Bairnsdale Conservative: Tue Jan 20th Todays News

On Bolt Report a new policy is that any Islam post can only be on the pinned leader. Normal rules apply in that if it is merely foul and abusive it will be deleted. Otherwise comments are welcome.
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The persecution of Christians Decius unleashed in 250 as emperor of Rome was specific in target. Decius was trying to reinforce the old religion of Rome possibly so as to limit corruption. His instrument was an edict that all in the empire must collect a certificate that they have sacrificed to a God. Christians were the only large group at that time that would not do that. For a Christian, they would prefer death to sacrificing to another God. And lots of Romans were willing to accommodate them to get ahead. There were a number of pogroms where Christians were killed, but as Waleed Aly has said of terrorists, it was merely nuisance value. Pope Fabian was martyred as a result, but the persecutions did lessen within the year, and had to be reinforced in 253 by Emperor Valerian. But following Fabian's death, a plague fell on Rome. And then Decius and his son died in battle. His son was the first Emperor to die in battle. Decius was the second, soon after.

In 1356, Edward Balliol gave the throne of Scotland to England's King Edward III in exchange for an English pension. They were worth more in those days. In 1649, King Charles I went on trial for treason and high crimes. Ten days later he was beheaded. In 1783, the Kingdom of Great Britain signed for peace to end the US Revolutionary war with Spain and France. In 1785, Siam invaded Vietnam and lost badly. In 1788, Arthur Phillip decided to leave Botany Bay and settle at Port Jackson, in what is now Sydney, Australia.

In 1941, in Bucharest, the killing of a German officer led to killing 125 jews by the Iron Guard. Ten days later, Iron Guard were betrayed by Hitler and a worse anti semitic body began work under General Ion Atonescu. 1942, at the Wannsee conferene in Germany, senior Nazis discussed the 'final solution' to the 'Jewish question.' In 1969, East Pakistan police killed an activist student, and initiated the war of Liberation for Bangladesh. In 1972, having lost Bangladesh, Pakistan began developing nuclear weapons. In 1981, twenty minutes after 69 yo Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, Iran released 52 US embassy hostages. In 1987, Terry Waite, an Anglican envoy was kidnapped by Islamic Jihad, who released him after 1,763 days in 1991. He had been in solitary confinement. In 1999, China News announced restrictions were being placed on the internet aimed at internet cafes.

2014

It is so sad for some that lives are not being lost on boats between Indonesia or Sri Lanka and Australia, that anger is being expressed. Anger at conservative government. Anger at life savers allegedly using tough language. Anger at the world not heating up. But what is illustrative is what hasn't made the well paid agitators angry. Gillard declared she would denounce misogyny wherever she saw it .. went to Dubai and didn't mention it, despite being faced with an audience who placed women in chains. Admire the calmness with which the agitators accept Thomson's latest admission, having kept corrupt administration in government for three years. Or the sanguine nature preserved while Jonathan Pollard is jailed for doing nothing, while killers are freed for peace.

Admire how radio ABC managed to shine a light of reason so bright, that Japanese soldiers listening in failed for decades to know Japan had lost the war. Was Snowden a useful idiot for Putin? Melbourne city council raises the interesting question of how would a terrorist who killed for sport be sentenced today?

Today is the anniversary of the foundation (1920) of the US Civil Liberties Union. Those bastards are the reason killers were freed before Obama used peace as an excuse. Fear of effective government is a big motivator for some. Some fear nuclear power in India, but praise it in Iran. Today is also another anniversary. Twenty minutes after Reagan was inaugurated, Iran released hostages .. why else would Obama be giving them nuclear weapons?

Historical perspectives on this day

In 250, Emperor Decius began a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian was martyred. 649, king Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowned his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom. 1265, the first English parliament to include not only nobles but also representatives of the major towns meets in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the "Houses of Parliament". 1320, duke Wladyslaw Lokietek became king of Poland. 1356, Edward Balliol abdicated as King of Scotland. 1523, Christian II was forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway. 1567, Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drove the French out of Rio de Janeiro. 1576, the Mexican city of León was founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.

In 1649, Charles I of England went on trial for treason and other "high crimes". 1783, the Kingdom of Great Britain signed a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence). 1785, invading Siamese forces attempted to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but were ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong River by the Tay Son in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút. 1788, the third and main part of First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decided that Botany Bay is unsuitable for the location of a penal colony, and decides to move to Port Jackson. 1839, in the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeated an alliance between Peru and Bolivia. 1841, Hong Kong Island was occupied by the British. 1877, last day of the Constantinople Conference which resulted in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans. 1887, the United States Senate allowed the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.

In 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union was founded. 1921, the first Constitution of Turkey was adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty. 1929, in Old Arizona, the first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, was released. 1936, Edward VIII became King of the United Kingdom. 1941, a German officer was murdered in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers. 1942, World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discussed the implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". 1945, World War II: Hungary agreed to an armistice with the Allies. Also 1945, World War II: Germany began the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will took nearly two months. 1949, Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.

In 1954, the National Negro Network was established with 40 charter member radio stations. 1959, the first flight of the Vickers Vanguard. 1960, Hendrik Verwoerd announced a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic. 1969, East Pakistani police killed student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman. The resulting outrage was in part responsible for the Bangladesh Liberation War. 1972, Pakistan launched its Nuclear weapons program a few weeks after its defeat in Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. 1981, twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan was inaugurated, at age 69 the oldest man ever to be inaugurated as U.S. President, Iran released 52 American hostages. 1986, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time. 1987, Church of England envoy Terry Waite was kidnapped in Lebanon.

In 1990, following 7 days of pogroms on local Armenian population of Baku, Azerbaijan the the Red Army entered the city to restore order. 1991, Sudan's government imposed Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south. 1992, Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashed into a mountain near Strasbourg, France killing 87 of the 96 people on board. A design flaw in the computer mode selection system resulted in the crew selecting the wrong rate of descent. 1999, the China News Service announced new government restrictions on Internet use, aimed especially at Internet cafés. 2001, Philippine president Joseph Estrada was ousted in a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and was succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. 2006, witnesses reported seeing a bottlenose whale swimming in the River Thames, the first time the species had been seen in the Thames since records began in 1913. 2007, a three-man team, using only skis and kites, completed a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1958 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance. 2009, a protest movement in Iceland culminated as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start
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This column welcomes feedback and criticism. The column is not made up but based on the days events and articles which are then placed in the feed. So they may not have an apparent cohesion they would have had were they made up.
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Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August https://www.createspace.com/4124406 or at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482020262/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_dVHPub0MQKDZ4 The kindle version is cheaper, but the soft back version allows the purchase of a kindle version for just $3.99 more.
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For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball

Or the US President at
https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-change-this-injustice#
or
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/change-injustice-faced-david-daniel-ball-after-he-reported-bungled-pedophile-investigation-and/b8mxPWtJ or http://wh.gov/ilXYR

Douglas Sutherland-Bruce via David Daniel Ball

Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may; I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - ed

Lorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.

I have begun a bulletin board (http://theconservativevoice.freeforums.net) which will allow greater latitude for members to post and interact. It is not subject to FB policy and so greater range is allowed in posts. Also there are private members rooms in which nothing is censored, except abuse. All welcome, registration is free.

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Happy birthday and many happy returns Saulyn Anthony. Born on the same day, across the years, as

225 – Gordian III, Roman Emperor (d. 244)
1703 – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Flemish composer and violinist (d. 1741)
1762 – Jérôme-Joseph de Momigny, Belgian-French composer and theorist (d. 1842)
1804 – Eugène Sue, French author (d. 1857)
1896 – George Burns, American comedian (d. 1996)
1896 – Isabel Withers, American actress (d. 1968)
1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Turkish-Greek businessman (d. 1975)
1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian director (d. 1993)
1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American pilot and astronaut
1934 – Tom Baker, English actor
1946 – David Lynch, American director
1999 – Shannon Tavarez, American actress (d. 2010)

January 20: Martyrs' Day in Azerbaijan (1990)

1265 – Summoned by Simon de Montfort (pictured), the first English parliament held its first meeting in the Palace of Westminster.
1576 – León in Guanajuato, Mexico, was founded by order of Viceroy Martín Enríquez de Almanza of New Spain.
1843 – Honório Hermeto Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná, became the de facto first prime minister of the Empire of Brazil.
1945 – World War II: Germany began the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, an operation which took nearly two months to complete.
1990 – The Soviet Red Army violently cracked downon Azeri pro-independence demonstrations in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR.

Welcome to Westminster. You founded the great southern land. You are de facto. You are a people mover. You are the resistance. Let's party.
Matches

250 – Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. Pope Fabian is martyred.
649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
1265 – The first English parliament to include not only nobles but also representatives of the major towns meets in the Palace of Westminster, now commonly known as the "Houses of Parliament".
1320 – Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland.
1356 – Edward Balliol abdicates as King of Scotland.
1523 – Christian II is forced to abdicate as King of Denmark and Norway.
1567 – Battle of Rio de Janeiro: Portuguese forces under the command of Estácio de Sá definitively drive the French out of Rio de Janeiro.
1576 – The Mexican city of León is founded by order of the viceroy Don Martín Enríquez de Almanza.
1649 – Charles I of England goes on trial for treason and other "high crimes".
1783 – The Kingdom of Great Britain signs a peace treaty with France and Spain, officially ending hostilities in the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence).
1785 – Invading Siamese forces attempt to exploit the political chaos in Vietnam, but are ambushed and annihilated at the Mekong River by the Tay Son in the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút.
1788 – The third and main part of First Fleet arrives at Botany Bay. Arthur Phillip decides that Botany Bay is unsuitable for the location of a penal colony, and decides to move to Port Jackson.
1839 – In the Battle of Yungay, Chile defeats an alliance between Peru and Bolivia.
1841 – Hong Kong Island is occupied by the British.
1877 – Last day of the Constantinople Conference which resulted in agreement for political reforms in the Balkans.
1887 – The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Harbor as a naval base.
1920 – The American Civil Liberties Union is founded.
1921 – The first Constitution of Turkey is adopted, making fundamental changes in the source and exercise of sovereignty by consecrating the principle of national sovereignty.
1929 – In Old Arizona, the first full-length talking motion picture filmed outdoors, is released.
1936 – Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom.
1941 – A German officer is murdered in Bucharest, Romania, sparking a rebellion and pogrom by the Iron Guard, killing 125 Jews and 30 soldiers.
1942 – World War II: At the Wannsee Conference held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, senior Nazi German officials discuss the implementation of the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question".
1945 – World War II: Hungary agrees to an armistice with the Allies.
1945 – World War II: Germany begins the evacuation of 1.8 million people from East Prussia, a task which will take nearly two months.
1949 – Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.
1954 – The National Negro Network is established with 40 charter member radio stations.
1959 – The first flight of the Vickers Vanguard.
1960 – Hendrik Verwoerd announces a plebiscite on whether South Africa should become a Republic.
1969 – East Pakistani police kill student activist Amanullah Asaduzzaman. The resulting outrage is in part responsible for the Bangladesh Liberation War.
1972 – Pakistan launched its Nuclear weapons program few weeks after its defeat in Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
1981 – Twenty minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated, at age 69 the oldest man ever to be inaugurated as U.S. President, Iranreleases 52 American hostages.
1986 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1987 – Church of England envoy Terry Waite is kidnapped in Lebanon.
1990 – Following 7 days of pogroms on local Armenian population of Baku, Azerbaijan the the Red Army enters the city to restore order.
1991 – Sudan's government imposes Islamic law nationwide, worsening the civil war between the country's Muslim north and Christian south.
1992 – Air Inter Flight 148, an Airbus A320-111, crashes into a mountain near Strasbourg, France killing 87 of the 96 people on board. A design flaw in the computer mode selection system resulted in the crew selecting the wrong rate of descent.
1999 – The China News Service announces new government restrictions on Internet use, aimed especially at Internet cafés.
2001 – Philippine president Joseph Estrada is ousted in a nonviolent 4-day revolution, and is succeeded by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
2006 – Witnesses report seeing a bottlenose whale swimming in the River Thames, the first time the species had been seen in the Thames since records began in 1913.
2007 – A three-man team, using only skis and kites, completes a 1,093-mile (1,759 km) trek to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility for the first time since 1958 and for the first time ever without mechanical assistance.
2009 – A protest movement in Iceland culminates as the 2009 Icelandic financial crisis protests start.

Hatches

225 – Gordian III, Roman emperor (d. 244)
1292 – Elisabeth of Bohemia (d. 1330)
1435 – Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Japanese shogun (d. 1490)
1554 – Sebastian of Portugal (d. 1578)
1573 – Simon Marius, German astronomer (d. 1624)
1586 – Johann Schein, German composer (d. 1630)
1664 – Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, Italian jurist (d. 1718)
1703 – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Flemish violinist and composer (d. 1741)
1716 – Jean-Jacques Barthélemy, French archaeologist and numismatist (d. 1795)
1716 – Charles III of Spain (d. 1788)
1732 – Richard Henry Lee, American politician (d. 1794)
1755 – Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, English admiral (d. 1824)
1761 – Giovanni Domenico Perotti, Italian composer (d. 1825)
1762 – Jérôme-Joseph de Momigny, Belgian-French composer and theorist (d. 1842)
1775 – André-Marie Ampère, French physicist (d. 1836)
1781 – Joseph Hormayr, Baron zu Hortenburg, Austrian-German politician (d. 1848)
1783 – Friedrich Dotzauer, German cellist and composer (d. 1860)
1798 – Anson Jones, American politician, 5th President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1858)
1804 – Eugène Sue, French author (d. 1857)
1812 – Thomas Meik, Scottish engineer (d. 1896)
1834 – George D. Robinson, American politician, 34th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1896)
1855 – Ernest Chausson, French composer (d. 1899)
1867 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)
1873 – Johannes V. Jensen, Danish author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
1876 – Josef Hofmann, Polish-American pianist and composer (d. 1967)
1878 – Finlay Currie, Scottish actor (d. 1968)
1878 – Ruth St. Denis, American dancer (d. 1968)
1880 – Walter W. Bacon, American politician, 60th Governor of Delaware (d. 1962)
1880 – Max Schöne, German swimmer (d. 1961)
1882 – Johnny Torrio, Italian-American mobster (d. 1957)
1883 – Enoch L. Johnson, American mob boss (d. 1968)
1883 – Forrest Wilson, American journalist and author (d. 1942)
1886 – Claude Jameson, American soccer player (d. 1943)
1889 – Allan Haines Loughead, American engineer and businessman, founded the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company (d. 1969)
1891 – Mischa Elman, Ukrainian-American violinist (d. 1967)
1893 – Georg Åberg, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1946)
1894 – Harold Gray, American cartoonist, created Little Orphan Annie (d. 1968)
1894 – Walter Piston, American composer (d. 1976)
1895 – Gábor Szegő, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1985)
1896 – George Burns, American actor, singer, and producer (d. 1996)
1896 – Rolfe Sedan, American actor (d. 1982)
1896 – Isabel Withers, American actress (d. 1968)
1898 – U Razak, Burmese educator and politician (d. 1947)
1899 – Clarice Cliff, English potter (d. 1972)
1899 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese engineer (d. 1990)
1900 – Colin Clive, English actor (d. 1937)
1902 – Leon Ames, American actor (d. 1993)
1902 – Kevin Barry, Irish Republican (d. 1920)
1906 – Aristotle Onassis, Turkish-Greek businessman (d. 1975)
1907 – Paula Wessely, Austrian actress (d. 2000)
1908 – Fleur Cowles, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
1908 – Jean S. MacLeod, Scottish author (d. 2011)
1909 – Gōgen Yamaguchi, Japanese martial artist (d. 1989)
1910 – Joy Adamson, Austrian author (d. 1980)
1911 – Wendell J. Westcott, American carillon player (d. 2010)
1912 – Walter Briggs, Jr., American businessman (d. 1970)
1913 – S. M. Rasamanickam, Ceylonese politician (d. 1974)
1915 – Ghulam Ishaq Khan, Pakistani politician, 7th President of Pakistan (d. 2006)
1918 – Juan García Esquivel, Mexican pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2002)
1918 – Nevin S. Scrimshaw, American scientist and academic (d. 2013)
1918 – Cleon Skousen, American author (d. 2006)
1920 – Federico Fellini, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 1993)
1920 – DeForest Kelley, American actor (d. 1999)
1920 – Thorleif Schjelderup, Norwegian ski jumper and author (d. 2006)
1921 – Telmo Zarraonaindía, Spanish footballer (d. 2006)
1922 – Ray Anthony, American trumpet player, composer, bandleader, and actor
1922 – Elizabeth Diana Percy, Duchess of Northumberland (d. 2012)
1922 – Graham Stark, English actor and director (d. 2013)
1923 – Nora Brockstedt, Norwegian singer
1923 – Slim Whitman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2013)
1925 – Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest, poet, and politician
1926 – Jamiluddin Aali, Pakistani poet, playwright, and critic
1926 – Qurratulain Hyder, Indian-Pakistani author (d. 2007)
1926 – Patricia Neal, American actress (d. 2010)
1926 – David Tudor, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
1927 – Helen Elliot, Scottish table tennis player (d. 2013)
1928 – Rudy Boesch, American soldier
1929 – Jimmy Cobb, American drummer
1929 – Arte Johnson, American actor, singer, and screenwriter
1929 – Frank Kush, American football player and coach
1929 – Fireball Roberts, American race car driver (d. 1964)
1930 – Buzz Aldrin, American pilot and astronaut
1930 – Blair Lent, American author and illustrator (d. 2009)
1931 – Preston Henn, American businessman, founded the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop
1931 – David Lee, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
1931 – Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese pianist and composer (d. 1992)
1932 – Lou Fontinato, Canadian ice hockey player
1933 – Ronald Townson, American singer and actor (The 5th Dimension) (d. 2001)
1934 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (d. 2014)
1934 – Tom Baker, English actor
1935 – Joan Weston, American roller derby racer (d. 1997)
1936 – Frances Shand Kydd, Mother of Diana, Princess of Wales and maternal Grandmother of Princes William and Henry (d. 2004)
1937 – Dorothy Provine, American singer, dancer, and actress (d. 2010)
1938 – William Berger, Austrian actor (d. 1993)
1938 – Liz Calder, English publisher
1938 – Derek Dougan, Irish footballer (d. 2007)
1939 – Paul Coverdell, American captain and politician (d. 2000)
1939 – Chandra Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan-English mathematician, astronomer, and astrobiologist
1940 – Carol Heiss, American figure skater
1940 – Krishnam Raju, Indian actor and politician
1940 – Mandé Sidibé, Malian politician, Prime Minister of Mali (d. 2009)
1941 – Pierre Lalonde, Canadian singer and television host
1942 – Linda Moulton Howe, American journalist
1943 – Rick Evans, American singer and guitarist (Zager and Evans)
1943 – Jessica Rawson, English historian and academic
1944 – José Luis Garci, Spanish director and producer
1944 – Farhad Mehrad, Iranian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
1945 – Dave Boswell, American baseball player (d. 2012)
1945 – Robert Olen Butler, American author
1945 – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, English journalist (d. 2013)
1945 – Eric Stewart, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (10cc, Hotlegs, Mandalaband, and The Mindbenders)
1946 – David Lynch, American director
1946 – Vladimír Merta, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and journalist
1947 – Cyrille Guimard, French cyclist
1948 – Nancy Kress, American author
1948 – Mel Pritchard, English drummer (Barclay James Harvest) (d. 2004)
1948 – Natan Sharansky, Russian-Israeli physicist and politician
1948 – Nigel Williams, English author, playwright, and screenwriter
1949 – Göran Persson, Swedish politician, 31st Prime Minister of Sweden
1950 – Daniel Benzali, Brazilian-American actor
1950 – Liza Goddard, English actress
1950 – Edward Hirsch, American poet
1950 – Chuck Lefley, Canadian ice hockey player
1950 – William Mgimwa, Tanzanian banker and politician, 13th Tanzanian Minister of Finance (d. 2014)
1950 – Mahamane Ousmane, Nigerian politician, President of Niger
1951 – Iván Fischer, Hungarian conductor and composer
1951 – Ian Hill, English bass player (Judas Priest)
1952 – Nikos Sideris, Greek psychiatrist and poet
1952 – Paul Stanley, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (Kiss and Wicked Lester)
1952 – John Witherow, South African journalist
1953 – Jeffrey Epstein, American financier and philanthropist
1953 – Barbara Hay, English diplomat
1953 – Colleen Zenk Pinter, American actress
1954 – Rudy La Scala, Venezuelan singer-songwriter and producer
1954 – Ken Page, American actor and singer
1954 – Alison Seabeck, English politician
1955 – McKeeva Bush, Caymanian politician, Premier of the Cayman Islands
1955 – Joe Doherty, Irish soldier and activist
1955 – Wyatt Knight, American actor
1955 – Hiromi Ōta, Japanese singer
1956 – Maria Larsson, Swedish educator and politician
1956 – Bill Maher, American comedian, actor, and television host
1957 – Andy Sheppard, English saxophonist and composer
1958 – Lorenzo Lamas, American actor
1959 – Tami Hoag, American author
1959 – R.A. Salvatore, American author
1960 – Apa Sherpa, Nepalese mountaineer
1960 – Scott Thunes, American bass player (Fear)
1960 – Will Wright, American video game designer, co-founded Maxis
1963 – Firebreaker Chip, American wrestler
1963 – James Denton, American actor
1963 – Mark Ryden, American painter
1964 – Ozzie Guillén, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
1964 – Aquilino Pimentel III, Filipino politician
1964 – Ron Harper, American basketball player
1964 – Kazushige Nojima, Japanese screenwriter and songwriter
1964 – Fareed Zakaria, Indian-American journalist and author
1964 – Jack Lewis, American author
1965 – Colin Calderwood, Scottish footballer
1965 – Warren Joyce, English footballer
1965 – Greg Kriesel, American bass player (The Offspring)
1965 – John Michael Montgomery, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1965 – Heather Small, English singer-songwriter and actress (Hot House and M People)
1965 – Sophie, Countess of Wessex
1965 – Anton Weissenbacher, Romanian footballer
1966 – Stacey Dash, American actress
1966 – Tracii Guns, American guitarist and songwriter (L.A. Guns, Brides of Destruction, Hollywood Rose, and Contraband)
1966 – Rainn Wilson, American actor
1967 – Jay Hunt, Australian businessman
1968 – Nick Anderson, American basketball player
1968 – Melissa Rivers, American actress, television host, and producer
1968 – Charlie Swan, Irish jockey
1969 – Patrick K. Kroupa, American computer hacker and activist, co-founded MindVox
1969 – Nicky Wire, Welsh singer-songwriter and bass player (Manic Street Preachers)
1970 – Mitch Benn, English comedian, singer-songwriter, and guitarist
1970 – Kerri Kenney-Silver, American actress and singer
1970 – Edwin McCain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1970 – Mark Spencer, English politician
1970 – Skeet Ulrich, American actor
1971 – Gary Barlow, English singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (Take That)
1971 – Brian Giles, American baseball player
1971 – Derrick Green, American singer-songwriter (Sepultura)
1971 – Wakanohana Masaru, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 66th Yokozuna
1971 – Gerard McDonnell, Irish mountaineer (d. 2008)
1971 – Questlove, American drummer, DJ, and producer (The Roots and Soulquarians)
1972 – Tony DeVito, American wrestler
1972 – Nikki Haley, American politician
1973 – Stephen Crabb, Scottish-Welsh politician
1973 – Queen Mathilde of Belgium
1973 – Josh Weston, American porn actor (d. 2012)
1974 – David Dei, Italian footballer
1975 – David Eckstein, American baseball player
1975 – Norberto Fontana, Argentinian race car driver
1975 – Zac Goldsmith, English journalist and politician
1976 – Kirsty Gallacher, Scottish television host
1976 – Gretha Smit, Dutch speed skater
1976 – Michael Myers, former NFL defensive tackle
1977 – Melody, Belgian singer
1977 – Liivo Leetma, Estonian footballer
1978 – Salvatore Aronica, Italian footballer
1978 – Joy Giovanni, American model and actress
1978 – Sonja Kesselschläger, German heptathlete
1978 – Allan Søgaard, Danish footballer
1978 – Sid Wilson, American DJ and pianist (Slipknot)
1978 – Luciano Zauri, Italian footballer
1979 – Asaka Kubo, Japanese singer
1979 – Shang Yi, Chinese footballer
1979 – Will Young, English singer-songwriter and actor
1980 – Philippe Cousteau, Jr., American-French oceanographer
1980 – Philippe Gagnon, Canadian swimmer
1980 – Kim Jeong-hoon, South Korean singer and actor
1980 – Brigitte Olivier, Belgian martial artist
1980 – Petra Rampre, Slovenian tennis player
1980 – Matthew Tuck, Welsh singer and guitarist (Bullet for my Valentine)
1981 – Daniel Cudmore, Canadian actor
1981 – Brendan Fevola, Australian footballer
1981 – Freddy Guzmán, Dominican baseball player
1981 – Owen Hargreaves, English footballer
1981 – Crystal Lowe, Canadian actress
1981 – Jason Richardson, American basketball player
1982 – Fredrik Strømstad, Norwegian footballer
1982 – Joe Swash, English actor
1983 – Geovany Soto, Puerto Rican baseball player
1983 – Paula Taylor, English-Thai actress and model
1983 – Mari Yaguchi, Japanese singer and actress (Morning Musume, Dream Morning Musume, and ZYX)
1984 – Victoria Asher, American keyboard player (Cobra Starship)
1984 – Toni Gonzaga, Filipino actress and singer
1984 – Olivia Hallinan, English actress
1984 – Rene Mandri, Estonian cyclist
1985 – Marina Inoue, Japanese voice actress and singer
1985 – Tanel Sokk, Estonian basketball player
1986 – Genie Chuo, Taiwanese singer and actress
1986 – Bissan Rafe, Palestinian-American painter and biologist
1986 – Derek Fathauer, American golfer
1987 – Evan Peters, American actor
1987 – Janin Lindenberg, German sprinter
1987 – Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 2011)
1987 – Mark Wright, English actor, footballer, and radio host
1988 – Colin Bensadon, Gibraltarian swimmer
1988 – Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé, Nigerian footballer
1988 – Jeffrén Suárez, Spanish footballer
1988 – Benjamin Ulrich, German rugby player
1989 – Nick Foles, American football player
1989 – Washington Santana da Silva, Brazilian footballer
1991 – Ciara Hanna, American actress
1991 – Polona Hercog, Slovenian tennis player
1991 – Jolyon Palmer, English race car driver
1992 – Jorge Zárate, Mexican footballer
1993 – Lorenzo Crisetig, Italian footballer
1994 – Denis Mukhametdinov, Russian footballer
1995 – Joey Badass, American rapper (Pro Era)
1999 – Shannon Tavarez, American actress and singer (d. 2010)

Despatches

250 – Pope Fabian (b. 200)
820 – Al-Shafi‘i, Palestinian jurist (b. 767)
842 – Theophilos, Byzantine emperor (b. 813)
1156 – Henry, English-Finnish bishop and saint
1191 – Frederick VI, Duke of Swabia (b. 1167)
1410 – Martin of Aragon (b. 1356)
1479 – John II of Aragon (b. 1397)
1568 – Myles Coverdale, English bishop (b. 1488)
1612 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1552)
1663 – Isaac Ambrose, English minister and author (b. 1604)
1666 – Anne of Austria (b. 1601)
1707 – Humphrey Hody, English theologian (b. 1659)
1709 – François de la Chaise, French priest (b. 1624)
1751 – John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, English politician (b. 1665)
1770 – Charles Yorke, English politician (b. 1722)
1779 – David Garrick, English actor (b. 1717)
1810 – Benjamin Chew, American lawyer and judge (b. 1721)
1819 – Charles IV of Spain (b. 1748)
1837 – John Soane, English architect, designed the Bank of England (b. 1753)
1841 – Minh Mang, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1791)
1848 – Christian VIII of Denmark (b. 1786)
1850 – Adam Oehlenschläger, Danish poet (b. 1779)
1852 – Ōnomatsu Midorinosuke, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 6th Yokozuna (b. 1794)
1873 – Basil Moreau, French priest, founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (b. 1799)
1875 – Jean-François Millet, French painter (b. 1814)
1877 – Lela Pandak Lam, Malayan activist
1891 – Kalākaua of Hawaii (b. 1836)
1900 – John Ruskin, English painter and critic (b. 1819)
1901 – Zénobe Gramme, Belgian engineer, invented the Gramme machine (b. 1826)
1908 – John Ordronaux, American surgeon (b. 1830)
1913 – José Guadalupe Posada, Mexican engraver and illustrator (b. 1852)
1920 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler (b. 1876)
1924 – Ivor Crapp, Australian footballer and umpire (b. 1872)
1936 – George V of the United Kingdom (b. 1865)
1940 – Omar Bundy, American general (b. 1861)
1941 – John Bissinger, American gymnast (b. 1879)
1944 – James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
1947 – Josh Gibson, American baseball player (b. 1911)
1954 – Fred Root, English cricketer (b. 1890)
1955 – Robert P. T. Coffin, American author and poet (b. 1892)
1962 – Robinson Jeffers, American poet (b. 1887)
1965 – Alan Freed, American radio host (b. 1922)
1971 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1880)
1971 – Minanogawa Tōzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 34th Yokozuna (b. 1903)
1973 – Lorenz Böhler, Austrian physician (b. 1885)
1973 – Amílcar Cabral, Guinea Bissauan-Cape Verdian engineer and politician (b. 1924)
1977 – Dimitrios Kiousopoulos, Greek jurist and politician (b. 1892)
1979 – Gustav Winckler, Danish singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
1980 – William Roberts, English painter (b. 1895)
1983 – Garrincha, Brazilian footballer (b. 1933)
1984 – Johnny Weissmuller, American swimmer and actor (b. 1904)
1988 – Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Pakistani activist (b. 1890)
1988 – Dora Stratou, Greek author (b. 1903)
1989 – Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1938)
1990 – Hayedeh, Iranian singer (b. 1942)
1990 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (b. 1907)
1991 – Stan Szelest American keyboard player (The Band) (b. 1943)
1993 – Audrey Hepburn, Belgian-English actress (b. 1929)
1994 – Matt Busby, Scottish footballer and coach (b. 1909)
1996 – Gerry Mulligan, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1927)
1997 – Curt Flood, American baseball player (b. 1938)
1998 – Bobo Brazil, American wrestler (b. 1924)
2002 – Carrie Hamilton, American actress and singer (b. 1963)
2003 – Al Hirschfeld, American illustrator (b. 1903)
2003 – Craig Kelly, American snowboarder (b. 1966)
2003 – Nedra Volz, American actress (b. 1908)
2003 – Bill Werbeniuk, Canadian snooker player (b. 1947)
2003 – David Battley, English comic actor (b. 1935)
2004 – T. Nadaraja, Sri Lankan lawyer and academic (b. 1917)
2004 – Guinn Smith, American pole vaulter (b. 1920)
2005 – Parveen Babi, Indian model and actress (b. 1949)
2005 – Per Borten, Norwegian politician, 18th Prime Minister of Norway (b. 1913)
2005 – Roland Frye, American theologian and critic (b. 1921)
2005 – Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, Polish journalist and politician (b. 1913)
2005 – Miriam Rothschild, English zoologist, entomologist, and author (b. 1908)
2006 – Dave Lepard, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Crashdïet) (b. 1980)
2009 – Stéphanos II Ghattas, Egyptian patriarch (b. 1920)
2009 – Stan Hagen, Canadian politician (b. 1940)
2009 – David "Fathead" Newman, American saxophonist and songwriter (b. 1933)
2009 – Sheila Walsh, English author (b. 1928)
2012 – John F. Baker, Jr., American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1945)
2012 – Larry Butler, American songwriter and producer (b. 1942)
2012 – Lucy Faulkner, Irish journalist (b. 1925)
2012 – Etta James, American singer-songwriter (b. 1938)
2012 – John Levy, American bassist and maanger (b. 1912)
2012 – Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Greek politician, Greek Minister of the Interior (b. 1933)
2012 – Alejandro Rodriguez, Venezuelan-American pediatrician and psychiatrist (b. 1918)
2012 – Robert Fortune Sanchez, American archbishop (b. 1934)
2012 – Michael Welsh, English miner and politician (b. 1926)
2013 – Ron Fraser, American baseball player and coach (b. 1933)
2013 – Richard Garneau, Canadian journalist (b. 1930)
2013 – Pavlos Matesis, Greek author and playwright (b. 1933)
2013 – Dolores Prida, Cuban-American journalist and playwright (b. 1943)
2013 – Toyo Shibata, Japanese poet (b. 1911)
2013 – Tracy Sugarman, American illustrator (b. 1921)
2013 – Freddie Williams, Welsh motorcycle racer (b. 1926)
2014 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (b. 1933)
2014 – Wistin Abela, Maltese politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1934)
2014 – Vern Benson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1924)
2014 – Ubaldo Continiello, Italian composer and conductor (b. 1941)
2014 – Graeme Dallow, New Zealand police officer (b. 1930)
2014 – James Jacks, American film producer (b. 1947)
2014 – Otis G. Pike, American judge and politician (b. 1921)
2014 – George Scott, Canadian-American wrestler (b. 1929)
2014 – Jonas Trinkūnas, Lithuanian ethnologist (b. 1939)

===
2015

Armed Forces Day (Mali)
Christian Feast Day:
Inauguration Day (United States of America)
Martyrs' Day (Azerbaijan)
National 'Good Day' Day

===
Ok this is todays article, The AFFF has been around for a bit and the class action is no secret, but this is the first time farmers on SM are asking for financial donations, partially to stick it back to animal rights crowds but also just to clear their names and set a precedent as not to see businesses suffer at the hands of government on this scale again in future, There is a lot of ramifications I could go into, but in a nutshell 3 senators are being targeted for introducing the bill, sadly the current govt will have to pay if any compensation is awarded, but many say that's not what its all about, just a token amount to a few hardest hit and a legal precedent to secure future trade deals as solid, unlike the broken trade agreement with Indonesia.

http://t.co/P47qPHrrif
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) January 20, 2015

===

TAX-FUNDED AND TOPICAL

Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (5:16pm)

The big issue at Radio National:

How do you tell your mum that you’ve signed up for a one-way trip to …

Syria? Iraq? Nigeria? Click for the correct answer. In other radio news, I’ll be in the studio tonight with 2GB’s Steve Price from 8pm. Tune in for fun and japes.

===

HE GOT SHAHADED

Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (1:27pm)

Another Australian idiot for Islam has received his final welfare payment:

Terrorist Mahmoud Abdullatif is believed to have been killed fighting with Islamic State in Syria.

An Abdullatif supporter posted a tribute earlier this morning to the jihadist who once boasted on his Instagram account that he “just wants to go to heaven and live forever”.

“Brother Abu Abdullatif @riseyamuslim got Shahada insha’allah the day before yesterday, make du’a for Allah. Azza wa Jall to accept him,” the post said.

Abdullatif’s wife Zehra Duman, 21, also posted a message about his death on the weekend, congratulating him for winning the race to heaven. ‘Til we reunite,’ she wrote.

Abdullatif joins around 20 or so incompetent Australian warriors who have been killed in Syria and Iraq. Of course, this has nothing to do with Islam.

UPDATE. The latest wave of Islamic State savagery:

ISIS militants have gone on an execution frenzy in Iraq, murdering at least 20 people in a 48-hour period, including two men “found guilty” of being gay.

Photographs of the killings, shocking even by the group’s barbaric standards, have been circulating on social media since last Thursday.

They include images of two blindfolded men being hauled to the top of a seven or eight story tower before being thrown to their deaths, one at a time, as a large crowd watches from below.

One picture is captioned: “The Muslims come to watch the application of the law.”

Which is odd, because this again is nothing to do with Islam.

===

PROFITS ARE EEEVIL

Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (5:24am)

Labor goes full commie in Queensland:

That key line, one more time:

The only reason someone buys a business is to make money from it.

They really do believe this is a bad thing.

(Via MM)

===

NAME THOSE IDIOTS

Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (5:20am)

“What should we call Islamic State?” asks academic Amin Saikal. “DAISH or IS?”

A reasonable question. But why limit ourselves to just those two options? Let the BlairPoll decide:

Thank you for voting!

The Syrian Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 5.21% (208 votes)

The Greens 10.90% (435 votes)

Miss Bunny Winkles and her Tea-Time Companions 2.66% (106 votes)

Target Practice 11.25% (449 votes)

The Bludjahideen 13.78% (550 votes)

Welfare for Warfare 8.62% (344 votes)

Future Pink Mist Displays 4.31% (172 votes)

The Frightened of Girls Support Network 5.79% (231 votes)

Ladyboys of the Apocalypse 11.65% (465 votes)

Nothing to do with Islam 25.83% (1,031 votes)

Total Votes: 3,991

===

HIZBIEFEST

Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (5:16am)

Seven’s Bryan Seymour, the only journalist permitted to attend Hizb ut-Tahrir’s Lakemba rally on Saturday night, reports:

“Eventually, we will bounce back and we will reclaim everything that they have taken from us,” Bilal Merhi told the crowd.

Let’s make a deal, babycakes. You reclaim everything we’ve taken from Islam and in return you guys give back everything you’ve taken from civilisation. It’ll be like George Costanza asking for a pre-nup.

Around 200 men and another 50 women and children, behind a curtain at the back, attended the public rally held by extremist Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

They were told Australia’s democratic government has to go in favour of an Islamic caliphate ruled by Sharia law.

On the other hand … no.

Freedom of speech was top of the agenda as firebrand preacher Bilal Merhi said Australians use freedom of speech to mock Islam.

“We will continue to stand up and oppose your freedom to insult our Messenger! Takbir! Allahu Akbar! Takbir! Allahu Akbar!”

Oh, go blow it out your Akbar, pal. Meanwhile, in England:

A trainee lawyer at one of the world’s biggest law firms has posted a 21-minute online rant in which he blames the Paris attacks on non-Muslim “kuffar” who “killed our people and raped and pillaged our resources”.

Aysh Chaudhry, from international law firm Clifford Chance, tried to explain the terrorist atrocities that left 17 people dead and how Muslims should respond.

Mr Chaudhry, who works in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions department, criticised moderate Muslims for allowing their minds to be “colonised” and claimed Islam was “superior” to Western ideology.

Chaudhry later apologised, claiming he had “no intention other than to encourage intellectual debate.” His softheaded employers did nothing about it:

A spokeswoman for Clifford Chance said Chaudhry, who is still employed by the firm, was not facing any disciplinary action. She said: “The views expressed in this video are personal and not those of Clifford Chance.”

(Via Elaine)

===

THERE ARE THREE

Tim Blair – Tuesday, January 20, 2015 (1:53am)

This is true.

===

Post by Matt Granz.

===

Post by Ryan Wolf.

obscene
===

Post by Diamond Imports.

===

Poor Charlie looks confused .. Is Snoopy female?
===

Post by Karma Kornah.

===

Post by Diamond Imports.

===

===

How do you tell your mum that you've signed up for a one-way trip to Mars? http://t.co/Ng7JEfHiTF pic.twitter.com/PJ6SN93ju1
— RN - Radio National (@RadioNational) January 20, 2015

===

Bad policy costs .. Andrews Government faces massive compensation bill to axe East West Link http://t.co/7ls2e4IHPi
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) January 20, 2015

===

@texbarb @iowahawkblog If you follow @iowahawkblog , @TimBlairBlog and @MarkSteynOnline , you know everything worth knowing.
— Joe I. (@2AmendDefender) January 18, 2015

===

Tinfoil hat conspiracy .. K for Kristian? Isma suggests Christian agenda in K-pop concerts http://t.co/iY4VmaMkoq
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) January 20, 2015

===

Don't let terrorists win! #fullfrontalnow Is this the end of the Page 3 girl? http://t.co/tVj10Q1P7Q via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) January 20, 2015

===

RSVP .. Angry mum explains why she invoiced 5-year-old for missing birthday party http://t.co/gE2JBOpOjt
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) January 20, 2015

===

Global climate fund on US Republicans' budget hit list http://t.co/8Okpv7uIpm via @theage
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) January 19, 2015

===

Six months prison for platonic kiss? Malay girls threatened with jail time for hugging K-pop stars http://t.co/gMPQJNFK6T via @DailyLifeAU
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) January 19, 2015

=== Posts from last year ===

RIP-OFF REMEDY

Tim Blair – Monday, January 20, 2014 (1:34pm)

Imagine my excitement when the Greens announced their new “climate champion” campaign:

Becoming a climate champion means you’ll be the first to know about campaign actions and opportunities in the coming months. We’ll send you a Climate Champion toolkit with everything you need to build awareness and support in your community.

Naturally, I signed up immediately and then began a letterbox vigil for the arrival of my personal climate champion toolkit. Tension grew as I fantasised over the possible contents. A t-shirt announcing my climate champion status? A secret decoder ring? Actual tools I could use to dismantle coal-fired power plants?

Continue reading 'RIP-OFF REMEDY'

===

LIVES SAVED, LEFT SEETHES

Tim Blair – Monday, January 20, 2014 (12:59pm)

The absolute moral perversion of the Australian left is again dramatically apparent. Our leftists are actually more upset that lives are being saved by Tony Abbott’s government than they ever were by the deaths of asylum seekers under the previous Labor government.

Continue reading 'LIVES SAVED, LEFT SEETHES'

===

RADIO DARKNESS

Tim Blair – Monday, January 20, 2014 (11:47am)

Several museums in Guam feature fine exhibits telling the stories of Japanese soldiers who remained hidden on the island long after the end of the war.

Some didn’t emerge for decades, preferring to skulk through the jungles in the apparent belief that World War II was ongoing.

Continue reading 'RADIO DARKNESS'

===

NEW MAUNDERING

Tim Blair – Monday, January 20, 2014 (11:12am)

Solar colding causes scientific enbafflement:

“I’ve been a solar physicist for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, told the BBC.

“If you want to go back to see when the Sun was this inactive… you’ve got to go back about 100 years,” he said …

Mike Lockwood, professor of space environment physics at the University of Reading, told the BBC there was a significant chance that the Sun could become increasingly quiet.

He compared the current circumstances to the latter half of the 17th Century, when the sun went through an extremely quiet phase referred to as the Maunder Minimum.

That era of solar inactivity coincided with bitterly cold winters to Europe, where the Baltic Sea and London’s River Thames froze over. Conditions were so harsh that some described it as a mini-Ice Age.

Via Mike, who emails: “Just wondering how this will be pinned on man-made emissions … from a mere 149.6 million kilometres away. A new measure of Tony Abbott’s intergalactic evil, I’ll wager.”

===

WORDS WORSE THAN DEATH

Tim Blair – Monday, January 20, 2014 (1:32am)

Under Labor, around one thousand asylum seekers were killed.

Under the current government, a few asylum seekers are spoken to rudely.

Leftists favour a return to Labor’s policies, presumably because dead people can’t hear anything.

===

IT CANNOT BE UNSEEN

Tim Blair – Sunday, January 19, 2014 (6:32pm)

Not that the Greens are an unusual bunch, but here’s their candidate for the Griffith by-election.

Geoff Ebbs is a publisher, broadcaster and performer and also a thinker, actor and writer.

UPDATE. In 2007 and 2010, Ebbs ran as a federal Greens candidate in NSW under the name Giovanni (Joe) Ebono. Or, as our new favourite Green puts it, he ”created Giovanni Ebono and ran him twice for federal politics.” The “visionary and pioneer” is now ”working under birth name - Geoff Ebbs.”

UPDATE II. Ebono/Ebbs has also performed in pantomimes.

===

No boats for a month. You’d think there would be applause…

Andrew Bolt January 20 2014 (11:58am)

No boat arrivals for a month now. You’d think this was grounds for congratulations. But The Age prefers to retail lurid claims instead:

Two asylum seekers jumped off their boat as the Australian Navy was taking them back to Indonesia around Christmas Day, in what a fellow passenger said was a suicide attempt.
Sailors from accompanying navy ships pulled them from the water and put them back on board, asylum seeker Rahman Ali said.

Pretty lame “suicide attempt”. But good enough for The Age to go with

===

Were Snowden and his media allies Putin’s useful idiots?

Andrew Bolt January 20 2014 (11:41am)

Who knows, but the possibility puts the role of the pro-Snowden media in an unflattering light:

Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Mike Rogers said Sunday that Edward Snowden likely received help from the Russians in leaking NSA data.
“There’s some security things that he did get around that were clearly above his capabilities. The way he departed and how he ended up in Moscow—now, we still have some questions there,” Rogers, who appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” said.

===

Islamists go for gold in terrorism at Sochi

Andrew Bolt January 20 2014 (11:26am)

Muslim terrorists seek to win the gold medal - again - for violence at the world’s greatest sports contest:

A new threat to the upcoming Winter Olympics surfaced Sunday as US lawmakers worried about attacks at the Games to be hosted by Russia.
In a video posted on a well-known jihadi forum, two men believed to have been suicide bombers in last month’s deadly bombings in Volgograd speak of them—and warned of more.
“We’ve prepared a present for you and all tourists who’ll come over,” the video says in part. ”If you hold the Olympics, you’ll get a present from us for the Muslim blood that’s been spilled.”

What is it about the Muslim faith that makes this threat so utterly predictable?

===

Green against growth

Andrew Bolt January 20 2014 (11:14am)

At least the Greens candidate for Griffiths is honest - he really is against growth.
And this time, at least, he is standing under his real name.

===

Another dangerous fib about our past

Andrew Bolt January 20 2014 (10:32am)

Our racial resentment industry really is out of control:

Melbourne City Council will build a memorial to two Aborigines who in 1842 were the first people executed in Melbourne…
On this day, January 20, in 1842, 5000 Melbourne citizens watched as Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner were hanged for the murder of two whale hunters while resisting white settlement.

Resisting while settlement or simply stealing and killing?

At a time of violence between European settlers and indigenous people, the Protector of Aborigines, George Robinson, brought Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner and 14 other native Tasmanian Aborigines to Melbourne in 1839 as intermediaries.
In 1841 Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner and three indigenous women stole guns, and in a six week, guerilla-style campaign against authorities in the Dandenongs and the Mornington Peninsula, burnt and stole from houses and killed two whalers.

So the settlement they were “resisting” was not even of their own lands. And note the Age’s use of the term “guerilla-style”, freighted with political meaning. By this measure Ned Kelly and every other bushranger ran “guerilla-style” campaigns.

A buoyant Councillor Cathy Oke ... said Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner were ‘’freedom fighters’’ whose crimes should be ‘’taken in context at the time that this occurred. It’s a time in Melbourne when the tensions between whites and the traditional owners, or Aboriginal people, was obviously quite heightened,’’ she said.

Oke is plain foolish and misleading. Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner were in no sense “tradtional owners” of these lands. Indeed, if anyone in these events were “traditional owners” of the land on which they operated they are the eight Aboriginal trackers who helped to catch them. Nor is there evidence that Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner were fighting for “freedom”.
And there is this consideration. George Orwell, a Leftist, in writing about conservative Rudyard Kipling, conceded this about the Okes of his own generation:

One reason for Kipling’s power ... [was] his sense of responsibility, which made it possible for him to have a world-view… He identified himself with the ruling power and not with the opposition. In a gifted writer this seems to us strange and even disgusting, but it did have the advantage of giving Kipling a certain grip on reality. The ruling power is always faced with the question, ‘In such and such circumstances, what would you do?’, whereas the opposition is not obliged to take responsibility or make any real decisions. Where it is a permanent and pensioned opposition, as in England, the quality of its thought deteriorates accordingly.

In this case, too, the quality of the Left’s thought has deteriorated for the same reason - the refusal to take responsibility and answer the question “In such and such circumstances, what would you do?”.
We should imagine Oke as the judge presiding in the case of Tunnerminnerwait and Maulboyheenner, faced with two Tasmanian Aborigines in Victoria who’d murdered two civilians, wounded five others and burned down stations. Could she seriously have declared the two Tasmanians “freedom fighters” and acquitted them? What would have been the consequences, in terms of anarchy and bloodshed?
This is a case of Leftists re-imagining our history without a thought for the real-life choices faced at the time by those who were there. It is lazy and intellectually dishonest. Worse, it feeds the racial resentment industry, leading not to reconciliation but its opposite.
Shame on Lord Mayor Robert Doyle for going along with this destructive and dishonest farce. Power above principle, I guess.

===

Drowning is better than swearing

Andrew Bolt January 20 2014 (8:01am)

Tim Blair puts it perfectly:

Under Labor, around one thousand asylum seekers were killed.
Under the current government, a few asylum seekers are spoken to rudely. Leftists favour a return to Labor’s policies, presumably because dead people can’t hear anything.

Links at the link.

===

Warmist BBC gets the chills as Sun goes quiet

Andrew Bolt January 20 2014 (7:51am)

Global warming - general

Even the warmist BBC warns of possible cold times ahead:

Something is happening to the solar activity on the surface of the sun: it’s declining, fast… The number of sunspots is a fraction of what scientists expected, solar flares are half. Richard Harrison is the head of space physics at the Rutheford-Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire. He says the rate at which solar activity is falling mirrors a period in the 17th century where sunspots virtually disappeared.
Harrison [1:57]: The Maunder Minimum of course was a period of almost no sunspots at all for decades… It was a period where you had a kind of mini ice-age. You had a period where the Thames froze in winters and so on…
BBC science correspondent Rebecca Morelle [2:46]: The Maunder Minimum came at a time when snow cover was longer and more frequent. It wasn’t just the Thames that froze over. The Baltic Sea did too. Crop failures and famines were widespread across Northern Europe. So does a decline in solar activity mean plunging temperatures for decades to come?…
BBC voiceover: Some researchers have gone way further back in time, looked into the ice sheets of particles that were once in the upper atmosphere, particles that show variations in solar activity. Mike Lockwood’s work suggests that this is the fastest rate of solar decline for 10,000 years…
Dr. Lucie Green [5:38]: The world we live in today is very different to the world that was inhabited during the Maunder Minimum. So we have human activity, we have the industrial revolution, all kinds of gases being pumped into the atmosphere, so on the one hand we’ve got perhaps a cooling sun, but on the other hand you’ve got human activity that can counter that and I think it is quite difficult to say actually how these two are going to compete and what the consequences then are for the global climate. BBC: So even if the planet as a whole continues to warm, if we enter a new Maunder Minimum the future for Northern Europe could be cold and frozen winters for decades to come...

As I write this, ABC Radio National is pumping out another global warming scare instead, warning of more droughts. No sceptics are interviewed.
(Thanks to many readers.)

===

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Tue Jan 20th Todays News