Happy birthday and many happy returns Jessica Thai. In 1223, Mongols spanked some Ukrainians. In 1669 Samuel Pepys's eyesight gave out, and he recorded his last diary entry in a very important english restoration period primary source. But in 1981, some people, possibly Presbyterian, destroyed over 97000 items in the library of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. I am confident the books hadn't threatened them. Your day is filled with promise. Try not to burn it.
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WAHHHHLEED: IT’S NOT FAIR!
Tim Blair – Friday, May 31, 2013 (2:42pm)
According to Waleed Aly, terrorism is an “irritant” that “kills relatively few people”. We should be “mature” in dealing with it. But Aly is angry about drones:
The central problem is drones permit a kind of no-risk, low-cost warfare.
As opposed to high-risk, massive-cost warfare. Bring back the glory days of World War I.
War is a kind of contract. Each side confronts the other, with the risk of death and defeat.
Andrew Bolt replies: “There is no contract of the kind you imagine. The contract a society has is actually with its citizens, not its enemies. That contract is to fight for the society’s self-protection using whatever means it has to minimise its own losses and maximise those of its foes.” Quite so. Aly continues:
In short, war should come at a cost.
Yes. To the other guy.
That contract is shredded when you’re attacked by something that cannot itself be killed.
You can’t kill a suicide bomber once he or she has already detonated, pal. Besides being “irritants”, they’re also in breach of Aly’s contractual code.
It’s not remotely a fair fight. It’s scarcely a fight at all.
Good.
For all the horror, pain, and gore of the battlefield, there’s something to be said for it. It’s one of the very best reasons every nation has not to go to war … The prospect of waging a war without sacrifice is a frightening prospect.
Depends whose side you’re on.
The historical record suggests our every military development seems to have made war less and less costly for those waging it, with horrific results.
The historical record “suggests” this? Can’t get anything past our alert academic. As for the “horrific results”, I’d suggest Aly check the casualty figures from earlier global conflicts.
And in the meantime the ratio of civilian casualties to those of combatants has ballooned.
Which brings us back to those terrorist “irritants”, who specifically target civilians.
The very idea of low-cost war is an illusion. Someone will always pay the price. If not soldiers and politicians, that leaves the people who shouldn’t be made to pay.
Go tell it to Islamic terror groups, Waleed, whose drones differ only from the airborne variety in that they have pulses. For a time.
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SCREAMING STEPHEN
Tim Blair – Friday, May 31, 2013 (11:28am)
Just look at Stephen Conroy carrying on in defence of the ABC. This excuse-making, bias-forgiving milksob is the same clown who attempted to impose laws on our non-government media.
Note that Conroy’s interjections are almost entirely ignored. He’s the parliamentary equivalent of an internet troll.
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MONEY SELECTIVELY FOLLOWED
Tim Blair – Friday, May 31, 2013 (3:54am)
When an Australian scientist’s report is commissioned by a think-tank linked to a subsidiary organisation that once received $100,000 from a climate change sceptic group in the US, it’s evidence of a conspiracy.
When a crazy-eyed American enviropath picks up a lazy $100,000 from Norwegian greenoids, it’s cause for celebration. Speaking of global warming:
The UK is on track for its coldest spring for more than 50 years following another fortnight of below average temperatures, according to provisional figures from the Met Office.
Where has all the warming gone? Apparently it’s hiding in the oceans like a common disoriented Skywhale.
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CRIME ALLEGEDLY DETECTED, SOMEHOW
Tim Blair – Friday, May 31, 2013 (3:47am)
An alleged jihadi boy is allegedly incredibly stupid:
The family of a Sydney man under investigation for alleged terrorism offences says his arrest for allegedly threatening to “slit the throat” of a Commonwealth official is an attempt by authorities to justify him being under intense surveillance for three years …Writing in his defence, relative Tamana Daqiq said that despite Al-Ahmadazi being branded a “firebrand jihadist” – and a warning issued by the Australian Defence Force for its personnel to stay clear of him – the 23-year-old was a “caring”, “loving” and “considerate” young man who posed no threat to national security.She said he had been subjected to 24-hour surveillance since he was 19 …
So what does one allegedly do when under constant police watch? Well …
Al-Ahmadzai was refused bail when he appeared in court on Tuesday. He is due to appear before Parramatta Local Court on Friday to be sentenced over an unrelated matter involving the ram-raid theft of an ATM on Sydney’s upper north shore in July 2011.
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IOWAHAWK BEATS US ALL
Tim Blair – Friday, May 31, 2013 (3:42am)
“I take my hat off,” Mark Steyn once declared following a particularly brilliant Iowahawk gag. “This belongs to a very select group of Jokes I Wish I Had Written First.”
And now he’s done it again.
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NO NEGADIVIDY
Tim Blair – Friday, May 31, 2013 (2:18am)
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FLAT WHITES
Tim Blair – Friday, May 31, 2013 (12:47am)
So now, if you want a steaming hot cup of java to go with their steaming pile of journalism, you no longer have to frequent that evil, tax-dodging behemoth known as Starbucks.
Reaction from Twitter folk:
• The only surprise with #guardiancoffee is that it’s taken Guardian so long to realise there’s more money in coffee than journalism.• Finding it hard to imagine anything more twatty than the Guardian’s pop-up coffee shop in Shoreditch. Really, The Guardian? Really?• Guardian coffee shop’s top sellers: 1) “Anti-imperialism” latte macchiato 2) “Moral relativism” cappuccino 3) “Israel is evil” chococino.• Popping down to #guardiancoffee later on to order a ‘Toynbee’: short, rich and intensely bitter• Guardian have opened up their own coffee shop. Only a matter of time before the Daily Mail reveal their new munitions range.• What next? The Daily Express abattoir? The Sun strip pub? The Daily Telegraph Tweed & Cane Emporium?
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A quiet chat between Labor comrades
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (2:06pm)
So Kevin Rudd is having dinner with colleagues when in walks the shamefully abusive Labor MP Steve Gibbons:
But really, Gillard supporters should realise Rudd isn’t their problem. Simon Benson:
...when asked how his motion [to strip the Prime Minister of her powers to choose her own cabinet] was coming along, Gibbons replied with a finger pointed at Rudd: “It’s f ... ed. Thanks to him.”Such is the paranoia.
“What do you mean Steve?"a confused Rudd asked.
“Well because you’ve supported it, its now f ... ed.”
“But Steve, its been my publicly stated position for 14 months, what did I do?”
“Well its now just completely f ... ed,” Gibbons continued.
“You have such a pleasant way of expressing support for your motion, Steve.”
“You have completely f ... ed it,” Gibbons repeated, to the growing amusement of the six other MPs at the table.
Rudd concluded the exchange with his own sweet profanity.
“Steve, go f ... yourself!”
But really, Gillard supporters should realise Rudd isn’t their problem. Simon Benson:
It was the worst week, of the worst year, of the worst parliament in the history of Australian parliaments…(Thanks to reader Steve.)
The bungled attempt by the government to pass new electoral funding laws that proposed to take $60 million from taxpayers and put it in to political parties campaign coffers is emblematic of just how out of touch the political class in Canberra is with the rest of the country… Gillard’s own failure to walk away, even after it was dead, instead continuing to back it, is symbolic of how out of touch her leadership team is ...
The well known Rudd supporter Anthony Byrne, the chair of the intelligence committee, fired the second missile on Monday when he attacked the government in parliament over funding cuts to the spy agencies. That too, was labelled a “disgrace”.
Then there was the Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ spectacularly inept response to suggestions that Chinese hackers had stolen the blueprints to its new $650 million office block…
The PM couldn’t buy a trick when it was revealed the NBN was exposing people to asbestos. And then news that a suspected terrorist wanted by Interpol had been living in low security detention centre in South Australia for a year as an asylum seeker.
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The Goodes case: hurt feelings are not proof of a crime
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (1:32pm)
Among the many stupid
things written about the Adam Goodes affair, this - from commentator
Patrick Smith - is among the most witless:
This kind of thinking, with traces already now embedded in legislation, leaves us increasingly defenceless against the justice of the pointed finger. Someone need merely to claim they were hurt, no matter how trivial or imagined the offence, and racism is proved.
The victim is king, and reason in chains.
UPDATE
.
Health academic Anthony Dillon says playing this victim game actually entrenches the racial stereotypes that hold back Aborigines:
Racial vilification is not in the words of the accused but in the heart of the victim.If true, there are no racists. Just people feeling there must be.
This kind of thinking, with traces already now embedded in legislation, leaves us increasingly defenceless against the justice of the pointed finger. Someone need merely to claim they were hurt, no matter how trivial or imagined the offence, and racism is proved.
The victim is king, and reason in chains.
UPDATE
.
Health academic Anthony Dillon says playing this victim game actually entrenches the racial stereotypes that hold back Aborigines:
Being the victim, paradoxically, can place one in a position of power. Few are game to disagree with victims (or their supporters), or question motives, or challenge them in any way for fear of being seen as an uncaring bully. When Aboriginal identity and mandated ‘respect’ are factored in, questioning victim status will likely be seen as tantamount to racism. Therefore, adopting the victim role (feeling upset, offended, outraged, racially vilified, or whatever) can be a very effective and convenient way of silencing dissent, and inducing feelings of guilt in others. Silencing others provides the ‘offended’ victim with a sense of power over others - and that feels good. Victims remain unchallenged with their victim status intact and unassailable. Any open debate on the problems facing Aboriginal people is stifled…From In Black and White: Australians All at the Crossroads, edited by Rhonda Craven, Anthony Dillon, and Nigel Parbury. Out now. Order here. In case anyone is thinking of suing Dillon under the Racial Discrimination Act, note that he identifies as part-Aboriginal Australian.
The interest of the political parties in maintaining an Aboriginal problem is compounded by the existence of a small group of Aboriginal activists whose vocation is confrontation, who generally derive their own income from governmental sources, either directly or indirectly and who must have poor Aborigines to point to in order to have a raison d’etre themselves…
There are therefore, people with a vested interest in having Aboriginal people maintain a view of themselves as victims. This has led to the term ‘Aboriginal industry’ - describing the many positions as ‘cultural experts’, consultants, advisers, etc., devoted to addressing Aboriginal issues. People in these roles are reluctant to give them up…
I am not denying that racism exists in Australia; it does – as it does in any country… However, one of the barriers to weeding out racism is the focus on confected racism. It has become far too easy to make claims of racism when a non-Aboriginal person disagrees with an Aboriginal person. Or a racist motive is assumed (never substantiated, just assumed) when a person of mixed heritage is questioned about why they choose to identify solely as Aboriginal…
Rather than just complaining [of racism], I suggest it’s better to adopt the approach of Aboriginal singer-songwriter Jimmy Little, who said; “Racism has never been a problem for me. I know who I am. If others don’t, then that’s their problem.”
Why wasn’t racism a problem for Jimmy? He likely valued his opinion of himself more than he valued some other people’s opinions of him…
I am suggesting that changing one’s response to the slur will be far more empowering than trying to change the person speaking the slur. Rather than taking offence when such slurs are spoken (which is extremely disempowering), perhaps a better response is to laugh. Laughing is not endorsing such racial slurs, but simply communicates, ‘I’m a bigger person than you’.
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This girl cannot have her future stolen by a myth
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (1:30pm)
Destroy the “stolen generations” myth now, before more children have their future destroyed:
LEIGH Swift and Yvonne Mudford fear the time is coming when the Aboriginal girl they have raised will be taken from them.Thanks to Paul Toohey for writing this important article.
The idea plagues them. Mr Swift, 56, the Tennant Creek fire chief, and Ms Mudford, 46, who works for the Health Department, have fallen in love with Mikala, aged four…
When she was six months old, Mikala’s parents, who live across the road, asked the white couple to babysit the child when they went drinking, which was four nights a week…
When they arrived to collect her from an Alice Springs address, they found the front yard covered with crime scene tape from a homicide the night before…
Mikala’s mother asked Mr Swift and Ms Mudford to “grow her up”.
Late last year, the birth mother wanted to reclaim Mikala…
NT Child Commissioner, Howard Bath, has said the law should be changed so the child’s well-being is considered ahead of cultural issues.
“I don’t think she’s got a culture to lose,” says Ms Mudford. “How do a family that are continually drunk pass on an oral culture in a true and faithful manner?
“I think she needs to know her family, but at this point in time they’re not able to look after her because of the drinking and the violence in the home.”
Mr Swift’s 50-plus age prevents him from adopting. He has extended his posting in Tennant Creek just to be with Mikala.
“I want her to grow up in society where she won’t have the outcomes of her family, which is alcoholism, abuse, jails. It’s the grog,” says Mr Swift.
He says he’d be happy for Mikala to go back home, if home was safe. “I honestly don’t think it’s going to happen,” he says. “That’s what we’ve asked for - commit to the child for three months, off the grog. They can’t do that.”
(Thanks to reader A.)
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Bolt Report on Sunday
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (1:13pm)
On Network 10 at 10am:
- When grown men vilify a 13-year-old girl as the “face of racism”, who are the real bullies? Defying the New Racism.
- Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison on the boat people fiasco
- former Labor president Warren Mundine and former Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger
- a fact check on the abusive Mr Windsor.
The twitter feed.
The place the videos appear.
- When grown men vilify a 13-year-old girl as the “face of racism”, who are the real bullies? Defying the New Racism.
- Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison on the boat people fiasco
- former Labor president Warren Mundine and former Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger
- a fact check on the abusive Mr Windsor.
The twitter feed.
The place the videos appear.
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Save our scouts
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (10:03am)
Cultural vandalism:
Tucked away in a hidden reserve, the home of the 2nd Malvern Scouts is about to be no more.What are the councillors teaching these young scouts, who worked so hard to help restore the building now being so casually destroyed? A very, very poor example is being set.
Last month Stonnington Council decided not to renew their lease in favour of knocking down the hall to clear a path through Milton Gray Reserve…
An email sent by a member of the public to one of the councillors asked the council to demolish its “unused and unsightly” building.
But according to the chief commissioner of Scouts Australia’s Victorian branch, Bob Taylor, the so-called “unsightly” building was built by parents of scouts last century and was used for more than 80 years.
Mr Taylor said the group closed in 2000, but since March about 20 cubs and joeys had returned to the hall after the scouts spent $60,000 revamping the building.
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No, Waleed. A war against totalitarians is never fair
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (8:24am)
Muslim Waleed Aly,
academic and ABC host, is angry that US soldiers are fighting in ways
which makes it impossible for the Taliban to kill them:
But what we are seeing in the battlefield is not just a clash of technology - drones against AK 47s and roadside bombs. It is a clash of cultures, and the weaponry is a product and a measure of each.
The reason the US has drones is it has cultural qualities that Islamic societies - especially those producing Talibani - have so long lacked. It has honored learning, put reason above dogma, encouraged free thought, defended free speech, governed by the rule of law and tolerated heresy. It has opened itself to the world and given its citizens a voice and power through democracy, perhaps the greatest source of its power.
Such a society will inevitably have a scientific edge over its enemies. That edge helps it to survive against even against terrorists who do not share, for instance, its respect for the lives of not just its own soldiers but of the innocent in the lands of its enemies. The culture behind the weaponry is what makes this fight not fair, and no person of reason should wish it otherwise.
For Aly to oppose the use of drones is not just to argue for more US soldiers to be killed. It is to demand the US give up the fruits of democracy and free inquiry, leaving those values more defenceless against cultures pledged to destroy them.
You can side with the drones or with the suicide vests. But in doing so you make a choice not just between technologies, but between freedom and oppression.
UPDATE
The latest drone news:
UPDATE
I mentioned above the real war contract a society has - not with its enemy but with its people and its soldiers. Few described it better than did General George Patton - the real one and that played by George C. Scott, both of whom speak here:
(Thanks to reader zulumuster.)
[Drones] so radically and fundamentally alter the nature of war that they risk making war seem far less grave, and far easier to wage. War is a kind of contract. Each side confronts the other, with the risk of death and defeat. In short, war should come at a cost. That contract is shredded when you’re attacked by something that cannot itself be killed. It’s not remotely a fair fight.A word to Aly. There is no contract of the kind you imagine. The contract a society has is actually with its citizens, not its enemies. That contract is to fight for the society’s self-protection using whatever means it has to minimise its own losses and maximise those of its foes. For the US to do anything other is not remotely fair to its citizens and to those it asks to fight for them. It has next to no obligation to be fair to terrorists.
But what we are seeing in the battlefield is not just a clash of technology - drones against AK 47s and roadside bombs. It is a clash of cultures, and the weaponry is a product and a measure of each.
The reason the US has drones is it has cultural qualities that Islamic societies - especially those producing Talibani - have so long lacked. It has honored learning, put reason above dogma, encouraged free thought, defended free speech, governed by the rule of law and tolerated heresy. It has opened itself to the world and given its citizens a voice and power through democracy, perhaps the greatest source of its power.
Such a society will inevitably have a scientific edge over its enemies. That edge helps it to survive against even against terrorists who do not share, for instance, its respect for the lives of not just its own soldiers but of the innocent in the lands of its enemies. The culture behind the weaponry is what makes this fight not fair, and no person of reason should wish it otherwise.
For Aly to oppose the use of drones is not just to argue for more US soldiers to be killed. It is to demand the US give up the fruits of democracy and free inquiry, leaving those values more defenceless against cultures pledged to destroy them.
You can side with the drones or with the suicide vests. But in doing so you make a choice not just between technologies, but between freedom and oppression.
UPDATE
The latest drone news:
THE US drone strike that killed the Pakistani Taliban’s No 2 has delivered a powerful message to the new government that the controversial drone program can work in its interests.The Pakistan Taliban has demonstrated exactly what it thinks of free inquiry, free speech and the education of girls:
The death of Waliur Rehman comes just days after US President Barack Obama outlined stricter protocol for drones, promising lethal force would be used only if a target posed a “continuous, imminent threat to the American people"…
Rehman, 40, and second only to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan commander Hakimullah Mehsud, is understood to have co-ordinated dozens of suicide attacks on Pakistani civilians, waged guerilla war against Pakistani troops and conducted cross-border attacks against NATO troops fighting the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan…
His death on Wednesday morning, along with at least five others, in a missile strike on a Taliban safe house near the North Waziristan capital, Miran Shah, removes a powerful anti-state actor ahead of mooted peace talks between the new government and the home-grown terror outfit.
The Pakistan Taliban, who are close to al Qaeda, remain resilient despite a series of military offensives. They took part in ... the attempted assassination of Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousufzai in October, who had campaigned for girls’ education.A society with those values is never going to be a pioneer in high-tech weapons.
UPDATE
I mentioned above the real war contract a society has - not with its enemy but with its people and its soldiers. Few described it better than did General George Patton - the real one and that played by George C. Scott, both of whom speak here:
No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. You won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.(And for a treat, read again Patton’s speech to his Third Army just before D-Day. I suspect Aly would be horrified by one of the greatest generals in US history.)
(Thanks to reader zulumuster.)
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The Australian Lemming Party
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (8:20am)
Graham Richardson in despair:
I never thought I would see the day when the Labor Party accepted defeat so meekly.
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Global warming: trust Gillard or trust a scientist
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (8:09am)
Our politicians
declare it impossible for anyone of reason to question their faith that
carbon dioxide is heating the world dangerously:
Mr OAKESHOTT: Will the Prime Minister and the leader of the other major party, if allowed, confirm for the House today, in a bipartisan way, their personal acknowledgement, acceptance and confidence in the facts and evidence of man-made climate change?…Two days later, a scientist offers another view:
Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:23): To the member’s question, I absolutely confirm to him that I accept the science of climate change. I absolutely confirm to him that I accept that science, as I accept other scientific conclusions. Consequently that means that I understand that carbon pollution, in particular, is making a difference to our climate and so if we are to tackle climate change then we need to tackle carbon pollution in our atmosphere.... I absolutely accept the science and do not believe that it is possible for a person of reason to have any other view.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are to blame for global warming since the 1970s and not carbon dioxide, according to new research from the University of Waterloo published in the International Journal of Modern Physics B this week.
CFCs are already known to deplete ozone, but in-depth statistical analysis now shows that CFCs are also the key driver in global climate change, rather than carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
“Conventional thinking says that the emission of human-made non-CFC gases such as carbon dioxide has mainly contributed to global warming. But we have observed data going back to the Industrial Revolution that convincingly shows that conventional understanding is wrong,” said Qing-Bin Lu, a professor of physics and astronomy, biology and chemistry in Waterloo’s Faculty of Science. “In fact, the data shows that CFCs conspiring with cosmic rays caused both the polar ozone hole and global warming.”
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Is the NBN another home insulation scandal?
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (7:20am)
Whoever is to blame, the exposure of the workers to such danger is disgraceful:
THE federal government agency building the National Broadband Network is being blamed for exposing workers to asbestos risks amid revelations it was warned two years ago to act on the danger.This has shades of Labor’s home insulation disaster.
Union officials accused NBN Co of failing to honour an agreement in 2011 to prepare workers for the asbestos hazards as emails confirmed that company executives were told of the challenge to the $37.4 billion project.
As Julia Gillard sought to hold Telstra responsible for the workplace failures, The Australian was told last night that at least two recent asbestos incidents related to contractors working for NBN Co, not Telstra.
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Al-Ahmadzai should not be tried in the media - but that means not whitewashed, either
Andrew Bolt May 31 2013 (7:20am)
I worry about the us-against-them culture of a certain minority.
Today lawyer Tamana Daqiq wites in the Sydney Morning Herald about her poor, picked-on relative:
Yes, Al-Ahmadzai must be presumed innocent, and should not be tried in the media now that he is charged. But that should also mean he isn’t given a highly partial character reference like this one that could feed a dangerous paranoia and victimology among young Muslim men.
Today lawyer Tamana Daqiq wites in the Sydney Morning Herald about her poor, picked-on relative:
I have been closely involved in the ordeal over the past three years of my relative Milad Al-Ahmadzai, the 23-year-old who appeared in Burwood Court this week charged with threatening serious harm to a Commonwealth official. I write to give voice to the anguish and drowned cries of his heartbroken mother and pregnant wife, and also as a duty to the Australian public, who have a right to know the truth.Missing from this conspiracy theory are any references to charges over a ram-raid, links to a particularly disturbing preacher and material seized in an earlier raid.
On the day that the government was questioned about the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s budget hike, Commonwealth officials conveniently leaked information to the media of the arrest of someone they had described as a “firebrand jihadist” with “demonstrated links” to terrorists…
Despite the allegations made against him, ... no such evidence has been presented by the Commonwealth… Instead, Al-Ahmadzai has been the subject of ongoing harassment and interrogation by Commonwealth officials who have had him under 24-hour surveillance since he was 19-years-old for posting an “anti-government” comment online.
And to what end? To arrest him four weeks after a threatening telephone call to a Commonwealth official made in a moment of sheer frustration.... Al-Ahmadzai is recorded as saying, “Come near my family again, I’m gonna slit your throat”. While his choice of words is obviously inappropriate, I believe it falls short of warranting him the title of “firebrand jihadist”. Rather, it seems this telephone call is a desperate plea to be left alone…
The reality is that Al-Ahmadzai poses no real threat. The only apparent evidence of his alleged “terrorism” so far is that he fits the stereotype: he is Muslim; has a long, black beard; doesn’t agree with Australian foreign policy and is not afraid to say so. He is passionate and perhaps a bit of a loud mouth. He is the perfect scapegoat for the government’s failures.
Yes, Al-Ahmadzai must be presumed innocent, and should not be tried in the media now that he is charged. But that should also mean he isn’t given a highly partial character reference like this one that could feed a dangerous paranoia and victimology among young Muslim men.
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4 her
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Watching a documentary about the Berlin wall, and seeing 70,000 East Germans tear down the wall that separated them from their families on the other side one brick at a time in 1989, overwhelming the politburo and the guards who stood down... Makes me love Freedom. Zaya Toma
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From the Norwegian people who brought the world Anders Behring Breivik who killed 77 people in bomb and shooting attacks last year they now show the world they are not any different to Breivik themselves. Daniel K
Circumcision has been hotly debated in Scandinavian countries in recent times, but this week, Norway’s third largest newspaper, Dagbladet, took the issue well beyond the boundaries of civil debate and straight into the realm of blatant anti-Semitism.
The cartoon Dagbladet published on Tuesday ostensibly depicts the circumcision of an infant, but the sinister-looking people carrying out the ritual are actually cutting off the baby’s toes and stabbing his head with a demonic-looking fork. On the right side of the cartoon, you see police arriving on the scene, but after being assured that the practice is simply an expression of religious belief, they leave.
“Mistreating? No this is tradition, an important part of our belief!” the woman is shown telling the policemen.“Belief? Oh yes, then it is all right,” the officer responds while the second policeman apologizes for the interference.
The men in the cartoon bear a striking resemblance to the hideous caricatures of Jews in classic anti-Semitic cartoons, right down to their black garb and beards. And they are holding books – ostensibly volumes of Torah – that are soaked in the blood of the screaming child.
Circumcision is depicted as a form of mutilation and torture, and the idea that there is a religious basis for the practice serves as the cartoon’s punch-line, as if there are “beliefs” that call for cutting a baby’s toes off with a bolt cutter.
“This is a despicable attack on Jews and a fundamental tradition of Jewish life,” said HonestReporting CEO Joe Hyams, who was attending the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism when the cartoon was published.
“That this cartoon has been published as delegates meet from around the world in Jerusalem to coordinate the fight against anti-Semitism graphically illustrates the need to combat this pernicious Jew hatred.“
After complaints about the cartoon from the Jewish community in Norway, the cartoon’s artist, Tomas Drefvelin, wrote an email to MIFF, a Norwegian pro-Israel organization, denying the cartoon was anti-Semitic. It was meant, he wrote, “not as criticism of either a specific religion or a nation [but] as a general criticism of religions.”
“I gave the people in the picture hats, and the man a beard, because this gives them a more religious character,” he said. “Jew-hatred is reprehensible. I would never draw to create hatred of a people, or against individuals.”
While Drefvelin may not have intended to employ classic anti-Semitic tropes and caricatures, his cartoon now takes its place as the latest in a long line of fiendish depictions of Jews in black coats and hats carrying out outrageous and morally offensive acts designed to inspire reactions of disgust from the public.
Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, compared the cartoon to Nazi propaganda, which often exaggerated Jewish rituals to give them a demonic appearance. “This is a violent cartoon which is meant to inspire hate and contempt against one particular people,” he said.
You can register your outrage by writing directly to Dagbladet’s editor-in-chief John Arne Markussen at john.arne.markussen@dagbladet.no. While this cartoon has understandably generated a great deal of anger and hurt, we call upon our subscribers to make your complaints in a civil fashion and to make it clear exactly why the global Jewish community would find the cartoon so utterly offensive. Remember – a civil discourse is more likely to successfully make our point.
The Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism
The 4th International Conference of the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism is currently taking place in Jerusalem. Click here for more on the Conference.
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A towering "rain control" site, where shamans would have asked the gods to open up the skies centuries ago, has been discovered in South Africa. http://bit.ly/114SwZA
Scientists found over 30,000 animal specimens, including the remains of rhinoceros, zebra and even giraffe.
Still combatting AGW .. - ed
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HISTORY IN THE HEADLINES: More than 75 years after her disappearance, researchers may have had a breakthrough in the decades-long search for famed aviator Amelia Earhart.http://histv.co/18BBVmu
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Reading a good book is a profound experience. Aiming to write one is even better.
When you write a novel, you enter the world of your story and become part of your main character's fictional dream. You face the challenges and moral dilemmas your main characters face and come out the other side changed.
As Alice Walker said, "If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for."
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Wearing this shirt will make all your wildest dreams come true. http://www.neatoshop.com/
Maggie?
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Renew Your Heart.Salvation Prayer!
Since we did not stop committing sin after we gave our lives to Christ,there is need for us to renew our heat on daily basis. The prayer.
Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.
You said in Your Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that You raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.
Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved.Amen.
Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
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- 1223 – Mongol invasions: Mongol forces defeated a combined army of Kiev, Galich, and the Cumans at the Kalchik River in present-day Ukraine.
- 1669 – Citing poor eyesight, English naval administratorand Member of Parliament Samuel Pepys (pictured)recorded his last entry in his diary, one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period.
- 1935 – A 7.7 Mw earthquake struck Balochistan in the British Raj, now part of Pakistan, killing anywhere between 30,000 and 60,000 people.
- 1981 – An organized mob of police and government-sponsored paramilitias began burning the public library in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, destroying over 97,000 items in one of the most violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the 20th century.
- 2009 – American physician George Tiller who was nationally known for being one of the few doctors in the United States to perform late-term abortions, was shot and killed by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortionactivist.
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Events [edit]
- 1279 BC – Ramesses II (The Great) (19th dynasty) becomes pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
- 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.
- 526 – A devastating earthquake strikes Antioch, Turkey, killing 250,000.
- 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River – Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus' andCumans.
- 1578 – Martin Frobisher sails from Harwich in England to Frobisher Bay in Canada, eventually to mine fool's gold, used to pave streets inLondon.
- 1578 – King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France.
- 1669 – Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.
- 1678 – The Lady Godiva procession through Coventry begins.
- 1775 – American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolves are allegedly adopted in the Province of North Carolina.
- 1790 – Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- 1790 – The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
- 1795 – French Revolution: the Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
- 1805 – French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock
- 1813 – In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.
- 1854 – The civil death procedure is abolished in France.
- 1859 – The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.
- 1862 – American Civil War Peninsula Campaign: Battle of Seven Pines or (Battle of Fair Oaks) – Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston & G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
- 1864 – American Civil War Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor – The Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee engages the Army of the Potomac underUlysses S. Grant and George Meade.
- 1866 – In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O'Neill leads 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River at Buffalo, New York/Fort Erie, Ontario, as part of an effort to freeIreland from the United Kingdom. Canadian militia and British regulars repulse the invaders in over the next three days, at a cost of 9 dead and 38 wounded to the Fenian's 19 dead and about 17 wounded.
- 1879 – Gilmores Garden in New York, New York is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
- 1884 – The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim protection of Queen Victoria
- 1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam break sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
- 1902 – Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
- 1909 – The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, convenes for the first time.
- 1910 – The creation of the Union of South Africa.
- 1911 – The hull of the ocean liner RMS Titanic is launched.
- 1911 – The President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.
- 1916 – World War I: Battle of Jutland – The British Grand Fleet under the command of John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe and David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty engage theImperial German Navy under the command of Reinhard Scheer and Franz von Hipper in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.
- 1921 – Tulsa race riot: civil unrest in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The official death toll is 39, but recent investigations suggest the actual toll may be much higher.
- 1924 – The Soviet Union signs an agreement with the Beijing government, referring to Outer Mongolia as an "integral part of the Republic of China", whose "sovereignty" therein the Soviet Union promises to respect.
- 1927 – The last Ford Model T rolls off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.
- 1929 – The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, "The Karnival Kid", is released.
- 1935 – A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan: 40,000 dead.
- 1941 – A Luftwaffe air raid in Dublin, Ireland, claims 38 lives.
- 1941 – Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns 'Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
- 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
- 1961 – The Union of South Africa becomes the Republic of South Africa.
- 1961 – In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.
- 1962 – The West Indies Federation dissolves.
- 1962 – Adolf Eichmann is hanged in Israel.
- 1970 – The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people are killed.
- 1971 – In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.
- 1973 – The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.
- 1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System completed.
- 1981 – The burning of Jaffna library in Sri Lanka. It is one of the violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the twentieth century.
- 1985 – 1985 United States–Canadian tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
- 1989 – A group of six members of the guerrilla group Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) of Peru, shot dead eight transsexuals, in the city of Tarapoto
- 1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations' UNAVEM II mission.
- 2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat
- 2010 – In international waters, armed Shayetet 13 commandos, intending to force the flotilla to anchor at the Ashdod port, boarded ships trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, resulting in 9 civilian deaths.
Births [edit]
- 1443 – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, English mother of Henry VII of England (d. 1509)
- 1469 – Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
- 1535 – Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
- 1557 – Feodor I of Russia (d. 1598)
- 1613 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
- 1640 – Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, Polish king (d. 1673)
- 1641 – Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem, Greek theologian (d. 1707)
- 1656 – Marin Marais, French composer (d. 1728)
- 1683 – Jean-Pierre Christin, French physicist (d. 1755)
- 1732 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (d. 1812)
- 1753 – Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French lawyer and statesman (d. 1793)
- 1754 – Andrea Appiani, Italian painter (d. 1817)
- 1773 – Ludwig Tieck, German writer (d. 1853)
- 1801 – Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist (d. 1887)
- 1818 – John Albion Andrew, American politician (d. 1867)
- 1819 – Walt Whitman, American poet (d. 1892)
- 1835 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese military leader (d. 1869)
- 1838 – Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (d. 1900)
- 1847 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Irish shipbuilder and businessman (d. 1924)
- 1852 – Francisco Moreno, Argentine explorer and academic (d. 1919)
- 1852 – Julius Richard Petri, inventor of the Petri dish (d. 1921)
- 1857 – Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
- 1860 – Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
- 1863 – Francis Younghusband, English army officer, explorer, and writer (d. 1942)
- 1872 – W. Heath Robinson, English cartoonist (d. 1944)
- 1879 – Frances Alda, New Zealand-Australian soprano (d. 1952)
- 1882 – Sándor Festetics, Hungarian politician (d. 1956)
- 1883 – Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician (d. 1942)
- 1885 – Alois Hudal, Austrian bishop (d. 1963)
- 1887 – Saint-John Perse, French diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- 1892 – Michel Kikoine, Belarusian painter (d. 1968)
- 1892 – Erich Neumann, German Nazi politician (d. 1951)
- 1892 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian writer (d. 1968)
- 1892 – Gregor Strasser, German Nazi politician (d. 1934)
- 1894 – Fred Allen, American comedian (d. 1956)
- 1898 – Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (d. 1993)
- 1901 – Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
- 1902 – Billy Mayerl, English pianist and composer (d. 1959)
- 1905 – Florence Desmond, English actress and comedian (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Nils Poppe, Swedish actor (d. 2000)
- 1909 – Art Coulter, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2000)
- 1909 – Aurore Gagnon, French-Canadian child abuse victim (d. 1920)
- 1911 – Maurice Allais, French economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1912 – Alfred Deller, English singer (d. 1979)
- 1914 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch director (d. 1997)
- 1916 – Bernard Lewis, English-American historian
- 1919 – Robie Macauley, American novelist and critic (d. 1995)
- 1919 – Huy Can, Vietnamese poet
- 1921 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (d. 2006)
- 1921 – Howard Reig, American radio and television announcer (d. 2008)
- 1922 – Denholm Elliott, English actor (d. 1992)
- 1923 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
- 1928 – Pankaj Roy, Indian cricketer (d. 2001)
- 1930 – Clint Eastwood, American actor and director
- 1931 – John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1931 – Shirley Verrett, American soprano (d. 2010)
- 1932 – Ed Lincoln, Brazilian musician, composer, and producer
- 1932 – Jay Miner, American integrated circuit designer, (d. 1994)
- 1933 – Henry B. Eyring, American educational administrator, author, and religious leader
- 1934 – Jim Hutton, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1935 – Jim Bolger, New Zealand politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1938 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
- 1938 – John Prescott, Welsh politician
- 1938 – Peter Yarrow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Peter, Paul and Mary)
- 1939 – Terry Waite, English humanitarian and author
- 1940 – Gilbert Shelton, American illustrator
- 1941 – Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1943 – Sharon Gless, American actress
- 1943 – Joe Namath, American football player and actor
- 1945 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German director (d. 1982)
- 1945 – Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian politician, 4th President of Ivory Coast
- 1945 – Bernard Goldberg, American journalist
- 1946 – Ted Baehr, American publisher and critic
- 1946 – Steve Bucknor, Jamaican cricketer
- 1947 – Junior Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter, musician, producer, and composer (The Marmalade)
- 1948 – John Bonham, English drummer and songwriter (Led Zeppelin) (d. 1980)
- 1948 – Duncan Hunter, American politician
- 1948 – Lynda Bellingham, Canadian-English actress and broadcaster
- 1949 – Tom Berenger, American actor
- 1949 – Nancy Shade, American soprano and actress
- 1950 – Gregory Harrison, American actor
- 1950 – Jean Chalopin, French director, producer, and writer, founder of DIC Entertainment
- 1950 – Edgar Savisaar, Estonian politician
- 1952 – Karl Bartos, German singer and musician (Kraftwerk and Electronic)
- 1952 – Isikia Savua, Fijian diplomat (d. 2011)
- 1953 – Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Finnish actor
- 1954 – Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (d. 2000)
- 1954 – Thomas Mavros, Greek footballer
- 1955 – Bruce Adolphe, American composer, scholar, author, and pianist
- 1955 – Tommy Emmanuel, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dragon)
- 1955 – Susie Essman, American actress
- 1956 – Fritz Hilpert, German musician (Kraftwerk)
- 1957 – Jim Craig, American ice hockey player
- 1959 – Andrea de Cesaris, Italian race car driver
- 1960 – Greg Adams, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1960 – Chris Elliott, American actor, comedian, and writer
- 1960 – Peter Winterbottom, English Rugby player
- 1961 – Ray Cote, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961 – Lea Thompson, American actress
- 1961 – Justin Madden, Australian footballer and politician
- 1962 – Corey Hart, Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, and producer
- 1962 – Sebastian Koch, German actor
- 1963 – Hugh Dillon, Canadian singer, producer, and actor (Headstones)
- 1963 – Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician
- 1963 – Wesley Willis, American singer and keyboardist (Wesley Willis Fiasco) (d. 2003)
- 1964 – Leonard Asper, Canadian businessman and lawyer
- 1964 – Yukio Edano, Japanese politician
- 1964 – Scotti Hill, American guitarist and songwriter (Skid Row)
- 1964 – Darryl McDaniels, American rapper and producer (Run–D.M.C.)
- 1965 – Brooke Shields, American actress and model
- 1966 – Jeremy Hotz, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1966 – Nick Scotti, American actor, model, and singer
- 1966 – Roshan Mahanama, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1967 – Sandrine Bonnaire, French actress
- 1967 – Phil Keoghan, New Zealand television host and producer
- 1967 – Kenny Lofton, American baseball player
- 1967 – Vampiro, Canadian-Mexican wrestler
- 1968 – John Connolly, Irish author
- 1968 – Stéphane E. Roy, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1969 – Mindi Abair, American singer, musician, and composer
- 1971 – Diana Damrau, German soprano
- 1972 – Frode Estil, Norwegian skier
- 1972 – Sarah Murdoch, Australian model and actress
- 1972 – Karl Geary, Irish actor
- 1972 – Dave Roberts, American baseball player
- 1972 – Archie Panjabi, English actress
- 1972 – Antti Niemi, Finnish footballer
- 1973 – Dominique Monami, Belgian tennis player
- 1974 – Chad Campbell, American golfer
- 1974 – Zsolt Erdei, Hungarian boxer
- 1974 – Adrian Tomine, American cartoonist
- 1974 – Sean Kent, American comedian, actor, and writer
- 1975 – Yiasoumis Yiasoumi, Greek-Cypriot footballer
- 1976 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
- 1976 – Matt Harpring, American basketball player
- 1976 – Tonka Tomicic, Chilean model and television host, Miss World Chile 1995
- 1977 – Theodoros Baev, Bulgarian-Greek volleyball player
- 1977 – Phil Devey, Canadian baseball player
- 1977 – Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer
- 1977 – Scott Klopfenstein, American singer-songwriter and musician (Reel Big Fish, The Littlest Man Band, The Scholars, and Nuckle Brothers)
- 1977 – Greg Leeb, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 – Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
- 1977 – Joachim Olsen, Danish athlete
- 1977 – Joel Ross, English disc jockey
- 1977 – June Sarpong, English television host
- 1977 – Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
- 1977 – Petr Tenkrát, Czech ice hockey player
- 1979 – Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer
- 1980 – Craig Bolton, Australian rules footballer
- 1980 – Andy Hurley, American drummer (Fall Out Boy, The Damned Things, Project Rocket, and Racetraitor)
- 1981 – Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
- 1981 – Yoon Mi-rae, American-Korean singer and rapper (Uptown)
- 1981 – Jake Peavy, American baseball player
- 1982 – Jonathan Tucker, American actor
- 1983 – David Hernandez, American singer-songwriter and model
- 1983 – Dustin Wells, New Zealand footballer
- 1983 – Reggie Yates, English television presenter
- 1984 – Andrew Bailey, American baseball player
- 1984 – Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer
- 1984 – Nate Robinson, American basketball player
- 1984 – Jason Smith, Australian actor
- 1985 – Navene Koperweis, American musician, producer, and composer (Animals as Leaders, Animosity, and The Faceless)
- 1985 – Ian Vougioukas, Greek basketball player
- 1986 – Waka Flocka Flame, American rapper
- 1986 – Robert Gesink, Dutch cyclist
- 1986 – Melissa McIntyre, Canadian actress
- 1987 – Shaun Fleming, American actor
- 1987 – Meredith Hagner, American actress
- 1987 – Curtis Williams, American actor and rapper
- 1987 – Nagi Yanagi, Japanese singer
- 1988 – Lisa Bund, German singer
- 1988 – Hope Partlow, American singer
- 1988 – T.J. Tauvao, Australian singer (Random)
- 1989 – Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer and musician
- 1989 – Bas Dost, Dutch footballer
- 1989 – Marco Reus, German footballer
- 1990 – Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1991 – Azealia Banks, American rapper and songwriter
Deaths [edit]
- 455 – Petronius Maximus, Roman emperor
- 1076 – Waltheof of Northumbria, Anglo-Danish nobleman (b. 1050)
- 1162 – Géza II of Hungary (b. 1130)
- 1246 – Isabella of Angoulême, queen consort of King John of England (b. 1188)
- 1349 – Thomas Wake, 2nd Baron Wake of Liddell, English politician (b. 1297)
- 1408 – Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese shogun (b. 1358)
- 1410 – Martin of Aragon (b. 1356)
- 1495 – Cecily Neville, Duchess of York (b. 1415)
- 1558 – Philip Hoby, English politician (b. 1505)
- 1567 – Guido de Bres, Belgian theologian (b. 1522)
- 1594 – Tintoretto, Italian painter (b. 1518)
- 1680 – Joachim Neander, German theologian, writer, and educator (b. 1650)
- 1740 – Frederick William I of Prussia (b. 1688)
- 1747 – Andrey Osterman, Russian statesman (b. 1686)
- 1799 – Pierre Lemonnier, French astronomer (b. 1715)
- 1809 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (b. 1732)
- 1809 – Jean Lannes, French marshal (b. 1769)
- 1831 – Samuel Bentham, English mechanical engineer (b. 1757)
- 1832 – Évariste Galois, French mathematician (b. 1811)
- 1837 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor and comedian, created the clown (b. 1779)
- 1846 – Philip Marheineke, German clergyman (b. 1780)
- 1847 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish pastor (b. 1780)
- 1848 – Eugénie de Guérin, French writer (b. 1805)
- 1908 – Louis-Honoré Fréchette, French-Canadian poet (b. 1839)
- 1910 – Elizabeth Blackwell, American physician (b. 1821)
- 1931 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, French-Canadian cardinal (b. 1866)
- 1931 – Willy Stöwer, German artist (b. 1864)
- 1945 – Odilo Globocnik, Austrian Schutzstaffel officer (b. 1904)
- 1954 – Antonis Benakis, Greek politician and art collector (b. 1873)
- 1957 – Stefanos Sarafis, Greek army officer (b. 1890)
- 1957 – Leopold Staff, Polish poet (b. 1878)
- 1960 – Willem Elsschot, Flemish writer (b. 1882)
- 1960 – Walther Funk, Nazi leader (b. 1890)
- 1961 – Walter Little, Canadian politician (b. 1877)
- 1962 – Henry F. Ashurst, American politician (b. 1874)
- 1962 – Adolf Eichmann, German Nazi official (b. 1906)
- 1963 – Edith Hamilton, German-American educator and author (b. 1867)
- 1967 – Billy Strayhorn, American composer, pianist, and arranger (b. 1915)
- 1970 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1929)
- 1972 – Walter Freeman, American physician and neurologist (b. 1895)
- 1976 – Jacques Monod, French biologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1910)
- 1977 – William Castle, American director (b. 1914)
- 1978 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (b. 1925)
- 1982 – Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer (b. 1930)
- 1983 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Jane Frank, American artist (b. 1918)
- 1986 – James Rainwater, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1917)
- 1987 – John Abraham, Indian director (b. 1937)
- 1992 – Walter Neugebauer, Croatian writer and illustrator (b. 1921)
- 1993 – Francis Lynch, American politician (b. 1920)
- 1994 – Herva Nelli, Italian soprano (b. 1909)
- 1996 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist and writer (b. 1920)
- 1997 – James Bennett Griffin, American archaeologist (b. 1905)
- 1998 – Charles Van Acker, Belgian race car driver (b. 1912)
- 2000 – Tito Puente, American musician and producer (b. 1923)
- 2000 – Johnnie Taylor, American singer (b. 1938)
- 2001 – Arlene Francis, American actress (b. 1907)
- 2002 – Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (b. 1929)
- 2004 – Robert Quine, American guitarist (Richard Hell and the Voidoids and Material) (b. 1941)
- 2004 – Étienne Roda-Gil, French songwriter and screenwriter (b. 1941)
- 2006 – Ryan Bennett, American sportscaster (b. 1970)
- 2006 – Miguel Berrocal, Spanish sculptor (b. 1933)
- 2006 – Raymond Davis, Jr., American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
- 2006 – Lula Mae Hardaway, American songwriter, mother of singer Stevie Wonder (b. 1930)
- 2009 – Millvina Dean, English survivor of the RMS Titanic sinking (b. 1912)
- 2009 – George Tiller, American physician (b. 1941)
- 2009 – Danny La Rue, Irish-English actor and singer (b. 1927)
- 2010 – Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor (b. 1911)
- 2010 – Brian Duffy, English photographer and producer (b. 1933)
- 2010 – William A. Fraker, American cinematographer (b. 1923)
- 2010 – Rubén Juárez, Argentine singer-songwriter and musician (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Benjamin Lees, American composer (b. 1924)
- 2010 – Merata Mita, New Zealand director, producer, and writer (b. 1942)
- 2011 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (b. 1919)
- 2011 – Jonas Bevacqua, American fashion designer, co-founded Lifted Research Group (b. 1977)
- 2011 – Conrado Estrella, Sr., Filipino politician (b. 1917)
- 2011 – Derek Hodge, U.S. Virgin Islander politician and lawyer (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Keith Irvine, Scottish-American interior designer (b. 1928)
- 2011 – Hans Keilson, German-Dutch novelist, poet, and psychoanalyst (b. 1909)
- 2011 – John Martin, English admiral (b. 1918)
- 2011 – Adolfas Mekas, Lithuanian-American director (b. 1925)
- 2011 – Andy Robustelli, American football player (b. 1925)
- 2011 – Philip Rose, American director and producer (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Ezzatollah Sahabi, Iranian scholar, humanitarian, activist, and politician (b. 1930)
- 2011 – Hugh Stewart, English editor and producer (b. 1910)
- 2011 – Grant Sullivan, American actor (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Ram Man Trishit, Nepali songwriter (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Sølvi Wang, Norwegian actress and singer (b. 1929)
- 2011 – Jennifer Worth, English nurse and author (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Farid Habib, Lebanese politician (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Randall B. Kester, American attorney and judge (b. 1916)
- 2012 – Mark Midler, Russian fencer (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Orlando Woolridge, American basketball player (b. 1959)
