Monday, June 16, 2014

Mon Jun 16th Todays News

David Marr rarely says anything worth worrying about. Insiders is a left wing love fest. I rarely learn anything from them, so I rarely pay much attention to them. So a throw away line by Marr on Insiders this weekend doesn't surprise me that it has passed without much comment, but his comment is surprisingly worthy of recognition. It doesn't matter who says something worthwhile. Marr said that the current situation in Iraq highlights what a good job had been done in the past. 

President Bush had done a very good job, and while he was President in the Whitehouse there was hope for prosperity in the Middle East. Enter Obama and multiple stuff ups and bad policy and now a former detainee is leading a charge to upend the troubled young democracy of Iraq. And Marr is right with this one comment on the issue. The current situation shows what a good job had been done in the past. Marr has shown in the past he is willing to choose his tribes he rejects. He dissed the gay community to attack Alan Jones. 

On this day in 1586 Mary Queen of Scots declared Spain to be her heir. Not everything is as you see it. Her own child inherited the kingdom and eventually became King of England too. In 1816, Lord Byron had some guests for dinner, including the poet Percy Byshe Shelley and his runaway bride Mary Shelley. They discussed the recently phenomena of animal electricity. Mary wrote Frankenstein, and few will remember Percy's greater works, although some may point to the prescient work "Revolt of Islam", "Ode to the West Wind", "Ozymandias" to name a few. David Marr has a vision of the world every bit as valid and accurate as Mary Queen of Scots declaration of inheritance. 
===
For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott 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 https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball
===

Happy birthday and many happy returns to those born on this day, across the years ..
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
===

REPETITION IS THE KEY

Tim Blair – Monday, June 16, 2014 (2:43pm)

Like many of his ABC comrades, Radio National host Jonathan Green yearned for Barack Obama to humiliate Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Writing at the ABC’s Drum site, Green even offered the US President some advice ahead of last week’s meeting with the PM: 
Barack, you might like to try this as an opening gambit: “Tony, there are no jobs on a dead planet.” It might help break the ice, it might not. It’s entirely possible that our PM might just blink uncomprehendingly at first mention, but as with any decent slogan, repetition is the key, so keep nagging away, again and again until you think the thing is so worn with use that it might fall apart at the softest touch. Then say it again. 
Bear in mind, please, that Green is no teenage leftist idiot. He’s a retirement-age leftist idiot living off your taxes who recently bought a $1.4 million house in inner Melbourne. Let’s imagine how Green’s suggestion might have worked if it had actually been adopted by the US president …

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'REPETITION IS THE KEY'
===

LIES LOVED

Tim Blair – Monday, June 16, 2014 (2:28pm)

A friend recently joined the public relations arm of a major Australian energy company. She arrived at the job with a sound knowledge of all the major energy issues and upcoming projects.
What she didn’t expect, however, was the sheer ferocity and underhanded tactics of anti-energy activists. “They just straight-out lie,” she says. “They make things up. They put lies all over Twitter. They’re incredible.”

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'LIES LOVED'
===

JOY DIVISION

Tim Blair – Monday, June 16, 2014 (5:27am)

Many Muslims slaughtered in Iraq: 
Gruesome photos posted online Sunday by an Al Qaeda splinter group show the summary executions of dozens of captive Iraqi soldiers in the group’s attack on a city in central Iraq and are believed to be authentic, military officials have acknowledged.
The release of the images by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, came amid violence elsewhere in Iraq. A string of explosions rocked Badghad Sunday, killing at least 15, according to the Associated Press. Earlier in the day, Agence France-Presse reported six people were killed when a recruitment center in central Iraq for volunteer fighters was hit by mortar rounds. 
Wissam Haddad, the head of Sydney’s al-Risalah Islamic Centre, sums up local reaction to Iraq’s bloodshed: 
“There’s a feeling of joy.” 
===

Shorten accused

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (7:40pm)

Claimed:
BILL Shorten became directly involved in elections of the troubled Health Services Union when he was a senior member of the Rudd government in 2009 by donating $5000 to a candidate’s campaign, it was alleged at the royal commission into union corruption today. 

Marco Bolano, a key ally of HSU corruption whistleblower Kathy Jackson, said he was “stunned” when he was told Mr Shorten was contributing to his campaign because the now federal Labor leader had been a supporter of his opponent.

When Mr Bolano asked “why on earth” Mr Shorten would pay the money, he said his campaign manager Stephen Donnelly told him: “He’s having a bet both ways”.
The Labor leader today denied the allegation…
Mr Bolano said he wouldn’t know if the alleged $5000 from Mr Shorten came from “some fund” or Mr Shorten personally…
Mr Bolano said Mr Feeney arranged for Mr Donnelly, his chief of staff, to be Mr Bolano’s campaign manager for the 2009 HSU election.
He had learned afterwards that the tobacco company Philip Morris had contributed to his HSU election campaign and he was “perplexed” why a cigarette maker would want to contribute to the campaign of a health union election. 
===

Just one week in the world of Islam. What is wrong with this faith?

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (6:42pm)

Islamism

What the hell is the problem with Islam? In the past week..
In Kenya:
At least 34 people have been killed after unidentified armed men stormed the coastal city of Mpeketoni, setting hotels, restaurants, banks and government offices on fire and spraying bullets in streets.

Kenyan army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir ...  blamed al-Shabaab, Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked militant group… “They were shouting in Somali and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’,” he added, meaning “God is great”, in Arabic.

In Nigeria:
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have reportedly kidnapped 20 women from a nomadic settlement in north-east Nigeria near the town of Chibok, where the Islamic militants abducted nearly 300 girls in April, most of whom are still missing.
In Iraq:
Sunni Islamist militants claimed on Sunday that they had massacred hundreds of captive Shiite members of Iraq’s security forces, posting grisly pictures of a mass execution in Tikrit as evidence and warning of more killing to come.
In Syria:
The Al-Qaeda-breakaway Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria has prevented food and medical supplies from reaching some neighborhoods in an eastern Syrian city, an activist group said Friday.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ... an offensive by ISIS in eastern Syria against rival Islamic rebel factions has killed more than 640 people and uprooted at least 130,000 since the end of April.
In Spain:
Spanish police arrested eight people in a pre-dawn raid in Madrid on Monday, breaking up a jihadist recruitment network led by a former Guantanamo Bay inmate, the government said…
Spain’s government has said it fears battle-hardened Islamist fighters may return to Spain from Syria… Spain this year marked the 10th anniversary of the March 11, 2004 Al Qaeda-inspired bombing of four packed commuter trains in Madrid, which killed 191 people.
In Belgium:
The fourth person to die after a gunman opened fire on the Jewish Museum in Brussels was to be buried in a Muslim cemetery in Morocco.
Alexandre Strens, whose mother is Jewish and father a Muslim Berber, was to be buried near his grandparents’ graves in the cemetery in Taza, north-east Morocco… A suspect, Mehdi Nemmouche, was arrested in Marseille, southern France, 11 days ago ...
In Indonesia:

Radical Islamists in Indonesia have been celebrating and swearing allegiance to ISIS on line, raising concerns that more potential terrorists will be attracted to the conflicts in Iraq and Syria… Jakarta-based terrorism expert Sidney Jones says Indonesians are known to be fighting in Syria, and that Indonesians attracted to ISIS are more radical than the Bali bombers.
In Sudan:
The retired Libyan general Khalifa Heftar who is leading the military campaign dubbed as ‘Operation Dignity’ against Islamist militias accused Sudan directly of providing aid to these groups… Heftar says that these militias have wreaked havoc in the North African nation.
In China:
China today sentenced three people to death over a deadly attack at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square last October, state television reported, an incident blamed by the government on Islamist militants....
Five people were killed and 40 hurt when a car ploughed into a crowd at the northern edge of Tiananmen Square and burst into flames…
All of those sentenced appeared to have ethnic Uighur names. Xinjiang is the traditional home of the mostly Muslim Uighurs, and China has blamed previous attacks on separatists… China has been on edge since a suicide bombing last month killed 39 people at a market in Urumqi. In March, 29 people were stabbed to death at a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming.
In Australia:
ON a hot summer’s day earlier this year, a beautiful young Pakistani girl named Amina stood in the living room of her western Sydney home, listening in horror as her father explained how he planned to ­murder her. 

“I am going to kill you now, right here!” he shouted at the 16-year-old. “And no one will say anything about what I do to you. I am too powerful in the community.” Amina’s parents had promised her to a man 13 years her senior and she had made the mistake of refusing to marry him…

For years, child marriage in this country has been hidden under layers of culture and tradition in tight-knit communities… Then came news of a 12-year-old girl who was “married” in January to a 26-year-old Lebanese university student in an Islamic ­ceremony at the girl’s home in NSW’s Hunter ­Valley, and the layers of secrecy began to peel away. 
In Britain:
The Prime Minister[’s] ....  stance appears to be a direct response to the ‘Trojan Horse’ scandal which revealed Islamist extremism in schools in Birmingham…
The Trojan Horse scandal found some schools had enforced “a culture of fear and intimidation”, with Ofsted’s chief inspector for schools for England Sir Micheal Wilshaw, adding head teachers had been “marginalised or forced out of their jobs” in an “organised campaign to target certain schools"…
Inspectors found boys and girls had been segregated and were told Christian celebrations including Christmas had been scrapped while Muslim festivals went ahead. At one school teachers told pupils they didn’t believe in evolution...
In Israel:
This past Thursday night, three Jewish teenagers — one of whom is a dual American/Israeli citizen — were abducted on the West Bank. The Israelis are certain that Hamas is responsible…
For the moment, we can also observe the reaction of the Palestinian Authority, or the Palestinian authorities. Via the Times of Israel, we learn that the Fatah Facebook page features the image below. 
image
===

Obama fled Iraq - and the terrorists moved in

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (5:09pm)

Barack Obama pulled out the last US forces in Iraq in December 2011 and declared the war had been won:

We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq with a representative government that was elected by its people. We’re building a new partnership between our nations. And we are ending a war, not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home. This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine years in the making.
But many Iraqis wanted those forces to stay, reports Dexter Filkins, a New York Times reporter who was based in Iraq for three years:
The leaders of all the major Iraqi parties had privately told American commanders that they wanted several thousand military personnel to remain, to train Iraqi forces and to help track down insurgents. The commanders told me that Maliki, too, said that he wanted to keep troops in Iraq. But he argued that the long-standing agreement that gave American soldiers immunity from Iraqi courts was increasingly unpopular; parliament would forbid the troops to stay unless they were subject to local law.
President Obama, too, was ambivalent about retaining even a small force in Iraq. For several months, American officials told me, they were unable to answer basic questions in meetings with Iraqis—like how many troops they wanted to leave behind—because the Administration had not decided. “We got no guidance from the White House,” Jeffrey told me. “We didn’t know where the President was. Maliki kept saying, ‘I don’t know what I have to sell.’ “ At one meeting, Maliki said that he was willing to sign an executive agreement granting the soldiers permission to stay, if he didn’t have to persuade the parliament to accept immunity. The Obama Administration quickly rejected the idea. “The American attitude was: Let’s get out of here as quickly as possible,” Sami al-Askari, the Iraqi member of parliament, said.
Look what’s happened since Obama withdrew US troops:

image
A war that was indeed won was then lost. 
===

If it’s good enough for Kelly, why is it a gaffe for Abbott?

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (12:20pm)

A shocking gaffe. Canadians must be horrified. Why is this woman allowed to host Insiders?
Or can we all agree the “Canadia” issue was indeed just one of those wild anti-Abbott media beat-ups?
(Thanks to reader Peter H.) 
===

Can we just get on with cutting the spending?

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (12:15pm)

Labor was too happy to spend, and is now to happy to stop the Liberals from saving. Mind you, the Liberals haven’t yet put some cuts to the Parliament:
The federal budget could be pushed further into the red with up to a billion dollars of proposed spending cuts and revenue-raising measures due to start on or soon after July 1 facing delays.
A week after his first budget, Treasurer Joe Hockey lashed Labor for blocking up to $40 billion in savings and warned the Australian economy could ‘’fall apart’’.
But at least 15 measures requiring legislation have not even been introduced to Parliament.
The measures face an uncertain future, with the current Labor-Greens-controlled Senate vowing to block some key savings - which are increasingly likely to not even come to a vote before July 1 - and the Palmer United Party threatening to play hard ball over measures such as the so-called ‘’petrol tax’’ when it takes a large share of the balance of power after July 1.
Laura Tingle:
The fate of $30 billion of budget savings remains unclear ahead of the last fortnight of parliamentary sittings before the new Senate is installed, with over $8 billion of cuts due to start on July 1 still to be legislated....
This is because, beyond a range of signature policies which are expected to be rejected by both the current and new Senate – including the Medicare payment and changes to pensions – there is uncertainty over other cuts because the government is yet to introduce law, so non-government parties are reserving their voting positions… Beyond the lack of legislation to consider, no party wants to deal itself out of negotiations by declaring its hand on all budget measures.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
===

Their supporters are on our streets

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (8:55am)

In Iraq:
image
Sunni Islamist militants claimed on Sunday that they had massacred hundreds of captive Shiite members of Iraq’s security forces, posting grisly pictures of a mass execution in Tikrit as evidence and warning of more killing to come…
The group’s announcement was made in a series of gruesome photographs uploaded to an ISIS Twitter feed and on websites late on Saturday night. Some showed insurgents, many wearing black masks, lining up at the edges of what looked like shallow mass graves and apparently firing their weapons into young men who had their hands bound behind their backs and were packed closely together in large groups.
The photographs showed what appeared to be seven massacre sites, although several of them may have been different views of the same sites…
The militants’ captions seemed tailor-made to ignite anger and fear among Shiites. “The filthy Shiites are killed in the hundreds,” one read.
In Australia:
The head of the al-Risalah Islamic Centre in Sydney, ...  Wissam Haddad, said Muslims were rejoicing at ISIS’s stunning gains.
“There’s a feeling of joy,’’ Mr Haddad told The Weekend Australian.
I believe our immigration policy has not been careful enough to screen out danger.
(Via Tim Blair and with thanks to reader Steve.) 
===

The US failure wasn’t going into Iraq but leaving it

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (8:23am)

Leftists gloat the the invasion of Iraq by terrorist forces proves George W Bush was wrong to topple Saddam Hussein. The ABC’s AM this morning covered this theory as if it were self-evidently true.
War historian Max Boot explains why is isn’t - and the real US failure was to pull out before the gains were secured:
Black-clad fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), as Al Qaeda in Iraq has rebranded itself, stormed into Mosul last week and seized control....
ISIS, as the name implies, has spread across the border into Syria, where it has been showing increasing strength amid the chaos of the Syrian civil war, in no small part because the United States has done so little to aid the non-jihadist opposition to Bashar al-Assad....
Critics of the Iraq war affix blame to President George W. Bush’s decision to invade in 2003. But there is no guarantee that, even absent American intervention, Saddam Hussein would have had any more luck staying in power than other Arab despots. A civil war might well have broken out in Iraq anyway, as has been the case in Syria and Libya.
It is true that Bush’s mismanagement from 2003 to 2007 aggravated the situation… The “surge,” however, turned the tide and created an opening for a more stable and democratic Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq was decimated in 2007-08… Violence fell by more than 90 percent, and Iraqi politics began to function.
But that tenuous calm started to unravel the minute that U.S. troops pulled out at the end of 2011.
Freed of effective American oversight, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki gave full vent to his Shiite sectarian tendencies… Fearing that they no longer had a place in Iraqi politics, many Sunnis welcomed back ISIS as their defenders. The Iraqi military, in turn, was unable to effectively combat the growing terrorist threat because it had been deprived of American military support and because Maliki stuffed its senior ranks with incompetent party hacks beholden to him… Many soldiers now lack the confidence that they are fighting for Iraqi national interests rather than for a sectarian Shiite agenda…
It is hard to know for sure, but odds are Iraq would have continued making progress if at least 10,000 American military advisers were still present…
So why aren’t U.S. troops still there? ... Obama did not try very hard to achieve a Status of Forces Agreement. He waited to start the negotiations until the middle of 2011 even though the last round of talks in 2008 took a year; he leaked word that, even if an agreement were reached, the United States would send only a tiny force of fewer than 5,000 soldiers that was hardly worth the trouble; he insisted that the Iraqi parliament would have to approve the accord even though Iraqi leaders told their American counterparts this was unlikely and unnecessary; he refused to get directly involved in the negotiations; and then he pulled the plug on the talks when they hit their first major obstacle. Obama’s heart just wasn’t in it. ...

In hindsight, the pullout from Iraq looks increasingly like the pullout from Vietnam a generation before.... Obama has helped restart the war.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop won’t criticise Obama - but neither does she deny he pulled out of Iraq too soon:
(Thanks to reader doc molloy.) 
===

Not all divided loyalties involve just soccer

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (8:06am)

I HAVE a secret that horrifies my sons. But I used to think it really more a joke than a warning.
See, I barrack for Holland. I can’t even rule out backing Holland against Australia in the World Cup on Thursday.
This appals my boys. After all, my parents were Dutch but I was born here. Where’s my loyalty?
I can rationalise some of this. I was a bit solitary growing up, and having saved my odd-job money for years, took myself to Holland at 17 and found there an unconditional love and acceptance.
And why should my divided loyalty hurt anyone else? Where else will Holland clash with Australia but in sport?
(Read full article here.) 
===

Abbott-hate is blinding journalists

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (7:45am)

How the Left hates, Media

MANY journalists despise Tony Abbott. And, boy, have these past two weeks proved their hatred corrupts their reporting.
Take the following examples from the extraordinary coverage of the Prime Minister’s trip to Europe and North America.
NIGEL NO-FRIENDS
SOME TV outlets pounced on footage of Abbott standing on his assigned spot at a photo call for the D-Day commemorations — a metre to the side of other leaders.
Gloated ABC Insiders host Fran Kelly: “Just a little on the outer.”
It was this which prompted Labor foreign affairs spokesman Tanya Plibersek to mock Abbott as “Nigel No-friends”.
In fact, the full tape — not shown on the ABC — shows Abbott flanked seconds later by other latecomers, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko who chats with him.
RUDE ABBOTT
CHANNEL 9’s Laurie Oakes announced Abbott had blundered by cancelling meetings with “the most important economic policy figures in Washington”.
(Read full article here.) 
===

So why is Labor still forcing us to pay a tax it can’t defend?

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (7:34am)

Labor is forcing us to pay a carbon tax it says may not be necessary - but which it refused to repeal:
Mr Butler said if the full carbon tax package was repealed by the Senate, as seems likely, “then we’ll obviously as an opposition have to take stock and over the next year or two build an alternative policy arrangement to take to the next election’’…
Mr Butler was yesterday asked during an interview on the Sky News Australian Agenda program whether Labor was going to come up with an alternative to an ETS as its policy for the next election. Mr Butler said: “I’m not going to indicate one way or the other.’’
The Australian describes Labor’s climate contortions:
Having dropped a carbon price when it promised to introduce one, and then delivered a carbon tax when it promised not to, it went to the last election promising to “terminate” the very carbon tax it is now refusing to repeal because the Coalition plans to replace it with “direct action” rather than an ETS. Yet now we learn its commitment to an ETS is wobbly. This will make it increasingly difficult for voters to trust Labor on climate policy.
===

I’d have sued Gillard, former AWU boss says

Andrew Bolt June 16 2014 (7:25am)

The AWU scandal

Of course - and it’s no wonder Julia Gillard left Slater & Gordon once her secret work for her boyfriend was exposed:
JULIA Gillard and her former employer Slater & Gordon would have been sued over the AWU slush fund scandal if the union had known about it at the time, according to a document with the Victoria Police Fraud Squad.
In a formal witness statement, obtained by The Australian late on Friday after a bout in the Victorian Supreme Court in Melbourne, former AWU national secretary Ian Cambridge told police he would also have taken his serious concerns about the legal conduct to the professional disciplinary body for solicitors, the Law Society.
Mr Cambridge, now a commissioner for Fair Work Australia, told police he was in charge of the AWU at the time, but neither he nor other union officials had knowledge of Ms Gillard’s role in giving legal advice to help her boyfriend set up secret slush fund the AWU Workplace Reform Association, which operated in the 1990s.
Mr Cambridge was unaware until 2012, when The Australian published a confidential transcript of a 1995 Slater & Gordon interview with Ms Gillard, that the former prime minister gave key legal advice and wrote to West Australian authorities to help start the fund for Bruce Wilson, who was her boyfriend and the Victorian head of the AWU at the time....
Mr Cambridge also expressed concern over the purchase of a Kerr Street, Fitzroy, property with slush fund money, and help from the law firm and Ms Gillard in 1993. He said it was wrong that the property was sold in 1996 with more than $200,000 dispersed without AWU knowledge.
“I am unable to understand how Slater & Gordon, who were then acting for the Victoria branch of the AWU, could have permitted the use of funds which were obviously taken from the union, in the purchase of a private property of this nature … without seeking and obtaining proper authority from the AWU,” he says.
But Labor’s media mates still see no evil, hear no evil...
Also on Insiders, Marr clears Julia Gillard of any wrongdoing over the AWU affair: 
THE case against Gillard has now, as I understand it, been stated before the royal commission. There is no evidence that money from the slush fund was used on her house.
Evidence to royal commission from Wayne Hem, former AWU employee:

(BRUCE Wilson) took a wad of notes out of his pocket and he wrote on a piece of paper a bank account number. He handed me the cash and the piece of paper and asked me to deposit the cash into the bank account. He then wrote Julia Gillard on the piece of paper and handed it back to me. I asked him how much money there was. He said $5000. I then verified that by counting it out in front of him … I (went to the bank) and deposited the money into the bank account as requested.
Evidence of Athol James, retired builder who did renovation work at Gillard’s house:

DURING the work I would deal with Ms Gillard in relation to any payment for the completed work. I’m certain she said Bruce (Wilson) was paying for it. I am certain I saw Bruce hand Ms Gillard a large amount of cash on two occasions. Ms Gillard said to me that as Bruce brought her the cash she would pay me by cheque.
Evidence of Ralph Blewitt, self-confessed AWU fraudster:

AS I entered the house Ms Gillard was in the front room ... I went through the corridor ... Bruce Wilson then asked me to pay the tradesman the sum of $7000. I had more than $7000 cash in my possession from the (slush fund) account ... I then gave $7000 cash to the tradesman.
===


===


===


===


===


===


===


===


===


===


===


===


===


===


===


===

===


===


===


=== Posts from last year ===
4 her, so she can see how I see her







===

===

===

===
Holly Sarah Nguyen
Things do not always go as expected, but if we hold on and have faith, we will see that there is a plan... And it will be better than we could have ever expected...
===

Supercell thunderstorm in Cuming County Nebraska yesterday. This beast started producing CGs like crazy, so I pulled over and mounted the camera on my tripod and stopped down to f/22, 2.5 sec, ISO 100. Locked the shutter down and watched the CG barrage unfold. This is a stack of two images about 9 seconds apart.
===
ɐɥɐɥɐɥ... spuodsǝɹ oɥʍ ǝǝs oʇ ƃuıɥɔʇɐʍ ǝq ןןıʍ I ˙snʇɐʇs ɹnoʎ oʇ ǝʇsɐd puɐ ʎdoɔ sıɥʇ pɐǝɹ uɐɔ noʎ ɟI...ʇsod ı ʇɐɥʍ oʇ uoıʇuǝʇʇɐ ʎɐd spuǝıɹɟ ʎɯ ɟo ʎuɐɯ ʍoH
===

Molokini Crater, Hawaii, USA
===

===

Cancun Mexico
===

===

Larry Pickering
THE WEST SET TO FUEL SYRIA’S FIRE

Obama and Cameron are preparing to arm rebels in Syria amid claims of chemical weapons being used by the Assad government. 

Interfering in other countries’ civil wars has only produced life-costly disasters and makes no more sense than if the Arab world had interfered in the US civil war. 

The West is a slow leaner.

While Iraqi civilians pray to Allah for another Saddam Hussein strongman to quell worsening tribal unrest, Obama is now planning to rid the Arab world of Syria’s strongman, Bashar al-Assad.

Libya’s strongman, Muammar Gaddafi, was brutally murdered at the behest of the West and a UN endorsed, and NATO activated, “No Fly Zone” yet the jihadist rebels it assisted promptly murdered four US diplomats in Benghazi.

Do we really believe those we try to assist like us?

Afghanistan’s Taliban is now emboldened, more active, and producing more opium, than when we went there to destroy it.

Al Queda has fragmented to North Africa, successfully establishing cells in every Western country.

The West gave comfort to Egypt’s Arab spring offensive only to see the Muslim Brotherhood take over. The “Brotherhood” was the creator of the terrorist organisation Hamas and has been linked to many political assassinations.

The Brotherhood gains broad acceptance by assisting the poor in the same way as did Chicago’s Al Capone and Colombia’s Pablo Escobar. It's a common tactic.

Obama realises the rebellious movement in Syria is backed by Al Queda which is attracted to any form of rebellion in the Middle East.

But, he says, we will only arm those who are not Al Queda.

“Hands up all those who have Al Queda links! Okay, now you guys aren’t allowed to shoot these weapons we give you. Promise?”
Crumbs are Western leaders really that stupid? Yep!

Syria’s Assad is militarily backed by Russia and Iran. Increased assistance from both is certain if rebels are armed by the West.

Arming disjointed rebel rabble (who have committed worse Islamic inspired atrocities than Assad's regime) will lead to a dangerous international tension.

All instances of interference by the West have left gaping holes for Al Queda jihadists to fill, and we eventually pay in civilian lives.

Australia is finally learning what Europe has already learnt: Islam, in all its forms, is an ideological rabble of tribal bastardry and it is impossible to placate it or confront it.

We should leave it to its own decadent devices... certainly not import it by picking sides in its wars.

===

===

Do you start your day with a cup of coffee or another caffeinated drink? You may be protecting your brain from memory loss, or even helping to stave off Alzheimer’s disease. In animal studies, mice given the equivalent of 3 cups of coffee were able to form new memories more quickly after a trauma than uncaffeinated mice. And in an even more promising 2012 study, older adults with mild cognitive impairment who regularly drank coffee were far less likely to progress to full blown Alzheimer’s disease than those who didn’t. Past studies have also shown that daily coffee drinkers have reduced risk for developing Type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer! Share this post if you love coffee, and use the link below to learn more.

Read more: http://bit.ly/10gFcrc

===

===
"As it was in Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Othello, so it is in life. Most forms of private vice and public evil are kindled and sustained by lies. Acts of adultery and other personal betrayals, financial fraud, government corruption—even murder and genocide—generally require an additional moral defect: a willingness to lie.
In Lying, bestselling author and neuroscientist Sam Harris argues that we can radically simplify our lives and improve society by merely telling the truth in situations where others often lie. He focuses on “white” lies—those lies we tell for the purpose of sparing people discomfort—for these are the lies that most often tempt us. And they tend to be the only lies that good people tell while imagining that they are being good in the process."
===

===
"In a passionate argument for U.S. involvement in Syria, Anthony Cordesman, a security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, wrote Friday that "the ‘discovery’ that Syria used chemical weapons might be a political ploy."

The phrase was in an article that described strong strategic and humanitarian reasons for involvement in the crisis, particularly the recent involvement of the Lebanese group Hezbollah on the side of Assad."- excerpt from article

"Political ploys aka....diversion purposes, as well." - comment, Allyson Christy

Read more at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=002_1371269929#ymMItEKYZmpETiKb.99

===

TODAY’S QUIZ ………………
Question : What’s the difference between the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) - and Rudd/Gillard’s policy of reversing the Coalition’s policies on border protection ?

Answer : More people have arrive on unauthorized boats (44,159) since Labor rolled back the Coalition’s policies - than what the official capacity of the SCG is (44,002 people).
===

download at http://iranthreatassessmentcbrn.com/
===
“A problem is a chance for you to do your best." - Duke Ellington
===

She Cant Fall Asleep

Like us for more 7 Second Videos
Subscribe to us on youtube for 7sec compilations:
www.youtube.com/7secvids
===

===

===

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983, From world over, he received letters from his fans, One of which conveyed: Why does God have to select you for such a bad disease?

To this, Arthur Ashe replied :
“The world over 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals,When I was holding a cup I never asked God ‘Why me?’. And today in Pain I should not be asking God ‘Why me?’
===
June 16Bloomsday in Dublin, Ireland
Pope Pius IX
===

Events[edit]

Births[edit]

Deaths[edit]

Holidays and observances[edit]

===
“The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.” Proverbs 23:24 NIV
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me."
Genesis 21:6
It was far above the power of nature, and even contrary to its laws, that the aged Sarah should be honoured with a son; and even so it is beyond all ordinary rules that I, a poor, helpless, undone sinner, should find grace to bear about in my soul the indwelling Spirit of the Lord Jesus. I, who once despaired, as well I might, for my nature was as dry, and withered, and barren, and accursed as a howling wilderness, even I have been made to bring forth fruit unto holiness. Well may my mouth be filled with joyous laughter, because of the singular, surprising grace which I have received of the Lord, for I have found Jesus, the promised seed, and he is mine forever. This day will I lift up psalms of triumph unto the Lord who has remembered my low estate, for "my heart rejoiceth in the Lord; mine horn is exalted in the Lord; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation."
I would have all those that hear of my great deliverance from hell, and my most blessed visitation from on high, laugh for joy with me. I would surprise my family with my abundant peace; I would delight my friends with my ever-increasing happiness; I would edify the Church with my grateful confessions; and even impress the world with the cheerfulness of my daily conversation. Bunyan tells us that Mercy laughed in her sleep, and no wonder when she dreamed of Jesus; my joy shall not stop short of hers while my Beloved is the theme of my daily thoughts. The Lord Jesus is a deep sea of joy: my soul shall dive therein, shall be swallowed up in the delights of his society. Sarah looked on her Isaac, and laughed with excess of rapture, and all her friends laughed with her; and thou, my soul, look on thy Jesus, and bid heaven and earth unite in thy joy unspeakable.

Evening

"He openeth, and no man shutteth."
Revelation 3:7
Jesus is the keeper of the gates of paradise and before every believing soul he setteth an open door, which no man or devil shall be able to close against it. What joy it will be to find that faith in him is the golden key to the everlasting doors. My soul, dost thou carry this key in thy bosom, or art thou trusting to some deceitful pick-lock, which will fail thee at last? Hear this parable of the preacher, and remember it. The great King has made a banquet, and he has proclaimed to all the world that none shall enter but those who bring with them the fairest flower that blooms. The spirits of men advance to the gate by thousands, and they bring each one the flower which he esteems the queen of the garden; but in crowds they are driven from the royal presence, and enter not into the festive halls. Some bear in their hand the deadly nightshade of superstition, or the flaunting poppies of Rome, or the hemlock of self- righteousness, but these are not dear to the King, the bearers are shut out of the pearly gates. My soul, hast thou gathered the rose of Sharon? Dost thou wear the lily of the valley in thy bosom constantly? If so, when thou comest up to the gates of heaven thou wilt know its value, for thou hast only to show this choicest of flowers, and the Porter will open: not for a moment will he deny thee admission, for to that rose the Porter openeth ever. Thou shalt find thy way with the rose of Sharon in thy hand up to the throne of God himself, for heaven itself possesses nothing that excels its radiant beauty, and of all the flowers that bloom in paradise there is none that can rival the lily of the valley. My soul, get Calvary's blood-red rose into thy hand by faith, by love wear it, by communion preserve it, by daily watchfulness make it thine all in all, and thou shalt be blessed beyond all bliss, happy beyond a dream. Jesus, be mine forever, my God, my heaven, my all.
===
Barnabas

[Bär'nabăs] - son of prophecy orconsolationSurname of Joses, Paul's companion in several of his missionary journeys (Acts 4:36; 9:27).

The Man Renowned for His Winsomeness

The features of this lovable man stand out in bold relief.
I. His magnificent generosity. The first recorded deed of this Levite of Cyprus was the selling of his property and the grateful sacrifice of the money secured to the common fund of the first Christian community ( Acts. 4:36). The Church has many on her ancient roll who knew what it was to be baptized with the baptism of Barnabas. His exuberant generosity inspired them to surrender their all.
II. His impressive personality. The Lycaonians named Barnabas Jupiter, the name of the emperor of gods in Grecian mythology (Acts 14:12 ). Evidently this "son of comfort" had a commanding, dignified, venerable appearance and his physical nobility added to his influence. The culture and consecration of a commendable physical personality is not to be despised. Also mentally and morally, Barnabas was a man among men.
III. His innate goodness. What triple grace this man possessed! "A good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith" (Acts 11:24 ). God-possessed, Barnabas was full of love, sympathy and faith. Vision and allegiance were his. Spirit-filled, he exuded the comfort of the Spirit. Dean Church says that Barnabas was "an earthly reflection of the Paraclete."
IV. His notable ministry. Barnabas had an inspiring influence (Acts 11:25, 26), was trustworthy (Acts 11:29, 30), was adapted to missionary work (Acts 13:2), encouraged converts (Acts 11:23 ), was a son of Christian prophecy in that he uttered God's messages, was a devoted toiler and self-supporting (1 Cor. 9:6).
V. His lamentable contention. It is sad to realize that such a captivating man as Barnabas was a party to a quarrel. How true it is that there are "surprises of sin in holiest histories." The doleful story of the sharp contention between Paul and Barnabas is told in Acts 15:36-39 . Perhaps both good men were wrong. Paul proposed to Barnabas that they should visit the brethren in every city where they had labored. Barnabas agreed and wanted to take Mark, his nephew, with them. Paul felt that Mark, having left them once, was not fit to accompany them, so they parted. Had Paul been too resentful against Mark? Had Barnabas been too eager to urge the claims of his relative? Was one too stern, the other too easy? It is good to know that they were afterwards reconciled.
There are also hints of a certain lack of firmness in Barnabas'otherwise strong character. Writing of dissembling Jews, Paul had to say that even "Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation" (Gal. 2:13). Barnabas, like the rest of us, had some defective qualities. There has only been one perfect Man on earth - the Saviour Barnabas loved and rejoiced to preach about.
===

Today's reading: Nehemiah 1-3, Acts 2:1-21 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Nehemiah 1-3

Nehemiah's Prayer
The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven....

Today's New Testament reading: Acts 2:1-21

The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them....
===
P31Header
LeAnn Rice
June 15, 2011
Sharing Grace
LeAnn Rice
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)
Five years ago I took a spiritual gifts test and failed! Well, in my mind, I failed.
I had high hopes that the test would confirm that I have the spiritual gift of wisdom, discernment, evangelism or mercy. You know...a good, useful gift. A change-the-world kind of gift. I was crushed to discover that I do not possess any of what I perceived as "good" gifts.
Since I was sure I knew myself better than this silly test, I took it again. I ended up taking the spiritual gifts test five times! Sadly, each one confirmed that I was stuck with the frivolous gift of hospitality. Seriously? I wanted to be a wise sage and soul-winning evangelist, not a hostess!
Shortly after my testing marathon I read today's key verse. Reading it a second time, my eyes lingered over the words "whatever gift." It doesn't say, "Only those with the gift of leadership or evangelism go and serve." As I pondered this verse I realized that as a body of Christians we could not accomplish nearly as much if we all had the same gifts. I embraced my gift of hospitality and God showed me He could use my ability to create a fancy meal or decorate a beautiful table to make others feel special. I can administer God's grace through what I thought was fluff!
What gift(s) has God given you? If you haven't yet determined your spiritual gift(s), spend some time thinking about what you do well, what hidden talent you may have, and what you have a passion for. Ask your friends what they think your talents are.
Then ask God how you can use these gifts to share His grace with others. If you are a musician, consider playing at a local retirement center or soup kitchen. If you love to scrapbook, consider organizing memories for someone who is unable to do so. If you have great computer skills, consider helping women at a shelter put together resumes or teach computer skills to help them secure a job.
I have learned that my "frivolous" gift of hospitality is not so frivolous after all. Extending hospitality, simple or extravagant, is a tangible way to share God's love and His grace with family, friends, co-workers, and strangers. My prayer is that every day God will provide me with new opportunities to use the gifts He has bestowed upon me for His kingdom and for His glory.
Dear Lord, thank You that You have gifted each of us differently. Help me discover the gifts You have given me so I may use them to administer Your grace to everyone around me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Visit LeAnn's amazing She Cooks site today for an awesome giveaway and to see how LeAnn is using her gift of hospitality to reach others with the grace of God. Come for recipes, menus, and special event planning, and stay for much more! LeAnn is looking forward to spending time cooking together.
Shaped with Purpose Workbook and CD: Discovering Your God-given Gifts, Passions, Personality and Abilities by Renee Swope
When you purchase resources through Proverbs 31 Ministries, you touch eternity because your purchase supports the many areas of hope-giving ministry we provide at no cost. We wish we could, but we simply can't compete with prices offered by huge online warehouses. Therefore, we are extremely grateful for each and every purchase you make with us. Thank you!
Application Steps:
How can I purposefully use my spiritual gifts to share God's love and grace with those around me?
Reflections:
Reflect on 1 Peter 4:9-11, "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ." (NIV)
Am I truly being a good steward of the gifts entrusted to me by the Holy Spirit, using them to serve others and to glorify Christ and not merely for my own personal gain or enjoyment?
Power Verses:
Romans 12:4-6, "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us." (NIV)
1 Corinthians 12:4-6, "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men." (NIV)
© 2011 by LeAnn Rice. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org


No comments: