THE PLACE TO BE
Tim Blair – Thursday, February 07, 2013 (2:39pm)
Where market forces don’t apply:
The ABC has defied tight conditions across the media sector to win a $10 million government increase in its news budget.The ABC’s director of news, Kate Torney, told staff in a speech at the broadcaster’s Ultimo head office today that was broadcast to ABC news offices around the country that there was “No better place to be if you’re a journalist than the ABC”.
Just wondering … is 2013 an election year?
===
- 457 – Leo I was crowned Byzantine emperor, and went on to rule for nearly 20 years.
- 1914 – The film Kid Auto Races at Venice, featuring the first appearance of comedy actor Charlie Chaplin's character "The Tramp" (pictured), was released.
- 1943 – World War II: Japan successfully withdrew its troops fromGuadalcanal.
- 1999 – Abdullah II became the reigning King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordanfollowing the death of his father King Hussein.
- 2009 – A series of 400 individual bushfires ignited across the Australian state ofVictoria on Black Saturday, eventually resulting in 173 total deaths, the highest ever loss of life from a bushfire in Australia.
===
Events
- 457 – Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
- 1074 – Pandulf IV of Benevento is killed battling the invading Normans at the Battle of Montesarchio.
- 1301 – Edward of Caernarvon (later King Edward II of England) becomes the first English Prince of Wales.
- 1497 – The bonfire of the vanities occurs in which supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of objects like cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy.
- 1783 – American Revolutionary War: French and Spanish forces lift the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
- 1795 – The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
- 1807 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Eylau – Napoléon's French Empire begins fighting against Russian and Prussian forces of the Fourth Coalition at Eylau, Poland.
- 1812 – The strongest in a series of earthquakes strikes New Madrid, Missouri.
- 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles leaves Singapore after just taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar.
- 1842 – Battle of Debre Tabor: Ras Ali Alula, Regent of the Emperor of Ethiopia defeats warlord Wube Haile Maryam of Semien.
- 1856 – The colonial Tasmanian Parliament passes the second piece of legislation (the Electoral Act of 1856) anywhere in the world providing for elections by way of asecret ballot.
- 1863 – HMS Orpheus sinks off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.
- 1894 – The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, begins in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
- 1897 – Greco-Turkish War: The first full-scale battle takes place when the Greek expeditionary force in Crete defeats a 4,000-strong Ottoman force at Livadeia.
- 1898 – Émile Zola is brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: British troops fail in their third attempt to lift the Siege of Ladysmith.
- 1904 – A fire in Baltimore, Maryland destroys over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
- 1907 – The Mud March is the first large procession organized by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).
- 1935 – The classic board game Monopoly is invented.
- 1940 – The second full length animated Walt Disney film, Pinocchio, premieres.
- 1943 – Imperial Japanese naval forces complete the evacuation of Imperial Japanese Army troops from Guadalcanal during Operation Ke, ending Japanese attempts to retake the island from Alliedforces in the Guadalcanal Campaign.
- 1944 – World War II: In Anzio, Italy, German forces launch a counteroffensive during the Allied Operation Shingle.
- 1948 – Neil Harvey becomes the youngest Australian to score a century in Test cricket.
- 1951 – Korean War: Sancheong-Hamyang massacre
- 1962 – The United States bans all Cuban imports and exports.
- 1964 – The Beatles first arrived in the United States. Their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show two days later would mark the beginning of the British Invasion.
- 1974 – Grenada gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1976 – Darryl Sittler sets an NHL record for scoring 10 points in a single game.
- 1979 – Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered.
- 1984 – Space Shuttle program: STS-41-B Mission – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
- 1986 – Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti, when President Jean-Claude Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.
- 1990 – Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.
- 1991 – Haiti's first democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
- 1992 – The Maastricht Treaty is signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.
- 1995 – Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is arrested in Islamabad, Pakistan.
- 1999 – Crown Prince Abdullah becomes the King of Jordan on the death of his father, King Hussein.
- 2009 – Bushfires in Victoria left 173 dead in the worst natural disaster in Australia's history.
- 2012 – President Mohamed Nasheed of the Republic of Maldives resigns, after 23 days of anti-governmental protests calling for the release of Chief Judge unlawfully arrested by the military.
[edit]Births
- 572 – Prince Shōtoku of Japan (d. 622)
- 1102 – Empress Matilda, Princess of England and wife of Henry V of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1169)
- 1478 – Sir Thomas More, English statesman, humanist and author (d. 1535)
- 1612 – Thomas Killigrew, English dramatist (d. 1683)
- 1693 – Empress Anna of Russia (d. 1740)
- 1741 – Henry Fuseli, Swiss artist (d. 1825)
- 1758 – Benedikt Schack, Czech composer and tenor (d. 1826)
- 1804 – John Deere, American manufacturer (Deere & Company) (d. 1886)
- 1812 – Charles Dickens, English novelist (d. 1870)
- 1837 – Sir James Murray, Scottish lexicographer and philologist (d. 1915)
- 1842 – Alexandre Ribot, French statesman (d. 1923)
- 1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)
- 1870 – Alfred Adler, Austrian psychologist (d. 1937)
- 1873 – Thomas Andrews, British shipbuilder on the RMS Titanic (d. 1912)
- 1877 – G. H. Hardy, English mathematician (d. 1947)
- 1878 – Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Russian-American pianist and conductor (d. 1936)
- 1885 – Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1951)
- 1885 – Hugo Sperrle, German field marshal (d. 1953)
- 1886 – Yehezkel Abramsky, Russian rabbi, head of the London Beth Din for 17 years (d. 1976)
- 1887 – Eubie Blake, American musician and composer (d. 1983)
- 1889 – Harry Nyquist, important contributor to information theory (d. 1976)
- 1891 – Ann Little, American actress (d. 1984)
- 1893 – Joesph Pearce, Canadian astronomer (d. 1988)
- 1895 – Anita Stewart, American film actress (d. 1961)
- 1898 – Dock Boggs, American musician (d. 1971)
- 1901 – Arnold Nordmeyer, New Zealand politician (d. 1989)
- 1905 – Ulf von Euler, Swedish physiologist, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1983)
- 1905 – Paul Nizan, French author (d. 1940)
- 1906 – Oleg Antonov, Soviet aircraft designer (d. 1984)
- 1906 – Puyi, Emperor of China (d. 1967)
- 1908 – Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor (d. 1983)
- 1908 – Fred Gipson, American author (d. 1973)
- 1909 – Hélder Câmara, Roman Catholic archbishop (d. 1999)
- 1909 – Wilhelm Freddie, Danish painter (d. 1995)
- 1909 – Amedeo Guillet, former officer of the Italian Army (d. 2010)
- 1909 – Silvio Zavala, Mexican historian
- 1912 – Russell Drysdale, Australian Artist (d. 1981)
- 1912 – Roberta McCain, American, mother of John McCain
- 1914 – Ramón Mercader, Spanish assassin of Leon Trotsky (d. 1978)
- 1915 – Eddie Bracken, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1915 – Teoctist, Ex-Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church (d. 2007)
- 1918 – Markey Robinson, Northern Irish painter (d. 1999)
- 1920 – Oscar Brand, Canadian folk musicologist
- 1920 – An Wang, Chinese computer pioneer (d. 1990)
- 1922 – Hattie Jacques, English actress (d. 1980)
- 1923 – Martha Holmes, American photographer (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Dora Bryan, English actress and singer
- 1925 – Hans Schmidt, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 2012)
- 1926 – John Frank Davidson, British chemical engineer and Royal Medal holder
- 1926 – Konstantin Feoktistov, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Juliette Gréco, French singer and actor
- 1927 – Vladimir Kuts, Russian runner (d. 1975)
- 1929 – Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean filmmaker
- 1932 – Gay Talese, American author
- 1932 – Al Worden, American astronaut
- 1933 – John Anderton, English footballer
- 1934 – Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese politician, Prime Minister (1987-1996, 1998-2004); President (2004-2009)
- 1934 – King Curtis, American saxophonist (d. 1971)
- 1934 – Earl King, American musician (d. 2003)
- 1935 – Herbert Kohl, American politician
- 1937 – Juan Pizarro, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1938 – S. Ramachandran Pillai, Indian communist leader
- 1939 – Ray Taliaferro, American radio talkshow host
- 1941 – Peter Foxhall, Australian evangelist
- 1943 – Gareth Hunt, English actor (d. 2007)
- 1945 – Gerald Davies, Welsh rugby player
- 1945 – Ian Jack, Scottish journalist
- 1946 – Hector Babenco, Brazilian director
- 1946 – Sammy Johns, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1946 – Pete Postlethwaite, English actor (d. 2011)
- 1946 – Gérard Jean-Juste, Haitian priest and activist (d. 2009)
- 1947 – Wayne Allwine, American voice artist (d. 2009)
- 1947 – Ross Lonsberry, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1949 – Joe English, American drummer (Wings, Sea Level)
- 1949 – Paulo César Carpegiani, Brazilian footballer and coach
- 1949 – Jacques Duchesneau, Canadian civil servant and Chief of Police
- 1951 – Benny Ayala, baseball player
- 1952 – Vasco Rossi, Italian singer
- 1953 – Dan Quisenberry, American baseball player (d. 1998)
- 1954 – Dieter Bohlen German composer
- 1954 – Brian Morton, Scottish writer
- 1955 – Rolf Benirschke, American football player
- 1955 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor
- 1956 – Emo Philips, American comedian
- 1956 – Mark St. John, American musician (Kiss) (d. 2007)
- 1957 – Richard Cook, British jazz writer (d. 2007)
- 1957 – Carney Lansford, American baseball player
- 1958 – Matt Ridley, British scientist and writer
- 1960 – Robert Smigel, American actor and comedian
- 1960 – James Spader, American actor
- 1962 – Garth Brooks, American singer
- 1962 – David Bryan, American musician (Bon Jovi)
- 1962 – Eddie Izzard, British actor and comedian
- 1964 – Ashok Banker, Indian novelist
- 1964 – Ray Mears, British survival expert and TV presenter
- 1964 – Cynthia Woodhead, American swimmer
- 1965 – Jason Gedrick, American actor
- 1965 – Petr Váša, Czech poet, singer-songwriter, experimental actor and artist
- 1965 – Chris Rock, American actor and comedian
- 1966 – Kristin Otto, German swimmer
- 1967 – Richie Burnett, Welsh darts player
- 1967 – Cheung Man, Hong Kong actress
- 1968 – Peter Bondra, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1968 – Sully Erna, American singer (Godsmack)
- 1968 – Mark Tewksbury, Canadian swimmer
- 1969 – Adriano, Brazilian footballer
- 1969 – Yves Racine, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Stanley Roberts, American basketball player
- 1971 – Anita Tsoy, Russian singer
- 1972 – Essence Atkins, American actress
- 1972 – Robyn Lively, American actress
- 1972 – Amon Tobin, Brazilian musician
- 1973 – Irina Björklund, Finnish actress
- 1973 – Juwan Howard, American basketball player
- 1974 – Cheryl Cosim, Filipina journalist
- 1974 – J Dilla, American record producer (d. 2006)
- 1974 – Nujabes, Japanese hip hop producer (d. 2010)
- 1974 – Danny Goffey, British musician (Supergrass)
- 1974 – Steve Nash, Canadian basketball player
- 1975 – Wes Borland, American guitarist (Limp Bizkit)
- 1975 – Alexandre Daigle, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976 – Kelly Choi, Korean/American TV hostess
- 1976 – Sreto Ristić, German footballer
- 1977 – Georgios Alexopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1977 – Paul Comrie, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Japanese footballer
- 1977 – Dimitris Papanikolaou, Greek basketball player
- 1977 – Mariusz Pudzianowski, Polish strongman
- 1978 – David Aebischer, Swiss ice hockey player
- 1978 – Endy Chávez, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1978 – Ashton Kutcher, American actor
- 1978 – Daniel Van Buyten, Belgian footballer
- 1979 – Daniel Bierofka, German footballer
- 1979 – Nicola Campedelli, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Jon Leicester, American baseball player
- 1979 – Cerina Vincent, American actress
- 1980 – Kevin J. Boyle, American politician
- 1980 – Maximiliano Cejas, Argentine footballer
- 1981 – Lee Ok-Sung, South Korean boxer
- 1981 – Darcy Dolce Neto, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Osamu Mukai, Japanese actor
- 1982 – Mickael Pietrus, French basketball player
- 1983 – Scott Feldman, American baseball player
- 1983 – Teshome Getu, Ethiopian footballer
- 1983 – Georgios Gougoulias, Greek footballer
- 1983 – Federico Marchetti, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Christian Klien, Austrian racing driver
- 1983 – Sho Kamogawa, Japanese football player
- 1984 – Trey Hardee, American decathlete
- 1985 – Tina Majorino, American actress
- 1985 – Devis Nossa, Italian footballer
- 1985 – Deborah Ann Woll, American actress
- 1986 – Michael Orozco Fiscal, American footballer
- 1986 – Lina Stančiūtė, Lithuanian tennis player
- 1986 – Pippa Wilson, British sailor
- 1986 – Stephen Colletti, American TV star
- 1987 – Brea Bennett, American pornographic actress
- 1987 – Joe Cardle, British footballer
- 1987 – Kerli, Estonian singer
- 1988 – Lee Don-Ku, South Korean ice hockey player
- 1988 – Nikola Fraňková, Czech tennis player
- 1988 – Albin Hodza, French footballer
- 1988 – Lee Joon, Korean singer (MBLAQ)
- 1988 – Ai Kago, Japanese singer (W and Minimoni)
- 1988 – Matthew Stafford, American football player
- 1989 – Nick Calathes, Greek basketball player
- 1989 – Louisa Lytton, British actress
- 1989 – Alexis Rolín, Uruguayan footballer
- 1990 – Anna Abreu, Finnish singer
- 1990 – Neil Etheridge, English/Filipino footballer
- 1990 – Steven Stamkos, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1991 – Ryan O'Reilly, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1991 – Zhou Yimiao, Chinese tennis player
- 1992 – Maimi Yajima, Japanese singer (Cute)
- 1993 – David Dorfman, American actor
- 1996 – David Castro, American actor
- 1996 – Mai Hagiwara, Japanese singer (Cute)
[edit]Deaths
- 531 – Emperor Keitai of Japan (b. 450)
- 590 – Pope Pelagius II (b. 520)
- 999 – Boleslaus II of Bohemia
- 1045 – Emperor Go-Suzaku of Japan (b. 1009)
- 1317 – Robert, Count of Clermont, French founder of the House of Bourbon (b. 1256)
- 1560 – Bartolomeo Bandinelli, Italian sculptor (b. 1493)
- 1603 – Hermann Wilken, German humanist and mathematician (b. 1522)
- 1626 – William V, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1548)
- 1642 – William Bedell, English clergyman (b. 1571)
- 1652 – Gregorio Allegri, Italian composer (b. 1582)
- 1690 – William Morice, English royalist statesman
- 1693 – Paul Pellisson, French writer (b. 1624)
- 1736 – Stephen Gray, English astronomer and scientist (b. 1666)
- 1779 – William Boyce, English composer (b. 1711)
- 1799 – Qianlong Emperor of China (b. 1711)
- 1801 – Daniel Chodowiecki, Polish painter (b. 1726)
- 1823 – Ann Radcliffe, English novelist (b. 1764)
- 1837 – King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden (b. 1778)
- 1839 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (b. 1799)
- 1862 – Francisco de Paula Martinez de la Rosa, Spanish statesman and dramatist (b. 1787)
- 1864 – Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, Serbian philologist and liguist (b. 1787)
- 1871 – Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, piano manufacturer (Steinway & Sons) (b. 1797)
- 1873 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (b. 1814)
- 1878 – Blessed Pope Pius IX (b. 1792)
- 1897 – Galileo Ferraris, Italian physicist (b. 1847)
- 1898 – John Reily Knox, Lawyer and founder of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity (b. 1820)
- 1919 – William Halford, American naval officer and Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1841)
- 1920 – Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander (b. 1874)
- 1920 – Charles Langelier, Canadian politician, judge, journalist, and author. (b. 1850)
- 1937 – Elihu Root, American statesman and diplomat, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1845)
- 1938 – Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer (b. 1868)
- 1939 – Boris Grigoriev, Russian painter (b. 1886)
- 1942 – Ivan Bilibin, Russian illustrator (b. 1876)
- 1944 – Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano (b. 1874)
- 1952 – Pete Henry, American professional American football player and coach (b. 1897)
- 1959 – Nap Lajoie, American baseball player (b. 1874)
- 1959 – Daniel François Malan, South African Prime Minister, father of Apartheid policy (b. 1874)
- 1959 – Guitar Slim, American blues guitarist (b. 1926)
- 1960 – Igor Kurchatov, Russian physicist (b. 1903)
- 1962 – Clara Nordström, German writer and translator (b. 1886)
- 1963 – Learco Guerra, Italian cyclist (b. 1902)
- 1964 – Sophoklis Venizelos, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1894)
- 1965 – Perikles Ioannidis, Greek admiral (b. 1881)
- 1968 – Nick Adams, American actor (b. 1931)
- 1971 – Douglass Cadwallader, American golfer (b. 1884)
- 1972 – Walter Lang, American film director (b. 1896)
- 1979 – Dr. Josef Mengele, German, Nazi war criminal (b. 1911)
- 1980 – Secondo Campini, Italian jet pioneer (b. 1904)
- 1985 – Matt Monro, English singer (b. 1930)
- 1986 – Cheikh Anta Diop, Senegalese historian (b. 1923)
- 1990 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino military figure (b. 1905)
- 1990 – Jimmy Van Heusen, American songwriter (b. 1913)
- 1991 – Amos Yarkoni, Israeli soldier, Medal of Distinguished Service recipient (b. 1920)
- 1991 – Jean-Paul Mousseau, French-Canadian painter, member of Les Automatistes (b. 1927)
- 1992 – Buzz Sawyer, wrestler (b. 1959)
- 1994 – Witold Lutosławski, Polish composer (b. 1913)
- 1994 – Stephen Milligan, British journalist and politician (b. 1948)
- 1994 – Arnold Smith, Canadian diplomat (b. 1915)
- 1996 – Phillip Davidson, US Army general (b. 1915)
- 1998 – Lawrence Sanders, American author (b. 1920)
- 1999 – King Hussein of Jordan (b. 1935)
- 1999 – José Silva, author of Silva Method and the Silva UltraMind ESP System (b. 1914)
- 1999 – Bobby Troup, American musician and actor (b. 1918)
- 2000 – Shiho Niiyama, Japanese voice actress (b. 1970)
- 2000 – Big Pun, Puerto Rican-American rapper (b. 1971)
- 2000 – Doug Henning, Canadian magician (b. 1947)
- 2000 – Dave Peverett, English musician (Foghat, Savoy Brown) (b. 1943)
- 2001 – Dale Evans, American actress and singer (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, American author and aviator (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Jack Fairman, British racing driver (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Tony Pond, English World Rally driver (b. 1945)
- 2003 – Augusto Monterroso, Guatemalan author (b. 1921)
- 2003 – John Reading, Mayor of Oakland, California (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Atli Dam, Faroese politician, 5th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1932)
- 2005 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1934)
- 2006 – Princess Hadice Hayriye Ayshe Dürrühsehvar (b. 1914)
- 2008 – Tamara Desni, German-born British actress (b. 1913)
- 2009 – Jack Cover, American inventor of the Taser gun (b. 1920)
- 2009 – Brian Naylor, Australian television presenter (b. 1931)
- 2009 – Molly Bee, American singer (b. 1939)
- 2009 – Blossom Dearie, American singer (b. 1924)
- 2010 – Franco Ballerini, Italian Cycler, Coach of the Italy team of cycling (b. 1964)
[edit]Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- Blessed Eugenia Smet
- Blessed Pope Pius IX
- Chrysolius
- February 7 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Grenada from the United Kingdom in 1974.
===
BETTER TO BURNOUT THAN TO POST AWAY
Tim Blair – Thursday, February 07, 2013 (2:37pm)
A Canberra chap catches himself:
On Monday January 21, police received a complaint of a red Holden Commodore performing burnouts in the Gungahlin area.Later that day, police viewed footage of a vehicle matching the description performing a burnout in Baillieu Court, Mitchell.The footage had been posted by the registered owner of the vehicle to his Facebook account.
(Via Prick With a Fork)
===
RUSTY BLAMELESS
Tim Blair – Thursday, February 07, 2013 (2:33pm)
Jim Treacher emails:
Russell Crowe blocked me on Twitter after I asked him this. I guess I can’t blame him ...
===
GREAT CAKE DEBATE
Tim Blair – Thursday, February 07, 2013 (2:30pm)
The IPA’s James Paterson:
You’ve probably already heard the federal government wants to ban blowing out birthday candles in childcare centres. But you probably haven’t read Health Minister Tanya Plibersek’struly bizarre press conference defending the decision. Read her answers to journalists’ questions if you want to know why freedom is under assault in Australia.
And in other free speech developments:
A prominent Danish writer who heads a controversial group that claims free speech is under threat from Islam has escaped an attempt on his life in Copenhagen.Lars Hedegaard, a well-known historian in Denmark, was able to fend off the attack on Tuesday after the gunman misfired, and was unharmed, police said in statement …Hedegaard is the president of Denmark’s Free Press Society, an organisation that claims free speech is “being threatened, primarily by religious and ideological interests and international pressure groups.”
On related matters, here’s Michael Totten.
===
LITTLEMORE TIME
Tim Blair – Wednesday, February 06, 2013 (10:29pm)
“Give me just a Littlemore time,” sang little Kylie, but if she was carrying a microphone in Stuart Littlemore’s vicinity he might shove her aside:
Littlemore, a lawyer and former Media Watch host who currently represents colourful Eddie Obeid, claims that he “gently but firmly pushed aside a person who rushed in front of me”, but that level of contact would be enough to concede a free kick in an AFL match.
Littlemore, a lawyer and former Media Watch host who currently represents colourful Eddie Obeid, claims that he “gently but firmly pushed aside a person who rushed in front of me”, but that level of contact would be enough to concede a free kick in an AFL match.
Whether that says more about Stuart or modern AFL is open to question.
UPDATE. Another Littlemore moment:
Approached for comment about the proceedings so far, Obeid fixed his gaze on the prawn dumplings, while his lawyer, Stuart Littlemore QC, resplendent in garish rainbow Lifesavers-coloured tie, thrust out his arm.“Please leave us alone, Ms Devine,” barked Littlemore, as his client concentrated on tapping a stubborn spoonful of chilli paste into his bowl.
===
Yes, Craig, there really is a warming pause
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(3:39pm)
DOCTOR Karl Kruszelnicki presents science on the ABC. Dr Craig Emerson is a Minister in the Government that makes you pay a carbon tax.
So the two should at least know the basic data about global warming.
Alas.
Dr Kruszelnicki, one of Australia’s “National Living Treasures”, last week tweeted in outrage: “How does A Bolt get away with saying planet hasn’t warmed in the last 16 years.”
Dr Emerson, the Trade Minister, replied: “Mr Bolt can have his own opinions but he can’t have his own facts. Global temperatures are rising. Fact.”
“Fact”, Craig?
This wouldn’t be serious if Dr Kruszelnicki wasn’t helping to promote a great scare that our gases are frying the world, and Dr Emerson wasn’t a member of the Government making us spend billions to “stop” it.
Let me try to explain something to them.
(Subscription required for full article.)
UPDATE
Reader Bill is curious about Dr Karl’s tweeting:
Maybe Dr Karl could clarify a Twitter comment he made a few days ago when he was quite emphatic that what he said was a truth.Dr Karl ?@DoctorKarl, Jan 30, “MET office data of static warming for last 16 years is a misconception? @JWSpry @25outsidefifty Yup, world has warmed 0.3C in last 16 years.”(Dr Karl appears to have deleted this from his twitter a/c)
The conversation:
No sign of that exchange now on Dr Karl’s Twitter site. No correction. No apology for attacking me, misleading Craig Emerson, misinforming his readers. No sign that a fundamental misapprehension - believing in 0.3 degrees of warming in 16 years rather than just 0.05 - has changed his opinion on global warming, as it should.
Just in case there is any doubt about what the Met figures show, here is the Met in its own words, excuses and all:
The linear trend from August 1997 (in the middle of an exceptionally strong El Nino) to August 2012 (coming at the tail end of a double-dip La Nina) is about 0.03°C/decade, amounting to a temperature increase of 0.05°C over that period...
If I had exaggerated a temperature trend by a factor of six, what would have been said of me by warmists?
Dr Karl, let me repeat, presents science on the ABC - and BBC, too. His employers pay him to spread this misconception?
===
The Wilders tour: shooting the messenger
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(3:38pm)
The right-thinking make life tougher for the Dutch politician who merely talks than for those whose threats force him to travel here under the protection of five police.
We are talking about Geert Wilders, whose crime is to label the nature of threat to his life and his freedom:
On Wednesday, the organiser of [Wilders’ Australian] our, Debbie Robinson, told me yet another venue had cancelled and there had been another act of corporate suppression directed at the tour. ‘’This morning the venue in Sydney cancelled. There was a meltdown. The events manager at the venue was screaming. Right now we have no Sydney venue.’’It was not her only setback. ‘’Yesterday PayPal froze the funds in the account that is processing ticket sales. They will not tell me why. All staff keep saying is the account is under review. It’s been like an Orwellian nightmare.’’ This follows a refusal by Westpac to allow her to set up a payment system and refusal by more than a dozen venues to host a Wilders event, citing security concerns.The first attempt at a lecture tour last year was cancelled due to visa problems. The then minister for immigration Chris Bowen delayed granting a visa until after the cancellation.”
Shameful stuff.
To show your support for free speech or simply to attend a Wilders lecture, go here.
===
The rotten underbelly of Australian sport
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(12:23pm)
A YEAR-long government investigation has concluded that drug use is widespread in Australian sport, along with links to organised crime which may have led to match-fixing.The Australian Crime Commission probe identified widespread use of prohibited substances including peptides, hormones and illicit drugs in professional sport.It said it had identified criminal networks involved in the distribution of illegal substances, and the links may have resulted in match-fixing and fraudulent manipulation of betting markets.The findings indicated that sports scientists, coaches, support staff as well as doctors and pharmacists were involved in the provision of drugs.“The findings are shocking and will disgust Australian sports fans,’’ Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said.“Multiple athletes from a number of clubs in major Australian sporting codes are suspected of currently using or having previously used peptides, potentially constituting anti-doping rule violations.“It’s cheating but it’s worse than that, it’s cheating with the help of criminals.’’
There will be names to come, for sure.
===
Time Abbott took on Rudd
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(11:57am)
UPDATE and correction: No, Julia Gillard is not propped up by the “NSW Right”. it is the AWU “faction” propping her up. I am informed today that Gillard now has the support of just three of the NSW Right’s 18 MPs. Apologies.
Tony Abbott is winning too big. More polls like the last might panic Labor into ditching Julia Gillard.
So the question for the Opposition Leader is: why keep attacking only Gillard when Kevin Rudd is his greatest threat?
Something this week seemed to snap in Labor.
Newspoll had the party back to a disastrous 44 per cent to the Coalition’s 56, after preferences. Essential and Galaxy put the margin at 46 to 54.
There’s also been a string of typically terrible judgment calls from Gillard, the flight of two ministers and alleged corruption scandals.
More Labor MPs now seem convinced Gillard, even with her new lucky glasses, is indeed terminal and even Rudd could not be worse. Rudd is tipped to be just six votes from toppling her.
Abbott knows he has Gillard’s measure, but could he beat Rudd?
===
How did we admit so many Hezbollah recruits?
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(11:21am)
Our immigration and multicultural programs were overseen by politicians either dangerously naive or wilfully blind. And the journalists who self-censored any criticism are as culpable:
AUSTRALIAN authorities are co-operating with international investigators to trace the activities of an Australian man identified as the bombmaker for a deadly terrorist attack in Bulgaria (pictured above) now blamed on Hezbollah, prompting calls for a global crackdown on the organisation…It is understood that the Australian man, who is believed to have dual Australian and Lebanese nationality, is from an Australian family of activists well known to counter-terrorism authorities…Australia has listed the Hezbollah External Security Organisation as a terrorist group since 2003. Support for, or membership of, this organisation is an offence under Australian law.Australia’s anti-money laundering regulator Austrac has previously investigated Australian citizens suspected of sending money to Lebanon to support Hezbollah in breach of terror financing laws…Outside the Fatima al-Zahrah Mosque in Sydney yesterday, a 30-year-old Lebanese man warned that Hezbollah was flourishing in Australia.“This is the first thing people must understand: Hezbollah is not an organisation, it is not a thing. It is a way of life, a values system,” said the man, who declined to be named…“We exist to counter oppression and (have done so) ever since the (1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon). So long as there is oppression of Shi’ite Islam, we will be Hezbollah.“When my parents, our parents, came to Australia you didn’t hear from them because they didn’t speak English.Senior NSW police officers said they feared young men from Sydney’s Middle Eastern communities could travel overseas to train with paramilitary organisations such as Hezbollah before returning to Australia, planning to use that knowledge in a domestic attack.
It is not quite true that the older generation of immigrants said nothing about Hezbollah. It’s just that few chose to hear or heed. From this blog in 2006:
But back to Mr Hassan, who wants “death” for Israel and “long life” for the Lebanese resistance - ie, Hezbollah.Question: Why is a man who supports an Islamist group which the Australian Government has listed as a terrorist organisation serving as one of the Prime Minister’s Muslim advisors?In fact, why are a third of the Prime Minister’s handpicked Muslim Community Reference Group open supporters of this terrorist outfit? Shouldn’t they be sacked immediately?Here are the groups members:
I am not convinced that mass immigration from Lebanon has been a net gain for Australia, or better for us than a similar intake would have been from, say, England or India.
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Just an ice cream would be great for Thomson
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(9:46am)
Craig Thomson’s lawyer last week pooh-poohed the charges faced by the suspended Labor MP:
Some of these 149 charges are for $12 and $15. He’s actually being criminally charged with having bought an ice cream. True. Bought an ice cream is one of the charges.
As the Gillard Government continues to reel from the scandal, Victoria Police yesterday outlined 154 fraud offences against Thomson including allegations he spent more than $5000 on escort services while he was Health Services Union boss between 2002 and 2007…Police allege Thomson made seven separate payments for escort services between 2003 and 2007, including $2475 to Keywed, which trades as Sydney Outcalls, $660 to a Touch of Class and $770 to Boardroom Escorts.He is also alleged to have stolen $3750 through a series of ATM withdrawals using his union credit cards.
Thomson insists he is innocent.
UPDATE
Communications Minister Steve Conroy laughs off his failure to declare a gift of free accommodation at an expensive ski chalet, courtesy of Eddie Obeid:
KIRK: Are you worried that it’s not a good look, that the fallout from the Independent Commission Against Corruption is now creeping to the federal government?Conroy: Look, seven or eight years ago I failed to ask the question when invited to the snow: Will you be called before ICAC in eight years’ time under corruption allegations? I do accept that perhaps I should have asked that question eight years ago.
Here are some hints Conroy might have taken back then.
THE family of Eddie Obeid and a mining company it lured into a joint venture to explore for coal could be stripped of as much as $500 million after a dramatic twist at a corruption inquiry in Sydney yesterday.NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell has written to the Independent Commission Against Corruption asking whether the state government should amend the mining act so that it can suspend the licences granted to Cascade Coal over the Bylong Valley, about 150km west of Newcastle…The development came as fallout from the ICAC inquiry continued to envelop the Gillard government, following revelations on Tuesday that two cabinet members, Environment Minister Tony Burke and Senate leader Stephen Conroy, had accepted free accommodation in the Obeid family lodge at Perisher Valley…The political news for federal Labor worsened yesterday, when Mr Ipp revealed he would release his findings on the conduct of Mr Obeid and Mr Macdonald in late July - on the cusp of the campaign for the September 14 federal election…Beginning next month, ICAC will investigate the circumstances in which Doyles Creek, which was owned by former union boss John Maitland, a close friend of Mr Macdonald, acquired the licence in the first place.
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Go North
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(8:56am)
If it can be done, and makes economic sense, it seems just the kind of vision this country needs - spending billions not on overpriced school halls but a new zone of development:
The secret draft economic policy document, entitled Vision 2030, also proposes to carve $800 million from the foreign aid budget to be diverted to a mega-project in northern Australia.In an embarrassing high-level leak to The Daily Telegraph, the 30-page document outlines plans for the mass migration of public service workers to north of the Tropic of Capricorn to Karratha, about 1500km north of Perth, Darwin and Cairns…
The detailed but un-costed economic plan reveals the Opposition Leader’s plans to split the country in half, and create a new food bowl and energy industry economy above the 20 degree south parallel.
I’m not sure what’s so “embarrassing” about the leak. True, I grew up in Darwin and love the place, so may be biased about the North. But my own take (from 2011) on this challenge to the green lock on development is here:
...with better technology, more capital, genetic engineering of crops, smarter farming, more effective pesticides, faster transport and more demand, a lot that was impossible is now not - if we let ourselves think big.Already in Humpty Doo, those failed rice paddies have been replaced by mango plantations, and horticulture in the Northern Territory is expected by next year to have jumped 50 per cent in value over just five years.What now holds us back - or maybe finally not - is our mad green faith.The most scandalous evidence of that came only last year, from the Rudd government’s Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce, which declared that turning our north into a food bowl was just crazy. Impossible.Explained taskforce member Stuart Blanch: “Northern Australia can never be a food bowl for Southeast Asia or anywhere else because we just don’t have enough water.”Pardon? Not enough water in the north, parts of which get up to 2m of rain in a year?
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The Prime Minister who won’t consult, won’t listen
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(8:33am)
What unsettled the Labor critics so much and what has confounded the public is the stunning mismatch of words and deeds, and the promise of stability coupled with acts of shock and awe…Disagreements within the highest echelons of the government surfaced over Gillard’s wisdom in declaring the election date so far out. Those who thought it was a good idea were soon in furious agreement, with the emphasis on furious, on the resignation of two senior cabinet ministers at the weekend. It was greeted near universally behind the scenes as an unmitigated disaster.One frustrated minister said the problem was not just that it would be seen as a sign the government was unravelling; he feared it was actually unravelling....Another minister described it as madness and the Prime Minister herself as mad, and for many reasons, including that the Senate vacancy left by Chris Evans in Western Australia easily could have been filled by an indigenous Australian from that state, thus preventing Northern Territory Labor ripping itself apart over Nova Peris…Gillard’s failure to discuss in even the broadest terms her election plans with her cabinet, the timing of the two resignations, and her remarks to caucus [about leakers] reveal the profound dysfunction now at the heart of government. At the cabinet meeting the night before Gillard’s speech to the National Press Club, there was a political discussion as per usual after the formal deliberations…Inside the cabinet room she did not raise the election, not even in general terms, nor did anyone else, even though she had separately consulted some ministers, then warned Tony Windsor, Rob Oakeshott and Christine Milne, obviously all more trustworthy than those supposedly on her side.Gillard did consult Northern Territory MP Warren Snowdon days before booting long-term senator Trish Crossin for Peris. He objected, was ignored… Now he is worried about losing his seat, especially as Labor insiders fear more damaging stories will emerge about Peris and predict it will end, as it began for her, in tears.
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A Littlemore freedom to push
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(8:13am)
If I’d emerged from court pushing female journalists away, what would have been said of me? But a former Media Watch host, however....
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Kim’s sweet dream
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(8:05am)
This regime is seriously freaky:
The video was uploaded by the North’s official website, Uriminzokkiri, which distributes news and propaganda from the state media.The video is shot as a dream sequence, with a young man seeing himself on board a North Korean space shuttle launched into orbit by the same type of rocket Pyongyang successfully tested in December.
The muzak track - a piano tinkling We Are the World - somehow adds to the air of eerie detachment from feeling.
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Arab Spring update
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(8:02am)
In Tunisia after the revolution:
PROMINENT Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid has been gunned down outside his home in Tunis, sparking angry protests by his supporters and attacks on offices of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party…The murder sparked outrage, with violence reminiscent of the uprising that ousted veteran dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali just over two years ago, and thousands rallying outside the interior ministry.
UPDATE
In Egypt, the broke government of an even broker country suggests its broke people eat even less:
Egypt’s government is recommending that Egyptians avoid overeating in order to cope with rising food prices and chronic household shortages, according to local media reports…Tourism, once a pillar of Egypt’s GDP, has dried up, and there is little foreign investment. Egypt’s unemployment rate is projected to hit 14 percent this year, up from about 9 percent in 2010, and the United States is questioning whether to cut the $1.5 billion in aid it sends to Egypt each year.“The [Egyptian] government subsidizes fuel and foodstuffs — things it can’t afford — but it also can’t afford to unwind those subsidies politically, so it is really in a very serious situation,” Middle East expert Steven A. Cook told the Council on Foreign Relations recently.
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Gillard has child
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(7:47am)
(Thanks to reader JPS.)
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Labor should pay for spreading these lies
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(7:06am)
In an age in which Seeming trumps Doing, it’s no surprise that Labor considers a promise the same as the done deed. In truth, a promise from this government often turns out to be the very opposite of what is actually delivered:
TREASURER Wayne Swan has been left red-faced after letterbox-dropping voters in his electorate and claiming he had “delivered” a Budget surplus, months before ditching what was only ever a promise…The Opposition yesterday revealed in question time that Mr Swan was among at least 10 Labor MPs who sent constituents a taxpayer-funded pamphlet “Australia’s economic report card” after last year’s Budget.The pamphlet claimed “we’ve delivered a surplus, on time, as promised”, despite the government only forecasting a surplus in the Budget.Mr Swan in December quietly ditched the pledge, saying it was now “unlikely”.
The full lie in Swan’s pamphlet:
One of the other pamphlets:
Labor should apologise for that lie. It should also repay out of its pockets the cost of spreading it.
UPDATE
Glenda Korporaal warns the Government against looting the super savings of the prudent to pay for its spending binge:
The total number of self-managed superannuation funds, set up by the Australians most engaged with their superannuation, has risen from 271,515 in 2004 to 478,579 last year with the total number of members up from 528,990 to more than 900,000. Their average balance has more than doubled from $245,643 as of June 2004 to more than than $500,000 last June… And while the government’s taxing moves have been aimed at those on higher incomes, as one industry figure pointed out this week, people on middle incomes are now wary that their hard-earned savings will be next.The government’s big-spending policies have forced it into a revenue grab, but its confected class warfare approach to superannuation has high political risks of further alienating the very middle-class voters it needs if it has any chance of surviving in the next election.
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World’s longest song starts
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(6:59am)
A song from reader Bry:
Gillard’s 227 days of stability
On the 1st day of Gillard’s 227 days of stability
The ALP sent to me;
The longest election campaign in history
On the 2nd day of Gillard’s 227 days of stability
The ALP sent to me;
Craig Thompson arrested
And the longest election campaign in history
On the 3rd day of Gillard’s 227 days of stability
The ALP sent to me;
Chris Evan’s resigning
Craig Thompson arrested
And the longest election campaign in history
On the 4th day of Gillard’s 227 days of stability
The ALP sent to me;
Nicola Roxon resigning
Chris Evan’s resigning
Craig Thompson arrested
And the longest election campaign in history
On the 5th day of Gillard’s 227 days of stability
The ALP sent to me;
A handful of senior ministers staying
Nicola Roxon resigning
Chris Evan’s resigning
Craig Thompson arrested
And the longest election campaign in history
On the 6th day of Gillard’s 227 days of stability
The ALP sent to me;
Leaks about internal ALP leaks leaking
A handful of senior ministers staying
Nicola Roxon resigning
Chris Evan’s resigning
Craig Thompson arrested
And the longest election campaign in history
On the 7th day of Gillard’s 227 days of stability
The ALP sent to me;
A handful of senior minsters not declaring
Leaks about internal ALP leaks leaking
A handful of senior ministers staying
Nicola Roxon resigning
Chris Evan’s resigning
Craig Thompson arrested
And the longest election campaign in history
On the 8th day of Gillard’s 227 days of stability
The ALP sent to me;
More charges for Thompson and rising
A handful of senior minsters not declaring
Leaks about internal ALP leaks leaking
A handful of senior ministers staying
Nicola Roxon resigning
Chris Evan’s resigning
Craig Thompson arrested
And the longest election campaign in history
On the 9th day of Gillard’s 227 days of stability
The ALP sent to me;
Gillard’s aboriginal legacy sacking
More charges for Thompson and rising
A handful of senior minsters not declaring
Leaks about internal ALP leaks leaking
A handful of senior ministers staying
Nicola Roxon resigning
Chris Evan’s resigning
Craig Thompson arrested
And the longest election campaign in history
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Cross Crossin attacks the PM who crossed her
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(6:40am)
A Labor Senator, sacked for not being Aboriginal, says Julia Gillard has lousy judgment and her office spreads lies:
Accusing the Prime Minister’s Office of asking her to sign off on a press release that falsely claimed she backed the installation of Olympian Nova Peris as her replacement, Senator [Trish] Crossin ... said her treatment should prompt MPs to think long and hard about the Prime Minister’s judgement.”I do think people are now seriously questioning how she might behave in the future,” Senator Crossin told the Daily Telegraph.“...Of course, it was unfair dismissal… [Labor MPs] are shocked at the brutality of it...”The next day, Ms Crossin was sent a draft press release by the Prime Ministers chief of staff Ben Hubbard which included a line from Senator Crossin endorsing Ms Peris as her replacement despite her telling the Prime Minister she would not do so.Senator Crossin instructed the Prime Ministers office to remove the line from the official press release because it was a lie.
Contributors to Crossin’s Facebook page seem just as upset with their Prime Minister:
UPDATE
Remember when Gillard hit employers with tough new laws to stop them doing to workers what she’s just done to Crossin?
JULIA GILLARD: Yes, we’ll repeal the so called WorkChoices Act and we will have a whole new act… I think the sense in the Australian community is the pendulum has gone too far, that we’ve lost balance in our work places, that there’s now too little rights for employees and too much latitude for employers...I think people do want a sense of basic fairness at work and that’s what we will be trying to achieve throughout our industrial relations laws, but also in the area of unfair dismissals.
UPDATE
Is Crossin’s sense of entitlement common among Labor MPs? She describes her conversation with Gillard:
“I said, ‘Is there something for me - a board position, an agency, an ambassadorship’,” Ms Crossin said.“She said, ‘I am the Prime Minister, I don’t get involved in organising those sort of arrangements’. I said to her, ‘Well, that can’t be possible you are just about to organise a Senate preselection unilaterally. And surely if you wanted people to go willingly you would arrange for life after politics for them’.“That’s when she said to me, ‘I’ve got nothing to offer you. I am offering you nothing’. People have said to me, what are you getting from this?...”
Well, one thing is a life-time indexed pension, of course.
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The warmists’ electric car crashes
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY072013(5:47am)
Electric cars were the dream of the global warming believers. As the Greens insisted:
Around the world electric vehicles (EV) are beginning to transform the way we move… EVs, along with increased investment in public transport, are central to meeting the twin challenges of climate change and energy security.
Warmist politicians - as usual - threw subsidies at this latest green scheme and drew up grand plans. Take US President Barack Obama:
In his first term, Obama propped up battery makers with grants and acted like a venture capitalist with nearly $1 billion in loans to electric car startups Fisker and Tesla. He loaned Nissan $1.6 billion to build electric cars in the U.S...
In Britain:
The Committee on Climate Change, the UK government watchdog, has called for the number of electric cars on Britain’s roads to increase from a few hundred now to 1.7 million by 2020. Britain’s Department for Transport is spending $66 million over the next year giving up to 8,600 buyers of electric cars a grant of $7700 towards the purchase price.
The Gillard Government:
The Government is also leading a work program to ensure Australia’s energy markets are ready to support the potential large-scale adoption of electric vehicles and related technologies.
In Victoria:
Victorian government’s electric vehicle trial ... is being held in the expectation that Victorians will switch to electric cars in their thousands in coming years, even though the number currently in use here is only 100 or so.
In Sydney:
Never mind that the green argument didn’t actually stack up:
Never mind that the green argument for electric cars was particularly insane in Australia:
Never mind, either, that one green policy didn’t know what the other green policy was doing:
One in 10 cars may be electric by 2020 although the take-up in Australia maybe slower due to the carbon tax, claims Nissan.
But what consumers did mind was the cost of this Greens-backed car, and its small range:
The slow global take-up of EVs has been mirrored in Australia, with only 18 sold privately this year and 45 sold to government and business… While many blame high prices Mitsubishi i-MiEV retails at $48,800, Nissan Leaf at $51,500 and Holden Volt at $59,990 Australian industry figures point to a lack of government subsidies.
But the cries for yet more subsidies - that lifeblood of global warmists - cannot save the electric car.
THE Better Place electric car concept in Australia is officially dead after the Israeli parent company last night formally withdrew funding for the local operation.
Big car makers are winding down their big plans:
The tepid response to EVs also pushed Nissan’s high-profile chief executive, Carlos Ghosn, perhaps the industry’s most outspoken proponent of battery cars, to announce in December a major strategic shift toward more mainstream gasoline-electric hybrids, which overcome many of the shortcomings of pure EVs...
Warmist politicians are crabwalking away from their grand plans, without quite admitting it:
“It’s ambitious, but we’ll see what happens,” he said to Reuters [last week]…Careful to not be seen as a failure, the Energy Department preempted Chu’s speech by noting that it’s more important to set the country on a healthy trajectory than it is to spend all its effort on a number.
And now green car visionaries are giving the electric car its last rites:
“Because of its shortcomings — driving range, cost and recharging time — the electric vehicle is not a viable replacement for most conventional cars,” said Uchiyamada. “We need something entirely new.”
A tale of green carpetbagging and the dangers of politicians, armed with your money, deciding they can see the future - a future they can’t distinguish from their dreams.
(Thanks to reader Andy.)
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For TMN
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God gives you all the help you need for today. When tomorrow comes, so will fresh help from Him. Check out today's devotional. Be sure to click "like" to help spread the word! Thanks, all! http://bit.ly/WlxZ2g
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Having a laugh - Oregon State Troopers, Good, Better, Best :D Thank you Amy!
GOOD: A Bend ,Oregon policeman had a perfect spot to watch for speeders, but wasn't getting many. Then he discovered the problem--a 12-year-old boy was standing up the road with a hand painted sign, which read 'RADAR TRAP AHEAD.' The officer also found the boy had an accomplice who was down the road with a sign reading 'TIPS' and a bucket full of money. (And we used to just sell lemonade!)
BETTER: A motorist was mailed a picture of his car speeding through an automated radar post in Pendleton, Oregon. A $40 speeding ticket was included. Being cute, he sent the police department a picture of $40. The police responded with another mailed photo of handcuffs.
BEST: A young woman was pulled over for speeding. An Oregon State Trooper walked to her car window, flipping open his ticket book. She said, "I bet you are going to sell me a ticket to the State Trooper's Ball." He replied, "Oregon State Troopers don't have balls." There was a moment of silence. He then closed his book, tipped his hat, got back in his patrol car and left.
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A Room with a View…
I got a call from my friend Bruce yesterday asking if I would like to spend an evening with his girlfriend Lauren, and himself for a dinner and a chance to shoot a pic or two from her apartment in the Millennium Tower. How could I pass?
The view you see here is from the 46th floor. As I shot this (nine images at 50mm each), Bruce played some wonderful acoustic guitar in the dark of the room.
It was a wonderful evening. — at Millennium Tower.
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In Question Time - It’s turned into comedy - Labor members are talking about the “importance of costed policies”, everyone is laughing.
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Cattle Guards
Australian government at work
You will love this one, I haven't stopped laughing For those of you who have never travelled to the country , cattle guards are horizontal steel rails placed at fence openings, in dug-out places in the roads adjacent to highways (sometimes across highways), to prevent cattle from crossing over that area. For some reason the cattle will not step on the "guards," probably because they fear getting their feet caught between the rails.
In 2008, Kevin Rudd received and was reading a report that there were over 10,000 cattle guards over main roads in NSW & Queensland. Graziers had protested his proposed changes in grazing policies, so he ordered the Minister to fire half of the cattle guards immediately!!
Before the Minister could respond and presumably try to straighten him out, Minister for Employment Julia Gillard, intervened with a request that before any cattle guards were fired, they be given six months of retraining.
And now she is running the country.
Passed on to you without further comment....
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