Bairnsdale Conservative: November 2014

Victoria loses election

Victoria loses election, but it was part of the culture war where the LNP failed to engage. The LNP had balanced, but a left wing bias. The idea being a softly softly approach would not foment unrest. It was predicated on the belief that a centrist government could still be economically responsible. And the former LNP government did leave Victoria better off economically. Criticism of the government was overstated and orchestrated. But it is not the case that the ALP won (because the LNP lost), as the ALP are unreformed and still corrupt, with ties to the CFMEU which do not pass any simple scratch and sniff test. One positive is that the myth has been debunked that Kennett lost the election to Bracks because his ideas were too conservative and radical. Partisan press support for the ALP mean that all other things being equal, the ALP will win. Which means that for the LNP to win elections, it must be better than the ALP .. the LNP has to have ideas and drive and energy. The ALP can get by with running an economy well. They could hold government for a long time if they do that, but no ALP government has been responsible since the Hawke Keating years. And that only happened because the LNP used the senate to force responsibility.

It is a positive vision, not a fear of unpopularity which will keep the LNP elected. A case in point is the Queensland LNP government of Campbell Newman which, because they made hard calls, is now polling well. Newman's seat had been threatened, but even that now seems secure. A failure of vision is exemplified by PUP. With Lambie gone, and the song playing "Who let the dogs out?" the party is imploding and failed to get a 2% result for Victoria's senate. Another blessing is the possibility of a forward movement on higher education reforms. Some sacrifices have to be made to the full reform to get the measures passed.

PUP's irrational attack on Newman and their policy of matching ALP's voting record has constipated the budget reform initiatives. But now they are in play again. One important measure is the co-payment on medicare of $7. It is not a terrible measure to the poor. It is a responsible measure. But the senate battles leads one to wistfully consider the parliaments of NZ and Queensland. Only to consider them, because ALP style governments have been rapaciously bad for them in the recent past. If the LNP can hold on federally, compromise now on what it must, the benefit in the future will be an ALP shut out of the senate the following term. The ALP have broken every single one of their undertakings to the public in their opposition to every government budgetary reform. Mr Abbott, as opposition leader had passed many ALP bills.

Culture wars

Union greed means Australia can't afford to build our own submarines. It is too expensive. Every dollar extra to build a submarine here is less submarine for the defence force. It is simply not responsible to try because the unions have pushed the price to over fifty percent of what can be achieved off shore. Meanwhile, the ABC is the kind of elitist organisation it derides, being expensive, contributing nothing but partisan politics which means that corruption is fostered by it, and communities hurt by it. The ABC will cut off a limb before trimming a nail for 5% cuts. Meanwhile, those angry feminists who derided a scientist for his t-shirt a few weeks ago have successfully made the t-shirt a hit sale item. Meanwhile Julie Bishop promotes a nuclear solution to energy concerns which addresses carbon dioxide issues. It would have to get past the anti nuclear scare campaign. Or fail because of the realisation that Carbon Dioxide is plant food.

Historical perspectives on this day

In 3340 BC, Earliest believed record of an eclipse. In 1707, the second Siege of Pensacola came to end with the failure of the British to capture Pensacola, Florida. In 1718, King Charles XII of Sweden died during a siege of the fortress of Fredriksten in Norway. In 1782, American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris – In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain signed preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris). In 1786, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, became the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later commemorated as Cities for Life Day).

In 1803, in New Orleans, Spanish representatives officially transferred the Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transferred the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase. In 1804, the Democratic-Republican-controlled United States Senate began an impeachment trial of Federalist Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase. In 1824, ground was broken at Allanburg, Ontario, for the building of the first Welland Canal. In 1829, First Welland Canal opened for a trial run, 5 years to the day from the ground breaking. In 1853, Crimean War: Battle of Sinop – The Imperial Russian Navy under Pavel Nakhimov destroyed the Ottoman fleet under Osman Pasha at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey. In 1864, American Civil War: Battle of Franklin – The Confederate Army of Tennessee led by General John Bell Hood mounted a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions commanded by John McAllister Schofield around Franklin, Tennessee, with Hood losing six generals and almost a third of his troops. In 1868, a statue of King Charles XII of Sweden was inaugurated in Stockholm's Kungsträdgården. In 1872, the first-ever international football match took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England. In 1886, the Folies Bergère staged its first revue.

In 1902, American Old West: Kid Curry Logan, second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor. In 1908, a mine explosion in Marianna, Pennsylvania, killed 154. In 1916, Costa Rica signed the Buenos Aires Convention, a copyright treaty. In 1934, the LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to be authenticated as reaching 100 mph. In 1936, in London, the Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire. In 1939, Winter War: Soviet forces crossed the Finnish border in several places and bombed Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, starting the war. In 1940, Lucille Ball married Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 1942, World War II: Battle of Tassafaronga; A smaller squadron of Japanese destroyers led by Raizō Tanaka defeated a U.S. cruiser force under Carleton H. Wright. In 1947, 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine began, leading up to the creation of the state of Israel.

In 1953, Edward Mutesa II, the kabaka (king) of Buganda was deposed and exiled to London by Sir Andrew Cohen, Governor of Uganda. In 1954, in Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges meteorite crashed through a roof and hit a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space. In 1966, Barbados became independent from the United Kingdom. In 1967, the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen became independent from the United Kingdom. Also, the Pakistan Peoples Party was founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who became its first chairman. In 1971, Iran seized the Greater and Lesser Tunbs from the United Arab Emirates. In 1972, Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler told the press that there would be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels were then down to 27,000. In 1981, Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union began to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe. (The meetings end inconclusively on December 17.) In 1982, Michael Jackson's second solo album, Thriller was released worldwide. It would become the best-selling record album in history. In 1989, Deutsche Bank board member Alfred Herrhausen was killed by a Red Army Faction terrorist bomb.

In 1993, American National Football League awarded 30th franchise to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Also, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Bill) into law. In 1994, MS Achille Lauro caught fire off the coast of Somalia. In 1995, Official end of Operation Desert Storm. Also, U.S. President Bill Clinton visited Northern Ireland and spoke in favour of the "Northern Ireland peace process" to a huge rally at Belfast City Hall. He called terrorists "yesterday's men". In 1998, Exxon and Mobil signed a US$73.7 billion agreement to merge, thus creating ExxonMobil, the world's largest company. In 1999, in Seattle, United States, demonstrations against a World Trade Organization meeting by anti-globalization protesters caught police unprepared and forced the cancellation of opening ceremonies. Also, British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merged to form BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world. In 2001, in Renton, Washington, United States, Gary Ridgway (aka The Green River Killer) was arrested. In 2004, longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, finally lost, leaving him with US$2,520,700, television's biggest game show winnings. Also, Lion Air Flight 538 crash landed in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, killing 26. In 2005, John Sentamu became the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York. In 2012, an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane belonging to Aéro-Service, crashed into houses near Maya-Maya Airport during a thunderstorm, killing at least 32 people.

2013

When they murdered Lee Rigby, two Islamo Fascists raised their bloody hands to cameras and one said in a UK accent that such things were seen by women and children in his nation every day. He also spoke of an eye for an eye. The UK does not have a death penalty, but it is inconceivable that the two killers will ever be free. Regardless of their defence of the atrocity. People would not feel safe if it was generally believed that fantasists could run people over and butcher them while they were immobile. So it is very disturbing when the press do not report on why a group of thugs pushed through a front door of a house in Sydney and cut to pieces a young man in front of his mother and family. It scares the public to think such an attack is random. They want to know if it was drug inspired, or Islamo Fascist, or Bikie Gang. Without the cohesion of a story explaining to the public why everyone is safe, people feel threatened.

People feel threatened and they are, daily, by mainstream press partisanly pursuing conservatives while promoting left wing values. Media lies and their cover stories are discordant with reality. Desperate to engineer a policy back flip, Pyne's words are dissected, misrepresented and re-packaged. The truth is the ALP promoted bad policy, called Gonski, which would take money from tax payers and school kids and give it to ALP mates. This is called reform by the mass media who speak for the ALP while they are incapable. The truth is the federal government have no need to give money to public schools, because the states do. The federal government responsibly gives some money to private schools, because it would cost Australia too much if private schools were not viable. Private schools in Australia are either systemic or independent. Systemic school parents are generally not wealthy and their contributions are important to the wellbeing of education in Australia. Private students do not get more than public students from the public purse, and never have. What has happened is that the ALP took money away from their Gonski reform, but are demanding the conservatives return it to the budget. Parents are confused. One hairdresser I met recently is the breadwinner for her family. Her husband lost his job to ALP policy and she has one school age son and one pre school daughter. The hair dresser is highly educated, with a degree in computer science from a Vietnamese university and work experience in the computer industry. She is told by her son's public high school principal that the changes mean the school will have to cut classes and won't be able to buy computers. Also, she has been told private schools will not lose funding. The lies apparently spread by Chester Hill HS' Principal are not isolated. Parents are meant to be angry. But the cuts, were Pyne to cut Gonski entirely, would not cut a single program at any school. The only change will be that teachers will do what they are paid to do. If one truly believed the talk about teacher standards, that would mean everything was good. But the press would have you believe that Australian Teachers cannot function if some left wing extremists aren't paid a lot more.
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This column welcomes feedback and criticism. The column is not made up but based on the days events and articles which are then placed in the feed. So they may not have an apparent cohesion they would have had were they made up.
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For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball

Or the US President at
https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-change-this-injustice#
or
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/change-injustice-faced-david-daniel-ball-after-he-reported-bungled-pedophile-investigation-and/b8mxPWtJ or http://wh.gov/ilXYR

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; 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

Lorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.

I have begun a bulletin board (http://theconservativevoice.freeforums.net) 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.
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Simon Robert Lane and Jean Omari. Born on the same day across the years, along with

539 – Gregory of Tours, French bishop and historian (d. 594)
1508 – Andrea Palladio, Italian architect, designed the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore and Teatro Olimpico (d. 1580)
1554 – Philip Sidney, English soldier and poet (d. 1586)
1645 – Andreas Werckmeister, German organist, composer, and theorist (d. 1706)
1667 – Jonathan Swift, Irish author (d. 1745)
1810 – Oliver Winchester, American businessman, founded the Winchester Repeating Arms Company (d. 1880)
1835 – Mark Twain, American author (d. 1910)
1874 – Winston Churchill, English politician and author, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
1918 – Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor
1929 – Joan Ganz Cooney, American television producer, co-founded Sesame Workshop
1930 – G. Gordon Liddy, American conspirator, lawyer, talk show host, and actor
1937 – Ridley Scott, English director and producer
1952 – Mandy Patinkin, American actor and singer
1990 – Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess player, World Chess Champion
1994 – Nyjah Huston, American skateboarder

November 30: Cities for Life Day; Independence Day in Barbados (1966)

1872 – The first international football match took place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.
1934 – The steam locomotive Flying Scotsman became the first to officially exceed 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).
1939 – The Winter War broke out as the Soviet Red Army invaded Finland (Finnish troops pictured) and quickly advanced to the Mannerheim Line, an action judged as illegal by the League of Nations.
1953 – Edward Mutesa II, the kabaka (king) of Buganda, was deposed and exiled to London by Sir Andrew Cohen, Governor of Uganda.
1962 – Burmese diplomat U Thant became United Nations Secretary-General, following the death of Dag Hammarskjöld in September 1961.

We got the football. We are steaming for success. We are not finished yet. Exiled to London is not very bad. One left hand is as good as another. Let us party.
Matches

3340 BC – Earliest believed record of an eclipse.
1707 – The second Siege of Pensacola comes to end with the failure of the British to capture Pensacola, Florida.
1718 – King Charles XII of Sweden dies during a siege of the fortress of Fredriksten in Norway.
1782 – American Revolutionary War: Treaty of Paris – In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris).
1786 – The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, becomes the first modern state to abolish the death penalty (later commemorated as Cities for Life Day).
1803 – In New Orleans, Spanish representatives officially transfer the Louisiana Territory to a French representative. Just 20 days later, France transfers the same land to the United States as the Louisiana Purchase.
1804 – The Democratic-Republican-controlled United States Senate begins an impeachment trial of Federalist Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase.
1824 – Ground is broken at Allanburg, Ontario, for the building of the first Welland Canal.
1829 – First Welland Canal opens for a trial run, 5 years to the day from the ground breaking.
1853 – Crimean War: Battle of Sinop – The Imperial Russian Navy under Pavel Nakhimov destroys the Ottoman fleet under Osman Pasha at Sinop, a sea port in northern Turkey.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Franklin – The Confederate Army of Tennessee led by General John Bell Hood mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions commanded by John McAllister Schofield around Franklin, Tennessee, with Hood losing six generals and almost a third of his troops.
1868 – A statue of King Charles XII of Sweden is inaugurated in Stockholm's Kungsträdgården.
1872 – The first-ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.
1886 – The Folies Bergère stages its first revue.
1902 – American Old West: Kid Curry Logan, second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor.
1908 – A mine explosion in Marianna, Pennsylvania, kills 154.
1916 – Costa Rica signs the Buenos Aires Convention, a copyright treaty.
1934 – The LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman becomes the first steam locomotive to be authenticated as reaching 100 mph.
1936 – In London, the Crystal Palace is destroyed by fire.
1939 – Winter War: Soviet forces cross the Finnish border in several places and bomb Helsinki and several other Finnish cities, starting the war.
1940 – Lucille Ball marries Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, Connecticut.
1942 – World War II: Battle of Tassafaronga; A smaller squadron of Japanese destroyers led by Raizō Tanaka defeats a U.S. cruiser force under Carleton H. Wright.
1947 – 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine begins, leading up to the creation of the state of Israel.
1953 – Edward Mutesa II, the kabaka (king) of Buganda is deposed and exiled to London by Sir Andrew Cohen, Governor of Uganda.
1954 – In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space.
1966 – Barbados becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1967 – The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
1967 – The Pakistan Peoples Party is founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who becomes its first chairman.
1971 – Iran seizes the Greater and Lesser Tunbs from the United Arab Emirates.
1972 – Vietnam War: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.
1981 – Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe. (The meetings end inconclusively on December 17.)
1982 – Michael Jackson's second solo album, Thriller is released worldwide. It will become the best-selling record album in history.
1989 – Deutsche Bank board member Alfred Herrhausen is killed by a Red Army Faction terrorist bomb.
1993 – American National Football League awards 30th franchise to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
1993 – U.S. President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (the Brady Bill) into law.
1994 – MS Achille Lauro catches fire off the coast of Somalia.
1995 – Official end of Operation Desert Storm.
1995 – U.S. President Bill Clinton visits Northern Ireland and speaks in favour of the "Northern Ireland peace process" to a huge rally at Belfast City Hall. He calls terrorists "yesterday's men".
1998 – Exxon and Mobil sign a US$73.7 billion agreement to merge, thus creating ExxonMobil, the world's largest company.
1999 – In Seattle, United States, demonstrations against a World Trade Organization meeting by anti-globalization protesters catch police unprepared and force the cancellation of opening ceremonies.
1999 – British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merge to form BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world.
2001 – In Renton, Washington, United States, Gary Ridgway (aka The Green River Killer) is arrested.
2004 – Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, finally loses, leaving him with US$2,520,700, television's biggest game show winnings.
2004 – Lion Air Flight 538 crash lands in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia, killing 26.
2005 – John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York.
2012 – An Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane belonging to Aéro-Service, crashes into houses near Maya-Maya Airport during a thunderstorm, killing at least 32 people.

Hatches

539 – Gregory of Tours, French bishop and saint (d. 594)
1340 – John, Duke of Berry (d. 1416)
1364 – John FitzAlan, 2nd Baron Arundel, Scottish soldier (d. 1390)
1427 – Casimir IV Jagiellon, Polish king (d. 1492)
1466 – Andrea Doria, Italian admiral (d. 1560)
1498 – Andrés de Urdaneta, Spanish captain and explorer (d. 1568)
1508 – Andrea Palladio, Italian architect, designed the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore and Teatro Olimpico (d. 1580)
1554 – Philip Sidney, English soldier, courtier, and poet (d. 1586)
1594 – John Cosin, English bishop and academic (d. 1672)
1625 – Jean Domat, French jurist (d. 1696)
1637 – Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, French historian and author (d. 1698)
1645 – Andreas Werckmeister, German organist, composer, and theorist (d. 1706)
1667 – Jonathan Swift, Irish priest and poet (d. 1745)
1670 – John Toland, Irish philosopher and author (d. 1722)
1683 – Ludwig Andreas von Khevenhüller, Austrian field marshal (d. 1744)
1719 – Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha (d. 1772)
1722 – Théodore Gardelle, Swiss painter (d. 1761)
1723 – William Livingston, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of New Jersey (d. 1790)
1748 – Joachim Albertini, Italian-Polish composer (d. 1838)
1756 – Ernst Chladni, German physicist (d. 1827)
1764 – Franz Xaver Gerl, Austrian singer and composer (d. 1827)
1768 – Jędrzej Śniadecki, Polish physician, chemist, and biologist (d. 1838)
1781 – Alexander Berry, Scottish surgeon, merchant, and explorer (d. 1873)
1791 – Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg, Austrian field marshal and politician (d. 1848)
1796 – Carl Loewe, German singer, composer, and conductor (d. 1869)
1810 – Oliver Winchester, American businessman, founded the Winchester Repeating Arms Company (d. 1880)
1813 – Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet (d. 1890)
1813 – Charles-Valentin Alkan, French pianist and composer (d. 1888)
1817 – Theodor Mommsen, German jurist, historian, and scholar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1903)
1821 – Frederick Temple, English archbishop and academic (d. 1902)
1825 – William-Adolphe Bouguereau, French painter (d. 1905)
1835 – Mark Twain, American author and critic (d. 1910)
1836 – Lord Frederick Cavendish, English politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland (d. 1882)
1840 – Henry Birks, Canadian businessman, founded Birks & Mayors (d. 1928)
1847 – Afonso Pena, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 6th President of Brazil (d. 1909)
1857 – Bobby Abel, English cricketer (d. 1936)
1858 – Jagadish Chandra Bose, Indian physicist, biologist, botanist, and archaeologist (d. 1937)
1863 – Andrés Bonifacio, Filipino activist and politician, co-founded Katipunan (d. 1897)
1869 – Gustaf Dalén, Swedish physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1937)
1870 – Princess Henriette of Belgium (d. 1948)
1872 – John McCrae, Canadian physician, soldier, and poet (d. 1918)
1874 – Winston Churchill, English colonel, journalist, and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
1874 – Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author (d. 1942)
1875 – Otto Strandman, Estonian lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Estonia (d. 1941)
1883 – Gustav Suits, Estonian-Swedish poet (d. 1956)
1887 – Andrej Gosar, Slovenian economist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1970)
1887 – Beatrice Kerr, Australian swimmer and diver (d. 1971)
1889 – Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, English physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1977)
1889 – Reuvein Margolies, Ukrainian-Israeli author and scholar (d. 1971)
1898 – Firpo Marberry, American baseball player and manager (d. 1976)
1904 – Clyfford Still, American painter (d. 1980)
1906 – John Dickson Carr, American author and playwright (d. 1977)
1906 – Andrés Henestrosa, Mexican poet, linguist, and politician (d. 2008)
1907 – Jacques Barzun, French-American historian and author (d. 2012)
1909 – Robert Nighthawk, American singer and guitarist (Memphis Jug Band) (d. 1967)
1911 – Jorge Negrete, Mexican-American singer and actor (d. 1953)
1912 – Jaan Hargel, Estonian flute player, conductor, and educator (d. 1966)
1912 – Gordon Parks, American photographer and director (d. 2006)
1915 – Brownie McGhee, American singer and guitarist (d. 1996)
1915 – Henry Taube, Canadian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
1916 – Dena Epstein, American musicologist and author (d. 2013)
1918 – Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., American actor (d. 2014)
1920 – Virginia Mayo, American actress and singer (d. 2005)
1920 – Stuart Lancaster, American actor (d. 2000)
1922 – Graham Crowden, Scottish actor and singer (d. 2010)
1924 – Elliott Blackstone, American police officer and activist (d. 2006)
1924 – Shirley Chisholm, American educator and politician (d. 2005)
1924 – Allan Sherman, American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1973)
1926 – Richard Crenna, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2003)
1927 – Robert Guillaume, American actor, singer, and producer
1928 – Takako Doi, Japanese scholar and politician (d. 2014)
1928 – Joe B. Hall, American basketball player and coach
1928 – Andres Narvasa, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 19th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines (d. 2013)
1929 – Dick Clark, American television host and producer, founded Dick Clark Productions (d. 2012)
1929 – Joan Ganz Cooney, American screenwriter and producer, co-created Sesame Street
1930 – G. Gordon Liddy, American lawyer and radio host
1931 – Jack Ging, American actor
1931 – Bill Walsh, American football player and coach (d. 2007)
1931 – Margot Zemach, American illustrator (d. 1989)
1932 – Bob Moore, American bassist and orchestra leader (The Nashville A-Team)
1932 – Cho Namchul, South Korean Go player (d. 2006)
1933 – Norman Deeley, English footballer (d. 2007)
1933 – Sam Gilliam, American painter
1933 – Jeanloup Sieff, French photographer (d. 2000)
1933 – Dennis Stevens, English footballer (d. 2012)
1936 – Dmitri Anosov, Russian mathematician
1936 – Abbie Hoffman, American activist and author, co-founded the Youth International Party (d. 1989)
1937 – Frank Ifield, English-Australian singer and guitarist
1937 – Ridley Scott, English director, producer, and production designer
1937 – Tom Simpson, English cyclist (d. 1967)
1937 – Adeline Yen Mah, Chinese-American physician and author
1938 – Jean Eustache, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1981)
1938 – John M. Goldman, English haematologist and oncologist (d. 2013)
1940 – Kevin Phillips, American journalist and author
1940 – Peter Shreeves, Welsh footballer, coach, and manager
1940 – Dan Tieman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2012)
1941 – Phil Willis, Baron Willis of Knaresborough, English politician
1943 – Terrence Malick, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1944 – George Graham, Scottish footballer and manager
1944 – Dian Parkinson, American model, Miss District of Columbia USA 1965
1945 – Hilary Armstrong, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1945 – Roger Glover, Welsh bass player, songwriter, and producer (Deep Purple, Episode Six, and Rainbow)
1945 – Radu Lupu, Romanian-Swiss pianist
1945 – Mary Millington, English porn actress and model (d. 1979)
1945 – John R. Powers, American author and playwright (d. 2013)
1945 – Stan Sulzmann, English saxophonist
1946 – George Duffield, English jockey
1947 – Stuart Baird, English director and producer
1947 – Sergio Badilla Castillo, Chilean-Swedish poet
1947 – Jude Ciccolella, American actor
1947 – David Mamet, American director, playwright, and screenwriter
1949 – Vlassis Bonatsos, Greek actor and singer (d. 2004)
1949 – Jimmy London, Jamaican singer-songwriter
1950 – Chris Claremont, English-American author
1950 – Tom Durkin, American sportscaster
1951 – June Chadwick, English actress
1952 – Semyon Bychkov, Russian-American conductor
1952 – Keith Giffen, American author and illustrator
1952 – Mandy Patinkin, American actor and singer
1953 – Shuggie Otis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1953 – June Pointer, American singer and actress (Pointer Sisters) (d. 2006)
1953 – Jessie St. James, American porn actress
1954 – Simonetta Stefanelli, Italian actress and fashion designer
1954 – Lawrence Summers, American economist and academic
1955 – Michael Beschloss, American historian and author
1955 – Richard Burr, American businessman, academic, and politician
1955 – Kevin Conroy, American actor
1955 – Andy Gray, Scottish footballer and sportscaster
1955 – Billy Idol, English singer-songwriter and actor (Generation X and Chelsea)
1955 – Muricy Ramalho, Brazilian footballer and manager
1957 – John Ashton, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer (The Psychedelic Furs)
1957 – Richard Barbieri, English keyboard player and songwriter (Porcupine Tree, Japan, and The Dolphin Brothers)
1957 – Andrew Calhoun, American singer-songwriter
1957 – Joël Champetier, Canadian author
1957 – Patrick McLoughlin, English politician, Secretary of State for Transport
1957 – Colin Mochrie, Scottish-Canadian comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter
1957 – Margaret Spellings, American politician, 8th United States Secretary of Education
1958 – Juliette Bergmann, Dutch bodybuilder
1958 – Stacey Q, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (Q and SSQ)
1958 – IZ the Wiz, American painter (d. 2009)
1959 – Giannis Aggelakas, Greek singer, songwriter, and poet
1959 – Cherie Currie, American singer-songwriter and actress (The Runaways)
1959 – Lorraine Kelly, Scottish journalist and actress
1959 – Hugo Swire, English politician
1960 – Rich Fields, American meteorologist and game show announcer
1960 – Bill Halter, American scholar and politician, 14th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas
1960 – Gary Lineker, English footballer and sportscaster
1960 – Bob Tewksbury, American baseball player and coach
1962 – Bo Jackson, American football and baseball player
1962 – Daniel Keys Moran, American computer programmer and author
1964 – Michael Cudlitz, American actor and producer
1964 – Jushin Thunder Liger, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist
1965 – Aldair, Brazilian footballer
1965 – Lee Klein, American writer and curator
1965 – David Laws, English banker and politician, Chief Secretary to the Treasury
1965 – Fumihito, Prince Akishino of Japan
1965 – Ben Stiller, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
1966 – Nigel Adams, English politician
1966 – David Berkoff, American swimmer
1966 – John Bishop, English comedian and actor
1966 – Wil Mara, American author
1966 – David Nicholls, English author and screenwriter
1966 – Mika Salo, Finnish race car driver
1967 – Rajiv Dixit, Indian activist (d. 2010)
1967 – Joseph Corré, English businessman, who co-founded Agent Provocateur and social activist
1968 – Des'ree, English singer-songwriter
1968 – Laurent Jalabert, French cyclist
1969 – Marc Forster, German-Swiss director, producer, and screenwriter
1969 – Marc Goossens, Belgian race car driver
1969 – Amy Ryan, American actress
1969 – Mike Stone, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Queensrÿche and The Stick People)
1970 – Walter Emanuel Jones, American actor and dancer
1970 – Perrey Reeves, American actress
1970 – Phil Babb, English footballer and manager
1971 – Tonči Boban, Croatian footballer
1971 – Rosa Caracciolo, Hungarian pornographic actress
1971 – Ray Durham, American baseball player
1971 – Iván Rodríguez, Puerto Rican baseball player
1972 – Dan Jarvis, English soldier and politician
1972 – Stanislav Kitto, Estonian footballer
1972 – Abel Xavier, Portuguese footballer and manager
1973 – Christian, Canadian wrestler and actor
1973 – Im Chang-jung, South Korean actor and singer
1973 – John Moyer, American bass player (Disturbed, The Union Underground, and Adrenaline Mob)
1973 – Ian Wynne, English canoe racer
1973 – Kate Fischer, Australian model and actress
1974 – Sébastien Tellier, French singer-songwriter
1975 – Mindy McCready, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
1975 – Ben Thatcher, English footballer
1976 – Marco Castro, Peruvian-American director and cinematographer
1976 – Josh Lewsey, English rugby player
1976 – Cypher Zero, American circus performer and producer, founded the New York Circus Arts Academy
1977 – Richard Elias Anderson, Canadian basketball player
1977 – Steve Aoki, American DJ and producer, founded Dim Mak Records
1977 – Iván Guerrero, Honduran footballer
1977 – Kazumi Saito, Japanese baseball player and coach
1977 – Olivier Schoenfelder, French ice dancer
1978 – Clay Aiken, American singer and actor
1978 – Gael García Bernal, Mexican actor and director
1978 – Benjamin Lense, German footballer
1978 – Emil Steiner, American journalist and author
1979 – Chris Atkinson, Australian race car driver
1979 – Andrés Nocioni, Argentinian basketball player
1979 – Tomas Young, American soldier and activist (d. 2014)
1980 – Jamie Ashdown, English footballer
1980 – Shane Victorino, American baseball player
1981 – Zabiuddin Ansari, Indian-Pakistani accused terrorist
1981 – Rich Harden, Canadian baseball player
1981 – Billy Lush, American actor
1982 – Medina, Danish singer-songwriter
1982 – Elisha Cuthbert, Canadian actress
1982 – Tony Giarratano, American baseball player
1982 – Jason Pominville, Canadian ice hockey player
1983 – Andy Akinwolere, Nigerian-English television host
1983 – Adrian Cristea, Romanian footballer
1983 – Vladislav Polyakov, Kazakh swimmer
1984 – Gergana, Bulgarian singer
1984 – Nigel de Jong, Dutch footballer
1984 – Alan Hutton, Scottish footballer
1984 – Francisco Sandaza, Spanish footballer
1985 – Kaley Cuoco, American actress
1986 – Jordan Farmar, American basketball player
1987 – Vasilisa Bardina, Russian tennis player
1987 – Ian Hecox, American comedian and actor
1987 – Christel Khalil, American actress
1987 – Naomi Knight, American wrestler, model, and dancer
1987 – Dougie Poynter, English singer-songwriter and bass player (McFly)
1988 – Eir Aoi, Japanese singer
1988 – Phillip Hughes, Australian cricketer (d. 2014)
1988 – Vitaliy Polyanskyi, Ukrainian footballer
1988 – Tomi Saarelma, Finnish footballer
1989 – Vladimír Weiss, Slovak footballer
1990 – Magnus Carlsen, Norwegian chess player
1990 – Antoine N'Gossan, Ivorian footballer
1993 – Yuri Chinen, Japanese actor and singer (NYC and Hey! Say! JUMP)
1994 – Sofia Araújo, Portuguese tennis player
1994 – Nyjah Huston, American skateboarder

Despatches

1016 – Edmund Ironside, English king (b. 993)
1526 – Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Italian captain (b. 1498)
1580 – Richard Farrant, English playwright and composer (b. 1530)
1600 – Nanda Bayin, Burmese king (b. 1535)
1623 – Thomas Weelkes, English organist and composer (b. 1576)
1654 – John Selden, English jurist and scholar (b. 1584)
1675 – Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore, English lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1605)
1703 – Nicolas de Grigny, French organist and composer (b. 1672)
1718 – Charles XII of Sweden (b. 1682)
1761 – John Dollond, English optician and astronomer (b. 1706)
1765 – George Glas, Scottish merchant and explorer (b. 1725)
1864 – Patrick Cleburne, Irish-American general (b. 1828)
1873 – Alexander Berry, Scottish-Welsh surgeon, merchant, and explorer (b. 1781)
1892 – Dimitrios Valvis, Greek politician, 69th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1814)
1900 – Oscar Wilde, Irish author and poet (b. 1854)
1901 – Edward John Eyre, English explorer and politician, Governor of Jamaica (b. 1815)
1908 – Nishinoumi Kajirō I, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 16th Yokozuna (b. 1855)
1916 – Dorrit Weixler, German actress (b. 1892)
1920 – Vladimir May-Mayevsky, Russian general (b. 1867)
1923 – John Maclean, Scottish educator and activist (b. 1879)
1930 – Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 3rd Solicitor General of Sri Lanka (b. 1851)
1933 – Arthur Currie, Canadian general (b. 1875)
1934 – Hélène Boucher, French pilot (b. 1908)
1934 – Roy Turk, American songwriter (b. 1892)
1935 – Fernando Pessoa, Portuguese poet, philosopher, and critic (b. 1888)
1942 – Anthony M. Rud, American writer (b. 1893)
1943 – Etty Hillesum, Dutch author (b. 1914)
1944 – Paul Masson, French cyclist (b. 1876)
1953 – Francis Picabia, French painter and poet (b. 1879)
1954 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor and composer (b. 1886)
1955 – Josip Štolcer-Slavenski, Croatian composer (b. 1896)
1956 – Viggo Wiehe, Danish actor (b. 1874)
1957 – Beniamino Gigli, Italian tenor and actor (b. 1890)
1958 – Hubert Wilkins, Australian pilot, ornithologist, geographer, and explorer (b. 1888)
1966 – Salah Suheimat, Jordanian politician (b. 1914)
1967 – Patrick Kavanagh, Irish poet and author (b. 1904)
1972 – Compton Mackenzie, English-Scottish actor, author, and academic (b. 1883)
1977 – Terence Rattigan, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1911)
1979 – Zeppo Marx, American actor and singer (b. 1901)
1987 – Simon Carmiggelt, Dutch journalist and author (b. 1913)
1988 – Pannonica de Koenigswarter, English-American singer-songwriter (b. 1913)
1989 – Ahmadou Ahidjo, Cameroonian politician, 1st President of Cameroon (b. 1924)
1989 – Alfred Herrhausen, German banker (b. 1930)
1993 – David Houston, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
1994 – Guy Debord, French theorist and author (b. 1931)
1994 – Lionel Stander, American actor (b. 1908)
1995 – Stretch, American rapper, producer, and actor (b. 1968)
1996 – Tiny Tim, American singer and ukulele player (b. 1932)
1997 – Kathy Acker, American author, poet, and playwright (b. 1947)
1998 – Ruth Clifford, American actress (b. 1900)
1998 – Margaret Walker, American poet and author (b. 1915)
1999 – Charlie Byrd, American guitarist (b. 1925)
2000 – Eloise Jarvis McGraw, American author (b. 1915)
2000 – Scott Smith, Canadian bass player (Loverboy) (b. 1955)
2002 – Mr. Wrestling, American wrestler (b. 1934)
2003 – Gertrude Ederle, American swimmer (b. 1906)
2004 – Pierre Berton, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1920)
2004 – Seung Sahn, South Korean spiritual leader, founded the Kwan Um School of Zen (b. 1927)
2005 – Jean Parker, American actress and singer (b. 1915)
2006 – Elhadi Adam, Sudanese poet and songwriter (b. 1927)
2006 – Rafael Buenaventura, Filipino banker (b. 1938)
2007 – Engin Arık, Turkish physicist and academic (b. 1948)
2007 – Evel Knievel, American motorcycle rider and stuntman (b. 1938)
2008 – Munetaka Higuchi, Japanese drummer and producer (Loudness, Lazy, and Sly) (b. 1958)
2010 – Rajiv Dixit, Indian activist (b. 1967)
2010 – Garry Gross, American photographer (b. 1937)
2010 – Peter Hofmann, Czech-German tenor and actor (b. 1944)
2010 – Daya Mata, American spiritual leader (b. 1914)
2011 – Leka, Crown Prince of Albania (b. 1939)
2012 – Rogelio Álvarez, Cuban-American baseball player (b. 1938)
2012 – Mario Ardizzon, Italian footballer (b. 1938)
2012 – Jamelle Folsom, American wife of Jim Folsom (b. 1927)
2012 – I. K. Gujral, Indian politician, 12th Prime Minister of India (b. 1919)
2012 – Munir Malik, Pakistani cricketer (b. 1931)
2012 – Dolores Mantez, English actress (b. 1936)
2012 – Susil Moonesinghe, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, 4th Chief Minister of Western Province (b. 1930)
2012 – Homer R. Warner, American cardiologist and academic (b. 1922)
2013 – Paul Crouch, American broadcaster, co-founded Trinity Broadcasting Network (b. 1934)
2013 – Jean Kent, English actress (b. 1921)
2013 – Moussa Konaté, Malian author and playwright (b. 1951)
2013 – Tabu Ley Rochereau, Congolese-Belgian singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
2013 – Doriano Romboni, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1968)
2013 – Paul Walker, American actor and producer (b. 1973)
2013 – Yury Yakovlev, Russian actor (b. 1928)

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Bonifacio Day (Philippines)
Christian feast day:
- Andrew
- November 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Cities for Life Day (International)
Independence Day (Barbados), celebrates the independence of Barbados from the United Kingdom in 1966
Independence Day (South Yemen), celebrates the independence of South Yemen from the United Kingdom in 1967
National Day (Benin)
Regina Mundi Day (South Africa)
St. Andrew's Day (Scotland)

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How union greed torpedoed our subs

Piers Akerman – Saturday, November 29, 2014 (11:21pm)

The much-needed and long-overdue debate about replacing the nation’s ageing submarine fleet is too important to be jettisoned because of a single misguided comment.

Continue reading 'How union greed torpedoed our subs'

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Lessons from Queensland’s political courage

Miranda Devine – Saturday, November 29, 2014 (5:22pm)

Campbell Newman is one leader who has challenged the entitlement class - and won.

Queensland’s lastest financial report for 2013-14, tabled last week, shows the Newman government has halved its budget deficit and reversed the massive growth rate of spending for the first time since the 1990s.

Newman slashed spending by $198 million, by cutting 14,000 jobs from the bloated public service bureaucracy, and eliminating “nice to have” programs.

He boasts of ramping up frontline services while also implementing controversial new laws on bikies and drug dealers, which have helped drive down the crime rate by 10-30 percent.

Newman suffered politically for those tough decisions, with opinion polls slumping so low earlier this year that pundits tipped he would lose his seat at next year’s state election.

But polls in recent months shows Newman’s personal popularity soaring, and the LNP’s vote improving.

The political lesson is that short term pain early in the electoral cycle is preferable to slow death by a thousand cuts. As Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar: “Cowards die many times before their deaths;? The valiant never taste of death but once.”

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Perks and featherbeds: Time to reload on the ABC

Miranda Devine – Saturday, November 29, 2014 (11:23pm)

THIS is a tale of two Australias. In one Australia you have the increasingly derided wealth creators. In the other, you have the burgeoning new entitlement class – “leaners” who rely on big government to protect them from the disciplines of the market.

On the one hand, you have 7000 workers beavering away on Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill mine in the Pilbara, which will throw off an annual 55 million tonnes of premium iron ore, worth $5 billion, once it’s completed next September.

The $12 billion investment in the mine, including building a heavy rail line 344km to Port Hedland, was borne entirely by Rinehart and her 30 per cent Asian equity partners, until she achieved debt financing of $8 billion this year, in the largest new mining project finance deal in history.

On the other hand, you have the ABC, the taxpayer-funded media leviathan which costs $1.1 billion a year and is squealing over a 5 per cent haircut.

The government’s problem is that it will not challenge the entitlement class.

And none is more entitled than the ABC, with its fat employment contracts, generous superannuation, curious business plan, and even more curious approach to wealth creation.

For instance, you will never hear about the Roy Hill triumph on ‘Our ABC’ — apart from criticism from that bastion of integrity, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union.

Two examples illustrate the ABC’s surreal approach to other people’s money.

Example one: the ABC enterprise agreement, 2013-16, which covers an 8 per cent annual growth of wages and perks, including superannuation contributions of 17-20 per cent, more than double the rate of the private sector.

The employment contract guarantees minimum 2.5-2.6 per cent pay rises every year. If you work Saturdays, you are paid time-and-a-half, Sundays is double time and public holidays double time-and-a-half.

Then there are various allowances, for meals or television clothing, or if you live in an “isolated locality” — like Darwin. If you work in Kununurra you get an extra seven days annual leave. Maternity leave is 14 weeks, adoption leave is six weeks and supporting partners’ leave is two weeks. You get paid leave to move house or for “special religious ceremonial or cultural obligations”.
There is study leave of up to five hours a week. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees get a day’s paid leave each year to participate in NAIDOC Week.

All this and salaries which now outstrip their equivalents in the private sector.

Example two: in 2006, when Mark Scott was hired as ABC managing director, the 2005-06 annual report shows the salary to be about $430,000, including perks, although a rival contender for the job remembers the base salary offered at the time was more like $300,000.

Early in Scott’s reign, rumours were printed that he was in line for the BBC’s top job. Afraid of losing him, the board, then chaired by banker Maurice Newman, decided to give him a lavish pay rise of more than $200,000. They did this by reclassifying his position, making it one of the highest paid public service jobs in the country. The 2013-14 annual report shows Scott’s salary now to be $805,392.

Whether there was any truth in the BBC rumour is unknown, but what is known is that Scott’s benefactor at his previous employer Fairfax Media, CEO Fred Hilmer, was on his way out of the ailing company. Scott had little journalism experience when he was elevated to be Fairfax editorial director, but Hilmer, a management theory academic, was impressed by his Masters in Public Administration from Harvard.

In other words, the ABC board’s largesse may not have been merited. But it is telling that a board appointed by John Howard chose and then richly rewarded a managing director who went on to fortify and expand the very worst ABC tendencies.

Halfway through a second five-year term, Scott has created a Sydney-centric empire which has entrenched the ABC’s leftist bias while shirking the regional responsibilities of its charter and expanding digital strategy deliberately to annihilate commercial competitors.

The only real instrument of control over the ABC available to any government is funding, and the feral reaction to the modest 5 per cent cut over five years proposed by Malcolm Turnbull shows the political dangers. Scott’s response has been to damage the government at its electoral base, by slashing at regional and rural services, disproportionately disadvantaging Coalition voters while beefing up digital spending.

This is tantamount to a declaration of war. The only answer for the government is to return fire, with a really significant funding cut to the ABC’s $1.1 billion budget. The furore could hardly be more than it is for the piddling cut already planned.

And part of the savings could be used to create a new regional-only independent public broadcaster, with a charter to provide the service Australians love and expect from ‘Our ABC’. Call it the Regional Australian Broadcasting Corporation, R - ABC.

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SISTERHOOD SAVES THE DAY

Tim Blair – Saturday, November 29, 2014 (11:42pm)

Thanks to an enormous publicity effort by feminists around the world, a hard-working female clothes designer in Oregon is now so overwhelmed with orders that she can barely keep up:

That’s around $28,000 worth of business, right there. Order your own shirt here.

(Via Mat)

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The Bolt Report today, November 30

Andrew Bolt November 30 2014 (5:56am)

On The Bolt Report at 10am and 4pm.
Editorial: Why do we pay the $27 million Human Rights Commission after its incredible bias?
Guests: Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, former Labor advisor Cassandra Wilkinson, IPA boss John Roskam and Rowan Dean, Australian Spectator editor, Financial Review columnist and Sky News commentator.
We’ll discuss the Victorian election result, the message to Tony Abbott and more.
The videos of the shows appear here.
UPDATE
Scott Morrison defies Bill Shorten to try gloating in NSW or Queensland:

ANDREW BOLT:
... the Labor Party ran Tony Abbott’s pictures on all the advertising outside every polling booth in Victoria yesterday. You don’t think there’s a message that you should be getting?
SCOTT MORRISON:
Well, I think in every election, whether it’s State or Federal, every Government is going to look at what the issues were there, and what the messages are. And no sensible government would not do that. But at the same time, when you look around the country - I mean, in NSW, here, the Baird Government is 10 points ahead. The Newman Government’s eight points ahead. What I saw last night was a very cockish Bill Shorten, frankly overreaching last night, as he sought to make himself the centre of attention, which is Bill Shorten’s stock-in-trade. He always thinks it’s always about him. What the Victorian election was about yesterday was what was happening in Victoria, and to the extent that there are issues that the Federal Government has to look at in the context of that, then of course we will.

The transcript of my full interview with Morrison:

Continue reading 'The Bolt Report today, November 30'

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Another costly barnacle being removed

Andrew Bolt November 30 2014 (5:50am)

Another barnacle being scraped, but at still more cost to the Budget:

STAY-AT-HOME mums and dads will secure a five-year freeze on their university loans under a breakthrough deal to deliver higher education reforms.
In an attempt to kill Labor’s ‘$100,000 degrees’ campaign, the Abbott Government will also dump plans to hike university loan interest rates.
Crucially, the reforms would however still allow universities to set their own fees and deregulate the system.
Education Minister Christopher Pyne has reached agreement to deliver the concessions in a last-ditch attempt to secure Senate support for university reform before Christmas…
The proposal will cost the government $7 million in cash over the next four years. However, in accrual terms the impact will be $270 million. This is because HECS debts are banked in the budget as an asset...<
The HECS pause for mums and dads is a measure designed to woo Victorian cross bencher Senator John Madigan… Mr Pyne now has three of the six Senate votes he required to introduce higher education reforms because Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm and SA Senator Bob Day are open to the idea of university reform.
The Abbott Government also has a better prospect of securing Clive Palmer's support for the reforms now that Jacqui Lambie has left the party because WA Senator Dio Wang is sympathetic to university reform. Senators believe that Mr Palmer will be keen to cut a deal on university reforms to reinforce his continued relevance despite Senator Lambie's decision to quit the party.

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
But still a vote short.

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Billions of reasons for Joe Hockey to defy Abbott on the co-payment

Andrew Bolt November 30 2014 (5:41am)

No wonder Hockey is hanging on to his dead tax:

JOE Hockey is insisting that the $7 GP fee is not dead simply to ensure he can keep the billion dollar measure on his budget bottom line according to senior Liberals…
Mr Abbott’s supporters have again insisted that the policy “is dead’’ in the Senate but they do not want to formally scrap the measure.
The reason is that the Treasurer wants to keep the $3.6 billion raised through the GP tax on the budget books ahead of the Mid Year Economic Fiscal Outlook, according to senior Liberals.
If the government was to formally abandon the policy, the Treasurer would blowout the growing budget deficit by another $3.6 billion ahead of MYEFO which will be released before Christmas…
Mr Abbott’s supporters have hit back at the Treasurer accusing him of being lazy and “bellowing’’ over the GP mess. One senior Liberal claimed Mr Hockey “went off his t**s’’ about the Prime Minister’s office briefing journalists that the policy was to be dumped.
In an extraordinary personal attack, one minister said Mr Hockey was a sook. Another senior Liberal said he was “erratic’’ because he’s either “full bottle or on holidays and there’s nothing in between.’’

Starting to sound terminal, this knifing.
Sam Maiden:

(T)he mystery of what Tony Abbott is going to do about the $7 GP tax has finally been solved…
It’s dead’’ according to senior Liberals. It simply has no prospect of getting through the Senate. The only problem is that if you tell the truth and actually announce that, you blow a $1 billion hole in Treasurer Joe Hockey’s costings for the end-of-year budget update. It’s already on the budget books.
This is why the Treasurer chucked a wobbly over the Prime Minister’s office stating the obvious to journalists — legislation to adopt the measure will not be introduced in the final fortnight of sittings…
The Treasurer was also entirely nonplussed by what he regarded as the Prime Minister’s office sloppily briefing this to journalists.
The Prime Minister’s Office was nonplussed with the Treasurer…
(T)here are signs that the Prime Minister is preparing to move on some other barnacles. >Early next week, the Abbott Government will write to the Defence Remuneration Tribunal seeking to overturn a decision to scrap entitlements for soldiers under a new 1.5 per cent pay deal.

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)

===

Clive Palmer crashes in Victoria

Andrew Bolt November 30 2014 (5:21am)

Clive Palmer had a disastrous result in Victoria - just 1.8 per cent of the Upper House votes.
And if voters had seen his juvenile clowning on the Channel 7 panel last night it would have been worse.
Victoria is not a natural hunting ground for Palmer, but this is pathetic after all his ads.

===

What good is the Senate again?

Andrew Bolt November 30 2014 (5:03am)

Australia’s Tony Abbott has a Senate, and it’s stopping him from making the spending cuts almost every economist agrees are critical to saving the economy.
New Zealand’s John Key does not have a Senate, and is free to make the spending cuts that have rescued New Zealand.
Result:

NEW Zealand wants to lure thousands of West Australians across the Tasman to fill a nationwide skills shortage. A delegation of 30 government officials and major employers will hold walk-in interviews and potentially make thousands of on-the-spot offers to suitable candidates at a two-day jobs expo in Perth…
They’re tasked with finding people to fill 2000 immediate vacancies and persuading thousands more to emigrate with the promise of better job prospects in a booming economy, a lower cost of living and shorter commutes to work.

A recent World Economic Forum survey on global competitiveness showed New Zealand outranking Australia for the first time, while Australia fell from the top-20 due to tight labour laws, government red tape and high tax rates.
Notoriously rigid labour laws put Australia near bottom of the 148-country list for wage flexibility and hiring and firing, while New Zealand ranked 10th for wage flexibility.
This may prompt more firms to consider New Zealand, where unions relations are warmer and a right-of-centre government since 2008 has fostered a business-friendly environment.
“Australian companies complained of hiring and firing practices along with a highly regulated labour market and the cost of employing people, whereas in New Zealand that wasn’t an issue,” said Oliver Hartwich, executive director of the New Zealand Initiative think-tank, which contributed to the survey.
“As long as Australia doesn’t tackle these problems, New Zealand has a chance to outcompete,” he said.

(Thanks to reader Dave from WA.)

===

Blaming Abbott for losing Victoria ignores the facts

Andrew Bolt November 30 2014 (4:50am)

Fairfax’s Mark Kenny would like it to be so:

There will be no shortage of theories about what caused the Victorian result but you can safely bet federal Labor will target the toxic standing of the Abbott government as the key driver.
Normally such claims are transparently self-serving. Voters understand the delineation between state and federal governments and are loath to waste one trip to the ballot box pointlessly ventilating grievances about the other.
But this election has been different. Noticeably so. Without inspiring leaders, contrasting programs, or the presentation of a transformative vision, the local pre-election period has been vulnerable to national hijack.

Abbott was a factor, except for these points suggesting he wasn’t much at all:

- the Victorian Liberals were down in the polls even in 2012, which is one reason Premier Ted Baillieu quit.
- the Liberals were down all this year in the polls, even before Abbott’s unpopular Budget
- as Kenny admits, voters understand the difference between state and federal governments.
- senior Victorian Labor frontbencher Martin Pakula last night rejected the Abbott factor, saying the issues had been health, transport and education - the usual things.
- Daniel Andrews in his election speech pointedly failed to mention Abbott once, even though introduced by federal Labor leader Bill Shorten and giving him a shout-out.
- the failings of the Victorian Liberal Government are sufficient to explain its loss.

Yes, Abbott is unpopular. Yes, he must change. Yes, there are lessons to learn from the Liberals’ stupid loss of Victoria.
But most of the lessons are the opposite of what many commentators and Abbott haters would like. Above all, the Victorian Liberals lost not because they were too radical or too Right wing, but because they were too timid and too bland.
Then there was the drama, of course.

===

Julie Bishop: nuclear “obvious” if we want to slash emissions

Andrew Bolt November 30 2014 (4:43am)

She is absolutely right, of course, always a virtue when opening a controversial debate:

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says nuclear energy remains an option for Australia, describing it as an “obvious direction” as it considers how to cut carbon dioxide emissions after 2020.
Ms Bishop called for a an open discussion about the feasibility of nuclear power, given Australia’s abundance of uranium, but accused Labor of resorting to a scare campaign when the issue was raised during the Howard government years.

“It’s an obvious conclusion that if you want to bring down your greenhouse gas emissions dramatically you have to embrace a form of low or zero-emissions energy and that’s nuclear, the only known 24/7 baseload power supply with zero emissions,” she told Fairfax Media when asked about Australia’s options for reaching future carbon-reduction targets.

A debate that’s good for Australia, good for Bishop.

===

Post by Amazing Geologist.

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Post by Matt Granz.

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Post by Amazing Geologist.

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Post by Matt Granz.

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loyalty, friendship, outweighs race .. Black Ferguson Residents Arm Themselves ... http://t.co/mGvJum8bYM via @theblaze
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) November 30, 2014

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Hollande shuffles staff as photos surface http://t.co/voyBSNBMmd via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) November 29, 2014

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no. Just no. http://t.co/IxxhC9y4Bz
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) November 29, 2014

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Michael Clarke: No one blames Sean Abbott for what happened to Phillip Hughes, it was a freak accident http://t.co/QXWuabWM5Q
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) November 29, 2014

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Michael Clarke: Phillip Hughes made me a better man http://t.co/axVOQT6cgv
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) November 29, 2014

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Photo: I solemnly swear .. http://t.co/3GnceG1vfK
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) November 29, 2014

=== Posts from last year ===

"The “Knockout Game” is played by predominantly black teens who punch unsuspecting victims, rendering them unconscious, severely injured, or in some cases dead.">

Manhattan Chef Latest Victim of Knockout Game?

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/11/29/Manhattan-Chef-Latest-Victim-of-Knockout-Game

Philadelphia police believe the “Knockout Game” is responsible for the vicious beating of a Manhattan chef visiting Old Town Philly on Tuesday.

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There Is An Optical Illusion That Can Detect Schizophrenia

http://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2013/06/there-is-optical-illusion-that-can.html

Schizophrenic patients beat the optical illusion of the hollow mask and are able to identify the concave face unlike healthy people.

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Two German students have vandalised part of the Pyramid of Khufu to help 'prove' their Lost...

http://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/two-german-students-have-vandalised-part-of-the-pyramid-of-khufu-to-help-prove-their-lost-civilisation-theory/story-e6frfqc0-1226771863820

VALID research or vandalism? Egyptian authorities are in uproar after two German students scraped away some ancient writing to "prove" the Great Pyramids are 20,000 years old.

Idiots bring to mind the second side of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. "Here we have an 18th century masterpiece, and if we scrape a little bit of it off (scraping noises) a 15th century under piece. Made entirely of egg shell. This Lurid work (stumbles a lot) has caused controversy in the area of embroidery." - ed
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AshbyGate - James Ashby and the Giant LNP Conspiracy

http://www.ashbygate.com

The following presentation is a compilation of news events, as found on youtube.com. Grab some popcorn, it's a long, but interesting story!

ALP smears go to substantial depths. Ashby has done nothing wrong. LNP made adult decisions.- ed
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Palestinians burn Angola's flag in a protest amid reports that the country has banned Islam and destroyed mosques..... yep... Palestinians

Angola accused of 'banning' Islam as mosques closed

www.theguardian.com

Human rights activists condemn crackdown though officials in largely Catholic nation insist reports of ban are exaggerated

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/28/angola-accused-banning-islam-mosques
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Why haven't we started impeachment proceedings for this miserable excuse for a president no less a human being.

Obama’s New Imperial Decree | FrontPage Magazine

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/matthew-vadum/obamas-new-imperial-decree/

The president waves his magic wand and -- poof -- delays another part of Obamacare for a year.

He is worse than Clinton was. And Clinton was impeached. In ten years time, his successor of Democrat President .. will they be worse too? - ed===

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Hello Iran, Goodbye America - Op-Eds - Israel National News

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/14100#.Upj4oTKulzl.facebook

We can repeal Obamacare, but not a nuclear Iran once it is created. If Jewish leadership and American citizens do not stand up now there will be nothing left in America worth fighting for. It is not only Israel at stake. Stanley Zir, Never Again is Now

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Obama: Iran Has A Right To Nuclear Power

http://www.therightperspective.org/2009/06/02/obama-iran-has-a-right-to-nuclear-power/#sthash.uxm3lJhO.dpbs

In an interview with the BBC, Barack Obama has stated that Iran has a right to nuclear power - provided the Islamic regime's uses are peaceful.

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Into the fray: Will the West withstand the Obama presidency? - JPost

“Obama has no interest in weakening our adversaries while he does seem to have an interest in weakening our allies”, warned Dinesh D’Souza, adding: “If you were trying to find a consistent way to predict what Obama is doing in the ME it is very simple. He has been undermining our allies and allowed our adversaries to remain in power.” - Martin Sherman

Continue to the link, reading this and more articles at ...….http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440

Allyson’s Geo-Political Inspections

paper.li

Allyson’s Geo-Political Inspections, by Allyson Christy: Israel, The West and Political Islam

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First Sinai-based Al Qaeda cell to infiltrate the West Bank eliminated in Hebron hills

http://www.debka.com/article/23480/First-Sinai-based-Al-Qaeda-cell-to-infiltrate-the-West-Bank-eliminated-in-Hebron-hills

?s counterterrorism sources disclose that the trio represented the first al Qaeda cell to infiltrate the West Bank from Sinai, either through Jordan to the east or the Gaza Strip to the south.

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Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim: 'We Will Continue to Invest in Israel' | Jewish & Israel News...

http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/11/29/mexican-billionaire-carlos-slim-we-will-continue-to-invest-in-israel/

The world’s second-wealthiest man, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, said he plans to continue to invest in Israel, particularly in the healthcare and telecoms industry, after investing in Israeli photo and video-sharing platform Mobli earlier this month, Israel’s Globes business daily reported late…

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"The Lid": The REAL Chanukah Story-It Was About a "Civil" War And Assimilation

http://yidwithlid.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/the-real-chanukah-story-it-was-about.html

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#IDFWithoutBorders: Map of IDF Aid Delegations Around the World

http://www.idfblog.com/2013/11/27/idfwithoutborders-map-idf-aid-delegations-around-world/

Over the years, the IDF's humanitarian aid has served as a source of relief for people all over the world, lending a helping hand to those in need.

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Popes vs. Jews | FrontPage Magazine

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/bruce-bawer/popes-vs-jews/

Citing historian Daniel Goldhagen?s statement that the Catholic Church, after the Shoah, had the moral obligation to defend Israel and Jews, Meotti flatly sums up his thesis: ?This book shows that the Vatican tragically failed, and has forsaken the Jews again.? Meotti?s jeremiad, then, is mostly abo…

do Palestinians compare to Jesus? I have no doubt some Catholics have said that. But that is not balanced. - ed

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Manufacturing Intolerance | FrontPage Magazine

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/manufacturing-intolerance/

Why fake racism accusations aren’t going away.

Maybe it is my face .. but most women I meet tell me they are Lesbian. They must see something trustworthy. - ed

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A Modern Day Yehudit (Judith)

http://unitedwithisrael.org/a-modern-day-judith/

As Jews around the world celebrate Hanukkah, Jews also remember the story of Judith, the brave Jewish woman who contributed significantly to leading the Israelites to victory by killing off Holofernes of Assyria around the second century BCE. However, thousands of years later, around Hanukkah, Jews…

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Rocks that Hit Jewish Children Do Not Echo in the World - Op-Eds - Israel National News

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/14171#.Upi3r5uA1Vc

The stoning of Jewish children occurs in a vacuum. The sound doesn't travel. Giulio Meotti

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Rocks are just as lethal as knives and guns. It's time to treat them the same way we treat other criminals.

PM Vows to Catch 'Criminals' Who Injured Baby

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174606

Jerusalem Mayor Barkat: a rock is a weapon like any other, punishment needs to be increased.

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Obama Told Netanyahu: Don't be So Vocal About Iran Deal

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174614

Obama reportedly asked PM Netanyahu to "take a breather" from his criticism of the Iran deal, reports The Washington Post.

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Shaath: 'We Will Stay in Negotiations Just to Release Prisoners'

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174632

Despite reports that peace talks have failed, PA official declares that they will remain - if only to release more terrorists.

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Ben-Dahan: Attacks Thanks to Kerry

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174629

Following rock attack on 2 year old in Jerusalem, Deputy Min. of Religious Affairs accuses Kerry of encouraging 'third intifada.'

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Britain and Germany Block PA Olive Council Bid

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174634

Unilateral action to join International Olive Council blocked over arguments the act jeopardizes peace talks and violates conditions.

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“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.”Psalm 136:1,26 NIV

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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people ... Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him."
Leviticus 19:16-17

Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told. Whether the report be true or false, we are by this precept of God's Word forbidden to spread it. The reputations of the Lord's people should be very precious in our sight, and we should count it shame to help the devil to dishonour the Church and the name of the Lord. Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur. Many glory in pulling down their brethren, as if thereby they raised themselves. Noah's wise sons cast a mantle over their father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from our brethren, let us render it cheerfully to those who require it now. Be this our family rule, and our personal bond--Speak evil of no man.

The Holy Spirit, however, permits us to censure sin, and prescribes the way in which we are to do it. It must be done by rebuking our brother to his face, not by railing behind his back. This course is manly, brotherly, Christlike, and under God's blessing will be useful. Does the flesh shrink from it? Then we must lay the greater stress upon our conscience, and keep ourselves to the work, lest by suffering sin upon our friend we become ourselves partakers of it. Hundreds have been saved from gross sins by the timely, wise, affectionate warnings of faithful ministers and brethren. Our Lord Jesus has set us a gracious example of how to deal with erring friends in his warning given to Peter, the prayer with which he preceded it, and the gentle way in which he bore with Peter's boastful denial that he needed such a caution.

Evening

"Spices for anointing oil."
Exodus 35:8

Much use was made of this anointing oil under the law, and that which it represents is of primary importance under the gospel. The Holy Spirit, who anoints us for all holy service, is indispensable to us if we would serve the Lord acceptably. Without his aid our religious services are but a vain oblation, and our inward experience is a dead thing. Whenever our ministry is without unction, what miserable stuff it becomes! nor are the prayers, praises, meditations, and efforts of private Christians one jot superior. A holy anointing is the soul and life of piety, its absence the most grievous of all calamities. To go before the Lord without anointing is as though some common Levite had thrust himself into the priest's office--his ministrations would rather have been sins than services. May we never venture upon hallowed exercises without sacred anointings. They drop upon us from our glorious Head; from his anointing we who are as the skirts of his garments partake of a plenteous unction. Choice spices were compounded with rarest art of the apothecary to form the anointing oil, to show forth to us how rich are all the influences of the Holy Spirit. All good things are found in the divine Comforter. Matchless consolation, infallible instruction, immortal quickening, spiritual energy, and divine sanctification all lie compounded with other excellencies in that sacred eye-salve, the heavenly anointing oil of the Holy Spirit. It imparts a delightful fragrance to the character and person of the man upon whom it is poured. Nothing like it can be found in all the treasuries of the rich, or the secrets of the wise. It is not to be imitated. It comes alone from God, and it is freely given, through Jesus Christ, to every waiting soul. Let us seek it, for we may have it, may have it this very evening. O Lord, anoint thy servants.

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Today's reading: Ezekiel 35-36, 2 Peter 1 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 35-36

A Prophecy Against Edom

¹ The word of the LORD came to me: ² “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir; prophesy against it ³ and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate waste. ⁴ I will turn your towns into ruins and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

⁵ “‘Because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity, the time their punishment reached its climax, ⁶ therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. ⁷ I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and cut off from it all who come and go. ⁸ I will fill your mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines.⁹ I will make you desolate forever; your towns will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD....

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: 2 Peter 1

¹ Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

² Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires....