Thursday, July 23, 2015

Thu Jul 23rd Todays News

Search for extra solar planets with life prompts wildly diverse reactions. NASA has decided that her sole reason for existence is to find life on other planets. Prompting the question "Will they ever find intelligent life on Earth?" Creationists answer 'no' with an attempt to build a Noah's Ark amusement park built around a life size structure made to biblical dimensions. When Noah told stories around a campfire, who thought the purpose of the story was to build the boat, and who thought the purpose was related to learning who God is? One is confident that the future leaders were the latter. But then it comes down to how the Bible is constructed. Some say it doesn't matter either way. But if worst were to happen and creationists built a Noah's Ark amusement park, no one gets hurt. But if NASA messes up it may well be that many will die. NASA is a scientific organisation and needs to focus on the science. It is all very well to find Earth like planets. It will lead to more discovery. The conditions needed for life are not so high and the universe is probably full of it. But the extremophiles will be fascinating. Only single cell life forms were known to exist in temperatures above 400 centigrade a fortnight ago. Now we have seen hammerhead sharks swimming in that soup. We must find out how. Science will show us. 

 Science has failed us over the fraud of Anthropogenic Global Warming. The biggest unanswered question regarding AGW is, even were it true, how best to deal with it? The hucksters have said that dismantling industry is the only way. However the science is not certain. Lots of extra Carbon Dioxide has not equated with lots of extra heat. A prudent leader would keep industry strong so that should it be needed, industry can respond to an emergency. But bad leadership has meant trillions of dollars has been spent around the world, depriving the poorest of opportunity to not be poor. And no worthwhile headway has been found dealing with the perceived problem. Today, ALP Leader Bill Shorten has promised to force Australia to provide 50% renewable energy by 2030. Not reliable coal or nuclear, but environment damaging Wind and solar which is much more expensive. Shorten is promising to be irresponsible. Meanwhile, Fairfax press have inflated the credentials of a UK backbencher so they can attack Mr Abbott. 

Shorten's backflip on supporting the 'turn back the boat' policy leaves unanswered questions. But his later statements show it is not a policy, but an option. Turning back the boats of illegal arrivals has saved lives. At least twelve hundred drowned in Australian waters, and many others in international waters, before the policy was implemented. So what has happened now to change Bill Shorten's mind? And what of the supporters who laughed at and derided the good policy? Would some of the murderous crowd care to explain why killing people to allow them to be exploited by pirates is compassionate? Maybe Gillian Triggs will investigate? No need for her to delay now, the Conservatives are in government. And the ALP leader has given her her direction to take. 

State leaders agree to talk about GST Tax and Medicare. Some are saying the tax raise from 10% to 15% GST is merely a tax raise and Australia needs to cut spending. However, the Senate is blocking spending cuts. With a raise in the GST the possibility is, for there to be meaningful tax cuts elsewhere. And reform could lead to spending cuts too. Or the could try to tax their way to prosperity, which has never worked. 

Top US General criticises Obama policy of abandoning Iraq. But it worked for jihadis and Obama too. So long as it is recognised the US President does not respect the US, or the world. 

Islamaphobia is a word used to denounce bigots and excuse jihadism. There is no excuse for either. Neo Nazis are wrong to hate races and cultures. Jihadist may experience bad behaviour related to their activity. They should expect it. Good men resist evil.

Cate Blanchett chooses poor role for political reasons. She is playing a mentally ill woman who was upset when she was saved by good government from incarceration of her making.

ABC cuts bookstores and makes it online only. Instead of being balanced, ABC cuts services. Even profitable ones.

In 811, Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I plundered the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captured khan Krum's treasury. 1319, a Knights Hospitaller fleet scored a crushing victory over an Aydinid fleet off Chios. 1632, Three hundred colonists bound for New France departed from Dieppe, France. 1677, Scanian War: Denmark–Norway captured the harbour town of Marstrand from Sweden. 1793, Kingdom of Prussia re-conquered Mainz from France.

In 1821, while the Mora Rebellion continued, Greeks captured Monemvasia Castle. Turkish troops and citizens were transferred to Minor Asia coasts. 1929, in the United States, William Austin Burt patented the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter. 1840, the Province of Canada was created by the Act of Union. 1862, American Civil War: Henry Halleck took command of the Union Army. 1874, Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos was appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa, India. 1881, the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina was signed in Buenos Aires.

In 1903, the Ford Motor Company sold its first car. 1908, The Second Constitution was accepted by the Ottomans. 1914, Austria-Hungary issued a series of demands in an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia demanding Serbia to allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia accepted all but one of those demands and Austria declared war on July 28. 1926, Fox Film bought the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film. 1927, the first station of the Indian Broadcasting Company went on the air in Bombay. 1929, the Fascist government in Italy banned the use of foreign words.

In 1936, in Catalonia, Spain, the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia was founded through the merger of Socialist and Communist parties. 1940, the United States' Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issued a declaration on the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet annexation and incorporation of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 1942, the Holocaust: The Treblinka extermination camp was opened. Also 1942, World War II: The German offensive Operation Edelweiss and Operation Braunschweig began. Also 1942, Bulgarian poet and Communist leader Nikola Vaptsarov was executed by firing squad. 1943, the Rayleigh bath chair murder occurred in Rayleigh, Essex, England. Not as racy as might be thought, a crippled dad was blown up by his son who procured a mine from army stores. The dad was controlling and vicious. The son was deemed insane. Also 1943, World War II: The British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Laforey sank the Italian submarine Ascianghi in the Mediterranean after she torpedoed the cruiser HMS Newfoundland. 1945, the post-war legal processes against Philippe Pétain began. 1952, the European Coal and Steel Community was established. Also 1952, General Muhammad Naguib led the Free Officers Movement (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real power behind the coup) in overthrowing King Farouk of Egypt.

In 1961, the Sandinista National Liberation Front was founded in Nicaragua. 1962, Telstar relaid the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite. Also 1962, the International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos was signed. 1967, 12th Street Riot: In Detroit, Michigan, one of the worst riots in United States history began on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It ultimately killed 43 people, injured 342 and burned about 1,400 buildings. 1968, Glenville Shootout: In Cleveland, Ohio, a violent shootout between a Black Militant organisation led by Ahmed Evans and the Cleveland Police Department occurred. During the shootout, a riot began and lasted for five days. Also 1968, the only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft took place when a Boeing 707 carrying ten crew and 38 passengers was taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The aircraft was en route from Rome, Italy, to Lod, Israel. 1970, Qaboos bin Said al Said became Sultan of Oman after overthrowing his father, Said bin Taimur initiated massive reforms, modernisation programs and end to a decade long civil war. 1972, the United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite. 1974, the Greek military junta collapsed, and former Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited to lead the new government, beginning Greece's metapolitefsi era.

In 1982, the International Whaling Commission decided to end commercial whaling by 1985-86. 1983, thirteen Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed after a deadly ambush by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Also 1983, Gimli Glider: Air Canada Flight 143 ran out of fuel and made a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba. 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first Miss America to resign when she surrendered her crown after nude photos of her appeared in Penthouse magazine. 1986, in London, England, Prince Andrew, Duke of York married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey. 1988, General Ne Win, effective ruler of Burma since 1962, resigned after pro-democracy protests. 1992, a Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, established that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples was not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender. Also 1992, Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia. 1993, Agdam was occupied by Armenian separatists. 1995, Comet Hale–Bopp was discovered; it became visible to the naked eye on Earth nearly a year later. 1997, Digital Equipment Corporation filed antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel. 1999, Mohammed VI became King of Morocco.
2014
There are lots of reasons Nazis lost WW2. On the Eastern front, German troops were fewer than Soviet troops, and, although better equipped and trained, the equipment was not cold proof. Training assumed the use of equipment, but it was not reliable. Boots were not insulated. Oil was not treated with anti freeze. But, on this day in 1942, Germany launched the delightfully named and successful operation Edelweiss to secure Caucasus oil fields which supplied their industry. Edelweiss is a flower, and when Oscar Hammerstein II wanted to write a lyric for the Sound of Music where the Captain Von Trapp would wave goodbye to his homeland, he chose the flower's name. The song is the best remembered piece from the musical, and released months before his death, a fitting tribute. Today, Russia is looking to reassert her authority in the Caucasus too. 

Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me

Small and white clean and bright

You look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow

Bloom and grow forever

Edelweiss,Edelweiss


Bless my homeland forever.
In 1319, the poorly named Knights Hospitaller fleet scored a crushing victory over Turkish pirates. Today, the St John's Ambulance are more efficient. In 1632, 300 settlers set sail for New France, which is covered by territory from Louisiana through to Quebec. In 1829, the first patented typewriter was submitted. In 1903, Henry Ford's company sold its' first car. In 1914, Austria Hungary demanded Serbia allow Austria access to determine those responsible for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia failed on one count, and so war was declared. Salient to today's demand on Russia over Ukraine territory. In 1926, Fox Film bought Movietone Sound Systems to produce sound to film. In 1927, Wilfred Rhodes became the only player in Cricket History to play 1000 first class matches. In 1929, Italy banned the use of foreign words. In 1942, Treblinka opened. On the same day in 1942, Bulgarian poet and Communist leader Nikola Vaptsarov was executed by firing squad, his one volume of poetry was titled "Motoring Verses." In 1943, the Rayleigh Bath murder occurred. In 1967, Detroit was in riot. In 1968 Ohio, a black militant named Ahmed had a shootout with police which preceded 5 days of riots. In 1982, the international Whaling Commission decided to end commercial Whaling by 1986. In 1992, A Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples is not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender.
Historical perspectives on this day
In 811, Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I plundered the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captured khan Krum's treasury. 1319, a Knights Hospitaller fleet scored a crushing victory over an Aydinid fleet off Chios. 1632, Three hundred colonists bound for New France departed from Dieppe, France. 1677, Scanian War: Denmark–Norway captured the harbour town of Marstrand from Sweden. 1793, Kingdom of Prussia re-conquered Mainz from France.

 In 1821, while the Mora Rebellion continued, Greeks captured Monemvasia Castle. Turkish troops and citizens were transferred to Minor Asia coasts. 1929, in the United States, William Austin Burt patented the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter. 1840, the Province of Canada was created by the Act of Union. 1862, American Civil War: Henry Halleck took command of the Union Army. 1874, Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos was appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa, India. 1881, the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina was signed in Buenos Aires.

 In 1903, the Ford Motor Company sold its first car. 1908, The Second Constitution was accepted by the Ottomans. 1914, Austria-Hungary issued a series of demands in an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia demanding Serbia to allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia accepted all but one of those demands and Austria declared war on July 28. 1926, Fox Film bought the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film. 1927, the first station of the Indian Broadcasting Company went on the air in Bombay. 1929, the Fascist government in Italy banned the use of foreign words.

 In 1936, in Catalonia, Spain, the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia was founded through the merger of Socialist and Communist parties. 1940, the United States' Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issued a declaration on the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet annexation and incorporation of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 1942, the Holocaust: The Treblinka extermination camp was opened. Also 1942, World War II: The German offensive Operation Edelweiss and Operation Braunschweig began. Also 1942, Bulgarian poet and Communist leader Nikola Vaptsarov was executed by firing squad. 1943, the Rayleigh bath chair murder occurred in Rayleigh, Essex, England. Also 1943, World War II: The British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Laforey sank the Italian submarine Ascianghi in the Mediterranean after she torpedoed the cruiser HMS Newfoundland. 1945, the post-war legal processes against Philippe Pétain began. 1952, the European Coal and Steel Community was established. Also 1952, General Muhammad Naguib led the Free Officers Movement (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real power behind the coup) in overthrowing King Farouk of Egypt.

 In 1961, the Sandinista National Liberation Front was founded in Nicaragua. 1962, Telstar relaid the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite. Also 1962, the International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos was signed. 1967, 12th Street Riot: In Detroit, Michigan, one of the worst riots in United States history began on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It ultimately killed 43 people, injured 342 and burned about 1,400 buildings. 1968, Glenville Shootout: In Cleveland, Ohio, a violent shootout between a Black Militant organisation led by Ahmed Evans and the Cleveland Police Department occurred. During the shootout, a riot began and lasted for five days. Also 1968, the only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft took place when a Boeing 707 carrying ten crew and 38 passengers was taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The aircraft was en route from Rome, Italy, to Lod, Israel. 1970, Qaboos bin Said al Said became Sultan of Oman after overthrowing his father, Said bin Taimur initiated massive reforms, modernisation programs and end to a decade long civil war. 1972, the United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite. 1974, the Greek military junta collapsed, and former Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited to lead the new government, beginning Greece's metapolitefsi era.

 In 1982, the International Whaling Commission decided to end commercial whaling by 1985-86. 1983, thirteen Sri Lanka Army soldiers were killed after a deadly ambush by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Also 1983, Gimli Glider: Air Canada Flight 143 ran out of fuel and made a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba. 1984, Vanessa Williams became the first Miss America to resign when she surrendered her crown after nude photos of her appeared in Penthouse magazine. 1986, in London, England, Prince Andrew, Duke of York married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey. 1988, General Ne Win, effective ruler of Burma since 1962, resigned after pro-democracy protests. 1992, a Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, established that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples was not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender. Also 1992, Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia. 1993, Agdam was occupied by Armenian separatists. 1995, Comet Hale–Bopp was discovered; it became visible to the naked eye on Earth nearly a year later. 1997, Digital Equipment Corporation filed antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel. 1999, Mohammed VI became King of Morocco.
=== Publishing News ===
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.
===
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. 
===
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.
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Anthony Martinez, Andrew Ngo,Daryn Lu, Lawrence L. Urquhart and Ricky Kek. Born on the same day, across the years. Along with Leopold Engleitner (1905), Bert Newton (1938), David Essex (1947), Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967) and Alison Krauss (1971). Revolution Day in Egypt (1952)
1829 – William Austin Burt was awarded a patent for the typographer, the first practical typewriting machine.
1940 – US Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issued a declaration that the US would not recognize the Soviet Union's annexation of the Baltic states.
1970 – Qaboos overthrew his father Said bin Taimur to become Sultan of Oman.
1983 – Air Canada Flight 143 made an emergency landing in Gimli, Manitoba, Canada, without loss of life after the crew was forced to glide the aircraft when it completely ran out of fuel.
2001 – Megawati Sukarnoputri became the first female president of Indonesia after the People's Consultative Assembly removed Abdurrahman Wahid. A revolutionary day for you. You invented the type. You don't recognise what is clearly wrong. You are the Caboose that could. A first. Cheers.
Deaths
July 23: Revolution Day in Egypt (1952)
2012 solar storm
2012 solar storm
Begin typing. We are hungry for justice. We recognise the truth. We are hale, hearty and we bopp. They missed us. Let's party. 
Matches
Hatches
Despatches
===
2015
===

DROWN ’EM ALL, LET GAIA SORT ’EM OUT

Tim Blair – Thursday, July 23, 2015 (1:56am)

From a Guardian reader, of course, comes the perfect leftist response to Bill Shorten’s belated embrace of sanity: 
People are better off dead than in detention centres in Indonesia or Malaysia, Manus island or Nauru.
The only option now is to vote green. 
Because voting Green will guarantee a greater number of fatalities. And they think this is a good thing. Younger readers, or those without a great historical awareness, are being given a perfect lesson here on how inflexible political faith can lead to an acceptance of atrocity in the imagined interests of a greater cause. Stalin, Pol Pot and Castro all had western supporters who played down bloodshed and torture. The victims of those dictators were “better off dead”, as our Guardian reader might put it.
The elemental facts of the past eight years are not in dispute. By 2007, the Coalition’s border protection policies had ended people smuggling to Australia and emptied our detention centres. In 2008, Labor introduced border protection policies that resulted in the arrival over the next five years of 50,000 asylum seekers and the deaths at sea of some 1200 men, women and children. In 2014, the Coalition again ended people smuggling and stopped asylum seekers drowning. Finally, in 2015, Labor’s leader has realised that the Coalition approach works.
And the compassionate, humanitarian left is furious about it.
===

Here comes another multi-billion-dollar green catastrophe, uncosted by Labor

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (9:15am)

Not costed, not modelled and not effective in “stopping” warming anyway. The truth behind Bill Shorten’s impossible “aim” of doubling renewable energy in 15 years - without hitting power prices:
Labor has failed to detail the cost to consumers and electricity generators of its ambition to rapidly accelerate Australia’s renewable energy use to 50 per cent in just 15 years…
With business, unions and Labor figures expressing dismay at the calculated shift to the Left on climate change, incoming ALP ­national president and opposition environment spokesman Mark Butler struggled to spell out the impact of the surprise policy.
He equivocated on the crucial question of whether ratcheting up the use of heavily subsidised ­renewables such as wind farms and rooftop solar panels would bring down household electricity prices, saying “there are too many factors in the electricity system to be definitive about this’’…
The policy on renewables — ­released two days before the party’s national conference — did not go to shadow cabinet, leaving some Labor MPs feeling ambushed­ and angry, but was discussed by the leadership group…
Modelling undertaken last year by Deloitte Access Economics showed the existing RET pushed up electricity prices, costing the economy up to $28 billion and a net loss of 5000 jobs…
Interviewed on Sky News, Mr Butler had difficulty explaining what an increase in renewables would mean for household electricity prices. He said all the modelling, including for the government’s review on the RET, showed “adding additional electricity puts downward pressure: that doesn’t mean there aren’t other price pressures’’.
What a joke:
The Labor Party has commissioned no modelling on the impacts of its proposed 50 per cent renewable energy target, saying it will consult on “the finer detail” of the policy when it is in government…
Asked to release Labor’s modelling, [environment spokesman Mark] Butler said it relied on reports that were “all in the public realm” including from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, ClimateWorks, and “some of the government’s own modelling”.
Adam Creighton:
Labor’s plan to require half of ­Australia’s electricity to come from renewable sources such as wind and solar power will greatly sap productivity and could significantly boost retail electricity ­prices, as more unwanted supply is forced into a market already groaning under excess capacity.
The renewable energy target, due to reach 33,000 gigawatt hours by 2020, would need to surge to 110,000GWh by 2030 to meet Labor’s ambitious policy, accordin­g to ACIL Allen…
ACIL chief executive Paul Hyslop said: “If this were met by wind power it would require 10,000 to 11,000 additional turbines … with capital costs for the turbines alone of $65 billion.
ACIL said the total capital cost would be in the order of $100bn — about three times the cost of the National Broadband Network.... Frontier calculated the net economic cost of Labor’s policy to be $35bn in today’s dollars..
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
===

Shorten doesn’t want a boat tow-back policy. He just wants a blank

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (9:12am)

Bill, Shorten says he now wants to turn back the boats.
Would you trust him?
Phil Coorey:
Mr Shorten will make his argument for the policy change at the Labor National Conference this weekend…
(A) deal is being negotiated between factions with the aim of leaving the policy platform blank on the issue of turnbacks – neither supporting it nor opposing it. This would give any future Labor government the discretion to apply the policy should it feel the need. Mr Shorten will argue on Saturday for that option.
Just an option? Not a policy, supported by the party?
Smells like a con.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 
===

Top general: Obama pulled out of Iraq too soon

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (9:02am)

Barack Obama neutered the US military might and surrendered Iraq to the Islamic State. Hear it from the top man in the US Army:

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, ... spent more time in Iraq than any other U.S. Army general—more than four years, the last two as top commander…
In an exclusive interview with Fox News, the general ... had pointed words on the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria – suggesting it didn’t have to be this way.
“It’s frustrating to watch it,” Odierno said. “I go back to the work we did in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 and we got it to a place that was really good. Violence was low, the economy was growing, politics looked like it was heading in the right direction.”
Odierno said the fall of large parts of Iraq was not inevitable, reiterating concerns about the pace of the U.S. troop withdrawal there.
”If we had stayed a little more engaged, I think maybe it might have been prevented,” he said. “I’ve always believed the United States played the role of honest broker between all the groups and when we pulled ourselves out, we lost that role.”
.
In 2009, while still the top commander in Iraq, Odierno recommended keeping 30,000-35,000 U.S. troops after the end of 2011, when the U.S. was scheduled to pull out. The recommendation was not followed..

Odierno, though, is most worried about the deep cuts to the Army over the past four years – from 570,000 troops in 2010 to near 490,000 today, a reduction of 14 percent. And the cuts are getting deeper. 
“In my mind, we don’t have the ability to deter. The reason we have a military is to deter conflict and prevent wars. And if people believe we are not big enough to respond, they miscalculate,” Odierno said.
(Thanks to reader brett t r.) 
===

The dangerous fraud of the “Islamophobia” excuse

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (8:47am)

Ayaan Hirsi Ali:

Islamic extremism is a cancer that is spreading around the world, claiming innocent lives from Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, here in the US. With every passing year, an increasing share of armed conflict and terrorism around the world is attributable to the pernicious influence of militant Islam.
Yet for more than a decade western leaders — conservatives and liberals alike — have united in insisting that “Islam is a religion of peace” and buying the absurd notion that Islamophobia is the threat we should worry more about. Until this week. On Monday, at long last, the British prime minister stood up and said what urgently needed to be said.
He condemned what he called “Islamist extremism” as a doctrine “hostile to basic liberal values such as democracy, freedom and sexual equality” and based on the conspiracy theory that the West is out to destroy Islam. And he boldly rejected what he called “the grievance justification” for extremism and the violence it spawns.
I could not agree more. All over the world today Islamists infiltrate Muslim communities and tell them: “The infidel is at war with your religion.” Every time we in the West wring our hands about a largely imagined Islamophobia, or call Muslim communities in the West “disenfranchised”, which they are not, we are empowering Islamic extremists by unwittingly endorsing their message…
In defending with confidence an inclusive British identity based on democracy, the rule of law, the freedom of expression and worship, and equality regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation or faith, the prime minister has made it clear why a literal application of unreformed Islam is incompatible with British values.
(Thanks to reader R.) 
===

Shorten’s shabby fantasy

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (8:39am)

image
BILL Shorten’s astonishing lies will kill our economy. And caution: those lies are multiplying fast. 

This week the Opposition Leader made three reckless and misleading claims.
Shorten promised to double Australia’s green power in 15 years without blowing our electricity bills.
He insisted we didn’t need to raise taxes to pay for Labor’s unfunded promise to spend $80 billion more on health and education.
And he claimed a free trade deal with China threatened Australian jobs.
Believe Shorten’s nonsense — and many do, even though last month Shorten admitted lying to Neil Mitchell over his role in the Rudd-Gillard affair - and we won’t become another Greece. No, the Greeks will instead look at us and think they got off lightly.
(Read full article here.) 
===

1200 dead boat people later, Labor finally says “oops” on turnbacks

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (8:16am)

For how long did Labor sell the lie that boats from Indonesia could not be turned back? Seven years is the answer, during which 1200 people died, 50,000 illegal immigrants landed and $12 billion was wasted.
But even then that wasn’t enough to change Labor’s mind. Only the fear of election defeat did that - and Labor leader Bill Shorten still needs to change the collective mind of colleagues who got drunk on seeming good, not doing it:
Labor immigration minister Chris Bowen, 2011:
Turning back the boats is dangerous. The Navy say it risks lives.
Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard, 2012:
Mr Abbott is peddling a myth to the Australian people. He knows Indonesia will not agree to facilitate tow backs, and he’s trying not to be exposed as telling the Australian people something that can’t and won’t work.
Labor Immigration Minister Chris Bowen, 2012:
Mr Abbott’s bloody-mindedness is astounding – he and Scott Morrison arrogantly spruik a tow-back policy that our Navy and Border Protection authorities say is dangerous and risks lives… This is a policy the United Nations’ refugee chief said breaches the Refugee Convention; a policy that was recently found to be illegal in the European Court of Human Rights. Crucially, even Indonesia – the very country Mr Abbott wants to tow the boats back to – has made it crystal clear on a number of occasions that it will not agree to the policy.
Labor Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare, 2012:
[Tow backs have] been savaged by everyone from the former Chief of the Defence Force to the Indonesian national police. Most importantly though, it has been savaged by the Australian men and women who would have to do this job. Why? Because it puts their lives at risk.
Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, 2013:
During his first press conference since ousting Julia Gillard, Mr Rudd said yesterday that the coalition’s boats policy would set Australia on course for a “policy collision” with Indonesia…
“When the Indonesian government says they will not accept such a policy ... I really wonder if he (Mr Abbott) is trying to risk some sort of conflict with Indonesia,’’
Labor Immigration spokesman Tony Burke, 2013:
In terms of turning back the boats you can’t take the policy settings that were used in 2001, photocopy them and think that in the intervening years, people smugglers haven’t learnt anything. The boats now come ready for sabotage. At the moment you get to the point of interception, they are very quick to turn it into a safety of life at sea operation… That means that you’re not going to turn boats around, because the moment it turns into a safety of life at sea operation you’re getting people on board.
Labor immigration spokesman Tony Burke, 2013:
[Tony Abbott] made an election political call that was never going to be able to be delivered.
Labor leader Bill Shorten, 2013:
There’s no doubt in my mind that the Coalition’s boat person policy is absolutely not working.
Labor immigration spokesman Richard Marles, 2013:
It was inevitably going to fail. And that’s what we saw yesterday.
But last night Labor leader Bill Shorten finally announced he would try at the Labor national conference to overturn one of Labor’s deadliest and costliest policy mistakes:


Labor wants to defeat the people smugglers and we want to prevent drownings at sea. And therefore one of the options which we believe has to be on the table, if we’re given the privilege of forming a Government, has to be the option to turn back boats… It’s not easy, though, because it involves the admission, I think, that mistakes were made when Labor was last in government. 
Labor is now been attacked by ABC presenters such as Fran Kelly and by Lefitsts announcing they are quitting Labor. That is the price of Labor for too long feeding a culture of gesture politics in which seeming trumps doing. As with global warming, too. It slipped the noose over its own neck. 
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Blanchett gets taxpayers’ money to give Liberals a Rau deal

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (7:56am)

More taxpayer-funded agitprop against the wicked Liberals:

Aussie Hollywood star Cate Blanchett will develop and direct a new homegrown television series about Cornelia Rau.
Rau, a young German/Australian woman, was held in immigration detention after escaping a frightening cult.
She received $2.6 million compensation after spending 10 months in a Brisbane jail and the Baxter detention centre between 2004 and 2005…
It is one of 23 film and television projects slated to share in $640,000 of Screen Australia funding.
How much of the full story will actually be told, do you think?
Will this coda feature?:
Now our crime was letting Rau go...:

CORNELIA RAU, the psychiatric patient whose wrongful detention by the Immigration Department stirred a national outcry, has been held in a Hamburg hospital for almost two months after she came to the notice of German police.
Her family is once again blaming officials:

Her travel abroad and the subsequent circumstances of her detention without outdoors access is understood to have angered her family, who are also believed to be questioning authorities about the management of her case by guardianship officials in Sydney and Adelaide.

Followed by this:
David Marr, veteran Howard hater, catches up with one of the most famous victims of that regime:


CORNELIA RAU is in prison in Jordan after wandering the Middle East unmedicated for several months. On balance, her family is relieved.
They are? That’s a change. When Rau was held in (and treated by) one of wicked John Howard’s detention centres after claiming to be an illegal immigrant from Germany, they were far less “relieved”:

She has had a terrible ordeal and is understandably angry about it. She was locked up in isolation, has said she felt treated like a caged animal, for the crime of mental illness which led her to lie about her identity.  In investigating Cornelia’s case, our eyes have been opened to another country, another Australia unrecognisable to most of us, where people deemed not worthy of our proper care are treated without respect.
Back then, there seemed to be a competition among Leftist propagandists to outdo each other in demonising Australia for holding a woman who claimed to be a foreigner, seemed in distress, spoke with a (feigned) accent, had no identification and had not been identified as missing in Germany or Australia.
Marr called it a ”scandal”, but was trumped by Professor Robert Manne in his denunciation of the Palmer Inquiry’s criticism of the culture that led to the government’s error:

It was as if, to deploy an admittedly extreme analogy, an independent inquiry into the Gulag Archipelago should have criticised fiercely the “culture” of the Ministry of the Interior without mentioning that this same culture had some connection with the policy of turning supposed class enemies of the revolution into slave labourers of the Soviet state...
Rau was eventually awarded $2.6 million in compensation, and - quite understandably - no Australian jurisdiction showed any further interest in detaining her. Who, after all, wants a Robert Manne to liken them to Stalinists, turning a poor possum into a brainwashed slave?
Marr reports the consequences:
After the award, guardianship authorities began to loosen the tight leash under which she had been treated in South Australia… Since then she has been forcibly hospitalised in Germany, barred from Turkey and now jailed in Jordan.
 Odd, how John Howard’s Stalinist cruelty to poor Rau is now looking kinder than the freedom demanded by Howard’s critics.
Think that story is the one Blanchett is preparing to tell? 
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The return of the real James Bond

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (7:54am)

Spectre returns. The theme music, too. More plot than chase. The trailer suggests the Bond franchise has just got stronger.
Aaahh, love the retro, the return of tradition. Back with an Aston Martin with a familiar shape and some of the same gizmos of the past, updated. Lush locations, Rome included. Great new Spectre villain - Christoph Waltz taking over a role filled in past films with such distinction by Donald Pleasence, Telly Savalas, Charles Gray, and Max von Sydow.
Can’t wait.
(Thanks to reader James.) 
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The ABC shrinks

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (7:48am)

I am sorry about the lost jobs, but this is one arm of the ABC that should go, given it directly competes with privately-owned bookshops:
The ABC is to close its shops around Australia with the loss of up to 300 jobs as the broadcaster moves its retail section online…
The ABC currently has 50 stores, and 78 ABC Centres located in other retail outlets, employing around 300 people.
What should also go:
- The ABC’s on-line newspaper.
- Three of the ABC’s five radio stations.
- Three of the ABC’s four television stations.
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Obscure and dumped British MP lauded as prominent statesman for criticising Abbott

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (7:12am)

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The Sydney Morning Herald thinks it has a big fish, and has trumpeted this story on the top of its web page:

A prominent British Tory MP has launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s climate change policies, calling them “incomprehensible”, “illogical” and a distortion of “what it means to be a Conservative”.

Mr Abbott’s dismissal of climate science ... speaks to a distorted vision of what it means to be a Conservative.
Richard Benyon, a former environment minister under British leader David Cameron, says Mr Abbott’s decision to become the first world leader to abolish a carbon price is “mystifying” and his attack on renewable energy targets “bewildering”, especially for a “supposedly pro-business government”.
But who is this muffin Benyon, really? How “prominent” is he really?
From his profile page on the British parliament’s web site:
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So it turns out that this “prominent” Tory is actually just a backbencher.
And he was never actually “Environment Minister” but a parliamentary undersecretary in the department of environment, in the third level of the ministry and barely equivalent in rank to a parliamentary secretary in our own parliament.
In other words, the Sydney Morning Herald found some dumped British backbencher of no particular profile who just happened to say something that agreed with the paper’s own alarmist opinions.  And it puffed his credentials to promote its own agenda. 
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The modern Guardian feminist: either way a victim

Andrew Bolt July 23 2015 (5:54am)

Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti last year:
...over the years, like a lot of young women, I endured ass-grabs, disgusting come-ons and a range of hisses, whistles and stares. For a long time, I thought there was something about me that invited the unwanted attention: it took until adulthood to realize that it was the common cost of being female in public spaces.
Jessica Valenti now:

The comments and lascivious stares from men have faded away the older I’ve gotten, leaving an understandable sense of relief. But alongside that is a slightly embarrassing feeling of insecurity that, with every year that goes by, I become more and more invisible to men.... But still, as much as I wish it didn’t, the thought of not being worth men’s notice bothers me. To my great shame, I assume I must look particularly good on the rarer days that I do get catcalled…
I realize the most properly-feminist response to all of this would be to proudly declare that I don’t care, that being too old to catcall is glorious freedom. But that would be a lie. I do care in some way that sits uncomfortably with my politics – enough that it worries me to wonder how I’ll feel when I’m 45, or 65.
(Thanks to reader fulchrum.) 
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So Stoked!!!I was going through my storm chasing pics tonight, and I found out that I had witnessed a sharknado and...
Posted by Matt Granz on Thursday, 23 July 2015

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Who is your favorite author and why?
Posted by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on Wednesday, 22 July 2015

James Branch Cabell for Jurgen and Figures of Earth. No wait. Douglas Adams for Watership Down. No, RF Delderfied for Diana and To Serve them all my Days. Or Jane Austen for Pride and Prejudice. Or Francine Rivers for Redeeming Love. No! I WILL NOT CHOOSE. They are all invited to dinner. 6pm. Neat casual.
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Watch the second video from The Center for Medical Progress to see a high-level Planned Parenthood official haggling over how much to pay for aborted baby parts: https://youtu.be/MjCs_gvImyw
Posted by Americans United for Life on Tuesday, 21 July 2015

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Only thing good about this weather is it gives me a excuse to eat "to keep me warm" supposedly  #Repost @ieatmelbourne...
Posted by Piccolo Me on Wednesday, 22 July 2015

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A tribute to President Obama
Posted by Ron Ruthfield on Tuesday, 21 July 2015

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Hello Sydney friends! Very proud to be apart of a cool Zombie feature film that is having its premiere at Hoyts Fox...
Posted by Andy Trieu on Wednesday, 22 July 2015

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The possibilities are endless when writing your story. What if we told you there are only 7 plotlines that have been recycled over time? http://bit.ly/1KfbTve
Posted by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on Wednesday, 22 July 2015

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=== Posts from last year ===

FAMILY VALUES

Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 23, 2014 (8:47am)

This story has it all: 
Two first cousins in an arranged marriage are being investigated for immigration and Centrelink fraud and rorting the baby bonus by returning to Australia from Lebanon for the births of some of their seven children.
The woman, 33, told the Federal Circuit Court sitting in Parramatta her husband also had her return several times to Australia solely to update Centrelink details so she could continue to get social security …
The now-estranged couple wed in Lebanon in 2001 two weeks after meeting in an arranged marriage. They returned to Australia and lived for a time with their relatives — the woman’s sister is married to the man’s brother. 
Her husband was granted Australian citizenship in 2006.
UPDATE. In earlier welfare developments: 
A child bride allegedly married off at 12 was told sharia law “overrides” Australian law, court documents revealed …
The girl’s father and the 26-year-old man she “wed” were charged in February over numerous child sex offences.
Documents that formed part of a successful apprehended violence order application by police at the time against the girl’s “husband” state that the young girl “believed or had been informed that sharia law overrides the Australian law”.
“She stated that together with the accused they had been trying to get him registered as her legal guardian with Centrelink in order to obtain any welfare benefits they could,” the court documents state. 
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Buyers heart Pro

Andrew Bolt July 23 2014 (7:17pm)

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It has been many, many years since Leonard Joel last sold every single item in an auction this size, but Pro Hart (above) remains loved by the public if not by the critics:
Some of Australian artist Pro Hart’s most significant paintings have gone under the hammer in Melbourne, fetching $1.6 million for the family’s estate. 
It was the first time the 173 works from the Hart family’s private collection have been made available to the public.
image 
One of the pieces, called Menindee Races, sold for more than $26,000… Sophie Ullin from Leonard Joel Auction House told the ABC prices exceeded expectations, saying the sale was so successful because the artist’s appeal was far reaching.
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Their country, our welfare

Andrew Bolt July 23 2014 (6:24pm)

I am not convinced our immigration intake from Lebanon has been properly screened, or that our politicians are alive to the influence of culture:
TWO first cousins in an arranged­ marriage are being investigated for immigration and Centrelink fraud and rorting the baby bonus by returning to Australia from Lebanon for the births of some of their seven children.  

The woman, 33, told the Federal Circuit Court sitting in Parramatta her husband also had her return several times to Australia solely to update Centrelink­ details so she could continue to get social security… 
The now-estranged couple wed in Lebanon in 2001 two weeks after meeting in an ­arranged marriage. They ­returned to Australia and lived for a time with their relatives — the woman’s sister is married to the man’s brother… The husband, 39, was ­granted citizenship in 2006 in circumstances which Judge Harman said troubled him since the couple had ­decided to live in Lebanon. 
How could immigration officials possibly have thought it in the national interest to grant this man citizenship?
(Via Tim Blair.) 
===

Herald choses this moment to sneer at Abbott

Andrew Bolt July 23 2014 (5:44pm)

I know there are vicious people who rejoice in their hatreds. But why does the Sydney Morning Herald consider it part of its duty to print their most savage abuse?
From the letters page today:

“At last!’’ cried Peta Credlin as she reviewed the MH17 disaster and planned Tony Abbott’s daily agenda – “A Tampa/Port Arthur moment just in time!”
Barbaric. 
===

Russia peddles a smear to hide its guilt

Andrew Bolt July 23 2014 (9:30am)

Russia is throwing a lot of sand in the world’s eyes:

Russian Lieutenant General Andrey Kartopolov told the Moscow news conference: “A Ukrainian air force military jet was detected gaining height, its distance from the Malaysian Boeing was 3km to 5km. (We) would like to get an explanation as to why the military jet was flying along a civil aviation corridor at almost the same time and same level as a passenger plane.” 
US officials dismissed the claim as “desperate” propaganda, pointing out that Ukrainian fighters cannot operate at 33,000 feet where MH17 was flying and that Ukraine had told Washington that none of its planes was in the air at the time.
Russia also suggested MH17 might have been shot down by a Ukrain­ian government surface-to-air Buk missile system rather than a Russian-supplied system provided to rebels by Moscow.
As evidence, the Russian generals offered five aerial photos they alleged showed Ukrainian forces had moved several missile systems into the area of the crash in the days before the tragedy… The photographic evidence released by Russia to back its claims was inconclusive and lacking in context. It was unclear whether they showed missile systems at all and if so, who owned them and what their movements were near the time of the crash.
I don’t think Russia plans to give the inquiry into this disaster its full cooperation.
Only the Russian-backed side downed aircraft before the MH17 was shot down. Only the Russian-backed side had in interest in shooting down aircraft. Ukraine released alleged intercept calls of the Russian-backed side boasting it had brought down a plane. Russian media initially reported the Russian-backed rebels brought down an Antanov transport:
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But now this.
UPDATE
Reader Tassierooster protests:
Um, the “US official” who pointed out that Ukrainian fighters cannot operate at 33,000 feet where MH17 was flying should perhaps have checked with the USAF before making such a stupid statement. The Ukrainian AF has a number of fighters, including SU-27’s & Mig-29’s whose operational ceiling is much higher than 33,000ft. 
Needlessly making factually incorrect statements to shred the lame excuses of the Russians will only give ammunition to those who want to believe the BS coming out of Moscow. 
UPDATE
A more likely scenario:
SENIOR US intelligence officials say ... the passenger jet was likely felled by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and that Russia “created the conditions” for the downing by arming the separatists. 
They said the most probably explanation for why the plane was shot down was that the rebels made a mistake. Separatists previously had shot down 12 Ukrainian military aeroplanes, the officials noted…
The officials made clear they were relying in part on social media postings and videos made public in recent days by the Ukrainian government, even though they have not been able to authenticate all of it.
For example, they cited a video of a missile launcher said to have been crossing the Russian border after the launch, appearing to be missing a missile. But later, under questioning, the officials acknowledged they had not yet verified that the video was exactly what it purported to be.
They said they did not know who fired the missile at MH17 or whether any Russian operatives were present at the missile launch.
They were also not certain that the missile crew was trained in Russia…
In terms of who fired the missile, “we don’t know a name, we don’t know a rank and we’re not even 100 per cent sure of a nationality,” one official said… The claim that the Ukrainian government had shot down the plan was not realistic, as Kiev had no such missile systems in that area, which is clearly under the control of the rebels. 
UPDATE
The BBC draws further links with Russia:
Commonly known by his nom-de-guerre Strelkov (which translates loosely from Russian as “Rifleman"), Igor Girkin is one of the most effective military commanders the rebels have… He says he was a reserve colonel in the FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service, until 31 March last year. 
He is considered to be the commander-in-chief of both the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s republic (LPR). The EU believes he works for Russian military intelligence (the GRU), and has placed him under sanctions…
Shortly before news emerged that Flight MH17 had disappeared, a statement attributed to Strelkov (later deleted) appeared on Russian-language social media boasting that a Ukrainian army cargo plane had been shot down. However, the only wreckage reported on 17 July was that of the Malaysian airliner…

Igor Bezler is a prominent commander in charge of Horlivka, a city of 300,000 people north-east of Donetsk. Born in Simferopol in Crimea, he has a Russian military background and says he has both Russian and Ukrainian citizenship.... Known as Bes (Demon), his voice was identified by Ukrainian security services in a series of phone intercepts which they say proved that MH17 had been shot down by the separatists. US officials say they have verified the calls.
The prime minister of the DPR [Alexander Borodai] is a Russian citizen from Moscow who describes himself as a professional consultant who got involved in east Ukraine as a volunteer… Before coming to Donetsk, he says he worked as a “political strategist” in Crimea, reportedly for the pro-Russian rebel leadership there… He is alleged to be an operative for GRU, Russia’s military intelligence. Russian media reports link him to FSB, Russia’s Federal Security Service.  
(Thanks to reader Romanoz.) 
===

Why is the ABC broadcasting Al Jazeera?

Andrew Bolt July 23 2014 (8:53am)

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Of all the broadcasters in all the world, the ABC chooses al Jazeera to broadcast into Australia on its taxpayer-funded facilities, twice a day, every day.  We need the Doha regime’s broadcaster to interpret world politics to us?
Know that Doha supports the Muslim Brotherhood, which in turn is close to Hamas, the terrorist group which runs Gaza. And so, not surprisingly, this is the top of today’s menu of opinion pieces on the al Jazeera website:

image
Get it off.  Or let’s have the ABC also donate two hours a day to a news service from Israel.
Why not? 
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Why would Hockey want us to know he wanted a tougher budget?

Andrew Bolt July 23 2014 (8:02am)

I really do not understand how it benefits the Government to have Joe Hockey and his allies brief the writer of his biography in this way:
Joe Hockey’s first budget, which delivered swingeing cuts to health, education and welfare, raised taxes and broke a series of promises, was ‘’much softer’’ than the Treasurer had wanted, a new biography published on Wednesday says.
Mr Hockey was convinced by Prime Minister Tony Abbott to take a more cautious approach, delaying cuts to pensions and reducing the number of people who would pay the deficit levy during meetings of the expenditure review committee…
The revelations are contained in Hockey: Not Your Average Joe, written by Fairfax Media columnist and long-time ABC broadcaster Madonna King…
The book quotes a source inside the room during meetings leading up to the budget as saying: ‘’It wasn’t as tough as Joe would have liked but a good compromise. Maybe it’s tougher than the Prime Minister would do if Joe wasn’t there to drive it.’’ King, who had Mr Hockey’s co-operation for the book, goes on to say: ‘’In reality, the budget was much softer than Joe would have liked. He wanted changes to pensions made earlier and the deficit levy to net more taxpayers … But Abbott, who chaired each of the expenditure review committee meetings, was taking a much more cautious approach than his Treasurer, no doubt with one eye firmly on the reaction of voters.’’
I also don’t understand why Hockey would want it known that he wanted his already unsaleable budget to be even tougher. I agree it should have been, but I also accept it could not have been. 
===

Hamas wants Palestinians to die

Andrew Bolt July 23 2014 (6:50am)

To Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon, an excellent question about the Hamas terrorist group to which she gives comfort:
Civilians are being killed! Senator Rhiannon, July 13: 
THE more than 700 who have been injured and the 100 who have been killed ... More than 70 per cent are women and children because Israel is targeting the civilians of Gaza in these bombings … 
So how come Hamas can build tunnels but not bomb shelters? Abdulateef al-Mulhim, Arab News, July 16: 
SO, why Hamas was successful in spreading a sophisticated network of tunnels and fail to build simple bomb shelters … Hamas leaders are jet setters. They travel high class, stay at the best hotels and eat the best food but their people are not paid their salaries on time and … Hamas did not even think of building bomb shelters. So, is Hamas looking for more innocent Palestinian casualties to gain more sympathy from the outside world?
And a good question for Hamas, which produces an insane answer:
SARAH FERGUSON:  You’ve chosen to fire those rockets into Israel and it’s not clear from the outside what it is you’re hoping to achieve? 
OSAMA HAMDAN (Hamas spokesman): Well, it’s clear that we are hoping to achieve a long-term ceasefire which can protect the Palestinians with guarantees that Israelis will not violate that another time.
Firing rockets for a ceasefire?
UPDATE
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs gives some background:

In the 26 days between 12 June and 7 July, approximately 300 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip. Hamas directs its rockets at Israeli civilians…

The operation was launched in response to rocket attacks, nothing more… Moreover, while the rocket fire began on 12 June, the day that three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped (and later found to have been murdered), it started before Israel was aware that they had been taken and searches by Israel’s security forces did not begin until the next day…
When the attacks reached over 80 rockets a day, Israel had no choice but to take action… On 8 July, Israel responded with Operation Protective Edge.
The objective of the operation is to restore stability and quiet to the residents of Israel, to damage Hamas’s capabilities and to destroy the terror infrastructures directed against Israel and its citizens…
From 8-17 July, prior to start of ground actions, more than 1,497 rockets were launched at Israel (bringing the total since 12 June to about 1,700). Approximately 301 rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, but 1,093 hit Israeli territory.
The vast majority of Israel’s population is in range of these missiles, which have targeted villages, towns and major cities such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa as well as the southern cities of Be’er Sheva, Ashdod and Ashkelon…
On 15 July, Israel accepted the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and at 09:00 [Israel time] halted all its military activities in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas ... continued to launch sustained rocket barrages at Israel. Between 09:00-15:00, it fired approximately 50 rockets at Israeli towns and cities… Hamas also continued firing during several humanitarian lulls, including one proposed by the UN to allow Gazans to shop for supplies and receive humanitarian and medical aid…
On 17 July, Israel began a ground phase of the operation. It followed Hamas terrorists infiltrating into Israel through a terror tunnel earlier that day to perpetrate a large-scale attack against Israeli citizens in a kibbutz near the Gaza border…
The ground operation was ordered to strike at the terrorist tunnels from the Gaza Strip that open up inside Israeli territory. Hamas built an extensive network of elaborate tunnels to ... murder and kidnap Israeli citizens as evidenced by the weapons, plastic handcuffs and anesthesia taken from terrorists that managed to infiltrate Israeli territory through these tunnels 
UPDATE
Hamas doesn’t care if Palestinian children die. Why else would it hide its rockets in schools? The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East protests:
Today, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip. As soon as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn from the premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of rockets. 
This is the second time in a week UNRWA has found rockets in its schools. Last week:
Yesterday, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered approximately 20 rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip. UNRWA strongly condemns the group or groups responsible for placing the weapons in one of its installations. This is a flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises under international law. This incident, which is the first of its kind in Gaza, endangered civilians including staff and put at risk UNRWA’s vital mission to assist and protect Palestine refugees in Gaza.
UNWatch reports other examples of Hamas using human shields:
Washington Post correspondent Willian Booth, reporting from Gaza, wrote in an article from 15 July: “At the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, crowds gathered to throw shoes and eggs at the Palestinian Authority’s health minister, who represents the crumbling “unity government” in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The minister was turned away before he reached the hospital, which has become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices."… 
Another report by Washington Post correspondents from 17 July recounts: “During the lull, a group of men at a mosque in northern Gaza said they had returned to clean up the green glass from windows shattered in the previous day’s bombardment. But they could be seen moving small rockets into the mosque.” ...
Wall Street Journal Correspondent Nick Casey tweeted the following: 
image
The Japanese daily Mainichi’s correspondent in Gaza reported on 21 July: 
Hamas criticizes that ‘Israel massacres civilians’. On the other hand, it tries to use evacuating civilians and journalists by stopping them and turning them into ‘human shields,’ counteracting thoroughly with its guerrilla tactics… 
Another example:
Contrary to international rules of warfare, Hamas has commandeered a large hospital in Gaza City as its “de facto headquarters,” the Washington Post reported. Buried eight paragraphs in, The Post‘s correspondent, William Booth, wrote on July 15: “At the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, crowds gathered to throw shoes and eggs at the Palestinian Authority’s health minister, who represents the crumbling ‘unity government’ in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The minister was turned away before he reached the hospital, which has become a de facto headquarters for Hamas leaders, who can be seen in the hallways and offices.”
Thane Rosenbaum:
On some basic level, you forfeit your right to be called civilians when you freely elect members of a terrorist organization as statesmen, invite them to dinner with blood on their hands and allow them to set up shop in your living room as their base of operations. At that point you begin to look a lot more like conscripted soldiers than innocent civilians. And you have wittingly made yourself targets.
(Thanks to readers JudoChop, Brian, kat and doc molloy.)   
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But of course Keddie’s character must be Labor

Andrew Bolt July 23 2014 (6:24am)

And she’s Labor, of course, because the Nice must be:
Television favourite Asher Keddie will portray the fictional female Premier of Victoria in Network Ten’s new series Party Tricks .
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Dry Bones cartoon: Prisoner Release, Convicts, Negotiations, Palestinians, Abbas, Kerry, Pollard, Jonathan Pollard, Peace, Peace Agreement, terrorists, Terrorism, PLO, Israel
I did today's cartoon ten years ago back in 2003. The cartoon text uses accepted terminology in order to communicate smoothly. So the cartoon uses the accepted term "prisoners" rather than the more accurate "convicts."
In the latest set of rumors (2013) it seems that we're agreeing to release convicted murderers, to make Abbas and Kerry look good. Do you think that the name Pollard came up in the "prisoner" release discussions?
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Obama wanted him behind bars - ed
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In his defence, he is a Democrat - ed
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Former Treasurer Peter Costello: 
The introduction of the Carbon Tax cost jobs. Its very purpose was to close down heavy smokestack industry. So reversing it should save jobs… That’s the reason for doing it. Yet when our Government announced it was cutting the carbon tax, it put hundreds of people out of work. It takes a special incompetence to destroy jobs when you are removing a job-destroying tax. These are the people who govern us.
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Obama supporters in San Diego, California petition to grant the President immunity for any crimes he has committed or will commit while in office. Media analyst and author Mark Dice simply asks random people if they'll sign a petition to support Obama by granting him immunity for his crimes, and one person right after the other signs it to show support for dear leader. 

Take a look at Mark's previous Man on the Street crazy petition videos and subscribe to to http://www.YouTube.com/MarkDice to see what happens next week, and check out his books in paperback on Amazon.com or e-book on Kindle, iBooks, Nook, or Google Play.

Mark Dice is a media analyst, political activist, and author who, in an entertaining and educational way, gets people to question our celebrity obsessed culture, and the role the mainstream media and elite secret societies play in shaping our lives. 

Mark frequently stirs up controversy from his commentaries, protests, and boycotts, and has repeatedly been featured in major media outlets around the world. 

Several of Mark's YouTube videos have gone viral, earning him a mention on ABC's The View, Fox News' O'Reilly Factor, CNN, Drudge Report, Infowars, TMZ, and other mainstream media outlets. Mark has also been featured in (or attacked in) the New York Post's Page Six, Rolling Stone Magazine, USA Today, The New York Daily News, and in major papers in Pakistan and Iran. 

Mark Dice appears in several documentary films including Invisible Empire, The 9/11 Chronicles, and has been featured on the History Channel's Decoded, Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, the Sundance Channel's Love/Lust: Secret Societies and more.

He enjoys enlightening zombies, as he calls them, (ignorant people) about the mass media's effect on our culture, pointing out Big Brother's prying eyes, and exposing elite secret societies along with scumbag politicians and their corrupt political agendas. 

The term "fighting the New World Order" is used by Mark to describe some of his activities, and refers to his and others' resistance and opposition (The Resistance) to the overall system of political corruption, illegal wars, elite secret societies, mainstream media, Big Brother and privacy issues; as well as various economic and social issues.

Dice and his supporters sometimes refer to being "awake" or "enlightened" and see their knowledge of these topics as part of their own personal Resistance to the corrupt New World Order. This Resistance involves self-improvement, self-sufficiency, personal responsibility and spiritual growth.

Mark Dice is the author of several books on current events, secret societies and conspiracies, including his newest book, Big Brother: The Orwellian Nightmare Come True which is available on Amazon.com, Kindle, Nook, Google Play and iBooks. While much of Mark's work confirms the existence and continued operation of the Illuminati today, he is also dedicated to debunking conspiracy theories and hoaxes and separating the facts from the fiction; hence the "Facts & Fiction" subtitle for several of his books. He has a bachelor's degree in communication from California State University. 

If you have an iPad or Android tablet, then you can get his books in the iBooks or Google Play store for only $6.99 or $7.99. Or you can get paperback copies from Amazon.com too if you prefer a physical book. They are not available in stores. A lot of work and research went into them and they'll save you countless hours of web surfing or YouTube watching in your search for pieces of the puzzle. 

Your support also funds more of Mark's videos and other operations. Equipment, software, travel, and the props all cost money, so by purchasing his paperback books and e-books, you are helping The Resistance continue and your help is greatly appreciated. Be sure to subscribe to Mark's YouTube channel, and look him up on Facebook, and Twitter.http://www.YouTube.com/MarkDicehttp://www.Facebook.com/MarkDicehttp://www.Twitter.com/MarkDice http://www.MarkDice.com
Isn't that premature? His supporters claim there aren't any .. - ed

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Pastor Rick Warren
When God calls you to do something, you don't negotiate. You just obey in faith.
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J.John
It's our 30th Wedding Anniversary today. Killy + l got married on the 23rd July 1983 in Cambridge. We thank the Lord for 3 wonderful decades
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KEV’S ELECTION DATE AN EXECUTION DATE


The Labor Party faithful grit their teeth, unconvincingly defending positions they were denouncing only yesterday. They stand by helplessly watching their muted union comrades being attacked by a despised, recycled leader.

They toss and turn, struggling to sleep with bellies full of Mylanta and hearts full of remorse. What have they allowed their beloved Party to become? And all for the sake of a few crappy seats.

They are desperate for an election date because only then, win lose or another draw, can they plan for the devil’s demise.

They have done it before, and they will do it all again.

Uncle Kev has done his best to ward off his fate. He even demanded that 75% of them must first agree to his execution... but they stood firm, staring him down to 60%, knowing that’s all they will need to rid themselves, once and for all, of the traitorous psychopath who is bereft of Labor values.

The Left is uncomfortable sitting somewhere to the Right of Abbott but they must get through this election without too much loss of life.

They must somehow retain the core of the force to enable a successful sortie on the enemy within.

This shell of a man, with puerile popularity his only prop, will have no blindfold. He will be made to watch as the sights settle on his pudgy frame. No blanks in this squad.

Only then, when the smell of gunpowder has dispersed and Uncle Kev lies in an unmarked shallow pit, can their beloved Party be reclaimed.

Only then, can it once again become the rightful plaything of corrupt unions.
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Pastor Rick Warren
Narcissism causes most leader sex scandals. It's why they can't stay out of the spotlight after a fall.
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July 23: Revolution Day in Egypt (1952)
Replica of W. A. Burt's typographer
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““But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”” Matthew 16:15-16 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"I am married unto you."
Jeremiah 3:14
Christ Jesus is joined unto his people in marriage-union. In love he espoused his Church as a chaste virgin, long before she fell under the yoke of bondage. Full of burning affection he toiled, like Jacob for Rachel, until the whole of her purchase-money had been paid, and now, having sought her by his Spirit, and brought her to know and love him, he awaits the glorious hour when their mutual bliss shall be consummated at the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Not yet hath the glorious Bridegroom presented his betrothed, perfected and complete, before the Majesty of heaven; not yet hath she actually entered upon the enjoyment of her dignities as his wife and queen: she is as yet a wanderer in a world of woe, a dweller in the tents of Kedar; but she is even now the bride, the spouse of Jesus, dear to his heart, precious in his sight, written on his hands, and united with his person. On earth he exercises towards her all the affectionate offices of Husband. He makes rich provision for her wants, pays all her debts, allows her to assume his name, and to share in all his wealth. Nor will he ever act otherwise to her. The word divorce he will never mention, for "He hateth putting away." Death must sever the conjugal tie between the most loving mortals, but it cannot divide the links of this immortal marriage. In heaven they marry not, but are as the angels of God; yet there is this one marvellous exception to the rule, for in Heaven Christ and his Church shall celebrate their joyous nuptials. This affinity as it is more lasting, so is it more near than earthly wedlock. Let the love of husband be never so pure and fervent, it is but a faint picture of the flame which burns in the heart of Jesus. Passing all human union is that mystical cleaving unto the Church, for which Christ left his Father, and became one flesh with her.

Evening

"Behold the man!"
John 19:5
If there be one place where our Lord Jesus most fully becomes the joy and comfort of his people, it is where he plunged deepest into the depths of woe. Come hither, gracious souls, and behold the man in the garden of Gethsemane; behold his heart so brimming with love that he cannot hold it in--so full of sorrow that it must find a vent. Behold the bloody sweat as it distils from every pore of his body, and falls upon the ground. Behold the man as they drive the nails into his hands and feet. Look up, repenting sinners, and see the sorrowful image of your suffering Lord. Mark him, as the ruby drops stand on the thorn-crown, and adorn with priceless gems the diadem of the King of Misery. Behold the man when all his bones are out of joint, and he is poured out like water and brought into the dust of death; God hath forsaken him, and hell compasseth him about. Behold and see, was there ever sorrow like unto his sorrow that is done unto him? All ye that pass by draw near and look upon this spectacle of grief, unique, unparalleled, a wonder to men and angels, a prodigy unmatched. Behold the Emperor of Woe who had no equal or rival in his agonies! Gaze upon him, ye mourners, for if there be not consolation in a crucified Christ there is no joy in earth or heaven. If in the ransom price of his blood there be not hope, ye harps of heaven, there is no joy in you, and the right hand of God shall know no pleasures for evermore. We have only to sit more continually at the cross foot to be less troubled with our doubts and woes. We have but to see his sorrows, and our sorrows we shall be ashamed to mention. We have but to gaze into his wounds and heal our own. If we would live aright it must be by the contemplation of his death; if we would rise to dignity, it must be by considering his humiliation and his sorrow.
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Today's reading: Psalm 31-32, Acts 23:16-35 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Psalm 31-32

For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 In you, LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear to me,
come quickly to my rescue;
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me.
4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit;
deliver me, LORD, my faithful God.

Today's New Testament reading: Acts 23:16-35

16 But when the son of Paul's sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.
17 Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him." 18 So he took him to the commander.
The centurion said, "Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you."
19 The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, "What is it you want to tell me?"
20 He said: "Some Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. 21 Don't give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request."
22 The commander dismissed the young man with this warning: "Don't tell anyone that you have reported this to me."
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Ittai

[Ĭt'ta ī] - plowman or living.
  1. The Gittite leader who, with six hundred Philistines, attached himself to David at the outbreak of Absalom's rebellion. This inhabitant of Gath was determined to follow David in all his trials. How admirable was the affirmation of his loyalty to the fugitive king: "As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be" (2 Sam. 15:21 ). Although a stranger and not of Israel, Ittai was more faithful than many who were Israelites by birth. His fidelity brought him a position of great trust (2 Sam. 18:2).
  2. A Benjamite, son of Ribai, who was one of David's heroes (2 Sam. 23:29). He is called Ithai in 1 Chronicles 11:31.
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