Sunday, May 10, 2015

Sun May 10th Todays News

On Bolt Report an ongoing policy is that any Islam post can only be on the pinned leader. Normal rules apply in that if it is merely foul and abusive it will be deleted. Otherwise comments are welcome.  
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Double standards, once accepted, spread. It is impossible to be both just, and to have a double standard. It might not appear much, but historical that has been the case. Accepting the double standard of the Ottoman Turks persecuting Armenians was wrong. As was accepting Russia or Germany persecuting Jews. Accepting Jihadis persecution of anyone is wrong too. And the cost in each instance was very high. Double standards highlight the disparity between the two policies of harm minimisation and zero tolerance. Harm minimisation is favoured by the left. In terms of illegal drugs, harm minimisation means users go untreated. But the left characterise it as meaning that those on the lower rungs of the trade are not punished for the activity of those higher up, trading in misery. But the obvious reality is harm minimisation means drug users go untreated. Zero tolerance means that drug users are treated and supply is restricted. It means innocent peoples are less likely to be involved with drugs. The left characterise it as drug users facing jail which wouldn't be effective. But the obvious reality is that zero tolerance is very effective. Harm minimisation is a double standard, and sometimes when double standards are exposed then bad things happen. For example the executions in Indonesia recently, and the executions which go on daily around the world in Saudi Arabia, China and Iran in which the rule of law is suspect.

 Miranda Devine details the double standard of a woman kissing Prince Harry against his consent, and the outcry had a young man attempted that with an actress. I am well aware of the double standard on rape, and how my parents treated my rape by their friend when I was a child, and how the Royal Commission treats rapes in its handling of institutional responses. Apparently the royal commission can pick and choose, depending on the exposure of the ALP or the Catholic Church. Is the community happy with that standard?

 In 1849, at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, a riot broke out over who was the better actor, Edwin Forrest, a burly, booming dramatic actor who was US born, or the UK born, Rugby educated William Macready whose Shakespeare characters were understated. The two were friendly rivals, but Forrest's fans were willing to heckle and outrageously misbehave. After disrupting on the 7th, a Macbeth performance of Macready in which his Broadway theatre was trashed, Macready was ready to go home, but wealthy NY peoples begged him to stay. The ensuing riots on the tenth resulted in local militia being called in, and the rioters got the soldiers to fire into the crowd. The following day, mothers went looking for the bodies of their children in street stalls. Sometimes children misbehave, but a mother's work is never done. And so a double standard ends, as it must, in injustice. 
2014
Today is the birthday (1810) of Brewer, who wrote one of my favourite books, a dictionary on phrase and fable. It is also the birthday of Rick Santorum, 1958, a year after Sid Vicious. 28 BC, some Han dynasty observers contribute to modern AGW research through their notes on sunspots. 70 AD, the son of Ceaser Vespasian, Titus, begins a siege of Jerusalem, attacking the third wall,to the North West. 1655, England annexes Jamaica from Spain .. they didn't ask nicely. Great Britain passed the Tea Act on this day in 1773. 1824, the National Gallery opens the first time in London. 1872, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman nominated to be the President of the US, forever denying Obama that singular honour. 1893, the Supreme Court of the US applied all her collective wit to define Tomato as a vegetable. In 1933, they partied in Germany by burning books. Seven years later, as Churchill was appointed UK PM, Germany was bombing herself at Freiburg. One year later, Rudolph Hess parachuted into Scotland to negotiate peace. 

I believe history will smile on the Presidency of George W Bush. He warned of what would happen if the economy was ignored regarding housing in his inauguration speech, and he was right. Early on in his presidency, the US was attacked, and thanks to his actions, the US was not successfully attacked on her own soil again. Because of the viciousness of Saddam, Iraq was made by Bush to become a democracy, and it was up to Obama to salvage a loss by giving Iraq to Iran. But, on this day, in 2005, a hand grenade was lobbed at Bush in Georgia and would probably have killed him, had it not malfunctioned. The GOP President has to fight to live his life each day in ways that Democrats don't.
Historical perspectives on this day
In 28 BC, a sunspot was observed by Han Dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China. 70, Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, opened a full-scale assault on Jerusalem and attacked the city's Third Wall to the northwest. 1291, Scottish nobles recognised the authority of Edward I of England pending the selection of a king. 1497, Amerigo Vespucci allegedly left Cádiz for his first voyage to the New World. 1503, Christopher Columbus visited the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there. 1534, Jacques Cartier visited Newfoundland. 1655, England, with troops under the command of Admiral William Penn and General Robert Venables, annexed Jamaica from Spain.

 In 1768, John Wilkes was imprisoned for writing an article for The North Briton severely criticising King George III. This action provoked rioting in London. 1773, the Parliament of Great Britain passed the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade. 1774, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette became King and Queen of France. 1775, American Revolutionary War: A small Colonial militia led by Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold captured Fort Ticonderoga. Also 1775, American Revolutionary War: Representatives from the Thirteen Colonies began the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. 1796, First Coalition: Napoleon I of France won a decisive victory against Austrian forces at Lodi bridge over the Adda River in Italy. The Austrians lost some 2,000 men.

 In 1801, First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declared war on the United States of America. 1824, the National Gallery in London opened to the public. 1833, the desecration of the grave of the viceroy of southern Vietnam Lê Văn Duyệt by Emperor Minh Mạng provoked his adopted son to start a revolt. 1837, Panic of 1837: New York City banks failed, and unemployment reached record levels. 1849, Astor Place Riot: A riot broke out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 25 and injuring over 120.

 In 1857, Indian Rebellion of 1857: In India, the first war of Independence began. Sepoys mutinied against their commanding officers at Meerut. 1863, American Civil War: Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson died eight days after he was accidentally shot by his own troops. 1864, American Civil War: Colonel Emory Upton led a 10-regiment "Attack-in-depth" assault against the Confederate works at The Battle of Spotsylvania, which, though ultimately unsuccessful, would provide the idea for the massive assault against the Bloody Angle on May 12. Upton was slightly wounded but was immediately promoted to Brigadier general. 1865, American Civil War: Jefferson Davis was captured by Union troops near Irwinville, Georgia. Also 1865, American Civil War: In Kentucky, Union soldiers ambushed and mortally wounded Confederate raider William Quantrill, who lingered until his death on June 6. 1866, Romania National Holiday 1866-1947, The Modern Monarchy Instauration of the Kingdom of Romania, Carol I of Romania 1869, the First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, was completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah) with the golden spike. 1872, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman nominated for President of the United States. 1876, the Centennial Exposition was opened in Philadelphia by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro II. 1877, Romania declared itself independent from the Ottoman Empire following the Senate adoption of Mihail Kogălniceanu's Declaration of Independence. Recognised on March 26, 1881 after the end of the Romanian War of Independence. 1893, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.

 In 1904, the Horch & Cir. Motorwagenwerke AG was founded. 1908, Mother's Day was observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia. 1916, Sailing in the lifeboat James Caird, Ernest Shackleton arrived at South Georgia after a journey of 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island. 1922, the United States annexed the Kingman Reef. 1924, J. Edgar Hoover was appointed first Director of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and remained so until his death in 1972. 1933, Censorship: In Germany, the Nazis staged massive public book burnings.

 In 1940, World War II: German fighters accidentally bombed the German city of Freiburg. Also 1940, World War II: German raids on British shipping convoys and military airfields began. Also 1940, World War II: Germany invaded Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Also 1940, World War II: Winston Churchill was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain. Also 1940, World War II: Invasion of Iceland by the United Kingdom. 1941, World War II: The House of Commons in London was damaged by the Luftwaffe in an air raid. Also 1941, World War II: Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany. 1942, World War II: The Thai Phayap Army invaded the Shan States during the Burma Campaign. 1946, First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground. 1948, the Republic of China implemented "temporary provisions" granting President Chiang Kai-shek extended powers to deal with the Communist uprising; they would remain in effect until 1991.

 In 1954, Bill Haley & His Comets released "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts. 1960, the nuclear submarine USS Triton completed Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth. 1962, Marvel Comics published the first issue of The Incredible Hulk. 1969, Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Ap Bia began with an assault on Hill 937. It would ultimately become known as Hamburger Hill. 1970, Bobby Orr scored "The Goal" to win the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals, for the Boston Bruins' fourth NHL championship in their history. 1972, First flight of the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II (a.k.a. "Warthog"). 1975, Sony introduced the Betamax videocassette recorder in Japan. 1979, the Federated States of Micronesia became self-governing. 1981, François Mitterrand won the presidential election and became the first Socialist President of France in the French Fifth Republic.

 In 1993, in Thailand, a fire at the Kader Toy Factory killed 156 workers. 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president. 1997, a 7.3 Mw earthquake struck Iran's Khorasan Province, killing 1,567, injuring over 2,300, leaving 50,000 homeless, and damaging or destroying over 15,000 homes. Also 1997, the Maeslantkering, a storm surge barrier in the Netherlands that was one of the world's largest moving structures, was opened by Queen Beatrix. 2002, F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds. 2005, a hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutinian landed about 65 feet (20 meters) from U.S. President George W. Bush while he was giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctioned and did not detonate. 2008, an EF4 tornado struck the Oklahoma–Kansas state line, killing 21 people and injuring over 100. 2012, the Damascus bombings were carried out using a pair of car bombs detonated by suicide bombers outside of a military intelligence complex in Damascus, Syria, killing 55 people and injuring 400 others 2013, One World Trade Center became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
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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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Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August https://www.createspace.com/4124406, September https://www.createspace.com/5106914, October https://www.createspace.com/5106951, or at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482020262/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_dVHPub0MQKDZ4  The kindle version is cheaper, but the soft back version allows the purchase of a kindle version for just $3.99 more. 
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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
Douglas Sutherland-Bruce via David Daniel 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.
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Christine Chandra, Christine Giorgio and Jason Trenkler. You were born on the same date as Christopher Columbus visiting the Cayman Islands and discovering turtles there had good taste 1503. Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to nominate for President of the USA 1872. Shackleton completed one of history's greatest small boat journeys in 1916. J Edgar Hoover became what was later to be known as FBI chief in 1924. And in 1981, François Mitterrand became the first socialist president elected to the French Fifth Republic. So you don't have to do those tasks .. I wish you well with yours.
Deaths
May 10: Mother's Day in several countries (2015); Independence Day in Romania (1877)
Neville Chamberlain
My Chinese Grandmother delighted in her nickname for me, "Little Turtle." We all suffer in depression. Sepoy were excellent fighters. Nifty is gone. John Wayne never spoke enough. Let's party. 
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
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2015
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After UK flop, odds Shorten on Bill losing

Piers Akerman – Sunday, May 10, 2015 (11:27am)

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey go into Budget week with a renewed sense of confidence in their policies following the triumph of the Conservative Party in the UK elections.
The British result will force Australian political parties to rethink, and perhaps recalibrate, if they’re smart.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'After UK flop, odds Shorten on Bill losing'
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Mutant feminists are raping reality

Piers Akerman – Sunday, May 10, 2015 (4:35pm)

PRINCE Harry comes to town and is accosted by a woman forcibly trying to kiss him at the Sydney Opera House.
Where’s the outrage? Where is the “jazz hands” crowd when it is a man whose consent is not granted for a bit of slap and tickle?
Of course, 21-year-old Victoria McRae was just having fun, as her “Marry Me, Prince Harry!” sign and the plastic crown on her head showed.
The cameras loved it when the exuberant blonde grabbed the Prince around the neck and pulled him in for a cheeky full-lips pash. “He let me kiss him on the cheek but then I went in for it,” McRae told ­reporters. “There’s a lot of chemistry there, I’d say.”
Harry took it in his stride, backing away from the uninvited kiss with fast reflexes and a hearty chuckle.
McRae told FoxFM the next day that Harry had “very nice lips … They are very soft and they felt like they hadn’t been kissed much!”
Yes, it was all in good fun, making headlines around the world, much as, a generation ago, a bikini-clad model ­ambushed Prince Charles with a kiss on Perth’s Cottesloe Beach. But, still, if a man did to a woman what McRae did to Harry, all hell would have broken out.
The double standards on sexual relations between the sexes have gone from confusing to downright dangerous.
We have a situation where a 17-year-old in Albury this month placed the entire town on alert after claiming to have been the victim of a violent sexual assault by three men as she walked home from work.
Two days later, after a media frenzy and the Albury Mayor had been castigated by feminist hit squads for warning women not to “walk alone”, the case was dropped.
The Border Mail reported the assault had never happened and it was unlikely the girl would be charged.
The only person to suffer any consequences from the false alarm was Mayor Kevin Mack, who had to issue a ­humiliating apology.
It is “victim-blaming” to ­accuse a woman of lying about sexual assault, so it’s rare for police to lay charges over false accusations, even if an innocent man has to spend a couple of days in jail. “Innocent until proven guilty” has a new caveat: “unless you are a man”.
It’s fair game to accuse men of the most heinous behaviour, impugn an entire sex and not only go unpunished, but ­become a media darling. In the US, which is a few years ahead of us on this poisonous trajectory, even the President will take your side.
Take the celebrated Rolling Stone story last year, accusing seven male students of gang rape at a fraternity party at the University of Virginia.
The “victim” has since been revealed as a serial liar and Rolling Stone has issued a full retraction: “We were trying to be sensitive to the unfair shame and humiliation many women feel after a sexual assault and now regret the decision to not contact the alleged assaulters to get their account.”
Just a teensy journalistic error. Such are the extremes of “rape culture” hysteria, which has been fuelled by the Obama administration’s claim of a “rape epidemic”, and its directive to college campuses to crack down on sexual assault or lose funding. Young men are having their reputations ­ruined and career prospects jeopardised because the burden of proof is weighted heavily against them. More than 60 men are suing American colleges over false accusations, according to activist group “A voice for male students”.
One is Australian Lewis McLeod, 24, a former Sydney Grammar vice-captain who was expelled from Duke University over unproven rape allegations, costing him his $250,000 degree and a job on Wall Street.
Then there is the surreal story of Mattress Girl. Columbia University student Emma Sulkhowitz made the cover of Time Magazine because she carries a mattress with her everywhere as a protest against university authorities who have not expelled a student she claims raped her. She named and shamed Paul Nungesser, a German student on a scholarship, as a “serial rapist” despite him having been cleared by the university and police of any wrongdoing. He is suing the university for allowing Sulkhowitz to harass him.
Sexual assault is a serious problem. But it won’t be stopped by a mutant feminism which holds that rape is whatever you want it to be.
According to an article in an American college newspaper last month, women who ­engage in consensual sex can still be “raped by rape culture”.
This sort of nonsense devalues the trauma of genuine rape victims. How can a women who feels regret about a sexual encounter equate her hurt feelings with the horrors of, say, Jill Meagher’s last horrific moments on earth?
If all men are rapists, then every woman who is not a virgin is a victim, and everybody is a child of rape. Where does that leave us?
Bill’s lesson in UK election
The comprehensive victory of David Cameron’s Conservatives in the UK election against all opinion polls and predictions bodes well for Tony Abbott.
It proves the innate good sense of the British electorate, which is more than reflected here.
The class war rhetoric and redistributive policies of Labour’s preposterous ex-leader Ed Miliband have been rejected — which should serve as a warning to his Australian doppelganger Bill Shorten, speech impediment and all. Among Miliband’s more cynical moves was a promise to criminalise Islamophobia if he was elected.
Rather than meeting Labour halfway on the road to socialism, Cameron kept a cool head. Under the expert tutelage of Abbott advisers Crosby Textor, he reacted to the threat of UKIP poaching voters on the right by softening his progressive leanings, embracing traditional conservative values, emphasising economic responsibility and promising a referendum on Europe. UKIP might be a spent force but it served a purpose.
SBS sought to do right thing
OUR multicultural broadcaster SBS didn’t do itself any favours by putting up a condescending Pom who has never been to Mt Druitt to defend its controversial reality series Struggle Street.
But it was a good show.
Despite the controversy, the characters are sympathetic, even noble.
The young single mum who took in a suicidal teen runaway who’d been raped at 13.
The guys who collect scrap to sell to supplement their welfare.
The family menaced by an ice addict son who steals their meagre possessions.
The Aboriginal man who is a genius with the slingshot and admits he is the architect of his own destiny.
For the most part they are depicted as decent people, down on their luck, trying to make a go of life.
At least SBS has shown interest in them. 
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HIS GREATEST REVERSE SUCCESS YET

Tim Blair – Sunday, May 10, 2015 (3:48am)

Bob Ellis’s talent for inaccurate predictions is already famous, but following Thursday’s British election Ellis has kicked things up a notch. With all votes counted and all facts available, Bob is somehow still getting the election wrong: 
It turns out the polls were right — Labour and the Tories both got 34 percent — though Miliband won a hundred fewer seats than Cameron. 
No, Bob. The Conservatives won 36.9 per cent and Labor won 30.4 per cent. Take a look:

image

Who knows. It could be that Ellis no longer shares even basic perceptive commonalities with other human beings. The lifelong Labor groupie may be transitioning to full Clavin.
In any case, veteran Ellis observers know that the real entertainment comes when Bob tries to explain why his predictions were mistaken. In 2011, for example, Ellis blamed NSW Labor’s defeat on an earthquake, a tsunami, a Japanese nuclear meltdown and conflict in Libya. This time, Ellis claims UK Labour lost because – his words, not mine – Ed Miliband looks like a disabled Pakistani: 
He had an odd, strangled voice; an ugly mouth; big brown eyes too close together; a tendency to shout; a skin tone like a Pakistani’s which he emphasised with plain white shirts; and he was intense in personality and seemed humourless.
It may well be the mouth that was the killer. He looked like something close to a disabled person … 
And then Ellis launches straight into another prediction: 
The consequence of Thursday will be the end of Britain, probably. 
Probably not.
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HE’S FROM QUEENSLAND AND HE’S IN NEW YORK TO HELP

Tim Blair – Sunday, May 10, 2015 (3:07am)

Kevni quits Oz: 
While Gillard’s popularity as Australia’s first female prime minister grows, with a biography published and a series of speaking engagements, former prime minister Rudd has quit Australia.
The family home in Brisbane is sold, Abby the dog lives with Jessica and Albert, and Rudd has moved to the United States.
Until late January, he was based in Boston at Harvard University, while wife Therese Rein was based in London.
After selling her business Ingeus for $222 million to Arizona’s Providence Service Corporation, the pair have been reunited in New York. 
Hopefully we’ll survive without them.
(Via ann j)
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WHISKEY, CIGARS AND A MACHINE GUN

Tim Blair – Sunday, May 10, 2015 (1:58am)

Please meet Texan gentleman Richard Overton, a former US soldier and quite possibly the coolest person alive.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'WHISKEY, CIGARS AND A MACHINE GUN'
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DON’T COME HERE

Tim Blair – Sunday, May 10, 2015 (1:24am)

The Independent‘s response to David Cameron’s re-election:

image

Meanwhile, the Sun‘s Katie Hopkins is staying right where she is.
UPDATE. Lefties aren’t happy:

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SO MUCH TO LEARN

Tim Blair – Sunday, May 10, 2015 (1:15am)

Must sign up for one of Catherine Deveny’s masterclasses. Then I might finally learn how to make some money out of this writing caper.
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Socialists hurt police because they lost an election

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (6:01pm)

Socialists stage the most badly timed and revealing protest I can recall - a violent protest against their defeat in a fair election:
A protest has erupted in central London against the re-election of Britain’s Conservative prime minister David Cameron, with demonstrators throwing bottles, cans and smoke bombs at riot police…
Police arrested 17 people, and four police officers and one member of police staff were injured during the protest, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.
A Reuters photographer estimated that a couple of hundred people took part in the protest, including a group of about 25 black-clad youths with sunglasses and face masks…
Anti-Tory graffiti was also daubed on a war memorial honouring the women of WWII in what the Royal British Legion called a “senseless act”.
What would such people do to the rest of us if they gained real power? :

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Europe invaded

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (5:49pm)

Astonishing numbers, and many who arrive will want others to join them:
Last year, 570,800 claims for asylum were registered in the European Union, more than a third of them in Germany, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
How many of these asylum seekers have the skills and background to fit in well? How many will feel “marginalised” in time? 
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With love, from Kate

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (11:46am)

I’ve always liked Kate Langbroek, and found on meeting her that she was as warm as she seemed on air. She always struck me as a loved and loving person who’d be a fantastic mother. Read this for Mother’s Day.
UPDATE
Reader Fiona of Cairns:
So beautifully put. I could never put into words how I felt when my son had an operation, But Kate has and that is exactly how it is. I don’t know about bravery certificates for all mothers, but for every parent who has to cross the threshold of a hospital to visit a sick or dying child, I hold you in my heart and walk with you. It is one of the hardest things in life anyone will ever have to do. Thank you Kate.
Reader CalJ:
When my son was three he developed an extremely high temperature, headache, stiff neck, uncontrolled vomiting and became delirious. At the hospital he was put into isolation with suspected meningitis. Attempts were made to force me outside during the spinal tap procedure but I had assured him I would would not leave him and was not about to betray his trust. I remember the fear as if it were yesterday. A long 24 hours brought the best of news. How lucky we were. I cry inside for Kate.
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The Bolt Report today, May 10

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (7:18am)

On the The Bolt Report on Channel 10 at 10am and 3pm.
Guests: Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, former Treasurer Peter Costello, former NSW Treasurer Michael Costa and Courier Mail columnist and Spectator Australia editor Rowan Dean.
A cracker of a show, discussing Joe Hockey’s last-chance Budget, the smearing of Tony Abbott. the disgraceful banning of Bjorn Lomborg, the Conservative election triumph in Britain, the Greens’ new leader, Struggle Street and what the idiot Russell Brand should teach Labor. And more.
The videos of the shows appear here.
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No need to give Indonesia our unwanted gifts

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (6:02am)

Oh, well. If they say they don’t need it, we needn’t give it:
Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir says Indonesia would not be concerned if Canberra cuts aid in next week’s federal budget.
“Indonesia at the moment is no longer a country that needs aid for development,” he said.
(Thanks to reader lol.) 
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Cameron vs Rudd: a battle over stimulus

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (5:59am)

PBS NewsHour:

DAVID BROOKS: ... (W)e have had a long debate over how to react to the financial crisis. And there were two countries that did what is known as austerity ... (T)hey didn’t do the big stimulus packages, and they did do some fiscal discipline. And those were Germany and the U.K.
And so we have had a debate, which policy was the right policy, austerity or bigger spending, bigger stimulus? And I just note that the two countries in Europe with the strongest economies are U.K. and Germany, the two austerity countries.
And two political leaders that are the strongest right now in Europe are Angela Merkel and David Cameron. And so one of the things the Cameron victory is about ... [is] within England, voters had a chance to reject that policy, and the Conservative Party has a bigger majority than it had before.
Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, however, chose stimulus - huge spending. Check how that worked out.
Piers Akerman says David Cameron’s win gives Tony Abbott more hope:
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey go into Budget week with a renewed sense of confidence in their policies following the triumph of the Conservative Party in the UK elections…
UK Prime Minister David Cameron relied heavily on strategic advice from the Australia-based research and marketing company Crosby Textor, which is again assisting the Australian Liberal Party… The UK election results will serve to reinforce the message of clarity Crosby Textor have always preached – simplicity and disciplined delivery. Keep the message short and stick with it…
A Westminster insider told me that UK Labour’s biggest error was in trying to woo the Scottish electorate with more Left-leaning, radical policies, whilst attempting to placate the English and Welsh electorates which were worried that its policies would destabilise the economic recovery crafted by the Conservatives. In trying to appeal to both, they ended up convincing no-one…
The UK results give local Opposition Leader Bill Shorten a lot ... to chew on. With his standing in the polls continuing to fall, his party is trying to win back members who have defected to the Greens while he is struggling with an ambitious deputy who wants to impose a mandatory vote in favour of homosexual marriage on MPs.
A draft national platform to go to the ALP’s national conference in July would give the union movement – which has less than 12 per cent coverage of workers in private enterprise – mandated positions on government boards and committees, and entrench union representation in the workplace...
(Thanks to readers Peter of Bellevue Hill and brett t r.) 
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How sincere is the anti-capital punishment movement?

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (5:55am)

The protests against Indonesia’s execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were huge. Yet I suspect barely a word will be said against Saudi Arabia:
According to a report published in ‘The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in the Arabian Peninsula’ on Wednesday, the [five] men were found guilty of murdering an Indian guard and stealing his money.
After their beheading, which took place in Jeddah, Saudi officials hung the bodies from a helicopter so as to deter others from committing such crimes.
The five executed convicts have been identified as Yemen nationals Khaled Fetini and Ibrahim Nasser, Hassan Omar from Chad, Eritrean national Salem Idriss, and Sudanese man Abdel Wahhab Abdel Maeen.
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Books banned by tolerance police

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (5:50am)

Those who preach tolerance are inclined not to have much themselves:

ANGLICAN church leaders have slammed an “unprecedented” interference by the Department of Education after it banned three books used by the church’s scripture teachers on the basis they promoted only monogamous heterosexual relationships.
Scripture teachers were told this week they were not allowed to use books called Teen Sex By The Book by Patricia Weerakoon, You: An Introduction by Michael Jensen, and A Sneaking Suspicion by John Dickson because the texts violated departmental policy.
The texts were used in Special Religious Education (SRE) classes at state schools — classes parents choose to send their children to…
A Department of Education spokesman denied the decision to ban the books was because of a pro-monogamy message but because they potentially breached the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 and other legislation.
Parent lobby group Fairness in Religion in Schools has campaigned against Ms Weerakoon’s book, saying it contained dangerous anti-gay and anti-divorce messages.
Divorce is good?
(Thanks to reader Gab and others.) 
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Hawke’s proof: it’s only bad if a Liberal does it

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (5:36am)

The Sydney Morning Herald admires the beer-swilling Bob Hawke:
With just one song, Bob Hawke has cemented his status as the most patriotic man in Australia - again.
The title won three years ago, when he was filmed skolling a beer at the cricket, was reinforced on Saturday afternoon in Sydney’s west when he took to the stage to deliver a rousing rendition of Waltzing Matilda,…
Hawke, who was Prime Minister from 1983 to 1991, famously set a world record for downing a yard glass of beer when he was a student at the University of Oxford in the 1950s.
But when Tony Abbott skolled a beer, two writers from the very same newspaper didn’t call him “the most patriotic man in Australia” but a dangerous example to drunks and misogynists:
Eryk Bagshaw...:
It was only last year that Mr Abbott wrote an opinion piece in The Courier Mail following his quiet increase of the beer tax, which was designed to discourage binge drinking. “The [problem is] the binge drinking culture which has become all too prevalent among youngsters,” he wrote…
But for one night only, Mr Abbott put policy and beer on two different bar stools at the Royal Oak Hotel in Double Bay.
Fairfax’s Judith Ireland also becomes a wowser with a twist of feminist lemon:

… the Prime Minister is supposed to be a vocal advocate against binge drinking… And that it came from a Prime Minister who has been trying for the last 18 months to convince us that he is also the Minister for Women.

And from the Daily Telegraph:

When asked what he thought of Abbott’s recent decision to skol a beer with Sydney football team the UTS Bats, the larrikin former PM looked up from his crossword, took a dismissive puff of his cigar, and said with a sigh: “It’s another area where Mr Abbott fails to live up to the mark.”
The Daily Telegraph on May 11:
Twitter has been abuzz since Friday ridiculing photographs of the treasurer and Senator Mathias Cormann having a cigar after putting together their first budget…

Having a puff is not illegal, but having a celebratory drag on a fat cigar when you are about to impose the budget with the toughest impact on Australians in almost two decades isn’t a particularly good look.
Reader Neil, first to comment on the Telegraph story, sums up:
Ok, so to summarise:If a Liberal smokes a cigar they are a Fat Cat, cruelly mocking the disadvantaged in society.
If a Labor Unionist smokes a cigar they are an endearing larrikan.
If a Liberal skols a beer they are promoting violence against women.
If a Labor Unionist skols a beer they are a legend for life.
If a Liberal checks their watch it is a sign of misogony.
If a Labor Unionist checks their watch they simply want to know the time.
(Thanks to reader Gab.) 
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Parents rebels against Islamic College hardliners

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (5:29am)

Uh oh, but the reaction, at least, is healthy:
A deep rift between parents and management threatens the future of the Islamic College of South Australia.
Relations have soured to the point where hundreds of parents kept their children at home on Friday in protest against the school’s board…
Many experienced teachers have been shown the door and replaced with younger ones, who earn less and are considered less likely to challenge board decisions, such as the controversial edict that all female staff wear headscarves.
Parents say educational standards are plummeting and a modest music program has been scrapped. They are also appalled at plans for a mosque and more classrooms on a school site that lacks playspace…
A long-serving teacher, who was fired without warning on the last day of school in 2013, said ... “It’s a very radical board, very strict, almost like being their own Islam; it’s not like a (moderate) Australian Islam...”
The teacher said the school used to have choirs performing in the local community but the demise of the music program was symbolic of a change to a stricter form of Islam.
“They don’t sing the national anthem anymore (and) we used to sing it every week,’’ she said. 
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This Budget may be just good enough, after all

Andrew Bolt May 10 2015 (5:04am)

The selling of this Budget is already 100 per cent better than that of last year, with community groups consulted beforehand and fairness a key:

Tuesday’s budget is genuinely new. Two of the six-member expenditure review committee that put it together weren’t there before – the new Social Services Minister Scott Morrison and the new Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg?. The three top bureaucrats who put it together are new in their jobs – Michael Thawley? in prime minister and cabinet, John Fraser in treasury and Jane Halton in finance.
This time the Prime Minister Tony Abbott chaired almost every meeting. The nominal Treasurer and deputy chair Joe Hockey played less of a role.
On Tuesday Abbott and Hockey took part in a contrived photo opportunity pretending to go over drafts. Hockey didn’t make eye contact. He looked deflated and upset. He didn’t look like the budget’s author.
At the heart of the budget are measures pushed by Morrison and Frydenberg rather than Hockey. In place of the indexation measure in the last budget that would have silently stolen pensioners’ pay rises, Morrison’s new package increases payments to pensioners of modest means and removes or cuts the part pension of only the wealthiest retirees.
Morrison’s childcare package, to be unveiled on Sunday, will replace the confusing and overlapping system of childcare benefits and rebates with one simple payment linked to the number of hours in work. He’ll also announce an $800 million a year safety net to ensure disadvantaged families get childcare. The money will come from the ditched paid parental leave scheme that in its original form would have paid the most to high earners.
Frydenberg has secured an extension of the GST to overseas-based online retailers such as Netflix. It’ll be sold as a fairness measure, putting overseas and Australian retailers of web-based services on an even footing.
The deficit will not be cut as it should be, but the Government can credibly argue that Labor and the Greens have made that task literally impossible.
I suspect this Budget won’t be hugely popular - the money isn’t there to play Father Christmas - but it won’t sink the Government either. The Government’s recovery lies in what it’s done for the past couple of months, being methodical, purposeful and steady.
And of course, campaigning in a frenzy. In the space of just four days this week, Tony Abbott campaigned in Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland.  
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Not marginalised. Just angry

Andrew Bolt May 09 2015 (6:41pm)

A doctor’s home raided? We need to drop this self-blaming narrative that Islamist radicals are poor youths “marginalised” by our heartless and racist society:
POLICE and ASIO have foiled a teenage terror plot to detonate three bombs in an attack believed to have been planned for this Sunday in Melbourne.
Senior intelligence sources confirmed a 14-year-old from Sydney was among a group of teenagers targeted in co-ordinated counter-terrorism raids across Sydney and Melbourne on Friday.
In Melbourne, the bomb squad and heavily armed police were used in a raid on a doctor’s home, where his son was arrested.

Three bombs were found at the upmarket home and a 300m exclusion zone put in place as they were detonated in a nearby reserve.
(NOTE: Police have stressed that the “bombs” were “suspected” explosive devices.)
Sunday is Mother’s Day.
His Facebook rants suggest that what helped to “marginalise” the doctor’s son were texts in the Koran:
“THE ‘Muslims’ are quick to condemn the actions of the Islamic State, but you will never see them condemning the US atrocities against Muslims, you will never see them condemning the crimes against Muslims in Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Iraq etc etc ...
“Likewise, when you see an attack done in defend of the honour of our Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him), you will see them rush to attack the attackers but they always forget to condemn the abusers of the Prophet (salallahu alaihi wa sallam).
“When people wrote poems about him, do you think he forgave them?
“He forgave everyone that harmed him except the people that attacked his honour. So who are you to forgive on his behalf?
“Such is the trend of the coconut hypocrite ‘Muslims’.”
Those arrested must be presumed innocent.
Even so, I marvel again at the level of skill of counter-intelligence authorities. Remember their startling successes so far before there is an inevitable failure to stop someone else.
UPDATE
Liberal Democratic Senator David Leyonhjelm:
Australia neither needs nor wants to import illiberal values, whether from Sharia or any other value system. Indeed, we are far too accepting of those who come to Australia with its respect for liberty, only to seek to transform it into something like the illiberal, authoritarian country they left behind.
UPDATE
The latest terrorist plot (alleged) has ”nothing to do with faith”, claims the Australian Federal Police. We can only hope that the AFP says this for strategic reasons, and not because they are so dumb as to believe it. 
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L'assolo di Ciccio Merolla sul corpo dell'attrice| http://bit.ly/1zKgeCj(y) Segui Il Mattino e resta aggiornato - facebook.com/mattino.it (y)
Posted by Il Mattino on Friday, 8 May 2015

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OFFICIAL TRAILER LAUNCH ANNOUNCEMENTThe WORLD PREMIERE of the official trailer will be held exclusively at GAMMA.CON...
Posted by Me and My Mates Vs The Zombie Apocalypse on Friday, 8 May 2015

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Australian TV journalist interviews "racist" homeowner who won't sell his home to "Asians". It has the most hilarious ending.Disturb Reality
Posted by Disturb Reality on Tuesday, 5 May 2015

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Collince Alan Dundo
Wow, what an early blessed morning and i thank God for yet another time he has granted me this day to celebrate him. For all woman across the world Happy mothers day. I salute all of you really you deserve the best only God can reward you. The best i can give is to say thank you for the love and tender care and ask the lord everytime to bless you and continue dwelling in your hearts. May you day be full of Gods grace....shalom===
Bjørn Lomborg
I am fully committed to setting up the Australia Consensus Centre, while I am disappointed that the University of Western Australia (UWA) will not be a part of this effort.

The UWA Vice Chancellor found himself in an impossible position when the Centre was used as a political football. The facts about Australia Consensus have been drowned out.

Australia Consensus would have put the University of Western Australia at the forefront of global research efforts to improve the use of aid spending. It is deeply disappointing that UWA has lost this opportunity because of toxic politics, ad hominen attacks, and premature judgment.

There have been grossly misinformed attacks on the work of the Copenhagen Consensus Center. Copenhagen Consensus has been recognised globally as a top think-tank because of a decade of work conducted by more than 100 top economists including seven Nobel laureate economists.

Some Australian activists have called me a climate change heretic. As one of the globe’s most vocal proponents for much more money to be spent on R&D into green energy to solve global warming, I find this bizarre.

There have been reports that we are setting up an Australian “climate change” centre, which is plain wrong: Australia Consensus will focus on economic and development policy.

I am committed to building Australia Consensus into a world-leading research centre. I am looking forward to working with Australian researchers, civil society, and politicians from both sides of the aisle to create research that will help the world to better deal with its most pressing problems. This is far too important to let fall victim to toxic politics.===
We found a pandaFollow us for more Cooking Panda
Posted by Cooking Panda on Saturday, 9 May 2015

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Omfg this is unreal haBusty scouse
Posted by Take the piss funny pics n vids on Friday, 17 January 2014

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THAT'S MOTHERHOOD
Posted by Mavi Kocaeli on Wednesday, 6 May 2015

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=== Posts from last year ===

How Tony Abbott froze Kevin Rudd with fear

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (1:15pm)

A new book by Philip Chubb describes a Prime Minister Kevin Rudd frozen by panic under the onslaught of Tony Abbott:
Sometimes Rudd’s behaviour in meetings was genuinely worrying. Several sources describe independently how he sometimes physically froze and was unable to continue. He took trips around the garden to help regain his composure. 
Valentine’s Day in 2010 saw a particularly serious instance of this behaviour. Abbott had already sparked fear in Rudd. Then, with an acute political judgment that Australians would see much more of in coming years, he drove Rudd to a “meltdown”, as observers have described it. In a relatively insignificant stunt designed to irritate the prime minister, Abbott glided into the hospitals issue. He visited Sydney’s St Vincent’s to pledge that a Coalition government would install local boards to fix public hospitals within six months of winning power. Since the election, he said, “all we’ve had [from the Rudd government] is waffle and committees”.

The result of this small intervention was chaos. A hospitals meeting was scheduled to be held at the Lodge that day, involving senior ministers and relevant staff. Rudd was in a spin, so the meeting started late. He then wanted to keep the group small, so he could be free to be himself. Some staff were forced outside and spent the day on the lawn playing handball. They were not allowed in but not allowed to go home. As if that was not weird enough, things soon became totally bizarre.

“Rudd had this absolute meltdown. He was completely spooked that Abbott would beat him to taking over the hospital system,” said a witness. “We were brainstorming different ways of fulfilling his ambitious commitment of 2007 about taking over the hospital system one way or another. People were very nervous about doing that, which is a whole other issue, and he just couldn’t face it. We were in his dining room in the Lodge working on health stuff and he just couldn’t keep it together.”

Rudd hyperventilated and froze so seriously that his chief of staff, Alister Jordan, helped him to his feet and took him for a walk. It seemed he had suffered a debilitating panic attack. Everyone was shocked and embarrassed for him. The only thing that broke the mood was the dog scratching at the door. 
Again, how did this man become prime minister? How can the public know whether their prime minister is actually cracking up? 
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Q&A lets itself be hijacked

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (11:31am)

Gerard Henderson on his Media Watch Dog blog calls out the ABC:
If Q&A executive producer Peter McEvoy had only read this humble blog, he could have expected that last Monday’s Q&A would be invaded by a soviet of university radical leftists intent on censoring Education Minister Christopher Pyne. 
As MWD has explained on numerous occasions, the political allegiance of the audience which Q&A depicts at the beginning of each program is wilfully misleading…
As MWD has documented, political identification is by way of self-identification. Since Q&A is filmed in the ABC’s inner-city studio in Sydney’s Ultimo, it tends to be stacked by members of the Green Left who hang out nearby and from the neighbouring University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and the University of Sydney.
So the best way for a follower of Vladimir Lenin or Leon Trotsky to obtain admission to Q&A is to take off his/her sandals and Che Guevara tee-shirt, put on sensible shoes and a shirt – and present themselves as Tony Abbott supporters. Then it’s “Welcome” in order to seemingly make up a representative audience.
Last Monday, Peter McEvoy and the Q&A team depicted the audience as follows: Coalition 47 per cent, Labor Party 38 per cent, Greens 9 per cent and Not Specified 6 per cent. In reality, the audience was stacked with young Green Left/Socialist Alternative types who tried to stop Christopher Pyne from talking and then closed down the program for some minutes by chanting.. .
After the event, the ABC issued the following comment: 
Q&A already identifies all audience members and puts together a representative audience based on voting intention but as we saw it only takes a small group to disrupt the discussion.
Everything is true about this statement – except the facts. The truth is that the Q&A audience last Monday was nowhere near representative and the ABC is easily hood-winked about its audience members’ voting intentions. 
UPDATE
Here we go again:
image
(Thanks to readers Peter of Bellevue Hill and Julian.)  
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Pardon? ABC likens border control to invading China

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (10:30am)

An ABC reporter interviewing pediatrician John Yu makes a bizarre analogy, likening Japan’s invasion of China to Australia’s border policy:
WILL OCKENDEN: You escaped China as the Japanese invaded. What do you make of the increasing military aspect to immigration policy?
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A reminder why the budget is a mess

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (10:27am)

Another Labor disaster just got worse: 

NEW figures show Labor’s mining tax is costing more than it is raising as the government has been forced to repay more than $230 million in overpaid tax…
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the figures ... showed that the Australian Taxation Office had refunded another $175m in previously overpaid Minerals Resource Rent Tax instalments in March. A further $10.6m in MRRT prepayments had been refunded in April....
“This brings total mining tax refunds so far to more than $237m, when the final budget outcome for 2012-13 showed that only $200m in net revenue had been raised from quarterly MRRT prepayments,’’ Senator Cormann said.
He said the mining tax had cost the tax office more than $50m to administer. “When Julia Gillard and Wayne Swan first announced the MRRT they said it would raise $4 billion in the first year,’’ Senator Cormann said. He said Labor had also pledged spending commitments on the back of money that had yet to be raised by the tax. 
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Clive James on the warming disconnect

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (10:13am)

The great Clive James on the global warming disconnect - how not even the spruikers seem to take their apocalyptic claims seriously:
[The BBC’s] Simon [Reeve] was talking to a man in charge of a South Australian wine factory which covered thousands of acres with its enormous shining silver vats and bins. The factory produces a zillion bottles of wine per year, and uses, in the process, a gazillion gallons of water. 
The water is drawn from the Murray-Darling river system. If it occurred to you to wonder what would happen to the output of wine if the input of water were to be restricted, it occurred to Reeve too. So did he ask the professionally knowledgeable bloke in charge of the wine whether he anticipated any restrictions in the water supply?
No, he asked a climate change expert. In Australia, climate change experts are not hard to find. Indeed it is very hard to keep them out of your car: unless you wind the window all the way up, one of them will climb in. This climate change expert was called Tim. Armed with his ability to read the future, Tim predicted that any dry area of the Murray-Darling system was “an indication of what’s coming”, and that “what Australia is experiencing here now” would eventually be experienced by “hundreds of millions of people around the world”. Simon nodded his moustache sagely but didn’t once ask whether the flourishing wine industry was not part of what Australia is experiencing here now. Nor did he ask whether, in view of climate change, the wine industry was doomed. It was then that the big idea hit me. Why hadn’t he asked the wine grower? It would have been easy to frame the question, perhaps along the lines of: “In view of what is happening to the planet, have you any plans for selling all this colossal acreage of silver metal for scrap?” 
The documentary here.
(Thanks to reader Brendan.) 
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Mother barred from moving because of “race” of her sons

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (10:09am)

Free speech

Our new racial identity fetish is being imposed by courts so that people not only lose their freedom to reject the new racism but even their freedom to move:
A WOMAN  barred by a landmark Federal Court decision from leaving Warrnambool district and moving to Western Australia with two of her sons because of their Aboriginal heritage has described the ruling as reverse racism.
The court last week ordered that the boys, aged under 10, must remain close to their Aboriginal father in their cultural homeland and live with their mother.
She must keep their principal place of residence in the “Warrnambool shire” unless both parents consent otherwise.
The mother is of European heritage and had planned to move to Western Australia to live with her partner, a Maori man, who is the father of another of her children, a five-year-old son not covered by the court order. “This is reverse racism and a restriction on my freedom of movement,” the mother told The Standard yesterday.
“Why is one ethnic group more important than another?"…
The two boys’ father, who has not had a full-time carer’s role in their lives for several years, had opposed the relocation saying it would cut connection to their Aboriginal heritage and traditional community which he fostered with the children during access visits…
In his ruling Federal Circuit Court judge Terry McGuire said: “It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the focus of their education and cultural learning is through this Aboriginal community”. “I am satisfied the specific peculiarities of these children’s community cannot be substituted by involvement in another community in Western Australia,” he said.
Why must the children be deemed Aboriginal? Why can’t they just be boys, race irrelevant?
Two of my articles challenging this kind of thing have been banned by the Federal Court.
UPDATE
Another Family Court brawl between divorced parents over whether their son is getting enough Aboriginal culture. 
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Where’s this Indonesian crisis Plibersek keeps claiming?

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (9:49am)

The Opposition’s foreign affairs spokesman, Tanya Plibersek keeps claiming our relationship with Indonesia is broken:
TANYA PILBERSEK:   I think overall our relationship is a strong one, but it is absolutely off-track at the moment, and Labor wants to see it back on track. 
We still don’t have an Indonesian ambassador here in Australia. It’s been more than 100 days since the Australian government said that they would sign a document with the Indonesians that would set out some terms around our relationship that would get it back on track. That means cooperation suspended in a number of very critical areas. That’s not good for Australia’s long term relationship with Indonesia...
In fact, today:
Indonesia is sending its ambassador back to Canberra as part of its efforts to normalise relations between the two countries. 
A presidential office spokesman says Najib Riphat Kesoema will return to Australia within the month, a decision made by president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after speaking with Prime Minister Tony Abbott by phone earlier in the week. 
And the Indonesian President’s media statement this week suggested nothing but warmth and progress:
INDONESIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES PHONE CALL FROM
AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER TONY ABBOTT
BALI, 6 MAY 2014 
Denpasar, 6 Mei 2014 –President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonoon 6 May 2014 at 14.00 WITA received a telephone call from the Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott.
The issues discussed by the heads of government were as follows:
1. PM Abbott expressed his regret for being unable to attend the Open Government Partnership Asia - Pacific Regional Conference at the President’s invitation. President SBY expressed his understanding about the reasons of PM Abbott’s absence in Bali, in relation to the budget discussion at parliament.
2. Welcomed the progress in the discussion of the Code of Conduct between the two Foreign Ministers. The two heads of governments expect the agreement to be completed so that bilateral relations between the two countries may soon recover and be able to enter a new phase. The President reiterated his hope that the Code of Conduct could be agreed at the latest in August 2014.
3. PM Abbott said he hoped to visit Indonesia and meet the President in the series of his trip abroad in June 2014. President Yudhoyono welcomed that wish. Therefore, both the Foreign Minister and the Ambassadors of each country make various preparations for the visit of Prime Minister Abbott to Indonesia.
4. PM Abbott explained about the planned establishment of the Indonesia-Australia Studies Centre in Melbourne, and hoped the President would visit the center, either before or after his term of office as President. This represents Australia’s deep appreciation for the sense of friendship shown by the President in the bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Australia.
Dr. Teuku Faizasyah
Presidential Special Staff International Relations 
(Thanks to reader Ancient Marriner.) 
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Rich Australians are paying their share

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (9:36am)

Hit the rich? Make the rich pay their share to end our entitlement culture?
The rich are actually doing their bit already:
Recent economic modelling has revealed almost half of Australian families pay no net tax. 
Carried out by the University of Canberra’s National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, the work shows that on average, Australian families will make a net contribution of $3424 to the public purse — paying $12,935 in tax, receiving $9515 in benefits…
Peter Whiteford, director of the Social Policy Institute at the Australian National University’s Crawford School of Policy, says Australia’s welfare system is the most targeted in the world, a direct result of means-testing most benefits. In terms of social payments, it is therefore one of, if not the, most efficient in the world. As a result “we pay about 12 times more to the poorest 20 per cent than we do the richest 20 per cent. The poorest 20 per cent receives nearly 42 per cent of all the money spent on social security; the richest 20 per cent receives only around 3 per cent”.
How dependent are Australians really? Maybe more than Peter Frayn suggests in this analysis:
Public social spending, aka the welfare state, is running at about 33 per cent of gross domestic product in France, 25 per cent across the EU and 20 per cent in the US, according to OECD data. 
In Australia it is running at 19 per cent, up from 16 per cent in 2006-07 when Howard ruled… In 1993, about 23 per cent of population over 16, about 3.1 million people, were receiving one of the big four benefits: aged pension, single parent payments, disability support and the dole. Twenty years later the ratio is virtually unchanged.
In fact, unemployment in 1993 reached 10.9 per cent - nearly double today’s 5.8 per cent. True, our population has since aged, but I’d have have thought we’re have had a fall in the ratio of people on benefits.
UPDATE
John Roskam:
The parallel with Tony Abbott’s deficit tax on high-income earners is not Julia Gillard and her broken promise on the carbon tax – it’s George Bush snr and his “Read my lips: no new taxes” pledge. 
Gillard broke an election promise so a centre-left government could implement a centre-left policy. Abbott is at risk of breaking an election promise so his conservative government can implement a centre-left policy, which is exactly what Bush did…
At least Gillard was breaking a promise to achieve something she’d always wanted. Abbott is breaking his promise of new taxes so Australia can have among the world’s highest marginal tax rates.
The pity is that if Abbott is going to spend his political capital breaking promises, he should at least break those he should never have promised in the first place – like his promise not to make any changes to the industrial relations system before the next election. What the deficit tax reveals is that when the budgetary going gets tough, the Coalition is just as willing as Labor to soak the rich… The wealthiest 2.3 per cent of taxpayers paid 26.2 per cent of all income tax. It would be interesting to know how much more of the tax burden Coalition MPs think these people should bear. 
Professor Sinclair Davidson explains:
For several years I have been collecting data from the ATO and graphing the share of the net income tax paid by the top 25% on net income tax payers, the middle 50% and the bottom 25%. The latest ATO data came out last week. The graph is below – as can be seen the top 25% of income earners (those taxpayers with an income above $75,650) paid 67.4% of all net income tax in the 2011-12 financial year. Mind you, it isn’t all bad news, the top 25% share is down from 67.9% the year before. 
image
UPDATE
An important piece by Greg Sheridan on the Europeanisation of Australia - and it’s not a compliment:
Last year, free market think tank the Centre for Independent Studies compiled figures on who works directly for government, or receives their main income directly from government. 
Its figures are from 2010 but won’t have changed much. Some 13.5 per cent of voters were employed directly in the public service. Some 16.5 per cent of voters receive a full or part aged pension, 6 per cent the disability support pension and 3 per cent the Newstart allowance. Altogether, about 35 per cent of voters get government payments. Somewhere between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of voters receive income directly from government.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
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On the Bolt Report tomorrow

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (8:59am)

On the show tomorrow – Network 10 at 10am and 4pm....

Our guest: Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.
Our panel: Janet Albrechtsen of The Australian and former Labor campaign guru Bruce Hawker.
On NewsWatch, Roger Scruton, the world’s leading conservative philosopher, analyses the socialist protesters who stopped Q&A.
And more, including a hypocrisy check on Chris Lilley’s new ABC comedy show.
The videos of the shows appear here.
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Joe Hockey must now eat baked beans and wear rags

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (7:39am)

Twitter - and the media - is in uproar. Apparently Treasurers who cut Government spending should not smoke cigars:
image
Memo to Joe Hockey
In the following weeks you will also not be allowed to:
Raise a glass
Drink champagne
Eat at a good restaurant
Wear a tux
Be seen with a billionaire
Fly in a private plane
Be driven anywhere in a limo
UPDATE
Good - and good spin, too:
BUSINESSMAN Dick Honan heads Manildra, the company producing most of the ethanol that goes into Australia’s petrol. He is also a mate of Joe Hockey, a neighbour, a donor to Coalition coffers and a member of the North Sydney Forum — a Liberal Party fundraising body in the Treasurer’s electorate. 
Hockey, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and National Party leader Warren Truss, met Honan recently to tell him the Government’s ethanol subsidy worth about $100 million a year to Manildra will be scrapped in next Tuesday’s federal Budget. Looking his mate in the eye, the Treasurer said: “There is no way on God’s earth I am going to ask pensioners to have a lesser increase in their pension while I’m giving your business $600,000 per employee. Forget it. It’s over.”
More to come, although cuts of “hundreds of millions” in assistance of $10.5 billion do not strike me as savage:
CORPORATE welfare will be slashed ...  The savings in the budget amount to hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a longer-term plan to reduce the reliance on corporate welfare…

Corporate Australia receives $10.5bn in annual industry assistance from Canberra, according to the latest analysis from the Productivity Commission. Tariff protection makes up about one-tenth of the total. Direct budget outlays are worth more than $5bn a year and there is another $4bn in tax concessions claimed by business… 
Car industry programs will take cuts… More fees will be applied to environmental services… Austrade ...  will charge more for its services.  
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What did the founder of the Palmer United Party do with that Chinese cash?

Andrew Bolt May 10 2014 (7:27am)

Hedley Thomas goes through documents in the court case waged against Clive Palmer, head of the Palmer United Party, and his Chinese partner, Citic Pacific:

The document, one in more than 1200 bundles of material that form part of a Federal Court case in which Mr Palmer’s company has been accused by the Chin­ese of wrongfully spending very large sums of cash, shows $13,471,392 hit Mineralogy’s Corporate Cheque Account, “Port Palmer Operations’’, that day.... 
The company that released the money was Citic Pac­ific, the Chinese-controlled financial powerhouse vitally important to China’s international investment objectives....
Over the ensuing weeks and months, according to documents and affidavits reviewed by The Weekend Australian, the account was steadily drained....

The accusations and inferences raised in the Federal Court by affidavits, financial documents and by leading commercial silk Andrew Bell SC for Citic Pacific, are that Mineralogy has helped itself to a large pot of cash for purposes expressly not permitted.
The documents ....  show that some of the larger lumps of cash from the corporate cheque account went to lawyers acting for Palmer and Mineralogy.
It is of particular interest to Citic that its money appears to have been used by Mineralogy to pay for top-shelf lawyers to ­oppose Citic in costly litigation…

Two major withdrawals — of $10m on August 8 last year and $2,167,065 three weeks later, shortly before the September 7 federal election — are cloaked in intrigue. The Chinese want to know if their money underwrote much of the Palmer United Party’s election campaign when Palmer’s main business, a nickel refinery in Townsville, was losing tens of millions of dollars.
“In respect of (those) amounts drawn on the bank account, Mineralogy has not disclosed a remittance advice or invoice, nor has it disclosed the recipient of the payments,’’ Bruce Wacker — a solicitor for Allens, which is acting for Citic — swore in an affidavit in Brisbane on April 24 this year. “These payments are both described in the payment ledger and the bank register as being for purported ‘Port Management Services’....”

Under a legal arrangement known as the Facilities Deed, Mineralogy could establish a fund “for limited purposes, including to pay administration costs in the day-to-day expenses of operating, maintaining and repairing approved facilities at Cape Preston’’ — the site of the port through which iron ore, extracted by the Chinese from Palmer’s ­Pilbara tenements, would be shipped on its way to mills in China. The problem is that Mineralogy has not been operating the port — and, according to Citic, should not have incurred such costs.  
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I don't give up on people because God never gave up on me. When it comes to problems I don't know how to deal with I go with the saying let go and let God... Holly
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As children bring their broken toys
With tears for us to mend,
I brought my broken dreams to God
Because He was my friend.

But then instead of leaving Him
In peace to work alone,
I hung around and tried to help
With ways that were my own.

At last I snatched them back and cried,
"How could you be so slow"
"My child," He said, "What could I do?
You never did let go."
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GORTON, NOT WHITLAM, FORGED P-NG INDEPENDENCE

John Gorton as Prime Minister rode roughshod over Ministers and senior officials to lead the Independence push for P-NG, according to Gorton’s account of events released by the National Library in 2010.

I recall in 1975 Whitlam bathing in the pomp and ceremony of Independence celebrations but I recall more clearly the hard work of John Gorton in the late sixties.

He copped plenty of resistance from expats and colonialists with investments at stake.

Bob Wurth, a journo in Wewak in the early seventies explained the expat anger: “I spat in the bastard’s soup and mixed it in!” proclaimed the fat Aussie chef as he maliciously wiped his hands on his greasy apron.

The fat chef wasn’t talking about Gorton. The recipient of his spit was the then Opposition leader, Gough Whitlam.

P-NG became self-governing in 1973. Independence was proclaimed in 1975 and it was Gough Whitlam who nearly stuffed it.

He strutted around ignorant of the internal native politics that Gorton had nurtured.

Not many people knew of Gorton’s ground work. He had not even informed his Cabinet, but that was the way Jolly John Gorton got things done.

PN-G was a savage place beset with warring head-hunting tribes.

David Hay was the Administrator and Warwick Smith Departmental Head, Smith hadn’t the stomach for Independence... to suggest he was obstructionist was a gross understatement.

In a series of clever personnel manoeuvres, Gorton negated Smith, leaving the path clear to home rule.

“Now”, said Gorton to the Jifs (Chiefs), “tell me you blokes want independence and you can have it next week!”

In his account of events Gorton claimed Whitlam had made a blue in P-NG. “He was talking Independence to the Mataungans in New Britain and promising all sorts of shit to them, but they were mainly Tolai people from Rabaul and were much more advanced than the ordinary natives, they took things on face value.”

Gorton claimed Whitlam was addressing the wrong crowd and, “bloody hell did we have trouble with them later”, he moaned.

Whitlam’s only P-NG legacy was that his stupid actions reversed Gorton’s good work. Gorton knew the sensitivity of tribal politics intimately.

“The Mataungans wanted the land and would not allow other New Guineans on New Britain to have any”, said Gorton.

“Many of the Tolai people in New Britain in the late sixties had formed the Mataungan Association, led by Oscar Tammur. The Association used violence to attain their ends, nearly upsetting self rule completely.”

Jolly John had done the hard yards to repair the botching of Whitlam who had merely fronted for the pageantry.

History ain’t always what we’re told and 25 years after Gorton gave this account, the National Library was able to release details of what actually happened.

The soon to be late Gough Whitlam was the grandstander and the late Jolly John was the grand planner.
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Listen to My words,
Let them embrace your soul;
The truth will set you free,
Yea, it will make you whole.

Child, why do you wander?
Why do you look for hope?
Seek Me and My word
For freedom eternal in scope.

Nothing this world can offer
Can make you truly free;
Freedom is found in truth,
Freedom is found in Me.

Do you hear the wind now,
As it rustles through the trees?
So it is with those of Spirit,
Those who follow as I please.

Whither it goes, whence it comes,
Surely one cannot know;
So too with those of Spirit,
For the Way of God they go.

So come, My child, and follow,
Follow Me and the words I say;
I am Your eternal Guide,
I am the Truth, I am the Way.

I will set you free
In ways you knew not before;
I will make you fly,
Like an eagle you will soar.

Let the truth transform you,
Let it warm your very heart;
Lo, I am with you always,
Trust we will never part.

Listen to My words,
Let Me embrace your soul;
The truth has set you free,
Yea, I have made you whole.
   
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Community Channel's inspiration, eh Don Kramer?
I can't wait till the day come where I can stay in bed all day and watch how I met your mother and big bang theory.
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THIS IS CANBERRA

Tim Blair – Friday, May 10, 2013 (11:36am)

The perfect symbol of our capital city – a bloated, gaseous, multi-breasted monster feeding those who dwell in its poisonous shadow while leeching off the rest of us:

image

Good Lord. The ghastly beast takes flight next week: 
Skywhale, a 23m-high, 34m-wide hot air balloon resembling a whale-like creature, will be unveiled in Canberra tomorrow as the headline commission for the Centenary of Canberra celebrations. The balloon will be tethered to the National Gallery of Australia to coincide with a sculpture symposium before making its first flight over the capital on Monday …
The work, a “relative bargain for public art” at $172,000, will be hard to miss. Bristol balloon-makers Camerons made Skywhale from 3.5km of fabric. 
So they’ve celebrated Canberra’s centenary by sending money to England. Brilliant!
UPDATE. Oh, the huge mammaries!
UPDATE II. Skywhale’s Canberra symbolism is now complete: 
ACT taxpayers are paying at least $100,000 more than the territory government has indicated for the controversial Skywhale hot air balloon.
Official documents reveal the balloon is costing at least $334,000, not the $170,000 figure quoted by ACT Government officials. 
UPDATE III. They paid for it but don’t own it: 
Canberrans don’t own the Skywhale hot air balloon, despite spending $170,000 on the controversial piece of art.
Centenary of Canberra creative director Robyn Archer confirmed that the 23 metre tall creation is not owned by the ACT Government, but the company that operates the balloon. 
Makes sense. Further from Archer: 
She also defended its relation to Canberra and the city’s centenary, saying the “connection couldn’t be plainer” …
“The connection with the centenary is ‘look at how many amazing people Canberra has produced over these years’.” 
Nothing says “‘look at how many amazing people Canberra has produced” quite like a hideous airborne turtle with ten tits.
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May 10: Mother's Day in El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico
J. Edgar Hoover in 1961
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“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” - Romans 8:1-2
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings."
Ephesians 1:3
All the goodness of the past, the present, and the future, Christ bestows upon his people. In the mysterious ages of the past the Lord Jesus was his Father's first elect, and in his election he gave us an interest, for we were chosen in him from before the foundation of the world. He had from all eternity the prerogatives of Sonship, as his Father's only-begotten and well-beloved Son, and he has, in the riches of his grace, by adoption and regeneration, elevated us to sonship also, so that to us he has given "power to become the sons of God." The eternal covenant, based upon suretiship and confirmed by oath, is ours, for our strong consolation and security. In the everlasting settlements of predestinating wisdom and omnipotent decree, the eye of the Lord Jesus was ever fixed on us; and we may rest assured that in the whole roll of destiny there is not a line which militates against the interests of his redeemed. The great betrothal of the Prince of Glory is ours, for it is to us that he is affianced, as the sacred nuptials shall ere long declare to an assembled universe. The marvellous incarnation of the God of heaven, with all the amazing condescension and humiliation which attended it, is ours. The bloody sweat, the scourge, the cross, are ours forever. Whatever blissful consequences flow from perfect obedience, finished atonement, resurrection, ascension, or intercession, all are ours by his own gift. Upon his breastplate he is now bearing our names; and in his authoritative pleadings at the throne he remembers our persons and pleads our cause. His dominion over principalities and powers, and his absolute majesty in heaven, he employs for the benefit of them who trust in him. His high estate is as much at our service as was his condition of abasement. He who gave himself for us in the depths of woe and death, doth not withdraw the grant now that he is enthroned in the highest heavens.

Evening

"Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field ... let us see if the vine flourish."
Song of Solomon 7:11-12
The church was about to engage in earnest labour, and desired her Lord's company in it. She does not say, "I will go," but "let us go." It is blessed working when Jesus is at our side! It is the business of God's people to be trimmers of God's vines. Like our first parents, we are put into the garden of the Lord for usefulness; let us therefore go forth into the field. Observe that the church, when she is in her right mind, in all her many labours desires to enjoy communion with Christ. Some imagine that they cannot serve Christ actively, and yet have fellowship with him: they are mistaken. Doubtless it is very easy to fritter away our inward life in outward exercises, and come to complain with the spouse, "They made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept;" but there is no reason why this should be the case except our own folly and neglect. Certain is it that a professor may do nothing, and yet grow quite as lifeless in spiritual things as those who are most busy. Mary was not praised for sitting still; but for her sitting at Jesus' feet. Even so, Christians are not to be praised for neglecting duties under the pretence of having secret fellowship with Jesus: it is not sitting, but sitting at Jesus' feet which is commendable. Do not think that activity is in itself an evil: it is a great blessing, and a means of grace to us. Paul called it a grace given to him to be allowed to preach; and every form of Christian service may become a personal blessing to those engaged in it. Those who have most fellowship with Christ are not recluses or hermits, who have much time to spare, but indefatigable labourers who are toiling for Jesus, and who, in their toil, have him side by side with them, so that they are workers together with God. Let us remember then, in anything we have to do for Jesus, that we can do it, and should do it in close communion with him.
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Lois
Scripture Reference: 2 Timothy 1:5
Name Meaning: Agreeable or desirable
While there are numerous grandmothers mentioned in the Bible, as these cameos show, the term "grandmother" itself is only used once in the Bible, and that is in connection with Lois, the mother of Eunice, and grandmother of Timothy. Lois preserves in her name an old Greek word and corresponds to Naamah and Naomi, both of which carry a similar significance. We can imagine how the nature of Lois corresponded to the implication of her name.

Lois was a devout Jewess who had instructed her beloved daughter and grandson in Old Testament Scriptures. The family lived at Lystra, and it is possible that Paul, during his visit there, had the joy of leading Lois, Eunice, and Timothy to Christ (Acts 14:6, 7; 16:1), and then wrote of the "unfeigned faith" that dwelt in all three. We have no record of Timothy's father apart from the fact that he was a Gentile. Fausset observes, "One godly parent may counteract the bad influence of the ungodly, and win the child to Christ" (1 Corinthians 7:14;2 Timothy 3:15). Paul dwells upon the faith of the mother and grandmother alone in the spiritual instruction of Timothy who became his son in the faith.
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Abia, Abiah

[Ăbī'ă, Ăbī'ah] - jehovah is father.
  1. The second son of Samuel the prophet and judge of Israel, Abia, with his brother Joel or Vashni, judged so unworthily as to force Israel to desire a king (1 Sam. 8:2; 1 Chron. 6:28).
  2. A son of Rehoboam (1 Chron. 3:10; Matt. 1:7). Called Abijam in 1 Kings 14:31; 15:6-8.
  3. The seventh son of Becher the son of Benjamin (1 Chron 7:8).
  4. A priest in the days of David, appointed to service in the Tabernacle (Luke 1:5). Also the name of the wife of Hezron, grandson of Judah by Pharez (1 Chron. 2:24). Our study of Bible men will bring out the fact that the same name is often borne by both men and women.
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Today's reading: 2 Kings 7-9, John 1:1-28 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: 2 Kings 7-9

1 Elisha replied, "Hear the word of the LORD. This is what the LORD says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria."
2 The officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, "Look, even if the LORD should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen?"
"You will see it with your own eyes," answered Elisha, "but you will not eat any of it!"

Today's New Testament reading: John 1:1-28

The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light....


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