The US certainly resembles the last days of Rome under Obama, but that is temporary. Soon, he will be a lame duck President. Then there will be rebuilding. Australia was generous with refugees under Howard, and the Pacific Solution is clearly fairer than the ALP alternative. The US clearly did not pursue Iraq for oil, but those that hate America will continue to make the claim. They have claimed the US should not have toppled Hussein. When it comes to that debate I know the side of reason. But a tragedy happened on this day in 2010 which illustrates the greatness and resilience of a people long subjugated by communism. Margaret Thatcher died yesterday last year, but the tragedy of the death of Lech Aleksander Kaczyński and company will be long felt. He was President of Poland, and many serving people from the administration died alongside him in the crash at Smolensk in Russia. Kaczyński was a conservative and he had left a vision of a free and fair Poland that has not been forgotten. They have worked hard to address the endemic corruption which was part of the Soviet era. They make stupid mistakes at times, like the one where they opposed male circumcision, but it is a dumb mistake that is their own, not imposed by a foreign dictator bent on socialism. Conservatives don't agree on everything everywhere, that is something the left try to do. But Conservatives tend to those vital areas which foster freedom and bolster cultural assets. The king dies, but the kingdom goes on. And a great people will not be denied. It is my hope that the great people of Poland will not forget their Jewish peoples. They cannot raise the dead, but they must allow all their people to prosper, not merely a few.
For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell 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 http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/nsw-premier-barry-o-farrell-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball?
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Sean K Fitzgerald,Jimmy Le and Defqon Tran. Born on the same day across the years. The same day as when in 1815 a volcano (Mt Tambora) erupted and drove the temperature down an estimated two degrees centigrade for two years .. just like global warming has done for ten years.
- 401 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (d. 450)
- 1583 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch jurist and philosopher (d. 1645)
- 1651 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician, physicist, and physician (d. 1708)
- 1656 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, French-Canadian founder of Rimouski (d. 1718)
- 1704 – Benjamin Heath, English scholar and author (d. 1766)
- 1707 – Michel Corrette, French organist, composer, and author (d. 1795)
- 1713 – John Whitehurst, English scientist and clockmaker (d. 1788)
- 1778 – William Hazlitt, English critic and painter (d. 1830)
- 1829 – William Booth, English minister, founded The Salvation Army (d. 1912)
- 1847 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American politician, journalist, and publisher, founded Pulitzer, Inc. (d. 1911)
- 1903 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American children's book author (d. 1970)
- 1910 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and publisher, founded the Monthly Review (d. 2004)
- 1915 – Harry Morgan, American actor and director (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Max von Sydow, Swedish-French actor
- 1932 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor
- 1941 – Paul Theroux, American scholar and author
- 1947 – Bunny Wailer, Jamaican singer-songwriter and drummer (Bob Marley and the Wailers)
- 1952 – Steven Seagal, American actor, producer, and martial artist
- 1960 – Katrina Leskanich, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Katrina and the Waves)
- 1979 – Rachel Corrie, American activist (d. 2003)
- 1984 – Mandy Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1988 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor
- 2005 – Big Brown, American race horse
- 2007 – Princess Ariane of the Netherlands
Matches
- 428 – Nestorius becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 837 – Halley's Comet and Earth experienced their closest approach to one another when their separating distance equalled 0.0342 AU (3.2 million miles).
- 1407 – The lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title "Great Treasure Prince of Dharma".
- 1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by the Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
- 1606 – The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
- 1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, enters into force in Great Britain.
- 1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people andaffects Earth's climate for the next two years.
- 1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonne bell for the Palace of Westminster had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonne bell byWhitechapel Bell Foundry.
- 1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
- 1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
- 1868 – At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two British/Indian troops die.
- 1904 – British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the third and final chapter of The Book of the Law.
- 1912 – The Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her only voyage.
- 1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
- 1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner's Sons.
- 1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from the Birkenau death camp.
- 1953 – Warner Bros. premieres the first 3-D film from a major American studio, entitled House of Wax.
- 1959 – Akihito, future Emperor of Japan, marries Michiko.
- 1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
- 1971 – Ping-pong diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People's Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a week-long visit.
- 1972 – 20 days after he is kidnapped in Buenos Aires, Oberdan Sallustro is murdered by communist guerrillas.
- 1972 – Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers inShandong.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
- 1972 – Seventy-four nations sign the Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of biological weapons.
- 1979 – Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
- 1998 – Northern Ireland peace deal reached (Good Friday Agreement).
- 2010 – Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński and dozens of other senior officials
Despatches
- 879 – Louis the Stammerer, French son of Ermentrude of Orléans (b. 846)
- 948 – Hugh of Italy (b. 885)
- 1601 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet (b. 1562)
- 1813 – Joseph Louis Lagrange, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1736)
- 1966 – Evelyn Waugh, English author (b. 1903)
- 2010 – Passengers in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash:
- Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish politician, 6th President of the Republic of Poland (b. 1919)
- Maria Kaczyńska, Polish economist, First Lady of Poland (b. 1942)
- Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 4th President of Poland (b. 1949)
- Anna Walentynowicz, Polish activist (b. 1929)
- Janusz Zakrzeński, Polish actor (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Dixie Carter, American actress (b. 1939)
Unemployment down
Andrew Bolt April 10 2014 (1:06pm)
I don’t trust the headline figure, but it’s better than not trusting a figure that seems too high:
===The total number of jobs in Australia rose by 18,100 to a seasonally adjusted 11.553 million in the month,,,, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.But:
The unemployment rate fell to 5.8 per cent in the month, compared with 6 per cent in February.
The participation rate edged down to 64.7 per cent in the month, compared with an upwardly revised figure of 64.9 per cent in February.Unemployment is now well under what Labor last year predicted:
Mr Bowen’s economic statement cut growth forecasts from 2.75 per cent in the budget to 2.5 per cent and predicted unemployment would rise half a percentage point from 5.75 per cent predicted in the budget to 6.25 per cent - about 64,000 people.
Another fine mess Rudd tried to get us into
Andrew Bolt April 10 2014 (9:34am)
And this man was once our prime minister, thanks to Labor:
===Mr Carr also details a conversation where Julia Gillard tells him of Mr Rudd’s hitherto secret Israel-Palestine peace plan drafted in the wake of the Arab Spring uprising.How on earth could Rudd have thought it in our interests to insert troops between Israel and its enemies for the sake of some “peace plan”?
“As foreign minister, Kevin had kept going to Israel, driving [Israel’s leader Benyamin] Netanyahu mad promoting a batty peace plan and promising to commit Australian troops to patrolling borders.
“I quickly agree this was nuts.”
Ageing us out of house and home
Andrew Bolt April 10 2014 (9:19am)
THE Abbott Government faces a Budget crisis: we’re running out of the money most Australians need for their retirement.
We’re talking big money — an average cash handout of at least $400,000 for each person on a full age pension. And that doesn’t even include their hospital and aged care, or the seniors health card that lets them buy cheap medicines and get discounts even for rail travel.
There is no way taxpaying workers can afford all that when by 2050 they’ll be responsible for nearly twice as many people over 65 than today.
(Read full article here.)
===We’re talking big money — an average cash handout of at least $400,000 for each person on a full age pension. And that doesn’t even include their hospital and aged care, or the seniors health card that lets them buy cheap medicines and get discounts even for rail travel.
There is no way taxpaying workers can afford all that when by 2050 they’ll be responsible for nearly twice as many people over 65 than today.
(Read full article here.)
Blame Labor’s policies, stupid. Not the unions
Andrew Bolt April 10 2014 (9:16am)
LABOR’S leaders still can’t admit it’s their own stupidity — not their union mates — that’s killing them.
Instead, there they go again, pretending voters actually care who decides Labor policies, rather than how lunatic their policies actually are.
I can understand their scrabbling for a scapegoat, of course. Labor was buried in last year’s federal election after six years of disastrous government and now is travelling even worse under Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
It somehow went backwards in the by-election for former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s seat and was destroyed in Tasmania’s state election. It lost seats in South Australia’s election and last weekend was reduced to a humiliating 22 per cent of the vote in the rerun Senate election in Western Australia.
But hear Labor talk about everything but the Labor policies voters rejected. Shorten says Labor should just make the party more diverse by no longer demanding party members be union members.
On Wednesday, Labor president Jenny McAllister agreed union bosses should bow out and let “far more people to have a say in who represents Labor in the Senate”.
Are they serious? How many Australians turned off Labor because of its membership policies rather than because Labor let in 50,000 boat people, hit us with a carbon tax, preached hate politics, bungled a home insulation program with deadly results and left us with deficits of $123 billion?
It’s the policies, stupid.
Correction.
(Read full article here.)
===Instead, there they go again, pretending voters actually care who decides Labor policies, rather than how lunatic their policies actually are.
I can understand their scrabbling for a scapegoat, of course. Labor was buried in last year’s federal election after six years of disastrous government and now is travelling even worse under Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
It somehow went backwards in the by-election for former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s seat and was destroyed in Tasmania’s state election. It lost seats in South Australia’s election and last weekend was reduced to a humiliating 22 per cent of the vote in the rerun Senate election in Western Australia.
But hear Labor talk about everything but the Labor policies voters rejected. Shorten says Labor should just make the party more diverse by no longer demanding party members be union members.
On Wednesday, Labor president Jenny McAllister agreed union bosses should bow out and let “far more people to have a say in who represents Labor in the Senate”.
Are they serious? How many Australians turned off Labor because of its membership policies rather than because Labor let in 50,000 boat people, hit us with a carbon tax, preached hate politics, bungled a home insulation program with deadly results and left us with deficits of $123 billion?
It’s the policies, stupid.
Correction.
(Read full article here.)
Bob Carr’s voice coach
Andrew Bolt April 10 2014 (9:10am)
Bob Carr on his late friend Gore Vidal:
Gore Vidal’s significance is that he was a lonely voice...Yet as a listener on our 2GB show last night pointed out, Vidal’s voice was not that lonely for long. How much of Carr’s oratorical style borrows from the theatrical Vidal?
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Don’t blame Bullock
Andrew Bolt April 10 2014 (8:58am)
I don’t think this is all Niki Savva means:
===It is too easy to blame Labor’s senator-elect Joe Bullock, although he was a factor. And before the party falls into the trap of granting Louise Pratt heroine or martyr status, it should seriously consider how much she would have added to the Labor vote if she had been No 1 on the ticket and exposed to the same kind of scrutiny as Bullock.Savva is right. Bullock is just a fall guy. He actually represents a Labor party that many older Labor voters would remember with some affection.
Pratt came off that other Labor-candidate assembly line, the one that keeps producing the same models for decades. Pratt was heavily involved in student politics, worked for politicians, ran for parliament when she was 24 and was elected to state parliament at 26 before she went federal. Labor looks like it treats parliament as either a retirement village for ageing unionists or as a political baby incubator.
Carr is a warning to Jews: the Left is the natural home of the bigot
Andrew Bolt April 10 2014 (8:08am)
Many of Australia’s
most prominent Jews face a terrible reality that I’ve warned about for
almost a decade: the natural home of the anti-Jewish bigot is now the
Left. Too many prominent Jewish intellectuals here have pampered their
enemy.
ABC chairman Jim Spigelman concedes the point:
Carr is not an anti-Semite, but his views on the Jewish lobby are absurd and dangerously close to an anti-Semitic trope:
This can come with a risk, as we now see in the debate over the Abbott Government’s plans to reform the Racial Discrimination Act to allow more free speech. Jewish community leaders have been the strongest opponents of this change, and base much of their argument on an issue of particular concern to Jews: that such a change would permit Holocaust denial. I suspect most non-Jews also loathe Holocaust deniers but would not be so quick to say they should be gagged by law - and that the rest of us should be gagged from arguing other propositions as a consequence. The danger here is that Jewish leaders are seen to be arguing for an illiberal ban to the benefit of their own community, but at the cost of the wider one. Such tribalism comes at a risk in a multi-ethnic, multi-faith nation.
I think it is fair to make these points. But Bob Carr’s comments go further - dangerously further.
He is singling out the “Israel lobby” as having had a more “unhealthy” influence than other such groups in that it had “influence with the Prime Minister’s office” under Labor, seeking “to block the Foreign Minister of Australia” from aiding Palestinian interests. This influence, claims Carr, is exercised through “party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel”, trips which indeed both Gillard and I have received.
Here is where Carr oversteps.
Carr completely ignores the reality that many supporters of Israel in the case he raises have not been bought, bribed or otherwise influenced by “unhealthy” lobbying, but have reached their opinion by judging on the merits of the argument. They see a democracy threatened by terrorism, an open society challenged by a closed one, and they decide accordingly. Yet this difference of opinion is portrayed by Carr as just the evil product of “unhealthy” Jewish influence peddling.
It is a joke to believe Gillard as prime minister could be further influenced by the offer of trips from Melbourne Jews. Politicians and journalists are also offered trips to the Muslim Middle East, yet Carr does not declare those “unhealthy”.
And how much influence did those Melbourne Jews have really? Carr boasts that he actually defeated Gillard on the issue by leading a caucus revolt against Gillard’s position.
That raises Carr’s dangerous double standards - to decry a “unhealthy” a Jewish influence he defeated while saying nothing about the more troubling Muslim influence to which he surrendered - and Labor with him.
Labor politicians have done dangerous favors for Islamist extremists like Sheik Hilali, revoking moves to throw him out in exchange for votes, but Carr has not criticised that as “unhealthy”. Labor made a politician of a Muslim ethnic boss and supporter of the Syrian dictator in exchange for votes, but Carr did not say this was “unhealthy”. Nor did Carr say it was “unhealthy” when even Liberal Prime Minister John Howard appointed a Muslim Community Reference Group to advise him - one third of whose members were supporters of the pro-terrorist Hezbollah.
Carr did not denounce this “unhealthy” influence, either:
But let’s talk about the truly unhealthy influence in the very case Carr discusses - a bid by Palestinians for greater recognition.
Labor ditched Israel in that instance not so much out of principle but out of Labor self-interest. As former Labor speech-writer Troy Bramston wrote at the time after talking to the players, Labor feared the influence of the Muslim lobby and the votes it could muster in key Sydney marginal seats:
Something sick is at work in the Left. It’s not just Jews who should be alarmed.
UPDATE
What a disgraceful breach of confidence and a shameless betrayal:
The exchange:
Mark Liebler responds, during an aggressive interview with Tony Jones:
===ABC chairman Jim Spigelman concedes the point:
Spigelman: My father was a bit of a lefty from his Polish days because Jews in Poland tended to be on the left ‘cause all the anti-Semites were then on the right. That’s exactly the reverse today.And, right on time, former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr takes the stage.
Throsby: Is it?
Carr is not an anti-Semite, but his views on the Jewish lobby are absurd and dangerously close to an anti-Semitic trope:
BOB CARR: ... And what I’ve done is to spell out how the extremely conservative instincts of the pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne was exercised through the then-Prime Minister’s office.... I found it very frustrating that we couldn’t issue, for example, a routine expression of concern about the spread of Israeli settlements on the West Bank....Carr is not wrong to say there is a Jewish lobby, or Israel lobby, just as there are other ethnic and religious lobby groups, including Aboriginal ones. The Jewish lobby is more organised that most, and on certain issues speaks with more unity than most, too.
SARAH FERGUSON: You’re saying that the Melbourne Jewish lobby had a direct impact on foreign policy as it was operated from inside Julia Gillard’s cabinet?
BOB CARR: Yeah, I would call it the Israeli lobby - I think that’s important. But certainly they enjoyed extraordinary influence. I had to resist it and my book tells the story of that resistance coming to a climax when there was a dispute on the floor of caucus about my recommendation that we don’t block the Palestinian bid for increased non-state status at the United Nations.
SARAH FERGUSON: They’re still a very small group of people. How do you account for them wielding so much power?
BOB CARR: I think party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel. But that’s not to condemn them. I mean, other interest groups do the same thing. But it needs to be highlighted because I think it reached a very unhealthy level. I think the great mistake of the pro-Israel lobby in Melbourne is to express an extreme right-wing Israeli view rather than a more tolerant liberal Israeli view, and in addition to that, to seek to win on everything, to block the Foreign Minister of Australia through their influence with the Prime Minister’s office, from even making the most routine criticism of Israeli settlement policy using the kind of language that a Conservative Foreign secretary from the UK would use in a comparable statement at the same time.
This can come with a risk, as we now see in the debate over the Abbott Government’s plans to reform the Racial Discrimination Act to allow more free speech. Jewish community leaders have been the strongest opponents of this change, and base much of their argument on an issue of particular concern to Jews: that such a change would permit Holocaust denial. I suspect most non-Jews also loathe Holocaust deniers but would not be so quick to say they should be gagged by law - and that the rest of us should be gagged from arguing other propositions as a consequence. The danger here is that Jewish leaders are seen to be arguing for an illiberal ban to the benefit of their own community, but at the cost of the wider one. Such tribalism comes at a risk in a multi-ethnic, multi-faith nation.
I think it is fair to make these points. But Bob Carr’s comments go further - dangerously further.
He is singling out the “Israel lobby” as having had a more “unhealthy” influence than other such groups in that it had “influence with the Prime Minister’s office” under Labor, seeking “to block the Foreign Minister of Australia” from aiding Palestinian interests. This influence, claims Carr, is exercised through “party donations and a program of giving trips to MPs and journalists to Israel”, trips which indeed both Gillard and I have received.
Here is where Carr oversteps.
Carr completely ignores the reality that many supporters of Israel in the case he raises have not been bought, bribed or otherwise influenced by “unhealthy” lobbying, but have reached their opinion by judging on the merits of the argument. They see a democracy threatened by terrorism, an open society challenged by a closed one, and they decide accordingly. Yet this difference of opinion is portrayed by Carr as just the evil product of “unhealthy” Jewish influence peddling.
It is a joke to believe Gillard as prime minister could be further influenced by the offer of trips from Melbourne Jews. Politicians and journalists are also offered trips to the Muslim Middle East, yet Carr does not declare those “unhealthy”.
And how much influence did those Melbourne Jews have really? Carr boasts that he actually defeated Gillard on the issue by leading a caucus revolt against Gillard’s position.
That raises Carr’s dangerous double standards - to decry a “unhealthy” a Jewish influence he defeated while saying nothing about the more troubling Muslim influence to which he surrendered - and Labor with him.
Labor politicians have done dangerous favors for Islamist extremists like Sheik Hilali, revoking moves to throw him out in exchange for votes, but Carr has not criticised that as “unhealthy”. Labor made a politician of a Muslim ethnic boss and supporter of the Syrian dictator in exchange for votes, but Carr did not say this was “unhealthy”. Nor did Carr say it was “unhealthy” when even Liberal Prime Minister John Howard appointed a Muslim Community Reference Group to advise him - one third of whose members were supporters of the pro-terrorist Hezbollah.
Carr did not denounce this “unhealthy” influence, either:
Australia’s senior Islamic cleric threatened to withdraw community support for federal Labor in Western Sydney if union leader Paul Howes replaced Bob Carr in the Senate, a leaked email reveals.Note that the Mufti has shown support for Hamas.
The email, written on behalf of the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, by his chief political adviser, accused Mr Howes of a “blind bias for Israel” and said that if he was appointed to the Senate, community support for Labor that was mustered for the federal election would be withdrawn.
The email was sent to MPs and officials on September 9… Mr Howes, the national secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union, withdrew from the contest ...
But let’s talk about the truly unhealthy influence in the very case Carr discusses - a bid by Palestinians for greater recognition.
Labor ditched Israel in that instance not so much out of principle but out of Labor self-interest. As former Labor speech-writer Troy Bramston wrote at the time after talking to the players, Labor feared the influence of the Muslim lobby and the votes it could muster in key Sydney marginal seats:
And, critically, there is the growing Muslim and Christian make-up of several key western Sydney Labor seats, which have exposed MPs to different points of view on the Middle East.Did Carr denounce that “unhealthy” influence? No. He in fact was among the first to give in to it:
Some sections of the party suggest Victorian Labor is too close to the Israel lobby and does not fully understand the underlying changes in Sydney’s outer suburbs.
BUT of all reasons given, the worst and most repeated was as the Daily Telegraph said: “NSW Right MPs ... were more concerned a no vote at the UN would offend Middle East and Muslim communities in their fragile southwest Sydney seats.” The Sydney Morning Herald heard the same: “Many MPs in western Sydney, who are already fearful of losing their seats, are coming under pressure from constituents with a Middle East background."…That’s why Carr’s attack on the Jewish lobby is so sinister. He exaggerates its power, falsely assumes those who agree with the lobby have been bought, and meanwhile is silent on the rise of more troubling lobby that has influenced Labor - the Muslim lobby, which includes supporters of extremists.
Carr reportedly stressed “the electoral problems in Sydney” to Gillard, and The Australian reported the “demographically challenged” Water Minister, Tony Burke, insisted on not rejecting the Palestinian resolution.
Burke’s “demographic challenge” is that the proportion of Muslim voters in Watson, his Sydney seat, has rocketed to an astonishing 20 per cent… In fact, of the 20 seats with the most Muslim voters, Labor holds all but one.
Something sick is at work in the Left. It’s not just Jews who should be alarmed.
UPDATE
What a disgraceful breach of confidence and a shameless betrayal:
Bob Carr has published private text messages between himself and Julia Gillard to reveal the “extraordinary” level of influence the pro-Israel lobby had on the former prime minister’s office.Carr wasn’t the foreign minister of Australia, seeking to advance the nation’s interests. It seems to me he was merely an embedded journalist, seeking material to advance his own.
In a remarkable disclosure of private conversations, Mr Carr said he chose to publish the text messages in his book – Diary of a Foreign Minister – without getting Ms Gillard’s permission, because to do so was in the national interest.
The exchange:
Reproducing private text messages, Mr Carr suggests Ms Gillard’s support of Israel was so immovable that she would not even allow him to change Australia’s vote on what he considered to be a minor UN motion.UPDATE
“Julia – motion on Lebanon oil spill raises no Palestinian or Israel security issues. In that context I gave my commitment to Lebanon,” Mr Carr writes in a text message.
“No reason has been given to me to change,” Ms Gillard reportedly replies.
“Julia – not so simple,” Mr Carr responds. “I as Foreign Minister gave my word. I was entitled to because it had nothing to do with Palestinian status or security of Israel.”
Ms Gillard shuts him down in a final terse message: “Bob… my jurisdiction on UN resolutions isn’t confined to ones on Palestine and Israel.”
Mark Liebler responds, during an aggressive interview with Tony Jones:
Just unpick for a moment what he’s saying. He’s talking about the Jewish lobby, he’s talking about a difference of opinion between him and the Prime Minister. Why can’t they have a difference of opinion on a matter related to Israeli policy? No, if there’s a difference of opinion, the Prime Minister has to be controlled or influenced by someone. So the Prime Minister has to be wrong ‘cause she’s controlled by the Jewish lobby. How does the Jewish lobby control the Prime Minister? Through donations to the ALP and sending people to Israel. I mean, give me a break. I mean, would anyone sort of seriously accept that? I mean, I’m very flattered.
By the way, the Jewish lobby he’s referring to is the Australia-Israel and Jewish Affairs Council. He’s referred to it in The Australian newspaper, so he’s referring to me directly. But, you know, as flattered as I am, this is really a figment of his imagination. I mean, Julia Gillard is an independent-thinking woman. She can come to her own conclusions without being influenced by the Jewish lobby and I suppose the Jewish lobby, according to Bob, ... has the current Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, under its influence. After all, he’s adopted a very pro-Israel attitude.
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- 1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first fully-fledged law regulating copyright, entered into force in Great Britain.
- 1809 – Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition began when Austria invaded Bavaria.
- 1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata(pictured) was shot to death near Ciudad Ayala, Morelos.
- 1959 – Crown Prince Akihito, the future Emperor of Japan, weddedMichiko, the first commoner to marry into the Japanese Imperial Family.
- 2010 – A Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft carrying President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and other Polish officials crashed while attempting to land in heavy fog at Smolensk-North air base near Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 on board.
Events[edit]
- 428 – Nestorius becomes Patriarch of Constantinople.
- 837 – Halley's Comet and Earth experienced their closest approach to one another when their separating distance equalled 0.0342 AU (3.2 million miles).
- 879 – Louis III and Carloman II become joint Kings of the Western Franks.
- 1407 – The lama Deshin Shekpa visits the Ming Dynasty capital at Nanjing. He is awarded the title "Great Treasure Prince of Dharma".
- 1500 – Ludovico Sforza is captured by the Swiss troops at Novara and is handed over to the French.
- 1606 – The Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America.
- 1710 – The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, enters into force in Great Britain.
- 1741 – War of the Austrian Succession: Prussia defeats Austria in the Battle of Mollwitz.
- 1809 – Napoleonic Wars: The War of the Fifth Coalition begins when forces of the Austrian Empire invade Bavaria.
- 1815 – The Mount Tambora volcano begins a three-month-long eruption, lasting until July 15. The eruption ultimately kills 71,000 people andaffects Earth's climate for the next two years.
- 1816 – The Federal government of the United States approves the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
- 1821 – Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople is hanged by the Ottoman government from the main gate of the Patriarchate and his body is thrown into the Bosphorus.
- 1826 – The 10,500 inhabitants of the Greek town Missolonghi start leaving the town after a year's siege by Turkish forces. Very few of them survive.
- 1856 – The Theta Chi fraternity is founded at Norwich University in Vermont.
- 1858 – After the original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonne bell for the Palace of Westminster had cracked during testing, it is recast into the current 13.76 tonne bell byWhitechapel Bell Foundry.
- 1864 – Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg is proclaimed emperor of Mexico during the French intervention in Mexico.
- 1865 – American Civil War: A day after his surrender to Union forces, Confederate General Robert E. Lee addresses his troops for the last time.
- 1866 – The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is founded in New York City by Henry Bergh.
- 1868 – At Arogee in Abyssinia, British and Indian forces defeat an army of Emperor Tewodros II. While 700 Ethiopians are killed and many more injured, only two British/Indian troops die.
- 1874 – The first Arbor Day is celebrated in Nebraska.
- 1887 – On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo XIII authorizes the establishment of The Catholic University of America.
- 1904 – British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the third and final chapter of The Book of the Law.
- 1912 – The Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her only voyage.
- 1916 – The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA) is created in New York City.
- 1919 – Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata is ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
- 1925 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is first published in New York City, by Charles Scribner's Sons.
- 1941 – World War II: The Axis powers in Europe establish the Independent State of Croatia from occupied Yugoslavia with Ante Pavelić's Ustaše fascist insurgents in power.
- 1944 – Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler escape from the Birkenau death camp.
- 1953 – Warner Bros. premieres the first 3-D film from a major American studio, entitled House of Wax.
- 1957 – The Suez Canal is reopened for all shipping after being closed for three months.
- 1959 – Akihito, future Emperor of Japan, marries Michiko.
- 1963 – 129 American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.
- 1968 – Shipwreck of the New Zealand inter-island ferry TEV Wahine at the mouth of Wellington Harbour.
- 1970 – Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
- 1971 – Ping-pong diplomacy: In an attempt to thaw relations with the United States, the People's Republic of China hosts the U.S. table tennis team for a week-long visit.
- 1972 – 20 days after he is kidnapped in Buenos Aires, Oberdan Sallustro is murdered by communist guerrillas.
- 1972 – Tombs containing bamboo slips, among them Sun Tzu's Art of War and Sun Bin's lost military treatise, are accidentally discovered by construction workers inShandong.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: For the first time since November 1967, American B-52 bombers reportedly begin bombing North Vietnam.
- 1972 – Seventy-four nations sign the Biological Weapons Convention, the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of biological weapons.
- 1973 – A British Vickers Vanguard turboprop aircraft crashed in a snowstorm at Basel, Switzerland killing 104 people.
- 1979 – Red River Valley tornado outbreak: A tornado lands in Wichita Falls, Texas killing 42 people.
- 1988 – The Ojhri Camp disaster: Killing more than 1,000 people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad as a result of rockets and other munitions expelled by the blast.
- 1991 – Italian ferry MS Moby Prince collides with an oil tanker in dense fog off Livorno, Italy killing 140.
- 1991 – A rare tropical storm develops in the South Atlantic Ocean near Angola; the first to be documented by satellites.
- 1998 – Northern Ireland peace deal reached (Good Friday Agreement).
- 2009 – President of Fiji Ratu Josefa Iloilo announces he will suspend the constitution and assume all governance in the country, creating a constitutional crisis.
- 2010 – Polish Air Force Tu-154M crashes near Smolensk, Russia, killing 96 people, including Polish President Lech Kaczyński and dozens of other senior officials
Births[edit]
- 401 – Theodosius II, Roman emperor (d. 450)
- 1512 – James V of Scotland (d. 1542)
- 1583 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch jurist and philosopher (d. 1645)
- 1651 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German mathematician, physicist, and physician (d. 1708)
- 1656 – René Lepage de Sainte-Claire, French-Canadian founder of Rimouski (d. 1718)
- 1704 – Benjamin Heath, English scholar and author (d. 1766)
- 1707 – Michel Corrette, French organist, composer, and author (d. 1795)
- 1713 – John Whitehurst, English scientist and clockmaker (d. 1788)
- 1755 – Samuel Hahnemann, German physician (d. 1843)
- 1762 – Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist (d. 1834)
- 1778 – William Hazlitt, English critic and painter (d. 1830)
- 1783 – Hortense de Beauharnais, French-Dutch wife of Louis Bonaparte (d. 1837)
- 1794 – Matthew C. Perry, American navy officer (d. 1858)
- 1806 – Juliette Drouet, French actress (d. 1883)
- 1827 – Lew Wallace, American general, lawyer, and politician, 11th Governor of New Mexico Territory (d. 1905)
- 1829 – William Booth, English minister, founded The Salvation Army (d. 1912)
- 1837 – Forceythe Willson, American poet (d. 1867)
- 1847 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American politician, journalist, and publisher, founded Pulitzer, Inc. (d. 1911)
- 1864 – Eugen d'Albert, Scottish-German pianist and composer (d. 1932)
- 1865 – Jack Miner, American-Canadian conservationist (d. 1944)
- 1867 – George William Russell, Irish author, poet, and painter (d. 1935)
- 1868 – George Arliss, English actor and playwright (d. 1946)
- 1873 – Kyösti Kallio, Finnish politician, 4th President of Finland (d. 1940)
- 1877 – Alfred Kubin, Austrian author and illustrator (d. 1959)
- 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
- 1879 – Coenraad Hiebendaal, Dutch rower (d. 1921)
- 1880 – Frances Perkins, American politician, 4th United States Secretary of Labor (d. 1965)
- 1880 – Montague Summers, English clergyman and author (d. 1948)
- 1887 – Bernardo Houssay, Argentinian physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1891 – Frank Barson, English footballer and coach (d. 1968)
- 1894 – Ghanshyam Das Birla, Indian businessman (d. 1983)
- 1897 – Ross Youngs, American baseball player (d. 1927)
- 1903 – Clare Boothe Luce, American politician and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Italy (d. 1987)
- 1903 – Clare Turlay Newberry, American children's book author (d. 1970)
- 1910 – Margaret Clapp, american scholar and author (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Paul Sweezy, American economist and publisher, founded the Monthly Review (d. 2004)
- 1910 – Helenio Herrera, Argentine footballer and manager (d. 1997)
- 1911 – Martin Denny, American pianist and composer (d. 2005)
- 1911 – Maurice Schumann, French journalist and politician, Minister of Foreign for France (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Boris Kidrič, Austrian-Slovenian politician (d. 1953)
- 1913 – Stefan Heym, German-American author (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Harry Morgan, American actor and director (d. 2011)
- 1915 – Leo Vroman, Dutch-American hematologist, poet, and illustrator (d. 2014)
- 1916 – Lee Jung Seob, Korean painter (d. 1956)
- 1917 – Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, Indian politician (d. 2013)
- 1917 – Robert Burns Woodward, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1918 – Lee Bergere, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1921 – Chuck Connors, American baseball player and actor (d. 1992)
- 1921 – Jake Warren, Canadian diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Sheb Wooley, American actor and singer (d. 2003)
- 1923 – Roger Gaillard, Haitian historian and author (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Jane Kean, American actress and singer (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Kenneth Noland, American painter (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Linda Goodman, American astrologer and author (d. 1995)
- 1925 – Angelo Poffo, American wrestler (d. 2010)
- 1926 – Junior Samples, American actor (d. 1983)
- 1927 – Marshall Warren Nirenberg, American biochemist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1929 – Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver (d. 1959)
- 1929 – Max von Sydow, Swedish-French actor
- 1930 – Claude Bolling, French pianist, composer, and actor
- 1930 – Norma Candal, Puerto Rican actress (d. 2006)
- 1930 – Dolores Huerta, American activist, co-founded the United Farm Workers
- 1930 – Spede Pasanen, Finnish actor, director, and producer (d. 2001)
- 1930 – Lee Weaver, American actor
- 1932 – Delphine Seyrig, Lebanese-American actress and director (d. 1990)
- 1932 – Omar Sharif, Egyptian actor
- 1933 – Rokusuke Ei, Japanese composer and author
- 1933 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (d. 2013)
- 1933 – Poncie Ponce, American actor and singer (d. 2013)
- 1934 – David Halberstam, American journalist and author (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Richard Peck, American author
- 1935 – John A. Bennett, American soldier (d. 1961)
- 1935 – Patrick Garland, English actor and director (d. 2013)
- 1936 – John Madden, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1936 – Bobbie Smith, American singer (The Spinners) (d. 2013)
- 1936 – Milt Kogan, American actor
- 1937 – Bella Akhmadulina, Russian poet and author (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Don Meredith, American football player, sportscaster, and actor (d. 2010)
- 1939 – Claudio Magris, Italian author
- 1940 – Gloria Hunniford, Irish television and radio host
- 1941 – Harold Long, Canadian politician (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Paul Theroux, American scholar and author
- 1942 – Ian Callaghan, English footballer
- 1942 – Nick Auf der Maur, Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1998)
- 1943 – Andrzej Badeński, Polish sprinter (d. 2008)
- 1943 – Margaret Pemberton, English author
- 1944 – Mike Carrell, American politician (d. 2013)
- 1945 – Mordechai Mishani, Israeli politician (d. 2013)
- 1946 – David Angell, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2001)
- 1946 – Bob Watson, American baseball player and manager
- 1946 – Adolf Winkelmann, German director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1947 – David A. Adler. American author
- 1947 – William Castell, British business executive.
- 1947 – Bunny Wailer, Jamaican singer-songwriter and drummer (Bob Marley and the Wailers)
- 1949 – Daniel Mangeas, French sportscaster
- 1950 – Ken Griffey, Sr., American baseball player and manager
- 1950 – Eddie Hazel, American guitarist (Parliament-Funkadelic, and The Parliaments) (d. 1992)
- 1950 – Akiko Wada, Japanese singer and actress
- 1951 – David Helvarg, American journalist and activist
- 1952 – Narayan Rane, Indian politician, 16th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
- 1952 – Steven Seagal, American actor, producer, and martial artist
- 1953 – David Moorcroft, English athlete and businessman
- 1953 – Pamela Wallin, Canadian journalist and politician
- 1954 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Anne Lamott, American author
- 1954 – Peter MacNicol, American actor
- 1954 – Juan Williams, Panamanian-American journalist
- 1955 – Lesley Garrett, English soprano
- 1957 – Aliko Dangote, Nigerian business magnate
- 1957 – John M. Ford, American author and poet (d. 2006)
- 1957 – Steve Gustafson, Spanish-American bass player (10,000 Maniacs)
- 1957 – Rosemary Hill, English writer and biographer
- 1958 – Bob Bell, Irish engineer
- 1958 – Yefim Bronfman, Uzbek-American pianist
- 1959 – Babyface, American singer-songwriter and producer (After 7, The Deele, and Manchild)
- 1959 – Uwe Behrens, German footballer and manager
- 1959 – Davy Carton, English-Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Saw Doctors and Blaze X)
- 1959 – Yvan Loubier, Canadian economist and politician
- 1959 – Brian Setzer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Stray Cats, The Tomcats, and The Brian Setzer Orchestra)
- 1960 – Steve Bisciotti, American businessman, co-founded Allegis Group
- 1960 – Katrina Leskanich, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Katrina and the Waves)
- 1960 – Terry Teagle, American basketball player
- 1961 – Nicky Campbell, Scottish journalist and game show host
- 1961 – Joe Cole, American roadie (d. 1991)
- 1962 – Steve Tasker, American football player and sportscaster
- 1962 – Viktor Zuikov, Estonian fencer
- 1963 – Warren DeMartini, American guitarist and songwriter (Ratt)
- 1963 – Jeff Gray, American baseball player and coach
- 1963 – Doris Leuthard, Swiss lawyer and politician
- 1964 – Manon Bollegraf, Dutch tennis player
- 1964 – Felicia Collins, American guitarist (CBS Orchestra)
- 1964 – Gopinath Muthukad, Indian magician
- 1965 – Tim Alexander, American drummer (Primus and Major Lingo)
- 1966 – Steve Claridge, English football player, pundit and coach
- 1967 – Donald Dufresne, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1967 – David Rovics, American singer-songwriter
- 1968 – Orlando Jones, American actor, screenwriter, and producer
- 1969 – Billy Jayne, American actor
- 1969 – Ekaterini Koffa, Greek sprinter
- 1970 – Q-Tip, American rapper, producer, and actor (A Tribe Called Quest)
- 1970 – Enrico Ciccone, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Leonard Doroftei, Romanian-Canadian boxer
- 1970 – Kenny Lattimore, American singer-songwriter
- 1971 – Brad William Henke, American actor
- 1971 – Indro Olumets, Estonian footballer
- 1971 – Al Reyes, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1972 – Ed Byrne, Irish comedian and actor
- 1972 – Priit Kasesalu, Estonian programmer and software developer
- 1973 – Guillaume Canet, French actor and director
- 1973 – Roberto Carlos, Brazilian footballer and manager
- 1973 – Aidan Moffat, Scottish singer-songwriter (Arab Strap)
- 1973 – Christopher Simmons, Canadian-American graphic designer, author, and educator
- 1974 – Eric Greitens, American lieutenant and author
- 1974 – Petros Passalis, Greek footballer
- 1974 – Henning Wehn, German-English comedian
- 1975 – Chris Carrabba, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dashboard Confessional and Further Seems Forever)
- 1975 – Terrence Lewis, Indian dancer and choreographer
- 1975 – Matthew Phillips, New Zealand-Italian rugby player
- 1976 – Sara Renner, Canadian skier
- 1976 – Clare Buckfield, English actress
- 1978 – Sir Christus, Finnish guitarist (Negative)
- 1979 – Iván Alonso, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 – Kenyon Coleman, American football player
- 1979 – Shemekia Copeland, American singer
- 1979 – Rachel Corrie, American activist (d. 2003)
- 1979 – Tsuyoshi Domoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor (KinKi Kids, J-Friends, and Toraji Haiji)
- 1979 – Sophie Ellis-Bextor, English singer-songwriter (Theaudience)
- 1979 – Peter Kopteff, Finnish footballer
- 1980 – Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Charlie Hunnam, English actor and screenwriter
- 1980 – Shao Jiayi, Chinese footballer
- 1980 – Kasey Kahne, American race car driver
- 1980 – Bryce Soderberg, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Lifehouse)
- 1980 – Sabrina A. Parisi, Italian-born American celebutante, television personality, socialite, bestselling author, columnist, actress, model, fashion designer,businesswoman, champion dog breeder
- 1981 – Gretchen Bleiler, American snowboarder
- 1981 – Anis Boussaïdi, Tunisian footballer
- 1981 – Laura Bell Bundy, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1981 – Liz McClarnon, English singer and dancer (Atomic Kitten)
- 1981 – Michael Pitt, American actor, singer, and guitarist (Pagoda)
- 1981 – Alexei Semenov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1982 – Andre Ethier, American baseball player
- 1982 – Damián Lanza, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1982 – Chyler Leigh, American actress
- 1983 – Jamie Chung, American actress
- 1983 – Andrew Dost, American guitarist and songwriter (Fun and Anathallo)
- 1983 – Ryan Merriman, American actor
- 1983 – Hannes Sigurðsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1983 – Haig Sutherland, Canadian actor
- 1984 – Faustina Agolley, English-Australian television host and producer
- 1984 – Jeremy Barrett, American figure skater
- 1984 – Cara DeLizia, American actress
- 1984 – Billy Kay, American actor
- 1984 – Natasha Melnick, American actress
- 1984 – Mandy Moore, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1984 – David Obua, Ugandan footballer
- 1984 – Damien Perquis, French-Polish footballer
- 1984 – Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez, Argentinian footballer
- 1985 – Willo Flood, Irish footballer
- 1985 – Jesús Gámez, Spanish footballer
- 1985 – Dion Phaneuf, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Paula Reca, Argentinian actress
- 1986 – Olivia Borlée, Belgian sprinter
- 1986 – Fernando Gago, Argentinian footballer
- 1986 – Vincent Kompany, Belgian footballer
- 1986 – Tore Reginiussen, Norwegian footballer
- 1986 – Ayesha Takia, Indian actress
- 1986 – Ben Torgersen, American actor
- 1987 – Vladimir Ivanov, Estonian tennis player
- 1987 – Shay Mitchell, Canadian actress
- 1987 – Jamie Renée Smith, American actress
- 1987 – Hayley Westenra, New Zealand soprano (Celtic Woman)
- 1988 – Haley Joel Osment, American actor
- 1990 – Ben Amos, English footballer
- 1990 – Lulinha, Brazilian footballer
- 1990 – Andile Jali, South African footballer
- 1990 – Alex Pettyfer, English actor
- 1991 – AJ Michalka, American singer-songwriter and actress (78violet)
- 1991 – Sergiusz Żymełka, Polish actor
- 1994 – Nerlens Noel, American professional basketball player
- 1995 – Ian Nelson (actor born 1995), American actor
- 2005 – Big Brown, American race horse
- 2007 – Princess Ariane of the Netherlands
Deaths[edit]
- 879 – Louis the Stammerer, French son of Ermentrude of Orléans (b. 846)
- 948 – Hugh of Italy (b. 885)
- 1533 – Frederick I of Denmark (b. 1471)
- 1545 – Costanzo Festa, Italian composer (b. 1485)
- 1585 – Pope Gregory XIII (b. 1502)
- 1599 – Gabrielle d'Estrées, French mistress of Henry IV of France (b. 1571)
- 1601 – Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet (b. 1562)
- 1619 – Thomas Jones, English-Irish archbishop (b. 1550)
- 1640 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer (b. 1578)
- 1646 – Santino Solari, Swiss architect and sculptor (b. 1576)
- 1667 – Jan Marek Marci, Czech doctor and scientist (b. 1595)
- 1704 – William Egon of Fürstenberg, German bishop (b. 1629)
- 1706 – Arthur Chichester, 3rd Earl of Donegall, Irish soldier (b. 1666)
- 1756 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, Italian composer (d. 1661)
- 1760 – Jean Lebeuf, French historian (b. 1687)
- 1786 – John Byron, English admiral (b. 1723)
- 1806 – Horatio Gates, English-American general (b. 1727)
- 1813 – Joseph Louis Lagrange, Italian mathematician and astronomer (b. 1736)
- 1821 – Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople (b. 1746)
- 1823 – Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Austrian philosopher (b. 1757)
- 1871 – Lucio Norberto Mansilla, Argentinian general and politician (b. 1789)
- 1882 – Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (b. 1828)
- 1904 – Isabella II of Spain (b. 1830)
- 1909 – Algernon Charles Swinburne, English author, poet, playwright, and critic (b. 1837)
- 1919 – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general (b. 1879)
- 1920 – Moritz Cantor, German historian (b. 1829)
- 1931 – Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese-American poet and painter (b. 1883)
- 1938 – Joe "King" Oliver, American cornet player and bandleader (b. 1885)
- 1942 – Carl Schenstrøm, Danish actor (b. 1881)
- 1943 – Andreas Faehlmann, Estonian sailor (b. 1898)
- 1945 – Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, Dutch printer (b. 1882)
- 1947 – Charles Nordhoff, English-American author(b. 1887)
- 1954 – Auguste Lumière, French director and producer (b. 1862)
- 1954 – Oscar Mathisen, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1888)
- 1955 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French priest and philosopher (b. 1881)
- 1958 – Chuck Willis, American singer-songwriter (b. 1928)
- 1960 – André Berthomieu, French director and screenwriter (b. 1903)
- 1962 – Michael Curtiz, Hungarian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1886)
- 1962 – Stuart Sutcliffe, Scottish bass player (The Beatles) (b. 1940)
- 1965 – Lloyd Casner, American race car driver (b. 1928)
- 1965 – Linda Darnell, American actress (b. 1923)
- 1966 – Evelyn Waugh, English author (b. 1903)
- 1968 – Gustavs Celmiņš, Latvian politician (b. 1899)
- 1969 – Harley Earl, American businessman (b. 1893)
- 1975 – Marjorie Main, American actress (b. 1890)
- 1978 – Hjalmar Mäe, Estonian politician (b. 1901)
- 1979 – Nino Rota, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1911)
- 1980 – Kay Medford, American actress (b. 1914)
- 1983 – Issam Sartawi, Palestinian activist (b. 1935)
- 1986 – Linda Creed, American singer-songwriter (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Kevin Peter Hall, American actor (b. 1955)
- 1991 – Martin Hannett, English guitarist and producer (The Invisible Girls) (b. 1948)
- 1991 – Natalie Schafer, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1992 – Sam Kinison, American comedian and actor (b. 1953)
- 1993 – Chris Hani, South African politician and activist (b. 1942)
- 1994 – Sam B. Hall, Jr., American lawyer, politician, and judge (b. 1924)
- 1995 – Morarji Desai, Indian politician, 4th Prime Minister of India (b. 1896)
- 1997 – Michael Dorris, American author (b. 1945)
- 1998 – Archbishop Seraphim of Athens (b. 1913)
- 1999 – Heinz Fraenkel-Conrat, German biochemist (b. 1910)
- 2000 – Peter Jones, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2000 – Larry Linville, American actor (b. 1939)
- 2000 – Kirsten Rolffes, Danish actress (b. 1928)
- 2003 – Little Eva, American singer (b. 1943)
- 2005 – Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (Amadeus Quartet) (b. 1923)
- 2005 – Scott Gottlieb, American drummer (Bleed the Dream) (b. 1970)
- 2005 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Al Lucas, American football player (b. 1978)
- 2007 – Charles Philippe Leblond, French-Canadian biologist (b. 1910)
- 2007 – Dakota Staton, American singer (b. 1930)
- 2009 – Deborah Digges, American poet (b. 1950)
- 2010 – Passengers in the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash:
- Ryszard Kaczorowski, Polish politician, 6th President of the Republic of Poland (b. 1919)
- Maria Kaczyńska, Polish economist, First Lady of Poland (b. 1942)
- Lech Kaczyński, Polish lawyer and politician, 4th President of Poland (b. 1949)
- Anna Walentynowicz, Polish activist (b. 1929)
- Janusz Zakrzeński, Polish actor (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Dixie Carter, American actress (b. 1939)
- 2010 – Arthur Mercante, Sr., American referee (b. 1920)
- 2011 – Mikhail Rusyayev, Russian footballer (b. 1964)
- 2011 – Homer Smith, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Luis Aponte Martínez, Puerto Rican cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Lorenzo Antonetti, Italian cardinal (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Raymond Boudon, French academic (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Binod Bihari Chowdhury, Bangladeshi activist (b. 1911)
- 2013 – Jimmy Dawkins, American singer and guitarist (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Robert Edwards, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Alexandru Fronea, Romanian footballer (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Dick Hart, American golfer (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Aleksandar Kozlina, Croatian footballer (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Olive Lewin, Jamaican anthropologist and author (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Robert Hugh McWilliams, Jr., American judge (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Enrique Ros, Cuban-American businessman, author, and activist (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Gordon Thomas, English cyclist (b. 1921)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Christian Feast Day:
- Siblings Day (United States)
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” - Hebrews 1:3
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him."
Luke 23:27
Luke 23:27
Amid the rabble rout which hounded the Redeemer to his doom, there were some gracious souls whose bitter anguish sought vent in wailing and lamentations--fit music to accompany that march of woe. When my soul can, in imagination, see the Saviour bearing his cross to Calvary, she joins the godly women and weeps with them; for, indeed, there is true cause for grief--cause lying deeper than those mourning women thought. They bewailed innocence maltreated, goodness persecuted, love bleeding, meekness about to die; but my heart has a deeper and more bitter cause to mourn. My sins were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders, and crowned with thorn those bleeding brows: my sins cried "Crucify him! crucify him!" and laid the cross upon his gracious shoulders. His being led forth to die is sorrow enough for one eternity: but my having been his murderer, is more, infinitely more, grief than one poor fountain of tears can express.
Why those women loved and wept it were not hard to guess: but they could not have had greater reasons for love and grief than my heart has. Nain's widow saw her son restored--but I myself have been raised to newness of life. Peter's wife's mother was cured of the fever--but I of the greater plague of sin. Out of Magdalene seven devils were cast--but a whole legion out of me. Mary and Martha were favoured with visits--but he dwells with me. His mother bare his body--but he is formed in me the hope of glory. In nothing behind the holy women in debt, let me not be behind them in gratitude or sorrow.
"Love and grief my heart dividing,
With my tears his feet I'll lave--
Constant still in heart abiding,
Weep for him who died to save."
Evening
"thy gentleness hath made me great."
Psalm 18:35
Psalm 18:35
The words are capable of being translated, "thy goodness hath made me great." David gratefully ascribed all his greatness not to his own goodness, but the goodness of God. "Thy providence," is another reading; and providence is nothing more than goodness in action. Goodness is the bud of which providence is the flower, or goodness is the seed of which providence is the harvest. Some render it, "thy help," which is but another word for providence; providence being the firm ally of the saints, aiding them in the service of their Lord. Or again, "thy humility hath made me great." "Thy condescension" may, perhaps, serve as a comprehensive reading, combining the ideas mentioned, including that of humility. It is God's making himself little which is the cause of our being made great. We are so little, that if God should manifest his greatness without condescension, we should be trampled under his feet; but God, who must stoop to view the skies, and bow to see what angels do, turns his eye yet lower, and looks to the lowly and contrite, and makes them great. There are yet other readings, as for instance, the Septuagint, which reads, "thy discipline"--thy fatherly correction--"hath made me great;" while the Chaldee paraphrase reads, "thy word hath increased me." Still the idea is the same. David ascribes all his own greatness to the condescending goodness of his Father in heaven. May this sentiment be echoed in our hearts this evening while we cast our crowns at Jesus' feet, and cry, "thy gentleness hath made me great." How marvellous has been our experience of God's gentleness! How gentle have been his corrections! How gentle his forbearance! How gentle his teachings! How gentle his drawings! Meditate upon this theme, O believer. Let gratitude be awakened; let humility be deepened; let love be quickened ere thou fallest asleep tonight.
===Today's reading: 1 Samuel 13-14, Luke 10:1-24 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: 1 Samuel 13-14
Samuel Rebukes Saul
1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.
2 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.
3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, "Let the Hebrews hear!" 4 So all Israel heard the news: "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines." And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal....
Today's New Testament reading: Luke 10:1-24
Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.2 He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 "When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house....
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BETTER THAN SILVER OR GOLD
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.... Even angels long to look into these things. 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 forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:10-23)
Years after Jesus’ death and resurrection Peter wrote about the mystery of Christ, things that “angels long to look into.” These highest and best truths about God include the mighty act of redemption. Jesus had said he came to gave his life as a ransom (Mk. 10:45), and here Peter says that we were redeemed not by silver or gold (the richest of the world’s riches) but by “the precious blood of Christ” (the richest of God’s treasures, the life of the very Son of God).
Redemption or ransom is at the heart of the Old Testament pictures of salvation. It means to liberate someone by buying them back. God asked the Hebrews to make a sacrifice of every firstborn. For sheep, goats and the like this meant death, but God told the Hebrews to substitute a lamb for their firstborn children. This liberation was ransom. A lamb instead of a son. But in the case of Jesus it was the Son instead of us.
Remember three “s”s when you think of salvation through Jesus: sacrifice (his death), substitution (him instead of us), satisfaction (the fulfillment of the justice of God). A mystery to us? Yes! One that even angels would love to peer into, if they could.
Ponder This: What is something that you know about Christ today that angels would sing about?
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Today's Lent reading: Luke 23-24 (NIV)
View today's Lent reading on Bible Gateway
1 Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Messiah, a king."
3 So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"You have said so," Jesus replied.
4 Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
5 But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."
6 On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time....
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