684 – Second Fitna: Umayyad partisans defeated the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cemented Umayyad control of Syria.
1487 – Reconquista: After a four-month siege, the Catholic Monarchs conquered the city of Málaga from the Muslims.
1877 – Asaph Hall discovered Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons, six days after discovering Deimos, the other one.
1948 – Australia completed a 4–0 Ashes series win, earning them the nickname of "The Invincibles" for being the first Test cricket match side to play an entire tour of England without losing a match.
1983 – Hurricane Alicia made landfall near Galveston, Texas, US, causing $2.6 billion in damages and 21 deaths. You have cemented power. Reconquered what was lost. Seen the smallest moon of another planet. Completed a victory. And in your wake, left some devastation. Enjoy the party, but clean up after ;)
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Toxic Labor’s bizarre campaign
Piers Akerman – Sunday, August 18, 2013 (6:33am)
THIS is the most bizarre election campaign in memory.
Anyone following it from abroad would be led to believe that the national biggest issue the Rudd Labor-Green-Independent minority government wanted to highlight in the first debate, just a week ago, was homosexual marriage.
Week two, and the issue that consumed the ABC and the Fairfax media was an innocent and flattering remark Opposition leader Tony Abbott made about the Liberal candidate for Lindsay, Fiona Scott. No doubt the extra attention will have assured Ms Scott gets a second look from swinging voters (no pun intended).
Not a word from Labor’s handbag hitsquad about their leader’s own disgraceful record of berating RAAF flight attendants, barely a mention of his being bounced from a New York strip joint, or the fact that ear-wax muncher’s pronouncement on appropriate language in the workplace will doubtless spawn countless claims from slighted and misguided vexatious litigants hoping to chisel something from their bosses.
There is no sign that recycling Prime Minister Kevin Rudd or renovating former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie will have any serious effect on Labor’s vote in their home State. Queensland was meant to be Labor’s Alamo, but Queenslanders appear to be just as fed up with the ALP as other Australians.
This election should be about the economy but Rudd can’t articulate a policy without indicting himself for his poor past performance.
Which also raises the question, where is Wayne Swan, the former Treasurer? Or Julia Gillard, Australia’s first woman Prime Minister?
Swan held the portfolio under both Rudd and Gillard but is now so shop-soiled he cannot be presented in a public forum without attracting deserved derision.
Gillard was the poster girl for progressive wimmin, the alleged torch bearer for a generation of girls. Now she’s such electoral poison that the Labor Party can’t mention her and so loathed is she by Rudd that he can barely utter her name without grimacing.
Former Coalition Prime Minister John Howard meanwhile is mobbed by adoring audiences wherever he alights on the campaign trail. The crowds can’t enough of the man who dragged Australia back into economic security after Labor squandered its opportunity.
It was also foolhardy of Rudd to try and attack former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett after Abbott made mention of the “golden age” Victorians enjoyed after Kennett rebuilt the economy which the successive Labor governments of John Cain and Joan Kirner had devastated.
Kennett is cheered whenever he appears in public in Melbourne, by Liberal and Labor voters alike. He took a failed state and restored it to a glory which it is still enjoying.
Kennett, like Howard, like Abbott, understands that fixing failures is no easy task.
He was particularly vitriolic about Rudd’s attack, calling the second-time Prime Minister a “hollow man” with a “forked tongue” who would throw Australia into recession.
“I don’t see it as an attack – almost a spray of envy,” said Kennett, who once tossed a shovelful of dirt toward the media pack.
“Before he lost the prime ministership to Julia Gillard, if you remember, he was going to try and put into place a new system governing our hospitals which was based on what we did here in Victoria.
“The Prime minister may slip and slide all over the place on his greasy little pole but the reality is he knows the worth or what my ministers, senior public servants and what Victorians collectively addressed and delivered.”
What a contrast with Rudd who appears to be spending an unhealthy amount of time campaigning in school yards among youngsters who won’t be voting for at least ten years and who quite obviously would squeal just as enthusiastically, if not more so, if Ronald McDonald appeared in their midst.
Rudd’s biggest problem is himself. He has no policies and attempting to rebadge Coalition initiatives on everything from border protection to the development of Northern Australia just doesn’t cut it.
He can’t run on his past policies because most of what he stands for now is remediation of those failed policies.
The fact that a third of the last Labor Cabinet refuses to serve with him should be rude reminder of what those who know him best really think about him.
His breath-taking backflips on what were supposed to be statements of faith are staggering.
Rudd’s New Way of politics in which negativity was to be banished has dissolved like a salt in the sea.
The totally negative campaign that Labor is now running is proof positive that it has nothing new to offer.
The incoherence at the top has now spread downwards through Labor’s ranks and the disparity of talent whenever Labor and Coalition figures are matched is incredible.
Just look at the alacrity with which shadow assistant treasurer Mattias Cormann masterfully highlighted the failure of Labor’s Budget with the release of the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook figures this week – even though Treasurer Chris Bowen had hoped to inoculate the electorate against them with the release of an emergency Economic Statement just a fortnight earlier.
The hard numbers, not homosexual marriage or the ravings of politically correct obsessives will determine this election and Labor’s track record in this area is absolutely dismal.
Cormann has pointed out over the six years Labor has been in government they have delivered $250 billion of deficits and its own $300 billion debt ceiling is expected to be smashed by Christmas.
Labor has a massive spending problem and unlike every responsible family in the country does not know the meaning of saving.
In the 11-week period from the release of the May Budget to it’s the rushed delivery of its own Economic Statement, the Budget bottom line deteriorated by $3 billion a week.
Under Rudd, Labor’s problems have worsened. The brand is toxic, it stands for nothing, it is heading toward the wilderness.
Anyone following it from abroad would be led to believe that the national biggest issue the Rudd Labor-Green-Independent minority government wanted to highlight in the first debate, just a week ago, was homosexual marriage.
Week two, and the issue that consumed the ABC and the Fairfax media was an innocent and flattering remark Opposition leader Tony Abbott made about the Liberal candidate for Lindsay, Fiona Scott. No doubt the extra attention will have assured Ms Scott gets a second look from swinging voters (no pun intended).
Not a word from Labor’s handbag hitsquad about their leader’s own disgraceful record of berating RAAF flight attendants, barely a mention of his being bounced from a New York strip joint, or the fact that ear-wax muncher’s pronouncement on appropriate language in the workplace will doubtless spawn countless claims from slighted and misguided vexatious litigants hoping to chisel something from their bosses.
There is no sign that recycling Prime Minister Kevin Rudd or renovating former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie will have any serious effect on Labor’s vote in their home State. Queensland was meant to be Labor’s Alamo, but Queenslanders appear to be just as fed up with the ALP as other Australians.
This election should be about the economy but Rudd can’t articulate a policy without indicting himself for his poor past performance.
Which also raises the question, where is Wayne Swan, the former Treasurer? Or Julia Gillard, Australia’s first woman Prime Minister?
Swan held the portfolio under both Rudd and Gillard but is now so shop-soiled he cannot be presented in a public forum without attracting deserved derision.
Gillard was the poster girl for progressive wimmin, the alleged torch bearer for a generation of girls. Now she’s such electoral poison that the Labor Party can’t mention her and so loathed is she by Rudd that he can barely utter her name without grimacing.
Former Coalition Prime Minister John Howard meanwhile is mobbed by adoring audiences wherever he alights on the campaign trail. The crowds can’t enough of the man who dragged Australia back into economic security after Labor squandered its opportunity.
It was also foolhardy of Rudd to try and attack former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett after Abbott made mention of the “golden age” Victorians enjoyed after Kennett rebuilt the economy which the successive Labor governments of John Cain and Joan Kirner had devastated.
Kennett is cheered whenever he appears in public in Melbourne, by Liberal and Labor voters alike. He took a failed state and restored it to a glory which it is still enjoying.
Kennett, like Howard, like Abbott, understands that fixing failures is no easy task.
He was particularly vitriolic about Rudd’s attack, calling the second-time Prime Minister a “hollow man” with a “forked tongue” who would throw Australia into recession.
“I don’t see it as an attack – almost a spray of envy,” said Kennett, who once tossed a shovelful of dirt toward the media pack.
“Before he lost the prime ministership to Julia Gillard, if you remember, he was going to try and put into place a new system governing our hospitals which was based on what we did here in Victoria.
“The Prime minister may slip and slide all over the place on his greasy little pole but the reality is he knows the worth or what my ministers, senior public servants and what Victorians collectively addressed and delivered.”
What a contrast with Rudd who appears to be spending an unhealthy amount of time campaigning in school yards among youngsters who won’t be voting for at least ten years and who quite obviously would squeal just as enthusiastically, if not more so, if Ronald McDonald appeared in their midst.
Rudd’s biggest problem is himself. He has no policies and attempting to rebadge Coalition initiatives on everything from border protection to the development of Northern Australia just doesn’t cut it.
He can’t run on his past policies because most of what he stands for now is remediation of those failed policies.
The fact that a third of the last Labor Cabinet refuses to serve with him should be rude reminder of what those who know him best really think about him.
His breath-taking backflips on what were supposed to be statements of faith are staggering.
Rudd’s New Way of politics in which negativity was to be banished has dissolved like a salt in the sea.
The totally negative campaign that Labor is now running is proof positive that it has nothing new to offer.
The incoherence at the top has now spread downwards through Labor’s ranks and the disparity of talent whenever Labor and Coalition figures are matched is incredible.
Just look at the alacrity with which shadow assistant treasurer Mattias Cormann masterfully highlighted the failure of Labor’s Budget with the release of the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook figures this week – even though Treasurer Chris Bowen had hoped to inoculate the electorate against them with the release of an emergency Economic Statement just a fortnight earlier.
The hard numbers, not homosexual marriage or the ravings of politically correct obsessives will determine this election and Labor’s track record in this area is absolutely dismal.
Cormann has pointed out over the six years Labor has been in government they have delivered $250 billion of deficits and its own $300 billion debt ceiling is expected to be smashed by Christmas.
Labor has a massive spending problem and unlike every responsible family in the country does not know the meaning of saving.
In the 11-week period from the release of the May Budget to it’s the rushed delivery of its own Economic Statement, the Budget bottom line deteriorated by $3 billion a week.
Under Rudd, Labor’s problems have worsened. The brand is toxic, it stands for nothing, it is heading toward the wilderness.
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Kevin Rudd is now Australia’s chief feminist watchdog?
Miranda Devine – Sunday, August 18, 2013 (10:59am)
SO much for the positive politics of Kevin Rudd’s “New Way”. The Prime Minister has let the dogs off the leash in a full frontal personal assault on Tony Abbott on the grounds of “sexism, racism and homophobia”. The last refuge of a loser.
The misogyny and sexism campaign we thought dead and buried with Julia Gillard’s prime ministership was resuscitated last week to demonise Abbott’s comment that the Liberal candidate for Lindsay, Fiona Scott, has “a bit of sex appeal”.
Scott thought it was a “very charming compliment”. But the hyperbolic reaction we have come to expect from Labor’s Fembots, the Greens and the twittersphere rattled on all week.
The Opposition leader was “lecherous”, “demeaning” and an “international embarrassment for modern Australia” howled Emily’s List co-convenor Tanja Kovac.
But it was Kevin Rudd who elevated it into a national campaign issue, prissily answering a question in Cairns with the declaration that he was ignoring advisers’ warnings to leave the commentary to “others”. (Uh Oh!) “I’ve decided it’s worth commenting on … this one is pretty odd, to be blunt.” Odd? From Captain Odd himself! That takes chutzpah.
The man who was kicked out of a New York “gentlemen’s club” for behaving weirdly with topless dancers, is suddenly the arbiter of appropriate attitudes towards women?
The man who relentlessly stalked Labor’s female leader for three years, sabotaged her election campaign, and reportedly derided her as a “childless atheist”, is now the nation’s chief feminist watchdog?
The 55-year-old who gatecrashed a “beautiful” 18-year-old’s party in a Townsville pub last week is lecturing the Opposition Leader about how to describe a grown woman who is a friend and fellow Liberal? Rudd went on to classify the “sex appeal” comment as a workplace relations problem, in which a “male employer” has wronged a “female staff member”.
Do you really want to go there, prime minister?
We don’t have amnesia. We remember the 23-year-old flight attendant he reduced to tears on VIP No. 1 flight when she didn’t bring him the vegetarian meal he requested.
Nice workplace behaviour there, not to mention the MPs who chose career hari kari rather than work for Rudd again, including one who described him as a “psychopath”.
No, the prime minister is in no position to give lectures on seemly conduct. Rudd’s reference to “homo-phobia” was another gotcha attempt. After clumsily inserting his newfound support of gay marriage into the dying moments of the not-so-great debate last Sunday, he must have thought he’d found a wedge to embarrass Abbott.
But most voters don’t regard it as a first-order issue for the federal government, no matter what their views.
Abbott answered umpteen questions that sprang up, referring to his respectful disagreement with his gay sister Christine Foster.
“My idea is to build on the strength of our society and I support, by and large, evolutionary change,” he said.
“I’m not someone who wants to see radical change based on the fashion of the moment.”
This thoughtful comment was twisted by Deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese into a “deeply offensive” description of “sexual orientation as the fashion of the moment”.
Not what Abbott said.
If anything, Rudd seemed more anxious last week than ever, as dire polling in marginal seats showed his celebrity appeal was wearing thin. He seemed thrown off balance by Abbott’s “captain’s call” to reject Green preferencing. He seemed tentative and unprepared after getting journalists out of bed at 3am to fly to the Northern Territory for a rushed announcement mimicking the Coalition’s proposed special economic zone for northern Australia.
Wherever Rudd’s mojo has gone, it wasn’t to be found in Darwin. As the Prime Minister shrinks before our eyes, we also see an Opposition leader growing in confidence and stature.
At least Abbott is acting his age, and not like an overgrown five-year- old haunting schools for “selfies” and high fives.
What grown man describes himself as “the glasses-wearing kid in the library” as the Prime Minister has?
It’s as if Rudd’s emotional development stalled circa 1969.
Maybe that explains his penchant for hanging out with kids. Now he’s a popular VIP he’s returning over and over again to a time in his life when he may have felt under-appreciated. Whatevs, as he might say. It doesn’t do to examine his state of mind. What we do know is he is not behaving like a grown-up with a serious job, and so an already trivialised political process is becoming an infantile version of Celebrity Big Brother.
In such a contest, Abbott needs to be on guard, lest he fall into the Rudd way of doing politics.
His explanation that his sex appeal comment was due to “exuberance” should give his supporters pause. With three weeks still to go until election day, unrestrained joy after a convivial day on the hustings is just premature hubris.
That’s Rudd’s game, anyway, congratulating yourself on how many people mobbed you at the showground.
It’s novelty popularity, as fickle as it is shallow, not the popularity of a prime minister like John Howard, who earned it grudgingly over time from a public which came to respect his steadiness and judgment.
Some commentators still obsess about Abbott’s relative personal unpopularity versus Rudd in national opinion polls.
But Abbott’s job is not to make people like him. He is being pitched by his campaign strategists as your advocate. “You don’t have to like your lawyer” is the way one describes it. You just have to know he will get you out of a pickle.
It takes considerable ego mastery for a political leader to accept such a grim role, and resist the temptation of public adulation.
In any drawn-out battle, it’s human nature to take on characteristics of your opponent. “To know your enemy you must become your enemy,” advises Sun Tzu in the Art Of War.
But if Abbott’s exuberance ever stretches to “selfies” with schoolkids, we’ll know he’s had too much of the Kevin Kool-Aid.
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Land of snow, ice and eternal youth
Miranda Devine – Sunday, August 18, 2013 (10:59am)
THERE must be something in the water at Thredbo. Or maybe it’s the crisp mountain air. Or just a vigorous life of skiing. But the people in their 80s and 90s who came to a Thredbo Historical Society dinner on Thursday night were as sprightly, and attractive as people half their age.
Is there a Fountain of Youth at the top of the mountain? It felt like a scene from Cocoon.
The occasion was the launch of a biography of Austrian-born farmer, bushfire brigade captain and ski jump champion Kurt Lance.
I wrote about him last month, but sadly Kurt did not live to see the launch of ‘Flame of Leviticus’, or to ski in the Masters’ race at Thredbo this weekend, as he had planned.
He died at 88 on his Hawkesbury farm three weeks ago, wife Dorothy at his side. So his book launch became a celebration of his life. All the great and good of the picturesque alpine village gathered at the Thredbo Alpine Hotel as snow-makers toiled on the slopes outside. There was Stuart Diver, the miraculous only survivor of the 1997 Thredbo landslide.
There was Olympic downhill racer Malcolm Milne, the first Australian to win a World Cup, in 1969, in Val-d’Isere, France. Kurt was manager of the Alpine Team and “always had faith in me,” Milne recalled with emotion Now a farmer in Victoria, at 64, he could pass for 50.
But when it came to defying old age, the winners of the evening were elegant former Czech national ski champion Sasha Nekvapil and her “little brother” Frank Prihoda, 92, pictured above, still downhill racing at Thredbo at 90. He represented Australia at the 1956 Winter Olympics, five years after escaping Czechoslovakia, and still lives in Thredbo.
All were friends of Lance, fellow pioneers of Australian skiing, who carry on the magic of Australia’s Shangri-La.
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GREENS UNSMASHED
Tim Blair – Sunday, August 18, 2013 (1:42pm)
Back in 2012, Labor’s Sam Dastyari was walking tall and talking tough:
At the top of Dastyari’s hit list for the state conference is smashing the Greens. “The Labor Party, particularly in NSW, has been giving the Greens a free pass for far too long,” he says. “We can’t treat them like they are part of our family. They have come to take us for granted.”He wants Labor to consider stopping preferencing the Greens and will put forward a motion at the conference stating that “NSW Labor should no longer provide the Greens party automatic preferential treatment in any future preference negotiations” …
Putting the Greens last on Labor’s how-to-vote cards would have a series of possible implications for Labor, the Coalition and of course the Greens …“The Greens have come to take the Labor Party for granted and have assumed we have nowhere to go,” Dastyari laments.“Consequently they keep taking and have no sense of compromise and no desire to compromise. The truth is that they have put us in a position where sometimes anywhere else would be better with our preferences and that includes even the Coalition.”
And now Labor is placing the Greens first in preferences in every state except Queensland.
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BARNEY RUDDLE
Tim Blair – Sunday, August 18, 2013 (6:11am)
The SMH’s Peter Hartcher on Kevin Rudd’s anger management:
Even when he was angry or grumpy he managed to master his moods and project positivity in public. “Even when he’d had an absolute barney with someone in the car, he’d arrive at the venue where the cameras were waiting and he’d jump out of the car with a big smile,” recalls a Labor veteran.
And another piece of the puzzle falls into place.
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POWER BEFORE PRINCIPLE
Tim Blair – Saturday, August 17, 2013 (7:39pm)
Both the Coalition and Labor know that the Greens are a destructive force driven by ignorance and idiocy. The Coalition’s response is to place the Greens last on preferences. And now we have Labor’s response:
Labor’s national executive has ordered the party to preference the Greens ahead of all others in every state except Queensland.Labor has a deal with Bob Katter’s Australian Party in Queensland, but in other states and in the ACT, Greens senate candidates have been given a boost to their electoral chances.The move has angered ALP members in Victoria, who fear the deal might also affect how people vote in the lower house seat of Melbourne, which Labor is trying to win back from the Greens.ALP national secretary George Wright did not respond to calls from Fairfax Media.A senior Greens operative said the balance-of-power party would be preferencing Labor in the Senate in a similar fashion.‘’You can forget all the rhetoric. At the end of the day, Labor and the Greens need to preference each other that way to keep the others out,’’ the contact said.
It’s a clownwards spiral.
UPDATE. Kevin Rudd moves Ford during a speech to Holden workers in Adelaide:
The stumble came as he told the story of Sean Matthews, a Holden worker of 27 years whose father worked at the car factory for 30 years.‘’He tells me it’s a family tradition. He’s got an uncle and an aunt, two brothers in law here working at Ford,’’ said Rudd.‘’Sorry, at Holden, at Holden, at Holden,’’ he added.
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Boat with 200 asylum seekers reported sinking
Andrew Bolt August 18 2013 (4:35pm)
A very big boat - 200 on board - in trouble north of Christmas Island:
A lot of people:
(Thanks to reader Jeff of FNQ)
MAYDAY RELAYUPDATE
FM RCC AUSTRALIA 172256Z AUG 2013 AUSSAR 2013/5543
CHART 4070 INDIAN OCEAN
REFUGEE VESSEL WITH 200 POB REPORTS SINKING IN APPROX POSITION 09-15.37S 106-38.71E REQUESTS IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE. VESSELS WITHIN 4HRS REPORT BEST ETA AND INTENTIONS TO THIS STATION
A lot of people:
An asylum seeker vessel with 205 people on board has been intercepted by the Royal Australian Navy after the vessel sent out a mayday call this morning.
(Thanks to reader Jeff of FNQ)
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To the other losses, add at least two in South Australia
Andrew Bolt August 18 2013 (4:02pm)
This election could really blow out badly for Labor - to nearly Gillard territory. Add now losses in South Australia:
LABOR is gone in the western suburbs seat of Hindmarsh and will struggle to hold the seats of Makin, Adelaide and even the once-safe seat of Wakefield as Kevin Rudd’s support tanks in South Australia amid a seemingly irreversible national swing towards the Coalition.(Thanks to reader Trent.)
Both Labor and Liberal strategists have told the Sunday Mail they do not believe that Steve Georganas can hold the marginal seat of Hindmarsh, and internal Liberal Party polling has found that Makin, Adelaide and Wakefield are now up for grabs…
Senior Liberals are now confident of picking up at least two seats in SA, with their polling showing the most likely scalps are Mr Georganas and Wakefield’s Nick Champion, who has been hit hard by Kevin Rudd’s decision to fiddle with fringe benefit taxes on cars.
Less likely to fall but still in play are Labor frontbencher Kate Ellis’s seat of Adelaide and the seat of Makin held by Rudd backer Tony Zappia.
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The Bolt Report today
Andrew Bolt August 18 2013 (11:06am)
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Katter wants more hard Labor
Andrew Bolt August 18 2013 (9:32am)
Bob Katter always was more an agrarian socialist:
At least that could cost the Greens a Senate seat in Queenland.
(Thanks to readers John and Peter.)
Labor has a deal with Bob Katter’s Australian Party in Queensland…Katter’s deal helps Labor far more than the Liberals, given his vote is highest in Queensland. A favor for his mate Kevin.
A Katter’s Australian Party source confirmed the fledgling party — whose chances were best in Queensland — would preference the Coalition above Labor in most state Senate races. But in Queensland, KAP and Labor have reached a deal to preference each other above the Liberal National Party in the Senate. Labor and KAP are also expected to swap preferences in regional Queensland marginal seats including Herbert (held by LNP with a 2.2 per cent margin), Hinkler (LNP by 10.4 per cent), Flynn (LNP by 3.6 per cent) and Capricornia (Labor by 3.7 per cent).
At least that could cost the Greens a Senate seat in Queenland.
(Thanks to readers John and Peter.)
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Bandt in strife, but Labor suffers in the marginals
Andrew Bolt August 18 2013 (6:12am)
More marginals swing hard to the Coalition, but the Greens are also in trouble:
(A) ReachTEL poll has shown that Adam Bandt’s primary vote is going backwards (in the seat of Melbourne), with the deputy leader trailing behind Labor candidate Cath Bowtell on first preferences, at 33.5 per cent to 33.8 per cent.(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Based on preference flows at the 2010 state election (where the Liberals placed the Greens last), this would put the ALP ahead of the Greens on a two-party preferred basis, at 54-46 per cent…
The poll was taken on Thursday night, sampling the mood of 5231 people in eight hotly contested seats in NSW and Victoria. It showed Labor’s chances of winning the election are fading, with Treasurer Chris Bowen’s seat of McMahon, Darren Cheeseman’s seat of Corangamite and Mike Symon’s seat of Deakin among the casualties…
The ReachTEL poll shows:In the seat of Corangamite, Mr Cheeseman is behind Liberal candidate Sarah Henderson on a two-party preferred basis by 44-56 per cent.
In the eastern suburban seat of Deakin, Mr Symon is behind the Liberals’ Michael Sukkar 47-53 per cent.
In the seat of Indi, where Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella is under threat by independent candidate Cathy McGowan, Ms Mirabella is holding on, with 43.5 per cent of first preference votes compared with 23.3 per cent.
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“Whistleblower”: Abbott tried to block candidate from being chosen on sex appeal
Andrew Bolt August 18 2013 (5:49am)
“Whistleblower” in this case actually means someone cross he missed out on the preselection himself, so treat this with a big pinch of salt:
A whistleblower claims Opposition Leader Tony Abbott tried to block Fiona Scott’s preselection because ‘’she was mainly chosen for her looks and her father’s money’’.It’s a scandal. You mean Abbott’s not a sexist?
Mr Abbott allegedly told a former priest, Kevin Lee, that the Liberal candidate for Lindsay was kept away from microphones in case she ‘’put her foot in it’’…
Mr Abbott has been criticised for describing Ms Scott and former Lindsay MP Jackie Kelly as ‘’young, feisty’’ and having ‘’a bit of sex appeal’’ on Tuesday.
In 2010, Mr Lee met with Mr Abbott, who attended the same seminary, to discuss running for the seat of Lindsay, where he grew up…
A spokesman for Mr Abbott said ... ‘’He did meet with Kevin Lee but that is an inaccurate account of the meeting’’.
The hide of the man.
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Abbott’s from Sydney and has helped a few already
Andrew Bolt August 18 2013 (6:01am)
Greg Sheridan on a good bloke:
There are things people dislike about Abbott, but he is always the same man. In a decade as a minister and four years as opposition leader, there are no stories of mistreating staff, no stewardesses in tears.
There is one episode in Abbott’s life I witnessed but don’t often recount because my own role was so utterly unheroic. In 1977, Abbott and I were lying on the sand at a surf beach some distance out of Melbourne. The surf was way too rough for either of us to go in. Suddenly a woman came up to us screaming. Her son had been pulled out by a rip and was in bad trouble.
I was a weak swimmer and had I dived in someone would very soon have had to rescue me. Abbott was a strong swimmer and pretty much without hesitation jumped in, swam out to the kid, took hold of him, dragged him down the coastline a bit to get past the rip, and brought him safely to shore. He was not a bit interested in the mother’s thanks, rather a bit disgusted the kid had gone out in such treacherous surf.
That was 36 years ago. I’ve got no doubt if the incident happened today Abbott’s response would be the same.
Publicly and privately, he’s the same bloke. His personality may be unreconstructed, but also, it’s not a construct.
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Rudd performs passion
Andrew Bolt August 18 2013 (5:33am)
Kevin Rudd has read the damaging reports of unhappiness and disunity in
his campaign staff. He’s heard the criticism that he’s been flat. So he
does this curious ad to buck up the troops.
I’m not sure it’s very effective. If you have to perform even for your most committed staff, you’re having trouble connecting with every else.
UPDATE
Readers react to one of the strangest campaign ads I’ve seen:
Malcolm:
Huh, another broken promise. “I will not be drawing breath for the next few weeks.”
I’m not sure it’s very effective. If you have to perform even for your most committed staff, you’re having trouble connecting with every else.
UPDATE
Readers react to one of the strangest campaign ads I’ve seen:
Malcolm:
Very interesting to see what a Labor person looks like. But they are nearly all school children. I wonder if many of them have got the vote yet. Also interesting to see the downtrodden look most of the time. They know.white knight:
Good God!, is anybody there over 25 years old?Nel
I have worked in many places .. but this lot are the unhappiest people I have ever seen in one workplace .... and it shows him up so badly, and yet he is totally blind to this reality.Talisman:
You can see his problem straight away - no-one on his staff over 30. That’s not ageism that’s just Rudd not wanting anybody skilled or experienced enough to show him up or, worse, tell him he’s wrong.The Realist:
If he wanted to come across as optimistic and upbeat, why did he get the cast from Night of the Living Dead to stand behind him in the group scenes?Gab:
Baldrick:
Has Rudd been taking acting classes? Those hand gestures have taken on a life of their own.
Wow how very Anglo/youth centric. Not one person in this ad from an Asian or Indigenous background and Kevin Rudd would be the oldest person by 30 years. Seems only white youngsters are required to help save Labor’s future!Trish:
I originally thought this was an internal clip for campaign workers. When I read it was for the general public I knew then Rudd had lost the plot.Frank of NQ:
Huh, another broken promise. “I will not be drawing breath for the next few weeks.”
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Galaxy poll: Labor still 48 to Coalition 52
Andrew Bolt August 18 2013 (4:17am)
A Gallaxy Poll shows Labor still behind but not completely out of it at 48 per cent to 52.
It’s the seat-by-seat count that’s the bad news.
It’s the seat-by-seat count that’s the bad news.
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4 her
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I could do that. But I'd have to train .. build up to it. First, I'd practice with Super models in place of the lions .. it would take many years of practice. - ed
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An updated take on Gregorian choir...Hope yu like it...
Not exactly world, or new age, or classical..more a mash up I guess...
© ShadowofNine
2012
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A rare breed of tigers in Russia has been spotted behaving bizarrely for more than a decade, stumbling into villages and roads, emaciated and unafraid of people, and now researchers say they may know why. http://oak.ctx.ly/r/a1e3
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We made it! And we really want to go at it again! 100 levels and 1504 steps to the very top of Sydney city, pushing each other every inch of the way! We managed to raise $500 for Giant Steps Sydney and we're very thankful to everyone for their generous support! 9LIVES, 1LOVE! #team9lives #9livesparkour #mindbodysoul#warriortraining
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4 her
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So why do many of the Asian countries' schools outperform Australia's? Is not because of money – many of them have far less. It's not because of class sizes – Asian classes are usually larger than ours. The answer is simple. Asian schools just apply the tried and tested methods which were used to. It's just a left-wing elites who have taken over our education and administration and policy have thrown out those methods and applied new fashionable theories which are being abandoned in the countries where they first proposed.
You see the elites hate the idea of students being assessed on their performance. They want to make schools into utopian communist societies which have never existed anywhere where everybody is absolutely equal and receives the same rewards.
In a recent piece in the Australian, Kevin Donnelly writes that an analysis of national and international test results proves what a failure federal Labor's education policy has been under Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.
He says the penny has dropped and the left wing education establishment is admitting that our students, especially talented ones, underperform and that something urgent needs to be done.
He warns you should not things to improve if Labor is returned. Rudd's Better Schools Plan and National Education Reform Agreement, compulsory for all schools, enforce a cultural-left, lowest-common-denominator view of education.""
"Funding and resources are directed at the usual victim groups, in the mistaken belief such groups are always disadvantaged and that disadvantage is the main cause of students underperforming; while the needs of gifted children are ignored."
The left are against what successful Asian countries do and we did once - competitive assessment, the rewarding of merit and a rigorous, academic curriculum.
All achieve success and all are celebrated.
We don't do this in sport and we shouldn't do it in education.
But the intellectual elites and the powerbrokers who run our politics work together to ensure that education policies are devoid of common sense - the commonsense that most ordinary Australians have.
That's why we have to do empower the ordinary Australians so that the politicians are truly accountable.
@profdavidflint
Read more: http://
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Against some evil, it is dangerous to say 'no' - ed
This is a door-man of one of the buildings over-looking Ramses Square. He refused to let armed pro-Muslim Brotherhood supporters to enter his building. They wanted to go to the roof where they can have a better vantage point to shoot at the civilians below. And so they killed him in cold-blood. If you are interested, there are 27 bullet shot wounds in his body. He is a father of five - 3 girls and 2 boys. (ages 2 to 14).
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Today’s Last Post ceremony will commemorate the service of Private Paul Large who served in the Vietnam War. Watch the live stream of the ceremony at 4.55pm (aest) https://www.awm.gov.au/events/
More information on the Battle of Long Tan https://www.awm.gov.au/
http://www.awm.gov.au/
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Wonder if they have Ravens of death…?
If you're heading out on your own adventures this weekend, don't forget to print out a TARDIS and take photos of it out and about.
Get your TARDIS and submit your photos here (as well as vote for your favourites!):http://ngx.me/hhxib358
#WhereDoYouWantToGo
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O'Reilly just plain demolishes Al Sharpton in this clip.
It's a good one: http://bit.ly/14SifNL
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Dolphinarium - suicide bombing at the Dolphin disco June 1, 2001
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Math is all around us, in everything we do. Since the beginning of recorded history, mathematic discovery has been at the forefront of every civilized society, and in use in even the most primitive of cultures. But what exactly is mathematics? http://oak.ctx.ly/r/a21c
Can you name this equation? Check out the world's most beautiful equations here:http://oak.ctx.ly/r/a21l
"The Callan-Symanzik equation is a vital first-principles equation from 1970, essential for describing how naive expectations will fail in aquantum world," said theoretical physicist Matt Strassler of Rutgers University.
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I couldn't exist without friendship and love. And you ?
In this song, I've recorded more guitars than in my latest recordings.
Drums are recorded using Ultrabeats in Logic Express.
Smooth jazz perhaps ...
Hope you like, thanks in advance for comments
Have a nice day !
- LaFayette
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Wyatt Roy
Today our nation remembers the service & sacrifice of our Vietnam Vets. Lest We Forget
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.. stop and eat the flowers? ed
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These are the men who keep us safe - on both sides of the Atlantic. The #IDF's Givati Special Forces and the U.S. Marines got together to learn from each other's experience in urban warfare. The challenges out there are immense - and together we will meet each and every one of them.
Read more: http://www.idfblog.com/
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What’s So Wrong With Adultery by Phillip Jensen
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Peter Singer also co-wrote the Greens manifesto with Bob Brown in 1996. Find out more about the extreme Singer here http://ow.ly/nYNng and help me stop his Greens party http://ow.ly/nCMYg
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German fisherman catches world-record 515-pound Atlantic halibut - said he thought he hooked a submarine.
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Gap of Dunloe
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Great article .. I'd take it further and say you can't be two cultures, and so multiculturalism is impossible in theory, while cultural diversity is desirable in our little world. Catholic churches have embraced Buddhism too in similar ways .. and real Buddhists get very upset. Christian converts are quite shaky as a result .. Numbers who profess Christ are quite large, but examine South American (as an example) practice and it sometimes becomes indistinguishable from voodoo. Which isn't to say some, possibly many, aren't sincere. I feel Judaism has a past and future and I respect and would promote our shared prosperity.- ed
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I feel it is natural to yearn for progress, but at the moment I feel the best that can be achieved is to sit on our collective hands and do nothing until Obama is no longer President and a threat to world peace. Of course, the problem there is that Iran becomes nuclear before then .. - ed
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There will be no peace among Islamic nations while the world negotiates with terrorism in the name of Islam. The two have to be separate. In Israel, Islamic Israeli peoples have shown the lie that all Islam is terrorist .. but sadly the world has promoted terrorist Islamic peoples in negotiation and through attrition of moderates. - ed
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Pendant featuring spectacular Mexican fire opals, diamonds, and gold by Different Gems
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Allyson Christy
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Great company and a great night of theatre. We saw FATHER AUSTRALIA, about Australians that are forced to flee and seek asylum. Definitely recommended. Playing at Archway 1 theatre in Annandale.
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1 The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad;
let the distant shores rejoice.
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all peoples see his glory.
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Australian War Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Day is commemorated on 18 August every year. The day was originally known as Long Tan Day, chosen to commemorate the men of D Company, 6RAR who fought in the battle of Long Tan in 1966. On that day, 108 Australian and New Zealand soldiers fought a pitched battle against over 2,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops in a rubber plantation not far from the small village of Long Tan. The Australians prevailed, but only after fighting in torrential rain for four hours. They were nearly overrun, but were saved by a timely ammunition resupply, accurate artillery fire from the nearby Australian base, and the arrival of reinforcements by armoured personnel carrier. Eighteen Australians lost their lives and 24 were wounded, the largest number of casualties in one operation since the Australian task force had arrived a few months earlier. After the battle the bodies of 245 enemy soldiers were found, but there was evidence that many more bodies had been carried away.
On the third anniversary of Long Tan, 18 August 1969, a cross was raised on the site of the battle by the men of 6RAR. Veterans from the battle gathered at the cross to commemorate the fallen, and the day was commemorated by them as Long Tan Day from then on. Over time, all Vietnam veterans adopted the day as one to commemorate those who served and died in Vietnam. In 1987, following the very successful Welcome Home parade for Vietnam veterans in Sydney, Prime Minister Bob Hawke announced that Long Tan Day would be known as Vietnam Veterans Day. Since then, it has been commemorated every year as the day on which the service of all those men and women who served in Vietnam is remembered.
Today’s Last Post ceremony will commemorate the service of Private Paul Large who served in the Vietnam War. Watch the live stream of the ceremony at 4.55pm (aest) https://www.awm.gov.au/events/
More information on the Battle of Long Tan https://www.awm.gov.au/
http://www.awm.gov.au/
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Wonder if they have Ravens of death…?
If you're heading out on your own adventures this weekend, don't forget to print out a TARDIS and take photos of it out and about.
Get your TARDIS and submit your photos here (as well as vote for your favourites!):http://ngx.me/hhxib358
#WhereDoYouWantToGo
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O'Reilly just plain demolishes Al Sharpton in this clip.
It's a good one: http://bit.ly/14SifNL
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More specifically, do you remember all the attention that was paid to the Chevy Volt, the hybrid electric vehicle that was supposed to mark the rebirth of General Motors?
Now think back. Have you heard that much about it recently? No? Neither have we. So we started looking into the issue to figure out what happened.
First, let’s take a look at what appears to be a general decline in interest in the Volt. Here is a chart of Google search trends showing the difference between interest in the Volt and the apparently more popular Toyota Prius (charts 2012 to present day, with the blue line representing the Volt):
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Dolphinarium - suicide bombing at the Dolphin disco June 1, 2001
21 people were killed and 120 were wounded when an Arabs (P.A) suicide bomber blew himself up outside a disco near Tel Aviv's Dolphinarium along the seafront promenade just before midnight on Friday, June 1.
The terrorist mingled with a large group of teenagers, who were standing in line to enter the disco. While still in line, he detonated the explosives strapped to his body. The explosive charge contained a large number of metal objects - including balls and screws - designed to increase the extent of injuries.
Most of those killed were youngsters from the former Soviet Union who had planned to attend a dance party at the Dolphin disco. Others who had been waiting in line to enter an adjacent nightclub known as the Pacha were also caught in the blast.
The organization took responsibility for the attack as "Hezbollah palastin".
it later emerged that a former israeli arab resident (from jaffo) was the one who drove the palestinian suicide bomber to the club
In 2002, captured Husam Badran, commander of the Hamas military wing in Samaria, who was involved in the attack at the Dolphinarium and other attacks. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison, but released in 2011, part of the agreement to release Gilad Shalit.
The attack:
Suicide bomber Saeed Hotari was standing in line on a Friday night in front of the Dolphinarium, when the area was packed with youngsters (most of them Russian new arrivals) waiting for admission. Survivors of the attack later described how the young Palestinian bomber appeared to taunt his victims before the explosion, wandering among them dressed in clothes that led some to mistake him for an orthodox Jew from Asia, and banging a drum packed with explosives and ball bearings, while repeating the words in Hebrew: "Something's going to happen". At 20:30 pm, he detonated his explosive device. It was the second attack in five months on the same target.[6] Witnesses claimed that body parts lay all over the area, and that bodies were piled one above another on the sidewalk before being collected. Many civilians in the vicinity of the bombing rushed to assist emergency services.
Fatalities:
dolphinarim massacre memorial in tel aviv dolphinarium
21 civilians, mostly teenagers died in the attack:
Maria Tagiltseva, 14, of Netanya.
Raisa Nimrovsky, 15, of Netanya.
Ana Kazachkova, 15, of Holon.
Katherine Kastaniyada-Talkir, 15, of Ramat Gan.
Irina Nepomnyashchi, 16, of Bat Yam.
Mariana Medvedenko, 16, of Tel-Aviv.
Yulia Nelimov, 16, of Tel Aviv.
Liana Saakyan, 16, of Ramat Gan.
Marina Berkovizki, 17, of Tel Aviv.
Simona Rodin, 18, of Holon.
Aleksei Lupalu, 16, of the Ukraine.
Yelena Nelimov, 18, of Tel Aviv.
Irena Usdachi, 18, of Holon.
Ilya Gutman, 19, of Bat Yam.
Roman Dezanshvili, 21, of Bat Yam.
Pvt. Diez (Dani) Normanov, 21, of Tel Aviv.
Ori Shahar, 32, of Ramat Gan.
Yael-Yulia Sklianik, 15, of Holon – died of her injuries on June 2, 2001.
Sergei Panchenko, 20, Ukraine – died of his injuries on June 2, 2001.
Jan Bloom, 25, of Ramat Gan – died of his injuries on June 3, 2001.
Yevgeniya Dorfman, 15, of Bat-Yam – died of her injuries on June 19, 2001.
SHARING IS CARING!
The terrorist mingled with a large group of teenagers, who were standing in line to enter the disco. While still in line, he detonated the explosives strapped to his body. The explosive charge contained a large number of metal objects - including balls and screws - designed to increase the extent of injuries.
Most of those killed were youngsters from the former Soviet Union who had planned to attend a dance party at the Dolphin disco. Others who had been waiting in line to enter an adjacent nightclub known as the Pacha were also caught in the blast.
The organization took responsibility for the attack as "Hezbollah palastin".
it later emerged that a former israeli arab resident (from jaffo) was the one who drove the palestinian suicide bomber to the club
In 2002, captured Husam Badran, commander of the Hamas military wing in Samaria, who was involved in the attack at the Dolphinarium and other attacks. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison, but released in 2011, part of the agreement to release Gilad Shalit.
The attack:
Suicide bomber Saeed Hotari was standing in line on a Friday night in front of the Dolphinarium, when the area was packed with youngsters (most of them Russian new arrivals) waiting for admission. Survivors of the attack later described how the young Palestinian bomber appeared to taunt his victims before the explosion, wandering among them dressed in clothes that led some to mistake him for an orthodox Jew from Asia, and banging a drum packed with explosives and ball bearings, while repeating the words in Hebrew: "Something's going to happen". At 20:30 pm, he detonated his explosive device. It was the second attack in five months on the same target.[6] Witnesses claimed that body parts lay all over the area, and that bodies were piled one above another on the sidewalk before being collected. Many civilians in the vicinity of the bombing rushed to assist emergency services.
Fatalities:
dolphinarim massacre memorial in tel aviv dolphinarium
21 civilians, mostly teenagers died in the attack:
Maria Tagiltseva, 14, of Netanya.
Raisa Nimrovsky, 15, of Netanya.
Ana Kazachkova, 15, of Holon.
Katherine Kastaniyada-Talkir, 15, of Ramat Gan.
Irina Nepomnyashchi, 16, of Bat Yam.
Mariana Medvedenko, 16, of Tel-Aviv.
Yulia Nelimov, 16, of Tel Aviv.
Liana Saakyan, 16, of Ramat Gan.
Marina Berkovizki, 17, of Tel Aviv.
Simona Rodin, 18, of Holon.
Aleksei Lupalu, 16, of the Ukraine.
Yelena Nelimov, 18, of Tel Aviv.
Irena Usdachi, 18, of Holon.
Ilya Gutman, 19, of Bat Yam.
Roman Dezanshvili, 21, of Bat Yam.
Pvt. Diez (Dani) Normanov, 21, of Tel Aviv.
Ori Shahar, 32, of Ramat Gan.
Yael-Yulia Sklianik, 15, of Holon – died of her injuries on June 2, 2001.
Sergei Panchenko, 20, Ukraine – died of his injuries on June 2, 2001.
Jan Bloom, 25, of Ramat Gan – died of his injuries on June 3, 2001.
Yevgeniya Dorfman, 15, of Bat-Yam – died of her injuries on June 19, 2001.
SHARING IS CARING!
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CORBY AN EXAMPLE OF INDONESIA’S DISRESPECT FOR AUSTRALIA
On the eve (perhaps) of Schapelle Corby’s release on parole from the hell hole that is Kerokoban prison, disturbing, unanswered questions still haunt many who have followed her case... and a condition of her bail is that she must stay in Bali. Why is that?
As years roll endlessly on, it’s easy to forget the plight of others. Concern and anger are dulled by time, but the victim’s minutes become hours and hours weeks until, eventually, insanity becomes the biggest enemy.
While on parole in Bali, Schapelle and her supporters must not disclose or discuss publicly, under threat of re-incarceration, what appear to be glaring evidential anomalies behind her conviction of importing to Indonesia 4.2 kilo of cannabis.
Anomalies like AFP involvement and missing CCTV tapes from three separate airports.
Indonesian prosecutors’ refusal to allow DNA testing of the cannabis to determine its source before burning it and their refusal to fingerprint the boogie board plastic cover, despite Australian Government requests.
A potential disparity in weight when Corby first checked the bag in and when it arrived in Bali was not recorded.
Sydney airport baggage handlers were arrested without allusion or connection to charges against Corby.
Under Australian law Corby could not have been convicted due to inconclusive, curiously missing and tainted evidence rendering the charges “reasonably doubtful” in law.
But this is not about Corby’s guilt or innocence. An acquittal was available, as has often been the case, if money had changed hands at certain levels within the Indonesian justice system.
Big-noting failed Australian entrepreneur Ron Bakir (also known as Rani Muhuddine Hassan) claimed that Indonesian officials had asked him for money to ensure Corby’s release. That claim finally sealed her 20-year sentence.
Corrupt Indonesian judges’ priorities became clear when Bali bomber, Umar Patek, was also sentenced to 20 years’ jail for his part in killing 88 Australians.
It’s difficult to equate 4.2 kilo of cannabis to what Bali’s Chief of Police called, "the worst act of terrorism in the country's history”.
Patek was finally captured in January 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, near to where Osama Bin Laden was found and killed.
He was also found to have smuggled firearms from the Philippines into Indonesia in 2010, with plans for a militant camp in Aceh.
As is always the case in Indonesia, money underpins justice and the three who endangered Bali’s tourist dollars by planting the bombs, Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron were publicly executed on another island.
Radical cleric and bombing mastermind, Abu Bakar Bashir, was initially acquitted but after outrage from Australia and other countries at what appeared to be a clear injustice he was re-charged and grudgingly sentenced to 15 years' jail.
It was shown that Bashir had also plotted the 2008 assault on Mumbai hotels in India and was responsible for hundreds of killings in a train siege lasting several days.
Bashir is still the “spiritual leader” of Indonesia's Islamic home-grown terror network, Jemaah Islamiyah, the cell that trained the bombers in Australian-financed madrassas.
With remissions Bashir will not serve more than eight years, approximately the same or less than Corby.
Indonesians who pilot illegal boats to Australia, overloaded with well-heeled “queue jumpers”, are dutifully returned to Indonesia upon request while our requests to return Corby are ignored.
One day the truth behind that 4.2 kilo of hooch will be known but the inequities of Indonesia’s corrupt justice system will live on.
On the eve (perhaps) of Schapelle Corby’s release on parole from the hell hole that is Kerokoban prison, disturbing, unanswered questions still haunt many who have followed her case... and a condition of her bail is that she must stay in Bali. Why is that?
As years roll endlessly on, it’s easy to forget the plight of others. Concern and anger are dulled by time, but the victim’s minutes become hours and hours weeks until, eventually, insanity becomes the biggest enemy.
While on parole in Bali, Schapelle and her supporters must not disclose or discuss publicly, under threat of re-incarceration, what appear to be glaring evidential anomalies behind her conviction of importing to Indonesia 4.2 kilo of cannabis.
Anomalies like AFP involvement and missing CCTV tapes from three separate airports.
Indonesian prosecutors’ refusal to allow DNA testing of the cannabis to determine its source before burning it and their refusal to fingerprint the boogie board plastic cover, despite Australian Government requests.
A potential disparity in weight when Corby first checked the bag in and when it arrived in Bali was not recorded.
Sydney airport baggage handlers were arrested without allusion or connection to charges against Corby.
Under Australian law Corby could not have been convicted due to inconclusive, curiously missing and tainted evidence rendering the charges “reasonably doubtful” in law.
But this is not about Corby’s guilt or innocence. An acquittal was available, as has often been the case, if money had changed hands at certain levels within the Indonesian justice system.
Big-noting failed Australian entrepreneur Ron Bakir (also known as Rani Muhuddine Hassan) claimed that Indonesian officials had asked him for money to ensure Corby’s release. That claim finally sealed her 20-year sentence.
Corrupt Indonesian judges’ priorities became clear when Bali bomber, Umar Patek, was also sentenced to 20 years’ jail for his part in killing 88 Australians.
It’s difficult to equate 4.2 kilo of cannabis to what Bali’s Chief of Police called, "the worst act of terrorism in the country's history”.
Patek was finally captured in January 2011 in Abbottabad, Pakistan, near to where Osama Bin Laden was found and killed.
He was also found to have smuggled firearms from the Philippines into Indonesia in 2010, with plans for a militant camp in Aceh.
As is always the case in Indonesia, money underpins justice and the three who endangered Bali’s tourist dollars by planting the bombs, Imam Samudra, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Ali Ghufron were publicly executed on another island.
Radical cleric and bombing mastermind, Abu Bakar Bashir, was initially acquitted but after outrage from Australia and other countries at what appeared to be a clear injustice he was re-charged and grudgingly sentenced to 15 years' jail.
It was shown that Bashir had also plotted the 2008 assault on Mumbai hotels in India and was responsible for hundreds of killings in a train siege lasting several days.
Bashir is still the “spiritual leader” of Indonesia's Islamic home-grown terror network, Jemaah Islamiyah, the cell that trained the bombers in Australian-financed madrassas.
With remissions Bashir will not serve more than eight years, approximately the same or less than Corby.
Indonesians who pilot illegal boats to Australia, overloaded with well-heeled “queue jumpers”, are dutifully returned to Indonesia upon request while our requests to return Corby are ignored.
One day the truth behind that 4.2 kilo of hooch will be known but the inequities of Indonesia’s corrupt justice system will live on.
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Math is all around us, in everything we do. Since the beginning of recorded history, mathematic discovery has been at the forefront of every civilized society, and in use in even the most primitive of cultures. But what exactly is mathematics? http://oak.ctx.ly/r/a21c
Can you name this equation? Check out the world's most beautiful equations here:http://oak.ctx.ly/r/a21l
"The Callan-Symanzik equation is a vital first-principles equation from 1970, essential for describing how naive expectations will fail in aquantum world," said theoretical physicist Matt Strassler of Rutgers University.
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There are few symbols more powerful than the Purple Heart. Whether displayed next to a carefully-folded flag on a mantle, on a fraying old uniform at a veteran’s parade, or even on a license plate designating the driver as “combat-wounded,” the Purple Heart is synonymous with service and sacrifice.
For the families of the slain, Purple Hearts are treasured heirlooms, not only preserving the memory of the fallen but providing deep meaning to their sacrifice, a meaning that harkens back to the Gospel of John: “Greater love hath no man than this, that one lay down in his life for his friends.”
For the combat-wounded living, the Purple Heart is more than a symbol, entitling veterans to health care and benefits a grateful nation provides those who’ve bled in her service.
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Israel’s decision to release terrorist prisoners as a “gesture” to the Palestinian Authority led some Israeli MKs to criticized the United States for allegedly pushing the release. MK Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) even wrote a strongly critical letter to Secretary of State John Kerry in which she accused him of “forcing Israel to capitulate to terrorism.”
However, it appears that U.S. actually opposed the prisoner release in at least one case.
According to The Daily Beast, the U.S. State Department expressed concern over the release of Al-Haaj Othman Amar Mustafa – but Israel decided to free him anyway.
Mustafa murdered Frederick Steven Rosenfeld, who was a U.S. citizen and a former U.S. Marine.
He and other attackers ambushed Rosenfeld, attacking him from behind after pretending to befriend him as he walked near his home in the town of Ariel, in Samaria (Shomron), in 1989. The three stabbed Rosenfeld and left him to die.
A State Department spokesperson told The Daily Beast, “The State Department conveyed the administration’s concerns regarding the release of this prisoner to the government of Israel, while recognizing the victim was a dual national of Israel and the United States.”
The Israeli side “acknowledged our views, but it was ultimately their decision to determine which prisoners to release. This is a very difficult situation for all involved, and further highlights the importance of making these negotiations successful,” she added.
Mustafa, along with other terrorist killers freed last Tuesday night, waswelcomed as a hero upon his release.
The decision to release terrorists was made following meetings between Kerry and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu aimed at getting Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table.
Abbas had agreed to negotiate with previous Israeli prime ministerswithout preconditions, but under Netanyahu’s administration began demanding a full ban on Israeli construction east of the 1949 armistice line – a region home to over 500,000 Israeli citizens – before talks could begin. Netanyahu was reluctant to agree to a construction freeze after a previous building freeze which exacerbated Israel’s housing crisis and failed to yield productive talks with the PA.
Abbas agreed to meet with Netanyahu only when the building freeze was nearly over, then ended talks shortly afterward when the freeze ended.
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I couldn't exist without friendship and love. And you ?
In this song, I've recorded more guitars than in my latest recordings.
Drums are recorded using Ultrabeats in Logic Express.
Smooth jazz perhaps ...
Hope you like, thanks in advance for comments
Have a nice day !
- LaFayette
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Reporters on Thursday pressed the State Department on Barack Obama’s foreign policy – particularly his approach to Egypt – with one reporter asking whether that policy is worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
With the Mideast in chaos, reporters were eager to get State’s take on whether Barack Obama has “earned” his Nobel Prize, particularly given that he has “led from behind” from the early days of the first Egypt revolt, through the Libyan revolution, and now in Syria. All while Israel becomes further isolated and Iran rushes headlong toward a nuclear weapon.
While Egypt continues to spiral out of control; more than 600 have been killed this week in bloody street battles between the Egyptian military and supporters of the deposed Muslim Brotherhood president, Barack Obama vacations on Martha’s Vineyard – although he did take time out to make a statement on Egypt which, in all likelihood, will only serve to exacerbate the situation.
Obama’s absence this week was not unlike that in 2011, when he and the family jetted off to Rio while France’s Nikolas Sarkozy took over the role as coalition leader as air strikes in support of Libyan rebels commenced in the battle to oust Gaddafi.
While there weren’t any easy questions at Thursday’s press briefing, one in particular hit the nail on the head:
“Do you think or is the administration confident that the steps — that the policy that you have pursued thus far in Egypt and also in Syria are worthy of a president who not so long ago won the Nobel Peace Prize?”
Spokesperson Jennifer Psaki’s response: “Yes, Matt.” Good to know.
Thus far – dating back to the days before Muslim Brotherhood member and former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in a coup – Obama’s response has been mostly perceived (in Egypt) as pro-Morsi and pro-Brotherhood. Now, as the violence grows, Obama’s words and actions only serve to embolden both sides.
Suspension of joint military exercises and thinly veiled threats to cut off aid not only steel the resolve of the military – a military that has been respected throughout Egypt for decades – but build ill will within the military toward the U.S. Those same actions, along with continuing to refer to the pro-Muslim Brotherhood riots as “peaceful demonstrations” embolden the minority Muslim extremists, which are not only fairly well-armed, but have taken time out to destroy countless Christian churches along the way.
On second thought, maybe it’s better if Obama were to remain on vacation. Nobel Peace Prize and all.
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Wyatt Roy
Today our nation remembers the service & sacrifice of our Vietnam Vets. Lest We Forget
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.. stop and eat the flowers? ed
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Allyson Christy.
Into the Fray: Justifying Judeocide - jpost
"Why is such a move, which the American broker would probably not agree to at all if the terrorists had killed US citizens, let alone as a condition for starting negotiations, become a legitimate condition because Palestinians are demanding it of Israel? – Justice Elyakim Rubinstein
With regard to the future: Given precedent and probability, it is a statistical certainty that some of the releasees will revert to acts of terror that result in the death of Israelis.
In the past, scores of Israelis have been killed and maimed by terrorists released in “deals.” There is little reason to believe that this time will different." - Martin Sherman
http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440
With regard to the future: Given precedent and probability, it is a statistical certainty that some of the releasees will revert to acts of terror that result in the death of Israelis.
In the past, scores of Israelis have been killed and maimed by terrorists released in “deals.” There is little reason to believe that this time will different." - Martin Sherman
http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440
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These are the men who keep us safe - on both sides of the Atlantic. The #IDF's Givati Special Forces and the U.S. Marines got together to learn from each other's experience in urban warfare. The challenges out there are immense - and together we will meet each and every one of them.
Read more: http://www.idfblog.com/
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Egypt continues to spiral out of control, andAmerican congressmen are calling for foreign aid to be cut. CNN’s Jake Tapper respectfully but firmly asked State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki if any weapons supplied by the United States to Egypt were now being used in the government crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood pro-Morsi protesters.
Three times Psaki demurred, ignoring the question and babbling on. My incredible powers of deduction lead me to believe that the answer is “yes.”
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What’s So Wrong With Adultery by Phillip Jensen
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Peter Singer also co-wrote the Greens manifesto with Bob Brown in 1996. Find out more about the extreme Singer here http://ow.ly/nYNng and help me stop his Greens party http://ow.ly/nCMYg
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German fisherman catches world-record 515-pound Atlantic halibut - said he thought he hooked a submarine.
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Allyson Christy.
"..perhaps the gravest strategic threat confronting Israel today – at least on a par with the Iranian menace, and in fact, acts to intensify the latter. Delegitimization does impinge on the nation’s ability to physically defend itself.
For not only does increasing delegitimization make Israel an increasingly legitimate target, but it makes its endeavors to deal with adversaries increasingly illegitimate.
But a nation cannot seek legitimization by abandoning its vital interests. It must do so by legitimizing those interests through effective conduct of its diplomacy.
...release of murderers is almost certain to have, is the appalling symbolic significance that it conveys – to Jews, Arabs and the world at large.
For stripped to basics, it conveys a message that Judeocide is justified.
It reflects a disregard – or at least a diminished regard – for the value of Jewish lives, and does so in a dual sense: Both toward the known victims of the past and toward the unknown victims of the future.
With regard to the past: It cheapens the value of Jewish blood, because it signals that those who shed it will be exonerated; that even the most heinous slaughter of Jews can be overlooked and its perpetrators pardoned.." - Martin Sherman
The idea is what was once called an 'executive decision' which is to do nothing while the timing is bad. Israel cannot make a good choice right now as she isn't being offered anything .. so Israel has to do nothing for the short term .. that is the only response to delegitimisation that leaves Israel intact. It means Netanyahu has to work very hard to stand still. - edBut a nation cannot seek legitimization by abandoning its vital interests. It must do so by legitimizing those interests through effective conduct of its diplomacy.
...release of murderers is almost certain to have, is the appalling symbolic significance that it conveys – to Jews, Arabs and the world at large.
For stripped to basics, it conveys a message that Judeocide is justified.
It reflects a disregard – or at least a diminished regard – for the value of Jewish lives, and does so in a dual sense: Both toward the known victims of the past and toward the unknown victims of the future.
With regard to the past: It cheapens the value of Jewish blood, because it signals that those who shed it will be exonerated; that even the most heinous slaughter of Jews can be overlooked and its perpetrators pardoned.." - Martin Sherman
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Sources have revealed that PM Kevin Rudd signed a deal with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that will see taxpayers forking the bill for Indonesian efforts to stop boats, and fly “refugees” in Indonesian camps directly to Australia.
The scope of the deal, according to sources, is that:
Immigrants who arrived in Indonesia prior to July 15 will be automatically accepted into Australia for processing. Arrivals after this date will remain within Indonesia.
Australia will fund the cost of the transport and maintenance of refugees both directed to Australia and remaining in Indonesia.
To hide the blow-out costs in the Budget, Rudd intends to mask the expenditure as part of a Beef Export Deal with the Indonesians advertised as a “face saving” effort following the Live Export Ban by the Gillard government
The deal is apparently already well known by smuggling operators and facilitators in Indonesia, explaining the very sudden spike in boat departures from southern Indonesia since Rudd’s visit there. It’s like a fire-sale for people smugglers.
The actual cost of the deal we were not informed, but based upon the cost of covering the efforts in two nations, I would expect it to be several billion dollars. Possibly $5-10 Billion over the next 5 years.
The straight up deal will deliver about 7,000 illegal aliens currently in Indonesia to Australian shores. This explains the desire to significantly expand the capacity at Manus Island, with similar upgrades to be announced soon for Australian mainland centres.
Unlike the failed Gillard Malaysian Deal this will not require an Act of Parliament, as the intake and the expenditure will be managed through DFAT and Treasury, with the increase in numbers and transport flights factored into the current Immigration Department budget.
Polliter’s assessment of this deal is that this is a smoke-screen, allowing for direct flight-based transportation of aliens in Indonesian processing centres, with the sole intent of eliminating irregular boat arrivals. Unlike boats, scheduled plane arrivals would no longer be classified as “irregular”, therefore avoiding publication of figures.
If anything, this will increase the number of arrivals, and increase dramatically the costs associated with economic refugee processing, as Australia will be funding refugee camps and detention programs both here and in Indonesia.
The PMO Press Office refused to offer comment when questioned about the deal.
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Good crop this year. Myers dwarf lemons. Hybrid mix of regular lemon and Mandarin orange, not quite as tart. Tasty!
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Gap of Dunloe
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Great article .. I'd take it further and say you can't be two cultures, and so multiculturalism is impossible in theory, while cultural diversity is desirable in our little world. Catholic churches have embraced Buddhism too in similar ways .. and real Buddhists get very upset. Christian converts are quite shaky as a result .. Numbers who profess Christ are quite large, but examine South American (as an example) practice and it sometimes becomes indistinguishable from voodoo. Which isn't to say some, possibly many, aren't sincere. I feel Judaism has a past and future and I respect and would promote our shared prosperity.- ed
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I feel it is natural to yearn for progress, but at the moment I feel the best that can be achieved is to sit on our collective hands and do nothing until Obama is no longer President and a threat to world peace. Of course, the problem there is that Iran becomes nuclear before then .. - ed
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There will be no peace among Islamic nations while the world negotiates with terrorism in the name of Islam. The two have to be separate. In Israel, Islamic Israeli peoples have shown the lie that all Islam is terrorist .. but sadly the world has promoted terrorist Islamic peoples in negotiation and through attrition of moderates. - ed
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Pendant featuring spectacular Mexican fire opals, diamonds, and gold by Different Gems
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Allyson Christy
An accumulation of hypocrisy, double-standards and bias, and all under the auspices of a familiar scapegoating sentiment and underlying inclinations of hate.
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Great company and a great night of theatre. We saw FATHER AUSTRALIA, about Australians that are forced to flee and seek asylum. Definitely recommended. Playing at Archway 1 theatre in Annandale.
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- 684 – Second Fitna: Umayyad partisansdefeated the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cemented Umayyad control of Syria.
- 1487 – Reconquista: After a four-month siege, the Catholic Monarchs conquered the city of Málaga from the Muslims.
- 1877 – Asaph Hall discovered Phobos (pictured), the larger ofMars' two moons, six days after discovering Deimos, the other one.
- 1948 – Australia completed a 4–0 Ashes series win, earning them the nickname of "The Invincibles" for being the first Test cricket match side to play an entire tour of England without losing a match.
- 1983 – Hurricane Alicia made landfall near Galveston, Texas, US, causing $2.6 billion in damages and 21 deaths.
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Events
- 684 – Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria.
- 1304 – The Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle is fought to a draw between the French army and the Flemish militias.
- 1487 – The Siege of Málaga ends with the taking of the city by Castilian and Aragonese forces.
- 1572 – Marriage in Paris, France of the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre to Margaret of Valois, in a supposed attempt to reconcile Protestants and Catholics.
- 1587 – Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Governor John White of the Colony of Roanoke, becomes the first English child born in the Americas.
- 1590 – John White, the governor of the Roanoke Colony, returns from a supply trip to England and finds his settlement deserted.
- 1634 – Urbain Grandier, accused and convicted of sorcery, is burned alive in Loudun, France.
- 1783 – A huge fireball meteor is seen across Great Britain as it passes over the east coast.
- 1838 – The Wilkes Expedition, which would explore the Puget Sound and Antarctica, weighs anchor at Hampton Roads in 1838
- 1848 – Camila O'Gorman and Ladislao Gutierrez are executed on the orders of Argentine dictator Juan Manuel de Rosas.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Globe Tavern – Union forces try to cut a vital Confederate supply-line into Petersburg, Virginia, by attacking the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad.
- 1868 – French astronomer Pierre Janssen discovers helium.
- 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Gravelotte is fought.
- 1877 – Asaph Hall discovers Martian moon Phobos.
- 1891 – Major hurricane strikes Martinique, leaving 700 dead.
- 1903 – German engineer Karl Jatho allegedly flies his self-made, motored gliding airplane four months before the first flight of the Wright brothers.
- 1917 – A Great Fire in Thessaloniki, Greece destroys 32% of the city leaving 70,000 individuals homeless.
- 1920 – The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing women's suffrage.
- 1938 – The Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting New York, United States with Ontario, Canada over the Saint Lawrence River, is dedicated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
- 1942 – A group of freedom fighter of Sherpur hoisted the Tricoloure at Mohammadabad Tehsil, Ghazipur India
- 1948 – The Australian cricket team completed a 4–0 Ashes series win over England during their undefeated Invincibles tour.
- 1950 – Julien Lahaut, the chairman of the Communist Party of Belgium is assassinated by far-right elements.
- 1958 – Vladimir Nabokov's controversial novel Lolita is published in the United States.
- 1958 – Brojen Das from Bangladesh swims across the English Channel in a competition, as the first Bangali as well as the first Asian to ever do it. He became first among 39 competitors.
- 1963 – American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
- 1965 – Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins – United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in the first major American ground battle of the war.
- 1966 – Vietnam War: the Battle of Long Tan ensues after a patrol from the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment clashes with a Viet Cong force in Phuoc Tuy province.
- 1971 – Vietnam War: Australia and New Zealand decide to withdraw their troops from Vietnam.
- 1976 – In the Korean Demilitarized Zone at Panmunjom, the Axe murder incident results in the death of two US soldiers.
- 1977 – Steve Biko is arrested at a police roadblock under the Terrorism Act No 83 of 1967 in King William's Town, South Africa. He would later die of the injuries sustained during this arrest bringing attention to South Africa's apartheid policies.
- 1983 – Hurricane Alicia hits the Texas coast, killing 22 people and causing over USD$1 billion in damage (1983 dollars).
- 1989 – Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
- 2005 – A Massive power blackout hits the Indonesian island of Java, affecting almost 100 million people, the one of the largest and most widespread power outages in history.
- 2008 – President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf resigns due to the threat of impeachment.
Births
- 1414 – Jami, Persian poet (d. 1492)
- 1450 – Marko Marulić, Croatian poet (d. 1524)
- 1579 – Countess Charlotte Flandrina of Nassau (d. 1640)
- 1587 – Virginia Dare, English child first born in the Americas
- 1596 – Jean Bolland, Flemish writer (d. 1665)
- 1605 – Henry Hammond, English churchman (d. 1660)
- 1606 – Maria Anna of Spain (d. 1646)
- 1611 – Marie Louise Gonzaga, French wife of John II Casimir Vasa (d. 1650)
- 1657 – Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena, Italian architect and painter (d. 1743)
- 1685 – Brook Taylor, English mathematician (d. 1731)
- 1692 – Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon (d. 1740)
- 1700 – Baji Rao I, Indian emperor (d. 1740)
- 1720 – Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, British politician and murderer (d. 1760)
- 1750 – Antonio Salieri, Italian composer (d. 1825)
- 1754 – François, marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat, French general (d. 1833)
- 1774 – Meriwether Lewis, American soldier and explorer, leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (d. 1809)
- 1792 – John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
- 1803 – Nathan Clifford, American diplomat and jurist, 19th United States Attorney General (d. 1881)
- 1819 – Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna, Duchess of Leuchtenberg (d. 1876)
- 1822 – Isaac P. Rodman, American general (d. 1862)
- 1830 – Franz Joseph I of Austria (d. 1916)
- 1831 – Ernest Noel, British businessman and MP (d. 1931)
- 1834 – Marshall Field, American businessman, founded Marshall Field's (d. 1906)
- 1841 – William Halford, American navy officer (d. 1919)
- 1855 – Alfred Wallis, British painter in the primitive style (d. 1942)
- 1857 – Libert H. Boeynaems, Belgian prelate (d. 1926)
- 1869 – Carl Rungius, German-American painter (d. 1959)
- 1870 – Hugh Bromley-Davenport, England cricketer (d. 1954)
- 1870 – Lavr Kornilov, Russian general (d. 1918)
- 1872 – Adolf Schmal, Austrian fencer and cyclist (d. 1919)
- 1879 – Aleksandr Rodzyanko, Russian general (d. 1970)
- 1882 – Herman Groman, American runner (d. 1954)
- 1883 – Sidney Hatch, American runner (d. 1966)
- 1885 – Nettie Palmer, Australian poet and essayist (d. 1964)
- 1886 – Charles Bartliff, American soccer player (d. 1962)
- 1890 – Walther Funk, German Nazi politician (d. 1960)
- 1892 – Hal Foster, Canadian-American illustrator (d. 1982)
- 1893 – Burleigh Grimes, American baseball player (d. 1985)
- 1893 – Ernest MacMillan, Canadian conductor and composer (d. 1973)
- 1896 – Jack Pickford, Canadian-American actor (d. 1933)
- 1900 – Glenn Albert Black, American archaeologist (d. 1964)
- 1902 – Adamson-Eric, Estonian painter (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Margaret Murie, American environmentalist and author (d. 2003)
- 1903 – Lucienne Boyer, French singer (d. 1983)
- 1904 – Max Factor, Jr., American businessman (d. 1996)
- 1906 – Marcel Carné, French director (d. 1996)
- 1908 – Edgar Faure, French politician and historian (d. 1988)
- 1908 – Bill Merritt, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1977)
- 1909 – Gérard Filion, Canadian businessman and journalist (d. 2005)
- 1910 – Herman Berlinski, Polish-American composer (d. 2001)
- 1911 – Amelia Boynton Robinson, American activist
- 1912 – Otto Ernst Remer, German Wehrmacht officer (d. 1997)
- 1913 – Romain Maes, Belgian cyclist (d. 1983)
- 1915 – Max Lanier, American baseball player (d. 2007)
- 1916 – Neagu Djuvara, Romanian historian, writer, and diplomat
- 1916 – Don Keefer, American actor
- 1916 – Moura Lympany, English pianist (d. 2005)
- 1917 – Caspar Weinberger, American politician, 15th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Cisco Houston, American singer-songwriter (Almanac Singers) (d. 1961)
- 1919 – Wally Hickel, American politician, 2nd Governor of Alaska (d. 2010)
- 1920 – Godfrey Evans, English cricketer (d. 1999)
- 1920 – Bob Kennedy, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Shelley Winters, American actress (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Lydia Litvyak, Soviet pilot (d. 1943)
- 1921 – Zdzisław Żygulski, Jr., Polish historian
- 1922 – Alain Robbe-Grillet, French writer and filmmaker (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Jenni Irani, Indian cricketer (d. 1982)
- 1923 – Sadashiv Shinde, Indian cricketer (d. 1955)
- 1925 – Brian Aldiss, British author
- 1925 – Pierre Grondin, Canadian surgeon (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Anis Mansour, Egyptian writer (d. 2011)
- 1926 – John P. Finnegan, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1927 – Rosalynn Carter, American wife of Jimmy Carter, 41st First Lady of the United States
- 1928 – Marge Schott, American baseball team owner (d. 2004)
- 1929 – Hugues Aufray, French singer
- 1930 – Bo Hi Pak, Korean church leader
- 1930 – Liviu Librescu, Romanian-American scientist and Holocaust survivor, victim of the Virginia Tech massacre (d. 2007)
- 1931 – Bramwell Tillsley, Canadian 14th general of The Salvation Army
- 1931 – Hans van Mierlo, Dutch politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 2010)
- 1931 – Dick White, English footballer
- 1932 – Bill Bennett, Canadian politician
- 1932 – Luc Montagnier, French microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1933 – Just Fontaine, French footballer
- 1933 – Roman Polanski, French-Polish director, producer, writer, and actor
- 1934 – Gulzar, Indian director, screenwriter, and songwriter
- 1934 – Vincent Bugliosi, American attorney and author
- 1934 – Ronnie Carroll, Irish singer
- 1934 – Roberto Clemente, Puerto Rican baseball player (d. 1972)
- 1935 – Rafer Johnson, American decathlete and actor
- 1935 – Howard Morrison, New Zealand singer (Howard Morrison Quartet) (d. 2009)
- 1935 – Hifikepunye Pohamba, Namibian politician, 2nd President of Namibia
- 1936 – Robert Redford, American actor
- 1939 – Harald Heide-Steen Jr., Norwegian actor and comedian (d. 2008)
- 1939 – Robert Horton, British businessman (d. 2011)
- 1939 – Johnny Preston, American singer (d. 2011)
- 1940 – Adam Makowicz, Polish-Canadian pianist and composer
- 1940 – Gil Whitney, American weatherman (d. 1982)
- 1942 – Judith Keppel, English game show contestant, first winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
- 1943 – Sarah Dash, American singer-songwriter and actress (Labelle)
- 1943 – Martin Mull, American actor and singer
- 1943 – Gianni Rivera, Italian footballer and politician
- 1943 – Carl Wayne, British singer and actor (The Move and The Hollies) (d. 2004)
- 1944 – Robert Hitchcock, Australian sculptor
- 1945 – Paula Danziger, American author (d. 2004)
- 1945 – Barbara Harris, American singer-songwriter (The Toys)
- 1945 – Lewis Burwell Puller, Jr., American attorney and author (d. 1994)
- 1948 – Joseph Marcell, St Lucian-born British actor
- 1949 – Nigel Griggs, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (Split Enz and Schnell Fenster)
- 1949 – Rudy Hartono, Indonesian badminton player
- 1950 – Dennis Elliott, English drummer and sculptor (Foreigner)
- 1952 – Elayne Boosler, American comedian, actress, and activist
- 1952 – Patrick Swayze, American actor (d. 2009)
- 1952 – Ricardo Villa, Argentine footballer and coach
- 1953 – Louie Gohmert, American politician
- 1954 – Angela Dimitriou, Greek singer
- 1954 – Umberto Guidoni, Italian astronaut
- 1955 – Bruce Benedict, American baseball player
- 1955 – Taher Elgamal, Egyptian cryptographer
- 1956 – John Debney, American composer and conductor
- 1956 – Sandeep Patil, Indian cricketer
- 1956 – Jon Schwartz, American drummer and producer
- 1956 – Kelly Willard, American singer-songwriter
- 1956 – Rainer Woelki, German cardinal
- 1957 – Carole Bouquet, French actress
- 1957 – Denis Leary, American comedian and actor
- 1957 – Ron Strykert, Australian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Men at Work)
- 1958 – Madeleine Stowe, American actress
- 1959 – Tom Prichard, American wrestler
- 1960 – Mike LaValliere, American baseball player
- 1960 – Fat Lever, American basketball player
- 1961 – Timothy Geithner, American politician, 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury
- 1961 – Glenn Plummer, American actor
- 1961 – Birol Ünel, German-Turkish actor
- 1961 – Bob Woodruff, American journalist
- 1962 – Felipe Calderón, Mexican politician, 56th President of Mexico
- 1962 – Geoff Courtnall, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 – Heino Ferch, German actor
- 1964 – Jim Florentine, American comedian, writer, and actor
- 1964 – Kenny Walker, American basketball player
- 1965 – Kōji Kikkawa, Japanese singer (Complex)
- 1965 – Ikue Ōtani, Japanese actress
- 1966 – Gustavo Charif, Argentine artist
- 1966 – Kang Soo-yeon, South Korean actress
- 1967 – Brian Michael Bendis, American writer and illustrator
- 1967 – Daler Mehndi, Indian singer-songwriter
- 1967 – Dan Peters, American drummer (Bundle of Hiss, Mudhoney, Nirvana, and Love Battery)
- 1968 – Lee Seung-yeon, South Korean actress
- 1969 – Everlast, American rapper (House of Pain and La Coka Nostra)
- 1969 – Mark Kuhlmann, German rugby player
- 1969 – Edward Norton, American actor
- 1969 – Christian Slater, American actor
- 1970 – Jessica Hsuan, Hong Kong actress
- 1970 – Malcolm-Jamal Warner, American actor
- 1971 – Jacob Vargas, American actor
- 1972 – Victoria Coren, English journalist and poker player
- 1972 – Leo Ku, Hong Kong singer, actor, producer, and director
- 1972 – Masahiro Nakai, Japanese singer and actor (SMAP)
- 1972 – Shaun Wilson, Australian painter and director
- 1974 – Nicole Krauss, American author
- 1975 – Kaitlin Olson, American actress
- 1976 – Paraskevas Antzas, Greek footballer
- 1977 – Régine Chassagne, Canadian singer-songwriter and musician (Arcade Fire)
- 1977 – Mizuo Peck, American actress
- 1978 – Andy Samberg, American actor, screenwriter, and rapper (The Lonely Island)
- 1979 – Stuart Dew, Australian footballer
- 1979 – Mohib Mirza, Pakistani actor
- 1980 – Esteban Cambiasso, Argentine footballer
- 1980 – Preeti Jhangiani, Indian actress
- 1980 – Rob Nguyen, Australian race car driver
- 1980 – Athina Papayianni, Greek race walker
- 1980 – Bart Scott, American football player
- 1980 – Jeremy Shockey, American football player
- 1981 – César Delgado, Argentine footballer
- 1981 – Dimitris Salpingidis, Greek footballer
- 1982 – Cullen Finnerty, American football player (d. 2013)
- 1983 – Danny!, American rapper and producer
- 1983 – Mika, Lebanese-English singer-songwriter
- 1983 – Cameron White, Australian cricketer
- 1984 – Sigourney Bandjar, Dutch footballer
- 1984 – Robert Huth, German footballer
- 1985 – Inge Dekker, Dutch swimmer
- 1985 – Julen Goikoetxea, Spanish-Basque cyclist (d. 2006)
- 1985 – Bryan Ruiz, Costa Rican footballer
- 1986 – Ross McCormack, Scottish footballer
- 1986 – Andreas Weise, Swedish singer-songwriter
- 1987 – Mika Boorem, American actress
- 1987 – Zuzana Jandová, Czech model, Miss Czech Republic 2008
- 1987 – Siri Tollerød, Norwegian model
- 1987 – Tine Thing Helseth, Norwegian trumpeter, specializing in the classical repertoire
- 1988 – Jack Hobbs, English footballer
- 1988 – Luke Jackson, British author
- 1988 – Eggert Jónsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1988 – G-Dragon, Korean singer
- 1992 – Elizabeth Beisel, American swimmer
- 1992 – Riko Narumi, Japanese actress
Deaths
- 353 – Decentius, Roman usurper
- 440 – Pope Sixtus III
- 472 – Ricimer, Roman general (b. 405)
- 849 – Walafrid Strabo, German monk and theologian (b. 808)
- 1258 – Theodore II Laskaris, Byzantine-Greek Emperor (b. 1222)
- 1276 – Pope Adrian V (b. 1220)
- 1318 – Clare of Montefalco, Italian nun (b. 1268)
- 1430 – Thomas de Ros, 9th Baron de Ros, English nobleman (b. 1406)
- 1503 – Pope Alexander VI (b. 1431)
- 1559 – Pope Paul IV (b. 1476)
- 1563 – Étienne de La Boétie, French judge and writer (b. 1530)
- 1613 – Giovanni Artusi, Italian composer, theorist, and writer (b. 1540)
- 1620 – Wanli Emperor of China (b. 1563)
- 1634 – Urbain Grandier, French priest (b. 1590)
- 1642 – Guido Reni, Italian painter (b. 1575)
- 1645 – Eudoxia Streshneva, Russian wife of Michael I of Russia (b. 1608)
- 1683 – Charles Hart, English actor (b. 1625)
- 1707 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English soldier and politician (b. 1640)
- 1712 – Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers, English soldier (b. 1660)
- 1765 – Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1708)
- 1809 – Matthew Boulton, English businessman and engineer, co-founded Boulton and Watt (b. 1728)
- 1815 – Chauncey Goodrich, American politician (b. 1759)
- 1842 – Louis de Freycinet, French explorer (b. 1779)
- 1850 – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist and playwright (b. 1799)
- 1886 – Eli Whitney Blake, American inventor, invented the Mortise lock (b. 1795)
- 1919 – Joseph E. Seagram, Canadian businessman and politician, founded Seagram Company (b. 1841)
- 1940 – Walter Chrysler, American businessman, founded Chrysler (b. 1875)
- 1942 – Rafaela Ottiano, Italian-American actress (b. 1888)
- 1943 – Ali-Agha Shikhlinski, Russian-Azerbaijani general (b. 1865)
- 1944 – Ernst Thälmann, German politician (b. 1886)
- 1945 – Subhas Chandra Bose, Indian independence leader (b. 1897)
- 1949 – Paul Mares, American trumpet player and bandleader (New Orleans Rhythm Kings) (b. 1900)
- 1950 – Julien Lahaut, Belgian politician (b. 1884)
- 1952 – Alberto Hurtado, Chilean priest, lawyer, writer, and saint (b. 1901)
- 1963 – Clifford Odets, American playwright (b. 1906)
- 1968 – Cy Walter, American pianist (b. 1915)
- 1970 – Soledad Miranda, Spanish actress (b. 1943)
- 1981 – Anita Loos, American screenwriter and author (b. 1889)
- 1983 – Nikolaus Pevsner, German-English historian (b. 1902)
- 1990 – Grethe Ingmann, Danish singer (b. 1938)
- 1990 – B. F. Skinner, American psychologist, invented the Skinner box (b. 1904)
- 1992 – Christopher McCandless, American adventurer (b. 1968)
- 1994 – Martin Cahill, Irish criminal (b. 1949)
- 1998 – Nelly's, Greek photographer (b. 1899)
- 1998 – Persis Khambatta, Indian actress (b. 1950)
- 2001 – David Peakall, British scientist (b. 1931)
- 2002 – Dean Riesner, American screenwriter (b. 1918)
- 2003 – Tony Jackson, English singer and bass player (The Searchers) (b. 1938)
- 2004 – Elmer Bernstein, American composer (b. 1922)
- 2004 – Hiram Fong, American politician (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Christopher Bauman, American wrestler (b. 1982)
- 2005 – Gao Xiumin, Chinese actress (b. 1959)
- 2006 – George Astaphan, Caribbean physician (b. 1946)
- 2006 – Fernand Gignac, Canadian singer and actor (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Michael Deaver, American politician (b. 1938)
- 2007 – Magdalen Nabb, British author (b. 1947)
- 2009 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean politician, 15th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Rose Friedman, American economist (b. 1910)
- 2009 – Robert Novak, American journalist (b. 1931)
- 2010 – Hal Connolly, American hammer thrower (b. 1931)
- 2010 – Scott Davis, American sportscaster (b. 1943)
- 2010 – Benjamin Kaplan, American scholar and jurist (b. 1911)
- 2012 – Hisham al-Hayali, Iraqi politician
- 2012 – Tayseer al-Mashhadani, Iraqi engineer and politician
- 2012 – John Lynch-Staunton, Canadian politician (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Scott McKenzie, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Ra. Ki. Rangarajan, Indian journalist and author (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Jesse Robredo, Filipino politician (b. 1958)
Holidays and observances
- Birthday of Virginia Dare (Roanoke Island)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Long Tan Day, also called Vietnam Veterans' Day (Australia)
- National Science Day (Thailand)
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“But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” 2 Corinthians 10:17-18NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"The mercy of God."
Psalm 52:8
Psalm 52:8
Meditate a little on this mercy of the Lord. It is tender mercy. With gentle, loving touch, he healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. He is as gracious in the manner of his mercy as in the matter of it. It is great mercy. There is nothing little in God; his mercy is like himself--it is infinite. You cannot measure it. His mercy is so great that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great lengths of time, and then gives great favours and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God. It is undeserved mercy, as indeed all true mercy must be, for deserved mercy is only a misnomer for justice. There was no right on the sinner's part to the kind consideration of the Most High; had the rebel been doomed at once to eternal fire he would have richly merited the doom, and if delivered from wrath, sovereign love alone has found a cause, for there was none in the sinner himself. It is rich mercy. Some things are great, but have little efficacy in them, but this mercy is a cordial to your drooping spirits; a golden ointment to your bleeding wounds; a heavenly bandage to your broken bones; a royal chariot for your weary feet; a bosom of love for your trembling heart. It is manifold mercy. As Bunyan says, "All the flowers in God's garden are double." There is no single mercy. You may think you have but one mercy, but you shall find it to be a whole cluster of mercies. It is abounding mercy. Millions have received it, yet far from its being exhausted; it is as fresh, as full, and as free as ever. It is unfailing mercy. It will never leave thee. If mercy be thy friend, mercy will be with thee in temptation to keep thee from yielding; with thee in trouble to prevent thee from sinking; with thee living to be the light and life of thy countenance; and with thee dying to be the joy of thy soul when earthly comfort is ebbing fast.
Evening
"This sickness is not unto death."
John 11:4
John 11:4
From our Lord's words we learn that there is a limit to sickness. Here is an "unto" within which its ultimate end is restrained, and beyond which it cannot go. Lazarus might pass through death, but death was not to be the ultimatum of his sickness. In all sickness, the Lord saith to the waves of pain, "Hitherto shall ye go, but no further." His fixed purpose is not the destruction, but the instruction of his people. Wisdom hangs up the thermometer at the furnace mouth, and regulates the heat.
1. The limit is encouragingly comprehensive. The God of providence has limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition, and effects of all our sicknesses; each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestinated, each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each sanctifying result eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes the ordaining hand of him who numbers the hairs of our head.
2. This limit is wisely adjusted to our strength, to the end designed, and to the grace apportioned. Affliction comes not at haphazard--the weight of every stroke of the rod is accurately measured. He who made no mistakes in balancing the clouds and meting out the heavens, commits no errors in measuring out the ingredients which compose the medicine of souls. We cannot suffer too much nor be relieved too late.
3. The limit is tenderly appointed. The knife of the heavenly Surgeon never cuts deeper than is absolutely necessary. "He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." A mother's heart cries, "Spare my child;" but no mother is more compassionate than our gracious God. When we consider how hard-mouthed we are, it is a wonder that we are not driven with a sharper bit. The thought is full of consolation, that he who has fixed the bounds of our habitation, has also fixed the bounds of our tribulation.
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Today's reading: Psalm 97-99, Romans 16 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Psalm 97-99
let the distant shores rejoice.
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his foes on every side.
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all peoples see his glory.
7 All who worship images are put to shame,
those who boast in idols-
worship him, all you gods!
those who boast in idols-
worship him, all you gods!
Today's New Testament reading: Romans 16
Personal Greetings
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.
3 Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.
5 Greet also the church that meets at their house.
Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia.
6 Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you.
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was....
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Kish, Cis
[Kĭsh,Cĭs] - power or straw.
[Kĭsh,Cĭs] - power or straw.
- A. Benjamite, a son of Abiel and father of Saul, Israel's first king (1 Sam. 9:1, 3; 10:11, 21). Called Cis in Acts 13:21.
- Son of Abi-gibeon, a Benjamite (1 Chron. 8:30; 9:36).
- A Levite in David's time, of the family of Merari and the house of Mahli ( 1 Chron. 23:21, 22; 24:29).
- A Levite and a Merarite who assisted in the cleansing of the Temple in Hezekiah's time (2 Chron. 29:12).
- A Benjamite, ancestor of Mordecai, the cousin of Queen Esther (Esther 2:5).
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