Wednesday, April 09, 2014

Wed Apr 9th Todays News

Today is the birthday of Paul Robeson (1898) as well as two significant events involving bad faith race relations, Marian Anderson being declined the right to sing at a function because of her skin colour in 1939 and Hendrick Verwoerd, architect of South Africa's Apartheid, and his failed assassination attempt in 1960 by a white farmer David Pratt. 

 Verwoerd was a Nazi loving jew hating bigot. He garnered populist support in South Africa with a populist mix of protectionism and nationalism. His worker advocacy illustrates the closeness of Communism to National Socialism. A white farmer, David Pratt shot him twice with a 22 caliber gun at point blank range. But Pratt hadn't meant to kill Verwoerd. Pratt was declared mentally unfit, and committed suicide the day before he was to be paroled. It wasn't until 1966 that another mentally ill person successfully killed Verwoerd. So today is the anniversary of a failure.

 Marian Anderson was one of the most celebrated voices of the twentieth century. Music critic Alan Blyth said "Her voice was a rich, vibrant contralto of intrinsic beauty." She had been denied In 1939, by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) permission to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall. Instead, on this day in 1939, she performed in front of an audience of 75000 and a radio audience of millions on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. She was a classical musician of supreme talent who missed opportunities because of bigotry, but who still rose to the pinnacle of achievement. 

 Paul Robeson was right to speak out about social injustice, but very wrong to embrace communism as a solution. The failure of Communism to deal with human rights is similar to Nazism. But the injustice Robeson protested was real. He was born on this day. A supremely talented actor and singer, his beliefs hurt his career, and while he was also nobbled by the colour of his skin by a bigoted USA, it might have been the case that it would not have hampered his career. We will never know. 

 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 Daniel Nastevski and Zena Dablan. Born the same day Henry V was crowned King of England! I think Grace should give a pay rise.
Matches
Despatches
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Doing The Block on PUP

Miranda Devine – Tuesday, April 08, 2014 (7:52pm)

THE Abbott government has a big problem. He weighs up to 165kg, has a private jet and controls four senators. Someone needs to wrangle Clive Palmer, and fast.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'Doing The Block on PUP'
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THERE GOES RHYMIN’ BRIAN

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 09, 2014 (3:35pm)

Until now, this was the finest rhyme ever achieved in Australian music: 
I must say your scones are
Absolutely bonza 
The same artist, working in the same exacting genre, also coupled “muffin” with “put the other stuff in”. No audio is available. Not that it matters, because The Ballad of Tecoma – composed by anguished anti-burger activist Brian Baker – sets a stunning new standard for epic local versology: 
Tecoma’s a village
In the Dandenong Ranges
McDonald’s wants to move in
We all say it’s outrageous 
Thanks for my latest ringtone, Brian. There’s a whole album of similar genius, with Dave Stergo’s howling ode to the terrors of French fries being another highlight.
(Via Andrew S.)
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SHIFT NOTED

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 09, 2014 (3:33pm)

ABC chairman Jim Spigelman in a recently replayed 2013 interview with Margaret Throsby: 
Spigelman: My father was a bit of a lefty from his Polish days because Jews in Poland tended to be on the left ‘cause all the anti-Semites were then on the right. That’s exactly the reverse today.
Throsby: Is it? 
She sounds utterly surprised.
(Via Peter W.)
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NICENESS RETURNS

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 09, 2014 (2:57pm)

Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist John Shakespeare restores decency and civility to political debate.
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BUSINESS CLASS BLUES

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 09, 2014 (2:56pm)

Bob Carr appears to be something of a whiner.
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SLOW TRANSPORT FOR SLOW PEOPLE

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 09, 2014 (2:50pm)

What happens when green types get the high-speed trains they’re always begging for? They try to slow them down: 
Government should examine option of maximum speed being slashed from 225 mph to 185 mph to reduce carbon emissions, Environmental Audit Select Committee says 
(Via must-read PWAF)
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ARTISTS AGAINST COAL

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 09, 2014 (12:27pm)

Just look at these ridiculous people.
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ARCHES OF VICTORY

Tim Blair – Tuesday, April 08, 2014 (7:07pm)

The anti-burger movement is defeated in Victoria: 
Protesters rallying against a controversial new McDonald’s restaurant on Melbourne’s eastern fringe have failed to deter a flood of customers from queueing along the Burwood Highway as it opened for the first time on Monday …
The protesters vowed to continue their fight against McDonald’s following a three-year battle to keep the company out of the town. They said they would return every day until the company closed the franchise down.
Protester Bonnie Zudland vowed the campaign against McDonald’s would continue.
“To me this is a bigger fight than just one store in Tecoma, it’s about the love of corporatism in this world,” the school teacher said. 
Whatever. Others – many more others – are delighted: 
First customer Jake Pancutt, of Upwey, had been waiting outside the outlet for four hours, and ordered a large Quarter Pounder meal with extra meat and cheese.
“I’ve been waiting here since seven o’clock this morning. It’s awesome," the 16-year-old said.
“We all live around here and the protesters have to understand we all want it.” 
(Via Cuckoo)
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Not much point to this deal

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (1:11pm)

Terry McCrann is much less impressed than most with our trade deal with Japan:
Japan has put huge barriers in the way of our agricultural exports — meat, dairy, sugar, rice — to protect their local producers. We can whistle in the wind all we like; they will only cut barriers at their pace.
Yes, we are getting somewhat better access. But really it is quite pathetic. It takes 15 years for the tariff on fresh beef to be cut from 38.5 to 23.5 per cent.
The opening up of dairy access has been carefully structured so that it looks good but is actually all-but ineffective. The same goes for sugar. And rice was just completely off the table.
So should we have walked away? Abstracting from those broader and deeper relationship issues, arguably yes.
We should have much more stridently put it to Japan: do you actually want the good stuff we can sell to your consumers?
If the answer is no, we can just as well do without Japanese cars.
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Don’t help catch the rapists. It makes a newspaper feel bad

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (1:00pm)

Yet again, the Sydney Morning Herald (using AAP copy) would rather alleged rapists escape identification than tell us their ethnic identity:
What it reported:
Two 16-year-old girls have been sexually assaulted in a park in Sydney’s west…
One man is described as being about 19-21 years old, about 178cm tall, with a dark complexion, a thin build and dark hair.
A second is about 175cm tall, with a thin build and black hair.
The third male is described as being between 17-19 years old, with a medium build and about 175cm tall.
What NSW police actually said:
The first male is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, about 19-21 years old, with a dark complexion, about 178cm tall, with a thin build and dark hair.
The second male is also described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, about 175cm tall, with a thin build and black hair.
The third male is described as being of Mediterranean/Middle Eastern appearance, aged between 17-19 years old, with a medium build and about 175cm tall.
UPDATE
The ethnic descriptor has also been left off this news.com.au report.
UPDATE
The original AAP copy contained the Middle Eastern reference. This may not be the first time a Fairfax sub-editor has removed an ethnic descriptor.
The rewritten copy at the link now restores the reference. 
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The totalitarian instincts of the Left

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (1:00pm)

Charles Krauthammer on Mozilla’s sacking of its chief executive for having six years earlier donated $1000 to a lobby group against same-sex marriage:

This is the culture of the left not being satisfied with making an argument or even prevailing in an argument, but in destroying personally and marginalizing people who oppose it…
(P)eople are now declaring the national debate we have had for a decade or two on gay marriage is closed, and anybody who opposes gay marriage is a bigot and should be written out of polite society, ostracized and lose their jobs…
Andrew Sullivan, who not only is a gay activist but is the intellectual father of gay marriage ...  calls [the targeting of Eich] disgusting. He’s absolutely right. This is totalitarian discourse, and it shows a level of intolerance, it should be unacceptable.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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The car crash of another green dream

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (9:08am)

Electric cars were going to save the world, not least from global warming. But as almost always, green schemes mean red ink:
Better Place was born to be revolutionary, the epitome of the kind of world-changing ambition that routinely gets celebrated. Founder Shai Agassi, a serial entrepreneur turned rising star at German software giant SAP, conceived Better Place “on a Davos afternoon” in 2005 when he asked himself, “How would you run a whole country without oil?” Four years later, onstage at the TED conference, Agassi ... decided to share his findings, that he would sell millions of electric vehicles in his home country and around the world. He implied that converting to electric cars was the moral equivalent of the abolition of human slavery and that it would usher in a new Industrial Revolution.
This was science fiction, but Agassi presented it as fact, as if just by announcing his company he had already built it… And it was intoxicating. The TED crowd gave Agassi a long standing ovation.
Agassi got virtually every meeting he ever asked for--with world leaders, celebrities, and CEOs of some of the world’s largest companies. The press anointed him the creator of a Next Big Thing. (Fast Company included Agassi on its 2009 Most Creative People in Business list.) Money from investors came fast and in big waves, roughly $900 million, and it seemed like it would never stop flowing. Until, suddenly, it did…
Agassi had assumed that the car would cost roughly half the price of a typical gasoline car and would have a range of at least 100 miles. Instead, batteries were delivered with a range of closer to 80 miles, and the terms with ¬Renault meant he was selling an unsexy family car for about the same price as a nice sedan like the Mazda3 or the Toyota Corolla. (Not to mention that customers were asked to spend an additional $3,000 or so a year to rent the battery and pay for the use of charging and swap stations.)…
Meanwhile, the cost to build out Better Place’s charging network had ballooned. The original spreadsheets that Agassi and the Palo Alto founding team had assembled called for swap stations to cost approximately $500,000 each. So, building 40 stations in Israel would cost about $20 million, while 20 in Denmark could be built for about $10 million. Ultimately, however, each switch station cost at least $2 million…
Better Place declared bankruptcy. The company and its affiliates in Australia and Denmark had raised almost $1 billion. They had only put around 1,400 or so electric cars on the road by the time the court-ordered liquidation started that spring.
This disaster broke over the heads of a couple of Australians. From 2010:
In this seminar for the Monash Sustainability Institute (MSI), Dr Alan Finkel, Chief Technology Officer for Better Place Australia and Chancellor of Monash University, will discuss the factor that will accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.
And:
The Australian former head of electric car venture Better Place, Evan Thornley, has blamed the company’s failure on poor management but says the shift away from petrol and diesel-powered cars is inevitable…
Mr Thornley, who made a fortune with his LookSmart internet venture before a brief stint as a Labor MP in the Victorian Parliament, headed Better Place’s Australian operations before becoming global chief executive.
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Protesters get fried with that burger

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (8:17am)

The protesters, purporting to speak of the community, have for years got huge coverage on the ABC. Let’s see if the customers get the same coverage:
PROTESTERS say that the controversial McDonald’s outlet in Tecoma will fail - but locals have lined up for hours to be the first in the store on opening day…
First customer Jake Pancutt, of Upwey, had been waiting outside the outlet for four hours, and ordered a large Quarter Pounder meal with extra meat and cheese…

“We all live around here and the protesters have to understand we all want it.”
Now what could have made me think the protesters didn’t actually speak for the majority?
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The cultural cringe of the Left

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (7:25am)

Why does the Australian Left assume the rest of the world is sneering at us and not admiring? Take a certain ABC presenter, and a Fairfax and a Guardian writer....
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Where are the Left’s champions of free speech?

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (7:16am)

Free speech

Janet Albrechtsen talks to Alan ­Borovoy, founder of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, who helped push for the creation of human rights commissions in Canada but now says they dangerously overreached - just as have ours:
Why did Canada, a country with a long history of political correctness ­cemented into its laws, repeal its federal hate law? Borovoy told The Australian that human rights commissions started falling into disrepute…
Whereas HRCs started out ­applying fairly well-defined prohibitions against certain types of discrimination, when hate laws became part of their ambit, and hurt feelings became the meas­urement of laws, it turned into a “very risky ball game”, says Borovoy. ”You are running a terrible risk that someone’s thin skin could be the limit of someone else’s free speech.”
Sure enough, Borovoy says, human rights commissions overreached in very public cases. Steyn agrees: “No one minded this stuff when it was just being applied to some Holocaust denier sitting in his bedsit writing some unread screed that he was Xeroxing and sending out to his friends.
“But when those same laws are suddenly being applied to ­Maclean’s magazine — it’s mainstream, it’s big-selling, it’s the dentist’s waiting-room magazine; Maclean’s magazine is basically analogous to Andrew Bolt’s ­Herald Sun — then people here went ‘Wow, this is crazy stuff’.” Borovoy says that defining what is hate speech became an impos­sible task. While he would have taken a different position about laws that targeted incitement of imminent violence, “ ‘hatred’ was too fraught with ambiguity”.
I’d actually prefer the Left to say I was quite nice, but I get Mark Steyn’s point:
A frequent visitor to Australia, and due here later this year, Steyn has watched with disappointment the debate over ­section 18C. He says that Canada’s cultural Left eventually supported the repeal of section 13 in a way he thought would be repeated here. “They said, ‘Well, obviously we find Steyn a totally disgusting and ­repulsive figure and we want to emphasise how much we dissociate ourselves from him BUT this is not compatible with a free society and Canadians should be able to decide for themselves on these matters’.
“I thought it would go that way with Andrew Bolt. That people would say, ‘Well, Bolt is a repellent creature BUT …’ Yet from my understanding from the debate in Australia no one on the Left has got to the BUT.” Sadly, Steyn is right that, for ever larger groups on the Left, identity group rights trump the rights of freedom of ­expression.
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When we pay $400,000 per age pensioner we have a big problem - and growing

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (6:46am)

Here is the problem:
The Australian population is ageing and living much longer. The average taxpayer in 2050 will have to support nearly twice as many people over 65 as we do today. As Treasury secretary Martin Parkinson explained:
… by 2050, there will be only 2.7 people of working age to support each Australian aged 65 years or over, compared with 5 working age people per aged person in 2010, and 7.5 in 1970.
About 80 per cent of Australians aged over 65 are on the full or part age pension. And they claim it for much longer:
When the Australian Government introduced the Age Pension in 1909, a man aged 65 years could expect to live around 14 years more, whereas a man born 100 years later could expect to live around 29 years after age 65 years.
The single pension is now $842.80 a fortnight. A pensioner living to age 85 will claim $400,000 in pension payments, not including payments for the seniors health card, hospital treatment, aged care or any other government support. Very few would have contributed so much in taxes, which are also meant to pay for schools, roads, defences forces, public transport, the dole.....
Welfare and health costs are exploding, warns Treasury, just as national growth is slowing:
… total Commonwealth expenditure on health is anticipated to rise from $64.7 billion in nominal terms in 2013-14 to ... $116 billion in 2023-24.
Similarly, our three main pension payments – the aged pension, disability support pension and carers’ payment – grow at an annual rate of 6 per cent per annum in nominal terms over the forward estimates, adding ... another $39 billion to annual payments by 2023-24.
We have a huge problem. What makes that problem even harder to solve is that there are now so 2 million Australian voters on the age pension. A government which tries to cut back in some way risks election defeat. 
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Memo to Labor: it’s the policies, stupid

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (6:40am)

These are not changes that will save Labor from offering stupid policies, which, after all, is what is killing it most:
LABOR faces increasing pressure to overhaul its archaic candidate selection processes, with national president Jenny McAllister calling on faction and union bosses to cede power to members as elder John Faulkner urged rule changes to stamp out corruption. 

In the wake of Labor’s disastrous performance in the re-run of the West Australian Senate election, Ms McAllister is pushing for an end to the system of union bosses and faction leaders selecting upper house candidates.
And is this just a strategy to make the party even more unelectable?
Ms McAllister and Senator Faulkner are from the party’s Left faction.
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Save our reason. Stop funding such nonsense

Andrew Bolt April 09 2014 (5:51am)

Cut the funding and save money - and our reason:
AFTER a lengthy investigation the nation’s peak medical research body has delivered its verdict on homeopathic remedies — they are useless for human health.
The judgement is likely to influence a crucial government review which is deciding whether the 30 per cent tax rebate for private health insurance coverage of complimentary therapies should continue…
The National Health and Medical Research Council ...  has ... produced a 300-page draft report that reviews the evidence for homoeopathy in treating 68 clinical conditions. It concludes “there is no reliable evidence that homoeopathy is effective for treating health conditions”.
Homoeopathy is a 200-year-old form of alternative medicine based on the principle ... that homeopathic remedies stimulate the body’s ability to fight infection by using molecules in highly diluted substances that retain a ‘memory’ of the original substance.
So why is the University of Western Sydney wasting taxpayers’ money to teach a mystical cure for which there is no evidence?
Bachelor of Applied Science (Naturopathic Studies)...
Naturopathy uses a broad range of techniques which aim to diagnose, treat and prevent a wide range of health problems, ranging from sports injuries, disorders in children, the care of pregnant and breast-feeding women, to the management of stress and age related and chronic disorders.
Treatment is aimed at restoring function to the body through massage, herbal medicine, stress management, homoeopathy, nutritional and lifestyle guidance and counselling. 
Why has Southern Cross University taught this unscientific nonsense?
Introductory Homeopathy...
Builds on the knowledge of the treatment of acute disease gained in Introductory Homeopathy. There will be intensive study of the theory of chronic disease and of case taking, repertorising, prescription, and case-management of more complex cases involving long-established illness and multiple conditions. Study of some of the major acute medicines in the homeopathic materia medica also provides a major focus for the unit.
And do taxpayers really have to subsidise this other mystic feel-good at RMIT University?
Course Title: Introduction to Wellness Practices and Perspectives
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is widely embraced by health consumers with an interest in maintaining their personal wellbeing....
Some of the alternative medical systems and modalities covered include: Naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture, Ayurvedic Medicine, massage, herbal medicine and others.
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If Emerson says it’s good, he’s probably right

Andrew Bolt April 08 2014 (8:08pm)

Craig Emerson, the former Gillard Government’s Trade Minister, gets points for honesty for this comment on the trade deal with Japan that Labor is now criticising as too little:
image
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Tarzan .. because love and nurturing crosses divides
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See Daniel Katz's comment .. spot on
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Who gives a fig?
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=== Posts from Last Year ===
4 her so she knows how I see her


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Gabby Giffords falsely implies that her shooter evaded a background check ==>http://twitchy.com/2013/04/07/gabby-giffords-falsely-implies-that-her-shooter-evaded-a-background-check/
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ראש הממשלה השתתף בטקס ''לכל איש יש שם'' שנערך בכנסת. בטקס המרגש, הקריא רה''מ את שמות משפחתו של שמואל בן ארצי ז''ל, אביה של רעיית רה''מ הגברת שרה נתניהו, שנספתה כולה בשואה: 

האבא: (סבה של אשתי) משה הון (בן זאב הון).

אשתו: אִיטָה הון.

אחותו התאומה: (של חמי ז"ל) יהוּדִית בת משה הון, בת 24.

האחים:
מאיר הון, בן 18.
שמעון צבי הון, בן 16.
אריה (לֵייבּ) הון , בן 13
ואחותו הקטנה: פֶּיסָלֶה הון, בת 10

מהעיירה טָארְנוֹגְרוֹד:

דודתו (אחות האבא) – מָאטֶל קֶנִיגְשֶטֶיין ובנה הִילל בן יחזקאל ובתה הבכורה, (בת זאב הון). הדוד – מנדל הון, אשתו ושני ילדיהם.

מהעיירה בִּילְגוֹרַיי:

הדוד אברהם טאוּבֵּר, אשתו, ביתו ובנו.

הדודה רחל טאוּבֵּר, שלושת בניה: אברהם,

יעקב ושלמה, נשותיהם וילדיהם.

הדודה הִינְדָה ובעלה יחזקאל.

הדודה הֶנְדֶל, בעלה וילדיהם.

הדודה פָאלֶה ושתי בנותיה.

יהי זכרם ברוך.

The prime minister participated in the "every person has a name" ceremony that took place at the Knesset. In the moving ceremony, the prime minister recited the names of the family of the late Shmuel ben Artzi, father of Ms. Sarah Netanyahu the prime minister's spouse that perished entirely during the holocaust. May their memory be blessed
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PUBLIC EDUCATION/INDOCTRINATION PROPAGANDA SPOKESPERSON...

"We have never invested as much in PUBLIC EDUCATION as we should have, because we've always had a kind of a private notion of children. 

Your kid is yours and totally your responsibility. We haven't had a very COLLECTIVE notion of these are OUR children. 

So part of it is we have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to our families and recognize that kids belong to whole communities.

Once it's everybody's responsibIlity and not just the households... then we start making better INVESTMENTS."

-Melissa Harris Perry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N3qtpdSQox0
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France
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Tired of the same old photos in your news feed? Like our page for an injection of freshness from NZ!
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"Do not let the behaviour of others destroy your inner peace." ~ The Dalai Lama ♥

Poster by Buddha heart, image © Liddy Hansdottir - Fotolia.com
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‘Crack open the champagne’: Twisted Twitter users dance on Margaret Thatcher’s grave ==>http://twitchy.com/2013/04/08/crack-open-the-champagne-twisted-twitter-users-dance-on-margaret-thatchers-grave/
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SYRIA-CRISIS/

Um Jaafar, a woman fighter in the Free Syrian Army, sits with her husband Abu Jaafar, a Sawt al-Haq (Voice of Rights) battalion commander, and her daughter Faten at their home in Aleppo February 12, 2013. Um Jaafar was a women's hairdresser before the revolution and after being trained by her husband, she is now a member of a Sawt al-Haq battalion on the frontline of Aleppo's Sheikh Saeed neighbourhood. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3DOSC REUTERS
<... When will the world ever learn from their mistakes ?

When will Arabs stop killing Arabs and stop blaming liberal and democratic society for their own savage demise ?>
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for Blake Knapp… another pic from 2010. I need to chase again!
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"Margaret Thatcher arrested the decline of Britain and gave the British people renewed confidence. She ensured the British people no longer simply dwelt on the glories of the past but could enjoy a strong and prosperous future." Tony Abbotthttp://lbr.al/7j8t
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I don't get leftist humour .. Wilcox is left .. but how is this, a comic about Penny Wong, funny? - ed
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Metamorphosis.

The end of day comes, the sun sets and the tornadic storm starts to die… This cloud mass had previously put down three tornados and was now dying, or rather transforming into a lightning producing machine, dropping 1-1/4" hail by the truckload. Here you see it sucking in a band of storm clouds in to get more power so that it could last the night. — in Boise City, OK.
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General Eisenhower Warned Us.

It is a matter of history that when the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.

He did this because he said in words to this effect:
"Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened".

Recently, the UK debated whether to remove The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it 'offends' the Muslim population which claims it never occurred. It is not removed as yet.. However, this is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.

It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This is in memory of the, six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians, and 1,900 Catholic priests Who were 'murdered, raped, burned, starved, beaten, experimented on and humiliated' while many in the world looked the other way!

Now, more than ever, with Iran , among others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets. 
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April 9: Vimy Ridge Day in Canada; Day of National Unity in Georgia (1989); Bataan Day in the Philippines
Marian Anderson, by Carl Van Vechten
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Events[edit]

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Holidays and observances[edit]

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“For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” - Romans 5:10
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"
Luke 23:31
Among other interpretations of this suggestive question, the following is full of teaching: "If the innocent substitute for sinners, suffer thus, what will be done when the sinner himself--the dry tree--shall fall into the hands of an angry God?" When God saw Jesus in the sinner's place, he did not spare him; and when he finds the unregenerate without Christ, he will not spare them. O sinner, Jesus was led away by his enemies: so shall you be dragged away by fiends to the place appointed for you. Jesus was deserted of God; and if he, who was only imputedly a sinner, was deserted, how much more shall you be? "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" what an awful shriek! But what shall be your cry when you shall say, "O God! O God! why hast thou forsaken me?" and the answer shall come back, "Because ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." If God spared not his own Son, how much less will he spare you! What whips of burning wire will be yours when conscience shall smite you with all its terrors. Ye richest, ye merriest, ye most self-righteous sinners--who would stand in your place when God shall say, "Awake, O sword, against the man that rejected me; smite him, and let him feel the smart forever"? Jesus was spit upon: sinner, what shame will be yours! We cannot sum up in one word all the mass of sorrows which met upon the head of Jesus who died for us; therefore it is impossible for us to tell you what streams, what oceans of grief must roll over your spirit if you die as you now are. You may die so, you may die now. By the agonies of Christ, by his wounds and by his blood, do not bring upon yourselves the wrath to come! Trust in the Son of God, and you shall never die.

Evening

"I will fear no evil: for thou art with me."
Psalm 23:4
Behold, how independent of outward circumstances the Holy Ghost can make the Christian! What a bright light may shine within us when it is all dark without! How firm, how happy, how calm, how peaceful we may be, when the world shakes to and fro, and the pillars of the earth are removed! Even death itself, with all its terrible influences, has no power to suspend the music of a Christian's heart, but rather makes that music become more sweet, more clear, more heavenly, till the last kind act which death can do is to let the earthly strain melt into the heavenly chorus, the temporal joy into the eternal bliss! Let us have confidence, then, in the blessed Spirit's power to comfort us. Dear reader, are you looking forward to poverty? Fear not; the divine Spirit can give you, in your want, a greater plenty than the rich have in their abundance. You know not what joys may be stored up for you in the cottage around which grace will plant the roses of content. Are you conscious of a growing failure of your bodily powers? Do you expect to suffer long nights of languishing and days of pain? O be not sad! That bed may become a throne to you. You little know how every pang that shoots through your body may be a refining fire to consume your dross--a beam of glory to light up the secret parts of your soul. Are the eyes growing dim? Jesus will be your light. Do the ears fail you? Jesus' name will be your soul's best music, and his person your dear delight. Socrates used to say, "Philosophers can be happy without music;" and Christians can be happier than philosophers when all outward causes of rejoicing are withdrawn. In thee, my God, my heart shall triumph, come what may of ills without! By thy power, O blessed Spirit, my heart shall be exceeding glad, though all things should fail me here below.
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Daniel 
[Dăn'iel] - god is my judge.
1. The second son of David, also called Chileol (1 Chron. 3:1).
2. A son or descendant of Ithamar who, after the return from exile, sealed the covenant (Ezra 8:2; Neh. 10:6).
3. The celebrated Jewish prophet, fourth of the so-called Major Prophets, of royal or noble descent. Daniel was taken to Babylon and trained with others for the king's service (Ezek. 14:14, 20; 28:3; Dan. 1:6, 21).
The Man Who Kept His Window Open
Nothing is known of the ancestry and early life of this celebrated Jewish prophet who exercised tremendous influence in the Babylonian court, and whose name can mean: "Who in the name of God does Justice." Daniel was not a priest like Jeremiah or Ezekiel but like Isaiah he was descended from the time of Judah and was probably of royal blood (Dan. 1:3-6). A comparison of 2 Kings 20:17, 18 with Isaiah 29:6, 7 seems to indicate that Daniel was descended from king Hezekiah.
As a youth of the age of fifteen or thereabouts, Daniel was carried captive to Babylon (Dan. 1:1-4 ) in the third year of Jehoiakim. From then on his whole life was spent in exile. What Daniel was like we are not expressly told but the details given in the first chapter of his book suggest he must have been a handsome youth. There is a tradition to the effect that "he had a spare, dry, tall figure with a beautiful expression." Dr. Alexander Whyte says of Daniel: "There is always a singular lustre and nobility and stately distinction about him. There is a note of birth and breeding and aristocracy about his whole name and character." As we study his character we cannot but be impressed with his refinement, his reserve and the high sculpture of his life.
Daniel comes before us as an interpreter of dreams and of signs, a conspicuous seer, an official of kings. He lived a long and active life in the courts and councils of some of the greatest monarchs the world has known, like Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus and Darius. Close intimacy with heaven made Daniel the courtier, statesman, man of business and prophet he was. Bishop Ken reminds us that "Daniel was one that kept his station in the greatest of revolutions, reconciling politics and religion, business and devotion, magnanimity with humility, authority with affability, conversation with retirement, Heaven and the Court, the favour of God and of the King."
The significant meaning of Daniel's name accords with the character and contents of the Book of Daniel, written by the prophet himself - the first six chapters in the third person, the last six in the first person.
As the distinguished historian of some of the most important dispensational teaching given in the Bible, Daniel's book sets forth:
A statement of God's judgment on history.
The purpose of God until the final consummation.
The vindication of righteousness.
It would take a whole book to deal with Daniel's prophetic visions of Gentile dominion and defeat. Profitable homiletical material can be used showing Daniel's self-control (Dan. 1:8; 10:3), undaunted courage (5:22, 23), constant integrity (Dan. 6:4), unceasing prayerfulness (Dan. 2:17, 18; 6:16), native humility (Dan. 10:17) and spiritual vision ( Dan. 7:9, 12; 10:5, 6).
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Today's reading: 1 Samuel 10-12, Luke 9:37-62 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: 1 Samuel 10-12

1 Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul's head and kissed him, saying, "Has not the LORD anointed you ruler over his inheritance? 2 When you leave me today, you will meet two men near Rachel's tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, "What shall I do about my son?"'
3 "Then you will go on from there until you reach the great tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel will meet you there. One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and another a skin of wine. 4 They will greet you and offer you two loaves of bread, which you will accept from them....

Today's New Testament reading: Luke 9:37-62

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. 38 A man in the crowd called out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.39 A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they could not."
41 "You unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."
42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the impure spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God....
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Lent=Devotions-Header
Today's Prayer

We come, O Christ to you, true Son of God and man,
By whom all things consist, in whom all life began.
In you alone we live and move, and have our being in your love.

You are the Way to God, your blood our ransom paid;
In you we face our Judge and Maker unafraid.
Before the throne absolved we stand, your love has met your law's demand.

-- "We Come o Christ To You." Learn more about this and other hymns at songsandhymns.org

Today's Scripture Reading: Psalm 122
1 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
"Let us go to the house of the LORD."
2 Our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built like a city
that is closely compacted together.
4 That is where the tribes go up--
the tribes of the LORD--
to praise the name of the LORD
according to the statute given to Israel.
5 There stand the thrones for judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May those who love you be secure.
7 May there be peace within your walls
and security within your citadels."
8 For the sake of my family and friends,
I will say, "Peace be within you."
9 For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
I will seek your prosperity.
Today's Quote

"Our faith then must be different from the faith of devils. For our faith purifies the heart; but their faith makes them guilty. For they do wickedly, and therefore say they to the Lord, "What have we to do with You?" When you hear the devils say this, do you think that they do not acknowledge Him? "We know," they say, "who You are: You are the Son of God." This Peter says, and is commended; the devil says it, and is condemned. Whence comes this, but that though the words be the same, the heart is different? Let us then make a distinction in our faith, and not be content to believe. This is no such faith as purifies the heart. "Purifying their hearts," it is said, "by faith." But by what, and what kind of faith, save that which the Apostle Paul defines when he says, "Faith which works by love." That faith distinguishes us from the faith of devils, and from the infamous and abandoned conduct of men. "Faith," he says. What faith? "That which works by love," and which hopes for what God does promise. Nothing is more exact or perfect than this definition." -- Augustine

Something to Think About

Think about your words and actions over this last week. Is the fruit of faith evident in them? What can you do today to put your faith into action, and communicate Christlike love to somebody in your life?
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Today's Lent reading: Luke 21-22 (NIV)

View today's Lent reading on Bible Gateway
The Widow's Offering
1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3"Truly I tell you," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6"As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."
7 "Teacher," they asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?"
8 He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away."
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Knowing Him - An Easter Devotional

STATUS SEEKERS OR SERVANT LEADERS?

He took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,”he said, “and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:32-44)
In what was the worst moment for brothers James and John, they chose the occasion of Jesus’ ominous prediction of his suffering to see if there was something in it for them. “Do whatever we ask,” they said (a remarkable request!). Can we have elite spots beside you?
Some questions are innocent and open-minded; others reveal that we are completely confused. “You don’t know that you’re asking,” Jesus said, by which he meant: Are you really that anxious to be by my side when I am slaughtered? Would you like your own crosses? Do you really want to follow this world in seeking status and power?
No, Jesus told them, if you want to be great–really great–then you must become slave and servants of all.
And then Jesus made this most amazing statement: “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” He was the fulfillment of the “suffering servant” the prophet Isaiah had spoken of seven centuries earlier. And he was the “ransom,” the one who would liberate us from the taskmasters of sin, death, and the Evil One.
Ponder This: What are the biggest barriers we face in giving up status and security, and instead living lives of servanthood?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Resources
About The Author - Mel Lawrenz serves as minister at large for Elmbrook Church and leads The Brook Network. Having been in pastoral ministry for thirty years, the last decade as senior pastor of Elmbrook, Mel seeks to help Christian leaders engage with each other. Mel is the author of eleven books, the most recent for church leaders, Whole Church: Leading from Fragmentation to Engagement.
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Greetings from Bible Gateway! We've got a lot of exciting news today, so let's dive right in.
Bible Gateway on your iPhone
Did you know that you can access Bible Gateway on your iPhone (or other internet-capable mobile device)?
M.BibleGateway.com is a special mobile-friendly version of Bible Gateway that gives you full access to Bible Gateway's features on your mobile device. To use Bible Gateway on your mobile device, simply visit m.biblegateway.com.
The mobile site is the full-featured Bible Gateway site, optimized for small screens like the iPhone's. Although it isn't an app that you download, you can add it to your iPhone home screen and access it just like you would an app; to do so, just follow these instructions to add Bible Gateway to your iPhone home screen.
For those of you who are hoping for an official app for the iPhone or other devices, know that we're aware of the interest in such a thing and it's very much on our radar. You can keep up-to-date on any future mobile developments at our blog.
It's not too late to sign up for our two newest newsletters
We recently launched two new email newsletters, and both are underway and getting great feedback from Bible Gateway users!
* Investigating Faith with Lee Strobel is a twice-monthly newsletter exploring questions about faith in Jesus Christ. In each issue, Lee shares his own thoughts and insights and answers reader-submitted questions about Christianity. Read an excerpt from Investigating Faith at our blog.
* Knowing Him by Mel Lawrenz is a daily Easter devotional that helps you draw closer to Jesus during the Easter season. Each devotional challenges you to consider the person of Jesus Christ and his freely-offered grace from a fresh angle. Read an interview with Mel in which he discusses practical steps you can follow to make the Easter season a time of spiritual growth.
If you aren't already receiving these newsletters, you can sign up at any time.
Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana De Hoy is now on Bible Gateway
We're happy to announce that the Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana De Hoy (NBLH) is available on Bible Gateway!
The NBLH is a contemporary Spanish translation of the Bible published by The Lockman Foundation; it uses the less formal form of Spanish and incorporates many features to make the Bible text as clear as possible without sacrificing accuracy.
You can get started reading the NBLH, or if you want a flavor of this Bible translation, read this John 3:16 comparisonshowcasing the NBLH, the recently-released Nueva Traducción Viviente, the Nueva Versión Internacional, and the NIV.
We're grateful to The Lockman Foundation for making the NBLH available on Bible Gateway, and we trust it will be a blessing to our Spanish readers.
That's all for now! Have a blessed week and weekend!
Sincerely, the Bible Gateway team

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