Saturday, March 03, 2018

Sat Mar 3rd Todays News

Don't give up on hope. In Australia, students are bullied through the curriculum. Safe Schools bullies students on gender, but it does not begin or end there. For example, a refugee year 11 student gets an English assignment of the type given year 7's for history. The student's brief is to write from the perspective of a first colonist of Sydney, using all the information he has been given. So, the student writes of a sailor 'tasked to kidnap two Aborigines to teach them European ways to end Aboriginal culture. The sailor does, but talks to them and realises they are human too.' Because we don't have freedom of speech in Australia, that classroom 'view' cannot get challenged. Were the student to challenge it, they would lose marks. Only that dismal view of the first colony never happened. 

 We know what happened in Sydney Colony because of Bennelong. Bennelong had been kidnapped after Arthur Philip failed to make contact with local tribes. Bennelong was wanted to teach Aboriginal language in exchange for food. It was said he could eat a week's rations at a single setting. He escaped, but returned willingly and went to England as an ambassador. Another captured at the same time was Colbee, who escaped and did not return. Before Bennelong, Arabanoo had been captured and forcibly detained before dying of smallpox. Colonel David Collins said his death was "to the great regret of everyone who had witnessed how little of the savage was found in his manner, and how quickly he was substituting in its place a docile, affable, and truly amaiable deportment"
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 Art Spot-Michelangelo's David returns to Italy from USA 

Art Spot reports on the statue of David, which has completed its tour of the US. Even after five hundred years, the statue reflects the times. 


=== from 2017 ===
The incompetence of Victoria's ALP government is a daily thing. Today, it was disclosed two ministers used government cars to go to a Springsteen concert. What irony. Using taxpayer money to see an ageing rocker croon about the workers they despise and take for granted. There is a reason for ALP to exist, but their party members seem to have forgotten what that is. Historically, the excuse has never matched the party's activity. The ALP is supposed to represent worker's interests and to prevent their exploitation. Instead, the ALP represents vested interests who exploit the poorest. And every time the ALP fail, the press laud them. The ALP have prevented the police from being effective in Victoria. But in promising to hire more police, the news run the line that "At least they are doing something" when in fact they are doing nothing worthwhile. Because even with fewer police, policing could be more effective. To be honest, I've no interest in going to a Springsteen concert anyway.
=== from 2016 ===
Not written as I was working to secure accommodation. 
=== from 2015 ===
Bill Shorten in Question Time in Parliament was unaware of the rules today. He tried to make a speech out of order. Graciously, Mr Abbott let him. Mr Shorten had been keen to say he approved of Australia supplying trainers to Iraq and said he expected Australia to limit their effort to Iraq and he felt it was important for Australia to engage wherever terrorism is located .. presumably so long as it is in Iraq. Now we know why Australian soldiers die under ALP administration, they just don't know what the orders mean. 

Shorten was keen to know why the co payment idea for health care visits to a GP was dropped. He probably wants it known that the ALP run the senate with independent support. Worth noting as the NSW election nears. If you want responsible government you must vote conservative. The conservative position will preserve medicare as a cheap health care system moving forward. The ALP agenda will leave Australia bankrupt and unable to support such services. 

Netanyahu will soon address Congress. Some Democrats are refusing to show. The Democrat position on Israel is often eerily similar to their position opposing freeing slaves in the civil war. Now they are siding with terrorists against those who would have peace. 
From 2014
Pachelbel died on this day, but I would happily marry to the canon bearing his name. Death is an ending, but not the worst thing. Because life allowed the choices .. and the choices live on. Life and death choices are telling. Is coming to Australia a calculated risk with the pay off being a future that is rich? Is coming to Australia a desperate act to escape tyranny? The recent death of a person held in an off shore facility designed to allow UN processing has brought out the voices of those who were silent as over 1100 died making the journey under a previous government. A year ago I wrote 
If only those thoughts were coherent. The Age wants people who are poor and desperate to drown? The Age wants, people with little, to give it all to pirates? The Age wants people who are desperate and poor to miss out on a refugee placement? The Age wants people who are poor and desperate to live in cages? Maybe if the Age wants to give them a voice, it can listen to their opinion and report it.
Taken from an impartial view, without entrenched ideas about balance or result, the article is demented. Were we to source thirty thousand people in Sri Lanka, Pakistan or Afghanistan and drown over a thousand of them, and charge each of them over $10k, and then cage them we would expect to be called bad names .. regardless of our intentions. And then to turn to the poor and oppressed and say "Tough luck for now" while asserting that this is fairer than the Pacific Solution .. those words cannot be that sweet .. those arguments cannot be that compelling. Let us forget that conservatives back the Pacific Solution .. I think if we were to be as fair and just as we could be, we would follow the Pacific Solution. I despise the tribalism that refuses to hear good ideas because they weren't made by people we liked.
But those words, apparently are sweet. Compelled by hatred of conservatives, many in the mainstream media object to poor people not being exploited by pirates, and killed by circumstance. A year after I wrote about the issue, and was ignored, there is a new, responsible government. Media object to a conservative government, and are opposing responsible government. 

Alexander Graham Bell, credited with inventing the telephone, was born on this day. He never telephoned his wife or mother. They were deaf. Bell was working on inventions for deaf people. Making the telephone a terrible product for the target audience. 
Historical perspective on this day
In 473, Gundobad (nephew of Ricimer) nominated Glycerius as emperor of the Western Roman Empire. 724, Empress Genshō abdicated the throne in favour of her nephew Shōmuwho became emperor of Japan. 1284, the Statute of Rhuddlan incorporated the Principality of Wales into England. 1575, Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeated Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi. 1585, the Olympic Theatre, designed by Andrea Palladio, was inaugurated in Vicenza. 1776, American Revolutionary War: The first amphibious landing of the United States Marine Corps began the Battle of Nassau. 1779, American Revolutionary War: The Continental Army was routed at the Battle of Brier Creek near Savannah, Georgia. 1799, the Russo-Ottoman siege of Corfu ends with the surrender of the French garrison.

In 1820, the U.S. Congress passed the Missouri Compromise. 1845, Florida was admitted as the 27th U.S. state. 1857, Second Opium War: France and the United Kingdom declare war on China. 1861, Alexander II of Russia signed the Emancipation Manifesto, freeing serfs. 1865, opening of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the founding member of the HSBC Group. 1873, Censorship in the United States: The U.S. Congress enacted the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" books through the mail. 1875, Georges Bizet's opera Carmen received its première at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. Also 1875, the first ever organized indoor game of ice hockey was played in Montreal, Canada as recorded in the Montreal Gazette. 1878, the Russo-Turkish War ended as Bulgariaregained its independence from Ottoman Empire according to the Treaty of San Stefano; shortly after Congress of Berlin stripped its status to an autonomous state of the Ottoman Empire. 1885, the American Telephone & Telegraph Company was incorporated in New York.

In 1904, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany became the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison's phonograph cylinder. 1905, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia agreed to create an elected assembly, the Duma. 1910, Rockefeller Foundation: John D. Rockefeller Jr. announced his retirement from managing his businesses so that he could devote all his time to philanthropy. 1913, thousands of women marched in a suffrage paradein Washington, D.C. 1915, NACA, the predecessor of NASA, was founded. 1918, Germany, Austria and Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending Russia's involvement in World War I, and leading to the independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. 1923, TIME magazine was published for the first time. 1924, the thirteen-century-old Islamic caliphate was abolished when Caliph Abdülmecid II of the Ottoman Empire was deposed. The last remnant of the old regime gave way to the reformed Turkey of Kemal Atatürk. Also 1924, the Free State of Fiume was annexed by Kingdom of Italy. 1931, the United States adopted The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem. 1938, oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia. Also 1938, the Mallard the fastest steam driven train on the planet, was built by LNERDoncaster Works England 1939, in Bombay, Mohandas Gandhi began to fast in protest at the autocratic rule in India.

In 1940, five people were killed in an arson attack on the offices of the communist newspaper Norrskensflamman in Luleå, Sweden. 1942, World War II: Ten Japanese warplanes raided the town of Broome, Western Australia, killing more than 100 people. 1943, World War II: In London, England, 173 people were killed in a crush while trying to enter an air-raid shelter at Bethnal Green tube station. 1944, the Order of Nakhimov and Order of Ushakov were instituted in USSR as the highest naval awards. 1945, World War II: American and Filipino troops recaptured Manila in the Philippines. Also 1945 World War II: A former Armia Krajowaunit massacred at least 150 Ukrainian civilians in Pawłokoma, Poland. Also 1945, World War II: The RAF accidentally bombed the Bezuidenhout neighbourhood in The Hague, Netherlands, killing 511 people. 1951, Jackie Brenston, with Ike Turner and his band, recorded "Rocket 88", often cited as "the first rock and roll record", at Sam Phillips' recording studios in Memphis, Tennessee. 1953, a Canadian Pacific Air Lines De Havilland Comet crashed in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 11. 1958, Nuri al-Said became Prime Minister of Iraq for the eighth time. 1969, Apollo program: NASA launched Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.

In 1972, Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 crashed as a result of a control malfunction and insufficient training in emergency procedures. 1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crashed at Ermenonville near Paris, France killing all 346 aboard. 1980, the USS Nautilus was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. 1985, Arthur Scargill declared that the National Union of Mineworkers national executive voted to end the longest-running industrial dispute in Great Britain without any peace deal over pit closures. Also 1985, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck the Valparaíso Region of Chile, killing 177 and leaving nearly a million people homeless. 1991, an amateur video captured the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. Also 1991, in concurrent referenda, 74% of the population of Latvia voted for independence from the Soviet Union, and 83% in Estonia. Also 1991, United Airlines Flight 585 crashed on approach into Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing 25. 1997, the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opened after two-and-a-half years of construction.

In 2005, Mayerthorpe tragedy: James Roszko murdered four Royal Canadian Mounted Policeconstables during a drug bust at his property in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, then committed suicide. It was the deadliest peace-time incident for the RCMP since 1885 and the North-West Rebellion. Also 2005, Steve Fossett became the first person to fly an airplane non-stop around the world solo without refueling. Also 2005, Margaret Wilson was elected as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, beginning a period lasting until August 23, 2006 where all the highest political offices (including Elizabeth II as Head of State), were occupied by women, making New Zealand the first country for this to occur. In 2009, the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne collapsed. 2012, two trains crashed in the small Polish town of Szczekociny near Zawiercie, with 16 people killed and up to 58 people injured. 2013, a bomb blast in Karachi, Pakistan, killed at least 45 people and injured 180 others in a predominately Shia Muslim area.
=== 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 Phillipa Springett, Tracey Lee Maxwell, Tray-C Maxwell, Jenny Au, Rowena Lim and Chanskies Em. Born on the same day, across the years. Remember, birthdays are good for you. Because if you forget, it might take a few to remind you ..
Alexander II of Russia
There will always be whales. You abolished surfing. Indoor hockey means hot chocolate. NASA began navel gazing. Why Ukraine? Remember responsible train travel. Lets party.
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Tim Blar 2018

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Andrew Bolt

Andrew Hastie shames the free speech quislings

We have heard the trashy excuses of older Coalition MPs for not fighting for free speech. We have heard the sneering dismissals of journalists prepared to damn innocent students to avoid confronting an evil. Now listen to Andrew Hastie, the future of the Liberal party. His outstanding speech shames the quislings.
3 Mar  5 comments
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HARTCHER LOGIC

Tim Blair – Monday, March 02, 2015 (1:27pm)

According to Hartcher Logic, the 2013 election result was a disaster for Tony Abbott.
According to Hartcher Logic, Fairfax’s share price is at a record high.
According to Hartcher Logic, the ABC delivers a $1 billion profit every year.
According to Hartcher Logic, Labor creates surpluses.
According to Hartcher Logic, the Australian Democrats have been in power since 1977.
According to Hartcher Logic, Mike Carlton has a job.
According to Hartcher Logic, the Adelaide Crows won last year’s AFL Premiership.
According to Hartcher Logic, Australia defeated New Zealand by six wickets.
According to Hartcher Logic, leaves turn green and fall up.
===

THE DUMB AND DHARMA SHOW

Miranda Devine – Saturday, February 28, 2015 (11:21pm)

Ah, schaden­freude — thy name is Ra­jen­dra Pachauri!
The IPCC chair­man has had to re­sign from the UN cli­mate body af­ter a wave of sex­ual ha­rass­ment al­le­ga­tions.
“Now that I have re­fused to give in to his car­nal and per­verted de­sires, he is threat­en­ing me that he will not give me any more work,” a re­searcher, 46 years his ju­nior, told In­dian po­lice.
Lawyers for other women al­lege a “pat­tern of ha­rass­ment and mis­con­duct”.
None of this was men­tioned in his flow­ery res­ig­na­tion let­ter last week.
How­ever, Pachauri did fess up that the cli­mate alarm drum he has been bang­ing for 13 years is noth­ing more than a re­li­gion.
“For me, the pro­tec­tion of planet Earth, the sur­vival of all species and sus­tain­abil­ity of our ecosys­tems is more than a mis­sion. It is my re­li­gion and my dharma.”
Next time he should keep his dharma to him­self.
===

JOUR­NAL­ISM IS NOT AD­VO­CACY

Miranda Devine – Saturday, February 28, 2015 (11:19pm)

COMPLAINING about the me­dia is like com­plain­ing about the weather. There’s noth­ing you can do to change it. Free so­ci­eties get the me­dia they de­serve and if Twit­ter rep­re­sents the sewer of dis­course, it’s still our sewer.
But politi­cians and var­i­ous nump­ties are do­ing a lot of com­plain­ing at the mo­ment, as if the trou­bles of the Ab­bott gov­ern­ment would all just dis­ap­pear if no­body talked about them.
Shoot­ing the mes­sen­ger is just a low-grade di­ver­sion tac­tic. And whin­ing about “rightwing hunt­ing packs” hound­ing the Prime Min­is­ter is puerile.
Jour­nal­ism is not cheer­lead­ing. It’s sup­posed to be a se­ries of ap­prox­i­ma­tions of the truth that gives the pub­lic some idea of what is go­ing on in the coun­try.
Cen­sor­ing un­palat­able news didn’t stop famine in China, you might re­mem­ber.
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Abbott changes: dumps dud policy, takes blame. Humiliation modified

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (3:14pm)

Far too late, but at least it’s gone:
The Federal Government has scrapped its unpopular plan for a GP co-payment, Health Minister Sussan Ley has confirmed. 
Earlier, the Coalition party room was told the government had dropped its $5 doctors’ charge. Treasurer Joe Hockey told reporters after the meeting the cost of the decision over four years came to “a little less than $1 billion”.
Yet still good policy. Killed by populism and poor selling.
Still, I thought Tony Abbott struck exactly the right tone in Question Time by taking the responsibility - “I should have known better” and “as a former health minister .,.. I should have been more conscious of the fact that proper health reform in this country does require the support, the cooperation, the consent of the medical profession”.
Abbott spun a humiliating retreat into a sign that he has indeed changed and that he does have a new willingness to listen to voters. He has “listened and learned”, he said. This is exactly what many critics have so long wanted to hear.
It is a great pity that he had to write off an essentially good policy as “dead, buried and cremated”, but I understand the political necessity of doing so.  
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Has the public woken up to this media putsch?

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (1:25pm)

The Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter Hartcher tried to torture yesterday’s IPSOS results - showing a huge lift for the Abbott Government - into confessing that Abbott is actually dead:
Tony Abbott’s supporters will claim today’s poll as proof that there is life in his prime ministership yet. Only a superficial reading can support this conclusion. In truth, it shows that it is already dead.
Seriously? But Hartcher trumped that with an even crazier theory - that Abbott’s poll surge just showed voters had already factored in a takeover by Malcolm Turnbull, who deserved the credit for the Government’s increased popularity::
As Australia’s collective expectation moves to a Turnbull prime ministership, Bill Shorten becomes a less attractive alternative. This explains the sharp fall in his popularity. Abbott made him popular by default; the prospect of Turnbull is making him less so.
To be fair, Hartcher wasn’t alone in claiming up was down:
Fran Kelly, ABC: 
One interpretation of this poll is that voters actually returning to the government, supporting the government, because they’ve actually already made up their minds that Tony Abbott’s time is up and Malcolm Turnbull will soon be prime minister. 
Michael Gordon, The Age: 
Either voters want the leadership speculation to go away or they have already factored in a change to Malcolm Turnbull…
Laura Tingle, Financial Review - only too eager to repeat the nonsense fed her by a few fellow Abbott haters within the Coalition: 
One view prevalent in Parliament House last week was that voters may have already been taking a leadership change into account – resulting in better party figures. 
Reviews are pouring in for Hartcher’s stunning effort at punditry. Tim Blair:
According to Hartcher Logic, the 2013 election result was a disaster for Tony Abbott.... 
According to Hartcher Logic, Labor creates surpluses.
According to Hartcher Logic, the Australian Democrats have been in power since 1977.
According to Hartcher Logic, Mike Carlton has a job.
According to Hartcher Logic, the Adelaide Crows won last year’s AFL Premiership.
According to Hartcher Logic, Australia defeated New Zealand by six wickets.
According to Hartcher Logic, leaves turn green and fall up.
According to Hartcher Logic, Poland invaded Germany.
Astonishment and mockery cross the political divide:
The frantic demonisation of Abbott by much of the media helped to nearly destroy him. I now wonder whether the media Left has overplayed its hand. Whether the public has seen the trick, and is suddenly suspicious of journalist-led putsch against their prime minister:
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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Palmer lifts fake abstention

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (11:18am)

Clive Palmer must have realised his idiotic abstention actually helpd Tony Abbott by removing two votes against him in the Senate:
CLIVE Palmer has declared Prime Minister Tony Abbott “back in control” and sayshis party will not now impose a blanket abstention on bills. 
Mr Palmer declared on Monday that his two Palmer United Party crossbench senators would abstain from voting on any government legislation until the Liberal party’s infighting ended.
His abstention wasn’t even genuine in the first place. His two Senators still voted with Labor and the Greens to protect crooked union bosses:
A KEY Tony Abbott election commitment to impose tougher ­financial penalties on dodgy union officials has been defeated in the Senate in a blow for the ­government’s industrial relations agenda… 
The bill would have established a new watchdog for registered organisations, strengthened financial accounting obligations and held both union and employer group officials to the same standard as wealthy chief executives. It was voted down 33 to 30 with Labor, the Greens, the Palmer United Party, and other cross benchers — ­including Jacqui Lambie and Ricky Muir — opting to oppose the proposed changes.
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Who is minding the gate?

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (9:32am)

Seriously? These people are guarding the national interest?
A TAMIL refugee who escaped to Australia while on bail for allegedly murdering his pregnant lover cannot be refused a visa, a tribunal has found… 
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal found the man’s lies were “equally consistent with a desire to escape” ill-treatment in Sri Lanka as with consciousness of guilt, and other evidence of his ­involvement was not “clear and credible” or “strong enough” to justify rejecting his claim.
(Thanks to reader WaG311.) 
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Costello: cut taxes. Unleash growth

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (9:16am)

Former Treasurer Peter Costello warns we’re now being overtaken by countries once battered by the global financial crisis, and all we can talk about is raising yet more job-killing taxes:
Our economic growth is sluggish, stuck at about 2.5 per cent. That’s similar to other English-speaking countries like Britain, New Zealand, Canada and a little lower than the United States. But we used to do much better than those countries. 
Our unemployment is a little higher than those other countries, apart from Canada. Those other countries went into deep recession and unemployment spiked. They have emerged from recession and now their unemployment rate has fallen below ours. We were well in front of those countries. We avoided recession but they have made up ground on us.
The Australian economy is no longer leading the other developed economies. Our debt is not as bad since we had such a strong position to start from. But we are rapidly running it up…
Our political debate is currently dominated by various plans to increase tax. Front and backbenchers in the Liberal Party have proposals to increase GST, the Treasury wants to increase superannuation taxes, the Financial System Inquiry recently suggested franking credits be removed or limited in some form.
No one seems to think it relevant that on their own, none of these ideas will boost growth or create jobs. We’re having an argument about the wrong issue because we can’t bear to think about the right one…
Well, let’s talk about the real issue. How do we make our economy more productive? Higher taxes are not part of the answer. There’s a vacuum in our political debate at the moment and it is waiting for a low-tax Liberal to fill it. If the Liberal Party doesn’t find someone to champion the cause, then senators Leyonhjelm and Day are likely to step in.
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Why do Liberals go on Q&A?

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (8:57am)

All Greens and most Labor MPs - including the Opposition Leader - have boycotted The Bolt Report, hoping to dodge embarrassment and deny the show credibility and viewers.
And that’s despite me showing guests respect. I don’t heckle them, sneer at them, get stacked audiences to jeer them or run Tweets under their face to insult them.
Yet Liberals do go on the ABC’s Q&A program to subject themselves to all the above. They sign up to be put in the stocks before one of the nastiest and most partisan crowds you can find in on Australian TV.
Last night again:
It’s not just a slab of the audience that’s foul:
  
HARRY Potter star and naturalised Australian Miriam Margolyes flirted with controversy over her comments on the ABC’s Q&A about anti-Semitism and higher taxes.
But when asked for a one-word answer to describe Tony Abbott, the response showed that the Prime Minister may be getting a lift in the polls, but he may have some way to go winning over rusted on critics.
“He’s a tit,” was Ms Margolyes’ offering to a predictably appreciative audience.
Earlier, Ms Margolyes, who is Jewish, answered a question about the rise of anti-Semitism by saying: “People don’t like Jews ... it’s not comfortable to say that but I believe it to be true.”
She went on to suggest that Israel’s actions and “appalling” treatment of Palestinians were a contributing factor to the rise of anti-Semitism.  
Blaming Jews for anti-Semitism?
UPDATE
Q&A producer Amanda Collinge is thrilled by the guest who blamed Jews for anti-Semitism and then abused Tony Abbott:
ABC staff not biased to the Left?
(Thanks to reader SR.) 
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Why are Australia’s gays not fighting the cult that kills gays?

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (8:37am)

Why this silence about the deadliest threat to gays today? About the ideology that wants them dead?
Check the past six years of press releases from Australia’s top lobby group for gay rights - the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby - and note what’s missing:
Here’s a clue to what’s missing - a map of the countries were homosexuality is a crime, and even punishable with death:
There is a common factor among many of those countries. And the threat is growing:
And even in Britain:
Why the silence of gay groups in Australia?
(Thanks to reader the Evil Right.) 
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Never again? The silence of the Left

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (7:56am)

Labor historian and former adviser Nick Dyrenfurth:
On February 15, 38-year-old volunteer security guard Dan Uzan was shot and killed outside a Copenhagen synagogue during a bat mitzvah celebration. A month earlier, a gunman executed four customers at a kosher grocery store in Paris. 
In May 2014, a gunman killed four people at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. In 2012, a gunman murdered three students and a teacher at Toulouse Jewish primary school in south-west France. Eight-year-old Miriam Monsonego was shot point-blank in the head....
Seventy years after the Holocaust, Jews are again being murdered in Europe for being Jews.
These recent outrages are but the tip of an anti-Semitic iceberg. About 7000 French Jews made aliyah (migrated) to Israel last year. For good reason. Jews make up 1 per cent of the French population, but half of all racially-motivated crimes during 2014 targeted Jews....
Australia has not been immune. A video produced by the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir shows the organisation’s head, Ismail Al Wahwah, alleging that “where Jews thrive corruption abounds” and that the world is afflicted by the Jewish “hidden evil”.
Yet, as #jesuischarlie hashtags proliferate, violence carried out by supporters of a far-right brand of totalitarianism, radical Islam, is met with thundering silence in the West. Most disturbing is the response of progressives. Recent events demonstrate that a section of what purports to be the left wing no longer stands unequivocally against all forms of fascism and racism and is prepared to ignore or, worse, excuse an ideology that rejects Enlightenment values and promotes a racist, misogynistic and homophobic death cult.
Condemnation has been non-existent or heavily qualified. What about Anders Breivik, they say? The killers have nothing to do with Islam – despite most attacks being launched with the cry of “Allahu Akbar” – but are alienated, radicalised “lone wolves”, the argument goes…
Moreover, confronting the resurgence of anti-Semitism would mean accepting that the demonisation of Israelis and Jewish diaspora – such as the toxic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign that effectively calls for the destruction of Israel – has in part contributed to the legitimation of violent attacks against the Jews of Europe.
Instead, we have seen a bizarre reversal of victimhood. The first instinct of many, rather than sympathise with the victims of terror, has been to warn against a potential Islamophobic backlash. According to this warped and infantilising logic, Muslims, as the “new” Jews, are all innocent victims of Western (and Israeli) imperialism and racism. 
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Widodo tells children drug traffickers must die

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (7:31am)

There was something chilling about Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s demeanor (from the footage on ABC news last night) as he coached students into chanting support for his policy to not spare a single drug trafficker from execution:
EXECUTION for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumuran looms close, possibly a matter of days, but Joko Widodo makes clear even to schoolchildren he is unmoved by any appeal to spare them and other condemned drug convicts.
“Do you agree with the death penalty for drug dealers?” the President challenged a class from Taruna Nusantara high school visiting the state palace in Jakarta yesterday. 
The students, who had just heard Mr Joko’s standard dissertation on the damage drugs are wreaking on Indonesia’s younger generations, responded in one voice: “We really agree.”
He told reporters afterwards: “I underline there is no clemency for drug dealers.”
He explicitly rebuffed appeals from Tony Abbott — who said last week he thought Mr Widodo was “carefully considering Indonesia’s position” — and other foreign leaders whose citizens also face the firing squad.
“Don’t even try to intervene in our legal sovereignty, our political sovereignty, on the death penalty, execution, on drugs and narcotics,” he said.
Yet I am tipping that Tony Abbott will still be blamed on the ABC or in the Fairfax press once Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan are executed. 
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The IPCC scandal: were 97 per cent of women groped?

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (7:10am)

Tony Thomas asks:
Did Pachauri Grope 97% of Women?
Thomas answers:
Actually, only five have complained so far, but why not apply warmist statistical methods to allegations of roving hands, lurid texts and an obsession with ‘voluptuous breasts’ that have seen the world’s premier alarmist resign? One possible defence: climate change makes bureaucrats hot to trot
Thomas notes Rajendra Pachauri’s astonishing letter of resignation from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change after being accused by female staff of being a groper and harasser (he denies it):
Pachauri in his resignation letter brags that he has led the IPCC for 13 years… He [said] ... the IPCC “always scaled new heights of excellence”. He says, “It was a blessing and a rare moment of glory for the scientific community and me when I received the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC in 2007…For me, the protection of Planet Earth, the survival of all species and sustainability of our ecosystems is more than a mission. It is my religion and my dharma.” 
He went on that for reasons not stated, he can no longer give the IPCC his full attention and hence would resign on February 24: “The greatest joy of working as an elected official of the IPCC lies in not receiving any monetary compensation in return, which elevates this mission to a level of sublime satisfaction.” There is no recognition in this letter of his numerous gaffes such as blasting an Indian glaciologist, Vijay Raina, as a “voodoo” scientist for correctly noting the IPCC’s 2007 melting-Himalaya-glaciers howler; he concedes that he is motivated by religion rather than science; and his humble-brag about working without pay is ridiculous, given the perks and global adulation he enjoyed as chairman. That includes at least 23 honorary doctorates (e.g. from UNSW) and honors like “The Green Crusader Award” (Mumbai); Aztec Eagle (Mexico); White Rose of Finland; and Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star (Japan).
He really did seem a pest, to judge by his emails and the complaints. 
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Age tries to ban media. Gives false excuse

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (7:02am)

We all make mistakes, so I certainly won’t sneer at The Age’s.
But trying to stop the media from reporting the apology? Pardon?
AGE editor-in-chief ... Andrew Holden fronted the Doveton mosque last night to say sorry for the paper’s “terrible mistake” in incorrectly calling Abu Bakar Alam, 19, a terrorist. 
He also donated $20,000 to the centre, as part of a legal settlement.
But before his speech, Mr Holden asked several reporters to leave.
“You’re not welcome,’’ Mr Holden told the Herald Sun, claiming that it was a private event and that those present did not feel comfortable with the media being inside.
But Doveton mosque president Pacha Noori intervened to say the media was welcome.
“It would be better if we could do this one in the open,” Mr Noori said…
About 250 people had been expected to attend last Friday to hear Mr Holden’s apology but The Age rescheduled the event until Monday night. A smaller crowd of only 30 or 40 people, including the teen and his family, attended. 
To compound the embarrassment, the Herald Sun this morning scooped The Age on this story. The Age now has such absurdly early deadlines for cost-cutting reasons that it cannot compete in covering news that breaks after dinner. 
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Labor has another tax policy that looks as good as its mining tax

Andrew Bolt March 03 2015 (6:42am)

Labor finally has released a policy - a populist pitch to make nasty foreign multinationals pay their “fair share” of tax. As Labor leader Bill Shorten puts it:
It isn’t right that you & Australian business pay your fair share but big multinationals don’t.
Trouble is, Bill Shorten said Labor’s spectacularly stupid mining tax was likewise about making wicked business pay its “fair share”:
We believe that the principles of the mining tax, that people should have their fair share from resources, from natural resources across this country when companies are making very large profits..
Result? Virtually no taxes raised, investment scared off, millions squandered on the whole farce and the tax now scrapped.
Professor Sinclair Davidson warns that Labor’s new tax policy could be as stupid as that last one it sold with the populist shout of “fair share”:
The ALP have just announced the tax policy you have when you don’t have a tax policy. 
Federal Labor will announce plans on Monday to recoup almost $2 billion by clamping down on multinational tax evasion as it begins pushing back at demands that it details alternative budget savings.
In its largest policy to be unveiled so far, Labor will announce a four-pronged strategy that will benefit the budget by more than $500 million a year and raise at least $1.9 billion in its first three years of operation.
Those pesky foreigners not paying their tax.
So let’s have a look at the detail:
The first element will be to make changes to the current thin capitalisation rules to reduce the amount of debt against which companies can claim tax deductions in Australia. Presently, companies can claim up to a 60 per cent, debt-to-equity ratio for their Australian operations. 
Under Labor’s policy, a company’s tax deduction would be assessed on the debt-to-equity ratio of its entire global operation. For example, if a company averages a debt-to-equity ratio across all its subsidiaries of 30 per cent, them it can only claim tax deductions of that level in Australia.
The thing is this; Labor were in office just 19 months ago and didn’t propose this policy. Good thing too – this would require foreign investors to place more equity in Australia rather than debt. To the extent that they don’t want to do that the quantum of foreign investment in Australia would fall. To be sure, some people would like that outcome, but I’m not convinced that any elected government would be sufficiently unwise enough to implement this particular policy.
That isn’t the end of this policy’s weaknesses. 
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If only those thoughts were coherent. The Age wants people who are poor and desperate to drown? The Age wants, people with little, to give it all to pirates? The Age wants people who are desperate and poor to miss out on a refugee placement? The Age wants people who are poor and desperate to live in cages? Maybe if the Age wants to give them a voice, it can listen to their opinion and report it.
Taken from an impartial view, without entrenched ideas about balance or result, the article is demented. Were we to source thirty thousand people in Sri Lanka, Pakistan or Afghanistan and drown over a thousand of them, and charge each of them over $10k, and then cage them we would expect to be called bad names .. regardless of our intentions. And then to turn to the poor and oppressed and say "Tough luck for now" while asserting that this is fairer than the Pacific Solution .. those words cannot be that sweet .. those arguments cannot be that compelling. Let us forget that conservatives back the Pacific Solution .. I think if we were to be as fair and just as we could be, we would follow the Pacific Solution. I despise the tribalism that refuses to hear good ideas because they weren't made by people we liked. - ed
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A former drug addict is not one to lecture on ending a “war on drugs”

Andrew BoltMARCH032013(5:28am)

One of the key arguments against decriminalising drugs is that what you tolerate you will get more of.
Give that, the front man of the new Drug Law Reform Australia is a poor choice of spokesman for one side of the debate and the right one for those of us arguing against: 
Greg Chipp, 57, said his party, Drug Law Reform Australia, was not pro-drugs, but would push for a debate on harm minimisation and for the decriminalisation and regulation of cannabis.
Yes, Chipp has recovered, but I’m not convinced by his argument:
Addicts would be treated as having a health problem.
Addicts don’t have a health problem when they first take drugs. They have a problem with the law, their lack of responsibility, their indifference to consequences.  And the messages we send as a community to such people could prove decisive in many cases.
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Forgive him. He’s just 23 and a Labor MP’s son

Andrew BoltMARCH032013(5:21am)

The problem with the Internet is that it gives 23 year olds the chance to tell the world - unerasably - that they are still young and stupid:
Ben Hoenig, whose father Ron - a successful barrister - succeeded former premier Kristina Keneally as the state member for Heffron in August, has written a series of threatening posts on the social media website, interspersed with photos of he and his father standing alongside Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

Despite his father being voted into Macquarie St by one of the biggest Asian populations in NSW, the 23-year-old Mr Hoenig wrote on November 6: “You know your country is f***ed when you walk into macca and wonder if you just flew to china!”
In this case the damage done isn’t great. He’s the son of a Labor MP, so will be forgiven. 
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What the XX?

Andrew BoltMARCH032013(12:08am)

Given where Labor is in the polls, what does XX stand for?
UPDATE
Reader aristotlenow: 
XX = Double cross?
Reader Warwick:
Simple typo it should have read Ex Ex PM and Ministers
Yes, double chromosome and all that for the literal minded.
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Omar Barghouti, a skilled propagandist for BDS wrote an op-ed in the NY Daily News. Uncharacteristically, but very effectively, the NY Daily News wrote a counter op-ed calling on Barghouti to check his facts and falsehoods. 
It is worth mentioning that Barghouti is a student at Tel Aviv University, yet calls for academic boycotts of Israeli universities!

Barghouti's lies are outlined here:
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<... Here is another one for the record books.

Gillard is not just the first female prime minister of Australia but she can also possibly claim to be the first prime minister ever who has fornicated with more members of her back bench and union thugs than any other prime minister preceding her.

All these fuck buddy relationships ended amicably

I could just imagine Julia's parting words " Cop u later " :-)

Larry Pickering offers an interesting insight>
=== Todays Events ===

Borghetti is all class

Miranda Devine – Sunday, March 02, 2014 (6:35am)

VIRGIN boss John Borghetti showed again last week what a mistake it was for the Qantas board to pass him over for the younger Irishman, Alan Joyce, as chief executive six years ago.
Not only was he honest enough to blame the carbon tax for costing the airlines “hundreds of millions of dollars”, but he took the time to express sympathy for the staff of his embattled former airline.
“You should have been CEO of Qantas and I’m not the only one who says that,” wrote a former flight attendant on the cabin crew’s Facebook page.
Borghetti replied: “Having worked with outstanding staff at Qantas for 36 years, I too find it hard to believe what is happening to this once great company. I feel for the staff.”
The man is all class. 
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Tough lessons for Bingleton

Miranda Devine – Sunday, March 02, 2014 (6:38am)

SAM Worthington has been well and truly bingled. The latest squeeze of Lara Bingle, who may or may not be her new husband, was handcuffed and bundled into a police car in New York last week after he allegedly punched a diminutive photographer.
Three lessons can be learned from this plight:
1) Woe betide any man who falls in love with a siren. Bingle is Trouble with a capital T, causing her smitten lovers to rescue her from the consequences of her actions. Thus, last week, footage online shows Bingle, 26, manhandling photographer Sheng Li and trying to grab his camera, before Sam, 37, gets involved.
2) If you court publicity for a living, you can’t turn it off at will. A woman with her own reality show, who conducts her life on Instagram, and who has been photographed accidentally nude, can hardly complain that her privacy is invaded on a public street. “We have a lot of celebs in New York City who are even more famous than Sam Worthington and even more well known than Lara Bingle,” quipped Li’s lawyer. “They manage to keep their tempers.”
3) Cops in New York are on the ball. On the scene in minutes, they didn’t buy Sam’s story: “These guys kicked a girl, man.” And when Sam said, “I did that movie called Avatar,” the cop looked away, unimpressed.
The only thing missing was an extra set of handcuffs for the blonde who started it all. 
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It’s time to send Palmer packing

Miranda Devine – Sunday, March 02, 2014 (6:39am)

CLIVE Palmer, the unlikely darling of the ABC, had two Tony Jones outings last week, most recently on Lateline, where he expounded on aviation matters while snuffling and snorting like Darth Vader in an iron lung.
When Palmer supported the LNP, the ABC treated him like a fat buffoon. Now, of course, he is a sage.
Palmer is licking his rosebud lips in anticipation of power to come. But first he has to get through a re-run of the WA Senate poll, and there is every chance that voters might wise up to the gimlet-eyed ­opportunist beneath the fleshy jocularity.
He’s been on the ABC’s flagship shows, Lateline or Q&A, on average once a fortnight since the election, and is treated like royalty. So much so that he calls Tony Jones a “great journalist”, a “world champion”.
Which is a strange comment from someone supposedly from the right side of politics.
But Clive is a special case. The billionaire Gold Coast mining entrepreneur is feted by the Left like Lee Harvey Oswald was by the Russians – before they realised he was a lunatic.
A turncoat conservative is a rare prize to be carefully cultivated. Especially one full of colourful bile who, by an accident of electoral history and lots of cash, has found himself in a position to wield enormous power.
Palmer is a loose cannon who deserves scrutiny.
But the ABC’s interest is not the investigative probing of The Australian’s estimable ­reporter Hedley Thomas, who has dug out facts on Palmer’s wealth, business dealings and numerable legal stoushes so that the Australian people can judge whether they have themselves a pig in a poke or a pearl in the parliament.
Is Palmer an altruistic self-made man under siege from a media controlled by a Chinese Mata Hari? Or is he a tyrant who inflates his wealth and achievements?
But what the ABC seems most interested in is what Palmer will do to foil the Abbott government in the Senate.
There was a time when the national broadcaster delighted in mocking Palmer, always running footage of him waddling onto his private jet, collapsing onto a kingsize seat and promptly falling asleep with his mouth open. ABC cameramen have lost count of the apnoea snorts they’ve captured for posterity.
Those were the days when Clive and his juicy rolls of filthy lucre were valued members of the LNP family.
Like the night of the hung election in 2010, when he squeezed onto a couch at the Four Seasons Hotel alongside party grandees, crunching numbers himself on a little silver laptop perched on his lap, loudly proclaiming results to all and sundry.
He was incorrect, as it turned out, but, hey, it was a tough election to call.
He soon felt scorned by Campbell Newman and Tony Abbott, who failed to recognise his unique political acumen, so he started his own party and twerked into parliament with two senators.
Now it’s up to the voters of Western Australia to tell ­Palmer his novelty honeymoon is over, and he can’t have the two extra Senate berths he wants.
Regardless of how the ABC portrays him, a serious country facing serious economic difficulties cannot afford to be held hostage to his ego and self-interest.
You just need to go to the former five-star Palmer ­Coolum Resort on the Sunshine Coast, which he bought three years ago, for a vision of a Clive-controlled future.
Guest reviews on Trip Advisor reveal a Fawlty Towers ghost town of dirty swimming pools, musty rooms, overflowing ­garbage bins and $31 pizzas, where staff numbers have been slashed.
Broken-down fibreglass ­dinosaurs, covered in bird poo, dot the tropical gardens, their electronic wails keeping guests awake at night.
A continuous spool of Clive videos plays on the in-room televisions.
“This is a ‘resort’ where everybody — staff and guests — are a little embarrassed to be there,” wrote one disappointed guest last month.
“In the restaurants there are large photos of the fat owner looking as if he is some egotistical ruler,” wrote another ­reviewer. “Such a shame it has gone so far downhill.”
“The entire weekend was a comedy of ­errors,” wrote Natasha.
“WE WOULD NEVER GO THERE AGAIN EVEN IF IT WAS FREE!”
“I am past angry, I’m ­offended,” wrote Natalie, after spending $536 a night for nine nights last month. “We have wasted our hard-earned money on what we thought would be a five-star holiday… our first family holiday.
“Stay away. Stay far, far, away.”
That is good advice for WA voters, too.
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Piranesi in Melbourne

Andrew BoltMARCH022014(6:02pm)

Sure worth seeing at the State Library of Victoria:
Marvel at unforgettable images of classical and baroque Rome in this free exhibition of exquisite rare artworks from 18th-century Italian master-printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78). This stunning exhibition highlights the grand churches, imposing palaces and monumental ruins of Rome. It also includes illustrated books and paintings by his contemporaries. Don’t miss the opportunity to see over 100 significant works, focusing on superb prints from his Vedute di Roma (Views of Rome).
This will be the largest exhibition of Piranesi’s work ever to be seen in Australia – don’t miss it!
Rome: Piranesi’s vision is curated by Dr Colin Holden, former Redmond Barry Fellow at the State Library of Victoria and former Senior Fellow of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, University of Melbourne…
This free exhibition is open 10am–5pm daily (to 9pm Thursdays).
I was once very lucky enough to be stopped in the street by Colin to hear him talk on Piranesi and tell the wonderful story of how original plates of his got to France. Colin knows his stuff:
One of the crowd favorites at the exhibition - Prisoners on a projecting platform:
My favorite at the exhibition (although rather atypical) - Appian way. (Did I see a film like this, or did I just dream it?): 
A personal favorite for sentimental reasons (but not at the exhibition) - Vetuda di un Eliocarmino, at Hadrian’s Villa:
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The Sydney Morning Herald will only help catch the Caucasian

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (6:05pm)

The Sydney Morning Herald’s refusal to help police to identify certain suspects of favored “races” or faiths reaches absurd heights.
What the Herald reported:
Police say four detainees, three aged 18 and one 15-year-old, then allegedly took off with the juvenile justice van… 
However the detainees are still on the run.
The 18-year-olds are described with black hair, medium builds and between 150 and 170cm tall. The fourth teen is described as being of Caucasian appearance, approximately 150cm to 155cm tall, with a thin build and brown hair.
The Caucasian is identified by “race”; the other three are not. If you suspect the obvious, you are right.
Here is the original NSW police report asking for help to catch the four suspects:
The first is described as being of Aboriginal / Torres Strait Islander appearance, between 165cm and 170cm tall, with medium build and black hair. 
The second is described as being of Aboriginal / Torres Strait Islander appearance, between 150cm and 160cm tall, with medium build and black hair.
The third is described as being of Aboriginal / Torres Strait Islander appearance, between 160cm and 170cm tall, with medium build and black hair… The fourth teen is aged 15, is described as being of Caucasian appearance, approximately 150cm to 155cm tall, with thin build and brown hair.
Gutless. The Sydney Morning Herald would rather three of the suspects escape capture than identify them. What’s more, this cowardice puts people at potential risk:
Police have urged people not to approach the young men but to call 000 immediately.
(Thanks to reader Peter H.) 
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Russia grabs Crimea. Obama grabs platitudes. UPDATE: Does Obama even look scary?

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (4:29pm)

This is extremely dangerous:
RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin’s refusal to withdraw his forces in Ukraine has put the US and Russia on the brink of the most explosive confrontation since the end of the Cold War, amid warnings that the situation on the Crimean peninsula is racing towards armed conflict. 
President Barack Obama has released his account of what he told President Putin in a 90 minute phone call - which, pathetically, apparently amounts to saying not much more than that people will think Putin isn’t nice and America will hold lots of talks and give some aid to the parts of Ukraine Putin hasn’t taken:
The United States condemns Russia’s military intervention into Ukrainian territory. 
The United States calls on Russia to de-escalate tensions by withdrawing its forces back to bases in Crimea and to refrain from any interference elsewhere in Ukraine.... The Ukrainian government has made clear its commitment to protect the rights of all Ukrainians and to abide by Ukraine’s international commitments, and we will continue to urge them to do so…
President Obama urged an immediate effort to initiate a dialogue between Russia and the Ukrainian government… President Obama made clear that Russia’s continued violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would negatively impact Russia’s standing in the international community. In the coming hours and days, the United States will urgently consult with allies and partners in the UN Security Council, the North Atlantic Council, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and with the signatories of the Budapest Memorandum… President Obama has directed his Administration to continue working urgently with international partners to provide support for the Ukrainian government, including urgent technical and financial assistance. 
William Kristol helpfully annotates Obama’s media statement, paragraph by paragraph, For example:
Paragraph Five: 
The people of Ukraine have the right to determine their own future. President Obama has directed his Administration to continue working urgently with international partners to provide support for the Ukrainian government, including urgent technical and financial assistance. Going forward, we will continue consulting closely with allies and partners, the Ukrainian government and the International Monetary Fund, to provide the new government with significant assistance to secure financial stability, to support needed reforms, to allow Ukraine to conduct successful elections, and to support Ukraine as it pursues a democratic future.
Commentary:
President Obama will be doing a lot of consulting with, and some assisting of, Ukraine. But Ukraine can expect no serious assistance in getting Russian troops off Ukraine soil or helping secure Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Nor is President Obama committed to seeing to it that President Putin pay a real price for his actions. It would after all be unfair to treat President Putin worse than President Assad or Ayatollah Khamenei.
Scott Johnson:
If it were a parody of liberal handwringing, this would be comedy gold. One highlight would be the obligatory advice to Putin of his country’s interest: “President Obama made clear that Russia’s continued violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would negatively impact Russia’s standing in the international community.” Oh, no, no, not that!… 
What a pitiful president. What a pitiful man. What a pitiful fool.
True, the US has the more profound responsibility and cannot hurtle into war. But compare its response to Canada’s:
Canada became the first nation to take concrete action against Russia by withdrawing its ambassador from Moscow yesterday and flagging that it would join the US in considering a boycott of the upcoming G8 summit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Compare Obama’s rhetoric to Tony Abbott’s:
I think people right around the world – will be thinking right now, “Hands off the Ukraine”. This is not the kind of action of a friend and neighbour, and really Russia should back off… Russia needs to know and understand that it is simply unacceptable to interfere like this, militarily, in a neighbour. You just cannot do this. You just cannot do this. 
UPDATE
The White House has released this picture of Barack Obama warning Vladimir Putin to pull his troops out of Ukraine or face the full might of the free world. Thing is, does Obama look the least bit threatening? A symbol of implacable Western power? Or just some dude who wants to go back to watching TV on his weekend off?

(Thanks to reader William.) 
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Sorry ABC, with a sorry strategy to deal with a sorry performance

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (2:37pm)

Since the ABC won’t publish apologies, The Australian will kindly do it for them.
UPDATE
How funny. The ABC is paying an ex-Murdoch man $600 an hour for advice that this Murdoch man gives daily for free:
THE ABC has hired Rupert Murdoch’s former spokesman, at taxpayers’ expense, to help it repair its damaged relationship with the Abbott government and stem criticism from News Corporation. 
Recognising the public broadcaster has a serious problem with the government, ABC managing director Mark Scott has turned to gun crisis-management consultant Andrew Butcher to tell him how to improve the ABC’s public image… The Australian can reveal the ABC is paying the Melbourne-based corporate strategist $600 an hour for advice and flew him to Sydney early last month to have a one-on-one session with Mr Scott.
But to be clear. My advice to the ABC is not meant specifically to “repair its damaged relationship with the Abbott government and stem criticism from News Corporation”, and I’d be rather cross if the ABC is paying taxpayers’ money to Butcher to achieve that end, too. That stinks of political deals and secret influence peddling. It would be grossly improper.
All I want is for the ABC to provide the balance it promises in its own charter. Its failure to even try to achieve that balance, or to even admit to its pronounced imbalance in its news and current affairs presentation, is what outrages so many conservatives, including those in News Corp and the Liberal Party.
Fix that bias with a bit of balance and the ABC will have no problem with conservatives. It should not need a former News Corp PR man, even one as nice as Butcher, to tell the ABC just to do its job.
UPDATE
ABC managing director Mark Scott insists he cannot see the Leftist bias of his presenters:
I don’t know how our journalists vote. I don’t know what their personal views are. 
That answer is deceptive and treats his critics - and audience - like idiots, as I’ve noted before:
First, this is evasive. I also don’t know how Kelly votes. For the Greens or Labor? Did Adams vote in 2007 for Labor, his long-time party, or for the Climate Change Coalition his wife helped to create? Did Green, whose party in 2007 included a John Howard pinata, vote Labor, Greens or informal? Did Trioli, who protested against Howard and made “he’s-mad” signals when interviewing Barnaby Joyce on TV, vote Socialist or Labor? 
Like Scott, I just don’t know. But I do know that whatever way they voted, their ideological leanings are to the Left, and if Scott doesn’t know that, too, he is remarkably ignorant.
In fact, I don’t think he’s being frank. Take his claim that he doesn’t “know what their personal views are” ...

Does Scott seriously assert that he doesn’t know Jones is a global warming evangelist who has been chosen a number of times by warmist conferences to mc the event or moderate the discussions?
Does he really know know that Barrie Cassidy, a former adviser to Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke, is a close friend of the Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s partner, and is largely defensive of Gillard on his show?
Has he never heard Trioli opine on his airwaves that the September 11 attacks were possibly the work of the FBI and the correct way to deal with Osama bin Laden was be “sitting down with him, treating him like a human being and talking about it, and then Osama bin Laden going home again, not bombing the hell out of bin Laden?” Is Scott honestly unaware that Science Show presenter Robyn Wiliiams is such a warming catastrophist that he claimed sea level rises this century of up to 100 metres were “possible, yes”? Or that Williams campaigned against the ABC screening a documentary sceptical of the warming scare? 
And here is just today’s example to add to the list:
AND they say there is no anti-government bias at the ABC. ABC newsreader and Business Today presenter, Whitney Fitzsimmons has posted a photograph on her Facebook page of a woman wearing a charming T-shirt that reads “F. . k Tony Abbott.”
She also likes the comments underneath the photograph, which read “simple yet effective” and “Oddly, Miranda Devine has the same shirt.” This matter was a tough one for ABC’s new chief spinner, Nick Leys, who took two days to come back to Diary when we asked him how the ABC could provide objective and balanced coverage of politics when their journalists posted material like this on Facebook. Finally he said, “While she did take the photograph and post it to her personal Facebook page, she in no way endorses the views on display.” Aaah. If only there was an unendorse button on Facebook.
Speaking of ABC bias, did it slip the ABC’s memory that Michael Williamson. today taken into custody after pleading guilty to fraud, was once the national president of the Labor party? No mention of that fact in its report.
(Thanks to reader Joe.) 
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Why does the Left not longer admit it?

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (1:12pm)

Culture wars, Media

CONSERVATIVES must be winning. We’ve made the Left so ashamed, they are running a mile from the word.

All over the country, ageing Leftists are hiding their Che Guevara T-shirts and pulling on cardigans and “who me?” expressions.
Take last Friday, when Left-wing publisher Morry Schwartz went on the Left-wing ABC to plug his new Saturday Paper.
Schwartz’s paper has a stable of pink-hued writers, from huffster David Marr to the even more Left-wing Robert Manne, and ABC host Jon Faine drew the obvious conclusion.
Faine: So it’s going to have a Left-of-centre focus?
Schwartz (horrified): No ... Centrist. Progressive and centrist.
And the next day we saw what Schwartz’s “progressive and centrist” newspaper looked like — exactly like a Leftist one.
(Read full article here.) 
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Does anyone believe Turnbull?

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (11:57am)

 I did wonder why Malcolm Turnbull was happy to launch the last Left-wing publication of Left-wing publisher Morry Schwartz when it was bound to do precisely what it has - savage conservatives, including those in his own Liberal party.
And to compound that political error: 
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has denied he was referring to News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch when he referred to a “demented plutocrat” during his speech to launch The Saturday Paper. 
During the speech on Friday night Turnbull repeatedly went off-script and made several jibes which appeared to be at the expense of News Corp’s flagship newspaper The Australian and Murdoch.
After lavishing praise on The Saturday Paper’s founder Morry Schwartz and his contribution to Australia’s “intellectual life”, Turnbull quipped: “You are not some demented plutocrat pouring more and more money into a loss making venture that is just going to peddle your opinions.” However, in a blog posting on his website today Turnbull denied the line was intended for Murdoch, saying: “Given that earlier in my speech I had referred to William Randolph Hearst (immortalised by Orson Welles in Citizen Kane) I was surprised that some people have inferred I was referring to Rupert Murdoch.”
Really? The gasps of the audience suggests they took it another way.
And, indeed, the abridged version of his speech - which, like the version put on Turnbull’s own website, misses any Hearst reference - suggests something else: 
[Can] I say my estimation of Michael Stutchbury has dramatically diminished ever since I read the persistent editorialising in The Australian about of how he never kept his desk clean — his deficiencies. It’s extraordinary. 
That’s the great thing about The Australian — there is nothing too small…
Chris Mitchell this week noted that although The Australian has 65,000 paying digital subscribers print still accounts for 90 per cent of its revenue. Across the Australian industry, digital revenue still only accounts for nine per cent of all income — advertising still accounts for 61 per cent and physical circulation accounts for 29 per cent…
Morry, it is worth reflecting on this. The contribution you have made to the intellectual life of Australia — the public debate in Australia — establishing, supporting and bringing to economic viability The Monthly, The Quarterly Essay and Black Inc alone is an extraordinary one.
That’s a remarkable thing to do. You have made an enormous impact. Many people have spent a lot more money a lot less effectively than you. The combination of vision, passions, truths — you have added immeasurably to the intellectual life of Australia....
Morry you have given everyone enormous optimism not because you are a rich guy – as Deng Xiaoping it is glorious to be rich – but you not only start these publishing venture but you have actually made them profitable. You are not some demented plutocrat pouring more and more money into a loss making venture that is just going to peddle your opinions. 
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One of these Qantas plans can’t fly

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (10:09am)

The Coalition’s plan to help Qantas: 
Federal cabinet will tonight discuss changes to the Qantas Sale Act, including a relaxation of the restriction limiting foreign ownership to 49 per cent and stipulations that a majority of maintenance facilities and other significant operations be located in Australia… 
While senior government sources said the debt guarantee was off the table at the moment, changes to the Qantas Sale Act will be taken to cabinet by Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss tonight and the package could be expanded if the airline’s position did not improve… Family First senator-elect Bob Day, who will take his seat after July 1, told The Australian last night he would back changes to the Qantas Sales Act. “Qantas should be freed of all kinds of restrictions to compete,” he said.
Samuel J at Catallaxy sums up Labor’s alternative plan: 
Labor’s five-point plan for Qantas: 
Sack Alan Joyce Provide a government guarantee for Qantas debt
Keep the carbon tax
Support union activism Restrict sale rights for Qantas stock
I am not sure if Labor is brainless or thinks voters are. But I do know which plan is more likely to destroy the airline.

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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Demetriou resigns. This ends the “blackest day in sport”

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (9:49am)

Andrew Demetriou is resigning as head of the AFL. After this and this and this I am not surprised.
Remember Demetriou’s role of one of the most scandalous and damaging beat ups in sport:
It was in February that the Gillard Government made the chiefs of five big sports codes - including the AFL - stand on a stage like guilty men as ministers Jason Clare and Kate Lundy lectured us on how Australian sport was corrupted with drug cheating, match-fixing and organised crime. 
Really? So in the two months since, why have we seen not a single player of any code charged? Not a single drug test failed? Not a single instance of match-fixing found?
Where the hell is the proof?
The people behind this farce must be sweating. The search must be on for some face-saver. A scapegoat. Step up, James Hird.
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Protecting the body, prostituting the mind

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (9:34am)

Pathetic. Being more moral now means telling lies:
For nearly 50 years, a black and white photograph from the battle of Suoi Chau Pha, where six Australians were killed and 14 wounded, gave meaning to [Kerry] Williams’ life. To his family and fellow air force mates, he was the man holding the plasma bottle keeping an injured digger alive....
The composition is simple but filled with urgency. It shows a man wearing a flight suit, with the surname Williams monogrammed across his chest. He is hoisting a bottle over an injured soldier being borne on a stretcher by three army medics at Nui Dat forward detachment. Ignoring the lit cigarette in his right hand, the plasma-bearer’s eyes are fixed on the injured digger....
In 2012, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs upset Mr Williams’ fragile world. The department used, and altered, the photo for its Remembrance Day poster and calendar.  
The American cigarette in the right hand was photoshopped out.
Late on Friday afternoon, after earlier Fairfax Media inquiries, the [Veterans Affairs] department advised that it would follow the War Memorial ruling and change its caption to identify Kerin Williams in the photo (Kerry is his preferred name). It rejected suggestions bullet holes in the helicopter were removed but admitted photoshopping the cigarette out of the image.
Mistakes I can accept. But lying?
Is protecting health really worth prostituting the mind?
(Thanks to reader CA.) 
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A media bound in blood to Labor’s deadliest mistake

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (9:13am)

Amanda Vanstone nails one of the most disagraceful and deadly lies of Labor and its media supporters:
Quite a few media commentators refused to accept that Labor’s dismantling of the strong border protection policies of the Howard government opened the floodgates. Labor spun out the line that the increased boat arrivals were due to ‘’push’’ factors. It was garbage. It was a cruel hoax. Now, with strong policies, a strong minister and a government with some gumption, everyone can see the truth. 
How many journalists let Labor run that stupid, pathetic excuse? Do they now feel guilty, or at least complicit in one of the greatest hoaxes a government has ever tried on?
As I wrote in 2010:
The fact is many journalists, just like [Greens leader Bob] Brown, have been forced to contemplate the carnage wreaked by policies they promoted out of a lazy desire to seem good. 
The bodies in the ocean tell them how lethally wrong they were.
That is why my demand that Gillard resign, her Government having blood on its hand, has so outraged them.
If the Government has blood on its hands for persisting in policies that have lured so many to their deaths - more than 200 now in at least 10 known disasters since 2008 - what of the journalists who backed them?
In their guilty rage they have lashed out at me. But, far worse, they have shielded Gillard.
Barely one has held the Prime Minister to account for those policies. Too soon, they cry.
Yet it’s not too soon for journalists such as David Marr to blame the navy, or a Dennis Atkins to blame the meanness of the Australian mob, or a Heather Ewart to wonder if the Christmas Islanders could have done more.
But Gillard is spared almost all such blame and questioning. It is sick. And, I repeat, it is a sign of the media’s complicity and guilt. 
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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This isn’t immigration but colonisation

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (9:01am)

An easier solution would be not to import people needing such fundamental instruction in the most basic cultural values of the West:
There are at least 60 child brides living in south-western Sydney, and many more girls are destined to be forced into under-age marriage, according to the head of a women’s health centre. 
Eman Sharobeem works with teenage girls in Fairfield, Liverpool and Cabramatta. Many of them have been married in the past three years.
She said that forced and under-age marriages would not stop until immigrants received education the moment that they stepped onto Australian soil. If they were not educated about Australian values and laws, new arrivals would continue to be taught by already settled communities who encouraged the illegal and archaic practice, she said.
Immigration today isn’t what it was through much of last century. We have now reached a critical mass with many immigrant cultures, which have enough members concentrated in some suburbs to maintain their own culture. Add the Internet, cheap air fares and satellite TV beaming in programs from the Middle East and Africa and you have not immigration but colonisation.
(Thanks to reader Peter H.) 
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No, I wasn’t being rude to sparkling Gerard

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (8:18am)

Thanks for the hundreds of kind comments about yesterday’s (bigger)  Bolt Report. Most praise seemed to be for the new NewsWatch segment, yesterday with Gerard Henderson as a sparkling guest, and most criticism of me was about its abrupt end.
I should deal with the speculation. No, Gerard wasn’t about to say something dangerous. No, I wasn’t being rude. And you are right: the more of Gerard the better. His takedown of the Saturday Paper particularly was very funny.
But in the drama of putting our first one-hour show to air that pre-recorded segment was quickly shaved of some 20 seconds we needed for the Your Say segment at the end, which I was busily recording. Normally we’d spend time making that cut far smoother.
I have apologised to Gerard for the edit, and assure you all we cut out more of me than him.
Next week’s NewsWatch guest is Rowan Dean. Gerard will be back within the month and has agreed to appear on high rotation throughout the year. I have ordered a pair of kid gloves. I will also see if we can get the clip loaded onto my page. (If someone’s got it, could they kindly post it to me?) 
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In this new world, the only way we pay for Qantas is by flying on it

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (8:10am)

I WON’T cry for Qantas. Lazy Australia is being wiped away — with their bosses and unions still screaming for taxpayer help.

Holden and Toyota, having wasted billions in subsidies to help pay for their amazing union deals, are closing down now there’s nothing left to loot.
SPC Ardmona, having also agreed to absurd wages and conditions, now holds a begging bowl for government grants.
Alcoa, for years gobbling electricity at cut-rate prices from government, is closing a smelter now the tap is off. And Qantas, which for years paid above-market rates to its workforce, now admits aggressive competition is bleeding it dry and 5000 workers must go.
(Yet even that wake-up doesn’t stop its unions from threatening more strikes.)
Enough. No tears for them. No handouts, either.
The world has changed.
(Read full article here.) 
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But don’t call the Saturday Paper a Left-wing rag

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (7:28am)

Former Labor speechwriter Troy Bramston, usually so serious, has a nice line in reviewing Morry Schwartz’s latest Left-wing publication, the Saturday Paper:
Mungo MacCallum provided a cryptic crossword. MacCallum is described as “one of Australia’s most influential and entertaining political journalists”. So there are jokes, too.
And Bramston, too, notes what I’ve discussed in my column above and with Gerard Henderson yesterday - this ludicrous example of the strange unwillingness of the Left to admit to being exactly what it is:
This is a publication that caters to the narrow green-Left fringe audience clustered around the affluent inner-city suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. 
Its coverage was predictable: Australia’s bipartisan and “barbaric” asylum-seeker policy, mooted savage budget cuts that could force up the cost of medicines, another of David Marr’s tedious critiques of George Pell, an account of “embattled” Assistant Health Minister Fiona Nash, among other polemics… [On] the next page was a satirical yet shallow and conceited “comment” by Richard Flanagan contemptuously characterising the attitude western Sydney voters have towards asylum-seekers. “Bomb the boats and kill all the illegals,” he wrote. The first editorial provided an opportunity for the editor, Erik Jensen, to articulate The Saturday Paper’s values, identify its audience and argue what it wanted to achieve and why. Oddly, he proclaimed: ”We have no agenda and no single view.”
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Sexton: Jewish leaders should know free speech is their best defence

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (7:16am)

NSW Solicitor-General Michael Sexton is worried - as am I - that many “leaders” of the Jewish community are fighting to preserve the parts of the Racial Discrimination Act that stifle free speech:
The notions of offence, insult and humiliation ... involve hurt to feelings. This is always unattractive for the subject of the verbal attack but these shock tactics have always been legitimate tools of debate on questions of politics and public interest. 
Sometimes these attacks are totally unreasonable. But there should be no place in a federal or state statute for a prohibition on their use in public discussion of social and economic issue… The right response to speech that one finds offensive is one’s own speech, not suppression.... It would, however, be a pity if representatives of the Jewish community in Australia allowed themselves to be used as part of a campaign to stop the repeal of section 18C. In the long run they have the same interest in freedom of speech as everyone else. As the American jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes said more than a century ago: “We should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expressions of opinions we loathe.”
Do Jewish leaders really want to be seen on the side of oppression? On the side of authoritarianism? Do they really fear their ability to succeed in a free debate?
No one in the mainstream media has argued more strongly for Jewish causes than have I, and I say that Jewish representatives who trash free speech are trashing their best defence - and the strength of their best defenders. 
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But of course Tim Smith won

Andrew Bolt March 03 2014 (6:59am)

Why the surprise? Tim Smith is young, talented, determined, personable and - as he showed as Mayor of Stonnington - a great media performer . Of course Liberal members would be glad to have him:
VICTORIAN Liberal Party delegates delivered Denis Napthine a crushing blow to his leadership authority yesterday when it backed a 30-year-old former suburban mayor ahead of one of the Premier’s “rising cabinet stars” in a preselection for a safe seat.

Bitter recriminations flowed after Victorian Community Services Minister Mary Wooldridge was left without a seat for the November 29 election when delegates comfortably backed Tim Smith as candidate for the safe Liberal electorate of Kew.
I’m assured Wooldridge has talent, too, but how come I can’t even place her after all her time as a frontbencher?
I would have thought there was something wrong with the Liberals not to choose Smith. Now I think there’s something wrong with Napthine’s advisers that they didn’t think so, too.
And, of course, there’s now all the more reason to rate Josh Frydenberg, already a parliamentary secretary and with a rocket under his career:
The vote has broad implications for the party federally, with Tony Abbott’s right-hand man Josh Frydenberg being vindicated after refusing to force Mr Smith to stand aside for Ms Wooldridge, who lost the ballot by more than 50 votes.
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“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.” - Job 23:10-11
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

March 2: Morning
"But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock." - 1 Samuel 13:20
We are engaged in a great war with the Philistines of evil. Every weapon within our reach must be used. Preaching, teaching, praying, giving, all must be brought into action, and talents which have been thought too mean for service, must now be employed. Coulter, and axe, and mattock, may all be useful in slaying Philistines; rough tools may deal hard blows, and killing need not be elegantly done, so long as it is done effectually. Each moment of time, in season or out of season; each fragment of ability, educated or untutored; each opportunity, favourable or unfavourable, must be used, for our foes are many and our force but slender.

Most of our tools want sharpening; we need quickness of perception, tact, energy, promptness, in a word, complete adaptation for the Lord's work. Practical common sense is a very scarce thing among the conductors of Christian enterprises. We might learn from our enemies if we would, and so make the Philistines sharpen our weapons. This morning let us note enough to sharpen our zeal during this day by the aid of the Holy Spirit. See the energy of the Papists, how they compass sea and land to make one proselyte, are they to monopolize all the earnestness? Mark the heathen devotees, what tortures they endure in the service of their idols! are they alone to exhibit patience and self-sacrifice? Observe the prince of darkness, how persevering in his endeavours, how unabashed in his attempts, how daring in his plans, how thoughtful in his plots, how energetic in all! The devils are united as one man in their infamous rebellion, while we believers in Jesus are divided in our service of God, and scarcely ever work with unanimity. O that from Satan's infernal industry we may learn to go about like good Samaritans, seeking whom we may bless!
Evening
"Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." -1 Peter 2:7
The apostle Paul felt it a great privilege to be allowed to preach the gospel. He did not look upon his calling as a drudgery, but he entered upon it with intense delight. Yet while Paul was thus thankful for his office, his success in it greatly humbled him. The fuller a vessel becomes, the deeper it sinks in the water. Idlers may indulge a fond conceit of their abilities, because they are untried; but the earnest worker soon learns his own weakness. If you seek humility, try hard work; if you would know your nothingness, attempt some great thing for Jesus. If you would feel how utterly powerless you are apart from the living God, attempt especially the great work of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ, and you will know, as you never knew before, what a weak unworthy thing you are. Although the apostle thus knew and confessed his weakness, he was never perplexed as to the subject of his ministry. From his first sermon to his last, Paul preached Christ, and nothing but Christ. He lifted up the cross, and extolled the Son of God who bled thereon. Follow his example in all your personal efforts to spread the glad tidings of salvation, and let "Christ and him crucified" be your ever recurring theme. The Christian should be like those lovely spring flowers which, when the sun is shining, open their golden cups, as if saying, "Fill us with thy beams!" but when the sun is hidden behind a cloud, they close their cups and droop their heads. So should the Christian feel the sweet influence of Jesus; Jesus must be his sun, and he must be the flower which yields itself to the Sun of Righteousness. Oh! to speak of Christ alone, this is the subject which is both "seed for the sower, and bread for the eater." This is the live coal for the lip of the speaker, and the master-key to the heart of the hearer.
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Bartholomew 
[Bärthŏl'omew] - son of tolmai.
One of the twelve, mentioned only in the lists of the apostles (Matt. 10:3,Mark 3:18; Mark 3:18; Acts 1:13). Bartholomew is really not a name but a patronymic. This apostle is identified as Nathanael.
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Today's reading: Numbers 23-25, Mark 7:14-37 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Numbers 23-25


Balaam's First Message

1 Balaam said, "Build me seven altars here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." 2 Balak did as Balaam said, and the two of them offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
3 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here beside your offering while I go aside. Perhaps the LORD will come to meet with me. Whatever he reveals to me I will tell you." Then he went off to a barren height....

Today's New Testament reading: Mark 7:14-37

14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them."
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)


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