Because the ALP have been so weak since, the media have campaigned on their behalf. Distractions for the ALP, like drugs in sport, gay marriage, Aboriginal sovereignty, education arrangements, medical benefits and industrial corruption have all been flagged by the media as important social issues which the government could never cut spending on. But the truth is the government has to cut spending if it is to continue supporting welfare. $7 copayments to doctors are not onerous like $75 fines for minor ticketing transgressions. Funding for education must be made manageable. Slogans like $100k degrees don't pay bills. For things to remain the same, things are going to have to change.
Australia cannot afford industrial corruption. We can't accept a PM or two who were involved in standover tactics embezzling funds from business in the name of unions where union members never benefit. A campaign of lies against a judge sitting on a royal commission cannot excuse corruption. Sitting members have said things in parliament they could be sued for, or sent to jail, if they said them outside of parliament, regarding the royal commission's judge. The ALP needs to reform. It hasn't. It may still be electable as an unreformed entity. But that is a tragedy for her supporters.
=== from 2014 ===
People are surprised the god daughter of a hedonist atheist who died after they stopped having pleasure in life, the daughter of one of the most corrupt Premiers NSW has had, was present at a stabbing murder while high off her face on Ice. The girl is privileged, went to elite private schools and is facing serious charges, but in all likelihood will be pitied rather than punished. Indulgent crack whores don't get better through pity. Meanwhile nine Liberal Party parliamentarians have stepped aside while being investigated. Combined, they fail to reach within three orders of magnitude of Eddie Obeid's half a billion dollar misappropriations. Had the donations come from union officials it would have been legal. It is important that money handling is transparent and above board. Miss Wran inherited a forty million dollar estate. Crime pays? She probably has a car somewhere. Hockey's theory is right, those who use cars most tend to be wealthy. Many are criticising Hockey for his statement of truth. They will probably be defending Wran. Under Obama the US is spending a lot of money and it isn't going to unity but racial division and police overkill. Noting two journalists were arrested recently for not leaving a McDonalds fast enough. A peaceful protest march is met by riot police with tear gas and truck mounted SMG. Gotta love freedom. How did a young woman come to fall from a high rise balcony? She was the daughter of a Christian pastor in NZ. She had flown to the Gold Coast. Loved animals. Met someone through a dating app, Tinder. He is a pervert who recorded his numerous sexual conquests using multiple cameras. It was 2am. If he were black, he could have been Obama's son. He has the right to remain silent. He has no right to his hobby. Another with no right to their hobby is Mike Carlton, who is being challenged over the anti racism provision 18c for a bigoted article on Israel. Maybe now the Left will want the legislation repealed.
On this day in history, Octavian was enjoying his second of three days of triumph over Dalmatia in 29 BC. They would rebel again after Nero in 68 and probably inspire the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 because Caeser needed to make a statement, and some one in seven people across the empire were Jewish. In 1040 King Duncan lost his fight with Macbeth. Duncan was a young king, unlike his Shakesperian depiction. As for three witches, they no doubt are hiding in Birnum Wood. In 1183, the Japanese emperor who was a child took flight with the royal treasures. He would be murdered so that he wasn't killed by the wrong person. The Battle of Mauron was a success for Breton's over France in the early part of the hundred years war in 1352. Eventually, France conquered all. Portugal successfully resisted Castilian Spain in 1385 at the Battle of Aljubarrota. In 1415, Henry the Navigator, son of John I of Portugal had a quick victory over Morocco at the Battle of Ceuta. It wasn't a long lasting victory as the object was worthless without Tangier. In 1437 Portugal would attempt to take Tangier, fail and sue for peace. Henry the Navigator was a follower of a common legend of the day, Prester John. Prester John, according to popular legend, was a descendant of a Maggi from Jesus's birth who was king of a Christian Nation in the Orient, lost among Islamic and pagan tribes. The legend was strongest between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries and fuelled expansion eastward, along with the real promise of spice and goods. In 1592, Korea defeated Japan on water at the Battle of Hansan Island. In 1880, Cologne Cathedral was completed. In 1885, Japan patented the first rust proof paint. In 1888 an audio recording was played at a press conference showing Thomas Edison's phonograph. In 1893, France began registering cars. In 1901 Gustave Whitehead claimed to have made the first powered flight. In 1914, France unsuccessfully tried to seize Lorraine from Germany. In 1915, BA Santamaria was born. He was staunchly Catholic and opposed Communism while supporting worker's rights. He also opposed unfettered capitalism. He was wrong about unfettered capitalism, fetters make it worse. In 1935, the US created Social Security as a government pension system for the retired. It was so successful it now supports generations of people from cradle to grave. In 1945, Japan accepted surrender unconditionally. Also in 1945, the Viet Minh launch the August Revolution plunging Vietnam into civil war which had people fleeing into the late 1980s. In 1969, UK deployed troops in Northern Ireland. In 1974, Turkey invades Cyprus creating almost 200000 refugees and killing over 6000. In 1975, the Rocky Horror Picture Show began. In 1980, Lech Walesa lead strikes at Gdansk. In 1987, Julian Assange's family was released after a police raid. In 1994, Carlos the Jackal was captured. In 1996, Turkish forces killed a Cypriot for climbing a flagpole in Cyprus, in a UN zone. In 2003, widespread blackouts affected North East America. In 2013 Egypt was in a state of emergency following the dumping of Morsi.
=== Publishing News ===
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.
===
Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August https://www.createspace.com/4124406, September https://www.createspace.com/5106914, 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.
===
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
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.
===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
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.
1816 – The United Kingdom formally annexed the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, ruling them from the Cape Colony in South Africa.
1880 – Construction of the Cologne Cathedral—Germany's most visited landmark—was completed, 632 years after it had begun.
1941 – After a secret meeting aboard warships, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the Atlantic Charter, establishing a vision for a post-World War II world despite the fact that the United States had yet to enter the war.
1975 – The film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is still in limited release today, making it the longest-running theatrical release in film history, premiered in Los Angeles.
2006 – The United Nations brokered a ceasefire in the Lebanon War between Lebanon and Israel. Run Tristan well. Use that cologne. Meet with the right people. Make the cease fire and enjoy the show.
- 1297 – Emperor Hanazono of Japan (d. 1348)
- 1575 – Robert Hayman, English-Canadian poet (d. 1629)
- 1599 – Méric Casaubon, Swiss-English scholar (d. 1671)
- 1642 – Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1723)
- 1714 – Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (d. 1789)
- 1738 – Leopold Hofmann, Austrian composer (d. 1793)
- 1777 – Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist (d. 1851)
- 1840 – Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German-Austrian psychologist and author (d. 1902)
- 1851 – Doc Holliday, American dentist (d. 1887)
- 1857 – Max Wagenknecht, German organist, composer, and educator (d. 1922)
- 1865 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician (d. 1952)
- 1866 – Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician (d. 1962)
- 1871 – Guangxu Emperor of China (d. 1908)
- 1881 – Francis Ford, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1953)
- 1892 – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, English pianist, composer, and critic (d. 1988)
- 1895 – Jack Gregory, Australian cricketer (d. 1973)
- 1912 – Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1985)
- 1915 – B. A. Santamaria, Australian journalist and activist (d. 1998)
- 1924 – Sverre Fehn, Norwegian architect, designed the Hedmark Museum (d. 2009)
- 1926 – René Goscinny, French author and illustrator (d. 1977)
- 1941 – David Crosby, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and CPR)
- 1945 – Steve Martin, American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter
- 1945 – Wim Wenders, German director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1947 – Danielle Steel, American author
- 1950 – Gary Larson, American cartoonist
- 1957 – Peter Costello, Australian lawyer and politician, 35th Treasurer of Australia
- 1959 – Magic Johnson, American basketball player and coach
- 1960 – Sarah Brightman, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1965 – Emmanuelle Béart, French actress
- 1966 – Halle Berry, American model, actress, and producer, Miss World United States 1986
- 1972 – Yoo Jae-suk, South Korean comedian and actor
- 1973 – Kieren Perkins, Australian swimmer
- 1978 – Kate Ritchie, Australian actress
- 1983 – Mila Kunis, Ukrainian-American actress
- 1987 – Tim Tebow, American football player
- 1993 – Gongchan, South Korean singer and actor (B1A4)
- 1999 – Garrett Ryan, American actor
Deaths
- 582 – Tiberius II Constantine, Byzantine emperor (b. 535)
- 1040 – Duncan I of Scotland (b. 1001)
- 1204 – Minamoto no Yoriie, Japanese shogun (b. 1182)
- 1870 – David Farragut, American admiral (b. 1801)
- 1938 – Hugh Trumble, Australian cricketer (b. 1876)
- 1951 – William Randolph Hearst, American publisher and politician, founded the Hearst Corporation (b. 1863)
- 1956 – Bertolt Brecht, German poet, playwright, and director (b. 1898)
- 1958 – Frédéric Joliot-Curie, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
- 1988 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded Ferrari (b. 1898)
The great shark hunt
Piers Akerman – Friday, August 14, 2015 (12:33am)
LABOR yesterday failed to bring down its nemesis, trade union royal commissioner Dyson Heydon, but the Liberals’ patchwork defence of the former High Court justice was indicative of poor management skills.
Continue reading 'The great shark hunt'Gay and godless: Left pushing their agenda
Piers Akerman – Friday, August 14, 2015 (12:32am)
HOMOSEXUAL marriage is a minor issue for most Australians but it is being pushed to the forefront by the ABC and other agenda-driven organisations hell-bent on marginalising religion in their push for a secular nation.
Continue reading 'Gay and godless: Left pushing their agenda'AN INCONVENIENT CANDIDATE
Tim Blair – Friday, August 14, 2015 (4:15pm)
Please, Gaia. Please make this happen.
CHILD OF IMMIGRANTS ATTACKED
Tim Blair – Friday, August 14, 2015 (4:07pm)
Apparently booing is no longer racist.
FLAN CLUB
Tim Blair – Friday, August 14, 2015 (2:40am)
Star Observer editor and pastry vigilante Elias Jahshan is angry for some reason:
Let’s put it to a vote:
Let’s put it to a vote:
SLAPPY DAYS
Tim Blair – Friday, August 14, 2015 (2:37am)
A rare case of a sequel being far superior to the original.
DEN AND NOW: FAIRFAX’S OPIUM FIX
Tim Blair – Friday, August 14, 2015 (2:33am)
Writing in Fairfax’s lady pages, a person using the pen name “Julie Stevens” describes her family’s drug issues, which may have commenced with her extremely elderly father:
A very clever man, he started smoking opium during his travels to China as part of the Dutch East India Trading Company. He came back to Australia addicted.
That line caught the alert eye of reader Richard P.: “On 12 August 2015 I emailed the Daily Life editor Candice Chung about the sheer unlikelihood of this paragraph. The Dutch East India Trading Company or VOC was dissolved in 1799. Further, the Chinese Communist Party suppressed the use of opium after it took power in 1949, in part by imposing severe penalties. It seems highly unlikely that a foreigner could have become habituated to smoking opium in China.”
Indeed it does. Chung did not reply to Richard’s kind note, but Julie’s article was subsequently edited:
A very clever man, he started smoking opium during his travels to China. He came back to Australia addicted.
Richard emails: “The alteration suggests that the small detail of the Dutch East India Trading Company may have been an embellishment. I wonder if other details of the story are true. For example, considering the following description of the author’s mother: ‘My mother grew up in a nice middle class family, learning the piano and studying ballet. She started using heroin with my father and his friends and has said that the first time she put a needle into her arm she did so with tears running down her face but with the feeling that she now ‘had a place to be.’
“It sounds a bit melodramatic, doesn’t it?”
ARE YOU NOW OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN A MEMBER OF THE LIBERAL PARTY?
Tim Blair – Friday, August 14, 2015 (2:28am)
Mark Dreyfus, the opposition legal affairs spokesman, demanded Mr Heydon disqualify himself from the inquiry and disclose all of his links to the Liberal Party, including if he was a party member ...“If the royal commissioner refuses to disqualify himself formally it’s a matter that can be taken up in court.”
Why not a senate subcommittee, which would at least be in the tradition of Dreyfus’s ideological forebear.
INUNDATED
Tim Blair – Friday, August 14, 2015 (2:25am)
The Emily’s List misogyny speech dish towel is a hit:
Organisers for the feminist political network Emily’s List say they have been inundated with more than 2000 online orders ...The group’s national co-ordinator, Lisa Carey, told Fairfax Media women were embracing the irony of the tea towels, which retail for $25.“The misogyny speech was a turning point in Australian politics, for women especially, basically saying enough’s enough,” she said.
Just 260 days later, the Labor party said enough’s enough.
JOHANN ADAMS
Tim Blair – Friday, August 14, 2015 (1:45am)
The Australian‘s Cut and Paste column cites – with good reason – the Guardian‘s stomping of disgraced leftist Johann Hari:
The author used to be (British newspaper) The Independent’s star columnist, a prolific polemicist and darling of the Left, until his career imploded in disgrace when it emerged in 2011 that many of his articles contained quotes apparently said to him but in fact lifted from his interviewees’ books, or from previous interviews by other journalists.
Hmmm. The Australian still employs a columnist who on at least one occasion used that exact same method.
WYATT ACT
Tim Blair – Friday, August 14, 2015 (1:20am)
Independent candidate Wyatt Scott makes his bid for Canada’s parliament:
He’s got my vote. In other troubled political campaign news, Hillary Clinton’s White House run hits rocky ground:
He’s got my vote. In other troubled political campaign news, Hillary Clinton’s White House run hits rocky ground:
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has rocketed past longtime front-runner Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire, a stunning turn in a race once considered a lock for the former secretary of state, a new Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald poll shows.Sanders leads Clinton 44-37 percent among likely Democratic primary voters, the first time the heavily favored Clinton has trailed in the 2016 primary campaign, according to the poll of 442 Granite-Staters.
Clinton’s campaign seems not to have been helped by a compliant, scandal-concealing media:
Four of the country’s largest newspapers on Wednesday kept the latest developments in Hillary Clinton’s growing E-mail scandal off the front page (one kept it out of the paper completely). The revelation that the Democratic candidate had top secret information on her server was relegated to the bottom of page A13 in the New York Times.
(Via the Mole.)
On The Bolt Report on Sunday, August 16
Andrew Bolt August 14 2015 (4:22pm)
On Channel 10 on Sunday at 10am and 3pm (NOTE: this week on ONE
everywhere except Perth, where it will screen after the netball.)
Editorial: Abbott’s week of chaos was actually preparation for battle.
My guest: Justice Minister Michael Keenan.
The panel: Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger and Sean Kelly, former advisor to Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.
NewsWatch: Miranda Devine, Daily Telegraph columnist and 2GB host.
We’ll tackle Labor’s most dangerous smear yet. Plus getting tough on ice, taking on the Islamic State and exposing the media that’s pushing same sex marriage with a campaign of hate.
Also on the schedule: Bill Shorten promotes an apartheid in Parliament.
The videos of the shows appear here.
===Editorial: Abbott’s week of chaos was actually preparation for battle.
My guest: Justice Minister Michael Keenan.
The panel: Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger and Sean Kelly, former advisor to Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.
NewsWatch: Miranda Devine, Daily Telegraph columnist and 2GB host.
We’ll tackle Labor’s most dangerous smear yet. Plus getting tough on ice, taking on the Islamic State and exposing the media that’s pushing same sex marriage with a campaign of hate.
Also on the schedule: Bill Shorten promotes an apartheid in Parliament.
The videos of the shows appear here.
ABC Fact Check endorses ACTU falsehood
Andrew Bolt August 14 2015 (11:31am)
The ABC’s Fact Check unit isn’t. It is more like another taxpayer-funded spruiker of the Left.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
===(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Bill Shorten demands apartheid in our Parliament
Andrew Bolt August 14 2015 (11:24am)
Under Bill Shorten’s
Labor, all Australians without Aboriginal ancestors will officially be
strangers in their own country - even in their own Parliament:
===We should begin the parliamentary year with a welcome to country, in the chamber… In the standing orders, inviting guests onto the floor is referred to as welcoming ‘strangers’ to the house. But it is us, the non-indigenous Australians, who are the strangers.(Thanks to reader Notch and others.)
Labor savages Heydon for uncovering dirty deals
Andrew Bolt August 14 2015 (6:35am)
The Liberals can again just sit back and be punched by Labor and its media allies. Or it can come out fighting against a sinister attempt by Labor to trash the good to protect the bad - or even corrupt:
He agreed instead to deliver the annual Sir Garfield Barwick Address, last year given by another former High Court judge, Murray Gleeson. Even rabid Abbott hater Julian Burnside QC, concedes Heydon would almost certainly never have agreed had he known the lecture would be advertised as a fundraiser, and, indeed, he pulled out when it was. Moreover, the event, advertised by the NSW Bar Association, was only a fundraiser in a technical sense, charging $80 a person for three courses and other expenses, and raising virtually no cash for electioneering.
Given that, Clare’s attack would be defamatory if he had the guts to repeat it outside Parliament. It shames Labor that Clare was once the Justice Minister (the man behind the “darkest day in Australian sport” fiasco), and is now publicly vilifying one of our most distinguished jurists.
Second, there is no proof that Heydon has conducted his royal commission in a manner that shows any bias. Labor is screaming about the perception of bias but cannot show real evidence of it. All smoke, no fire.
Which brings me to the real story. The real scandal. The real danger.
Dyson Heydon’s commission has exposed astonishing levels of corruption and thuggery in several unions, particularly the powerful CFMEU. Union officials have been accused of blackmail, accepting kickbacks, threatening employers and government officials and working with criminals.
Lately it revealed the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten accepted an undisclosed $40,000 gift as head of the AWU from an employer about to negotiate a workplace deal with the AWU. Shorten was also questioned over other highly controversial deals in which workers conditions were traded away, while Shorten’s union received donations from the employer. One involved payments to the union issued on false invoices for training services not performed, medical research not undertaken and ads in the union magazine that never appeared.
Recent reports suggest that Shorten faced more questioning at the commission about his knowledge of those deals. In his first appearance he testimony - involving denials of wrongdoing and knowledge of those invoices - was criticised by Heydon for his ”non-responsive answers”.
That is the background.
Conclusion: Labor is now vilifying one of the country’s leading jurists for uncovering corruption in the unions and highly questionable behavior by the Labor leader. It is trying to destroy the former judge to protect what should be exposed and punished.
This is truly shocking. It looks like Labor is running a kind of protection racket, and roughing up the police.
If Labor will do this even to Heydon, what would it do to you if you stood in its way?
===A political furore threatens to derail the royal commission into union corruption as Labor and the union movement accuse its head, former High Court judge Dyson Heydon, of being “biased and conflicted” because he agreed to speak at a Liberal Party fundraiser…First, there is no proof that Heydon, a former judge of the High Court, agreed to “speak at a Liberal Party fundraiser”.
Labor defence spokesman Stephen Conroy called Mr Heydon a Liberal “stooge” while communications spokesman Jason Clare called him a Liberal “bagman” — a remark he was then forced to withdraw.
He agreed instead to deliver the annual Sir Garfield Barwick Address, last year given by another former High Court judge, Murray Gleeson. Even rabid Abbott hater Julian Burnside QC, concedes Heydon would almost certainly never have agreed had he known the lecture would be advertised as a fundraiser, and, indeed, he pulled out when it was. Moreover, the event, advertised by the NSW Bar Association, was only a fundraiser in a technical sense, charging $80 a person for three courses and other expenses, and raising virtually no cash for electioneering.
Given that, Clare’s attack would be defamatory if he had the guts to repeat it outside Parliament. It shames Labor that Clare was once the Justice Minister (the man behind the “darkest day in Australian sport” fiasco), and is now publicly vilifying one of our most distinguished jurists.
Second, there is no proof that Heydon has conducted his royal commission in a manner that shows any bias. Labor is screaming about the perception of bias but cannot show real evidence of it. All smoke, no fire.
Which brings me to the real story. The real scandal. The real danger.
Dyson Heydon’s commission has exposed astonishing levels of corruption and thuggery in several unions, particularly the powerful CFMEU. Union officials have been accused of blackmail, accepting kickbacks, threatening employers and government officials and working with criminals.
Lately it revealed the Opposition Leader Bill Shorten accepted an undisclosed $40,000 gift as head of the AWU from an employer about to negotiate a workplace deal with the AWU. Shorten was also questioned over other highly controversial deals in which workers conditions were traded away, while Shorten’s union received donations from the employer. One involved payments to the union issued on false invoices for training services not performed, medical research not undertaken and ads in the union magazine that never appeared.
Recent reports suggest that Shorten faced more questioning at the commission about his knowledge of those deals. In his first appearance he testimony - involving denials of wrongdoing and knowledge of those invoices - was criticised by Heydon for his ”non-responsive answers”.
That is the background.
Conclusion: Labor is now vilifying one of the country’s leading jurists for uncovering corruption in the unions and highly questionable behavior by the Labor leader. It is trying to destroy the former judge to protect what should be exposed and punished.
This is truly shocking. It looks like Labor is running a kind of protection racket, and roughing up the police.
If Labor will do this even to Heydon, what would it do to you if you stood in its way?
If Tingle meant Labor, she’d be right
Andrew Bolt August 14 2015 (6:13am)
The Financial Review’s Laura Tingle:
This Government, in contrast, stopped the boats, scrapped the carbon and mining taxes, restrained Labor’s runaway spending, repaired relationships with our neighbours and avoided a single one of the spending blowouts and scandals that plagued Labor.
And for that contrast, I suspect, Tingle cannot forgive it.
===But at some point the conservatives – and the Coalition more broadly – will have to decide not just whether they are prepared to lose an election, but whether they are prepared to have the Coalition’s reputation for good government become likened in history to that of Whitlam’s.This, of course, would be a legitimate point to make about a government that:
- let in 50,000 undocumented illegal immigrants.But that, of course, was the previous Labor Government that Tingle actually supported.
- racked up record deficits, mostly through spending on trash.
- killed overnight a major export - cattle to Indonesia.
- broke a promise and hit Australia with a carbon tax that cost jobs and raised power prices without making a difference to temperatures.
- invented a mining tax that raised almost no money while scaring off investment.
- scrapped on industrial watchdog at the request of militant unions, unleashing a wave of intimidation of employers.
- punished critical media outlets with a hostile media inquiry.
- proposed a draconian state-appointed media supercop to police all commercial media outlets and even blogs, with penalties including imprisonment.
- designed on the back of a beer coaster a $43 billion broadband network that was unaffordable, blew its budget and ran hopelessly behind schedule.
- spent $16 billion on overpriced school halls, many not actually needed.
- put free insulation in people’s homes that killed four installers and set off scores of house fires.
- sacked two of its prime ministers before crashing to a huge defeat.
- spied on the Indonesian president’s wife, later triggering a diplomatic scandal.
- incited a mini race riot by Aborigines on Australia Day.
- offended China by referring to its leaders as “rat f...ers”.
This Government, in contrast, stopped the boats, scrapped the carbon and mining taxes, restrained Labor’s runaway spending, repaired relationships with our neighbours and avoided a single one of the spending blowouts and scandals that plagued Labor.
And for that contrast, I suspect, Tingle cannot forgive it.
Fairfax’s opium haze
Andrew Bolt August 14 2015 (6:05am)
An anonymous writer in Fairfax’s women’s section - yes, Fairfax does really have such a sexist division - writes the sad story of her father:
===A very clever man, he started smoking opium during his travels to China as part of the Dutch East India Trading Company. He came back to Australia addicted.Tim Blair notes that this poor addict must be about 200 years old. Unless, of course, details in this piece are purely fictional.
It’s time for Muslim leaders to speak up
Piers Akerman – Thursday, August 14, 2014 (7:27pm)
AUSTRALIA has been forced to rapidly recalibrate its response to the threat of Islamist terrorism over the past few months. International intelligence failed to predict the speed with which the extremist Islamic State has swept through parts of Syria and Iraq.
Continue reading 'It’s time for Muslim leaders to speak up'BRINGING CULTURED REASON TO A GUN FIGHT
Tim Blair – Thursday, August 14, 2014 (4:38pm)
The ABC’s Jonathan Green:
Could be any day now ... the sudden indiscriminate smack of a terrorist attack.Our best defence is of course our cultured reason. Our tolerance. Our audacious confidence in the fundamental goodness of others.
Interesting theory. It deserves to be tested. By Jonathan. In northern Iraq. Meanwhile, members of the Australian Cultured Reason Force have delivered 10 pallets of supplies to Iraq’s Yazidi minority, who have fled to the mountains rather than submit to the Islamic State’s audacious confidence.
DON’T WORRY, BE GAPPY
Tim Blair – Thursday, August 14, 2014 (2:07pm)
Fairfax is gap-obsessed:
• The gap between the rich and poor in Australia is growing …• The richest Australians saw their wealth rise at more than triple the pace of the poorest …• The gap between rich and poor is widening …• Outrage about the widening gap between rich and poor is gripping much of the developed world …• A growing gap in income levels has opened up in the past three years …• The gap between the haves and have-nots in Australia is widening …• The gap between Australia’s wealthiest and poorest households is getting wider …• The widening gap between rich and poor is threatening the very tenets of capitalism and democracy.• An ever-growing gap between rich and poor is bad for growth.• The gap between rich and poor widened markedly between 2004 and 2008 …• What can we do to stop the gap between the rich and the poor getting wider?
Fairfax’s solution – widen it even further:
Fairfax executives have been immune from the cost-cutting underway at the media company, taking home generous salary increases of more than $2 million in total last year …While Fairfax is stripping costs from the company and has made dozens of journalists and photographers redundant over the past year, Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood was protected from the cutbacks, taking home a salary of $2.8 million including shares — up almost $1 million on the year before.
Lowly Fairfax staffers are holding a meeting this afternoon to beg for a pay increase of just two per cent.
EL-MO
Tim Blair – Thursday, August 14, 2014 (12:55pm)
Mark Steyn on that picture:
If you think the picture’s appalling, consider the Australian establishment’s reaction. Could you turn Khaled Sharrouf’s son into a functioning Australian citizen? Maybe. In theory. But, in practice, no – not if the limp-wristed hand-wringing of the deluded multicultists is any indication … first, the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, Bill Shorten, who thinks it’s a parenting issue:“As a parent, I have no idea how you could ever let your child be in that situation. I think that’s shocking,” the Opposition Leader said.Perhaps we need some sort of federal parenting class, in which prospective parents have to pick the age-appropriate toy for their infant to play with:a) severed head of Assad supporter;
b) severed head of Mosul Christian;
c) severed head of Kurdish Yazidi;
d) bloody pulped remains of post-stoning Ramadi adulteress;
e) Tickle-Me Elmo.
WHO TO BELIEVE?
Tim Blair – Thursday, August 14, 2014 (12:21pm)
US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel:
The Iraqi people, the government of Iraq, country of Iraq is now under threat from some of the most brutal, barbaric forces we’ve ever seen in the world today, and a force, ISIL, and others that is an ideology that’s connected to an army and it’s a force and a dimension that the world has never seen before like we have seen it now …The world is exploding all over.
The world is less violent than it has ever been. It is healthier than it has ever been. It is more tolerant than it has ever been.
(Via A.R.M. Jones)
UPDATE. Thirty days of tolerance. (Via Craig R.)
PELOSI GALORE
Tim Blair – Thursday, August 14, 2014 (11:47am)
Dennis Miller on issues relating to the below post, and much else besides (caution: clip is CLR – Carlton Language Rated):
Via Mike Mc. Speaking of Carlton:
Via Mike Mc. Speaking of Carlton:
The controversial 18C provisions of the Racial Discrimination Act will be used in a complaint against The Sydney Morning Herald over its anti-Semitic cartoon and the accompanying article by former columnist, Mike Carlton.
Paper named
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (6:08pm)
Stackja describes perfectly the paper that published Mike Carlton’s anti-Israel rant and a cartoon of a hook-nosed Jew with his Star of David blowing up a city:
===...the Sydney Morning Hamas.
Green: little difference between a headhacker and Abbott
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (12:00pm)
Far-Left ABC presenter Jonathan Green believes there is little difference between a jihadist cutting off heads to a politician promising to stop him:
The ABC is out of control.
UPDATE
Note the used of the word “supposed”:
UPDATE
It is often the boast of genius to see what others can’t. Trouble is, it is often the characteristic of madmen, too.
UPDATE
Green is a caricature of the sanctimonious Leftist hypocrite.
First he retires hurt in protest at the “attack tweets” that have driven him to incoherent spluttering:
The ABC is out of control.
===And then on Monday came the clincher, the front page photo from The Australian, an image plucked it seems from the Twitter feed of homegrown and probably certifiable jihadist Khaled Sharrouf: a grinning boy and a severed head.I’ve long said Green was a third-rate brain with a first-rate ego. I now concede that “third-rate” flatters him.
It’s offered as proof of the incarnate evil that we confront, an image that transports the observer through shock, to revulsion, and then quite probably to fear… To use that same fear to push a domestic agenda for increased national security protections that compromise cherished individual liberties is one thing. To promote anxiety to lever the improved popularity that comes from soothing paternalism seems not that far removed from the original tactic of the likes of the Islamic State: using fear to overwhelm your enemies and cement the loyalty of your friends.
The ABC is out of control.
UPDATE
Note the used of the word “supposed”:
Sharrouf, decapitating infidels and threatening Australia, is only a “supposed” enemy?
UPDATE
It is often the boast of genius to see what others can’t. Trouble is, it is often the characteristic of madmen, too.
UPDATE
Green is a caricature of the sanctimonious Leftist hypocrite.
First he retires hurt in protest at the “attack tweets” that have driven him to incoherent spluttering:
But he cannot wait even half an hour before himself retweeting a spiteful attack tweet mocking a former ABC chairman:
Is this seriously the standard of debate the ABC encourages - and finances with our taxes?
The ABC is out of control.
Let’s hear how Gillard Government hunted James Hird
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (9:06am)
Something really stinks when a government is pushing an allegedly independent authority to get it some scalps, apparently to save its ministers from looking like idiots:
===AN independent inquiry will examine evidence of high-level political interference in the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority’s investigation into Essendon…
Government sources last night expressed concern at the persistent involvement of Kate Lundy, Labor’s sports minister at the time, along with her advisers and senior departmental figures in discussions between ASADA and the AFL about how the investigation would run and the outcomes it could deliver…
Sworn affidavits and detailed notes by former ASADA chief executive Aurora Andruska and other anti-doping officials tendered to the court as part of the case have exposed political pressures placed on the anti-doping body to produce an outcome to suit the needs of the Gillard government and commercial considerations of the AFL…
The court was yesterday told that, in June last year, the Gillard government offered ASADA additional funding to meet an AFL deadline to take disciplinary action against Essendon and Hird before last year’s finals series.
Previously undisclosed notes of an ASADA “strategy meeting’’ also revealed a government plan to bolster the anti-doping authority’s legal team with lawyers provided by the AFL.
ASADA national manager of operations Trevor Burgess told the Federal Court he received a briefing on June 13 from Richard Eccles, a deputy secretary within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, about an AFL plan to take action against club staff and suspend Hird for at least six months…
West getting poorer
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (8:55am)
The West is getting poorer, having lost the discipline to create wealth rather than redistribute it.
In Australia:
===In Australia:
Real wages (wages adjusted for annual inflation) fell in the June quarter to be 0.5 per cent lower over the year. By this measure, Australian living standards have declined over the past year.In the US:
U.S. jobs pay an average 23% less today than they did before the 2008 recession, according to a new report released on Monday by the United States Conference of Mayors.In Britain:
British workers have suffered an “unprecedented” decline in real wages over the past six years, with the average employee £2,000 worse off since the financial crisis hit, according to new research.
The average worker saw a 8pc decline in real wages between 2008 and 2013, said the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).
Media attacks Hockey for their untruths about him
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (8:25am)
What the Treasurer actually said:
Journalism today. Not even the truth will save you from the pack.
===The people that actually pay the most are higher income people, with an increase in fuel excise. ... The poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases.What one Age reporter, Jacob Saulwick, falsely claims Hockey said:
Really poor people, Hockey claims, are too poor to drive.What one News Corp reporter, Leftist Malcolm Farr, falsely claims Hockey said:
TREASURER Joe Hockey today argued his fuel tax increases weren’t unfair to low income earners because they couldn’t afford to own cars anyway.What one Age headline falsely claims Hockey said:
Critics attack Joe Hockey’s claim poorest don’t drive cars as ‘completely fallacious’What the Daily Mail falsely claims Hockey said:
‘Poor people don’t drive cars’: Joe Hockey’s extraordinary riposte to critics who say his budget targets low-income earnersWhat the ABC falsely claims Hockey said:
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has accused Treasurer Joe Hockey of being an “arrogant”, “cigar-chomping” politician over his remarks that poor people will not be affected by the increase to the fuel excise because they “don’t have cars”.What the ABC falsely claims Hockey said:
‘Poorest people don’t have cars’: Joe Hockey shrugs off criticism over fuel excise commentsWhat Hockey said was in fact perfectly correct:
“The Australian Bureau of Statistics data states that the highest 20 per cent of household incomes pay three times more in fuel taxes than the lowest 20 per cent of household incomes, “ he told ABC NewsRadio from Perth.In essence, many journalists of the Left are attacking Hockey for their own jeering misrepresentations of what he accurately described.
“The Australian Bureau of Statistics data is not something that I’ve concocted, it is the reality. These are dealing with the facts.”
Journalism today. Not even the truth will save you from the pack.
There is a culture shaping this jihadism
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (8:05am)
Tanveer Ahmed’s analysis suggests important lessons for our immigration and refugee programs:
What is it about the Islamic ideology that it is so easily seen as endorsing terrorism?
I am glad the imams are doing this, but I am seriously alarmed that so many of their followers are so tempted by terrorism:
===AS a psychiatrist who visits jails, I see a lot of overlap between locals who are lured towards terror and many clients from Middle Eastern backgrounds I see in the legal system…UPDATE
There remains a marked difference in the way males are raised within some Lebanese groups which predisposes them to greater acts of anti-social behaviour. It is a fairly specific segment of the Lebanese community and a result of the migration of poorer farmers and lower-class Lebanese Muslims after the civil war in 1975…
There is a rampant anti-social character to some youths from this segment which stems in part from unsuccessful child rearing. The horrific moves towards terror acts can be seen as an ideological extension of a propensity towards bad behaviour, combined with an unshakable victim mentality.
There are clear trends in the clients I see from Arab groups in jails. They come from large families. The fathers were often absent while they worked unskilled jobs trying to provide. The mothers lacked the extended family support they may have had in their ancestral lands… The men were placed on a pedestal with few behavioural limits. The relatively absent fathers, who might have disciplined the sons, compounded the problems.
I see further key psychological differences among these groups, particularly the Lebanese or the children of refugees from Iraqi or Afghan ... While expressions of anger and threats are a quick way to lose face in polite Western society, it is more acceptable within Arab groups. At its worst, calm, measured responses to conflict may be seen as weak.
This is outlined by Danish psychologist Nicolai Sennell’s groundbreaking work visiting Muslim criminals in jail, where he makes reference to the Arab notion of “holy anger”, which is completely foreign to English.
Another key difference is the psychological idea of “locus of control"… Western thinking teaches that we have some control of our destinies… Arab cultures have… a God that decides their life’s course. “Inshallah” follows every statement about future plans: if God wills it to occur…
In societies shaped under Islamic influences there is little emphasis on guilt and a greater likelihood to demand that society adapt to one’s own wishes… Other Arab Australians from Egypt, Jordan or Iran do not have the same problems. If you meet them, they will be quick to point out that their community’s migration was from a more skilled base. They had smaller families, focused on their children’s education and integrated more easily.
What is it about the Islamic ideology that it is so easily seen as endorsing terrorism?
Dozens of pro-Isis leaflets were distributed in London’s Oxford Street on Tuesday, urging Muslims to pledge allegiance to the jihadi group and travel to Syria and Iraq…UPDATE
The spread of such pro-Isis material across Europe has been a growing concern for intelligence chiefs, who believe the security threat posed by Isis-linked jihadis is one of the gravest facing the west. More than 3,000 Europeans, including more than 500 Britons, have travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight in radical Sunni extremist groups, including Isis. At least one successful terror attack in Europe – shootings at a Belgian Jewish museum in May – has been linked to the conflict.
I am glad the imams are doing this, but I am seriously alarmed that so many of their followers are so tempted by terrorism:
JASON OM: ASIO says there are 150 known Australian radicals, including 60 fighters. The Grand Mufti says the number could have been far greater without intervention from Australian imams, who he says have implored young Muslims not to go and fight.
IBRAHIM ABU MOHAMED (voiceover translation): If it wasn’t for our effort, there could have been 1,500, not 150.
Carlton sued under 18C. Good
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (8:05am)
I fully support this suing of Mike Carlton. Why should the Racial Discrimination Act be used to silence only conservatives? Let the Left now realise the law menaces even their own and must be scrapped as a crime against free speech:
But Carlton has little to fear. He is an ideological mate of the Human Rights Commission, whose Race Discrimination Commissioner, a former Labor staffer, has already rushed to exonerate Carlton:
===THE controversial 18C provisions of the Racial Discrimination Act will be used in a complaint against The Sydney Morning Herald over its anti-Semitic cartoon and the accompanying article by former columnist, Mike Carlton.Those “Jewish organisations” are two-faced. They know that using these laws against Carlton will discredit them. And so they do not use these wicked laws to defend their community, yet say nothing when those laws are used to muzzle their allies.
A Sydney engineer, Wayne Karlen, 60, has lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission arguing the publication of the cartoon and column caused offence to Australian Jews.
Mr Karlen also referenced the subsequent abuse of readers by Carlton, stating in the complaint that The Sydney Morning Herald has committed an unlawful act within the meaning of the Racial Discrimination Act…
Mr Karlen, who is not Jewish, said he decided to lodge the complaint on Tuesday after the ABC’s Media Watch defended the cartoon and Carlton the night before…
In addition to Mr Karlen, The Australian understands at least one member of the Jewish community has also lodged a complaint with the commission under section 18C, although Jewish organisations have stated they will not be taking similar action in light of the Herald’s apology.
But Carlton has little to fear. He is an ideological mate of the Human Rights Commission, whose Race Discrimination Commissioner, a former Labor staffer, has already rushed to exonerate Carlton:
Commentators you would hope would be cantankerous or controversial… Obviously Fairfax decided to take some action against him. Look, I’m agnostic on this.Mates rates?
End this blindness to evil
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (7:33am)
THE danger isn’t just from jihadist terrorists. There’s also the intellectual cowardice of our political class. I’m talking about those — mainly on the Left — claiming Islamism is no real threat or that the real problem is not “them” but “us”.
Or those who just put their hands over their eyes and go “la la la la”, the people confusing blindness with kindness.
Example 1: Far-Left ABC presenter Jonathan Green. Green was furious that The Australian published a front-page picture of the seven-year-old son of Sydney jihadist Khaled Sharrouf holding a head cut off a Syrian soldier.
“To know something appalling has happened is enough. To be forced to see it is a theft of innocence,” he tweeted.
But I suspect Green was mourning the theft not of innocence but of his wilful ignorance.
After all, here — where it could no longer be ignored — was an image of such unambiguous evil that no Leftist apologist could credibly keep blaming Western oppression of a poor Muslim.
Example 2: Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Shorten, holding a raft of marginal seats with strong Muslim votes, insisted “every Australian was shocked to their core at that dreadful image”.
In fact, some weren’t at all, which is exactly the problem.
(Read full column here.)
Cooling would be worse, and some scientists now warn…
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (7:24am)
Maurice Newman warns:
===Russian scientists at the Pulkovo Observatory are convinced the world is in for a cooling period that will last for 200-250 years. Respected Norwegian solar physicist Pal Brekke warns temperatures may actually fall for the next 50 years. Leading British climate scientist Mike Lockwood, of Reading University, found 24 occasions in the past 10,000 years when the sun was declining as it is now, but could find none where the decline was as fast. He says a return of the Dalton Minimum (1790-1830), which included “the year without summer”, is “more likely than not”. In their book The Neglected Sun , Sebastian Luning and Fritz Varenholt think that temperatures could be two-tenths of a degree Celsius cooler by 2030 because of a predicted anaemic sun. They say it would mean “warming getting postponed far into the future”.
If the world does indeed move into a cooling period, its citizens are ill-prepared… Cheap electricity in a colder climate will be critical, yet distorted price signals caused by renewable energy policies are driving out reliable baseload generators… It is interesting to contemplate how the West would handle the geopolitical and humanitarian challenges brought on by a colder climate’s shorter growing seasons and likely food shortages. Abundance is conducive to peace.... Yet the global warming pause is now nearly 18 years old and, as climate scientist Judith Curry says, “attention is moving away from the pause to the cooling since 2002”.
No wonder they despise our weakness
Andrew Bolt August 14 2014 (7:16am)
Too disabled to work, not too disabled to be a terrorist. We really have been played for fools:
===WELFARE payments to more than a dozen suspected jihadists have been axed to stop Australian taxpayers’ money being used to finance terrorist outrages in Iraq and Syria… Wanted terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, who was photographed executing Iraqi soldiers and whose young son was photographed holding a soldier’s severed head, received a $383-a-week disability support pension for several months. It lapsed after he left Australia on his brother’s passport.
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Larry Pickering
“SEX APPEAL” IS NOT PC... unless you have it
It was staggering to see Abbott’s off hand “sex appeal” comment make the lead story on Sky News and many newspapers this morning.
[It must have been hard for pensioners who had difficulty keeping warm last night to understand what the media considered a page one story.]
Obviously I’m out of touch so I decided to be awfully offensive and did a quick ring around to see what politicians were considered to have (or not have) sex appeal.
It seems a woman’s concept of sex appeal is different to men, except for one politician who who got top “sexy” marks from both sides!
Admittedly it was not a comprehensive poll, I made only 15 or 20 calls and included my own assessment. So, here’s what might well be a dodgy, apolitical consensus:
Women went for Tony Abbott, Josh Frydenburg, Doug Cameron (must be his accent), Nick Xenophon (must be his bedroom eyes) and Julie Bishop.
Women said those who are bereft of sex appeal are Kevin Rudd, Christine Milne (she just needs ironing), David Bradbury, Sophie Mirrabella and Penny Wong (I won’t say anything).
Men nominated only women as having sex appeal and that’s interesting in itself: Julie Bishop (she really is funny hot), Kate Lundy, Tanya Plibersek, Sarah Hanson-Young (wot!!), Kate Ellis and that was about it.
Men suggested those who were without sex appeal were Christine Milne, Kevin Rudd, Adam Bandt, Jenny Macklin, Graham Perrett and Peter Slipper (no surprises there).
This politically incorrect poll probably has a margin of error of 80% but there was one slam dunk: Julie Bishop! She was considered by all to have the most sex appeal. (Hard to disagree.)
So, should Julie Bishop be offended? Of course not! And she wouldn’t be. The only complainants are those women without sex appeal, and there are plenty of those in Parliament.
They are the women who wear heavy-duty uplift bras, disguise their shaved short legs with high heels, sport a cleavage, plaster on red arousal lippy, wear colorful clobber and fly into a blind rage if someone mentions their appearance or, God forbid, sex appeal!
If a bloke can’t comment on a woman’s sex appeal, when she has gone to extreme lengths to show she has it, then PC has sunk to new depths.
Women who complain of being treated as a sex object should stop dressing like one or stand still and enjoy the plaudits.
That’s unless we have all become genderless, homogeneous homosexuals!
===It was staggering to see Abbott’s off hand “sex appeal” comment make the lead story on Sky News and many newspapers this morning.
[It must have been hard for pensioners who had difficulty keeping warm last night to understand what the media considered a page one story.]
Obviously I’m out of touch so I decided to be awfully offensive and did a quick ring around to see what politicians were considered to have (or not have) sex appeal.
It seems a woman’s concept of sex appeal is different to men, except for one politician who who got top “sexy” marks from both sides!
Admittedly it was not a comprehensive poll, I made only 15 or 20 calls and included my own assessment. So, here’s what might well be a dodgy, apolitical consensus:
Women went for Tony Abbott, Josh Frydenburg, Doug Cameron (must be his accent), Nick Xenophon (must be his bedroom eyes) and Julie Bishop.
Women said those who are bereft of sex appeal are Kevin Rudd, Christine Milne (she just needs ironing), David Bradbury, Sophie Mirrabella and Penny Wong (I won’t say anything).
Men nominated only women as having sex appeal and that’s interesting in itself: Julie Bishop (she really is funny hot), Kate Lundy, Tanya Plibersek, Sarah Hanson-Young (wot!!), Kate Ellis and that was about it.
Men suggested those who were without sex appeal were Christine Milne, Kevin Rudd, Adam Bandt, Jenny Macklin, Graham Perrett and Peter Slipper (no surprises there).
This politically incorrect poll probably has a margin of error of 80% but there was one slam dunk: Julie Bishop! She was considered by all to have the most sex appeal. (Hard to disagree.)
So, should Julie Bishop be offended? Of course not! And she wouldn’t be. The only complainants are those women without sex appeal, and there are plenty of those in Parliament.
They are the women who wear heavy-duty uplift bras, disguise their shaved short legs with high heels, sport a cleavage, plaster on red arousal lippy, wear colorful clobber and fly into a blind rage if someone mentions their appearance or, God forbid, sex appeal!
If a bloke can’t comment on a woman’s sex appeal, when she has gone to extreme lengths to show she has it, then PC has sunk to new depths.
Women who complain of being treated as a sex object should stop dressing like one or stand still and enjoy the plaudits.
That’s unless we have all become genderless, homogeneous homosexuals!
Almagor, an organization that represents victims of Arab terrorism, responded with sorrow to the High Court decision to reject its motion against the release of 26 terrorist murderers, as a “gesture” to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Almagor chairman Meir Indor said, "We regret very much that the court, like the prime minister, did not even listen to the serious arguments regarding the government'scrossing of red lines, including the fact that some of the terrorists being released committed their crimes after the Oslo accords were signed.
"The Supreme Court locked its gates today before the bereaved families and the Jewish terror victims – something it does not do when it comes to any Palestinians,” Indor added – noting, among other past decisions by the High Court, its willingness to force the state to change the route of the security fence, at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, because of complaints by Arabs.
"The High Court has, in effect, erased the status of the victims and has given its protection to the men of terror, who will be able to demand the release of murderers from now on,” he went on. “This is a very sad day for the bereaved families and Israeli society, and a day of victory for the terror organizations and their supporters.”
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In what is being described as yet another example of Palestinian Authority (PA) denial of the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the very legitimacy of the State of Israel, the Presidential Guard of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has claimed the Western Wall as an Arab and Islamic site.
Palestinian Media Watch(PMW), an NGO which monitors incitement, anti-Semitism and anti-Israel propaganda on Palestinian Arab TV, has revealed that last week, a picture of the Western Wall was posted onto the PA Presidential Guard's official Facebook page with a PA flag superimposed on it, along with the words "The Al Buraq Wall - Public Relations and Information - The Presidential Guard - Palestinian youth know their rights."
The Western Wall is a relic of the retaining wall of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed by Imperial Roman in 70CE. For nearly 2,000 years Jews were prevented from worshipping on the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, and instead prayed at the wall, which has since become a holy site in its own right, at which millions of Jews congregate to pray each year. Ongoing restrictions on Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount mean that the Wall is still the primary place of Jewish worship in Jerusalem.
"Al Buraq" is the name given to the Western Wall by Arab rejectionists, who deny the Jewish connection to Jerusalem.
They claim that the wall has nothing to do with the Jewish Temples, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary; instead, they assert that it is the place where Muhammed tethered his mythical winged horse Buraq hundreds of years later, when according to some Islamic legends it transported him from Mecca to Jerusalem and back - despite the fact that Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Quran.
PMW noted that this is only the latest example of PA rejectionism and denial of the Jewish people's claim to Jerusalem and the Land of Israel, as a way of rejecting the State of Israel's very legitimacy and right to exist.
Despite the start of much-lauded "peace talks" between Israel and the PA, Arutz Sheva has reported on the continued campaign of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda and incitement to violence by the PA through its official organs.
For example, last week the PA's official TV station broadcast a crudely anti-Semitic program which legitimized violence against Jews in Judea and Samaria, who were stereotyped as violent thieves. The end of the program glorified the humiliation of a religious Jew by cutting off his peyot side-curls, in a scene chillingly reminiscent of Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda.
Other Ramadan broadcasts include a re-run of a music video encouraging violence against Israelis, and the glorification of the murderer of 61 Israeli civilians on the official Facebook page of Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
Recently, an anchor on the PA's official news station declared that a future "Palestinian state" would extend from Rosh Hanikra in northern Israel to Eilat in the south - effectively wiping Israel off the map.
These incidents and others led to Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahucomplaining directly to US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been pushing the Israeli government to enter into talks with the PA.
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Guess who graduated first in this year's medical school class at the Technion, Israel's version of M.I.T.? The answer will surprise you. It's a 27-year-old stereotype-buster: a charming, feminist, smart, open-minded and observant Islamic woman named Mais Ali-Saleh who grew up in a small village outside of Nazareth, in Israel's Galilee.
Ali-Selah's academic excellence not only marks her own personal achievement but also proves that contrary to propaganda spouted by proponents of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Movement -- whose latest convert is Stephen Hawking -- an academic boycott of Israel is the wrong approach to solving the Israel-Arab conflict. Moreover, it ultimately hurts the very people it claims to help. Ali-Selah put it best when she said, "An academic boycott of Israel is a passive move, and it doesn't achieve any of its purported objectives."
After Ali-Selah's first class at the Technion, in Haifa, northern Israel, she was ready to call it quits. Ali-Selah had studied Hebrew from elementary school through high school but in the predominantly Arab area around Nazareth, she rarely used Hebrew and her vocabulary was limited. During Ali-Selah's first Chemistry lecture, she couldn't understand why her professor kept talking about malls. What did shopping malls have to do with Chemistry? She then realized the professor was speaking about moles, a standard scientific unit for measuring quantities of minute entities.
It did not take long for her to break through her limited language skills and rise to the top of her class. In fact, in 2011, she was one of eight students from around Israel who were presented with academic awards of excellence at the Knesset, Israel's Senate.
Ali-Selah claims that her academic drive is "part genes and part family background." After raising four children, Ali-Selah's mother, Fahima, went back to school to complete her college education and is now studying for a PhD in education. (Ali-Selah's father, Rohi, would have liked to continue his education but his father died when he was a high school senior and he was forced to go to work to support his younger siblings.) Ali-Selah said that the atmosphere in the village, Jaffa-Nazareth, is liberal and many of its residents encourage young women to further their education.
Ali-Selah is currently doing an Obstetrics/Gynecology residency at Carmel Hospital in Haifa. She said that in her village, Jaffa-Nazareth, she knew of only one female Arab doctor. She decided to take on the field, despite its demanding hours, because she knew that many Arab women are more comfortable going to a female doctor rather than a male. She says that in addition to her personal goals, she wants to make a contribution to Israeli-Arab society.
Ali-Selah is currently doing an Obstetrics/Gynecology residency at Carmel Hospital in Haifa. She said that in her village, Jaffa-Nazareth, she knew of only one female Arab doctor. She decided to take on the field, despite its demanding hours, because she knew that many Arab women are more comfortable going to a female doctor rather than a male. She says that in addition to her personal goals, she wants to make a contribution to Israeli-Arab society.
Aware that she is seen as a role model to other young Arab women, Ali-Selah also knows that she is breaking common misperceptions and stereotypes. "The media emphasizes negative things about Muslims and does not emphasize the positive," Ali-Selah said. She also feels, however, that extremists are co-opting Islam and radicalizing it. Extremists within Islam are influencing people's perceptions about Islam and women's roles. "There is nowhere in the Koran that that states women should not study," Ali-Selah explained. In fact, she said that the Koran emphasizes that women must learn because they are the ones to educate the children. The same is true of women's dress. Women are supposed to dress modestly, but there are no Islamic laws stating that women need to wear long robes or cover their faces.
"If people's socio-economic situation improves, they become more educated and enlightened," Ali-Selah said. "Take away people's food, and they become religious." Her husband, Nidal Mawasi, agrees with her. Mawasi, who comes from Baqa al-Gharbiya, an Arab city in central Israel, graduated from Technion's Medical School in 2008. They met because he was teaching her dissection course, and they are now expecting their first child.
On trips to Europe, Ali-Selah said that people she met were surprised to learn that Israeli Arabs studied engineering and medicine in Israel, and that they lived among Jews. This lack of awareness helps the BDS Movement win misguided supporters. Boycotters like Roger Waters repeat a falsehood -- that Israel is an apartheid state -- and deny a fundamental truth: Arabs, in particular Arab women, have more freedom, liberties and academic opportunities in Israel than in any Arab country. Yes, they do.
Rather than an academic boycott -- which targets researchers who want to disseminate knowledge rather than restrict it -- Ali-Selah suggests a more active stance: encouraging academic life within the Palestinian Authority and strengthening academic ties with Palestinian universities, planning joint research projects with Palestinian scientists, and admitting more Palestinian scholars to European and American universities for academic programs.
Ali-Selah said that because she did medical research, the boycott did not negatively impact her work, but sooner or later, she said that it will impinge upon academic researchers she knows, both Jews and Arabs. That's why Stephen Hawking and others interested in advancing the cause of peace in the Middle East should focus their energies on supporting more of Israel's success stories like Mais Ali-Selah's, and pressuring Arab countries to emulate Israel's academic freedoms and democracy.
Some might argue that Ali-Selah is an exception to the rule about the Arab minority in Israel. But we only have to look at President Barack Obama to remember how unusual -- and important -- exceptions are.
===
Australia’s Online Hate Prevention Institute denounced a Facebook account Tuesday for spreading “Holocaust inversion and also significant new antisemitism related to Israel.”
In a statement, Dr. Andre Oboler, CEO of the Online Hate Prevention Instituteflagged “The Untold History” Facebook account, which is “liked” by 843 people, and features 428 comments, though many of them were made to ridicule the account and its creators.
“Social media is a powerful tool and that power should not be used to take content like this viral. Social media companies, that have such a major impact on our daily lives, need to behave in a socially responsible manner and to be held accountable when they fail to live up to the standards society expect,” Oboler said.
<Does anyone honestly believe that American intervention has solved the Iraq crisis? Or the Afghanistan crisis? Or that it ever will?> I feel it is unarguable that Iraq is much better without Hussein and Afghanistan without the Taliban .. the world is safer. I feel those two nations have more hope now than they had before. But none of the good things that has happened in either nation were a result of Obama policy. That being said, Syria has no good side worth supporting. - ed
===
Holly Sarah Nguyen
Trusting in God will not make the mountain smaller, but it will make the climbing easier. Do not ask Him for a lighter load, ask for a stronger back instead.
Danish physicist and Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr lived a busy life: When he wasn’t re-imagining atomic structure and quantum mechanics, he was saving over 7,000 Danish Jews from Nazi persecution.
In 1943, after learning that Nazi occupiers sought to prevent him from working on the Allied Manhattan Project, Bohr evacuated to Sweden, whose government was under strict Allied orders to fly him to the United States immediately.
But upon learning of the plight of his compatriots, Bohr, whose maternal grandfather was Jewish, refused to leave until Sweden announced that it would be open to receiving Danish Jews. He took his request all the way to the top: in September 1943, King Gustaf of Sweden made public his country’s intention to provide asylum.
But that’s not all: After founding the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen (now the Niels Bohr Institute), Bohr provided temporary work and financial support to refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. Some who sought asylum, like Felix Bloch and James Franck, went on to win Nobel Prizes and were instrumental in changing modern science.
<“Al-Habbash explained that, like Hamas, many of Mohammed's companions burned with anger that their leader was negotiating with the Quraish tribe rather than attacking Mecca. But Mohammed knew that only a more measured approach would lead to ultimate victory.
“Two years after signing the treaty, Mohammed's forces had gained enough strength and he launched the brutal conquest of Mecca.
“"This is the example and this is the model" that the Palestinian leadership is following, Al-Habbash acknowledged.
“Amazingly, all of the doe-eyed Israeli commentators who believe that this round of negotiations is for some reason going to be different from all the previous fail to take the simple step of listening to what the Palestinians themselves are saying.
“"Abbas is a real peace partner," they shout, while willfully ignoring what Abbas' own ministers are telling the public, in his name and in his presence, without any refutation by the "president.">
===
[Accuracy of the following report cannot be assured beyond doubt. Material that could not be corroborated has been deleted. Information in these diaries is more an indictment on Kevin Rudd’s judgment than the ethics of Peter Beattie. Rudd, as an ALP and Premier Wayne Goss confidant, would have been privy to the following information.]
On June 15, 2006 Andrew Bolt reported: “EX-PREMIER Peter Beattie is embroiled in a war of words with a Nationals MP after claims he had an affair with a cabinet minister were referred to the CMC.
“A furious Mr Beattie yesterday hit out at Burnett MP Rob Messenger, who has referred a complaint that disgraced former Tourism Minister Merri Rose forced her electorate staff to falsify and shred documents to cover up an alleged relationship with Mr Beattie.”
This may be true but Pickering Post has been reliably informed (and it is widely held to be true among ALP insiders) that Peter’s transgressions extended to Merri Rose’s daughter who became pregnant to, and bore a daughter to, Beattie.
It is believed that it was this matter that Merri Rose attempted to blackmail Beattie over in order to obtain political favours.
Merri Rose was found guilty and spent jail time.
But Peter Beattie was embroiled in another affair with Pat Gillespie, a political journalist for The Sunday Mail and The Australian newspapers from the early 1990’s until 1996.
Gillespie became an embarrassment to the Government so she was shifted to The Children’s Commissioners Office where she became their problem.
Gillespie was concerned that the Criminal Justice Commission would raid her house so she gave the diaries (in disk or tape format) to a friend, Lorelle Saunders, a former police officer, for safe keeping.
Saunders didn’t want to keep the diaries, so she gave them to a solicitor friend, Mr Gordon Harris, for safe keeping. It was Gordon who had the data transcribed. The diary notes were legitimately obtained.
There are a number of people named in the diaries.
Danny is Peter Beattie.
Darth Vader is Heather Beattie.
Ken Crooke is the Former State Secretary of the National Party.
Drew Hutton is the former Convenor of The Greens in Qld.
DJ is Doug Slack the former National Party Minister for Environment in the Borbidge government.
There are other names that can be Googled.
Just prior to the June, 1998 Queensland State election, Beattie had booked the Presidential Suite at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Brisbane.
There was also a function at the same hotel for the party heavyweights. The cost of the function and room was bankrolled by now convicted paedophile Bill D’Arcy, the ALP’s money man.
While Beattie was staying at the Stamford Plaza, Gillespie attempted to set herself up as the new Mrs Beattie. Beattie had her physically thrown out of the hotel and barred from re-entry.
In 2000/1 Gillespie had her husband charged with rape. He was a doctor and is now in the Hervey Bay area.
Gillespie judged that the DPP was too slow to act in progressing with the charges. She attempted to use her connection, with Premier Beattie, to force the DPP to proceed more quickly with the prosecution. There are several letters from the DPP, Leanne Clare, confirming this.
This is one letter and appears to give legitimacy to the claims:
In fact one of the letters confirms that six of the DDP’s staff had to seek counselling, as a result of Gillespie’s harassment and bullying.
The DPP cast doubt on many of Gillespie’s claims and she eventually received a paltry settlement of $8,000.
Leanne Clare is now a District Court judge, so no comment was available.
Gillespie became a severe embarrassment to Beattie and the ALP financed the purchase of a property for her in Tasmania.
A job was also arranged with the RSPCA. This deal caused some disquiet among the ALP party management because party funds were used to pay off Beattie’s mistress.
Tasmania is an interesting place and appears to be a dumping ground for former ALP leaders’ mistresses.
When Wayne Goss was State ALP Opposition leader in 1989, he had a potential image problem with a mistress, who also happened to be a journalist. Her name was Marion Smith.
The Qld, ALP arranged for a job for Marion with the Field ALP Government there. When the Field Government fell within a short time, Marion returned to Queensland and obtained a position as Media Liaison Officer with the new Criminal Justice Commission.
Wayne Goss pressured CJC Chairman, Sir Max Bingham, to sack Marion but he refused to do so.
Kevin Rudd, who worked closely with Goss, would have known of the ins and outs of the affairs but has seen fit to resurrect a bitter enemy in Beattie as an ALP candidate for Forde. This appears to throw doubt on Rudd’s judgment.
For Peter Beattie to become involved with someone apparently as unhinged as Pat Gillespie in the first place, provides some insight into the REAL Peter Beattie and more importantly, Rudd’s judgment
The diaries can be downloaded here:-
Kim Kardashian’s mother Kris Jenner defended her daughter while criticizing Obama for his comments putting down successful celebrities.
The comments were received with great applause on her new show Kris. Obama had blamed celebrities for the negative affect they have on children during an interview with Amazon:
“Kids weren’t monitoring every day what Kim Kardashian was wearing or where Kanye West was going on vacation,” Obama explained, “and thinking that somehow that was the mark of success.”
Kris Jenner hit hard when she pointed out that many of these celebrities worked very hard to get where they are, but she was especially spot on when criticizing the anti-success attitude behind Obama’s comments:
“I wasn’t aware that you could only set the bar so high and that we could only dream so big.I was taught ‘dream big, work hard, and you could have whatever you want.’And I thought, ‘wow I bet the president has some friends with 10,000 square foot houses and you probably wouldnt mind going over there, mister president, while you were asking them to have a party for you when you were campaigning for dollars to run for president.I was thinking about her 10,000-square-foot house, and I thought, ‘Wow, her job affords her to live in a 10,000-square-foot house’. And I think, if I’m not mistaken, Mr President’s job affords him to live in a 55,000-square-foot house.I find it so odd that he’s picking on Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.Kanye West, first of all, doesn’t go on vacation, ever. And Kim Kardashian is the hardest-working young lady in the world. She never sleeps, she never stops, she never slows down and works so hard for what she’s got.You poke at someone and criticize someone for living a lifestyle – I’m sure when he was growing up his dream was, ‘One day, I want to become President of the United States, and have this wonderful fabulous life and that was his dream.’
A few hours earlier....
"Terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza “thanked” Israel for releasing 26 terrorist murderers by firing two rockets at the southern part of the country on Tuesday night.
One rocket exploded in an open area near the city of Sderot. There were no physical injuries or damages.
Kol Yisrael radio reported that a second rocket exploded within Gaza.
On Monday night, terrorists from the Sinai Peninsula fired a rocket towards the Israeli resort city of Eilat."
===
Israel’s hopes that freeing 26 terrorists in the middle of the night would tone down the celebrations in the Palestinian Authority were quickly dashed on Tuesday night.
As the 11 terrorists who were freed to Ramallah arrived at their destination, they were welcomed by thousands ofcheering PA Arabs and were escorted to the Muqataa compound, where they were greeted by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas himself.
"This is the first group," Abbas told the crowd at the official welcoming ceremony, according to AFP.
"We shall continue until we free all the prisoners from Israeli jails," he added.
“Allah willing, all will return to us soon. We say to all prisoners in the jails: We will not rest until you are all with us," Abbas declared.
At the same time, 15 other terrorists returned to their homes in Gaza. Kol Yisrael radio reported that the celebrations in Gaza will be toned down, if any take place at all, as the Hamas terrorist group which controls the region objects to the peace talks between the PA and Israel.
Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said on Monday that the talks with Israel are “futile” and are “purely a means for the occupation (Israel) to look good to the international community.”
===
- 1842 – American Indian Wars: American generalWilliam J. Worth declared the Second Seminole War to be over.
- 1888 – A recording of English composer Arthur Sullivan's The Lost Chord, one of the first recordings of music ever made, was played during a press conference introducing Thomas Edison's phonograph in London.
- 1980 – Lech Wałęsa (pictured) and colleagues at Gdańsk Shipyard began strike actions, which subsequently led to the founding of the Solidarity movement in Poland.
- 1994 – International fugitive Carlos the Jackal, wanted for a number of terrorist attacks in Europe, was handed over to French agents by Sudanese officials.
- 2007 – Four coordinated suicide bomb attacks detonated in the Iraqi towns of Qahtaniya and Jazeera, killing an estimated 796 people and wounding 1,562 others.
- 29 BC – Octavian holds the second of three consecutive triumphs in Rome to celebrate the victory over the Dalmatian tribes.
- 1040 – King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland.
- 1183 – Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures and flee to western Japan to escape pursuit by the Minamoto clan (traditional Japanese date: Twenty-fifth Day of the Seventh Month of the Second Year of Juei).
- 1288 – Count Adolf VIII of Berg grants town privileges to Düsseldorf, the village on the banks of the Düssel.
- 1352 – War of the Breton Succession: Anglo-Bretons defeat the French in the Battle of Mauron.
- 1370 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, grants city privileges to Carlsbad which is subsequently named after him.
- 1385 – Portuguese Crisis of 1383–85: Battle of Aljubarrota – Portuguese forces commanded by King John I and his general Nuno Álvares Pereira defeat the Castilian army of King John I.
- 1415 – Henry the Navigator leads Portuguese forces to victory over the Marinids at the Battle of Ceuta.
- 1480 – Battle of Otranto: Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam; they are later honored in the Church.
- 1592 – Imjin War: At the Battle of Hansan Island, the Korean Navy, led by Yi Sun-sin and Won Kyun, decisively defeats the Japanese Navy, led by Wakisaka Yasuharu, at Hansan Island.
- 1598 – Nine Years' War: Battle of the Yellow Ford: Irish forces under Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, defeat an English expeditionary force under Henry Bagenal.
- 1720 – The Spanish military Villasur expedition is wiped out by Pawnee and Otoe warriors near present-day Columbus, Nebraska.
- 1816 – The United Kingdom formally annexed the Tristan da Cunha archipelago, administering them from the Cape Colony in South Africa.
- 1842 – American Indian Wars: Second Seminole War ends, with the Seminoles forced from Florida to Oklahoma.
- 1848 – Oregon Territory is organized by act of Congress.
- 1880 – Construction of Cologne Cathedral, the most famous landmark in Cologne, Germany, is completed.
- 1885 – Japan's first patent is issued to the inventor of a rust-proof paint.
- 1888 – An audio recording of English composer Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord", one of the first recordings of music ever made, is played during a press conference introducing Thomas Edison's phonograph in London, England.
- 1893 – France becomes the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration.
- 1897 – Franco-Hova Wars: The town of Anosimena is captured by French troops from Menabe defenders in Madagascar.
- 1900 – The Eight-Nation Alliance occupies Beijing, China, in a campaign to end the bloody Boxer Rebellion in China.
- 1901 – The first claimed powered flight, by Gustave Whitehead in his Number 21.
- 1911 – United States Senate leaders agree to rotate the office of President pro tempore of the Senate among leading candidates to fill the vacancy left by William P. Frye's death.
- 1912 – U.S. Marines invade Nicaragua to support the U.S.-backed government installed there after José Santos Zelaya had resigned three years earlier.
- 1914 – World War I: Start of the Battle of Lorraine, an unsuccessful French offensive designed to recover the lost province of Moselle from Germany.
- 1916 – Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, joining the Entente in World War I.
- 1921 – Tannu Uriankhai, later Tuvan People's Republic is established as a completely independent country (which is supported by Soviet Russia).
- 1933 – Loggers cause a forest fire in the Coast Range of Oregon, later known as the first forest fire of the Tillamook Burn. It is extinguished on September 5, after destroying 240,000 acres (970 km2).
- 1935 – Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, creating a government pension system for the retired.
- 1936 – Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky in the last public execution in the United States.
- 1937 – Chinese Air Force Day: The beginning of air-to-air combat of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II in general, when six Imperial Japanese Mitsubishi G3M bombers are shot down by the Nationalist Chinese Air Force while raiding Chinese air bases.
- 1941 – World War II: Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt sign the Atlantic Charter of war stating postwar aims.
- 1945 – Japan accepts the Allied terms of surrender in World War II and the Emperor records the Imperial Rescript on Surrender(August 15 in Japan Standard Time).
- 1945 – The Viet Minh launches August Revolution amid the political confusion and power vacuum engulfing Vietnam.
- 1947 – Pakistan gains Independence from the British Empire and joins the Commonwealth of Nations.
- 1959 – Founding and first official meeting of the American Football League.
- 1967 – UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act declares participation in offshore pirate radio illegal.
- 1969 – Operation Banner: British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland.
- 1971 – Bahrain declares independence as the State of Bahrain.
- 1972 – An East German Ilyushin Il-62 crashes during takeoff from East Berlin, killing 156.
- 1973 – The Pakistan Constitution of 1973 comes into effect.
- 1974 – The second Turkish invasion of Cyprus begins; 140,000 to 200,000 Greek Cypriots become refugees. Around 6,000 massacred, 1,619 missing.
- 1975 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the longest-running release in film history, opens in London.
- 1980 – Lech Wałęsa leads strikes at the Gdańsk, Poland shipyards.
- 1987 – All the children held at Kia Lama, a rural property on Lake Eildon, Australia, run by the Santiniketan Park Association, are released after a police raid.
- 1994 – Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, also known as "Carlos the Jackal", is captured.
- 1996 – Greek Cypriot refugee Solomos Solomou is murdered by Turkish forces while trying to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus.
- 2003 – A widescale power blackout affects the northeast United States and Canada.
- 2005 – Helios Airways Flight 522, en route from Larnaca, Cyprus to Prague, Czech Republic via Athens, crashes in the hills near Grammatiko, Greece, killing 121 passengers and crew.
- 2006 – Chencholai bombing: Sixty-one Sri Lankan Tamils are killed in a Sri Lankan Air force bombing.
- 2007 – The Kahtaniya bombings kills at least 796 people.
- 2010 – The first-ever Youth Olympic Games are held in Singapore.
- 2013 – Egypt declares a state of emergency as security forces kill hundreds of demonstrators supporting former president Mohamed Morsi.
- 2015 – The US Embassy in Havana, Cuba re-opens after 54 years of being closed when United States-Cuba relations fell.
- 1297 – Emperor Hanazono of Japan (d. 1348)
- 1473 – Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (d. 1541)
- 1479 – Catherine of York (d. 1527)
- 1575 – Robert Hayman, English-Canadian poet and politician (d. 1629)
- 1599 – Méric Casaubon, Swiss-English scholar (d. 1671)
- 1625 – François de Harlay de Champvallon, French archbishop (d. 1695)
- 1642 – Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1723)
- 1653 – Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, English colonel and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica (d. 1688)
- 1688 – Frederick William I of Prussia (d. 1740)
- 1714 – Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (d. 1789)
- 1727 – Louise Élisabeth of France (d. 1759)
- 1727 – Princess Henriette of France (d. 1752)
- 1738 – Leopold Hofmann, Austrian composer (d. 1793)
- 1740 – Pope Pius VII (d. 1823)
- 1758 – Carle Vernet, French painter (d. 1835)
- 1777 – Hans Christian Ørsted, Danish physicist and chemist (d. 1851)
- 1817 – Alexander H. Bailey, American lawyer, judge, and politician (d. 1874)
- 1840 – Richard von Krafft-Ebing, German-Austrian psychologist and author (d. 1902)
- 1847 – Robert Comtesse, Swiss politician (d. 1922)
- 1848 – Margaret Lindsay Huggins, Irish astronomer (d. 1915)
- 1851 – Yannoulis Chalepas, Greek sculptor (d. 1938)
- 1851 – Doc Holliday, American dentist (d. 1887)
- 1857 – Max Wagenknecht, German organist, composer, and educator (d. 1922)
- 1863 – Ernest Thayer, American poet (d. 1940)
- 1865 – Guido Castelnuovo, Italian mathematician and academic (d. 1952)
- 1866 – Charles Jean de la Vallée-Poussin, Belgian mathematician and academic (d. 1962)
- 1867 – Cupid Childs, American baseball player (d. 1912)
- 1867 – John Galsworthy, English author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1933)
- 1871 – Guangxu Emperor of China (d. 1908)
- 1876 – Alexander I of Serbia (d. 1903)
- 1881 – Francis Ford, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1953)
- 1881 – Edward Siegler, American gymnast (d. 1942)
- 1887 – Marija Leiko, Latvian actress (d. 1937)
- 1889 – Otto Tief, Estonian lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of Estoria (d. 1976)
- 1890 – Bruno Tesch, German chemist and Nazi war criminal (d. 1946)
- 1892 – Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, English pianist, composer, and critic (d. 1988)
- 1893 – Francis Dvornik, Czech priest and academic (d. 1975)
- 1895 – Jack Gregory, Australian cricketer (d. 1973)
- 1896 – Theodor Luts, Estonian director and cinematographer (d. 1980)
- 1899 – Evelyn Kozak, American super-centenarian (d. 2013)
- 1901 – Alice Rivaz, Swiss author (d. 1998)
- 1903 – Lodewijk Bruckman, Dutch painter (d. 1995)
- 1908 – Manos Katrakis, Greek actor (d. 1984)
- 1909 – Stuff Smith, American violinist (d. 1967)
- 1910 – Willy Ronis, French photographer (d. 2009)
- 1910 – Pierre Schaeffer, French composer and producer (d. 1995)
- 1911 – Jan Koetsier, Dutch composer and conductor (d.2006)
- 1911 – Vethathiri Maharishi, Indian spiritual leader (d. 2006)
- 1912 – Frank Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1985)
- 1913 – Hector Crawford, Australian television producer and director (d. 1991)
- 1913 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (d. 1981)
- 1915 – B. A. Santamaria, Australian journalist and activist (d. 1998)
- 1916 – Fumio Fujimura, Japanese baseball player and manager (d. 1992)
- 1916 – Wellington Mara, American businessman (d. 2005)
- 1922 – Leslie Marr, English race car driver
- 1923 – Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem (d. 2000)
- 1924 – Sverre Fehn, Norwegian architect, designed the Hedmark Museum (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Holger Juul Hansen, Danish actor (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Georges Prêtre, French conductor
- 1924 – Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, 16th Karmapa, Tibetan spiritual leader (d. 1981)
- 1925 – Russell Baker, American journalist and author
- 1926 – Alice Ghostley, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
- 1926 – René Goscinny, French author and illustrator (d. 1977)
- 1926 – Buddy Greco, American singer and pianist
- 1926 – Lina Wertmüller, Italian director and screenwriter
- 1929 – Kinnaird R. McKee, American admiral (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Gene Scott, American pastor and broadcaster (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Dick Tiger, Nigerian boxer (d. 1971)
- 1930 – Earl Weaver, American baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Frederic Raphael, American journalist, author, and screenwriter
- 1932 – Lee Hoffman, American author (d. 2007)
- 1933 – Richard R. Ernst, Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1935 – John Brodie, American football player and golfer
- 1936 – Trevor Bannister, English actor (d. 2011)
- 1940 – Galen Hall, American football player and coach
- 1940 – Alexei Panshin, American author
- 1941 – Lynne Cheney, American wife of Dick Cheney, 32nd Second Lady of the United States
- 1941 – David Crosby, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and CPR)
- 1941 – Connie Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1942 – Willie Dunn, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2013)
- 1942 – Lionel Morton, English singer, guitarist, and television host (The Four Pennies)
- 1942 – Jackie Oliver, English race car driver
- 1943 – Ronnie Campbell, English politician
- 1944 – John Dunt, English admiral
- 1945 – Heidi Hartmann, American feminist economist
- 1945 – Steve Martin, American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter
- 1945 – Wim Wenders, German director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1946 – Antonio Fargas, American actor
- 1946 – Larry Graham, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (Sly and the Family Stone and Graham Central Station)
- 1946 – Susan Saint James, American actress
- 1946 – Bjørn Kruse, Norwegian contemporary composer, saxophonist and painter
- 1946 – Tom Walkinshaw, Scottish race car driver (d. 2010)
- 1947 – Peter Christian, English actor
- 1947 – Bruce Nash, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1947 – Maddy Prior, English singer and dancer (Steeleye Span, Silly Sisters, and The Carnival Band)
- 1947 – Danielle Steel, American author
- 1947 – Jiro Taniguchi, Japanese illustrator
- 1947 – Joop van Daele, Dutch footballer
- 1948 – Terry Adams, American pianist and composer (NRBQ)
- 1949 – Bob Backlund, American wrestler
- 1949 – Morten Olsen, Danish footballer and manager
- 1950 – Gary Larson, American cartoonist
- 1951 – Peter Blegvad, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and illustrator (Slapp Happy and The Lodge)
- 1951 – Slim Dunlap, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Replacements)
- 1951 – Norbert Hofmann, German footballer and manager
- 1951 – Carl Lumbly, American actor
- 1952 – Debbie Meyer, American swimmer
- 1952 – Alex van Warmerdam, Dutch actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1953 – James Horner, American composer and conductor (d. 2015)
- 1953 – Cliff Johnson, American game designer
- 1954 – Mark Fidrych, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2009)
- 1954 – Stanley A. McChrystal, American general
- 1954 – Christian Gross, Swiss footballer and coach
- 1955 – Gillian Taylforth, English actress
- 1956 – Jackée Harry, American actress and director
- 1956 – Andy King, English footballer and manager (d. 2015)
- 1956 – Rusty Wallace, American race car driver
- 1957 – Peter Costello, Australian lawyer and politician, 35th Treasurer of Australia
- 1957 – Gino Hernandez, American wrestler (d. 1986)
- 1957 – Alim Qasimov, Azerbaijani singer
- 1958 – Philip Dunne, English politician, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology
- 1958 – Bobby Eaton, American wrestler
- 1959 – Frank Brickowski, American basketball player
- 1959 – Marcia Gay Harden, American actress
- 1959 – Magic Johnson, American basketball player and coach
- 1960 – Sarah Brightman, English singer-songwriter and actress
- 1960 – Sharon Bryant, American singer (Atlantic Starr)
- 1960 – Cecilia Gasdia, Italian soprano and actress
- 1960 – Stet Howland, American drummer and songwriter (Blackfoot, Impellitteri)
- 1960 – Fred Roberts, American basketball player
- 1961 – Eddie Gilbert, American wrestler (d. 1995)
- 1961 – Buddy Landel, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2015)
- 1961 – Susan Olsen, American actress and singer
- 1962 – Lady Bunny, American drag queen performer
- 1962 – Mark Gubicza, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1962 – Kevin Harris, Canadian skateboarder
- 1962 – Andres Herkel, Estonian politician
- 1962 – Rameez Raja, Pakistani cricketer and sportscaster
- 1963 – David Aaron Baker, American actor
- 1964 – Neal Anderson, American football player and coach
- 1964 – Jason Dunstall, Australian footballer and sportscaster
- 1965 – Emmanuelle Béart, French actress
- 1965 – Brannon Braga, American screenwriter and producer
- 1965 – Mark Collins, English guitarist and songwriter (The Charlatans and The Waltones)
- 1965 – Terry Richardson, American photographer
- 1966 – Halle Berry, American model, actress, and producer
- 1966 – Karl Petter Løken, Swedish-Norwegian footballer and sportscaster
- 1967 – Erik Gandini, Italian-Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1967 – Dirk Rehbein, German footballer
- 1968 – Pravin Amre, Indian cricketer and coach
- 1968 – Catherine Bell, American actress
- 1968 – Darren Clarke, Northern Irish golfer
- 1968 – Jason Leonard, English rugby player
- 1968 – Adrian Lester, English actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1968 – Billy Mavreas, Greek-Canadian cartoonist
- 1968 – Medy van der Laan, Dutch politician
- 1969 – Tracy Caldwell Dyson, American chemist and astronaut
- 1969 – DJ Uncle Al, American rapper and DJ (d. 2001)
- 1969 – Stig Tøfting, Danish footballer and manager
- 1970 – Kevin Cadogan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Third Eye Blind)
- 1971 – Raoul Bova, Italian actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – Mark Loretta, American baseball player
- 1971 – Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1972 – Tamer El Said, Egyptian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1972 – Yoo Jae-suk, South Korean comedian and actor
- 1972 – Laurent Lamothe, Haitian politician, 15th Prime Minister of Haiti
- 1972 – Jay Manuel, American make-up artist
- 1973 – Jared Borgetti, Mexican footballer
- 1973 – Daisuke Ishiwatari, Japanese game developer, voice actor, and composer, created Guilty Gear
- 1973 – Jay-Jay Okocha, Nigerian footballer
- 1973 – Kieren Perkins, Australian swimmer
- 1974 – Chucky Atkins, American basketball player
- 1974 – Martin Bulloch, Scottish drummer (Mogwai)
- 1974 – Christopher Gorham, American actor
- 1974 – Ana Matronic, American singer-songwriter (Scissor Sisters)
- 1975 – Mike Vrabel, American football player and coach
- 1976 – Alex Albrecht, American television host, actor, and producer
- 1976 – Steve Braun, Canadian actor
- 1976 – Fabrizio Donato, Italian triple jumper
- 1977 – Ed Harcourt, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1977 – Elisavet Mystakidou, Greek martial artist
- 1977 – Juan Pierre, American baseball player
- 1978 – Anastasios Kyriakos, Greek footballer
- 1978 – Greg Rawlinson, South African-New Zealand rugby player
- 1978 – Kate Ritchie, Australian actress
- 1979 – Jérémie Bréchet, French footballer
- 1979 – Paul Burgess, Australian pole vaulter
- 1979 – Yōichirō Morikawa, Japanese actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1980 – Estrella Morente, Spanish singer
- 1980 – Roy Williams, American football player
- 1981 – Earl Barron, American basketball player
- 1981 – Matthew Etherington, English footballer
- 1981 – Paul Gallen, Australian rugby league player
- 1981 – Ray William Johnson, American video blogger
- 1981 – Julius Jones, American football player
- 1981 – Kofi Kingston, Ghanaian-American wrestler
- 1983 – Elena Baltacha, Ukrainian-Scottish tennis player (d. 2014)
- 1983 – Mila Kunis, Ukrainian-American actress
- 1983 – Black Milk, American rapper and producer
- 1983 – Lamorne Morris, American actor and game show host
- 1983 – Juan Oviedo, Dominican baseball player
- 1983 – Spencer Pratt, American television personality
- 1984 – Simon Andrews, English motorcycle racer (d. 2014)
- 1984 – Eva Birnerová, Czech tennis player
- 1984 – Clay Buchholz, American baseball player
- 1984 – Giorgio Chiellini, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Kunzang Choden, Bhutanese target shooter
- 1984 – Josh Gorges, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Nick Grimshaw, English radio and television host
- 1984 – Nicola Slater, Scottish tennis player
- 1984 – Robin Söderling, Swedish tennis player
- 1984 – Nicolette van Dam, Dutch actress
- 1985 – Ashlynn Brooke, American porn actress, dancer, and model
- 1985 – Christian Gentner, German footballer
- 1985 – Shea Weber, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Terin Humphrey, American gymnast
- 1986 – Cameron Jerome, English footballer
- 1986 – Mihkel Poll, Estonian pianist
- 1986 – Braian Rodríguez, Uruguayan footballer
- 1987 – James Buckley, English actor
- 1987 – Cate Harrington, English porn actress
- 1987 – Sinem Kobal, Turkish actress
- 1987 – Tim Tebow, American football player
- 1988 – Shahd Barmada, Syrian singer
- 1988 – Kayla Mueller, American humanitarian and activist (d. 2015)
- 1989 – Florian Abel, German footballer
- 1989 – Artyom Bogucharsky, Russian actor
- 1989 – Kyle Turris, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Jaydee Bixby, Canadian singer-songwriter
- 1992 – Sarah Correa, Brazilian swimmer (d. 2015)
- 1993 – Gongchan, South Korean singer and actor (B1A4)
- 1993 – Cassi Thomson, Australian-American actress and singer
- 1994 – Kim Rodriguez, Filipino actress
- 1999 – Garrett Ryan, American actor
Births[edit]
- 582 – Tiberius II Constantine, Byzantine emperor (b. 535)
- 1040 – Duncan I of Scotland (b. 1001)
- 1167 – Rainald of Dassel, Italian archbishop (b. 1120)
- 1204 – Minamoto no Yoriie, Japanese shogun (b. 1182)
- 1390 – John FitzAlan, 2nd Baron Arundel, English soldier (b. 1364)
- 1433 – John I of Portugal (b. 1357)
- 1464 – Pope Pius II (b. 1405)
- 1573 – Saitō Tatsuoki, Japanese daimyo (b. 1548)
- 1691 – Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, Irish soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1630)
- 1704 – Roland Laporte, French religious leader (b. 1675)
- 1727 – William Croft, English organist and composer (b. 1678)
- 1774 – Johann Jakob Reiske, German physician and scholar (b. 1716)
- 1784 – Nathaniel Hone the Elder, Irish-English painter (b. 1718)
- 1856 – Constant Prévost, French geologist and academic (b. 1787)
- 1860 – André Marie Constant Duméril, French zoologist and entomologist (b. 1774)
- 1870 – David Farragut, American admiral (b. 1801)
- 1874 – Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, American minister and politician (b. 1821)
- 1890 – Michael J. McGivney, American priest, founded the Knights of Columbus (b. 1852)
- 1891 – Sarah Childress Polk, American wife of James K. Polk, 12th First Lady of the United States (b. 1803)
- 1905 – Simeon Solomon, English painter (b. 1840)
- 1909 – William Stanley, American engineer (b. 1829)
- 1926 – John H. Moffitt, American sergeant and politician, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1843)
- 1928 – Klabund, German author and poet (b. 1890)
- 1938 – Hugh Trumble, Australian cricketer (b. 1876)
- 1941 – Maximilian Kolbe, Polish martyr and saint (b. 1894)
- 1941 – Paul Sabatier, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854)
- 1943 – Lore Berger, Swiss author (b. 1921)
- 1943 – Joe Kelley, American baseball player and manager (b. 1871)
- 1951 – William Randolph Hearst, American publisher and politician, founded the Hearst Corporation (b. 1863)
- 1954 – Hugo Eckener, German pilot and designer (b. 1868)
- 1954 – Nikos Ploumpidis, Greek activist (b. 1901)
- 1955 – Herbert Putnam, American lawyer and publisher, Librarian of Congress (b. 1861)
- 1956 – Bertolt Brecht, German poet, playwright, and director (b. 1898)
- 1958 – Frédéric Joliot-Curie, French physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
- 1958 – Konstantin von Neurath, German politician, Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1873)
- 1963 – Clifford Odets, American director, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1906)
- 1964 – Johnny Burnette, American singer-songwriter (The Rock and Roll Trio) (b. 1934)
- 1965 – Vello Kaaristo, Estonian skier (b. 1911)
- 1966 – Tip Snooke, South African cricketer (b. 1881)
- 1967 – Bob Anderson, English motorcycle racer and race car driver (b. 1931)
- 1970 – Bede Fanning, Australian public servant (b. 1885)
- 1972 – Oscar Levant, American actor, pianist, and composer (b. 1906)
- 1972 – Jules Romains, French author and poet (b. 1885)
- 1973 – Fred Gipson, American author (b. 1908)
- 1978 – Nicolas Bentley, English author and illustrator (b. 1907)
- 1980 – Dorothy Stratten, Canadian-American model and actress (b. 1960)
- 1981 – Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor and director (b. 1894)
- 1981 – Dudley Nourse, South African cricketer (b. 1910)
- 1982 – Patrick Magee, Irish-English actor (b. 1922)
- 1982 – Mahasi Sayadaw, Burmese monk (b. 1904)
- 1984 – Spud Davis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1904)
- 1984 – J. B. Priestley, English author and playwright (b. 1894)
- 1985 – Gale Sondergaard, American actress (b. 1899)
- 1988 – Roy Buchanan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Snakestretchers) (b. 1939)
- 1988 – Robert Calvert, South African singer-songwriter (Hawkwind) (b. 1945)
- 1988 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded Ferrari (b. 1898)
- 1989 – Ricky Berry, American basketball player (b. 1964)
- 1991 – Alberto Crespo, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1920)
- 1992 – John Sirica, American judge (b. 1904)
- 1992 – Tony Williams, American singer (The Platters) (b. 1928)
- 1994 – Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-Swiss author (b. 1905)
- 1994 – Alice Childress, American actress, playwright, and author (b. 1912)
- 1996 – Sergiu Celibidache, Romanian conductor and composer (b. 1912)
- 1996 – Tom Mees, American sportscaster (b. 1949)
- 1996 – Solomos Solomou, Cypriot refugee (b. 1970)
- 1999 – Pee Wee Reese, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1918)
- 2000 – Alain Fournier, French-Canadian computer scientist and academic (b. 1943)
- 2000 – Cuan McCarthy, South African cricketer (b. 1929)
- 2001 – Earl Anthony, American bowler (b. 1938)
- 2002 – Larry Rivers, American artist (b. 1923)
- 2002 – Dave Williams, American singer-songwriter (Drowning Pool) (b. 1972)
- 2003 – Helmut Rahn, German footballer (b. 1929)
- 2004 – Czesław Miłosz, Polish-American author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1911)
- 2004 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (b. 1918)
- 2005 – Coo Coo Marlin, American race car driver (b. 1932)
- 2006 – Adriaan de Groot, Dutch psychologist and chess player (b. 1914)
- 2006 – Bruno Kirby, American actor and singer (b. 1949)
- 2007 – Pinchas Goldstein, Israeli politician (b. 1939)
- 2007 – Tikhon Khrennikov, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1913)
- 2007 – Kotozakura Masakatsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 53rd Yokozuna (b. 1940)
- 2008 – Percy Irausquin, Aruban-Dutch fashion designer (b. 1969)
- 2010 – Rallis Kopsidis, Greek painter (b. 1929)
- 2010 – Herman Leonard, American photographer (b. 1923)
- 2010 – Tahar Ouettar, Algerian author (b. 1936)
- 2011 – Shammi Kapoor, Indian actor and director (b. 1931)
- 2011 – Fritz Korbach, German footballer and manager (b. 1945)
- 2012 – Maja Bošković-Stulli, Croatian historian and academic (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Vilasrao Deshmukh, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Maharashtra (b. 1945)
- 2012 – Svetozar Gligorić, Serbian chess player (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Sergey Kapitsa, English-Russian physicist and demographer (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Zhou Kehua, Chinese murderer (b. 1970)
- 2012 – Ron Palillo, American actor (b. 1949)
- 2012 – Rosemary Rice, American actress and singer (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Phyllis Thaxter, American actress (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Gia Allemand, American model (b. 1983)
- 2013 – Stephen Easley, American politician (b. 1952)
- 2013 – Jack Garfinkel, American basketball player and coach (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Jack Germond, American journalist and author (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Lisa Robin Kelly, American actress (b. 1970)
- 2013 – Allen Lanier, American guitarist and songwriter (Blue Öyster Cult) (b. 1946)
- 2013 – Paddy Power, Irish politician, 22nd Minister for Defence for Ireland (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Jay Adams, American skateboarder (b. 1961)
- 2014 – Mariana Briski, Argentinian actress (b. 1965)
- 2014 – Leonard Fein, American journalist and academic, co-founded Moment Magazine (b. 1934)
- 2014 – George V. Hansen, American soldier and politician (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Alan Landsburg, American director and producer (b. 1933)
Deaths[edit]
- Commemoration of Wadi al-Dahab (Morocco)
- Independence Day, celebrates the day on which Pakistan was made an independent country based on border lines created by the British during the end of their rule of India in 1947. (Pakistan)
- Pramuka Day (Indonesia)
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“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
Lebanon's cedars are emblematic of the Christian, in that they owe their planting entirely to the Lord. This is quite true of every child of God. He is not man-planted, nor self-planted, but God-planted. The mysterious hand of the divine Spirit dropped the living seed into a heart which he had himself prepared for its reception. Every true heir of heaven owns the great Husbandman as his planter. Moreover, the cedars of Lebanon are not dependent upon man for their watering; they stand on the lofty rock, unmoistened by human irrigation; and yet our heavenly Father supplieth them. Thus it is with the Christian who has learned to live by faith. He is independent of man, even in temporal things; for his continued maintenance he looks to the Lord his God, and to him alone. The dew of heaven is his portion, and the God of heaven is his fountain. Again, the cedars of Lebanon are not protected by any mortal power. They owe nothing to man for their preservation from stormy wind and tempest. They are God's trees, kept and preserved by him, and by him alone. It is precisely the same with the Christian. He is not a hot-house plant, sheltered from temptation; he stands in the most exposed position; he has no shelter, no protection, except this, that the broad wings of the eternal God always cover the cedars which he himself has planted. Like cedars, believers are full of sap, having vitality enough to be ever green, even amid winter's snows. Lastly, the flourishing and majestic condition of the cedar is to the praise of God only. The Lord, even the Lord alone hath been everything unto the cedars, and, therefore David very sweetly puts it in one of the psalms, "Praise ye the Lord, fruitful trees and all cedars." In the believer there is nothing that can magnify man; he is planted, nourished, and protected by the Lord's own hand, and to him let all the glory be ascribed.
Evening
"And I will remember my covenant."
Genesis 9:15
Genesis 9:15
Mark the form of the promise. God does not say, "And when ye shall look upon the bow, and ye shall remember my covenant, then I will not destroy the earth," but it is gloriously put, not upon our memory, which is fickle and frail, but upon God's memory, which is infinite and immutable. "The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant." Oh! it is not my remembering God, it is God's remembering me which is the ground of my safety; it is not my laying hold of his covenant, but his covenant's laying hold on me. Glory be to God! the whole of the bulwarks of salvation are secured by divine power, and even the minor towers, which we may imagine might have been left to man, are guarded by almighty strength. Even the remembrance of the covenant is not left to our memories, for we might forget, but our Lord cannot forget the saints whom he has graven on the palms of his hands. It is with us as with Israel in Egypt; the blood was upon the lintel and the two side-posts, but the Lord did not say, "When you see the blood I will pass over you," but "When I see the blood I will pass over you." My looking to Jesus brings me joy and peace, but it is God's looking to Jesus which secures my salvation and that of all his elect, since it is impossible for our God to look at Christ, our bleeding Surety, and then to be angry with us for sins already punished in him. No, it is not left with us even to be saved by remembering the covenant. There is no linsey-wolsey here--not a single thread of the creature mars the fabric. It is not of man, neither by man, but of the Lord alone. We should remember the covenant, and we shall do it, through divine grace; but the hinge of our safety does not hang there--it is God's remembering us, not our remembering him; and hence the covenant is an everlasting covenant.
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Today's reading: Psalm 87-88, Romans 13 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Psalm 87-88
1 He has founded his city on the holy mountain.
2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion
more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.
2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion
more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are said of you,
city of God:
4 "I will record Rahab and Babylon
among those who acknowledge me-
Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush-
and will say, 'This one was born in Zion.'"
5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said,
"This one and that one were born in her,
and the Most High himself will establish her."
6 The LORD will write in the register of the peoples:
"This one was born in Zion."
city of God:
4 "I will record Rahab and Babylon
among those who acknowledge me-
Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush-
and will say, 'This one was born in Zion.'"
5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said,
"This one and that one were born in her,
and the Most High himself will establish her."
6 The LORD will write in the register of the peoples:
"This one was born in Zion."
7 As they make music they will sing,
"All my fountains are in you."
"All my fountains are in you."
Today's New Testament reading: Romans 13
Submission to Governing Authorities
1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience....
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