Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Wed Sep 25th Todays News

A stupid argument is dong the rounds. It is related to the large number of Christians being killed by terrorists around the world. The argument ignores the fact that terrorists shouldn't be allowed to kill *anyone* regardless of race or creed. But those stupid people have got extraordinary powers. The President of the USA opened the door recently, ordering Israel to release such killers into the community for a peace deal. One is reminded of how a foolish Moshe Dayan gave away Jerusalem for a peace that never eventuated. Obama's position is more sophisticated, but little different. This time, as Iran powers nuclear weapons, Obama is providing distractions. 
Obama distractions are pernicious. Benghazi was part of a pre-election attempt to show that AlQaeda had been defeated by surrendering to them. One possible result of that was the recent slaughter in Kenya. It is possible that the weapons used in Kenya weren't supplied by the US government. Similarly, a report into the August assassination of three Australian soldiers in Afghanistan by a Taliban aided insider has received comment today with the report that security was lax at the time. Family of the deceased and wounded are not happy that everything was done which might have prevented those deaths. The timing is critical. Australian government which was aligned with Obama at that time had no problem in sacrificing soldiers to preserve the myth so that Obama might be re-elected. At the time, the defence minister was at war with the department, and inflating sex allegations while soldiers were dying from bad policy. Awkward.
Follow the stupid argument as people take exception to Jewish attempts to protect her people from the predations of cultural monsters, abusing love and confusing marriage custom. Terrorists cannot speak for a culture, even if that culture, weakened by internal division, accepts it. The example of great people is not currently part of Islam. That does not mean all Islamic people are bad. But it does mean that responsible people can't give power to bad people. We cannot accept Iran becoming a nuclear power. We cannot accept Syria using chemical weapons on her own people. That doesn't mean we have to bomb Syria. Or listen to Iran delay examination of her nuclear facility. But it does mean dithering is not the optimal course. 
In Australia, the debate of AGW has been decided. The hysteria may continue, but the hysterics have lost. Similarly with the abuse of power that became the NBN. Students going to university have now got more money because they aren't going to be forced to pay union fees that go to supporting the ALP, not students. Tonight on 7:30 report, prospective ALP leader Albanese claimed that only thirty thousand votes separated the ALP from continuing government in the recent election. The denial that the ALP deserved to be in opposition on a hundred year low primary vote is dangerous for the future of the ALP. The ALP failed to reform after '96. It is union dominated, irrelevant to its supporter base, who aren't ignorant parasites, but are aspirational. The love media still support the ALP. 
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Hatches
Happy birthday and many happy returns Kathleen Kek, Lambert Okodeh and Tola Sun. Born on the same day, across the years, as
1358 – Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese shogun (d. 1408)
1663 – Johann Nikolaus Hanff, German organist and composer (d. 1711)
1862 – Billy Hughes, Australian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1952)
1915 – Ethel Rosenberg, Soviet spy (d. 1953)
1921 – Robert Muldoon, New Zealand politician, 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1992)
1929 – Ronnie Barker, English comedian and actor (d. 2005)
1929 – Barbara Walters, American journalist, broadcaster, and author
1944 – Michael Douglas, American actor and producer
1946 – Felicity Kendal, English actress
1952 – Christopher Reeve, American actor (d. 2004)
1961 – Heather Locklear, American actress and model
1968 – Will Smith, American actor, producer, and rapper (DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince)
1994 – Jansen Panettiere, American actor
Matches
275 – In Rome, (after the assassination of Aurelian), the Senate proclaims Marcus Claudius Tacitus Emperor.
762 – Led by Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, the Hasanid branch of the Alids begins the Alid Revolt against the Abbasid Caliphate.
1066 – The Battle of Stamford Bridge marks the end of the Viking invasions of England.
1513 – Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa reaches what would become known as the Pacific Ocean.
1690 – Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, the first newspaper to appear in the Americas, is published for the first and only time.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Ethan Allen surrenders to British forces after attempting to capture Montreal during the Battle of Longue-Pointe. Benedict Arnold and his expeditionary company set off from Fort Western, bound for Quebec City.
1789 – The United States Congress passes twelve amendments to the United States Constitution: the Congressional Apportionment Amendment (which was never ratified), the Congressional Compensation Amendment, and the ten that are known as the Bill of Rights.
1790 – Peking opera is born when the Four Great Anhui Troupes introduce Anhui opera to Beijing in honor of the Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday.
1906 – In the presence of the king and before a great crowd, Leonardo Torres Quevedo successfully demonstrates the invention of the Telekino in the port of Bilbao, guiding a boat from the shore, in what is considered the birth of the remote control.
1926 – The international Convention to Suppress the Slave Trade and Slavery is first signed.
1929 – Jimmy Doolittle performs the first blind flight from Mitchel Field proving that full instrument flying from take off to landing is possible.
1942 – World War II: Swiss Police Instruction of September 25, 1942 – this instruction denied entry into Switzerland to Jewish refugees.
1944 – World War II: Surviving elements of the British 1st Airborne Division withdraw from Arnhem in the Netherlands, thus ending the Battle of Arnhem and Operation Market Garden.
1956 – TAT-1, the first submarine transatlantic telephone cable system, is inaugurated.
1957 – Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, is integrated by the use of United States Army troops.
1963 – Lord Denning releases the UK government's official report on the Profumo Affair.
1983 – Maze Prison escape: 38 republican prisoners, armed with 6 handguns, hijack a prison meals lorry and smash their way out of the Maze prison. It is the largest prison escape since WWII and in British history.
1992 – NASA launches the Mars Observer, a $511 million probe to Mars, in the first U.S. mission to the planet in 17 years. Eleven months later, the probe would fail
2009 – U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in a joint TV appearance for a G-20 summit, accused Iran of building a secret nuclear enrichment facility.
Despatches
303 – Fermin, Spanish saint (b. 272)
1066 – Tostig Godwinson, English brother of Harold Godwinson
1849 – Johann Strauss I, Austrian composer (b. 1804)
1980 – John Bonham, English drummer and songwriter (Led Zeppelin) (b. 1948)
1999 – Marion Zimmer Bradley, American author (b. 1930)
2005 – Don Adams, American actor and comedian (b. 1923)
2012 – Andy Williams, American singer and actor (The Williams Brothers) (b. 1927)
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David Suzuki drives me crazy

Miranda Devine – Wednesday, September 25, 2013 (7:48am)

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DAVID Suzuki’s appearance on the ABC flagship program Q&A spelled the death of any credibility left in the fag end of the climate alarm movement.
The affable climate alarmist is described by his acolytes in the Australian media as “iconic scientist and thinker”. He is really the Canadian Tim Flannery, with an expertise in insects rather than mammals.
At 77, Suzuki describes himself modestly as an “elder”. But his performance indicates he only has mastered the age bit of the equation, more than the wisdom.
On his latest ABC-feted trip to Australia he’s described Tony Abbott’s election mandate to axe Flannery’s Climate Commission and remove the carbon tax as “criminal negligence”.
In an opinion piece last week, he airily claimed the Great Barrier Reef “could” shrink to one quarter of its 1986 size in the next ten years, because runaway global warming is increasing the frequency and severity of cyclones, despite evidence to the contrary.
But on Monday night’s fawningly titled “an Audience with David Suzuki”, he showed himself to be astonishingly uninformed about the science he proclaims on, from climate to the dreaded genetically modified crops.
When tackled on his reef cyclone furphy by IPCC expert reviewer and environmental engineer Stewart Franks, he rolled over:
“I have to admit, that that was suggested to me by an Australian, and it is true, I mean, it may be a mistake. I don’t know.”
When a scientist in the audience defended working on genetically modified bananas to counter Vitamin A deficiency so that poor Ugandans don’t go blind or worse,” Suzuki said: “what’s the rush?”. Just a few dead and blind Africans, I guess.
By the end, even Q&A’s greenie host Tony Jones looked sheepish.
“Corporations are not people”, opined Suzuki at one point, prompting a twitter spurt of ridicule such as “clouds are not unicorns”.
Suzuki was sunk on the first question put to him by Bill Koutalianos of the Climate Skeptics Party, asking why man-made global warming advocates refuse to acknowledge that global temperatures have remained relatively flat for 15 years.
“Where are you getting your information” Suzuki asked.
Koutalianos cited the major temperature data sets used by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Suzuki burbled about “cherry picking” facts.
“There may be a climate sceptic down in Huntsville, Alabama, who has taken the data and come to that conclusion.”
Umm, no.
The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) is out this week and no doubt will package up the latest climate science in the usual alarmist language.
But the inconvenient fact remains that real world observations since 1998 have defied climate models which predicted catastrophic global warming. AR5 is expected to concede this fact, even if prominent eco-alarmists ignore it: the world’s average surface temperature has not increased for 15 years, despite increased human emissions of carbon dioxide.
In other words, the computer models which predicted drastic global warming, on assumptions of the atmosphere’s extreme sensitivity to carbon dioxide, were wrong.
Which is not unprecedented. Computer models are not magic boxes of wisdom. They are a powerful tool for simulating the future but they are only as good as their human-designed assumptions and their human-collected data inputs.
Eventually scientists will emerge from the muck of politics and ideology to explain why the predictions were wrong.
In the meantime, we should be free from the imperative to spend billions of taxpayer dollars on vast green bureaucracies and schemes to reduce carbon emissions which just damage Australia’s economy and outlaw the cheap coal-powered electricity which used to be our competitive advantage.
With the Greens vote plummeting from 13 percent in 2010 to 8.6 percent this election, a catastrophic drop of more than one third, it’s clear the Australian public is coming to appreciate the danger of eco-zealotry.
Suzuki has a beatific smile and endearing manner, but he is not an elder or a sage of science.
He is an environmental extremist, a relic of the 1970s. He may not wear the bandana and John Lennon glasses of his youth but inside still beats the heart of an anti-capitalist hippy.
A piece of footage doing the rounds of social media this week shows a young Suzuki in 1972 sitting cross legged on the ground, describing humans as “maggots” that “defecate all over the environment”.
Almost half a century later, nothing much has changed.
Asked if he still wanted to jail politicians for “denying what you call the science of climate change”, Suzuki said: “You bet..  it is a crime against future generations and there ought to be a legal position of intergenerational crime and I think there is criminal negligence.”
What about reckless endangerment of the economy with fairy stories from eco-pseuds. Is that a crime? 

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Gillard on why she’s writing a book

Andrew Bolt September 25 2013 (2:36pm)

She doesn’t mention money, revenge or self-justification. 

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What is it with Labor and slush funds?

Andrew Bolt September 25 2013 (2:30pm)

If true, more reason for the Abbott Government to call an inquiry into slush funds - starting with the AWU’s:
ONE of Australia’s largest unions has been accused of running an illegal slush fund to bankroll a Labor faction.
Former official Brenden Sheehan has taken the Australian Services Union and several of its senior officials to court, arguing its Queensland branch has been forcing employees to contribute to a slush fund disguised as a social fund.
He appeared briefly in the Federal Magistrates Court in Brisbane today, claiming the union unfairly dismissed him in May because he blew the whistle on the fund.

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One more Senate vote against the carbon tax

Andrew Bolt September 25 2013 (2:28pm)

Not bad news for Tony Abbott, since the Palmer United Party is against the carbon tax - and their candidate beat out the Sex Party:
THE fledgling Palmer United Party has its first confirmed member of parliament - a new senator from Tasmania.

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It takes almost no one to get the ABC to promote a cause it likes

Andrew Bolt September 25 2013 (8:36am)

Just 30 young Leftists try to get into the Swan Island military base this morning to complain about our involvement in Afghanistan. This is thought so significant that it’s the first item on ABC Melbourne’s morning show, which interviews an excited young girl.
UPDATE
The head of the Swan Island golf club then rings the ABC to complain that these protesters come down at the same time every year - at school holidays - and cost the golf club thousands of dollars, because police are forced to block access to the island.
Presenter Ali Moore assures him this is “the last thing” on the protesters’ mind. Left unaddressed is her own role in inciting protests that hurt the locals.
UPDATE
An hour later Ali Moore gives air time to another tiny group of protesters, this time blocking drilling for a road tunnel at some cost, ultimately, to tax-payers.
UPDATE
Did I say 30 Leftists? Not surprisingly, they have exaggerated their numbers by about 100 per cent, apparently not being fussed by such concepts as truth.
If I get 15 people over to my place for my birthday will the ABC break into regular programming to announce that, too? 

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On the ABC’s fury at not being told immediately of every boat

Andrew Bolt September 25 2013 (7:24am)

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(Thanks to reader Peter.) 

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How bad is the NBN really?

Andrew Bolt September 25 2013 (7:19am)

The NBN has the makings of a complete disaster:

FEDERAL cabinet is to sign off on a strategic review of the National Broadband Network as soon as next week after the release of a confidential report showing another hit to the project’s costs…
Confirming a report in The Australian yesterday, the government issued updated figures from NBN Co showing only 729,000 homes would be passed by the fibre network by June next year, barely half the official target set out one year ago. The new figures ... suggest the network would reach 3.1 million premises by June 2016 compared with 5.6 million forecast for that year in the initial corporate plan issued soon after the 2010 election and more recent forecasts of 3.9 million.
The new government does not believe the revised forecasts, however, and will wait for the 60-day review before revising the project…
In another sign of risks to the project, the government has uncovered a $600 million blowout in the cost of the billing and other information systems at the heart of the network, taking computer-system costs to $2.2 billion…
The updated NBN business plan, prepared in June and presented to the then Labor government before the election, reveals that in May there were only 57,400 active customers on the NBN...
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
UPDATE
Terry McCrann:

Figures released by new communications minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday showed that Labor’s NBN was a gold-plated disaster, getting progressively more disastrous.
And that further, [Anthony] Albanese, in the short time that he served as communications minister after he joined in the knifing of prime minister Gillard, disgracefully and quite deliberately hid the NBN’s dirty big secret from the voters before the election.
Under NBNCo’s initial corporate plan in 2010, on which all the extravagant claims about the NBN - and the commitment to spend $40 billion, going on $60 billion - were based, it was supposed to have passed 1.27 million premises by June 30 this year.
In the last corporate plan, which the public got to see, issued in August last year, that target number had been dramatically scaled back to just 341,000 premises… The actual number of premises passed by June 30 turned out to be just 208,000 - a mere 40 per cent shortfall on a target that was barely 10 months old…
As at June, the last number we have, just 33,600 people were actually signed up to the fibre broadband, when back in 2010 the NBN was justified and sold on the basis that 1.27 million Australian homes would be hooked up by this year… .

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Shorten to give voice to the voiceless, and lip to the taxi driver

Andrew Bolt September 25 2013 (6:36am)

At last night’s Labor leadership debate, Bill Shorten finally offered a hint of difference with Anthony Albanese in outlining a vision for Labor, but it should be to his disfavor in a country struggling to accommodate huge immigration intakes:

We are pro the growth of our population through immigration. We are pro refugees. It is not a bad thing to want to come here. People should know where we stand.

And this from a contest in which two men are vying to replace another man as Labor leader, a position held temporarily by a fourth man:

Shorten said the party had to “pull our socks up” to meet the stated, but unfulfilled, objective of at least 40 per cent of Labor seats filled by women.
Maybe Shorten should pull his own socks up when it coming to manners, given the evidence of the taxi driver who spoke to us last night:
The cab driver ... said Mr Shorten appeared to be arranging a planted question [in the audience at the leadership debate] with a person on the other end of the mobile phone.
“He got straight on the phone to someone and said ‘Hey big boy, ask me this - Albo will be fine with it … ask us the type of prime minister we would like to be remembered as.”
A very similar question was asked of the two prospective leaders last night, to which Mr Shorten replied: “If I was to be prime minister I’d like to be known as the prime minister for the powerless, the disempowered, the people who don’t have a voice in our society.’’

That’s more treacle than I can take at one sitting. And this sanctimonious Jesus-act seems at odds with the Shorten our taxi driver recalls:
A SYDNEY cab driver who drove Labor heavyweight Bill Shorten to a leadership debate against Anthony Albanese at UTS last night has accused the former union leader of being “dismissive, elitist and rude” throughout a tense eight minute journey…

Once inside the vehicle, Mr Shorten became “abrasive” while giving directions to the Jones Street entrance of the university, David said.
“Shorten got in the front, I knew he was straight away, he didn’t say hello to me or anything.
“He kept saying ‘we’re going to UTS, it’s in the city’, he was really aggressive… He was very intimidating.”
David then told Mr Shorten: “You don’t have to yell at me, I’m just dropping you to where you want to go.”
The union, united, will never be defeated:
A Labor spokeswoman rejected David’s “version of events”, saying there had been a “misunderstanding” and that “there’s four of us and one of him”.
Mr Shorten said last night the windows of the taxi were down, requiring him to speak loudly to be heard and that he apologised once he realised the driver had taken his comments the wrong way.
UPDATE
Shorten admits to rigging a question:

BILL Shorten’s office has admitted he workshopped a question with a Labor member who later posed it to him and Anthony Albanese during last night’s Labor leadership debate.
The revelation has sparked the first sign of tension between the rival camps, with Albanese supporters accusing Mr Shorten of setting up “Dorothy Dixer” questions to make himself look good.
Mr Shorten’s spokeswoman told The Australian the Labor leadership contender received a call on the way to the debate from a supporter, who wanted to ask a question…
“(Bill) had a question the day before which members seemed to be interested in, about what kind of prime minister (Bill) would like to be, and (he) mentioned that.”

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Labor’s carbon tax had to rise to $70

Andrew Bolt September 25 2013 (6:27am)

The IPA’s Alan Moran on the latest carbon tax con:

MYSTERIOUSLY, once the election was over, an OECD report with a Treasury official’s input emerged indicating the carbon tax would need to be 10 times the EU rate and twice the $38-per-tonne level posited by Treasury to allow Australia to meet its 5 per cent carbon reduction goal…
The OECD report indicates that unless the developing world also implemented a carbon tax, Australia would see considerable de-industrialisation, moderated only by a retreat into an illegal protectionist regime. And the competitive pressures would further intensify if, as appears likely, Japan, the US and other OECD countries also reject a carbon tax.
This is contrary to the official Treasury line that we need a price on carbon now, that the longer we wait the more painful the transition and that the costs will be trivial. Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson would have known of the report’s findings months ago.
But the Abbott Government shouldn’t stop at cutting the carbon tax to save us from rising power bills and job losses:
...even if the carbon tax legislation is repealed, the subsidies to wind and photovoltaics remain through the 20 per cent Renewable Energy Target.
Aside from undermining the commerciality of lower-cost fossil fuel-based generators, by 2019 these subsidies will raise the average wholesale cost of electricity by 40 per cent. 
I don’t understand why the Coalition didn’t commit immediately to scrapping the RET when it hurts the economy and scars the environment with hideous wind farms, yet does nothing to cut the world’s temperature - which may not be rising anyway. 

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The Bay Bridge

This view of the city of San Francisco, perched below the Bay Bridge never ceases to fill me with awe. The poetry of this otherwise utilitartian structure, when compared to it's red sister, is noteable and beautiful. The silvery essence of this masterpiece of modern architecture suddenly makes perfect sense when you see it frame the skyline of the city by the bay in this particular way.

This image would look outstanding printed on metal in high gloss:
http://mattgranz.zenfolio.com/p777575390/h74ab9c09#h74ab9c09

...and please feel free to share this photo!
 — atYerba Buena Island, San Francsco Bay, California.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (photo credit: Youtube screenshot)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed Israel’s UN delegation to absent itself during Iranian President Hasan Rouhani’s address before the UN General Assembly, set to take place on Tuesday afternoon New York time.
Iran was asking the world to look away from its nuclear power industry. Obama promised in '08 that as President he would deal with this issue, Iran is asking him to abrogate that responsibility .. which is a threat to Iran's existence. - ed===

Your God is not powerless...He is powerfull and able to raise from your sickness, problems and weaknesses...Just TRUST HIM

إلهك ليس إله عاجز...بل هو قادر أن ينهظك من مرضك, مشاكلك و ضعفاتك...فقط ثق به 
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Sarah Palin

Looking forward to talking with Sean Hannity tonight on Fox at 9pm ET about @SenTedCruz's efforts to #MakeDCListen & #DefundObamacare.
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MUST-SEE: The crybaby tweet of a Democratic U.S. Senator whining tonight that he had to work for TWO WHOLE HOURS because of Ted Cruz's marathon stand against Obamacare. ==>

http://twitchy.com/2013/09/25/wahmbulance-alert-sen-chris-murphy-whines-about-working-late-because-of-cruz/
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Islamist Lobbies’ Washington War on Arab and Muslim Liberals

" The most dramatic oppression of the region’s civil societies and the Arab Spring is not by means of weapons, or in the Middle East. It is not led by Gaddafi, Mubarak, Bin Ali, Saleh, or Assad. It is led by the powerful Islamist lobbies in Washington DC. "

The most dramatic oppression of the region’s civil societies and the Arab Spring is not by means of weapons, or in the Middle East. It is not led by Gaddafi, Mubarak, Bin Ali, Saleh, or Assad. It is led by the powerful Islamist lobbies in Washington DC. People may find my words curious if not provocative. But my arguments are sharp and well understood by many Arab and middle eastern liberals and freedom fighters. Indeed, we in the region, who are struggling for real democracy, not for the one time election type of democracy have been asking ourselves since January 2011 as the winds of Arab spring started blowing, why isn’t the West in general and the United States Administration in particular clearly and forcefully supporting our civil societies and particularly the secular democrats of the region? Why were the bureaucracies in Washington and in Brussels partnering with Islamists in the region and not with their natural allies the democracy promoting political forces?

Months into the Arab Spring, we realized that the Western powers, and the Obama Administration have put their support behind the new authoritarians, those who are claiming they will be brought to power via the votes of the people. Well, it is not quite so.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Nahda of Tunisia, the Justice Party of Morocco and the Islamist militias in Libya’s Transitional National Council have been systematically supported by Washington at the expense of real liberal and secular forces. We saw day by day how the White House guided carefully the statements and the actions of the US and the State Department followed through to give all the chances to the Islamists and almost no chances to the secular and revolutionary youth. We will come back to detail these diplomatic and financial maneuvers which are giving victory to the fundamentalists while the seculars and progressives are going to be smashed by the forthcoming regimes.

In the US, there are interests that determine foreign policy. And there are lobbies that put pressure to get their objectives met in foreign policy. One of the most powerful lobbies in America under the Obama Administration is the Muslim Brotherhood greater lobby, which has been in action for many years. This lobby has secured many operatives inside the Administration and has been successful in directing US policy towards the Arab world. Among leading advisors sympathetic to the Ikhwan is Daliah Mogahed (Mujahid) and her associate, Georgetown Professor John Esposito. Just as shocking, there is also a pro-Iranian lobby that has been influencing US policy towards Iran and Hezbollah in the region.

 One of the most important activities of the Islamist lobby in the US is the waging of political and media wars on the liberal Arabs and Middle Eastern figures and groups in America. This battlefield is among the most important in influencing Washington’s policies in the Arab world. If you strike at the liberal and democratic Middle Eastern groups in Washington who are trying to gain support for civil societies in the region, you actually win a major battle. You will be able to influence the resources of the US Government to support the Islamists in the Middle East and not the weak democrats. This huge war waged by the Islamist lobbies in America started at the end of the Cold war and continued all the way till the Arab spring. The two main forces of this lobby are the Muslim Brotherhood fronts and the Iranian fronts. According to research available in the US, the Ikhwan fronts such as CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations), led by Hamas supporter Nihad Awad, as well as the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Islamic Society of North America, and others waged their political war to block the representatives of Arab liberals and Muslim moderates from making their case to the American public. The Iranian lobby, exemplified by the National Iranian American Committee (NIAC), led by Trita Parsi, has been hitting at Iranian exiles.

Since the 1990s CAIR and its allies have attacked Copts, Southern Sudanese, Lebanese, Syrian reformers, Assyrians and Chaldeans, and Muslim dissidents in the United States. The Ikhwan of America demonized any publication, book, article, or interview in the national media or local press raising the issue of secular freedoms in the Middle East. The Islamists wanted to eliminate the liberal cause in the Arab world and replace it with the cause of the Islamists. What is also shocking is that CAIR and its allies stood by the oppressive regimes and visited them, claiming they speak on behalf of the peoples. CAIR and the Brotherhood fronts in America destroyed systematically every project that would have defended the seculars and liberals originating from the Middle East. The notorious and well-funded Islamists of the US allowed no book, documentary, or show on the liberals in Arab civil societies to see the light.

 Thanks to this powerful lobbying campaign, the American public was not given a chance to learn about the deep feelings on the youth in the region. Americans were led to believe that all Muslims, all Arabs and all Middle Easterners were a strange species of humans who cannot appreciate freedom. Instead, the American Islamists, helped by apologists on the petrodollars payrolls, convinced the mainstream media that the Arab world has authoritarians and Islamists only.

Dr Shawki Karas, president of the American Coptic Association, told me in the late 1990s how he was harassed by Islamist activists for speaking up against the Mubarak regime and the Muslim Brotherhood in America. He was threatened with losing his job at the college where he taught. Reverend Keith Roderick, who has assembled a coalition of more than 50 group rights from the Muslim world, was severely attacked by the Islamists and was threatened to be removed from his church position. Muslim American leaders who are conservative and secular, such as Dr Zuhdi Jasser, were crucified by CAIR and the Brotherhood for daring to challenge the Party line of the Isl.amists in America and claiming that the Jihadists are the problem in the region. Muslim liberal dissidents such as Somali Ayan Hirsi Ali, Saudi Ali al Yammi, Syrian Farid Ghadri, Iranian Manda Ervin, and many others were trashed by the Islamist lobbies to block them from defending the causes of secular liberty in the US. Egyptian liberals as well as seculars and democracy activists from Iraq, Sudan, Syria, and other countries have been attacked by CAIR and allies. The pro-Iranian lobby targeted most Iranian-American groups and tried to discredit them, particularly with the rise of the Green Revolution in Iran. By smearing the Muslim liberal exiles, the Islamists were trying to destroy their causes in the mother countries. In the 1990s and the years that followed 9/11 the region’s dictators supported the efforts by Islamist lobbies to crush the liberal exiles. The Mubarak, Bashir, Gaddafi, Assad, and Khomeinist regimes fully supported the so-called Islamophobia campaign waged by CAIR and its Iranian counterpart NIAC against dissidents for calling for secular democracy in the region. The dissidents were accused of being pro-Western by both the Islamists and the dictators.

 The Islamist lobbies also severely attacked members of the US Congress such as Democrats Tom Lantos, who has since passed away, Eliot Engel, Howard Berman, Gary Ackerman, and Joe Lieberman as well as Republicans Frank Wolfe, Chris Smith, Trent Franks, John McCain, Rick Santorum, and Sam Brownback for their efforts in passing legislative acts in support for democracy and liberty in the Middle East. CAIR and NIAC heavily savaged President Bush’s speeches on Freedom Forward in the Middle East, deploying all the resources they had to block US support to liberal democrats in the region. Islamist lobbies in Washington are directly responsible for killing any initiative in the US Government to support Darfur, southern Sudan, Lebanon, the Kurds, liberal women in the Muslim world, and true democrats in the Arab world and Muslim Africa.

In the think tank world, CAIR and its allies aggressively attacked scholars who raised the issue of persecution against seculars or minorities in the Arab world and Iran. Among those attacked were Nina Shea and Paul Marshal from the Hudson Institute and the founder of an anti-slavery group, Dr Charles Jacobs, who was exposing the Sudan regime for its atrocities. Last but not least is the Islamists’ relentless campaign to stirke at top scholars who advise Government and appear in the media to push for democratic liberation in the region. The vast and vicious attacks leveled against Professor Walid Phares—initially by CAIR’s Nihad Awad and then widened by pro-Hezbollah and Muslim Brotherhood operatives online—has revealed to Arab and Middle Eastern liberal and seculars how ferocious is the battle for the Middle East in the US. Phares’s books, particularly the latest one, The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East (2010), hit the Islamist agenda hard by predicting the civil society revolts in the Middle East and then predicting how the Islamists would try to control them. Phares was attacked by an army of Jihadist militia online like no author since Samuel Huntington in the 1990s. As a freedom activist from the Middle East, Mustafa Geha, wrote, Phares is a hero to Muslim liberals. Along with dissidents, lawmakers, experts, and human rights activists, Phares is a force driving for a strategic change in US foreign policy towards supporting secular democracies in the region. This explains why the Islamists of America are fighting the battle for the forthcoming regimes with all the means they have.

 Dr. Essam Abdallah is an Egyptian liberal intellectual who teaches at Ain Shams University and writes for the leading Arab liberal publication Elaph.

http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=53331&pageid=44&pagename=Slices
They aren't mindless, those lefties, but they frighteningly adhere to memes and bully those who aren't and don't. - ed
===
elephants raging

Originally published at Sultan Knish.
The majority of Americans do not want to invade or bomb Syria. The majority of American leaders do. Such a disparity between the leaders and the people is not wholly unique, but it arises in this case not from the usual disparities of power or corruption.
Americans don’t want to fight Syria because it is no threat to them. American leaders admit that Syria is no threat to America. They want to bomb Syria because they feel that they ought to do it. And they feel that way because behind the power of the West stands the will of the East.Long before Animal Farm of 1984, George Orwell wrote a short essay about his time in the east. It’s titled “Shooting the Elephant.”
Orwell’s narrator is told of an elephant that has run riot and he dutifully follows up the report. “We began questioning the people as to where the elephant had gone and, as usual, failed to get any definite information. That is invariably the case in the East; a story always sounds clear enough at a distance, but the nearer you get to the scene of events the vaguer it becomes.
“Some of the people said that the elephant had gone in one direction, some said that he had gone in another, some professed not even to have heard of any elephant.”
Substitute chemical weapons for elephant and the story becomes a familiar one.

The criticism of the GOP, while apt, is unfair. The GOP don't have the presidency. Because of that, the party is not galvanised between one leader, but fighting over lesser issues in order to achieve an advantage come election time for their platform. So the press will report they are in favor of bad choices, when in fact some members will be in favor of any choice. - ed
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Andy Minh Trieu
Rawr
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A couple hold hands at a gathering of Jewish and Arab youth. (photo credit: Chen Leopold/Flash90)
A right-wing, anti-assimilation organization that campaigns to prevent Arab men from dating Jewish women has opened a hotline enabling members of the public to inform on women so that they can be persuaded to end the relationship.
Phyllis photo gray 3MB.jpg
http://www.timesofisrael.com/hotline-lets-callers-inform-on-jewish-arab-couples/#.UkHoPHq7Xvo.facebook

I am Jewish, raised in an Orthodox home in Borough Park, Brooklyn, the daughter of Polish immigrants. My dad worked door-to-door selling soda and seltzer.
But none of this matters. We don't talk about religion. Instead, we stay up all night discussing film, opera and theater. We are bohemians.
We date for two years. Then, when I express my desire to travel, he asks me to marry him.
"There is no other way for us to travel together in the Muslim world," he says.
- See more at: http://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/books/my-life-of-hell-in-an-afghan-harem-phyllis-chesler/story-fnhod202-1226724821753#sthash.DJwgVOcw.dpuf
Things have changed since '59 when Phyllis sets her story .. but people haven't .. nowadays she would have probably been killed as an embarrassment - ed===

Got this shot with my sweetheart Helen H. Chandriving back from the storm of the century at Denver and had a blast doing it! Thanks for the coaching Matt Granz!
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Through its Maritime Intelligence Network and Rogue Vessel Analysis (MINERVA) system, UANI conducts real-time tracking and course prediction of every Iranian and Iran-related vessel, including clandestine vessels, anywhere in the world. UANI utilizes MINERVA to expose the regime's efforts to smuggle oil and cargo in circumvention of international sanctions. UANI’s MINERVA system was also featured in the New York Times.
Recent oil and shipping sanctions, in addition to the Iranian regime’s gross economic mismanagement, have severely hurt Iran’s economy. For example, the value of Iran’s currency, the rial, has plummeted. Iran has therefore resorted to numerous shipping and smuggling schemes including the use of fraudulent documentation, front companies, illegal flagging and bogus insurance and classification providers to uphold its last significant standing source of income – oil export revenues.

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A SECRET internal defence report into the murders of three soldiers in Afghanistan by a Taliban “sleeper” has revealed it was incompetence that exposed the three Australian sons to danger — and ultimately cost them their lives.
Lance Corporal Stjepan “Rick’’ Milosevic, 40, Sapper James “Marto’’ Martin, 21, and Private Robert “Poatey’’ Poate, 23 were murdered in cold blood at Patrol Base Wahab on August 29 last year as they played cards.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/army-fails-diggers-in-afghanistan-finds-secret-report/story-fncynjr2-1226726503890#ixzz2ftFolViC
ALP failed to protect its soldiers while playing down terrorism role during US election - ed
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Police at the scene where the man was found dead in his car. Picture: Screengrab/WoodTV

A MAN found dead inside his car at a university parking lot had googled chest pain symptoms just hours before he died.
The 38-year-old was found dead inside his car, where he had been living, at Grand Valley State University, Michigan yesterday.
Police said the man, identified as Phu Quoc Theiu Tran, had died overnight from cardiovascular disease.
His body was found by a university security staff member.
It is understood he was a student at Grand Rapids Community College and had been using the university’s computer lab just hours before he was found.
Police confirmed he had been googling symptoms related to heart attacks.
“It appears that he had been using the university’s computer lab and was researching health issues, actually specific symptoms of a health problem, which may give us an indication of what was going on, ” Lt. Patrick Merrill told CBS Local News.
It is understood he then got back into his car before covering himself with a blanket and passing away, WoodTV reported.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/north-america/man-googled-heart-attack-symptoms-only-to-be-found-dead-hours-later/story-fnh81jut-1226726794860#ixzz2ftG2ob8J
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A SHOP worker has described how a woman resembling the 'White Widow' sprayed bullets in her direction during the terrorist attack on a Kenyan mall.
The witness says she was cowering under boxes when an AK-37-wielding, pale-skinned woman with long dark hair locked eyes with her.
She then opened fire from a balcony.
The witness, named only as Caroline, told the Daily Mail she managed to escape unharmed as the terrorists advanced through the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi.
"She was high up but not far from me, close enough that I saw her looking along the floor where I was until she saw me," Caroline said.
"She stopped and aimed at me and then opened fire."
The shop assistant said the woman was wearing a baggy black top and had long black hair.
Who is the 'white widow'?

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/kenyan-president-declares-victory-against-westgate-mall-shopping-centre-terrorist-attack/story-fndir2ev-1226726616173#ixzz2ftGUgFvk
Witnesses claim they saw a woman, but Al-Shabbab insist their members dress up like women. - ed
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New Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey is promising more transparency come tax time. Picture: AFP

TREASURER Joe Hockey is going to show you the money.
In one of his first acts as Treasurer, Mr Hockey will instruct the Australian Tax Office to send taxpayers a personalised and itemised receipt thanking them for their tax dollars and detailing where the money was spent.
The receipts will show, in dollar terms, how much of a person’s tax bill was spent on welfare, health, education and other areas.
The level of gross government debt will also be displayed prominently with a break-down per person.
Treasurer Hockey said the receipts, which will be sent at tax time starting next year, would boost transparency and hold government to account.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/joe-hockey-orders-ato-to-tell-taxpayers-where-their-money-goes/story-e6frfm1i-1226726341854#ixzz2ftGrz2Xj
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Aprille Love
Good morning. The sun is shining and it's a beautiful day. Wishing everyone a wonderfully happy day! With love and light. xx
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Best Viewed LARGE (click on it) and feel free to share!

Prints available at: http://mattgranz.zenfolio.com/p13072832/h729550e5#h729550e5

Sunset under a supercell on the Oklahoma panhandle. — in Boise City, OK, United States.
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4 her
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"Overall, from what I have seen so far, the new government advertising requirements are operating as intended": Auditor General, Mr Peter Achterstraat.

The former NSW Labor government spent, on average, $116.2 million a year on advertising from 2007-2011 – nearly double that of the Liberal Party's expenditure in its first year of office, according to a report by the NSW Auditor-General.
Spending on advertising was the lowest in 14 years, Auditor-General Peter Achterstraat said in his report, released on Monday.
He assessed two government advertising programs – Rail Corporation's "Fixing the Trains" recruitment plan and the Cancer Institute's anti-smoking "Break the Chain" campaign – and said both were effective, economic and efficient.
He also found a significant decrease in party-political advertising since the introduction of laws in October which forced parties to pay back public money if they breached the prohibition.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/nsw-labors-ad-spending-double-that-of-ofarrell-team-20130924-2ubvx.html#ixzz2ftHqCPt2
ALP had nothing to say, but said it a lot - ed

  • John Tran ...nothing to say like.. we didn't mean to forget you.. don't give libs too much power..?
    7 hours ago · Unlike · 1
  • David Daniel Ball that was the QLD election .. the NSW campaign was "we are sticking with Kristina Kenneally to the end (of the election)"
    7 hours ago · Like · 1
  • John Tran Funny how the whole Labor infrastructure has just imploded, it's a sign that the core belief system has lost relevance.. or is it more about conflicting interests being taken over.. Greens and islamsist influencing factions.. like when communist tried to take over Labour within??
    7 hours ago · Unlike · 1
  • David Daniel Ball The ALP are in denial .. they've done that in the recent past .. they will come back unchanged, claiming to have renewed. As an example, look at how they are targeting Pru Goward for the ALP's mistakes.

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The sights, sounds and scents of Jerusalem are kaleidoscopic and ever changing. When I first arrived in Israel in 2006, I realized that it would take a lifetime to see and appreciate the endless array of cityscapes, holy sites, museums, gardens, archeological digs and – most wonderful of all – the colorful people that surrounded me.
I suppose that’s why I wasn’t all that impressed at the sight of some ugly, spray-painted graffiti a friend pointed out to me in Bethlehem. “It’s Arabic,” she explained. “And it means, ‘First comes Saturday, then comes Sunday.’”
“And that means…what?”
“It’s a jihadi slogan. It means, more accurately, ‘On Saturday we kill the Jews; on Sunday we kill the Christians.’”

It is wrong to accept attacks on anyone. - ed
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Attacks on Christians and other minorities in the Muslim-majority world are increasing and an already terrible situation is worsening.
The most recent attack was Sunday in Peshawar in Pakistan, where the historic All Saints Church was attacked by two suicide bombers, an attack for which the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. 
The explosions were triggered to cause the maximum number of deaths and maimings-- when the congregation left the morning service in the city's Kohati Gate district to receive a free meal of rice. The latest toll is 85 dead and over 140 wounded, but both these numbers have been rising as rescuers search through the rubble.
This is probably the most deadly attack on Christians in Pakistan’s entire history. There have been ongoing deadly mob attacks on Christians and Christians and Ahmadis have suffered disproportionately from Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, but there have been few attacks on churches and other Christian sites since a spate of bombings a decade ago. 

The argument is stupid. It matters not who terrorists target. Terrorists do not have a faith, although they may claim one. What is tragic is when a faith accepts them. - ed
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s third consecutive electoral victory  has profound consequences for Israel’s support in Europe and its security cooperation with the Federal Republic.
To understand German- Israeli relations under Merkel, it helps to compare her positions with those of her adversaries. Merkel’s party – the Christian Democratic Union (along with its sister party the Christian Social Union) – is the only German party to strictly oppose the new EU settlement guidelines. Her party’s statements on the guidelines, which bar EU cooperation with Israeli entities beyond the Green line, declare that the guidelines are not “objective requirements” and urge the EU to modify its regulations.
Merkel’s principal opponent, the Social Democrats, issued a statement to the main German-Jewish newspaperJüdische Allgemeine, declaring the party’s support for the EU sanctions targeting Israel’s work in the disputed territories.
The radical Left Party and the Green Party strongly favor the EU sanctions imposed on the Jewish state.
Merkel’s coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), wrote that there “are no EU sanctions against Israel” and the FDP rejects sanctions against the “only functioning democracy in the Middle East.”
The FDP did not explicitly declare the EU guidelines to be non-objective and simply called on Israel and the EU to reach an agreement.
- See more at: http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/analysis-what-does-angela-merkels-election-win-mean-for-israel/#sthash.So4sBkmM.dpuf
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Almost every commentator and news organization the public considers even marginally conservative or holding traditional values was blasted as being anti-Islamic in a 149-page report released Thursday.
===
Colonel Allen West

Former Congressman Allen West believes that we should we just kill all terrorists.  To many, this is a no brainer, do you agree with him?
Breitbart reported: And America is entertaining Hillary Clinton as President after she took part in abandoning Americans to die in Benghazi? Santayana said, “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Keep electing these weaklings, America, and more Americans will be attacked, and unfortunately lose their lives. The only way to deal with Islamists is to kill them, as the Al Shabab attackers stated, “there will be no negotiations.” I concur! -Allen West

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Libertarian Girl
Someone asked what I mean by "free markets." It's easy to come across as portraying some mythical Capitalist entity when we discuss the free market. There is no cure all for every single societal ailment. There will always be governmental failures and market failures. However, market failures have fewer unintended negative consequences because they aren't forced onto society as a whole. I define "free markets" as individuals in their respective industry or trade engaging in voluntary and mutually beneficial exchanges of value. A truly free market would be a beautiful thing full of innovation and prosperity. But don't ever confuse that with an unrealistic idea of what individuals are capable of. I have so much faith in humanity. We should trust that when individuals pursue their separate interests the benefits for society will be much greater than can ever be produced by any distant government agency.

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Dry Bones, cartoon, america, obama, Israel, Moslem, Muslims, jihad, Islam, Islamism, africa, jihad,nairobi, terror, terrorism, shabab, kenya, somalia,islam, islamism, al qaeda
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They know what they do ..  ed

Elliot Prior, from Windsor, Berkshire, told one of the terrorists that he was a''very bad man'' as he protected his mother, Amber, who had been shot in the leg, and six-year-old sister Amelie, the Daily Mail UK reports.
The gunman then handed the boy and his sister Mars bars before telling them: ''Please forgive me, we are not monsters''.
The amazing story emerged as Kenyan troops tightened their grip on Islamists making their final stand in the deadly shopping mall siege, on the fourth day of the attack.
Sporadic shooting at the upmarket Westgate mall broke out again at dawn, hours after officials had claimed Kenyan troops were in "control" of the sprawling complex.
Islamist al-Shabab fighters claimed they are still holding hostages inside.>


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/kenyan-troops-tighten-grip-on-beseiged-shopping-mall/story-fndir2ev-1226725654896#ixzz2foYUHU8u
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Take a moment to imagine that you will need to survive for the next 5 years. Now imagine you had to buy it all today.
Part of my job is to look at the landscape of everything that is going on in the world and make decisions for future workflows and technology purchases that will us maintain a competitive edge in a market that is growing and changing each and every day.
So what’s next in video production?
It’s hard to tell for sure. We are an industry tied to technology which can seemingly pop out of nowhere and forever alter things. But based on conversations within the industry, current product line ups and things yet unseen. I am betting on UltraHD ( 2K,4K 5K ) being the next big wave in media industry. So at NBC we are building out a full end to end 4K production facility.
Now most people think of production in a liner mindset starting at acquisition. But before you can really make those choices you have to think about where you’re going to store all this footage.

===
There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing. –Aristotle
Mandy Mclean no, mums are wise to this trick
===

Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin'
Father,I thank You for being with me even in the hard times. Today I commit every area of my life to You. I trust that You will make up the difference in my life and supply everything I need to fulfill Your purposes. I praise You because You are faithful, and I know You are leading and guiding me into victory all the days of my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.
=
In the Hard Times,You Will Survive.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me..(Psalm 23:4, NIV)

After the birth of Moses, the king ordered that all the male babies were to be killed. You can imagine how devastated his mother must have been. She could have easily given up, but instead, she chose to believe that God was still in control. She put Moses into a little basket and sent him down the Nile River. It just so happened that Pharaoh’s daughter was out taking a bath — at the right place and the right time. She heard the cries coming from the basket. She opened it up and saw baby Moses and fell in love with the boy. She was so excited and said, “I’m going to take him as my own.” She looked at her maids and said, “We need to find somebody that can nurse the baby.”

One of the maids said, “I know just who to get.” She went and found who? Moses’ mother. Moses’ mother was not only able to raise her son, but she got paid for doing it on top of that. Only God could orchestrate all of that.It is my prayer that you will be at the right place and at the right time.

Today, remember that even in loss, heartache or disappointment, God will order your steps. He’ll line up the right people and the right opportunities and lead you into victory all the days of your life.What happened to Moses mother will happen to you in Jesus Name,Amen.

===

Pastor Rick Warren
When you forgive someone, you give them a gift while giving yourself a bigger one.

===

Sarah Palin'
The U.S. Senate has some arcane procedural rules, and as ordinary Americans our eyes glaze over trying to decipher them. But it’s important for us to understand that Sen. Ted Cruz’s efforts to defund Obamacare are worthwhile and doable. 

We shouldn’t preemptively surrender the fight to those who rammed through this outrageously burdensome and unaffordable ploy for government control of health care even though some are trying to convince us that the fight is futile. Just because a fight isn’t easy, doesn’t mean it’s not worth fighting.

This defund movement boils down to a very simple request. As Andrew McCarthy recently pointed out: “Obama himself has already unilaterally and unconstitutionally defunded aspects of Obamacare, including repugnant accommodations for big corporations, Obama insiders, and members of Congress.” All we’re asking is that the rest of America “get the same relief from this awful law that Obama cronies, the ruling class, and the politically-connected get.”

Please call your senators and politely ask them to stand with Senator Cruz. This is especially important if your senator is a Democrat up for re-election in a red state in 2014. That would be Senators Mark Begich (D-AK), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), and Kay Hagan (D-NC). Remind them politely that we are watching their votes very carefully and even a procedural vote that shuts down this debate will be regarded as a vote for Obamacare, and there will be consequences for them at the ballot box next year. The same goes for Republicans up for re-election. We definitely expect them to stand shoulder to shoulder with Senator Cruz through thick and thin.

The number for the Capitol Hill Switchboard is 202-224-3121. Ask for your senator’s office. You can also find their contact information and contact them online at
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Remember, we elected these senators precisely for moments like this. If they can’t do anything with the power we’ve given them through their elected office, then perhaps it’s time for them to retire and let someone else have a go.

Opposition to Obamacare carried us to victory in 2010. And 2014 is just around the corner.

- Sarah Palin

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The Abbott government plans a drastic overhaul of the higher education system, including axing the compulsory fee collected by universities to support student services and scrapping Labor's targets to lift participation by disadvantaged students.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christopher-pyne-reveals-university-shakeup-20130924-2ucag.html#ixzz2ftOINX00
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https://newmatilda.com/2013/09/24/abbott-has-got-culture-war-he-wanted
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‘What bias’?’ Brit Hume notices something about WaPo’s coverage of Lois Lerner ouster ==>http://twitchy.com/2013/09/24/what-bias-brit-hume-notices-something-about-wapos-coverage-of-lerner-ouster/
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Backlog nightmare: More than 736,000 of our nation's heroes are still waiting for their veterans benefits. 

Now, one state is stepping in where the federal government is falling short:http://tinyurl.com/m24plrj
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#DoctorWho began filming 50 years ago last week. Plus: watch a fascinating fan-made title sequence for Peter Capaldi's Doctor and a brilliant fan-created Doctor Who musical!

Check out all of that and more in Anglophenia's Doctor Who's Day roundup:http://bbc.in/18n7Aap
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All-New: Jacy and Nathan confront their 16-year-old daughter’s 25-year-old boyfriend on Dr. Phil’s stage. http://bit.ly/DrP9242013 #DrPhil
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IDF soldier Gal Koby was recently murdered by an Arab sniper in Hebron. Israel will prevail over our horrible enemies. We have belief in our father in heaven!
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International law is on Israel's side. Watch the video to understand why!
This must be one of the best video presentations that clearly explains international law and the legal case for Israel and Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria. Definitely watch this to have a better understanding of international law so you can talk about Israel's situation intelligently with others.
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Jamie - Bar

Support the Israeli Economy - Weekly Deal

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Don't miss this best seller! 
Click here to purchase this special holiday gift.
What a unique honey dish! People will want to ooh and aah over it whenever they see it! The pomegranate form (a classic Jewish decorative motif) has been decorated with 24K gold plating in places, as well as numerous highlights of iridescent enamel and Amber crystals.
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IsraelVideoNetwork.com, run by 12Tribe Films, is developing the next generation of Israel activists using online video and social networking.
Join our mission - Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to help us grow our network to reach hundreds of thousands of people to make a difference for Israel.
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mbc alumni
What a blast from the past! These guys all sang as boys in the best Jewish boys choir in the USA and now they are back singing as adults!
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What an unbelievable scene from the heart of the world, the Western Wall of the Temple Mount!
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Click here to watch: King Solomon's Wall Excavated!
AMAZING DISCOVERY - See the text of the Bible being discovered RIGHT HERE in JERUSALEM in the City of David!
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fuah
Outrageous: A Jewish man was arrested for waving a Lulav (Palm branch) on the Temple Mount in honor of the Sukkot holiday.
Muslims are not tolerant of others, and Israel still allows it! (In the video, it is clear that the Police Officer got the order to arrest the man from the Muslim WAKF organization!) But things are changing. With more Jews going up to the Temple Mount day by day, Jews will be given the right to worship at their holiest place in the world!
The world needs to stand up to the horrible intolerance of Muslims and not give in to their threats of violence. It only legitimizes their intolerance and feeds their escalating violence!!!
Follow us on Facebook for top Israel videos www.facebook.com/12tribefilms
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Thank you for caring about Israel. Here is a new tool we have developed for people like you to stay up-to-date with important videos with the latest news in Israel. Sign Up Here!

FEATURED VIDEOS

Screen Shot 2013-09-11 at 4.14.03 PM
Click here to watch: NEVER AGAIN!
Must-Watch- This might be the most powerful clip you ever see.
Eugene
International law is on Israel's side. Watch the video to understand why!
This must be one of the best video presentations that clearly explains international law and the legal case for Israel and Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria. Definitely watch this to have a better understanding of international law so you can talk about Israel's situation intelligently with others.
***
Jamie - Bar

Support the Israeli Economy - Weekly Deal

Enameled-and-Jeweled-Pomegranate-Honey-Dish-Blue_large
Don't miss this best seller! 
Click here to purchase this special holiday gift.
What a unique honey dish! People will want to ooh and aah over it whenever they see it! The pomegranate form (a classic Jewish decorative motif) has been decorated with 24K gold plating in places, as well as numerous highlights of iridescent enamel and Amber crystals.
donate_now_narrow
IsraelVideoNetwork.com, run by 12Tribe Films, is developing the next generation of Israel activists using online video and social networking.
Join our mission - Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to help us grow our network to reach hundreds of thousands of people to make a difference for Israel.
facebook

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Screen Shot 2013-05-06 at 8.47.05 AM
Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for September 24th. Enjoy!

From the Blog

'Hide out': Furious military wife protests DHS advice in case of active shooting

Reader S. e-mailed me an infuriating message and attachment last week after the Washington Navy Yard massacre...

Rejecting Jeb Bush’s Fed Ed racket: Florida turns against Common Core

Jeb Bush can deride and mock opponents of shoddy, costly, intrusive, and unconstitutional Common Core standards all he wants...

CNN anchor: Attempts to defund Obamacare ‘not the way the Founders drew this thing up’

One thing’s for sure, this would make the Founders laugh hysterically...

More From the Right Side of the Web

Michelle's Top Tweets

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And ... Our Hate Tweet of the Day

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Be a shame. Be very a shame.

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Holidays and observances[edit]


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September 25: Shemini Atzeret begins at sunset (Judaism, 2013)
Peking opera performer

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“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV
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Morning

"For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him."
Ezra 8:22
A convoy on many accounts would have been desirable for the pilgrim band, but a holy shame-facedness would not allow Ezra to seek one. He feared lest the heathen king should think his professions of faith in God to be mere hypocrisy, or imagine that the God of Israel was not able to preserve his own worshippers. He could not bring his mind to lean on an arm of flesh in a matter so evidently of the Lord, and therefore the caravan set out with no visible protection, guarded by him who is the sword and shield of his people. It is to be feared that few believers feel this holy jealousy for God; even those who in a measure walk by faith, occasionally mar the lustre of their life by craving aid from man. It is a most blessed thing to have no props and no buttresses, but to stand upright on the Rock of Ages, upheld by the Lord alone. Would any believers seek state endowments for their Church, if they remembered that the Lord is dishonoured by their asking Caesar's aid? as if the Lord could not supply the needs of his own cause! Should we run so hastily to friends and relations for assistance, if we remembered that the Lord is magnified by our implicit reliance upon his solitary arm? My soul, wait thou only upon God. "But," says one, "are not means to be used?" Assuredly they are; but our fault seldom lies in their neglect: far more frequently it springs out of foolishly believing in them instead of believing in God. Few run too far in neglecting the creature's arm; but very many sin greatly in making too much of it. Learn, dear reader, to glorify the Lord by leaving means untried, if by using them thou wouldst dishonour the name of the Lord.

Evening

"I sleep, but my heart waketh."
Song of Solomon 5:2
Paradoxes abound in Christian experience, and here is one--the spouse was asleep, and yet she was awake. He only can read the believer's riddle who has ploughed with the heifer of his experience. The two points in this evening's text are--a mournful sleepiness and a hopeful wakefulness. I sleep. Through sin that dwelleth in us we may become lax in holy duties, slothful in religious exercises, dull in spiritual joys, and altogether supine and careless. This is a shameful state for one in whom the quickening Spirit dwells; and it is dangerous to the highest degree. Even wise virgins sometimes slumber, but it is high time for all to shake off the bands of sloth. It is to be feared that many believers lose their strength as Samson lost his locks, while sleeping on the lap of carnal security. With a perishing world around us, to sleep is cruel; with eternity so near at hand, it is madness. Yet we are none of us so much awake as we should be; a few thunder-claps would do us all good, and it may be, unless we soon bestir ourselves, we shall have them in the form of war, or pestilence, or personal bereavements and losses. O that we may leave forever the couch of fleshly ease, and go forth with flaming torches to meet the coming Bridegroom! My heart waketh. This is a happy sign. Life is not extinct, though sadly smothered. When our renewed heart struggles against our natural heaviness, we should be grateful to sovereign grace for keeping a little vitality within the body of this death. Jesus will hear our hearts, will help our hearts, will visit our hearts; for the voice of the wakeful heart is really the voice of our Beloved, saying, "Open to me." Holy zeal will surely unbar the door.
"Oh lovely attitude! He stands
With melting heart and laden hands;
My soul forsakes her every sin;
And lets the heavenly stranger in."
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Today's reading: Song of Solomon 4-5, Galatians 3 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Song of Solomon 4-5

He
1 How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from the hills of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with courses of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of incense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
there is no flaw in you....

Today's New Testament reading: Galatians 3

Faith or Works of the Law
1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard?3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain?5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith....
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COUPLESenewsheader-Bibles-Sep2011

Conquering Regrets

"Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!"
Genesis 19:17
If only we hadn't married so soon. If only we had more money. If only I had married Jake instead of John. Regrets in marriage are damaging. They keep our eyes fixed on the rearview mirror instead of on the road ahead. While reviewing the past and assessing what we've learned through mistakes can be a healthy exercise, regretting the past only serves to fuel discontentment and impede growth.
When Dan and I decided to close a three-year-old business, I struggled with regret. I had used up all of our nest egg to pursue a business venture I had believed in. When the business failed, I regretted so many decisions I had made, especially not listening to Dan's advice along the way. My failure meant that we would be struggling financially again after having enjoyed several years of monetary comfort. Even though I knew God had walked us through this difficult time and taught us invaluable lessons, it was tempting to think, "If I hadn't tried to start that new business, we'd be financially set right now." Instead of keeping my eyes focused on God's plan for my life, I chose to get stuck in my tracks with if-only thinking.
Lot's wife had a similar problem. She and her husband were running for their lives from Sodom and Gomorrah, knowing that God had judged the culture they were living in and was about to decimate everything they had ever known. While Lot was running full steam ahead, his wife kept looking over her shoulder. Eventually, the distance between them became so great that Lot literally left his wife in the dust.
Regret is like that. We keep looking over our shoulder, wondering if what we've left behind might have been better than what we're moving toward. God's angel warned Lot and his wife not to look back, and it's a warning for us too.
If you routinely catch yourself starting a sentence with "If only," regret may be an issue you need to deal with. While dwelling on what might have been is never healthy, regret can be an important signal to stop and examine your emotions. For instance, if you catch yourself thinking, "If only I had married Jake instead of John," it may be time to evaluate why John isn't measuring up. In your private time with God, pray about the emotions you're experiencing. Perhaps you'll discover that your disappointment is springing from unmet needs. With these needs clarified, you can then have a forward-thinking conversation with your spouse about how to improve your relationship.
When I caught myself saying, "If only I hadn't tried to start this business," I realized that my fear of God's inability to meet our needs in the future was driving my regret. Once I discovered that, I could stop looking to the past and begin focusing on a vision for what God might accomplish in our future.
Marian V. Liautaud

Let's Talk

  • What, if any, regrets do either of us have in our lives?
  • What unmet need might those regrets indicate?
  • How might we use regrets to improve our relationship with each other? What do we need to entrust to God to move forward in our marriage?
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NIVCouplesbibleToday's reading is from the
NIV Couple's Devotional Bible
by Zondervan

Designed to help you build your relationship on the one foundation you can count on: God’s Word!


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Stewardship as a Response to Grace

This week's reading: Exodus 34:1-9
Why did Moses need new stone tablets "like the first ones"? Because Moses smashed to pieces the original tablets (see Ex 32:19). Exodus 32 describes how the people of Israel grew weary of waiting for Moses to come down from Mount Sinai; he had been gone for 40 days and 40 nights, and the people thought that Moses was dead or long gone. So Aaron, Moses' brother, led the people in idol worship, gluttony and, very likely, sexual immorality. When Moses came down from the mountain and saw what was happening, "his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces" (Ex 32:19). The words of God were destroyed.
But a few chapters later, we find God commanding Moses to make new tablets on which God would write the words that were on the first tablets. Can you imagine a greater act of mercy, love, forgiveness and grace? After all that had happened, God still desired to communicate with the Israelites.
Moses' response to the Lord's gracious action was worship (see Ex 34:8). Today our response to God's salvation should echo that of Moses. Yet when authors John and Sylvia Ronsvalle conducted a three-year study of money dynamics in the American church, they determined a surprising lack of correlation between grace and giving.
This area of theology, attempting to move from the law into a sense of the grace that ought to define financial giving patterns, has apparently been difficult for the church in the United States throughout its history. Robert Wood Lynn commented from his historical studies, "I don't think American Protestants have come close to a scriptural view of God's grace in stewardship. We are a law-ridden people, and the law is becoming more and more important as a means to move us. Why haven't we given more for 140 years? I don't think the American churches have been able to understand the full meaning of the gospel for this area of stewardship. We've been denying this for an awfully long time. It raises the whole fundamental meaning of the gospel. It is not only duties and obligations; it is also grace that can set us free. Then discipline can follow."
Lynn suggested that it is enormously difficult to talk about grace and the subject of financial stewardship, partly because it is so seldom talked about. "Grace is the central reality out of which we can begin to understand what we are to do with these resources. We have to get a conversation started on faith and money. We must not let this be interpreted as another spiritual assault where people are reminded they are selfish and greedy. We already know that. We need a setting in which we can talk about the meaning of money in our lives and discover how much it dominates our lives. We can use this as an occasion to understand again the whole meaning of the gospel. We cannot use grace in order to raise money. But rather we are going to the topic of grace to use this as an occasion to rethink what is the meaning of the gospel for this time."

Think About It

  • How has God shown grace to you?
  • How do you respond to God's grace?
  • What does God's grace have to do with your giving?

Pray About It

Lord, open my eyes to see your mercy and grace in my life. Then show me my appropriate response.

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Today's reading is from theNIV Stewardship Study Bible
by Zondervan

Discover the remarkable privilege we have as stewards of God's design for life through the study of Scripture.


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