Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Tue Nov 18th Todays News

Israel on front line against jihadism
A new book, Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine (Klaus-Michael Mallmann (Author), Martin Cüppers (Author), Krista Smith (Translator)) provides excellent new research on the activity of Nazis in WW2 in Palestine. I am proud that their plans were foiled partly by my grandfather, who was a bombardier in Roden Cutler's mob who made it as far as Jacob's Well, Be'er Ya'akov. After success, they were sent home by an ALP administration which scattered many across the pacific, some in Singapore, some, like my grandad, made it back to Sydney. Cutler went on to fight in PNG. 

 The work of the Nazis did not end in WW2. Many antagonists of the Jews survived in post war governments and went on with their plans. Palestinian leaders of today have their heritage with those Nazi plans. Overnight, it is reported 
"Four Israelis were killed and several others wounded in a terror attack on Tuesday morning in a synagogue in the western Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof.

Two assailants were killed at the scene by police, with a third possibly on the loose in the area.

Eight people were wounded in the assault, including four seriously, two moderately and two lightly…
Israel Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said two assailants entered the synagogue on Tuesday with knives, axes and guns and attacked worshipers… Samri said the attackers were Palestinians from East Jerusalem. "
The day before, 
"A Jewish resident of Jerusalem was stabbed in the back on Sunday evening, apparently with a screwdriver.

Police are treating the incident as a possible terrorist attack. The man, aged about 35, was stabbed near the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City."
The attacks are not against soldiers. They are against western type families. Israel does a magnificent job defending herself, but there are things she cannot do, and still be a Western Democracy. To be fair, so called Palestine would be bundled into Jordan and the lad given to Israel to use as she wishes. But too many Nazi sympathisers in world governments oppose such a fair outcome. 
Warmism - It is good people who make good places
An unbiased report on Obama's climate deal which would probably not be posted in most mainstream newspapers
"AT a historic joint press conference with Barack Obama in Beijing last week Chinese President Xi Jinping signalled that China would continue to increase CO2 emissions until 2030."

Unlike Australia's target which through Abbott's Direct Action policy is bound, Obama's plan is not bound to any figure. It promises that Obama will fail to get past GOP, and that China can do as she pleases domestically. In climate terms, if one believed the lies about plant food, Australia's Liberal party is promising more and better than Obama. But the truth is nothing promised so far will change the climate. 


We have been warned lightning will get stronger with climate change. Prepare for better pictures. Australian journalists are five times more likely to ask warmist questions than international journalists. Applaus in Texas for warmists influencing publishers to drop skepticism of AGW alarmism from school text books. 

Freedom lies in being bold
Abbott government must be committed to change, or die. The polls are too strongly against the government. It doesn't matter if they are competent and effective if they can't sell their success. It doesn't matter if effective ministers are not rewarded. The media have been responsible for the disparity between the polls and the effectiveness of the government. As appallingly bad as Mr Obama's activity was at the G20, as graceful as Putin's, as effective as Mr Abbott was, none would know from the reporting.SMH advises Mr Abbott to be part of their fantasy. Peter Hartcher, SMH editor, has focused on the words of an old colleague in LA and used those words to advise Mr Abbott that he should strike a global warming deal with China. In the spirit of Obama's success, Mr Abbott could agree for Australia to do nothing until 2030. Hartcher clearly does not see it that way, but his fantasy is a report on reality. 

 Abbott deserves kudos for success. Looking back in time, many journalists have placed very high standards on his administration he has met and excelled. And that is just on a free trade pact with China. The government is doing very well, but for the obstructive senate, but the media have not reported it. 

 Meanwhile MSNBC suggests that killing migrants through depraved neglect is similar to GOP Presidents who compassionately welcomed migrants in the past. GOP have let in Chinese students after China murdered some, or Hispanics fleeing government sponsored hit squads at home. But Obama is keen to create a pull factor which encourages people smugglers to use piracy to fleece desperate people and possibly kill them in the process. This would, according to Obama, be compassionate and extend their rights. 

 'unbiased' ABC declares war on conservatives, verbals a Liberal to embarrass a Liberal. Greg Hunt was talking o the direct action climate policy on ABC radio and Fran Kelly, interviewer, falsely claimed WA Premier Barnett opposed it. Hunt did not fall for it, but Kelly will not be corrected. 
I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends

China's President is a better friend than the US one. China's President came bearing gifts and speaking as a good friend. Obama tried to twist the agenda of the G20 to suit his positioning in front of a US audience. Obama savaged Russia and made unbelievable promises regarding global warming. India is a great friend too, and their free trade agreement will be welcome. 
The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing
Gillard challenges a judge to trust her reputation. 
"JULIA Gillard has formally asked the union corruption inquiry to “give significant weight to (her) good character and reputation” and urged it to reject evidence she received wads of cash from a corrupt union boss boyfriend."
Greens support Clive Palmer in Victoria, supporting the miner in politics where they oppose him in policy.
When FGM is morally grey, but a male choosing a shirt is indicative of moral turpitude. Feminists are trying to preserve a sense of mystique by being absurd. 

 Judging a teacher who follows mainstream media. She likes listening to Rush Limbaugh at home, so outraged vigilantes want her sacked. 
Historical perspective on this day
In 326, the old St. Peter's Basilica was consecrated. In 401, the Visigoths, led by king Alaric I, crossed the Alps and invaded northern Italy. In 1105, Maginulfo was elected the Antipope as Sylvester IV. In 1180, Phillip II became king of France. In 1210, Pope Innocent III excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV. In 1302, Pope Boniface VIII issued the Papal bull Unam sanctam (One Faith). In 1307, William Tell shot an apple off his son's head. In 1421, a seawall at the Zuiderzee dike in the Netherlands broke, flooding 72 villages and killing about 10,000 people. This event will be known as Sint-Elisabethsvloed. In 1493, Christopher Columbus first sighted the island now known as Puerto Rico. In 1494, French King Charles VIII occupied Florence, Italy. In 1601, Tiryaki Hasan Pasha, provincial governor of Ottoman Empire, utterly defeated Habsburg forces, commanded by Ferdinand the Archduke of Austria during the Siege of Nagykanizsa. In 1626, St. Peter's Basilica was consecrated. In 1730, the future Frederick II (known as Frederick the Great), King of Prussia, was granted a royal pardon and released from confinement. 

 In 1803, the Battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution, was fought, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Haiti, the first black republic in the Western Hemisphere. In 1809, in a naval action during the Napoleonic Wars, French frigates defeated British East Indiamen in the Bay of Bengal. In 1812, Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Krasnoi ended in French defeat, but Marshal of France Michel Ney's leadership leads to him becoming known as "the bravest of the brave". In 1863, King Christian IX of Denmark signed the November constitution that declared Schleswig to be part of Denmark. This was seen by the German Confederation as a violation of the London Protocol and led to the German–Danish war of 1864. In 1865, Mark Twain's short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County was published in the New York Saturday Press. In 1883, American and Canadian railroads instituted five standard continental time zones, ending the confusion of thousands of local times. 

 In 1903, the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed by the United States and Panama, giving the United States exclusive rights over the Panama Canal Zone. In 1904, General Esteban Huertas stepped down after the government of Panama feared he wanted to stage a coup. 1905, Prince Carl of Denmark became King Haakon VII of Norway. In 1909, two United States warships were sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) were executed by order of José Santos Zelaya. In 1916, World War I: First Battle of the Somme – in France, British Expeditionary Force commander Douglas Haig called off the battle which started on July 1, 1916. In 1918, Latvia declared its independence from Russia. In 1926, George Bernard Shaw refused to accept the money for his Nobel Prize, saying, "I can forgive Alfred Nobel for inventing dynamite, but only a fiend in human form could have invented the Nobel Prize." In 1928, release of the animated short Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, featuring the third appearances of cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This is considered by the Disney corporation to be Mickey's birthday. In 1929, 1929 Grand Banks earthquake: off the south coast of Newfoundland in the Atlantic Ocean, a Richter magnitude 7.2 submarine earthquake, centered on Grand Banks, broke 12 submarine transatlantic telegraph cables and triggered a tsunami that destroyed many south coast communities in the Burin Peninsula. 

 In 1930, Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, a Buddhist association later renamed Soka Gakkai, was founded by Japanese educators Tsunesaburo Makiguchiand Josei Toda. In 1938, Trade union members elected John L. Lewis as the first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. In 1940, World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous invasion of Greece. In 1943, World War II: Battle of Berlin – 440 Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF lost nine aircraft and 53 air crew. In 1944, the Popular Socialist Youth was founded in Cuba. In 1947, the Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, killed 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand. In 1949, the Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners were shot dead and 51 were wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria.

 In 1961, United States President John F. Kennedy sent 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam. In 1963, the first push-button telephone went into service. In 1970, U.S. President Richard Nixon asked the U.S. Congress for $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government. In 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones led his Peoples Temple to a mass murder-suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. Congressman Leo J. Ryan was murdered by members of the Peoples Temple hours earlier. In 1987, King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people died in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras. In 1988, War on Drugs: U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law allowing the death penalty for drug traffickers.

 In 1991, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon releasde Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland. Also, after an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulated to the besieging Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces. In 1993, in the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was approved by the House of Representatives. Also, in South Africa, 21 political parties approved a new constitution, expanding voting rights and ending white minority rule. In 1996, a fire occured on a train travelling through the Channel Tunnel from France to England causing several injuries and damaging approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) of tunnel. In 2002, Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrived in Iraq. In 2003, in the United Kingdom, the Local Government Act 2003, repealing controversial anti-gay amendment Section 28, became effective. Also, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules 4 to 3 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional and gave the state legislature 180 days to change the law making Massachusetts the first state in the United States to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples. In 2013, NASA launched the MAVEN probe to Mars.
from 2013
Notice, tomorrow I will be unable to produce a column. I'll still produce a birthday listing.

 I'm not ashamed of having failed. Only if I hadn't tried. I must vacate my premises soon so the decontaminators can load it with poison gas .. they call it a bio sweep .. Visitors will be welcome when I get back .. but I won't have the books, DVDs, videos, CDs and such. Then in coming weeks I'll get new carpet, new paint and maybe a new owner? Be blessed, my friends. Know that God loves you even when you don't feel it. I surrender my past, but will fight for my future. If asked, my public agenda is to establish a high tech production studio in Cabramatta Fairfield. It is to allow locals to film in HD broadcast ready material, be it cultural performances, martial arts or international needs. I hope to allow it to be accessible for local schools to send kids to learn production broadcast techniques and to maintain a digital cultural museum. Making money by showing/licensing use of clips. I know lots of people involved in MMA who might benefit from having steady work. There is a market for clips. And clips can be converted to features .. I have never yet lost a fight to the death. I may one day, but being a quick learner, it won't happen twice. 

 Syrian justice is not ahead of the rest of the world. Julia Gillard was indeed treated to a double standard, and still is, by the fawning media. Global Warming activists gather in Sydney, sending temperatures tumbling and bringing flooding rains. Did Flannery make a prediction recently? Is Gore in town? Who was the worse PM, Rudd or Gillard. We might never know for certain, each having impeccable credentials, but whomever it is, is probably the worst thus far. Apologies to Whitlam who probably felt his position was unassailable.
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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 Peter Dutton and Lucy O'Callaghan. Born on the same day, across the years, along with 
Susan B. Anthony
'Be brave' they say, I say "nay." Susan is .. arresting. Poor Mickey, Minnie is a love rat. To live, stay above ground. The siege is over. Let us party. 
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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2014
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50 SHADES OF HYSTERIA

Tim Blair – Tuesday, November 18, 2014 (1:51pm)

Can’t wear illustrated shirts. Can’t wear plain shirts, either: 
Last week, in his first-ever public Q & A, Mark Zuckerberg was asked why he wears plain gray t-shirts apparently every waking moment of his life. “I’d feel I’m not doing my job if I spent any of my energy on things that are silly or frivolous about my life,” the Facebook CEO replied.
Sounds innocuous enough, right? Not to some feminist critics.
“Is it just me or does the mindset of the Silicon Valley Power-Schlub imply that caring about clothing or how you look invalidates your ability to work?” wrote New York magazine’s Allison Davis in an essay titled, “Zuckerberg Explains His Gray T-Shirts, Sounds Pretty Sexist” …
Ellie Krupnick, meanwhile, claimed Zuckerberg’s comment “reinforces a sexist double standard.” His use of the word “frivolous” suggested “that women’s focus on ‘unserious’ things such as fashion preclude them from focusing on more important things.” 
Via Instapundit. Meanwhile, Australian feminists maintain their timid silence over the promotion of female genital mutilation: 
Prohibitions That Are Taken Too Lightly was one of several books bought from Sydney bookshops by The Daily Telegraph that advocate FGM, sometimes known as female circumcision …
Another book bought by The Daily Telegraph is called Important Lessons For Muslim Women, which says FGM is “obligatory” if an unmarried woman’s desire is “so great”.
In May the NSW government tripled the sentence for performing FGM to 21 years’ jail and introduced a new offence of removing a woman or girl from NSW to have it performed.
But books promoting the barbaric practice remain on sale in the Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore in Auburn, and The Islamic Bookstore in Lakemba …
Instructions Of Shari’ah For Women wants to ban Western education for women. Others say women should not drive, should not work with men and must have sex if their husbands demand it. 
Got anything to say, ladies? Anything at all? Or are you distracted by some guy’s shirt?
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TEACHER HAS MAINSTREAM VIEWS

Tim Blair – Tuesday, November 18, 2014 (1:17pm)

A Slate reader seeks urgent advice: 
My wife and I found the Facebook profile of our daughter’s second grade teacher. What we saw gave us a jolt. Her “likes” are a cornucopia of Tea Party politics – Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, a Michael Savage book, etc. Her politics seem extreme enough to be incompatible with her job as a public school teacher. 
The response from Slate is surprisingly sensible.
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THANKS FOR THE SKY SHOWS

Tim Blair – Tuesday, November 18, 2014 (1:12pm)

Is there nothing climate change can’t do? 
Add this to rising seas, more intense hurricanes, and more frequent thunderstorms: Climate change will also spark more lightning. 
Put it on the list.
(Via RR)
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REAR OF THE YEAR

Tim Blair – Tuesday, November 18, 2014 (12:40pm)

Forget Kim Kardashian. A BMW Clown Shoe wins this contest:

image
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Another terrorist attack in Jerusalem

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (6:04pm)

Israel is, as ever, on the frontline of the war against jihadism:
Four Israelis were killed and several others wounded in a terror attack on Tuesday morning in a synagogue in the western Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof.
Two assailants were killed at the scene by police, with a third possibly on the loose in the area.
Eight people were wounded in the assault, including four seriously, two moderately and two lightly…
Israel Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said two assailants entered the synagogue on Tuesday with knives, axes and guns and attacked worshipers… Samri said the attackers were Palestinians from East Jerusalem.
On Sunday:
A Jewish resident of Jerusalem was stabbed in the back on Sunday evening, apparently with a screwdriver.
Police are treating the incident as a possible terrorist attack.  The man, aged about 35, was stabbed near the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City.  
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Abbott gets advice from Hartcher that would kill him and hurt Australia

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (2:34pm)

Peter Hartcher, the Sydney Morning Herald political editor, is losing touch with reality.
Yesterday he claimed a former Fairfax colleague from Melbourne who’d vilified Australia in the Leftist Los Angeles Times was proof of a ”towering international indignation” over Tony Abbott.
Today he claims Abbott could and should strike a global warming deal with China:
...it’s not only possible for Abbott and Xi to put together a deal on climate change, it’s also desirable in the national interest and in the Abbott government’s political interest…
But didn’t China already announce its plan last week in Xi’s joint announcement with Barack Obama? Not at all. China merely said its emissions would peak by 2030, earlier if possible. Another way of saying it is this: We reserve the right to keep increasing emissions for another 15 years.
This is just China’s holding position. It is still considering its final commitments for the post-2020 phase. This means that it’s possible for Australia to be a part of a much bolder Chinese plan for post-2020 than anything announced to date. Abbott could trump Obama on this…
Politically, a China-Australia climate deal works for Abbott because he could outmanoeuvre Labor. Instead of playing permanent defence, he could go on the offence…
The hardest part for Abbott? He would need to abandon his two-track presentation on climate change… He needs to drop any impression of sympathising with climate change deniers. His far-right base will never abandon him to vote Labor or Greens. Now he must appeal to the centre of the electorate where elections are won and lost. 
Peter, please. At least you now concede Barack Obama’s deal with China is a fraud that commits China to nothing for 16 (not 15) years.
But consider:
- there is zero reason to believe Australia could persuade China, the world’s biggest emitter, to make the cuts it wouldn’t make for the US, the second-biggest emitter.
- there is zero reason to believe China will do anything to hamper the growth which it has promised its people; which President Xi yesterday nominated as his first priority; and which the Communist Party must deliver to survive.
- there is zero reason to believe that conservatives would not punish Abbott for betraying his principles and their support. Remember what happened to Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership when he wanted to back emissions trading?
- there is zero reason to believe that Abbott isn’t genuine in doubting man’s emissions will cause catastrophic global warming.
- there is zero reason for believing that an about-face on this issue will see Abbott finally embraced by all who now hate him, rather than denounced as a hypocrite and opportunist without core convictions. Would Hatcher himself suddenly vote Liberal?
- there is much reason to believe that a Hartcher-style deal with China would be hated by voters, since it will inevitably involve the kind of trade-off Obama made - with Australia making all the sacrifices and China none.
UPDATE
Meanwhile, in the real world:
The German coalition government is planning to withdraw from its 2020 climate change goals. Notwithstanding public protest, Federal Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) has abandoned the requirement of cutting 40 percent of CO2 emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2020.
“It’s clear that the [2020 CO2] target is no longer viable,” said the vice-chancellor according to information obtained by SPIEGEL, adding: “We cannot exit from coal power overnight.”
Experts have doubted for some time that German climate targets are being met – especially since Gabriel is defending vehemently coal-fired power generation.
UPDATE
Tom Switzer says we’ll thank Tony Abbott for resisting Barack Obama’s pressure to donate to the climate fund and sign up to a deal next year:
As for China, their leaders’ priority is to grow their economy at 7-8% annually and to reduce poverty; and the cheapest way of doing so is via carbon energy (president Xi did not even mention climate change in his address to parliament yesterday.) True, Beijing is investing in renewable energy projects and piloting cap and trade schemes in some provinces. But China is also building a coal-fired power plant every 8-10 days and its net emissions continue to escalate steadily (on 1990 levels, Australia is set to cut its greenhouse gas emission by 4% by 2020.)
Any “deal” at Paris will merely give China and India a free rein until the 2030s without any binding obligation to be monitored and scrutinised by the west on their actual behaviour. That is why Abbott is wise to make any Australian climate policies conditional on a legally binding, verifiable, enforceable and genuinely global agreement to replace the Kyoto protocol. Even the Germans have essentially done that.
What is shaping up now, as Benny Peiser of the London-based Global Warming Policy Forum predicts, is a huge blame game over the likely failure to agree to a post-Kyoto treaty. China and India will blame the west for its failure to deliver $100 bn per annum – yes, $100bn – that was promised at Copenhagen. Obama and the left will blame the Republicans. The EU will blame the Americans. Climate enthusiasts and developing nations will blame all and sundry.
And Abbott will look like a genius for keeping Australia on the margins of yet another climate summit fiasco.

(Thanks to reader Mervyn and others.) 
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Warmist groupthink: Australian journalists five times more likely to ask about global warming

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (10:58am)

Global warming - propaganda, Media

US President Barack Obama’s press conference on Sunday:
Questions from US journalists about global warming: 1 out of 10 (on whether Obama was exceeding his powers)
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s press conference on Sunday:
Questions from non-Australian journalists about global warming: 1 out of 9

Questions from Australian journalists about global warming: 1 out of 1
Tony Abbott’s press conference on Sunday:
Questions from non-Australian journalists about global warming:  0 out of 4
Questions from Australian journalists about global warming: 4 out of 10
To sum up the three press conferences:
Questions from non-Australian journalists about global warming:  2 out of 23.
Questions from Australian journalists about global warming:  5 out of 11.
Conclusion: Australian journalists are five times more likely to ask a political leader about global warming.
(UPDATE: Oops. Thanks to those who corrected my maths,.) 
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The Abbott Government must now change or die

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (8:59am)

The Abbott Government falls further behind in Newspoll:
In two-party-preferred terms, based on preference flows from last year’s election, Labor leads by 55 per cent to 45 per cent. The ALP’s third consecutive rise in two-party terms means the opposition has been in front of the ­Coalition on this measure for 14 successive Newspolls.
I still believe this overstates the margin, and the reality is somewhere between Newspoll and Essential Media’s 48 to 52 per cent. But there is no disputing the Government has a serious problem.
So to repeat:
- the Government’s foreign policy successes don’t much impress voters.  They are important, some critical, but they will increasingly look to voters like evasive action. A smokescreen from what they’d consider their most immediate concerns.
- the domestic issues, especially Budget cuts and broken promises, continue to kill the Government.
- weak economic growth and Budget blowouts undermine the Government’s entire argument for being.
- a ferocious onslaught by the media Left, especially the ABC behemoth, against the Government generally and Abbott personally, means the Government struggles to sell even its strengths.
- the Government’s media strategy is poor, too often defensive and reactive. Abbott still lacks a senior media strategist in his office - a critical and telling absence.
- the Government has bought the myth that deeds speak for themselves and playing nice wins respect. A cameo: Tony Abbott in welcoming President Xi Jinping to Parliament yesterday praised Labor leaders Gough Whitlam and Neville Wran for fostering China ties; Bill Shorten in his welcome praised Whitlam, noted Labor leaders had worked on the free trade deal before Abbott and praised China for its global warming “deal” and the sending of doctors to treat ebola patients - all digs at bipartisan Abbott and his policies. The Government is getting killed in bare-knuckle politics.
- Treasurer Joe Hockey isn’t getting cut-through in the most important portfolio. A Treasurer who can’t dominate the agenda leaves a Government fatally weakened.
- the Government doesn’t have an effective headkicker. It lacks mongrel. Another cameo:  Barack Obama won huge and positive coverage in the media for belting Abbott over global warming. The Government looked properly reprimanded, a punching bag, when it should have blasted back and won points for at least seeming tough.
- internal jealousies mean the Government’s most successful minister, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, has been given not a single new problem to solve since stopping the boats, while strugglers are pushed in front of the TV cameras week after week.
- the Government’s second most successor minister, Julie Bishop, is in a portfolio which lets her shine but does not win the government any votes.
- the minister most admired by the Left-wing media, Malcolm Turnbull, is in a portfolio in which there is little call for him to use his undoubted influence and charm to sell the Government to its media critics. Instead, as Communications Minister he is more likely to protect the media critics from the Government.
- the Government has not developed a moral message - an inspiring cause - other than the constitutional recognition of Aborigines, which will actually prove marginal and divisive, not least with its own base. That agenda will also be thankless: witness Mick Dodson’s mean-spirited attack on Abbott last week. Where is the evangelism?
- the Government has been poor in developing the “Greek chorus” effect that collectivists like Labor do so well. Too often it seems friendless. Business is slow to support it, and too rarely are the Prime Minister and his ministers seen surrounded by happy supporters.  Obvious example?: the Government couldn’t or wouldn’t find hundreds of scientists and medicos to even back its huge medical research fund.
- the Government can’t or won’t even energise its base with some signature campaigns and successes. It gave up the free speech fight, gave up on workplace reform and dares not challenge the global warming hysteria (indeed, its lacks the people, conviction and strategy to even attempt it).  Where are the inspiring reforms - ones that its supporters will gladly man the election booths to defend?
- the Government too often radiates a lack of conviction. It often dares not dare name the cause in which it fights: it cuts (barely) the ABC without explaining that it’s too big and biased; it slashes at global warming programs without explaining why they are a useless fix to a non-problem, it resists Obama’s global warming evangelism without explaining he’s a fraud. 
- the Government has picked too many fights it cannot win, not just with the Senate but more especially with the public. It must ditch the undoable, argue only for what it can win and avoid the Senate bloc wherever possible. Bye-bye Medicare co-payment and parental leave scheme.
- the Government seems out of synch with the times. Younger and fresher faces - women particularly - are needed in the lineup. Some of the Coalition’s most appealing talent is not in the Ministry.
- the Liberals have never prospered without senior ministers in Victoria arguing the case, leading the charge, imposing themselves on the debate. Where are they?
- a small point now, but why do Ministers go onto big set-piece interviews, especially with the ABC, without something new to reveal or announce? Why sit there passively while the interviewer asks the gotcha questions they’ve been working on for hours, hoping to have found the weakness?
Enough.
True, I have listed here the Government’s shortcomings but not its strengths and virtues. And if I were to list Labor’s failings, the list would be much longer.
But the Government cannot just motor on as Julia Gillard fatally tried, arguing that voters will eventually come around and see the gain for the pain, or see through the Opposition’s alleged failings. The polls today have a reality. Something is not working and must be fixed.
That fixing must start over the Christmas break. The planned minor reshuffle must be expanded. A new start must be signalled with new faces and an act of repentance. An aggressive, positive and confident media strategy must be adopted. 
Get sharp. Get tough. Get assertive. Get confident. Offer inspiration. And fight.  
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Gillard tries the “do you know who I am” line

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (8:12am)

Don’t look at the facts, admire the halo:
JULIA Gillard has formally asked the union corruption inquiry to “give significant weight to (her) good character and reputation” and urged it to reject evidence she received wads of cash from a corrupt union boss boyfriend. 
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Greens agree to support coal baron Clive Palmer

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (8:03am)

Rank opportunists both:
CLIVE Palmer and the Greens have struck a radical Victorian election preference deal that will unite mining interests with hard-Left environmental politics in a bid to snatch control of the upper house.
UPDATE

Palmer might be better off trying to save what he’s already got:
Palmer United Party senator Jacqui Lambie has called on all non-government senators to join her to block all government legislation until it offers a better pay deal to Defence personnel.
Senator Lambie also hijacked debates on bills relating to social services and sports anti-doping to read emails she had received from Defence personnel…
Speaking in Federal Parliament on Monday, ... Senator Lambie ... read a number of emails from supporters, including one that called Palmer United founder and leader Clive Palmer a “whack job”.
“I think you will face a backlash from your party but let’s face it, it won’t be a party for long and Clive is a whack job. So go for it alone, go independent – you will achieve so much more,” one of the messages said…
Earlier, Senator Lambie voted with the Greens to oppose the social services bill despite her fellow PUP senators abstaining, while the anti-doping bill passed without a division.
Rosie Lewis:
AN emotional Jacqui Lambie launched a fresh attack on the rest of the Palmer United Party yesterday, distancing herself further from her colleagues…
While Senator Lambie and Mr Palmer were in the same room yesterday for the first time since party infighting erupted publicly last week, they did not speak. 
During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s parliamentary address, Mr Palmer and PUP senators Zhenya Wang and Glenn Lazarus sat together while a frosty Senator Lambie sat two benches away and did not look across…
While she spoke to Senator Wang behind closed doors yesterday, she is yet to talk to Senator Lazarus.
(Thanks to readers Peter of Bellevue Hill and Aussieute.) 
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Unbiased ABC declares war on conservatives

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (7:50am)

ABC balance on Q&A, under Leftist host Tony Jones:
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Let’s be generous and count Vanstone, from the Liberal Left, as a conservative. Even then it will be one against five, including Jones.
Not even a pretence any more.
UPDATE
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Last night’s unbiased Q&A was just as bad.
Malcolm Turnbull - from the Liberal Left

Tanya Plibersek - Labor

Ben Elton - far Left “comedian” and warmist

Jonathan Holmes - Leftist and warmist
Sarrah Le Marquand - Daily Telegraph columnist, who last night praised Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech
Conservatives this time were represented by Malcolm Turnbull, who actually praised the phony global warming deal Barack Obama made last week with China and urged the rest of the world to get on board. The very first panel discussion had Turnbull endorsing the global warming scare, with Jonathan Holmes, Tanya Plibersek and Ben Elton all belting the Government for not being more warmist. Host Tony Jones also attacked the Government’s direct action policies and claimed that to emit carbon dioxide was to “pollute”.
The best that Turnbull could say in the Government’s defence was that emissions trading, which he’d supported, had worked better in theory than in practice.
Not one person on the panel was sceptical about Obama’s “deal” or catastrophic man-made warming.  The most sceptical thing said by anyone about this fraudulent fix to what increasingly seems a non-problem came from Sarrah Le Marquand of the Daily Telegraph, who said “unfortunately” Obama might not be able to deliver on his deal.
No one even contradicted loudmouth Ben Elton when he claimed global warming meant “low-lying land is going to be engulfed by a series of tsunamis”, as if our gases now caused earthquakes, too.
UPDATE
At the Cat:
How many times did Turnbull start with ‘I must defend Tony Abbott here ….’ or ‘To defend Tony Abbott …’
It sounded so weak, diffident and unconvincing. They tore Abbott to shreds tonight and in contrast Malcolm was flattered by all just to show nobody is biased. What will it take to open Abbott’s eyes ? He still thinks he can get them to love him.
Once again, Q&A claimed 42 per cent of the studio audience were Coalition voters. Yet 100 per cent of the horselaughs, 95 per cent of the applause and 90 per cent of the criticism was directed at the Abbott Government. Abbott’s strongest defender on the show was his great rival, Turnbull.
The ABC is perpetrating a fraud. The shame is that even when Communications Minister Turnbull is in the middle of it he refuses - when specifically asked - to confirm that, yes, the ABC is biased.
UPDATE
Oh, dear, what a shambles last night’s program was, confirming the very malice and bias that all on the panel sought to deny or failed to admit:
[Turnbull] also repeated his criticism of a satirical report on the Abbott-Putin shirtfront controversy that aired on 7.30 last week. He said satire on a serious news program needed to be clearly labelled and the audience attuned to expect it.
Host Tony Jones then said to another panellist, senior News Corporation editor Sarrah Le Marquand: “You’ve got Andrew Bolt, you don’t label him as ‘satire’.”
Jones apologised for the remark shortly afterwards. At one point, under questioning from comedian Ben Elton, Mr Turnbull said the program was becoming a “Tony Abbott hate-fest”.
Bizarre, a show to dismiss claims that the ABC is biased stacks the panel, savages Abbott and attacks a conservative.
The ABC is out of control. When will managing director Mark Scott be sacked?
UPDATE
Memo to Ben Elton, who last night claimed warming meant “low-lying land is going to be engulfed by a series of tsunamis”.
Check not what people say but what they do. The low-lying Maldives seems not to believe its future is threatened:
The Maldives is to open a $100 million integrated resort project by 2016, including the creation of 23 hotels and an estimated 2,100 new beds… It’s also believed plans are underway to develop another runway at the main international airport in Male.

(Thanks to reader Mark M.) 
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Unbiased ABC verbals a Liberal to embarrass a Liberal

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (7:50am)

Of course the ABC isn’t biased. It’s pure coincidence that things like this keep happening to Liberals, thanks to ABC warmists:
ABC RN Breakfast yesterday:

GREG Hunt: We have just passed a $2.5 billion climate fund ... one of the most significant pieces of climate legislation in Australian history ... Fran Kelly: With respect though Minister, you kept using terms to describe the Direct Action policy as significant, one of the most ambitious packages and yet here’s the WA Premier, who’s a Liberal Premier to boot ... He’s not convinced that Direct Action is as ambitious as you suggest.
Hunt: Well there’s a very strange situation here and I don’t in any way accept the way that you have characterised Premier Barnett’s comments ...
Kelly: They were direct quotes. ...
Hunt: But you just said that he reflected on the Direct Action program. Did he?
Kelly: Well he’s suggesting that we need to do more. ...
Hunt: Did he reflect on the Direct Action program?
Kelly: I have no idea, but he said we need to lift our game ...
Hunt: ... But Fran, you just said he attacked our Direct Action program ...
Kelly: Sorry Minister ... the point that I was making was that he ... said we need to lift our game.
Hunt: So you attributed something to him which he didn’t say. You now have to concede that. Yes?
Kelly: Alright Minister I’m happy to concede that. ... but ... in the real world, the US and China have now announced lifting future action (cutting emissions) on their part.
China is doing more? US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change, November 12:

CHINA intends to achieve the peaking of CO2 emissions around 2030.
Jonathan Kaiman The Guardian, Tuesday, November 27, 2012:
ANALYSTS say that ... China’s emissions will rise until around 2030 ...
UPDATE
More from the unbiased ABC. Presenter Quentin Dempster defends 7.30’s tasteless mockery of Tony Abbott by endorsing the attack and blaming the West for jihadism:
It was an attempt at satire over our prime minister’s tabloidism. First there was ‘Team Australia’ — an attempt at cut-through Abbott messaging designed to get everyone thinking counter terrorism by an appeal to would-be jihadists to stay here with the team. This is ripe for ridicule as anyone watching Anton Enus’s excellent Insight (SBS) ‘Stopping IS’ program last week would know. He examined Australia’s profound ignorance of youthful jihadi motivations by hearing from those whose lives have been all but destroyed by collateral damage caused by Western folly.
More from the unbiased ABC. The ABC’s Fact Check head, Russell Skelton, recommends a vicious anti-Abbott rant which he sells as an view of the Los Angeles Times, although the author is an ex-Fairfax reporter from Melbourne:

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Abbott’s success should be admired as much as it was once doubted

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (7:15am)

Will the praise from Fairfax and the ABC now match the degree of difficulty the two outlets once assigned?:
Hard! Jennifer Hewitt, Australian Financial Review, July 2, 2013: 

ANY hopes Australia can finally follow New Zealand’s record ... and complete a free-trade agreement with China won’t produce results in time for an election ... Yet a Coalition government influenced by the Nationals would find it even harder ...
Geoff Kitney, AFR, August 3, 2013:

IF Tony Abbott wins the election, (Chinese investment is) going to be one of the most problematic issues on his agenda, with the potential to split the Coalition.
Tactically flawed strategy! Mark Kenny, The Age, October 8, 2013:

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott has set down an ambitious deadline of just 12 months to conclude ... free trade talks with China, signalling Australia would sign up for “whatever we can get”. But some trade officials regard the strategy ... as tactically flawed. “We have just sent the message to the Chinese that if they hold out, we’ll pretty much cave in 12 months ...
Phil Coorey, AFR, October 14, 2013:
HIS ambition to finalise the FTA with China in 12 months carries the risk of surrendering Australia’s negotiating position given it is Abbott, not China, which now stands to lose domestically if the deadline is not reached.
People will say, well, you said. ABC RN Breakfast, November 17, 2013:
FRAN Kelly: Andrew Robb ... says he wants a free-trade agreement finalised in a hurry. Julie Bishop has a timeline of a year — pretty ambitious.
Michelle Grattan: Well! (laughs) … yes, and always of course quite risky because in a year’s time if it’s not done people say, well, you said …
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A straight report on Obama’s climate “deal”

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (6:56am)

Keith DeLacy, former Queensland Labor treasurer:

AT a historic joint press conference with Barack Obama in Beijing last week Chinese President Xi Jinping signalled that China would continue to increase CO2 emissions until 2030. 

China is currently increasing emissions every year by the equivalent of Australia’s total emissions, and Xi’s statement means this will continue to be the case. The announcement was warmly welcomed by the world media.
Xi said that by 2030 fossil fuels would still represent 80 per cent of China’s energy usage. Renewables such as wind and power would produce just 3 per cent of output. Xi implied that it was important that Europe continue to take the lead in renewables as they seemed to be able to tolerate low levels of growth and high levels of unemployment.
Lame duck US President Obama signalled the US would not take any leadership role on climate change action. While he suggested the US would reduce total emissions by 26 to 28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2025, everyone knew he could not deliver any legislative backing for measures to do this…
The above is an example of an alternative media report that might have come from a non-progressive correspondent attending last week’s historic climate change media conference by US and China presidents.
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The Chinese president is a better friend than this US one

Andrew Bolt November 18 2014 (6:41am)

Greg Sheridan nails the poseur from Washington:
A US president comes to Australia with the specific intention of damaging the Australian government politically on climate change, while a Chinese president comes here with nothing but gifts.
Xi Jinping’s accomplished, well-considered speech to parliament yesterday contained no references to climate change and no implicit criticism of Australia. After all, there are other forums for that issue, China is not committed to any carbon emissions targets and why would you go out of your way to embarrass your host?
The contrast with Barack Obama was staggering. More than that, Xi was charming, respectful and helpful to all Australians he mentioned. He completed the free-trade agreement, which is a big win for both countries. But more generally his speech was one of reassurance and reasonable ambition.
It takes some doing for an American president to seem a worse and more graceless guest than a Chinese president. A small sign of the decline of the US under Obama.
UPDATE
Dennis Shanahan:

TWO speeches from the two presidents of the most powerful countries on earth delivered within two days of each other on Australian soil could not have been more ­different.
The first, delivered on Saturday at the G20 summit, from one of our strongest allies and closest friends, was an act of political ­bastardry which distracted attention from the summit’s success and dropped Tony Abbott into a nightmare of domestic politics.
The real import of Barack Obama’s speech and long-term strategic message was sacrificed for rhetorical showmanship and US domestic considerations.
The second, delivered yesterday in Parliament House, was a historic advance in Australia’s trade and international relations, worth billions of dollars, and an underwriting of a new level of our strategic place in Asia. It was an act of pragmatic optimism with an eye to the future…
While some have suggested Obama’s speech from an old friend will ring through the generations, it’s more likely Xi’s speech from a respected old foe will be remembered in substance for much longer.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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Post by Il Borghesino.

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=== Posts from last year ===

StylePantry
This is so clever. Instead of shoes piling up by the door, here's a creative way to avoid clutter.
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Obama Refuses to Speak to Netanyahu
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174090
In latest twist in public US-Israel relations fallout, Obama has been forwarding all of Netanyahu's calls to John Kerry.
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Mick, from Dublin , appeared on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' and towards the end of the program had already won 500,000 euros. 

"You've done very well so far," said the show's presenter, "but for a million euros you've only got one life-line left, phone a friend. Everything is riding on this question. Will you go for it?"

"Sure," said Mick. "I'll have a go!" 

"Which of the following birds does NOT build its own nest?
a) Sparrow
b) Thrush,
c) Magpie,
d) Cuckoo?"

"I haven't got a clue." said Mick,

''So I'll use my last lifeline and phone my friend Paddy back home in Dublin...."

Mick called up his mate, and told him the circumstances and repeated the question to him.

"Feckin' hell, Mick!" cried Paddy. "Dat's simple it's a cuckoo."

"Are ye sure?"

"I'm feckin' sure."

Mick hung up the phone and told Chris, "I'll go with cuckoo as my answer."

"Is that your final answer?" asked Chris.

"Dat it is."

There was a long, long pause and then the presenter screamed, "Cuckoo is the correct answer! Mick, you've won 1 million euros!"

The next night, Mick invited Paddy to their local pub to buy him a drink.

"Tell me, Paddy? How in Heaven’s name did you know it was da Cuckoo that doesn't build its own nest?"

"Because he lives in a feckin' clock!"
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This Could Be One of the Best Cases Ever Made Against Common Core – No One Expected It to Come...
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/15/this-could-be-one-of-the-best-cases-ever-made-against-common-core-no-one-expected-it-to-come-from-a-high-school-student/
Speaking at a local school board meeting earlier this month, a Tennessee high school senior issued a brief and incredibly insightful address on the problems with Common Core standards. Ethan Young, a student at Farragut High School in Knox County, Tenn., made his case as to why he...
I agree that the core has issues, and this student is fingering them, but I don't feel he has nailed it. I have no problem with standards. There are regional preferences for things and this is something which exists with or without standards. There is greater diversity within a region than between regions. For me, the issue of a common core is the politicisation of educational material. Teaching AGW as fact is as disturbing to me as Intelligent Design. I prefer critical though to rigid structure. Core could be very useful, but it doesn't look it the way it is being implemented. Core could support individual teachers .. but at the moment it is a tool of a central government keen on building up. - ed
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“נ Nun Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"To whom be glory forever. Amen"
Romans 11:36
"To whom be glory forever." This should be the single desire of the Christian. All other wishes must be subservient and tributary to this one. The Christian may wish for prosperity in his business, but only so far as it may help him to promote this--"To him be glory forever." He may desire to attain more gifts and more graces, but it should only be that "To him may be glory forever." You are not acting as you ought to do when you are moved by any other motive than a single eye to your Lord's glory. As a Christian, you are "of God, and through God," then live "to God." Let nothing ever set your heart beating so mightily as love to him. Let this ambition fire your soul; be this the foundation of every enterprise upon which you enter, and this your sustaining motive whenever your zeal would grow chill; make God your only object. Depend upon it, where self begins sorrow begins; but if God be my supreme delight and only object,
"To me 'tis equal whether love ordain
My life or death--appoint me ease or pain."
Let your desire for God's glory be a growing desire. You blessed him in your youth, do not be content with such praises as you gave him then. Has God prospered you in business? Give him more as he has given you more. Has God given you experience? Praise him by stronger faith than you exercised at first. Does your knowledge grow? Then sing more sweetly. Do you enjoy happier times than you once had? Have you been restored from sickness, and has your sorrow been turned into peace and joy? Then give him more music; put more coals and more sweet frankincense into the censer of your praise. Practically in your life give him honour, putting the "Amen" to this doxology to your great and gracious Lord, by your own individual service and increasing holiness.

Evening

"He that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby."
Ecclesiastes 10:9
Oppressors may get their will of poor and needy men as easily as they can split logs of wood, but they had better mind, for it is a dangerous business, and a splinter from a tree has often killed the woodman. Jesus is persecuted in every injured saint, and he is mighty to avenge his beloved ones. Success in treading down the poor and needy is a thing to be trembled at: if there be no danger to persecutors here there will be great danger hereafter.
To cleave wood is a common every-day business, and yet it has its dangers; so then, reader, there are dangers connected with your calling and daily life which it will be well for you to be aware of. We refer not to hazards by flood and field, or by disease and sudden death, but to perils of a spiritual sort. Your occupation may be as humble as log splitting, and yet the devil can tempt you in it. You may be a domestic servant, a farm labourer, or a mechanic, and you may be greatly screened from temptations to the grosser vices, and yet some secret sin may do you damage. Those who dwell at home, and mingle not with the rough world, may yet be endangered by their very seclusion. Nowhere is he safe who thinks himself so. Pride may enter a poor man's heart; avarice may reign in a cottager's bosom; uncleanness may venture into the quietest home; and anger, and envy, and malice may insinuate themselves into the most rural abode. Even in speaking a few words to a servant we may sin; a little purchase at a shop may be the first link in a chain of temptations; the mere looking out of a window may be the beginning of evil. O Lord, how exposed we are! How shall we be secured! To keep ourselves is work too hard for us: only thou thyself art able to preserve us in such a world of evils. Spread thy wings over us, and we, like little chickens, will cower down beneath thee, and feel ourselves safe!
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Today's reading: Ezekiel 5-7, Hebrews 12 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 5-7

God’s Razor of Judgment
1 “Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. 2 When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword. 3 But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment. 4 Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.
5 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.

Today's New Testament reading: Hebrews 12

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son....”
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Peter

[Pē'tûr] - a rock or stone. The Greek form of the Aramaic surname, Cephas. Peter was the brother of Andrew and the son of Jona, or Johanan (Matt. 4:18; John 1:40; 1 Cor. 1:12).

The Man Who Fell but Rose Again

Peter is another of those outstanding characters in the Bible gallery of men, requiring a book all his own to fully expound his life and labors. From the many references to this reed transformed into a rock , we gather these facts and features of "The Big Fisherman."
He was a fisherman of Bethsaida, a name meaning "the house of fish." Afterwards he resided in Capernaum, where Jesus frequently lodged during His Galilean ministry.
His father was Jona, or Jonah, and Andrew was his brother. Both sons were fishermen on the Lake of Galilee and were evidently in partnership with Zebedee and his sons.
He first met Christ at Bethany beyond Jordan, where John the Baptist exercised his ministry. Both Peter and Andrew were disciples of the Baptist. It was Andrew who introduced Peter to Christ.
He received a triple call as friend, disciple and apostle. Through daily contact with Jesus, seeing and hearing His words and works, Peter's character was deepened and strengthened.
He was a man with many facets of character. His life can be approached from many angles. He was naturally impulsive (Matt. 14:28; 17:4; John 21:7); tenderhearted and affectionate (Matt. 26:75; John 13:9; 21:15-17); gifted with spiritual insight (John 6:68), yet sometimes slow to apprehend deeper truths (Matt. 15:15, 16); courageous in his confession of faith in Christ, yet guilty of a most cowardly denial (Matt. 16:16; John 6:69; Mark 14:67-71); self-sacrificing yet inclined towards self-seeking (Matt. 19:27), and presumption (Matt. 16:22; John 13:8; 18:10); immovable in his convictions (Acts 4:19, 20; 5:28, 29, 40, 42).
He became the leader and spokesman of the Apostolic Twelve and of the three privileged to witness the raising of Jairus'daughter, the Transfiguration, our Lord's agony in the Garden. He himself became a miracle worker, especially during the time portrayed in Acts.
He made a confession of Christ's deity which became the foundation of the Church, and was appointed steward with authority of the keys, meaning that his was to be the privilege of opening the door of salvation to the Jews.
He miserably failed his Lord in an hour of crisis, being the only disciple to deny Christ, yet he was restored and recommissioned by Jesus after His resurrection. He became the dauntless leader of the infant Church and was foremost to protest his loyalty to Christ. After Pentecost, Peter's ministry appears in four stages:
I. Jerusalem activities, 29-35 a.d., when James eventually succeeded to leadership of the Church.
II. Palestinean mission, 35-44 a.d. , during which he remained for a while at Lydda and Joppa. He received a call to Caesarea, and in the house of Cornelius opened the door of privilege to the Gentiles.
III. Syrian mission with Antioch as a center, 44-61 a.d., during which he was accompanied by his wife, who became the pioneer Zenana missionary.
IV. Rome, 61 a.d. It would seem as if Peter reached here before Paul's release from his first imprisonment, and a few years later suffered martyrdom by crucifixion, as Christ prophesied he would. Legend has it that Peter deemed himself unworthy to die in exactly the same way as his Lord had, and so begged his crucifiers to crucify him upside down.
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