Power shedding in Melbourne when a 38c (100f) day turns into an overnight low of 27c (81f). Dan Andrews has turned a once energy rich state with a steady, cheap supply into an expensive and delicate energy poor state which does not sustain industry. People cannot afford to work in Victoria because of Dan Andrews and ALP AGW alarmism. It is summer. What are people to do? Soak their night clothes in water as was done when Melbourne was known as Batman? Will China want to invest in Australia if Premiers like Dan Andrews wreck their economies?
Meanwhile Dan Andrews has no problem spending money. A Gay Pride parade, which has every right to exist so long as it fulfils a need and has a purpose, like being profitable, is being given $600k by Andrews. I'll march fully clothed for half that. People would pay me to march clothed, fearing the alternative.
CNN has been seen using the same girl child model in separate 'tragedies' regarding refugees. She is seen needing rescue by three different men in three separate incidents. Surely the world's unluckiest child? CNN should write a report on her.
We know how to cure addiction in most cases. And it is not harm minimisation. Because addiction is not, and should not be normal. It involves connecting people with loved ones.
I am a decent man and don't care for the abuse given me. I created a video raising awareness of anti police feeling among western communities. I chose the senseless killing of Nicola Cotton, a Louisiana policewoman who joined post Katrina, to highlight the issue. I did this in order to get an income after having been illegally blacklisted from work in NSW for being a whistleblower. I have not done anything wrong. Local council appointees refused to endorse my work, so I did it for free. Youtube's Adsence refused to allow me to profit from their marketing it. Meanwhile, I am hostage to abysmal political leadership and hopeless journalists. My shopfront has opened on Facebook.
French .. http://www.amazon.fr/-/e/B01683ZOWG
Japan .. http://www.amazon.co.jp/-/e/B01683ZOWG
German .. http://www.amazon.de/-/e/B01683ZOWG
Here is a video I made "Feelings"
"Feelings" is a song based on a melody composed by Loulou Gasté and made famous by Morris Albert, who recorded it as the title track of his 1975 debut album. The song's lyrics, recognizable by their "whoa whoa whoa" chorus, concern the singer's inability to "forget my feelings of love." Albert's original recording of the song was very successful, scoring #6 on the pop and #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts in America and performing well internationally. Over the next few years "Feelings" was performed by many other vocalists including Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, José José, Frank Sinatra, Engelbert Humperdinck, Shirley Bassey, Glen Campbell, Sarah Vaughan, Dobie Gray and Johnny Mathis. It was also recorded by numerous easy listening bandleaders and ensembles such as Percy Faith, Ferrante & Teicher and 101 Strings.
In more recent years "Feelings" has been best known as a target of parody and ridicule for embodying what are perceived by many as the most insipid lyrical and musical qualities of 1970s "soft rock" music. It appears frequently on lists of "the worst songs ever" and was included on the 1998 Rhino Records compilation album '70s Party Killers.
=== from 2017 ===
Journalists looking at the dumb mistake of Turnbull criticising Trump personally while Trump was on election campaign will put it down to Turnbull's ego. But it wasn't because of that. Turnbull likes the sound of his own voice and would have enjoyed voicing his 'opinion.' However, Turnbull has paid a lot of Australian money to the Clinton foundation. Australian aid money. Turnbull may deflect, claiming that it was Abbott who did that, when it was Turnbull's proxy of Julie Bishop who shepherded the payments. It was part of an elite deal in which no benefit will ever go to Australia. However, it allowed Turnbull to have privileges in rolling Abbott. Even the IPA was on the Turnbull train at that time, believing Turnbull's promise to restore free speech. Trump will not forget Turnbull's hubris. At best Turnbull was dead wrong, but the truth is it is not a best situation at all. Turnbull is compromised. The horse he backed lost, but he backed that horse in earlier trading which realised him his position as PM. Turnbull is a failure as PM. The longer he stays, the worse his humiliation. But Turnbull still has to pay the Clinton cronies. It wasn't just Australia's money. It was influence too. Russia did not influence the US election. But Turnbull tried to. How will Trump repay that?
I have set up a crowdfunding account at gofundme.com/abeueaec
There is no obligation on anyone, but I thank those who contribute and promise to give larger donors thanks in either my secular work or religious work, depending on preference.
The ALP and media have covered up the abuses. Worth remembering as we approach election later this year.
For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility
I'm against a separate constitution for Aboriginal peoples. Some good people are for it. I am against it for the same reason I oppose all forms of bureaucratic assignation of race. Partly because I am a mutt without a broad discernible back ground. Partly because of historical abuses of process. Partly because I don't trust government to do anything worthwhile very well. I recognise that Aboriginal peoples have powerful needs. In the past, authorities have tried to help, and there is a campaign at the moment to smear those good people who tried to help those in need. In some ways, the call for constitutional change is an extension of the sorry campaign. I believe that it is better to put such campaigns in the past and let healing begin. But, there is reason why some want change. I just don't feel it is a good reason. I support cultural assets. Race is rarely that.
=== from 2016 ===
I have to move, and that takes money. But my abusers have successfully squeezed me over the years. I have no home, nothing I treasure, no life savings and somehow I need to find money for removalists and new accommodation and it is a challenge. And I'm not on welfare. I'm not yet making money from my books. I have no job because my anonymous abusers deny me one. It costs me money to stand still. If I move I might be able to work in my profession as a Math Teacher, but it isn't certain. I don't know who my abusers are. I have done nothing wrong. I have responsibly reported on a bungled pedophile investigation and I am a whistleblower who responsibly reported on the death of a school child. I have set up a crowdfunding account at gofundme.com/abeueaec
There is no obligation on anyone, but I thank those who contribute and promise to give larger donors thanks in either my secular work or religious work, depending on preference.
The ALP and media have covered up the abuses. Worth remembering as we approach election later this year.
For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility
=== from 2015 ===
Last year Adam Goodes was targeted by bigots for being Australian of the year. He did nothing wrong and did not deserve the criticism sent his way. This year the knighthood given to Prince Philip has been savaged too. But Philip earned it on merit for his philanthropy. The relationship between Australia and the royal family is still strong. There are those who say the royal family is an anachronism, but then,the last time a political group turned to the royal family for special help was the ALP asking the Queen to over turn her GG who had called for an election. She declined. The role the Queen assumes is unique, and no one has shown better yet. It is typically class hatred, not facts, which causes some to spurn Prince Philip. But he will die soon enough and never fill any of the shadows that those who despise him inhabit. He has been knighted for the price of a hair cut, and the difference between a bad hair cut and a good one is about two weeks.
On this day in 1820, Antarctica was discovered by a Russian expedition. In 1887, in Fort Keogh, Montana, a snowstorm provided a snow flake 38cm by 20cm, the largest ever recorded. In 1922, the Knickerbocker Storm in Washington DC's biggest snowfall resulted in The Knickerbocker Theatre roof collapsing and killing 98 and wounding 133 more. In 1977, the Great Lakes Blizzard of '77 would result in 10 feet of snow in upstate New York and surrounding areas. In 2006, the roof of the Katowice International fair in Poland collapsed from weight of snow, killing 65 and also injuring 170 more. Maybe it is time to admit that these are weather events, not evidence of climate change.
In 1077, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV had overstepped his mark in trying to appoint priests, rather than letting the Pope Gregory VII do it. Henry renounced Gregory, and Gregory excommunicated Henry for a year, which was then going to be made permanent. Henry discovered he needed Gregory, so he walked to Canossa and waited at the gate for three days in blizzard conditions to humble himself. Henry was successful on this day. In 1393, King Charles VI of France nearly died when dancers caught fire in a performance, the earliest record of MJ? In 1547, Henry VIII died, leaving his 9 yo son, Edward VI as the first Protestant king of England. In 1754, Horace Walpole coined the word 'serendipity' by writing to his friend, Horace Mann and using the word. In 1813, Pride and Prejudice was published for the first time, although Jane Austen had begun the work in 1796 (age 21) and finished it in 1797.In 1871, France lost a battle against Prussia in Paris. In 1896, Walter Arnold of Kent, a noted Hoon, became the first person convicted of speeding. He was fined 1 shilling plus costs for travelling at 8 mph, which was four times the 2mph limit. In 1909, US troops left Cuba, but retained GITMO. In 1917, municipally owned street cars were used in San Francisco. In 1956, Elvis Presley was first seen on tv. In 1958, Lego was first produced, and the Goon show was last produced. In 1964, Breshnev's Soviet's shot down an unarmed trainer of LBJ's US. It was over East Germany. In 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger blew up on take off.
On this day in 1820, Antarctica was discovered by a Russian expedition. In 1887, in Fort Keogh, Montana, a snowstorm provided a snow flake 38cm by 20cm, the largest ever recorded. In 1922, the Knickerbocker Storm in Washington DC's biggest snowfall resulted in The Knickerbocker Theatre roof collapsing and killing 98 and wounding 133 more. In 1977, the Great Lakes Blizzard of '77 would result in 10 feet of snow in upstate New York and surrounding areas. In 2006, the roof of the Katowice International fair in Poland collapsed from weight of snow, killing 65 and also injuring 170 more. Maybe it is time to admit that these are weather events, not evidence of climate change.
In 1077, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV had overstepped his mark in trying to appoint priests, rather than letting the Pope Gregory VII do it. Henry renounced Gregory, and Gregory excommunicated Henry for a year, which was then going to be made permanent. Henry discovered he needed Gregory, so he walked to Canossa and waited at the gate for three days in blizzard conditions to humble himself. Henry was successful on this day. In 1393, King Charles VI of France nearly died when dancers caught fire in a performance, the earliest record of MJ? In 1547, Henry VIII died, leaving his 9 yo son, Edward VI as the first Protestant king of England. In 1754, Horace Walpole coined the word 'serendipity' by writing to his friend, Horace Mann and using the word. In 1813, Pride and Prejudice was published for the first time, although Jane Austen had begun the work in 1796 (age 21) and finished it in 1797.In 1871, France lost a battle against Prussia in Paris. In 1896, Walter Arnold of Kent, a noted Hoon, became the first person convicted of speeding. He was fined 1 shilling plus costs for travelling at 8 mph, which was four times the 2mph limit. In 1909, US troops left Cuba, but retained GITMO. In 1917, municipally owned street cars were used in San Francisco. In 1956, Elvis Presley was first seen on tv. In 1958, Lego was first produced, and the Goon show was last produced. In 1964, Breshnev's Soviet's shot down an unarmed trainer of LBJ's US. It was over East Germany. In 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger blew up on take off.
From 2014
Australian of the Year was named for 2014, Sports star Adam Goodes. He has earned it on and off the sporting field. He represents excellent values and presents a face that is healthy to aspire to. "Nothing comes with this office except an inscribed chunk of green glass. There's no title; no stipend; no uniform; no official residence; nothing to pin in the lapel; and only the haziest of duties. What the winners are given is a voice." But it is telling to hear what the bigots who oppose him are saying. Some say he is merely Aboriginal and other Aboriginal peoples may have been more worthy. Some say he is merely an athlete and has nothing to offer the wider community. Some say that Goodes only got the award after being called an ape by a foul mouthed child. Others say they prefer others. It is ok to disagree. It is ok to not believe that Goodes is a perfect fit for the position. However, in a non legal sense, once an argument becomes Goodes is not Aboriginal enough to be representative of the wider community, or too Aboriginal, or not representative of Australians, then one becomes a bigot. The award is described as going to people where "Money and power aren't the point here. The rich have no place on the list. Raw success isn't enough. There has to be something more, some sense of distinction that lifts a candidate out of the ruck of the famous." When the foul mouthed child called him an ape, Goodes pointed her out, as he should. What the authorities did next was ridiculous, but that is not Goodes' fault. Words were placed in Goodes' mouth in subsequent days, which Goodes was taken to task for. The truth was that the child required discipline and their parent failed. It is also true many fine people could have been given the award. But none better than Goodes. We choose. in our democracy, who represents us. I am proud that Adam represents me. Others may disagree, but their reasons are often despicable.
I'm against a separate constitution for Aboriginal peoples. Some good people are for it. I am against it for the same reason I oppose all forms of bureaucratic assignation of race. Partly because I am a mutt without a broad discernible back ground. Partly because of historical abuses of process. Partly because I don't trust government to do anything worthwhile very well. I recognise that Aboriginal peoples have powerful needs. In the past, authorities have tried to help, and there is a campaign at the moment to smear those good people who tried to help those in need. In some ways, the call for constitutional change is an extension of the sorry campaign. I believe that it is better to put such campaigns in the past and let healing begin. But, there is reason why some want change. I just don't feel it is a good reason. I support cultural assets. Race is rarely that.
Historical perspective on this day
In 1077, Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor was lifted. 1393, King Charles VI of France was nearly killed when several dancers' costumes caught fireduring a masquerade ball. 1521, the Diet of Worms began, lasting until May 25. 1547, Henry VIII died. His nine-year-old son, Edward VI became King, and the first Protestant ruler of England. 1573, articles of the Warsaw Confederation were signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland. 1624, Sir Thomas Warner founded the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts. 1701, the Chinese storm Dartsedo. 1724, the Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It was called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917. 1754, Horace Walpole coined the word serendipity in a letter to Horace Mann. 1760, Pownal, Vermont was created by Benning Wentworth as one of the New Hampshire Grants.
In 1813, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was first published in the United Kingdom. 1820, a Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarevdiscovered the Antarctic continent, approaching the Antarctic coast. 1821, Alexander Island was first discovered by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. 1846, the Battle of Aliwal, India, was won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith. 1851, Northwestern University became the first chartered university in Illinois. 1855, a locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway, ran from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time. 1871, Franco-Prussian War: the Siege of Paris ended in French defeat and an armistice. 1878, Yale Daily News became the first daily college newspaper in the United States. 1887, in a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes were reported, 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick. 1896, Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
In 1902, the Carnegie Institution of Washington was founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie. 1908, members of the Portuguese Republican Party failed in their attempted coup d'état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco. 1909, United States troops left Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War. 1915, an act of the U.S. Congresscreated the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces. 1917, municipally-owned streetcars took to the streets of San Francisco. 1918, Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland went underground. 1922, Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.'s biggest snowfall, caused the city's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapsed. 1932, Japanese forces attacked Shanghai. 1933, the name Pakistan was coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and was accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence. 1934, the first ski tow in the United States began operation in Vermont. 1935, Iceland became the first Western country to legalise therapeutic abortion. 1938, the World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph). 1941, Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice went into effect later in the day. 1945, World War II: Supplies began to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
In 1956, Elvis Presley made his first US television appearance 1958, the Lego company patented the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today. Also 1958, the last episode of the British radio comedy programme The Goon Show was broadcast. 1960, the National Football League announced expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for 1961 NFL season. 1964, an unarmed USAF T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission was shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19. 1965, the current design of the Flag of Canada was chosen by an act of Parliament. 1977, the first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 which dumped 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow in one-day in Upstate New York, with Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas most affected. 1979, CBS News Sunday Morning debuted with original host and co-creator Charles Kuralt. 1979, Pope John Paul II started his first pastoral visit to Mexico.
In 1980, USCGC Blackthorn collided with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsized killing 23 Coast Guard crew members. 1981, Ronald Reagan lifted remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut. 1982, US Army general James L. Dozier was rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades. 1984, Tropical Storm Domoina made landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region. 1985, Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) recorded the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. 1986, Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission – Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board. 1988, in R. v. Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada struck down all anti-abortion laws, effectively allowing abortions in Canada in all 9 months of pregnancy. 2002, TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashed in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia killing 92. 2006, the roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Chorzów/Katowice, Poland, collapsed due to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others. 2010, five murderers of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh were hanged.
In 1813, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice was first published in the United Kingdom. 1820, a Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarevdiscovered the Antarctic continent, approaching the Antarctic coast. 1821, Alexander Island was first discovered by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. 1846, the Battle of Aliwal, India, was won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith. 1851, Northwestern University became the first chartered university in Illinois. 1855, a locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway, ran from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time. 1871, Franco-Prussian War: the Siege of Paris ended in French defeat and an armistice. 1878, Yale Daily News became the first daily college newspaper in the United States. 1887, in a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes were reported, 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick. 1896, Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
In 1902, the Carnegie Institution of Washington was founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie. 1908, members of the Portuguese Republican Party failed in their attempted coup d'état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco. 1909, United States troops left Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being there since the Spanish–American War. 1915, an act of the U.S. Congresscreated the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces. 1917, municipally-owned streetcars took to the streets of San Francisco. 1918, Finnish Civil War: Rebels seized control of the capital, Helsinki, and members of the Senate of Finland went underground. 1922, Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.'s biggest snowfall, caused the city's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapsed. 1932, Japanese forces attacked Shanghai. 1933, the name Pakistan was coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and was accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence. 1934, the first ski tow in the United States began operation in Vermont. 1935, Iceland became the first Western country to legalise therapeutic abortion. 1938, the World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph). 1941, Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice went into effect later in the day. 1945, World War II: Supplies began to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
In 1956, Elvis Presley made his first US television appearance 1958, the Lego company patented the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today. Also 1958, the last episode of the British radio comedy programme The Goon Show was broadcast. 1960, the National Football League announced expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for 1961 NFL season. 1964, an unarmed USAF T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission was shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19. 1965, the current design of the Flag of Canada was chosen by an act of Parliament. 1977, the first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 which dumped 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow in one-day in Upstate New York, with Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas most affected. 1979, CBS News Sunday Morning debuted with original host and co-creator Charles Kuralt. 1979, Pope John Paul II started his first pastoral visit to Mexico.
In 1980, USCGC Blackthorn collided with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsized killing 23 Coast Guard crew members. 1981, Ronald Reagan lifted remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut. 1982, US Army general James L. Dozier was rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades. 1984, Tropical Storm Domoina made landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region. 1985, Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) recorded the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. 1986, Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission – Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board. 1988, in R. v. Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada struck down all anti-abortion laws, effectively allowing abortions in Canada in all 9 months of pregnancy. 2002, TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashed in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia killing 92. 2006, the roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Chorzów/Katowice, Poland, collapsed due to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others. 2010, five murderers of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh were hanged.
=== 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.
===
I am publishing a book called Bread of Life: January.
Bread of Life is a daily bible quote with a layman's understanding of the meaning. I give one quote for each day, and also a series of personal stories illustrating key concepts eg Who is God? What is a miracle? Why is there tragedy?
January is the first of the anticipated year-long work of thirteen books. One for each month and the whole year. It costs to publish. It (Kindle version) should retail at about $2US online, but the paperback version would cost more, according to production cost.If you have a heart for giving, I fundraise at gofund.me/27tkwuc
Bread of Life is a daily bible quote with a layman's understanding of the meaning. I give one quote for each day, and also a series of personal stories illustrating key concepts eg Who is God? What is a miracle? Why is there tragedy?
January is the first of the anticipated year-long work of thirteen books. One for each month and the whole year. It costs to publish. It (Kindle version) should retail at about $2US online, but the paperback version would cost more, according to production cost.If you have a heart for giving, I fundraise at gofund.me/27tkwuc
===
Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August, September, October, 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 a free kindle version.
List of available items at Create Space
The Amazon Author Page for David Ball
UK .. http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01683ZOWGFrench .. http://www.amazon.fr/-/e/B01683ZOWG
Japan .. http://www.amazon.co.jp/-/e/B01683ZOWG
German .. http://www.amazon.de/-/e/B01683ZOWG
- 1312 – Joan II of Navarre (d. 1349)
- 1706 – John Baskerville, English printer and typographer (d. 1775)
- 1755 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, German physician (d. 1830)
- 1833 – Charles George Gordon, English general and administrator (d. 1885)
- 1857 – William Seward Burroughs I, American inventor and businessman, founded the Burroughs Corporation (d. 1898)
- 1863 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian painter (d. 1918)
- 1864 – Charles Williams Nash, American businessman, founded Nash Motors (d. 1948)
- 1864 – Herbert Akroyd Stuart, English inventor, invented the Hot bulb engine and Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine (d. 1927)
- 1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist (d. 1982)
- 1903 – Aleksander Kamiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1978)
- 1927 – Vera B. Williams, American children's author
- 1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, screenwriter, and director
- 1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
- 1998 – Ariel Winter, American actress
- 98 – Trajan (bust pictured) succeeded his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire would reach its maximum extent.
- 1077 – Pope Gregory VII lifted the excommunication of Henry IV after the Holy Roman Emperor made his trek from Speyer to Canossa Castle to beg the pope for forgiveness for his actions in the Investiture Controversy.
- 1821 – Alexander Island, the largest island of Antarctica, was discovered by Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen.
- 1933 – Choudhry Rahmat Ali published a pamphlet entitled "Now or Never" in which he called for the creation of a Muslim state in northwest India that he termed "Pakstan".
- 1982 – After having been kidnapped by the Italian Red Brigade 42 days earlier, General James L. Dozier of the United States Army was freed by the anti-terrorist force NOCS.
Deaths
- 592 – Guntram, French king (b. 532)
- 814 – Charlemagne, Roman emperor (b. 742)
- 1061 – Spytihněv II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1031)
- 1271 – Isabella of Aragon (b. 1247)
- 1443 – Robert le Maçon, French diplomat (b. 1365)
- 1547 – Henry VIII of England (b. 1491)
- 1613 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (b. 1545)
- 1621 – Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
- 1672 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (b. 1588)
- 1681 – Richard Allestree, English priest and academic (b. 1619)
- 1687 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer (b. 1611)
- 1697 – Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, English politician (b. 1645)
- 1754 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian-Danish historian and philosopher (b. 1684)
- 1939 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1942 – Edward Siegler, American gymnast (b. 1881)
- 1945 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant (b. 1924)
- 1947 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1875)
- 1948 – Hans Aumeier, German SS officer (b. 1906)
- 1948 – Therese Brandl, German concentration camp guard (b. 1902)
- 1948 – Arthur Liebehenschel, German SS officer (b. 1901)
- 1953 – James Scullin, Australian politician, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
- 1986 – crew of Space Shuttle Challenger
- – Gregory Jarvis, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1944)
- – Christa McAuliffe, American educator and astronaut (b. 1948)
- – Ronald McNair, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1950)
- – Ellison Onizuka, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1946)
- – Judith Resnik, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1949)
- – Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1939)
- – Michael J. Smith, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1945)
- 1996 – Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914)
- 2014 – Fernand Leduc, Canadian painter (b. 1916)
- 2014 – Gudo Wafu Nishijima, Japanese priest and educator (b. 1919)
Piers Akerman 2018
No evidence please, we’re sweet enough
PIERS AKERMAN FRESH from their name-calling foot-stamping denigrate Australia tantrum the social justice warriors are weighing in for a long fight for a new tax. Yes, a tax on sugar, Piers Akerman writes.
Tim Blair 2018
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE BANDANA GORILLA
The rag-covered head of the Australian Republican Movement, Peter FitzSimons, apparently told Australia Day party guests that next year his annual event will be held on a different date.
Tim Blair
Andrew Bolt
===
IT WAS A MARCH AGAINST WOMEN
===Andrew Bolt
Leftists block multicultural march for Australia
Theresa May shows Turnbull how to deal with Trump
SKIPPY THE DAESH KANGAROO
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 28, 2016 (5:29pm)
This probably wouldn’t have worked out the way he allegedly planned:
A Melbourne teenager allegedly discussed packing a kangaroo with explosives, painting it with an Islamic State symbol and setting it loose on police officers.Sevdet Ramadan Besim, 19, of Hallam, is accused of plotting an Anzac Day terror attack in Melbourne that would have included a beheading …
Teenager Besim allegedly wanted to put a coat of arms on our coat of arms.
Federal police allege Mr Besim and a person overseas had been in a series of communications in the lead-up to the alleged plot for Anzac Day …“The conversation continues with Besim detailing what he did that day and they have a general discussion around animals and wildlife in Australia, including a suggestion that a kangaroo could be packed with C4 explosive, painted with the IS symbol and let loose on police officers,” the summary says.
Via J. F. Beck. Here’s a kangaroo. Photoshoppers are invited to create their finest jihadi marsupial:
Please email your art to blairt@dailytelegraph.com.au or post a link in comments.
Please email your art to blairt@dailytelegraph.com.au or post a link in comments.
UPDATE. Ford built explosive kangaroos back in the 1970s. They still appear today, sometimes as tattoos or referenced on Twitter.
===
SWEDEN NOW AN EVEN BETTER MODEL FOR OTHER COUNTRIES
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 28, 2016 (2:15pm)
In 2013, human rights hand-wringers hailed Sweden:
The head of UNHCR’s regional representation for Northern Europe, Pia Prytz Phiri, told Al Jazeera that the Swedes’ decision to grant refugees permanent residence permits should serve as a model for other countries.“It is very positive because with a permanent residency you can actually immediately start the integration,” Phiri said. “From a humanitarian aspect it is the right thing to do, but also we believe it is a very good thing for Sweden to do in its own interest …”
Right. Speaking of doing things in Sweden’s own interest:
Sweden intends to expel up to 80,000 migrants who arrived in 2015 and whose application for asylum has been rejected, Interior Minister Anders Ygeman said today.“We are talking about 60,000 people but the number could climb to 80,000,” the minister was quoted as saying by Swedish media, adding that the government had asked the police and authorities in charge of migrants to organise their expulsion …The country’s police said that they were being called to more and more violent incidents amid rising refugee numbers.
As recently as last September, Eurolefties were still hailing Sweden’s gigantic reffo intake as “an example to follow”. Then the country was simply overwhelmed. As Fraser Nelson put it: “Sweden has spent almost 20 years being admired and imitated for reasons that are still valid. But in misjudging the immigration crisis, it now stands as a tragic example of what not to do.”
===
ALBO’S NEW ENEMY
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 28, 2016 (2:01pm)
Labor’s Anthony Albanese faces a struggle to defeat creeping Greenism in the next election, but he won’t go down without a fight:
In an appeal to voters who may be tempted to vote Green, Mr Albanese warned the party had been “captured” by socialists who had little interest in the environment.“The Greens political party candidate who has been chosen in this electorate has spent more time in the International Socialist organisation than he has in the Greens political party, and if he was fair dinkum he’d run as an international socialist and see how many votes he got,” he said.“It’s unfortunate that the Greens have been captured in this area, and in NSW, by people who have a history in the Socialist Party of Australia or the International Socialists or the Socialists Workers Party and want to use the Green banner to advance an agenda that’s about anything but but the environment.”“People should have a close look at what the alternatives are in this electorate, what their real views are. Just Google the candidates; it’s amazing what pops up.”
It seems that Tories are no longer the problem.
===
CHILLINGLY FESTOONED
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 28, 2016 (11:26am)
Random thoughts from Elizabeth Farrelly:
If stupidity led to exile, the Aussie population would be small indeed.Monocultures, we know, are feeble things, sickly and disease-prone.… cars chillingly festooned with Australian flags.Stan Grant’s speech … should be required watching for all six year olds.Christmas trips are likely to be joyous.How did this happen?
Somehow she turned that lot into a column.
===
ARF TIME
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 28, 2016 (9:32am)
Another Sydney summer, another NRL scandal. This one features a poodle:
Note the thoughtful anonymity bar:
Note the thoughtful anonymity bar:
===
It is the knight to call it a day
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, January 28, 2015 (12:56am)
TONY Abbott’s gonging of Prince Philip makes no political sense. It shows Gillardesque poor judgment. Honestly.
Continue reading 'It is the knight to call it a day'
===
COMPUTER MODELS GET IT WRONG
Tim Blair – Wednesday, January 28, 2015 (1:05pm)
New York’s jittery mayor Bill de Blasio warned of snowmageddon this week as a blizzard approached his city. The Onion’s satirical take is only a slight exaggeration:
“The furious hoarfrost bearing down upon us knows neither mercy nor reason, and all within the five boroughs will perish, cowering in their brittle dwellings,” said de Blasio, adding that none would find succor from the gale save those favored by providence to pass quietly in their sleep.“This shall be a tempest the likes of which has never been glimpsed by man or beast. Clutch your babes close to your breast and take small comfort in knowing that they will howl for but a few hours before death becalms them forever.”
And then the storm arrived:
A blizzard billed as possibly one of the worst ever in New York has left only moderate snow in the Big Apple – and officials and forecasters red-faced ...
Impressively, the Weather Channel got it right.
===
PROBLEM SOLVED
Tim Blair – Wednesday, January 28, 2015 (11:03am)
Clementine Ford imagines the fate of bothersome men in her feminist utopia:
Well, we’d just kill them.
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
Interesting and barely known information.
Annual bilateral trade between Israel and Azerbaijan is more than $5 billion, higher than Israel's trade with France.
There are more Azerbaijani Jews in Israel than in that country. They have barely 9000.
92% of their population are Muslim, mainly Shiite.
Azerbaijan is a member of the Organization of Islamic States yet it looks on Israel as an important strategic and trading partner.
Could this be a model for the future?
Annual bilateral trade between Israel and Azerbaijan is more than $5 billion, higher than Israel's trade with France.
There are more Azerbaijani Jews in Israel than in that country. They have barely 9000.
92% of their population are Muslim, mainly Shiite.
Azerbaijan is a member of the Organization of Islamic States yet it looks on Israel as an important strategic and trading partner.
Could this be a model for the future?
===
===
HELLO, SAILORS
Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 28, 2014 (12:09pm)
After smearing Australian Navy personnel as torturers, the ABC now belatedly seeks the other side of the story:
I don’t buy that line about her boss not believing earlier allegations, and would advise any navy staff to avoid contact. This is a fishing exercise by an entity already revealed as hostile to Australian servicemen.
I don’t buy that line about her boss not believing earlier allegations, and would advise any navy staff to avoid contact. This is a fishing exercise by an entity already revealed as hostile to Australian servicemen.
(Via casey)
===
FROZEN BELLINI
Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 28, 2014 (11:59am)
A beardo is berg bound:
In the spring of 2015, Alex Bellini will fly to Greenland, jump on an iceberg, and live there until it melts.
He’s going for gold in the eternal Stupid Olympics of green activism.
As the chunk of ice floats southward to its thawing doom, he’ll witness his new home get smaller and smaller until it is no more and he finds himself adrift in the ocean. He hopes to raise awareness of climate change and global warming …
But of course.
He’ll be there for up to 12 months, the limit he’s set on the task.
Good luck, son.
(Via Simple Simon)
===
HULKSTRALIA
Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 28, 2014 (11:28am)
Leftist crazybird Jeff Sparrow – lately blaming George W. Bush for violence in Sydney – now describes Australia as:
… a steroid soaked neighbourhood bully drunk with power, casually coward punching the inhabitants of the Pacific.
Sure, Jeff. We’re mostly punching them with millions in foreign aid. Take that, puny Pacific nations!
(Via PWAF)
===
TUNDRA RACER
Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 28, 2014 (11:02am)
This might be Antarctica’s only dragster, apparently built by US servicemen in the late 1960s:
Seems they didn’t need to be rescued.
Seems they didn’t need to be rescued.
(Via Iowahawk)
===
MARGOFEST AT MAULES CREEK
Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 28, 2014 (10:26am)
In tiny Maules Creek, a spectacular Blair’s Law movement is underway – documented by none other than MargoKingston herself. I might need to visit this historic event.
UPDATE. And the ABC joins in. This is now officially perfect.
===
ABC now admits its navy smear “unlikely to be true”
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (6:07pm)
An senior army officer was so astonished by this email from the ABC that he wrote back to ask if it was genuine..
And, yes, indeed. A week after claiming it had “footage [which] appears to back asylum seekers’ claims of mistreatment by the Australian Navy” the ABC is now checking whether that improbable claim is actually true. What’s more, it now claims that it never really believed the claims it trumpeted so loudly, damaging the Abbott Government and the navy and prompting Indonesia to accuse Australia of a “crime”.
Amazing stuff:
Contrast this admission to last week’s reports, like this
And, yes, indeed. A week after claiming it had “footage [which] appears to back asylum seekers’ claims of mistreatment by the Australian Navy” the ABC is now checking whether that improbable claim is actually true. What’s more, it now claims that it never really believed the claims it trumpeted so loudly, damaging the Abbott Government and the navy and prompting Indonesia to accuse Australia of a “crime”.
Amazing stuff:
Hi ,“My boss feels the allegations are likely to be untrue,” Then why the frantic pushing of these damaging claims?
I am a researcher at ABC news. I was wondering if you can help me.
I have been tasked with finding some navy personnel who might be willing to speak to us in a background capacity – not on the record. It follows the story our Jakarta guy ran on the asylum seekers burns claims. My boss feels the allegations are likely to be untrue and we want to get people on board some of the ships up there to background us – HMAS Maitland, Stuart etc. We need people to talk to us.
Do you know of any people with navy or defence force affiliations who might be able to put us in touch with someone. There’s plenty of Facebook pages but they are often closed groups and I wouldn’t want to approach anyone who didn’t feel comfortable talking.
Many thanks,
Alison Branley
National Reporting Team
700 Harris Street, Ultimo NSW 2007
Contrast this admission to last week’s reports, like this
ABC News has obtained video footage of asylum seekers receiving medical assessments of burns that Indonesian police say were inflicted by the Australian Navy…And this:
Indonesian police say the asylum seekers suffered burns when Navy personnel forced them to hold onto hot pipes coming out of the boat’s engine.The video and the version of events given by the police seems to back up the claims of mistreatment made by the asylum seekers when they first spoke to the ABC a fortnight ago.
New footage appears to back asylum seekers’ claims of mistreatment by the Australian Navy.
===
No concession will be enough until apartheid is forced on us. So stop now
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (12:07pm)
First, all we needed to be reconciled was to simply say sorry. Here’s Aboriginal activist Professor Mick Dodson:
At what stage will even the Left baulk, with all its fine talk of “universal values” and its decrying of racism and apartheid? When will mute Australians who believe in the individual above the tribe and in the equality of all before our law cry “too much”?
It is not enough to simply “mean well” by making what seem harmless concessions to principle. A principle conceded, each step then leads inevitably to the next until racism becomes the official creed of a territory once called Australia.
Stop now.
UPDATE
And then the next demand, via Aboriginal leader Sol Bellear on the ABC’s The Drum:
UPDATE
A sign of hope.The following motion was moved and adopted by the Young Liberal Movement at its Federal Convention in Fremantle at the weekend:
I think that the parliamentary apology made to members of the Stolen Generations will forever change the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the rest of the population of Australia. The apology has the potential to transform Australia and, once and for all, to put black and white relationships in this country on a proper footing.But it turned out another step was needed, after all - to change the constitution. Here’s Ballarat elder “Uncle” Murray Harrison:
Mr Harrison said the recognition of indigenous people in the constitution would show that there was “no division between us"…But with both Labor and Liberal agreeing to constitutional recognition, it turns out yet another once-and-for-all step is needed:
“As far as I’m concerned this is what it’s all about, just being recognised would put the icing on the cake, mate.”
However, Secretary of the Aboriginal Provisional Government Michael Mansell says the campaign for constitutional recognition is just a distraction and a treaty is more important.After that there will be demands for self-government, then nation status for tribes, then perhaps even evacuation of non-Aborigines. Meanwhile more recently arrived ethnic groups will demand their own collective rights and even customary law.
“A treaty would impose on governments around Australia obligations that they would have to comply with the new treaty laws and it also creates rights for Aboriginal people that have been denied to us in the past and those rights would include recognition of customary law, the right to land, the right to make decisions over Aboriginal people and the right to raise our own economy.”
At what stage will even the Left baulk, with all its fine talk of “universal values” and its decrying of racism and apartheid? When will mute Australians who believe in the individual above the tribe and in the equality of all before our law cry “too much”?
It is not enough to simply “mean well” by making what seem harmless concessions to principle. A principle conceded, each step then leads inevitably to the next until racism becomes the official creed of a territory once called Australia.
Stop now.
UPDATE
And then the next demand, via Aboriginal leader Sol Bellear on the ABC’s The Drum:
The High Court ruling I’ll embrace is the one which finds that no Australian court has the right to sit in judgment of my people. And that’s fundamentally what this should be all about - sovereignty. The right of Aboriginal people to control Aboriginal lives.So at what point exactly will we be “reconciled”? When the country is torn apart on ethnic lines?
UPDATE
A sign of hope.The following motion was moved and adopted by the Young Liberal Movement at its Federal Convention in Fremantle at the weekend:
“That the Young Liberal Movement of Australia express its desire for a strong and unified Australia and therefore reject any proposal to recognise any ethnic or social groups in the Australian Constitution to the exclusion of other Australians.”
===
Mass immigration is a threat to what the Left should value, too
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (10:04am)
Former Labor Minister Gary Johns makes an important point:
SAVING one refugee is humane: saving one million refugees is almost certainly not. Large numbers of refugees, or migrants not carefully chosen, can change the nature of the host country, to its detriment. If Australia were to consist of a mix of Iraqs, Irans, Afghanistans, Syrias, Somalias, it would no longer be Australia.And Johns adds an argument too readily howled down as “racist”, although British social democrats now realise its dangerous truth - that too many immigrants from cultures too different can erode not just the concept of citizenship, but the sense of mutual obligation that underpins the welfare state:
Refugee advocates can never summon the courage to answer the question of how many is too many. Instead, they hide behind the particular instance, always ignoring the big picture… An overly legalistic and generous refugee regime, detached from its consequences, makes Australia vulnerable to large numbers of refugees. The effect, if indeed not the object of refugee advocacy, is to disarm Australia.
Australians do not tear themselves limb from limb, but graciously accede to an election loss and know that, in losing, rights to treatment under the law will be preserved. The same is not true in those nations, or bits of them, from which refugees flee.David Goodhart, former editor of the Leftist Prospect, has made the same point:
Paul Collier’s fine study, Exodus: Immigration and Multiculturalism in the 21st Century, proves that the immigration from poor countries to rich is on the rise. The numbers of those who want to take the protections of the liberal nation state, but potentially forsake its disciplines, are also on the rise.
Collier’s thesis is that, left ungoverned, as has occurred in Europe, migration will accelerate and become excessive…
He asks “suppose that international migration would become sufficiently common as to dissolve the meaning of national identity”.
He makes plain what is obvious to almost all Australians, that a national identity and a clear set of rules that all citizens obey are the price of liberty. More powerfully, he argues, “nations are important and legitimate moral units” ... [and] are the only way to provide public goods such as pensions and security…
Permanently rising cultural diversity runs the risk of undermining mutual regard.
The global citizen worldview [of the Left] tends to be suspicious of communities. Or rather the idea of community is praised in the abstract but rejected in the particular in favour of a “cruise liner” theory of society in which people come together for a voyage but have no ongoing relationship. This individualistic view of society makes it hard for modern liberals to understand why people object to their communities being changed too rapidly by mass immigration – and what is not understood is easily painted as irrational or racist.
It also explains why this brand of liberalism is unmoved by worries about integration. If society is just a random collection of individuals, what is there to integrate into? In liberal societies, of course, immigrants do not have to completely abandon their own traditions, but there is such a thing as society, and if newcomers do not make some effort to join in it is harder for existing citizens to see them as part of the “imagined community”. When that happens it weakens the bonds of solidarity and in the long run erodes the “emotional citizenship” required to sustain welfare states… Indeed, the modern nation state is the only institution that can currently offer what liberals, of both right and left, want: government accountability, cross-class and generational solidarity, and a sense of collective identification. As societies become more diverse, we need this glue of a national story more not less. This is ultimately a pragmatic argument. The nation state is not a good in itself, it is just the institutional arrangement that can deliver the democratic, welfare, and psychological outcomes that most people seem to want.
===
CFMEU scandal is the third strike for the union movement. Time for an inquiry
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (9:35am)
The AWU scandal. The Health Service Union scandal. Now - to prove an inquiry into union power is needed - comes the CFMEU scandal:
How can Labor keep blocking the restoration of a strong anti-crime force in the building industry?
A Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union ... organiser Danny Berardi decided to resign after Fairfax told the union it would report he helped at least two building companies, which did renovation work on his properties for free, win contracts on Melbourne construction sites.UPDATE
An investigation by Fairfax Media and the ABC’s 7.30 program has found that several influential CFMEU officials, organisers and shop stewards in NSW and Victoria received bribes and other inducements from corrupt companies that needed their support to win multi-million-dollar contracts…
The CFMEU’s national executive has launched an internal investigation into allegations surrounding labour hire companies run by Sydney businessman George Alex…
One of Mr Alex’s companies won a lucrative contract related to the Sydney’s Barangaroo site after being promoted by an influential NSW CFMEU figure. Another senior NSW union figure requested Mr Alex to employ his son after he was released from jail having served a long sentence for murder.
In Victoria, Mr Alex’s agreement with the CFMEU involved him paying Melbourne underworld figure Mick Gatto tens of thousands of dollars to help broker the deal and run Alex’s operations…
A condition of Mr Alex’s Victorian CFMEU deal involved his company, United, hiring union firebrand Craig Johnston, who in 2004 served a nine-month prison sentence after being convicted for affray, assault and damaging property for an infamous ‘‘run-through’’ at two Melbourne companies.
Mr Alex, whose Victorian operation was overseen by Comanchero bikie Amin Fakhri, paid Johnston an inflated wage of at least $2000 a week…
The Fairfax/7.30 Report investigation uncovered a 2010 intelligence report prepared by Victoria Police and Australian Crime Commission that alleged Gatto and his crane company business partner, Matt Tomas, were involved in “criminal activity in the building industry and narcotics” and had connections to “the Hells Angels, the CFMEU and drug importers”. Around the time of the report, Mr Gatto’s company Elite Cranes and a Hells Angels East County chapter crane company won contracts on Victoria’s desalination plant through corrupt dealings.
Victoria’s biggest labour hire firm, MC Labour, ... gave kickbacks to [a] CFMEU organiser, including free labour to help renovate his house in Melbourne’s north-east. MC Labour employed [his] wife…
Another labour hire and traffic management firm, KPI, which is run by a convicted criminal and former union shop steward, has regularly hired the relatives and associates of union -officials as a means of winning work and paid kickbacks to several union officials… The Victorian CFMEU directed MC Labour to hire the girlfriend of ¬notorious crime figure Christopher Binse, despite the fact she was a hairdresser with no construction industry experience.
How can Labor keep blocking the restoration of a strong anti-crime force in the building industry?
THE Coalition has seized on fresh claims of corruption in the multi-billion dollar construction industry, saying Labor must now endorse the restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Employment Minister Eric Abetz said Australians wanted corruption stamped out in the jobs-rich industry, in which union officials have allegedly received kickbacks from organised crime figures…
“Any argument against the re-establishment of the ABCC has just disappeared out the window,’’ Mr Abetz told ABC radio. “Bill Shorten and Labor need to acknowledge that there is corruption and there is the need of the ABCC.’’
===
Bob Brown’s audience doesn’t match his words
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (9:28am)
The crowd at Hobart’s “invasion day” rally gives me no confidence that its agenda really is reconciliation and unity. If I am to be reconciled with the Rebels bikie gang and race preachers I’ve probably given up more principles than is wise:
(Thanks to reader TassieRooster.)
===
Australia living on borrowed money, the Government on borrowed time
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (9:13am)
Time for real action:
I accept the Government has had some successes already (border policies) and is tackling needed reforms (work for dole). But much depends on the May Budget and the selling in the months before.
(Thanks to reader reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
THE budget is destined to remain in deficit for at least the next five years, with spending cuts of $25 billion a year required to return it to surplus.And, as Judith Sloan suggests, time to sell that action, too:
Instead of cuts, both federal and state governments are expected to continue spending an ever-rising share of GDP as states tire of austerity and the commonwealth meets big spending commitments made during the election. Consulting firm Deloitte Access Economics’ quarterly review of the economic outlook foreshadows two difficult years ahead with the end of the resource project construction boom leaving another 50,000 people unemployed, while real living standards have already started to decline...
There are...some important lessons from the Hawke-Keating years in terms of achieving beneficial, workable and acceptable economic policy reforms. The Hawke-Keating government used at least two useful ploys: create a sense of crisis - describing Australia as a potential “banana republic” was no accident - and introduce a raft of new policies so most people were both winners and losers at the same time.I have a sinking feeling with the Abbott Government. It is neither smiting its foes nor exciting its friends. In fact, its sudden lurch into the divisive racial politics of the Left could make an enemy of its own base.
Unless politicians from both the government and opposition are prepared to engage the electorate on a rational, reasoned and extended basis, the end result is bad policy pitched to accord with most people’s fast thinking. The Abbott government should take note; the Rudd-Gillard government certainly did not.
I accept the Government has had some successes already (border policies) and is tackling needed reforms (work for dole). But much depends on the May Budget and the selling in the months before.
(Thanks to reader reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
===
Unsettled science: new paper concedes “extent of global warming” is “highly uncertain”
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (9:00am)
A new paper by warmists in Science blame aerosols for the failure of the world to warm as predicted, but admit it’s now hard to calculate what effect man’s gases actually have on the climate. From the abstract:
PS: one of the authors, Steve Sherwood, is from the Climate Change Research Centre that includes the head of the Ship of Fools, Professor Chris Turney.
UPDATE
More unsettled science:
Aerosols counteract part of the warming effects of greenhouse gases, mostly by increasing the amount of sunlight reflected back to space. However, the ways in which aerosols affect climate through their interaction with clouds are complex and incompletely captured by climate models. As a result, the radiative forcing (that is, the perturbation to Earth’s energy budget) caused by human activities is highly uncertain, making it difficult to predict the extent of global warming…Remember when the “science was settled”?
PS: one of the authors, Steve Sherwood, is from the Climate Change Research Centre that includes the head of the Ship of Fools, Professor Chris Turney.
UPDATE
More unsettled science:
A paper published January 21st in Quaternary Science Reviews reconstructs storm activity in Iceland over the past 1,200 years and finds storminess and extreme weather variability was far more common during the Little Ice Age in comparison to the Medieval Warm Period and the 20th century. The paper adds to many other peer-reviewed publications finding global warming decreases storm activity, the opposite of claims by climate alarmists.(Thanks to readers fulchrum and Ombudsman.)
===
The unsustainable sustainability fad
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (8:08am)
Nick Cater on the cult of “sustainability”:
Sustainability is one of the three priority themes in the new Australian curriculum, polluting everything from algebra to zoology.
“The sustainability priority is futures-oriented, focusing on protecting environments and creating a more ecologically and socially just world through informed action,” the curriculum says.
Students are encouraged to consider “that unlimited growth is unsustainable; sustainability - that biological systems need to remain diverse and productive over time; and rights of nature - recognition that humans and their natural environment are closely interrelated”.
Sustainability is Malthusianism for the 21st century: the fallacy that population is growing faster than the available resources and that ruination is just around the corner. The world viewed through the prism of sustainability is a deeply depressing place in which dreams are discouraged, imagination is restricted and the spirit of progress frowned upon.
===
Strangled by health and safety
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (7:56am)
The tyranny of red tape - and the consequence of courts granting too many wild compensation claims:
A REFRIGERATOR lightbulb retailing for about $3 at a hardware store ended up costing a far north Queensland state school almost $500 after Queensland’s Public Works Department sent an electrician to install it in a teacher’s government-owned home.
Doomadgee State School, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, was billed $200 for labour alone after the teacher was told workplace health and safety regulations prevented any staff member from buying and replacing the bulb themselves, The Australian understands.
===
Letting in the seeds of strife
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (7:38am)
Our immigration programs are predicated in part on the lazy assumption that the second generation will integrate, not radicalise. That needs rethinking before more people get hurt.
And yes, I know, the first example below is actually the son of an Australian woman, as well as of an Indonesian immigrant, later deported after his application for refugee status was refused:
And yes, I know, the first example below is actually the son of an Australian woman, as well as of an Indonesian immigrant, later deported after his application for refugee status was refused:
WITH an arm rested on a ute-mounted heavy machine-gun while the flag of al-Qa’ida offshoot the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham waves next to him, Australian man Mohammed Ayub smiles wildly and poses for a battlefront photo in Syria.Small point, but what are Bond University’s standards? From the rantings of “Ahmed Shaheed:”
The son of “jihad sheila” Rabiah Hutchinson and alleged former Jemaah Islamiah cell leader Abdul Rahim Ayub, the 26-year-old, whose real name is Illias Ayub and who was once a student at Belmore Boys High School in Sydney’s west, is believed to have travelled to Syria about a year ago....
With an estimated 100 Australians fighting in Syria, the federal government fears the experience, connections and ideologies formed on the battlefront will see them pose a threat to national security if or when they return…
A former Bond University student describes fighting with another declared al-Qa’ida-linked group, Jabhat al-Nusra, in Aleppo and near the port city of Latakia, using the nom de guerre Ahmed Shaheed to tell the story of how local jihadists put an end to proposed plans to kidnap Japanese journalists for ransom…
Another man describing himself as an Jabhat al-Nusra fighter and who claims to have studied IT at the University of Wollongong, “Abu Al Hassan”, ... warned the jihad would not end with Syria. “By Allah we will not stop fighting kufr (disbelievers),” he said on January 4.... “Who ever harmed Islam and muslims is next, who ever is ruling according to man-made laws and not Allah’s is next, so o (sic) you who disbelieve sleep with two eyes open!!"… A person using the Facebook account of the Al Risalah Islamic centre in Sydney’s west began posting on Shaheed’s page just days after he created it last September.
Couldn’t help but wonder how much the Japanese government would have paid for there (sic) release… I wish my AK-47 had bullets with witch (sic) I shoot and only the Kaffir (disbelievers) would be killed.
===
Does the Left really want a race war?
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (7:10am)
Gerard Henderson on another taxpayer-funded attempt to excite racial tensions by grotesquely caricaturing Australia’s past:
The Left is playing with fire.
UPDATE
The hatred being preached against Australia is astonishing. John Stone on the country some are now trying to tear apart:
[John] Pilger’s latest documentary, Utopia, is produced by Dartmouth Films in association with the taxpayer-subsidised SBS TV Australia… It has just had showings at the taxpayer-subsidised Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.... So stand by for a dose of alienation coming to an art-house theatre near you, followed by a release on SBS…It strikes me that many on the Left will not be satisfied until we have a race war. Australia Day two years ago - when a Julia Gillard staffer incited a violent protest by allegedly passing false information about Tony Abbott to the Aboriginal tent embassy - is not just a metaphor but a foretaste.
Utopia contains close to two hours of unremitting propaganda… Early in the film, Australian journalist Jeff McMullen (who presented Difference of Opinion on ABC TV, the predecessor of Q&A) makes a statement which frames Pilger’s documentary.
According to McMullen, the interaction between the European settlers and the first peoples over two centuries can be explained as follows: “We rounded people up into concentration camps; in fact what we have done from the original invasion until now is constantly reduce Aboriginal people to subhuman status.”
So, according to the Pilger-McMullen view, indigenous Australians are still regarded as subhuman. Such hyperbole runs through the entire documentary. No other view gets an uninterrupted hearing…
White and black Australians who support the Utopia line are allowed to state their case. Whites who proclaim a different view, such as Snowdon and Brough, are interrupted and disparaged. Pilger told Fairfax Media’s Nick Galvin he chose not to interview Aboriginal leaders who are “part of the political elite”.... Utopia glosses over the problems of drug and alcohol dependency among indigenous Australians along with the alarming rate of violence by Aborigines against other Aborigines, including women. Also Utopia fails to recognise that many indigenous Australians have a part-European or other background. Which means that, in Pilger’s testimony, their predecessors were both the invaders and the invaded.
The Left is playing with fire.
UPDATE
The hatred being preached against Australia is astonishing. John Stone on the country some are now trying to tear apart:
We should look back upon our history with pride, and rejoice in the good fortune of our inheritance, chiefly from Britain. The separation of Church and State, our parliamentary system, a respect for the rule of law (albeit not the rule of lawyers), the common law, and not least our language – that of Shakespeare, the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, John Milton, and the list goes on – were all bequeathed to us, in some cases as a result of long and at times bitter struggles elsewhere. What a fortunate nation we have indeed been.
===
Once upon a time the Palestinians were allowed a vote
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (6:59am)
It was another one of those Middle Eastern elections - one man, one vote, one time:
Palestinian Authority [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas deserves congratulations (mabrouk in Arabic). He has just entered his tenth year of his four-year term in office.Israel is expected to make a deal with a president who broke a promise of elections to his own people.
===
The Left vs free speech
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (6:53am)
John Hinderaker notes the same totalitarian instinct - the same intolerance of debate - in America’s Left:
We have already seen some of that–liberals descending on private citizens’ homes, trying to frighten their families. In one notorious case, a teenage boy was home alone when a union-led mob, bused to the scene, attacked the front porch of his family’s house. Terrified, he locked himself in a bathroom. Most recently, attacks on Google buses in San Francisco have reportedly forced the company to hire armed security to protect its employees. And what of the Koch brothers themselves? They have received countless death threats, and their residences have been besieged by left-wing activists. Small wonder that most people who donate to conservative organizations would rather remain private.
But again: Why does the Times think that the effectiveness of conservative 501(c)(4)s “would be much reduced” if the government forced them to make donor lists public? I can think of only one reason: the Times and its allies on the far left would harass and vilify them; liberals would organize boycotts of their companies’ products; thugs from unions and Occupy Wall Street would threaten their families; the Obama administration would see that their taxes are audited and other administrative measures brought to bear. This is what the Times and other liberals want. Liberals like those on the Times editorial board have no wish to argue with conservatives; they almost always lose. What they want, instead, is to squash dissent by shutting conservatives up.
===
Dear Katharine. Try argument, not abuse. This issue is too, too important for name-calling
Andrew Bolt January 28 2014 (12:16am)
The Left has become so intellectually lazy that it resorts to name calling as the first response to unfashionable arguments. That is particularly so when the Left is confronted by principled arguments against rewriting our constitution to distinguish between Australians on the grounds of Aboriginal ancestry.
Take even Guardian writer Katharine Murphy, who (disappointingly for an apparently intelligent woman) simply asserts what she does not trouble to prove - because, I suspect, she cannot:
But why didn’t Murphy spend just a paragraph to prove my case not just pernicious but illogical? Wouldn’t that have been satisfying work, proving me illogical? She might even have talked me out of my position, since I would be very glad of correction if I am in error. But this abuse is simply lazy, and suggests intellectual bankruptcy.
(I note Murphy did not link to the blog item she criticised (or to this one). Had she done so, some readers might have realised she did my argument little justice in her summary.)
Take even Guardian writer Katharine Murphy, who (disappointingly for an apparently intelligent woman) simply asserts what she does not trouble to prove - because, I suspect, she cannot:
Conservative opponents are starting to rumble. Columnist Andrew Bolt over the weekend produced an argument along the following lines: if the constitution contains racial framing then racism and division will ensue. Bolt’s “New Racism” argument is pernicious, and not even logical, but it is simple – simpler say, than explaining the complexities and deficiencies of a document that most Australians don’t care about, and haven’t read.Once the Left thought racism was “pernicious”. Now they claim that opposition to racism is the real evil.
But why didn’t Murphy spend just a paragraph to prove my case not just pernicious but illogical? Wouldn’t that have been satisfying work, proving me illogical? She might even have talked me out of my position, since I would be very glad of correction if I am in error. But this abuse is simply lazy, and suggests intellectual bankruptcy.
(I note Murphy did not link to the blog item she criticised (or to this one). Had she done so, some readers might have realised she did my argument little justice in her summary.)
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
Holly Sarah Nguyen
Honor the best in you. Respect what you can and can't do. When it's enough for you, it often has a way to show someone it must be enough for them.
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
===
- 814 – Charlemagne dies of pleurisy in Aachen as the first Holy Roman Emperor. He is succeeded by his son Louis the Pious as king of the Frankish Empire.
- 946 – Caliph Al-Mustakfi is blinded and deposed by Emir Mu'izz al-Dawla, ruler of the Buyid Empire. He is succeeded by Al-Mutias caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate.
- 1069 – Robert de Comines, the Earl of Northumbria, is killed while attempting to subdue rebels in Durham, England. This leads to the Harrying of the North by William the Conqueror.
- 1077 – Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted.
- 1393 – King Charles VI of France is nearly killed when several dancers' costumes catch fireduring a masquerade ball.
- 1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
- 1547 – Henry VIII dies. His nine-year-old son, Edward VI, becomes king.
- 1568 – The Edict of Torda prohibited the persecution of individuals on religious ground in John Sigismund Zápolya's Eastern Hungarian Kingdom.
- 1573 – Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland.
- 1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
- 1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
- 1754 – Sir Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to a friend.
- 1813 – Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
- 1846 – The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.
- 1851 – Northwestern University becomes the first chartered university in Illinois.
- 1855 – A locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
- 1871 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
- 1878 – Yale Daily News becomes the first daily college newspaper in the United States.
- 1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
- 1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
- 1908 – Members of the Portuguese Republican Party fail in their attempted coup d'état against the administrative dictatorship of Prime Minister João Franco.
- 1909 – United States troops leave Cuba with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Baseafter being there since the Spanish–American War.
- 1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
- 1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
- 1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
- 1922 – Knickerbocker Storm, Washington D.C.'s biggest snowfall, causes the city's greatest loss of life when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapses.
- 1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
- 1933 – The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and is accepted by Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
- 1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion.
- 1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).
- 1941 – Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.
- 1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
- 1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance.
- 1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
- 1960 – The National Football League announced expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for 1961 NFL season.
- 1964 – An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot downover Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
- 1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.
- 1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977 which dumps 10 feet (3.0 m) of snow in one day in Upstate New York, with Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected.
- 1980 – USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
- 1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
- 1982 – US Army general James L. Dozier is rescued by Italian anti-terrorism forces from captivity by the Red Brigades.
- 1984 – Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.
- 1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
- 1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission: Space Shuttle Challenger explodes after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
- 1988 – In R v Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down all anti-abortion laws.
- 2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100 crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 92.
- 2006 – The roof of one of the buildings at the Katowice International Fair in Poland, collapsesdue to the weight of snow, killing 65 and injuring more than 170 others.
- 2016 - The World Health Organization announces an outbreak of the Zika virus.
- 676 – Toneri, Japanese prince (d. 735)
- 1312 – Joan II, queen of Navarre (d. 1349)
- 1406 – Guy XIV de Laval, French noble (d. 1486)
- 1457 – Henry VII, king of England (d. 1509)
- 1533 – Paul Luther, German scientist (d. 1593)
- 1540 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German-Dutch mathematician and academic (d. 1610)
- 1582 – John Barclay, French-Scottish poet and author (d. 1621)
- 1600 – Clement IX, pope of the Catholic Church (d. 1669)
- 1608 – Giovanni Alfonso Borelli, Italian physiologist and physicist (d. 1679)
- 1611 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (d. 1687)
- 1622 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer and instrument maker (d. 1691)
- 1693 – Gregor Werner, Austrian composer (d. 1766)
- 1701 – Charles Marie de La Condamine, French mathematician and geographer (d. 1774)
- 1706 – John Baskerville, English printer and typographer (d. 1775)
- 1712 – Tokugawa Ieshige, Japanese shogun (d. 1761)
- 1717 – Mustafa III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1774)
- 1719 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German poet and critic (d. 1749)
- 1719 – Christian Felix Weiße, German poet and playwright (d. 1802)
- 1755 – Samuel Thomas von Sömmerring, Polish-German physician, anthropologist, and paleontologist (d. 1830)
- 1784 – George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1860)
- 1797 – Charles Gray Round, English lawyer and politician (d. 1867)
- 1818 – George S. Boutwell, American lawyer and politician, 28th United States Secretary of the Treasury (d. 1905)
- 1822 – Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian soldier, journalist, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1892)
- 1833 – Charles George Gordon, English general and politician (d. 1885)
- 1841 – Henry Morton Stanley, Welsh-American explorer and journalist (d. 1904)
- 1843 – Mihkel Veske, Estonian poet and linguist (d. 1890)
- 1853 – José Martí, Cuban journalist, poet, and theorist (d. 1895)
- 1853 – Vladimir Solovyov, Russian philosopher, poet, and critic (d. 1900)
- 1855 – William Seward Burroughs I, American businessman, founded the Burroughs Corporation (d. 1898)
- 1858 – Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Welsh-Australian geologist and explorer (d. 1934)
- 1861 – Julián Felipe, Filipino composer and educator (d. 1944)
- 1863 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (d. 1918)
- 1864 – Charles Williams Nash, American businessman, founded Nash Motors (d. 1948)
- 1865 – Lala Lajpat Rai, Indian author and politician (d. 1928)
- 1865 – Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, Finnish lawyer, judge, and politician, 1st President of Finland (d. 1952)
- 1873 – Colette, French novelist and journalist (d. 1954)
- 1873 – Monty Noble, Australian cricketer (d. 1940)
- 1874 – Alex Smith, Scottish golfer (d. 1930)
- 1875 – Julián Carrillo, Mexican violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1965)
- 1878 – Walter Kollo, German composer and conductor (d. 1940)
- 1880 – Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer and coach (d. 1970)
- 1884 – Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and explorer (d. 1962)
- 1885 – Vahan Terian, Armenian poet and activist (d. 1920)
- 1886 – Marthe Bibesco, Romanian-French author and poet (d. 1973)
- 1886 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese engineer and academic (d. 1976)
- 1887 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and educator (d. 1982)
- 1897 – Valentin Kataev, Russian author and playwright (d. 1986)
- 1900 – Alice Neel, American painter (d. 1984)
- 1903 – Aleksander Kamiński, Polish author and educator (d. 1978)
- 1903 – Kathleen Lonsdale Irish crystallographer and 1st female FRS (d. 1971)
- 1906 – Markos Vafiadis, Greek general and politician (d. 1992)
- 1908 – Paul Misraki, Turkish-French composer and historian (d. 1998)
- 1909 – John Thomson, Scottish footballer (d. 1931)
- 1910 – John Banner, Austrian actor (d. 1973)
- 1911 – Johan van Hulst, Dutch politician, academic and author, Yad Vashem recipient
- 1912 – Jackson Pollock, American painter (d. 1956)
- 1918 – Harry Corbett, English puppeteer, actor, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Trevor Skeet, New Zealand-English lawyer and politician (d. 2004)
- 1919 – Gabby Gabreski, American colonel and pilot (d. 2002)
- 1921 – Vytautas Norkus, Lithuanian–American basketball player (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Anna Gordy Gaye, American songwriter and producer, co-founded Anna Records (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Robert W. Holley, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
- 1924 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (d. 1976)
- 1925 – Raja Ramanna, Indian physicist and politician (d. 2004)
- 1926 – Jimmy Bryan, American race car driver (d. 1960)
- 1927 – Per Oscarsson, Swedish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1927 – Ronnie Scott, English saxophonist (d. 1996)
- 1927 – Hiroshi Teshigahara, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
- 1927 – Vera Williams, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Acker Bilk, English singer and clarinet player (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Nikolai Parshin, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1929 – Claes Oldenburg, Swedish-American sculptor and illustrator
- 1929 – Edith M. Flanigen, American chemist
- 1930 – Kurt Biedenkopf, German academic and politician, 54th President of the German Bundesrat
- 1930 – Roy Clarke, English screenwriter, comedian and soldier
- 1933 – Jack Hill, American director and screenwriter
- 1934 – Juan Manuel Bordeu, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1990)
- 1935 – David Lodge, English author and critic
- 1936 – Alan Alda, American actor, director, and writer
- 1937 – Karel Čáslavský, Czech historian and television host (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Tomas Lindahl, Swedish-English biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1938 – Leonid Zhabotinsky, Ukrainian weightlifter and coach (d. 2016)
- 1939 – John M. Fabian, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
- 1940 – Carlos Slim, Mexican businessman and philanthropist, founded Grupo Carso
- 1942 – Sjoukje Dijkstra, Dutch figure skater
- 1942 – Erkki Pohjanheimo, Finnish director and producer
- 1943 – Dick Taylor, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1944 – Rosalía Mera, Spanish businesswoman, co-founded Inditex and Zara (d. 2013)
- 1944 – John Tavener, English composer (d. 2013)
- 1945 – Frank Doubleday, American actor
- 1945 – Maxwell Fuller, Australian chess player (d. 2013)
- 1945 – Marthe Keller, Swiss actress and director
- 1945 – John Perkins, American author and activist
- 1947 – Jeanne Shaheen, American educator and politician, 78th Governor of New Hampshire
- 1948 – Bob Moses, American drummer
- 1948 – Charles Taylor, Liberian politician, 22nd President of Liberia
- 1949 – Mike Moore, New Zealand union leader and politician, 34th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1949 – Gregg Popovich, American basketball player and coach
- 1950 – Barbi Benton, American actress, singer and model
- 1950 – Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahraini king
- 1950 – David C. Hilmers, American colonel, physician, and astronaut
- 1950 – Naila Kabeer, Bangladeshi-English economist and academic
- 1951 – Brian Bilbray, American politician
- 1951 – Leonid Kadeniuk, Ukrainian general, pilot, and astronaut
- 1951 – Billy Bass Nelson, American R&B/funk bass player
- 1952 – Richard Glatzer, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1953 – Colin Campbell, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1954 – Peter Lampe, German theologian and historian
- 1954 – Bruno Metsu, French footballer and manager (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Rick Warren, American pastor and author
- 1955 – Vinod Khosla, Indian-American businessman, co-founded Sun Microsystems
- 1955 – Nicolas Sarkozy, French lawyer and politician, 23rd President of France
- 1956 – Richard Danielpour, American composer and educator
- 1956 – Peter Schilling, German singer-songwriter
- 1957 – Mark Napier, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1957 – Nick Price, Zimbabwean-South African golfer
- 1957 – Frank Skinner, English comedian, actor, and author
- 1959 – Frank Darabont, American director and producer
- 1960 – Loren Legarda, Filipino journalist and politician
- 1961 – Arnaldur Indriðason, Icelandic author
- 1961 – Normand Rochefort, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1962 – Sam Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 – David Lawrence, English cricketer
- 1964 – Juergen Teller, German-English photographer
- 1966 – Seiji Mizushima, Japanese director and producer
- 1967 – Billy Brownless, Australian footballer and sportscaster
- 1968 – Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1969 – Giorgio Lamberti, Italian swimmer
- 1969 – Mo Rocca, American comedian and television journalist
- 1969 – Linda Sánchez, American lawyer and politician
- 1972 – Mark Regan, English rugby player
- 1972 – Nicky Southall, English footballer and manager
- 1972 – Léon van Bon, Dutch cyclist
- 1974 – Tony Delk, American basketball player and coach
- 1974 – Jermaine Dye, American baseball player
- 1974 – Ramsey Nasr, Dutch author and poet
- 1974 – Magglio Ordóñez, Venezuelan baseball player and politician
- 1975 – Pedro Pinto, Portuguese-American journalist
- 1975 – Junior Spivey, American baseball player and coach
- 1976 – Sireli Bobo, Fijian rugby player
- 1976 – Mark Madsen, American basketball player and coach
- 1976 – Rick Ross, American rapper and producer
- 1976 – Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer
- 1977 – Sandis Buškevics, Latvian basketball player and coach
- 1977 – Daunte Culpepper, American football player
- 1977 – Joey Fatone, American singer, dancer, and television personality
- 1977 – Takuma Sato, Japanese race car driver
- 1978 – Gianluigi Buffon, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Jamie Carragher, English footballer and sportscaster
- 1978 – Papa Bouba Diop, Senegalese footballer
- 1980 – Nick Carter, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1980 – Yasuhito Endō, Japanese footballer
- 1980 – Michael Hastings, American journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1981 – Elijah Wood, American actor and producer
- 1984 – Ben Clucas, English race car driver
- 1984 – Stephen Gostkowski, American Football player
- 1984 – Andre Iguodala, American Basketball player
- 1984 – Anne Panter, English field hockey player
- 1985 – J. Cole, American Singer
- 1985 – Daniel Carcillo, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Lauris Dārziņš, Latvian ice hockey player
- 1985 – Arnold Mvuemba, French footballer
- 1985 – Libby Trickett, Australian swimmer
- 1986 – Jessica Ennis-Hill, English heptathlete and hurdler
- 1986 – Nathan Outteridge, Australian sailor
- 1986 – Asad Shafiq, Pakistani cricketer
- 1988 – Paul Henry, English footballer
- 1988 – Seiya Sanada, Japanese wrestler
- 1989 – Siem de Jong, Dutch footballer
- 1991 – Jordan Kahu, Australian rugby league player
- 1991 – Carl Klingberg, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1992 – Sergio Araujo, Argentinian footballer
- 1992 – Andrei Savchenko, Russian footballer
- 1993 – Richmond Boakye, Ghanaian footballer
- 1993 – Mitch Cornish, Australian rugby league player
- 1998 – Ariel Winter, American actress
Births[edit]
- 592 – Guntram, French king (b. 532)
- 814 – Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor (b. 742)
- 919 – Zhou Dewei, Chinese general
- 929 – Gao Jixing, founder of Chinese Jingnan (b. 858)
- 947 – Jing Yanguang, Chinese general (b. 892)
- 1061 – Spytihněv II, Duke of Bohemia (b. 1031)
- 1256 – William II, Count of Holland, King of Germany (b. 1227)
- 1271 – Isabella of Aragon, Queen of France (b. 1247)
- 1290 – Dervorguilla of Galloway, Scottish noble, mother of king John Balliol of Scotland (b. c. 1210)
- 1443 – Robert le Maçon, French diplomat (b. 1365)
- 1501 – John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham, English baron and Lord High Treasurer (b. 1433)[1]
- 1547 – Henry VIII, king of England (b. 1491)
- 1613 – Thomas Bodley, English diplomat and scholar, founded the Bodleian Library (b. 1545)
- 1621 – Pope Paul V (b. 1550)
- 1666 – Tommaso Dingli, Maltese architect and sculptor (b. 1591)
- 1672 – Pierre Séguier, French politician, Lord Chancellor of France (b. 1588)
- 1681 – Richard Allestree, English priest and academic (b. 1619)
- 1687 – Johannes Hevelius, Polish astronomer and politician (b. 1611)
- 1688 – Ferdinand Verbiest, Flemish Jesuit missionary in China (b. 1623)
- 1697 – Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, English general and politician (b. 1645)
- 1754 – Ludvig Holberg, Norwegian-Danish historian and philosopher (b. 1684)
- 1832 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (b. 1769)
- 1859 – F. J. Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1782)
- 1864 – Émile Clapeyron, French physicist and engineer (b. 1799)
- 1903 – Augusta Holmès, French pianist and composer (b. 1847)
- 1912 – Gustave de Molinari, Belgian economist and theorist (b. 1819)
- 1918 – John McCrae, Canadian soldier, physician, and author (b. 1872)
- 1921 – Mustafa Suphi, Turkish journalist and politician (b. 1883)
- 1930 – Emmy Destinn, Czech soprano and poet (b. 1878)
- 1935 – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer and conductor (b. 1859)
- 1937 – Anastasios Metaxas, Greek architect and target shooter (b. 1862)
- 1938 – Bernd Rosemeyer, German race car driver (b. 1909)
- 1939 – W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
- 1942 – Edward Siegler, American gymnast and triathlete (b. 1881)
- 1945 – Roza Shanina, Russian sergeant and sniper (b. 1924)
- 1947 – Reynaldo Hahn, Venezuelan-French composer, conductor, and critic (b. 1875)
- 1948 – Hans Aumeier, German SS officer (b. 1906)
- 1949 – Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (b. 1908)
- 1950 – Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1883)
- 1953 – James Scullin, Australian journalist and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1876)
- 1953 – Neyzen Tevfik, Turkish philosopher and poet (b. 1879)
- 1959 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (b. 1899)
- 1960 – Zora Neale Hurston, American novelist, short story writer, and folklorist (b. 1891)
- 1963 – Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (b. 1884)
- 1965 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)
- 1965 – Maxime Weygand, Belgian-French general (b. 1867)
- 1971 – Donald Winnicott, English paediatrician and psychoanalyst (b. 1896)
- 1973 – John Banner, Austrian actor (b. 1910)
- 1976 – Marcel Broodthaers, Belgian painter and poet (b. 1924)
- 1978 – Ward Moore, American author (b. 1903)
- 1983 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1890)
- 1986 – crew of Space Shuttle Challenger
- Gregory Jarvis, American captain, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1944)
- Christa McAuliffe, American educator and astronaut (b. 1948)
- Ronald McNair, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1950)
- Ellison Onizuka, American engineer and astronaut (b. 1946)
- Judith Resnik, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1949)
- Dick Scobee, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1939)
- Michael J. Smith, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1945)
- 1988 – Klaus Fuchs, German physicist and politician (b. 1911)
- 1989 – Choekyi Gyaltsen, 10th Panchen Lama (b. 1938)
- 1993 – Helen Sawyer Hogg, Canadian astronomer and academic (b. 1905)
- 1996 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1940)
- 1996 – Burne Hogarth, American cartoonist and author (b. 1911)
- 1996 – Jerry Siegel, American author and illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914)
- 1998 – Shotaro Ishinomori, Japanese author and illustrator (b. 1938)
- 1999 – Valery Gavrilin, Russian composer (b. 1939)
- 2001 – Ranko Marinković, Croatian author and playwright (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Gustaaf Deloor, Belgian cyclist and soldier (b. 1913)
- 2002 – Astrid Lindgren, Swedish author and screenwriter (b. 1907)
- 2002 – Ayşe Nur Zarakolu, Turkish author and activist (b. 1946)
- 2003 – Mieke Pullen, Dutch runner (b. 1957)
- 2004 – Lloyd M. Bucher, American captain (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Mel Pritchard, English drummer (b. 1948)
- 2005 – Jim Capaldi, English singer-songwriter and drummer (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Carlo Clerici, Swiss cyclist (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Robert Drinan, American priest, lawyer, and politician (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (b. 1963)
- 2007 – Karel Svoboda, Czech composer (b. 1938)
- 2009 – Billy Powell, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Roman Juszkiewicz, Polish astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Don Starkell, Canadian adventurer and author (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Florentino Fernández, Cuban-American boxer and coach (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Hattie N. Harrison, American educator and politician (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Oldřich Kulhánek, Czech painter, illustrator, and stage designer (b. 1940)
- 2014 – John Cacavas, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Harry Gamble, American football player, coach, and manager (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Dwight Gustafson, American composer and conductor (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Nigel Jenkins, Welsh poet, journalist, and geographer (b. 1949)
- 2014 – Jorge Obeid, Argentinian engineer and politician, Governor of Santa Fe (b. 1947)
- 2015 – Suraj Abdurrahman, Nigerian general, architect, and engineer (b. 1954)
- 2015 – Yves Chauvin, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Lionel Gilbert, Australian historian, author, and academic (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Signe Toly Anderson, American singer (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Paul Kantner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Franklin Gene Bissell, American football player and coach (b. 1926)
- 2016 – Buddy Cianci, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Mayor of Providence (b. 1941)
- 2016 – Bob Tizard, New Zealand lawyer and politician, 6th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1924)
- 2017 – Alexander Chancellor, British journalist (b. 1940)
- 2017 – Geoff Nicholls, British musician (b. 1948)
Deaths[edit]
- Christian feast day:
- Army Day (Armenia)
- Data Privacy Day
Holidays and observances[edit]
===
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” - Ephesians 6:12-13
Writer Joe Michael Straczynski adapted this verse to finish off one of his seasons of Babylon 5. The words greatly appeal to stoics. It is worth considering when watching tv and adverts assure you it is ok to lust after wealthy strangers. Everyone faces opposition in their lives, including the blessed. And we need the reminder that our struggle is not really with the person we happen to be facing. It matters little who is treasurer if the Prime Minister has no will to make important decisions.
And those decision makers may not be individuals at all. It might be policy or custom. Family planning abortion clinics sourcing body parts may not be the idea of one person, but of skewed good intentions. So that the desire to not kill women from poor health care, one ends up killing babies to allow bad lifestyle choices. And the Devil laughs as good people bicker.
The armour of God is his Word. We are not supposed to fight the Devil, but resist it. God has won the battle already. Don’t join with the losers. Stand on the rock God has given you. Be loving and compassionate. Find wisdom in the Word.
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
January 27: Morning
"And of his fulness have all we received." - John 1:16
These words tell us that there is a fulness in Christ. There is a fulness of essential Deity, for "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead." There is a fulness of perfect manhood, for in him, bodily, that Godhead was revealed. There is a fulness of atoning efficacy in his blood, for "the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." There is a fulness of justifying righteousness in his life, for "there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." There is a fulness of divine prevalence in his plea, for "He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him; seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." There is a fulness of victory in his death, for through death he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. There is a fulness of efficacy in his resurrection from the dead, for by it "we are begotten again unto a lively hope." There is a fulness of triumph in his ascension, for "when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and received gifts for men." There is a fulness of blessings of every sort and shape; a fulness of grace to pardon, of grace to regenerate, of grace to sanctify, of grace to preserve, and of grace to perfect. There is a fulness at all times; a fulness of comfort in affliction; a fulness of guidance in prosperity. A fulness of every divine attribute, of wisdom, of power, of love; a fulness which it were impossible to survey, much less to explore. "It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell." Oh, what a fulness must this be of which all receive! Fulness, indeed, must there be when the stream is always flowing, and yet the well springs up as free, as rich, as full as ever. Come, believer, and get all thy need supplied; ask largely, and thou shalt receive largely, for this "fulness" is inexhaustible, and is treasured up where all the needy may reach it, even in Jesus, Immanuel--God with us.
Evening
"But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart." - Luke 2:19
There was an exercise, on the part of this blessed woman, of three powers of her being: her memory--she kept all these things; her affections--she kept them in her heart; her intellect--she pondered them; so that memory, affection, and understanding, were all exercised about the things which she had heard. Beloved, remember what you have heard of your Lord Jesus, and what he has done for you; make your heart the golden pot of manna to preserve the memorial of the heavenly bread whereon you have fed in days gone by. Let your memory treasure up everything about Christ which you have either felt, or known, or believed, and then let your fond affections hold him fast for evermore. Love the person of your Lord! Bring forth the alabaster box of your heart, even though it be broken, and let all the precious ointment of your affection come streaming on his pierced feet. Let your intellect be exercised concerning the Lord Jesus. Meditate upon what you read: stop not at the surface; dive into the depths. Be not as the swallow which toucheth the brook with her wing, but as the fish which penetrates the lowest wave. Abide with your Lord: let him not be to you as a wayfaring man, that tarrieth for a night, but constrain him, saying, "Abide with us, for the day is far spent." Hold him, and do not let him go. The word "ponder," means to weigh. Make ready the balances of judgment. Oh, but where are the scales that can weigh the Lord Christ? "He taketh up the isles as a very little thing:"--who shall take him up? "He weigheth the mountains in scales"--in what scales shall we weigh him? Be it so, if your understanding cannot comprehend, let your affections apprehend; and if your spirit cannot compass the Lord Jesus in the grasp of understanding, let it embrace him in the arms of affection.
===
Jeconiah
[Jĕco nī'ah] - jehovah doth establish or preparation of the lord.
The next to last of the kings of Judah (1 Chron. 3:16, 17; Esther 2:6; Jer. 24:1; 27:20; 28:4; 29:2). Altered form of Jehoiachin, and called Jechonias in Matthew 1:11, 12.
===
Today's reading: Exodus 16-18, Matthew 18:1-20 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Exodus 16-18
Manna and Quail
1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death...."
Today's New Testament reading: Matthew 18:1-20
The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me....
No comments:
Post a Comment