Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Tue Oct 14th Todays News

Shirt front explained. AFL (Victorian) it is a kind of tackle. Rugby Union (Abbott's chosen sport) it means to face a person and get them to talk about tough issues. Guess which one Mr Abbott meant in reference to Putin? Guess which one the press chose to run with over Abbott speaking to Putin? Channel 9 news via Today Show were making a joke of it this morning, claiming Mr Abbott was stupid. ABC is hoping they can inflate it too. They are very keen to upset the G20.

Gillard invents another misogynist insult. Apparently she feels she is no longer PM because mining executives would not serve her rum and coke.

The need to divide Australia by race? Socialism hurts Aboriginals too. Aboriginal peoples do not need to be segregated. But that is how the left intend to address the imbalance of poverty involving Aboriginal peoples. People need the dignity of work, and to be able to prosper. But that would be denied them by people who would rather help people who are high and on drugs to feel better.

Pope is wrong to wish more dead from people smuggling. But he has when he wrings his hands in anger at life saving attempts to prevent people smuggling. Over 1200 people died recently from the ALP's poor policies regarding people smuggling. Blood is not something politicians should profit from. The Italian left are showing the same bad ALP policy can be as murderous in the Mediterranean.

Abbott praises coal. Burning coal produces carbon dioxide which is an excellent plant food. The world is not heating from Carbon Dioxide at the moment. But the left are so hysterically concerned by it they are lying about it. Some claim China is cutting back on coal power, but in fact China is merely bringing on more power stations, as well as using old ones.

 The fall of the Anglican Church continues with their clammy embrace of left wing idealism which eschews Christ. Melbourne Anglican (a magazine) asks for a re-imposition of a tax on air, freeing women by not following the bible but encouraging the wearing of a Burqa, drowning people desperate to come to Australia, opposing Israel, asking the question of how to respond to effective asylum policy and using Christian Climate Science (what is that?). 
He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?
“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”
Time to drag them to the judge. 

 from 2013
ALP leadership is sorted .. nobody is happy? Continued failed policy and negativity. Money is gone. Victorian ALP claim they would never have a surplus.

Costco is in Australia and welcomed .. what about Shoneys?

AGW means open spaces in Sydney. Luckily, the warming pause may not be permanent.
Left wing press fight to censor press. Apparently it is Fairfax media which is polluted. Somehow, the left became thugs.

Are Coral Reefs the cockroaches of an AGW era?

Barrycades tumble, but Obama's need, to spurn the US public, never rests.
Gambling is a problem, but does Tim Costello have an answer? Costello's facts are misleading in order to inflate the issue. I get it that it affects families for generations. I can point to my own family as an example. Costello is highlighting a problem without highlighting a workable solution. In fact, the high rollers account for much of gambling, and they aren't many and aren't the problem. Also, those betting on Melbourne Cup or once a year skew the issue. There is an issue with obsessive compulsive gambling by poor people. It is related to mental illness and should, imho, be covered in that category. But Costello seems to want to whip Abbott over it, after having failed to get Gillard to implement a bad system. Maybe proof of age is no longer a good measure for such activity? A license? Proof of sanity?

I'm begging the press to help me .. maybe I'm not sane .. 
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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 Rafael CoCo and Anh Tran. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
1257 – Przemysł II of Poland (d. 1296)
1644 – William Penn, English businessman, founder of Pennsylvania (d. 1718)
1687 – Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician (d. 1768)
1790 – Thursday October Christian I, English son of Fletcher Christian (d. 1831)
1882 – Éamon de Valera, Irish politician, 3rd President of Ireland (d. 1975)
1890 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, American general and politician, 34th President of the United States (d. 1969)
1893 – Lillian Gish, American actress (d. 1993)
1894 – E. E. Cummings, American poet (d. 1962)
1927 – Roger Moore, English actor
1939 – Ralph Lauren, American fashion designer, founded the Ralph Lauren Corporation
1940 – Cliff Richard, English singer and actor
1956 – Jennell Jaquays, American game designer and artist of table-top role-playing games (RPGs) and video games
1958 – Thomas Dolby, English singer-songwriter and producer
1964 – Joe Girardi, American baseball player and manager
2001 – Rowan Blanchard, American actress
October 14: Hoshana Rabbah begins at sunset (Judaism, 2014)
Louis Le Prince
Harold left a vacancy. The garden looks wonderful. Royal Oak is not the best wood. Rommel was a hero. An animal has taken control. Time to party. 
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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2014
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Socialism hurts Aborigines as it hurts every one else who’s tried it

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (11:18am)

Adam Giles is one of the few political leaders in Australia who has not only vision but the courage to take on the ideological establishment - especially the collectivists and their allies in the race industry:
State and federal leaders agreed at last week’s Council of Australian Governments meeting [to] urgently review indigenous land administration following a push by NT Chief Minister Adam Giles to “stop talking about land rights and start talking about economic rights”.
Mr Giles went further yesterday… “What I’m going to do is stand up for indigenous Territorians who are being held back by socialist, rights-based enthusiasts from down south, who hold the indigenous imagery so peacefully in their minds...”
Mr Giles said he would “absolutely” be happy to see land rights legislation changed before the next territory and federal polls, due in 2016. “It’s not about a mandate, it’s about allowing people to use their own land,” he said.
But the great institutionalised culture sludges in to smother Giles. Note the former Liberal ministers involved. Note the protests that Giles threatens the referendum to recognise Aborigines in the constitution. Consider how such a constitutional change would almost certainly make Giles’ sensible proposal unconstitutional:

Ian Viner, who introduced key Aboriginal land rights legislation while serving as minister for Aboriginal affairs during the Fraser government, accused Mr Giles of “misguided political rhetoric"…
Fred Chaney, another Liberal former minister for Aboriginal ­affairs and current Senior Australian of the Year, said ... “If Aboriginal people feel they’ve got to go to war on this issue, it’s not likely to put them in a frame of mind that will lead to seeing the constitutional amendments as positive.”
UPDATE
The new politics of race - and faith - promoted by SBS:
Sarah tells Abboud: “I’m a proud Aboriginal Australian Muslim. It’s a profound quietness when I pray and when I connect with God. I’ve never had that up until I embraced Islam...”
(Thanks to reader Andy.) 
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Spinning Shorten’s bad report

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (11:03am)

The Sydney Morning Herald puts this headline on Peter Reith’s column savaging Bill Shorten’s leadership:
Shorten falls at first hurdle, but is Abbott any better?
Strange headline, given that Reith’s column made the answer clear:
While Abbott’s go-slow on reform is a big cost to the economy, Shorten’s position is worse and much harder to justify.
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Brandis: the case for banning reports of secret ASIO operations

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (10:35am)

I was sceptical on 2GB yesterday about the Government’s plans to extend laws banning the disclosure of certain intelligence operations. But Attorney-General George Brandis puts a good case:
Section 35P [of the draft bill] makes it an offence for a person to disclose information relating to a special intelligence operation. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for 5 years. There is also an aggravated offence, in a case where the offender “intends to endanger the health or safety of any person or prejudice the effective conduct of” the operation, for which the maximum penalty is 10 years…
A “special intelligence operation” is narrowly defined by the act and, unusually, requires the authorisation of the Attorney-General as well as the director-general of ASIO. It is intended only to be used in the relatively rare circumstances in which the ordinary intelligence-gathering powers of ASIO are insufficient.
The first point to be made about Section 35P is that its only effect is to make it unlawful to disclose that which should not be disclosed… Think, for instance, of the covert penetration of a terrorist cell. To make it unlawful to disclose that which, by its very nature, must remain secret, does not seem unreasonable. To suggest otherwise fails the commonsense test.
Secondly, the provision is not new to our law. When the Intelligence Committee recommended it, it did so in order to extend to ASIO a similar protection to that available to the Australian Federal Police and other law enforcement agencies engaged in “controlled operations” by Section 15HK of the Crimes Act… It should also be noted that there have been no prosecutions to date under Section 15HK.
Thirdly, this is not a law about journalists. It is a law of general application…
Some critics, who accept that special intelligence operations need protection, have argued that the provision goes too far, by applying to past as well as current operations… Disclosure of past operations might well reveal the identity of officers, sources or intelligence-gathering techniques. ASIO’s most celebrated intelligence operation was, no doubt, the Petrov defection in 1954. To protect their safety, the identity of the Petrovs was protected for almost half a century, until the death of Mrs Petrov in 1991. 
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Who knew that Jesus was a Greens voter?  Hear it from the Anglican Church’s propaganda arm

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (10:06am)

Reader Paul on the takeover of the Anglican Church’s media arm:
Bumper issue of The Melbourne Anglican this month.
p. 1. Repeal of Carbon tax ‘reprehensible’ according to (wait for it) the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change. And if p. 1 isn’t enough, the report continues on page 10.
p. 4 ‘We must no longer use Bible to subjugate women,’ says Dr Susan Thomas from the Church of South India. (Indeed not: the burka--the wearing of which seems to be supported by Western feminists--seems to be doing the subjugation job very well...)
p.17 The Asylum seeker policy of the federal govt is ‘eating’ at Australia according to a synod motion moved by Bp Philip Huggins and the Dean of Brisbane, Dr Peter Catt. Needless to say, the motion was successful.
p. 19 The main letter to the editor - headlined across the page with a colour photo of a rocket being launched - was ISRAEL’S OCCUPATION of PALESTINE MUST END.
p. 20 is entirely taken up with a report: HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO BRUTAL ASYLUM POLICY written by Wes Campbell, a retired minister of the Uniting Church, formerly of St John’s Essendon.  (As if the Anglican Church couldn’t find enough Green-Left neo-Marxist propagandists in its own clerical ranks!)
p. 25 Book review under the headline LET US HEED CHRISTIAN CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENTIST. Is there the slightest danger that the average reader of this sheet will not? A better chance, this, than the likelihood that the Christian climate change scientist will take any notice of NASA and IPPC reports that there has been no global warming for the past decade and a half; that the ocean depths are not absorbing temperature rises; and that ‘climate change’ (however defined) has not caused abnormal weather patterns such as floods and cyclones.
Astonishing. How dare church assets be used to preach politics, anti-Israel propaganda and bastard science, all from the green-left perspective?
UPDATE
Oops. Thanks to readers who pointed out the ass-like literal. 
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“Shirtfront” explained for Putin’s translators - and half the Australian voters

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (9:45am)

Victorian voters heard Tony Abbott say much more than he meant:
”I’m going to shirt-front Mr Putin,” the Prime Minister said during a media conference in Central Queensland.
“You bet you are, you bet I am. I am going to be saying to Mr Putin Australians were murdered (in the Malaysian Airlines tragedy in Ukraine).”
Victorians - and voters from states west and south - would have thought Abbott meant this:
In fact, Abbott is actually a rugby union man from NSW:

In rugby territory – league and union, Mr Abbott’s game – to shirtfront means to grab by the coat lapels, or indeed the front of a shirt, and vigorously challenge.
UPDATE
Meanwhile, Jacqui Lambie suddenly pretends to politeness:
THE tough talking Jacqui Lambie has urged Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten to tone down their anger against Vladimir Putin… The Tasmanian Palmer United Party Senator wants the pair to “stop acting like hormone-affected school boys trying to out macho each other on the footie field — and start acting like mature leaders of a great country”.
Yes, it’s the same Lambie, so mature:
Senator Jacqui Lambie tells Hobart radio station Heart 107.3 she’s looking for a man with ‘a package between his legs’.
So statesmanlike:
“If anybody thinks that we should have a national security and defence policy, which ignores the threat of a Chinese Communist invasion – you’re delusional and got rocks in your head,’’ her statement said.
So temperate in her own language:
New senator Jacqui Lambie says the Prime Minister put his political career ahead of his daughters’ safety by “parading” them for the media..., adding that she believed the Coalition leader was a “political psychopath”.
UPDATE
Greg Sheridan:
The Abbott government should make it so clear to Russia’s Vladimir Putin that he is not welcome here that he is shamed into staying home…
Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 with all the Australians on board was shot down by pro-Russian Ukrainian rebels using weapons the Russians gave them. These weapons were always intended to be used to kill innocent people.
The plan was to kill innocent Ukrainians. Instead they killed Australians among others. There is no circumstance in which this irresponsible and deadly Russian policy was justified.
The Russians committed a crime, and Australians were the victims…
Putin is the author of those policies.
But let’s hear again from Lambie, getting a generous run this morning on the ABC radio news for attacking Abbott:
Yeah, I do like Vladimir Putin… I think he has very strong leadership. He has great values. He’s certainly doing his bit to stamp out terrorism and I guess you’ve got to pay the man for that.
The problem with some fools is that they actually don’t know what fools they are. And the problem for us is that some of them have political power.
(Thanks to reader Turtle of WA.) 
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Julia Gillard invents another misogynist insult

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (9:23am)

The former Prime Minister is so addicted to seeing herself as a victim that she is now inventing examples of the misogyny she swears helped to bring her down.
Joe Aston gives an astonishing example from Gillard’s memoirs in which she falsely claims wicked mining executives wouldn’t even serve her a rum and coke because she was a woman. Unfortunately, the story is paywall protected. 
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Resist this racism

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (8:36am)

The politics of race

The Left’s attempts to divide Australians on racial grounds is finally becoming an issue, despite activists using the law to stifle criticism.
The Australian today notes some hypocrisy:
What is Welcome to Australia? From their website: 
WELCOME to Australia exists to engage everyday Australians in the task of cultivating a culture of welcome in our nation. The Australia we love is known for its diversity, compassion, generosity and commitment to giving all people a fair go.
Welcome to being a second-class citizen? Also on Welcome to Australia website:

WE acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians whose ancestral lands we are now part of. We acknowledge that a “welcome to Australia” comes, by its nature, either from the indigenous peoples of Australia or on behalf of them. We acknowledge and remember the horrific atrocities inflicted upon them. This is and will forever be their land. welcometoaustralia.org.au
Also advertised on the Welcome to Australia website:

RACISM. It stops with me.
Derek Parker in the Spectator Australia on Noel Pearson’s argument for changing the constitution:
The power of the Commonwealth government to make laws based on race are particularly grating to indigenous people, [Pearson] says, and their removal would be a major step in reconciling with the past.
This makes good sense, but unfortunately the next step runs into trouble. He also wants a new section to require that indigenous people have a special voice in government decision-making. He does not go into detail, and it is not clear whether he means an advisory body or one with some sort of veto power over policies affecting indigenous people.
So what is he saying here? Laws made on the basis of race are bad, but a constitutionally entrenched body defined by race is good? Would there be some sort of skin-colour test for membership? If so, it seems contradictory at best, and its own sort of racism at worst.
Pearson ... also does not examine the issue that the Australian electorate seems to dislike special treatment, at least at the constitutional level.  
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Abbott’s boat policies are more moral than the Pope’s

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (7:52am)

Labor’s greatest shame - and that of the press packed which cheered it - is highlighted in an Inter­national Organisation for Migration report:
THE number of asylum-seekers who have died seeking refuge in Australia has dramatically ­decreased…
The 212-page report — Fatal Journeys, Tracking Lives Lost during Migration — counts one asylum-seeker death in 2014: that of 23-year-old Iranian Reza Berati who was murdered in the Manus Island riots in February.
The one recorded death compares with 212 fatalities in 2013 and 356 in 2012 during the flood of asylum-seeker boats under Labor…
The count missed deaths before 2011, deaths in transit to Indonesia and deaths unrecorded by authorities. The true figure of the dead under Labor is almost certainly over 1200.
Also missing in the report is any willingness to hold Labor to account.
Despite the stark fall in deaths in Australia, the researchers refuse to acknowledge the change in so-called “pull factors’’ such as a toughening of government policies including the introduction of boat turnbacks, offshore processing and offshore resettlement arrangements.
“The degree to which this variability is explained by global trends in refugee-producing situations or by changes in Aus­tralian border protection policies is a matter of ongoing dispute,’’ the report says.
It is exactly this kind of moral cowardice that had Labor luring so many people to their deaths, and so many journalists for so long refusing to notice and then refusing to blame.
The same cowardice has been in play in contributing now to the horrific death toll in the Mediterranean.
Remember how the Pope wrung his hands and suggested the people-smuggling be aided, not stopped?

Last Thursday some 300 Africans died while trying to smuggle themselves into Italy, and the Pope, hands seeming to shake with anger, railed: “The word disgrace comes to me.”
He added: ‘’Let us unite our efforts so that similar tragedies do not happen again. Only a decided collaboration among all can help to stop them.’’
The drownings were a great tragedy, yes. But a “disgrace” to Italians or the West?
In fact, the boat had tipped over because the 500 passengers, mainly from Eritrea and Somalia, reportedly lit a small fire on board while just off the Italian coast to get the attention of the coast guard, and then all fled to one side when it spread.
And what “decided collaboration” is needed to end such drownings? The Pope did not explain, but the European Council for Refugees and Exiles did.
It was as the Greens demand here: to give such migrants “an alternative to resorting to illegal means of entry through dangerous routes”.
The Italian Government then mounted an operation much like Labor’s own HMAS Taxi - to pick up boat people at sea to make the journey “safer” and the destination surer.
The IOM report notes the deadly consequences (without, of course, ascribing blame):
The IOM reports that this year up to 3072 migrants are believed to have died in the Mediterranean — accounting for about 75 per cent of all migration-­related deaths — and “making it the deadliest sea in the world for migrants’’. This compared with an estimated 700 deaths in 2013…
“Why this is occurring is not entirely clear, but likely reflects a dramatic increase in the number of migrants trying to reach Europe.’’
The report says more than 112,000 irregular migrants were detected by Italian authorities in the first eight months of this year, almost three times as many as in all of fiscal year 2013.
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Abbott praises coal. Next: to point out the warming facts

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (7:45am)

Tony Abbott is absolutely right:
Coal is vital for the future energy needs of the world. Energy is critical if the world is to continue to grow and prosper. so let’s have no demonisation of coal. Coal is good for humanity. Coal is good for prosperity. Coal is an essential part of our economic future here in Australia.
The Prime Minister’s argument would be even more compelling if he pointed out the world’s atmosphere hasn’t heated in 16 years and the deep ocean in nine.
But cue the usual protests on the ABC, with commentator Paul Bongiorno on Radio National Breakfast going on about “consensus”, “transition” to a “clean energy future” and everything else except that fact that the warming has stopped and we couldn’t do much about it anyway.
UPDATE
ABC 774’s Jon Faine in full warmist torrent, claiming “coal is threatening the future of humanity”. He even claims China is weaning itself off coal, as witnessed by its decision to impose a new tax on coal imports.
But Terry McCrann sets out the facts about that new tariff - and China’s coal consumption:

China wants to keep its own massive — inefficient and (really) dirty — coal industry operating…
The climate hysterics, led by The Age and our own Business Spectator, keep shouting that China is: “taking action on climate change”.
It’s supposed to be taking this action by making massive commitments to wind and solar and aggressively closing down “dirty” coal-fired stations and coal mines — such that our climate change policy will be left embarrassingly and antisocially behind and our coal mines stranded with no customers.
Never mind the facts. That even the most “massive” investment by China in wind and solar will still leave coal-fired power not only overwhelmingly the main source of energy, but a source that will keep increasing over time and all-but literally forever.
That yes, it has been closing down coal-fired stations — but small, inefficient and really dirty ones, the sort that really do spew grits into the air over Beijing and Shanghai and everywhere else, along with the pure life-enhancing CO2. Closing those ones down, and replacing them with modern, efficient and much bigger, but still coal-fired, stations which don’t spew the grit, but still pump out — indeed, even more — CO2.
The International Energy Agency actually expects China’s coal use to rise for another decade before stabilising - not shrinking:
[Coal] demand expands by one-third in non-OECD countries – predominantly in India, China and the ASEAN region – despite China reaching a plateau after 2025.
UPDATE
Again, where is the balance on the ABC? Where are the presenters editorialising for coal to match those ranting against it? 
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Meet Patrick Moore

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (12:46am)

Dr Patrick Moore, a co-founder of Greenpeace and now campaigner against eco-fascism and warming alarmism, is touring Australia. Catch up with his speaking events here. 
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It’s racist. It’s wicked. But in the end it’s just calling names

Andrew Bolt October 14 2014 (12:22am)

The racism was disgusting. No question. But this restriction seems to me an overreaction to a man with a foul mouth, especially when other hate preachers - ones actually inciting violence - travel freely:
A TEENAGER hounded by ­social-media users after allegedly racially abusing a Brisbane train guard has been forbidden to leave home without a parent unless he is on his way to court or work.
Three days after he turned 17, apprentice mechanic Abdel-Kader Russell-Boumzar was allegedly filmed by a laughing friend hurling racist slurs at Queensland Rail worker Josphat Mkhwananzi on October 2.
UPDATE
An interview with the abused guard.  Admirable man. 
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Post by Matt Granz.

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Post by Matt Granz.

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Post by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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=== Posts from last year ===
The clear-eyed Palestinian journalistKhaled abu Toameh points out that, if the Palestinian Authority wants the world to take it seriously as a ‘partner for peace’ with Israel, it is going a mighty strange way about showing it.

In separate incidents in the past few days two Israeli soldiers were murdered in the West Bank – one of them having beenlured there from Tel Aviv to his death – with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claiming responsibility.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is the armed wing of Fatah. Fatah is the party of Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority, who does not distance himself from such atrocities committed by his own armed wing.

The PA has also been involved in ‘a massive campaign of incitement’ against Israel, with some officials calling for an escalation of ‘popular resistance’ and with others disseminating inflammatory lies about Israeli behaviour – creating the kind of toxic atmosphere which fuels attacks such as the killing of the two Israeli soldiers.

The Palestinian Authority is deemed by Britain, the US and the EU to be a ‘moderate’ body with which Israel must negotiate an agreement for a Palestinian state.

How can the PA possibly be moderate when it openly and routinely supports murder and promotes incitement to hatred and violence against Israel?===

The ACT government has decided free choice is too expensive for a liberal democracy and is going to use their powers to regulate and legislate it away in the name of tackling obesity. According to a report the ACT will be pushing a new anti-obesity strategy which was celebrated by ACT Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher:
She said the government’s plan had elements that would be controversial, including a proposal to have at least one checkout at every supermarket that was free of unhealthy food.
The government also plans to develop a food and drink policy for territory schools and will have health-risk assessments for ACT government workers – a proposal it wants extended to the private sector.
Other measures include improving transport and parking options that encourage Canberrans to walk, and regulation of the sale of sugary drinks.
Based on these reports the solution to obesity is to try and regulate people’s lives rather than encourage a culture of responsibility. These are the same basic strategies that have been proposed and introduced for years, and all the while obesity rates have increased while the arguments for a culture of responsibility have fallen onto deafer ears.
- See more at: http://freedomwatch.ipa.org.au/act-declares-free-choice-is-too-expensive-so-it-is-time-to-ban-it/#sthash.lkIqnnNP.dpuf
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Official photos from Move Bondi Launch Party with Nick G and Amanda x
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John Tran
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Andy Trieu

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1cHoxFJsOw

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UK police have released two photofits of the one man they wish to speak to over the 2007 disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann.
Specialist police who have collected 40,000 pieces of evidence on the case have produced two e-fit images of a man seen in and around the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz when Madeleine was believed snatched from her hotel room on May 3 2007.
The two e-fit images of the same man were drawn up based on statements and descriptions from two different witnesses of having seen the man on the night she disappeared.
The man in the e-fit is being described as being white, aged between 20-40 years old, with short brown hair, of medium build, medium height and clean shaven.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, the senior investigating officer, said that while this is far from being the only line of inquiry, it is of "vital importance".
"Whilst this man may or may not be the key to unlocking this investigation, tracing and speaking to him is of vital importance to us," he said.

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<... One would think with the increasing blood sport of Muslims murdering Christians around the world that there is madness in their Methodists rather than attack Israel the only country in the Middle East where Christians can practise their pseudo monotheism safely.>
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Cleared for publication: #IDF forces uncovered a tunnel laden with explosives in the #Gaza vicinity area on Thursday. 
It is estimated it was meant to serve #terrorists in a high-profile attack on an #Israeli #kindergarten.
The tunnel, 2.5 kilometers long, has several exit points connects the #Absan village situated between Khan Younis and the Gaza border fence, and Israel's Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha.

The majority of #terror tunnels connecting Gaza and #Israel have yet to be exposed. In 2006, seven Gaza terrorists used a tunnel to infiltrate Israel and abduct Gilad Shalit .

#SharingIsCaring

#Truth|#IDF|#IsraelTruth|#UN|#Terror|#occupation|#إسرائيل| #احتلال| #حماس| #فلسطين | #Equality#rights |#مكافحة_التمرد|#apartheid|#Anonymous|
#Peace #Jerusalem|#Syria
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Prime Minister of Israel Netanyahu
seeks peace talks, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas seeks ways to destroy them>===
The Palestinian Authority squandered nearly €2 billion ($2.7 billion) in European aid through corruption and mismanagement, a British newspaper claimed Sunday, leaking the contents of a not-yet-published European document.
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J.John'
The good news is that Jesus Christ wants to be known and we can know Him today. #just10live
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The turning point in our lives is when we stop seeking the God we want and start seeking the God who is. #just10live
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The title for this week's talk is 'Know God', the second commandment.#just10live
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We could never shape, paint, or chisel anything that would be an adequate representation of who God is. #just10live
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Watch what you worship, don’t worship what you watch. #just10live

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Roma Downey'
7 Rules to a better life
1) never hate
2) don’t worry
3) live simply
4) expect a little
5) give a lot
6) always smile
7) live with love
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The Lord is near to all who call him, to all who call him in the truth - Psalm 145:18

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On Wednesday morning of last week, just hours before the start of Succot, hundreds of young men in drab green uniforms mulled about at the foot of the Nahal Brigade memorial in Pardes Hanna.
A mixture of exhaustion and enthusiasm was evident on their boyish faces as they prepared for the start of the Tekes Kumta, or "beret ceremony," signifying the end of their basic combat training. To mark this important milestone, each soldier would be receiving a new bit of headgear, with its unique color signifying the unit in which he serves.
Just a day beforehand, these weary warriors had all completed the traditional torturous trek, marching more than 50 km. in the desert throughout the night until they reached Masada, which their tired bodies then had to find the energy to climb (no cable cars allowed, of course).
As I observed the scene, I could not help but marvel at the miracle the Israel Defense Forces embodies.
Young black soldiers, immigrants from Ethiopia, mingled easily with blonde-haired, blue-eyed arrivals from the former Soviet Union, while the children and grandchildren of refugees from places as far afield as Munich and Morocco shared a joke or two under the blazing sun.
The exiles are indeed being gathered in, I thought to myself, even if we do not always appreciate just how wondrous this process is.
And of course, as a father of a soldier in an elite unit, I had a "Tevye moment," when the lyrics from the Fiddler On the Roof song "Sunrise, Sunset" suddenly surface from somewhere deep within the auditory cortex of the brain, at full volume: "Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy at play? I don't remember growing older. When did they?" It was with all this theology, pride and emotion swirling through my mind that I sat down for the start of the ceremony, which promised to be brief but inspiring. Thirty minutes later, at its conclusion, that promise was only half-fulfilled.
As expected, there were the usual speeches by commanders, droning on in motionless monotones, interspersed with the soldiers standing at attention, then at ease, and then back at attention. I listened carefully to the messages which, for all the clichés, sought to underline the importance of service to one's country, defense of the homeland and standing up for what is right.
But there is one thing that I did not hear, one word so central to our collective and individual lives that I practically gasped with disbelief once the event was over.
There was not a single reference to God.
Much was made of the might and power of the IDF, of Israel's vaunted technological skill and unmatched military prowess. But there was not even a hint of humility nor a word of thanks to the One on high Who watches over His people Israel.
I couldn't believe it. After all, when a young Midwesterner enters the US army and utters the oath of enlistment, he declares that he will support and defend the Constitution, bear true faith and allegiance and obey orders, "So help me God." And when a Londoner or a Mancunian enlists in the British armed forces, he swears "by Almighty God" to be faithful to the Crown.

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David Daniel Ball ACT?
Yup the nanny state. Its not going to make a difference. A bit like the alcopop tax. Parents should just learn to parent better. My kids when they are good, get $1 to spend on sugar treats & only when they have completed their assigned tasks. Any other time, they may look or do a wishlist but no means no. You start chucking a tanty & that totally removes the right to anything & everything. Im also not cruel enough to drag them shopping when they are tired or over stimulated, forcing them to do something they would rather not be. Nothing is so urgent it requires dragging a screaming child through a shopping centre. It all comes down to bribery, you start bribing them, they are going to be expected to be rewarded for being good. Dont make sweets tempting, they wont want it if you dont make a song & dance about it & place such importance on it.
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Yori Yanover of the Jewish Press has a point in his article What if Abbas Condemns the Murders and No One in the PA Hears It?
In any event, even that miserly, self righteous, immoral statement has gotten no mention in Palestinian reports today. WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, only mentioned the two murders with a quote from Foreign Minister Riyad Malki:
“Malki expressed concern that Israel may use the killing of an Israeli soldier in Hebron on Sunday and another off duty soldier in Qalqilya two days earlier in order to discredit the Palestinian Authority.”
Various international "leaders" and wannabes have perfected the art of "saying the right thing" to protect themselves from our suspicions that maybe they're not quite the "good" people or allies they hope to be perceived as.  United States President Barack Hussein Obama always claims that he is a great friend of Israel while he promotes policies that weaken and endanger us.  Should we go for the words or the actions.

We don't have to look at the non-Jews for more examples.  J Street, the extreme Leftist anti-Israel lobbying group claims to be pro-Israel, even though it cares more about Arab rights than Jewish Rights and Jewish History.

Don't forget all of those "rabbinic" lobbying groups that support Arabs over Jews here in Israel.  Just because someone calls himself (or herself) a rabbi, doesn't mean the person is an expert in Jewish Law, Jewish History, Bible etc.  It also doesn't mean that the person lives by Torah Law, Shabbat, Kashrut etc.  So I really don't consider the opinion of some person who drives, cooks, sells, shops etc. on Shabbat or eats traif is an expert in Jewish morality.  So when they come to the nearby Arab villages to encourage the Arabs to destroy our agriculture and attack Jewish villages I see only enemies. They are Jewish enemies of the Jewish People.
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Plibersek is Deputy
. Expect lots of faux feminist victimhood statements, eye-rolling and smug sighs from this professional offence-taker at shadow cabinet meetings.>===

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And more idiotic musings from the Greens again peddling their deceitful line about the urgency of the carbon tax to prevent bushfires and other imagined global warming catastrophes.>
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/coalition-stands-firm-on-carbon-tax-double-dissolution-threat-20131014-2vhtw.html
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | With this weekend's massacre by Muslim terrorists at a mall in Nairobi, Kenya, and Muslim terrorists killing about 80 Christians at a Christian church in Pakistan, most people wonder what, if anything in addition to a continuing war on terror, can be done to minimize the scourge of Islamic terror.

The answer lies with Muslims themselves. Specifically, it means that Muslim religious leaders around the world must announce that any Muslim who deliberately targets non-combatants for death goes to hell.
I arrive at this answer based on something that I have long believed about Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust.
I readily acknowledge that the situations are not the same. The Jews of Europe were not annihilated by Catholics in the name of Catholicism; whereas the Christians, Muslims and Jews who are massacred by Islamic terrorists are murdered by Muslims in the name of Islam.
I also readily acknowledge that many of the attacks on Pope Pius XII for his alleged inaction and even collaboration with the Nazis during the Holocaust are animated by individuals who hate Western religion generally or hate the Catholic Church specifically. Pius XII was not "Hitler's Pope," as one best-selling book on Pius XII is titled.
Moreover, Pius XII lived in Italy during World War II, in a fascist dictatorship that began as Hitler's ally and ended up being the target of Nazi atrocities. This was not the case with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, who lived in the safety of a free country six-thousand miles away from Germany, did nothing to save the Jews of Europe, and even sent a boatload of Jewish refugees from Hitler back to Europe. Yet the critics of Pius are silent about Roosevelt.

The Islamic world are embracing these terrorists too. There is no culture of greatness among Islamics providing an example of how a good person behaves. Among Jews, Rabbi set an excellent example. Christians and Catholics have people famed of their goodness. As do Hindu and Buddhists. - ed
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Join me online http://bit.ly/HnE6ib as we continue verse-by-verse through Philippians. Learn "THE HABITS OF HAPPINESS." A new service begins EVERY HOUR!
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View image on Twitter
http://twitchy.com/2013/10/13/wow-just-wow-wounded-patriot-is-poignant-reminder-at-million-vets-march-pics/
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Eric Kalemen'



Especially when everyone who saw the fire said " the flames were all around your car and not 1 burnt mark or anything your very lucky"
Honestly This is not being lucky, it's gods work. Amen

P.s My kabluey is famous !!!>
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<Reading #entrepreneurial stuff really enforces how much I dont want to work for anyone. #freedom #google #ceo>
Aprille Love
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WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “is not bluffing” on his intentions to strike Iran, should the Islamic Republic continue its nuclear program for much longer, a former senior Israeli military official told The Jerusalem Poston Sunday.
“Bibi’s not bluffing,” said the retired senior official, who requested anonymity to speak freely. “He thinks it’s the 1930s. The Iranians are the Germans, and history has a sense of humor with six million Jews now in Israel.”

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Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) appeared Sunday morning on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Candy Crowley to discuss the GOP’s poor polling numbers, the partial government shutdown, and the approaching debt ceiling deadline.
While discussing Republicans’ terrible approval ratings, Crowley had an odd question for Sen. Paul.
“Do you see yourself at any point in the future being anything other than politically a member of the Republican Party?” she asked.
“You mean — you’re implying a third party or some other party?” he said.
“Or if you wanted to become a Democrat — there are lots of parties out there,” she said. “Just wonder if you see yourself being anything other than a Republican?”
Sen. Paul simply laughed.
“No. I’ve always been a Republican, and I’m one of those people who actually is a real lover of the history of the Republican Party from the days of abolition to the days of civil rights. The Republican Party has a really rich history,” he said.
“In our state, I’m really proud of the fact that the ones who overturned Jim Crow in Kentucky were Republicans fighting against an entirely unified Democratic Party, so I am proud to be Republican. I can’t imagine being anything else,” he added.

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Pretoria – South African security agencies have been monitoring al-Qaeda-linked training camps in South Africa for years, according to a year-long investigation by the Daily Maverick.
According to a report by the Daily Maverick, the State Security Agency and the specialised police unit, Crimes Against the State, have for years been aware of the of the military training camps, but have taken no action against those allegedly involved.
It has emerged that state intelligence has stopped observation on those involved after nearly a decade of secret surveillance and intelligence gathering.
The police’s investigation into the camps was labelled Operation Kanu.
The report claimed a camp was initially setup at a farm near Vlakplaas, the former base of Apartheid hit squads, also at a farm called Greylock in the Klein Karoo, and finally at a golf estate along the Garden Route in Tsitsikamma.
British and US intelligence agencies have reportedly urged the South African government to act on any possible Muslim terrorist threats after becoming frustrated by South Africa’s inaction against perceived international terror threats.
Additionally, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) traced an amount of over R31 million which was smuggled overseas by a Pakistani group back in October 2008.
SARS also stated that over R9 million had been smuggled to terrorist organisations in the last two years.
Photo: Courtesy Wikimedia

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Roma Downey
"You were born for a reason. Now, that reason may not be very clear to you today. It may not be very clear to you tomorrow but your Creator, the God who put you here, He knows why." - Andrew, Til Death Do Us Part, Touched by an Angel.

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Taliban cheers Nobel Prize loss for Malala

And the Taliban in Pakistan cheered.
However, they were not cheering for OPCW, but celebrating that the prize did not go to Malala Yousafzai, one of the popular favorites.
Malala Yousafzai is a name you should recognize. She’s the 16-year-old Pakistani girl who made news after being shot in the face by a member of the Taliban.

16-year-old Malala Yousafzai is proof that you are never too young to try and change the world.
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This video will show you the importance of making the most out of your free time and your daily routine.
It won’t upset you or make you feel unfulfilled, but we guarantee that whatever really fun things you’ve thought about doing for the past few weeks will become a reality a lot sooner after getting a taste of how much time the average human has to explore the wonders this beautiful world has to offer.

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Craig Kelly
Good Luck to everyone starting their HSC exams today !!
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No money for the death benefits for the families of our fallen heroes and Barrycades around our memorials, but plenty of money for Shotgun Joe Biden & Family to hang out at Camp David. You stay classy, Mr. and Mrs. Biden http://bit.ly/1ciIIDH
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Monsoon Sunset in Arizona
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Black Mamba?
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Did you know that Australia contributes 20 per cent to the world's gambling and we're .25 per cent of world's population????!!!
Costello's facts are misleading in order to inflate the issue. I get it that it affects families for generations. I can point to my own family as an example. Costello is highlighting a problem without highlighting a workable solution. In fact, the high rollers account for much of gambling, and they aren't many and aren't the problem. Also, those betting on Melbourne Cup or once a year skew the issue. There is an issue with obsessive compulsive gambling by poor people. It is related to mental illness and should, imho, be covered in that category. But Costello seems to want to whip Abbott over it, after having failed to get Gillard to implement a bad system. Maybe proof of age is no longer a good measure for such activity? - ed
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Look at those dreamy eyes in the back seat. Picture: Supplied

I'M DONE with living women. They're so fleshy and warm-blooded and urgh.
So I'm switching to the obvious alternative. Dead women.
For so long, the deceased babes of this world have been inaccessible, locked behind some great, fantastical void of grey nothingness. But thanks to the magic of the interwebs, ghosts are quickly becoming an integral part of the online dating community.
Introducing GhostSingles.com, a dating website where ghosts can meet attractive ghost-lovers like me who are posing as ghosts.
The cornerstone of the site is a state-of-the-art search engine, which not only sorts single ghosts by their gender and age (18 years old to 1000+ years), but lets you choose between people who died horrible, mysterious, tragic or sudden deaths.
Just build a profile, complete with information like your build (wispy, ethereal, cloudy) and how you found the site (seance, fate), and you're released to frolic with the prettiest poltergeists in the universe.
After haunting the site for exactly 13 minutes, I managed to narrow my field of potential partners to four candidates. But I'm having trouble picking just one sexy spectre.
Perhaps you could help? I'll list my top four phantoms, and you can tell me which to float away with in the comments section below.

I bet they don't put out .. Their mates are stuck in limbo .. ed
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VICTORIA'S higher than expected $316 million surplus will make major projects more affordable and borrowing money easier, the state government says.
The surplus was significantly more than the predicted $177 million for 2012/13, but the opposition says it is because Victorians are being taxed more than ever.
Unions say the surplus has come at the expense of jobs while Victoria's peak business group says it demonstrates the strength of Victoria's economy.
Two large windfalls for the state government - one from the State Electricity Commission of Victoria and one from land it received free of charge from VicRoads and Public Transport Victoria - helped boost the bottom line.
Treasurer Michael O'Brien said the result would allow Victoria to moderate its debt and borrow money at cheaper rates.
"That means that our infrastructure program is something which is more affordable and it means that you can bring forward projects more quickly than you might have otherwise done," he told reporters on Monday.
Acting Opposition Leader James Merlino said the surplus came from cash grabs and one-off revenue windfalls.

ALP claim they would never have a surplus .. ed
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BREAKING up has always been hard to do - but these days, it's easier than ever to just slink away.
Rather than having the tired "It's not you, it's me" conversation, singles are ending relationships simply by not replying to their partner's texts.
After a few days of silence, even the most persistent prospects usually get the message.
Mobile Phone
But those people you're not texting back? They're not happy about it.

I think the church elders might give you a clue "Has she ever expressed an interest in you?" "What do you know about her, really" "What do you share?" "If God wanted it, it would happen." - ed
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Zaya Toma
Fairfield Council has just received an application for the use and fitout of a premises at Greenway Plaza for the purpose of a MEXICAN RESTAURANT!! I'm supposed to remain impartial and open minded about development applications, but this one 'more than likely' has my support.

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Craig Kelly'
DEMOCRACY LABOR STYLE

SHORTEN : Total votes 12,224 (40%) {12,196 members + 55 caucus}
ALABANESE : Total votes 18,261 (60%) {18,230 members + 31 caucus}

Shorten declared winner !!

Obviously all votes are equal, but some Labor votes are more equal than others.
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The difficulty with the discussion "what best assists dialogue between secular society and the church" is that there is no clear distinction where secular society begins and where the church ends. Am I secular or Catholic if I only go to church at Christmas and Easter, weddings and funerals? Am I church if I live a life of selfless love offering service to the poor and needy but have never heard of Jesus Christ? Secular is not bad if is spreading the kingdom values. But the battlelines are internal. We all live elements of loving God and neighbour at times but are constantly drawn to selfish love and vices.
Back to the discussion: Firstly, the church (both visible and invisible), must engage in order for dialogue to occur. Battening down the hatches and isolating until the post-modern storm blows over is a clear path to extinction and not following the Gospel message to spread the Good news. The world is not such a bad place. People are not inherently bad. There is a Good News story to tell. We live in a consumerist society: Let people pick and choose. They will do it anyway. But ensure that there is something to choose. We live in a Global society: The church must function both locally and globally (The Roman Catholic church is well-placed to do this really). We see a rise in social media. The church must function in that space. Be authentic on-line. People, in a post-modern world are educated and have access to a wealth of information and resources. Offer the truth and reasons. Meet people where they are at. The anti-authoritarian nature of the post-modern society means that the laity must be channelled into spreading the Good news. Pope Francis and Cardinal Pell cannot be a witness to Christ's message of love and peace in your workplace or your street.
Meh, I refuse to be defined by my implants. Implant them .. I'll still be me. I don't like the implant argument anyways .. how is carrying a smartphone different? I broadly agree with the summation of theology. I note we are parts of a body. I aim to serve my God well by being me and sharing his praise. No one else is me, but there are others who work similarly. And many that don't. I praise god for the diversity too. If anyone is thinking they can do it alone, and not be part of church or fellowship .. I point out that we are part of the body, not the whole body .. many thanks Ged for the post - ed
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Lily Grasso’s parents are fighting back after the athletic 11 year old was sent home from school with a letter suggesting that she was fat. The so-called ‘fat letter’ was the result of a BMI (body mass index) screening given by officials at Grasso’s school.
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"Buongiorno, Principessa!"

http://amzn.to/LifeBeautiful
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A squirrel got its head stuck in a halloween decoration and terrified a neighborhood.
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This cat hates his person.
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“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Godly sorrow worketh repentance."
2 Corinthians 7:10
Genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the Spirit of God. Repentance is too choice a flower to grow in nature's garden. Pearls grow naturally in oysters, but penitence never shows itself in sinners except divine grace works it in them. If thou hast one particle of real hatred for sin, God must have given it thee, for human nature's thorns never produced a single fig. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh."
True repentance has a distinct reference to the Saviour. When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon sin and another upon the cross, or it will be better still if we fix both our eyes upon Christ and see our transgressions only, in the light of his love.
True sorrow for sin is eminently practical. No man may say he hates sin, if he lives in it. Repentance makes us see the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally--as a burnt child dreads fire. We shall be as much afraid of it, as a man who has lately been stopped and robbed is afraid of the thief upon the highway; and we shall shun it--shun it in everything--not in great things only, but in little things, as men shun little vipers as well as great snakes. True mourning for sin will make us very jealous over our tongue, lest it should say a wrong word; we shall be very watchful over our daily actions, lest in anything we offend, and each night we shall close the day with painful confessions of shortcoming, and each morning awaken with anxious prayers, that this day God would hold us up that we may not sin against him.
Sincere repentance is continual. Believers repent until their dying day. This dropping well is not intermittent. Every other sorrow yields to time, but this dear sorrow grows with our growth, and it is so sweet a bitter, that we thank God we are permitted to enjoy and to suffer it until we enter our eternal rest.

Evening

"Love is strong as death."
Song of Solomon 8:6
Whose love can this be which is as mighty as the conqueror of monarchs, the destroyer of the human race? Would it not sound like satire if it were applied to my poor, weak, and scarcely living love to Jesus my Lord? I do love him, and perhaps by his grace, I could even die for him, but as for my love in itself, it can scarcely endure a scoffing jest, much less a cruel death. Surely it is my Beloved's love which is here spoken of--the love of Jesus, the matchless lover of souls. His love was indeed stronger than the most terrible death, for it endured the trial of the cross triumphantly. It was a lingering death, but love survived the torment; a shameful death, but love despised the shame; a penal death, but love bore our iniquities; a forsaken, lonely death, from which the eternal Father hid his face, but love endured the curse, and gloried over all. Never such love, never such death. It was a desperate duel, but love bore the palm. What then, my heart? Hast thou no emotions excited within thee at the contemplation of such heavenly affection? Yes, my Lord, I long, I pant to feel thy love flaming like a furnace within me. Come thou thyself and excite the ardour of my spirit.
"For every drop of crimson blood
Thus shed to make me live,
O wherefore, wherefore have not I
A thousand lives to give?"
Why should I despair of loving Jesus with a love as strong as death? He deserves it: I desire it. The martyrs felt such love, and they were but flesh and blood, then why not I? They mourned their weakness, and yet out of weakness were made strong. Grace gave them all their unflinching constancy--there is the same grace for me. Jesus, lover of my soul, shed abroad such love, even thy love in my heart, this evening.
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Today's reading: Isaiah 41-42, 1 Thessalonians 1 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Isaiah 41-42

The Helper of Israel
1 “Be silent before me, you islands!
Let the nations renew their strength!
Let them come forward and speak;
let us meet together at the place of judgment.
2 “Who has stirred up one from the east,
calling him in righteousness to his service?
He hands nations over to him
and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust with his sword,
to windblown chaff with his bow.
3 He pursues them and moves on unscathed,
by a path his feet have not traveled before.
4 Who has done this and carried it through,
calling forth the generations from the beginning?
I, the LORD—with the first of them
and with the last—I am he.”
5 The islands have seen it and fear;
the ends of the earth tremble.
They approach and come forward;
6 they help each other
and say to their companions, “Be strong!”
7 The metalworker encourages the goldsmith,
and the one who smooths with the hammer
spurs on the one who strikes the anvil.
One says of the welding, “It is good.”
The other nails down the idol so it will not topple....

Today's New Testament reading: 1 Thessalonians 1

1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ Faith
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
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Balak, Balac

[Bā'lăk,Bā'lăc] - waster, emptying ordestroys. The King of Moab, and son of Zipper who hired Balaam to curse Israel when, toward the end of their wilderness journeyings they were in Balak's territory (Num. 22; 23; 24; Judg. 11:25; Micah 6:5). Like Balaam, Balak also lives to the end of the Bible. Balac is the Greek form of Balak (Rev. 2:14 ). Revealing the superstition of the human mind, Balak had recourse to supernatural help and sought out Balaam, the soothsayer of Pethor - a man of divination with power to bless and curse, the Simon Magus of his day. How deceived Balak was when he thought he could sow the air with curses which would work where his sword could not reach!
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