rudd’s excruciating response? “Excited beyond words,” one of Rudd’s staff told me. “He blushed with happiness. Now we have to work out how to get the cameras into the meeting.”

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Nothing but blue ties do I see…

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (7:06am)

... at Tim Blair’s place. 

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Unions refuse to treat Rudd as Labor’s saviour

Andrew Bolt June 19 2013 (6:30am)

Perfect for the Liberals. Labor is headed for disaster yet won’t change captain:

CONFIDENTIAL political polling conducted for the ACTU has confirmed Labor is facing huge swings in a raft of ALP seats, results described by leading union officials as “diabolical” and “disastrous” for Julia Gillard.
But the ACTU leadership is standing behind the Prime Minister and opposing any moves to replace her with Kevin Rudd despite the polling.
One reason the unions back Gillard is that Rudd would destroy their control over Labor, maybe forever.
Another reason is more pragmatic:
However, union leaders, who are generally supportive of Ms Gillard remaining prime minister, said there was only brief discussion at the meeting about whether Mr Rudd would improve Labor’s prospects.
Some union leaders were unconvinced that switching back to Mr Rudd would lift Labor’s prospects. “It would be like getting a sugar hit while standing on the Titanic,” one senior union official said. “You can’t look at one poll in isolation and not take into account what’s going to happen the day after he returns. The front pages of the papers will be all about how the country’s first female prime minister was stabbed in the back and the role he and his lieutenants played.”
Rudd also needs somehow to explain how he’d deal with criticisms that he unleashed the boat people armada - and how he’d now fix what he broke.
UPDATE
Troy Bramston explains the power over Labor the unions want to protect - and which Rudd threatens:
Trade unions select 50 per cent of the delegates to the party’s state conferences… At the conference, these delegates sit together and vote as one, as directed by the union secretary…
Conferences decide on policy, elect party officials and determine Senate and upper house pre-selections. Unions regard spots on the party’s executive bodies as theirs.... They demand seats in parliament for their candidates…
More broadly, the influence of unions throughout the party is pervasive. Most members of the government’s frontbench have worked as a union representative or as a lawyer for unions.
Unions send their staff to marginal seats to campaign… At the coming federal election, unions affiliated to Labor are expected to draw on a war chest of about $5 million…
Julia Gillard’s leadership has been supported by trade union leaders who do not resile from their right to publicly state who should lead the party…
Gillard has encouraged, even courted, an expansion of union power. No leader since Calwell has been more beholden to, or more of an advocate for, union power.
UPDATE
Paul Kelly:

THE current disreputable Labor deadlock flows from a core contradiction: Kevin Rudd’s source of authority resides in the people while Julia Gillard’s authority derives from inside the parliamentary party. 

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Holly Sarah Nguyen
Don't focus on the problem , you give the problem more power, focus on the solution, and have faith, live in hope, never despair.. God will not forsake you..

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The Chicago Jelly Bean…

Another shot from my time traveling across the US on the Project Weather tour with Yahoo! while in Chicago. The day was shot, with blanched white skies, but I knew that night would dial in a scene or two. The trouble with getting a shot at this location was all the people surrounding this spaceship from another planet that decided to park in the heart of this grand city. Night time was the right time also because I could do a nice long exposure which eliminated the 15-20 souls who were wandering around it this particular evening. I like people, but not when they get in the way of a remarkable piece of art that needs to be photographed by yours truly.
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Ali Kadhim
A story of last night's Fairfield Parkour class:

It was a nice evening with around 50 students signed in and the weather was only lightly sprinkling, we then walk to the park and discover it's full of footballers training across two fields. We managed to find a tiny unused space behind the goal posts of one of the fields and begin our mental prep and warmups. It then starts pouring rain, and we watch all the footballers leave as we make our students stay and train through the rain, as if nothing had really changed. Two empty footballs fields were left all to ourselves, we saw opportunity and the Warriors all stepped up to the plate. It was just another night of what we do every single week.

The point is this, when life throws unexpected hardships at you, you can either give up or you can rise up to the challenge. When we said we'll grind through rain, hail and shine, we weren't joking. Everyone who came last night earnt their right to be called a Warrior, you guys and girls absolutely KILLED IT and we hope you all continue to rise above. Through all the pain and the struggle we endure, we'll always remain by your sides helping you defy the odds and shatter the limits. That's what we do.
STAY STRONG, 9LIVES 1LOVE

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Matt Yglesias: Is Bobby Jindal’s rep for intelligence just ‘ethnic stereotyping?’ ==>http://twitchy.com/2013/06/18/matt-yglesias-is-bobby-jindals-rep-for-intelligence-just-ethnic-stereotyping/
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A beautiful testimony about Gods angels and how God can turn discouragement into assurance and peace. 

An angel.
I believe I met one of Gods angels today. Last night I stayed up crying in bed asking God why my life turned out the way it is. I woke up the next morning and started my long day at 5.45am. Work started at 8 and finished at 1.There has been a lot happening at home, so I decided to go to uni and study. I have been feeling sad and discouraged for the last couple of months. I had felt like everything around me was falling apart. I often questioned God and asked him why I was going through so much struggle and pain and when my life was going to change. I really forgot who God was, I forgot he had a plan and purpose for everything and that he would never let me down. I finished of my study at 8.45pm. It began to rain. It was cold and dark. I quickly ran to my car, turned the radio on and began to drive home. I usually take the M4 home as it is the quickest. Drove past the Westmead exit and I saw a 3 car pile up. I said a quick prayer driving past and hoped noone was hurt. I continued driving down the M4 until I slammed on my breaks because the driver infront of me had gone into 2 other cars. At that moment my car started to slide.I saw a tiny gap on the next lane and knew my car wouldn't fit into it. I continued to slam my breaks. It was all so sudden, I was in that next lane. I believe an angel came and steered my car into the next lane. It definitely wasn't me.Some people may think I'm crazy but I know it was God. I could feel it. I began to cry and cry because I had no explanation to it. In that moment I felt God telling me not to be discouraged and that this was a reminder that he is still here watching over me and that he has a plan for everything and to wait patiently. - Anonymous
I don't find these kind of stories encouraging .. it makes me skeptical. I believe in God awake and active. This seems to me to be double mindedness. Good things happen when God is part of your life .. it doesn't mean blind luck. Give thanks to him because he has been there for you, from before birth, and will be there for you long after your body passes. - ed
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Pug raising abandoned TIGER cubs as if they were their own after the cats' mother abandoned them.(in russia)
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SOME OF YOU ASKED FOR THIS AGAIN....HERE YOU GO!!♥

FAT FLUSH WATER !!!

You should drink at least three 8 oz glasses per day, they say the longer it sits, the better it tastes. You can eat them as well but they are intended as flavoring and still work, so that is a personal choice. The Vitamin C turns fat into fuel, the tangerine increases your sensitivity to insulin, and the cucumber makes you feel full. Try it for 10 days and see what you think!

Ingredients per 8 oz serving

Water
1 slice grapefruit
1 tangerine
½ cucumber, sliced
2 peppermint leaves
Ice – as much as you like

Directions
Wash grapefruit, tangerine cucumber and peppermint leaves. Slice cucumber, grapefruit and tangerine (or peel). Combine all ingredients (fruits, vegetables, 8 oz water, and ice) into a large pitcher.

Stir & Enjoy!

PLEASE SHARE  To SAVE this recipe, be sure to click SHARE so it will store on your personal page.

For more healthy recipes, tips, motivation and fun, join us here: For more recipes & Good Idea's go to my support group 
WWW.LOSINGWEIGHTWITHHEATHERJOHNSON.COM
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Complete Classic Movie: Desert Command (1946) John Wayne – Lon Chaney Jr

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/complete-classic-movie-desert-command-1946-john-wayne-lon-chaney-jr/

When Lt. Wayne is framed for the murder of his fiancé’s brother, Armand Corday (Lon Chaney, Jr.), he vows to capture the real killer, a mysterious Arab terrorist known only as El Shaitan. He is aided by the Three Musketeers: Clancy (an Irishman always spoiling for a fight), Renard, and Schmidt (who loves sausages). Nicknamed the “Devil of the Desert”, El Shaitan leads a desert cult and a secret society against French authorities, with a meeting point called Devil’s Circle. He remains a shadowy figure, hiding his face and his true identity, as a result of which many people are mistakenly suspected of being El Shaitan, while other characters impersonate him for their own ends.
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Incredible oil painting "Brewing Tea" by ~MingYouXu http://bit.ly/100Eex8
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Day 3 of exams! Good luck to those sitting today. Here's some very serious looking students at an exam in MacLaurin Hall in 1964. Maybe someone can spot their parents...

[University of Sydney Archives: G3_224_1087]
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Friends walk in when everyone else walks out. These pastors flew out to California just to hang out with me for 2 days and lift my spirit. This picnic is in my back yard. @BrianCHouston @JoeChampion @GregSurratt @Rick_Bezet @DinoRizzo, not pictured @Chris_Hodges
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4 her
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Complete Classic Movie: Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/complete-classic-movie-sands-of-iwo-jima-1949/

A dramatization of the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima. Sands of Iwo Jima is a 1949 war film starring John Wayne that follows a group of United States Marines from training to the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II. The movie also features John Agar, Adele Mara, and Forrest Tucker, was written by Harry Brown and James Edward Grant, and directed by Allan Dwan. The picture was a Republic Pictures production. Sands of Iwo Jima was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (John Wayne), Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Recording (Daniel J. Bloomberg) and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story.
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Zaya Toma
Chris Bowen just updated his cover photo to one with Kevin Rudd. In Facebook language, this is basically a declaration of war. I believe this is a sign that there is going to be a leadership challenge by Kevin Rudd in the coming days. Let this be the final leadership battle before the election of a strong, cohesive and disciplined Abbott led, Liberal Government. #auspol

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Anti-pervert hairy stockings for women are huge in China right now.
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Enchanted River is found in Barangay Talisay, Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur. It is called "enchanted" because no one has ever reached its bottom.
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FOR WHOM THE POLL TOLLS

This site has consistently claimed that Kevin Rudd can never lead Labor again. Polls that show a Rudd return might give Labor a fighting chance are misleading and indicate only the extremity of the public’s distaste for Gillard.

I have a ripper little dog called Blinky who would poll well when compared to Gillard. Even Ivan Milat would poll well if voters were forced to achoice. That’s the extent of Gillard’s unpopularity and it holds no Brownie points for Rudd

Media have been beating up Rudd’s prospects for years, he makes great copy, but if Labor is to field more than a lacrosse team after this election it needs to ignore the Milky Bar Kid.

Let’s face it, Kevin (I have to zip folks) Rudd is a political simpleton who was used as a footstool for Gillard’s elevation.

When the AWU could stand him no longer, it ruthlessly killed him off. Seriously, would it now agree to his reinstatement?

When union thugs and crooks like Howes and Ludwig decide who leads this nation what more can we expect than an ideologically driven gangsters’ moll like Gillard.

Ludwig’s heir in waiting, Bill Shorten, will certainly lead what’s left of this once-great Party after the election.

He could replace Gillard now, he has broad factional support, but he has a few problems.

First problem is he can’t keep his dick in his trousers.

Second, he is embroiled in the coming explosive expose on the AWU/Gillard/Slater & Gordon fraud case under investigation by the Victorian Fraud Squad.

Third, he doesn’t want to be the one to lead the Labor Party to an embarrassing defeat.

But in Opposition he will need numbers he can build on and that will not be possible if Gillard stays. What a dilemma for little Bill.

Leaked ACTU polling shows a Labor massacre. Why was it leaked? Because ACTU luminaries were ruefully coveting safe Labor seats that will no longer exist if Gillard stays.

The ACTU wants Gillard gone too, but it wants anyone but Rudd.

With illegal immigration looming as the major election issue, the cerumen-ingesting, overfed public servant with female hands would have less electoral credibility than does Gillard.

Gillard and McTernan are deperate to drag Abbott into the cesspit of their gender division with yet another spurious charge; this time, touching an aboriginal woman on the arm and linking the dastardly deed to domestic violence.

The aboriginal woman, and Labor sympathiser, said she needed counselling and felt like wearing a burka to escape his lascivious clutches. WTF?

Perhaps future Opposition leader Shorten might care to answer the charge that he touched a 23yo staffer somewhere else that necessitated an abortion.

But that’s just another rumour eh?... a rumour that ABC Insiders’ panellists won’t have heard of either.

So, who exactly has taken politics to this depth of sewage in a desperate attempt to cling to power? Mmmm.
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Sunset in Manhattan

Taken while on tour with the On The Road Yahoo! Campaign last May.
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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY MP LYNDA VOLTZ IS BREAKING THE LAW

An organization Human Rights based in Tel Aviv threat of Australian teachers because of the boycott against Israel
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Mudar Zahran
I just wonder why we Palestinians Arabs have chosen to fight Israel, while it brings the very modern values and qualities of life we leave our homes, travel thousands of miles away, to enjoy in the West....
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The guy who thought Obama should give a stimulus of $100k to every American .. costing approx $30 trillion, backs Gilard. He thought about it. Deeply.
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Right now, let the Holy Spirit help you when you feel weak. Let Him empower you with truth that will set you free. Stay in faith and don’t get negative toward yourself or your future. Let God take what you think is a liability and turn it into an asset. Let Him take what you think is a disadvantage and turn it around to be an advantage. Remember that you are more than a conqueror today and every day because He is strong in you.
PRAY ALONG.
Father in heaven, today I give You all that I am. I invite You into the weak places in my life so that You can turn them into strengths. Thank You for working in my life and filling me with faith and expectancy. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
As A Child Of God,Holy Spirit is Strong in You.
Sometimes, people get distracted by what they consider to be a disadvantage or weakness in their lives. It may be something about their personality or looks that they don’t like. Or maybe they’ve been through an unfair situation: a divorce, a bad business deal or a bad break. We all have things that can feel like disadvantages; things that make it harder on us. It may even be a physical handicap, and you can’t get around like you used to.
But just because you have a “disadvantage,” just because you’ve been through a tough time doesn’t mean you’re supposed to sit back and settle where you are. God still has something great for you to do! He wants to show Himself strong in and through you, and He’s given you His Holy Spirit to equip you in this life.
Romans 8:26 (NIV) says "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans". God bless you

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Friend,
Donate Now Button
Everyone, including Barack Obama's staff, is monitoring the progress of Patriot Voices' Stand Up for the Grassroots money bomb.
This fundraising campaign has taken on a life of its own.  How successful we are in reaching our $100,000 goal is now considered an indication of how badly the American people want real change in Washington.
Please, make a generous contribution of $35, $50, $100, $200 or whatever you can afford right away.
We have to show the big government politicians that grassroots conservatives are madder - and more determined - than ever!
You see,  the political establishment wants to know if Patriot Voices and our national network of grassroots volunteers can rival the big money special interest super PACs.
They want to know if grassroots conservatives are mad enough to actually fight back.
So it is crucial that we hit our $100,000 goal by June 30th!
Please donate whatever you can right away.  It's critical that Washington takes us seriously.
Consider just what has happened in the last week:
  • Left-wing Democrat Elijah Cummings declared that the investigation of the IRS was "solved" and that it should be shut down.
  • The Director of the FBI testified that he has no idea - and evidently doesn't even care - who in his department is responsible for investigating the IRS.
  • President Obama announced that he's going on a safari to Africa this month and taxpayers will be billed between $60-$100 million for this lavish vacation while millions of Americans remain unemployed.
  • And, of course, the spying scandals, the Benghazi cover-up, and corruption in the Justice and State Departments get worse every day.
The fools in charge in Washington couldn't care less about ordinary Americans.  They are harassing us and robbing us blind!
That's why, now, more than ever, we need to show the big-government tyrants in Washington, D.C. that grassroots conservatives will never, ever back down.
And that Patriot Voices can raise the money necessary to fight back!
Please make the very best donation you can to our Stand Up for the Grassroots money bomb. 
As of today we are 28% of our way towards our $100,000 goal.  We've got some ground to cover, and I really need your help.
We've posted a special counter on our website so everyone in the country can watch as the American people take a stand.
And believe me, the liberals in the bureaucracy, on Capitol Hill, and at the White House are watching it very, very closely
So please donate whatever you can right now.  We MUST raise $100,000 by June 30th!
Then, please forward this email to everyone you know who is interested in defending the conservative grassroots movement and fighting back against Barack Obama's big government bullies.
Thank you, and may God bless America and the conservative movement!
Sincerely,
Rick Santorum signature 
Rick Santorum 
Donate Now Button 
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Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for June 18th. Enjoy!

From the Blog

Irish press: FLOTUS staying in $3,300-per-night hotel suite

First Lady Michelle Obama has warned that the sequester could negatively impact seniors and cut food stamps, but one thing it doesn’t seem to have affected is the White House travel budget...

Not ‘The Onion’: IRS official claims agency used term ‘Tea Party’ to describe many groups, even liberal ones

Have you ever been talking about an activist liberal and referred to him or her as “a Reagan” just because it was shorthand to describe a political person?

More From the Right Side of the Web

The Weekly Standard: The lesson of Kermit Gosnell

Featured Video

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Yesterday, Michelle and Megyn Kelly discussed CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer's comparison of Iranian presidential candidates to Tea Party members.

Michelle's Top Tweets

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And ... Our Hate Tweet of the Day

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And your little dog, too!

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Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

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