Thursday, December 28, 2017

Thu Dec 28th Todays News

Don't give up on hope. On Jan 1st 2015, The affordable healthcare act, aka Obamacare, came into being. It raised taxes. Medicare went from 1.45% to 2.35%, the top income tax bracket went from 35% to 39.6%, top payroll income tax went from 37.4% to 52.2%, capital gains tax went from 15% to 28%, dividend tax from 15% to 39.6%, estate tax from 0% to 55%, and a 3.5% real estate tax was added. These taxes were voted in solely by Democrats. For that extra 'fundraising' US debt went up to $20 trillion. In 11 months of Trump, US debt is at $20.6 Trillion, and after the recent tax cuts, is projected to be repaid in  twenty years. Australia must exceed Trump's tax cuts to stay competitive. 

 Reports dating back to the 6 day war show Arabs calling themselves Arabs or Jordanians. They did not know they had been rebadged as Palestinians. The UN has since 'educated' them. The problem of the UN is not merely overspending and inefficiency. UN has spread disease, been responsible for rape and ethnic cleansing, endorsed terror and opposed freedom. 

I am a decent man and don't care for the abuse given me. I created a video raising awareness of anti police feeling among western communities. I chose the senseless killing of Nicola Cotton, a Louisiana policewoman who joined post Katrina, to highlight the issue. I did this in order to get an income after having been illegally blacklisted from work in NSW for being a whistleblower. I have not done anything wrong. Local council appointees refused to endorse my work, so I did it for free. Youtube's Adsence refused to allow me to profit from their marketing it. Meanwhile, I am hostage to abysmal political leadership and hopeless journalists. My shopfront has opened on Facebook.






















































































Here is a video I made "Ain't We Got Fun?"

"Ain't We Got Fun?" is a popular foxtrot published in 1921 with music by Richard A. Whiting, lyrics by Raymond B. Egan and Gus Kahn. It was first performed in 1920 in the revue Satires of 1920, then moved into vaudeville and recordings. "Ain't We Got Fun?" and both its jaunty response to poverty and its promise of fun "Every morning / Every evening", and "In the meantime, / In between time" have become symbolic of the Roaring Twenties, and it appears in some of the major literature of the decade, including The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and in Dorothy Parker's award-winning short story of 1929, "Big Blonde".


=== from 2016 ===
The December IPA Review is out and Darcy Allen writes "Civilised Economics." Libertarians seem to want to prove that sensible economics theory comes from the struggle of ideas with left wing theory. But the more they argue, the more it appears as if sensible, practical economics is solely from conservative underpinning. Darcy hearkens back to twentieth century fashionista in Austria. Not just universities, but coffee houses produced charismatic deep thinkers. Some, like Karl Popper and Hayek faced a dilemma of humouring fools or engaging in wider debate. Some were out and out fools who are equivalent to todays press. It was considered at the time that Socialism would defeat Capitalism, even by sensible folk. A bit like the press certainty over Hillary's win or Brexit. Not only was capitalism never defeated, even the ridiculous Chinese regime has had to embrace elements of it. One theoretical question was the nature of price signalling. Capitalism provides a natural one. Socialism doesn't. The theoreticians agreed that capitalism could never work. Eventually they all became curriculum theorists.They now tell us how Safe Schools prevent bullying, by bullying. 

Miranda Devine is being broadcast in NSW on 2GB and in Victoria on 3AW and around Australia on other stations week-nightly at 8pm to 10 pm Eastern Daylight standard time. Miranda is covering serious topics like the apparent terrorist hit in ACT on a Christian advocacy group, South Australia's abysmal energy policy and the appalling case of victimisation of a NSW former deputy commissioner of police. The NSW police issue crosses over with mine, with similar figures ducking for cover. One day the NSW public service will be independent, but at the moment it appears endemically corrupt from the judiciary down. 
=== from 2015 ===
Malcolm Turnbull is very good at taking credit for Mr Abbott's policies. But he is needed to show leadership by filling gaps Abbott had. Abbott had had to be defensive because Turnbull was undermining him. And so he had had to remove things like modifications to free speech and shelving some proposed cuts that were too hard to get past the senate. But Turnbull won't take these on either because he too has to be defensive. Not because Turnbull is being undermined, but because Turnbull is not an effective leader and he knows how he can be undermined. Turnbull can often be seen smiling and shaking hands, but if one wants to see him show doubt, fear and indecision, then ask him an unprompted question. 

For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
From 2014
The anti Muslim lobby have spoken out regarding Halal food certification. Central to the hysteria is that Halal food certification backs terrorism. While that is possible, it isn't the case. Terrorists are self supporting from Western drug users. The opposition to Halal food is opposition to Islam without being opposition to jihadism. Another issue being raised now is Indonesia's rapacious incursion to Papua New Guinea. West Papua had wanted self government when the UN made it part of communist Indonesia in '63. Since then the Indonesian administrators have violently held onto the property. Human rights have been abused, people tortured, raped and killed for any of many reasons, some involving political conscience. One won't hear much about it because Jews aren't responsible for it. 

Abbott defends successful chief of staff. Piers Akerman, writing with many LNP leaks, points to shadows and dark mutterings, but nothing substantive beyond the sole issue that Credilin is married to Loughnane. One is PM's chief of staff the other is President of the Liberal Party. The accusation is that timid Liberal members are afraid of approaching either about complaints about the other. It was never an issue before achieving government, which suggests that it is not an issue now, but some enterprising disloyal members are willing to risk government to serve ambition. The chief problem of the government is the negligence of the opposition in senate. Another problem is the misbehaviour of independent senators. Another problem is a media that is partisan with the ALP and Greens. The media are supposed to inform the public, not persuade the public of the virtues of corrupt left wing government. 

Great fails in feminism include their silence over the book "Women who deserve to go to hell" which is on sale in Islamic book stores. Apparently the book says there were only four women in history the equal in intelligence and perfection to a man. One does not need to be a feminist to recognise the book is wrong, but one is puzzled as to why feminists, by their silence, agree with the book. 

Cheap oil makes driving electric type cars inefficient. In this day and age, it is more efficient to drive a V8 car. 

Airplane disappears, A320. AirAsia flight QZ8501 155 passengers and seven crew. It had been approaching bad weather leaving Indonesia bound for Singapore. It was supposed to be above any turbulence. It echoes the mystery surrounding missing MH360, only this plane was not between monitoring stations when it disappeared and a recovery is expected quickly. 
From 2013
My favourite quote of 2013 was the swearing in of Mr Abbott as PM. Tim Blair goes through other goodies. I used the word 'perfidy' today and had to look it up. Perfidy accurately describes the various Christian churches who embrace terrorism and elevate desperate, poor people to drowning and exploitation. Obama's onesie boy who asks people to discuss Obamacare is not himself allowed to speak. Just like the English parliament's Speaker of the house. IRA are raising their profile using traditional methods. A media whore has lost a legal battle. ACT purchased some breasts without worrying about the cost, now Adelaide wants in. Suggestions for better journalism are many and varied, leaving those shouting them out, a little hoarse (mind your spelling, Antony, don't get carried away). 

Piers Morgan had a brilliant quip about the Dalai Lama. He didn't need to serve the penance. He had interviewed the Dalai Lama, and noted he had been a great world leader for many years. He didn't drink alcohol, take drugs, smoke or have sex. So basically, said Piers, he was like "Shane Warne." 

The left does not listen, and so may not be aware they are wrong. A parasitic union has destroyed another business. Gillard left a law about bullying. But it doesn't seem to be retrospective so it might not apply to her. 
Historical perspective on this day
In 457, Majorian was acclaimed emperor of the Western Roman Empire and recognized by Emperor Leo I the Thracian. 484, Alaric II succeeded his father Euric and became king of the Visigoths. He establishes his capital at Aire-sur-l'Adour (Southern Gaul). 893, an earthquake destroyed the city of Dvin, Armenia. 1065, Westminster Abbey was consecrated. 1308, the reign of Emperor Hanazono of Japan began. 1612 Galileo Galilei became the first astronomerto observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star. 1768, King Taksin's coronation achieved through conquest as a king of Thailand and established Thonburi as a capital. 1795, construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, began in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto).

In 1824, the Bathurst War came to an end with the surrender of the Wiradjuri. 1832, John C. Calhoun became the first Vice President of the United States to resign. 1835, Osceola led his Seminole warriors in Florida into the Second Seminole War against the United States Army. 1836, South Australia and Adelaide were founded. Also 1836, Spain recognised the independence of Mexico. 1846, Iowa was admitted as the 29th U.S. state. 1867, United States claimed Midway Atoll, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits. 1879, Tay Bridge disaster: The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom collapsed as a train passed over it, killing 75. 1885,  Indian National Congress, a political party of India was founded in Bombay Presidency, British India. 1895, the Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema. Also 1895, Wilhelm Röntgen published a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later would be known as x-rays.

In 1902, the Syracuse Athletic Club defeated the New York Philadelphians, 5–0, in the first indoor professional football game, which was held at Madison Square Garden. 1908, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocked Messina, Sicily, Italy killing over 75,000. 1912, the first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco. 1918, Constance Markievicz, while detained in Holloway prison, became the first woman to be elected MP to the British House of Commons. 1935,  Pravda published a letter by Pavel Postyshev, who revived New Year tree tradition in the Soviet Union. 1941, World War II: Operation Anthropoid, the plot to assassinate a high-ranking Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich, commenced. 1943, World War II: After eight days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the Battle of Ortonaconcluded with the victory of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division over the German 1st Parachute Division and the capture of the Italian town of Ortona. 1944, Maurice Richardbecame the first player to score eight points in one game of NHL ice hockey. 1948, the DC-3airliner NC16002 disappeared 50 miles south of Miami. 1956, Chin Peng, David Marshall and Tunku Abdul Rahman met in Baling, Malaya to try and resolve the Malayan Emergencysituation. 1958, "Greatest Game Ever Played": Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giantsin the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York's Yankee Stadium.

In 1972, Kim Il-sung, already Prime Minister of North Korea and First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, becomes the first President of North Korea. 1973, the Endangered Species Act was passed in the United States. 1978, with the crew investigating a problem with the landing gear, United Airlines Flight 173 ran out of fuel and crashed in Portland, Oregon, killing ten. As a result, United Airlines instituted the industry's first crew resource managementprogram. 1989, a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people. 2000, U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announced it was going out of business after 128 years. 2006, War in Somalia: The militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and Ethiopian troops captured Mogadishu unopposed. 2009, Forty-three people died in a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, where Shia Muslims were observing the Day of Ashura. 2010,  Arab Spring: Popular protests began in Algeria against the government. 2011, Roboski airstrike: Turkish warplanes bombed 34 Kurds of Turkish nationality in the district of Uludere.
=== 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.
===
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 August, September, October, 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 Tammy Nguyen, Charles Huynh, Nathan Boyd, Collince Alan Dundo and Jimmy Jong .. and Peter Boyd too .. born on the same day, across the years, along with
December 28: Day of the Holy Innocents (Western Christianity)
The Old Gum Tree in South Australia (c. 2006)
We proclaimed it. Our bridge spans. We cabled the car. The earth moved. Turkey is for Christmas. Let's party. 
Deaths
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Tim Blair 2017

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Tim Blair

18C AT THE MCG

Take a look at this Melbourne Cricket Ground code of conduct warning, brought to you by those Gillians at the International Cricket Council.
28 Dec  

JOCK MOFFAT

Alistair Urquhart wasn’t the only 97-year-old Scottish war hero we lost in 2016. Also departed is Swordfish pilot Jock Moffat – the man who crippled the Bismarck.
28 Dec
===

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SCREAMING CAMPUS GARBAGE BABIES

Tim Blair – Monday, December 28, 2015 (4:25am)

Did you know that 2015 was the International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies? It’s true! The United Nations, which apparently decides these things, reckoned 2015 was an appropriate time to recognise Thomas Edison’s world-changing invention, some 135 years after his light bulb was patented.
Sadly, the UN’s celebration never really caught on. In fact, it may have been the least popular international year concept since 2008 (the International Year of the Potato) and 1985 (the International Year of – wait for it – the United Nations). Bad luck, illumination fans.
Instead, 2015 was dominated by microaggressions, safe spaces, trigger warnings, privilege checks and other concerns of the global university student community. It was, to borrow a phrase from internet genius David Burge, the International Year of Screaming Campus Garbage Babies.
“Something strange is happening at America’s colleges and universities,” The Atlantic reported in September. “A movement is arising, undirected and driven largely by students, to scrub campuses clean of words, ideas, and subjects that might cause discomfort or give offence.”
This movement is not confined to the US. In Australia, too, garbage babies are screaming about the tiniest perceived injustices.
(Continue reading International Year.)
UPDATE. Here’s the audio version, courtesy of 2GB.
===

HE’S AT PEACE WITH THE WORLD

Tim Blair – Monday, December 28, 2015 (3:58am)

Malcolm Turnbull has a fan:

(Via hyper-alert news monitor Jill.)
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THE POWER OF IDEAS

Tim Blair – Monday, December 28, 2015 (3:30am)

Labor leader Bill Shorten predicted in November 2014 that “Labor will be defined in 2015 by the power of our ideas.” With only three days to go, let’s review Bill’s big idea year.
In January Shorten had the idea of encouraging an Australian republic, which may have occurred to one or two people previously. “I think what we should do is have that discussion with people,” said the current Labor leader, who somehow made this topic even more boring than usual …
In June, Shorten had the terrific idea of confessing to radio presenter Neil Mitchell that he’d lied in 2013 about a secret meeting with Kevin Rudd ahead of deposing Prime Minister Julia Gillard. This at least had some originality to it.
One month later Shorten devised the idea of stealing the Coalition’s policy on turning back boats. He also revived Labor’s old idea for an emissions trading scheme.
August, September and October were similarly idea-free, but Bill bounced back in November. He spontaneously came up with the idea of crashing into two parked cars in a Melbourne street, immediately following his earlier idea of spilling hot coffee on his groin.
(Continue reading The Power of Ideas.)
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RELAX AND DIE

Tim Blair – Sunday, December 27, 2015 (6:24pm)

Canberra lobbyist Jannette Cotterell on the possibility that Australia’s Syrian refugee intake will include terrorists: 
It would be terrible if one of them turned out to be a bad egg – for the rest of them. 
It might be slightly more terrible for any of their victims – and there will be victims, according to feminist Eva Cox, although she isn’t particularly worried: 
We ought to be more relaxed about the fact that something will go wrong rather than acting every time anything goes wrong that somebody’s got to be be blamed. 
Like, for example, the government that let them in and the blighted culture that sustains them. Imagine the left’s reaction if violence against women was similarly downplayed. Video courtesy of Jill:

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IT NEVER HAPPENED

Tim Blair – Sunday, December 27, 2015 (6:17pm)

First Liberal MP Fiona Scott claimed Australia had suffered just “one little incident” of Islamic terrorism in 100 years, and now David Marr entirely dismisses the murder of Curtis Cheng: 
This year will be commemorated, in turn, as the year of the Paris slaughters: 11 shot dead by Muslim fanatics at the Charlie Hebdo office in January, and 130 more across the city in November.
Though, touch wood, there were no attacks on Australian soil, nothing shaped the politics, laws and fears of the nation in 2015 as powerfully as terrorism. 
Cheng was killed by 15-year-old Farhad Khalil Mohammad Jabar just 86 days ago. Marr slightly redeems himself with this line, which might be the most sensible he’s ever written: 
When the UN castigated us for running prison camps for refugees on Manus and Nauru, we simply ignored them. Who are they? Why should their verdict matter? 
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PM Tony Abbott’s obstinance is protecting chief of staff Peta Credlin

Piers Akerman – Saturday, December 27, 2014 (11:16pm)

A PERSISTENT and deep sense of anger and frustration among Coalition supporters has undermined any extension of the season of goodwill for the Abbott government.
 Continue reading 'PM Tony Abbott’s obstinance is protecting chief of staff Peta Credlin'
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FEMINIST FIASCO FESTIVUS

Tim Blair – Sunday, December 28, 2014 (12:34am)

Charlotte Allen rounds up the top 10 feminist fiascoes of 2014. Let’s add a few more, from our local frightbat files:
 Continue reading 'FEMINIST FIASCO FESTIVUS'
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DRIVE AND SAVE

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 27, 2014 (10:55pm)

If you’ve been planning a massive American road trip, now is the time – but make sure you choose the right vehicle: 
There’s a big discount on driving these days, thanks to the drill-baby-drill refrain at OPEC that’s echoed in Texas and North Dakota. The savings are most concentrated for those driving cars with old-fashioned combustion engines. A road trip in a Ford F-150 pickup from New York to Los Angeles costs about $292 at the moment, roughly $84 less than it did just two years ago. A stop for gas in the middle of the country will cost less than $2 per gallon.
All this is a major problem for anyone trying to sell hybrid and electric vehicles. Electric engines and their massive batteries have never been cheap. A big part of the sales equation – savings at the fuel pump – has virtually vanished …
The takeaway: Toyota should hope that Prius-curious shoppers don’t pull out a calculator. 
Calculators have always been the enemy of Prius dealers. As true now as it was in 2008: the only rational choice for the budget-conscious motorist is a gigantic V8.
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IT MADE US THINK

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 28, 2013 (2:44pm)

The highlight of 2013 for Canberra Times arts editor Sally Pryor: 
The Skywhale made us think about how Canberra is presented to the world. 
It sure did. Pryor continues: 
Is she a great and lasting work of art, design and craftsmanship that, albeit ephemeral in nature, will live on forever in our minds as an example of the boundless limits of human creativity and scientific endeavour? Or is she an embarrassment to us all, one that will forever be a physical manifestation of all that is mockworthy about Canberra?
Was she overpriced, or a bargain? Is she ours, or everyone’s or no one’s? In this, she really encapsulates Canberra. 
She’s got competition from Pryor herself. Next up for Skywhale is a trip to Adelaide, where the great example of “scientific endeavour” will appear in something curated by local gallery director Nick Mitzevich: 
“As you know I have a fascination for dead horses and pig skins and transsexual sculptures,” Mr Mitzevich said. 
He really encapsulates Adelaide.
===

CLOPCLOPCLOP

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 28, 2013 (2:41pm)

In a piece claiming to offer “suggestions for better journalism”, expert reporter Antony Loewenstein refers to “a recentGallop poll in the US.”
That would be Gallup, Antony.
(Via James J.)
===

THEN AGAIN, THEY DIDN’T HAVE PASSPORTS

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 28, 2013 (2:43am)

Roger Franklin deals with an annual leftoid myth: 
Brothers and sisters, let us shun those who every year at this time proclaim that Joseph and Mary were a homeless couple! There are lies, which all Sunday schoolers know are sins, and then there are those gigantic, jaw-dropping whoppers which come with little horns and pitchforks and do the devil’s work, and this annual misrepresentation of the Holy Family is one of the biggest of the lot. 
Please do read on.
===

QUOTES OF 2013

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 28, 2013 (2:14am)

Three Prime Ministers, four Labor leaders, three treasurers and two federal election dates … 2013 had surpluses everywhere except in the budget. It all added up to a year almost beyond words. 
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ON THE OTHER HAND, LET’S NOT TALK

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 28, 2013 (2:00am)

Barack Obama’s pajama spokesboy Ethan Krupp wants to talk about getting health insurance:

But unfortunately: 
… his employer isn’t letting him give interviews. 
===

IDIOTS AND CLOWNS

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 28, 2013 (1:40am)

Irish ex-Formula One driver Eddie Irvine calls out newly bomb-happy republicans: 
Irvine, 47, was speaking at the launch of his acquisition of Race Ireland school at Kirkistown only hours after republicans had firebombed a sports shop in the centre of Belfast in the wake of a bomb attack on the busy Cathedral Quarter a few days earlier.
“Every country has idiots like them parading under different banners,” said Irvine.
“They are clowns who can’t be successful at anything.” 
He’s right.
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SELL THE TARAGO

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 28, 2013 (1:28am)

Spoke with a couple of local legal types the other day about this: 
Muslim community spokesman Keysar Trad has lost an eight-year defamation case over comments made by broadcaster Jason Morrison after the Cronulla riots …
The court ordered Mr Trad to pay legal costs for Harbour Radio, which operates 2GB. 
According to some estimates, Keysar may be up for a bill somewhere in the region of … $4 million.
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CLOWNSHOE INSULTED

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 28, 2013 (1:06am)

Only seventh? These people are criminally insane. As punishment, I order the further deployment of Australian agentsthroughout the US.
(Via Sam L.)
===

Actually not quite so funny

Andrew Bolt December 28 2013 (7:29am)

 I was there and laughed with the crowd at Piers Morgan’s comeuppance:
Morgan, who told his 3.8 million Twitter followers how soft his beloved English cricket team had become, recently urged the batsmen to “grow a pair” and that he’d “love” to face Aussie speedster Mitchell Johnson. 
Never one to back down from a challenge, that escalated into a brief - albeit very painful - net session against Lee at the MCG on Friday, with at least 2000 baying Aussie fans, including Johnson and Peter Siddle, looking on. Morgan was sat on his rump, bowled and struck three times in one fiery over in which Lee extended himself to “about 85 per cent” capacity.
But, a bit late, I realised pride could have killed Morgan live on television - and not just broken his bones:
I must say I’m disappointed that Lee actually tried to hurt Morgan, bowling at his head and body. 
===

Mary and Joseph victims of big government

Andrew Bolt December 28 2013 (7:08am)

Roger Franklin deals with the annual myth - this time peddled by a Brisbane church, Eureka Street and journalism academic Wendy Bacon - that Mary and Joseph were like our boat people, just refugees seeking a room at an inn::
Fact is, Mary and Joseph were victims of Big Government - and you can take that as the gospel truth, courtesy of the Gospels themselves. Why did they leave their home in Nazareth? Because the Emperor Augustus ordered all Roman subjects to return to their ancestral homes for a census, thus wasting the couple’s time, money and sandal leather to extract information that might have been just as easily obtained if they had been allowed to remain in their own home. 
Why were there no rooms available? Because, after issuing the order to hit the road and be counted, Augustus made no provision to accommodate the overnight population surge.
But surely Mary and Joseph were homeless outcasts, right? Well, they were away from home but certainly not homeless. Joseph was a carpenter, according to the New Testament, and therefore a skilled artisan - about as likely to be mistaken for a homeless man as the next tradie you see scooting by in a ute.
A question for the bishops and priests who recommend a let-everyone-in policy, regardless of merit or consequences. Why do you follow a faith that bars the doors to heaven for eternity on sinners and disbelievers?  
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With the rest of the world on mute, the Left can’t hear reason

Andrew Bolt December 28 2013 (6:57am)

Gerard Henderson reviews a year of hyperbole. Some journalists of the Left live in such a bubble - confusing desire with reality, fancies with facts, anger with insight - that they are led to predict the most astonishing things. For instance:
February. The Crikey newsletter gives legitimacy to rumours that Peter Costello will return to parliament and that Malcolm Turnbull will become treasurer in a Rudd Labor government. In Daily Life, Alecia Simmonds describes Tony Abbott as “like a maniacal Neanderthal who has only just learned to use cutlery”.... 
April.... ABC radio presenter Waleed Aly depicts terrorism as merely “a perpetual irritant” and suggests that the Boston terrorist attack may have been perpetrated by “self-styled American patriots”. Wrong on each count....
June. Clive Palmer predicts that he will be prime minister come September. Julian Assange tells Lateline’s Emma Alberici that his WikiLeaks Party enjoys “between 25 and 28 per cent support” in Australia. On June 20, Latham writes in The Australian Financial Review that “Rudd has had no intention of resuming the Labor leadership in this term of parliament”. Six days later, journalist Mike Carlton tweets, following Rudd’s overthrow of Gillard, that he is “sipping chardonnay” - apparently in anticipation of a Rudd victory over Abbott in September.
July. An excited Peter FitzSimons reckons that the political game has “changed staggeringly” and proclaims that “right now Kevin Rudd has just that little of the magic about him” that he had in 2008. Carlton equates Rudd’s comeback with Napoleon Bonaparte’s 1815 “return to power and glory” and foretells an election on October 19. AFR political editor Laura Tingle assesses Rudd Labor as “at worst, within sight of being returned and, at best, already in the winner’s seat”.... August....Commentator Jane Caro calls the first political leaders’ debate “unequivocally for Kevin Rudd” who “wiped the floor” with Abbott. She assessed the debate with the television on mute. 
That last is a metaphor.   
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If the union wants SPC saved, here are some savings

Andrew Bolt December 28 2013 (6:52am)

Grace Collier on how to save SPC Ardmona - by insisting it save itself before asking for a taxpayer handout:
Workers who start with the company must have a union official at their induction meetings; probably to heavy them to join.
All workers also are forced to purchase their own private income protection policy.
The union that covers SPC owns half of an insurance company that provides income protection, called U Cover. The union receives payments from U Cover annually in exchange for the workers it signs up. In 2011 the union’s dividend from U Cover was $1,164,000. SPC must allow the union to have eight delegates and must provide them with facilities and time to be unionists on site. Ten paid union meetings with workers can be held every year. Each union delegate is entitled to five paid union training days a year, capped at a total of 40 paid days per delegate. 
Then there are the salaries… 
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Once again, a law to bully us

Andrew Bolt December 27 2013 (8:32am)

Define “reasonable”. Define the judge you trust to define “reasonable”. Define the cost of all the mainchancers who realise that with laws like this the process is so often the punishment:
Bullying complaints could swamp the Fair Work Commission when it begins hearing cases in January because the Gillard government did not apply adequate methods to filter out dubious or unsuitable claims, a workplace academic says. 
And a corporate law firm has warned businesses they need to take steps to ensure they do not become the ‘’poster child’’ for the new bullying jurisdiction.
From January 1, any employee who believes he or she is the victim of ongoing ‘’repeated unreasonable behaviour’’ by a co-worker can, on payment of a $65.50 application fee, ask the commission to make an order for the bullying to stop… The new laws, put in place in mid-2013 by then workplace relations minister Bill Shorten, make clear that ‘’reasonable’’ management action and performance management are not bullying. 
I predict this cure will be infinitely worse than any disease, like so many new laws to regulate behaviour and speech.
It is also so undignified, giving a judicial caste even more power to determine the manners of people once accustomed to think of themselves as free and robust.
Still, I can think of a new Human Rights Commissioner who could with some justice use this law against his new colleagues. 
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The morally superior all away in a manger
www.dailytelegraph.com.au
IT is a good thing Jesus is the bringer of peace and forgiveness because every Christmas He must be sorely tempted to do quite a bit of smiting. It's not the commercialisation of his birthday that would bother him so much as the slanders on the good name of his earthly family.
So many have got things wrong in chasing left wing adulation .. World Vision, The United Church of Canada, Gosford Anglican .. sad for their worship members who expect to worship God .. ed
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Patients put pressure on public system with no frills private health cover
www.smh.com.au
Hundreds of thousands of Australians are switching to no-frills private health insurance to save money, putting further strain on public hospital waiting lists.
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Nothing lost and everything to be gained by Abbott in Asia
www.theaustralian.com.au
IS the Abbott government "losing" China, as it is being accused of losing Indonesia - perhaps Australia's two most important relationships, certainly two of them - within a few short months?
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Forecasters take care to avoid truck with facts
www.theaustralian.com.au
IT seems that 2013 was destined to become a year of untrammelled hyperbole, fallible soothsaying and poor judgment of an unprecedented kind. And so it came to pass. Month by month.
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VA hospital refuses to accept 'Merry Christmas' cards
www.foxnews.com
Boys and girls at Grace Academy in Prosper, Tex., spent most of last Friday making homemade Christmas cards for bedridden veterans at the VA hospital in Dallas.
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TOP SHELF: 12 Best of the U.S.: 'Moby Dick'
www.themonitor.com
This is the final column in a retrospective reviewing what I consider to be the twelve best American novels.
call me fishmeal .. ed
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Status Update
By Fred Nile - Official Christian Democratic Party
The corruption of language is one important step on the road to cordoning off proper debate and controlling thought.”

#teamnile
Um, do you know what you just said? It isn't for others to speak plainly, but yourself. Don't focus on the corruption of others .. trust in the Lord and be true. So many good people are lost when they her themselves or others say what they want to hear. But God is humbling to those he is closest to. .. Oh, and look into Hamidur Rahman .. there is a big issue there you can do good by looking into. - ed
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Powerless Gaza Blames Israel - Again
www.israelnationalnews.com
Lone power plant shuts down only 12 days after being restarted. Israel blamed, although Egypt's siege has cut off fuel smuggling.
 ... Maybe if Hamas spent all the money on infrastructure rather than wasting their donated money on fruitless rockets that they send across the Gaza / Israeli border then they might be able to become independent of Israel's supply of free energy.

But then we already have seen how Hamas bites the hands that feeds them. 

In the meantime their own people live in squalor while the elite Hamas leadership live like kings at the expense of those who are too fearful for their lives should they protest.

Stupid bastards wanted Hamas so they now can sit in the cesspool of their own creation.

The Arabs who live in Israel know full well they are luckier than those who live outside Israel.
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“Of David. Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—” Psalm 103:1-2 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Can the rush grow up without mire?"
Job 8:11
The rush is spongy and hollow, and even so is a hypocrite; there is no substance or stability in him. It is shaken to and fro in every wind just as formalists yield to every influence; for this reason the rush is not broken by the tempest, neither are hypocrites troubled with persecution. I would not willingly be a deceiver or be deceived; perhaps the text for this day may help me to try myself whether I be a hypocrite or no. The rush by nature lives in water, and owes its very existence to the mire and moisture wherein it has taken root; let the mire become dry, and the rush withers very quickly. Its greenness is absolutely dependent upon circumstances, a present abundance of water makes it flourish, and a drought destroys it at once. Is this my case? Do I only serve God when I am in good company, or when religion is profitable and respectable? Do I love the Lord only when temporal comforts are received from his hands? If so I am a base hypocrite, and like the withering rush, I shall perish when death deprives me of outward joys. But can I honestly assert that when bodily comforts have been few, and my surroundings have been rather adverse to grace than at all helpful to it, I have still held fast my integrity? Then have I hope that there is genuine vital godliness in me. The rush cannot grow without mire, but plants of the Lord's right hand planting can and do flourish even in the year of drought. A godly man often grows best when his worldly circumstances decay. He who follows Christ for his bag is a Judas; they who follow for loaves and fishes are children of the devil; but they who attend him out of love to himself are his own beloved ones. Lord, let me find my life in thee, and not in the mire of this world's favour or gain.

Evening

"And the Lord shall guide thee continually."
Isaiah 58:11
"The Lord shall guide thee." Not an angel, but Jehovah shall guide thee. He said he would not go through the wilderness before his people, an angel should go before them to lead them in the way; but Moses said, "If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." Christian, God has not left you in your earthly pilgrimage to an angel's guidance: he himself leads the van. You may not see the cloudy, fiery pillar, but Jehovah will never forsake you. Notice the word shall--"The Lord shall guide thee." How certain this makes it! How sure it is that God will not forsake us! His precious "shalls" and "wills" are better than men's oaths. "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Then observe the adverb continually. We are not merely to be guided sometimes, but we are to have a perpetual monitor; not occasionally to be left to our own understanding, and so to wander, but we are continually to hear the guiding voice of the Great Shepherd; and if we follow close at his heels, we shall not err, but be led by a right way to a city to dwell in. If you have to change your position in life; if you have to emigrate to distant shores; if it should happen that you are cast into poverty, or uplifted suddenly into a more responsible position than the one you now occupy; if you are thrown among strangers, or cast among foes, yet tremble not, for "the Lord shall guide thee continually." There are no dilemmas out of which you shall not be delivered if you live near to God, and your heart be kept warm with holy love. He goes not amiss who goes in the company of God. Like Enoch, walk with God, and you cannot mistake your road. You have infallible wisdom to direct you, immutable love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you. "Jehovah"--mark the word--"Jehovah shall guide thee continually."
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Today's reading: Zechariah 1-4, Revelation 18 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Zechariah 1-4

A Call to Return to the LORD
1 In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the LORD came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son of Iddo:
2 “The LORD was very angry with your ancestors. 3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty. 4 Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD. 5 Where are your ancestors now? And the prophets, do they live forever? 6 But did not my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, overtake your ancestors?
“Then they repented and said, ‘The LORD Almighty has done to us what our ways and practices deserve, just as he determined to do....’”

Today's New Testament reading: Revelation 18

Lament Over Fallen Babylon
1 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’
She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.
3 For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
Warning to Escape Babylon’s Judgment
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
5 for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Give back to her as she has given;
pay her back double for what she has done.
Pour her a double portion from her own cup.
7 Give her as much torment and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit enthroned as queen.
I am not a widow;
I will never mourn.’
8 Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her....
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Jesus

We place this peerless name first because it is the ineffable name of Him who wrapped Himself around with the garment of our humanity. Other names are dear, but His is dearer. Jesus was the name divinely given before His birth. “Thou shalt call His name Jesus” (Matt. 1:21). This familiar name, so sweet in a believer’s ear, occurs some seven hundred times in the New Testament.
The name Joshua is equivalent to Jesus , and the Old Testament warrior is a fitting type of our Lord. Joshua saved the people of Israel by leading them through the River Jordan, He fought their battles and was steadfast in his allegiance to God and His people. Jesus is our heavenly Joshua, who fought the grim battle on our behalf at Calvary, providing thereby a blood-bought deliverance for sin-bound souls. He is now our Leader, our Protector, and will never cease in His care of us until He has us safely in the sheepfold on the other side.
Among English-speaking peoples the names of Jehovah and Jesus are considered too sacred for sinful human beings to adopt, but in Spain, Portugal and South America, the people have no qualms about using Jesus as a Christian name. Among the Greeks and Scandinavians, there is no hesitancy about using Christ as a Christian name.
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