Thu 11th 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 Don't Wanna Be Luvvd By You 

Vaporman and Lili did this thing that I loved. Like many things that we love, I broke it.
The images I have placed with this are razor sharp. No offence is meant for the good hearted, talented V and L ..
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=49251
Earlier effort
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=30329
http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=30164

===

=== From 2018 ===

Don't give up on hope. They needed reform to prevent the kind of entrenched corruption that prevented Molan from being a senator and which promoted Turnbull to PM. But Turnbull's 'yes' men prevented it. The liberal party in NSW voted for paralysis and incompetence. I don't blame NSW Libs under Gladys Berejiklian, but the Federal government under Turnbull and controlling interests like Photios. Nikki Savva claims she knew but did not dump on DPM Joyce, but we know she made up a story on Abbott and Credln which Savva trumpeted. Why the difference? 

$1.5 million won't buy a big mansion, or even a small apartment in Melbourne, but Narre Warren is not part of Melbourne CBD. General James Hoth Mai Nguoth's house was purchased for his son, and his daughter's BMW 316 was seen parked there. Or as the NYT might report, sean. It is a well positioned, nice home. Hardly a mansion. But not something a $60k a year man could afford unless the general were dealing corruptly. Police have moved to seize the home. Maybe it will be returned if South Sudan buy Australian war canoes? It strikes me that South Sudan's general is targeted here because it is a majority Christian nation. Would the same scrutiny apply to the north? The idea of profiteering from gun running is questionable too. I'm certain in that 3rd world nation the General is compromised. So what? Is there *anyone* in the officer corp that isn't? Was the general obstructing justice and supporting terrorists? This just looks like low lying fruit to me.

A foreign student on exchange from Bangladesh is alleged to have stabbed a sponsor parent in an ISIS inspired attack. Don't forget John McCain's role in handling the bogus dossier used to attack Trump. 

=== from 2017 ===

WA is going to election in March. One impediment to Liberal government in WA is Malcolm Turnbull. Malcolm prevents effective government, gumming up important needed IR reform with crazy environmental measures that don't address the issues or concerns. Meanwhile the unrepresentative swill of the ALP don't offer anything beyond blatant lies. Today the ALP promised to balance the budget if they were elected. And if they were given a lot more money. They promised to tax industry more if industry was successful. Soon, the ALP in WA will claim they are economic conservatives like Mr Howard. 

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 ===

Today is an anniversary of a serious event that the press don't want to know about. It happened in Timor soon after Rudd won election and became PM. Rudd had promised he would deal with the uprisings. However, Rudd distanced himself from this following the attempted assassination of Timor's leaders. It looks like a bungled black ops. It seems like Rudd nodded to a unit to capture the Australian trained rebel Reinado. It doesn't seem likely Reinado was trying to abduct or kill the leaders, but assert authority over them. Things did not go to plan for Rudd, and nothing that followed was successful for him, although he did regain his PM's position for a time and had Gillard's loyalty in office. 

NSW Police have arrested two people planning a terrorist hit with an ISIL death cult jolly roger and thoughts of beheading someone in Fairfield. Omar Al-Kutobi, 24, and Mohammad Kiad, 25, were arrested yesterday by the Joint Counter Terrorism Taskforce after a receiving information that an attack was imminent. 
Kayla Mueller went to Syria in 2013 with her boyfriend. He was Syrian. It was a war zone where it was known people were kidnapped or murdered daily for no reason. She had no military training. She was kidnapped with her boyfriend who was released. Recently she was killed in unclear circumstances, held hostage by ISIL. It is tragic. It is also no less stupid than those who went to Iraq to serve as human shields for Iraq. 

NRL issues continue off field with Premiers Rabbitohs dumping their captain after an incident involving alcohol in the US. The integrity unit seems to be flip flopping over the issue and keeping it from being public. 

Treasurer Joe Hockey is being criticised for having good policy which has been blocked by the senate. Some are suggesting unicorns might be better as treasurer, but no unicorn is applying for the position. 

Knife wielding mentally ill 22 yo girl shot dead by police in Sydney. Media are asking if police training failed. 

In 660 BC, on this day, Japan was founded by Emperor Jimmu. In 1889, the Meiji constitution of Japan was adopted. It was no accident it was the same great day for Japan. In 55, Nero poisoned a rival for the throne of emperor. In 1531, Henry VIII declared himself head of the Anglican Church. In 1790, Quakers petitioned US Congress to end slavery. In 1808, Jessie Fell invented home heating. In Massachusetts in 1812, Governor Elbridge Gerry did his first Gerrymander. In 1843, Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata received its first performance in Milan, Italy. In 1858, Bernadette Soubirous's first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France. Bernadette was 14 at the time, from an extremely poor family that had once been much prouder. In 1861, reminiscent of Rudd telling Chinese they owned Tibet, American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state. In 1906, Pope Pius X published the encyclical Vehementer Nos. The encyclical meant it was ok for the church to impose itself in state matters. In 1937, a sit-down strike ended when General Motors recognised the United Auto Workers. Unionists liked to sit down. In 1938,  BBC Television produced the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapekplay R.U.R., that coined the term "robot". In 1953, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower refused a clemency appeal for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Also in 1953, the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with Israel. It is now known that the pair were spies willing to die to serve the Soviets. It is also possible that the Soviets broke relations with Israel in reprisal for the Rosenbergs. In 1978,  Censorship: China lifted a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. In 1979, the Iranian Revolution established an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner. In 2008, rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed in the attack. The role of Australian PM Rudd in the affair has never been publicly examined. 

From 2014

Who are you? What do you want? Do you have anything worth dying for? Do you have anything worth living for? Four questions making Janus pairs. Who you are is a defining aspect of your self. You tend to become like those you follow. What you want is a similar question, because it similarly defines you. Philosophically, it is better to address the question of who you are, than the one based around what you want. People that want are needy, and if you build your life around wanting things, you cannot be satisfied, or have integrity. The issue is coming home to Australia as some unionists who pervade senior ALP positions as well as many unrelated areas of society, have killed the car industry by being needy and wanting. A telling question of Shorten to Abbott in parliamentary question time had Shorten asking if Abbott felt automotive workers should be paid less. Already we know how unionists viewed the matter. They want more. But, the things that make someone proud, that give them satisfaction, knowing that what they did achieved something, was absent. Australian made cars are not very good. If they were, people would buy them. Already the disappointment is being expressed at how the workers will not have as much of what they want elsewhere.

Related to the question of who you are is the one asking if you have anything worth living for. Pride devotion and love will keep a person persevering long after everything else is gone. Burke and Wills, the explorers wanted to cross a desert and found that their culture was worth dying for. They were offered food and water by local Aborigines but declined it. They had what they wanted. John King survived. He knew who he was. People become like those they follow. Who do you follow? Do they hate, and mourn that they will not have what they want? Or, do they take pride in achievement, do they give because giving is more important than getting? Because who you are is not defined by what you have, but what you do.

These four excellent questions were posed by writer Joe Michael Straczynski for his tv series Babylon 5. I won't spoil it by telling you what it is about, although, were I to do so, it wouldn't mean much to you. Saying that Babylon 5 was about a space station and it's crew is a bit like saying Clockwork Orange is about a guy who likes Beethoven violently. I pick the Vorlons. Shorten seems to have associates among the Shadows. I know who I am. Shorten knows what he wants.

Historical perspective on this day

In 660BC, traditional date for the foundation of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. 55, Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman emperorship, died under mysterious circumstances in Rome. This cleared the way for Nero to become Emperor. 244, emperor Gordian III was murdered by mutinous soldiers in Zaitha (Mesopotamia). A mound was raised at Carchemish in his memory. 1177, John de Courcy's army defeated the native Dunleavey Clan in Ulster. The English established themselves in Ulster. 1531, Henry VIII of England was recognised as supreme head of the Church of England. 1626, Emperor Susenyos I of Ethiopiaand Patriarch Afonso Mendes declared the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church, and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia. 1659, The assault on Copenhagen by Swedish forces was beaten back with heavy losses.

In 1790, the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitioned U.S. Congressfor abolition of slavery. 1794, first session of United States Senate opened to the public. 1808, Jesse Fell burned anthracite on an open grate as an experiment in heating homes with coal. 1812, Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry "gerrymanders" for the first time. 1826, University College London was founded under the name University of London. Also 1826, Swaminarayan writes the Shikshapatri, an important text within Swaminarayan Hinduism. 1840, Gaetano Donizetti's opera La fille du régiment received its first performance in Paris, France. 1843, Giuseppe Verdi's opera I Lombardi alla prima crociata received its first performance in Milan, Italy. 1855, Kassa Hailu was crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia, by Abuna Salama III in a ceremony at the church of Derasge Maryam 1856, the Kingdom of Awadh is annexed by the British East India Company and Wajid Ali Shah, the king of Awadh, was imprisoned and later exiled to Calcutta. 1858, Bernadette Soubirous's first vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes, France. 1861, American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state. 1873, King Amadeo I of Spain abdicated. 1889, Meiji Constitution of Japan was adopted; the first National Diet convened in 1890.

In 1903, Anton Bruckner's 9th Symphony received its first performance in Vienna, Austria. 1906, Pope Pius X published the encyclical Vehementer Nos. 1916, Emma Goldman was arrested for lecturing on birth control. 1919, Friedrich Ebert (SPD), was elected President of Germany. 1929, Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican signed the Lateran Treaty. 1937, a sit-down strike ended when General Motors recognised the United Auto Workers. 1938, BBC Televisionproduced the world's first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term "robot". 1939, a Lockheed P-38 Lightningflew from California to New York in 7 hours 2 minutes. 1942, World War II: The Battle of Bukit Timah was fought in Singapore. 1943, World War II: General Dwight D. Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.

In 1953, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower refused a clemency appeal for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Also 1953, the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with Israel. 1959, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, which would later become South Yemen, was created as a protectorate of the United Kingdom. 1964, Greeks and Turks began fighting in Limassol, Cyprus. 1968, Israeli–Jordanian border clashes rage. Also 1968, the Memphis Sanitation Strike began. 1971, Eighty-seven countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union, signed the Seabed Arms Control Treaty outlawing nuclear weapons on the ocean floor in international waters. 1973, Vietnam War: First release of American prisoners of war from Vietnam took place. 1978,  Censorship: China lifted a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. 1979, the Iranian Revolutionestablished an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

In 1981, around 100,000 US gallons (380 m3) of radioactive coolant leaked into the containment building of TVA Sequoyah 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee, contaminating eight workers. 1990,  Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner. Also 1990, Buster Douglas, a 40:1 underdog, knocked out Mike Tyson in ten rounds at Tokyo to win boxing's world Heavyweight title and cause one of the largest upsets in sports history. 1997, Space Shuttle Discovery was launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. 2001, a Dutch programmer launched the Anna Kournikova virus infecting millions of emails via a trick photo of the tennisstar. 2008, rebel East Timorese soldiers seriously wound President José Ramos-Horta. Rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed in the attack. Also 2008, Namdaemun, a 550-year-old gate in South Korea, was toppled by fire. 2011, the first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminated in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests. 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation from the papacy, the first pontiff to resign in more than half a millennium. 2014, a military transport plane crashed in a mountainous area of Oum El Bouaghi Province in eastern Algeria, killing 77 people.

=== Bible Reading ===

=

Today's reading: Leviticus 8-10, Matthew 25:31-46 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Leviticus 8-10

The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons

¹ The LORD said to Moses, ² "Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast,³ and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the tent of meeting." ⁴ Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: Matthew 25:31-46

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left...."

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

=== Morning and Evening ===

=

February 10: Morning

"I know how to abound." - Philippians 4:12

There are many who know "how to be abased" who have not learned "how to abound." When they are set upon the top of a pinnacle their heads grow dizzy, and they are ready to fall. The Christian far oftener disgraces his profession in prosperity than in adversity. It is a dangerous thing to be prosperous. The crucible of adversity is a less severe trial to the Christian than the refining pot of prosperity. Oh, what leanness of soul and neglect of spiritual things have been brought on through the very mercies and bounties of God! Yet this is not a matter of necessity, for the apostle tells us that he knew how to abound. When he had much he knew how to use it. Abundant grace enabled him to bear abundant prosperity. When he had a full sail he was loaded with much ballast, and so floated safely. It needs more than human skill to carry the brimming cup of mortal joy with a steady hand, yet Paul had learned that skill, for he declares, "In all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry." It is a divine lesson to know how to be full, for the Israelites were full once, but while the flesh was yet in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them. Many have asked for mercies that they might satisfy their own hearts' lust. Fulness of bread has often made fulness of blood, and that has brought on wantonness of spirit. When we have much of God's providential mercies, it often happens that we have but little of God's grace, and little gratitude for the bounties we have received. We are full and we forget God: satisfied with earth, we are content to do without heaven. Rest assured it is harder to know how to be full than it is to know how to be hungry--so desperate is the tendency of human nature to pride and forgetfulness of God. Take care that you ask in your prayers that God would teach you "how to be full."

"Let not the gifts thy love bestows
Estrange our hearts from thee."

Evening

"I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." - Isaiah 44:22

Attentively observe the instructive similitude: our sins are like a cloud. As clouds are of many shapes and shades, so are our transgressions. As clouds obscure the light of the sun, and darken the landscape beneath, so do our sins hide from us the light of Jehovah's face, and cause us to sit in the shadow of death. They are earth-born things, and rise from the miry places of our nature; and when so collected that their measure is full, they threaten us with storm and tempest. Alas! that, unlike clouds, our sins yield us no genial showers, but rather threaten to deluge us with a fiery flood of destruction. O ye black clouds of sin, how can it be fair weather with our souls while ye remain?

Let our joyful eye dwell upon the notable act of divine mercy--"blotting out." God himself appears upon the scene, and in divine benignity, instead of manifesting his anger, reveals his grace: he at once and forever effectually removes the mischief, not by blowing away the cloud, but by blotting it out from existence once for all. Against the justified man no sin remains, the great transaction of the cross has eternally removed his transgressions from him. On Calvary's summit the great deed, by which the sin of all the chosen was forever put away, was completely and effectually performed.

Practically let us obey the gracious command, "return unto me." Why should pardoned sinners live at a distance from their God? If we have been forgiven all our sins, let no legal fear withhold us from the boldest access to our Lord. Let backslidings be bemoaned, but let us not persevere in them. To the greatest possible nearness of communion with the Lord, let us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, strive mightily to return. O Lord, this night restore us!

=== 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

===