Tue Feb 10th Todays News

On Bolt Report an ongoing policy is that any Islam post can only be on the pinned leader. Normal rules apply in that if it is merely foul and abusive it will be deleted. Otherwise comments are welcome.  
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Media are shifting focus to the upcoming NSW election with a new poll suggesting 75% of voters don't want to privatise electricity for funding infrastructure. It must have been a push poll, because even among ALP ranks it is divided as an issue, but as settled as an issue gets among conservatives. The idea that a developed infrastructure should be used as a tax targeting the poorest is not good policy. But it has been ALP policy, despite successive ALP premiers being axed for supporting privatisation. Palmer United Party also claims the sale is not necessary, saying they could govern on growth alone. Only PUP will never govern and the promise they make is empty. It is $20 billion which will allow infrastructure and jobs for workers who will probably support the ALP. The NSW government has been competent and certainly not aggressive. That is a stark contrast to the incompetence of the ALP government which preceded it. It is Turnbull memes aimed at the federal government which will descend on the NSW state election campaign. It is the job of government to develop infrastructure .. and then allow business to run it efficiently. The best return for the people of NSW is the sale of mature assets.

It is worth noting the history of the issue. Under Nick Greiner, NSW had a plan to sell the assets for as much as six times the current price tag of $20 billion. But the ALP ran a scare campaign convincing sufficient voters that a tax on the poorest was preferable through government run operations. And just as the ALP did federally, they butchered the only state economy not to fall into a late '80s hole because it hadn't been run by ALP at the time. After the ALP reduced the asset to near bankruptcy, they tried to sell it for next to nothing. The last ALP leader, the one who gave a reference to terrorist Monis, led a scare campaign on the issue. They had failed to report to police on bribery concerns from someone later assassinated, but fell to the Monis reference. 

In 1258, Baghdad fell to the Mongols, destroying the Abbasid Caliphate and ending the culture of science and poetry in the Islamic world. In 1306, Robert the Bruce settled a squabble with another contender for the Scot Crown in front of the high alter at Greyfriars Church in Dumfries. More saliently, he stabbed John Comyn to death. In 1355, two Oxford students, disappointed with the quality of beer served at a tavern, assaulted the taverner, sparking the St Scholastica riots which left 60 scholars dead, and thirty townspeople. The upshot was a penance for each dead scholar that only stopped 470 years later in 1825 when the Mayor refused to take part. In 1567, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary Queen of Scots, was found dead. He had been strangled. His body was near where two gun barrels had exploded. He was the father of James I of England. He was also allegedly syphilitic and a violent drunk. In 1763, France gave Quebec to UK. In 1840, QueenVictoria married Prince Albert. In 1861, Jefferson Davis was told by telegram he was President of the Confederate states. In 1870, in NYC, young women could have fun at the YWCA. In 1906, The Dreadnought class battleship was launched. In 1933, Ernie Schaaf, a US heavy weight boxer, lost to Primo Carnera, an Italian, Ernie died on Valentines Day from the loss. In 1942, Glen Miller got the first gold record for Chattanooga Choo Choo. In 1954, Eisenhower warned against US involvement in Vietnam. In 1962, U2 Spy plane pilot Gary Powers was exchanged for KGB spy Rudolf Abel. In 1964, Australia's aircraft carrier, Melbourne, crashed into and sank the destroyer HMAS Voyager, killing 82 off NSW south coast. 

2014

It is telling hearing the press gush over Corby's freedom. She kept quiet for nine years about the drugs found in her boogy bag. She was willing to endure the nine years because the alternative was worse. What was worse than spending nine years in a Bali Prison? She kept quiet after the death of her father. So her silence is not merely connected with concern for her father. It is telling that Corby would endure so much, and what it tells is what the ABC will endure before losing their bias. It is hard to know what can be done to make the ABC competent, because, like true communism, it has never been tried. Many people agree that there is a breach of charter, but the problem is it takes a limited number of people to be in charge to run the organisation. Personally, I would make John Howard (The former PM, not the actor) chairman of the board. I would make Sophie Mirabella CEO. Others I would place on the board would be conservatives from around Australia, to make it balanced. People like Zaya Toma, Charbel Saliba and Dai Le. Not because I would want a conservative agenda, but because I believe they would be fair and balanced. And would respect the charter. Something the current leadership has failed. Alternatively, leave the current people in place, and cut out the funding. Let them decide what they will cut off. I note Flannery is still faithfully lying about Global Warming, even though he is no longer on the public purse.

A protest was held recently in South Australia against shark culling which is happening in Western Australia. Activists pointed out that South Australia had no fatalities. Now, a twenty eight year old spear fisherman hobbyist teacher has been eaten by a shark. His Principal has praised him as an excellent teacher. A friend of his has declared he would not want there to be retribution against the shark, as he 'loved animals.' Is that why he was spear fishing?

In other excellent moral example news, a 'parent' pretends to throw their child in front of a train. Clearly they got off the wrong boat. Some five men are wanted for the gang rape of a fourteen year old girl. Anger is building in the community. The community does not accept such acts randomly, or by design.

Historical perspectives on this day 

In 1258, Baghdad fell to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate was destroyed. 1306, in front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murdered John Comyn sparking revolution in the Scottish Wars of Independence 1355, the St. Scholastica's Day riot broke out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days. 1567, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, was found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o' Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination.

In 1763, French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended the war and France ceded Quebec to Great Britain. 1814, Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ended in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians. 1840, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 1846, First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon – British defeated Sikhs in final battle of the war 1861, Jefferson Davis was notified by telegraph that he had been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America. 1862, American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroyed the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina. 1870, the YWCA was founded in New York City.

In 1906, HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships was christened and launched by King Edward VII. 1920, Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performed symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea. 1923, Texas Tech University was founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas 1930, Yên Bái mutiny in French Indochina 1933, in round 13 of a boxing match at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocked out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf died four days later. 1936, Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders. 1939, Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists concluded their conquest of Catalonia and sealed the border with France.

In 1940, the Soviet Union began mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia. 1942, the first gold record was presented to Glenn Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo". 1943, World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engaged German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor. 1947, Italy ceded most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia. 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against United States intervention in Vietnam. 1962, captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers was exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Also 1962, Roy Lichtenstein's first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for. 1964, Melbourne-Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collided with and sank the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82. 1967, the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified.

In 1981, a fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino killed eight and injured 198. 1989, Ron Brown was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party. 1996, the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeated Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time. 1998, voters in Maine repealed a gay rights law passed in 1997 becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law. 2003, France and Belgium broke the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. 2009, the communication satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collide in orbit, destroying both. 2013, thirty-six people were killed and 39 others were injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.

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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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Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August https://www.createspace.com/4124406, October https://www.createspace.com/5106951, or at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482020262/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_dVHPub0MQKDZ4  The kindle version is cheaper, but the soft back version allows the purchase of a kindle version for just $3.99 more. 

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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 George Farsalas, Ivy Lam, Wendy Sun-Song, Cindy Lim and Luke Baker. Born on the same day, across the years, along with

• 1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss scholar (d. 1582)
• 1609 – John Suckling, English poet (d. 1642)
• 1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (d. 1765)
• 1783 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter (d. 1873)
• 1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
• 1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor and singer (d. 1980)
• 1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German author (d. 1956)
• 1906 – Lon Chaney, Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
• 1914 – Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor (d. 2001)
• 1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1941 – Michael Apted, English director and producer
• 1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 1992)
• 1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
• 1964 – Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
• 1999 – Tiffany Espensen, Chinese-American actress

February 10: Feast of Saint Paul's Shipwreck in Malta

• 1258 – Hulagu Khan and the Mongols sacked and burned Baghdad, a cultural and commercial centre of the Islamic world at the time, ending the rule of the Abbasid caliphate.
• 1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroyed the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleetin the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
• 1906 – The Royal Navy battleship HMS Dreadnought (pictured) was launched, representing such a marked advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships.
• 1962 – Roy Lichtenstein's first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for.
• 2008 – The Namdaemun gate in Seoul, the first of South Korea's National Treasures, was severely damaged by arson.

A caliphate lost. We slapped the mosquito. Our dreadnought ran over a sub. Mickey got the looks. Our treasures burn. Let's party. 
Matches

• 1258 – Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed.
• 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn sparking revolution in the Scottish Wars of Independence
• 1355 – The St. Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days.
• 1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o' Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination.
• 1763 – French and Indian War: The 1763 Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain.
• 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians.
• 1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
• 1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon – British defeat Sikhs in final battle of the war
• 1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America.
• 1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth Cityon the Pasquotank River in North Carolina.
• 1870 – The YWCA is founded in New York City.
• 1906 – HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships is christened and launched by King Edward VII.
• 1920 – Jozef Haller de Hallenburg performs symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea.
• 1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas
• 1930 – Yên Bái mutiny in French Indochina
• 1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf dies four days later.
• 1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launched the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders.
• 1939 – Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France.
• 1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia.
• 1942 – The first gold record is presented to Glenn Miller for "Chattanooga Choo Choo".
• 1943 – World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanishvolunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor.
• 1947 – Italy cedes most of Venezia Giulia to Yugoslavia.
• 1954 – President Dwight Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam.
• 1962 – Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel.
• 1962 – Roy Lichtenstein's first solo exhibition opened, and it included Look Mickey, which featured his first employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery sourcing, all of which he is now known for.
• 1964 – Melbourne-Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with and sinks the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82.
• 1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
• 1981 – A fire at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino kills eight and injures 198.
• 1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party.
• 1996 – The IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time.
• 1998 – Voters in Maine repeal a gay rights law passed in 1997 becoming the first U.S. state to abandon such a law.
• 2003 – France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq.
• 2009 – The communication satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collide in orbit, destroying both.
• 2013 – Thirty-six people are killed and 39 others are injured in a stampede in Allahabad, India, during the Kumbh Mela festival.

Hatches

• 1499 – Thomas Platter, Swiss scholar (d. 1582)
• 1524 – Albrecht Giese, Polish-German politician (d. 1580)
• 1606 – Christine Marie of France (d. 1663)
• 1609 – John Suckling, English poet (d. 1642)
• 1685 – Aaron Hill, English playwright (d. 1750)
• 1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (d. 1765)
• 1744 – William Cornwallis, English admiral (d.1819)
• 1775 – Charles Lamb, English author (d. 1834)
• 1783 – Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy, Russian painter (d. 1873)
• 1785 – Claude-Louis Navier, French physicist (d. 1836)
• 1795 – Ary Scheffer, French painter (d. 1858)
• 1808 – Honoré Daumier, French illustrator and painter (d. 1879)
• 1824 – Samuel Plimsoll, English politician (d. 1898)
• 1846 – Lord Charles Beresford, Irish admiral and politician (d. 1919)
• 1846 – Ira Remsen, American chemist (d. 1927)
• 1847 – Nabinchandra Sen, Bengali poet (d. 1909)
• 1859 – Alexandre Millerand, French politician, 12th President of France (d. 1943)
• 1868 – William Allen White, American journalist and author (d. 1944)
• 1879 – Ernst Põdder, Estonian general (d. 1932)
• 1881 – Pauline Brunius, Swedish actress and director (d. 1954)
• 1884 – Frederick Hawksworth, English engineer (d. 1976)
• 1888 – Alexander Cudmore, American soccer player (d. 1944)
• 1888 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Egyptian-Italian soldier, journalist, and poet (d. 1970)
• 1890 – Fanni Kaplan, Russian activist and rebel (d. 1918)
• 1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
• 1892 – Alan Hale, Sr., American actor (d. 1950)
• 1893 – Jimmy Durante, American actor and singer (d. 1980)
• 1893 – Bill Tilden, American tennis player (d. 1953)
• 1894 – Harold Macmillan, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)
• 1895 – John Black, English chairman of Standard-Triumph (d. 1965)
• 1897 – Judith Anderson, Australian-American actress (d. 1992)
• 1897 – John Franklin Enders, American virologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
• 1898 – Bertolt Brecht, German author (d. 1956)
• 1898 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (d. 1979)
• 1901 – Stella Adler, American actress (d. 1992)
• 1902 – Walter Houser Brattain, Chinese-American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1987)
• 1903 – Franco Cortese, Italian racing driver (d. 1986)
• 1903 – Karl Deichgräber, German classical philologist (d. 1984)
• 1903 – Waldemar Hoven, German Nazi physician (d. 1948)
• 1903 – Matthias Sindelar, Austrian footballer (d. 1939)
• 1904 – John Farrow, Australian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
• 1905 – Walter A. Brown, American businessman (d. 1964)
• 1905 – Chick Webb, American drummer and bandleader (d. 1939)
• 1906 – Lon Chaney, Jr., American actor (d. 1973)
• 1906 – Erik Rhodes, American actor and singer (d. 1990)
• 1908 – Jean Coulthard, Canadian composer and educator (d. 2000)
• 1910 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1969)
• 1910 – Sofia Vembo, Greek singer and actress (d. 1978)
• 1913 – Douglas Slocombe, English cinematographer
• 1913 – Bill White, Australian rugby player (d. 1969)
• 1914 – Larry Adler, American harmonica player, composer, and actor (d. 2001)
• 1919 – Ioannis Charalambopoulos, Greek colonel and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2014)
• 1920 – Alex Comfort, English physician and author (d. 2000)
• 1920 – Neva Patterson, American actress (d. 2010)
• 1920 – José Manuel Castañón, Spanish lawyer and author (d. 2001)
• 1922 – Árpád Göncz, Hungarian politician, 1st President of Hungary
• 1923 – Allie Sherman, American football player and coach (d. 2015)
• 1924 – Max Ferguson, Canadian radio host (d. 2013)
• 1924 – Bud Poile, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2005)
• 1925 – Pierre Mondy, French actor and director (d. 2012)
• 1926 – Sidney Bryan Berry, American general (d. 2013)
• 1926 – Danny Blanchflower, Irish footballer (d. 1993)
• 1926 – Kostas Mountakis, Greek musician (d. 1991)
• 1927 – Leontyne Price, American soprano and actress
• 1927 – Brian Priestman, English conductor and educator (d. 2014)
• 1927 – William Tetley, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1929 – Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (d. 2004)
• 1929 – Jim Whittaker, American mountaineer
• 1929 – Lou Whittaker, American mountaineer
• 1930 – E. L. Konigsburg, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
• 1930 – Robert Wagner, American actor
• 1932 – Barrie Ingham, English-American actor (d. 2015)
• 1933 – Jay Conrad Levinson, American educator and author (d. 2013)
• 1933 – Richard Schickel, American journalist, author, and critic
• 1933 – Faramarz Payvar, Iranian santur player and composer (d. 2009)
• 1934 – Fleur Adcock, New Zealand poet
• 1934 – Leonhard Merzin, Estonian actor (d. 1990)
• 1935 – John Alcorn, American illustrator (d. 1992)
• 1935 – Theodore Antoniou, Greek composer and conductor
• 1937 – Roberta Flack, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1939 – Adrienne Clarkson, Hong Kong-Canadian journalist and politician, 26th Governor-General of Canada
• 1939 – Enver Ören, Turkish businessman (d. 2013)
• 1939 – Peter Purves, English actor
• 1939 – Tzeni Vanou, Greek singer (d. 2014)
• 1940 – Abdul-Azeez ibn Abdullaah Aal ash-Shaikh, Saudi Arabian scholar, 4th Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia
• 1940 – Mary Rand, English long jumper
• 1940 – Kenny Rankin, American singer-songwriter (d. 2009)
• 1941 – Michael Apted, English director and producer
• 1941 – John Hampshire, English cricketer and umpire
• 1942 – Michael Bishop, Baron Glendonbrook, English businessman and politician
• 1943 – Ral Donner, American singer (d. 1984)
• 1943 – Stephen Gammell, American illustrator
• 1943 – Bill Laskey, American football player
• 1944 – Peter Allen, Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 1992)
• 1944 – Frank Keating, American politician, 25th Governor of Oklahoma
• 1944 – Frances Moore Lappé, American author and activist
• 1944 – Rufus Reid, American bassist (The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra)
• 1944 – Vernor Vinge, American author
• 1946 – Eliot Wald, American screenwriter (d. 2003)
• 1947 – Louise Arbour, Canadian jurist
• 1947 – Butch Morris, American cornet player, composer, and conductor (d. 2013)
• 1947 – Nicholas Owen, English journalist
• 1948 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (d. 1994)
• 1948 – Conrad Cummings, American composer
• 1949 – Jim Corcoran, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 – Maxime Le Forestier, French singer and guitarist
• 1949 – Nigel Olsson, English drummer, songwriter, and producer (The Spencer Davis Group and Plastic Penny)
• 1949 – Harold Sylvester, American actor
• 1950 – Mark Spitz, American swimmer
• 1951 – Bob Iger, American businessman
• 1952 – Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean politician, 3rd Prime Minister of Singapore
• 1952 – Gail Rebuck, English publisher
• 1953 – Jeffrey John, English priest
• 1954 – Larry McWilliams, American baseball player
• 1955 – Chris Adams, English-American wrestler (d. 2001)
• 1955 – Jim Cramer, American financier and author, co-founded TheStreet.com
• 1955 – Greg Norman, Australian golfer
• 1956 – Enele Sopoaga, Tuvaluan politician and diplomat
• 1957 – Ochirbatyn Dashbalbar, Mongolian poet and politician (d. 1999)
• 1957 – Briony McRoberts, English actress (d. 2013)
• 1958 – Michael Weiss, American pianist and composer
• 1959 – John Calipari, American basketball player and coach
• 1959 – Dennis Gentry, American football player
• 1959 – Lisa McPherson, American homicide victim (d. 1995)
• 1960 – Robert Addie, English actor (d. 2003)
• 1960 – Jim Kent, scientist
• 1960 – Andrew Nairne, English curator
• 1961 – Theo Gries, German footballer
• 1961 – Alexander Payne, American director and screenwriter
• 1961 – George Stephanopoulos, American journalist
• 1962 – Cliff Burton, American bass player and songwriter (Metallica, Trauma, and EZ-Street) (d. 1986)
• 1962 – Bobby Czyz, American boxer
• 1962 – Piero Pelù, Italian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Litfiba)
• 1962 – Randy Velischek, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1963 – Lenny Dykstra, American baseball player
• 1963 – Philip Glenister, English actor
• 1963 – Kalle Kiik, Estonian chess player and coach
• 1964 – Glenn Beck, American journalist, producer, and author
• 1964 – Victor Davis, Canadian swimmer (d. 1989)
• 1964 – Arthur Lenk, American-Israeli diplomat
• 1964 – Francesca Neri, Italian actress
• 1965 – Mario Jean, Canadian comedian and actor
• 1966 – Natalie Bennett, Australian-English journalist and politician
• 1966 – Daryl Johnston, American football player
• 1966 – Ioannis Kalitzakis, Greek footballer
• 1966 – Ji Suk-jin, South Korean comedian, actor, and singer
• 1967 – Laura Dern, American actress, director, and producer
• 1967 – Jacky Durand, French cyclist
• 1967 – Ivan Francescato, Italian rugby player (d. 1999)
• 1967 – Vince Gilligan, American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1968 – Matthias Hamann, German footballer
• 1968 – Peter Popovic, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1968 – Garrett Reisman, American engineer and astronaut
• 1968 – Atika Suri, Indonesian journalist
• 1969 – Laurie Dhue, American journalist
• 1969 – Joe Mangrum, American painter
• 1970 – Alberto Castillo, Dominican baseball player
• 1970 – Melissa Doyle, Australian journalist
• 1970 – Nobushige Kumakubo, Japanese race car driver
• 1970 – Noureddine Naybet, Moroccan footballer
• 1970 – Åsne Seierstad, Norwegian journalist
• 1970 – Iván Velázquez Caballero, Mexican drug lord
• 1971 – Louie Spicolli, American wrestler (d. 1998)
• 1971 – Lisa Marie Varon, American wrestler
• 1971 – Anna-Maria Hallgarn Swedish actress
• 1973 – Martha Lane Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, English businesswoman and politician, co-founded Lastminute.com
• 1973 – Ivan O'Konnel-Bronin, Estonian footballer and manager
• 1974 – Elizabeth Banks, American actress, director, and producer
• 1974 – Ty Law, American football player
• 1974 – Ivri Lider, Israeli singer-songwriter and producer (The Young Professionals)
• 1974 – Tanoai Reed, American actor and stuntman
• 1975 – Scott Elrod, German-American actor
• 1975 – Hiroki Kuroda, Japanese baseball player
• 1975 – Konstantin Nahk, Estonian footballer
• 1975 – Kool Savas, German-Turkish rapper (Masters of Rap)
• 1976 – Lance Berkman, American baseball player
• 1976 – Keeley Hawes, English actress
• 1976 – Carmelo Imbriani, Italian footballer (d. 2013)
• 1976 – Vedran Runje, Croatian footballer
• 1977 – Salif Diao, Senegalese footballer
• 1978 – Don Omar, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and actor
• 1979 – Joey Hand, American race car driver
• 1979 – Jumaine Jones, American basketball player
• 1979 – Daryl Palumbo, American singer-songwriter (Glassjaw and Head Automatica)
• 1979 – Ross Powers, American snowboarder
• 1979 – Kristen Viikmäe, Estonian footballer
• 1980 – César Izturis, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1980 – Enzo Maresca, Italian footballer
• 1980 – Mike Ribeiro, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1980 – Bruno Sundov, Croatian basketball player
• 1981 – Christian Fickert, German footballer
• 1981 – Andrew Johnson, English footballer
• 1981 – Natasha St-Pier, Canadian singer-songwriter
• 1981 – Holly Willoughby, English model and television host
• 1982 – Keith Dunne, Irish footballer
• 1982 – Justin Gatlin, American sprinter
• 1982 – John Mooney, Irish cricketer
• 1982 – Tarmo Neemelo, Estonian footballer
• 1982 – Iafeta Paleaaesina, New Zealand rugby player
• 1983 – Bless, Canadian rapper
• 1983 – Ricardo Clark, American soccer player
• 1983 – Daiane dos Santos, Brazilian gymnast
• 1983 – Vic Fuentes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Pierce the Veil, Isles & Glaciers, and Cinematic Sunrise)
• 1983 – Taiji Ishimori, Japanese wrestler
• 1983 – James Ryan, New Zealand rugby player
• 1984 – Brent Everett, Canadian porn actor and director
• 1984 – Alex Gordon, American baseball player
• 1984 – Kim Hyo-jin, South Korean actress
• 1986 – Jeff Adrien, American basketball player
• 1986 – Josh Akognon, Nigerian-American basketball player
• 1986 – Radamel Falcao, Colombian footballer
• 1986 – Roberto Jiménez Gago, Spanish footballer
• 1986 – Yui Ichikawa, Japanese actress, singer, and model
• 1986 – Viktor Troicki, Serbian tennis player
• 1987 – Erin Burger, South African netball player
• 1987 – Jakub Kindl, Czech ice hockey player
• 1987 – Facundo Roncaglia, Argentinian footballer
• 1987 – Yuja Wang, Chinese pianist
• 1988 – Daniil Ratnikov, Estonian footballer
• 1988 – Jade Ramsey, English actress
• 1989 – Bunmi Mojekwu, English actress
• 1990 – Sooyoung, South Korean singer, actress, and dancer (Girls' Generation)
• 1991 – Emma Roberts, American actress and singer
• 1992 – Misha B, English rapper
• 1992 – Reinhold Yabo, German footballer
• 1994 – Makenzie Vega, American actress
• 1994 – Son Na-eun, South Korean singer, dancer, actress and model (A Pink)
• 1995 – Haruna Kawaguchi, Japanese model and actress
• 1996 – Christina Parie, Australian singer-songwriter
• 1997 – Chloë Grace Moretz, American actress
• 1997 – Nadia Podoroska, Argentine tennis player
• 1998 – Candy Hsu, Taiwanese singer-songwriter and actress
• 1999 – Tiffany Espensen, Chinese-American actress

Despatches

• 720 – Umar II, caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate (b. 682)
• 1126 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1071)
• 1162 – Baldwin III of Jerusalem (b. 1130)
• 1242 – Emperor Shijō of Japan (b. 1231)
• 1278 – Margaret II, Countess of Flanders (b. 1202)
• 1307 – Temür Khan, Emperor Chengzong of Yuan (b. 1265)
• 1576 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar (b. 1532)
• 1645 – Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (b. 1587)
• 1686 – William Dugdale, English genealogist and historian (b. 1605)
• 1722 – Bartholomew Roberts, Welsh pirate (b. 1682)
• 1755 – Montesquieu, French philosopher (b. 1689)
• 1758 – Thomas Ripley, English architect (b. 1682)
• 1782 – Friedrich Christoph Oetinger, German theologian (b. 1702)
• 1829 – Pope Leo XII (b. 1760)
• 1837 – Alexander Pushkin, Russian poet and author (b. 1799)
• 1857 – David Thompson, English-Canadian explorer (b. 1770)
• 1865 – Heinrich Lenz, German physicist (b. 1804)
• 1887 – Ellen Wood, English author (b. 1814)
• 1891 – Sofia Kovalevskaya, Russian mathematician (b. 1850)
• 1904 – John A. Roche, American politician, 30th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1844)
• 1906 – Ezra Butler Eddy, American-Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1827)
• 1907 – Claude Whittindale, English rugby player (b. 1881)
• 1912 – Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister, English surgeon (b. 1827)
• 1913 – Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, Greek long jumper (b. 1888)
• 1917 – John William Waterhouse, Italian-English painter (b. 1849)
• 1918 – Abdul Hamid II Ottoman sultan (b. 1842)
• 1918 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian soldier and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1833)
• 1920 – Amedee Reyburn, American swimmer and water polo player (b. 1879)
• 1923 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
• 1928 – José Sánchez del Río Mexican martyr (b. 1913)
• 1932 – Edgar Wallace, English author and screenwriter (b. 1875)
• 1939 – Pope Pius XI (b. 1857)
• 1944 – E. M. Antoniadi, Greek astronomer (b. 1870)
• 1945 – Anacleto Díaz, Filipino jurist (b. 1878)
• 1950 – Marcel Mauss, French sociologist (b. 1872)
• 1950 – Herbert Nicol, English rugby player (b. 1873)
• 1952 – Henry Drysdale Dakin, English-American biochemist (b. 1880)
• 1956 – Wilbert Coffin, Canadian murderer (b. 1915)
• 1956 – Leonora Speyer, American poet and violinist (b. 1872)
• 1956 – Emmanouil Tsouderos, Greek banker and politician, 132nd Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1882)
• 1957 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (b. 1867)
• 1958 – Aleksander Klumberg, Estonian decathlete and coach (b. 1899)
• 1960 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian cardinal (b. 1898)
• 1964 – Eugen Sänger, Austrian engineer (b. 1905)
• 1966 – Billy Rose, American composer and songwriter (b. 1899)
• 1975 – Nikos Kavvadias, Greek poet (b. 1910)
• 1979 – Edvard Kardelj, Slovene general and politician, 2nd Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1910)
• 1984 – David Von Erich, American wrestler (b. 1958)
• 1985 – Johnny Mokan, American baseball player (b. 1895)
• 1987 – Sadequain, Pakistani painter (b. 1930)
• 1990 – Bill Sherwood, American director and screenwriter (b. 1952)
• 1992 – Alex Haley, American author (b. 1921)
• 1993 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand-Australian ophthalmologist (b. 1929)
• 1995 – Paul Monette, American author and activist (b. 1945)
• 1997 – Brian Connolly, Scottish-English singer-songwriter (Sweet) (b. 1945)
• 1998 – Yorgos Vrasivanopoulos, Greek actor (b. 1924)
• 2000 – Jim Varney, American actor (b. 1949)
• 2001 – Lewis Arquette, American actor (b. 1935)
• 2001 – Abraham Beame, American politician, 104th Mayor of New York City (b. 1906)
• 2001 – Buddy Tate, American saxophonist and clarinet player (b. 1913)
• 2002 – Ramón Arellano Félix, Mexican drug trafficker (b. 1964)
• 2002 – Traudl Junge, German secretary (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1936)
• 2003 – Edgar de Evia, American photographer (b. 1910)
• 2003 – Curt Hennig, American wrestler and manager (b. 1958)
• 2003 – Clark MacGregor, American politician (b. 1922)
• 2003 – Albert J. Ruffo, American lawyer, politician, and educator (b. 1908)
• 2003 – Ron Ziegler, American politician, White House Press Secretary (b. 1939)
• 2004 – Guy Provost, Canadian actor (b. 1925)
• 2005 – Arthur Miller, American playwright (b. 1915)
• 2006 – J Dilla, American rapper and producer (Slum Village) (b. 1974)
• 2006 – Dick Harmon, American golfer and educator (b. 1947)
• 2006 – Beko Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian physician and activist (b. 1940)
• 2007 – Ned Austin, American actor (b. 1925)
• 2007 – Jeong Da-bin, South Korean actress (b. 1980)
• 2008 – Roy Scheider, American actor (b. 1932)
• 2008 – Adeline Geo-Karis, American politician (b. 1918)
• 2008 – Steve Gerber, American author (b. 1947)
• 2008 – Ron Leavitt, American television writer and producer (b. 1947)
• 2009 – Leila Hadley, American author (b. 1926)
• 2009 – Jeremy Lusk, American motocross racer (b. 1984)
• 2010 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Enn Soosaar, Estonian journalist and publicist (b. 1937)
• 2010 – Charles Wilson, American politician (b. 1933)
• 2012 – Ronald Fraser, English historian and author (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Joseph Gaggero, Gibraltarian businessman (b. 1927)
• 2012 – Gloria Lloyd, American model and actress (b. 1924)
• 2012 – Wilmot Perkins, Jamaican radio host (b. 1931)
• 2012 – David Anthony Pizzuto, Canadian-American voice actor (b. 1951)
• 2012 – James Riordan, English author (b. 1936)
• 2012 – Jeffrey Zaslow, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
• 2013 – W. Watts Biggers, American author and animator (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Sir John Gilmour, 4th Baronet, English soldier (b. 1944)
• 2013 – David Hartman, American-Israeli rabbi and philosopher, founded the Shalom Hartman Institute (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Bill Roost, English footballer (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Eugenio Trías Sagnier, Spanish philosopher (b. 1942)
• 2013 – Ikuzo Sakurai, Japanese politician (b. 1944)
• 2013 – Zhuang Zedong, Chinese table tennis player (b. 1940)
• 2014 – Stuart Hall, Jamaican-English sociologist and theorist (b. 1932)
• 2014 – Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1944)
• 2014 – Nenad Lukić, Serbian footballer (b. 1968)
• 2014 – Ronnie Masterson, Irish actress (b. 1926)
• 2014 – Ian McNaught-Davis, English television host (b. 1929)
• 2014 – Tomaž Pengov, Slovenian singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1949)
• 2014 – Shirley Temple, American actress, singer, dancer, and diplomat (b. 1928)

===
2015

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Austreberta
  • Charalampe
  • Scholastica
  • February 10 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Feast of St. Paul's Shipwreck (Malta)
• Fenkil Day (Eritrea)
• National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe, commemorate Italian Istrian and Dalmatian exiles and Foibe massacres (Italy, especially in Trieste)

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No celebration for no-surprises Abbott — the damage is done

Miranda Devine – Tuesday, February 10, 2015 (12:43am)

SO a “chastened” Prime Minister lives to fight another day.

 Continue reading 'No celebration for no-surprises Abbott — the damage is done'

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IN SPACE, NOBODY CAN HEAR YOUR ORDER

Tim Blair – Tuesday, February 10, 2015 (12:58pm)

In the latest public service weirdness to emerge from Canberra, a CSIRO space researcher sacked over a McDonald’s meal has lost his bid for compensation: 

Jack Hoffman says he was left mentally damaged after he lost his job at Canberra’s deep space research station after being caught using work cars to grab a burger and fries from a Macca’s drive-through …

Mr Hoffman, who had been specifically warned to stop using work cars to pick up burgers, was told he was facing the sack and offered his resignation.

The previous month, in an episode dubbed “lollygate” at the research station, bosses banned lollies from the workplace after Mr Hoffman lodged a workers’ compensation claim after breaking a tooth on a CSIRO-supplied sweet. 

During the latest case, Hoffman’s lawyer claimed his client suffered food addiction.

===

BERNIE SLATTERY

Tim Blair – Tuesday, February 10, 2015 (12:12pm)

Friend, journalist and blogger Bernie Slattery has died. Bernie was a very good man who leaves us far too soon. Deepest sympathies to the Slattery family.

===

The Bibi-sitter

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (12:04pm)

Brilliant. One of the best political ads I’ve seen.
(Thanks to reader Jill.) 

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Where’s that warming? Why this hype?

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (11:53am)

Global warming - dud predictions

Professor Bjorn Lomborg, a luke-warmist, says global warming is a lot less scarier than we were sold:

The latest study from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that in the previous 15 years temperatures had risen 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit. The average of all models expected 0.8 degrees. So we’re seeing about 90% less temperature rise than expected.

That already should warn that the climate models on which the scare is based are broken. And we should ask why so few climate scientists and politicians are willing to publicly admit it. (Note that Lomborg bases his statement on figures from the very warmist IPCC.)
Other signs of hype now being exposed:

Yes, Arctic sea ice is melting faster than the models expected.  But models also predicted that Antarctic sea ice would decrease, yet it is increasing. Yes, sea levels are rising, but the rise is not accelerating—if anything, two recent papers, one by Chinese scientists published in the January 2014 issue of Global and Planetary Change, and the other by U.S. scientists published in the May 2013 issue of Coastal Engineering, have shown a small decline in the rate of sea-level increase.
We are often being told that we’re seeing more and more droughts, but a study published last March in the journal Nature actually shows a decrease in the world’s surface that has been afflicted by droughts since 1982…

At the U.N. climate conference in Lima, Peru, in December, attendees were told that their countries should cut carbon emissions to avoid future damage from storms like typhoon Hagupit, which hit the Philippines during the conference, killing at least 21 people and forcing more than a million into shelters. Yet the trend for landfalling typhoons around the Philippines has actually declined since 1950, according to a study published in 2012 by the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate.

(Thanks to reader Neville.) 

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Hollywood vs the eco-crazies

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (11:34am)

I’m keen to see the movie just for its choice of villain:

Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson), a technological genius with lots of money, low morals and an athletic female blade-running acolyte (Sofia Boutella), plans a takeover of civilisation as we know it to teach humanity a serious lesson about climate change and poverty.

When Hollywood starts laughing at warming extemists, we know we are winning.
(Thanks to reader Da Borg.) 

===

Turnbull attacks “cruelty” of “shocking” plot to topple PM

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (10:49am)

It was one of the cruelest moments I’ve ever witnessed… The betrayal of you as leader of your party was one of the most shocking events I have ever witnessed, and I would think any of us have ever witnessed, in politics - the scale of it. The idea that the man who had won, in this presidential campaign, an election ... was then going to be disposed of, discarded like another course on a lazy Susan in a Vietnamese restaurant - the cruelty of it was extraordinary! …

The tears Turnbull weeps, though, are not for Tony Abbott but Kevin Rudd.
(Thanks to reader Joe L.) 

===

We’ve lost Bernie

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (10:44am)

Bernie Slattery, a wonderful colleague and great blogger, has died.
What a terrible loss. 

===

Shorten fails the nuclear test set by Labor premier

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (7:02am)

Jay Weatherill, Labor premier, may be a warmist but has guts and consistency. Bill Shorten, federal Opposition leader, has neither on this important issue:

BILL Shorten has refused to back the South Australian Labor government’s proposal to investigate nuclear energy.
The refusal of federal Labor to even consider the production, ­enrichment and storage of ­nuclear power came yesterday as Premier Jay Weatherill said all political leaders had a duty to ­explore all potential solutions to climate change.
Mr Weatherill said Kevin Scarce, a former South Australian governor, would lead a royal commission to examine the role of nuclear power in the state.
The federal Coalition and the state’s Liberal opposition have pledged bipartisan support for the move, but federal Labor was not backing Mr Weatherill.. A spokesman for the federal ­Opposition Leader said he would not support the inquiry, and the ALP had a “longstanding position on nuclear power based on the best available expert advice"…
Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said a royal commission was a “welcome” move ...  “The Australian government believes all energy options, including nuclear, should be part of any community discussion about Australia’s future energy mix,” he said.

Bill Shorten doesn’t consult science but scares. This is not leadership but populism.
What other federal Labor policies are based merely on cheap scares and green scare-mongering? Apart from global warming itself, of course.
Weatherill has shown up a terrible weakness in Shorten. The Government’s science minister should use Parliament to expose it.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

===

Baird’s vote rises; Abbott blamed

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (6:46am)

Wishing Abbott to fail, and calling every step a stumble:

Fun with figures I. Front page of The Sydney Morning Herald, yesterday: 

THE performance of the Abbott government is set to drive almost one in 10 Liberal-National voters away from the Coalition at next month’s election, underlining its drag on the NSW Premier Mike Baird’s re-election bid. An exclusive Fairfax/Ipsos poll shows 8 per cent of voters who supported the Coalition in the 2011 state poll say they will change their vote at the March election because of how the Abbott government has performed. 

Fun with figures II. Front page of The Australian Financial Review, also yesterday:

THE Baird government has overcome the dysfunction of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s federal government and increased its support over the last three months, according to the latest Fairfax/Ipsos poll.

===

Abbott’s not dead yet

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (6:27am)

TONY Abbott was again written off — but yesterday this hugely underestimated leader survived once more to fight on.
First impressions: the Prime Minister has finally got the wake-up he ignored all last year. And his stalker, Malcolm Turnbull, should explain why he helped cause the Government so much pointless damage.
Abbott yesterday won the support of 61 of 101 Liberal MPs to defeat a motion to put his job up for a vote, with one other MP writing “pass” on his ballot.
That is much fewer than Abbott needed to feel safe. He is on his last chance, and without big changes will be gone within a few months.
But the result was also better than even his closest supporters predicted, and which many commentators happily expected.
In fact, Labor leader Bill Shorten made a fool of himself in Parliament hours later by with a speech damning the Government’s instability and attacking ... Turnbull. Shorten seemed to have called it wrong, too, and couldn’t be arsed trying to adjust.
And that’s actually a danger for Abbott. Many commentators who predicted his fall will now try make their predictions come true, wanting to hail every step Abbott takes as a stumble and every gain as a last gasp.
(Read full column here.) 

===

The modern interviewing technique at the ABC: throw pies at Abbott’s face

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (5:53am)

Yes, ask the tough questions. Yes, ask how he will survive and how he will change.
But there’s a difference between that and just sitting there with a smirk, being as rude and patronising as possible.  Here the questions Leigh Sales asked Prime Minister Tony Abbott last night on the ABC - of course:

LEIGH SALES: Are you a dead man walking?
LEIGH SALES: More than half of your own backbench though thinks that you’re not up to the job. That must be devastating.
LEIGH SALES: How can you go on together when as I say, more than half of your own backbench doesn’t believe that you’re up to the job?
LEIGH SALES: But that’s given us an insight into the attitude within your own party room. These people are your backers.

LEIGH SALES:  Political history would suggest that you cannot recover from such a significant vote of no confidence within your own side.
LEIGH SALES: But John Howard didn’t have leadership pressure.
LEIGH SALES: He never faced a spill motion with, you know, half of his colleagues basically thinking he wasn’t up to it.

LEIGH SALES: Did you ask some of your colleagues today for six more months to recover?

LEIGH SALES: You’ve not put a timeframe on it?
LEIGH SALES: Is it fair to say that you haven’t passed enough of those tests so far?
LEIGH SALES: But Prime Minister, that is the exact message that you’ve been giving over and over again for quite some time, yet your disapproval rating in the Newspoll that was out today was 68 per cent. Clearly the public is not buying what you’re saying there.
LEIGH SALES: Prime Minister, if you do your best and you’re a unable to turn things around in a reasonable timeframe, will you give your colleagues a promise tonight that you will step aside to give them a fighting chance with somebody else as leader?

LEIGH SALES: But what if you can’t do it, Prime Minister? Will you give them a reasonable amount of time to try to hold onto power with somebody else?

LEIGH SALES: But haven’t you upset - haven’t you upset your colleagues though by implying that the only way that you can be removed is if the electorate votes you out, when actually we have a Westminster system and you are at the helm because your colleagues put you there?

LEIGH SALES: You said at your press conference a few hours ago that, “Good government starts today.” If that is so, what on Earth have you been delivering for the time since you’ve been elected?

LEIGH SALES: You said, “Good government starts today”! That’s exactly what you said!

LEIGH SALES: But Prime Minister - sorry to interrupt you, but how can you say ...  you’ve put it behind you when such a significant bloc of your own party room has lost confidence in your own leadership?

LEIGH SALES: Why have you been giving Australians a government with training wheels on?

LEIGH SALES: We’ve had the Tony Abbott in opposition, the guy who promised no more chaos, the adults back in charge, there’d be no excuses, no broken promises. Then there’s the Tony Abbott that we’ve had so far in government with the surprise policies and the broken promises and the captain’s picks. Now you’re offering us a third Tony Abbott, one who’s going to change. Who are you?

LEIGH SALES: Can we actually just focus on the big picture there? ‘Cause there’s been three different Tony Abbotts. I just want to know which one are you? Who are you?

LEIGH SALES: How about my point, though, that there’ve been three - you know, we’re up to Tony Abbott 3.0. Do you accept that you have thoroughly confused the public about what your government is and what you stand for?

LEIGH SALES: Can we just look at the big picture about you?

LEIGH SALES: No, no, but is - I think it’s a reasonable question and one that voters would be asking themselves and that it would be remiss of me not to put to you.
LEIGH SALES: But it’s interesting that you’re not able to answer the question to me: who are you? What do you stand for? Which Tony are you?

Get the impression many in the press pack are willing Abbott to fail and are shouting him down?
Here’s a tip: you want to know if Abbott can pull off a miracle recovery? Then don’t predict but observe. Don’t heckle but listen. 

===

Can we have the same debate about policy?

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (5:46am)

Terry McCrann:

AT last the Canberra Press Gallery — and the mixed assorted gallery of others in the capital cities — has been given some matters of real substance to report on, analyse and authoritatively pontificate and prognosticate on.
It was truly an impressive sight to — quite literally, thanks to Sky News — see the massed might of this collective intellect at work; not just 24/7 but minute to minute within every one of those 24 hours, through every recent day.
Ah, to be able to slough off the dreary detritus of political reporting — all that peripheral if not downright irrelevant stuff about policy, budgets, taxation, health and social welfare; to say nothing of foreign affairs and Australia’s place in an increasingly turbulent, ever more ruthless world.
Foreign? Schmoreign. Jobs? Australia’s future?
Yes, OK, if there’s nothing else to report; but it really is just secondary to this important stuff — “Canberra’s Hunger Games”, the man (and one woman) chase to the political death!
This is the serious business of political reporting: the — hopefully — extended real-time bringing down of a political leader; in this case, the best game of all, that of the prime minister…
It is moments like these that the gallery individually and collectively comes alive, able to spout authoritatively and at length in a way that most individually wouldn’t begin to conceive doing on policy substance. Should the GST be increased to 15 per cent? Should it be extended to all food? In response: mostly the Silence of the Lambs. 

===

If you can’t run a lift, you can’t dictate how the country be run

Andrew Bolt February 10 2015 (5:25am)

Ten overfilling an office lift? And protesting on a day when their stunt will be overwhelmed by Canberra news?
To think these geese represent an “education network”:

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott’s electorate office in Manly became the scene of a rescue effort after student protesters were trapped in a lift this afternoon.
Amid the thrills and spills in Canberra on Monday, where Mr Abbott eventually came out victorious, ten protesters from the NSW Education Action Network entered the lift in Sydney Rd to access the office but became worried when it stopped.
The group, who were protesting the government’s move to deregulate higher education fees, activated the alarm after it became hot inside the lift.
“We’ve been here over 30 minutes now, it’s pretty uncomfortable,” protester Amy Thomas said from inside the elevator.

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Post by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

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Post by Matt Granz.

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Post by Health Digest.

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Post by Holly Sarah Nguyen.

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Post by Allen West.

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Woman carrying knife shot dead at West Hoxton, Sydney http://t.co/bJ4uykLu3W via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

===

AT 6PM: Exclusive pictures of moments before girl with knife shot dead by police http://t.co/4nED7D18jV #WestHoxton pic.twitter.com/9kQjd8qxMi
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) February 10, 2015

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Well done Gina. Fairfax Media shares sink on billionaire Gina Rinehart's exit (via @BusInsiderAU) http://t.co/zAQGdTl2m2
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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Photo: People. People who love .. trees. http://t.co/ccbKVuEeVO
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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ALP Ldr, Bill Shorten, asked PM Mr Abbott about good government. It is traditional for political parties to ask Dorothy Dixers of same side
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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Gillard had lied .. Peta Credlin powerful, opinionated and protective: Julie Bishop http://t.co/pJLBghTfIk via @smh
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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Student protesters rescued after being trapped in elevator at Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s Manly office http://t.co/uWqVSc32et
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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And so it begins .. Robot vacuum tries to eat woman’s head via @theheraldsun http://t.co/0Y13nAkcih
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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"Political correctness is the military wing of progressive politics" political correctness @edwest http://t.co/KiBlpCCLjr via @spectator
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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Responsible govt stymied by self interest .. Barnett waves white flag on council reform http://t.co/Tu1rJeBP53 via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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Innocent people too .. Leaks show HSBC hid millions for drug traffickers and arms dealers http://t.co/aKpp5vn5Lz via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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It is ok, I've friends in Israel. Come to Israel to save yourself. .. http://t.co/xvnM0ILPFP via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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Bill? .. Mutant pig with strange features and appendage on its forehead draws crowds http://t.co/x1gBPGYRNk via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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#IsupportWaple This girl got fired before she even started her new job — and it was all over a Tweet http://t.co/9dFOd7r2sU via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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Policyless Shorten chortles over anxiety of government. .. Pass something, Bill. http://t.co/Yezf7a7OeR via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 10, 2015

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Journalists confused by detail. BBC's Adam Curtis On The "Contradictory Vaudeville" Of Post-Modern Politics http://t.co/2BBKitxNtE
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 9, 2015

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@PapaJohns I ordered a cheese pizza but instead I got tons of calls and messages like this one. pic.twitter.com/fgKhydivXb
— IGGY AZALEA (@IGGYAZALEA) February 8, 2015

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2 Bali 9 will die because ABC attacked Aus Govt re Snowden leaks. http://t.co/jkSpoJ9Tc5 via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 9, 2015

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#falloutfromTurnbullSpill Good NSW Government attacked for responsible sale. ALP prefer to tax the poor http://t.co/De9zFCyklq via @smh
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 9, 2015

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Tumut High School under fire after students forced to take part in lewd online sex survey http://t.co/VAgrikfDUd via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 9, 2015

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Bob Hewitt denies raping former tennis students http://t.co/YE2yiMmZki via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 9, 2015

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Partisan ABC presenter heckles PM. #Falloutfromturnbullspill http://t.co/2dfMcKl2rw via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 9, 2015

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Photo: Mr Abbott is back KO Shorten in one Round with one hit. http://t.co/mwfqIW0iSJ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) February 9, 2015

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Leaders goal: Stay humble enough to say "I was wrong." Sensitive enough to say "I'm sorry". Big enough to say "I forgive."
— Brian Houston (@BrianCHouston) February 6, 2015

=== Posts from last year ===

NOT HIS PROBLEM

Tim Blair – Monday, February 10, 2014 (4:45am)

The mystery religion involved in a 12-year-old girl’s marriage is now revealed: 

The Muslim convert father of the 12-year-old girl at the centre of a child sex case following her “marriage” to a 26-year-old foreigner confessed his unhappiness at their union, but said “it was not my decision”.

But the fifth-generation Australian man, who allowed the pair to be married by an imam in his Hunter Valley home on January 12, now says he fears she is going to “die” from a broken heart.

He also addressed public outrage on the case following the 26-year-old Lebanese man’s arrest on Thursday, saying he might “cop a little bit of abuse off people but I will have to cope with that”. 

This bloke seems to be a few hadiths short of a full Koran: 

“My daughter was not going to change her mind, I couldn’t talk her out of it,’’ he said.

“Him being 26 was not a big concern to me because I was not marrying him. I was not happy with it but it was not my decision.” 

Despite hosting his underage daughter’s marriage, the father hasn’t been charged with any offences.

===

LET THE INVESTIGATION BEGIN

Tim Blair – Monday, February 10, 2014 (4:33am)

God bless our caring, compassionate friends from the left, who are now calling for an official government investigation into an asylum seeker’s blistered hand. This is an excellent idea, although two conditions should apply.

 Continue reading 'LET THE INVESTIGATION BEGIN'

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FINGERS CROSSED

Tim Blair – Monday, February 10, 2014 (4:27am)

A prediction from the Age‘s Martin Flanagan: 

I fully expect the ABC to be destroyed in all but name within a few years. 

We can only hope, Martin. We can only hope.

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JUST YOUR BASIC CADILLAC

Tim Blair – Monday, February 10, 2014 (4:22am)

Eight cylinders, eight wheels, a spa and a BBQ. 

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MUCH HEALTHIER THAN DOUGHNUTS

Tim Blair – Monday, February 10, 2014 (4:22am)

“Just back from the supermarket where I discovered this amazing new product,” emails reader Smike. “Can’t wait until the AM to try them with coffee. Instinct tells me this combo might be a winner.”

===

AT LEAST HE CAN READ

Tim Blair – Monday, February 10, 2014 (4:19am)

Saturday’s Daily Telegraph editorial took issue with Bill Shorten’s lame reaction to claims that Australian Navy personnel tortured asylum seekers: 

During this entire controversy, Labor leader Bill Shorten has kept a curious distance from the main issues at hand. Yesterday he said that Labor wasn’t “leaping to any conclusions” over the torture claims.

The Labor leader needs to find some courage and to support our men and women at sea. His weak evasiveness is plainly calculated to find some sort of political advantage by using an issue that should be above politics. 

This was his response: 

“Our navy servicemen and women do an outstanding job on the high seas,” a spokesman for Shorten said on Saturday.

“The opposition has every confidence in the skills and professionalism of our navy.” 

Meanwhile, a view from the US: 

Looking around the world, the search for what might be called a full-spectrum conservative government leader was, until recently, a depressing exercise …

Lately, however, there has been a sign of hope. And it comes in the form of Australia’s new Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. Thus far Abbott has matched his open adherence to distinctly conservative convictions by implementing policies that reflect those principles.

Elected prime minister in September last year, Abbott is in many respects the left’s nightmare come true.

Quite so.

===

INSTANT CONVERTIBLE

Tim Blair – Monday, February 10, 2014 (3:59am)

Ron Capps experiences an unrequested fresh-air surplus during a brief Californian drive:

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And if they dump Henderson, too, Insiders will be cleansed

Andrew Bolt February 10 2014 (12:14pm)

Spot the common factor in the cleansing of these two non-Leftists from Insiders.
In 2011: 

POLITICAL commentator Glenn Milne has been sacked by the ABC as a panellist on The Insiders.
His sacking from the television program comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding his column in Monday’s The Australian.
The column, which reviewed 16-year-old allegations about Gillard’s one-time relationship with former unionist Bruce Wilson, was withdrawn after complaints from the Prime Minister that its contents were inaccurate. Milne was informed by The Insiders’ executive producer, Kellie Mayo on Thursday night that the ABC’s news management committee had met and taken the decision that his services would no longer be required.

And now:

THE ABC has struck off one of its longest-serving political commentators on the Insiders program following a review of remarks made during the federal election about former prime minister Julia Gillard’s partner, 
News Corp Australia commentator Piers Akerman was not informed of the review or given a right of reply.

Milne had made a trivial error in a column for The Australian which raised Julia Gillard’s involvement in the creation of a slush fund for her then boyfriend, a conman and union official, wrongly claiming she had lived with him in the house he bought with the slush fund’s money using a power of attorney Gillard witnessed. (Gillard says she did not know what her boyfriend did with that slush fund, and says she did nothing wrong.) Yet Milne was dumped by the ABC.
Akerman made no error at all in making comments during a discussion on Insiders in which he condemned Perth broadcaster Howard Sattler for falsely suggesting Gillard’s current boyfriend was gay:

AKERMAN: I thought it was probably the most stupid thing that I’ve ever heard on public broadcasting. But I wondered why is being homosexual in 2013 such an issue? Why wouldn’t if she slapped him down on the basis of – well even if he was, what’s so offensive? 
TAYLOR: Because the point is that he was suggesting that her relationship was not genuine obviously.
AKERMAN: A lot of people in the Canberra gallery have been saying the same thing, Lenore.
TAYLOR: No…
FARR: I think you better name names .
CASSIDY: Are you seriously saying that…
AKERMAN: No no, I’m just saying it, I don’t go around talking about sources. But of course there was this sort of discussion. Whether you put it to the person involved or not is
TAYLOR: No, you don’t, you don’t.
AKERMAN: Precisely, that’s my point.
CASSIDY: You’ve just done precisely what Howard Sattler did and just passed on rumours and that’s just as pathetic, quite frankly…
AKERMAN: I passed on the same question that people said initially when she moved in and it was allayed.
TAYLOR: It’s not you saying it. AKERMAN: And nobody took it any further and that’s why I’m saying that he was wrong, Barrie.

At the very worst you might say Akerman expressed himself poorly, but no one can seriously say he spoke with malice.
Still, this cleansing of conservatives has had its effect. On Insiders yesterday, the program’s three panelists agreed with the host that the Abbott Government was silly and unfair to attack the ABC over its responsible coverage of claims by boat people - well, of one, anyone - that our navy openly tortured seven four three men on a boat.
In that kind of discussion, no panelist need fear the sack from the ABC or a hard word from Labor.   

===

Abbott gives up on ABC bias. And that is a threat

Andrew Bolt February 10 2014 (11:45am)

The ABC would be very, very stupid to take this as a comfort rather than a threat: 

TONY Abbott has cast doubt on whether an independent inquiry could finish the debate over bias at the ABC, predicting the broadcaster’s “political correctness” would always make him want to occasionally “throw something at the television set”. 
Amid debate about the ABC’s reporting of abuse allegations against the navy, the Prime Minister yesterday declined to support Defence Minister David Johnston’s call for an inquiry into editorial standards.  

ABC apologists will say good, no inquiry.
In fact, Abbott has concluded what I reluctantly have, too: that the ABC simply can’t and won’t redress its ingrained Leftist bias. That leaves conservatives with two options: to simply accept that a massive state-funded media will campaign forever for the Left in breach of its charter, or to cut the ABC down to a less threatening size for a healthy democracy.
Guess which of those two alternatives most appeals? 

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Why did warmist Matthew England deny the dud predictions he now concedes?

Andrew Bolt February 10 2014 (8:30am)

April 2012: Warmist Professor Matthew England accuses sceptics of telling untruths when they say the planet hasn’t warmed as the IPCC predicted:

What Nick just said is actually not true.  The IPCC projections from 1990 have borne out very accurately.

December 2012:  England accuses sceptics of lying when they say the rise in global air temperatures has paused:

And so anybody out there lying that the IPCC projections are overstatements or that the observations haven’t kept pace with the projections is completely offline with this. The analysis is very clear that the IPCC projections are coming true. 

February 2014 - England now admits there has been a “hiatus” in warming, after all, which the IPCC did not predict:

Lead author Professor Matthew England, a climate scientist and oceanographer at the University of New South Wales, says since 2001 global surface temperatures have remained steady despite an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases… 
“Even though there is this hiatus in this surface average temperature, we’re still getting record heat waves, we’re still getting harsh bush fires … it shows we shouldn’t take any comfort from this plateau in global average temperatures.”

And England suggests an excuse for this warming pause:

England said ...  the answer lies in stronger than usual trade winds whipping across the Pacific Ocean. 
It was found the winds were churning the Pacific like a washing machine, bringing the deeper colder water to the surface and pushing the warmer water below… “We want the community to have confidence in the climate models,” he said. “They are very good but in this instance the wind acceleration has been that strong and that much stronger than what the models projected.”

Those models have actually vastly overestimated the warming, but England still wants us to have “confidence” in them. Could his own “wanting” explain why England vilified sceptics as liars for saying what he now admits is true: that the warming of the world’s atmosphere has paused for at least 13 years, contrary to the IPCC predictions?
How can we trust him? And will he say sorry?
(Thanks to readers wiley, isobar and Straight Talk.) 

===

Corby freed, Australia shamed

Andrew Bolt February 10 2014 (7:21am)

The new morality

 HEAR that cheering — that soundtrack of our shame — as Schapelle Corby is released from a Bali jail?
See media outlets wave as much as $3 million at the convicted drug smuggler for her story, to add to the $270,000 her family earned from her autobiography?
See Corby, the heroine of last night’s Channel 9 biopic, whose writer sighs she feels “very much for Schapelle” and “I carry that compassion before being worried about legal things”.
See Labor’s leader, Bill Shorten, shamelessly tell the mob “I don’t know all the ins and outs of what she has done” but he, too, wants “that woman back in Australia as soon as possible” because “that’s what matters to me”?
So I don’t blame Indonesia’s Justice Minister, Amir Syamsuddin, for that curl to his lip when he announced on Friday that he’d granted Corby early parole, not through “generosity” but “the laws of the land”.
(Read full article here.) 

===

Public snowed

Andrew Bolt February 10 2014 (6:04am)

Global warming - dud predictions

No more snow predicted, The Independent, March 2000:

However, the warming is so far manifesting itself more in winters which are less cold than in much hotter summers. According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event”. 
”Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” he said.

Porter Fox, New York Times, February 2014:

If greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise — they grew 41 percent between 1990 and 2008 — then snowfall, winter and skiing will no longer exist as we know them by the end of the century.

Fact check:

Five Of The Six Snowiest Winters Have Occurred Since David Viner Declared The End Of Snow

Fact check:

Over two-thirds of the contiguous USA covered with snow

(Thanks to readers Grant and Davie S.) 

===

More questions for the unions … and Labor

Andrew Bolt February 10 2014 (4:52am)

Labor should fear this royal commission: 

FORMER leading union figures connected to the investigation into the Australian Workers Union “slush fund” scandal in the 1990s back the Abbott government’s royal commission and vow to give oral evidence and documents to the powerful probe.
Ian Cambridge, a serving Fair Work Australia commissioner and a former national secretary of the AWU, told The Australian yesterday: ... “...I have steadfastly maintained my firm view since 1996 that a royal commission into this should occur....  I would obviously co-operate in any way I can. If I am asked, I will co-operate fully.”
Mr Cambridge ... has named his former AWU boss, federal president Bill Ludwig, among those who should help police…

Another former AWU official, Ralph Blewitt, said from Malaysia yesterday that the royal commission...was essential to expose what he described as the corrupting influence of unions on Labor politics… Former AWU Victorian president Bob Kernohan, who has given a statement to police about the slush fund...said he was glad that the matter would be covered by the royal commission and that he was ready to give evidence.

More than three unions may have questions to answer: 

- The kickback scandal has spread to a second building union, with former plumbing union national president Tony Murphy implicated in a kickbacks for contracts racket. 
- Convicted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf has been linked to the Sydney gangland violence that erupted over attempts by criminals to collect a disputed $9 million construction industry debt from billionaire property mogul Harry Triguboff. - A building company owner has alleged he was encouraged by a senior CFMEU official to become a major sponsor of the South Sydney Rabbitohs in return for ‘’beneficial’’ backing by the union for job tenders.

UPDATE
Boral CEO Mike Kane: 

Since the middle of 2012, the CFMEU has run an orchestrated and very costly campaign against Boral for one simple reason: we have refused to give in to demands by the union that we stop doing business with one of our long-standing clients, the Grocon group, in Melbourne.The long-running dispute is between Grocon and the CFMEU, and we have been caught in the middle, as part of an unlawful secondary boycott.
Over that time, our trucks have been stopped, our workers have been intimidated, some of our drivers harassed and threatened, and many of our clients in Victoria have had a “friendly visit” from union officials essentially warning them not to do business with us… So far, this unlawful campaign has cost us over $10 million in lost sales and legal fees… We had injunctions granted 12 months ago by the Supreme Court in Victoria, but these were simply ignored by the CFMEU – further proof that some in that union believe they are above the law.

UPDATE
Shorten shifts:

TONY Abbott and Paul Howes have forced Bill Shorten into a major concession on union corruption… Shorten’s proposal of a standing taskforce of specially designated police is a logical and political step away from the previous ACTU and Labor position that there are just a few “bad apples” in the union movement who can be handled by the police.

Not enough. Henry Ergas:

AFTER the 1983 election, when half the Australian workforce were union members, barely a third of the ALP’s new MPs thanked the unions in their maiden speech. By the 2013 election, union membership had fallen below 20 per cent of the workforce; but more than 90 per cent of Labor’s new MPs devoted part of their first speech to praising the union movement… 
Yet these devotional eulogies are no laughing matter; rather, they reflect the complete inability of today’s ALP to distinguish its interests from those of the unions. The result is not merely Bill Shorten’s refusal to support a royal commission into union corruption; it is also Labor’s rejection of reforms to provisions of the Fair Work Act that have allowed union thuggery to become endemic…
Gillard did not just abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission. She also modified the definitions of lawless behaviour in the industrial relations laws to make it more difficult to prove, while dramatically reducing the ability of the workplace regulator to evidence illegal dealings. The effect was to vastly expand the scope for, and return on, union malpractice. 

Question: how did Labor Government enable union corruption, and why?
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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Labor wins Griffith, Shorten loses

Andrew Bolt February 10 2014 (12:20am)

OPPOSITION leader Bill Shorten will be shocked by Labor’s feeble win in the by-election for Kevin Rudd’s old seat.
How could Labor’s primary vote in Griffith actually fall 1.8 per cent, or even more after postal votes are counted? How could the Opposition go backwards in a by-election for only the fourth time in our history?
And now the heat goes on Shorten.
(Read full column here.) 

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I never felt worse. I never felt so poor, as when I could not find anyone to accept my collection of books. I'd collated them, but could not keep them .. and could not give them away. And my dream of building something with my life, and leaving it, and it being understood .. was shattered. And I turned to God, saying "Why don't you love me?" And he said he always has. I am not God, I serve Him. And my building did not do that. It is grass that is blessed, that bends with the wind. - ed
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“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.” - 2 Thessalonians 1:3

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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

February 9: Morning

"And David enquired of the Lord." - 2 Samuel 5:23

When David made this enquiry he had just fought the Philistines, and gained a signal victory. The Philistines came up in great hosts, but, by the help of God, David had easily put them to flight. Note, however, that when they came a second time, David did not go up to fight them without enquiring of the Lord. Once he had been victorious, and he might have said, as many have in other cases, "I shall be victorious again; I may rest quite sure that if I have conquered once I shall triumph yet again. Wherefore should I tarry to seek at the Lord's hands?" Not so, David. He had gained one battle by the strength of the Lord; he would not venture upon another until he had ensured the same. He enquired, "Shall I go up against them?" He waited until God's sign was given. Learn from David to take no step without God. Christian, if thou wouldst know the path of duty, take God for thy compass; if thou wouldst steer thy ship through the dark billows, put the tiller into the hand of the Almighty. Many a rock might be escaped, if we would let our Father take the helm; many a shoal or quicksand we might well avoid, if we would leave to his sovereign will to choose and to command. The Puritan said, "As sure as ever a Christian carves for himself, he'll cut his own fingers;" this is a great truth. Said another old divine, "He that goes before the cloud of God's providence goes on a fool's errand;" and so he does. We must mark God's providence leading us; and if providence tarries, tarry till providence comes. He who goes before providence, will be very glad to run back again. "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go," is God's promise to his people. Let us, then, take all our perplexities to him, and say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Leave not thy chamber this morning without enquiring of the Lord.

Evening

"Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil [or, the evil one]." - Luke 11:4

What we are taught to seek or shun in prayer, we should equally pursue or avoid in action. Very earnestly, therefore, should we avoid temptation, seeking to walk so guardedly in the path of obedience, that we may never tempt the devil to tempt us. We are not to enter the thicket in search of the lion. Dearly might we pay for such presumption. This lion may cross our path or leap upon us from the thicket, but we have nothing to do with hunting him. He that meeteth with him, even though he winneth the day, will find it a stern struggle. Let the Christian pray that he may be spared the encounter. Our Saviour, who had experience of what temptation meant, thus earnestly admonished his disciples--"Pray that ye enter not into temptation."

But let us do as we will, we shall be tempted; hence the prayer "deliver us from evil." God had one Son without sin; but he has no son without temptation. The natural man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards, and the Christian man is born to temptation just as certainly. We must be always on our watch against Satan, because, like a thief, he gives no intimation of his approach. Believers who have had experience of the ways of Satan, know that there are certain seasons when he will most probably make an attack, just as at certain seasons bleak winds may be expected; thus the Christian is put on a double guard by fear of danger, and the danger is averted by preparing to meet it. Prevention is better than cure: it is better to be so well armed that the devil will not attack you, than to endure the perils of the fight, even though you come off a conqueror. Pray this evening first that you may not be tempted, and next that if temptation be permitted, you may be delivered from the evil one.

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Eli 

[Ē'lī] - jehovah is high or my god.

The high priest and judge of Israel of the family of Ithamar (1 Sam. 1-4; 14:3).

The Man Who Lacked Parental Authority

There are few Bible men in whose character we cannot find some great and glaring fault. There is usually a dead fly in the ointment, a rent in the garment, a spot on the whitest sheet. Eli was a good man whose life was pure. He loved and delighted in God's service, but was faulty in one point. He failed to exercise the proper authority of a parent over his children.

Eli belonged to the tribe of Levi, and for years acted as a judge and as High Priest in Israel. He lived at Shiloh in a dwelling adjoining the Temple for the greater portion of his life. We know little about him until he was well advanced in age. The first mention of him is when Hannah came to pour out her heart.

Eli's fault which brought sorrow upon his declining years was the conduct of his own two sons, Phinehas and Hophni, who, although lacking their father's character and qualities, were yet put into the priest's office. Their conduct disgraced their high calling and shocked the people so much that they "abhorred the offering of the Lord." While Eli warned them of their shameful ways, he did not rebuke them with the severity their evil deeds merited. He should have exercised the stern authority of a father and rebuked them as a judge. Instead Eli only mildly reasoned with his sons saying: "Why do ye such things?" But the sons disregarded such a weak and useless protest for their hearts were cold and callous and so they no longer heeded their father's feelings.

Although Eli had no power to change the hearts of his sons, he could have prevented their ministry before the Lord, but he "restrained them not." He wanted to be kind to them but it was a false and mistaken kindness. A seasonable correction would have saved them from ruin. Eli had no need to be harsh and severe, only firm and decided in the matter of obedience. Eli was twice warned that judgment would overtake him and his sons, but such warning was lost upon him. He dearly loved his sons and could not take action against them.

What a pitiable spectacle Eli presents! An old man of ninety, almost blind, waited to hear the result of the grim battle between the Israelites and the Philistines. How he trembled for his nation, his sons and also for the Ark of God which would be dishonored if it fell into enemy hands! Then the messenger came with news of the slaughter of his sinful sons and of the taking of the Ark. As Eli heard mention of the latter he fell off his seat by the side of a gate and died of a broken neck, yes, and of a broken heart! As is often the case, children bring down their father's gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

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Today's reading: Leviticus 6-7, Matthew 25:1-30 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Leviticus 6-7

¹ The LORD said to Moses: ² "If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving a neighbor about something entrusted to them or left in their care or about something stolen, or if they cheat their neighbor, ³ or if they find lost property and lie about it, or if they swear falsely about any such sin that people may commit-- ⁴ when they sin in any of these ways and realize their guilt, they must return what they have stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to them, or the lost property they found, ⁵ or whatever it was they swore falsely about...."

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: Matthew 25:1-30

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

¹ "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep...."

...read the rest on Bible Gateway