Bairnsdale Conservative: Wed Apr 24th Todays News

Happy birthday and many happy returns Tony Huynh. On this evening, in 1915, two of my grandfathers were sailing to shore at Gallipolli. For different armies. One lost an eye. The other did his job.
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Heiner Affair inquiry getting down to business

Piers Akerman – Wednesday, April 24, 2013 (12:06am)

It would seem that Prime Minister Julia Gillard is not the only Labor figure to reach for the “naïve” defence when the hard questions are asked.

Yesterday, Dean Wells, a former Labor Attorney General in the Goss government, told the Queensland Child Protection Inquiry which is looking into the Heiner Affair that the Cabinet decided to shred internal documents because they were inexperienced and wanted to protect employees from defamation.

He said the 1990 order to destroy documents from an investigation into a youth-detention centre was the Cabinet’s baptism of fire as the first “damned if we do, damned if we don’t” decision.

He is the third Cabinet minister to be summonsed to the inquiry - the first under newly expanded terms of reference - that is investigating the long-running Heiner Affair disgrace.

“We had been out of office for 32 years,” Wells said.

“We did not know what was normal and within the area of the Cabinet’s concern.

“What we did know that a minister had a problem that an inquiry that had been established by her predecessor had been pulled up.”

The Heiner Affair centres on the destruction of documents from retired magistrate Noel Heiner’s investigation into allegations of mismanagement at the John Oxley Youth Centre.

It later emerged a girl, 14, was raped at the centre in 1988 and claims grew of a coverup of sexual abuse allegations.

The girl, now a woman, at the heart of this matter, still wants justice.

She was awarded approximately $140,000 in a hush-hush ex gratia payment or possibly compensation in June, 2010, by the Bligh Labor government.

Commissioner Tim Carmody asked why the government would offer to indemnify a man, then destroy the documents which might be produced in a court in a case against that same man.

“That suggests no one thought about those two colliding facts,’’ he said.

Wells said the government believed it wrong to keep documents which he believed contained untested allegations of misconduct which did not involve criminal behavior.

But Carmody said the Cabinet knew it was dong something quite “risky” which required serious thought.

“It was such a serious decision it was deferred twice,’’ he said.

Yet the Cabinet did not appear to apply careful consideration before green-lighting the shredding.

“It (the consideration given) seems to have been less than might have been expected,’’ Carmody said.

“The questions that seems to have been obvious don’t seem to have been asked.’’

Carmody suggested the documents contained not so much allegations of child sexual abuse but accusations related to industrial strife inside the John Oxley centre.

But he also suggested there were two competing sides in the equation - one side wanted to keep the material and one side wanted it destroyed.

He suggested the Labor Cabinet had taken one side, and allowed the destruction of the documents.

The inquiry continues and the commissioner is due to decide on the criminality of the shredding of the documents on May 6.

In as much as a number of the most senior judges from across the nation have in the past decided that the shredding of documents foreshadowed to be needed as evidence was prima facie a crime, Carmody’s decision will be eagerly waited.

The Heiner Affair has never been properly investigated despite 11 reviews and it has cast a shadow over the Goss Cabinet and a number of senior public servants including the former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who was Premier Wayne Goss’s chief of staff and later director-general of his Cabinet office.

It may be that the Newman government will finally see justice done in this long-running scandal.

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Timely warning of danger within

Miranda Devine – Tuesday, April 23, 2013 (7:54pm)

MAYBE it’s because the author is a friend, but there is a buzz around a book by Nick Cater, The Lucky Culture, that feels like a defining moment in the Australian narrative. For instance, when Rupert Murdoch was in Sydney recently, Cater, a senior editor at The Australian, handed him a copy as he was leaving for the airport. By the time Murdoch got back to New York he was so taken with the book he asked for 10 copies to be sent over.

The Lucky Culture is a migrant’s ode to the adopted country he has loved since childhood. Cater, 54, chose to move here as an adult in the late 1980s, finding it “tremendously liberating” after what he describes as a lower-middle-class upbringing in Britain: “There is no recourse to status. In this country everyone gets a fair go. There are no institutional barriers to success.”

And yet over the past 20 years something has changed.

Cater’s thesis, formed during the 2010 election, is that Australia has become increasingly polarised, not between right and left, but between people he calls the insiders and the outsiders.

A new ruling class of university-educated “progressives”, “sophisticates”, “elites” and “latte-sippers” have emerged as an un-Australian clique trying to lord it over everyone else. Controlling media, law, education and the political class, they threaten Australia’s great egalitarian democratic project: “For the first time there were people who did not simply feel better off but were better than their fellow Australians. They were cosmopolitan and sophisticated, well read (or so they would have us believe) and politically aware. This was not the classless society I had signed up to join.”

Cater set out to explore the polarisation but the book grew into something much bigger - an optimistic and affirming evaluation of the country he now calls home.

The book’s insights probably could only have come from a newcomer, seeing with fresh eyes what native-born citizens take for granted. For instance, while Australians might have come to accept our convict past without embarrassment, Cater goes further, describing it as an inspirational tale of redemption: “An obsession with the convict stain has obscured the colony’s uplifting moral purpose as a place of rehabilitation. Until (historian) Manning Clark trussed colonial history in a Marxist straitjacket, Australia was considered the Enlightenment’s most audacious experiment, an attempt to build a civilisation on a continent that had yet to be introduced to cultivation. It has succeeded beyond all expectation.”

His title refers to the 1964 book The Lucky Country, in which Donald Horne famously asserted Australia was run by “second rate people who share its luck”.

Cater’s sees Australia as “an exceptional country, populated by exceptional people skilled at making their own luck. When fortune smiles, it is not by chance or benevolence, it is the dividend of an investment of human ingenuity, enterprise and energy.

“Australians have been forging their own destiny for over 200 years; they subscribe to the idea of progress.”

But Australian egalitarianism is threatened by the assumption that “some citizens, the educated ones, are smarter than the rest, and that therefore their opinions should carry more weight”.

He traces the rise of the new insider class to the extraordinary expansion of higher education from the late ‘50s, in which the number of universities doubled - and became “degree factories”.

The unintended consequence was the creation of an “intelligentsia with a narrower, more homogenous” outlook, marked by a “progressive world view, snobbery and self righteousness”.

The intellectual class has for almost half a century “misrepresented Australia’s history, misread its present, misjudged its people and projected a miserable vision of the future”, while maligning “patriotism as akin to racism”.

Australia is not a race or an ethnicity or a constitution. It is an idea, and thus exquisitely vulnerable to the narrative that is drawn for it.

I spent a good deal of my youth in American schools, reading American children’s books and absorbing American mythology. Every story, from George Washington to the Bobbsey Twins, reinforced the idea of America the Good.

Australians have never bothered ourselves with American-style displays of overt patriotism. Our reticence is an admirable quality, up to a point. But in all our embarrassment about excessive pridefulness, we have vacated the ground where patriotism used to define who we are, and left it to the sneerers and the wreckers. Cater’s book is the spiritual sustenance our maligned nation needs.The Lucky Culturr should be on the curriculum of every high school history class, along with the complete works of Geoffrey Blainey.

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 24, 2013 (1:52pm)

Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s former brother-in-law points to the Boston bomber’s possible motivation:

He was angry that the world pictures Islam as a violent religion.

Glad we’ve cleared up that little misconception. Meanwhile, speculation over the source of the killers’ bomb-making knowledge seems to have been accurate:

When Dzhokhar Tsarnaev spoke to investigators on Sunday, officials said, he indicated that he and his brother had learned to make the pressure-cooker bombs that they used at the marathon from Inspire, the online Al Qaeda magazine.

(Via PWAF)

UPDATE. The ABC’s Jonathan Green became unhappy when I mentioned the possibility of Islamist involvement in the Boston attacks:

Blair was islamophobing as usual. we have only circumstantial evidence. none of us have a clue why this happened … I have no idea why they did this.

Well, now you do:

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev admitted to playing a role in the marathon bombings, which killed three people and wounded more than 260, and told federal agents that he and his brother were motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs, when he was interviewed Sunday at the hospital, law enforcement officials said.

Clearly, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is an Islamophobe.

UPDATE II. The Boston Herald reports:

Marathon bombings mastermind Tamerlan Tsarnaev was living on taxpayer-funded state welfare benefits even as he was delving deep into the world of radical anti-American Islamism …

State officials confirmed last night that Tsarnaev, slain in a raging gun battle with police last Friday, was receiving benefits along with his wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, and their 3-year-old daughter.

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AMAZING MONOCOLOUR DREAMCOATS

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 24, 2013 (1:21pm)

James Delingpole:

I think future historians – looking back on this period of mass hysteria in which so many people were persuaded by and so much expensive, damaging policy was based on the largest confection of lies in junk science history – could put together a reasonably persuasive thesis that it was mainly the fault of scientist-manque arts graduates too easily impressed by men in white lab coats.

Arts graduate Kevin Rudd in 2008:

There’s a group of scientists called the International Panel on Climate Change – 4000 of them. Guys in white coats who run around and don’t have a sense of humour. They just measure things. And what they say to us is it’s happening and it’s caused by human activity.

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IMAGE FIXED

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 24, 2013 (1:03pm)

The Sydney Morning Herald‘s Tea Party bomb prediction is now redrawn.

(Via sdog)

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THE HEALING POWER OF TAXATION

Tim Blair – Wednesday, April 24, 2013 (11:48am)

In the New York Times, Thomas Friedman comes up with the perfect leftoid answer to terrorism:

Until we fully understand what turned two brothers who allegedly perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings into murderers, it is hard to make any policy recommendation other than this: We need to redouble our efforts to make America stronger and healthier so it remains a vibrant counterexample to whatever bigoted ideology may have gripped these young men. With all our warts, we have built a unique society — a country where a black man, whose middle name is Hussein, whose grandfather was a Muslim, can run for president and first defeat a woman in his own party and then four years later a Mormon from the opposition, and no one thinks twice about it. With so many societies around the world being torn apart, especially in the Middle East, it is vital that America survives and flourishes as a beacon of pluralism.

Rebuilding our strength has to start with healing our economy …

And the best place to start is with a carbon tax.

(Via Correllio)

UPDATE. Also in the NYT, the latest eco-friendly child-raising advice:

When Jada Shapiro decided to raise her daughter from birth without diapers, for the most part, not everyone was amused. Ms Shapiro scattered little bowls around the house to catch her daughter’s offerings …

Caribou Baby, an “eco-friendly maternity, baby and lifestyle store,” has been drawing capacity crowds to its diaper-free “meetups,” where parents exchange tips like how to get a baby to urinate on the street between parked cars.

These people are insane.

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First the hate-words. Next the deeds?

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (4:40pm)

I know Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia is made up mainly of loudmouths and students. Yet these young men have been able to draw a crowd:

CONTROVERSIAL British Muslim leader Taji Mustafa ... addressed a gathering of about 500 people at the annual conference of Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir at Bankstown in Sydney’s southwest on Sunday.

They have a dangerously equivocal attitude to violence, to judge from their public comments:

THE Australian branch of the political group Hizb ut-Tahrir has denied any involvement in Saturday’s riot in Sydney, but declined to join the many other Muslim groups condemning the actions of violent protesters…
‘’I think everyone condemning it is not going to do anything - let’s talk about the real issues,’’ said the group’s spokesman, Uthman Badar.

And the hate they preach could one day find someone only too ready to join the dots and act upon it:

Anzac Day is commemorated with increasing fervour each year on April 25th in Australia. It is something Muslims should not actively or passively partake in…
Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign… From this arises the concept of the ‘Anzac spirit’, celebrated on Anzac Day, which suggests that the Australian soldiers who fought at Gallipoli exhibited positive qualities of endurance, courage, humour, egalitarianism, ingenuity and mateship, and these are said to also constitute the ‘national character’ of Australia…
It ignores indiscretions by the ANZAC soldiers such burning the belongings of locals in Egypt, brawling, getting drunk and rioting, and contracting venereal diseases due to time spent in local brothels. It ignores the fact that Australian troops were merely used as fodder for British imperial designs. It sanitizes all the bad to surgically create a mythological legend worthy of celebration.
The result is that instead of learning from past mistakes, they are repeated again and again. Australian soldiers are used for the exploitative agendas of foreign powers, as we saw most recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, just as they were in WWI, under the same spurious pretext of “fighting for our freedom”, as if one’s freedom is predicated on the oppression of others.
For us, as Muslims, nationalism is a prohibited matter, whether it be Australian nationalism or Turkish, American or Egyptian. By extension, so too are nationalistic celebrations.
Further, from the Muslim perspective, the Gallipoli campaign represents an aggression by allied troops against the legitimate Islamic authority of the time, the Uthmani Khilafah. If we were to commemorate anything, it would be the successful defence of Muslim territories by the Muslim soldiers of the Khilafah…
We need to challenge and resist this. We have a history of our own, linked to the Islamic worldview and the struggles and achievements of our predecessors…
In sum, Anzac Day represents a nationalistic celebration, linked to the ideology of a disbelieving people, of events involving wars against the legitimate Muslim authority of the time. There is no justification whatsoever for Muslims to be actively or passively taking part in it.

Two points.
First, note how much of this hostile (mis)characterisation of Australia and the Anzac history draws on Leftist teachings, still to be found in many universities. Islamists feed on Western self-loathing.
Second, if this is the attitude of second-generation Muslims, what hope of peaceful assimilation? What should we conclude about our immigration intake?
(Thanks to reader Gobsmacked of Gippsland.)

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Don’t ask the sock puppet

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (1:44pm)

New Zealand Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes is asked whether his party is pleased it’s hurt the Government’s asset sales program.
The reporter clearly asked the wrong person.
(Thanks to reader Luke.)

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Not the force’s finest hour

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (10:47am)

Police don’t like water:

<p> <a href="http://video.heraldsun.com.au/2381261951/Queensland-police-chase-escaped-sex-offenders">VIDEO: Queensland police chase escaped sex offenders</a></p>

UPDATE
Readers say, steady - that river could have crocodiles.
Reader jonny:

Unfair of you to make fun of them, Andrew. As the Association rep was quoted as saying:

“It is known to contain crocodiles, be quite deep in parts, and on top of that, with all the equipment that police have on them at the time, there is a very real risk they will damage or lose their firearms, Tasers, police radios,” QPU president Ian Leavers said."As well, that equipment may weigh them down and they may very well become the subject of drowning themselves.” [source: ABC News]
Andrew, as a schoolboy I lived in Darwin at the same time, I believe, as you. Back then crocs had just about been wiped out and we even waterskied in the estuaries around Darwin Harbour without giving it a second thought! I would nowadays no more wade into an estuarine river in FNQ than fly to the moon.

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Protecting freedom isn’t aiding terrorism

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (10:20am)

Sinclair Davidson attacks Gerard Henderson for criticising the IPA’s stand against too much surveillance by the state. Strong stuff:

Liberal societies maximise the freedoms of their citizens. Illiberal societies do not and usually contrive excuses to limit those freedoms. Being “at war” is a common excuse to limit freedom.
Linking a domestic campaign to retain free speech rights and privacy against the State to a act of terrorism on the other side of the world is not just a long bow, it is incredibly grubby.
I am also somewhat surprised by the allies Henderson has enlisted. Michael Danby – a member of the ALP who would have voted for Conroy’s anti-free speech legislation and Colin Rubenstein – a supporter of s18(c). Shame on you both. Unsurprising that those two would criticise Chris Berg and Simon Breheny. Danby and Rubenstein lost the free speech debates…
Gerard – pull your head in. You are unworthy to criticise Chris Berg or Simon Breheny or, by implication, John Roskam. It is because of these fine men that you are free to write the rubbish that you did in this column. Don’t smear and sneer, be grateful.

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Will Trioli confess her own political leaning?

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (9:02am)

I didn’t see the exchange described by reader Lisle, but, if accurate, it’s the first time I’ve heard of Trioli demanding to know the party affiliation of her (largely Left-leaning) commentators:

ABCNewsBreakfast - “What the Papers say”
Virginia Trioli asks Tim Wilson “Are you a member of a political party?”
Wilson - “yes”.
Trioli - “which party?”
Wilson - “Liberal Party”
Trioli - “Don’t look embarrassed.”
Trioli then almost laughingly said “We’re going to ask each person being interviewed their political affiliations.”
Wilson replied “We’re only here to comment on the newspapers at the request of the ABC.”
Of course, the question then arises “what is the political affiliation of those doing the questioning?”

Here’s a clue:

More clues:

Trioli? Here are just some of her stranger opinions.
On whether the FBI was actually behind the September 11 terror attacks: ”I think it’s quite a possibility.”
On the “realistic” way to deal with terror leader Osama bin Laden: “What if that involved bringing him somewhere, absolutely safely, sitting down with him, treating him like a human being and talking about it, and then Osama bin Laden going home again, not bombing the hell out of bin Laden?”
And here’s Trioli being non-partisan: in 2006 she took part in Sedition!, a performance-protest “‘against the Howard government’s recently introduced sedition laws” - laws that are still on the books but no longer seem to fuss Trioli, now that Labor rules.

Reader Ian saw the same exchange and asks the same question.
UPDATE
Friends say Trioli has been asking this question for a couple of weeks. But hasn’t answered it herself.

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CNN searches for a metaphor

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (8:59am)

(Thanks to reader watty.)

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Sinking Labor offers rats extra taxpayer-funded cheese

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (8:42am)

This is outrageous - Labor using taxpayers to protect its campaign:

SENIOR federal Labor staffers have been given a golden handshake worth up to $6000 each to stop them from jumping ship before the election.
In an admission the government is convinced it will most likely lose the election, about 400 ministerial staffers have been granted an extra two-week taxpayer-funded payout should Labor lose.
The doubling of the termination provisions for staff who lose their jobs following a federal election, will be worth between $3000 and $6000 each for staffers, depending on their seniority and salary.
A memo was sent to all staff yesterday from the office of Special Minister of State Mark Dreyfus notifying them of the surprise salary bonus.
Some staffers said they believed the golden handshake was approved to keep senior staff from quitting and finding other employment before the September 14 election.

UPDATE
Dreyfus today says John Howard did it first - in 2007, when the Liberals also looked like losing.
That makes it all right?

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AWU scandal: police investigation broadens

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (8:34am)

The AWU scandal

The Herald Sun reports:

VICTORIAN police are escalating their investigation into the union scandal involving Julia Gillard’s former boyfriend, engaging forensic accountants to track hundreds of thousands of dollars in allegedly suspect payments.
As detectives continue to interview key witnesses in the Australian Workers Union slush fund scandal, Ms Gillard yesterday denied claims from a Sydney radio host that she was being investigated by police over the affair.
Sydney broadcaster Ben Fordham yesterday alleged the Prime Minister was being “investigated” as part of the wider police probe.
The 2GB host claimed he’d been contacted by Victorian police following a robust March 7 interview with the Prime Minister and asked “to make a formal statement”.
“The police are interested in comments made by Julia Gillard in the interview with me,” Mr Fordham told his listeners.
Mr Fordham told listeners he knew “for a fact that the Prime Minister is being investigated” by the Victorian police.
But a spokesman for Ms Gillard said the PM has “never been contacted by police and never been asked to provide a statement”.

Read on for details on the breadth of the investigation.
Hedley Thomas and Pia Akerman also have more:

A FORMER union employee who has told of depositing $5000 into Julia Gillard’s bank account at the direction of her allegedly corrupt union boss boyfriend has been asked by Victoria Police to make a formal statement as part of an ongoing fraud investigation…
Ms Gillard has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to the money…
The Australian is aware that detectives have questioned more than 12 witnesses since late last year who had direct knowledge of the Australian Workers Union slush fund scandal, the role of Ms Gillard at law firm Slater & Gordon and admissions by former AWU official Ralph Blewitt that he helped perpetrate a major fraud at the union.
Ms Gillard says she provided legal advice to help set up the AWU Workplace Reform Association, which her then boyfriend Bruce Wilson later used to carry out the alleged fraud. She later described the association as a “slush fund” for the re-election of union officials, but said she had no knowledge of its operations.
Wayne Hem, a former AWU employee, said yesterday that Fraud Squad detectives wanted him to say as little as possible to the media about his upcoming statement: “I’ve been asked not to say what my role is going to be.”

And note again:

The alleged AWU fraud took place between 1992 and 1995. The Prime Minister - who was a partner at Slater & Gordon and in a relationship with Mr Wilson at this time - has steadfastly denied any knowledge of the alleged wrongdoing.

Michael Smith is, as usual, all over these developments. He is also surprised that the media treats Fordham’s account of having been interviewed by police as merely “claims”.
Reader Spin, Baby Spin:

People are getting their wires crossed on the Gillard AWU story. Gillard confirms her previous statements still stand. Grace Collier outlines that statement succinctly:

Hedley and I have both written about the ‘AWU scandal’. Some weeks ago I sent the following question to the PM’s office after speaking with the police: ‘I am asserting that the PM is a subject of a police enquiry. I believe the investigation was initiated in response to an allegation made against the PM, specifically that she created a false document … I am wanting to know whether the PM is aware the investigation is into whether this allegation is correct and if so whether she intends to comply. By comply I mean respond to any police requests for interview that may be made.’ And the PM’s response: ‘The investigation into this matter has been known for some time. As the Prime Minister has repeatedly made clear, she was not involved in any wrongdoing. The investigation is a matter for the police.’

The Prime Minister hasn’t denied my assertion that she is a subject of a police enquiry, nor have the Victorian Police corrected it.
I get really dirty with the journos when they say Gillard “denies” AWU investigation claims. She hasn’t denied there is an AWU investigation into her. She’s denied she did anything wrong. There is a big difference and it needs to be made.

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No, it really doesn’t stop at gay marriage

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (8:18am)

Same-sex marriage advocates such as Malcolm Turnbull have mocked the “slippery slope” argument against same-sex marriage, or ignored warnings that expanding the definition of marriage to include gay couples can also change also the nature of the marriage bond.
Some recent articles suggest those advocates should think again before advocating a change that could destroy what they think they’re enhancing.
Feminist Jillian Keenan in Slate:

Recently, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council reintroduced a tired refrain: Legalized gay marriage could lead to other legal forms of marriage disaster, such as polygamy. Rick Santorum, Bill O’Reilly, and other social conservatives have made similar claims. It’s hardly a new prediction—we’ve been hearing it for years. Gay marriage is a slippery slope! A gateway drug! If we legalize it, then what’s next? Legalized polygamy?
We can only hope…
The definition of marriage is plastic. Just like heterosexual marriage is no better or worse than homosexual marriage, marriage between two consenting adults is not inherently more or less “correct” than marriage among three (or four, or six) consenting adults… So let’s fight for marriage equality until it extends to every same-sex couple in the United States—and then let’s keep fighting. We’re not done yet.

Melissa Harris-Perry in The Nation:

The successful, pragmatic strategy of gay activists has been to assert that same-sex marriage will not change the institution itself. Their argument is that there is no need to defend marriage against loving same-sex couples, because these couples don’t want to alter it; they just want to participate in it. But as we race to a victorious finish, it is time to begin forcefully articulating that, in fact, maybe we do want to change marriage—because while marriage should be a choice, it should not be an imperative. For decades, LGBTQ communities have generated new forms of family built on foundations of shared commitments, collective responsibilities, nonconjugal love and parental devotion not predicated on shared genetics. Shut out of social-normative options for making families, they queered the very idea of family.

(Thanks to reader fulchrum.)

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Labor spins its Budget failure as a virtue

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (6:57am)

Wayne Swan last year promised years of surpluses:

The deficit years of the global recession are behind us. The surplus years are here.

Those surpluses would start this year, Swan insisted:

“We’ll be back in the black by 2012/13, as promised.” (May 2011)
“The government remains absolutely committed to delivering our return to surplus as we planned.” (August 2011)
“We’ve nailed our colours to the mast.” (February 2012)

In fact, said Julia Gillard, the surplus was not only essential but delivered already:

August 2010, election debate:

Moderator David Speers: I think, Prime Minister, that Peter is seeking some sort of guarantee if you don’t get the budget back into surplus in three years, what happens? Do you sack the Treasurer, do you take personal responsibility?
Julia Gillard: It’s happening, David. Failure is not an option.
Speers: If it doesn’t? If it doesn’t?
Gillard: Well, failure is not an option here and we won’t fail.
July 2011:

PM: The budget will be back in surplus in 2013 as promised
May 2012:

JULIA GILLARD, PRIME MINISTER: What we’ve done instead is swum strongly against the tide and delivered a budget surplus.

But now Labor is about to deliver its sixth straight deficit since Kevin Rudd was elected. Watch Labor now spin its failure as a virtue, its wild spending as prudence:
Paul Kelly:

[Swan] told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday the purpose of next month’s budget is “to support growth and jobs” via new spending and investments, that Labor will not offset the budget deficit caused by weak revenues since that would be “deeply irrresponsible” and that his central mission is to protect jobs.
This is making a virtue of the deficit. It is a rationalisation for past misjudgments… Having spent years preaching the path to jobs and prosperity was the “return to surplus” Swan now has an opposite message reinforced by his view that the global economy is prejudiced by “mindless austerity” in Europe.
Finance Minister Penny Wong says “we don’t anticipate this trend on revenue being turned around any time soon” and this is just “a statement of fact”. Get ready for a long line of deficits in the budget papers…
A succession of deficits will herald the collapse of Labor’s policy to stimulate the economy during the downturn but return the budget to surplus during the upturn. Budget night may demand a re-assessment of Labor’s five years of economic management.
The explanation it will offer is obvious: that Australia has been hit by a unique event post-GFC and the economy has been strong but revenues have not recovered. But failing to forecast this situation and to adapt to it is a Labor responsibility.

As the Grattan Institue’s John Daley noted:

GDP’s at 2.5 per cent, unemployment’s at 5.5 per cent - you know, this is about as good as it gets. If we’re not running a surplus at this point in the cycle, exactly when is it that we are planning to run one?

UPDATE
Incredible, the damage Labor is doing:

RATING agency Standard & Poor’s has warned that Australia’s AAA credit rating will come under threat if the government does not show a commitment to eliminating the budget deficit.
The agency, which has communicated its views to both the government and the opposition, says it does not require an immediate return to budget balance, but does “expect to see the government demonstrate continued commitment to prudent fiscal policy in the medium term"…
S&P’s associate director Craig Michaels said yesterday that ... “small and declining deficits” would not jeopardise the AAA credit rating, even if they continued to the end of this year’s budget projection period of 2016-17, provided there was “a clear intention to return to balanced budgets shortly beyond the budget horizon”.

UPDATE
Eight per cent?

JUST 8 per cent of the nation’s company directors believe the Gillard government understands business, while 50 per cent believe the opposition does, a new survey has found.
The survey by the Australian Institute of Company Directors also reveals that corporate Australia’s relationship with Canberra has sunk to a new low, as 12 per cent of the 504 directors surveyed believed the government understood business when they were last asked six months ago.

UPDATE
Luke Malpass:

How exactly is it that New Zealand – despite a recession, collapsed non-bank finance sector, no mining boom and a major earthquake – is on track to record a budget surplus on time in 2014-15? And why is Australia not in this position?

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The boats are only illegal if Labor says so

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (6:33am)

Otherwise it’s just Tony Abbott being evil.

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Ripoll would have stayed at home if he knew about money

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (12:22am)

If Ripoll was truly financially literate, wouldn’t he have stayed at home rather than flown around the world just to be a panelist?

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, Bernie Ripoll MP, will attend the Seventh Annual Financial Literacy and Education Summit in Chicago on 17 April, where he will be a panellist.
The Summit, co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Visa Inc, will bring together international financial literacy experts who will address potential solutions on the theme of this year’s Summit ‘improving women’s financial literacy and capabilities globally’.

Your money, their lovely trip.

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Get your toddler brainwashed here

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (12:11am)

Put the Left in charge of your toddler, and they’ll soon have the little tackers not reading but chanting slogans:

Despite not being old enough to read or write, about 40 children have been used by teachers at Summer Hill Children’s Centre to sign and post a letter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, seeking a pay rise for their minders…

The Summer Hill Children’s Centre director Roberta de Souza was unapologetic, claiming her charges were very politically aware....
“The kids understood what they were signing. We weren’t really using the kids. Most of them know who Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are.
“We only use the kids in issues which affect them, we wouldn’t use them in government propaganda. They are very critical thinkers.”
The toddlers are also being taught about the politics of asylum seekers, the stolen generation and previous classes of children had even participated in a protest march against a Telstra mobile tower in 2011…
“We are hoping one day they will become young activists,” Ms de Souza said.”

It’s the Uniting Church again.
UPDATE
And when the Church puts its money is less profitable investments, will the poor suffer? You know, the poor who can no longer afford heating this winter because of the carbon tax?

The Uniting Church will cut its investments in mining companies because of its concerns about climate change.

It strikes me this church has lost its faith in God and found it again in Nature. All it needs is a statue to Baal.
(Thanks to readers Lucinda and Alan.)

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Keeping them in their place

Andrew Bolt April 24 2013 (12:01am)

There was the Left’s view of the working class, and then there was Thatcher’s.
(Thanks to reader Scott.)

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A judge has awarded the family of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby more than $50,000 in damages for family photos published without consent in a 2011 book titled Sins of the Father by journalist Eamonn Duff.

They alleged that five photos, including shots of Corby with friends at Brisbane airport and as a child on Santa's knee, were family pictures published without permission. Read more here:http://ninem.sn/SlYSqcB
Confirmation that the book Sins of the Father is factual and has only transgressed a technicality of copyright from images? ed
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We wish everyone a safe ANZAC Day tomorrow. Please respect the occasion in remembering the brave men and women who fought for Australia – don't get involved in alcohol-fuelled violence or antisocial behaviour.
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The coolest kids on the block right here! Some of our youngest Warriors from last Friday's class. These guys do not have failure in their vocabulary, only progress, learning and endurance! Such contagious energy from such young spirits
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Beautiful handmade 6 claw Round Brilliant Cut Diamond Engagement Ring with channel set band
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Quick Pix: Charles Bronson

http://independentfilmnewsandmedia.com/quick-pix-charles-bronson/
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The TARDIS has crashed, Clara is lost inside, and the Doctor has 30 minutes before his ship explodes... Don't miss the action in 'Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS' this weekend!
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As a king-priest in Christ, you can boldly assess and declare good things for your life! Check out more in today's devotional and be blessed! http://bit.ly/10yjQ3R
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How do you steward your life and ministry to withstand tough times, and bear fruit? See what it really means to build your ministry on "gold, silver and precious stones," as opposed to "wood, hay and straw." Understand why everything you do needs to be built on the sure foundation of Christ and His gospel of grace, and begin to walk in greater effectiveness and anointing as a leader and channel of blessing in your home, workplace and church.
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Nothing can stop you from receiving God’s unmerited favor. There is no limitation to His superabounding grace!
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And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today...—Ex 14:13

When faced with a problem or challenge, do you find yourself asking, "What do I do?" Many of us would usually try to use our smarts, experience or resources to find a solution.

So what did the people of Israel do when they found themselves being pursued by the mighty armies of Egypt? Moses simply told them not to fear, but to stand still and see God’s salvation. And when the people of Israel stood still, God made a way out for them in what seemed like a dead end!

God wants you to know that when you “stand still”, He takes over. When you stop striving and trying to turn your situation around with your own efforts, God is able to take over and change the situation. If you're going through a problem or challenge in your life today, stand still in your situation and let God win the victory for you!http://josephprince.com/
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Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for April 23rd. Enjoy!

Victor Davis Hanson: Obama's psychodramas

Townhall: President Obama to give keynote speech at Planned Parenthood gala

The Daily Caller: Illegals skate on ‘public charge’ rule in Gang of Eight bill

Twitchy: ‘This enemy is us’: Geraldo Rivera laments ‘Taliban-ish’ intolerance of his critics

Twitchy: Hard choice: Anthony Weiner picks first Twitter user to follow from new account

Oh.

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April 24: Genocide Remembrance Day in Armenia; Pesach Sheni(Judaism, 2013)

1547 – Schmalkaldic War: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, led Imperial troops to a decisive victory in the Battle of Mühlberg over the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League ofProtestant princes.
1800 – The Library of Congress, the de facto national library of the United States, was established as part of anact of Congress providing for the transfer of the nation's capital fromPhiladelphia to Washington, D.C.
1913 – The Woolworth Building (pictured) opened in New York City as the tallest building in the world at the time.
1915 – The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire began with the arrest and deportation of hundreds of prominent Armenians inConstantinople.
1933 – Nazi Germany began its persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses by shutting down the Watch Tower Society office in Magdeburg.
1993 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb inLondon's financial district in Bishopsgate, killing one person, injuring 44 others and causing £1 billion in damages.

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Events

1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty).
1184 BC – Traditional date of the fall of Troy.
1547 – Battle of Mühlberg. Duke of Alba, commanding Spanish-Imperial forces of Charles I of Spain, defeats the troops of Schmalkaldic League.
1558 – Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Dauphin of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris.
1704 – The first regular newspaper in the United States, the News-Letter, is published in Boston, Massachusetts.
1800 – The United States Library of Congress is established when President John Adams signs legislation to appropriate $5,000 USD to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress".
1877 – Russo-Turkish War: Russian Empire declares war on Ottoman Empire.
1885 – American sharpshooter Annie Oakley was hired by Nate Salsbury to be a part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West.
1904 – The Lithuanian press ban is lifted after almost 40 years.
1907 – Hersheypark, founded by Milton S. Hershey for the exclusive use of his employees, is opened.
1907 – Al Ahly was founded.
1913 – The Woolworth Building skyscraper in New York City is opened.
1915 – The arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Istanbul marks the beginning of the Armenian Genocide.
1916 – Easter Rising: The Irish Republican Brotherhood led by nationalists Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and Joseph Plunkett starts a rebellion in Ireland.
1916 – Ernest Shackleton and five men of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition launch a lifeboat from uninhabited Elephant Island in the Southern Ocean to organise a rescue for the ice-trapped ship Endurance.
1918 – First tank-to-tank combat, at Villers-Bretonneux, France, when three British Mark IVs met three German A7Vs.
1922 – The first segment of the Imperial Wireless Chain providing wireless telegraphy between Leafield in Oxfordshire, England, and Cairo, Egypt, comes into operation.
1926 – The Treaty of Berlin is signed. Germany and the Soviet Union each pledge neutrality in the event of an attack on the other by a third party for the next five years.
1932 – Benny Rothman leads the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, leading to substantial legal reforms in the United Kingdom.
1933 – Nazi Germany begins its persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses by shutting down the Watch Tower Society office in Magdeburg.
1953 – Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
1955 – The Bandung Conference ends: 29 non-aligned nations of Asia and Africa finish a meeting that condemns colonialism, racism, and the Cold War.
1957 – Suez Crisis: The Suez Canal is reopened following the introduction of UNEF peacekeepers to the region.
1963 – Marriage of HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent to the Hon Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.
1965 – Civil war breaks out in the Dominican Republic when Colonel Francisco Caamaño, overthrows the triumvirate that had been in power since the coup d'état against Juan Bosch.
1967 – Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission.
1967 – Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily."
1968 – Mauritius becomes a member state of the United Nations.
1970 – The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, is launched.
1970 – The Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Dawda Jawara as the first President.
1971 – Soyuz 10 docks with Salyut 1.
1980 – Eight U.S. servicemen die in Operation Eagle Claw as they attempt to end the Iran hostage crisis.
1990 – STS-31: The Hubble Space Telescope is launched from the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Shuttle mission STS-31 lifts off, carrying Hubbleinto orbit.
1990 – Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine.
1993 – An IRA bomb devastates the Bishopsgate area of London.
1996 – In the United States, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 is introduced.
2004 – The United States lifts economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously, as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
2005 – Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.
2005 – Snuppy, the world's first cloned dog, is born in South Korea.
2006 – King Gyanendra of Nepal gives into the demands of protesters and restores the parliament that he dissolved in 2002.

[edit]Births

702 – Jafar as-Sadiq (d. 765)
1533 – William I of Orange (d. 1584)
1581 – Vincent de Paul, French saint (d. 1660)
1620 – John Graunt, English statistician (d. 1674)
1706 – Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian musician (d. 1780)
1718 – Nathaniel Hone the Elder, Irish painter (d. 1784)
1743 – Edmund Cartwright, English clergyman and inventor of the power loom (d. 1823)
1784 – Peter Vivian Daniel, American jurist (d. 1860)
1815 – Anthony Trollope, English author (d. 1882)
1845 – Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
1856 – Henri Philippe Pétain, French soldier and statesman (d. 1951)
1876 – Erich Raeder, German naval commander (d. 1960)
1878 – Jean Crotti, Swiss artist (d. 1958)
1879 – Susanna Bokoyni, Hungarian centenarian and circus performer (d. 1984)
1880 – Gideon Sundbäck, Swedish-American engineer and businessman, developed the zipper (d. 1954)
1882 – Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding, English officer in the Royal Air Force and commander in RAF Fighter Command (d. 1970)
1887 – Denys Finch Hatton, English big-game hunter (d. 1931)
1889 – Stafford Cripps, English politician (d. 1952)
1889 – Lyubov Popova, Russian painter (d. 1924)
1897 – Benjamin Lee Whorf, American linguist (d. 1941)
1897 – Manuel Ávila Camacho, Mexican politician, 45th President of Mexico (d. 1955)
1899 – Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (d. 1986)
1900 – Elizabeth Goudge, English writer (d. 1984)
1903 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Spanish lawyer and politician, founder of the Falange (d. 1936)
1904 – Willem de Kooning, Dutch painter (d. 1997)
1905 – Robert Penn Warren, American poet (d. 1989)
1906 – William Joyce, Irish-American politician and broadcaster (d. 1946)
1906 – Mimi Smith, English nurse and secretary (d. 1991)
1907 – William Sargant, English psychiatrist (d. 1988)
1908 – Marceline Day, American actor (d. 2000)
1908 – Józef Gosławski, Polish artist (d. 1963)
1914 – William Castle, American director and producer (d. 1977)
1914 – Phil Watson, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1991)
1914 – Justin Wilson, American chef (d. 2001)
1916 – Lou Thesz, American wrestler (d. 2002)
1919 – David Blackwell, African-American mathematician (d. 2010)
1919 – Glafcos Clerides, Greek-Cypriot politician, 4th President of Cyprus
1922 – J. D. Cannon, American actor (d. 2005)
1922 – Marc-Adélard Tremblay, Canadian anthropologist
1923 – Gus Bodnar, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
1923 – Doris Burn, American author and illustrator (d. 2011)
1924 – Clement Freud, English writer, radio personality, and politician (d. 2009)
1924 – Ruth Kobart, American actress and singer (d. 2002)
1926 – Thorbjörn Fälldin, Swedish politician, 27th Prime Minister of Sweden
1929 – Rajkumar, Kannada actor (d. 2006)
1930 – Jerome Callet, American musician, teacher, author, and designer
1930 – Richard Donner, American director and producer
1930 – José Sarney, Brazilian lawyer, writer, and politician, President of Brazil
1933 – Patricia Bosworth, American actress, journalist, and writer
1933 – Claire Davenport, English actress (d. 2002)
1933 – Alan Eagleson, Canadian ice hockey agent and promoter
1933 – Helmuth Lohner, Austrian actor
1933 – Freddie Scott, American singer-songwriter (d. 2007)
1934 – Shirley MacLaine, American actor and author
1935 – Tucker Smith, American actor, dancer, and singer (d. 1988)
1936 – David Crombie, Canadian politician
1936 – Glen Hobbie, American baseball player
1936 – Jill Ireland, British actress (d. 1990)
1937 – Joe Henderson, American jazz saxophonist (d. 2001)
1940 – Sue Grafton, American author
1940 – Trevor Kent, Australian theatre and television actor (d. 1989)
1941 – Richard Holbrooke, American diplomat (d. 2010)
1941 – John Williams, Australian guitarist
1942 – Richard M. Daley, American politician
1942 – Barbra Streisand, American singer, actress, producer, and director
1943 – Richard Sterban, American singer (The Oak Ridge Boys)
1943 – Gordon West, English footballer (d. 2012)
1944 – St. Clair Lee, American singer (The Hues Corporation) (d. 2011)
1944 – Tony Visconti, American music producer
1945 – Doug Clifford, American drummer and songwriter (Creedence Clearwater Revival and Creedence Clearwater Revisited)
1945 – Robert Knight, American singer
1945 – Doug Riley, Canadian musician (d. 2007)
1945 – Dick Rivers, French singer and actor (Les Chats Sauvages)
1946 – Doug Christie, Canadian lawyer and activist (d. 2013)
1947 – Josep Borrell, Spanish politician
1947 – Claude Dubois, Canadian singer-songwriter and musician
1947 – João Braz de Aviz, Brazilian cardinal
1947 – Roger D. Kornberg, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1948 – Paul Cellucci, American politician and diplomat, 69th Governor of Massachusetts
1948 – David Ingram, American musician, songwriter, and arranger (AnExchange and Love Song) (d. 2005)
1949 – Véronique Sanson, French singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
1951 – Christian Bobin, French author and poet
1951 – Nigel Harrison, English musician and songwriter (Blondie)
1951 – Enda Kenny, Irish politician, Taoiseach of Ireland
1952 – Jean-Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
1953 – Eric Bogosian, American actor and writer
1954 – Mumia Abu-Jamal, Black Panther journalist, African American activist and convicted murderer
1954 – Jack Blades, American musician (Night Ranger, Rubicon, Damn Yankees, and Tak Matsumoto Group)
1954 – Captain Sensible, English singer-songwriter and musician (The Damned and Dead Men Walking)
1955 – Marion Caspers-Merk, German politician
1955 – Eamon Gilmore, Irish politician
1955 – John de Mol, Dutch media businessman
1955 – Michael O'Keefe, American actor
1956 – James A. Winnefeld, Jr., American admiral
1957 – David J, English musician (Bauhaus and Love and Rockets)
1957 – Boris Williams, English musician (The Cure, Thompson Twins, and Babacar)
1958 – Valery Lantratov, Russian ballet dancer
1958 – Brian Paddick, English deputy police officer and politician
1959 – Eren Keskin, Turkish lawyer and activist
1959 – Glenn Morshower, American actor
1959 – Malcolm Oastler, Australian engineer and designer
1959 – Dave Ridgway, Canadian football player
1959 – Paula Yates, English television presenter and writer (d. 2000)
1962 – Clemens Binninger, German politician
1962 – Stuart Pearce, English footballer and manager
1962 – Steve Roach, Australian rugby player
1963 – Paula Frazer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Tarnation and Faith No More)
1963 – Billy Gould, American musician, songwriter, and producer (Faith No More, Harmful, Fear and the Nervous System, and Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine)
1963 – Mano Solo, French singer (d. 2010)
1963 – Tõnu Trubetsky, Estonian musician
1964 – Witold Smorawiński, Polish guitarist, composer, and teacher
1964 – Cedric the Entertainer, American comedian and actor
1964 – Djimon Hounsou, Beninese actor
1965 – Jeff Jackson, Canadian ice hockey player
1965 – Son Chang Min, South Korean actor
1966 – Pierre Brassard, Canadian humorist and actor
1966 – Alessandro Costacurta, Italian footballer
1966 – David Usher, Canadian singer-songwriter (Moist)
1967 – Dino Rađa, Croatian basketball player
1967 – Omar Vizquel, Venezuelan baseball player
1968 – Aidan Gillen, Irish actor
1968 – Stacy Haiduk, American actress
1968 – Todd Jones, American baseball player
1968 – Yuji Nagata, Japanese wrestler
1968 – Hashim Thaci, Kosovan politician
1968 – Mark Vanderloo, Dutch model
1969 – Elias Atmatsidis, Greek footballer
1969 – Melinda Clarke, American actress
1969 – Viveca Paulin, Swedish actress
1970 – Damien Fleming, Australian cricketer
1971 – Alejandro Fernández, Mexican singer
1971 – Mauro Pawlowski, Belgian singer and guitarist (Evil Superstars and Deus)
1972 – Rab Douglas, Scottish footballer
1972 – Nicolas Gill, Canadian judoka
1972 – Chipper Jones, American baseball player
1972 – Jure Košir, Slovenian skier
1973 – Eric Snow, American basketball player
1973 – Sachin Tendulkar, Indian cricketer
1973 – Gabby Logan, English gymnast, television and radio presenter
1973 – Damon Lindelof, American television writer and executive
1973 – Lee Westwood, British golfer
1974 – Comedy Dave, British radio personality
1974 – Eric Kripke, American writer, director and producer
1974 – Derek Luke, American actor
1974 – Stephen Wiltshire, English artist
1975 – Sam Doumit, American actress
1975 – Thad Luckinbill, American actor
1976 – Steve Finnan, Irish footballer
1976 – Frédéric Niemeyer, Canadian tennis player
1977 – Siarhey Balakhonau, Belarusian writer
1977 – Carlos Beltrán, Puerto Rican baseball player
1978 – Eric Balfour, American actor
1978 – Kim Hyun-ju, Korean actress
1978 – Stella Damasus Aboderin, Nigerian actress
1979 – Laurentia Tan, Singaporean-Paralympic horse rider
1980 – Fernando Arce, Mexican footballer
1980 – Karen Asrian, Armenian chess player (d. 2008)
1980 – Danny Gokey, American singer and musician
1980 – Austin Nichols, American actor
1981 – Dusty Anderson, American wrestler
1981 – Taylor Dent, American tennis player
1981 – Yuko Nakanishi, Japanese swimmer
1982 – Kelly Clarkson, American singer-songwriter and actress
1982 – Laura Hamilton, English television presenter
1983 – Princess Iman bint Al Hussein
1984 – Tyson Ritter, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (The All-American Rejects)
1986 – Aaron Cunningham, American baseball player
1987 – Ben Howard, British singer-songwriter
1987 – Kristopher Letang, Canadian ice hockey player
1987 – Jan Vertonghen, Belgian footballer
1987 – Varun Dhawan, Indian actor
1989 – David Boudia, American diver
1992 – Doc Shaw, American actor
1994 – Austin Rogers, American actor
1997 – Lydia Ko, New Zealand golfer
1998 – Ryan Newman, American actress

[edit]Deaths

624 – Mellitus, English bishop, Archbishop of Canterbury
709 – Wilfrid, English archbishop and saint
1185 – Emperor Antoku, Japanese emperor (b. 1178)
1338 – Theodore I of Montferrat (b. 1291)
1342 – Pope Benedict XII (b. 1285)
1622 – Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Swiss friar and saint (b. 1577)
1656 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (b. 1561)
1731 – Daniel Defoe, English writer (b. 1660)
1736 – Prince Eugene of Savoy, French-Austrian general (b. 1663)
1779 – Eleazar Wheelock, American minister, orator, and educator, founder of Dartmouth College (b. 1711)
1794 – Axel von Fersen the Elder, Swedish statesman and soldier, father of Axel von Fersen the Younger (b. 1719)
1852 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet (b. 1783)
1891 – Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian field marshal (b. 1800)
1924 – G. Stanley Hall, American psychologist (b. 1844)
1931 – David Kldiashvili, Georgian writer (b. 1862)
1938 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (b. 1863)
1939 – Louis Trousselier, French cyclist (b. 1881)
1941 – Karin Boye, Swedish author (b. 1900)
1942 – Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (b. 1874)
1944 – William Stephens, American politician (b. 1859)
1944 – Charles Jordan, American magician (b. 1888)
1945 – Ernst-Robert Grawitz, German physician (b. 1899)
1947 – Willa Cather, American writer (b. 1873)
1947 – Hans Biebow, German Nazi chief (b. 1902)
1957 – Harry McClintock, American singer, author, and poet (b. 1882)
1960 – Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
1962 – Milt Franklyn, American composer and arranger (b. 1897)
1964 – Gerhard Domagk, German bacteriologist (b. 1895)
1965 – Louise Dresser, American actress (b. 1878)
1966 – Simon Chikovani, Georgian poet (b. 1902)
1967 – Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov, Soviet pilot, engineer, and cosmonaut (b. 1927)
1968 – Walter Tewksbury, American athlete (b. 1876)
1970 – Otis Spann, American pianist (b. 1930)
1972 – Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (b. 1892)
1974 – Bud Abbott, American actor and comedian (b. 1895)
1975 – Pete Ham, Welsh singer-songwriter and musician (Badfinger) (b. 1947)
1980 – Alejo Carpentier, Cuban writer (b. 1904)
1982 – Ville Ritola, Finnish athlete (b. 1896)
1983 – Rolf Stommelen, German race car driver (b. 1943)
1986 – Wallis Simpson, American socialite, wife of Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (b. 1896)
1993 – Oliver Tambo, South African politician (b. 1917)
1993 – Tran Duc Thao, Vietnamese philosopher (b. 1917)
1997 – Pat Paulsen, American comedian and politician (b. 1927)
1997 – Eugene Stoner, American engineer and weapons designer (b. 1922)
2000 – William Moore, English actor (b. 1916)
2001 – Al Hibbler, American singer (b. 1915)
2001 – Leon Sullivan, African-American civil rights leader and pastor (b. 1922)
2002 – Lucien Wercollier, Luxembourgian sculptor (b. 1908)
2004 – José Giovanni, French-Swiss writer and director (b. 1923)
2004 – Estée Lauder, American businesswoman, co-founder of Estée Lauder Companies (b. 1906)
2005 – Ezer Weizman, Israeli politician (b. 1924)
2005 – Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist (b. 1910)
2006 – Steve Stavro, Canadian businessman (b. 1927)
2006 – Moshe Teitelbaum, Hassidic rabbi (b. 1914)
2006 – Brian Labone, English footballer (b. 1940)
2007 – Roy Jenson, American actor (b. 1927)
2009 – John Michell, English writer (b. 1933)
2011 – Sathya Sai Baba, Indian guru, mystic, philanthropist, and educator (b. 1926)
2011 – Marie-France Pisier, French actress (b. 1944)
2012 – Fred Bradley, American baseball player (b. 1920)
2012 – Ambrose Weekes, British Alglican bishop (b. 1919)
2012 – Eusebio Razo, Jr. Mexican born American jockey (b. 1966)
2012 – Erast Parmasto, Estonian mycologist (b. 1928)

[edit]Holidays and observances

Christian Feast Day:
Concord Day (Niger)
Democracy Day (Nepal)
Earliest day on which National Arbor Day can fall, while April 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Friday in April. (United States)
Earliest day on which Turkmen Racing Horse Festival can fall, while April 30 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday in April. (Turkmenistan)
Genocide Remembrance Day(Armenia)
Kapyong Day (Australia)
Republic Day (The Gambia)
World Day for Laboratory Animals

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Wed Apr 24th Todays News