Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Wed Aug 7th Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns Scott Carmichael, Eric Ma andJovicic Nada. Born on the same day, across the years as Robert Dudley (1574), Mata Hari (1876), Stan Freberg (1926), James Randi (1928), Greg Chappell (1948), David Duchovny (1960), Jimmy Wales (1966) and Abbie Cornish (1982). On your day, Independence Day in Ivory Coast (1960)
1782 – The Bronze Horseman, an equestrian statue of Peter the Great that serves as one of the symbols of Saint Petersburg, Russia, was unveiled.
1909 – Fifty-nine days after leaving New York City, Alice Huyler Ramsey, with three friends, arrived in San Francisco to become the first woman to drive an automobile across the U.S.
1933 – An estimated 3,000 Assyrians were slaughtered by Iraqi troops during the Simele massacre in the Dahuk and Mosul districts.
1938 – Prisoners from Dachau concentration camp were sent to begin construction of Mauthausen, which would later be part of one of the largest labour camp complexes in German-occupied Europe.
1998 – Car bombs exploded simultaneously at the American embassies in the East African capital cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, killing more than 200 people and injuring more than 4,500 others. That Bronze Horseman is a clue to your day .. freedom, mastery, planning. It isn't by accident you are here, your day is matched with love. Those horrors you face, you face with intelligence, and courage. You aren't fools, and today is your day.
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Time’s up for deadly dogs

Miranda Devine – Tuesday, August 06, 2013 (7:13pm)

EVERY time a mere human is killed or mauled by a pit bull-type dog, all the professional apologists line up to declare: “It’s not the breed, it’s the deed”.
It’s the same mantra spewed by the gun lobby after every massacre in the US: “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people”.
Rubbish. The horrible death this week of two-year old Deeon Higgins in Deniliquin has to mark the end of the line for dangerous dog breeds as household “pets”.
Deeon had just stepped outside his grandmother’s back door to get an icecream from an outdoor freezer when his 24-year-old cousin’s bull mastiff cross attacked him. For more than 15 minutes.
Deeon’s frantic grandmother Joyce Higgins, and then his mother, Vicki Higgins, tried in vain to save him. But he died in Deniliquin hospital of “serious head and facial injuries”.
You can only shudder.
Pit bull-type dogs are inherently dangerous.
They are responsible for a disproportionately large share of the most serious dog attacks, and yet politicians continue to bow to the dog lobby. Enough. A dangerous dog is a weapon which can be every bit as lethal as a gun.
It’s time for a “dog buyback”, similar to John Howard’s gun buyback. There can be an amnesty of a few weeks before the owner of every pit bull, or similar vicious breed, is required to relinquish their dogs to the local council.
They can then choose a safer breed from the tens of thousands waiting for a new home in pounds and animal shelters. The owner can be recompensed by the taxpayer for the small costs incurred. The dangerous breed is then humanely put to sleep, while a dog on death row is saved.
A life for a life, you might call it.
Those owners who choose not to relinquish their dogs should be subject to draconian laws, including mandatory manslaughter if anyone is killed by their animal.
“Kingston”, the dog which killed Deeon, was a 57kg bull mastiff cross. We don’t know what it was crossed with, but a bull mastiff is a big powerful breed considered akin to a pit pull because it is has been bred for the same aggressive traits and muscular, stocky build.
Pit bull is a term generally used for the American pit bull terrier, American Staffordshire terrier and Staffordshire bull terrier. Along with similar breeds, they pose a clear and present danger to humans.
For instance, in May, jogger Rob Nelson, 49, was savagely mauled by three American Staffordshire Terriers in Liverpool. When paramedics arrived, his heart was visible through his wounds, his abdomen was “hanging out”, his bicep had been eaten and his armpit had been ripped out. He only survived because of the intervention of bystanders.
The dog’s owner is due in court later this month, to face a charge of owning an attacking dog, which carries a paltry maximum fine of $5500.
In nearby East Hills last October, a 19-year-old man had his ear bitten off by two American Staffordshire terriers as he walked his dog down the street.
In 2011 District Court Judge Michael Elkaim described two pit bull-type dogs that killed four-year-old Tyra Kuehne as “trained killers”. He awarded Tyra’s family $120,000 in damages after they sued Warren Shire Council for negligence. S adly, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision.
In 2005, after three such attacks, then premier Bob Carr lashed pitbulls as “killing machines on a leash”, but stopped short of banning them.
He declared certain pit bull-type breeds “restricted”, which means they cannot be imported, or bred and should be desexed, muzzled in public, and live in a secure enclosure.
The idea was that they would die out and, hey presto, problem solved.
But, almost a decade later, dangerous breeds are still killing and maiming people.
Now Barry O’Farrell isn’t even trying to sound tough, saying dog owners need to be more responsible. Sure, but plenty aren’t.
Compare O’Farrell’s response to that of Victorian Premier Denis Napthine, who is also a vet, and is planning a crackdown on after four-year-old Ayen Chol was mauled to death by a neighbour’s pit bull.
“Let’s get rid of American pit bulls. They’re just bred for attacking and they can do enormous damage,” he said.
Unfortunately, in NSW the Australian Veterinary Association view holds sway, that it is the “deed not the breed” and that breed-specific legislation is illogical.
But there’s plenty of evidence to dispute that view.
For instance, a paper in the Annals Of Surgery journal in 2011, found: “Attacks by pit bulls are associated with higher morbidity rates, higher hospital charges and a higher risk of death than are attacks by other breeds of dogs”.
A study in the Plastic And Reconstructive Surgery journal found more than half the serious dog bites treated over five years at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia were pit bulls.
Celebrity vet Dr Robert Zammit, of Vineyard Veterinary Hospital, near Windsor, admitted on ABC radio yesterday that: “Certain breeds are worse than others Certain breeds are very sharp and apt to attack.”
He also said that any dog “in a bad situation, can attack,” and that no child under 12 should be left alone with a dog.
Sensible advice, but sometimes children wander, and sometimes dogs escape. We need to minimise the risk.
So, if 1000 pit bulls have to die, that’s a small price to pay to save one child. 

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DETROIT EXPLAINED

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 07, 2013 (1:26pm)

“In the city of Detroit, 47 percent of adults are functionally illiterate,” reports Katie Pavlich. “Students in Detroit’s public school system have a higher chance of going to prison than they do of graduating high school.” The doomed city’s problems start at the top: 
Just a few years ago, now former president of the school board Otis Mathis, fondled himself during a public meeting. Naturally, his inappropriate behavior was defended by a school board colleague who argued Mathis, 55-years-old at the time, was simply a “naive young man” about appropriate behavior. 
There’s also the small matter of Mathis’s own functional illiteracy. Following is an email from the former president of Detroit’s school board: 
If you saw Sunday’s Free Press that shown Robert Bobb the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, move Mark Twain to Boynton which have three times the number seats then students and was one of the reason’s he gave for closing school to many empty seats. 
What to do with a city that so rewards such incompetence? Iowahawk has an idea.
(Via Brat)

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UNSETTLED SCIENCE

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 07, 2013 (1:07pm)

Science cannot explain the bicycle: 
It turns out that taking into account the angles of the headset and the forks, the distribution of weight and the handlebar turn, the gyroscopic effects are not enough to keep a bike upright after all. What does? We simply don’t know. Forget mysterious dark matter and the inexplicable accelerating expansion of the universe; the bicycle represents a far more embarrassing hole in the accomplishments of physics. 

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ALWAYS WRONG, ALL THE TIME

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 07, 2013 (1:01pm)

Just listen to this bloke:



The assistant treasurer is now backing down: 
Labor frontbencher David Bradbury says he was having a bad day and “got it wrong” when he rang a Sydney radio station and accused a presenter of Liberal bias. 
Speaking of wrong, here’s Bob Ellis on Monday: 
It is two days since we have seen Scott Morrison, or heard from him.
It is my belief we will not see him again, before September 8. 
Morrison appeared on the ABC the very next day.

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ICESS SUFFERS

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 07, 2013 (12:54pm)

The quest for name validation is exhausting.

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BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 07, 2013 (5:00am)

Media Watch is miffed by what it claims is the Daily Telegraph‘s premature election endorsement: 
And with the election campaign just ONE day old … 
In fact, this year’s election campaign began 189 days ago. The Telegraph‘s endorsement is actually overdue by more than six months.

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THESE PEOPLE CAN’T COUNT

Tim Blair – Tuesday, August 06, 2013 (4:35pm)

Treasurer Chris Bowen gets his numbers wrong: 
News Limited owns 70 per cent of the print media in Australia, as I understand it ... 
Not so. News owns 32 per cent of the print media in Australia. Bowen, usually more sensible than this, is clearly drawing his information from Bob Brown, which should disqualify the member for McMahon from any position involving numbers. Bowen’s ridiculous boss is also turning Green: 
Rudd repeatedly referred to the fact that Murdoch “owned 70% of Australia’s newspapers” … 
Someone buy the PM a clue. Andrew Bolt has much more on the current rash of Murdoch media myths.
UPDATE. A News Corp statement: 
Recent political commentary has perpetuated a long-standing myth that News Corp Australia owns 70% of Australian newspapers.
News Corp Australia owns or co-owns 33% of all ABC and CAB audited newspapers in Australia.
News Corp Australia newspapers are popular - over half the adult population of Australia chooses to read a News Corp Australia newspaper each week. This means that News Corp Australia has a 59% share of newspaper circulation.
All of this ignores television, radio and the myriad of online news sources which offer more diversity in opinion than at any time in history. 

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How dare our politicians waste this much on doing nothing about the weather?

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (4:58pm)

Alan Moran compares how much each party will waste pretending to stop a global warming that actually paused 15 years ago anyway:

The classses of program comprise the carbon tax/ETS, the renewables program, the direct subsidies from the budget and product.  Compared to this year’s costs of $19 billion (excluding the hard-to-estimate product standard costs) the Coalition’s policies impose $8 billion a year, Labor’s $23 billion and the Greens and awesome $27 billion.  The wooden spoon in terms of imposts is shared by Family First and the Liberal Democratic Party, both of which say they would eradicate all such measures!
The waste is scandalous, even from the Coalition. We’re in deep deficit, which makes it even more insane to spend billions a year on making a difference to the temperature so immeasurably small that no party dares tell voters what it is.  

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Why is the US backing troops fighting alongside al Qaeda?

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (4:45pm)

This seems ominous - and stupid:

Syrian rebels spearheaded by al Qaida in Iraq and its local allies took control Tuesday of a crucial military airport in northern Syria, opening a vital supply line between the rebel-held north and Turkey.
The end of the siege that had clamped down the airport since last October began Monday, when two non-Syrian nationals drove an armored personnel carrier, loaded with explosives, into a position manned by defenders of the regime of President Bashar Assad. The explosion devastated the Assad troops and allowed rebels to overrun the Mannagh Air Base in Idlib province.
Those rebels included multiple units affiliated with the Syrian Military Council, an umbrella group with U.S. backing. That poses an uncomfortable pairing of a group supported by U.S. resources with Islamist organizations Washington has labeled as terrorist.

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Talking to people waiting to catch a boat here

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (10:59am)

An excellent documentary by David O’Shea, who interviews the asylum seekers waiting in Indonesia to take a boat to Australia. It’s the kind of first-hand reporting we’ve seen too little of in this debate.
His interviews suggest Rudd’s threats to send all boat people to PNG will - if actually carried out - will deter some, but not all. Some don’t believe him, and others don’t mind going to PNG. It’s interesting that even senior Indonesian officials either don’t understand or don’t believe Rudd’s policy.
Your heart will go out to the individual boat people interviewed. You’d like to help. But you also get some idea of just how many there are who want to come through a door left ajar, and how few would have the English and the skills to prosper once they got here. Many, many people - and not just people in war zones - want to share our prosperity, the gift of a culture they do not (yet) share.
Whatever, watch and decide for yourself. 

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Are you or have you ever been a Liberal stooge?

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (9:53am)

Frank speaking from Professor Warwick McKibbin, a former member of the Reserve Bank board, on Lateline last night:
EMMA ALBERICI: Was Joe Hockey right when he said the Reserve Bank board’s decision to cut rates today was an indication that the Government had lost control of the economy?
WARWICK MCKIBBON: Well, I think it was an indication that the economy is weak and the policies that should have been followed haven’t been…
EMMA ALBERICI: What could the Government have been doing to reduce energy and labour costs?
WARWICK MCKIBBON: ... The carbon pricing model was flawed. We do need carbon pricing but not of the nature they did with such high costs. We need much better improvements in productivity, improvements in labour regulation, we need a fairly substantial infrastructure program....  We have an inefficient economy in various parts of particularly manufacturing but we keep throwing subsidies to producers instead of helping them reform what they do ...
EMMA ALBERICI: In an interview with the Australian ‘Financial Review’ this morning you blamed the current state of the economy on weak confidence driven by political incoherence. What do you mean by political incoherence?
WARWICK MCKIBBON: Well, the Government policies seem to be fairly random. A policy here, a policy there, people don’t know what to invest in because they’re uncertain about whether or not some regulation will change. They think that if they do invest the taxes, if they’re successful, may go up. .. [The] problem has been a lack of vision, a lack of infrastructure, real infrastructure that raised productivity. It’s also a serious problem, as I said, on the input costs side… You could say we’re the unlucky country for the last five years which in fact we have been. Thankfully we’ve been helped by China but that help is gradually disappearing.
Which leads to this curious exchange:

EMMA ALBERICI: And just to clarify, you worked for the Howard Government and John Howard himself installed you on the Reserve Bank board. Do your politics colour your views at all?
WARWICK MCKIBBON: Well actually I’ve never worked for the Howard Government. I was appointed by the Prime Minister in Mr Howard to a couple of independent committees but I was never employed by the Howard Government. I’ve been as neutral and criticised the Howard Government as much as I started to criticise the Rudd Government. My role as an academic is to criticise bad policies and there’s just been proportionately more bad policies this time around than there was last time.

Read the full McKibbon interview for his thoughts on Treasury’s failures, the green tape problem and more.
(Thanks to reader Ashley.) 

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Abbott promises company tax cut. But it could have been better

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (9:52am)

Good, but it still means many companies will actually have no tax relief, given they must pay for the Opposition’s absurdly generous parental leave scheme:

TONY Abbott has promised to cut the company tax rate by 1.5 percentage points for 750,000 companies at a cost of $5 billion to help stimulate the economy and offset his paid parental leave scheme.
In the Coalition’s first major policy announcement of the election campaign, the Opposition Leader says the company tax cut from July 1, 2015, would help build a “prosperous economy”.
How much better would this have been if Abbott had not make a boom-time promise of mega-entitlements - up to $75,000 each - for working women having a baby:
Mr Abbott’s $5bn PPL scheme, which is not fully funded by a 1.5 per cent levy on big companies, has been criticised as a “tax” on business that will force up retail prices for consumers and be a drag on business activity.
The start date for the company tax cut is designed to coincide with the introduction of the PPL scheme to ensure that the 37,500 businesses paying the levy - those with more than $5 million of revenue, or about one in 20 firms - will not face a net increase in corporate taxes.

And see the difference with our competition:
Its proposed cut will take the corporate tax rate to 28.5c in the dollar - still above the average of OECD countries of 24 per cent.
UPDATE
Treasurer Chris Bowen says Labor will not match the tax cut.
UPDATE
The question is where the money is coming from. Labor is now running a ludicrous scare campaign that it will be paid for by a rise in the GST - whose revenue goes to the states, anyway.
Opposition Finance Minister Andrew Robb on the ABC this morning said he ruled out any change to the GST over the next term under a Liberal Government:

We’ve got no intention of doing anything to the GST.
UPDATE
Abbott agrees: no plans “whatsoever” to change the GST, which would need the support of the states anyway, including Labor states. He denounces the Labor scare as “hysterical”.
UPDATE
Abbott should not be promising massive entitlement schemes when the government is deep in debt - and when the beneficiaries are mostly two-income families well able to look after themselves:

PETER Reith has urged Tony Abbott to abandon his generous paid parental leave scheme after last week’s $12 billion blowout in the budget deficit, as Nationals MPs warned they would cross the floor to vote against the policy if the Coalition won power.
Several Nationals have told The Australian they are deeply disappointed that the policy will be reannounced during the election campaign and vowed to cross the floor on the issue if the Coalition wins the election.
“We are never going to vote for something that makes one baby worth more than another,” one MP said.

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Don’t bother Bradbury with the facts. Or else

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (8:40am)

The Assistant Treasurer rings up Smooth FM expecting to be able to record a quick grab for the news that peddles a Labor lie. Note how outraged - even surprised - he is when some journalist asks him to stick to the truth:

ASSISTANT Treasurer David Bradbury: I find it extraordinary that yesterday Mr Hockey was barracking for higher interest rates. Let’s not forget when the Liberals were last in office Mr Howard once famously said “interest rates will always be at record lows under the Liberals” but now it seems that Mr Hockey and Mr Abbott stand for higher interest rates.
Glenn Daniel: Whoa, David, hold on. What did he actually say yesterday that you pinned that claim on?
David: He said that, um, interest rates should not be cut.
Glenn: No, no, what he said was when interest rates go down, it’s a sign the economy is not going well. That’s what he said.
He’s not saying “I want higher interest rates” he is saying when a reserve bank is forced to cut interest rates then the economy is not going well.
David: Wait, are we having an argument here or am I on air? I’m just trying to work that out.
Glenn: No, no, I’m just putting the proposition to you that what he said was that if the economy is not going well then interest rates get cut, that’s what he said didn’t he?
David: Well, uh, they also have a pamphlet that . . . says that under the Liberals, interest rates will be cut.
There is a major contradiction here in the argument that they are putting.
If interest rates are not cut today, then Mr Hockey and Mr Abbott will be the only two people in the country who will welcome that.
Glenn: No, uh, David. That’s obviously not right. What he said was --
David: Wait wait wait, are you um . . . are you?
Glenn: I’m trying to get you to comment on what he said, not what you think he said . . . . David: Sorry Glenn, are you, are you a Liberal party member here or what is going on?
Glenn: No, I’m just trying to, you know, (get) the context of what he was saying is and you’re trying to twist it into that the Coalition wants higher interest rates. Which you know is a nonsense.
David: Sorry?
Glenn: You’re trying to twist his comments.
David: What’s your surname Glenn?
Glenn: Daniel, why?
David: This is extraordinary, I’ve never experienced anything like this. Do you, do you do this all the time?
Glenn: David, I’m just asking you a question.
David: Well, why don’t we go back to you asking the questions rather than you making the case for the Liberals.
UPDATE
Professor Sinclair Davidson compares mortgage rates under Labor to those under the Howard Government:
The average standard variable home loans rate in the Howard era was 7.24% compared to 7.29% over the past six years. On average, much of a muchness. Small business has paid more, on average, for overdraft facilities in the Rudd-Gillard era (10.08% v 8.87%) and letting your credit card max out has been a lot more expensive over the past six years (19.26% v 16.27%).

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The truth behind the Murdoch “conspiracy” against Labor

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (8:23am)

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Not everything that former ABC Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes says about the alleged Murdoch conspiracy against the Rudd Government is hyperbolic or distorted by his own partisanship of the Left.
Here are the bits with which I tend to agree - and they don’t include Holmes’ assumption that Murdoch’s editors have been ordered to attack:

But what’s in it for Rupert? What deals has he cut with Tony Abbott, in return for his newspapers’ support?
On the very day that Kevin Rudd called the election, Fairfax columnist Paul Sheehan ventured a suggestion in The Sunday Age. It’s all to do with Labor’s NBN, he told us. ‘’News Corp views this as a threat to the business models of its most important asset, Foxtel.’’…
In fact, [the Coalition’s] fibre-to-the-node system may be a more serious threat to Foxtel, because [it’s] promising to get it into our homes faster…

I reckon the attempt to identify an obvious quid pro quo is misconceived. In his 2011 book Rupert Murdoch: An Investigation of Political Power, David McKnight persuasively argued that the traditional view of him is wrong: he doesn’t just back winners, or play politics solely to benefit his commercial interests…
Murdoch, argues McKnight, plays politics from conviction… He’s always liked to think of himself as an anti-establishment radical.
In my opinion, Murdoch’s disdain for Labor is rooted in a judgment of its policies, performance and the national interest. Check his tweets on the topic. Indeed, I cannot see how anyone interested in the economy and good governance of this country could be anything but horrified by the past six years of Labor rule.
I should also single out one of Holmes’ claims for correction:
One thing News can be sure of: an Abbott government will not be renewing Stephen Conroy’s ill-fated attempt to force stricter regulation on the news media, and to prevent further media takeovers and mergers.
But then, nor will a future Rudd government. Press regulation is off the agenda for at least a decade.
Really? Holmes can guarantee that?
No one in News Corp could possibly assume what Holmes claims. They have seen Labor for several years demonise their company, their owner and their newspaper. They have seen Labor so convinced of the evil of News Corp papers and so outraged by the criticism it richly deserved that it called a media inquiry into what the Greens and some Labor MPs branded the “hate media”.  They have seen Labor propose draconian state-supervision of the press, draft new rules cracking down on free speech, pass onerous new privacy provisions and deny the Australia Network contract from News in punishment for its editorial stand. They have seen a Labor Prime Minister scream at the then head of the News Ltd in an attempt to close down reporting on the AWU scandal, while Labor meanwhile funds a vast expansion of the Leftist state media.
Not a single Murdoch editor in this country could conclude that Labor, if returned, will not try again to damage their company or restrict the right of them and their journalists to report without fear or favor.
So Labor is worried about what Murdoch papers might do to it in the election? Labor should consider what Murdoch papers - and anyone concerned with free speech and a free press - have to fear from Labor after it.
UPDATE
Kevin Morgan:
Earlier in the week Fairfax columnist Paul Sheehan recycled a conspiracy theory that until then had been the sole province of nut jobs on the internet, claiming that Murdoch was out to destroy the NBN because the NBN would smash his Foxtel pay-television model.

That suggestion defies all technical and commercial realities. The TV and content industry is already adjusting to the opportunities presented by ubiquitous broadband, whether it’s delivered through the Coalition’s revamped Telstra FTTN proposal or the theoretically higher speeds and greater capacity of Labor’s FTTH network.

Australia’s second largest broadband provider, iiNet, already offers internet TV and Telstra is now offering Foxtel over the internet. The obvious loser as viewers switch to internet-based pay-TV or video and movies on demand has not been Foxtel. It remains profitable, albeit with modest subscriber growth, while the debt-burdened free-to-air networks risk going under…

Despite the spin put on it by the NBN Co’s 52 PR staff, the Department of Broadband, the minister’s office and $100 million worth of advertising, the NBN is not a good news story, a fact acknowledged by Sheehan. It’s a story that keeps on giving - it’s a debacle, and you don’t need Murdoch to point that out.

UPDATE
Can Fairfax now run a column on a more outrageous use of media power?
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Gloom grows in Labor after messy start

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (8:22am)

Dennis Shanahan reports concern within Labor about Kevin Rudd’s messy start to the election:

ONLY two days into the election campaign, concerns are beginning to be voiced from inside the ALP about Kevin Rudd’s presidential campaign style, Labor’s political momentum and the strength of the Prime Minister’s popularity.
Senior ALP figures have told The Australian there remains an intense dislike towards Mr Rudd despite Labor’s rise in the polls since his removal of Julia Gillard five weeks ago, and a view his campaign has not started well and is losing momentum…
There ... is criticism of Mr Rudd’s frenetic schedule ahead of calling the election for September 7, opposition to his concerted efforts to wage war with the “Murdoch press” (News Corporation, owner of The Australian), claims he will not take advice and suggestions he should have called the election a week earlier for August 31…
One influential Labor figure told The Australian: “The week before last he had a one-in-three chance of winning; this week it’s down to a one-in-four chance. It’s still a chance but not what it was.
“In the marginal seats Kevin Rudd’s satisfaction is just ‘even Stevens’ and Tony Abbott is appearing less negative.”
(Thanks to reader Peter.)
UPDATE
Watching Tony Abbott’s press conference today, I detect a new sense of confidence. Abbott has always enjoyed campaigning, but today he seemed happy and in the zone. I suspect the initial fear of Rudd’s comeback has well and truly gone, and Abbott feels he now has Rudd’s measure again.
Had Labor gone to the polls a week earlier, it might have caught Abbott when he was a little less sure of himself and how to proceed.
Small detail: good that the Liberals have made the background hoarding a slightly darker shade of blue, too. The initial color I saw was far too insipid. 

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The real debt problem: our debt ratio doubles in just three years

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (8:03am)

Reader Peter of Bellevue Hills notes the real issue - not the size of Labor’s debt but the speed at which it’s growing:

AB, just in regard to the caller into 2GB last night who was sounding pretty relaxed that debt is 11 per cent of GDP. That figure is pretty much right (for the moment), but it’s worth remembering it was six per cent at the time of the last election.
Julia Gillard at Labor’s campaign launch on 16 August 2010:

(W)hen you look at the debt of this nation, it’s the equivalent of someone who earns $100,000 a year having a $6,000 loan… Now let me say this: I want to repay that debt.
Julia Gillard on 16 February this year:

With an amount of $200 billion recently publicised, Ms Gillard said the Government would peak at less than 10 per cent of GDP “and then, of course, we will start to see debt going down.”
Kevin Rudd at the National Press Club on 11 July:
Our debt level is scheduled to peak at 11.4 per cent of the size of our economy. Of course we should always be concerned if we have a debt. And we should always repay our debts responsibly.
Of course, there’s any number of alarming facts arising: not least of which is the near doubling of the debt measure in three years, despite repayment commitments to the contrary. The shift in the expected peak from less than 10 per cent of GDP in February to 11.4 in July raises more than an eyebrow. It would be good if the PM could make a commitment that under Labor, debt won’t rise above the scheduled 11.4 per cent.It would also be good to know if he can nominate what the debt level will be by the time of the 2016 election, should Labor be returned on 7 September.
PS
In fact, Gillard’s analogy of the debt then being the equivalent of a $6000 loan on a $100,000 income was completely misleading. 

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The Twitterverse - where obsessives rule

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (7:49am)

More evidence on how easily obsessives and trolls can dominate Twitter debates:
THE Twitter conversation around Australian politics is so skewed that 1 per cent of users produce two-thirds of the conversation, research reveals.
A mapping study of the Australian Twittersphere by the Queensland University of Technology’s Institute for Creative Innovation revealed that a small group dominated political discussion that used the hashtag #auspol, the main political Twitter forum in Australia.
“What you have is a small group of highly active participants,” said project leader Axel Bruns.... “Basically you have this very small ‘in’ group of people who talk about politics all the time—I mean, literally, there was one person in that group who sent 30,000 tweets over that period, which is massive.”
The user who single-handedly sent 3.5 per cent of the #auspol tweets over the eight months was not a journalist. “It was just someone who is presumably a politics nut,” he said, explaining that the QUT ethics prevented him from identifying the individual.
(Thanks to reader BBqTalk.) 

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Scripted Abbott makes Rudd look normal

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (7:21am)

Actually, Tony Abbott is aware of the problem Janet Albrechtsen describes - but also aware that he faces a gotcha media, ready to pounce on the slightest slip:
CAMPAIGN day three: Just in case no one is saying this privately to Tony Abbott - and more’s the pity if they’re not - here is a public plea.
Loosen up, Mr Abbott. You’re looking too wooden, too tightly scripted, as if each word is a potential hand grenade. And here’s the real clincher for letting down your hair. Kevin Rudd is playing a brazen game of presidential politics so you need to tackle that head-on. Instead, you’re making Rudd look normal and charming, which is a most curious thing because those who know the real Rudd know he is neither normal nor charming.
I discussed this problem with panelists on The Bolt Report here. 

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When Albo met Thommo

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (7:15am)

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No reason given for this odd - even inappropriate - meeting:
HE has been banished from the Labor Party and is facing more than 170 fraud and theft charges including allegations he used union funds to pay for prostitutes.
But that didn’t stop Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last night enjoying a few beers with controversial Independent MP Craig Thomson in the middle of the election campaign.
UPDATE
Tony Abbott:
The fake Kevin Rudd says he’s cleaning up the Labor Party. The real Kevin Rudd is making deals with Craig Thomson.

===

What’s new about Rudd?

Andrew Bolt August 07 2013 (6:04am)

Paul Kelly on Kevin Rudd’s pretence that he is the challenger, not the incumbent. The “new way”, and not the old government:

Rudd is totally convinced he saved the nation from recession.... He frames his latest claim - to manage the great transition post-resources boom - amid these convictions. Can Rudd succeed in his strategy of campaign audacity? There are two problems.
First, Rudd so far has offered virtually nothing to explain how Labor is best placed to manage the post-boom transition. It cannot be Gillard’s record because he refuses to run on Gillard’s record. His only offering has been a flimsy new competitiveness agenda, too vague to have traction and too great a reversal of Labor policy to have credibility....
By declaring economic managment the prime issue, Rudd reveals the size of his own ego but he takes a huge risk. He runs on the Coalition’s area of traditional advantage at the time the economy is slowing with unemployment rising and investment confidence weak.
When will Rudd put some real policy grunt behind his claim on what he says is the central issue of this election?
Just for the record, pumping subsidies into manufacturing doesn’t cut the mustard and won’t persuade the public. That sounds like yesterday, not tomorrow.
Second, many of the problems Rudd faces have their origins in his first stint as PM. He seeks re-election on the basis of “who do you trust” but this invites scrutiny of Rudd’s own record.
Terry McCrann on the the causes of the serious lack of business confidence:

The first was the decision to announce the September election date at the start of the year…
The second factor so damaging on a much deeper and more sustained basis to business confidence, was the corrosive combination of policy and administrative chaos, and the generally anti-business approach that plagued the years of the Gillard Government.
But all of which had its roots in the first three years of Rudd Mark One.
Awful memories of which would come flooding back with the two big disastrous decisions of the few weeks we’ve seen of Rudd Mark Two. The $2 billion FBT hit on the car industry and the $5 billion hit on smokers.
Both decisions came out of nowhere, without the slightest consultation, far less even the most cursory analysis by the bureaucracy.
Treasury even had to admit it had not modelled the impact of the FBT change on the car industry. It just might close it down.
Worse, the decisions were taken not on any substantive policy basis, but simply to ... try to patch over a huge increase in the bottom line budget deficit.

===
ALP backer employed hit man to take out rival? - ed

But within three years Mr McGurk had organised an associate to stage a car accident in an attempt to catch Medich drink driving and Medich had allegedly forked out upwards of $300,000 for a contract killing on Mr McGurk.
Medich has been charged with soliciting the murder and murdering Mr McGurk, who was shot at close range outside his Cremorne home in northern Sydney on September 3, 2009.
To help carry out the hit, the crown alleges Medich enlisted the help of one-time featherweight boxing champion Lucky Gattellari.
Gattellari then allegedly recruited Senad Kaminic, Haissam Safetli and Christopher Estephan to help.
It was Safetli and Estephan, the crown says, who then went to his home and fired the fatal shot.
When his murder failed to resolve Medich's financial and legal disputes, he then allegedly funded someone to threaten the businessman's widow, Kimberley McGurk.
On the second day of the committal hearing involving Medich and his co-accused Christopher Estephan, Central Local Court heard that in 2007 and early 2008 the developer and Mr McGurk's business relationship was running smoothly.
The 65-year-old was transferring upwards of $8 million into Mr McGurk's company accounts for various properties and trusted and "thought highly" of the businessman.
But by 2009 suspicions were festering and the pair became embroiled in legal battles over properties amounting to about $7 million.
In July 2009 Mr McGurk paid an associate $5000 to plough into Medich's car in Sydney's CBD in the hope the property tycoon would be arrested for drink driving.
The accumulative effect of these disputes and the damage to his reputation led to Medich having a "strong desire" to have Mr McGurk killed, Crown Prosecutor Gina O'Rourke said.
The court heard that when Gattellari allegedly told Medich the hit would cost between $300,000 to $500,000, the developer said he would organise cash through his friend and associate - racing identity Les Samba.
Mr Samba was gunned down on a Melbourne footpath in February 2011.
Matthew Crockett - a former standover man of Gattellari - told the hearing that he "vaguely remembered" a conversation in which it was said Mr Samba owed Medich money.
"Ron said he was sick of people in need of cash," Mr Crockett told the court.
But Medich's barrister Winston Terracini SC put to Mr Crockett that his client had also said he was sick of Gattellari asking for cash.
The court heard Gattellari employed Mr Crockett to "stand over" people who owed him money and make "veiled threats".
In 2010 Mr Crockett said Gattellari had also paid him to carry out surveillance on Mr Medich's wife Odetta - who after Mr McGurk's death had begun putting enormous pressure on her husband to distance himself from the boxer and cease funding his companies.
Of the five men charged in relation to the killing, only Estephan and Medich are facing committal to determine whether they should stand trial.
Gattellari and Kaminic were sentenced earlier this year for their part in the murder and received heavy discounts for co-operating with police and giving evidence against Medich.
Safetli is due to be sentenced later this week.
The hearing before Magistrate Jan Stevenson continues.

===

오사렘
You are good .. I think you have to alert the police first. They will 'investigate' and their findings will give Fair Trading an opportunity to lock up some crime .. and possibly reward you .. don't forget Today Tonight or some such for a feel good story with scam. - ed
Oh my day just gets more interesting. Had 2 blokes out to fix my dishwasher. Imagine abbot & costello fixing your dishwasher. After 2 hours of bumbling they demand payment of $500. I'm a bit suss, thats steep for shining some torches & twisting some taps. $140 to replace a part. I ask to see the old part & he takes ages to find it, its not that big of a toolbox. He hands me a part that doesn't look familiar. I put off payment until later. I call an electrician friend. He says the part isn't even from my dishwasher. We open it up & its still the same old part, complete with old burn marks. I have been ripped off. I haven't paid yet, so what's my next course of action? ‪#‎sopissedoff‬.

===
Hell isn't really hot enough for the people who committed this crime. - ed

A MOTHER whose newborn baby was allegedly sold to human traffickers by a doctor has been reunited with her son.
Dong Wan from China wept as she held the boy at a hospital in Fuping following the arrest of Zhang Lin, a female obstetrician, and two suspected accomplices.
The doctor apparently told Mrs Wan, 31, that her son was born with severe health problems and would soon die. She is accused of persuading the mother to sign the baby over to the hospital before selling him to traffickers for $5000.
"I was told the best thing would be to let the hospital take care of him, so I did," Mrs Dong said.
But after signing the documents at the Fuping County Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital in northern China on July 17, she became suspicious and begged her husband to call the police.
The healthy baby was tracked down hundreds of miles away after the original traffickers sold him on for a profit.
Local deputy director Chen Jainfeng said that "the suspects told us where the baby was and with the help of local police we found the child".
"The baby is undergoing medical tests and is on his way home," he added.
Police fear there may be many more such cases and are investigating at least seven in the region.

Dong cries
===

===

Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
SOME DREAD LIFE.MANY JUST ENDURE LIFE.OTHERS TRY TO ESCAPE LIFE,BUT WHY NOT LIVE LIFE UNTIL YOU DIE? TODAY, I WANT TO ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS.... 
HOW DO YOU APPROACH LIFE? WHAT IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE?
DO YOU DREAD...ENDURE....ESCAPE or LIVE LIFE?
THE REASON I ASK IS THAT PAUL TELLS US IN EPHESIANS 5 TO BE VERY CAREFUL HOW WE LIVE.....

Ephesians 5:15-17
Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Psalm 39:4 says,"Show me, O Lord, my life’s end & the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life".Psalm 90:10 says,"The length of our days is 70 years - or 80, if we have the strength...they quickly pass, & we fly away".
A Doctor ran some tests for his patient and told the man that "Your condition is terminal." "Oh, no!? the man cried. "How long do I have to live? Ten ..." began the doctor. "Ten what?" the patient interrupted. Days? Months? Years? LIFE IS VERY SHORT....Some folks save it, others make it, most waste it, several kill it,how are you going to end yours? In heaven or hell?.Many try to manage it and end up losing it. Time is a taker. Once past, it never returns but those in Christ are ready waiting for His coming any day.Repent and get ready for His second coming.He will surely come.God bless you.

===

Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Pray without ceasing.(1 Thessalonians 5:17, NKJV)
What does it mean to pray without ceasing? That doesn’t mean for 24 hours a day we should get on our knees and never do anything else, never go to work. I believe this scripture is talking about an attitude. All throughout the day, under our breath, in our thoughts, we’re constantly thinking about God, thanking Him for His goodness, meditating on His promises, and asking for His help. Prayer should be a lifestyle. It should be so ingrained in us that it’s automatic. Develop the habit of acknowledging Him. That’s when God will fight your battles. That’s when God will make the crooked places smooth.

Today, be determined to pray without ceasing. Listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to pray. Know that God is with you and for you, and when you acknowledge Him in all your ways, He will direct your paths.God bless you.

===

Pastor Rick Warren
30 of our Saddleback Pastors form our global leadership team. In this picture we're watching live video reports from our pastors of Saddleback Hong Kong, Saddleback Berlin, Saddleback Buenos Aires, and Saddleback Manila. Thank God for technology that makes distance irrelevant! One church, many locations.
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Pastor Rick Warren
Lies always spread faster than the truth so the wise wait for the whole story. “Fools believe everything they hear.” Proverbs 14:15

===

Pastor Rick Warren
Trying to forget doesn't work. But you CAN let God give new meaning to bad things that have happened to you. Romans 8:28

===

Pastor Rick Warren
Not everything in this life has a happy ending. But this life is not the end of the story.

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Pastor Rick Warren
To truly believe in freedom is to allow disagreement and even support each other's right to be wrong.

===





California Redwood trees are the largest living things on the planet, growing up to 400 feet tall, yet their roots are fairly shallow. To compentate for not having deep roots, Redwoods grow together in groves, interlocking their roots, which gives them enormous stability and strength to withstand storms.They literally hold each other up!
The same is true of people. You can handle the winds of change, the fires of difficulty, the seasons of drought, and the storms of loss and grief, IF you cultivate strong relationships with godly people who will hold you up when you are under attack. This is why you need the fellowship of both a local church (a "grove) and a small group. We are better together.
===

===

John Howard
Looking forward to Australia reclaiming the Ashes on home soil. Luckily we don't have long to wait

===

===
<"G-strings and Desire", a book Ms Frank has written based on her PhD, reveals married men who frequented strip clubs may have more long-lasting relationships with their wives> But probably don't. - ed
A female stripper who works at The Crazy Horse in Adelaide.
===

Holly Sarah Nguyen
Everyone has a story, do not be ashamed of yours... it just may help someone else get through theirs... Share your story, share your love!

===
Not because she is black, but because she is a drug abuser. Save her children. - ed

"I'm black and I use drugs," she says. "That doesn't make me a bad mother. It doesn't mean any Aboriginal woman who takes drugs is a bad mother whose kids should be taken off her.
"They don't take kids off girls who take legal drugs or who drink and smoke. And they don't take kids off some violent parents until it's too late.
"But when it's a black girl and they suspect drugs, they come in with security guards to restrain the mothers and grandmothers and they take our children away.
"It just kills you, every day you don't have your kids. It's the new stolen generation and we've got to stop it."
Celia is an Aboriginal woman and occasional heroin user from an inner city location in urban Sydney. She has seen the lot: drugs, police, courts, jail, violence and murder.
She once had her children taken from her and now it's happened to her daughter and other young Aboriginal relatives and friends.
She says DOCS (the Department of Community Services, or Family and Community Services as it is now known) is destroying families.

===

Diamond Imports
Marquise Diamond Engagement Ring‪#‎diamondimports‬ ‪#‎diamond‬ ‪#‎diamondring‬‪#‎diamondengagementring‬ ‪#‎marquisediamondring‬‪#‎engagementring‬ ‪#‎ring‬ ‪#‎engagement‬ ‪#‎wedding‬‪#‎bride‬ ‪#‎beautiful‬
===

===

Tony Abbott
I look forward to debating Kevin Rudd this Sunday at the National Press Club, including taking questions from social media from people across Australia.

===

===

Why does the left like apartheid? - ed
===

60 deepish squats .. consecutive plus lots of other things .. sweating enough to make a pig proud .. ed
===
Bad administration costs - ed
Al Hayat al Jadida reports that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs have received permits to enter Israel during Ramadan - and they are finding that identical items of food and clothing are a fraction of the cost that they are charged back home.
===
No reasonable person would disagree. It isn't as if they are behaving worse because of the penalty - ed
Op-d: No reason why Israel shouldn’t execute terrorists who murdered innocent, defenseless civilians
===

Since the Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah has dramatically expanded its arsenal of weapons. With over 60,000 rockets and missiles, the terrorist group is capable of striking any part of Israel with continuous, precise attacks.
Credit: Israel Defense Forces
===

My Country

The love of field and coppice 
Of green and shaded lanes, 
Of ordered woods and gardens 
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze ...

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

**
Dorothea Mackeller
===
The NYT is going broke and still it doesn't get the message .. as for getting the message, I'm reminded of the story of a guy who had an affair .. many affairs .. and his long suffering wife hired a hit man. The hit man broke into the marital bedroom, shot the husband in the head and ran away. The husband survived. The husband forgave his wife at the trial for her attempted murder of him. He said "She shot me in the head. When someone shoots you in the head, it makes you think .. " .. but I don't feel anything will make the NYT think .. ed

Last week’s return of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians has had little impact on the simmering Palestinian violence in the West Bank – or the efforts of some in the media to glorify the violence.
New York Times reporter Jodi Rudoren is thelatest apologist to present Palestinian stone throwers as noble defenders of their land and victims of Israeli oppression rather than as violent criminals:
Here in Beit Ommar, a village of 17,000 between Bethlehem and Hebron that is surrounded by Jewish settlements, rock throwing is a rite of passage and an honored act of defiance.The futility of stones bouncing off armored vehicles matters little: confrontation is what counts.
Rudoren focuses much of the story on a 17-year old Palestinian youth who has been arrested four times “for throwing stones at Israeli soldiers and settlers” – not civilians but settlers.Apparently do not merit the standard rights of civilians in Rudoren’s worldview simply because of where they choose to live. At the same time, Rudoren goes to great lengths to build sympathy for the Palestinian youth and his family, noting how his mother made sure to give him a long sleeve shirt for his stay in prison because “they both knew it would be cold in the interrogation room.”

===

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Today begins Elul 
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4 her
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You shall not pass gas
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Except, although the media portray whatever they like, what has been negative about Liberal campaigns? Highlighting the dysfunctional government is kind of important when you think the media wouldn't. The negativity is overstated. Positive messages ignored. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have a balanced approach.But I challenge the assertion that it hasn't been. Instead or repeating a media lie as if it were true, we need to be positive and proactive in presenting our message without bogging down in history. Today, August 6th, is an anniversary of a war crime as large as any in history .. the nuclear bomb dropped on civilians and excused by a liberal media keen to promote a left wing government. If they will accept that today, then we cannot expect favours. - ed
===

Rockets into Roses

===
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Kevin 50,000


The interception of the latest boat carrying 67 passengers means that over 50,000 people have now arrived illegally by boat since Mr Rudd dismantled our border protection policies.

This milestone is a terrible indictment of Kevin Rudd’s failed policy.

It has cost over 1,000 lives.

50,032 people on 798 boats have arrived since Mr Rudd changed John Howard’s policies that stopped the boats.

Over 1,900 people have now arrived since Mr Rudd launched his so called ‘PNG solution’. 

It has also resulted in over $11 billion in Budget blowouts – money that should have been spent on hospitals, schools and roads.

It has damaged Australia’s international reputation and weakened our borders.

The Coalition has a clear, consistent plan to stop the boats. 

Mr Rudd is just all talk and has neither the will nor the competence to secure our borders.

The Coalition has a detailed plan for stronger borders which will:
  • Re-establish rigorous and expanded offshore processing for illegal arrivals;
  • Give orders to the Navy and Customs Service to turn back boats where safe to do so;
  • Re-introduce Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) for asylum seekers found to be genuine refugees, and return them home when it is safe;
  • Deny those asylum seekers - who deliberately discard identification documentation - the benefit of the doubt when determining their refugee status;
  • Work with our neighbours to stop people smugglers and deter their customers from coming into the region; and
  • Guarantee places for offshore humanitarian visa applicants by denying permanent visas to illegal boat arrivals.

If elected, the Coalition will also initiate Operation Sovereign Borders, to be led by a senior military commander. Read more here

At this election there is a choice: between the Coalition’s proven plan that will stop the boats, or a continuation of Labor’s record of failure and misery.

Regards,
Scott Morrison signature

Scott Morrison
Shadow Minister for Immigration & Citizenship
 
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Cnr Blackall and Macquarie Streets,
Barton  ACT 2604.

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===
Choose real change


The Coalition will cut the company tax rate by 1.5 per cent from 1 July 2015.

This tax cut will boost jobs and strengthen the economy.

With unemployment already at the highest level in 14 years – and set to surge further to nearly 800,000 on the Government’s own forecasts – cutting tax is crucial to strengthening the economy and creating the right environment for jobs.  A company tax cut will provide Australians with more job security.
 
The Coalition understands the clear connection between taxation policy and investment, jobs and increasing wages.
 
That is why along with our company tax cut, the Coalition will – if elected – scrap the carbon tax, scrap the mining tax, cut $1 billion in red tape costs and not proceed with Labor’s $1.8 billion fringe benefits tax hit on cars.
 
Our company tax cut is part of our Real Solutions Plan to create one million new jobs within five years and to build a stronger Australia and a better future - for all Australians.  

Yours sincerely,

Joe Hockey signature
Joe Hockey
Shadow Treasurer
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Barton  ACT 2604.

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Contribute

===
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Photo credit: www.jensensutta.com
Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for August 6th. Enjoy!

From the Blog

RNC head to NBC, CNN: Cancel Hillary projects or no GOP debates for you; NBC, CNN: Whatever

CNN and NBC have lobbed the threat back into the GOP’s side of the court...

More From the Right Side of the Web

Michelle's Top Tweets

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And ... Our Hate Tweet of the Day

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Lighten up, Francis.

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The Bronze Horseman

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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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“All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.” Psalm 119:160 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Watchman, what of the night?"
Isaiah 21:11
What enemies are abroad? Errors are a numerous horde, and new ones appear every hour: against what heresy am I to be on my guard? Sins creep from their lurking places when the darkness reigns; I must myself mount the watch-tower, and watch unto prayer. Our heavenly Protector foresees all the attacks which are about to be made upon us, and when as yet the evil designed us is but in the desire of Satan, he prays for us that our faith fail not, when we are sifted as wheat. Continue O gracious Watchman, to forewarn us of our foes, and for Zion's sake hold not thy peace.
"Watchman, what of the night?" What weather is coming for the Church? Are the clouds lowering, or is it all clear and fair overhead? We must care for the Church of God with anxious love; and now that Popery and infidelity are both threatening, let us observe the signs of the times and prepare for conflict.
"Watchman, what of the night?" What stars are visible? What precious promises suit our present case? You sound the alarm, give us the consolation also. Christ, the polestar, is ever fixed in his place, and all the stars are secure in the right hand of their Lord.
But watchman, when comes the morning? The Bridegroom tarries. Are there no signs of his coming forth as the Sun of Righteousness? Has not the morning star arisen as the pledge of day? When will the day dawn, and the shadows flee away? O Jesus, if thou come not in person to thy waiting Church this day, yet come in Spirit to my sighing heart, and make it sing for joy.
"Now all the earth is bright and glad
With the fresh morn;
But all my heart is cold, and dark and sad:
Sun of the soul, let me behold thy dawn!
Come, Jesus, Lord,
O quickly come, according to thy word."

Evening

"Let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen."
Psalm 72:19
This is a large petition. To intercede for a whole city needs a stretch of faith, and there are times when a prayer for one man is enough to stagger us. But how far-reaching was the psalmist's dying intercession! How comprehensive! How sublime! "Let the whole earth be filled with his glory." It doth not exempt a single country however crushed by the foot of superstition; it doth not exclude a single nation however barbarous. For the cannibal as well as for the civilized, for all climes and races this prayer is uttered: the whole circle of the earth it encompasses, and omits no son of Adam. We must be up and doing for our Master, or we cannot honestly offer such a prayer. The petition is not asked with a sincere heart unless we endeavour, as God shall help us, to extend the kingdom of our Master. Are there not some who neglect both to plead and to labour? Reader, is it your prayer? Turn your eyes to Calvary. Behold the Lord of Life nailed to a cross, with the thorn-crown about his brow, with bleeding head, and hands, and feet. What! can you look upon this miracle of miracles, the death of the Son of God, without feeling within your bosom a marvellous adoration that language never can express? And when you feel the blood applied to your conscience, and know that he has blotted out your sins, you are not a man unless you start from your knees and cry, "Let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen." Can you bow before the Crucified in loving homage, and not wish to see your Monarch master of the world? Out on you if you can pretend to love your Prince, and desire not to see him the universal ruler. Your piety is worthless unless it leads you to wish that the same mercy which has been extended to you may bless the whole world. Lord, it is harvest-time, put in thy sickle and reap.
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Today's reading: Psalm 70-71, Romans 8:22-39 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Psalm 70-71

For the director of music. Of David. A petition.
1 Hasten, O God, to save me;
come quickly, LORD, to help me.
2 May those who want to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.
3 May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!"
turn back because of their shame.
4 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
"The LORD is great!"
5 But as for me, I am poor and needy;
come quickly to me, O God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
LORD, do not delay.

Today's New Testament reading: Romans 8:22-39

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently....

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Greetings from Bible Gateway! We've got an interesting new email devotional to announce today. On to the news:

Become a Bible-Inspired Leader With Our Newest Email Devotional

How can you cultivate the traits of a Biblical leader in your church, job, and personal life? What happens when you start applying Biblical principles to your leadership style and decisions?

The Bible-Inspired Leader is our newest free email devotional, and it's meant for anyone who wants to lead with grace and integrity. Whether you're a pastor, a teacher, an employer, a small group leader, or anyone else in a leadership role, this weekly devotional will empower you and the people you work with.

Each week's devotional discusses a different leadership trait, showing you how the Bible approaches leadership challenges like conflict management, stress, problem-solving, and accountability. You'll learn what true Biblical leadership looks like-and how it transcends the the sort of leadership prized by the world's conventional wisdom.

With its specific focus on leadership, The Bible-Inspired Leader brings something new to our growing collection of email devotionals. Despite that focus, the principles it discusses are applicable to anybody who wants to develop leader-like traits, not just CEOs or pastors.

It begins on Monday, August 8, so sign up now!

Ramadan, "The Human One," and More at Our Blog

Have you been following the Bible Gateway blog? It's the best place to get the latest Bible Gateway news as soon as it's announced, and to read about Bible-related topics that are in the news or on our minds. Here's what we've been discussing lately:
  • Four Things Christians Can Do During Ramadan : This week marked the start of one of the world's biggest religious observances: Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. Here are a few things you can do during Ramadan to grow closer to God and show Christ-like grace to our Muslim neighbors.
  • "Son of Man" or "Human One"? The Common English Bible sparked much discussion with its use of the phrase "Human One" in place of "Son of Man." What's the rationale behind this change, and what does it teach us about the challenge of Bible translation?
  • Remembering John Stott: Reflections on the incredible life and ministry of John Stott.
That's all for this week. Thanks, as always, for your continued support of Bible Gateway!

Sincerely,
the Bible Gateway team
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