There is much discussion as to how to tackle the debt left by six years of ALP government. ALP leaders claim the debt is not a bad problem. People living in the real world note $12 billion of interest a year and a further decade of structural debt during boom times is unsustainable and our children will suffer if we fail to address the issue now. We have an example of what we can do. Margaret Thatcher was elected PM on this day in 1979.
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
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Zaya Toma. Born the same date Latvia declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 .. and Star Wars Day. I join with Latvians in honouring your day. May the fourth be with you.
- 1008 – Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Persian sufi (d. 1088)
- 1649 – Chhatrasal, Indian warrior (d. 1731)
- 1655 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (d. 1731)
- 1767 – Tyagaraja, Indian composer (d. 1847)
- 1796 – Horace Mann, American educator and politician (d. 1859)
- 1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian (d. 1859)
- 1852 – Alice Liddell, English model (d. 1934)
- 1864 – Marie Booth, English daughter of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1937)
- 1914 – Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
- 1916 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Ed Cassidy, American drummer (Spirit and Rising Sons) (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-English actress and singer (d. 1993)
- 1937 – Marisa Robles, Spanish harpist
- 1946 – John Watson, Irish race car driver
- 1950 – Darryl Hunt, English bass player (The Pogues and Plummet Airlines)
- 1954 – Pia Zadora, American actress and singer
- 1960 – Andrew Denton, Australian television host and producer
- 1961 – Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer (Bucks Fizz)
- 1966 – Jane McGrath, English-Australian activist, co-founded the McGrath Foundation (d. 2008)
- 1994 – Pauline Ducruet, Monegasque daughter of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco
- 2009 – Prince Henrik of Denmark
Matches
- 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholic.
- 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
- 1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson
- 1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
- 1675 – King Charles II of England orders the construction of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
- 1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
- 1886 – Haymarket affair: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, Illinois, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
- 1902 – 8 fishermen lose their lives in Galway Bay, County Galway, Ireland in the Galway Bay drowning tragedy.
- 1904 – Charles Stewart Rolls meets Frederick Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England.
- 1919 – May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chineseterritory to Japan.
- 1932 – In Atlanta, Georgia, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces atTulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.
- 1945 – World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
- 1945 – World War II: German surrender at Lüneburg Heath, the North German Army surrenders to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
- 1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash at the Superga hill at the edge of Turin, Italy.
- 1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
- 1959 – The 1st Grammy Awards are held.
- 1961 – American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South.
- 1972 – The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation".
- 1974 – An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak.
- 1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
Despatches
- 1436 – Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish rebel leader (b. 1390)
- 1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian (b. 1630)
- 1916 – Members of the Easter Rising
- Edward Daly, Irish commandant (b. 1891)
- Joseph Plunkett, Irish journalist and general (b. 1887)
- Willie Pearse, Irish activist (b. 1891)
- 1970 – Victims of the Kent State shootings
- Allison Krause, American student (b. 1951)
- Jeffrey Miller, American student (b. 1950)
- Sandra Scheuer, American student (b. 1949)
- William Knox Schroeder, American (b. 1950)
Labor shows it’s learnt nothing
Piers Akerman – Sunday, May 04, 2014 (8:45am)
Senator Sam Dastyari is the embodiment of one of the biggest reasons why the Labor Party attracted the votes of barely a third of Australians at the last election.
A student wheeler-dealer, he worked with Labor lobbyists Hawker Britton (haven’t heard much from political mastermind Bruce Hawker lately) before being elected secretary of NSW Labor with the help of right-wing unions, and subsequently being slipped into a vacant Senate slot.
The 30-year-old has never faced an election and his senate term has three years to run.
Proving you can take a boy out of Sussex Street but you can’t take Sussex Street out of a boy, the wet-behind-the-ears senator attempted to smear Audit Commission chairman Tony Shepherd in a senate committee hearing on Friday.
The hearings, the second since the Audit Commission was set to work last year, were designed to assist the public probe the commission’s members about their work.
Dastyari chose to ignore the five-volume report (three volumes are exhaustive appendices) and try to play the man.
Tony Shepherd has been engaged in the construction business longer than Dastyari has been on Earth. He has spent 40 years nation building, putting together huge infrastructure projects including the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, the Moomba to Sydney ethane pipeline, the Anzac warships, Victoria’s CityLink and Eastlink tollways, Sydney’s Walsh Bay redevelopment, power stations, railways, highways and freeways, the stuff that makes the nation work.
Never has there been a suggestion of corruption raised or his integrity questioned.
Until he met Labor’s neophyte senator carrying his bucket of slime, that is. Dastyari prides himself as a Labor warrior and is held up as such by Labor’s media cheer squad.
Anne Summers, former prime minister Julia Gillard’s feminist spear carrier, approvingly noted in a profile in the Sydney Morning Herald last August that it ‘was no doubt reassuring that … “Dastyari had married Helen Barron, an economist he’d met while she was on the staff of former NSW ALP premier Morris Iemma, and the daughter of renowned ALP svengali Peter Barron. Barron could be expected to give sound advice to his young son-in-law, as would other party elders such as Unions NSW boss Mark Lennon and Barron’s close friend Graham Richardson, who had been NSW ALP general secretary from 1976 to 1983.”
The Labor senator began his attack on the commission, made up primarily of respected former senior public servants, asking whether it had a “disproportionately conservative make-up?” Putting aside the obvious fact that the politics of public servants should never be an issue, one might ask whether Dastyari could possibly suggest a single MP from his own side of politics who had served in any senior financial capacity with any credibility or who could match any of the committee members in the integrity stakes. Forget it.
He then delved into the Sussex Street mire to ask Shepherd about a donation that he allegedly made to a foundation association connected to the NSW Liberal Party in 2010.
Shepherd would have none of it and, unflustered, pointed out that when he was associated with the construction giant, Transfield, he had banned the company from making any political donations.
He did so because, in NSW, under Dastyari’s Labor Party, the stench of corruption was spreading like noxious bilge oil.
It is to the credit of Greens Senator Richard Di Natale that he quickly moved to dissuade the junior senator from his unprincipled and totally irrelevant attack. It would also appear that Di Natale took the first opportunity at the end of the hearing to apologise for Dastyari’s behaviour before shaking Shepherd’s hand.
Dastyari’s gutter behaviour reflects the worst of Labor’s response to the Audit Commission’s considerable efforts.
Most Australians understand that the commission’s recommendations are broad guidelines for fixing Labor’s economic mess. As Shepherd told Dastyari and the other senators on Friday: “There is no such thing as government money, only taxpayers’ money, and we shouldn’t ask the taxpayer to continue to pay for duplication and inefficiencies.”
A student wheeler-dealer, he worked with Labor lobbyists Hawker Britton (haven’t heard much from political mastermind Bruce Hawker lately) before being elected secretary of NSW Labor with the help of right-wing unions, and subsequently being slipped into a vacant Senate slot.
The 30-year-old has never faced an election and his senate term has three years to run.
Proving you can take a boy out of Sussex Street but you can’t take Sussex Street out of a boy, the wet-behind-the-ears senator attempted to smear Audit Commission chairman Tony Shepherd in a senate committee hearing on Friday.
The hearings, the second since the Audit Commission was set to work last year, were designed to assist the public probe the commission’s members about their work.
Dastyari chose to ignore the five-volume report (three volumes are exhaustive appendices) and try to play the man.
Tony Shepherd has been engaged in the construction business longer than Dastyari has been on Earth. He has spent 40 years nation building, putting together huge infrastructure projects including the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, the Moomba to Sydney ethane pipeline, the Anzac warships, Victoria’s CityLink and Eastlink tollways, Sydney’s Walsh Bay redevelopment, power stations, railways, highways and freeways, the stuff that makes the nation work.
Never has there been a suggestion of corruption raised or his integrity questioned.
Until he met Labor’s neophyte senator carrying his bucket of slime, that is. Dastyari prides himself as a Labor warrior and is held up as such by Labor’s media cheer squad.
Anne Summers, former prime minister Julia Gillard’s feminist spear carrier, approvingly noted in a profile in the Sydney Morning Herald last August that it ‘was no doubt reassuring that … “Dastyari had married Helen Barron, an economist he’d met while she was on the staff of former NSW ALP premier Morris Iemma, and the daughter of renowned ALP svengali Peter Barron. Barron could be expected to give sound advice to his young son-in-law, as would other party elders such as Unions NSW boss Mark Lennon and Barron’s close friend Graham Richardson, who had been NSW ALP general secretary from 1976 to 1983.”
The Labor senator began his attack on the commission, made up primarily of respected former senior public servants, asking whether it had a “disproportionately conservative make-up?” Putting aside the obvious fact that the politics of public servants should never be an issue, one might ask whether Dastyari could possibly suggest a single MP from his own side of politics who had served in any senior financial capacity with any credibility or who could match any of the committee members in the integrity stakes. Forget it.
He then delved into the Sussex Street mire to ask Shepherd about a donation that he allegedly made to a foundation association connected to the NSW Liberal Party in 2010.
Shepherd would have none of it and, unflustered, pointed out that when he was associated with the construction giant, Transfield, he had banned the company from making any political donations.
He did so because, in NSW, under Dastyari’s Labor Party, the stench of corruption was spreading like noxious bilge oil.
It is to the credit of Greens Senator Richard Di Natale that he quickly moved to dissuade the junior senator from his unprincipled and totally irrelevant attack. It would also appear that Di Natale took the first opportunity at the end of the hearing to apologise for Dastyari’s behaviour before shaking Shepherd’s hand.
Dastyari’s gutter behaviour reflects the worst of Labor’s response to the Audit Commission’s considerable efforts.
Most Australians understand that the commission’s recommendations are broad guidelines for fixing Labor’s economic mess. As Shepherd told Dastyari and the other senators on Friday: “There is no such thing as government money, only taxpayers’ money, and we shouldn’t ask the taxpayer to continue to pay for duplication and inefficiencies.”
The false equivalence of ICAC
Miranda Devine – Sunday, May 04, 2014 (6:42am)
THE demise of Mike Gallagher makes you wonder where ICAC is going next.
Of course there is no excuse for slush fund trickery, if that has been happening. But can we please stop equating the venal corruption for personal enrichment at taxpayer’s expense, which has been exposed in Labor’s ranks, with clumsy Liberal attempts to circumvent Nathan Rees’ vengeful restrictions on campaign donations.
And why is only one side paying the price.
Cyclists’ lethal entitlement mentality
Miranda Devine – Sunday, May 04, 2014 (6:39am)
VIDEO taken moments before the fatal bicycle accident in Sydney’s Neutral Bay last week shows the 35-year-old male cyclist, whizzing down the footpath, onto a pedestrian crossing, and straight into the path of a turning bus. The bus driver would never have seen him.
The bicycle lobby can get as indignant as it likes, but nothing will change the laws of physics. When a large vehicle hits flimsy aluminium tubes and human flesh, there is no contest. It doesn’t matter who is right or wrong in the end.
The “a meter matters” campaign, to force drivers to keep their distance, is worthwhile but it’s not a blanket protection. If you’re riding a bike on Sydney’s congested roads, the slightest mistake can have fatal consequences.
Roads minister Duncan Gay’s kneejerk proposal to licence cyclists won’t help either. There is already a law against riding on the footpath and that didn’t prevent this tragedy.
The biggest danger for cyclists is an aggressive new entitlement mentality, fostered by the bicycle lobby, that makes them feel invincible.
A man who can save the Senate
Miranda Devine – Sunday, May 04, 2014 (5:59am)
THE trick of running a business - or a government - is to keep a lot of balls in the air at the same time.
And some of the biggest balls in Australia at the moment are in the Senate – six new crossbenchers arriving in July.
They represent the will of the people, who voted in record numbers against the major parties. One in four people. Record numbers, record disillusionment. It’s a message neither party has heard.
So far the newbies have had little attention from the government, despite the fact that they will have the power to block or pass legislation.
That’s because the Coalition will have just 33 seats in the 76 member senate. So if Labor and the Greens gang up against them, in order for the government to get its legislation through, it will need the support of six of eight crossbenchers, of whom at least four will be newbies.
There are the three Palmer United Party members, Glenn Lazarus, 49, a former footballer, Jacqui Lambie, 43, a Tasmanian ex-soldier, and Dio Wang, 32, a Chinese-born engineer; the Motoring Enthusiasts Party’s Ricky Muir, 34, an unemployed sawmiller, and the Liberal Democrats’ David Leyonhjelm, 61, a libertarian former vet.
Last, but not least, is one of the most impressive thinkers ever to hit Parliament House, Family First’s Bob Day, 61, a former plumber from Adelaide who became one of Australia’s most successful home builders.
Dismissed by the media as “a mishmash, grab bag, barnyard, liquorice allsorts, flotsam and jetsam, motley crew of Star Wars aliens” who don’t belong in the hushed corridors of parliament house, it is the newbies’ very apartness from political insiders that voters wanted. Mr Smith goes to Washington times six.
The newbies are there to hold to account an increasingly out of touch political class.
That’s a big responsibility. But in the vacuum before they take their seats on July 1, these very important new crossbenchers have been quietly organising themselves into a formidable force.
They have been meeting and getting to know one another, united in a modest desire to do some good, forming an alliance that will likely determine the fate of the Abbott government. Since it is human nature to forget demanding benefactors once you have gained power, it’s unlikely Clive Palmer will exert much influence over his senators for long.
The senator-elect most likely to be their natural leader is Bob Day.
A one-time Liberal, Day quit the party in 2008 after losing a biased pre-selection which favoured Jamie Briggs, a 31-year-old political apparatchik.
Day says the rejection did him a favour. As a crossbencher he will have far more influence.
“My job to try to plead with the powers that be. I think I can be a great help to the government.”
He still lives in the same house in the Adelaide Hills he built when he married Bronte 33 years ago, and where they raised three children. Friends say he is honest, smart, lives modestly, and as dynamic as “a little Energiser bunny”.
Unlike most current politicians, Day has a profound philosophical framework and an understanding of Edmund Burke’s motto that “politics is morality writ large.”
His mentor was Bert Kelly, the farmer turned politician of the 1960s and ‘70s who virtually singlehandedly brought about the great transformation of Australia from high tariff protectionist to prosperous free trader.
Day wants to emulate Kelly’s success in bettering the nation. His aim, and the platform of his Christian party, is to ensure “every family has a job and a house”.
“If you’ve got a job and a home and kids you don’t need the government. High taxes, urban planning, industrial relations all [present] barriers that prevent people from working…. There are laws that are not just economically stupid but morally wrong.”
He decided to enter politics when he was president of the Housing Industry Association, trying to fix housing affordability and apprentice shortages.
“I went to see some politicians and realized the problem was they didn’t have a clue. They’d never had a proper job, never worked on a building site or a hospital ward. I thought this was crazy…Unless you know what it’s like to open your shop in the morning and have no customers come in the door you shouldn’t be in politics.”
Of his crossbench allies, he says: “We have two things in common: we’re all brand new and we all want to do a good job.”
Far from being a rabble, the newbies may surprise us. Along with established crossbenchers, Independent Nick Zenophon, a 55-year-old lawyer, and former boilermaker John Madigan, 47, of the DLP, they are allergic to cynical political expediency. If Day can help them hang together, they will represent the concerns of ordinary Australians and steer the government in the right direction.
In an era in which voters have switched off, and few leaders make it past a single term, Bob Day, Liberal party reject, is the “humble member” who might just set Canberra alight.
Poll confirms: wrong promise broken
Andrew Bolt May 04 2014 (5:17pm)
Blame-shifting is not a good look if you’re trying to sell a controversial - or plain bad - idea:
UPDATE
Simon Benson:
Far worse are the politicians – Greens and Labor - who betray their duty to help save it, too.
UPDATE
Peter Reith warns as Malcolm Turnbull broods:
===An exclusive Galaxy poll commissioned by The Sunday Telegraph has found Mr Abbott would lose an election if it was held now, with two party-preferred support for the Coalition tumbling to 48 per cent since the September election....If you must break a promise, break the one to introduce to do something people hate. Don’t break the one people prefer you kept.
Nearly three-quarters of voters — 72 per cent — believe Mr Abbott’s debt tax is a “broken promise"…
One senior government source insisted that Mr Abbott “hates the idea’’ of the deficit levy but can’t see another way to spread the pain on to high income earners…
Some ministers insisted it was Treasurer Joe Hockey’s idea but was strongly supported by the PM....
Despite the PM’s moves to quell a backbench revolt over paid maternity leave by capping payouts at $50,000, the Galaxy poll also found 65 per cent of voters disagreed with the scheme in the current budgetary environment.
UPDATE
Simon Benson:
Economically, it is questionable whether the debt levy even stacks up ...Yet for all our protests, this is the bottom line: Abbott may is considering breaking a promise in order to save the country. That’s not a crime.
The Commission of Audit’s chairman Tony Shepherd, who privately believes Hockey and Abbott have taken leave of their senses, went as far as he could ... to say as much.
He said the debt and deficit tax was a matter for government but said they would want to make damn sure it doesn’t have an adverse effect on economic growth.
Far worse are the politicians – Greens and Labor - who betray their duty to help save it, too.
UPDATE
Peter Reith warns as Malcolm Turnbull broods:
Mr Reith said he had received angry phone calls from Liberal supporters last week as plans for the levy were revealed.(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
“People were not happy, I mean they were angry and I’m talking about solid Liberal party people who have supported the party for years,” he said…
It’s understood there are rumblings in the cabinet room, with senior Liberals, including deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop and Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, holding reservations about the planned tax.
The Bolt Report today
Andrew Bolt May 04 2014 (2:38pm)
On Channel 10 at 10am and 4pm.
Abbott’s deficit tax. Sacrifice or suicide?
My guest: Amanda Vanstone, former Howard Government minister and member of the Commission of Audit.
The panel: Michael Kroger and Cassandra Wilkinson.
NewsWatch: Rowan Dean.
Plus: the menace of Clive Palmer’s money and a warning the arrest of a man who quoted Churchill in public.
And this: is Labor’s what-budget-crisis? strategy clever politics or a reckless betrayal of the national interest?
Your Say and more.
The videos appear here.
UPDATE
Continue reading 'The Bolt Report today'
===Abbott’s deficit tax. Sacrifice or suicide?
My guest: Amanda Vanstone, former Howard Government minister and member of the Commission of Audit.
The panel: Michael Kroger and Cassandra Wilkinson.
NewsWatch: Rowan Dean.
Plus: the menace of Clive Palmer’s money and a warning the arrest of a man who quoted Churchill in public.
And this: is Labor’s what-budget-crisis? strategy clever politics or a reckless betrayal of the national interest?
Your Say and more.
The videos appear here.
UPDATE
THE BOLT REPORT
04 MAY 2014
INTERVIEW WITH AMANDA VANSTONE
ANDREW BOLT, PRESENTER: The Commission of Audit this week said the Government had to slash spending. Some cuts it suggested were just about efficiency, like scrapping 35 Government bodies, leaving education to the states. But a lot was about ending our handout mentality. We should cut Family Tax Benefits, pay a bit for doctor’s visits, force richer Australians to have to have private health insurance, include the family home in the pension assets test, and make the young pay more for their degrees. Joining me is a member of the Audit Commission, Amanda Vanstone, a former minister in the Howard Government. Thanks for joining me, Amanda.
AMANDA VANSTONE: I hope it’s a pleasure, Andrew. It usually is.
ANDREW BOLT: Are your cuts just about saving money, or is it also about changing our culture?
AMANDA VANSTONE: Look, it is not just about saving money - although we do need to do that. We know that the Rudd and Gillard Government went on this crazy spending spree, and you don’t have to listen to a former Liberal – as in, I am still a Liberal but a former Liberal member - to say that. Hawke and Keating have both said the spending has to stop. So it is about that. But it’s also about changing a culture. I mean, just think about it. We’re a country that says, “I grow up and I expect to have free health care, I expect to have welfare when I need it. I expect to have school laid on. I expect everything to be paid for.” And, by the way, “If I stay home and look after my kids, I expect you to pay for that too.” As if there’s someone else paying. But in fact it’s all of us paying. And, we just have to say to ourselves, “Look, you know, over time, why don’t we bring this back and get a bit more sensible about what we expect each other to pay for?”
ANDREW BOLT: It sounds like you would think that these - a lot of these cuts, particularly to that welfare mentality or that handout mentality, would be worth doing even if we didn’t have a Budget emergency, or crisis, or whatever you want to call it?
AMANDA VANSTONE: Well, I - that’s right. And there’s some debate about that. Some people say there’s not a crisis. Well look, we’re doing OK at the moment. But the old message is, and it is a good one, “Fix your roof while the sun is shining.” And while we are OK at the moment, I think this also true - that if we don’t change course, we won’t be. It’s a bit like saying, “Don’t worry. There’s plenty of years until we hit the rocks.” Well, why don’t we start now and go on a gradual glide of savings, not affecting people so dramatically. And one good example of that is the age pension. You know, we could keep the age pension at today’s dollar value, maintain it at its real value, so it would go up with CPI, but instead of indexing it to male average weekly earnings, index it to average weekly earnings. Now, what would that mean? A very slow glide of a change, but massive savings to - to the Australian Government. I think it’s a sensible thing to do.
ANDREW BOLT: Now, Amanda, you’ve referred to some people saying, “Don’t worry, there’s no problem there.” That’s obviously a reference to Bill Shorten, the Opposition Leader. Have a listen to him having a go at your commission.
BILL SHORTEN: This is a report written by big business, for big business, that will hurt hard-working families.
ANDREW BOLT: Amanda, what do you make of that?
AMANDA VANSTONE: Well, I don’t think too many people are listening to Bill Shorten for much longer. But, look, we had one business person on the commission. We had three former very senior public servants. And myself, who’s had the experience of being in Cabinet, especially at a time when savings need to be made. I mean, if Bill Shorten thinks big business thinks it’s a great idea to keep the impost on - tax impost on higher companies, change the Paid Parental Leave Scheme that Mr Abbott wanted to have and return those savings into child care, well, you know, good on him. I think that, for example, is a very sensible recommendation. More child care and more flexible child care. Because, Andrew, anyone who is at work now is really battling to get child care. It’s been an industry that’s built up, designed by Canberra for people who work 9 to 5, and it needs to change. It needs to be available to nurses who work odd hours and anyone else working shift work. We need to be much more flexible with our child care and we can do that if we put some money from savings and so on from the Paid Parental Leave Scheme into child care change.
ANDREW BOLT: But, Amanda, here’s what worries me. You’ve got Labor saying there is no crisis. You’ve presented $70 billion worth of savings, and they’ve said - they haven’t endorsed a single one of them apart from what you’ve just mentioned, the cut that you said to Tony Abbott’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme, because that will embarrass Tony Abbott. You’ve got every interest group in the country screaming blue murder and the Government soggy in the polls. You - we’re not going to get the change that you say we need, are we?
Continue reading 'The Bolt Report today'The Left’s silence on the evil that is Boko Haram
Andrew Bolt May 04 2014 (6:40am)
The Guardian’s Nick Cohen on the fear of describing Boko Haram as it really is:
===Terrorists from a religious cult so reactionary you don’t have to stretch the language too far to describe it as fascistic attack a school. The assault on a civilian target, filled with non-combatant children, has a grotesque logic behind it. They call themselves “Boko Haram”, which translates as “western education is forbidden”. The sect regards learning as oppression. They will stop all teaching that conflicts with a holy book from the 7th century and accounts of doubtful provenance on the life and sayings of their prophet written hundreds of years after he died.The enslavement of so many girls - girls who were simply seeking an education - has finally stirred some interest in the West. But the muder of schoolboys couldn’t:
A desire for sexual supremacy accompanies their loathing of knowledge. They take 220 schoolgirls as slaves and force them to convert to their version of Islam. They either rape them or sell them on for £10 or so to new masters. The girls are the victims of slavery, child abuse and forced marriage…
As you can see, English does not lack plain words to describe the foulness of the crimes in Nigeria, and no doubt they would be used in the highly improbable event of western soldiers seizing and selling women.
Yet read parts of the press and you enter a world of euphemism. They have not been enslaved but “abducted” or “kidnapped”, as if they will be released unharmed when the parties have negotiated a mutually acceptable ransom. Writers are typing with one eye over their shoulder: watching their backs to make sure that no one can accuse them of “demonising the other”.
Turn from today’s papers to the theoretical pages of leftwing journals and you find that the grounds for understanding Boko Haram more and condemning it less were prepared last year.
Without fully endorsing Boko Haram, of course, socialists explained that it finds “resonance in the hearts of many poor and dispossessed” people, who are revolted by “the corruption and flamboyant lifestyle of the elites”. Islamism is recast as a rational reaction to local corruption and the global oppression of “neoliberalism”, one of those conveniently vague labels that can mean just about anything....
“The mechanical denunciation of the west,” wrote the French political theorist Pascal Bruckner in 2010, “forbids the western bloc, which is eternally guilty, to judge or combat other systems, other states, other religions. Our past crimes command us to keep our mouths closed.” He might have been writing today, so persistent is the belief that the west is the root cause of the only oppression worth mentioning…
If occidentalism was absurd in the past, it’s preposterous now. Boko Haram is not reacting to western intervention in Nigeria, for there is none....
Meanwhile, we are moving faster than anyone expected to a new age in which China will be the world’s largest economy. For the first time since the 18th century, the dominant power will not allow internal opposition or the Chinese equivalent of the campaigns on behalf of the victims of its foreign policy that we saw in Britain, France and the US in the last 200 years. We have not begun to understand the turn for the worse the cause of global human rights is taking as empires shift.
In February, Boko Haram militants murdered 59 schoolboys. They separated the boys from the girls, telling the girls to abandon school and get married before sending them home, and then slaughtered the boys. That killing spree was just one in dozens of attacks on schools, houses of worship and random civilians.Corruption, cowardice, incompetence, betrayal - a disgusting failure of governance has given Nigeria a government unable to defend schoolgirls from evil.
It’s GetUp’s ABC. Conservatives must just pay for it
Andrew Bolt May 04 2014 (5:42am)
When GetUp teams with ABC veterans to rally for the ABC I think we know in whose ideological hands the broadcaster is.
UPDATE
Tim Blair wonders why the Left is hiding in Bananas in Pyjamas costumes.
===UPDATE
Tim Blair wonders why the Left is hiding in Bananas in Pyjamas costumes.
A Governor not welcome at Anzac Day should resign
Andrew Bolt May 04 2014 (5:28am)
After his Dawn Service attack last week on the centenary commemoration of Anzac Day, the Tasmanian Governor cannot possibly be asked to speak at next year’s Dawn Service, too:
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
===TASMANIA’S Governor Peter Underwood may not be invited to speak at next year’s centenary Anzac Day service after a barrage of complaints about the address he gave at last week’s service in Hobart.But what does it say about Underwood’s breach of conventions that he’s now inappropriate to be the Queen’s representative at the centenary of Anzac Day? He should resign. He is unable to fulfill his duties.
RSL state president Robert Dick said the organisation had received many calls and emails in response to Mr Underwood’s address and the matter would be considered by the RSL State Congress.
Mr Dick was visiting the Western Front at the time of the address but still received calls from outraged veterans while in France… Mr Dick said many veterans at the service had walked away shaking their heads and were upset.
“Due to the sacrifices made in war, the Governor has the right to freedom of speech,” Mr Dick said. “But it was inappropriate dialogue for Anzac Day and he has politicised his role.
“Protocol says the Governor is invited to speak on Anzac Day but people are suggesting he (should) not be invited to the centenary service due to the backlash.”
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Carr was meant to work in our interests, not his own
Andrew Bolt May 04 2014 (5:09am)
Bob Carr burns friends, allies and the national interest to make a minor literary sensation. What a vain man:
===Australia’s spy agencies are concerned at potential breaches of official secrecy in Bob Carr’s published diary of his time as foreign minister…How selfish and vain do you have to treat the job of foreign minister as just material for a book?
Under special scrutiny is Mr Carr’s disclosure in his book of what appears to be a station of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service in the tiny Gulf nation, United Arab Emirates.
The location and operations of Australia’s overseas spies are classified and kept secret under law.
It is also understood officials in the United States government are unhappy Mr Carr has made explicit the contents of intelligence material shared with Australia, including a CIA report on the character of rebels in Libya - confirming the operation of the agency in that country, in breach of all protocols…
The revelations in the book may have also entangled former Labor leader Kim Beazley, now Australia’s ambassador in Washington…
Mr Carr has said he gave permission to reproduce emails in the diary that include forthright criticism of US Secretary of State, John Kerry…
The Sunday Age asked Mr Beazley whether Mr Carr had sought permission to include the emails or whether the disclosure could complicate his dealings in Washington.
“When you are an ambassador you don’t enter debate, you just roll with the punches,’’ Mr Beazley said.
Another conflict of interest problem for an Abbott Government staffer
Andrew Bolt May 04 2014 (4:50am)
Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion has a staffer with a big conflict of interest:
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The minister’s adviser, William “Smiley” Johnstone, is the majority shareholder of Indigenous Development Corporation (IDC), a property development business that is on two of the government’s “standing offer” lists of favoured suppliers. Both lists relate to Senator Scullion’s portfolio responsibilities.
Mr Johnstone is also the founder and leading executive of Indigenous Corporate Partners (ICP), which helps clients lobby and negotiate with government…
“Indigenous Corporate Partners can assist your organisation to identify grants and funding available through both government and private enterprise,” the company’s website says.
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=== Posts from last year ===
4 her, so she can see how I see her
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“GILLARD PLANNED A BARRAGE OF ABBOTT WEDGIES”: ALP staffer
Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, wanted an unprecedented eight-month election campaign to give her the time necessary to cripple Tony Abbott in a barrage of blue-sky social legislation, according to an ALP Media staffer.
Gillard’s insidious Media Department, headed by the 457 wonder boy, John McTernan, is developing cracks and those with a conscience are wincing with embarrassment at Gillard’s blatant use of the disabled.
This NDIS legislation had been on ice for over two years and was passed within days of Gillard’s Press Club announcement of a September 14 election.
But in typical Gillard fashion it had no details, no form of implementation or who would administer it or who would be covered.
“This early announcement of an election will give people certainty”, she said.
Certainty? Certainty of what? There was only one thing people wanted certainty of and that was Gillard’s departure!
“It’s not a good look”, said the staffer. “A few of us are disgusted over this one and there’s been quite few resignations.”
McTernan’s job is to get Gillard re-elected but he has misread we Aussies. What has happened is the Gillard disaster has meant everyone is now taking an interest in politics, and that’s not good for Labor.
Exotics, McTernan and Gillard have underestimated the Aussie punters’ intellect.
Blind Freddie and his dog can see through the endless crap we are served up daily.
Most of us expect all this from a Labor Party in its death throes, but not when it involves the disabled and a Gonski generation of Labor-induced illiterate kids and teachers.
Even ABC and Fairfax lefties are hiding their faces in shame while rehashing their pro-Gillard opinion pieces.
The fact is that Gonski is an unholy mess, the NBN is a white elephant and the NDIS is nothing more than a cheap fraud perpetrated on the desperately needy.
Abbott is smarter than Gillard. He can now sit back and watch her stew in her own excrement.
Her locker is empty with nothing left over for the hustings.
Jenny Macklin, Gillard’s partner in the infamous Communist Socialist Forum (whose aim was to infiltrate and undermine the ALP) yesterday tried to explain what the NDIS would cover.
She said physical and mental injuries.
Mmmm, really Jenny? That covers just about all of us, including the Islamic nutter who smashed the cop car with a milk crate! He was on a disability pension due to a football injury.
He, of course, was excused by the magistrate.
Hang on, a football injury for Christ’s sake? Then surely alcoholism and drug addiction will qualify. Kleptomania maybe? Peanut butter allergies, bad backs, impotence, arachnophobia?
It’s bloody endless and indefinable and the Bill is certain to spend 20 years in Abbott’s too expensive basket.
In Gillard’s short tenure we have gone from the penthouse to the outhouse and she has knowingly dragged the hopes of the disabled down with her in a last gasp attempt to gain credibility.
I (and 75% of Australia) am suffering from severe depression and I feel a debilitating migraine coming on.
Let’s get in the queue.
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a Doctor Who steampunk TARDIS
Artist: ~ Andrew Colunga (Artist)
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Give mum a taste of France! Try the French Toast Chocolate Sandwich recipe from our cook book, Chocolate: A Love Story http://pinterest.com/pin/
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Annoying phone call from power company. "Are you Mr Ball? I would like to speak to Mr Ball" "I'm sorry. I .. I think I just killed him"
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Best Doctor Who themed Lounge door ever.
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Film Writers Tell Life as Communists from Los Angeles Times, December 6, 1951
http://
Edward Dmytryk, producer and director, told the story of how the “Hollywood Ten” became the “Hollywood Nine” when he realized the true motives of Communism.
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Overstated - ed
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Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
~1 John 3:18
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Orange Crush... Last Night's Sunset.
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Lady Liberty and the Freedom Tower — at Statton Island.
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I want the words to be more emphatic. Be good to your children. It is ok to not force the state to take them from their parents to avoid neglect. - ed
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At the Australian Vietnamese Aged Care Services Nursing Home update presentation.
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And a fantastic Doctor Who themed Fridge for the Kitchen.
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God is in your life all the time. I like to tell people about the wonderful things God does. But when I look at these fine images and words, it is as if all God is is a positive attitude. Well, God has already done something that has made your life. And he may transform it for you many times. But if you are training yourself to ignore him, you may miss opportunity. Maybe it isn't a positive attitude that works, but a faithful devotion? - ed
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May the fourth be with you
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Guana Island in the British Virgin Islands Offers Honeymooners the Ultimate Privacy
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May 4: Mother's Day in Hungary, Lithuania, Mozambique, Portugal, Romania and Spain (2014); Remembrance of the Dead in the Netherlands; Star Wars Day
- 1776 – The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations became the first of England's Thirteen Colonies to renounce its allegiance to the British Crown.
- 1814 – Ferdinand VII abolished the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism.
- 1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy engaged Alliednaval forces at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other.
- 1974 – An all-female Japanese team reached the summit of Manaslu(pictured) in the Himalayas, becoming the first women to climb an8,000-meter peak.
- 2000 – Ken Livingstone took office as the first Mayor of London.
Events[edit]
- 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
- 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
- 1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson
- 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward, Prince of Wales.
- 1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.
- 1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw.
- 1675 – King Charles II of England orders the construction of the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
- 1686 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
- 1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III.
- 1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultankilled by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris.
- 1814 – Emperor Napoleon I of France arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile.
- 1814 – King Ferdinand VII of Spain signs the Decrete of the 4th of May, returning Spain to absolutism.
- 1836 – Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians
- 1859 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking the counties of Devon and Cornwall in England.
- 1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate Bay is fought in Japan.
- 1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
- 1886 – Haymarket affair: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, Illinois, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd.
- 1902 – 8 fishermen lose their lives in Galway Bay, County Galway, Ireland in the Galway Bay drowning tragedy.
- 1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal.
- 1904 – Charles Stewart Rolls meets Frederick Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England.
- 1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created.
- 1912 – Italy occupies the Greek island of Rhodes.
- 1919 – May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chineseterritory to Japan.
- 1932 – In Atlanta, Georgia, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
- 1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces atTulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before.
- 1945 – World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army.
- 1945 – World War II: German surrender at Lüneburg Heath, the North German Army surrenders to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.
- 1945 – World War II: Denmark is granted liberation, when Germany was forced to step out of Denmark thus ending 5 years of occupation.
- 1946 – In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz federal prison. Five people are killed in the riot.
- 1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash at the Superga hill at the edge of Turin, Italy.
- 1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
- 1959 – The 1st Grammy Awards are held.
- 1961 – American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South.
- 1970 – Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: the Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the United States' invasion of Cambodia.
- 1972 – The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation".
- 1974 – An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak.
- 1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- 1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War.
- 1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of space shuttle fuel detonate during a fire.
- 1989 – Iran-Contra Affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges. The convictions, however, are later overturned on appeal.
- 1990 – Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation.
- 1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord regarding Palestinian autonomy granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip andJericho.
- 1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
- 2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London.
- 2002 – An EAS Airlines BAC 1-11-500 crashes in a suburb of Kano, Nigeria shortly after takeoff, killing 149 people.
- 2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7 mi wide EF5 tornado—the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita Scale.
Births[edit]
- 1008 – Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Persian sufi (d. 1088)
- 1008 – Henry I of France (d. 1060)
- 1649 – Chhatrasal, Indian warrior (d. 1731)
- 1654 – Kangxi Emperor of China (d. 1722)
- 1655 – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian instrument maker, invented the piano (d. 1731)
- 1715 – Richard Graves, English minister and author (d. 1804)
- 1733 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, and sailor (d. 1799)
- 1752 – John Brooks, American soldier and politician, 11th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
- 1767 – Tyagaraja, Indian composer (d. 1847)
- 1772 – Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, German publisher (d. 1823)
- 1796 – Horace Mann, American educator and politician (d. 1859)
- 1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian (d. 1859)
- 1820 – Julia Gardiner Tyler, American wife of John Tyler, 11th First Lady of the United States (d. 1889)
- 1822 – Charles Boucher de Boucherville, Canadian politician, 3rd Premier of Quebec (d. 1915)
- 1825 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist (d. 1895)
- 1825 – Augustus Le Plongeon, English-American photographer (d. 1908)
- 1826 – Frederic Edwin Church, American painter (d. 1900)
- 1827 – John Hanning Speke, English army officer and explorer (d. 1864)
- 1852 – Alice Liddell, English model (d. 1934)
- 1856 – Pablo de Escandón, Mexican polo player (d. 1929)
- 1864 – Marie Booth, English daughter of William and Catherine Booth (d. 1937)
- 1870 – Alexandre Benois, Russian painter and critic (d. 1960)
- 1873 – Joe De Grasse, Canadian-American actor and director (d. 1940)
- 1881 – Alexander Kerensky, Russian politician, 10th Prime Minister of Russia (d. 1970)
- 1889 – Francis Spellman, American cardinal (d. 1967)
- 1890 – Franklin Carmichael, Canadian painter (d. 1945)
- 1902 – Cola Debrot, Dutch writer, lawyer, medical doctor and politician (d. 1981)
- 1903 – Luther Adler, American actor (d. 1984)
- 1907 – Lincoln Kirstein, American playwright (d. 1996)
- 1908 – Wolrad Eberle, German decathlete (d. 1949)
- 1911 – Evald Seepere, Estonian boxer (d. 1990)
- 1913 – John Broome, American author (d. 1999)
- 1913 – Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark (d. 2007)
- 1914 – Maedayama Eigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 39th Yokozuna (d. 1971)
- 1916 – Jane Jacobs, American-Canadian journalist, author, and activist (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Richard Proenneke, American meteorologist (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Edward T. Cone, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
- 1918 – Tom Mead, Australian journalist and politician (d. 2004)
- 1918 – Kakuei Tanaka, Japanese politician, 64th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1993)
- 1919 – Dory Funk, American wrestler (d. 1973)
- 1919 – Basil Yamey, South African economist
- 1921 – Edo Murtić, Croatian painter (d. 2005)
- 1921 – John van Kesteren, Dutch-American tenor (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Paul-Émile Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop
- 1923 – Stanley Biber, American physician (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Ed Cassidy, American drummer (Spirit and Rising Sons) (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Godfrey Quigley, Israeli-Irish actor (d. 1994)
- 1923 – Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer and producer (d. 1986)
- 1923 – Eric Sykes, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman
- 1926 – David Stoddart, British politician
- 1927 – Terry Scott, English actor (d. 1994)
- 1928 – Maynard Ferguson, Canadian trumpet player and bandleader (Big Bop Nouveau) (d. 2006)
- 1928 – Thomas Kinsella, Irish poet, editor and publisher
- 1928 – Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian air marshal and politician, 4th President of Egypt
- 1928 – Betsy Rawls, American golfer
- 1928 – Wolfgang von Trips, German race car driver (d. 1961)
- 1929 – Dominic Kodwo Andoh, Ghanaian archbishop (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Ronald Golias, Brazilian actor (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-English actress and singer (d. 1993)
- 1929 – Sydney Lamb, American linguist
- 1930 – Katherine Jackson, American mother of the Jackson family
- 1930 – Roberta Peters, American soprano
- 1931 – Jan Pesman, Dutch skater (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Russian conductor
- 1931 – Thomas Stuttaford, English physician, politician, and journalist
- 1932 – Harlon Hill, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1933 – J. Fred Duckett, American journalist (d. 2007)
- 1934 – Tatiana Samoilova, Russian actress
- 1935 – Mr. Fuji, American wrestler and manager
- 1936 – El Cordobés, Spanish bullfighter
- 1937 – Ron Carter, American bassist (Miles Davis Quintet)
- 1937 – Dick Dale, American guitarist
- 1937 – Marisa Robles, Spanish harpist
- 1937 – Wim Verstappen, Dutch film- and television director and producer (d. 2004)
- 1938 – Tyrone Davis, American singer (d. 2005)
- 1938 – Carlos Monsiváis, Mexican journalist (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Gillian Tindall, British writer
- 1939 – Neil Fox, English rugby league player
- 1939 – Paul Gleason, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1939 – Amos Oz, Israeli journalist and author
- 1939 – Léon Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1940 – Robin Cook, American physician and author
- 1941 – George Will, American journalist and author
- 1942 – Nickolas Ashford, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (Ashford & Simpson) (d. 2011)
- 1943 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (d. 1971)
- 1943 – Mihail Chemiakin, Russian painter and sculptor
- 1944 – Dave, Dutch singer
- 1944 – Peggy Santiglia, American singer-songwriter (The Angels and The Delicates)
- 1944 – Robin Sibson, British mathematician
- 1944 – Russi Taylor, American voice actress
- 1945 – Jan Mulder, Dutch former footballer, writer, columnist and TV personality
- 1945 – N. Ram, Indian journalist
- 1946 – Gary Bauer, American politician
- 1946 – John Watson, Irish race car driver
- 1946 – John Barnard, English race car designer
- 1947 – Willem van Beusekom, Dutch radio and television host (d. 2006)
- 1947 – John Bosley, Canadian politician
- 1947 – Richard Jenkins, American actor
- 1947 – Ronald Sørensen, Dutch politician
- 1947 – Trivimi Velliste, Estonian politician and diplomat
- 1948 – Alison Britton, English ceramic artist
- 1948 – Hurley Haywood, American race car driver
- 1948 – George Tupou V of Tonga (d. 2012)
- 1949 – John Force, American race car driver
- 1949 – Stella Parton, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1949 – Pekka Päivärinta, Finnish runner
- 1949 – Graham Swift, English author
- 1950 – Darryl Hunt, English bass player (The Pogues and Plummet Airlines)
- 1951 – Colin Bass, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (Camel and 3 Mustaphas 3)
- 1951 – Colleen Hanabusa, American politician
- 1951 – Jackie Jackson, American singer-songwriter and dancer (The Jackson 5)
- 1951 – Gérard Jugnot, French actor, director, screenwriter, and producer
- 1951 – Mick Mars, American guitarist and songwriter (Mötley Crüe)
- 1952 – Michael Barrymore, English actor
- 1952 – David Della Rocco, American actor
- 1953 – Oleta Adams, American singer, pianist, and actress
- 1953 – Salman Hashimikov, Kazakh-Russian wrestler
- 1954 – Marilyn Martin, American singer-songwriter
- 1954 – Liz Robertson, English actress and singer
- 1954 – Robert Michael Snyder, American author
- 1954 – Pia Zadora, American actress and singer
- 1954 – Hans van Zeeland, Dutch water polo player
- 1955 – Robert Ellis Orrall, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1956 – Michael L. Gernhardt, American astronaut and engineer
- 1956 – David Guterson, American journalist and author
- 1956 – Charlotte Green, English radio and television presenter
- 1956 – Ulrike Meyfarth, German high jumper
- 1956 – Ken Oberkfell, American baseball player and coach
- 1956 – Sharon Jones, American singer (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings)
- 1957 – Jaak Huimerind, Estonian architect
- 1957 – Kathy Kreiner, Canadian skier
- 1957 – Marijke Vos, Dutch politician
- 1958 – Delbert Fowler, American football player
- 1958 – Keith Haring, American illustrator (d. 1990)
- 1958 – Jane Kennedy, British politician
- 1958 – Antonis Minou, Greek footballer and manager
- 1958 – Caroline Spelman, British politician
- 1959 – Scott Armstrong, American wrestler and referee
- 1959 – Valdemaras Chomičius, Lithuanian basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Inger Nilsson, Swedish actress
- 1959 – Randy Travis, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1959 – Bob Tway, American golfer
- 1960 – Paul Bhattacharjee, English actor (d. 2013)
- 1960 – Andrew Denton, Australian television host and producer
- 1960 – Werner Faymann, Austrian politician, 28th Chancellor of Austria
- 1960 – Martyn Moxon, English cricketer
- 1961 – Jay Aston, English singer-songwriter and dancer (Bucks Fizz)
- 1961 – Luis Herrera, Colombian cyclist
- 1961 – Chris Packham, English naturalist, writer and broadcaster
- 1964 – Mónica Bardem, Spanish actress
- 1964 – Silvia Costa, Cuban high jumper
- 1964 – Zsuzsa Mathe, Hungarian painter
- 1964 – Igors Miglinieks, Latvian basketball player
- 1964 – Goran Prpić, Croatian tennis player
- 1964 – Rocco Siffredi, Italian porn actor, director, and producer
- 1966 – Jane McGrath, English-Australian activist, co-founded the McGrath Foundation (d. 2008)
- 1967 – Kate Garraway, English journalist
- 1967 – Ana Gasteyer, American actress
- 1967 – Akiko Yajima, Japanese voice actress
- 1968 – Julian Barratt, English comedian and actor
- 1969 – Micah Aivazoff, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Franz Resch, Austrian footballer and manager
- 1969 – Alicia Webb, American wrestler and manager
- 1970 – Gregg Alexander, American singer-songwriter and producer (New Radicals)
- 1970 – Will Arnett, Canadian-American actor
- 1970 – Sergio Basañez, Mexican actor
- 1970 – Dawn Staley, American basketball player and coach
- 1970 – Paul Wiseman, New Zealand cricketer and coach
- 1971 – Joe Borowski, American baseball player
- 1971 – Luiz Garcia, Jr., Brazilian race car driver
- 1971 – Rudresh Mahanthappa, Italian-American saxophonist, composer, and educator
- 1972 – Manny Aybar, Dominican baseball player
- 1972 – Mike Dirnt, American bass player and songwriter (Green Day, The Frustrators, Screeching Weasel, and Foxboro Hot Tubs)
- 1972 – Chris Tomlin, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1973 – Matthew Barnaby, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1973 – Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Argentinian footballer and coach
- 1973 – John Madden, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 – Miguel Cairo, Venezuelan baseball player and coach
- 1974 – Tony McCoy, Northern Irish horse racing jockey
- 1975 – Laci Peterson, American murder victim (d. 2002)
- 1975 – Catherine Trudeau, Canadian actress
- 1976 – Ben Grieve, American baseball player
- 1976 – Jason Michaels, American baseball player
- 1976 – Indrek Visnapuu, Estonian basketball player and coach
- 1977 – Nestoras Kommatos, Greek basketball player
- 1977 – Emily Perkins, Canadian actress
- 1977 – Mariano Pernía, Argentinian-Spanish footballer
- 1977 – John Tripp, Canadian-German ice hockey player
- 1978 – Erin Andrews, American sportscaster and journalist
- 1978 – Brett Burton, Australian football player
- 1978 – Shaenon K. Garrity, American writer and illustrator
- 1978 – Daisuke Ono, Japanese voice actor
- 1978 – Vladimíra Uhlířová, Czech tennis player
- 1979 – Lance Bass, American singer, dancer, actor, and producer ('N Sync)
- 1979 – Wes Butters, English radio host
- 1979 – Kristin Harmel, American journalist and author
- 1979 – Marie Poissonnier, French pole vaulter
- 1979 – Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby player
- 1980 – Andrew Raycroft, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Franziska Weisz, Austrian actress
- 1981 – Dallon Weekes, American musician and singer-songwriter
- 1981 – Eric Djemba-Djemba, Cameroon footballer
- 1982 – Kleopas Giannou, Greek footballer
- 1982 – Hector King, Mexican singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Markus Rogan, Austrian swimmer
- 1982 – Giorgos Tsiaras, Greek basketball player
- 1983 – Trisha, Indian actress
- 1983 – Jesse Moss, Canadian actor
- 1983 – Rubén Olivera, Uruguayan footballer
- 1983 – Derek Roy, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1983 – Robert Zwinkels, Dutch football goalkeeper
- 1984 – Brad Maddox, American wrestler and referee
- 1984 – Sarah Meier, Swiss figure skater
- 1984 – Montell Owens, American football player
- 1984 – Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricketer (d. 2007)
- 1984 – Kevin Slowey, American baseball player
- 1985 – Ravi Bopara, English cricketer
- 1985 – Anthony Fedorov, American singer and actor (7th Heaven)
- 1985 – Henry Sugut, Kenyan runner
- 1986 – Devan Dubnyk, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – George Hill, American basketball player
- 1987 – Cesc Fàbregas, Spanish footballer
- 1987 – Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
- 1987 – Anjeza Shahini, Albanian singer
- 1988 – Georgios Ioannidis, Greek footballer
- 1988 – Kellie Loder, Canadian contemporary Christian singer songwriter
- 1989 – Henna Lindholm, Finnish figure skater
- 1989 – Rory McIlroy, Northern Irish professional golfer
- 1989 – Aris Tatarounis, Greek basketball player
- 1989 – James van Riemsdyk, American ice hockey player
- 1990 – Irina Falconi, American tennis player
- 1990 – Andrea Torres, Filipino model and actress
- 1992 – Courtney Jines, American actress
- 1992 – Rasmus Mägi, Estonian hurdler
- 1992 – Ashley Rickards, American actress
- 1992 – Grace Phipps, American actress
- 1993 – Jānis Bērziņš, Latvian basketball player
- 1994 – Pauline Ducruet, Monegasque daughter of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco
- 1994 – Alexander Gould, American actor,
- 1996 – Tanja Tuomi, Finnish tennis player
- 2002 – Anastasiya Petryk, Ukrainian singer
- 2009 – Prince Henrik of Denmark
Deaths[edit]
- 1436 – Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish rebel leader (b. 1390)
- 1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (b. 1453)
- 1519 – Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino (b. 1492)
- 1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
- 1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer (b. 1533)
- 1615 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish mathematician (b. 1561)
- 1626 – Arthur Lake, English bishop (b. 1569)
- 1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician and theologian (b. 1630)
- 1684 – John Nevison, English criminal (b. 1639)
- 1729 – Louis Antoine de Noailles, French cardinal (b. 1651)
- 1734 – James Thornhill, English painter (b. 1675)
- 1737 – Eustace Budgell, English politician (b. 1686)
- 1774 – Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick (b. 1714)
- 1776 – Jacques Saly, French sculptor (b. 1717)
- 1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American politician (b. 1718)
- 1799 – Tipu Sultan of Mysore (b. 1750)
- 1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
- 1824 – Joseph Joubert, French author (b. 1754)
- 1839 – Denis Davydov, Russian general and poet (b. 1784)
- 1858 – Aimé Bonpland, French explorer and botanist (b. 1773)
- 1859 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician (b. 1771)
- 1880 – Edward Clark, American politician, 8th Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
- 1901 – John Jones Ross, Canadian politician, 7th Premier of Quebec (b. 1831)
- 1903 – Gotse Delchev, revolutionary (b. 1872)
- 1916 – Members of the Easter Rising
- Edward Daly, Irish commandant (b. 1891)
- Joseph Plunkett, Irish journalist and general (b. 1887)
- Willie Pearse, Irish activist (b. 1891)
- 1919 – Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak general and politician (b. 1880)
- 1922 – Viktor Kingissepp, Estonian-Bolshevik politician (b. 1888)
- 1923 – Ralph McKittrick, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1877)
- 1924 – E. Nesbit, English author and poet (b. 1858)
- 1937 – Noel Rosa, Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1910)
- 1938 – Carl von Ossietzky, German pacifist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1889)
- 1945 – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (b. 1880)
- 1953 – Alexandre Pharamond, French rugby player (b. 1876)
- 1955 – George Enescu, Romanian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1881)
- 1961 – Johannes Hengeveld, Dutch tug of war competitor (b. 1894)
- 1961 – Anita Stewart, American actress and producer (b. 1895)
- 1964 – Karl Robert Pusta, Estonian politician and diplomat (b. 1883)
- 1969 – Osbert Sitwell, English author (b. 1892)
- 1970 – Victims of the Kent State shootings
- Allison Krause, American student (b. 1951)
- Jeffrey Miller, American student (b. 1950)
- Sandra Scheuer, American student (b. 1949)
- William Knox Schroeder, American (b. 1950)
- 1970 – Eugenia Livanos, Greek wife of Stavros Niarchos (b. 1927)
- 1971 – Seamus Elliott, Irish cyclist (b. 1934)
- 1972 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)
- 1973 – Jane Bowles, American author and playwright (b. 1917)
- 1975 – Moe Howard, American actor (b. 1897)
- 1980 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav marshal and politician, 1st President of Yugoslavia (b. 1892)
- 1981 – C. Loganathan, Ceylon Tamil banker (b. 1913)
- 1984 – Diana Dors, English actress (b. 1931)
- 1985 – Clarence Wiseman, English-Canadian 10th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1907)
- 1985 – Harry Earles, German-born actor (b. 1902)
- 1987 – Paul Butterfield, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1942)
- 1987 – Cathryn Damon, American actress (b. 1930)
- 1990 – Emily Remler, American guitarist (b. 1957)
- 1991 – Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Egyptian singer-songwriter and mandolin player (b. 1907)
- 1992 – Gregor Mackenzie, Scottish politician (b. 1927)
- 1995 – Connie Wisniewski, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Hendrik Casimir, Dutch physicist (b. 1909)
- 2001 – Bonnie Lee Bakley, American murder victim (b. 1956)
- 2005 – David Hackworth, American colonel and journalist (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Kishan Maharaj, Indian tabla player (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1933)
- 2010 – Ernie Harwell, American sportscaster (b. 1918)
- 2011 – Mary Murphy, American actress (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Haukur Angantýsson, Icelandic chess player (b. 1948)
- 2012 – Alexander Chikvaidze, Russian diplomat (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Angelica Garnett, English painter (b. 1918)
- 2012 – Mort Lindsey, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Bob Stewart, American television producer, founded Stewart Tele Enterprises (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Adam Yauch, American rapper and director (Beastie Boys) (b. 1964)
- 2012 – Rashidi Yekini, Nigerian footballer (b. 1963)
- 2013 – Otis R. Bowen, American physician and politician, 44th Governor of Indiana (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Christian de Duve, English-Belgian cytologist and biochemist (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Javier Díez Canseco, Peruvian politician (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Frederic Franklin, English-American ballet dancer and director (b. 1914)
- 2013 – Mario Machado, Chinese-American journalist and actor (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Morgan Morgan-Giles, English admiral and politician (b. 1914)
- 2013 – David Noriega Rodríguez, Puerto Rican lawyer and politician (b. 1945)
- 2013 – César Portillo de la Luz, Cuban composer (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Jacques Stockman, Belgian footballer and manager (b. 1938)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Bird Day (United States)
- Cassinga Day (Namibia)
- Christian Feast Day:
- English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era (Church of England)
- Day of the adoption of the Declaration of independence (Latvia)
- Death of Milan Rastislav Štefánik Day (Slovakia)
- Greenery Day (Japan)
- International Firefighters' Day
- May Fourth Movement commemorations:
- Remembrance Day for Martyrs and Disabled (Afghanistan)
- Remembrance of the Dead (Netherlands)
- Star Wars Day
- Youth Day (Fiji)
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” - Romans 12:12
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"In the world ye shall have tribulation."
John 16:33
John 16:33
Art thou asking the reason of this, believer? Look upward to thy heavenly Father, and behold him pure and holy. Dost thou know that thou art one day to be like him? Wilt thou easily be conformed to his image? Wilt thou not require much refining in the furnace of affliction to purify thee? Will it be an easy thing to get rid of thy corruptions, and make thee perfect even as thy Father which is in heaven is perfect? Next, Christian, turn thine eye downward. Dost thou know what foes thou hast beneath thy feet? Thou wast once a servant of Satan, and no king will willingly lose his subjects. Dost thou think that Satan will let thee alone? No, he will be always at thee, for he "goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." Expect trouble, therefore, Christian, when thou lookest beneath thee. Then look around thee. Where art thou? Thou art in an enemy's country, a stranger and a sojourner. The world is not thy friend. If it be, then thou art not God's friend, for he who is the friend of the world is the enemy of God. Be assured that thou shalt find foe-men everywhere. When thou sleepest, think that thou art resting on the battlefield; when thou walkest, suspect an ambush in every hedge. As mosquitoes are said to bite strangers more than natives, so will the trials of earth be sharpest to you. Lastly, look within thee, into thine own heart and observe what is there. Sin and self are still within. Ah! if thou hadst no devil to tempt thee, no enemies to fight thee, and no world to ensnare thee, thou wouldst still find in thyself evil enough to be a sore trouble to thee, for "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Expect trouble then, but despond not on account of it, for God is with thee to help and to strengthen thee. He hath said, "I will be with thee in trouble; I will deliver thee and honour thee."
Evening
"A very present help."
Psalm 46:1
Psalm 46:1
Covenant blessings are not meant to be looked at only, but to be appropriated. Even our Lord Jesus is given to us for our present use. Believer, thou dost not make use of Christ as thou oughtest to do. When thou art in trouble, why dost thou not tell him all thy grief? Has he not a sympathizing heart, and can he not comfort and relieve thee? No, thou art going about to all thy friends, save thy best Friend, and telling thy tale everywhere except into the bosom of thy Lord. Art thou burdened with this day's sins? Here is a fountain filled with blood: use it, saint, use it. Has a sense of guilt returned upon thee? The pardoning grace of Jesus may be proved again and again. Come to him at once for cleansing. Dost thou deplore thy weakness? He is thy strength: why not lean upon him? Dost thou feel naked? Come hither, soul; put on the robe of Jesus' righteousness. Stand not looking at it, but wear it. Strip off thine own righteousness, and thine own fears too: put on the fair white linen, for it was meant to wear. Dost thou feel thyself sick? Pull the night-bell of prayer, and call up the Beloved Physician! He will give the cordial that will revive thee. Thou art poor, but then thou hast "a kinsman, a mighty man of wealth." What! wilt thou not go to him, and ask him to give thee of his abundance, when he has given thee this promise, that thou shalt be joint heir with him, and has made over all that he is and all that he has to be thine? There is nothing Christ dislikes more than for his people to make a show-thing of him, and not to use him. He loves to be employed by us. The more burdens we put on his shoulders, the more precious will he be to us.
"Let us be simple with him, then,
Not backward, stiff, or cold,
As though our Bethlehem could be
What Sinai was of old."
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Goliath
[Gōlī'ath] - the exile or soothsayer. The famous giant of Gath, who defied the armies of Israel (1 Sam. 17:4, 23; 21:9; 22:10; 2 Sam. 21:19).
[Gōlī'ath] - the exile or soothsayer. The famous giant of Gath, who defied the armies of Israel (1 Sam. 17:4, 23; 21:9; 22:10; 2 Sam. 21:19).
The Man a Pebble Killed
The story of David and Goliath has thrilled our hearts from childhood days. How spectacular it must have been to see a stripling like David slay a massive man some ten feet high with only a pebble from the stream. Saul's proffered armor was of no use against Goliath. David had to meet the giant with the weapon he was used to. A ready-made suit was of no avail for the son of Jesse.
The religious character of the duel between Goliath and David should not be lost sight of. The giant cursed David by his gods. David went out to meet Goliath "in the name of the Lord of Hosts." But why did David take five stones, if his God was able to direct a single one into the forehead? Did he want to make sure that if one pebble failed, he would have four more to swing? Going over the passages we discover that Goliath had four sons, all of whom were giants, and five pebbles were needed to slay the lot of them. Thus the choice of five was an act of faith. Through God, only one pebble was needed. David went forth to meet Goliath with five pebbles and he came back with five - four in his hand and the other in Goliath's massive forehead. How God delights to use the insignificant things of life to accomplish His purpose!
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Today's reading: 1 Kings 14-15, Luke 22:31-46 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: 1 Kings 14-15
Ahijah's Prophecy Against Jeroboam
1 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, 2 and Jeroboam said to his wife, "Go, disguise yourself, so you won't be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there--the one who told me I would be king over this people. 3 Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy." 4 So Jeroboam's wife did what he said and went to Ahijah's house in Shiloh....
Today's New Testament reading: Luke 22:31-46
31 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."
33 But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."
34 Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me...."
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FOR YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS
Hello, friends!
Thanks for being eager beavers in signing up for this new weekly devotional called “Everything New.” Starting next week I’ll be sending out, via the good friends at Bible Gateway, a thought for the beginning of your week on how God makes things new in life.
Every person wants something to be new in his or her life. A new beginning. A fresh start. But how does Jesus make marriages new? Attitudes new? Relationships new? Jobs new? Families new? Hearts new?
How about churches made new? Workplaces made new? Culture made new?
At the very end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, Jesus himself declares: “I am making everything new!” He will do that at the end of history, but he is doing it right now. In fact, in the weeks to come we’ll see how renewal is a major theme of the whole of the Scriptures. Why is that? Because God, the creator of all things, is not content to let a broken world stay broken.
Listen... in the next few days (or maybe right now) perhaps you could forward this email so that friends and family you know can sign up for the free devotional as well.
(for your friends) Sign Up for Everything New here.
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