Sunday, July 31, 2016

Sun Jul 31st Todays News

To play Pokemon Go, some joke about tethering their iPhone to a dog. It means less walking. However, some suggest letting children run around too. The game is fun, but normal propriety rules exist. Children need to be supervised. A child will follow Pokemon onto a street with the same awareness as chasing a ball. Some adults are similarly challenged. One cannot teach common sense in the abstract. Driving and playing Pokemon Go is as safe as it sounds. The ridiculous over reach which prevents people playing the game in some suburbs or at some locations is absurd. Mind you, the thought crossed my mind when I found Blue Apex Park that maybe the in game naming structure was bad, referencing the gang terrorising Melbourne at the moment. It turns out that is the name of the park given by the local council. The gang was named after a street in North Dandenong. So what was PM Turnbull playing at when he examined the possibility of making Rudd UN Secretary General? It wasn't Pokemon. And now it turns out that the recent election gave Turnbull the thinnest of knife edges as majority. Just as Turnbull has burned his second in charge. 

For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.  
=== from 2015 ===
When I began writing for my books in 2013, I noticed that August began, from the way July ended, with an unusual take on how people treated victory at different points in time. In England in 1588 and in Alexandria in 30 BC. The responses of Elizabeth I and Mark Antony are an interesting study. She triumphed at her triumph. He suicided. To be fair, Antony did not suicide because he won, but because he won badly. Cleopatra had helped him win, but in doing so they were stuck on land and their troops were running away from Octavian. Antony suicided, partly to protect his underlings from revenge attacks by Octavian. It wasn't perfect, as plans went, because although Antony suicided, Octavian took bloody revenge. 

Bill Shorten is hoping for success. He hasn't had one recently. He has lied about turning back boats. He has lied about protecting the environment with a business ruining tax. He is losing popularity and relevance. However, he is leading another campaign to disrupt PM Tony Abbott. Earlier, Shorten tried to have Peta Credlin booted from Abbott's office. Now he is trying to have the Speaker of the Parliament, Bronwyn Bishop booted. Bishop has done what politicians do. She was entitled to have expenses compensated. The arbitrary public concern over expenses has been successful in the UK with getting conservatives into trouble. It is happening here too. The issues for which Bishop is being attacked are historic. The only answer for Mr Abbott is how to engineer a win. Bishop's political suicide is not the answer, although many are baying for it. And Shorten feels he has earned it. 

One powerful issue which Shorten has fed, but which is not directly related to Shorten, but Rudd, is that of booing former Australian of the Year Adam Goodes. It doesn't mean much in the wider political sense, but is smoke to obscure issues of corruption surrounding the ALP and industrial relations. But, more directly people are booing Goodes and being called racist. Goodes' race was known before he was booed, when he was being lauded. And the people booing may well be doing so based on their beliefs on race. And people supporting Goodes may well be doing so for no other reason than race. But it isn't racism that is booing Goodes but his support of racism to define the world. Racism is a truth that should never be employed by government in its' activity. Goodes is not a product of racism, but of love. It is worth comparing Goodes Australian of the year speech with Elizabeth I's victory speech. 

In 30 BC, Battle of AlexandriaMark Antony achieved a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserted, leading to his suicide. 781, the oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781). 1009, Pope Sergius IV became the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII. 1201, attempted usurpation of John Komnenos the Fat. 1423, Hundred Years' WarBattle of Cravant: The French army was defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. 1451, Jacques Cœur was arrested by order of Charles VII of France. 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree took effect. 1498, on his third voyage to the Western HemisphereChristopher Columbus became the first European to discover the island of Trinidad. 1588, the Spanish Armada was spotted off the coast of England. 1655, Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army entered the capital of the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaVilnius, which it held for six years. 1658, Aurangzeb was proclaimed Moghul emperor of India. 1667, Second Anglo-Dutch WarTreaty of Breda ended the conflict.

In 1703, Daniel Defoe was placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but was pelted with flowers. 1712, Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clashed in the Baltic Sea; the result was inconclusive. 1715, seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left HavanaCuba for Spain, 11 of them sank in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure was salvaged from these wrecks. 1741, Charles Albert of Bavaria invaded Upper Austria and Bohemia. 1763, Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeated British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War. 1777, the U.S. Second Continental Congress passed a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." 1790, the first U.S. patent was issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. 1856, Christchurch, New Zealand was chartered as a city. 1865, the first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opened at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.

In 1904, Russo-Japanese WarBattle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeated units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation. 1913, the Balkan States signed an armistice in Bucharest. 1919, German national assembly adopted the Weimar Constitution, which came into force on August 14. 1930, the radio mystery program The Shadow aired for the first time. 1932, the NSDAP (Nazi Party) won more than 38% of the vote in German elections. 1938, Bulgaria signed a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (TurkeyRomaniaYugoslavia). Also 1938, Archaeologists discovered engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.

In 1941, The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf HitlerNazi official Hermann Göring, ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question." 1945, Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrendered to Allied soldiers in Austria. 1948, at Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) was dedicated. Also 1948, USS Nevada was sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.

In 1954, first ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio. 1961, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in Major League Baseball history occurred when the game was stopped in the 9th inning because of rain. 1964, Ranger programRanger 7 sent back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes. 1970, Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy. 1971, Apollo programApollo 15 astronauts became the first to ride in a lunar rover 1972, the Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-took the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It was the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians were killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy. 1988, thirty-two people were killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapsed in Butterworth, PenangMalaysia.

In 1991, the United States and Soviet Union both signed the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles. 1992, Georgia joined the United Nations. 1999, Discovery ProgramLunar ProspectorNASA intentionally crashed the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface. 2006, Fidel Castro handed over power to brother Raúl Castro. 2007, Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, came to an end. 2009, three members of the popular South Korean group TVXQ, (Kim JaejoongKim Junsu, and Park Yoochun), filed lawsuit against their Korean management S.M. Entertainment. 2012, Michael Phelps broke the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
From 2014
It is said to have happened on this day, but it may not have happened at all, but it is certainly the case that Daniel Defoe was certainly not harmed by his stay in the stocks in 1703. It was said after that he had been pelted with flowers, not the more traditional rotten fruit after he had announced a poem to the Stocks. He had been placed in the stocks because King William had died and Queen Anne had different policies, and Defoe wrote satire. A particular pamphlet in this case had been written by Defoe anonymously, but he had been identified. He had suggested that non conformists be killed. John Robert Moorelater said that "no man in England but Defoe ever stood in the pillory and later rose to eminence among his fellow men". 

Also on this day the Spanish Armada was sighted off the English coast. But, it was never a real threat of invasion as the large number of troops that had been assembled would never have been able to board the ships as they were never able to get past the smaller Dutch ships which would have prevented it in shallower waters. Even so, it was a remarkable success and allowed Queen Elizabeth to later give her stirring speech at Tillbury. 

"My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but, I do assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself, that under God I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects; and, therefore, I am come amongst you as you see at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of battle, to live or die amongst you all – to lay down for my God, and for my kingdoms, and for my people, my honour and my blood even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king – and of a King of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonour should grow by me, I myself will take up arms – I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness, you have deserved rewards and crowns, and, we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time, my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people"
Mark Antony had had success at the Battle of Alexandria, 30 BC, against Octavion, but instead of a stirring speech to his men, he committed suicide. One can learn a lot by studying Elizabeth Rex. Antony's example is less glorious.

Today is another of infamy for anti semitism. In 1492 the Alhambra Decree took effect, kicking all Jews out of Spain, five years after the Spanish King had instigated the Spanish Inquisition. In 1932 the NAZI Party won 38% of the vote. One can only guess what the 38% wanted of them, their activity was evident from the beginning. Brutal and ugly. In 1941, 
Hitler instructed Hermann Göring to give orders to SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question."

In 1201, John Komnenos the Fat failed to usurp the Byzantine empire. In 1498 on his third voyage, Christopher Columbus discovered Trinidad. In 1658 Aurangzeb took control of India, ending secular administration and putting in place Islamic rule, his administration was to mark the downfall of Islamic leaders in India. In 1715, 12 Spanish treasure galleons set sail from Havana, eleven sank in a storm, allowing their treasure to be claimed centuries later. In 1763, Chief Pontiac defeated British in the Battle of Bloody Run. In 1777, the US Second continental Congress gave Lafayette an honorary rank of Major General of US forces. In 1790, US granted a patent for Potash. In 1856, Christchurch became a city. In 1913, the Balkan states signed an armistice. In 1919, Germany adopted the Weimar constitution. In 1930, radio program The Shadow first aired. In 1931 the future TV WCBS first broadcasted. In 1938, archaeologists discovered gold and silver plates from Darius the Great at Persepolis. In 1945, Pierre Laval, former socialist turned fascist leader of Vichy France, surrendered to allies in Austria. 
Historical perspective on this day
In 30 BC, Battle of AlexandriaMark Antony achieved a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserted, leading to his suicide. 781, the oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781). 1009, Pope Sergius IV became the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII. 1201, attempted usurpation of John Komnenos the Fat. 1423, Hundred Years' WarBattle of Cravant: The French army was defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. 1451, Jacques Cœur was arrested by order of Charles VII of France. 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decreetook effect. 1498, on his third voyage to the Western HemisphereChristopher Columbus became the first European to discover the island of Trinidad. 1588, the Spanish Armada was spotted off the coast of England. 1655, Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army entered the capital of the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaVilnius, which it held for six years. 1658, Aurangzeb was proclaimed Moghul emperor of India. 1667, Second Anglo-Dutch WarTreaty of Breda ended the conflict.

In 1703, Daniel Defoe was placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but was pelted with flowers. 1712, Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clashed in the Baltic Sea; the result was inconclusive. 1715, seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left HavanaCuba for Spain, 11 of them sank in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure was salvaged from these wrecks. 1741, Charles Albert of Bavaria invaded Upper Austria and Bohemia. 1763, OdawaChief Pontiac's forces defeated British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War. 1777, the U.S. Second Continental Congress passed a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." 1790, the first U.S. patent was issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. 1856, Christchurch, New Zealand was chartered as a city. 1865, the first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opened at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.

In 1904, Russo-Japanese WarBattle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeated units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation. 1913, the Balkan States signed an armistice in Bucharest. 1919, German national assembly adopted the Weimar Constitution, which came into force on August 14. 1930, the radio mystery program The Shadow aired for the first time. 1932, the NSDAP (Nazi Party) won more than 38% of the vote in German elections. 1938, Bulgaria signed a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (TurkeyRomaniaYugoslavia). Also 1938, Archaeologists discovered engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.

In 1941, The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf HitlerNazi official Hermann Göring, ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question." 1945, Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrendered to Alliedsoldiers in Austria. 1948, at Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) was dedicated. Also 1948, USS Nevada was sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.

In 1954, first ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio. 1961, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in Major League Baseball history occurred when the game was stopped in the 9th inning because of rain. 1964, Ranger programRanger 7 sent back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes. 1970, Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy. 1971, Apollo programApollo 15 astronauts became the first to ride in a lunar rover 1972, the Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-took the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It was the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians were killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy. 1988, thirty-two people were killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapsed in Butterworth, PenangMalaysia.

In 1991, the United States and Soviet Union both signed the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles. 1992, Georgia joined the United Nations. 1999, Discovery ProgramLunar ProspectorNASA intentionally crashed the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface. 2006, Fidel Castro handed over power to brother Raúl Castro. 2007, Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, came to an end. 2009, three members of the popular South Korean group TVXQ, (Kim JaejoongKim Junsu, and Park Yoochun), filed lawsuit against their Korean management S.M. Entertainment. 2012, Michael Phelps broke the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
=== 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.
===
Thanks to Warren for this advice on watching Bolt
Warren Catton Get this for your PC or MAC https://www.foxtel.com.au/foxtelplay/how-it-works/pc-mac.html Once you have installed it start it up and press Live TV you don't need a login to watch Sky News!
===
I am publishing a book called Bread of Life: January. 

Bread of Life is a daily bible quote with a layman's understanding of the meaning. I give one quote for each day, and also a series of personal stories illustrating key concepts eg Who is God? What is a miracle? Why is there tragedy?

January is the first of the anticipated year-long work of thirteen books. One for each month and the whole year. It costs to publish. It (Kindle version) should retail at about $2US online, but the paperback version would cost more, according to production cost.
If you have a heart for giving, I fundraise at gofund.me/27tkwuc
===
Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with AugustSeptemberOctober, 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 a free kindle version.

List of available items at Create Space
Happy birthday and many happy returns Michael HuynhGeoggery TirJeremy Dery and Anthony Hunter. Born on the same day, across the years. Along with John Canton (1718), John Ericsson (1803), George Liberace (1911), Milton Friedman (1912), Ted Baillieu (1953), Wesley Snipes (1962), J. K. Rowling (1965) and Emilia Fox (1974). On your day, Ka Hae Hawai'i Day (Flag Day) in Hawaii; Feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. 1703 – English writer Daniel Defoe was placed in a pillory for seditious libel after publishing a pamphlet politically satirising the High Church Tories.
1917 – First World War: The Battle of Passchendaele began near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium, with the Allied Powers aiming to force German troops to withdraw from the Channel Ports.
1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to handle "the final solution of the Jewish question".
1975 – The Troubles: In a botched paramilitary attack, three members of the popular Miami Showband and two Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen were killed in County Down, Northern Ireland.
1991 – Soviet Special Purpose Police Unit troops killed seven Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious attack of their campaign against Lithuanian border posts. Avoid seditious libel that will get you pilloried. Also, avoid big battles. Try and solve problems without hurting people. Or you may become a joke. Sometimes, it might be best to turn a blind eye .. and just have fun.

Deaths
Bush and Gorbachev sign the START I treaty.
Bush and Gorbachevsign the START Itreaty.
Nick, he is your fame. Defoe had written something popular. Let him be called a Major General. Troubles shared are disturbing. It is a start. Let's party. 
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No hope for America or the world in this poll

Piers Akerman – Saturday, July 30, 2016 (11:57pm)

THE world dodged a bullet when Malcolm Turnbull refused to endorse Kevin Rudd’s tepid candidacy for the UN Secretary-General’s job. 

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'No hope for America or the world in this poll'
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Pell report is a sick fantasy

Piers Akerman – Saturday, July 30, 2016 (11:54pm)

THE fanfare around the ABC’s 7.30 program last week would make you think Cardinal George Pell is the master paedophile sitting atop the global paedophile ring that is the Catholic Church. 

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'Pell report is a sick fantasy'
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Fix Australian of the Year gong or scrap it

Piers Akerman – Saturday, July 30, 2016 (11:53pm)

AFTER the debacle of David Morrison as Australian of the Year, it’s time we scrapped the award altogether, or at least got it right. 

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'Fix Australian of the Year gong or scrap it'
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SYDNEY GREENS BRANCHES

Tim Blair – Sunday, July 31, 2016 (2:49am)

A poignant protest on Anzac Parade, where even a few stray branches are mourned:


If only the SMH’s Elizabeth Farrelly had been there. She could’ve written another attack on fluoro monkeys, her least-favourite invasive species. Instead, for this week’s column Elizabeth handed in a review of Archibald Prize artworks: 
Two portraits stand in contrast, picked out not by skill or insight but by a smug opacity more aligned with that older habit, portrait as propaganda. “We,” they seem to say, “are the fossilised relics of the braggart tradition. We stand for commerce, not creativity; patriarchy, not openness; exploitation, not love.” 
Liz thinks those are opposites. They stand for evil, not caterpillars; tyranny, not shoes; injustice, not left-arm Sri Lankan unorthodox spin bowling.   
I came to them blind … 
Not a great qualification as an art critic. 
The first … is Deputy Premier Troy Grant. Its colouring is vaguely Andrew Wyeth, but there’s no romance here. No sweetness. The wheat is cut-to-length and stubby and the man, somewhat bizarrely, occupies not the ground but a chair. His right hand holds – literally centre-field – a police hat and crucifix, all of it bespeaking unrivalled dominance over a landscape that is anyway monocultured and chemicaled into submission, not a tree in sight. 
The Archibald is a portrait prize. Landscapes are down the hall. 
The other portrait … shows Josh Frydenberg, aka “Mr Coal”, grinning affably, suited and sated-looking like a banker after a fancy lunch. Around his balding head is a soft white halo of “outstanding achievements” …
Was this some kind of sick joke? Had Australia been very bad in some former existence to deserve such punishment? Did these people even breathe air? 
The last time I ran into Josh he seemed to be breathing air, but it could have been a combination of ammonia fumes and acetate. You never know these days with Victorian Liberals.
(Via Bill D.)
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AT LEAST NIXON IS TUNING IN

Tim Blair – Sunday, July 31, 2016 (1:45am)

The “they’ve stopped listening” moment occurs when an electorate ceases to follow a particular contender’s campaign. In 2007, that moment was detected some weeks prior to the election: 
Swinging voters had stopped listening to John Howard and see him as yesterday’s man …
When influential US pollster Frank Luntz asked 24 carefully selected floating voters which politician they wanted to hear from first, the response was overwhelming – 23 chose Mr Rudd, while only one said Mr Howard. 
In 2010, the electorate stopped listening to Kevin Rudd even before an election was called: 
It has reached the stage where voters aren’t listening any more. When that happens, what can you say that will turn things around? Not much. 
Turning things around is even harder if your own party isn’t listening. Rudd was knifed by Julia Gillard just one month later. It’s way too early to say we’ve hit a no-listening point in the US election, but USA TODAY editorial page deputy David Mastio is calling it anyway
No one is listening anymore … I don’t care how much Hillary Clinton spends on attack ads revealing the full awful truth about Donald Trump. As long as she is talking, nobody is going to hear a word over all the laughter. 
It’s an entertaining piece. Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reports a stunning campaign comment: 
Former US president Richard Nixon also weighed in, encapsulating what some people feel about the presidential race: that they’re voting against Trump and the Republicans, not for Hillary. 
It isn’t every day that a dead 103-year-old offers his opinion on contemporary politics. Poll-wise, an eleven-day average currently shows Trump and Clinton in a tie. According to the Wall Street Journal: “After what even critics said was a highly effective Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton appears to have emerged as … the underdog.”
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THE COMMUTER

Tim Blair – Sunday, July 31, 2016 (12:33am)

A previous era of US drag racers and their cars typically went by entertainingly predatory nicknames. During the 1970s, for example, drag strips across the nation thrilled to battles between the Snake and the the Mongoose.
In Britain, however, names were slightly more restrained. Behold the Commuter:


Unusually for a slingshot dragster, the Commuter ran a Ford engine. Presumably its nemesis was the notorious Timetable, or perhaps the always-rapid Ticket Collector.
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Not vindicated then, by Kelly’s election-day test

Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (6:18pm)

Paul Kelly set the test on election day, July 2:

If Turnbull wins a comfortable working majority it will vindicate the Abbott/Turnbull leadership change. It will validate the Turnbull/Morrison economic policy and give Turnbull the chance to stabilise a brand of Liberal government, more progressive with a positive leadership style and incremental approach to reform.
Kelly will have to draw the logical conclusion, then, after today’s final declaration:
Malcolm Turnbull will be left with the barest majority of one seat in Parliament after the Australian Electoral Commission called the disputed seat of Herbert for Labor by just 37 votes. 
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Spitters free, warders muzzled

Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (6:11pm)

This overreaction is becoming quite mad. Now when offenders spit at warders, it’s the warders who have to have their heads in a bag:
YOUTH detention officers at WA’s Banksia Hill centre have been ordered to wear surgical masks with eye shields rather than put spit hoods on juveniles.
The sudden policy change to drop the use of the hoods at WA’s only juvenile jail came after shocking footage of guards mistreating young detainees in the Northern Territory was aired on ABC’s Four Corners program this week, sparking a royal commission.

Quite literally, the lunatics are running the asylum.
(Thanks to reader Steve.) 
===

Do you trust Warren Mundine or Malcolm Turnbull?

Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (11:24am)

Another member of Malcolm Turnbull’s extended team has reason to question the Prime Minister’s trustworthiness:
The head of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council Nyunggai Warren Mundine is at odds with Malcolm Turnbull over whether there should be a new Royal Commission and whether he was consulted, saying ... we need action, not more reports…
Mr Mundine said the Prime Minister spoke to him late Wednesday about the terms of reference, but not before the decision was made to launch an inquiry.
“I expressed my views in regard to it but [they made no difference] because my comments were after the announcement of the Royal Commission,” he said…
Turnbull rejected suggestions he had not consulted Mr Mundine about setting up the commission, saying they spoke before the inquiry was announced on Tuesday morning. “I did speak to Mr Mundine actually before the royal commission was announced, as a matter of fact,” he said.
But did he consult on the royal commission?
And here’s a sign of the dangerous new viciousness of the Left:
NT Attorney General and former Corrections Minister John Elferink has fled to South Australia ... after receiving death threats over the footage aired by the ABC’s Four Corners.
Reader Peter of Bellevue Hill:
How shocking to read of Elferink’s flight. It cannot be that many years ago that it would have been scarcely imaginable that Australia would be a place where journalists must move house over Islamist death threats, a place where elements within the police and the national broadcaster seek to destroy a public figure with untested allegations, and a place where an elected official receives death threats over a television program.
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Bishop the latest to learn the curse of backing Turnbull

Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (10:58am)

Why is Barnaby Joyce telling fibs for Malcolm Turnbull?
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull accurately reflected the mood of the federal Cabinet when he rejected Kevin Rudd’s bid to lead the United Nations, according to deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce… “I’ve seen some reports that this was a captain’s pick, it was not. It was a decision of Cabinet,” the Nationals leader told the ABC. “I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say it was a majority.”
That is the opposite of what Turnbull’s office is briefing. Peter Hartcher:
In ... Thursday’s cabinet debate ... Turnbull presided as a neutral chairman, showing no inclination, as he listened to the arguments for and against. In the face of a divided cabinet, he asked his colleagues for a “hunting licence” – permission to take the decision himself – and was given one…
Turnbull ... fears for the unity of his government. He is acutely conscious that he was narrowly returned to power, that he is subject to a lot of biting internal criticism over the campaign, that a small knot of his party’s conservatives – [Eric] Abetz, Cory Bernardi, George Christiansen, Kevin Andrews - will enjoy making trouble for him if they can....
Before the election, when Turnbull imagined his future self to be in a stronger position, he was committed to supporting Rudd… As Rudd wrote to Turnbull in a letter he released on Friday night: “You in fact sent me a message on your preferred Wickr system [encrypted message service] where you stated that you and the FM [foreign minister] were ‘as one’ in your support for my candidature.”
Newly anxious, Turnbull has preferred to appease his right faction ... than to support his deputy leader and foreign affairs minister…
This is a decision taken in fear. It’s a decision about preserving the personal political position of the leader.
And Turnbull was always in favor of this idiotic idea to back Rudd until he realised his job was on the line.
Katharine Murphy:
Notwithstanding [the] bruising communications between Turnbull and Rudd, Bishop was asked to work up a cabinet submission that would be considered by the government after the election. Government sources say it was Turnbull’s call to put the issue to the full cabinet…
(C)olleagues had the impression from Bishop that the prime minister would have no option [but to] nominate Rudd. Bishop then set about the business of establishing whether Rudd was suitably qualified for the post…
Given her character traits, it is highly unlikely Bishop would have extended herself that far if she felt she lacked high-level support. As a leading moderate who supported Turnbull during the leadership change from Tony Abbott, Bishop faces a degree of internal vulnerability. After the election there was talk of replacing her as deputy Liberal leader with a conservative..
(O)n the balance of the evidence it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Turnbull was walking both sides of the street in the hope he would be able to finesse a complex situation after an election when he emerged from the campaign in possession of a personal mandate. That didn’t quite come off, of course. 
The Courier-Mail editorial:
Turnbull can dissemble all he likes about his Government’s rejection of Kevin Rudd for a nomination to run for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations – but at its heart this was a brutal blow to his authority and that of his Liberal Party deputy, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
Anyone who understands Mr Turnbull’s private, very positive views of Mr Rudd will chuckle at his assertion he did not think the former Labor prime minister was suitable for the role of UN Secretary-General. And this assertion becomes doubly unbelievable when you consider the recommendation was taken to Cabinet by Ms Bishop on the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Put simply, if Mr Turnbull did not believe Mr Rudd was suitable why did he allow his deputy to take this submission forward?
Some reflections.
Turnbull betrayed Rudd and Rudd will make him pay.
Turnbull humiliated Bishop and Bishop will make sure he carries the can.
Turnbull would have backed Rudd - against the overwhelming sentiment of Liberal members - had he not been humiliated at the election.
Turnbull has no political judgement.
Bishop’s authority has been shredded since the coup.
Turnbull has now damaged his two key fellow plotters - Bishop and Treasurer Scott Morrison - in exactly the same way. He encouraged both to do something stupid (Morrison to spruik a higher GST, Bishop to promote Rudd) and then cut them off at the knees when the plans went pear-shaped. For everyone in the Turnbull coterie this question must now be paramount: will Turnbull drag them down, too. Backing him comes at a terrible cost.
Indeed:

Of the plotters who gathered in Peter Hendy’s outhouse in September last year to engineer Malcolm Turnbull’s ascension, a third is gone from Federal politics.
Nine Liberals secretly met at Hendy’s rural Queanbeyan property on the Sunday night before the leadership spill that saw Tony Abbott removed as prime minister… Two staffers were there as observers: Julie Bishop’s chief of staff Murray Hansen and Turnbull’s now principal private secretary Sally Cray…
Wyatt Roy and Hendy were knocked out by voters on July 2. And Mal Brough knocked himself out of contention.
Read on the full list of Turnbull plotters and advisers - most of them B grade and many, I predict, destined for humiliation.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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Missing the chance to see Phillip Adams made a slave of Chavez economics

Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (10:36am)

Then:

[Eight] years ago a collective of our snowfield socialists - including the ABC’s Phillip Adams, propagandist John Pilger, the Greens’ Kerry Nettle and Kevin Rudd’s nephew Van Thanh Rudd - begged Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez to come teach Australians a lesson:

Every country has its own traditions and culture and has to find its own solutions, but what Venezuela has been able to achieve in so little time will be a source of inspiration and ideas for many in Australia.
Now:
A new decree establishing that any employee in Venezuela can be effectively made to work in the country’s fields as a way to fight the current food crisis is unlawful and effectively amounts to forced labour, said Amnesty International…
The decree, officially published earlier this week, establishes that people working in public and private companies can be called upon to join state-sponsored organizations specialized in the production of food. They will be made to work in the new companies temporarily for a minimum of 60 days after which their “contracts” will be automatically renewed for an extra 60-day period or they will be allowed to go back to their original jobs.
It’s a pity, in a way, that Phillip Adams and his fellow socialists never succeeded in converting Australia to Chavez-style socialism. I would have rather enjoyed seeing the millionaire ad man forced to work in the fields and learn the consequences of his authoritarian dreams. 
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Andes Bolt

Andrew Bolt July 30 2016 (11:34pm)

My book took off on an international frolic without me, visiting London, Lake Como, Ithaca, Scotland, the Bay of Naples and Fiji, before being caught and sentenced to work in the mines of Kalgoorlie. On release, it worked on the coal seam gas fields of Condabri, Queensland, before taking to the road to meet an Aboriginal giant at Aileron, in the Northern Territory.
It has now left the country to see the Andes. Here is the view reader Michael Braaksma snapped from the balcony of Huinganco Hosteria, near Andacollo in Argentina:

To buy a copy for the traveler in your life, go here. A second edition will be printed soon, so don’t wait if you want one of the remaining first editions.
The third edition of the Bolt Bulletin, available to on-line buyers, went out last week.
UPDATE
Thank you very much to the 150 people who turned up to the Adelaide launch of my book on Friday. I am grateful to you. Terrific event. 
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NON-DENTIST OBLITERATES ANONYMOUS ANIMALS

Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (3:39pm)

Just as well Robert Mugabe isn’t a Minnesota dentist, otherwise he might have been in big trouble back in March: 
Robert Mugabe isn’t known for his subdued taste, and his million-dollar birthday was just as extravagant as people have come to expect …
His guests were fed a young elephant, and two buffaloestwo sables and five impalas were also donated to the president by a local landowner. He also threw in a lion and a crocodile to be stuffed as an extra gift for Mugabe. On top of this, 40 cows were offered to the president by two members of his government. A second elephant is going to be shot and given to the Victoria Falls community. 
For the sake of Twitter’s Cecil-concerned community, let’s hope that none of these creatures had names.
(Via Habib.)
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BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE

Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (2:56pm)

This week’s podcast discusses, among other topics, the appropriate way to deal with unruly football fans.
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BIG AL BRINGS THE FREEZE

Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (3:59am)

Are you all cold down in Melbourne? Colder even than us in Sydney? Here’s why.
(Via Roger B.) 
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EVEN WORSE THAN A DEAD CAT

Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (3:17am)

Fairfax reports:


Really? Do you really think so? And what might that outrage be, exactly?


And that’s the worst damn thing happening in Africa at the moment. Everything else is just fantastic.
UPDATE. Even worserer than five dead elephants
Two research chimpanzees at a state university on Long Island shouldn’t be considered legal persons and given the rights bestowed by so-called personhood, a New York State Supreme Court judge ruled Wednesday. 
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BELLA LELLA

Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (1:00am)

My first RendezView column celebrates a fearless feminist and identifies Europe’s solitary superiority.
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On The Bolt Report on Sunday, July 31

Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (11:48am)


On Channel 10 on Sunday at 10am and 3pm:
Editorial:  On booing Goodes.
My guest: gifted Aboriginal blogger Dallas Scott.
The panel: Australian columnist Niki Savva and John Roskam, head of the IPA.

NewsWatch: Rowan Dean, editor of Spectator Australia and columnist for the Courier Mail and Financial Review. Why are sports journalists on one side of the debate on Goodes and many sports fans the other?

So much to talk about: can Bronwyn Bishop be saved? Fighting Labor’s xenophonic campaign against free trade. Want to see a real expenses scandal?
The videos of the shows appear here.
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Financing Mel

Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (7:59am)

 Mel Gibson is lured back to Australia by a handout of taxpayers’ money:
Hacksaw Ridge will be the true story of Second World War army medic Desmond Doss, who served in the Battle of Okinawa and was America’s first conscientious objector to win a Congressional Medal of Honour. 
Gibson and Deputy Premier Troy Grant on Thursday announced the film would be shot in Sydney and parts of “regional NSW"… The NSW Government has promised to invest an undisclosed figure into the production that Mr Grant said would bring 720 jobs and $26 million in investment to the state.
Paul Murray asks: exactly when did we forgive Mel Gibson?
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If not all then none: the sloppy arguments of David Penberthy

Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (6:35am)

Many collectivists fall for a logical error that fits their weakness for generalising and dividing people into races, classes, victimhoods or economic units. The first is to believe: if not all then none.  The second: if some, then all.
Confused? David Penberthy demonstrates the first:
There’s been a couple of columns published this week by people such as Rita Panahi and Andrew Bolt which were framed around the assertion that the silent majority is appalled by the preachy Goodes, and that the media has read this all wrong. 
On numerical grounds their argument doesn’t stack up. If the Goodes-haters were the silent majority, they wouldn’t be silent, they’d be booing him too.
What an astonishing claim. Overlook the hyperbolic “Goodes-haters” and “appalled” - taken from Penberthy’s vast stockroom of straw men. Essentially, Penberthy is suggesting that because the whole stadium is not so rude and mean as to boo Goodes then the silent majority must agree to the opposite proposition: he’s actually the victim of racism.
Seriously?
Jonathan Pearlman now demonstrates the second and related logical error: if one then all:
Australian rules football players and officials have appealed for crowds to stop the relentless, racially-motivated booing and taunting of Adam Goodes… The heckling included a call to “get back to the zoo” by a crowd member who was ejected by security 
One foul heckler now defines tends of thousands of other fans? Is that because that one heckler helps the writer to frame the rest on his trumped up charge? Or fitted a stereotype that conformed to Pearlman’s prejudices?
But back to Penberthy. I won’t deal with all the exaggerations and distortions in his article - I haven’t got all day - but a couple did stand out.
First, there’s the personal abuse and non-sequiturs that so common among the lesser intellects of the Left:
I am not sure who dresses Rita [Panahi] but her argument, like Bolt’s and that of Alan Jones, has at its centre a massive logical flaw. They insist that the booing of Goodes has nothing to do with race, and in the same breath argue that people are sick of Goodes lecturing them on race issues.
The sneering at Rita is cheap. And it is perfectly consistent to argue (as I in fact do) that Goodes is not primarily booed because he is Aboriginal but because his playing of the race card is rejected and resented. I have never denied this is an argument about racial politics.
Penberthy then makes a claim that only the blind and deaf could seriously advance:
The extent to which Goodes has ever lectured Australia is also a moot point.
It is? From just one of Goodes’ public statements:
That process starts with understanding our very dark past, a brutal history of dispossession, theft and slaughter… 
Put yourself in Aboriginal shoes for a minute. Imagine watching a film that tells the truth about the terrible injustices committed over 225 years against your people, a film that reveals how Europeans, and the governments that have run our country, have raped, killed and stolen from your people for their own benefit.
From another:
The history of our country is built on so much lies and racial policies, and things that have suppressed my people and lots of minorities in this country, so you can’t blame people for having the views that they have.
But all praise to Penberthy. It’s a credit to this man that he managed to edit a newspaper despite being unable to read.
UPDATE
Even after the eventual removal of four defamations and one startling error (for which I guess I should be grateful), this hostile Age report still misrepresents my comments from the very first paragraph:
Andrew Bolt says it’s up to Adam Goodes to say ‘it was wrong’ to stand up to a 13-year-old girl who racially vilified him to end the booing controversy.
No, I did not at all say it was “up to Adam Goodes” to end the booing. I repeatedly said it should stop:
I wish the booing had never started. I wish it would stop. I think it’s a sort of cruel bullying of its own.
As anyone listening to what I said on the ABC last night would now, what I in fact suggested was a way for Adam Goodes to emerge from this even more admired than he was before the controversy began:
Look, how it would be best stopped, but it won’t be, is for Adam Goodes to say, “Look, I did overreact [by publicly shaming a 13-year-old girl]. We mustn’t forget we’re all human beings, we’re all together in this.  And singling out a girl for public humiliation like that I thought was wrong and if Adam Goodes said it was wrong, I think he’d be a superstar. People of all sides would rush to embrace him on this. 
And so they would. He’d be hailed for his courage and magnanimity. He’d become an oracle, a healer, much as I might still object to his message. Who could deny it?
But who preferred instead to misrepresent it? 
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Clinton falling

Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (6:25am)

Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers keep falling, albeit from a height, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll:
If the election were held today, Clinton would be tied with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in the poll—down from significant leads in a May 28 survey—but would top the current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. 
The poll, which was conducted amid new reporting on the existence of classified information on Clinton’s private email server, found further declines in Clinton’s perceived trustworthiness, with 57% of Americans now viewing her as neither honest nor trustworthy. 
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I don’t think this option has worked

Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (6:20am)

Dennis Shanahan on Tony Abbott’s three options in dealing with Bronwyn Bishop’s expenses scandal:
Abbott’s choices of bold action are: to tell Bishop to go; to stand by her in the face of intense public criticism and share her political damage; or to vow to the change the system.
So far Abbott has chosen the worst option. 
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Feeling reconciled yet?

Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (6:12am)

This is all going brilliantly to plan - the AFL’s “reconciliation” plan:
SYDNEY supporters have vowed to take justice into their own hands if opposition fans boo Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes again. 
Swans fans say they will sneak eggs into the next game Goodes plays and pelt any opposition supporter who dares boo the dual medallist.
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A lecture from Clive Palmer on spending other people’s money

Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (5:56am)

The sanctimony over Bronwyn Bishop is enough to make even a strong man gag:
Conscience of the nation. Clive Palmer, media release, yesterday:  
Clive Palmer is urging the public to join the fight in removing Bronwyn Bishop from the position of Speaker ... “They are tired of the abuse of parliamentary entitlements.”
Palmer’s record. Hedley Thomas, The Australian, October 31, 2014: 
Clive Palmer went on a spending spree after siphoning $10 million of Chinese funds into a bank account he controlled, according to fresh documents lodged in the Queensland Supreme Court yesterday. The documents … include evidence that he drew a $6m cheque ... three days before the federal election.
Thomas again, November 8, 2014: 
New evidence in a fraud and dishonesty case against Clive Palmer shows he used Chinese cash to funnel $6 million to the coffers of his Palmer United Party and $97,000 to pay a credit card bill, using funds that were meant to pay for the operations of a remote port … China’s state-owned international investment company, which accuses Mr Palmer of dishonesty and fraud, filed documents in the Supreme Court in Brisbane yesterday that reveal all of the details of a series of cheques drawn by the resources tycoon for his personal and political benefit after he took $10m from a bank account, called “Port Palmer Operations”. The funds in the ... Port Palmer Operations account were meant to pay for operating costs at the West Australian port of Cape Preston, which Mr Palmer’s company Mineralogy was neither in possession of nor operating at the time the money was taken.
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Adam Goodes is an incredibly talented footballer. He is a passionate advocate for his people and his country. He has received the highest honours in the game. He has been recognised by the nation as Australian of the Year. And right now, he is hurting.
Regardless of the conscious or subconscious motivations of the hecklers, we can all see that Goodsey is hurting to the point of not wanting to lace up his boots. And, whichever team we support, surely we can all agree that risking the premature ending of the career of one of AFL’s great players is totally unacceptable.
There is a place for good-natured heckling in Australian sport. I’ve booed a few Queensland league players in my time (Wally Lewis comes to mind). And some may argue that the line between good-natured and malicious heckling can be fuzzy. But there is nothing fuzzy about this. The line has been crossed.
There are many things we pride ourselves on as Australians… and good sportsmanship is right at the top of that list. The relentless booing of Adam Goodes breaks this spirit of good sportsmanship. It must stop. 
Goodsey… I hope you feel the waves of support from the many thousands of supporters that have got your back. I can’t wait for you to get back on the field. When you do, I’ll be cheering loudly for you. And I won’t be alone.
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Okkaaayyy then(H/t Dan Nolan)
Posted by Tim Andrews on Thursday, 30 July 2015
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The opening sentence to a book is crucial! Here's a collection of some of the most legendary openers: http://bit.ly/1I13ibX
Posted by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on Wednesday, 29 July 2015
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All we are saying, is give war a chance

Piers Akerman – Thursday, July 31, 2014 (6:57pm)

THE real message coming from the Gazan conflict is give war a chance. That’s right. All peace-loving people should be demonstrating in the streets and singing, “All we are saying, is give war a chance”.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'All we are saying, is give war a chance'
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SARAH CAUSE-EFFECT

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 31, 2014 (5:08am)

As Labor has learned, Greens bring trouble
An internal report provided to the Immigration Department has warned that, when Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young turns up at a detention centre, there is a corresponding spike in “incidents” involving asylum seekers.
The operational brief provided by the security company Serco to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection claimed “high profile” visits to detention centres sparked an increase in reportable “incidents” and “adverse behaviour” among detainees. 
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ISLAM IMITATES COMEDY

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 31, 2014 (4:58am)

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc
Women should not laugh out loud in public, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has said while complaining about “moral corruption” in Turkey …
“[The woman] will know what is haram and not haram. She will not laugh in public. She will not be inviting in her attitudes and will protect her chasteness,” Arinc said. 
Excellent US sitcom Parks and Recreation:



(Via Miss Piggy)
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CRATE OF ORIGIN

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 31, 2014 (2:43am)

An interstate crate dispute has broken out over Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s plans to install $9.3 million worth of public art throughout inner Sydney.
Just one day after Moore’s plans were announced to widespread ridicule, Melbourne artist Jarrad Kennedy claimed that he was the first to design and build a giant milk crate.


Victoria vs NSW: state against state, crate against crate

A similar giant crate, named Pavilion and designed by Sydney artist Hany Armanious, is a key feature of Moore’s proposed art project. 

 Continue reading 'CRATE OF ORIGIN'
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Hamas to the children: shoot Jews. UPDATE: Sydney protest:  “jihad is the answer”

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (6:10pm)

 What does Hamas care that Palestinian children die in the war it started and will not stop? After all, it’s been recruiting them for years for jihad.
What kind of culture broadcasts this filth?
UPDATE
Filmed on the streets of Lakemba, this protest, with young men chanting:
Philistine philistine (Arabic for Palestine),
Allah hedik Israel (God destroy you Israel)
Palestine is Muslim land
With the Umma we will stand
Palestine is Muslim land
The solution is Jihad
Palestine is Muslim land
Your oppression will not stand
You can never stop Islam
From Australia to al Sham (Syria)
One umma hand in hand
From Lakemba to Gaza 
(Thanks to readers Philip and Robyn, with help from Mariane.) 
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Gaza debate tells us to scrap laws against free speech

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (1:00pm)

Reader Graham Hyde, a solicitor and barrister, says the Gaza debate shows why our hate speech laws must be repealed:
The debate over Israel’s military action in Gaza shows why section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act should be fully repealed and replaced with a Federal Freedom of Expression Act or a guarantee of free expression in the Federal Constitution. 
Presently, Jewish activists could complain to numerous Human Rights Commissions that former Ambassador Ross Burns (‘Israel may not have a way back‘, 31/7/14) has breached s.18C or other censorship laws as in the Kazak case. They may argue that he accuses Israel of cruelty, apartheid, ethnic discrimination and cleansing, and encaging, blockading, and sending tanks through Gaza’s population like the ‘Sudetenland’ (comparing Israelis to Hitler?) thus committing war crimes.
Jews may find this offensive, insulting, humiliating, vilifying, or bigoted, or think it incites racial hatred. Given the Holocaust, and recent attacks on Jews in Europe and elsewhere, some may even think it is intimidating, or incites violence or even genocide.
I strongly disagree with Mr Burns, but support his right to free expression, as I believe the vast majority of Australians do. ’
Graham adds:
Note: In the case of Kazak v John Fairfax Publications Limited [2000] NSWADT 77 on very similar facts a complaint against journalist Tom Switzer was upheld. He said among other things: ‘...the Palestinians cannot be trusted in the peace process..the Palestinians are the true culprits in derailing efforts to reach an agreement over Gaza and the West Bank…the Palestinians remain vicious thugs who show no serious willingness to comply with agreements….’.  Note also the use of the term ‘Israelis’ (joint reference to the people of Israel?) in Mr Burns’s opening paragraph and his repeated use of the term Israel and see paras 78 to 83 of the Kazak judgement). [That judgment was later overturned on appeal.] 
The recent case of Clarke v Nationwide News Pty Ltd trading as The Sunday Times [2012] FCA 307, demonstrates that the publisher of offensive material (eg The Australian newspaper in respect of Mr Burns’s article) could be held liable for the simple act of publication.
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Embedded with Islamists. So be wary of their reports

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (11:32am)

How free are the reporters embedded with Hamas terrorists in Gaza free to see and to report?
HAMAS is not just targeting Israel­i civilians, threatening Gaz­ans and using them as humans shields. 
It has another terror tactic: intim­idating foreign journalists…
Reporter Peter Stefanovic, of the Nine Network’s news, stationed in Gaza, received a surge of abuse and threats when he tweeted that he had seen rockets fired into Israel from near his hotel, in a civilian area…
John Reed, a reporter for Britain’s Financial Times, tweeted about seeing “two rockets fired toward Israel from near al-Shifa hospital (the largest in Gaza), even as more bombing victims were brought in”. He was also subject to threats and abuse.
The Wall Street Journal’s reporter Nick Casey fell foul of Hamas by reporting that Shifa hospital was Hamas’s control centre. On July 21, Casey posted a photo on Twitter of a chief Hamas spokesman being interviewed from a room in Shifa hospital in front of a makeshift backdrop of a photo of a destroyed house… Almost immediately, Casey received a flood of online threats. Two days later, the tweet was deleted…
French-Palestinian journalist Radjaa Abu Dagga wrote that he was forcibly blocked from leaving Gaza and detained and interrogated by members of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigade at a room in Shifa hospital next to the emergency room. His account of his treatment, in the French newspaper Liberation, also has since been taken down from the paper’s website at Dagga’s request…
Italian reporter Gabriele Barbati tweeted on Tuesday: “Out of #Gaza far from #Hamas retaliation: misfired rocket killed children today in Shati. Witness: militants rushed and cleared ­debris.”
He was referring to a strike on Monday at al-Shati refugee camp which, together with a near-simultaneous hit on Shifa hospital, killed 10 people, including a number of children.
Israel vehemently denied responsibility and said it had proof via photos and radar that misfired Islamic Jihad rockets had caused the deaths.
In his tweet, Barbati backed up the Israeli version (the fast clean-up suggests a cover-up) — and implied that he would not have been free to say this had he been in Gaza. 
Then there’s the double-counting of Palestinian victims, many of whom aren’t as innocent as usually portrayed:
According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre, out of 775 fatalities analysed (as of July 23), 229 were militants or terrorists, 267 were civil­ians, and 279 could not yet be classified. 
The Meir Amit centre examines each reported casualty’s background on Palestinian websites and looks for details about their funerals to determine their occupation and to confirm or rule out any affiliation with terror groups, giving much greater accuracy about whether the person was a civilian. 
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Back off, Big Brother

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (9:52am)

Too much Big Brother? What’s it to you if I decide to eat only baked beans so I can spend some of my dole on a nice bottle of champagne for Christmas, just to feel rich for a day?
ABOUT 2.5 million welfare ­recipients on “working-age ­payments”, including disability support pensioners and carers, would be forced into a cashless world where 100 per cent of their payments were income managed and they were banned from purchasing “prohibited” goods.

The radical proposal is ­contained in mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s blueprint for indigenous welfare and employment, which he has delivered to the Abbott government…

Mr Forrest also wants all families receiving family tax benefits to have access to the money directly linked to school attendance of their children.
But, yes, I agree that pension payments for children should come with strings attached. Even payments to the unemployed.
But to the disabled, too? And the sick? Their carers? 
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Scrap this useless tax and the spending it was meant to pay for

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (9:21am)

Judith Sloan is right. The mining tax must go - along with the mad welfare spending it was stupidly meant to fund:
It has been a fiasco from the start. The first version was a form of institutionalised theft which would have meant every global mining company leaving Australia in due course. The second version, which was designed by the big mining companies themselves, is much less harmful in terms of discouraging investment, but it doesn’t really raise any revenue… 
The net effect ... has been to produce a mere $600,000 in net revenue to the federal government in the June quarter…
Recall that the Gillard government, under the stewardship of treasurer Wayne Swan, expected to raise $300 million this financial year and a total of $26.5 billion over the period 2013-14 to 2016-17.
If the dribble of revenue is not bad enough, the Labor government’s decision to link a whole lot of poor quality spending to the revenue from the mining tax has been calamitous… 
But here’s the thing: the mining tax is unlikely to raise serious revenue and the spending commitments amount to some $17bn over this year and the next three years. Something has to give — the expenditure has to be abandoned along with the tax. 
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Once again. The Jew-haters return

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (8:32am)

Culture warsIslamism


A PUTRID Jew-hatred has returned to the West, fed by mass immigration and stoked by the Left.

Do not mistake this anti-Semitism for mere anger at Israel over the war in Gaza. That war is just the calculated pretext for a month of menace that has terrified many Jews — as well as those of us who prize civilisation over barbaric tribalism.
France now has more than six million Muslims and two weeks ago Arab protesters — some chanting “death to Jews” — attacked synagogues, torched cars and burned Jewish shops in Sarcelles, a suburb of Paris dubbed “Little Jerusalem”.
Germany now has four million Muslims.  Arab and Turkish protesters were this month filmed shouting “Gas the Jews” and other Jew-hating slogans and a Berlin imam, Sheik Abu Bilal Ismail, was filmed at his mosque preaching: “Oh Allah, destroy the Zionist Jews ... Count them and kill them to the very last one. Don’t spare a single one of them.” Two Jews wearing yarmulkes were attacked in Berlin.
(Read full article here.) 
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There is no “root cause” to discuss with such animals

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (8:15am)

I hear ABC presenters forever talking about negotiating with various Islamist extremists - this time Hamas - about addressing “root causes” of their anger.
And then the Islamic State releases a video showing how gleefully it slaughters unarmed civilians (CAUTION -GRAPHIC) and demonstrating that there is no root cause that can be addressed that doesn’t involve Jews and other unbelievers dying. There is nothing to talk about with such people, and the only rational response is to shoot them before they shoot you:
You think I talk too brutally? I sound too harsh? Then tell me how exactly what settlement you’d expect to reach with animals that do this - and CAUTION - GROSS SCENES OF BEHEADED SYRIANS:
There is an evil. Israel is on the front line in fighting it.  
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Abbott must lead us back home

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (7:42am)

TONY Abbott has led well, but his crusade for justice for the victims of MH17 looks increasingly likely to fail.
Even more reason, then, for his switch back to domestic politics this week — and for managing some expectations.
The 230 police and soldiers sent by the Prime Minister to search the Ukrainian fields where MH17 was shot down have been blocked for days from even visiting the site, let along conducting a methodical search. Remains will inevitably be lost and evidence destroyed.
The problem is that there is something even stronger than Abbott’s will: Russian power and Ukraine’s self-interest.
(Read full article here.) 
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The warming pause is 13 years and four months

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (7:30am)

Global warming - general


Christopher Monckton checks all five of the main measures of global warming and works out the mean. Conclusion:
... the Great Pause has endured for 160 months – i.e., 13 years 4 months.
And the rise in temperatures we’re seen since 1950 has been at the non-catastrophic rate of no more than 1.55 degrees per century:
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Who wouldn’t feel bad after a visit from Hanson-Young?

Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (7:06am)

Sarah Hanson-Young makes me feel depressed and angry, too, so I fully understand:
AN internal report provided to the Immigration Department has warned that, when Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young turns up at a detention centre, there is a corresponding spike in “incidents” involving asylum seekers. 
The operational brief provided by the security company Serco to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection claimed “high profile” visits to detention centres sparked an increase in reportable “incidents” and “adverse behaviour” among detainees…
The Serco report, however, revealed that, during a visit by the Senator to Christmas Island between January 24 to 28 this year, the number of incidents more than doubled to 15 from an average of around six. 
An accompanying graph showed the number of incidents peaked at 15 on the second day of her visit. It did not specify the types of incidents but claimed the visits caused “anxiety” and “elevated levels of adverse behaviour”.
I’m sure Hanson-Young does not wish or intend harm, but there is no question that reports of trouble in detention centres is useful to the cause of “refugee” advocates. I suspect detainees know this, and are also made by supporters to feel like victims rather than queue-jumpers. 
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"That they have been able to live out their lives enjoying the freedoms of this country, after depriving others of freedom and life itself, is an affront to the memory of those who perished," said Paul Shapiro, director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
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<So wrong on so many levels. Irony meter just exploded.>
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<"Progressive". Quite possibly the most misleading term ever employed in political discourse.>
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Wayne Matey Mattner.
familiar with this issue
, its about Kids sexually abused at schools in SA and the Premier and education ministers denying they received any warnings. The Current Premier who was education minister at the time had his email history wiped.>
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Sarah Palin was criticized for the telling the "biggest lie of the year" about ObamaCare in 2009. Now, the former head of the Democratic Party suggests she was right all along. 

How will this affect you? Plus, hear Palin's reaction on tonight's Hannity! Watch: http://tinyurl.com/lxyoury
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Andrew Danger Nguyen
If I started a workout business it would be called Pecasaurus Pty LTD, and all the workout programs would be dinosaur based puns like BICEPatops, TRAPasaurus Rex, and instead of reps you take on REPtors‪#‎reasonswhynooneasksmeforhelp‬ ‪#‎awesomebusinessideas‬ ‪#‎dinobots‬
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Well initially this might look to you like any normal girl being treated by a doctor,the girl in the photo is not any normal living girl but the mummy of a 15 year old child who has been dead for about 500 years. 

She was found in 1999 near Llullaillaco's 6739 meter summit. An Argentine-Peruvian expedition found the perfectly preserved body and she was nicknamed "La doncella" which means “The maidenAccording to the Inca she was chosen to go and live with the gods. But in reality she was a sacrifice to the Inca Gods and had been brutally killed in the name of religion. 

Scientists say that her organs are intact and its as if she had died just a few weeks ago. From testing the samples of her hair they could determine the type of diet she was on before her death. This lead to the discovery that the Incan fattened their children before killing them. Months or even years before the sacrifice pilgrimage these children were given diets which were those of the elite, consisting of maize and animal proteins.
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K2
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““You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14,16 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

Font size"And when he thought thereon, he wept."
Mark 14:72
It has been thought by some that as long as Peter lived, the fountain of his tears began to flow whenever he remembered his denying his Lord. It is not unlikely that it was so, for his sin was very great, and grace in him had afterwards a perfect work. This same experience is common to all the redeemed family according to the degree in which the Spirit of God has removed the natural heart of stone. We, like Peter, remember our boastful promise: "Though all men shall forsake thee, yet will not I." We eat our own words with the bitter herbs of repentance. When we think of what we vowed we would be, and of what we have been, we may weep whole showers of grief. He thought on his denying his Lord. The place in which he did it, the little cause which led him into such heinous sin, the oaths and blasphemies with which he sought to confirm his falsehood, and the dreadful hardness of heart which drove him to do so again and yet again. Can we, when we are reminded of our sins, and their exceeding sinfulness, remain stolid and stubborn? Will we not make our house a Bochim, and cry unto the Lord for renewed assurances of pardoning love? May we never take a dry-eyed look at sin, lest ere long we have a tongue parched in the flames of hell. Peter also thought upon his Master's look of love. The Lord followed up the cock's warning voice with an admonitory look of sorrow, pity, and love. That glance was never out of Peter's mind so long as he lived. It was far more effectual than ten thousand sermons would have been without the Spirit. The penitent apostle would be sure to weep when he recollected the Saviour's full forgiveness, which restored him to his former place. To think that we have offended so kind and good a Lord is more than sufficient reason for being constant weepers. Lord, smite our rocky hearts, and make the waters flow.

Evening

"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."
John 6:37
No limit is set to the duration of this promise. It does not merely say, "I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming," but, "I will in no wise cast out." The original reads, "I will not, not cast out," or "I will never, never cast out." The text means, that Christ will not at first reject a believer; and that as he will not do it at first, so he will not to the last.
But suppose the believer sins after coming? "If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But suppose that believers backslide? "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him." But believers may fall under temptation! "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but he will "Purge them with hyssop, and they shall be clean; he will wash them and they shall be whiter than snow"; "From all their iniquities will I cleanse them."
"Once in Christ, in Christ forever,
Nothing from his love can sever."
"I give unto my sheep," saith he, "eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." What sayest thou to this, O trembling feeble mind? Is not this a precious mercy, that coming to Christ, thou dost not come to One who will treat thee well for a little while, and then send thee about thy business, but he will receive thee and make thee his bride, and thou shalt be his forever? Receive no longer the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby thou shalt cry, Abba, Father! Oh! the grace of these words: "I will in no wise cast out."
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Today's reading: Psalm 51-53, Romans 2 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Psalm 51-53

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place....

Today's New Testament reading: Romans 2

God's Righteous Judgment
You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
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