A daily column on what the ALP have as a policy, supported by a local member, and how it has 'helped' the local community. I'll stop if I cannot identify a policy. Feel free to make suggestions. Contact me on FB, not twitter. I have twitter, but never look at it.
Gabrielle Williams was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Carers and Volunteers, working with the Minister for Housing, Disability and Ageing and the Minister for Families and Children. I have had some campaign success with installation of a rubbish bin outside of Ventura Bus depot in Dandenong on Keneally St. It took two years, as I started asking for it in 2016 council elections. I wasn't informed as to it being installed, it just appeared there. I don't know who to thank for listening to me. No word about my suggestions for modifying bus routes that would change my two hour travel time on Saturday from where I live in Dandenong to where I work in Hallam. Or for where a bus route goes through a small community road instead of an adjacent highway. Baby steps.
As part of the November 24th Vic election campaign I have a petition I want to bring before the Opposition Leader Matthew Guy. I believe Matthew will be the next premier of Victoria and so I am petitioning him as I raise the issues of Employment, Crime and Education in Dandenong. I am also seeking money for my campaign. I don't have party resources, and so my campaign is on foot, and on the internet. Any money I receive that is not spent on the campaign will go to Grow 4 Life. I am asking questions like "What do you love about Dandenong?" and "If you could change something in Dandenong to make it better, what would it be?" I'm not limiting the questions to state issues. I'm happy to discuss anything, and get things done.
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.
Here is a video I made Pachydermic Personnel Predictor
Using elephant hunting techniques to identify the correct people for each profession
Pachydermic Personnel Prediction
A bold new proposal for matching high-technology people and professions
Over the years, the problem of finding the right person for the right job has consumed thousands of worker-years of research and millions of dollars in funding. This is particularly true for high-technology organisations where talent is scarce and expensive. Recently, however, years of detailed study by the finest minds in the field of psychoindustrial interpersonal optimization have resulted in the development of a simple and foolproof test to determine the best match between personality and profession. Now, at last, people can be infallibly assigned to the jobs for which they are truly best suited.
The procedure is simple - Each subject is sent to Africa to hunt elephants. The subsequent elephant-hunting behaviour is then categorized by comparison to the classification rules outlined below. The subject should be assigned to the general job classification that best matches the observed behaviour.
Classification Guidelines
Mathematicians hunt elephants by going to Africa, throwing everything out that is not an elephant, and catching one of whatever is left. Experienced mathematicians will attempt to prove the existence of at least one unique elephant before proceding to step 1 as a subordinate exercise. Professors of mathematics will prove the existence of at least one elephant and then leave the detection and capture of an actual elephant as an exercise for their graduate students.
Computer Scientists hunt elephants by exercising Algorithm A -
Go to Africa.
Start at the Cape of Good Hope.
Work northward in an orderly manner, traversing the continent alternately east and west.
During each transverse pass,
Catch each animal seen.
Compare each animal caught to a known elephant.
Stop when a match is detected.
Experienced computer programmers modify Algorithm A by placing a known elephant in Cairo to ensure that the algorithm will terminate. Assembly language programmers prefer to execute Algoritm A on their hands and knees.
Engineers hunt elephants by going to Africa, catching gray animals at random, and stopping when any one of them weighs within plus or minus 15 percent of any previously observant elephant.
Economists don't hunt elephants, but they believe that if elephants are paid enough, they will hunt themselves.
Statisticians hunt the first animal they see n times and call it an elephant.
Consultants don't hunt elephants, and many have never hunted anything at all, but they can be hired by the hour to advise those people who do. Operations research consultants can also measure the correlation of hat size and bullet color to the efficiency of elephant-hunting strategies, if someone else will only identify the elephants.
Politicians don't hunt elephants, but they will share the elephants you catch with the people who voted for them.
Lawyers don't hunt elephants, but they do follow the herds around arguing about who owns the droppings. Software lawyers will claim that they own an entire herd based on the look and feel of one dropping.
Vice Presidents of engineering, research, and development try hard to hunt elephants, but their staffs are designed to prevent it. When the vice president does get to hunt elephants, the staff will try to ensure that all possible elephants are completely prehunted before the vice president sees them. If the vice president does see a nonprehunted elephant, the staff will (1) compliment the vice president's keen eyesight and (2) enlarge itself to prevent any recurrence.
Senior Managers set broad elephant-hunting policy based on the assumption that elephants are just like big field mice, but with deeper voices.
Quality Assurance Inspectors ignore the elephants and look for mistakes the other hunters made when they were packing the jeep.
Salespeople don't hunt elephants but spend their time selling the elephants they haven't caught, for delivery two days before the season opens. Software salespeople ship the first thing they catch and write up an invoice for an elephant. Hardware salespeople catch rabbits, paint them gray, and sell them as desktop elephants.
Peter C Olsen
"Byte" - September 1989
=== from 2017 ===
Some things should not happen, but they do. The issue of safe injecting rooms has arisen on Melbourne's 3AW. On 19th of June, Channel 9 reporter Laura Turner made an emotional plea following the death of her sister, a mother of two, from a heroin overdose. On 6th February, former Premier of Victoria Jeff Kennett also called for a safe injecting room, as he had done in earlier years, he had been chief of Beyond Blue, a mental health advocacy group. Neither major party have a policy of such a room in Victoria, although ALP have a history of introducing such rooms, as they did in NSW in Cabramatta in the '90s when the ALP had been feeding the drug population there which was out of control. Also in Kings Cross, Sydney. The truth 3AW has not broadcast is that the rooms are ineffective, expensive, a distraction from crime and a focus of crime. People can be saved in such a room, but their lives are no safer because of the room. Abstinence is a cure. In similar ways that teen mothers are a result of condom machines in schools. Health authorities and family planners still don't know how the condoms get girls pregnant, but they do. Drug advocates cry that we have to do something. Stop resisting zero tolerance. Stop facilitating drug imports and distribution. Drugs do not provide safe spaces.
In 1174, William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–1174, was captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England. The result was Henry II's four children had to wait longer to be king. His fourth legitimate son, John, would become arguably England's worst king, but signatory to the Magna Carta. 1249, Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots. Alex was seven years old, but led capably until his death at 44. He fell in the dark of night, while journeying to celebrate the birthday of his second wife and new bride.
In 1905, the verdict in the six-month-long Smarthavicharam trial of Kuriyedath Thathri was pronounced, leading to the excommunication of 65 men of various castes. 1919, the British airship R34 landed in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight. 1923, the Hollywood Sign was officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It originally reads "Hollywoodland " but the four last letters were dropped after renovation in 1949. In 1973, Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the "Nixon tapes" to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break in. 2013, George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
In 1174, William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–1174, was captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England. The result was Henry II's four children had to wait longer to be king. His fourth legitimate son, John, would become arguably England's worst king, but signatory to the Magna Carta. 1249, Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots. Alex was seven years old, but led capably until his death at 44. He fell in the dark of night, while journeying to celebrate the birthday of his second wife and new bride.
In 1905, the verdict in the six-month-long Smarthavicharam trial of Kuriyedath Thathri was pronounced, leading to the excommunication of 65 men of various castes. 1919, the British airship R34 landed in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight. 1923, the Hollywood Sign was officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It originally reads "Hollywoodland " but the four last letters were dropped after renovation in 1949. In 1973, Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the "Nixon tapes" to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break in. 2013, George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
=== from 2016 ===
Mr Turnbull gives a victory speech very different in tenor to his awful speech on Sunday morning. On Sunday he blamed others for weakening his 'strong' campaign. On Monday Turnbull took full responsibility for blaming others, saying no one else should. On Wednesday he promised to keep all his election promises. It is not certain if that means selling off Medicare or not. Turnbull won't do that, but the ALP believe he has a mandate to. Lambie will help Turnbull keep his promise if it means Abbott is not leader. Hanson wants to discuss ending foreign trade. Turnbull is safe and those sharpening their knives in his cabinet are merely preparing for battle, possibly with Martians. Shorten is safe, although many who couldn't put forward a policy in election are claiming authorship in their portfolios. The most successful Liberal President is under siege from bed wetters. Victorian President Micheal Kroger has spoken well for Liberals and was effective in campaign. Turnbull, victorious, does not share.
For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
=== from 2015 ===
Declaring war on renewable energy, or responsible budgeting for meeting energy demands of the future? Wind costs more. Solar costs more. Left wing governments may well be willing to spend the money, but it is hardly responsible behaviour. Cheaper energy means stronger industry which is more agile come the time a way of addressing a pressing need comes about. Plant food is not the enemy of the people portrayed by hysterics. Even so, partisan media outlets are characterising the decision of responsible budgeting as a war on renewable energy. They may as well call the deprivation of capital to poor people free speech.
Greece's government decides 'no' means 'yes.' Eurozone leaders have voted to accept Greece's austerity budget that the Greek population voted against. Once again socialists have lied to their peoples for votes.
Bigot inspected British Police as a jihadist changed his name. He was given a Bobby's imprimatur so as to put forward a 'moderate' message that the West was bad and deserved terrorism. The idea hadn't worked out with a US psychologist who went berserk on campus a few years ago during what Obama describes as a workplace incident.
Why the Q and A boycott is good. It is not an audience awaiting political debate. It is a collection of extremist left wingers who want to be fed a diet of conservatives ambushed and attacked. Some conservatives resist, and some go native. It does not explore issues, but spread memes. It is not the same as Left wingers boycotting Andrew Bolt's show because they are empty of policy and have nothing to say. We know there is policy the conservative government is presenting in office. We also know that the ABC is incapable of taking a non partisan position.
Bill Shorten undeserving of support given him by many. Shorten has trashed brand ALP through his union activities in times past when he behaved like a bastard boss, ripping union members of privileges and taking money directly from employers to do it.
Sarah H-Y on holidays in the Mediterranean, fishing for Eritreans. Lovely weather for her.
No support for bludgers as Scott Morrison manages to save Australia over $600 million for people falsely claiming disability pension. Terrorists like Man Monis and many others who are fighting for ISIL have been supported by that pension.
Greece's government decides 'no' means 'yes.' Eurozone leaders have voted to accept Greece's austerity budget that the Greek population voted against. Once again socialists have lied to their peoples for votes.
Bigot inspected British Police as a jihadist changed his name. He was given a Bobby's imprimatur so as to put forward a 'moderate' message that the West was bad and deserved terrorism. The idea hadn't worked out with a US psychologist who went berserk on campus a few years ago during what Obama describes as a workplace incident.
Why the Q and A boycott is good. It is not an audience awaiting political debate. It is a collection of extremist left wingers who want to be fed a diet of conservatives ambushed and attacked. Some conservatives resist, and some go native. It does not explore issues, but spread memes. It is not the same as Left wingers boycotting Andrew Bolt's show because they are empty of policy and have nothing to say. We know there is policy the conservative government is presenting in office. We also know that the ABC is incapable of taking a non partisan position.
Bill Shorten undeserving of support given him by many. Shorten has trashed brand ALP through his union activities in times past when he behaved like a bastard boss, ripping union members of privileges and taking money directly from employers to do it.
Sarah H-Y on holidays in the Mediterranean, fishing for Eritreans. Lovely weather for her.
No support for bludgers as Scott Morrison manages to save Australia over $600 million for people falsely claiming disability pension. Terrorists like Man Monis and many others who are fighting for ISIL have been supported by that pension.
From 2014
Ian Thorpe is possibly Australia's greatest Olympian. He decided to come out as gay. Some see it as significant. I see it as a personal decision he is entitled to make. I am not a fan of government approval of bedroom performance. There is a subtext regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs in his career. Certainly they weren't used later in his career, when he performed as well as Brazil in Brazil in 2014. The question is asked "Why didn't he do it years ago?" But then, who really cares? The world cup ends tonight. My bet is that Argentina will win silver.
Sometimes bad things happen to bad people for no good reason. Jean Paul Marat discovered that on this day in 1793. Marat was a journalist writing for Jacobin clubs in revolutionary France, the ultra left. The Jacobins had taken over from Girondist clubs who were soft left, having endorsed revolution but not the blood that followed. Jacobins murdered Girondists en masse with guillotine. Marat indirectly on the sidelines cheering them on. Marat took medicinal baths for a skin condition resembling herpes and had done so for three years prior. Charlotte Corday was a Girondist sympathiser who tricked her way into interviewing him at his bath tub. She gave him a list of Girondists he agreed to have killed and then plunged a kitchen knife into him, killing him quickly, but not before he could call out, "Aidez-moi, ma chère amie!" ("Help me, my dear friend!"). Charlotte was guillotined days later. The eulogy for Marat was given by the Marquis de Sade. Maybe it was felt there would never be a journalist like Marat again. And yet the Canberra Press Gallery exists today.
In 1814, the Carabiniere were established in Italy. In 1863 and in 1977 riots rocked New York city. In 1863, the riots were because Democrats opposed the draft for the civil war ('What is he point? There would always be slavery'). In 1977 it was because the lights had gone out and there was no tv to watch. By way of contrast, when the lights had gone out following a blizzard in NYC in 1965, the crime rate had plummeted to the lowest since records were kept. It is a debunked myth that the blackout in '65 tripled the birth rate nine months later. In 1919, a British airship completed a journey across the Atlantic. In 2003, Ingrid Betancourt was not rescued after French specialists failed in a mission. She was freed in '08 after more than six years in captivity. Born on this day, Patrick Stewart (1940), Harrison Ford (1942) and Ernő Rubik (1944).
Sometimes bad things happen to bad people for no good reason. Jean Paul Marat discovered that on this day in 1793. Marat was a journalist writing for Jacobin clubs in revolutionary France, the ultra left. The Jacobins had taken over from Girondist clubs who were soft left, having endorsed revolution but not the blood that followed. Jacobins murdered Girondists en masse with guillotine. Marat indirectly on the sidelines cheering them on. Marat took medicinal baths for a skin condition resembling herpes and had done so for three years prior. Charlotte Corday was a Girondist sympathiser who tricked her way into interviewing him at his bath tub. She gave him a list of Girondists he agreed to have killed and then plunged a kitchen knife into him, killing him quickly, but not before he could call out, "Aidez-moi, ma chère amie!" ("Help me, my dear friend!"). Charlotte was guillotined days later. The eulogy for Marat was given by the Marquis de Sade. Maybe it was felt there would never be a journalist like Marat again. And yet the Canberra Press Gallery exists today.
In 1814, the Carabiniere were established in Italy. In 1863 and in 1977 riots rocked New York city. In 1863, the riots were because Democrats opposed the draft for the civil war ('What is he point? There would always be slavery'). In 1977 it was because the lights had gone out and there was no tv to watch. By way of contrast, when the lights had gone out following a blizzard in NYC in 1965, the crime rate had plummeted to the lowest since records were kept. It is a debunked myth that the blackout in '65 tripled the birth rate nine months later. In 1919, a British airship completed a journey across the Atlantic. In 2003, Ingrid Betancourt was not rescued after French specialists failed in a mission. She was freed in '08 after more than six years in captivity. Born on this day, Patrick Stewart (1940), Harrison Ford (1942) and Ernő Rubik (1944).
Historical perspective on this day
In 1174, William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–1174, was captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England. 1249, Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots. 1260, the Livonian Order suffered its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1490, John of Kastav finished a cycle of frescoes in the Holy Trinity Church in Hrastovlje (now southwestern Slovenia).
In 1558, Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmontdefeated the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes at Gravelines. 1573, Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Haarlem ended after seven months. 1643, English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down – In England, Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalistforces, heavily defeated the Parliamentarian forces led by Sir William Waller. 1787, the Continental Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also established procedures for the admission of new states and limited the expansion of slavery. 1793, Journalist and French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat was assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a member of the opposing political faction. 1794, the Battle of the Vosges was fought between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria.
In 1814, the Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, was established. 1830, the General Assembly's Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengal Renaissance, was founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India. 1854, in the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñezstopped the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon. 1863, New York City draft riots: In New York, New York, opponents of conscription began three days of rioting which would be later regarded as the worst in United States history. 1878, Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redrew the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romaniabecame completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1905, the verdict in the six-month-long Smarthavicharam trial of Kuriyedath Thathri was pronounced, leading to the excommunication of 65 men of various castes. 1919, the British airship R34 landed in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight. 1923, the Hollywood Sign was officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It originally reads "Hollywoodland " but the four last letters were dropped after renovation in 1949. 1941, World War II: Montenegrins began a popular uprising against the Axis powers (Trinaestojulski ustanak). 1962, in an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet, marking the effective end of the National Liberals as a distinct force within British politics.
In 1973, Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the "Nixon tapes" to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break in. 1977, Somalia declared war on Ethiopia, starting the Ethiopian-Somali War. Also 1977, New York, New York, amidst a period of financial and social turmoil experienced an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that led to widespread fires and looting. 1985, the Live Aid benefit concert took place in London, England, United Kingdom and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as other venues such as Sydney, Australia and Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union. Also 1985, Vice President George Bushbecame the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon. 2003, French DGSE personnel aborted an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details were leaked to the press. 2008, Battle of Wanat began when Taliban & al-Qaeda guerrillas attacked US Army & Afghan National Army troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. deaths were, at that time, the most in a single battle since the beginning of operations in 2001. 2013, George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
In 1558, Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmontdefeated the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes at Gravelines. 1573, Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Haarlem ended after seven months. 1643, English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down – In England, Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalistforces, heavily defeated the Parliamentarian forces led by Sir William Waller. 1787, the Continental Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also established procedures for the admission of new states and limited the expansion of slavery. 1793, Journalist and French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat was assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a member of the opposing political faction. 1794, the Battle of the Vosges was fought between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria.
In 1814, the Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, was established. 1830, the General Assembly's Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengal Renaissance, was founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India. 1854, in the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñezstopped the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon. 1863, New York City draft riots: In New York, New York, opponents of conscription began three days of rioting which would be later regarded as the worst in United States history. 1878, Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redrew the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romaniabecame completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1905, the verdict in the six-month-long Smarthavicharam trial of Kuriyedath Thathri was pronounced, leading to the excommunication of 65 men of various castes. 1919, the British airship R34 landed in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight. 1923, the Hollywood Sign was officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It originally reads "Hollywoodland " but the four last letters were dropped after renovation in 1949. 1941, World War II: Montenegrins began a popular uprising against the Axis powers (Trinaestojulski ustanak). 1962, in an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet, marking the effective end of the National Liberals as a distinct force within British politics.
In 1973, Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the "Nixon tapes" to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break in. 1977, Somalia declared war on Ethiopia, starting the Ethiopian-Somali War. Also 1977, New York, New York, amidst a period of financial and social turmoil experienced an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that led to widespread fires and looting. 1985, the Live Aid benefit concert took place in London, England, United Kingdom and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as other venues such as Sydney, Australia and Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union. Also 1985, Vice President George Bushbecame the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reagan underwent surgery to remove polyps from his colon. 2003, French DGSE personnel aborted an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details were leaked to the press. 2008, Battle of Wanat began when Taliban & al-Qaeda guerrillas attacked US Army & Afghan National Army troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. deaths were, at that time, the most in a single battle since the beginning of operations in 2001. 2013, George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
=== 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
Happy birthday and many happy returns Shane Songsataporn and Patrick Stewart (1940). Born on the same day, across the years. In 1793, Charlotte Corday assassinated Jean-Paul Marat, a leader in both the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, in his bathtub. 1863, Three days of rioting began in New York City by opponents of new laws passed by the United States Congress to draft men to fight in the ongoing American Civil War. 1962, In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet. 1977, Ethiopia and Somalia went to war over the disputed Ogaden region in eastern Ethiopia. 2003, French DGSE personnel aborted an operation to rescue Colombian politician Íngrid Betancourt from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, causing a political scandal when details were leaked to the press six days later. You seize your chances and will riot to do what is right. Maybe rioting doesn't work, or you'd keep you cabinet positions. You do the right thing at the right time. Make it so. Engage.
- 1527 – John Dee, English-Welsh mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer (d. 1609)
- 1793 – John Clare, English poet (d. 1864)
- 1889 – Louise Mountbatten, German-Swedish wife of Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (d. 1965)
- 1894 – Isaak Babel, Russian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1940)
- 1896 – Mordecai Ardon, Israeli painter (d. 1992)
- 1918 – Marcia Brown, American author and illustrator
- 1922 – Leslie Brooks, American actress and singer (d. 2011)
- 1928 – Bob Crane, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1940 – Patrick Stewart, English actor
- 1942 – Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
- 1942 – Roger McGuinn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Byrds and Chad Mitchell Trio)
- 1944 – Ernő Rubik, Hungarian game designer, architect, and educator, invented the Rubik's Cube
- 1956 – Michael Spinks, American boxer
- 1977 – Ashley Scott, American actress
- 1982 – Shin-Soo Choo, South Korean baseball player
- 1991 – Ungsumalynn Sirapatsakmetha, Thai actress and model
- 1993 – Rena Nōnen, Japanese actress and fashion model
- 1997 – Leo Howard, American actor and martial artist
Deaths
- 574 – Pope John III
- 716 – Rui Zong, Chinese emperor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 662)
- 1551 – John Wallop, English soldier and diplomat (b. 1490)
- 1793 – Jean-Paul Marat, French physician and theorist (b. 1743)
- 1960 – Joy Gresham, American-English poet and author (b. 1915)
- 1260 – The Livonian Order suffered its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
- 1793 – Charlotte Corday (pictured) assassinated Jean-Paul Marat, a leader in both the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, in his bathtub.
- 1941 – The Communist Party of Yugoslavia initiated a general and popular uprising against Italian occupation forces in Montenegro that was suppressed within six weeks.
- 1977 – Ethiopia and Somalia went to war over the disputed Ogaden region in eastern Ethiopia.
- 2011 – Three coordinated bombings across Mumbai, India, killed 26 victims and injured 130 more.
Order is matched with KAOS. Corday did right. The Slavs could have done better. Fight for what is right. Try not to blow things up. Let's party.
Tim Blair 2018
CULTURAL, POLITICAL, ARTISTIC AND EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS ABOUT GOAL DEFENCE
Melbourne’s Emilie Collyer enjoys writing and presenting plays. Good for her! But she also wants people who will never see those plays to finance them, for some reason.
===How NSW went overboard with the greyhound ban
Miranda Devine – Tuesday, July 12, 2016 (9:59pm)
To fathom Premier Mike Baird’s autocratic decision to close down the greyhound racing industry, you have to understand the integral role of extremist animal activists, whose express aim is to ban horse racing, zoos, farming, fishing and the eating of meat.
You also need to understand that the explosive ABC Four Corners program about live baiting aired just six weeks before last year’s NSW election, which saw the first Animal Justice Party MP elected to parliament, Mark Pearson, who is also executive director of NSW Animal Liberation.
All hell broke loose last year after Four Corners aired horrendous video covertly recorded by Animals Australia activists, showing live rabbits, possums and piglets being killed by greyhounds in Queensland, Victoria and NSW.
But, while the other states immediately ordered appropriate animal welfare reforms, including teams of investigators, inspections and breeding quotas, NSW went over the top.
In the heat of a close election campaign, Racing Minister Troy Grant ordered a 13-month special commission of inquiry with the powers of a royal commission, headed by one of the most left-wing judges ever to sit on the High Court.
Michael McHugh, 80, was part of the activist Mason High Court famous for its Mabo decision on native title. His wife Jeanette McHugh was a left-wing federal Labor MP for 16 years, campaigning on anti-nuclear, environment, peace and women’s issues.
He is an advocate for an Australian Bill of Rights, and once told Sydney University students: “My own social views are probably as radical as anyone in this room — maybe more so …
“Developed nations need agitators … interfering meddling people that question the rules and practices that most of the community accepts.”
And now McHugh’s report is the holy writ the Premier used to justify destroying the greyhound industry.
The 750-page report made 80 recommendations, but only the first is prominently displayed: for parliament to “consider whether the industry has lost its social licence and should no longer be permitted to operate in NSW”.
Baird didn’t even bother to ask Parliament. The other 79 recommendations would tie the industry up in red tape but could have been adapted to preserve the industry.
McHugh’s report’s focuses, not on live-baiting, a crime of a minority of trainers, but on “wastage”. His dramatic opening paragraph claims that between 50 and 70 per cent of greyhounds born in the past 12 years have been killed “because they were considered too slow to pay their way or were unsuitable for racing”.
Most industry people are mystified by the statistics and the report does not provide direct evidence.
Its methodology relies on dubious assumptions, claiming 80,721 missing greyhounds, of which “somewhere between 48,891 and 68,448 dogs were killed”.
McHugh arrives at this figure by extrapolating from the number of litters registered with Greyhounds Australasia, multiplied by an average of 6.3 pups per litter, to come up with 97,783 pups “whelped” or born, and then applies a magic 50-70 per cent to arrive at his dead dog number.
The number of pups born is disputed by trainers such as Rob Ingram, from Tomingley, near Dubbo.
Even in large litters, he says, “things go wrong”. He had one unfortunate litter of eight pups, of which four died of parvovirus at four months, one contracted tetanus, one died in a training accident, one broke her wrist and was adopted out, and the remaining greyhound “just doesn’t want to race”.
Ominously, McHugh’s conclusions accord almost entirely with the views of several animals rights activists cited in the report. Animals Australia is named 19 times and “suggested that it was likely that in NSW between 5000 and 6800 greyhounds were killed each year” , which accords with McHugh’s death tally, even though he admits “it is not clear how this figure was calculated”.
Animals Australia, which also was responsible for temporarily closing the live cattle trade, was co-founded by controversial philosopher Peter Singer, who advocates infanticide for disabled babies, abortion and “non-voluntary” euthanasia. He campaigns for animal “equality” with humans and approves of bestiality, saying “sex with animals does not always involve cruelty”.
Animal Liberation ACT, also based on Singer’s philosophies, was also quoted authoritatively in the report, warning of the negative impacts of gambling.
Among the most prominent of 43 witnesses was Dr Karen Dawson, the Greyhound Equality Society’s veterinary adviser and a member of Sentient, The Veterinary Institute for Animal Ethics. She made six submissions to the inquiry, including 11 videos. Sentient opposes greyhound racing, horse racing, wild horse culling, live animal export, and routine practices in dairy, beef, sheep and chicken farming.
Sharing these views is Dr Eleonora Gullone of the Animal Justice Party, who also was quoted in the report. She is the campaign manager for the “Greyhound Racing Shut It Down” campaign, and describes animals as “non-human citizens”.
The Animal Justice Party “advocates a plant based diet free of all products derived from animals” and fish. Its policies include bans on: horse jump racing, greyhound racing, recreational hunting, game fishing, rodeos, horse-drawn carriage rides, zoos and marine parks used for human entertainment, live export of animals, “factory farming”, advertising of animal products, killing of bats, “tail docking, castration, branding, ear marking, teeth clipping, de-horning and mulesing”.
It wants “a new legal status for animals”, including fish which “feel joy, suffering and pain just as land animals do” and should be included in all animal welfare legislation”.
Empowered by a royal commission and a weak Premier, animal justice warriors are just getting started.
AND THEN THEY DID
Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 13, 2016 (5:47pm)
Everybody appreciates simple instructions:
The first officer to storm the Lindt Cafe said he saw Man Monis immediately and shouted: “There’s the c..t. Shoot him.”
BEST ELECTION EVER
Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 13, 2016 (5:15pm)
Besides putting Turnbull against the wall and delivering an abysmally low primary vote for Labor, the election also stomped the Greens:
The Greens’ vote in the Senate has fallen in every state apart from Queensland, leaving the minor party facing the possible loss of three of its 10 senators once all ballot papers have been counted.Nationally, the Greens have suffered a 0.9 per cent swing against them in the Senate as other minor parties have risen in popularity, led by One Nation (up 3.8 per cent), the Nick Xenophon Team (1.3 per cent) and Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party (1.8 per cent).The party’s vote in the Senate peaked at 13.1 per cent in 2010 but has fallen to 8.3 per cent so far in this count.
It’s time for a new leader with a new vision. Step forward, Sarah Hanson-Young.
WEDNESDAY NOTICEBOARD
Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 13, 2016 (4:00am)
Welcome to the world’s number one site for Pokemon Go news, updates, insider tips and more!
THE DEAD ARE RISEN
Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 13, 2016 (3:52am)
Great news, all of you tree-weeping Sydney sad eco people! Beginning at 9.00am on Saturday, July 30, Penrith Council is holding a tree-planting day:
This planting day will help to increase the area of native bushland and provide additional habitat for native fauna. It will compliment works being undertaken by Bush regenerators and the Volunteer Bushcare group.
Please join me and Elizabeth Farrelly – I’m sure she’ll be there – as we repopulate our nation with thriving flora. You never know; one of our trees could grow up to become a genuine tree of knowledge.
SIMILAR PROBLEMS, DIFFERENT VIEWS
Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 13, 2016 (2:44am)
Claim: We cannot prevent widespread drug use.
Greens response: Decriminalise it!
Claim: We cannot clean up the entire greyhound racing industry.
Greens response: BAN IT!
ADJECTIVE REJECTED
Tim Blair – Wednesday, July 13, 2016 (2:21am)
In May, ABC Classic FM ran an item celebrating singer Pumeza Matshikiza:
South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza has risen to the international stage with radiant promise.
Her voice is rich, sensuous and features dusky tones that have been compared to that of Maria Callas.
It’s a deserved comparison. Matshikiza is a powerful yet subtle performer. But one listener wasn’t happy:
Complaint: An ABC Classic FM listener complained that a promotion for Pumeza Matshikiza’s new album was inappropriate and racist in that it referred to her “dusky tones”.Complaint Finding Status: ResolvedAudience and Consumer Affairs response: The ABC advised the listener that the adjective dusky was taken directly from marketing material that came with the CD release of the album and on that basis it was assumed that the descriptor was not seen as either negative or derogatory by the artist. However, the ABC acknowledged that the word can have negative connotations and promptly removed the promotion from airplay.
So a young soprano was denied a potentially broader Australian audience. Well done, listener. Well done, ABC.
(Via Jill.)
On The Bolt Report and radio tonight
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (11:50am)
On The Bolt Report on Sky News Live at 7pm tonight:
===My guests:On 2GB, 3AW and 4BC with Steve Price from 8pm.
Kevin Andrews, the defence minister and conservative dumped by Malcolm Turnbull, in his first national interview since the election was called. On China’s dangerous grab for territory to our north - now declared illegal.Podcasts of the show here. Facebook page here.
Mark Latham on Straight Talk: on the ludicrous vilification of Eddie McGuire. And a dick doodles update. We may note this comment from Jill Jacks:
The panel: former Tony Abbott adviser Terry Barnes and former Julia Gillard adviser Nicholas Reece. Did conservatives win the election?
Victory party!
Listen live here. Talkback: 131 873. Listen to all past shows here.
Please, China: don’t start the war until we’re ready. Give us 50 years
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (11:28am)
We face a potentially explosive confrontation with China now that the Permanent Court of Arbitration has ruled that China’s grab for the territorial waters of the South China Sea is illegal - a decision China has denounced.
Australia has just one request. Could China hold off on its response for 50 years? We should be then have the new submarine fleet we need for our defence under Malcolm Turnbull’s strolling-to-safety plan to build 12 submarines in Adelaide for as long as it takes:
UPDATE
Apologies. The first link, to Greg Sheridan’s excellent analysis, is now fixed.
===Australia has just one request. Could China hold off on its response for 50 years? We should be then have the new submarine fleet we need for our defence under Malcolm Turnbull’s strolling-to-safety plan to build 12 submarines in Adelaide for as long as it takes:
The submarine project alone will see Australian workers building Australian submarines with Australian steel, here where we stand today, for decades into the future.50 years from now, submarines will be sustained here, built here.Turnbull’s plan to take 50 years to build subs here rather than order then fast from overseas would be like the British military in 1900 ordering a fleet of 12 of the latest new Zeppelin airships, with the last of these balloons to be delivered by 1950, by which time the rest of the world had discovered rockets, jets, the B-52 bomber and the atomic bomb.
UPDATE
Apologies. The first link, to Greg Sheridan’s excellent analysis, is now fixed.
No Voltaire: Voltaire defended free speech to the death; Aly blames freedom for Islamic terrorism
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (10:54am)
Author Paul Monk wonders why a free speech award is given to someone who neither champions free speech nor denounces the greatest threat to it:
===On July 23, Waleed Aly will be presented with the Voltaire Award for free speech from Liberty Victoria. It would be rather charming were he to give a speech on that occasion reflecting on Voltaire’s play Mahomet, which depicted Islam as based on false miracles, personal ambition and ruthless fanaticism.In fact, Aly not only refuses to use his free speech to critique Islam-inspired terrorism, but actually attacks Western freedom for Islamist attacks. Here he is blaming freedom for the slaughter of 49 people at a gay club in Orlando by an Islamic State supporter:
For some time Aly has been the go-to person for commentary on Islam and avoiding what is widely dubbed “Islamophobia”. It is safe to say he does not share Voltaire’s assessment of Islam.
Yet Voltaire remains a figure for our time, and free speech on the subject of Islam has become extraordinarily problematic. Imagine Mahomet being produced in Paris today!....
What are we afraid of, then? A world in which, from Bangladesh to West Africa, a savage version of Islam is being championed by armed groups; in which the Indonesian Ulama Council has issued fatwas denouncing secularism, pluralism and liberalism as “sipilis” (syphilis); in which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year publicly lionised historic Muslim conquests and called for the reconquest of Europe by Muslim immigration.
All these things cause unease and fear. Should they not?…
In accepting his Voltaire Award, Aly needs to step up and champion freedom of speech in the Muslim world and freedom to criticise Islam itself, including the Prophet — as Voltaire himself did.
Our world is now one that is an increasingly polarised and polarising contest between new frontiers of cosmopolitism on the one hand and quite responsive and symbiotically related frontiers of atavism on the other.For Aly to get a Voltaire award shows how debased and submissive our Left has become.
And within that lie all of the political narratives that have sustained us through the 20th century that simply don’t work anymore — narratives like freedom, right, which, you know, expresses its own contradictions in America every time there is a mass shooting…. This freedom just kind of ends up consuming itself in a very strange, dark sort of a way.
Thank you
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (9:16am)
Thank you so much for your support for the book. It has been out for less than two weeks and we have so far sold around 2300 copies in direct sales - go here - and are already getting strong re-orders from book shops and news agencies on top of that. We expect to have to order a reprint in a couple of weeks.
In fact, we have also now decided to republish my first book of columns, Still Not Sorry, which sold out in 2005. Stand by for details here.
To order Worth Fighting For online, click here. The book will be mailed free, and you will be on the list for regular Bolt Bulletins. My third Bolt Bulletin will come out in a week or two.
The Adelaide launch of my book is now sold out, and 350 people are coming to the Sydney launch on Friday with me, Rowan Dean and John Roskam. I think there are still tickets for the Brisbane launch, if you are interested.
===In fact, we have also now decided to republish my first book of columns, Still Not Sorry, which sold out in 2005. Stand by for details here.
To order Worth Fighting For online, click here. The book will be mailed free, and you will be on the list for regular Bolt Bulletins. My third Bolt Bulletin will come out in a week or two.
The Adelaide launch of my book is now sold out, and 350 people are coming to the Sydney launch on Friday with me, Rowan Dean and John Roskam. I think there are still tickets for the Brisbane launch, if you are interested.
Ginsburg is a warning that the highest court is anti-Trump Left
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (8:57am)
The arrogance of the Left, its march through the institutions and its unapologetic bias in the exercise of its functions is also suggested by this extraordinary comment by US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has surely now disqualified herself from any case involving a Donald Trump administration:
===“I can’t imagine what this place would be — I can’t imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president,” she said. “For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be — I don’t even want to contemplate that.”
It reminded her of something her husband, Martin D. Ginsburg, a prominent tax lawyer who died in 2010, would have said.
“‘Now it’s time for us to move to New Zealand,’” Justice Ginsburg said, smiling ruefully.
Conservatives have had enough and will fight
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (8:46am)
Janet Albrechtsen in praise of Senator Cory Bernardi, fighting where so many Liberals are folding:
===Good on Cory Bernardi. The move by the South Australian senator to set up a home for those on the Centre-Right of politics in Australia is needed now more than ever. After an election that saw the Turnbull government barely scrape home, and more than a million voters chose an independent or micro-party in the Senate, conservatives have two choices.Albrechtsen says this is a test for Turnbull, and is too kind to add that there is absolutely nothing in his temperament and record to suggest he is capable of passing:
Do nothing, remain complacent, trust in the righteousness of their cause, watch the centre-right landscape fracture further and hand the next election to an emboldened Left.
Or they can learn from the Left, unite around values, get clever about language, reclaim morality as their own and understand that left-wing activism can’t be defeated by sober words and rational speeches. It will be defeated only by right-wing activism that takes nothing for granted. .... angry Liberals wonder why they are losing these debates. Bernardi isn’t getting angry, he’s getting even. He’s working to level democracy’s playing field to offer conservatives a place in the public square just as GetUp! does on the Left. Bernardi wants to unite Australian conservatives who have turned away from the Liberal Party as their natural home. He points to the 1.7 million voters who chose centre-right independents or micro-parties over the Liberal Party.
For the moment, it serves as a timely wake-up call to Malcolm Turnbull that the Liberal Party is at its strongest when it respects both the conservative and small-L liberal strands of its past and present…
Can Turnbull prove that a progressive Liberal can equally unite and strengthen the party? Or will moral arrogance preclude him from doing so? Just as many on the Left cannot simply disagree with their political opponents — they must deride and revile them — the same is true of many on the more progressive side of the Liberal Party....
Including party conservatives [in his ministry] is only a first step for the PM. Getting to know conservative voters, rather than thinking you know better than them, is his second task....
Bernardi’s call to arms is a potential turning point for homeless conservatives who believe in smaller government, greater individual freedom, the importance of Western culture, its traditions and values, lower taxes, and “plain old common sense"…
If the Liberal Party isn’t a broad enough church to include these voices, then it has more to fear than GetUp! Its own conservative base will tell the party of Menzies and Howard to get lost.
Someone isn’t listening
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (8:40am)
Malcolm Turnbull would rather blame Tony Abbott for nearly losing this election than change one of the real factors - one of his own dud policies:
And he’s not heeding the self-serving leaks about the Loyal Deputy:
===Malcolm Turnbull is staring down backbench demands for drastic changes to the government’s tax hike on superannuation, launching phone briefings with colleagues to defend the $6 billion package and insist on the need to legislate the changes as soon as possible.He’s not listening again.
And he’s not heeding the self-serving leaks about the Loyal Deputy:
Highlighting the rupture over super policy, The Australian yesterday revealed that Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and several cabinet colleagues warned Mr Turnbull and Scott Morrison during the election campaign that the tax hike was costing them public support.
Who let them in? Why is this not openly discussed?
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (8:31am)
This African crime wave is astonishing, yet a lot of the media is too polite to make much of it. The latest:
===RESIDENTS of a housing estate north west of Melbourne are living in fear of a gang of car thieves after two home invasions in the past week.And more, with police describing the colour only of the clothes, although the final paragraph is offered as a hint to the ethnicity of the offenders:
The latest break-ins come amid a wave of similar terrifying home invasions and carjackings across Melbourne in recent weeks.
Police are investigating whether the two break-ins in Plumpton are linked.
The thieves struck in Aspire Boulevard on Saturday and in Twain Way on Tuesday. Police said four men broke in to the house at 4.10am on Saturday by smashing a glass door with a rock.
When a woman who heard the noise went to check on a child, she was confronted by the offenders and told to hand over her car keys…
In Tuesday’s incident, six men broke in to a house in Twain Way at 3.20am. Police believe the men, of African appearance, entered through a bathroom window. A man and a woman confronted the men, who demanded their car keys.
One resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said social media had been “inundated” recently with posts about home invasions and carjackings around Caroline Springs…
In the latest incidents, police say a group of armed males forced their way into a Hillside home last Tuesday and demanded valuables and car keys…
In another, two male teenagers armed with a baseball bat and a knife stole a mobile phone from an 11-year-old boy at the Taylors Hill skatepark on July 4.
Witnesses described the offenders as “reasonably tall” and wearing dark- coloured clothing…
Sergeant Rob Henley, of the Melton Crime Investigation Unit, said while police had not been able to confirm a link between the offenders and the Apex gang, they were not ruling out the possibility.
Street sleepers
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (8:02am)
I yesterday walked a few hundred metres from Melbourne’s Flinders St Station to the top of Bourke St Mall and counted five people sleeping in the streets.
I was shocked. I have never seen so many homeless people in our streets before.
What’s going on?
UPDATE
This isn’t just a problem in Melbourne. In Sydney in January I was astonished to see on opposite corners of one intersection in the city centre three people sleeping rough, and a couple of others not far away.
===I was shocked. I have never seen so many homeless people in our streets before.
What’s going on?
UPDATE
This isn’t just a problem in Melbourne. In Sydney in January I was astonished to see on opposite corners of one intersection in the city centre three people sleeping rough, and a couple of others not far away.
Moves against Kroger? The Liberals are sick
Andrew Bolt July 13 2016 (7:32am)
Is this serious? Does this make any sense to people who judge by performance?
But note that Kroger is not only an enemy of Peter Costello. He is also the one branch president who has correctly noted that the Liberals’ election debacle cannot simply be blamed on Labor’s Mediscare, let alone on Turnbull’s pet scapegoat, Tony Abbott, but can be traced to the several months of thought bubbles on tax before the election, during which the Liberal lead over Labor was shredded from 56-44 to 50-50.
Is this then, the story of the reckoning for this election humiliation? That the failures - led by Turnbull - survive and the truth-tellers are executed?
UPDATE
PS: I don’t believe Costello himself is playing a role in this.
===Malcolm Turnbull is facing a Victorian Liberal Party at war in the wake of the federal election campaign, with party president Michael Kroger to defy any attempts to unseat him…So on the one side there is Kroger, who:
Members loyal to former federal treasurer Peter Costello .... attack Mr Kroger over the federal election result.... Three Turnbull ministers — Mitch Fifield, Kelly O’Dwyer and Scott Ryan — are firmly in the Costello camp and have a conflicted history with Mr Kroger.
- argued the Liberal cause more fiercely on TV than any other Liberal officialOn the other hand are three Costello allies reportedly agitating against him, including:
- leads the only state branch which actually picked up a seat in the election, and did not lose any except Murray, lost to the Nationals.
- leads a state branch which had an anti-Liberal swing lower than seen in NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and the NT.
- Kelly O’Dwyer, who as Assistant Treasurer handled the government’s bungled superannuation reforms that couldn’t be sold, alarmed many voters and infuriated many Liberal donors and supporters.On performance alone, this move against Kroger should be laughed out of court.
- Senator Scott Ryan, who as a close ally of Malcolm Turnbull defended his holding a “conversation” on such dud ideas as raising the GST, creating such seeming indecision that the party’s vote sank like a stone.
- Senator Mitch Fifield, who was invisible during the campaign.
But note that Kroger is not only an enemy of Peter Costello. He is also the one branch president who has correctly noted that the Liberals’ election debacle cannot simply be blamed on Labor’s Mediscare, let alone on Turnbull’s pet scapegoat, Tony Abbott, but can be traced to the several months of thought bubbles on tax before the election, during which the Liberal lead over Labor was shredded from 56-44 to 50-50.
Is this then, the story of the reckoning for this election humiliation? That the failures - led by Turnbull - survive and the truth-tellers are executed?
UPDATE
PS: I don’t believe Costello himself is playing a role in this.
THE MOST DANGEROUS JOB ON EARTH
Tim Blair – Monday, July 13, 2015 (4:02am)
Do you yearn for the simple life? Not up for any stress? Good news! Any number of easy jobs are available.
There’s wind chime tuning, for example, and horoscope writing, and whoever’s task it is at the ABC to vet Q & Aaudience questions in between drawing up that week’s yoga roster.
And then there are the more stressful but ultimately more rewarding jobs that typically attract hardier types.
A policewoman once told me of the time she was called to the docks where a Chinese labourer had been squashed. Standing next to a row of unloaded shipping containers, she asked the ship’s captain where the body was. “Under that one,” he said.
The container in question was perhaps one centimetre higher than all the others.
Near the end of her late-night shift, a doctor friend was suddenly swamped with dozens of young patients so drunk they could barely speak. In between stomach pump deployments, she tried to find out how much they’d consumed. One or two managed to reply: “Just ten bucks.”
On the way home hours later, she drove past one of those outer-suburban beer barns. This one featured a sign: “All You Can Drink! $10.”
Even some animals have challenging jobs. Search and rescue dogs at Ground Zero following the September 11 World Trade Center attacks became distressed because there were simply no bodies to be found – just parts of them. One of them located a spine.
But all of these people (and dogs) are just coasting when compared to society’s boldest individuals. I’m talking about those brave men and women who fearlessly analyse graphs, who without heed of any dangers study carbon dioxide concentrations and who risk their very lives attending international seminars and receiving research grants.
“Existential dread is fairly common among those who work on climate change on a daily basis,” US meteorologist Eric Holthaus wrote last week. “Being a climate scientist is probably one of the most psychologically challenging jobs of the 21st century.”
(Continue reading The Most Dangerous Job. Under no circumstances attempt climate science at home.)
MONTANA ’MATO MUTT MIRACLE
Tim Blair – Monday, July 13, 2015 (3:17am)
Whenever you read about someone allegedly attempting to kill a barman because he poured Clamato in his beer instead of tomato juice, you always think: “This story would be perfect if only the barman was saved by the intervention of a dog that recently had its toe amputated.”
People, I present exactly such a story.
SMOKELESS IN SYDNEY
Tim Blair – Monday, July 13, 2015 (2:29am)
Every Tuesday night for around a decade I have caught up with my mate James at the pub. Our venues over the years have changed, and not by choice.
At first we met at the back bar of a pub in Bondi Junction before a smoking ban forced us to the less pleasant front bar. Then the front bar also copped a ban, so we shuffled down the road to another pub.
In time, this joint too became smoke-free – and also infested with backgammon players – so we returned to the original pub which by this time had opened a small alley for cigarette enthusiasts. But it was cold and, being toilet adjacent, richly urine-scented.
We moved again, this time to a venue in Surry Hills that also served excellent food. Then the cook quit, the food turned to rubbish, and we lit out for yet another Tuesday night site.
Our most recent pub had it all, including a large balcony for the tobacco-enhanced. Last week, however, I arrived to find James inside and miserable. In line with the latest anti-smoking regulations, our balcony was now a no-go zone.
(Continue reading Smokeless. And if any readers know of a pub that may suit our requirements, please leave a note in comments or send an email to blairt@dailytelegraph.com.au. This is an urgent request. Unless we find a place by tomorrow night, James will have to spend time with his family.)
BILL’S BIG CHALLENGE
Tim Blair – Monday, July 13, 2015 (2:11am)
The Labor leader, bless him, wants a debate:
Labor leader Bill Shorten has challenged Tony Abbott to take the fight against unions from the royal commission to parliament …“If Mr Abbott has the courage of his convictions, he shouldn’t be hiding behind a royal commission to do his political dirty work,” Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.“Have a debate with me in parliament or in any town hall about workplace relations.”
Abbott should accept Shorten’s dare, on the condition that Bill finds a private sector firm willing to pay the town hall hiring fee. After all, we know Shorten has the connections. Meanwhile, employment minister Eric Abetz has rejected accusations the royal commission was a waste of money:
He said people have been forced to resign, unions have been forced into the Fair Work Commission to renegotiate – and Mr Shorten was required to declare the donation which inaccurately described a campaign manager as a research officer.
Good points. In other Labor developments, here’s frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon’s measured analysis of the government’s push for the ABC to shift Q & A into its news and current affairs division:
“This is the greatest attack on the independence of the public broadcaster in its history.”
Sadly, Fitzgibbon is probably correct.
SKIPPER SARAH SCOURS THE SUNNY SEAS
Tim Blair – Monday, July 13, 2015 (1:50am)
Since the Abbott government stopped the boats, Sarah Hanson-Young has been denied her earlier supplies of local asylum seekers to cry about in parliament. Being a pro-active sort, however, the locally-paid, globally-active senator is now seeking asylum seekers adrift in the sunny Mediterranean.
“At this stage I may be at sea for a number of days, depending on the rescue operations and how many people we find,” Hanson-Young announced last Thursday before boarding the migrant offshore aid station vessel Phoenix.
By late yesterday there were no updates on the mission from Hanson-Young, so either she hasn’t found any Eritrean boaties or she’s operating on a catch-and-release basis. Or maybe the Somalians she’s hauled in are below legal size.
By late yesterday there were no updates on the mission from Hanson-Young, so either she hasn’t found any Eritrean boaties or she’s operating on a catch-and-release basis. Or maybe the Somalians she’s hauled in are below legal size.
(Continue reading Skipper Sarah.)
BABY STEPS
Tim Blair – Monday, July 13, 2015 (1:40am)
A perceived symbol of oppression and division is removed. Others remain.
(Via shaneeh)
NO DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN NO
Tim Blair – Monday, July 13, 2015 (1:23am)
Greeks voted “no” but are getting royally “yessed” anyway:
The euphoria felt by many Greeks at telling Europe their country was rejecting austerity for good lasted less than five days.On Friday, the population woke up to discover Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had promised creditors a new bailout package with austerity measures almost identical to those a majority of Greeks had voted against in Sunday’s referendum.
You know, when you’re that deep in the hole, a vote isn’t going to make much of a difference. It’s like someone falling past the 40th floor and voting for a soft landing.
UPDATE. Greece’s choice:
Europe’s ultimatum to Greece, demanding full capitulation as the price of any new bailout, marks the failure of a rebellion by a small, debt-ridden country against its lenders’ austerity policies, after Germany flexed its muscles and offered Athens a choice between obeisance or destruction.
They could always put it to a vote.
Report: gunman takes 10 hostages in Paris shop
Andrew Bolt July 13 2015 (6:09pm)
Not again:
===A gunman is holding 10 people hostage in a store in the French capital. According to the French authorities, the hostages are held in a store in Paris, a day before France celebrates Bastille Day.It could be “just” a robbery gone wrong:
Up to three gunmen entered the Primark store in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, northwest of the French capital, at 6.30am local time, sources said.
“Around 6:30 am (0530 GMT), two or three armed criminals went into the Primark store for what we think was initially an attempt at armed robbery,” a police source said.
What Fairfax won’t tell you about their “Saudi Arabia of solar” fantasy
Andrew Bolt July 13 2015 (2:35pm)
Once again you are being deceived by Fairfax’s global warming ideologues:
Ah. The catch. That power actually costs much more than electricity from coal or gas. And that’s the little catch that’s not mentioned: that these investors actually want you force by government to use their product and pay more for it.
This kind of reporting by Fairfax is a disgrace. It is deceiving people for an allegedly higher purpose.
UPDATE
Even worse, The Age prints this alarmist tripe from Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Centre for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School:
In fact, the “current trends” actually show no real warming of the atmosphere for 18 years. These trends show a rising in sea levels over the past 25 years of just 3.3cm a decade that in no plausible scenario will put “large parts of Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Vietnam ... under water” within the life-time even of our grandchildren, even without taking into account any engineering over the next century to mitigate any risk. As for more deserts, the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change admitted there was only “low confidence in a global-scale observed trend in drought or dryness (lack of rainfall) since the middle of the 20th century”. The glaciers in the Himalayas have actually been stable, and are not shrinking, as claimed.
And this fantastical doomsaying, riddled with error, cherry-picking and exaggeration, is from an academic at Colombia Law School? Accepted for publication by The Age? Are facts and reason really so irrelevant now in public debate?
Seems so. On goes the rank scaremongering;
On goes the fear-mongering, ignoring recent science that contradicts the scare:
The Age should be ashamed of itself. It’s allowed the green faith subvert any commitment to telling its readers the plain truth - and all of it.
===Australia is perfectly placed to become the next global superpower of renewable energy, the “Saudi Arabia of solar” for the coming century.Really? If it’s that easy and that obvious, then why don’t investors just produce all that fantastic solar and wind power? What’s stopping them?
While Saudi Arabia has barrels of oil, we have an abundance of sunlight to fuel solar power and wind to power turbines, plus enough geographical space, modern infrastructure and a stable political system to house such an industry on a massive scale.
Ah. The catch. That power actually costs much more than electricity from coal or gas. And that’s the little catch that’s not mentioned: that these investors actually want you force by government to use their product and pay more for it.
This kind of reporting by Fairfax is a disgrace. It is deceiving people for an allegedly higher purpose.
UPDATE
Even worse, The Age prints this alarmist tripe from Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Centre for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School:
Towards the end of this century, if current trends are not reversed, large parts of Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Vietnam, among other countries, will be under water. Some small island nations, such as Kiribati and the Marshall Islands, will be close to disappearing entirely. Swaths of Africa from Sierra Leone to Ethiopia will be turning into desert. Glaciers in the Himalayas and the Andes, on which entire regions depend for drinking water, will be melting away. Many habitable parts of the world will no longer be able to support agriculture or produce clean water.It is disgraceful - even disgusting - that The Age can publish this rubbish unchallenged.
In fact, the “current trends” actually show no real warming of the atmosphere for 18 years. These trends show a rising in sea levels over the past 25 years of just 3.3cm a decade that in no plausible scenario will put “large parts of Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Vietnam ... under water” within the life-time even of our grandchildren, even without taking into account any engineering over the next century to mitigate any risk. As for more deserts, the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change admitted there was only “low confidence in a global-scale observed trend in drought or dryness (lack of rainfall) since the middle of the 20th century”. The glaciers in the Himalayas have actually been stable, and are not shrinking, as claimed.
And this fantastical doomsaying, riddled with error, cherry-picking and exaggeration, is from an academic at Colombia Law School? Accepted for publication by The Age? Are facts and reason really so irrelevant now in public debate?
Seems so. On goes the rank scaremongering;
Our children and grandchildren could be confronting a humanitarian crisis unlike anything the world has ever faced… To make calculating easy, let’s assume 100 million people will need new homes outside their own countries by 2050. Under a formula based on historic greenhouse gas emissions, the United States would take in 27 million people; Europe, 25 million; and so on. Even as a rough estimate, this gives a sense of the magnitude of the problem.Seriously? Global warming driving all those millions a year out of their countries over the next 35 years? After 18 years of no atmospheric warming? And Europe blithely accepting 25 million of them - nearly the population of The Netherlands and Belgium combined?
On goes the fear-mongering, ignoring recent science that contradicts the scare:
Just south-west of India is the low-lying island nation of Maldives. Before its president, Mohamed Nasheed, was deposed by a military coup in 2012, he rose to global prominence as a voice of endangered island nations by staging an underwater cabinet meeting to highlight his country’s likely fate. Last year, he told me about his message to developed nations. “You can drastically reduce your greenhouse gas emissions so that the seas do not rise so much,” he said. “Or, when we show up on your shores in our boats, you can let us in. Or, when we show up on your shores in our boats, you can shoot us. You pick.”Scary. Pity the facts: that recent research highlighted in the New Scientist shows that 18 of 29 low-lying islands like the Maldives have actually grown in size, and many others have been stable.
The Age should be ashamed of itself. It’s allowed the green faith subvert any commitment to telling its readers the plain truth - and all of it.
Liberals should back Abbott’s Q&A boycott. They’re finally winning
Andrew Bolt July 13 2015 (9:57am)
SOME Liberal MPs are moaning about Tony Abbott’s boycott of the ABC’s Q&A program, showing how little they understand what’s at stake.
Take the “bemused Coalition source” who complained to Fairfax journalists: “Why on earth are we prioritising this?”
Well, the Prime Minister isn’t “prioritising” this fight.
He’s just exploiting a massive overreach by the ABC to force it to at least pretend to obey the law that says the ABC must be impartial and not this soapbox of the Left.
The folly was Q&A’s smart-arse decision to ambush Liberal frontbencher Steven Ciobo with a question by Islamist extremist Zaky Mallah, who had been jailed for threatening to kill ASIO officers.
That folly was then compounded by the ABC board’s snow job — announcing an inquiry into Q&A’s bias by two of the usual suspects, former SBS head Shaun Brown and journalist Ray Martin, who immediately declared the Liberals were just playing politics and Q&A was just as hard on Labor.
The fix was in, and normally Liberals just take it like wimps.
(Read full column here.)
===Take the “bemused Coalition source” who complained to Fairfax journalists: “Why on earth are we prioritising this?”
Well, the Prime Minister isn’t “prioritising” this fight.
He’s just exploiting a massive overreach by the ABC to force it to at least pretend to obey the law that says the ABC must be impartial and not this soapbox of the Left.
The folly was Q&A’s smart-arse decision to ambush Liberal frontbencher Steven Ciobo with a question by Islamist extremist Zaky Mallah, who had been jailed for threatening to kill ASIO officers.
That folly was then compounded by the ABC board’s snow job — announcing an inquiry into Q&A’s bias by two of the usual suspects, former SBS head Shaun Brown and journalist Ray Martin, who immediately declared the Liberals were just playing politics and Q&A was just as hard on Labor.
The fix was in, and normally Liberals just take it like wimps.
(Read full column here.)
How Bill Shorten trashes all MPs who support him
Andrew Bolt July 13 2015 (9:49am)
IT’S the cover-up that kills you in politics, and defending Bill Shorten is killing Labor.
Tragically, the Labor leader is trashing the reputation of the colleagues obliged to defend dodgy deals he made as head of the Australian Workers’ Union.
This became shockingly obvious to me when I saw even Gary Gray trying to defend a personal donation Shorten took from a boss whose workers his union was meant to be representing.
I know Gray, Labor’s former national secretary. We were mates and worked together in Darwin on Labor’s 1984 federal election campaign. He later gave me a job on Labor’s 1987 campaign, too.
Gosh, we loved fighting the Liberals, stopping at nothing to win every vote — that is, nothing short of breaking the law or shaming Labor or ourselves.
Because here’s the thing. Gray is as straight as a die. He is so decent and reasonable that, despite his talent, Shorten has given him no better job than shadow minister for Northern Australia.
Yet there was Gray on the ABC’s 7.30 trying to salvage Shorten’s reputation from the wreckage of his testimony to the royal commission into union corruption.
(Read full column here.)
===Tragically, the Labor leader is trashing the reputation of the colleagues obliged to defend dodgy deals he made as head of the Australian Workers’ Union.
This became shockingly obvious to me when I saw even Gary Gray trying to defend a personal donation Shorten took from a boss whose workers his union was meant to be representing.
I know Gray, Labor’s former national secretary. We were mates and worked together in Darwin on Labor’s 1984 federal election campaign. He later gave me a job on Labor’s 1987 campaign, too.
Gosh, we loved fighting the Liberals, stopping at nothing to win every vote — that is, nothing short of breaking the law or shaming Labor or ourselves.
Because here’s the thing. Gray is as straight as a die. He is so decent and reasonable that, despite his talent, Shorten has given him no better job than shadow minister for Northern Australia.
Yet there was Gray on the ABC’s 7.30 trying to salvage Shorten’s reputation from the wreckage of his testimony to the royal commission into union corruption.
(Read full column here.)
Praise for the warmist Bureau
Andrew Bolt July 13 2015 (9:33am)
Thank you to Scott Williams of the warmist Bureau of Meteorology for this morning adding a note of balance on ABC Melbourne 774 in discussing this cold winter. In noting previous winters of above-average warmth he notes they could have been evidence of global warming or, in fact, “the urban heat island effect” - all that concrete, asphalt and machinery.
Of course, he should have added those warmer winters could merely have been a regional change or natural fluctuation, but I’m still giving him an elephant stamp.
===Of course, he should have added those warmer winters could merely have been a regional change or natural fluctuation, but I’m still giving him an elephant stamp.
Green electricity is fueled by your taxes and extra charges
Andrew Bolt July 13 2015 (9:09am)
The ABC, Fairfax journalists and green carpetbaggers are today demanding even more taxpayer handouts for green power. They have already helped to force through a law obliging us to make 23 per of our electricity come from more expensive power sources such as wind and solar. Now they want cheap loans, too, supplied by taxpayers.
And all the time they claim that forcing us to us more expensive green power actually saves us money:
As for this latest controversy, once again you are being misled:
To hear how the ABC pushes green claims almost without question - and certainly without questioning global warming or the difference green power would actually make - hear Fran Kelly’s interview with Environment Minister Greg Hunt this morning.
The ABC not biased? Shame on the ABC bosses who repeat that brazen lie.
UPDATE
Reader Mark M consults a dictionary:
If only the Government really were at war with green power:
===And all the time they claim that forcing us to us more expensive green power actually saves us money:
Australian Solar Council chief executive John Grimes accused Tony Abbott of playing “cynical politics” after the Prime Minister insisted on Sunday that his government “supports renewables” but wants to “reduce the upward pressure on power prices"… ”Tony Abbott is keeping people trapped paying higher electricity prices,” Mr Grimes told Fairfax Media.You are being hoaxed. The more wind and solar power we use instead of cheap coal, the greater the overall cost to us.
As for this latest controversy, once again you are being misled:
Political storm? Adam Gartrell, Fairfax, yesterday:UPDATE
Tony Abbott has dramatically escalated his war on wind power, creating a new cabinet split and provoking a warning he is putting international investment at risk ... The government has ordered the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation not to make any new investments in wind power projects ... Joe Hockey and Mathias Cormann have issued the so-called green bank with a directive to change its investment mandate, prohibiting new wind funding. It’s understood the directive was issued without the approval or knowledge of Environment Minister Greg Hunt, angering the minister.Just wind. Greg Hunt, Twitter, yesterday:
The Fairfax story today is factually wrong and is a misleading beat up.More Hunt:
Fairfax was told on Friday that the mandate reflected the agreement with crossbench senators — as detailed in a letter from myself to the senators that was tabled in the Senate and widely reported at the time.And yet more from the Minister:
This agreement was extensively discussed between and jointly approved by Minister Cormann and myself.Fairfax are blowhards. Hunt again:
I fully support the changes to the CEFC investment mandate and any suggestion to the contrary is categorically wrong. Claims that I have been “angered” are a complete, absolute and utter fabrication.The Hunt Twitter tornado finally calms with these tweets:
I’ve been repeatedly critical of the CEFC investing taxpayer funds in projects such as existing wind farms, rather than focusing on solar and emerging technologies. Our policy is to abolish the CEFC but in the meantime it should focus on solar and emerging technologies as was originally intended.
To hear how the ABC pushes green claims almost without question - and certainly without questioning global warming or the difference green power would actually make - hear Fran Kelly’s interview with Environment Minister Greg Hunt this morning.
The ABC not biased? Shame on the ABC bosses who repeat that brazen lie.
UPDATE
Reader Mark M consults a dictionary:
Luddite - noun1.a member of any of various bands of workers in England (1811–16) organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment.Reader Mark M cites an example on the ABC yesterday:
Mike Seccombe on Insiders at 7.25 mins - “It just goes to show that this government is pretty “luddite” when it comes to anything to do with renewable energy.” But anyone with a slightest grasp of knowledge of human history knows that coal power replaced windmills. It is luddites like Mike Seccombe who argue we return to them.UPDATE
If only the Government really were at war with green power:
Forget the hysteria generated by the Fairfax media, the opposition and the Greens over the government’s so-called war on wind.As The Australian reported on June 28 last year:
Wind-driven electricity generation in Australia could just about double in the next five years regardless of the government’s directive to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to steer clear of wind farms and solar rooftop panels in new investment. The growth will be driven by the Renewable Energy Target, which underpins the projects courtesy of a subsidy paid by electricity consumers and legislated targets, rather than concessional loans from the government.
The question at the heart of the government’s decision to change the CEFC’s investment mandate, revealed at the weekend, is whether wind turbines and solar rooftop panels on homes are still emerging technologies… Far from being a surprise, the government’s desire for more start-up loans for solar rather than more funding for wind was flagged in a letter from Environment Minister Greg Hunt to the crossbenchers last month when an agreement on changes to the RET deal went through parliament.
THE Clean Energy Finance Corporation is likely to be directed away from lending to wind farms in favour of programs that support the Coalition’s “direct action” plan such as energy-efficiency schemes and leasing for solar hot water systems.... Senior government sources have told The Weekend Australian the CEFC could be instructed to favour direct action-style programs such as providing leasing for households to install solar hot water systems and for energy-efficiency programs instead of wind farms.(Thanks to readers Peter of Bellevue Hill, Baden and Jack.)
Hiring an extremist to advise British police
Andrew Bolt July 13 2015 (9:00am)
Western Governments have been far too gullible in accepting the claims of “moderate” Muslim preachers:
===An Islamic preacher who ‘despised Britain’ led a double life working within police counter-terrorism…(Thanks to reader latsy.)
Abdullah al-Andalusi… would preach at night, has an extensive profile online and even appeared on TV, and even claimed that the British Government wanted to destroy Islam, it’s been reported.
But by using a different name, Mouloud Farid, he was allowed to work in the heart of Britain’s policing, for Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary which regulates all 44 forces in England.
The watchdog has admitted that it employed one of Britain’s most notorious extremists, and was only found out and sacked after appearing on television.
While working for the organisation, he was even promoted to a management rank, given him even higher access to sensitive information, including details on counter-terrorism units.
The inspectorate claimed he did not have access to classified material, but a source who worked with him told the Sunday Telegraph that this was not true…
In a blog post published on June 30 last year, while discussing the creation of Islamic State, al-Andalusi ... stated: ‘[ISIS] are no different to Western armies, Western covert-backed groups and even some of the ‘founding fathers’ of Western nations – therefore they certainly have no basis to judge...”
Either it has no support or its supporters are just bludgers
Andrew Bolt July 13 2015 (8:43am)
Just 340? At seven rallies? I think the cause isn’t one that’s captured public support - or else has the support of only layabouts:
===HUNDREDS of people across Australia have rallied for fairness and equality in the federal government’s changes to the welfare system. About 320 people attended the National Welfare March in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hervey Bay in Queensland, Launceston in Tasmania, Wodonga in Victoria, and Gosford in NSW over the weekend. Twenty people also attended a rally two weeks ago in Gympie, Queensland.(Thanks to reader mem.)
Democrats win. It's not even close!Data source: BLS and The Wall Street JournalRead more here: http://on.wsj.com/1dSxxXIImage by Occupy Democrats, LIKE our page for more!
Posted by Occupy Democrats on Saturday, 11 July 2015
===
Nancee and the Storm A quick pic of my chase companion this year Nancee Rostad as we assessed a storm in a nice pastoral location.
Posted by Matt Granz on Monday, 13 July 2015
Apparently it's now OK to pee on the streets of New York City http://nyp.st/1M1FtVo
Posted by New York Post on Saturday, 11 July 2015
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Pat: You know those popular toys where there's a fake weasel attached to a ball that kinda hops around?Well...
Posted by 92.9 The Bull on Friday, 19 June 2015
Posted by KFM on Wednesday, 28 January 2015
37 Millionen Chorsänger gibt's in Europa. Das hat die neue Studie des Forschungsprojekts "singing europe" ergeben. Die meisten Chorfans hat demnach Österreich. Deutschland ist auch ganz gut im Rennen. :-)
Posted by BR-KLASSIK on Friday, 10 July 2015
===
With all the Budget talk here's something funny - Rach
Posted by 91 9 Sea FM on Tuesday, 13 May 2014
Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott threatening to expel all "illegal migrants" got this response from a true Australian....
Posted by José Ramos-Horta on Wednesday, 7 January 2015
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Marketing your book starts with an author website. Here's what you need to know: http://bit.ly/1Hbf40X
Posted by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on Sunday, 12 July 2015
Photo: Make sure your money is printed on Greece proof paper http://t.co/GGS1ABduOc
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
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Photo: ri-science: Ernő Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, was born on this day in 1944. This gif... http://t.co/ElfOx4A0xK
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
===
Thick crust, thin crust. Don't think about it. We have our chicken as the pizza crust. #KFChizza pic.twitter.com/v6UTrsFfCl
— KFC Philippines (@KFCPhilippines) July 4, 2015
===
Pizza .. KFC’s new idea is an abomination http://t.co/uENCcDXsrp via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
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Commission hears of cash for CFMEU http://t.co/76BPpfQiXV via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
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Submerged volcano cluster found off coast of Sydney http://t.co/RVQCedf11L via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
===
Rubbish dumper gets rubbish returned to his front yard http://t.co/ciNTdtX6NRvia @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
===
Wife tells of how botched cancer surgery turned her husband into a complete stranger http://t.co/5vP0rTEKUM via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
===
Experts split on Beijing's next move http://t.co/4NaVkaNjHh via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
===
It is as if I see a mirror .. http://t.co/DUwrr1g9Hb
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
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First the boats, now Morrison’s stopped the bludgers as pension fraud crackdown saves $636 million http://t.co/8Tkx7bpJGM
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
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Photo: icedsummah: hahaha http://t.co/P3UgirqBtT
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 13, 2015
===
Photo: http://t.co/jGf3gNYVtv
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) July 12, 2015
=== Posts from last year ===
Abbott must wait for PUP to chew itself to pieces
Piers Akerman – Sunday, July 13, 2014 (6:38am)
GIVEN the choice between watching a circus or grappling with substance, the public will opt for the clowns every time.
That was a bit of a plus for the publicity-seeking Clive Palmer and his PUPpies when they made their first appearance in the senate and it was a small bonus for Labor, though not necessarily the Greens.
In dealing with Palmer and the PUPs, the Abbott government faces the classic dilemma anyone who has ever dealt with an absolute lunatic must consider. Do you pretend that the idiot is sane and try to negotiate as if the fool was rational, or should you approach them as you would an unbalanced and irrational gibberer and attempt to show them why their confused ill-ogic cannot provide a solution?
Contrary to Palmer’s assertion, the Abbott government didn’t doublecross the PUP. The Abbott government accepted a PUP amendment on Wednesday night but the PUPs had changed it by Thursday morning and would change it again before attempting to put it before the senate.
It was the PUP, not the government who attempted to present an unconstitutional amendment, and it was the PUP, not the government, who made the unreasonable demand for total carbon tax compensation.
How, for example, can consumers be fully compensated for all carbon tax costs when it is patently clear to all but populist oafs that the cost of the carbon tax levied on such items as the refrigerants used in abattoirs and cool stores and in supermarkets cannot reasonably be calculated and returned to customers.
The PUP wasn’t doublecrossed, they doublecrossed themselves. Or, in language that Jacqui Lambie might understand, they piddled on their own swag time and again.
That was last week’s circus performance. This week’s is still being scripted and it is to be hoped that the PUPs are walked through the most basic steps of parliamentary process and given a course in kindergarten constitutional law before they return to Canberra.
The substance of the situation is that from July 1, the balance of power in the senate shifted from the ALP-Green centre-Left axis to the PUP and other crossbenchers, a centre-Right axis.
The Abbott government has shown it is prepared to attempt to negotiate with the PUP, and others, such as independent senator Nick Xenophon, when necessary.
It has not, as Labor and Greens insinuate, capitulated to the PUP. If anything, it is settling down to play a long game and give the PUP plenty of time to selfdestruct.
Palmer’s populist image has so far been built on advertising, and court papers indicate that his Chinese business colleagues may have unwittingly underwritten his campaign publicity costs. His attempts to portray himself as something of a homespun philosopher are rapidly foundering as he has been unable to present anything resembling consistency of policy.
Past performance in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania would indicate he hopes his blustering populist buffoonery would distract his followers from examining his lack of realistic policy goals and sufficiently confuse them into thinking he can deliver something meaningful despite a total lack of evidence.
If he hopes to force the government’s hand with his stunts and push it into calling a double dissolution, he may be whistling in the dark. It is apparent that the Abbott government is not going to rush to a double dissolution election and would probably only consider employing such a tactic towards the end of its term.
While Palmer has captivated the media, Labor has been let off the hook. Last year, Labor boasted that it had dumped the carbon tax. It had not, no more than it had returned the budget to surplus.
It went into the election with a firm promise to enact legislation repealing the carbon tax. It has not voted against doing so. As the government leader in the senate, Senator Abetz has pointed out, every senator, other than the 10 Greens, was elected on abolishing the carbon tax.
“So it is a bit frustrating when you look around the chamber at 76 senators and see only 10 senators that were committed to the carbon tax yet we can’t get the numbers together to repeal it,” he said.
The unfortunate Senator Lambie, still smarting from the fact that she did not receive a single vote when she sought preselection as Liberal Party candidate, has demanded Prime Minister Tony Abbott sack Senator Abetz “immediately” for what have, in fact, been the PUPpies’ blunders.
“If you want to come into the kennel with the PUPs, be prepared to be chewed up and spat back out. Stop these silly games,” she shrilled during an interview on Friday.
The senator needs reminding of the old adage that those who lie down with dogs do run the risk of picking up fleas.
Leave champion for women alone
Miranda Devine – Sunday, July 13, 2014 (9:52am)
MARGARET Mary Cunneen, SC, has locked up Australia’s worst pedophiles and gang rapists. Her scalps are legion: Pedophiles Robert (Dolly) Dunn, Philip Bell, Michael Guider, Colin Fisk, three priests of the Order of Saint Gerard Majella, the Campsie serial rapist, and the Ashfield and Skaf gang rapists.
Continue reading 'Leave champion for women alone'Wasn’t 1200 dead enough?
Miranda Devine – Friday, July 11, 2014 (1:38am)
NOW refugee advocates reportedly are “coaching” mothers to self-harm.
Someone in authority has to stop these so-called “well-meaning” advocates. They are hurting the very people they feign to protect.
As for the media that uncritically reported the story of ten women on Nauru supposedly attempting suicide ... You have to ask, what vested interests are so desperate for the Abbott government to fail on border protection?
A FORMER director of offshore processing in Australia’s immigration detention camps claims asylum-seekers are coached and encouraged to attempt self-harm by refugee advocates who then use the incidents as political capital.Greg Lake made his strident attack on “certain refugee advocates” whose behaviour “is at odds with their mandate as advocates” as the Refugee Action Coalition backed down from claims in a press release on Monday that up to “10 mothers in the family camp have attempted suicide in the last two days on Christmas Island”.Refugee coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul told The Australian yesterday that women in the family camp wanted to get off Christmas Island for the mainland, though some said they would be happy to go to Nauru.“I probably shouldn’t have said attempted suicide,” he said.“People drinking concoctions of shampoo or detergent generally don’t die — was it a drastic cry for help? Yes, it was, and it remains that way.”Extra guards continued to be stationed in the island’s family camp yesterday to keep watch on women who had either threatened, attempted or carried out self-harm during the past week.Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has rubbished claims published in Fairfax Media that up to 12 mothers had attempted suicide so their orphaned babies would be raised in Australia.The government has described the self-harm as minor. While asylum-seekers are flown to mainland hospitals in the event of medical emergency, the only person to leave the Australian territory this week for medical reasons was a Christmas Island resident.The asylum-seeker women on watch at the camp this week include a young Iranian who does not have children; she spent time in the camp’s medical centre after leaping from what guards have described as the flat roof of one-storey transportable accommo-dation on Sunday. She had recently returned from medical treatment on the mainland.Mr Rintoul said he had communicated with the women before they harmed themselves but denied encouraging them to do so or having prior knowledge that they would.“Of course not,” he said.“There may have been some indication of people heading this way — they were extremely worried about the presence of the Serco guards and the police (over the weekend).“It’s clear to me now that Serco was expecting a situation.”The tense atmosphere continued in Christmas Island’s family camp as authorities prepared to send more asylum-seekers to Nauru. Tonight a group of detainees is scheduled to leave the island for Nauru, and more frequent flights are expected as more accommodation comes online.Mr Lake said in his time at what is now called the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, he grew disgusted by the actions of some refugee advocates who were clearly urging asylum-seekers to self-harm as a form of protest so they could put out a press release about it.He said the advocates communicated with the asylum-seekers by Facebook message, phone and email. While the department did not read asylum-seekers’ communications, he said what was going on was obvious and often emerged later in interviews with detainees who had hurt themselves on purpose.
He said he believed some advocates communicated with a ringleader, who then “stood over” other detainees to compel them to make a statement through self-harm.
“There are certain prominent advocates who will coach and encourage asylum-seekers to self-harm as a political protest and it makes me very upset and I believe it is at odds with their mandate as advocates,” Mr Lake said.“The problem is, outside of the government or public service, people aren’t aware of their tactics.”Mr Lake, who resigned as an immigration official in April last year, claimed that one of his last tasks on Nauru was to interview eight asylum-seekers who had joined a lip-sewing protest, but who had been bullied into it by a detainee who was in communication with a refugee advocate.“These guys didn’t want anything to do with it,” he said.“They only did it because they were pushed by the ringleader.”
The Australian has learned that refugee advocates and others working inside the Christmas Island compounds are linking this week’s self-harm incidents to a recent decision by Mr Morrison to allow three vulnerable Somali girls to leave the camp and live in Sydney’s west.
OVER TO YOU, MACQUARIE DICTIONARY
Tim Blair – Sunday, July 13, 2014 (6:07am)
Australia’s favourite metaphorical endocentric compound is mentioned once again in the Sydney Morning Herald:
With The Fictional Woman, Moss has triumphantly made the leap from apocryphal dingbat to fully-fledged frightbat. Now when she walks into a room, she will not only turn heads, but change minds.
The great thing about this latest mention is that it comes with no qualifiers or explanations. It’s simply assumed that readers will understand “frightbat”. My darling little word is now part of the language.
JUDGE FITZSIMONS
Tim Blair – Sunday, July 13, 2014 (5:46am)
Peter FitzSimons seems both amused and offended that Olympic swimming champion Ian Thorpe is gay:
Ian Thorpe is gay, you say? He’s reportedly “Come out” in his interview with Sir Michael Parkinson on Channel Ten on Sunday night? Gay, you say?Well, who would have thought it?Apart from just about everyone that’s met and talked to our greatest Olympian, I mean.
Whoa! Stereotype much, Peter? The Fairfax columnist then condemns Thorpe for dishonesty:
Lie about it Thorpe has, for a long time, make no mistake.“For the record,” he wrote in his autobiography two years ago, “I am not gay and all my sexual experiences have been straight.”Porky pie? Much more than that. What you write about your life in your autobiography is a little like what you say when under oath. When you call that autobiography This is My Life it is a further affirmation that what I am telling you is the dinkum oil.But it wasn’t.“The thing that I find hurtful about “speculation that I’m gay,” Thorpe went on, with the ABC, “is that people are questioning my integrity and what I say. That’s the only part I find hurtful, that this is something I would be embarrassed about and that I would hide ... ”More nonsense.
Man, give the guy a break. Thorpe has just announced his sexual preference to the world – bravely, at potential risk to his commercial and media income – and in response he’s called a nonsensical liar. This seems needlessly and stupidly brutal. So Thorpe said he wasn’t gay, and now says he is. So what? Why be so morally outraged?
A BRIEF HISTORY OF WRONG
Tim Blair – Sunday, July 13, 2014 (4:08am)
Recent online predictions from Bob Ellis, longtime Labor speechwriter and 72-year-old Labor groupie:
Continue reading 'A BRIEF HISTORY OF WRONG'BEAUTIFUL ONE DAY, GORED THE NEXT
Tim Blair – Sunday, July 13, 2014 (4:02am)
Al Gore recently shared a Canberra press conference with a prominent Queenslander. The Gore Effect instantly struck out nation’s capital, and it has now spread to Queensland:
Brisbane has hit its coldest temperatures in 103 years.Not since July 28 1911 has Brisbane felt this cold, getting down to a brisk 2.6C at 6.41am.
Other Queensland locations have also felt the force of Gore Effect by proxy.
(Via reader Dave)
The Bolt Report today, July 13
Andrew Bolt July 13 2014 (6:00am)
On Channel 10 at 10am and 4pm… Should Tony Abbott call a double dissolution election before Clive Palmer destroys his government? And why these untruths and exaggerations about boat people?
My guest: Labor’s Anthony Albanese.
The panel: IPA boss John Roskam and former NSW Labor treasurer Michael Costa
NewsWatch: The Australian’s media editor Sharri Markson. Plus spin of the week.
Warning: not safe for climate alarmists, refugee activists and anyone else for whom the truth doesn’t matter if the cause is just.
The videos of the shows appear here.
===My guest: Labor’s Anthony Albanese.
The panel: IPA boss John Roskam and former NSW Labor treasurer Michael Costa
NewsWatch: The Australian’s media editor Sharri Markson. Plus spin of the week.
Warning: not safe for climate alarmists, refugee activists and anyone else for whom the truth doesn’t matter if the cause is just.
The videos of the shows appear here.
13 JULY 2014Continue reading 'The Bolt Report today, July 13'
INTERVIEW WITH ANTHONY ALBANESE
ANDREW BOLT, PRESENTER: On Thursday the Prime Minister thought, finally, the new Senate would give his Government its biggest win.
TONY ABBOTT, PRIME MINISTER: Today should be the day when the carbon tax is finally scrapped.
ANDREW BOLT: But Clive Palmer had just thought of yet another thing he wanted in the bill to scrap the tax, even heavier penalties for companies not passing on the savings.
CLIVE PALMER, PALMER UNITED PARTY LEADER: In the old amendment which was drafted by the government, right, it had a lot of ‘mays’, right? We’ve changed those ‘mays’ to ‘musts’. We’ve stiffened it up.
ANDREW BOLT: But the Senate clerks said Palmer’s last-minute changes weren’t constitutional, he arced up and so, whoops, Palmer’s four senators voted to save the tax they’d promised to axe, for another week, at least. Palmer just loved being at the centre of attention again, but what a shambles he’d created, leaving the government scrambling to save face after losing the vote.
STEPHEN PARRY, SENATE PRESIDENT: Order, the result of the division is 37 ayes and 35 no’s, which means the report of the committee has been adopted, and the bills have been negatived.
ERIC ABETZ, SENATE LEADER: I believe that, next week, we can resolve the issues that were of a technical nature.
ANDREW BOLT: Joining me is Labor transport spokesman Anthony Albanese, who was the Gillard Government’s chief negotiator with the independents, and Greens MP, who then held the balance in the lower house. Thanks for joining me.
ANTHONY ALBANESE: Good to be with you, Andrew.
ANDREW BOLT: look, dealing with people like Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor must’ve been a doddle compared to dealing with Clive Palmer. How much damage could this man do to Parliament?
ANTHONY ALBANESE: Well, it’s a chaotic government, Andrew, and what we’re seeing, writ large, is that Tony Abbott had a plan to get into government, but he doesn’t have a plan to govern. The sort of skills that made him a very effective opposition leader, being able to stick to a script, have those three-word slogans, he’s finding, don’t equip him very well to be an effective Prime Minister. And that’s why we see the government’s struggling to find a narrative, struggling to get its agenda through of its budget of broken promises, and we’re finding out pretty quickly that Australians are now all seeing that Government
isn’t perhaps as easy as Tony Abbott and the Coalition thought it was.
ANDREW BOLT: OK. Well, that was your free kick, but the question was about Clive Palmer. What do you think this bloke’s agenda is? Is it to destroy the Government?
ANTHONY ALBANESE: Well, Clive Palmer certainly likes being at the centre of attention, but Clive Palmer, of course, is a creation of the Coalition. He’s a life member of the LNP, and I note that he still appears in the Queensland branch’s latest booklet for their conference as a life member. Tony Abbott was so negative and created, I think, a feeling of distrust of the major parties and so people voted for minor parties, be it Clive Palmer or some of the other
fringe parties that are now represented in the Senate, Tony Abbott has to deal with this. This is a reality. This is the parliament that the Australian people gave him.
ANDREW BOLT: I know that, I know he has to deal with it, but I want - yeah, but I want to go back to Clive Palmer. We’ve got it, OK? You think Tony Abbott’s all stuffed it up, but I want to talk about Clive Palmer because the future of the Parliament depends on what his real game is. Do you think it is to just, you know, help the Government run things better, or is it to destroy the Government?
Palmer could push other Senators into stopping carbon tax repeal
Andrew Bolt July 13 2014 (5:46am)
Clive Palmer’s demands are so extreme or wildly expressed that other crossbench senators are nervous:
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
===Prime Minister Tony Abbott faces a fresh threat to the abolition of the carbon tax, with two key crossbenchers warning that if the government continues to pander to Clive Palmer it risks losing their support.Can Abbott survive dealing with Palmer and his fellow extremists?
NSW senator David Leyonhjelm and South Australia’s Bob Day issued the stern warning on Saturday, saying they were concerned that ‘’severe compliance’’ obligations placed on business by Palmer United Party amendments to the carbon tax repeal bills could be ‘’worse than the tax itself’’.
Senator Leyonhjelm told The Sunday Age: ‘’We are signalling to the government they don’t have a blank cheque with us. If you give too much ground to PUP you might lose us. We want to see the carbon tax removed, but not at the price of some big brother obligation that makes life difficult for industry.’’… Senator Day said under PUP’s ‘’confusing requirements’’ that appear to have been accepted by the government, energy suppliers could face fines of $85,000 for not submitting paperwork like a ‘’carbon tax removal substantiation notice’’ on time. “Power companies will simply pass these hefty fines for non-compliance onto consumers,” he said.
The crossbench of the senate, which now consists of 18 independents and minor party MPs (the 10 Greens), has asserted its new authority over the government in ways that Tony Abbott failed to anticipate and in a manner which has many in the Coalition horrified.Palmer could destroy this government if it doesn’t destroy him first.
Not only have Palmer and his minions refused to honour commitments to support the government’s repeal of the carbon tax, they have punched a further $10 billion hole in Joe Hockey’s Budget, turning a budget emergency into a $50 billion fiscal calamity…
Abbott hadn’t factored in the possibility that at least one of the new senators might be, in the words of one Coalition minister, “completely stark raving mad”. And they weren’t talking about Palmer.
Who could have guessed the petrol-loving Motoring Enthusiast Party senator Ricky Muir would become a supporter of taxpayer-funded renewable energy subsidies and would want to keep the sloth-driven bureaucracy that is the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
The price for Muir’s vote, which delayed the second attempt to repeal the tax, cost the government $1.5 billion…
Palmer’s tactics are obviously wrapped up in one of two possible but deliberate motives. Either he plans to scuttle Abbott’s plans to axe the tax and destroy the government or he wants to grandstand on the costly promises he has exacted to prove the point that he can exercise power over the Prime Minister no matter what cost to the Budget.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Ricky Muir speaks and my wallet flinches
Andrew Bolt July 13 2014 (5:39am)
Ricky Muir - like Clive Palmer - talks green to charm the media. He’s also the first of Palmer’s four Senate votes to talk rebellion:
===In his first interview since arriving in Canberra, Senator Muir, who expects to help kill the carbon tax this week, revealed an agenda far wider than simply pushing the interests of motorists.
The so-called ‘’rev-head senator’’ outlined personal passions that include organic food, which he grows and eats from his garden in rural Victoria, preventive healthcare, which he is interested in championing at a political level, and renewable energy, following his surprise intervention last week to protect the Australian Renewable Energy Agency from the government’s budget knife.
With questions over whether the PUP senators, Glenn Lazarus, Jacqui Lambie and Dio Wang would remain together on every vote, Senator Muir stressed his agreement with the bloc boiled down to being ‘’together but autonomous’’.
‘’The memorandum of understanding [signed with PUP] did say, and I stand by it, we will work together where practical. But we’re going to need to do our own research on every different topic and then work together where practical.’…
Senator Muir revealed a broad belief in the environment, renewable energy and organic food. ‘’...I don’t think many people would argue that renewable energy is the way of the future.’’… On the $7 Medicare co-payment and cuts to pensions he said: ‘’That’s one I haven’t looked into very much … Again, it’s hitting the lower to mid income earners where it hurts.’’
The gang that couldn’t shoot straight
Andrew Bolt July 13 2014 (5:35am)
Hamas barely seems to care who it shoots, shelling even Palestinian towns such as Bethlehem and even Hebron, on the West Bank:
===Code Red rocket sirens blared throughout Jerusalem, Ma’ale Adumim, Hebron and other surrounding areas on Saturday evening.
Rockets landed in Hebron and Bethlehem, the IDF Spokeperson said. Four rockets landed in total in the attack- three in Palestinian areas and one near a Jewish West Bank settlement.
If you can read this call to jihad, thank a teacher
Andrew Bolt July 13 2014 (5:29am)
An Islamic hate-preacher, now arrested in the Philippines, has paid tribute to Victoria’s education system:
===Mr Cerantonio, who attended a small Catholic primary school in Footscray before enrolling in the former Footscray Technical College, described his high school as “a very liberal school”, influenced by the politics of socialism.
“We didn’t have uniforms, we wouldn’t call our teachers by their [surnames] - they wanted to instil in us a sense of freedom, and [to follow] politics”. In what Mr Cerantonio described as a “socialist and atheist” atmosphere, the teenager soon began seeking solace in religion.
Remember Brisbane the next time a warmist hypes some hot weather
Andrew Bolt July 13 2014 (5:21am)
Someone will soon blame global warming for this wild weather ... or maybe not this time:
===Brisbane has hit its coldest temperatures in 103 years.It’s almost as if the world really has been cooling over the past decade:
Antarctica continues to defy the global warming script, with a report from Meteo France, that June this year was the coldest Antarctic June ever recorded, at the French Antarctic Dumont d’Urville Station.
Ian Thorpe says he’s gay. I think he’ll find there was nothing to fear
Andrew Bolt July 13 2014 (5:01am)
I don’t know why it was an issue, but expect and hope it no longer is for anyone. In fact, I hope Ian Thorpe finds he’s even more admired for trusting people with the truth:
===The 31-year-old confirms his sexuality for the first time Sunday in an exclusive interview on Channel 10, telling all to veteran British interviewer Sir Michael Parkinson.Hiding must have been a nightmare:
It’s understood the interview ... includes a full admission from Thorpe that he is gay despite having dated women in the past.
In the emotional sit-down shot last month, Thorpe also details the years of depression he has battled while denying his sexuality from the world. Part of that concealment included his own autobiography This Is Me, published in 2012, in which Thorpe wrote that he found questions about his sexuality hurtful… Friends close to Thorpe have noted that in the past months his family has played a much bigger part in his life, following several years of him living in the United Arab Emirates. Returning home to Sydney towards the end of last year, Thorpe has been increasingly supported by his parents Margaret and Ken, who have been active in their son’s recovery.
In his 2012 autobiography, This is Me, Thorpe confronted the speculation head-on: ‘’For the record, I am not gay and all my sexual experiences have been straight. I’m attracted to women, I love children and aspire to have a family one day … I know what it’s like to grow up and be told what your sexuality is, then realising that it’s not the full reality. I was accused of being gay before I knew who I was.’’If you were wondering why Thorpe was reluctant to be honest until now…
Earlier this year, Thorpe was admitted to a rehabilitation facility to receive treatment for his ongoing battle with depression.
BRIAN Taylor has apologised after calling Geelong premiership star Harry Taylor a “big poofter” on national television.
There were calls for the Channel 7 commentator to be sacked after he made the gibe in the lead up to the game between Sydney and Carlton.
He made the remark after footage was shown of Harry Taylor giving a royal wave to the crowd as he was being chaired off the ground after his 150th game last week.
“I don’t know whether you guys down there can hear me or not. I am up here getting ready for the game and I’ve just seen that c--p from Harry — he’s a big poofter, I mean give them this one Harry,” Taylor (right) said as he made a rude gesture. “You can’t be doing the old royal wave. Next thing you’ll have your mum and dad out there,” Taylor said.
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
Holly Sarah Nguyen
There are so many different "points" of our day/lives. High points, low points, sadness, pain, happiness, excitement and so on. But remember to keep yourself girded in prayer. God has a solution for every problem; a smile for every tear and a "lift up" for every fall. Through the good times and the bad he's still so worthy to be praise. And he truly sticks closer than a brother:)
===The account is ok, but it fails to raise the most salient issue .. why. I believe the reason for the destruction of the evidence is related to the politics of the day. Before the myth of the stolen generations, a big issue was Aboriginal deaths in custody. Steps had been taken to ensure Aboriginal people wouldn't suicide in custody. For an ALP government to have detained an Aboriginal girl who was subsequently pack raped would have looked very bad for the entire ALP brand ..
===
Allyson Christy.
Kerry set to make sixth Mideast visit next week in attempt to restart peace talks - jpost
'The visit, if it indeed takes place, comes as some in the US are questioning whether this is the area where Kerry should be focusing his time and energy right now.
US sources said..... US President Barack Obama – who, beyond giving Kerry public backing, has kept a low profile during the secretary of state’s efforts to prod the sides back to the table – has given Kerry the green light to try to move the sides together, but does not want to get too personally involved to avoid a diplomatic failure.
The sources said the feeling in the White House was that in this way if Kerry succeeded, Obama would obviously enjoy much of the credit, but if he failed, then Obama could distance himself from the failure that would be dropped at Kerry’s doorstep." - Herb Kenon
And as, an Administration remains entrenched within scandals, weakened economic policies and failed foreign policy directives, a determined pursuit lies within the scope of creating a presidential legacy; and a sentiment to include....if only.
http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440
US sources said..... US President Barack Obama – who, beyond giving Kerry public backing, has kept a low profile during the secretary of state’s efforts to prod the sides back to the table – has given Kerry the green light to try to move the sides together, but does not want to get too personally involved to avoid a diplomatic failure.
The sources said the feeling in the White House was that in this way if Kerry succeeded, Obama would obviously enjoy much of the credit, but if he failed, then Obama could distance himself from the failure that would be dropped at Kerry’s doorstep." - Herb Kenon
And as, an Administration remains entrenched within scandals, weakened economic policies and failed foreign policy directives, a determined pursuit lies within the scope of creating a presidential legacy; and a sentiment to include....if only.
http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440
Dave Lux remembers that he lived with his family in an isolated rural area in Slovakia near the Hungarian border, and that his father was a baker in a nearby village. He also recalls that his parents fled with him and his older brother the day after some soldiers came to their house in spring 1939.
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Pastor Rick Warren
At 3 months, an unborn baby girl in her mother's womb can swallow, squint, swim, grasp, suck her thumb, and feel pain.
===Holly Sarah Nguyen
There is such a thing as good luck and bad luck .. but only a fool would follow it. - ed
I don't believe in bad and good luck, I believe in Lessons and Blessings.
===
July 13: National Day of Commemoration in Ireland (2014)
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- 1260 – The Livonian Order suffered its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbe against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
- 1814 – The Carabinieri (modern Carabiniere pictured), the national military police of Italy, was founded by Victor Emmanuel I as the police force of the Kingdom of Sardinia.
- 1878 – At the conclusion of the Congress of Berlin, the major powers in Europe signed the Treaty of Berlin, redrawing the map of theBalkans.
- 1962 – In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismissed seven members of his Cabinet.
- 2008 – War in Afghanistan: Taliban guerrillas attacked NATO troops near the village of Wanat in the Waygal district in Afghanistan's far eastern province of Nuristan.
- 587 BC – Babylon's siege of Jerusalem ends following the destruction of Solomon's Temple.
- 1174 – William I of Scotland, a key rebel in the Revolt of 1173–74, is captured at Alnwick by forces loyal to Henry II of England.
- 1249 – Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots.
- 1260 – The Livonian Order suffers its greatest defeat in the 13th century in the Battle of Durbeagainst the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
- 1558 – Battle of Gravelines: In France, Spanish forces led by Count Lamoral of Egmont defeat the French forces of Marshal Paul de Thermes at Gravelines.
- 1573 – Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Haarlem ends after seven months.
- 1643 – English Civil War: Battle of Roundway Down: In England, Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester, commanding the Royalist forces, heavily defeats the Parliamentarian forces led by Sir William Waller.
- 1787 – The Continental Congress enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also establishes procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery.
- 1793 – Journalist and French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a member of the opposing political faction.
- 1794 – The Battle of the Vosges is fought between French forces and those of Prussia and Austria.
- 1814 – The Carabinieri, the national gendarmerie of Italy, is established.
- 1830 – The General Assembly's Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengali renaissance, is founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India.
- 1854 – In the Battle of Guaymas, Mexico, General José María Yáñez stops the French invasion led by Count Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon.
- 1863 – New York City draft riots: In New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which will be later regarded as the worst in United States history.
- 1878 – Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1919 – The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight.
- 1923 – The Hollywood Sign is dedicated in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. It originally reads "Hollywoodland," but the four last letters are dropped after renovation in 1949.
- 1941 – World War II: Montenegrins begin a popular uprising against the Axis powers (Trinaestojulski ustanak).
- 1956 – The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence.
- 1962 – In an unprecedented action, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses seven members of his Cabinet, marking the effective end of the National Liberals as a distinct force within British politics.
- 1973 – Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the "Nixon tapes" to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break-in.
- 1977 – Somalia declares war on Ethiopia, starting the Ogaden War.
- 1977 – New York City: Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting.
- 1985 – The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Moscow and Sydney.
- 1985 – Vice President George H. W. Bush becomes the Acting President for the day when President Ronald Reaganundergoes surgery to remove polyps from his colon.
- 2003 – French DGSE personnel abort an operation to rescue Íngrid Betancourt from FARC rebels in Colombia, causing a political scandal when details are leaked to the press.
- 2008 – Battle of Wanat begins when Taliban and al-Qaeda guerrillas attack US Army and Afghan National Army troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. deaths were, at that time, the most in a single battle since the beginning of operations in 2001.
- 2011 – Mumbai is rocked by three bomb blasts during the evening rush hour, killing 26 and injuring 130.
- 2011 – United Nations Security Council Resolution 1999 is adopted, which admits South Sudan to member status of United Nations.
- 2013 – Typhoon Soulik kills at least nine people and affects more than 160 million in East China and Taiwan.
- 2016 – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron resigns, and is succeeded by Theresa May.
- 100 BC – Julius Caesar, Roman general and statesman (d. 44 BC)
- 1426 – Anne Neville, Countess of Warwick (d. 1492)
- 1478 – Giulio d'Este, illegitimate son of Italian noble (d. 1561)
- 1470 – Francesco Armellini Pantalassi de' Medici, Catholic cardinal (d. 1528)
- 1527 – John Dee, English-Welsh mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer (d. 1609)
- 1579 – Arthur Dee, English physician and chemist (d. 1651)
- 1590 – Pope Clement X (d. 1676)
- 1606 – Roland Fréart de Chambray (d. 1676)
- 1607 – Wenceslaus Hollar, Czech-English painter and illustrator (d. 1677)
- 1608 – Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1657)
- 1745 – Robert Calder, Scottish-English admiral (d. 1818)
- 1756 – Thomas Rowlandson, English artist and caricaturist (d. 1827)
- 1760 – István Pauli, Hungarian-Slovene priest and poet (d. 1829)
- 1770 – Alexander Balashov, Russian general and politician, Russian Minister of Police (d. 1837)
- 1793 – John Clare, English poet and author (d. 1864)
- 1821 – Nathan Bedford Forrest, American general and first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan (d. 1877)
- 1831 – Arthur Böttcher, German pathologist and anatomist (d. 1889)
- 1841 – Otto Wagner, Austrian architect, designed the Austrian Postal Savings Bank and Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station (d. 1918)
- 1858 – Stewart Culin, American ethnographer and author (d. 1929)
- 1859 – Sidney Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, English economist and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (d. 1947)
- 1863 – Margaret Murray, British archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist (d. 1963)
- 1864 – John Jacob Astor IV, American colonel and businessman (d. 1912)
- 1877 – Robert Henry Mathews, Australian linguist and missionary (d. 1970)
- 1884 – Yrjö Saarela, Finnish wrestler and coach (d. 1951)
- 1889 – Emma Asson, Estonian educator and politician (d. 1965)
- 1889 – Stan Coveleski, American baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1892 – Léo-Pol Morin, Canadian pianist, composer, and educator (d. 1941)
- 1892 – Jonni Myyrä, Finnish-American discus and javelin thrower (d. 1955)
- 1894 – Isaac Babel, Russian short story writer, journalist, and playwright (d. 1940)
- 1895 – Sidney Blackmer, American actor (d. 1973)
- 1896 – Mordecai Ardon, Israeli painter and educator (d. 1992)
- 1898 – Julius Schreck, German commander (d. 1936)
- 1898 – Ivan Triesault, Estonian-born American actor (d. 1980)
- 1900 – George Lewis, American clarinet player and songwriter (d. 1969)
- 1901 – Eric Portman, English actor (d. 1969)
- 1903 – Kenneth Clark, English historian and author (d. 1983)
- 1905 – Alfredo M. Santos, Filipino general (d. 1990)
- 1905 – Eugenio Pagnini, Italian modern pentathlete (d. 1993)[1]
- 1905 – Magda Foy, American child actress (d. 2000)
- 1907 – George Weller, American author, playwright, and journalist (d. 2002)
- 1908 – Dorothy Round, English tennis player (d. 1982)
- 1908 – Tim Spencer, American country & western singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1974)
- 1910 – Lien Gisolf, Dutch high jumper (d. 1993)
- 1910 – Loren Pope, American journalist and author (d. 2008)
- 1911 – Bob Steele (broadcaster), American radio personality (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Dave Garroway, American journalist and television personality (d. 1982)
- 1913 – Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, Danish businessman (d. 2012)
- 1913 – Kay Linaker, American actress and screenwriter (d. 2008)
- 1915 – Kaoru Ishikawa, Japanese author and educator (d. 1989)
- 1918 – Alberto Ascari, Italian race car driver (d. 1955)
- 1918 – Ronald Bladen, American painter and sculptor (d. 1988)
- 1918 – Marcia Brown, American author and illustrator (d. 2015)
- 1919 – Hau Pei-tsun, 13th Premier of the Republic of China
- 1919 – William F. Quinn, American lawyer (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Ernest Gold, Austrian-American composer and conductor (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Leslie Brooks, American actress (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish trade union leader and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 2016)
- 1922 – Helmy Afify Abd El-Bar, Egyptian military commander
- 1922 – Ken Mosdell, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Ashley Bryan, American children's book writer & illustrator
- 1924 – Johnny Gilbert, American game show host and announcer
- 1925 – Suzanne Zimmerman, American competition swimmer and Olympic medalist
- 1925 – Huang Zongying, Chinese actress and writer
- 1926 – Robert H. Justman, American director, producer, and production manager (d. 2008)
- 1926 – T. Loren Christianson, American politician
- 1926 – Thomas Clark, American politician
- 1927 – Simone Veil, French lawyer and politician, 12th President of the European Parliament (d. 2017)
- 1927 – Ian Reed, Australian discus thrower
- 1928 – Bob Crane, American actor (d. 1978)
- 1928 – Sven Davidson, Swedish-American tennis player (d. 2008)
- 1928 – Al Rex, American musician
- 1929 – Sofia Muratova, Russian gymnast (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Svein Ellingsen, Norwegian visual artist and hymnist
- 1930 – Sam Greenlee, American author and poet (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Naomi Shemer, Israeli singer-songwriter (d. 2004)
- 1931 – Frank Ramsey, American basketball player and coach
- 1932 – Hubert Reeves, Canadian-French astrophysicist and author
- 1933 – David Storey, English author, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
- 1933 – Piero Manzoni, Italian artist (d. 1963)
- 1934 – Peter Gzowski, Canadian journalist and academic (d. 2002)
- 1934 – Gordon Lee, English footballer and manager
- 1934 – Wole Soyinka, Nigerian author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1934 – Aleksei Yeliseyev, Russian engineer and astronaut
- 1935 – Jack Kemp, American football player and politician, 9th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (d. 2009)
- 1935 – Earl Lovelace, Trinidadian journalist, author, and playwright
- 1935 – Kurt Westergaard, Danish cartoonist
- 1936 – Albert Ayler, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1970)
- 1937 – Ghillean Prance, English botanist and ecologist
- 1939 – Lambert Jackson Woodburne, South African admiral (d. 2013)
- 1940 – Tom Lichtenberg, American football player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1940 – Paul Prudhomme, American chef and author (d. 2015)
- 1940 – Patrick Stewart, English actor, director, and producer
- 1941 – Grahame Corling, Australian cricketer
- 1941 – Robert Forster, American actor and producer
- 1941 – Ehud Manor, Israeli songwriter and translator (d. 2005)
- 1941 – Jacques Perrin, French actor, director, and producer
- 1942 – Harrison Ford, American actor and producer
- 1942 – Roger McGuinn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Chris Serle, English journalist and actor
- 1944 – Eric Freeman, Australian cricketer
- 1944 – Cyril Knowles, English footballer and manager (d. 1991)
- 1944 – Erno Rubik, Hungarian game designer, architect, and educator, invented the Rubik's Cube
- 1945 – Ashley Mallett, Australian cricketer and author
- 1946 – Bob Kauffman, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1946 – Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian
- 1948 – Catherine Breillat, French director and screenwriter
- 1950 – George Nelson, American astronomer and astronaut
- 1950 – Ma Ying-jeou, Hong Kong-Taiwanese commander and politician, 12th President of the Republic of China
- 1950 – Jurelang Zedkaia, Marshallese politician, 5th President of the Marshall Islands (d. 2015)
- 1951 – Rob Bishop, American educator and politician
- 1951 – Didi Conn, American actress and singer
- 1954 – Ray Bright, Australian cricketer
- 1954 – Louise Mandrell, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1955 – Mark Mendoza, American bass player and songwriter
- 1956 – Michael Spinks, American boxer
- 1957 – Thierry Boutsen, Belgian race car driver and businessman
- 1957 – Cameron Crowe, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1959 – Richard Leman, English field hockey player
- 1959 – Fuziah Salleh, Malaysian politician
- 1960 – Robert Abraham, American football player
- 1960 – Ian Hislop, Welsh-English journalist and screenwriter
- 1960 – Curtis Rouse, American football player (d. 2013)
- 1961 – Tahira Asif, Pakistani politician (d. 2014)
- 1961 – Anders Jarryd, Swedish tennis player
- 1961 – Khalid Mahmood, Pakistani-English engineer and politician
- 1961 – Stelios Manolas, Greek footballer and manager
- 1961 – Tim Watson, Australian footballer, coach, and journalist
- 1962 – Tom Kenny, American voice actor and screenwriter
- 1962 – Rhonda Vincent, American singer-songwriter and mandolin player
- 1963 – Neal Foulds, English snooker player and sportscaster
- 1963 – Kenny Johnson, American actor, producer, and model
- 1964 – Charlie Hides, American drag queen and comedian
- 1964 – Paul Thorn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1965 – Eileen Ivers, American fiddler
- 1965 – Colin van der Voort, Australian rugby league player
- 1966 – Gerald Levert, American R&B singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (d. 2006)
- 1966 – Natalia Luis-Bassa, Venezuelan-English conductor and educator
- 1967 – Richard Marles, Australian lawyer and politician, 50th Australian Minister for Trade and Investment
- 1967 – Mark McGowan, Australian politician, 30th Premier of Western Australia
- 1969 – Brad Godden, Australian rugby league player
- 1969 – Ken Jeong, American actor, comedian, and physician
- 1969 – Oleg Serebrian, Moldovan political scientist and politician
- 1970 – Andrei Tivontchik, German pole vaulter and trainer
- 1971 – Mark Neeld, Australian footballer and coach
- 1972 – Sean Waltman, American professional wrestler
- 1974 – Deborah Cox, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1974 – Jarno Trulli, Italian race car driver
- 1975 – Diego Spotorno, Ecuadorian actor
- 1975 – Mariada Pieridi, Cypriot singer-songwriter
- 1976 – Sheldon Souray, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Chris Horn, American football player
- 1978 – Ryan Ludwick, American baseball player
- 1978 – Prodromos Nikolaidis, Greek basketball player
- 1979 – Craig Bellamy, Welsh footballer
- 1979 – Daniel Díaz, Argentinian footballer
- 1979 – Libuše Průšová, Czech tennis player
- 1979 – Lucinda Ruh, Swiss figure skater and coach
- 1981 – Ágnes Kovács, Hungarian swimmer
- 1981 – Mirco Lorenzetto, Italian cyclist
- 1982 – Shin-Soo Choo, South Korean baseball player
- 1982 – Simon Clist, English footballer
- 1982 – Dominic Isaacs, South African footballer
- 1982 – Nick Kenny, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – Yadier Molina, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
- 1983 – Kristof Beyens, Belgian sprinter
- 1983 – Marco Pomante, Italian footballer
- 1983 – Mohamed El-Zareaa, Egyptian Engineer
- 1983 – Liu Xiang, Chinese hurdler
- 1984 – Ida Maria, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1985 – Trell Kimmons, American sprinter
- 1985 – Guillermo Ochoa, Mexican footballer
- 1985 – Charlotte Dujardin, English equestrian
- 1988 – Marcos Paulo Gelmini Gomes, Brazilian-Italian footballer
- 1988 – Colton Haynes, American actor, model and singer
- 1988 – Steven R. McQueen, American actor and model
- 1988 – Raúl Spank, German high jumper
- 1989 – Justin Chua, Filipino basketball player
- 1989 – Charis Giannopoulos, Greek basketball player
- 1990 – Kieran Foran, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1990 – Eduardo Salvio, Argentinian footballer
- 1992 – Elise Matthysen, Belgian swimmer
- 1993 – Daniel Bentley, English footballer
- 1995 – Cody Bellinger, American baseball player
- 1995 – Dante Exum, Australian basketball player
- 2003 – Wyatt Oleff, American child actor
- 2005 – Kyle Harrison Breitkopf, Canadian child actor
- 574 – John III, pope of the Catholic Church
- 716 – Rui Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 662)
- 815 – Wu Yuanheng, Chinese poet and politician (b. 758)
- 884 – Huang Chao, Chinese rebel leader (b. 835)
- 939 – Leo VII, pope of the Catholic Church
- 982 – Pandulf II, Lombard prince
- 982 – Landulf IV, Lombard prince
- 1024 – Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 973)
- 1105 – Rashi, French rabbi and commentator (b. 1040)
- 1205 – Hubert Walter, English archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of The United Kingdom (b. 1160)
- 1357 – Bartolus de Saxoferrato Italian academic and jurist (b. 1313)
- 1380 – Bertrand du Guesclin, French nobleman and knight (b. 1320)
- 1399 – Peter Parler, German architect, designed St. Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge (b. 1330)
- 1399 – Jadwiga, queen of Poland (b. 1399)
- 1402 – Jianwen, Chinese emperor (b. 1377)
- 1491 – Afonso, Portuguese prince (b. 1475)
- 1551 – John Wallop, English soldier and diplomat (b. 1490)
- 1617 – Adam Wenceslaus, duke of Cieszyn (b. 1574)
- 1621 – Albert VII, archduke of Austria (b. 1559)
- 1626 – Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1563)
- 1628 – Robert Shirley, English soldier and diplomat (b. 1581)
- 1629 – Caspar Bartholin the Elder, Swedish physician and theologian (b. 1585)
- 1683 – Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1631)
- 1755 – Edward Braddock, Scottish general (b. 1695)
- 1762 – James Bradley, English priest and astronomer (b. 1693)
- 1789 – Victor de Riqueti, marquis de Mirabeau, French economist and academic (b. 1715)
- 1793 – Jean-Paul Marat, French physician and theorist (b. 1743)
- 1807 – Henry Benedict Stuart, Italian cardinal (b. 1725)
- 1881 – John C. Pemberton, American general (b. 1814)
- 1889 – Robert Hamerling, Austrian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1830)
- 1890 – John C. Frémont, American general and politician, 5th Territorial Governor of Arizona (b. 1813)
- 1890 – Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Estonian journalist and poet (b. 1819)
- 1893 – Young Man Afraid of His Horses, American tribal chief (b. 1836)
- 1896 – August Kekulé, German chemist and academic (b. 1829)
- 1907 – Henrik Sillem, Dutch target shooter and jurist (b. 1866)
- 1911 – Allan McLean, Scottish-Australian politician, 19th Premier of Victoria (b. 1840)
- 1921 – Gabriel Lippmann, Luxembourger physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1845)
- 1922 – Martin Dies, Sr., American journalist and politician (b. 1870)
- 1927 – Mimar Kemaleddin Bey, Turkish architect and academic, designed the Tayyare Apartments (b. 1870)
- 1934 – Mary E. Byrd, American astronomer and academic (b. 1849)
- 1936 – Kojo Tovalou Houénou, Beninese lawyer and politician (b. 1887)
- 1941 – Ilmar Raud, Estonian chess player (b. 1913)
- 1945 – Alla Nazimova, Russian-American actress, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1879)
- 1946 – Alfred Stieglitz, American photographer and curator (b. 1864)
- 1949 – Walt Kuhn, American painter and academic (b. 1877)
- 1951 – Arnold Schoenberg, Austrian-American composer and painter (b. 1874)
- 1954 – Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter and educator (b. 1907)
- 1960 – Joy Davidman, American-English poet and author (b. 1915)
- 1965 – Photis Kontoglou, Greek painter and illustrator (b. 1895)
- 1967 – Tom Simpson, English cyclist (b. 1937)
- 1970 – Leslie Groves, American general and engineer (b. 1896)
- 1970 – Sheng Shicai, Chinese warlord (b. 1895)
- 1973 – Willy Fritsch, German actor and screenwriter (b. 1901)
- 1974 – Patrick Blackett, Baron Blackett, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
- 1976 – Frederick Hawksworth, English engineer (b. 1884)
- 1976 – Joachim Peiper, German SS officer (b. 1915)
- 1979 – Ludwig Merwart, Austrian painter and illustrator (b. 1913)
- 1980 – Seretse Khama, Botswana lawyer and politician, 1st President of Botswana (b. 1921)
- 1983 – Gabrielle Roy, Canadian engineer and author (b. 1909)
- 1993 – Davey Allison, American race car driver (b. 1961)
- 1995 – Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish businessman (b. 1920)
- 1996 – Pandro S. Berman, American director, producer, and production manager (b. 1905)
- 1997 – Miguel Ángel Blanco, Spanish politician (b. 1968)
- 1999 – Konstantinos Kollias, Greek general and politician, 168th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1901)
- 2000 – Jan Karski, Polish-American activist and academic (b. 1914)
- 2003 – Compay Segundo, Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1907)
- 2005 – Robert E. Ogren, American zoologist (b. 1922)
- 2006 – Red Buttons, American actor (b. 1919)
- 2007 – Michael Reardon, American mountaineer (b. 1965)
- 2008 – Bronisław Geremek, Polish historian and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Manohari Singh, Indian saxophonist and composer (b. 1931)
- 2010 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman (b. 1930)
- 2011 – Allan Jeans, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Warren Jabali, American basketball player (b. 1946)
- 2012 – Jerzy Kulej, Polish boxer and politician (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Richard D. Zanuck, American film producer (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Leonard Garment, American lawyer and public servant, 14th White House Counsel (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Henri Julien, French race car driver (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (b. 1982)
- 2013 – Ottavio Quattrocchi, Italian businessman (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Vernon B. Romney, American lawyer and politician, 14th Attorney General of Utah (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Marc Simont, French-American author and illustrator (b. 1915)
- 2014 – Thomas Berger, American author and playwright (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Alfred de Grazia, American political scientist, author, and academic (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Nadine Gordimer, South African novelist, short story writer, and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Jeff Leiding, American football player (b. 1961)
- 2014 – Lorin Maazel, French-American violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Philipp Mißfelder, German historian and politician (b. 1979)
- 2015 – Martin Litchfield West, English scholar, author, and academic (b. 1927)
- 2017 – Liu Xiaobo, Chinese literary critic, human rights activist (b. 1955)
- Christian feast day:
- Feast of Kalimát, first day of the seventh month of the Bahá'í calendar. (Bahá'í Faith)
- Statehood Day (Montenegro)
- The last day of Naadam (Mongolia)
“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” Matthew 4:4 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"Sanctified in Christ Jesus."
1 Corinthians 1:2
"Through sanctification of the Spirit."
1 Peter 1:2
Mark the union of the Three Divine Persons in all their gracious acts. How unwisely do those believers talk who make preferences in the Persons of the Trinity; who think of Jesus as if he were the embodiment of everything lovely and gracious, while the Father they regard as severely just, but destitute of kindness. Equally wrong are those who magnify the decree of the Father, and the atonement of the Son, so as to depreciate the work of the Spirit. In deeds of grace none of the Persons of the Trinity act apart from the rest. They are as united in their deeds as in their essence. In their love towards the chosen they are one, and in the actions which flow from that great central source they are still undivided. Specially notice this in the matter of sanctification. While we may without mistake speak of sanctification as the work of the Spirit, yet we must take heed that we do not view it as if the Father and the Son had no part therein. It is correct to speak of sanctification as the work of the Father, of the Son, and of the Spirit. Still doth Jehovah say, "Let us make man in our own image after our likeness," and thus we are "his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." See the value which God sets upon real holiness, since the Three Persons in the Trinity are represented as co-working to produce a Church without "spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." And you, believer, as the follower of Christ, must also set a high value on holiness--upon purity of life and godliness of conversation. Value the blood of Christ as the foundation of your hope, but never speak disparagingly of the work of the Spirit which is your meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. This day let us so live as to manifest the work of the Triune God in us.
Evening
Yonder city of the great King is a place of active service. Ransomed spirits serve him day and night in his temple. They never cease to fulfil the good pleasure of their King. They always "rest," so far as ease and freedom from care is concerned; and never "rest," in the sense of indolence or inactivity. Jerusalem the golden is the place of communion with all the people of God. We shall sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in eternal fellowship. We shall hold high converse with the noble host of the elect, all reigning with him who by his love and his potent arm has brought them safely home. We shall not sing solos, but in chorus shall we praise our King. Heaven is a place of victory realized. Whenever, Christian, thou hast achieved a victory over thy lusts--whenever after hard struggling, thou hast laid a temptation dead at thy feet--thou hast in that hour a foretaste of the joy that awaits thee when the Lord shall shortly tread Satan under thy feet, and thou shalt find thyself more than conqueror through him who hath loved thee. Paradise is a place of security. When you enjoy the full assurance of faith, you have the pledge of that glorious security which shall be yours when you are a perfect citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem. O my sweet home, Jerusalem, thou happy harbour of my soul! Thanks, even now, to him whose love hath taught me to long for thee; but louder thanks in eternity, when I shall possess thee.
"My soul has tasted of the grapes,
And now it longs to go
Where my dear Lord his vineyard keeps
And all the clusters grow.
"Upon the true and living vine,
My famish'd soul would feast,
And banquet on the fruit divine,
An everlasting guest."
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Zacchaeus
[Zăcchae'us] - pure or justified.
[Zăcchae'us] - pure or justified.
The Man Who Overcame Obstacles
Zacchaeus was the wealthy man of Jerusalem who gathered revenue for the Roman government, but who became a disciple of Christ (Luke 19:1-10). A "chief publican," Zacchaeus might have been of a higher grade than Matthew.
Although not one of Christ's expected converts, Zacchaeus had heard much about Christ and was determined to see Him for himself. When ultimately Christ came his way there were two obstacles in his way - the crowd, and his own short stature. But he quickly overcame both hindrances.
I. The crowd. It is strange that those who were enthusiastic about Christ were the very people blocking Zacchaeus'view. What a lesson for our hearts can be gleaned from this fact!
II. The short stature. The other difficulty was Zacchaeus himself. His native hindrance was his small stature, which he quickly overcame. Up the tree he climbed and had the best view of Jesus that day. If we would see Jesus we too must scramble higher than ourselves.
III. The call to discipleship. Our Lord called Zacchaeus down and invited Himself to his house. Zacchaeus was a sinner and Christ saved him. Quickly Zacchaeus revealed the depth of his surrender to his newly found Master. There came an immediate and generous restitution.
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Today's reading: Psalm 4-6, Acts 17:16-34 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Psalm 4-6
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call to you,
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?
3 Know that the LORD has set apart his faithful servant for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?
3 Know that the LORD has set apart his faithful servant for himself;
the LORD hears when I call to him.
4 Tremble and do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the LORD....
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.
5 Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
and trust in the LORD....
Today's New Testament reading: Acts 17:16-34
In Athens
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean." 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
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