Thu May 1st Todays News

There are many reasons to beat up the LNP over policy and activity. But as the press gleefully engage in it, it should be remembered it might not be fair or right. 

At the moment, many are tut tutting Abbott over broken promises for something he has not yet done, but which he probably should do; cut spending in numerous areas. Will he cut elements of the ABC budget? Has he promised he wouldn't? The ABC could prosper, were it allowed to, through partial privatisation, or full privatisation. It won't be less unbalanced. The recent attempt by the ABC to undermine government policy in Indonesia cannot be allowed to continue. However, that could happen in the next term of an Abbott government. The campaign regarding election promises then comes into play. The ABC and their 'friends' could claim they are confused about any cuts. As with the GST, they could campaign against it until the ALP are in government. Hockey promised to cut waste. So did Abbott. The hate media will ignore one promise, and hold onto another. 

The Gillard broken promise over a carbon tax was a betrayal of the Australian people. It should be remembered that the Carbon tax will never benefit Australia as a policy. It has not shrunk the production of Carbon Dioxide and it has curtailed industry. However, should Mr Abbott break a 'no cut' election promise, there will be immediate benefits to all Australians. The question is, and this is what confuses the hate media, was the ALP lie the betrayal, or the bad policy? Even if the issue of AGW is real, we cannot afford to do expensive empty gestures .. 

Another case of clear media bias on an issue where criticism may be legitimate is the case of former NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell. There are no suggestions, yet, O'Farrell has done anything wrong, but he looks bad for his association with hucksters who had been well placed after sixteen years of ALP rule. But, it doesn't matter who is in government, they will have a limited pool of talent. The issue of corruption is serious and things need to be transparent. It is clear the ALP ran a corrupt government and fostered corruption. It is a truth of management that anyone can be corrupt, but it is important to limit their ability to be corrupt. It requires eternal vigilance. As sad as the O'Farrell case is, it shows anti corruption process for the libs is working. But it also exposes the libs to hyper criticism. And the disturbing thing is that there may be truth to the barbs. But the scrutiny has not been applied to the ALP and that is not balanced. Mr O'Farrell would have been a fool not to speak to talented, involved individuals. Shame on those individuals for being corrupt. It is a legacy of bad ALP government. A fabulous way to celebrate the life of the corrupt Neville Wran is to recognise how bad he was in office. One valid question of O'Farrell is to do with his support for the appallingly bad legislation of racism and censorship on the federal books. Mike Baird is a supporter of the bad legislation too. The fact is, the law does not protect those who are victims of bigots, but can be used by racists to silence valid public enquiry. It isn't moral to support such bad law. 
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For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball
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Hatches

Happy birthday and many happy returns Cele D'or and Tommy Nguyen. Born on the same day, across the years. The same day the Illuminati was founded in 1776 in Bavaria. I like chocolate Bavarian. Thank you.
May Day may sound ominous .. but the call, which is apocryphally said to be for help, was to do with French WW1 pilots calling out "Mai dez" which translates to "Help me!"

• 1218 – John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)
• 1582 – Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)
• 1769 – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Irish-English field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1852)
• 1831 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (d. 1903)
• 1852 – Calamity Jane, American scout (d. 1903)
• 1857 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch art dealer (d. 1891)
• 1864 – Anna Jarvis, American founder of Mother's Day (d. 1948)
• 1908 – Morris Kline, American mathematician and educator (d. 1992)
• 1913 – Walter Susskind, Czech-English conductor (d. 1980)
• 1923 – Joseph Heller, American author and playwright (d. 1999)

• 1925 – Scott Carpenter, American commander, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Judy Collins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1945 – Rita Coolidge, American singer
• 1946 – Joanna Lumley, Indian-English actress
• 1946 – John Woo, Hong Kong director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Marina Stepanova, Soviet hurdler
• 1951 – Gordon Greenidge, West Indies cricketer
• 1954 – Ray Parker, Jr., American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Raydio)
• 1967 – Tim McGraw, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1997 – Ariel Gade, American actress

Matches

• 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
• 524 – King Sigismund of Burgundy is executed at Orléans after an 8-year reign and is succeeded by his brother Godomar.
• 1576 – Stefan Batory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become co-rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1707 – The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1759 – Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain.
• 1776 – Establishment of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria), by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt.
• 1786 – In Vienna, Austria, Mozart's the opera The Marriage of Figaro is performed for the first time.
• 1840 – The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.
• 1844 – Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second modern police force and Asia's first, is established.
• 1846 – The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple.
• 1851 – Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in London.
• 1884 – Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States.
• 1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States.
• 1886 – Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket Affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which May 1 is celebrated as International Workers' Day in many countries.
• 1894 – Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C..
• 1898 – Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay: The United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.
• 1915 – The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her two hundred and second, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany.
• 1927 – The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.
• 1930 – The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.
• 1931 – The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
• 1941 – World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk.
• 1945 – World War II: A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany". The Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, by order of Stalin.
• 1945 – World War II: Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide in the Reich Garden outside the Führerbunker. Their children are murdered by Magda by having cyanide pills inserted into their mouths.
• 1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
• 1960 – Cold War: U-2 incident: Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
• 1970 – Protests erupt in Seattle, Washington, following the announcement by U.S. President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.
• 1977 – Thirty-six people are killed in Taksim Square, Istanbul, during the Labour Day celebrations.
• 1982 – Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands War.
• 1983 – Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis is awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.
• 1987 – Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
• 1994 – Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
• 1999 – The body of British climber George Mallory is found on Mount Everest, 75 years after his disappearance in 1924.
• 2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".
• 2011 – Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks has been killed by United States special forcesin Abbottabad, Pakistan. Due to the time difference between the United States and Pakistan, bin Laden was actually killed on May 2.

Despatches

• 408 – Arcadius, Byzantine emperor (b. 337)
• 1118 – Matilda of Scotland (b. 1080)
• 1731 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer (b. 1677)
• 1856 – John Wilbur, American minister (b. 1774)
• 1873 – David Livingstone, Scottish missionary (b. 1813)
• 1904 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (b. 1841)

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FOR WHOM THE BELL DOESN’T TOLL

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 01, 2014 (12:54pm)

When she’s on her bike, the Sydney Morning Herald‘s Elizabeth Farrelly fights with truck drivers. When she’s on foot, Farrelly fights with cyclists: 

Anzac Day, mid-morning. A quiet street on quieter day. I’m poodle-walking. 

Of course you are, dear. 

Behind me comes the jolly yet peremptory “tring!” of a bicycle bell. Ignore it. 

Warning bells are for other people. Elizabeth steps aside for nobody. 

Beside me, the road is empty, as is its designated cycle lane.

“Tring! Tring!” The bell is closer now, more insistent. A (young, female) voice sings, “Excuse me!” 

Them’s fighting words to Queen Elizabeth. Most people would endure without complaint the barely-measureable inconvenience of making room for a bike, regardless of cycle lane proximity. Cities are crowded places. You’re always making room for someone or other. Reluctantly, Elizabeth complies: 

I let her pass, contenting myself with the obvious. “There is a road right there.”

“This is a cycle path,” she retorts, cycling off.

“Actually, not,” I inform her retreating back.

This is a matter of fact, not opinion. 

It all took place within mere seconds, yet Farrelly is still seething about this nearly a week later. Elizabeth now generates another 875 words on the Great Footpath Wronging of 2014: 

There’s a cycle lane clearly designated on the road beside us. Yet at the top of the hill she stops, shouts back, “Don’t be so rude, lady!” 

Thus the cycling community and Sydney truck drivers find common ground. 

This exchange is not so much about who was correct. It’s not about the right-to-cycle, which I strongly support. (So strongly, in fact, I’d put it nearer obligation than right). It’s not even about the sweet paradox that it’s the entitlement generation that has decided urban – the most etiquette-dependent of living patterns – is hip. No, my exchange with the footway cyclist is about power relations in a tight spot. 

Or it could be about someone wanting to ride past a slow-moving poodle lady. Just a theory. 

Managing the power relations of proximity is, of course, what manners are for. 

Go tell it to the truck driver, Liz. 

Etiquette. Protocol. Rubric. As increasing numbers of cyclists, male/female, young/old, appear on city footways, our need for a protocol intensifies. 

Doesn’t it just? Only the other day, a supermarket shelf-stacker’s stock cart delayed my shopping for a full 1.7 seconds. As I rained cans down on the poor man’s head, I couldn’t help but feel the intensifying need for a protocol. 

Today’s footway cyclistas are sufficiently bold to risk rain and rage but insufficiently bold to take their rightful place in the traffic. In other words, it’s a relatively timid, safety-focused denomination. This in itself reveals much about just how intimidating our road traffic is for cyclists. And it should concern us all, since anti-cycle sentiment is an accurate measure of social primitivism. 

It’s all they’re talking about in Somalia. 

Friendly is not how it feels to have a bell rung at you from behind. Impatient is how it feels. Superior. Peremptory. Out of my way. 

Quite so. Cyclists stuck behind Liz and her poodle should use this instead. 

The footpath is the walker’s home ground. It is a place – often the only public place – where you can meander, drift, dream, window-shop, phone-check, randomly dance, take photos, guffaw, tie shoelaces and generally shilly-shally with impunity. 

The last time I checked Sydney’s official footpath protocols, random dancing was prohibited under Section 3C, sub-ruling 17i. 

There’s no doubt that, in the long term, bikes belong on on-road cycleways. But until that system becomes credible, prohibition will not stop foot-path cycling. So a code of conduct is required. 

So we’re already ditching the protocols? 

Something, perhaps, like this. Bikes will be tolerated on footpaths only where the road conditions are unsafe. Bikes must travel no faster than comfortable walking speed (say 5km/h) especially when overtaking pedestrians. They do not ‘tring’ peremptorily but hang back until passing is easy. They say thank you. Too much to ask? 

All of this could have been avoided if only Elizabeth had worn that poodle on her head, as usual.

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TWITTER FINDS A DOG

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 01, 2014 (11:02am)

James Morrow discovers a way to tame Twitter: 

How do you turn Twitter, which is universally acknowledged as a hateful time-wasting sewer with the collective IQ of dishwater and more trolls than an Icelandic bridge crossing, into an engine of sympathy and genius?

Simple. Just tell it your dog is missing. 

Do read on.

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FROM MOD SQUAD TO F-TROOP

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 01, 2014 (10:57am)

In 1973, Mod Squad star Michael Cole scandalised television viewers when he said “shit” during the Logies broadcast.

Times change. These days that word is more likely to be used as a description of the Logies broadcast, while other shows have moved on to more extreme terms.

For example, on the ABC’s Q & A last month guest Mona Eltahawy repeatedly used the word “f—k” in the sort of conversational way you might hear in a pub. “We are well and truly f—ked,” was Eltahawy’s concise summary of life in her Egyptian homeland.

Host Tony Jones didn’t seem to mind. Perhaps this points to a new ABC style guide, which should at least make future weather reports more interesting.

 Continue reading 'FROM MOD SQUAD TO F-TROOP'

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THEY’RE ACTUALLY GOING TO DO THIS

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 01, 2014 (10:48am)

Labor yesterday announced it would start its own online news service, calling on party members to fund a $95,000 editor who would “write useful, interesting articles for the site on issues like cuts to pensions and the Commission of Audit.”

In an email to party members, ALP National Secretary George Wright said the Labor Herald would provide “handy facts, interesting articles and video.”

But the proposed news service immediately became a nationwide joke, with social media users ridiculing the concept by suggesting possible Labor Herald correspondents:

 Continue reading 'THEY’RE ACTUALLY GOING TO DO THIS'

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ONLY THE BRAVE MAY VIEW

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 01, 2014 (10:06am)

Yesterday I asked the Daily Telegraph‘s John Tiedemann to draw promise-breaking Tony Abbott as Julia Gillard, in one of the ex-PM’s more celebrated moments. The result is disturbing and should be restricted from general publication.

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BOB HOSKINS

Tim Blair – Thursday, May 01, 2014 (9:24am)

Pennies from Heaven star Bob Hoskins has died at 71:

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Commission of audit: ending the age of entitlement

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (2:18pm)

No to the age of entitlement. Yes to that old Australia that prized self-reliance:

The ... National Commission of Audit ... calls on the Abbott government to retreat from health and education and other services to avoid duplication with the states while warning against the cost of new initiatives like the National Disability Insurance Scheme, which it seeks to delay by three years.
It sets out 10 major asset sales including short-term proposals to sell Snowy Hydro and Defence Housing Australia, along with long-term plans to sell Australia Post, the Royal Australian Mint and the Australian Rail Track Corporation…
Rejecting Mr Abbott’s signature paid parental leave policy in its current form, the audit commission calls for the payments to be capped at average earnings of about $57,500 a year.
This would limit payments to $28,000 for the wealthiest new parents, available to all with no means test, rather than Mr Abbott’s new limit of $50,000 announced in recent days.
Family Tax Benefit B, which goes to families with partners who do not work, would be abolished while Family Tax Benefit A would be drastically curtailed so the payments would start falling once a household exceeded $48,837 in annual income.
As revealed in The Australian today, the report calls for the family home to be included in the asset test that determines the size of the age pension.
The pension change would not take effect until 2027-28 and would only limit the payments to coupled pensioners with homes worth more than $750,000 in today’s dollars…
Treasurer Joe Hockey has already signalled an increase in the retirement age to 70 by 2029, compared with the commission’s suggestion of 2053.
Unemployment benefits would be taken away from young people aged 22 to 30 who do not have dependents or special exemptions and are not willing to relocate to “higher employment areas” after getting the benefits for 12 months…
Healthcare is a major target for reform in the audit report, which calls for a $15 co-payment on visits to GPs, compared with the government’s plan for a $6 charge, with the cost falling after 15 visits a year…
The audit report shows that government spending would rise to $690 billion by 2023-24, compared with $409 billion today in a “business as usual” scenario that is central to the claim — rejected by Labor — that the nation faces a “budget emergency” and must slash services.
There are no detailed costings of individual measures, with those on the commission arguing it is hard to be precise, but the full suite of 86 recommendations is estimated to produce savings of $60 billion to $70 billion by 2023-24.

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Gerry Adams arrested over IRA murder of widow

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (9:26am)

Good news:

Police in Northern Ireland arrested Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams on Wednesday over his alleged involvement in the Irish Republican Army’s 1972 abduction, killing and secret burial of a Belfast widow…
Police long had been expected to question Adams about the killing of Jean McConville, a 38-year-old mother of 10 whom the IRA killed with a single gunshot to the head as an alleged spy…
“I believe that the killing of Jean McConville and the secret burial of her body was wrong and a grievous injustice to her and her family,” Adams said. “...I am innocent of any part in the abduction, killing or burial of Mrs. McConville."…
Adams was implicated in the killing by two IRA veterans, who gave taped interviews to researchers for a Boston College history archive on the four-decade Northern Ireland conflict. Belfast police waged a two-year legal fight in the United States to acquire the interviews, parts of which already were published after the 2008 death of one IRA interviewee, Brendan Hughes… [T]he second IRA interviewee, Dolours Price, ... died last year.
Both Hughes and Price agreed to be interviewed on condition that their contents were kept confidential until their deaths.

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A broken promise could break Abbott

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (9:16am)

Politics - federal

TONY Abbott wants to break a promise, after all. But his deficit tax would break the wrong one and risk killing his Government. 

The Prime Minister before the election promised “tax cuts without new taxes”.
That’s good. But he also promised a six-month parental leave scheme that’s wildly generous, even after maximum payments were cut this week from $75,000 to $50,000.
Now, having to fix Labor’s financial disaster, Abbott seems to have decided one promise must go.
But wait. Why is Abbott planning a new tax that will be jeered when he could instead scrap his $5 billion leave scheme — hated even by many Liberals — and be cheered?
Why is Abbott planning a new tax that the Senate would likely block when he could scrap a parental leave scheme the Senate may not pass either? Why create a second Senate headache when he could save himself both?
But why is Abbott thinking about breaking any promise at all?
The answer is depressingly simple.
(Read full column here.) 

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Not all broken promises are bad

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (9:08am)

Reader mozza sums up:

The difference between Ms Gillard and Tony Abbott? Ms Gillard broke a promise she should have kept. Mr Abbott must break at least one promise he should never have made. Nothing could be simpler.

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Savva, Sheridan and Kennett: the case for the deficit levy

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (8:59am)

Niki Savva says Tony Abbott should not have promised so much, but has no option now but to break his promise and impose a deficit tax:

This will be vital to the integrity of the budget as an equity measure — given the Medicare co-payment, and mooted changes to welfare and pensions — as well as a revenue raiser.
Unpalatable as it may be, as unpopular as it inevitably will be, it will happen. It must…
“We have to be able to look pensioners and low-income earners in the eye and say everybody will be making a contribution,” one senior source said…
Trust has always been an issue. It is not more important now than it was. That short-term pain for long-term gain applies as much to the government as it does to voters, who ultimately pay on results. The government will not be rewarded for standing by every word of every pledge if it fails to fix what is wrong.

I may differ with Niki on the importance of keeping promises, but totally agree on this:

Bill Shorten deepens the rot at the heart of the Labor Party by ratting on two prime ministers, serving in an outfit that wastes billions, fails to keep its word, leaves deficits of epic proportions, then refuses to accept or admit responsibility for what ails the party and the economy.

Labor’s response to the Government’s attempts to fix what Labor smashed is grotesque. It pretends there isn’t a Budget problem or, if there is, it’s created by Abbott. It blocks savings it once promised and fights tax rises. It is peddling poison to voters - a fantasy that there is no Budget crisis and nothing worth doing to fix it.  It is like the captain of the Korean Sewol ferry.
UPDATE
Greg Sheridan agrees with Niki:

Our gross government debt, at $360 billion, is more than 22 per cent of GDP. This is modest by some international comparisons, but we have jumped into that debt at an astonishing and alarming rate, and the debt is rising rapidly. In one year, from 2011 to 2012, we nearly doubled our net debt. Yet there was no net debt when Labor came to office in 2007…

The Abbott government is telling us with maximum honesty that we face a serious and growing budget crisis that is immediate and long-term… Already, because of the debt incurred under Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, we pay $12bn a year in interest on government debt… At $12bn, interest payments are more than twice our aid budget, nearly half our defence budget. Is it progressive to let that debt payment rise to $20bn or $30bn?…
Abbott should not have promised in opposition to maintain spending in so many areas, but he is going to make a start now…
But he also may share the sacrifice by imposing a temporary levy on high-income earners.

Jeff Kennett:

So here we are in a country which has ... a massive debt and the levers that should be available to our government today are simply not available because they themselves have withdrawn them. So you tonight talk about backflips, others will talk about broken promises, which mean the chances of there being a very short, sharp fix to the deficit - not the debt, but the deficit - is less likely to occur and therefore the pain over the years ahead will be extended because no-one’s got the courage to do what’s required right now…
[T]he last people who should be criticising is the Labor Party. They created this mess…
[W]hat’s more important? A backflip, a broken promise or the country’s long-term interest?

UPDATE
This tax is more to sell the cuts than fix the deficit - although it will help there, too:

The Commission of Audit today will recommend deep cuts across the government but won’t advocate an increase in income tax…
Mr Abbott is being pulverised for breaking a no-new-tax promise and people close to him counselled the government may still drop the tax hike plan and opt for another solution.

UPDATE
I doubt the deficit tax will be dropped:

Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, hit the phones on Wednesday to explain the proposal telling backbench MPs it was not a “new tax” but merely an increase in existing taxes and temporary at that.
They told the MPs it was not being done for fun but to restore the fiscal balance and could be fully justified to voters as the best way of ensuring that not all of the burden of restoring the budget is left on the shoulders of welfare recipients, and the low paid.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann effectively confirms there will be a deficit tax:

We’re not doing any of this out of fun. We’re not doing any of this, we are not considering any of these measures because it gives us any pleasure. We’re doing it because in our judgement we need to consider some of these things to strengthen the country…
[I]f we went to repair the budget and if we think that we need to make a special immediate effort before structural savings can properly kick in, then there’s two ways that you can do it: You can cut spending, or you can increase your revenue.
Now, in terms of cutting spending, that necessarily is targeted at those that receive government payments…
Now if we were to do as Bill Shorten appears to be suggesting, and that is exclusively focus on spending, then what he really is asking us to do is to force lower income families to carry the whole burden of the budget repair job ahead of us....
Now, higher income earners, the only we can effectively insure that higher income earners carry their fair share of the burden is through well targeted, time limited measures through the tax system. 

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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Living overseas off a bad back

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (8:48am)

This is how some people use the taxes taken off me?

...7313 disability support pensioners are living overseas, costing $99.9 million a year.
The most popular destination is Greece, where 1242 live; Turkey has 849…
Social Service Minister Kevin Andrews said he was seeking clarification on the residency requirements for such pensioners… The Federal Government now disallows the pension for those who are overseas for more than six weeks…
Michael Urdzal kept his disability pension despite living in Bali for almost nine years and returning on day trips for Centrelink appointments.
The AAT ruled last month that although he was not an Australian resident, he was entitled to the pension because of the severity of his disability
Paul Ray, who’s travelled to Bali 18 times since being granted a disability pension in 2003, and who has started a family there, also successfully appealed against a departmental move to strip him of the pension over breaching residency requirements.
Mr Ray, who grew up in Port Melbourne, told the tribunal he suffered a back injury in a car accident in the late 1980s and his doctors had suggested a warmer climate would provide some relief.

(Thanks to reader CA.) 

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Greens against a higher tax on the rich because Abbott proposed it

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (8:25am)

The hypocrisy of the Greens - and their AbbottAbbottAbbott hatred - is astonishing.
Two years ago Greens leader Christine Milne suggested an increase in the top tax rate:

TAX is not a dirty word. A suite of ... proposals (including) a fair increase in the top marginal tax rate for millionaires to 50 per cent could raise many billions more.

Two months ago Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt demanded the rich pay more tax:

I’m sick of billionaires telling us that the only way we can make ends meet in the country is if ordinary people pay more and people like Gina Rinehart herself pay less.
The government’s revenue is decreasing and it’s threatening our ability to fund the services Australians expect. We’ve got two choices: we can either say people like Gina Rinehart ought to pay a fairer share, or we can start cutting back on health and on schools.... Australia, comparatively, is now taxing at a relatively low rate, certainly lower than what it used to. And even if we just increased tax back to where it was under John Howard - hardly a radical move - we would be in a much better position to afford healthcare that people deserve and to afford schools ...

But now that Tony Abbott indeed proposes a new tax on the rich, the Greens are against:

I’M not prepared to support a deficit levy of this kind.

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Leave the fight against racism to the people, not the police

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (8:08am)

Free speech

PAUL Weston quoted Winston Churchill on Islam outside a town hall last weekend and was arrested for being offensive. That was in Britain, which has laws against free speech as stupid as our own. 

Meanwhile, Donald Sterling, owner of the LA Clippers basketball team, was taped ordering his girlfriend not to bring black people to his games. No one arrested him and no one could. That was in the US, home of free speech, which has no law as restrictive as our Racial Discrimination Act.
Now decide which country is healthier. But wait — don’t give in to our enthusiasm for banning stuff until you hear what happened to Sterling.
That enthusiasm is exactly what got Weston arrested as he read aloud from Churchill’s The River War, about a war in Sudan in which Churchill served. Parts of the book sound strong now we’re so proudly multicultural that we fear a rude word might cause a race riot.
But they appealed to Weston, chairman of the nationalist Liberty GB party, who quoted Churchill’s dim view of Islam.
(Read full article here.) 

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We shouldn’t pay pensioners to keep their mansions

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (7:33am)

Of course the family home must be considered in pension assets tests:

In a deeply controversial finding, the [Abbott Government’s audit] commission identifies billions of dollars in savings from including the family home in the eligibility test for the age pension, arguing it is unfair for ordinary workers to subsidise pensions for the wealthy.
The Australian has learned that senior ministers have already dismissed the idea of including the family home in the assets test as politically impossible, forcing them to search for savings and revenue measures elsewhere.

Why should taxpayers fork out pensions to people living in mansions? Or if we must, then at the very least give the taxpayers equity in the house, to be recovered on its sale or the death of the pensioner.
UPDATE
Another Budget time-bomb left by Labor:

THE Coalition’s Commission of Audit will today recommend the Abbott government cap the cost of the national disability insurance scheme and slow down the timetable for its full rollout to control its ballooning cost to the federal budget. 

The recommendations come after Amanda Vanstone, one of the authors of the Commission of Audit’s report, which will be unveiled today, told a political breakfast yesterday that the designers of the scheme were “criminally negligent” and its costs were out of control.

(Thanks to reader PaulC.) 

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A refugee program should not import danger

Andrew Bolt May 01 2014 (7:22am)

In Melbourne yet another brawl involving members of this new immigrant group, largely brought out here as refugees for safety:

A vicious brawl involving up to 40 African men in Docklands has been caught on security cameras.
One man was stabbed to the face with a fork and another was hospitalised with head and spinal injuries.
The fight erupted after the group stepped off a boat cruise in Central Pier.

Examples of previous brawls in Melbourne here and here.
I am not certain aspects of our immigration and refugee policies are working to the advantage of Australians. 

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I just want them to be competent. 

=== Posts from last year ===

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Jerusalem, Israel
"I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth."
Isaiah 62:6-7 
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June 8, 1961 - The world was introduced to the voice of Marvin Gaye with his debut album: The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye.
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Pastor Rick Warren

Oysters tenaciously attach to a ROCK larger than themselves. Then no punishing wave or violent storm can sweep them away.

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An old man was going for a walk on the beach, when he noticed a little boy feeding a thin, shaggy looking dog with bits of bread.

He went up to the boy and asked him why he was sharing his bread with the dogs.

The little boy answered, "Because they have nothing. No home, no family, and if I don’t feed them they will die."

“But there are homeless dogs everywhere," the old man replied. “So your efforts don’t really make a difference”

The little boy looked at the dog and stroked him. “But for him, for this little dog, it makes all the difference in the world.”
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1911 - Puck Magazine - "Senatorial Courtesy": Illustration shows Uncle Sam standing behind a group of legislators and businessmen who are bowing before a large hog labeled "Greed" with its front feet in a trough labeled "Wall Street".
Caption: "Those who know the term but not its meaning may find enlightenment above."
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Same kind of misleading statements said my energy bill would rise less than 1% if I chose renewable energy .. ed
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Spectacular new images from a NASA spacecraft orbiting Saturn have captured the most detailed views ever of an enormous hurricane churning around the ringed planet's north pole. See more images and a great video that explains the vortex here: http://oak.ctx.ly/r/4jql
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Philociraptor wisdom at its finest
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This week's blog isn’t a nursery rhyme you’ll want to tell the kids: http://www.corybernardi.com/2013/05/old-mother-hubbard.html
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Thank God Ninos Khoshaba didn't get his way with the former compromised motion, the motion, which was passed by the NSW Parliament reads as follows: 

Whereas the NSW Parliament passed a motion in 1997 recognising and condemning the Genocide of the Armenians, this House recognises that Assyrians and Greeks were subjected to qualitatively similar genocides by the then Ottoman Government between 1914 -- 1923: and

(a) joins the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks communities of New South Wales in honouring the memory of the innocent men, women and children who fell victim to the first modern genocides;

(b) condemns the genocides of the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks, and all other acts of genocide as the ultimate act of intolerance;

(c) recognises the importance of remembering and learning from such dark chapters in human history to ensure that such crimes against humanity are not allowed to be repeated;

(d) condemns and prevents all attempts to use the passage of time to deny or distort the historical truth of the genocides of the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks, and other acts of genocide;

(e) recalls the testimonies of ANZAC prisoners-of-war and other servicemen who were witness to the genocides of the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks;

(f) recalls the testimonies of ANZAC servicemen who rescued Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks genocide survivors;

(g) acknowledges the significant humanitarian relief contribution made by the people of New South Wales to the victims and survivors of the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks; and

(h) calls on the Commonwealth Government to condemn the genocides of the Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks.
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May 1: International Workers' Day; Beltane in Ireland and Scotland;Law Day, Loyalty Day, and National Day of Prayer in the United States (2014)

• 1576 – Stephen Báthory and Anna Jagiellon (both pictured) were crowned as the elected rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1707 – Under the terms of the Acts of Union, the Kingdoms of England and Scotland merged to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, a single kingdom encompassing the entire island of Great Britain with a single parliament and government based in Westminster.
• 1898 – The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey defeated the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Admiral Patricio Montojo at the Battle of Manila Bay, the first engagement of theSpanish–American War.
• 1974 – Argentine President Juan Perón expelled the Montonerosfrom a demonstration in the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, forcing the group to become clandestine and later a target of the Dirty War.
• 1994 – Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna, a three-time Formula One World Champion, was killed in a crash during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

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Events[edit]

• 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
• 524 – King Sigismund of Burgundy is executed at Orléans after an 8-year reign and is succeeded by his brother Godomar.
• 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches.
• 1328 – Wars of Scottish Independence end: By the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton the Kingdom of England recognises the Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state.
• 1455 – Battle of Arkinholm, Royal forces end the Black Douglas hegemony in Scotland.
• 1576 – Stefan Batory, the reigning Prince of Transylvania, marries Anna Jagiellon and they become co-rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
• 1707 – The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• 1753 – Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
• 1759 – Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain.
• 1776 – Establishment of the Illuminati in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria), by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt.
• 1778 – American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
• 1785 – Kamehameha I, the king of Hawaiʻi, defeats Kalanikupule and establishes the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.
• 1786 – In Vienna, Austria, Mozart's the opera The Marriage of Figaro is performed for the first time.
• 1794 – War of the Pyrenees: The Battle of Boulou ends, in which French forces defeat the Spanish and regain nearly all the land they lost to Spain in 1793.
• 1840 – The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.
• 1844 – Hong Kong Police Force, the world's second modern police force and Asia's first, is established.
• 1846 – The few remaining Mormons left in Nauvoo, Illinois, formally dedicate the Nauvoo Temple.
• 1851 – Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in London.
• 1852 – The Philippine peso is introduced into circulation.
• 1856 – The Province of Isabela was created in the Philippines in honor of the Queen Isabela II of Spain.
• 1862 – American Civil War: The Union Army completes the Capture of New Orleans.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chancellorsville begins.
• 1865 – The Empire of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay sign the Treaty of the Triple Alliance.
• 1869 – The Folies Bergère opens in Paris.
• 1875 – Alexandra Palace reopens after being burned down in a fire in 1873.
• 1884 – Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States.
• 1884 – Moses Fleetwood Walker becomes the first black person to play in a professional baseball game in the United States.
• 1885 – The original Chicago Board of Trade Building opens for business.
• 1886 – Rallies are held throughout the United States demanding the eight-hour work day, culminating in the Haymarket Affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which May 1 is celebrated as International Workers' Day in many countries.
• 1893 – The World's Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago.
• 1894 – Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington, D.C..
• 1898 – Spanish-American War: The Battle of Manila Bay: The United States Navy destroys the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the war.
• 1900 – The Scofield mine disaster kills over 200 men in Scofield, Utah in what is to date the fifth-worst mining accident in United States history.
• 1901 – The Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo, New York.
• 1915 – The RMS Lusitania departs from New York City on her two hundred and second, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic. Six days later, the ship is torpedoed off the coast of Ireland with the loss of 1,198 lives, including 128 Americans, rousing American sentiment against Germany.
• 1925 – The All-China Federation of Trade Unions is officially founded. Today it is the largest trade union in the world, with 134 million members.
• 1925 – The first Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is held at the University of Toronto, Canada.
• 1927 – The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.
• 1927 – The Union Labor Life Insurance Company is founded by the American Federation of Labor.
• 1930 – The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.
• 1931 – The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.
• 1933 – The Roca-Runciman Treaty between Argentina and Great Britain is signed by Julio Argentino Roca, Jr., and Sir Walter Runciman.
• 1933 – The Humanist Manifesto I published.
• 1940 – The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.
• 1941 – World War II: German forces launch a major attack on Tobruk.
• 1944 – Two hundred Communist prisoners are shot by the Germans at Kaisariani in Athens in reprisal for the killing of General Franz Krech by partisans at Molaoi.
• 1945 – World War II: A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has "fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany". The Soviet flag is raised over the Reich Chancellery, by order of Stalin.
• 1945 – World War II: Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda commit suicide in the Reich Garden outside the Führerbunker. Their children are murdered by Magda by having cyanide pills inserted into their mouths.
• 1945 – The Yugoslav partisans free Trieste.
• 1946 – Start of three year Pilbara strike of Indigenous Australians.
• 1946 – The Paris Peace Conference concludes that the islands of the Dodecanese should be returned to Greece by Italy.
• 1947 – Portella della Ginestra massacre against May Day celebrations in Sicily by the bandit and separatist leader Salvatore Giuliano; 11 persons are killed and 33 wounded.
• 1948 – The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il-sung as leader.
• 1950 – Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth.
• 1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
• 1956 – A doctor in Japan reports an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.
• 1957 – Thirty-four people are killed when a Vickers Viking airliner crashes in Hampshire England.
• 1960 – Formation of the western Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Also known as "Maharashtra Day".
• 1960 – Cold War: U-2 incident: Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
• 1961 – The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.
• 1965 – Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between ROC and PRC, takes place.
• 1970 – Protests erupt in Seattle, Washington, following the announcement by U.S. President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.
• 1971 – Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) takes over operation of U.S. passenger rail service.
• 1974 – The Argentine terrorist organization Montoneros is expelled from Plaza de Mayo by president Juan Perón.
• 1977 – Thirty-six people are killed in Taksim Square, Istanbul, during the Labour Day celebrations.
• 1978 – Japan's Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
• 1982 – The 1982 World's Fair opens in Knoxville, Tennessee.
• 1982 – Operation Black Buck: The Royal Air Force attacks the Argentine Air Force during Falklands War.
• 1983 – Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis is awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.
• 1987 – Pope John Paul II beatifies Edith Stein, a Jewish-born Carmelite nun who was gassed in the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.
• 1989 – Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
• 1990 – The former Philippine Episcopal Church (supervised by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America) is granted full autonomy and raised to the status of an Autocephalous Anglican Province and renamed the Episcopal Church of the Philippines.
• 1991 – Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics steals his 939th base, making him the all-time leader in this category. However, his accomplishment is overshadowed later that evening by Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers, when he pitches his seventh career no-hitter, breaking his own record.
• 1994 – Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
• 1995 – Croatian forces launch Operation Flash during the Croatian War of Independence.
• 1999 – The body of British climber George Mallory is found on Mount Everest, 75 years after his disappearance in 1924.
• 2001 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares the existence of "a state of rebellion", hours after thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor,Joseph Estrada, storm towards the presidential palace at the height of the EDSA III rebellion.
• 2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the "Mission Accomplished" speech, on board the USS Abraham Lincoln (off the coast of California), U.S. President George W. Bush declares that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended".
• 2004 – Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia join the European Union, celebrated at the residence of the Irish President in Dublin.
• 2006 – The Puerto Rican government closes the Department of Education and 42 other government agencies due to significant shortages in cash flow.
• 2007 – The Los Angeles May Day mêlée occurs, in which the Los Angeles Police Department's response to a May Day pro-immigration rally become a matter of controversy.
• 2008 – The London Agreement on translation of European patents, concluded in 2000, enters into force in 14 of the 34 Contracting States to the European Patent Convention.
• 2009 – Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden.
• 2011 – Pope John Paul II is beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.
• 2011 – Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks has been killed by United States special forcesin Abbottabad, Pakistan. Due to the time difference between the United States and Pakistan, bin Laden was actually killed on May 2.

Births[edit]

• 1218 – John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)
• 1218 – Rudolph I of Germany (d. 1291)
• 1225 – Jean de Joinville, French author (d. 1317)
• 1285 – Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326)
• 1582 – Marco da Gagliano, Italian composer (d. 1643)
• 1585 – Sophia Olelkovich Radziwill, Belarusian saint (d. 1612)
• 1591 – Johann Adam Schall von Bell, German missionary and astronomer (d. 1666)
• 1594 – John Haynes, English-American politician, 1st Governor of the Colony of Connecticut (d. 1653)
• 1672 – Joseph Addison, English journalist and politician (d. 1719)
• 1730 – Sir Joshua Rowley, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1790)
• 1735 – Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, Dutch naval officer (d. 1819)
• 1751 – Judith Sargent Murray, American poet and playwright (d. 1820)
• 1764 – Benjamin Henry Latrobe, English-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1820)
• 1769 – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Irish-English field marshal and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1852)
• 1803 – James Clarence Mangan, Irish poet (d. 1849)
• 1824 – Alexander William Williamson, English chemist (d. 1904)
• 1825 – Johann Jakob Balmer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1898)
• 1825 – George Inness, American painter (d. 1894)
• 1827 – Jules Breton, French painter (d. 1906)
• 1829 – José de Alencar, Brazilian author and playwright (d. 1877)
• 1829 – Frederick Sandys, English painter (d. 1904)
• 1830 – Guido Gezelle, Belgian poet and priest (d. 1899)
• 1831 – Emily Stowe, Canadian physician and activist (d. 1903)
• 1847 – Henry Demarest Lloyd, American journalist (d. 1903)
• 1848 – Adelsteen Normann, Norwegian painter (d. 1919)
• 1850 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (d. 1942)
• 1851 – Laza Lazarević, Serbian psychiatrist and neurologist (d. 1891)
• 1852 – Calamity Jane, American scout (d. 1903)
• 1852 – Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Spanish neuroscientist and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1934)
• 1853 – Jacob Mikhailovich Gordin, Russian-American playwright
• 1855 – Cecilia Beaux, American painter (d. 1942)
• 1857 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch art dealer (d. 1891)
• 1862 – Marcel Prévost, French author and playwright (d. 1941)
• 1864 – Anna Jarvis, American founder of Mother's Day (d. 1948)
• 1871 – Seakle Greijdanus, Dutch theologian (d. 1948)
• 1872 – Sidónio Pais, Portuguese politician, 4th President of Portugal (d. 1918)
• 1872 – Harry Leon Wilson, American author (d. 1939)
• 1874 – Romaine Brooks, American-French painter (d. 1970)
• 1874 – Paul Van Asbroeck, Belgian target shooter (d. 1959)
• 1875 – Dave Hall, American middle-distance runner (d. 1972)
• 1881 – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French-American priest, palaeontologist, and philosopher (d. 1955)
• 1881 – John Svanberg, Swedish long-distance runner (d. 1957)
• 1884 – Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, English politician, commander, and race car driver (d. 1964)
• 1885 – Clément Pansaers, Belgian poet (d. 1922)
• 1885 – Ralph Stackpole, American sculptor and painter (d. 1973)
• 1887 – Alan Cunningham, Irish-English general (d. 1983)
• 1896 – Herbert Backe, Georgian-German politician (d. 1947)
• 1896 – Mark W. Clark, American general (d. 1984)
• 1896 – J. Lawton Collins, American general (d. 1987)
• 1898 – Alfred Schmidt, Estonian weightlifter (d. 1972)
• 1900 – Ignazio Silone, Italian author and politician (d. 1978)
• 1901 – Sterling Allen Brown, American educator, poet and critic (d. 1989)
• 1901 – Heinz Eric Roemheld, American composer (d. 1985)
• 1901 – Antal Szerb, Hungarian scholar and author (d. 1945)
• 1905 – Henk de Best, Dutch boxer (d. 1978)
• 1905 – Paul Desruisseaux, Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician (d. 1982)
• 1905 – Henry Koster, German-American director, producer and screenwriter (d. 1988)
• 1906 – Horst Schumann, German physician and SS officer (d. 1983)
• 1907 – Hayes Alvis, American bassist (Mills Blue Rhythm Band) (d. 1972)
• 1907 – Oliver Hill, American lawyer (d. 2007)
• 1907 – Volmari Iso-Hollo, Finnish runner (d. 1969)
• 1907 – Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986)
• 1908 – Giovannino Guareschi, Italian journalist (d. 1968)
• 1908 – Morris Kline, American mathematician and educator (d. 1992)
• 1909 – Yiannis Ritsos, Greek poet (d. 1990)
• 1910 – Raya Dunayevskaya, Ukrainian-American philosopher and activist (d. 1987)
• 1910 – Dirk Andries Flentrop, Dutch organ builder (d. 2003)
• 1910 – J. Allen Hynek, American astronomer and ufologist (d. 1986)
• 1911 – Wilfred Watson, English-Canadian poet, playwright and educator (b. 1998)
• 1912 – Otto Kretschmer, Polish-German admiral (d. 1998)
• 1913 – Louis Nye, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1913 – Walter Susskind, Czech-English conductor (d. 1980)
• 1914 – Jaap van der Poll, Dutch javelin thrower (d. 2010)
• 1915 – Hanns-Martin Schleyer, German businessman (d. 1977)
• 1915 – Archie Williams, American runner and educator (d. 1993)
• 1916 – Glenn Ford, Canadian-American actor (d. 2006)
• 1917 – John Beradino, American baseball player and actor (d. 1996)
• 1917 – Ulric Cross, Trinidadian judge, diplomat and war hero (d. 2013)
• 1917 – Danielle Darrieux, French actress and singer
• 1917 – Ahron Soloveichik, Russian rabbi and scholar (d. 2001)
• 1918 – Gersh Budker, Ukrainian-Russian physicist (d. 1977)
• 1918 – Raymond Mailloux, Canadian politician (d. 1995)
• 1918 – Jack Paar, American comedian, author and talk show host (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Manna Dey, Indian singer (d. 2013)
• 1919 – Lewis Hill, American pacifist, co-founded Pacifica Radio (d. 1957)
• 1919 – Mohammed Karim Lamrani, Moroccan politician, 7th Prime Minister of Morocco
• 1919 – Dan O'Herlihy, Irish actor (d. 2005)
• 1921 – Vladimir Colin, Romanian journalist and author (d. 1991)
• 1921 – Boo Morcom, American pole vaulter and jumper (d. 2012)
• 1922 – Alastair Gillespie, Canadian politician
• 1923 – Joseph Heller, American author and playwright (d. 1999)
• 1923 – Milan Kangrga, Croatian Serb philosopher (d. 2008)
• 1923 – Antônio Maria Mucciolo, Italian-Brazilian archbishop (d. 2012)
• 1923 – Marcel Rayman, WWII resistance fighter (d. 1944)
• 1924 – Art Fleming, American actor and game show host (d. 1995)
• 1924 – Karel Kachyňa, Czech director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
• 1924 – Terry Southern, American author and screenwriter (d. 1995)
• 1925 – Helen Bamber, Polish British psychotherapist
• 1925 – Chuck Bednarik, American lieutenant and football player
• 1925 – Scott Carpenter, American commander, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Sardar Fazlul Karim, Bangladeshi scholar, philosopher, and academic
• 1926 – Peter Lax, Hungarian-American mathematician
• 1927 – Gary Bertini, Israeli conductor and composer (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Laura Betti, Italian actress and singer (d. 2004)
• 1928 – Desmond Titterington, Irish race car driver (d. 2002)
• 1929 – Ralf Dahrendorf, German-English sociologist and politician (d. 2009)
• 1929 – Sonny James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1929 – Mikhail Krivonosov, Soviet hammer thrower (d. 1995)
• 1929 – Sonny Ramadhin, West Indian cricketer
• 1930 – Ollie Matson, American sprinter and football player (d. 2011)
• 1930 – Richard Riordan, American politician, 39th Mayor of Los Angeles
• 1930 – Little Walter, American harmonica player (d. 1968)
• 1931 – Naim Attallah, Palestinian publisher
• 1931 – Jacques Languirand, Canadian radio host and actor
• 1932 – Sandy Woodward, English admiral (d. 2013)
• 1934 – Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, Mexican politician
• 1934 – Shirley Horn, American singer and pianist (d. 2005)
• 1934 – Phillip King, British sculptor
• 1935 – Ian Curteis, British dramatist
• 1935 – Julian Mitchell, English playwright and screenwriter
• 1935 – Ann Robinson, American actress
• 1936 – Jerry Mander, American author and activist
• 1937 – Tamsyn Imison, British educationalist
• 1937 – Bo Nilsson, Swedish composer and lyricist
• 1937 – Una Stubbs, English actress and dancer
• 1939 – Judy Collins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1939 – Victor Davies, Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor
• 1939 – Max Robinson, American journalist (d. 1988)
• 1940 – Bobbie Ann Mason, American author and critic
• 1940 – Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer
• 1940 – John Wheeler, British politician
• 1940 – Yury Yershov, Russian mathematician
• 1941 – Asil Nadir, Cypriot-English businessman
• 1942 – Stephen Macht, American actor
• 1943 – Vassal Gadoengin, Nauruan politician (d. 2004)
• 1944 – Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
• 1945 – Rita Coolidge, American singer
• 1945 – Peter Kiesewetter, German composer (d. 2012)
• 1945 – Carson Whitsett, American keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer (d. 2007)
• 1946 – Tõnu Lepik, Estonian long jumper
• 1946 – Joanna Lumley, Indian-English actress
• 1946 – John Woo, Hong Kong director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1946 – Paul Wright, British professor of prosthetic dentistry
• 1947 – Sergio Infante, Chilean-Swedish poet and author
• 1948 – Györgyi Balogh, Hungarian sprinter
• 1948 – Patricia Hill Collins, American sociologist and scholar
• 1948 – Conrad Palmisano, American stuntman and film director
• 1949 – Jim Clench, Canadian bass player (April Wine and Bachman–Turner Overdrive) (d. 2010)
• 1949 – Tim Hodgkinson, English saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer (Henry Cow, The Work, and K-Space)
• 1949 – Paul Teutul, Sr., American motorcycle designer, co-founded Orange County Choppers
• 1950 – John Diehl, American actor
• 1950 – Dann Florek, American actor and director
• 1950 – Danny McGrain, Scottish footballer and coach
• 1950 – Marina Stepanova, Soviet hurdler
• 1951 – Gordon Greenidge, West Indies cricketer
• 1951 – Geoff Lees, English race car driver
• 1951 – Sally Mann, American photographer
• 1951 – Antony Worrall Thompson, English chef
• 1952 – Richard Blundell, English economist and econometrician
• 1952 – Kim Lewison, British judge, Lord Justice of Appeal
• 1952 – Peter Smith, British judge, High Court of Justice in England and Wales
• 1953 – Glen Ballard, American songwriter and producer
• 1954 – Fred Chichin, French singer-songwriter and guitarist (Les Rita Mitsouko) (d. 2007)
• 1954 – Archie Norman, British businessman and politician
• 1954 – Ray Parker, Jr., American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Raydio)
• 1954 – Joel Rosenberg, Canadian-American author (d. 2011)
• 1955 – Alex Cunningham, British politician
• 1955 – Donna Hartley, English runner (d. 2013)
• 1955 – Martin O'Donnell, American composer
• 1956 – Phil Foglio, American illustrator
• 1956 – Catherine Frot, French actress
• 1956 – Frank Szymanski, German politician and writer
• 1957 – Kow Otani, Japanese pianist and composer
• 1959 – Yasmina Reza, French actress and playwright
• 1959 – Lawrence Seeff, South African cricketer and basket weaver
• 1960 – Steve Cauthen, American jockey
• 1961 – Clint Malarchuk, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1961 – Marilyn Milian, American judge
• 1961 – Vasiliy Sidorenko, Russian hammer thrower
• 1962 – Maia Morgenstern, Romanian actress
• 1962 – Ted Sundquist, American football player, coach, and manager
• 1964 – Lady Sarah Chatto, English daughter of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
• 1964 – Will Kimbrough, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
• 1964 – Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater
• 1965 – Debi Diamond, American adult actress and nude model
• 1966 – Charlie Schlatter, American actor
• 1966 – Olaf Thon, German footballer and coach
• 1967 – Tim McGraw, American singer-songwriter and actor
• 1967 – Scott Coffey, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
• 1968 – Oliver Bierhoff, German footballer and manager
• 1968 – Sol Kyung-gu, South Korean actor
• 1968 – Denise Masino, American bodybuilder
• 1968 – D'arcy Wretzky, American bass player (The Smashing Pumpkins and Catherine)
• 1968 – Johnny Colt, American bass guitarist (The Black Crowes and Lynyrd Skynyrd)
• 1969 – Wes Anderson, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1969 – Billy Owens, American basketball player
• 1969 – Hannes Võrno, Estonian television journalist, humorist and military officer
• 1970 – Bernard Butler, English guitarist and producer
• 1971 – Ethan Albright, American football player
• 1971 – Artur Kohutek, Polish hurdler
• 1971 – Ajith Kumar, Indian actor
• 1972 – Ramzi bin al-Shibh, Yemeni terrorist
• 1972 – Julie Benz, American actress
• 1972 – Earl Va'a, New Zealand rugby player
• 1973 – Mike Jesse, German footballer
• 1973 – Curtis Martin, American football player
• 1973 – Oliver Neuville, German footballer
• 1974 – Kellie Crawford, Australian singer and actress (Hi-5 and Teen Queens)
• 1974 – Lornah Kiplagat, Kenyan-Dutch long-distance runner
• 1975 – Austin Croshere, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1975 – Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroonian footballer (d. 2003)
• 1975 – Nina Hossain, English journalist
• 1975 – Alexey Smertin, Russian footballer
• 1976 – Darius McCrary, American actor and singer
• 1976 – Violante Placido, Italian actress and singer
• 1976 – Patricia Stokkers, Dutch freestyle swimmer
• 1977 – Vera Lischka, Austrian swimmer and politician
• 1978 – James Badge Dale, American actor
• 1978 – Sachie Hara, Japanese actress
• 1978 – John Linehan, American basketball player
• 1978 – Nick Traina, American singer-songwriter (Link 80) (d. 1997)
• 1979 – Harvey, English rapper and actor (So Solid Crew)
• 1979 – Mauro Bergamasco, Italian rugby player
• 1979 – Michelle Perry, American athlete
• 1980 – Marvin Cabrera, Mexican footballer
• 1980 – Inês Henriques, Portuguese race walker
• 1980 – Jan Heylen, Belgian race car driver
• 1980 – Jay Reatard, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Lost Sounds) (d. 2010)
• 1980 – Ana Claudia Talancón, Mexican actress
• 1981 – Derek Asamoah, Ghanaian footballer
• 1981 – Alexander Hleb, Belarusian footballer
• 1981 – Wes Welker, American football player
• 1982 – Tommy Robredo, Spanish tennis player
• 1982 – Darijo Srna, Croatian footballer
• 1982 – Jamie Dornan, Irish actor and singer
• 1983 – Alain Bernard, French swimmer
• 1983 – Human Tornado, American wrestler
• 1984 – David Backes, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Patrick Eaves, American ice hockey player
• 1984 – Alexander Farnerud, Swedish footballer and baker
• 1984 – Farah Fath, American actress
• 1984 – Keiichiro Koyama, Japanese singer and actor (NEWS)
• 1984 – Víctor Montaño, Colombian footballer
• 1984 – Mark Seaby, Australian footballer
• 1985 – Drew Sidora, American actress and singer
• 1986 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1986 – Adam Casey, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Brent Stanton, Australian footballer
• 1987 – Leonardo Bonucci, Italian footballer
• 1987 – Emilia Clarke, English actress
• 1987 – Glen Coffee, American football player
• 1987 – Matt Di Angelo, English actor
• 1987 – Marcus Drum, Australian footballer
• 1987 – Amir Johnson, American basketball player
• 1987 – Shahar Pe'er, Israeli tennis player
• 1988 – Nicholas Braun, American actor
• 1988 – Anushka Sharma, Indian model and actress
• 1989 – Alejandro Arribas, Spanish footballer
• 1989 – Poļina Jeļizarova, Latvian steeplechaser
• 1989 – Bryshon Nellum, American sprinter
• 1989 – Tim Urban, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1990 – Uriel Álvarez, Mexican footballer
• 1990 – Caitlin Stasey, Australian actress and singer
• 1990 – Diego Contento, German footballer
• 1991 – Creagen Dow, American actor
• 1991 – Abdisalam Ibrahim, Somalian-Norwegian footballer
• 1991 – Bartosz Salamon, Polish footballer
• 1992 – You Kikkawa, Japanese singer (MilkyWay)
• 1992 – Matěj Vydra, Czech footballer
• 1993 – Jean-Christophe Bahebeck, French footballer
• 1993 – Chinyere Pigot, Surinamese swimmer
• 1994 – Wallace, Brazilian footballer
• 1997 – Ariel Gade, American actress

Deaths[edit]

• 408 – Arcadius, Byzantine emperor (b. 337)
• 1118 – Matilda of Scotland (b. 1080)
• 1277 – Stephen Uroš I of Serbia (b. 1223)
• 1308 – Albert I of Germany (b. 1255)
• 1539 – Isabella of Portugal (b. 1503)
• 1555 – Pope Marcellus II (b. 1501)
• 1572 – Pope Pius V (b. 1504)
• 1731 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German violinist and composer (b. 1677)
• 1738 – Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, English politician (b. 1669)
• 1772 – Gottfried Achenwall, German economist and jurist (b. 1719)
• 1813 – Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French general (b. 1768)
• 1856 – John Wilbur, American minister (b. 1774)
• 1873 – David Livingstone, Scottish missionary (b. 1813)
• 1899 – Ludwig Büchner, German physiologist and physician (b. 1824)
• 1904 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer (b. 1841)
• 1913 – John Barclay Armstrong, American marshal (b. 1850)
• 1920 – Princess Margaret of Connaught (b. 1882)
• 1935 – Henri Pélissier, French cyclist (b. 1889)
• 1937 – Snitz Edwards, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1868)
• 1943 – Johan Oscar Smith, Norwegian religious leader, founded the Brunstad Christian Church (b. 1871)
• 1945 – Joseph Goebbels, German politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
• 1945 – Magda Goebbels, German wife of Joseph Goebbels (b. 1901)
• 1956 – LeRoy Samse, American pole vaulter (b. 1883)
• 1960 – Charles Holden, English architect, designed the Bristol Central Library (b. 1875)
• 1963 – Lope K. Santos, Filipino author and politician (b. 1879)
• 1965 – Spike Jones, American singer and bandleader (b. 1911)
• 1968 – Jack Adams, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (b. 1895)
• 1968 – Harold Nicolson, English author and politician (b. 1886)
• 1970 – Yi Un, Korean prince (b. 1897)
• 1973 – Asger Jorn, Danish painter and sculptor (b. 1914)
• 1976 – T. R. M. Howard, American surgeon and activist (b. 1908)
• 1976 – Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek politician and poet (b. 1939)
• 1978 – Aram Khachaturian, Georgian-Armenian composer (b. 1903)
• 1982 – William Primrose, Scottish viola player and educator (b. 1903)
• 1984 – Jüri Lossmann, Estonian runner (b. 1891)
• 1985 – Denise Robins, English journalist and author (b. 1897)
• 1986 – Hylda Baker, English actress (b. 1905)
• 1986 – Hugo Peretti, American songwriter and producer (b. 1916)
• 1989 – Sally Kirkland, American journalist (b. 1912)
• 1989 – V. M. Panchalingam, Sri Lankan Tamil civil servant (b. c1930)
• 1989 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian politician (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Douglass Watson, American actor (b. 1921)
• 1990 – Sergio Franchi, Italian-American tenor and actor (b. 1926)
• 1991 – Richard Thorpe, American director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
• 1992 – Sharon Redd, American singer and actress (Harlettes) (b. 1945)
• 1993 – Pierre Bérégovoy, French politician, Prime Minister of France (b. 1925)
• 1993 – Ranasinghe Premadasa, Sri Lankan politician, 3rd President of Sri Lanka (b. 1924)
• 1994 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1960)
• 1996 – Luana Patten, American actress (b. 1938)
• 1997 – Fernand Dumont, Canadian sociologist, philosopher, and poet (b. 1927)
• 1998 – Eldridge Cleaver, American author and activist (b. 1935)
• 1999 – Jos LeDuc, Canadian wrestler (b. 1944)
• 2000 – Steve Reeves, American bodybuilder and actor (b. 1926)
• 2000 – Jukka Tapanimäki, Finnish game programmer (b. 1961)
• 2002 – John Nathan-Turner, English screenwriter and producer (b. 1947)
• 2002 – Ebrahim Al-Arrayedh, Bahraini arabic poet writer (b.1908)
• 2003 – Miss Elizabeth, American wrestling manager (b. 1960)
• 2003 – Wim van Est, Dutch cyclist (b. 1923)
• 2004 – Larkin Kerwin, Canadian physicist (b. 1924)
• 2005 – Kenneth B. Clark, American psychologist (b. 1914)
• 2006 – Big Hawk, American rapper (Screwed Up Click) (b. 1969)
• 2006 – Rob Lacey, English actor and author (b. 1962)
• 2008 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese politician, 1st President of Malta (b. 1909)
• 2008 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey, American madam (b. 1956)
• 2008 – Philipp von Boeselager, German soldier (b. 1917)
• 2009 – Danny Gans, American singer and comedian (b. 1956)
• 2010 – Rob McConnell, Canadian trombonist and composer (b. 1935)
• 2010 – Helen Wagner, American actress (b. 1918)
• 2011 – Ted Lowe, English sportscaster (b. 1920)
• 2011 – Henry Cooper, English boxer (b. 1934)
• 2012 – Shanmugasundari, Indian actress (b. 1937)
• 2012 – John Spencer Hardy, American general (b. 1913)
• 2012 – James Kinley, Canadian engineer and politician, 29th Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Charles Pitts, American guitarist (The Bo-Keys) (b. 1947)
• 2012 – Earl Rose, American pathologist (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Mordechai Virshubski, German-Israeli politician (b. 1930)
• 2013 – Chris Kelly, American rapper (Kris Kross) (b. 1978)
• 2013 – Martin Kevan, Kenyan-Canadian actor (b. 1947)
• 2013 – Pierre Pleimelding, French footballer and manager (b. 1952)
• 2013 – Gregory Rogers, Australian author and illustrator (b. 1957)
• 2013 – Ruby Stone, American politician (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Stuart Wilde, English author (b. 1946)

Holidays and observances[edit]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Augustin Schoeffer
  • Andeolus
  • Brioc
  • James the Less
  • Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker (Roman Catholic optional feast)
  • Marcouf
  • Philip the Apostle
  • Sigismund of Burgundy
  • Walpurga (canonization)
  • May 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Constitution Day (Latvia)
• Constitution Day (Marshall Islands)
• Commemoration of the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat following the foundation of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti (India):
  • Gujarat Day
  • Maharashtra Day
• Earliest day on which Mother's Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in May. (Samoa)
• Earliest day on which Mother's Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in May. (Hong Kong, Hungary, Lithuania, Mozambique, Portugal,Spain, Romania)
• Earliest day on which National Day of Prayer can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Thursday in May. (United States)
• Earliest day on which World Asthma Day can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Tuesday in May. (International)
• Festival in honor of Bona Dea (Roman Empire)
• International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day (guerilla gardeners)
• International Workers' Day or Labour Day (International), and its related observances:
  • EuroMayDay (Western Europe)
  • Law Day, U.S.A., formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States)
  • Loyalty Day, formerly intended to counterbalance the celebration of Labour Day. (United States)
• Lei Day (Hawaii)
• May Day (beginning of Summer) observances in the Northern hemisphere (see April 30):
  • Beltane (Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Celtic Neopagans and Wiccans in the Northern hemisphere)
  • Earliest day on which Beltane can fall, while May 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in May. (Ireland, Scotland)
  • Walpurgis Night, celebrated before dawn (Central and Northern Europe)

===
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” -Ephesians 4:15
===

Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"And all the children of Israel murmured."
Numbers 14:2

There are murmurers amongst Christians now, as there were in the camp of Israel of old. There are those who, when the rod falls, cry out against the afflictive dispensation. They ask, "Why am I thus afflicted? What have I done to be chastened in this manner?" A word with thee, O murmurer! Why shouldst thou murmur against the dispensations of thy heavenly Father? Can he treat thee more hardly than thou deservest? Consider what a rebel thou wast once, but he has pardoned thee! Surely, if he in his wisdom sees fit now to chasten thee, thou shouldst not complain. After all, art thou smitten as hardly as thy sins deserve? Consider the corruption which is in thy breast, and then wilt thou wonder that there needs so much of the rod to fetch it out? Weigh thyself, and discern how much dross is mingled with thy gold; and dost thou think the fire too hot to purge away so much dross as thou hast? Does not that proud rebellious spirit of thine prove that thy heart is not thoroughly sanctified? Are not those murmuring words contrary to the holy submissive nature of God's children? Is not the correction needed? But if thou wilt murmur against the chastening, take heed, for it will go hard with murmurers. God always chastises his children twice, if they do not bear the first stroke patiently. But know one thing--"He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men." All his corrections are sent in love, to purify thee, and to draw thee nearer to himself. Surely it must help thee to bear the chastening with resignation if thou art able to recognize thy Father's hand. For "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons." "Murmur not as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer."

Evening

"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God."
Psalm 139:17

Divine omniscience affords no comfort to the ungodly mind, but to the child of God it overflows with consolation. God is always thinking upon us, never turns aside his mind from us, has us always before his eyes; and this is precisely as we would have it, for it would be dreadful to exist for a moment beyond the observation of our heavenly Father. His thoughts are always tender, loving, wise, prudent, far-reaching, and they bring to us countless benefits: hence it is a choice delight to remember them. The Lord always did think upon his people: hence their election and the covenant of grace by which their salvation is secured; he always will think upon them: hence their final perseverance by which they shall be brought safely to their final rest. In all our wanderings the watchful glance of the Eternal Watcher is evermore fixed upon us--we never roam beyond the Shepherd's eye. In our sorrows he observes us incessantly, and not a pang escapes him; in our toils he marks all our weariness, and writes in his book all the struggles of his faithful ones. These thoughts of the Lord encompass us in all our paths, and penetrate the innermost region of our being. Not a nerve or tissue, valve or vessel, of our bodily organization is uncared for; all the littles of our little world are thought upon by the great God.

Dear reader, is this precious to you? then hold to it. Never be led astray by those philosophic fools who preach up an impersonal God, and talk of self-existent, self-governing matter. The Lord liveth and thinketh upon us, this is a truth far too precious for us to be lightly robbed of it. The notice of a nobleman is valued so highly that he who has it counts his fortune made; but what is it to be thought of by the King of kings! If the Lord thinketh upon us, all is well, and we may rejoice evermore.

===

Today's reading: 1 Kings 8-9, Luke 21:1-19 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: 1 Kings 8-9

The Ark Brought to the Temple

¹ Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD's covenant from Zion, the City of David. ² All the Israelites came together to King Solomon at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month.

³ When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark, ⁴ and they brought up the ark of the LORD and the tent of meeting and all the sacred furnishings in it. The priests and Levites carried them up, ⁵ and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted....

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: Luke 21:1-19

The Widow's Offering

¹ As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. ² He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ³ "Truly I tell you," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴ All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

⁵ Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, ⁶ "As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down...."

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

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	Having trouble seeing this email? View it online. Bible Gateway | The Brook Network | Mel Lawrenz
Hello, friend! I was blessed to have so many people like yourself follow along with the Knowing Him Easter devotional—and blessed to read so many of your comments at thebrooknetwork.org. But this email list will come to a close now because the Easter devotional is over. But I'm thrilled to be able to collaborate with Bible Gateway in offering you a brand new weekly devotional called "Everything New." In Revelation 21:5 Jesus says: "I am making everything new!" Every person I know 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? If you'd like to receive this once-a-week devotional from me at the start of your week, you must sign up for the "Everything New" devotional here. You will not receive it otherwise. I hope you will! Blessings, Mel Lawrenz P.S. I know there are people in your life who need the God who makes all things new. Please consider telling them about this, or just forward them this email with a word of friendly encouragement.