Thursday, June 19, 2014

Thu Jun 19th Todays News

Many will misunderstand and inflate the high court decision to stop the government plan to pay for school religious counsellors. It is an over reach, with an ambit claim that it is inappropriate for public schools to provide access to religious education. In fact democracy demands informed citizens and education is a better teacher than rumour. It is ok for students to learn scripture and wrong for atheists to deny it to the children of others. If the truth is so seductive, it should be provided. 

Even so, the legislation the High Court panned is not the conservative one, but the ALP vision put in place of a conservative one. The ALP have a shameful history of bad legislation which achieves little. It is often different from the conservative variety, but weaker too. The Gillard Pacific Solution was terrible. The tax on mining, tax on carbon, one which raises no money and the other raises prices for the poorest. 

Modern education is based on medieval religious instruction .. they fit. Scripture does not force students to choose. Anecdotally, some students choose not to be religious having experienced it. It is important for many students raised in religious households. It is wrong to deny many to satisfy a few activists. There are many programs that could be threatened if scripture is struck down. 
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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
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Vicki Smith and Phoebe Dela Cruz. Born on the same day, across the years. On your day in 1269, Louis IX of France imposed a fine of ten livres of silver on Jews found in public without a yellow badge. In 1816, The Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, rival fur-trading companies, engaged in a violent confrontation in present-day Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 1953, Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed as spies who passed U.S. nuclear weapons secrets to the Soviet Union. You see injustice, and the fur flies and none can escape .. nor should they. It is your day.
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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The untouchable truths that blind

Piers Akerman – Thursday, June 19, 2014 (7:17pm)

THE priorities of the ABC and much of the ­Fairfax media have been clarified by their response to the trade union royal commission.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'The untouchable truths that blind'
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PORTRAIT OF A DISABILITY PENSIONER

Tim Blair – Thursday, June 19, 2014 (5:30pm)

Khaled Sharrouf lived on a disability pension in Sydney, but he’s well enough to plan terrorist attacks here and towage jihad in Syria and Iraq:

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My translation may be wrong, but I think he’s holding a “handicapped parking only” banner.
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JUMP OR PUSH

Tim Blair – Thursday, June 19, 2014 (5:13pm)

Richard Ackland has filed his final typos for the Sydney Morning Herald:

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SMH editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir responds: 
Our long-time respected columnist Richard Ackland has taken to Twitter to claim he has been sacked …
I was informed by Richard last Friday by email after lunch that he was doing a regular column for The Saturday Paper.
Given Richard had worked as a regular columnist for the SMH for 17 years, I felt – perhaps naively – that he would have sought my thoughts prior to committing to this work – not AFTER the fact …
I have not sacked him. He has made his own decision. 
In other media moves, Stephen Spencer is out at Ten: 
He was ruthlessly let go on Friday, in the network’s latest round of redundancies, and left Parliament House devastated at 1pm. 
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FRIGHTBATTERY FURY

Tim Blair – Thursday, June 19, 2014 (5:46am)

When you describe hysterical crazy people as crazy and hysterical, it creates hysterical craziness. Tuesday’s pollgenerated masses of delicious Twitter outrage and some of the finest hate messages I’ve ever received: 
• So Tim Blair the rapist who can’t get it up without violence wants to blame the women of Australia for his problems.
• Hi Tim. You will be excited to know that this survey has successfully moved you to the top of the list of people I’d like to see floating in a river, wrapped in plastic. We can only wait and hope that people like yourself will be first against the wall when the revolution comes.
• Timmy needs to stop being a coward, do the right thing and put a bullet in his temple. 
Academic and Fairfax columnist Jenna Price, one of the original Frightbat Ten, told of the chilling moment she learned about her inclusion in the poll: 
I got the phone call about 6pm on Tuesday night.
“Mum," said the voice. “Mum, are you OK?”
Turns out that one of my children had stumbled across a few sentences written by the Daily Telegraph blogger Tim Blair … My child called with real concern for my feelings. 
You’d think those feelings might have become a little more robust during Price’s various protest campaigns, includingsending a tampon every month to immigration minister Scott Morrison. But that’s the way of the modern left. They dish out the most ridiculous abuse, but turn into delicate 19th century maidens when criticism or mockery is returned. Don’t make fun of us; we’re just girls! Speaking of history, here’s a lecturer in Ancient Greek from Melbourne University
“Frightbat" is a metaphorical endocentric compound. It refers to a type of bat, but one which is metaphorically understood to be a female person. Blair is drawing here on a venerable tradition of associating dangerous females with witchcraft and creatures of the night. 
Er, yes. Or it might’ve just sounded funny. Several of the Frightbat Ten now embrace the term, offering a line of t-shirts and planning a calendar
Hey frightbats! Let’s do 2015 calender and donate the profits to all the women’s shelters who have lost funding. What do you say? 
Some say … NO! Only days old, the frightbat feminist movement is already fatally fractured. Clem Bastow rejects frightbat solidarity: 
Personally I’d rather drink vase water than wear “Frightbat”, with all that implies, as some reclaimed badge of honour. 
Not to mention the difficulty of badge placement. As an all-purpose problem solver, there are always Lydia E. Pinkham’s magic tablets.
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IT’S BEEN A WHILE

Tim Blair – Thursday, June 19, 2014 (5:35am)

The last time NSW won a State of Origin series, Bob Carr was Premier, John Howard was Prime Minister and George W. Bush was President. Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were still alive. Bill Shorten hadn’t even entered parliament.
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GROUP OF DEATH

Tim Blair – Thursday, June 19, 2014 (4:58am)

A Chinese man has bored himself to death watching soccer. It’s far worse in Nigeria, where World Cup fans are beingslaughtered by soccer-hating Islamists
At least 21 people have been killed in a bomb blast in northern Nigeria as they were watching a World Cup match, a hospital source has told the BBC.
Witnesses in Damaturu, in Yobe state, say a suicide bomber in a tricycle taxi detonated explosives as people watched Brazil’s match against Mexico on TV. 
Boko Haram, suspected of involvement in the murders, still holds more than 200 girls captive.
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TWISTED SISTERS

Tim Blair – Thursday, June 19, 2014 (4:43am)

Leather gloves put in a dryer – “Now they’ll only fit Dr Seuss” – and a wind turbine hit by lightning look much the same, and are about equal in environmental usefulness. Except that the gloves probably didn’t kill as many birds.
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MILANO NOGGIN

Tim Blair – Thursday, June 19, 2014 (4:34am)

If you must wear a bicycle helmet, at least wear one with a bit of style:

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ABC not biased? Imagine how much it would have written if the boats were still coming

Andrew Bolt June 19 2014 (2:48pm)

The Abbott Government today achieved an astonish milestone - six months without a single boat arriving.
In the same period last year, 13,000 boat people turned up and God knows how many drowned.
Even I thought it impossible to stop every boat so fast.
So how much coverage did the ABC devote to this today? Here is its national news list as of 2.45pm:
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How Kathy Jackson was smeared

Andrew Bolt June 19 2014 (11:09am)

In April The Age ran this smear of Kathy Jackson, the union corruption whistleblower and critic of Bill Shorten:

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The claims:

Health Services Union boss turned whistleblower Kathy Jackson ran a secretive union slush fund that used up to $300,000 in members’ money to help support the political and factional campaigns of her allies, including those from other unions.
Internal union banking records reveal $284,000 was transferred with Ms Jackson’s authorisation from her union’s main account into the “National Health Development Account” between 2003 and 2010.
Fairfax Media has confirmed that some of these funds were used to support Ms Jackson’s political allies, including officials from the Australian Workers Union, which was previously headed by federal opposition leader Bill Shorten…
“This sort of conduct has done incredible damage to the union movement. Members’ money must be used in a transparent and accountable manner,” said HSU branch secretary Craig McGregor, who in 2012 left his job as a radiographer after being elected to head the branch that Ms Jackson used to lead…
Leaked documents suggest there may have been an attempt inside the HSU to obscure the existence of the fund, with auditor accounts revealing an unknown person working for the HSU edited the spreadsheets to remove references to the NHDA.
The changes resulted in an accounting error in the 2006 financial statement, with $38,000 of members’ money sent to the fund removed from the final accounts.
But this week the source of these allegations, Craig McGregor, was quizzed in the royal commission about what he actually knew, what steps he’d actually taken to check his suspicions, and what chance he’d given Jackson to respond before leaking to The Age and the ABC.
The result was very damaging to McGregor - and not flattering for the media outlets who ran with his material. Will The Age now apologise to Jackson? 
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The anti-Abbott axis grows: ABC makes Palmer its honored guest

Andrew Bolt June 19 2014 (7:49am)

The ABC upgrades its schmoozing of its pet Abbott-hater:
ABC’s managing director Mark Scott and the broadcaster’s chairman James Spigelman hosted controversial MP Clive Palmer on their table at the press gallery Midwinter Ball in Canberra last night. 

Mr Palmer, who has vowed to vote against many of the government’s budget measures, was invited onto the ABC’s corporate table so that Mr Scott could establish a good relationship with the Queensland MP, who already is a fixture on the ABC’s news and current affairs channels.

“Mr Palmer will hold the balance of power and we are trying to keep good relations with him,” Mr Scott told The Australian…
Mr Scott is fighting to stop further funding cuts to the ABC…
The second politician the ABC had on its table was the member for Perth, Melissa Parke, who introduced an internal caucus motion to change the Labor Party position on offshore processing specific to Manus island and Nauru.
So damn obvious. With the ABC so defiantly partisan, from the very top down, the question for the Liberals is how to make the ABC live up to its charter - or slash it to a less dangerous size.
UPDATE
Dinner results:
At $15,100, a dinner for four with the Prime Minister was the highest price paid in the final minutes of the auction, while dinner for two with Mr Shorten and his deputy Tanya Plibersek reached $3950.
A home-cooked meal by Julie Bishop and Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull was the second most popular item with 24 bids, reaching $10,600.
Dinner with Clive Palmer was bought for $5200 while dinner with the Greens attracted one bid, by the Forest Products Association, of $3000.
No one likes Greens with their dinner. 
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Bill Shorten, branch stacker? Surely not

Andrew Bolt June 19 2014 (4:38am)

It would be useful to get a convincing denial from Bill Shorten:
BILL Shorten has been accused of handing thousands of dollars in cash to a Victorian Labor “branch stacker” to pay for ALP memberships. 

The potentially damaging claim against the federal Labor leader came from Health Services Union whistleblower Kathy Jackson just minutes before the ­conclusion of her evidence to the royal commission into union ­corruption yesterday.

Ms Jackson, who exposed ­convicted former HSU bosses ­Michael Williamson and Craig Thomson over large-scale fraud, admitted to the commission that she had used HSU union money running to thousands of dollars to pay for ALP memberships.
But in a surprise move, she then dropped Mr Shorten in the middle of rort allegations by claiming he told her one weekend at his house that he had given money to the same ALP branch stacker just after she had given the man $7000.
“That weekend when I did speak to Mr Shorten about giving Mr (David) Asmar the $7000, he laughed and said that he had also given him money, and you know, ‘the bastard must have double-dipped’ that week or that month,” Ms Jackson said.
According to Ms Jackson, the alleged payments occurred before Mr Shorten entered parliament in 2007, when he was national and Victorian secretary of the Australian Workers Union, a leader of the Victorian ALP’s Right faction and a senior office bearer in the party....
The alleged ALP branch-stacker, Mr Asmar, worked for Victorian ALP senator and faction boss Stephen Conroy…
A spokesman for Mr Shorten dismissed Ms Jackson’s alle­gation against the Labor leader.
“That is just untrue,” the spokesman said.
That said:

Ms Jackson ...defended herself against allegations she misappropriated union funds, denying she used HSU credit cards for more than $1 million in personal expenses, illegitimately siphoned off almost $250,000 in union money meant for former Cancer Centre workers to a slush fund or inappropriately paid $36,774 in union funds to Neranto No 10, a company of which she was co-director with her former husband, Jeff Jackson.
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Why are the Greens so hateful?

Andrew Bolt June 19 2014 (4:32am)

The Greens claim to be the party of compassion, but in fact best represent the politics of hatred and abuse:
CHRISTINE MILNE, GREENS LEADER: But here we’ve got a Prime Minister who is effectively barking mad on climate change.
But that anger has always been a hallmark of religious zealots.
True, Milne later apologised ... to the mentally ill.
UPDATE
The Left really is the natural home of the hater. Tim Blair gets the most astonishing hate-tweets from the compassionate Left. 
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Only good racism wanted

Andrew Bolt June 19 2014 (4:28am)

Does this panel of experts demanding changes to our Constitution not realise it’s pushing a pushmepullyou contradiction?
Under the expert panel’s model, a new section, 116A, would be established that would prohibit the commonwealth, states or territories from creating laws that discriminated on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic or national origin. However, the panel added that this did not preclude the making of laws or measures for the purpose of “overcoming disadvantage, ameliorating the effects of past discrimination, or protecting the cultures, languages or heritage of any group’’.
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Blame Islam before blaming the West

Andrew Bolt June 19 2014 (4:18am)

Islamism

THE blame game over Iraq — Bush’s fault? Obama’s? — should not blind us to the real cause of the mayhem. 

It isn’t the West. What we see in Iraq are Muslims killing Muslims and in the name of Islam.
(Read full article here.) 
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Won by Bush, lost by Obama

Andrew Bolt June 19 2014 (4:12am)

Islamism

DON’T blame George W Bush’s 2003 invasion for the throat-cutting jihadist army now rampaging through Iraq.
Bush’s war was actually won three years ago. 

How do we know? Because President Barack Obama and his Vice-President, Joe Biden, claimed Bush’s victory for themselves.
(Read full article here.) 
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Tutor taught lesson

Andrew Bolt June 19 2014 (4:06am)

Tell us again the universities haven’t been captured by the Left:
A MAGISTRATE lectured East West Link protesters about the project’s benefits yesterday as he convicted anti-tunnel activist Anthony Main of wilful damage. 

Magistrate Jonathon Klestadt told Main and co-accused Ashley Hall that as a “long-term resident of the western suburbs” he was “acutely aware” of the need for a road connecting Melbourne’s east and west…

Main and Hall pleaded guilty to damaging temporary fencing surrounding a drilling rig on Charlotte St, Collingwood, about 5.30am on January 15…
Hall, a university tutor, was placed on a six-month good behaviour bond and ordered to pay $350 to charity and $630 to police witnesses.
A university tutor? How surprisingly unsurprising. 
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=== Posts from last year ===
4 her so she can see how I see her

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The guy who thought Obama should give a stimulus of $100k to every American .. costing approx $30 trillion, backs Gilard. He thought about it. Deeply.
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Mudar Zahran
I just wonder why we Palestinians Arabs have chosen to fight Israel, while it brings the very modern values and qualities of life we leave our homes, travel thousands of miles away, to enjoy in the West....
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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY MP LYNDA VOLTZ IS BREAKING THE LAW

An organization Human Rights based in Tel Aviv threat of Australian teachers because of the boycott against Israel
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Sunset in Manhattan

Taken while on tour with the On The Road Yahoo! Campaign last May.
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FOR WHOM THE POLL TOLLS

This site has consistently claimed that Kevin Rudd can never lead Labor again. Polls that show a Rudd return might give Labor a fighting chance are misleading and indicate only the extremity of the public’s distaste for Gillard.

I have a ripper little dog called Blinky who would poll well when compared to Gillard. Even Ivan Milat would poll well if voters were forced to achoice. That’s the extent of Gillard’s unpopularity and it holds no Brownie points for Rudd

Media have been beating up Rudd’s prospects for years, he makes great copy, but if Labor is to field more than a lacrosse team after this election it needs to ignore the Milky Bar Kid.

Let’s face it, Kevin (I have to zip folks) Rudd is a political simpleton who was used as a footstool for Gillard’s elevation.

When the AWU could stand him no longer, it ruthlessly killed him off. Seriously, would it now agree to his reinstatement?

When union thugs and crooks like Howes and Ludwig decide who leads this nation what more can we expect than an ideologically driven gangsters’ moll like Gillard.

Ludwig’s heir in waiting, Bill Shorten, will certainly lead what’s left of this once-great Party after the election.

He could replace Gillard now, he has broad factional support, but he has a few problems.

First problem is he can’t keep his dick in his trousers.

Second, he is embroiled in the coming explosive expose on the AWU/Gillard/Slater & Gordon fraud case under investigation by the Victorian Fraud Squad.

Third, he doesn’t want to be the one to lead the Labor Party to an embarrassing defeat.

But in Opposition he will need numbers he can build on and that will not be possible if Gillard stays. What a dilemma for little Bill.

Leaked ACTU polling shows a Labor massacre. Why was it leaked? Because ACTU luminaries were ruefully coveting safe Labor seats that will no longer exist if Gillard stays.

The ACTU wants Gillard gone too, but it wants anyone but Rudd.

With illegal immigration looming as the major election issue, the cerumen-ingesting, overfed public servant with female hands would have less electoral credibility than does Gillard.

Gillard and McTernan are deperate to drag Abbott into the cesspit of their gender division with yet another spurious charge; this time, touching an aboriginal woman on the arm and linking the dastardly deed to domestic violence.

The aboriginal woman, and Labor sympathiser, said she needed counselling and felt like wearing a burka to escape his lascivious clutches. WTF?

Perhaps future Opposition leader Shorten might care to answer the charge that he touched a 23yo staffer somewhere else that necessitated an abortion.

But that’s just another rumour eh?... a rumour that ABC Insiders’ panellists won’t have heard of either.

So, who exactly has taken politics to this depth of sewage in a desperate attempt to cling to power? Mmmm.

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Enchanted River is found in Barangay Talisay, Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur. It is called "enchanted" because no one has ever reached its bottom.
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Anti-pervert hairy stockings for women are huge in China right now.
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Zaya Toma
Chris Bowen just updated his cover photo to one with Kevin Rudd. In Facebook language, this is basically a declaration of war. I believe this is a sign that there is going to be a leadership challenge by Kevin Rudd in the coming days. Let this be the final leadership battle before the election of a strong, cohesive and disciplined Abbott led, Liberal Government. #auspol
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Friends walk in when everyone else walks out. These pastors flew out to California just to hang out with me for 2 days and lift my spirit. This picnic is in my back yard. @BrianCHouston @JoeChampion @GregSurratt @Rick_Bezet @DinoRizzo, not pictured @Chris_Hodges
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Day 3 of exams! Good luck to those sitting today. Here's some very serious looking students at an exam in MacLaurin Hall in 1964. Maybe someone can spot their parents...

[University of Sydney Archives: G3_224_1087]
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Incredible oil painting "Brewing Tea" by ~MingYouXu http://bit.ly/100Eex8
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SOME OF YOU ASKED FOR THIS AGAIN....HERE YOU GO!!♥

FAT FLUSH WATER !!!

You should drink at least three 8 oz glasses per day, they say the longer it sits, the better it tastes. You can eat them as well but they are intended as flavoring and still work, so that is a personal choice. The Vitamin C turns fat into fuel, the tangerine increases your sensitivity to insulin, and the cucumber makes you feel full. Try it for 10 days and see what you think!

Ingredients per 8 oz serving

Water
1 slice grapefruit
1 tangerine
½ cucumber, sliced
2 peppermint leaves
Ice – as much as you like

Directions
Wash grapefruit, tangerine cucumber and peppermint leaves. Slice cucumber, grapefruit and tangerine (or peel). Combine all ingredients (fruits, vegetables, 8 oz water, and ice) into a large pitcher.

Stir & Enjoy!

PLEASE SHARE  To SAVE this recipe, be sure to click SHARE so it will store on your personal page.

For more healthy recipes, tips, motivation and fun, join us here: For more recipes & Good Idea's go to my support group 
WWW.LOSINGWEIGHTWITHHEATHERJOHNSON.COM

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Pug raising abandoned TIGER cubs as if they were their own after the cats' mother abandoned them.(in russia)
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A beautiful testimony about Gods angels and how God can turn discouragement into assurance and peace. 

An angel.
I believe I met one of Gods angels today. Last night I stayed up crying in bed asking God why my life turned out the way it is. I woke up the next morning and started my long day at 5.45am. Work started at 8 and finished at 1.There has been a lot happening at home, so I decided to go to uni and study. I have been feeling sad and discouraged for the last couple of months. I had felt like everything around me was falling apart. I often questioned God and asked him why I was going through so much struggle and pain and when my life was going to change. I really forgot who God was, I forgot he had a plan and purpose for everything and that he would never let me down. I finished of my study at 8.45pm. It began to rain. It was cold and dark. I quickly ran to my car, turned the radio on and began to drive home. I usually take the M4 home as it is the quickest. Drove past the Westmead exit and I saw a 3 car pile up. I said a quick prayer driving past and hoped noone was hurt. I continued driving down the M4 until I slammed on my breaks because the driver infront of me had gone into 2 other cars. At that moment my car started to slide.I saw a tiny gap on the next lane and knew my car wouldn't fit into it. I continued to slam my breaks. It was all so sudden, I was in that next lane. I believe an angel came and steered my car into the next lane. It definitely wasn't me.Some people may think I'm crazy but I know it was God. I could feel it. I began to cry and cry because I had no explanation to it. In that moment I felt God telling me not to be discouraged and that this was a reminder that he is still here watching over me and that he has a plan for everything and to wait patiently. - Anonymous
I don't find these kind of stories encouraging .. it makes me skeptical. I believe in God awake and active. This seems to me to be double mindedness. Good things happen when God is part of your life .. it doesn't mean blind luck. Give thanks to him because he has been there for you, from before birth, and will be there for you long after your body passes. - ed
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Matt Yglesias: Is Bobby Jindal’s rep for intelligence just ‘ethnic stereotyping?’ ==>http://twitchy.com/2013/06/18/matt-yglesias-is-bobby-jindals-rep-for-intelligence-just-ethnic-stereotyping/
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The Chicago Jelly Bean…

Another shot from my time traveling across the US on the Project Weather tour with Yahoo! while in Chicago. The day was shot, with blanched white skies, but I knew that night would dial in a scene or two. The trouble with getting a shot at this location was all the people surrounding this spaceship from another planet that decided to park in the heart of this grand city. Night time was the right time also because I could do a nice long exposure which eliminated the 15-20 souls who were wandering around it this particular evening. I like people, but not when they get in the way of a remarkable piece of art that needs to be photographed by yours truly.
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
Don't focus on the problem , you give the problem more power, focus on the solution, and have faith, live in hope, never despair.. God will not forsake you..
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June 19Corpus Christi (various Western Christian churches, 2014); Day of the Independent HungaryJuneteenth in some parts of the United States
Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico
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Events[edit]

Births[edit]

Deaths[edit]

Holidays and observances[edit]

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“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”Ephesians 6:4 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Thy Redeemer."
Isaiah 54:5
Jesus, the Redeemer, is altogether ours and ours forever. All the offices of Christ are held on our behalf. He is king for us, priest for us, and prophet for us. Whenever we read a new title of the Redeemer, let us appropriate him as ours under that name as much as under any other. The shepherd's staff, the father's rod, the captain's sword, the priest's mitre, the prince's sceptre, the prophet's mantle, all are ours. Jesus hath no dignity which he will not employ for our exaltation, and no prerogative which he will not exercise for our defence. His fulness of Godhead is our unfailing, inexhaustible treasure-house.
His manhood also, which he took upon him for us, is ours in all its perfection. To us our gracious Lord communicates the spotless virtue of a stainless character; to us he gives the meritorious efficacy of a devoted life; on us he bestows the reward procured by obedient submission and incessant service. He makes the unsullied garment of his life our covering beauty; the glittering virtues of his character our ornaments and jewels; and the superhuman meekness of his death our boast and glory. He bequeaths us his manger, from which to learn how God came down to man; and his Cross to teach us how man may go up to God. All his thoughts, emotions, actions, utterances, miracles, and intercessions, were for us. He trod the road of sorrow on our behalf, and hath made over to us as his heavenly legacy the full results of all the labours of his life. He is now as much ours as heretofore; and he blushes not to acknowledge himself "our Lord Jesus Christ," though he is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Christ everywhere and every way is our Christ, forever and ever most richly to enjoy. O my soul, by the power of the Holy Spirit! call him this morning, "thy Redeemer."

Evening

"I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse."
Song of Solomon 5:1
The heart of the believer is Christ's garden. He bought it with his precious blood, and he enters it and claims it as his own. A garden implies separation. It is not the open common; it is not a wilderness; it is walled around, or hedged in. Would that we could see the wall of separation between the church and the world made broader and stronger. It makes one sad to hear Christians saying, "Well, there is no harm in this; there is no harm in that," thus getting as near to the world as possible. Grace is at a low ebb in that soul which can even raise the question of how far it may go in worldly conformity. A garden is a place of beauty, it far surpasses the wild uncultivated lands. The genuine Christian must seek to be more excellent in his life than the best moralist, because Christ's garden ought to produce the best flowers in all the world. Even the best is poor compared with Christ's deservings; let us not put him off with withering and dwarf plants. The rarest, richest, choicest lilies and roses ought to bloom in the place which Jesus calls his own. The garden is a place of growth. The saints are not to remain undeveloped, always mere buds and blossoms. We should grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Growth should be rapid where Jesus is the Husbandman, and the Holy Spirit the dew from above. A garden is a place of retirement. So the Lord Jesus Christ would have us reserve our souls as a place in which he can manifest himself, as he doth not unto the world. O that Christians were more retired, that they kept their hearts more closely shut up for Christ! We often worry and trouble ourselves, like Martha, with much serving, so that we have not the room for Christ that Mary had, and do not sit at his feet as we should. The Lord grant the sweet showers of his grace to water his garden this day.
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Today's reading: Nehemiah 10-11, Acts 4:1-22 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Nehemiah 10-11

1 Those who sealed it were:
Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hakaliah.
Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah,
3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malkijah,
4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluk,
5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah,
6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch,
7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin,
8 Maaziah, Bilgai and Shemaiah....

Today's New Testament reading: Acts 4:1-22

Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin
1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand....
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