Happy birthday and many happy returns Chris Heins,Charmaine Lawton, Justin Ly and Anthony Nguyen. Born on the same day, across the years. Remember, birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live
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January 21: Feast Day of Saint Agnes (Christianity); Flag Day in Quebec; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States (2013)
- 1525 – The Anabaptist Movement was born when foundersConrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and George Blaurock re-baptizedeach other and other followers in Zürich, Switzerland, believing that the Christian religious practice of infant baptism is invalid because a child cannot commit to a religious faith.
- 1789 – The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown, widely considered to be the first American novel, was published.
- 1972 – Tripura, part of the former independent Twipra Kingdom, became a full-fledged state in India.
- 1976 – The Concorde supersonic transports (pictured) began scheduled commercial flights to London, Paris, Bahrain, and Rio de Janeiro.
- 2011 – A protest in Tirana to protest the alleged corruption of the Albanian government, led to the killings of three demonstrators by the Republican Guard.
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Events
- 763 – The Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa ends in a decisive Abbasid victory.
- 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz's mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
- 1643 – Abel Tasman becomes the first European to reach Tonga.
- 1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
- 1749 – The Verona Philharmonic Theatre is destroyed by fire. It is rebuilt in 1754.
- 1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.
- 1840 – Jules Dumont d'Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis resigns from the United States Senate.
- 1864 – The Tauranga Campaign begins during the Maori Wars.
- 1887 – 465 millimetres (18.3 in) of rain falls in Brisbane, a record for any Australian capital city.
- 1893 – The Tati Concessions Land, formerly part of Matabeleland, is formally annexed to the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana.
- 1899 – Opel manufactures its first automobile.
- 1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
- 1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
- 1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1919 – Meeting of the First Dáil Éireann in the Mansion House Dublin. Sinn Féin adopts Ireland's first constitution. The first engagement of Irish War of Independence, Sologhead Beg,County Tipperary.
- 1925 – Albania declares itself a republic.
- 1931 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
- 1941 – Sparked by the murder of a German officer in Bucharest, Romania, the day before, members of the Iron Guard engaged in a rebellion and pogrom killing 125 Jews.
- 1948 – The Flag of Quebec is adopted and flown for the first time over the National Assembly of Quebec. The day is marked annually as Quebec Flag Day.
- 1950 – Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
- 1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
- 1958 – The last Fokker C.X in military service, the Finnish Air Force FK-111 target tower, crashes, killing the pilot and winch-operator.
- 1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
- 1960 – Avianca Flight 671 crashes and burns upon landing at Montego Bay, Jamaica, killing 37. It is the worst air disaster in Jamaica's history and the first for Avianca.
- 1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
- 1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
- 1971 – The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
- 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
- 1977 – President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada.
- 1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
- 1985 – The inauguration of President Ronald Reagan to a second term, already postponed a day because January 20 fell on a Sunday, becomes the second inauguration in history moved indoors because of freezing temperatures and high winds. The parade is cancelled altogether.
- 1997 – Newt Gingrich becomes the first leader of the United States House of Representatives to be internally disciplined for ethical misconduct.
- 1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
- 2000 – Ecuador: After the Ecuadorian Congress is seized by indigenous organizations, Col. Lucio Gutierrez, Carlos Solorzano and Antonio Vargas depose President Jamil Mahuad. Gutierrez is later replaced by Gen. Carlos Mendoza, who resigns and allows Vice-President Gustavo Noboa to succeed Mahuad.
- 2003 – A 7.6 magnitude earthquake strikes the Mexican state of Colima, killing 29 and leaving approximately 10,000 people homeless.
- 2004 – NASA's MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
- 2005 – In Belmopan, Belize, the unrest over the government's new taxes erupts into riots.
- 2008 – Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 11 September 2001, and Asian stocks drop as much as 14%.
[edit]Births
- 1338 – King Charles V of France (d. 1380)
- 1610 – Elizabeth Fones, English-born colonial American pioneer (d. 1673)
- 1721 – James Murray, British military officer, governor of Quebec (d. 1794)
- 1735 – Johann Gottfried Eckard, German pianist and composer (d. 1809)
- 1804 – Eliza Roxcy Snow, American poet (d. 1887)
- 1813 – John C. Frémont, American army officer, explorer and presidential candidate (d. 1890)
- 1815 – John Bingham, American politician and lawyer (d. 1900)
- 1824 – Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, American, Confederate army general (d. 1863)
- 1825 – Imre Madách, Hungarian writer (d. 1864)
- 1827 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician (d. 1900)
- 1829 – King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway (d. 1907)
- 1846 – Pieter Hendrik Schoute, Dutch mathematician (d. 1923)
- 1848 – Henri Duparc, French composer (d. 1933)
- 1860 – Karl Staaff, Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1915)
- 1864 – Paul Troje, German politician (d. 1942)
- 1867 – Ludwig Thoma, German writer (d. 1921)
- 1867 – Maxime Weygand, French general (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Vahan Tekeyan, Armenian poet and public activist (d. 1948)
- 1879 – Joseph Roffo, French rugby player (d. 1933)
- 1881 – Arch McCarthy, American baseball player (d. unknown)
- 1882 – Pavel Florensky (O.S. January 9), Russian Orthodox theologian and mathematician (d. 1937)
- 1882 – Francis Gailey, Australian born American freestyle swimmer (d. 1972)
- 1883 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet (d. 1929)
- 1883 – Amang Rodriguez, Filipino politician (d. 1964)
- 1884 – Roger Baldwin, American social activist (d. 1981)
- 1885 – Umberto Nobile, Italian aeronautical engineer (d. 1978)
- 1887 – Georges Vézina, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1926)
- 1887 – Maude Farris-Luse, American supercentenarian who was the oldest living person at the age of 115. (d. 2002)
- 1895 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish couturier (d. 1972)
- 1897 – René Iché, French sculptor (d. 1954)
- 1898 – Avery Claflin, American composer (d. 1979)
- 1899 – Alexander Tcherepnin, Russian born American composer (d. 1977)
- 1901 – Ricardo Zamora, Spanish footballer (d. 1978)
- 1904 – Puck van Heel, Dutch footballer (d. 1984)
- 1905 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957)
- 1905 – Karl Wallenda, German acrobat (d. 1978)
- 1906 – Igor Moiseyev, Russian choreographer (d. 2007)
- 1909 – Todor Skalovski, Macedonian composer (d. 2004)
- 1910 – Albert Rosellini, American politician and 15th Governor of Washington (d. 2011)
- 1910 – Eua Sunthornsanan, Thai composer and bandleader (d. 1981)
- 1912 – Konrad Emil Bloch, German-born biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2000)
- 1918 – Chichay, Filipino actress (d. 1993)
- 1918 – Richard D. Winters, American war hero (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Eric "Winkle" Brown, Scottish test pilot
- 1921 – Lincoln Alexander, Canadian politician, 24th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Howard Unruh, American murderer (d. 2009)
- 1922 – Telly Savalas, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1922 – Paul Scofield, English actor (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Lola Flores, Spanish singer (d. 1995)
- 1924 – Benny Hill, English actor, comedian, and singer (d. 1992)
- 1925 – Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-born British author (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Brian Brockless, English organist (d. 1995)
- 1926 – Steve Reeves, American actor (d. 2000)
- 1927 – Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league footballer (d. 1985)
- 1928 – Gene Sharp, American political theorist and pacifist
- 1932 – John Chaney, American basketball coach
- 1933 – Joseph W. Eschbach, American doctor (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Audrey Dalton, Irish actress
- 1935 – Ann Wedgeworth, American actress
- 1936 – Koji Hashimoto, Japanese film director (d. 2005)
- 1937 – Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria
- 1938 – Wolfman Jack, American disk jockey and actor (d. 1995)
- 1938 – John Savident, British actor
- 1940 – Jack Nicklaus, American golfer
- 1941 – Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor
- 1941 – Stathis Giallelis, Greek actor
- 1941 – Richie Havens, American musician
- 1941 – Mike Medavoy, American film producer
- 1941 – Ivan Putski, Polish-born American professional wrestler
- 1942 – Mac Davis, American musician
- 1942 – Edwin Starr, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1943 – Dimitris Poulikakos, Greek actor, songwriter and singer
- 1945 – Martin Shaw, British actor
- 1946 – Johnny Oates, American baseball player and manager (d. 2004)
- 1947 – Jill Eikenberry, American actress
- 1947 – Pye Hastings, English singer and musician (Caravan)
- 1947 – Michel Jonasz, French singer and composer
- 1950 – Agnes van Ardenne, Dutch politician and diplomat.
- 1950 – Gary Locke, American politician, 21st Governor of Washington, 36th United States Secretary of Commerce, and United States Ambassador to China
- 1950 – Billy Ocean, West Indian musician
- 1951 – Eric Holder, American jurist, and 82nd United States Attorney General
- 1952 – Marco Camenisch, Swiss environmental activist
- 1952 – Cyril and Libbye Hellier, identical-twin sopranos
- 1952 – Louis Menand, American writer and critic
- 1953 – Paul Allen, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Microsoft
- 1953 – Glenn Kaiser, Blues-rock, Heavy metal, Rock, R&B (Resurrection Band)
- 1954 – Phil Thompson, English footballer and coach
- 1954 – Idrissa Ouedraogo, Burkinabé filmmaker
- 1955 – Jeff Koons, American artist
- 1956 – Robby Benson, American actor
- 1956 – Geena Davis, American actress
- 1957 – Greg Ryan, American soccer coach
- 1958 – Frank Ticheli, American composer
- 1958 – Michael Wincott, Canadian actor
- 1959 – Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1960 – Toxey Haas, American entrepreneur, founder of Haas Outdoors, Inc.
- 1962 – Tyler Cowen, American economist
- 1962 – Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
- 1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian-born American basketball player
- 1963 – Detlef Schrempf, German basketball player
- 1965 – Jam Master Jay, American disc jockey (d. 2002)
- 1966 – Robert Del Naja, English musician (Massive Attack)
- 1967 – Artashes Minasian, Armenian chess Grandmaster
- 1968 – Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician
- 1968 – Charlotte Ross, American actress
- 1968 – Sundar C., Film Director and Actor
- 1969 – Eduard Hämäläinen, Finnish-Belarusian decathlete
- 1969 – M. K. Hobson, American speculative fiction and fantasy writer
- 1969 – Karina Lombard, American actress
- 1969 – Tsubaki Nekoi, Japanese manga artist
- 1970 – Ken Leung, American actor
- 1970 – Mark Trojanowski, American musician (Sister Hazel)
- 1971 – Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
- 1971 – Tweet, American singer
- 1971 – Doug Weight, American ice hockey player
- 1971 – Sergey Klevchenya, Russian speed skating World Champion
- 1972 – Alan Benes, American baseball player
- 1972 – Rick Falkvinge, Swedish politician
- 1972 – Yasunori Mitsuda, Japanese composer
- 1972 – Cat Power (Chan Marshall), American musician
- 1974 – Rove McManus, Australian television host and comedian
- 1974 – Alex Sperafico, Brazilian racing driver
- 1975 – Nicky Butt, English footballer
- 1975 – Thomas Castaignede, French rugby player
- 1975 – Yuji Ide, Japanese racing driver
- 1975 – Willem Korsten, Dutch footballer
- 1975 – Ito, Spanish footballer
- 1976 – Emma Bunton, English singer (Spice Girls)
- 1976 – Patrick de Lange, Dutch baseball player
- 1977 – Al Baxter, Australian rugby union footballer
- 1977 – Phil Neville, English footballer
- 1977 – Matt Perry, English rugby player
- 1977 – Jerry Trainor, American comedic actor
- 1978 – Bryan Gilmore, National Football League player
- 1978 – Tamir "Nokio" Ruffin, American singer (Dru Hill)
- 1978 – Phil Stacey, American singer
- 1978 – Faris al-Sultan, German-Iraqi triathlete
- 1978 – Andrei Zyuzin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Byung-Hyun Kim, Korean baseball player
- 1979 – Spider Loc, American rapper (G-Unit)
- 1979 – Brian O'Driscoll, Irish rugby union footballer
- 1980 – Dave Kitson, English footballer
- 1980 – Nana Mizuki, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1980 – Mari Possa, Salvadorian-American pornographic actress
- 1980 – Santhanam (actor), Indian actor
- 1980 – Brie Rippner, American tennis player
- 1981 – Gillian Chung, Hong Kong singer and actress (Twins)
- 1981 – Jamie Dalrymple, English cricketer
- 1981 – Ivan Ergić, Serbian footballer
- 1981 – Dany Heatley, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Andy Lee, Korean singer (Shinhwa)
- 1981 – Izabella Miko, Polish actress and model
- 1981 – Michel Teló, Brazilian sertanejo singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Nicolas Mahut, French tennis player
- 1982 – Simon Rolfes, German footballer
- 1982 – Go Shiozaki, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1982 – Dean Whitehead, English footballer
- 1983 – Alex Acker, American basketball player
- 1983 – Maryse Ouellet, Canadian model and professional wrestler
- 1983 – Peter Philipakos, American/Greek soccer player
- 1983 – Niels de Ruiter, Dutch dart player
- 1983 – Moritz Volz, German footballer
- 1984 – Raymond Gutierrez, Filipino actor and television host
- 1984 – Richard Gutierrez, Filipino actor and television host
- 1984 – Robert Ray, American baseball player
- 1985 – Salvatore Giunta, Medal of Honor recipient
- 1985 – Adrian Lewis, English darts player
- 1985 – Álex Pérez, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Sasha Pivovarova, Russian model
- 1985 – Matt Unicomb, Australian basketball player
- 1986 – Peyton Hillis, American football player
- 1986 – Jonathan Quick, American hockey player
- 1986 – Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian actor
- 1987 – Henrico Drost, Dutch footballer
- 1987 – Darren Helm, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Ashton Eaton, American decathlete
- 1988 – Vanessa Hessler, Italian model
- 1988 – William C. Woxlin, Swedish composer
- 1989 – Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Armenian footballer
- 1990 – Jacob Smith, American actor
- 1993 – John Cofie, English footballer
- 1994 – Laura Robson, British tennis player
- 1994 – BooBoo Stewart, American actor and singer (T-Squad)
- 1997 – Jeremy Shada, American actor
- 2001 – Jackson Brundage, American actor
- 2004 – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway
[edit]Deaths
- 304 – Saint Agnes (martyred) (b. 291)
- 496 – Epiphanius, Bishop of Pavia (b. 438)
- 917 – Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (b. c. 880)
- 1118 – Pope Paschal II
- 1519 – Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
- 1527 – Juan de Grijalva, Spanish conquistador (b. c. 1489)
- 1546 – Azai Sukemasa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1491)
- 1609 – Joseph Justus Scaliger, French Protestant scholar (b. 1540)
- 1638 – Ignazio Donati, Italian composer (b. c. 1570)
- 1683 – Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, British politician (b. 1621)
- 1699 – Obadiah Walker, English writer (b. 1616)
- 1706 – Adrien Baillet, French scholar and critic (b. 1649)
- 1710 – Johann Georg Gichtel, German mystic (b. 1638)
- 1722 – Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton, English supporter of William III of England (b. 1661)
- 1731 – Thomas Woolston, English theologian (b. 1669)
- 1731 – Ignjat Đurđević, baroque poet and translator from the Republic of Ragusa (b. 1675)
- 1766 – James Quin, English actor (b. 1693)
- 1773 – Alexis Piron, French writer (b. 1689)
- 1774 – Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1717)
- 1775 – Yemelyan Pugachev, Russian rebel
- 1793 – King Louis XVI of France (executed) (b. 1754)
- 1795 – Samuel Wallis, English navigator (b. 1728)
- 1809 – Josiah Hornblower, American statesman (b. 1729)
- 1814 – Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, French writer and botanist (b. 1737)
- 1823 – Cayetano José Rodríguez, Argentine cleric, journalist and poet (b. 1761)
- 1831 – Ludwig Achim von Arnim, German poet (b. 1781)
- 1836 – Ferenc Novák Hungarian Slovene writer (b. 1791)
- 1851 – Albert Lortzing, German composer (b. 1801)
- 1862 – Božena Němcová, Czech writer (b. 1820)
- 1870 – Alexander Herzen, Russian writer (b. 1812)
- 1872 – Franz Grillparzer, Austrian writer (b. 1791)
- 1881 – Wilhelm Matthias Naeff, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1802)
- 1891 – Calixa Lavallée, Canadian composer (b. 1842)
- 1901 – Elisha Gray, American inventor (b. 1835)
- 1914 – Theodor Kittelsen, Norwegian artist (b. 1857)
- 1919 – Gojong of Joseon, Emperor of Korea (b. 1852)
- 1924 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary (b. 1870)
- 1926 – Camillo Golgi, Italian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1843)
- 1928 – George Goethals, American army engineer (b. 1858)
- 1931 – Felix Blumenfeld, Russian composer (b. 1863)
- 1932 – Giles Lytton Strachey, British writer (b. 1880)
- 1933 – George A. Moore, Irish novelist (b. 1852)
- 1937 – Marie Prevost, Canadian actress (b. 1898)
- 1938 – Georges Méliès, French filmmaker and innovator (b. 1861)
- 1940 – John Duha, American gymnast (b. 1875)
- 1945 – Rash Behari Bose, Indian Freedom Fighter(b.1886)
- 1948 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (b. 1876)
- 1950 – George Orwell, British writer (b. 1903)
- 1955 – Archie Hahn, American athlete (b. 1880)
- 1956 – Sam Langford, Canadian boxer (b. 1883)
- 1959 – Cecil B. DeMille, American director (b. 1881)
- 1959 – Carl Switzer, American actor (b. 1927)
- 1961 – Blaise Cendrars, Swiss writer (b. 1887)
- 1963 – Acharya Shivpujan Sahay, Indian Hindi Writer(b.1893)
- 1965 – Gwynne Evans, American freestyle swimmer and water polo player (b. 1880)
- 1967 – Ann Sheridan, American actress (b. 1915)
- 1968 – Will Lang Jr., American magazine executive (b. 1914)
- 1977 – Sandro Penna, Italian poet (b. 1906)
- 1978 – Freda Utley, British scholar and author. (b. 1898)
- 1984 – Giannis Skaribas, Greek writer, dramatist, and poet (b. 1893)
- 1984 – Jackie Wilson, American musician (Billy Ward and His Dominoes) (b. 1934)
- 1985 – James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
- 1985 – Eddie Graham, American professional wrestler and promoter (b. 1930)
- 1987 – Charles Goodell, American politician (b. 1926)
- 1989 – Carl Furillo, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- 1989 – Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
- 1993 – Charlie Gehringer, American baseball player (b. 1903)
- 1994 – Bassel al-Assad, son of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad (b. 1962)
- 1996 – René Marc Jalbert, sergeant-at-Arms at the National Assembly of Quebec (b. 1921)
- 1997 – Colonel Tom Parker, American manager of Elvis Presley (b. 1909)
- 1998 – Jack Lord, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Charles Brown, American blues singer and pianist (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Susan Strasberg, American actress (b. 1938)
- 2001 – Byron De La Beckwith, American white supremacist (b. 1921)
- 2002 – Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
- 2003 – Paul Haines, American-born Canadian poet (b. 1933)
- 2004 – Yordan Radichkov, Bulgarian writer (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Theun de Vries, Dutch writer (b. 1907)
- 2005 – John L. Hess, American journalist (b. 1917)
- 2006 – Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo (b. 1944)
- 2006 – Bedanand Jha, Nepalese politician
- 2007 – Maria Cioncan, Romanian athlete (b. 1977)
- 2007 – U;Nee, Korean pop artist (b. 1981)
- 2008 – Pam Barrett, Canadian politician (b. 1953)
- 2008 – Marie Smith Jones, last native speaker of the Eyak language (b. 1918)
- 2008 – Kenneth Parnell, American convicted sex offender (b. 1931)
- 2009 – Veatrice Rice, American television personality (b. 1949)
- 2010 – Paul Quarrington, Canadian novelist, playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, musician and educator (b. 1953)
- 2011 – Dennis Oppenheim, American conceptual artist (b. 1938)
- 2011 – E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Indian film director and producer (b. 1958)
[edit]Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- Errol Barrow Day (Barbados)
- Flag Day (Quebec)
- Lady of Altagracia Day (Dominican Republic)
- National Hug Day (United States)
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If Koch broke the law, we’re even madder than I feared
Andrew BoltJANUARY212013(2:53pm)
I can’t believe how brainless and punitive this country has suddenly become. Take this response to a TV host’s opinion that breastfeeding mothers should be a little discreet when breastfeeding in public, given how some people felt about bared breasts in a public area:
The Australian Breastfeeding Association slammed Koch’s remarks but said it was an opportunity to educate the Australian public about the need to support breastfeeding mothers.
”It is an opportunity to say (Koch’s) comments are illegal: you can’t discriminate against any mother at any time,” spokesperson Meredith Laverty said.
David Koch’s comment is now illegal? He is banned by law from expressing his opinion?
That a spokesman of a presumably respectable body such as the Australian Breastfeeding Association should so lightly declare illegal an essentially trivial comment in a trivial debate should scare you.
Did you know it was illegal to say you’d rather not see mothers breastfeeding their babies in, say, a restaurant? What other innocent comment might now land you in court?
Once it was enough to simple disagree with someone. To argue back. Now the first instinct of the activist is to win a debate by calling in the speech police to shut down dissent. Now the Gillard Government wants new laws that may make it illegal for you even to express your religious or political views at work.
Time to fight back.
(Thanks to reader David.)
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Essential: Gillard still in death zone
Andrew BoltJANUARY212013(2:20pm)
The latest Essential Research poll doesn’t detect the cliff-hanger Newspoll claims to see.Labor is still stuck on 46 per cent to the Coalition’s 54, 2PP.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will soon be back in the fray, having had time for reflection over the break. He may, with profit, have decided that much as he may wish to respond to Labor’s slimy character assassination, his wisest course is to relentlessly wrench the conversation back to the economy and to trust. What Labor has promised - and is promising - must be contrasted with its actual delivery. Can we believe a word Gillard says? Can we really trust her with our money and our jobs? This reckless spending must stop. The green tape must be slashed. Let’s create wealth before we let government spend it.
And I’d plea for an end to such bitter division and the punishment of dissent. Australians shouldn’t be in fear of criticising their government. Newspapers shouldn’t be threatened. Journalists should not fear the sack for what they say. Australians shouldn’t be scared to speak their mind, whether at work or at the football. Time for some sunshine.
One thing may have to be fine-tuned. unless Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare has decided to no longer announce boat arrivals, no asylum seekers have arrived by boat so far this year.
UPDATE
How naive of me not to immediately assume the Gillard Government had simply stopped announcing new boat arrivals. In fact:
The latest boat arrival, carrying 78 people, is the second asylum seeker vessel in a row to be transferred directly to the mainland, despite Labor’s promise to implement tough new offshore processing policies, Shadow Minister for Justice, Customs and Border Protection Michael Keenan said… “Every illegal boat arrival for 2013 has been transferred directly to the mainland, sending a strong and clear message to the people smugglers that this Labor Government just isn’t serious about stopping them.”
And three minutes ago, this news:
(Thanks to reader The Realist.)
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ReachTEL: Newman needs to work on the charm
Andrew BoltJANUARY212013(2:01pm)
Queenslsnd Premier Campbell Newman has had a lot of financial repairs to make of the scale Jeff Kennett tackled in Victoria. That, and a largely hostile media, has hurt him - as have unforced errors by a man who should learn that being Premier is not just about ordering but persuading. Still, LNP support is up a bit after the Christmas break, as you’d expect, and has largely plateaued over the past half year. Newman should now have the worst behind, and the sugar still to come.
Among the ReachTEL results:
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How laws against free speech protected the cheat Armstrong
Andrew BoltJANUARY212013(10:16am)
Here’s a warning that just the threat of legal action can stifle free speech - and true speech - if the laws are too strict:
IT MAY have taken him 13 years, but today British sports journalist and author David Walsh got the confession he thought would never come.
Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong’s interview with Oprah may have been televised in Britain at 2am but Walsh, 57, didn’t miss a word.The chief sports writer for Britain’s The Sunday Times has relentlessly pursued Armstrong over his use of banned substances since the American cyclist won his first Tour de France and at that time, and for the next decade, was a lone voice in that claim against the man who was a cycling god to most.
They quite rightly now want the money back - with interest.
Laws to temper free speech tend to cause far more harm than good, in my opinion. Take even the rise of the Nazis. The true problem was not that they were free to publish their vile propaganda, but that others were not free to damn it.
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Green schemes mean red ink
Andrew BoltJANUARY212013(10:10am)
Yet another green scheme drowns in red ink:
The $2.4 billion project is a cornerstone of the “water grid” that was constructed at breakneck speed with little expense spared by the state’s Labor governments under Anna Bligh and Peter Beattie, in the teeth of a drought that had threatened to empty dams supplying the Queensland capital.
There is something about the word “green” that makes politicians of the Left think the normal rules of cost-benefit analysis no longer apply.
Note also that like Queensland’s already mothballed desalination plant (one of four already mothballed around Australia), the recycling scheme was built in part by politicians who were persuaded by warmist “experts” that the rains would dry up, making traditional and much cheaper dams no longer reliable. Dams were such a green sin anyway that they were only to glad to be fooled.
UPDATE
A similar disaster with a similar cause in Victoria:
VICTORIA’S multibillion-dollar desalination plant could be in mothballs for years with Water Minister Peter Walsh making it a personal goal never to order water from the plant that is costing Victorians almost $2 million a day.
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The only promises the Greens want kept are to them
Andrew BoltJANUARY212013(9:30am)
The Greens didn’t care in the slightest when Julia Gillard broke a promise to voters - to never introduce a carbon tax.
But they are sure cross now that Gillard breaks yet another promise - because this time it’s a promise to the Greens:
The minor party leader says Ms Gillard “hasn’t been as transparent as she promised she would be” in a letter promising monthly revenue updates, written to then-Green leader Bob Brown when the tax legislation was before parliament.
UPDATE
But what is worse? The dishonesty or the incompetence?
The tax on the super profits of coal and iron ore miners was forecast to raise about $2 billion in 2012-13 but industry sources say the big three miners - BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata - don’t expect to make any payments this week for the December quarter, repeating the reported outcome in the September quarter.
When the Government announced the tax in 2011, it promised the money would go to three great new schemes:
The revenue from the MRRT will:
Secure a boost to the superannuation of 8.4 million workers, increasing their pool of retirement savings by $500 billion by 2035, according to the Federal Treasury;Deliver a special new tax benefit for 2.7 million small businesses and a cut in company tax;
Fund vital infrastructure to help address capacity constraints, particularly in the nation’s fast-growing mining regions.
The cut to the business tax is already another broken promise, but what of the other schemes? If Labor’s tax raises no money, it should mean that the schemes it promised to buy with that specific cash no longer go ahead.
Or was dedicating the tax to these specific spending plans just more Labor spin?
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Gillard discovers China, but loses Rudd
Andrew BoltJANUARY212013(8:27am)
Pardon? Julia Gillard has “identified” the rise of China as a key security issue?
JULIA Gillard will this week identify the rise of China and a massive escalation in cyber attacks against government and industry as two of the key security issues facing the nation in a major address designed to strengthen Labor’s defence credentials.
Excuse my surprise, but I thought this challenge had already been identified by a Labor Prime Minister - and many times. For example…
How, therefore, do we, two great Pacific democracies — Australia and the United States — best analyze, anticipate, and act in a manner that positively impacts the future shape of the Pacific Century? The rise of China and later India represents one of the four or five mega challenges of our time ...
Mr Speaker, consistent with this priority, I seek leave to present to the house Australia’s first National Security Statement…
The global and regional order is now changing so rapidly that we must continue to reassess our evolving national security needs… Today we live at the dawn of the Asia-Pacific century. With it comes the potential for fundamental change in the global order, resulting in both economic opportunities and potential security concerns for Australia…
The most crucial relationship, in East Asia and globally, will be between the United States and China. For Australia, the relationships between China, the US and Japan will affect our security ...
China has come from being an impoverished state 30 years or so ago to being one of this region’s great powers and is on track to become a global great power. Therefore, it’s entirely right that the Americans, ourselves and others talk about how these rising powers, including India, contribute to a regional and global rules-based order. And the reason is that provides the stability for the future, and that strategic stability then makes economic growth and jobs possible as well.
China has become the embodiment of the great east Asian transformation… Yet this deep structural shift in the underlying drivers of international relations, a structural shift that is happening before our eyes, is one for which the collective West is woefully unprepared… If this is the case, how will China exercise its power in the future international order? Will it accept the culture, norms and structure of the post-war order? Or will China seek to change it? I believe this is the single core question for the first half of the 21st century, not just for Asia but for the world.
Curious.
So how does Gillard explain why she now needs to do over exactly the same ground covered so often before by Rudd, long touted by Labor as its true China expert?
Sources familiar with the document described it as a “much more substantial” contribution than then prime minister Kevin Rudd’s 2008 national security statement to parliament, which was criticised for being too vague and wide-ranging and was hastily rewritten in the lead-up to its delivery.
“Much more substantial”? From Gillard? Hmm.
It’s interesting that Labor decides now to disparage the national security statement presented by its own leader less than five years ago. That “vague” and “hastily rewritten” document addressing vital security issues actually represented the position of a government whose deputy leader then was ... Julia Gillard.
Still, she does now promise something better. But what is this “better”?:
The Australian understands Ms Gillard’s statement will contain no new policy initiatives or resource commitments. Instead, the document focuses on Australia’s strategic environment - in particular, the growing economic, political and military clout of China.
“The remarkable growth and opportunity we see in Asia could not have happened without an environment of relative peace and stability,” Ms Gillard will tell her audience. “Continuing and deepening that atmosphere of relative peace and stability is at the forefront of Australia’s national security agenda. Indeed, nothing is more important in Australia’s security outlook.”
Wow. That’s “better”?
Yes, insists Gillard’s staff:
...the document will be more “strategic” in its perspective than Mr Rudd’s 2008 statement, focusing more on regional flashpoints and potential conflicts.
Like this, perhaps, from Rudd last year?
[Kevin Rudd] , in a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs said the rise of China would be a core driver of global change until mid-century at least.China and various states of South-East Asia had long-standing and conflicting territorial, resource and maritime claims in the South China Sea and tensions had been running high, Mr Rudd said.
Sounds like just more waffle from a Prime Minister desperate to hide the real self-inflicted challenge to our security - her grossly irresponsible cuts to the defence Budget Rudd once said needed boosting:
The head of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Locklear, [last year] questioned whether Australian defence spending had fallen too far below a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation benchmark of 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott backed the accusations, although Prime Minister Julia Gillard insisted the Australia-US alliance had been strengthened under her leadership.
Rudd is alarmed and appalled by the cuts in defence spending. I suspect he’ll be even more ropable to find Gillard now trashing his China analysis for camouflage.
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Snowed by the experts
Andrew BoltJANUARY212013(8:05am)
In 2000, scientists at perhaps the world’s centre of global warming alarmism issued this prediction:
According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, within a few years winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event”.
”Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” he said.
It’s now 2013 - which surely must now qualify as “within a few years”.
On Friday, Moscow was on a verge of traffic collapse as more than 10 inches of snow fell on the city, which is more than half of January’s average… In the Altai Republic in Western Siberia, 12 Russian settlements were isolated because of the snowstorm…
In the end of 2012, Russia saw extreme winter not witnessed since 1938. The coldest-ever December in Russia led to the evacuation of hundreds of people in Siberia, where temperatures fell below -50 degrees Celsius; Moscow also saw its coldest night ever for the season.
Snow is expected to blanket the UK for the next week, with no end to the freezing conditions in sight.
Snowfalls across western Europe have disrupted travel plans, with cancellations and closures at some major airports.
I really don’t think global warming is working out as the experts predicted.
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Protest now before they shut you up
Andrew BoltJANUARY212013(7:10am)
It is astonishing that Australia has a government so authoritarian - and it is depressing that Australians aren’t united in howling down such an arrogant attack on their freedom to say what they think:
LEGAL experts have questioned whether Labor’s draft anti-discrimination laws are constitutional, arguing the expansion of federal powers is a step too far into community life that will ensnare students, parents, employees and even sports spectators.
As the Senate inquiry into the bill prepares to hold its first hearings this week, constitutional law professors Nicholas Aroney of the University of Queensland and Patrick Parkinson of the University of Sydney say it could also fall foul of our international obligations and may lead to successful court challenges.
The Greens yesterday joined the chorus of concerns over the proposed legislation, which will make it unlawful to offend or insult others.
Even the Greens think Labor is too authoritarian?
Not just that, even some impeccably Leftist comedians - well, Ben Elton, at least - are astonished to find themselves suddenly so badgered. Elton is yet to defend his free speech, but does draw the line at Government nagging over smoking and drinking:
Complain while it’s still legal, Ben.
UPDATE
Complain about attacks on our right to speak? Forget it. Far easier to give in. Paul Sheehan on the visit next month of Geert Wilders, leader of a political party with 16 seats in the Dutch Parliament:
Debbie Robinson, a small business operator who describes herself as an ordinary citizen, wants to bring to Australia a Dutch political leader who is a supporter of democracy, freedom of religion, feminism and gay rights. But when she started making arrangements all she encountered was fear.
‘’In Sydney, venues that were initially available were cancelled or would not take the booking when they realised who the speaker was,’’ she told me. She provided a list of rejections: the Hilton Hotel, North Sydney Leagues Club, Sydney Masonic Centre, Wesley Convention Centre, Luna Park Function Centre, the Concourse at Chatswood and the Sir John Clancy Auditorium at the University of NSW.
‘’I offered a church-based venue in Sydney a donation and their reply was, ‘You could offer $4 million and we would not accept your booking’.’’Finding venues was not her only problem. ‘’Earlier in the year I approached APN Outdoor to arrange a four-week run of bus ads in Sydney. The artwork was forwarded to them and I was quoted a price for the job … Then I was advised they would not be able to run the ad as it was too political and would result in the buses being damaged and defaced. They would not say who would do the damage.’’
The same happened in Perth, where Robinson lives, when venues declined to take her booking, including the Burswood Casino. When she tried to organise a payments system for the tour, she was rejected by Westpac. The bank, which has been courting the Chinese Communist government for years, wanted nothing to do with this Dutch democrat.
Wilders’ crime? He warns that Islamism is a threat to freedoms once thought important to the West - like, ha!, free speech. (Check the video.)
And to prove his point - and to whip up the demonisation of this man - is the Gillard Government yet again:
Wilders was scheduled to be in Australia [last year]. The trip was cancelled after it was sabotaged by the Minister for Immigration, Chris Bowen.
The minister then had the gall to write an opinion piece, published in The Australian on October 2 last year, in which he claimed, ‘’I have decided not to intervene to deny [Wilders] a visa because I believe that our democracy is strong enough, our multiculturalism robust enough and our commitment to freedom of speech entrenched enough that our society can withstand the visit of a fringe commentator.’’
Reality check: Bowen’s department sat on Wilders’ visa application for almost two months, then acted only after the minister received public criticism and Wilders was cancelling his trip.
The truth is that Western freedoms are safer with Wilders than with the Gillard Government. It would be more appropriate for Holland to ban visits from Julia Gillard than Australia to ban Wilders.
UPDATE
You don’t have to agree with Wilders, or endorse his style. But on our right to hear him - and his right to speak here - there can be no compromise. One way to defend both is by booking a seat at one of his speeches here:
(Thanks to reader Peter.)
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ROTTEN, BLOODY, POOFTER, COMMO, MONGREL BASTARDS
Tim Blair – Monday, January 21, 2013 (2:21pm)
Freedom of expression in Australia is in grave danger. Or it isn’t. Depends on who you ask.
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HE’D KNOW
Tim Blair – Monday, January 21, 2013 (2:17pm)
Fairfax columnist John Birmingham, June 2011.
Fairfax columnist John Birmingham, October 2012.
Fairfax columnist John Birmingham, January 2013.
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BROKEN RECORD
Tim Blair – Monday, January 21, 2013 (12:27pm)
So NSW last week endured its “hottest day ever”. Well, at least for as long as records exist.
Which isn’t all that long. Our continent began to take its current form around 96 million years ago. Weather records go back only 150 or so years. They therefore represent just 0.00015 per cent of Australia’s entire weather history.
If cricket records were so limited, Ricky Ponting’s career stats wouldn’t list 13,378 Test runs. They wouldn’t list even one run. Instead, Ponting would be just one-fifth of a millimetre towards his first single.
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THE GIANT CAKE WAS EXCELLENT
Tim Blair – Monday, January 21, 2013 (12:04pm)
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SPOKESWOMAN
Tim Blair – Monday, January 21, 2013 (11:59am)
A cyclist-hating pedestrian advocates direct action against the two-wheeled:
From now on, rain, hail or shine, you will see me walking with an umbrella. Held at right angles.
Let’s hope that Elizabeth Farrelly is prepared to meet the skull-cracking challenge presented by her fellow SMH columnist Jane Caro.
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PUT A KNIFE IN HIS BACK AND IT’D BE PERFECT
Tim Blair – Monday, January 21, 2013 (4:00am)
Reader David G. pays tribute to a former Prime Minister:
In her own sweet way, the current Prime Minister also pays tribute:
In her own sweet way, the current Prime Minister also pays tribute:
Julia Gillard will this week identify the rise of China and a massive escalation in cyber attacks against government and industry as two of the key security issues facing the nation …Sources familiar with the document described it as a “much more substantial” contribution than then prime minister Kevin Rudd’s 2008 national security statement to parliament.
Could anything be more calculated to hurt Rudd than a Gillard speech about China? Forget Mandarin; she struggles with English. These two should take another walk along Labor’s hallway of friendship.
UPDATE. Previously, the ABC’s John Doyle drooled over Gillard’s negotiation abilities:
Negotiation is your great skill, isn’t it? Anyone who’s had any dealings with you, they say you’re a wonderful negotiator. Where do these skills come from?
From nowhere, according to Greens leader Christine Milne:
The negotiation skills of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, are not all they are cracked up to be, says the leader of the Greens, Christine Milne, as pressure mounts on the government to release details of the mining tax, which is believed to have raised little revenue so far.‘’The Prime Minister is always cited as a great negotiator but I have pointed out it’s not about whether you get an agreement, it’s about whether the agreement you get actually delivers,” Senator Milne said.
Milne ought to know. Her party forced Gillard into the carbon tax … an agreement that delivered nothing, except confirmation of the Prime Minister’s dishonesty.
UPDATE. Further from Andrew Bolt, now returned for the US.
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ALL IN, ONE IN
Tim Blair – Monday, January 21, 2013 (3:40am)
Politically-correct comedian Ben Elton needs pack support:
‘’If everyone would agree to be a vegetarian, I’d go with it because I know that meat is destroying the world,’’ he says.
They love a consensus, your PC types. Although the Australian resident breaks ranks over Roxon rules:
Elton relates how he harangued a government official who was claiming credit for plain cigarette packaging. He doesn’t argue with smoking restrictions, but told the official he was ‘’coming after ya’’ if he started putting pictures of rotting livers on wine bottles. ‘’When did we elect a government to wag its finger at us, at every possible pleasure?’’
In 2007. Pay attention, Ben.
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OUT OF CONTEXT = CAUGHT
Tim Blair – Monday, January 21, 2013 (3:07am)
I see Mohamed Morsi, poster boy for the Arab Spring, has now fallen back on the old defense that these touchy over-sensitive Jews have to learn to distinguish between anti-Semitism and legitimate and thoughtful criticism of Israeli policies. Presidential spokesman Yasser Ali now says that Mr. Morsi’s remarks that Jews are “bloodsuckers” and “descendants of apes and pigs” and that Egyptian children must be “breastfed hatred” for them were ”taken out of context.”
It’s a definition problem. The Macquarie Dictionary should really get on to this.
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We have leaders that are out of their depth and I feel sorry for them. I am sure they mean well. Bad judgement should not be rewarded. I feel when people act tribally, but not rationally, they make great soccer crowds, but lousy political parties - ed
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This one should make us all hopping mad.
It’s just been reported that Federal Labor’s $1.6 billion in cuts to public hospital funding has resulted in the forced closure of one in every six beds at Melbourne's main cancer hospital – the Peter MacCallum Cancer Hospital.
The bed closures follow similar cuts around Victoria including bed closures at the Austin Hospital, Frankston Hospital, Colac Hospital and Ballarat Base Hospital.
And these cuts are on top of the Gillard Government’s recent slashing of funding for private health insurance of nearly $4 billion - as well as nearly $1 billion a year cut from dental health through the closure of the Medicare Chronic Disease Dental Scheme.
This is why Labor’s waste, reckless spending and policy blunders are so detrimental – for ultimately it’s the most vulnerable in our society that end up paying the price.>
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Thrust SSC (Coventry)
This is the fastest land vehicle. The fastest car on earth with the top speed of 1222 km/h! This one is actually faster than a speed of sound and its twin engine horse power exceeds power of 140 formula 1 racer cars combined!
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Tattoo idolises a police killer - ed
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Just another example of Labor’s skills ……………….
When Mr Albanese announced the start of construction of the extra freight line back in February 2009, he put the cost at $309 million. However, the final cost blew out to about $1 billion - more than THREE TIMES the budget.
But hey, what’s a lazy $700 million over spend, when Labor’s combined budget surpluses are $174 billion and counting.
And also back in Feb 2009, Mr Albanese forecast the completion date of early 2010 - about 12 months for the project to be completed. However, it’s only just finished - taking FOUR TIMES longer than forecast.
And that's what Labor call a "success".>
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Yes you would .. until you had told her .. - ed
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Quite so - ed
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Very happy to drop by Andrew Rohan, Liberal for Smithfield's office and discuss important issues with Zaya Toma. Dai Le was also there and busy. Past to Zaya Uong Nguyen's book I Am a New Creation: The story of Pastor Uong Nguyen. And stirred sibling rivalry ..
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For TMN
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Israel Defense Forces:
Three years ago, an IDF aid delegation departed for Haiti. Israelis treated 1,100 patients, completed 317 surgeries and delivered 16 babies in the earthquake-ravaged country. We're always ready to save lives anywhere in the world.
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Patches of light that sometimes appear beside the sun, called sundogs, are seen in this beautiful picture of a sunrise over Park City, Utah, by Don Brown. But, what causes these phantom suns?http://oak.ctx.ly/r/1xv1
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Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.—Jn 14:27
Beloved, you did not get just anyone’s peace. You inherited the peace of Jesus Himself! The peace that Jesus gives you is the same peace that calmed the boisterous storm.
It is the kind of peace that is not affected by the surroundings or circumstances, but goes forth and affects that very situation for good! With His peace, you can walk victoriously over every storm! You will overcome every challenge! You will reign over every adverse situation!
So take heart and rest easy! You have the peace of the Prince of Peace Himself!
http://josephprince.com/
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