The ALP are very keen that the poorest suffer while they are in opposition. They have a policy of opposing the ending of a Carbon Dioxide tax even though when they were last in government they ran a policy claiming they had ended it. The government needs to cut spending, but the ridiculous tax aimed at limiting plant food does not even do that. All it does is make business more difficult, meaning fewer jobs and a weaker economy. It is difficult to see a single policy pursued by the ALP which provides for the poor, or struggling workers. The ALP aimed for unemployment to be higher than it now is. They see things happening that others do not. My bet is they will never author a text as acutely important or beneficial as "Revelations of Divine Love."
===
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 Steve Wolf and Emily Wong. Born on the same day, across the years. The same day which in 1888 saw Princess Isabel of the Empire of Brazil formally abolishing slavery. Also the same day three children had their first Our Lady of Fatima visions. A lot to live up to. You can do it.
- 1024 – Hugh of Cluny, French saint (d. 1109)
- 1588 – Ole Worm, Danish physician (d. 1654)
- 1713 – Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (d. 1765)
- 1717 – Maria Theresa, Austrian wife of Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1780)
- 1735 – Horace Coignet, French composer (d. 1821)
- 1753 – Lazare Carnot, French general, mathematician, and politician (d. 1823)
- 1795 – Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist and conchologist (d. 1875)
- 1830 – Zebulon Baird Vance, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of North Carolina (d. 1894)
- 1842 – Arthur Sullivan, English composer (d. 1900)
- 1883 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek-American pathologist, invented the pap smear (d. 1962)
- 1912 – Judah Nadich, American rabbi (d. 2007)
- 1914 – Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
- 1914 – Johnnie Wright, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Johnnie & Jack) (d. 2011)
- 1931 – Jim Jones, American cult leader, founded the Peoples Temple (d. 1978)
- 1937 – Trevor Baylis, English inventor, invented the wind-up radio
- 1939 – Harvey Keitel, American actor and producer
- 1941 – Ritchie Valens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1959)
- 1945 – Magic Dick, American harmonica player (The J. Geils Band)
- 1950 – Stevie Wonder, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1957 – Alan Ball, American screenwriter, producer, and director
- 1961 – Dennis Rodman, American basketball player, wrestler, and actor
- 1987 – Carrie Prejean, American model and author, Miss California USA 2009
- 1993 – Debby Ryan, American actress and singer
- 1993 – Bang Minah, South Korean idol singer (Girl's Day)
Matches
- 1373 – Julian of Norwich has visions which are later transcribed in her Revelations of Divine Love.
- 1515 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk are officially married at Greenwich.
- 1568 – Battle of Langside: the forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother.
- 1619 – Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after being convicted of treason.
- 1787 – Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England, with eleven ships full of convicts (the "First Fleet") to establish a penal colony in Australia.
- 1848 – First performance of Finland's national anthem.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.
- 1861 – The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.
- 1861 – Pakistan’s (then a part of British India) first railway line opens, from Karachi to Kotri.
- 1862 – The USS Planter, a steamer and gunship, steals through Confederate lines and is passed to the Union, by a southern slave, Robert Smalls, who later was officially appointed as captain, becoming the first man with dark skin to command a United States ship.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch – in far south Texas, more than a month after Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender, the last land battle of the Civil War ends with a Confederate victory.
- 1880 – In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.
- 1909 – The first Giro d'Italia starts from Milan. Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna will be the winner.
- 1912 – The Royal Flying Corps (now the Royal Air Force) is established in the United Kingdom.
- 1917 – Three children report the first apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal.
- 1939 – The first commercial FM radio station in the United States is launched in Bloomfield, Connecticut. The station later becomes WDRC-FM.
- 1940 – World War II: Germany's conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse. Winston Churchill makes his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech to the House of Commons.
- 1948 – 1948 Arab-Israeli War: the Kfar Etzion massacre is committed by Arab irregulars, the day before the declaration of independence of the state of Israel on May 14.
- 1958 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
- 1958 – The trade mark Velcro is registered.
- 1958 – Ben Carlin becomes the first (and only) person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 17,000 kilometres (11,000 mi) by sea and 62,000 kilometres (39,000 mi) by land during a ten-year journey.
- 1960 – Hundreds of University of California, Berkeley students congregate for the first day of protest against a visit by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Thirty-one students are arrested, and the Free Speech Movement is born.
- 1972 – Faulty electrical wiring ignites a fire underneath the Playtown Cabaret in Osaka, Japan. Blocked exits and non-functional elevators lead to 118 fatalities, with many victims leaping to their deaths.
- 1972 – The Troubles: a car bombing outside a crowded pub in Belfast sparks a two-day gun battle involving the Provisional IRA, Ulster Volunteer Force and British Army. Seven people are killed and over 66 injured.
- 1981 – Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The Pope is rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survives.
- 1985 – Police release a bomb on MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia to end a stand-off, killing 11 MOVE members and destroying the homes of 250 city residents.
- 1989 – Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike.
- 1992 – Li Hongzhi gives the first public lecture on Falun Gong in Changchun, People's Republic of China.
- 1994 – Johnny Carson makes his last television appearance on Late Show with David Letterman.
- 1998 – Race riots break out in Jakarta, Indonesia, where shops owned by Indonesians of Chinese descent are looted and women raped.
- 2011 – In the 2011 Charsadda bombing in the Charsadda District of Pakistan, two bombs explode, resulting in 98 deaths and 140 others wounded.
Despatches
- 1176 – Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1119)
- 1884 – Cyrus McCormick, American businessman, co-founded the International Harvester Company (b. 1809)
- 1961 – Gary Cooper, American actor and singer (b. 1901)
- 2002 – Ruth Cracknell, Australian actress (b. 1925)
MUNGO BINGO
Tim Blair – Tuesday, May 13, 2014 (2:16am)
Some pre-war history from Mungo MacCallum, writing for the unbiased ABC:
Allowing politicians whose ambition and arrogance greatly outweigh their abilities and character to acquire their own private armies is seldom a good idea.To take just one obvious example: when Adolf Hitler gave his mate Heinrich Himmler control of the SS in 1929, the organisation was a single battalion of 290. Within a year Himmler had raised its ranks to 3,000 and by the time Hitler gained supreme power in 1933 the SS numbered 52,000. And so it went.
Where is Mungo headed with all of this old-timey Nazi talk? You’ll never guess:
Scott Morrison has already done great damage to Australia’s reputation and to our foreign policy. And something warns me that we ain’t seen nothing yet.
WORLD’S OLDEST HUMANS FACE DIGNITY LOSS
Tim Blair – Tuesday, May 13, 2014 (2:13am)
New Zealand rejects climate refugee claims. Morgan Godfery is upset:
No refugees please, we’re New Zealanders. That’s the message from New Zealand’s court of appeal. In a decision released last week the court endorsed earlier rulings that Ioana Teitiota – a Kiribati national – is not a climate change refugee. Teitiota, his wife and their children will be deported to Kiribati, where the court believes they can “resume their prior subsistence life with dignity”.Even if the Teitiota’s can reclaim some dignity, climate change will take it from them. The IPCC projects that the Pacific ocean will swallow most Kiribati by the end of this century.
Ioana Teitiota is 37. By the end of the century, when Teitiota’s dignity will be stolen by climate change, he’ll be 123. His youngest child will be 85 or so. At that point, climate change might be the least of their problems.
SHOOTER IDENTIFIED
Tim Blair – Tuesday, May 13, 2014 (2:10am)
Andrew Marlton’s draughtsmanship sure has improved since he joined the Guardian. No, wait – these are drawings byillegal immigrant children, gathered by Australian Human Rights Commission medical consultants Sarah Mares and Karen Zwi:
Along with three other colleagues, we interviewed 230 families. While we talked, we provided paper and pens and invited children to draw pictures that would tell us something about their lives.
Apparently their lives involve being murdered by the Prime Minister:
According to the Guardian: “This drawing by a child includes a smiling Tony Abbott holding a gun.” No. It clearly shows Abbott firing a gun at a seven-year-old, while dead or dying children bleed on the ground. Why would any parent bring a child to a country ruled by such a murderous tyrant? Best they be resettled somewhere safer, like Iran.
According to the Guardian: “This drawing by a child includes a smiling Tony Abbott holding a gun.” No. It clearly shows Abbott firing a gun at a seven-year-old, while dead or dying children bleed on the ground. Why would any parent bring a child to a country ruled by such a murderous tyrant? Best they be resettled somewhere safer, like Iran.
EERIE DISCONNECT
Tim Blair – Tuesday, May 13, 2014 (1:01am)
Former Fairfax functionary Margo Kingston approaches her next nervous breakdown:
When she’s coming up with lines like “riot police smash”, you know Margo is close to the edge. And check out this spectacular Margo haiku:
When she’s coming up with lines like “riot police smash”, you know Margo is close to the edge. And check out this spectacular Margo haiku:
TOM HAFEY
Tim Blair – Monday, May 12, 2014 (11:49pm)
===Can unions be trusted to help run giant super funds?
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (11:55am)
The power unions have over super funds is not healthy:
===The Australian Privacy Commissioner is investigating superannuation giant Cbus over another leak of personal details to the construction union.(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Privacy commissioner Timothy Pilgrim began an investigation this year into claims Cbus employee co-ordinator Steve Gaske leaked information about more than 300 employees of a company subject to a construction union industrial campaign.
Mr Gaske is honourary president of the Queensland branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. Cbus files reveal an internal inquiry by the fund found Mr Gaske inappropriately sent personal details of the workers to a third party “without consent” and underwent “remedial training” as a result.
On Monday, Fairfax Media reported that NSW CFMEU state secretary Brian Parker allegedly conspired with a Cbus employee to get personal details of 400 workers, including their addresses and financial details, to help an industrial campaign…
News of a second privacy breach involving the CFMEU will further pressure the Cbus board, which includes Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney, CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan, NSW CFMEU president Rita Mallia and is chaired by former Victorian premier Steve Bracks. There is no suggestion the Cbus board knew of the leaking of the members’ details.
Great research. ABC finds ABC staffer’s mum to bag the Liberals
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (9:58am)
The ABC looks for someone to bag the Abbott Government’s Budget. It finds an ABC reporter’s mum.
(Thanks to reader whatthe? and via Michael Smith. Plus thanks to many other readers.)
UPDATE
Son Mark is happy, though.
===(Thanks to reader whatthe? and via Michael Smith. Plus thanks to many other readers.)
UPDATE
Son Mark is happy, though.
Warmist defects
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (8:57am)
James Delingpole says one the world’s most eminent warmist scientists has become a sceptic:
===Lennart Bengtsson - a Swedish climatologist, meteorologist, former director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg and winner, in 2006, of the 51st IMO Prize of the World Meteorological Organization for his pioneering work in numerical weather prediction - is by some margin the most distinguished scientist to change sides.
For most of his career, he has been a prominent member of the warmist establishment, subscribing to all its articles of faith - up to and including the belief that Michael Mann’s Hockey Stick was a scientifically plausible assessment of the relationship between CO2 emissions and global mean temperature.
But this week, he [agreed] to join the advisory council of Britain’s Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), the think tank created by the arch-sceptical former Chancellor Lord Lawson.
Though Bengtsson is trying to play down the significance of his shift - “I have always been a sceptic and I think that is what most scientists really are” he recently told Germany’s Spiegel Online, denying that he had ever been an “alarmist” - his move to the GWPF is a calculated snub to the climate alarmist establishment…
“I have used most of my career to develop models for predicting the weather. I have learned the importance of forecasting validation, i.e. the verification of predictions with respect to what has really happened. So I am a friend of climate forecasts. But the review of model results is important in order to ensure their credibility. It is frustrating that climate science is not able to validate their simulations correctly. The warming of the Earth has been much weaker since the end of the 20th century compared to what climate models show.”Bengtsson went on to reject another pillar of the warmist faith - the existence of a “consensus.”
“I have great respect for the scientific work that goes into the IPCC reports. But I see no need for the endeavour of the IPCC to achieve a consensus. I think it is essential that there are areas of society where a consensus cannot be enforced. Especially in an area like the climate system, which is incompletely understood, a consensus is meaningless.”
(Thanks to reader Penny.)
Gosnell movie to be made
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (8:55am)
Readers of this blog have answered an appeal and helped ensure an important movie gets made:
===THE CONTROVERSIAL movie about abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell has reached its funding target on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo - smashing a series of records on the way to its $2.1m goal.You have still got a few hours to add even $1 to ensure you’re part of it.
Gosnell is now by a huge margin, the most successful film project ever to be on Indiegogo, even beating projects from Hollywood celebrities such as James Franco.
It is also by far the most successful non-celebrity crowdfunded film on ANY crowdfunding platform.
Gosnell has so far raised $2.1m from over 23,000 contributors. The project closes to contributors at midnight Monday May 12th.
Boko Haram says its agenda is Islam. Will the Left finally say so, too?
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (8:14am)
It just got harder for the Left to avoid mentioning Boko Haram’s Islamist agenda:
===A new video issued by Boko Haram claims to show some of the nearly 300 schoolgirls missing in Nigeria, who the Islamist group’s leader says have converted to Islam.
Abubakar Shekau reportedly said the girls would not be released until his fighters being held in prison are freed…
In the video, the militant chief speaks for 17 minutes before showing what he says are about 130 of the girls, wearing full-length hijabs, reciting the first chapter of the Koran and praying in an undisclosed rural location…
Holding a pad of paper in his hand, Shekau tells the camera: “These girls, these girls you occupy yourselves with their affair we have indeed ‘liberated’ them. We have indeed ‘liberated’ them.
“Do you know ‘we have liberated them’? These girls have become Muslims. They are Muslims.”
McCrann: why Abbott is not breaking a tax promise
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (7:43am)
These are some of the things Tony Abbott said before the election:
===2012: What you’ll get under us are tax cuts without new taxes.But Terry McCrann says those are not promises Tony Abbott will break in today’s Budget - something I’d like to believe, even if it means saying I was wrong:
August, 2013: The only party which is going to increase taxes after the election is the Labor Party.
In his always punchy The Bolt Report on the Ten Network on Sunday, Bolt showed two clips to “prove” Abbott had broken his promise “not to raise taxes”.
The first was from March 2012. Setting aside what Abbott actually said, which proved no such thing, something said in the everyday rough and tumble of political debate 18 months before an election simply does not qualify as an “election promise” in any rational universe…
Bolt’s second clip was from the 2013 election campaign. It had Abbott saying: “The only party that will raise taxes after the election is the Labor Party.”
That simply does not equate with Julia Gillard’s “There will be no carbon tax.....” It is common political rhetoric of the sort we’ve had since time immemorial; the assertion of the nasties the other side will deliver. It is not a promise of what his side will or will not do…
Abbott had to specifically rule out any tax increases under his government, for his assertion, his political rhetoric, to be converted into a promise…
We are apparently getting two tax increases today — a temporary increase in the top marginal personal tax rate, and perhaps the very top end of the second top rate; and a return to indexing the fuel excise.
They are not new taxes, they are increases in existing taxes. Abbott has not broken the alleged promise not to have new taxes…
And he committed to getting the Budget back to balance by cutting spending — with the objective to be able as a consequence, to long term deliver lower taxes.
None of this amounts to what would have been an absurd promise to not raise any tax, ever, even marginally, and far less temporarily.
ABC smears another conservative: Now Scott Morrison is another Heinrich Himmler
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (7:22am)
The ABC is not merely
biased but a disgraceful peddler of character assassination of
conservatives. It’s already portrayed Chris Kenny as a “dog-f..ker” and
me as a racist, and only grudgingly apologised.
Now it gives a platform to Mungo MacCallum to liken Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to Heinrich Himmler and a military-led border operation to the SS:
Can Scott also explain why the ABC reserves its slops bucket for conservatives?
The ABC is out of control.
===Now it gives a platform to Mungo MacCallum to liken Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to Heinrich Himmler and a military-led border operation to the SS:
Operation Sovereign Borders is out of control and running amok.... Morrison ... is definitely a minister on the make; he has revelled in speculation that he could one day take the top job himself. Which should make the thoughtful very nervous. Allowing politicians whose ambition and arrogance greatly outweigh their abilities and character to acquire their own private armies is seldom a good idea.Why are taxpayers dollars being used to publish this vicious calumny? Mark Scott should apologise for the ABC’s latest savaging of a conservative and order The Drum editor Chip Rolley to take it down.
To take just one obvious example: when Adolf Hitler gave his mate Heinrich Himmler control of the SS in 1929, the organisation was a single battalion of 290. Within a year Himmler had raised its ranks to 3,000 and by the time Hitler gained supreme power in 1933 the SS numbered 52,000. And so it went.
Can Scott also explain why the ABC reserves its slops bucket for conservatives?
The ABC is out of control.
Blewitt, Gillard and the house
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (7:18am)
Ralph Blewitt’s evidence yesterday included a nugget of information that suggests questions for Julia Gillard later:
===AMONG the hundreds of documents placed before Ralph Blewitt, the first witness at the national royal commission into union corruption yesterday, was one recovered from 1993.Gillard has elsewhere insisted she witnessed legal documents correctly.
[It was an] advertisement for a Fitzroy, Melbourne, terrace house that was to be auctioned ...
The commission heard that while Blewitt [became] its owner, he ...did not see it before it was bought nor go to the auction. He did not live in it…
He claims the house was purchased for his boss in the AWU, Bruce Wilson, who was accompanied to the auction by his then girlfriend and solicitor, Julia Gillard. Blewitt’s function was to be the fall guy who lent his name to the transaction and provided the cash for the deposit and the balance of the mortgage, which was organised by Slater & Gordon, Gillard’s employer.
Blewitt said he did as he was told. He pulled the necessary cash out of the account of the AWU Workplace Reform Association Inc, the secret slush fund registered in Western Australia on Gillard’s legal advice ...
Expenses reimbursement records placing Blewitt at a “Slater & Gordon dinner” at the Patee Thai restaurant in Fitzroy on February 3, 1993, for which he claimed $80 from the AWU, were accompanied by other records indicating he returned to Perth the next morning.
This evidence could become more important because of his earlier claims that a February 4 power-of-attorney document was falsely witnessed by the Melbourne-based Gillard.
Never mind the facts, feel that passionate sinking feeling for Kiribati
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (6:41am)
A brilliant example of how many on the Left deal in dreams and feelings, not reality and evidence - particularly when discussing global warming:
But how dare we question a man with such qualifications?
===Message from the Court of Appeal! Morgan Godfery, The Guardian, yesterday:More facts about Kiribati and Pacific islands not drowning but growing here.
NO refugees please, we’re New Zealanders. That’s the message from New Zealand’s Court of Appeal.Message from Immigration. New Zealand Refugee Quota 2013-14 to 2015-16:
REFUGEE Quota Programme remains at 750 annually.Kiribati is sinking! Godfery, The Guardian, yesterday:
BEFORE Kiribati sinks beneath the sea, ocean creep will make the islands uninhabitable … Tarawa, the main atoll, is a tiny sandstrip some six square miles in size. There is, quite literally, no escaping the misery climate change will cause.Kiribati is growing. Naomi Biribo, Colin D. Woodroffe, Sustainability Science, July last year:
REEF islands (around Tarawa in Kiribati) have substantially increased in size, gaining about 450 hectares, driven largely by reclamations on urban South Tarawa.Science is telling us to revolt! Godfery, The Guardian, yesterday:
SCIENCE, as Naomi Klein argues, “is telling us to revolt”. Ordinary people need to put pressure on their governments to deal with climate change displacement …Science is telling us to adapt. Biribo, Woodroffe, Sustainability Science, July last year:
WIDESPREAD erosion ... is primarily due to human activities … Appropriate adaptation measures … are required, including prohibiting beach mining ... near settlements.
But how dare we question a man with such qualifications?
The difference between arguing for a side and a principle
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (6:32am)
Remember how the media Left was near-unanimous in cheering Labor’s worst
mistakes - scrapping tough border laws, introducing a carbon tax,
calling a vindictive media inquiry, unleashing over-the-top spending
during the financial crisis, rolling out an uncosted mega-billion
national broadband network, promising huge new spending of borrowed
billions on education and more. Remember how the media Left was for
years not just totally incurious about the AWU slush fund scandal but at
times determined to excuse Julia Gillard’s involvement?
See how this cheering led Labor to electoral disaster and the country to massive debts? See how the squalid truth is now leaking out?
Now note the absence of such group think among conservative commentators under a conservative government:
===See how this cheering led Labor to electoral disaster and the country to massive debts? See how the squalid truth is now leaking out?
Now note the absence of such group think among conservative commentators under a conservative government:
Given the past six years of tortured federal leadership and the attempt to shunt blame on to an imagined media vendetta, it is instructive to look at the criticism being meted out to the Abbott government. Staunch News Corp critics of Mr Rudd and Julia Gillard — such as Andrew Bolt, Miranda Devine and Chris Kenny — have been earliest and strongest in their condemnation of Tony Abbott’s broken election promises. This shows the dispassionate consistency we need to see in a national debate, as do cogent arguments from News Corp writers such as Terry McCrann and Greg Sheridan arguing virtually the opposite point of view. For the past six years, on the liberal-Left side of the media and political divide, we have seen a blancmange of groupthink and a delusional denial of obvious failings, presumably in an attempt to buttress a government whose ideals were cherished. This absence of scepticism and debate does not bolster government but weakens it; doesn’t repair weaknesses but exacerbates them; and doesn’t prevent the eventual reckoning but rather allows it to gather momentum.
Greens back Liberals’ plan to raise a tax
Andrew Bolt May 13 2014 (6:12am)
The only sure thing in the Abbott Government’s Budget to get through the Senate so far is a tax rise - thanks to the Greens:
The Australian puts it well:
Nick Cater says the worth of a Budget – or a government - isn’t measured by promises kept or broken:
===The fuel tax increase was cemented last night when the Greens agreed to support the budget plan to index the excise to inflation, sparing the government from needing votes from Labor and minor parties.The Greens just expose themselves as tax addicts:
Greens leader Christine Milne rejected the government’s claims of a “budget crisis” and said there should be permanent action on tax, such as a lift in the tax rate for the wealthy, rather than an "ideological hit on the poor” by withdrawing benefits. “We’ve got a carbon price — let’s keep it. We’ve got a mining tax — let’s keep it,” Senator Milne said. The Greens will vote for the increase in the petrol excise but want the revenue to go to public transport rather than roads, she said.The Government claims it’s keeping its fundamental promise on taxes, but its calculations rely on scrapping the carbon tax - which is still there and can’t possibly get through the Senate until new Senators take over in July:
Mr Abbott promised “tax cuts without new taxes” when in opposition. Putting a contentious new claim at the heart of the budget, the government will rely on Treasury analysis to promise a $5.7bn cut in the “overall tax burden” next year to offset the new revenue measures.UPDATE
The tax reduction contrasts with a $107.3bn Treasury estimate for the cost of Labor tax increases over the past six years, including the carbon tax.
The Australian puts it well:
Today’s budget must deliver a plausible fiscal plan. If promises are broken, they will deserve attention but not a Twitter-led frenzy. The real test will be whether the national interest is served — costs curtailed, structural reforms delivered and a blueprint to maximise growth revealed.UPDATE
Nick Cater says the worth of a Budget – or a government - isn’t measured by promises kept or broken:
ON the eve of the 1983 election, Bob Hawke ... told a willing crowd at his campaign launch ... he would maintain controls on mortgage interest rates, continue assistance for the footwear, clothing and textile industries, fund a separate ABC rural network, construct the National Museum, introduce a national Bill of Rights and fixed four-year terms and wipe out (yes, wipe out) the tax evasion and avoidance industry.
Which goes to prove that a tally of promises kept and those supposedly broken is a hopeless measure of a government’s worth.
There was barely a hint in Hawke’s campaign speech of the reforms by which he came to be judged as one of Australia’s most successful prime ministers. The Hawke government’s fiscal conservatism did not emerge until his first budget…
Moments like this call for the advice from older and wiser heads, and former Howard government minister David Kemp’s Alfred Deakin lecture last week on the nature of good government was particularly well timed.
Kemp took issue with the current political orthodoxy that “good government is simply doing after the election what the party promised before … almost regardless of what it has a mandate to do.”
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CARBON DIOXDIE LEVELS - AN ALL TIME HIGH ??
It’s being reported in the media around the world that “Carbon dioxide levels have reached an all-time high.”
But take a look at the graph below – the black line shows carbon dioxide levels over the past 600 million years.
The facts are, that at 0.04% (400ppm) we are just above a 250-million-year low - and the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have been much higher than today for most of the past 600 million years.
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Nestled behind a waterfall in western New York state is an eternal flame whose beauty is only surpassed by its mystery. Perhaps lit by Native Americans hundreds or thousands of years ago, it is fed by a new type of geologic process that hasn't been recorded before in nature, researchers said. http://bit.ly/17RQOk9
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Pain changes you. Like a gale force wind, it drives you backward or forward, depending on how you set your sail.
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Happy Mother's Day!
Seen here is JOHN WAYNE with his mother and younger brother, Robert.
Photo taken from John Wayne: The Legend and the Man. http://bit.ly/13ooiab
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A mother's relentless love and unwavering prayers has saved more lives and done more good on earth than any other human activity.
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“The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world”—a phrase so simple, yet so profound in its expression of a mother’s importance. Mothers have been entrusted with the responsibility of raising life’s most precious resource—our children.
I appreciate my mom and the example of love and grace she has been throughout the years. Thank you, Mom!
Todd and I also appreciate the honor of being the parents of five wonderful kids and two amazing little grandkids who have enriched our life together in more ways than I could have ever imagined. Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper, and Trig are my life, and being joined now by Tripp Easton and Kyla Grace, I know that no matter what is going on in the world around me, they are the ones who keep me grounded. They are my daily reminders of what really matters.
Even as we celebrate Mother’s Day with family today, please stop to think of the many mothers who are separated from loved ones serving in the military and keeping us safe. I've been there, and especially today my heart goes out to those Blue Star moms who are missing their sons and daughters, while being so very proud. More than ever my heart extends to the precious Gold Star moms who are spending today holding on to memories of a child who paid the ultimate price. Whether it's been far away in specified combat zones, or attacks globally throughout the ongoing battle to defend our republic, or nearer home as the result of terrorist acts like Ft. Hood, the sacrifice of our military personnel and their families has not been in vain, and we will never forget.
Moms, whatever your plans today, know that you are appreciated year-round. One day is not enough to capture the essence of who you are, what you do, and the difference you make.
Driving in our truck this morning up towards Mt. McKinley, hauling kids and trailering snowmachines to launch on a trek to look for bear before the spring snow melts, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day, and God bless you!
- Sarah Palin
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Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back and reasons to stay.
That is beautiful .. but I love a human woman .. I suspect I make her toe nails dig into the dirt, rage which gives her wings and reasons to argue more .. ed
She is also in my head .. and she told me I love lots of people. Everyone. And I probably do make them feel that way at times. But I am grateful for the love God has given me. - ed
===
Mother's Day....if raised too alone: A Beautiful Poem for you
If
your mother
was caustic,
toxic,
abusive,
vindictive,
twisted,
dangerous:
If she was irresistibly drawn
to making much too clear
that her unhappiness—
her pain,
her dysfunction,
her drama—
was more precious to her
than you could ever be,
so that as a child
you
had to live your life
frightfully and desperately
scrounging
for whatever
fundamentally unacceptable
version of love
you could squeeze from her,
then this Mother’s Day,
while others
(as you imagine; as we all imagine)
are basking in the warmth
of their exemplary mothers,
you close your eyes,
and say a prayer
for two mothers:
the one you never had,
and the one she never had.
And then say a loving prayer
for yourself,
for the child
raised too alone.
And then open your eyes—
and there is the world,
beautiful again.
you are still here,
and you are not done yet.
===
===
===
===
===
- 1638 – Construction began in Delhi on the Red Fort(Lahori Gate pictured), the residence of the Mughal emperors, now an iconic symbol of India.
- 1779 – Russian and French mediators negotiated the Treaty of Teschen to end the War of the Bavarian Succession.
- 1913 – Russian American Igor Sikorsky flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz, which he designed himself.
- 1948 – Fifteen Jewish residents of Kibbutz Kfar Etzion were massacred following their surrender after a two-day battle with theArab Legion and Arab settlers.
- 1985 – Eleven members of the American black liberation groupMOVE were killed when a Philadelphia police helicopter dropped a bomb on their house during a raid.
Events[edit]
- 1373 – Julian of Norwich has visions which are later transcribed in her Revelations of Divine Love.
- 1515 – Mary Tudor, Queen of France and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk are officially married at Greenwich.
- 1568 – Battle of Langside: the forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother.
- 1619 – Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after being convicted of treason.
- 1648 – Construction of the Red Fort at Delhi is completed.
- 1779 – War of Bavarian Succession: Russian and French mediators at the Congress of Teschen negotiate an end to the war. In the agreement Austria receives the part of its territory that was taken from it (the Innviertel).
- 1780 – The Cumberland Compact is signed by leaders of the settlers in early Tennessee.
- 1787 – Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England, with eleven ships full of convicts (the "First Fleet") to establish a penal colony in Australia.
- 1804 – Forces sent by Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli to retake Derna from the Americans attack the city.
- 1830 – Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia.
- 1846 – Mexican–American War: The United States declares war on Mexico.
- 1848 – First performance of Finland's national anthem.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the breakaway states as having belligerent rights.
- 1861 – The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia.
- 1861 – Pakistan’s (then a part of British India) first railway line opens, from Karachi to Kotri.
- 1862 – The USS Planter, a steamer and gunship, steals through Confederate lines and is passed to the Union, by a southern slave, Robert Smalls, who later was officially appointed as captain, becoming the first man with dark skin to command a United States ship.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Resaca – the battle begins with Union General Sherman fighting toward Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1865 – American Civil War: Battle of Palmito Ranch – in far south Texas, more than a month after Confederate General Robert E. Lee's surrender, the last land battle of the Civil War ends with a Confederate victory.
- 1880 – In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.
- 1888 – With the passage of the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law"), Brazil abolishes slavery.
- 1909 – The first Giro d'Italia starts from Milan. Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna will be the winner.
- 1912 – The Royal Flying Corps (now the Royal Air Force) is established in the United Kingdom.
- 1917 – Three children report the first apparition of Our Lady of Fátima in Fátima, Portugal.
- 1923 – Robert Bellarmine, a Doctor of the Catholic Church, is beatified.
- 1939 – The first commercial FM radio station in the United States is launched in Bloomfield, Connecticut. The station later becomes WDRC-FM.[citation needed]
- 1940 – World War II: Germany's conquest of France begins as the German army crosses the Meuse. Winston Churchill makes his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech to the House of Commons.
- 1940 – Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands flees her country to Great Britain after the German invasion. Princess Juliana takes her children to Canada for their safety.
- 1941 – World War II: Yugoslav royal colonel Dragoljub Mihailović starts fighting with German occupation troops, beginning the Serbian resistance.
- 1943 – World War II: German Afrika Korps and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allied forces.
- 1948 – 1948 Arab-Israeli War: the Kfar Etzion massacre is committed by Arab irregulars, the day before the declaration of independence of the state of Israel on May 14.
- 1950 – The first round of the Formula One World Championship is held at Silverstone.
- 1951 – The 400th anniversary of the founding of the National University of San Marcos is commemorated by the opening of the first large-capacity stadium in Peru.
- 1952 – The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India, holds its first sitting.
- 1954 – The anti-National Service Riots, by Chinese Middle School students in Singapore, take place.
- 1954 – The original Broadway production of The Pajama Game opens and runs for another 1,063 performances. Later received three Tony Awards for Best Musical,Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical, and Best Choreography.
- 1958 – During a visit to Caracas, Venezuela, Vice President Richard Nixon's car is attacked by anti-American demonstrators.
- 1958 – The trade mark Velcro is registered.
- 1958 – May 1958 crisis: a group of French military officers lead a coup in Algiers demanding that a government of national unity be formed with Charles de Gaulle at its head in order to defend French control of Algeria.
- 1958 – Ben Carlin becomes the first (and only) person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle, having travelled over 17,000 kilometres (11,000 mi) by sea and 62,000 kilometres (39,000 mi) by land during a ten-year journey.
- 1960 – Hundreds of University of California, Berkeley students congregate for the first day of protest against a visit by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Thirty-one students are arrested, and the Free Speech Movement is born.
- 1963 – The U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland is decided.
- 1967 – Dr. Zakir Hussain becomes the third President of India. He is the first Muslim President of the Indian Union. He holds this position until August 24, 1969.
- 1969 – Race riots, later known as the May 13 Incident, take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- 1972 – Faulty electrical wiring ignites a fire underneath the Playtown Cabaret in Osaka, Japan. Blocked exits and non-functional elevators lead to 118 fatalities, with many victims leaping to their deaths.
- 1972 – The Troubles: a car bombing outside a crowded pub in Belfast sparks a two-day gun battle involving the Provisional IRA, Ulster Volunteer Force and British Army. Seven people are killed and over 66 injured.
- 1980 – An F3 tornado hits Kalamazoo County, Michigan. President Jimmy Carter declares it a federal disaster area.
- 1981 – Mehmet Ali Ağca attempts to assassinate Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The Pope is rushed to the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic to undergo emergency surgery and survives.
- 1985 – Police release a bomb on MOVE headquarters in Philadelphia to end a stand-off, killing 11 MOVE members and destroying the homes of 250 city residents.
- 1989 – Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike.
- 1992 – Li Hongzhi gives the first public lecture on Falun Gong in Changchun, People's Republic of China.
- 1994 – Johnny Carson makes his last television appearance on Late Show with David Letterman.
- 1995 – Alison Hargreaves, a 33-year-old British mother, became the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas.
- 1996 – Severe thunderstorms and a tornado in Bangladesh kill 600 people.
- 1998 – Race riots break out in Jakarta, Indonesia, where shops owned by Indonesians of Chinese descent are looted and women raped.
- 1998 – India carries out two nuclear tests at Pokhran, following the three conducted on May 11. The United States and Japan impose economic sanctions on India.
- 2000 – In Enschede, the Netherlands, a fireworks factory explodes, killing 22 people, wounding 950, and resulting in approximately €450 million in damage.
- 2005 – The Andijan Massacre occurs in Uzbekistan.
- 2005 – The Bính Bridge opens to traffic in Hai Phong, Vietnam.
- 2006 – 2006 São Paulo violence: a major rebellion occurs in several prisons in Brazil.
- 2008 – The Jaipur bombings in Rajasthan, India results in dozens of deaths.
- 2011 – In the 2011 Charsadda bombing in the Charsadda District of Pakistan, two bombs explode, resulting in 98 deaths and 140 others wounded.
Births[edit]
- 1024 – Hugh of Cluny, French saint (d. 1109)
- 1254 – Marie of Brabant, Queen of France (d. 1321)
- 1588 – Ole Worm, Danish physician (d. 1654)
- 1638 – Richard Simon, French priest (d. 1712)
- 1655 – Pope Innocent XIII (d. 1724)
- 1699 – Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal, Portuguese politician, Prime Minister of Portugal (d. 1782)
- 1712 – Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, Danish politician (d. 1772)
- 1713 – Alexis Clairaut, French mathematician, astronomer, and geophysicist (d. 1765)
- 1717 – Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Empress and last of the House of Habsburg (d. 1780)
- 1730 – Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1782)
- 1735 – Horace Coignet, French composer (d. 1821)
- 1742 – Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (d. 1798)
- 1753 – Lazare Carnot, French general, mathematician, and politician (d. 1823)
- 1759 – Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 1824)
- 1792 – Pope Pius IX (d. 1878)
- 1794 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (d. 1835)
- 1795 – Gérard Paul Deshayes, French geologist and conchologist (d. 1875)
- 1822 – Francis, Duke of Cádiz (d. 1902)
- 1830 – Zebulon Baird Vance, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of North Carolina (d. 1894)
- 1832 – Juris Alunāns, Latvian philologist (d. 1864)
- 1840 – Alphonse Daudet, French author (d. 1897)
- 1842 – Arthur Sullivan, English composer (d. 1900)
- 1856 – Tom O'Rourke, American boxer and manager (d. 1938)
- 1857 – Ronald Ross, Indian-English physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
- 1868 – Sumner Paine, American target shooter (d. 1904)
- 1881 – Lima Barreto, Brazilian journalist and author (d. 1922)
- 1882 – Georges Braque, French painter and sculptor (d. 1963)
- 1883 – Georgios Papanikolaou, Greek-American pathologist, invented the pap smear (d. 1962)
- 1885 – Mikiel Gonzi, Maltese archbishop (d. 1984)
- 1894 – Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, Icelandic politician, 2nd President of Iceland (d. 1972)
- 1895 – Nandor Fodor, Hungarian-American psychologist, parapsychologist, and author (d. 1964)
- 1898 – Justin Tuveri, Italian-French soldier (d. 2007)
- 1904 – Louis Duffus, South African cricketer (d. 1984)
- 1905 – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, Indian lawyer and politician, 5th President of India (d. 1977)
- 1907 – Daphne du Maurier, English author and playwright (d. 1989)
- 1908 – Eugen Kapp, Estonian composer (d. 1996)
- 1909 – Ken Darby, American composer and conductor (d. 1992)
- 1911 – Robert Middleton, American actor (d. 1977)
- 1911 – Maxine Sullivan, American singer and actress (d. 1987)
- 1912 – Gil Evans, Canadian-American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1988)
- 1912 – Judah Nadich, American rabbi (d. 2007)
- 1913 – William R. Tolbert, Jr., Liberian politician, 20th President of Liberia (d. 1980)
- 1914 – Joe Louis, American boxer (d. 1981)
- 1914 – Johnnie Wright, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Johnnie & Jack) (d. 2011)
- 1918 – Balasaraswati, Indian dancer (d. 1984)
- 1920 – Gareth Morris, English flute player (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Michael Ainsworth, English cricketer (d. 1978)
- 1922 – Bea Arthur, American actress and singer (d. 2009)
- 1922 – Otl Aicher, German graphic designer (d. 1991)
- 1923 – Red Garland, American pianist (Miles Davis Quintet) (d.1984)
- 1924 – Theodore Mann, American director and producer (d. 2012)
- 1924 – Harry Schwarz, German-South African lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 13th South African Ambassador to the United States (d. 2010)
- 1924 – Conrad Swan, Canadian academic
- 1927 – Archie Scott Brown, Scottish race car driver (d. 1958)
- 1927 – Herbert Ross, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2001)
- 1928 – Enrique Bolaños, Nicaraguan politician, President of Nicaragua
- 1928 – Édouard Molinaro, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Jim Shoulders, American rodeo rider (d. 2007)
- 1930 – Mike Gravel, American lieutenant and politician
- 1930 – José Jiménez Lozano, Spanish journalist and author
- 1930 – Vernon Shaw, Dominican politician, 5th President of Dominica
- 1931 – Jim Jones, American cult leader, founded the Peoples Temple (d. 1978)
- 1931 – Sydney Lipworth, South African businessman
- 1933 – John Roseboro, American baseball player and coach (d. 2002)
- 1934 – Ehud Netzer, Israeli archaeologist (d. 2010)
- 1934 – Leon Wagner, American baseball player and actor (d. 2004)
- 1935 – Dominic Cossa, American opera singer
- 1935 – Teddy Randazzo, American singer-songwriter and accordion player (The Three Chuckles) (d. 2003)
- 1936 – Bill Rompkey, Canadian educator and politician
- 1937 – Trevor Baylis, English inventor, invented the wind-up radio
- 1937 – Roch Carrier, Canadian author
- 1937 – John Cope, British politician
- 1937 – Zohra Lampert, American actress
- 1937 – Roger Zelazny, American author and poet (d. 1995)
- 1938 – Giuliano Amato, Italian politician, 48th Prime Minister of Italy
- 1938 – Laurent Beaudoin, Canadian businessman
- 1938 – Francine Pascal, American author
- 1938 – Milton Johns, English actor
- 1939 – Hildrun Claus, German long jumper
- 1939 – Harvey Keitel, American actor and producer
- 1940 – Bruce Chatwin, English author (d. 1989)
- 1941 – Senta Berger, Austrian actress, producer, and author
- 1941 – Joe Brown, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and game show host
- 1941 – Jody Conradt, American basketball player and coach
- 1941 – Ritchie Valens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1959)
- 1942 – Leighton Gage, American author (d. 2013)
- 1942 – Roger Young, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1943 – Anthony Clarke, British judge
- 1943 – Kurt Trampedach, Danish painter and sculptor
- 1943 – Mary Wells, American singer-songwriter (d. 1992)
- 1944 – Crispin Agnew, British judge and explorer
- 1944 – Armistead Maupin, American author, screenwriter, and actor
- 1944 – Carolyn Franklin, American singer and songwriter (d. 1988)
- 1945 – Sam Anderson, American actor
- 1945 – Lasse Berghagen, Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1945 – Magic Dick, American harmonica player (The J. Geils Band)
- 1945 – Lou Marini, American saxophonist, arranger and composer
- 1946 – Waneta Hoyt, American murderer (d. 1998)
- 1946 – Tim Pigott-Smith, British actor and writer
- 1946 – Jean Rondeau, French race car driver and constructor (d. 1985)
- 1946 – Marv Wolfman, American author
- 1947 – Edgar Burcksen, Dutch-American film editor
- 1948 – Dean Meminger, American basketball player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1949 – Jane Glover, British conductor
- 1949 – Zoë Wanamaker, American-English actress
- 1950 – Danny Kirwan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
- 1950 – Manning Marable, American educator and author (d. 2011)
- 1950 – Bobby Valentine, American baseball player and manager
- 1950 – Stevie Wonder, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1951 – Rosie Boycott, British journalist and feminist
- 1951 – Sharon Sayles Belton, American politician, 45th Mayor of Minneapolis
- 1951 – Selina Scott, British broadcaster
- 1951 – Paul Thompson, English drummer (Roxy Music, Concrete Blonde, and Angelic Upstarts)
- 1951 – James Whale, English radio and television host
- 1952 – John Kasich, American talk show host and politician, 69th Governor of Ohio
- 1952 – Mary Walsh, Canadian actress
- 1953 – Gerry Sutcliffe, English politician
- 1953 – David Voelker, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Johnny Logan, Australian-Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1956 – Steve Blackwood, American actor
- 1956 – Richard Madeley, English journalist
- 1957 – Alan Ball, American screenwriter, producer, and director
- 1957 – David Hill, British choral conductor
- 1957 – Andrea Klump, German terrorist
- 1957 – Mar Roxas, Filipino economist and politician
- 1957 – Koji Suzuki, Japanese author
- 1958 – Frances Barber, English actress
- 1959 – Jerry Butler, American pornographic actor
- 1961 – Dennis Rodman, American basketball player, wrestler, and actor
- 1962 – Paul Burstow, British politician
- 1962 – Nick Hurd, English politician
- 1962 – Kathleen Jamie, Scottish poet
- 1962 – Paul McDermott, Australian comedian, actor, and singer (Doug Anthony All Stars)
- 1962 – Sean McDonough, American sportscaster
- 1962 – Eduardo Palomo, Mexican actor (d. 2003)
- 1963 – Andrea Leadsom, English politician
- 1963 – Wally Masur, Australian tennis player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1964 – Stephen Colbert, American comedian, actor, and talk show host
- 1964 – Ronnie Coleman, American bodybuilder
- 1964 – Tom Verica, American actor and director
- 1964 – Chris Maitland, English drummer (No-Man, Porcupine Tree and Nosound)
- 1965 – José Antonio Delgado, Venezuelan mountaineer (d. 2006)
- 1965 – Tasmin Little, English violinist
- 1965 – János Marozsán, Hungarian footballer
- 1965 – Hikari Ōta, Japanese comedian and actor
- 1965 – Lari White, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1966 – Alison Goldfrapp, English singer-songwriter and producer (Goldfrapp)
- 1966 – Darius Rucker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Hootie & the Blowfish)
- 1966 – Kamen Vodenicharov, Bulgarian actor and singer
- 1967 – Chuck Schuldiner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Death, Control Denied, Slaughter, and Voodoocult) (d. 2001)
- 1967 – Melanie Thornton, American-German singer (La Bouche) (d. 2001)
- 1968 – PMD, American rapper (EPMD)
- 1968 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, Spanish politician (d. 1997)
- 1968 – Susan Floyd, American actress
- 1968 – Sonja Zietlow, German television host
- 1969 – Buckethead, American guitarist and songwriter (Guns N' Roses, Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains, Praxis, and Deli Creeps)
- 1969 – Nikos Aliagas, French-Greek journalist and television host
- 1970 – Doug Evans, American football player
- 1971 – Imogen Boorman, English actress and martial artist
- 1971 – Rob Fredrickson, American football player
- 1971 – Espen Lind, Norwegian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Espionage)
- 1971 – Fana Mokoena, South African actor
- 1971 – Tom Nalen, American football player
- 1972 – Stefaan Maene, Belgian swimmer
- 1972 – Darryl Sydor, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1972 – Pieta van Dishoeck, Dutch rower
- 1973 – Eric Lewis, American pianist
- 1973 – Bridgett Riley, American boxer and stuntwoman
- 1975 – Jamie Allison, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Cristian Bezzi, Italian rugby player and coach
- 1975 – Itatí Cantoral, Mexican actress and singer
- 1975 – Brian Geraghty, American actor
- 1975 – Evelin Samuel, Estonian singer
- 1976 – Mark Delaney, Welsh footballer and coach
- 1976 – Trajan Langdon, American basketball player
- 1976 – Ana Popović, Serbian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1976 – Magdalena Walach, Polish actress
- 1977 – Ilse DeLange, Dutch singer-songwriter
- 1977 – Anthony Q. Farrell, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter
- 1977 – Robby Hammock, American baseball player and coach
- 1977 – Neil Hopkins, American actor
- 1977 – Samantha Morton, English actress and director
- 1977 – Christopher Ralph, Canadian actor
- 1977 – Brian Thomas Smith, American actor and producer
- 1977 – Aleksei Terentjev, Estonian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Brooke Anderson, American journalist
- 1978 – Mike Bibby, American basketball player
- 1978 – Ryan Bukvich, American baseball player
- 1978 – Germán Magariños, Argentinian director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
- 1978 – Dilshan Vitharana, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1978 – Barry Zito, American baseball player
- 1979 – Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland
- 1979 – Mickey Madden, American bass player (Maroon 5)
- 1979 – Steve Mildenhall, English footballer
- 1979 – Lauren Phoenix, Canadian porn actress
- 1979 – Vyacheslav Shevchuk, Ukrainian footballer
- 1979 – Jenny Winkler, German actress
- 1980 – Waka Inoue, Japanese model and actress
- 1980 – Mau Marcelo, Filipino singer
- 1980 – L. J. Smith, American football player
- 1981 – Luciana Berger, English politician
- 1981 – Nicolas Jeanjean, French rugby player
- 1981 – Sunny Leone, Canadian-American porn actress and model
- 1981 – Rebecka Liljeberg, Swedish actress
- 1981 – Shaun Phillips, American football player
- 1981 – James Yun, American wrestler and actor
- 1982 – Albert Crusat, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Yoko Kumada, Japanese model and singer
- 1982 – Oguchi Onyewu, American soccer player
- 1983 – Natalie Cassidy, English actress
- 1983 – Anita Görbicz, Hungarian handball player
- 1983 – Grégory Lemarchal, French singer (d. 2007)
- 1983 – Jacob Reynolds, American actor
- 1983 – Yaya Touré, Ivorian footballer
- 1984 – J. B. Cox, American baseball player
- 1984 – Benny Dayal, Indian singer (S5)
- 1984 – Ginger Orsi, American actress and singer
- 1985 – Javier Balboa, Spanish-Equatoguinean footballer
- 1985 – Jaroslav Halák, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1985 – Iwan Rheon, Welsh actor and singer
- 1985 – Travis Zajac, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Lena Dunham, American actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1986 – Eun-Hee Ji, South Korean golfer
- 1986 – David Hernandez, American baseball player
- 1986 – Giuliana Marino, German model
- 1986 – Robert Pattinson, English actor, singer, and producer
- 1986 – Alexander Rybak, Norwegian singer-songwriter, violinist, and actor
- 1986 – Scott Sutter, English footballer
- 1986 – Kris Versteeg, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Candice Accola, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1987 – Antonio Adán, Spanish footballer
- 1987 – Matt Doyle, American actor and singer
- 1987 – Laura Izibor, Irish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1987 – Mei Kurokawa, Japanese actress and singer
- 1987 – Hunter Parrish, American actor and singer
- 1987 – Carrie Prejean, American model and author, Miss California USA 2009
- 1987 – Marianne Vos, Dutch cyclist
- 1988 – Paulo Avelino, Filipino actor and singer
- 1988 – Casey Donovan, Australian singer-songwriter
- 1989 – P. K. Subban, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1991 – Francisco Lachowski, Brazilian model
- 1992 – Egert Heintare, Estonian football and futsal player
- 1993 – Romelu Lukaku, Belgian footballer
- 1993 – Bang Minah, South Korean idol singer (Girl's Day)
- 1993 – Debby Ryan, American actress and singer
Deaths[edit]
- 1176 – Matthias I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1119)
- 1312 – Theobald II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1263)
- 1573 – Takeda Shingen, Japanese daimyo (b. 1521)
- 1619 – Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Dutch politician (b. 1547)
- 1704 – Louis Bourdaloue, French preacher (b. 1632)
- 1782 – Daniel Solander, Swedish botanist (b. 1736)
- 1807 – Eliphalet Dyer, American colonel, politician, and jurist (b. 1721)
- 1809 – Beilby Porteus, English bishop (b. 1731)
- 1832 – Georges Cuvier, French zoologist (b. 1769)
- 1835 – John Nash, English architect, designed the Royal Pavilion (b. 1752)
- 1866 – Nikolai Brashman, Czech-Russian mathematician (b. 1796)
- 1878 – Joseph Henry, American scientist (b. 1797)
- 1884 – Cyrus McCormick, American businessman, co-founded the International Harvester Company (b. 1809)
- 1885 – Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle, German physician, pathologist, and anatomist (b. 1809)
- 1903 – Apolinario Mabini, Filipino lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Philippines (b. 1864)
- 1916 – Sholem Aleichem, Ukrainian-American author and playwright (b. 1859)
- 1921 – Jean Aicard, French poet, playwright, and author (b. 1848)
- 1926 – Libert H. Boeynaems, Belgian-American prelate(b. 1857)
- 1930 – Fridtjof Nansen, Norwegian scientist, explorer, and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- 1938 – Charles Édouard Guillaume, Swiss-French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- 1941 – Frederick Christian, English cricketer (b. 1877)
- 1941 – Ōnishiki Uichirō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 26th Yokozuna (b. 1891)
- 1945 – Tubby Hall, American drummer (b. 1895)
- 1947 – Sukanta Bhattacharya, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1926)
- 1948 – Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, American socialite and sister to future U.S. President John F. Kennedy (b. 1920)
- 1957 – Michael Fekete, Hungarian-Israeli mathematician (b. 1886)
- 1961 – Gary Cooper, American actor and singer (b. 1901)
- 1962 – Henry Trendley Dean, American dentist (b. 1893)
- 1963 – Alois Hudal, Austrian-Italian bishop (b. 1885)
- 1972 – Dan Blocker, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1974 – Jaime Torres Bodet, Mexican diplomat (b. 1902)
- 1974 – Arthur J. Burks, American colonel and author (b. 1898)
- 1975 – Bob Wills, American singer-songwriter and actor (Light Crust Doughboys) (b. 1905)
- 1977 – Mickey Spillane, American mobster (b. 1934)
- 1985 – Leatrice Joy, American actress (b. 1893)
- 1988 – Chet Baker, American singer and trumpet player (b. 1929)
- 1992 – F. E. McWilliam, Irish sculptor (b. 1909)
- 1994 – Duncan Hamilton, Irish-English race car driver (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz, Saudi Arabian scholar (b. 1910)
- 1999 – Gene Sarazen, American golfer (b. 1902)
- 2000 – Paul Bartel, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
- 2000 – Jumbo Tsuruta, Japanese wrestler (b. 1951)
- 2001 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (b. 1939)
- 2001 – R. K. Narayan, Indian author (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Ruth Cracknell, Australian actress (b. 1925)
- 2002 – Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
- 2005 – Eddie Barclay, French record producer, founded Barclay Records (b. 1921)
- 2005 – George Dantzig, American mathematician (b. 1914)
- 2005 – Michael Ross, American serial killer (b. 1959)
- 2006 – Jaroslav Pelikan, American historian and scholar (b. 1923)
- 2008 – Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Ron Stone, American journalist (b. 1936)
- 2009 – Frank Aletter, American actor (b. 1926)
- 2009 – Meir Brandsdorfer, Belgian rabbi (b. 1934)
- 2009 – Achille Compagnoni, Italian skier and mountaineer (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Derek Boogaard, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1982)
- 2011 – Wallace McCain, Canadian businessman, co-founded McCain Foods (b. 1930)
- 2011 – Bruce Ricker, American director and producer (b. 1942)
- 2011 – Alain Voss, Brazilian-French illustrator (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Arsala Rahmani Daulat, Afghan politician (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Donald "Duck" Dunn, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (Booker T. & the M.G.'s, The Blues Brothers, and The Mar-Keys) (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Cuban-American theologian and educator (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Les Leston, English race car driver (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Jean McFarlane, Baroness McFarlane of Llandaff, Welsh nurse and politician (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Lee Richardson, English motorcycle racer (b. 1979)
- 2012 – Don Ritchie, Australian humanitarian (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Nguyen Van Thien, Vietnamese bishop (b. 1906)
- 2013 – Hedda Bolgar, Swiss-American psychoanalyst (b. 1909)
- 2013 – Joyce Brothers, American psychologist, columnist, and actress (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Otto Herrigel, Namibian lawyer and politician (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Kennett Love, American journalist (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Luciano Lutring, Italian criminal (b. 1937)
- 2013 – Jagdish Mali, Indian photographer (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Chuck Muncie, American football player (b. 1953)
- 2013 – Vladimir Romanovsky, Russian canoe racer (b. 1957)
- 2013 – Fyodor Tuvin, Russian footballer (b. 1973)
- 2013 – Lynne Woolstencroft, Canadian politician (b. 1943)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Abbotsbury Garland Day (Dorset, England)
- Christian Feast Day:
- One of the three feast days of the Lemuralia, observed in ancient Rome
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:” - Proverbs 31:10, 27-28
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"And will manifest myself to him."
John 14:21
John 14:21
The Lord Jesus gives special revelations of himself to his people. Even if Scripture did not declare this, there are many of the children of God who could testify the truth of it from their own experience. They have had manifestations of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in a peculiar manner, such as no mere reading or hearing could afford. In the biographies of eminent saints, you will find many instances recorded in which Jesus has been pleased, in a very special manner to speak to their souls, and to unfold the wonders of his person; yea, so have their souls been steeped in happiness that they have thought themselves to be in heaven, whereas they were not there, though they were well nigh on the threshold of it--for when Jesus manifests himself to his people, it is heaven on earth; it is paradise in embryo; it is bliss begun. Especial manifestations of Christ exercise a holy influence on the believer's heart. One effect will be humility. If a man says, "I have had such-and-such spiritual communications, I am a great man," he has never had any communion with Jesus at all; for "God hath respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off." He does not need to come near them to know them, and will never give them any visits of love. Another effect will be happiness; for in God's presence there are pleasures for evermore. Holiness will be sure to follow. A man who has no holiness has never had this manifestation. Some men profess a great deal; but we must not believe any one unless we see that his deeds answer to what he says. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked." He will not bestow his favours upon the wicked: for while he will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he respect an evil doer. Thus there will be three effects of nearness to Jesus--humility, happiness, and holiness. May God give them to thee, Christian!
Evening
"Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again."
Genesis 46:3-4
Genesis 46:3-4
Jacob must have shuddered at the thought of leaving the land of his father's sojourning, and dwelling among heathen strangers. It was a new scene, and likely to be a trying one: who shall venture among couriers of a foreign monarch without anxiety? Yet the way was evidently appointed for him, and therefore he resolved to go. This is frequently the position of believers now--they are called to perils and temptations altogether untried: at such seasons let them imitate Jacob's example by offering sacrifices of prayer unto God, and seeking his direction; let them not take a step until they have waited upon the Lord for his blessing: then they will have Jacob's companion to be their friend and helper. How blessed to feel assured that the Lord is with us in all our ways, and condescends to go down into our humiliations and banishments with us! Even beyond the ocean our Father's love beams like the sun in its strength. We cannot hesitate to go where Jehovah promises his presence; even the valley of deathshade grows bright with the radiance of this assurance. Marching onwards with faith in their God, believers shall have Jacob's promise. They shall be brought up again, whether it be from the troubles of life or the chambers of death. Jacob's seed came out of Egypt in due time, and so shall all the faithful pass unscathed through the tribulation of life, and the terror of death. Let us exercise Jacob's confidence. "Fear not," is the Lord's command and his divine encouragement to those who at his bidding are launching upon new seas; the divine presence and preservation forbid so much as one unbelieving fear. Without our God we should fear to move; but when he bids us to, it would be dangerous to tarry. Reader, go forward, and fear not.
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Theophilus
[Thēŏph'ĭlŭs] - loved by god, lover of god, or friend of god. A Christian of high rank for whose use Luke wrote his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). The term "most excellent," used also of Felix and Festus (Acts 23:26; 24:3; 26:25 ), indicates that Theophilus was a Roman official to whom Luke paid due deference, even though he was on intimate terms with him. It has been suggested "Theophilus" was the name this Gentile nobleman chose at his conversion to Christianity. Evidently Luke had fully instructed him in the cardinal truths of the Gospel (Luke 1:3).
[Thēŏph'ĭlŭs] - loved by god, lover of god, or friend of god. A Christian of high rank for whose use Luke wrote his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). The term "most excellent," used also of Felix and Festus (Acts 23:26; 24:3; 26:25 ), indicates that Theophilus was a Roman official to whom Luke paid due deference, even though he was on intimate terms with him. It has been suggested "Theophilus" was the name this Gentile nobleman chose at his conversion to Christianity. Evidently Luke had fully instructed him in the cardinal truths of the Gospel (Luke 1:3).
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Today's reading: 2 Kings 15-16, John 3:1-18 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: 2 Kings 15-16
Azariah King of Judah
1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign. 2 He was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 3 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. 4 The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
Today's New Testament reading: John 3:1-18
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3 Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again."
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