Friday, July 03, 2015

Fri Jul 3rd Todays News

At last you can revel in the joys of smaller government on this site for the Bolt Report Supporter's Group on Facebook. If something is broke, you fix it. Or not. There won't be any purges or changes because I've not the time to do much. But if you do something outrageous which I must respond to I will.
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AFL coach Phil Walsh stabbed to death, allegedly by his son. His son is 26 years old, his daughter is 22 years old and he is survived by his wife who was also stabbed. The Adelaide Crows, the entire code and Australia mourn the loss of a dedicated, hard working and kind man. Mr Walsh had had a near death experience in 2012 which sparked him to focus on things. Earlier this year, Walsh admitted he had lost a connection with his son, and begun surfing with him and his daughter to reconnect. We have not been told if drugs were involved. The match scheduled for Sunday with the Crows has been cancelled. 

 Typical of the left wing, the issues facing Greece are met with calls claiming it is not possible to run Greece well. All that is required is a cut in spending. The Greek government claims it can still find other people's money to spend. Ten years ago Greece did not have a problem. Those pointing to historical issues have got it wrong. Greece needs to cut spending, to live within her means, and to repay her debts. It will be better for Greece than try to steal more money. 

 ALP member for Wollongong, Noreen Hay, has stepped down over allegations of voter fraud. 

 In 324, Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeated Licinius, who fled to Byzantium. 987, Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolution in 1792. 1035, William the Conqueror became the Duke of Normandy, reigned until 1087. 1608, Québec City was founded by Samuel de Champlain. 1754, French and Indian War: George Washington surrendered Fort Necessity to French forces. 1767, Pitcairn Island was discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret. Also 1767, Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, was founded and the first edition was published. 1775, American Revolutionary War: George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1778, American Revolutionary War: British forces killed 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre.

 In 1819, the Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opened. 1839, the first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today's Framingham State College, opened in Lexington, Massachusetts with three students. 1844, the last pair of great auks was killed. 1848, slaves were freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans. 1852, Congress established the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco.

 In 1863, American Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminated with Pickett's Charge. 1866, Austro-Prussian War was decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria. 1884, Dow Jones and Company published its first stock average. 1886, Karl Benz officially unveiled the Benz Patent Motorwagen: The first purpose-built automobile. Also 1886, the New York Tribune became the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand. 1890, Idaho was admitted as the 43rd U.S. state. 1898, Spanish–American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, was destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.

 In 1913, Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenacted Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they were met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors. 1938, World speed record for a steam railway locomotive was set in England, by the Mallard, which reached a speed of 125.88 miles per hour (202.58 km/h). Also 1938, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lit the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.

 In 1940, World War II: In order to stop the ships from falling into German hands the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers El Kébir, was bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish. 1944, World War II: Minsk was liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration. 1952, the Constitution of Puerto Rico was approved by the Congress of the United States. Also 1952, the SS United States set sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During the voyage, the ship took the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary. 1967, the Aden Emergency: The Battle of the Crater in which the British Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders retook the Crater district following the Arab Police Mutiny. 1969, Space Race: The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurred when the Soviet N-1 rocket exploded and subsequently destroyed its launchpad.

 In 1970, the Troubles: The "Falls Curfew" began in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. 1988, United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard. Also 1988, the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey was completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus. 1995, Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party won the general elections and was restored to power after being in opposition for 15 years. 1996, Stone of Scone was returned to Scotland. 2013, Egyptian coup d'état: President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi was overthrown by the military after four days of protests all over the country called for Morsi's resignation, to which he didn't respond. President of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adly Mansour was declared acting president.
2014
Some terrorists, possibly from those who were released by demand from Obama for 'peace,' murder three Israeli boys. Then an honour killing of a gay Islamic boy is blamed on Israel by media. Turns out US money is funding terrorist operations but no one is blaming a military official as Oliver North was blamed .. this ugly situation is at the feet of world leaders like Obama and the UN secretary General. And neither of them is denying it. Meanwhile, Iran has apparently been granted permission to build an atomic bomb. When will the madness end? 2016? 

Today, in 1035, a supposed descendant of Rollo, reputed brother of the semi mythical Ragnar Lothbrok, became Duke of Normandy. He was also an ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II. The French royal line was also founded on this day in 987, with Hugh Capet crowned. For equivalent US royalty, George Washington committed his only surrender in 1754, and took command of the US army in 1775. But it was a royal stuff up by General Lee to order Pickett's charge at Gettysburgh in 1863. Wasting the lives of 50% of his men in a futile charge. Years later, when interviewed about the cause of the defeat, a confederate officer remarked that the Union forces had a lot to do with it. Touchingly, 50 years later, to the day, opposing forces met and held hands at the high point of the charge. And there is the majesty of royalty, that so many die for the state. But it is no explanation for the deaths of four youths in Israel at the hands of terrorists. 

Born on this day in 1943 was Judith Durham, a Seeker. Jim Morrison passed through a door on this day in 1971, and the carnival was over. 
Historical perspectives on this day
In 324, Battle of Adrianople: Constantine I defeated Licinius, who fled to Byzantium. 987, Hugh Capet was crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France until the French Revolution in 1792. 1035, William the Conqueror became the Duke of Normandy, reigned until 1087. 1608, Québec City was founded by Samuel de Champlain. 1754, French and Indian War: George Washington surrendered Fort Necessity to French forces. 1767, Pitcairn Island was discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret. Also 1767, Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, was founded and the first edition was published. 1775, American Revolutionary War: George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts. 1778, American Revolutionary War: British forces killed 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre.

 In 1819, the Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opened. 1839, the first state normal school in the United States, the forerunner to today's Framingham State College, opened in Lexington, Massachusetts with three students. 1844, the last pair of great auks was killed. 1848, slaves were freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans. 1852, Congress established the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco.

 In 1863, American Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminated with Pickett's Charge. 1866, Austro-Prussian War was decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria. 1884, Dow Jones and Company published its first stock average. 1886, Karl Benz officially unveiled the Benz Patent Motorwagen: The first purpose-built automobile. Also 1886, the New York Tribune became the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand. 1890, Idaho was admitted as the 43rd U.S. state. 1898, Spanish–American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, was destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.

 In 1913, Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenacted Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they were met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors. 1938, World speed record for a steam railway locomotive was set in England, by the Mallard, which reached a speed of 125.88 miles per hour (202.58 km/h). Also 1938, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lit the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.

 In 1940, World War II: In order to stop the ships from falling into German hands the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers El Kébir, was bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish. 1944, World War II: Minsk was liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration. 1952, the Constitution of Puerto Rico was approved by the Congress of the United States. Also 1952, the SS United States set sail on her maiden voyage to Southampton. During the voyage, the ship took the Blue Riband away from the RMS Queen Mary. 1967, the Aden Emergency: The Battle of the Crater in which the British Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders retook the Crater district following the Arab Police Mutiny. 1969, Space Race: The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurred when the Soviet N-1 rocket exploded and subsequently destroyed its launchpad.

 In 1970, the Troubles: The "Falls Curfew" began in Belfast, Northern Ireland. 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. 1988, United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard. Also 1988, the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey was completed, providing the second connection between the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus. 1995, Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party won the general elections and was restored to power after being in opposition for 15 years. 1996, Stone of Scone was returned to Scotland. 2013, Egyptian coup d'état: President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi was overthrown by the military after four days of protests all over the country called for Morsi's resignation, to which he didn't respond. President of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt Adly Mansour was declared acting president.
=== 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.
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Annie Nguyen, Freedom Gt and Emmanuel D'Annunzio. Born on the same day, across the years. Independence Day in Belarus. In 1844, The last known pair of Great Auks, the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, were killed in Eldey, off the coast of Iceland. 1863, Pickett's Charge, a futile Confederate infantry assault against Union Army positions, occurred during the final and bloodiest day of fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg, marking a turning point in the American Civil War. 1970, The Troubles: The British Army imposed the Falls Curfew on Belfast, Northern Ireland, which only resulted in greater Irish republican resistance. 2005, Same-sex marriage became legal in Spain. Not everything is futile. Party long enough and you will see that. Cheers.
Deaths
Satellite image of Pitcairn Island
We founded it. It will be named after you. Be confident and you won't be awkward. What goes up comes down. Excellent removal, team. Let's party. 
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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2015
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NEVER SPEAK OF IT

Tim Blair – Friday, July 03, 2015 (1:56pm)

According to this Fairfax profile, Q & A executive producer Peter McEvoy has absolutely no identifiable political leanings at all. Instead, he’s variously: 
Stubborn. Naughty. Brave to the point of foolhardiness. A wildcard. A visionary … a symbol for all that’s wrong with “their ABC” … a martyr being crucified for the crime of airing confronting views … “He does like gotchas” … a “knockabout bloke” … “willing, determined and to my mind absolutely fair”. 
Would it have killed them to mention that McEvoy is a leftist? It’s not exactly a secret. Piers Akerman has had enough: 
Two weeks ago, I accepted an invitation to appear on next Monday’s Q & A program. I have now withdrawn that acceptance …
I shall review my position when and if the ABC shows it understands why it is subjected to criticism and indicates that it has undergone some redemption. 
Might be a long wait. Incidentally, Anne Aly appeared on last Monday’s Q & A billed as “a counter-terrorism expert”. In fact, she’s an expert on deconstructing counter-terrorism. There’s quite a difference, as Roger Franklin points out. He also calls into question Aly’s claim that white supremacists have taken more lives in the US than extremist Muslims.
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MAYBE THEY JUST LIKE BITING PEOPLE

Tim Blair – Friday, July 03, 2015 (1:53pm)

Among National Geographic‘s reasons for increased shark attacks off North Carolina: 
Global warming 
Curiously, we’ve had two shark attacks in two days here in NSW. And it isn’t warm at all.
(Via Roger B.)
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CROWDFUNDING FOR GREECE

Tim Blair – Friday, July 03, 2015 (12:17pm)

Earlier this week: 
As the Greek government and its creditors are locked in talks ahead of a deadline for the country to meet a £1.6bn debt repayment, an online crowdfunding campaign started by a London shoe shop worker is aiming to break the impasse by collecting a Greek bailout fund of his own.
Thom Feeney, 29, launched the campaign to raise the money, calling on all Europeans to “chip in a few euro” and end the standoff. As of Tuesday afternoon more than €250,000 had been pledged from almost 15,000 people, or around 0.01% of the total amount. By Tuesday night it was edging towards half a million euro. 
A few days later the figure was closer to €1,000,000. And now it is beyond €1,500,000, or around $2.3 million Australian dollars – still less than one per cent of the total required:

image

The sheer pointlessness of this exercise is absolutely magnificent. It’s like a skateboard moon launch. Or, for that matter, like trying to change the weather with a tax.
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DUMB BAND ACTUALLY SMART

Tim Blair – Friday, July 03, 2015 (12:13pm)

Van Halen’s no brown M & Ms demand was one of the finest legal moves in entertainment history.
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THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO RIVET

Tim Blair – Friday, July 03, 2015 (11:40am)

Pure truth from Iowahawk: 
No one who has ever worn a ‘Rosie the Riveter’ t-shirt actually knows how to rivet. 
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PHIL WALSH

Tim Blair – Friday, July 03, 2015 (10:59am)

Horrific news about Adelaide Crows coach and former Collingwood player Phil Walsh: 
Adelaide Crows coach Phil Walsh has allegedly been murdered in his Somerton Park home by his 26-year-old son.
Police were called to an address on Bungey Ave at 2am on Friday morning where they found the body of the 55-year-old, who was in his first season as Adelaide coach after a 20-year career as an assistant. He had received multiple stab wounds.
Police later confirmed the son, Cy Walsh, had been charged with his father’s murder. 
The Crows are scheduled to play Geelong on Sunday. Understandably, that match is now in doubt.
UPDATE. Sunday’s game is cancelled. Points to be split between Adelaide and Geelong.
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No, the ABC isn’t biased, and only conservatives would say so

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (5:59pm)

Of course the ABC isn’t biased. Sure, the only people boycotting Q&A are conservatives - Kevin Andrews, Alan Tudge, Nick Cater, Jennifer Oriel, Rita Panahi, Miranda Devine - but that’s just because, er, conservatives don’t like arguing?????
Whatever. Add Piers Akerman to the list:
Two weeks ago, I accepted an invitation to appear on next Monday’s Q & A program. I have now withdrawn that acceptance …
I shall review my position when and if the ABC shows it understands why it is subjected to criticism and indicates that it has undergone some redemption.
Hope you’ve stocked up on a crate of two of Grange to last you out that wait, Piers. 
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On The Bolt Report on Sunday, July 5

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (1:17pm)

On Channel 10 on Sunday at 10am and 3pm.
Editorial:  The slip that confirms we can’t trust Shorten with our borders.
My guest: Social Services Minister Scott Morrison: what we must do to avoid becoming another Greece..
The panel: former NSW Labor Treasurer Michael Costa and Georgina Downer, former diplomat and member of the Victorian Liberals’ admin committee.

NewsWatch: Gerard Henderson, Australian columnist and head of the Sydney Institute. On the media pushing same-sex marriage, Hockey’s defamation case and the ABC’s rigged inquiry into Q&A’s bias.

So much to talk about, including Tony Abbott’s battle with same-sex marriage, Bill Shorten’s moment of truth and one of the Islamic State’s scariest attacks yet;
The videos of the shows appear here.
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Politician shocked: warming alarmism costs jobs

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (1:10pm)

Former British Labour leader Ed Miliband is another Leftist who claims to be stunned when global warming alarmism actually costs workers their jobs:

Ed Miliband has said the government’s failure to provide more funding for a South Yorkshire colliery is “wrong”.
Hatfield Colliery near Doncaster announced on Monday it would close unexpectedly at the end of the week ... with the loss of 430 jobs.
Why would Miliband want government handouts to keep open exactly the kind of industry that the global warming policies he supports are designed to put out of business?

The colliery said the closure was brought forward by low coal prices (currently £35 a tonne), a switch to renewable energy, large coal stocks and the doubling of carbon tax.
Miliband should be cheering, not crying crocodile tears, if he really believes his warming alarmism.
(Thanks to reader Tim.) 
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Q&A speaks through an Islamist’s mouth

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (1:00pm)

How rigged is the ABC’s Q&A?
Islamist Zaky Mallah on the gotcha question he asked parliamentary secretary Steven Ciobo:
The producers called me back up and got back to me and said ‘look we are going to restructure your question, take some things out, add some things in’.
Which kind of puts a big question mark against Q&A’s boast:
Q&A is about democracy in action – the audience asks the questions.
In fact, the audience asks only the questions Q&A permits and only in the form Q&A dictates.
(Thanks to reader Peter H.) 
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Why won’t Labor back the border protection that even Europe envies?

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (12:59pm)

Labor still won’t back boat turn-backs, when even Europe now admires what Tony Abbott has achieved:
Senior European migration ­officials have judged Australia’s ­"robust and co-ordinated’’ communications strategy, underpinned by uncompromising action to stop asylum-seeker boats, a “more effective model’’ than those in place overseas.
A confidential cable, sighted by The Australian, details a high-level meeting this year in Sydney at which European officials, wrest­ling with the tragedy of refugee drownings in the Mediterranean Sea, “sought detailed information on the elements of Australia’s successful strategy to address illegal maritime arrivals’’.
The group, which included European and non-European ­nations, was briefed by the secretary of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, Michael Pezzullo, and Roman Quaedvlieg, then Customs and Border Protection chief executive officer and now head of the new Australian Border Force agency....
A cable from Canberra to diplomatic posts of the April 30 Inter­governmental Consultations for Migration, Asylum and Refugees roundtable with European counterparts on Tony Abbott’s border protection policies reveals keen European interest in Australia’s operations…
“Switzerland noted that while the EU had implemented communications strategies, the actual messages and treatments were weak, undermining their effectiveness,” the cable said.
“Many commented that Australia’s robust and co-ordinated approach was a more effective model...”
UPDATE
Another Abbott policy supported in Europe:

Sam Mansour, who has been dubbed ‘The Bookseller from Brønshøj’ and ‘al-Qaeda’s PR man in Denmark’, on Wednesday became the first ever Dane to have his citizenship revoked for illegal activity....
The 55-year-old Danish-Moroccan was convicted for posting online threats, screeds, photos, links and messages that praise Osama bin Laden and call on his readers to join al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra front. Mansour has also posted videos of soldiers being executed in Syria and Iraq.
(Thanks to readers Peter of Bellevue Hill and Frank.) 
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Nine people murdered. Gunman’s sister complains her wedding is ruined

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (12:47pm)

A perfect symbol of our narcissistic age:
The older sister of Dylann Roof, the man accused of killing nine people in a Charleston church last month, was seeking a “fresh start.” So she tried raising money online to cover her wedding and honeymoon expenses.
Amber Roof’s wedding to Michael Tyo was scheduled for June 21 in Charleston; but four days earlier, authorities say, Roof’s brother entered Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and committed a racially motivated massacre.
“As many of you know Michael and I had to abruptly cancel our wedding day, due to the tragedy that occurred in Charleston,” Roof wrote on her since-removed GoFundMe page…
Roof said that she and Tyo are seeking donations to cover lost wedding costs, pay bills and finance a honeymoon. “We would like the chance to start our lives on a postive [sic] note,” the post said.
(Thanks to reader David.) 
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Cut the middle man at news.com.au and let 7-year-olds write it instead

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (10:26am)

Why does news.com.au think the apocalyptic babbling of a primary school child of green parents is worthy of an article?
Is it because the child’s thinking just matches the staff’s own? In which case, how very sad:
“IF YOU stop being selfish and thinking of yourself, then you might survive as well and people might stop telling you to leave Earth.”
That’s the message to Tony Abbott from a precocious seven-year-old, who has identified himself as “Zen” in a video message posted to YouTube ... by the seven-year-old’s mother, Hannah Powell…
Thinking ahead, the clever seven-year-old urged the Prime Minister to “stop chopping down trees” in order for “everyone to survive” in the next thousand years.
“If you don’t stop making stupid things now, like houses and taking over the Earth, well, we’ll survive...”
(Thanks to reader Nick.) 
===

Labor bashes cop for touching union toughs

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (9:46am)

Labor attacks the umpire blowing the whistle on its union mates:
Labor frontbencher Brendan O’Connor has launched a blistering attack on the royal commission into trade unions less than a week before his party leader, Bill Shorten, is due to be questioned…
Although O’Connor and other Labor figures have previously directed criticism at the Coalition for setting up the inquiry as a “political witch hunt”, he went further on Thursday by questioning the conduct and integrity of the officers of the commission…
“Any independent observer would conclude to date that this commission ... has been prejudicial, it has acted in a sensational manner about matters that are not proven, it has made findings against people who have not been called and has not made findings against those where there is damning evidence already given,” he told ABC News 24.
When asked by the interviewer to provide evidence, O’Connor said: “There are findings against people in the interim report and yet those people have not even been called to give evidence. There are denials of natural justice."…
[A spokesman for the royal commission] rejected “every allegation in the interview"…
The spokesman ... sought to respond to the claims that persons who were criticised did not give evidence. He pointed to a portion of the commission’s interim report that said the CFMEU and officials John Setka and Shaun Reardon “chose not to contest any of the evidence” relating to Boral.
“Having made that tactical decision, and having chosen in their own interests not to go into evidence, they cannot contend that there should be no findings against them in the interim report,” the report said.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
===

The dangerous denial of Ali Kadri

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (8:08am)

A very worrying rebuttal from Ali Kadri, president of Brisbane’s Holland Park mosque:
IN THE past few days the world watched in horror as the atrocities committed by extremists in France, Kuwait and Tunisia unfolded. Once again the majority of victims of this senseless violence were Muslims and once again a 1400-year-old religion with 1.6 billion followers was blamed for the atrocities committed by a minority. 

In his opinion piece ("It’s misleading to claim attacks have nothing to do with Islam” C-M, 29/6) Andrew Bolt so easily claimed these atrocities have “everything to do with Islam”.
False. Nowhere in my article did I say the atrocities had “everything to do with Islam”. Kadri is quoting a picture caption written by a sub-editor on the website which ran my column.
I agree with Bolt that these terrorists justify their actions on the basis of some interpretations within Islamic jurisprudence. However, to argue that the overwhelming majority of 1.6 billion Muslims live by the same interpretation is ludicrous. And the implication that the majority are silent because they embrace the notion that Islam must prevail over all other religions and so the violence is tolerable to them, is a terrible slur.
False. In my column I specifically said: “Yes, the vast majority of Muslims hate the horrors we now see. We must never forget that and make enemies of moderates. Muslims are also the main victims ...” I instead quoted scholars of Islam who suggest that moderates cannot easily criticise what terrorists do because the terrorists find their legitimisation in the Koran.
In my view, the explanation that ISIS and other terrorist groups have gained some following is not to be found within Islam but rather the geopolitical situation of the countries in which they operate.
Uh oh. And now the denial and blame shifting starts. From falsely claiming I said the terrorism has “everything” to do with Islam, Kadri now argues they have nothing to do with Islam - denying the undeniable.
And, sure enough, Kadri blames the West instead:

The recent developmental history of many of these extremists can be readily traced to Afghanistan where, after its invasion by the former USSR, the US… engaged in establishing and funding madrasses where mujahideen (those who struggle for the sake of Allah and Islam) not only received military training to take on the Soviets but schooling in interpretations of the Koran heavily biased toward battlefield struggle (jihad). 
Of course, when the Soviets left, defeated, by these CIA-trained jihadists, the once-hailed freedom fighters faced a bleak future in impoverished and war-torn Afghanistan where, much like in Iraq, in the wake of the 2003 invasion there, the body politic was destroyed leaving a power vacuum…
The March 2003 decision by the George W. Bush-led Coalition of the Willing to invade Iraq – on the now well discredited pretexts – left what remained of that country’s polity shattered and its society divided, rendering it vulnerable to infiltration by extremists still armed and spreading their perverted interpretation of the Koran..
For commentators to blithely airbrush this recent history and wash the West’s hands of any responsibility for the rise and practice of extreme interpretations of the Koran is dishonest.
This is seriously misleading. How does blaming the US explain the murderous rage of Boko Haram in Nigeria? The jihadist war in Syria? Al Shabaab’s attacks on Kenya? The rise of extremism in Yemen? The Islamist terrorist groups in Indonesia and the Philippines? Islamist attacks in China? The centuries of slaughter of Shiites by Sunnis, and vice versa?
And then false analogies:

Islam is innocent of the crimes committed by Muslim terrorists in the same way Christianity is innocent of the sexual abuse by some clergy, and not all white people are Neo-Nazis. 
Muslim terrorists quote the Koran and sacred Surah to justify their deeds and even the way they kill, as Kadri himself admits. But no pedophile priests can quote the Bible to justify their crimes. Nazis could not quote the Bible to justify their own violence, and in fact declared war on Christianity.
Kadri, I’m afraid, is in denial. That makes him part of the problem, not the solution. 
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BBC impartial in the battle with the evil that would slit the throats of its journalists

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (7:39am)

The BBC isn’t impartial about global warming, even though the planet’s atmosphere hasn’t really warmed for 18 years and probably would not cause overall harm if it did.
As the BBC Trust notes:

One of the key findings of the report [on the accuracy and impartiality of BBC science coverage] which still resonates today is that there is at times an: 
“… ‘over-rigid’ (as Professor Jones described it) application of the Editorial Guidelines on impartiality in relation to science coverage, which fails to take into account what he regards as the ‘non-contentious’ nature of some stories and the need to avoid giving ‘undue attention to marginal opinion’. Professor Jones cites ... the existence of man-made climate change as [an] example of this point.”
How that policy is applied:

Alasdair MacLeod..., head of editorial standards and compliance for BBC Scotland, sent an email on February 27 to 18 senior producers and editors, which has been obtained by The Mail on Sunday.
It reads: ‘When covering climate change stories, we should not run debates / discussions directly between scientists and sceptics. If a programme does run such a discussion, it will… be in breach of the editorial guidelines on impartiality.’
Yet the BBC is impartial when it comes to the Islamic State, which does indeed cause lethal harm and is unambiguously evil:
The head of the BBC has refused demands from 120 MPs to drop the term Islamic State on the ground that its coverage of the terrorist group must be impartial. Director-general Tony Hall warned that an alternative name for the militants was “pejorative” and said that the broadcaster needed to “preserve the BBC’s impartiality”.
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What to tell the children about the suspect in their mosque?

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (7:20am)

This seems a most unwise decision:
A MAN accused of recruiting young Australians to fight with IS will be allowed to live on the grounds of a Western Sydney primary school after the Supreme Court bailed him to live at a local mosque that is part of the same complex as the school. 

Hamdi Alqudsi was successful in an application to vary his bail yesterday, which will allow him to reside in the Minto mosque — one used for daily prayer meetings and assemblies by students of Qibla College — until the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The mosque and the school share the same address and are run by the company Suburban Islamic Association.
SIA directors were yesterday mortified when told by The Daily Telegraph the alleged terror agent had won the right to live on the Westmoreland Rd grounds…
“How can a court allow him without approaching us?” director Abdul-Kariem Salie asked.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard of it. It’s not something that should happen. We don’t want the kids to be influenced by this sort of stuff.”
There are four parts to this decision that seem very questionable: letting the suspect near children; letting him near children in a context which makes him devout; not informing at least some of the directors of the mosque and school; and reinforcing in at least the suspect’s mind that his actions are those of a devout Muslim. 
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Elizabeth Farrelly’s paranoid vision, wilder than the movies

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (5:59am)

The Sydney Morning Herald Elizabeth Farrelly writes a lot of crazy things, but few crazier than this:
“Why?” The great actress Christa-Maria Sieland uses the deadpan tone of someone delivering a vile, intractable truth. “Because they decide what we play, who is to act and who can direct.” CMS (to the listening Stasi) is explaining to her lover why, each Thursday afternoon, she submits to rape by the toad-like Minister for Culture.
Ten years ago this brilliant German thriller, The Lives of Others, sounded a sombre song of gratitude for the free West. Now it resonates differently, underlining just how close we are to losing these very freedoms in the name of their protection…

In truth, the Abbott government’s intemperate interventions hugely augmented the impact of this Q&A episode… Why? ... Fear-mongering wins elections…
But this is not about Zaky Mallah, his IQ or his threat-status. Far more serious is whether this regal, random ministerial intervention – “offensive!” “betrayal” “heads should roll!” – is in any way acceptable.
Here we hit the broader issue of ministerial discretion. I understand Brandis’ disquiet about arts-money allocation. I get Turnbull’s suspicions of media bias, although “objectivity” is not just halfway between Labor and Liberal (small playspace indeed!). I acknowledge Dutton’s concerns about returning jihadists.
But the answer is not to rip jurisdiction from the courts and institutions. If the system is flawed, fix it. Ripping its guts in favour of the big guy’s personal delectation will have us all routinely raped in the back of the ministerial car, and unable to breathe a word. For fear. For fear.
That’s some lurid vision of Australia that’s unspooling in Farrelly’s mind. Its relationship to reality is virtually non-existent, yet this SM fantasy is presented as serious commentary in the Sydney Morning Herald.
(Thanks to reader John.) 
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Crows coach murdered

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (5:06am)

ADELAIDE Crows coach Phil Walsh has allegedly been murdered in his Somerton Park home by his 26-year-old son. 

Police were called to an address on Bungey Ave at 2am on Friday morning where they found the body of the 55-year-old, who was in his first season as Adelaide coach after a 20-year career as an assistant.
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Good hearts

Andrew Bolt July 03 2015 (12:20am)

Here’s how it started:
Amanda Cole Richardson, a marketer expecting her first child in August, was taking her neighbour’s dogs for an unusually early walk when my car banked up the footpath and stopped a couple of metres away. Such driving wasn’t off the charts by Sydney eastern suburbs standards; I’ve seen worse and written it off to drink, drugs or stupidity. But Amanda saw the driver shaking and drooling and realised this was more than a bad moment with a GPS.
Most people are good. What followed proves it.
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Posted by POLANDBALL on Tuesday, 30 June 2015

Meh, this makes austerity look bad, but austerity will be good for Greece, and continued spending bad.
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Warten auf Maestro Kent Nagano bei der gestrigen GP zum Konzert heute mit Werken von Richard Wagner, Igor Strawinsky und Anton Bruckner
Posted by Andreas Herrmann on Thursday, 2 July 2015

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Find the name that best suits your character: http://bit.ly/1dedoL6
Posted by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on Thursday, 2 July 2015

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A launch party can do wonders for your book release! Don't forget these 10 must-haves when planning yours: http://bit.ly/1Cr4MaX
Posted by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on Thursday, 2 July 2015

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This image seemed an appropriate one to post as I head off to a memorial service for a friend and once was co-worker,...
Posted by Matt Granz on Thursday, 2 July 2015

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You never know what life may bring you...There is always time to be open to be surprised! I LOVED THIS VIDEO...TOUCHING!Video was created by Feeln.com  and it is based on a true Story!
Posted by Dr. Estella Sneider on Friday, 30 January 2015

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=== Posts from last year ===

DARE NOT SPEAK OF HIM

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 03, 2014 (5:50am)

An unusually-shy Vanessa Badham can’t bring herself to mention a certain name: 
I discovered that a male blogger from a rival news organisation had turned me into a bat at a most inopportune time.
I was in rehearsals for a theatre production in Hobart … 
Not a bad intro, but for frightbat bragging points it can’t beat Elizabeth Farrelly’s “I was in Africa …” 
I may be no bat, but I am a tough broad. I came of age in Wollongong, where you can learn through direct observation that police separately bag the parts of a dismembered body after an axe-murder, as I did one sunny morning, on the way past the house of the very dead ex-mayor, Frank Arkell. Your perspective on human cruelty somewhat deepens after moments like that. 
Firstly, Arkell’s killer used an ashtray and a lamp rather than an axe. Secondly … what the hell? 
Everyone on the internet knows not to feed the trolls. What not everyone may realise is just how well the trolls are fed suggested targets by the “frightbat” blogger and his ilk, and how a silent masthead can lend legitimacy to that persecution. 
That’s non-mention two. 
Everyone who gets into commentary does so with vigorous eagerness for debate. Our role here is to provoke a conversation. 
Here are a few examples of Badham’s gently provocative conversational gambits. It’s just eagerness for debate, people! 
To attack 10 women with the ancient stereotypes of “shrieking”, “hysterical” woman-hating betrays to me an obviously gendered problem – not merely of the blogger, or his audience. 
Non-mention three. 
Whether the dogwhistling is deliberate or not, what possibly motivates a news-blogger to publicly denigrate his female colleagues? 
Non-mention four, plus a bizarrely collegial plea from Vanessa, who never, never denigrates her journalistic colleagues, be they male or female. Never. 
A decade ago, it would’ve been fanciful to imagine a tabloid commentator could name so many feminists … 
That’s now five non-mentions. Vanessa clearly believes me to be some kind of reverse Candyman. If you don’t say his name five times, he won’t appear! 
What was actually surprising about the “frightbat” poll was the number of feminist commentators who didn’t appear. 
I didn’t say their names five times. Worked a charm. 
There are dozens more influential Australian media feminists who meet the political criteria of “frightbat” … Where was Eva Cox, Wendy Harmer, Karen Pickering, Stella Young or Amy Gray? Where the hell was Celeste Liddle, Nareen Young, Nakkiah Lui or Kelly Briggs? 
Beats me. Making sandwiches, probably.  
One name suggests ten more; the sheer size of this community is perhaps the reason why the “frightbat” poll rebounded on its creator so quickly, with the named “frightbats” campaigning for votes, memes created, hashtags trending within a matter of hours. 
Don’t forget your frightbat t-shirts, Vanessa. You know, the ethically sourced t-shirts you made with one of the most sexist, misogynist clothing companies out there. Anyway, this is the headline on Van’s non-naming attempted shaming: 
When they call us ‘frightbats’, they make us fair game 
I might have used a friendlier, more conversational phrase, but “F--KING SELF SERVING S—TTIPEDES”, “ARSEHOLE KNOB GREASER S--TBUCKET C--T FARM C--T C--TS”, “F--KING IDIOTS”, “F--KING ARSEHOLES”, “STUPID PACK OF C--T ARSEHOLE S--TS”, “ MOTHERF--KER DIMB C--T WANK F--K S--TS”, “MAGGOT F--KING LUNATICS” and “DUMB C--TRAGS” were already taken.

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FOR A START, NO BLUE DRESS

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 03, 2014 (5:44am)

Monica Lewinsky reflects on the media attention following her affair with Bill Clinton: 
“To be in the vortex of this media maelstrom was quite alarming, and frightening, and confusing.” Lewinsky said.
“I think a lot, too, had to do with the fact that I was a woman.” 
Well, of course. The media wouldn’t have had any interest in President Clinton’s affair with a man. Where’s the news value in that? 
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THEY LOVE (CERTAIN) AMERICANS

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 03, 2014 (5:34am)

This site, last month: 
Australian leftists … usually dismiss all US authority until they meet any left-leaning American academic. Then they meekly roll over like so many supplicant client states obeying the great hegemon. 
And here’s the latest example. A recent Daily Telegraph editorial dealt with interloper Joseph Stiglitz.
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NICK FITZED

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 03, 2014 (5:12am)

The curse of FitzSimons strikes again. Bookmakers should start framing odds around this guy.
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SCOTUS BOGUS

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 03, 2014 (5:11am)

Twitter people aren’t very smart.
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Beware the cries of “racist”. Some seem fake

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (5:10pm)

Some racism exists, and is vicious. It needs to be fought:
THE woman filmed unleashing a racist tirade at an Asian commuter on a train to the Central Coast has apologised for her behaviour. 

The clip shows the woman, identified as 55-year-old Sue Wilkins, harassing children and making racist remarks at an Asian woman ... and a man who stood up for her. 
“Who is this little jerk off he can only get a gook, he can’t even get a regular girlfriend — it is so sad,” she said. “Is it really that small that you can’t get an Aussie girl? Poor man. Look at this bogan he has got a gook — look at it. She probably thinks he is rich.” 
Other cries of “racism” are far more suspicious, and seem more a tactic to gain advantage:
OWNERS of a Melbourne restaurant are fuming at being branded racist over the treatment of a customer and are considering legal action for defamation. 

Their legal plans come as the African-Australian woman at the centre of the claims, which were published in The Age, has openly admitted that she hates white people. 
The comments made by Tabotu Teklemariam, 21, on social media emerged after she claims she was turned away from Melbourne’s Il Pom restaurant for racial reasons.
“I’m going to bring you whites so down you wouldn’t know what’s coming,” Ms Teklemariam told social media followers on June 22.
“I don’t care if you think I’m being a racist cause (sic) I’ll openly admit it, I hate whites with a passion.”
Ms Teklemariam later apologised for the comments describing them as a single mistake in a “heated” moment, and vowed to continue her fight against racism.
A report published in The Age described Ms Teklemariam’s humiliation at being “attacked for being black” at the restaurant last Friday.
But Il Pom said it was 9.30pm when the woman and her boyfriend sat down and the kitchen was closed…
In a Facebook post last year, referring to an ABC report on DNA evidence about Europeans’ heritage, [Ms Teklemariam] wrote that Africans are “pure” and that “everybody outside of Africa is a mongrel”.
It is not the first time I’ve thought the anti-racism movement is underpinned by racism, from the insistence on racial division and the creation even of Aboriginal courts to the hatred of our Western civilisation and history. 
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If Palestinians celebrate child-murder, they are not fit for a nation

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (3:18pm)

 Bret Stephens says the culture of many Palestinians make them unfit for statehood:
IN March 2004 a Palestinian teenager named Hussam Abdo was spotted by Israeli soldiers behaving suspiciously as he approached the Hawara checkpoint in the West Bank. Ordered at gunpoint to raise his sweater, the startled boy exposed a suicide vest loaded with nearly 8kg of explosives and metal scraps, constructed to maximise carnage.... 
“I blame those who gave him the explosive belt,” his mother, Tamam, told The Jerusalem Post, of which I was then the editor. “He’s a small child who can’t even look after himself.”

Yet asked how she would have felt if her son had been a bit older, she added this: “If he was over 18, that would have been possible, and I might have even encouraged him to do it.” ...
I’ve often thought about Mrs Abdo, and I’m thinking about her as I hear on the news that the bodies of three Jewish teenagers, kidnapped on June 12, have been found near the city of Hebron…
What about their killers?… Less innocent was the view offered by Abu Aysha’s mother.
“They’re throwing the guilt on him by accusing him of kidnapping,” she told Israel’s Channel 10 news. “If he did the kidnapping, I’ll be proud of him."…
Here’s my question: What kind of society produces such mothers? Whence come the women who cheer on their boys to blow themselves up or murder the children of their neighbours?…
I just have yet to meet the Israeli mother who wants to raise her boys to become kidnappers and murderers — and who isn’t afraid of saying as much to visiting journalists… As for the Palestinians and their inveterate sympathisers in the West, perhaps they should note that a culture that too often openly celebrates martyrdom and murder is not fit for statehood, and that making excuses for that culture only makes it more unfit.
An allegation:
Tensions mounted in Jerusalem as a local Palestinian teenager was found dead early Wednesday in what some fear may have been a reprisal attack for the killing of three Jewish Israeli teenagers abducted in the West Bank.. 
The burned body of the victim, identified by family members and police as 17-year-old Mohammed Abu Khudair from the Palestinian neighborhood of Shuafat in north Jerusalem, was found in a forested area west of the city. Police began searching for the teen after his family reported him missing when he hadn’t come home early Wednesday morning, Israeli media reported. Separately, police received a call from friends who said that the teen was forcefully shoved into a car.
Even assuming this is the work of Jews, where is the mother boasting that her son is a murderer? Where is the celebration of the killing? Every society has its killers and misfits. It’s health is measured by how it reacts to them - by denouncing or honouring.
UPDATE
It is too early to claim the Palestinian youth was the victim of Jews:
Though the cause of death remains unknown, Rosenfeld said the boy’s body sustained significant burn marks. The spokesman added that police are also investigating previous kidnap attempts of members of the family to which the victim belonged, stemming from a personal dispute… 
Speaking to Arutz Sheva on condition of anonymity, A senior retired police official noted that the family of the murdered 16-year-old was well known to police sources in Jerusalem, adding “it’s a problematic family with internal clashes that have been ongoing for many years. I have no doubt that as time passes it will be clarified that the murder was criminal and nothing more.” 
The ABC, of course, is giving the “revenge” attack angle a lot of play.
UPDATE
Police suspect the revenge motive:

Israeli police have become increasingly convinced that 16-year-old Jerusalem resident Muhammad Abu Khdeir was murdered Wednesday morning as revenge for the killing of three kidnapped Israeli teens, officials said Wednesday evening. 
According to the testimony of local residents, Abu Khdeir was seen being forced into a car by three Israelis in East Jerusalem late Tuesday…
Security camera footage from the scene of Abu Khdeir’s kidnapping strengthened investigators’ suspicions that Jewish extremists snatched the teen, Channel 2 reported.
Police are still looking into the possibility of a criminal motive for the attack, or even an honor killing, but sources told Channel 10 that the family has no criminal history. The sources also said rumors claiming that Abu Khdeir was killed because he was gay, or because he’d had sexual encounters with local girls, are baseless. 
(Thanks to reader David.) 
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Why is Labor cuddling up to a union like the CFMEU?

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (10:29am)

 The bruvvers at work:
A Melbourne developer has accused Victoria’s powerful construction union of demanding he employ union boss John Setka’s brother-in-law and his best friend on $70,000 a year jobs in return for securing industrial peace.
Fairfax Media obtained CCTV and other recordings, along with an interview with Peter Chiavaroli, a builder and developer of the old Pentridge prison site in Coburg, which provide an insight into the backroom dealings of union officials, figures aligned with Melbourne’s underworld and bikies.
The royal commission into trade union corruption is likely to examine these activities at hearings into the CFMEU in Melbourne next week, including evidence that:
- Victorian Labor Party official and industrial consultant Ken Hardy allegedly told Mr Chiavaroli to work with gangland boss and union fixer Mick Gatto.
- Underworld associate Mario Amenta saying he was dispatched by Mr Setka to “sort out” problems on the old Pentridge prison site.

- Union officials abused non-union workers, employers were pressured to “give a kicking” to non-union members, and Mr Setka describing one as a “f---ing dog, Turkish painting piece of shit”.
- Subcontractors threatening to use Comanchero bikies to collect a disputed debt. The Pentridge allegations add to previous claims by building companies Boral and Grocon and industry whistleblowers that the CFMEU threatens companies unless they cede to union demands, and will increase pressure on Labor leader Daniel Andrews over Labor’s close ties to the union. 
Setka and the union deny impropriety. 
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The Liberals should buy their advertising at Woolies

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (10:18am)

How come the TV ad with the best conservative message about the dignity of work is put out by Woolworths and not the Liberals?
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Scott Morrison could be a week away from sealing the deal on his boats triumph

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (9:47am)

Boat people policy

The Abbott Government faces a great challenge - but also a great opportunity - with thetwo boats from India and Sri Lanka:
The Australian understands the transfer of as many as 50 Sri Lankan asylum-seekers, intercepted by Australian authorities near Cocos Islands at the weekend, will take place in international waters, though closer to Sri Lanka’s extended economic zone. 
The Sri Lankan navy’s official spokesman, Commodore Kosila, confirmed late on Tuesday that a Sri Lankan asylum boat had been intercepted and would be transferred into Sri Lankan custody, though he would not confirm how, or where, the handover would take place.
But another senior Sri Lankan navy official said yesterday: “They expect to rendezvous ­tomorrow...” The whereabouts of as many as 153 asylum-seekers on board a second boat [from India] spotted near Christmas Island last Friday, is unknown.
Returning the passengers will not be easy, given the distance and given, too, that India does not as yet have a history of cooperation on boat returns.
There is also this difficulty: that the Government probably cannot return to Sri Lanka any of the Tamils who actually left from India, although this admittedly confused reference in reports today suggests some of those on boat the vessel which sailed from Pondicherry may actually have joined it from Sri Lanka:
Indian authorities have confirmed that a fishing trawler containing an estimated 153 Tamil refugees left the Indian union territory of Pondicherry on June 13 bound for Australia. 
Authorities believe the 25-metre long vessel was being piloted by a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam naval commander with the expertise necessary to navigate a direct route to Australia, bypassing other countries such as Indonesia. It is understood that after leaving India, the trawler rendezvoused with a boat from Sri Lanka at which point the remainder of passengers joined the vessel.
Meanwhile the Left are gearing up for a huge fuss over these boats. It’s their best chance in months to destroy the Abbott Government’s so-far successful policy to stop the boats.
But…
But activists haven’t heard from the boats since the weekend. That already suggests the boat people have had their phones confiscated by the navy and are being returned, not brought to Christmas Island.
If this is done, the message sent to people smugglers will be powerful. That message: even if you sail from Sri Lanka or India, you will not succeed. Those on board will have risked plenty and spent a lot for zero result.
I’d suggest that some time next week immigration Minister Scott Morison will have a new success to announce that will seal the deal on the government’s boat policy. 
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Why Friends of the ABC shouldn’t give a Gonski about Albrechtsen’s appointment

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (8:43am)

Hyperventilation by the Guardian and (Left-wing-Only-Please) Friends of the ABC:
The Abbott government has installed the conservative commentator Janet Albrechtsen and the former Liberal politician Neil Brown to the nomination panel that appoints board members to the ABC and the SBS. 
Albrechtsen, a columnist for the Australian newspaper and a former member of the ABC board, is a vocal critic of the ABC and recently called for its managing director, Mark Scott, to resign.
Brown has called for the ABC to be privatised and has labelled the ABC’s news and current affairs coverage as having “an endemic lack of objectivity and balance"…
Along with two other panellists, Albrechtsen and Brown will now decide who gets to sit on the public broadcasting boards until June 2017.
A spokeswoman for the Friends of the ABC, Glenys Stradijot, said the decision to appoint the pair had totally undermined the integrity of the ABC board appointment process… “It appears we are in for a return to the bad old days when the Howard government stacked the ABC’s governing board with its political supporters.”
Strange that the Friends of the ABC never complained about Labor’s appointment of Gonski to the same panel, given Gonski was chairman of the company owned by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s wife and was appointed by Labor to design Labor’s spend-spend-spend “Gonski reforms”.
If Gonski, active in political business with Labor and active in commercial business with a Labor leader’s wife, can be trusted to act impartially then so can Albrechtsen and Brown.
Besides, given that overwhelmingly Leftist bias of the ABC, can it seriously be argued that there is no need of a rebalancing?
By the way, note that these appointments are made by Abbott’s department and not Malcolm Turnbull’s.
(Thanks to reader johnthepom.) 
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Palmer is tearing down everyone, Abbott included

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (8:35am)

Niki Savva on Tony Abbott, trampled by a Palmersaurus:
Normally, governments dictate agendas and messages. Not now. This one is hostage to a beast, a Palmersaurus, and when one of the main stories out of the first Liberal federal council meeting post magnificent victory is a public tiff involving two of Tony Abbott’s closest colleagues, George Brandis and Christopher Pyne (ostensibly over party rules, but really over the re-election of Tom Harley as party vice-president, whom the Prime Minister and Education Minister failed to dislodge) it has all got too weird… 
Stepping off a plane on Thursday night to be confronted by news footage of a joint appearance by Clive Palmer and Al Gore was like crossing over into the Twilight Zone… Palmer as usual was having a lend of everyone, doing his sick PUPpy act, pretending to support things he believes will never happen…
It must be so liberating for a politician to feel free to treat everyone like mugs. His debasing influence on the body politic is such that no one — not Abbott, not Bill Shorten, not even Christine Milne — is game to criticise him over reports of dubious business practices and erratic behaviour. He has bought political immunity with the votes he controls.
Palmer’s antics suck up political oxygen, so that it matters little what the Prime Minister says or does…
Palmer ... has usurped Shorten as Opposition Leader, although Shorten is bene­fiting temporarily from the lack of scrutiny, but right now it is Abbott who is suffering the most. People have a mental picture of prime ministers which Abbott was already struggling to fill. Palmer has made Abbott’s task that much harder by smothering him. Palmer disses Abbott and rubs his nose in his dependence.
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These boats are just part of an armada

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (7:41am)

Boat people policy


THE Greens this week proved they’ve learned nothing about asylum seekers and the lethal cost of “kindness” to them — particularly children.
Our Navy on the weekend intercepted a boat that left India with 153 Tamils on board.
India, a stable democracy with a free press and the rule of law, should not be a source of a single refugee. Any Tamils there, including those who left Sri Lanka, are safe and do not need to flee to Australia.
So this boatload of alleged “asylum seekers” actually seems part of a vast movement of people travelling from poor countries to rich ones in the West in search of wealth, and the Abbott Government is right to try to negotiate their instant return.
The Government is even more correct to be militant in stopping boats. Around the world, Western countries are finding their borders under siege from poor immigrants like never before — well, not since the cataclysmic migration of German tribes into the Roman Empire.
The US now has more than 25,000 Latinos illegally crossing over every month, twice the rate of last year. It already has around 11 million undocumented or illegal immigrants, mostly Latinos likely to form another underclass.
(Read full article here.) 
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See no jihadists, speak of no jihadists

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (7:38am)

Islamism, Media

GOOD news. Six imams on Wednesday told the federal Attorney-General they would help stop Muslims joining terror groups.
But just six?
Finding apologists of Islamist extremism is easier, and they aren’t all Muslim. Sydney’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas, for instance, invited a Muslim radical to give a lecture titled “Honour killings are morally justified”.
And 3AW broadcaster Neil Mitchell was last week asked by a caller why he didn’t mention Islam in discussing Iraq.
(Read full article here.) 
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The madness of the warmist Age

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (6:02am)

Global warming - general

Terry McCrann on the madness of The Age - captured in a single sentence - when it finally figured Clive Palmer’s plan for an emissions trading scheme came with impossible conditions:

.... its lament was that such a scheme would have no effect because there’d be no price on carbon until Australia’s major trading partners implemented their own schemes. 
Then the sentence: “That might occur next year, next decade, or never.”
A rational sentient human being would have then said; exactly, and thank you Clive. For there is absolutely no point in Australia going down the aggressive ETS path, cutting our emissions of carbon dioxide, unless precisely our major trading partners were doing the same.
To argue otherwise is to argue for Australia to unilaterally hurt both its industries and its citizens, to send industries and jobs to ‘our major trading partners,’ for absolutely no point. Our pain would have not the slightest effect on the global or even the local climate.
That lamenting sentence is so revealing; that to The Age rationality has absolutely nothing to do with the issue. It is all about religious fervour.
Quite irrespective of what the world does, quite irrespective of whether our CO2 cuts would achieve anything at all, we have to cut; we have to flagellate like a 12th century penitent, to exculpate our sins, to pay penance to Gaia. The sentence is deeply revealing on another level. For The Age is also admitting that in its collective hearts of hearts, it really knows that the operative word in that sentence is “never”. 
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Could Sulayman just fight Cerantonio in a cage match?

Andrew Bolt July 03 2014 (12:10am)

The only good thing about these crazies is that they’re no longer living here - and are now more interested in killing each other:
AN Australian spiritual leader of the Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organisation in Syria has slammed fellow Sunni group the Islamic State, denouncing it for “breaching Islam” in its claim to have established a caliphate. 

Sheik Abu Sulayman, a 30-year-old from southwest Sydney who now serves as a senior sharia official for the al-Qa’ida group, said the “proclamation” of a caliphate — an Islamic state — may be used by to justify killing other Sunnis. 
The warning comes as another influential Australian cleric, self-described Islamic State “soldier” Musa Cerantonio, said he was about to enter the war zone.
Both Sheik Sulayman — whose real name is Mostafa ­Mahamed — and Mr Cerantonio, 29, were prominent speakers in Australia and were regulars at Sydney’s al-Risalah Islamic centre. Sheik Sulayman accused Islamic State — formerly known as ISIS — of “stealing the right” of senior Islamic figures to be consulted on the establishment of a caliphate in Syria… “Only difference I see is there is a stronger ‘Islamic’ justification for them to kill Muslims. Stealing the right of the ­scholars … (and) the leaders to be consulted is a clear breach of Islam!”
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Ricky Muir’s new minder

Andrew Bolt July 02 2014 (9:05pm)

Ricky Muir has a strange choice of staffer - a man I saw today actually pushing his “boss” in the back to get him to the doors of Parliament:
Peter Breen, ...  a human rights and media defamation lawyer, entered the NSW upper house in 1999, representing the Reform the Legal System party before joining Labor from the crossbench in 2006. 
Just 74 days later, then premier Morris Iemma dumped him from Labor after a media storm erupted over comments Mr Breen had made in a book he was writing about feeling a compassionate ‘’form of love’’ for one of the three killers convicted of the rape and murder of Cronulla bank teller Janine Balding.
Mr Breen has fought for years to overturn the life without parole sentences for the killers - one as young as 14 years old - who were locked up in 1990 and remain behind bars. During his time in Parliament, Mr Breen also protested the innocence of Phuong Ngo, the man convicted of murdering state MP John Newman. 
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The Deputy Prime Minister, photographed one hour visit to a Thai massage provider operating an unlicensed Sex Services Premises in his electorate

Wayne dropped me an email yesterday afternoon,
Hi Michael, 
Now that Albanese is Deputy PM, I can’t believe no media outlets are interested in him visiting the massage parlour in his electorate that specialises in sexual services. If TA or any other senior coalition MP had done that, the Labor party and media would be all over them.
 What do you reckon?


Thanks Wayne.   I think that the judgement of the Deputy Prime Minister is a very important factor that we should be aware of.    The Press Gallery journalists in Canberra have a responsibility to report matters of importance.   It concerns me that a collective judgement was exercised on "Albo" and the story was never reported in the mainstream.
The Deputy PM and his wife are on big money, they're both prominent people in the Marrickville area, on a Friday afternoon the now Deputy PM enters and remains for one hour in a business that is the subject of many hundred Parlour Pages and Australian XXX Reviews of the sexual prowess and services provided within that place.
Further the business is operating unlawfully, our forensic investigator attended and was offered sexual services or payment without him prompting.   The manner of his attendance and the way he recorded evidence was designed for admissibility in a court of law. The premises are not licenced to provide sexual services.
At the least Albanese has made himself a laughing stock.   Australian politicians who do stupid things like Albanese's visit to the Thai illegal brothel in his electorate one Friday afternoon (but only for a therapeutic massage) tend to get the mickey taken out of them for a long time.   Lapses of judgement like this one would carry that sort of gleefully extracted price from every conservative politician.   But the Press Gallery has made a collective decision to spare this man any embarrassment. Most unusual.
In this video on the occassion of Mr Albanese's swearing in as Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, his wife Carmel Tebbut is seated to his left.   It's Kevin Rudd's wife Therese with whom he seems more comfortable having a chat.
a
Finally these reports from the time show what happened, how the story was buried in the main media, my conversations with senior caucus members, how Labor people forwarded the DA documents on the Thai massage premises to me, my exhaustive efforts to have Albanese deliver the comment his staff promised and his final "No comment".
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/03/anthony-albanese-and-his-dangerously-poor-judgement-.html
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/03/my-efforts-to-provide-anthony-albanese-with-the-opportunity-to-comment-on-or-correct-my-story-today.html
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/03/my-efforts-to-provide-anthony-albanese-with-the-opportunity-to-comment-on-or-correct-my-story-today.html
Posted by Michael Smith at 9:50:59 AM
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You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose. But, you shouldn't pick your friend's nose. A reminder that not all learning should be from experience.
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James Calore'
The sentence "Are you as bored as I am?" can be read backwards and still makes sense.
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
God can use a crisis or a time of confusion to result in a blessing! What the enemy meant for bad, God can turn it around for good!
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Andreas Herrmann
Es gibt keinen Weg zum Frieden, denn Frieden ist der Weg. Mahatma Ghandi
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Don Kramer's status.
An investment banker stood at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, “Only a little while.”

The banker then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The fisherman said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The banker then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”

The investor scoffed, “I am an Ivy League MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.
“The investor continued, “And instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would then sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution! You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The fisherman asked, “But how long will this all take?”

To which the banker replied, “Perhaps 15 to 20 years.”

“But what then?” asked the fisherman.

The banker laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions!”

“Millions. Okay, then what?” wondered the fisherman.

To which the investment banker replied, “Then you would retire. You could move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
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French destroyer Mogador
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“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”” Jeremiah 17:9-10 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Our heart shall rejoice in Him."
Psalm 33:21
Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the deepest distress; although trouble may surround them, they still sing; and, like many birds, they sing best in their cages. The waves may roll over them, but their souls soon rise to the surface and see the light of God's countenance; they have a buoyancy about them which keeps their head always above the water, and helps them to sing amid the tempest, "God is with me still." To whom shall the glory be given? Oh! to Jesus--it is all by Jesus. Trouble does not necessarily bring consolation with it to the believer, but the presence of the Son of God in the fiery furnace with him fills his heart with joy. He is sick and suffering, but Jesus visits him and makes his bed for him. He is dying, and the cold chilly waters of Jordan are gathering about him up to the neck, but Jesus puts His arms around him, and cries, "Fear not, beloved; to die is to be blessed; the waters of death have their fountain-head in heaven; they are not bitter, they are sweet as nectar, for they flow from the throne of God." As the departing saint wades through the stream, and the billows gather around him, and heart and flesh fail him, the same voice sounds in his ears, "Fear not; I am with thee; be not dismayed; I am thy God." As he nears the borders of the infinite unknown, and is almost affrighted to enter the realm of shades, Jesus says, "Fear not, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Thus strengthened and consoled, the believer is not afraid to die; nay, he is even willing to depart, for since he has seen Jesus as the morning star, he longs to gaze upon Him as the sun in his strength. Truly, the presence of Jesus is all the heaven we desire. He is at once
"The glory of our brightest days;
The comfort of our nights."

Evening

"Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit."
Psalm 28:1
A cry is the natural expression of sorrow, and a suitable utterance when all other modes of appeal fail us; but the cry must be alone directed to the Lord, for to cry to man is to waste our entreaties upon the air. When we consider the readiness of the Lord to hear, and his ability to aid, we shall see good reason for directing all our appeals at once to the God of our salvation. It will be in vain to call to the rocks in the day of judgment, but our Rock attends to our cries.
"Be not silent to me." Mere formalists may be content without answers to their prayers, but genuine suppliants cannot; they are not satisfied with the results of prayer itself in calming the mind and subduing the will--they must go further, and obtain actual replies from heaven, or they cannot rest; and those replies they long to receive at once, they dread even a little of God's silence. God's voice is often so terrible that it shakes the wilderness; but his silence is equally full of awe to an eager suppliant. When God seems to close his ear, we must not therefore close our mouths, but rather cry with more earnestness; for when our note grows shrill with eagerness and grief, he will not long deny us a hearing. What a dreadful case should we be in if the Lord should become forever silent to our prayers? "Lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit." Deprived of the God who answers prayer, we should be in a more pitiable plight than the dead in the grave, and should soon sink to the same level as the lost in hell. We must have answers to prayer: ours is an urgent case of dire necessity; surely the Lord will speak peace to our agitated minds, for he never can find it in his heart to permit his own elect to perish.
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Today's reading: Job 22-24, Acts 11 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Job 22-23

Eliphaz
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2 "Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
3 What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?
4 "Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
6 You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
7 You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
8 though you were a powerful man, owning land--
an honored man, living on it.

Today's New Testament reading: Acts 11

Peter Explains His Actions
1 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him 3 and said, "You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them."
4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: 5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. 6 I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. 7 Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'


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