It is understandable that a weak mind may vacillate between positions. Because a reasonable argument may be made for either position. Dr Karl Kruszelnicki denies science which evaluates AGW hysteria. The raw data points to the computer models being wrong. this confuses Dr Karl who really wants the computer models to be right. Maybe we can find a planet for Dr Karl where the models are correct, and where he can stay? Meanwhile a wind farm kills koalas as trees they rely on for food are cut down to place a wind farm which does nothing to combat global warming. There is a possibility the wind farms will cut down more rare birds then it will kill koalas, maybe someone will take odds? Good news for AGW alarmists as China cuts back on coal. Bad news for Australia as her income will be cut for it.
Being dumb does not excuse bigotry, and makes the opinion expressed easily dismissed, but one particularly dumb bigot has spoken out in a Hanson-esque performance. He is married to an ethnically Asian girl but wants Australia to limit people from places he deems to be undesirable. Luckily, much smarter people than he have decided that it doesn't matter where people come from, but how they behave. This adult view is at odds with the ALP position that says it is desirable to import people who might be fooled into voting for them as quid pro quo. Meanwhile a supermarket advertises a special on artichokes of two for $4, or pay the premium price of $1.40 each. It would be worth paying extra and getting all of them individually wrapped for sale.
Telcos historically charge outrageously, but complaints are up 27.2% in 2014 in Australia in relation to data charges. One mobile phone user has been charged $36225 but got the charges dropped after pointing out they could not possibly have accrued it. Another user was charged $76103 and are disputing it. Maybe a compromise is in order, the telco could discount calls by 10%?
More Australians self identifying as Aboriginal mean fewer bush Aborigines get aid. Thing is that city folk do not suffer as country folk do, having access to more resources, like hospitals, police, housing, electricity, running water and education. Maybe it would be better to not label people by race, but to address needs? Maybe not, and Abbott over reaches on an apartheid constitution referendum which he promises will be soon. Detail is needed, but in general a reasonable person will oppose it. Reasonable is no way to describe former PM Rudd. Rudd was the richest politician ever to be in parliament. Rudd negotiated a rort he expected Mr Abbott to give him. Mr Abbott hasn't, merely restricting Rudd to a standard package for former PMs. Also in the corruption market is the AFL using AFL resources to campaign over a mine. But the mine in question has nothing to do with the sport. AWU calls for exemptions to them on the RET, but the RET is a bad tax that needs to be canceled for everybody. Finally, a schoolgirl who got a "Virginity rocks" t-shirt at a christian convention is not allowed to wear it at school. Alternative goth style shirts are available should she interest herself in acceptable school fashion.
from 2013
The ALP like grants in government. It is a good way to distribute lots of money without much oversight. Back in 2008, Fairfield Council set up $5k grants for cultural projects. Budding film makers could start projects and use the grants. They weren't to pay the artists, but to fund projects. I applied for such a grant, being desperate for money, but willing to work. Many were coming up with projects on opposing cigarettes, alcohol awareness, youth and domestic violence awareness and so on. I decided to deal with the issues in a short story format, and so covered the many issues I'd seen as a local high school teacher. I was told the project was too ambitious. I did a documentary on Che Guevarra. I was told I'd finished it and so it wasn't worthy of a grant. A project needed to be something I could use in the community, to discuss the important issues. So, I suggested the disconnect between youth and police, humanising police to youth who view them as a threat, instead of as essential to a healthy society. I was told my issue wasn't edifying for the community, and wasn't really cultural. People did access those grants .. not me. And that is why the ALP really love them, they are subject to pork barrelling, rort-ing abuse. BTW, check out my doco on the second intifada.
But that isn't all the ALP care about. They care about women. Not too much .. they don't want to reward women for work. The ALP want tokens. Of the four leaders of the ALP federally, none are women. The Liberal Party's deputy leader, Julie Bishop, is a woman, and more capable as minister than any of the ALP four, but that isn't the point. It is a shame there aren't more like Bishop. Give the ALP time, and they will find another issue that will define their opposition to an Abbott government. The ACT seem to think they have found another issue; Gay Marriage. Personally, I don't like government defining marriage. Government don't do much very well. I shudder to think what complying with gay marriage law would entail for the average citizen. At what time would federal police be able to turn on their flashlights and say, loudly "That sirs, is not legal!"Leave it to the churches to be wowsers. But let the churches make their own regulation. Then let the federal police scratch their heads and try to see if the practice is Catholic or Protestant ..
In the US there are guns. There are guns in Australia too, but there are regulations that are effective. Obama has tried ineffective regulation, and it hasn't worked. Today there is discussion of a man, who might have been a son of Obama, killed lots of people with an assault rifle. He had taken it to the workplace when some would argue it was better off at his home. Because the Democrats get votes by being the goto party for gun control, it is not in their interests to do anything effective about the issue.
===
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.
===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.
1859 – Disgruntled with the legal and political structures of the United States, Joshua Norton distributed letters to various newspapers in San Francisco, proclaiming himself Emperor Norton.
1914 – Andrew Fisher became Prime Minister of Australia for the third time, beginning a period of reform unmatched in the Commonwealth until the 1940s.
1939 – World War II: The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, sixteen days after Nazi Germany's attack on that country from the west.
1978 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords after twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David.
2011 – Adbusters, a Canadian anti-consumerist publication, organized a protest against corporate influence on democracy at Zuccotti Park in New York City that became known as Occupy Wall Street. Emperor Norton is gone. Andrew Fisher has reformed. Poland is back. Twelve days of talks end with talk. Occupy Wall street is vacant. Enjoy your day.
Hatches
- 456 – Remistus, Roman general (magister militum), is besieged with a Gothic force at Ravenna and later executed in the Palace in Classis, outside the city.
- 1111 – Highest Galician nobility led by Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and the bishop Diego Gelmírez crownAlfonso VII as "King of Galicia".
- 1176 – The Battle of Myriokephalon is fought.
- 1462 – The Battle of Świecino (also known as the Battle of Żarnowiec) is fought during Thirteen Years' War.
- 1577 – The Peace of Bergerac is signed between Henry III of France and the Huguenots.
- 1630 – The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
- 1631 – Sweden wins a major victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld against the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.
- 1683 – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek writes a letter to the Royal Society describing "animalcules": the first known description of protozoa.
- 1716 – Jean Thurel enlists in the Touraine Regiment at the age of 18, the first day of a military career that would span for over 90 years.
- 1761 – The Battle of Kosabroma is fought.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: The Invasion of Canada begins with the Siege of Fort St. Jean.
- 1776 – The Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain.
- 1778 – The Treaty of Fort Pitt is signed. It is the first formal treaty between the United States and a Native American tribe (the Lenape or Delaware Indians).
- 1787 – The United States Constitution is signed in Philadelphia.
- 1793 – The Battle of Peyrestortes is fought.
- 1794 – The Battle of Sprimont is fought.
- 1809 – Peace between Sweden and Russia in the Finnish War. The territory to become Finland is ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Fredrikshamn.
- 1813 – The Second Battle of Kulm is fought.
- 1814 – Francis Scott Key finishes his poem "Defence of Fort McHenry", later to be the lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner".
- 1849 – American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery.
- 1859 – Joshua A. Norton declares himself "Norton I, Emperor of the United States."
- 1861 – Battle of Pavón is fought.
- 1862 – American Civil War: George B. McClellan halts the northward drive of Robert E. Lee's Confederate army in the single-day Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in American military history.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
- 1894 – Battle of Yalu River, the largest naval engagement of the First Sino-Japanese War.
- 1900 – Philippine–American War: Filipinos under Juan Cailles defeat Americans under Colonel Benjamin F. Cheatham at Mabitac.
- 1901 – The Battle of Blood River Poort is fought.
- 1901 – The Battle of Elands River is fought.
- 1908 – The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge. He becomes the first airplane fatality.
- 1914 – Andrew Fisher becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the third time.
- 1916 – World War I: Manfred von Richthofen ("The Red Baron"), a flying ace of the German Luftstreitkräfte, wins his first aerial combat near Cambrai, France.
- 1924 – The Border Defence Corps is established in the Second Polish Republic for the defence of the eastern border against armedSoviet raids and local bandits.
- 1924 – The Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian is formed.
- 1932 – A speech by Laureano Gómez leads to the escalation of the Leticia Incident.
- 1939 – World War II: The Soviet Union joins Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland during the Polish Defensive War of 1939.
- 1939 – World War II: A German U-boat U 29 sinks the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
- 1939 – Taisto Mäki becomes the first man to run the 10,000 metres in under 30 minutes, in a time of 29:52.6
- 1940 – World War II: Following the German defeat in the Battle of Britain, Hitler postpones Operation Sea Lion indefinitely.
- 1941 – World War II: A decree of the Soviet State Committee of Defense, restoring Vsevobuch in the face of the Great Patriotic War, is issued.
- 1941 – World War II: Soviet forces enter Teheran marking the end of the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran.
- 1943 – World War II: The Russian city of Bryansk is liberated from Germans.
- 1944 – World War II: Allied Airborne troops parachute into the Netherlands as the "Market" half of Operation Market Garden.
- 1948 – The Lehi (also known as the Stern gang) assassinates Count Folke Bernadotte, who was appointed by the United Nations to mediate between the Arab nations and Israel.
- 1948 – The Nizam of Hyderabad surrenders his sovereignty over the Hyderabad State and joins the Indian Union.
- 1949 – The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives.
- 1957 – Malaysia joins the United Nations.
- 1961 – The world's first retractable-dome stadium, the Civic Arena, opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- 1974 – Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations.
- 1976 – The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA.
- 1978 – The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt.
- 1980 – After weeks of strikes at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland, the nationwide independent trade union Solidarity is established.
- 1980 – Former Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza Debayle is killed in Asunción, Paraguay.
- 1983 – Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America.
- 1987 – Pope John Paul II embraces an AIDS-infected boy while visiting San Francisco.
- 1991 – Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations.
- 1991 – The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
- 1992 – An Iranian Kurdish leader and his two joiners are assassinated by political militants in Berlin, Germany.
- 2001 – The New York Stock Exchange reopens for trading after the September 11 attacks, the longest closure since the Great Depression.
- 2006 – Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years.
- 2006 – An audio tape of a private speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány is leaked to the public, in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006 election, sparking widespread protests across the country.
- 2011 – Occupy Wall Street movement begins in Zuccotti Park, New York City.
Matches
- 879 – Charles the Simple, French king (d. 929)
- 1192 – Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1219)
- 1605 – Francesco Sacrati, Italian composer (d. 1650)
- 1677 – Stephen Hales, English physiologist and chemist, invented Forceps (d. 1761)
- 1743 – Marquis de Condorcet, French mathematician and political scientist (d. 1794)
- 1854 – David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-American businessman, founded Buick Motor Company (d. 1929)
- 1874 – Walter Murdoch, Australian academic and author (d. 1970)
- 1878 – Vincenzo Tommasini, Italian composer (d. 1950)
- 1884 – Charles Griffes, American pianist and composer (d. 1920)
- 1900 – J. Willard Marriott, American businessman, founded the Marriott Corporation (d. 1985)
- 1901 – Francis Chichester, English pilot and sailor (d. 1972)
- 1902 – Bea Miles, Australian author (d. 1973)
- 1903 – Frank O'Connor, Irish author and educator (d. 1966)
- 1903 – Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
- 1909 – Elizabeth Enright, American author and illustrator (d. 1968)
- 1917 – Isang Yun, South Korean-German composer and educator (d. 1995)
- 1923 – Hank Williams, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Drifting Cowboys) (d. 1953)
- 1926 – Bill Black, American bass player (The Blue Moon Boys) (d. 1965)
- 1926 – Hovie Lister, American pianist (The Statesmen Quartet and Masters V) (d. 2001)
- 1928 – Roddy McDowall, English-American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1998)
- 1930 – Thomas P. Stafford, American general, pilot, and astronaut
- 1931 – Anne Bancroft, American actress and singer (d. 2005)
- 1939 – Carl Dennis, American poet and educator
- 1939 – Shelby Flint, American singer-songwriter
- 1940 – Lorella De Luca, Italian actress and director (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Les Emmerson, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Five Man Electrical Band)
- 1948 – John Ritter, American actor and producer (d. 2003)
- 1950 – Fee Waybill, American singer-songwriter and producer (The Tubes)
- 1953 – Tamasin Day-Lewis, English chef
- 1953 – Rita Rudner, American comedian and actress
- 1953 – Steve Williams, Welsh drummer and songwriter (Budgie)
- 1956 – Mandawuy Yunupingu, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Yothu Yindi) (d. 2013)
- 1961 – Ty Tabor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (King's X, Platypus, and The Jelly Jam)
- 1962 – Baz Luhrmann, Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1962 – Dustin Nguyen, Vietnamese-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1965 – Yuji Naka, Japanese video game designer, created Sonic the Hedgehog
- 1968 – Anastacia, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1969 – Adam Devlin, English guitarist and songwriter (The Bluetones)
- 1969 – Keith Flint, English singer-songwriter (The Prodigy and Flint)
- 1973 – Ada Choi, Hong Kong actress
- 1974 – Mirah, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Microphones)
- 1975 – Constantine Maroulis, American singer-songwriter and actor (Pray for the Soul of Betty)
- 1977 – Anna Marie Cseh, Hungarian film actress and fashion model
- 1977 – Genaro García, Mexican boxer (d. 2013)
- 1982 – Wade Robson, Australian dancer and choreographer
- 1983 – Sanaya Irani, Indian actress
- 1984 – Eugenia Volodina, Russian model
- 1985 – Tomáš Berdych, Czech tennis player
- 1986 – Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Japanese voice actor
- 1991 – Minako Kotobuki, Japanese voice actress and singer (Sphere)
- 1991 – Justyna Jegiołka, Polish tennis player
- 1996 – Ella Purnell, English actress
Despatches
- 454 – Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria
- 456 – Remistus, Roman general
- 1179 – Hildegard of Bingen, German mystic, composer, and saint (b. 1098)
- 1575 – Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss theologian and reformer (b. 1504)
- 1762 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer (b. 1687)
- 1858 – Dred Scott, American slave (b. 1795)
- 1863 – Alfred de Vigny, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1797)
- 1877 – Henry Fox Talbot, English photographer, developed the Calotype Process (b. 1800)
- 1899 – Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American businessman, co-founded the Pillsbury Company (b. 1842)
- 1907 – Ignaz Brüll, Czech-Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1846)
- 1908 – Henri Julien, Canadian cartoonist (b. 1852)
- 1925 – Carl Eytel, German-American painter and illustrator (b. 1862)
- 1951 – Jimmy Yancey, American pianist and composer (b. 1898)
- 1966 – Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (b. 1930)
- 1985 – Laura Ashley, Welsh fashion designer, founded Laura Ashley plc (b. 1925)
- 1991 – Zino Francescatti, French violinist (b. 1902)
- 1994 – Vitas Gerulaitis, American tennis player (b. 1954)
- 1994 – Karl Popper, Austrian-English philosopher (b. 1902)
- 1997 – Red Skelton, American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1913)
- 1998 – Geoffrey Dutton, Australian historian and author (b. 1922)
- 1999 – Frankie Vaughan, English singer (b. 1928)
- 2000 – Paula Yates, Welsh television host and author (b. 1959)
- 2006 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Tedi Thurman, American model and actress (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Kristian Gidlund, Swedish drummer and journalist (Sugarplum Fairy) (b. 1983)
- 2013 – Larry Lake, American-Canadian trumpet player and composer (b. 1943)
- 2013 – Bernie McGann, Australian saxophonist and composer (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Marvin Rainwater, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Eiji Toyoda, Japanese businessman (b. 1913)
2014
- Christian feast day:
- Constitution Day (observed on the previous Friday if it falls Saturday, the following Monday if on a Sunday), Citizenship Day, Von Steuben Day. (United States)
- Heroes' Day (Angola)
- Operation Market Garden is still remembered with parachuting and dedications on this day. (Netherlands)
- Pompéia founding day (1928, State of São Paulo, Brazil)
UNSTABLE KARL
Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 17, 2014 (2:24pm)
The ABC’s V8 driving warmie, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki:
In the USA, the Wall Street Journal wrote, “temperatures have been flat for 15 years - nobody can properly explain it.”Another newspaper from the same stable, the UK Daily Mail wrote “global warming ‘pause’ may last 20 more years, and Arctic sea ice has already started to recover”. Both of these statements are very reassuring, but unfortunately, very very wrong.
Dr Karl is very, very wrong. The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp. The Daily Mail is owned by DMGT. What is it with global warmists and facts?
SMART MOVE, BRO
Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 17, 2014 (12:46pm)
Another member of the cream puff brigade has second thoughts:
A Kiwi jihadist who has links with al Qaeda and has taken up arms in Syria wants to leave the war-torn country – but first needs a fresh New Zealand passport after burning his old one.Mohammad Daniel, also know as Abu Abdul Rahman, and formerly known as Mark John Taylor, says war-torn Syria needs humanitarian aid rather than a bloody jihad …In June this year, he entered Syria across the Turkish border.“I come to Syria as a Soldier for Allah,” he told the Herald on Sunday at the time.
He’s probably just annoyed that they made him wear a dress. Meanwhile, reader Chris has discovered the cause of the current unrest during a parent-teacher interview in western Melbourne, where he saw this classroom notation:
STREET JUSTICE
Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 17, 2014 (12:06pm)
Four-wheeled freedom fighters repel the bicycle menace in Victoria:
A northern suburbs council that built an elaborate separated bike lane on a residential street has been forced back to the drawing board after furious motorists twice ripped out bollards that had reduced the width of the road.The two-way bike lane, built for $85,000 at ratepayers’ expense in the working-class suburb of Glenroy, has been indefinitely removed after the Moreland City Council decided it could not afford to keep putting the vandalised bollards back in place.
This is the best outcome since Clover Moore’s musical bicycle path was silenced in 2012.
(Via Davo)
SPECIAL INCREASE
Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 17, 2014 (11:27am)
Reader Greg Mac spots some bargain asparagus in Melbourne:
Save the planet! Kill koalas
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (2:50pm)
Green power, dead koalas:
===A MULTI-billion-dollar Japanese company has been accused of killing koalas as it employs workers to chop down trees to develop a wind farm in Victoria’s southeast.
Dr Karl denies the science that even the IPCC now accepts
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (12:52pm)
Even the UN’s
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change admitted in its latest report
that global warming had paused for some 15 years.
Read for yourself the section in the report with the headline that says it all:
Well, here is Karl S. Kruszelnicki, who has form for denying what doesn’t suit his astonishing climate alarmism:
===Read for yourself the section in the report with the headline that says it all:
Climate Models and the Hiatus in Global-Mean Surface Warming of the Past 15 YearsSo it says something about the ABC that its science presenters still deny what even the IPCC admits. Who are the true deniers of science now?
Well, here is Karl S. Kruszelnicki, who has form for denying what doesn’t suit his astonishing climate alarmism:
In the USA, the Wall Street Journal wrote, “temperatures have been flat for 15 years - nobody can properly explain it.”You can read Dr Karl’s long and curious justification for refusing to believe in the warming pause, or you can simply check this graphic and decide for yourself whether Dr Karl should really be presenting science for the ABC:
Another newspaper from the same stable, the UK Daily Mail wrote “global warming ‘pause’ may last 20 more years, and Arctic sea ice has already started to recover”. Both of these statements are very reassuring, but unfortunately, very very wrong.
With regard to this ‘pause’, there are two major claims made by those who deny the science of climate change.
The first one is that the climate is actually cooling - not warming. This is incorrect.
The second claim is that after some previous warming, the global climate is now constant, and neither warming nor cooling. In other words, that the climate is in a kind of holding pattern, or haitus. This is also incorrect… The climate is still heating up.
(Thanks to reader N.)
More Australians choosing to identify as Aboriginal. Bad luck for those way out bush
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (12:28pm)
I had two articles
banned by the Federal Court in part because I made what I was told was a
factual error - I’d asserted that certain people had a choice whether
to identify as Aboriginal or multi-"racial" or as “race irrelevant”,
which was my preference.
So it is interesting to see how Andrew Taylor, principal scientist at Charles Darwin University, and Rolf Gerritsen, professorial research fellow at Charles Darwin University, tiptoe around this same moral issue, which has profound consequences for social policy:
At some stage, though, a frank discussion about ‘race” and racial “identity” needs to be had. If it isn’t, the poorest Aborigines will increasingly be sidelined and we’ll be increasingly fooled by unnaturally optimistic reports of Aboriginal progress.
(Thanks to reader A. and other readers.)
===So it is interesting to see how Andrew Taylor, principal scientist at Charles Darwin University, and Rolf Gerritsen, professorial research fellow at Charles Darwin University, tiptoe around this same moral issue, which has profound consequences for social policy:
These are exactly the kind of issues I tried to discuss, although I did also go on to how ... No. Must not.
...official measurements show the number of First Australians has skyrocketed to far outstrip growth in any other sub-section of the national population. From 1981 to 2011, the number of Indigenous Australians increased by around 185% ...
Contrary to the stereotypes, most of that population growth ... has ... occurred in capital cities and the regions around these, and especially in Sydney, Brisbane and their hinterlands....
Although it is difficult to get a precise figure, much of the growth we have seen in the Indigenous population is from people who did not previously declare they were Indigenous doing so in later censuses…
Estimates based on a survey conducted just four weeks after the 2011 Census suggested around 17% of Australians changed their Indigenous status. The majority of these switched from “non-Indigenous” or “not stated” to declaring themselves as Indigenous.
Almost all of that affinity switching occurs in capital cities and their hinterlands, which is where most Indigenous Australians now live. In every sense, the “new Indigenous” Australians living in our cities and suburbs are far removed from the most common media reporting of impoverished, remote First Australian communities.
Accentuating the trend, almost all (about 90%) of Indigenous Australians living in cities and married or in de facto relationships have a non-Indigenous partner. Offspring from these mixed partnerships are highly likely to be declared as Indigenous on the birth certificate, accelerating the growth of the Indigenous-identifying cohort…
With so many more people identifying as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, one unintended consequence is that it’s shifting funding away from parts of Australia that are home to some of the poorest Indigenous communities…
States or territories with Indigenous population proportions above the Australian average receive a greater share of GST… In the Northern Territory in particular, the total population living in very remote communities with poor socio-economic conditions is growing, yet the Territory’s share of the national Indigenous population is rapidly diminishing. As a direct result, in 2014 about A$110 million a year was lost from the GST-derived grants to the Northern Territory…
If you look closely, most of the nationally measurable improvements in Indigenous employment and education outcomes are concentrated in a few major cities and their surrounding areas.
At some stage, though, a frank discussion about ‘race” and racial “identity” needs to be had. If it isn’t, the poorest Aborigines will increasingly be sidelined and we’ll be increasingly fooled by unnaturally optimistic reports of Aboriginal progress.
(Thanks to reader A. and other readers.)
This war will almost certainly be bigger than you are told
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (8:49am)
Senator John McCain gets to the heart of the fallacy in the Obama strategy
when he questions Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey. We risk being dragged into a
war with the Syrian regime, now backed by Iran:
===Defense officials told lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee that they were confident the rebel force would put its three-year war with Bashar Assad’s forces on the backburner as the Syrian opposition focuses on battling the Islamic State (IS), also known as ISIL or ISIS. They insisted that would prevent the US from getting sucked into Syria’s civil war…Let’s be clear, too, that this war almost certainly will require Western troops like our own to join the fighting:
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., dismissed the notion as a “fundamental fallacy” of President Barack Obama’s plan during a heated exchange with Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey…
“You don’t think the Free Syrian Army is going to fight against Bashar Assad, who has been decimating them?” he said…
“What I believe, senator, is that if we train them and develop a military chain of command linked to a political structure, that we can establish objectives that defer that challenge into the future,” Dempsey replied....
“That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the entire concept and motivation of the Free Syrian Army,” McCain retorted. “It is Bashar Assad who has killed many more of them than ISIL...”
The Obama administration has ruled out cooperating with Assad or his main backer, Iran, as a way to get Sunni countries such as Saudi Arabia on board a united coalition against the Islamic State. The White House also wants to avoid a conflict with Assad, however, even though Hagel hinted that the US may be willing to defend the rebel troops it trains.
“They will defend themselves” if attacked by Assad, Hagel told McCain. “We will help them and we will support them. Any attack on those that we have trained and are supporting us, we will help them."…
Dempsey and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the $500 million mission aimed to train and equip slighlty more than 5,000 vetted rebels within one year. The program would be hosted and partly paid for by Saudi Arabia and aims to create a fighting force inside Syria, where two-thirds of the Islamic State’s estimated 31,000 fighters are believed to be…
General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there was no intention of placing American military advisers on the ground for direct combat…Tony Abbott is just as vague about combat troops and Syria:
Still, he told a Senate hearing: “I’ve mentioned, though, that if I found that circumstance evolving, that I would, of course, change my recommendation.”
Dempsey offered scenarios in which a larger role might be worthwhile, including embedding U.S. forces with Iraqis during a complicated offensive, such as a battle to retake the northern city of Mosul from Islamic State fighters.
“It could very well be part of that particular mission to provide close combat advising or accompanying for that mission,” he said.
PRIME MINISTER:
The force that we announced yesterday will be leaving for the Middle East over the next few days, certainly within a fortnight… So, it will be there in the Middle East, available for combat operations, should that decision be made as quickly as possible…
QUESTION:
Have you ruled out any Australian involvement in Syria?
PRIME MINISTER:
Syria, yes. There’s a big difference between combat operations within Iraq that will be conducted with the full approval of the Iraqi Government and combat operations inside Syria which is effectively ungoverned space and whose government Australia does not actually recognise. So, there is a clear legality to the combat operations that Australia has in mind in Iraq which would not be applicable to any operations inside Syria. So, I’m not ruling it out under all circumstances, but it’s not part of the Australian Government’s intention at this time.
What is the “wrong” Abbott wants “righted”?
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (8:33am)
I genuinely don’t understand what the Prime Minister means by “great historical wrong” and how that is to be “righted”:
===While it’s too soon to talk about the precise wording of any constitutional change, it’s very clear that Yolngu people are as enthusiastic as other indigenous people right around our country to see this great historical wrong righted in some way. It’s important that it’s righted in ways that unite Australians, that don’t divide us needlessly...If he means white settlement was the “great historical wrong”, how precisely is that to be “righted” - short of evicting everyone with non-Aboriginal ancestry?
Abbott shows why he must leave Arnhem Land
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (8:08am)
Tony Abbott shows why he’s cutting short his trip to Arnhem Land:
===REPORTER: Prime Minister, there are reports of US air strikes on Baghdad. Is something that you support and think Australia should be involved in?Abbott’s trip has advertised one thing - a real hurdle in developing such regions.
TONY ABBOTT: I’m just not going to comment on reports that I’m not aware of.
REPORTER: You’re not aware of those reports of US air strikes?
TONY ABBOTT: I’m not aware of those reports.
China cuts down on coal. This will cost
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (8:03am)
Australians may soon find out the hard way how dependent they’ve been on the mines that much of the cultural elite despises:
===The Chinese government is to limit the use of imported coal with more than 16 per cent ash and 3 per cent sulphur from January 1, 2015 in a bid to improve air quality, especially in cities such as Beijing and around Shanghai.
At the same time, China is moving to force power utilities to slash coal import volumes, also with the stated aim of improving air quality, although this move will primarily give China’s local coalminers a lift.
According to an analysis by Macquarie Bank, consultant Wood Mackenzie has indicated the ban could affect more than half of Australia’s thermal coal exports to China…
Industry sources said the Chinese government moves were aimed at propping up its domestic coalminers as well as assisting its power generators amid the slowdown.
Abbott shrinks Rudd’s golden trough
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (7:37am)
The first paragraph makes Tony Abbott seem vindictive:
===Tony Abbott stripped Kevin Rudd of travel entitlements he had granted his prime ministerial predecessor just one month prior, documents show.But the substance makes Labor leaders look greedy:
Days after knifing Mr Rudd as prime minister, Ms Gillard awarded him access to a travel allowance, an extra staff member for 12 months and granted his staff unrestricted travel. Mr Rudd returned the favour when he deposed her last year.Oh, the hardship:
Mr Abbott’s office hit out at the “special rules” and said the Prime Minister had not wanted to “perpetuate” them.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said Mr Abbott granted Mr Rudd “standard entitlements” which in some cases were “more generous” than those granted to former prime ministers Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and John Howard.
Mr Abbott initially matched many of the extra entitlements the Labor leaders awarded themselves… Mr Abbott told the then backbench MP he would allocate him unlimited domestic travel for official business, a travel allowance, and an adviser “for the period [Mr Rudd] remained in Parliament” on top of his electorate staff, but stripped Mr Rudd of two advisers.
In his official letter, Mr Abbott said to Mr Rudd “once you leave the Parliament, the additional position and the other entitlements would cease and arrangement would be made to provide a revised package of entitlements”.
In November, after Mr Rudd quit politics, Mr Abbott capped his travel, cut his travel allowances and slashed his permanent office staff to two.
Another position was made temporary and is about to expire, while the fourth position was made into a driver’s job.
Mr Rudd’s domestic travel has also been restricted to 40 business class flights a year and he is no longer allowed to claim an allowance when travelling.
Mr Abbott also introduced a cap on staff travelling with Mr Rudd – restricting their entire transport, accommodation and away-from-home allowance to $15,000 a financial year.
Whose AFL is it?
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (7:31am)
A strange sense of entitlement, perhaps?:
===AFL resources were used to lobby the Victorian government on behalf of a mining company part-owned by league chairman Mike Fitzpatrick and former chief executive Andrew Demetriou.
In what both men admit was an inappropriate use of the AFL’s resources, Fairfax Media has confirmed that the league’s executive for government relations last year emailed the office of the then mining minister Nick Kotsiras about issues affecting a mining company that Mr Fitzpatrick has a financial stake in and whose board he chairs.
Creswick Quartz Pty Ltd, which uses a patented method to extract quartz from old gold mines near Ballarat, has Mr Demetriou among its shareholders.
The email from the AFL executive is understood to have led to a meeting between Mr Kotsiras, Mr Demetriou and two Creswick Quartz directors where the company’s proposed operations and permit requirements were discussed…
The email was written and sent by recently departed AFL government relations executive Phil Martin, who was previously chief of staff to former Labor deputy premier, John Thwaites.
Mr Martin became involved after learning of Creswick Quartz’s concern about not being able to get clarification from the government about issues affecting its proposed operations. He received a briefing from the company before approaching Mr Kotsiras’ office.
AWU demands protection from the renewable energy target
Andrew Bolt September 17 2014 (7:13am)
Just what conservatives
and sceptics have warned - but why does only a heavily-unionised
industry get protected from the madness of the green Left?:
Alan Moran:
===THE Australian Workers Union has called for the aluminium industry to be exempted from the renewable energy target, a move that will increase pressure on Labor to negotiate a bipartisan deal with the Coalition on changes to the scheme.UPDATE
AWU national secretary Scott McDine warned that the RET maintained in its current form would lead to thousands of jobs shifting overseas with no environmental gain.
Alan Moran:
The RET and similar state-based measures may raise the costs of aluminium smelting in Australia by 5-6 per cent, an amount that the callow would consider affordable. But that cost wipes out all profits and in the dog-eat-dog world we live in that means irresistible relocation pressures.
The questions raised if aluminium is exempted are, first does this mean a correspondingly greater load to be carries by others; and secondly, if aluminium why not concrete, steel and other high energy using industries? Or, if the impost is to be retained, in line with the normal practice of not levying taxes on inputs into production, why not exempt all industries, leaving it like the GST solely on household consumers?
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=== Posts from last year ===
peace movement, Hamas must feel really threatened by them - ed===
Recently UN Secretary General admitted to a group of Israeli students that Israel faces bias and discrimination at the United Nations.
Read more: http://
LIKE and SHARE to spread the TRUTH about the UN.
(Note: media reports claimed that Moon retracted this comment, but UN official Robert Serry later denied this and reaffirmed the statement -http://news.yahoo.com/
Will he do anything about it? If not, wait for the Obama announcement "I did what I wanted" - ed
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#Goodtimes working with #JessicaMauboy on#DanceAcademy series 3 catch it on ABC iView @jessicamauboy1
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Pastor Rick Warren
Piers Morgan was kind, sensitive, and allowed Kay and me to share honestly and freely without interruption about suicide, mental illness, guns, grief, GOD, and our family's journey. He graciously came to our office to tape this interview. It will air on CNN Tuesday at 6pm PST. Please share this with others and pray many lives will be saved. Thank you dear friends for helping get the word out.
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Pastor Rick Warren
Nothing happens without God's permission BUT NOT everything is God's will. God doesn't do evil nor tempt evil.(James 1:13)
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George Formby (1904–1961) was an English actor, singer-songwriter and comedian. On stage, screen and record he sang light, comical songs, usually playing theukulele or banjolele, and became the UK's highest-paid entertainer. After an early career as a stable boy and jockey, Formby took to the music hall stage after the early death of his father in 1921. In 1923 he purchased a ukulele, and married Beryl Ingham, a fellow-performer who became his manager. She insisted that he appear on stage formally dressed, and introduced the ukulele to his performance. He started his recording career in 1926 and, from 1934, he increasingly worked in film to develop into a major star. During the Second World War, Formby entertained civilians and troops(pictured in France), and by 1946 it was estimated that he had performed in front of three million service personnel. After the war his career declined, although he toured the Commonwealth, and continued to appear in variety and pantomime. Formby was considered Britain's first properly home-grown screen comedian. He was an influence on future comedians—particularly Charlie Drake and Norman Wisdom—and, culturally, on entertainers such as the Beatles. (Full article...)
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September 17: Constitution Day in the United States
- 1176 – Byzantine–Seljuk wars: The Seljuk Turks prevented the Byzantines from taking the interior of Anatolia at the Battle of Myriokephalon in Phrygia.
- 1716 – French soldier Jean Thurel enlisted in the Régiment de Touraine at the age of 17, beginning a career of military service that would span 90 years.
- 1849 – American slave Harriet Tubman (pictured)escaped; she would become famous for orchestrating the rescues of more than 70 other slaves via the "Underground Railroad".
- 1914 – Andrew Fisher, whose previous term as Prime Minister of Australia oversaw a period of reform unmatched in the Commonwealth until the 1940s, became Prime Minister for the third time.
- 1939 – World War II: The Soviet Union invaded Polandfrom the east, sixteen days after Nazi Germany's attack on that country from the west.
"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"Partakers of the divine nature."
2 Peter 1:4
2 Peter 1:4
To be a partaker of the divine nature is not, of course, to become God. That cannot be. The essence of Deity is not to be participated in by the creature. Between the creature and the Creator there must ever be a gulf fixed in respect of essence; but as the first man Adam was made in the image of God, so we, by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, are in a yet diviner sense made in the image of the Most High, and are partakers of the divine nature. We are, by grace, made like God. "God is love"; we become love--"He that loveth is born of God." God is truth; we become true, and we love that which is true: God is good, and he makes us good by his grace, so that we become the pure in heart who shall see God. Moreover, we become partakers of the divine nature in even a higher sense than this--in fact, in as lofty a sense as can be conceived, short of our being absolutely divine. Do we not become members of the body of the divine person of Christ? Yes, the same blood which flows in the head flows in the hand: and the same life which quickens Christ quickens his people, for "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married unto Christ. He hath betrothed us unto himself in righteousness and in faithfulness, and he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Oh! marvellous mystery! we look into it, but who shall understand it? One with Jesus--so one with him that the branch is not more one with the vine than we are a part of the Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer! While we rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made partakers of the divine nature will manifest their high and holy relationship in their intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!
Evening
"Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me?"
Job 7:12
Job 7:12
This was a strange question for Job to ask of the Lord. He felt himself to be too insignificant to be so strictly watched and chastened, and he hoped that he was not so unruly as to need to be so restrained. The enquiry was natural from one surrounded with such insupportable miseries, but after all, it is capable of a very humbling answer. It is true man is not the sea, but he is even more troublesome and unruly. The sea obediently respects its boundary, and though it be but a belt of sand, it does not overleap the limit. Mighty as it is, it hears the divine hitherto, and when most raging with tempest it respects the word; but self-willed man defies heaven and oppresses earth, neither is there any end to this rebellious rage. The sea, obedient to the moon, ebbs and flows with ceaseless regularity, and thus renders an active as well as a passive obedience; but man, restless beyond his sphere, sleeps within the lines of duty, indolent where he should be active. He will neither come nor go at the divine command, but sullenly prefers to do what he should not, and to leave undone that which is required of him. Every drop in the ocean, every beaded bubble, and every yeasty foam-flake, every shell and pebble, feel the power of law, and yield or move at once. O that our nature were but one thousandth part as much conformed to the will of God! We call the sea fickle and false, but how constant it is! Since our fathers' days, and the old time before them, the sea is where it was, beating on the same cliffs to the same tune; we know where to find it, it forsakes not its bed, and changes not in its ceaseless boom; but where is man-vain, fickle man? Can the wise man guess by what folly he will next be seduced from his obedience? We need more watching than the billowy sea, and are far more rebellious. Lord, rule us for thine own glory. Amen.
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Today's reading: Proverbs 25-26, 2 Corinthians 9 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Proverbs 25-26
More Proverbs of Solomon
1 These are more proverbs of Solomon, compiled by the men of Hezekiah king of Judah:
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;
to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
3 As the heavens are high and the earth is deep,
so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.
to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
3 As the heavens are high and the earth is deep,
so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.
4 Remove the dross from the silver,
and a silversmith can produce a vessel;
5 remove wicked officials from the king's presence,
and his throne will be established through righteousness.
and a silversmith can produce a vessel;
5 remove wicked officials from the king's presence,
and his throne will be established through righteousness.
6 Do not exalt yourself in the king's presence,
and do not claim a place among his great men;
7 it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here,"
than for him to humiliate you before his nobles....
and do not claim a place among his great men;
7 it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here,"
than for him to humiliate you before his nobles....
Today's New Testament reading: 2 Corinthians 9
1 There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the Lord's people. 2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. 3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we-not to say anything about you-would be ashamed of having been so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given....
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Ananias
[Ănanī'as] - jehovah is gracious. This name is the Greek form of Hananiah, meaning, "Jehovah hath been gracious" from the Aramaic, meaning, "beautiful."
[Ănanī'as] - jehovah is gracious. This name is the Greek form of Hananiah, meaning, "Jehovah hath been gracious" from the Aramaic, meaning, "beautiful."
1. The disciple who conspired with his wife to deceive the apostles in regard to the value obtained for their property (Acts 5:1-6).
The Man Who Kept Back Part of the Price
How opposite Aquila and Priscilla are Ananias and Sapphira, both of whom agreed to a dishonest transaction! They were not compelled to sell their property but because of a recognized custom among the early Christian fraternity of having one common fund to draw upon, these two disciples wanted to maintain the appearance of self-denying liberality. There was no harm in keeping back part of the price - they might have kept back all. Their evil consisted in pretending to give all. Their lying was combined with hypocrisy. A certain part was retained, likely the greater part which would look more like the whole.
Peter, supernaturally endowed to detect and expose the fraud of Ananias and Sapphira, was their instrument of sudden death. Punishment was:
I. Prompt - it followed immediately the committal of sin.
II. Decisive - it marked the magnitude of sin.
III. Conspicuous - it was before many witnesses.
IV. Divine - it was not an act of Peter who simply reproved the two who, united in crime, were not separated in death (Ps. 19:13). It was God who punished them.
2. A godly disciple of Damascus to whom was made known the conversion of Saul of Tarsus ( Acts 9:10-17; 22:12), and who baptized Saul.
3. The high priest anointed by Herod (Acts 23:2; 24:1).
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