Fri Apr 25th Todays News

According to family history, my grandfathers both fought on this day at Gallipoli for different armies. My father's dad, Manchester born and bred fought for Britain. My Mother's dad said he fought as an ANZAC. Mother's dad lost an eye disembarking and blamed Churchill for the rest of his life. There is no army record of him at Gallipoli, but he managed to get himself permanent disability for the rest of his long life. His eye injury was real. He could not see very well out of the other. But he could drink himself silly at Western Suburbs Rugby Union Club, acquiring a name on a face board as patron before dying in '75. As passenger in a vehicle, if another car was aggressive in overtaking on the road, and displayed a registration plate, he could still come out with a "Bloody Queenslander." The Manchester guy was a bigger character. Everyone who knew him liked him, except his wife. He never progressed to corporal, but reached the highest technical grade of Bombadier and knew gradients almost as well as horses. He survived there, and the Western Front, and Ireland, before the uprisings. Then he married and went to Australia. In WW2, he served again, for Roden Cutler's mob in the Middle East, demobbing before Cutler went to PNG. His diary was included in the regimental diary. He died in '75 too. 

Small things change the world. There was no one reason for Gallipoli, but had it been successful then the world would be different. WW1 would have finished much sooner, with allies pushing into Europe through the back door. Russia would still have had Tsars. US would not have entered the war. Britain would have grown. The failure of Gallipoli meant much too. The rise of Murdoch as a newsman and all those other changes .. including the continued existence of a genocidal Turkey. Murdoch had said that there was opposition to the battle, and that could not be reported, but that things were promoted, including casualty lists which sapped the will back home in Australia. One telling statistic not often remembered these days is that the retreat from Gallipoli was bloodless. Turkey was tottering, her ability to fight sapped from her genocidal efforts. Maybe another push would have sufficed? But there were winners in British High Command who opposed Churchill, and who benefited from the loss in a temporary way. Imagine no communism. It is easy, if you try. 

For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball
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Hatches

Happy birthday and many happy returns Nam Nguyen, Patrick Dowdle, Jones Dao and Colin Moxey. Born on the same day, across the years. Remember birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

• 1214 – Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
• 1599 – Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician (d. 1658)
• 1849 – Felix Klein, German mathematician (d. 1925)
• 1873 – Walter de la Mare, English poet and author (d. 1956)
• 1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian businessman and inventor, developed Marconi's law, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
• 1900 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
• 1908 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
• 1917 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
• 1925 – Sammy Drechsel, German comedian and journalist (d. 1986)
• 1927 – Albert Uderzo, French illustrator
• 1940 – Al Pacino, American actor and director
• 1945 – Stu Cook, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (Creedence Clearwater Revival, Southern Pacific, Don Harrison Band, and Creedence Clearwater Revisited)
• 1945 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer (ABBA and Hootenanny Singers)
• 1955 – Zev Siegl, American businessman, co-founded Starbucks
• 1965 – John Henson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2014)
• 1969 – Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer
• 1980 – Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor
• 1996 – Allisyn Ashley Arm, American actress

Matches

• 404 BC – Peloponnesian War: Lysander's Spartan Armies defeated the Athenians and the war ends.
• 1607 – Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
• 1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming Dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
• 1707 – The Habsburg army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
• 1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
• 1792 – La Marseillaise (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
• 1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colonyfor the United Kingdom.
• 1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
• 1847 – The last survivors of the Donner Party are out of the wilderness.
• 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
• 1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
• 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins—The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by Australian, British, French and New Zealand troops begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
• 1916 – Easter Rebellion: The United Kingdom declares martial law in Ireland.
• 1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove.
• 1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
• 1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two, a milestone in the approachingend of World War II in Europe.
• 1945 – The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini tries to escape. This day is taken as symbolic of the Liberation of Italy.
• 1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at theBattle of Kapyong.
• 1953 – Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" describing the double helixstructure of DNA.
• 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
• 1965 – Teenage sniper Michael Andrew Clark kills three and wounds six others shooting from a hilltop along Highway 101 just south of Santa Maria, California.
• 1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
• 1983 – American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears aboutnuclear war.
• 1988 – In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
• 2007 – Boris Yeltsin's funeral – the first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.

Despatches

• 501 – Saint Rusticus, French archbishop (b. 455)
• 1472 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian author, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)
• 1516 – John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
• 1873 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter (b. 1783)
• 1875 – 12th Dalai Lama (b. 1857)
• 1976 – Carol Reed, English director and producer (b. 1906)

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Anzac legend survives sneering sabotage

Piers Akerman – Thursday, April 24, 2014 (6:30pm)

SOME of our younger veterans from East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflict eras are concerned their stories are still submerged in the flood of memoirs from WWI and WWII. Their concern is understandable — but the tide is turning.

 Continue reading 'Anzac legend survives sneering sabotage'

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IT BEGINS

Tim Blair – Friday, April 25, 2014 (11:10am)

Margo Kingston declares war: 

no choice but civil war to force political and corporate rulers to leave most fossil fuels in ground … 

Readers are urgently invited to supply information on Margo’s troop numbers, munitions levels, air strike capacity, maritime forces and ground invasion tactics. We’ll be needing constant updates throughout the early hours of this conflict. Remain vigilant.

UPDATE. This is the most chilling development among the Margolian peoples since Kingston’s 2005 attempt to establish a parallel judiciary. They’ve clearly spent the last nine years quietly amassing armaments and planning their uprising. Where will they strike first?

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LEST WE FORGET … HOW TO SPELL

Tim Blair – Friday, April 25, 2014 (10:52am)

A special Anzac Day effort from Fairfax: 

The Australian Financial Review’s editor-in-chief Michael Stutchbury has apologised to readers for a series of embarrassing production errors with the newspaper ‘s Anzac Day edition, and admitted it will result in a “revenue loss”.

Copies of the paper on sale in Western Australia have appeared with cover lines such as “World is fukt” and “The legacy of Galippoli"(sic).

Twitter users have drawn attention to another page-one misspelling of the Gallipoli Anzac Day campaign, this time as “Gallipolli”, and the incomprehensible subheading: “Army chief here”. 

In other Fairfax news, the struggling company has announced an end to its outsourced subediting contract with Pagemasters. Seems Pagemasters staff just couldn’t keep up with Richard Ackland.

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CLIMATE TOURISTS

Tim Blair – Friday, April 25, 2014 (10:37am)

Ten days of climate change luxury, all at our expense: 

Panicked ABC management believed star newsreader Juanita Phillips left them in a “tricky” position after blindsiding them over her controversial $72,000 taxpayer-funded European first class trip with Labor lover Greg Combet.

Emails reveal the $320,000-a-year star only told her superiors about the 10-day climate change ministerial trip with Mr Combet, who held the portfolio at the time, through France, Germany and Belgium last year upon her return and after it was raised with the Gillard government. 

A complete and utter waste of money. And so is this, on a far greater scale: 

The Coalition will tip an extra $1 billion into its direct action plan in next month’s budget but businesses that exceed their caps on greenhouse pollution will not face any penalties until at least next year …

While the preceding green paper set out a $1.55bn commitment across three years to the emissions reduction fund, Mr Hunt said yesterday the government would put $2.55bn over the forward estimates into the fund. 

All for no measurable purpose at all.

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We do have a racism problem but dare not discuss it

Andrew Bolt April 25 2014 (4:05pm)

Our biggest problem with racism and race-related violence may be very different to the usual media narative:
Today:

A 30-year-old woman has allegedly been gang-raped at a toilet block near a public oval in Lismore in the state’s north.
The woman was walking home from a pub past Gloria Mortimer Oval about 1.25am on Friday when five males approached and then attacked her, police said....
But police are appealing for public assistance to find the alleged attackers, whom they described as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander appearance.

Yesterday:

Four boys have been sentenced to more than four years in detention over the death of Mandurah man Tauri Litchfield last year.
The boys, aged 15 and 16, were part of a group who set upon Mr Litchfield in March last year as he was walking home along Pinjarra Road.
The 28-year-old had been involved in an altercation with the boys moments earlier after one of them tried to steal his wallet.
He ran away from the group and hit his head when he fell from a car park wall…
Defence lawyers for the teens told the court that the boys had not had stable family lives.
Save for one case, they said, both parents had abandoned or neglected them, or been in and out of prison… Two of the boys also had prior convictions, ... including for indecent assault, and had resorted to violence and intimidation in two other known instances.
Another of the boys had a conviction in relation to a random bashing of a man, which involved a brick being thrown at his head.

More on the killer’s families and their complaints of suffering racism here.
Five days ago:

THE owner of a Queensland outback pub has told how she spent a terrifying hour fearing for her life after a drunken mob armed with rocks and iron bars allegedly started a riot…
Pam Forster, owner of the Dangi Pub in Urandangi – near the NT border – was serving Easter patrons when she was forced to turn away the group because they were drunk and trying to get cigarettes from patrons.
The accused group, who had crossed the border, then destroyed several cars and attempted to knock down the pub’s front doors…
“They were going to bash down the door and kill us,’’ [Forster] said. “It was frightening, they were carrying iron bars and throwing rocks....”
The alleged riot has reignited debate about the accessibility of alcohol in Aboriginal communities.

Two weeks ago:

A mass brawl broke out when up to 50 youths gatecrashed a wedding reception in Perth’s southern suburbs.
Bricks were hurled through the windows of Point Walter Cafe in Bicton as the youths tried to force their way into the venue on Saturday night…
The incident began when a number of youths were refused a cigarette by one of the guests attending the wedding reception…
Seven guests, including four men and three women, were injured in the violence and a number of them were treated at Fremantle Hospital.
The offenders, who were described as mostly dark-skinned males aged about 16 to 22 years old, fled the scene before police arrived at 9:10pm.

Last month, again in Perth:

Yes, we also have white racists who attack Aborigines. But if the “races” in the above incidents were reversed, we’d be having a much, much angrier and noisier debate in the media than this.  

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Print headlines here

Andrew Bolt April 25 2014 (12:47pm)

Someone pushed “send” way too early on the Financial Review’s front page. And would it be fair to conclude from one of the howlers that the sub is a Leftist? 

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Richo gives up. Prince wins

Andrew Bolt April 25 2014 (8:56am)

Graham Richardson:

I wish to admit defeat myself. I am no longer a warrior for the republic. I have thrown in the towel and run up the white flag. William and Kate have doused the republican claims quite conclusively.
I am still a true believer but there is no point proselytising when even the young have joined with the old to greet them so warmly.

(Thanks to reader Dave.) 

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We’re more mothered by government than even the English

Andrew Bolt April 25 2014 (8:50am)

Things have really slipped when we’re more on the teat than the average Briton:

IT was a throwaway comment that encapsulates what most Australians think about Britain but it is not true, if it ever was. “Certainly not compared with Britain,” bristled Joe Hockey on Wednesday night at Scottish journalist Andrew Neil’s suggestion the age of entitlement was still alive and well in Australia…
(T)he very idea of establishing vast new social welfare schemes along the lines of Disability Care or the Gonski school funding proposal would be an absurdity in Britain, a country still struggling to recover from the economic king-hit delivered unexpectedly by the country’s banking sector in 2009…
In Australia a one-child family with a household income of $176,000 still receives some form of cash family payment. The equivalent in Britain — child benefit — is gradually withdrawn from families whose chief breadwinner earns more than £50,000 and gone entirely by £60,000…
In Britain ... new mothers on maternity leave receive 90 per cent of their pay for six weeks from the government and £138 a week for the next 33, not their full pay for 26 weeks as the Coalition has foreshadowed…
Even before Australian pensioners were handsomely overcompensated for the obsolescent carbon tax, their incomes compared favourably to British pensioners, many of whom receive a basic state pension of £113 a week, indexed to prices. The equivalent rate in Australia is $383, indexed to faster-growing wages.
Even then one has to have worked 30 years in Britain to receive that full amount, while here merely 10 years of residency suffices to receive the full age amount. Because it is contributory, Britain’s pension is not means-tested, but nor is ours (in reality), given four-fifths of retirees receive it...British parliamentarians and ministers earn about half of what their Australian counterparts do. Senior Australian public servants earn more than double the mandarins in Westminster.

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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Is there a reason the ABC seems so cavalier about government waste?

Andrew Bolt April 25 2014 (8:43am)

And all charged to the taxpayer - along with billions for other Labor follies and grandeurs not criticised by the ABC:

PANICKED ABC management ­believed star newsreader Juanita Phillips left them in a “tricky” position after blindsiding them over her controversial $72,000 taxpayer-funded European first class trip with Labor lover Greg Combet. 

Emails reveal the $320,000-a-year star only told her superiors about the 10-day climate change ministerial trip with Mr Combet, who held the ­portfolio at the time, through France, Germany and Belgium last year upon her return and after it was raised with the Gillard government.
But ABC head of editorial policy Alan Sunderland instead planned to tell the public the ABC 24 host and Sydney news anchor had “always been upfront and clear” with the ABC about the romance…
The ABC attempted to downplay the lack of prior knowledge of the trip, saying Ms Phillips did not have to seek permission, that it was later found to be within ABC guidelines anyway and that the broadcaster had always provided a “high degree of transparency” dealing with the issue...”
Six months after ABC chiefs plotted how to handle the romance’s conflict-of-interest concerns, it was revealed the 10-day trip racked up $57,673 on airfares, $8914 on hotels and meals and $4634 on ground transport for Mr Combet to attend meetings and a climate conference.

How did Phillips think she was morally entitled to spend so much taxpayers’ money on a jaunt, and one that compromised her responsibility as an ABC presenter to seem impartial?
The emails:

Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2013, 4.35 PM
FROM: Juanita Phillips
TO: Alan Sunderland; Donald Lange
SUBJECT: Daily Tele
Dear Alan and Don,
Just alerting you to another spotfire. Recently while on annual leave, I accompanied Greg — in a private capacity, as his partner — to Europe where he was having climate change meetings and was the keynote speaker at an EU carbon price conference. The Daily Tele has got onto this and is going to make something of it.
The Prime Minister’s office has gone over the trip with a fine toothcomb and says all guidelines have been adhered to, and they’re very comfortable defending it. Ministers are entitled to have their partners travel with them, subject to strict guidelines, and approval by the Prime Minister’s office. Both of these criteria have been met.
Juanita Phillips and Greg Combet / Picture: Craig Greenhill
Juanita Phillips and Greg Combet / Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited
There’s no suggestion of anything inappropriate — presumably it will just be the usual beat-up about politicians’ overseas trips. From my point of view, I was on annual leave, and my role was purely personal.
I’m not sure when this story will appear, but hopefully it will blow over in a day.
Let me know if you want to have a chat about it.
Cheers
Juanita
***
Date: Thursday, April 18, 2013, 3.54 PM
FROM: Alan Sunderland
TO: Sally Cray
SUBJECT: RE: I have some questions for the ABC in relation to Juanita Phillips
Heads up — the expected story looks like it’s on the way.
It’s a little tricky, because we are being specifically asked if we were aware of the trip in advance.
I have discussed all this at length with Sally Cray and what she will be saying (via email) to (the journalist) is:-
*We are aware of the situation
*Juanita was on leave at the time.
*She is perfectly entitled to travel with her partner, and we understand Mr Combet is also perfectly entitled to travel with an accompanying partner on such trips.
*Juanita has always been upfront and clear about her relationship with the ABC.
*As with all other situations with ABC editorial staff, we consider and manage conflicts as they arise. We do not believe that legitimate private like this creates an editorial conflict.
***
Date: Thursday, April 18, 2013 4.29 PM
FROM: Sally Cray
TO: Alan Sunderland; Kate Torney; Donald Lange
SUBJECT: Tele
Went with Mick and Alan’s advice that less is more on this one. We figured he has the story written and these will be three lines at the end.
I didn’t insert the no editorial conflict line as I thought — better to play dead in case he has something in his story we are not aware of. 

(Thanks to reader Dave.) 

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Shut up the sceptics before the truth gets out!

Andrew Bolt April 25 2014 (8:21am)

No free speech for people who point out the planet hasn’t warmed for 16 years! Another Fairfax columnist, John Birmingham, fumes:

EVERYONE’S favourite Queensland senator, George Brandis, came over all Voltairean last week, defending to the death the right of complete idiots and knaves to say whatever they want about climate change ... Oh sure, let them keep lying their arses off. Because, you know, Voltaire ... But let’s not pretend there is a debate over the central question. That ­science is settled and has been for years. We’re killing ourselves and the planet with our civilisational ­addiction to burning fossil fuels for energy. Climate science ... is riven with debate and disagreement, but it’s debate and disagreement over the details, not the whole.

Birmingham is the last person who should want ”complete idiots” silenced. 

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Anzac Day makes the Left cry

Andrew Bolt April 25 2014 (7:26am)

You know it’s Anzac Day because the Left is wailing - not over the fallen soldiers but because others mourn their sacrifice for this country:

Christina Twomey, The Conversation, yesterday:

IT did not take long before the traumatised male war veteran displaced the raped woman as the leading motif of war damage ... Anzac may have shed its more militaristic overtones, but clings resolutely to its privileging of men’s suffering …

Jonathan Green, ABC online’s The Drum, yesterday:

A MORE mature country might call war a dead end, a source of little more than regret. It’s perhaps a sign of our lingering callowness that we call it a starting point.

Before them:

In his recent book Anzac’s Long Shadow, [former Captain] James Brown speaks of a “discordant, lengthy and exorbitant four-year festival for the dead” that he describes as “a military Halloween”.
Craig Stockings accuses his fellow Australians of falling for “zombie myths” about military history, “monsters of the mind” that must be exorcised with “the holy water (of) reasoned arguments”.
Stockings lectures (heaven help us) at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Anzac revisionism is the mainstream position in the military history academies in Canberra.
Peter Stanley, a former senior historian at the war memorial and now a research professor at the Australian National University, criticises what he calls “Anzackery” and questions the special commemoration of the war dead. “Arguably more Australians have been touched by the trauma of car accidents killing loves ones, friends or neighbours,” he writes.
To single out those who died in defence of their country is “peculiar at best and grotesque at worst”.
The Anzac tradition is an “essentially minority interest” that excludes “non Anglo-Saxon Australians”, he writes.

And:

Dr Lindy Edwards teaches at the Australian Defence Force Academy and claims:

There is a long tradition of firing up fighting men by invoking their shared ability to sexually degrade women. They tap into an ideal of male sexual power to create a cocktail of ego, aggression and sexual energy that they channel into battle.

UPDATE
The head of the army today says his comments in this silly article have been somewhat “misconstrued”, and Anzac Day does not exclude anybody:

I don’t see that “caricature” celebrated at Anzac Day. I don’t see the celebrations excluding anyone. And I certainly do not blame Anzac Day, the “myth” or the “caricature” of the “white” Anzac for low rates of enrolment of women, gays and men from certain immigrant groups.
First, it would be ludicrous to pretend the Anzacs at Gallipoli were anything other than what they were - overwhelmingly white men. Second, every Anzac Day I see a celebration of women who served, of Aboriginal soldiers such as Captain Reg Saunders, of soldiers with non-Anglo backgrounds such as Sir John Monash and Billy Sing, of veterans from our allies, and even of our former foes, not least Kemal Ataturk, who held out a hand after the fighting.
More importantly, Anzac Day is not to blame for women, gays and certain immigrants being less willing to serve.
A profession dedicated to killing and fighting other soldiers is culturally, physically or innately always more likely to appeal to men than women. That is why every army in the world has more men than women. Certainly some women will make excellent soldiers, particularly now that warfare is increasingly technological, but let’s not pretend the low proportion of women in our forces is a function of Anzac Day rather than of the nature of war and of men and women.
As for the army not attracting more gays, who’d know? What are the figures? And why is Anzac Day to blame if gays are underrepresented?
It is true certain immigrant groups are more reluctant to serve. The Australian Defence Association’s Neil James told me in a fascinating discussion last night that the ADF had suppressed a report explaining just that. But, again, is Anzac Day to blame? Would it not be a travesty of history to pretend every second Digger was Muslim?
The problem strikes me as something else - and more difficult. Mass immigration - coupled with our official denigration of our history and national symbols - has created what in some areas seems a nation of tribes. Immigration has for some become colonisation, sustained by cheap travel, satellite television and a critical mass of fellow immigrants. Loyalty to ethnic identities and religions seems a stronger bond than loyalty to Australia. The sense of service in some communities seems weak. That sense is made even weaker by our need to so often intervene overseas in Muslim countries where civil war, tyranny or terrorism threaten our interests - interventions recklessly portrayed by many in the Left as attacks on Muslim interests, rather than, say, defences of Muslim democrats.
The Left’s attacks on Anzac Day make none of these problems easier. In fact, it makes them worse. A country which shows no pride in those who fell in the service of this country is not a country to inspire loyalty or self-sacrifice among those who follow. 

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Hockey tightens parental leave handouts

Andrew Bolt April 25 2014 (7:18am)

At least one obvious flaw is being patched - although how enforceable it is remains to be seen:

[Treasurer Joe] Hockey continued to defend the $5.5 billion-a-year paid parental leave scheme, which provides 26 weeks’ pay at a mother’s full wage, up to $150,000 a year…
The Treasurer revealed that the yet-to-be-written legislation for the parental leave policy would have a “mutual oblig­ation” clause.
“Essentially they have to return to work. When you see the legislation it will be clear, there will be a form of obligation,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.
It appears this could go further than some existing private-sector enterprise agreements, which require a conversation about a possible return-to-work plan.

If effective, such a clause should avoid the worst rorting, with women accepting a job for the minimum qualification period just to get the handout and then ... never returning. 

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And still foolish people say that that is a disproof of God?
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4 her, so she can see how I see her



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MF features editor Paul Taylor learns how to beat up superheroes, thanks to three-time Australian champion martial artist Andy Minh Trieu. Our top tip to best Batman: guard your face then sweep his back leg when he tries to kick your mid section. Or call in The Joker. You can do it for yourself in the new game Injustice: Gods Among Us available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U.
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The Incoming...
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Insane cat lady starter kit
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World’s First Fully Transparent Smartphone Unveiled By Polytron

The transparent smartphone is mainly constructed from glass, and is equipped with a touchscreen interface positioned in the centre of the device, which at the moment provides just simple functionality

Source: http://techandfacts.com/worlds-first-fully-transparent-smartphone-unveiled-by-polytron

-C.R

For more AMAZING stuff visit New Inventions, Modern Technology And Interesting Facts of 21st Century
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April 25: Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand (1915); Elbe Day in Russia and the United States (1945)

• 1792 – French composer Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle wrote "La Marseillaise", now the national anthem of France.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Confederate troopsoverwhelmed a small Union detachment, leading to Union abandonment of their position in Camden, Arkansas.
• 1915 – First World War: Australian and New Zealand Army Corpslanded at Anzac Cove while British and French troops landed at Cape Helles to begin the Allied invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula in the Ottoman Empire.
• 1960 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton (SSRN-586) (pictured)completed the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
• 1986 – Mswati III was crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.

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Events[edit]

• 404 BC – Peloponnesian War: Lysander's Spartan Armies defeated the Athenians and the war ends.
• 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and flee to the Byzantine Empire.
• 1134 – The name Zagreb was mentioned for the first time in the Felician Charter relating to the establishment of the Zagreb Bishopric around 1094.
• 1607 – Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
• 1644 – The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming Dynasty China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng.
• 1707 – The Habsburg army is defeated by Bourbon army at Almansa (Spain) in the War of the Spanish Succession.
• 1792 – Highwayman Nicolas J. Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine.
• 1792 – La Marseillaise (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
• 1804 – The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire
• 1829 – Charles Fremantle arrives in HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colonyfor the United Kingdom.
• 1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War.
• 1847 – The last survivors of the Donner Party are out of the wilderness.
• 1849 – The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
• 1859 – British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal.
• 1862 – American Civil War: Forces under Union Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
• 1864 – American Civil War: The Battle of Marks' Mills.
• 1882 – Tonkin Campaign: French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry.
• 1898 – Spanish–American War: The United States declares war on Spain.
• 1901 – New York becomes the first U.S. state to require automobile license plates.
  
  

  

  Anzac Beach – Australian and New Zealand forces invade Turkey
• 1915 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli begins—The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by Australian, British, French and New Zealand troops begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
• 1916 – Easter 59Rebellion: The United Kingdom declares martial law in Ireland.
• 1916 – Anzac Day is commemorated for the first time on the first anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove.
• 1920 – At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class "A" League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
• 1938 – U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins and overturns a century of federal common law.
• 1943 – The Demyansk Shield for German troops in commemoration of Demyansk Pocket is instituted.
• 1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
• 1945 – Elbe Day: United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two, a milestone in the approachingend of World War II in Europe.
• 1945 – The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement; the puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini tries to escape. This day is taken as symbolic of the Liberation of Italy.
• 1945 – Fifty nations gather in San Francisco, California to begin the United Nations Conference on International Organizations.
• 1945 – The last German troops retreat from Finland's soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of Second World War end in Finland.
• 1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at theBattle of Kapyong.
• 1953 – Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" describing the double helixstructure of DNA.
• 1959 – The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
• 1960 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe.
• 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
• 1965 – Teenage sniper Michael Andrew Clark kills three and wounds six others shooting from a hilltop along Highway 101 just south of Santa Maria, California.
• 1966 – The city of Tashkent is destroyed by a huge earthquake.
• 1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive – The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
• 1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the fascist Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government.
• 1975 – As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated, almost ten years to the day since the first Australian troop commitment to South Vietnam.
• 1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan.
• 1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords.
• 1983 – American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears aboutnuclear war.
• 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit.
• 1986 – Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
• 1988 – In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
• 1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position.
• 2001 – Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.
• 2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
• 2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union.
• 2005 – One hundred seven people die in Amagasaki rail crash in Japan.
• 2007 – Boris Yeltsin's funeral – the first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.

Births[edit]

• 1214 – Louis IX of France (d. 1270)
• 1228 – Conrad IV of Germany (d. 1254)
• 1284 – Edward II of England (d. 1327)
• 1287 – Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1330)
• 1502 – Georg Major, German theologian (d. 1574)
• 1599 – Oliver Cromwell, English general and politician (d. 1658)
• 1608 – Gaston, Duke of Orléans (d. 1660)
• 1621 – Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, English soldier and politician (d. 1679)
• 1666 – Johann Heinrich Buttstett, German organist and composer (d. 1727)
• 1694 – Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, English architect and politician (d. 1753)
• 1710 – James Ferguson, Scottish astronomer (d. 1776)
• 1723 – Giovanni Marco Rutini, Italian composer (d. 1797)
• 1725 – Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel, English admiral (d. 1786)
• 1767 – Nicolas Oudinot, French marshal (d. 1847)
• 1770 – Georg Sverdrup, Norwegian philologist (d. 1850)
• 1775 – Carlota Joaquina of Spain (d. 1830)
• 1776 – Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (d. 1857)
• 1843 – Princess Alice of the United Kingdom (d. 1878)
• 1849 – Felix Klein, German mathematician (d. 1925)
• 1850 – Luise Adolpha Le Beau, German composer (d. 1927)
• 1851 – Leopoldo Alas, Spanish author (d. 1901)
• 1862 – Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, English politician (d. 1933)
• 1868 – John Moisant, American pilot and engineer (d. 1910)
• 1871 – Lorne Currie, English sailor (d. 1926)
• 1873 – Walter de la Mare, English poet and author (d. 1956)
• 1874 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian businessman and inventor, developed Marconi's law, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
• 1874 – Ernest Webb, British race walker (d. 1937)
• 1876 – Jacob Nicol, Canadian publisher, lawyer, and politician (d. 1958)
• 1878 – William Merz, American gymnast (d. 1946)
• 1892 – Maud Hart Lovelace, American author (d. 1980)
• 1897 – Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (d. 1965)
• 1898 – Fred Haney, American baseball player, manager, and coach (d. 1977)
• 1900 – Gladwyn Jebb, English politician and diplomat, Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1996)
• 1900 – Wolfgang Pauli, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
• 1902 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist (d. 1964)
• 1902 – Mary Miles Minter, American actress (d. 1984)
• 1903 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (d. 1987)
• 1905 – George Nepia, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1986)
• 1906 – William J. Brennan, Jr., American colonel and jurist (d. 1997)
• 1908 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (d. 1965)
• 1909 – William Pereira, American architect, designed the Transamerica Pyramid (d. 1985)
• 1911 – Connie Marrero, Cuban baseball player and coach (d. 2014)
• 1912 – Earl Bostic, American saxophonist (d. 1965)
• 1913 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (d. 1944)
• 1913 – Kenneth Lee Spencer, African-American opera singer and actor (d. 1964)
• 1914 – Ross Lockridge, Jr., American author (d. 1948)
• 1915 – Mort Weisinger, American journalist and editor (d. 1978)
• 1917 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
• 1918 – Gérard de Vaucouleurs, French astronomer (d. 1995)
• 1918 – Astrid Varnay, Swedish soprano (d. 2006)
• 1919 – Finn Helgesen, Norwegian speed skater (d. 2011)
• 1920 – Jean Carmet, French actor (d. 1994)
• 1920 – Robert Q. Lewis, American game show host and actor (d. 1991)
• 1921 – Karel Appel, Dutch painter and sculptor (d. 2006)
• 1923 – Francis Graham-Smith, British astronomer
• 1923 – Melissa Hayden, Canadian-American ballerina (d. 2006)
• 1923 – Albert King, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 1992)
• 1924 – Franco Mannino, Italian pianist, composer, playwright, and director (d. 2005)
• 1924 – Paulo Vanzolini, Brazilian singer-songwriter and zoologist (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Tony Christopher, British trade unionist, tax official and businessman
• 1925 – Sammy Drechsel, German comedian and journalist (d. 1986)
• 1925 – Kay E. Kuter, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Louis O'Neil, Canadian educator and politician
• 1926 – Johnny Craig, American illustrator (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner, Austrian politician (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Corín Tellado, Spanish author (d. 2009)
• 1927 – Albert Uderzo, French illustrator
• 1928 – Vassar Clements, American fiddler (Old and in the Way) (d. 2005)
• 1928 – Cy Twombly, American-Italian painter and sculptor (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Yvette Williams, New Zealand long jumper
• 1930 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1930 – Godfrey Milton-Thompson, English admiral and surgeon (d. 2012)
• 1930 – Peter Schulz, German politician, Mayor of Hamburg (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Felix Berezin, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1980)
• 1931 – James Fenton, Irish poet
• 1931 – David Shepherd, British artist
• 1932 – Meadowlark Lemon, American basketball player and actor
• 1932 – Lia Manoliu, Romanian discus thrower (d. 1998)
• 1932 – William Roache, English actor
• 1933 – Jerry Leiber, American songwriter and producer (d. 2011)
• 1933 – Joyce Ricketts, American baseball player (d. 1992)
• 1934 – Peter McParland, Irish footballer and manager
• 1935 – Bob Gutowski, American pole vaulter (d. 1960)
• 1935 – Reinier Kreijermaat, Dutch footballer
• 1936 – Henck Arron, Surinamese politician, first Prime Minister of the Republic of Suriname (d.2000)
• 1938 – Roger Boisjoly, American engineer (d. 2012)
• 1938 – Ann Bowtell, British First Civil Service Commissioner
• 1938 – Ton Schulten, Dutch painter
• 1939 – Tarcisio Burgnich, Italian footballer and coach
• 1939 – Ted Kooser, American poet
• 1939 – Richard Lapthorne, British businessman
• 1939 – Michael Llewellyn-Smith, British diplomat
• 1939 – Robert Skidelsky, British economic historian
• 1939 – Veronica Sutherland, British diplomat
• 1940 – Jochen Borchert, German politician
• 1940 – Al Pacino, American actor and director
• 1941 – Princess Muna al-Hussein of Jordan
• 1941 – Bertrand Tavernier, French actor, director, screenwriter, and producer
• 1942 – Mr. Hito, Japanese wrestler (d. 2010)
• 1942 – Jon Kyl, American lawyer and politician
• 1943 – Tony Christie, British singer
• 1943 – Alan Feduccia, American paleornithologist
• 1944 – Len Goodman, English dancer
• 1944 – Stephen Nickell, British economist and warden of Nuffield College, Oxford
• 1945 – Stu Cook, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (Creedence Clearwater Revival, Southern Pacific, Don Harrison Band, and Creedence Clearwater Revisited)
• 1945 – Richard C. Hoagland, American theorist and author
• 1945 – Björn Ulvaeus, Swedish singer-songwriter and producer (ABBA and Hootenanny Singers)
• 1946 – Talia Shire, American actress
• 1946 – Peter Sutherland, Irish businessman
• 1946 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russian colonel, lawyer, and politician
• 1947 – Johan Cruyff, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1947 – Jeffrey DeMunn, American actor
• 1948 – Mike Selvey, English cricketer, writer and commentater
• 1948 – Yu Shyi-kun, Taiwanese politician, 39th Premier of the Republic of China
• 1949 – Michael Brown, American keyboard player and songwriter (The Left Banke and Stories)
• 1949 – James Fenton, English poet and critic
• 1949 – Vicente Pernía, Argentinian footballer and race car driver
• 1949 – Dominique Strauss-Kahn, French economist, lawyer, and politician
• 1950 – Donnell Deeny, Chancery Judge in the High Court of Northern Ireland
• 1950 – Steve Ferrone, English drummer (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Average White Band)
• 1950 – Peter Jurasik, American actor
• 1950 – Apollo C. Quiboloy, Filipino televangelist and religious leader
• 1951 – Da'i Bachtiar, Indonesian police officer
• 1951 – Ian McCartney, Scottish politician
• 1952 – Ketil Bjørnstad, Norwegian pianist and composer
• 1952 – Vladislav Tretiak, Russian ice hockey player
• 1952 – Jacques Santini, French footballer and coach
• 1953 – Ron Clements, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
• 1954 – Melvin Burgess, English children's literature author
• 1954 – Randy Cross, American football player and sportscaster
• 1954 – Róisín Shortall, Irish politician
• 1955 – Américo Gallego, Argentinian footballer and coach
• 1955 – Parviz Parastui, Iranian actor and singer
• 1955 – Zev Siegl, American businessman, co-founded Starbucks
• 1956 – Dominique Blanc, French actress
• 1956 – Jaroslava Schallerová, Czech actress
• 1956 – Andres Sõber, Estonian basketball player and coach
• 1957 – Eric Bristow, English darts player
• 1957 – Theo de Rooij, Dutch cyclist and manager
• 1958 – Fish, Scottish singer-songwriter and actor (Marillion)
• 1959 – Paul Madden, British High Commissioner to Australia
• 1959 – Tony Phillips, American baseball player
• 1959 – Clarissa Burt, Former model and actress
• 1959 – Daniel Kash, Canadian actor and film director
• 1960 – Robert Peston, British journalist
• 1960 – Bruce Redman, Australian director and critic
• 1961 – Dinesh D'Souza, Indian-American educator and author
• 1962 – Foeke Booy, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1963 – Joy Covey, American businesswoman (d. 2013)
• 1963 – Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, French actress
• 1963 – David Moyes, Scottish footballer and manager
• 1963 – Bernd Müller, German footballer and manager
• 1964 – Hank Azaria, American actor and director
• 1964 – Andy Bell, English singer-songwriter and DJ (Erasure)
• 1964 – Fiona Bruce, British journalist, newsreader and broadcaster
• 1965 – Eric Avery, American bass player and songwriter (Jane's Addiction, Deconstruction, and Polar Bear)
• 1965 – Mark Bryant, American basketball player
• 1965 – Simon Fowler, English singer and guitarist (Ocean Colour Scene)
• 1965 – John Henson, American puppeteer and voice actor (d. 2014)
• 1966 – Man Arenas, Belgian-Spanish production designer and illustrator
• 1966 – James Stacy Barbour, American actor and singer
• 1966 – Diego Domínguez, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
• 1966 – Femke Halsema, Dutch politician
• 1966 – Darren Holmes, American baseball player
• 1966 – Erik Pappas, American baseball player and coach
• 1966 – Rubén Sosa, Uruguayan footballer and coach
• 1967 – Tim Davie, British CEO of BBC Worldwide
• 1969 – Joe Buck, American sportscaster
• 1969 – Martin Koolhoven, Dutch director and screenwriter
• 1969 – Gina Torres, American actress
• 1969 – Darren Woodson, American football player and sportscaster
• 1969 – Renée Zellweger, American actress and producer
• 1970 – Jason Lee, American skateboarder, actor, and producer
• 1970 – Tomoko Kawakami, Japanese voice actress (d. 2011)
• 1970 – Steve Tovar, American football player and coach
• 1970 – Jason Wiles, American actor
• 1971 – Sara Baras, Spanish dancer
• 1971 – Brad Clontz, American baseball player
• 1972 – Zaza Zazirov, Ukrainian wrestler
• 1973 – Fredrik Larzon, Swedish drummer (Millencolin)
• 1974 – Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou
• 1974 – Dean Phoenix, Mexican porn actor
• 1975 – Emily Bergl, English-American actress
• 1975 – Jacque Jones, American baseball player and coach
• 1976 – Gilberto da Silva Melo, Brazilian footballer
• 1976 – Tim Duncan, American basketball player
• 1976 – Kim Jong-kook, South Korean singer (Turbo)
• 1976 – Rainer Schüttler, German tennis player
• 1977 – Constantinos Christoforou, Cypriot singer-songwriter (One)
• 1977 – Ilias Kotsios, Greek footballer
• 1977 – Marguerite Moreau, American actress
• 1977 – Paavo Siljamäki, Finnish DJ and producer (Above & Beyond)
• 1977 – Matthew West, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1978 – Letícia Birkheuer, Brazilian model
• 1978 – Duncan Kibet, Kenyan long-distance runner
• 1978 – Matt Walker, English swimmer
• 1980 – Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor
• 1980 – Bruce Martin, New Zealand cricketer
• 1980 – Kazuhito Tadano, Japanese baseball player
• 1980 – Alejandro Valverde, Spanish cyclist
• 1980 – Ben Johnston, Scottish bassist, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for his work with Biffy Clyro
• 1980 – James Johnston, Scottish bassist, vocalist, and songwriter, best known for his work with Biffy Clyro
• 1981 – Dwone Hicks, American football player
• 1981 – Felipe Massa, Brazilian race car driver
• 1981 – John McFall, English sprinter
• 1981 – Anja Pärson, Swedish skier
• 1982 – Brian Barton, American baseball player
• 1982 – Monty Panesar, English cricketer
• 1982 – Marco Russo, Italian footballer
• 1983 – J. P. Howell, American baseball player
• 1983 – Joanne Peh, Singaporean actress
• 1983 – DeAngelo Williams, American football player
• 1983 – Nick Willis, New Zealand middle-distance runner
• 1983 – Johnathan Thurston, Australian professional rugby league footballer
• 1984 – Robert Andino, American baseball player
• 1984 – Melonie Diaz, American actress
• 1984 – Isaac Kiprono Songok, Kenyan runner
• 1984 – Andre' Woodson, American football player and coach
• 1984 – Antonio Cromartie, American football cornerback
• 1984 – Jen Johnson, Nanny, estate manager, bikini model and actress of English descent
• 1985 – Jadyn Maria, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter
• 1985 – Giedo van der Garde, Dutch race car driver
• 1986 – Alexei Emelin, Russian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Claudia Rath, German heptathlete
• 1986 – John DeLuca, American actor
• 1987 – Razak Boukari, Togolese footballer
• 1987 – Jay Park, American-South Korean singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor(2PM and Art of Movement)
• 1987 – Johann Smith, American soccer player
• 1987 – Daniel Sharman, American Actor
• 1988 – James Sheppard, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1988 – Sara Paxton, American actress
• 1989 – Victor Engström, Swedish Bandy player (d. 2013)
• 1989 – Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Canadian skier
• 1989 – Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, Chinese 11th Panchen Lama
• 1989 – Michael van Gerwen, Dutch darts player
• 1990 – Jean-Éric Vergne, French race car driver
• 1990 – Taylor Walker, Australian footballer
• 1993 – Alex Bowman, American race car driver
• 1993 – Raphaël Varane, French footballer
• 1996 – Allisyn Ashley Arm, American actress

Deaths[edit]

• 501 – Saint Rusticus, French archbishop (b. 455)
• 1077 – Géza I of Hungary (b. 1040)
• 1185 – Emperor Antoku of Japan (b. 1178)
• 1265 – Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, English husband of Helen of Galloway (b. 1195)
• 1295 – Sancho IV of Castile (b. 1258)
• 1342 – Pope Benedict XII (b. 1285)
• 1472 – Leon Battista Alberti, Italian author, poet, and philosopher (b. 1404)
• 1516 – John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
• 1566 – Diane de Poitiers, French mistress of Henry II of France (b. 1499)
• 1566 – Louise Labé, French poet (b. 1520s)
• 1595 – Torquato Tasso, Italian poet (b. 1544)
• 1644 – Chongzhen Emperor of China (b. 1611)
• 1660 – Henry Hammond, English cleric (b. 1605)
• 1690 – David Teniers the Younger, Flemish painter (b. 1610)
• 1744 – Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer (b. 1701)
• 1770 – Jean-Antoine Nollet, French clergyman and physicist (b. 1700)
• 1800 – William Cowper, English poet (b. 1731)
• 1840 – Siméon Denis Poisson, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1781)
• 1873 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter (b. 1783)
• 1875 – 12th Dalai Lama (b. 1857)
• 1878 – Anna Sewell, English author (b. 1820)
• 1891 – Nathaniel Woodard, English priest and educator (b. 1811)
• 1892 – Karl von Ditmar, Baltic German geologist and explorer (b. 1822)
• 1892 – Henri Duveyrier, French explorer (b. 1840)
• 1906 – John Knowles Paine, American composer (b. 1839)
• 1911 – Emilio Salgari, Italian author (b. 1862)
• 1913 – Joseph-Alfred Archambeault, Canadian bishop (b. 1859)
• 1915 – Frederick W. Seward, American lawyer, journalist, and politician, 6th United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1830)
• 1919 – Augustus D. Juilliard, American businessman (b. 1836)
• 1923 – Louis-Olivier Taillon, Canadian politician, 8th Premier of Quebec (b. 1840)
• 1928 – Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Russian general (b. 1878)
• 1937 – Michał Drzymała, Polish rebel (b. 1857)
• 1943 – Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Russian director, producer, and playwright (b. 1858)
• 1944 – George Herriman, American cartoonist (b. 1880)
• 1944 – Tony Mullane, Irish-American baseball player (b. 1859)
• 1944 – William Stephens, American politician, 24th Governor of California (b. 1859)
• 1945 – Huldreich Georg Früh, Swiss composer (b. 1903)
• 1961 – Robert Garrett, American discus thrower and shot putter (b. 1875)
• 1968 – Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Indian singer (b. 1902)
• 1972 – George Sanders, English actor and singer (b. 1906)
• 1973 – Olga Grey, Hungarian-American actress (b. 1896)
• 1975 – Mike Brant, Cypriot-Israeli singer (b. 1947)
• 1976 – Carol Reed, English director and producer (b. 1906)
• 1976 – Markus Reiner, Israeli scientist (b. 1886)
• 1978 – Lee Kim Lai, Singaporean police officer (b. 1960)
• 1980 – Katia Mann, German wife of Thomas Mann (b. 1883)
• 1982 – John Cody, American cardinal (b. 1907)
• 1983 – William S. Bowdern, American priest and author (b. 1897)
• 1984 – David Kennedy, American son of Robert F. Kennedy (b. 1955)
• 1985 – Uku Masing, Estonian philosopher, translator and theologist (b. 1909)
• 1988 – Clifford D. Simak, American author (b. 1904)
• 1988 – Valerie Solanas, American author (b. 1936)
• 1988 – Carolyn Franklin, American singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
• 1990 – Dexter Gordon, American saxophonist, composer, and actor (b. 1923)
• 1992 – Yutaka Ozaki, Japanese singer (b. 1965)
• 1993 – Rosita Moreno, Spanish-American actress (b. 1907)
• 1995 – Art Fleming, American game show host and actor (b. 1925)
• 1995 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1911)
• 1996 – Saul Bass, American graphic designer and director (b. 1920)
• 1998 – Wright Morris, American author and photographer (b. 1910)
• 1998 – Christian Mortensen, Danish-American super-centenarian (b. 1882)
• 1999 – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, Irish journalist and author (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Larry Troutman, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (Zapp) (b. 1944)
• 1999 – Roger Troutman, American singer-songwriter and producer (Zapp) (b. 1951)
• 2000 – Lucien Le Cam, French mathematician (b. 1924)
• 2000 – David Merrick, American director and producer (b. 1911)
• 2001 – Michele Alboreto, Italian race car driver (b. 1956)
• 2002 – Indra Devi, Russian yoga teacher (b. 1899)
• 2002 – Lisa Lopes, American singer-songwriter and dancer (TLC) (b. 1971)
• 2002 – Athanasios Papoulis, Greek-American engineer and mathematician (b. 1921)
• 2003 – Samson Kitur, Kenyan runner (b. 1966)
• 2004 – Thom Gunn, English-American poet (b. 1929)
• 2005 – Hasil Adkins, American singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
• 2005 – Swami Ranganathananda, Indian monk (b. 1908)
• 2006 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (b. 1916)
• 2007 – Alan Ball, Jr., English footballer and manager (b. 1945)
• 2007 – Arthur Milton, English footballer and cricketer (b. 1928)
• 2007 – Bobby Pickett, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
• 2008 – Humphrey Lyttelton, English trumpet player, composer, and radio host (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Bea Arthur, American actress and singer (b. 1922)
• 2010 – Dorothy Provine, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1935)
• 2010 – Alan Sillitoe, English author and screenwriter (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Gerry Bahen, Australian footballer (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Rolando Ramos Dizon, Filipino educator (b. 1944)
• 2012 – Charles G. Hall, American photographer and journalist (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Denny Jones, American politician (b. 1910)
• 2012 – Moscelyne Larkin, American ballerina (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Louis le Brocquy, Irish painter (b. 1916)
• 2012 – Stephen Maxwell, Scottish politician (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Paul L. Smith, American actor (b. 1936)
• 2013 – Brian Adam, Scottish politician (b. 1948)
• 2013 – Jacob Avshalomov, American composer and conductor (b. 1919)
• 2013 – György Berencsi, Hungarian virologist and educator (b. 1941)
• 2013 – Sean Caffrey, Irish actor (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Rick Camp, American baseball player (b. 1953)
• 2013 – Virginia Gibson, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1925)
• 2013 – Johnny Lockwood, English-Australian actor (b. 1920)
• 2013 – Anna Proclemer, Italian actress (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Yoshio Tabata, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Sam Williams, American football player (b. 1931)
• 2013 – W. B. Young, Scottish rugby player (b. 1916)

Holidays and observances[edit]

• ANZAC Day (Australia, New Zealand)
• Arbor Day (Germany)

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Mark the Evangelist
  • Philo and Agathopodes
  • Pope Anianus of Alexandria
  • April 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• DNA Day
• Flag Day (Faroe Islands)
• Flag Day (Swaziland)
• Freedom Day (Portugal)
• Liberation Day (Italy)
• Malaria Awareness Day (International)
• Military Foundation Day (North Korea)
• Parental Alienation Awareness Day
• Red Hat Society Day
• Robigalia, celebrated on 25 Aprilis. (Roman Empire)
• Sinai's Liberation Day (Egypt)
• The latest possible date for Easter Sunday, last in 1943, next in 2038.
• Rogation Day ("Major Rogation Day") (Roman Catholic Church)

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“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” - 1 Peter 1:18-19
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"And because of all this we make a sure covenant."
Nehemiah 9:38

There are many occasions in our experience when we may very rightly, and with benefit, renew our covenant with God. After recovery from sickness when, like Hezekiah, we have had a new term of years added to our life, we may fitly do it. After any deliverance from trouble, when our joys bud forth anew, let us again visit the foot of the cross, and renew our consecration. Especially, let us do this after any sin which has grieved the Holy Spirit, or brought dishonour upon the cause of God; let us then look to that blood which can make us whiter than snow, and again offer ourselves unto the Lord. We should not only let our troubles confirm our dedication to God, but our prosperity should do the same. If we ever meet with occasions which deserve to be called "crowning mercies" then, surely, if he hath crowned us, we ought also to crown our God; let us bring forth anew all the jewels of the divine regalia which have been stored in the jewel-closet of our heart, and let our God sit upon the throne of our love, arrayed in royal apparel. If we would learn to profit by our prosperity, we should not need so much adversity. If we would gather from a kiss all the good it might confer upon us, we should not so often smart under the rod. Have we lately received some blessing which we little expected? Has the Lord put our feet in a large room? Can we sing of mercies multiplied? Then this is the day to put our hand upon the horns of the altar, and say, "Bind me here, my God; bind me here with cords, even forever." Inasmuch as we need the fulfilment of new promises from God, let us offer renewed prayers that our old vows may not be dishonoured. Let us this morning make with him a sure covenant, because of the pains of Jesus which for the last month we have been considering with gratitude.

Evening

"The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."
Song of Solomon 2:12

Sweet is the season of spring: the long and dreary winter helps us to appreciate its genial warmth, and its promise of summer enhances its present delights. After periods of depression of spirit, it is delightful to behold again the light of the Sun of Righteousness; then our slumbering graces rise from their lethargy, like the crocus and the daffodil from their beds of earth; then is our heart made merry with delicious notes of gratitude, far more melodious than the warbling of birds--and the comforting assurance of peace, infinitely more delightful than the turtle's note, is heard within the soul. Now is the time for the soul to seek communion with her Beloved; now must she rise from her native sordidness, and come away from her old associations. If we do not hoist the sail when the breeze is favourable, we shall be blameworthy: times of refreshing ought not to pass over us unimproved. When Jesus himself visits us in tenderness, and entreats us to arise, can we be so base as to refuse his request? He has himself risen that he may draw us after him: he now by his Holy Spirit has revived us, that we may, in newness of life, ascend into the heavenlies, and hold communion with himself. Let our wintry state suffice us for coldness and indifference; when the Lord creates a spring within, let our sap flow with vigour, and our branch blossom with high resolve. O Lord, if it be not spring time in my chilly heart, I pray thee make it so, for I am heartily weary of living at a distance from thee. Oh! the long and dreary winter, when wilt thou bring it to an end? Come, Holy Spirit, and renew my soul! quicken thou me! restore me, and have mercy on me! This very night I would earnestly implore the Lord to take pity upon his servant, and send me a happy revival of spiritual life!

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Today's reading: 2 Samuel 19-20, Luke 18:1-23 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: 2 Samuel 19-20

¹ Joab was told, "The king is weeping and mourning for Absalom." ² And for the whole army the victory that day was turned into mourning, because on that day the troops heard it said, "The king is grieving for his son." ³ The men stole into the city that day as men steal in who are ashamed when they flee from battle. ⁴ The king covered his face and cried aloud, "O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!"

⁵ Then Joab went into the house to the king and said, "Today you have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. ⁶ You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. ⁷ Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the LORD that if you don't go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come on you from your youth till now...."

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: Luke 18:1-23

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

¹ Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

⁴ "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually come and attack me!'"

⁶ And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

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Resurrection Day! Below is the Paschal Homily of John Chrysostom, a sermon celebrating the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is traditionally read aloud in many Orthodox churches on Easter morning. If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let them enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival. If anyone is a grateful servant, let them, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord. If anyone has wearied themselves in fasting, let them now receive recompense. If anyone has labored from the first hour, let them today receive the just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let them feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let them have no misgivings; for they shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let them draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let them not fear on account of tardiness. For the Master is gracious and receives the last even as the first; He gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one He gives, and to the other He is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention. Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward. O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy! O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day! You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today! The table is rich-laden: feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted: let no one go forth hungry! Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness. Let no one lament their poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn their transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Saviour's death has set us free. He that was taken by death has annihilated it! He descended into Hades and took Hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted His flesh! And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: "Hades was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions." It was embittered, for it was abolished! It was embittered, for it was mocked! It was embittered, for it was purged! It was embittered, for it was despoiled! It was embittered, for it was bound in chains! It took a body and came upon God! It took earth and encountered Ηeaven! It took what it saw, but crumbled before what can not seen! O death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept. To Him be glory and might unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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	Having trouble seeing this email? View it online. Bible Gateway | The Brook Network | Mel Lawrenz
RESURRECTION DAY Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" (John 20:1-2) How difficult was it for the one who is Lord of the universe–who had a hand in the creation itself, who is the very force of life that holds living things together–to wake up from the sleep of death and set aside the burial cloths draping his body? As was always the case, Jesus’ revelations of himself did not happen with television cameras focused, not even a respectable crowd gathered. An alarming word from young Mary Magdalene about Jesus’ body being gone produced a panic and a foot race among two of Jesus’ beloved disciples, Peter and John. One looked and merely saw the emptiness of the tomb, the other saw the connection between this moment and the mysterious words of Jesus–and he believed. Now things were really complicated and the disciples just went home. But it was to a broken-hearted Mary who stayed at the tomb that Jesus revealed himself. Mary was the first to behold something the world had never seen before–a resurrected, transformed life. Resurrection day for Jesus was simply the down payment on a resurrection of masses of people when this era of the history of the universe draws to a close. What God promises to those who belong to Jesus is not the loss of self into a nothingness-bliss, but the resurrection and re-making of everything that is right and good in the world he has created. And until then, he invites us to begin living transformed lives, continually shaped and changed by the hope of the redemption of all that God has made. Ponder This: Where in your life do you need the resurrection power of Jesus at work today?
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