Bairnsdale Conservative: Sat 23rd Feb Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns David Nguyen. On the same day as you were born, the teacher of Dick Turpin (1739) recognised his handwriting .. and so he was hung. Remember.
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February 23: Purim begins at sunset (Judaism, 2013); National Day in Brunei(1984); Defender of the Fatherland Day in Russia and several other former Soviet republics

1739 – The identity of English highwayman Dick Turpin, who had been living under an alias in York, was uncovered by his former schoolteacher, who recognised his handwriting, leading to Turpin's arrest.
1903 – The Cuban–American Treaty was finalized, allowing the United States to lease Guantánamo Bay from Cuba in perpetuity for the purposes of operating coaling and naval stations.
1927 – German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg (pictured) wrote a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli in which he described his uncertainty principlefor the first time.
1945 – Second World War: In an Allied bombing run on Pforzheim, Germany, approximately 31% of the town's population were killed and 83% of its buildings were destroyed.
2005 – The controversial French law on colonialism, requiring lycée teachers to teach their students "the positive role" of French colonialism, was passed, creating so much public uproar and opposition that it was repealed less than one year later.

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Events

303 – Roman Emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
532 – Byzantine Emperor Justinian I orders the building of a new Orthodox Christian basilica in Constantinople – the Hagia Sophia.
1455 – Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western book printed with movable type.
1554 – Mapuche forces, under the leadership of Lautaro, score a victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Marihueñu in Chile.
1739 – Richard Palmer is identified at York Castle, by his former schoolteacher, as the outlaw Dick Turpin.
1778 – American Revolution: Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to help to train the Continental Army.
1820 – Cato Street Conspiracy: A plot to murder all the British cabinet ministers is exposed.
1821 – Alexander Ypsilantis starts the Greek War of Independence in Iași, Wallachia, modern-day Romania.
1836 – The Battle of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas.
1847 – Mexican-American War: Battle of Buena Vista – In Mexico, American troops under General Zachary Taylor defeat Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1854 – The official independence of the Orange Free State is declared.
1861 – President-elect Abraham Lincoln arrives secretly in Washington, D.C., after the thwarting of an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland.
1870 – In the United States, post-Civil War military control of Mississippi ends and it is readmitted to the Union.
1883 – Alabama becomes the first U.S. state to enact an antitrust law.
1886 – Charles Martin Hall produced the first samples of man-made aluminum, after several years of intensive work. He was assisted in this project by his older sister Julia Brainerd Hall.
1887 – The French Riviera is hit by a large earthquake, killing around 2,000.
1896 – The Tootsie Roll is invented.
1898 – Émile Zola is imprisoned in France after writing "J'accuse", a letter accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and wrongfully imprisoning Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1900 – In South Africa, Boers and British troops fight in the Battle of Hart's Hill.
1903 – Cuba leases Guantánamo Bay to the United States "in perpetuity".
1905 – Chicago attorney Paul Harris and three other businessmen meet for lunch to form the Rotary Club, the world's first service club.
1909 – The AEA Silver Dart makes the first powered flight in Canada and the British Empire.
1917 – First demonstrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The beginning of the February Revolution.
1918 – Last monarch of Mecklenburg-Strelitz commits suicide.
1927 – President Calvin Coolidge signs a bill by Congress establishing the Federal Radio Commission (later replaced by the Federal Communications Commission) which was to regulate the use of radio frequencies in the United States.
1927 – German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg writes a letter to fellow physicist Wolfgang Pauli, in which he describes his uncertainty principle for the first time.
1934 – Leopold III becomes King of Belgium.
1941 – Plutonium is first produced and isolated by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg.
1942 – World War II: Japanese submarines fire artillery shells at the California coastline near Santa Barbara.
1943 – A fire breaks out at St. Joseph's Orphanage, County Cavan, Ireland, killing 36 people (35 of whom are children).
1944 – The Soviet Union begins the forced deportation of the Chechen and Ingush people from the North Caucasus to Central Asia.
1945 – World War II: During the Battle of Iwo Jima, a group of United States Marines and a commonly forgotten U.S. Navy Corpsman, reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and arephotographed raising the American flag.
1945 – World War II: The 11th Airborne Division, with Filipino guerrillas, free the captives of the Los Baños internment camp.
1945 – World War II: The capital of the Philippines, Manila, is liberated by combined Filipino and American forces.
1945 – World War II: Capitulation of German garrison in Poznań. The city is liberated by Soviet and Polish forces.
1945 – World War II: The German town of Pforzheim is completely destroyed in a raid by 379 British bombers.
1947 – The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is founded.
1954 – The first mass inoculation of children against polio with the Salk vaccine begins in Pittsburgh.
1955 – First meeting of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
1958 – Cuban rebels kidnap 5-time world F1 champion Juan Manuel Fangio.
1966 – In Syria, Baath party member Salah Jadid leads an intra-party military coup that replaces the previous government of General Amin Hafiz, also a Baathist.
1974 – The Symbionese Liberation Army demands $4 million more to release kidnap victim Patty Hearst.
1980 – Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini states that Iran's parliament will decide the fate of the American embassy hostages.
1981 – In Spain, Antonio Tejero attempts a coup d'état by capturing the Spanish Congress of Deputies.
1983 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency announces its intent to buy out and evacuate the dioxin-contaminated community of Times Beach, Missouri.
1987 – Supernova 1987a is seen in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
1991 – Gulf War: Ground troops cross the Saudi Arabian border and enter Iraq, thus beginning the ground phase of the war.
1991 – In Thailand, General Sunthorn Kongsompong leads a bloodless coup d'état, deposing Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan.
1997 – A small fire occurs in the Russian Space station, Mir.
1998 – In the United States, tornadoes in central Florida destroy or damage 2,600 structures and kill 42.
1998 – Osama bin Laden publishes a fatwa declaring jihad against all Jews and "Crusaders"; the latter term is commonly interpreted to refer to the people of Europe and the United States.
1999 – Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Öcalan is charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey.
1999 – An avalanche destroys the Austrian village of Galtür, killing 31.
2005 – The controversial French law on colonialism is passed, requiring teachers to teach the "positive values of colonialism". After public outcry, it is repealed at the beginning of 2006.
2007 – A train derails on an evening express service near Grayrigg, Cumbria, England, killing one person and injuring 22. This results in hundreds of points being checked over the UK after a few similar accidents.
2008 – A United States Air Force B-2 Spirit crashes on Guam. It is the first operational loss of a B-2.
2010 – Unknown criminals pour more than 2.5 million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the river Lambro, in Northern Italy, causing an environmental disaster.

[edit]Births

1417 – Pope Paul II (d. 1471)
1443 – Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, King of Hungary and Croatia (d. 1490)
1583 – Jean-Baptiste Morin, French scientist (d. 1656)
1633 – Samuel Pepys, English naval administrator and man of letters, posthumously famous as a diarist (d. 1703)
1646 – Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, Japanese shogun (d. 1709)
1648 – Arabella Churchill, English mistress of James II of England (d. 1730)
1664 – Georg Dietrich Leyding, German composer and organist (d. 1710)
1680 – Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, French colonizer and Governor of Louisiana (d. 1767)
1685 – George Frideric Handel, German/British Baroque composer (d. 1759)
1723 – Richard Price, Welsh philosopher (d. 1791)
1729 – Josiah Hornblower, American statesman (d. 1809)
1730 – Cristiano Giuseppe Lidarti, Austrian composer (d. c. 1793)
1744 – Mayer Amschel Rothschild, German-born banker (d. 1812)
1752 – Simon Knéfacz, Croatian writer (d. 1819)
1809 – William Sprague, American minister and politician from Michigan (d. 1868)
1840 – Carl Menger, Austrian economist (d. 1921)
1840 – Frederick Wicks, English author and inventor (d. 1910)
1842 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher (d. 1906)
1850 – César Ritz, Swiss hotelier (d. 1918)
1852 – Emperor Duc Duc (pronounced "dzup-duc"), the fifth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty (d. 1883)
1868 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American civil rights leader (d. 1963)
1868 – Anna Hoffman-Uddgren, Swedish director and actress (d. 1947)
1873 – Liang Qichao, Chinese scholar (d. 1929)
1874 – Konstantin Päts, 1st President of Estonia (d. 1956)
1878 – Kazimir Malevich, Ukrainian painter and art theorist (d. 1935)
1882 – Max Hainle, German swimmer (d. 1961)
1883 – Karl Jaspers, German philosopher (d. 1969)
1886 – Antonio Alice, Argentine portrait painter (d. 1943)
1889 – Victor Fleming, American director (d. 1949)
1889 – Musidora, French actress and director (d. 1957)
1889 – John Gilbert Winant, American politician (d. 1947)
1891 – Harold Horder, Australian rugby league player (d. 1978)
1899 – Erich Kästner, German writer (d. 1974)
1899 – Norman Taurog, American film director (d. 1981)
1901 – Edgar Ende, German painter (d. 1965)
1904 – Terence Fisher, English film director (d. 1980)
1904 – William L. Shirer, American historian (d. 1993)
1904 – Leopold Trepper, Soviet spy (d. 1982)
1908 – William McMahon, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1988)
1914 – Theofiel Middelkamp, Dutch cyclist (d. 2005)
1915 – Jon Hall, American actor (d. 1979)
1915 – Paul Tibbets, US Air Force retired Brigadier General and pilot of B-29 "Enola Gay" over Hiroshima (d. 2007)
1918 – Richard G. Butler, founder of Aryan Nations (d. 2004)
1919 – William McLean Hamilton, Canadian politician (d. 1989)
1920 – Paul Gérin-Lajoie, Canadian politician
1923 – Miljenko Smoje, Dalmatian writer and journalist (d. 1995)
1923 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan politician
1923 – Yiannis Grivas, Greek judge, 87th Prime Minister of Greece
1923 – Mary Francis Shura, American writer (d. 1991)
1924 – Allan McLeod Cormack, South-African born physicist, Nobel laureate (d. 1998)
1924 – Claude Sautet, French director (d. 2000)
1926 – Merv Hunter, Australian politician (d. 2013)
1927 – Régine Crespin, French soprano (d. 2007)
1928 – Hans Herrmann, German race car driver
1928 – Vasili Lazarev, Soviet cosmonaut (d. 1990)
1929 – Alexy II of Moscow, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (d. 2008)
1929 – Elston Howard, American baseball player (d. 1980)
1931 – Tom Wesselmann, American collage artist (d. 2004)
1932 – Majel Barrett, American actress (d. 2008)
1933 – Donna J. Stone, American poet (d. 1994)
1935 – Gerrianne Raphael, American actress and voice actress
1937 – Tom Osborne, American football coach and politician
1938 – Paul Morrissey, American film director
1938 – Diane Varsi, American actress (d. 1992)
1940 – Peter Fonda, American actor
1940 – Jackie Smith, HOF football player
1941 – Ron Hunt, baseball player
1943 – Fred Biletnikoff, American football player and coach
1943 – Harry Pilling, English cricketer (d. 2012)
1944 – Bernard Cornwell, English author
1944 – John Sandford, American novelist
1944 – Johnny Winter, American musician
1945 – Allan Boesak, South African activist
1946 – Rusty Young, American country-rock guitarist (Poco)
1947 – Pia Kjærsgaard, Danish politician
1947 – John McWethy, American journalist (d. 2008)
1948 – Doug Moench, American comic book writer
1949 – Marc Garneau, Canadian astronaut and politician
1950 – Maxi, Irish singer and radio personality
1951 – Ed Jones, American football player
1951 – Patricia Richardson, American actress
1952 – Brad Whitford, American musician (Aerosmith)
1953 – Kenny Bee, Hong Kong actor, musician and singer (The Wynners)
1953 – Satoru Nakajima, Japanese racing driver
1954 – Viktor Yushchenko, 3rd President of Ukraine
1955 – Tom Bodett, American voice actor, radio personality, and writer
1955 – Howard Jones, British pop singer
1955 – Flip Saunders, American basketball coach
1957 – Ria Brieffies, Dutch singer (d. 2009)
1958 – Tony Barrell, English writer and journalist
1958 – David Sylvian, English musician (Japan and Nine Horses)
1959 – Clayton Anderson, American astronaut
1959 – Richard Dodds, British field hockey player
1960 – Ivan Vdović, Yugoslavian musician (Suncokret, Šarlo Akrobata and Katarina II) (d. 1992)
1960 – Alan Griffin, Australian politician
1960 – Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan
1962 – Michael Wilton, American musician (Queensrÿche and Soulbender)
1962 – John David Brown, American illustrator, cartoonist
1963 – Bobby Bonilla, American baseball player
1963 – Radosław Sikorski, Polish politician
1964 – David E. Clemmer, American ion mobility-mass spectrometrist, 2006 recipient of Biemann Medal
1965 – Michael Dell, American computer manufacturer
1965 – Ashok Kamte, Indian additional commissioner of the Mumbai police (d. 2008)
1965 – John Norum, Norwegian guitarist (Europe)
1965 – Helena Suková, Czech tennis player
1966 – Mark Abrahamian, American guitarist (Starship) (d. 2012)
1966 – Neal McDonough, American actor
1967 – Hélène Darroze, French chef
1967 – Tamsin Greig, English actress
1967 – Chris Vrenna, American musician, producer and sound engineer (Nine Inch Nails and Tweaker)
1968 – Justin Bell, British racing driver
1969 – Michael Campbell, New Zealand golfer
1969 – Daymond John, American fashion designer
1969 – Marc Wauters, Belgian cyclist
1970 – Marie-Josée Croze, Canadian actress
1970 – Niecy Nash, American actress
1971 – Jeong Chan, South Korean actor
1971 – Don Maxwell, Canadian cricketer
1971 – Melinda Messenger, English television presenter
1971 – Joe-Max Moore, American soccer player
1972 – Steve Holy, American country singer
1972 – Alessandro Sturba, Italian footballer
1972 – Rondell White, American baseball player
1973 – Jack Case, American artist
1973 – Lars-Olof Johansson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans)
1974 – Herschelle Gibbs, South African cricketer
1974 – Leko, American DJ
1975 – Michael Cornacchia, American actor
1975 – Robert Lopez, American composer
1975 – Maryse Turcotte, Canadian weightlifter
1975 – Natalia Verbeke, Argentine actress
1976 – Scott Elarton, American baseball player
1976 – Kelly Macdonald, British actress
1976 – Jeff O'Neill, Canadian ice hockey player
1977 – Kristina Šmigun-Vähi, Estonian cross-country skier
1978 – Jo Joyner, English actress
1978 – René Pérez, Puerto Rican musician (Calle 13)
1978 – Dan Snyder, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2003)
1979 – Sascha Zacharias, Swedish Actress
1979 – S.E. Cupp, American author and political commentator
1981 – Gareth Barry, English footballer
1981 – Charles Tillman, American football player
1982 – Adam Hann-Byrd, American actor
1982 – Karan Singh Grover, Indian actor
1982 – Malia Metella, French swimmer
1983 – Aziz Ansari, Indian-American comedian and actor
1983 – Mirco Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
1983 – Emily Blunt, British actress
1983 – Courtney Culkin, American Playboy Playmate
1983 – Mido, Egyptian footballer
1986 – Emerson da Conceição, Brazilian footballer
1986 – Skylar Grey, American singer/songwriter
1986 – Kazuya Kamenashi, Japanese idol (KAT-TUN)
1986 – Jerod Mayo, American football player
1986 – Ola Svensson, Swedish pop singer
1988 – Nicolás Gaitán, Argentine footballer
1989 – Evan Bates, American ice dancer
1989 – Amara Baby, French footballer
1992 – Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
1993 – Kasumi Ishikawa, Japanese table tennis player
1994 – Dakota Fanning, American actress
2003 – Katchit, Irish race horse (d. 2013)
2012 – Princess Estelle of Sweden

[edit]Deaths

155 – Polycarp, Christian bishop of Smyrna (b. 69)
943 – Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, (b. 884)
1011 – Willigis, Archbishop of Mainz (b. 940)
1072 – Peter Damian, theologian and Doctor of the Church (b. 1007)
1100 – Emperor Zhezong of China (b. 1076)
1270 – Saint Isabel of France, daughter of Louis VIII of France (b. 1225)
1447 – Pope Eugene IV (b. 1383)
1447 – Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1390)
1464 – Zhengtong, Emperor of China (b. 1427)
1526 – Diego Colón, Spanish Viceroy of the Indies
1554 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English politician and nobelman (b. c.1515)
1572 – Pierre Certon, French composer
1603 – Andrea Cesalpino, Italian philosopher, physician, and botanist (b. 1519)
1669 – Leo Aitzema, Dutch historian and statesman (b. 1600)
1704 – Georg Muffat, French composer (b. 1653)
1766 – Stanisław I Leszczyński, King of Poland (b. 1677)
1781 – George Taylor, American signatory to the Declaration of Independence (b. c.1716)
1792 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter (b. 1723)
1800 – Joseph Warton, English literary critic (b. 1722)
1821 – John Keats, English poet (b. 1795)
1848 – John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States (b. 1767)
1855 – Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician, astronomer, and physicist (b. 1777)
1859 – Zygmunt Krasiński, Polish Romantic poet (b. 1812)
1879 – Albrecht Graf von Roon, Prime Minister of Prussia (b. 1803)
1897 – Woldemar Bargiel, German composer (b. 1828)
1908 – Johannes Friedrich August von Esmarch, German surgeon (b. 1823)
1918 – Adolphus_Frederick VI, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, last monarch of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (b. 1882) (suicide)
1922 – Albert Victor Bäcklund, Swedish physicist (b. 1845)
1925 – Samuel Berger, American heavyweight boxer (b. 1884)
1930 – Horst Wessel, Nazi ideologue and composer (b. 1907)
1931 – Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera soprano (b. 1861)
1934 – Edward Elgar, English composer (b. 1857)
1944 – Leo Hendrik Baekeland, Flemish-American chemist and inventor of the first synthetic plastic, Bakelite (b. 1863)
1946 – Tomoyuki Yamashita, Japanese general (hanged) (b. 1885)
1948 – John Robert Gregg, Irish-born publisher and inventor (b. 1866)
1955 – Paul Claudel, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
1957 – Marika Ninou, Greek singer (b. 1918)
1960 – Arthur Legat, Belgian racing driver (b. 1898)
1961 – Davey Crockett, American baseball player (b. 1875)
1965 – Stan Laurel, British actor and comedian (b. 1890)
1969 – Madhubala, Indian actress (b. 1933)
1969 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902)
1970 – Hirsch Jacobs, American thoroughbred horse trainer and owner (b. 1904)
1973 – Dickinson W. Richards, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1895)
1974 – Harry Ruby, American composer and writer (b. 1895)
1976 – L. S. Lowry, English artist (b. 1887)
1979 – W.A.C. Bennett, Canadian politician (b. 1900)
1983 – Herbert Howells, English composer (b. 1892)
1984 – Jessamyn West, American Quaker author (b. 1902)
1990 – José Napoleón Duarte, President of El Salvador (b. 1925)
1991 – Nutan, Indian actress (b. 1936)
1992 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek politician (b. 1906)
1995 – Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (b. 1942)
1995 – James Herriot, English writer (b. 1916)
1996 – William Bonin, American serial killer and sex offender (b. 1947)
1997 – Tony Williams, American jazz drummer (b. 1945)
1999 – Carlos Hathcock, USMC sniper (b. 1942)
2000 – Ofra Haza, Israeli singer (b. 1957)
2000 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer (b. 1915)
2001 – Robert Enrico, French film director and screenwriter (b. 1931)
2003 – Howie Epstein, American bass guitarist (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) (b. 1955)
2003 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist (b. 1910)
2003 – Titos Vandis, Greek actor (b. 1917)
2004 – Vijay Anand, Indian film director (b. 1934)
2004 – Carl Anderson, American singer (b. 1945)
2004 – Neil Ardley, English jazz pianist and composer (b. 1937)
2004 – Sikander Bakht, Governor of Kerala (b. 1918)
2004 – Don Cornell, American singer (b. 1919)
2004 – Carl Liscombe, Canadian hockey player (b. 1915)
2006 – Benno Besson, Swiss actor and film director (b. 1922)
2006 – Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (b. 1921)
2007 – Donnie Brooks, American singer (b. 1936)
2007 – John Ritchie, British footballer (b. 1941)
2008 – Janez Drnovšek, Slovenian prime minister and president (b. 1950)
2008 – Douglas Fraser, Scottish pilot (b. 1916)
2008 – Paul Frère, Belgian race car driver and motorsport journalist (b. 1917)
2008 – Denis Lazure, Canadian politician (b. 1925)
2010 – Orlando Zapata, Cuban dissident (b. 1967)

[edit]Holidays and observances

Christian Feast Day:
Mashramani-Republic Day (Guyana)
National Day (Brunei)
Red Army Day or Day of Soviet Army and Navy in the former Soviet Union, also held in various former Soviet republics:
- Defender of the Fatherland Day (Russia)
Terminalia held in honor of Terminus (Ancient Rome)

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Free speech stoned to death

Miranda Devine – Saturday, February 23, 2013 (6:26pm)

IF you needed proof that free speech in Australia is on the run, look at what happened when Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders came to town.

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Gillard cuts wild promise down to $1 billion more than she has

Andrew BoltFEBRUARY232013(9:40am)

Even Julia Gillard realises she is promising more than anyone can afford - so cuts her new spending to a mere $1 billion more than she has:

Julia Gillard will limit her landmark school reforms to $1 billion in new spending next year, as she puts off the final stage of the funding boost until 2019 amid fears over a mammoth increase in the education budget…

The Weekend Australian can reveal that Labor’s plan would require about $10bn in total over the four years of the budget estimates as outlays are gradually increased year by year.

The injection stops far short of the $6.5bn required every year to meet the funding benchmark set in a review led by company director David Gonski, although the outcome depends on whether states contribute any cash.

But Gillard will still promise spending that ramps up over a few years to $4 billion a year - a promise to bind an Abbott Government which will be struggling to repay Labor’s mountainous debt.

(Thanks to reader Peter.)

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Argus warns against this mad spree

Andrew BoltFEBRUARY232013(9:06am)

Borrowing in even good times to pay for huge welfare programs is a highway to disaster:

BUSINESS community elder Don Argus has warned that the growth in politically popular welfare spending is unsustainable and youth unemployment is one of the greatest economic challenges confronting Australia.
In a speech to be given in Melbourne today ..., the former BHP Billiton chairman and National Australia Bank chief executive calls for a national discussion about welfare spending, warning that the pension and health costs of an ageing population will add to the structural pressure on the federal budget.

Mr Argus’s comments come as the Gillard government, which has abandoned its budget surplus pledge after mining tax revenues fell far below forecasts, looks for deep savings to pay for multi-billion-dollar promises, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme and school funding reforms.

Mr Argus says it is crucial to have a debate on government finances - especially amid fears that the mining boom has peaked and the need for households to service their debts put pressure on tax collections.

“If we think we can avoid the fallout from the austerity measures which will be required to stop the economic bleeding in developed economies, then we are viewing the world through rose-coloured glasses,” Mr Argus says.

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The unions’ PM is the unions’ poison

Andrew BoltFEBRUARY232013(8:44am)

Paul Kelly:

Julia Gillard’s Labor Party was on display this week - the Prime Minister and Wayne Swan on the Gold Coast at the Australian Workers Union conference, winning declarations of support from Bill Ludwig and Paul Howes with pledges the AWU would mobilise its members in marginal seats, drawing upon Obama campaign techniques. It was union power on Labor’s behalf, an idea that has had its day.
Gillard is more dependent on trade union support for her internal position as Prime Minister than were Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd. The irony of modern Labor is that as trade union coverage of the workforce has declined dramatically, its influence within the Labor Party has only grown. What does this convey?

The obvious is conveyed, of course - that the Prime Minister is an AWU puppet, kept in place by union fiat against the manifest wish of most voters.

But there is something else the AWU seems unable to contemplate: its own members see their leadership using members’ money and their union’s authority to keep in power a prime minister many of those union members do not want. Gillard is not merely a union puppet. She is also poison to the union bosses who keep her in power. The bosses discredit Labor, Labor’s leader discredits the bosses.

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Overrun by what the Press Council says I cannot call “illegal immigrants”

Andrew BoltFEBRUARY232013(8:30am)

Insider Royston Mitchell reports on this deadly and grotesquely expensive farce:

My colleagues advise me that five boatloads of asylum seekers were offloaded on Christmas Island today. As far as I am aware, this is a new record. Not sure what number were onboard.

Christmas Island is the biggest money pit in Australian history. Never before has so much money been squandered, wasted, misdirected and lost in such a short period of time. Asylum seekers arrive almost daily, only to be churned through the system in two months or less, and sent to the mainland. The government couldn’t burn through money any faster if it tried. Two navy boats constantly on patrol; RAAF aircraft on patrol; teams of Customs and AFP officers permanently stationed on the island; empty hospitals manned by dozens of health professionals; SERCO spending millions a week; the list goes on. The waste is appalling, and I have certainly never seen anything like it in my life. When Labor says this year’s asylum seeker expenditure will be $2.2 billion, it should be emphasised that this is just the department of immigration’s costs - I would conservatively estimate Customs, Defence, AFP and the other associated departments costing at least $1 billion more, putting this year’s outlay to service the burgeoning asylum seeker industry at more than $3 billion.

The true (economic) cost of Christmas Island may never be known. So Wayne Swan wants a post-election audit of election policies? Good. Let’s start with Labor’s decision to dismantle the Pacific Solution in 2007. Perhaps the Treasurer would like to explain, before September, how Labor’s ‘humane’ policy has led to a $10 - $20 billion black hole in just five years.

Five years Labor have had to fix this festering sore. The boats are now what I like to call a ‘United Nations’ of economic opportunists. Europeans, Africans, Asians; dozens of young men in high spirits, thrilled at the prospect of unlimited welfare. When asked why they have travelled to Christmas Island, the answer is almost universally the same: “I lost my job”; “I heard there were jobs in Australia”; “I’m looking for work”, etc, etc.

Intel in the department has it that there are 30,000+ asylum seekers in Indonesia waiting their turn to travel to Christmas Island, and hundreds of boats are in the pipeline waiting to be launched. My estimate this year is for 35,000 - 40,000 arrivals by the time of the federal election.

Oh, by the way, somebody might like to ask the new immigration minister why, in the last few years alone, thousands of ‘asylum seekers’ have returned to their supposed ‘country of persecution’. This is another big secret the department is hoping does not become public: asylum seekers are granted Protection visas, only to travel back to Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan, marry their arranged brides and lodge applications for large groups of ‘family members’. And curiously, many of these asylum seekers, returning to their country of origin, do not have jobs; that is, their travel is funded by welfare payments, which they continue to collect while overseas.

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Tips for Saturday, February 23

Andrew BoltFEBRUARY222013(11:45pm)

Pass on news tips here. No moderators, though, mean no comments can be posted, although I can read them.

Posts may be light. I have a daughter to take to a regatta.

UPDATE

Many readers today complain - again - about the lack of moderation..

Bear in mind two things.

First, moderators cost money. Each one we employ is one fewer reporter we can hire.

Second, the employment of extra moderators to very carefully vet each comment is forced on us by increasing legal restrictions on free speech, a preponderance of judges and tribunal members seemingly hostile to free speech and conservatives, and the deliberate use by activists of those laws and legal bodies to punish and silence those with whom they disagree.

If Australia had a right to free speech as strongly defended as the US has, we could publish your comments much, much more freely.

But you, blog readers, are now the victims of our intelligentsia’s war against free speech. You are being silenced, too, because the cost of defending your comments as well as mine is now too high even for us.

If you are outraged about the muzzling of free speech, may I urge you to put your money where you want your mouth to be. Sign up here. Join the body that is fighting back so successfully.

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House them in Parliament instead

Andrew BoltFEBRUARY222013(8:06pm)

We’ve already had boat people housed in motels and an old people’s home. And now this:

RADIO announcer Ray Hadley has called on the Federal Government for a detailed report and explanation after he revealed 80 asylum seekers ... were living at student accommodation inside Macquarie University…
NSW Police today confirmed officers were investigating reports a man indecently assaulted a female university student while she was sleeping in her dormitory…

Macquarie University officials later confirmed the grounds are being used to house asylum seekers.

A statement released by the facility said the Macquarie University Village, which is owned and operated by the independent Campus Living Villages, made an agreement with the Red Cross’ Asylum Seeker Assistance Scheme to provide temporary accomodation for refugees…

It is not known yet whether one of the 80 Sri Lankan asylum seekers is responsible for an indecent assault on a female student, but the attacker has been described as a “dark skinned male”.

A Facebook posting from a Macquarie student, which I’ve edited to maintain the student’s privacy:

Be aware these are only allegations - whether against the alleged intruder or over the alleged handling of the complaint.

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This is the skum bag that broke into singleton keyman at 10pm Thursday night share with your mates and lets get rid of these Ferrals from singleton
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7.30 SUNDAY | Charles Wooley sits down with former PM, John Howard to discuss the wild political ride that will be 2013.

What are your predictions for Australia's longest political campaign?
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Had a great time in Eugene, Oregon -- yes, Eugene, Oregon! -- at Lane County GOP Lincoln Day dinner. Here's a pic with the Univ. of Oregon College Republicans.
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‘You feel inadequate, ashamed … you don't feel any motivation for a while.’ - Kumar Sangakkara on losing World Cup finals:
http://es.pn/VCrz0W
Nothing compared to how you feel if you cheat - ed
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Supporting small business, just outside Bundaberg this afternoon. — with Campbell Newman.
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4 TMN
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Praise God for a successful day! Great work JFC...— at Cabramatta Multicultural Food & Entertainment Festival 2013.
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I feel Wilders is wrong to scapegoat Muslims and leave migrants as sacrificial lambs. The issue, as I see it, is law and order which suffers badly under socialist governments. European governments are notoriously left wing and permissive and they don't have the benefit of being a former convict colony. Clearly the Islamic communities suffer from bad leadership, circles of silence regarding terror, and terrible dysfunction. It is incumbent on our communities that aren't dysfunctional to deal with the issues symptomatically until they are resolved .. to recognise bad leadership as legitimate is appalling. To lay claim that there is a religious, racial basis for bad behaviour is to misread the lessons of WW2.

As for the blame game of the ALP/media .. don't fall for it. They are losing and so use that to level the field. Let them sink. - ed
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My friend, when you are conscious that you are God’s beloved, you will have the confidence to ask Him to bless you. Not just in the big things, but also in the little things!

Many years ago when Wendy was pregnant with Jessica, she and I were in a restaurant for dinner. As we were about to order our food, a man seated not too far away from us took out a pack of cigarettes and prepared to light up.

I really didn’t want Wendy to take in any of that secondhand cigarette smoke, but there was no non-smoking section in that restaurant. So I prayed. Under my breath, I told the Lord, “Lord, I know that I am Your beloved. Please stop that man from smoking in this restaurant.” That was all I said—a quick and simple prayer.

And guess what happened? That man tried to light his cigarette, but his lighter just wouldn’t work! He kept trying, but no matter what he did, the lighter simply would not work. After some time, he shoved his cigarettes back in his shirt pocket in frustration.

I want you to know that even in the little things, God hears and answers your prayers because you are His beloved. Nothing is too big or too small for your Daddy God. If it matters to you, it matters to Him. The more you are conscious of the fact that you are His beloved, the more you will walk in His unmerited favor in every situation! http://josephprince.com/
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This week's audio and video podcasts are now available! Subscribe to or download Joseph Prince's podcasts today!http://www.josephprince.org/podcast/
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Pursuing man or money will drag you down, but when you pursue Jesus, you will find Him lifting you up with His wholeness, peace and abundant life!
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Yosemite National Park - USA
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George Street, ca1930.
Phil Box Ooooh, the Hotel Cecil. I remember that that hotel was the first hotel in Brisbane to have racey barmaids in see through tops with nuthin on underneath. The place was packed and I did a roaring trade in the afternoon Telegraph paper. City Final was the call I used to yell. Got heaps of tips that day. Melbourne Cup day was the most profitable. Kept me in Mr. Whippy ice creams all through grade 8 and 9 lunch times
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