Labor can’t hold a candle to kids’ common sense
Piers Akerman – Wednesday, February 06, 2013 (4:17pm)
THE Federal government can’t control our borders, can’t stop people smoking or drinking but now it is marshalling its forces to stop kids blowing out candles on birthday cakes.
No kidding.
This is what Labor and the Greens do best – helped by Independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor.
This is what your taxes are paying for.
The government’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines for childcare centres state children who want to blow out a candle on their birthday should bring their own cupcake - to avoid blowing germs all over a shared cake.
I don’t care how old you are but I guarantee that at some stage in your life you have blown out candles on a birthday cake and later shared it with others or have been to a birthday party at which someone else has blown out the candles and invited you to take a slice.
And I bet you did.
One of Labor’s greatest hypocrites, Health Minister Tanya Plibersek has hurriedly wheeled out to reassure the public that her “cupcake cops” will not punish childcare centres which allow children to blow out the candles on shared cakes.
Oh, really, Ms Plibersek?
Why would anyone believe you or anyone from your government on this matter or on any other, given its lousy track record with the truth?
This is the government which produced the worst Attorney General in the history of the nation, Nicola Roxon, who wanted to muzzle free speech.
This is the government which is still trying to muzzle the media.
Plibersek says the guidelines were not enforceable rules, just suggestions.
“They are suggestions that childcare centres can follow if they wish to reduce the likelihood of infection going around childcare centres,” she said.
“There is no danger that the cupcake police will shut you down for birthday cakes.”
Don’t you believe it.
Where there is a candle, there will be a cupcake cop waiting to pounce and write up the offending childcare centre and possible publicly name them and shame them.
Many kids live in such sterile, antiseptic environments these days that their parents are encouraged to let them play in the dirt and hug pets, to build up their immune systems.
Apart from a few whacko parents who are opposed to vaccinations, most Australian families protect their children from the common infections like measles, that do the rounds.
Polio is almost unheard of, as with tuberculosis, except in the migrant population.
Ms Plibersek said: “There’s a degree of common sense that has to be applied when you’re interpreting these things.”
But common sense is a trait that the ALP lacks.
Labor is strong on greed, corruption, venality (witness its performance in parliaments around the nation and the current theatre playing out in the Obeid hearings before ICAC).
Common sense, even relating to candles, is not its strong suit.
I’d let the kids do what kids like to do rather let Labor tell me what I cannot do.
I’d let the kids do what kids like to do rather let Labor tell me what I cannot do.
- 1820 – Sponsored by the American Colonization Society, the first African American emigrantsdeparted New York to establish a settlement in present-day Liberia.
- 1833 – Otto (pictured) became the first modern King of Greece.
- 1862 – Union forces earned one of their first important victories in the American Civil War at the Battle of Fort Henry in westernTennessee.
- 1958 – British European Airways Flight 609, carrying theManchester United football club, a number of their fans and journalists covering the team, crashed while attempting to take off from Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany, killing eight players and 15 others.
- 2000 – Second Chechen War: Russia captured Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen government into exile.
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Events
- 1649 – The claimant King Charles II of England and Scotland is declared King of Great Britain, by the Parliament of Scotland. This move was not followed by the Parliament of England nor the Parliament of Ireland.
- 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland becomes King upon the death of his brother Charles II.
- 1778 – American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic.
- 1788 – Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
- 1806 – Battle of San Domingo: British naval victory against the French in the Caribbean.
- 1815 – New Jersey grants the first American railroad charter to John Stevens.
- 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore.
- 1820 – The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society depart New York to start asettlement in present-day Liberia.
- 1833 – Otto becomes the first modern King of Greece.
- 1840 – Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony.
- 1843 – The first minstrel show in the United States, The Virginia Minstrels, opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).
- 1851 – The largest Australian bushfires in a populous region in recorded history take place in the state of Victoria.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The U.S. Navy gives the Union its first victory of the war, capturing Fort Henry, Tennessee in the Battle of Fort Henry.
- 1899 – Spanish-American War: The Treaty of Paris, a peace treaty between the United States and Spain, is ratified by the United States Senate.
- 1900 – The international arbitration court at The Hague is created when the Senate of the Netherlands ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree.
- 1914 – The Bondetåget, a peasant uprising in support of the monarchy, takes place in Sweden
- 1918 – British women over the age of 30 get the right to vote.
- 1922 – The Washington Naval Treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., limiting the naval armaments of United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy.
- 1933 – The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution, establishing the beginning and ending of the terms of the elected federal offices, goes into effect.
- 1934 – Far right leagues rally in front of the Palais Bourbon in an attempted coup against the French Third Republic, creating a political crisis in France.
- 1942 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Thailand.
- 1951 – The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train derails near Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The accident kills 85 people and injures over 500 more. The wreck is one of the worst rail disasters in American history.
- 1952 – Elizabeth II becomes the first queen regnant of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms since Queen Victoria upon the death of her father,George VI. At the exact moment of succession, she was in a treehouse at the Treetops Hotel in Kenya.
- 1958 – Eight Manchester United F.C. players and 15 other passengers killed in the Munich air disaster.
- 1959 – Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit.
- 1959 – At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
- 1976 – In testimony before a United States Senate subcommittee, Lockheed Corporation president Carl Kotchian admits that the company had paid out approximately $3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
- 1978 – The Blizzard of 1978, one of the worst Nor'easters in New England history, hit the region, with sustained winds of 65 mph and snowfall of 4" an hour.
- 1981 – The National Resistance Army of Uganda launches an attack on a Ugandan Army installation in the central Mubende District to begin the Ugandan Bush War.
- 1987 – Justice Mary Gaudron is appointed to the High Court of Australia, the first woman to be appointed.
- 1989 – The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe.
- 1996 – Willamette Valley Flood of 1996: Floods in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States, causes over US$500 million in property damage throughout thePacific Northwest.
- 1996 – Birgenair flight 301 crashed off the coast of the Dominican Republic, all 189 people inside the airplane are killed. This is the worst accident/incident involving a Boeing 757.
- 1998 – Washington National Airport is renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport.
- 2000 – Second Chechen War: Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile.
[edit]Births
- 1347 – Dorothea of Montau, Catholic saint (d. 1394)
- 1452 – Joan, Princess of Portugal (d. 1490)
- 1461 – Džore Držić, Croatian poet and playwright (d. 1501)
- 1465 – Scipione del Ferro, Italian mathematician (d. 1526)
- 1536 – Sassa Narimasa, Japanese samurai and Oda clan retainer (d. 1588)
- 1577 – Beatrice Cenci, Italian noblewoman (d. 1599)
- 1582 – Mario Bettinus, Italian philosopher, mathematician and astronomer (d. 1657)
- 1605 – Bernard of Corleone, Catholic saint (d. 1667)
- 1608 – Antonio Vieira, Portuguese writer (d. 1697)
- 1611 – Chongzhen Emperor, Emperor of China (d. 1644)
- 1612 – Antoine Arnauld, French theologian, philosopher and mathematician (d. 1694)
- 1639 – Daniel Georg Morhof, German writer and scholar (d. 1691)
- 1643 – Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg, first Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1712)
- 1664 – Mustafa II, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1703)
- 1665 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland (d. 1714)
- 1695 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1726)
- 1721 – Christian Friedrich Heinecken, German child prodigy (d. 1725)
- 1726 – Patrick Russell, Scottish surgeon and naturalist (d. 1805)
- 1732 – Charles Lee, British-born American Revolutionary War figure (d. 1782)
- 1736 – Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, German-Austrian sculptor (d. 1783)
- 1744 – Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist and surgeon (d. 1795)
- 1748 – Adam Weishaupt, German philosopher (d. 1830)
- 1753 – Évariste de Parny, French poet (d. 1814)
- 1756 – Aaron Burr, American politician and 3rd Vice President of the United States (d. 1836)
- 1757 – Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Polish scholar and statesman. (d. 1841)
- 1769 – Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn, Austrian general (d. 1862)
- 1772 – Karl von Kügelgen, German landscape and history painter (d. 1832)
- 1772 – Sir George Murray, Scottish soldier and politician (d. 1830)
- 1778 – Ugo Foscolo, Italian writer and poet (d. 1827)
- 1781 – John Keane, 1st Baron Keane, British noble and officer (d. 1844)
- 1796 – John Stevens Henslow, English botanist and geologist (d. 1861)
- 1797 – Joseph von Radowitz, Prussian statesman and general (d. 1853)
- 1799 – Imre Frivaldszky, Hungarian botanist and entomologist (d. 1870)
- 1800 – Achille Devéria, French painter and lithographer (d. 1857)
- 1802 – Charles Wheatstone, English scientist and inventor (d. 1875)
- 1811 – Henry George Liddell, father of Alice Liddell (d. 1898)
- 1818 – William M. Evarts, American lawyer and statesman (d. 1901)
- 1818 – Henry Litolff, British musician and composer (d. 1891)
- 1818 – Jenaro Quesada y Matheus, Spanish nobleman and politician (d. 1889)
- 1829 – Joseph Auguste Émile Vaudremer, French architect (d. 1914)
- 1830 – Daniel Oliver, British botanist (d. 1916)
- 1832 – John Brown Gordon, American politician and 53rd Governor of Georgia (d. 1904)
- 1833 – José María de Pereda, Spanish novelist (d. 1906)
- 1833 – James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart, American Civil War figure (d. 1864)
- 1834 – Edwin Klebs, German-born Swiss pathologist (d. 1913)
- 1834 – Ema Puksec, Croatian singer (d. 1889)
- 1834 – Wilhelm von Scherff, German general and military writer (d. 1911)
- 1838 – Sir Henry Irving, British actor (d. 1905)
- 1838 – Yisrael Meir Kagan, Lithuanian rabbi (d. 1933)
- 1839 – Eduard Hitzig, German neurologist and neuropsychiatrist (d. 1907)
- 1842 – Mary Rudge, English chess master (d. 1919)
- 1843 – Inoue Kowashi, Japanese statesman (d. 1895)
- 1843 – Frederic William Henry Myers, English poet and essayist (d. 1901)
- 1845 – Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy's department store and former Congressman from New York (d. 1912)
- 1847 – Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, American architect (d. 1918)
- 1849 – Ida Straus, American passenger aboard the Titanic (d. 1912)
- 1852 – C. Lloyd Morgan, British zoologist and psychologist (d. 1936)
- 1852 – Vasily Safonov, Russian pianist, teacher, conductor and composer (d. 1918)
- 1853 – Ignacij Klemenčič, Slovenian physicist (d. 1901)
- 1854 – Tommaso Alberto Vittorio of Savoy-Genoa, Italian prince (d. 1931)
- 1859 – Wilhelm Cohn, German chess master (d. 1913)
- 1861 – Nikolay Zelinsky, Russian chemist (d. 1953)
- 1864 – John Henry Mackay, Scottish individualist anarchist, thinker and writer (d. 1933)
- 1866 – Karl Sapper, German explorer and linguist (d. 1945)
- 1872 – Robert Maillart, Swiss bridge engineer (d. 1940)
- 1875 – Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (d. 1915)
- 1876 – Henry Blogg, English lifeboatman, George Cross and British Empire Medal recipient (d. 1954)
- 1876 – Eugène-Henri Gravelotte, French fencer (d. 1939)
- 1878 – Walter B. Pitkin, American lecturer (d. 1953)
- 1879 – Othon Friesz, French artist (d. 1949)
- 1879 – Magnús Guðmundsson, Icelandic politician (d. 1937)
- 1879 – Edwin Samuel Montagu, British statesman (d. 1924)
- 1879 – Carl Ramsauer, German physicist (d. 1955)
- 1880 – Nishinoumi Kajirō II, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 25th Yokozuna (d. 1931)
- 1883 – Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich, Russian aircraft designer (d. 1938)
- 1884 – Marcel Cohen, French linguist (d. 1974)
- 1887 – Josef Frings, German Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1978)
- 1892 – Maximilian Fretter-Pico, German general (d. 1984)
- 1892 – William Parry Murphy, American physician, Nobel laureate (d. 1987)
- 1893 – Muhammad Zafrulla Khan, Pakistani diplomat (d. 1985)
- 1894 – Eric Partridge, New Zealand lexicographer (d. 1979)
- 1894 – Kirpal Singh, Indian religious figure (d. 1974)
- 1895 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player (d. 1948)
- 1897 – Louis Buchalter, American organized crime figure (d. 1944)
- 1898 – Alla Tarasova, Soviet actress (d. 1973)
- 1899 – Ramón Novarro, Mexican actor (d. 1968)
- 1901 – Ben Lyon, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1902 – George Brunies, American musician (d. 1974)
- 1903 – Claudio Arrau, Chilean-born pianist (d. 1991)
- 1905 – Władysław Gomułka, Polish leader (d. 1982)
- 1905 – Jan Werich, Czech actor, playwright and writer (d. 1980)
- 1906 – Joseph Schull, Canadian playwright and historian (d. 1980)
- 1908 – Amintore Fanfani, Italian politician (d. 1999)
- 1908 – Edward Lansdale, American United States Air Force, CIA and OSS officer (d. 1987)
- 1908 – Michael Maltese, American screenwriter (d. 1981)
- 1910 – Irmgard Keun, German author (d. 1982)
- 1910 – Carlos Marcello, Tunisian-born gangster (d. 1993)
- 1911 – Ronald Reagan, American politician, 33rd Governor of California, & 40th President of the United States (d. 2004)
- 1912 – Eva Braun, German mistress and wife of Adolf Hitler (d. 1945)
- 1912 – John Edward Christopher Hill, English historian (d. 2003)
- 1913 – Mary Leakey, British anthropologist (d. 1996)
- 1914 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor (d. 2005)
- 1915 – Kavi Pradeep, Indian Poet(d.1998)
- 1916 – John Crank, British mathematician (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Louis-Philippe de Grandpré, Canadian lawyer and justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (d. 2008)
- 1917 – Zsa Zsa Gábor, Hungarian-born actress
- 1918 – Lothar-Günther Buchheim, German author (d. 2007)
- 1919 – Takashi Yanase, Japanese manga artist
- 1922 – Patrick Macnee, British actor
- 1922 – Denis Norden, British television personality
- 1922 – Haskell Wexler, American cinematographer
- 1923 – Gyula Lóránt, Hungarian football player and manager (d. 1981)
- 1924 – Billy Wright, English footballer (d. 1994)
- 1924 – Jin Yong, Chinese-language novelist
- 1925 – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesian author (d. 2006)
- 1926 – Eugene E. Covert, American aeronautics specialist
- 1926 – Walker Edmiston, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1927 – Gerard K. O'Neill, American physicist (d. 1992)
- 1928 – Allan Meltzer, American economist
- 1929 – Pierre Brice, French actor
- 1929 – Colin Murdoch, New Zealand pharmacist, inventor of the tranquilliser gun (d. 2008)
- 1929 – Oscar Sambrano Urdaneta, Venezuelan writer
- 1929 – Valentin Yanin, Russian historian
- 1930 – Jun Kondo, Japanese theoretical physicist
- 1931 – Rip Torn, American actor
- 1931 – Mamie Van Doren, American actress
- 1931 – Ricardo Vidal, Filipino Roman Catholic Cardinal
- 1932 – Camilo Cienfuegos, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1959)
- 1932 – Heinz-Klaus Metzger, German music critic and theorist (d. 2009)
- 1932 – François Truffaut, French film director (d. 1984)
- 1933 – Leslie Crowther, British comedian (d. 1996)
- 1934 – Bernard Erhard, American voice actor (d. 2000)
- 1936 – Donnie Brooks, American pop singer (d. 2007)
- 1936 – Kent Douglas, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
- 1936 – J. Howard Marshall III, American businessman
- 1938 – Fred Mifflin, Canadian Rear Admiral and politician
- 1939 – Jean Beaudin, Canadian film director and screenwriter
- 1939 – Mike Farrell, American actor
- 1939 – Orlando Parga, Puerto Rican politician
- 1940 – Tom Brokaw, American news anchorman
- 1940 – Petr Hájek, Czech mathematician
- 1940 – Jimmy Tarbuck, British comedian
- 1941 – Stephen Albert, American composer (d. 1992)
- 1941 – Gigi Perreau, American actress
- 1941 – Spencer Silver, American chemist
- 1942 – Sarah Brady, American gun-control activist
- 1942 – James Loewen, American sociologist and historian
- 1942 – Tommy Roberts, English fashion designer (d. 2012)
- 1942 – Valentina Titova, Russian actress
- 1943 – Fabian Forte, American singer
- 1943 – Gayle Hunnicutt, American actress
- 1943 – Georgeanna Tillman, American singer (The Marvelettes) (d. 1980)
- 1944 – Christine Boutin, French politician
- 1944 – Willie Tee, American singer and songwriter (d. 2007)
- 1944 – Michael Tucker, American actor
- 1945 – Bob Marley, Jamaican musician (d. 1981)
- 1946 – Jim Turner, American politician
- 1946 – Kate McGarrigle, Canadian singer and songwriter (d. 2010)
- 1946 – Richie Hayward, American musician (Little Feat) (d. 2010)
- 1947 – Bill Staines, American singer and songwriter
- 1949 – Jim Sheridan, Irish film director
- 1949 – Mike Batt, British composer
- 1950 – Natalie Cole, American singer
- 1950 – Jane Gordon-Cumming, British writer
- 1951 – Marco Antônio, Brazilian footballer
- 1951 – Huw Lloyd-Langton, English guitarist (Hawkwind and Widowmaker) (d. 2012)
- 1951 – Margo O'Donnell, Irish singer
- 1951 – Jacques Villeret, French actor (d. 2005)
- 1951 – Kevin Whately, English actor
- 1952 – Ricardo Lavolpe, Argentine football coach
- 1952 – Viktor Giacobbo, Swiss writer, comedian, moderator and actor
- 1954 – Bob Sirois, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1955 – Michael Pollan, American journalist
- 1955 – Bruno Stolorz, French rugby coach
- 1957 – Kathy Najimy, American actress and comedienne
- 1957 – Simon Phillips, Drummer (Toto)
- 1957 – Robert Townsend, American actor
- 1958 – Cecily Adams, American actress (d. 2004)
- 1958 – Barry Miller, American actor
- 1959 – Ken Nelson, English record producer
- 1960 – Megan Gallagher, American actress
- 1960 – Frank Jeske, East German footballer (d. 1994)
- 1961 – Cam Cameron, American football coach
- 1961 – Yuri Onufriyenko, Ukrainian-Russian cosmonaut
- 1962 – Stavros Lambrinidis, Greek politician
- 1962 – W. Axl Rose, American singer (Guns N' Roses)
- 1963 – Scott Gordon, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1963 – Mike Hough, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 – Kevin Trudeau, American entrepreneur
- 1963 – Quentin Letts, British journalist
- 1964 – Gordon Downie, Canadian musician (The Tragically Hip)
- 1964 – Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russian film director and actor
- 1965 – Jan Svěrák, Czech film director
- 1966 – Rick Astley, British singer
- 1967 – Anita Cochran, American singer
- 1967 – Izumi Sakai, Japanese singer (Zard) (d. 2007)
- 1968 – Adolfo Valencia, Colombian footballer
- 1968 – Akira Yamaoka, Japanese composer
- 1969 – David Hayter, American voice actor
- 1969 – Masaharu Fukuyama, Japanese singer
- 1969 – Tim Sherwood, English footballer
- 1970 – Per Frandsen, Danish footballer
- 1970 – Zhou Kehua, Chinese criminal and murderer (d. 2012)
- 1971 – Dana Eskelson, American actress
- 1971 – Brad Hogg, Australian cricket player
- 1971 – Carlos Rogers, American basketball player
- 1971 – Brian Stepanek, American actor
- 1972 – Stefano Bettarini, Italian footballer
- 1972 – David Binn, American football player
- 1973 – Jeff B. Davis, actor, comedian, singer
- 1975 – Orkut Büyükkökten, Turkish software engineer
- 1975 – Brett Hawke, Australian swimmer
- 1975 – Tomoko Kawase, Japanese singer (The Brilliant Green)
- 1975 – Svend-Allan Sørensen, Danish artist
- 1975 – Chad Allen, American retired baseball player
- 1976 – Tanja Frieden, Swiss snowboarder
- 1976 – Kim Zmeskal, American gymnast
- 1976 – Kasper Hvidt, Danish handball goalkeeper
- 1976 – Princess Marie of Denmark
- 1977 – Jason Euell, English-born footballer
- 1977 – Josh Stewart, American actor
- 1978 – Yael Naim, French-Israeli singer and songwriter
- 1979 – Dan Bălan, Moldovan singer (O-Zone)
- 1980 – Mamiko Noto, Japanese voice actress
- 1980 – Conor O'Brian, American wrestler
- 1980 – Kim Poirier, Canadian actress
- 1980 – Luke Ravenstahl, American politician
- 1980 – Ben Lawson, Australian actor
- 1981 – Ricky Barnes, American golfer
- 1981 – Calum Best, American model
- 1981 – Jens Lekman, Swedish musician
- 1981 – Ty Warren, American football player
- 1981 – Alison Haislip, American actress
- 1981 – Shim Eun Jin, South Korean singer (Baby V.O.X.)
- 1982 – Jade Edmistone, Australian swimmer
- 1982 – Alice Eve, English actress
- 1982 – Elise Ray, American gymnast
- 1982 – Tank, Taiwanese singer (Mandopop)
- 1983 – Melrose Bickerstaff, American fashion model
- 1983 – Brodie Croyle, American football player
- 1983 – Dimas Delgado, Spanish footballer
- 1983 – Sreesanth, Indian cricketer
- 1983 – Jamie Whincup, Australian racing driver
- 1983 – Myron Wolf Child, Canadian politician (d. 2007)
- 1984 – Darren Bent, English footballer
- 1984 – Piret Järvis, Estonian singer (Vanilla Ninja)
- 1984 – Antoine Wright, American basketball player
- 1985 – Kris Humphries, American basketball player
- 1985 – Joji Kato, Japanese speedskater
- 1985 – Yang Yu, Chinese swimmer
- 1986 – Alice Greczyn, American actress
- 1986 – Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1986 – Yunho, South Korean singer (TVXQ)
- 1988 – Bailey Hanks, American actress
- 1988 – Allison Holker, American dancer
- 1989 – Craig Cathcart, Irish footballer
- 1990 – Adam Henrique, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Víctor Mañon, Mexican footballer
- 1993 – Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011
- 1996 – Justina Mikulskytė, Lithuanian tennis player
[edit]Deaths
- 891 – St. Photius I the Great, Patriarch of Constantinople
- 1215 – Hōjō Tokimasa, Head of the Hōjō clan and shikken of the Kamakura bakufu (b. 1138)
- 1378 – Jeanne de Bourbon, wife of Charles V of France (b. 1338)
- 1497 – Johannes Ockeghem, Flemish composer (b. c.1410)
- 1515 – Aldus Manutius, Italian printer
- 1585 – Edmund Plowden, English legal scholar (b. 1518)
- 1593 – Jacques Amyot, French writer (b. 1513)
- 1593 – Emperor Ogimachi of Japan (b. 1517)
- 1617 – Prospero Alpini, Italian scientist (b. 1553)
- 1685 – King Charles II of England (b. 1630)
- 1740 – Pope Clement XII (b. 1652)
- 1775 – William Dowdeswell, English politician (b. 1721)
- 1783 – Capability Brown, English landscape gardener (b. 1716)
- 1793 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright (b. 1707)
- 1806 – Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, French general and father of author Alexandre Dumas, père (b. 1762)
- 1807 – John Reid, British army general and composer (b. 1721)
- 1816 – Maria Ludwika Rzewuska, Polish szlachcianka (b. 1744)
- 1833 – Pierre André Latreille, French entomologist (b. 1762)
- 1834 – Richard Lemon Lander, British explorer (b. 1804)
- 1855 – Josef Munzinger, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1791)
- 1899 – Leo von Caprivi, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1831)
- 1899 – Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince of Edinburgh (b. 1874)
- 1910 – Alfonso Maria Fusco. Beatified Italian Roman Catholic priest and founder (b. 1839)
- 1916 – Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan writer (b. 1867)
- 1918 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter (b. 1862)
- 1927 – Sam Maguire, Irish Republican and Gaelic footballer (b. 1879)
- 1929 – Maria Christina of Austria, Queen Regent of Spain (b. 1858)
- 1931 – Motilal Nehru, Indian Leader(b.1861)
- 1938 – Marianne von Werefkin, Russian-Swiss painter (b. 1860)
- 1950 – Georges Imbert, Alsatian chemist (b. 1884)
- 1951 – Gabby Street, former MLB player (b. 1882)
- 1952 – George VI of the United Kingdom (b. 1895)
- 1958 – Geoff Bent, English footballer (b. 1932)
- 1958 – Roger Byrne, English footballer (b. 1929)
- 1958 – Eddie Colman, English footballer (b. 1936)
- 1958 – Walter Crickmer, English football club secretary and manager
- 1958 – Mark Jones, English footballer (b. 1933)
- 1958 – David Pegg, English footballer (b. 1935)
- 1958 – Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (b. 1913)
- 1958 – Tommy Taylor, English footballer (b. 1932)
- 1963 – Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, Moroccan politician (b. 1880s)
- 1964 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and President (b. 1869)
- 1966 – Narcisa de Leon, Filipino film mogul (b. 1877)
- 1967 – Martine Carol, French film actress (b. 1920)
- 1976 – Ritwik Ghatak, Bengali Indian film maker and scriptwriter (b. 1925)
- 1976 – Vince Guaraldi, American musician (b. 1928)
- 1981 – Frederika of Hanover, Queen Consort of Greece (b. 1917)
- 1981 – Hugo Montenegro, American film music composer (b. 1925)
- 1985 – James Hadley Chase, English writer (b. 1906)
- 1986 – Georges Cabana, Canadian Roman Catholic Archbishop (b. 1894)
- 1986 – Frederick Coutts, Salvation Army general (b. 1899)
- 1986 – Dandy Nichols, English actress (b. 1907)
- 1986 – Minoru Yamasaki, American architect (b. 1912)
- 1987 – Julien Chouinard, Canadian civil servant, Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (b. 1929)
- 1988 – Nuno Oliveira, Bass Player (b. 1925)
- 1989 – André Cayatte, French filmmaker (b. 1909)
- 1989 – Chris Gueffroy, East German attempted defector (b. 1968)
- 1989 – Joe Raposo, American composer (b. 1937)
- 1989 – Osbourne 'King Tubby' Ruddock, Jamaican Dub music performer (b. 1941)
- 1989 – Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian (b. 1912)
- 1991 – Salvador Luria, Italian biologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1912)
- 1991 – Danny Thomas, American singer, comedian, and actor (b. 1914)
- 1993 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player (b. 1943)
- 1994 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1994 – Jack Kirby, American comic book writer (b. 1917)
- 1995 – James Merrill, American poet (b. 1926)
- 1996 – Guy Madison, American actor (b. 1922)
- 1997 – Roger Laurent, Belgian racing driver (b. 1913)
- 1998 – Falco, Austrian singer (b. 1957)
- 1998 – José Marroquín Leal (better known as Pipo), Mexican actor and performer (b. 1933)
- 1998 – Carl Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys) (b. 1946)
- 1999 – Don Dunstan, Australian politician (b. 1926)
- 1999 – Danny Dayton, American actor (b. 1923)
- 1999 – Jimmy Roberts, American singer (b. 1924)
- 2001 – Fulgence Charpentier, Canadian journalist (b. 1897)
- 2001 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino Communist revolutionary (b. 1953)
- 2002 – Max Perutz, Austrian molecular biologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1914)
- 2004 – Gerald Bouey, Canadian civil servant, governor of the Bank of Canada (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Lazar Berman, Russian pianist (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Karl Haas, German-American music educator (b. 1913)
- 2007 – Lew Burdette, American baseball player (b. 1926)
- 2007 – Lee Hoffman, American author (b. 1932)
- 2007 – Len Hopkins, Canadian politician (b. 1930)
- 2007 – Frankie Laine, American singer (b. 1913)
- 2007 – Willye White, American athlete (b. 1939)
- 2008 – Tony Rolt, English racing driver (b. 1918)
- 2008 – John McWethy, American journalist (b. 1947)
- 2009 – Philip Carey, American actor (b. 1925)
- 2009 – James Whitmore, American actor (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Gary Moore, Irish musician (Skid Row and Thin Lizzy) (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Antoni Tàpies, Catalan painter (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Sharada Dwivedi, Indian historian
[edit]Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (United Nations)
- Ronald Reagan Day (California)
- Sami National Day (Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden)
- Waitangi Day, celebrates the founding of New Zealand in 1840.
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Um, isn’t the real racism to divide players by race?
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(4:56pm)
How strange. The NRL discovers that dividing players by “race” doesn’t actually heal “racial” divisions, after all. Rather the opposite, it seems:
Rugby league powerbrokers are embroiled in a racial feud, with Aboriginal great Larry Corowa launching a savage attack on ARL commissioner Chris Sarra following the sacking of ARL Indigenous Council chairman Percy Knight.
Knight made this sensational allegation on Tuesday night: “There is rampant racism within the NRL’s administration and it is very toxic.”It comes in the very week when rugby league celebrates its indigenous heritage through the All Stars concept.Knight received a one-paragraph termination letter from ARLC chairman John Grant on Friday, informing him he had lost the faith of his fellow council members.That prompted a venomous response from Corowa in a fiery letter to Grant and Sarra, in which he asked: “Chris, how do you live with yourself in the knowledge that you played a prominent and key role in our demise from ARLIC?
“Is this the Aboriginal way or the Coconut way?”
Hmm. I argued we should ignore trivial distinctions of “race” and got called a racist. Was even taken to court. But if you run a competition dividing players by race and call people “coconut” for not acting black enough you;ll be fine.
(Thanks to reader Keith.)
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Punishing the prudent
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(4:25pm)
The Gillard Government is so desperate for cash today that it will loot your savings for tomorrow:
ONE of the architects of the superannuation regime has warned against a tax hike on workers’ savings, amid industry predictions that Labor’s proposed changes could deliver a “retrospective” hit to concessions worth $32 billion a year.
As Julia Gillard yesterday refused to rule out changes to super, Industry Funds Management chairman Garry Weaven, who helped design the landmark Labor reform as a top union official in the 1990s, declared it was “time for a pause” in the constant amendments to super tax rules…The government is considering a tax on distributions from superannuation funds with assets of more than $1 million, adjusting rules brought in by Howard government treasurer Peter Costello in 2006 that made super distributions tax-free, regardless of fund size.
While some describe the changes as a hit to the very wealthy, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia estimated that a $1m fund would only provide a pension of about $50,000 a year and that a couple looking for a “comfortable” retirement would need $56,339 a year.
The Government plans to tax prudence to pay for handouts. This is not just bad economics, but cultural vandalism.
The Coalition faces criticism of its own:
Ms Gillard assured parliament Labor would “always do the right thing” by working Australians and their retirement incomes, contrasting that with a Coalition plan to end a super top-up for an estimated 3.6 million workers earning less than $37,000 a year.
Shadow superannuation minister Mathias Cormann told me on 2GB last night the Coalition would, on the other hand, reveal “incentives” to such people closer to the election.
UPDATE
Two important Labor figures in the development of the superannuation system have warned the Gillard government against increasing super taxes and suggested other changes, including cuts to generous public service super, as better ways to raise revenue.
Nick Sherry, superannuation minister from 2007 to 2009, said the existing tax arrangements, which exempt withdrawals and have attracted billions in savings, shouldn’t be changed…Labor’s finance minister from 1984 to 1990, Peter Walsh, said MPs risked a political backlash against their own super entitlements if they targeted wealthier retirees.
“They had better be careful, particularly because their own superannuation is so generous – it would be a bit rich trying to wage some sort of class warfare,” Mr Walsh said.
LONG-SERVING Labor ministers can look forward to a secure financial future, regardless of the outcome of this year’s election or any changes they impose on the superannuation benefit payouts of the public at large.
Under the defined benefit scheme that was closed to new entrants in 2004, Wayne Swan, now 58, would be eligible for a life-time indexed pension of $166,400 if he were to lose his seat of Lilley, as some private polling predicts.
Labor’s superannuation proposals will introduce all the complexity of the old system. They will punish saving and they will undermine something that superannuation needs more than anything else – some certainty.
Labor’s dilemma is acute: if Gillard retreats from tough “structural saves”, her disability insurance scheme proper and Gonski school agenda, now completely unfunded, will look untenable, yet if she cuts deep Labor risks the real and symbolic impression of attacking aspirational values, thereby confirming Abbott’s campaign theme.
(Subscription required.)
UPDATE
Either the reporting was hyperbolic or Gillard has backed down:
JULIA Gillard has ruled out a new tax on payments from superannuation funds by repeating a 2010 vow that Labor would “never” remove the tax-free benefits for the over 60s.
The Prime Minister repeated the promise as she faced a challenge in parliament over the government’s search for billions of dollars in savings by cracking down on superannuation tax breaks…Sources close to Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten confirmed after Question Time that a withdrawals tax was “not an issue” despite days of speculation about a new hit to funds owned by the wealthiest Australians....Ms Gillard told Nationals leader Warren Truss that he should remember the 2010 commitment made when the government responded to the Henry tax review.
“I refer him to the media release that accompanied that report that said the government reaffirms that it will never remove tax-free superannuation payments for the over-60s,” Ms Gillard said.
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If that’s what a Labor facebook page says about Gillard….
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(4:06pm)
The Facebook page of Trish Crossin, Labor Senator for the Northern Territory, is an interesting barometer of public feeling towards the Labor Prime Minister:
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Roxon defeated by the free speech she tried to gag
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(11:35am)
Not only did Nicola Roxon prove to be Australia’s most radical attorney-general with draft anti-discrimination laws that sought to render illegal opinions that were offensive and insulting. But her reluctant decision to scrap these provisions after a community backlash provides the perfect lesson in the power of ideas.
Indeed, Roxon’s humiliating backdown should be a textbook example of why free speech matters: her decision to pursue “other options” proves what can happen when ideas and opinions are thrashed around freely and robustly. Dumb ideas tend to get exposed as dumb. And sensible ideas are allowed to flourish.Importantly, demolishing silly ideas such as Roxon’s nanny-state vision to render offensive opinions illegal can happen only when the machinery of free speech is kept clean of the grit and grime of politically correct laws that would otherwise inhibit the free flow of ideas.
That’s why free speech sits at the heart of liberty. Not just because we like the freedom to say whatever we want, though that is surely part of living in a healthy liberal democracy. No, the best reason to staunchly defend free speech is because it is the true gem of Western civilisation. Without it, other freedoms will not last for long.
Albrechtsen gives much credit where it is due - which, significantly, does not include the state-funded broadcaster or Fairfax, once so keen to denounce John Howard as an enemy of free speech:
Take a bow, too, the staff, headed by John Roskam, at the Institute of Public Affairs and the IPA’s paying members who ran Freedomwatch - a campaign that garnered rational, passionate, liberty-based arguments against Roxon’s bill…
[But] there was a disappointing lack of curiosity among many journalists at our national broadcaster. Who can recall a senior ABC journalist discussing in any detail the serious ramifications of Roxon’s bill? ... Curiously, the day Roxon was in Sydney to promote her anti-discrimination bill, she appeared on the ABC’s premier political program 7.30. Yet host Leigh Sales devoted every question to the royal commission into child abuse. Free speech didn’t get a look-in.
Simon Breheny of the IPA’s Freedomwatch explains why Roxon’s backdown on some parts of her dangerous blueprint still leaves far too much that will muzzle debate:
The options paper makes a number of suggestions for words that could replace “offends” and “insults” in the definition of discrimination. These include words just as ambiguous as those already in the draft Bill: “degrade,” “denigrate,” “humiliate” and “intimidate.” This option is a farce and should be rejected…
The idea that minor amendments can save the draft Bill is becoming a very bad joke. The reality is that this proposal is fundamentally flawed. As I explained last week, the draft Bill simply cannot be cured. None of the options presented by the Attorney-General’s Department would restore the reversed burden of proof under the draft Bill, fix the costs structure that would encourage frivolous litigation or overcome the fact that this draft Bill threatens, rather than protects, human rights. Mark Dreyfus should take advantage of the opportunity he has been presented with as the new Attorney-General and abandon the anti-discrimination consolidation project altogether.
Mark Steyn put the case for free speech - and against Roxonism - brilliantly in a defence of me for which I will be forever grateful:
UPDATE
Great news. The Opposition has decided to oppose Roxon’s draft discrimination bill outright. Free speech now has its defenders in Parliament.
Please see that such a stance is rewarded.
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Scientist: the “cure” is worse than any warming
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(7:57am)
Professor G. Cornelis van Kooten holds a chair in Environmental Studies and Climate at Canada’s University of Victoria:
I was a reluctant contributing author of the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report – reluctant because, after having been a reviewer of the third report, putting in quite a bit of time and then totally ignored, I viewed the process as nothing more than a sham…
I have worked on climate problems related to forestry, both in terms of adaptation and mitigation… However, I first looked at the broader problem of climate change when, about five years ago, I was asked to teach climate economics in a new Climate Studies minor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at my university… I have now encountered a significant number of scientists and others who have been personally attacked and even threatened with violence for their contrary views on climate change, and even more scientists who have contrary views but keep such views to themselves. Indeed, I would even dare to say that there are likely as many on my own university campus who are skeptical about the human origins of supposed global warming as there are those who support the so-called consensus – and my university is noted for its climate scientists and pro-anthropogenic origins of global warming....
So here is what I found...[The] climate models have never been validated and are simply unreliable.... To add insult to injury, the climate models were also used to make claims about the increasing intensity of storms, rainfall events, etc., when all the empirical evidence indicates that storm events have been on the decline…After reading a large literature by astrophysicists, I am more convinced that changes in solar activities (whether sunspots, various types of cycles, etc.) are a better explanation of changing temperatures and possible global warming than CO2. ..The highest temperature projections are based on the poorest people in the world increasing their incomes from $246 (measured in real 1990 USD) to $49,000 per year by the end of the century; the lowest expected rise in the per capita income of the poorest people will see them earning $3,850 (again real 1990 US $) annually, or some 15 times more than now… There are huge benefits to health and every other measure one cares to choose when one becomes rich. These more than outweigh any damage from climate change… Rising CO2 emissions are, for the most part, a side effect of alleviating global poverty. To mitigate climate change one needs to force the vast majority of humankind to continue living in abject poverty.Preventing climate change does not help the poor, it dooms them! Poverty simply kills more people than climate…In my view, the only real threat to humanity comes from sea level rise, and it is miniscule. The threats to polar bears, ecosystems, agriculture, etc., are vastly overstated and, in many cases, non-existent. I have yet to see convincing evidence that the threats are going to be catastrophic. From my perspective, I would welcome 5 to 8 degrees of warming, or even more. Warm weather is much better for one’s health than cold weather ...
Economists have warned and continue to warn against the use of emissions trading. They worry about additonality, leakages, transaction costs, corruption, etc., that are associated with emissions trading… But, perhaps, massive subsidies to support wind and solar developments on the basis of job creation might be a more insane policy.
(Thanks to reader Jamie.)
UPDATE
Professor Bob Carter:
Though you wouldn’t know it from the antagonistic nature of public discussions about global warming, a large measure of scientific agreement and shared interpretation exists amongst nearly all scientists who consider the issue. The common ground, much of which was traversed by Dr. Hayhoe in her article, includes:
* that climate has always changed and always will,
* that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and warms the lower atmosphere,
* that human emissions are accumulating in the atmosphere,
* that a global warming of around 0.5OC occurred in the 20th century, but
* that global warming has ceased over the last 15 years.
Read on as Carter explains why global warming theory fails Occam’s Razor..
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The Thomson saga: episode 453
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(7:34am)
The circus continues today:
Former Labor MP turned crossbencher Craig Thomson is due to appear in a Melbourne court today where he will be formally charged with 150 counts of fraud.
THREE of Labor’s most senior politicians - federal Environment Minister Tony Burke, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and New South Wales Opposition Leader John Robertson - have been dragged into a corruption probe after admitting they accepted lavish ski trips from the ALP powerbroker Eddie Obeid…The Federal Parliament’s disclosure rules state that ‘’any sponsored travel or hospitality received where the value of the sponsored travel or hospitality exceeds $300’’ must be declared.
Nothing necessarily wrong with accepting a gift from Obeid. But how influential was this man who could have so many senior Labor figures accept his hospitality? And why no declarations?
UPDATE
More charges for Thomson, who says he’s innocent:
Prosecutors said Mr Thomson was now facing 154 charges, five more than the 149 he faced after his arrest last week…
The former Labor MP and union secretary, who is now an Independent, is facing charges over allegations he used union cash to pay for prostitutes, dinners, and election expenses.They broadly follow the allegations outlined by Fair Work Australia in civil proceedings brought against Mr Thomson.
It is expected Victorian police will attempt to use samples of Mr Thomson’s fingerprints as evidence when the matter goes to trial.
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The law is the law, and the ABC should offer Abbott equal time
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(7:13am)
First, former minister Peter Reith writes on an ABC site that Julia Gillard’s election announcement obliges the ABC to offer the Opposition equal time:
My guess is that Gillard acted with little thought to the consequences of an early election announcement. She obviously did not check with the bureaucracy (because she would not trust public servants not to leak) on the issue of equal time in the media for the Opposition once the election date is announced.
Editor’s Note: While the ABC maintains due impartiality and balance in its coverage of politics throughout the year, the formal campaign begins in August when the writs are issued. That is when we will begin monitoring and recording “share of voice” and determining free time for the relevant parties.
“election period” means:(a) in relation to an election to the Legislative Council of Tasmania, or an ordinary election to the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory--the period that starts 33 days before the polling day for the election and ends at the close of the poll on that day; and
(b) in relation to any other election to a Parliament--the period that starts on:
(i) the day on which the proposed polling day for the election is publicly announced; or
(ii) the day on which the writs for the election are issued;
whichever happens first, and ends at the close of the poll on the polling day for the election;
The same definition is given in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983:
“election period” means:
(a) in relation to an election to the Legislative Council of Tasmania, or an ordinary election to the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory--the period that starts 33 days before the polling day for the election and ends at the close of the poll on that day; and(b) in relation to any other election to a Parliament--the period that starts on:
(i) the day on which the proposed polling day for the election is publicly announced; or
(ii) the day on which the writs for the election are issued;whichever happens first, and ends at the close of the poll on the polling day for the election;
So, today I announce that I will advise the Governor-General to dissolve the House of Representatives and to issue writs on Monday the 12th of August, for an election for the House and half the Senate to be held on Saturday, the 14th of September.
It seems to me that the law is clear - and broadcasters, not least the ABC, must now offer the Opposition equal time.
Corrs Chambers Westgarth media law partner Richard Leder said the broadcasting law meant the campaign was under way.
“For the purposes of the Broadcasting Services Act obligations the election period started with the public announcement,” he said.
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Blame global warming. Wheat and rice crops improve
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(6:03am)
I am not allowed to repeat what the Press Council proposed for a while to publish against me. The disciplinary proceedings of the Press Council are confidential, which is bizarre for an organisation representing the media.
But I hope I may at least be allowed to draw the attention of the council staff to today’s article by Professor Bjorn Lomborg:
Yields of all leading crops have been rising dramatically in recent decades, owing to higher-yielding crop varieties and farmers’ greater use of fertiliser, pesticides and irrigation. Moreover, CO2 acts as a fertiliser and its increase has probably raised global yields more than 3 per cent in the past 30 years.
I thought such facts would not have been doubted even by apostles of man-made global warming.
But check out Professor Ian Lowe, president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald:
For example, the United Nations food agency has warned that it will be less and less likely that we can feed the human population if climate change continues on its present trajectory.
To back up Lomborg:
Global production of corn, wheat and rice have all more than doubled since 1970 as global warming occurred. Corn production, the current flavor of the week for Internet fear-mongering, has more than tripled since 1970. So, too, has global vegetable production as a whole.
A table of crop yields here.
UPDATE
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2001 predicted global warming would cut wheat and rice production in India:
Acute water shortage conditions combined with thermal stress should adversely affect wheat and, more severely, rice productivity in India even under the positive effects of elevated CO2 in the future.
In 2007, warmist scientists were still claiming rice and wheat yields in India could fall:
The Climate Change as a Security Risk report by the German Advisory Council on Global Change called on governments meeting this week at the climate change conference in Bali to adopt deep emissions cuts to avert disaster.... According to the report… India, Pakistan and Bangladesh could see falls in wheat and rice yields as the monsoon changes.
Wheat output is likely to be close to last year’s record level of 93.90 million tons and conducive weather in the next two months is crucial for better yields, Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna said on Monday.
He also said that the final food grains production estimate for last year would be revised upward by less than one percent from the earlier estimated all-time high of 257.44 million tons.
“I am hopeful of achieving last year’s wheat output level. Gains in crop yields would depend on good weather in February-March,” Bahuguna told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.
Despite some early-season drought scare in India, the kharif (wet-season) rice crop has recovered nicely and the Ministry of Agriculture now predicts the crop to be around 86 million tons (milled equivalent). This is slightly lower than the record harvest of the 2011 kharif crop but is still higher than what was harvested in the past few years. With huge procurement stocks in government warehouses (nearly 35 million tons of milled rice equivalent as of 7 December 2012), the slight decline in rice production does not seem to be a problem for India.
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Who are Gillard’s media snitches?
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(6:00am)
We need the names, because Troy Bramston and Chris Kenny are right:
Any journalist who has ever complained to the Prime Minister’s office about receiving dissenting views from MPs really ought to resign immediately.A journalist complaining about leaks is like a surfer lamenting a wave.
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These Greens actually help run this country
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(5:51am)
Tim Blair is watching his Greens - their drawings and their pretending to be poor before they jet off in business class.
These people actually help Labor run this country. We should be embarrassed.
By the way, how many boat people drowned after the border laws were weakened to the Greens cheers?
UPDATE
THE opposition will seek to wedge Labor and the Greens and exacerbate splits within the minor party today by calling on the Senate to condemn the stunt that briefly wiped $314 million off the value of Whitehaven Coal.
Opposition Senate leader Eric Abetz will today move a motion attacking the conduct of activist Jonathan Moylan, who triggered the plunge by releasing a hoax press release.The motion calls on senators to note endorsements of Mr Moylan’s hoax “are inconsistent with concepts of economic responsibility, participatory democracy, efforts to enforce standards of media reporting and the rule of law"…Parliamentary secretary Bernie Ripoll, who oversees the corporate watchdog, slammed the stunt, saying “the government believes it is irresponsible for anyone to endorse this kind of potentially illegal act"…
In contrast, Mr Moylan’s act was applauded by Greens leader Christine Milne, who said the action was part of a long and proud history of civil disobedience.
UPDATE
In California, greens are fighting a development that could help rescue the near bankrupt state and give jobs to the poor:
The stakes of the battle could be huge, reports the New York Times. Hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs for Californians, versus environmental concerns about fracking, pipelines, and greenhouse gasses.The Monterey Shale formation, stretching 1,750 square miles from southern to central California, constitutes two-thirds of the country’s total estimated shale oil reserves…But the green lobby will prove a formidable opponent to the oil and gas companies jostling for a piece of this giant pie… Two powerhouse lobbies are suing the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Conservation to prevent further exploration of the Monterey Shale and impose stricter regulations on fracking.
The intrigues in this drama are many. Does California’s Democratic Party come down on the side of low income Californians, who desperately need the jobs and state services new oil extraction will fund? Or does it come down on the side of a green lobby that is heavily backed by some of the wealthiest people in the state? To what extent does the wealthy coastal elite control the future of the inland poor in California?
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Danish critic of Islam attacked
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(5:17am)
A GUNMAN has tried to shoot a Danish writer and prominent critic of Islam but missed and fled after a scuffle with his intended victim, police and the writer say.
Lars Hedegaard, who heads a group that claims press freedom is under threat from Islam, told The Associated Press he was shaken but not physically injured in the attack at his Copenhagen home.Police said they were searching for the suspect, whom they described as a “foreign” man aged 20-25…Hedegaard heads the Free Press Society in Denmark and its international offshoot, the International Free Press Society. He is also among the publishers of a weekly anti-Islam newsletter…
Several Scandinavian writers, artists and journalists have been exposed to threats and violence from extremists since the 2005 publication of Danish newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad triggered an uproar in Muslim countries.
We need to know more before we conclude this is another in a series of Islamist attacks on Scandinavian journalists, cartoonists, writers and publishers, from the Satanic Versescontroversy on.
But if it is, we should reconsider how smart it is for the West to help and encourage Islamists to demonise their targets:
In 2011, [Hedegaard] was convicted of hate speech and fined 5000 kroner ($A964) for making a series of insulting and degrading statements about Muslims.
Did that conviction make free speech safer or put it in even greater danger?
Did that conviction make Hedegaard safer or in even greater danger?
UPDATE
Meanwhile:
An Australian with connections to the Hezbollah militant group is one of the key suspects in a bombing that killed five Israelis and a local bus driver at an airport at a Black Sea resort last year, the Bulgarian Government announced overnight.
Releasing the results of its investigation into the July 18 bus bombing in the coastal town of Burgas, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said one of the suspects entered Bulgaria on an Australian passport, and another with one from Canada.All three people involved in the attack had fake US drivers licenses that had been printed in Lebanon, while the two travelling on Australian and Canadian passports had lived in Lebanon since 2006 and 2010 respectively...
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Abbott’s biggest threat is now Rudd. Time to engage
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(4:23am)
In one way, opinion polls showing Labor at a shocking 44 per cent to the Coalition’s 56 are bad news for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
They may be enough to finally convince Labor Julia Gillard is indeed terminal and Kevin Rudd could not possibly be worse.
Abbott has Gillard’s measure now. But could he beat Rudd?
At the very least, Rudd represents a fresh challenge for the Coalition - and fresh hope for Labor.
After all, Rudd is personally popular, but Abbott is not. Rudd can be Labor’s sugar hit for as long as voters can forget what it was that made him such a shambolic leader, hated by his own side.
To beat him, the Coalition will have to remind voters that many of Gillard’s problems were actually created by Rudd. Rudd blew the surplus. Rudd scrapped the border laws which worked. Rudd gave us the waste, from pink batts to overpriced school halls. Rudd put Indonesia and China offside. Rudd plunged into the global warming frenzy, even it it was Gillard who eventually gave us the carbon tax she vowed she wouldn’t.
Rudd will have learned from his mistakes, although it’s unclear how many he truly repents and which he can overcome. Testing him, exposing him - this will take the Opposition time. And it will take even more time if Rudd’s return keeps getting sold as the rise of the Messiah. The rise of Mr Popularity.
Yes, the Opposition must keep pressure on Gillard. But Gillard is already toast and it’s Rudd who is now the bigger threat to a Coalition victory in September.
If I were Abbott, I’d train some of my biggest guns on my biggest enemy.
Labor faces a crisis: too weak under Gillard but unable to contemplate Kevin Rudd…
Rudd’s face is everywhere and any protracted setback will fan Rudd’s leadership claims. Labor is permanently tainted by its ties to Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper. Asylum-seeker boats keep arriving. The NSW Labor brand, witness Eddie Obeid, cannot be purged this year. Business is alienated from Labor. Confidence in the economy is patchy and Newspoll has a shocking figure that on economic management the Coalition leads Labor 50-28 per cent. This is death zone territory.
Labor’s poor start to the year and the slump in the polls makes destroying Rudd almost impossible and the pressure is mounting to revive rather than revile him.
Whether Rudd feeds it or not, Labor MPs are talking.
After all, even those on moderately healthy margins face possible unemployment from September unless things improve markedly. Such a thing tends to focus the mind.Importantly, there is no great dispute between the two camps that Rudd’s 31 votes secured back then has grown. The question is, how much.
Backers say it is now at 45, whereas Gillard loyalists say it is lower. Nobody knows for sure.
PRESSURE is growing on Julia Gillard to exploit Kevin Rudd’s popularity with the electorate and elevate his role in the election campaign, with four members of her cabinet now publicly declaring that the former prime minister is an asset for the party.
Two of the Prime Minister’s key supporters, Victorian Right faction powerbrokers Stephen Conroy and Bill Shorten, both said yesterday Mr Rudd had a role to play in the election campaign, following comments on Monday from Regional Affairs Minister Simon Crean and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese that Mr Rudd was an asset to Labor’s campaign.
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University tweets to the Left
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(12:16am)
The University of Canberra’s journalism faculty is already home to Professor Matthew Ricketson, a Leftist who worked on the disgraceful Finkelstein inquiry which recommended oppressive new laws to regulate newspapers and blogs.
This week it hired another Leftist:
Press gallery stalwart Michelle Grattan is joining the University of Canberra as a professorial fellow.
She will take on a diverse role which will include teaching and research projects in politics and political communication, lecturing, public commentary and strategic advice.
I wondered yesterday whether the university’s students - especially those in its journalism courses - would get some balance in their ideological education. One of the students tells me no, and produces as evidence this extract from the unit outine for its Introduction to Journalism course:
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Stop global warming! Bludge
Andrew BoltFEBRUARY062013(12:02am)
Just to make the link between poverty and warming policies very clear:
Want to reduce the effects of global warming? Stop working so hard. Working fewer hours might help slow global warming, according to a new study released Monday by the Center for Economic Policy and Research.
A worldwide switch to a “more European” work schedule, which includes working fewer hours and more vacation time, could prevent as much as half of the expected global temperature rise by 2100, according to the analysis, which used a 2012 study that found shorter work hours could be associated with lower carbon emissions.The Center for Economic Policy and Research is a liberal think tank based in Washington.
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FROM THE ANDES TO ABBOTT
Tim Blair – Wednesday, February 06, 2013 (12:15pm)
As are many on the left, Nick Dyrenfurth is obsessed with a certain Liberal politician:
A funny thing happened on the final evening of my family’s recent holiday to Mendoza, a winemaking oasis set in the eastern foothills of the Argentinian Andes. Returning home from our umpteenth carnivorous dinner, a portly, rather unkempt man claiming to hail from Belgium - think of a young Gerard Depardieu minus his generous nose - suddenly emerged from the shadows of the desert night.The man initially requested directions to the town’s main plaza, before regaling us of his horror day. On arrival at the bus station that morning he had apparently been mugged by a gang of local youths. They had taken everything, even his belt and shoes. The local police were allegedly useless. With no money or identification, he was seriously entertaining the prospect of sleeping rough.Tears welling in his eyes, he asked if we could spare 100 pesos - roughly $A20 - to board a bus to Buenos Aires and seek urgent assistance from his embassy. As my wife and I deliberated over the stranger’s claims to charity, something the man said made me think of Tony Abbott.
But of course. Readers are invited to use Nick’s concluding line in scenarios of their choice.
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BY SARAH
Tim Blair – Wednesday, February 06, 2013 (4:01am)
South Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has apparently become an artist:
Note the credit on the above work, which depicts a common Adelaide domestic scene. Also “by Sarah”:
This piece presents the dilemma faced by a young Adelaide idealist who can’t decide whether to be taught by the South Australian Department for Education and Child Development or by a tree. Toss a coin, girl.
Sarah’s final canvas shows three unemployed Adelaide Greens voters and their teacher gazing in awe as Adam Bandt soars overhead in business class.
Note the credit on the above work, which depicts a common Adelaide domestic scene. Also “by Sarah”:
This piece presents the dilemma faced by a young Adelaide idealist who can’t decide whether to be taught by the South Australian Department for Education and Child Development or by a tree. Toss a coin, girl.
Sarah’s final canvas shows three unemployed Adelaide Greens voters and their teacher gazing in awe as Adam Bandt soars overhead in business class.
===
STILL LIVING ON TAXES
Tim Blair – Wednesday, February 06, 2013 (3:32am)
Having proved that a Greens MP can’t survive on the dole, Adam Bandt reverts to his previous level of government funding:
Adam Bandt returned to life as a parliamentarian with a business-class fight to Canberra and service in the Chairman’s Lounge.The Greens MP enjoyed a free coffee in the exclusive Qantas lounge in Melbourne before boarding his flight with his tax-payer funded business class ticket, which cost twice the amount a person on Newstart receives each week.
Still, he’s made his point. Whatever that point was.
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NO, IT WON’T
Tim Blair – Wednesday, February 06, 2013 (3:28am)
“It will drive half of America into a fury,” predicts the Sydney Morning Herald‘s David Dale.
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THE RICHER THEY ARE, THE GREENER THEY BE
Tim Blair – Wednesday, February 06, 2013 (3:20am)
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MOVING FORWARD ………… today’s economic news ...........
151,000 jobs lost in January (this is of great concern as employment traditionally rises in January)
Unemployment surges 1.3% in Jan to 10.9% of the workforce.
1,327,000 Australians now unemployed – a new record high.
In the past 12 months overall employment fell 272,000 to 10,812,000 — it’s lowest since July 2011.
Australian retail sales fell again in December, the longest stretch of declines in 13 years.
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Men and women are equal before God. But they aren't the same. I think what confuses people is the false concept of degrees of love. One loves or one doesn't, there is no case of more love or less love. In sibling rivalry the weasel wins in the quest for more. Paying women less for equal work is no different than torturing peasants to make them respect the truth.
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Penelope takes us on a tour of the Universal sets after an audition
Penelope was the name of Odysseus' wife. It translates as 'Duck.' She earned it when being on a boat and falling overboard .. before she met that king of Ithaca. And I think Penelope here is a lovely girl and a worthy recipient of the name. - ed
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Run this race with passion, not exhaustion.
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galations 6:9)
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John Crace was a senior Australian naval officer during the Second World War. He was born on 6 February in the area of New South Wales that later became Gungahlin in the Australian Capital Territory. He began his schooling at the Kings School at Parramatta in Sydney but completed his education in England before joining the Royal Navy's training ship HMS Britannia in May 1902.
In the first decade of his naval career, Crace specialised as a torpedo officer and made several returns to Australia on postings. He married Carola Baird in Glasgow in April 1920 and between then and the beginning of the Second World War, he served on both shore and sea postings, all the while rising steadily through the ranks. By September 1939 he had been promoted to rear admiral and appointed to command the Australian Squadron. On arriving in Sydney he found, however, that most of Australia's naval vessels were operating far from Australia's shores.
Frustrated at the lack of activity and annoyed at the Naval Board's perceived interference in operational matters, Crace tried to resign after two years in the post. However, when the war against Japan began he became commander of the Allied Naval Squadron, ANZAC Force. He served on operations in the waters around New Guinea but was unhappy that his ships were given a minor role compared to those of the United States Navy. He then served during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 but was in a position peripheral to the main action.
He returned to England in June 1942 having handed over his command. Crace then became Superintendent of Chatham Naval Dockyard; he held that position until July 1946. He retired to Hampshire where he died on 11 May 1968.
Image: https://www.awm.gov.au/
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Misleading argument for letting civilians own assault rifles - ed
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Today, President Obama asked Congress for another short-term fix to our fiscal woes--dodging long-term deficit reduction yet again. Instead of offering real solutions to our fiscal challenges, the president is content kicking the can down the road. Enough is enough. Click "like" if you agree it's time for President Obama to get serious about cutting spending and reducing our deficit.
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Was this young actress an accessory to murder? She claims she was duped by her fiance. Find out more: http://bitly.com/
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When Chinese Christians are threatened with torture, they claim they are “free to trust God for healing.”
When they are imprisoned, they proclaim that they are then “free to share their faith with other prisoners.”
When Chinese believers are told they will be killed, they state that then they are “free to be with Jesus.”
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God hears your every cry. Just a groan will reach God’s throne (Ex 2:23–24)!
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A VERY CROSS Ms CROSSIN by Larry Pickering
Is there more trouble ahead for Julia Gillard? Imagine my surprise this morning to see foundation Emily Lister, Trish Crossin, on my list of “likes”. So I clicked her site and was shocked to see Andrew Bolt also made “recommended” reading. What the hell is that all about? Is the far left of the ALP embracing the depths of conservative depravity?
Senator Trish Crossin can kiss 15 years of working with Aboriginal communities goodbye. Soon she will be jobless, her “friend” Julia Gillard has seen to that but Julia is apparently underestimating a woman’s scorn.
What Gillard has done is unfeeling, ruthless and desperate in an attempt to tenuously cling to power at any cost.
Her lack of good judgment has always been evident but the callousness of this woman knows no bounds. She shows scant respect for women, particularly married women, when her own varied interests are better served.
Her elevation of Novis Peris at the expense of Crossin is just another thought bubble in the bath and designed to combat Abbott’s history of charitable work within Aboriginal communities.
And no Nova, you the “captain’s pick”, are not charitable... Tony Abbott is charitable.
You were never a charity as you and Gillard say, you were registered as Nova Peris Enterprises and never registered as a charity nor did you operate as one.
ABN Name Type Location
36 080 317 022
Active PERIS ENTERPRISES PTY LTD Entity Name
2606 ACT
37 153 852 147
Active Nova Peris Enterprises Pty Limited Entity Name
0810 NT
36 080 317 022
Active PERIS KNEEBONE ENTERPRISES PTY LTD Entity Name
(Historic) 2606 ACT
75 585 312 955
Active WELLS PERIS ENTERPRISES Trading Name
4179 QLD
98 126 723 064
Active Wells-Peris Enterprises Pty Ltd Entity Name
4179 QLD
Peris’ private companies have successfully sucked $333,700.00 and a further $950,011.00 from taxpayers in a mostly abortive Aboriginal medical road show.
Of course private companies are responsible to ASIC and there is no apparent accountability asked for by government.
But a scathing independent audit found that: “The centrally-driven approach to the Child Health Check Initiative meant that there was insufficient consideration of the needs of the people, systems and processes already operating in the NT … for many health services the checks were a disruption to normal clinic business and other services were sometimes suspended while the checks were carried out.”
A good time was had by all at this, another free-wheeling raid on the riches available in the Aboriginal industry.
I suspect that Trish Crossin may have quite a bit to say leading up to September 14.
Ms Gillard and Peris, please don’t fraudulently present yourselves as charitable. You are anything but that. One of you is a dangerous megalomaniac, the other is being used and both of you have no respect for taxpayers’ funds.And by the way Ms Gillard, read up on the late Fred Hollows if you really want to know what the word “charity” means.
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Today, the IDF chief of staff received the "Legion of Merit" award from his American counterpart. 'Like' if you believe in our alliance.
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WATCH: Florida teen mouths off to judge. Find out what happened next --http://tinyurl.com/a2mgrs2
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"We're going to change the world."
What is your favorite line from the extended look at The Bible Series? http://bit.ly/VGTy1T
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PRESS RELEASE Senator the Hon Nigel Scullion, Deputy Leader of the Nationals
Thomson appointment pours salt on live cattle trade wound
Kelvin Thomson’s appointment as Parliamentary Secretary for Trade by Julia Gillard rubs salt into the wounds of Northern Australia still recovering from the live cattle export ban, Country Liberals Senator for the Northern Territory Nigel Scullion said.
“This decision again shows Julia Gillard’s appalling judgement given that Kelvin Thomson led the Labor charge against the live cattle trade,” Senator Scullion said.
“It sends the wrong message to Indonesia, who will wonder why Australia has appointed someone to a trade portfolio who has actively worked to destroy a mutually beneficial trade arrangement.
“One of the main perpetrators of the live cattle export ban has been rewarded with a position where I fear he will do his best to push his own agenda of closing down Australia’s live trade industry.
“Minister Emerson said, ‘The Government's position is established, and Kelvin and I and others will continue to implement that.’ And yet Mr Thomson told the ABC’s PM program on September 18, 2012: ‘we would be much better off if we transitioned out of live animal export altogether and moved towards domestic processing.’
“That is hardly the kind of talk Indonesia would want to hear from Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Trade. His appointment is a slap in the face to our neighbours and other countries involved in the live trade export.
“His appointment will send a shiver down the spines of hard-working Territorians still recovering from the trauma of Mr Thomson’s decision.
“With Mr Thomson’s appointment Labor has shown it does not care about the Northern Australia or trade relations with Indonesia and the Middle East,” Senator Scullion said.
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No man but a fool is always right. - Charles Spurgeon
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