Thursday, August 21, 2014

Thu Aug 21st Todays News

I began this project a year ago and so I have now completed a phase of my plan to establish a digital cultural museum in the Smithfield and Cabramatta area which promotes local talent and maintains a bulletin board on current issues. It will pay for martial arts clips and cultural dance which are open sourced so as to allow free use or nominal cost. It will allow me to post videos and articles without editorial interference from FB, Google et al. Not a free for all, discussion involves listening as well as voicing an opinion. The phase I have completed is a daily historical column (not really complete, there is a three week hole which needs to be filled and the articles need revising and editing and to be fleshed out. Also a survey of days events from wikipedia. The emphasis is a conservative voice, which is not available through mainstream press in Australia. There are a few conservative commentators, but the best news service (news.com.au) is balanced and often compromised through left wing advocacy. Whereas left wing ideology is conformist in nature, conservatism is a broad tent with diverse opinion and agenda. 

 The leader of the opposition has announced he has been investigated for a sexual assault claim made about events in the 80's. The prosecution has announced they could not reasonably hope for a successful prosecution and so, with that ringing endorsement which is more stained than Cardinal Pell or Hollingworth, Shorten claims he is innocent. The victim is upset at the decision of the prosecutor. It would also be impossible to prosecute Shorten on the issue of competence, something Shorten no doubt feels is abhorrent to him. The event related to a young Labor camp when Shorten was 19 and the victim was 16 years old. A reminder, if it were needed, that the former ACTU leader has never done anything in his life but order people around on Labor activist issues. 

 More information has been released regarding the beheading of a journalist in the Middle East by Islamic terrorists. Apparently the family who were working to have the victim freed had been sent a threatening email demanding Obama stop bombing, a week ago. Apparently special forces were tasked to free the journalist. The follow up journalist is then probably already dead, but the terrorists are timing the release of the death video. It is a reminder that the theory of evolution is a disproof of Islam. Not the Islam of faithful peoples who coexist peacefully with others and have contributed to arts and science over the years, but the so called Islam of murderous hateful thugs whose so called Allah uses mentally ill people to represent his people. Crimes against humanity bring Islam into disrepute and it is incumbent on the those who are faithful to resist those who champion terrorism. Who wants to be represented by a pervert? Allah? 

 On this day in history, 
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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

Douglas Sutherland-Bruce via David Daniel Ball
Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may; I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - ed

Lorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.

I have begun a bulletin board (http://theconservativevoice.freeforums.net) which will allow greater latitude for members to post and interact. It is not subject to FB policy and so greater range is allowed in posts. Also there are private members rooms in which nothing is censored, except abuse. All welcome, registration is free.
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Ian Russell Baker and Trevor Sobey, born on the same day as Philip II of France (1165), William Murdoch (1754), Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789), Count Basie (1904), Friz Freleng (1905), Christopher Robin Milne (1920), Melvin Van Peebles (1932), Kenny Rogers (1938), Endre Szemerédi (1940), Peter Weir (1944), Hayden Panettiere (1989) and Usain Bolt (1986). On your day, Raksha Bandhan (Hinduism, 2013); Ninoy Aquino Day in the Philippines
1831 – Nat Turner led a slave revolt in Southampton County, Virginia, US, but it was suppressed about 48 hours later.
1911 – Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre by a museum employee and was not recovered until two years later.
1963 – The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces raided and vandalised Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands and leaving an estimated hundreds dead.
1969 – An Australian tourist set the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire, a major catalyst of the formation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
1993 – NASA lost contact with its Mars Observer spacecraft, three days before orbital insertion. It is a good day for Pooh. The slaves are revolting, but so are the owners. Mona Lisa's smile is more enigmatic. Mistakes are made, but you can correct them, if you are observant.
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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Trade union preys on weak and guilt-ridden

Piers Akerman – Thursday, August 21, 2014 (7:29pm)

THERE was an outpouring of public sympathy for Down syndrome baby Gammy, abandoned in Thailand to be cared for by his surrogate mother, 21-year-old Pattaramon Chanbua.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'Trade union preys on weak and guilt-ridden'
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The big rush to rewrite history

Piers Akerman – Thursday, August 21, 2014 (6:44pm)

SINCE last year’s election, there has been an unholy rush by participants competing to get their versions of history into print. First out of the chute was Rob Oakeshott’s own explanation for the failure of the nation to find any beauty in the ugliness of Julia Gillard’s minority government he helped install.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'The big rush to rewrite history'
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PULPED FICTION

Tim Blair – Thursday, August 21, 2014 (2:26pm)

A cooperative venture between Fairfax and ABC staffers somehow goes horribly wrong: 
Copies of a best-selling, anti-corruption expose are set to be pulped after the authors mistakenly named the son of former federal tourism minister John Brown as a business associate of disgraced former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid.
Chris Brown is seeking the pulping of all copies on bookstore shelves, a public apology and the right to pursue compensation for damage to his reputation after he was confused with an Obeid business partner of the same name.
He Who Must be Obeid was written by Walkley award winning journalists Kate McClymont, a writer for the Sydney Morning Herald, and the ABC’s Linton Besser. Released last month, it was withdrawn from shelves on Wednesday. 
According to the victim, checking was non-existent: 
‘’There was no normal journalistic process in calling me,” he said. “It would have taken four minutes on the ASIC website to find out this Chris Brown was not me … nobody bothered to check that that Chris Brown was born in Colchester, has a different middle name and lives in Canberra.’’ 
An easy enough mistake to make, I suppose. After all, who would have guessed that Australia has more than one Chris Brown?
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PAINFUL TRUTH

Tim Blair – Thursday, August 21, 2014 (1:44pm)

Andrew Klavan, in the LA Times: 
It is not a journalist’s job to protect us from the ugly facts. Neither is it his job to protect the sensitive from the painful truth or anyone, really, from anything.
In fact, speaking more broadly, it is not a journalist’s job to make the world a better place, to ensure our right thinking, or to defend the virtuous politicians that sophisticates like himself voted for while excoriating the evildoers elected by those country rubes on the other side. It is not his job to do good or be kind or be wise. The idea that any of this is a journalist’s job is a fallacy that seems to have infected the trade in the 1970s, when idealistic highbrows began to replace the Janes and Joes who knew a good story when they heard one.
Because that’s the journalist’s job: the story. His only job: to tell the whole story straight. 
That’s pretty much all there is to it. Here are two recent examples.
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BIKINI PATHOLOGY

Tim Blair – Thursday, August 21, 2014 (5:58am)

According to someone interviewed by a woman in a bikini, coal seam gas makes children bleed from their eyes:



Yeah, right. Just as well kids aren’t birds: 
California’s massive Ivanpah solar power plant can produce enough electricity for 140,000 households — but the environmental cost is nothing less than an avian slaughter …
Ivanpah owner BrightSource estimates that “about a thousand” die each year, and one environmental group says the plant kills up to 28,000 birds each year.
Ivanpah isn’t the only green darling with a lot of bird blood on its hands, either. The American Bird Conservancy estimates wind turbines slay 440,000 birds each year, and the an analyst writing in the Wildlife Society Bulletin says it’s closer to 573,000 — in addition to 888,000 bats. 
It’s a batfright!
UPDATE. Our bikini-clad scientific authorities are also against fluoride: 
They tell us it’s good for our dental health. Little do we know, it’s a toxic poison affecting major organs in our body. Originally used in Nazi German concentration camps in WW2 to keep the prisoners apathetic and docile, it is now in Queensland water supplies (albeit in lower doses). Much of western Europe has rejected it and there is a growing movement around the world to rid our water supplies of this carcenogenic sterilent. 
(Via bigpete) 
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BACKLASH STILL ON THE WAY

Tim Blair – Thursday, August 21, 2014 (5:53am)

Mark Steyn in 2006: 
I believe the old definition of a nanosecond was the gap between a New York traffic light changing to green and the first honk of a driver behind you. Today, the definition of a nanosecond is the gap between a western terrorist incident and the press release of a Muslim lobby group warning of an impending outbreak of Islamophobia. After the London Tube bombings, Angus Jung sent the Aussie pundit Tim Blair a note-perfect parody of the typical newspaper headline:
British Muslims Fear Repercussions Over Tomorrow’s Train Bombing. 
And now to 2014: 
Local Muslim leaders fear James Foley’s brutal beheading will cause backlash … 
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SURF ‘N’ WOOF

Tim Blair – Thursday, August 21, 2014 (5:49am)

A canine-crustacean challenge:

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SILENT OB

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 20, 2014 (8:15pm)

There is no point being history’s greatest speaker if you don’t actually speak: 
President Obama returned to his vacation home at Martha’s Vineyard after briefly interrupting his vacation for two days of meetings in Washington, D.C.
Obama met with his economic team Tuesday before leaving the White House at 4:22 pm to return to his vacation home.
He did not react to the news that broke later that evening about an ISIS video that showed the beheading of American journalist James Wright Foley. 
In other developments, here’s Ronald S. Lauder in the NYT: 
Why is the world silent while Christians are being slaughtered in the Middle East and Africa? In Europe and in the United States, we have witnessed demonstrations over the tragic deaths of Palestinians who have been used as human shields by Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls Gaza. The United Nations has held inquiries and focuses its anger on Israel for defending itself against that same terrorist organization. But the barbarous slaughter of thousands upon thousands of Christians is met with relative indifference. 
UPDATE. Obama finally speaks, for what it’s worth: 
Let’s be clear about ISIL … ISIL speaks for no religion. 
I’m pretty sure it does. What does the “I” stand for again?
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Improbable rape claim dropped. UPDATE: Shorten names himself

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (10:26am)

I didn’t believe it for a second and have refused from the start to name the accused:
A senior figure in the Labor Party will not face criminal charges over an alleged rape dating back to the 1980s…

“Investigating police sought advice from the Office of Public Prosecutions, which advised there was no reasonable prospect of conviction,” a statement from Victoria Police said.
I hope the whisper campaign on the Internet now stops.
UPDATE
Opposition leader Bill Shorten names himself. Says the claims are untrue, date from when he was 19 and have distressed his family. He won’t talk about this again.
Note: the media have been scrupulous throughout - and correct - in not naming him. I hope this same courtesy will be extended to any Liberal who faces the same awful predicament. 
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Obama claims to know Islam better than the Islamic State chief

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (9:56am)

Barack Obama claims the beheading of James Foley is non-Islamic:
So ISIL speaks for no religion. Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just god would stand for what they did yesterday
But Simon Turnill wonders whether Barack Obama really understands Islam better than does the “caliph” of the Islamic State:
A professor, teacher, former educator, recognized preacher, and a graduate of the Islamic University in Baghdad, where he finished his academic studies (BA, MA and PhD). He is known as a preacher and a person of knowledge in Islamic culture, Shariah knowledge, and jurisprudence, and possessing vast knowledge of history and lineage…

He is a man from a religious family. His brothers and uncles include preachers and teachers in Arabic, eloquence and logic. 
UPDATE
When it comes to denialism, Guardian assistant editor Michael White wins the prize:
One widely used [image this month] ... was a video screengrab of a bearded young man, Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary from west London. Kitted out in Kevin the Teenage Jihadi uniform, he was boasting about his adventures in Syria while holding a severed head ("Chillin’ with my homie, or what’s left of him") in one hand…
Yet in that odd way [these images] are as reassuring as they are menacing… But the Kevins, the Barys and their tweets remain rooted in our own world, Pop Idol, the football season, even the death of Robin Williams, and their self-evident silliness shines through the words they glibly utter as clearly as it does through those beards, as obligatory a fashion statement as tattoos or nose-piercing in some quarters. Last year Kevin was into rapping or medical studies, this year jihad, next year back to studying perhaps – if he survives the Nutella-free side of jihad and escapes the attention of the British police at Heathrow or Manchester airport....
And [Islamic State] Baghdadi and his movement are routinely condemned as “evil, corrupt, self-centred and un-Islamic” by leading British Muslims, though not loudly enough to generate media headlines very often....
But for all their threats to stick one on the White House or reopen Turkey’s Atatürk dam (shutting the Euphrates’ water off to both Syria and Iraq lately) by conquering Istanbul, the viewer can’t help but notice how utterly in thrall the Kevins are to so-called “western” technology and behaviour, and how utterly dependant on it they are…
So, let’s tackle Islamic State and Kevin the Canon Fodder; better still let’s encourage well-armed state actors in the region to sort out a fundamentalist problem it helped to create from Saudi and football-loving Qatar. But let’s not over-react, let’s not do some of the brutally counterproductive and brutal things we’ve done in the past. We want the lucky Kevins to survive, to come home for clean underwear, chastened not angry, and keen to go to college.
Will we still be talking about Isis in a year? I may be wrong, but I doubt it.
The Islamic State may be destroyed next year. But we will indeed by talking about some Kevin still, and for many years yet. British Muslims now hacking off heads of American, Iraqi and Syrian blasphemers will not return to Britain merely “chastened not angry”, and the wide-eyed malcontents admiring their work on social media won’t be dreaming of college. Liking Robin Williams does not mean you can’t also kill. Evil is actually banal.

(Thanks to reader BGC.) 
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Cut the Budget negotiations. Cut Palmer’s oxygen

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (9:44am)

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FOR God’s sake put the country out of this misery, Prime Minister. End these Budget negotiations now.
Forget it. There will be no big breakthrough deal with the likes of crazy Clive Palmer and his banshee, Senator Jacqui Lambie, now talking of wanting missiles to stop an “invasion” by those “mongrels” in China.
Nor will reckless Labor lift a finger to back the savings in your Budget, and the Greens are on another planet.
Between the three of them, they’ve got the Senate locked up, so almost every contentious spending cut in your Budget is dead.
The only question now is how long you want to let prize jerks humiliate you and trash the country’s good name.
(Read full article here.)    
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Ferguson: Swan betrayed me and sank Labor

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (9:34am)

The adult in the Rudd Government speaks out:
FORMER resources minister Martin Ferguson has accused Wayne Swan of misleading and ambushing the mining industry over his proposed mining tax, of betraying Mr Ferguson and of provoking the industry campaign against the former Labor government.
“I was misled by Swan,” Mr Ferguson said in an exclusive interview. “The industry was promised full and proper consultations. But Swan had no intention of that. Wayne does not like meetings and argument. He likes to ambush you with the numbers. He is a political apparatchik, not a policy person.”
Kevin Rudd also believes he was misled by his treasurer over the resource super-profits tax and says in a further exclusive interview that Mr Swan “told us that they (the miners) would be supportive of the proposal"…
In effect, the Ferguson critique destroys the Labor folklore of a brave ALP government being unfairly assaulted by a bunch of multinational corporations.
“We lost the mining tax dispute not because of the mining industry’s response but because we created the mess,” Mr Ferguson said.
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Wake up to ourselves. As Stevens says, this Budget isn’t tough

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (9:26am)

Glenn Stevens nails the fraud in a country gone so mad that it’s screaming about the “unfairness” even of a lousy 1 cent a rise in petrol excise:
Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens skewered the rhetoric about this year’s budget by labelling it “not that tough” and making it clear the nation needed federal parliament action to scale back the deficit…
Mr Stevens said voters had backed some “very big and very costly” programs but were yet to accept the spending and tax changes needed to pay for them…
”I did not think, really, that the budget was that draconian, frankly, in a macro-economic sense,” he told a parliamentary committee yesterday.
“I am not talking about this measure or that measure; I am talking about the pace of intended consolidation over a run of years. That is actually not that tough, frankly.”
Bill Shorten launched his ­assault on the budget in May by warning voters of “unbelievably tough cuts” to family benefits and pensions, while Greens leader Christine Milne has attacked “cruel” measures and argued for higher taxes on mining companies and banks instead.
Tony Abbott has called the government’s plan “necessarily tough” to reduce the deficit.
You want an argument about unfairness?
Here’s what is unfair. It is unfair that we’re spending money we don’t have. It is unfair we’re spending money we’ll steal from our children. It’s unfair that Labor left us with blown Budgets and debt over our ears.  
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No to racism. Not to racist changes to our constitution

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (9:24am)

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In the end, only Muslims can stop this brutality

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (8:55am)

The Koran and Hadith licence the savagery we now see. Historian Tom Holland calls for an Islamic Reformation - if that is possible:
This battle has to be fought and won by theologians.
Why, for instance, do Islamic militants think a beheading is something to revel in?
Not just because it terrifies their enemies; not just because it demonstrates their own martial prowess. Nothing is permissible in the Islamic State, after all, unless it is believed to be divinely licensed — and beheadings, in the opinion of its fighters, are indeed sanctioned.
“I will instil terror into the hearts of the unbelievers,” God declares in the Koran. “Strike off their heads, then, and strike off all their fingertips.” Mohammed is said to have ordered the decapitation of 700 rebellious Jews. His sword — after which the Iranian battle tank Zulfiqar is named — translates into English as “cleaver of vertebrae”.
That there are other, richer, more nuanced interpretations of these various verses and traditions in Islam goes without saying. Indeed, so completely does it go without saying that there is a temptation to take it for granted.
This, amid the horrors of what is happening in the Fertile Crescent, would be a mistake. The appeal of the brutal and murderous literalism of the Islamic State is too lethal to permit such complacency.
These signs from a Sydney protest suggest beheading is indeed considered by many Muslims to have religious sanction. These protesters haven’t just independently dreamed up some punishment of their own:
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Clive Palmer loses again. Is his money now running out?

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (8:36am)

Clive Palmer once had a boast:

Mr Palmer, who is renowned for being highly litigious, has repeatedly boasted that he has been to court 68 times and won every case.
That’s even less true this week, and the question is: is Clive Palmer running out of money? Hedley Thomas:

In the Federal Court in Perth, then a short time later in the Federal Court in Sydney, the resources tycoon copped a legal belting yesterday…

Palmer desperately needed a win in the Federal Court to provide leverage to salvage something from the wreckage of his increasingly costly commercial battle with China’s state-owned international investment company, Citic Pacific. The two emphatic judgments he got have severely undermined his negotiating position…
[A]t their nub is a valuable, powerful prize: control of the port of Cape Preston, the hub for the shipment of iron ore. China’s money built this port and its infrastructure… Iron ore from West Australian tenements controlled by Palmer’s company, Mineralogy, has been shipped through the new port since December…
The reason Palmer is unhinged about all of this is simple. As he runs out of money, and as the ships keep turning up to deliver iron ore to Chinese mills, his demands for royalties for himself remain bogged down in litigation…
If things had gone his way [in court] — if he had wrested back some control of Cape Preston, sufficient to stop those ongoing shipments of iron ore — ... he might have been able to stall the resources project and tightened the screws until he had achieved a royalty deal to his satisfaction… Palmer’s defeat in both Federal Court matters will cut deeply.
Back to the Brisbane case, it remains Palmer’s greatest challenge. The allegations of “fraud” and “dishonesty” [over $12 million Citic claims Palmer took from them] ... are to be determined in a hearing in which hundreds of documents about where the $12m went. It will also rule on a so-called “sham” port services agreement that was allegedly clumsily pulled together by Palmer’s company after the withdrawals, but backdated, in a bid to justify the withdrawals of the Chinese funds from a National Australia Bank cheque account in August and September last year. Palmer signed the cheques, and Beijing suspects its funds wrongfully bankrolled his party into the federal election. Palmer denies wrongdoing.
Niki Savva says Palmer is running out of credit:
Voters vested Palmer with the balance of power, then watched in wry amusement as he revelled in the attention it bestowed.
On Monday night they also got to see that whatever faith they had in him to cherish that trust and use it for their benefit was sorely misplaced. He showed he was willing to risk Australia’s national interest to settle scores or to deflect attention from his business practices....
Any old politician, any old businessman, or any old bigot on a bus might get away with it, but a wealthy MP holding the balance of power launching a vicious, premeditated attack on our biggest trading partner is intolerable.
With parliament resuming on Tuesday for a critical two weeks, the unleashing of ugly Palmerdrama has the potential to dramatically change the at­mo­spherics. The fallout could provide the government, assuming it plays its cards properly, with the all-important leverage it needs, fuelled by shifts in public opinion, to salvage the rest of its budget by making sensible “adjustments”.
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James Foley’s killer has an English accent. That is important

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (8:20am)

Leftist Scott Burchill, despite being a senior lecturer in international relations at Deakin University, claims he can’t see what danger we’re in from jihadists who go to fight in the Middle East:
Yeah, look I’m a bit concerned about the use of this argument of an Australian Muslims going to fight in Syria, or in amongst with ISIL, as an excuse for increasing surveillance powers in Australia… But clearly the threat that these people pose is not so much to the peace and security of this particular country but the area that they’re going to. And I’m just wondering – I don’t think the government has clearly explained the connection between those going off to fight to create a caliphate in Iraq and Syria and what they would do coming back into Australia…. Creating a direct link between these people going to these countries to fight and coming back and somehow creating – what? Some insurgency here? Or targeting people here? It’s not clear. Or somehow they get brainwashed or indoctrinated there and turn up back in Sydney doing what? There’s – no one’s properly explained to me.
Does this help spell out the obvious to Mr Burchill?
UK and US intelligence agencies are scrambling to uncover the identity of the English-speaking Islamist who is suspected of killing journalist James Foley, amid deepening fears in Britain about homegrown terrorism.
The possibility of involvement by a British national in Mr Foley’s death underscores what for many UK officials has become their top national security threat: that some of the estimated 400 British Muslims suspected of fighting with jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq could come home radicalized and threaten their homeland with terror attacks…
Security officials believe that at least several dozens of those British citizens have joined the al Qaeda-linked militant groups, including the newly renamed Islamic State… The government has already arrested approximately 70 people on terrorism charges related to Syria…
Sure, someone who cuts off the head of an American on video could be perfectly peace-loving when he gets back home. Or, of course, maybe not…
The fact that Foley’s killer has an English accent is actually one of the most significant details about this horrible murder.  
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Young Muslims betrayed by their leaders

Andrew Bolt August 21 2014 (7:35am)

SEVERAL Muslims rang our 2GB show this week. They were young and angry — but not with me.
No, Ali, Muhammad and Sabrina were angry with their so-called “leaders” who have betrayed them.
This week Prime Minister Tony Abbott asked to meet Muslim leaders in both Sydney and Melbourne to discuss his anti-terrorism proposals. Even an idiot would understand Muslim Australians have much to fear from a jihadist terrorism on Australian soil. There would be the sorrow for the deaths, of course. But the backlash against the many decent Muslims here could be ugly
So the key concern for Muslim “leaders” should be, first, to do as much as possible to stop jihadists and, second, to be seen doing so.
(Read full article here.) 
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The weakest US president ever?

Andrew Bolt August 20 2014 (9:00pm)

A serious question: when did the US last have a president this weak?
President Obama returned to his vacation home at Martha’s Vineyard after briefly interrupting his vacation for two days of meetings in Washington, D.C.
Obama met with his economic team Tuesday before leaving the White House at 4:22 pm to return to his vacation home.
He did not react to the news that broke later that evening about an ISIS video that showed the beheading of American journalist James Wright Foley. 
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=== Posts from last year ===
4 her, so she can see how I see her





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Are you tired of having to come up with excuses?

Looking for help when you're in strife?

Then why not borrow one of Kevin Rudd's many excuses.

Check out Ruddymade.com.au and use our handy app.

If you find yourself unable to generate excuses for everyday mistakes simply use Ruddymade Excuses from any smart phone, tablet or desktop computer.
These are not just any old excuses. These are timeless classics developed by the world's leader in passing the buck, Kevin Rudd. Don't forget to tune in to tonight's debate to see many of these excuses live.

Enjoy,

Brian Loughnane

P.S. Excuse the brevity of this email, I've "gotta zip"
Authorised by Brian Loughnane, Cnr Blackall and Macquarie Streets, Barton  ACT 2604.
 
Copyright © Liberal Party of Australia.
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Lol, I saw an asian girl with a phone and I thought she was taking selfies .. looked around, saw the moon .. saw the pictures on the dash .. ed
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Allyson Christy.

New movement targets Hamas rule in Gaza - IMRA

“It is time we rejected death forcibly under Hamas’ pretext of security. Our people regardless of their political and even religious affiliations have been targeted by their criminality,” the statement continued. It explicitly accused Hamas of murder, torture, sabotage, bribes, vandalism and smuggling."

http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440
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Uong Nguyen and Jessica King.
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ARLINGTON CEMETERY

Jeopardy Question:

On Jeopardy the other night, the final question was:
"How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns" ----

All three contestants missed it! --

This is really an awesome sight to watch if you've never had the chance.

Very fascinating.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns and why? 21 steps:

It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?
21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

3. Why are his gloves wet? His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and, if not, why not? He
carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path, he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

5. How often are the guards changed? Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to? For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10' and 6' 2' tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30.

They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform or the tomb in any way.

After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.

There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone nor watch TV.

All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are:

President Taft,
Joe Lewis {the boxer}
Medal of Honor winner Audie L. Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WWII and of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty..

ETERNAL REST GRANT THEM O LORD AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, our US Senate/House took 2 days off with anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military
members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way,
Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that
guarding the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be
afforded to a service person. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

God Bless and keep them.

I'd be very proud if this post reaches as many as possible. We can be very proud of our young men and women in the service no matter where they serve.

God Bless America
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U.N.’s next major climate report
reportedly states that scientists are more certain than ever that man’s actions are warming the planet -- even as the report struggles to explain a slow-down in warming that climate skeptics have seized upon.> Political report struggles to sex up data
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
GOD gives, gives, gives and Forgives ... HUMAN gets, gets, gets and Forgets.
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Pastor Rick Warren
3 causes pastors fall: Personal worship dries up. No boundaries-meets with women alone. Pride-believed it couldn't happen.
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Glenn Beck.

When your town votes to stand with a pedophile, your town has lost its soul.

MI school votes to keep teachers who defended colleague convicted of rape


On yesterday’s Glenn Beck Radio Program, Glenn spoke to John Janczewski, a resident of Rose City, Michigan whose son was molested by a teacher, Neal Erickson, at Rose City Middle School. The sexual abuse happened on several occasions when Janczewski’s son was in 8th grade. The boy is now a sophomore in college. On July 10, Erickson was convicted of statutory rape on and sentenced to 15-30 years in prison. Six educators and one school board member, however, came out in support of the teacher and wrote the judge letters asking for leniency.
This morning, Glenn spoke to John’s wife, Lori Janczewski. Lori explained what happened last night during the meeting held at a local high school that would decide the fate of the educators who stood by Erickson. While the resident’s have demanded the teachers be fired, the town has expressed concern about the cost of litigation. Ultimately, the teachers did not lose their jobs. Meanwhile, the family has been threatened and had their property vandalized as a result of speaking out.
“I told you yesterday about the Janczewski family in Michigan that had their eighth grader son raped by a teacher… And then six teachers, spoke out against the sentence for this molester: ‘Neal has pleaded guilty to this one criminal offense, and he’s not a predator,’” Glenn said. “Last night I thought we had a chance of living in America again. Last night there was a school board meeting… All the neighbors and everybody showed up to vote: Are we going to fire these teachers? And the guy who was supporting the pedophile on the school board, he said, ‘Well, you don’t support the teachers. The town is going bankrupt.’ Good. Stand in line on the bankruptcy window. Everybody seems to be doing it nowadays. I thought it was a popular thing to do.”
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Rand Paul must be doing something right to have all these people against him. Wouldn't you agree?

Did you know you can find anyone's criminal record online? Access our exclusive database now and find out detailed information on anyone you could possibly want!
Click Here ►►► http://i-bitly.com/criminal-record.php
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It’s hard to find anything the Greens won’t tax.

Help stop the fringe-dwelling Greens todayhttp://ow.ly/nCMYg
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C. H. Spurgeon
When you desire to be most alive to God, you will generally find sin most alive to repel you.
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Our name is the Israel Defense Forces. All that we do, everything we work for, and even die for, can be summed up in one simple word - defense.
http://www.idfblog.com/2013/08/20/what-the-idf-stands-for-defense-of-the-state-its-citizens-and-residents/ 
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I don't agree with it entirely, but respect the sentiment. I feel nothing works under bad administrations and much does under good ones .. which can surprise people. I never thought Saddam, Gaddaffi or any of the mad dictators would fall. The lawlessness which followed is not the fault of democracy or political machines but a reflection of the power of terrorist organisations that prospered under the tyrants. There will be an end to this power play .. but not while Obama feeds it. - ed
Reuven Kossover
My friend and buddy for over 40 years, Irwin Blank, wrote the following (I edited it slightly). It speaks for itself.

Estimates of the dead in Egypt range from 525-700 and countless others have been wounded in riots against the current government. These rioters, from the Moslem Brotherhood and their Islamist cohorts are the dregs of society. That is why since 1952, when the Free Officers, under Mohammed Neguib and Gamal Nasser seized power there, they drove these fanatics underground, arrested and executed their leadership by the thousands because even they knew the evil and malicious character of these fanatics and despots. It is no wonder that the Moslem Brotherhood gave rise to Hamas and a host of other Islamist terror organizations all over the Middle East.

Those who believe that a republican form of government, or a regime based on Western style democracy can exist in an Islamist nation are fooling themselves and being totally ignorant of the fact that democracy and Islam are antithetical and cannot exist in a nation whose only legal religion is Islam. Islam is not a religion as Westerners know one to be. It is a dictatorial, intolerant and murderous philosophy that unless restrained by modernistic leadership, often in the form of military rule, will result in a banal viciousness that begs be checked.

The Americans cannot bring democracy to the Arab world as the Arab world is far too diverse in its structure and tribal allegiances which, by nature, are jealous of the power that they possess. Syria is a prime example, where the minority Alawites rule over Sunni, Shi'a, Druse and Kurdish minorities with a bloody hand that has already slaughtered over 100,000 men, women and children and created a refugee crisis in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

The Middle East is breaking apart the imperialistic and artificial borders and tribal territories that were left over from the domination of the British and the French after World War I. Arab states and kingdoms were established without regard to tribal loyalties or religious sensitivities and this is breaking apart with bloodshed and grief.

The only stable and viable remnant of the old world imperialism is Israel, where ethnic and cultural differences brought by the Jews from over 70 lands have melded into a new identity where the differences have enhanced that new society rather than tore it asunder. Sure, there is conflict here, but one doesn't see Ashkenazi Jews murdering Sephardi Jews in the streets as Alawite Arabs are mowing down Sunni Arabs, all Moslems, in the sanguinary situation in Syria. Churches aren't put to the torch in Jerusalem as they are in Cairo and the Baha'i, Druse, Circassians and Christian Arabs in Israel, as well as the Moslem Arabs, aren't slicing each others throats.

The Christian world should be more worried about Churches being burned to the ground and people being beheaded and flogged for reading the Gospels, than it is over building kindergartens in Gilo or Pisgat Ze'ev or adding classrooms in Ma'ale Adumim and Teqo'a. Where Moslems are destroying, we, in Israel, are building for ALL our citizens.

I do not delight in anyone's death if that person doesn't seek mine, but the "Arab Spring" is not a spring of fresh water and blooming flowers, it is a river of blood and booming explosions that must keep us, in Israel, on guard and prepared.

Shabbat Shalom from Ma'ale Adumim in liberated Israeli Yehuda, guarding the eastern approaches to Jerusalem, the eternal, united and indivisible capital of the Jewish people.
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Lone Tree - GGrech ©2013
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Graphic Quotes: John Wayne on Well-Educated Idiots

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/graphic-quotes-john-wayne-on-well-educated-idiots/

“I’d like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.” John Wayne
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Why don't you apologise for the people who have drowned, Mr. Rudd? 
Well over 1000 people have died at sea since you wound down John Howard's very effective Pacific solution in 2007. At least five have just drowned in the latest disaster as authorities called off the search on Tuesday night, 20 August 2013.. 

They are attracted , as the Indonesians say, because you put the "sugar on the table".
But instead of doing what your government specialises in doing - apologising for events in the past - your government used this tragedy to claim it has reduced arrivals by 30% because of the Manus arrangement.

Not so, says is the left of centre Sydney Morning Herald - it's less than 20%.

Just apologise Mr. Rudd.
@profdavidflint
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/five-drown-as-asylum-boat-capsizes-20130820-2s8l0.html
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According to a newly-released study, a New York mother of two is eligible for in excess of $38,000 in annual welfare benefits – more than the starting salary of a New York entry-level school teacher.
Think that’s bad? In Hawaii, that same mother would receive $60,590 per year.
The study, conducted by the CATO Institute, found that in addition to New York and Hawaii, welfare pays better than work in many states. While Hawaii tops the list at $60,590, Idaho brings up the rear at $11,150, as reported by Breitbart. [I assume the beaches aren't as nice in Idaho.]
Indeed, the CATO study claims:
In 11 states, welfare pays more than the average pre-tax first-year salary for a teacher. In 39 states, it pays more than the starting wage for a secretary. And, in the 3 most generous states, a person on welfare can take home more money than an entry-level computer programmer.
The study found that 33 states and the District of Columbia offer welfare benefits that pay recipients more than they would earn from an $8-an-hour job. Twelve states and the District of Columbia offer welfare packages that pay better than does a $15-an-hour job.
Add in Obama’s suspension of welfare-to-work requirements, and life on welfare can be a pretty good gig these days, as evidenced by the now somewhat infamous Cali surf bum.
“There is no evidence that people on welfare are lazy,” writes CATO senior fellow Michael Tanner. “But they’re also not stupid. If you pay them more not to work than they can earn by working, many will choose not to work.”
Therein lies the quintessential problem with the nanny state. Since LBJ declared “war on poverty,” U.S. taxpayers have spent over $15 trillion on anti-poverty programs – a total nearly equal to the national debt. And where has it gotten us? Look around. Start with the surf bum.
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Get out on some country roads before the summer is over and be sure to bring these Peanut Butter Cup Rocky Road Squares! They're like a whole bunch of different perfect combinations rolled up in one! http://reeses.me/ZbRrRJ
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And these, my friends, are called FACTS! Share these so your friends get the TRUTH! viawww.Facebook.com/PositivelyRepublican - Become a fan today and join 561,000 other concerned citizens fighting the good fight for our future!
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Bristol Palin's blog

I love what Ashton Kutcher said at the Teen’s Choice Awards!  Did you see his emotional speech about work?
He was saying something important under all that screaming – work is the key to success!
Since I was a kid, my parents taught me the value of work.  Mom, of course, was our town’s mayor, then  our state’s governor. She worked for a newspaper and tv station when I was very small. Dad has always been a commercial fisherman in Bristol Bay, plus, for years he had a great job in the oil fields up on the North Slope. Through some of those years he also owned an outdoor recreation shop selling and fixing snowmachines, watercraft, boats, ATVs, etc. (He always had Willow on his hip there, because she wasn’t in school yet and she loved hanging out in the mechanic shop!)
Mom and Dad worked hard. We weren’t wealthy, but they took care of our needs.
Here was my problem – mom sometimes didn’t realize I “needed” more jeans.
“If you want designer jeans, that’s fine,” Mom told me,  “but you’re gonna work for them.”
That’s why I got my first “real” job (besides babysitting) that summer at an out-of-the-way café in Nordstrom’s in Anchorage – which gave me the company’s discount on clothes. Of course, by the time I’d pay for the gas to get to Anchorage, plus parking, and then take advantage of that discount, I was barely breaking even.
There were several coffee stands with little drive-throughs where customers pull up to order fancy hot coffees, and—hopefully—leave me a tip. I worked in many of them, serving lattes, espressos, cappuccinos, etc. I’d happily be grinding and brewing coffee at the Sunrise Coffee Shack, then after my shift I’d drive down the road to Café Croissant and pour more coffee in the afternoons during a second shift there. Then, about a year later, I got a job working at the Espresso Café about fifty feet down the road. (Alaska seems to have coffee shacks on every corner!) Since it was all basically just the same job – smile, take orders, make their caffeine-infused drinks – I don’t think my bosses were ever concerned about me sharing company secrets.
Beginning in 7th grade, I also worked at my grandparent’s L&M Ace Hardware store in Dillingham, about four hundred air miles southwest of Anchorage.  It’s owned by my dad’s mom, who’s like a mom to everyone in that fishing town. One day, I was cleaning the glass shelves that held the guns and knives. Willow was on one side of the glass and would not stop bugging me. I took the Windex and merely sprayed it in her general direction. I was a mile away from her, but she immediately started screaming, “My eyes! My eyes!” My Nana, sick of listening to us, grabbed us both by the arm and said, “That’s it! You’re going home!”
After I got fired by my own grandmother, Dad wasn’t going to let me get away with being a bad worker. The next night, he hauled us all out to work in his open-air commercial fishing skiff.  This was harder – and so much colder – than cleaning the gun cases, but I look back on these times of employment when I really learned how hard people have to work to make money.
Now, as an adult, I still carry those lessons with me.  No, I don’t fish every Bristol Bay season opener anymore (at least not putting in enough time on the water slaying salmon to make much money!). I’ve been working for four years now in a dermatology office – with the best coworkers ever, I’d add!
My parents have said they are so proud of their kids’ work ethic, and that adds to the pride we can take in working hard every single day. I hope you all have that confirmation from your family and friends that reminds you how important work is. And like Ashton suggested from the awards show stage, don’t feel like any job is beneath you. And don’t wait for that “perfect” job to come along before getting off the couch to make a paycheck. Better jobs will come along after you put in the grinding hours today, believe me, I know. I’m glad for my work lessons through these years.
And now, thankfully, I can buy my own jeans, Mom!
Read more on the (new and improved) Patheos Faith and Family Channel!
Also,  fan me on Facebook and follow this blog on Twitter!
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Photo: A wise and peaceful one, two, three... Love generously, live gently, and when it is time, let go gracefully. xo
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Allyson Christy.

"The Egyptian army....has demolished five tunnels so far in the past few days alone.

The army has reportedly been bringing tunnels down with explosives, and then filling them with water. The report also stated that the Egyptian army demolished some buildings along the border."
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Allyson Christy.

"Indeed, his own agenda has resulted in untold bloodshed and a human rights meltdown in Syria, Iraq, North Africa, Afghanistan and Yemen.

The Egyptian military, acceding to the demands of some 33 million of its citizens to remove the Islamic and Sharia colluding Morsi regime, redeployed to end Mohammed Morsi’s Brotherhood supporters from their occupation of areas of the Egyptian capital. They were met by heavy gunfire and over 100 soldiers and police were killed in the first few hours of the confrontation.

Not surprisingly, Obama never mentioned this fact during his August 15th press conference; a long harangue during which, according to former UN Ambassador John Bolton, Obama predictably blamed not the Morsi rioters but the Egyptian military; again revealing this president’s egregious and systemic support for the Muslim extremists who wish to turn Egypt into an Islamic republic.

Nor did Obama castigate fully the pro-Morsi thugs who turned their savagery upon the hapless embattled Coptic Christian community. It is estimated that perhaps as many as 50 churches and Christian establishments were burned to the ground during the Muslim anti-Christian pogrom; this after Copts have been beheaded in the streets of Cairo. And still the Vatican and world Christendom remain in the main deathly silent." - Victor Sharpe, excerpt from article
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Tonight on The O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly debated New York’s controversial ‘stop-and-frisk’ policy. Last week, a federal judge ruled that it violates people’s civil rights. O’Reilly argued in his Talking Points Memo that while the policy is intrusive, it has helped save the lives of hundreds of New Yorkers.
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Gorgeous Halo Design Diamond Engagement Rings handmade by Diamond Imports http://www.diamondimports.com.au/ #diamond#diamondrings #engagementrings#diamondengagementrings #rings #halorings#diamondimports #engagement #bride #wedding
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Director Frank Capra Tells Hollywood About American Exceptionalism (Video)

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/director-frank-capra-tells-hollywood-about-american-exceptionalism-video/ 

Capra was a Republican who was active in the anti-Communist cause and also donated funds to the Human Life Amendment PAC. There aren’t many directors we can say that about today!
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Are you tired of having to come up with excuses?

Looking for help when you're in strife?

Then why not borrow one of Kevin Rudd's many excuses.

Check out Ruddymade.com.au and he'll show you how it's done. Don't forget to share with your friends! #thesameoldway #auspol
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: AFP

That sort of horror is a daily occurrence in North Korea's prison camps, former inmates have told a United Nations inquiry.
The inquiry, chaired by former Australian High Court Justice Michael Kirby, is the first to expertly examine North Korea's human rights record, ABC News reports.
There is no shortage of testimony.
One ex-prisoner, 34-year-old Jee Heon-a, told the hearing about a mother who was forced to drown her own child.
"It was the first time I had seen a newborn baby and I felt happy," she said.
"But suddenly there were footsteps and a security guard came in and told the mother to turn the baby upside down into a bowl of water.
"The mother begged the guard to spare her, but he kept beating her. So the mother, her hands shaking, put the baby face down in the water. The crying stopped and a bubble rose up as it died."
Jee was incarcerated in 1999. Her fellow inmates were barely fed.
"Everyone's eyes were sunken. They all looked like animals, she said.
"Frogs were hung from the buttons of their cloths, put in a plastic bag and their skins peeled off. They ate salted frogs and so did I."
Another defector, Shin Dong-hyuk, was forced to watch the execution of his mother and brother. Shin, who was born in the prison camp, overheard his family members planning an escape attempt and turned them in.
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New RT photo just in...check this out!

This was Brian's birthday gift to Roger... how cool?

(Photo: Justine Ellis)
Flintstones. Meet the Flintstones. 
They're the modern stone age family. 
From the town of Bedrock, 
They're a page right out of history. 
Let's ride with the family down the street. 
Through the courtesy of Fred's two feet. 

When you're with the Flintstones 
you'll have a yabba dabba doo time. 
A dabba doo time. 
You'll have a gay old time.
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Now that my computer is up and running, I took one of the storm pics from my monsoon chase with Mike Olbinski last week and processed it a little for showing here. It was during sunset and the clouds were looking dramatic when a bolt struck so close that there was an immediate clap of thunder. That's when we decided to get into our cars...

Matt Granz'
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"Coupelle Piège" ring by Lorenz Bäumer
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“Ocean Lullaby” by Evelyn Huang (Los Angeles) - PRESIDENTS AWARD at the 2012-2013 INTERNATIONAL PEARL DESIGN COMPETITION
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How to make a cup holder on the train.
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At The Vine - garden cafe.
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
Last week i lost my wallet with all my important cards in it, i wasn't panicking but was happy instead because thru prayer i felt God's peace. This man named Julian drove out of his way about an hour just to return it to me at my sister's address but she wasn't home so he left it with a note saying that he had put it in the letterbox for me. Today i was in the bank waiting then suddenly a woman ran into the counter in front of me, she huffed n puffed in panicked, wept. and acted like it was the end of the world, because she had lost her wallet. The teller sent her to sit next to me then she went to get the poor lady a drink. I said to her ''it's alright i lost my wallet the other day too'', she started crying cause she was late for work and had no time to catch a train cause this had happened..''not to worry i can drive u to work if that's fine with u'' i asked, she looked at me thankfully as we began to share how our purses got lost. Afterwards she seemed much calmer, she must've caught the peace off me. There is power in recognizing that we are the children of God, the one who filled me up with Love Joy Peace for Missions. Glory to the Creator of Heaven and Earth, only through Him may we put our minds at ease through tough trying times when things are hard.
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August 21: Youth Day and King Mohammed's Birthday in Morocco; Ninoy Aquino Day in the Philippines
Mona Lisa
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“I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”Psalm 16:8 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"The sweet psalmist of Israel."
2 Samuel 23:1
Among all the saints whose lives are recorded in Holy Writ, David possesses an experience of the most striking, varied, and instructive character. In his history we meet with trials and temptations not to be discovered, as a whole, in other saints of ancient times, and hence he is all the more suggestive a type of our Lord. David knew the trials of all ranks and conditions of men. Kings have their troubles, and David wore a crown: the peasant has his cares, and David handled a shepherd's crook: the wanderer has many hardships, and David abode in the caves of Engedi: the captain has his difficulties, and David found the sons of Zeruiah too hard for him. The psalmist was also tried in his friends, his counsellor Ahithophel forsook him, "He that eateth bread with me, hath lifted up his heel against me." His worst foes were they of his own household: his children were his greatest affliction. The temptations of poverty and wealth, of honour and reproach, of health and weakness, all tried their power upon him. He had temptations from without to disturb his peace, and from within to mar his joy. David no sooner escaped from one trial than he fell into another; no sooner emerged from one season of despondency and alarm, than he was again brought into the lowest depths, and all God's waves and billows rolled over him. It is probably from this cause that David's psalms are so universally the delight of experienced Christians. Whatever our frame of mind, whether ecstasy or depression, David has exactly described our emotions. He was an able master of the human heart, because he had been tutored in the best of all schools--the school of heart-felt, personal experience. As we are instructed in the same school, as we grow matured in grace and in years, we increasingly appreciate David's psalms, and find them to be "green pastures." My soul, let David's experience cheer and counsel thee this day.

Evening

"And they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall."
Nehemiah 3:8
Cities well fortified have broad walls, and so had Jerusalem in her glory. The New Jerusalem must, in like manner, be surrounded and preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the world, and separation from its customs and spirit. The tendency of these days break down the holy barrier, and make the distinction between the church and the world merely nominal. Professors are no longer strict and Puritanical, questionable literature is read on all hands, frivolous pastimes are currently indulged, and a general laxity threatens to deprive the Lord's peculiar people of those sacred singularities which separate them from sinners. It will be an ill day for the church and the world when the proposed amalgamation shall be complete, and the sons of God and the daughters of men shall be as one: then shall another deluge of wrath be ushered in. Beloved reader, be it your aim in heart, in word, in dress, in action to maintain the broad wall, remembering that the friendship of this world is enmity against God.
The broad wall afforded a pleasant place of resort for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, from which they could command prospects of the surrounding country. This reminds us of the Lord's exceeding broad commandments, in which we walk at liberty in communion with Jesus, overlooking the scenes of earth, and looking out towards the glories of heaven. Separated from the world, and denying ourselves all ungodliness and fleshly lusts, we are nevertheless not in prison, nor restricted within narrow bounds; nay, we walk at liberty, because we keep his precepts. Come, reader, this evening walk with God in his statutes. As friend met friend upon the city wall, so meet thou thy God in the way of holy prayer and meditation. The bulwarks of salvation thou hast a right to traverse, for thou art a freeman of the royal burgh, a citizen of the metropolis of the universe.
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Today's reading: Psalm 105-106, 1 Corinthians 3 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Psalm 105-106

1 Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
7 He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth....

Today's New Testament reading: 1 Corinthians 3

The Church and Its Leaders
1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly-mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere human beings?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe-as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building....

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