Thursday, October 09, 2014

Thu Oct 9th Todays News

Issues on terror
Australia huffs and puffs .. and can only manage two bombs in a week against a rapacious foe who does not care we are constipated. Europe seems to have been embracing Middle East hatreds through imports. In Hamburg ethnic Kurds fight with ISIL supporters. Plenty of Car-B-Ques in France. Islamic Council of Victoria is impotent to proclaim Islam, but has no problem endorsing terrorists. Media and politicians opposing laws intending to help ASIO oppose terror are claiming it limits free speech. So does 18c in the race guidelines. Maybe, to have balanced freedom, we can end 18c, but bring in the laws to oppose terrorists. Hizb Ut-Tahir excuses the slaughter of Muslims by saying they aren't. Something that cannot be said of terrorists, apparently. Mr Abbott has correctly called for them to be banned. So, naturally, left wing media agonise over wether banning is too big a call. Also, Islamic leaders excuse them saying that even bigots have free speech. But Mr Brandis was loudly declaimed for saying something similar over 18c.

Australian issues
The myth of a stolen generation has taken lives, but even were it beneficial, it fails the truth test. So it is really sad to hear that conservatives in South Australia will support a bill compensating people without verifying their status. PUP in Qld has lost her last state member. The member denies having issues with Palmer. He just feels it is better not to use any of their 'policies' in moving forward as an independent. Some very bad leaders have had media handlers. Some are asking why Mr Abbott hasn't got one. The answer should be obvious.

from 2013
Who represents the struggler? Who would give the average person a better deal? Who cares enough to exercise the kind of judgement that benefits the most? What kind of character are they? Obama, a wealthy leftist who identifies with thugs and pardons terrorists for 'peace' wants to spend more money without hiring one doctor to 'secure' the health of ten million desperately poor people. Abbott, a conservative who identifies with families and workers. Who supports people in their hour of need. Who is gracious without being obsequious, kind and generous without being a pushover. That same Mr Abbott is paid too much according to those upset with his expenses claims. Meanwhile Obama cools his heels with a game of Golf while strugglers get nothing.

Obama has failed to negotiate or conciliate with the conservatives on any issue. His community organising seems rusty. Obama leans towards socialism. Abbott leans towards capitalism.

One gets it the press doesn't like Abbott, but even so, it is wrong of the press to lie about Abbott's relationship with Putin. Why should left wing authors get paid government grants denied conservatives? If one believes in balance, the Melbourne Writer's festival is pretty bad. Kuwait is watching you. Egypt is watching her navel. Journalists struggle to explain why Abbott is excelling.
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This column welcomes feedback and criticism. The column is not made up but based on the days events and articles which are then placed in the feed. So they may not have an apparent cohesion they would have had were they made up.
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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


Or the US President at
https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-change-this-injustice#
or
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/change-injustice-faced-david-daniel-ball-after-he-reported-bungled-pedophile-investigation-and/b8mxPWtJ or http://wh.gov/ilXYR

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.netwhich 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.
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Happy birthday and many happy returns to Juicymymy Le and those others born on this day, including
1201 – Robert de Sorbon, French theologian, founder of the Collège de Sorbonne (d. 1274)
1581 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician, poet, and scholar (d. 1638)
1704 – Johann Andreas Segner, German mathematician, physicist, and physician (d. 1777)
1796 – Joseph Bonomi the Younger, English egyptologist and sculptor (d. 1878)
1873 – Karl Schwarzschild, German physicist and astronomer (d. 1916)
1893 – Mário de Andrade, Brazilian author, poet, and photographer (d. 1945)
1900 – Joseph Friedman, American inventor, invented the bendy straw (d. 1982)
1940 – John Lennon, English singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (The BeatlesThe QuarrymenPlastic Ono Band, and The Dirty Mac) (d. 1980)
1966 – David Cameron, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
1975 – Sean Lennon, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (The Ghost of a Saber Tooth TigerPlastic Ono Band, and Cibo Matto)
1994 – Jodelle Ferland, Canadian actress
October 9Hangul Day in South Korea (1446); Leif Erikson Day in the United States
Mary Tudor
Sister has done well. International mail is exchanged freely. Say it ain't so, Joe. Pol Pot was given too much. So you better party.
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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2014
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Two Australian bombs dropped on Islamic State targets

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (11:20am)

Our first bombs dropped:
The Australian Defence Force has confirmed RAAF jets have dropped bombs on Islamic State targets in Iraq.
Two bombs were dropped from an F/A-18F Super Hornet on to an IS facility, the Australian Defence Force said in a statement on Thursday… It is the first time Australia has launched air strikes since beginning combat operations on Sunday.
It is a strange war, where we drop just two bombs in a week. it is as if we fear to truly fight. 
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The Middle East’s wars come to Western streets

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (8:55am)

Importing the Middle East and its hatreds into the streets of Europe:
Ethnic Kurds clashed overnight with alleged members of a hardline Islamist movement in Hamburg last night, as ISIS clashes spread far from Syria.
Police in the northern German city say 14 people were injured overnight in the violence…
The Local reports that 400 Kurds gathered near the Al-Nour mosque after an earlier demonstration against the violence in Iraq and Syria. They were met by about 400 Salafi Muslims, according to police who said members of both groups came armed with metal bars, machetes and other sharp objects…
On Monday evening six people were hurt in Celle, Lower Saxony, after a brawl broke out between about 30 Muslims and 60 Yazidi Kurds. Around 60,000 Yazidis live in Germany.
(Thanks to reader doc.) 
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Last Palmer Queensland MP quits

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (8:31am)

Clive Palmer’s party is already collapsing in Queensland:
CLIVE Palmer’s last sitting Queensland MP, Carl Judge, has walked away from his party, saying he can better serve his electorate as an independent.
Mr Judge — who became the Palmer United Party’s state leader in August after Alex Douglas quit the fledgling outfit over internal preselection issues and accusations of “cronyism” — told the member for Fairfax he would no longer serve as a PUP MP.
He told The Courier-Mail: “It is an era for independent MPs like Peter Wellington and Alex Douglas and others to keep politics honest in Queensland.” ...
Asked whether a falling out with Mr Palmer was behind the move, Mr Judge said: “No, we’re friendly.”
(Thanks to reader WaG311.) 
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Excusing the slaughter

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (8:21am)

Hizb ut-Tahrir refuses to criticise Muslim terrorists who slaughter other Muslims, massacre infidels, traffic in women and behead journalists and aid workers:

And what they won’t condemn we must assume they condone:

EMMA ALBERICI [Lateline presenter]:  So tell me first of all, do you support the murderous campaign being waged by Islamic State fighters in Iraq?
WASSIM DOUREIHI [Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman in Australia]: Well, thank you very much for the opportunity. There is an urgent need in this country to have quite open and honest conversation. I want to take a moment just to take a step back…
EMMA ALBERICI: Do you support them or not?
WASSIM DOUREIHI:  The fact that we don’t want to have this discussion now is indicative of where the entire discussion on the war on terror narrative goes…
EMMA ALBERICI:  Do you support them or not?
WASSIM DOUREIHI: The fact that we don’t want to have this discussion now is indicative of where the entire discussion on the war on terror narrative goes.
EMMA ALBERICI: But it is Islamic State fighters who are killing Muslims.
WASSIM DOUREIHI: No, don’t come to me and pretend that the greatest threat to all of us ...
EMMA ALBERICI: Are you outraged by - are you outraged by the image of an Australian-born child of seven years old holding up severed heads like trophies in Iraq or Syria?
WASSIM DOUREIHI: Let me tell you what I am outraged by....
EMMA ALBERICI: They’re killing Christians, they’re murdering Kurds.
WASSIM DOUREIHI: We’re talking about - I’m glad you raised that point. Do you know why? Because how are we expected to believe that the West is concerned about the life of minorities when it is the majority that is being slaughtered?
And so on. Same routine on Sky News.
(Thanks to reader Min, Dildge and others.) 
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Hizb ut-Tahrir speaks more hatred than is safe

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (7:40am)

Free speech, Islamism


PRIME Minister Tony Abbott threatens to ban the extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir, and his critics already protest he’s trampling on free speech. True, but is that the end of the argument?
Abbott yesterday called these Sydney-based Islamists “thoroughly objectionable” and he hoped soon to pass laws banning groups promoting terrorism: “Then I suppose we have to have another look at Hizb ut-Tahrir to see whether they fall under the definition.”
The evidence already suggests it might come close. Last November, a Hizb ut-Tahrir leader, Wassim Doureihi, warned 600 people at the group’s annual conference they faced “a war on Islam — a war that is being waged in this country as it is in the rest of the world”.
(Read full article here.) 
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First find the “stolen generation” before throwing money at it

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (7:38am)

The "stolen generations"

SOUTH Australia seems set to become the second state to compensate “stolen generations” members — with few questions asked.
The Liberals, Greens and Family First say that next week they will vote for a plan to give up to $50,000 to any Aborigines forcibly taken from their families.
But no claimant will have to prove they were indeed stolen just for racist reasons — which does not surprise me. As the courts and the first compensation scheme, in Tasmania, have helped confirm, the “stolen generations” is, I’ve often argued, a myth. Yes, I know prime minister Kevin Rudd said “sorry”.
Yet not one “stolen generations” activist — notably Professor Robert Manne — has met my challenge to name even 10 children who fit the proper definition.
We’re not talking about children understandably rescued from their parents because they were abused, neglected or abandoned.
No, we’re talking about children allegedly “stolen” by officials in an “attempt to put an end to the Aboriginal people”, as the inventor of the “stolen generations” phrase, Professor Peter Read, explained.
(Read full article here. This column was not published in the Adelaide Advertiser.) 
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Where is Abbott’s media guru?

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (7:14am)

It strikes me again that Prime Minister Tony Abbott needs a media fireman with all the trust and much of the authority of his mega-capable but mega-busy chief of staff. For instance, Niki Savva identifies a missed opportunity to push a critical message:
It came on Sunday when Fin­ance Minister Mathias Cormann refused to rule out tax increases or further spending cuts to help pay for the war on terror in the Middle East, plus additional security measures, while still holding true to the promise to return the budget to surplus in the fourth year.
Here is where the Prime Minister has to use what he has learned from his handling of security issues to lock in public endorsement for budget measures necessary to promote safety and prosperity…
Again, rather than leave ­options open, he slammed the door shut, arguing that the estimated $250 million cost of combat for six months in Iraq was manageable without increased taxes… Abbott should have taken the opportunity to begin a new narrative, to marry the challenges, explain the difficulties the government faces in achieving the twin objectives of economic and national security in an uncertain world. He did not.
And it should not be up to Credlin to be putting out media fires like this one, which was allowed to rage for hours before being doused:
Abbott’s call for a ­reversal of the presiding officers’ “interim” decision, announced by the Department of Parliamentary Services, to force burka wearers to sit in the glass enclosures in the public galleries of the House of Representatives and Senate chambers so far has elicited no ­response…
Angry as many MPs were with the decision, there was also anger that Senate President Stephen Parry and House of Representatives Speaker Bronwyn Bishop appeared to have been hung out to dry....
Last Wednesday morning, Parry and Bishop woke up to Fairfax headlines proclaiming the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Peta Credlin, was sympathetic to a burka ban in Parliament House for security reasons.
According to the story, she reportedly expressed this view to backbencher George Christensen, in the apparent hope of hosing down his push for a complete ban on the burka, advising him to take up the issue of the ban inside parliament with the presiding officers.
In the same reports, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister “confirmed Ms Credlin had spoken to Mr Christensen but said a final decision on a ban was for the presiding officers"…
On Tuesday, Christensen confirmed to me he was woken about 6.30am by a call from Credlin that lasted less than a minute. He says she told him to cool it, which he reckons he had already decided after hearing of the knife attack by a young Muslim man on two police officers. He swears she did not, repeat not, tell him to raise the banning of burkas with the presiding officers. He says it is a mystery to him where Fairfax got its information. Curiouser and curiouser.
Bill Clinton had media and strategy advisors of the calibre of James Carville and George Stephanopoulos.
Tony Blair had Alastair Campbell.
Margaret Thatcher had Bernard Ingham.
Bob Hawke had Peter Barron, Geoff Walsh and Barrie Cassidy.
Who is Abbott’s?
This is in no way a criticism of Credlin, one of the rocks of this government. I am simply puzzled why Abbott wouldn’t want to have two of her. 
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Leyonhjelm:  terrorism laws are an attack on free speech

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (7:08am)

Senator David Leyonhjelm:
The latest tranche of security legislation before us, the foreign fighters bill, contains even more nasties. First, it allows for “delayed notification search warrants”. These will allow the Australian Federal Police to search your home, your correspondence and your underwear drawer without having to tell you about it for at least six months… As in the case of SIOs, “unauthorised disclosure” of the existence of such a warrant is a serious offence.
And, as with the previous national security legislation, there is no public interest defence and no protection for the exposure of corruption or misconduct…
Then there’s the new offence of “advocating terrorism”, which takes the traditional and perfectly workable law against incitement and turns it into a monster.
Under common law, incitement always required intent — to cause violence or terrorism, say — as well as proximity. There had to be a causal link between words spoken and deeds done. This new law is so broadly drafted that not only does it capture a general statement endorsing violence with no particular audience in mind but also requires only that the speaker is “reckless” as to whether what they say may cause terrorism.
As George Williams has noted, this is likely to criminalise a range of legitimate speech. All those campaigns to “free West Papua” or “get Israel out of Gaza” may become tedious after a while, but the possibility of attaching criminality to them is absurd.
Greg Sheridan:
SECTION 35P of the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill is a terrible piece of legislation that fundamentally alters the balance of power between the media and the government. In doing this, it seriously weakens our democracy and will ultimately weaken, in quite practical ways, our security…
Most of the government’s recent national security legislation is sound and necessary. But 35P is a shocker…
It provides that anyone who knowingly or recklessly discloses information about a special intelligence operation could face, depending on the circumstances, five or 10 years in prison…
The idea of the legislation is that the identity of ASIO agents working under cover should be protected from media or other revelations. Well, of course that is obvious. It is already an offence to reveal agents’ names…
One of the profoundly objectionable elements of the legislation is that an SIO, once a government declares it, remains illegal to write about indefinitely, even after it’s long finished.
To take an extreme case — as Bret Walker SC, the former national security legislation monitor, has pointed out — if ASIO accidentally kills someone in an SIO this can never be written about in the media, ever…
This legislation does nothing to prevent the most damaging types of leaks, such as occurred with Edward Snowden. He knew his leaks were illegal… The new laws would make no difference to an Australian Snowden..
The government now can stop all this give and take simply by telling the journalist they are dealing with an SIO and cannot legally publish. How would the journalist know whether that’s true or not?… The power of governments to declare subjects forever unpublishable is a wicked and extreme power.
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Islamic Council of Victoria claims Muslim groups “have to take up armed struggle”

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (6:17am)

First the Islamic Council of Victoria refused to condemn the 18-year-old jihadist who nearly killed two police officers in Victoria before he was shot dead:
I’m not going to condemn what he did because I don’t know what he did,” said secretary Ghaith Krayem…

“He went there at the request of the police, this wasn’t something that he planned or plotted.
Krayem blamed Australia instead by insisting it fix ”the root causes of alienation and disaffection of people such as this”.
Now the ICV seems to justify terrorists attacking Israel:
AN Islamic group has condemned the government’s planned terror laws as “a provocation to act”, in a strongly worded statement that appears to legitimise participation in attacks on Israel.
In a submission to the joint standing committee on intelligence and security inquiry into the bills, the Islamic Council of Vic­toria has warned of a “volatile clim­ate” in the Middle East that “continues to produce groups which have to take up armed struggle”.
The submission cites the battle against the Assad regime in Syria and “the struggle against the occupation of Palestinian territory and Palestinian right to self-determin­ation in the face of Israeli aggression” as examples, adding that “many in the Muslim community support such movements and deem them to be legitimate forms of armed struggle”.
The ICV under Krayem has become disturbingly extreme.
So who is this man, seemingly so full of resentment, so seemingly eager to defend even radical Muslims?
The Office of the Legal Services Commissioner reports:

image
Note that virtually all the people whose trust fund money, insurance payout and property settlement Krayem mishandled had Middle Eastern or Indonesian names, and were most likely Muslim. 
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Why are Rifi’s bigots free but Brandis’s “bigots” muzzled?

Andrew Bolt October 09 2014 (12:39am)

Attorney-General George Brandis in March on why the Racial Discrimination Act should be reformed to permit more debate on, say, Middle Eastern culture, immigration and faith:
People do have a right to be bigots, you know. People have the right to say things that other people would find insulting, offensive or bigoted.
Muslim community leader Jamal Rifi last night on why new terrorism laws should not be used to ban the extremist Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamist import from the Middle East:
We should hold the view that even bigots have the right to be bigots and Hizb ut-Tahrir is the same as any other group: they are entitled to their view and should be able to express it.
Both men say the same thing, and both are right.  The difference is that the Left and much of the media vilified Brandis, but will side with Rifi, who defends Hizb ut-Tahrir’s freedom of speech but demanded the rest of us stay muzzled.
Right now it seem Hizb ut-Tahrir has in practice more freedom to speak than do its critics. 
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very unsubtly shaped G20 exclusion zone...
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.. it is Lennon's birthday .. both Sean and John .. excellent way to celebrate
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you couldn't afford me
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Over 3000 metres up in the mountains of Pakistan lives the world's largest goat: the Markhor. The name Markhor is believed to mean snake horn. Their horns can grow over 1.5m long, curved to prevent them from snapping as he charges. 

Animal Fight Club: Season 2
Tonight at 8.30pm AEDT on Nat Geo WILD
http://natgeotv.com.au/tv/animal-fight-club/

Photograph by Getty Images
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=== Posts from last year ===
4 her, so she can see how I see her









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Alien Lane

Some accidental light painting was just what was needed as it turns out. Definitely a favorite of my night out north of Bodega with Mike Oria, who lit up this scene while fixing his gear. It was okay, I was only taking a test shot. Turns out the test shot was THE shot. I like these kinds of accidents.
— at shell beach.
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Anagog, an Israeli location-based technology company, unveiled on Monday an automatic algorithm that can analyze and identify where and when a parking space will be available.
Unlike other services, Anagog company says the technology's automatic nature will update the user instead of the user having to update the system.
The launch for the innovative system included an announcement of cooperation with PARX, the owner of Easy Park, which will allow Easy Park users in 130 countries to receive updates except for reminders to pay parking fees.
The company calls it “the first living parking map of an urban center,” and says that its data has just been built into the Easy Park app.
The technology can interface with navigation systems, cellular service and map providers, car makers, municipalities, transportation offices and more.
“We all saw what crowdsourcing did for traffic and navigation, and we are excited to see this concept brought to the world of parking,” said Parx’s CEO, Ofer Tziperman, referring to another Israeli startup, Waze, a navigation system which was recently bought by Google for about $1.3 billion. 
Anagog has a variety of apps such as FindMyCar, 2Park, OTO, StopPark, and ParkDroid, which help people find their car again after parking. The data accumulated by those types of apps feeds into the open parking spot database, as does data from EasyPark and other partners. Altogether, Anagog says it has about 500,000 users, which enables it to do this:

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Multimillionaire one-percenter Barack Obama is a big fan of special rules for Washington insiders like himself, so it’s not really a surprise that one of his favorite golf courses at Andrew’s Air Force base remains open while public monuments like the National Memorial for World War II veterans are blocked off with “Barrycades” during the 13% government shutdown.
The Andrews Air Force base golf course is sustained by fees, like many of the national parksaround the country. The chief of public affairs at the 11th wing claimed that this was the reason that the golf course remains open for
golf pros political indignitaries like President Obama.

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Very illuminating.

The difference between the ancient Jewish and Greek minds...

"There can be no covenants between men and lions, wolves and lambs can never be of one mind, but hate each other out and out." - Homer (900 BC-800 BC)

"And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them." - Isaiah 11:6
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Super easy vegan recipe for fall - Maple Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash with a touch of spice. So healthy, seriously addicting!

Recipe here: http://theshiksa.com/2013/10/08/maple-cinnamon-roasted-butternut-squash/
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The rumors have been circulating inside and outside Gaza for a long time. Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, is supposedly in hot water in his new abode in Qatar and is looking for another place to live. Al-Monitor correspondent Adnan Abu Amer talked with the spokesman of the movement’s political bureau, Izzat al-Rishq, who denied the rumor and claimed that this is only propaganda aimed to harm Hamas. 

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/10/meshaal-qatar-hamas-crisis-exile-beirut.html#ixzz2hDCw8HSP

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They ignore the words of the Ayatollah Khamenei, who defined statesmanship as fraud and deceit hidden in smiles, and then sent Rouhani off to negotiate with the West. There are people who actually think that the Iranians, who spent so much on their nuclear bomb project, will actually give it up and abandon their dream of controlling the Arab oil fields, the Arabian Peninsula, the Persian Gulf, then on from there.

The Middle Eastern Bazaar

Russia's Putin calculates his every move, and only goes to war to win. Considering the might of the West balanced against his own weakness, he apparently saw that the smart thing, should the U.S. decide to attack Syria, would be to stand on the sidelines and let Assad, his ally, tough it out alone. Concerned, even momentarily, that the U.S. might actually carry out its threat and attack the Syrian regime as it promised when the use of chemical weapons was called a "red line," Putin was quick to save the U.S. from itself. While Obama yelled "hold me back," however, in reality he did nothing and was planning to do nothing: the U.S. looked afraid.
Despite Syria having begun to reveal the locations of its chemical weapons storehouses, Putin is still squirming. He has no way of being certain that all the locations will be revealed – nor does anyone else. He refuses to let the chemicals enter Russia for destruction. No one knows where they will be destroyed or who will accept responsibility.
Now, while Putin is demanding that Israel also destroy the weapons of mass destruction he pretends it possesses, he also fancifully claims that Syria has chemical weapons "only" as a strategic balance to the "Israeli threat." Putin has said that, given Israel's technological superiority, it has nothing to fear from Syria -- another manipulative lie, this time for the ears of the Arab and Muslim world, which, as usual, hears only what it wants to. Putin knows full well that if Israel so desired, it could attack and defeat Syria or any other Arab country without once taking recourse to non-conventional weapons, especially now that these countries have been weakened by the Arab Spring.
Putin, having negotiated with the U.S. and discovered how easily it could be swayed -- is now, like a rug merchant in an Arab bazaar, trying to renegotiate the original arrangement to extort more. Having identified America's weaknesses, Putin is now doing his best to exploit it to the maximum, making the U.S. the biggest loser: Given its current situation in the UN and Congress, even if the U.S. wanted to attack Syria, it could not carry out its threat: The U.S now cannot attack without support from the UN Security Council, and, possibly to its relief, it is not going to get it.
The Arab and Muslim world is hard, implacable and unrelenting: here, in the Middle East, might is measured in terms of results on the ground, not in rhetoric. Since the Kerry-Lavrov agreement was reached, the status of the United States has plummeted and burned, despite the American campaign to market Obama as the super-strategist who achieved a diplomatic success while carrying a big stick. The truth is that the U.S. made empty threats that were never carried out. Worse, everyone knows he could not have carried them out: both domestically and abroad, he looks weak.

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“According to a new Pew Research Center survey of the American Jewish community, more and more American Jews have reached the conclusion that there is no reason to be Jewish.” Our World: Why bother being Jewish?
By CAROLINE B. GLICK 10/07/2013http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Our-World-Why-bother-being-Jewish-328098
I have Jewish ancestry through my father. Many years ago, ignorant of my ancestry, I embraced Christianity and remain there. But I welcome my family who are Jewish as Jewish. And I welcome those who are not directly related recently, but who are Jewish as they are.
It is not lost on me that God trained his people and that mark remains today. I have read an amazing account describing why in Japan, Shintoism seems directly related/descended from Hebrew migrants from the Silk road. It is true there is resilience in Judaic peoples from their struggles. There is also great art and technical expertise throughout the ages, with many flowerings. But one observation I make as a school teacher. Students who do best are not those who become reclusive and focused to one thing at the expense of all else. The best students tend to be good at everything, giving, working, helping, creating. They are prized in their community because of it. Which is why I suggest those who do not know the Jewish faith of their ancestors, explore it. - ed

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mufti

On January 4, 2013, Mahmoud Abbas, spoke via video link on a wide screen to the masses in Gaza, who gathered to celebrate the founding of Fatah (Arabic word for “conquest”),  otherwise known as the Palestine Liberation Organization.
In his New Year’s speech, Abbas spoke glowingly of the legacy of the Godfather of the PLO, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Muhammad Amin Al-Husseini, who during the 1920′s and 1930’s instigated pogroms against the Jews of Palestine and who during his residence in Nazi Germany actively plotted a Final Solution to be carried out once his German allies would win the war.

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Abbas vs Hamas ... Brigade 9 and special operation units conducted operations in villages, in Jenin refugee camp, and in some of the city of Jenin’s neighborhoods in the search for fugitives
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cuff links
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tter. They will inflict pain on others out of a lack of compassion and a firm self centered view of the world, and that is normal. They grow up and learn.

The elected officials of our United States government are acting like children. They need to grow up. They need to look beyond their own selfish little worlds.

Read on...>

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It is hard to keep the scorecard straight.

On the one hand, we are witness to what appears to be an unprecedented Egyptian operation against smuggling activity between Egyptian Sinai and the Gaza Strip as well as terror groups inside Sinai. On the other hand we face an ever more complicated challenge to find a way to ensure that the situation doesn't ultimately result in an effective end to the crucial Israel-Egypt peace treaty Sinai force limits.

On the one hand, Israel has made significant progress in efforts to improve practical Israeli-Palestinian relations, with huge increases in the numbers of Palestinians able to work inside Israel, renewal of cooperation in various agricultural programs as well as an ongoing series of renewed inter-ministerial meetings. On the other hand Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership and media in general continue with their inciting anti-Israel propaganda and hardline positions – while the remarks of some key Israeli players (Livni and others) provides worrisome evidence that ideology and politics can take precedence over reality .


Today the gulf states share Israel's concerns over a nuclear Iran but what appears to be a potentially poisonous combination of ideological orientation and domestic economics and politics seems to drive the Obama Administration to seek any and every way to a path that avoids a showdown with Teheran.

And what of Syria? If – and it is a big if – the Assad regime provides chemical weapons figures that are similar to the estimates the US and Russia share (assuming Mr. Kerry didn't agree to slash the figures) this may set a meaningful benchmark for the operation (are biological weapons in the arrangement?). Compliance, unfortunately, is hardly a foregone conclusion with a very real possibility that Russia "compensates" Syria for foregoing its chemical weapons (at least in theory) with S-300 systems shielding both Syria and Hezbullah.

Link: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=61918
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Steve Ganot and Ruthie Blum go head to head on Oslo. Steve maintains that the goal of Zionism has not changed: a Jewish, democratic state at peace with its neighbors •Ruthie says the goal should not be peace, but victory.
Ruthie is so right.

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So as it turns out, growing and smoking cannabis is completely legal in North Korea.Encouraged, even. Here's the story of how I found out... and then ended up indulging in the 'special plant' with an officer from North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The discovery came during my recent tour of Rason in North Korea, at the time of the 2013 Korean Crisis. The DPRK was - potentially - poised on the brink of nuclear war with the South, with Japan, the US, et al., and I was hanging out in a small port town somewhere near the Russian border.
Smoking Weed in North Korea | Illegal Drugs in the DPRK
As is generally the case with tours to North Korea, I had visited as a part of a group. However, this was no ordinary group. Some of my contacts in the tourism industry - regular visitors to the DPRK - were putting on a 'staff outing' of sorts... and I'd been invited along for the ride.
In true Korean style, their counterpoints in the DPRK felt obliged to match this show of seniority (as they perceived it) by sending one of their own high-ranking officials to lead our group: a 'Mr Kim,' from North Korea's own Ministry of Foreign Affairs [1].
The details of the tour - as well as my own reflections on visiting the country at a time of seemingly imminent war - are the subject of my post on the 2013 Korean Crisis. What follows here, are the parts I left out.

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There, I said it. And so did Elder.
His latest piece, on the dichotomy between Israel and Syria vis-à-vis the Golan, is riddled with errors, that any 8 year old with Wikipedia can find.
…the strategic high ground Israel twice has taken from Syria — first, in the lightning-quick Six-Day War of 1967, then again, at great cost, after Syria’s surprise offensive in the October War six years later.
As I have shown before, the battle for the Golan 40 years ago is often shrouded in the “Israel lost” narrative. Truth is, that the Syrian offensive was stopped dead after 36 hours, and by the 4th day, Israeli armour was advancing inside Syria. That Vick says that Syria has somehow recaptured the entire Golan before Israel “took” it, is out of touch with reality. While Syria did capture key points, it didn’t come near as capturing the entire area.
1973_Yom_Kippur_War_-_Golan_heights_theater (1)
He goes on to explain about the Golan demography, and fails.

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Dr. Mordechai Kedar on the important topic of the true nature of the Middle East. What is it that Westerners do not understand about this volatile region? Why does it seem like there is perpetual conflict with no end in sight? Kedar, a Professor of Arabic Literature at Israelapos;s Bar-Ilan University, focuses on three areas of explanation: Tribalism, Ethnicities, and Religions. The event was held at Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wBlp8mcosY
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Prof. Robert Wistrich, Head of the Vidal Sassoon Center, Hebrew University 
An Evening in Honour of Mr. Mike Whine, MBE,
Held at the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItiF2MzvGwU
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An IDF illustration showing the dangers that Hezbollah poses for Israel, after it has presumably been disarmed via Resolution 1701

What’s the likely outcome of the US-Russia accord on Syria’s chemical arsenal? Look no further than what happened to UN Resolution 1701 of seven years ago. That resolution, which ended the Second Lebanon War and which purportedly eliminated Hezbollah’s missile armories, is a mirror image of the non-disarmament-to-come.
It is also Tzipi Livni’s self-proclaimed crowning achievement during her stint as then-PM Ehud Olmert’s foreign minister. To any visitor from Mars who may be uninformed, self-same Livni is currently in charge of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.
Resolution 1701 is a sad object lesson about the immoral malfunction of high-minded international agreements to destroy dangerous weapons stockpiles. The Syrian counterpart may not evolve in identical patterns but its inevitable bottom line will be no different than that of the dismal gag that Resolution 1701 turned out to be.
Worst of all, no one seems to dwell on that out-of-mind resolution, no one remembers. The widespread affectation is that everything is peaches and cream, as if the international intervention worked wonders.  It’s as if wholesale deception has never been perpetrated.  It’s as if no one recognizes that nothing whatsoever went to plan.
The pretense is just too sweet and alluring an option to pass up. Truth is too painful, persistent and unpleasant a bother with which to cope.

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I'm GOP/Tea Party Conservative .. ed
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Sundaysunset.images recently spent time on the beautiful Southern Coast of Western Australia, photographing the white sandy beaches, crystal clear waters and rocky cliff tops. Here are some of the highlights... 

'The stunning crystal clear blue waters of Lucky Bay'
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CHOPPER IS DEAD

Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read (born 17 November 1954 - 9 October 2013) 

http://www.chopperread.com/
Did he only kill bad guys? - ed
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The development comes in the wake of outrage over the fact that several groups of World War II veterans had to resort to breaking down barriers to gain access to the monument built in their honor.
A pro immigration reform rally was underway Tuesday on the National Mall despite the fact that national memorials have been closed during the government shutdown.
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Barrycades, #SpiteHouse cones are no match for patriots at Great Smoky Mountains National Park [pics]==> http://twitchy.com/2013/10/08/barrycades-spitehouse-cones-are-no-match-for-patriots-at-great-smoky-mountains-national-park-pics/
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San Francisco
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Speaking to reporters Tuesday at the White House, President Obama revealed he called House Speaker John Boehner and said he is willing to negotiate as soon as Republicans end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling.
"If Congress refuses to raise what is called the debt ceiling, America would not be able to meet its financial obligations for the first time in 225 years," Obama said. "Raising our debt ceiling does not add to debt."
Obama took the opportunity in front of the press to berate Republicans and implied Tea Party Republicans want to default on debt. Obama also compared tax reform and compromise on a debt ceiling hike to Xboxes.
"They have decided to run out the clock resulting in a government shutdown," Obama said. "That is not how our government is supposed to run."
House Republicans have passed more than a dozen bills funding different aspects of the government, and all of them have been rejected by the Democrat-controlled Senate.
"Let's end this shutdown right now, let's put people back to work," Obama said. "A vote could take place today and then serious negotiations can proceed around every item in the budget."

When is it routine? Obama has never negotiated with Conservatives. - ed
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"Gratitude is a portal for which love and life can enter. Be grateful for the day!" #gratitude #love - Paula White
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Why does the Vatican pull its funding from Palestinian Authority textbooks? Find out in this important expose on Palestinian incitement against Jewish civilians.


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Belgian physicist Francois Englert, left, and British physicist Peter Higgs, right, at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin near Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday, July 4, 2012. (photo credit: AP Photo/Keystone/Martial Trezzini)

François Englert, 80, a Belgian Holocaust survivor, wins prestigious prize with Peter Higgs


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This is a "Pomsky" - A cross between a Pomeranian and a Husky. They stay about this size their entire life.
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“I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.” Isaiah 43:11-12 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught."
Luke 5:4
We learn from this narrative, the necessity of human agency. The draught of fishes was miraculous, yet neither the fisherman nor his boat, nor his fishing tackle were ignored; but all were used to take the fishes. So in the saving of souls, God worketh by means; and while the present economy of grace shall stand, God will be pleased by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. When God worketh without instruments, doubtless he is glorified; but he hath himself selected the plan of instrumentality as being that by which he is most magnified in the earth. Means of themselves are utterly unavailing. "Master, we have toiled all the night and have taken nothing." What was the reason of this? Were they not fishermen plying their special calling? Verily, they were no raw hands; they understood the work. Had they gone about the toil unskilfully? No. Had they lacked industry? No, they had toiled. Had they lacked perseverance? No, they had toiled all the night. Was there a deficiency of fish in the sea? Certainly not, for as soon as the Master came, they swam to the net in shoals. What, then, is the reason? Is it because there is no power in the means of themselves apart from the presence of Jesus? "Without him we can do nothing." But with Christ we can do all things. Christ's presence confers success. Jesus sat in Peter's boat, and his will, by a mysterious influence, drew the fish to the net. When Jesus is lifted up in his Church, his presence is the Church's power--the shout of a king is in the midst of her. "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me." Let us go out this morning on our work of soul fishing, looking up in faith, and around us in solemn anxiety. Let us toil till night comes, and we shall not labour in vain, for he who bids us let down the net, will fill it with fishes.

Evening

"Praying in the Holy Ghost."
Jude 20
Mark the grand characteristic of true prayer--"In the Holy Ghost." The seed of acceptable devotion must come from heaven's storehouse. Only the prayer which comes from God can go to God. We must shoot the Lord's arrows back to him. That desire which he writes upon our heart will move his heart and bring down a blessing, but the desires of the flesh have no power with him.
Praying in the Holy Ghost is praying in fervency. Cold prayers ask the Lord not to hear them. Those who do not plead with fervency, plead not at all. As well speak of lukewarm fire as of lukewarm prayer--it is essential that it be red hot. It is praying perseveringly. The true suppliant gathers force as he proceeds, and grows more fervent when God delays to answer. The longer the gate is closed, the more vehemently does he use the knocker, and the longer the angel lingers the more resolved is he that he will never let him go without the blessing. Beautiful in God's sight is tearful, agonizing, unconquerable importunity. It means praying humbly, for the Holy Spirit never puffs us up with pride. It is his office to convince of sin, and so to bow us down in contrition and brokenness of spirit. We shall never sing Gloria in excelsis except we pray to God De profundis: out of the depths must we cry, or we shall never behold glory in the highest. It is loving prayer. Prayer should be perfumed with love, saturated with love--love to our fellow saints, and love to Christ. Moreover, it must be a prayer full of faith. A man prevails only as he believes. The Holy Spirit is the author of faith, and strengthens it, so that we pray believing God's promise. O that this blessed combination of excellent graces, priceless and sweet as the spices of the merchant, might be fragrant within us because the Holy Ghost is in our hearts! Most blessed Comforter, exert thy mighty power within us, helping our infirmities in prayer.
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Today's reading: Isaiah 30-31, Philippians 4 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Isaiah 30-31

Woe to the Obstinate Nation
1 “Woe to the obstinate children,”
declares the LORD,
“to those who carry out plans that are not mine,
forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit,
heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt
without consulting me;
who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection,
to Egypt’s shade for refuge.
3 But Pharaoh’s protection will be to your shame,
Egypt’s shade will bring you disgrace.
4 Though they have officials in Zoan
and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,
5 everyone will be put to shame
because of a people useless to them,
who bring neither help nor advantage,
but only shame and disgrace.”

Today's New Testament reading: Philippians 4

Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity
1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Final Exhortations
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus....
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