Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Wed Jul 10th Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns Ella Hoang and Sean Loh. Born on the same day across the years. On your day in 1800, Lord Wellesley, Governor-General of the British Raj, founded Fort William College in Fort William, India, to promote Bengali, Hindi and other vernaculars of the subcontinent. In 1913, The air temperature in California's Death Valley reached 134 °F (56.7 °C), the highest reading ever recorded. In 1942, An American naval airman discovered a downed Mitsubishi A6M Zero on Akutan Island, Alaska, US, which was used to devise aerial tactics against it. In 1973, John Paul Getty III, grandson of American oil magnate J. Paul Getty, was kidnapped in Rome. In 2011, After 168 years, the final edition of the News of the World was published as the British tabloid newspaper shut down over allegations that it hacked the voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, victims of the 7/7 attacks and relatives of deceased British soldiers. What a day! The brother of the Duke of Wellington wants you to speak as your parents. The world got hot .. in 1913. You look for things and learn from them. You know great wealth and the Lord's blessings. You fix your mistakes. Enjoy your day!
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Record chill for global warmists

Piers Akerman – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 (3:33am)

WHENEVER the temperatures rise above average the ABC and Fairfax press freak-out in a frenzy of global warming hysteria.
Yet when a record low hits the nation, there is silence.
On Tuesday, the central Tasmanian village of Liawenee, about 140km north of Hobart, froze with a record low of minus 12.1 degrees Celsius.
It was the coldest day since records have been kept in the area and was the coldest place in the country overnight.
Perisher in New South Wales was the next coldest at minus 11.1 degrees.
The weather bureau’s Lorien Martin said it was also one of Tasmania’s coldest ever recorded temperatures.
“Liawenee’s minimum of minus 12.2 this morning is only 0.8 degrees off the coldest temperature ever recorded in Tasmania,” he told the ABC.
It was the lowest temperature in the area since records began, but then the temperatures have only been recorded there since 1985, and was a fraction off Tasmania’s lowest recorded temperature of minus 13 degrees in 1983.
Australia’s lowest recorded temperature is minus 23 degrees, set at Charlotte Pass in the Snowy Mountains in 1994.
But this cold snap was largely ignored by the media and nowhere did I find the CSIRO or any of the government’s global warmists arcing up over this new low.
Had it been a record increase, it would have led the news and been on front pages around the nation with dire warnings of the need to increase the carbon tax.
As Professor Julius Sumner Miller would once have said: “Why is it so?”
The answer is easy – it is factually accurate but it doesn’t support the government alarmists.
The non-reaction, like Sherlock Holmes’ dog that didn’t bark, gives the game away.
It’s a pity that it came a week too late for Professor Bob Carter’s new book Taxing Air – Facts & Fallacies about Climate Change.
This highly readable work puts the Tim Flannerys in the shade and undermines the official propaganda on global warming.
It should be in every school library and compulsory reading for anyone who isn’t afraid to challenge the so-called consensus.
Till then, the Tasmanians in Liawenee will just have to suffer. If they are believers in manmade global warming they might light a fire and hope that their carbon dioxide emissions will rapidly warm their place on the planet.
They would have to be that silly. 

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Kevin V Kevin

Miranda Devine – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 (7:42am)

WHAT a droll idea from the ABC’s preferred prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull: let Kevin Rudd debate himself tomorrow.
The Prime Minister doesn’t need Tony Abbott to show up to his stunt event at the National Press Club. He’s had so many personas and so many different policy positions that he could easily spend an entertaining hour arguing with himself.
“Take immigration,” said Turnbull on the ABC’s Q&A program on Monday night.
“Kevin ‘07 can say, ‘Stop the boats.’ And then he can duck around to the other side of the platform and Kevin ‘13 can say, ‘Oh, you can’t stop the boats. You can’t tow those boats back.’”
And on economics: “Kevin has had so many positions on economics, he doesn’t need to have a debate. He can be a panel. Kevin could be the whole panel.
“He’s had ‘07 fiscal Conservative; ‘08, the government should be at the centre of the economy; ‘09 spend, spend, spend: ‘13, we’ve got to cuddle up to the business community.”
It’s a delicious image. Angry Kevin on one side of the stage. Sunny Kevin on the other. Church-going, nerdy Kevin could debate sweary Kevin, the Scores patron. Posh, intellectual Kevin, the one who shows up in broadsheet newspaper offices, could debate ocker beer-swilling tabloid Kevin, who puts his feet on coffee tables.
That’s the thing about Kevin ‘13. At some point all those other Kevins are going to show up and embarrass him.
But perhaps all the political dysfunction the country has suffered for so long was actually a strategic stroke of genius by the Labor party.
If the positive poll ratings our new PM has been basking in this week are any indication, the faceless men did him a favour in 2010, removing Rudd, the governing liability, before the policy disasters he set in train caught up with him.
They let Julia Gillard cop the full force of his karma train over the next three years, and then, when she was all burned up, they parachuted in Rudd, the campaigning cleanskin, in time for the next election. If they win, Labor might even be shameless enough to claim it was their cunning plan all along.
But no matter how many Kevins there are, in the end, the Australian people always seem to get the election result right. 

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It’s a jungle out there of the violent and psychotic

Miranda Devine – Tuesday, July 09, 2013 (11:17pm)

I’VE sat inside a holding cell at Parramatta police station and I can tell you it is not a pleasant place to spend any length of time.
The size of a phone box, with a concrete floor, graffiti on the walls, a metal seat and a cloudy Perspex door, it’s not where anyone would choose to sleep off a night of intoxication.
While my visit was in the course of my day job, these sorts of spaces are destined once again to become weekend sobering up venues for the drunk and disorderly, thanks to the NSW government’s new drunk tank initiative. And it couldn’t have come soon enough.
Last weekend, the eight high security cells (with mandatory metal toilet) under Central Local Court, where the drunk tank concept is being trialled, hosted their first inebriated tenants, five men in their late teens and early 20s who were released the next morning and each fined $200 for a first offence.
Who knows if one of those young men might have ended up a casualty at St Vincent’s Hospital, or put someone else there, if left to go on his merry way the night before?
So while it is a baby step towards the zero tolerance approach needed to stop violent anti-social behaviour on our streets, NSW Police Minister Mike Gallagher deserves kudos for pushing ahead against the wishes of civil libertarians and even some risk-adverse police.
The drunk tanks - although more often than not they will be inhabited by people who have ingested drugs as well as alcohol - are reserved only for “violent or nuisance drunks” who are behaving antisocially or pose a danger to themselves or others, Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch said.
The fact is locking up the drunk and disorderly used to once be the job of police. Now they are gingerly getting back into the business they never should have left.
As with any social ill left unpoliced, drunk, drugged and disorderly conduct festers and grows into a serious menace.
That is what has happened on Sydney streets where, as the bouncers who are now on the frontline will tell you, it is the actions of a violent, psychotic few which have turned a night out into a game of Russian roulette.
“What we are really dealing with in regards to persons perpetrating acts of violence on innocent members of the community is a very small minority of repeat, habitual offenders who suffer a variety of personality disorders, or worse, full blown psychopathy,” says Ralph, (not his real name) a bouncer of 20 years, who has worked in some of Sydney’s most popular venues.
“I’ve had to restrain a number of these individuals and they make your skin crawl. They are not normal and shouldn’t be treated as such. If you ‘king hit’ someone in public, special provisions under law should be applied to monitor these people including banning them from socialising on licensed premises.”
He blames courts for handing out lenient sentences to habitual offenders, such as the man who killed 18-year-old Thomas Kelly with a king-hit almost exactly one year ago; his murder charge was downgraded by prosecutors to manslaughter after he pleaded guilty. “As humble bouncers we are the ones left to confront the by-product of the (legal system’s) failures as these offenders roam our cities”
From his perspective, it’s not complicated. “Pro-active policing is enough” to stop violent attacks on the streets, “They are just not doing it.”
As far as he is concerned, society has outsourced that frontline policing to bouncers, who are supposed to keep patrons safe, ensure the venue abides by responsible service of alcohol laws, call ambulances and give rudimentary first aid when a patron collapses from a drug overdose - and keep violent people out.
Yet he says we are “disregarded, basically trained, poorly selected and ill-equipped. Well, in all reality, we are equipped with nothing.”
They are the first responders, putting their bodies on the line, yet they get little respect, and even less protection.
He points to the case of the bouncers at the Ivy who were jailed last year for assaulting a patron. While he is at pains to say he does not condone their violence he says the court did not take into account the extreme provocation under which they work.
In that case he claims the bouncers evicted the patron because he was “intoxicated, quarrelsome” and manhandling his girlfriend.
He returned later with five men who proceeded to throw heavy paving stones at the heads of security staff. He also spat and threatened to send powerful “connected” friends to shoot the family of one of the bouncers.
The bouncers then decided to teach him a lesson and took him to a basement where they beat him so hard he had a perforated ear drum.
Two wrongs don’t make a right and you cannot have bouncers taking the law into their own hands.
But when the police and the courts do not do their jobs this is the kind of jungle we are left with.
So bring on the drunk tanks. The more the merrier.

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2 of 26

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 (7:48pm)

The First Ashes Test, beginning in a few minutes, is also the second match in a 26-game superseries between Australia and England. Darren Lehmann’s appointment as Australian coach seems to have shifted things. Before Lehmann, it felt as though we were walking into a debacle similar to 1977 or 1985. Now, maybe not … 

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LORD OF THE TABLE

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 (2:50pm)

Everybody had a schoolyard nemesis. We’ll call mine Martin. He was a year younger than me, significantly shorter, and substantially wider. Yet Martin possessed an athletic gift that drew me into a Goldingesque hellworld of brutal childhood conflict.
Our battles were fought over the unforgiving green Masonite of a standard 2.74m by 1.52m ping pong table. 

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JUDGE JUDY

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 (2:33pm)

Interesting description: 
Long-time Liberal Party scholar Judith Brett, of La Trobe University … 
(Via long-time Fairfax, ABC, Greens and Labor scholar Professor Bunyip, of the Billabong.) 

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WONDERFUL STRANGERS

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 (2:20pm)

A heartfelt thanks to readers from the Good Tim Blair: 
It turns out that responding to people in a friendly manner, rather than getting annoyed or grumpy about the misdirected tweets, is appreciated.
So basically, from nothing more than a few tweets which didn’t find their intended recipient, and the enormous generosity of the Australians and other people around the world (none of whom I know at all), my original £300 fundraising target has been well and truly smashed. The current running total is £1,335. That’s over £1,000 in donations from complete strangers …
Today has given me personal insight into just how generous and wonderful complete strangers can be. Every time my phone tells me I’ve received a new email telling me of a new donation, I’m simply astounded once again.
I don’t know what more to say. Thank you. 
On behalf of all readers, you’re absolutely welcome. Tim’s total, including Gift Aid additions, is now at £1786 – or nearly $A3000.

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DARKNESS AND DESPAIR

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 (12:49pm)

Second thoughts from Ginger Gorman, the ABC reporter who unknowingly interviewed two monstrous pedophiles.

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GOTTA ZIP?

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 (12:00pm)

In a Canberra first, a Labor leader has been stabbed in the front:

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Rudd’s wound was self-inflicted, which isn’t so unusual. In other political developments: 
The general consensus in the statehouse is that it’s Abbott’s for the taking. 
(Via John) 

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ADULTS OVERBOARD

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 10, 2013 (10:44am)

Some old-school seafaring shenanigans: 
Seven asylum-seekers jumped overboard from their vessel after an Australian patrol boat gave them assistance but did not bring them onboard, it has emerged as pressure mounts on the Rudd government for tougher action to stop boatpeople arrivals.
The men were all rescued by the crew of the Royal Australian Navy vessel HMAS Larrakia 217 nautical miles from Christmas Island on June 28.
The incident, in international waters but still inside Indonesia’s search and rescue zone, raised speculation the men feared that the navy was about to turn their boat back to Indonesia. 
Maybe they were just looking for their passports.

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Social decay - and an immigration system that’s failed us

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (11:48am)

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A symbol of moral decay:

A HELLS Angel bikie who was gunned down during a turf war between rival gangs on Monday is survived by three children to three different women.
And a symbol of slack immigration policy, wilfully blind to just how cultural differences play out:
An ongoing turf war between the Hells Angels and Comanchero bikie gangs is behind the drive-by shooting in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, which also left another man wounded…
Locals in Eastlakes and Mascot said they had noticed a lot of Hells Angels in the area recently.
“They have been in the pubs and cafes and most of them are of Turkish descent,” one local man said.
And from a profile of the bikie gangs four years ago:

The president of Notorious is a Lebanese-Australian with a long-standing association with a bikie from a colourful Sydney Sunni Lebanese family. The two are among Sydney’s original “Nike” bikies - sporting white sneakers, fashionable T-shirts and clean-shaven instead of the traditional boots, dirty vests and bushy beards - and both are from Sunni families from Sydney’s west… One of its mottos is “Only the dead see the end of war” and its “colours”, or coat of arms, is a turbaned skeleton holding twin pistols with “Original Gangster” beneath it…
On the other side of the conflict is the president of the Comanchero City Crew, a Beirut-born Shiite who grew up in the St George area. Comanchero has been one of the motorcycle gangs that have embraced the new breed of “Nike” bikie, and have been recruiting from the Lebanese and Islander communities for several years.
Last year:

A few months before I’d spoken to recluse and former sergeant-at-arms for the Comanchero, Caesar Campbell, who lost two brothers and was shot several times himself at Milperra.
‘’When I started riding it nearly was all Anglo-Saxons and you had a few Greeks and Italians, and they were the ones mainly born in Australia. And the clubs were mainly for blokes to get together and ride,’’ he said.
‘’You didn’t have the blokes with gold chains and gold rings and the fancy cars. Everyone spent their money on their bikes and 90 per cent of blokes worked.’’
A lot has changed. On Saturday the Comanchero who took endless photos were a mix of Pacific Islanders, Lebanese, Turkish and Aussies covered in gold jewellery, diamonds and silver watches.

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Is this really the face of a Prime Minister?

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (11:44am)

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I agree: it infantilises the office of Prime Minister. Worse, it works, encouraging the brainless to vote for more of the same:

KEVIN Rudd has shared a Norman Gunston moment on social media.
The Prime Minister could be accused of getting a bit too personal, when he posted a picture of his bloody face blotted with toilet paper after a shaving mishap.
It went out to his 36,000 “followers”.
“Note to self: when running out the door in the morning make sure you take care with the razor. It’s sharp,” Mr Rudd posted.
The perils of hyper-democracy.  

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Europe tells Britain to be nicer to its worst killers

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (11:20am)

The problem with signing up for trans-national justice systems is:
1. You lose the freedom to set your own culture’s rules.
2. You surrender power to judges with limited understanding of your culture and no skin in the game, never having to face the consequences of their decisions.
I have no idea why these fundamental objections weren’t heeded. And inevitably:
A major revolt against Europe’s influence over British affairs was triggered tonight after judges in Strasbourg ruled that “life means life” sentences given to the most heinous criminals breach their human rights.
The European Court of Human Rights agreed that a “whole life” tariff, which forces murderers to die in jail, was “inhuman and degrading” after an appeal was brought by Jeremy Bamber, who killed five members of his family in 1985.
The court proposed that those serving life with no possibility of parole should have their cases reviewed after 25 years, following which they could be freed.
The decision means that prisoners serving whole life tariffs, including some of Britain’s most notorious killers such as Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, and Ian Brady, the Moors Murderer, could be granted permission to seek parole.
The ruling prompted a furious reaction from the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Justice Secretary. But ministers have no right of appeal against the ruling and the Government has six months to act upon the decision.
(Thanks to readers Barry and Wesley61.) 

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Attention Rudd Government: another of your green schemes fails

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (10:58am)

Why do so many green schemes involve taxpayer money - and red ink?:
NEW federal Environment Minister Mark Butler is being queried about a $9 million grant given by his predecess­or Tony Burke to a subsidiary of R.M. Williams Agricultural Holdings, which went into receivership last week.
The grant was for the world’s biggest carbon farm in the Northern Territory, mainly through the purchase and destocking of a cattle station. That scheme has all but failed and the parent company is under pressure to repay about $60 million to its main creditor.
Opposition shadow parliamentary environment secretary Simon Birmingham wrote to Mr Butler on ­Tuesday asking about the likelihood of recovering taxpayers’ money used for the carbon scheme.
A farm made useless, thanks to taxpayer grants. Unbelievable.
The whole idea stank from the start:

An Australian company is among the first to grasp the economic opportunity of a clean energy future, with a multimillion dollar project to establish a sustainable basis for carbon farming and long-term biodiversity conservation.
Environment Minister Tony Burke today joined members of R.M.Williams Agricultural Holdings at Henbury Station in the Northern Territory to announce the pioneering landmark project.
“This iconic Australian business wants to establish a new model for nature conservation and climate protection, where carbon credits fund ongoing biodiversity management,” Mr Burke said…
“It’s a great win for biodiversity, as Henbury will now be protected forever as part of Australia’s National Reserve System, our most secure way of protecting native habitat.”
Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Mark Dreyfus welcomed the project to rehabilitate Henbury Station, which is expected to be supported by the sale of credits created under the Government’s Carbon Farming Initiative.
“The Carbon Farming Initiative will unlock new economic opportunities, just like this one at Henbury, for farmers and other landholders who take action to reduce greenhouse gases,” Mr Dreyfus said.
“This is a key part of the Gillard Government’s climate change agenda, and is set to open up new income streams for farmers and landholders across regional Australia...”
As I wrote last year:
This is taxing the public to return productive farms back to Nature. Paying more for less food and fewer jobs. It realises the Greens dream of removing man from the landscape.
And note the astonishing profiteering involved. A farm worth $13 million now produces carbon credits which, if purchased at the current carbon price, are worth $23 million, all financed by Qantas passengers and taxpayers.
This farm won’t produce jobs but pieces of paper allowing passengers to fly with an easier green conscience - and a lighter wallet.
Effect on the temperature? Zero. Effect on Australian food prices, transport costs, jobs and competitiveness? Entirely negative.
(Thanks to reader Titch.) 

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Attention Rudd Government: more boats, coming even faster

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (10:54am)

People smugglers have upped the tempo now that Kevin Rudd is back - and it’s sure costing:
Almost 1300 people have reached Australia since he seized his old job, taking the Christmas Island population to a record of 3544 people.
The influx comes as the government revealed on a contracts website on June 27 that managing Australia’s detention centres will now cost almost $2.5 billion, almost $1 billion more than expected last year…
The government announced two more boats had arrived yesterday. Arrivals have also increased this month, with 1034 coming in the first eight days of July, compared with 937 in the first eight days of June.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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Attention Rudd Government: your NBN needs fixing

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (10:48am)

I really doubt we will get value for what is believed to be the $90 billion that Labor’s NBN will actually cost - even with corners being cut:

7.30: Delays and money troubles hit NBN roll out: 
GREG HOY, REPORTER: Anger in the trenches. In Seaford, South Australia, NBN subcontractors are not rolling out the National Broadband Network, they’re ripping it up.
BARRY PRINGLE, SUBCONTRACTOR, SA: This is what happens when you don’t pay your subcontractors on time and you just get basically fobbed off by the main contractor working for NBN.
GREG HOY: Subcontractor Barry Pringle is pulling out in protest over paltry pay rates for extensive work like this.
BARRY PRINGLE: The schedule rates that NBN are paying their subcontractors are so low it’s unable to build in the correct amount, or the industry standard…
JOHN O’DONNELL, COMMUNICATION WORKERS UNION: The reality is NBN Co, the new Minister for Communications, the Rudd Government need to wake up, have a look at the pricing structures in this industry. They’re not designed to be viable. They are sending people to the wall. six of our businesses have gone to the wall in the last 12 months…
GREG HOY: ...Recently, (NBN) announced it had reached its politically sensitive, though radically reduced roll out schedule for the end of June. Many remain suspicious of the actual numbers connected.
JOHN O’DONNELL: You do hear bits and pieces that are misleading, especially announcements from NBN Co. telling people that you know, we’ve established these networks, they’re up and running. I’m sorry, but I go out there, I don’t see any connections to the premises.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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Attention Rudd Government: China slows, our businesses struggle

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (10:12am)

Can we get the debate back to where it should be - how to keep Australia’s living standards from falling?
The domestic outlook is also becoming more difficult, with the National Australia Bank’s monthly business survey, released yesterday, showing company profits, sales and overall trading conditions are the worst they have been since May 2009 as the financial crisis was just beginning to ease…
The NAB survey shows the number of firms experiencing worsening conditions outnumbers those registering an improvement by eight percentage points. For most of the past four years, firms experiencing improving conditions have been in the majority by about 10 points.
Companies are operating with 20.7 per cent of their capacity idle, which is also the highest since the financial crisis…
Although the federal budget is expected to benefit from the sharp fall in the Australian dollar, the IMF’s latest forecasts throw further doubt on Treasury’s forecasts from May. Treasury had expected China would achieve 8 per cent growth this year, against the IMF’s new forecast of 7.8 per cent, while the budget’s forecast for world growth of 3.25 per cent this year and 4 per cent next is also ahead of the IMF’s 3.1 per cent this year and 3.8 per cent next year.
The IMF has cut its estimate for world trade growth this year from 3.6 per cent to 3.1 per cent and says it expects commodity-exporting nations such as Australia to suffer further falls in export prices.

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Suing Mark Latham

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (9:49am)

I don’t believe in suing people for defamation. My wife says I’m crazy, and we could have cleaned up big many times over.
Michael Smith also takes a tougher line. If you wish to donate to his appeal for funds to sue Mark Latham, or just want to know what the issue is, go here. The audio clip at the link and the video below explain things:

(Thanks to reader Andy.) 

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Calm down, ladies

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (8:44am)

Not one person complained:
KERRY O’BRIEN: I’m not going to identify people who’ve talked to me off the record. But not politicians.
TONY ABBOTT: Calm down, Kerry.
KERRY O’BRIEN: No, no, no.
The Left in uproar:

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is facing a backlash today after telling a female journalist to “calm down” at a press conference.
Mr Abbott was speaking at a Sydney pie factory this morning when Guardian Australia journalist Bridie Jabour asked him about $9000 of travel expenses claimed while promoting his book, Battlelines…
“Look I think we’ve fully dealt with this…” he responded.
But Ms Jabour interjected that Mr Abbott had simply “repeated your lines over and over again,” without actually answering the question.

“Calm down,” the opposition leader told her.
“Gary Gray looked at this issue two years ago and he said, ‘there’s nothing to see here’."…
The “calm down” remark sparked condemnation on social media and the hashtag #calmdownbridie soon began trending across Australia.
If women in politics and the media want to be treated differently, can they let the rest of us know? I’d assumed the demand was for equality, but clearly I was wrong.
Plainly we are being asked to be much, much more sensitive - so sensitive, that I wonder whether it wouldn’t be fairer on a Bridie and easier for everyone else to keep such fragile petals away from public affairs and nasty things like press conferences. I couldn’t bear for her feelings to be hurt.
Or perhaps a Bridie should learn from a Michelle Grattan, who has carved out a distinguished career for herself without once playing the victim or having the vapors at a cross word.
UPDATE
More hypocrisy, spotted by reader Peter:

Remember this “rude reporter” news conference where a journalist pestered Gillard much like Jabour did to Abbott. Gillard was praised for the ‘sting of her tongue’, and the journalist was forced to apologise.

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So a reporter can heckle a male politician, but not a female one. A politician can tell a male reporter to “calm down”, but not a female one.
I vote we end this gender war and gotcha politics now. 

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Rudd for President. For Labor’s life

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (8:31am)

Paul Kelly on the rise of President-for-life Rudd:

Under Rudd’s proposed rules for leaders in office, Paul Keating could not have replaced Bob Hawke in 1991, Julia Gillard could not have replaced Rudd in 2010 and Rudd could not have replaced Gillard in 2013. Three of the four previous Labor PMs were removed by caucus (Keating being the exception). This power, in reality, is no longer available.
If Rudd wins the coming election, it guarantees his survival against the caucus for the full three years. It guarantees that he can lead the government into the 2016 election. If he wins that, it guarantees he can lead the government at the 2019 election. You get the picture. Provided the people vote for Rudd, the party has no choice: it must accept him.
Yes, this could mean a Labor PM can’t be destabilised by leadership speculation. Rudd also stop’s Tony Abbott from warning that you’ll once more vote for Rudd but get the unions’ puppet. But:

You have to laugh, though: the leader Labor spent three years saying was so mad, bad and dysfunctional in office that he had to be removed is about to be given even more power over his colleagues. It is Rudd’s ultimate joke on Labor.
UPDATE
Who are real “misogynists” who can’t accept a female leader? Demographer and former Labor Senator John Black:

Our profiles showed that in recent elections the long-suffering ALP voters have been the best statistical predictors of the swings against Labor candidates.
This means that the worst enemies of Kristina Keneally, Anna Bligh and potentially Gillard, the people who disliked them the most, were not the old or the young, the rich or the poor, blue collar or white collar, but just ordinary Labor voters.
But Black also raises the inevitable speculation:
On the Newspoll figures, you can do the maths easily enough for Abbott. The Liberal primary vote would go up about 4 per cent if Abbott were swapped for a leader with neutral satisfaction ratings. In which case, Rudd and Labor would be unelectable.
Then again, it was Abbott who devised the strategy that has put such intense pressure on Labor.
UPDATE
Unions are very wary of challenging Rudd when he’s riding so high and Labor’s success at the election hangs by a thread. But there are some muted sounds already of unease:
Six trade unions aligned to the Right have scheduled a meeting in Sydney on Friday to formulate a response to the Prime Minister’s proposal to give rank and file Labor members a vote for party leader - a reform that will curb the power of caucus and all but prevent union-backed leadership spills to remove sitting Labor prime ministers.
A NSW-based union boss said: ‘’We don’t like being taken for granted.’’…
Fairfax understands unions had been pushing for any reforms to go no further than the British model in which unions retain a third of the votes for the leader. Mr Rudd’s reform proposal, to be endorsed within a fortnight, splits the vote 50:50 between caucus and the membership…
A union source said Friday’s meeting would in part try to decide ...  whether a rule that a change of prime minister would require at least 75 per cent caucus support and proof that the PM had brought the party into ‘’disrepute’’ would place too much power in the hands of the leader.
Phil Coorey:

Trade unions are urging Kevin Rudd to change his proposed leadership reform to give them a say in choosing the Labor leader, and are not ruling out trying to force a change after the election if the Prime Minister disagrees…
(Transport Workers Union boss Tony) Sheldon...said the Prime Minister should first conduct a plebiscite of the Labor community – the rank-and-file, union members and affiliated groups – to choose a preferred model.
(Thanks to reader Peter.) 

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Our money, but Simon Crean’s holiday

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (8:25am)

I respect Simon Crean and believe in subsidising study travel for MPs. But study travel for an MP who has already announced his retirement from politics is an indulgence that taxpayers should not have to pay for:

OUTGOING Labor veteran and Rudd supporter Simon Crean and his wife have taken a taxpayer-funded parliamentary trip to Europe just months before he leaves his job.
It is understood the study trip could include Italian cooking lessons for the couple in Rome as well as a sojourn on the canals of Venice.
Department of Foreign Affairs sources have told The Australian that instructions were recently sent to Australia’s embassy in Rome to look into organising cooking classes for Mr Crean and his wife, Carole.
The former Labor leader is believed to be in the Swiss city of Geneva on a visit that will also take him to Rome, the fashion capital of Milan and the tourist mecca of Venice - all paid for by his parliamentary entitlements for overseas study travel.
Many Australians would love to have the money for cooking classes in Rome and a stroll through Venice. But that money - and that trip - has gone to an MP.
Not fair. 

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Taxing Air: reviews of the latest expose of the warming scare

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (7:45am)

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Scientist Matt Ridley:

...  towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century it became clear that the Earth’s average temperature just was not consistently rising any more, however many “adjustments” were made to the thermometer records, let alone rising anything like as rapidly as all the models demanded.
So those who made their living from alarm, and by then there were lots, switched tactics and began to jump on any unusual weather event, whether it was a storm, a drought, a blizzard or a flood, and blame it on man-made carbon dioxide emissions....
The fact that people have short memories about weather events is what enables this game to be played…
So it is deeply refreshing to read the new book called Taxing Air: Facts and Fallacies About Climate Change by the internationally respected geologist Bob Carter and illustrated by the cartoonist John Spooner, which puts climate change exactly where it should be - in perspective. After demolishing many other arguments for carbon taxes and climate alarm, Carter runs through recent weather events, showing that there is nothing exceptional, let alone unprecedented, about recent droughts, floods, heat waves, cyclones or changes to the Great Barrier Reef.
How come then that last week the World Meteorological Organisation produced a breathless report claiming that “the decadal rate of increase (of world temperature) between 1991-2000 and 2001-2010 was unprecedented”? It took professor Ed Hawkins of Reading University a short time to point out that this was no longer true if you compared 1993-2002 and 2003-2012 - ie, if you took the most up-to-date records. In that case, the latest decade showed a smaller increase over the preceding decade than either of the preceding decades did. In other words, the temperature standstill of the past 16 years has begun to show up in the decade-by-decade data…
Carter is a courageous man, because within academia those who do not accept that climate change is dangerous are often bullied.
Indeed, Carter, who retired from James Cook University before he got interested in the global warming debate but remains an emeritus fellow, recently found himself deprived of even an email address by colleagues resentful of his failure to toe the line. As the old joke goes: what’s the opposite of diversity? University.
Terry McCrann:
Bob Carter and John Spooner are ... setting out in great detail a great stupidity: the great global warming consensus.
The absurdity of the consequence of that consensus is captured in their book title: Taxing Air. That’s the utter absurdity, in our local context, in many more ways than one, of former prime minister Julia Gillard’s carbon tax, and the artificial pricing of carbon dioxide more generally in parts of the world…
Carter, a distinguished marine geologist and environmental scientist; Spooner, The Age’s illustrator-cartoonist-commentator ...  called on a group of like-minded people, expert across not just the climate, such as former head of the National Climate Centre Bill Kininmonth, but economist Martin Feil, to calmly, analytically and totally dismantle the global warming stupidity…
They pick apart the dynamics of climate alarmism. How it began, what exactly is the IPCC, the truth about the Climategate emails, the big lie about “carbon pollution” instead of the truth about the carbon dioxide which is the basis for life on earth.
They talk about the Australian climate in the global context; and again the utter uselessness even if you are a total true believer, of reducing our CO2 emissions in the absence of global action.
Jennifer Marohasy:
IT’S focused on Australia, popular misconceptions about the environment, history, climate and there is more, it’s chock full of cartoons! I’m referring to a new book by scientist Bob Carter and cartoonist John Spooner entitled Taxing Air: Facts & Fallacies about Climate Change. 
Some of the big issues address:

Just 8,000 years ago, there was virtually no summer sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean.
Sea-level rise is natural, and declining in rate.
Australian rainfall has not decreased over the last 100 years.
A previous Australian drought lasted 69 years.
By catchment management, the Murray-Darling Basin now contains almost 3 times as much water as it held naturally.
Global air temperature has not increased for the last 16 years, despite an 8% increase in CO2.
Global ocean temperature is also steady or cooling slightly.
Australian territory absorbs up to 20 times the amount of CO2 that we emit.
Order Taxing Air: Facts and Fallacies about Climate Change here.

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Holden demands even more millions for those 1700 jobs

Andrew Bolt July 10 2013 (7:42am)

Holden demands yet more for less:
HOLDEN wants up to $60 million in extra federal taxpayer-funded assistance as it intensifies contract negotiations with Labor before Kevin Rudd sets a new election date.
South Australia’s Labor government yesterday warned the carmaker could announce the closure of its northern Adelaide plant by the end of the year, with Holden understood to be demanding more than the $275m it was promised last year to secure its operations in Australia until 2022.
Holden also wants to revise an enterprise bargaining agreement with the unions, involving pay cuts of up to $200 a week for production workers. The carmaker’s behind-the-scenes push for increased taxpayer assistance will reopen a policy divide between the Rudd government and the Coalition, which wants to reduce auto industry assistance by $500m…
There are now just 1700 workers at the northern Adelaide factory, down from 5700 in 2005, and the company is asking workers to take pay cuts of up to $200 a week to help keep the plant open.
All those millions for so very few jobs. That should be the quickest no, even from glad-spending Rudd. 

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I want to see more children getting the skills they need to succeed. Find out more here: national.org.nz/public-services.aspx/
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Pastor Rick Warren
"We prove to be authentic servants of God by resolute perseverance in times of difficulties and distress.” 2Cor.6:4 NJB

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This morning the first Waratah Train left Richmond station. Great that the NSW Government is delivering new modern heated and airconditioned trains for long suffering commuters who were ignored by Labor for too long
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Pastor Rick Warren
An attack from evil always preceeds a victory from God.

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The Honey Bear Hot Chocolat and The Salted Caramel Storm Hot Chocolat are joining us for winter. Be nice, give them a hug! 
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Milwaukee by nightfall. Another in the on the road with Yahoo! series.
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
"I say to you people that are listening to me, love your enemies. Do good to those people that hate you. Ask God to bless those people that say bad things to you. Pray for those people that are mean to you. If a person hits you on the side of your face, let him hit the other side too. If a person takes your coat, don't stop him from taking your shirt too. Give to every person that asks you. When a person takes something that is yours, don't ask for it back. Do for other people what you want them to do for you. "If you love only those people that love you, should you get some special praise for doing that? No! Even sinners love the people that love them! If you do good only to those people that do good to you, should you get some special praise for doing that? No! Even sinners do that! If you loan things to people, always expecting to get something back, should you get some special praise for that? No! Even sinners lend to other sinners so that they can get back the same amount! "I'm telling you to love your enemies and do good to them. Lend to people without expecting to get anything back. If you do these things, you will have a great reward. You will be children of the Most High (God). Yes, because God is good even to the people that are full of sin and not thankful. Give love and mercy the same as your Father gives love and mercy. ~ Luke 6:27-36

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Holly Sarah Nguyen
How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked or take the path of sinners or join a group of mockers!
Psalm 1.1

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What an awesome advert! - ed
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Another Manhattan image from my stint with Yahoo! last May. Deepak and I raced the setting sun all the way to Staten Island in order to get this shot. Once there the temperatures immediately dropped and the wind picked up. Good thing there was a magnificent Indian restaurant nearby to warm us back up! — in Staten Island, NY.
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And These Food Ingredients Are Even More Scary, go check out:

http://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2013/03/6-scary-food-ingredients-we-have_14.html
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Kevin Rudd
Rudd .. take your fingers out from inside that child's top .. - ed
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4 her
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New York from the top of the Rock. I could have stayed up there all night, but my time in Manhattan was at a close and I had to get to Philadelphia early the next morning. A great time while taking photos for Yahoo! as their weather photographer. This was a 15 second hand held picture. Adobe Photoshop's new "shake reduction" filter actually helped get this to where I felt it could be represented. Pretty nifty technology! Behind the Empire State Building, the shining new Freedom Tower in the background enjoys it's first night with it's new glowing spire on it's top. — atRockefeller Center.
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Bilateral meeting with President Morsi of Egypt
Both removed from government days after .. - ed
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I like the 3 .. Suggesting third choice .. Yeah Nat .. You are improving. - ed
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This is probably going to cost me some friends, but it needs to be done. So, here we go!

By: Rabbi Aryel Nachman ben Chaim – 29 Tammuz 5773

BS”D (Besiyata Dishmaya - "With the help of Heaven") In the aspect of “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the L-RD;” (Yeshayahu [Isaiah] 1: 18)

Dear Friends,

I have some areas of concern, and I think it is time to address them, or at least begin to think about them. Let’s face it, a person can’t fix what they don’t know is broken.

So many times I see on your posts, pages and groups “We stand with Israel!” or “We stand with the Jewish people.” Very good; but just what does that mean? You see, words are like promises, they mean very little unless they are backed up with actions. And before you tell me “Well, I pray for Israel and the Jewish people every day!”, let me tell you the same thing I tell my congregation, “Prayers without actions is an empty vessel.” By that I mean, no prayer, no desire, no goal, no matter how lofty, is accomplished with the help of G-d unless we act first. Only by action do we merit His help. So, when you say “We stand with Israel!” or “We stand with the Jewish people!” I ask, what have you actually done to “stand” with Israel and/or the Jewish people?

Now, before you answer, let me point out a few things that are going on in Israel that may give you some ideas.

First, missionary groups are invading Israel with the stated intent to convert Jews to their religion by deceit and lies. They are like thieves who prey on the weak and weary. What they are in fact doing is to steal precious jewels from the treasury of the King. Do they think that the King does not keep an accounting of all His jewels? And, when they steal these jewels, they essentially destroy them; like the jeweler who strikes the rough diamond wrong and turns a potentially priceless jewel into dust. So, I ask, what would happen to a person who was caught stealing jewels from an earthly king? Can you imagine what happens to a person who steals from the treasury of the King of the Universe!? Who among the churches and organizations stands up against these practices and speaks out?

Next, many churches and organizations spend excessive amounts of money each year on trips to Israel. Also good, they are helping the economy in Israel. However, there are many Jews around the world who would dearly love to visit or move to Israel. What of these; G-d’s chosen? What have they done to help a poor Jewish family visit or move to Israel? Every time I hear people saying that they and their church group have made many trips to Israel, my first thought is, how many of the Children of Israel could they have sent home for the price of just one trip? It is like waving a steak in front of a starving person and telling them how wonderful it tastes, and then consuming the entire steak in front of them.

Many churches and organizations have jumped on the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement against Israel. The BDS’ers (pun intended) use misinformation and outright lies to justify their anti-Semitism against Israel and the Jews. How many times have you heard the worn-out lie “Oh, I am not against Jews, I am against Zionists.”? Well, my friends, anti-Zionism is nothing more than politically correct anti-Semitism. How many churches and organizations have publically encouraged their members to buy Israeli goods to counter the BDS lies? How many people have spoken to their churches and organizations about the lies and injustice of the BDS movement?

Today, it is very popular to point out all the wrongs of Israel; in fact, it is one of the United Nation’s favorite pastimes! Israel is told they cannot build homes for their people, they cannot build a fence to protect their people, they cannot decide where the capital of Israel will be located. Let’s be clear, Israel is a country of people and people make mistakes, and they make poor decisions from time to time. However, while Israel is often vilified in the media for any minor and perceived wrong (whether it is true or, as often it turns out, false), why is so very little attention paid to the Arab countries and the very real oppression being perpetrated against Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and, very often, their own people. Why is Israel held to a different standard than any other nation on the earth? Have the churches and organizations petitioned the U.S. Government to recognize Jerusalem as the Capitol of Israel? Have the churches and organization publically supported the building of homes in Israel for her children? Have the churches and organizations publically protested the treatment of people in the Arab countries?

As rockets rained down on towns and schools in Israel, as Arab uprisings have attacked villages, synagogues and the graves of our people, many churches and organizations have cancelled trips to Israel and said “Well, we will just have to go another time when things settle down.” But, how many of them have taken that money they would have spent on the trip and sent it to help rebuild those towns, villages, schools, synagogues and restore the graves? How many have decided to donate even part of that money to the Magen David Adom, IDF Pizza, Hatzolah or other organizations in Israel who provide help and relief from these attacks and acts of terror?

So, my friends, we now come full circle, and I again ask, when you say “We stand with Israel!” or “We stand with the Jewish people.” what does that mean?  Or, is it just an empty vessel?

Excellent questions. I stand with Israel. By that I mean I believe Jewish peoples have the right to prosper in their faith, and Israelis have the right to prosper in their nationhood. This does not contradict my Christian faith. The great nation of Israel accepts all peoples of all faiths .. our futures are entwined, as are our peoples. - ed
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Larry Pickering
RUDD MOVES TO KILL OFF THE FACELESS MEN

With an October election looking more likely by the minute, Kevin Rudd plans to emasculate the people who handed him the Prime Ministership.

“I would only consider being drafted into Office again if there is an overwhelming Caucus majority”, said our Kev. But there was nothing like an overwhelming majority.

Contrary to Labor Ministers’ insistence, if Bill Shorten had not brought the required numbers to the Caucus table, a mere 20 minutes before the vote was taken, Julia Gillard would likely still be Prime Minister.

It was only after she heard that Shorten had ratted on her that Gillard admitted defeat. How did she know that?

Well, the final vote was 57 to 45 in Rudd’s favour. Prior to Shorten’s announcement it was line ball, as Gillard had said.
It was close and she knew it teetered on which way Shorten jumped.

A differential of twelve votes meant if six Caucus members had voted the other way, Rudd would have faced yet another failed attempt to assassinate Gillard.

But shorten carried more than six votes into Caucus... possibly eight.

Calling a Press conference to announce his prescient intention to back Rudd indicated the votes he spoke for were easily sufficient to kill Gillard.

Rudd knew without Shorten he was dead meat but Rudd has not appreciated Shorten’s support. In fact he has moved to destroy Shorten’s long-term ambition of ALP Leadership.

Shorten’s numbers were instrumental in Rudd’s initial knifing and critical to Gillard’s elevation... and to her eventual demise.

More proof is hardly needed that Bill Shorten will stoop to any low to fulfil his Bill Ludwig-bestowed destiny.

But Kevin Rudd too was on a mission to claim what he saw as his rightful role as Australia’s Prime Minister and Julia had handed it to him on a plate the moment she announced an eight-month election campaign.

It was a tactic aimed at Abbott but blind to her real enemy, Kevin Rudd. Yet another instance of Gillard’s lack of political judgment.

An eight-month campaign allowed the “I’m only here to help” Kev to commence campaigning in the marginal seats of those who supported him.

He could not have done that without her inane eight-month campaign announcement.

The results were devastating and marked the end of Gillard.

Kev’s campaigning immediately encouraged the pollsters to draw a renewed comparison between the two protagonists and forced a nervous Caucus to again start counting numbers.

But the cost to Shorten was great. He had ratted on his mates and his union base is now fractured.

Even the AWU’s “we’ve got your back, Prime Minister” Paul Howes, has disowned him.

Worse still for Shorten is Rudd’s order for Presidential style Party elections that, in effect, neuter the unions’ influence.

Rudd will never forgive those who arranged Gillard’s knifing of him and he is currently seeking to kill them off for good. It’s a task that may be beyond him.

What Rudd is proposing is that the Parliamentary wing of Labor divest itself of the unions’ faceless men. But it may be that the faceless men will again divest themselves of Rudd, and this time for good.

Rudd’s is a perilous gamble that has little chance of success because unions will not allow ownership of their Labor Party to be snuffed out by one arrogant, anti faction populist who they temporarily installed as PM.

Rudd’s bump in the polls will soon dissipate as memories of his myriad inadequacies are jolted.

Union powerbrokers are gathering their loins for the next ALP National Conference in a livid rage at a virtual outsider attempting to steal their heritage of 123 years.

Kevin Rudd is left with a precarious skeleton of potentially disloyal Caucus members who have already shown they will readily turn on a Leader when it suits their interests.

The best of Caucus and most of the front bench have resigned in revulsion. Albanese alone will not be enough.

Kev is virtually on his own with a crippled and incompetent C team incapable of dealing with a sophisticated union onslaught.

Our Kev has the conceited arrogance to believe he can rip the Labor Party heart from the breasts of trade unions and simply walk away.

It could be his making but more likely it will expose his mortality.
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Father, today I humbly come before You giving You my thoughts, my actions, and my words.thank You for Your faithfulness and goodness in my life. I know that through faith and patience I will receive Your promises. Help me to be ready; show me what to do so that I am in position to receive everything You have prepared for me. Help me to give my faith a voice by speaking Your Word daily. May my words and my thoughts be pleasing to You always in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Dear Friend,
Donate Now Button
In Texas the battle lines are drawn - pro-life forces are fighting to pass a ban on abortions after twenty weeks of pregnancy.
And every national pro-abortion group in America is trying to stop them!
Please, make an urgent and generous contribution of $35, $50, $100, $200, or whatever you can afford to help fund Patriot Voices grassroots campaign to pass this critical legislation.
This has become the most important pro-life battle in the country right now because leftist groups like Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and the National Organization for Women are going all out in Texas.
Please help me counter these pro-abortion radical liberals.  Our pro-life friends and allies in the Lone Star State can't win this without us!
It's bedlam down in Austin.
Liberal State Senator Wendy Davis and a mob of hate-filled protesters have already succeeded in preventing this bill from passing on the first try.
Davis staged an 11-hour long filibuster while crazed protesters from every abortion group in the country screamed and yelled so loud that the Texas State Senate missed the deadline to pass the bill by a mere three minutes.
These leftist lunatics even chanted "Hail Satan!" as they protested this bill in the halls of the Texas state capitol building!
But now Governor Perry has called for a second special session of the legislature in order to once again try to pass this historic pro-life bill.  And pro-life activists from across the country need to by ready.
I fully expect Wendy Davis and her army of zealots to try once again to shut down the legislature.  They'll do anything they can to stop this bill.
That's why Patriot Voices is mobilizing.  I'm going to Texas on Thursday to do whatever I can to make sure this critical civil-rights issue can be debated and voted on without disruption.
The voice of the pro-life majority in Texas must be heard!
However, I need your help.
You see, we need financial resources to make sure our Texas pro-life allies know we need them fighting with us, and I'm planning to do a media blitz to bring attention to this issue.  I need to rally our Patriot Voices' army of volunteers so that the pro-abortion extremists are not able to disrupt the legislature ever again!
Please, please make the best contribution you can to this important grassroots project.
If we can pass this 20-week abortion ban in Texas, we'll energize our movement even more, and be in the position to pass similar life-saving bills in states all across America.
The liberals will stop at NOTHING to prevent the passage of this bill.  Demonstration, disruption, vandalism - you name it and they will try it.
Please help me and pro-life Americans win this battle.  I personally consider this issue in Texas to be one of the most important legislative fights in the states this year.  We must win it. 
Please give what you can.  And say a prayer for the good people of Texas.
Sincerely, 
Rick Santorum signature 
Rick Santorum
P.S. I'll be talking about this critical issue during the Patriot Voices Radio broadcast TODAY at noon ET.  Please listen in at www.patriotvoices.com/radio.   
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Photo credit: John W. Pope Civitas Institute
Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for July 9th. Enjoy!

From the Blog

Hmm: Burglaries at law firm representing State Dept. whistleblower

Who’s up for Watergate v2.0?

More From the Right Side of the Web

Featured Video

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Yesterday on "America Live," Michelle talked about the ongoing battle in Texas between pro-life and pro-abortion activists.

Michelle's Top Tweets

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And ... Our Hate Tweet of the Day

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David has spoken, everyone. Guess that settles it then.

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Death Valley

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