Wed Sep 23rd Todays News

Precious few have signed my petitions. I have one for Australia at Change.org and two for US peoples. One at change.org and one for the Whitehouse. They cost nothing to sign, and mean little, but were they addressed they would be explosive for the NSW public service, police, coroner, ICAC and ALP. I was advised by a back party member that change.org could be effective. I personally despise much that passes through that organisation. I sent an email to Mr Abbott after he became PM, and after Barry O'Farrell got rolled. Originally, I'd sent it to Barry O'Farrell. Mr Abbott's office responded, telling me that he had read it and was referring it to the Attorney General. The AG referred it to the justice minister. And there it died. I have done nothing wrong. I have clean hands and can talk about the issue. But the partisan press don't have to report on it. According to David Penberthy, I can be ignored because of my faith as an evangelical Christian. Penberthy attributed views to me on abortion and marriage that I do not hold, because of my being a conservative Christian he calls far right. That Mr Abbott did not act on it is telling. His government was effective but for the senate, and but for internal sniping. Perhaps my issue wasn't addressed so MT could make Mr Abbott look ineffective? MT's leadership is crumbling the closer people look at his program. But Scott Morrison is looking much better, scoring many points in the crucible of 7:30 on ABC. 

For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.

=== from 2014 ===

Tonight Channel 9 feature a Ray Martin interview with former PM Julia Gillard. In the interview, Gillard will attempt to reinvent herself for post political employment opportunity. It is interesting the interviewer is Martin and not Laurie Oakes. Oakes is partisan ALP but part of the Rudd camp, having leaked damaging information about Gillard in favour of Rudd. Martin is partisan ALP but in the past has been called 'balanced' as he excused the ALP much when their corruption was obvious. Tonight, Gillard will lie about several significant things. Gillard will lie about how and why she deposed Rudd, claiming she was hesitant and in two minds. She has clearly been in two minds, vacillating over how her actions appear versus her need for power. She was clearly hesitant too, until she realised she didn't need to tell the truth about her activity, ever. Instead she will say that Rudd was damaged and weak, but being an ALP member, that is true of anyone, including herself. Gillard will also lie about her governments backflip to embrace a carbon dioxide tax. As subsequent events have gown, she and her colleagues always intended to foist one on the Australian Peoples and she and Swan lied when they said they wouldn't. She will lie too about her clammy embrace of corrupt parliamentarians like Carr, Slipper and Thomson. She will claim they mislead her and she trusted them. The truth is she would have used anyone to hang onto power, and did. Also, Gillard will claim she was treated poorly for her gender. Her claim that Abbott is a misogynist is a bare faced lie and the truth is much was excused her for being the worst female Prime Minister Australia has ever had. And in times to come, she will probably always be the worst ever female Prime Minister. Following Mr Abbott's election victory, ALP claimed the conservatives did not value science research as they did not have a science minister. The ministry had been poor, promoting fads, not science, and people died and the economy was encumbered as a result. However, the 2014 budget intended to create a $20 billion research fund, and the ALP has opposed it. A research fund like that is something that would be profoundly beneficial for science. Clearly the ALP have lied about their support for science. They need to embrace science and support the fund.

Terrorists have fans of science, as some loitering near Lucas Heights nuclear power station demonstrate. Just because they are four guys with beards being asked to move along does not mean Islamic peoples are being profiled unfairly. There have been planned attacks in the past and Australia has a security issue at the moment. Meanwhile a terrorist leader from Australia has a traditional past, having served time in organised crime as a brothel worker and attack dog. His own mother might have even smirked when she said she thought he was 'studying overseas.' It is not Islam, but terrorists and Islamo Fascists who use myths and excuses to murder and rape and torture a way to a new world. Sadly impotent Islamic leadership identify with the terrorists. One outrageous recent claim is that ISIS soldiers are raping women to raise a new generation of Islamic peoples. But children are not merely conceived, they are raised too, and these intended absent fathers will not achieve their claim, even as they achieve their aim. And so we have a terrorist manifesto, the voice of someone who hates us, a criminal, torturer, rapist and killer ordering his minions to go forth. And the pathetic mainstream media excuse the activity, saying there are legitimate reasons for the activity, blaming Jews for living, blaming Western culture for existing, blaming deprivation experienced by poor Islamic peoples who are badly led. But there is no excuse for terrorism. Wilkie has campaigned on one excuse. He has claimed that the invasion of Iraq was based on a lie that there were no weapons of mass destruction. He still claims this after Syria unleashed it on their own people. ALP is divided on security too. Their leader, Shorten, claims he is following the conservative lead, but his own members are saying the opposite. A french man is captured by ISIS, and Media Watch hosts of past and present sneer at raids which protect Australian peoples from similar.

A teacher has apparently used a mentally ill 14 yo girl as rape bait. The teacher's plans went awry when the girl went with a suspected violent rapist boy, also mentally ill, into the wrong lavatory. The girl was apparently raped and sodomised by the boy. There is no report yet of the teacher doing serious jail time for neglect and stupidity. A new migrant shop owner has been charged with setting an arson fire in his own business which claimed the lives of three people. Clive Palmer has claimed that Jacqui Lambie, his hand picked member of parliament in the senate, is not very bright. Seems to have taken him a long time to realise it. 

From 2013

Todays postings are focused on the world issue where radical Islam has dominated Islamic cultural expression. So it is an expectation of Islam that rape, including children, murder, including children and even cannibalism is seen as cultural. There is no degradation that isn't justified by holy war. Even where war isn't present. So that the greatest threat to Islamic peoples seems to be from Islamic peoples. And no one dare help Islamic peoples, for fear of wrath of their Islamic enemies. Some, people like Obama, feed the crocodile, hoping it will eat them last. But there is hope. Hope that not all Islam peoples are filthy, nasty, corrupt animals capable of no compassion. I get it that there are terrible consequences for decent good Islamic peoples from speaking out. There is no tradition of greatness, like that of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi, Golda Meier, Pope Francis or the Dalai Lama calling for peace. 

An Australian architect who is practical left wing, believes in renewable architecture, has an eight month pregnant wife, and a vision for future prosperity in poor Africa. And both he and his wife are killed by terrorists, one of whom asked a person claiming to be Muslim who Mohammed's mother was and answering wrong. For the record, the correct answer is probably the sister of Mohammed's father, or Satan. Also killed is renowned poet Kofi Awoonor. And a Nephew and fiancé of the Kenyan PM. But they did not die alone. In Pakistan, a Christian church was bombed, killing some seventy out of 400 parishioners. They had just finished a service and were having a communal lunch. But they were not alone either. In Israel, on separate occasions, a soldier was killed. The soldiers were not doing anything wrong. One was lured to their death by a madman who wanted to negotiate the release of their terrorist brother, a door opened by Obama. The other killed by a sniper. I include today an article of a woman who made the mistake of marrying an Islamic man. 

Another issue is Global Warming belief. There needs to be a royal commission investigation into how Australia has sacrificed so may billions of dollars for no purpose. Because, as we look at how the money was spent, and who prospered, we see the same people who excused terrorism, endorsed Global Warming extremism. 

=== 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 Choronay Him, Lupco Aleksandar Kostadinoski and Tish Rangi Saunders born on the same day, across the years, along with Augustus (63BC), Kublai Khan (1215), William Holmes McGuffey (1800), Typhoid Mary (1869), John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr (1880), Walter Lippmann (1889), Mickey Rooney (1920), André Cassagnes (1926), Ray Charles (1930), Julio Iglesias (1943), Eric Bogle (1944), Jason Alexander (1959), Lote Tuqiri (1979), Joba Chamberlain (1985) and Lee Hi (1996).

September 23: National Day in Saudi Arabia (1932); 

• 1123 – Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman EmperorHenry V agreed to the Concordat of Worms to put an end to the Investiture Controversy.
• 1780 – American Revolutionary War: British officer John André was captured by Patriot forces, thereby revealing a plot by Continental Army General Benedict Arnold(pictured) to hand over West Point, New York.
• 1803 – Maratha troops were beaten by British forces at the Battle of Assaye, one of the decisive battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
• 1932 – The Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz merged with Al-Hasa and Qatif to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with Ibn Saud as the first monarch and Riyadh as the capital city.
• 1983 – A bomb placed by the Abu Nidal organisation destroyed Gulf Air Flight 771, flying from Karachi, Pakistan, to Abu Dhabi, UAE, killing all 110 people aboard.

You've agreed at the diet of worms. The betrayer has been revealed. Troops victorious in battle. Saudi are united .. or is that Saudi is united? The airliner has flown and it is time to party ..

• 63 BC – Augustus, Roman emperor (d. 14)
• 1158 – Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1186)
• 1215 – Kublai Khan, Mongolian emperor (d. 1294)
• 1642 – Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1678)
• 1740 – Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1813)
• 1771 – Emperor Kōkaku of Japan (d. 1840)
• 1800 – William Holmes McGuffey, American educator and author (d. 1873)
• 1819 – Hippolyte Fizeau, French physicist (d. 1896)
• 1861 – Robert Bosch, German engineer and businessman, founded Robert Bosch GmbH (d. 1942)
• 1869 – Typhoid Mary, Irish-American carrier of Typhoid fever (d. 1938)
• 1876 – Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 1968)
• 1902 – Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and educator (d. 2003)
• 1905 – Tiny Bradshaw, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1958)
• 1910 – Jakob Streit, Swiss writer, musician and anthroposophist (d. 2009)
• 1920 – Mickey Rooney, American actor, singer, director, and producer (d. 2014)
• 1926 – André Cassagnes, French toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (d. 2013)
• 1926 – John Coltrane, American saxophonist and composer (Miles Davis Quintet) (d. 1967)
• 1926 – Jimmy Woode, American bassist (Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band) (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Mighty Joe Young, American singer and guitarist (d. 1999)
• 1930 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 2004)
• 1935 – Les McCann, American singer and pianist
• 1939 – Roy Buchanan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Snakestretchers) (d. 1988)
• 1941 – George Jackson, American activist and author, co-founded the Black Guerrilla Family (d. 1971)
• 1943 – Tanuja, Indian actress
• 1943 – Julio Iglesias, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1944 – Eric Bogle, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter
• 1948 – Dan Toler, American guitarist (The Allman Brothers Band and Gregg Allman Band) (d. 2013)
• 1949 – Bruce Springsteen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (E Street Band and Steel Mill)
• 1950 – George Garzone, American saxophonist and educator
• 1951 – Steven Springer, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2012)
• 1954 – Cherie Blair, English lawyer and academic, Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1957 – Rosalind Chao, American actress
• 1959 – Jason Alexander, American actor, singer, director, and producer
• 1959 – Martin Page, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Q-Feel)
• 1964 – Koshi Inaba, Japanese singer-songwriter (B'z)
• 1969 – Patrick Fiori, French singer-songwriter
• 1971 – Lee Mi-yeon, South Korean actress
• 1974 – Harumi Inoue, Japanese swimmer and actress
• 1976 – Katarina Čas, Slovenian actress
• 1976 – Faune A. Chambers, American actress
• 1977 – Rachael Yamagata, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1978 – Benjamin Curtis, American guitarist, drummer, and songwriter (Secret Machines, School of Seven Bells, Tripping Daisy, andUFOFU) (d. 2013)
• 1981 – Natalie Horler, German singer (Cascada and Siria)
• 1982 – Alyssa Sutherland, Australian actress and model
• 1983 – Shane del Rosario, American mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (d. 2013)
• 1984 – Anneliese van der Pol, Dutch-American actress and singer
• 1988 – Juan Martín del Potro, Argentinian tennis player
• 1991 – Key, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor (Shinee)
• 1996 – Lee Hi, South Korean singer

Deaths

• 1193 – Robert de Sablé, French knight
• 1241 – Snorri Sturluson, Icelandic historian, poet, and politician (b. 1178)
• 1390 – John I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1346)
• 1535 – Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1513)
• 1571 – John Jewel, English bishop (b. 1522)
• 1573 – Azai Hisamasa, Japanese warlord (b. 1524)
• 1605 – Pontus de Tyard, French priest and poet (b. 1521)
• 1675 – Valentin Conrart, French author (b. 1603)
• 1728 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist and philosopher (b. 1655)
• 1738 – Herman Boerhaave, Dutch botanist and physician (b. 1668)
• 1764 – Robert Dodsley, English author (b. 1703)
• 1835 – Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer (b. 1801)
• 1851 – Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun, founded the Sisters of Providence (b. 1800)
• 1867 – Michael O'Laughlen, American conspirator (b. 1840)
• 1870 – Prosper Mérimée, French archaeologist and historian (b. 1803)
• 1877 – Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician (b. 1811)
• 1900 – William Marsh Rice, American businessman, founded Rice University (b. 1816)
• 1939 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (b. 1856)
• 1943 – Elinor Glyn, English author, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1864)
• 1944 – Jakob Schaffner, Swiss author (b. 1875)
• 1973 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
• 1981 – Chief Dan George, Canadian actor, author, and poet (b. 1899)
• 1987 – Bob Fosse, American dancer, choreographer, and actor (b. 1927)
• 1994 – Robert Bloch, American author (b. 1917)
• 1994 – Madeleine Renaud, French actress (b. 1900)
• 1996 – Fujiko Fujio, Japanese illustrator (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Sam Sniderman, Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Paul Kuhn, German singer, pianist, and bandleader (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Ruth Patrick, American botanist and limnologist (b. 1907)

===

The woman with all the power. But at what cost?

Miranda Devine – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 (12:12am)

It’s a pity Tony Abbott has embarked on his post-prime ministerial career unfairly badmouthing the new Treasurer Scott Morrison.

 Continue reading 'The woman with all the power. But at what cost?'

===

NOTHING TO SEE HERE

Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 (6:54pm)

The New York Times reports: 

In his last phone call home, Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father what was troubling him: From his bunk in southern Afghanistan, he could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought to the base.

“At night we can hear them screaming, but we’re not allowed to do anything about it,” the Marine’s father, Gregory Buckley Sr., recalled his son telling him before he was shot to death at the base in 2012. He urged his son to tell his superiors. “My son said that his officers told him to look the other way because it’s their culture.” 

The US military is evidently following the cowardly example of modern leftoids: “For decades, moral relativism has underpinned radical left-wing thought. This is particularly clear when we look at how abuses in Muslim communities are treated. When the Conservative government in Canada labeled female genital mutilation and forced marriages as ‘barbaric cultural practices,’ they were criticised by leading Canadian leftists.” Back to the NYT: 

Dan Quinn, a former Special Forces captain … beat up an American-backed militia commander for keeping a boy chained to his bed as a sex slave …

After the beating, the Army relieved Captain Quinn of his command and pulled him from Afghanistan. 

(Via Iowahawk.)

===

FIFTY PEOPLE, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY NAMES

Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 (6:52pm)

The entire Adelaide arts sector in one room:

===

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 (1:42pm)

Yes! An impressive win for the old home town: 

An investigation by A Current Affair looking into Newstart allowance recipients has identified suburbs with the largest number of people on the dole …

Looking at Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, ACA revealed that Melbourne’s western suburb Werribee had the largest number of Newstart recipients with 4609, closely followed by Gold Coast’s Palm Beach with 4178, and Broadmeadows, once again from Melbourne, with 4006. 

Broadmeadows (a traditional Werribee rival) was always going to be tough to beat, but who expected such a solid effort from the Gold Coast? In other major competition news, I’m in the running for a prestigious Ernie award – although the list of nominees is intimidatingly stellar. Wish me luck.

(Via Puzzled.)

===

THEY DON’T LIKE VOTES

Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 (4:53am)

Twenty minutes into his ludicrous interview with Satyajit Das, the ABC’s Phillip Adams offers a modern version of an age-old lefty lament: 

I’ve just been travelling around a communist state. The hammer and sickle is still on display. It’s a remarkably relaxed society compared to the one next door, Cambodia, which has some claims to democracy but is in fact the sleaziest place I’ve ever looked at. And it occurs to me that the other discussion we’ve got to have, whether we like it not, is whether democracy, however you define it, is up to the task.

I remember discussions ages ago about the Chinese response to climate change issues where they were actually, because it was authoritarian, they were able to do something significant, where a society like ours finds it terrible hard to make any decision that’s politically tough. Do you have a view on whether democracy is going to last the distance? 

Das’s response: 

Well, I think the more time goes on the more I find democracy unsatisfactory in various respects. 

When lefties wanted global peace, they looked to the murderous Soviet Union. Now, when lefties want a solution to global warming, they look to the greatest contributor of alleged global warming gasses.

===

AUTHOR! AUTHOR!

Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 (3:32am)

The identity of the fellow who penned last week’s spectacular lumpen literature luvvie letter, which was co-signed by more hyphenated surnames than you’d find in fifty years of Debrett’s Peerage, is now revealed: 

Sam Twyford-Moore, who wrote the open letter … 

There’s a shock.

===

OUT OF CONTEXT

Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 (3:19am)

An excuse is offered: 

A man who participated in Sydney’s Hyde Park Muslim protests in 2012 told a TV interviewer that the person who made a video deemed offensive to the prophet Mohammed, and which sparked the riots when it was posted online, should be beheaded, a court heard yesterday.

But Hamza Cheikho, 22, yesterday told the court his quote had been “taken out of context”. 

The court case is ongoing. No comments.

===

TOTAL RECALL

Tim Blair – Wednesday, September 23, 2015 (3:13am)

Not a single person has been killed, injured or harmed in any way by Volkswagen’s diesel dodge, yet the carmaker’s troubles now spread beyond the US: 

Millions of British motorists could be driving illegal cars which have been doctored to mask dangerous levels of emissions after Volkswagen admitted to rigging pollution tests …

On Monday night the US Environmental Protection Agency widened its investigation to other car manufacturers as campaigners warned that the practice was likely to be widespread across the industry, affecting motorists worldwide …

If more manufacturers are drawn into the scandal it could lead to millions of cars, which have been bought in Britain over the last six years, being recalled. 

And in Asia: 

South Korean officials have summoned Volkswagen representatives to discuss emissions tests after the German auto giant was accused of cheating on US air pollution standards.

“We’ve called in Volkswagen representatives and engineers to the ministry for a meeting on Wednesday afternoon,” Environment Ministry Deputy Director Park Pan-Kyu told AFP …

Park said it was too early to say what kind of punitive measures the government could take against the firm until the test results become available. 

I’m tipping executions. Of VW executives and owners.

UPDATE: 

Volkswagen Australia was not able to disclose how many potentially affected cars there are locally when contacted by News Corp Australia for comment. 

UPDATE II: 

French finance minister Michel Sapin requested a Europe-wide probe, telling French radio that it seemed necessary to check cars manufactured by other European carmakers in order to reassure the public.

“This is not a minor subject, it’s not about speed or the quality of leather,” he told Europe 1 radio station.

“What we are dealing with is making sure people avoid being poisoned by pollution.” 

Really? Considering that some 11 million VWs were equipped with the test-tricking device, where are all the bodies?

===

On the other hand…

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (7:52pm)

Got to say that Scott Morrison handled the interview with Leigh Sales very, very well. First time for a long time that a Treasurer has taken control of an interview on 7.30 rather than be treated with scorn. 

===

Turnbull in charge. People smugglers sense opportunity

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (5:43pm)

Paul Toohey says people smugglers have been marketing the replacement of Tony Abbott as a business opportunity:

A well-connected Iranian asylum-seeker stranded in Jakarta told News Corp he was approached by an Iranian smuggler a month ago, who told him the leadership would soon change and that the way to Australia would reopen.
The smuggler guaranteed a ride to Australia for US$5000, once a new prime minister was installed.
“He said the Australian PM will change and after that we start,” said the asylum-seeker… The smugglers’ recruitment campaign did not identify incoming Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as a soft touch on boats.
Rather, Tony Abbott was pitched as so hard line that any replacement would be milder.

One sign of a softening:

This week’s cabinet reshuffle has scaled back the role of Immigration Minister Peter Dutton on the nation’s peak security council in a change that has triggered ... concern from Coalition MPs.
Mr Dutton has been taken off the national security committee of federal cabinet as a permanent member despite the growing ­importance of border protection and his role in preparing citizenship reforms that seek to punish terrorists...Mr Turnbull’s spokesman noted yesterday that the immigration portfolio had not always been represented on the committee. The minister was on the committee from 2001 to 2003, at the height of John Howard’s hardening of policy on boat arrivals.  One Liberal MP told The Australian the change seemed to scale back the focus on one of the ­Coalition’s strongest achievements in this term of government — stopping boat arrivals.

UPDATE
Malcolm Turnbull on Sky News this morning sent a dangerous signal. He refused to rule out changes to our border policies, and thanked a journalist for caring about illegal immigrants on Manus Island and Nauru. Uh oh.
UPDATE
Not a good signal at all:

“I understand the issue, I have the same concerns about it, about the situation of people on Manus and Nauru… as I would think almost all Australians do,” he said in an interview with Sky News.
“But what I am not going to do, is make changes to our border protection policy sitting here with you,” he told the interviewer.
“Our policies will change, all policies change. But when we do make changes, we will do so in a considered way and they will be made by the minister, myself, the cabinet.”

Turnbull has to clean up after himself:

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned asylum seekers they “will never come to Australia” on illegal boats despite voicing concerns about those in offshore detention centres.
Mr Turnbull says it is “absolutely clear” there’ll be no Australian resettlement of asylum seekers in centres on Manus Island and Nauru, while conceding the government’s policy is harsh.
“But it has worked,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday.
Speculation that Mr Turnbull could take a more lenient approach to the processing of asylum seekers was sparked when he conceded he shared the public’s concern about offshore processing.
He later clarified that didn’t mean the resettlement policy would change. 

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)                      

===

Been hired yesterday? Thank Turnbull

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (11:05am)

Malcolm Turnbull has been in the job for eight days. He claimed on Sky News today his leadership had already put people in work:

We’ve already seen – and this is the power of confident, positive leadership – we’ve already seen a significant rise in business confidence. You know what that means? That means businesses are investing, they’re hiring. People are getting jobs.

Wow. And that’s before he’s announced a single new economic policy. People just rushed out and hired more workers. He says.
UPDATE
Didn’t Joe Hockey promise exactly the same thing, despite the fact that we’re still deep, deep in deficit and debt? And didn’t the media mock him?

Treasurer Scott Morrison is vowing to return Australia to the Howard and Costello era of tax cuts…
He said the focus would be on jobs and incentives through the tax system that rewarded people who worked hard, even saying he supported lowering the top marginal tax rate.
‘As a principle of people keeping more of their own money, yes I believe you can,’ Morrison told News Corp… ‘Clearly there is not enough reward for effort.’…
He has committed to ending the high income earner deficit repair levy by 2017 and has all but ruled out raising the Medicare levy.

UPDATE
Scott Morrison in his first press conference as Treasurer channels Tony Abbott, including the kind of slogans that Malcolm Turnbull mocked.
For instance:

We have a spending problem; we don’t have a revenue problem.

And:

...lower, simpler and fairer taxes.

Sky News is trying to portray this as some big change in direction. False. It is better selling of the same stuff once mocked.
Morrison stumbled onto a great line right at the very end of his presser than I suspect we will hear a lot more of once, or should. Bill Shorten, he said, was “frightened of the future”.
This works very well on several levels. First, it is a snappy slogan. Second, it is the yin to the Turnbull yang of being optimistic and 21st century. And third, it chimes with the reality - that Shorten is clinging to old-style union links and fear-mongering to oppose a great free trade deal with China, the new superpower.
(Thanks to reader Paul.) 

===

This waffle will drown Turnbull

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (8:51am)

Not enough of Turnbull’s many media boosters are picking up the warning signs. And they aren’t doing him favors, because what they won’t point out won’t be fixed.
Dennis Atkins at least notices what Steve Price and I also picked up on in our Monday chat:

[Turnbull’s] head to head with Leigh Sales on 7.30 on Monday night was not a success, in any way. Turnbull looked and sounded unprepared and did what his detractors say is his weakness — he waffled without direction or meaning.
Turnbull was asked what his core values and driving principles were...Good grief. Turnbull should know that any good subeditor would slash [his response] down to about two or three sentences that crisply and clearly outlined values and conviction…
Turnbull’s greatest weakness is his confidence and assuredness. He thinks because he is [sic] the smartest guy in the room he has to simply speak and the crowds will cheer.

I’ve said it a bit lately - that Turnbull has come to the leadership promising superior communication skills that I’ve never detected. He’d better sharpen up fast.
Here is the exchange that particularly struck both me and Atkins:

LEIGH SALES:  What are the values and core beliefs that will be the foundation for all of the policies that your government comes up with?
MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well, this is a Liberal National government. It is a free market government. It is committed to ensuring that Australians are free to choose their own directions, whether it’s in their business or their profession or their family. So they’ve got to - so freedom is the - freedom is the key point. I mean, it’s perhaps a bit simplistic, but one way you can say it - you can describe it is that the Liberal Party, and I could make the same point about the National Party too, our coalition partners, we believe that government’s job is to enable you to do your best. Labor, which has more faith in government, believes that government’s job is to tell you what is best. So - so that’s a fundamental thing.
But there are some very key priorities, Leigh, right now. One of them, principally, is we have to ensure that we remain a high-wage, First-World, generous social welfare net economy and that requires strong economic growth. How do we maintain that? Well, there’s a - the big, expanding global economy, with, you know, many more avenues for Australian services and exports and manufactures and primary products and all of that’s very exciting. But we need to be competitive, we need to be productive, we need to above all to be more innovative. So - so that is a critically important point on…

One tip for Turnbull. The second you feel tempted to add something in parenthesis, don’t. Omit. If necessary, add it at the end in a separate and declarative statement. I speak as someone who has had to battle exactly this same weakness himself.
So let’s edit the above statement to its essentials:

MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well, this is a Liberal National government. It is a free market government. It is committed to ensuring that Australians are free to choose their own directions, whether it’s in their business or their profession or their family. So they’ve got to - so freedom is the - freedom is the key point. I mean, it’s perhaps a bit simplistic, but one way you can say it - you can describe it is that the Liberal Party, and I could make the same point about the National Party too, our coalition partners, we believe that government’s job is to enable you to do your best. Labor believes that government’s job is to tell you what is best. So - so that’s a fundamental thing.
But there are some very key priorities, Leigh, right now. One of them, principally, is we have to ensure that we remain a high-wage, First-World, generous social welfare net economy and that requires strong economic growth. How do we maintain that? Well, there’s a - the big, expanding global economy, with, you know, many more avenues for Australian services and exports and manufactures and primary products and all of that’s very exciting. But we need to be competitive, we need to be productive, we need to above all to be more innovative. So - so that is a critically important point on...

Try that in front of a camera in the privacy of your office, Malcolm. Notice the difference it makes. From waffler to man of action. From fog to clarity, without the changing or addition of a single word. Half the words, twice the effect.
This just won’t do, especially not in an election campaign:

And, you know something? you asked me what I’ve learnt from my previous incarnation as leader. I think I’ve learnt - I don’t think, I know I have learned to be more respectful and to - to recognise more than I used to - I’ve always recognised, but to recognise more than I used to that there is so much - if there is so wisdom to be found among others, and that is your colleagues or that is - that is, you know, other people - that’s why I’m committed to be extremely consultative.

No, not at all:

I think the fact is it is my job, above all, to make sure that everybody, whether they supported me or not, whether they, um, whether they - however - however they feel about it, they’ve got to feel that they are part - we’re all part of the team.

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

===

If a million monkeys typed for million years, they’d still just be monkeys

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (8:39am)

The invention of rights for animals - a kind of sentimental anthropomorphism - gets even more insane:

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed a lawsuit in San Francisco seeking to give a monkey ownership of its selfie photo.
The group filed a U.S. federal court lawsuit in San Francisco arguing Naruto, a macaque monkey known to researchers in Indonesia, should be the legal owner of pictures he snapped in 2011 using a camera set up by photographer David J. Slater.

The lawsuit names Slater; his company, Wildlife Personalities Ltd.; and publisher Blurb, which issued a collection of Slater’s photographs that included two of the selfies snapped by Naruto.
The suit is seeking to have the monkey declared the “author” and legal owner of the photograph.

From the PETA press release:

Our argument is simple: U.S. copyright law doesn’t prohibit an animal from owning a copyright, and since Naruto took the photo, he owns the copyright, as any human would.
Why is this so important, and what does it all mean? If this lawsuit succeeds, it will be the first time that a nonhuman animal is declared the owner of property (the copyright of the “monkey selfie"), rather than being declared a piece of property himself or herself. It will also be the first time that a right is extended to a nonhuman animal beyond just the mere basic necessities of food, shelter, water, and veterinary care. In our view, it is high time.
We are also asking the court to allow PETA to administer the proceeds of “monkey selfie” sales for the benefit of Naruto and his community, without compensation to PETA.

Funny how PETA assumes Naruto is a socialist who thinks his “community” should benefit from his photography. How can PETA be sure he doesn’t want to blow the cash on a party and peanuts?
There is a lot of projection going on here.  

===

Postal votes in Canning showed Abbott was doing well

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (8:23am)

Most of the media consulted only their bias to claim Malcolm Turnbull had helped save to the Canning byelection for the Liberals.
In fact, as I said at the time, the result was - if anything - the same or worse than what had been expected under Tony Abbott, suggesting no bounce at all.
Now further evidence:

The postal vote count for the Canning byelection has contradicted the widely held assumption that the change of Liberal leadership helped the member-elect, Andrew Hastie, win the seat by a comfortable margin.
Postal votes, most of which were submitted before Tony Abbott lost the prime ministership to Malcolm Turnbull, show a reduced swing of 2.3% to Labor… On Monday night Hastie was on 59.5% on a two-party-preferred basis and the Labor candidate, Matt Keogh, on 40.5% of postal votes.
By Monday night only 76% of the postal votes submitted ahead of last Saturday’s byelection had been counted...(P)ostal votes also showed a stronger primary vote of 52.9% for Hastie, compared with his overall primary vote of 47%.

That said, I would not read too much into postal vote support for the Liberals. Postals traditional favour them. The bottom line is that 55 to 45 overall result. No bounce at all. 

===

Abbott’s gone. ABC parties

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (8:07am)

Incredible. The ABC almost literally dances on Abbott’s grave, giving yet another huge plug - this time on AM - to a Melbourne musical mocking him. 

===

Go, Bronwyn. Just go

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (7:52am)

Bronwyn Bishop lost her job because of her monstrous sense of entitlement. She then betrayed Tony Abbott because of that same monstrous sense of entitlement:

BRONWYN Bishop turned her back on a lifelong friendship with Tony Abbott and told colleagues she would vote against him in last week’s leadership coup because he had forced her to resign as Speaker.
Ms Bishop confided in colleagues that she abandoned Mr Abbott because the former PM had acted “appallingly” by making her resign over the “Choppergate” scandal.
Liberal MPs who backed Mr Abbott during his dramatic ousting as prime minister last week said they felt “sick in the guts” over Ms Bishop’s “ultimate betrayal” of her decades-long political ally… It can be ­revealed that Mr Abbott’s number counters on the night of the spill attempted to secure her vote, but she would not take any of their calls. 
One Abbott supporter who did speak with her said ... “But all she could say was that I wouldn’t believe the way (the prime minister’s office) had treated her."…
Some MPs are blaming senior Liberal Christopher Pyne, a close friend of Ms Bishop, for “manipulating” her to vote for Mr Turnbull. He is said to have offered to “rehabilitate her political career”.

Rehabilitate her career? What a joke.  Her reputation can’t be rehabilitated, for a start:

Liberal party members in Mackellar are angry… Liberal fundraising events organised for Beacon Hill and Avalon have been cancelled, with volunteer workers angry at [Bishop’s] apparent decision after Abbott had endured so much political damage during the expenses scandal which forced her to resign… Abbott was pilloried for defending Bishop for weeks during the scandal… Bishop’s office has been inundated with calls complaining of her “treachery”, to the point where her staffers turned off the phones.

UPDATE
The nerve, to bitch about being sacked (belatedly) for these self-indulgent rorts, about which more now comes to light:

DUMPED Speaker Bronwyn Bishop signed itemised charter flight paperwork for trips to Geelong and Nowra...
Documents released by the Department of Finance reveal Ms Bishop approved her own travel, which was listed on individual pages, and signed the forms declaring that “knowingly giving false or misleading information” was a criminal offence.
She has previously admitted to signing the forms but claimed she did not check the details, instead leaving it to her office.
Documents also show that she approached Special Minister of State Michael Ronaldson about repaying the money less than 48 hours after the Herald Sun revealed that she charged taxpayers $5227 for the return flight to Clifton Springs Golf Club. 

===

Assad is the one with soldiers fighting our enemy

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (7:37am)

Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, the war criminal, does have a point: Syria and the US are both fighting the Islamic State in Syria so why not cooperate?
(Thanks to reader xpd.) 

===

Credlin fires back

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (7:30am)

She has a point:

Peta Credlin has hit back at “unnamed sources” who dogged her final months in Canberra by suggesting cabinet ministers and journalists intimidated by her didn’t deserve their jobs…
“And if you’re a cabinet minister or a journalist and you’re intimidated by the chief-of-staff of the prime minister then maybe you don’t deserve your job,” Ms Credlin said.

Mind you, a little honey can sometimes get the same result as a stick, but without the bruising. 

===

CFMEU hides a truckload of documents

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (7:22am)

Labor and the CFMEU have been desperate to stop the royal commission into union corruption. Here’s one measure of that desperation:

Queensland construction union boss Michael Ravbar was in a “panic” when he ordered documents to be destroyed ahead of the trade union royal commission hearings, the inquiry has heard, as former staffers corrob­orated evidence of the plan.
Former Queensland branch president David Hanna yesterday stressed national secretary Michael O’Connor had knowledge of the plan…
An office worker from the state branch of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union also said she paid an ­invoice for the truck and a Bobcat that Mr Hanna said was used to take documents to a rubbish tip in April last year.
An invoice dated April 4, 2014, for $770 from that hire firm — along with a corresponding payment of “petty cash” of the same amount that was issued by the union to Mr Hanna the following month — was produced in the ­inquiry yesterday.

Mr Hanna said that around April 1 last year, when the royal commission subpoenaed the union, Mr Ravbar appeared to be in a “panic”. “I think it was based around the time that he was of the view that he was going to be issued with the notice and he wanted to, you know, remove the documents or whatever else that he had concern about prior to ­accepting notice or being notified of the notice,” Mr Hanna told the inquiry.
Mr Hanna also detailed a conversation he had with Mr O’Connor about the removal and destruction of documents, which the inquiry has heard occurred the same day subpoenas were ­issued and was done with union flags blocking security cameras.
That conversation took place in a coffee shop in Sydney… “I was talking to Michael and I was quite angry at the time over the situation and I was venting and I pulled (the truck hire receipt) out of my pocket and I said, ‘Look, I’ve even got this’,” Mr Hanna told the inquiry.
“He didn’t have a close look at it; it stayed in my hands."…

“Michael (O’Connor) really didn’t make comment,” Mr Hanna said. “He just sort of shook — raised his eyebrows and shook his head — as in disbelief, you know, that I was going to that level, and then I was called ­upstairs. So it was a very brief ­moment.”

UPDATE
More softening?
Tim Blair:

The enwimpening begins:

Malcolm Turnbull has warned against industrial reforms that “wage war with unions” ..."The challenge for us is not to wage war with unions or the workers that they seek to represent, but really to explain what the challenges are and to lay out some reform options.”

Michael Smith:

It’s very disappointing [Turnbull] didn’t take the opportunity [on 7.30] to talk about the CFMEU in particular and to support the TURC in general...If ever there was a time to wage war with the CFMEU it’s now. It’s certainly not the time for the government to signal a de-escalation in its pursuit of corruption and blatant crime involving unions.

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

===

Phillip Adams and the Left’s latest excuse for forcing you to obey

Andrew Bolt September 23 2015 (7:15am)

The Left is the natural home of the closet totalitarian, and global warming is their licence. The latest example is ABC host Phillip Adams:

I’ve just been travelling around a communist state. The hammer and sickle is still on display. It’s a remarkably relaxed society compared to the one next door, Cambodia, which has some claims to democracy but is in fact the sleaziest place I’ve ever looked at. And it occurs to me that the other discussion we’ve got to have, whether we like it not, is whether democracy, however you define it, is up to the task.
I remember discussions ages ago about the Chinese response to climate change issues where they were actually, because it was authoritarian, they were able to do something significant, where a society like ours finds it terrible hard to make any decision that’s politically tough.

(Via Tim Blair, who has more.) 

===

Obama’s Syrian army: just four soldiers

Andrew Bolt September 22 2015 (8:05pm)

Russia is moving troops and planes into Syria.
No wonder. Barack Obama has created a vacuum there. Here his own pathetic response:

A US scheme to train Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State (IS) militants has been branded a total failure after a US general admitted only four or five were still fighting.
Congress approved $500m (£323m) to train and equip around 5,000 rebels as a key plank of US strategy against IS.
But the first 54 graduates were routed by an al-Qaeda affiliate, Gen Lloyd Austin told lawmakers.

===

AMONG THE BARBARIANS

Tim Blair – Tuesday, September 23, 2014 (1:43pm)

A climate protester’s tale.

===

SOMETHING HE WANTS YOU TO FORGET

Tim Blair – Tuesday, September 23, 2014 (1:40pm)

WMD whistleblower Andrew Wilkie was previously a WMD believer.

===

SKATERS v HATERS

Tim Blair – Tuesday, September 23, 2014 (1:38pm)

I fully endorse this Sydney skatepark graffiti:



(Via John T.) 

===

COWARD’S MANIFESTO

Tim Blair – Tuesday, September 23, 2014 (4:53am)

Islamic State spokesidiot Abu Muhammad al-Adnani celebrates diversity: 

Obama, O mule of the jews. You are vile. You are vile. You are vile. 

It’s a pity Islamic State is a gang of child-raping, woman-slaughtering, journalist-murdering morally infantile halfwits. Because if they were a football club, that would make a really good soccer chant. 

The hearts of America and its allies were broken by the Islamic State when it cut off the rotten heads of some agents, spies, and apostates. It was terrified and its allies were terrified when the Islamic State would flog and stone the fornicator, cut off the hand of the thief, and strike the neck of the sorcerer and the apostate. 

They’re attacking sorcerers now? Catweazle is in danger! 

Kerry, the uncircumcised old geezer … 

We’ll assume, for the sake of avoiding detailed anatomical inspection, that al-Adnani is referring to John Kerry and notKerry O’Brien. 

Do not let this battle pass you by wherever you may be. You must strike the soldiers, patrons, and troops of the tawaaghiit. Strike their police, security, and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents. Destroy their beds. 

Beds are a crucial component of anti-Islamic decadence. 

If you can kill a disbelieving American or European – especially the spiteful and filthy French – or an Australian, or a Canadian, or any other disbeliever from the disbelievers waging war, including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him in any manner or way however it may be. 

That’s pretty tough talk from someone whose real name is Taha Subhi Falaha, which – according to my limited Arabic – translates as “Twinkles, the sofa nancy”. 

If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock … 

High tech! 

… or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him. 

Only “him”? Sexist! 

If you are unable to do so, then burn his home, car, or business. Or destroy his crops. 

My car? You’ll have to beat the Greens. As for my crops, they’ve been already destroyed by climate change. 

If you are unable to do so, then spit in his face. If your self refuses to do so, while your brothers are being bombarded and killed, and while their blood and wealth everywhere is deemed lawful by their enemies, then review your religion. 

That always works out well. 

O Allah, you know our weakness. We have no way to deal with their airplanes. 

By “deal with”, he means “design, build, fly or understand even the basic scientific principles of”. 

O Allah, America and its allies disbelieve in you and associate partners with you. O Allah, you have placed them above us by their airplanes. O Allah, you know we have no power nor strength against their planes except through You. O Allah, do not let them be above us. 

Here’s the deal, Twinkles. We’re not just above you in terms of physical elevation. 

===

Martin and Gillard have a cuddle

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (7:21pm)

Ray Martin started his interview of Julia Gillard by insisting she had not vetted his questions.
My God, she didn’t need to. 

===

US, Arab allies, bomb Islamic State in Syria

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (4:35pm)

It is on:

THE United States and several Arab coalition partners have begun air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, in a major development in the campaign against the terror group. 
The strikes, using a mixture of fighters, bombers and Tomahawk missiles fired from naval warships at sea, began late on Monday night US time and killed at least 20 jihadists.
Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reportedly took part in the air raids, in an extraordinary show of regional solidarity against the militant group that has created a caliphate across a large swathe of Syria and Iraq…
The attacks struck a number of targets, including weapons supplies and buildings in what is expected to be a sustained attack on the militants’ headquarters in the city of Raqqa and on the Syrian border. Australian special forces and RAAF members are in the UAE but a spokesman for Tony Abbott has confirmed that they are not involved in this initial action in Syria.

===

Has there ever been a more dangerous and despicable Q&A?

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (3:01pm)

Has any Q&A panel been more frightening and threatening?

The claim that terrorists have “legitimate concerns”, although, of course, the killing is bad.
The unchallenged vilification of Israel and its “war crimes”.
The describing of Israel as a “root cause” of Muslim terrorism.
The insistence that we will keep getting extremism unless we end our support for evil Israel.
The steering of this discussion away from Islamist threats to Australians and onto alleged Australian meanness to Muslims.
The dismissal of terrorism as “theatre”.
The repeated attacks on the government for allegedly arranging the police raids for political purposes.
The repeated claims that white racists aren’t policed as Muslims are.
The repeated complaints - by people in the audience, too - that Muslims are picked on.
The attacks on the expectation that Muslims follow “the Australian way”.
The heckling of Justice Minister Michael Keenan, with claims the timing of the raids was convenient for the Government.
The barrage of tweets attacking the Government and Islamophobia, and suggesting the police raids were a stunt.
The West created this threat by invading Iraq.
The pack attack on politicians opposing the burqa, a shroud of oppression of women.

Naturally, host Tony Jones has stacked the panel: two Muslim activists (who do most of the talking), plus one MP each from Labor, the Liberals and Greens. Jones reserves most of his hard questions for the Justice Minister, and none for the two Muslim apologists.
Muslim extremists watching would feel more justified than ever in their rage at the alleged crimes Australia and Israel commit against Muslims. They would feel that Australia must change to accommodate them ... or else.
The ABC is out of control. And this kind of stuff actually puts us in more danger.
UPDATE
Why did the Labor MP, shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, not protest at the gross vilification of Israel? I would have, and I’m not even Jewish.
UPDATE
ABC balance: a Left-wing host has a panel of four from the Left and one conservative to discuss how the terrorism raids seemed a stunt, we’re just picking on Muslims and Israel is one of the “root causes” of the rage of jihadists.
How can the ABC board possibly justify this? This is not just biased, but dangerously inflammatory.
UPDATE
From the transcript, these incitements to dangerous and ill-founded hatreds, resentments and paranoia:

RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH [Curtin University academic]: ... The timing of the raids, you know, the fact that it is happening one week before - it happened one week before, conveniently, the most draconian legislation is about to be announced… It should not be the case that you are guilty until proven innocent when it comes to Muslims. You cannot help but feel cynical about the timing of these raids, the fact that it is whipping people up into a frenzy of hysteria of war fever… I’m very cynical about the Government’s use of these raids to politicise the Muslim problem of terrorism (indistinct)… 
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: ...No one is saying that there isn’t a credible risk that we face in Australia. What we are saying is the approach, the way that this is being handled is being used to feed a wider narrative that simply serves the purpose of whipping people up into a more of an Islamophobic environment…

ANNE-AZZA ALY [writer, former Media Liaison Officer at the Islamic Council of Victoria]:  ... All terrorism is theatre and all counter-terrorism is theatre. So, yes, it was a manufactured spectacle but that’s what counter-terrorism is…

SCOTT LUDLAM [Greens Senator]: ...To me that feels like the element of theatre, not the raids per se, but the extraordinary media circus that goes on around it. I don’t understand what that is for if not to increase tension…
MICHAEL KEENAN [Justice Minister]: ...  Now, the idea that this is some conspiracy from the Government because we’re putting through some foreign fighter legislation through Parliament this week is just not - just not measurable by the facts. The timing of these things is an operational decision for the police…
ANNE-AZZA ALY: But you have to admit that the time uncanny.
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: Yeah, what a coincidence.
SCOTT LUDLAM: Amazing coincidence.
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: Going into Iraq and terror laws.
MICHAEL KEENAN: No, you know what - you know what, I - I really don’t. The timing…
ANNE-AZZA ALY: You really don’t think it’s uncanny at all?
MICHAEL KEENAN: Look, the whole point is they acted because there was information that they had that a senior operative in the Middle East had instructed his followers in Australia to go about and commit random and barbaric acts of violence on Australian citizens and it was going to happen within days. What would you expect the police to do in those circumstances? They don’t respond to our political agenda.
ANNE-AZZA ALY: There are people in the Middle East instructing them every day on social media. We have no idea what influence means.
MICHAEL KEENAN: I’m sorry, this was a specific instruction for their followers to go and carry this out.
ANNE-AZZA ALY: We have no idea. We are making arrests based on somebody tweeting something, somebody saying something.
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: Chatter.
ANNE-AZZA ALY: Some chatter.
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: Chatter…

RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: We make it a Muslim problem ... and the one thing that we never address is the role of Western foreign policy and the grievances - the legitimate grievances - that causes people. That doesn’t mean that everybody who is aggrieved by the way that the West intervenes in the Middle East is going to become radicalised. But why is it that we choose to ignore that elephant in the room? The role of Western foreign policy and its role in creating such an unjust world and particularly its role in creating the mess in the Middle East that we see. You know, the fact that we had the decimation of Gaza by Israel two months ago and the conspiracy of silence - in fact, I’ll go even further, the legitimating and justification giving Israel a licence to kill, does that not fuel anger? Does that not plant the seeds? We go around in the West trying to cut down the trees of terrorism even as we plant seeds of terrorism and we do that - we we do that when we allow Israel to get away with its war crimes. We do that when we support the US blindly. We say - the US says, jump, we say how high? Even though the US takes the moral high ground, even as it rains down drones and cruise missiles on civilian populations, engages in torture, extraordinary rendition, it takes the moral high ground. We plant the seeds of terrorism when we turn our backs on 200,000 Syrians dead, Iraqis killed and suddenly we are moved to humanitarian action because of some YouTube videos because Westerners are threatened and killed? These are legitimate concerns. These are not excuses for the barbarity that we’re seeing but it is completely insane for us to ignore that these are really serious issues and that there are some people who are going to take these legitimate concerns and go down a radical path. But until we address those root causes, and I don’t just say that just as a Muslim, there are many non-Muslim analysts who would say the same thing - until we address those root causes and stop thinking this is a Muslim pathology, we are never going to be able to address radicalisation…
TONY JONES: Can I just pick up on that point, though? I mean the Australian Defence League has evidently or allegedly threatened to bomb mosques, it has threatened the lives of people, it has threatened women, photographs women, in fact, wearing the burqa or so on and does behave in threatening ways. Is it time the federal police treated them as seriously or in some way as seriously?
MICHAEL KEENAN: You are assuming that they don’t police these groups in the same way as they would police any other group in the community.
TONY JONES: But not in a public way…
AUDIENCE MEMBER: ADL make threats to myself and my family, telling them that they want to behead me. So everything you’re saying right now is very insulting.
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well, if that is the case, then you need to alert the authorities.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I have reported it to police numerous times, thank you.
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well, let me assure you, we don’t police in a way in this country that targets one group over another.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, you do.
MICHAEL KEENAN: I can assure you that that is the case.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, you do.
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well…
SCOTT LUDLAM: I’m not sure the message is getting through, whether you sense the reaction of the room when you said that for the first time…
TONY JONES: Michael Keenan, can I just interrupt for a second, because that was a pretty extraordinary allegation. I’d just like you to - are you saying that an official of the security forces did this?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I reported it to Bankstown Police Station on numerous occasions. They’ve called to slit my - the - my - my children’s throats and rape my dead ‘caucus’ on the side of the road.
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well…
TONY JONES: So are you’re saying - sorry, you’re saying this is coming from racist groups?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes.
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well, I mean, I can assure you that threats of that nature would be followed up.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: I am trolled 24 hours a day on Facebook and social media because of these right-wing Nazis, okay. My life is not pleasant right now living in this country and no-one seems to care because I am Muslim and they’re not. It’s all right for the non-Muslims to give me a hard time.
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well, it’s not.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: But when I complain about it, it’s not the same…
TONY JONES: I’m just confirming you’re not saying that was security officials. You’re saying that was a racist group that’s made these threats against you?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well, it - look, it’s the ADL, yes.
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well, I can assure you that will be followed up.
TONY JONES: Right, I beg your pardon. You said ADL. I thought you said ASIO. Okay, no, I thank you - thank you so much…
ASME FAHMI: A couple of years ago, as I was on my way to work, I was physically attacked by a man who called me an f’ing terrorist. Now, with the recent onslaught of negative media attention towards the Muslim community, many visible Muslims, many of whom are Muslim women who wear the hijab have been subject to verbal abuse and, at times, physical attacks. Now, language has been key in inflaming tensions. So what does the panel think of Tony Abbott’s use of the divisive term “Team Australia” and just the language used by politicians in order to, you know, keep the Muslim community as the chosen bogeyman?…
MARK DREYFUS:  ... Michael is right, of course, that we don’t set out to have unevenness in policing… I fear, from what you’ve said and what you’ve also said, Asme, is that there’s a gap. Clearly, there is a gap. There’s a whole lot more work to be done and it fits together, as it happens, with countering violence extremism…
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: Well, you know, there’s been a huge backlash since the terror raids and we’re seeing, you know, the invective and obscenity online on social media. We’re seeing Muslim women at the frontline, because they’re obviously visibly identifiable in their hijabs as Muslims and people pin their anxieties and fears and hatreds onto those women and they have to suffer the most horrible verbal and physical abuse.... [T]he language of Team Australia… It’s almost as though they are emboldening Islamophobia and we’ve seen a direct correlation. The terror raids occurred and a huge increase in Islamophobic incidents and the Team Australia example, it’s the language of division. It’s the language of inclusion and exclusion… This is - this is the message that is being sent, whether unwittingly or not, by leadership and it emboldens Islamophobia - Islamophobes when that message of division and deviance is coming from the highest leaders of the country and that is why people feel empowered by those sorts of messages to attack Muslim women who wear the hijab as the incarnation of everything that we see as evil in Australia and it’s not fair for Muslim women to have to undergo that…
MONA EL BABA: As a Muslim lawyer practising criminal law in Western Sydney, I experience first-hand the distrust between my community and the law enforcement agencies, especially the intimidation and harassment tactics used by these agencies under the existing legislation. Are the new anti-terror laws that are currently being tabled before Parliament really necessary to prevent terrorism or are they a political wedge aimed at drumming up fear and xenophobia towards Islam and Muslims to score cheap political points?…
SCOTT LUDLAM: ... seeing Prime Minister Howard on TV saying he was embarrassed. 600,000 people died as a result of that occupation [in Iraq] and the sectarian carnage that we helped unleash, you know, embarrassed just doesn’t cut it for me… I think we are at grave risk of simply repeating and pouring fuel on a fire that we helped start....
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well, I mean, thank God that we have countries in the world that are actually prepared to take some responsibility for things that happen around the globe. I mean we saw a situation where…
SCOTT LUDLAM: Do you mean the invasion in 2003?
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: Like Gaza?
ANNE-AZZA ALY: Oh, maybe he means Rwanda.
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: Yeah.
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well, I’m sorry, but, well, if anyone in this - well, I mean, if anyone believes that it’s a bad thing that the Australian Government has joined with our allies to protect the Yazidi people, who were going to be massacred by this barbaric organisation, literally tens of thousands of people, I mean, if anyone believes that that’s a bad thing, that Australia shouldn’t be taking those sorts of humanitarian actions or that our allies shouldn’t be, then I would be very surprised.
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: I shouldn’t have to support a war…
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well, it’s…
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: ...in order to say that I’m against ISIS. There should be other solutions....
MICHAEL KEENAN: ... I think it is absolutely right and proper that Australia, as a responsible world citizen, doesn’t just think it’s somebody else’s responsibility, that we do take some ownership over the fact that, you know, we need to make sure that this - that we - that…
TONY JONES: Do you mean take ownership over the mess that was created by the previous intervention?
MICHAEL KEENAN: Well, look, I reject that, Tony, and I don’t think that is a fair analysis at all…
RANDA ABDEL-FATTAH: That’s the problem of the West’s failure to acknowledge the connection between their imperial interests in the Middle East and the threat that comes to our soil. There is a connection there and it’s about time the West acknowledges the mess that it creates and the fact is that we are - we are at risk now on our soil because of our involvement and we’re not going to be seduced by this circular logic that we have to go back into Iraq because the threat has increased when renewing our involvement increases the threat. We’re not fools. We know what’s been happening in the last 13 years…ANNE-AZZA ALY: Very briefly. Going back to the question by Marty, yes, our invasion of Iraq has played a huge role in what’s - what’s happening at the moment. The fact is that ISIS is barbaric and I think that a large part of it is the Western intervention and what’s happened.... 

UPDATE
Alex Hawke is right - the wildly unbalanced ABC is pouring petrol onto the fire and people could get hurt:

Liberal MP Alex Hawke attacked last night’s Q&A program for providing a forum for the opinions without seeking to balance them with views from moderate Muslims. 
Mr Hawke said the program had “inflamed” the debate about national security at a time when all sides, including politicians and the media, should avoid voicing extreme views.
The ABC defended the program, saying last night’s panellists had offered a range of views.
Mr Hawke said he was concerned Q&A had aired theories from some panellists that the ASIO raids on terror suspects last week were manufactured to build support for tougher security laws.
Accusing the ABC of breaching its charter by failing to provide balance, Mr Hawke told the full meeting of Coalition MPs this morning that he was “appalled” at the way the program had aired the views without offering a more moderate response.... [O]ne minister was heard to describe the criticism as the “speech of the day” in the Coalition meeting.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Hawke told The Australian ... “My concern about Q&A is they were not being balanced or moderate or sticking to the ABC’s charter obligations to be balanced ...
“For ordinary Australians watching, they would have felt there was a majority Islamic view that the police raids were a conspiracy and that is not a mainstream Islamic view.
“So that was inflaming a situation that does not need inflaming. “And given that it’s the ABC and it’s taxpayer funded, I think people would be right to be concerned about the program.”

===

Islamic State order followed: French man seized

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (11:38am)

More members of that tiny, unrepresentative minority:

AN Algerian group linked to Islamic State jihadists threatened to kill a French hostage within 24 hours unless Paris halts air strikes on the IS in Iraq, in a video posted last night… 
“It is up to Hollande, president of the criminal French state, to halt the attacks on the Islamic State within 24 hours of this statement, otherwise his national Herve Gourdel will have his throat slit,” one of his kidnappers says in the video.
Mr Gourdel says he is a native of Nice in southern France who works as a mountain guide, and that he only arrived in Algeria on Saturday. He was seized while hiking with Algerian friends.
In the video, the kidnappers say they are responding to a call from IS, posted just hours earlier… “If you can kill a disbelieving American or European — especially the spiteful and filthy French — or an Australian, or a Canadian or any other disbeliever ... including the citizens of the countries that entered into a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon Allah, and kill him,” said IS spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani. 

Another British link:

A description of John Kerry by Isis as an ‘uncircumcised old geezer’ is further evidence of British involvement in the militant organisation, a terrorism expert has said. 
The comment about the U.S Secretary of State came in [the Islamic State’s translation of] an audio recording by Isis spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani.
He said: ‘The uncircumcised old geezer, suddenly became an Islamic jurist, issuing a verdict to the people that the Islamic State was distorting Islam, that what it was doing was against Islamic teachings, and that the Islamic State was an enemy of Islam.’… Britain’s link to Islamic State became known around the world after shocking videos showed a British man known as ‘Jihadi John’ executing American journalists James Foley, 40, and Steven Sotloff, 31, as well as British aid worker David Haines, 44. 

And the Islamic State gives this helpful advice in its message to the world (see below):

Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him. If you are unable to do so, then burn his home, car, or business. Or destroy his crops. If you are unable to do so, then spit in his face.

UPDATE
The US Secretary of State accused Arab countries of funding this tiny, unrepresentative group of throat cutters and mass murderers:

Individual countries in the region - multiple - made decisions about who they would support to try and get rid of [Syrian President] Assad. The theory in many of their minds was, okay, this is the first war to get rid of Assad, the second war is we’ll get rid of them. And it was kind of expedient that didn’t work… Some of the biggest funders individually are coming out of a number of countries in the regions still, and that is a major focus of our coalition effort.

Asked if one of the guilty countries is Qatar, which already uses its Al Jazeera network to promote the Hamas terrorist group, Kerry won’t say no:

Well you keep coming back to one country, the answer is we’re disappointed in any country that is allowing foreign fighters to move in, that’s allowing financing to come from individuals. 

UPDATE
The Islamic State’s appeal to Muslims to kill:

 Continue reading 'Islamic State order followed: French man seized'

===

Hear the voices of those who hate us. Understand the madness

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (9:09am)

Know very well what we are up against right here in our own suburbs:

The preaching of victimhood seems pathological. The hatred of Australia seems implacable. The excusing of Muslim violence is unmistakable.
Note particularly the speech of Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Wassim Doureihi:

Even if a thousand bombs went off in this country all that it would prove is that the Muslims are angry and that they have every reason to be angry… 
The war on terror is nothing but a war designed to police the response of the Muslims to the terror inflicted on them every single day…
Our parents migrated to this country because of the wars ravaged by your governments in our land… and you can understand why we are angry. 

This kind of preaching is potentially lethal, in my opinion. And how much of it was implicitly endorsed by the majority of the speakers on last night’s Q&A? How much of it sounds like the anti-Western propaganda of a second-rate university sociology or politics course? 

===

Climate of insanity

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (8:42am)

 A survey of some of last weekend’s marchers against global warming confirms:

1. This is not really about the science at all, is it?
2. Our future in their hands is more terrifying than even the world heating to hell.

(Thanks to reader John D.) 

===

No, there was no “lie” about Iraq.  Andrew Wilkie should know better

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (8:10am)

The ABC lets independent MP Andrew Wilkie pose as the man who tried to warn Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction:

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie says John Howard should be “deeply ashamed” for sending Australian troops to Iraq in 2003… 
Mr Howard told the Seven Network he was “embarrassed” when he learned there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which was the basis for his decision to back the invasion. [Not quite true, actually.]
Mr Wilkie, a former intelligence analyst, today said the former prime minister should face prosecution in the International Criminal Court over the decision.
“Frankly, I’m disappointed that the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court hasn’t thought to hold John Howard responsible for conspiracy to commit mass murder,” he said. “[It is] one thing to take Australia to war based on a lie.”

Wilkie’s claims are vicious, false and self-serving. There was no “lie”.
Or was Wilkie himself lying about Saddam’s weapons in his own report as an intelligence officer at the time?  As I revealed in 2003:

ANDREW Wilkie sells himself as ...  the one spook who didn’t buy what he calls the Howard Government’s ``fairytale’’ and ``exaggerations’’ about the threat of Saddam Hussein. 
But when I go through the only secret report that Wilkie ever wrote about Iraq as an Office of National Assessments analyst, I wonder just who fell for a ``fairytale’’…
And I’m reminded again how mischievous it is for anti-war activists to draw the gloating—and false—conclusion from people like Wilkie that we went to war on Iraq on a lie…
On 17 December last year, Andrew Wilkie wrote his only report on Iraq for his then employer, the ONA… In it, Wilkie said ... Saddam could use chemical or biological weapons against (Iraq’s) Shia or Kurd communities’’.
In fact, ``Iraq’s neighbours could seal their borders in the aftermath of a BW (biological weapons) attack out of fear of contamination, preventing refugees from escaping’’…
As his own secret report to the Government last year shows, Wilkie not only thought Saddam did have biological and chemical weapons, but that he could use them, too.
He also said publicly Saddam could hand such weapons to terrorists. And last week he confirmed: ``I don’t think there is any doubt that Iraq had some sort of WMD program’’, and Saddam ``had to be dealt with’’. But that’s the nub of the Howard Government’s case, isn’t it? 

Gerard Henderson also corrects the record:

Kym Macmillan of O’Malley in the Australian Capital Territory ... wrote the following letter to The Canberra Times, which was published last Tuesday: 

Twice in recent days The Canberra Times has run articles regarding Andrew Wilkie’s call for an inquiry into Australia’s involvement in Iraq. In both articles, it was reported that Wilkie had resigned from the ONA (Office of National Assessments) and had gone public saying that there was no evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. This just goes to perpetuate the myth that Wilkie knew then that there were no WMD and that he was exposing a “lie” – this is not the case, and we must be careful of not re-writing history… What Wilkie said at the time was that Iraq’s WMD program was “disjointed” and that there was no evidence “linking the regime to al-Qaeda” (view transcripts from ABC AM archive, March 12, 2003). 
But it was clear that at that time Wilkie believed that Saddam had access to WMD and might use them – in fact, one of his prime concerns arising from an invasion was that the unprotected civilian population would be exposed to a humanitarian disaster because of Saddam’s possible use of WMD. So it is obvious that Wilkie, in his privileged position within ONA, believed that Saddam had WMD – why then does he suggest that the Government should have known any better?…

Quite so. Kym MacMillan could have added that, when interviewed on Lateline on 11 March 2003, Andrew Wilkie made the following comment: 

I’m convinced a war against Iraq at this time would be wrong… In fact, a war is the exact course of action most likely to cause Saddam to do exactly what we’re trying to prevent. I believe it’s the course of action that is most likely to cause him to lash out recklessly, to use weapons of mass destruction and to possibly play a terrorism card.

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)   

===

Shorten is doing his best, but Labor is divided on security

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (8:01am)

Greg Sheridan predicts: 

[In Parliament Labor leader Bill] Shorten stressed the areas where Labor had disagreed with Liberal governments on the Middle East in the past, and stressed the limits of bipartisan support in today’s circumstances… 
Labor was committing to supporting action in Iraq, but would not do so in Syria. Over time, Shorten will have increasing difficulty keeping Labor’s Left on board with extended military action in the Middle East.

Yet another Labor MP confirms:

Unity ticket? Bill Shorten responds to the Prime Minister’s national sec­urity statement yesterday: 

KEEPING our people safe is above politics. The security of our nation runs deeper than our differences.

Someone didn’t get the memo. Labor backbencher Lisa Chesters yesterday morning:

JOURNALIST: Are you entirely comfortable with what the Abbott government is doing at the moment regarding our pre-positioning of troops? Chesters: This is an issue that we do talk about locally. I’m always concerned when Tony Abbott speaks, I’ll be honest with you, I just don’t trust the man.

Bill Shorten is doing his best and is saying the right things, although he’s wrong to rule out action in Syria. But he leads a rabble.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

===

Coalition gains, but Labor still just ahead

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (7:44am)

I am surprised Labor is still ahead, which suggests the anger over Budget cuts and broken promises is deep-seated. But there are still good signs for the Coalition in the latest Newspoll:

The latest Newspoll ... reveals the government’s primary vote has climbed two points to 41 per cent while Labor dropped one point to 34 per cent. It is the Coalition’s highest level of support since April — before its poorly received budget sent its core vote tumbling as low as 35 per cent — but still below the 45.6 per cent achieved when it won the election last year. 
The surge in support for the Greens in the previous Newspoll was not sustained in the past fortnight, with a three-point drop to 11 per cent....
Based on preference flows at the last election, the Coalition has narrowed the two-party-preferred gap although Labor is still ahead by 51 per cent to 49 per cent… The biggest single move in the past fortnight was Mr Abbott’s satisfaction rating, which jumped six points to a 10-month high of 41 per cent.  

===

Media Watch host praises the utter ignorance of a former Media Watch host. Both sneer at the raids

Andrew Bolt September 23 2014 (12:02am)

Incredibly, Media Watch host Paul Barry last night endorsed the spectacular ignorance of former Media Watch host Richard Ackland.
Both Barry and Ackland seemed totally unaware that a specific threat last Tuesday triggered last Thursday’s anti-terrorism raids. Their ignorance, inexcusable in Barry’s case, allowed them to cynically hint that the timing of the raids was suspect and a political stunt.
Here’s Barry:

Ackland also argues the media should be more curious about the need for such dramatic action: 

If a little scepticism was applied, questions would be asked as to why we had this sudden splash of commando bombast when this particular group in Sydney had been under surveillance since May. 
— The Guardian, 19th September, 2014

IF all these plots cited in the Tele were really credible one might ask why only one of the 16 people arrested in last week’s raids is still in custody.
And also why we were given given assurances by ASIO and the PM just ten days ago that nothing specific was being planned 

So Ackland suggests nothing changed since May before police moved in on Thursday.
Barry suggests there was no new threat since Friday a week ago, when the Prime Minister said there was no knowledge of a specific threat.
But in the court hearing for one of the men arrested, the Crown Prosecutor said there was indeed new knowledge of an imminent threat:

Commonwealth Prosecutor Michael Allnutt said the immediate catalyst for Mr Azari’s arrest was a phone call that took place “only a couple of days ago”.

Most media reported that fact - that just a couple of days before the raids our intelligence services intercepted an order from Mohammed Ali Baryalei, an Australian commander with the Islamic State, to followers in Australian to kill a random Australian civilian.
As The Australian reported:

In early May, after the group’s contact with Baryalei increased, the Australian Federal Police decided to have a formal investigation into the group, dubbing it Operation Appleby… 
Then, early last month, ...  the group received a phone call from Baryalei in which he asked the group to carry out an attack in Australia…

Then on Tuesday this week authorities monitored a call between Baryalei and Azari in which Baryalei allegedly demanded that Azari go out and kill a random non-Muslim as a demonstration of Islamic State’s intent. 

This fact makes Ackland’s cynicism sound desperately ill-informed.
It makes Barry’s scepticism sound like plain stupid and his endorsement of Ackland founded on ignorance.
And ABC boss Mark Scott still insists the fact that every Media Watch host has been of the Left does not matter.
The ABC is out of control. 

===
I like flaws too. They hold me up when I’m drunk
===

Murderers of the Three Teens Eliminated

www.israelnationalnews.com

Marwan Kawasmeh and Amer Abu Eisha of Hevron located and killed in exchange of gunfire.

too late ..

===

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Charles Darwin struggled with a paradox: If evolution is a struggle for survival, how could generosity, compassion, and other altruistic virtues have spread through natural selection?

Darwin could see the clear evolutionary benefit to groups that inculcated ethical values in their members. Imagine, he wrote in The Descent of Man, two competing primitive tribes, equally matched — except that "one tribe included a great number of courageous, sympathetic, and faithful members, who were always ready to warn each other of danger, [and] to aid and defend each other." There was little doubt that tribes highly endowed with such virtues "would spread and be victorious over other tribes."

But there was a problem: How did any tribe evolve such ethical qualities in the first place? Brave individuals who risked their lives for others "would on average perish in larger numbers than other men." It hardly seemed possible, Darwin conceded, that "such virtues … could be increased through natural selection, that is, by the survival of the fittest."

Darwin's paradox has generated a vast literature in evolutionary psychology and sociobiology. Scientists have demonstrated that humans have a hard-wired moral capacity; we are born with an aptitude for empathy and fairness that is built into our biology. Recent neurological experiments, for example, demonstrate that an act of generosity, such as donating to charity, triggers a pleasurable response in the brain.

Of course, having a capacity is not the same as using it. The human brain is hard-wired to learn multiple languages, too, but how many of us ever master more than one? Our moral sense may be genetically encoded, but we aren't robots. We have free will. Each of us must choose to be decent or indecent. And there is no denying that indecent choices can also convey rewards.

===

Here's advice to the members of the United States Congress as they are asked to endorse an American-led attack on the government of Syria:

Start your consideration by establishing priorities, clarifying what matters most to the country. TheObama administration rightly points to two urgent matters: stopping the Iranian nuclear buildup and maintaining the security of Israel. To these, I add a third: reestablishing the U.S. deterrent credibility laid low by Barack Obama himself.

Note that this list conspicuously does not mention the Syrian regime's chemical arsenal (the largest in the world) or its recent use. That's because those pale in horror and in danger by comparison with the nuclear weapons now under construction in Iran. Also, the attack in Ghouta, Syria, on Aug. 21 was appalling, but not worse than killing a hundred times more civilians through other means, including torture. Further, that attack breached multiple international conventions, but surely no one expects "limited strikes" to restrain desperate dictators.

===

My message to the Arab-Palestinians, the Arab world and

Israel's saboteurs

Please hear me out well:

Religion: Our religion is Judaism. Judaism was the first monotheistic religion known to man. With the ten commandments God gave to the Israelites through Moses, Jews own the copyright to human rights.

Judaism is the only religion that never did and does not proselytize; it never killed and does not kill in the name of religion and did not and does not enforce itself on others.
Therefore, Judaism is a peaceful religion. Christianity amended its way and it is now a peaceful religion. Islam is a merciless religion. Moslems kill for the sake of Islam, whether their own of different factions or non-Moslems. Therefore, Islam is not a religion of peace. Far from it. With that fact in mind we need to treat you as the messenger of war, not peace.

Islam, caries deep seated hatred for Jews. We are going to end it. This hatred for Israel will no longer be tolerated. We have set up our Modus Operandi to undo your hatred toward us. When you amend your ways, we will notice it and then we will agree to talk again.

Israel's exceptionalism: Israel is an exceptional state when it comes to helping other states; it widely shares its various advanced technologies in the fields of medicine, agriculture, energy and hi-tech, to name a few.

When it comes to a catastrophe somewhere in the world, Israeli teams will be among the first, if not the first, to arrive and help the disaster stricken area.

Arab aggression: Your campaign to subvert Israel in the international arena, in any way possible, will come to an end. Israel will no longer tolerate these tactics you have managed to instill so well and so wide in the global arena. We can fight it and we will gain the upper hand.

Peace brokerage charade: Possible good intentions do not mean good conduct that brings good result. Politics can be a very evil game with false intentions and bad results for which the people end up paying with blood and tears. Possible good intentions and politics concoction have ended up being bad karma for Israel; they have put Israel in danger and eroded her security. Israel have decided to no longer tolerate those trying to broker peace between her and her hostile neighbors, but instead are making achieving the goal of peace an impossible task.

Measures:

My people will no longer provide you with funds to advance your rather peaceless goals.

My people will no longer provide you with electricity for which you fail to pay.

My people will no longer continue be part of the many joint projects currently underway between Arab-Palestinians and Israelis. You do not realize, or appreciate, what a gift they are to your people. More so, you are likely to destroy them, as you have destroyed the hi-tech hot houses farms we left for you in Gaza. You prefer to launch rocket from there rather than grow and sell vegetables and flowers. We were not forced to enter into these projects; they come about from the willing hearts of good Israelis who want to help you prosper. Israel will mandate that all these projects come to a halt till you mend your ways.

From today on, ALL Israeli goods, whether services, products, or hardware, will be labeled 'Made In Israel,' even if they were produced or made in Judea and Samaria or the Golan Heights. The hidden channels, whether a third party or a hidden label name, we have been using to overcome the problem of goods originating from Judea and Samaria are now null and void. We are proud of what we make, grow, create, invent and we will announce it to the world under the name "Israel".

All Arabs need to know that Israel is a powerhouse of inventions and technology. Many of the products she sells in the world her foes have no option but to use them, because the Jewish state is the only source for them. But you are welcome to take your business elsewhere and we will see how far you go. People with hate in their hearts end up losing.

Israel can offer any country in the world the most important components required to grow an economy and that included the rather lagging behind Arab countries. These components will help create better conditions for the people, improve their health and longevity and help their country thrive; take a good look at our country only 65 years old. Israel is thriving, wouldn't you want to emulate us?

Corrective measures:

So here is what I suggest: when you are finally ready to make genuine peace with us, with or without a piece of paper, we are ready to welcome you. No games, no taqiyya tricks, no pretence. We have got your number and we no longer buy into it. Look at Egypt; President Sadat came to Israel to show peace goodwill. Sadly, his dream did not live long and the Egyptians have not taken advantage of the peace status and got Israel to help them in so many ways, as she could have. Egypt's economy remained failing miserably.

Israel has much to offer, you have not. So when you are ready to buy we will begin negotiating.

You got us this time as well. We buckled. You have demanded preconditions in order to agree to sit and talk with us. We began releasing terrorists who killed our innocent citizens in order for you to agree to talk with us about giving up our land. And you celebrated these monsters return into your society. What a shameful behavior. If the shoe was on the other foot, if Israel cheered the return of murders who killed your innocent how would you feel? We know how! That is the last time you get us. The talks will continue without releasing the rest of the list of terrorists. Take it or leave it. You walk away from these peace talks you bear the consequences that will be far reaching.

We now demand that you begin showing your people, in all your media outlets, the truth about Israel, what is Israel all about. How Israel has continued helping you despite all the wars you have launched against us. You will erase the pig and ape image you have made us to be. Not that pigs and apes are not nice animals, but they cannot be compared to human beings.

We now demand that you change your school curriculum. You burn your old books and start anew. You teach your kids that Jews are fine people. You teach that you were evil to the Jews for many decades. That Israel has the right to be a Jewish state and you respect it. You teach that you illegally held to land that legally belongs to Israel for two decades. Then when you lost the war Israel returned that land to her sovereignty and she has the right to all of it. And you teach that when you lose the war you pay the consequences.

You teach that you lost the war you perpetrated against Israel. That many countries around the world have lost territory in battles which they lost and by international law they then lost their right to return to that territory, the right to that land. What they gained was the responsibility to make a good life in the countries in which they were left to live.

We now demand that you end making martyrs of those who have killed our people. We demand you rename all the streets, schools, sport teams, parks, and other venues, now carrying the names of murderers of Jews. You end up being inhumane.

It is now up to you to show us you can really be a good neighbor. Until then we have nothing to talk about. You have nothing to offer to us that we want but a huge headache. Under today's circumstances, the peace we seek you cannot yet deliver.
When we are convinced that you are making the long overdue changes, and that will take a generation or so to apply, not only we will embrace you as good neighbors, we will work with you, side by side, and build an amazing Middle East that will grow and prosper for yours and our future generations.

Our father of Zionism, Theodor, Benjamin Ze'ev Herzl said, "If you will it, it is not a dream-a legend"

We have never wanted anything from you but to leave us alone and have peaceful relations with you. You showed us that all you wanted and still want is to destroy us in wars you launched against us and many other means, such as political, media, and economic warfare. Now you need to show us that you want exactly what we want, peace, real peace.

Nurit Greenger sees Israel and the United States equally, as the last two forts of true democratic freedom and since 2006, has been writing about events in these two countries. Contact her by writing to nurit.4.nuritg@gmail.com Read more stories by Nurit Greenger.

- See more at: http://newsblaze.com/story/20130908081627nurg.nb/topstory.html#sthash.RhU0K2JA.0ydUFCjJ.dpuf
===

===

Bulletin Sept. 9, 2013

PA libel: Israel spreads drugs to harm Palestinians PA official: "There is also an enemy:  Drugs spread by the occupation" Israel "harm[s] our society's infrastructure and our youth" with drugs "One of the weapons" Israel uses is drugs http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=9706 by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik In the attempt to demonize Israel, the Palestinian Authority has a policy of slandering Israel with libels and lies. One recurring libel documented byPalestinian Media Watch is that Israel deliberately spreads drugs to harm Palestinian youth in Jerusalem to destroy their future. In an interview on official PA TV, PA District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh Laila Ghannam accused Israel of spreading drugs: "There is an occupation and there is also an enemy:  Drugs spread by the occupation." Click to view The official PA daily repeated her statement: "The occupation is the biggest problem and drugs are one of the means with which the occupation planned to harm our society's infrastructure and our youth." Issam Jwehan, the director of a UN- and EU-supported NGO, the Al-Maqdese for Society Development, stated on PA TV News that Israel uses drugs as "aweapon" to Judaize Jerusalem: "The occupation controls the land and tries to control the [Arab] residents of Jerusalem. One of the weapons it uses to Judaize Jerusalem is drugs." Click to view Earlier this year, Khaled Hammad, Deputy Director of the Jerusalem Education Administration, claimed that Israel deliberately attempts to turn young Palestinians into drug addicts because Israelis "have no interest in an educated [Palestinian] generation developing": "These people [Israelis] don't want an educated and learned generation [of Arabs] in Jerusalem at all. They try to turn Jerusalem's [Arab] youth into drug addicts just like all the things that are done against the residents of Jerusalem." Click to view View more examples of the PA libel that Israel deliberately spreads drugs among Palestinians. PMW has documented other libels spread by the PA. Among others, it is claimed that Israel murdered Arafat, has plans to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and steals organs from Palestinians. The following are longer excerpts of the statements accusing Israel of deliberately spreading drugs among Palestinians: "District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh, Laila Ghannam... said: 'Like any nation in the world, we have social problems...' She made it clear that the main problem from which the district suffers is drug distribution, and said: 'The occupation is the biggest problem and drugs are one of the means with which the occupation planned to harm our society's infrastructure and our youth.' Nonetheless, she emphasized that drugs have not reached the level of a social phenomenon." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 22, 2013] PA TV's Young People of the Country's reporter Hiba Hassoun presented topics discussed on the program during the year, including: "The drugs that the occupation is trying to spread among our young people in Area C that is under Israeli control." [Official Palestinian Authority TV, July 2, 2013] PA TV News interviews District Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh Laila Ghannam:  "Everyone should take part, not only the [Palestinian] state's institutions and the official forces, in the battle against  this plague (i.e., drugs)... There is an occupation and there is also an enemy: Drugs spread by the occupation." [Official Palestinian Authority TV, June 26, 2013] PA TV News interviews the director of the Palestinian NGO, the Al-Maqdese for Society Development, Issam Jwehan:  "The occupation controls the land and tries to control the [Arab] residents of Jerusalem. One of the weapons it uses to Judaize Jerusalem is drugs." [Official Palestinian Authority TV, June 26, 2013] Note: The NGO Al- Maqdese for Society Development lists on its website the organization's "Donors and Partners", among them: UNDP (United Nations Development Program), UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), EU, France, Spain, Italy, the American organization National Endowment for Democracy, Norwegian People's Aid, Polish Aid, and Save the Children - Sweden. [Al-Maqdese website, accessed Aug. 4, 2013  http://www.al-maqdese.org/en/2/1/110] PA TV's program for young people, Speak Up, interviewed Khaled Hammad, Deputy Director of the Jerusalem Education Administration, about the reasons students drop out of school. Khaled Hammad: "They [the students who dropped out of school] mentioned many things. It could be that getting connected with negative elements plays [a part]. And sometimes the occupation has a hidden role in this."  PA TV host: "Of course." Khaled Hammad: "These people [Israelis] don't want an educated and learned generation [of Arabs] in Jerusalem at all. They try to turn Jerusalem's [Arab] youth into drug addicts just like all the things that are done against the residents of Jerusalem." [Official Palestinian Authority TV, Jan. 20, 2013,  co-produced with PYALARA (EU-funded NGO] PYALARA's website mentions that it is sponsored by NDC. NDC lists as its supporters the European Union, the World Bank, the French government's Agence Française de Développement, a donor consortium of Switzerland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, the Islamic Development Bank, the United Palestinian Appeal, and the Palestinian private organization the Welfare Association. [PYALARA website, accessed Sept. 9, http://www.pyalara.org/donors.php?lang=1, NDC website, accessed Sept. 9, http://www.ndc.ps/doners-view] This research was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to PMW now. VISIT PMW VIDEO ARCHIVES Shahada (Death for Allah) promotion Holocaust denial and distortion Success of Shahada promotion Glorifying terrorists and terror Promoting violence & terror Demonization Conspiracy libels Israel's right to exist denied Jewish history rewritten Objective: Israel's destruction p:+972 2 625 4140     e: pmw@palwatch.org f: +972 2 624 2803       w: www.palwatch.org

===

I am scheduled to speak in Markham, Ontario along with my colleague Robert Spencer Tuesday evening. Apparently the opposition couldn't get the police to do their dirty work this time, as they did last spring, when members of the York Regional Police force strongarmed a rabbi into canceling my scheduled talk at his synagogue. That talk went on as scheduled in a different venue, and now that those cops are under investigation, Muslim Brotherhood proxies are trying to get Spencer and me banned from Canada now.

In connection with my earlier police-induced cancellation, Mark Steyn pointed out that Canadian officials have turned a blind eye to real preachers of hate: "Pamela Geller, tireless campaigner against Islamic imperialism (and a lady I had the honor of being introduced by at CPAC a few years back), was scheduled to give a speech at a Toronto synagogue on May 13. Miss Geller is not a convicted terrorist or terrorism-supporter or someone who argues for the execution of all homosexuals. If she were, she could speak at any Canadian venue with impunity."

As always, the media eagerly carries water for Islamic supremacists and Sharia thugs. Nevertheless, every time it happens, it's astounding. The Huffington Post carried a Canadian Press story about this "controversy" over the upcoming talk, with the headline "Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer Toronto Talk Flagged By Canadian Muslim Leaders." The story said: "The National Council of Canadian Muslims worries Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer will spread 'hate and misinformation' about the Islamic faith when they speak at a Toronto-area hotel Tuesday evening, the group's executive director said."

Our talk has been "flagged by Canadian Muslim leaders" who are worried that we will spread "hate and misinformation." "Canadian Muslim leaders"? "Hate and misinformation?" Actually, the group that is complaining, the National Council of Canadian Muslims, was up until recently known as CAIR-Canada. It is still the Canadian branch of the Hamas-tied Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The NCCN is not "Canadian Muslim leaders," it's Hamas-CAIR, a Muslim Brotherhood front group, named an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding trial.

And even if they were legitimate "Muslim leaders," what moral authority does that give them? Osama bin Laden was a Muslim leader, as was Anwar al-Awlaki, and as are Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Mohamed Morsi, and Anjem Choudary. It is not Spencer and I, but "Muslim leaders" like these who are the ones who are really spreading hate. Their bigotry and racism is real, the human toll incalculable.

Truth is now hate. And what misinformation exactly do I spread? I merely quote devout Muslims. Fighting for freedom, equality for all and individual rights is "hate and misinformation?" Only under the Sharia. But that's how far down the rabbit hole the media and the culture have crawled.

Here's a video of my previous talk in Canada that these vicious thugs tried to shut down. Where's the hate?
And they didn't just "flag" our talk: these brutes and thugs are attempting to destroy freedom of speech and impose the blasphemy laws under Islamic law.

Why aren't these Muslim organizations denouncing the hundreds of jihadist groups that are waging holy war across the world? Why isn't this Muslim group that is so intent on keeping our message from reaching Canada taking on jihadists across the world?

And why aren't I called for comment on stories like this, instead of their always being a completely one-sided presentation of the views of the enemies of freedom? Why isn't Robert Spencer given an opportunity to respond to the defamation and lies from these friends and allies of the Muslim Brotherhood groups that are waging jihad across the world? Why do these thugs have such unfettered access to the press, while those who are defending freedom never can get a fair hearing?

The outrageous media double standard has to end. Free people must not stand idly by while our most basic, fundamental freedoms are silently seized and destroyed.

Pamela Geller is the President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), publisher of AtlasShrugs.com and author of The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration's War on America and Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance. Follow her on Twitter here.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/09/islamist_showdown.html#ixzz2fhyAL0hr
Follow us: @AmericanThinker on Twitter | AmericanThinker on Facebook
===
Caroline Glick
Just wondering, did you read that the terrorists in Nairobi conducted a selection between Muslims and non-Muslims in your local newspaper? Muslims were set free, non-Muslims were murdered -- even the children. 
It wasn't reported by the far-left dominated Israeli media either.
http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201309/113567.php
===

Originally published at Rubin Reports.

See introduction, Obama policy, the second term: ”"Second-Term Obama Agenda: Part 1: –  Why U.S. Policy Betrayed the Moderates.” These are the new (hopefully temporary):

White House’s Seven Pillars of Idiocy in the Middle East:

(NAMED AFTER LAWRENCE OF ARABIA’S VERSION)

One:  Other than aid and official government rhetoric, the United States is now neutral on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and, to put it more accurately, tilting toward the Palestinian side.    This does not mean disaster for Israel—and no Israeli official will say so in public–but it is a strategic reality. Part of the dynamic motivating this U.S. policy is that:

–The White House believes it can win over “moderate Islamists” in power as in Egypt, Sudan, Turkey, Tunisia, Bahrain, Iran, and Syria, among other countries. This would form a pro-U.S. bloc against al-Qaida and, secondarily the Iran-Syria bloc. Only al-Qaida cannot be won over; but the White House believes that even the Taliban, the Tehran rulers, Hezbollah, and Hamas might be convinced. (I’m not kidding and can prove it.)

feeding the crocodile in the hopes it eats you last - ed
===

I ONCE lived in a harem in Afghanistan.

I did not enter the kingdom as a diplomat, soldier, teacher, journalist or foreign aid worker. I came as a young Jewish bride of the son of one of the country's wealthiest men. I was held in a type of captivity — but it's not as if I had been kidnapped.

I walked into it of my own free will.

It is 1959. I am only 18 when my prince — a dark, older, handsome, westernized foreigner who had traveled abroad from his native home in Afghanistan — bedazzles me.

We meet at Bard College, where he is studying economics and politics and I am studying literature on scholarship.

Abdul-Kareem is the son of one of the founders of the modern banking system in Afghanistan. He wears designers sunglasses and bespoke suits and when he visits New York City, he stays at the Plaza.

He is also Muslim.

I am Jewish, raised in an Orthodox home in Borough Park, Brooklyn, the daughter of Polish immigrants. My dad worked door-to-door selling soda and seltzer.

But none of this matters. We don't talk about religion. Instead, we stay up all night discussing film, opera and theater. We are bohemians.

We date for two years. Then, when I express my desire to travel, he asks me to marry him.

"There is no other way for us to travel together in the Muslim world," he says.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/books/my-life-of-hell-in-an-afghan-harem-phyllis-chesler/story-fn9412vp-1226724821753#ixzz2fhzWrCwD
The Green plans of an old lifestyle aren't good either - ed
===

A TWIN suicide bombing killed more than 70 people at a church service in northwest Pakistan in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians in the country.

The two attackers struck at the end of a service at All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which has borne the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency in recent years.

Doctor Arshad Javed of Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital said 72 people had been killed and more than 100 wounded.

Provincial health minister Shaukat Ali Yousufzai confirmed the death toll and said the provincial government had announced a three-day period of mourning in the state.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the "cruel" attack, saying it violated the tenets of Islam.

Sahibzada Anees, one of Peshawar's most senior officials, told reporters the bombers struck when the service had just ended.

"Most of the wounded are in critical condition," Anees said.

"We are in an area which is a target of terrorism and within that area there was a special security arrangement for the church. We are in a rescue phase and once it is over we will investigate what went wrong."

Former minister for inter-faith harmony Paul Bhatti and provincial lawmaker Fredrich Azeem Ghauri both said the attack was the deadliest ever targeting Christians in Pakistan.

The small and largely impoverished Christian community suffers discrimination in the overwhelmingly Muslim-majority nation but bombings against them are extremely rare.

Schoolteacher Nazir Khan, 50, said the service had just ended and at least 400 worshippers were greeting each other when there was a huge explosion.

"A huge blast threw me on the floor and as soon as I regained my senses, a second blast took place and I saw wounded people everywhere," Mr Khan said.

An AFP reporter saw shreds of human flesh and bloodstains on the walls and floor of the church, whose windows had been ripped apart by the blast.

Pages of a Bible were scattered near the altar and rice meals mingled with dust on the floor amid shattered benches. Walls were gouged with ball bearings used in the explosives, he said.

Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand Trunk Road highway with bodies of the victims to protest against the killings.

Christians in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and other cities also staged protest rallies to condemn the killings and demand state protection for their lives and properties.

In the southern port city of Karachi angry protesters clashed with police when they tried to clear a road in Isa Nagri, a low-income Christian neighbourhood.

Pakistan's Ulema Council, an association of leading Muslim scholars, strongly condemned the church attack and said killing innocent people breaches the tenets of Islam.

"It is an extremely shameful attack which has shamed all Pakistanis and Muslims," Allama Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chief of the council, said.

"There is no room for such terrorist acts in Islam."

Sectarian violence between majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims is on the rise in Pakistan. Sunday's attack will fuel fears the already beleaguered Christian community could be increasingly targeted.

Islamist militants have carried out hundreds of bombings targeting security forces and minority Muslim groups they regard as heretical, but attacks on Christians have previously largely been confined to grenade attacks and occasional riots.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a deeply conservative province bordering the tribal districts along the Afghan frontier which are home to Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Mr Ghauri, the provincial lawmaker, said there were about 200,000 Christians in the province, of whom 70,000 lived in Peshawar.

"Now after this attack Christians across Pakistan will fear for their lives," he warned.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the bombings.

"Terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions," he said in a statement.

Mr Sharif said such "cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane mindset of the terrorists".

Only around 2 per cent of Pakistan's population of 180 million are Christian. The community complains of growing discrimination.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has warned that the risk to Pakistan's minorities has reached crisis levels.

Christians have a precarious existence in Pakistan, often living in slum-like "colonies" cheek-by-jowl with Muslims and fearful of allegations of blasphemy, a sensitive subject that can provoke outbursts of public violence.

In the town of Gojra in Punjab province in 2009, a mob burned 77 houses and killed seven people after rumours that a copy of the Islamic holy book the Koran had been desecrated during a Christian marriage ceremony.

Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl who was arrested for alleged blasphemy last year, fled to Canada with her family in June after the charges were dropped.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/suicide-bombers-kill-72-at-christian-church-in-pakistan/story-fndir2ev-1226724750088#ixzz2fhzs26nmA TWIN suicide bombing killed more than 70 people at a church service in northwest Pakistan in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians in the country.

The two attackers struck at the end of a service at All Saints Church in Peshawar, the main town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which has borne the brunt of a bloody Islamist insurgency in recent years.

Doctor Arshad Javed of Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital said 72 people had been killed and more than 100 wounded.

Provincial health minister Shaukat Ali Yousufzai confirmed the death toll and said the provincial government had announced a three-day period of mourning in the state.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the "cruel" attack, saying it violated the tenets of Islam.

Sahibzada Anees, one of Peshawar's most senior officials, told reporters the bombers struck when the service had just ended.

"Most of the wounded are in critical condition," Anees said.

"We are in an area which is a target of terrorism and within that area there was a special security arrangement for the church. We are in a rescue phase and once it is over we will investigate what went wrong."

Former minister for inter-faith harmony Paul Bhatti and provincial lawmaker Fredrich Azeem Ghauri both said the attack was the deadliest ever targeting Christians in Pakistan.

The small and largely impoverished Christian community suffers discrimination in the overwhelmingly Muslim-majority nation but bombings against them are extremely rare.

Schoolteacher Nazir Khan, 50, said the service had just ended and at least 400 worshippers were greeting each other when there was a huge explosion.

"A huge blast threw me on the floor and as soon as I regained my senses, a second blast took place and I saw wounded people everywhere," Mr Khan said.

An AFP reporter saw shreds of human flesh and bloodstains on the walls and floor of the church, whose windows had been ripped apart by the blast.

Pages of a Bible were scattered near the altar and rice meals mingled with dust on the floor amid shattered benches. Walls were gouged with ball bearings used in the explosives, he said.

Grieving relatives blocked the main Grand Trunk Road highway with bodies of the victims to protest against the killings.

Christians in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and other cities also staged protest rallies to condemn the killings and demand state protection for their lives and properties.

In the southern port city of Karachi angry protesters clashed with police when they tried to clear a road in Isa Nagri, a low-income Christian neighbourhood.

Pakistan's Ulema Council, an association of leading Muslim scholars, strongly condemned the church attack and said killing innocent people breaches the tenets of Islam.

"It is an extremely shameful attack which has shamed all Pakistanis and Muslims," Allama Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi, chief of the council, said.

"There is no room for such terrorist acts in Islam."

Sectarian violence between majority Sunni and minority Shiite Muslims is on the rise in Pakistan. Sunday's attack will fuel fears the already beleaguered Christian community could be increasingly targeted.

Islamist militants have carried out hundreds of bombings targeting security forces and minority Muslim groups they regard as heretical, but attacks on Christians have previously largely been confined to grenade attacks and occasional riots.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a deeply conservative province bordering the tribal districts along the Afghan frontier which are home to Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Mr Ghauri, the provincial lawmaker, said there were about 200,000 Christians in the province, of whom 70,000 lived in Peshawar.

"Now after this attack Christians across Pakistan will fear for their lives," he warned.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the bombings.

"Terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions," he said in a statement.

Mr Sharif said such "cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane mindset of the terrorists".

Only around 2 per cent of Pakistan's population of 180 million are Christian. The community complains of growing discrimination.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has warned that the risk to Pakistan's minorities has reached crisis levels.

Christians have a precarious existence in Pakistan, often living in slum-like "colonies" cheek-by-jowl with Muslims and fearful of allegations of blasphemy, a sensitive subject that can provoke outbursts of public violence.

In the town of Gojra in Punjab province in 2009, a mob burned 77 houses and killed seven people after rumours that a copy of the Islamic holy book the Koran had been desecrated during a Christian marriage ceremony.

Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl who was arrested for alleged blasphemy last year, fled to Canada with her family in June after the charges were dropped.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/suicide-bombers-kill-72-at-christian-church-in-pakistan/story-fndir2ev-1226724750088#ixzz2fhzs26nmI read a description of the church service. It sounds like the one I go to .. ed
===
“If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.” -Barack Obama, 2009. (Interestingly, PolitiFact rates this “Half-True”, proving that they are entirely a joke.)
===

Pastor Rick Warren

I don't have to know all the answers. I just have to know that God knows, that he is good, and that he loves me.

===

===
Daniel Katz
http://www.news.com.au/.../story-fncynjr2-1226719412172

Chris Bowen defends month-long search new Labor Party leaderwww.news.com.au
AUSTRALIANS face a new month long election campaign with Bill Shorten and Anthon...See more

David Daniel Ball Where will they find a leader with no ability or opinion?

Daniel Katz ... I am not sure. I have a real job.

David Daniel Ball It sounds impossible, yet they have achieved it demonstrably .. often ..

Daniel Katz ...Labor excel in NOT excelling.

John Tran If all that a political party stands for is vicious infighting, then I am not sure if a genuine aspiring kind of person that wants to help their country is even around within the labor party for them to choose.. this is all in assuming that some 'left' political ideaology is even relevant today.===

Whenever a calamity falls upon Muslim-majority countries, there is always a country to blame: Israel. There is no need to look for any other reason. If there is a revolution against a tyrant regime subjugating its people, the Zionists are responsible. If there is a clash between Sunni and Shia groups – who else can be responsible? When a bomb explodes on the other side of the world or there is a problem with the economy – no need to look for anyone else. Where else can the control center for destabilizing the Arab world be but in Tel Aviv?
===

In a show of force which contrasts with the relatively consilliatory statements by Iran's new president, the Iranianmilitary has paraded its arsenal of ballistic missiles capable of hitting Israeli and other western targets, at a state parade on Sunday.

Iran paraded 30 missiles with a nominal range of 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) - the first time it had displayed so many with the theoretical capacity to hit Israeli targets.

The missiles on show included 12 Sejil and 18 Ghadr missiles, at the annual parade marking the 25th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

The stated range of both missiles would put not only Israel but also US bases in the Gulf within reach.

But in his speech at the parade, President Hassan Rouhani insisted the weaponry on show was for defensive purposes only.    

"In the past 200 years, Iran has never attacked another country," he said.  

"Today too, the armed forces of the Islamic Republic and its leadership will never launch any aggressive action in the region. But they will always resist aggressors determinedly until victory." 

The Sejil was first tested in November 2008 and the Ghadr in September of the following year.

Both are two-stage missiles that use solid fuel that allows them to be moved around and launched rapidly.

The parade came as tensions over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program continue to simmer, and as Israeli leaders continue to view with suspicion the newly-elected Iranian president's overtures to western powers.

===

Israel's Deputy Defense Minister has called on the Israeli government to "annul the Oslo Accords," and adopt an alternative to the much-touted "Two State Solution" which would see the establishment of aPalestinian Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

In an op-ed for the New York Times, MK Danny Danon insists that, twenty years after the signing of the Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, "The government of Israel must admit that we made a mistake and declare that the Oslo process has failed."

It is a very public act of dissent by an Israeli minister, as Prime Minister Netanyahu's government continues to embark on negotiations with thePalestinian Authority within the "Two-State Solution" paradigm.

But Danon - who is not only a government minister, but a member of the same party as the PM - points to the fact that the rate of Israelis killed by Arab terrorists increased significantly following the Oslo Accords and subsequent Israeli concessions to the PA, suggesting that such a "paradigm" merely exacerbates the conflict as opposed to providing a viable solution to it.

Danon insists that the failure of Oslo is not due to a lack of Israeli efforts to reach a peace deal, citing numerous Israeli initiatives and concessions - including the deportation of thousands of Jewish civilians and the destruction of Israeli communities - none of which resulted in peace. Instead, he says, it is the PA's refusal to accept the existence of the State of Israel as a permanent reality which has prevented peace.

===

Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) responded on Saturday night to the abduction and murder of 20-year-old soldier Tomer Hazan at thehands of a Palestinian Authority Arab.

"The murder of soldier Tomer Hazan z”l is a terrible reminder that Israel deals daily with the murderous terrorism of beastly people,” said Lapid.

“We must not leave the security of Israel to anyone except ourselves,” he added.

Hazan was abducted Friday and murdered in Samaria by Nadal Amar, an Arab terrorist from the village of Bayt Amin, near Kalkilya. Amar, who worked at a restaurant in Bat Yam with Hazan, had somehow convinced Hazan to take a cab with him to Samaria, where he proceeded to murder him and dispose of his body.

Early morning Saturday, IDF forces, together with Yamam special police and Shin Bet, raided the home of Amar's family and arrested him, together with another brother. Nadal Amar confessed under interrogationthat he persuaded the soldier to come to his village and murdered him.

Following his confession, Amar led security forces to the body. It is believed Amar may have planned to demand that Israel release his brother, a Fatah terrorist who has been imprisoned for a decade, in exchange for Hazan’s body.

===

Palestinian territorial contiguity is dangerous for Israeli national security. For security and demographic reason, Israel must retain as much land as possible in the West Bank. Evacuation of these areas will create a dangerous situation for Israeli security and eventually will necessitate reconquering extensive parts of the West Bank. There is no reason to dismantle and destroy the existing settlements, rather we propose the creation of seven independent and separate city-states within the West Bank, in addition to Gaza.

Premise:

There is no reason to assume that a Palestinian state will not become another failing Arab state, due to the fragmented society in the West Bank and Gaza, tribalism and the lack of awareness of nationhood as demonstrated by the failing performance of the Palestinian Authority since its establishment in 1994.

Since nobody in the world can assure that a Palestinian state will never turn – like Gaza – into an Islamic terror state, any solution for the Palestinians must minimize its potential threats on Israel, on the region and on the world.

Social stability is the key for political stability. Many existing Arab states are models only of ineffectual governance; the only successful model for an Arab state is the one which is based on a single consolidated traditional group such as each of the individual Arab Gulf Emirates. The standard Arab states - Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, which are conglomerates of tribes, religions, sects and ethnic groups – present the opposite picture. It is our belief that the successful Emirate model can be implemented in the Palestinian case more easily and successfully than the failing Arab model.

===

Allyson Christy

US ‘blackmailing’ Russia over Syria resolution: Lavrov - Arab News 

"Lavrov further charged that the West was “not telling the whole story” by asserting that chemical weapons are only possessed by the regime, and not the opposition.

He added that the available information provided by the Israelis confirmed that on at least two occasions, the rebels had seized areas in which chemical weapons were stored and those arms might have fallen into their hands.

"According to our estimates, there is a strong probability that in addition to home-grown labs in which militants are trying to cook up harmful and deadly concoctions, the data provided by the Israelis is true,” the Russian FM said." - excerpt....'Lavrov: US pressuring Russia into passing UN resolution on Syria under Chapter 7' - RT News

http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440
===

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed outside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron Sunday evening by what the army said was Palestinian sniper fire.
===
Courtesy of Jack DeLowe
Here Is The Film Of The EU Diplomat Hitting An IDF Soldier
And she then complained about being detained by the IDF.

http://bcove.me/xiuzbwww
===

Israeli forces were Sunday reportedly helping Kenyan officials end a deadly siege at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, where al-Qaeda-linked terrorists have been holed up for a day with some 30 hostages.
===

...Despite the largest, most sustained program of foreign aid in the history of mankind, Palestinian life continues to be lived inside garbage cans and slums. The money, most of it European, did not disappear, as people frequently erroneously say. It simply reached the hands of the Palestinian insiders who - for generations - have built personal fortunes by controlling its kleptocracy. And there it stays, as it traditionally has.
===

According to the World Health Organization, a staggering 140 million girls worldwide are currently living with the consequences of female genital mutilation (FGM).  The procedure (carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15) is designed to alter the female genital organs, and is “motivated by the desire to reduce a woman’s sexual desires”.  The WHO notes that “the practice is most common in the western, eastern, and northeastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among migrants from these areas.”

Homa Khaleeli, a staff feature writer for the Guardian, penned a heartbreaking essay at ‘Comment is Free’ (Female Genital Mutilation: Mothers need to say no‘, Sept. 8) about the practice of FGM, focusing largely on the personal account of Faduma Ali, who, at age 86, still remembers the pain of being circumcised when she was a young girl in Somalia.  Khaleeli, in providing background on the horrific practice, notes that It has been documented in 28 countries in Africa and in a few countries in Asia and the Middle East, and that though it’s outlawed in the UK it is still performed there within some immigrant communities.

Though the procedure takes place within Christian and Animist cultures, the likelihood of experiencing FGM is greater within Muslim populations in Africa and the Middle East.

Khaleeli, after including some of the shocking details on the cruel manner in which the procedure is usually performed, throws in the following:

Although Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities carry out FGM, mainstream spiritual leaders from all three religions have denied that the practice stems from religion.  

The claim that Muslims, Christians, and Jews practicing FGM seems like nothing but a throw-away line, and indeed Jewish scholars have observed the near complete absence of the practice within ancient and modern Jewish communities.  Harvard Professor Shaye J.D. Cohen in “Why Aren’t Jewish Women Circumcised?: Gender and Covenant in Judaism”, wrote the following:

Aside from the Beta Israel of Ethiopia (the so-called Falashas) … no Jewish community, in either ancient, medieval or modern times, is known to have practiced female circumcision. … The practice of the Beta Israel is simply part of general Ethiopian culture, in which female circumcision is widely practiced, and is not a relic of some long-lost Jewish tradition.

And, while it may have been once practiced by an extremely small number of Ethiopians from this community, it died out when they moved to Israel. 

A 2012 study at the Beersheva Mental Health Center of Ben Gurion University, published in the Journal of Israeli Psychiatry, by Dr RH Belmaker, included the following:

Jews from Arab countries where FGM is practiced do not practice FGM. However, major immigration of Jews from Ethiopia to Israel permitted study of this practice. We confirmed the report that Ethiopian Jews did practice FGM in Ethiopia (17). Moreover,we reported the dramatic and total cessation of this custom among this community after immigration to Israel. This study of FGM is one of the few to combine anthropological interviewing techniques with physical gynecological examination

Given that there are no Jews remaining in Ethiopia (after the final airlifts in Augustof immigrants known as Falash Mura, Ethiopians who claim links to descendants of Jews who converted to Christianity generations ago but now seek to return to the faith) it is extremely unlikely that Jews anywhere in the world are currently practicing FGM.

The extremely broad claim by Khaleeli that “Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities carry out FGM” represents Guardian Left double-speak at its worst at worst – attempting, for ideological reasons, to obfuscate the clear cultural-religious disparities in the barbaric practice.  

The ‘CiF’ contributor’s claim is, at best, extraordinarily misleading.

h/t @Lsorang 

Update 1: Naturally, the ‘superblogger’ Elder of Ziyon also superbly fisked the Guardian commentary. See here.

Update 2: The Guardian has corrected the article and removed the offending passage. The following has been added:

This article was amended on 9 September 2013. The original included a phrase which could be read to mean that FGM was practised within the Jewish community. That is not the case although there is some evidence that FGM was practised within a minor Ethiopian Jewish sect.

===

I pray these were not Obama provided weapons such as we have seen in Benghazi, Algeria, Egypt and Syria.

Less we not forget, Obama supported and bankrolled a sharia constitution in Kenya in 2010.

Shouts, screams... and then a sprint for their lives: Raw video footage shows full terror of moment Muslim terrorists struck at Nairobi mall  Daily Mail, September 22, 2013 (thanks to super closer)

With gunshots ringing out amid screams and terrified shoppers diving for cover, this dramatic video today revealed the first moments of the deadly terrorist attack on a Kenyan shopping mall.
The clip, taken yesterday by a journalist for CCTV Africa at the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, shows some people running or cowering behind shelves and boxes as others are heard shouting.
Later on in the 90-second video – which was posted on YouTube at 7pm tonight – a man can be seen behind a door in the mall speaking on his mobile phone and saying: ‘They think they are terrorists’.

===
Allen West
President Obama whispered under his breath in a hot mike moment to then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to tell Vladimir Putin he would have more flexibility in a second term. We now clearly see what that flexibility means: increased aggression by enemies of our State who see a weak, indecisive President. The Islamic terrorist attack this weekend in Kenya reminds us of the last weak American President, Bill Clinton, who presided over an Islamic terrorist attack in Kenya against our embassy…and an emboldening of terrorists in Somalia. It was also Bill Clinton who turned his back on our brave Rangers and Delta Force Soldiers in Somalia by denying them armor and C-130 gunship support in Mogadishu. And America is entertaining Hillary Clinton as President after she took part in abandoning Americans to die in Benghazi? Santayana said, "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Keep electing these weaklings, America, and more Americans will be attacked, and unfortunately lose their lives. The only way to deal with Islamists is to kill them, as the Al Shabab attackers stated, "there will be no negotiations.” I concur!
===

"G'day mate, would you like fries with that? G'day mate, would you like fries with that? G'day mate, would you like fries with that?"

Oh to be a fly on the wall at Tim Flannery's waterside property as he practises in the mirror for a job more suited to his talents. This time last week he was Australia's Climate Commissioner, on an A$180,000 a year salary which required him to work just three days a week. But incoming premier Tony Abbott's night of the green knives has put paid to that. Flannery's Mickey Mouse job has gone; so too has Australia's Climate Commission, a multi-million dollar, allegedly "independent", propaganda outlet set up by Julia Gillard to help give her climate alarmist policies – such as the hated carbon tax, which Abbott is also abolishing – a veneer of scientific credibility.

As Jo Nova notes, while it may be a good day for the Australian taxpayer, it is far too late now to recoup the billions which have already been wasted on the "expert" advice of Flannery and his alarmist chums David Karoly and Will Steffen.

This agency propped up billions of dollars in pointless futile government spending trying to change the weather. Nothing will bring back money spent on desal plants that were mothballed when the floods came that real scientists predicted. Likewise the money burned on solar panels and windfarms is gone for good too, and still going.

As you'll see at this website, one of the few things that Flannery is indisputably brilliant at is making idiotic statements and alarmist, pseudo-scientific predictions which seem to bear no relationship whatsoever to observed reality. So what, exactly, were his qualifications for taking on this supremely well-paid gig?

We-e-ll, Flannery is that most dangerous of things – an English literature graduate. Yes, I know I'm an English literature graduate too, but I'm the exception to the rule: on the whole, it would not be unfair to say, English literature graduates have done more to promote the cause of climate alarmism than any other category with the possible exception of "University" of East Anglia environmental "science" graduates.

Reflect, for a moment, on this grotesque rogues' gallery, every one of them an English Literature graduate.

Tamsin Omond (Westminster-educated cutie; baronet's grand-daughter; dumper of manure on Clarkson's doorstep; embracer of every loony climate activist cause going with her Trustafarian mates)

Caroline Lucas (Malvern-Girls-College-educated nightmare; Green MP; watermelon)

Roger Harrabin (BBC alarmist-in-chief)

Bryony Worthington (Friends of the Earth Activist; inspiration for Dave's "greenest government ever"; architect of the Climate Change Act)

Now, as it happens, I consider the cult of credentialism one of the curses of our age. Just because you've got some initials after your name doesn't mean you're not a pillock. And as we saw with the Climategate emails, being a qualified "climate scientist" is no guarantee of expertise on – or even entry-level understanding of – the science of climate. So I'm certainly not suggesting that Flannery's possession of an English literature degree should automatically have ruled him out of contention for the  massively influential Climate Commissioner job. What I am definitely suggesting, though, is that if you're going to entrust the tenderest parts of your national economy to some random beardie bloke's sweaty grasp, the very least you owe all the millions of people who are going to be affected by his announcements is to do some due diligence, ask some basic questions like: "Does anything this random beardie bloke has ever said or done in his entire life render him suitable to comment definitively on an issue as complex, uncertain and contentious as climate change?"

To which the bleedingly obvious short answer is: "No."

After his English degree, Flannery managed to land (H/T Philip Bradley at Watts Up With That) a taxpayer-funded gig digging up kangaroo bones, which got him that impressive-sounding and all-important science PhD (palaeontology) before landing a job as a museum bureaucrat cum author of bestselling environmental alarmist books like The Future Eaters. (Sir David Attenborough once described him as 'in the league of the all-time great explorers like Dr David Livingstone’ – which tells you rather more about the erratic judgement of David Attenborough than it does about the achievements of Tim Flannery).

Flannery, in other words, is a green activist who, like many of his kind – see Bryony Worthington; Roger Harrabin, above – has learned how to play the political system very much to his advantage. It is utterly inconceivable that anyone in the free market would ever pay someone so effectively useless so much money to do so little work for a job so utterly pointless as the one Flannery had as A$180,000 a year (for a three day week) Climate Commissioner.

If he were some weird aberration we could all, no doubt, have a jolly good laugh at the patent stupidity of it all and move on. Unfortunately, though we can't because Flannery is not some weird aberration. He is just one of the more egregiously idiotic examples of a phenomenon which is rife throughout the Western world: environmental activists being paid eyewatering sums of money to promote junk science, ramp up green taxes and regulations, hamstring free markets, enrich rent-seeking scumballs, drive up energy prices and spout scaremongering drivel, all courtesy of the taxpayer who benefits from one jot.

Consider, for example, The Carbon Trust – a quango to which the taxpayer forks out more than £127 million a year, so as to benefit from its expertise on "low carbon issues and strategies, carbon footprinting and low carbon technology development and deployment."

But hang on a second. Isn't all that "low carbon" nonsense starting to look a bit overtaken by events? Aren't we now fast reaching the stage where all the arguments in favour of committing suicide via "low carbon" have been torpedoed below the waterline? We know – as even the forthcoming IPCC report admits – that climate sensitivity has been overrated, thus making a mockery of all the doomsday scenarios fingering  CO2 as a major threat. We also know – what with shale gas, shale oil, clathrates and thorium – that the fallback defence about "scarce resources" has been overdone too.

What we know, in other words, is that every penny of that £127 million we pay James Smith and his pals at The Carbon Trust to keep bigging up renewable energy and talking nonsense about climate change is money utterly and totally wasted. The same goes for the Department of Energy and Climate Change which could safely scrapped in its entirety tomorrow, without the slightest detrimental effect to anyone but the activists who staff it. The same goes for the £3.8 billion green investment bank. The same goes for much of the Met Office, the Royal Society, the British Antarctic Survey and the Science Museum, to name but a few of the once reputable publicly funded institutions which have been hijacked by political activists in order to further the cause of environmental alarmism.

===

HE knew he was going to die.

This Halloween marks the 20th anniversary of River Phoenix’s shocking overdose at Johnny Depp’s LA nightclub.

Now one of the last people to see Phoenix alive that night recounts what happened.

In his forthcoming book “Running with Monsters,” former Thelonious Monster frontman and “Celebrity Rehab” therapist Bob Forrest writes about his friend Phoenix’s downward spiral and sudden death.

At the time, 23-year-old Phoenix was one of the most famous young movie stars in the world, a respected actor with a pristine public image: a hippie vegan pacifist, beloved by all who knew and worked with him.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/new-book-reveals-river-phoenixs-final-hours-before-tragic-death/story-e6frfmqi-1226725088544#ixzz2fhmDV0fO
friends don't let friends do drugs - ed
===

AUSTRALIAN architect Ross Langdon and his pregnant partner are among the dead in the Nairobi shopping centre terror attack.

Mr Langdon's partner, Elif Yavuz, was from the Nertherlands but lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

She is pictured on her Facebook profile with her baby bump shaking the hand of former US president Bill Clinton.

Mr Langdon is described as having a passion for unconventional sustainable designs and an interest in new models for enviromentally sustainable tourism infrastructure.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/australian-architect-ross-langdon-killed-in-shopping-mall-terror-attack-as-twitter-lights-up-over-loss/story-fncynjr2-1226725173022#ixzz2fhmRlFsG
===

After some initial digs, a Dutch filmmaker believes he may have found the site of buried Nazi treasure long rumored to exist. He was led to the Bavarian town of Mittenwald after cracking a code believed to be hidden in a music score.
Technically, it wasn't Nazi .. it was merely seized by them. - ed
===

Sarah Palin

Recall that only Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard and cried t'was bare. Today millions see a $4 trillion bloated cupboard overflowing with political goodies to cut.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/22/rep-nancy-pelosi-nothing-left-cut-budget-cupboard-/
===

• 1122 – Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V agree to the Concordat of Wormsto put an end to the Investiture Controversy.
• 1338 – The Battle of Arnemuiden was the first naval battle of the Hundred Years' War and the first naval battle using artillery, as the English ship Christofer had three cannon and one hand gun.
• 1409 – Battle of Kherlen, the second significant victory over Ming dynasty China by the Mongols since 1368.
• 1459 – Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Wars of the Roses, is fought at Blore Heath in Staffordshire.
• 1568 – Spanish naval forces rout an English fleet, under the command of John Hawkins, at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near Veracruz.
• 1641 – The Merchant Royal, carrying a treasure worth over a billion US dollars, is lost at sea off Land's End.
• 1642 – First commencement exercises occur at Harvard College.
• 1779 – American Revolution: John Paul Jones on board the USS Bonhomme Richard wins the Battle of Flamborough Head.
• 1780 – American Revolution: British Major John André is arrested as a spy by American soldiers exposing Benedict Arnold's change of sides.
• 1803 – Second Anglo-Maratha War: Battle of Assaye between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.
• 1806 – Lewis and Clark return to St. Louis after exploring the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
• 1821 – Tripolitsa, Greece, is captured by Greek rebels during the Greek War of Independence.
• 1845 – The Knickerbockers Baseball Club, the first baseball team to play under the modern rules, is founded in New York.
• 1846 – Astronomers Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier, John Couch Adams and Johann Gottfried Galle collaborate on the discovery of Neptune.
• 1868 – Grito de Lares ("Lares Revolt") occurs in Puerto Rico against Spanish rule.
• 1889 – Nintendo Koppai (Later Nintendo Company, Limited) is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.
• 1899 – American Asiatic Squadron destroys a Filipino battery at the Battle of Olongapo.
• 1905 – Norway and Sweden sign the "Karlstad treaty", peacefully dissolving the Union between the two countries.
• 1908 – University of Alberta in Alberta, Canada, is founded.
• 1909 – The Phantom of the Opera (original title: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra), a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux, is first published as a serialization in Le Gaulois.
• 1911 – Pilot Earle Ovington makes the first official airmail delivery in America under the authority of the United States Post Office Department
• 1913 – Roland Garros of France becomes the first to fly in an airplane across the Mediterranean (from St. Raphael France to Bizerte, Tunisia).
• 1932 – The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd is renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• 1936 – First ascent of Siniolchu by a German team.
• 1938 – Mobilization of the Czechoslovak army in response to the Munich Crisis.
• 1942 – World War II: The Matanikau action on Guadalcanal begins: U.S. Marines attack Japanese units along the Matanikau River.
• 1943 – World War II: The Nazi puppet state the Italian Social Republic is founded.
• 1950 – Korean War, The Battle of Hill 282: the first US friendly-fire incident on British military personnel since World War II occurs.
• 1952 – Richard Nixon makes his "Checkers speech".
• 1959 – Iowa farmer and corn breeder Roswell Garst hosts Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.
• 1959 – The MS Princess of Tasmania, Australia's first passenger roll-on/roll-off diesel ferry, makes her maiden voyage across Bass Strait.
• 1962 – The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts opens in New York City.
• 1969 – The Chicago Eight trial opens in Chicago.
• 1973 – Juan Perón returns to power in Argentina.
• 1980 – Bob Marley plays what would be his last concert in Pittsburgh.
• 1983 – Saint Kitts and Nevis joins the United Nations.
• 1983 – Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa becomes the first African boxing world heavyweight champion.
• 1983 – Gulf Air Flight 771 is destroyed by a bomb, killing all 117 people on board.
• 1986 – Jim Deshaies of the Houston Astros sets a major league record by striking out the first eight batters he faces in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• 1988 – José Canseco of the Oakland Athletics becomes the first member of the 40–40 club.
• 1992 – A large Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb destroys forensic laboratories in Belfast.
• 1999 – Celebrate Bisexuality Day was first observed in the United States.
• 1999 – NASA announces that it has lost contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter.
• 2002 – The first public version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox ("Phoenix 0.1") is released.
• 2004 – Hurricane Jeanne: At least 1,070 in Haiti are reported to have been killed by floods.
• 2008 – Kauhajoki school shooting: Matti Saari kills 10 people before committing suicide.
• 2008 – Convict Teresa Lewis became the first female inmate to die by lethal injection in the state of Virginia.

Births[edit]

• 63 BC – Augustus, Roman emperor (d. 14)
• 1158 – Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1186)
• 1215 – Kublai Khan, Mongolian emperor (d. 1294)
• 1434 – Yolande of Valois (d. 1478)
• 1598 – Eleonore Gonzaga, Italian wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1655)
• 1642 – Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1678)
• 1647 – Joseph Dudley, American politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1720)
• 1650 – Jeremy Collier, English bishop and theologian (d. 1726)
• 1713 – Ferdinand VI of Spain (d. 1759)
• 1740 – Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1813)
• 1759 – Marie Clotilde of France (d. 1802)
• 1771 – Emperor Kōkaku of Japan (d. 1840)
• 1778 – Mariano Moreno, Argentinian journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1811)
• 1781 – Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (d. 1860)
• 1791 – Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer and academic (d. 1865)
• 1791 – Theodor Körner, German soldier and author (d. 1813)
• 1800 – William Holmes McGuffey, American educator and author (d. 1873)
• 1819 – Hippolyte Fizeau, French physicist and academic (d. 1896)
• 1838 – Victoria Woodhull, American journalist and activist (d. 1927)
• 1851 – Ellen Hayes, American mathematician and astronomer (d. 1930)
• 1852 – James Carroll Beckwith, American painter (d. 1917)
• 1852 – William Stewart Halsted, American physician and surgeon (d. 1922)
• 1853 – Princess Marie Elisabeth of Saxe-Meiningen (d. 1923)
• 1861 – Robert Bosch, German engineer and businessman, founded Robert Bosch GmbH (d. 1942)
• 1863 – Mary Church Terrell, American author and activist (d. 1954)
• 1865 – Pekka Halonen, Finnish painter (d. 1933)
• 1865 – Emma Orczy, Hungarian-English author and playwright (d. 1947)
• 1865 – Suzanne Valadon, French painter (d. 1938)
• 1869 – Typhoid Mary, Irish-American carrier of Typhoid fever (d. 1938)
• 1876 – Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 1968)
• 1877 – Léon Sée, French fencer (d. 1960)
• 1880 – John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, Scottish biologist, physician, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1889 – Walter Lippmann, American journalist and publisher, co-founded The New Republic (d. 1974)
• 1890 – Friedrich Paulus, German general (d. 1957)
• 1893 – Cläre Lotto, German actress (d. 1952)
• 1895 – Miron Merzhanov, Russian architect and engineer (d. 1975)
• 1895 – Johnny Mokan, American baseball player (d. 1985)
• 1897 – Walter Pidgeon, Canadian-American actor and singer (d. 1984)
• 1898 – Les Haylen, Australian journalist and politician (d. 1977)
• 1898 – Jadwiga Smosarska, Polish actress (d. 1971)
• 1899 – Tom C. Clark, American lawyer and judge, 59th Attorney General of the United States (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Louise Nevelson, Ukrainian-American sculptor (d. 1988)
• 1900 – Bill Stone, English soldier (d. 2009)
• 1901 – Jaroslav Seifert, Czech poet and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
• 1902 – Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
• 1905 – Tiny Bradshaw, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1958)
• 1906 – Bardu Ali, American singer and guitarist (d. 1995)
• 1906 – Charles Ritchie, Canadian diplomat, High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Albert Ammons, American pianist (d. 1949)
• 1907 – Anne Desclos, French journalist and author (d. 1998)
• 1907 – Herbert Kappler, German head of police and security forces in Rome during World War II (d. 1978)
• 1907 – Nicola Moscona, Greek opera singer (d. 1975)
• 1907 – Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza (d. 1976)
• 1908 – Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Indian poet, academic, and politician (d. 1974)
• 1909 – Lorenc Antoni, Kosovo-Albanian composer and conductor (d. 1991)
• 1910 – Jakob Streit, Swiss anthroposophist and author (d. 2009)
• 1911 – Frank Moss, American lawyer and politician (d. 2003)
• 1912 – Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Pakistani linguist, author, and critic (d. 2005)
• 1912 – Tony Smith, American sculptor and educator (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Carl-Henning Pedersen, Danish painter and sculptor (d. 2007)
• 1914 – Omar Ali Saifuddien III, Bruneian sultan (d. 1986)
• 1915 – Julius Baker, American flute player and educator (d. 2003)
• 1915 – Clifford Shull, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Aldo Moro, Italian politician, 39th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1978)
• 1920 – Mickey Rooney, American actor, singer, director, and producer (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Louise Latham, American actress
• 1923 – Vello Helk, Estonian-Danish historian and author (d. 2014)
• 1923 – Margaret Pellegrini, American actress and dancer (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist and publisher (d. 1978)
• 1925 – Eleonora Rossi Drago, Italian actress (d. 2007)
• 1925 – Denis C. Twitchett, English historian and scholar (d. 2006)
• 1926 – André Cassagnes, French toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (d. 2013)
• 1926 – John Coltrane, American saxophonist and composer (Miles Davis Quintet) (d. 1967)
• 1926 – Jimmy Woode, American bassist (Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band) (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Mighty Joe Young, American singer and guitarist (d. 1999)
• 1928 – Frank Foster, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Roger Grimsby, American journalist and actor (d. 1995)
• 1929 – Wally Whyton, English singer-songwriter (The Vipers Skiffle Group) (d. 1997)
• 1930 – Sehba Akhtar, Pakistani poet and songwriter (d. 1996)
• 1930 – Colin Blakely, Irish-English actor (d. 1987)
• 1930 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 2004)
• 1931 – Hilly Kristal, American businessman, founded CBGB (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Stan Lynde, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Gerald Merrithew, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2004)
• 1932 – Georg Keßler, German footballer and manager
• 1933 – Lloyd J. Old, Founder and standard-bearer of the field of cancer immunology. (d.2011)
• 1934 – Ahmad Shah Khan, Crown Prince of Afghanistan
• 1934 – Per Olov Enquist, Swedish author
• 1935 – Prem Chopra, Pakistani-Indian actor
• 1935 – Les McCann, American singer and pianist
• 1935 – Ron Tindall, English-Australian footballer, cricketer, and manager (d. 2012)
• 1935 – Arland D. Williams, Jr., American passenger on Air Florida Flight 90 (d. 1982)
• 1936 – Valentín Paniagua, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 91st President of Peru (d. 2006)
• 1936 – Sylvain Saudan, Swiss skier
• 1936 – Tareq Suheimat, Jordanian physician, general, and politician
• 1937 – Jacques Poulin, Canadian author
• 1938 – Tom Lester, American actor and producer
• 1938 – Romy Schneider, Austrian-French actress and singer (d. 1982)
• 1939 – Henry Blofeld, English cricketer and journalist
• 1939 – Roy Buchanan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Snakestretchers) (d. 1988)
• 1939 – Janusz Gajos, Polish actor
• 1939 – Joan Hanham, Baroness Hanham, English politician
• 1939 – Sonny Vaccaro, American businessman
• 1940 – Tim Rose, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (The Big 3) (d. 2002)
• 1940 – Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, Iranian singer-songwriter
• 1940 – Michel Temer, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 25th Vice President of Brazil
• 1941 – George Jackson, American activist and author, co-founded the Black Guerrilla Family (d. 1971)
• 1941 – Simon Nolet, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1941 – Norma Winstone, English singer-songwriter
• 1942 – Sila María Calderón, Puerto Rican businesswoman and politician, 12th Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
• 1942 – Colin Low, Baron Low of Dalston, Scottish scholar and politician
• 1943 – Tanuja, Indian actress
• 1943 – Julio Iglesias, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1943 – Marty Schottenheimer, American football player and coach
• 1944 – Eric Bogle, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1944 – Richard Lambert, English journalist and academic
• 1945 – Ron Bushy, American drummer (Iron Butterfly)
• 1945 – Igor Ivanov, Russian politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Russia
• 1945 – Paul Petersen, American actor and singer
• 1946 – Franz Fischler, Austrian politician
• 1946 – Bernard Maris, French economist and journalist (d. 2015)
• 1946 – Genista McIntosh, Baroness McIntosh, English politician
• 1946 – Anne Wheeler, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1947 – Christian Bordeleau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1947 – Mary Kay Place, American actress, singer, director, and screenwriter
• 1947 – Neal Smith, American drummer and songwriter (Plasmatics)
• 1948 – Don Grolnick, American pianist and composer (Ten Wheel Drive) (d. 1996)
• 1948 – Dan Toler, American guitarist (The Allman Brothers Band and Gregg Allman Band) (d. 2013)
• 1949 – Floella Benjamin, Baroness Benjamin, Trinidadian-English actress, academic, and politician
• 1949 – Jerry B. Jenkins, American author
• 1949 – Bruce Springsteen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (E Street Band and Steel Mill)
• 1949 – Kostas Tournas, Greek singer-songwriter
• 1950 – George Garzone, American saxophonist and educator
• 1951 – Steven Springer, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2012)
• 1952 – Mark Bego, American author
• 1952 – Anshuman Gaekwad, Indian cricketer
• 1952 – Dennis Lamp, American baseball player
• 1952 – Jim Morrison, American baseball player and manager
• 1952 – Peter Schrank, Swiss-English cartoonist
• 1953 – Nicholas Witchell, English journalist
• 1954 – Charlie Barnett, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1954 – Cherie Blair, English lawyer and academic, Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1956 – Peter David, American author, actor, and screenwriter
• 1956 – Tom Hogan, Australian cricketer
• 1956 – Paolo Rossi, Italian footballer
• 1957 – Rosalind Chao, American actress
• 1957 – Tony Fossas, Cuban-American baseball player and coach
• 1957 – Kumar Sanu, Indian singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Danielle Dax, English singer-songwriter and producer (Lemon Kittens)
• 1958 – Khaled El Sheikh, Bahraini singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Marvin Lewis, American football player and coach
• 1958 – Larry Mize, American golfer
• 1959 – Jason Alexander, American actor, singer, director, and producer
• 1959 – Frank Cottrell Boyce, English author and screenwriter
• 1959 – Hans Nijman, Dutch mixed martial artist and wrestler (d. 2014)
• 1959 – Martin Page, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Q-Feel)
• 1959 – Elizabeth Peña, American actress and director (d. 2014)
• 1959 – Karen Pierce, English diplomat
• 1960 – Luis Moya, Spanish race car driver
• 1961 – Lesley Fitz-Simons, Scottish actress (d. 2013)
• 1961 – Chi McBride, American actor and singer
• 1961 – William C. McCool, American commander, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
• 1962 – Deborah Orr, Scottish journalist
• 1963 – Anne-Marie Cadieux, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Alex Proyas, Egyptian-Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1964 – Clayton Blackmore, Welsh footballer and manager
• 1964 – Koshi Inaba, Japanese singer-songwriter (B'z)
• 1964 – Larry Krystkowiak, American basketball player and coach
• 1964 – Katie Mitchell, English director and producer
• 1964 – Julian Parkhill, scientist
• 1964 – Bill Phillips, American businessman and author
• 1965 – Mark Woodforde, Australian tennis player
• 1966 – Pete Harnisch, American baseball player
• 1966 – LisaRaye McCoy-Misick, American actress and fashion designer
• 1967 – Hilary Andersson, American-English journalist
• 1967 – Chris Wilder, English footballer and manager
• 1968 – Yvette Fielding, English actress and producer
• 1968 – Adam Price, Welsh politician
• 1968 – Sydnee Steele, American porn actress
• 1969 – Donald Audette, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1969 – Patrick Fiori, French singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Tapio Laukkanen, Finnish race car driver
• 1969 – Rod Pampling, Australian golfer
• 1969 – Jan Suchopárek, Czech footballer and manager
• 1970 – Adrian Brunker, Australian rugby league player
• 1970 – Lucia Cifarelli, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (KMFDM, MDFMK, KGC, Schwein, and Drill)
• 1970 – Ani DiFranco, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1970 – Giorgos Koltsidas, Greek footballer
• 1971 – Moin Khan, Pakistani cricketer and coach
• 1971 – Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Norwegian bassist (Atomic, The Thing)
• 1971 – Lee Mi-yeon, South Korean actress
• 1971 – Kenji Matsuda, Japanese actor
• 1971 – Eric Montross, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1972 – Sarah Bettens, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist (K's Choice)
• 1972 – Alistair Campbell, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1972 – Ana Marie Cox, American author and blogger
• 1972 – Jermaine Dupri, American rapper and producer
• 1972 – Shim Eun-ha, South Korean actress
• 1972 – Karl Pilkington, English actor and producer
• 1973 – Ingrid Fliter, Argentinian pianist
• 1973 – Vangelis Krios, Greek footballer and coach
• 1973 – Artim Šakiri, Macedonian footballer and manager
• 1974 – Matt Hardy, American wrestler
• 1974 – Harumi Inoue, Japanese swimmer and actress
• 1975 – Jaime Bergman, American model and actress
• 1975 – Layzie Bone, American rapper and actor (Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Bone Brothers, and Mo Thugs)
• 1975 – Kim Dong-moon, South Korean badminton player
• 1975 – Chris Hawkins, English journalist and producer
• 1975 – Eric Miller, Irish rugby player, footballer, and coach
• 1976 – Sarah Blasko, Australian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1976 – Homaro Cantu, American chef (d. 2015)
• 1976 – Katarina Čas, Slovenian actress
• 1976 – Faune A. Chambers, American actress
• 1976 – Rob James-Collier, English model and actor
• 1976 – Kip Pardue, American actor
• 1976 – Volodymyr Sydorenko, Ukrainian boxer
• 1977 – Matthieu Descoteaux, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Dmitri Kulikov, Estonian footballer
• 1977 – Fabio Ongaro, Italian rugby player
• 1977 – Brett Prebble, Australian jockey
• 1977 – Suzanne Tamim, Lebanese singer and actress (d. 2008)
• 1977 – Rachael Yamagata, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1978 – Benjamin Curtis, American guitarist, drummer, and songwriter (Secret Machines, School of Seven Bells, Tripping Daisy, and UFOFU) (d. 2013)
• 1978 – Anthony Mackie, American actor
• 1978 – Worm Miller, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1978 – Keri Lynn Pratt, American actress
• 1979 – Ricky Davis, American basketball player
• 1979 – Bryant McKinnie, American football player
• 1979 – Fábio Simplício, Brazilian footballer
• 1979 – Lote Tuqiri, Fijian-Australian rugby player
• 1980 – Cameron Litvack, American screenwriter and producer
• 1980 – Syu, Japanese guitarist
• 1980 – Matt White, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1980 – Hooligan, Maltese rapper
• 1981 – Robert Doornbos, Dutch race car driver
• 1981 – Natalie Horler, German singer (Cascada and Siria)
• 1981 – Helen Richardson-Walsh, English field hockey player
• 1981 – Misti Traya, American actress
• 1982 – Mait Künnap, Estonian tennis player
• 1982 – Alyssa Sutherland, Australian-American actress and model
• 1983 – Shane del Rosario, American mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (d. 2013)
• 1983 – Märt Israel, Estonian discus thrower
• 1983 – Joffrey Lupul, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Regan Smith, American race car driver
• 1984 – Kitkat, Filipino actress and comedian
• 1984 – Patrick Ehelechner, German ice hockey player
• 1984 – Kate French, American actress
• 1984 – Matt Kemp, American baseball player
• 1984 – Anneliese van der Pol, Dutch-American actress and singer
• 1985 – Brian Brohm, American football player
• 1985 – Joba Chamberlain, American baseball player
• 1985 – Maki Goto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress (Morning Musume, Nochiura Natsumi, Petitmoni, Gomattō, and Def.Diva)
• 1985 – Chris Johnson, American football player
• 1985 – Hossein Kaebi, Iranian footballer
• 1985 – Lukáš Kašpar, Czech ice hockey player
• 1986 – Martin Cranie, English footballer
• 1987 – Skylar Astin, American actor and singer
• 1987 – Trinidad James, Trinidadian-American rapper
• 1988 – Ryo Kimura, Japanese actor
• 1988 – Juan Martín del Potro, Argentinian tennis player
• 1988 – Shanaze Reade, English BMX rider
• 1988 – Anthony Straker, English footballer
• 1988 – Yannick Weber, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1989 – Brandon Jennings, American basketball player
• 1989 – Mara Scherzinger, German actress
• 1990 – Agustín Sierra, Argentinian actor and singer
• 1990 – Çağatay Ulusoy, Turkish model and actor
• 1991 – Key, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor (Shinee and Toheart)
• 1991 – Melanie Oudin, American tennis player
• 1991 – Zia Quizon, Filipino singer
• 1993 – Duke Johnson, American football player
• 1996 – Lee Hi, South Korean singer
• 2000 – Kalani Hilliker, American dancer, model, and television personality

Deaths[edit]

• 1193 – Robert de Sablé, French knight
• 1241 – Snorri Sturluson, Icelandic historian, poet, and politician (b. 1178)
• 1390 – John I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1346)
• 1535 – Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1513)
• 1571 – John Jewel, English bishop (b. 1522)
• 1573 – Azai Hisamasa, Japanese warlord (b. 1524)
• 1605 – Pontus de Tyard, French priest and poet (b. 1521)
• 1675 – Valentin Conrart, French author (b. 1603)
• 1728 – Christian Thomasius, German jurist and philosopher (b. 1655)
• 1738 – Herman Boerhaave, Dutch botanist and physician (b. 1668)
• 1764 – Robert Dodsley, English poet and playwright (b. 1703)
• 1773 – Johan Ernst Gunnerus, Norwegian bishop and botanist (b. 1718)
• 1789 – John Rogers, American lawyer and politician (b. 1723)
• 1830 – Elizabeth Monroe, American wife of James Monroe, 5th First Lady of the United States (b. 1768)
• 1835 – Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer (b. 1801)
• 1851 – Émilie Gamelin, Canadian nun, founded the Sisters of Providence (b. 1800)
• 1846 – John Ainsworth Horrocks, English-Australian explorer (b. 1818)
• 1850 – José Gervasio Artigas, Uruguayan general and politician (b. 1764)
• 1867 – Michael O'Laughlen, American conspirator (b. 1840)
• 1870 – Prosper Mérimée, French archaeologist and historian (b. 1803)
• 1871 – Louis-Joseph Papineau, Canadian lawyer and politician (b. 1786)
• 1873 – Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (b. 1823)
• 1877 – Urbain Le Verrier, French mathematician and astronomer (b. 1811)
• 1889 – Wilkie Collins, English author and playwright (b. 1824)
• 1900 – William Marsh Rice, American businessman, founded Rice University (b. 1816)
• 1913 – Donato Álvarez, Argentinian general (b. 1825)
• 1917 – Werner Voss, German lieutenant and pilot (b. 1897)
• 1928 – María Larraín de Vicuña, Chilean feminist writer
• 1929 – Richard Adolf Zsigmondy, Austrian-German chemist, physicist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
• 1939 – Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist (b. 1856)
• 1940 – Hale Holden, American businessman (b. 1869)
• 1940 – Marcel Van Crombrugge, Belgian rower (b. 1880)
• 1943 – Salvo D'Acquisto, Italian soldier (b. 1920)
• 1943 – Elinor Glyn, English author, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1864)
• 1944 – Jakob Schaffner, Swiss author (b. 1875)
• 1950 – Sam Barry, American basketball player and coach (b. 1892)
• 1951 – Yörük Ali Efe, Turkish warlord in the Ottoman Empire and an officer in the Turkish Army during the Turkish War of Independence (b. 1895)
• 1958 – Jacob Nicol, Canadian lawyer, publisher, and politician (b. 1876)
• 1967 – Stanislaus Zbyszko, Polish wrestler and strongman (b. 1879)
• 1968 – Pio of Pietrelcina, Italian priest and saint (b. 1887)
• 1970 – Bourvil, French actor and singer (b. 1917)
• 1971 – James Waddell Alexander II, American mathematician and topologist (b. 1888)
• 1971 – Billy Gilbert, American actor and singer (b. 1894)
• 1973 – Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
• 1974 – Cliff Arquette, American actor and singer (b. 1905)
• 1974 – Robbie McIntosh, Scottish drummer (Average White Band and The Senate) (b. 1950)
• 1978 – Lyman Bostock, American baseball player (b. 1950)
• 1979 – Catherine Lacey, English actress (b. 1904)
• 1981 – Chief Dan George, Canadian actor, author, and poet (b. 1899)
• 1987 – Bob Fosse, American actor, dancer, choreographer, and director (b. 1927)
• 1988 – Tibor Sekelj, Hungarian-Serbian explorer and author (b. 1912)
• 1992 – Ivar Ivask, Estonian poet and scholar (b. 1927)
• 1992 – Glendon Swarthout, American author (b. 1918)
• 1992 – James Van Fleet, American general (b. 1892)
• 1993 – William Cort, American actor (b. 1936)
• 1994 – Jerry Barber, American golfer (b. 1916)
• 1994 – Robert Bloch, American author (b. 1917)
• 1994 – Madeleine Renaud, French actress (b. 1900)
• 1997 – Natalie Savage Carlson, American author (b. 1906)
• 1998 – Ray Bowden, English footballer (b. 1909)
• 1998 – Mary Frann, American actress (b. 1943)
• 1999 – Ivan Goff, Australian-American screenwriter and producer (b. 1910)
• 2000 – Aurelio Rodríguez, Mexican baseball player and manager (b. 1947)
• 2000 – Carl Rowan, American journalist and author (b. 1925)
• 2001 – Ron Hewitt, Welsh footballer (b. 1928)
• 2002 – Vernon Corea, Sri Lankan-English radio host (b. 1927)
• 2003 – Zubayr Al-Rimi, Saudi Arabian terrorist (b. 1974)
• 2003 – Yuri Senkevich, Russian physician and journalist (b. 1937)
• 2004 – André Hazes, Dutch singer (b. 1951)
• 2004 – Billy Reay, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (b. 1918)
• 2005 – Roger Brierley, English actor (b. 1935)
• 2005 – Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, Puerto Rican activist (b. 1933)
• 2006 – Malcolm Arnold, English trumpet player and composer (b. 1921)
• 2006 – Etta Baker, American singer and guitarist (b. 1913)
• 2008 – Peter Leonard, Australian journalist (b. 1942)
• 2008 – Loren Pope, American journalist (b. 1910)
• 2009 – Paul B. Fay, American sailor and politician, United States Secretary of the Navy (b. 1918)
• 2009 – Ertuğrul Osman, Imperial Prince (or Shahzada) of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1912)
• 2010 – Malcolm Douglas, Australian television host (b. 1941)
• 2010 – Teresa Lewis, American murderer (b. 1969)
• 2012 – Henry Champ, Canadian journalist and academic (b. 1937)
• 2012 – Pavel Grachev, Russian general and politician, 1st Minister of Defence for Russia (b. 1948)
• 2012 – Godfrey Milton-Thompson, English admiral (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Roberto Rodríguez, Venezuelan baseball player and coach (b. 1941)
• 2012 – Corrie Sanders, South African boxer (b. 1966)
• 2012 – Sam Sniderman, Canadian businessman, founded Sam the Record Man (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Maths O. Sundqvist, Swedish businessman (b. 1950)
• 2013 – Abdel Hamid al-Sarraj, Syrian colonel and politician (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Gil Dozier, American captain, lawyer, and politician (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Anthony Hawkins, Australian actor (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Paul Kuhn, German singer, pianist, and bandleader (b. 1928)
• 2013 – Gia Maione, American singer (b. 1941)
• 2013 – Vlatko Marković, Croatian footballer and manager (b. 1937)
• 2013 – Ruth Patrick, American botanist and immunologist (b. 1907)
• 2014 – A. W. Davis, American basketball player and coach (b. 1943)
• 2014 – Irven DeVore, American anthropologist and biologist (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Don Manoukian, American football player and wrestler (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Al Suomi, American ice hockey player (b. 1913)
• 2014 – John Toner, American football player and coach (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances[edit]

• Christian feast day:
  • Adomnán
  • Padre Pio
  • Pope Linus
  • Sossius
  • Thecla (Roman Catholic Church)
  • September 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Celebrate Bisexuality Day (Bisexual community)
• Grito de Lares (Puerto Rico)
• Holocaust Memorial Day (Lithuania)
• National Day (Saudi Arabia)
• See You at the Pole (International)
• Teachers' Day (Brunei)

===

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”Romans 15:7 NIV

===

Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Let Israel rejoice in him."
Psalm 149:2

Be glad of heart, O believer, but take care that thy gladness has its spring in the Lord. Thou hast much cause for gladness in thy God, for thou canst sing with David, "God, my exceeding joy." Be glad that the Lord reigneth, that Jehovah is King! Rejoice that he sits upon the throne, and ruleth all things! Every attribute of God should become a fresh ray in the sunlight of our gladness. That he is wise should make us glad, knowing as we do our own foolishness. That he is mighty, should cause us to rejoice who tremble at our weakness. That he is everlasting, should always be a theme of joy when we know that we wither as the grass. That he is unchanging, should perpetually yield us a song, since we change every hour. That he is full of grace, that he is overflowing with it, and that this grace in covenant he has given to us; that it is ours to cleanse us, ours to keep us, ours to sanctify us, ours to perfect us, ours to bring us to glory--all this should tend to make us glad in him. This gladness in God is as a deep river; we have only as yet touched its brink, we know a little of its clear sweet, heavenly streams, but onward the depth is greater, and the current more impetuous in its joy. The Christian feels that he may delight himself not only in what God is, but also in all that God has done in the past. The Psalms show us that God's people in olden times were wont to think much of God's actions, and to have a song concerning each of them. So let God's people now rehearse the deeds of the Lord! Let them tell of his mighty acts, and "sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously." Nor let them ever cease to sing, for as new mercies flow to them day by day, so should their gladness in the Lord's loving acts in providence and in grace show itself in continued thanksgiving. Be glad ye children of Zion and rejoice in the Lord your God.

Evening

"When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."
Psalm 61:2

Most of us know what it is to be overwhelmed in heart; emptied as when a man wipeth a dish and turneth it upside down; submerged and thrown on our beam ends like a vessel mastered by the storm. Discoveries of inward corruption will do this, if the Lord permits the great deep of our depravity to become troubled and cast up mire and dirt. Disappointments and heart-breaks will do this when billow after billow rolls over us, and we are like a broken shell hurled to and fro by the surf. Blessed be God, at such seasons we are not without an all-sufficient solace, our God is the harbour of weather-beaten sails, the hospice of forlorn pilgrims. Higher than we are is he, his mercy higher than our sins, his love higher than our thoughts. It is pitiful to see men putting their trust in something lower than themselves; but our confidence is fixed upon an exceeding high and glorious Lord. A Rock he is since he changes not, and a high Rock, because the tempests which overwhelm us roll far beneath at his feet; he is not disturbed by them, but rules them at his will. If we get under the shelter of this lofty Rock we may defy the hurricane; all is calm under the lee of that towering cliff. Alas! such is the confusion in which the troubled mind is often cast, that we need piloting to this divine shelter. Hence the prayer of the text. O Lord, our God, by thy Holy Spirit, teach us the way of faith, lead us into thy rest. The wind blows us out to sea, the helm answers not to our puny hand; thou, thou alone canst steer us over the bar between yon sunken rocks, safe into the fair haven. How dependent we are upon thee--we need thee to bring us to thee. To be wisely directed and steered into safety and peace is thy gift, and thine alone. This night be pleased to deal well with thy servants.

===

Today's reading: Ecclesiastes 10-12, Galatians 1 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Ecclesiastes 10-12

¹ As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,
so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.
² The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of the fool to the left.
³ Even as fools walk along the road,
they lack sense
and show everyone how stupid they are.
⁴ If a ruler’s anger rises against you,
do not leave your post;
calmness can lay great offenses to rest.

⁵ There is an evil I have seen under the sun,
the sort of error that arises from a ruler:
⁶ Fools are put in many high positions,
while the rich occupy the low ones.
⁷ I have seen slaves on horseback,
while princes go on foot like slaves....

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: Galatians 1

¹ Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— ² and all the brothers and sisters with me,

To the churches in Galatia:

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, ⁴ who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, ⁵ to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

No Other Gospel

⁶ I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷ which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! ⁹ As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!

¹⁰ Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ....

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

===

Cleopas, Clopas

[ClÄ“'opăs] - the whole glory. One of the two disciples returning to Emmaus after the death of Christ, and to whom He appeared (Luke 24:18). Same as Cleophas.

===