Sunday, August 11, 2013

Sun Aug 11th Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns Enid Blyton (1897), Alex Haley (1921), Claus von Bülow (1926), Steve Wozniak (1950), Joe Jackson (1954) and Chris Hemsworth (1983). On your day, Independence Day in Chad (1960)
1492 – The first papal conclave held in the Sistine Chapel elected Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Pope Innocent VIII.
1828 – William Corder was hanged at Bury St Edmunds, England, for the murder of Maria Marten at the Red Barn.
1945 – Amid rumors of kidnappings of children by Jews in Kraków, a crowd of Poles engaged in a pogrom, which resulted in one dead and five wounded victims.
1962 – Vostok 3 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev became the first person to float in microgravity.
1973 – At a party in the recreation room of a New York City apartment building, DJ Kool Herc began rapping during an extended break, laying the foundation for hip-hop music. I used to wonder what would succeed innocence. Corder got what he deserved too late. Don't listen to rumours. Float .. hop .. do what is hip. It made you the success you are.
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Kevin Rudd’s nightmare comes to life on his home turf

Miranda Devine – Sunday, August 11, 2013 (11:01am)

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LOOMING out of the pre-dawn darkness yesterday in Kevin Rudd’s home electorate of Griffith was a formidable sight that would have sent a sliver of ice into the Prime Minister’s heart, had he looked out the window during one of his famous periods of insomnia.
The three nuggety, super-fit men jogging together along the Brisbane River at 5.30am were the trio who have combined to attack Rudd in his heartland.
Dr Bill Glasson, the respected eye surgeon who is the Coalition’s candidate in Griffith, Campbell Newman, the Queensland Premier, and Tony Abbott, the federal Opposition Leader.
Glasson’s friendship with Abbott was forged when he was national president of the Australian Medical Association and Abbott was health minister. Now Glasson is trying to unseat Rudd in his own electorate.
He doesn’t have much of a chance, since eclectic inner city Griffith is the safest Labor seat in Queensland, which Rudd holds by 8.5 per cent, and a ReachTEL poll last week shows Rudd retains a comfortable lead.
But no electorate in the country could match Griffith for the attention it’s receiving from Glasson and his band of ardent volunteers, the blue-clad “Glasson Gladiators”.
Glasson is making Rudd work hard for every vote at home, at a time when the Prime Minister is trying to run his election campaign almost single-handedly as well as run the country.
No wonder he is looking tired and out of sorts.
Queensland was the jewel in Rudd’s crown, and his greatest selling point to colleagues, but a Queensland Galaxy poll published yesterday showed he hasn’t achieve the promised boost and Labor’s primary vote is stuck where it was at the 2010 election, at 34 per cent.
Rudd’s honeymoon hasn’t lasted long.
Two telling incidents during the week, which did the rounds of the internet, had Rudd looking flaky.
The first was his odd reaction to a cheeky five-year-old boy who upstaged him when he visited a Korean language class in the marginal Liberal electorate of Bennelong in Sydney.
Photos of cute Joseph Kim pulling faces and cavorting for the cameras behind the PM went around the world.
But Rudd didn’t appear to find his antics amusing.
Video footage shows the PM turning to give little Joseph a high five, and then gripping the boy’s fingers and holding on for a moment.
When the boy managed to extract his hand, he grimaced, and said “Ouch”. Whether the squeeze was inadvertent or Rudd really was teaching the exuberant child a lesson only he would know. But the verdict on the internet was damning.
Later in the week, when Rudd introduced to the media his surprise new candidate for the Queensland seat of Forde, former premier Peter Beattie, cameras caught another peculiarity. While attention was focused on Beattie speaking, Rudd, standing in the background, was afflicted by a repetitive, involuntary twitch of his lower lip, which he periodically tried to mask with a smile.
The overall impression of Rudd from Week One is of a man who is not getting enough sleep, which would accord with stories emerging from Labor insiders, that he is back to his old tricks of phoning department heads at 2am.
His wife Therese Rein, a psychologist, has been at his side at all times, including, unusually, on his lightning visit to Afghanistan. She also walked alongside Rudd and Tony Abbott, as the leaders laid wreaths at the Australian War Memorial new Afghanistan War Gallery in Canberra.
If Rudd looked rattled as the week wore on, Abbott looked more comfortable, buoyed by strategist briefings on voter sentiment picked up in daily polling across marginal seats.
The best news for the Opposition is that voters are marking them well ahead of Labor on the question of who has a competent, united team that could form stable government and manage the economy into the future.
Public polls are also tracking in Abbott’s direction, with a Nielsen poll yesterday finding the Opposition leader has outstripped Rudd on personal trustworthiness, 47 per cent to 40, reversing the situation of last month.
This finding will be especially galling to Labor because Rudd made “trust” the central theme of his opening speech of the campaign last Sunday.
Our national Galaxy poll today, too, indicates Rudd’s honeymoon was short-lived, with a decline in both Labor’s primary vote and Rudd’s personal standing.
The poll also picked up a description of Rudd as a “fake”, which the Coalition’s internal polling had already detected. Hence, Abbott’s repeated use last week of the phrase “fair dinkum” to describe himself, and “flim flam” to describe Rudd.
What’s more, one in three respondents identified Rudd’s chief weakness as his policy record.
Indeed, the campaign landscape is strewn with buried IEDs from Labor’s past policy bungles.
That is why Abbott visited an insulation factory in Griffith on Friday, to remind voters, if they needed it, of the home insulation debacle that cost four lives.
Another sleeper issue is a hangover from Julia Gillard’s hasty decision, in the middle of the 2011 mustering season, to suspend live cattle exports to Indonesia after a Four Corners program alleging cruelty in Indonesian abattoirs.
The numbers of live cattle exported to Indonesia fell from a record of 770,000 in 2009 to 278,000 last year, and the problem has been compounded by drought conditions this summer across northern Australia.
The industry has never recovered, and now that it is killing season, the aftershocks have spread to the entire country.
The glut of cattle in the north of Australia being transported down to southern abattoirs is causing problems for farmers in the south of the country. They now face long delays in getting their own cattle into abattoirs, and depressed prices.
Meantime, the resulting beef shortage in Indonesia is rarely off their front pages, annoying the public with inflated prices for meat as Ramadan comes to an end.
The problem may not have been Rudd’s making, but he now has to wear his own mistakes from his first term, as well as Gillard’s, not to mention any fresh ones he has made since retaking his old job.
It’s a lot of baggage to be hauling around.
Rudd was 50 at the 2007 election. He turns 56 next month and, despite his penchant for selfies and hanging out with youth, those intervening six years have been harder on him than on fitness fanatic Abbott, who is barely six weeks younger than Rudd but looks as if he could run a marathon a day.
Rudd needs a circuit breaker, so winning tonight’s leader’s debate, at least in the eyes of the media, is crucial. 

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LOATHSOME LOSER SUPPORTS WINNERS

Tim Blair – Sunday, August 11, 2013 (7:38pm)

There are more mentions of Collingwood in this crime story than there are in Saturday night’s match report.

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HIGHWAY FLYER

Tim Blair – Sunday, August 11, 2013 (7:37pm)

If you must buy a caravan, buy a caravan with an aeronautical heritage.

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FLEE TO RUSSIA

Tim Blair – Sunday, August 11, 2013 (7:22pm)

Something odd seems to happened at ex-Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes’s old Twitter site:

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Postscript to the debate: Rudd cheats yet still loses. He is gone

Andrew Bolt August 11 2013 (7:33pm)

Kevin Rudd broke the debate rules by taking in notes for his opening and closing addresses. Yet referring to them still make him look unsure and lacking in authority.
Abbott won by the length of the straight. He didn’t just deny Rudd the win Rudd badly needed - he actually smashed Rudd and showed he was more ready for government.
Abbott came out looking prime ministerial, if anything.
But the format is a shocker. Almost no engagement.
Verdicts:
To Abbott:
Laurie Oakes
Michael Kroger
David Speers
Ben Packham
Channel 7 worm
To Rudd:

Peter van Onselen
Graham Richardson (although he’s backing off now)
Even:

Kieran Gilbert
Chris Kenny (now backing off and leaning to Abbott)
Even the talking heads who amazingly call it a Rudd win or draw have nothing but criticism for Rudd.
UPDATE
Major Rudd flaws: cheating on his notes, reading his notes, lacking specifics, being called out on scares, looking flat, deferring responsibility for a decision on a second Sydney airport to his deputy, being accused by Abbott of waffling when, er, he was waffling. A major disaster. 

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The debate. Abbott smashes Rudd on detail and authority

Andrew Bolt August 11 2013 (6:33pm)

Rudd speaks:
We want to unite, not tear each other apart. (As Labor has done.)
Shout-out to the youth - the “dynamos of our future”. (Worm food.)
Turns lowest interest rates in 60 years as an achievement (not sign of strife.)
(Rudd sounds a bit rushed. Understandably nervous.)
Keeps talking about new way, new future. New, new.
A new way to secure Australia’s future.

Abbott speaks:
Debate is between Rudd and me. But election is really about who can make things better, more secure.
Gets straight into specifics - tax cut, cut spending. Names roads being built. Sounds like a real program. And stop the boats. No self-respecting country can hand over control immigration to people smugglers.
(Abbott speaks more slowly. Unlike Rudd, doesn’t look at his notes. More confident.)
Really want three more years like the last six.
If you want a new way, you’ve got to choose a new government.
(Finishes before bell rings. Abbott wins on confidence and a program.)
First question: Unemployment tipped to go to 800,000. People right to be nervous? (From David Speers.)
Rudd talks about all he did re stimulus and saving us from recession. (Speer interjects that spending is higher under him than ever under Howard.
UPDATE
Abbott smashes Rudd on the GST claim. “It’s a little embarrasing” for Rudd to raise this scare campaign.
UPDATE
Rudd trots out his dumb excuse that circumstances changed about boat people, not that he got it wrong. Blames the voters for giving him a mandate.
UPDATE
Abbott catches Rudd out on a clumsy deceit about the number of boat people who came to Australia anyway after being sent to Nauru by John Howard. No, it wasn’t 70 per cent at all., but half that.
UPDATE
On cutting taxes or programs.
Rudd claims it’s not the right time to cut taxes. (Rubbish.) Tries to raise the GST scare campaign again before being brought back to the question on what cuts he’d make programs he’d cut.
He dodges the question by waffling on about productivity.
Abbott goes on the NBN. Whacking the cost and delays. Talks of the taxes he’d cut. The red tape. Says Rudd’s talk about productivity improvements ended in just a recommendation for a committee.
(Abbott is far, far stronger on specifics than is Rudd. But Abbott, too, is rightly chided for not talking about what programs he’d cut.)
Abbott then talks about cutting school kids benefits and so on. Good. Quotes Simon Benson, on the panel, having said the Government had considered that, too. (Rudd in response sounds backpedal mode.)
UPDATE
Abbott doesn’t commit to a second airport for Sydney but says he will make a decision in government.
Rudd defers the same question to his deputy prime minister. Is told by David Speers it doesn’t look like leadership. Waffles on about other forms of transport. Tries to ingratiate about not being from Sydney and more “bunches” of folks.  (Rudd is having a disaster. He looks completely out of ideas. Abbott seems the man with the plan. This is a walkover so far.)
UPDATE
Abbott is chided by Lyndal Curtis for not having an aged care policy. But he sounds familiar with the issue - talking about the Productivity Commission recommendations - and adds worm-food on nice nurses and cutting paperwork.
Rudd says a bit that’s good about at-home care before hiving off to the NBN. Also praises nurses to feed the worm. Also talks about the Productivity Commission.
UPDATE
Peter Hartcher, the global warming believer, asks Abbott if stands by commitment to cut up to 25 per cent of emissions, depending on global progress. Sigh.
Abbott: says he prefers facts to hypotheticals. Commits to the 5 per cent target.  (Which, like Labor’s plan, will make essentially zero difference to the temperature.) Says if circumstances change he will adapt, but there is no sign of that international commitment.
Rudd: blathers on about climate change and duties to children. Signed Kyoto. Raises the Great Barrier Reef scare. (Such hooey.) Won’t make specific commitment to further action. Claims carbon tax cut.
UPDATE
Reader AA:

Interesting on ch 7 with the “like/dislike” worm . Plummets as soon as Rudd starts. Goes up soon as Tony speaks. Ratio of almost 2:1. For Abbott
Extraordinary. It really is over for Rudd.
I did think his mannerisms ("to the question”, “to your point”, “a whole bunch") have never seemed so irritating.
Abbott goes for the throat - rightly accusing Rudd of “waffle” over having claimed the end of the China boom, and says what he just said was what he said years ago.
Rudd protests to defend what he once said. Abbott laughs at him. Rudd complains. He’s gone again.
UPDATE
That tiresome same sex marriage debate. Abbott mentions his gay sister in the audience. Wouldn’t commit to free vote after the election.
Rudd mentions his wife in the audience. (What a joke.) Says would give a free vote.
UPDATE
Wrap ups.
Rudd says “what I’ve tried to outline tonight”. (A concession that he might have failed.) Understands people’s concerns (ie after six years of Labor.) Goes on with the “new way” spin. “A new way of politics” (which he failed to outline). (Rudd is reading a lot of this from notes. He’s looking unhappy.) Says we face new challenges including “age care” ( a recognition he didn’t answer that well).
Abbott starts by nailing the GST scare and $70 billion cuts scares as false.
Then says wants to get serious. Sketches out his same old plan, cut taxes, etc. Says had a united team for years.
Believes in Australia. “I believe in you.”
“I am ready. My team is ready… It’s now up to you to choose real change.”
AN OVERWHELMING WIN FOR ABBOTT. ASTONISHING. EVEN CHANNEL 7’S WORM AGREES.
UPDATE
Mark Riley points out that Rudd read a lot from notes, which was against the rules. (And the cheating didn’t help anyway.) 

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Agree? Disagree? Drive the Bolt blog worm during tonight’s leaders’ debate

Andrew Bolt August 11 2013 (9:41am)


Help steer the Bolt blog’s worm during tonight’s leaders’ debate right here from 6.30pm.  To hide (or show) the various graph lines click on the labels above.
How to join:

If you have iPhone or Android smartphone, you can react in real time to the Leaders’ Debate as it televised from 6.30pm on ABC1.

If you’d like to react, go to your Apple or Android App Store and download the free Reactor App (search for Roy Morgan Reactor).
At or about 6.20pm, open the app and choose the ‘Election Debate – Sunday August 11’ program.  (It’s best to put your device on WiFi if it’s available.)
Choose ‘Bolt Viewer’ and enter the code ‘’BV’.
There is a three-second delay.
UPDATE
Reader R reports:
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I’m at channel 9 in Sydney as part of the studio audience of “undecided voters” who will be judging the debate via the worm.  Attached is a photo of car driven by some of the other audience members parked outside the studio.  I’ll let you be the judge of how unbiased the occupants would be.
And how illiterate.
UPDATE
App has suddenly crashed. Will resolve. Meanwhile comments below.
UPDATE
This doesn’t seem to be working. 

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The Bolt Report today

Andrew Bolt August 11 2013 (6:02am)





On Channel 10 at 10am and 4pm.

The twitter feed.
The place the videos appear.
UPDATE
THE BOLT REPORT
11 AUGUST 2013
INTERVIEW WITH JULIE BISHOP
ANDREW BOLT, PRESENTER: The most unusual interview of the campaign so far occurred when Tom Gleeson tried to take on the Liberals’ Deputy Leader, Julie Bishop, on Channel Ten’s ‘This Week Live’.
TOM GLEESON: Are you a robot?
JULIE BISHOP: Why. Do. You. Say. That?
TOM GLEESON: Do you find bald men attractive?
JULIE BISHOP: I’m sure I will. What have you got in mind?
ANDREW BOLT: Joining me is Julie Bishop. Julie, a lot of my readers said they loved that – go, go girl. Some others said “conduct unbecoming – would Margaret Thatcher have done this?” What - tell me about modern campaigning.
JULIE BISHOP: Oh, Andrew, conservative politicians, particularly, get criticised for not being in touch with the lighter entertainment media, and the demographic that follows that, so I went on that program, ‘This Week Live’. I’ve got to tell you, the segment – I Hate You, Change My Mind, was a bit like going on ‘Q&A’, except you don’t get the chance to change many people’s minds on that.
ANDREW BOLT: But it’s interesting, this campaign, because we’ve had, for example, Kevin Rudd’s selfie shot of him, you know, showing a picture of him cutting himself shaving – is this what you need to do? And why doesn’t Tony Abbott do that? Because he doesn’t do any of that stuff.
JULIE BISHOP: The program on Channel Ten this week is light entertainment, and they have politicians on there – don’t worry, Andrew, I don’t think they’re going to take some of your market share. But you’re not the only program on Channel Ten that can have politicians on there. And we do get criticised for not being in touch with what people are watching, and what people are thinking about, so we go on those sorts of programs. But Tony Abbott is running to be the Prime Minister of the country. And he presents his policies, he presents his credentials to be the next Prime Minister of the country, through the mainstream media, and I think that’s appropriate.
ANDREW BOLT: No selfie shots of him cutting himself.
JULIE BISHOP: No bathroom shots of Tony Abbott, and I think we’ve had enough of Kevin Rudd’s bathroom habits too, by the way.
ANDREW BOLT: Serious stuff then – Government income’s gone up by $55 billion a year under Labor. Government spending, though, has gone up, not $55 billion –
$100 billion. Now, what would you prefer to do to close that gap? Cut spending, raise taxes?
JULIE BISHOP: You have to do both – not raise taxes.
ANDREW BOLT: You have to do both.
JULIE BISHOP: No, no, no, no, no. I thought you were going to say “or grow the economy.” That’s what you do, both. You certainly don’t raise taxes. But what Labor has been doing is revenue has been growing, every year, under Labor, but their spending is outstripping their revenue. So this is a Government that can’t live within its means. So what you have to do is grow the economy – which is what I was trying to say – grow the economy, and cut spending.
ANDREW BOLT: But in terms of what you’re going to do – as in spending or cutting – that gap of $45 billion a year, you will do by cutting spending.
JULIE BISHOP: We will be cutting spending. We will have savings announced over the next few weeks. We are a party of lower taxes, we don’t believe that clobbering the economy with more taxes is the way to go. That’s why we will repeal the carbon tax, we will repeal the mining tax, and why we’ve announced a company tax cut.
ANDREW BOLT: So you agree that in the $17 billion of cuts you’ve announced so far, of various kinds, you still need to make substantially more cuts to cover your promises and to cut the debt.

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Husic dismisses Rudd’s anti-Murdoch conspiracy theory

Andrew Bolt August 11 2013 (5:52am)

Nick Cater:

THE Prime Minister’s parliamentary secretary for broadband, Ed Husic, has dismissed claims that the National Broadband Network presents a threat to the pay-TV network Foxtel.
Kevin Rudd alleged this week that News Corporation executive chairman Rupert Murdoch was orchestrating a vendetta against him in his Australian newspapers because he was concerned that the NBN threatened his company’s stake in Foxtel.
But Mr Husic told the Seven Network’s Weekend Sunrise program today he did not know what all the fuss was about.
“If people are worried about Foxtel’s future when we get broadband out there, it’s not really about the platform,” Mr Husic said.
A different take to Rudd’s:

On Friday, Mr Rudd claimed News Corporation Australia editors had received a directive at a meeting with New York Post editor Col Allan to “go hard on Rudd. Start from Sunday and don’t back off”.
He again linked that to “reports out there about how the government’s National Broadband Network really threatens the business model of Foxtel which is owned by Mr Murdoch”.
Reader Peter of Bellevue Hill:

It will be interesting to see if the PM now stops banging on about the NBN’s ‘threat’ to Foxtel. If he stops, we can assume Labor’s worked out the false claims are making him look desperate and unhinged, and Husic’s been sent out as a circuit breaker on the narrative. If the rants continue, it would appear Husic’s made a conscious choice to distance himself from the PM.

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Boats slowed - but only to one a day

Andrew Bolt August 11 2013 (5:45am)

Kevin Rudd has slowed the boats - but they are still arriving at more than one a day. In the first 10 days of August we’ve had 12 boats with 737 people arrive. Reader Gab:
Compare with July for the same period: 13 boats and 1,211 illegals. (Source: the two government websites, Customs and Home Affairs).
One of legacies of Rudd’s disastrous bungling:

THOUSANDS of Iranians who have come by boat since Kevin Rudd relaxed asylum policy in 2008 are likely to remain in Australia despite failing to win claims as refugees.
Australia has little choice but to allow an estimated 6000 to 8000 Iranians to stay, either in detention or in community accommodation, because the Islamic Republic of Iran refuses to accept involuntary returns to its country.
UPDATE
Reader Val:
Since the announcement of the PNG solution on 19 July last 2334 boat people have arrived including 2 boats yesterday and 2 boats on 9 August. The record largest number of boat people to arrive in one month was 4309 in July.
UPDATE
Daniel Flitton on how close the boat people riot on Nauru came to complete disaster.
(Thanks to reader Mack.) 

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Rudd axes two more candidates

Andrew Bolt August 11 2013 (5:32am)

Any former Labor Premiers prepared to help out a dying campaign?:

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has dumped two Labor candidates, including a man who abused a woman in a wheelchair.
Mr Rudd demanded the resignations of Geoff Lake, the candidate for Victorian seat of Hotham, and Queensland candidate for Kennedy, Ken Robertson.
The Herald Sun revealed on Saturday that Mr Lake had been forced to apologise to fellow Monash councillor Kathy Magee in 2002 for calling her a slut at a council meeting…
Mr Lake did not reply to calls. He resigned after the Sunday Herald Sun approached Labor HQ at 8pm with allegations ALP campaign officials had improperly used retiring member Simon Crean’s printing entitlement to distribute election material in the seat… The Sunday Herald Sun has copies of material distributed in Mr Lake’s name that included reply paid envelopes funded by Mr Crean’s office.
Mr Robertson, who was standing for the Queensland seat of Kennedy, confirmed he had withdrawn his candidacy after calling Opposition Leader Tony Abbott “racist’ and a bigot in an interview last week.

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How many chances do the evil deserve?

Andrew Bolt August 11 2013 (5:25am)

I’m not sure the legal system always understands the nature of evil. The latest example:
A VIOLENT serial sex attacker raped a woman just months after being freed from prison on a government supervision order, the Sunday Herald Sun can exclusively reveal.
Authorities said Gary John Barker, who changed his surname to Collingwood after his beloved football team, had an “abysmally poor” chance at rehabilitation and was a “serious high-risk” of reoffending.
But he was released with an electronic ankle bracelet and just five months later he brutally raped a Victorian woman.
The Sunday Herald Sun can exclusively reveal the evil predator has an extensive sexual and violent criminal history dating back to 1984.

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Galaxy:  Labor 49 to 51

Andrew Bolt August 11 2013 (5:15am)

A better result for Labor, but one which still leaves it behind:
Primary support for Labor is down two points to 38 per cent according to the Galaxy poll. If an election was held that would suggest a 51:49 result in the Coalition’s favour and the election of Tony Abbott as prime minister.

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Labor forgives worse in its own than it imagines in Abbott. UPDATE:  Lake dumped

Andrew Bolt August 10 2013 (9:20pm)

imageimage
Labor still vilifies Tony Abbott as a misogynist unfit for office for allegedly punching a wall next to a woman’s head when he was 19 - a suspect claim he denies.
Yet Labor pre-selects a man who abused a disabled woman when he was 22 - a claim he admits:

KEVIN Rudd’s political reform agenda has been undermined after Labor Party members released a dirt file on one of their own candidates to reveal he once called a disabled woman a “f...ing slut”.
Geoff Lake, a local Melbourne Mayor, was slapped with a sexual harassment claim by a Liberal councillor Kathy Magee in 2002, after calling her a “f...ing bitch” and a “f...ing slut” during a council meeting.
Mr Lake, who was 22 at the time and fighting a bitter reform war on the council, was also subject to court orders alleging he stalked and harassed two other councillors…

Mr Lake is fighting for former minister Simon Crean’s seat and was endorsed by Mr Crean, former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks and Trade Minister Richard Marles…
Mr Lake was forced by the Equal Opportunities Commission to issue a written and public apology to Ms Magee in a secret settlement mediated by the tribunal…
Ms Magee has never forgotten Mr Lake’s expletive-laden tirade and admits she “wouldn’t vote for him”.
“He pushed me back in my wheelchair and told me I was a f...ing slut,” she said.
The issue for me isn’t so much whether Lake is remorseful:

He said he was a “young and inexperienced 22-year-old mayor still driving around with P-plates on the car” at the time he made the comments. “I don’t excuse it. I made a mistake, I paid a price for it. I still pay a price for it,” he said.
The issue is whether Labor is disgracefully hypocritical.
UPDATE
An example of the new “positive” Labor under Kevin Rudd:

JUST days after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called for a “positive” campaign, one of his Queensland Labor candidates has accused Tony Abbott of being a racist and secretly wanting to bring back the White Australia policy.
Repeatedly referring to the Opposition Leader as “rabbit”, Kennedy candidate Ken Robertson described him as a “very, very bigoted person” and said he hoped Australia “never has to suffer his Catholicism”.
Mr Robertson was recently announced as Labor’s candidate to take on Bob Katter after the seat failed to attract any other preselection nominations.
Will Rudd make Robertson apologise for these slurs?
After all, Labor demanded Abbott apologise for a sexist menu written by a restaurant owner for the amusement of his son while they prepared dinner for Liberals. In this case the political responsibility is actually real and clear.
UPDATE
Labor disendorses Geoff Lake as its candidate for Holt. Labor’s shambles continues. 

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ReachTEL: Coalition pulling head, Abbott beats Rudd

Andrew Bolt August 10 2013 (8:23pm)

All the momentum in the polls is now with Tony Abbott. From ReachTEL today:

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The campaign SBS backed was a trade off of ethnicity to promote change on drug policy. The name (Better Man) was an insult to the twin brother. The grieving mother was not consulted .. probably a good cast did a good job .. probably well produced. I didn't watch it so I will never know.
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Engrish
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Finishing strong means finishing as a team. No mudders left behind.

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Liked · 13 hours ago 

Join me ONLINE in 2 hours here:http://bit.ly/12LvQF3 for "Getting Through Life's Losses"

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J.John
I have written an article 'Slavery returns: the curse of trafficking' if you are in the Media + can consider feature please send your email.

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quotestagram's photo http://t.co/29mq7shwKV
Being positive won't guarantee you will succeed, but being negative will guarantee you won't.
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It's not what you did, but what you could have done if you allowed the Lord to work His will in your life.
A. W. Tozer
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Abbott spoke well, and finished speaking as a leader who can talk to Australian people. Rudd looked lost without a child to hurt. - ed
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A military field hospital has been erected by Israel near the Syria border next to Quneitra. More than 400 civilians and soldiers from
both sides in the civil war have been treated and difficult cases are sent to the Sieff Hospital in Tzfad or the Rambam Hospital in Haifa.
Syria population as well as all armed groups know that Israel is offering the wounded safe skies that can save their lives. Wounded fighters receive strict orders not to bring with them weapons of any kind to the field hospital.
Civilians and fighters that recovered are returned to Syria.
In the civil war in Syria the conflicting parties do not take prisoners, or they kill them on the spot or kill them by torture. In this sense the Israeli humanitarian action is a light in a dirty war.
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4 her
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4 her
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Obamacare Will Drop the Hammer on Charitable Hospitals That Treat the Uninsured
The latest proof that Obamacare is not about “care,” it’s about Obama comes by way of a news report that U.S. hospitals that treat the uninsured as a charitable aspect of their non-profit operations can be penalized.
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Clint Eastwood: Obama Is ‘Greatest Hoax Ever Perpetrated On The American People’

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/clint-eastwood-obama-is-greatest-hoax-ever-perpetrated-on-the-american-people/

“I had three points I wanted to make,” Eastwood said. “That not everybody in Hollywood is on the left, that Obama has broken a lot of the promises he made when he took office, and that the people should feel free to get rid of any politician who’s not doing a good job. But I didn’t make up my mind exactly what I was going to say until I said it.”
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Larry Pickering
RUDD’S BAD HAIR DAY IS EVERY DAY 

Uncle Kev has always reminded me of everyone’s unfortunate dim uncle. You know, the one you had to take to weddings. Sooner or later you had to take him out the back, slap him around the chops, and tell him to stop playing with his donger in public!

The NSW Catholic Right faction, headed by Carr, Richardson, Dastyari and a bevvy of Gillard hangers on who have disappeared into thin air, has relented and agreed to the return of the hapless and hated Rudd.

Only now is the NSW Right recalling how Rudd had taken public masturbation to new heights, and so too are voters twigging.

Not a thing has changed with good old Uncle Kev!

His (hal al certified and foreign owned) Vegemite trick was pathetic in terms of a GST increase.

Not only has Abbott said the GST will not be touched unless he takes it to an ensuing election, (Tony is no Julia) the GST is a States’ tax and needs States’ approval. Something highly unlikely with State elections looming.

[Anyway why is Vegemite hal al certified? It’s a vegetable extract. Do Islamists also kill their vegetables in a certain way now?]

Poor Uncle Kev last week found it “necessary” to sack another two endorsed candidates. One of whom, Geoff Lake, in the red-ribbon set of Hotham, was found to have verbally abused a female councillor many years ago. Tch tch.

Labor ministers including Mark Dreyfus and Tanya Plibersek defended Mr Lake yesterday, saying, "...it was a long time ago, when he was 22, and he had apologised many times".

The interesting thing about Kevin Rudd is that he has just “endorsed” Peter Beattie at the expense of Des Hardman in the seat of Forde.

Poor ol’ Des has done nothing wrong! It’s just that Uncle Kev’s chances at re-election are improved with Peter Beattie’s endorsement. (Or so he thinks.)

But Peter Beattie’s indiscretions far outweigh those of dumped Mr Lake. And Uncle Kev is very familiar with those indiscretions.

The formerly secret diary of journo, Patricia Gillespie, is a long and interesting X-rated read and details the extra-marital exploits of Peter Beattie in all its sordid glory.

It’s no wonder his wife has his measurements for a pine box.

Pat Gillespie, who it appears was bonking everyone in QLD Labor, except Bill Ludwig, (and even that’s not certain) uses diary pseudonyms:

Uncle Kev’s name is Dr Death and Beattie’s is Danny and Danny had a “during and after hours” wandering appendage that would put Alvin Purple to shame.

A fascinating diary that has somehow escaped the safe-keeping of a Queensland solicitor and itemises, in graphic detail, the decadence of Beattie and QLD Labor.

So, what to make of all this?

Well, our duplicitous Uncle Kev seems quite prepared to overlook far worse political indiscretions when it comes to his own interests.

Hmmm, did someone say we have a new Uncle Kev this time round?
===

Holly Sarah Nguyen
Where God leads, He guides and where He guides, He provides.

===
CTV News in Atlantic Canada reports that a Cure For Cancer is found and it has been censored just like Dr Burzynski's Cure for Cancer from Houston, Texas. 

Dr. Evangelos Michelakis at the University of Alberta, talks about a drug called DCA that has been found to reduce the size of cancerous tumors. Dr. Dario Alterieri from the University of Massachusetts agrees that it should be tested for side effects and safety issues. 

However, since there is no patent, no pharmaceutical company can own this drug and drug companies will not bring it out on the market or conduct studies, due to the fact that they can't make profit off a drug that can be inexpensively produced. 
===

Dichloroacetic acid, often abbreviated DCA, is the chemical compound with formula CHCl
2COOH. It is an acid, an analogue of acetic acid, in which two of the three hydrogen atoms of the methyl group have been replaced bychlorine atoms. The salts and esters of dichloroacetic acid are called dichloroacetates. Salts of DCA have been studied as potential drugs because they inhibit the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase.[citation needed]
Although preliminary studies have shown DCA can slow the growth of certain tumors in animal studies and in vitrostudies, "Available evidence does not support the use of DCA for cancer treatment at this time."[2]

===

www.diamondimports.com.au — with Daniel Frank Katz at Diamond Imports.
===

I was very challenged, reading an article yesterday. It was about a woman who had a baby which was born with a complication to its intestines. The complication needed routine surgery. Doctors discovered the baby had lost its' bowel .. and would starve to death in a day. There was nothing the parents could do. They cried to God, comforted each other, and held their baby as it died. Reading that story, my heart was torn. As I imagine God's was too. He holds that baby now. Too soon. But I give thanks to Him he is there to hold the lost, and guide them home. Later in the day, I was watching Dr Phil. A woman, 20 years ago when she was 17, working in a service station next to her boyfriend was approached by a 14 yo girl with a shotgun. The 14 yo demanded money and while the 17 yo was giving it to her, the shotgun went off and blew the jaw off the 17 yo girl. 20 years passed, and the 17 yo has two children and is married to her boyfriend, but she has no face and people make fun of her and taunt her children. She suffers anxiety every time she passes the scene in her small town, USA. Dr Phil has both the 17 yo and 14 yo talk about their stories and meet. The 14 yo has become a Christian and served jail time for the robbery. Initially, the 14yo sounds defensive, and says the 17 yo should forgive her. They cry, and hold each other. I don't know the future. But my heart is full .. I struggle with the past, but have faith God is here. - ed
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*shudder* the dismal view of teens I dislike intensely. They aren't the same as younger children. They are, when treated right, kind, thoughtful and generous. "What did I forget to tell them?" Probably to ignore every preachy meaningless feel good thought that entered your vacuous head. - ed
===

Holly Sarah Nguyen
Ask him to move it, sister. If He wants you to walk over it you will - ed
Lord, I am not asking you to move this mountain. I am asking you to please give me the strength to climb over it.

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OBAMA DECRIES SETTLEMENT ACTIVITY, Special envoy to meet with diplomatic officials in Jerusalem before going to Jericho for another round of discussions By TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF and AP August 8, 2013, 
http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-confirms-indyk-headed-to-israel-for-peace-talks/
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I disapprove of Obama's bigotry. Go figure. - ed
The United States said on Thursday that it was against Israeli approval of new Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria.
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A war crime the UN endorses - ed
I have been getting a lot of questions lately about the whole “polio situation” here in Israel, so I thought I would try and shed some light on the situation and try to calm some fears and correct some misinformation. Given that I’m an ER doc with a sprinkle (dollop) of ADHD, my attention span is relatively short and my espresso long. Therefore I thought this topic might be best addressed Q&A style.
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Come to stall 3 and grab a Prince Charles Hospital Foundation Strawberry ice-cream from my staff and volunteers!
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4 her
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ObamaCare: Some Democrats are signing on to bills repealing the powers of the Independent Payment Advisory Board to effectively ration health care for seniors. So Sarah Palin was right about those death panels after all?
Palin was mocked by liberals when at a Tea Party rally in Reno, Nev., in late 2010, shortly before the GOP retook the House of Representatives, she told attendees: "Don't be thinking that we've got victory for America in the bag yet. ... We can't party like it's 1773."
Leftist know-it-alls insisted that 1776 was the correct year, when in fact Palin was right: The Boston Tea Party she referred to — a protest of British oppressive taxation — happened on Dec. 16, 1773.
Palin was right as well, and also took a lot of heat, when she referred to ObamaCare's Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) as a death panel whose decisions would result in health care rationing.
(Under ObamaCare, IPAB's board of 15 presidentially appointed "experts" will be empowered to make arbitrary Medicare spending-cut decisions with virtually no congressional oversight or control.)
Dr. Donald Berwick, who headed the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, admitted as much when he opined: "The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open."
Berwick also said:  "We can make a sensible social decision and say, 'Well, at this point, to have access to a particular additional benefit (new drug or medical intervention) is so expensive that our taxpayers have better use for those funds.'"
In an op-ed last month in the Wall Street Journal that Palin could have written, Howard Dean, former head of the Democratic National Committee, called IPAB "essentially a health care rationing body" and said he believes it will fail.
"The IPAB will be able to stop certain treatments its members do not favor by simply setting rates to levels where no doctor or hospital will perform them," wrote Dean, who is also a physician. "Getting rid of the IPAB is something Democrats and Republicans ought to agree on."
Indeed, a growing number of Democrats — many of whom face tough re-election bids next year — agree.
Over the past three months, 22 have signed on to the House IPAB repeal bill. They include lawmakers such as Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., a longtime GOP target.
Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, R-Ark., is co-sponsoring the Senate repeal bill this year after spending the previous three defending IPAB. The Senate and House measures now have 32 and 192 co-sponsors, respectively.


Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/080913-667073-sarah-palin-vindicated-as-democrats-oppose-ipab.htm#ixzz2berEU5wL
Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook
===

===

How many likes and prayers for Pastor Nick??? Type in a Prayer now for his Life without Limbs ministry! 
===

Complete Classic Movie: The Quiet Man

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/complete-classic-movie-the-quiet-man/

The Quiet Man is a 1952 Irish–American Technicolor romantic comedy-drama film. It was directed by John Ford and starred John Wayne, Maureen O’Hara, Victor McLaglen and Barry Fitzgerald. It was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh. The film is notable for its lush photography of the Irish countryside and the long, climactic, semi-comic fist fight between Wayne and McLaglen. It was an official selection of the 1952 Venice Film Festival.
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Being called the “Missouri Miracle” – a 19-year-old girl survives being hit by a drunk driver and many say it’s thanks to a mystery priest. A community is now searching for a man who appeared to be dressed like a Catholic priest. He prayed with the young girl at the scene of the crash as her vital signs were failing.

Read more: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/08/10/priest-appears-missouri-crash-scene-pray-victim-mysteriously-disappearing#ixzz2besS6HbO
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David Bowles
What passions roil within me
Whenever I recite, my friends!
I drag my heart round
And round this earth,
Sketching with words
Every stopping place.

But my soul is most content
In that good place,
That peaceful home—
The company of others.
I still have not been swept away
To the Unknowable Realm!

—from poem XVI of the Aztec codex Songs of Mexico
Translated by David Bowles

===

Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.
(Mark 11:25, NKJV)

Many times, people wonder why their prayers aren’t answered. They feel distant from God but can’t explain why. They love God and try to do all the right things, but deep inside they sense that something isn’t right.

Scripture tells us that there are many things that can hinder our prayers. One of them is unforgiveness. God knows that holding unforgiveness is destructive because it puts up a wall between us and God. But when we choose to forgive, the wall comes down. Someone said it like this: “Forgiveness is setting the prisoner free and realizing the prisoner was you.”

When you go before God in prayer, ask Him to search your heart and mind. See if there is any unforgiveness that is blocking your prayers and affecting your relationship with Him.Today, when you pray, choose forgiveness and don’t let anything block the good things God has in store for your future.God bless you.

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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
PRAY ALONG.
Father, today I humbly come to You with an open and willing heart. Search me. Know me. Show me if there is any unforgiveness in my life or anything that would displease You. Thank You for showing me Your ways so that I can walk with You in peace all the days of my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.

===
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Israel was swift to respond to this turn of events and there was a devastating pre-emptive air strike against the Egyptian air force. Jordanian and Syrian attacks were halted and repelled; after only six short days Israel had captured East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and Sinai itself.
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Tony Abbott will use tonight’s debate to talk directly with Australians about the Coalition’s positive plan for jobs, lower taxes and strong border security.

If the first week of the election campaign is any guide, Kevin Rudd intends to use the debate as a platform to continue peddling falsehoods that the Coalition is going to increase the GST and has a secret agenda of spending cuts.

On the GST Tony Abbott has been absolutely clear: it is not going to change.

Last Thursday Tony stated the Liberal position unequivocally.

“We are just getting more Labor lies on the GST. The GST is not going to change full stop. The Labor Party in its desperation is just peddling lies, they are just more Labor lies and I want to warn people that there is going to be scare a day, there is going to be a lie a day from the Labor Party.”

Mr Rudd is also falsely claiming that there is a $70bn hole in Coalition costings.

To be lectured by Mr Rudd about economic credibility is laughable. On the Government’s own figures Labor’s Budget is deteriorating by $3 billion a week, the deficit for this year has almost doubled and the nation’s credit card limit of $300 billion will be reached by Christmas.

By telling these lies Mr Rudd is demonstrating the panic and chaos that is at the heart of the Labor campaign. In lieu of policy Mr Rudd has stooped to baseless assertions.

Well before polling day every Australian will know exactly what we are spending and exactly what we are saving. They’ll know exactly how the fiscal position will be different under the Coalition, but overall the budget bottom line will always be stronger under the Coalition.

Only the Coalition has fully costed plans to stop the boats, ease the cost of living burden, grow the economy, deliver lower taxes and create jobs.

Australians can stop Labor’s lies on September 7th.



Julie Bishop
Deputy Leader
Authorised by Brian Loughnane, Cnr Blackall and Macquarie Streets, Barton  ACT 2604.
 
Copyright © Liberal Party of Australia.

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 get involved.

Tonight, Tony Abbott will take to the stage in the Leaders’ debate. Let’s show our support and get involved.
This is how you can get involved:
This is your debate, so join in, take to social media, ask questions, share your thoughts and please post your support for Tony.

Over the last two weeks our social communities were almost twice as engaged as Labor.

In the last few days there has been a 70,000+ growth in Facebook likes from all across Australia for Tony Abbott’s page.

The Liberal Party Facebook page was the first Australian political party to reach 100,000 likes and our YouTube video ‘New Hope’ has received over 200,000 views.

Well done to all!

Brian Loughnane
Federal Director
Liberal Party of Australia

Authorised by Brian Loughnane, Cnr Blackall and Macquarie Streets, Barton  ACT 2604. 
Copyright © Liberal Party of Australia.

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Andriyan Nikolayev

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Events[edit source | editbeta]

Births[edit source | editbeta]

Deaths[edit source | editbeta]

Holidays and observances[edit source | editbeta]

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“For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Christ, who is our life."
Colossians 3:4
Paul's marvellously rich expression indicates, that Christ is the source of our life. "You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins." That same voice which brought Lazarus out of the tomb raised us to newness of life. He is now the substance of our spiritual life. It is by his life that we live; he is in us, the hope of glory, the spring of our actions, the central thought which moves every other thought. Christ is the sustenance of our life. What can the Christian feed upon but Jesus' flesh and blood? "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die." O wayworn pilgrims in this wilderness of sin, you never get a morsel to satisfy the hunger of your spirits, except ye find it in him! Christ is the solace of our life. All our true joys come from him; and in times of trouble, his presence is our consolation. There is nothing worth living for but him; and his lovingkindness is better than life! Christ is the object of our life. As speeds the ship towards the port, so hastes the believer towards the haven of his Saviour's bosom. As flies the arrow to its goal, so flies the Christian towards the perfecting of his fellowship with Christ Jesus. As the soldier fights for his captain, and is crowned in his captain's victory, so the believer contends for Christ, and gets his triumph out of the triumphs of his Master. "For him to live is Christ." Christ is the exemplar of our life. Where there is the same life within, there will, there must be, to a great extent, the same developments without; and if we live in near fellowship with the Lord Jesus we shall grow like him. We shall set him before us as our Divine copy, and we shall seek to tread in his footsteps, until he shall become the crown of our life in glory. Oh! how safe, how honoured, how happy is the Christian, since Christ is our life!

Evening

"The Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins."
Matthew 9:6
Behold one of the great Physician's mightiest arts: he has power to forgive sin! While here he lived below, before the ransom had been paid, before the blood had been literally sprinkled on the mercy-seat, he had power to forgive sin. Hath he not power to do it now that he hath died? What power must dwell in him who to the utmost farthing has faithfully discharged the debts of his people! He has boundless power now that he has finished transgression and made an end of sin. If ye doubt it, see him rising from the dead! behold him in ascending splendour raised to the right hand of God! Hear him pleading before the eternal Father, pointing to his wounds, urging the merit of his sacred passion! What power to forgive is here! "He hath ascended on high, and received gifts for men." "He is exalted on high to give repentance and remission of sins." The most crimson sins are removed by the crimson of his blood. At this moment, dear reader, whatever thy sinfulness, Christ has power to pardon, power to pardon thee, and millions such as thou art. A word will speak it. He has nothing more to do to win thy pardon; all the atoning work is done. He can, in answer to thy tears, forgive thy sins today, and make thee know it. He can breathe into thy soul at this very moment a peace with God which passeth all understanding, which shall spring from perfect remission of thy manifold iniquities. Dost thou believe that? I trust thou believest it. Mayst thou experience now the power of Jesus to forgive sin! Waste no time in applying to the Physician of souls, but hasten to him with words like these:--
"Jesus! Master! hear my cry;
Save me, heal me with a word;
Fainting at thy feet I lie,
Thou my whisper'd plaint hast heard."
===

Today's reading: Psalm 79-80, Romans 11:1-18 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Psalm 79-80

A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn and derision to those around us....

Today's New Testament reading: Romans 11:1-18

The Remnant of Israel
1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah-how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"? 4 And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace....
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Sosthenes

[Sŏs'thenēs] - of sound strength orsaviour from "i save."
  1. The chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth who suffered at the hands of the Hellenistic Greeks when Gallio dismissed the case against Paul (Acts 18:17 RV).
  2. The believer or "brother" whom Paul unites with himself in addressing the Corinthian Church (1 Cor. 1:1 ). Perhaps both references are to the same man, Sosthenes of Acts 18:17 becoming a Christian after the Gallio outburst.
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P31Header
Renee Swope
August 10, 2011
Beat Up or Built Up?
Renee Swope
"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31(NIV)
One morning I woke up feeling beat up by discouragement. My mind was being bullied by thoughts of doubt:I can't do it all! I am not cut out to be a wife, a mom, a daughter, a speaker, a writer and all the other things God has called me to. My thoughts were against me, and my feelings were too.
As I lay in bed feeling completely inadequate, my radio alarm came on. Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by Twila Paris singing to me. With confident assurance, she spoke truth to my soul, telling me this was no time for fear, but a time for faith and determination. She challenged me not to lose my vision or be carried away by my emotions, but to hold on to all that I had hidden in my heart, and all I believed to be true. Then she reminded me of the most important truth of all: God is in control. [1]
As I heard these words, my thoughts aligned with God's truth. It changed my whole perspective. I went from feeling afraid to feeling determined and from feeling out of control to knowing God is in control.
We have the choice either to let doubt beat us up or to let God's truth build us up.
If we have Christ in us, we have full access to God's power and His promises to live with a confident heart. But it won't just happen because it's possible. We have to take action.
When my alarm came on that morning, I was so glad I'd set my radio to that station the night before, so I would wake up hearing encouraging music and truth. Just like I tuned into that station, we need to get intentional about tuning our thoughts into God's thoughts toward us, every day.
In the same way a radio has AM and FM frequencies, so do our thoughts. They are either AM (against me) or FM (for me) thoughts. The truth is, we are often our worst critics and have a lot of AM thoughts.
And if our thoughts are against us, our feelings will be too.
So, the next time you get those feelings of uncertainty and self-doubt, stop and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you are thinking that is making you feel that way. Then compare your thoughts about that situation to God's thoughts, which are reflected in Scripture. Do they match? If not, find a promise in God's Word to replace the lie that has filled your heart with doubt. Here are few to get your started:
• When doubt comes against me, saying I'm weak and all alone, I will focus on the truth that God is for me! I can be strong and courageous because the Lord my God is with me. He will never leave me nor forsake me. (Deuteronomy 31:6, NIV)
• When doubt comes against me, saying I'm not good enough for a certain role or position, I will remember that God is for me! He says I am His masterpiece, created to be new in Christ so that I could do good things He planned long ago. (Ephesians 2:10, NIV)
Lord, Your Word says I am a chosen woman, a royal priest, a holy daughter, a woman belonging to You. Help me remember that You are calling me out of the darkness of my doubts so that I can tell others about the Light I've found in You. Thank You that You are with me to fight for me against my enemies of insecurity and inadequacy. In all these things, I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
For more AM/FM thoughts visit the FREE resources page on Renee's website. That way, when doubt tries to beat you up, you'll have God's promises to build you up instead!
Join over 25,000 women who have gone on Renee's "7-day DOUBT Diet" - it includes a week's worth of FREE devotions from her book, A Confident Heart. To sign up for "7-day DOUBT Diet," click here.
When you purchase resources through Proverbs 31 Ministries, you touch eternity because your purchase supports the many areas of hope-giving ministry we provide at no cost. Therefore, we are extremely grateful for each and every purchase you make with us. Thank you!
Application Steps:
When feelings of self-doubt come, write down the AM (against me) thought you are thinking and look for a FM (for me) promise in scripture to replace the lie that has filled your heart with doubt. Click here for a list of more AM/FM thoughts.
Reflections:
What area of my life-as a woman, mom, wife, friend, daughter, housekeeper, professional, leader, etc.-do I currently have the most "against me" thoughts in?
How can I get intentional this week about replacing my AM thoughts with FM-God is for me-thoughts from His Word?
Power Verses:
1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (NIV)
Deuteronomy 20:4, "For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory." (NIV)
Romans 8:37, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (NIV)
[1] "God Is In Control," © 1993 by Twila Paris. All Rights Reserved. From He Is Exalted: Live Worship CD.
© 2011 by Renee Swope. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
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Detour: An unplanned visit and a conversation spawn a new church

Read Acts 16
Acts 16:9: During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
In his travels, Paul concentrates on the chief trade towns and capital cities of the Roman provinces. From this melting pot of diverse cultures the gospel message can radiate out across the globe. If a young church shows promise, Paul stays on, sometimes as long as three years, to direct its spiritual growth. His letters glow with affection for the friends he develops in this way.
This chapter contains one of the Bible's most famous episodes of divine guidance: Paul's vision of a man of Macedonia. Yet the account actually shows how uncommon such a revelation is. It certainly startles Paul, who abruptly changes his travel plans. Following his normal procedure, Paul arranges this missionary trip strategically, linking together major towns and cities in sequence. But this time he runs into a roadblock and must adjust his itinerary.
A Woman and a Jailer
As a result of this change, one of Paul's favorite churches comes into existence. Philippi is a leading city in the region of Macedonia, the place to which the vision has directed him. A casual conversation with a woman by a river opens the way for Paul (women play a crucial role in many of the early churches). What takes place in Philippi stands almost as a pattern for Paul's never-dull missionary visits: early acceptance, violent opposition and providential deliverance from danger.
When in danger, Paul does not hesitate to use the prestige and status that come with his Roman citizenship. He is escorted from Philippi with proper respect, but he leaves behind two transformed households: one led by a woman cloth merchant and the other by a city jailer. From that unlikely combination grows the lively church at Philippi, to whom Paul later addresses the book of Philippians.

Life Question

How has God used a casual conversation to bring someone or something important into your life?
NIVSocialicons
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We're celebrating
the release of Renee Swope's
new book, A Confident Heart!

Watch Renee's Book Trailer here
Click here to watch the book trailerPurchase A Confident Heart
A Confident Heart

About the book

Ever feel like you're not good enough, smart enough, or valuable enough? Do words you say to yourself, or hear from others, make you question your worth and purpose? Renee Swope understands and that is why she wrote A Confident Heart. Sharing personal stories, powerful Bible teaching and practical life applications, Renee will show you how to rely on the power of God's promises in your everyday roles and relationships — so you can find the security you need and the confidence you long for!
Chapter by chapter, A Confident Heart will help you:
• Break free from people-pleasing and performance-based living
• Exchange “against me” thoughts with scripture-based God is “for me thoughts”
• Live confidently in your God-given purpose, passion, and personality
• Trust the certainty of God's promises in the uncertainty of your circumstances and emotions
Powerful scripture-based prayers are at the end of each chapter, along with Bible study questions and a chart with thirty-one different promises to overcome our most common self-doubts.

Endorsements for A Confident Heart

"I'm so excited about Renee's book. She's walked this journey and gives us the gift of truths she's discovered that will sweep away self-doubt and usher in the godly confidence we've been longing for our whole lives!" — Lysa TerKeurst, New York Times Best-selling Author and President of Proverbs 31 Ministries
"You'll never be the same after you read this book!" — Sheri Rose Shepherd, bestselling author of His Princess and His Princess Bride
Renee Swope

About Renee

Renee Swope is Proverbs 31 Ministries' radio show co-host, a national speaker and our Executive Director of Radio and Devotions. But her favorite titles are wife and mom to her husband and three children. For more encouragement, free resources, great give-aways and more, visit www.ReneeSwope.com.
Click here to watch the book trailerDownload Chapter 1 A Confident Heart
Purchase A Confident Heart

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August 10, 2011
Changing the Way We Speak
Relying on the Holy Spirit
Today's Truth
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Ephesians 4:29NIV).
Friend To Friend
It was a daunting scene. Over 1,200 miles of Alaskan shoreline covered with black slimy crude oil, more than 1,000 bodies of once bustling sea otters littering the coast, and over 100,000 grounded fowl groping for air. The Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1988 dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil into the Prince William Sound and disrupted the ecological balance of nature to kill many of its most beautiful inhabitants...including 150 bald eagles. The once glacier-fed waters teeming with life became an oily death trap.
Just as toxins in nuclear waste facilities, city dumps, and industrial accidents wreak havoc on the environment, so toxic words cause destruction to the hearts and souls of people. Paul wrote, "Let no foul or polluting language [ever] come out of your mouth" (Ephesians 4:29 Amp). Perhaps as you've read the previous five devotions that I have written about the power of the words we speak, you've cringed at words you've spoken and wish you could take them back. Words that have polluted the ones you hold dear. Can we clean up the mess and repair the damage? Absolutely! We can choose to dismantle the verbal weapons and break the patterns of toxic words. And to do so, we must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
Relying on the Holy Spirit
Tongues...most animals have one. Some snakes have forked tongues. Lizards smell with their tongues. Some fish, such as salmon and trout, have teeth on their tongues. Frogs and toads have tongues that whip out at incredible speeds to catch flies and other insects. Their cousin, the chameleon, has a tongue that is as long as its body. An anteater's tongue can stretch to the height of a two-year-old. A gecko uses its tongue to wipe across its eyes like a windshield, and a giraffe uses its twenty-inch tongue to clean its ears. The tongue of a blue whale is about the size and weight of a full grown African elephant.
Even though a human tongue cannot smell out dinner, reel in the catch of the day, or reach to the tops of trees to pick fruit, it can do something even more amazing. The human tongue can create words. Words are an incredible gift, and as we have seen, they have the potential for good or evil. How do we harness such energy and insure that it is only used for good? Unfortunately, James tells us it is impossible.
"All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by human beings, but no one can tame the tongue," (James 3:7-8 TNIV). That's the bad news. Now, here's the good news. While no human being can tame the tongue...God can. It may be impossible for James, and for you and me, but it is not impossible for God. "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" the angel asked Sarah after announcing that her ninety-year-old body was going to bear a child ( Genesis 18:14).
When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity who enables us to do all that God has called us to do. He gives us the power to change!
Jesus explained to the disciples: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). After Jesus' ascension into heaven, the disciples waited for the Holy Spirit as Jesus had instructed.
"When the day of Pentecost came, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak on other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:1-4).
Isn't it interesting that the first manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit was words and the first visual manifestation was tongues of fire? The disciples were able to speak in the various languages of the men and women who were visiting Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. The travelers heard the gospel in their own languages! Yes, that was astonishing. But even more amazing was the courage that arose in the cowardly disciples.
Just a short time before Pentecost, Peter had been so afraid that he denied he even knew who Jesus was. A mere servant girl's inquisition had Peter shaking in his sandals and swearing he was no friend of Jesus. After being filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter stood up, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd with such a mighty sermon that 3,000 men and women accepted Jesus as their Savior and were baptized. That's what the Holy Spirit can do for timid souls who believe. He can transform a cursing tongue into a confessing tongue.
It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to control this little muscle that rests between our teeth. However, change does require our cooperation. We must work in tandem with the Holy Spirit to reign in this feisty force. The Holy Spirit gives us the power, but our responsibility is to put God-given principles into practice.
Let's Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that You did not leave us as orphans, but gave us the power of the Holy Spirit living within us to do all that You have called us to do. I pray that the Holy Spirit will help me control the words that I speak and tame my tongue.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen
Now It's Your Turn
God really loves it when we pray specific prayers. Make a list of ways that you need to change the way you speak. Cursing? Negative? Discouraging? Critical? Complaining? Sarcastic? Crude?
Make a list and pray that God will help you change specific "unwholesome" speech that comes out of your mouth.
To comment on today's devotion, visitwww.sharonjaynes.com/blog.
While there, you can read comments from other Girlfriends in God readers.
More From The Girlfriends
Today's devotion is taken from Sharon's book The Power of a Woman's Words. In this book, you can explore the power you possess, the people you impact, the potential for change, and the profound possibilities. As you harness this mighty force, you will begin to use words to speak life to those around you. Get one for yourself, or gather a group of girlfriends to learn and grow together.
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