Saturday, September 28, 2013

Sat Sep 28th Todays News

The mainstream media's role in society and culture is vital, and sadly lacking. A strong media would not accept the very tantrums they model .. and so it somehow has become acceptable to heckle the PM over the deaths of boat people when his policy would end what the opposition began. At the ABC (Australian one) the program Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries portrays another slack culture attack the media models, the persistent lie, when it portrayed a 20's era Aboriginal mother dealing with stolen generation issues. The lie was well addressed by Bolt when he took on Noyce's portrayal of Rabbit Proof Fence eleven years ago.
In the US, the GOP don't have the Presidency, so the media can seize on the unpopularity of the President and claim 'nobody can do a good job in administration.' However, that lie gets shown up often when effective GOP administrations take office. So the media tend to take on a role of scold when conservatives are in office, as it is, in Australia. And they can claim *anything* so long as it serves their leftist politicians.
Obama speaks as President. But what he says is factually wrong. The US has never had a policy of killing Muslims. Further, the US army does not kill many .. and when she does she is accountable. The accusation that the US has killed millions of Muslims is rhetoric. In fact, the US has prevented the deaths of many Muslims threatened by Islamic terrorists. What Obama says is offensive, and not something I can support. Maybe the article linked is a joke .. ? Way too close to the bone from a President who identifies with thugs. 
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Hatches
Happy birthday and many happy returns Yasmine LebbeLeon Duong and Salina WongBorn on the same day, across the years, as
1493 – Agnolo Firenzuola, Italian poet (d. 1545)
1836 – Thomas Crapper, English plumber, invented the ballcock (d. 1910)
1861 – Amélie of Orléans (d. 1951)
1905 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (d. 2005)
1909 – Al Capp, American cartoonist (d. 1979)
1925 – Seymour Cray, American computer scientist, founded the CRAY Computer Company (d. 1996)
1933 – Johnny "Country" Mathis, American singer-songwriter (Jimmy & Johnny) (d. 2011)
1934 – Brigitte Bardot, French actress and singer
1938 – Ben E. King, American singer-songwriter and producer (The Drifters)
1967 – Mira Sorvino, American actress
1987 – Hilary Duff, American actress and singer
2000 – Frankie Jonas, American actor
Matches
48 BC – Pompey the Great is assassinated on the orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt.
235 – Pope Pontian resigns. He and Hippolytus, church leader of Rome, are exiled to the mines of Sardinia.
935 – Saint Wenceslas is murdered by his brother, Boleslaus I of Bohemia.
1066 – William the Bastard (as he was known at the time) invades England beginning the Norman conquest of England.
1542 – Navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo of Portugal arrives at what is now San Diego, California, United States.
1781 – American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of YorktownVirginia, during the American Revolutionary War.
1791 – France becomes the first country to emancipate its Jewish population.
1871 – Brazilian Parliament passes the Law of the Free Womb, granting freedom to all new children born to slaves, the first major step in the eradication of slavery inBrazil.
1885 – Riots break out in Montreal to protest against compulsory smallpox vaccination.
1889 – The first General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) defines the length of a meter as the distance between two lines on a standard bar of an alloy of platinum with ten percent iridium, measured at the melting point of ice.
1901 – Philippine–American War: Filipino guerrillas kill more than forty American soldiers while losing 28 of their own, in a surprise attack in the town of Balangiga onSamar Island.
1918 – World War I: The Fifth Battle of Ypres begins.
1928 – The U.K. Parliament passes the Dangerous Drugs Act outlawing cannabis.
1928 – Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin.
1951 – CBS makes the first color televisions available for sale to the general public, but the product is discontinued less than a month later.
Despatches
48 BC – Pompey, Roman general and politician (b. 106 BC)
935 – Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia (b. 907)
1964 – Harpo Marx, American comedian and actor (b. 1888)
1978 – Pope John Paul I (b. 1912)
1996 – Mohammad Najibullah, Afghan politician, 7th President of Afghanistan (b. 1947)
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Rabbit-Proof Fence: how the film lied



Rabbit-proof myths 
By: Andrew Bolt Nov 16th 2002
Phillip Noyce claims his new film, Rabbit-Proof Fence, is a true story.
The Hollywood director’s publicity blurb repeats the boast: ``A true story.’’
Even the first spoken words in the hyped film, which opens next week, are: ``This is a true story.’’
Wrong. Crucial parts of this ``true story’’ about a ``stolen generations’’ child called Molly Craig are false or misleading. And shamefully so.
No wonder that when Craig saw Rabbit-Proof Fence at a special screening in her bush settlement last month, she seem surprised.
``That’s not my story,’’ she said as the credits rolled.
No, it isn’t. Instead, it is Craig’s story told in a way that would help ``prove’’ the ``stolen generations’’ are no myth—that thousands of Aboriginal children were indeed torn from the arms of loving parents by racist police.
In saying this, I mean no disrespect to Craig.
She has had a film (supported by $5.3 million of taxpayers’ money) made of an episode of her life in which she showed extraordinary courage, endurance and willpower—but it’s a film which can’t be trusted to tell the whole truth. Who could value its praise?
It was 1931 and Molly Craig was just 14, when she and two of her younger cousins—Daisy, 8, and Gracie, 11—were taken from an Aboriginal camp at Jigalong, in Western Australia’s north, and sent to the Moore River Native Settlement, 2000km south.
There these girls were to live with other ``half-castes’’ and to go to school, learning skills to help them to adapt to non-Aboriginal society.
But the girls fled after one night, and in an amazing nine-week epic walked home to Jigalong—all but Gracie, that is, who was found by police at Wiluna.
Craig’s feat made the papers but was not written up in full until 1996, when her daughter, Doris Pilkington, who was herself raised at Moore River, wrote the book on which Noyce has based his film.
BUT Noyce and his scriptwriter didn’t stick to the facts Pilkington uncovered. Instead, the story was rewritten and now supports a monstrous falsehood—that we have a genocidal past that is, as Noyce’s publicity material declares, ``more cruel than could ever be imagined’’.
Let me show you how they did it—how they told untruths or only half the truth in their ``true story’’.
THE FILM opens at Jigalong in 1931, and shows a neat bush camp. Molly Craig is happy and healthy. Her mother is well-groomed. All is well.
THE FACT is many of these bush camps were squalid.
When Doris Pilkington first returned to Jigalong 30 years later, it was still appalling.
``No one prepared me for the conditions that people lived under,’’ she told ABC radio in 1999.
``It was shocking. I hadn’t seen so many dogs in my life. It was just tin humpies and people just slept anywhere.’’
THE FILM shows Molly playing with other children at Jigalong. Everyone is smiling and seems happy.
THE FACT is Molly was the first ``half-caste’’ of her tribe, and the full-bloods treated her with scorn.
Pilkington says her mother often had to play alone because full-blood children told her she was neither Aboriginal nor white, and was ``like a mongrel dog’’. She had no father to protect her.
THE FILM suggests Molly and her cousins were removed from Jigalong only because the state’s Chief Protector of Aborigines, A.O. Neville, was a genocidal racist who wanted to ``breed out the Aborigine’’.
It shows Neville outlining his plan to take half-caste children from their families and stop them breeding with full-bloods. We then see him ordering that Molly and her cousins be removed because the youngest girl is ``promised to a full-blood’’.
THE FACT is the girls were taken after Neville learned they were in danger.
In 1930, he had received a letter from the superintendent of Jigalong complaining that Molly and Gracie ``were not getting a fair chance as the blacks consider the H/Cs (half castes) inferior to them’’. He asked that they be removed.
Others were also worried, given how vulnerable half-caste girls then were to sexual exploitation, particularly by whites.
In December, 1930, a Mrs Chellow from Murra Munda station wrote to Neville about the girls, warning: ``I think you should see about them, as they are running wild with the whites.’’
This fits with what Neville told the 1936 Moseley Royal Commission into the treatment of Aborigines: ``The children who have been removed as wards of the Chief Protector have been removed because I desired to be satisfied that the conditions surrounding their upbringing were satisfactory, which they certainly were not . . .’’
Even today we rescue Aboriginal children from abuse and neglect—and in tragically high numbers.
THE FILM shows a policeman chasing the girls in his car and ripping them from Molly’s screaming mother.
According to Noyce, this scene ``tells the whole story’’ of his film.
THE FACT, writes Pilkington, is that the officer rode up on horseback to tell Molly’s stepfather he’d take the girls, and ``the old man nodded’’. The officer put Molly and Gracie on a horse, gave them the reins and asked them to follow him.
The next day he picked up Daisy and two sick women at another camp. There was no chase, no struggle.
THE FILM then shows the girls on a train, locked in an iron-barred box for dogs. They travel the last leg to Moore River tossed in the open tray of a truck.
THE FACT is the girls were not locked in any box, and travelled most of the way south by ship, which Pilkington said they felt was as a ``most pleasant experience’’. They saw porpoises, chatted to the crew and walked the decks before going to bed in a cabin.
They rode the last bit not in a truck, but in a car driven by a matron who stopped for sandwiches and lemonade.
THE FILM shows the girls arriving at Moore River, where they wear prison-style sacks and are woken in the morning by a guard who screams and belts the walls of their room with a club.
THE FACT is photos of children at Moore River show them dressed in European clothes. Pilkington writes that when her mother ran away, she was dressed in ``two dresses, two pairs of calico bloomers and a coat’’.
She also says the girls were woken individually and welcomed by one of the female staff.
THE FILM shows children at Moore River singing Way Down Upon the Swanee River for visitors. This shows they’re so robbed of their black culture that they sing fake Negro songs instead.
THE FACT is Molly saw no such concert. And Susan Maushart’s book Sort of a Place Like Home: Remembering the Moore River Native Settlement says this: ``Journalists investigating conditions at Moore River were invariably impressed by the colourful experience of a staged corroboree.’’
THE FILM shows babies left to cry in a room of cots. They, too, seem ``stolen’’.
THE FACT is most Moore River children—1003 of the 1067 who went there between 1933 and 1936, according to the Moseley commission—were not ``stolen’’ but sent there by their parents to get a schooling or to be safe.
Many had parents living in the camp next door.
SUCH distortions of the truth, and for what? There are enough cruelties in our past we must confront—the theft of black lands, the half-caste children abandoned by white fathers, and the years of neglect of a people whose culture and communities are now shattered.
There is so much to make good—which is why the lies of the ``stolen generations’’ activists are unforgivable.
The Aboriginal leaders who falsely claim they were ``stolen’’, the writers who exaggerate the number of children removed, the silly compensation cases that collapse and the slick claims of genocide all risk making every claim of black suffering seem a cynical try-on.
The truth of our past is hard enough to face. Untruths and exaggerations now will only divide us.
Your film shames not us, Phillip Noyce, but you. 

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Bolt Report tomorrow

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (8:43am)

image
On The Bolt Report tomorrow on Channel 10 at 10am and 4pm:

New senator David Leyonhjelm, Michael Kroger and Bruce Hawker, Kevin Rudd’s former campaign advisor.
We’ll be naming and shaming warming extremists and discussing the first boat-load of asylum seekers sent back to Indonesia.

The twitter feed.
The place the videos appear.  

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How warmists cost us billions

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (8:23am)

The price of global warming alarmism is enormous. Take the cost of the mothballed desalination plants, built after warmists persuaded politicians the rains would dry up:

Sydney’s privatised desalination plant, which is costing residents more than $500,000 a day to keep on standby, will not be needed for at least another four or five years.
The sale of the plant last year to a private company for $2.3 billion means residents are locked into paying about $10 billion in fees for the next 50 years, whether the plant is operating or not. Not one drop of water has come out of the Kurnell facility since it stopped operating more than a year ago.
With dam levels at 93.4 per cent, the plant has been placed into “water security” mode, a long-term shutdown which is likely to continue for some time."My best estimate is it will still be about four to five years before we turn the desalination plant on,” Sydney Water’s managing director Kevin Young told 7.30 New South Wales
Mind you, big cities did need more water security as they grew. Dams were the cheap option, but who made those almost illegal?
(Thanks to reader Peter.) 

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A new Senate with a bias to freedom

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (8:17am)

Good profile of two new Senators - Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm and Family First’s Bab Day - who will lift the intellectual tone of the debate and be articulate spokesmen for freedom and lower taxes:
Australia’s Labor and Liberal parties should brace themselves for two home-grown Ron Pauls: Bob Day, chairman of the Family First Party, and David Leyonhjelm, treasurer of the hitherto obscure Liberal Democratic Party, who are set to enter the Senate next July for South Australia and NSW respectively, with profound ramifications for policy and politics alike.
Far from supporting Tony Abbott’s signature paid parental leave and direct action on climate change policies, Day and Leyonhjelm - two successful businessmen in their early 60s - will seek to reverse the inexorable growth of government spending and regulation and convince their tyro colleagues to do the same.
“I might vote for direct action or PPL if Abbott promised to cut income or company tax to a flat rate of 20 per cent,” says Leyonhjelm, who advocates substantial cuts to income tax and a severely curtailed welfare state.
“We are not hard-hearted but people in the first instance should look to themselves, their family and civil society before laying claim to other people’s taxes.”
Day, who also supports cuts to welfare and a flat 20 per cent tax, says: ... “We support genuinely liberal policies based on ‘Austrian economics’ in contrast to the Keynesian claptrap routinely espoused...”
Leyonhjelm will be on The Bolt Report tomorrow.
(Thanks to reader Peter.) 

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ABC tries irritating gotcha on Abbott

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (8:03am)

What Tony Abbott actually said:

The last thing anyone should want is to have Australia’s relationship with Indonesia defined by this boats issue, which I am sure will be but a passing irritant.
What the ABC’s Emma Alberici, interviewing the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right, claims Abbott said:

How do you feel about a world leader describing asylum seekers as “irritants”?
What the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights dutifully replies:

I am appalled.
As am I, but not by Abbott.
(Thanks to reader CalJ.) 

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IPCC more sure about less

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (7:30am)

On the IPCC report…
A significant mistake may have been made. Doug Keenan writes to the Met Office Chief Scientist about this problem:
Dear Julia,
The IPCC’s AR5 WGI Summary for Policymakers includes the following statement.

The globally averaged combined land and ocean surface temperature data as calculated by a linear trend, show a warming of 0.85 [0.65 to 1.06] °C, over the period 1880–2012….
(The numbers in brackets indicate 90%-confidence intervals.) The statement is near the beginning of the first section after the Introduction; as such, it is especially prominent.
The confidence intervals are derived from a statistical model that comprises a straight line with AR(1) noise.  As per your paper ”Statistical models and the global temperature record” (May 2013), that statistical model is insupportable, and the confidence intervals should be much wider—perhaps even wide enough to include 0°C.
It would seem to be an important part of the duty of the Chief Scientist of the Met Office to publicly inform UK policymakers that the statement is untenable and the truth is less alarming.  I ask if you will be fulfilling that duty, and if not, why not.
UPDATE
Alarmist media outlets are hanging their hat on the IPCC being even more sure humans are heating the earth, even though there’s been no significant warming for 15 years - which is not what they expected. For example, from The Age:
It is more certain than ever that human civilisation is the main cause of global warming, putting the world on track for dangerous temperature rises, the latest major UN assessment of climate change science has found.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says it is “extremely likely” that humans are the dominant cause of observed warming since the mid-20th century, with carbon dioxide emissions the main factor.
It’s a neat propaganda trick, where the certainty becomes the news - rather than the admission that there was less warming to be certain about.
So much depends on just how that extra certainty was calculated - from 90 per cent sure last time to 95 per cent now. Thing is, Professor Judith Curry can’t see where this came from:
Yesterday, a reporter asked me how the IPCC came up with the 95% number.  Here is the exchange that I had with him:

Reporter:  I’m hoping you can answer a question about the upcoming IPCC report. When the report states that scientists are “95 percent certain” that human activities are largely to cause for global warming, what does that mean? How is 95 percent calculated? What is the basis for it? And if the certainty rate has risen from 90 in 2007 to 95 percent now, does that mean that the likelihood of something is greater? Or that scientists are just more certain? And is there a difference?

JC:  The 95% is basically expert judgment, it is a negotiated figure among the authors.  The increase from 90-95% means that they are more certain.  How they can justify this is beyond me.

Reporter:  You mean they sit around and say, “How certain are you?” “Oh, I feel about 95 percent certain. Michael over there at Penn State feels a little more certain. And Judy at Georgia Tech feels a little less. So, yeah, overall I’d say we’re about 95 percent certain.” Please tell me it’s more rigorous than that.

JC:  Well I wasn’t in the room, but last report they said 90%, and perhaps they felt it was appropriate or politic that they show progress and up it to 95%.

Reporter:  So it really is as subjective as that?

JC:  As far as I know, this is what goes on.  All this has never been documented.
UPDATE
Andrew Montford on hiding the decline:

You would imagine that the document would review what was said last time round and how things have changed since that time, but you’d be wrong…
It would, for example, have been interesting for AR5 to discuss the increase in hurricane intensity that the AR4 SPM said was “likely” on the basis of the climate models. Instead, we get a veil drawn over the subject, with not a word on the hurricane drought in recent years.
Similarly, the divergence between model and observational estimates of long-term warming (effective climate sensitivity) is alluded to in opaque fashion in a footnote ("lack of agreement on values across lines of evidence") rather than being tackled head on in a way that would make clear the difficulties scientists are having with the climate jigsaw.
The general theme of obscurantism runs across the document. Whereas in previous years the temperature records have been shown unadulterated, now we have presentation of a single figure for each decade; surely an attempt to mislead rather than inform. And the pause is only addressed with handwaving arguments and vague allusions to ocean heat.
Dr Roy Spencer on the surprising omission of a key variable:
A best estimate for climate sensitivity — unarguably THE most important climate change variable — is no longer provided, due to mounting contradictory evidence on whether the climate system really cares very much about whether there are 2, or 3, or 4, parts of CO2 per 10,000 parts atmosphere.
YET…the IPCC claims their confidence has DOUBLED (uncertainty reduced from 10% that 5%) regarding their claim that humans are most of the cause behind the warming trend in the last 50 years or so...
A round up of opinion at Watts Up With That.
UPDATE
Brilliant take, from Professor Ross McKitrick:

SPM in a nutshell: Since we started in 1990 we were right about the Arctic, wrong about the Antarctic, wrong about the tropical troposphere, wrong about the surface, wrong about hurricanes, wrong about the Himalayas, wrong about sensitivity, clueless on clouds and useless on regional trends. And on that basis we’re 95% confident we’re right.
(Thanks to reader isobar.) 

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It’s only a “war” when Liberals correct what Labor rewrote

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (7:22am)

Here’s how it works with Fairfax reporters. When the Left rewrites what children are taught about our history, that’s “reform”.
When conservatives rewrite what children are taught about our history, that’s a “history war”:

The so-called history wars of the Howard government era are back with a vengeance: [Education Minister Christopher] Pyne believes the national curriculum has too much focus on progressive causes and ignores the role of the Coalition political parties in building Australia.
Pyne, who will be very able in such a “war” (should he be allowed to fight it), puts the matter well:

‘’I don’t mind if the left want to have a fight with the Coalition about Australia’s history,’’ the minister says in his new Parliament House office, where he has on his wall a 1963 Liberal Party flyer denouncing Labor’s faceless men.
‘’People need to understand that the government has changed in Canberra, that we’re not simply administering the previous government’s policies and views. I know that the left will find that rather galling,’’ he says with a grin, ‘’and while we govern for everyone, there is a new management in town.’’

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Is Yudhoyono Abbott’s good cop?

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (7:01am)

The Indonesian foreign minister seems to have been smacked down by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for his arrogant attempt to embarrass the Abbott Government.
Yudhoyono seems prepared to do business with Tony Abbott, but that business will have to be done quickly, given Yudhoyono has only a year left to serve.
Paul Kelly:
But the backdrop is the extraordinarily inept decision by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry to break diplomatic protocols by releasing its own version of the New York talks held by the foreign ministers, Bishop and Indonesia’s Marty Natalegawa, last Monday.
This document records Natalegawa telling Bishop that turning the boats “should be avoided” because they “would risk the tight co-operation and trust that has been bounded in the Bali Process"…
There is simply no precedent for Jakarta’s diplomatic aggression before the first official meeting of a new Australian prime minister and an Indonesian president… It treats Bishop like an inconsequential fool whose bilateral talks can be merrily published as part of a tactic to intimidate Abbott or put Abbott and Bishop on notice. It is a most un-Indonesian-like move…
Chris Bowen and Bob Carr did not miss: they said Natalegawa was “so tired” of Bishop’s “robotic insistence” of no policy differences “that he felt obliged to release the minutes of the meeting”. Labor is making political hay.
The message from inside the government is “Stay cool”. Abbott won’t be provoked. This event suggests Yudhoyono and Natalegawa have different positions. Certainly, Abbott and Bishop will hope so…
As for Natalegawa, if he did authorise release of the record of conversation, it is a grievous mistake without justification… It will fan Coalition fears that Natalegawa, once a student in Australia, is pro-Labor and unsympathetic to the new government.
Did Yudhoyono bring Natalegawa to heel?

Diplomatic sources in Canberra said the latest Indonesian statements were intended to send Canberra a clear message, “Sorry, we stuffed up”, smoothing relations before Mr Abbott’s two-day visit…
There was no evidence Dr Yudhoyono had intervened to calm the row, but diplomatic observers in Jakarta pointed out he had previously publicly overridden Dr Natelagawa at least twice.
In November 2011, the President contradicted the Foreign Minister after discussions with then prime minister Julia Gillard, saying the US marines rotation through Darwin was “not expected to distract or disturb neighbours”.
In June this year he made an apology to Singapore and Malaysia over “haze” from Sumatra forest fires, days after Dr Natalegawa described calls for an apology as “a bit redundant”.
Another theory: Natalegawa is the bad cop to Yudhoyono’s good. And the price of cooperation just went up. 

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Greens leader in denial, and not just about the warming pause

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (6:53am)

Christine Milne says it’s natural to lose six senior advisers in a week, and her leadership team is united after an election slump caused by everyone else but the Greens themselves.
There’s three false claims right there.
UPDATE

Going, going...

DIVISIONS are deepening within the Greens as current counting shows their support has collapsed by a third since 2010 with more than half a million voters deserting the party at the September 7 election…
(T)he disastrous showing is now sparking off furious bouts of finger pointing as the party seeks to sheet home the blame and leader Christine Milne faces increasing pressure. Senator Milne has already lost her chief of staff, Ben Oquist, who held the same job under Bob Brown.
“He got increasingly angry and it became increasingly obvious he didn’t have Christine’s back and he had to go,” one Greens insider said…
Reports that deputy leader Adam Bandt is poised to challenge for the leadership with Mr Oquist’s backing were denied.
“He (Mr Bandt) knows the leadership’s going to be his,” one source told The Weekend Australian, saying the leadership would eventually land in his hands without a challenge…
(A) Tasmanian source spoke of speculation former state Greens leader Peg Putt or the incumbent Nick McKim, expected to be tipped from office at next year’s state poll, could be drafted in to replace Senator Milne in Canberra.
“Milne is on the ropes,” the source said.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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Has The Age ever seen a sceptic it hasn’t misreported?

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (6:40am)

Age environment report Tom Arup makes stuff up:

In their more reflective moments, mainstream climate scientists will tell you they wish they were wrong and that the Andrew Bolts of the world were right. That global warming was not occurring. That it was not that dangerous. That it was all due to natural variation. That it was one big global conspiracy.
I have never said global warming was “all due to natural variation” and “was one big global conspiracy”. I have instead questioned warmist hyperbole and inaccuracies of the kind Arup has yet again demonstrated.
What makes The Age so incapable of reporting sceptical arguments correctly?  

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Gillard’s secret women’s strategy

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (6:16am)

Chris Kenny says there was nothing accidental about Julia Gillard’s divisive appeal for the women’s vote:

IN June this year, not long before she lost the prime ministership, Julia Gillard launched Women for Gillard…
“I invite you to imagine it,” she said at the time, “a prime minister - a man in a blue tie...”
It was the moment when the public saw the issue had obviously and repeatedly been confected…
By this stage, even Gillard ... felt the need to defend her handling of the issue. “Friends, we didn’t discover women’s issues in a focus group,” she asserted…
Hmmm… Sigmund Freud might call it denial…
Long before the unbridled emotion of the misogyny speech ... Gillard was involved in a deliberate political and media strategy “focusing on women’s issues”, building a “narrative around the first female prime minister” and increasing her “profile in media consumed by women”.
The four-page document is a “Women’s media strategy” compiled as a media unit brief by adviser Sally Tindall and dated May 22, 2012…
The briefing suggests: “Mamma Mia interview with Mia Freedman, followed by blog or Q&A on the website. This would include some social media in the lead up by key ministers and prominent women, encouraging people to ask questions.”
This idea was circled and marked “OK” and then taken up within days…
A series of pitches are suggested to particular programs, journalists and magazines. A trip to the files shows the most obvious and talked-about example in the period immediately after this brief was her second anniversary interview with News Limited’s Claire Harvey, where the nation woke up one Sunday to read of, among other things, Gillard’s penchant for knitting.    

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These drownings must be stopped

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (6:08am)

Another tragedy - and another reason for Indonesia to help is to stop the boats:

AT least 22 people died, most of them children, and dozens more were feared drowned after their asylum-seeker boat overturned off Indonesia, injecting greater urgency into Tony Abbott’s already troubled visit to Jakarta for leadership talks on Monday.
Villagers yesterday found 22 bodies floating in the water, while those among the 25 people rescued said there had been about 120 passengers from Lebanon, Jordan and Yemen on the Christmas Island-bound boat, leaving about 75 missing last night, feared drowned.

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IPCC report: very confident our gasses weren’t so bad

Andrew Bolt September 28 2013 (12:36am)

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Bottom line: the IPCC’s latest report is even more confident that man is to blame for, er, less global warming than you were once told to expect.
And, yes, there has been an unexpected pause in warming of the atmosphere, with the IPCC blaming the deep ocean for hiding the missing heat where it can’t easily be found.
The full report won’t be released until Monday while you are sold the more heavily politicised Summary for Policy Makers.
From the summary…
We’ve seen about 0.85 degrees of warming over the past 130 years (which hasn’t seemed to hurt, I think):


The globally averaged combined land and ocean surface temperature data as calculated by a linear trend, show a warming of 0.85 [0.65 to 1.06] °C , over the period 1880–2012, when multiple independently produced datasets exist. The total increase between the average of the 1850–1900 period and the 2003–2012 period is 0.78 [0.72 to 0.85] °C, based on the single longest dataset available...
That warming slowed dramatically over the past 15 years - to just 0.05 a decade, or virtually zero:

Due to natural variability, trends based on short records are very sensitive to the beginning and end dates and do not in general reflect long-term climate trends. As one example, the rate of warming over the past 15 years (1998–2012; 0.05 [–0.05 to +0.15] °C per decade), which begins with a strong El Niño, is smaller than the rate calculated since 1951 (1951–2012; 0.12 [0.08 to 0.14] °C per decade)...
But never mind. Think of the sea level rises instead - you know, the ones the ABC’s chief science presenter, Robyn Williams, warned could have our cities swamped by a sea level rise of 100 metres by 2100. Strange, though - so far we’ve probably had just 19cms in 110 years:

The rate of sea level rise since the mid-19th century has been larger than the mean rate during the previous two millennia (high confidence). Over the period 1901–2010, global mean sea level rose by 0.19 [0.17 to 0.21] m
And it seems Tim Flannery was wrong to warn in 2007: “Anyone with a coastal view from their bedroom window, or their kitchen window, or wherever, is likely to lose their house as a result of that change, so anywhere, any coastal cities, coastal areas, are in grave danger.” Turns out the median sea level rises tipped under the four IPCC scenarios for 2100 are between just 26cms and 30cms, with a very upper limit of 82cms under the most alarming scenario:
image

Meanwhile, the upper ocean is said to have warned by just 0.11 degrees per decade over 40 years:

On a global scale, the ocean warming is largest near the surface, and the upper 75 m warmed by 0.11 [0.09 to 0.13] °C per decade over the period 1971–2010.
But that upper ocean warming may now also have slowed, and the missing heat is likely to have somehow transferred to the deeper ocean:

It is about as likely as not that ocean heat content from 0–700 m increased more slowly during 2003–2010 than during 1993–2002… Ocean heat uptake from 700–2000 m, where interannual variability is smaller, likely continued unabated from 1993 to 2009...
The Arctic ice has reduced over time, but ignore those predictions (peddled by the likes of Al Gore, the BBC, Tim Flannery and our ABC) of an ice-free Arctic by this year. Only one of the IPCC scenarios thinks the Arctic might be nearly ice free in summer by mid-century:

Based on an assessment of the subset of models that most closely reproduce the climatological mean state and 1979 ? 2012 trend of the Arctic sea ice extent, a nearly ice-free
Arctic Ocean in September before mid-century is likely for RCP8.5 (medium confidence)… A projection of when the Arctic might become nearly ice-free in September in the 21st century cannot be made with confidence for the other scenarios.
But the puzzling thing is that at the other end of the globe, sea ice is actually increasing:

It is very likely that the annual mean Antarctic sea ice extent increased at a rate in the range of 1.2 to 1.8% per decade (range of 0.13 to 0.20 million km2per decade) between 1979 and 2012.
And those climate models upon which warmist scientists rely for their scary predictions just can’t compute that increase:

Most models simulate a small downward trend in Antarctic sea ice extent, albeit with large inter-model spread, in contrast to the small upward trend in observations...
Nor is that the only thing the models got wrong. This 15-year pause in the warming of the atmosphere wasn’t predicted, either, however much the IPCC summary tries to smudge:

The long-term climate model simulations show a trend in global-mean surface temperature from 1951 to 2012 that agrees with the observed trend (very high confidence). There are,
however, differences between simulated and observed trends over periods as short as 10 to 15 years (e.g., 1998 to 2012). 
So let’s throw around a few possible excuses, of which the most grudging and least credited is that perhaps there was just a teensy overestimation of the effect our emissions have on temperature:

The observed reduction in surface warming trend over the period 1998–2012 as compared to the period 1951–2012, is due in roughly equal measure to a reduced trend in radiative forcing and a cooling contribution from internal variability, which includes a possible redistribution of heat within the ocean (medium confidence). The reduced trend in radiative forcing is primarily due to volcanic eruptions and the timing of the downward phase of the 11-year solar cycle.  However, there is low confidence in quantifying the role of changes in radiative forcing in causing the reduced warming trend. There is medium confidence that internal decadal variability causes to a substantial degree the difference between observations and the simulations; the latter are not expected to reproduce the timing of internal variability. There may also be a contribution from forcing inadequacies and, in some models, an overestimate of the response to increasing greenhouse gas and other anthropogenic forcing (dominated by the effects of aerosols) ...
See, the IPCC scientists still can’t get their climate models to do some basic simulations of how our climate really works. I mean, clouds are really tricky:
Climate models now include more cloud and aerosol processes, and their interactions, than at the time of the AR4, but there remains low confidence in the representation and quantification of these processes in models...
But never mind all that. Confidence is now higher than ever:

It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.
And more warming is to come, the IPCC claims, although nothing like the 6 degrees some alarmists such as the Potsdam Institute, Mark Lynas, National Geographic, the Global Carbon Project and the Sydney Morning Herald were claiming was quite possible. Indeed, three of the IPCC’s four basic scenarios tip a maximum possible warming of just half that or less, and one thinks there might be as little as 0.3 degrees of warming by the end of the century:

Increase of global mean surface temperatures for 2081–2100 relative to 1986–2005 is projected to likely be in the ranges derived from the concentration driven CMIP5 model simulations, that is, 0.3°C to 1.7°C (RCP2.6), 1.1°C to 2.6°C (RCP4.5), 1.4°C to 3.1°C (RCP6.0), 2.6°C to 4.8°C (RCP8.5).
It is indeed likely, given the warming since the end of the Little Ice Age, that the planet will resume warming soon. But, then again, it might not.
But so far we can say it hasn’t warmed as the warmists predicted, not brought the devastation they so lavishly described.
Man’s gasses may well have warmed the Earth, but so far so very good.
(Bumped from yesterday.) 

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4 her
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Scientists stumble on a form of matter that is like a light sabre.
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Devil at the Crossroads

Sometimes you are the chaser, and other times you are chased...
This was one of those other times...
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DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH
LUMEN GENTIUM
SOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HIS HOLINESS
POPE PAUL VI
ON NOVEMBER 21, 1964

CHAPTER I
THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH
1. Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature,(1) to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church. Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission. This it intends to do following faithfully the teaching of previous councils. The present-day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ.

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IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison has finally responded to questions over an asylum seeker boat which sank off the coast of Indonesia.
Mr Morrison said Australian authorities were initially in charge of the search for the asylum seeker vessel after receiving a phone call about the incident yesterday morning.

Initial reports placed the vessel 25 nautical miles off the Indonesian coast, inside the Indonesian search and rescue region, but a Border Protection Command aircraft and a merchant vessel responding to an all ships broadcast were unable to find it.

The search and rescue operation is now being handled by Indonesian authorities, Mr Morrison said.

"Australian Government officials in Jakarta are seeking additional information from their Indonesian counterparts, including seeking to confirm where the vessel foundered. It is believed to have gone down in Indonesian territory."

He said Australian authorities would continue to provide whatever help was required by the Indonesian government but could not say what assistance was currently being offered.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Tony Abbott ignored reporters seeking information on up to 90 deaths after an asylum boat sank off the coast of Indonesia.
Up to 70 asylum seekers are still missing, feared drowned, after their boat broke up and sank en route to Australia.
At least 22 people, mostly children, are confirmed drowned after the boat, which was believed to be carrying about 120 passengers, struck rough seas on Friday off the coast of Java.
One of the passengers, a Lebanese man, had reportedly lost his pregnant wife and eight children in the disaster.
Just 25 of those aboard had been rescued before efforts to locate survivors were postponed last night due to failing light. The remainder were still in the water.
The boat broke up after it began taking on water about 6pm AEST.
The tragedy unfolded as the government sought to return two rescued groups to Indonesia.
Prime Minister, Mr Tony Abbott, ignored reporters when asked about the tragedy shortly after he addressed a sporting function this morning.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/abbott-flees-reporters-after-asylum-seekers-drown-on-way-to-australia/story-fncynjr2-1226728862846#ixzz2gBCbImkG

ALP refuse to apologise for more deaths - ed===
Students at Universities and Colleges all over Canada have come together to denounce Zionism and the State of Israel at an event called Israel Apartheid Week or IAW.
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Swans supporting Hawks this year? - ed
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Sky Sculpture

While looking forward to future storm chases, I also look back at past ones. This storm was between Boise City and Guymon, Oklahoma back in 2010.
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I call this one "puffy little clouds"
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Current Gallery on all Photographs

Please click on below link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/307958525882739/photos/

Jewellery & Gemstone Gallery

Colour your world with gemstones !

A Gallery of Jewellery, Diamond News,Gems & Gemology promoted bywww.diamondimports.com.au

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Katz Designer Textiles
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Peg & Mirror © Victoria Ivanova
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Vanessa-Mae - perfect weekend

In an ideal world, I’d spend every weekend at my home in Zermatt in Switzerland. It’s a dream of a place. In winter I go skiing on Saturdays and Sundays when the slopes are quieter due to changeover day for tourists, and in summer I hike up into the mountains at sunset, just as the village is settling down to dinner. My chihuahua, Max, will come with me. He has to do 10 steps to every two of mine but he is super-sporty and can easily run up to 2,500m. I’ll pack us both jumpers, just in case we get lost, and I’ll spend the evening taking photographs of the Matterhorn. Every day that mountain looks different.
I’ve been skiing since I was four years old – the same length of time I’ve been playing violin – and my boyfriend, [Lionel Catelan, a wine dealer], is a big skier too. He’s very patriotic towards the ski resort of Val d’Isère in France, because that is where he is from, but we both fell in love with Zermatt when we came here on a ski trip in 2005. It wasn’t an altogether positive experience. We got robbed at the train station and found the people a little unfriendly, but the stunning natural scenery and the Matterhorn more than made up for this. After that we came back to Zermatt whenever we could, summer and winter.
I’d wanted to live in the mountains since I was 14 and in 2009, I finally thought “what the heck” and bought a place in Zermatt. I’d been renovating a house in London for about four years and it still wasn’t finished. It still isn’t. Every weekend I’d walk past it and feel depressed. Given I didn’t have children to think about, I figured I didn’t have anything keeping me there.

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Yasmine Lebbe
When He made the world, He made two ways to repair each thing: With harshness or with compassion. With a slap or with a caress. With darkness or with light.

“And G‑d looked at the light and saw that it was good.” Darkness and harsh words may be necessary. But He never called them good.

Even if you could correct another person with harsh words, the One Above receives no pleasure from it. When He sees his creatures heal one another with caring and with kindness, that is when He shines His smile upon us.

-From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory.

Your Daily Dose of Wisdom from Chabad.org

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Daniel Ben DavidJewellery & Gemstone Fashion DESIGN Gallery
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
IT”S NOT TOO LATE.John 11: 21 - 22.
Turn to your neighbor and repeat these words after me say neighbor it’s not too late. God encourage our heart that it is not too late. A lot of times the enemy tries to convenience us that we missed our blessing. The devil will play with your mind. He will say if we would have done this at this time I will be further ahead and I would have my blessing a long time ago. So we will feel defeated due to the fact that we should have done that 3years ago. Well while that might be true in some sense, it’s not too late. God has a time for all of our lives.

God's time is not your time. I use to say God I want you to come right now quick fast and in a hurry. And most of us really want him to come right now. But isn’t it something when God delays his coming. He delays it for a reason. Some of us can not handle a right now blessing. So He makes us wait. In our waiting He works out our patience. In our waiting He has to bring our attitude under control. Some of us have a bad attitude. We are mean and clean. It bothers me when I see saints that are claiming to know God with a bad attitude, it bothers me. Even with our attitude we want God to come quick fast and in a hurry. Saints are to be so sweet until we are dripping syrup. When I see you I should not have to wonder if you are saved and sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost. I should see the attributes of the spirit. I should see love, peace, joy, longsuffering, goodness, gentleness, meekness, temperest and faith.Be patient and wait for Him.He can not fail.God bless you.
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Father God, I come to You today giving You thanks and praise for Your faithfulness in my life. I choose to receive Your Word which is life and strength to my soul. I choose to serve You with my whole heart all the days of my life. Help me to love others the way You love me. Give me opportunities to be a blessing everywhere I go. Help me to keep my heart focused on You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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If you believe, you will receive.(Matthew 21:22, NIV)

Christianity is about believing.All through the Bible, there are so many promises of what God has already done for us. It says in Ephesians that “God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.” It says in Colossians that “God has made us worthy.” There is mercy for any mistake we will ever make. It’s already been taken care of. He paid the ultimate price through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. He’s done His part. Now it’s up to us to do our part. We have to start believing so that we can receive.

In the natural, when someone gives you a gift, what’s the first thing you usually say? “Thank you.” When you give thanks, it’s a sign that you are receiving the gift. Today, start receiving what God has given you by saying, “Father, thank You for Your mercy. Thank You for supplying all of my needs. Thank You for Your goodness in my life.”

As you learn to give Him thanks, you are learning to receive from Him. Open your heart by faith today and thank Him for all the blessings He has prepared for you.God bless you.
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Father God, I humbly come to You today. I choose to let go of the past. I choose to release those who have hurt me so I can embrace the best that you have for me. Help me to forgive, help me to love, and help me to stay on the good path You have for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead
(Philippians 3:13, NIV).
Oftentimes, when we see someone who has hurt us, that pain and offense is stirred up, and we start thinking about what happened again. But in that moment, you have a choice to make. One of the best things you can do, instead of rehearsing the hurt, is to pray for that person and speak blessing over them.

Remember that forgiveness is for you. Letting go of bitterness is for you. Don’t let the past hold you back from what God has in store for your future any longer. Get past the past by choosing right thoughts because God has victory and blessing in store for your future.God bless you.
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Father, today I choose to release every care and concern into Your loving hands. I refuse to worry and choose to trust.Do not pass me by. Fill me with Your peace. Show me Your ways as I surrender every area of my heart and life to You in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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How do you turn things over to God? Start by making the choice and declaring your resolve. Simply say, “Father, I choose to let You be God of this situation. I take my hands off. I trust You.” Then, choose to worship Him. Worship is one of the best ways to set your heart and mind in the right place. You can’t worry and worship at the same time. Worship is a sign that you are trusting God; worry is a sign that you are trying to control things.Let God be God.The Scripture says,“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him.”(Psalm 37:7, NKJV)

Today, take the pressure off yourself and turn things over to God. Give Him control and let Him take your setbacks and turn them into comebacks. Remember, the God who holds the universe holds you in the palm of His hand. Trust Him and let God be God in every area of your life.God bless you.
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Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

[Chorus:]
(I'm calling)
Savior, Savior,
(Why don't you)
Hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Let me at Thy throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief,
Kneeling there in deep contrition;
Help my unbelief.

[Chorus]

Trusting only in Thy merit,
Would I seek Thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by Thy grace.

[Chorus]

Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside Thee?
Whom in heav'n but Thee?
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LEARN FROM LIFE’S TESTS. Throughout life God puts people to test to help them grow in faith and obedience to His will. The Lord put Abraham to test in order to determine how mature was his faith and obedience. In order for God to use us He first requires that we completely yield our mind, emotions and will to Him. For this reason God said, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Once the Lord knew that Abraham would obey Him in the most extreme ways, He knew that the man of God could use him as a model for many others to follow in the faith. God only multiplies those people who are faithful in little things before He uses them to accomplish great things for His kingdom’s purposes. Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac as a sacrifice is a foreshadowing of how God offered Christ as a supreme sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. No wonder Jesus said, “Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for His friends.” (John 15:13) God bless u.
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There are times when God’s commands may not make human sense to our way of thinking, but we should trust and obey His will in all situations. Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience that God want from us, delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace.

After the Lord had miraculously given Abraham a son named Isaac, the Lord tested Abraham and said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” (Gen. 22:1,2) 

Because Abraham had committed himself by covenant to obey the Lord and had consecrated Isaac to the God by circumcision, he did as he was instructed. When we trust and obey the Lord we can be sure that God will bless us. Moses wrote, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our people forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (Deut. 29:29) Obedient to the Word is the key to success.God bless you.

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WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF ARABIA, EURABIA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD.

THERE ARE MANY MUSLIMS WHO WILL NEVER APPPRECIATE " NATIONAL MUSLIM APPRECIATION MONTH " BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN KILLED BY MUSLIMS.

AS FOR THE REST OF US INFIDELS AND KAFIRS WE APPRECIATE NOT BEING KILLED BY MUSLIMS.

THE APOSTATE MUSLIM POTUS CALIPHATE BARRY SHOULD BE GRATEFUL THAT SHARIA HAS NOT CONDEMNED HIM TO THE SAME FATE AS OTHER APOSTATES THEREFORE HE TOO WOULD APPRECIATE THE LENIENCY EXTENDED TO HIM BY THOSE WHO ARE COMMANDED TO KILL APOSTATE MUSLIMS.

http://nationalreport.net/obama-declares-november-national-muslim-appreciation-month/

Washington, DC — President Barack Obama held a press conference to announce that he is declaring the month of November ‘National Muslim Appreciation Month’.

“The Muslim community deserves our full acceptance and respect,” Obama told reporters. “We have killed millions of Muslims overseas since the September 11th attacks. They are not all bad. In fact most of them are good. So from now on, November will be a month to celebrate the Muslim community, the Sunnah and the Quran.”
Khaled Matei who is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood‘s Freedom and Justice Party told CNN he is pleased with Obama and his actions. “I spoke with President Obama by telephone yesterday and personally thanked him for what he is doing for the Muslim community,” Matei said. “This is definitely a step in the right direction I explained to him. Praise Allah.”

Obama informed reporters about his future plans for helping Muslims around the world. “I will be working with Congress in making it easier for Muslims to earn a Green Card and achieve American citizenship,” Obama said. “Currently as it stands, obtaining a Visa or Green Card for a Muslim is very difficult. There are too many background checks in place and I plan to fix that.” Obama continued, “Muslims are hardworking people who are just looking to live the American Dream like the rest of us. Mr. Matei of the Muslim Brotherhood assured me they want to come to this country to help us, not harm us.”

Obama finished the press conference by explaining to reporters how happy he is with America. “Folks, there is no way we could have had a ‘National Muslim Appreciation Month’ 20 years ago. That really says a lot about the growth and progress of this great country.”

‘National Muslim Appreciation Month’ begins November 1st and will end at midnight on November 30th. For any questions or comments please contact the 24-hour National Muslim Appreciation Hotline at (785) 273-0325.

- See more at: http://nationalreport.net/obama-declares-november-national-muslim-appreciation-month/#sthash.JT50joqc.dpuf

But what he says is factually wrong. The US has never had a policy of killing Muslims. Further, the US army does not kill many .. and when she does she is accountable. The accusation that the US has killed millions of Muslims is rhetoric. In fact, the US has prevented the deaths of many Muslims threatened by Islamic terrorists. What Obama says is offensive, and not something I can support - ed
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Pastor Rick Warren

Standing in a grocery story line just now, I saw PEOPLE magazine's interview of Kay and me. I pray it helps others who struggle with depression, mental illness, or suicide, but when I saw the photos of Matthew, I broke down and sobbed
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This weekend I am really eager to share a message called "HOW TO BE HAPPY NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS" based on Philippians 1:12-30. It's Part 2 of my series "The Habits of Happiness" as we go verse-by-verse through Philippians. Join us at one of our 8 campuses or online athttp://www.saddleback.com/
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So many people are miserable because they think happiness come from self-gratification. It actually comes from self-sacrifice.
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Dumped? You need to forget about the one who forgot about you. Refocus on God. "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted." Psalm 34:18
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Depression teaches us that we cannot always trust our emotions or our thoughts. In darkness, we learn that only God can always be trusted.
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ICYMI: Numbers Don’t Lie! Check out this chart to see how much MORE average premiums for young adults will increase in YOUR state!

READ memo: http://bit.ly/18rJNIu
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The law is quoted in the article. Read it for yourself. Is there any law, Constitutional provision or amendment for which Barack Obama has any semblance of respect? Please share this on your page ... people have to wake up one day. 
http://exm.nr/18ssgQm
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That looks good .. I'll have two - ed

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Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for September 27th. Enjoy!

From the Blog

Education’s Shiny Toy Syndrome

It’s elementary...

Obama won’t negotiate on debt ceiling; Harry Reid wheels out gov’t shutdown doomsday clock

With a shutdown looming, President Obama is still not budging on his unwillingness to negotiate on unconditionally increasing the debt ceiling, because not making room for all the bills that have been racked up irresponsibly would be irresponsible, or something like that...

Obama reiterates: Health care is a right

Isn’t it strange how some of the same people who don’t see the right to bear arms in the Constitution do see a right to health care?

More From the Right Side of the Web

Special Stop Common Core Announcement

On October 3, Neal McCluskey of the Cato Institute and Emmett McGroarty of the American Principles Project will be debating two staunch proponents of Common Core. D.C.-area residents can attend live, and viewers can also watch the online broadcast.
For more information, click here. Do not miss this important forum!

Michelle's Top Tweets

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And ... Our Hate Tweet of the Day

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And yet, @ThisIsntAnn cares enough to tweet something nasty. Funny, that.

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September 28Statehood Day in the Czech Republic
Alexander Fleming

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Events[edit]

Births[edit]

Deaths[edit]

Holidays and observances[edit]


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“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord!"
Deuteronomy 33:29
He who affirms that Christianity makes men miserable, is himself an utter stranger to it. It were strange indeed, if it made us wretched, for see to what a position it exalts us! It makes us sons of God. Suppose you that God will give all the happiness to his enemies, and reserve all the mourning for his own family? Shall his foes have mirth and joy, and shall his home-born children inherit sorrow and wretchedness? Shall the sinner, who has no part in Christ, call himself rich in happiness, and shall we go mourning as if we were penniless beggars? No, we will rejoice in the Lord always, and glory in our inheritance, for we "have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." The rod of chastisement must rest upon us in our measure, but it worketh for us the comfortable fruits of righteousness; and therefore by the aid of the divine Comforter, we, the "people saved of the Lord," will joy in the God of our salvation. We are married unto Christ; and shall our great Bridegroom permit his spouse to linger in constant grief? Our hearts are knit unto him: we are his members, and though for awhile we may suffer as our Head once suffered, yet we are even now blessed with heavenly blessings in him. We have the earnest of our inheritance in the comforts of the Spirit, which are neither few nor small. Inheritors of joy forever, we have foretastes of our portion. There are streaks of the light of joy to herald our eternal sunrising. Our riches are beyond the sea; our city with firm foundations lies on the other side the river; gleams of glory from the spirit-world cheer our hearts, and urge us onward. Truly is it said of us, "Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord?"

Evening

"My Beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him."
Song of Solomon 5:4
Knocking was not enough, for my heart was too full of sleep, too cold and ungrateful to arise and open the door, but the touch of his effectual grace has made my soul bestir itself. Oh, the longsuffering of my Beloved, to tarry when he found himself shut out, and me asleep upon the bed of sloth! Oh, the greatness of his patience, to knock and knock again, and to add his voice to his knockings, beseeching me to open to him! How could I have refused him! Base heart, blush and be confounded! But what greatest kindness of all is this, that he becomes his own porter and unbars the door himself. Thrice blessed is the hand which condescends to lift the latch and turn the key. Now I see that nothing but my Lord's own power can save such a naughty mass of wickedness as I am; ordinances fail, even the gospel has no effect upon me, till his hand is stretched out. Now, also, I perceive that his hand is good where all else is unsuccessful, he can open when nothing else will. Blessed be his name, I feel his gracious presence even now. Well may my bowels move for him, when I think of all that he has suffered for me, and of my ungenerous return. I have allowed my affections to wander. I have set up rivals. I have grieved him. Sweetest and dearest of all beloveds, I have treated thee as an unfaithful wife treats her husband. Oh, my cruel sins, my cruel self. What can I do? Tears are a poor show of my repentance, my whole heart boils with indignation at myself. Wretch that I am, to treat my Lord, my All in All, my exceeding great joy, as though he were a stranger. Jesus, thou forgivest freely, but this is not enough, prevent my unfaithfulness in the future. Kiss away these tears, and then purge my heart and bind it with sevenfold cords to thyself, never to wander more.
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Today's reading: Isaiah 3-4, Galatians 6 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Isaiah 3-4

Judgment on Jerusalem and Judah
1 See now, the Lord,
the LORD Almighty,
is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah
both supply and support:
all supplies of food and all supplies of water,
2 the hero and the warrior,
the judge and the prophet,
the diviner and the elder,
3 the captain of fifty and the man of rank,
the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.
“I will make mere youths their officials;
children will rule over them.”
5 People will oppress each other—
man against man, neighbor against neighbor.
The young will rise up against the old,
the nobody against the honored....

Today's New Testament reading: Galatians 6

Doing Good to All
1 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.
7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers....
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Abimelech

[Ăbĭm'elĕch] - father of the king.
1. A king of Gerar in the time of Abraham (Gen. 20; 21:22-32; 26:1-16, 26-31).

The Man Who Rebuked Another for Lying

Abimelech would have taken Sarah, Abraham's wife, into his harem, but learning that she was the wife of another, returned her uninjured. Abraham appears here in a bad light. He deceived Abimelech, but when found out was justly rebuked by the God-restrained Abimelech. Certainly the righteous should rebuke the ungodly ( 1 Tim. 5:20), but how sad it is when the ungodly have just reason for rebuking the righteous. What a degradation it was for Abraham, then, to be rebuked by a heathen king!
Abraham sought to palliate his deception by claiming that Sarah was actually his half sister, daughter of the same father but not the same mother (Gen. 20:12, 16).
A lie if half a truth
Is ever the worst of lies.
Abraham was the more blameworthy because he had done the same thing before ( Gen. 12) and had suffered much in the same way as upon this occasion. How grateful Abimelech was for the dream warning him of his danger! The covenant made with Abraham is somewhat significant -
I. It was proposed by Abimelech who, although knowing how Abraham had failed God, yet saw how favored he was of God (Gen. 21:22).
II. It revealed certain distrust of Abraham. Abimelech requested Abraham not to be tempted to sin in such a direction again (Gen. 21:23).
III. It was meant to secure Abraham's good will. The king desired the favor of the wandering pilgrim who had failed to act kingly. Abraham consented to the king's request (Gen. 21:24).
IV. It gave Abraham the opportunity of rebuking Abimelech. The matter of the stolen well had to be put right. Wrong had to be repudiated before a covenant could be agreed upon (Gen. 20:9; 21:23, 26).
V. It secured for Abraham the inheritance of Beer-sheba, "the well of oath," which possession the patriarch sanctified ( Gen. 21:27-33).
2. The son of Gideon by a concubine in Shechem who belonged to a leading Canaanite family (Judg. 8:30, 31; 9; 10:1).

The Man Who Was Bramble King

This Abimelech, who made the first attempt to set up a monarchy in Israel, is known as "The Bramble King." But his violent and ill-fated reign over Israel only lasted for three years. After the death of Gideon his father, Abimelech took seventy pieces of silver from his mother's people with which he hired vain and light persons to follow him. He slew seventy persons of his father's house. Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon, who is also called Jerubbaal, hid himself and when Abimelech was proclaimed king by the men of Shechem, he revealed himself and warned the Shechemites against Abimelech in a parable about trees, from whence he received his nickname as "Bramble King." What a tragic death this would-be king of Israel suffered (Judg. 9:53, 54)! A fitting end, surely, for one who sowed a Biblical city with salt (Judg. 9:45).
3. Son of Abiathar, the high priest in David's time (1 Chron. 18:16). Also known as Ahimlech.
4. A name given to Achish, King of Gath (according to Ellicott), to whom David fled (1 Sam. 21:10).
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P31Header
Rachel Olsen
September 27, 2011
Why It's Not Meaningless
Rachel Olsen
"A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?" Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 (NIV)
Is your work always fulfilling? Are your days endlessly satisfying?
I can almost hear you saying, "Um, no-not even close." Mine either.
I teach college students. I love learning and sharing what I've learned. I adore the smell of freshly sharpened pencils. I enjoy the honor and challenge of shaping the next generation.
What I don't much like are the hours of grading, or the occasional unmotivated student that make my best efforts feel wasted. My job has its perks, and its downsides. I'm sure yours does as well.
There's a prevailing notion in our culture that if we could just find the perfect job-our dream job-we'd have day after day of blissful purpose. But even the noblest task, the most glamorous profession, or the most acclaimed work has its frustrations.
King Solomon realized this and resented it. He grew to loathe life when his meals, his money and his work didn't prove endlessly satisfying (Ecc. 2:18). He was wise to realize no carnal, earthly or material thing will ever fully satiate us. No dinner party, employee-of-the month award, new home, relationship, merit raise, coffee drink or end-of-season clearance sale.
Solomon looked at life's inability to truly satisfy, and the fact that one day he'd be gone and his work may not be remembered, and decided all was vanity-all is meaningless here under the sun apart from God.
I found his book of Ecclesiastes perplexing with its "everything is meaningless" refrain. In it Solomon seemed to call everything life has to offer pointless. Something in my own spirit understood what he meant, yet also rebelled against the idea that life's pleasures and accomplishments are all for naught.
So I spent a year reading Ecclesiastes, seeking God's insight on this. I wanted to know how to approach work and leisure, how to view frustration and pleasure.
My driving goal became to craft a meaningful life that is pleasing to both me and God. I took cooking classes and learned to make delicious meals-I even learned to enjoy the effort involved in making them. I read novels as well as the Bible on my back patio. I invested myself anew in my teaching. I grew better at glorying in life's little pleasures, and letting them fortify me against discontent, depression, or worse, sin.
That year I discovered a divine secret. Today's key verse shows Solomon saw it too. The moments of enjoyment found in our work, our laughter, or even our daily food are sheer gifts from God.
Gifts to relish. Gifts that remind me-in a world often dark, cold and disappointing-that God is good.
These gifts don't offer continuous bliss-they punctuate days of toil and tears. They give me a taste of an afterlife that will exceed the earthly pleasures of a good meal, a tulip in bloom or a job well done.
These gifts satiate me over and over with-here's the key-gratitude to God. They not only gratify me when I enjoy them but they point me to a loving Creator who holds pleasures evermore in His right hand (Psalm 16:11).
That realization makes me enjoy the gift and the moment even more.
I find this gratitude deeply satisfying-it's pleasing to both me and God. So I eat, and drink, and take satisfaction in my work, for without Him there would be no enjoyment. And in them I can honor God with my pleasure.
Dear Lord, thank You for each and every source of enjoyment You provide in this life. Lord, every good and perfect gift comes down from Your hand, and I am grateful. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Visit Rachel's blog to win a copy of her book It's No Secret: Revealing Divine Truths Every Woman Should Know. Inside the pages you'll learn twelve more divine secrets.
When you purchase resources through Proverbs 31 Ministries, you touch eternity because your purchase supports the many areas of hope-giving ministry we provide at no cost. We wish we could, but we simply can't compete with prices offered by huge online warehouses. Therefore, we are extremely grateful for each and every purchase you make with us. Thank you!
Application Steps:
Do something today that gives you satisfaction. Then give God thanks.
Take pleasure in your work, no matter how mundane or demanding it is. Give thanks to God for the ability to work and to rest.
At your next meal, chew slowly. Taste the flavors. Feel the texture and temperature-and give thanks to God for your food, regardless how simple or gourmet.
Reflections:
Do I pause to open the gifts of enjoyment God affords me?
How often do I give Him thanks in return?
Power Verses:
Ecclesiastes 8:15, "So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun." (NIV)
Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!" (NLT)
© 2011 by Rachel Olsen. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
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September 27, 2011
I Feel Your Pain
Today's Truth
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV).
Friend to Friend
It was Easter Sunday, and I was sitting in the sanctuary waiting for the worship service to begin. Anticipating a large crowd, I arrived early to drop Jered off in the nursery, one of his favorite places to go since every nursery worker doted on him. As the choir filed in, a friend slipped into the pew beside me and said, "I think you need to go to the nursery. Something is wrong with Jered." Jumping up, I leapt over legs, toes, and pews as I raced to the church nursery and my son.
I was not prepared for what I saw. In a far corner, lying on his favorite red mat was Jered, staring at the ceiling, silent and rigid. As I bent over him, searching those beautiful blue eyes, huge tears slid down his chubby cheeks as he flew into my arms, sobbing. You have to understand - as a baby, Jered cried only when he was hungry, wet, or sick. He always seemed to be smiling, happy, and contented. Something was obviously very wrong. I kissed his forehead. No fever. I checked his diaper. Dry and clean. The snack box I had packed for him earlier that morning was empty. I had no idea what had broken my son's heart, but I certainly intended to find out.
Just then, Mrs. Giles, Jered's favorite nursery worker, drew me aside and said, "Let me tell you what happened. We had a new little girl in the nursery today. It was her first time in a church nursery - ever. When her parents left, she immediately began screaming and wouldn't stop. Jered came running and wrapped his arms around her, but she pushed him away. He then brought her his bottle, but she hurled it across the room and continued screaming. Desperate to help her, Jered then found his diaper bag and fished out Turtle.
Turtle was a small, green-and-blue stuffed turtle we had given Jered during a stay in the hospital when he was seriously ill with the croup. From the moment Jered saw Turtle, they were inseparable. He slept with Turtle clutched tightly in one hand, ate with Turtle sitting in his lap or on the table beside his plate, and carefully tucked Turtle in his diaper bag whenever we left the house. Turtle was his most precious possession and was an invaluable source of comfort to him.
Mrs. Giles continued, "I couldn't believe Jered was willing to give Turtle to a stranger, but he tried." The crying child took one look at Turtle and threw it in Jered's face. Stunned, he picked up Turtle, dusted it off, and lay down on the mat, refusing to move, the stuffed animal clutched tightly in his arms. Then I knew. I knew Jered couldn't stand to see the little girl in pain and was determined to help. When he couldn't, he retreated, waiting for someone else to help. That's compassion.
Compassion is not just sympathy. It is empathy. When it comes to dealing with difficult people, we mistakenly equate compassion with "fixing" them. Genuine compassion is first able to feel their pain. I believe one of the reasons we encounter and are commanded to deal with sandpaper people is because the more pain we experience, the more compassionate we will be. We must learn to use our pain in the right way, not lashing out, but looking within to share the pain of others. There is a choice in every pain, an opportunity in every trial. Pain makes us focus inward or outward. It makes us martyrs or merciful. The choice is ours.
I have a love-hate relationship with the Good Samaritan in the Bible. The Samaritan chose to use his pain and help an injured man. He understood the man's pain because of the pain in his own life. The Jews hated all Samaritans. The man lying on the road was a Jew. There was no logical reason for this Samaritan to rearrange his plans and spend his money to help this "enemy" or "sandpaper person" in need. But compassion doesn't look for reasons or search out limitations. It searches for opportunity. The Samaritan had a choice, just as we have a choice every time we are confronted with a need. We must adjust our thinking to understand that sandpaper people are needy people. We can either ignore the need, or we can meet the need by giving away part of the comfort God has given us when we have been in pain.
Galatians 6:2 (NLT) "Share each other's troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ."
If we can't prevent pain, we can at least lighten the load with compassion. Alan Redpath wrote, "You can never lighten the load unless you have first felt the pressure in your own soul." Compassion makes us willing to feel the pain of others, responding as if it were our own.
Let's Pray
Father, forgive me when I respond in anger to the difficult people in my life. I really want Your love to flow through me to each sandpaper person with whom I come in contact. Give me Your heart of compassion to feel their pain and then teach me how to look for ways to help ease that pain.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.
Now It's Your Turn
Read the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10:31-37. How can you apply the same truths in your life that the Samaritan applied when taking care of the wounded man?
Wherever today finds you, look around for someone in need - someone who needs a touch of compassion in their life. Are you willing to let God use you to be "God with skin on" to that person?
More from the Girlfriends
Today's devotion is taken from Mary's book, Sandpaper People. Looking for a Bible Study that is both practical and powerful? Check out Mary's E-Book Bible Studies. Each one includes a study guide that you can download for your personal use or for a small group study.
Come as You Are is Mary's NEW Online Bible Study that begins September 26! The most common invitation offered by Jesus Christ is simply to "come." He doesn't ask us to fix what is wrong or expect us to clean up our lives. That is His responsibility. Jesus loves us just as we are and when we come to Him with a "yes" in our hearts, He lovingly transforms the broken places into beautiful scars of healing and new life.Enroll before October 1 and have access to all 2011 lessons. Need a friend? Connect with Mary on Facebook or throughemail.
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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Are proverbs iron-clad promises?

This week's reading: Proverbs 3:1-4
Proverbs are principles of right living and general descriptions of life's realities, rather than sure-fire promises or guarantees. For example, Proverbs 3:1 appears to promise a long life and prosperity to those who do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart. Yet some godly people live in poverty and die at a young age.
This proverb isn't offering immunity from illness, accidents or financial troubles. Rather, proverbs such as this point to a general principle, which if applied consistently to our lives, will save us from unnecessary pain and suffering. While we aren't guaranteed we'll never contract cancer or go broke, we can avoid the foolish choices that can prematurely cut our lives short or cause financial ruin.
While Proverbs observes the way life works time after time, exceptions to the general rules are evident in the books of Ecclesiastes and Job.
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Today's reading is from theNIV Quest Study Bible
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This unique Bible addresses the common, uncommon, and perplexing questions people ask about Scripture.


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Everything New - A Weeekly Devotional

GOD PULLED BACK THE CURTAIN

The so-called “special revelation” that God gives includes Jesus Christ himself, the Word that was from the beginning and was with God and was God. Jesus put it this way: “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” The other major example of special revelation is the word of God in Scripture, the living testimony of truth given through people with the special calling of prophets and apostles. This is the way the book of Hebrews puts it: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets in many and various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2).
The salient points are simple: God is real. God has spoken. We must listen.
We could philosophize about who God could be, and settle on the alternatives that seem most reasonable, but if God has spoken in the revealed word and in the Word made flesh, then doesn’t all other knowledge about him move to the margins of the page? The fingerprints of God may be evident in a spiral galaxy, in the wildflower petals of an Indian Paintbrush, and in the spiritual impulses that we experience, but what are fingerprints compared to Voice and Face? Give me the galaxies, for sure, but I will be able to know and adore and love a God who actually speaks.
There is a kind of “general revelation,” which the apostle Paul talks about in Romans when he writes, “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Romans 1:20). These and other biblical passages say that we as human beings have plenty of evidence that God exists and that he is powerful and superlative and beautiful as designer of the universe. But apparently this is not enough. Human beings easily turn away from the mere fingerprints of God with indifference. A fingerprint doesn’t call out to you, it can’t lead your life, and it does not embrace you when you need to be comforted.
So God spoke. He revealed. He pulled back the curtain, uncovering what was shrouded (“revelation” in the Bible means “an uncovering”). He spoke from heaven (that is, his realm of existence), but not by taking us up a ladder to heaven, but by extending heaven to earth in the person of Jesus.
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Resources

About The Author - Mel Lawrenz serves as minister at large for Elmbrook Church and leads The Brook Network. Having been in pastoral ministry for thirty years, the last decade as senior pastor of Elmbrook, Mel seeks to help Christian leaders engage with each other. Mel is the author of eleven books, the most recent for church leaders, Whole Church: Leading from Fragmentation to Engagement.
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