Friday, November 07, 2014

Fri Nov 7th Todays News

Three legged PUP
Tasmanian PUP Senator Lambie says what she thinks, but does not think as often as she talks. She is calling for Remembrance Day to be used to protest a pay rise for soldiers. The federal government has negotiated a pay rise which is beneath inflation. The government warns the entire public service will similarly have beneath CPI wage rises. Lambie wants the rises to be larger. However Lambie is standing in the way of cuts to spending which would allow the government to responsibly make such changes. Lambie threatens to walk away from PUP. 

AGW faith
Theatre direction and climate science combine to produce a scary fantasy devoid of all science. British theatre director Katie Mitchell collaborated with climate scientist Stephen Emmott, and found herself 'transformed' such that she stopped flying and began recycling clothes. Meanwhile the IPCC does not release new data but increases scares in the new report. Meanwhile the University of Bremen has research papers discussing gender division in climate change. Meanwhile Climate Change candidates in the US mid term elections did terribly. Professors will pay for Green faith as their superannuation buried money in loss making ventures like desalination which has not been used at all this year in Victoria. 

Neighbours
Julia and Kevin who claimed in a set piece for the Fairfield Champion in front of school kids in '10 they worked together as friends were as cold as ice at Gough's funeral. Even in death Gough divides.

ABC airs a program (Soul Mates) which asks the question why no one wants to kill Abbott? The ABC has form on such tastelessness, showing a cartoon of a journalist having sex with a dog, or Mr Abbott's mother having sex with a solar panel. On each occasion the ABC has had to retract and apologise for their behaviour. 

A new conservative cause has been launched, to the echo of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Firstly there was Julie Bishop's statement she was a woman, but not a feminist. Then in the mid terms in the US Tim Scott (Republican) became the first black senator (South Carolina) elected in the South since the reconstruction era. Then Mia Love became the first Black Republican woman to be elected to the house of representatives in Utah.

Obama tells Mr Abbott not to pursue Russia or China during the G20. 

Huffington Post on Pew Research
"Half Of Brits Say Religion Does More Harm Than Good, And Atheists Can Be Just As Moral"
A striking example of status quo after much atheist positioning .. so that it is now worth considering the example of China. Mainland China is still a despicable government which in the '70s the leading politician, wife of deceased Mao, had a survey done during the cultural revolution. She bragged at the survey results. In all of China, not a single Christian remained and the only record of their presence historically was graves that no one visited. But God lives there too, and moving forward thirty years, Christianity is growing faster in China than anywhere else in the world. The government prefers atheists, but will hire a religious person only if they are Christian .. because Christians are loyal and Christ endorsed secular administration. But what of Mao's wife? Nothing of her exists in China, but a grave nobody visits.

 Demographically, it is hard to know what the near future of Christianity will look like. African or Asian? But not so many Europeans. Part of the problem is the call of submission to God, the desire to be humble, is very little prized in Western pop culture, but underpins our cultural assets. In fact, I can do nothing to change anyone else's mind, but doing what is right, and relying on God to assert his will, is very attractive even for damaged Atheists. Atheists fear a god that doesn't exist and is a ridiculous figure. But they don't see the God the father, the almighty. Sometimes that is because his people who claim to walk with him are not humble. But the closer one gets to God, the humbler they are .. why do you suppose that is?
A historical perspective
Because of the proximity to US mid terms now, this time in history is coloured by other similar elections. In 1619, Elizabeth Stuart was crowned Queen of Bohemia. The significance of that act cannot be overstated. Elizabeth was the eldest daughter of James I of England and was the grandmother of George I of England. Bohemia was a Czech land which later became Austria-Hungary. In 1775, the Governor of Virginia started emancipating slaves so they might fight with the British. In 1837, in Illinois, an abolitionist printer was shot dead by a mob while trying to protect his print shop. In 1874, a cartoon showed for the first time an elephant used to represent the GOP (US Republican party). In 1893, Colarado gave women the right to vote. In 1916, Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to US congress. In 1919, the first Palmer raid resulted in over ten thousand suspected communists in twenty three different cities being rounded up. In 1933, FH La Guardia was elected 99th mayor of NYC. In 1944, FDR was elected President for a fourth time. FDR was a despicable person who would never have achieved such success but for opportunism and Hitler. In 1957, The Gaither Report suggested the US needed more missiles and fallout shelters. In 1973, a Democrat led Congress over rode President Nixon's veto of War Powers Resolution which even today prevents Obama power to wage war without Congress assent. In 1983, someone, none yet known, set off a bomb in the US Capitol. Too late for Guy Fawkes Day. In 1989, Douglas Wilder became the first African American elected Governor in the US, to the seat in Virginia. Also in 1989, David Dinkins became the first African American to be elected mayor of New York City. In 1990, Mary Robinson became the first woman to be elected President of the Republic of Ireland. In 2000, Hillary Clinton became the first woman elected to the senate while still being the first lady of the President. In 2000, the Bush v Gore election was held, later to be resolved the Supreme Court. It was an echo of JFK vs Nixon in which Nixon had conceded to avoid the Supreme Court having to make that decision, weakening Presidential authority. Nixon would have won had he stuck to his guns, but he was a better man than Gore.

 In 335 AD, Athanasius was banished to Trier, on charge that he prevented a grain fleet from sailing to Constantinople. However, Athanasius was cleared of the charge, but had made a powerful enemy among some who had the ear of Rome. He was exiled five times in all, yet survived until 373, dying peacefully at 77. In 1492, a meteorite struck a wheat field in the village of Ensisheim, Alsace, France.  In 1665, the oldest surviving Journal, The London Gazette, was first published. In 1786, the oldest musical organisation in the US, the Stoughton Musical Society, was founded. In 1900, during the second Boer war, at the Battle of Leliefontein, three Canadian Dragoons earned a Victoria Cross each. In 1907 Jesus Garcia saved an entire town of Nacozari de Garcia, Sonora, Mexico, from certain death, by driving a burning train with explosive a safe distance away, and so dying. In 1908, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid died in Bolivia, maybe. In 1910, showing they had gotten the hang of flying, the Wright brothers were commissioned by a department store owner Max Moorehouse to air freight from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio. In 1912, the Deutsche Opernhaus (now Deutsche Oper Berlin) opens in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg, with a production of Beethoven's Fidelio. In 1914, as a reminder Japan was an ally in WW1, he German colony of Kiaochow Bay and its centre at Tsingtao were captured by Japanese forces. In 1917, the Gregorian calendar date of the October Revolution, which gets its name from the Julian calendar date of 25 October. On this date in 1917, the Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace. Also on this day in 1917, British forces captured Gaza from the Ottomans. In 1918, Influenza spread to Western Samoa killing 20% of the population before the new year. In 1929, the Museum of Modern Art opened in NYC. In 1941, German planes sank the hospital ship Armenia, killing about five thousand evacuated from Crimea. In 1944, Soviet spy Richard Sorge and 34 of his ring were hanged by Japan. In 1956, UN sprang into inaction demanding the withdrawal of UK, French and Israel from Egypt during the Suez Crisis. In 1987, Singapore's first mass rapid transit line was opened. In 1989, East German PM and his entire cabinet were forced to resign. In 1991, Magic Johnson announced he had HIV. In 1994, WXYC launched the first internet radio. 

from 2013
ALP and Greens are improving, having gone from horse dribble to child spit. One day they will do something for themselves. Looking to the future, one thing they can do for themselves is panic. Apparently Adelaide, a city in South Australia, will be destroyed by global warming in five thousand years. Nobody will get good odds on that, as yesterdays weather report did not predict the cool morning locally. It won't be reported that way .. the afternoon was warm. Kim Carr might keep himself warm burning some subsidy money he collected for automotive manufacturers in back room deals. It is time for the manufacturers to make a profit or drive away. It would be good if Plibersek were in that car. She'd enjoy living in Indonesia where the government shares her values. So long as they don't feel she is spying. We can rely on the ABC not reporting it if she does. More Carbon dioxide is being proceed at a faster rate .. yet global warming has paused for fifteen years. Laurie Oakes is both disgusted and pleased, depending on what he is told to feel, on any given month. 

Mr Howard spoke cogently and compellingly, dispelling myths of a war on Islam, falsified chemical weapons and unilateral war in Iraq. No sign Palmer understands it. Palmer would not marry good sense. 
===
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.
===
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.
===

Happy birthday and many happy returns Anthea Lai  and Phillip Vo. Born on the same day, across the years. 
November 7: October Revolution Day in Belarus and various other regions of the former Soviet Union
Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia
You have taken a position. You've been crowned. What do the crowds know? Gaza is ours! Mars will soon be ours. Let's party. 
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
===
2014
===

Silencing the Lambie on a day of quiet reflection

Piers Akerman – Friday, November 07, 2014 (12:56am)

PUP’s increasingly erratic Senator Jacqui Lambie popped her muddled head above the parapet with a call for military veterans to use Remembrance Day to protest a 1.5 per cent pay rise from the Defence Force ­Remuneration Tribunal.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'Silencing the Lambie on a day of quiet reflection'
===

NO CLOTHES FOR KATIE

Tim Blair – Friday, November 07, 2014 (1:32pm)

British theatre director Katie Mitchell is transformed by her collaboration with climate scientist Stephen Emmott: 
For Mitchell, the experience of working with Emmott was “life changing” in terms of the way she understood what was happening with the climate and the environment. “At the end of that process I stopped flying, I’ve now stopped buying any new clothes – the level of recycling in my house is unbelievable.” 
Just as well they didn’t work together on a murder mystery. Meanwhile, James Delingpole reviews the latest IPCC call to arms: 
The report contains no new “science” whatsoever. That is because it is a political document not a scientific one. It merely synthesises the three (heavily criticised) reports released over the last 13 months by the IPCC’s three Working Groups, cherrypicks the scariest bits, turns the hysteria up to 11, then asserts on this basis that drastic measures must be taken if disaster is to be averted.
Again, what is going here most definitely isn’t science. It’s pure propaganda. 
That’s precisely why leftists love it.
===

RAGE MAINTAINED

Tim Blair – Friday, November 07, 2014 (1:25pm)

Even at Gough Whitlam’s funeral, Julia and Kevin could not even pretend to get along.
===

GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT

Tim Blair – Friday, November 07, 2014 (1:21pm)

No Tricks Zone reports: 
On November 12, 2014 a colloquium by the artec research centre for sustainability is taking place at the University of Bremen at 4 pm. The colloquium focuses on a topic that has long been a pressing issue and has been the source of many sleepless nights:
Value creation and value appreciation: Gender division of labor in climate change 
I have no idea what that means. The speaker is Dr Sybille Bauriedl, who previously presented another climate-themed talk: 
Social construction of climate change. How and what can feminist research contribute to gendered climate policy? 
(Via Dan F., who notes: “Climate change has gone Blair’s Law.")
===

CAT LADY CALLING

Tim Blair – Friday, November 07, 2014 (12:16pm)

A sensational hoax call to 2GB’s Alan Jones.
===

STRONGER AND BROADER

Tim Blair – Friday, November 07, 2014 (12:14pm)

It’s over, babies: 
Despite millions spent to make climate change a wedge issue during the midterms, environmentally friendly candidates didn’t fare well on Election Day …
The nation’s top environmental groups including the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and billionaire Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate spent at least $85 million on six Senate races.
Out of those six races, only two candidates willing to take action on climate change won their races. 
Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune blames “sinister voter suppression tactics” for the defeats, and also claims: 
“Public support is solidly behind action to tackle the climate crisis. While we have lost friends in Congress, we are gaining them in the streets, as our movement grows stronger and broader.” 
Another group with increasing street membership: the homeless. Further from Mark Steyn: 
“Climate change” is an appealing boutique issue for liberal billionaires and A-list movie stars because “saving the planet” appeals to their vanity. But, if you’re not a liberal billionaire, you’re trying to stay afloat not because the oceans are rising but because family incomes are flatlined and America has declining social mobility. “Climate change” is a luxury issue most Americans can’t afford. 
===

ABC airs good “joke” - wondering why no one wants to kill “Chancellor Abbott”

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (7:36pm)

It’s not that the ABC is far to the Left. No, no.
It is sheer coincidence that every time it goes too far in mocking or sliming a political figure or commentator, the victim just happens to be conservative.
Calling commentator Chris Kenny and “dog f’...” on national TV, and showing him in a doctored picture sodomising a dog? Coincidence.
Falsely accusing me of bullying a female academic and driving her from public life, and falsely branding me a racist on national TV? Coincidence.
Showing a cartoon of Tony Abbott’s mother having sex with a solar panel? Coincidence.
Reveling in leaked private emails of conservative Barry Spurr but closing down debate on the leaked private emails of Labor’s Nova Peris, despite the public interest in how grants are sought? Coincidence.
And now Gerard Henderson reports in his always terrific Media Watch Dog blog:

Here’s the very latest Tony Abbott “joke” — brought to you by the taxpayer funded public broadcaster — per courtesy of Nice Mr Scott, the ABC’s managing director and editor-in-chief — on Soul Mates (ABC 2) last night. Here it is:

Why does everyone always want to kill Hitler? Why not Pol Pot? Why not Stalin? Why not Supreme Chancellor Abbott?
Watch from 8.27. And watch more, to ask yourself why taxpayer funds are used to broadcast something so juvenile and vulgar, given the ABC was established to raise the cultural tone.
The ABC is out of control. 
===

The right kind of carbon tax: paid by the believers only

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (10:49am)

As long as global warmists waste their own money I don’t mind. Indeed, I consider it a tax on stupidity:
Bay Area billionaire Tom Steyer poured more than $65 million into the midterm elections in an attempt to make climate change a top tier issue for voters—and lay the groundwork for an expanded effort in 2016.
But with Republicans trouncing Democrats in races across the nation and gaining control of the Senate, the environment appears to have lost big, and some political experts say Steyer just wasted a fabulous amount of his personal fortune.
Steyer and his NextGen Climate Action superPAC focused on seven key races and backed the Democrat in each race; the candidate he backed won in three. The biggest victory came in New Hampshire, where Democrat Jeanne Shaheen narrowly defeated Republican Scott Brown. ..
Steyer also focused on gubernatorial races in Florida, Pennsylvania and Maine. Republican Govs. Rick Scott in Florida and Paul LePage in Maine were re-elected; Democrat Tom Wolfe won in Pennsylvania.
===

On The Bolt Report on Sunday, November 9

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (9:30am)

On The Bolt Report on Channel 10 on Sunday at 10am and 4pm.
Editorial: Whitlam memorial service - the political messages, good, bad and nasty.
My guest:  Top marketing guru David Chalke analyses the Islamic State’s propaganda videos. How professional are they, who are they aimed at and how do they work?
The panel: Australian columnist Niki Savva and former Labor strategist Bruce Hawker.
NewsWatch:  Sharri Markson, media editor of the The Australian and target of an ABC/Fairfax smear..
And lots more, including Palmer’s party imploding, Obama’s humiliation and the strange complacency of some Liberal ministers. And a great conservative cause launched.
The videos of the shows appear here.
===

Martin Luther King lives on in a great new conservative cause

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (8:47am)

A great conservative cause today, so famously expressed by Martin Luther King:

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

This week more signs of a moral revolution against the politics of group identity disastrously promoted by the Left since King’s day:
Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), the first black senator elected in the South since the Reconstruction era, is no fan of racially tinged Democratic attacks on his party.
“The lowest common denominator of fear and race-baiting is something that the other party has tried to do, and the voters said ‘No.’ They rejected this,” Scott said…
“South Carolina voters vote their values and their issues — and not my complexion,” Scott said. “This is a great sign for what’s happening throughout the South, but certainly a fantastic sign for the evolution that has occurred in South Carolina.”
Then there’s Mia Love, who was this week voted into the House of Representatives by people of Utah:
BERMAN:  You are the first black, Republican woman to be elected to the House of Representatives…
LOVE: Well, first of all, I think what we need to mention here is this has nothing do with race. Understand that Utahans have made a statement that they’re not interested in dividing Americans based on race or gender, that they want to make sure that they are electing people who are honest and who are—who have integrity, who could be able to go out and actually make sure that we represent the values that they hold dear.
And that’s really what made history here. It’s that race, gender, had nothing to do with it.
Last week there was our Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop:

[Feminist is] not a term I find particularly useful these days. I recognise the role that it’s played. It’s not something I describe myself as. I’m not saying I reject the term. I don’t find the need to self-describe in that way…

It’s just not a term I use. I self-describe in many other ways. It’s not because I have a pathological dislike of the term, I just don’t use it. It’s not part of my lexicon, I don’t think anybody should take offense.
I’m a female politician, I’m a female foreign minister. Yeah well? Get over it.
===

Professors pay the price for their warming stupidity

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (8:08am)

Global warming - dud predictions

Labor - being the party of the collective - is more prone than the Liberals to fall for messianic beliefs and group think. Now we count the cost in Victoria:
Victorian taxpayers have paid more than half a billion dollars to the loss-making operators of the state’s desalination plant, despite it producing no water in the year to June 30.
It is a frightening measure of our intellectual decline that the global warming cult was fed by many university professors. And now academics will pay, too:

New accounts filed by the consortium in charge of the desalination plant, Aquasure Pty Ltd, show ... Aquasure slumped to a $396.2 million loss in the 2014 financial year.
Unisuper - the university superannuation fund - has the largest individual stake in Aquasure.

The reason for this?
From 2005 to 2008, Flannery, the global warming guru, made a string of outlandish claims like these:
“So even the rain that falls isn’t actually going to fill our dams and our river systems ... In Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane, water supplies are so low they need desalinated water urgently, possibly in as little as 18 months ...”

The Bureau of Meteorology’s head of climate analysis agreed, warning in 2007 that “climate change here is now running so rampant that ... almost every one of our cities is on the verge of running out of water”.
And politicians believed them… Labor politicians in every ... mainland state built expensive desalination plants, too, rather than cheap dams.
Big mistake. Hear that rain?
The dams in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide we were told would be drained by global warming are instead at least 80 per cent full.
And in all of those cities, the desalination plants are mothballed or, in the case of Adelaide’s $2.2 billion plant, about to be.
UPDATE
The Village Idiot (Reformed) warns that retired academics may take a few more hits to their wealth, thanks to the green faith:

Other gems from UniSuper’s 2014 Fnancial Statements: 
UniSuper became a cornerstone investor in A A A-rated Green Bonds issued by the World Bank to support green projects around the globe…
We will further boost the credentials of the Socially Responsible options in the coming months when additional screening is introduced in these options to exclude investments in fossil fuel explorers and producers, alcohol, gaming and weapons. 
471,500 member accounts. $36.3 billion in net assets
UPDATE
Someone who knows insists UniSuper made a great investment in the desal plant, not least because of government guarantees to pay regardless. I trust his verdict. 
===

Lambie threatens Palmer with walk-out: “Don’t care what Clive Palmer’s position is”

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (7:41am)

Palmer United Senator Jacqui Lambie whacks her “leader” on ABC radio:
You know what, it’s getting to the point I just don’t care what Clive Palmer’s position is on this at the moment - but if he had a conscience he’d stand right beside me and our troops and our veterans.
Lambie is furious Palmer won’t back her mad strategy to blackmail the government by voting against all its legislation until it increases its 1.5 per cent pay deal for defence personnel - despite the fact she’s blocking the savings that could pay for it.
Lambie gives Palmer an or-else:
Clive will have to decide whether he wants to see his party separated in the Senate, that’s all Clive Palmer needs to decide on.
Clive Palmer can no longer sit on the fence, he’s either standing by me or he’s standing near the Liberal National Party but I’m not going to stand around and watch Clive Palmer back flipping.
She warns that Palmer faces re-election in less than two years, but she’s there for another four, and not backing her could cost him:

He’ll probably pay the price for that at the next election.
Lambie also wants to turn the Remembrance Day ceremonies into a blackmail weapon, urging people to turn their backs on the politicians at the ceremonies, and never mind the RSL protesting against this gross disrespect to a ceremony for the fallen:
The RSL has betrayed diggers for ... many years.
Lambie is coarse, unintelligent and uninformed. She also seems deeply wounded. Brooding over alleged injustices done to her - being denied compensation for what she believes were injuries from her army service that she said drove her to drugs, drink and a breakdown - she now sides passionately with those who seem like metaphors of herself.
I suspect she will never feel soldiers are paid enough and will never forgive bureaucrats - or almost anyone in power. Reason has nothing to do with it.
Clive Palmer has met someone even more irrational than himself, and far more absolutist. I thought Palmer would embarrass Lambie out of associating with him. I didn’t dream the truth could be the other way around:

Sources told Fairfax Media in September that they overheard Mr Palmer bagging his senator as “not very bright” in a conversation with fellow PUP parliamentarian Dio Wang.
Mr Palmer has also distanced himself several times from Senator Lambie’s campaign to ban the burqa in Australia and her claim that Islamic Law “involves terrorism”.
UPDATE
I don’t believe Lambie told the truth on Wednesday to 2GB’s Chris Smith:

CHRIS SMITH:
So hang on, you’ve been speaking to Clive about this. He’s supportive of you recommending that people turn their back on Remembrance Day?
JACQUI LAMBIE:
Well I hope he’s in support of me yes. I hope all Palmer United Party…
CHRIS SMITH:
Have you spoken to him? Is he supportive of you or do you think he should be?
JACQUI LAMBIE:
Yes he’s supportive of me.
CHRIS SMITH:
You’ve spoken to him about this?
JACQUI LAMBIE:
Yes.
CHRIS SMITH:
Is he going to put his foot forward and say I’m supportive of Jacqui Lambie telling everyone to turn their backs on Remembrance Day?
JACQUI LAMBIE:
Yes.

Not quite:
Clive Palmer says he doesn’t support Jacqui Lambie’s call for soldiers to hijack Remembrance Day ceremonies and turn their backs on government MPs in protest against their meagre pay rise…
“No, but I understand the anguish that servicemen feel for the way they’ve been treated,” he responded when asked ...  if he would back his Senator’s protest.
“It’s not something I would do. Senator Lambie’s free to do what she does, she’s elected by the people of Tasmania to represent their interests,” Mr Palmer said.
If Palmer cannot offer Lambie’s vote, his power is diminished in negotiations with the Government.
UPDATE
Clown show:
CLIVE Palmer has declared his fledgling party deserves the balance of power in Victoria’s Upper House despite having no genuine policies or candidates on the ground…
Addressing the media in a plush Southbank hotel, Mr Palmer said PUP contenders would not be revealed until Sunday — 20 days before the state election…
[Palmer] said questions on specific state issues were best directed to the party’s lead candidate on Sunday.
===

Winning away doesn’t put the score on the board at home

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (7:39am)

Former Labor Minister Graham Richardson spells it out:

THAT the budget was a huge political mistake is a statement of fact. Even diehard conservatives who support its economic direction can’t ignore the public’s rejection of so many of the spending cuts.
The latest Newspoll should give Tony Abbott and his team plenty to think about. Despite the performance of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in belting Vladimir Putin over the downing of flight MH17 and standing up to the threat posed by Islamic extremists, to find themselves trailing a lacklustre opposition 54-46 is a problem not easily dismissed.
===

Greens dream of ways to ruin us

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (7:33am)

Maurice Newman says the world stopped warming nearly two decades ago, yet the Greens still demand we ruin ourselves to avert the alleged danger:

“LEAVE fossil fuels in the ground,” Greens leader Christine Milne says. “Renewable energy is the future.” “Coal is a stranded asset.” “It’s driving global warming.” “It’s a huge risk to the planet,” she adds, lest we miss the point.
Milne’s prescription for a vibrant Australian economy includes “keeping the renewable energy target at 41,000 gigawatt-hours”, “stopping new coalmines”, “no coal-seam gas’’ and “no new ports”. “Jobs will come from green energy,” Milne assures us…
Clearly Milne is unaware of the cost to California, Europe and Britain of their ultra green ­embrace.
The Golden State’s energy ­prices are 40 per cent above the US national average, plunging its manufacturing and agricultural regions into depression, with one in five living in poverty.
Researchers at Spain’s King Juan Carlos University have found renewable energy programs destroyed 2.2 jobs for every green one created.
A study by Verso Economics commissioned by the Scottish government concluded that for every job in the wind industry, 3.7 jobs were lost elsewhere.
UPDATE
Oh my god:
Sun always shines on Green optimists! NSW House of Representatives, Hansard, Wednesday: 
JEREMY Buckingham (the Australian Greens): The future of regional NSW will be built on education, ­renewable energy and sustainable agriculture.
Peter Phelps (Liberal): Baseload solar?
Buckingham: Absolutely.
Phelps: How much solar energy is produced at midnight?
Buckingham: It depends where it is in the world. It is always midday somewhere.
We just need one of those long extension cords that reaches to California. Apply to Buckingham for your own. 
===

Steady on

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (7:27am)

Number of Australians who have caught ebola: zero.
Years since an Australian died in a terrorist attack in Australia: 36.
Years since global warming halted: 16. 
===

Rising in the East

Andrew Bolt November 07 2014 (7:22am)

Beware a new axis of power based on values and interests not those of the free West:

Australia was given no choice from our US, European or Asian allies but to welcome Putin to Brisbane and drop all thoughts of barring him from the global summit or diplomatically embarrassing him.
The advice to Australia was that, amid growing fears of a new Cold War and, more importantly, the new “relationship of convenience” between Russia and China, Abbott had to accept Putin’s attendance to keep the “lines of communication open"…
In the past three weeks, Russia and China have signed a three-year deal for $24.5 billion to mutual­ly buffer their central banks in a financial crisis and financ­e Russian banks and energy companies for projects blocked by US financial sanctions…
Aware of the dangers of a growing financial relationship between China and Russia, as China becomes financially dominant in the Asia-Pacific, the US, EU and Japan are seeking not to ostracise Putin.
And there is even less possibility of confronting Russia or China while the US is under the leadership of a President so averse to asserting American power or even values:
Abbott’s office, the Treasurer and Ms Bishop were all bluntly told from the White House that the “G20 is an economic forum and we don’t want to see any Balkanisation of the G20 and that is hugely important to keep the communications lines open with Russia”.
===

===

Post by 開心快活人.

===

Post by Matt Granz.

===

Post by TJ Rhoades-State Farm Agent.

===

Post by Human Rights Observers.

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

=== Posts from last year ===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===

===
Pantry Packers: Tourists pack food for needy families in Israel
http://www.israelunseen.com/pantry-packers-tourists-pack-food-for-needy-families-in-israel/
Pantry Packers® introduces a bold new concept called Tikkun Olam Tourism® – an exciting 90 minute hands-on opportunity for overseas tourists to pack commodi
===

===
Interview - Award-winning Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh
http://networkedblogs.com/Q25EA
Charley J. Levine..Hadassah Magazine..September '13..Khaled Abu Toameh, 50, an award-winning Israeli journalist and documentary filmmaker, has reported on Arab affairs for three decades. He writes for The Jerusalem Post and the New York-based Gatestone Institute, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit intern
===
Will Israel’s Left Destroy Israel? | FrontPage Magazine
http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/will-israels-left-destroy-israel/#.UnsS1hZpbPA.facebook
The time for action against Iran is closer than ever -- but internal headwinds loom.
I don't think so. I think they weaken and hurt Israel, which is bad on its own. I similarly don't think Obama will destroy USA .. - ed
===
Made in Israel – Medicine
http://www.cbn.com/tv/2650414108001
Gordon Robertson takes a look at some of the medical breakthroughs that have come from Israel, including cancer and diabetes treatment and technology to help blind people see and crippled people walk.
My dad's specialty was Education. He started Sesame Street as the educational evaluator. He was editor of the journal of educational psychology for some thirty years. Pro vice Chancellor community affairs at Sydney University and ran the board of studies in Victoria when he set up two Victorian model schools in Dubai. To be straight with you, it is very hard to initiate a culture that prizes intellectuals. To dismantle one to avoid losing some/many seems risky. They will come back to where it is good to raise their children. - ed
===

===

===
Everything You Thought You Knew About The Clitoris Is Probably Wrong
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/cliteracy_n_3823983.html
New York artist Sophia Wallace wants you -- and everyone you know -- to be cliterate.
===
Sarah Palin
Tomorrow we will announce the details of our upcoming "Good Tidings and Great Joy" book tour scheduled to start November 12th in the beautifully named Bethlehem, PA. This book is not about isolated trivialities. It's not really just about gingerbread cookies, or stockings hung by the chimney with care, or the big fat man with the long white beard. It's not about one holiday at all. It's about that little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes who arrived long before hope and change became political manipulations. It's about Christ and our ability to worship Him freely. It's about America, and what liberty truly means in our day-to-day lives. It's an empowering message that can change your life and help rebuild what is GOOD in this world! I am beyond excited to share this unique book with you and your loved ones. You can pre-order “Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas” here:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Tidings-Great-Joy-Protecting/dp/0062292889/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1381255547&sr=1-3

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/good-tidings-and-great-joy-palin-sarah/1116988729?ean=9780062315656

I can't wait to hear from you as we apply this positive message to our everyday living and commit to ignoring the "political correctness" that would lead us to do otherwise!

Sincerely,

Sarah Palin
===
There is someone on Facebook who keeps sending me naked pictures of themselves. I have asked them nicely to stop it but they won't so here it is publicly. "Keep sending me pictures and I will be going to the police!" Friends, you may know them so you may want to delete them. This is their profile: https://facebook.com/profile.php?=7332236
===

Thursday at 10p/1a ET, join Sean Hannity as he honors the incredible life and enduring legacy of Reverend Billy Graham on his 95th birthday.

"I believe he will continue to touch countless lives in the coming years because the words that he preached way back in 1950 still resonate to this day." - Sean Hannity

Read Sean's full commentary:http://tinyurl.com/ntp5smw
===

Into the Time Vortex! Thanks to Liz for this time travelling pumpkin.

"Come along, bitey!" It's "Upgrade complete" for this squash Cybermat (thanks to Julie for this one!)

The Eleventh Pumpkin
===
James Calore

===

The Dr. Phil Foundation has set up a fund to help Cleveland kidnapping victim Michelle Knight. Learn how you can help: http://bit.ly/DRPFoundation
#DrPhil
===

===

Larry Pickering
SPYING? ... be discreet about it please

Julie Bishop’s Indonesian counterpart, Mohammad Marty Natalegawa, is in posturing election mode when he says Australia’s spying could impede Indonesia’s current cooperation on people smuggling. Is Marty suggesting an original lack of cooperation? Yes he is! But he didn’t mean to say that.

Discretion was hardly on Marty’s mind last month when he publicly disclosed details of private conversations he had with Julie Bishop. That was very naughty of Marty.

Of course the wily Marty knows international espionage has been alive and well for 200 years, even among friends and allies. To suggest it is an affront to Indonesian sensitivity is an exercise in ambidextrous electioneering.

Embassies world-wide are involved in spying on their hosts and each affords the other diplomatic immunity from otherwise covert illegalities.

Foreign Affairs is the respectable face of Australia’s six separate spy Agencies and our ambassadors, attaches and diplomats are not there just for the cocktail parties.

Even the US compiles information on Australians, just ask Labor’s Mark Arbib, Bill Shorten and even Bob Hawke who were regularly seen slinking the back streets of Yarralumla to confirm or deny US surveillance.

Julie Bishop is about to leave for Jakarta to “patch things up” when there is actually nothing to be patched up.

Machiavellian Marty will greet tyro Julie with a “gotcha” grin, order tea be served, perve on her legs and discuss the weather before Julie flies home to tell us all is well.

Should Australia have no covert political interest in the most populous and corrupt Islamic nation on earth to our near north, a nation that purposefully invades our borders, a nation that will agree to desist only when confronted and then threatens to continue with the trade if we hurt their damned feelings?

Crumbs! Go fly another kite Marty!
===
James Calore'
U.S . Government has just passed a new law called: "The Affordable Boat Act"

Every citizen MUST purchase a new boat, by April 2014. These "affordable" boats will cost an average of $54,000-$750,000 each. This does not include taxes, trailers, licensing and registration fees, fuel, docking and storage fees, maintenance or repair costs.

This law has been passed, because until now, typically only wealthy and financially responsible people have been able to purchase boats. This new law ensures that every American can now have an "affordable" boat of their own, because everyone is "entitled" to a new boat.

If you purchase your boat before the end of the year, you will receive 4 "free" life jackets, compliments of President Obama.

In order to make sure everyone purchases an affordable boat, the costs of buying a boat will increase on average of 250-400% per year. This way, wealthy people will pay more, when they trade up.

But to be fair, people who can't afford to buy a boat will be provided one.
Children (under the age of 26) can use their parents boats to party on until they turn 27; then must purchase their own boat.
If you already have a boat, you can keep yours (just kidding; no you can’t). If you don't want or don't need a boat, you are required to buy one anyhow. If you refuse to buy one or can’t afford one, you will be regularly fined $800 until you purchase one or face imprisonment.

Failure to use the boat will also result in fines. People living in the desert; inner cities or areas with no access to navigable waters are not exempt. Age, motion sickness, experience, knowledge nor lack of desire are not acceptable excuses for not using your boat.

A government review board (that doesn't know the difference between the port, starboard or stern of a boat) will decide everything, including; when, where, how often and for what purposes you can use your boat along with how many people can ride your boat and determine if one is too old or healthy enough to be able to use their boat. They will also decide if your boat has out lived its usefulness or if you must purchase specific accessories,(like a $20,000 nav system) or a newer and more expensive boat. Those that can afford larger yachts above $750,000 will be required to do so...its only fair.

The government will also decide the name for each boat. Failure to comply with these rules will result in fines and possible imprisonment.

Government officials are exempt from this new law. If they want a boat, they and their families can obtain boats free, at the expense of tax payers. Unions, bankers and mega companies with large political affiliations ($$$) are also exempt.
===

Pool basement
===
Surgeons discover new ligament in human knee
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/11/06/surgeons-discover-new-ligament-in-human-knee/?intcmp=features
Two Belgian knee surgeons have discovered a previously unknown ligament located in the muscles and tendons of the human knee – a part they have named the anterolateral ligament (ALL).
New hope for ACL sufferers - ed
===
Common Core lessons blasted for sneaking politics into elementary classrooms
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/06/common-core-lessons-blasted-for-sneaking-politics-into-elementary-classrooms/
Critics of the Common Core initiative may have their nightmares come to fruition after seeing these worksheets.
Citizen, is this revolutionary France? Have we a great general seeking to elevate to empire? - ed
===
Allyson Christy
Geo-political pandering in the wake of geo-political scrambling, and all under Russia's momentous, waiting and watchful gaze.
Kerry: Question of Women Driving 'Best Left to Saudi Arabia'
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/11/05/Kerry-Saudi-women-driving
On Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry met with Saudi King Abdullah to try and warm relations between the two countries. “A true relationship between friends is based on sincerity, candor and frankness,” said Prince Saudi al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, after the meeting.
=
Continue to build your communities, Israel.
Kerry: US considers Israeli settlements to be 'illegal'
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Kerry-US-considers-Israeli-settlements-to-be-illegal-330786
US secretary of state urges Israel to limit settlement building after meeting with Abbas in Bethlehem; vows Washington will not stop efforts to pursue peace; says despite difficulties, both Abbas, PM set to work toward deal.
===

Thanks for helping 'The Bible' series get nominated for a People's Choice Award! Voting is now open, so let's take home the trophy! 

Vote here: http://bit.ly/17b5w9z
===

===

===
Millions of Poor Are Left Uncovered by Health Law
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/03/health/millions-of-poor-are-left-uncovered-by-health-law.html?_r=3&
Because some states are not expanding Medicaid, two-thirds of the poor blacks and single mothers and a majority of the low-wage workers who do not have insurance will not benefit from the new health law.
Utter failure - ed
===
[Watch Video] Kitty Fetches Towel
http://lovemeow.com/2011/06/kitty-fetches-towel/
Puru the kitty loves to play fetch, but only if it’s a towel . He would bring it all the way back to his human and ask to throw again. What a sweetie!
===

DC

A strange stop during my travels with Yahoo! last summer. I got a few photos in and then the mirror fell out of my camera. Took a day of scurrying to replace the unit while also needing to travel a good ten hours to my next destination. I was pretty disappointed. I really wanted to tear up the town and document it in style. — in Washington, DC, United States.
===
Michelle Malkin
Genius screenshot sums up Terry McAuliffe’s victory in Va.==>http://twitchy.com/2013/11/06/genius-screenshot-sums-up-terry-mcauliffes-victory-in-va/
View image on Twitter
===

Emma Watson
And we'll never be royals...Lorde
===

===

===

===

Matt Granz
A primordial feeling overtakes Yosemite Valley as the fog starts to rise as the sun goes down while drivers make their way under the lumbering sleeping granite giants into the interior of the park. It was a pleasure to meet up with Michael Frye, Josh Cripps, and Gary Hart Photographywhile getting this shot. Hopefully I'll make it back after the next snow. — with Darvin Atkeson atYosemite National Park.
===
Overseas Vietnamese girl among world’s most beautiful faces
http://talkvietnam.com/2012/01/overseas-vietnamese-girl-among-worlds-most-beautiful-faces/#.UnsOPx-_Tk4
Vietnamese Australian Natalie Tran ranks 17th on the “100 Most Beautiful Faces 2011″ list, according to American movie magazine, Independent Critics.
===

Andy Trieu
Monster Launch feat. Tyson Beckford
===
Could user burnout threaten Twitter float?
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/technology/could-user-burnout-threaten-twitter-float/story-e6frgakx-1226755043660
THEY loved it. Now they hate it. A growing number of celebrities, athletes and self-promoters are burnt out and signing off of Twitter. Many have become overwhelmed.
Meh, once they automate the acceptance system, they'll claim to be back - ed
===
The "Mormon Effect"
http://federalistpress.com/the-mormon-effect.php?fb_action_ids=10202204943425566&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210202204943425566%22%3A191708840953214%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210202204943425566%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
During the 2012 presidential campaign, that awesomely deep well of perpetual wisdom, Alec Baldwin, proclaimed that if Barack Obama were not black, his vote total would have been 20 percent higher. ...
I don't feel that someone who is not a minister represents their religion if they don't claim to. But the liberal left wing press are full of bigots. The press has too much power. But that is why Romney got his opportunity off cycle. Because it was felt he had that liability that would harm the GOP on cycle. I am not and won't be Mormon, but I would vote for one to be President .. I would vote against a so called Christian were they like Obama .. but the press confuses many. - ed
===

Joanna Page as Queen Elizabeth, with the Tenth Doctor… #SaveTheDay #TheDayoftheDoctor
===

===

Meh, some Christians vote for Obama .. being saved does not mean you are smart. - ed
===
Technology -> Opportunity -> Disruption -> Change: "Even Blockbuster's late fees came back to bite the chain in an unlikely way. In 1997, a man named Reed Hastings returned a late copy of "Apollo 13" to his local Blockbuster. He was assessed a $40 fee. Two years later, he founded Netflix."
Your late fees are waived: Blockbuster closes
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/06/tech/gaming-gadgets/blockbuster-video-stores-impact/
If only Blockbuster could rewind back to the 1990s. Videotape rental chain was at peak then; now it's done, thanks to DVDs, streaming, Internet.
===

===

4 new images from #TheDayoftheDoctor coming. First up, and we definitely recognise that scarf…#SaveTheDay
===

===
David Bowles
Who is the Clockwork Curandera? What is the Witch Owl Parliament? Be on the lookout for an amazing new project that will steampunk the whole Southwest...
===
Liberal Party of Australia
===

Larry Pickering
FAIRFAX DYING IN AN IDEOLOGICAL DUNNY

Hostile takeover vultures are circling the corpse of Fairfax ensuring there is no sign of life before swooping in to safely digest the entrails of a once proud beast.

Today I thought I’d drop in to see how the carcass was decomposing and it certainly seemed to be in an advanced state. 

There were the usual bacterial suspects of pirate FitzSimons, the pasty Pascoe... even the aesthetically challenged Laurie Oakes was flogging a book on why Labor should have won.

Further down was: “Hockey blows a $3b hole in budget”, “News Corp bias against Rudd” and “Abbott thumbs his nose at voters”. Golly, there must be a morsel of objective reporting somewhere in this rag! Couldn’t find one.

There was: “Hockey takes more than he gives”, “Abbott ducks questions on climate”, “Big Lib supporter Murdoch now wants his reward” and “Abbott blunders his way through Indonesia”, oh, and there was some uni bloke they found to proclaim it was Rudd not Abbott who had stopped the boats.

Then it ran out of political guff and predictably turned tabloid with stories about who’s shagging who on the A list, gay life and cats up trees.

Even that Public Service circular, and baby sister The Canberra Times, has politely refused some news feeds.

You would have thought the recent election would have jolted Fairfax back to somewhere near the centre, but nope. This arm of the hopelessly corrupt ALP actually still believes it is right and a thread of indignant bitterness is woven into each story.

The takeover vultures are sniffing the wind for signs of life, but there are none, and now it’s yummy carrion time.

Oh well, I guess we always have the ABC.
===

HISTORY IN THE HEADLINES: According to a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, more than one in five Sun-like stars, or roughly 11 billion in the Milky Way galaxy alone, have an Earth-like planet orbiting them. The nearest could be less than a dozen light years away.
===
Edie Sundby, a Stage 4 cancer patient, is losing her health insurance plan that helped her survive. She speaks out tonight on The Kelly File at 9p/12a ET.
Kelly File: California Had 'Explicit Deal' With Private Insurers to Cancel Plans
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/11/06/kelly-file-california-had-explicit-deal-insurance-companies-cancel-plans
Edie Sundby, one of the estimated 900,000 Californians who will see their plans canceled under new ObamaCare regulations, wrote that she "is one of the losers" in the Affordable Care Act.
===

http://bit.ly/DRP_PeoplesChoice — with Dr.Phil.
===

James Calore
End of a surprisingly warm, sunny November day...
===

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning (Wednesday, 6 November 2013), in Jerusalem, met with US Secretary of State John Kerry and said at the start of their meeting:

"We heard the chants 'Death to America' two days ago again in Tehran, and this is, I believe, the true face of this regime or the person who controls this regime, the so called 'Supreme Leader'. I think such a regime must not have the world's most dangerous weapons.

I believe that as long as they continue their goal to enrich uranium, to get nuclear weapons, the pressure should be maintained and even increased because they're increasing enrichment, and I believe that it's possible with intense pressure because of the sanctions regime led in large part by the United States to get Iran to fully dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

I'd be very worried with any partial deals that enable Iran to maintain those capabilities but begin to reduce sanctions because I think this could undermine the longevity and durability of the sanctions regime.

Photo: Koby Gideon, GPO
===
Pastor Rick Warren

My friends Mark and Grace Driscoll invited me to speak at their #Resurgence Conference in Seattle today. It was moving to see pastors on their knees and faces before God after my message to them.
===
<Never not chasing the million things I want…>
.. sometimes, when you stand still, they come to you 
so it always feels like I'm chasing something out of reach..>===

Allons-y! #SaveTheDay #TheDayoftheDoctor
===
“he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”Ephesians 1:9-10 NIV
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"I will pour water upon him that is thirsty."
Isaiah 44:3
When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and doleful fears. Such is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. As well chain the eagle's wing to make it mount, as doubt in order to increase our grace. It is not the law, but the gospel which saves the seeking soul at first; and it is not a legal bondage, but gospel liberty which can restore the fainting believer afterwards. Slavish fear brings not back the backslider to God, but the sweet wooings of love allure him to Jesus' bosom. Are you this morning thirsting for the living God, and unhappy because you cannot find him to the delight of your heart? Have you lost the joy of religion, and is this your prayer, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation"? Are you conscious also that you are barren, like the dry ground; that you are not bringing forth the fruit unto God which he has a right to expect of you; that you are not so useful in the Church, or in the world, as your heart desires to be? Then here is exactly the promise which you need, "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty." You shall receive the grace you so much require, and you shall have it to the utmost reach of your needs. Water refreshes the thirsty: you shall be refreshed; your desires shall be gratified. Water quickens sleeping vegetable life: your life shall be quickened by fresh grace. Water swells the buds and makes the fruits ripen; you shall have fructifying grace: you shall be made fruitful in the ways of God. Whatever good quality there is in divine grace, you shall enjoy it to the full. All the riches of divine grace you shall receive in plenty; you shall be as it were drenched with it: and as sometimes the meadows become flooded by the bursting rivers, and the fields are turned into pools, so shall you be--the thirsty land shall be springs of water.

Evening

"Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you."
Hebrews 9:20
There is a strange power about the very name of blood, and the sight of it is always affecting. A kind heart cannot bear to see a sparrow bleed, and unless familiarized by use, turns away with horror at the slaughter of a beast. As to the blood of men, it is a consecrated thing: it is murder to shed it in wrath, it is a dreadful crime to squander it in war. Is this solemnity occasioned by the fact that the blood is the life, and the pouring of it forth the token of death? We think so. When we rise to contemplate the blood of the Son of God, our awe is yet more increased, and we shudder as we think of the guilt of sin, and the terrible penalty which the Sin-bearer endured. Blood, always precious, is priceless when it streams from Immanuel's side. The blood of Jesus seals the covenant of grace, and makes it forever sure. Covenants of old were made by sacrifice, and the everlasting covenant was ratified in the same manner. Oh, the delight of being saved upon the sure foundation of divine engagements which cannot be dishonoured! Salvation by the works of the law is a frail and broken vessel whose shipwreck is sure; but the covenant vessel fears no storms, for the blood ensures the whole. The blood of Jesus made his testament valid. Wills are of no power unless the testators die. In this light the soldier's spear is a blessed aid to faith, since it proved our Lord to be really dead. Doubts upon that matter there can be none, and we may boldly appropriate the legacies which he has left for his people. Happy they who see their title to heavenly blessings assured to them by a dying Saviour. But has this blood no voice to us? Does it not bid us sanctify ourselves unto him by whom we have been redeemed? Does it not call us to newness of life, and incite us to entire consecration to the Lord? O that the power of the blood might be known, and felt in us this night!
===

Today's reading: Jeremiah 37-39, Hebrews 3 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Jeremiah 37-39

Jeremiah in Prison
1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the LORD our God for us.”
4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet:7 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. 8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’
9 “This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not!10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down....”

Today's New Testament reading: Hebrews 3

Jesus Greater Than Moses
1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,” bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Warning Against Unbelief
7 So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested and tried me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
10 That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
===
at

No comments:

Post a Comment