Tuesday, June 09, 2015

Tue Jun 9th Todays News

Bolt report Instructions follow the publishing news. 
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Be a union leader. Then you'll never need to work. Chris Bowen has denounced Hockey's statement that first home owners should have a job that pays well. Bowen feels Hockey is out of touch. Some say Hockey is tone deaf politically, saying his statement that poor people are less likely to own cars is insensitive. But Hockey is right. It is far better to follow Hockey's advice than the ALP belief in entitlement. Not everyone can, as union leaders do, achieve large houses without effort, after union members are fleeced.

As for fleecing union members, former ALP whip, Cesar Melham, has quit from the whip's position in Victoria. He should also resign as a member. He was union chief when he followed Bowen's implied advice to achieve a large house. Don't blame Bowen. Shorten is leader. 
In 411 BC, the Athenian coup succeeded, forming a short-lived oligarchy. 53, the Roman Emperor Nero married Claudia Octavia. 68, the Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide, after quoting Homer's Iliad, thus ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty and starting the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. 721, Odo of Aquitaine defeated the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse. 747, Abbasid Revolution: Abu Muslim Khorasani, Arab military leader, began an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which was carried out under the sign of the Black Standard. 1311, Duccio's Maestà Altarpiece, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, was unveiled and installed in Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.

In 1534, Jacques Cartier was the first European to discover the Saint Lawrence River. 1650, the Harvard Corporation, the more powerful of the two administrative boards of Harvard, was established. It is the first legal corporation in the Americas. 1667, Second Anglo-Dutch War: The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet began. It lasted for five days and resulted in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy. 1732, James Oglethorpe was granted a royal charter for the colony of the future U.S. state of Georgia. 1762, British forces began the Siege of Havana and captured the city during the Seven Years' War. 1772, the British schooner Gaspee was burned off the coast of Rhode Island. 1798, Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battle of Arklow and Battle of Saintfield.

In 1815, end of the Congress of Vienna: the new European political situation was set. Also, Luxembourg declared independence from the French Empire. 1856, 500 Mormons left Iowa City, Iowa, and headed west for Salt Lake City carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts. 1862, American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson concluded his successful Shenandoah Valley Campaign with a victory in the Battle of Port Republic; his tactics during the campaign are now studied by militaries around the world. 1863, American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia. 1873, Alexandra Palace in London burned down after being open for only 16 days. 1885, Treaty of Tientsin was signed to end the Sino-French War, with China eventually giving up Tonkin and Annam – most of present-day Vietnam – to France.

In 1900, Birsa Munda, an important figure in the Indian independence movement, died in a British prison under mysterious circumstances. 1915, William Jennings Bryan resigned as Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States' handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. 1923, Bulgaria's military took over the government in a coup. 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith completed the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross. 1930, a Chicago Tribune reporter, Jake Lingle, was killed during rush hour at the Illinois Central train station by Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a $100,000 gambling debt owed to Al Capone. 1934, Donald Duck made his debut in The Wise Little Hen. 1944, World War II: 99 civilians were hanged from lampposts and balconies by German troops in Tulle, France, in reprisal for maquisards attacks. Also 1944, World War II: the Soviet Union invaded East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, occupied by Finland since 1941. 1946, King Ananda Mahidol was found shot dead in his bedroom, Bhumibol Adulyadej ascended to the throne of Thailand. He is currently the world's longest reigning monarch. 1948, foundation of the International Council on Archives under the auspices of the UNESCO.

In 1953, Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence: a tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hit in Worcester, Massachusetts, killing 94. 1954, McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashed out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism had infiltrated the Army giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" 1957, first ascent of Broad Peak by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl. 1958, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened London's Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom. 1959, the USS George Washington was launched. It was the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles. 1965, the civilian Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Phan Huy Quát, resigned after being unable to work with a junta led by Nguyễn Cao Kỳ. Also 1965, Vietnam War: The Viet Cong commenced combat with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in the Battle of Đồng Xoài, one of the largest battles in the war. 1967, Six-Day War: Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria 1968, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

In 1972, Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that killed 238 people and caused $160 million in damage. 1973, in horseracing, Secretariat won the U.S. Triple Crown. 1974, Portugal and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. 1978, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened its priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men. 1979, the Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney (Australia) killed seven. 1985, Thomas Sutherland was kidnapped in Lebanon. He would not be released until 1991. 1999, Kosovo War: the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO signed a peace treaty. 2006, 60th Anniversary Celebrations of Bhumibol Adulyadej's Accession.
2014
When Jefferson warned that the price of Liberty was eternal vigilance he had had fair warning of it. On this day in 411 BC Democracy in Athens was overthrown by some hoping to negotiate with Persia for aid in fighting Sparta. Athens had devolved, with a significant administrative presence in naval dockyards of Samos, home town to long dead Pythagoras. The plotters succeeded in Athens but failed in Samos. The hopes of Persian aid failed, and the 500 strong Oligarchy got overthrown by a 5000 strong group, which eventually gave way to Democracy. It is a salient reminder of the importance of Crimean dockyards to Russia too, which apparently Obama gave a nod to, with a wink. It is also a reminder of how seductive a baseless promise is. Palmer can promise anything, but it means nothing if it doesn't work. Gillard claimed the Pacific Solution was cold and heartless, but in fact the ALP abrogation of responsibility of border protection was murderous and harmful for desperately poor people. Our democracy is no stronger than the Athenian one. Or the US. 

When it comes to poor administration, Nero is gold standard. He married his first wife (a step sister) on this day in 53, and then suicided fifteen years later, six years after her death on the same day. His wife's death had not been an accident, he had ordered her suicide. The final words of Nero are said to be a quote from the Illiad "What an artist leaves the world." Such hubris is apparent in corrupt characters such as Shorten, Gillard, Rudd and Palmer. One may defend their activity, but one need only point to their inability to substantiate or validate their activity. Note Palmer may say that cuts are not necessary to spending, or that spending which does not benefit him is wrong. Remember, he has no reason supporting the assertion, beyond wishes.  
Historical perspectives on this day
In 411 BC, the Athenian coup succeeded, forming a short-lived oligarchy. 53, the Roman Emperor Nero married Claudia Octavia. 68, the Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide, after quoting Homer's Iliad, thus ending the Julio-Claudian dynasty and starting the civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. 721, Odo of Aquitaine defeated the Moors in the Battle of Toulouse. 747, Abbasid Revolution: Abu Muslim Khorasani, Arab military leader, began an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which was carried out under the sign of the Black Standard. 1311, Duccio's Maestà Altarpiece, a seminal artwork of the early Italian Renaissance, was unveiled and installed in Siena Cathedral in Siena, Italy.

In 1534, Jacques Cartier was the first European to discover the Saint Lawrence River. 1650, the Harvard Corporation, the more powerful of the two administrative boards of Harvard, was established. It is the first legal corporation in the Americas. 1667, Second Anglo-Dutch War: The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet began. It lasted for five days and resulted in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy. 1732, James Oglethorpe was granted a royal charter for the colony of the future U.S. state of Georgia. 1762, British forces began the Siege of Havana and captured the city during the Seven Years' War. 1772, the British schooner Gaspee was burned off the coast of Rhode Island. 1798, Irish Rebellion of 1798: Battle of Arklow and Battle of Saintfield.

In 1815, end of the Congress of Vienna: the new European political situation was set. Also, Luxembourg declared independence from the French Empire. 1856, 500 Mormons left Iowa City, Iowa, and headed west for Salt Lake City carrying all their possessions in two-wheeled handcarts. 1862, American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson concluded his successful Shenandoah Valley Campaign with a victory in the Battle of Port Republic; his tactics during the campaign are now studied by militaries around the world. 1863, American Civil War: Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia. 1873, Alexandra Palace in London burned down after being open for only 16 days. 1885, Treaty of Tientsin was signed to end the Sino-French War, with China eventually giving up Tonkin and Annam – most of present-day Vietnam – to France.

In 1900, Birsa Munda, an important figure in the Indian independence movement, died in a British prison under mysterious circumstances. 1915, William Jennings Bryan resigned as Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State over a disagreement regarding the United States' handling of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. 1923, Bulgaria's military took over the government in a coup. 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith completed the first trans-Pacific flight in a Fokker Trimotor monoplane, the Southern Cross. 1930, a Chicago Tribune reporter, Jake Lingle, was killed during rush hour at the Illinois Central train station by Leo Vincent Brothers, allegedly over a $100,000 gambling debt owed to Al Capone. 1934, Donald Duck made his debut in The Wise Little Hen. 1944, World War II: 99 civilians were hanged from lampposts and balconies by German troops in Tulle, France, in reprisal for maquisards attacks. Also 1944, World War II: the Soviet Union invaded East Karelia and the previously Finnish part of Karelia, occupied by Finland since 1941. 1946, King Ananda Mahidol was found shot dead in his bedroom, Bhumibol Adulyadej ascended to the throne of Thailand. He is currently the world's longest reigning monarch. 1948, foundation of the International Council on Archives under the auspices of the UNESCO.

In 1953, Flint–Worcester tornado outbreak sequence: a tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Flint tornado hit in Worcester, Massachusetts, killing 94. 1954, McCarthyism: Joseph Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashed out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether Communism had infiltrated the Army giving McCarthy the famous rebuke, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" 1957, first ascent of Broad Peak by Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Diemberger, and Hermann Buhl. 1958, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened London's Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom. 1959, the USS George Washington was launched. It was the first submarine to carry ballistic missiles. 1965, the civilian Prime Minister of South Vietnam, Phan Huy Quát, resigned after being unable to work with a junta led by Nguyễn Cao Kỳ. Also 1965, Vietnam War: The Viet Cong commenced combat with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in the Battle of Đồng Xoài, one of the largest battles in the war. 1967, Six-Day War: Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria 1968, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

In 1972, Severe rainfall causes a dam in the Black Hills of South Dakota to burst, creating a flood that killed 238 people and caused $160 million in damage. 1973, in horseracing, Secretariat won the U.S. Triple Crown. 1974, Portugal and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. 1978, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened its priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men. 1979, the Ghost Train fire at Luna Park Sydney (Australia) killed seven. 1985, Thomas Sutherland was kidnapped in Lebanon. He would not be released until 1991. 1999, Kosovo War: the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and NATO signed a peace treaty. 2006, 60th Anniversary Celebrations of Bhumibol Adulyadej's Accession.
=== Publishing News ===
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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Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August https://www.createspace.com/4124406, September https://www.createspace.com/5106914, October https://www.createspace.com/5106951, or at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482020262/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_dVHPub0MQKDZ4  The kindle version is cheaper, but the soft back version allows the purchase of a kindle version for just $3.99 more. 
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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.
=== Bolt Report Items ===
On Bolt Report an ongoing policy is that any Islam post can only be on the pinned leader. Normal rules apply in that if it is merely foul and abusive it will be deleted. Otherwise comments are welcome.  
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Dear Members (YOU MUST READ THIS THREAD)
As of today, the rules of this forum are going to be enforced more rigorously. This includes the instant removal of members who personally abuse other members of this forum.
Whilst the use of bad language is often invoked as colourful descriptors of politicians, we ask that people refrain from the C word as there are many people on this forum who do not want to see that as part of every day language here.
Blatant racism, homophobia and religious slurs will be removed from the forum, along with the person who posted them.
Crass, vile & vitriolic hate posts will also be removed along with the person who posts those comments or threads.
Generally we will give people a 24 hour time out to cool off after they have been removed and those people will be welcome back to the forum once they have applied via an admin..... we will however, permanently remove repeat offenders with a rule of "3 strikes and you're out".
We are trying to encourage legitimate debate, conversation and discussion on this forum where people are able to have free thought and their own opinions without "mob" rule attacking them for thinking differently, however, in saying this, members who are here to deliberately cause trouble or "troll" will be removed without warning.
The standard of this forum needs to be better and people are responsible for their own behaviour.... bullying of others or bullying of admins will also result in that person being removed.
Legitimate criticism is appreciated, along with logical and rational commentary.
Admins decisions are final.... so make of this forum what you want of it and do not complain if you are removed for behaviour that is contrary to the posting protocols.
If you feel intimated or threatened by another person, contact an admin immediately so the situation can be monitored and mediated.
Regards
Admins
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Will Son, Vi Nguyen, Sia Maria Manimoi  and Edwinus Kenny Thai. Born on the same day, across the years. On your day in 1815, The Congress of Vienna ended, redrawing the political map of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon. In 1863, In the largest cavalry engagement in U.S. history, Union and Confederate forces fought to a draw in the Battle of Brandy Station. In 1928, Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew landed their Southern Cross aircraft in Brisbane, completing the first ever trans-Pacific flight from the United States mainland to Australia. And, in 1973, Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, achieving the first American Triple Crown victory in a quarter-century, and lowering the track and world record times for 1½ mile distance races to 2:24. That is right, they noticed in primary school: you like to draw. And you like to race. Above ground you fly .. if you were a horse, you'd win. And this is your day.
Despatches
Charles Kingsford Smith
We be the many. We support navigation if it gets us home. We will study that victory. Southern Cross meet Victoria Bitter. We fight our battles. Let's party. 
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
===
2015
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IMAGINE PAYING THIS BLOKE $180,000

Tim Blair – Tuesday, June 09, 2015 (1:06pm)

Just imagine:

image

Flannery’s solution, proposed immediately following his no-ice prediction: 
Sometimes we actually cut off a leg to save the patient, and in this case, we may need to inject sulphur into the stratosphere to cool our planet. It’s going to change the colour of our sky, it’s going to change the amount of sunlight we get; but we may need to do it to buy ourselves a bit of time. Unfortunately we have foot-dragged for so long that we are now in a position where those very unpalatable remedies may have to be resorted to, even if they are dangerous. 
People actually took this seriously, back in the day.
(Via the Galileo Movement)
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FAVOURITE FOLIAGE

Tim Blair – Tuesday, June 09, 2015 (12:46pm)

It’s always nice when an old pal drops by during a long weekend:

image
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Obama admits still waiting for a “complete strategy” to fight Islamic State

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (3:33pm)

Incredible:
President Obama took heat Monday for admitting he doesn’t yet have a “complete strategy” in hand for training Iraqis to fight the Islamic State—months into the coordinated campaign to defeat the deadly terrorist network.
“When a finalized plan is presented to me by the Pentagon, then I will share it with the American people,” Obama said, adding, “We don’t yet have a complete strategy.”
Misjudged and bungled at every stage, from the time he yanked out troops against the advice of his generals:
2011:
Obama made that same victory cry in December 2011 as he ordered the last US troops out of Iraq: “We’re leaving behind a sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq ...
“And we are ending a war, not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home. This is an extraordinary achievement, nearly nine years in the making.”

January 2014:
In the 2012 campaign, Obama spoke not only of killing Osama bin Laden; he also said that Al Qaeda had been “decimated.” I pointed out that the flag of Al Qaeda is now flying in Falluja, in Iraq, and among various rebel factions in Syria [including the Islamic State]; Al Qaeda has asserted a presence in parts of Africa, too.
“The analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a jayvee team [junior university] puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant,” Obama said, resorting to an uncharacteristically flip analogy. “I think there is a distinction between the capacity and reach of a bin Laden and a network that is actively planning major terrorist plots against the homeland versus jihadists who are engaged in various local power struggles and disputes, often sectarian.”
August 2014:

“We don’t have a strategy yet,” Obama said, in response to questions about when he is prepared to begin military action in Syria, and, if not, why not?…
“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” he said. The suggestion that “we’re about to go full scale on an elaborate strategy for defeating ISIL . . . that we’ll start moving forward imminently..., that’s not what’s going to happen.” ISIL is one of several acronyms referring to the Islamic State.
Ten months later and he’s still waiting for a complete strategy?
No wonder the war against the Islamic State is being lost. 
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Melham quits. Now what about Bill Shorten?

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (10:16am)

He had to quit or be sacked after the disgraceful revelations at the royal commission into unions:
EMBATTLED Labor MP Cesar Melhem has told Premier Daniel Andrews he will step down as the Government’s Legislative Council Whip…
Mr Melhem came under fire last week after the trade union royal commission alleged, in his time as AWU state secretary, he oversaw a deal with a cleaning company which saw workers lose $2 million a year in penalty rates.
Mr Melhem was also state secretary when false invoices were issued to companies for “training”, which were actually union membership fees to boost the AWU’s numbers.
Incredible, trading workers’ pay for donations to the union, and training money for a boost in membership numbers, used to advance the union bosses’ clout and career within Labor.
And here is a bizarre reminder of how the AWU treats Labor as its political wing, and a career path for its officials:
Members of Mr Melhem’s own Right sub-faction linked to the Australian Workers’ Union - including Roads Minister Luke Donnellan, Natalie Hutchins, Anthony Carbines, Danny Pearson, Shaun Leane, Jaclyn Symes and Natalie Suleyman - told Fairfax Media on Monday they hoped, and expected, he would voluntarily step down ahead of the ALP caucus meeting at 10am.
An AWU faction of Labor MPs? Who exactly are these guys representing? It doesn’t look like it’s their voters.
Now the heat is on Bill Shorten:
The Opposition Leader yesterday refrained from backing Cesar Melhem, a Labor MP and government whip in the Victorian parliament who succeeded him as state secretary of the Australian Workers Union. The trade union royal commission has heard claims the AWU, under Mr Melhem, traded away $6 million in entitlements for cleaners in return for $75,000 and signed up phantom members by charging fees of more than $225,000 disguised as payments for safety training.
Asked yesterday about the collection of fees when he was head of the AWU, Mr Shorten replied: “I’ve spent my adult life representing workers and I stand on my record representing workers.”
Mr Shorten was AWU Victorian secretary from 1998 to 2006 and national secretary from 2001 to 2007.
I think a longer answer than “trust me” is needed here. 
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Australia’s biggest borrowers are WA Liberals

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (10:13am)

It is astonishing that Western Australia should be left with this massive debt even after the greatest mining boom in a century:
image
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Is there actually no evidence of man-made warming at all?

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (8:11am)

Professor Fred Singer, founding director of the US Weather Satellite Service and former vice chair of the US National Advisory Committee on Oceans & Atmosphere, says there are plenty of reasons to doubt a controversial claim by the National Climate Data Center that the pause in global warming is just a result of errors in its data:

Not surprisingly, they used the surface temperature record, with its well-known problems. Not only that, but a look at the detailed NCDC evidence shows that much depends on polar temperatures — which are mostly guessed at, for lack of good observations. If one uses the (truly global) satellite data, analyzed either by UAH or by RSS, the pause is still there, starting around 2003 [see Figure; it shows a sudden step increase around 2001, not caused by GH gases]. 
image
Not only that, but the same satellite data show no warming trend from 1979 to 2000 – ignoring, of course, the exceptional super-El-Nino year of 1998. This finding is confirmed by other, independent instrumental data — and also by (non-instrumental) proxy records (from tree rings, ice cores, lake sediments)....
IPCC-4 [2007] and IPCC-5 [2013] both present claims for anthropogenic global warming (AGW) that are based mainly on reported surface warming from 1979 to 2000. In the absence of such a warming trend, the IPCC claims become invalid; there would be no human-caused greenhouse warming in the 20th century – and certainly not earlier.
It is worthwhile, therefore, to re-examine carefully the absence of warming in the last two decades of the 20th century.
The satellite results of near-zero warming trend are fully backed by radiosonde data from balloon flights — notwithstanding spurious claims by Santer et al [in Int’l J of Climatology 2008; see full discussion by Singer in Energy&Envir 2013]....
Sea-surface temperatures (SST) show only a slight warming – as do night-time marine air temperatures (NMAT), assembled by the Hadley group. Data on ocean heat content before 2000 are spotty and not very useful....
Proxy data of various types, assembled by Fredrik Ljungqvist in Sweden, and independently by NOAA scientist David Anderson, generally show no warming…
A quick word about the observed (and genuine) warming interval 1910-40. It can be seen not only in surface thermometers at weather stations, temperature records from ships, but in all published proxy records… It is generally agreed, however – including by IPCC –that this warming is of natural origin and not from GH gases.
Thus there is no evidence whatsoever of any GH warming from human-released CO2 — during the whole of the 20th century or earlier.
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What kind of government did Queenslanders accidentally vote in?

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (8:03am)

Is three in three weeks a record?
THE Opposition has called on Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to explain how three of her MPs have been referred to police in just three sitting weeks. 
The Courier-Mail yesterday revealed Cairns law firm Williams Graham Carman – which had accused Labor’s Rick Williams of extortion after he threatened to “bring it undone” during a 2009 dispute – had handed its information to police… [Williams denies wrongdoing.]
Police Minister Jo-Ann Miller was referred to both police and the Crime and Corruption Commission by Opposition police spokesman Jarrod Bleijie after she phoned whistleblower Bruce McLean – who she also considers a good friend – on the morning he went public with his allegations against Mr Williams. Ms Miller made a personal explanation to State Parliament last week, insisting she had called Mr McLean to check on his wellbeing....
Former Labor MP Billy Gordon remains the subject of a police investigation into allegations of domestic violence, which he denies.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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Now less reason to believe the acid scare, too

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (7:47am)

The latest warming scare about the Great Barrier Reef seems as phoney as the last few. As Jo Nova notes, coral isn’t actually being wiped out as the seas become “more acidic”:
The researchers at Woods Hole have spent four years doing a comprehensive study at Palau Rock Islands in the far Western Pacific, where pH levels are naturally “more acidic” (which is big-government speak for less alkaline). Because of laboratory experiments Barkley et al [1] expected to find all kinds of detrimental effects, but instead found a diverse healthy system they describe as “thriving” with “greater coral cover” and more “species”.

A new study led by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) found that the coral reefs there seem to be defying the odds, showing none of the predicted responses to low pH except for an increase in bioerosion — the physical breakdown of coral skeletons by boring organisms such as mollusks and worms… ‘Based on lab experiments and studies of other naturally low pH reef systems, this is the opposite of what we expected,’ says lead author Hannah Barkley, a graduate student in the WHOI-MIT joint program in oceanography....
‘Surprisingly, in Palau where the pH is lowest, we see a coral community that hosts more species, and has greater coral cover than in the sites where pH is normal,’ says Anne Cohen, a co-author on the study and Barkley’s advisor at WHOI. ‘That’s not to say the coral community is thriving because of it, rather it is thriving despite the low pH, and we need to understand how.’
(Thanks to reader fulchrum.) 
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Rudd saved us from nothing but a balanced budget

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (7:27am)

Peter Costello warns against trusting any spin on The Killing Season that Labor’s massive “stimulus” spending saved Australia from recession:

...in 2009 the [Rudd] government increased spending by nearly 13 per cent… He did it to “save” Australia, he said…
The Treasury produced a paper to show the spending increase would only be “temporary” and the Budget would be back in balance by 2015. But once the spending was turned on, it was hard to turn it off. We have racked up $280 billion in cumulative deficits since those “temporary” increases…
Did spending “save” Australia? ... Government spending put more money into household budgets but there is no evidence they spent it… The real stimulus to the Australian economy came from soaring terms of trade: the China effect…
Of the era, the part I like best is the Treasury explanation of the benefits of the stimulus in the 2009 Budget. It showed that without “temporary” stimulus, unemployment would peak in 2010 at 10 per cent but with it the outcome would only be 8.5 per cent. Do you know what unemployment turned out to be in 2010? It was 5.25 per cent.
In other words, Treasury completely overestimated the effect of the crisis then completely overestimated the response required to deal with it. Spending didn’t make the difference. What really mattered was we had a strong and well run financial system. And far from following the US into a downturn, we were following China in a boom.
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No to being ruled by judges

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (7:17am)

She wishes:
Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs ...  said the celebrations of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta could reignite calls for some form of legislated Bill of Rights…
Michael Sexton rightly warns against such calls:
It would be easy to say a bill of rights is a lawyers’ picnic and that is why it is strongly promoted by some sections of the legal profession. While it is true, however, that a bill of rights inevitably leads to increased litigation, most human rights lawyers in Australia are funded by the taxpayer, either as academics or in community law centres, so their interests in this area are not directly financial.
The real problem with this group is that they welcome a transfer of power from the parliament to the courts and do not see this as anti-democratic. This in turn is because they tend to see every problem as having a legal solution, even if they are fundamentally economic, social or political questions. These kinds of issues are not changed into legal questions by being given to courts. All that happens is that courts are then required to decide economic, social and political questions.
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The science is weak but the faith is strong

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (6:55am)

Nick Cater rightly wonders why we put so much trust in such an uncertain faith:
Take Matthew England, an expert on global warming, who on the eve of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December 2009 warned that the Antarctic was “losing ice at an alarmingly fast rate."…
Five-and-a-half years later the continent remains stubbornly frozen. The sea-ice record has been broken for the third year running…
England and his colleagues believe they have an explanation. Greenhouse gas has changed the wind pattern and Antarctica is stealing Australia’s rain, claims Robert Mulvaney, a co-author with England of a report on the subject last year. “As greenhouse gases continue to rise we’ll get fewer storms chased up into Australia,” Mulvaney claimed.
Yet when storms hit NSW in April, England saw a sign of things to come. “All around the world we’re seeing the return period of storms, heatwaves ... the return periods are shortening,” he said.
“It’s consistent with what we’re seeing with global warming.”
It’s on the strength of this unsettled science that Australia and other nations are being asked to channel a trillion dollars a decade to the developing world and cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70 per cent. By agreeing to these measures at a conference in Paris later this year, the theory goes, we can limit this century’s rise in global temperature to 2C.
As we know, however, the guesstimate is a fickle friend. For two-and-a-half decades, the planet has been defying the experts’ expectations. At the 1988 Toronto conference experts warned temperatures would rise by between 1.5C and 4.5C by 2050. With 27 years gone and 35 to go the rise is barely a quarter of a degree… [G]lobal temperatures have levelled over the past 15 years, a hiatus the IPCC did not predict and cannot explain. Yet the catastrophism will not abate....
We have reached a global warming paradox. “The science is weak but the idea is strong,” writes Darwall. 
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Slacktivists rage, but tourism to Bali soars

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (6:37am)

Yet more proof that Twitter warriors are all thumbs and no legs:
In the clearest sign yet that the Boycott Bali social media campaign is a major fail, new travel booking data has revealed a big increase in numbers heading to the Indonesian island since the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
With the help of more direct flights to Bali, bookings from Australian holiday-makers for the winter months climbed 16 per cent on the same period last year…
The booking surge came on the back of a passionate social media campaign, spawned by Indonesia’s refusal to grant clemency to the two Australian heroin traffickers.
The #BoycottBali hashtag started trending on Twitter in mid-February and also spawned a Facebook page called Boycott Bali for the Boys.
Previous examples of the no-show Twitter activist:

Millions twiddled thumbs furiously to tweet on the hashtag BringBackOurGirls. Another 235,000 clicked “like” on the BringBackOurGirls Facebook site…
Actually, the girls are long forgotten because the attention span of the Twitter crowd is about as long as it takes to type 140 characters.
Just ask Joseph Kony.
Two years ago, Kony, head of the Lord’s Resistance Army, was the world’s most hated man after the Invisible Children charity made a film of him rampaging through Uganda, raping, murdering and stealing thousands of children.
It was a YouTube sensation, scoring 100 million views and 1.4 million likes…
But Kony? Oh, he’s still out there in the jungle.... But did the Kony 2012 carers mind? Hell, no. They couldn’t even be bothered getting off the couch.
When Invisible Children held “Cover the Night” rallies to show exactly how much their supporters cared, just 25 turned up in Sydney and a dozen in Melbourne.
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If lesson one isn’t Islam, it won’t work

Andrew Bolt June 09 2015 (6:24am)

I have little faith in “deradicalisation” programs, especially when they are proposed by a government and a police force which claim jihadism has nothing to do with religion:
Curfews, internet bans and deradicalisation programs would be enforced for youths falling under the sway of jihadist recruiters, under a proposed class of intervention order being considered in several states.
Queensland has joined Victoria in considering plans to create a class of intervention order that could be applied to “radicalised” young people even if they were not planning a crime or act of terrorism.
The plans have emerged from a proposal by Victoria Police to give law enforcement the ability to deploy a broad range of measures against young people they believe are falling under the spell of jihadist recruiters and their slick online propaganda campaigns.
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Posted by Mandatory on Monday, 23 December 2013

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Posted by Israel Defense Forces on Sunday, 7 June 2015

June 7 1981, 3:55 AM: Under the cover of darkness, a squadron of IAF fighter jets leave Israel on a secret mission—neutralizing Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor. After flying almost 1,000 miles through enemy territory, they arrive at their target and put a halt to the Iraqi nuclear program. Two minutes flat. Mission accomplished!
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This is a terrible idea that I really want to try.
Posted by Ebaumsworld on Thursday, 29 December 2011

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Why famous authors are warning against the use of adverbs. Do you agree?: http://bit.ly/1Idqtzt
Posted by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on Monday, 8 June 2015

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Does writing help you grow as a person?
Posted by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on Monday, 8 June 2015

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Religion?
Posted by Wretched on Monday, 18 May 2015

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=== Posts from last year ===

RIGHTS FOR WRONGS

Tim Blair – Monday, June 09, 2014 (12:12pm)

According to strict biological definition, members of bikie gangs are in fact human. It’s presumably on this basis that the Australian Human Rights Commission has decided to join with the Nomads bikie gang to oppose NSW legislation aimed at stopping bikie members associating with each other.
But there’s slightly more to being human than just meeting certain physical and genetic requirements. Humans deserving of human rights don’t generally kill other humans, as is the way of our bikie community.
Nomads national president Simon Tajjour put a heroic spin on things last week. “I was born and raised in Australia and was taught free speech was a right we all have,” the 34-year-old said.
“A lot of people may not like us but this fight is not about me or bike gangs. It’s about everyone’s rights.”
How very noble of him. Why, Tajjour is our own version of Martin Luther King Jr, bravely standing up for the oppressed. We should probably forget at this point that Tajjour was convicted in 2006 for the manslaughter of Robin Nassour. His right to free speech, not to mention a pulse, is eternally denied.
And we should perhaps overlook what sometimes happens when bikie gangs associate with each other. In 2009, some open association between the Hells Angels and the Comancheros at Sydney Airport led to a brawl that killed Hells Angel hanger-on Anthony Zervas.
To paraphrase the line often attributed to Voltaire, our bikies may disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to be bludgeoned, stabbed and shot. They’re not exactly exemplars of the human rights ideal.
Still, that’s just the narrow view of a Sydney resident who would prefer criminals to be jailed rather than be supported by a tax-funded rights group. Let’s imagine the response to the AHRC’s decision from more broad-minded organisations outside of Australia ...

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'RIGHTS FOR WRONGS'
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CONDITIONAL INDEPENDENCE

Tim Blair – Monday, June 09, 2014 (12:07pm)

Australian leftists desperately want complete independence from the US. Except they don’t. It all depends on the issue.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'CONDITIONAL INDEPENDENCE'
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SUPER DAN

Tim Blair – Monday, June 09, 2014 (5:46am)

Aussie Daniel Ricciardo has just won the Canadian Grand Prix! The boy is a hero.
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The real embarrassment is this reporting

Andrew Bolt June 09 2014 (8:06pm)

How desperate are journalists of the Left to pretend Tony Abbott is an embarrassment overseas?
Try this, from The Age.

Tony Abbott has been having something of a linguistic outing as he rockets across the world. You needed only to listen in as he chatted merrily to schoolchildren in Villers-Bretonneux in northern France a few days ago. 
‘’C’est Premiere Australie,’’ Abbott tried, or something loosely resembling it. Getting no response or even a vague sign the French kiddies had any idea what he might have been talking about, or in what language, the Australian Premier pressed on: ‘’Premier, Australee - mwaa. Set mwaa, wee?’’…
Touching down in Ottawa,.... Mr Abbott declared: “They’re very forthright remarks, and I think that they’re perfectly appropriate remarks for the Canadian Prime Minister to make. Canad-ia [and for a beat, you could very nearly hear the ‘uh oh’ as the cogs turned] Canada, probably has more involvement in the affairs of Europe than Australia often does, but ...”
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Pakistan airport attacked

Andrew Bolt June 09 2014 (10:52am)

The latest reason not to visit Pakistan:
AT LEAST 23 people have been killed and dozens injured after gunmen disguised as police guards stormed Pakistan’s largest airport in Karachi, hurling grenades and attempting to hijack a plane. 
Most likely the Taliban, but who knows. Chances are there’s reference to Islam in the title of the group responsible. 
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One less vote for Turnbull

Andrew Bolt June 09 2014 (9:08am)

Ouch. The Herald Sun’s editorial:
It is only Labor that wants Mr Turnbull as Liberal leader.
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Judith Durham gets no more than she and the Seekers deserve

Andrew Bolt June 09 2014 (8:54am)

 The only surprise is that it’s taken this long:
Having played their farewell concert at London’s glittering Royal Albert Hall, the quartet of Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley today each become officers of the General Division of the Order of Australia in recognition of their “seminal’’ contribution to Australian music.
I’ve met Durham only once, when she challenged something I’d written, saying I’d been wrong. She was utterly charming. She’s had this award before as an individual, but now the group is honoured. 
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Abbott now fourth longest-serving Liberal leader

Andrew Bolt June 09 2014 (8:50am)

Phillip Hudson on a dramatically under-rated leader:
Tony Abbott is now the fourth longest-serving leader in the history of the Liberal Party. While it has been just nine months since he was elected Prime Minister, Abbott has chalked up four years and six months as Liberal leader.

He now sits behind only Robert Menzies (almost 21 years), John Howard (16 years) and Malcolm Fraser (nearly eight years) in the ranks of the 13 men who have been at the helm… Despite low popularity ratings, Abbott’s hold on the leadership and authority over the party and policy (such as his paid parental leave plan, and bringing back knights and dames) has grown.
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Willesee shows up Palmer as a buffoon and his team as a joke

Andrew Bolt June 09 2014 (8:00am)



Clive Palmer will regret letting Mike Willesee interview his four incoming Senators - people who will share the balance of power. Jacqui Lambie talks very big - too big - and mentions having spent time in psychiatric care. Ricky Muir is repeatedly lost for words at even the very simplest question, as one stage pleading: “Can I go out for a minute?” after trying to define what he calls the “after marketing industry”.
Clive Palmer will also regret telling Willesee he would join him in Boston, where he’d sent his team on a freebie. Willesee is furious to find Palmer sent him around the world without turning up in Boston himself. Nor does Willesee appreciate Palmer’s bull in explaining his deceit.
This party is a disgrace and a menace.
(Willesee, though, is a genius interviewer.)
UPDATE
Henry Ergas says Bill Shorten is helping to make Clive Palmer dangerous:

The [Palmer United Party] wants to reduce all income taxes by 15 per cent without raising the GST, while increasing pensions by $150 a fortnight, spending an additional $80 billion on health, fully funding the National Disbaility Insurance Scheme and sticking to Labor’s Gonski commitments… 
Palmer [dismisses] projections of a debt crisis as “just a lie"… PUP senator-elect Jacqui Lambie [says] the government should be “hitting the big banks”, whose profits would provide “$1300 for every man, woman and child that’s living in Australia”.’’
[It] is increasingly clear that the PUP views chaos, which validates the anxiety on which it trades, as its best friend. Its incentives are therefore to undermine, rather than support, the fiscal reforms Australia desperately needs…
Abbott must therefore learn to reach out to the other side; but since 1996, Labor has not once shown a capacity to rise above the scrum, as John Howard did in supporting Bob Hawke’s economic reforms. Now, abdicating any responsibility for Labor’s mess, Bill Shorten has even jettisoned the commitment to a surplus Wayne Swan and Chris Bowen previously trumpeted. That is Shorten’s choice. But it is that choice, not the voters, that will put Palmer, with his poisonous cocktail of economic recklessness and tawdry self-­interest, firmly in control. And it is that choice, not the voters, that is pushing the country to the verge of a fiscal nervous breakdown, from which recovery will be long, painful and uncertain.
UPDATE
Liberal Democrat Senator-elect David Leyonhjelm still hopes he can bring some of Palmer’s people out from under his control:
 ANDREW BOLT: Do you think they’ll always vote together as Clive Palmer dictates?
DAVID LEYONHJELM: Initially, they will. I mean, they’re all new, and there’s strength in unity, and all that sort of thing. But, over time, I have my doubts. They are all individuals.
I don’t think any of them is a puppet. They have their own minds about things. Jacqui Lambie, for example, in Tasmania, is very concerned about Tasmania, very concerned about her state, I should say. And, she mentioned the other day a special economic zone for Tasmania. Well, I’d support that and I know Bob Day from Family First would support that as well. In WA -
ANDREW BOLT: Well, you and Bob Day, David, have approached these four senators that Palmer controls. Palmer says they’ve told you to - told them to get stuffed. That’s what they told you. Is that correct? DAVID LEYONHJELM: No, They didn’t tell - they haven’t told us to get stuffed. I think that was a comment in a newspaper. I’m not sure whether Clive even said that. No, we - Bob Day and I have formed a sort of an informal alliance, we think alike on economic issues, not social issues, I should say, but on economic issues, we are on the same page. We’ve decided to work closely together. We also think that the Palmer United Party senators will find common ground with us on a variety of issues. And we look forward to finding that common ground. We don’t see that the Palmer United people have a common ideology, common value system, anything that binds them together. They’re together because of the fact they joined the Palmer United Party not long before the election. So, on that basis, there’s no strong reason, other than a fear of outsiders, I suppose, for them to work together. We think when Bob and I prove that we don’t have horns and a tail either, we’ll get along fine.
The full Leyonhjelm transcript here:

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'Willesee shows up Palmer as a buffoon and his team as a joke'
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Leave Geoff Shaw his seat

Andrew Bolt June 09 2014 (7:56am)

OUR political class is getting dangerously arrogant in deciding who is allowed to speak. Another state Parliament — this time Victoria’s — is thinking of sacking one of its members, this time just for being obnoxious and submitting dodgy expenses.

This isn’t how democracy should work. Victorian Labor is desperate to get Frankston independent Geoff Shaw kicked out so it can win — it hopes — the by-election. That would give it as many seats as the Napthine Government and force an early election.
Its excuse is that Shaw used his parliamentary car on business for his hardware store, with Parliament’s privileges committee ordering him to repay $6838. The case is so murky, though, that police dropped charges.
Labor’s call to now sack Shaw for contempt of Parliament is bizarre — not least because it robs Frankston voters of their elected representative. Opposition Leader Daniel Andrew argues “the people of Frankston can do much better than Geoff Shaw and that’s why Labor will move to expel him from Parliament”.
(Read full article here.) 
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Witness list proves Gillard is a person of interest

Andrew Bolt June 09 2014 (7:45am)

Media, The AWU scandal

 THE witness list for this week’s hearings of the royal commission into union corruption should shame the journalists who for so long protected Julia Gillard.

It should especially shame the ABC, so quiet on the former prime minister’s links to the Australian Workers’ Union slush fund scandal.
The ABC used to sniff at claims that Gillard had a case to answer, even though she’d given legal advice as a solicitor to her then boyfriend, AWU official Bruce Wilson, in creating the slush fund then used to rip off bosses.
No, no, it insisted: nor was there any need to inquire into other claims — such as money from Wilson’s fund, deceptively named the Australian Workers’ Union Workplace Reform Association, not just going to buy him a house but to pay for renovations to Gillard’s.
“Every allegation ... has been aired, and dealt with publicly by Julia Gillard, multiple times,” the ABC’s Media Watch falsely claimed in 2011.
(Read full article here.)
UPDATE
More about one of those witnesses:

Athol James will this week give sworn evidence at the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption about allegations that “substantial” work he performed at Ms Gillard’s house in Abbotsford in the 1990s was paid for by her then boyfriend, Bruce Wilson, who was an Australian Workers Union official at the time. 
Mr James is believed to have given royal commission investigators detailed copies of quotations, invoices, bank accounts and notes related to glasswork, paving, flooring and sanding he did for Ms Gillard.
The former prime minister insists she paid for the renovations herself and that the money did not come from Mr Wilson or the slush fund he is accused of using to siphon off hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sydney broadcaster and former police officer Michael Smith, who has closely followed the AWU slush fund saga and was dismissed from his Fairfax radio job in 2011 over an unaired related interview, told The Australian yesterday that he was in possession of a sworn statement from Mr James in which the now-retired tradesman claimed the payment for the work came from Mr Wilson. 
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“My kids are starting to notice I'm a little different from the other dads. "Why don't you have a straight job like everyone else?" they asked me the other day. 

I told them this story: 
In the forest, there was a crooked tree and a straight tree. Every day, the straight tree would say to the crooked tree, "Look at me...I'm tall, and I'm straight, and I'm handsome. Look at you...you're all crooked and bent over. No one wants to look at you." And they grew up in that forest together. And then one day the loggers came, and they saw the crooked tree and the straight tree, and they said, "Just cut the straight trees and leave the rest." So the loggers turned all the straight trees into lumber and toothpicks and paper. And the crooked tree is still there, growing stronger and stranger every day.”
― Tom Waits
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Pastor Rick Warren
I think public people should be given a 10% grace factor in everything they say since we all say dumb things eventually.
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Pastor Rick Warren
Given enough words,everyone says stupid things."The more you talk, the more likely you are to sin" Prov.10:19
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DEVELOPING STORY: Thirteen asylum seekers are dead after their boat capsized near Christmas Island, thought to have been carrying about 55 passengers, including women and children.

The bodies are yet to be recovered and authorities are currently searching for survivors as dozens are still missing. 

Home Affairs Minister, Jason Clare, has called this another terrible tragedy.
Jason Clare has said that it is too soon to exploit the tragedy for politics. That is right, and I won't do that. I want to know why the ALP policy is so murderous even after over a thousand people had died? The Pacific Solution had been more fair and more compassionate. - ed
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June 9: Whit Monday/Day of the Holy Spirit (Christianity, 2014); St. Colmcille's Day in Ireland
Joseph Welch
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“The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.” Habakkuk 3:19 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"There fell down many slain, because the war was of God."
1 Chronicles 5:22
Warrior, fighting under the banner of the Lord Jesus, observe this verse with holy joy, for as it was in the days of old so is it now, if the war be of God the victory is sure. The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh could barely muster five and forty thousand fighting men, and yet in their war with the Hagarites, they slew "men, an hundred thousand," "for they cried to God in the battle, and he was entreated of them, because they put their trust in him." The Lord saveth not by many nor by few; it is ours to go forth in Jehovah's name if we be but a handful of men, for the Lord of Hosts is with us for our Captain. They did not neglect buckler, and sword, and bow, neither did they place their trust in these weapons; we must use all fitting means, but our confidence must rest in the Lord alone, for he is the sword and the shield of his people. The great reason of their extraordinary success lay in the fact that "the war was of God." Beloved, in fighting with sin without and within, with error doctrinal or practical, with spiritual wickedness in high places or low places, with devils and the devil's allies, you are waging Jehovah's war, and unless he himself can be worsted, you need not fear defeat. Quail not before superior numbers, shrink not from difficulties or impossibilities, flinch not at wounds or death, smite with the two-edged sword of the Spirit, and the slain shall lie in heaps. The battle is the Lord's and he will deliver his enemies into our hands. With steadfast foot, strong hand, dauntless heart, and flaming zeal, rush to the conflict, and the hosts of evil shall fly like chaff before the gale.
Stand up! stand up for Jesus!
The strife will not be long;
This day the noise of battle,
The next the victor's song:
To him that overcometh,
A crown of life shall be;
He with the King of glory
Shall reign eternally.

Evening

"Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not."
Numbers 11:23
God had made a positive promise to Moses that for the space of a whole month he would feed the vast host in the wilderness with flesh. Moses, being overtaken by a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator. But doth the Creator expect the creature to fulfil his promise for him? No; he who makes the promise ever fulfils it by his own unaided omnipotence. If he speaks, it is done--done by himself. His promises do not depend for their fulfilment upon the co-operation of the puny strength of man. We can at once perceive the mistake which Moses made. And yet how commonly we do the same! God has promised to supply our needs, and we look to the creature to do what God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature to be weak and feeble, we indulge in unbelief. Why look we to that quarter at all? Will you look to the north pole to gather fruits ripened in the sun? Verily, you would act no more foolishly if ye did this than when you look to the weak for strength, and to the creature to do the Creator's work. Let us, then, put the question on the right footing. The ground of faith is not the sufficiency of the visible means for the performance of the promise, but the all-sufficiency of the invisible God, who will most surely do as he hath said. If after clearly seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the creature, we dare to indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home mightily to us: "Has the Lord's hand waxed short?" May it happen, too, in his mercy, that with the question there may flash upon our souls that blessed declaration, "Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not."
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Jesse

[Jĕs'se] - jehovah exists or firm. The son of Obed and father of David, and grandson of Boaz and Ruth, and an ancestor of Christ (Ruth 4:17, 22). Jesse had eight sons and two daughters by different wives (1 Sam. 17:12-14, 25). Isaiah speaks of "the stock of Jesse," a phrase indicating that it was from Jesse the Messiah would come. The humble descent of the Messiah is contrasted with the glorious kingdom He is to have ( Isa 11:1).
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Today's reading: 2 Chronicles 30-31, John 18:1-18 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: 2 Chronicles 30-31

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover
1 Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. 2 The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month. 3 They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. 4 The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly. 5They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written....

Today's New Testament reading: John 18:1-18

Jesus Arrested
1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.
2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons....
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