Monday, March 17, 2014

Mon Mar 17th Todays News

There is something particularly Irish about celebrating St Patrick's Day on the anniversary of the day he died. His legacy to Ireland is Christian. He is credited with killing all the snakes in Ireland. One fact is there are no snakes in Ireland, outside of a zoo. Another fact is that there never have been snakes in Ireland. Possibly there were snake cults in Ireland which St Patrick defeated, but why spoil a good tale? Ireland is well known as Catholic, but St Patrick wasn't Roman Catholic and neither was Ireland until Henry Viii broke free from Rome and established the Anglican Church. But the truth is Ireland, like her women, is gorgeous. She sings a beautiful, haunting song. 

Today is also the anniversary (180 AD) of the death of stoic Roman Emperor, last of the five good ones, Marcus Aurelius. But, on 455 AD, and on a happy thought for Harry Potter fans, Petronius Maximus got the support of the Roman Senate to become emperor of the Western Roman Empire. His happy thought ended prematurely two and a half months later when Rome was sacked by Vandals. A salient lesson for any who govern on happy thoughts. In 1780, Washington gave his men a holiday in support of the Irish. Proving for all time happy thoughts can be effective. On this day in 1805, Napoleon tired of being the President of the republic of Italy, and became king of the kingdom of Italy.
 
For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/nsw-premier-barry-o-farrell-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball?
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Hatches
Happy birthday and many happy returns Phuc Le, Belinda Lui and Joseph Hieu Dinh. Born on St Patrick's day, and so bearing the gift that each US Dollar note you touch is green. Remember that.
Matches
Despatches
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COCKTAIL HOUR

Tim Blair – Monday, March 17, 2014 (1:57pm)

Scroll through these shots from Canberra’s March in March. The 15th image is particularly cute:

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MARCH BECAUSE THE MONTH COMMANDS YOU

Tim Blair – Monday, March 17, 2014 (5:24am)

Small pods of malcontents took to the streets over the weekend in some kind of protest against Tony Abbott.

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The precise complaints of these people were difficult to identify, however.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'MARCH BECAUSE THE MONTH COMMANDS YOU'
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LABOR RULES LAKE MACQUARIE

Tim Blair – Monday, March 17, 2014 (3:33am)

Back in 2008, the ABC took great delight in describing the Liberal party’s powerlessness. The previous year’s federal election installed Labor’s Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister, adding him to Labor leaders in every state and territory.
So who, during those wall-to-wall Labor days, was Australia’s leading conservative office-holder? As a happy Kerry O’Brien reported: “He may be just the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, but Campbell Newman is now the Liberal flag bearer.” Newman joined in the ABC’s fun, even accepting a ceremonial Wallabies jersey from the Chaser team, who urged him to wear it during Howard-style morning walks. “It just shows that someone cares,” said the then-Lord Mayor.
Six years on, the political map is a little different and the ABC’s smiles have vanished. Following the weekend’s elections in Tasmania and South Australia, Labor may now be left with only South Australia – or possibly not, depending on how postal votes fall and the role of two independents.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'LABOR RULES LAKE MACQUARIE'
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Report: ABC’s Q&A to “clarify” those outrageous falsehoods

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (3:59pm)

Culture wars

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Apparently Q&A will issue a “clarification” of the false and defamatory claims it broadcast last week about me, falsely portraying me as a racist who’d subjected a woman identifying as Aboriginal to “foul abuse”.
Well, let’s see what it does now that even Langton has apologised for these outrageous falsehoods.  My bet? It will be a clarification of a yes-but kind that will in some way get even with me for my effrontery in making it concede it had gone too far.
I understand Media Watch is preparing just such an item in what seems to me a possibly unconscious but certainly concerted attempt to vilify a conservative critic.
Forgive me if I’ve misjudged it. But give me reasons to trust its good faith. 
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The Left still marching through the institutions it’s trashed

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (12:51pm)

The Left are brilliant at stacking the cultural institutions. Two examples from the past week:

The taxpayer-funded Grattan Institute appoints the ABC’s Left-leaning Geraldine Doogue:
Grattan Institute is delighted to announce that ABC presenter, Geraldine Doogue, has joined the Grattan Board.
Ms Doogue, whose 40-year journalism career features numerous roles and awards, presents Saturday Extra on Radio National and Compass on ABC TV1.
The RMIT’s journalism school appoints the Left-leaning Morry Schwartz:
Publisher and media philanthropist Morry Schwartz has been appointed Adjunct Professor (Journalism) at RMIT University…
He is the director of BlackInc Books and the publisher of the Quarterly Essay and The Monthly. In a bold move, he also recently launched a new weekly newspaper The Saturday Paper. 
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ABC markets March in March, presenting only its good side

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (9:49am)

Media

The ABC generously publishes 43 pictures of yesterday’s anti-Abbott “March in March” protest to publicise the cause.
Not one of the pictures includes the many vile, offensive, vicious or threatening signs or the F… Abbott T-shirts, which is odd. When an anti-Gillard rally was held in Canberra, ABC reports tended to show just one picture of the protesters signs, and focused on the most abusive and discreditable, which some clown put up behind Abbott without him noticing.
Biased much?
(Via Tom Murphy and with thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
UPDATE
A sign the ABC promoted:
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A sign - and sign of hypocrisy - the ABC ignored:
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A protester the ABC promoted:
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A protester the ABC ignored:
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UPDATE
Meet the barbarian carrying the “KillAbbott” sign.
(Thanks to reader Peter H.) 
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Is Mark Dreyfus a liar or just a fool?

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (9:47am)

Mark Dreyfus is either lying or recklessly ill-informed about my court case. Either way he is not fit to be Labor’s shadow attorney-general:
DREYFUS: On one case, which people have repeatedly misquoted. People have repeatedly ignored what happened in this case, which is that a tabloid columnist deliberately used false information to vilify the complainants in the case. He had been told by them that what he had written on an earlier occasion was false and he deliberately repeated it.
This, too, is completely false:
Now that’s a very extreme case and the Bolt case wasn’t really fought on racial vilification matters. It was actually fought on whether or not he was entitled to the protection of the free speech defence that’s in the legislation and the court found that he wasn’t.
If I didn’t make it a point of pride to never sue, Dreyfus would be at severe risk of a defamation action. What he says is completely false.
Fact: I fought and still fight any suggestion that I was racially vilifying anyone. Fact: I did not deliberately write anything false, and was certainly never told beforehand what I wrote was false. Indeed, I disputed some of what were said to be “errors”.  Dreyfus is simply spreading an untruth to discredit me and thus deny the Racial Discrimination Act needs reform.
Shame on this man. He is free to argue for this restriction on free speech, but he is not entitled to spread falsehoods and smears to argue his point. That is the action of a very little man.

A warning to Dreyfus: you have now been told that what you had said is false. If you deliberately repeat this defamation we will know you for a liar.
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Malaysian pilot now suspected

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (8:56am)

Suspicions now rest on the pilot:
An image has emerged of the pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines jet wearing a T-shirt with a ‘Democracy is Dead’ slogan as it has been revealed he could have hijacked the plane in an anti-government protest.
Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a father-of-three, was said to be a ‘fanatical’ supporter of the country’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim - jailed for homosexuality just hours before the jet disappeared.
It has also been revealed that the pilot’s wife and three children moved out of the family home the day before the plane went missing.
It comes as FBI investigators say the disappearance of MH370 may have been ‘an act of piracy’ and the possibility that hundreds of passengers are being held at an unknown location has not been ruled out.
Officials also revealed that it is possible the aircraft could have landed and transmitted a satellite signal from the ground. If the plane was intact and had enough electrical power in reserve, it would be able to send out a radar ‘ping’....
Data showing the number of plausible runways where the plane could have touched down - which need to be at least 5,000ft - offer a baffling number of potential locations.

According to a map drawn up by U.S. radio station WNYC, there are 634 locations which could fit, from Australia to the Maldives to Pakistan.
However, the true number is likely to be even higher, as estimates of how far the plane could have travelled have been increased since the calculations were carried out…
Adding to the suspicions:

Authorities have said someone on board the plane first disabled one of its communications systems — the Aircraft and Communications Addressing and Reporting System, or ACARS — about 40 minutes after takeoff. The ACARS equipment sends information about the jet’s engines and other data to the airline.
Around 14 minutes later, the transponder that identifies the plane to commercial radar systems was also shut down. The fact that both systems went dark separately offered strong evidence that the plane’s disappearance was deliberate.
Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said last night that that the final, reassuring words from the cockpit — “All right, good night” — were spoken to air traffic controllers after the ACARS system was shut off. Whoever spoke did not mention any trouble on board.
Air force Major General Affendi Buang told reporters he did not know whether it was the pilot or copilot who spoke to air traffic controllers.
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Clive Palmer should sack his polling company

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (8:21am)

Clive Palmer, February 6:
THE federal leader of the Palmer United Party and member for Fairfax, Clive Palmer, says internal polling has found the Palmer United Party is on course to win government at the March 15 Tasmanian election. Mr Palmer said the private polling showed the Palmer United Party was expected to win 13 out of the 25 lower house seats.
Actual result at the election: no seats, 5 per cent of the vote.
Clive Palmer, September 5, 2013:
Our polling ... [is] showing that we’re about 25% across Australia.
Actual result at the election: 5.49 per cent
Clive Palmer, September 6, 2013:
We’re looking for about 10 Senate seats across Australia. That’s what our polling is telling us...
Actual result at the election: two Senators (with WA re-run result to come.)
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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South Australia gets the Labor win it didn’t deserve or want

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (7:52am)

Former Labor powerbroker Graham Richardson is right - South Australia’s gerrymander is a disgrace. The Liberals’ failure to win a majority of seats on Saturday can only lead to contempt for the state’s “democracy”:
It is difficult to resist the whinges of the losers when the two-party-preferred vote is 53 per cent to 47 per cent and the party on the wrong end of that count gets more seats.
In 2010, the Liberals achieved 18 seats on a two-party-preferred vote of 52 per cent to 48 per cent. On that occasion, three independents were elected, but even if you add those to the Liberals it still comes to only 21 seats out of 47.
The glib explanation that the Liberals have too many safe seats with big useless majorities just doesn’t cut it. Something is seriously wrong with the South Australian electoral boundaries.
To win on Saturday, the Liberals needed in excess of 54 per cent. I can wear 51 per cent or even 52 per cent. But if you don’t win on 53 per cent or more the word gerrymander springs to mind.
UPDATE
The Liberals win 53 per cent of the vote after preferences and Labor draws the only conclusion - Tony Abbott is unpopular. Here’s Premier Jay Weatherill: 
...when Tony Abbott came to town it obviously reminded people of the federal dimension. So how do you weigh up these things and work out which thing made a contribution? It’s very difficult to weigh up but I’m sure it [Abbott visiting] was helpful for us.
UPDATE
Today’s Nielsen poll: Abbott Government 51, Labor 49
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The day Abbott became a real Prime Minister

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (7:42am)

Politics - federal

FIVE years ago Tony Abbott became the accidental Liberal leader by one vote. Six weeks ago he finally became Prime Ministerial by two.
And here is the lesson for the Liberals — as well as for flailing Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
You can’t cringe your way back into power, or float back on the wreckage of the boat which sank last time. And once in office you must deliver. But you also need luck — and right now it’s all with Abbott.
Abbott’s best luck was to beat Malcolm Turnbull in a leadership ballot in 2009 by just a single vote.
(Read full column here.) 
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Death of the Greens

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (7:41am)

Politics - federal, The green movement

THE Greens are finished. They lost more than a third of their voters in Tasmania’s election and are everywhere in retreat.
In Saturday’s election, in the Greens’ birthplace, the party’s vote crashed from 21 per cent to 13.
Last year’s federal election was little better. The party lost 500,000 voters — more than a quarter of their support — in the Senate poll.
In the 2012 ACT election, the Greens were also hammered, losing a third of their vote. In Western Australia last year, they lost a quarter.
(Read full column here.
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Union leader wants Alan Joyce shot in head. ABC goes deaf, Fairfax makes excuses

Andrew Bolt March 17 2014 (7:18am)


The ABC yesterday failed to report one of the ugliest incidents in the ugly March in March protest - the endorsement Newcastle Trades Hall Council secretary Gary Kennedy gave to Qantas boss Alan Joyce being shot in the head.
But Fairfax’s Newcastle Herald performed the most astonishing contortions to play down what it should have condemned.
Reporter Ian Kirkwood mentioned the call for murder only deep in his story, and only to dismiss it as “perhaps surprising”. He also claimed it was atypical of the protesters - overlooking the applause protesters gave Kennedy’s call:
Newcastle Trades Hall Council secretary Gary Kennedy launched a vitriolic and pointed attack on some of what he regarded as the biggest symbols of corporate greed, describing Gina Rinehart as a ‘‘filthy animal’’ for the way she protected her wealth while calling on others to work for less, and saying Qantas chief Alan Joyce should be ‘‘shot in the back of the head’’ for proposing to sack 5000 workers to pay for his failed management strategies.
Given recent debates over the abusive language aimed at former prime minister Julia Gillard it was perhaps surprising that Kennedy used such descriptions in a public forum, but I believe it would be a shame if they were taken as symbolising an event that was emphasised by its organisers as a ‘‘peaceful’’ protest.
In another report Kirkwood claims there was “near silence” from the crowd after Kennedy’s backing for Joyce to be shot:
The March In March rally was advertised as a peaceful protest and while Mr Kennedy’s speech was enthusiastically applauded at the end, the near silence that greeted some of his lines about Mrs Rinehart and Mr Joyce indicated that some believed he had crossed the line.
Listen to the clip above. Is the applause you hear directly after the “shot somewhere in the back of the head” line really “near silence”?
Can you imagine what the ABC and Newcastle Herald would have done had a Liberal official called a prominent female Labor supporter a “filthy animal” and called for a prominent union leader to be “shot somewhere in the back of the head”?
So why this indifference? 
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Barbarians march in March. UPDATE: Crowd is told Alan Joyce should be shot in head

Andrew Bolt March 16 2014 (4:52pm)

How the Left hates

Remember the outrage, reported here by the Sydney Morning Herald?
ALAN JONES’S ill-chosen comments about the Prime Minister’s father have erupted into a commercial, political and broadcasting disaster for the talkback radio king.
Sponsors started lining up to withdraw advertising as more than 36,000 people signed an online campaign targeting companies such as Harvey Norman, Big W and Mercedes-Benz, urging them to boycott Jones and his employer, 2GB.
The deputy Prime Minister, Wayne Swan, launched an extraordinary attack on Jones, saying ... ‘’Listening to someone spray his microphone with such vitriol as you’re waking up isn’t just bad for your eardrums - it’s bad for the country ...”.
Jones quickly apologised, of course.
But who will apologise for the parade of hatred in today’s March in March?
This time the Sydney Morning Herald was present as a participant and a publicist.
The participant was the Sydney Morning Herald’s deputy editor:
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The publicist was the Sydney Morning Herald columnist Clementine Ford, still selling her “F… Abbott” T-shirts:

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The marchers claim to be the “voice of decency”, but speak like savages:

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The marchers claim to see in Abbott a Hitler…
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...but they are the menace they protest:
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Cubby, having joined, is taken aback by the hatred around him:
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But Sydney Morning Herald columnist Benjamin Law, a lucky arts grant recipient, is delighted:

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True, for some the abuse and simulated violence is just a little joke, albeit of the kind you’d never forgive when used against, say, Gillard:
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For these protesters, political discourse is conducted in the language of hatred and vilification:
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I really do mean vicious hated:
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And I do mean vilification:
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Anne Summers used to claim that no Prime Minister was abused as was Julia Gillard:
Nor, in the case of Australia’s first female Prime Minister ....  is there the slightest drop of mercy. Or respect.
Is mockery the new misogyny?
You tell us, Anne. Look at these signs and tell us. When did you last see such a carnival of brutal, savage, expletive-riddled political hate?
And where were Jones’ critics today? Denouncing or participating? Well, why don’t you ask Jenna Price, of Destroy the Joint?
UPDATE
Perhaps worst of all, Newcastle Trades Hall Council secretary Gary Kennedy tells a March in March rally that Qantas chief Alan Joyce “should be shot somewhere in the back of the head” (from 2 mins.). Note the scary applause:

And guess what sold like hotcakes:
Back in Sydney and the “F..k Tony Abbott” Tshirts, worn by many attendees, had sold out although there were some badges left.
(Thanks to readers Elise, Jane, Jason, Jeff, another Jason, NorthernReporter and others.) 
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Dreyfus has no idea. It is time Jewish leaders realised the risks and compromised

Andrew Bolt March 16 2014 (4:31pm)

Free speech

Mark Dreyfus makes an error of fact, an uninformed and dubious prediction, a false assumption and a deceptive suggestion – all in four paragraphs. Amazing work from someone who is, to my surprise, a QC:
SHADOW attorney-general Mark Dreyfus says the government is backing away from threats it made in opposition to repeal the section of the Racial Discrimination Act used to prosecute News Corp Australia columnist Andrew Bolt.
Mr Dreyfus said the Bolt case and other decisions over the past 20 years made clear the provision was for significant cases of racial discrimination, not mere slights, and only the most serious ended up in court…

It was used to prosecute Mr Bolt over his article saying some “fair-skinned Aboriginals” chose to identify as Aboriginal for personal gain.
Mr Dreyfus said Mr Bolt failed to make out a defence of free speech and despite claims that he would appeal, he had not.
Almost nothing in those four paragraphs can be trusted. For a start, Tony Abbott has made clear he is a man of his word. Second, unless he has spoken to me Dreyfus cannot possibly know why there was no appeal – and the hint he drops like poison seems to me informed by little more than self-serving malice. There was never, to my knowledge, a promise to appeal. The final call was largely mine.
But again I ask. Jewish community leaders know well what I have done for their community. Are they happy with this outrageous attempt (one of several) to throw me under the bus simply to avoid admitting the RDA was never intended to ban the kinds of things I wrote?  Do they seriously believe my appeal to look beyond race and racial identification was racist?
As I understand it, the most prominent community leaders may now have overplayed their hand. I am looking particularly at you, Peter Wertheim. As are others.
More reasonable representatives should carefully consider two points. First, do they really want the Government’s eventual changes to be interpreted by the media and public as a green light to racists? They should not want that, the Government does not want that and I fervently don’t want that, either. Their reaction will condition that response.
Second, do they really wish to be seen as demanding restrictions on free speech largely for the benefit of their own highly articulate and influential community?  This sectarian approach to a fundamental freedom of equal value and importance to every citizen is a deeply unfortunate tactic. 
It is time some moderates took control of this debate and talked about making changes that both acknowledge a clear overreach but retain the essential protection they seek. There must be a middle way that does not involve demanding the Government break an election commitment or allowing one of the community’s most effective media supporters to be maligned and marginalised as a racist.
And that compromise should then mean that the Government, the community, free speech advocates and I can together agree: yes to free speech, no to racism. These changes should mean we can discuss things freely, even vigorously and offensively, but cannot so intimidate someone that they fear for their physical safety. To make someone fear for their safety must be where the line is drawn.
Don’t believe Dreyfus. It is time for serious people to talk seriously about a deal we can all live with. 
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.. he is really patronising here too .. the conflict is not as he describes it. The progress of science and religion is known from 2000 BC to 2000 AD .. the meaning is being debated. Joe seems uncomfortable with the debate. - ed===

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=== Posts from Last Year ===


Hilarious? I don't agree with the hostage taker's methods .. but killing him isn't an act of justice.
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UP TO 80% OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE AFGHANI ARMY DESERTERS - Larry Pickering

“Most illegal immigrants flooding into Australia without papers are composed of Afghani Army personnel”, an employee connected to Christmas Island has claimed.

The processing centre at Christmas Island is being manipulated by corrupt Iranian and Afghani interpreters who advise the army deserters to say they are lowly farmers.

Australian Officials, suspicious of their claims, have been jetting these dodgy detainees in their hundreds to the infamous Curtin Detention Centre in Western Australia.

The Centre, described as the “Hell Hole” is in a remote area 2,000, kilometres north of Perth.

Designed to hold 1400 of the most violent and suspect detainees, it was recently all but vacated after the disease Guillain-Barré syndrome broke out affecting locals.

In April 2010, the Rudd government decided to reopen the “horror centre” for what he termed “single male asylum seekers”, and those who fall within the category of, "do not process".

In charge of security is Serco Plc, a UK publicly listed company, the Asia-Pacific arm of which has been contracted to the Australian Government.

It has each Australian employee on signed confidentiality agreements.

Serco has usurped billions of Australian taxpayer funds, mostly wasted on renting material and white goods that could be purchased outright for the cost of one week’s rent.

Marquees and air conditioning units are ready and rented at $10,000 per week in lots of ten to cater for the expected overflow from Christmas Island.

At least three passenger airliners are chartered permanently to shuffle detainees between centres. As few as three detainees at a time are flown into the Curtin Centre, claimed one employee.

Describing their company Serco Plc said: “We provide catering, recreation, education and excursions, manage accommodation, facilities, maintenance, transport and logistics, security, training and procurement. Our employees look after thousands of people in locations all over Australia, responding to their cultural, religious and individual needs.” Mmmm.

Of most concern is the whereabouts of the 1,000 unprocessed illegal Curtin detainees who have now been dispersed to Australian cities.

“These blokes are rock-hard fit and looking for trouble”, said one Curtin employee.

Sam (not her real name) is a small part Aboriginal girl once employed by Serco.

She is too frightened to talk but an angry relative explained that Sam’s job was to escort groups of these men to Canberra and Melbourne.

They were taken to holding centres before being given bridging visas and were then dispersed into the community, legally unable to work.

After six trips Sam resigned because of the sexual abuse she suffered. Traumatised, she is now living back with her family in Derby.

Enquires from Derby to Broome, including Police stations have been met with a terse “no comment.”

“Waste is rampant”, said one local. “Tradespeople are charging up to $10 a kilometre to drive to and from the Centre to fix a washer on a tap.

"I was charging $2 a kilometre until I found out what the other guys were charging, so I put my bill in at $10 per kilometre and they never said a word, they seem to just pay whatever you invoice them for.

“If one (of the detainees) gets a toothache or anything, someone has to come out from Derby and take them back for treatment. It’s often hours waiting before they are ready to go back.”

“We are not allowed phones there”, said another ex-employee, “but I tested the phones available to the detainees and I could phone anywhere in the world.”

Another informant said that the local Derby refrigeration store, Lindsay Howard, was robbed of thousands of dollars of equipment which somehow found its way to the Curtin Centre on rental agreements. “Nothing came of it”, he said.

“It seems this Serco mob spends more time covering stuff up than doing their job here.”

So us Aussies can look forward to another tranche of thousands of Islamic Afghani army deserters soon to be scattered unprocessed throughout our communities.

Meanwhile, the Gillard Government equivocates over whether legitimate Afghani interpreters, currently risking their lives to assist our army in Afghanistan, should be allowed entry.
They are marked men once we leave.
Bloody good eh?

Asylum seekers, my arse!

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I'm not US based and do not know about common core, although I would guess it is merely an attempt to take responsibility from the states and give to federal government a duplicating authority and bureaucracy. If you compare education today, as an average, with three hundred years ago, you would see vast improvement on numeracy issues. True, we might not estimate the tare weight of a horse and buggy as well, but the improvement is undeniable and shows the difference between a bureaucratic education system and a much cheaper model. I love Math and have all my life, but after I left school, I finished University part time and worked full time as a bank teller. I once wanted to compute the change of interest for a customer and realised I'd forgotten how. I was nervous about my knowledge while I was training to be a Math Teacher but teacher educators convinced me that osmosis would kick in. I taught myself because I had to both times. Education systems are broad and account for a vast range of students. I have no problems with allowing kids to progress at their own rate. Bootstrapping will still be needed tomorrow because of my attitude. I feel it is incumbent on us as educators to teach to the middle of a class and allow the high achievers to excel, while supporting the most challenged as we can.
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4 her, so she can see herself through my eyes
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Russian support of Putin exaggerated?
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Last Friday's Warriors warming up for a big class filled with challenges, choices and change. Remember to bring your A game to every single class guys and girls, and to also drink a nice big cup of concrete to harden yourselves up! The time we waste complaining can be used towards progressing and becoming better, so no complaints, no excuses, no doubts, just bring your very best and nothing less! #team9lives #9livesparkour #fairfield #parkour #freerunning #training #noexcuses
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First NOAA redefined how sea surface temperature anomalies should be calculated to account for a fictitious global warming signal in the NINO3.4 region. Then they conveniently forgot about their redefinition of La Niña years in the 2012 State of the Climate Report—then corrected the mistake long after the mainstream media has moved on to other ways to misinform the public about human-induced global warming. Now NOAA can’t seem to figure out how to determine El Niño and La Niña events based on their new definition.

If NOAA wants to stop confusing themselves, maybe they should switch back to the old version and forget this nonsensical new version of their Oceanic NINO Index.

For more : http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/03/16/noaas-ever-changing-definition-of-la-nina-years/

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Teach the cattle to respect fences ..
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BAM....Current Ovation Prime Energy Flux!

Lots of Ionization Occurring in the Upper Atmosphere....as the first Wave has Arrived...

Heads Up!
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The Doctor is coming! The new series of Doctor Who starts on Sunday March 31, 7.30pm, ABC TV1 Australia. Geronimo!
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Agnetha with the Swedish singer Loreen! Together two winners from ESC
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4 her
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Thats a wrap for Ninjas Guide Part 3 - love u guys
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It is ok to be gay
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(c)2012 — at San Francisco Zoo.
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Goodnight. May the Lord bless you with healing, while you sleep. ♥
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(c)2012 — at San Francisco Zoo.
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Three cheers for Piers

Andrew BoltMARCH172013(5:44pm)

Bravo, Piers Akerman, for angrily challenging the three snickering and sneering members of the journalist collective on the set of Insiders to fight for free speech. There was some noisy spinning of wheels in reverse after that justifiably furious outburst, but too little and too late.
Journalists panting for their muzzle.
And what also disgusts me - that pack-attack and group-think mentality which makes so much of Australia’s media so intellectually lazy, complacent and incurious, and so prey to fashionable enthusiasms such as global warming. So Malcolm laughs at Piers as Karen laughs even harder, while glancing over to Barrie to check he’s laughing, too.
More on this issue in the Herald Sun tomorrow.
UPDATE
Reader Linda:
I just watched Insiders on TV and it occurred to me, that those journalists would be apoplectic if a Liberal Party had introduced this bill.They’re just sycophants.
Reader Seedy:
Piers showed the passion that every advocate of freedom should show. Funnily enough the 3 govt scriptwriters on the panel thought the proposed legislation was flawed yet were willing to compromise their profession. Shame on them. Well done Piers, you showed us their true colours - weak kneed apologists.
Reader Bile:
Piers was inspirational this morning on the Insiders. He tore in the other 3 clowns for their laughing. What, are they too dumb to realize what Conroy’s legislation will mean to them? Or are they too much in Labor’s pocket to protest against the attack on their freedom (of the press). Let us all be inspired by Piers’ deeds and be as strong in condemning Conroy’s legislation.
UPDATE
Reader Lee:
Even knowing of the predominantly left-leaning bias of the Insiders guests (plus host), I was appalled at the sniggering, sarcastic interruptions to the legitimate opinion put forward by Piers Akerman. Barrie Cassidy, Karen Middleton and Malcolm Farr, being journalists, should hang their heads in shame at their brazen attempts to muzzle and denigrate other points of view. An unfortunate new low for the taxpayer-funded ABC, but perhaps a reflection of the presenters’ recognition of the chaos that is the Gillard Government.
Reader Lisle:
What does one say when you see such an inspirational performance from Piers on Insiders this morning? It just illustrates how naive and laid back Australians have become to believe that this attack on our freedom of speech is okay. It is not, and all just to get News Limited because they have highlighted the failings of this government. I didn’t notice their shouting in 2007 when the media backed Kevin Rudd.My sister commented to me yesterday that it reminds her of Chifley’s intention to nationalise the banks in 1949.Let us all be inspired by Piers.

Reader Liz:
It was a shocker! And then Farr says at the end of the programme congratulations to Barrie Cassidy about some award he had won.Another award for the groupthink set.
Reader Peter of Bellevue Hill: 
AB, I think Farr has the most to answer for: after all, the proposed print media reforms don’t touch the the other two. While Barrie and Karen should have to wear the shame of their efforts this morning forevermore, Farr should retire immediately. If he’s so lost to the Left that he can’t bring himself to defend his own freedom, then clearly the time has come for him to give the game away. 
UPDATE
Another Insiders panellist begs for a muzzle: 
image
But what Mike Seccombe also does is: 
A: misrepresent Piers’ argument, thereby committing the sin he claims we need new laws to stop.
B: suggest this really is the Gillard Government using state power to attack a single media group, a misuses of state power to which he does not object.
You wonder why some cultured countries, or at least their elites, once permitted a slide into totalitarianism, or, indeed, actually cheered it on.
Observe.
No, this isn’t a totalitarian country. But the first lurches towards a control of the free press are meeting an astonishing lack of resistance from those who should care most.
UPDATE
Yet another journalist calling for the muzzle: 
image
What a gross misrepresentation of what Piers, said, with free slander thrown in.
But where is Bongiorno’s own accountability? What will it take for him to finally correct and apologise for this astonishing misrepresentation he perpetrated on ABC Radio National’sBreakfast?:
Of course we do know [Tony Abbott] stoutly defended [immigration spokesman] Scott Morrison, who thought that asylum seekers who are on bridging visas should be tagged the same way as sex offenders.
As I pointed out at the time: 
Morrison said or suggested no such thing. The closest anyone in the Opposition came to saying anything of the kind was Opposition frontbencher Eric Abetz - who actually rejected a suggestion, put to him by a journalist, that asylum seekers be put on a register like sex offenders. No mention of tagging at all.

Bongiorno has ascribed to Morrison a view not expressed by him or any other Liberal, and done so on the basis of a misquote of someone else.
Bongiorno never corrected, never apologised. Should a new (Liberal-appointed) media supercop force him to?
UPDATE
Professor Sinclair Davidson:
Reader Ringo: 
Andrew, for further stupidity, see Farr’s ridiculous tweeting after the show in which he completely twists what Piers was actually saying. And yes, cheered on by the usual subjects.
(Thanks to reader Andy.)
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Trashing the joint

Miranda Devine – Sunday, March 17, 2013 (4:09am)

THE great and the good of the Liberal Party turned out on Friday to a packed breakfast for the purposeful member for the blue-ribbon Melbourne seat of Kooyong, Josh Frydenberg.
Christopher Pyne, George Brandis, Nick Greiner, Michael Kroger, Richard Alston and the Kemp brothers Rod and David, were there to support the 41-year old dynamo.
Much chat was about the latest Spectator magazine, with its arresting cover image of the Prime Minister on the cross, titled “Julia the martyr”.
But it was Peter Coleman’s newsy column which, as always, was the subject of liveliest discussion. Mark Latham’s launch of his Quarterly Essay at North Sydney’s Stanton Library last week was “like an episode of Q&A but with more mummy bloggers and pensioners”, wrote Coleman.
The love fest was interrupted, however, when Spectator editor Tom Switzer asked Latham why, if Julia Gillard was such a warrior against misogyny, she did not protest when he attacked columnist Janet Albrechtsen in parliament as a “skanky ho”. Good question.
Coleman reports that Latham shouted: “Everyone knows you are besotted with her!” and then declared his only regret was that he apologised.
Former Howard minister Neil Brown couldn’t resist pointing out his own droll column in the same edition of the magazine, poking fun at Malcolm Turnbull’s modelling gig in GQ: “I am pretty sure that Gucci pocket squares at $225 do not go down well on parma night at the Rooty Hill RSL.”
After poached eggs, a panel discussion dealt with more weighty topics, such as Stephen “Stalin” Conroy’s new media regulations, viewed, unsurprisingly, by those in the room as the latest proof of the Gillard government’s determination to punish its enemies and reward its friends in a mad rush before September’s election.
It was Brandis who provided a metaphor with Spectator-like sparkle.
He recounted the story of Wayne Swan’s vandalised electorate office and car in 1996 after Swan lost his Brisbane seat of Lilley.
“An extreme state of disarray”, was how Administrative Services Minister David Jull had described it in Parliament, itemising $6000 in damages. Swan strenuously denied the claims at the time, and threatened legal action, but the mystery of who trashed his office remains.
Nevertheless, Brandis took the fate of the office as a symbol for the government’s current behaviour, trashing the joint before it walks out the door.
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Golden Tara of Butuan
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“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” - Colossians 3:12
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

March 16: Morning
"I am a stranger with thee." - Psalm 39:12
Yes, O Lord, with thee, but not to thee. All my natural alienation from thee, thy grace has effectually removed; and now, in fellowship with thyself, I walk through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. Thou art a stranger in thine own world. Man forgets thee, dishonours thee, sets up new laws and alien customs, and knows thee not. When thy dear Son came unto his own, his own received him not. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. Never was foreigner so speckled a bird among the denizens of any land as thy beloved Son among his mother's brethren. It is no marvel, then, if I who live the life of Jesus, should be unknown and a stranger here below. Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien. His pierced hand has loosened the cords which once bound my soul to earth, and now I find myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these Babylonians among whom I dwell an outlandish tongue, my manners are singular, and my actions are strange. A Tartar would be more at home in Cheapside than I could ever be in the haunts of sinners. But here is the sweetness of my lot: I am a stranger with thee. Thou art my fellow-sufferer, my fellow-pilgrim. Oh, what joy to wander in such blessed society! My heart burns within me by the way when thou dost speak to me, and though I be a sojourner, I am far more blest than those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who dwell in their ceiled houses.

"To me remains nor place, nor time:
My country is in every clime;
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.
While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none:
But with a God to guide our way,
'Tis equal joy to go or stay."
Evening
"Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." - Psalm 19:13
Such was the prayer of the "man after God's own heart." Did holy David need to pray thus? How needful, then, must such a prayer be for us babes in grace! It is as if he said, "Keep me back, or I shall rush headlong over the precipice of sin." Our evil nature, like an ill-tempered horse, is apt to run away. May the grace of God put the bridle upon it, and hold it in, that it rush not into mischief. What might not the best of us do if it were not for the checks which the Lord sets upon us both in providence and in grace! The psalmist's prayer is directed against the worst form of sin--that which is done with deliberation and wilfulness. Even the holiest need to be "kept back" from the vilest transgressions. It is a solemn thing to find the apostle Paul warning saints against the most loathsome sins. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." What! do saints want warning against such sins as these? Yes, they do. The whitest robes, unless their purity be preserved by divine grace, will be defiled by the blackest spots. Experienced Christian, boast not in your experience; you will trip yet if you look away from him who is able to keep you from falling. Ye whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose hopes are bright, say not, "We shall never sin," but rather cry, "Lead us not into temptation." There is enough tinder in the heart of the best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell, unless God shall quench the sparks as they fall. Who would have dreamed that righteous Lot could be found drunken, and committing uncleanness? Hazael said, "Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?" and we are very apt to use the same self-righteous question. May infinite wisdom cure us of the madness of self-confidence.
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Vashni 
[Văsh'nī] - god is strong.
First-born of Samuel the prophet (1 Chron. 6:28). The prophet's oldest son is also named as Joel (1 Sam. 8:2).
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Today's reading: Deuteronomy 28-29, Mark 14:54-72 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Deuteronomy 25-27

Blessings for Obedience
1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock--the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks....

Today's New Testament reading: Mark 14:27-53

54 Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
55 The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56 Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
57 Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58 "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.'" 59 Yet even then their testimony did not agree....
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Lent=Devotions-Header
Today's Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, who commanded us to love our enemies and all those who insult and hurt us, and to pray for them and forgive them; you yourself prayed for your enemies, who crucified you. Give us, we pray, a spirit of Christian reconciliation and meekness, so that we may forgive every injury and be reconciled with our enemies. Grant us Christian meekness and true love of our neighbor. Give to our enemies true peace and forgiveness of sins; and do not allow them to leave this life without true faith and sincere conversion. Help us to repay evil with goodness. -- adapted from the Orthodox "Prayer for Enemies"

Today's Scripture Reading: Psalm 25:3-9

3 No one who hopes in you
will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
who are treacherous without cause.
4 Show me your ways, LORD,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, LORD, are good.
8 Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
Today's Quote

Today's quote is from the famous Easter hymn "Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended," a powerful reflection on our own guilt and role in Jesus' crucifixion. You can learn more about this hymn at the Center for Church Music.

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Who was the guilty--Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee.
'Twas I, Lord, Jesus, I it was denied Thee!
I crucified Thee.

For me, kind Jesus, was Thine incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and Thy life's oblation;
Thy death of anguish and Thy bitter passion,
For my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay Thee,
I do adore Thee, and will ever pray Thee,
Think on Thy pity and Thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.

Something to Think About

Forgiveness is an integral part of the Easter story. Who in your life needs to be forgiven today? Who do you need to ask for forgiveness? This week, consider extending the hand of forgiveness to somebody who needs it.
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Today's Lent reading: Matthew 17-18 (NIV)

View today's Lent reading on Bible Gateway
The Transfiguration
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."
5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"


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