Saturday, October 04, 2014

Sat Oct 4th Todays News

Specific issue
Aid worker beheaded as an act of terrorism. He had been captured in an aid truck, the only non Muslim in the band captured by ISIL after leaving Turkey, in Syria. He had not insulted Islam. He was a dad and a taxi driver. Some are comparing Islam to Christianity through these terrorists. One said recently that Nazism is to Christianity as Islamo Fascism is to Islam. Except a surface scan does not show a correlation. Nazis did not claim or want to be Christians. Islamo Fascists do claim to be Islamic. Christians did not endorse Nazism. Islamic leaders legitimise Islamo Fascism. But the shallow observance of some atheists who get confused by faith do not see a difference. 

 Some faith is shallow. In some circumstances, there is not much difference between Islam and Islamo fascist. In Canada a butch lesbian walked into an Islamic hairdresser's salon and asked for a men's cut. He has refused, citing sharia tradition. So now a Canadian court is determining who is the highest value victim. But neither of the antagonists are victims. Playing the victim card is dangerous, as many Aboriginal children have found who have been sexually interfered with because of the myth of a stolen generation. Back to Islam and it is informative hearing disloyal Islamic peoples claiming they support ISIL if theAustralian armed services fight them. The Australian armed services are not after Islamic peoples, they are trying to stop terrorists from beheading kidnapped aid workers or raping Islamic villager women. But then there are red herrings like the 'Burqa debate' or female genital mutilation or other things which don't have much to do with Islamic relations at all. But groups like the ADL have gotten involved, reputedly, and threatened good Islamic people who have contributed much to Australia. 

 Mixed issues
Unions should not control super funds. They were given control of many of them by Keating, who had been trying to counteract the generational loss in union membership. But the corruption of unions and their theft of union money by the leadership shows that the unions are the wrong people to control the funds. Latham bells the cat re Gillard claiming she was the victim of misogyny. Gillard was corrupt, knows it and played the misogyny card to distract from what is clearly evident. 

 Journalist issues
An entitled journalist hopeful gives up after being told they were not charming enough to make big money. It is a lousy reason to become a journalist: for money. Or fame. Meanwhile, Manne abuses those who blindly believed in him. Self styled genius Manne, who invented the hockey stick image to describe AGW alarmist models has a habit of abusing, not debating with those who disagree with him. ABC Listener "Viv" speaks for many in demanding the ABC assert standards. The ABC has been unbalanced for a long time so that reasonable people are unaware of important issues they face in their daily lives. 

from 2013
Israel has a right to exist and Jews have a right to prosper everywhere around the world. Anyone who disagrees with that is a bigot. Anyone who threatens to prevent that is a terrorist. Today I have linked articles where some have campaigned to deny Israel's right to security, or her right to exist, or her right to trade. Each instance is a violation of human rights possibly genocide. Theoretically, it could be prosecutable in the World Court. Except many of those perpetrating these abuses are nations, multinational companies and or journalists.

In response to statements like Israel has a right to exist, some reply "they have no right to kill and maim Palestinian peoples." The ignorant assertion is not what is happening and not what has happened. Israel is the only place in the world that is safe for Muslim peoples, or peoples of any faith. Unlike the US, Israel protects its people against terrorist assaults .. Obama has recently ordered Israel to release known terrorist killers into the community .. voiding the US's assertion it may be safe for people .. Benghazi is an example of the US not protecting its people. Israel defends its people daily from rocket attacks and hostile militant incursions .. all of its people. Yet in so called Palestine, anyone could be murdered for any reason. Militants have died attacking Israel. Those militants would be alive if they hadn't. Israel is not wrong to defend herself.

Palestine is a Roman name to describe Israelis. The people calling themselves Palestinians today are largely Jordanians. They have no right to Israeli land, but for international intransigence often emanating from the UN. Outrageously, Jerusalem has not been freely given to Israel, but made part of claims regarding Palestine .. resulting in Jews not being able to worship at the temple wall.

Modern Israel is not solely Jewish. She is a modern democratic state with loopy left wing idiots as well as decent conservatives. The same could not be said of any state surrounding her. It is outrageous that a shop might claim it would not trade in Israeli goods because that shop owner is an evangelical Christian  claiming to live by biblical principles. I say to that person that I am an evangelical Christian and I say that their decision denies the gift Jesus died to give them, and that by hurting those who are threatened by evil, they are not serving the Lord my God as he has tasked them to. But I recognise they serve their master faithfully.
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This column welcomes feedback and criticism. The column is not made up but based on the days events and articles which are then placed in the feed. So they may not have an apparent cohesion they would have had were they made up.
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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

Or the US President at
https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-change-this-injustice#
or
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/change-injustice-faced-david-daniel-ball-after-he-reported-bungled-pedophile-investigation-and/b8mxPWtJ or http://wh.gov/ilXYR

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 Igor Breakenback, Djev Swaen, Marley Ly and Jimmy Lamborghini. Born on the same day, across the years, along with 
1160 – Alys, Countess of the Vexin (d. 1220)
1625 – Jacqueline Pascal, French nun (d. 1661)
1881 – Henry Potter, American golfer (d. 1955)
1895 – Buster Keaton, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1966)
1928 – Alvin Toffler, American journalist and author
1941 – Anne Rice, American author
1953 – Andreas Vollenweider, Swiss harp player
1976 – Alicia Silverstone, American actress, producer, and author
October 4: First day of Eid al-Adha (Islam, 2014); Yom Kippur ends at nightfall (Judaism, 2014); Feast day of St. Francis of Assisi (Catholicism)
InterCity 125 train
You successfully defended your self. The first golf round was perfect. Vive La France. Your train moves. Careful in how you slake a first. Enjoy your party. 
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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2014
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No, they aren’t victims - and the Left is reckless to feed that confected fury

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (12:20pm)

There is something dangerous in the pandering of the Race Discrimination Commissioner, who indulges what he should reject:
Gerard Henderson:

On Tuesday, The Age published an opinion piece by Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane that was essentially a fudge. He began by conceding that “all of us are rightly disturbed by the prospect of terrorist acts on Australian soil; counter-terror raids in Sydney and Brisbane, and the shooting of teenager Numan Haider in Melbourne, have highlighted community concern”.
Soutphommasane’s reference to the shooting of Haider by Victorian Police failed to mention the evidence that the deceased had wounded and attempted to murder two counter-terrorist policemen. The Race Discrimination Commissioner also declined to remind The Age readers that Haider’s family had migrated from Afghanistan to ­settle in Australia and that he obtained a good ­education, had a job and a car, and lived in a fine house. Haider was no victim.
Soutphommasane went on to argue that “Muslim Australians are entitled to a fair go”. This suggests that they do not get a fair go already. It’s another way of saying that Muslim Australians are victims.
This led to writer Gabrielle Lord contacting the Australian Human Rights Commission to express her disappointment with the Race Discrimination Commissioner’s comments, which she interpreted as “largely a reprimand to the non-Muslims of Australia”.
Lord’s position is that “rather than chiding non-Muslims for their suspicions, fears (and on occasions bigotry), a Race Relations Commissioner would surely be better advised to address those Muslims in our community who bear a lethal hatred and contempt towards all of us non-Muslims and tell them this will not be tolerated”. 
Too many commentators on the Left have been reckless in feeding the absurd paranoia and victimology that is so marked in parts of Muslim Australia, and which feeds the dangerous notion that Australia is at war with Islam - and vice versa.
Note how Soutphommasane’s preferred narrative would only feed into that of, say, Tahmid Mirza:
21-year-old Deakin University student Tahmid Mirza ... [is] one of the 10 most-followed jihadist propagandists among English-speaking foreign fighters… In April, King’s College’s International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence named his Twitter account in the top 10 “disseminators” of propaganda followed by English-speaking foreign fighters. The think tank said the ­account was followed by 48.6 per cent of the 190 foreign fighters it had studied online.
Mirza, taken in from Bangladesh and given a good education, security and access to taxpayer-support, nevertheless prefers to see himself as a victim:
I am with all the sincere Mujahideen, whether from AQ (al-Qa’ida) or ISIS… We should not delay in establishing an Islamic State or applying the shariah whenever the Muslims have authority.... [Australians] don’t give me ‘security,’ why on earth have many Muslims been harassed, betrayed and in fact lied to by the government and the so-called ­‘security’ intelligence? I love the nature and the landscape (of Australia), that’s about it… You fear terror attacks back home? Your government should stop destroying other people’s homes then. It’s not rocket science now is it?
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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Time to trim these super powers

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (10:17am)

Can union-controlled super funds really be trusted with all that money and all that power?
An official of construction industry superannuation fund trustee United Super has admitted lying to the royal commission over the leaking of documents revealing CBus member details to the militant construction industry union.
Lisa Zanatta, the member co-ordinator for United Super, made the admission after commissioner Dyson Heydon warned her about the criminal penalties for giving false evidence.
The royal commission heard Lisa Zanatta leaked confidential information to NSW construction union boss Brian Parker…
Earlier, Mr Parker had denied receiving the allegedly leaked information. 
Ms Zanatta said she initially lied to the inquiry to “protect” Mr Parker and Cbus chief executive David Atkin. She said Mr Parker requested records showing the company’s arrears but the data retrieved from Cbus also included employees’ contact details.
In a dramatic day of hearings, Mr Parker threatened to put a colleague in hospital after he complained about the union’s dealings with companies ­associated with crime figure George Alex, an inquiry has heard.
Mr Parker, NSW Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union secretary ... denied threatening to bash colleague Mario Barrios and calling him a dog after he complained about the union’s dealings with Capital Workforce, a labour-hire company associated with Mr Alex, on August 18 this year.
But phone intercepts played during the Royal Commission ... on Friday revealed Mr Parker told another union colleague on August 28: “you’ve never seen me unleash” and if he ended up doing it, Mr Barrios would end up “doing a stint in hospital"…
UPDATE
Grace Collier:
Since its inception, the Heydon royal commission has heard evidence about an employer who paid $250,000 to a union that then didn’t pursue $3 million in back pay for employees. The union also repeated a threat to workers that if entitlements were insisted on, jobs would be lost — an unlawful threat under the Fair Work Act.
It heard about an employer that paid about $25,000 to a union, then received written sanction to sack 157 people and outsource their jobs. A profit boost of millions of dollars a year resulted.
It heard about a union that took $1m off a company for a good relationship, the right to use foreign tugs, and a reduction in a union claim for a “hard lying (maritime) allowance” from $200 a worker to $30 a worker…
I have no problem with unions helping companies find savings, but I have a huge problem with unions taking money when coincidentally helping companies find savings.
When employers donate to a union, its slush fund or business, they expect something in return. And I assure you, they get it, sooner or later. 
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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On likening Islam to Christianity

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (10:00am)

The ABC’s Richard Glover indulges in some cultural relativism:
In truth, Islamic State is just a flag of convenience for the lost and enraged. It’s Islamic in the same way as Nazism was Christian.
I suspect Glover very much wants to believe this. It makes him seem less judgmental of Islam and makes Islam seem no more dangerous than Christianity. So look away.
But there is a problem here. It is called “facts”. And no good intentions can excuse a wilful and dangerous blindness.
Fact one:
The Islamic State claims it is Islamic. Note the name of the organisation. The National Socialists never claimed they were a Christian group. Again, note the name of the organisation.
Fact two:
The Islamic State quotes the Koran and Hadith to legitimise what it does. The Nazis never quoted the Bible to legitimise the Genocide or its other various mass-murders. For instance, the Islamic State’s recent statement ordering all Muslims to kill unbelievers quoted scripture at least 25 times in support. 
Fact three:
Islam’s founder, a war leader, practiced violence in a way that Jesus never did. Moreover, the Koran and Hadith urge violence in a way that the Christian New Testament does not. In its statement demanding the slaughter of non-believers, the Islamic State cited specific scriptural injunctions to violence, not least the following two, which appear to authorise its characteristic beheadings:  “Allah the Exalted said, {And when the sacred months have passed, then kill the polytheists wherever you find them and capture them and besiege them and sit in wait for them at every place of ambush} [At-Tawbah: 5]. And He the Exalted said, {So when you meet those who disbelieve [in battle], strike [their] necks} [Muhammad: 4].” Nowhere is Christ recorded urging followers to kill disbelievers.
Fact four:
The Islamic State insists it fulfills Islam’s purpose on earth, especially its mission of war. Hitler believed Nazism would destroy Christianity’s purpose on earth, especially its mission of peace.  In his private conversations, later published in Hitler’s Table Talk: 1941-1944, the Nazi leader argued: “The heaviest blow that ever struck humanity was the coming of Christianity. Bolshevism is Christianity’s illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jew.” And: “Christianity is a rebellion against natural law, a protest against nature. Taken to its logical extreme, Christianity would mean the systematic cultivation of the human failure.”
As the great Jewish writer Maurice Samuel warned in The Great Hatred, written in 1940:
It is of Christ that the Nazi-Fascists are afraid; it is in his omnipotence that they believe; it is he that they are determined madly to obliterate. But the names of Christ and Christianity are too overwhelming, and the habit of submission to them is too deeply ingrained after centuries and centuries of teaching. Therefore they must, I repeat, make their assault on those who were responsible for the birth and spread of Christianity. They must spit on the Jews as the ‘Christ-killers’ because they long to spit on the Jews as the Christ-givers. 
For commentators today to blithely assert the connection between Islam and the Islamic State is no stronger than that between Christianity and Nazism is not just utterly false. It is to make a virtue out of a dangerous ignorance and to slander one of the greatest cultural forces for peace, tolerance and freedom.
(Thanks to reader Uncle Quentin. Note: I am not a Christian.) 
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When did we last have immigrants warning we’d lose their loyalty in a foreign conflict?

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (9:41am)

In past wars we’ve been assured that immigrants from the lands we’re fighting in are loyal to their new country. The internment of so-called “alien immigrants” has been ritually denounced as an absurd and offensive overreaction.
But many Muslim spokesmen now don’t assure us of the loyalty of their followers but warn of - or threaten - the very opposite. As I wrote a month ago:
On Wednesday, we woke up to news of another Islamic State beheading, this time of Stephen Sotloff…
And that very day Muslim leaders again put out a statement condemning ... Tony Abbott.
This time, it was from the Australian National Imams Council… Again, it blamed the West for jihadism: “One of the main causative factor (sic) for local radicalisation in the West has been the western governments’ military involvement in the Middle East."…
And there was this warning: “If the Australian Government is serious about reducing the terror threat locally, then it must review its foreign policy decisions with regard to this region."…
That sounds like an outrageous threat. Name one other ethnic or religious group here that warns Australia to change its foreign policies or face violence from its members.
In New Zealand, too:
[The] secretary of the International Muslim Association of New Zealand, Tahir Nawaz, said sending the SAS to Iraq would be a bad idea.

”We are a very good community here, we are very co-operative. Once New Zealand troops are sent there, our public attitude could change. At the end of the day there would be people living here whose roots are in the countries where New Zealand would send the troops.”
Secretary of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, Tony Green, who is based in Christchurch, said the United States invasion of Iraq created the conditions that gave rise to IS and further western intervention would only make things worse…

“That potentially fuels things because the whole martyr kind of scenario that’s been painted by the groups calling themselves IS, that would fan the flames more than anything.”
Another Christchurch Muslim, who asked not to be named, said sending troops to Iraq would play into the hands of IS.
“If you look at what came out of America going into Iraq, it didn’t bring anything good. I personally think that it can be used for the evil people to radicalise people and use it for their own purpose.”
Has any other immigrant group issued such warnings against presuming they will stay loyal in a foreign conflict?
(Thanks to reader cynical1.) 
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Latham to Gillard: stop whingeing

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (9:28am)

Mark Latham has defended Julia Gillard heroically and against the evidence - not least over the AWU scandal - but has now had enough, especially of the whingeing:

In the acknowledgments to My Story, the real Julia declares that “my life has encompassed many varied experiences but I have never written a book before”. No kidding. Her writing style is banal, cliché-ridden and, at times, incomprehensible…
(S)tepping back onto the public stage, Gillard has exposed the limits of political feminism. It has no detailed, practical program for greater equality in civil society, only a long list of gripes about the treatment of women in Parliament. That is, political feminism – almost exclusively – is about the personal interests and career prospects of political feminists.
It is the ultimate postmodern indulgence: ­self-absorbed, self-serving and overflowing with self-justification.
Gillard has a conga-line of complaints about her treatment as prime minister. While many of these are valid, for every item she chronicles, male politicians could come up with a corresponding, equally valid grievance....
Gillard had to endure a goldfish-bowl existence, not because she was female, but because she was powerful. Australia’s political class was no more fascinated by her dress sense than it had been intrigued by Paul Keating’s Zegna suits and French clocks or ... Tony Abbott’s budgie smugglers.
Gillard’s repetitive whinge about this phenomenon points to a lack of self-awareness bordering on the delusional ... (S)he writes of how: “even if you are the single most powerful person in your country, if you are a woman, the images that are shadowed around you are of sex and rape.”
In fact, since Federation, the only Australian party leader to have had a feature article written about the history of his sex life was a male. I remember it well because it was about me…
Sadly, Julia has no comprehension of these facts – instead engaging in feminist fantasy and the vainglorious pursuit of political martyrdom.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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Spray of the week

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (9:10am)

Listen from 16.38 minutes. Listener “Viv” hops onto the ABC to hop into the ABC for its bias, its sneering and its dangerous promotion of ludicrous conspiracy theories that incite Muslim extremists.
Magnificent. The Amanda Vanstone excuse is dealt with beautifully.
(Thanks to listener Arch.) 
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How charming Karl Stefanovic ended the career of crying Myles

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (8:50am)

People of the Left often seem to me to be against the existing power structures only because they are too impatient (or incompetent) to climb them. So they denounce what they actually envy - until and unless, of course, they manage eventually to succeed themselves.
By the way, here’s former journalism student Myles McGuire on Overland’s website:
MY journalism career ended in spectacular fashion with a job interview at a notorious tabloid television program, during which I abruptly ­realised that the newsroom was not a place I wanted to be. Seated across the desk from the chief of staff, my ­assumptions about the journalistic world crumbled. “I went to uni with Karl Stefanovic,’’ my prospective employer informed me. “Captain Charisma. I got straight 7s and he got all 4s, but guess who’s making 10 times more money now?’’ I left the room in tears ...
In tears? That already suggests a certain lack of resilience inappropriate in someone wishing to uncover truths and fight for right.
But which bit prompted the tears and ended the career? The talk of someone else earning the big bucks? 
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Robert Manne shouts abuse at Paul Kelly for saying, er, he shouts abuse

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (8:33am)

Professor Robert Manne, hailed as our leading public intellectual by his peers, has long cultivated the image of a dispassionate man, just following the evidence to the damning conclusion.
Truth is, he is extraordinarily abusive when contradicted, as I’ve had reason to discover. Now it’s Paul Kelly’s turn:
What a stunning lead-article by Robert Manne in the October 2014 edition of Morry Schwartz’s left-wing house journal The Monthly.
Your man Manne used to be an admirer of The Australian’s Paul Kelly. Not any more, it seems. In his article, titled “Kelly Country”, Robert Manne:
- refers to Paul Kelly’s “instinct for hyperbole”.
- maintains that Paul Kelly “endlessly” repeats the “house view of his employer News Corp”.
- criticises Paul Kelly’s “specious pontification”.
- bags Paul Kelly’s “arrogant and foolish running commentary”.
- claims that Paul Kelly engages in “irrational pronouncements” and is guilty of “profound ignorance”.
- asserts that Paul Kelly embodies “the prejudices of the Anglophone right”.
- depicts The Australian as a “sheltered ideological workshop”.
- maintains that Paul Kelly is “blithely unconcerned about inequality” and
- asserts that Paul Kelly engages in “astonishingly dishonest pretence”.
Robert Manne is Emeritus Professor of Politics at La Trobe University — where, in days of old, students were taught the difference between criticism and abuse.
Now, alas, Professor Manne (for a professor he still is) reckons that it’s okay for La Trobe University academics to criticise works of contemporary history by depicting them as “foolish”, “irrational”, “prejudiced” and “dishonest” — and to bag The Australian as a “sheltered ideological workshop”. Can you bear it?
Pathetic.
The late Christopher Pearson once explained precisely the root of Manne’s decline:
In the October edition of The Monthly, there is an extended review of by Robert Manne of Saul Friedlander’s The Years of Extermination… Manne tells us that “"Friedlander has wonderful historical judgment (on the Holocaust) and impeccable moral taste’’…
(Manne) tells us that the author “is uninterested in the arid scholar’s distinictions between fact and value, head and heart’’. Of course if this were true it would be a terrible judgment on a lifetime’s historical research. I suspect it’s not true and that Manne’s endorsement can be best understood, in its own artless way, as a self portrait.
This failing reveals itself most when Manne finds that his great new moral causes - global warming and the “stolen generations” - are all posture, no facts. That leaves him with just abuse.
Paul Kelly’s offence was to point out this very failure of Manne to tolerate debate on what he proclaimed as heaven-shaking truths - the new Holocausts he seems driven to discover and denounce. 
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Dialogue of the deaf

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (8:28am)

image
Doesn’t The Age read its own Islamist apologist - or vice versa? Gerard Henderson:
SURELY Some Confusion in today’s The Age. The top of Page 1 carries this heading ("Burqa debate"). The only problem is that the woman in the (accompanying) photo is not in a burqa, but, rather, a niqab. Turn to Radio ­National presenter Waleed Aly’s article in the opinion page titled “Burqa debate unveils the real Team Australia”. This is an angry piece complaining that most commentators don’t know the difference between the niqab and burqa. Mr Aly politely refuses to recognise that The Age made this very error yesterday. And it’s repeated it today.
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Another aid worker beheaded

Andrew Bolt October 04 2014 (8:04am)

image
Human beings do not come more depraved than this - to behead people bringing charity:
British aid convoy volunteer Alan Henning has been beheaded by an Islamic State militant in a video posted on the internet…
Mr Henning, a 47-year-old former taxi driver, was captured by militants last December while delivering aid in Syria…
At the end of the video another hostage - a former US soldier - is paraded in front of the cameras.
The hostage is believed to be Peter Edward Kassig who had returned to the region as a charity worker, after serving in Iraq in 2007.
The militant in the video says Mr Kassig will be the next victim.
But remember that Greens leader Christine Milne has a solution:
And everybody recognises that the only way you’ll even get to a solution is to have a political solution both in Iraq and in Syria. Military intervention isn’t going to secure that. If you want to stop ISIL, the first thing you have to do is cut off the supplies getting to them...
Stop knives and aid workers getting to them? And then chat to the Islamic State about their political objectives? 
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Post by Matt Granz.

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Post by Matt Granz.

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Post by Yoni Barak.

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Unbelievable facts
The most frightening thing about the #universe
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Are you a twin, triplet or quadruplet and in a conflict with your sibling? Do you need help resolving it? http://bit.ly/MultiplesMishap

Fighting with your sibling? 
http://bit.ly/DRPSiblingRivalry
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This wooden cabinet was intricately carved to look like a digital glitch
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SIGN our petition and STAND with us in telling the Senate Dems to END their shutdown!http://bit.ly/15GWZdN
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What do you think ... is this petty, dictatorial, over-reaching obscenity of using *tax dollars* to pay armed guards to keep *taxpayers* away from OUR MEMORIALS the lowest point in the very low career of Barack Obama? Tell us what you think and share this with friends so they can have their say. http://bit.ly/15JCux6
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In yo’ face! Ted Cruz epically pwns @BarackObama with one perfect retweet ==>http://twitchy.com/2013/10/02/in-yo-face-ted-cruz-epically-pwns-barackobama-with-one-perfect-retweet/
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Guess how many people have enrolled in Louisiana’s largest Obamacare plan? ==> http://twitchy.com/2013/10/02/guess-how-many-people-have-enrolled-in-louisianas-largest-obamacare-plan/
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Obama to jump start talks with Iran , AGAINST UN mandates recognized Iran’s Nuclear Enrichment Program . Rather than enable diplomacy, this concession poisoned it. With a single statement, Obama unilaterally stripped of authority three hard-fought Security Council Resolutions forbidding enrichment. Iranian authorities responded by ramping up enrichment and flatly rejecting to negotiate suspension.
Regressing on Iran Michael Rubin | Townhall Magazine 
July 31, 2012 
http://www.aei.org/article/foreign-and-defense-policy/regional/middle-east-and-north-africa/regressing-on-iran/
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Predicating Israel’s “Survival” On the Establishment Of A PA (Terror) State: Barack HUSSEIN Obama’s Bludgeon…Commentary By Adina Kutnicki

Posted on 

DESPITE all the wild fires consuming the Mid East, Barack HUSSEIN Obama hasn’t paused a beat in his laser-focused charge to “rearrange” the Mid East. And those who still insist that his missteps are happenstance are whistling past countless graveyards to stand by their assertions. They too will bear the onus as willing accomplices, even if only by their silent assent. As is said, “to be silent is to agree.”
IN the midst of the above ravages, along comes the heretofore leader of the free world warning the world body: 
Yet, this site is ahead of the curve in citing the Islamist-in-Chief as an ultimate weapon of destruction towards the Jewish State, so much so that too many commentaries prove said charge.

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Pope Francis has praised Jews for keeping their faith despite the Holocaust and other “terrible trials” throughout history, and reaffirmed Judaism as the “holy root” of Christianity.
In a letter, published on the front page of La Repubblica Italian newspaper, the Pope writes that "since Vatican Council II, we have rediscovered that the Jewish people are still for us the holy root from which Jesus germinated".
As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio had celebrated Rosh Hashana in local synagogues, he had voiced solidarity with Jewish victims of Iranian terrorism and co-written a book with a rabbi, Avraham Skorka. He attended a commemoration of Kristallnacht, the wave of Nazi attacks against Jews in November 1938.
But as this new letter shows, one of the grave dangers in the Vatican's dialogue with Judaism is the Church's attempt to drive a wedge between the “good” and docile Jews of the Diaspora and the “bad” and arrogant Jews of Israel.
Pope Francis has never addressed the Israelis in his messages, nor has he openly defended the Jewish State since he was elected by the college of the cardinals. It seems that there is no room for stubborn, faithful Zionists in the Pope's lenient smile. In his speeches, Jewish national aspirations are ignored, if not denigrated.
The definitive proof is in Washington.

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Is CNN Conducting PR Campaign for the Iranian Regime?

Is CNN actively engaged in PR on behalf of Iran? Is the global media outlet involved in a campaign to launder the Iranian regime's history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and actions?
First, CNN's Christiane Amanpour mistranslated the comments of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to imply that he, unlike his Holocaust-denying predecessor, publicly acknowledged and condemned the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews.
And more recently, a CNN report by Reza Sayah presented a utopian portrait of a tolerant and benevolent Islamic Iranian regime whose Jewish citizens enjoy the same religious freedoms as those living in the Jewish state of Israel. “Sure, it may seem like we're in Israel,” Sayah says, “but in fact we're in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The report, which seemed more like a promotional advertisement for Jewish life in Iran than a news investigation. omitted all controversial and unpleasant historical facts regarding the treatment of Iran's Jews since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. For example, there is no mention of the 1999 arrest of 13 Iranian Jews in Shiraz on charges of spying for the "Zionist regime." There is no hint of the fact that more than 17 Jews were executed since the Revolution, mostly on charges of spying for Israel and the U.S., including Jewish community leader Habib Elghanaian in 1979, and businessman Ruhollah Kadkhodah-Zadeh, hung in 1998 for allegedly helping other Iranian Jews emigrate to Israel.  There is no mention of the previous Iranian president's Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic rhetoric. There is no attempt to look beyond the rosy picture of Islamic tolerance that is presented and no effort made to provide viewers with a fuller picture of the Islamic regime's attitude toward Jews over the past 35 years.
Sayah not only ignores the hostile rhetoric and actions of the Iranian regime over the years, but downplays even its enmity toward the Jewish state, referring merely to “bitter rivalry” between the two states. The reporter interviews Siamak Morasedgh, Iran's only Jewish parliamentarian, who, as it happens, was part of President Rouhani's delegation to New York and who has been on the media circuit condemning Israel and Zionism and trying to persuade the West that the Islamic Republic is exceptionally tolerant toward Jews.  The CNN reporter helps him along throughout the video, posing simplistic questions but making no attempt to probe beneath the surface. Under authoritarian regimes like Iran, there can only be one correct response to the type of questions asked by the reporter, and the Jewish parliamentarian responds dutifully:
Sayah: “Are you happy in Iran?”
Morasedgh: Of course we are happy in Iran.
Sayah “Are you under any pressure to stay in Iran?”
Morasedgh: “There is no pressure…”
Sayah “Would you prefer to live anywhere else other than Iran?”
Morasedgh: “I only prefer to live in Iran.”
Later, Morasedgh is called upon again to reject allegations of Iranian anti-Semitism and to condemn Israel and Zionism. He goes so far as to assert that “in the history of Iran, you cannot find even one time that there was any organized anti-Semitic phenomenon.” In a voiceover, the reporter declares:
Morasedgh says that what Iran opposes is the Israeli government's Zionist policies and occupation of Palestinian land.
One might well wonder whether Jewish leaders under an authoritarian regime, especially one that serves in Iran's parliament, might feel compelled to praise Iran's leaders and publicly condemn Israel and Zionism.
Indeed, other journalists have displayed skepticism about the statements of Iran's Jewish leaders. For example, Iranian-American journalist Karmel Melamed, who reported earlier this year on an increasing trend in the murders of Jews in Iran  has frequently written about how Iran's Jewish community leaders are used as part of the regime's propaganda campaign. (See here and here.) 
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Post by Gym Memes.

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The first warships have made their way into Sydney Harbour for the International Fleet Review as hundreds of keen ship gazers gather around the foreshore.
PLAN Qingdao from China, Singapore's RSS Endeavour and the Royal Malaysian Navy's KD Jebat will enter the harbour by 8am this morning under grey but clearing skies.
Twenty warships from international navies including France, Spain and India will enter Sydney Harbour between 6am and 4pm (AEST).
Today's arrivals will be greeted with more favourable conditions than the gusty rain that accompanied 17 tall ships on Thursday.
Sydney Harbour is a buzz of activity with Maritime Police patrolling the waters, jet skis skirting through towering ships and ferries negotiating their way to Circular Quay.
Crowds have already started to gather along the harbour and at Circular Quay, where many are expected to jump on cruises for a closer look at the international fleet.
The Navy Helicopter Display Team and RAAF Roulettes will put on a show over the harbour between 9.45am and 10.15am and a contingent of Royal Australian Navy ships, including HMAS Sydney, Darwin, Bundaberg and Perth, will perform a 21 gun salute adjacent to Bradley's Head at 10am.
The RAN and visiting military band will perform at the Opera House Forecourt, Martin Place, Darling Harbour and Maritime Museum throughout the day.
But Saturday will be the main event with more than 60 aircraft, 10 military bands, 8000 sailors and a huge fireworks display, as well as an appearance by Prince Harry.
Extra buses will run throughout the day on Friday and spectators are urged to leave their cars at home.
The Transport Management Centre says ferries are expected to be delayed as warships arrive and travellers should allow extra travel time.
Special event clearways will be in place in the city and along the northern and southern sides of the harbour from 6am until 8pm.
The review commemorates the arrival of the Royal Australian Navy fleet in Sydney for the first time 100 years ago, in October 1913.
The International Fleet Review is expected to draw 1.4 million people to the city.


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Amanda Hutton living room

A MOTHER of eight children was on Thursday found guilty of killing her four-year-old son whose starved body was found in a mummified state in a cot.
Amanda Hutton, a 43-year-old alcoholic, showed no emotion as she was convicted of manslaughter by a jury at Bradford Crown Court in northern England.
The court heard that her son Hamzah's decomposed and insect-infested body was found in Hutton's bedroom almost two years after he died in December 2009.
Photographs of the house showed a scene of squalor, with clothes and waste piled up in many rooms.
The foreman of the jury made clear that they had convicted her on the basis that she was grossly negligent by failing to provide adequate nourishment for Hamzah.
Hutton will be sentenced today.
The jury heard that Hamzah's body was found in the house, where five other school-aged siblings were living.
Hutton has admitted a charge of child cruelty in respect of each of these children, who were aged between five and 13 in 2011.

Drunks don't make good parents - ed
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Rosalyn Ng and Alexian Lien

THE wife of a New York man savagely beaten by bikers has lashed out at the attackers, calling them "a mob of reckless and violent motorcyclists."
The New York Post reports that Rosalyn Ng, wife of Alexian Lien, believes her husband and their 2-year-old child were "placed in grave danger" while out celebrating their anniversary on Sunday afternoon.
"Our plan last Sunday was to celebrate our wedding anniversary by having a nice family day out with our 2-year-old daughter," Ms Ng’s said in a statement released through the family’s lawyers.
"Unfortunately, instead, we were placed in grave danger by a mob of reckless and violent motorcyclists."
Her hubby, she said, "was forced under the circumstances to take the actions that he did in order to protect the lives of our entire family" and should not be blamed for running over and injuring one of the bikers.
"We know in our hearts that we could not have done anything differently," Ms Ng said.
"Our fear for our lives was confirmed when the incident ended with the ruthless and brutal attack on my husband, me, and, most importantly, our 2-year-old child."

The idiot bikers were lucky their victims weren't armed - ed
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FORMER Channel 10 MasterChef contestant Jay Huxley has brought his cooking skills and knowledge to Canley Vale as the new chef and operator of Hux Bistro at Richards on the Park.
Mr Huxley, who grew up in Western Sydney, came 15th in the 2011 season.
"It was pretty intense because you lived, breathed and did everything related to food for 24 hours a day," he said of being in the competition.
"What I got from it was a confirmation that being a cook was what I wanted to do as a career.
"I've always had a passion for cooking and once you have an interest in something you build on your skills.
"Eating is something you have to do every day so it's a good interest to have because you're going to utilise it every day.
"It's a pleasure making a meal and people enjoying it is a satisfying thing."
Mr Huxley, 34, enjoys working in Cabramatta.
"One of the first things I'll do before starting work is duck across the road for the pho or to the bakery for a pork roll," he said.
"It's great that those foods are so readily available to us."
Hux Bistro, opened a few weeks ago, serves quality pub food.
Mr Huxley said his aim was to source and showcase the best Australian ingredients he could get his hands on.
"I source all the meats for the restaurant as well as the vegetables," he said.
"More than 95 per cent of our ingredients are sourced in NSW.

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A new generation of soldiers protecting an ancient land: These paratroopers have just finished a long and challenging exercise. They were put to the test, and they succeeded.
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Does the so called government shut-down mean they can call a truce in the government war against lemonade stands? ... Oh ... you thought we were joking? http://onforb.es/19fEIoT
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Dutch firm terminates Jerusalem sewage plant project


Royal HaskoningDHV, a Netherlands-based firm, recently announced it was pulling out of a sewage treatment project in Eastern Jerusalem. The company, which also has offices in the UK and US, released a statement noting that the project would no longer move beyond its planning stage. In an official press release, the firm pointed out that it had a high regard for "integrity" and "compliance with international laws and regulations." It added that "in the course of the project, and after due consultation with various stakeholders, the company came to understand that future involvement in the project could be in violation of international law. This has led to the decision of Royal HaskoningDHV to terminate its involvement in the project." Anti-Israel organizations, along with the Dutch government, reportedly pressured Royal HaskoningDHV to make this decision. The company has 8,000 employees.
Sadly, Dutch leftism gets past the dyke - ed
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Barack Obama is sacrificing Israel on the altar of the deal he wishes to broker with Iran.
The Jewish State should unilaterally act against the Iranian nuclear program, as Prime MInisterNetanyahu warned in his speech at the United Nations on Tuesday, October 1, but it is currently more probable that Ayatollah Khamenei will arm himself with nuclear bombs.
Because Obama's damage to Israel's deterrence has already been immense.
Under the possible deal with Washington, Teheran will preserve the 20 per cent level of uranium enrichment that will turn Iran into a "nuclear threshold state".
Obama will accept that. Obama's record against Israeli Jews is long and abundant. He is the most anti-Semitic US president ever.
The Obama Administrations fomented a war on Jerusalem and treated Israel like a banana republic. Israeli-American relations are the worst they have been in memory.

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J Street has gone over to the dark side. It claims to be "a pro-Israel, pro peace lobby." It has now become neither. Its Executive Director, Jeremy Ben-Ami, has joined the off key chorus of those who falsely claim that Israel, by refusing to make peace with the Palestinians, is placing the lives of American soldiers at risk.
This claim was first attributed to Vice President Joe Biden and to General David Petraeus. It was quickly denied by them but continued to have a life of its own in the anti-Israel media. It was picked up by Steven Walt and John Mearsheimer, Pat Buchanan and others on the hard right and hard left who share a common disdain for the Jewish state. It is the most dangerous argument ever put forward by Israel bashers. It is also totally false.
It is dangerous for two reasons. First, it seeks to reduce support for Israel among Americans who, quite understandably and correctly, care deeply about American soldiers being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel has always understood this and that's why it is one of the few American allies who has never asked the United States to put its troops in harm's way in defense of Israeli citizens. If Americans were to believe the falsehood that Israel were to blame for American deaths caused by Islamic extremists in Iraq and Afghanistan, support for the Jewish state would suffer considerably.
It is also dangerous because its implication is that Israel must cease to exist: the basic complaint that Muslim extremists have against Israel is not what the Jewish state does, but what it is: a secular, non-Muslim, democracy that promotes equal rights for women, gays, Christians and others. Regardless of what Israel does or doesn't do, its very existence will be anathema to Muslim extremists. So if Israel's actions were in fact a cause of American deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan--which they are not--then the only logical solution would be Israel's disappearance. This might be acceptable to the Walts, Mearsheimers and Buchanans of the world, but it is surely not acceptable to Israel or anyone who claims to be pro-Israel.

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The benefits from Google's acquisition of Waze aren't just going to Waze's shareholders. Or rather, Waze's shareholders may include some people you didn't expect. Through a charity that asks early-stage companies to contribute shares, many of Israel's poor will benefit from the Waze acquisition. 
Waze contributed options to Tmura, an Israeli public service venture that receives grants of stock from companies and uses the proceeds from successful “exits” – a public offering, acquisition or sale of shares on the market – to fund charities for education and youth-related causes in Israel. In 2011, Tmura cashed out of its Waze options to the tune of $1.385 million.
“We are excited by this opportunity to make a real difference in the community,” said Waze CEO Noam Bardin. “Tmura’s model enabled us to involve Waze employees in the allocation process and this has truly been an inspiring experience for the entire company.”
Amos Gaver, chairman of Tmura’s Grants Committee, was equally as ecstatic. “Non-profits are continually faced with fundraising challenges, making it difficult to plan from year to year,” he said. “With these grants, we hope to alleviate at least some of this burden and help these organizations with their planning for the coming years.”
Tmura says that it will allocate the money to five separate charities chosen in cooperation with Waze. They are:Chinuch L’Psagot, Israeli Rett Syndrome Foundation,Knafayim Shel Krembo, Tel Aviv Sexual Assault Crisis Center, and Tzeva.
 Maybe they should have held on longer.
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What Obama does not get is that were the house to support Obama Care now, it would not last because it is unaffordable. You cannot own what you cannot afford.  - ed
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Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said his nation is ready to discuss "details" about its disputed uranium enrichment program in upcoming talks with six major governments, the Associated Press reported.
Tehran has insisted it is only refining uranium for peaceful purposes, but it has not successfully made its case to the five permanent U.N. Security Council member nations and Germany. Israel, the United States and other nations suspect the Persian Gulf power is secretly pursuing a nuclear-arms capacity.
Rouhani said his government has prepared a "precise plan" to discuss with the six negotiating powers at their next meeting, scheduled for Oct. 15-16 in Geneva.
He stated: "Iran’s enrichment right is not negotiable but we must enter into talks to see what would the other side proposes to us about the details."
Iran intends "to keep doors of our nuclear facilities open to IAEA inspection," Rouhani added. "We have nothing to hide. Our record is clean and our hands are open."
He played down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Tuesday admonishments to the U.N. General Assembly on Iran's recent diplomatic outreach.
The Iranian president said "such remarks show that we are moving in the right direction."
“When Israel sees that its sword doesn’t work and that wisdom has prevailed in the world and that the Iranian people’s message of peace is heard ... they definitely get angry,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday said Netanyahu did not appear to be "suggesting that we are being played somehow for suckers."
"I understood it to be a warning, don’t be played," he told reporters in Tokyo.


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Anti-Semitic

Popular American craft store chain, Hobby Lobby, is refusing to sell Hanukkah-related items, leading to an internet campaign against it and calls for boycott, according to The Times of Israel.
Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma-based chain of over 500 stores that, according to its website, operates “in a manner consistent with biblical principles,” is privately owned by Evangelical Christian businessman David Green.
Last week, blogger Ken Berwitz posted that neighbors were reporting that a New Jersey branch of Hobby Lobby didn’t have any Hanukkah or Jewish-themed merchandise for sale. He said workers asked about the omission replied, “We don’t cater to you people,” meaning Jews, and that including Jewish items would be against the values of the chain’s Christian owner.
Following the blog post, a groundswell on online outrage has broken out, including a substantial call to boycott the chain. The story has been picked up by a number of news agencies, including the Daily Kos, who reported on Monday that Hobby Lobby was monitoring its Facebook page to remove any posts about the issue.
A local news site reported Monday that a Hobby Lobby representative wrote to the mayor of Marlboro, New Jersey, where the store in question is located, and said that ”alleged comments made by employees are currently being investigated and will be addressed accordingly. These comments are in no way indicative of Hobby Lobby culture, the owners and the operators.”

00 stores that, according to its website, operates “in a manner consistent with biblical principles,” is privately owned by Evangelical Christian businessman David Green.> I won't buy from them - ed
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IF Bill Shorten's pitch for the leadership is any guide, the Labor Party hasn't learned any lessons from the federal election.
Recently the "Bill for Labor" campaign released its "Party. Policy. People" manifesto outlining Shorten's case for the worst job in politics.
Mixed among endorsements for his candidacy, Shorten flagged consideration of "quotas for sections of our community that are under-represented in our parliaments, including indigenous Australians and the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) community".
Progressive ideas may play well in far-left political circles, but they're completely disconnected from the attitudes of average Australians who identify as individuals, not with group identities.
Progressivism isn't about progress. Progressivism is designed to completely reorient the structures of our society.
Liberal democracy is built on the principle of the dignity of the individual and that society is governed from the citizen up.
Progressivism seeks to achieve equitable outcomes imposed on individuals from the government down.
In that spirit, Shorten's proposal aims to extend to minority identities the 40 per cent quota to preselect women candidates in "winnable" seats.
It is reminiscent of a fad that used to be prevalent in early 2000s far-left university politics.
At events run by the kaleidoscope of left-wing student political factions, "progressive speaking lists" were adopted during discussions to decide the order that participants got to speak.
At any normal function, the speaking order is based on the order that a participant gets to the microphone or puts their hand up. A progressive speaking list sought to correct any racist, sexist, hetero-normative or any other form of established "ists" and "isms" that ensured minority groups weren't being heard.
In place of a first-come, first-served speaking order, progressive speaking lists applied equity rankings to speakers based on their group identity, so marginalised groups were prioritised depending on the extent of the victimisation.
Women got to speak before men; gay men before straight men; but because gay men still benefited from patriarchy, straight and lesbian women spoke before them.
It didn't end there. Australians who identified as indigenous got to speak before any other ethnic identity and, with the September 11 terrorist attacks being a recent memory, Muslims followed as a recently marginalised group.
But if your ethnic background was Asian, you were essentially classified as white because you'd been sufficiently assimilated and no longer suffered sufficient victimisation.
- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/whos-on-first-gay-black-man-or-disabled-muslim-woman/story-e6frgd0x-1226732543172#sthash.enTBOpFu.dpuf
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“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”1 Peter 1:3 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
Hebrews 1:14
Angels are the unseen attendants of the saints of God; they bear us up in their hands, lest we dash our foot against a stone. Loyalty to their Lord leads them to take a deep interest in the children of his love; they rejoice over the return of the prodigal to his father's house below, and they welcome the advent of the believer to the King's palace above. In olden times the sons of God were favoured with their visible appearance, and at this day, although unseen by us, heaven is still opened, and the angels of God ascend and descend upon the Son of man, that they may visit the heirs of salvation. Seraphim still fly with live coals from off the altar to touch the lips of men greatly beloved. If our eyes could be opened, we should see horses of fire and chariots of fire about the servants of the Lord; for we have come to an innumerable company of angels, who are all watchers and protectors of the seed-royal. Spenser's line is no poetic fiction, where he sings--
"How oft do they with golden pinions cleave
The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant
Against foul fiends to aid us militant!"
To what dignity are the chosen elevated when the brilliant courtiers of heaven become their willing servitors! Into what communion are we raised since we have intercourse with spotless celestials! How well are we defended since all the twenty- thousand chariots of God are armed for our deliverance! To whom do we owe all this? Let the Lord Jesus Christ be forever endeared to us, for through him we are made to sit in heavenly places far above principalities and powers. He it is whose camp is round about them that fear him; he is the true Michael whose foot is upon the dragon. All hail, Jesus! thou Angel of Jehovah's presence, to thee this family offers its morning vows.

Evening

"He himself hath suffered being tempted."
Hebrews 2:18
It is a common-place thought, and yet it tastes like nectar to the weary heart--Jesus was tempted as I am. You have heard that truth many times: have you grasped it? He was tempted to the very same sins into which we fall. Do not dissociate Jesus from our common manhood. It is a dark room which you are going through, but Jesus went through it before. It is a sharp fight which you are waging, but Jesus has stood foot to foot with the same enemy. Let us be of good cheer, Christ has borne the load before us, and the blood-stained footsteps of the King of glory may be seen along the road which we traverse at this hour. There is something sweeter yet--Jesus was tempted, but Jesus never sinned. Then, my soul, it is not needful for thee to sin, for Jesus was a man, and if one man endured these temptations and sinned not, then in his power his members may also cease from sin. Some beginners in the divine life think that they cannot be tempted without sinning, but they mistake; there is no sin in being tempted, but there is sin in yielding to temptation. Herein is comfort for the sorely tempted ones. There is still more to encourage them if they reflect that the Lord Jesus, though tempted, gloriously triumphed, and as he overcame, so surely shall his followers also, for Jesus is the representative man for his people; the Head has triumphed, and the members share in the victory. Fears are needless, for Christ is with us, armed for our defence. Our place of safety is the bosom of the Saviour. Perhaps we are tempted just now, in order to drive us nearer to him. Blessed be any wind that blows us into the port of our Saviour's love! Happy wounds, which make us seek the beloved Physician. Ye tempted ones, come to your tempted Saviour, for he can be touched with a feeling of your infirmities, and will succour every tried and tempted one.
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Today's reading: Isaiah 17-19, Ephesians 5:17-33 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Isaiah 17-19

A Prophecy Against Damascus
1 A prophecy against Damascus:
“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
but will become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted
and left to flocks, which will lie down,
with no one to make them afraid.
3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
like the glory of the Israelites,” declares the LORD Almighty.
4 “In that day the glory of Jacob will fade;
the fat of his body will waste away.
5 It will be as when reapers harvest the standing grain,
gathering the grain in their arms—
as when someone gleans heads of grain
in the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet some gleanings will remain,
as when an olive tree is beaten,
leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches,
four or five on the fruitful boughs,” declares the LORD, the God of Israel....

Today's New Testament reading: Ephesians 5:17-33

17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ....
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WIDOW WITH TWO MITES

The Woman Who Gave Her All
Of all the nameless women in female biography, this most sacrificial widow is one whose name and background we would dearly love to know about. As we read the gospels her devotion always touches our hearts, and we are grateful that Jesus noticed her sacrifice and has preserved her story in the safekeeping of His praise and Word.
The Occasion
During Paschal Week women from all over poured into their court in the Temple with their offerings for its manifold services. Along the walls of the court there were receptacles into which the people dropped their gifts. Many who were rich cast in much and probably took no pains to conceal what they gave. The Scribes who devoured widows' houses, getting all they could, doubtless paraded their giving, but here was a widow intent on a far nobler purpose, namely, to give all she could. The Scribes were rich, but selfish - the widow, poor, but sacrificial (Mark 10:24; James 2:5). Among the crowds this poor anonymous widow was unnoticed by those around her as she dropped into one of the chests her two tiny copper coins. Making her offering, she passed along unaware that any one but herself knew the measure of her gift and what it cost. When we speak about "the widow's mite" we have in mind a small offering, but to this nameless widow her mite represented allshe had. If the rich had given proportionately that Holy Week, what a tremendous offering the Temple would have had. Among all the money gathered that day none had the stain of blood on it apart from those two mites. With true Israelite devotion she gave all she had earned, and then went on her way to earn a little more to care for her frugal needs, and for those of any children she might have had.
The Omniscience
As an Israelite the widow would have a knowledge of Hagar of old and of how she called Jehovah by the distinguished and comforting name, "Thou God seest me" ( Genesis 16:13). She surrendered her all that day feeling that God's eyes alone would know of her offering. Little did she know that the One sitting near the treasury was God manifest in flesh, and that because of His omniscience He knew all about her and also the amount of her sacrificial gift. Whether Jesus may have learned of this godly widow on one of His previous visits to Jerusalem, we do not know. The narrative seems to suggest His divine insight into the lives and characters of people as in the cases of Nathanael ( John 1:47, 48) and of the woman of Samaria (John 4:18).
Because of her penury, the widow would come and go unobserved in the presence of the crowd for she had none of the ostentation of the Pharisees in dress and disposal of gifts. But an All-Seeing eye saw her and knew all about her secret and took an exact inventory of the comparatively small gift she had dropped into the treasury box. The Bible does not tell us whether Jesus spoke to her and thanked her for her offering. It is probable that she was not conscious of what omniscient eyes had seen, and how her minute offering among so many gifts that day had gladdened the sorrowful soul of Him who was on His way to give His all at Calvary and also provided Him with a text for an everlasting lesson on what sacrificial giving really is.
Her Offering
What a rebuke Jesus delivered to the rich Scribes and Pharisees who cast large gifts into the treasury-boxes! But what they gave was insignificant, proportionally, alongside what the widow gave, and her slender gift brought forth from the greatest Giver of all a message that lifted the poor to their rightful fraternity of service with the godly rich in the kingdom of God: "Of a truth ... this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: [With this sentence Jesus must have waved His hand in the direction of those who loved the praise of men and not of God.] For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had."
Over against the show of easy service, Jesus placed the piety of self-denial. The widow's two mites represented her two hands that had earned the mites, and which would earn more for another sacred fraction for the God she worshiped. Paul commended the churches of Macedonia because their deep poverty had abounded unto the riches of their liberality (2 Corinthians 8:1, 2). As it is "by him actions are weighed" ( 1 Samuel 2:3), in His balances the loving act of the poor widow outweighed the munificence of the rich Pharisees. It is not whatwe give but how we give that counts with Him who gave Himself for a lost world. The widow gave all she had at the time, and surrendered it gladly. May we ever remember that our giving must be inspired by what we owe Him who redeemed us at such cost, and also placed over against what is left after we give! How apropos are the words of Solomon as we think of the poor, unnoticed widow whom Jesus rewarded with everlasting remembrance: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Proverbs 15:3).
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Korah, Kore, Core

 [Kō'rah,Kō'rē, Cō'rē] - baldness or icy.
  1. A son of Esau by Aholibamah, and founder of a tribe (Gen. 36:5, 18).
  2. A son of Eliphaz and grandson of Esau (Gen. 36:16).
  3. A son of Hebron, son of Mareshah, son of Caleb (1 Chron. 2:43).
  4. A grandson of Kohath , son of Levi - ancestor of sanctuary musicians (1 Chron. 6:22).
  5. The son of Izhar, the grandson of Levi, who with Dathan and Abiram conspired against Moses and Aaron (Exod. 6:21, 24; Num. 16). Jude 11 gives Core for Korah.
Korah, along with his two companions, resisted the civil authority of Moses. For refusing to appear before him as commanded, Korah, Dathan and Abiram along with their households and houses were swallowed up by the earth ( Num. 16). Then there came the further revolt of Korah against Moses and Aaron, in the interests of the people at large as against the tribe of Levi. The rebels were consumed by fire from the Lord (Num. 17). There followed the opposition of Korah and 250 Levites against the monopoly of the priesthood claimed by Aaron. The "gainsaying," meaning against the Word, was Korah's denial of the authority of Moses as God's chosen spokesman, and intrusion into the priest's office (Jude 11).
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