Monday, September 09, 2013

Mon Sep 9th Todays News

A big fire is still raging in California, but the eyes of the world are focussed on a dithering Obama. He wants to bomb Syria but responsible people around the world are saying 'no.' But Obama really wants to. Some suggest bombing the Syrian bases of those who assaulted Bengahzi, but Obama doesn't want that. Assad has threatened Israel. Obama doesn't worry about that peace partner. Kerry wants to hit Syria too. He reckons the US must, although he argued the opposite in the Vietnam war. It balances, the Democrats started that war too. Assad says they were the chemical weapons he controls which killed the people his troops shot at. But Assad says he wasn't in control of those weapons at that time. Here then is the joke. Obama wants to hit Syria in a limited strike for killing children (note, not family planning is to be protected and secured by Obama Care). The chemical weapons used were Saddam's ones which Obama claimed never existed. Obama wants to hit Syria and put in power Al Qaeda. That will teach Assad a lesson in power he won't soon forget. Meanwhile, Christians around the world are praising Assad for not hurting them much. Meanwhile Israel is releasing terrorists who killed innocent peoples to facilitate Obama's peace plan in the Middle East. The Jewish new year just passed, and the Jewish peoples are not allowed to visit the wall of their old temple. 
Meanwhile in Australia, the election is over and predictably the LNP ave to negotiate their policy through the senate. The senate is hostile as the Media said it was important that the LNP have a check on their power. Abbott is not yet calling himself PM .. Rudd still is. The change of government has not yet registered. But it will. 
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Aurelian (214), Honorius (384), Cardinal Richelieu (1585), Luigi Galvani (1737), William Bligh (1754), Leo Tolstoy (1828), Fred Spofforth (1853), Herbert Henry Ball (1863), Colonel Sanders (1890), John Gorton (1911), Otis Redding (1941), Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (1949), Alexander Downer (1951), Hugh Grant (1960), Victoria Federica de Marichalar y Borbón (2000). On your day, Republic Day in North Korea (1948)
1141 – Yelü Dashi, the Liao Dynasty general who founded the Qara-Khitai, defeated the Seljuq and Kara-Khanid forces at the Battle of Qatwan near Samarkand, present-day Uzbekistan.
1513 – War of the League of Cambrai: James IV of Scotland was killed at the Battle of Flodden in Northumberland while leading an invasion of England.
1739 – The Stono Rebellion, at the time the largest slave rebellion in the Thirteen Colonies of British America, erupted near Charleston, South Carolina.
1969 – The Official Languages Act of Canada came into force, giving both French and English equal status throughout the Canadian national government.
2010 – A natural gas pipeline exploded in San Bruno, California, US, creating a "wall of fire more than 1,000 feet (300 m) high". Value your freedom. Put battles behind you. Don't invade England. Put down the slave rebellion forever, by freeing the slaves and make them part of your family. French language has Je ne sais pas and entrepreneur. When it comes to gas, better out than in, my mother said. And now to party!
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THE SEETHING BEGINS

Tim Blair – Monday, September 09, 2013 (6:29am)

Tony Abbott hasn’t even been sworn in yet and already Australian democracy enthusiasts are calling for his assassination. They’re so cute when they’re angry.
(Via Clive D. and others)
UPDATE. Andrew Bolt notes selective memories on the left.

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WISHING WORDS

Tim Blair – Monday, September 09, 2013 (5:10am)

Six years ago, Labor supporters exulted as Kevin Rudd won the 2007 federal election over John Howard. Their mood soured a little when Rudd presented his acceptance speech. It wasn’t the soaring call to arms that celebrating Laborites so desperately wished to hear.
“Kevin killed the party,” wrote David Marr the following Monday, accidentally predicting the general theme of Rudd’s time in office. Like most lefties, Marr is a sucker for high-flying words. He was as disappointed by Rudd’s “passionless” and “grey” delivery as most of us eventually were by Rudd’s government.
Naturally, leftists were even less impressed by Tony Abbott’s victory speech on Saturday night.

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THANK YOU, TEAM OBAMA

Tim Blair – Monday, September 09, 2013 (5:01am)

It was supposed to be a social media election, according to former Julia Gillard communications director John McTernan.

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WASHOUT BOB

Tim Blair – Monday, September 09, 2013 (4:55am)

I’ve made some stupid bets in my time, but last week I committed to the most disturbing one yet.

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PARTY LEAF

Tim Blair – Monday, September 09, 2013 (4:41am)

Apologies for slow comment moderation, but we spent most of the weekend celebrating with an old friend:

image

Jessica Rudd is also seeking some post-election quiet time.

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EVERYBODY WINS A PRIZE

Tim Blair – Monday, September 09, 2013 (4:37am)

The federal election isn’t all about winning seats. It’s also about winning awards that, in some cases, may not be fully welcomed by the recipients. Here are 2013’s lesser prize winners, from vote-vanishing Peter Slipper to the Greens senator who could be looking at the Bathurst 1000 for her next job …
• The Wati Holmwood award for an unexpected and unwanted appearance in the middle of the action: Anti-coal protester Fregmonto Stokes, who invaded the stage during Tony Abbott’s victory celebrations.
• The six-point farewell award: Liberal candidate Jaymes Diaz, who struggled to list his own party’s policies and failed to win the seat of Greenway, one of the few seats nationwide that actually swung to Labor.
• The 1977 Grand Final memorial award: Liberal Sophie Mirabella, currently locked in a tie for the seat of Indi with independent candidate Cathy McGowan.
• Wooden spoon: Former house speaker Peter Slipper, whose vote in the seat of Fisher slipped to just 1.4 per cent.
• Wooden spoon runner-up: Craig Thomson, whose support in Dobell dropped to a mere 4 per cent.
• The Kermit the frog award for colour difficulty: Greens leader Christine Milne, who saw her party’s support drop by around one quarter.
• The “doesn’t this guy ever shut up” award for extended oratory: Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose concession speech clocked in at around 22 minutes.
• The Tony’s angels award for costume coordination: Tony Abbott’s three daughters, who were united in white.
• The popcorn prize for picturing future Canberra entertainment: Sky TV’s Paul Murray, who asked: “Imagine Clive Palmer with parliamentary privilege.”
• The house brick award: Glenn Lazarus, rugby league’s “brick with eyes”, who could secure an upper house seat for Palmer’s party.
• The imaginary constituents award: The Greens’ only member of the house of representatives, Adam Bandt, who claimed his victory in the seat of Melbourne was a “win for refugees”.
• The missed-it-by-that-much Maxwell Smart memorial award: Labor speechwriter Bob Ellis, who predicted a Labor landslide with 56.8 per cent of the two-party vote.
• The stairway to Kevin award for adoration above and beyond the call: Labor supporters who cheered Rudd’s speech as though he’d actually won.
• The Whyalla wipeout award for best election coverage meltdown: Former Labor minister Craig Emerson, who barked “Don’t verbal me!” and “I’m entitled to my say!” during pointlessly hostile exchanges with fellow Nine panellists.
• The professorial supergenius award for advanced political insight: Labor’s Jason Clare, who boldly announced that now is the time for the ALP “to put the Rudd-Gillard era behind us.”
• The Titanic award for a massive collision followed by sinking: The chair Clive Palmer occupies in the next parliament.
• The start-your-engines award for possible future career change: Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, expected to lose her upper house seat, who once told an interviewer that after politics she wanted to become a racing car driver.
• The Steven Bradbury award for victory against all odds: Shared by the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party and the Australian Sports Party, which both may yet win Senate seats despite neither of them achieving even one per cent of the vote.

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10 of 26

Tim Blair – Monday, September 09, 2013 (3:10am)

The tenth scheduled match in the Great Anglospheric Cricket Collision is currently underway, following an earlier washout and a mostly tragic sequence of events in England. Overall score prior to play:
England: Four wins, 3529 runs
Australia: One win, 3372 runs
Two draws
One match abandoned

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Emerson pleads. Go, Kevin, go.

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (7:25pm)

Emerson is right. Rudd must quit for Labor’s sake. He is a narcissist who cannot help but destabilise a party he does not lead - and he will also be an embarrassing reminder of Labor’s shame. Here’s how Emerson puts it:
FORMER Labor frontbencher Craig Emerson has called on Kevin Rudd to quit parliament, warning he will “recklessly destabilise Labor leaders” if he stays on…
”Kevin Rudd’s continuing presence in the parliamentary Labor Party will see him do what he has always done, and that is willingly, wilfully, recklessly, destabilise Labor leaders,” he tells ABC TV’s 7.30 program on Monday.
“It is in the best interests of the party for Kevin Rudd to leave the Parliament.”
Dr Emerson also suggested the outgoing prime minister was responsible for leaks that damaged Labor’s election chances in 2010, adding that one so “destructive” and “hell bent on revenge” should not be rewarded.
Other senior Labor figures, including former ministers Stephen Smith and Greg Combet, have also said Mr Rudd should quit for the sake of the party as it rebuilds following its defeat.
And that was the bloke Labor asked us to make Prime Minister last weekend. 

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Rudd takes credit for saving the party he helped destroy

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (12:18pm)

Bruce Hawker, lined up unfairly as a scapegoat, defends himself:

Senior Labor figures are at odds over who is most to blame for the loss, but many point the finger at Mr Hawker - a veteran political consultant and close confidante of Mr Rudd.
“I have to take my fair share of it...,” Mr Hawker told ABC television.
“But at the end of the day Labor goes into opposition with somewhere between 55 and 60 seats in the parliament.
”We saved the furniture.”
Mr Hawker said Labor had changed leaders from Julia Gillard to Kevin Rudd “far too late”.
Oops. Actually, no. The more that people looked at Rudd, the more they remembered they didn’t like him. If anything, Labor delayed too long in calling the election after Rudd became leader.
And this idea that Rudd should be thanked for “saving the furniture” is absurd. Who helped throw the furniture overboard in the first place?
Labor is in serious denial.
UPDATE
More denial from Troy Bramston, a former Rudd speechwriter:
Labor is not without achievement during the past six years. The party will cherish the apology to the Stolen Generations, the response to the global financial crisis, the National Broadband Network, DisabilityCare and the Gonski reforms to education. - albeit, still to be delivered.
Pardon? The achievements, according to Bramston, are apologising for a myth while doing nothing practical for nobody, massively overreacting to a turndown and leaving a legacy of debt and waste, overspending wildly on a broadband scheme that’s now overbudget and overtime, promising a huge new welfare scheme that’s yet to be delivered or funded, promising massive new funding for schools - most of which was to be delivered four years from now.
All talk. Huge spend. Little action. And Bramston claims this as Labor’s legacy. (Note, incidentally, climate change at least is missing from the list.)
More denial:
But the most significant reason why Labor failed to turn around its fortunes in the past three years, in addition to the difficulty of running a minority government, is the bitter internecine war between Rudd and Julia Gillard.
Labor has got to drop this excuse.
The war was caused by the fact that neither leader was any good and performed disastrously. The subsequent fall in Labor’s stocks caused the opportunity for each to undermine the other. The leadership instability was actually a symptom of Labor’s real problem - it lied, cheated, overspent and mismanaged. 

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Bowen won’t be leader

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (12:13pm)

Kevin Rudd said his “reforms” would give Labor party members a vote in a ballot to decide the leadership. I suspect Labor powerbrokers will, as usual, decide this by themselves and offer just one candidate:

CHRIS Bowen has ruled himself out of contention for the job of Labor leader, but would accept the shadow treasurer’s job if it was offered.
The move leaves Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese as the main contenders for the job.

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The Buffoon Party is both a joke and a menace

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (11:56am)

I disagree with Paul Kelly about “billionaire” Clive Palmer, who may end up with two Senate seats and one in the lower house:

One lesson from this poll has been the underestimation of Palmer. He is no joke; this is serious. The combination of his cunning, war-chest, profile and erratic populist instincts that cast him as a hero to some alienated voters will create problems for the Coalition and Labor.
Correction: Palmer is indeed a joke. And, yes, this is serious. 

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Reform the Senate

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (11:17am)

Politics - federal
We badly need reform of the way Senators are elected. Most voters have no idea how their preferences will flow, and who they might accidentally help to elect. For instance:
If predictions are correct, Leyonhjelm is on track to be joined [in the Senate] by Victorian petrol head Ricky Muir (Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party), former NRL legend Glenn ‘’The Brick With Eyes’’ Lazarus and Jacqui Lambie (Palmer United Party from Queensland and Tasmania), engineer and former West Australian gridiron representative Wayne Dropulich (Australian Sports Party), and South Australian Family First stalwart Bob Day as Senate neophytes…
Little is known about Muir… In May 2011, when Osama bin Laden was killed, Muir tweeted: ‘’Media is reporting that the person who ordfered [sic] the 911 terror attacks is dead … what a load of shit, george bush is still alive!’’…
Dropulich is likely to get the lowest first-preference vote in history and get elected: this afternoon he had 1908 of the 896,345 votes counted in the West and preferences will get him across the line.
Reform the Senate vote. Give people just three votes, with no preference flows beyound that and no above-the-line voting.
Meanwhile, one unelected Senator - parachuted in by Julia Gillard - will be replaced by another without the bother of an election:
Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Paul Howes is tipped to become a Labor Senator, filling a vacancy to be created by the expected resignation of Bob Carr.
Senator Carr, the former NSW premier who until Saturday was the minister for foreign affairs, is expected to announce his resignation from the Senate following Labor’s election loss on Saturday.
I’ve heard Howes deny several times he would go into politics. So obviously this story is ...
UPDATE
Meet your likely new Senators - the ones holding possible balance of power. They range from the smart to the kangaroo poo-thrower:

The excellent news for Tony Abbott is that most are strongly against the carbon tax, including one from the Palmer United Party - although, curiously, not the possible other, who already plans to do a Gillard-like reversal of her party’s election promise:

Palmer United Party (PUP) candidate Jacqui Lambie ... says if she is elected, Tony Abbott should not expect her support, including on the scrapping of the carbon tax…
Ms Lambie says despite the PUP policy to repeal the carbon tax, she wants it kept.
“My thoughts on the carbon tax is that there still needs to be a carbon tax, but it just needs to be a lot lower than it is.”
“A lot of people are struggling economically and I just think a lot lower carbon tax at 3 or 4 per cent would be a good starter.”
That directly contradicts the promise her party was making right up to last week:

This is a scandal. A fundamental breach of trust. People are struggling, so this PUP candidate thinks a tax on their power bill will help? She gets elected on a no-carbon-tax promise but immediately promises the reverse?
Is the Palmer United Party really united, or just another rabble with broken promises?
Still, Abbott should be able to do business with most of them. 

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Fantasy check: Labor wasn’t killed by disunity but dishonor

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (9:03am)

As I’ve written in today’s column, Labor is in serious denial. Many frontbenchers say their problem was simply “disunity”, as if that disunity had not been created by the shocking performances and misjudgements of their leaders and many ministers.
This absurd denial was, once again, best demonstrated by Kevin Rudd himself:
WHEN Kevin Rudd concede defeat at the election to Coalition Leader Tony Abbott, it was almost as though he was celebrating a victory, a close-run race.
He went on for 22 minutes - twice as long as Tony Abbott’s victory speech...
Fact-checking Rudd’s fantasy speech:
Rudd:
I’m proud that despite all the prophets doom that we have preserved our Federal Parliamentary Labor Party as a viable fighting force for the future.
Fact:
Labor’s primary vote is at its lowest in 100 years ...
Rudd:
I’m proud of the fact that we’ve held each of our seats in Queensland.
Fact:
Labor held eight seats in Queensland before the election and is likely to hold six, with two in the balance last night

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Left now learns what real hate is like - from their own

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (7:55am)

Anne Summers was one of many Gillard enthusiasts who claimed no prime minister had suffered such abuse:
It is ironic that this should be the case, given the initial rapture that greeted Gillard’s elevation to the top job, yet there can be no doubting that Australia’s first woman prime minister has had to endure levels of vitriol never before seen in federal politics.
John McTernan, Gillard’s communications director, ran with that victim story of unprecedented abuse:

Gillard has faced serial abuse as a woman on a scale I believe is unprecedented in modern politics. I know that the phrase “The Iron Lady” was coined by the Russians as an insult to Margaret Thatcher, but it became a mark of their admiration. That negative, corrosive, anti-woman rhetoric that Gillard endured for so long has damaged Australian politics, and public opinion.
Reality check. Tony Abbott has not even been sworn in yet as Prime Minister but two Facebook pages have already been created by Leftists to channel hatred like Gillard never knew: “Tony Abbott should be assassinated” and “Tony Abbott should just die”.
Reader PQ notes the address shown by the hater who created the assassination Facebook site:
image
What kind of ideology legitimises such violent fantasies?
UPDATE
Reader Peter points out that the address above is also that of the Geelong Trades Hall and several unions.
UPDATE
Catherine Deveny, a regular ABC guest and Labor’s pick as Disability Ambassador, boasts how much her son hates Tony Abbott, and shows off his profanity-decorated message. 

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ABC in despair as sun rises on Abbott Government

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (7:01am)

Labor’s media friends are mourning on the ABC. What do we do now, they cry:
Despite the catastrophe. ABC1’s election coverage: 
KERRY O’Brien: The sun will still rise tomorrow; it will certainly rise on an Abbott government.
More from the ALPBC. Radio National’s Sunday Extra, yesterday:


JONATHAN Green: So where to now for the ALP? How do they pick their way out of the wilderness? Joining us to discuss the way forward for Labor, Nicholas Reece, a public policy fellow at the University of Melbourne, a former senior adviser to the then prime minister Julia Gillard. Nicholas ... initial steps for Labor from this point of last night’s defeat, how do we, er, how do we, how do you, how do they begin to pick themselves up, dust themselves off?
No different to Labor. ABC1’s Insiders, yesterday:
BARRIE Cassidy: But do you think the issues that were mentioned so often, carbon tax and boats, the rest of it, really mattered in the end? ... So their (the Coalition’s) ambitions in the end are no different to Labor’s ...
Malcolm Farr: He (Tony Burke) said, “What’ll happen if there’s a change of government, you get about a week of the new government claiming nothing’s been organised, a week of the new government claiming it’s fixing it all, by week three they’ll be back to implementing what we’re doing now.

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Five myths Abbott smashed and Labor must ditch

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (6:49am)

Politics - federal
imageimageimage
TONY Abbott’s landslide win over Labor hasn’t just destroyed perhaps our most deceitful and chaotic government.
It also exposed five myths that helped to ruin Labor.
Not that you would guess that from the self-denial of its leaders.
Kevin Rudd on Saturday night made out as if he’d actually left Labor in great shape, despite Labor winning the lowest primary vote in a century.
“I am proud that despite all the prophets of doom that we have preserved our federal parliamentary Labor party as a viable fighting force for the future,” he boasted.
The man tipped to be Labor’s next leader, Bill Shorten, even carried on as if Labor’s green madness was an asset, not a poison.
“There should be a price on carbon pollution,” he said after an election Abbott billed as a “referendum on the carbon tax”.
Labor’s real problem was simply “disunity”.
Another contender, Anthony Albanese, also swore yesterday to keep fighting on global warming, and claimed Labor’s past six years would be judged “kindly”.
This level of denial threatens to lead Labor to an even worse hammering next time. It must ditch these myths or die. 

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Claim: chemical weapons used without Assad’s consent

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (6:24am)

This doesn’t excuse the atrocity or make the regime sweeter. It might, though, help inform a more prudent response:

Syrian government forces may have carried out a chemical weapons attack close to Damascus without the personal permission of President Bashar al-Assad, Germany’s Bild am Sonntag paper reported on Sunday, citing German intelligence.
Syrian brigade and division commanders had been asking the Presidential Palace to allow them to use chemical weapons for the last four-and-a-half months, according to radio messages intercepted by German spies, but permission had always been denied, the paper said.
This could mean Assad may not have personally approved the attack close to Damascus on August 21 in which more than 1,400 are estimated to have been killed, intelligence officers suggested.
“Common sense” does not strike me as counter-evidence of any substance:

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough ...  said the fact that the materials were delivered by the kind of rockets that the regime has, and on-the-ground videos of people dying without physical wounds, are key points of proof.
But he stopped short of providing a direct link between al-Assad and the alleged chemical weapons attack.
“Now do we have irrefutable, beyond reasonable doubt evidence? This is not a court of law, and intelligence does not work that way,” McDonough said, adding common sense says “he is responsible for this. He should be held accountable.”
Meanwhile, the rebels who’d be assisted by US attacks on Assad take Maaloula, a predominantly Christian village that is home to two of the oldest surviving monasteries in Syria:
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights ... said the assault was led by Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaida-affiliated group, as well as by the Qalamon Liberation Front…
One resident said the rebels - many of them wearing beards and shouting, “God is great!” - attacked Christian homes and churches shortly after seizing the village…
“Where is President Obama to see what befallen on us?” asked the man, who fled the village on Sunday…
A third resident reached by phone said ... “I saw the militants grabbing five villagers Wednesday and threatening them: `Either you convert to Islam or you will be beheaded...’” 

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Textor says more in one tweet than Team Obama said all campaign

Andrew Bolt September 09 2013 (6:15am)

This was supposed to be the social media election, and much fuss was made in the old media when Labor flew in three hot-shot social media campaigners who’d worked for Obama. Tim Blair notes:
Seeking news about Labor’s ex-Obama squad, US Democrat activist Joe Trippi sent a note to Liberal pollster Mark Textor. “How did the team they flew in do?” Trippi asked. “Seriously curious.”
Textor’s reply fell within Twitter’s 140-character limit and also had the benefit of being accurate. “They were completely hopeless,” he wrote.
UPDATE
My tip to Labor MPs: turn off Twitter. Open your door. Go outside. Meet normal people.



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Very interesting, a "grandiose narcissist" . Libs used psychiatric assessment of Rudd to plan election tactics and strategy. 



The document was not shown to Abbott, but rather remained within the strategy group as an informal check-list, often as a tool for comparison after Rudd had already behaved in ways that the Liberal strategists believed could be leveraged to their advantage. The Liberal war room had reached its own conclusions about Rudd long ago, based on his public behaviour and the damning revelations of his colleagues.

Describing grandiose narcissism as less a psychiatric disease and more a destructive character defect, the document suggested Rudd was held together by one key strut: an absolute conviction of intellectual superiority over everyone else. “Kick out that strut and he will collapse".

Rudd, the document went on, was vulnerable to any challenge to his self-belief that he was more widely-read, smarter and more knowledgeable than anyone else “on the planet”. Such a condition of grandiose narcissism would make Rudd obsessively paranoid, excessively vindictive – “prepared to wait years to get revenge”.

Rudd would be threatened by a rival in any of his fields and would be obsessively paranoid and ready to retaliate to real or perceived threats; he would suffer from excessive suspicion. This could be tactically exploited, the document suggested, by promoting the idea that Rudd was merely a caretaker prime minister, to be terminated by colleagues once the election was won.

The document – simple in its construct and in many ways echoing a view clearly held inside Labor itself where many of Rudd’s colleagues had described him as dysfunctional – raised a riddle no one could answer; if the symptoms were all so obvious and the character flaws so marked, how was it that Labor had chosen Rudd not once, but twice to lead the country?>

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/grandiose-narcissist-the-secret-diagnosis-that-helped-bring-down-kevin-rudd-20130909-2tfum.html
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How Kevin Rudd’s campaign unravelled

The unelectable man walked across the stage of a hotel ballroom. Against a backdrop of iridescent blue with four Australian flags, he claimed the prime ministership with a mandate the likes of which had not been won by Conservatives for 17 years.
As Tony Abbott’s supporters screamed the room down at Sydney’s Four Season’s Hotel they also buried the last vestige of a terrible three year-experiment on the other side – a saga which had seen a Labor government destroy two of its own prime ministers before flaming out itself.
“Tony, Tony, Tony,” the Liberal crowd shouted. Typically, some wept. “I can inform you that the government of Australia has changed,” Abbott began, with the rest of his words drowned out. A one-time journalist and a man who had won his party’s leadership in 2009 by one vote, Abbott had defied the calculated demonisation by three previous Labor prime ministers – Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and then Kevin Rudd again – to march improbably to victory.
In the hours before arriving on stage, Abbott had closeted himself in a suite on the 34th floor of the hotel with the Liberal’s federal director Brian Loughnane, the pollster and strategist Mark Textor, Abbott’s chief of staff and the wife of Loughnane, Peta Credlin, and, for a period, the party’s former leader and prime minister of almost 12 years, John Howard as they counted in the vote.
Abbott had had, for the previous five weeks, a political campaign machine which ran with the unblinking focus of a hungry man on the last mile. They had built a strategy around fighting Gillard, but anticipated always a return to Rudd. They had shifted their sights from one to the next. Liberal campaign experts had sometimes joked to each other that public antipathy to Gillard meant they needed only to hang her photo on walls around the country and then sit back; but when it came to Rudd, they believed his messianic self-belief and micro-managing style would soon emerge to remind voters of why they too had lost faith in him the first time around.
The ruthless manner in which Rudd had been despatched by his own side in 2010 had laid the seeds. His successor Gillard had never explained why Rudd had been destroyed. Had she done so – invoking the tale of dysfunctional management which seeped out in any case – then Gillard might have at least partially headed off the public traction which Rudd was able to invoke later as a victim, and a prime ministerial victim moreover, unjustly dealt with.

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Israel has nothing to do with Obama hitting Syria - ed
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin

Possess Your Promised Land
The Lord your God will thrust them out from before you and drive them out of your sight, and you shall possess their land, as the Lord your God promised you.
(Joshua 23:5, AMP)

We all have giants or obstacles that try to keep us from possessing what God has promised, especially in our dreams. We have two choices: we can quit and live in mediocrity, or we can fight and take hold of the victory.
PRAY.
Father, today I come to You believing that You have given me the victory. I will not focus on the obstacles before me; instead, I will focus on You. Help me to stand strong and keep my heart and mind focused on the victory You have in store for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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By Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Note That Love Drives Out Fear
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.(1 John 4:18, NIV)
Scripture tells us that God is love. He is perfect, and His love is perfect. There is nothing you can do to make God love you more and nothing you can do to make Him love you any less. His love toward you is steadfast; it’s unchanging. His arms are always stretched out toward you, and He is always ready for you to come to Him.

Acts 2:38 (NIV) Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Father,I thank You for loving me perfectly. I want to know You more, and I want to have Your love. I receive it by faith today and ask that You show me Your ways and fill me with Your peace as I keep my heart and mind stayed on You in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Matt Granz
This will be my last Diablo fire post for this early, early morning. I better get to bed! This was shot from a semi secret location that Mike Oria and I found a while back. I was lucky enough to catch a car traveling down the dark lonely road.
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Colin Wong'

If robbers ever broke into my house and searched for money, I'd just laugh and search with them.......
.. you could get into trouble for paying your robbers less than minimum wage .. Fair Work works for YOU. ed
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I get the anger, but a good politician is worth much more (cf Costello) and were you to have paid Penny Wong nothing she would still have lost $107 billion more than she cost .. ed
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Buy the tee - $15 + Free Shipping:http://bit.ly/18Hszos
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Iowa is giving people who are blind permits that will allow them to purchase guns or to carry firearms in public. Critics believe the move could pose a risk to public safety. Read more and weigh in:http://tinyurl.com/pxh9zor
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Interesting how Tony Abbott's office is issuing statements as MHR and not PM Elect Tony Abbott. When Kevin Rudd and Anthony Albanese rolled Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan they called a media conf as PM and DPM before they were sworn in.
Latika M Bourke
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Fire and Ice...

Two pictures I took of Mount Diablo in two extremes. The first image was from about four years ago, and the other is from tonight.
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Its South Australia's turn to go to the poll in 6 months. The Labor brand is in damage control http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/jay-weatherill-won8217t-cooperate-with-new-school-sex-abuse-inquiry-likely-to-report-just-before-the-next-state-election/story-fni6uo1m-1226715186908
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Tough Mudder Oct 13

Hey guys Committed Action Group runs on mondays and wednesday at 7pm in Fairfield Heights coleraine st X avisford scout hall. Great thing about fitness is that there is no secret. Just come. Gold coin donation for the scouts. Not long to go guys. Lets work out car pooling

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Despite its anti-war image, the Democratic Party has a long history of supporting war.

Here is some evidence for you Democrats out there that may disagree...
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Allyson Christy.

"Special article by Dr. Rafi Ofek – will Iran purchase nuclear reactors from Argentina, or provide Argentina with uranium enriching technologies, in return for Argentina's consent to allow Iran to take part in the investigation into the AMIA bombing, in which senior Iranians were allegedly involved?"
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The data obtained this way reportedly includes contacts, call lists, SMS traffic, notes and location information. .. it doesn't really worry me .. ed
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.. glue won't fix that .. ed
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Last night, Judge Jeanine Pirro challenged President Obama on his push for military action in Syria.

"Mr. President, can you understand why Americans are so dead set against this? We look at wars in the Middle East through the prism of Iraq, and the lies and false narrative of Benghazi. 

You want us to trust you, but you're not credible, clear or concise. Why should Americans take it on faith that what you're saying is true? There's no end game. And we can't afford, and we don't want World War III."

Watch her full remarks: http://tinyurl.com/o58brhs
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Ichiro scores on a wild pitch to give the Yankees the walk-off win over the Red Sox, 4-3. RECAP:http://atmlb.com/1auLZ5s
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Redeemed Four
holidays are coming up very soon, and that means more videos will be uploaded by R4. stay tuned, stay blessed. and SHARE <33 span="">

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Tuesday, in a Dr. Phil exclusive and Season 12 premiere, the mother of The Bachelor star Gia Allemand opens up. http://bit.ly/Drp0910 
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Dr. Phil
You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.
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As the United States debates what, if anything, should be done in response to allegations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its own people, there’s a theological debate brewing, too.
Bible experts aren’t just sparring over whether the U.S. military should attack; they’re also going back-and-forth over theories surrounding the End Times (events surrounding Jesus Christ’s return).
Earlier this summer, TheBlaze began dissecting the subject, speaking with experts about what role, if any, they believe Syria will play in this theoretical occurrence. Numerous outlets have jumped into the fray, noting that many faithful are wondering just how important Damascus and Syria might be in this debate.
For starters, there’s one particular Bible passage that’s rekindling the entire discussion of how Syria fits into End Times theology: Isaiah 17:1-3.
The verse reads, “’See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be ike the glory of the Israelites,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
The first portion about a “heap of ruins” has some wondering if the present Syria crisis was prophesied in the Bible. But as The Huffington Post recently noted, some scholars believe that Damascus was already destroyed and that this particular Scripture refers to an attack by the Assyrians that unfolded in 732 B.C.

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I met a nice couple while out and about shooting the fire... we wound up walking down this closed off road together and got a unique vantage of the blaze.
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I am a former teacher .. I loved the musical when I first saw it .. I adore this take .. adore .. tears of laughter .. thank you ed
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Dr. Phil

Working on a show: Should children have a choice in deciding which parent they want to live with? http://www.drphil.com/shows/page/ChildCustodyPoll/

Your comments and photo may be used by Dr. Phil and Peteski Productions, including being published on the Web or on television.
Yes. I wasn't given the choice. Australian courts in the 1970's were not enlightened. I needed to say what was happening from my pov, but no one was listening. As an adult, I was estranged from my father until he died. I am estranged from my mother since I left home at 20. I had been put in her care, and she betrayed me .. many times .. ed
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Norman Podhoretz: Obama's Successful Foreign Failure
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB... article
In The Wall Street Journal, Norman Podhoretz writes that the president may look incompetent on Syria. But his behavior fits his strategy to weaken America abroad.

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David Daniel Ball I have had to tell high school kids how to spell my last name 
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Michelle Malkin


We’ve been waiting a long time to hear Cher’s thoughts about military intervention in Syria, and today the elderly Hollywood starlet delivered.
That she is questioning President Obama’s position on Syria is remarkable enough.
Even more surprising: Her tweet is (mostly) grammatically correct.
Will wonders never cease?

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I just got back home from checking out the fire on our little fake mountain named Diablo... it's quite the blaze. I'll have some more pics posted soon.— at Kirker Pass.
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More Diablo Conflagration...
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The Queensland Government is now seeking applications for a chairperson and six board members for the new Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC).
The QBCC will replace the controversial BSA by the beginning of 2014. 
Appointees will require previous senior management or board experience at a significant organisation and bring a broad range of relevant building and construction industry experience to the position. 
For more information about the board roles, visit:http://www.hpw.qld.gov.au/construction/QBSA-Review

Campbell Newman
Good men and women wanted in Queensland.

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<This is brilliant stuff from Rita Panahi on the Abbott-hating loony Left and why for me, the battle against them must still continue.>
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Democrat stronghold .. the low class of a classless society .. ed
Toni Christina Jenkins says the couple was 'extremely rude'. Picture: Facebook

A WAITRESS at a family restaurant has described her shock at receiving a receipt from her customers with racist language written on the tipping line.
Toni Christina Jenkins, 19, posted this picture to her Facebook page after claiming to pick up the bill from customers at a Red Lobster franchise in the American deep south.
Ms Jenkins says a couple left the insulting receipt with the words "None, Ni**er" after failing to leave a tip when they visited the restaurant in Tennesse on Saturday afternoon.
Ms Jenkins published the photo with the caption: : "This is what I got as a tip last night...so happy to live in the proud southern states. God Bless America, land of the free and home of the low class racists of Tennessee."
Some online commenters have speculated as to the authenticity of Ms Jenkins' claims, some even suggesting she faked the racist receipt as an affront to be short-changed on a tip.
But in an interview with the Daily Mail , Ms Jenkins say she is simply reporting what really happened and taking a stance against bigotry.
"I don't get tips all the time. I really don't care cause God is my provider I don't worry about tips," she said.
"They were extremely rude, but I introduced myself to them and they didn't respond. When I came to take their order they simply told me they wanted their food and to put everything in a to-go box. I offered them dessert but they told me abruptly that they just wanted the check.
"When I went back to the table they had gone and left the receipt and had written the comments."

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/none-nier8217-racist-receipt-shocks-waitress-at-red-lobster/story-fndir2ev-1226715275065#ixzz2eOhqthhz
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The new span of the Oakland Bay Bridge lighting up at night next to the old Cantilever workhorse that carried me from one side of the bay to the other for most all of my life. I salute the old and say farewell as the crews start the dismantling process and welcome the new elegant span with this picture showing them side by side. In three years, only the new bridge will be seen here. Good times with my Aperture Academy partner Jean Day shooting this last night! — with Jean Day atOakland/Bay Bridge.
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Yaakov Sandler
This is by far the best explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read.

The author's references to past history are accurate and clear. It's not a lengthy read, it's easy to understand, and it's well worth the read.

The author of this message is Dr. Emanuel Tanya, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist.

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When he was asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

'Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools.

So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.'

We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.

Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. 

The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.

It is the fanatics who march.

It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.

It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.

It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque.

It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals.

It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.

The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous.

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

China 's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people..

The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel and bayonet.

And who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:

Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.

Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.

Now Islamic prayers have been introduced into Toronto and other public schools in Ontario , and, yes, in Ottawa too while the Lord's Prayer was removed (due to being so offensive?). The Islamic way may be peaceful for the time being in our country until the fanatics move in.

In Australia, and indeed in many countries around the world, many of the most commonly consumed food items have the halal emblem on them.

Just look at the back of some of the most popular chocolate bars, and at other food items in your local supermarket.

Food on aircraft have the halal emblem, just to appease the privileged minority who are now rapidly expanding within the nation’s shores.

In the U.K, the Muslim communities refuse to integrate and there are now dozens of “no-go” zones within major cities across the country that the police force dare not intrude upon.

Sharia law prevails there, because the Muslim community in those areas refuse to acknowledge British law.

As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts - the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand.

So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world-wide, read this and think about it, and they also continue to send it on - before it's too late.

And we are silenced .......
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Why Christians Make Great Libertarians
http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/christians-make-great-libertarians/#.Ui2-6BYgNa-
In 1932, the Christian apologist G.K. Chesterton expressed concern that many people were according the government with a trust and reverence that ought to be reserved only for God. Chesterton’s admonition was not only prophetic, but rooted in the deepest mainspring of Christianity’s past; he was ech...

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Via Allyson Christy
Arab Spring: Death to humanity - Arab News

"The Arab and Western media welcomed the changes, but apparently, many analysts don’t know the complexity of the Arab world.

When you talk to a Syrian from Damascus and a Syrian from Aleppo, it is like talking to two people from two different planets.

A Libyan from Benghazi is completely different to a Libyan from Tripoli. An Egyptian from Cairo would not be welcome in Egypt’s Sinai.

A Yemeni from Sanaa considers a Yemini from Aden his sworn enemy.

The simple fact is that these countries are already divided beyond imagination.

Ironically, it was those ousted dictators who held these countries together. Yes, dictatorship is inexcusable, but this is the reality of the Arab world." - Abdulateef Al-Mulhim
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Suffice it to say that the Middle East, at the demise of the Ottoman Empire, was divided and maps re-drawn by European powers at the time, who had little idea of cultural dynamics in doing so.

However, it is worth reiterating this point; the end of the Ottoman Empire resulted in modern created Arab states and one Jewish state.

Today we have 22 Arab states on the map and one, tiny Jewish state. - Allyson
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The reason why electronic voting is not yet in widespread use is twofold 1: the principle of a secret ballot has to be removed as there is always an electronic signature. That is not insurmountable, but idiot privacy advocates block it. 2: computer fraud is possible if the first point is implemented badly, so that votes are diverted. - ed
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Under what circumstance would it be right to shoot someone jumping out of a closet? Someone is paranoid .. ed

Premila Lal, 18, shot dead after jumping out of closet to surprise friend
link http://www.news.com.au/world-new...
A YOUNG woman was shot dead after jumping out of a closet where she was hiding to surprise a friend.
Premila Lal, 18, shot dead after jumping out of closet to surprise friend
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David Daniel Ball 5pm the exclamation point should be outside the radical sign 
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HonestReporting's Israel Daily News Stream: Everything You Need to Know About Media Coverage of Israel and the MidEast

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James IV of Scotland

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Events[edit source | editbeta]

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“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Psalm 143:10 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"From me is thy fruit found."
Hosea 14:8
Our fruit is found from our God as to union. The fruit of the branch is directly traceable to the root. Sever the connection, the branch dies, and no fruit is produced. By virtue of our union with Christ we bring forth fruit. Every bunch of grapes has been first in the root, it has passed through the stem, and flowed through the sap vessels, and fashioned itself externally into fruit, but it was first in the stem; so also every good work was first in Christ, and then is brought forth in us. O Christian, prize this precious union to Christ; for it must be the source of all the fruitfulness which thou canst hope to know. If thou wert not joined to Jesus Christ, thou wouldst be a barren bough indeed.
Our fruit comes from God as to spiritual providence. When the dew-drops fall from heaven, when the cloud looks down from on high, and is about to distil its liquid treasure, when the bright sun swells the berries of the cluster, each heavenly boon may whisper to the tree and say, "From me is thy fruit found." The fruit owes much to the root--that is essential to fruitfulness--but it owes very much also to external influences. How much we owe to God's grace-providence! in which he provides us constantly with quickening, teaching, consolation, strength, or whatever else we want. To this we owe our all of usefulness or virtue.
Our fruit comes from God as to wise husbandry. The gardener's sharp-edged knife promotes the fruitfulness of the tree, by thinning the clusters, and by cutting off superfluous shoots. So is it, Christian, with that pruning which the Lord gives to thee. "My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Since our God is the author of our spiritual graces, let us give to him all the glory of our salvation.

Evening

"The exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead."
Ephesians 1:19-20
In the resurrection of Christ, as in our salvation, there was put forth nothing short of a divine power. What shall we say of those who think that conversion is wrought by the free will of man, and is due to his own betterness of disposition? When we shall see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ. It is not the word preached, nor the word read in itself; all quickening power proceeds from the Holy Ghost. This power was irresistible. All the soldiers and the high priests could not keep the body of Christ in the tomb; Death himself could not hold Jesus in his bonds: even thus irresistible is the power put forth in the believer when he is raised to newness of life. No sin, no corruption, no devils in hell nor sinners upon earth, can stay the hand of God's grace when it intends to convert a man. If God omnipotently says, "Thou shalt," man shall not say, "I will not." Observe that the power which raised Christ from the dead was glorious. It reflected honour upon God and wrought dismay in the hosts of evil. So there is great glory to God in the conversion of every sinner. It was everlasting power. "Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." So we, being raised from the dead, go not back to our dead works nor to our old corruptions, but we live unto God. "Because he lives we live also." "For we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God." "Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Lastly, in the text mark the union of the new life to Jesus. The same power which raised the Head works life in the members. What a blessing to be quickened together with Christ!
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Today's reading: Proverbs 3-5, 2 Corinthians 1 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Proverbs 3-5

Wisdom Bestows Well-Being
1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years
and bring you peace and prosperity.
3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight....

Today's New Testament reading: 2 Corinthians 1

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise to the God of All Comfort
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.5For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort....
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Jedaiah

[Jēdā'iah] - jehovah is praise orjehovah knoweth.
  1. A descendant of Simeon (1 Chron. 4:37).
  2. A man of Harumaph who repaired the part of the wall near his own house (Neh. 3:10).
  3. A descendant of Aaron whose family came up from Jerusalem (1 Chron. 9:10; 24:7; Ezra 2:36; Neh. 7:39).
  4. A chief of the priests who returned with Zerubbabel (Neh. 11:10; 12:6, 19; Zech. 6:10, 14).
  5. Another priest with the same history (Neh. 12:7, 21).
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September 8, 2011
I'm Believing God!
Today's Truth
"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe" (Ephesians 1:18-19 NIV).
Friend to Friend
In Ephesians 1:13 we read: "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him, with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit." We believed - past tense - and were saved, sealed, delivered...we're His! It was completed in the past, once and for all time.
Now let's read a little further down in Ephesians 1:18. "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." We received salvation when we believed (past tense). We have great power when we believe (present tense).
The Greek word for believe that is used in Ephesians 1:18 is a present active participle. That means it is a continuous action verb. Bible teacher Beth Moore explains: "In other words, the promise given in verses 19-20 is not applied to those 'having believed' as in verse 13 where they had believed to become Christians. Rather, it is applied to those who are presently, actively, and yes, continually believing God."
Maybe you believed in Jesus and experienced salvation. But do you believe the Word of God by faith and understand that you have the same power working in your life that raised Jesus from the dead? It is available to you...if you believe.
A sapling planted in the ground does not become more of a tree as it grows, it just becomes stronger and more mature. Writer Neil Anderson compares our spiritual growth to a tree: "The growth stage cannot alter the organism; it can only ensure that the organism reaches its greatest potential." As a tree's roots grow deeper it produces a greater display of leaves, more shade and beauty for others to enjoy, and stronger branches for tire swings and bird's nests, but it's still a tree. The moment you come to Christ, you are saved...you are a saint by calling with a whole new identity. There is nothing you can do to make your identity more true than at the very moment you accept Christ as your Savior, but there is much you can do to have more power in your life as you mature.
It begins by believing the truth. It is a step of faith. "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). It is "acting like God tells the truth."
Are you ready to start practicing present tense believing today? Are you ready to experience God's power in your life! If you answered yes, then buckle up. God's power is about to be demonstrated in your life in a mighty way!
Let's Pray
Dear LORD, Thank You for giving me the gift of faith. Forgive me when I doubt You. Today, I am choosing to believe. Even if circumstances seem bleak, I know that You are who you say You are and You will do what You say You will do.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Now It's Your Turn
What are you believing God for today?
Visit www.facebook.com/sharonjaynes and share what you are believing God for today!
More from the Girlfriends
Need a "faith lift" today? Want to learn more about how to practice present tense believing? Then you'll want to read Sharon's book, Becoming Spiritually Beautiful - Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes. This is the message that changed her life!
Seeking God?
Click here to find out more about
how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Girlfriends in God
P.O. Box 725
Matthews, NC 28106
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P31Header
Amy Carroll
September 8, 2011
Just Because
Amy Carroll
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12 (NIV)
"How are you doing?" she asked. "I heard about the death of your grandmother and have been thinking about you." My eyes widened in surprise and pleasure as I recognized my friend Melanie's voice on the phone. She's a friend I dearly love, but we live long-distance and don't stay in close touch.
I told her about my sadness, but also my joy over the fullness of my grandmother's life, and we continued to catch up on old friends, kids and church. I started to wonder when we'd get to the reason for her call. Finally, there was a pause, and she explained that she needed to go back to her work day in a minute.
I was stunned. That was it?
There was no other agenda or hidden need. Melanie had just carved out the time in her day to call and check on me.
Melanie is a young widow whose precious husband died suddenly. She is dealing with raising children alone, running a business they used to manage as a couple and all the other curve-balls life inevitably throws her way. Yet she made time in her day just to check in with me. I told her how grateful I was that she had been so intentional and kind.
That is when Melanie explained that after her husband's death, worship time at church was the time when the flood-gates of grief opened. She would often stand and cry throughout the service, pouring out her heart to God and receiving comfort from Him. And there was one woman who often sat by Melanie and silently held her hand.
One woman.
In silence.
Offering the ministry of presence.
A profound gift.
Melanie continued, describing the impact this gesture made on her. "I've learned how much sharing time means. If I can only run by and take a cake to someone who is hurting, I do it. All of life's busyness can be overwhelming, but I make time for people now. People are the most important thing."
I thought of how my friend reflects Jesus-of how Jesus made people more important than His to-do list. There were so many He stopped for. Countless faces in the crowds who made Him pause, just because.
The woman at the well.
Zacchaeus.
The woman with the issue of blood.
His disciples.
Mary at His feet.
The list could go on and on.
As I write, I think about the day's to-do list. A long list. There are lines and lines of things to do that aren't checked off yet, calling for my attention and time. They're all important, but how do I process my list through today's key verse? How do I become more like Jesus, numbering my days aright so that I might gain a heart of wisdom?
I think I'll start a fresh to-do list and take a lesson from Melanie. I'll leave room at the top of my list-room for names instead of tasks. My new first line on my checklist: "Be more like Jesus. Make people the most important thing today."
Dear Lord, I need Your help to plan my day with Your priorities. You know how task-driven I can become. Will You teach me to put people first? Sensitize my spirit to listen to Yours and to pause for people like You would. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Do You Know Jesus?
Welcome to Community: Experiencing Life the Way God Intended by Brian T Anderson and Glynnis Whitwer
Visit Amy's blog for a list of creative ways to reach out in love to those around you.
Application Steps:
Pray and ask God to reveal "just because" pauses that He's created for you as you go through your day.
Be ready to stop and make time to reach out. As you go on your way, pray that God will show Himself through your act of kindness.
Reflections:
When has someone reached out to me when I was hurting with no other agenda than to care for me? How did God reveal Himself to me in that act?
Have I ever reached out to someone when they were hurting with no other agenda than to care for them?
Power Verses:
I John 4:19, 21, "We love because he first loved us...And he has given us this command; Whoever loves God must also love his brother." (NIV)
John 15:12-13, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (NIV)
© 2011 by Amy Carroll. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
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How Can Jesus Be Called "King"?

Today's reading: Ezekiel 37:15-28
God promised in Ezekiel 37:24 that the chosen descendant of David, the Messiah, would be king over the newly reunited northern and southern kingdoms. Why do Christians relate this prophecy to Jesus, despite the fact that he never held this earthly title of authority?
Jesus never aspired to be an earthly king. In fact, when a throng of Jews wanted to make Jesus such a king by force, he withdrew to a mountain by himself to avoid them (see John 6:15). Jesus clearly said, "My kingdom is not of this world ... my kingdom is from another place" (John 18:36). It is in this heavenly kingdom-a place where every believer will one day reside, a place where God's laws will finally be perfectly enforced-that Jesus reigns. Jesus knew that after his life on Earth, he would return to heaven to sit at God's right hand, where he would reign eternally as the unchallenged King (seeMatthew 26:64; Acts 2:32-35). One day all will acknowledge his supremacy, all will submit to his authority, all will acknowledge him as Lord (see Philippians 2:9-11). Indeed, he already rules and reigns as a royal king over countless millions of people from every nation under the sun who have given him their total allegiance and loyalty.
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Today's reading is from theThe Case for Christ Study Bible
by Zondervan

Investigate the Bible's most compelling claims: the existence of a compassionate God and the promise of eternal life through His Son, Jesus.


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Inward Remembrance, Outward Adoration

Many years ago a number of skylarks imported from England began to breed and dot the American landscape. One day, a man who studied birds sat listening with solemn interest to the song of the immigrant birds. Nearby, an Irish laborer-hearing the song of the bird he'd heard in his mother country-stopped, took off his hat and turned his face skyward. A look of awe and joy washed across his face. His inward remembrance and love of country produced an outward response.
Although the Israelites expressed an outward worship, they didn't possess an inward love of God. Sure, an observer might believe that they worshiped God inwardly. But in truth, their hearts secretly served other gods. "In their secret chambers of idolatry and imagery," said Clarence Macartney, "they bowed down before the grinning images of Baal."
Today, as we express our adoration and worship of God, we can either be like the student of birds or like the Irishman who responded emotionally to their song. The observer simply admires what takes place, but experiences no feelings of love and devotion. However, the true worshiper-upon hearing songs about God and words of his heavenly home-feels his heart beat faster, thinking of a glorious hope for the future. And all of us long to feel this beat, because it makes our hearts come alive.
Anyone can go through the outward motions. But we can't worship by just playing a role. We have to make it the aim of our heart. When we offer our heart to God in love and adoration, he, in return, washes awe and joy across our soul.

To Take Away

  • How does "going through the motions" of worship make you feel?
  • In what ways do you sincerely worship God?
  • How does your worship of God affect your daily living?
Recommended Reading: Psalm 42:1-2; 84:1-12; Hebrews 12:28
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New Men's Devotional BibleToday's reading is from theNew Men's Devotional Bible
by Zondervan

The New Men's Devotional Biblehelps apply God's Word to a new generation of Christian men. It includes a full year of all-new devotions by well-known and not-so-well-known men of God.


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