Happy birthday and many happy returns Kayley Ann Harrisand Chantha Sok. Born on the same day, across the years. Remember birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
===
January 25: Feast Day of Gregory of Nazianzus (Eastern Orthodox Church);Burns Night (Scots culture); Dydd Santes Dwynwen in Wales
- 1576 – Portuguese explorer Paulo Dias de Novais (pictured)founded the settlement of São Paulo da Assumpção de Loanda on the western coast of Africa, now known as Luanda.
- 1704 – English colonists from the Province of Carolina and their native allies began a series of brutal raids against a largely pacific population of Apalachee in Spanish Florida.
- 1949 – The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presented the first Emmy Awards to honor excellence in the American television industry.
- 1993 – Five people were shot outside the Central Intelligence Agencyheadquarters in Langley, Virginia, resulting in two deaths.
- 2010 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, en route to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after takeoff from Beirut, Lebanon, killing all 90 people aboard.
===
Events
- 41 – After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate.
- 1348 – A strong earthquake strikes the South Alpine region of Friuli in modern Italy, causing considerable damage to buildings as far away as Rome.
- 1494 – Alfonso II becomes King of Naples.
- 1533 – Henry VIII of England secretly marries his second wife Anne Boleyn.
- 1554 – Founding of São Paulo city, Brazil.
- 1573 – Battle of Mikatagahara, in Japan; Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu.
- 1575 – Luanda, the capital of Angola is founded by the Portuguese navigator Paulo Dias de Novais.
- 1704 – The Battle of Ayubale takes place, leading to the destruction of most of the Spanish missions in Florida.
- 1755 – Moscow University is established on Tatiana Day.
- 1765 – Port Egmont, the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands at the southern tip of South America, is founded.
- 1787 – Shays' Rebellion: The rebellion's largest confrontation, outside the Springfield Armory, results in the killing of four rebels and the wounding of twenty.
- 1791 – The British Parliament passes the Constitutional Act of 1791 and splits the old Province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada.
- 1792 – The London Corresponding Society is founded.
- 1858 – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn becomes a popular wedding recessional after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, and Friedrich of Prussia.
- 1879 – The Bulgarian National Bank is founded.
- 1881 – Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company.
- 1890 – Nellie Bly completes her round-the-world journey in 72 days.
- 1909 – Richard Strauss's opera Elektra receives its debut performance at the Dresden State Opera.
- 1915 – Alexander Graham Bell inaugurates U.S. transcontinental telephone service, speaking from New York to Thomas Watson in San Francisco.
- 1918 – Ukraine declares independence from Bolshevik Russia.
- 1919 – The League of Nations is founded.
- 1924 – The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, France (in the French Alps), inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games.
- 1932 – Second Sino-Japanese War: The Chinese National Revolutionary Army begins its defense of Harbin.
- 1937 – The Guiding Light debuts on NBC radio from Chicago. In 1952 it moves to CBS television, where it remains until Sept. 18, 2009.
- 1941 – Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
- 1942 – World War II: Thailand declares war on the United States and United Kingdom.
- 1945 – World War II: The Battle of the Bulge ends.
- 1946 – The United Mine Workers rejoins the American Federation of Labor.
- 1947 – Thomas Goldsmith Jr. files patent for CRT Amusement device
- 1949 – At the Hollywood Athletic Club the first Emmy Awards are presented.
- 1955 – The Soviet Union ends state of war with Germany.
- 1960 – The National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the Payola scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accept money for playing particular records.
- 1961 – In Washington, D.C. John F. Kennedy delivers the first live presidential television news conference.
- 1969 – Brazilian Army captain Carlos Lamarca deserts in order to fight against the military dictatorship, taking with him 10 machine guns and 63 rifles.
- 1971 – Charles Manson and three female "Family" members are found guilty of the 1969 Tate-LaBianca murders.
- 1971 – Idi Amin leads a coup deposing Milton Obote and becomes Uganda's president.
- 1980 – Mother Teresa honored with Indian highest civilian award Bharat Ratna
- 1981 – Jiang Qing, the widow of Mao Zedong, is sentenced to death.
- 1986 – The National Resistance Movement topples the government of Tito Okello in Uganda.
- 1993 – Five people are shot outside the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, resulting in two dead and three wounded.
- 1994 – The Clementine space probe launches.
- 1995 – The Norwegian Rocket Incident: Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile.
- 1996 – Billy Bailey became the last person to be hanged in the United States of America.
- 1998 – During a historic visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II demands the release of political prisoners and political reforms while condemning US attempts to isolate the country.
- 1998 – A suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on Sri Lanka's Temple of the Tooth kills 8 people and injures 25 others.
- 1999 – A 6.0 Richter scale earthquake hits western Colombia killing at least 1,000.
- 2003 – 2003 Invasion of Iraq: A group of people left London, England, for Baghdad, Iraq, to serve as human shields to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations.
- 2004 – Opportunity rover (MER-B) lands on surface of Mars.
- 2005 – A stampede at the Mandhradevi temple in Maharashtra, India kills at least 258.
- 2006 – Three independent observing campaigns announce the discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb through gravitational microlensing, the first cool rocky/icy extrasolar planet around a main-sequence star.
- 2006 – Mexican professional wrestler Juana Barraza is arrested in conjunction with the serial killing of at least 10 elderly women.
- 2011 – The first wave of the Egyptian revolution begins in Egypt, with a series of street demonstrations, marches, rallies, acts of civil disobedience, riots, labour strikes, and violent clashes in Cairo, Alexandria, and throughout other cities in Egypt.
[edit]Births
- 750 – Leo IV the Khazar, Byzantine Emperor (d. 780)
- 1477 – Anna, Duchess of Brittany, French noblewoman (d. 1514)
- 1509 – Giovanni Morone, Italian cardinal (d. 1580)
- 1615 – Govert Flinck, Dutch painter (d. 1660)
- 1627 – Robert Boyle, Irish chemist (d. 1691)
- 1634 – Gaspar Fagel, Dutch statesman (d. 1688)
- 1640 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English noble (d. 1707)
- 1688 – Juraj Jánošík, Slovak criminal (d. 1713)
- 1736 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian-born mathematician (d. 1813)
- 1739 – Charles François Dumouriez, French general (d. 1823)
- 1743 – Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, German philosopher (d. 1819)
- 1750 – Johann Gottfried Vierling, German organist and composer (d. 1813)
- 1755 – Paolo Mascagni, Italian physician (d. 1815)
- 1759 – Robert Burns, Scottish poet (d. 1796)
- 1777 – Karoline Jagemann, German actress (d. 1848)
- 1794 – François-Vincent Raspail, French chemist (d. 1878)
- 1796 – William MacGillivray, Scottish naturalist (d. 1852)
- 1813 – James Marion Sims, American physician (d. 1883)
- 1822 – Charles Reed Bishop, American philanthropist (d. 1915)
- 1824 – Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Bengali author (d. 1873)
- 1825 – George Pickett, American Confederate general (d. 1875)
- 1841 – John "Jacky" Fisher, English admiral (d. 1920)
- 1858 – Kokichi Mikimoto, Japanese pearl farmer (d. 1954)
- 1860 – Charles Curtis, 31st Vice President of the United States (d. 1936)
- 1864 – Julije Kempf, Croatian historian and writer (d. 1934)
- 1868 – Juventino Rosas, Mexican composer (d. 1894)
- 1874 – W. Somerset Maugham, English writer (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Ernst Alexanderson, Swedish television pioneer (d. 1975)
- 1882 – Virginia Woolf, English writer (d. 1941)
- 1885 – Kitahara Hakushū, Japanese poet and children's author (d. 1942)
- 1886 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor (d. 1954)
- 1896 – Florence Mills, American singer, dancer and comedian (d. 1927)
- 1899 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian politician (d. 1972)
- 1899 – Sleepy John Estes, American musician (d. 1977)
- 1900 – István Fekete, Hungarian writer (d. 1970)
- 1900 – Yojiro Ishizaka, Japanese writer (d. 1986)
- 1901 – Martín De Álzaga, Argentine race car driver (d. 1982)
- 1902 – Pablo Antonio, Filipino architect (d. 1975)
- 1905 – Maurice Roy, Canadian cardinal (d. 1985)
- 1913 –Huang Hua, Chinese statesman (d. 2010)
- 1913 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer (d. 1994)
- 1913 – Luis Marden, American photojournalist (d. 2003)
- 1915 – Ewan MacColl, English singer-songwriter (d. 1989)
- 1916 – Frank "Pop" Ivy, American football coach (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Ilya Prigogine, Russian scientist, Nobel laureate (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Jânio Quadros, Brazilian politician (d. 1992)
- 1918 – Ernie Harwell, American baseball sportscaster (d. 2010)
- 1919 – Edwin Newman, American broadcast journalist (d. 2010)
- 1921 – Samuel T. Cohen, American physicist (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Arvid Carlsson, Swedish scientist, Nobel laureate
- 1923 – Rusty Draper, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Shirley Ardell Mason, American psychiatric patient (d. 1998)
- 1923 – Jean Taittinger, French politician (d. 2012)
- 1924 – Lou Groza, American football player (d. 2000)
- 1924 – Speedy West, American musician (d. 2003)
- 1925 – Giorgos Zampetas, Greek musician and songwriter (d. 1992)
- 1927 – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Brazilian composer (d. 1994)
- 1928 – Jérôme Choquette, Canadian politician
- 1928 – Cor van der Hart, Dutch footballer (d. 2006)
- 1928 – Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia
- 1929 – Robert Faurisson, French academic and holocaust denier
- 1929 – Benny Golson, American jazz musician
- 1930 – Tanya Savicheva, Russian diarist (d. 1944)
- 1931 – Dean Jones, American actor
- 1933 – Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines (d. 2009)
- 1935 – Conrad Burns, American politician
- 1935 – António Ramalho Eanes, Portuguese politician
- 1936 – Diana Hyland, American actress (d. 1977)
- 1937 – Judith Ann Mayotte, American humanitarian and author
- 1937 – Ange-Félix Patassé, Central African Republic politician (d. 2011)
- 1938 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author (d. 1998)
- 1938 – Etta James, American singer (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Leiji Matsumoto, Japanese author
- 1938 – Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian poet (d. 1980)
- 1939 – Gabriel Romanus, Swedish politician
- 1941 – Buddy Baker, American race car driver
- 1941 – Gregory Sierra, American actor
- 1942 – Carl Eller, American football player
- 1942 – Eusébio, Portuguese footballer
- 1942 – Shinobu Tsukasa, Japanese organized crime figure
- 1943 – Roy Black, German actor and singer (d. 1991)
- 1943 – Tobe Hooper, American film director
- 1944 – Anita Pallenberg, Italian model
- 1945 – John Leslie, American porn actor and filmmaker (d. 2010)
- 1945 – Leigh Taylor-Young, American actress
- 1947 – Ángel Nieto, Spanish motorcycle racer
- 1947 – Tostão, Brazilian footballer
- 1948 – Gueorgui Chichkine, Russian painter
- 1948 – Ros Kelly, Australian politician
- 1949 – John Cooper Clarke, English punk-poet
- 1949 – Paul Nurse, English biochemist, Nobel Laureate
- 1950 – Gloria Naylor, American novelist
- 1950 – John Terry, American actor
- 1951 – Steve Prefontaine, American runner (d. 1975)
- 1951 – Leonid Telyatnikov, Kazakhstani fire chief at Chernobyl (d. 2004)
- 1952 – Sara Mandiano, French singer and songwriter
- 1952 – Peter Tatchell, Australian-born British activist
- 1952 – Timothy White, American journalist (d. 2002)
- 1953 – The Honky Tonk Man, American wrestler
- 1953 – Mark Weil, Uzbek theatre director (d. 2007)
- 1954 – Ricardo Bochini, Argentinian footballer
- 1954 – Kay Cottee, Australian maritime sailor
- 1954 – Renate Dorrestein, Dutch writer
- 1954 – Kim Gandy, American feminist activist
- 1955 – Terry Chimes, English musician (The Clash)
- 1956 – Andy Cox, English musician (The Beat, Fine Young Cannibals)
- 1957 – Eskil Erlandsson, Swedish politician
- 1957 – Andrew P. Harris, American politician
- 1957 – Jenifer Lewis, American actress
- 1958 – Dinah Manoff, American actress
- 1958 – Kavita Krishnamurthy, Indian singer
- 1961 – Vivian Balakrishnan, Singaporean politician
- 1961 – Willie Revillame, Filipino game show host and comedian
- 1962 – Chris Chelios, American ice hockey player
- 1963 – Fernando Haddad, Brazilian academic and politician
- 1965 – Mark Jordon, English actor
- 1965 – Esa Tikkanen, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1966 – Chet Culver, American politician
- 1967 – Mark Bamford, American writer and director
- 1967 – Randy McKay, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1968 – Eric Orie, Dutch football manager
- 1969 – Kina, American singer (Brownstone)
- 1969 – Sergei Ovchinnikov, Russian volleyball coach (d. 2012)
- 1970 – Stephen Chbosky, American writer
- 1970 – Chris Mills, American basketball player
- 1970 – Milt Stegall, American-born football player
- 1971 – Luca Badoer, Italian race car driver
- 1971 – Philip Coppens, Belgian author (d. 2012)
- 1971 – China Kantner, American actress
- 1971 – Ana Ortiz, American actress and singer
- 1973 – Chris Guy, American wrestler
- 1973 – Geoff Johns, American comic book writer
- 1974 – Robert Budreau, Canadian director
- 1974 – Attilio Nicodemo, Italian footballer
- 1975 – Mia Kirshner, Canadian actress
- 1975 – Tim Montgomery, American athlete
- 1975 – Dat Phan, Vietnamese comedian
- 1976 – Mario Haberfeld, Brazilian race car driver
- 1976 – Dimitris Nalitzis, Greek footballer
- 1978 – Denis Menchov, Russian cyclist
- 1978 – Jason Roberts, English footballer
- 1978 – Derrick Turnbow, American baseball player
- 1979 – Pi Hongyan, French badminton player
- 1979 – Gabe Jennings, American distance runner
- 1979 – Christine Lakin, American actress
- 1979 – Rodrigo Ribeiro, Brazilian race car driver
- 1979 – Zoe Britton, American porn actress
- 1980 – Michelle McCool, American wrestler
- 1980 – Efstathios Tavlaridis, Greek footballer
- 1980 – Xavi, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Charlie Bewley, English actor
- 1981 – Francis Jeffers, English footballer
- 1981 – Alicia Keys, American singer
- 1981 – Toše Proeski, Macedonian singer (d. 2007)
- 1982 – Sho Sakurai, Japanese singer and actor (Arashi)
- 1982 – Shawna Waldron, American actress
- 1983 – Andrée Watters, Canadian singer
- 1984 – Sara Aerts, Belgian heptathlete
- 1984 – Stefan Kießling, German footballer
- 1984 – Robinho, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Brent Celek, American football player
- 1985 – Tina Karol, Ukrainian singer
- 1985 – Acie Law IV, American basketball player
- 1985 – Patrick Willis, American football player
- 1986 – Shahriar Nafees, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1986 – Chris O'Grady, English footballer
- 1987 – Maria Kirilenko, Russian tennis player
- 1988 – Tatiana Golovin, French tennis player
- 1989 – Sheryfa Luna, French singer
- 1989 – Víctor Ruiz Torre, Spanish footballer
- 1989 – Mikako Tabe, Japanese actress
- 1990 – Thomas Berge, Dutch singer
- 1991 – Nigel Melker, Dutch race car driver
[edit]Deaths
- 389 – Gregory Nazianzus, theologian and Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 329)
- 477 – Genseric, king of the Vandals and Alans (b. circa 389)
- 844 – Pope Gregory IV(b.. circa 795)
- 1067 – Emperor Yingzong of China (b. 1032)
- 1366 – Henry Suso, German mystic (b. circa 1300)
- 1431 – Charles II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1364)
- 1494 – King Ferdinand I of Naples (b. 1423)
- 1559 – King Christian II of Denmark (b. 1481)
- 1573 – Hirate Hirohide, Japanese samurai (b. 1553)
- 1578 – Mihrimah Sultana, Ottoman princess (b. 1522)
- 1586 – Lucas Cranach the Younger, German painter (b. 1515)
- 1640 – Robert Burton, English scholar (b. 1577)
- 1670 – Nicholas II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1612)
- 1726 – Guillaume Delisle, French cartographer (b. 1675)
- 1733 – Sir Gilbert Heathcote, 1st Baronet (b. 1652)
- 1751 – Paul Dudley, American attorney and politician (b. 1675)
- 1852 – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian cartographer and explorer (b. 1778)
- 1881 – Konstantin Thon, Russian architect (b. 1794)
- 1884 – Périclès Pantazis, Greek impressionist painter (b. 1849)
- 1907 – René Pottier, French cyclist (b. 1879)
- 1908 – Mikhail Chigorin, Russian chess player (b. 1850)
- 1908 – Ouida, English writer (b. 1839)
- 1912 – Dmitry Milyutin, Russian field marshal (b. 1816)
- 1925 – Ivan Vucetic, Croatian anthropologist (b. 1858)
- 1939 – Charles Davidson Dunbar, British military piper (b. 1870)
- 1940 – Elias Simojoki, Finnish clergyman and politician (b. 1899)
- 1947 – Al Capone, American organized crime figure (b. 1899)
- 1949 – Makino Nobuaki, Japanese statesman (b. 1861)
- 1954 – Manabendra Nath Roy, Indian political activist (b. 1887)
- 1957 – Thomas January, American soccer player (b. 1886)
- 1957 – Ichizo Kobayashi, Japanese industrialist (b. 1873)
- 1957 – Kiyoshi Shiga, Japanese physician and bacteriologist (b. 1871)
- 1960 – Diana Barrymore, American actress (b. 1921)
- 1963 – Wilson Kettle, Canadian centenarian (b. 1860)
- 1966 – Saul Adler, Russian-born British parasitologist (b. 1895)
- 1969 – Irene Castle, English dancer (b. 1887)
- 1970 – Jane Bathori, French mezzo-soprano (b. 1877)
- 1970 – Eiji Tsuburaya, Japanese television writer and producer (b. 1901)
- 1971 – Barry III, Guinean politician (b. 1923)
- 1972 – Erhard Milch, German field marshal (b. 1892)
- 1975 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian politician (b. 1896)
- 1976 – Chris Kenner, American singer and songwriter (b. 1929)
- 1978 – Skender Kulenović, Bosnian poet (b. 1910)
- 1980 – Queenie Watts, English actress (b. 1926)
- 1981 – Adele Astaire, American dancer (b. 1897)
- 1982 – Mikhail Suslov, Soviet politician (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Ilias Iliou, Greek politician (b. 1904)
- 1987 – Frank J. Lynch, American jurist and state legislator (b. 1922)
- 1990 – Ava Gardner, American actress (b. 1922)
- 1994 – Stephen Cole Kleene, American mathematician (b. 1909)
- 1996 – Jonathan Larson, American composer (b. 1960)
- 1999 – Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany, American author (b. 1889)
- 1999 – Ted Mallie, American radio and television announcer (b. 1924)
- 1999 – Robert Shaw, American conductor (b. 1916)
- 2003 – Sheldon Reynolds, American television producer (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Samuel Weems, American jurist (b. 1936)
- 2004 – Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete (b. 1918)
- 2004 – Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (b. 1979)
- 2005 – Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (b. 1923)
- 2005 – William Augustus Bootle, American judge (b. 1902)
- 2005 – Philip Johnson, American architect (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Manuel Lopes, Cape Verdean writer and poet (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Ray Peterson, American singer (b. 1935)
- 2005 – Nettie Witziers-Timmer, Dutch athlete (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Anna Malle, adult film star (b. 1967)
- 2008 – Christopher Allport, American actor (b. 1947)
- 2008 – Evelyn Barbirolli, English musician (b. 1911)
- 2009 – Ewald Kooiman, Dutch organist (b. 1938)
- 2009 – Kim Manners, American television producer and director (b. 1951)
- 2010 – Ali Hassan al-Majid, Iraqi defense minister and military commander (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Vincent Cronin, British historical, cultural, and biographical writer (b. 1924)
[edit]Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches, which concludes the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity)
- Dydd Santes Dwynwen, Welsh Valentine's Day (Wales)
- Gregory the Theologian (Eastern (Byzantine) Catholic Church)
- January 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Burns Night (Scotland and Scottish community)
- Earliest day on which the first day of Carnival of Cádiz can fall, while February 28 is the latest; celebrated two Sundays before Ash Wednesday until Ash Wednesday (Cádiz)
- Criminon Day (Scientology)
- Tatiana Day (Russia)
- The last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Christian ecumenism)
- National Voters' Day in India
===
GET IT RIGHT
Tim Blair – Friday, January 25, 2013 (6:11pm)
More transcript problems for the government:
A transcript of the Prime Minister’s national security speech has been amended on her official website because of an incorrect claim she made about the level of Australia’s defence spending.On Wednesday, Julia Gillard compared Australia’s level of defence expenditure with other countries, declaring it was within the top 15 in the world in absolute terms and “second only to the United States in per capita spending”.However, the transcript of her speech now reads that Australia’s defence spending is “second only to the United States on a per capita basis among the G7 countries plus China”.
No claims of inaudibility this time. Labor is learning! Meanwhile, Tasmania is suddenly lookingvery 1975.
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A MAN NOBODY HAS EVER HEARD OF
Tim Blair – Friday, January 25, 2013 (1:51pm)
Former Prime Ministerial advisor Tony Hodges, booted for his role in last year’s Australia Day mayhem, is now a non-person to Labor:
Interest in Mr Hodges’ travels and work over the past year appeared to touch a sensitive nerve in the prime minister’s office with Ms Gillard’s media director John McTernan asking “Why are you trying to contact Tony Hodges?’’“A man nobody has ever heard of, doing a job nobody knows what it is,’’ Mr McTernan said.??"It is not a story, that’s all I am saying. My staff are not stories. My former staff for f...ing sure aren’t stories. I think it is ridiculous. I don’t want to keep that to myself.“Tony Hodges is not a story. Tony Hodges is a private citizen, an Australian working abroad.’’
(Via PaulW)
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CURSE THAT ABBOTT LUCK
Tim Blair – Friday, January 25, 2013 (4:48am)
Good fortune just keeps flowing Tony Abbott’s way, according to Michelle Grattan:
Abbott is a lucky politician, and that luck has been with him as 2013 starts. Instead of Labor’s choice of an indigenous candidate being a PR coup, Gillard’s unilateral move on Peris has left Labor looking divided and fighting internally.
He was lucky when Labor relaxed policies on asylum seekers. He was lucky when Labor promised that there would be no carbon tax. He was lucky when Labor helped stage a race conflict on Australia Day. He was lucky when Labor discarded Kevin Rudd, and lucky again when Labor fought over Rudd’s attempted revival. He was lucky when Labor vowed more than 200 times to deliver a budget surplus. He was lucky when Labor designed a mineral resources tax that costs more to run than it receives.
You know, if it weren’t for good luck, Abbott would have no luck at all. If only someone could work out why.
UPDATE. More Abbott luck:
Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan has called for a renewed ‘’national conversation’’ about Australia becoming a republic.
Do these people actually want to lose? Even Malcolm Turnbull cringes: ‘’While I am a committed republican, my heart sinks at the thought of Wayne Swan bringing his advocacy skills to such an important national cause.’’
UPDATE II. Yet more Abbott luck:
Disaffected ALP members have been lashing out at both the Prime Minister and Ms Peris with some peddling a rumour that she had been sacked by the Department of Education and even investigated by police over the use of departmental furniture in November 2011.With a smear campaign in full swing, the politically inexperienced Ms Peris was being shielded by her new ALP minders and was unavailable for direct interview on Thursday, but issued a statement denying any substance to the anonymous claims.
ALP minders are defending an ALP candidate from ALP members. Abbott is a lucky politician.
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THE SHEILA ASKED ME IF I WANTED MY STEAK WITH SALAD OR VEGETABLES
Tim Blair – Friday, January 25, 2013 (4:45am)
I don’t mean to offend Prick With A Fork, whose food writing is excellent, but this is the finest restaurant review ever published in Australia.
UPDATE. The restaurant in question, Bimbo’s Road House, is mentioned in this 1956 highway dining guide:
Now click and scroll to see Bimbo’s as it is today.
Now click and scroll to see Bimbo’s as it is today.
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PICK THE MARGIN
Tim Blair – Friday, January 25, 2013 (2:51am)
Pollwatcher Peter Brent:
There was a time, not too long ago, when pumped-up Coalition supporters confidently predicted a Labor wipe-out at the next federal election.“It’ll be like Queensland!”, they chortled. “It’ll be like NSW!”, they thundered.What happened to those people … ?It won’t be Queensland in 2012 or New South Wales in 2011 and was never going to be. It won’t be a Labor win either.It will probably be, assuming the current leadership on both sides remain in place, in aggregate something like the 1996 federal election – or a bit closer.
He’s probably near the money, but let’s put it to the BlairPoll test:
In other poll news, John Howard wins again.
===
LAPTOPS, PHONES, CASH
Tim Blair – Friday, January 25, 2013 (2:48am)
Asylum seekers have a lot to lose.
===
Former judge blasts Gillard’s attack on free speech
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(7:53pm)
Former High Court judge Ian Callinan treats the Gillard Government’s proposed new laws against free speech with the contempt - and fear - they deserve:
It seems as if each year the Constitution and the cohesion of our Australian community are put at some new and entirely unnecessary risk. The dangers of the current one, of the introduction of a new law to criminalize speech which might cause offence to anyone, should not be underestimated. Even the imaginative powers of George Orwell would not have conceived of an administration that would dare to try to forbid every member of society from passing adverse comment upon any other member of it. The proposed law is such a silly one that it will turn everyone into offenders. A law of this kind fails the elementary test of rational, consistent, and worse, undiscriminating application. In consequence, the cases selected for prosecution will be exactly that, “selected”, that is to say, carefully chosen, under the influence or pressure of the most vociferous pressure groups. Every Australian with an ideal of democracy – and I hope that means most Australians – should do everything they lawfully can to oppose the introduction of this outrageous law.
It is very rare for a former High Court judge to speak with such vehemence. Mind you, it is even rarer for an Australian Government to want to muzzle our citizens.
===
Biggest boat so far this year
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(2:07pm)
After a promisingly quieter start to the year:
It’s the biggest number of persons on a single boat of the seven that have arrived so far in 2013, resulting in around 350 asylum seekers being detained since the start of the year.
UPDATE
Senator George Brandis:
So far this month over 350 people have arrived by illegal boat, the most people to have arrived during any January under Labor. So far this monsoon season a record 1,500 people have arrived by illegal boat. Even in the middle of the dangerous monsoon season, records continue to be set for illegal boat arrivals under Labor’s failure on our borders.
===
Time Combet came clean on his mendacious prediction
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(1:15pm)
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet last August gave this assurance when he linked Australia’s carbon price - now at $23 a tonne - to that of Europe from 2015:
He was asked if the government would face a budget shortfall, in contrast to the $9.4 billion of revenue it had predicted the floating price would generate in the 2015/16 budget.“It is three years away and the Treasury modelling is something that we stand by,” Mr Combet said.
The European Union’s flagship climate policy, its emissions trading scheme (ETS), saw the price of carbon crash to a record low on Thursday after a vote in Brussels against a proposal to support the struggling market.The price of a permit to emit a tonne of carbon dioxide fell 40% at one point to €2.81 today, far below its record high of €32, before recovering to more than €4 [$5.12] later in the day…The European commission warned this week that without action the carbon price could drop dramatically, leaving the ETS irrelevant and EU energy and environment policy unravelling.
Does Combet stand by his prediction that the carbon price will recover to $29 by 2015? Does he promise to cut the carbon compensation - pegged at the current carbon price of $23 a tonne - if it doesn’t? How many billions of dollars will be stripped from the Budget if the carbon price stays at European levels and the Government’s carbon tax compensation is not cut?
UPDATE
Combet isn’t much good at all at predicting carbon prices - or to admitting the truth. Here he is last April, sneering at the possibility that prices would fall to exactly what they have:
Mr Combet is in Europe to assess whether the European emissions trading scheme can mesh with Australia’s.There have been forecasts the European price per tonne will fall to $5 while in Australia it will be fixed to rise to $25 by 2015 after which the markets will set the price.“Well I have discussed a range of the forecasts while I have been in Europe with people fairly expert in the carbon markets andhttp://www.news.com.au/national-old/its-not-a-taxits-an-emissions-trading-scheme/story-e6frfkvr-1226316373815” title="I haven’t found too many that support that view, that’s for sure">I haven’t found too many that support that view, that’s for sure,’’ Mr Combet said of the $5 forecast.
(Thanks to reader Victoria 3220.)
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Labor’s Tasmanian seats seem shaky
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(12:59pm)
The Gillard Government seems certain to lose Bass, one of its vulnerable Tasmanian seats, according to this ReachTEL survey:
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When will Flannery admit he was wrong?
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(11:45am)
Although we’re getting say a 20 per cent decrease in rainfall in some areas of Australia, that’s translating to a 60 per cent decrease in the run-off into the dams and rivers. That’s because the soil is warmer because of global warming and the plants are under more stress and therefore using more moisture. Soeven the rain that falls isn’t actually going to fill our dams and our river systems, and that’s a real worry for the people in the bush.
Over the past 50 years southern Australia has lost about 20 per cent of its rainfall, and one cause is almost certainly global warming. Similar losses have been experienced in eastern Australia, and although the science is less certain it is probable that global warming is behind these losses too. But by far the most dangerous trend is the decline in the flow of Australian rivers: it has fallen by around 70 per cent in recent decades, so dams no longer fill even when it does rain… I believe the first thing Australians need to do is to stop worrying about “the drought” - which is transient - and start talking about the new climate… Australia is likely to lose its northern rainfall… In Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane, water supplies are so low they need desalinated water urgently, possibly in as little as 18 months.
Let’s now contrast Flannery’s predictions with the reality…
2007:
Storms and strong winds caused widespread damage and flash flooding which resulted in major flooding across eastern Victoria… By 29 June, the Bureau of Meteorology had issued a total of 11 flood warnings across the Gippsland region including four major, five moderate and two minor warnings… A severe storm which began on 7 June brought heavy rains and strong gale forced winds that caused widespread flooding and damage to the Central Coast around Wyong and Gosford, the Hunter including Newcastle, and the Sydney metropolitan areas.
2008:
Flash flooding on Friday February 15, 2008 devastated Mackay when nearly two-thousand homes and businesses were inundated with water… The floodwaters came without warning after a phenomenal deluge
2009:
On 31 January 2009, Tropical Cyclone Ellie caused a rain depression in Far North/Northern Queensland resulting in substantial flooding to townships between Townsville and Cairns… On 6 and 7 February 2009, further heavy rain caused additional flooding to areas already impacted and other areas.
2010:
The eastern states of Australia experienced very high rainfall in the second half of 2010 and early 2011… Subsequent flooding affected Queensland (including Brisbane) in particular, although there were also floods in parts of Victoria and New South Wales.
2011:
Brisbane and Ipswich are bracing for their worst ever floods, with tens of thousands of homes at risk and fears for citizens’ safety, as the toll of dead and missing for the state-wide disaster continues to rise. The banks of the Brisbane River have broken and the flood peak will hit at 4am tomorrow. Already many suburbs are partially submerged, and 20,000 properties are likely to experience complete flooding in Brisbane.
Communities across inland NSW continue to experience major flooding as water moves south from Queensland.
2013:
RESCUERS have saved a teenage boy from a raging torrent in central Queensland as floodwaters from ex-tropical cyclone Oswald continue to rise… More than 70 roads, including major highways, have been cut by floodwaters across the state since Oswald was downgraded to a storm after crossing the Cape York Peninsula’s west coast on Tuesday.
What will it take for Tim Flannery to admit he was wrong? What will it take for his employer, the Gillard Government, to demand he account for his dud predictions? What will it take before such alarmists are treated with scepticism by the cultural elite?
UPDATE
A lesson for Flannery on how to turn on a dime and blame global warming for exactly the opposite of what you predicted:
Without a doubt, extreme cold-winter events have become more frequent across Eurasia in recent years, and climate scientists have been rather taken by surprise: frozen winters in Eurasia were not predicted by climate models…Ironically it seems that Eurasia’s extreme cold winters are partly a consequence of global warming, with warmer global temperatures driving sea-ice melt and changing weather patterns. Until now, climate models have failed to capture these extreme cold-winter events, but Zhang and his colleagues hope that their findings will help to improve future predictions.
(Thanks to reader Jim.)
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Monckton returns
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(7:59am)
He’s back - flies in today from snow-hit Britain - and will give his first presentation in Adelaide on February 2:
Buy Tickets by Phone 13 28 49… Or via Ticketek Website HERE ...Lord Christopher Monckton: 2nd February Adelaide Convention CentreMatinee & Evening Presentations…Lord Monckton has been asked to address concerned South Australians about the increasing bureaucratic interference of GREEN & RED TAPE under the pretext of managing and saving the planet by unelected distant bureaucrats and how this is eroding our rights, our choices and our Australian way of life:“Carbon tax, climate scam, Agenda 21: can democracy survive all three? Lord Monckton does due diligence”.
More dates to appear on this site.
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On 2GB, January 25
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(7:34am)
On 2GB with Steve Price from 8pm. Listen live here. Last night’s show here.
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Even Fawlty Towers now too “racist”
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(6:58am)
Here’s how mad the war on free speech has become. The BBC now censors even Fawlty Towers for racism - but what it censors is actually a satire of racists, while what it leaves in is actually far more “racist”.
The Sydney Morning Herald then censors itself in trying to describe the censorship it seems to deplore, leaving readers unable to work out what actually the BBC did censor from the 7.30pm screening:
In the scene, a hotel regular, the elderly Major Gowen (Ballard Berkeley), relates a conversation in which he corrected someone for using a particular racist slur, by suggesting they use another, equally racist, slur.In the context of the episode, the line is clearly intended to mock the old-school British upper class for their inherent racism. In that sense, the joke is on Major Gowen, as it were, and not aimed at racial minorities.In a curious twist, though, other culturally insensitive jokes in the episode - such as Basil Fawlty goose-stepping in front of the German tourists, saying ‘’sieg heil’’ while using a finger to simulate the moustache of German dictator Adolf Hitler and referring to a German tourist as ‘’a stupid Kraut’’ - were not cut.
Nor was that language cut by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Here’s the joke. One of the two words deemed too racist by the BBC to go to air - or by theHerald to commit to print? It’s “wogs”:
UPDATE
(Thanks to reader burrah.)
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No more greens served
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(6:52am)
The carbon tax means it costs me seven times what it did to gas my fridges..
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Whose party is this, anyway?
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(6:36am)
Julia Gillard’s intervention to kill the career of a Rudd supporter should rightly make other Labor MPs nervous:
There are concerns within Labor ranks the tactic used to put Nova Peris into the NT’s top Senate spot would be used to “entrench’’ the leadership of the party.Several MPs said they regarded the use of the National Executive to oust Ms Crossin, a supporter of Kevin Rudd, as an unprecedented use of power by Ms Gillard to remove a representative…The anxiety generated by Ms Crossin’s knifing was exacerbated because Ms Gillard had previously seen off Kevin Rudd and Harry Jenkins from their positions, MPs said.
And, of course, Gillard sacked Robert McClelland as Attorney General last year after he supported Rudd..
Gillard says that Rudd stuff didn’t affect her decision to dump Crossin.
Just a coincidence.
UPDATE
Brandis is, of course, perfectly correct:
Senator George Brandis described Trish Crossin as ‘’the most notorious victim of racial discrimination in Australia‘’ at a hearing into the federal government’s proposed anti-discrimination laws at NSW Parliament on Thursday…Senator Crossin, who is chairing the Senate inquiry, replied: ‘’I couldn’t possibly comment, Senator Brandis.’’
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Howard best, Gillard worst
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(6:10am)
Who could seriously disagree?
Mr Howard was considered by 35 per cent of just over 1000 people polled by Galaxy as Australia’s best leader of a generation.
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You know it’s Australia Day when…
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(5:57am)
It’s never Australia Day without someone filling Fairfax column inches with bitching about our shameful past or complaints we’re not a republic.
DEPUTY Prime Minister Wayne Swan has called for a renewed ‘’national conversation’’ about Australia becoming a republic, though Labor has no immediate plans to hold another referendum.
In an opinion piece written to coincide with Australia Day, Mr Swan laments that the republican movement has ‘’fallen from the national agenda over the past decade’’.
‘’I think our national conversation is sold short when it doesn’t include a debate about our relationship with the Crown,’’ Mr Swan wrote.
The republic has “fallen from the national agenda over the past decade”? Less than five years ago, Swan himself attended the 2020 ideas summit called by Kevin Rudd where the republic was yet again debate at length by a hand-picked crowd of our “best and brightest”:
What Swan fails to understand is not that people have stopped talking about the republic, but that the rest of us barely bother any more to listen.
THE opposition’s immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, has reignited the debate over multiculturalism at the start of the election year, declaring a shift away from diversity to a more inclusive national identity is needed.The Liberal frontbencher used an address to the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies in London to outline the Coalition’s plan to reframe the debate around multiculturalism and “restore some balance” by emphasising what Australians have in common rather than social, ethnic or cultural differences.Outlining his vision for a “post-multiculturalism approach”, Mr Morrison said Labor had spent too much time promoting the virtues of diversity.
The 2012 social cohesion study for the Scanlon Foundation found there is broad acceptance of the benefits of cultural diversity. It also discovered a growing frustration and disaffection among Australians living in areas of high ethnic concentration, caused by perceived social and economic failure in these communities and an increasing level of what I would term self-imposed cultural withdrawal.It surely cannot be the purpose of multicultural policy that Australians elect to disengage from our society for religious, cultural or ethnic reasons.This sounds a warning about the need to provide a greater focus on promoting what we have in common, rather than how different we are.
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Azarenka chokes on her excuse as well
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(5:30am)
Is choking on match point a medical excuse for a time out?
VICTORIA Azarenka ... took a lengthy medical time-out for what sounded suspiciously like a panic attack as she struggled to close out her semi-final against American teenager Sloane Stephens on Rod Laver Arena, before later blaming a rib injury for her shortness of breath…She left the court for almost 10 minutes after Stephens had broken back for 5-4 in the second set, Azarenka clearly agitated after having blown five match points. She returned to win 6-1, 6-4 with her sixth, the crowd reaction tellingly subdued.Asked on court about her supposed injury, Azarenka replied: ‘’I almost did the choke of the year right now. At 5-3, having so many chances, I couldn’t close it out. But I’m glad I could turn it around. I just felt a little bit overwhelmed playing and realising that I’m one step away from the final, and, you know, nerves got into me, for sure.’’No mention of a health issue that was anything but mental.In a subsequent interview with US broadcaster ESPN, Azarenka reiterated that she needed some time to calm herself.‘’I couldn’t breathe, that game I just had chest pains, it was like I was having a heart attack or something out there.‘’I just needed to make sure it was OK. I really couldn’t breathe.’’But later, during a sustained and uncomfortable grilling in her news conference, Azarenka claimed she was the victim of both a misunderstanding over her on-court question and a locked rib that caused a back problem and her shortage of breath.
That sounds ugly. I think the crowd response in the final may give her more reason to call for a trainer.
I’d hope the WTA will ignore Azarenka’s number-one status when deciding whether to take action.
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It’s an ill wind that blows no luck
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(5:22am)
Abbott is a lucky politician, and that luck has been with him as 2013 starts. Instead of Labor’s choice of an indigenous candidate being a PR coup, Gillard’s unilateral move on Peris has left Labor looking divided and fighting internally.
Tim Blair has thoughts about this luck of Tony Abbott, which may in fact be better diagnosed.
Grattan touches on three aspects of Julia Gillard’s racist decision to dump white Trish Crossin for not being Aboriginal,. and replace her with Nova Peris, who is - three things that are each part of a pattern of behavior by Gillard that explains much of Abbott’s “luck”:
Having had to break her commitment to a referendum before or at the election to recognise indigenous people in the constitution, Gillard no doubt wanted to make a significant gesture.But she would not have risked a bitter party row if she did not believe there could be some direct political potential gain in an election year.The ALP got a big wake-up call when there were strong swings against it among indigenous voters at last year’s Northern Territory election…[The] lower house seat of Lingiari, held by minister Warren Snowdon, which covers the NT outside Darwin, is vulnerable… A notable indigenous Senate candidate might be helpful with this vote.On the other hand, the indigenous community is fractured and there is the potential for the move to backfire badly. Peris was not a party member until Wednesday; there are many Aboriginal women who are. She is being portrayed by critics as compliant…Snowdon is known to be concerned about how the whole thing has been handled. There is a good deal of blow-back in his electorate, which worries him.
Note:
- The broken promise- The symbolism over substance- The deceitful spin (in the reasons given and not given)- The mismanagement and unforeseen consequences.
UPDATE
Peris is such a great “captain’s pick” that she has to be shielded from a lynch mob:
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A fire in Obama’s global warming times
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(12:14am)
Monday - US President Barack Obama warns that global warming is causing fires:
We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires...
Tuesday - firemen hose down a raging fire in Chicago, one of the US cities threatened by global warming:
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At least Gillard’s “captain’s pick” can speak about government waste
Andrew BoltJANUARY252013(12:06am)
My goodness, but Nova Peris has done well from Big Government. At least as a Senator she can now speak from very personal experience about government waste - especially waste involving the provision of services for less privileged Aborigines.
Wonder if she’ll take the opportunity?
(Thanks to readers Peter and Richard.)
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7 years ago today, Hamas won the Palestinian legislative election on a promise to improve Palestinians' lives. But promises are not set in stone. Read more: http://www.idfblog.com/
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Street training after midnight on a weekday, don't stop when you're tired, stop when you're done! #team9lives #9livesparkour #training #circus #parramatta #sydney #conditioning #family
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After four years of pretending there is no jihad against the free world, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blurted out the truth during her testimony on the Benghazi jihad massacre Wednesday: “We now face a spreading jihadist threat,” she said, adding: “We have to recognize this is a global movement.”
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Who remembers the very first time we met the Doctor?
After following the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan, to an old junkyard Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton soon find themselves meeting a rather eccentric character. Watch the Doctor's very first appearance in 1963 here: http://bit.ly/XyatQI
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Sunset at Angkor Wat
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You proclaim the Lord’s death for you when you eat the bread and drink the cup (1Cor 11:26)! Check out today's devotional. Be sure to click "like" to help spread the word! Thanks, all! http://bit.ly/UBFMYh
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Sarah Palin
What are we succumbing to, America? The army orders "the removal of Christian symbols from a chapel." I wonder what they'll make of my son and all the other soldiers with their numerous Christian symbols tattooed on their warrior bodies? What say you, politicians, about America's finest protecting us in these war zones who will NOT be "removing their Steeples, Crosses, Bible Verses, etc." to adhere to this new nonsensical political correctness?
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Fast jet flightgear was used in movies as early as the late 1940s with actors wearing it to portray specific characters. John Wayne was famous in the “JET PILOT” which was an early attempt at showing the cold war tensions between US and Russia.
The film started in 1949 and amazingly………..only finished filming in 1953!. That wasnt the end of the dramas…… it wasnt released to public viewing until 1957!
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for TMN
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Thank you to all the people on Facebook who have sponsored me in the Ride for a Reason raising needed funds for the Cancer Council SA. Your support has been fantastic. - Tony Abbott
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"Understand your limitations and capitalize on them." Bruce Lee
My father was extremely near-sighted (you can see how thick his prescription was in the picture I have posted of his glasses), and one of his legs was shorter than the other. He made the best of both of these limitations.
I hope you will read the story below as told by Joe Hyams - it gives great insight into who my father was, and perhaps it will inspire you!
xShannon
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If you are eating poorly, then start to eat right.
If you want to lose weight, then start exercising.
If you are always selfish, then stop being selfish.
If you are cheating on your spouse, then stop cheating.
If you need to fix something around the house, then fix it.
If you are going down the wrong path in life, then go down the right path.
You specifically know what you need to change in your life. It is never too late to make a fresh start. If God woke you up this morning to read this, then you have another chance to make it right and live out your purpose. It's never too late to change.GB♥>
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