When the ICAC asked to recess to gather evidence, smeared politicians from the Liberal Party asked to face the allegations immediately. They pointed out that they deserved natural justice to clear their names sooner rather than later. The ICAC decided to recess and now, many months after being named, former police minister Mike Gallacher was able to front the ICAC and face allegations. And he did, addressing them more plausibly than the prosecutor's supposition. The ICAC's case is in tatters, based on supposition but not evidence. Gallacher is optimistic of returning to the front bench, but it is also the case the ICAC is known to produce stings. In all likelihood, Gallacher was discussing legitimate fund raising and dropped Barry O'Farrell's nickname. Prosecutor Watson is adamant that the intercepted text message is referencing an illegal developer. It is like the case of the three wise monkeys, and contrasts strongly with the former corrupt Premier Neville Wran. Neville Wran was thought to be the "Little Mate" who could get a hit man freed from jail if bribery demands were met. But no one could prove that, and so the courts let it slide, even though no one else could have achieved the end result. But the judiciary ignore ALP corruption, and inflate accusations against Liberals on no evidence.
Why blow up a Rozelle convenience store? It is an upmarket part of Sydney, close to Sydney University. Two people are missing, and one is dead, but no one knows yet of the whereabouts of a mother, baby and a man from an adjacent complex. We don't even know why the explosion occurred; it could have been terrorist related, or it could have been a domestic accident. It is a tragedy. Hopefully the hospitalised shop owner will be able to shed light on what happened. One must remember Green Senator Whish-Wilson does not like the use of the word 'evil' or 'terrorist' preferring not to demonise people. However if the evil terrorist who beheaded a journalist recently isn't dealt with soon, then perhaps more tragedies similar to Rozelle's explosion could occur. One appreciates that Greens admire the work of sustainable population activists, but sometimes those activists are too gung ho.
Assuming they believe the lies that are spread against Israel, why are those who march against Israel not also marching against ISIS? ISIS brings Islam into disrepute. ISIS members are aggressive, but not devout. ISIS kills more Muslims than others. Islamo Fascists enjoyed swimming in a former US embassy's pool. The pool is in Libya, which incidentally is where two recently executed journalists had been abducted from more than a year ago. When it comes to issues that matter, we get silence. Silence in Rotherham where 1400 children are molested by multi cultural extravagance. Silence from academics who rename things to avoid being too easily seen to be shonky, as with AGW Hysteric Mann in his opposition to Steyn. Or with another academic claiming that drowning desperate, poor economic migrants is preferable to resettling refugees, as it strains ethical principles of public servants.
Abbott's first year restores respect to PM's office. A report card for federal conservatives shows that the parts exceed the sum. Living standards fall as Government is blocked in senate. It has been forgotten by spruikers that superannuation comes from pay packets. Red tape is cut, so cheaper, better imports of cars for Australians are becoming available. Lambie gives maiden speech as silly as Hanson's was.
From 2013Why blow up a Rozelle convenience store? It is an upmarket part of Sydney, close to Sydney University. Two people are missing, and one is dead, but no one knows yet of the whereabouts of a mother, baby and a man from an adjacent complex. We don't even know why the explosion occurred; it could have been terrorist related, or it could have been a domestic accident. It is a tragedy. Hopefully the hospitalised shop owner will be able to shed light on what happened. One must remember Green Senator Whish-Wilson does not like the use of the word 'evil' or 'terrorist' preferring not to demonise people. However if the evil terrorist who beheaded a journalist recently isn't dealt with soon, then perhaps more tragedies similar to Rozelle's explosion could occur. One appreciates that Greens admire the work of sustainable population activists, but sometimes those activists are too gung ho.
Assuming they believe the lies that are spread against Israel, why are those who march against Israel not also marching against ISIS? ISIS brings Islam into disrepute. ISIS members are aggressive, but not devout. ISIS kills more Muslims than others. Islamo Fascists enjoyed swimming in a former US embassy's pool. The pool is in Libya, which incidentally is where two recently executed journalists had been abducted from more than a year ago. When it comes to issues that matter, we get silence. Silence in Rotherham where 1400 children are molested by multi cultural extravagance. Silence from academics who rename things to avoid being too easily seen to be shonky, as with AGW Hysteric Mann in his opposition to Steyn. Or with another academic claiming that drowning desperate, poor economic migrants is preferable to resettling refugees, as it strains ethical principles of public servants.
Abbott's first year restores respect to PM's office. A report card for federal conservatives shows that the parts exceed the sum. Living standards fall as Government is blocked in senate. It has been forgotten by spruikers that superannuation comes from pay packets. Red tape is cut, so cheaper, better imports of cars for Australians are becoming available. Lambie gives maiden speech as silly as Hanson's was.
The ALP are low in the polls, but as former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett reminds, they were in 1999 too, but came back to win and hold Victoria for a long, dark time. In that time they held Victoria, they ruined Victoria's competitiveness, damaged the police, ruined fire protection, damaged education and spent big. The only way to protect Australia's future is to vote for the Liberal National Parties. Christian Democrats are directing their preferences to the ALP in some states. Other ridiculous parties do the same. On the issue of costings, the ALP have failed to show the electorate all of theirs. The Liberals will show the rest of the LNP costings on Thursday, having unveiled all their promises on Wednesday, today. There is much criticism of the LNP costings, but they have shown the bulk a long time ago, unlike the ALP who only released some today. On 7:30 pm Friday night, ABC will air an election special asking "Where did we go wrong?"
Ariel Castro has committed suicide in jail. We have lost the opportunity to ask important questions (like, "Does this hurt?"). Sadly Cuba is still enslaved. Syria is still in pain. Obama is firmly dithering. Egypt smoulders.
To all the relatives who are too many to mention both close and distant wishing you all a Happy spiritual Rosh Hashannah and well over the Fast.
Good Health, Prosperity and a very sweet 5774
To my numerous facebook friends thank you for sharing your time and thoughts over the last year. Let me also take this opportunity to wish you all luck and blessings whether you are a Jew or not.
The world's birthday is a very special time for all of us symbolising the end of all human sacrifices to false gods.
Let's hope the bad guys get their butts kicked into oblivion with our prayers and hopes bringing goodness and kindness back into our lives despite the new confrontations that face many of those who are not as fortunate.
Remember those who are no longer with us. So far those reading this are the lucky ones.
A good inscription and sealing in the Book of Life.
Shanah tovah
שנה טובה
Ketivah v’chatima tovah
כתיבה וחתימה טובה
===
For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball
Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may; I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - ed
Lorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.
I have begun a bulletin board (http://theconservativevoice.freeforums.net) which will allow greater latitude for members to post and interact. It is not subject to FB policy and so greater range is allowed in posts. Also there are private members rooms in which nothing is censored, except abuse. All welcome, registration is free.
===1479 – The Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon signed the Treaty of Alcáçovas with Afonso V of Portugal and his son, John to end the War of the Castilian Succession.
1843 – Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies married Pedro II of Brazil at a state ceremony.
1886 – After over 25 years of fighting against the United States Army and the armed forces of Mexico, Geronimo of the Chiricahua Apache surrendered at Skeleton Canyon in Arizona.
1949 – Anti-communist riots erupted after a concert by Paul Robeson near Peekskill, New York, US.
2010 – A 7.1 Mw earthquake struck South Island, New Zealand, causing up to NZ$3.5 billion in damages. Father and son have that peace treaty. Cristina is safely married. Geronimo has surrendered (Now, isn't peace better?). Paul's song is sung. And the earth moves for NZ. Enjoy your day.
Matches
- 476 – Romulus Augustulus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself "King of Italy", thusending the Western Roman Empire.
- 626 – Li Shimin, posthumously known as Emperor Taizong of Tang, assumes the throne over the Tang dynasty of China.
- 1260 – The Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of Manfred, King of Sicily, defeat the Florentine Guelphs at Montaperti.
- 1479 – The Treaty of Alcáçovas is signed by the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon on one side and Afonso V and his son, Prince Johnof Portugal.
- 1666 – In London, England, the most destructive damage from the Great Fire occurs.
- 1774 – New Caledonia is first sighted by Europeans, during the second voyage of Captain James Cook.
- 1781 – Los Angeles is founded as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola) by 44 Spanish settlers.
- 1797 – Coup of 18 Fructidor in France.
- 1800 – The French garrison in Valletta surrenders to British troops who had been called at the invitation of the Maltese. The islands of Maltaand Gozo become the Malta Protectorate.
- 1812 – War of 1812: The Siege of Fort Harrison begins when the fort is set on fire.
- 1862 – American Civil War Maryland Campaign: General Robert E. Lee takes the Army of Northern Virginia, and the war, into the North.
- 1870 – Emperor Napoleon III of France is deposed and the Third Republic is declared.
- 1882 – Thomas Edison flips the switch to the first commercial electrical power plant in history, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan. This is considered by many as the day that began the electrical age.
- 1886 – American Indian Wars: after almost 30 years of fighting, Apache leader Geronimo, with his remaining warriors, surrenders to General Nelson Miles in Arizona.
- 1888 – George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak and receives a patent for his camera that uses roll film.
- 1912 – Albanian rebels succeed in their revolt when the Ottoman Empire agrees to fulfill their demands
- 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who founded the Republic of Turkey, gathers a congress in Sivas to make decisions as to the future of Anatolia and Thrace.
- 1923 – Maiden flight of the first U.S. airship, the USS Shenandoah.
- 1939 – World War II: a Bristol Blenheim is the first British aircraft to cross the German coast following the declaration of war and German ships are bombed.
- 1941 – World War II: a German submarine makes the first attack against a United States ship, the USS Greer.
- 1944 – World War II: the British 11th Armoured Division liberates the Belgian city of Antwerp.
- 1944 – World War II: Finland exits from the war with Soviet Union.
- 1948 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands abdicates for health reasons.
- 1949 – The Peekskill Riots erupt after a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York.
- 1950 – Darlington Raceway is the site of the inaugural Southern 500, the first 500-mile NASCAR race.
- 1951 – The first live transcontinental television broadcast takes place in San Francisco, from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference.
- 1957 – American Civil Rights Movement: Little Rock Crisis – Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas, calls out the National Guard to prevent African American students from enrolling in Central High School.
- 1957 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the Edsel.
- 1963 – Swissair Flight 306 crashes near Dürrenäsch, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board.
- 1964 – Scotland's Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh officially opens.
- 1967 – Vietnam War: Operation Swift begins: U.S. Marines engage the North Vietnamese in battle in the Que Son Valley.
- 1970 – Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile.
- 1971 – Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 crashes near Juneau, Alaska, killing all 111 people on board.
- 1972 – Mark Spitz becomes the first competitor to win seven medals at a single Olympic Games.
- 1975 – The Sinai Interim Agreement relating to the Arab–Israeli conflict is signed.
- 1977 – The Golden Dragon massacre took place in San Francisco.
- 1985 – The discovery of Buckminsterfullerene, the first fullerene molecule of carbon.
- 1989 – In Leipzig, East Germany, the first of weekly demonstration for the legalisation of opposition groups and democratic reforms takes place.
- 1995 – WCW Monday Nitro makes its debut on TNT.
- 1996 – War on Drugs: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attack a military base in Guaviare, starting three weeks of guerrilla warfare in which at least 130Colombians are killed.
- 1998 – Google is founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two students at Stanford University.
- 2001 – Tokyo DisneySea opens to the public as part of the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan.
- 2007 – Three terrorists suspected to be a part of Al-Qaeda are arrested in Germany after allegedly planning attacks on both the Frankfurt International airport and US military installations.
- 2010 – Canterbury earthquake: a 7.1 magnitude earthquake which struck the South Island of New Zealand at 4:35 am causing widespread damage and several power outages.
Hatches
- 1241 – Alexander III of Scotland (d. 1286)
- 1383 – Antipope Felix V (d. 1451)
- 1454 – Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, English politician, Lord High Constable of England (d. 1483)
- 1557 – Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (d. 1631)
- 1563 – Wanli Emperor of China (d. 1620)
- 1596 – Constantijn Huygens, Dutch poet and composer (d. 1687)
- 1681 – Carl Heinrich Biber, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1749)
- 1826 – Martin Wiberg, Swedish philosopher and inventor (d. 1905)
- 1848 – Lewis Howard Latimer, American inventor (d. 1928)
- 1848 – Jennie Lee, American actress (d. 1925)
- 1890 – Gunnar Sommerfeldt, Danish actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1947)
- 1892 – Darius Milhaud, French composer and educator (d. 1974)
- 1901 – William Lyons, English businessman, co-founded Jaguar Cars (d. 1985)
- 1912 – Syd Hoff, American author and illustrator (d. 2004)
- 1913 – Kenzō Tange, Japanese architect, designed the Yoyogi National Gymnasium (d. 2005)
- 1917 – Henry Ford II, American businessman (d. 1987)
- 1918 – Paul Harvey, American radio host (d. 2009)
- 1918 – Gerald Wilson, American trumpet player and composer
- 1919 – Howard Morris, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2005)
- 1928 – Dick York, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1937 – Dawn Fraser, Australian swimmer and politician
- 1951 – Martin Chambers, English drummer and singer (The Pretenders)
- 1957 – Khandi Alexander, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
- 1957 – Patricia Tallman, American actress and stuntwoman
- 1958 – George Hurley, American drummer (Minutemen, Firehose, The Reactionaries, and Unknown Instructors)
- 1962 – Shinya Yamanaka, Japanese physician, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1964 – René Pape, German opera singer
- 1969 – Noah Taylor, English-Australian actor and singer
- 1970 – Dave Buchwald, American hacker
- 1970 – Iggor Cavalera, Brazilian drummer (Sepultura and Cavalera Conspiracy)
- 1971 – Anita Yuen, Hong Kong model and actress, Miss Hong Kong 1990
- 1974 – Carmit Bachar, American singer, dancer, and actress (The Pussycat Dolls)
- 1976 – Katreeya English, English-Thai singer, actress, and model
- 1977 – Lucie Silvas, English singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1979 – Kristina Krepela, Croatian actress
- 1981 – Beyoncé Knowles, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actress (Destiny's Child)
- 1981 – Lacey Sturm, American singer-songwriter (Flyleaf)
- 1986 – James Younghusband, Filipino footballer
- 1987 – Maryna Linchuk, Belarusian model
- 1990 – Stefanía Fernández, Venezuelan model, Miss Universe 2009
- 1990 – Jonny Lomax, English rugby player
- 1990 – Danny Worsnop, English singer-songwriter (Asking Alexandria)
- 1993 – Chantal Škamlová, Slovak tennis player
Despatches
- 422 – Pope Boniface I
- 1037 – Bermudo III of León (b. 1010)
- 1063 – Tughril, Turkish ruler (b. 990)
- 1199 – Joan of England, Queen of Sicily (b. 1165)
- 1537 – Johann Dietenberger, German theologian (b. 1475)
- 1588 – Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1532)
- 1767 – Charles Townshend, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1725)
- 1780 – John Fielding, English judge and reformer (b. 1721)
- 1784 – César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer and cartographer (b. 1714)
- 1907 – Edvard Grieg, Norwegian pianist and composer (b. 1843)
- 1965 – Albert Schweitzer, French-Gabonese physician, theologian, and missionary, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1875)
- 1977 – E. F. Schumacher, German-English economist and statistician (b. 1911)
- 1987 – Bill Bowes, English cricketer (b. 1908)
- 1995 – Chuck Greenberg, American saxophonist, composer, and producer (Shadowfax) (b. 1950)
- 1997 – Aldo Rossi, Italian architect, designed the Bonnefanten Museum and Teatro Carlo Felice (b. 1931)
- 2002 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist and educator (b. 1904)
- 2003 – Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist and conductor (b. 1921)
- 2006 – Colin Thiele, Australian author, poet, and educator (b. 1920)
- 2006 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish-American soprano (b. 1918)
- 2012 – Hakam Sufi, Indian singer-songwriter (b. 1952)
- 2013 – Dick Raaymakers, Dutch composer and theorist (b. 1930)
2014
- Christian feast day:
- Immigrant's Day (Argentina)
- Newspaper Carrier Day (United States)
- The first day of the Ludi Romani until 19 September. (Roman Empire)
Wishing that Peter Whish-Wilson will soon shut up
Piers Akerman – Thursday, September 04, 2014 (6:39pm)
FORMER Greens leader Bob Brown could not have chosen a better replacement in the senate than Peter Whish-Wilson, another aberrant mainlander who found a safe haven for his bizarre views in the chill backblocks of Tasmania.
Continue reading 'Wishing that Peter Whish-Wilson will soon shut up'MUTE AND INJURED
Tim Blair – Thursday, September 04, 2014 (6:10am)
James Rhodes on Rotherham’s unique infamy:
Rotherham stands apart for many reasons: the sheer number of perpetrators; the sheer numbers involved (some survivors, some, sadly, inevitably victims) – 1,400 conservatively estimated – the contents of two state secondary schools or 127 school football teams. But there is a more devastating reason it stands alone: the resounding silence.
Just as shameful is the continuing silence, from exactly the same PC types whose silence provided cover for perpetrators during more than a decade of vicious sexual abuse:
As of this writing, Google can find no mention of Rotherham (except for one or two discussion comments) at any of the feminist websites I examined: Feministing, Feministe, Bitch Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Bust, Crunk Feminist Collective, Jezebel, Broadsheet, and The XX Factor. Progressive news sites including MSNBC, Daily Kos, Think Progress, and Truthout were also completely silent on this topic …There are two facts that explains their silence. The perpetrators were Pakistani Muslims. And the victims were white.
Similarly, many Australian feminists are also oddly quiet about these 1400 sexual assaults. Perhaps they might be more upset if Yorkshire gangs used the word frightbat. They’re entirely silent, too, on the open sale in Sydney ofbooks that denounce women as evil and stupid. Our formerly ferocious frightbats have become mute and injured turtles.
Meanwhile, back in Rotherham, the town’s counselling service for women had a six-month waiting list even before news broke of the systematic sexual torture of young girls. And Rotherham is not the only British town so afflicted, as The Economist reports:
The horrors in Rotherham fit into a pattern. In other northern towns such as Oldham and Rochdale, as well as in southern cities such as Oxford, gangs of Asian men have been convicted of grooming and abusing young, mostly white girls.
Individual stories of Rotherham’s victims are horrifying. These girls were defenceless. They had no support. They still don’t.
UPDATE. Clementine Ford is “genuinely shocked”.
GREENSPEAK
Tim Blair – Thursday, September 04, 2014 (6:05am)
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson thinks we shouldn’t refer to Islamic State terrorists as terrorists. Sadly, the former academic and winemaker hasn’t offered any alternatives. Let’s help him out:
STRAINING, NOT DROWNING
Tim Blair – Thursday, September 04, 2014 (5:28am)
Academic Richard Mulgan considers the dreadful cost of the Abbott government’s asylum seeker policies:
Stopping the boats has been a clear success for the Abbott government. Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison said they would stop the boats and, give or take the odd exception, they have. But implementing the policy has not been without cost. In particular, it has strained the professional and ethical integrity of the public servants involved …
I think I’m going to cry.
UPDATE. Following last week’s respect and diversity workshop crisis, another Canberra public service emergency:
A public servant who claimed a telephone call from his boss left him psychologically unfit for work has lost his battle for workers’ compensation.
WHISHED AWAY
Tim Blair – Thursday, September 04, 2014 (5:25am)
Greens leader Christine Milne explains Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson’s plea to stop “demonising” terrorists bycalling them terrorists:
“Senator Whish-Wilson was describing a well-understood part of counter-insurgency strategy: that extremists sometimes use the military intervention of outside countries as a tool to radicalism (sic) people,” she said in a statement.
Milne is evidently able to speak a foreign language in English. Quite a skill.
UPDATE. This bloke just doesn’t know when to shut up:
Senator Whish-Wilson also raised concern about the government’s use of the word “evil”.“In the last week, we have been hearing a lot about ‘evil’—’unspeakable evil’, ‘unfathomable evil’ and ‘pure evil’. What I and, I think, a lot of Australians would like to see is some truth, honesty and perspective around that word.”
Here’s some truth, honesty and perspective for you, Peter.
STICK IT TO THE MANN
Tim Blair – Thursday, September 04, 2014 (4:40am)
“Mann started this thing,” writes Mark Steyn of his legal battle against Big Climate’s main idiot, “but I promise you I will finish it.” You can join the fight by visiting the Steyn Store and picking out a book or two.
WHEELS OF CHANGE
Tim Blair – Thursday, September 04, 2014 (3:34am)
This would be good:
The Coalition wants to allow Australians to import cars from overseas, under radical changes aimed at deregulating the automotive market for consumers.In a move expected to provoke a strong backlash from traditional car dealerships, people would be free to purchase new cars online from overseas dealers, as long as vehicles complied with international standards …Allowing consumers to import new cars would be coupled with the abolition of Australian-specific design rules for the sector, with the country instead shifting to UN standards in an attempt to reduce red tape and compliance costs.
That last point is especially important. While Australia has gradually reduced foreign car tariffs, our unique – often pointlessly so – design rules remain a barrier to importation, particularly for small-scale manufacturers who cannot afford to re-tool for the relatively small Australian market.
LITERATE, FUNDAMENTALIST SWANS
Tim Blair – Thursday, September 04, 2014 (2:50am)
The Spectator‘s Rod Liddle discovers the source of mysterious anti-Semitic attacks in Europe:
I was attacked by a swan the other day, as I walked along the bank of the River Stour in Kent. The creature climbed out of the water and lunged towards me, wings puffed up, making this guttural and hate-filled coughing noise. I kicked out at its stupid neck and told it to f**k off and the bird backed away towards the river, still making that demented hissing, like a badly maintained boiler.At first I was mystified as to how I had gained its enmity. I wasn’t near its mate and still further distant from its sallow and bedraggled idiot children. Nor had I advanced towards it, or even given it a threatening glare. And then the horrible realisation dawned on me. The swan had attacked me because it believed — mistakenly — that I was Jewish. There was no other possible explanation. And as I stood, a little shaken, on that riverbank, it occurred too that all of these mysterious anti-Semitic attacks which we’ve been hearing about recently, the attacks in which the perpetrators remain a complete and utter mystery, are almost certainly the work of swans. Why had I not realised this before?
Given the evasions and omissions in British media – a few of which are subsequently listed – Liddle’s conclusion is understandable. In related developments: “There are few weapons as deadly as the Israeli house.”
UPDATE. Fundamentalist swans in suburban Melbourne.
They marched against Israel. Why not against the Islamic State?
Andrew Bolt September 04 2014 (4:33pm)
It is about the only frank and sane paragraph in the entire piece, but comes like rain after a drought from the Sydney Morning Herald’s Paul McGeough:
===A professor of journalism at the American University in Dubai, Bahrani wanted to know why - if Muslims in London, Paris and elsewhere were marching in protest at Israel’s war on Gaza - they were not protesting against the Islamic State massacres of Yazidis, Christians and their fellow Muslims in Iraq and Syria.Of course, since McGeough is the author, excuses are made, the West criticised and Islam declared innocent of a charge barely spelled out. Yet that one paragraph stays as a reproach - and a warning.
John Madigan quits DLP
Andrew Bolt September 04 2014 (9:37am)
John Madigan quits the DLP:
===Democratic Labor Party Senator John Madigan has quit his party citing internal warfare, but says he will continue out the remainder of his term as an independent Senator…The DLP gets Madigan elected. He then quits it.
He told the Senate he remains committed to the DLP’s principles but the “cancer of political intrigue” had infected the Victorian branch of his party.
“It has become apparent to me that the DLP’s own worst enemies are within its own ranks,” Senator Madigan told Parliament…
He said the “attack” had moved into his office earlier this year, via an office manager his party officials had urged him to employ.
Lambie says she has Aboriginal ancestry
Andrew Bolt September 04 2014 (9:28am)
Suddenly harder to criticise:
===THE outspoken Jacqui Lambie has revealed her Aboriginality during a sometimes fiery first speech to parliament, and has pledged to work for Jesus Christ and all Tasmanians in her next six years as a senator.More trouble in the team:
The Palmer United Party crossbencher opened her address by paying her respects to Australia’s traditional owners, telling parliament she shared their blood, culture and history through her mother, Sue.
“We trace our history over six generations to celebrated Aboriginal chieftain of the Tasmanian east coast, Manalargerna,” she said.
Senator Lambie’s parents and two sons, Brenton and Dylan, were in the gallery, but PUP leader Clive Palmer was absent. Senator Lambie yesterday refused to excuse the behaviour of Mr Palmer on Tuesday night, after he stormed out of another TV appearance before a segment with the Ten Network’s The Project. Mr Palmer was meant to pour a bucket of icy water over Senator Lambie as part of the ice bucket challenge for ALS and motor neurone disease, but when he saw a second bucket of water, apparently assuming it was for him, he took off, outraged. “I don’t make excuses for Clive Palmer,” she said.
Tony Abbott becomes a real Prime Minister
Andrew Bolt September 04 2014 (8:42am)
THE best thing about Tony Abbott’s first year as Prime Minister has been
— thank God — he isn’t Labor. But that’s no longer the main reason he’s
looking hard to beat, after months of trailing in the polls.
Abbott has now become what long seemed impossible. A year after his election win he looks like a real Prime Minister and not just because he’s just got all his big promises through Parliament.
Sure, it may seem a backhander to praise Abbott most for at least not giving us another year of government like Labor’s previous six. But that’s not nothing. Could voters really have tolerated more mad Kevin Rudd-like spending on overpriced school halls and pink batts?
Could we really have endured more Julia Gillard-style cock-ups of the kind that had hundreds of boat people drowning and the live cattle trade wrecked overnight? Could the country really have afforded more mega-deficits, more class war rhetoric, more trouble with Indonesia and billions wasted on carbon taxes?
Abbott, on the other hand, has — so far — given us no bureaucratic disasters. He is not ramping up spending. He has actually fixed disasters of Labor’s own making, repairing the relationship with Indonesia, stopping the boats and cauterising the worst of the utterly grotesque waste of Labor’s National Broadband Network disaster.
He’d have fixed more if Labor wasn’t stopping him in the Senate, stupidly joining with the Greens and Clive Palmer’s senators to block some of his cuts and welfare reforms.
Not repeating the chaos and waste of Rudd and Gillard is not a coincidence. It is always the main virtue of conservative politicians that they not only have the accelerator that Labor pumps like madmen but have a brake as well.
(Read full article here.)
===Abbott has now become what long seemed impossible. A year after his election win he looks like a real Prime Minister and not just because he’s just got all his big promises through Parliament.
Sure, it may seem a backhander to praise Abbott most for at least not giving us another year of government like Labor’s previous six. But that’s not nothing. Could voters really have tolerated more mad Kevin Rudd-like spending on overpriced school halls and pink batts?
Could we really have endured more Julia Gillard-style cock-ups of the kind that had hundreds of boat people drowning and the live cattle trade wrecked overnight? Could the country really have afforded more mega-deficits, more class war rhetoric, more trouble with Indonesia and billions wasted on carbon taxes?
Abbott, on the other hand, has — so far — given us no bureaucratic disasters. He is not ramping up spending. He has actually fixed disasters of Labor’s own making, repairing the relationship with Indonesia, stopping the boats and cauterising the worst of the utterly grotesque waste of Labor’s National Broadband Network disaster.
He’d have fixed more if Labor wasn’t stopping him in the Senate, stupidly joining with the Greens and Clive Palmer’s senators to block some of his cuts and welfare reforms.
Not repeating the chaos and waste of Rudd and Gillard is not a coincidence. It is always the main virtue of conservative politicians that they not only have the accelerator that Labor pumps like madmen but have a brake as well.
(Read full article here.)
Cuts must still be on our agenda as our living standards fall
Andrew Bolt September 04 2014 (8:33am)
We should be reforming like fury to save ourselves. Instead, Budget cuts are blocked even though Chris Richardson warns we’re getting poorer:
===Wednesday’s national accounts showed that real net national disposable income per head – measure of the living standards of the average Australian, as measured by the Bureau of Statistics – is still going backwards..
Whereas our living standards per head grew at an average rate of 1.9 per cent a year for three decades, they’ve virtually stood still since the global financial crisis hit – and fell again in the last few months…
When the China boom was at its height, the tax windfall to Canberra was stupendous. However, whereas the impact of the China boom on the budget turned out to be temporary, the promises made off the back of it turned out to be permanent – leaving behind a budget repair task.
That’s why it is “do the deal” time in Canberra.
The mining tax compromise has now happened, with the government managing not to give up too much as it negotiated a path between what was desirable and what was achievable… Yet the continued pressure on national income is a reminder why dramas over the federal budget just won’t go away, even if many in the Senate would like them to.
A good team, needing only a better team plan
Andrew Bolt September 04 2014 (8:23am)
Niki Savva rates the Abbott team. Strangely, the total of the parts is greater than the sum - or at least the sum in most journalists’ mind:
===Scott Morrison’s unflinching single-mindedness has stopped the boats, stopped the drownings, saved $2.5bn over the forward estimates and delivered an emphatic plus for the government.(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Andrew Robb, tireless and unsung, has secured lucrative trade deals.
Mitch Fifield’s dedication to disability care has won respect as well as affection across a sector that had the potential to be extremely hostile.
Malcolm remains Malcolm: popular, competent, mischievous. Barnaby likewise. The few women who are there, Sussan Ley, Michaelia Cash and Marise Payne have performed well enough to merit promotion.
Mathias Cormann has been herculean, competent and relentless as he leads the economics team in 2½ jobs, his own as Finance Minister, Arthur Sinodinos’s of assistant treasurer and half of Hockey’s as Treasurer…
The shambolic prelude to the repeal of the carbon tax ensured Abbott and Environment Minister Greg Hunt did not get the credit for it they deserved.
The mining tax repeal enabled the PM to tick off all his major pledges just days before the first anniversary. It cost $6bn, bent another promise, but it was better than the alternative and worth it for the morale boost it gave him and his beleaguered Treasurer.
A key question: why do Muslim terrorists behead people?
Andrew Bolt September 04 2014 (7:59am)
Douglas Murray asks a very important question very few people want to answer:
===Why do they behead people? Why do Islamic extremists—like those who killed the American journalist James Foley—choose beheading as their savage tactic of choice? ...(Thanks to reader Wozzup.)
It’s not just in the Middle East. Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam. Drummer Lee Rigby in South London…
But surely one part of the reason beheading is chosen – if not the major part – is the fact that the Qu’ran has verses telling believers, in certain circumstances, that this is the appropriate way to kill those who are not Muslim? Is this not an important point? What about the fact that the founder of Islam himself engaged in such acts? ...
I open one of my copies of the Qu’ran (Arberry translation, OUP) and read Chapter 8 (‘The Spoils [of war]’). Verse 12 has God saying:
‘I shall cast into the unbelievers’ hearts terror; so smite above the necks, and smite every finger of them.’...The extremists ... know [the verse] is there, often cite it and believe they are doing what Allah has instructed them to do when they perform such savageries.
It is the same when it comes to the example of Muhammad. Muslims are brought up to believe that the founder of their faith was the perfect human being – a man to be revered and indeed emulated. So what do they do when they read the early accounts of their prophet’s life and discover that among his exploits in war was the beheading of hundreds of Jewish men of the Banu Qurayza tribe? ...
I think these facts, in Islam’s foundational texts, matter… After all, wouldn’t the history of Christianity have been different – and Christianity’s history been even bloodier than it has been – if instead of saying ‘Turn the other cheek’ Jesus had said even just once ‘Slay the idolaters wherever you find them’ [Quran, Arberry trans, Chapter IX, verse 5]. Imagine if Jesus had beheaded people. There would be a lot of work to do to make sure no Christian anywhere followed his example.
Super isn’t free. It comes from your pay
Andrew Bolt September 04 2014 (7:19am)
Adam Creighton says super tomorrow is lost wages today:
===Until this is changed ... compulsory superannuation will remain a costly, unfair burden and lucrative subsidy to fund managers…(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill,)
Myth ... : business pays for increases in the SG. “Although employers are required to make superannuation guarantee contributions, employees bear the cost of these contributions through lower wage growth,” [Ken Henry’s tax] review says, flatly contradicting Labor Senate Leader Penny Wong this week, who denied on ABC TV a link with take-home pay.
“The effect of this reduction in a person’s standard of living falls most heavily on low to middle-income earners who are unlikely to be in a position to offset the increase in the superannuation guarantee by reducing their other savings,” it goes on....
The Rudd government ignored the Henry review, announcing without justification in May 2010 the share of workers’ wages to be siphoned into remote, untouchable accounts destined to be ravaged by fees would rise to 12 per cent, come hell or high water.
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
=== Posts from last year ===
4 her, so she can see how I see her 
===
Here's an idle thought. If you were voting in Griffith knowing that Rudd will spit the dummy after the election and you would be forced to vote again in a By-election, would you still vote for Rudd?
===
===
At Utopia Park
Orchid park link
===
===
===
===
If this isn't real .. well some gangsta should go to jail .. ed
===
From my cousin, Gym - ed
===
Zaya Toma
The line at pre poll is just getting longer and longer
===
Where do you think are the best vantage points to view Hong Kong’s amazing skyline?
Here is the view looking west towards Wan Chai and Central from an overpass on Victoria Park Road.
===
Rest in Peace Steve Irwin. Today makes 7 years (yes 7 years) since he passed.
===
===
Read to the end where the author will be disclosed. Very interesting.
" Who is Tony Abbott?
Overheard last week: "It's such a shame there isn't someone other than Tony Abbott as alternative Prime Minister. We think the Gillard government is bad for the country, but it would be better if we had another Opposition leader to vote for."
It caused me to ask why that view might exist given Abbott's background, and I wondered if it might be that people do not know his history. So, I have put together some information which might help get a better understanding of the man.
Abbott graduated from the University of Sydney with degrees in Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Economics (BEc). Then he became a Rhodes Scholar at Queens College Oxford UK in Politics and Philosophy. He also won a boxing blue at Oxford. He married Margaret in 1987 and has three daughters. He is a member of the congregation of the Catholic Church.
He was involved in student politics, but beyond that, biographer Michael Duffy, wrote that during his student days he saved a child who was swept out to sea. Another time, he helped save children from a burning house next to a pub where he was drinking. On each occasion he disappeared before he could be properly thanked
He is a member of Manly's Queenscliffe SLSC, and a member of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, both of which he joined before it was politically expedient to do so. He spent several weeks teaching in remote Aboriginal settlements in Cape York in an effort 'to familiarise himself with indigenous issues'
If you are wondering where some of the negativity attributed to Tony Abbott comes from, go on to the Net and have a look at the comments which followed, 2 years ago, when he was asked by the Women's Weekly
"What advice would you give your three daughters on sex before marriage?" He told the magazine: ‘’I would say to my daughters, if they were to ask me this question “it is the greatest gift you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it up to someone lightly."
Yet, if you were to read many of the comments on the Internet and the print media at the time, you could be forgiven for thinking he was attempting to impose his will on all females in Australia, had ranted against women, had argued for Muslim like chastity, and so on.................. See for yourself - Google it! Gillard's response was to accuse Abbott of "lecturing women"???
I have also included a video of Abbott where he commented on, in what seems to me to be quite a balanced fashion, "climate change" yet the title of the video suggests he has been extreme in "denying climate change and advocating carbon tax". See what you think. Then have a look at the longer interview from which this original excerpt was taken.
Abbott has had a history of being told by 'ABC types' that he lacks compassion, does not understand homosexuality or homosexuals, avoids situations where he might need to face up to gay relationships, and so on. Again, because he was not prepared to reveal personal issues of others (ethics, principles), he did not speak about his own sister's lesbian relationship and the part he played in supporting her. It would have been an easy defence for him, but in line with his principles and values, he chose not to use it.
Granted, he is not a super smooth, off the cuff, speaker, and does not fit the orator mould. But when he is compared to the glib tongues and untrustworthiness of Gillard, Rudd, Swan, etc., it is not difficult to determine which attributes are more important for the leadership of Australia.
After Abbott completed his studies, he became a journalist for The Bulletin and also the Australian. For a time he was plant manager for Pioneer Concrete, then became press secretary for the then Opposition Leader, Dr John Hewson. He was elected to Parliament in 1994 at a bi-election. He has held various Ministerial posts and his actions in those roles are a matter of public record. His work ethic is unquestioned.
He was dismayed at the policies of former leader Malcolm Turnbull relating to ETS, and following widespread disaffection with Turnbull's stance among Liberal Party members, threw his hat into the ring, as did Joe Hockey, for leadership of the Liberal Party. Abbott was successful. At the time, the polls were running strongly against the Liberal Party (in the 40% approval range), while Kevin Rudd enjoyed figures around 60%
Within a short space of time, with Abbott as leader, those figures changed to such a degree that Rudd was replaced in the now infamous "faceless men" coup which installed Gillard. Since that time, Abbott has maintained constant focus on the ever widening circle of disasters associated with the Gillard government to the stage where support for that government now hovers around the 30% mark.
Abbott strikes me as a person of integrity, he has values in which I too believe, and ethics based on his Christian beliefs. I would much rather place my trust in someone who, in his actions, has shown he is what he says, rather than someone who will say anything to gain a prospective advantage for themselves.
BY Mark LATHAM, Former Leader of A.L.P."
===
Middle East scholar Mordechai Kedar explains how Arab states can’t make lasting peace with Israel as a result of their internal squabbles…specifically Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinians.
===
Some people say that Arabs are "native Palestinians", while Jews are
"invaders" and "settlers". But I read the biographies of Israeli and
Palestinian political leaders, and I was confused. Who of Israeli or
Palestinian leaders were born in Palestine?
ISRAELI LEADERS:
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Born 21 October 1949 in Tel Aviv.
EHUD BARAK, Born 12 February 1942 in Mishmar HaSharon, British Mandate of
Palestine
ARIEL SHARON, Born 26 February 1928 in Kfar Malal, British Mandate of
Palestine
EHUD OLMERT, Born 30 September 1945 in Binyamina-Giv'at Ada, British Mandate
of Palestine.
ITZHAK RABIN, Born 1 March 1922 in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine.
ITZHAK NAVON, Israeli President in 1977-1982. Born 9 April 1921 in
Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine.
EZER WEIZMAN, Israeli President in 1993-2000. Born 15 June 1924 in Tel Aviv,
British Mandate of Palestine.
ARAB PALESTINIAN LEADERS:
YASSER ARAFAT, Born 24 August 1929 in Cairo, Egypt
SAEB ERAKAT, Born April 28, 1955, in Jordan. He has the Jordanian
citizenship.
FAISAL ABDEL QADER AL-HUSSEINI, Born in1948 in Bagdad, Iraq.
SARI NUSSEIBEH, Born in 1949 in Damascus, Syria.
MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR, Born in 1945, in Cairo, Egypt.
So, Israeli leaders, born in Palestine, are “settlers or invaders,” while
Palestinian Arab leaders who were born in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Tunisia are
“native Palestinians” ?
===
By Truman Brody-Boyd
A 16 year-old returns from the Jewish State with a fresh perspective --- and a message to the administration
JewishWorldReview.com | We live in an age where Big Brother is, in fact, watching. I'm 16 and have grown up surrounded by super advanced technology. Smart phones can tell you what caused the beginning of the yellow fever outbreak in the United States during the 1800s in seconds. My laptop can show me a video someone in Sweden uploaded minutes ago. An IMessage group text can help me get with friends I want to hang with and meet them in a matter of minutes, using my phone's GPS to find the location of the nearest Pizza Hut (which has an app that gives me the address).
So, I don't mind the security when it doesn't hinder me physically. The phone call monitors or the security cameras don't slow me down, they don't make me change the way I live or the things I carry in my bag. Because I've grown up with all of this around me, I'm used to it and don't notice it. But the older generations certainly do, and the NSA scandal has shaken them up. Most above the age of 30 or 40 have been cautious about the oncoming of all this technology.
But when I traveled to Israel in July, American security measures were put into perspective.
Even flying to get to Israel requires more security than regular TSA checks, and Americans think those are awful. If you fly EL AL, the Israeli airline, before you even check in you get screened. A representative from the airline interviews you about your luggage. If they suspect it's been tampered with or suspect that you're lying, you must get your bag screened and -- occasionally -- unpacked. Then, as you board, carry-on luggage is randomly selected to be put with the checked bags.
American security seem reasonable yet?
===
The leader of Yemen's embattled and dwindling Jewish community has spoken of his community's harrowing struggle to survive, in a rare interviewwith Yemen Today TV.
Rabbi Yahya Youssef Salem'sinterview, translated by theMiddle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), provides a rare glimpse into the tragic existence of the few remaining Jews in the Middle East's poorest country; trapped between Muslim extremists and unsympathetic government officials, and forced to completely submit their fate to state authorities just to survive.
At the start of the 20th century there were more than 60,000 Jews in Yemen. One of the most ancient Diaspora communities, according to Jewish traditions the first Jews moved to Yemen during the reign of the Biblical King Solomon, around 900 BCE.
But by 2009, following centuries of persecution - which reached fever pitch after 1948, as Jews throughout the Muslim world were targeted in "revenge" for Arab military defeats and the establishment of the State of Israel - the community had shrunk to just 400 or so. Most Yemeni Jews emigrated to Israel during the famous "Operation Magic Carpet" operation to evacuate them between 1949-1950.
By 2012, a resurgent campaign of anti-Semitic violence caused most of the few Jews who remained to either flee the country (mainly to Israel, but also to the US and Europe), or seek sanctuary in a government compound in the capital Sana'a, under the protection of the country's then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
That violence included the murder of Jewish schoolteacher Moshe Nahari in 2008, and of community leader Aaron Zindani in 2010. Both of their families subsequently fled to Israel.
Threats by Al Qaeda-linked groups on the one hand, and Shia Islamist "Houthi" rebels on the other, have forced many of the remaining Jews to flee their homes, seeking refuge in the Sana'a government compound.
And since the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012, things have taken a turn for the worse.
Today, there are only around 90 Jews remaining in Yemen, most of whom live in the Sana'a government compound. 45 Yemeni Jews have emigrated to Israel since the beginning of this year alone.
In an indication of just how closely the community is monitored by the Yemeni authorities, the interviewer notes that she was forced to seek special clearance from the Interior Ministry just to speak to Rabbi Salem, and accused the government of discriminating against its Jewish minority.
When asked why he "accepts" the situation, despite the fact that she has never needed official clearance to interview anyone before, a nervous-looking Rabbi Salem cautiously responds that "we are Yemenis, and we represent the country, so they [the Interior Ministry] need to give their approval," and insists that his community "take[s] care to preserve the good name of our country."
Rabbi Salem also explains how he was forced to cut off his peyot (sidecurls), traditionally grown long by Yemenite Jews, as a result of regular harassment by local Muslims.
Decrying attempts to evict them from their last remaining refuge by the country's Finance Minister - who claims his ministry can no longer fund the leasing of the building they are living in - the Rabbi recounts how the Jews of Sa'ada province, in the north of the country, were forced from their homes by Houthi rebels:
"They took our homes, our land, our cars - they even took my historical library!" he lamented to the openly sympathetic interviewer.
Human rights group Amnesty International has in the past called on the Yemeni government to protect its Jewish citizens, declaring that it is “deeply concerned for the safety of members of the Jewish community in northwestern Yemen following the killing of one member of the community and anonymous serious threats to others to leave Yemen or face death.”
But statements and sympathies aside, little hope remains for the Jewish community of Yemen.
Last month, the Jewish Agency coordinated a complex, secret operation to evacuate 17 more community members, reuniting them with familymembers who had been staying in a third country since escaping earlier in the year.
Those Jews who remain are either elderly or, like Rabbi Salem, community leaders who do not wish to leave their flock behind. But despite his valiant efforts Yemen appears destined to join the long list of Arab countries whose Jewish communities have been driven to extinction.
===
There are no simple solutions to the horrors unfolding in Syria. Had the West responded sooner, there might have been a remote chance for moderates within the rebel camp to form a functional political authority. Today, that possibility is inconceivable.
Now the forces of darkness and evil dominate the behavior of the government and rebels alike. The depths of unimaginable barbarism to which both parties have descended exceed the worst horror films.
Merely a few kilometers from Israel’s border in Damascus, President Bashar al-Assad has been butchering and massacring his own people for two years. He has now added chemical weapons to his arsenal. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who, until recently considered Assad a “reformer,” has condemned Assad’s chemical weapons attack as defying “any code of morality” and representing a “moral obscenity.”
The Iranian terrorist regime and its Lebanese terrorist extension, Hezbollah, fully support Assad. Together, they have concocted the ultimate evil witch’s brew. It is shocking that for reasons of realpolitik Russia supports these terrorists in order to bolster its regional influence. It represents Moscow’s most shameful foreign policy initiative since the overthrow of the Evil Empire. The Syrian rebels are guilty of perpetrating similar if not even more grotesque atrocities. Dominated by fanatical jihadists, including Al Qaeda elements committed to global sharia and martyrdom, they have murdered innocent Sunni women and children. They revel in committing vile atrocities, some even descending to the depths of public displays of barbaric acts of cannibalism.
Victory by either side will have disastrous effects on the region. If Assad retains even partial power, Iranian’s state terrorists will consider it a victory. If the rebels succeed, Syria will be controlled by jihadist packs. Unspeakable brutality will inevitably follow. Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, succinctly summed up the situation: “Syria is…mired in carnage between the brutality of Assad and various affiliates of Al Qaeda”.
Within this context, why should the West get involved? Why not let a plague descend on both houses?
Because it is unacceptable for the civilized world to abrogate morality and stand aside as innocent civilians are massacred. If we remain spectators to the mass murder and gassings of innocent civilians, we will be providing a green light to other cruel regimes to act similarly. We will lose our humanity. It will revive memories of the world which stood by as Jews were being exterminated in the Nazi Holocaust.
Intervention is a risky business. Time and again efforts to apply external pressure – especially on authoritarian Arab regimes – have proven to be counterproductive. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and even Egypt, crude attempts at imposing democracy have resulted in the ascendency of fundamentalist Islamic regimes with human rights records far worse than their predecessors.
Nonetheless, the West, led by the US, must act decisively. Despite division within Congress and American opposition to another military intervention, President Obama must deliver on his repeated threats of military action should Assad cross the red line of chemical weapons usage.
Initially Obama tried to fudge the issue, claiming that the US requires approval from the United Nations before embarking on a military initiative, but he faces pressures to act from Britain, France, Turkey and Arab countries. If Obama fails to respond now, Iran, North Korea and other rogue states will have little to fear as they continue in their defiant marches toward nuclear capability.
The risks associated with targeted strikes at chemical weapons arsenals are high. Massive casualties amongst innocent civilians and fallouts are possible. Additionally, there is doubt as to whether US intelligence can accurately identify and ensure the destruction of underground arsenals.
Overall, the current US response has been appalling. It has formally assured Assad that it will restrict its punitive military response to “limited strikes” over a number of days, and stressed that it is not seeking to bring about regime change.
This mere rap over the knuckles is hardly likely to act as a deterrent and the killing business will proceed as in the past. In fact, Assad is likely to boast that he defeated the US and the Western alliance. It will not reassure those concerned about the failure of the US to stand by its commitments and allies. It will certainly not allay Israel’s concerns about the US standing by its undertakings concerning the Iranian nuclear threat.
Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal has urged that the US concentrate on military strikes designed to kill Assad and his principal henchmen. Stephens correctly notes that if President Obama could boast about how he finished Osama bin Laden “with a bullet to the head and another to the heart,” he should have no inhibitions about doing likewise to a mass murderer like Bashar Assad.
Targeted assassinations would avoid becoming enmeshed in a ground war like the US faced in Iraq and Afghanistan. They would serve as a deterrent to other tyrants who would fear for their own lives if they behaved similarly and they would send a signal to the Iranians that the US is not the toothless tiger it often appears to be.
This would neither empower Al Qaeda and the Jihadists nor necessarily lead to an immediate regime change, but it might accelerate division of the country which, from a humanitarian viewpoint, represents the best possible outcome and would limit the civilian massacre which would inevitably result if either party achieves total supremacy.
The writer’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com.
He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com
- See more at: http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4784#sthash.YHCcwcH4.ucjt1VxB.dpuf===
The staunch Land of Israel advocates in Likud's ranks are worried by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's attempts to reach an interim agreement with the Palestinian Authority, in which a Palestinian state will be established within temporary borders.
Channel 2 reported Monday evening that in a closed meeting of Likud members that included Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon sharply attacked the idea of an interim state, and warned the prime minister against bringing it to the government's approval.
"What will happen if, G-d forbid, the negotiations lead to an agreement, and the prime minister will bring the agreement to the government? They are talking about an interim agreement,” he said. “If an accord like that is presented, the Likud movement must tell whoever is advancing such an arrangement: 'you do not belong in Likud.'”
"These days, the 20th anniversary of the Oslo Accords is being marked and, rather than admitting failure, the Oslo gang is trying to lead to an interim arrangement in which the State of Israel will give away the majority of its assets and will not receive anything in return,” added Danon.
“Such an arrangement contrary to the DNA of the Likud and the national camp and anyone who supports it - his place will not be in the Likud,” he said.
Last week, Danon said that he is "very disturbed” by the diplomatic efforts:
“I look at the diplomatic negotiations team and I ask myself, who represents the interests of the state of Israel in the negotiations? Who represents the national camp? I respect Livni but she does not represent the national camp. She does not represent the settlers and their numerous supporters. I am very concerned by the fact that the team of Martin Indyk, Tzipi Livni and [PA negotiator Saeb] Erekat is leading us to the days of [Ehud] Olmert and the dividing of Jerusalem, to an agreement that speaks of a retreat from most of the territory in Judea and Samaria.”
"There is no doubt that if negotiations ripen to an agreement by Minister Tzipi Livni and the Israeli government to surrender, the Likud movement will be put to the test, and Likud ministers will have to take a stand and decide if they are loyal to the Likud's path or if they choose to be led by Tzipi Livni, and – in this case – the prime minister. It is my understanding that we are not there and my hope that we will not be there.”
===
PINK PEAR SHAPE HALO RING
===
Local treasure hunters are counting their latest discovery after they found hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gold off the Florida coast.
Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/central-florida/sanford-family-finds-350k-worth-of-gold-off-fla-coast/-/11788162/21754672/-/jybutoz/-/index.html#ixzz2dv6Qrp2U
===
Even as her country burns around her, it seems that image is still everything Asma al-Assad.
The wife of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has apparently embarked on yet another pricey shopping spree, buying luxury products from furniture to health products, according to the Daily Express.
Asma al-Assad, a health fanatic obsessed with her weight and her public image, has reportedly embarked upon what some might term as "retail therapy" since the eruption of the vicious Syrian civil war in 2011, which has killed more than 100,000 people and still poses a serious challenge to the rule - and perhaps the life - of her husband and his inner circle.
Last year, leaked emails showed she ordered luxury furniture worth £270,000 from London’s fashionable King’s Road. A more recent purchase included a set of Bohemian-style crystal chandeliers from Prague.
Mrs Assad is said to be hiding out in a bomb-proof bunker, as the US mulls a possible strike in relation for the regime's use of chemical weapons to kill more than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, in what now appears to have been a desperate attempt to push back against rebel advances in the country's capital Damascus.
She is reportedly banned from watching western media outlets in case their reporting of the civil war "depresses" her.
In response to the recent revelations, Ayman Abdel Nour, a former Assad adviser, derided Syria's first lady as heartless.
"She is obsessed by how chic and beautiful she looks. She continues to lead a life of utter luxury," he said "That’s all that matters to her."
===
In the latest attempt at property porn, a real estate agent has produced a controversial video in a bid to sell a house in Thornlands, south-east of Brisbane.
In the footage, posted to YouTube August 29, agent Mark Mason takes viewers on a tour of the house, but with a few added extras - including sexual innuendo galore thanks to a gaggle of girls scantily dressed in bikinis.
Mark Mason's real estate ad includes a walk through of the entire house. Source: YouTube
Along with the women utilising the property's bath tub, pool, and bedrooms, Mason produces place cards advertising the benefits and features of the house, cleverly intertwining them with what's happening in the background.
Mr Mason defended the clip, telling news.com.au he flagged the idea with the current owners - a family - who were initially “a bit scared” but approved the footage once they saw the final cut.
“I couldn’t sleep for two days. It was a risk, I thought it would be a problem, but everyone has loved it, from all ages,” he said.
“I didn’t want to come across as sexist. If Coca-Cola, Calvin Klein and all the other big brands can do it, why can’t a real estate do it? Times are changing, real estate can be boring, but when I do something fun and funny, I have people coming through my homes laughing and relaxed.
“They believe we are human and we are doing something different.”
"Ezquisitely crafted": Mark Mason's imaginative way of selling houses. Source: YouTube
And at a whopping $20,000 price tag for the entire production, here’s hoping it’s worth it.
Mr Mason, from Mason Properties, said he was 100 per cent positive the property will sell.
"That was the risk, because my reputation is very important. I’m a very well trusted real estate agent."
The property will go under the hammer on September 28, with Mr Mason confirming the girls will also be in attendance to spur on sales.
Continue the conversation via Twitter @masonproperties |@the_mattyoung
Mark Mason's has used scantily clad women in a real estate ad. Source: YouTube
.. the girls will be in attendance for the auction .. quite right too .. and they were paid for it, so the PM approves ... ed
===
Legacy Machine No.2 with platinum case. Two flying balance wheels and one raised planetary differential celebrating 250 years of history. For more please visit www.mbandf.com/machines/
===
Dean Hamstead'
Making new "rights" pretty much always means siezing private property. Moralise all you like, you are just justifying theft.
===
THE first 3D scan of a female foot in high heels has highlighted the painful price fashion- conscious women may pay for tottering around in towering Christian Louboutins or Jimmy Choos.
Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Andy Goldberg says all the body weight gets forced on to the front of the feet, eventually causing unsightly clawed toes that can become arthritic.
Wearing stilettos pushes and twists bones out of line, resulting in knobbly bunions and other painful conditions.
The picture above was taken with a new $340,000 scanner at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in North London. The PedCAT machine, the first of its kind in the UK, does a 360-degree scan of the patient's feet in just 60 seconds.
Doctors can then view the resultant 3D image from every angle, spinning it around to view the foot from above, below and the side. It also takes 600 2D views of the foot.
Mr Goldberg, a foot and ankle specialist, said the technology was a major advance over traditional 2D X-rays, which could lead to misdiagnoses.
"The scanner gives us much more information"' he said.
'It shows the deformity caused by wearing high heels is much more complicated than we previously thought.
"With high heels, the toes are squashed inside the shoe. The more stiletto-shaped they are, the worse it is. The toes not only get squashed, but they become clawed too." The base of the big toe becomes 'deviated outwards', forming a bunion, while the scanner also shows how these bones can become 'rotated and dropped'.
Pea-shaped bones under the base of the big toe - called sesamoids - get dislodged by the immense pressures put on them.
"There's nothing wrong with being in this high heel position temporarily - it forms a part of your normal stride. And if you wear heels for an hour or two at an evening party, it's not a problem" Mr Goldberg said.
"But if you wear them for eight hours a day for years on end, you will develop problems."
Before the high heel pedCAT scan. Picture: Screengrab, YouTube
It wasn't just middle-aged women who suffered, he said. "It's not uncommon for me to see teenage girls in my clinic. They are usually accompanied by their mothers, who tell them, 'Look, the doctor says you should be wearing sensible shoes!' But I try not to get involved with family politics too much.
"If you have got a family history of high heel wearers and you wear them a lot, you are pretty much guaranteed to develop bunions," he said.
"If you are not genetically predisposed, wearing high heels may accelerate bunions.
"Foot and ankle problems affect your walking and take over your life. There's a saying that if you want to take someone's mind off a problem, put them in tight shoes."
A survey of patients at the hospital's foot and ankle clinic found that 57 per cent had experienced severe pain as a result of wearing uncomfortable shoes such as high heels.
And 86 per cent claimed they found it difficult finding comfortable shoes. In truth, the internet is now awash with firms which offer sensible footwear in fashionable shades.
"People don't like doctors like me saying, 'Your shoes are a problem.' If I suggest they buy themselves some comfy shoes, I'm liable to get punched in the face." Mr Goldberg added. He also claimed some patients exaggerated the pain their bunions caused to get them surgically removed - so they could then continue to squeeze their feet into fashionable shoes.
Mr Goldberg said the damage caused by high heels was nothing new: "We have always been slaves to fashions that have led to deformity.
"But what we should be doing is fitting people's shoes around their feet, rather than the other way around.
"If a fashion icon such as Victoria Beckham designed a range of shoes that really fitted our feet, then that would be a real game-changer."
===
===
John Boehner and Eric Cantor announce support for Obama on Syria ==>http://twitchy.com/2013/
===
===
===
===
Cory Bernardi
The fact is that the Greens are putting our nation at risk.
SHARE this message with your friends and make sure they know all the facts before polling dayhttp://ow.ly/ov8cn
===
The column, “Sex Between Students and Teachers Should Not Be a Crime,” has stirred up controversy since appearing in The Washington Post over the weekend. Former attorney Betsy Karasik wrote the opinion piece in reaction to Montana Judge Todd Baugh sentencing a teacher to 30 days in jail for raping 14-year-old who subsequently committed suicide. That sentence has been overturned.
Read more: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/09/03/washington-post-opinion-piece-argues-student-teacher-sex-should-be-decriminalized-0#ixzz2dv3Qngkh
Bill O'Reilly is correct, it is outrageous .. ed
===
===
===
#BREAKING Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro found dead in his prison cellhttp://bit.ly/176XStm
===
Haunted, Old, Beautiful Mansions, Castles and Spooky Deserted Asylums
Elias Lowenstein was a leader in the Memphis Jewish community.
He served as president of Temple Isreal for 15 years. He contributed liberally to rebuilding the city after the disastrous 1870's yellow fever epidemics. In 1891 Elias Lowenstein built a mansion which was Memphis' most important Victorian Romanesque residence and one of the finest of its styles in the South.
After his death in 1919, his family donated it to the Nineteenth Century Club for use as a residence for young working women who did not have family in the city and, therefore, under social customs of the day were expected to live in a protected environment. A porch with cupola was removed in 1929 for construction of an annex.
Elias Lowenstein House - 1891: Elias Lowenstein, born in Germany, emigrated to Memphis in 1854. In Memphis he headed, B. Lowenstein and Bros. a Department Store, which was prominent in the city for 125 years. Lowenstein was a leader in the Jewish community and served as president of Temple Isreal for 15 years. He also contributed liberally to rebuilding the city after the disastrous 1870's yellow fever epidemics. In 1891 he built this mansion which is the cities most important Victorian Romanesque residence and one of the finest of its styles in the South. After his death in 1919, his family donated it to the Nineteenth Century Club for use as a residence for young working women who didn't have family in the city and, under social customs of the day, were expected to live in a protected environment.
• Follow me Amanda on my other great page ASAP http://www.facebook.com/
===
David Bowles
A quick, rough translation of Petrarch's Sonnet 104, because I'm me and that's just what I do at 11 pm.
I find no peace, yet I've no will to make war,
And I fear, and hope, and burn, and become ice:
I soar above heaven, then lay upon earth;
Nothing do I hold though I everything embrace.
So I'm kept in a cell he neither opens nor shuts,
He won't claim me as his or release the reins,
Though Love doesn't kill me, he won't break the chains;
He doesn't want me living, but he won't set me free.
I see without eyes; have no tongue, yet I scream;
I yearn to die though I cry out for aid;
And I hate myself so I can love someone else:
I feed on my pain; crying, I laugh;
Life and death bring me equal grief.
What a state you've put me in, my dear.
===
===
In tonight's Talking Points Memo, Bill O'Reillymade the case for the United States taking military action against the Assad regime in #Syria. Do you agree with Bill? http://tinyurl.com/mdfyudq
===
Economic management and growing national wealth must be the primary tasks of the next government. Let’s start with simplifying tax. #2BIG2IGNORE #makeanoiseincanberra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeGZdpH1k-Y
===
''שמע ישראל ה' אלוהינו ה' אחד''
"Listen Israel, the Lord is our G-d... and He is the only One." Deuteronomy 6:4
https://www.yadezra.net/
In honor of Rosh Hashana ( The Jewish New Year) ,tomorrow, we at Yad Ezra V'Shulamit are giving out 12,000 food baskets to needy families, here in Israel.
Hundreds of volunteers have already been amazing at helping to support, package anddeliver baskets of food and we are always looking for partners to help in this tremendous act of kindness for others.
A small donation goes a long way, of time or money.
If you are in Israel and would like to volunteer, or not in Israel and would like to help, we are accepting donations to assist in the cost and effectiveness of feeding these families. $80 makes a big difference.
https://www.yadezra.net/
===
For four years he helped his parents take care of her and saw firsthand the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on her. But Wallack also noticed that when she and other Alzheimer’s patients would do simple jigsaw puzzles, their mood would lighten.
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
- 1260 – Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines: SienaGhibellines defeated the Florence Guelphs at the Battle of Montaperti thanks to an act of treachery, which was immortalised in Dante's Divine Comedy.
- 1774 – British explorer James Cook became the first European to sight the island of New Caledonia.
- 1888 – American inventor George Eastman (pictured) registered the trademark "Kodak" after receiving a patent for his roll film camera.
- 1964 – The Forth Road Bridge crossing the Firth of Forth in Scotland opened to traffic.
- 1984 – The Progressive Conservative Party led by Brian Mulroney won the largest majority government by total number of seats in Canadian history during the federal election.
“This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”Isaiah 48:17 NIV
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"Thou whom my soul loveth."
Song of Solomon 1:7
Song of Solomon 1:7
It is well to be able, without any "if" or "but," to say of the Lord Jesus--"Thou whom my soul loveth." Many can only say of Jesus that they hope they love him; they trust they love him; but only a poor and shallow experience will be content to stay here. No one ought to give any rest to his spirit till he feels quite sure about a matter of such vital importance. We ought not to be satisfied with a superficial hope that Jesus loves us, and with a bare trust that we love him. The old saints did not generally speak with "buts," and "ifs," and "hopes," and "trusts," but they spoke positively and plainly. "I know whom I have believed," saith Paul. "I know that my Redeemer liveth," saith Job. Get positive knowledge of your love of Jesus, and be not satisfied till you can speak of your interest in him as a reality, which you have made sure by having received the witness of the Holy Spirit, and his seal upon your soul by faith.
True love to Christ is in every case the Holy Spirit's work, and must be wrought in the heart by him. He is the efficient cause of it; but the logical reason why we love Jesus lies in himself. Why do we love Jesus? Because he first loved us. Why do we love Jesus? Because he "gave himself for us." We have life through his death; we have peace through his blood. Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor. Why do we love Jesus? Because of the excellency of his person. We are filled with a sense of his beauty! an admiration of his charms! a consciousness of his infinite perfection! His greatness, goodness, and loveliness, in one resplendent ray, combine to enchant the soul till it is so ravished that it exclaims, "Yea, he is altogether lovely." Blessed love this--a love which binds the heart with chains more soft than silk, and yet more firm than adamant!
Evening
"The Lord trieth the righteous."
Psalm 11:5
Psalm 11:5
All events are under the control of Providence; consequently all the trials of our outward life are traceable at once to the great First Cause. Out of the golden gate of God's ordinance the armies of trial march forth in array, clad in their iron armour, and armed with weapons of war. All providences are doors to trial. Even our mercies, like roses, have their thorns. Men may be drowned in seas of prosperity as well as in rivers of affliction. Our mountains are not too high, and our valleys are not too low for temptations: trials lurk on all roads. Everywhere, above and beneath, we are beset and surrounded with dangers. Yet no shower falls unpermitted from the threatening cloud; every drop has its order ere it hastens to the earth. The trials which come from God are sent to prove and strengthen our graces, and so at once to illustrate the power of divine grace, to test the genuineness of our virtues, and to add to their energy. Our Lord in his infinite wisdom and superabundant love, sets so high a value upon his people's faith that he will not screen them from those trials by which faith is strengthened. You would never have possessed the precious faith which now supports you if the trial of your faith had not been like unto fire. You are a tree that never would have rooted so well if the wind had not rocked you to and fro, and made you take firm hold upon the precious truths of the covenant grace. Worldly ease is a great foe to faith; it loosens the joints of holy valour, and snaps the sinews of sacred courage. The balloon never rises until the cords are cut; affliction doth this sharp service for believing souls. While the wheat sleeps comfortably in the husk it is useless to man, it must be threshed out of its resting place before its value can be known. Thus it is well that Jehovah trieth the righteous, for it causeth them to grow rich towards God.
===
Today's reading: Psalm 140-142, 1 Corinthians 14:1-20 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Psalm 140-142
1 Rescue me, LORD, from evildoers;
protect me from the violent,
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
and stir up war every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's;
the poison of vipers is on their lips.
protect me from the violent,
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
and stir up war every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's;
the poison of vipers is on their lips.
4 Keep me safe, LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
protect me from the violent,
who devise ways to trip my feet.
5 The arrogant have hidden a snare for me;
they have spread out the cords of their net
and have set traps for me along my path....
protect me from the violent,
who devise ways to trip my feet.
5 The arrogant have hidden a snare for me;
they have spread out the cords of their net
and have set traps for me along my path....
Today's New Testament reading: 1 Corinthians 14:1-20
Intelligibility in Worship
1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.
6 Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church....
===
No comments:
Post a Comment