Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Wed Jul 3rd Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns Annie NguyenFreedom Gt andEmmanuel D'Annunzio. Born on the same day, across the years. Independence Day in Belarus. In 1844, The last known pair of Great Auks, the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, were killed in Eldey, off the coast of Iceland. 1863, Pickett's Charge, a futile Confederate infantry assault against Union Army positions, occurred during the final and bloodiest day of fighting in the Battle of Gettysburg, marking a turning point in the American Civil War. 1970, The Troubles: The British Army imposed the Falls Curfew on Belfast, Northern Ireland, which only resulted in greater Irish republican resistance. 2005, Same-sex marriage became legal in Spain. Not everything is futile. Party long enough and you will see that. Cheers.
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Last gasp for Emily’s List Quota Queens

Piers Akerman – Tuesday, July 02, 2013 (10:27pm)

EMILY’S LISTERS are becoming Emily’s Lasters following Julia Gillard’s dismal failure as Prime Minister.

Even rusted-on Labor supporters recognise they bought a load of codswallop when they agreed to endorse Quota Queens.

The latest seat to go to a man despite the outraged shrieks of the sisterhood is Batman, the former seat of longtime Labor stalwart, former union boss and former Labor Minister Martin Ferguson.

Despite the usual sexist arguments being raised by women who felt they were entitled to the seat because they were, well, women, pre-selection was won handily 383-247 in the first ballot by Labor Senator David Feeney in a tussle with rival Mary-Anne Thomas.
Thomas withdrew from the next stage of the contest following Feeney’s convincing win.

Ferguson was one of the first of the principled ministers to declare he would no longer serve with Gillard and there was never a possibility that he would reconsider when Kevin Rudd returned to the prime ministership.

Too much class.

The ALP will now have to find a replacement for Gillard, who made it a precondition of her contest with Rudd that the loser would leave politics as well as replacements for Simon Crean, who is throwing in the towel, Greg Combet and Craig Emerson.

Former union chief and Labor Senator Matt Thistlethwaite is going to seek pre-selection for Peter Garrett’s seat.

No candidate has yet emerged for Stephen Smith’s seat in WA.

The problem for all those aspiring to get a Labor seat is that they know that even in the doubtful likelihood of winning, they would face the prospect of debilitating years in Opposition.

Not the best job advertisement in the world.

The sisterhood may cry at their consciousness raising classes but Emily’s List has produced nothing but duds.

A point underscored by the failed female premiers around the nation and the performance of the women in the recent Cabinet and the prospects for their performance in the Rudd Cabinet.

When Labor eventually realises that merit has merit, the remnant Emily’s Listers will look even more like anachronistic relics of the social engineering seventies than they do now.

Gender politics has had its day. 

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Standing up to paedophiles

Miranda Devine – Tuesday, July 02, 2013 (11:00pm)

A DAUGHTER repeatedly violently raped by her own father from the age of nine summons the courage to tell police what he did to her. He is let off by a NSW judge with a good behaviour bond as long as he attends a treatment program for incestuous paedophiles.
A boy born to a surrogate mother in Russia and bought for $8000 by the sperm donor and his Australian partner for their sexual gratification is subjected to vile abuse for six years from infancy.
A little boy constantly raped by the late serial paedophile priest Dennis McAlinden between the ages of five and nine tells his parish priest in Singleton about the rapes during his first confession.
He is given penance “apparently for his sin in being abused by that priest,” says Julia Lonergan, SC, counsel assisting the NSW commission into child sexual abuse in the Hunter Valley’s Catholic Church.
These are three stories of paedophile atrocities which appeared in this newspaper this week. There are countless others which haven’t.
While the community regards paedophilia as the most heinous crime, it seems authorities do not, whether church leaders who allowed paedophiles free rein, or courts which fail to jail them.
Solicitor Greg Walsh was drafted in late by supporters of the 19-year-old woman referred to earlier, to try to force an appeal of her father’s lenient sentence.
“She expected justice. She was not listened to,” he said yesterday.
He has written letters of complaint to the NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith and the Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb.
“Someone has dropped the ball,” he says.
“She’s the most delightful girl. She has suffered the worst kind of breach of trust and the psychological impact is horrendous.
“Now it’s all been made worse because the justice system let her down.
“She’s had a number of psychiatric admissions to hospital because of this terrible abuse and but for the dedicated support of psychiatrists, psychologists and sexual assault workers she wouldn’t be on this planet.”
Walsh believes the court gave “undue weight to the views of the mother that restoration should occur in the family and that the offender should not go to jail”.
“Restoration” means keeping the family together. But the young woman wants nothing to do with her father - or her mother who was allegedly present in the marital bed during some abuse, although she claimed to
be unaware.
The mother is aware now
of what her husband did to their little girl because he pleaded guilty. Yet still she supports him.
“The paramount interests were those of this young victim, not the mother,” Walsh said.
The father is required to have treatment at Cedar Cottage, run by the Department of Health, which uses “evocative therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy and psycho-education that draws on the belief that ‘abusive behaviour is most likely to cease if the perpetrator accepts full responsibility for his actions’.”
Well it’s a bit late now. His children are grown.
The damage to his daughter is done, and now justice needs to be done.
At least the Attorney-General axed Cedar Cottage last September.
“The community rightly expects those who engage in child sex assault to receive a custodial sentence,” he wrote in a letter to Walsh last week. The DPP is yet to respond.
The problem is that this paedophile father was originally sentenced before September. But he was sentenced again on April 4 this year on additional related charges to which he pleaded guilty. That was the opportunity to give him serious jail time.
Serious jail time is what was delivered to American-Australian Mark Newton, 42, in a court in Indiana, USA.
He was sentenced to 40 years for the sexual abuse of the now eight-year-old boy he and his partner Peter Truong adopted from a Russian surrogate mother. (Truong has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing in New Zealand.)
They were accused of making hardcore child porn with the little blonde boy for an international paedophile ring, The Boy Lovers network.
The boy, who had an Australian accent at age five, was brainwashed into believing the abuse was normal.
In a story for ABC radio in Cairns two years ago titled “Two dads are better than one putting gender on the agenda”, the paedophiles and the boy are interviewed about their idyllic family life.
The story was taken offline yesterday but it was chilling.
The men complain about the obstacles which “homophobic” authorities put in their path, such as the two-year wait for a visa to bring the baby to Australia.
When they arrived, “we were held up for a couple of hours,” by Customs, said Truong. “If one of us had been a woman we wouldn’t have had the same suspicions or concerns.”
Police were sent to their Cairns home to investigate. “They wanted to see the situation was right, that we had bottle sterilisers ... everything set up properly for raising a child,” said Truong. “They didn’t really tell us what their concerns were.”
The reporter asked: “Do you think there was a suspicion, you are two guys, , there must be a paedophilic thing going on here?”
Newton answers, coolly: “Absolutely, absolutely, I am sure that was completely the case.”
It was a missed opportunity to rescue the child.
In 2011, after police raided their home over connections to a child porn ring, the men complained to the media again of discrimination.
The boy is now reportedly in the care of extended family.
The normal person recoils in horror from these stories.
We don’t want to hear. We feel disempowered.
The abuse involves the exploitation of trust, between an innocent child and a trusted adult. It cannot be exposed unless the child gives evidence or is identified in pornography.
This happens rarely. Exposure, if it comes, is usually not for years, and often, as in the case of Father McAlinden, when the monster is dead
As one child sexual abuse investigator told me yesterday, under-resourced NSW police are lucky if they charge 10 per cent of offenders. Of those very few go to jail. Only three of 238 men convicted of raping a child under 10 in the past decade were jailed for even the minimum term. This flies in the face of community expectations. It is why we cannot turn away. 

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BOILIN’ BAZ

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 03, 2013 (1:25pm)

Barack Obama tells young Africans
“If everybody is raising living standards to the point where everybody has got a car, and everybody has got air conditioning, and everybody has got a big house, well, the planet will boil over – unless we find new ways of producing energy.” 
Maybe delaying Obamacare legislation will generate energy somehow. Meanwhile, living standards are raised inZambia:

image

(Via CL)

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HOLE IN THE WALL

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 03, 2013 (1:12pm)

The Canberra Times dodges Fairfax’s new subscription system: 
While Fairfax has introduced subscriptions for the digital versions of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age from today, The Canberra Times remains free at this time …
You can read as many articles from our Canberra newsroom and from across the Fairfax network as you want, as often as you want with no charge. 
(Via Marcus V., who emails: “Maybe the Crimes won’t put up a paywall because they know they will disappear forever very quickly as their last readers opt out - with no direct newspaper competition in the capital, the Crimes’ circulation has slipped below 30,000 copies a day, well into the death zone for a daily.")

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LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 03, 2013 (1:09pm)

AFP shark jumper Amy Coopes – a famously tolerant person herself – would like everybody to be less judgmental.

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SHAME, FRASER, SHAME

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 03, 2013 (11:59am)

Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser will campaign with Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young at a public forum in Adelaide this weekend. 
Perhaps the slayer of Whitlam was lured by South Australia’s doom-based tourism campaign.

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OFF THE CHARTS

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 03, 2013 (11:33am)


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Rudd desperate to talk about Abbott. But where are his own policies?

Andrew Bolt July 03 2013 (8:59pm)

image
Rudd is desperate to make this a popularity contest - or at least make Abbott look weak. Abbott’s reply should be forceful: there is not yet a single Kevin Rudd policy out there to discuss.
What is Rudd’s policy on boats?
On debt?
On the carbon tax?
First the policies, then the debate. 

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Pack-attack of the Left: has any ABC guest been interrupted so often?

Andrew Bolt July 03 2013 (10:17am)

Opposition frontbencher Sophie Mirabella was the lone conservative on the ABC’s Q&A on Monday and was subjected to a disgraceful pack-attack by the five Leftists on the show. It included what must be a record number of interruptions - 32:

Interruption 1:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Well, I think I’d have to agree with the gentleman on the panel that, yeah, Kevin Rudd is the same and he is there and we only had a couple of weeks ago someone who is now serving on his frontbench much saying he can’t govern and we need to really look at what really happened. What really happened? Why did the Labor Party get rid of Kevin Rudd? It wasn’t the polls. It was the extraordinary paralysis that the Government had found itself in and he couldn’t work with colleagues, as one of them said. He had contempt for the Parliament, contempt for his colleagues and the Australian people and it took three leadership battles for people to finally be worn down and I think that’s the real story. The fact that…
TONY JONES: So, can I just - that may be the real story to some - to political professionals, but what do you think is going on with the polls? 
Interruption 2:
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Look, Tony, polls will come and go and closer to the election they will bounce up and down. The point is…
TONY JONES: We used to say that close to the election they will even out but they’ve evened out a long way from the election now. 
Interruption 3:
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: No, well, nothing has really changed because you’ve got a third…
TONY JONES: Well, the polls have changed, so something has changed. 
Interruption 4:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: No, well, Tony, the polls have changed but a third of the frontbench, very experienced ministers, refuse to serve with Kevin Rudd and, you know…
TONY JONES: Okay. I am going to interrupt you there because I will bring you back in a moment but we haven’t heard from Tanya Plibersek ... 
Interruption 5:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: That’s ridiculous. I mean, we’ve had the same…
TODD SAMPSON: It’s an idea,
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Yeah. And you sell those sort of crazy ideas.
TODD SAMPSON: I think you’re the one who sells crazy ideas.
Interruption 6:
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Actually, let’s look at the facts. Over the last 12 months, Tony Abbott has done twice as many interviews as Julia Gillard has done and he is out there every day. He’s out…
TONY JONES: Can you explain why we don’t see him doing long format interviews?
Interruption 7, 8:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Let’s let Kevin Rudd call an election…
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Why? Why?
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: And we will have those. And we will have those. You asked me a question, Tanya. Let me answer it. Let Kevin Rudd either recall parliament and let’s have debates. Let him call an election and we will have those candidate debates and bring it on. Why..
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Why is he scared to debate Kevin Rudd at the Press Club?
Interruption 9, 10, 11:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: But we can. I think, Tanya, the problem is that…
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Indonesia won’t allow that.
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: The problem is…
TODD SAMPSON: But it’s the wrong question, isn’t it? We don’t want to stop the boats.
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Tanya. Tanya…
TODD SAMPSON: We want to help people. 
Interruption 12:
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: They weren’t signatories to the UN convention and the reality is…
TANYA PLIBERSEK: But what do you care about that, Sophie, really?
Interruption 13:
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: This is you - this is - but this is what…
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Tony Abbott is the king of the three word slogan.
Interruption 14, 15, 16 (including being interrupted by two men at once, and then by multiple panelists):

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: But this is what Stephen Smith - hold on. This is what Stephen Smith himself has said. This is what your colleagues have said about the man that took three leadership ballots to finally get the job back. This is the man who stalked Julia for three years, undermined - undermined her at the last election, continued to undermine using all sorts of spin and popping up in the media here, zipping off there, I mean, that’s how he got the job. So…
TONY JONES: Can I just ask one…
NEIL LAWRENCE: Didn’t Tony Abbott roll…
TONY JONES: Could I just put one thing do to you and that is, well, as I think you were about to say it…
NEIL LAWRENCE: He rolled Malcolm Turnbull. I mean it’s not the only one and the Liberal…
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Hold on. There’s a difference between…
TONY JONES: Was Malcolm…
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: I was there.
MULTIPLE SPEAKERS TALK AT ONCE
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: I was there.
Interruption 17:
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: There is a difference. There is a difference between leadership challenges and Kevin. What Kevin has done - I mean what Kevin has done has been quite extraordinary…
SUE CATO: But Sophie, there’s a question…
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: And there’s a very, very big - very, very big difference.
SUE CATO: But, Sophie, a question. I mean we come back to when I interrupted you last time, apologies.
Interruption 18, 19:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: But, Sue, I can understand, you know, friends of his such as yourself believing that, but I actually travel across the electorate…
TODD SAMPSON: This is like political tennis. I’m getting hit.
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: No. No. But I know…
SUE CATO: No. No. Polls don’t lie.
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: You’ve asked me a question.
Interruption 20:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Absolutely. We’re…
NEIL LAWRENCE: ...and it is going to have a big effect on this campaign.
TONY JONES: Okay. I’m going to just interrupt again to go to our next question.
Interruption 21, 22:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Well, I don’t accept a lot of those premises. There is a lot that has gone on in politics that will continue to get on. It always has been. It’s not that now is a particularly more brutal time in politics. If you go through Hansard, if you look at what happens, I disagree with Tanya on one point and that is you’ve got to get involved because the bad guys win. I don’t think it’s about that. I think it is about believing in what can bring out the possibilities of our nation, of our people. What can we do to make this country a better place, to give people…
HELGA BURNS: That wasn’t my question.
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Well…
HELGA BURNS: My question was you, being a female parliamentarian, a well-known female parliamentarian, you would have witnessed at first-and hand and it has been well documented in the newspapers, everywhere…
Interruption 23:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Sure. And I have been - it has been said that I couldn’t represent my electorate because I didn’t have a husband and children at the time and Julia Gillard still came to my electorate and campaigned for this fellow. I think what you have to do is…
HELGA BURNS: You’re supporting what I’m saying.
Interruption 24:
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: I don’t think Julia’s problems stemmed from the fact that she was a female. Yes, there are differences. I know a lot of people, men, who voted for her in 2010 because they thought a woman would be different in politics and then they were subsequently disappointed. But I don’t think that was the source of her problems. I think you have to go back. At the actual election in 2010, Kevin Rudd’s destabilisation, the broken promises throughout her term and the fatal mistake of entering into partnership with the Greens and independents and the sort of government that delivered. When you had Labor members of caucus being utterly ignored because the Greens and the Independents were pandered to…
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Sophie, that is just not true. I’s just not true.
Interruption 25:
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: That’s incorrect. That’s incorrect. We’ve supported a lot of legislation.
TONY JONES: It does sound - can I just interrupt for one second. 
Interruption 26, 27:
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: It was a democracy that Kevin Rudd didn’t like the answer to, so he kept going back for more, back for more, back for more. The reason why - the main reason that Kevin Rudd gave for people to vote for him…
NEIL LAWRENCE: John Howard tried a few times before he did too.
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: The main reason - the main reason why Kevin Rudd convinced his Cabinet colleagues was because he was against something. He wanted to stop Tony Abbott and it’s all very, very negative. Instead of saying what he wanted to do for the nation, the main reason, the main argument used…
TANYA PLIBERSEK: But people know what he wants to do.
Interruption 28, 29:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Well, no, Tanya. I mean there are over 52 policies. We actually do want jobs growth. As the Shadow Minister for Industry I know, first-hand, visiting over 300 factories why the carbon tax has exported jobs and emissions has…
TANYA PLIBERSEK: There are 150,000 jobs created since carbon pricing was introduced.
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Well, let me tell you about manufacturing jobs, Tanya. Under this government - under this government we’ve seen one manufacturing job lost every 19 minutes. We’ve seen red tape exponentially increase. We’ve seen the competitiveness…
TANYA PLIBERSEK: That’s not right
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: Sorry?
Interruption 30, 31:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: And you think that’s okay and you think you can just get away with it, Tanya. The reality is that…
TODD SAMPSON: Do you guys, really not like each other that much?
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: No, the reality is - the reality is we - we…
TODD SAMPSON: No wonder we’re screwed.
Interruption 32:

SOPHIE MIRABELLA: No, hold on. The reality is we do have a plan. We have a plan for jobs and that is getting rid of the carbon tax. It is getting rid of a billion dollars of red tape.
TANYA PLIBERSEK: So you lose all the green energy jobs straightaway.
SOPHIE MIRABELLA: It is stopping - it is stopping - it is stopping the boats...
The interruptions can’t be excused on the grounds that Mirabella was more long-winded than the others. Her longest uninterrupted speech was 177 words. Plibersek’s was 224, Neil Lawrence’s 240 and Sue Cato’s an impressive 328. 

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A faith that appeals to the dangerous

Andrew Bolt July 03 2013 (9:45am)

Yes, the usual suspect faith:

POLICE have foiled a plot to bomb the parliament of British Columbia as tens of thousands gathered to celebrate Canada’s independence day, arresting two people allegedly “inspired by al-Qa’ida,” officials said.
Not the usual suspect ethnicity:
John Stewart Nuttall and Amanda Marie Korody were detained on Monday, as the nation marked one of its biggest holidays—the annual July 1 Canada Day celebrated with fireworks and parades.
Charming man, Nuttal:

When he was 28 years old he stole a briefcase from a businessman and hit him over the head with a rock. He was given an 18 month sentence, but was able to serve a conditional sentence. He was reportedly under the influence of cocaine at the time.

Before this incident his previous convictions include robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault.

In 1996, Nuttall and another man worked as debt collectors and beat up a man in his home at least three times. According to media reports at the time, Nuttall kicked the man so violently that he had to have a kidney removed. They took a woman who lived at the home as ‘collateral’.
Nuttall pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Strikes me Islam may have been merely the excuse he always wanted to hurt people:

Former Victoria resident John Stewart Nuttall, 38, and his partner, Amanda Marie Korody, 30, are charged with conspiring together or with others to place an explosive in a government facility with intent to cause death or serious bodily injury for the benefit of a terrorist group and facilitating a terrorist group between March 2 and July 2, 2013. They are also charged with possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious damage to property for the benefit of a terrorist group between June 25 and July 2…
The improvised [pressure cooker] bomb was filled with rusted nails, which would have been sprayed among the crowd had they exploded as intended…
Nuttall’s lawyer, Victoria’s Tom Morino, said his client had converted to Islam and had embraced the Muslim faith, but added that the alleged offences are “absolutely unrelated” to any mosque group or any other established organization…
Photos of the devices showed them to be pressure-cooker style explosives. Malizia said there was no connection to the Boston Marathon bombings, where similar devices were used.

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Hungry Egypt falling

Andrew Bolt July 03 2013 (9:18am)

This could get very ugly:
Egypt’s president has vowed to defend the legitimacy of his elected office with his life, amid deadly protests.
In a late-night televised appeal for calm, Mohammed Morsi rejected an army ultimatum that the country’s crisis be resolved by Wednesday.
Mr Morsi admitted he had made mistakes, pledging his loyalty to the people but urging protesters to remain peaceful, insisting he would not be dictated to.
The army earlier leaked details of a draft “roadmap” for Egypt’s future.
Details of the plan leaked to the BBC outlined new presidential elections, the suspension of the new constitution and the dissolution of parliament…

The army warned on Monday that it would step in unless a solution was found, giving Mr Morsi 48 hours to find agreement with the opposition.
But Morsi says no:
In a public address, he said legitimacy was the only guarantee to prevent bloodshed.
“President Morsi insists on (his) constitutional legitimacy and rejects any attempt to overstep it,” said a message posted on his official Twitter account.
“(He) calls on the armed forces to withdraw their warning and rejects any dictates, domestic or foreign.”
Supporters are preparing for a fight:
Backers of the president joined a sit-in in his support in Cairo’s Nasr City neighbourhood, as crowds massed near Cairo University vowing to defend his legitimacy.
[Muslim] Brotherhood leader Mohamed al-Beltagui urged them to honour the sacrifices of those killed during the 2011 revolution that paved the way for Mr Morsi to take power as Egypt’s first freely elected president.
“Seeking martyrdom to prevent this coup is what we can offer to the previous martyrs of the revolution,” he said.
Lydia Khalil says whoever wins, Egypt is in crisis:

Pushing Mubarak and his cronies out of power didn’t solve Egypt’s deep-seated structural problems. Neither will simply getting rid of Morsi and his cadre. Mubarak or no Mubarak, Morsi or no Morsi, Egypt’s troubles go beyond one man.
The economy is in collapse, there are gas shortages, electricity outages, and the country’s infrastructure is crumbling. Its education system is substandard, its youth are in revolt and its old are struggling. The ranks of the poor are growing and its wealthy are scared to invest. Its political process is a mess and its institutions corrupt.
When Mubarak left office, no other political force put forward an alternative, unifying vision for Egypt.
Here is the must urgent problem:

For underneath all the political maneuverings, there is a seemingly insolvable problem: Egypt cannot feed itself and Egypt’s population is steadily growing.
Two thousand years ago, Egypt was the breadbasket of the Roman Empire. Today, it is a basket case. It imports nearly half of its food, including about 60 percent of its wheat, the country’s primary staple. A quarter of its people is living in severe poverty and another twenty percent is living just above the official poverty line. Much of its population is supported by uneconomical food and fuel subsidies that must be abolished or severely retrenched if it is to receive external assistance from the International Monetary Fund. Cutting back those subsidies, however, is politically unthinkable for now and the foreseeable future. That’s why Morsi’s government, despite a year of intense negotiations, has been unable to reach an agreement with the IMF.
Not only can Egypt not feed itself, it lacks to money to keep paying for food imports. 

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Filming the halo of St Kevin

Andrew Bolt July 03 2013 (8:46am)

Reader Col is astonished by the fawning:
With the return of Kevin Rudd as PM, at least employment has picked up for camera operators.
Rudd at shopping centres being mobbed by staged ‘fans’, Rudd doing a Howard morning walk, talking to no one and ‘accidently’ meeting excited fans. Rudd walking the corridors of Parliament house, Rudd making phone calls to world leaders, Rudd at a cabinet meeting, and the big one, Rudd having another press conference. What next, Rudd on the toilet, Rudd brushing his teeth?.
The fawning media need to extend their news time to fit all this in, but no bias here, just empty headed reporting of another empty head. What have we done to deserve this?
Reader Keith:

Look out Australia, Kevin Rudd is doing a John Howard lite again. On the TV news last night, guess who was out for a morning walk in a track suit. Yep, our new PM showing us he has changed and is going to be like Howard again in this election. And he even fired up into a jog just to make out he is up and running in the job. If this wasn’t so stupid it would be laughable.
UPDATE
Leadership adviser Graham Winter is a three-time chief psychologist for the Australian Olympic team:
The second thing that Rudd can’t change is temperament. It would be unfair to deeply analyse this in the media, however you be the judge of how many of six common signs of narcissistic leadership could apply to our Prime Minister
- Prone to grandiose visions and to over-estimating their own capabilities (remember “the greatest moral challenge of our time").
- Hyper-sensitive to criticism and liable to fly into anger (be careful when serving him on a plane).
- Pursue power at all costs leading to infighting and suspicion which ultimately brings them down (enough said).
- Easily bored, change course often (swing to the left, swing to the right on boats).
- Lack empathy and trust but say the socially acceptable thing when in public (Is there a better example than saying he won’t accept anyone criticising former PM Gillard).
- Gather only those who agree around them (was that eight cabinet ministers who have gone?)
Pressure exposes default behaviours and tends to amplify strengths until they become weaknesses. If even half of these narcissistic characteristics apply to PM Rudd then he’d best call the election as early as possible.

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ABC amazed! Fraser campaigns for Greens senator!

Andrew Bolt July 03 2013 (8:33am)

This news was described by ABC presenter Jon Faine as a “surprise” and “astonishing”:
Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser will campaign in Adelaide this weekend to stop Tony Abbott securing what he had in the 1970s: control of the Senate.
Mr Fraser, who is now estranged from the Liberal Party, will campaign with Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who is competing against the Liberal Party for the sixth and last Senate spot in South Australia.
But Fraser somehow insists that the headline is not quite right:
Former PM Fraser to campaign for Greens
A distinction without a difference.
That Fraser can help a party so economically irresponsible shows how completely he’s been seduced by the cheers of the Left which once scorned him. 
On the ABC this morning he even defends Kevin Rudd’s mad claim that turning back the boats could lead to war. 

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He’s not the Messiah

Andrew Bolt July 03 2013 (8:19am)

The intoxicating thing about signing up for a grand moral crusade - such as planet-saving - is that you feel excused to do any damn thing you like, including sacking Constantinople lying and destroying other people’s savings.
Some regulators might now correct that conceit, to the shock of a green group:

The anti-coal campaigner who temporarily wiped more than $314 million off the value of Whitehaven Coal with a hoax email has been charged after an investigation by the corporate regulator.
Jonathan Moylan tricked investors into thinking that a $1.2 billion loan arranged by ANZ for Whitehaven had been cancelled on ethical grounds.
Shares in Whitehaven, which then had struggling coal baron Nathan Tinkler as its biggest shareholder, fell from $3.52 to $3.21 before the stock was put into a trading halt…
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission confirmed that Mr Moylan was charged with one offence of breaching section 1041E of the Corporations Act, covering the making of false or misleading statements…
Lock The Gate Alliance ... president Drew Hutton said it was “extraordinary” that Mr Moylan was facing jail.
“We are asking ASIC to reconsider their decision and withdraw the prosecution… Whether you agree with his actions or not, Mr Moylan’s intent was obviously just to tell the world about the plight of the people and environments at risk from this massive coal mine.”
See? Was saving the world, so must be excused anything he did in that cause.

Much that passes as idealism is disguised hatred or disguised love for power.
Or put it this way:

(Thanks to reader Jono.) 

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Global warming facts the ABC won’t mention - brought by a former ABC chairman

Andrew Bolt July 03 2013 (7:50am)

Maurice Newman, former chairman of the ABC, lists inconvenient truths about the global warming scare that ABC reporters won’t mention:

...the voices of alarm and authority have been unable to hide the reality that, statistically, there has been no increase in global temperatures since 1997, despite an 8.3 percent rise in atmospheric CO2. For those who want to cite warming in some records, all datasets agree there has been none since 2000. In fact since 2002 a slight cooling has been observed. Who knew? Well, not the warmist scientists.
Indeed, the ABC reported: “A study forecasts that global warming will set in with a vengeance after 2009, with at least half of the following five years expected to be hotter than 1998, which was the warmest year on record.” Wrong. Even recent claims of an “angry” Australian summer were not validated by satellite data.
Roy Spencer, from the University of Alabama, compared 73 warming predictions to actual data across 34 years. Ending in 2012, he found an extraordinary discrepancy between what the models predicted and the actual observations of satellites and balloons. The predictions were all strongly biased to the upside. As he commented, “I frankly don’t see how the IPCC can keep claiming that the models ‘are not inconsistent with the observations’. Any sane person can see otherwise.”
Scientists have long searched for a “hot spot” in the atmosphere. When it could not be found, some said it must be in the oceans. Yet, since the deployment in 2003 of 3000 Argo floats (the acme of ocean temperature measurement), researchers still haven’t found it.  

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An investment banker stood at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The banker complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The fisherman replied, “Only a little while.”

The banker then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The fisherman said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The banker then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”

The investor scoffed, “I am an Ivy League MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, and eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.
“The investor continued, “And instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would then sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution! You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The fisherman asked, “But how long will this all take?”

To which the banker replied, “Perhaps 15 to 20 years.”

“But what then?” asked the fisherman.

The banker laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions!”

“Millions. Okay, then what?” wondered the fisherman.

To which the investment banker replied, “Then you would retire. You could move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

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Andreas Herrmann
Es gibt keinen Weg zum Frieden, denn Frieden ist der Weg. Mahatma Ghandi

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Three years ago today, the faceless men installed Julia Gillard as PM. That decision exposed the deep division and dysfunction in Labor, as well as the chaos and division that existed under Kevin Rudd.

But it does not have to be this way.

The Coalition’s Real Solutions plan will deliver a strong, prosperous economy and a safe secure Australia. You can read Our Plan here:http://lbr.al/hro - and please share with your friends.
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
God can use a crisis or a time of confusion to result in a blessing! What the enemy meant for bad, God can turn it around for good!

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James Calore'
The sentence "Are you as bored as I am?" can be read backwards and still makes sense.

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Finally a guilt free dessert!!! ‎#raw ‎#snickercake‎#yummy — at From Earth And Water.
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Our Lord said,Refuse to Worry.
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?(Matthew 6:27, NIV)
Is there something that you are worrying about today? To worry means to allow something to revolve in your mind over and over again. God doesn’t want you to live worried or anxious about anything. He knows that worry steals your peace and joy. It affects every area of your life. Have you heard the saying, “Don’t worry yourself sick?” That’s because worrying affects your physical body. It affects your sleep. You won’t ever gain anything by worrying; in fact, you’ll lose precious moments that you can never get back again. The good news is that God has promised that you can have victory over worry. It starts by making the choice to trust in Him. When you cast your cares on Him, He will give you His peace.
Decide today to put an end to worry in your life. Choose to feed your faith and fill your mind with God's promises. As you focus on God’s Word, you’ll drive out worry and fill your heart with faith and expectancy.He will surly set you free.God bless you.

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4 her
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You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose. But, you shouldn't pick your friend's nose. A reminder that not all learning should be from experience.
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Freeway fun in Ann Arbor Michigan while on the road with Yahoo! on the weather project campaign. — at Briarwood Mall.
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Lily Allen "The Fear" Parody Sung By Kevin Rudd


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The Deputy Prime Minister, photographed one hour visit to a Thai massage provider operating an unlicensed Sex Services Premises in his electorate

Wayne dropped me an email yesterday afternoon,
Hi Michael, 
Now that Albanese is Deputy PM, I can’t believe no media outlets are interested in him visiting the massage parlour in his electorate that specialises in sexual services. If TA or any other senior coalition MP had done that, the Labor party and media would be all over them.
 What do you reckon?


Thanks Wayne.   I think that the judgement of the Deputy Prime Minister is a very important factor that we should be aware of.    The Press Gallery journalists in Canberra have a responsibility to report matters of importance.   It concerns me that a collective judgement was exercised on "Albo" and the story was never reported in the mainstream.
The Deputy PM and his wife are on big money, they're both prominent people in the Marrickville area, on a Friday afternoon the now Deputy PM enters and remains for one hour in a business that is the subject of many hundred Parlour Pages and Australian XXX Reviews of the sexual prowess and services provided within that place.
Further the business is operating unlawfully, our forensic investigator attended and was offered sexual services or payment without him prompting.   The manner of his attendance and the way he recorded evidence was designed for admissibility in a court of law. The premises are not licenced to provide sexual services.
At the least Albanese has made himself a laughing stock.   Australian politicians who do stupid things like Albanese's visit to the Thai illegal brothel in his electorate one Friday afternoon (but only for a therapeutic massage) tend to get the mickey taken out of them for a long time.   Lapses of judgement like this one would carry that sort of gleefully extracted price from every conservative politician.   But the Press Gallery has made a collective decision to spare this man any embarrassment. Most unusual.
In this video on the occassion of Mr Albanese's swearing in as Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, his wife Carmel Tebbut is seated to his left.   It's Kevin Rudd's wife Therese with whom he seems more comfortable having a chat.
a
Finally these reports from the time show what happened, how the story was buried in the main media, my conversations with senior caucus members, how Labor people forwarded the DA documents on the Thai massage premises to me, my exhaustive efforts to have Albanese deliver the comment his staff promised and his final "No comment".
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/03/anthony-albanese-and-his-dangerously-poor-judgement-.html
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/03/my-efforts-to-provide-anthony-albanese-with-the-opportunity-to-comment-on-or-correct-my-story-today.html
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/03/my-efforts-to-provide-anthony-albanese-with-the-opportunity-to-comment-on-or-correct-my-story-today.html

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BEAUTIFUL VIEW OVER JERUSALEM!
Like & share if you love Jerusalem.
http://bit.ly/facetozion031
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Standing with Pro-Life Texans
Earlier today, I issued a statement announcing my steadfast support of the efforts of Governor Rick Perry and members of the Texas legislature fighting to protect the lives of unborn children.  Governor Perry made the right call in bringing back the legislature into a special session to pass Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 2 which will ban abortions after 20-weeks pregnancy.  While the pro-abortion lobby may have had a temporary victory last week, I am confident that pro-life Texans will rally to pass these important bills that will protect the sanctity of life.
Thanks to all of you who signed our petition over the weekend asking Americans to stand with life and go 'toe-to-toe' against Texas State Senator Wendy Davis and anyone else who supports abortion at any time and for any reason.  The petition, which has already garnered thousands of signatures and will be delivered to Governor Perry, can be viewed HERE.  If you haven't signed it, please do so now.
I also want to encourage all of our pro-life friends in the Austin area to rally in support of this pro-life effort and attend events at the state capitol to support this measure.  You can find up-to-date opportunities of how you can help out by visitinghttp://www.texasrighttolife.com orhttp://texasallianceforlife.org/ 
Thank you,
santorum-signature
Rick Santorum 
Something We're Watching
Reports surfaced yesterday about the horrifying news about a Catholic priest who was beheaded by rebels in Syria.  According to the New York Daily News, "Franciscan Father Francois Murad was publicly executed with two others as the jihadists, reportedly from the group Jabhat al-Nusra, recorded the killings with smartphones...Murad, 49, was beheaded by jihadists after being accused of collaborating with President Bashar Assad's regime." The situation in Syria is concerning because the Obama Administration has decided to give aid to rebels in this country. Because of President Obama's incompetence, Syria has become a "no-win" war for the United States and our allies. We will continue to monitor this situation andkeep you posted as we learn more. 
Thank you!
I want to thank all of you who donated to our Stand Up for the Grassroots moneybomb to celebrate Patriot Voices' first anniversary.  We exceeded our $100,000 goal, which is critical as we embark on our second year advocating for the conservative ideals we all hold dear.  In our second year, we'll be expanding on the theme of restoring the American dream for working families and focusing on conservative economic solutions to improve our country's future.
EchoLight Studios
I hope you'll take a moment to read an editorial in the Idaho Statesman about the news that I've joined EchoLight Studios as their CEO.  The article calls this announcement "positive and proactive" to make a real change in popular culture. 
"Santorum should be applauded," the editorial states.  "Unlike many cultural conservatives, he is doing more than just complaining about the popular culture.  The former senator is doing something positive and proactive to change it."  Read the entire article HERE.
Patriot Voices Radio
We have a special show scheduled for next Tuesday, July 9! New York Times #1 Best-Selling author, Brad Thor, will join us to talk about his new book and more! Mark your calendar reminder for noon ET so you don't miss out! You can listen to the show online at www.patriotvoices.com/radio or on your phone by calling (347) 857-3462. 
We'd also love to hear what Independence Day means to you and how you plan to spend the holiday.  Please call our "Shout-Out Line" anytime at (512) 827-0033 to leave a message for Patriot Voices.  We might play your message on our next show!

Donate Today button

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Photo credit: John W. Pope Civitas Institute
Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for July 2nd. Enjoy!

From the Blog

Dueling Headlines, ‘pain of sequestration’ edition

Another set of Dueling Headlines for you, both from Sunday...

Seattle Mariners and Portland Trailblazers endorse Obama’s global warming agenda

The teams also announced they’ll be traveling from game to game in buses powered by vegetable oil...

‘Clean energy’ kick: Obama’s $7 billion plan to power Africa includes soccer ball generators

President Obama has pledged $7 billion for electricity and “clean energy” initiatives in sub Saharan Africa (how do you say “Solyndra” in Swahili?)...

More From the Right Side of the Web

Featured Video

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Yesterday, Michelle talked with Megyn Kelly about Alec Baldwin's nasty Twitter meltdown and liberal/media double standards.

Michelle's Top Tweets

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And ... Our Hate Tweet of the Day

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Alec Baldwin? Is that you?

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Great Auks by John Gerrard Keulemans

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