Fri 12th February 2021 Current Affairs

Editorial Sun Feb 7^th 2021

 

On Friday, at work in the adjacent suburb of Hallam, a lightning storm resulted in power going down across Hallam. Children at the tutorial centre at 8pm were forced to work from fading daylight across summer of Melbourne. Lights returned fifteen minutes later. Work was done and children got a new appreciation of Zeus. When I got back home, I found the internet was down from wifi, but I had phone data operative. I searched for internet failure and found nothing. I waited until next morning, and found a report of NBN failure the night before. I went to work in the morning. At work I was called by my estate agent who had tried to reset the modem in the share accommodation, without success. I told them of the NBN outage report, with the news that the anticipated recovery was on Monday at 6pm, the fourth day from the failure. 

I went home and checked the internet again. Still down, I checked the outage reports, and there were none. Not even at my address. Clearly, the estate agent had not got the landlord to raise the issue with the ISP. There is no reason to believe the internet will be restored on even the fourth day if no one is looking at the issue. 

What has caused this outage? Internet gets slow whenever there is a thunderstorm. I live in Dandenong, a suburb of Melbourne. There is no excuse for such poor service. 

 

Editorial Thursday 11^th February 2021

Having reported the outage to my landlord’s agent, I queried them as to why no fault was reported on the address a day later, two days later, three days later and four days later. The estate agent raised their voice to me “It is not my job to sit by a phone for a telecommunications company hours on end. I’ve alerted the landlord.” 

 

“Yes, but the telecommunications company needs to know there is a fault or they cannot address it.”

 

“I take your point but I have told you I have alerted the landlord.”

 

“Have you advised them to report the fault?”

 

“They said they will fix it. If they haven’t fixed by the end of working day tomorrow I will see to it. Have a good day, sir”

 

It wasn’t working on day five, but another member of the share household found mail addressed to the landlord from the telecommunications company and opened it. It said that the company was sending a final warning before cancellation. The company was forced to close their cable service and link to NBN instead. The cancellation was to take place on the 15^th February, ten days after they in fact cancelled it. Had the company been called when the ‘fault’ was detected, the problem could have been addressed immediately. The agent has still not apologised to me. Neither is the internet connected after seven days. 

 

My oldest sister sent me a near fifty year old school photo of me. I told her that I had lost all my photos when FB booted me. I have no place for such memories, but I’m thankful she thought of me. I had been booted from FB after Jan 6^th for not being a good citizen, as I endorsed Donald Trump for President. I am not uncivilised  and never condone violence or racism, but FB booted me. My sister, a left wing loony, said I should go somewhere else where I’m accepted. She suggested I use the library to access the internet. She was taunting me. That is how they behave.

===

Here is a video I made Yearning From Loss

A lovely song, the lyric composed by a 13 yo boy, known as revive, and the music made by an extraordinary muso named Euphoria.
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=42987
Updated http://youtu.be/CVhXxCr1b6o

=== From 2018 ===

Don't give up on hope. Victoria is suffering under an abysmal ALP government led by Dan Andrews. Industry is failing because of red tape and high power prices and numerous inefficiencies. The state has crumbling infrastructure and high crime rates. There is a corrupt judiciary, an incompetent public service and a loss of public trust. However, the very incompetence of the government is praised by the swamp. Andrews is spending big, but inefficiently on infrastructure. The sky rail project is a complete waste of time which will shut the freight corridor between the Eastern seaboard and the CBD of Melbourne .. and the rest of Australia. That pork barrel alone will cost Australia $trillions moving forward in opportunity costs. But the imposition on commuters of the build, which is poorly planned and executed, gets praise for the government for 'doing something.' 

Matthew Guy has already stated the course of action of a Liberal government going forward. Guy will address crime, safe schools, infrastructure, red tape and a host of issues dogging Victoria. But as yet he has little recognition because Victoria is still some ten months away from election. News media will twist things to support Andrews. They will put out the word that nobody knows who Guy is or what he stands for. Guy has spoken of the issue of the corrupt ALP practice involving the red shirt brigade, but the media has not reported on it. Yet it is an issue that should be of concern to anyone who values democracy and freedom in Victoria. The choice facing Victoria is stark and well outlined, but the media are drawing outside the lines and confusing the swing voter. As the election nears, more policy will be released by Guy. It will show us planning, urban renewal, building industry, building best practice in Education and more. But the press will say "On the other hand it is even, but Dan is 'doing something.'"

A threat to a Matthew Guy government is the Federal Liberal Turnbull government. Turnbull is so awful, that Liberals in every state are burned by association. Turnbull dithers on every issue. Right now, Turnbull is dithering on a policy involving the head of the National Party who has been one of the most effective government members. Turnbull doesn't want that talent working for Australia. 

=== from 2017 ===

I am reading a research article by Matthew C. MacWilliams , University of Massachusetts Amherst, a PhD student. Matthew is writing on Authoritarian Voters and Donald Trump. Only Matthew employs jargon and mistakes assumptions for conclusions. Because he takes a contrary position to Trump, he will probably get good marks. His article has been reported in NewsWeek and other major journals. In the opening sentence of the abstract, Matthew claims 'the Party Decides Theory' explained previous GOP preselection battles for the Presidential nomination, but not the selection of Trump. Only Matthew does not justify that assertion with his research. The Democratic process of preselection for the GOP has not changed much in the party's history. It was probably most challenged between Taft and Roosevelt over a hundred years ago, when Roosevelt, a former President, started a new party in campaigning for office against his chosen successor. But in fact, GOP processes held. Trump's win was ordinary by the rules which were set out for the campaign. There were no gate keepers who got rolled. There had been opposing campaigns, that normally happens in preselection. As a result of democracy, Trump won overwhelmingly. The resultant support got him a crushing win for President too. The press managed to hoodwink many with their fake news of gatekeepers that were going to support Hillary. Apparently McCain has been paid money to oppose Trump. Nothing illegal there either. Nothing outside of the rules either. 

Matthew's research is on authoritarianism. And he links the success of Trump in the US with European right wingers. Matthew refers to Trump quotes, and to research regarding issues, but that is no excuse for such a handling of public material without nuance. It is absurd and insulting to link Trump to fascism, as the authoritarian claim does. People smashing things, hurting people, and rioting for race seem to be solely Democrat supporters. That is something that fascists did in the thirties. The corruption and cronyism that surround Democrat Party operations and activity are similar to thirties fascism too. Trump is promising to shrink government like Coolidge. But he risks being over run by corrupt Democrats like Hoover. Matthew's research does not show a grasp of current affairs or historical antecedents he is researching. Maybe one day Booker will make him Attorney General. 

In 2015, I wrote Turnbull should resign as he had nothing left to offer, except damaging Liberal governments. Today, Turnbull has proved me right. At the moment, Turnbull is being lauded by the partisan media for insulting Bill Shorten, the ALP leader. A real Liberal leader would not insult Shorten, but point to his failed policy record. Turnbull still has the support of Miranda Devine. But non partisan conservative commentators say that Abbott is the best alternative. Meanwhile, I am hostage to abysmal political leadership and hopeless journalists. My shopfront has opened on Facebook.

=== from 2016 ===

No more columns until I secure accommodation. 

=== from 2015 ===

Obama has changed his mind. He no longer wants to bomb Syria into submission, but wants to use troops to attack. Interestingly, he is asking congress to put their stamp on it. He has failed in Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, the peace process with Israel, as well as Syria. Obama began his presidency bowing to King Abdullah, who is now dead, and Obama was lauded with a Nobel Peace Prize, and hosted the jailers of the next years Nobel Laureate. So much hope and change have become ashes for one the US will never vote for President again. It is left to a GOP congress to clean up his mess.

It is apparent Sukumaran and Chan will be executed soon. Julie Bishop spoke movingly in their defence. But the ABC have worked overtime to limit Australia's influence with Indonesia.

A 22 yo girl shot dead by police at West Hoxton' Hungry Jacks (Burger King in the US) suffered from Aspergers Syndrome. The family has thanked those who went to her aid. Hopefully that includes the police. It seems unlikely that Aperger's syndrome was responsible for the incident and one expects drugs to be present in the toxicology report.

Two terrorists arrested before an attempted beheading in Sydney were aiming for people with blonde hair. They did not ask for bail. The prosecutor has said it will take at two weeks for police to list the scale of the intended assault. Both had come to Australia under the previous government's lax border protection arrangements. 

On this day in history, 1429, Sir Fastolf successfully defended a supply convoy, but overall he was to lose out to a girl, Joan of Arc, and it would take thirteen years to rehabilitate his career service to England. In 1502, Vasco da Gama set sail from Portugal to India, his second voyage to India. In 1554, Lady Jane Grey was beheaded after having the throne for nine days. Initially, Jane was spared for Treason of having the throne as desired by the previous King, but the Privy Council chose Mary I. After Wyatt's rebellion against Mary, Jane and her husband was executed. She was about seventeen years old. Mary did not prosper. In 1593, Japan invaded Korea and 3000 Koreans defeated 30000 Japanese at the siege of Haengju. In 1689, The Convention Parliament decided James I had abdicated when he fled to France. In 1816, the Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, was destroyed by fire. In 1851, Australia's gold rush began when Edward Hargraves announced that he had found gold in Bathurst, New South Wales. In 1894,  Anarchist Émile Henry hurled a bomb into the Cafe Terminus in Paris, France, killing one and wounding 20. Émile was from a family of early French Communists and he just seemed to feel killing people would bring balance to the Force. He was guillotined for his crimes against humanity. In 1924, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue premiered in NYC with Gershwin on the piano. In 1946, African American United States Armyveteran Isaac Woodard was severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he lost his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanised the Civil Rights Movement and partially inspires Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil. In 1983, one hundred women protested in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq's proposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law. In 1990, Carmen Lawrence became the first female Premier in Australian history when she became Premier of Western Australia. Carmen was a disgrace in position of Premier and forgot why she broke a woman using false testimony, the woman, Penny Easton, suicided. In 1999, United States President Bill Clinton was acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial. Clinton was a disgrace. Had lied to the US people, had started the second intifada through incompetence, but was a Democrat and that is what Democrats vote for. In 2002, the trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, began at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. He died four years later before its conclusion, escaping justice. 

From 2014

I don't like sharks. Sharks fin soup is a delicacy, but not one I require as part of my regular diet. I enjoy exercise, but swimming for my life is something I'll pass on. Instead, where sharks get close to human habitats, I support sensible management practices like culling the sharks. However, environmentalists don't agree with me. They prefer training sharks to target people. They get people to swim in cages close to sharks, so sharks learn the scent. Then they throw tasty fish guts into the water, so sharks learn to connect food with the scent of people. Sharks don't like people as food. We don't have enough fat, and we are bony. But until a shark has a meal of a person, it doesn't know. All a shark knows, is that an environmentalist has trained it to like the scent of a person for food. Environmentalists have also campaigned through their international networks to prevent management of sharks near human habitats. According to their rhetoric, one shark killed is all of them. There is difference between a pet and a wild animal. 

Speaking of dangerous, wild animals, the ALP have not yet apologised for hurting the building industry with corrupt unions. The dismantling of a safeguard has been measured at a mere 2%, but if you realise that building supports all other industry and a 2% turn around could potentially place Australia in recession over a bad half, and one realises that the ALP have placed Australia in a bad position on several levels. Another who has done Australia no favours is the Corby family. But, look at one who has shamed the US

The US does not have a king. It is in their constitution.

Historical perspective on this day

In 881, Pope John VIII crowns Charles the Fat, the King of Italy: Holy Roman Emperor 1429, English forces under Sir John Fastolf defended a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orléans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and Sir John Stewart of Darnley in the Battle of Rouvray (also known as the Battle of the Herrings). 1502, Vasco da Gama set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India. 1541, Santiago, Chile was founded by Pedro de Valdivia. 1554, a year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey was beheaded for treason. 1593, Japanese invasion of Korea: Approximately 3,000 Joseondefenders led by general Kwon Yul successfully repelled more than 30,000 Japanese forces in the Siege of Haengju. 1689, the Convention Parliament declared that the flight to France in 1688by James II, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, constituted an abdication. 1733, Englishman James Oglethorpe founded Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, and its first city at Savannah (known as Georgia Day). 1771, Gustav III became the King of Sweden.

In 1814, Battle of Château-Thierry (1814) Also1814, Battle of La Victoria (1814) 1816, the Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, was destroyed by fire. 1817, an Argentine/Chilean patriotic army, after crossing the Andes, defeated Spanish troops on the Battle of Chacabuco. 1818, Bernardo O'Higgins formally approved the Chilean Declaration of Independence near Concepción, Chile. 1825, the Creek ceded the last of their lands in Georgia to the United States government by the Treaty of Indian Springs, and migrate west. 1832, Ecuador annexed the Galápagos Islands. 1851, Edward Hargraves announced that he had found gold in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, starting the Australian gold rushes. 1855, Michigan State University was established. 1894,  Anarchist Émile Henry hurled a bomb into the Cafe Terminus in Paris, France, killing one and wounding 20.

In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded. In 1909, New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century happened when the SS Penguin, an inter-island ferry, sank and exploded at the entrance to Wellington Harbour. 1912, the Xuantong Emperor, the last Emperor of China, abdicated. 1914, in Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial was put into place. 1924, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue received its premiere in a concert titled "An Experiment in Modern Music," in Aeolian Hall, New York, by Paul Whiteman and his band, with Gershwin playing the piano.

In 1934, the Austrian Civil War began. Also 1934, in Spain the national council of Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista decided to merge the movement with the Falange Española. 1935, USS Macon, one of the two largest helium-filled airships ever created, crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California and sank. 1946, World War II: Operation Deadlightended after scuttling 121 of 154 captured U-boats. Also 1946, African American United States Army veteran Isaac Woodard was severely beaten by a South Carolina police officer to the point where he lost his vision in both eyes. The incident later galvanised the Civil Rights Movementand partially inspires Orson Welles' film Touch of Evil. 1947, the largest observed iron meteorite at that time, created an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union. Also 1947, Christian Dior unveiled a "New Look", helping Paris regain its position as the capital of the fashion world. 1961, Soviet Union launched Venera 1 towards Venus. 1963, construction began on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. 1968, Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre. 1974, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, was exiled from the Soviet Union. 1983, one hundred women protested in Lahore, Pakistan against military dictator Zia-ul-Haq'sproposed Law of Evidence. The women were tear-gassed, baton-charged and thrown into lock-up. The women were successful in repealing the law.

In 1990, Carmen Lawrence became the first female Premier in Australian history when she became Premier of Western Australia. 1992, the current Constitution of Mongolia came into effect. 1994, four men broke into the National Gallery of Norway and stole Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream. 1999, United States President Bill Clinton was acquitted by the United States Senate in his impeachment trial. 2001, NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touched down in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros, becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid. 2002, the trial of Slobodan Milošević, the former President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, began at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslaviain The Hague, Netherlands. He died four years later before its conclusion. Also 2002, an Iran Airtour Tupolev Tu-154 crashed in the mountains outside Khorramabad, Iran while descending for a landing at Khorramabad Airport, killing 119. 2004, the city of San Francisco, Californiabegan issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from MayorGavin Newsom. 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashes into a house in Clarence Center, New Yorkwhile on approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all on board and one on the ground.

=== Bible Reading ===

=

Today's reading: Leviticus 11-12, Matthew 26:1-25 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Leviticus 11-12

Clean and Unclean Food

¹ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ² "Say to the Israelites: 'Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: ³You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud...."

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: Matthew 26:1-25

The Plot Against Jesus

¹ When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ² "As you know, the Passover is two days away--and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified."

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, ⁴ and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. ⁵ "But not during the festival," they said, "or there may be a riot among the people...."

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

=== Morning and Evening ===

=

February 11: Morning

"And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." - Acts 4:13

A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully and eloquently written, but the best life of Christ is his living biography, written out in the words and actions of his people. If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be, we should be pictures of Christ; yea, such striking likenesses of him, that the world would not have to hold us up by the hour together, and say, "Well, it seems somewhat of a likeness;" but they would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, "He has been with Jesus; he has been taught of him; he is like him; he has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Nazareth, and he works it out in his life and every-day actions." A Christian should be like Christ in his boldness. Never blush to own your religion; your profession will never disgrace you: take care you never disgrace that. Be like Jesus, very valiant for your God. Imitate him in your loving spirit; think kindly, speak kindly, and do kindly, that men may say of you, "He has been with Jesus." Imitate Jesus in his holiness. Was he zealous for his Master? So be you; ever go about doing good. Let not time be wasted: it is too precious. Was he self-denying, never looking to his own interest? Be the same. Was he devout? Be you fervent in your prayers. Had he deference to his Father's will? So submit yourselves to him. Was he patient? So learn to endure. And best of all, as the highest portraiture of Jesus, try to forgive your enemies, as he did; and let those sublime words of your Master, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," always ring in your ears. Forgive, as you hope to be forgiven. Heap coals of fire on the head of your foe by your kindness to him. Good for evil, recollect, is godlike. Be godlike, then; and in all ways and by all means, so live that all may say of you, "He has been with Jesus."

Evening

"Thou hast left thy first love." - Revelation 2:4

Ever to be remembered is that best and brightest of hours, when first we saw the Lord, lost our burden, received the roll of promise, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on our way in peace. It was spring time in the soul; the winter was past; the mutterings of Sinai's thunders were hushed; the flashings of its lightnings were no more perceived; God was beheld as reconciled; the law threatened no vengeance, justice demanded no punishment. Then the flowers appeared in our heart; hope, love, peace, and patience sprung from the sod; the hyacinth of repentance, the snowdrop of pure holiness, the crocus of golden faith, the daffodil of early love, all decked the garden of the soul. The time of the singing of birds was come, and we rejoiced with thanksgiving; we magnified the holy name of our forgiving God, and our resolve was, "Lord, I am thine, wholly thine; all I am, and all I have, I would devote to thee. Thou hast bought me with thy blood--let me spend myself and be spent in thy service. In life and in death let me be consecrated to thee." How have we kept this resolve? Our espousal love burned with a holy flame of devoutedness to Jesus--is it the same now? Might not Jesus well say to us, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love"? Alas! it is but little we have done for our Master's glory. Our winter has lasted all too long. We are as cold as ice when we should feel a summer's glow and bloom with sacred flowers. We give to God pence when he deserveth pounds, nay, deserveth our heart's blood to be coined in the service of his church and of his truth. But shall we continue thus? O Lord, after thou hast so richly blessed us, shall we be ungrateful and become indifferent to thy good cause and work? O quicken us that we may return to our first love, and do our first works! Send us a genial spring, O Sun of Righteousness.

=== Bible Quote ===

=== Message ===

===

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.

===

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 (Gofundme finished the fund raiser, 2017)

===

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.

The Amazon Author Page for David Ball

UK .. http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01683ZOWG

French .. http://www.amazon.fr/-/e/B01683ZOWG

Japan .. http://www.amazon.co.jp/-/e/B01683ZOWG

German .. http://www.amazon.de/-/e/B01683ZOWG

===

Other Stuff

===

I'm now on MAGAbook to sidestep FB censorship

https://www.magabook.com/register?invite=11673951025fadd3f055eca4.00045664

===

I'm looking for former students to endorse me

https://www.superprof.com.au/write-recommendation-13371374-1cc2cf0f56166c9b04ad4097fc7d0b67.html

===