Tue Mar 31st Todays News

On Bolt Report an ongoing 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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In 2014, a 'man' who had married a 16 yo girl when he was 46 years old, killed her eight years later after she questioned his manhood. Henry VIII did much the same with Catherine Howard after two years. Today, it is alleged a Lebanese ethnic man, aged 58, returned a day early from a holiday in Lebanon to 'surprise his wife.'  This morning, before 7am he stabbed her to death and wounded his teenage daughter, before turning himself into police. There is something very wrong with these so called men. Did this latest victim question his manhood? And so what if they did? Couldn't the 'man' do something more traditional, like have an argument? Call out Expecto Patronum? Divorce? Gamble the money away? 

In the last year of the dying Gillard Government, a desperate Home Secretary, Jason Clare, announced that cheating and drugs in sport was endemic. It had nothing to do with his love of sport, Clare was fighting to prevent Rudd from coming back. And his lever was to cast an aspersion on two codes, AFL and ARL through the agency of ASADA. But although both codes have been terribly affected by the desperate manoeuvre, nothing has panned the way it was hoped. Cheating and drugs are not endemic to sport in Australia, Rudd Gillard ALP governments are in the past. Their murderous policies are still promoted by a fawning press. 

QLD is reeling after their minority government is found to contain a member who hasn't declared a past. But that member is very close to senior ALP members. How much was known of Billy Gordon before it became public, post election? QLD Premier is demanding a bye election. Maybe a general one would be better? Already it is apparent that the population had been hoodwinked by the press into a protest vote they didn't want. 

ABC is reeling as a lone conservative got into their Q and A Audience. It won't happen again, but was very embarrassing for Senator Wong. Wong is famous for losing over $100 billion while being finance minister. But she is currently better known as a liar claiming $100k degrees are the price of reform to higher education, when in fact no degrees would be the result of not reforming. 

On this day in 1492, the Alhambra decree from Queen Isabella of Castille ordered 150,000 subjects who were Jewish or Muslim to convert to Christianity or be expelled from Spain. In 1717, a Sermon on the nature of the Kingdom of Christ threw England into disarray. Generally the church had been subservient to the state, but with the theology espoused by Benjamin Hoadly suggested that kings were not divinely appointed, so much as equal with any faithful member of the state, as the Kingdom of Christ was not the world. It was called the Bangorian controversy and came too close to the unsettled throne for the comfort of royalty. In 1774, Britain closed the port of Boston for being too unruly. In 1822, an attempted rebellion against the Ottomans by the Greek Island of Chios resulted in the massacre of tens of thousands on the Island, resulting in world wide support for a free Greece. The uprising had been depicted by the French artist Eugène Delacroix. In 1854, Japan opened to trade internationally when Commodore Perry signed an instrument of the Treaty of Kanagawa. In 1889, the Eiffel Tower official opened. In 1913, Skandalkonzert, where the Vienna Concert society rioted during a performance of modern music. 1918, daylight savings went into effect in the US for the first time. In 1942, Japan invaded Christmas Island. In 1945, a defecting German pilot gave the allies a jet. In 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama was granted asylum after crossing into India. 

2014

Putting religion aside, if indeed it involves religion, I don't understand why a 46 year old man would marry a 16 year old girl. The world view is completely different for both. The guy is probably particularly rich or immature or both. I get it that some women are forced into bondage, so maybe the girls hasn't much choice. But in this particular case, there was choice and in eight years, she gave him three children. She was 24 years old when he stabbed her repeatedly. He killed her. And then called emergency and said there was a problem with his wife. It is worse than Prince Charles and Diana. The older man chose a mate and then mistreated her. In Australia, one feels that such a situation would be treated fairly, and the man who committed such a crime would get murder. However, in Australia this happened, and the man was only convicted of a lesser charge of manslaughter. The judge accepted the defence that the man had been provoked by having his manhood questioned. If that is the case, perhaps a new charge can be brought against the man under 18c? Or does 18c mean that the woman could have been charged had she lived? Maybe I misunderstand 18c, but with due respect, he was provoked. Something happened. Surely a law which protects people should, um, protect people? Maybe he wasn't able to resort to 18c ("I'm suing you because you are provoking me") and just used the knife instead. So, what was the problem with the wife which required an emergency call? She would never again cook a meal or clean the dishes .. in his defence, she was 24 years old, and so not the same girl he married. Clearly someone does not understand what marriage is. There is no evidence he is gay. If he was a religious man, it would be good to hear his religious teachers speak up and denounce his actions.

There is a western history of women marrying young. Fausta, daughter of Emperor Maximian, was betrothed to Emperor Constantine age 4 in 293 AD. She married him on this day in 307 age 18 after he had divorced his first wife. He had her killed, smothered in a bath when she was 37 years old. The accusation is she had had an affair with a stepson. Maybe she had questioned Constantine's manhood? Even so, as a Christian, I will say Constantine was wrong to kill his wife. But I felt the same way when I was an Atheist too. I'm not saying that the 54 year old should be put to death for the murder of his wife, we don't do that in Australia. But I feel he should be charged with her murder EVEN IF HE WAS PROVOKED. Considering the young age at which he married his wife, I feel that prisoners should be made aware of his pedophile nature too.

Historical perspectives on this day 

In 307, after divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine married Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian. 627, Battle of the Trench: Muhammad underwent a 14-day siege at Medina (Saudi Arabia) by Meccan forces under Abu Sufyan. 1146, Bernard of Clairvaux preached his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII was present, and joined the Crusade. 1492, Queen Isabella of Castille issued the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion. 1561, the city of San Cristóbal, Táchira was founded. 1717, a sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provoked the Bangorian Controversy. 1774, American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain ordered the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act.

In 1822, The massacre of the population of the Greek island of Chios by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following an attempted rebellion, depicted by the French artist Eugène Delacroix. 1854, Commodore Matthew Perry signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade. 1866, the Spanish Navy bombed the harbour of Valparaíso, Chile. 1877, the family with samurai antecedents that responded to the Saigō army in Ōita Nakatsu, rebels. 1885, the United Kingdom established a protectorate over Bechuanaland. 1889, the Eiffel Tower was officially opened. 1899, Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, was captured by American forces.

In 1901, 1901 Black Sea earthquake. 1903, Richard Pearse allegedly made a powered flight in an early aircraft. 1906, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) was established to set rules for college sports in the United States. 1909, Serbia accepted Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Also 1909, Construction of the ill fated RMS Titanic began. 1910, six North Staffordshire Pottery towns federate to form modern Stoke-on-Trent. 1913, the Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert. 1917, the United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark, and renames the territory the United States Virgin Islands. 1918, Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis was committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims were killed. Also 1918, Daylight saving time went into effect in the United States for the first time.

In 1921, the Royal Australian Air Force was formed. 1930, the Motion Picture Production Code was instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years. 1931, an earthquake destroyed Managua, Nicaragua, killing 2,000. Also 1931, TWA Flight 599 crashed near Bazaar, Kansas, killing eight, including University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne. 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps was established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States. 1942, World War II: Japanese forces invaded Christmas Island, then a British possession. 1945, World War II: a defecting German pilot delivered a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands. 1949, the Dominion of Newfoundland joined the Canadian Confederation and became the 10th Province of Canada.

In 1951, Remington Rand delivered the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau. 1957, Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta were held. After the elections PDU and MDV formed a government. 1958, in the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, won the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265. 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama, crossed the border into India and was granted political asylum. 1964, a coup d'état in Brazil established a military government, under the aegis of general Castelo Branco. 1966, the Soviet Union launched Luna 10 which later became the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon. 1970, Explorer 1 re-entered the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit. 1979, the last British soldier left the Maltese Islands. Malta declared its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien).

In 1980, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operated its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors. 1985 the first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), took place in Madison Square Garden in New York. 1986, six metropolitan county councils were abolished in England. 1990, approximately 200,000 protestors took to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax. 1991, Georgian independence referendum, 1991: Nearly 99 percent of the voters supported the country's independence from the Soviet Union. 1992, the USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, was decommissioned in Long Beach, California. 1994, the journal Nature reported the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull. 1995, end of the US military campaign in Somalia 2004, Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, were killed after being ambushed.

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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, September https://www.createspace.com/5106914, October https://www.createspace.com/5106951, or at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482020262/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_dVHPub0MQKDZ4  The kindle version is cheaper, but the soft back version allows the purchase of a kindle version for just $3.99 more. 

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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 Jenny Trinh.  250 – Constantius Chlorus, Roman emperor (d. 306) 1425 – Bianca Maria Visconti, Italian wife of Francesco I Sforza (d. 1468) 1596 – René Descartes, French philosopher and mathematician (d. 1650) 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer (d. 1750) 1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809) 1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian author and playwright (d. 1852) 1924 – Charles Guggenheim, American director and producer (d. 2002) 1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne (d. 2007) 1933 – Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist (Carter Family and The Carter Sisters) (d. 1999) 1938 – Arthur B. Rubinstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (The Beepers) 1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter (AC/DC and Marcus Hook Roll Band) 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish-American actor 1980 – Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (Garfunkel and Oates) 1994 – Thomas Batuello, American actor Deaths 1340 – Ivan I of Moscow (b. 1288) 1631 – John Donne, English lawyer and poet (b. 1572) 1671 – Anne Hyde, English wife of James II of England (b. 1637) 1703 – Johann Christoph Bach, German organist and composer (b. 1642) 1837 – John Constable, English painter (b. 1776) 1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English author (b. 1816) 1877 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician (b. 1801) 1913 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (b. 1837) 1978 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian medical scientist, co-discovered Insulin (b. 1899) 1980 – Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (b. 1913) 2005 – Frank Perdue, American businessman (b. 1920) March 31: King Nangklao Memorial Day in Thailand; Cesar Chavez Day in various U.S. states 1492 – The Catholic Monarchs of Spain issued the Alhambra Decree, ordering all Jews to convert to Christianity or be expelled from the country. 1822 – Greek War of Independence: Ottoman troops began the massacre of over 20,000 Greeks on the island of Chios. 1889 – The Eiffel Tower (pictured) was inaugurated in Paris, becoming a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. 1901 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck the Black Sea, the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the area. 1995 – American singer-songwriter, Selena, known as "The Queen of Tejano music", was murdered in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar. They didn't really convert. Ottomans took them all. That is a lovely tower. The earth moved. Selena deserved better. Let's party. Matches 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine marries Fausta, the daughter of the retired Roman Emperor Maximian. 627 – Battle of the Trench: Muhammad undergoes a 14-day siege at Medina (Saudi Arabia) by Meccan forces under Abu Sufyan. 1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII is present, and joins the Crusade. 1492 – Queen Isabella of Castille issues the Alhambra Decree, ordering her 150,000 Jewish and Muslim subjects to convert to Christianity or face expulsion. 1561 – The city of San Cristóbal, Táchira is founded. 1717 – A sermon on "The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ" by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor, provokes the Bangorian Controversy. 1774 – American Revolutionary War: The Kingdom of Great Britain orders the port of Boston, Massachusetts closed pursuant to the Boston Port Act. 1822 – The massacre of the population of the Greek island of Chios by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire following an attempted rebellion, depicted by the French artist Eugène Delacroix. 1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry signs the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimodaand Hakodate to American trade. 1866 – The Spanish Navy bombs the harbor of Valparaíso, Chile. 1877 – The family with samurai antecedents that responded to the Saigō army in Ōita Nakatsu, rebels. 1885 – The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland. 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened. 1899 – Malolos, capital of the First Philippine Republic, was captured by American forces. 1901 – 1901 Black Sea earthquake. 1903 – Richard Pearse allegedly makes a powered flight in an early aircraft. 1906 – The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (later the National Collegiate Athletic Association) is established to set rules for college sports in the United States. 1909 – Serbia accepts Austrian control over Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1909 – Construction of the ill fated RMS Titanic begins. 1910 – Six North Staffordshire Pottery towns federate to form modern Stoke-on-Trent. 1913 – The Vienna Concert Society rioted during a performance of modernist music by Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Alexander von Zemlinsky, and Anton von Webern, causing a premature end to the concert due to violence; this concert became known as the Skandalkonzert. 1917 – The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies after paying $25 million to Denmark, and renames the territory the United States Virgin Islands. 1918 – Massacre of ethnic Azerbaijanis is committed by allied armed groups of Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Bolsheviks. Nearly 12,000 Azerbaijani Muslims are killed. 1918 – Daylight saving time goes into effect in the United States for the first time. 1921 – The Royal Australian Air Force is formed. 1930 – The Motion Picture Production Code is instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film, in the U.S., for the next thirty-eight years. 1931 – An earthquake destroys Managua, Nicaragua, killing 2,000. 1931 – TWA Flight 599 crashes near Bazaar, Kansas, killing eight, including University of Notre Dame head football coach Knute Rockne. 1933 – The Civilian Conservation Corps is established with the mission of relieving rampant unemployment in the United States. 1942 – World War II: Japanese forces invade Christmas Island, then a British possession. 1945 – World War II: a defecting German pilot delivers a Messerschmitt Me 262A-1, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, to the Americans, the first to fall into Allied hands. 1949 – The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada. 1951 – Remington Rand delivers the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau. 1957 – Elections to the Territorial Assembly of the French colony Upper Volta are held. After the elections PDU and MDV form a government. 1958 – In the Canadian federal election, the Progressive Conservatives, led by John Diefenbaker, win the largest percentage of seats in Canadian history, with 208 seats of 265. 1959 – The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum. 1964 – A coup d'état in Brazil establishes a military government, under the aegis of general Castelo Branco. 1966 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10 which later becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon. 1970 – Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth's atmosphere after 12 years in orbit. 1979 – The last British soldier leaves the Maltese Islands. Malta declares its Freedom Day (Jum il-Helsien). 1980 – The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operates its final train after being ordered to liquidate its assets because of bankruptcy and debts owed to creditors. 1985 – The first WrestleMania, the biggest wrestling event from the WWE (then the WWF), takes place in Madison Square Gardenin New York. 1986 – Six metropolitan county councils are abolished in England. 1990 – Approximately 200,000 protestors take to the streets of London to protest against the newly introduced Poll Tax. 1991 – Georgian independence referendum, 1991: Nearly 99 percent of the voters support the country's independence from the Soviet Union. 1992 – The USS Missouri, the last active United States Navy battleship, is decommissioned in Long Beach, California. 1994 – The journal Nature reports the finding in Ethiopia of the first complete Australopithecus afarensis skull. 1995 – End of the US military campaign in Somalia 2004 – Iraq War in Anbar Province: In Fallujah, Iraq, four American private military contractors working for Blackwater USA, are killed after being ambushed. Hatches 250 – Constantius Chlorus, Roman emperor (d. 306) 1360 – Philippa of Lancaster (d. 1415) 1425 – Bianca Maria Visconti, Italian wife of Francesco I Sforza (d. 1468) 1499 – Pope Pius IV (d. 1565) 1504 – Guru Angad, Indian guru (d. 1552) 1519 – Henry II of France (d. 1559) 1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese shogun (d. 1565) 1576 – Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau (d. 1644) 1596 – René Descartes, French mathematician and philosopher (d. 1650) 1621 – Andrew Marvell, English poet and politician (d. 1678) 1644 – Henry Winstanley, English painter and engineer (d. 1703) 1651 – Charles II, Elector Palatine, German husband of Princess Wilhelmine Ernestine of Denmark (d. 1685) 1675 – Pope Benedict XIV (d. 1758) 1685 – Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer (d. 1750) 1718 – Mariana Victoria of Spain (d. 1781) 1723 – Frederick V of Denmark (d. 1766) 1730 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician and theorist (d. 1783) 1732 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (d. 1809) 1740 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (d. 1849) 1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German pianist and composer (d. 1800) 1752 – Panoutsos Notaras, Greek politician (d. 1849) 1777 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist and engineer (d. 1859) 1778 – Coenraad Jacob Temminck, Dutch zoologist (d. 1858) 1794 – Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1852) 1809 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet (d. 1883) 1809 – Nikolai Gogol, Ukrainian-Russian author and playwright (d. 1852) 1809 – Otto Lindblad, Swedish composer (d. 1864) 1819 – Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (d. 1901) 1823 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (d. 1886) 1847 – Hermann de Pourtalès, Swiss sailor (d. 1904) 1847 – Yegor Ivanovich Zolotarev, Russian mathematician (d. 1878) 1855 – Alfred E. Hunt, American businessman (d. 1899) 1859 – Emil Fenyvessy, Hungarian actor (d. 1924) 1865 – Anandi Gopal Joshi, Indian physician (d. 1887) 1871 – Arthur Griffith, Irish politician, 3rd President of Dáil Éireann (d. 1922) 1872 – Sergei Diaghilev, Russian ballet manager and critic, founded the Ballets Russes (d. 1929) 1872 – Alexandra Kollontai, Russian diplomat (d. 1952) 1876 – Borisav Stanković, Serbian author (d. 1927) 1878 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (d. 1946) 1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer (d. 1946) 1885 – Pascin, Bulgarian-American painter (d. 1930) 1890 – Ben Adams, American standing jumper (d. 1961) 1890 – William Lawrence Bragg, Australian-English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971) 1891 – Victor Varconi, Hungarian-American actor (d. 1976) 1893 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor (d. 1954) 1893 – Herbert Meinhard Mühlpfordt, German historian (d. 1982) 1895 – Vardis Fisher, American author (d. 1968) 1900 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974) 1902 – Alfred Praks, Estonian wrestler (d. 1998) 1903 – John Harron, American actor (d. 1939) 1905 – Robert Stevenson, English director and screenwriter (d. 1986) 1906 – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979) 1907 – Eddie Quillan, American actor (d. 1990) 1908 – Red Norvo, American vibraphone player and composer (d. 1999) 1911 – Freddie Green, American guitarist (d. 1987) 1911 – Elisabeth Grümmer, German soprano (d. 1986) 1912 – William Lederer, American author (d. 2009) 1913 – Etta Baker, American singer and guitarist (d. 2006) 1914 – Octavio Paz, Mexican author, poet, and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998) 1915 – Albert Hourani, English historian and author (d. 1993) 1915 – Shoichi Yokoi, Japanese sergeant (d. 1997) 1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress (d. 2012) 1916 – John H. Wood, Jr., American lawyer and judge (d. 1979) 1917 – Dorothy DeLay, American violin instructor (d. 2002) 1919 – Frank Akins, American football player (d. 1993) 1920 – Deborah Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 2014) 1920 – Paul Zorner, German soldier and pilot (d. 2014) 1921 – Peggy Rea, American actress (d. 2011) 1922 – Richard Kiley, American actor (d. 1999) 1923 – Shoshana Damari, Yemeni-Israeli singer and actress (d. 2006) 1923 – François Sermon, Belgian footballer (d. 2013) 1924 – Leo Buscaglia, American author (d. 1998) 1924 – Charles Guggenheim, American director and producer (d. 2002) 1925 – Jean Coutu, Canadian actor (d. 1999) 1926 – John Fowles, English author (d. 2005) 1926 – Beni Montresor, Italian director, set designer, author, and illustrator (d. 2001) 1926 – Rocco Petrone, American engineer (d. 2006) 1927 – Cesar Chavez, American union leader and activist (d. 1993) 1927 – William Daniels, American actor 1927 – Elmer Diedtrich, American politician (d. 2013) 1927 – Bud MacPherson, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1988) 1928 – Lefty Frizzell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1975) 1928 – Gordie Howe, Canadian ice hockey player 1929 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne (d. 2007) 1929 – Bert Fields, American lawyer 1931 – Miller Barber, American golfer (d. 2013) 1931 – Tamara Tyshkevich, Soviet shot putter (d. 1997) 1932 – John Jakes, American author 1932 – Nagisa Oshima, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 2013) 1933 – Anita Carter, American singer-songwriter and bassist (Carter Family and The Carter Sisters) (d. 1999) 1933 – Nichita Stănescu, Romanian poet (d. 1983) 1934 – Richard Chamberlain, American actor and singer 1934 – Shirley Jones, American actress and singer 1934 – John D. Loudermilk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1934 – Carlo Rubbia, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate 1934 – Kamala Surayya, Indian poet and author 1935 – Herb Alpert, American singer-songwriter and trumpet player 1935 – Judith Rossner, American author (d. 2005) 1936 – Marge Piercy, American author and poet 1936 – Bob Pulford, Canadian ice hockey player and coach 1936 – Sandayū Dokumamushi, Japanese actor 1937 – Willem Duyn, Dutch singer-songwriter (Mouth & MacNeal) (d. 2004) 1938 – Patrick Bateson, English biologist 1938 – Sheila Dikshit, Indian politician, 6th Chief Minister of Delhi 1938 – Antje Gleichfeld, German middle-distance runner 1938 – Joel Godard, American television announcer 1938 – Bill Hicke, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2005) 1938 – Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (d. 2005) 1938 – Michiko Nomura, Japanese voice actress 1938 – Arthur B. Rubinstein, American pianist, composer, and conductor (The Beepers) 1938 – David Steel, Scottish academic and politician 1939 – Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Georgian politician, 1st President of Georgia (d. 1993) 1939 – Israel Horovitz, American actor, director, and screenwriter 1939 – Walker David Miller, American judge (d. 2013) 1939 – Volker Schlöndorff, German director and producer 1939 – Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, German footballer 1940 – Brian Ackland-Snow, English production designer (d. 2013) 1940 – Barney Frank, American politician 1940 – Patrick Leahy, American politician 1941 – Franco Bonvicini, Italian illustrator (d. 1995) 1941 – Faith Leech, Australian swimmer (d. 2013) 1942 – Ulla Hoffmann, Swedish politician 1942 – Hugh McCracken, American guitarist and producer (d. 2013) 1942 – Michael Savage, American radio host and author 1943 – Roy Andersson, Swedish director and screenwriter 1943 – Deirdre Clancy, English costume designer 1943 – Christopher Walken, American actor 1944 – Pascal Danel, French singer-songwriter 1944 – Mick Ralphs, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Mott the Hoople and Bad Company) 1945 – Edwin Catmull, American computer scientist 1945 – Valerie Curtin, American actress and screenwriter 1945 – Gabe Kaplan, American actor 1945 – Myfanwy Talog, Welsh actress (d. 1995) 1946 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1984) 1946 – Bob Russell, English politician 1946 – Klaus Wolfermann, German javelin thrower 1947 – Augustin Banyaga, Rwandan-American mathematician and academic 1947 – Kristian Blak, Danish-Faroese pianist, composer, and producer (Yggdrasil) 1947 – Don Foster, English politician 1947 – César Gaviria, Colombian politician, 36th President of Colombia 1947 – Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Israeli physicist (d. 2011) 1948 – Gary Doer, Canadian politician and diplomat, 20th Premier of Manitoba 1948 – Natalia Dubova, Russian ice dancer and coach 1948 – David Eisenhower, American author and educator 1948 – Al Gore, American politician, 45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate 1948 – Rhea Perlman, American actress 1948 – Gustaaf Van Cauter, Belgian cyclist 1949 – Gilles Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player 1949 – Bert Massie, English activist 1950 – András Adorján, Hungarian chess player and author 1950 – Ed Marinaro, American football player and actor 1950 – Sandra Morgen, American feminist anthropologist 1951 – Frankie Sabath, Puerto Rican singer and actor 1952 – Vanessa del Rio, American porn actress 1952 – Dermot Morgan, Irish actor (d. 1998) 1953 – Dennis Kamakahi, American guitarist and composer (d. 2014) 1954 – Laima Vaikule, Latvian actress, singer, director, and choreographer 1955 – Robert Vance, New Zealand cricketer 1955 – Angus Young, Scottish-Australian guitarist and songwriter (AC/DC and Marcus Hook Roll Band) 1957 – Alan Duncan, English politician, Shadow Leader of the House of Commons 1957 – Marc McClure, American actor 1957 – Kyle Secor, American actor 1958 – Tony Cox, American actor 1958 – Sylvester Groth, German tenor and actor 1959 – Markus Hediger, Swiss poet and translator 1959 – Ali McMordie, Irish bass player (Stiff Little Fingers and Friction Groove) 1960 – Michelle Nicastro, American actress and singer (d. 2010) 1961 – Ron Brown, American sprinter and football player 1961 – Howard Gordon, American screenwriter and producer 1961 – Suzanne Westenhoefer, American comedian and actress 1961 – Gary Winick, American director and producer (d. 2011) 1962 – John Taylor, American football player 1962 – Olli Rehn, Finnish politician 1963 – Paul Mercurio, Australian actor and dancer 1963 – Grant Benson, British broadcaster 1964 – Mark Hoban, English politician 1964 – Brad Slaight, American comedian and actor 1964 – Fez Whatley, American radio host and producer 1964 – Paul Wong, Hong Kong singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Beyond) 1965 – Tom Barrasso, American ice hockey player and coach 1965 – Jean-Christophe Lafaille, French mountaineer (d. 2006) 1965 – William McNamara, American actor 1965 – Steven T. Seagle, American author and screenwriter 1966 – Roger Black, English runner 1966 – Nick Firestone, American race car driver 1968 – Kimmo Kinnunen, Finnish javelin thrower 1968 – Naoya Ogawa, Japanese wrestler and mixed martial artist 1968 – J. R. Reid, American basketball player and coach 1969 – Nyamko Sabuni, Burundian-Swedish politician 1969 – Steve Smith, American basketball player 1970 – Alenka Bratušek, Slovenian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Slovenia 1970 – Samantha Brown, American television host 1970 – Damon Herriman, Australian actor 1970 – Patrick Lachman, American singer and guitarist (Damageplan and Halford) 1971 – Demetris Assiotis, Cypriot footballer 1971 – Martin Atkinson, English footballer and referee 1971 – Pavel Bure, Russian ice hockey player 1971 – Craig McCracken, American animator, producer, and screenwriter 1971 – Ewan McGregor, Scottish-American actor 1972 – Alejandro Amenábar, Chilean-Spanish director and screenwriter 1972 – Andrew Bowen, American actor 1972 – Ze Frank, American comedian and blogger 1972 – Luca Gentili, Italian footballer and coach 1972 – Hristos Polihroniou, Greek hammer thrower 1972 – Evan Williams, American businessman, co-founded Twitter and Pyra Labs 1973 – Christopher Hampson, English ballet dancer and choreographer 1974 – Benjamin Eicher, German director, producer, and screenwriter 1974 – Adrian Holmes, Welsh-Canadian actor 1974 – Stefan Olsdal, Swedish bass player (Placebo) 1975 – Emma Atkins, English actress 1975 – Prodromos Dreliozis, Greek basketball player 1975 – Toni Gardemeister, Finnish race car driver 1975 – Adam Green, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1975 – Nathan Grey, Australian rugby player 1975 – Cameron Murray, Scottish rugby player 1975 – Ryan Rupe, American baseball player 1976 – Anthony B, Jamaican singer and DJ 1976 – Rich Clementi, American mixed martial artist 1976 – Howard Frier, American basketball player 1976 – Shawty Lo, American rapper (D4L) 1976 – Guy Mariano, American skateboarder 1976 – Josh Saviano, American actor and lawyer 1976 – Igors Sļesarčuks, Latvian-Russian footballer 1976 – Alan Tern, Singaporean actor 1976 – Vice Ganda, Filipino actor, comedian, host, and singer 1977 – Toshiya, Japanese bass player, songwriter, and producer (Dir en grey) 1977 – Garth Tander, Australian race car driver 1978 – Stephen Clemence, English footballer 1978 – Jarrod Cooper, American football player 1978 – Daniel Mays, English actor 1978 – Jérôme Rothen, French footballer 1978 – Vivian Schmitt, German pornographic actress 1978 – Tony Yayo, American rapper (G-Unit) 1979 – Omri Afek, Israeli footballer 1979 – Euan Burton, Scottish martial artist 1979 – Alexis Ferrero, Argentinian footballer 1979 – Josh Kinney, American baseball player 1979 – Charlie Manning, American baseball player 1979 – Tanya Tate, English porn actress and model 1980 – Trenyce, American singer and actress 1980 – Martin Albrechtsen, Danish footballer 1980 – Karolina Lassbo, Swedish lawyer 1980 – Dean Clark, English footballer 1980 – Kate Micucci, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (Garfunkel and Oates) 1980 – Michael Ryder, Canadian ice hockey player 1980 – Maaya Sakamoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress 1980 – Chien-Ming Wang, Taiwanese baseball player 1981 – Ryan Bingham, American singer-songwriter and guitarist 1981 – Thomas Chatelle, Belgian footballer 1981 – Gerard McCarthy, Irish actor 1981 – Pa Dembo Touray, Gambian footballer 1981 – Maarten van der Weijden, Dutch swimmer 1982 – Tal Ben Haim, Israeli footballer 1982 – Ryland Blackinton, American guitarist (Cobra Starship and This Is Ivy League) 1982 – Bam Childress, American football player 1982 – Audrey Kawasaki, American painter 1982 – Lennon Murphy, American singer-songwriter and producer 1983 – Hashim Amla, South African cricketer 1983 – Thierry Issiémou, Gabonese footballer 1983 – Silver Leppik, Estonian basketball player 1983 – Anthony Lewis, English actor 1983 – Jeff Mathis, American baseball player 1983 – Vlasios Maras, Greek gymnast 1983 – Paddy McCarthy, Irish footballer 1983 – Melissa Ordway, American actress and model 1983 – Noah "40" Shebib, Canadian record producer 1983 – Nigel Plum, Australian rugby player 1984 – Rakshita, Indian actress and producer 1984 – Jack Antonoff, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Fun, Steel Train, and Bleachers) 1984 – Dario Bova, Italian footballer 1984 – David Clarkson, Canadian ice hockey player 1984 – Osama Hawsawi, Saudi Arabian footballer 1984 – Eddie Johnson, American soccer player 1984 – James Jones, American football player 1984 – Kaie Kand, Estonian heptathlete 1984 – Alberto Junior Rodríguez, Peruvian footballer 1984 – Yanin Vismitananda, Thai actress and martial artist 1984 – Anna Willard, American runner 1984 – Ed Williamson, English rugby player 1985 – Stephanie Bendixsen, Australian television host 1985 – Steve Bernier, Canadian ice hockey player 1985 – Jo-Lonn Dunbar, American football player 1985 – Jesper Hansen, Danish footballer 1985 – Ivan Mishyn, Ukrainian rally codriver 1985 – Kory Sheets, American football player 1985 – Jalmar Sjöberg, Swedish wrestler 1985 – Jessica Szohr, American actress 1986 – Matthew Collins, Welsh footballer 1986 – Andreas Dober, Austrian footballer 1986 – Romeo Filipović, German-Croatian footballer 1986 – James King, Scottish rugby player 1986 – Paulo Machado, Portuguese footballer 1986 – Jay Rock, American rapper (Black Hippy) 1987 – Nordin Amrabat, Dutch footballer 1987 – Hugo Ayala, Mexican footballer 1987 – Amaury Bischoff, Portuguese footballer 1987 – Justin Braun, American soccer player 1987 – The Child of Lov, Belgian-Dutch singer (d. 2013) 1987 – Carl Dickinson, English footballer 1987 – Allison Falk, American soccer player 1987 – Koneru Humpy, Indian chess player 1987 – Georg Listing, German bass player (Tokio Hotel) 1987 – Eros Pisano, Italian footballer 1987 – Aridane Santana, Spanish footballer 1987 – Kirill Starkov, Danish ice hockey player 1987 – Winston Venable, American football player 1987 – Nelli Zhiganshina, Russian figure skater 1988 – Thomas De Corte, Belgian footballer 1988 – Hogan Ephraim, English footballer 1988 – Dorin Dickerson, American football player 1988 – DeAndre Liggins, American basketball player 1988 – Louis van der Westhuizen, Namibian cricketer 1989 – Kidd, Scottish-Danish rapper 1989 – Alyn Camara, German long jumper 1989 – Alberto Martín Romo García Adámez, Spanish footballer 1989 – Alfredo Marte, Dominican baseball player 1989 – Josmil Pinto, Venezuelan baseball player 1989 – Nejc Vidmar, Slovenian footballer 1989 – Liu Zige, Chinese swimmer 1989 – Benjamin Alves, Filipino actor 1990 – Kylie Bisutti, American model and author 1990 – Balázs Megyeri, Hungarian footballer 1990 – George Iloka, American football player 1990 – Sandra Roma, Swedish tennis player 1990 – Bang Yong-guk, South Korean rapper, actor, and dancer (B.A.P) 1991 – Nichaon Jindapon, Thai badminton player 1991 – Renato Kelić, Croatian footballer 1991 – Milan Milanović, Serbian footballer 1991 – Lukas Rotpuller, Austrian footballer 1991 – Jan Šebek, Czech footballer 1991 – Rodney Sneijder, Dutch footballer 1992 – Stijn de Looijer, Dutch footballer 1992 – Henri Laaksonen, Swiss-Finnish tennis player 1992 – Beatričė Rožinskaitė, Lithuanian figure skater 1993 – Jonatan Isenia, Dutch baseball player 1993 – Mikael Ishak, Swedish footballer 1994 – Thomas Batuello, American actor 1998 – Valeria Gorlats, Estonian tennis player 1999 – Chae Sang-woo, South Korean actor Despatches 1340 – Ivan I of Moscow (b. 1288) 1547 – Francis I of France (b. 1494) 1567 – Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (b. 1504) 1621 – Philip III of Spain (b. 1578) 1631 – John Donne, English lawyer and poet (b. 1572) 1671 – Anne Hyde, English wife of James II of England (b. 1637) 1703 – Johann Christoph Bach, German organist and composer (b. 1642) 1723 – Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, English politician, 14th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1661) 1741 – Pieter Burman the Elder, Dutch scholar (b. 1668) 1797 – Olaudah Equiano, Nigerian merchant, author, and activist (b.1745) 1837 – John Constable, English painter (b. 1776) 1850 – John C. Calhoun, American politician, 7th Vice President of the United States (b. 1782) 1855 – Charlotte Brontë, English author (b. 1816) 1877 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician (b. 1801) 1880 – Henryk Wieniawski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1835) 1885 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (b. 1819) 1913 – J. P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (b. 1837) 1915 – Wyndham Halswelle, English-Scottish runner (b. 1882) 1917 – Emil Adolf von Behring, German physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1854) 1924 – George Charles Haité, English painter and illustrator (b. 1855) 1929 – Pablo de Escandón, Mexican polo player (b. 1856) 1930 – Ludwig Schüler, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1836) 1931 – Knute Rockne, American football player and coach (b. 1888) 1935 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman and diplomat, founded Prince Matchabelli perfume (b. 1885) 1935 – Concordia Selander, Swedish actress and manager (b. 1861) 1939 – Ioannis Tsangaridis, Greek general (b. 1887) 1944 – Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral (b. 1885) 1945 – Frank Findlay, New Zealand politician (b. 1884) 1945 – Hans Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881) 1950 – Robert Natus, Estonian architect (b. 1890) 1952 – Wallace H. White, Jr., American politician (b. 1877) 1956 – Ralph DePalma, Italian race car driver (b. 1884) 1968 – Grover Lowdermilk, American baseball player (b. 1885) 1972 – Meena Kumari, Indian actress (b. 1932) 1975 – Percy Alliss, English golfer (b. 1897) 1976 – Paul Strand, American photographer and director (b. 1890) 1978 – Charles Herbert Best, American-Canadian medical scientist, co-discovered Insulin (b. 1899) 1980 – Vladimír Holan, Czech poet (b. 1905) 1980 – Jesse Owens, American sprinter and long jumper (b. 1913) 1981 – Enid Bagnold, English author and playwright (b. 1889) 1983 – Christina Stead, Australian author (b. 1902) 1984 – Ronald Clark O'Bryan, American murderer (b. 1944) 1986 – O'Kelly Isley, Jr., American singer-songwriter (The Isley Brothers) (b. 1937) 1986 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (b. 1925) 1988 – William McMahon, Australian politician, 20th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1908) 1993 – Chichay, Filipino actress (b. 1918) 1993 – Brandon Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1965) 1993 – Mitchell Parish, Lithuanian-American songwriter (b. 1900) 1995 – Selena, American singer-songwriter (Selena y Los Dinos) (b. 1971) 1996 – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Gun Club) (b. 1958) 1998 – Bella Abzug, American lawyer and politician (b. 1920) 1998 – Tim Flock, American race car driver (b. 1924) 1999 – Yuri Knorozov, Russian linguist (b. 1922) 2001 – David Rocastle, English footballer (b. 1967) 2001 – Clifford Shull, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1915) 2002 – Barry Took, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1928) 2002 – Moturu Udayam, Indian politician and activist (b. 1924) 2003 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, English-Canadian geometer (b. 1907) 2003 – Anne Gwynne, American actress (b. 1918) 2003 – Tommy Seebach, Danish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (Sir Henry and his Butlers) (b. 1949) 2004 – Scott Helvenston, American soldier (b. 1965) 2005 – Stanley J. Korsmeyer, American oncologist (b. 1951) 2005 – Justiniano Montano, Filipino politician (b. 1905) 2005 – Frank Perdue, American businessman (b. 1920) 2005 – Terri Schiavo, American medical patient (b. 1963) 2006 – Angela Devi, American model (b. 1975) 2006 – Jackie McLean, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1931) 2007 – Paul Watzlawick, Austrian-American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1921) 2008 – Jules Dassin, American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1911) 2008 – Bill Keightley, American equipment manager (b. 1926) 2009 – Raúl Alfonsín, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 46th President of Argentina (b. 1927) 2009 – Jarl Alfredius, Swedish journalist (b. 1943) 2009 – Choor Singh, Indian-Singaporean judge (b. 1911) 2010 – Shirley Mills, American actress (b. 1926) 2010 – Syed Qasim Mahmood, Pakistani journalist, lexicographer, and author (b. 1928) 2011 – Tony Barrell, English-Australian journalist and broadcaster (b. 1940) 2011 – Gil Clancy, American boxing trainer (b. 1922) 2011 – Alan Fitzgerald, Australian journalist and author (b. 1935) 2011 – Oddvar Hansen, Norwegian footballer and coach (b. 1921) 2011 – Claudia Heill, Austrian martial artist (b. 1982) 2011 – Vassili Kononov, Russian criminal (b. 1923) 2011 – Ishbel MacAskill, Scottish singer and activist (b. 1941) 2011 – Mel McDaniel, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942) 2011 – Boško Radonjić, Serbian mobster (b. 1943) 2011 – Edward Stobart, English businessman (b. 1954) 2011 – Henry Taub, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1927) 2012 – Judith Adams, New Zealand-Australian nurse and politician (b. 1943) 2012 – Dale R. Corson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914) 2012 – Bernard O. Gruenke, American stained glass artist (b. 1914) 2012 – Jerry Lynch, American baseball player (b. 1930) 2012 – Alberto Sughi, Italian painter (b. 1928) 2012 – Halbert White, American economist and educator (b. 1950) 2013 – Charles Amarin Brand, French archbishop (b. 1920) 2013 – Ernie Bridge, Australian singer and politician (b. 1936) 2013 – Helena Carroll, Scottish-American actress (b. 1928) 2013 – Bob Clarke, American illustrator (b. 1926) 2013 – Ahmad Sayyed Javadi, Iranian lawyer and politician, Iranian Minister of Interior (b. 1917) 2013 – Dmitri Uchaykin, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1980) 2014 – Gonzalo Anes, Spanish economist, historian, and academic (b. 1931) 2014 – Irene Fernandez, Malaysian activist (b. 1946) 2014 – Charles Keating, American lawyer and financier (b. 1923) 2014 – Frankie Knuckles, American DJ and producer (b. 1955) 2014 – Bob Larbey, English screenwriter (b. 1934) 2014 – Enrique Plancarte Solís, Mexican drug lord (b. 1970) 2014 – Roger Somville, Belgian painter (b. 1923)

===
2015

• Christian feast day
  • Abdas of Susa
  • Acathius of Melitene (Eastern Orthodox Church)
  • Anesius and companions
  • Benjamin
  • Balbina
  • John Donne (Anglican Communion, Lutheran)
  • March 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Freedom Day (Malta)
• King Nangklao Memorial Day (Thailand)
• Thomas Mundy Peterson Day (New Jersey)
• Transfer Day (US Virgin Islands)
• César Chávez Day (United States of America)
• Geologists Day (in the Soviet Union)
• International Transgender Day of Visibility

===

CLAPOPHOBIA AND OTHER MODERN MALADIES

Tim Blair – Tuesday, March 31, 2015 (4:29am)

Anxiety, under certain circumstances, is an entirely reasonable human reaction.

Suppose you’re Greens senator Scott Ludlam, for example, and you learn that a shale oil exploration firm has taken out a lease on your head. Or you discover that the person in the pub you’ve just asked for a fag is Australian rugby union player David Pocock, and he’s now calling the police.

And then there are the folk who suffer anxiety meltdowns following even the slightest provocation. Modern feminists seem over-represented in this community. Readers of the Guardian and Fairfax’s Lady Pages section frequently encounter tales of crippling panic attacks caused by all manner of minor incidents.

 Continue reading 'CLAPOPHOBIA AND OTHER MODERN MALADIES'

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THEY’RE A BRIGHT BUNCH AT THE ATO

Tim Blair – Tuesday, March 31, 2015 (3:24am)

Prior to Saturday’s Earth Hour, the Australian Tax Office sent this bulletin to all employees: 

To show our commitment to the environment, the ATO is participating in Earth Hour for the ninth year running. Earth Hour is a global initiative that asks everyone to switch off their lights for one hour tomorrow night to show the power of collective action.

We are proud to join the rest of Australia and the world to support Earth Hour. Play your part by limiting printing today where it isn’t crucial to business. Before leaving the office today, shut down your computer, and switch off your monitor, radios, appliances and lights. 

Here’s the ATO’s Canberra headquarters during Earth Hour, according to an image supplied by a nearby resident:

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OCCUPIED NEWTOWN

Tim Blair – Tuesday, March 31, 2015 (2:49am)

The population of inner Sydney is extremely dense. Just how dense was shown on Saturday, when Greens candidate Jenny Leong won the newly-created inner-Sydney seat of Newtown.

As a Newtown resident, two weeks ago I received a warning that this terrible result was on the cards when a couple of young Greens volunteers dropped by during a doorknocking campaign for their ridiculous party.

 Continue reading 'OCCUPIED NEWTOWN'

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CAN’T KEEP A GOOD DERYA DOWN

Tim Blair – Tuesday, March 31, 2015 (1:39am)

Good old Furkan Derya is now causing trouble in Glasgow.

===

SMEAR CAMPAIGN

Tim Blair – Tuesday, March 31, 2015 (1:17am)

He’s already been sacked, but the character assassination continues: 

The real Jeremy Clarkson loves nature, bikes and the BBC 

So unfair.

===

Essendon cleared. So much for the “blackest day” in sport

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (3:16pm)

It was clear two years ago that the Essendon Football Club was the victim of a massive political stunt. My take then:

ANDREW Demetriou, get back on that stage. Fix the damage done to your game and say you were conned.
Say we were all conned when huff-puffing politicians two weeks ago suggested Australian sport was riddled with drugs, criminals and allegations of match-fixing…
Say you have a duty to fix the damage you helped cause by legitimising the press stunt with your presence.
Let’s recall how we were first sold the Australian Crime Commission’s report into organised crime and sport - one suspiciously short of evidence and names. 
Justice Minister Jason Clare, flanked by the Big Sport Five, thundered: “It shocked me.”
Sport Minister Kate Lundy warned: “Today is about the integrity of sport in Australia ... If you want to fix a match, we will catch you.”
Prime Minister Julia Gillard called the allegations “sickening”.
To Richard Ings, former Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority head, this was “the blackest day in Australian sport”.
Two weeks later, what do we now know of a smear that dirtied the name of Australian sport around the world?
What do we know of the claims that have shattered Essendon’s pre-season preparation, besmirched six NRL clubs, insulted our athletes, damaged sponsors’ investments and shaken confidence in sports betting?
We know this: there is so little to them that no state has an active police investigation into any allegation.

By August 2013 the proceedings were so clearly farcical that they should have been dropped:

Demetriou stood next to Gillard Government Ministers in February to lend credibility to their wild claims that Australian sport, including the AFL, was riddled with match-fixing (false), links to organised crime (false) and “widespread” taking of banned performance-enhancing drugs (unproven).
It is Demetriou who has let the charges hang there for six months as investigators slowing tried to back their premature claims with evidence…
Demetriou, not Hird, should be charged with bringing the game into disrepute. To now try to hit Essendon with this farcical charge is the last straw.

The AFL even stooped to what seemed dangerously close to blackmail to at least force coach James Hird to admit to administering a banned and potentially harmful drugs.
Yet after this monstrous campaign by Labor, the Labor-linked AFL and the Labor-cheering Age to make Essendon take a fall to justifiy the “blackest day in Australian sport” stunt, we get this:

THE Essendon 34 have been found not guilty by the AFL anti-doping tribunal.
Tribunal chairman David Jones informed the players and their legal teams of the verdict this afternoon, 785 days after the drugs saga began.
The tribunal determined that there was insufficient evidence to uphold the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority’s belief that the 34 past and present Bombers were injected with the banned drug Thymosin beta-4 during 2012.
A statement released by Jones confirmed the decision was unanimous.

===

Essential poll - gap narrows

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (3:00pm)

As I predicted last week, the Essential poll today corrects to a more believable 47 to 53 per cent, favoring Labor. Still not good for the Abbott Government, but not catastrophic.
And I suspect the true state of affairs is closer to 48 to 52. But we’ll see.
The government still needs to make more changes and get stuff actually done. It needs a jobs package, too. And it needs to nail Shorten’s hide to the wall. 

===

Billy Gordon faces second domestic violence claim. UPDATE:  What did Labor know?

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (2:59pm)

Worse and worse. How did Labor preselect him for two election campaigns?

A second woman has accused disgraced ex-Labor MP Billy Gordon of domestic violence, as the Palaszczuk government faces mounting pressure to ­renounce his vote as its ticket to power.
The Australian can reveal ­[Premier] Annastacia Palaszczuk’s office last night referred the woman’s claims of physical abuse to police…
Mr Gordon announced yesterday that he would resign from the ALP in a pre-emptive move that prevented the party from moving to expel him…
Ms Palaszczuk dodged questions about whether she would accept Mr Gordon’s vote, or match Liberal National Party leader Lawrence Springborg’s vow to reject it…
The ALP now holds 43 seats in the 89-electorate parliament… It still has the backing of independent Speaker Peter Wellington, who wants Mr Gordon to resign. The LNP opposition has 42 seats and the Katter’s Australian Party holds two. If a Cook by-election was won by the LNP, the LNP and Labor would be locked on 43 seats each and need to fight for KAP backing in order to govern.
Robbie Katter yesterday ramped up pressure on Labor to resume formal negotiations to ­secure KAP support, and flagged uranium mining — which Labor has banned — would be a key issue. 

UPDATE
With the Left it is so often not the principle that counts but the side.
In this case we must ask:  what did Labor know about Gordon and what action did it take?:

By her own admission, Ms Palaszczuk definitely knew on March 19 – the Thursday before Parliament resumed – about the allegations against Mr Gordon raised by a former partner, relating to his failure to pay child support to help raise two of his young children. Those allegations were raised in a letter that also canvassed a series of domestic abuse claims against Mr Gordon. Attached to that correspondence was a letter purportedly from Mr Gordon in which he admitted to having “acted like an animal” and putting his former partner through years of hell…
A full week then passed before the formal confidence motion in Ms Palaszczuk’s Government was debated and voted on in the Parliament, during which time Labor accepted Mr Gordon’s support… The confidence vote was held in the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning, by which time our presses had already rolled with the exclusive story from Steven Wardill revealing – publicly for the first time – the fact Mr Gordon had dodged his child-support obligations.
Parliament rose later that day – after Mr Gordon promised to address the child support matters and Ms Palaszczuk said the matter had been “dealt with”. Parliament will not sit again – and therefore its confidence in the Palaszczuk Government won’t again have to be tested – until May 5.
It was only after Parliament rose that evening that Ms Palaszczuk referred Mr Gordon to the police over the abuse allegations that she had by that time been aware of for more than a week – after they were detailed on a blog.
A day later, Mr Gordon confessed to a series of undeclared criminal offences – including a violence order taken out by his fearful mother…
...it is difficult to come to any other conclusion than this: By early last week, Labor’s senior leadership knew Mr Gordon’s position in the party was untenable but they delayed casting the rogue MP aside until after the critical confidence motion in the Parliament. That having been achieved, the Premier was able to act decisively and talk tough knowing that she had almost six weeks to clean up the mess before Parliament’s confidence in her administration could be tested again.

How long has Labor known?

THE former Labor state government was aware of ousted Cook MP Billy Gordon’s criminal past – but employed him anyway.
The Courier-Mail has obtained a rap sheet detailing Mr Gordon’s extensive criminal history, which was received by the Department of Communities in 2008…
Mr Gordon’s criminal past was sought after he applied for a position within the Department’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships division during the Bligh government. It is understood Mr Gordon was approved for a position in Mount Isa and worked there for several years despite serious reservations within the department.

Yet twice pre-selected by Labor:

DAVID LEWIS, REPORTER: ... Billy Gordon slipped through the net twice. He was also Labor’s candidate for the electorate of Leichhardt in the 2013 federal election.
KEVIN RUDD, THEN PRIME MINISTER (2013): This is a seriously good bloke!

Why did the Speaker not act?:

SPEAKER Peter Wellington told the woman at the centre of the Billy Gordon abuse scandal that he was too “busy” with Parliament to deal with her complaint.
The Courier-Mail can reveal embattled Cook MP Mr Gordon’s ex-partner turned to Mr Wellington on March 24 for help after her pleas to other politicians for assistance fell on deaf ears.
Her letter included the statement which had been given to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s office six days earlier…
Mr Wellington wrote back two days later on March 26, the day a confidence motion in the Palaszczuk Government was debated in Parliament, saying the woman had to be patient…
The revelation comes as Mr Wellington continued to staunchly defend the Premier’s handling of the scandal.

An utterly pathetic defence from Wellington, waving away the alleged victim out of suspicion that the LNP gains from her case:

Today, [Wellington] said he believed people were using the woman to destabilise the Government.
“It seems to me there clearly was an orchestrated attempt to bring down this Government, and all I can say is I will have no part of it,” he said.
“I don’t know if she knows she’s being used or if she’s part of a deliberate strategy.”
“It appears to me that The Courier-Mail is playing a deliberate strategy to try and discredit this Government...”
He said he took the woman’s claims seriously and sought legal advice from the Clerk of the Parliament.

Power above principle?
And what did Labor Senator Jan McLucas know about Billy Gordon?:

Cairns-based Senator Jan McLucas failed to refer abuse allegations made by the former partner of Billy Gordon to police and ignored her pleas for help after receiving a signed statement up to 14 days before it was first made public on Cairns Now.
Cairns Now spoke to Mr Gordon’s former partner yesterday, who said she is devastated she did not receive a reply to her statement and pleas for assistance, or acknowledgement of her contact with the Senator’s office.
The question of what Senator McLucas knew - and when - on top of her failure to take any action, is expected to bring forward her decision to retire and not seek pre-selection as the Labor Party looks to finalise its ticket by May.  Comment is currently being sought from the Senator…

McLucas needs some tough questioning:

Mr Gordon worked for Labor Senator Jan McLucas between 2013 and 2014 before he won the Queensland seat of Cook.
The federal LNP Member for Leichardt Warren Entsch told the ABC yesterday that Labor members raised concerns about Mr Gordon’s past but Senator McLucas overruled them…
Senator McLucas told The World Today Mr Gordon did disclose one incident (the drunk and disorderly conviction), but she was furious she had not been told the full story…
“Disappointed is an understatement; I am offended he was not truthful with me.”

All starting to smell like Labor’s defense of Craig Thomson. Power over principle.
UPDATE
Not the principle but the side. Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson defends Gordon, noting he is an Aborigine:

So Billy Gordon’s recent election was again the subject of great enthusiasm amongst people in the Cape and in the Torres Strait. I feel that they have thrown him under a very brutal bus and, you know, the - I don’t think that he’s been afforded all of the natural justice that he should’ve been afforded. And I think it’s up to the electors of Cook to decide whether he should resign from the Parliament.

(Thanks to readers Peter of Bellevue Hill, Steve and Jackpott.) 

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The Lambie commandments

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (2:57pm)

Jacqui Lambie forms a new political party - the Jacqi Lambie Network - which already takes the prize for the most internally inconsistent and unworkable policy platform yet seen:

1. Members must always put their state first in all decisions they make.

So how is a Victorian member of this JNL ever going to reach agreement with a Tasmanian member over, say, how the GST is divided between the states? Over whether the richer states should keep subsidising the poorer so much?
Lambie says no to tribalism:

5. JLN is opposed to Sharia Law being imposed in Australia either formally or informally and will promote a policy of undivided loyalty to the Australian Constitution and people.

Lambie says yes to tribalism:

7. JLN supports dedicated indigenous seats being established for Australian Parliaments.

Lambie’s team will have have a conscience vote on “all moral and ethical issues”, yet not a conscience vote on halving our foreign aid - surely a moral issue:

8. JLN supports conscience votes on all moral and ethical issues.
9. JLN supports a halving of the Foreign Aid Budget in order to help boost federal government investment in Higher Education from 0.6 per cent to 1 per cent of GDP.

Lambie wants a carbon tax if our major trading partners have one, yet also wants cheaper power prices than our “overseas competitors”, whether major trading partners or not:

11. JLN supports the introduction of a carbon tax — only after our major trading partners introduce a similar tax on their coal-fired power stations.
12. JLN supports a monitoring and regulation system which ensures that our power and fuel prices for Australian consumers and businesses are not more expensive than our overseas competitors.

Such a grab-bag of policies - contradictory, arbitrary and populist - can only be enforced on a party if its members are sheep and its leader is a tyrant. The Palmer United implosion shows what happens if they aren’t. 

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Aboriginal children are trapped by rapists in tiny communities. Can the Abbott-haters now discuss?

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (11:33am)

Remember all the Leftists who said Tony Abbott probably had a point about the craziness of funding dysfunctional Aboriginal micro-communities out where there were no jobs and schools, only to then divert into a frenzy of abuse of Abbott for being so racist, so stupid, so offensive and blah blah blah by using the phrase “lifestyle choice”?
As I said at the time, it seemed that for the Left it was more important to damn Abbott than save Aboriginal children.
Those who noted Abbott had a point but then failed to discuss it included Labor leader Bill Shorten and the ABC’s Jon Faine and Barrie Cassidy.
Well, can they please discuss it now? Here is Karl O’Callaghan, Police Commissioner of Western Australia:

How would you react if your 11-year-old daughter had a sexually transmitted infection? How would you take the news that your daughter is up to 10 times more likely to be the victim of sexual abuse than others in her class? How would you feel if she was sexually abused and no one bothered to report it?…
This is the plight of hundreds of Aboriginal children in remote communities throughout Australia and this is only half of the story.
Recently in Parliament, Colin Barnett cited 39 cases of Aboriginal children reporting with an STI in 2013.
For this the Premier was condemned by protesters who, in my view, completely missed the point. Disturbingly, the reality he was trying to present was likely to be far worse… The Australian Institute of Family Studies has estimated that up to 90 per cent of sexual abuse in these communities is under-reported.
Only last week I spoke to my management team in the Kimberley who continue to express concerns that workers in communities are deliberately not reporting STIs because of pressure from the abusers not to “betray” the culture…
A police operation in the Pilbara identified that many people did not report child abuse because they believed child sex abuse was part of Aboriginal culture and that teenage pregnancy was a norm. Sex abuse is not part of Aboriginal culture, rather it is a practice built out of intimidation of women and children…
There are varying estimates of how many children are subjected to sexual abuse in remote communities, however, there seems to be a consensus that about one in four girls is subject to abuse and one in nine boys…
This is exactly the situation we found in Oombulgurri, a Kimberley community often only accessible by boat from which the State Government has now withdrawn all services. It was a community where young girls were regularly preyed upon by the men who were the resident powerbrokers…
Oombulgurri is too remote for the continuous attention that would have been needed to intervene in the cycle of abuse.
I am not suggesting that the closure of that community saved all those girls from abuse, however, there is no doubt that it disrupted the cycle of abuse of power and resulted in the charging and imprisonment of the perpetrators. A necessary first step. Many families moved to Wyndham, where there are services, support and housing.
There is always a dilemma when making a decision of the magnitude of closing a community, but the safety and welfare of our children must be pre-eminent.
The story of Oombulgurri is not unique… I cannot respond to the safety and protection needs of these children in the way you would expect. It is simply not possible. If we facilitate the existence of communities beset by substance abuse, family violence and child abuse hundreds of kilometres from support or intervention services, then we must accept the loss of yet another generation of Aboriginal children. The Government gets it but many don’t.
In the past few days I have seen images of people trying to save whales at Bunbury and dolphins in the Serpentine River, to get them back to a place where they can survive and thrive. It’s a pity we are not all showing the same resolve for children in our remote communities.

A challenge to the Left: here’s your chance. Discuss what you admitted - in passing - was a real issue. Or am I right that it really is more important to you to smash Abbott than save Aboriginal children?
Prove me wrong.
UPDATE
WA Labor, tragically, goes for the trusty shut-up. You know, screaming “racist”:

The Government is yet to announce which communities it intends to target, but Mr O’Callaghan said police would be happy to help identify those where children were most at risk. Shadow minister for Aboriginal affairs Ben Wyatt accused Mr O’Callaghan and Mr Barnett of “demonising” Aboriginal communities to help justify what appeared to be little more than a cost-saving initiative.

How many Aboriginal children have had to die to satisfy the anti-racists? Add also the children sacrificed to the “stolen generations” myth.
(Thanks to readers Anthony, George and others.) 

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How did Q&A let a conservative into the audience?

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (11:20am)

At 36:40 on Q&A a young conservative somehow bobs up amidst the Leftist hecklers and jeerers in the audience and asks Labor Senator Penny Wong a sharp question about Labor deceit on its “$100,000 degrees claim”.
So clear is the bias of the ABC and the stack of Q&A audiences that stunned Education Minister Chris Pyne, the lone conservative of the six people on the panel (host included), asks: “How did he get in this audience?”
Wong, even when host Tony Jones gives her a few minutes to think of an answer, cannot produce one.
UPDATE

The motion passed by Victoria’s Liberal Party state council on Saturday:

That this Council calls upon the Abbott government to privatise the ABC and the SBS by sale to the private sector as soon as possible, in accordance with the overwhelming wish of the great majority of Liberal Party members and with an earlier motion passed on this issue at the Lorne State Council in November 2013.

The accompanying statement to the motion, drafted by Bernie Gaynor:

The ABC and the SBS are clear enemies of our party. They wish us ill, do us great harm – while we foolishly maintain them with our taxes. They are not mere political reporters and commentators – they are aggressive political participants. Relentless in their pursuit of left ideological policies and objectives, they have nothing but contempt for our liberal, conservative values.
It is not the role of government to run a huge media empire. The time for public funding of this disgraceful political bastion of the left is over. They must be sold. Let the left pay for them out of their own pockets, and let the tax payers of Australia be saved $1.2 billion per year by their liquidation.

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Ted Cruz: why I’m a sceptic

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (11:10am)

Ted Cruz, running for the Republican nomination as President of the United States, explains why he isn’t buying the great global warming scare:

(Thanks to reader Stuart.) 

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Tax reform? Forget it

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (9:57am)

Terry McCrann:

THE good news — and the bad news — is that nothing much is going to happen with tax. It’s just too hard and politically dangerous....
Yes, we did get the GST out of the last great wave of tax reform at the end of last century. But it almost cost John Howard and his treasurer Peter Costello the 1998 election.
After the 2007 election, and while riding very high in the opinion polls, Kevin Rudd and his treasurer, Wayne Swan, launched treasury secretary Ken Henry on a tax review.
That led to just one single change — the ill-fated and even more ill-conceived mining super profits tax and did cost that PM his job…
That history alone would make it most unlikely we would see anything this side of an election — this side of any election — out of this latest exercise.
So the bad news is that we have Buckley’s chance of getting the economy-boosting “reform” part of tax reform.
The good news is that we might also miss out of the “tax” part of tax reform as well, although “they” do seem to manage a way of plucking the money anyway.
Right now that “plucking’s” being done by bracket creep…
Treasury — and Treasurer — clearly want to cut personal income; and good on them… But, the big but, the money would have to come from somewhere. Treasury and Treasurer clearly have their eye on your spending; they want to lift the GST from 10 to 15 per cent. They also are proposing “reform” across a wider front — targeting too generous benefits for superannuation, especially for higher income earners; the way capital gains tax works and “dividend imputation” which is so lucrative for Aussie shareholders in local companies.
But ... (that) would require Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to join hands with Prime Minister Tony Abbott… To put it bluntly, Shorten is not going to turn his back on a potential election-winning scare campaign…
And the really big worry for taxpayers asked to sign off on reform, is that it would make it all too easy for future governments to rely on higher tax revenues — including an inevitable return to bracket creep — in order to dodge the big challenges of cutting spending. 

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Note to Media Watch; calling out lies isn’t “bias”. And if bias is bad, what of the ABC’s?

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (9:01am)

The ABC is taxpayer funded. The Daily Telegraph isn’t.
The ABC is therefore obliged by law to be unbiased. The Daily Telegraph isn’t.
The ABC campaigns furiously against Tony Abbott (again last night on 7.30). The Daily Telegraph campaigned against NSW Labor’s deceitful and racist campaign against privatisation, and mad green crusading for koalas and against coal seam gas.
The ABC’s Media Watch should attack the outrageous and unlawful bias of the ABC. Instead it attacks the Daily Telegraph:

... the paper did its damndest to get Mike Baird re-elected by bashing his Labor rivals and leader Luke Foley…
The Tele’s editorials also had one key target .. to get the Liberals in and keep Labor out.
And that is their right, as long as the paper gives readers the facts and keeps its news stories and headlines fair, balanced and opinion free. But in true Tele fashion those were fiercely partisan ... lampooning the Labor leader as a green koala…
On our count, the Tele ran a total of 86 political news stories during the campaign.  And 51 of these were anti Labor or pro the Coaltion.

Bias to Liberals is bad. Bias to Labor, though, is not:

… we should say the Sydney Morning Herald also backed Baird. But it did so in editorials and comment pieces… Its news stories and headlines were less strident and numerically more balanced. But the figures suggest, if anything it was biased towards Labor.

Reader Peter of Bellevue Hill notes Media Watch lets that SMH’s pro-Labor bias go unpunished::

Then why only give the SMH’s news coverage a 12-second mention in a 3:57 segment analysising print coverage of the NSW election? Why is perceived Labor bias any less worthy of attention than perceived Liberal bias?

And the Sydney Morning Herald political coverage was “less strident”? High praise for a paper that actually ran a front page headline against Joe Hockey screaming “Treasurer for Sale”. Fairfax is actuall consistently strident - against the Liberals, of course - without Barry ever noting.  Take the Financial Review’s “Being governed by fools is not funny” headline on March 19, or the SMH‘s ”Why Tony Abbott needs a punch in the face”.
Also missing from Barry’s analysis is that a deceitful political campaign on the most central issue of the NSW election actually deserves thorough condemnation, and to keep a “balance” is to abrogate the duty of truth-tellers to call out lies. That is why this (Fairfax) story should have been noted by Media Watch as an adequate explanation of the coverage it simply dismissed as “biased”:

Former Labor Resources Minister Martin Ferguson has accused the NSW trade unions and the state Labor party of deliberately misleading the public by telling them the proposed privatisation of the electricity networks will drive up electricity prices…
“It’s just deliberately misleading the public, creating unnecessary fear and trying to scare people into voting for Labor not on merit but on misinformation,” he said. “In many ways I am ashamed of the Party.”

Yes, the Daily Telegraph was biased. It was biased against lies. It was right to be biased. It is entitled to be biased. And Media Watch, so scandalised by bias, should examined the one bias in the media that is unlawful and shameful.
The ABC’s own. 

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A party without Ferguson isn’t worth voting for

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (8:55am)

A Labor Party that expels former federal minister Martin Ferguson is a Labor Party not worth voting for:

Amid moves to expel Mr Ferguson from the party of which he has been a member for 40 years, he has been charged with disloyalty to the party, publicly attacking the party, and publicly attacking a member of the party.
The charges have been brought by the Victorian branch of the Maritime Union of Australia with the backing of the Victorian Trades Hall Council…
There was little sympathy for Mr Ferguson among his former ministerial colleagues on Monday. A spokesman for Labor leader Bill Shorten said there was a process to be followed, while shadow treasurer Chris Bowen declined to express a public view…
Mr Ferguson denies he has breached any party rules. His televised comments had been made at a book launch two weeks ago, not for the Liberal Party…
Mr Ferguson told The Australian Financial Review that electricity privatisation had not been ruled out in the former federal Labor government’s energy white paper, and Canberra had supported attempts by both Morris Iemma in NSW and Anna Bligh in Queensland to privatise electricity. He said his views on electricity privatisation, and for that matter on the Australian Building and Construction Commission and gas development, had long been known.
“So freedom of speech is not allowed now?” he said.

No. Not in Labor. See how Shorten did not protest even when NSW Labor placed the race card against privatisation.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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Destroying a church to the cheers of an actress on the ABC

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (8:09am)

The savagery of a moralist who can cheer the burning down of a church that is the heart of local, living Catholic community pledged to do good:

Actress Rachel Griffiths says she and other former parishioners of a Melbourne church which was gutted this morning are relieved the “haunted house on the hill” has been destroyed.
The massive blaze - which has now been deemed to be suspicious - started at the historic St James Church in the beachside suburb Brighton just after 6am today.
It had been the home of priest Ronald Pickering, who was found to be a pedophile by the Catholic church but was never brought to justice before his death.
Griffiths told 774 ABC Melbourne she went to visit a friend a few doors down from the church when she heard the news this morning.
“I was quite elated, like many of my generation, when I heard the news this morning,” she said.
“It’s always been a difficult building for us to drive past because there’s been so much tragedy and complicated feelings, I guess...”
The Victorian inquiry into child abuse by religious organisations heard Pickering had preyed on young boys at the church in the 1970s and 1980s.
“I really hope that we can heal and move forward and I think that’s why this particular fire - to create a metaphor - it’s sometimes out of the burning ruins that something true and authentic can be reborn and I hope that’s true for this parish,” Griffiths said.

All Catholics must be punished and their church burned for the sins of one priest? What viciousness is this?
Should we burn down Hollywood for the sins of Roman Polanski?
UPDATE
This is what the community of St James Church in Brighton preaches - and acts on. Does Griffiths’ code show any such mercy?

Talent
All of us have special talents or gifts, which are a sign of the power and majesty of God, who can do all things. These talents and gifts are not given to us just for our own use, but are given to us for the enrichment of the lives of others and so that we can serve God better.
St. Peter in his first epistle tells us, “Each one of you has received a special grace, so like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others.”
All of Christ’s works need to be done in our parish and community. As you know, Christ is not physically present in our parish to:

visit the sick and elderly,
feed the hungry,
teach those who want to learn,
console the lonely and sorrowful,
pray for the needs and to give a helping hand and a kind word.

Christ depends upon each one of us to do these Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy in His name. That makes us co-workers with Christ in the Holy Works of Redemption. What a privilege!…
Treasure
The Christian need to share our gifts of Treasure may be best illustrated by the well-known parable of the talents, Matthew 25:14-30…
Sacred Scripture points out two ways we can show our gratitude to God for his gifts.
First, because God is the Giver, some percentage of what is received must be returned to Him as an act of gratitude. (The Old Testament people were expected to give a tithe of 10 percent. This practice is mentioned 39 times in the Old Testament and 11 times in the New Testament, so we know it is God’s will that the practice be continued.)
Secondly, there should be some sharing of our money and material goods with those in need in our family, community, diocese and world. Paul 11, Cor. 9:1-15.

These are the people whose church has been burned down,as Griffiths cheers on the ABC.   

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Labor must finally kick its deadly Greens habit

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (6:53am)

Labor can’t keep treating the Greens as their finer selves, endorsing iconic Greens issues from global warming to the anti-coal seam gas movement.
That way it will always be vulnerable, not to mention irrational, and once more some Labor thinkers are demanding a fight:

Sam Crosby, who heads the McKell Institute, urged the party to rethink its strategy to combat the Greens and lashed Labor’s lack of policy development and flaws in campaign strategy. The Greens, left “un­checked”, could destroy Labor, he said.
“I think the Greens are a cancer on democracy,” Mr Crosby will tell the Fabian Society tonight. “...If left unchecked, they will eventually kill the host. They are the ultimate popu­lists. They’re charlatans."…
ALP strategists argue that the campaign against electricity privatisation had little resonance in the inner city. Some doubt Labor can match the Greens’ on-the-ground campaigning and domination of social media. Others say the “light green” ­approach won’t work; Labor needs to focus on its own brand.
John Graham, NSW Labor’s assistant secretary, conceded the party failed to attract “many progressive voters” at the election and it needed to invest in developing a new policy agenda to win them over…
Linda Scott, a City of Sydney councillor, ... said Labor must embrace internal reform and challenge Greens policies more vigorously…
“In the inner city, the Greens campaigned almost solely in ­opposition to inner-city infrastructure, such as the creation of new roads and the existing Sydney airport. By focusing on a negative agenda, the Greens failed to reveal policies for a costed vision for the future.”

One tip: Labor should stop investing so much hope in social media. Listen too much to social media and you really will believe a campaign that fights privatisation, coal seam gas and Tony Abbott is a knock-out winner.
Another tip: Labor should listen less to the ABC pundits.
Third tip: in any contest between the likes of Martin Ferguson and Sam Dastyari, pick Ferguson.
Fourth: a party that does not dare question global warming alarmism has put its brain into neutral and will always be overtaken by extremists.
In fact, in many ways the global warming faith is for Labor today the anti-nuclear faith which infantilised it in the 1970s and 1980s. It is an issue which kills reason and licenses the irrational within the party to run amok.
UPDATE
Nick Cater gives a perfect example of Bill Shorten placating the Greens rather than fight them - risking the loss of yet more votes, as well as jobs:

The farmed salmon industry is one of Tasmania’s success stories, having grown from virtually nothing to be worth an estimated $500 million a year ... and now the international market beckons.
Naturally, our Greens friends are not happy. As federal Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson told Leon Compton on ABC 936 Hobart last week: “It’s actually my role as a senator to provide checks and balances to such rapid economic expansion....”
Last week Whish-Wilson instigated a federal Senate inquiry into the regulation of the finfish aquaculture industry, claiming an increase in dissolved oxygen levels of water in Macquarie Harbour was a risk to threatened species. As usual, the Greens’ claim is weak on detail ...
Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is backing Whish-Wilson’s inquiry. The Tasmanian Labor Party is not. State Opposition Leader Bryan Green says rigorous testing is already in place and a politicised Senate inquiry will undermine confidence in the industry…
There was a similar split between the federal and Tasmanian Labor parties in the early 1980s when the then Labor opposition in Canberra backed Bob Brown’s campaign to block the Franklin dam. The Tasmanian Labor Party supported it. In the 1983 election, Labor lost four seats to the Liberals on the island where jobs mattered more than sermons.

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Frightening. Superstitious catastrophist in charge of US foreign policy

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (6:46am)

It is frightening that such an irrational catastrophist is in charge of American foreign policy:

Secretary of State John Kerry warns U.S. ambassadors that they will be dealing with “climate refugees” in the not-too-distant future. (From 26:45)
Kerry told U.S. ambassadors at the Global Chiefs of Mission Conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday about the threat climate change poses around the world.
“There’ll be climate refugees that all of you will be coping with at some point, if not now, in the not-too-distant future,” Kerry said.
The secretary of state warned that there could potentially be 500-year long droughts.

In fact, even the warmist Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has had to admit there’s not much evidence at all of worsening droughts:

In summary, the current assessment concludes that there is not enough evidence at present to suggest more than low confidence in a global-scale observed trend in drought or dryness (lack of rainfall) since the middle of the 20th century, due to lack of direct observations, geographical inconsistencies in the trends, and dependencies of inferred trends on the index choice. Based on updated studies, AR4 conclusions regarding global increasing trends in drought since the 1970s were probably overstated.

Kerry even cites the “97 per cent of scientists” falsehood.
UPDATE
Kerry has a second deity on his mind, other than the Earth Goddess:

John Kerry is in Switzerland, negotiating with (or on behalf of) the Islamic Republic of Iran. On Friday, a reporter asked whether a nuclear arms deal can be reached by tomorrow’s deadline. Kerry’s reported reply: “Inshallah!” “Allah willing!”

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More reform destroyed by a Senate drunk on saying no

Andrew Bolt March 31 2015 (6:37am)

A feral Senate has negotiated reform to death:

The Abbott government’s plan to deregulate university fees is in disarray after the Group of Eight leading universities last night withdrew its support for the ­reform package, citing policy ­incoherence and political desperation.
The universities say the original intention of deregulation — to put funding on a stable footing — has been lost as a result of ­ongoing and piecemeal compromises as Education Minister Christopher Pyne tries to win over the crossbench senators.
After providing vital backing to Mr Pyne’s deregulation push, the Go8 now says the only way forward is to “press the reset button” and for a full “depoliticised” ­review of sustainable, long-term funding options for both teaching and research. 

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Puppies from their respective countries!Just Imagine them surrounded by their breeds of dogsaweeeee~Aussie
Posted by Hetalia: The Beautiful Fandom on Friday, 26 December 2014

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To everyone around the world this map helps explain what we Aussies are always going on about...its a big country!!
Posted by Nick Giannopoulos on Wednesday, 18 February 2015

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Well it's been a fabulous, ass-kicking, ball-crunching ride! I'm so grateful to everyone who made this such a wonderful...
Posted by Stephanie Son on Monday, 30 March 2015

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Summed up Luke Foley and NSW Labor's campaign #auspol #nswpol
Posted by Australian Conservative Libertarian Group on Tuesday, 31 March 2015

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Groom messes up vows. Bride completely loses it. Priceless.
Posted by Her.ie on Tuesday, 10 February 2015

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One of the best George Carlin routines ever. Miss ya, George!
Posted by Brandon Weber on Friday, 27 March 2015

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Happy 60th birthday to Ruby Bridges! As a six-year-old, Ruby Bridges famously became the first African American child to...
Posted by A Mighty Girl on Monday, 8 September 2014

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I wuv this http://t.co/cEXbxhBsIs
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 31, 2015

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‘Australia’s worst pedophile’ Geoffrey Robert Dobbs may be paroled http://t.co/nPI7YqUwFO via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 31, 2015

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New headache for Abbott Government http://t.co/oNxcnY58AD via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 31, 2015

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The start of a ‘new world order’? http://t.co/rAklRkFDni via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 31, 2015

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Jason Clare lied .. Essendon verdict: Players found NOT GUILTY http://t.co/iUC0AXPbWH via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 31, 2015

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It is what ALP do to others too .. Petty and vindictive: Morris Iemma slams call to dump Martin Ferguson http://t.co/Ftl8U9Z7td via @smh
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 31, 2015

=== Posts from last year ===

MY DAY AT ACTIVISM SCHOOL

Tim Blair – Monday, March 31, 2014 (3:30pm)

Activism is back, baby! Following a mostly dormant decade, recent incoherent and obscene March in March demonstrations have returned activism to … well, not the front pages, but at least to page 13.

To learn more about this phenomenon, on Saturday morning I joined a bunch of junior activists at an Activist Training Day at Sydney’s University of Technology, hosted by Greens MLC David Shoebridge and featuring many prominent activism veterans.

 Continue reading 'MY DAY AT ACTIVISM SCHOOL'

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I’M BAD

Tim Blair – Monday, March 31, 2014 (3:19pm)

Fairfax TV reviewer Ben Pobjie:

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WORKERS UNITED

Tim Blair – Monday, March 31, 2014 (2:46pm)

Yet more photos of triumphant Work on Wednesday participants (see earlier shots here). Commemorative t-shirts arenow available:

 

 Continue reading 'WORKERS UNITED'

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TAKE THE EARTH HOUR PLEDGE

Tim Blair – Monday, March 31, 2014 (1:50pm)

More than 30,000 people celebrated Earth Hour this year under the massive lights at ANZ Stadium, where the Sydney Swans lost to Collingwood.

Actually, “celebrated” might be taking things a bit far. It’s a fair bet that few at the match, and also outside of it, knew the annual turn-your-lights-off-for-Gaia festival was even scheduled for Saturday night.

 Continue reading 'TAKE THE EARTH HOUR PLEDGE'

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LOCAL SHARIA

Tim Blair – Monday, March 31, 2014 (4:13am)

A 54-year-old man stabs his 24-year-old wife more than a dozen times, killing her. Some of her wounds are 14 centimetres deep. The young woman, a mother of three who wed her husband when she was just 16, attempted to shield herself with a blanket as she was repeatedly and viciously knifed.

Murder victim Mariam Yousif

The man claims in court he was provoked by his wife questioning his manhood. The court accepts this, reducing his charge from murder to manslaughter and sentencing him to just nine years in prison.

This didn’t happen in the Middle East. It happened in Sydney.

UPDATE. The husband’s emergency call: 

Hassan stabbed her at least 14 times then called triple-0 and told the operator “There’s a problem with my wife”. 

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MEDIA WATCH DOESN’T WATCH MEDIA WATCH

Tim Blair – Monday, March 31, 2014 (3:09am)

Three years ago, then-Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes repeated a Guardian claim that News of the Worldjournalists had deleted messages from Milly Dowler’s mobile phone: 

One journalist, at one newspaper – The Guardian’s Nick Davies – kept hammering at the story, and on Tuesday he finally cracked it wide open: “News of the World hacked Milly Dowler’s phone during police hunt”

A 13-year-old murder victim’s voicemail messages not only listened to, but deleted, by News of the World journalists. 

The Guardian was wrong. Late in 2011, the error-prone British paper published a series of corrections. Eventually,Media Watch also ran a “clarification” – attached to the online transcript of its original story. This “clarification” never appeared during a broadcast, and still isn’t listed at the program’s corrections page.

Current Media Watch host Paul Barry evidently missed his own show’s grudging clarification, along with theGuardian‘s more prominent admissions of error. Nearly two years after the Guardian first published its multiple corrections, appended to 37 stories, Barry recycles the paper’s mistake one more time: 

Discussing the News of the World hacking scandal in the UK, Barry said that what had finally “cracked it” was the revelation that the paper had hacked into the phone of a schoolgirl who had gone missing and was subsequently found to have been murdered, Milly Dowler.

It “appeared News of the World (a Murdoch paper) had also deleted some of the messages on her phone,” Barry added …

At no point in the interview did Barry point out that the original story turned out to be wrong. He left uncorrected his false statement that the News of the World appeared to have done the deletions. 

This bloke can’t even follow his own little show, yet the ABC employs him to monitor media Australia-wide.

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MIKE LIKES

Tim Blair – Monday, March 31, 2014 (2:38am)

Way back in October, this site declared posh-voiced fake Englishman Mike Carlton to be the Viscount Mike. Nice to see that the SMH columnist has since formally adopted his title.

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TWICE AS BAD AS ’NAM

Tim Blair – Monday, March 31, 2014 (12:15am)

Nearly 500 Australians were killed during ten years of the Vietnam War. More than twice that number of asylum seekers drowned during just six years of Labor.

Curiously, leftists wanted to stop the deaths in Vietnam but are upset by successful moves to stop the deaths at sea. Something is wrong with these people.

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Is The Age a newspaper or propaganda sheet?

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (1:44pm)

The Age has long professed outrage at the “bias” of Murdoch papers. But not only is it blind to its own bias, it indulges in a partisanship so cartoonish that that it would be lame even in a university student paper.
Take these examples from today’s Age website, where even a story of a government success can’t be allowed to be told without a mocking picture:

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The bruvvers, united, can be defeated

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (11:41am)

Excellent:

THE militant Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union has been fined $1.25 million for a mixture of civil and criminal contempt offences on the sites of construction giant Grocon in 2012.

And the compensation for Grocon? 

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Greens against jobs

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (9:39am)

The green faith is not just anti-reason. Des Houghton gives the latest example of the green crusade against humanity itself:

Greenies and conservation groups have made no secret that they want to delay and disrupt the GVK Hancock coal project in the Galilee which has already won state and federal approval. 
This week the Mackay Conservation Group launched a legal challenge to Environment Minister Greg Hunt’s approval of the Abbot Point coal terminal… The parties named in the action – Mackay Conservation Group, Environment Defenders’ Office Queensland and GetUp! – are each signatory to a controversial strategy document, Stopping the Australian Coal Export Boom, released last year…
Meanwhile, the North Queensland Conservation Council has taken the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to the Appeals Tribunal in another delaying tactic that threatens the project.
And what would Queenslanders lose?
The Alpha mine and its little brothers at Alpha West and Kevin’s Corner will create 23,000 jobs in the construction phase and 20,000 permanent jobs during the life of the mine. And it will pay up to $40 billion in taxes and royalties. So activists are delaying the arrival of revenues to build our hospitals and schools.
The delays anger Bruce Hedditch, the chief of the Bowen Business Chamber.
“Abbot Point has been running as a coal port for 40 years and the water is crystal clear,’’ he said.
“...So the court actions are not about Abbot Point; it’s about trying to stop a coal mine 500km away...” 

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That’s not a spending cut. That’s your taxes being saved

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (9:35am)

The Abbott Government isn’t planning spending cuts but preventing tax rises: 

The average wage earner will have to pay 22 per cent more in income tax by 2023-24 if nothing is done to rein in spending, new figures from the government show. The estimate suggests an average fulltime wage earner, who by then will be earning $112,000, will have to pay 28 per cent in tax, up from 23 per cent now. The calculation, released by Treasurer Joe Hockey on Sunday, assumes the government would do nothing about so-called fiscal drag, in which more taxpayers are bumped into higher tax brackets due to inflation or wage gains. Mr Hockey warned that without dramatic policy changes to the budget, spending will outpace government tax receipts every year over the next decade, leaving the budget in deficit for a record 16 straight years.

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.) 

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Bolt Report robbed of panellists. What is this Government doing?

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (9:27am)

It’s annoying to have some of the most effective conservative warriors being given long service leave:

FORMER Howard Government Minister Alexander Downer has been appointed the next High Commissioner to the UK, in a shake-up of diplomatic posts… 
The Abbott Government was last month criticised for stripping former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks of his New York Consul General appointment, instead giving the plum posting to former Finance Minister Nick Minchin. 

That’s two of my Bolt Report panellists gone, too. 

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If I can cop even this, we don’t need muzzles

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (9:22am)

Free speech

IF I can do it, who now can’t? I’ve said our laws against free speech are too tough, and I’d set an example by not suing for defamation. 

Some of our biggest media outlets seemed to take that almost as a dare.
(Read full article here.)
UPDATE
Now the ABC publishes a claim that I just don’t like powerful and articulate Aboriginals. Some people seemed determined not to understand or honestly describe the argument. 

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Coalition recovers out West

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (9:13am)

Support in WA for the Coalition has rebounded strongly over the past three months, putting the Abbott Government in a strong position to keep all three WA Senate seats at the rerun Senate election on Saturday. More importantly, Labor could struggle to win a crucial second:

In the January-March period, primary support for the Coalition rose from 41 to 46 per cent after dropping 10 points in the October-December quarter. At the September election, the Coalition received a 51.2 per cent primary vote in WA. 
Labor’s primary support dropped from 36 per cent three months ago to 29 per cent — equal to its election result. Greens support jumped from 10 per cent before Christmas, the same as its election result, to 15 per cent while support for “others’’ dropped from 13 per cent to 10 per cent, the same as the election result:

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Turnbull warns ABC board: tackle the bias

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (9:02am)

Media

Malcolm Turnbull is perfectly right, of course:

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Malcolm Turnbull says ABC board members who do not want to get involved in ensuring news content on the public broadcaster is accurate and impartial should get off the board. 

Revealing he receives hundreds of complaints about the ABC each week, Mr Turnbull said “the law of the land” couldn’t be clearer — the board needed to take responsibility for addressing issues of accuracy and impartiality. 
“Some people have said to me, ‘The directors don’t want to get involved’, so I said to the directors, ‘Look, if you don’t want to get involved you don’t have to be on the board’,” Mr Turnbull told The Australian.
“Section 8 of the ABC Act says one of the board’s duties is to ­ensure the ABC’s news and information services are impartial and accurate, according to the standards of objective journalism… “My very strong view is that the ABC board must take ­responsibility.”

Terry McCrann gives the most glaring example of the board’s failure to take responsibility - Media Watch and its host Paul Barry:

Barry is obsessed, utterly obsessed, with Rupert Murdoch and what Barry perceives as the failings of the man as well as his newspapers… 
It is an obsession ...  simply undeniable on any measure of the number of Media Watch segments — by definition, negative — devoted to the News Corp Australia papers…
As a consequence of his obsession, he is fundamentally compromised as the public face of Media Watch in its purported, self-ordained role as a disinterested observer of the Austral­ian media and objective arbiter of what it claims to be journalistic high crimes and misdemeanours.
He ...  should have been removed when his unrelenting agenda became obvious, embarrassing and undeniable. That responsibility lay first with the ABC’s managing director Mark Scott, in his twin role as editor-in-chief of the organisation. His failure to act has left him in breach of the corporation’s statutory obligations. The failure by the board of directors to subsequently discharge its responsibilities now leaves it collectively in breach as well.

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 Meet Noah, the original eco-loon, and his sinister green God

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (8:58am)

The green movement, The new morality

AMAZING. Hollywood just killed God, and almost no critic noticed how it quietly slipped a green human-hater in his place. 

I never thought you could make a two-hour film about Noah and his ark without mentioning “God” even once, but director Darren Aronofsky has managed it in his $142 million epic, which opened last week.
His Noah, played by a muttering Russell Crowe, prays to a different deity, a much nastier one called “the Creator” who seems to brood on global warming.
Hey, what a coincidence! So does Aronofsky, who last year declared, “climate change as an enemy of the people”. So does Crowe, tweeting in most unbiblical language: “F--- denial of climate change.”
And in their film, Noah, they give us their creator, a vegetarian who really does want to “f--- denial of climate change” and put filthy humans in their place so, as Crowe’s Noah rasps, “creation will be left alone — safe. Beautiful”.
As an agnostic, I should barely care which invisible being Crowe talks to, but this switcheroo is freaky.
(Read full article here.) 

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On the media and the unfortunate result of my dog catching a possum

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (8:57am)

Ten questions with The Australian.

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There are no such cultural differences if we consider ourselves all Australians

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (8:16am)

Derryn Hinch is astonished by another example of the new drive to retribalise Australia - to treat each other as representatives of “races” rather than individuals:

I’VE HAD TROUBLE coming to grips with a dreadful court decision out of the Geelong Magistrate’s Court this week... The [Geelong Advertiser] ...  lead read: 

‘REGISTERED sex offender, Ali Jaffari, accused of attempted child-stealing, has had all charges against him dropped after a Magistrate told prosecutors he would have trouble finding Jaffari guilty. Magistrate Ron Saines said if he was hearing the matter, he would have reasonable doubt, citing ‘cultural differences’ as one factor, which would result in the charges being dismissed’. 

This was a case involving a convicted sex offender. A child stalker who was placed on the sex offenders register only last year after being convicted of sexually assaulting two teenage boys at a local beach.
On that occasion he walked free with community service…
Apparently Jaffari is an Afghan refugee with cultural differences. Is it culturally acceptable there for adults to sexually assault children? I doubt it. But even if it were, it is abhorrent here and our laws say so…
According to the Advertiser, the 35-year-old paedophile was convicted in Geelong Magistrates’ Court in August last year of indecently assaulting one boy and attempting to indecently assault another.
He was placed on a two-year Community Corrections Order with 300 hours unpaid community work…
In court this week he was charged with child stealing, attempted child stealing and unlawful assault.
He allegedly went to Bakers Oval in Geelong West about 6.30pm on January 27, 2013 where a four-year-old girl was playing cricket with her father and brother. While the father was throwing the ball to his son in the nets, the little girl was playing nearby with her own bat. Jaffari took away her bat, grabbed her hand and began to lead her away before she looked up, saw it wasn’t her father, started crying and pulled her hand away…
The prosecutor said, that when interviewed, Jaffari told police, ‘For us is not an issue.” Magistrate Saines said the prosecution case fell short of criminality and cited cultural differences as a possible mitigating factor. 

(Thanks to reader norm.) 

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Consensus cools

Andrew Bolt March 31 2014 (8:07am)

In time more scientists will not want their reputation sullied by association with alarmism:

One of the authors of a U.N. draft report on climate change pulled out of the writing team, saying his colleagues were issuing unfounded “alarmist” claims at the expense of real solutions. 
“The drafts became too alarmist,” said Richard Tol, a Dutch professor of economics at Sussex University in England… Mr. Tol was part of a team of 70 authors working on revisions to a U.N. report on climate change, to be issued in Japan on March 31. The final draft, which is the copy that Mr. Tol found objectionable, included findings that a warming global temperature will lead to disruption in food supplies and stagnating economies — and that coral reefs and lands in the Arctic may already have suffered irreversible damages...

UPDATE
I can see why Tol has quit. One of the most alarmist predictions in the draft Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is that global warming will cause more golfers:

(Thanks to reader Me 2.) 

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WHAT TYPE OF SICK GOVERNMENT INTRODUCES A NEW TAX TO FORCE UP THE COSTS OF KID'S SWIMMING LESSONS ? Craig Kelly

Photo - At Menai Swim Centre with owner Noel Harris and Ian Macfarlane Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources.

Labor’s Carbon will add $10,000 to the electricity bills of Menai Swim Centre this year alone.

And remember, under Labor’s punishing plans, their Carbon Tax increases every year.

Therefore using Labor’s own modelling, Menai Swim Centre will be forced to pay $100,000 in Carbon Tax charges between now and 2020 to stay open.

So either they increase the costs of children’s swimming lessons(with families in the Menai area being slugged an additional $100,000 to pay for the Carbon Tax on kids swimming lessons) or they close their doors.

Last year 284 Australians drowned - and the 'Australian Water Safety Strategy' is to reduce drowning deaths by 50% by 2020.

But with Labor’s Carbon Tax increasing the costs of swimming lessons for children – this will simply result in less children being able to afford to attend swimming lessons, undermining The Australia Water Safety Council’s target of reducing deaths by drowning in Australia.

So what type of sick Government introduces a new tax to force up the costs of kids swimming lessons ?

Answer – the Gillard Labor Government; the worst, the most dishonest, the most dysfunctional and most divided Government in our nation’s history.
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Oswin Oswald - now fully converted into a Dalek - struggles to accept that she is no longer human, before advising the Doctor to run for his life. Memorable scenes from Asylum of the Daleks, Doctor Who series 7.

The Brand New Doctor Who Website - http://www.doctorwho.tv
Doctor Who YouTube Channelhttp://www.youtube.com/user/doctorwho
Doctor Who Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoctorWho
Doctor Who Twitter https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho

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March 31: King Nangklao Memorial Day in Thailand; Cesar Chavez Day in various U.S. states

• 627 – Muslim–Quraish Wars: A confederation of tribes began an ultimately unsuccessful siege of Yathrib (now Medina) againstMuhammad and his army.
• 1854 – U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry (Japanese depiction pictured) and the Tokugawa shogunate signed theConvention of Kanagawa, forcing the opening of Japanese ports to American trade.
• 1910 – Six English towns amalgamated to form a single county boroughcalled Stoke-on-Trent, the first union of its type.
• 1931 – TWA Flight 599 crashed in Chase County, Kansas, US, and killed eight people, including football coach Knute Rockne, stimulating advances in aircraft design and development.
• 1964 – Brazilian Armed Forces led an overthrow of Brazilian President João Goulart and established a military government that would last for 21 years.

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“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.” -Isaiah 53:3-4
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"He was numbered with the transgressors."
Isaiah 53:12

Why did Jesus suffer himself to be enrolled amongst sinners? This wonderful condescension was justified by many powerful reasons. In such a character he could the better become their advocate. In some trials there is an identification of the counsellor with the client, nor can they be looked upon in the eye of the law as apart from one another. Now, when the sinner is brought to the bar, Jesus appears there himself. He stands to answer the accusation. He points to his side, his hands, his feet, and challenges Justice to bring anything against the sinners whom he represents; he pleads his blood, and pleads so triumphantly, being numbered with them and having a part with them, that the Judge proclaims, "Let them go their way; deliver them from going down into the pit, for he hath found a ransom." Our Lord Jesus was numbered with the transgressors in order that they might feel their hearts drawn towards him. Who can be afraid of one who is written in the same list with us? Surely we may come boldly to him, and confess our guilt. He who is numbered with us cannot condemn us. Was he not put down in the transgressor's list that we might be written in the red roll of the saints? He was holy, and written among the holy; we were guilty, and numbered among the guilty; he transfers his name from yonder list to this black indictment, and our names are taken from the indictment and written in the roll of acceptance, for there is a complete transfer made between Jesus and his people. All our estate of misery and sin Jesus has taken; and all that Jesus has comes to us. His righteousness, his blood, and everything that he hath he gives us as our dowry. Rejoice, believer, in your union to him who was numbered among the transgressors; and prove that you are truly saved by being manifestly numbered with those who are new creatures in him.

Evening

"Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord."
Lamentations 3:40

The spouse who fondly loves her absent husband longs for his return; a long protracted separation from her lord is a semi-death to her spirit: and so with souls who love the Saviour much, they must see his face, they cannot bear that he should be away upon the mountains of Bether, and no more hold communion with them. A reproaching glance, an uplifted finger will be grievous to loving children, who fear to offend their tender father, and are only happy in his smile. Beloved, it was so once with you. A text of Scripture, a threatening, a touch of the rod of affliction, and you went to your Father's feet, crying, "Show me wherefore thou contendest with me?" Is it so now? Are you content to follow Jesus afar off? Can you contemplate suspended communion with Christ without alarm? Can you bear to have your Beloved walking contrary to you, because you walk contrary to him? Have your sins separated between you and your God, and is your heart at rest? O let me affectionately warn you, for it is a grievous thing when we can live contentedly without the present enjoyment of the Saviour's face. Let us labour to feel what an evil thing this is--little love to our own dying Saviour, little joy in our precious Jesus, little fellowship with the Beloved! Hold a true Lent in your souls, while you sorrow over your hardness of heart. Do not stop at sorrow! Remember where you first received salvation. Go at once to the cross. There, and there only, can you get your spirit quickened. No matter how hard, how insensible, how dead we may have become, let us go again in all the rags and poverty, and defilement of our natural condition. Let us clasp that cross, let us look into those languid eyes, let us bathe in that fountain filled with blood--this will bring back to us our first love; this will restore the simplicity of our faith, and the tenderness of our heart.

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Luke, Lucas 

[Lo̅o̅ke, Lo̅o̅'cas ] - light-giving or luminous.

The Man Who Wrote the Most Beautiful Book in the World

Less is known of Luke than any other New Testament writer. This we do know, he was a Gentile and probably the brother of Titus (2 Cor. 8:16; 12:18). Paul speaks of him as a "beloved physician." Luke must have been a man of some wealth, otherwise he could not have traveled with Paul as his friend and useful companion (Acts 1:1; Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:11;Philem. 24 ). Tertullian said of this native of Antioch that he received his illumination from Paul.

Luke was a man of learning and knowledge, an exact observer and faithful recorder. His medical training taught him to be exact. He is in the first rank as a reliable historian, scholarly, skilful and sympathetic (Luke 1:1-3; Acts 1:1-3 ). His gospel is the most literary of the four. With his Greek mind he had a sense of form, a beautiful style - studied and elaborate. A poet, he was unsurpassed as a word-painter. Luke's gospel has been described as the most wonderful book ever written, the most beautiful book in the world. Above it and within it we hear the rustle of the angels'wings, the music of angels'songs.

Luke's qualifications for his great ministry were manifold. Above and beyond all else, he had the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Then there was his long and close companionship with Paul, and Luke the follower of Paul set down in a book the Gospel which Paul loved to preach. Luke also had abundant opportunities for personal acquaintance with other apostles. His liberal education also indicated that in him God had a proper vessel for the accomplishment of His plan. The wisdom of the divine choice was justified.

Luke's mission was to proclaim Christ's humanity. His is The Gentile Gospel, thus he traces Christ's lineage back to Adam, and gives prominence to the sympathy and sociableness of Jesus as the Man (Luke 15:1) who came to save (Luke 19:10). As the representative of Grecian reason and culture, Luke presented Christ as the true Representative of universal man.

Luke wrote both the gospel bearing his name and the Book of Acts (Luke 1:1; Acts 1). The characteristic features of his gospel are clearly defined.

I. Its gratuitousness. It is par excellence the gospel of pardon and redemption (Luke 1:28; 2:40).

II. Its sympathy. Christ is before us as the Healer of broken hearts and the Sharer of our woes. Luke is the gospel of philanthropy.

III. Its joyfulness. How full of praise the Gospel of Luke is! Angelic joy is prominent (Luke 1:14; 2:10, 13; 15:7).

IV. Its thanksgiving. The Church continues the hymns of high praise Luke taught her to sing.

V. Its teaching of the holy spirit. It is profitable to gather out all Luke's references to the special missions of the Spirit (Luke 1:15, 35, 41; 2:23, 26; 3:22; 4:1).

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Today's reading: Judges 9-10, Luke 5:17-39 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Judges 9-10

Abimelek

¹ Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother's brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother's clan, ²"Ask all the citizens of Shechem, 'Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal's sons rule over you, or just one man?' Remember, I am your flesh and blood."

³ When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, "He is related to us." ⁴ They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels, who became his followers. ⁵He went to his father's home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. ⁶ Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: Luke 5:17-39

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. ¹⁸ Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹ When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

²⁰ When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, "Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

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Today's Lent reading: Luke 1-3 (NIV)

View today's Lent reading on Bible Gateway

Introduction

¹ Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. ³ With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷ But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old....

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

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Today's Prayer Almighty God, we were lost from the beginning, when it pleased you to extend your hand and restore us to salvation for your Son's sake. Although we daily run headlong to our own ruin, we pray that our continual sin will not provoke you into withdrawing your mercy from us.... Through your Spirit, destroy the wickedness of our heart and restore us to a sound mind. -- John Calvin, adapted from his Commentary on Hosea Today's Scripture Reading: Exodus 20:1-17 1 And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 "You shall have no other gods before me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 13 "You shall not murder. 14 "You shall not commit adultery. 15 "You shall not steal. 16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Today's Quote "The Law is that word by which God teaches what we shall do, as for instance, the Ten Commandments. Now, if human nature is not aided by God's grace, it is impossible to keep the law, for the reason that man since the fall of Adam in Paradise is depraved and full of sinful desires, so that he cannot from his heart's desire find pleasure in the law, which fact we all experience in ourselves. For no one lives who does not prefer that there were no law, and everyone feels and knows in himself that it is difficult to lead a pious life and do good, and, on the other hand, that it is easy to lead a wicked life and to do evil. But this difficulty or unwillingness to do the good is the reason we do not keep the Law of God. For whatever is done with aversion and unwillingness is considered by God as not done at all. Thus the Law of God convicts us, even by our own experience, that by nature we are evil, disobedient, lovers of sin, and hostile to God's laws." -- Martin Luther, sermon on Matthew 11:2-10, #19 Something to Think About It is common in many churches to periodically read the Ten Commandments during worship services. What relevance do the Ten Commandments--delivered to Israel thousands of years ago--hold for Christians today? Why are they significant to the Easter story?

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Knowing God: a new Easter email devotional The weeks leading up to Easter are a great time to grow in the knowledge of Christ as Savior and Lord. We're happy to announce a new daily email Easter devotional focusing on the Christ who died and rose for us!Knowing Him: An Easter Devotional runs from April 3 through Easter and will help you keep your eyes on Jesus along the road to Easter. Each devotional is written by Dr. Mel Lawrenz, Christian author and minister at large for Elmbrook Church.Philippians 3:10 says "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection of the dead." This is what we need today--and we hope this Easter devotional will help you toward that goal!Knowing Him: An Easter Devotional is an opportunity to grow in the grace and power of Jesus. Sign up today!Nueva Traducción Viviente Bible now online We're also excited to announce a major new addition to Bible Gateway's library of online Bibles: the Spanish Nueva Traducción Viviente (NTV)! The NTV is published by Tyndale House and is the result of many years' works by dozens of scholars, all focused on producing a contemporary Spanish Bible translation that carries the same clarity as the ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts do. You can start reading the NTV right now, or learn more about itat its information page. To get a quick feel for the NTV, see itsrendering of John 3:16 alongside the New Living Translation. We're thrilled to add the NTV to our selection of Spanish Bibles, and are grateful to Tyndale for making it available on Bible Gateway. That's all the news for today. Have a blessed week! Sincerely, The Bible Gateway team