Fri Jul 4th Todays News

Independence day for the land of my birth. Two ambitious young lawyers had drafted the declaration. Their friendship was stretched as they began the party system and became second and third Presidents of the US but for diametrically opposed parties. After politics, they became friends again. They died on this day in 1826, fifty years after the paper they authored was signed. I despise Thomas Jefferson as being a man of words without substance. But John Adams befriended him, so he couldn't have been too bad. 

Some people say things and it is as if they have no idea what they are saying. Such was the case with Jacqui Lambie and Dio Wang as they berated the PM for having daughters who volunteered to campaign with him. Maybe they are trying to distract the left from their support in abolishing a carbon tax? Words have power as simple bigot Karen Bailey discovered. Karen claims her disappointment at spending $100k on a dutch date who wasn't swayed led her to berate children and ethnically diverse people on a train journey after seeing her husband. She gave her name as Sue Wilkins while apologising to a tv camera over the incident. 

Sparta lost a battle on this day in 362 BC. Athens had been the ally of Sparta .. in 1054 the world saw a supernova which could be seen in the day sky too, it was that strong. In 1831, in tribute, Samuel Francis Smith wrote "My country 'tis of thee." In 1862, Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell a story he published on this day in 1865, called "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Fittingly, the same day Rolf Harris is sentenced. In 1918, the Tsar and his family were murdered. In 1941, Nazis murdered writers and scientists in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. But the great testament to independence happened on this day in 1976 at Entebbe. Israeli commandos freed hostages held by Palestinian terrorists with the approval of Idi Amin. Yonatan Netanyahu organised the successful raid, and died executing it. And so the tree of freedom is fed with fresh blood of the good and great. Yonatan has the company of Marie Curie who died in 1934.  ===
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

<Douglas Sutherland-Bruce via David Daniel Ball

Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may be.>

I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - ed

I have begun a bulletin board which will allow greater latitude for members to post and interact. It is not subject to FB policy and so greater range is allowed in posts. Also there are private members rooms in which nothing is censored, except abuse. All welcome, registration is free. 

===

 Happy birthday USA
Happy birthday and many happy returns Kevin Misan. Born on US independence day. On your day in 414, Aelia Pulcheria proclaimed herself regent over her brother Theodosius II and made herself Augusta and Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire. In 1054, Chinese astronomers recorded the sudden appearance of a "guest star", which was in actuality the supernova that created the Crab Nebula. In 1610, Polish–Muscovite War: The outnumbered forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth defeated the Russians at the Battle of Klushino. In 1945, The Brazilian cruiser Bahia was accidentally sunk by one of its own crewmen, killing more than 300 and stranding the survivors in shark-infested waters. In 1951, William Shockley announced the invention of the junction transistor, for which he, John Bardeen, and Walter Houser Brattain won the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics. You have travelled far in search of a warmer climate. Proclaiming much, following stars. Outnumbered, you succeed, but even so, the water has sharks. And now those transistors sing! Cheers.
Matches

• 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
• 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.
• 836 – Pactum Sicardi, a peace treaty between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples, is signed.
• 993 – Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized as a saint.
• 1054 – A supernova is seen by Chinese, Arab and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.
• 1187 – The Crusades: Battle of Hattin: Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.
• 1744 – The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois cedes lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to the British colonies, was signed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
• 1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
• 1802 – At West Point, New York, the United States Military Academy opens.
• 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.
• 1817 – In Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
• 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, dies the same day as John Adams, second president of the United States, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence.
• 1827 – Slavery is abolished in New York State.
• 1831 – Samuel Francis Smith writes My Country, 'Tis of Thee for the Boston, Massachusetts July 4 festivities.
• 1855 – In Brooklyn, New York City, the first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published.
• 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg: Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. One hundred fifty miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate Army was repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Army of Northern Virginia withdrew from the battlefield after losing the Battle of Gettysburg, signalling an end to the Southern invasion of the North.
• 1865 – Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.
• 1878 – Thoroughbred horses Ten Broeck and Mollie McCarty run a match race, recalled in the song Molly and Tenbrooks.
• 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.
• 1886 – The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.
• 1886 – The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia.
• 1887 – The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.
• 1892 – Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year it had 367 days, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4.
• 1903 – Dorothy Levitt is reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race'.
• 1910 – African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match, sparking race riots across the United States.
• 1911 – A massive heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities.
• 1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.
• 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Hamel, a successful attack by the Australian Corps against German positions near the town of Le Hamel on the Western Front.
• 1918 – Bolsheviks killed Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).
• 1927 – The Lockheed Vega first flew.
• 1934 – Leo Szilard patented the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.
• 1939 – Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considered himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth", then announces his retirement from major league baseball.
• 1941 – Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.
• 1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.
• 1947 – The "Indian Independence Bill" is presented before the British House of Commons, proposing the independence of the Provinces of British India into two sovereign countries: India and Pakistan.
• 1950 – Radio Free Europe first broadcasts.
• 1951 – William Shockley announced the invention of the junction transistor.
• 1960 – Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Act).
• 1976 – Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.
• 1977 – The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at theWalla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit
• 1987 – In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.
• 1997 – NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
• 1998 – Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
• 2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
• 2009 – The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.
• 2012 – The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.

Hatches

• 68 – Salonina Matidia, Roman daughter of Ulpia Marciana (d. 119)
• 1330 – Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (d. 1367)
• 1694 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (d. 1772)
• 1715 – Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet (d. 1769)
• 1790 – George Everest, Welsh surveyor and geographer (d. 1866)
• 1804 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (d. 1864)
• 1816 – Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian club whiskey (d. 1899)
• 1826 – Stephen Foster, American songwriter (d. 1864)
• 1847 – James Anthony Bailey, American circus ringmaster, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (d. 1906)
• 1868 – Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer (d. 1921)
• 1872 – Calvin Coolidge, American politician, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
• 1881 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American general (d. 1968)
• 1882 – Louis B. Mayer, Belarusian-American film producer, founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (d. 1957)
• 1883 – Rube Goldberg, American sculptor, cartoonist, and author (d. 1970)
• 1895 – Irving Caesar, American songwriter and composer (d. 1996)
• 1896 – Mao Dun, Chinese journalist, author, and critic (d. 1981)
• 1910 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1912 – Viviane Romance, French actress and producer (d. 1991)
• 1917 – Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
• 1918 – Pauline Phillips, American columnist and radio host, created Dear Abby (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Eva Marie Saint, American actress
• 1927 – Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter
• 1931 – Stephen Boyd, Irish-American actor (d. 1977)
• 1937 – Richard Rhodes, American journalist and historian
• 1938 – Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1940 – Dave Rowberry, English pianist and songwriter (The Animals) (d. 2003)
• 1942 – Peter Rowan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Earth Opera and Old and in the Way)
• 1948 – René Arnoux, French race car driver
• 1958 – Kirk Pengilly, Australian singer and guitarist (INXS)
• 1960 – Mark Steel, English comedian, columnist, and author
• 1963 – Henri Leconte, French tennis player
• 1971 – Koko, American gorilla
• 1971 – Andy Creeggan, Canadian guitarist and paianist (Barenaked Ladies and The Brothers Creeggan)
• 1973 – Gackt, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Malice Mizer and Skin)
• 1976 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
• 1979 – Dumas, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1983 – Isabeli Fontana, Brazilian model
• 1988 – Angelique Boyer, French-Mexican actress, model and singer
• 1989 – Yoon Doo-joon, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor (Beast)
• 1999 – Moa Kikuchi, Japanese idol, singer and model

Despatches

• 673 – Ecgberht of Kent
• 907 – Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria
• 1754 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French playwright and author (b. 1680)
• 1761 – Samuel Richardson, English author and painter (b. 1689)
• 1826 – John Adams, American politician, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
• 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, American politician, 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
• 1831 – James Monroe, American politician, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
• 1916 – Alan Seeger, American poet (b. 1888)
• 1934 – Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
• 1976 – Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli commander (b. 1946)

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Welfare should not be a deadly weight

Piers Akerman – Thursday, July 03, 2014 (11:30pm)

THE Coalition should not need reminding that consistency of policy and certainty of outcome are essential to good government.  The damaging record of the incompetent Gillard Labor-Green-independent government and the dysfunctional ego-driven Rudd government are still fresh in the memory of most adult Australians.

 Continue reading 'Welfare should not be a deadly weight'

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ROLF WOULD HAVE LIKED THEM

Tim Blair – Friday, July 04, 2014 (1:41pm)

Fairfax’s Michael Leunig seems a little upset today at the fate of serial groper and convicted perv Rolf Harris.

Perhaps this is a generational issue. Back in 1980, Leunig illustrated a book by Sam Orr, the alter ego of late Nation Review assistant editor Richard Beckett. You could probably place Nation Review somewhere on the fringes of mainstream; certainly it featured many future mainstream writers.

Orr was the weekly paper’s food columnist, although his columns were more to do with drunken excess and his shambles of a personal life – Beckett’s own brief life apparently providing the template. The columns, collected in that 1980 book, have not aged well. Nor have Leunig’s illustrations, reproduced here for the purposes of historic review:







Leunig, by the way, was in his mid-30s at the time. Angus & Robertson, the book’s publisher, was so amused by these images that this line leads the back cover copy: “Sam Orr, a gourmet of 12-year-old girls and much more …”

Benny Hill is often cited – unfairly, I think – as an example of old-timey creepiness, but Hill’s gags rarely went to this level. It could be that progressive counter-cultural 70s types were far worse.

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THEY WARNED US THIS WOULD HAPPEN

Tim Blair – Friday, July 04, 2014 (10:20am)

A vicious cut to children’s programming at the ABC: 

The ABC has confirmed its high-rating Gruen franchise will not air this year – despite the broadcaster previously announcing it would be part of the 2014 line-up – and it may not return next year, either. 

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JUNIOR JIHADI GIRL

Tim Blair – Friday, July 04, 2014 (10:13am)

Despite several months of gentle counselling from the FBI, a Colorado teen and Islamic convert still attempted to join her ISIS heroes in the Middle East: 

One FBI agent met with her seven times, trying to dissuade her from supporting jihad and suggesting that she instead commit herself to humanitarian work, court papers say.

Shannon Maureen Conley, 19, was taken into custody at the Denver International Airport by the FBI as she attempted to board a plane on her way to Turkey …

During [the previous eight months] she repeatedly told federal agents — who identified themselves andmet with her on a near-weekly basis from November to April — that she was committed to waging jihad in the Middle East ...

When Conley told her parents on April 1 that she was leaving for Syria to marry a “soldier,” her parentsexpressed their disapproval. 

This entire process seems to have been a little soft, wouldn’t you say?

===

MULLAH FAMILY

Tim Blair – Friday, July 04, 2014 (9:25am)

Iran is producing its own version of the hit US comedy Modern Family … minus the modernity: 

The sets, props and storylines are almost identical to the US version, but Cameron and Mitchell, the gay couple, are conveniently missing. 

I wonder what happened to them.

===

Brown searching for ABC directors who like balance. UPDATE: Turnbull upset

Andrew Bolt July 04 2014 (11:14am)

Perfectly reasonable views - unless, of course, you’re a Leftist and not into sharing:

HE is just one member of an influ­ential four-person panel respon­sible for appointing future ABC board directors. 

But, if it were up to him, former Liberal Party deputy leader Neil Brown QC would sell off what he describes as the overly commercial and unnecessarily expansive ABC and start the process of publicly funding a news organisation from scratch…
Mr Brown, a Liberal heavyweight who was deputy leader under John Howard from 1985 to 1987, said that, in his new role on the nominations panel, he would recruit directors keen to restore balance to the ABC...
Mr Brown said the ABC in particular had grown to have “more of a disposition to the Left rather than a balanced approach”.
“I certainly think there should be more balance,” he said… “It gets a herd mentality about it and takes an official view about what you, the citizen, should believe in. I’m not saying it should be conservative or right-wing: I think it should give balance.
“There has been a tendency to pick up the accepted zeitgeist on issues of climate change without giving the other side the opportunity to present its views. That’s my concern.”

Now why should the Left object to sharing what we’ve all paid for?
UPDATE
Malcolm Turnbull makes clear his displeasure at the appointments. He seems in a Brown study.
These weren’t his appointments, Turnbull stresses:

CHRIS UHLMANN: Malcolm Turnbull, do you have any say over these board appointments?
MALCOLM TURNBULL: No, I do not… The nomination panel of which Ms Albrechtsen and Mr Brown have recently been appointed is appointed by the secretary of the Prime Minister and Cabinet department, Dr Ian Watt. It’s not an appointment by me

Blame Abbott instead, Turnbull hints:

MALCOLM TURNBULL: .... and the legislation that Mr Rudd introduced was designed to make it a non-political appointment. So you have to assume that Dr Watt made these, chose Neil Brown and Janet Albrechtsen in his own discretion.
CHRIS UHLMANN: Do you assume that?
MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well, that’s what the legislation was intended to do, but if you want to check that you should speak to Dr Watt. But I was not consulted nor was it the intention of the legislation that the minister for communications should be consulted on the membership of the panel.
CHRIS UHLMANN: But you would assume the Prime Minister was consulted?
MALCOLM TURNBULL: I don’t assume anything. I assume these appointments were chosen by Dr Watt. You can always speak to him. I’m sure he’ll be happy to take your call… I have no doubt that that decision was taken by him in his own discretion. Who he spoke to, I don’t know. He didn’t speak to me.

Brown is ill-informed, Turnbull adds, and shouldn’t think his job is addressing bias:

But can I just say this, Chris: ... contrary to what Neil Brown says the ABC’s commercial revenues are negligible, though that was the inference from the article in The Australian, that he thought it was becoming commercialised. Its commercial revenues in fact have diminished considerably from the decline of its shops.
But if I could just go on, the critical thing is that the people who go on these boards have corporate and business and management experience. If you want the board to be effective then you have to have people that are capable of performing the role of a director.
And simply appointing people who have one political view or another, one social attitude or another, is not enough....

The other two Labor appointees, including the man who chaired the company owned by Kevin Rudd’s wife and designed Julia Gillard’s big-spending education policy are far more distinguished, and, besides, Albrechtsen and Brown have to get their candidates past Turnbull:

CHRIS UHLMANN: Do you have confidence in this four person panel to make that kind of decision?
MALCOLM TURNBULL:… The committee consists of Ric Smith, a very distinguished former public servant, David Gonski, one of Australia’s leading company directors and chairmen, and of course latterly Neil Brown and Janet Albrechtsen.
I’m quite sure that that panel will present a good short, short list of three names for the three positions that I’ve got to consider....

Sure, Abbott might be trying to restore balance to the ABC but Turnbull couldn’t possbly comment - let alone endorse:

CHRIS UHLMANN: Couldn’t a reasonable person come to the conclusion that the Government once again is trying to influence the make-up of the board of the ABC because the Government believes that the ABC is biased?
MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well, again, that’s not for me. I don’t think that’s correct.
CHRIS UHLMANN: Could a reasonable person think that?
MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well, you can ask, you can form that view. I’m not going to…
CHRIS UHLMANN: What do you think it looks like, Malcolm Turnbull?
MALCOLM TURNBULL: Well, Chris I think it looks like Dr Watt thought that the two best people he could think of and that were prepared to do it were Janet Albrechtsen and Neil Brown. But really, you’ve got to direct enquiries to Dr Watt. It is his decision. 

Maybe it’s time Turnbull was moved on to an area where his interests aren’t so much in conflict with the government’s. 

===

Scarcely worth the faux outrage

Andrew Bolt July 04 2014 (9:13am)

Here comes the gleeful beat-up:

What was actually said:

When explaining why foreign investment was so important for a country like Australia, Mr Abbott said the country would be unimaginable without it.
“As a general principle we support foreign investment. Always have and always will,” he said.
“Our country is unimaginable without foreign investment.”
”I guess our country owes its existence to a form of foreign investment by the British government in the then unsettled or, um, scarcely settled, Great South Land,” he said.

Cue the outrage industry. The ABC’s Jon Faine is already on the case. 

===

In defence of Ricky Muir

Andrew Bolt July 04 2014 (8:23am)

John Roskam makes the big call:

A cabinet full of Ricky Muirs couldn’t be any worse than a cabinet full of Gillard government ministers.

Harder to argue against than I would wish. 

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Why is Labor so close to this union?

Andrew Bolt July 04 2014 (7:45am)

Victorian Labor really is too close to this union:

A VICTORIAN Labor Party official demanded a $50,000 payment from the builders of the Pentridge Prison redevelopment in exchange for industrial peace, the royal commission into union corruption will hear next week. 

The Herald Sun can reveal claims the official was working hand in glove with the John Setka-led Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union as it tried to take control of the multimillion-dollar construction site.

And this union is too close to bikies:

A SENIOR union official has been unmasked as a patched member of the Rebels motorcycle gang. 

A series of pictures obtained by the Herald Sun show Stu-e Corkran in full bikie colours.
And one of the images shows Mr Corkran has shaved a 1 per cent symbol into the back of his hair, which bikies use to indicate club membership.
Mr Corkran has been a significant figure in the CFMEU for more than a decade.

Yes, far too close:

LABOR insiders say the partner of CFMEU boss John Setka is still on track for a seat in State Parliament. 

Late last year Emma Walters, a lawyer and former CFMEU organiser, backed away from a Socialist-Left faction plan that she contest the Lower House seat of Werribee.
Her decision came after the Herald Sun revealed the move would be fought by Labor’s Right faction.

Ms Walters later decided not to run for a seat in the Upper House at November’s state election… But Labor sources say the Socialist-Left faction, which includes the CFMEU, is eager to find Ms Walters a seat.

Yes, far, far too close:

Fresh evidence has emerged of threats of violence made to the family of the developer of Melbourne’s old Pentridge Prison, allegedly by disgruntled sub-contractors.
In the last two months, the family of builder and developer Peter Chiavaroli, 70, has received death threats in the mail, including photos of Mr Chiavaroli’s adult children in graves, accompanied by the words: “We are coming for you and yours."…
Fairfax Media has also obtained a taped message left on the phone of a member of the Chiavaroli family in which a male identifies himself as a member of the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang and instructs the developer to pay a disputed debt…
The threats sent in the mail to the Chiavaroli family and the attempted extortions linked to the Comancheros are believed to have been arranged by disgruntled sub-contractors. There is no suggestion of the involvement of union officials.
But earlier on Thursday, Fairfax Media reported allegations implicating the construction union in coercion and links to underworld associates turned “union fixers” at the Pentridge site.
Mr Chiavaroli has alleged that the union forced him to employ a relative and friend of CFMEU boss John Setka, and intimidated some of his workers into joining the union.
CFMEU national secretary Dave Noonan this morning mounted a strong defence of the union’s actions on the site, saying the CFMEU had acted in response to the death of a worker on site in October 2009 and in connection to a raft of serious safety breaches…
The royal commission into union corruption is expected to examine allegations of union involvement on the Pentridge site, including claims from Mr Chiavaroli that the union demanded he employ Mr Setka’s brother-in-law and a friend in return for industrial peace.
When the demand was allegedly made by the then assistant CFMEU secretary, Mr Setka was accompanied by Mario Amenta, a concrete company owner who is a close associate of gangland boss Mick Gatto. 

===

How many more years of no warming before warmists say sorry?

Andrew Bolt July 04 2014 (6:57am)

Global warming - general

Christopher Monckton:

Taking the least-squares linear-regression trend on Remote Sensing Systems’ satellite-based monthly global mean lower-troposphere temperature dataset, there has been no global warming – none at all – for 17 years 10 months.
This is the longest continuous period without any warming in the global instrumental temperature record since the satellites first watched in 1979. It has endured for more than half the entire satellite temperature record. Yet the lengthening Pause coincides with a continuing, rapid increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration.

(Thanks to readers rocky and handjive.)  

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Czech president Milos Zeman: Islamic terrorism “the very essence of the ideology”

Andrew Bolt July 04 2014 (6:05am)

Islamism

Milos Zeman, president of the Czech Republic, demands frank speech about Islam:

There is a term, political correctness. This term I consider to be a euphemism for political cowardice. Therefore, let me not be cowardly.
It is necessary to clearly name the enemy of human civilization. It is international terrorism linked to religious fundamentalism and religious hatred. As we may have noticed after 11th of September, this fanaticism has not been focused on one state exclusively. Muslim fanatics recently kidnapped 200 young Christian girls in Nigeria. There was a hideous assassination in the flower of Europe in the heart of European Union in a Jewish museum in Brussels. I will not let myself being calmed down by the declaration that there are only tiny fringe groups behind it. On the contrary, I am convinced that this xenophobia, and let’s call it racism or anti-Semitism, emerges from the very essence of the ideology these groups subscribe to.
So let me quote one of their sacred texts to support this statement: “A tree says, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. A stone says, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” I would criticize those calling for the killing of Arabs, but I do not know of any movement calling for mass murdering of Arabs. However, I know of one anti-civilization movement calling for the mass murder of Jews.
After all, one of the paragraphs of the statutes of Hamas says: “Kill every Jew you see.” Do we really want to pretend that this is an extreme viewpoint? Do we really want to be politically correct and say that everyone is nice and only a small group of extremists and fundamentalists is committing such crimes?

Zeman refuses to apologise for quoting Islam’s sacred texts:

Czech president Miloš Zeman, via his spokesman, stood by a speech made at the Israeli Embassy in Prague, where he quoted the Koran calling for Muslims to kill Jews, refusing to retract what he said or apologize for quoting from the holy book…
“President Zeman definitely does not intend to apologize,” the spokesman said. “For the president would consider it blasphemy to apologize for the quotation of a sacred Islamic text.”
Iyad Ameen Madani, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, issued a statement condemning Zeman’s speech, saying, “It is only appropriate that President Mil?s Zeman apologizes to the millions of Muslims worldwide for his deeply offensive and hateful anti Islam statements.”

From the Sahih Muslim (the second most authentic sayings of the Prophet), Book 41:

Book 041, Number 6984: 

Abdullah b. ‘Umar reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: The Jews will fight against you and you will gain victory over them until the stone would say: Muslim, here is a Jew behind me; kill him.

Book 041, Number 6985:

Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

Zeman does not quote correctly the Hamas charter, but he is correct about its message:

For our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave, so much so that it will need all the loyal efforts we can wield, to be followed by further steps and reinforced by successive battalions from the multifarious Arab and Islamic world, until the enemies are defeated and Allah’s victory prevails…
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: 

“The time will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: 0 Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree.” (cited by al-Bukhari and Muslim)…

When Islam will retake possession of [the means to] guide the life [of the Muslims], it will wipe out those organizations which are the enemy of humanity and Islam…

With their money, they took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, and others… They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests…
As regards local and world wars, it has come to pass and no one objects, they were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it…
The Zionist invasion is a vicious invasion… It is behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds so as to facilitate its control and expansion… Leaving the circle of conflict with the Zionists is a major act of treason and it will bring curse on its perpetrators… There is no way out except pooling together all the forces and energies to face this despicable Nazi-Tatar invasion.

(Thanks to reader Mike.) 

===

Palmer plays the conspiracy victim

Andrew Bolt July 04 2014 (5:35am)

Idiot:

CLIVE Palmer has installed his own computers in his Parliament House office to guard against the prying eyes of ASIO spies, declaring “all the phones and all the computers are tapped”.
But the super secret spy agency has hit back, saying it neither has “the resources, the need, or the inclination” to launch a mass operation into Mr Palmer and his MP colleagues.

In fact:

Using his own phones and computers would allow Mr Palmer to conduct any business in his office without breaching entitlement rules.

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The Bolt Report on Sunday

Andrew Bolt July 04 2014 (12:33am)

On Sunday on Channel 10 at 10am and 4pm…
Editorial: Have the Greens learned nothing from 1200 dead? Has Labor?
My guest:  warnings from Australia’s greatest immigration expert.
The panel: Michael Kroger and Bruce Hawker.
NewsWatch: Ben Hills, whose new book - Stop The Presses: How Greed Incompetence (and the Internet) Wrecked Fairfax reads as easily as the title.
Plus spin of the week and more, including a hypocrisy alert on Jacqui Lambie.
The videos of the shows appear here.

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=== Posts from last year ===

4 her, s she can see how I see her


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James Calore You can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish. .. wisdom that cannot be argued with or denied .. *nods*
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Allyson Christy
"President Barack Obama said the United States is "deeply concerned by the decision of the Egyptian Armed Forces to remove President Morsy and suspend the Egyptian constitution."

Arrest warrants were issued for 300 members of the Muslim Brotherhood after Morsy’s ouster, according to the state-run Ahram newspaper website, which cited an unnamed security source.

Egyptian security forces arrested the Muslim Brotherhood's political party leader and a deputy, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported, citing an unnamed military source.

Security forces also raided the offices of Al Jazeera's Egypt service during a live broadcast and arrested "the presenter, guests and producers," the network said on its English-language website." -CNN Breaking News
===

Holly Sarah Nguyen

People might give up on you, but God never will! Once again don't give up on God because he will NEVER give up on you 

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Bad meme .. it isn't true. The cause of bee colony collapse syndrome is known and treatment has been effective in some 80% of colonies .. but why let that get in the way of a scare? - ed
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Holly Sarah Nguyen

God does not judge you, people who think they are God do.

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July 4: Aphelion (00:13 UTC, 2014); Republic Day in the Philippines (1946); Independence Day in the United States (1776)

• 414 – Aelia Pulcheria proclaimed herself regent over her brother Theodosius II and made herself Augusta and Empress of the Eastern Roman Empire.
• 1610 – Polish–Muscovite War: The outnumbered forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth defeated theRussians at the Battle of Klushino.
• 1862 – In a rowing boat on the River Thames from Oxford to Godstow, author Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell (pictured) and her sisters a story that would eventually form the basis for his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
• 1943 – The aircraft carrying Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister of thePolish government-in-exile, crashed, killing him and fifteen others, leading to several conspiracy theories.
• 2012 – CERN announced the discovery of the Higgs bosonelementary particle after a 40-year search for its existence.

===

Events[edit]

• 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
• 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.
• 836 – Pactum Sicardi, a peace treaty between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples, is signed.
• 993 – Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized as a saint.
• 1054 – A supernova is seen by Chinese, Arab and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.
• 1120 – Jordan II of Capua is anointed as prince after his infant nephew's death.
• 1187 – The Crusades: Battle of Hattin: Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.
• 1253 – Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre.
• 1359 – Francesco II Ordelaffi of Forlì surrenders to the Papal commander Gil de Albornoz.
• 1456 – Ottoman wars in Europe: The Siege of Nándorfeqhérvár (Belgrade) begins.
• 1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.
• 1610 – The Battle of Klushino is fought between forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia during the Polish-Muscovite War.
• 1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (now Quebec, Canada)
• 1744 – The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois cedes lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to the British colonies, was signed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
• 1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French Capt. Louis Coulon de Villiers.
• 1774 – Orangetown Resolutions are adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament's Coercive Acts
• 1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
  

  

  The United States declared its independence in 1776.
• 1778 – American Revolutionary War: American forces under George Clark capture Kaskaskia during the Illinois campaign.
• 1802 – At West Point, New York, the United States Military Academy opens.
• 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.
• 1817 – In Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
• 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States, dies the same day as John Adams, second president of the United States, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence.
• 1827 – Slavery is abolished in New York State.
• 1831 – Samuel Francis Smith writes My Country, 'Tis of Thee for the Boston, Massachusetts July 4 festivities.
• 1837 – Grand Junction Railway, the world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.
• 1838 – The Iowa Territory is organized.
• 1855 – In Brooklyn, New York City, the first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published.
• 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.
• 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg: Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. One hundred fifty miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate Army was repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The Army of Northern Virginia withdrew from the battlefield after losing the Battle of Gettysburg, signalling an end to the Southern invasion of the North.
• 1865 – Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.
• 1878 – Thoroughbred horses Ten Broeck and Mollie McCarty run a match race, recalled in the song Molly and Tenbrooks.
• 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.
• 1881 – In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
• 1886 – The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States.
• 1886 – The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia.
• 1887 – The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.
• 1892 – Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year it had 367 days, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4.
• 1894 – The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole.
• 1903 – Philippine–American War officially is concluded.
• 1903 – Dorothy Levitt is reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race'.
• 1910 – African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match, sparking race riots across the United States.
• 1911 – A massive heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities.
• 1913 – President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.
• 1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.
• 1918 – Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascended to the throne.
• 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Hamel, a successful attack by the Australian Corps against German positions near the town of Le Hamel on the Western Front.
• 1918 – Bolsheviks killed Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).
• 1926 – Knoebels Amusement Resort is opened in Elysburg, Pennsylvania.
• 1927 – The Lockheed Vega first flew.
• 1934 – Leo Szilard patented the chain-reaction design for the atomic bomb.
• 1939 – Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considered himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth", then announces his retirement from major league baseball.
• 1939 – Huỳnh Phú Sổ founds Hòa Hảo Buddhism.
• 1941 – Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.
• 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world's largest tank battle, begins in Prokhorovka village.
• 1943 – World War II: In Gibraltar, a Royal Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into the sea in an apparent accident moments after takeoff, killing sixteen passengers on board; only the pilot survives.
• 1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.
• 1947 – The "Indian Independence Bill" is presented before the British House of Commons, proposing the independence of the Provinces of British India into two sovereign countries: India and Pakistan.
• 1950 – Radio Free Europe first broadcasts.
• 1951 – A court in Czechoslovakia sentences American journalist William N. Oatis to ten years in prison on charges of espionage.
• 1951 – William Shockley announced the invention of the junction transistor.
• 1960 – Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Act).
• 1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act went into effect the next year.
• 1976 – Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.
• 1977 – The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at theWalla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit
• 1982 – Four Iranian diplomats are abducted by Lebanese militia in Lebanon.
• 1987 – In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (aka the "Butcher of Lyon") is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.
• 1994 – Rwandan Genocide: Kigali, the Rwandan capital, is captured by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, ending the genocide in the city.
• 1997 – NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
• 1998 – Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
• 2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
• 2005 – The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
• 2009 – The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.
• 2012 – The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.

Births[edit]

• 68 – Salonina Matidia, Roman daughter of Ulpia Marciana (d. 119)
• 1330 – Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shogun (d. 1367)
• 1546 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1595)
• 1694 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (d. 1772)
• 1715 – Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet (d. 1769)
• 1719 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French playwright (d. 1797)
• 1790 – George Everest, Welsh surveyor and geographer (d. 1866)
• 1799 – Oscar I of Sweden (d. 1859)
• 1804 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American author (d. 1864)
• 1807 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician (d. 1882)
• 1816 – Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian club whiskey (d. 1899)
• 1826 – Stephen Foster, American songwriter (d. 1864)
• 1845 – Thomas John Barnardo, Irish philanthropist and humanitarian (d. 1905)
• 1847 – James Anthony Bailey, American circus ringmaster, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (d. 1906)
• 1854 – Victor Babeș, Romanian physician and biologist (d. 1926)
• 1854 – Bill Tilghman, American police officer (d. 1924)
• 1867 – Stephen Mather, American businessman (d. 1930)
• 1868 – Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer (d. 1921)
• 1868 – Johannes van Dijk, Dutch rower (d. 1938)
• 1872 – Calvin Coolidge, American politician, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
• 1874 – John McPhee, Australian politician, 27th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1952)
• 1881 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American general (d. 1968)
• 1882 – Louis B. Mayer, Belarusian-American film producer, founded the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (d. 1957)
• 1883 – Rube Goldberg, American sculptor, cartoonist, and author (d. 1970)
• 1887 – Pio Pion, Italian entrepreneur (d. 1965)
• 1888 – Henry Armetta, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1945)
• 1895 – Irving Caesar, American songwriter and composer (d. 1996)
• 1896 – Mao Dun, Chinese journalist, author, and critic (d. 1981)
• 1897 – Alluri Sita Rama Raju, Indian activist (d. 1924)
• 1898 – Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican historian and activist (d. 1997)
• 1898 – Gertrude Lawrence, English-American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1952)
• 1902 – Meyer Lansky, Belarusian-American gangster (d. 1983)
• 1902 – George Murphy, American actor and politician (d. 1992)
• 1903 – Flor Peeters, Belgian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1986)
• 1904 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976)
• 1905 – Irving Johnson, American sailor and author (d. 1991)
• 1905 – Lionel Trilling, American author, critic, and educator (d. 1975)
• 1907 – John Anderson, American discus thrower (d. 1948)
• 1907 – Gordon Griffith, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1958)
• 1907 – Howard Taubman, American critic and author (d. 1996)
• 1910 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist (d. 2003)
• 1910 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1911 – Mitch Miller, American singer and producer (d. 2010)
• 1912 – Viviane Romance, French actress and producer (d. 1991)
• 1916 – Iva Toguri D'Aquino, American typist and broadcaster (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Fernand Leduc, Canadian painter (d. 2014)
• 1917 – Manolete, Spanish bullfighter (d. 1947)
• 1918 – Eppie Lederer, American columnist (d. 2002)
• 1918 – Johnnie Parsons, American race car driver (d. 1984)
• 1918 – Pauline Phillips, American columnist and radio host, created Dear Abby (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV of Tonga (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Norm Drucker, American basketball player and referee
• 1920 – Leona Helmsley, American businesswoman (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Fritz Wilde, German footballer and manager (d. 1977)
• 1921 – Gérard Debreu, French economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
• 1921 – Philip Rose, American actor, playwright, and producer (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist and conductor (d. 2003)
• 1923 – Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Eva Marie Saint, American actress
• 1926 – Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentinian-Spanish footballer and coach
• 1926 – Lake Underwood, American entrepreneur and race car driver (d. 2008)
• 1927 – Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress
• 1927 – Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter
• 1928 – Giampiero Boniperti, Italian footballer
• 1928 – Shan Ratnam, Sri Lankan physician and academic (d. 2001)
• 1928 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Peter Angelos, American lawyer and businessman
• 1929 – Al Davis, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 2011)
• 1929 – Bill Tuttle, American baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1930 – Frunzik Mkrtchyan, Armenian actor (d. 1993)
• 1930 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Yuri Tyukalov, Russian rower
• 1931 – Stephen Boyd, Irish-American actor (d. 1977)
• 1931 – Rick Casares, American football player (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Lawrie Dring, Scottish scout leader, founded World Federation of Independent Scouts (d. 2012)
• 1931 – Sébastien Japrisot, French author, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1932 – Aurèle Vandendriessche, Belgian runner
• 1934 – Peter Behn, American voice actor
• 1934 – Yvonne B. Miller, American politician (d. 2012)
• 1934 – Colin Welland, English actor and screenwriter
• 1935 – Paul Scoon, Grenadian politician, 2nd Governor-General of Grenada (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Zdzisława Donat, Polish soprano
• 1937 – Thomas Nagel, American philosopher and educator
• 1937 – Queen Sonja of Norway
• 1937 – Richard Rhodes, American journalist and historian
• 1938 – Steven Rose, British biologist
• 1938 – Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter and producer
• 1938 – John Sterling, American sportscaster
• 1940 – Karolyn Grimes, American actress
• 1940 – Janet Cohen, British politician, lawyer and writer
• 1940 – Dave Rowberry, English pianist and songwriter (The Animals) (d. 2003)
• 1940 – Pat Stapleton, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1941 – Sam Farr, American politician
• 1941 – Sergio Oliva, Cuban-American bodybuilder (d. 2012)
• 1941 – Pavel Sedláček, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1941 – Brian Willson, American lawyer and activist
• 1942 – Hal Lanier, American baseball player, coach, and manager
• 1942 – Floyd Little, American football player and coach
• 1942 – Stefan Meller, French-Polish politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (d. 2008)
• 1942 – Prince Michael of Kent
• 1942 – Peter Rowan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Earth Opera and Old and in the Way)
• 1943 – Conny Bauer, German trombonist
• 1943 – Emerson Boozer, American football player
• 1943 – Adam Hart-Davis, English scientist, historian, author and broadcaster
• 1943 – Geraldo Rivera, American lawyer, journalist, and author
• 1943 – Alan Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Canned Heat) (d. 1970)
• 1944 – Jaimy Gordon, American author
• 1944 – Ray Meagher, Australian actor
• 1944 – Susan Kellermann, American actress
• 1945 – Bruce French, American actor
• 1945 – Andre Spitzer, Romanian-Israeli fencer and coach (d. 1972)
• 1946 – Margaret Delisle, Canadian politician
• 1946 – Tish Howard, American model
• 1946 – Ron Kovic, American author and activist
• 1946 – Michael Milken, American businessman, financier, and philanthropist
• 1946 – Ed O'Ross, American actor
• 1948 – Ed Armbrister, Bahamian baseball player
• 1948 – René Arnoux, French race car driver
• 1948 – Tommy Körberg, Swedish singer and actor
• 1948 – Jeremy Spencer, English guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
• 1948 – Phil Wheatley, English civil servant
• 1950 – Philip Craven, English basketball player
• 1950 – David Jensen, Canadian-English radio host
• 1950 – Tonio K, American singer-songwriter
• 1951 – Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American lawyer and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
• 1951 – Vladimir Tismăneanu, Romanian-American political scientist
• 1952 – Paul Rogat Loeb, American author and social change activist
• 1952 – Álvaro Uribe, Colombian politician, 39th President of Colombia
• 1952 – John Waite, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Babys and Bad English)
• 1953 – Francis Maude, English politician
• 1954 – Morganna, American model and dancer
• 1954 – Jim Beattie, American baseball player, coach, and manager
• 1956 – Mark Belling, American radio host
• 1957 – Rein Lang, Estonian politician and diplomat
• 1957 – Jenny Seagrove, English actress and animal activist
• 1957 – Chulabhorn Walailak Thai princess
• 1958 – Steve Hartman, American sportscaster
• 1958 – Kirk Pengilly, Australian singer and guitarist (INXS)
• 1958 – Carl Valentine, English-Canadian footballer, coach, and manager
• 1959 – Victoria Abril, Spanish actress and singer
• 1960 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (d. 1994)
• 1960 – Mark Steel, English comedian, columnist, and author
• 1960 – Sid Vicious, American wrestler and actor
• 1960 – Barry Windham, American wrestler
• 1961 – Richard Garriott, English-American video game designer
• 1962 – Neil Morrissey, English actor
• 1962 – Pam Shriver, American tennis player
• 1963 – Henri Leconte, French tennis player
• 1963 – Ute Lemper, German singer
• 1963 – Laureano Márquez, Spanish-Venezuelan humorist and political scientist
• 1963 – José Oquendo, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
• 1963 – William Ramallo, Bolivian footballer and coach
• 1963 – Michael Sweet, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Stryper and Boston)
• 1964 – Martin Flood, Australian quiz show contestant
• 1964 – Cle Kooiman, American soccer player and manager
• 1964 – Elie Saab, Lebanese fashion designer
• 1964 – Mark Slaughter, American singer-songwriter and producer (Slaughter and Vinnie Vincent Invasion)
• 1964 – Mark Whiting, American director, screenwriter, and actor
• 1965 – Harvey Grant, American basketball player and coach
• 1965 – Jo Whiley, English radio host
• 1966 – Minas Hantzidis, Greek footballer
• 1966 – Lee Reherman, American football player and actor
• 1967 – Vinny Castilla, Mexican baseball player and manager
• 1967 – Andy Walker, English-Canadian journalist
• 1967 – Rick Wilkins, American baseball player
• 1968 – Ronni Ancona, Scottish actress
• 1968 – Jack Frost, American guitarist and songwriter (Seven Witches and The Bronx Casket Co.)
• 1969 – Al Golden, American football player and coach
• 1969 – Todd Marinovich, American football player
• 1969 – Wilfred Mugeyi, Zimbabwean footballer and coach
• 1970 – Christian Giesler, American bass player (Kreator)
• 1970 – Tony Vidmar, Australian footballer and manager
• 1971 – Koko, American gorilla
• 1971 – Andy Creeggan, Canadian guitarist and pianist (Barenaked Ladies and The Brothers Creeggan)
• 1971 – Brendan Donnelly, American baseball player
• 1971 – Ned Zelić, Australian footballer
• 1972 – Nina Badrić, Croatian singer-songwriter
• 1972 – Stephen Giles, Canadian canoe racer
• 1972 – William Goldsmith, American drummer (Sunny Day Real Estate, Foo Fighters, and The Fire Theft)
• 1972 – Mike Knuble, Canadian-American ice hockey player
• 1972 – Vladimir Kozlov, Ukrainian-American wrestler
• 1973 – Gackt, Japanese singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Malice Mizer and Skin)
• 1973 – Keiko Ihara, Japanese race car driver
• 1973 – Michael Johnson, English-Jamaican footballer and manager
• 1973 – Anjelika Krylova, Russian ice dancer and coach
• 1973 – Jan Magnussen, Danish race car driver
• 1973 – Tony Popovic, Australian footballer and manager
• 1973 – Elton Williams, Caribbean footballer
• 1974 – La'Roi Glover, American football player and sportscaster
• 1974 – Adrian Griffin, American basketball player and coach
• 1974 – Vince Spadea, American tennis player
• 1976 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
• 1976 – Yevgeniya Medvedeva, Russian skier
• 1977 – Orri Páll Dýrason, Icelandic drummer (Sigur Rós)
• 1977 – Jonas Kjellgren, Swedish singer, guitarist, and producer (Scar Symmetry, Centinex, Raubtier, and Carnal Forge)
• 1977 – Zoe Naylor, Australian actress, journalist, and producer
• 1978 – Andrea Gabriel, American actress
• 1978 – Vicky Kaya, Greek model and actress
• 1978 – Stephen McNally, English singer-songwriter (BBMak)
• 1978 – Émile Mpenza, Belgian footballer
• 1978 – Becki Newton, American actress
• 1978 – Katia Zygouli, Greek model and actress
• 1979 – Dumas, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1979 – Siim Kabrits, Estonian politician
• 1979 – Kevin Thoms, American actor
• 1979 – Mark Twitchell, Canadian murderer
• 1979 – Renny Vega, Venezuelan footballer
• 1980 – Max Elliott Slade, American actor
• 1980 – Kwame Steede, Bermudan footballer
• 1981 – Brock Berlin, American footballer
• 1981 – Francisco Cruceta, Dominican baseball player
• 1981 – Adérito Waldemar Alves Carvalho, Angolan footballer
• 1981 – Tahar Rahim, French actor
• 1981 – Will Smith, American football player
• 1982 – Hannah Harper, English porn actress and director
• 1982 – Michael Sorrentino, American model and author
• 1983 – Melanie Fiona, Canadian singer
• 1983 – Isabeli Fontana, Brazilian model
• 1983 – Ben Jorgensen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Armor for Sleep)
• 1983 – Amantle Montsho, Botswana sprinter
• 1983 – Andrew Mrotek, American drummer (The Academy Is...)
• 1983 – Miguel Ángel Muñoz, Spanish actor and singer
• 1983 – Miguel Pinto, Chilean footballer
• 1983 – Mattia Serafini, Italian footballer
• 1984 – Jin Akanishi, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor (KAT-TUN and Lands)
• 1984 – Gina Glocksen, American singer
• 1984 – Miguel Santos Soares, Timorese footballer
• 1985 – Rinalds Sirsniņš, Latvian basketball player
• 1985 – Kane Tenace, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Takahisa Masuda, Japanese singer and actor (NEWS and Tegomass)
• 1986 – Nguyen Ngoc Duy, Vietnamese footballer
• 1986 – Mía Taveras, Dominican model and actress
• 1986 – Fanny Valette, French actress
• 1987 – Wude Ayalew, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• 1987 – Guram Kashia, Georgian footballer
• 1988 – Angelique Boyer, French-Mexican actress, model and singer
• 1988 – Jada Stevens, American porn actress
• 1989 – Benjamin Büchel, English footballer
• 1989 – Yoon Doo-joon, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor (Beast)
• 1989 – Rodgers Kola, Zambian footballer
• 1990 – Backer Aloenouvo, Togolese footballer
• 1990 – Kelsi Crain, American model, Miss Louisiana 2010
• 1990 – Rishadi Fauzi, Indonesian footballer
• 1990 – Jake Gardiner, American ice hockey player
• 1990 – David Kross, German actor
• 1990 – Alyssa Miller, American model
• 1990 – Richard Mpong, Ghanaian footballer
• 1990 – Naoki Yamada, Japanese footballer
• 1990 – Ihar Yasinski, Belarusian footballer
• 1991 – Ak Hafiy Tajuddin Rositi, Bruneian runner
• 1992 – Basim, Danish singer-songwriter
• 1992 – Nick Hissom, English model and singer
• 1993 – Tom Barkhuizen, English footballer
• 1997 – Jason Spevack, Canadian actor
• 1999 – Moa Kikuchi, Japanese idol, singer and model

Deaths[edit]

• 673 – Ecgberht of Kent
• 907 – Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria
• 943 – Taejo of Goryeo (b. 877)
• 965 – Pope Benedict V
• 973 – Ulrich of Augsburg, German bishop (b. 890)
• 1187 – Raynald of Châtillon, French knight (b. 1125)
• 1541 – Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish explorer (b. 1495)
• 1546 – Hayreddin Barbarossa, Greek-Turkish admiral (b. 1478)
• 1551 – Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, English politician (b. 1514)
• 1603 – Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer (b. 1521)
• 1623 – William Byrd, English composer (b. 1540)
• 1641 – Pedro Teixeira, Portuguese explorer
• 1648 – Antoine Daniel, French missionary (b. 1601)
• 1742 – Luigi Guido Grandi, Italian monk, mathematician, and engineer (b. 1671)
• 1754 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French playwright and author (b. 1680)
• 1761 – Samuel Richardson, English author and painter (b. 1689)
• 1780 – Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (b. 1712)
• 1821 – Richard Cosway, English painter (b. 1742)
• 1826 – John Adams, American politician, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
• 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, American politician, 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
• 1831 – James Monroe, American politician, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
• 1848 – François-René de Chateaubriand, French historian and politician (b. 1768)
• 1850 – William Kirby, English entomologist (b. 1759)
• 1854 – Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German jurist (b. 1781)
• 1857 – William L. Marcy, American politician, 21st United States Secretary of State (b. 1786)
• 1881 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish philosopher and politician (b. 1806)
• 1882 – Joseph Brackett, American composer (b. 1797)
• 1891 – Hannibal Hamlin, American politician, 15th Vice President of the United States (b. 1809)
• 1901 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (b. 1843)
• 1902 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian monk (b. 1863)
• 1905 – Élisée Reclus, French geographer and author (b. 1830)
• 1910 – Melville Fuller, American jurist, 8th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1833)
• 1910 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer and historian (b. 1835)
• 1916 – Alan Seeger, American poet (b. 1888)
• 1922 – Lothar von Richthofen, German pilot (b. 1894)
• 1926 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian activist and saint (b. 1901)
• 1931 – Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta (b. 1869)
• 1931 – Buddie Petit, American cornet player (b. 1895)
• 1934 – Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
• 1938 – Otto Bauer, Austrian politician (b. 1881)
• 1938 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899)
• 1941 – Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician (b. 1881)
• 1943 – Władysław Sikorski, Polish military leader (b. 1881)
• 1946 – Gerda Steinhoff, German concentration camp overseer (b. 1922)
• 1946 – Taffy O'Callaghan, Welsh footballer (b. 1906)
• 1948 – Monteiro Lobato, Brazilian author (b. 1882)
• 1949 – François Brandt, Dutch rower (b. 1874)
• 1963 – Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, New Zealand general and politician, 7th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1889)
• 1964 – Gaby Morlay, French actress and singer (b. 1893)
• 1964 – Henry (Hank) Sylvern, American organist and composer (b. 1908)
• 1969 – Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (b. 1890)
• 1970 – Barnett Newman, American painter (b. 1905)
• 1970 – Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, American sailor and businessman (b. 1884)
• 1971 – August Derleth, American anthologist and author (b. 1909)
• 1971 – Thomas C. Hart, American admiral and politician (b. 1877)
• 1974 – Georgette Heyer, English author (b. 1902)
• 1974 – Haj Amin al-Husseini, Palestinian cleric (b. 1897)
• 1976 – Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli commander (b. 1946)
• 1976 – Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1895)
• 1977 – Gersh Budker, Ukrainian physicist (b. 1918)
• 1979 – Lee Wai Tong, Chinese footballer (b. 1905)
• 1980 – Maurice Grevisse, Belgian linguist (b. 1895)
• 1982 – Terry Higgins, Welsh AIDS victim (b. 1945)
• 1984 – Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
• 1986 – Flor Peeters, Belgian organist and composer (b. 1903)
• 1986 – Oscar Zariski, Russian mathematician (b. 1899)
• 1988 – Adrian Adonis, American wrestler (b. 1954)
• 1989 – Jack Haig, English actor (b. 1913)
• 1990 – Olive Ann Burns, American author (b. 1924)
• 1991 – Victor Chang, Chinese-Australian surgeon (b. 1936)
• 1991 – Art Sansom, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
• 1992 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentinian bandoneon player and composer (b. 1921)
• 1993 – Bona Arsenault, Canadian historian and politician (b. 1903)
• 1994 – Joey Marella, American wrestling referee (b. 1964)
• 1995 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and singer (b. 1919)
• 1995 – Bob Ross, American painter (b. 1942)
• 1997 – Charles Kuralt, American journalist (b. 1934)
• 1997 – John Zachary Young, English zoologist (b. 1907)
• 1999 – Leo Garel, American cartoonist (b. 1917)
• 2000 – Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1919)
• 2001 – V. Appapillai, Sri Lankan physicist and academic (b. 1913)
• 2001 – Keenan Milton, American skateboarder (b. 1974)
• 2002 – Gerald Bales, Canadian organist and composer (b. 1919)
• 2002 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American general (b. 1912)
• 2002 – Mansoor Hekmat, Iranian theorist (b. 1951)
• 2002 – Winnifred Quick, American RMS Titanic survivor (b. 1904)
• 2003 – Larry Burkett, American author and radio host (b. 1939)
• 2003 – André Claveau, French singer (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Barry White, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1944)
• 2004 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1920)
• 2004 – Frank Robinson, English street entertainer (b. 1932)
• 2005 – Cliff Goupille, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1915)
• 2005 – Hank Stram, American football player and coach (b. 1923)
• 2007 – Barış Akarsu, Turkish singer, guitarist, and actor (b. 1979)
• 2007 – Bill Pinkney, American singer (The Drifters) (b. 1925)
• 2008 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (b. 1940)
• 2008 – Jesse Helms, American journalist and politician (b. 1921)
• 2008 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (b. 1916)
• 2008 – Terrence Kiel, American football player (b. 1980)
• 2008 – Charles Wheeler, German-English journalist (b. 1923)
• 2009 – Jim Chapin, American drummer (b. 1919)
• 2009 – Brenda Joyce, American actress (b. 1917)
• 2009 – Allen Klein, American businessman and talent agent (b. 1931)
• 2009 – Drake Levin, American guitarist (Paul Revere & the Raiders) (b. 1946)
• 2009 – Steve McNair, American football player (b. 1973)
• 2009 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author (b. 1935)
• 2009 – Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard, Congolese politician (b. 1938)
• 2010 – Robert Neil Butler, American physician and author (b. 1927)
• 2010 – Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Iraqi-Lebanese cleric (b. 1935)
• 2011 – Otto von Habsburg, Austrian-Hungarian son of Charles I of Austria (b. 1912)
• 2012 – Scamper, American rodeo horse (b. 1977)
• 2012 – Peter Bennett, Australian footballer (b. 1926)
• 2012 – Hiren Bhattacharyya, Indian poet (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Jimmy Bivins, American boxer (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Vinzenz Guggenberger, German bishop (b. 1929)
• 2012 – Jeong Min-Hyeong, South Korean footballer (b. 1987)
• 2012 – Eric Sykes, English actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Onllwyn Brace, Welsh rugby player (b. 1932)
• 2013 – Jack Crompton, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
• 2013 – James Fulton, American dermatologist (b. 1940)
• 2013 – Charles A. Hines, American general (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Iain McColl, Scottish actor (b. 1955)
• 2013 – Madan Mohan Mishra, Nepalese author (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Bernie Nolan, Irish singer and actress (The Nolans) (b. 1960)

Holidays and observances[edit]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Andrew of Crete
  • Bertha of Artois
  • Blessed Catherine Jarrige
  • Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
  • Elizabeth of Portugal, patron saint of Coimbra (city holiday), known there as Rainha Santa Isabel.
  • Oda of Canterbury
  • Ulrich of Augsburg
  • July 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Independence Day, celebrates the Declaration of Independence of the United States from Great Britain in 1776. (United States and its dependencies)
• Liberation Day (Rwanda)
• Liberation Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
• Republic Day (Philippines)

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“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.” Proverbs 14:34 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"The ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven wellfavoured and fat kine."
Genesis 41:4

Pharaoh's dream has too often been my waking experience. My days of sloth have ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous industry; my seasons of coldness have frozen all the genial glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm; and my fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances in the divine life. I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean praises, lean duties, and lean experiences, for these will eat up the fat of my comfort and peace. If I neglect prayer for never so short a time, I lose all the spirituality to which I had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in my soul. When the caterpillars of indifference, the cankerworms of worldliness, and the palmerworms of self-indulgence, lay my heart completely desolate, and make my soul to languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me nothing whatever. How anxious should I be to have no lean-fleshed days, no ill-favoured hours! If every day I journeyed towards the goal of my desires I should soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me still far off from the prize of my high calling, and robs me of the advances which I had so laboriously made. The only way in which all my days can be as the "fat kine," is to feed them in the right meadow, to spend them with the Lord, in His service, in His company, in His fear, and in His way. Why should not every year be richer than the past, in love, and usefulness, and joy?--I am nearer the celestial hills, I have had more experience of my Lord, and should be more like Him. O Lord, keep far from me the curse of leanness of soul; let me not have to cry, "My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!" but may I be well-fed and nourished in thy house, that I may praise thy name.

Evening

"If we suffer, we shall also reign with him."
2 Timothy 2:12

We must not imagine that we are suffering for Christ, and with Christ, if we are not in Christ. Beloved friend, are you trusting to Jesus only? If not, whatever you may have to mourn over on earth, you are not "suffering with Christ," and have no hope of reigning with him in heaven. Neither are we to conclude that all a Christian's sufferings are sufferings with Christ, for it is essential that he be called by God to suffer. If we are rash and imprudent, and run into positions for which neither providence nor grace has fitted us, we ought to question whether we are not rather sinning than communing with Jesus. If we let passion take the place of judgment, and self-will reign instead of Scriptural authority, we shall fight the Lord's battles with the devil's weapons, and if we cut our own fingers we must not be surprised. Again, in troubles which come upon us as the result of sin, we must not dream that we are suffering with Christ. When Miriam spoke evil of Moses, and the leprosy polluted her, she was not suffering for God. Moreover, suffering which God accepts must have God's glory as its end. If I suffer that I may earn a name, or win applause, I shall get no other reward than that of the Pharisee. It is requisite also that love to Jesus, and love to his elect, be ever the mainspring of all our patience. We must manifest the Spirit of Christ in meekness, gentleness, and forgiveness. Let us search and see if we truly suffer with Jesus. And if we do thus suffer, what is our "light affliction" compared with reigning with him? Oh it is so blessed to be in the furnace with Christ, and such an honour to stand in the pillory with him, that if there were no future reward, we might count ourselves happy in present honour; but when the recompense is so eternal, so infinitely more than we had any right to expect, shall we not take up the cross with alacrity, and go on our way rejoicing?

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Today's reading: Job 25-27, Acts 12 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Job 25-27

Bildad

¹ Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:

² "Dominion and awe belong to God;
he establishes order in the heights of heaven.
³ Can his forces be numbered?
On whom does his light not rise?
⁴ How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
How can one born of woman be pure?
⁵ If even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his eyes,
⁶ how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot--
a human being, who is only a worm!"

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: Acts 12

Peter's Miraculous Escape From Prison

¹ It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. ² He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. ³When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him....

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

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