===
One of the great international statesmen has died, old and blessed. Lee Kuan Yew was the founding PM of Singapore, and governed for three decades. He was the architect of modern Singapore. In '59, when Lee became PM, Singapore was a third world nation. Lee was strict with the media, and so didn't have to continually tack left under media criticism. He was a conservative, not a right winger. He wanted Singapore to be part of Malaysia, but Malaysia forced independence and Lee navigated a course with security and economic independence. The result was a trade block the envy of the world. To improve military security, Lee used Israeli expertise. Singaporeans are part of the reserve from age 18 to 35. Lee maintained corporal punishment in schools and society and even has it as an article of discipline in the military. Without buying into LGBT hysteria, Lee accepted homosexuals, saying if a member of his family were gay he would accept them. However there are legal restrictions on gays in Singapore. Water security is a big issue for Singapore, and they have recycling as well as other options. It is difficult to describe how valued Lee Kuan Yew was as an international citizen. His opinion was prized by Nixon, Margaret Thatcher and John Howard. Had he been born in another place or time, he might have been regarded as Clive Churchill.
In December 2014, a man who had lost his penis in a botched circumcision when he was eighteen years old, was given a transplant after three years. As of 13th March it has been reported the transplant is fully functional. It is hard to keep a good man down. The article did not report if the transplant had been circumcised. Under Jewish tradition it is done after six days, which is why News Years Day in the Western Calendar is six days after Christmas. But in some Christian traditions it is done older. The South African man had his own reasons for choosing eighteen. And now he is twenty one. We don't know when, but wish him a happy birthday and many happy returns. We also note researchers have not prohibited the possibility that multiple peni be transplanted to an individual.
2014
It is a little discussed fact that when Patrick Henry gave his famous speech on this day in 1775, now known as "Give me liberty or give me death" he was employing rhetoric. He wanted liberty. He was willing to fight, and possibly die for it, but he had one goal. So too do the ALP. In South Australia, liberty is to be denied for another term of office. The election a week ago delivered no majority, although the ALP, with 35.3% of the vote, has the most seats of any party. More than the Liberal Party which got 45.1% of the vote, with over 90% of votes counted. This is a clear gerrymander and the electoral office has failed in its' duty. On the plus side, there will be a working example of failure that can be pointed to whenever some journalist chooses to say that the ALP would run the federal government better. It might be good for the second independent who is now in line to be speaker of an ALP administration again. His conservative seat will be impressed. The truth is if you want an ALP government then don't vote conservative.
On this day in 1801, The Tsar, who loved marching a lot, and flogged anyone who made a mistake in a marching ceremony, was put to death excessively. His killers, including a nephew of his tutor, hit him with a sword in his bedroom, demanded he sign an abdication, then strangled and trampled him to death. Tsar Paul seems to resemble the Catch 22 character of Scheiskopf. Or maybe it is the other way around. Also excessive, happening on this day in 1908, Durham White Stevens, US ambassador to Korea, was holidaying with his sisters in San Francisco. Stevens had previously expressed the view that Japan's protectorate of Korea was working well. A few students disagreed. They challenged him over this, first making sure that he had said what they had heard. He corrected them, but they had heard enough. One night, they hit him with a chair. The next day they rushed at him and shot him a few times, before being stopped by a crowd. Stevens survived his wounds until the the 25th. However, the most bizarre excess happened on this day in 1909, one year after Stevens was assassinated. Former US President Theodore Roosevelt went on safari and was sponsored by National Geographic and the Smithsonian. That is right, the Smithsonian and National Geographic sponsored a holiday of shooting animals for sport. I don't think such enlightenment is possible today.
On this day in 1801, The Tsar, who loved marching a lot, and flogged anyone who made a mistake in a marching ceremony, was put to death excessively. His killers, including a nephew of his tutor, hit him with a sword in his bedroom, demanded he sign an abdication, then strangled and trampled him to death. Tsar Paul seems to resemble the Catch 22 character of Scheiskopf. Or maybe it is the other way around. Also excessive, happening on this day in 1908, Durham White Stevens, US ambassador to Korea, was holidaying with his sisters in San Francisco. Stevens had previously expressed the view that Japan's protectorate of Korea was working well. A few students disagreed. They challenged him over this, first making sure that he had said what they had heard. He corrected them, but they had heard enough. One night, they hit him with a chair. The next day they rushed at him and shot him a few times, before being stopped by a crowd. Stevens survived his wounds until the the 25th. However, the most bizarre excess happened on this day in 1909, one year after Stevens was assassinated. Former US President Theodore Roosevelt went on safari and was sponsored by National Geographic and the Smithsonian. That is right, the Smithsonian and National Geographic sponsored a holiday of shooting animals for sport. I don't think such enlightenment is possible today.
Historical perspectives on this day
In 1400, the Trần Dynasty of Vietnam was deposed after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official. 1540, Waltham Abbey was surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. 1568, the Peace of Longjumeau was signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion. 1708, James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth. 1757, Capture of Chandannagar fort by British forces. 1775, American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivered his speech – "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" – at St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.
In 1801, Tsar Paul I of Russia was struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle. 1806, after traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" began their arduous journey home. 1821, Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata. 1848, the ship John Wickliffe arrived at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province was founded. 1857, Elisha Otis's first elevator was installed at 488 Broadway New York City. 1862, the First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marked the start of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Though a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracted Federal efforts to capture Richmond. 1868, the University of California was founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act was signed into law. 1879, War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war was fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru. 1885, Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hung Hoa, northern Vietnam. 1888, in England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional Association Football league, met for the first time. 1889, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community was established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, India.
In 1901, Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, was captured at Palanan, Isabela by forces of General Frederick Funston. 1905, Eleftherios Venizelos called for Crete's union with Greece, and began what was to be known as the Theriso revolt. 1908, American diplomat Durham Stevens was attacked by Korean assassins Jeon Myeong-un and Jang In-hwan, leading to his death in a hospital two days later. 1909, Theodore Roosevelt left New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society. 1918, First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment was annihilated with many of the men becoming Prisoners of war 1919, in Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founded his Fascist political movement. 1931, Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian struggle for independence. 1933, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany. 1935, signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. 1939, the Hungarian air force attacked the headquarters of Slovak air force in the city of Spišská Nová Ves, killing 13 people and began the Slovak–Hungarian War. 1940, the Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or the then Qarardad-e-Lahore) was put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All India Muslim League. 1942, World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces captured the Andaman Islands.
In 1956, Pakistan became the first Islamic republic in the world. (Republic Day in Pakistan) 1965, NASA launched Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young). Also 1965, the first issue of The Vigilant was published from Khartoum. 1977, all 12 of the Nixon Interviews were recorded with British journalist David Frost interviewing former President of the United States Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes. 1978, the first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line. 1980, Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gave his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans. 1982, Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García was overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt. 1983, Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan made his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
In 1991, the Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invaded Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking a gruesome 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War. 1994, at an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio was assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez. Also 1994, Aeroflot Flight 593 crashed in Siberia when the pilot's fifteen-year old son accidentally disengaged the autopilot, killing all 75 people on board. Also 1994, a United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collided with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashed, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster. 1996, Taiwan held its first direct elections and chose Lee Teng-hui as President. 1999, gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña. 2001, the Russian Mir space station was disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji. 2003, Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq. 2005, Texas City Refinery explosion: During a test on a distillation tower liquid waste built up and flowed out of a blowout tower. Waste fumes ignited and exploded killing 15 workers. 2009, FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashed at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.
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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
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.
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
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.
Happy birthday and many happy returns Stephen Tran, Truc Do and Danny BuTzka Georgiev. Born on the same day, across the years. But only Steve can successfully imitate Grumpy Cat
- 1336 – Emperor Go-Kōgon of Japan (d. 1374)
- 1599 – Thomas Selle, German composer (d. 1663)
- 1749 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
- 1842 – Friedrich Amelung, Baltic German historian, businessman and chess endgame composer (d. 1909)
- 1882 – Amalie Emmy Noether, German mathematician (d. 1935)
- 1904 – Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
- 1912 – Wernher von Braun, German physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
- 1924 – Bette Nesmith Graham, American inventor, invented Liquid Paper (d. 1980)
- 1929 – Roger Bannister, English runner
- 1938 – Dave Pike, American vibraphone player
- 1947 – Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, American science fiction author
- 1950 – Joseph Connolly, British journalist, novelist and writer
- 1953 – Chaka Khan, American singer-songwriter (Rufus)
- 1990 – Princess Eugenie of York
- 1997 – Aidan Davis, English dancer
- 1775 – American Revolution: Patrick Henry made his "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speech to the House of Burgesses of Virginia, urging military action against the British Empire.
- 1889 – Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (pictured), founded the Ahmadiyya Islamic religious movement in British India.
- 1905 – About 1,500 Cretans, led by Eleftherios Venizelos, met at the village of Theriso to call for the island's unification with Greece, beginning the Theriso revolt.
- 1940 – Pakistan Movement: During its three-day general session, the Muslim League drafted the Lahore Resolution, calling for greater autonomy in British India.
- 2005 – A fire and explosion at the third-largest oil refinery in the United States killed 15 workers and kicked off process safety programs throughout the world.
Matches
- 1400 – The Trần Dynasty of Vietnam is deposed after one hundred and seventy-five years of rule by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
- 1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
- 1568 – The Peace of Longjumeau is signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion.
- 1708 – James Francis Edward Stuart lands at the Firth of Forth.
- 1757 – Capture of Chandannagar fort by British forces.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" – at St. John's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.
- 1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael's Castle.
- 1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their "Corps of Discovery" begin their arduous journey home.
- 1821 – Greek War of Independence: Battle and fall of city of Kalamata.
- 1848 – The ship John Wickliffe arrives at Port Chalmers carrying the first Scottish settlers for Dunedin, New Zealand. Otago province is founded.
- 1857 – Elisha Otis's first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.
- 1862 – The First Battle of Kernstown, Virginia, marks the start of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. Though a Confederate defeat, the engagement distracts Federal efforts to capture Richmond.
- 1868 – The University of California is founded in Oakland, California when the Organic Act is signed into law.
- 1879 – War of the Pacific: The Battle of Topáter, the first battle of the war is fought between Chile and the joint forces of Bolivia and Peru.
- 1885 – Sino-French War: Chinese victory in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao near Hung Hoa, northern Vietnam.
- 1888 – In England, The Football League, the world's oldest professional Association Football league, meets for the first time.
- 1889 – The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian, India.
- 1901 – Emilio Aguinaldo, only President of the First Philippine Republic, was captured at Palanan, Isabela by forces of General Frederick Funston.
- 1905 – Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete's union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.
- 1908 – American diplomat Durham Stevens is attacked by Korean assassins Jeon Myeong-un and Jang In-hwan, leading to his death in a hospital two days later.
- 1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
- 1918 – First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming Prisoners of war
- 1919 – In Milan, Italy, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
- 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar are hanged for the killing of a deputy superintendent of police during the Indian struggle for independence.
- 1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
- 1935 – Signing of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
- 1939 – The Hungarian air force attacks the headquarters of Slovak air force in the city of Spišská Nová Ves, kills 13 people and began the Slovak–Hungarian War.
- 1940 – The Lahore Resolution (Qarardad-e-Pakistan or the then Qarardad-e-Lahore) is put forward at the Annual General Convention of the All India Muslim League.
- 1942 – World War II: In the Indian Ocean, Japanese forces capture the Andaman Islands.
- 1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. (Republic Day in Pakistan)
- 1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States' first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
- 1965 – The first issue of The Vigilant is published from Khartoum.
- 1977 – All 12 of the Nixon Interviews are recorded with British journalist David Frost interviewing former President of the United States Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes.
- 1978 – The first UNIFIL troops arrived in Lebanon for peacekeeping mission along the Blue Line.
- 1980 – Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador gives his famous speech appealing to men of the El Salvadoran armed forces to stop killing the Salvadorans.
- 1982 – Guatemala's government, headed by Fernando Romeo Lucas García is overthrown in a military coup by right-wing General Efraín Ríos Montt.
- 1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
- 1991 – The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking a gruesome 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.
- 1994 – At an election rally in Tijuana, Mexican presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio is assassinated by Mario Aburto Martínez.
- 1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes in Siberia when the pilot's fifteen-year old son accidentally disengages the autopilot, killing all 75 people on board.
- 1994 – A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.
- 1996 – Taiwan holds its first direct elections and chooses Lee Teng-hui as President.
- 1999 – Gunmen assassinate Paraguay's Vice President Luis María Argaña.
- 2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
- 2003 – Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.
- 2005 – Texas City Refinery explosion: During a test on a distillation tower liquid waste builds up and flows out of a blowout tower. Waste fumes ignite and explode killing 15 workers.
- 2009 – FedEx Express Flight 80: A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 flying from Guangzhou, China crashes at Tokyo's Narita International Airport, killing both the captain and the co-pilot.
Hatches
- 1336 – Emperor Go-Kōgon of Japan (d. 1374)
- 1430 – Margaret of Anjou (d. 1482)
- 1599 – Thomas Selle, German composer (d. 1663)
- 1699 – John Bartram, British-American botanist and explorer (d. 1777)
- 1732 – Princess Marie Adélaïde of France (d. 1800)
- 1749 – Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer (d. 1827)
- 1750 – Johannes Matthias Sperger, Austrian bassist and composer (d. 1812)
- 1754 – Jurij Vega, Slovenian mathematician and physicist (d. 1802)
- 1769 – Augustin Daniel Belliard, French general (d. 1832)
- 1769 – William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (d. 1839)
- 1823 – Schuyler Colfax, American politician, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
- 1826 – Ludwig Minkus, Austrian violinist and composer (d. 1917)
- 1834 – Julius Reubke, German pianist and composer (d. 1858)
- 1842 – Friedrich Amelung, Baltic German historian, businessman and chess endgame composer (d. 1909)
- 1858 – Ludwig Quidde, German activist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
- 1862 – Nathaniel Reed, American criminal (d. 1950)
- 1868 – Dietrich Eckart, German journalist and politician (d. 1923)
- 1869 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Turkish-Armenian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1955)
- 1869 – Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino general and politician, 1st President of the Philippines (d. 1964)
- 1871 – Heinrich Schroth, German actor (d. 1945)
- 1872 – Michael Joseph Savage, New Zealand politician, 23rd Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1940)
- 1874 – Grantley Goulding, English athlete (d. 1947)
- 1874 – J. C. Leyendecker, German-American painter and illustrator (d. 1951)
- 1878 – Franz Schreker, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1934)
- 1880 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (d. 1922)
- 1881 – Lacey Hearn, American sprinter (d. 1969)
- 1881 – Roger Martin du Gard, French author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1958)
- 1881 – Hermann Staudinger, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)
- 1882 – Amalie Emmy Noether, German mathematician (d. 1935)
- 1884 – Joseph Boxhall, English 4th officer on the RMS Titanic (d. 1967)
- 1885 – Platt Adams, American athlete (d. 1961)
- 1886 – Frank Irons, American long jumper (d. 1942)
- 1887 – Josef Čapek, Czech painter and poet (d. 1945)
- 1887 – Juan Gris, Spanish painter and sculptor (d. 1927)
- 1887 – Sidney Hillman, Lithuanian-American labor leader (d. 1946)
- 1887 – Felix Yusupov, Russian assassin of Grigori Rasputin (d. 1967)
- 1893 – Cedric Gibbons, Irish-American production designer (d. 1960)
- 1893 – Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu, Indian engineer (d. 1974)
- 1894 – Arthur Grimsdell, English footballer and cricketer (d. 1963)
- 1895 – Encarnacion Alzona, Filipino historian and educator (d. 2001)
- 1895 – Dane Rudhyar, French-American astrologer, author, and composer (d. 1985)
- 1899 – Dora Gerson, German actress and singer (d. 1943)
- 1900 – Erich Fromm, German psychologist and sociologist (d. 1980)
- 1902 – Blessed Józef Cebula, beatified Polish priest, murdered at concentration camp (d. 1942)
- 1904 – H. Beam Piper, American author (d. 1964)
- 1905 – Joan Crawford, American actress (d. 1977)
- 1905 – Lale Andersen, German singer-songwriter (d. 1972)
- 1907 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-Italian pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
- 1909 – Charles Werner, American cartoonist (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Jerry Cornes, English middle-distance runner (d. 2001)
- 1910 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Eleanor Cameron, Canadian-American author and critic (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Neil McCorkell, English-South African cricketer and coach (d. 2013)
- 1912 – Wernher von Braun, German physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
- 1914 – Milbourne Christopher, American magician and author (d. 1984)
- 1915 – Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (d. 2014)
- 1915 – Tom Pashby, Canadian ophthalmologist (d. 2005)
- 1915 – Vasily Zaytsev, Russian captain (d. 1991)
- 1917 – Kenneth Tobey, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Stanley Armour Dunham, American sergeant (d. 1992)
- 1918 – Helene Hale, American politician (d. 2013)
- 1919 – Carl Graffunder, American architect and educator (d. 2013)
- 1920 – Neal Edward Smith, American pilot and politician
- 1920 – Tetsuharu Kawakami, Japanese baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Donald Campbell, English race car driver (d. 1967)
- 1922 – Marty Allen, American comedian and actor
- 1922 – Ugo Tognazzi, Italian actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
- 1923 – Angelo Ingrassia, American judge (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Rodney Mims Cook, Sr., American politician (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Bette Nesmith Graham, American inventor, invented Liquid Paper (d. 1980)
- 1924 – Olga Kennard, English crystallographer
- 1924 – John Madin, English architect (d. 2012)
- 1925 – David Watkin, English cinematographer (d. 2008)
- 1927 – Mato Damjanović, Croatian chess player (d. 2011)
- 1928 – Jean E. Sammet, American computer scientist
- 1929 – Roger Bannister, English runner, neurologist, and academic
- 1929 – Michael Manser, English architect
- 1930 – Ahmed Ramzy, Egyptian actor (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Yevgeny Grishin, Russian speed skater (d. 2005)
- 1931 – Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess player and author
- 1931 – Yevdokiya Mekshilo, Russian skier (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Don Marshall, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1933 – Norman Bailey, English-American opera singer
- 1933 – Norman Yemm, Australian actor and singer (d. 2015)
- 1933 – Philip Zimbardo, American psychologist and academic
- 1934 – Ludvig Faddeev, Russian mathematician and physicist
- 1934 – Fernand Gignac, Canadian singer and actor (d. 2006)
- 1934 – Mark Rydell, American actor, director, and producer
- 1935 – Barry Cryer, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1936 – Jannis Kounellis, Greek artist
- 1937 – Craig Breedlove, American race car driver
- 1937 – Robert Gallo, American physician
- 1937 – Tony Burton, American actor
- 1938 – Jon Finlayson, Australian actor and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Irwin Levine, American songwriter (d. 1997)
- 1938 – Dave Pike, American vibraphone player
- 1939 – Robin Herd, English engineer and businessman
- 1940 – Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghanaian author, playwright, and academic
- 1941 – Jim Trelease, American author and educator
- 1942 – Michael Haneke, Austrian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1942 – Walter Rodney, Guyanese historian, scholar, and activist (d. 1980)
- 1943 – Andrew Crockett, English economist and banker (d. 2012)
- 1943 – George P. Lee, American religious leader (d. 2010)
- 1943 – Lee May, American baseball player
- 1943 – Sharon Presley, American libertarian feminist and writer
- 1943 – Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Finnish singer, author, and director (d. 2001)
- 1944 – B. P. Gavrilov, Russian rugby player (d. 2006)
- 1944 – Tony McPhee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Groundhogs)
- 1944 – Michael Nyman, English pianist and composer
- 1945 – Franco Battiato, Italian singer-songwriter and director
- 1945 – David Grisman, American mandolin player and composer (Even Dozen Jug Band, Old and in the Way, and David Grisman Quintet)
- 1946 – Alan Bleasdale, English screenwriter and producer
- 1946 – Pepe Lienhard, Swiss singer and bandleader
- 1946 – Barbara Rhoades, American actress
- 1947 – Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, American author
- 1948 – Wasim Bari, Pakistani cricketer
- 1948 – Marie Malavoy, German-Canadian educator and politician
- 1948 – Penelope Milford, American actress
- 1948 – David Olney, American singer-songwriter
- 1949 – Ric Ocasek, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (The Cars)
- 1950 – Corinne Cléry, French actress
- 1950 – Joseph Connolly, English journalist and author
- 1950 – Anthony De Longis, American actor, stuntman, and choreographer
- 1950 – Ahdaf Soueif, Egyptian author
- 1951 – Ron Jaworski, American football player and sportscaster
- 1951 – Phil Keaggy, American guitarist (Glass Harp and Love Song)
- 1951 – Adrian Reynard, English businessman, founded Reynard Motorsport
- 1952 – Francesco Clemente, Italian contemporary artist
- 1952 – Villano III, Mexican wrestler
- 1952 – Kim Stanley Robinson, American author
- 1953 – Bo Díaz, Venezuelan baseball player (d. 1990)
- 1953 – Chaka Khan, American singer-songwriter (Rufus)
- 1953 – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Indian businesswoman
- 1954 – Geno Auriemma, Italian-American basketball player and coach
- 1954 – Kenneth Cole, American fashion designer, founded Kenneth Cole Productions
- 1955 – Petrea Burchard, American actress
- 1955 – Moses Malone, American basketball player
- 1956 – José Manuel Barroso, Portuguese politician, 117th Prime Minister of Portugal
- 1956 – Andrew Mitchell, English politician, Secretary of State for International Development
- 1956 – Jeremy Wade, English biologist and author
- 1957 – Teresa Ganzel, American actress
- 1957 – Lucio Gutiérrez, Ecuadorian politician, 52nd President of Ecuador
- 1957 – Robbie James, Welsh footballer and manager (d. 1998)
- 1957 – Amanda Plummer, American actress
- 1958 – Etienne De Wilde, Belgian cyclist
- 1958 – Bengt-Åke Gustafsson, Swedish ice hockey player and coach
- 1958 – Eldon Hoke, American drummer and singer (The Mentors and The Screamers) (d. 1997)
- 1958 – Michael Sorich, American voice actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1959 – Catherine Keener, American actress
- 1959 – Epic Soundtracks, English drummer and songwriter (Swell Maps, Crime and the City Solution, and These Immortal Souls) (d. 1997)
- 1959 – Philippe Volter, Belgian actor (d. 2005)
- 1960 – Haris Romas, Greek actor, composer, and screenwriter
- 1960 – Nicol Stephen, Baron Stephen, Scottish politician, 2nd Deputy First Minister of Scotland
- 1961 – Roger Crisp, British philosopher
- 1961 – Steve Holmes, Romanian-American porn actor and director
- 1961 – Helmi Johannes, Indonesian journalist and producer
- 1962 – Steve Redgrave, English rower
- 1963 – Míchel, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1963 – Juan Ramón López Caro, Spanish footballer and manager
- 1963 – Ana Fidelia Quirot, Cuban runner
- 1964 – Hope Davis, American actress
- 1964 – John Pinette, American comedian and actor (d. 2014)
- 1965 – Sarah G. Buxton, American actress
- 1965 – Richard Grieco, American model and actor
- 1965 – Marti Pellow, Scottish singer-songwriter (Wet Wet Wet)
- 1965 – Gary Whitehead, American poet and painter
- 1966 – Lorenzo Daniel, American sprinter
- 1966 – Beverly Hills, English actress
- 1966 – Marin Hinkle, American actress
- 1966 – Vasilis Vouzas, Greek footballer and manager
- 1967 – David Ford, Canadian canoe racer
- 1968 – Damon Albarn, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Blur, Gorillaz, and The Good, the Bad & the Queen)
- 1968 – Mike Atherton, English cricketer and journalist
- 1968 – Mitch Cullin, American author
- 1968 – Fernando Hierro, Spanish footballer
- 1968 – Pierre Palmade, French actor and comedian
- 1968 – Erki Pehk, Estonian conductor
- 1970 – Midajah, American model, trainer, and manager
- 1970 – Melissa Errico, American actress and singer
- 1970 – John Humphrey, American drummer (The Nixons and Seether)
- 1971 – Yasmeen Ghauri, Canadian model
- 1971 – Karen McDougal, American model and actress
- 1971 – Gail Porter, Scottish television host
- 1971 – Alexander Selivanov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1971 – Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Japanese wrestler
- 1972 – Jonas Björkman, Swedish tennis player
- 1972 – Joe Calzaghe, Welsh boxer
- 1972 – Judith Godrèche, French actress and author
- 1973 – Jerzy Dudek, Polish footballer
- 1973 – Wim Eyckmans, Belgian race car driver
- 1973 – Jason Kidd, American basketball player and coach
- 1973 – Kevin Northcutt, American wrestler
- 1973 – Patiparn Pataweekarn, Thai actor
- 1974 – Randall Park, American actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1976 – Jayson Blair, American journalist and author
- 1976 – Chris Hoy, Scottish cyclist
- 1976 – Smriti Irani, Indian politician and former model, television actress and producer
- 1976 – Dougie Lampkin, English motorcycle racer
- 1976 – Michelle Monaghan, American actress
- 1976 – Jeremy Newberry, American football player
- 1976 – Joel Peralta, Dominican baseball player
- 1976 – Keri Russell, American actress and dancer
- 1976 – Travis Tomko, American wrestler
- 1976 – Ricardo Zonta, Brazilian race car driver
- 1977 – Miklos Perlus, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1978 – Simon Gärdenfors, Swedish illustrator
- 1978 – Perez Hilton, American blogger
- 1978 – Walter Samuel, Argentinian footballer
- 1978 – David Tom, American actor
- 1978 – Nicholle Tom, American actress
- 1979 – Mark Buehrle, American baseball player
- 1979 – Ray Gordy, American wrestler
- 1979 – Natalia Hadjiloizou, Belarusian-Cypriot swimmer
- 1979 – Misty Hyman, American swimmer
- 1979 – Donncha O'Callaghan, Irish rugby player
- 1980 – Ryan Day, Welsh snooker player
- 1980 – Russell Howard, English comedian and television host
- 1980 – Itay Tiran, Israeli actor
- 1980 – Ambwene Simukonda, Malawian sprinter
- 1981 – Erin Crocker, American race car driver
- 1981 – Tony Peña, Jr., Dominican baseball player
- 1981 – Shelley Rudman, English bobsledder
- 1981 – Giuseppe Sculli, Italian footballer
- 1982 – José Contreras Arrau, Chilean footballer
- 1982 – Andrea Musacco, Italian footballer
- 1982 – Evgeni Striganov, Estonian ice dancer
- 1983 – Mo Farah, Somalian-English runner
- 1983 – Sascha Riether, German footballer
- 1983 – Jerome Thomas, English footballer
- 1984 – Ryan Araña, Filipino basketball player
- 1985 – Geoff Eigenmann, Filipino actor and VJ
- 1985 – Maurice Jones-Drew, American football player
- 1986 – Patrick Bordeleau, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Andrea Dovizioso, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1986 – Steven Strait, American actor and singer
- 1987 – James Foad, English rower
- 1987 – Kangna Ranaut, Indian actress
- 1987 – Vesna Rožič, Slovenian chess player (d. 2013)
- 1987 – Alan Toovey, Australian footballer
- 1988 – Jason Kenny, English cyclist
- 1988 – Michal Neuvirth, Czech ice hockey player
- 1989 – Nikola Gulan, Serbian footballer
- 1989 – Luis Fernando Silva, Mexican footballer
- 1990 – Jaime Alguersuari, Spanish race car driver
- 1990 – Princess Eugenie of York
- 1990 – Robert Zickert, German footballer
- 1991 – Gregg Wylde, Scottish footballer
- 1992 – Tolga Ciğerci, German-Turkish footballer
- 1992 – Kyrie Irving, Australian-American basketball player
- 1992 – Vanessa Morgan, Canadian actress and singer
- 1994 – Nick Powell, English footballer
- 1995 – Kevin Kauber, Estonian footballer
- 1995 – Jan Lisiecki, Canadian pianist
- 1997 – Aidan Davis, English dancer
Despatches
- 851 – Zhou Chi, Chinese historian and politician (b. 793)
- 1103 – Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1058)
- 1361 – Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster (b. 1310)
- 1369 – Peter of Castile (b. 1334)
- 1548 – Itagaki Nobukata, Japanese samurai (b. 1489)
- 1555 – Pope Julius III (b. 1487)
- 1559 – Gelawdewos, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1521)
- 1596 – Henry Unton, English diplomat (b. 1557)
- 1606 – Justus Lipsius, Flemish philologist (b. 1547)
- 1618 – James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Abercorn, Scottish politician (b. 1575)
- 1675 – Anthoni van Noordt, Dutch organist and composer (b. 1619)
- 1680 – Nicolas Fouquet, French politician (b. 1615)
- 1742 – Jean-Baptiste Dubos, French author (b. 1670)
- 1747 – Claude Alexandre de Bonneval, French general (b. 1675)
- 1748 – Johann Gottfried Walther, German organist and composer (b. 1684)
- 1754 – Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian and critic (b. 1693)
- 1783 – Charles Carroll, British-American lawyer and politician (b. 1723)
- 1801 – Paul I of Russia (b. 1754)
- 1842 – Stendhal, French author (b. 1783)
- 1884 – Henry C. Lord, American businessman (b. 1824)
- 1910 – Nadar, French photographer, journalist, and author (b. 1820)
- 1914 – Rafqa Pietra Choboq Ar-Rayès, Lebanese saint (b. 1832)
- 1923 – Hovhannes Tumanyan Armenian poet and author (b. 1869)
- 1927 – Paul César Helleu, French painter (b. 1859)
- 1931 – Shivaram Rajguru, Indian activist (b. 1908)
- 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (b. 1907)
- 1931 – Sukhdev Thapar, Indian activist (b. 1907)
- 1935 – Florence Moore, American actress (b. 1886)
- 1947 – Archduchess Louise of Austria (b. 1870)
- 1953 – Oskar Luts, Estonian author and playwright (b. 1887)
- 1955 – Artur da Silva Bernardes, Brazilian politician, 12th President of Brazil (b. 1875)
- 1960 – Franklin Pierce Adams, American journalist (b. 1881)
- 1960 – Said Nursî, Turkish theologian and scholar (b. 1878)
- 1960 – Raoul Paoli, French boxer and rower (b. 1887)
- 1961 – Albert Bloch, American painter (b. 1882)
- 1964 – Peter Lorre, Slovak-American actor (b. 1904)
- 1965 – Mae Murray, American actress, dancer, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1889)
- 1968 – Edwin O'Connor, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
- 1970 – Del Lord, Canadian actor and director (b. 1894)
- 1972 – Cristóbal Balenciaga, Spanish fashion designer, founded Balenciaga (b. 1895)
- 1978 – Haim Ernst Wertheimer, Israeli biochemist (b. 1893)
- 1979 – Ted Anderson, English footballer (b. 1911)
- 1980 – Alekos Livaditis, Greek actor (b. 1914)
- 1980 – Arthur Melvin Okun, American economist (b. 1928)
- 1981 – Beatrice Tinsley, New Zealand astronomer (b. 1941)
- 1984 – Shauna Grant, American porn actress and model (b. 1963)
- 1985 – Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching, English physicist and engineer (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Peter Charanis, Greek-American scholar and educator (b. 1908)
- 1985 – Ben Hardwick, English liver transplant patient (b. 1981)
- 1987 – Olev Roomet, Estonian singer and violinist (b. 1901)
- 1990 – John Dexter, English director and producer (b. 1925)
- 1991 – Parkash Singh, Indian soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1913)
- 1992 – Friedrich Hayek, Austrian economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
- 1992 – Ron Lapointe, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1949)
- 1994 – Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1950)
- 1994 – Giulietta Masina, Italian actress (b. 1921)
- 1994 – Donald Swann, Welsh-English singer-songwriter and pianist (Flanders and Swann) (b. 1923)
- 1995 – Alan Barton, English singer (Black Lace and Smokie) (b. 1953)
- 1995 – Davie Cooper, Scottish footballer (b. 1956)
- 1998 – Gerald Stano, American serial killer (b. 1951)
- 1999 – Luis María Argaña, Paraguayan judge and politician, Vice President of Paraguay (b. 1932)
- 1999 – Osmond Borradaile, Canadian cinematographer (b. 1898)
- 2000 – Jeremy Applegate, American television and film actor (b. 1965)
- 2001 – Rowland Evans, American journalist (b. 1921)
- 2001 – Robert Laxalt, American author (b. 1923)
- 2001 – David McTaggart, Canadian environmentalist (b. 1932)
- 2002 – Eileen Farrell, American soprano (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Ben Hollioake, Australian-English cricketer (b. 1977)
- 2003 – Fritz Spiegl, Austrian-English journalist (b. 1926)
- 2004 – Rupert Hamer, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (b. 1916)
- 2006 – David B. Bleak, American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1932)
- 2006 – Desmond Doss, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1919)
- 2006 – Cindy Walker, American singer-songwriter and dancer (b. 1918)
- 2007 – Paul Cohen, American mathematician (b. 1934)
- 2007 – Eric Medlen, American race car driver (b. 1973)
- 2008 – Vaino Vahing, Estonian psychiatrist, author, and playwright (b. 1940)
- 2009 – Ghukas Chubaryan, Armenian sculptor (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Raúl Macías, Mexican boxer and trainer (b. 1934)
- 2011 – Jean Bartik, American Computer Scientist (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Somalian politician, President of Somalia (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Jim Duffy, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Eric Lowen, American singer-songwriter (Lowen & Navarro) (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Naji Talib, Iraqi politician, 52nd Prime Minister of Iraq (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Lonnie Wright, American basketball and football player (b. 1945)
- 2013 – Sukhraj Aujla, Indian singer (b. 1968)
- 2013 – Boris Berezovsky, Russian-English mathematician and businessman (b. 1946)
- 2013 – Onofre Corpuz, Filipino economist, historian, and academic (b. 1926)
- 2013 – David Early, American actor (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player and coach (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Joe Weider, Canadian-American bodybuilder and publisher, co-founded the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness and Muscle & Fitness Magazine (b. 1919)
- 2014 – Peter Oakley, English blogger (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Jaroslav Šerých, Czech painter and illustrator (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Adolfo Suárez, Spanish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Spain (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Oderus Urungus, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and bass player (Gwar, Death Piggy, X-Cops, and Dave Brockie Experience) (b. 1963)
- 2015 – Lee Kuan Yew, first Prime Minister of Singapore (b. 1923)
2015
- Christian Feast Day:
- Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship (Hungary and Poland)
- Day of the Sea (Bolivia)
- Earliest day on which Easter Monday can fall, while April 26 is the latest; celebrated on Monday after Easter. (Christianity)
- Lieldienas (Ancient Latvia)
- Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Day (Azerbaijan)
- Pakistan Day (Pakistan)
- Tubilustrium, the fifth and final day of Quinquatria (Roman Empire)
- World Meteorological Day (International)
HEIL ONIONS
Tim Blair – Monday, March 23, 2015 (7:12am)
For the Prime Minister, the last couple of weeks have all been about onions and Nazis. It’s like a Paris restaurant in the early 1940s.
Continue reading 'HEIL ONIONS'
CLEMENTINE’S DARLING
Tim Blair – Monday, March 23, 2015 (6:00am)
What a delightful young lady.
ELOMAR ELOMARRIES AN ELOMINOR
Tim Blair – Monday, March 23, 2015 (5:44am)
It’s Islamic State’s wedding of the year:
Khaled Sharrouf’s teenage daughter has boasted about marrying his best mate Mohamed Elomar and posted photos of her young brother and a Yazidi slave child kneeling next to AK-47s.
Must have been a wonderful wedding reception. It isn’t often that the head table features actual heads. And for the bridal waltz, celebrating the groom’s future encounter with incendiary Peshmerga artillery: Sharrouf, Sharrouf, Sharrouf Is On Fire.
A Twitter account linked to the 14-year-old girl, who The Daily Telegraph has decided not to name, has claimed she is married to notorious Islamic State murderer Elomar, also known as Abu Hafs al Australi.
Sharrouf’s daughter has maintained an active presence online since arriving in Syria with her four siblings. The Australian has previously reported that Sharrouf’s eldest daughter liked Sandra Bullock and was worried about the environment.
Her main concern about the environment is that there’s not enough dead infidels in it.
COLVIN CHIPS CUT
Tim Blair – Monday, March 23, 2015 (4:58am)
Media Watch voiceover artist Will Colvin has now been cut from the program after working there for two years. But can anyone at the ABC explain why this vocally immature squeak merchant was hired in the first place?
INCITE FIRST, RECANT LATER
Tim Blair – Monday, March 23, 2015 (4:13am)
Academic and New Matilda national affairs correspondent Ben Eltham demonstrates the Sattler/Hodges method of inflammatory indigenous reportage:
OIL’S WELL
Tim Blair – Monday, March 23, 2015 (4:07am)
Crowds swarmed last week to the reopened Lindt Café, scene of December’s deadly Islamic terrorist attack. The decision by the café’s owners not to close their business was a brilliant one. Just as brilliant were Sydney’s people, who clearly will not be intimidated by acts of fundamentalist brutality.
Numbers may not be quite so large at an upcoming city art exhibition titled Our Water, Our Place.
Continue reading 'OIL’S WELL'
NATION DESCENDS
Tim Blair – Monday, March 23, 2015 (3:02am)
Drunken British goons storm a London synagogue:
A synagogue in the London suburb of Stamford Hill was attacked by a group of approximately 20 youths Saturday night.The youths, who yelled “we will kill you”, beat worshipers and vandalized property including tearing apart prayer books …
One local Jewish man who was passing by the synagogue at the time of the attack suffered hits to his face after being overwhelmed by the group of youths after trying to grab one of them to bring to the police.
Six men have since been arrested over the attack.
Reading too much in Julie Bishop’s talking eyes
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (8:44pm)
Fairfax and the ABC have seized with glee on the Julie Bishop eye-roll, claiming the Foreign Minister was sick of being filleted by the Treasurer:
Which makes this very much a storm in a teacup.
And which makes this comment by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Mark Kenny sound awfully like yet another of his increasingly shrill anti-Abbott beatups:
===Ms Bishop’s burst of expression occurred when Treasurer Joe Hockey was making his tribute to Fraser and praised him for starting the Expenditure Review Committee, the sub-grouping of cabinet that runs the budget…But wait. Greg Sheridan of The Australian is the author of the story which had Bishop fumning. And this is the line that did it:
... when Mr Hockey mentioned the budget committee, she proceeded to roll her eyes, shake her head, mutter under her breath, put her head in her hand and raise her eyebrows in dazzling and devastating succession…
It is ... likely that she was referring to the morning’s papers, which carried the news that her already-diminished aid budget was to be cut further by the committee.
As she had earlier told the ABC, this was the first she’d heard of the idea.
“I’ll certainly be taking that up with the Treasurer to find the source of that story,” she warned.
Her subsequent eye rolling suggests their conversation isn’t going to be easy.
The $140m outlay over four years for the innovationXchange centre will come from the overall aid budget, which The Australian understands is likely to suffer a further small cut in the May budget.Sheridan tonight on 2GB told me the source of that bit in bold - that Bishop’s adi budget would suffer a “small cut” - was neither Prime Minister Tony Abbott nor Treasurer Joe Hockey or anyone speaking on their behalf. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann notes that no such cuts have been discussed by the Expenditure Review Committee. Abbott has ruled out cuts.
Which makes this very much a storm in a teacup.
And which makes this comment by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Mark Kenny sound awfully like yet another of his increasingly shrill anti-Abbott beatups:
… the incident has fanned smouldering tensions within the government at the highest levels, revealing an absence of trust among Mr Abbott’s most senior leadership group.
A source said relations between Mr Hockey and Ms Bishop were at an all-time low and that Ms Bishop’s relationship with Mr Abbott was also under strain - largely because of his office.
In Parliament, Ms Bishop, regarded by many Liberals as the government’s best performing minister, made no secret of her disdain for Mr Hockey when he praised Malcolm Fraser for initiating the review committee process.
An onion to make you weep for the sanity of Abbott haters
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (11:30am)
It’s still just Monday, but Tim Blair has already written the line of the week:
UPDATE
I am struck by ABC host Annabel Crabb’s very different reactions to very different diets.
All this ABC freaking about Abbott eating an onion, yet no concern about the far stranger nourishment of Labor leaders:
===For the Prime Minister, the last couple of weeks have all been about onions and Nazis. It’s like a Paris restaurant in the early 1940s.
UPDATE
I am struck by ABC host Annabel Crabb’s very different reactions to very different diets.
Crabb sympathises:Compare that to Crabb’s reaction when Tony Abbott eats real food:
WE NEED to talk about Kevin. Specifically, that incident six years ago that barely anyone noticed at the time, but has since become something of a YouTube phenomenon…
I speak, of course, of ear wax; of Mr Rudd’s quest for nourishment from his own left aural canal…
Mr Rudd, when caught out in an act of shamelessness, has quite an endearing automatic response - he grins…
Thirty seconds of footage - shot years ago when you were tired or bored ... - now has the power to leap out and crash-tackle you without warning…
No wonder viewers of the footage in question invariably crumple in dismay.
Part of the brain thinks: “Ear wax! Gross!”
The other part thinks, horrified: “Imagine if that happened to me.”
It’s not much comfort, probably, but Mr Rudd is in reasonable company.
Crabb jeers:UPDATE
It’s been nine days since the Prime Minister travelled to a farm in Tasmania and ate an onion like it was an apple…
And yet the insistent simplicity, the metronomic weirdness of Friday-nine-days-ago at the onion farm cannot be forgotten… I find that I cannot read or think about anything the government does without thinking of that moment, and wondering who eats raw onions, and why, and what it might possibly mean for the nation that the Prime Minister is one of them…
...a PM who redraws social convention ambitiously enough to permit the on-camera consumption of an unpeeled onion is ... existentially alarming…
Two days after the onion-eating, when the Prime Minister on Sky News last Sunday declared his intention not to give a further inch on his higher education reforms, I was duly attentive but simultaneously conscious of a voice inside my skull murmuring, with quiet finality: “He ate an onion.”
On Monday, when Mr Abbott confirmed ... the government would ... sacrifice all its planned budgetary savings on university spending, my brain understood that this was a significant development, but the little voice would not let things rest: “It had the skin on. The SKIN.”
When the deal was struck on the government’s metadata legislation ... it was hard to hear, with the voice – not just a voice now, more of a rowdy pub chimp – yammering “Even the onion guy did not think it was okay to eat an onion!…
All I can think of is onion… Is it possible that this man does not – socially, at least – answer to the same gods we answer to?
All this ABC freaking about Abbott eating an onion, yet no concern about the far stranger nourishment of Labor leaders:
(Thanks to reader Ed.)
Don’t attack Abbott for not doing what Labor won’t let him
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (10:53am)
Henry Ergas on the terrible dilemma, caused in large part by the dangerous populism of Bill Shorten’s Labor:
===With the global financial crisis precipitating unsustainable spending increases, governments face the dilemma succinctly expressed by Luxembourg’s long-serving prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker: “We all know what to do; we just don’t know how to get re-elected after we’ve done it"…This crunch comes closer, as David Crowe notes:
Abbott ... knows change is desperately needed; if he is stymied, it is not out of a reluctance to act but because the senate stands implacably in his way. That, no doubt, is its prerogative; but it would be wrong to view the impasse as merely the playing out of our constitutional arrangements…
With governments having responsibility without power, while the senate crossbench has power without responsibility, the consequences could only be disastrous; and that has become a certainty as fiscal constraints make it ever harder to rely on giveaways to muster the support reform requires. That Labor and the Greens think their interest lies in chaos only makes matters worse.
Whatever may happen, there is no prospect of our major parties following the recent example of their Swedish counterparts and agreeing that the party of government will have the right to implement its fiscal program, allowing the electorate to hold it accountable for that program’s effects.
A SPIKE in government payments has shattered Tony Abbott’s hope of slashing outlays within a year as he prepares to reveal new spending on families to lift his political fortunes…(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Treasury charts ... show the government will not bring payments back to their long-term average as a share of the economy until 2021 at the earliest — well behind the plans set out in the budget last May.
The charts reveal the long-term impact of $13.7 billion in higher payments over the coming four years as well as a shortfall in tax revenue, threatening to widen future deficits…
The Treasury document highlights the “spending problem” at the heart of the budget at a time when government is struggling to convince voters to accept unpopular savings, raising questions about whether leaders are willing to take the political risks needed to contain spending pressures…
Senate negotiations have contributed to the problem after the government agreed to retain major spending measures — including the Schoolkids Bonus — to gain votes in the upper house to scrap the mining tax....
[Assistant Treasurer Josh] Frydenberg [on yesterday’s Bolt Report] defended plans to spend more on childcare in the budget…
Social Services Minister Scott Morrison ... is expected to argue that Labor should support last year’s changes to family tax benefits — including $5bn in savings stalled in the Senate — to free up funds for childcare services.
Shut up, the Left explained
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (9:37am)
The modern Left doesn’t do debate. It does the politics of shut-up instead.
Miranda Devine
===Miranda Devine
The intimidation and silencing of contrary voices in the same sex marriage debate is despicable and desperate.Brendan O’Neill:
The forced resignation of Mozilla’s CEO Brendan Eich after he was discovered to have once donated $1,000 to a political campaign against same-sex marriage is a case in point.
So is the taxpayer funded SBS’ refusal to run a gentle 30-second advertisement in favour of traditional marriage during its Mardi Gras coverage.
And the compulsory mediation Toowoomba physician David van Gend was forced to attend after he wrote an article saying a baby deserves both a mother and a father.
The latest targets of militant gay thought police are the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who told an Italian magazine this month: “The only family is the traditional one.”
The condemnation was immediate, with an outraged Sir Elton John calling for a boycott.
It takes gay people to come out and say what straight people are too intimidated to say.
For an insight into the new intolerance, into the 21st century’s choking culture of ‘You Can’t Say That!’, look no further than the Dolce & Gabbana debacle. No sooner had the Italian Catholic designers of expensive clobber expressed their views on gay marriage, gay surrogacy and gay IVF use — in a nutshell they’re not a fan of any of it — than they were pounced upon by a right-on outraged mob led by national treasure cum national tyrant, Elton John. Demanding that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana be harshly punished for holding the ‘wrong views’, for daring to cock a snook at received wisdom as defined by Elton and his fawning followers in the media, pop and Hollywood industries, this Down With D&G mob has called for a boycott of the fashion house, with the hope that its sales will plummet and, fingers crossed, its business will collapse. People of the world, you have been warned: defy ‘right thinking’ and you will be destroyed.(Thanks to reader John.)
With not so much as a smidgen of self-awareness, Elton and his pitchfork-wielding fanclub have described Dolce and Gabbana’s comments as ‘ugly’. When what’s been really ugly — and hysterical, too — has been the response to their comments. It has shown how thoughtless, how unreflective, how Pavlovian the playing of the ‘You Can’t Say That!’ card has become in the second decade of the 21st century. There was no consideration, no stopping to think, no offer to write serious, sensible responses to D&G that said ‘I think you’re wrong, and here’s why’. Instead, the outrage machine kicked in right away, churning out shrill condemnations, demands for retractions, and threats of hitting the pair where it hurts: in the bank. It all showed how much the intolerance of alternative views has become a kind of tic, a thought-free reflex that motors itself up almost the minute the other person opens his or her mouth to speak. ‘You think differently to me?! This mustn’t be allowed!’
How hatred helped drive Malcolm Fraser to the Left
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (8:30am)
IT’S the mystery that’s puzzled journalists writing the obituaries for former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser.
How did a Right-wing politician turn into such a ferociously Left-wing activist?
How did Fraser become a frenzied critic of Australia, America and even his once-beloved Liberal Party, which he quit in protest five years ago, campaigning instead for the Greens’ Senator Sarah Hanson-Young?
It’s bizarre. As a politician, Fraser argued for sending troops to Vietnam and even advised the United States to consider dropping an atomic bomb.
But in retirement, he demanded we cut our defence ties with the US, and accused it of wild conspiracies.
He insisted there was a “major danger” of an aggressive US declaring war on China and even claimed the US had covered up a deliberate Israeli bombing of one of its spy ships.
Fraser eventually ticked all the Left’s boxes.
Republic — for. Boat turn-backs — against.
Nuclear power — no. Wind power — yes.
Global warming — alarm. Islamism — excuse.
Abbott — despise. Turnbull — support.
Israel — anti. China — pro.
This ideological inversion puzzled Greg Sheridan, foreign affairs editor of The Australian, who in a brilliant piece noted: “The astonishing political migration remains unexplained and the key mystery to Malcolm Fraser.”
But another obituary, by the Herald Sun’s John Masanauskas, gave what I think is a critical clue — one that also reveals something about the punishing savagery of the attacks on Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
(Read full article here.)
===How did a Right-wing politician turn into such a ferociously Left-wing activist?
How did Fraser become a frenzied critic of Australia, America and even his once-beloved Liberal Party, which he quit in protest five years ago, campaigning instead for the Greens’ Senator Sarah Hanson-Young?
It’s bizarre. As a politician, Fraser argued for sending troops to Vietnam and even advised the United States to consider dropping an atomic bomb.
But in retirement, he demanded we cut our defence ties with the US, and accused it of wild conspiracies.
He insisted there was a “major danger” of an aggressive US declaring war on China and even claimed the US had covered up a deliberate Israeli bombing of one of its spy ships.
Fraser eventually ticked all the Left’s boxes.
Republic — for. Boat turn-backs — against.
Nuclear power — no. Wind power — yes.
Global warming — alarm. Islamism — excuse.
Abbott — despise. Turnbull — support.
Israel — anti. China — pro.
This ideological inversion puzzled Greg Sheridan, foreign affairs editor of The Australian, who in a brilliant piece noted: “The astonishing political migration remains unexplained and the key mystery to Malcolm Fraser.”
But another obituary, by the Herald Sun’s John Masanauskas, gave what I think is a critical clue — one that also reveals something about the punishing savagery of the attacks on Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
(Read full article here.)
Mob attacks London synagogue. UPDATE: Obama and even our Red Rattler Theatre allied against Israel
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (8:15am)
Jew-hatred is now inflamed by the Left, made lethal by the Islamist Right and made official by the United Nations. Result: Europe is becoming increasingly dangerous for the Jews.
Isi Leibler, former head of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and chairman of the World Jewish Congress, told me last month that even Britain was fast becoming too dangerous, too, but Jews there keeping quiet and didn’t want to “face up to reality”.
I don’t think that their denial will last much longer:
The Left in Australia gives more cover to the Jew-haters:
Red Rattler Theatre does not realise how hypocritical it is in judging and punishing Jews here for Israel’s attempts to defend its very existence. From the Red Rattler Theatre’s instructions to patrons and performers:
Barack Obama is leading international attacks on Israel, undermining its very ability to survive:
===Isi Leibler, former head of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and chairman of the World Jewish Congress, told me last month that even Britain was fast becoming too dangerous, too, but Jews there keeping quiet and didn’t want to “face up to reality”.
I don’t think that their denial will last much longer:
UPDATE
A synagogue in the London suburb of Stamford Hill was attacked by a group of approximately 20 youths Saturday night.
The youths, who yelled “we will kill you”, beat worshipers and vandalized property including tearing apart prayer books reported The Jerusalem Post.
One local Jewish man who was passing by the synagogue at the time of the attack suffered hits to his face after being overwhelmed by the group of youths after trying to grab one of them to bring to the police.,,
The Community Security Trust (CST), which records anti-Semitism and provides security for Britain’s Jewish community, said that 1,168 anti-Semitic incidents were reported over 2014.
It was more than double the 535 incidents seen in 2013, and the highest annual total seen since CST began records in 1984.
The Left in Australia gives more cover to the Jew-haters:
A SYDNEY theatre has refused a booking from a Jewish cultural group… Hilel, a not-for-profit Jewish educational and cultural organisation for students and young adults, approached The Red Rattler Theatre in Marrickville, in Sydney’s inner west, about hiring the venue for a series of performances dealing with the Holocaust.Of course not! This isn’t really about such practical matters as Alhadeff presented.
Their inquiry was dismissed with an unsigned email that read: “Our policy does not support colonialism/Zionism. Therefore we do not host groups that support the colonisation and occupation of Palestine.”
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff ... has written to the theatre, explaining that the group is apolitical. He has also reiterated the board’s support for a two-state solution in the Middle East that would lead to the establishment of an independent Palestine.
No response has been received to Mr Alhadeff’s letter or phone calls to the theatre.
Red Rattler Theatre does not realise how hypocritical it is in judging and punishing Jews here for Israel’s attempts to defend its very existence. From the Red Rattler Theatre’s instructions to patrons and performers:
The Red Rattler Theatre Inc is a licenced venue with the community at heart, we ask that all our guests abide by basic rules to ensure everyone has a good time, and no one gets hurt…UPDATE
- No judgement…PERFORMER POLICY…
We ask you to join us in efforts to make this space welcoming, stimulating, and happiness producing to people regardless of their ethnicity....
Barack Obama is leading international attacks on Israel, undermining its very ability to survive:
Obama’s pledge to “reassess” America’s relationship with Israel cannot be taken lightly. Already paving the way for an Iranian nuke, ... [it] could mean American support for punitive Security Council resolutions or for Palestinian statehood initiatives. It could mean both, or something worse…(Thanks to readers Peter of Bellevue Hill, Gab, Me2 and brett tr.)
His visceral dislike for Netanyahu is genuine, but also serves as a convenient fig leaf for his visceral dislike of Israel. The fact that it’s personal with Netanyahu doesn’t explain six years of trying to bully Israelis into signing a suicide pact with Muslims bent on destroying them. Netanyahu’s only sin is that he puts his nation’s security first and refuses to knuckle under to Obama’s endless demands for unilateral concessions…
Consider that, for all the upheaval around the world, the president rarely has a cross word for, let alone an open dispute with, any other foreign leader. He calls Great Britain’s David Cameron “bro” and praised Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohammed Morsi, who had called Zionists, “the descendants of apes and pigs."…
Most troubling is Obama’s bended-knee deference to Iran’s Supreme Leader, which has been repaid with “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” demonstrations in Tehran and expanded Iranian military action in other countries.
The courtship reached the height of absurdity last week, when Obama wished Iranians a happy Persian new year by equating Republican critics of his nuclear deal with the resistance of theocratic hard-liners, saying both “oppose a diplomatic solution.” That is a damnable slur given that a top American military official estimates that Iranian weapons, proxies and trainers killed 1,500 US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Who in their right mind would trust such an evil regime with a nuke?
Yet Netanyahu, the leader of our only reliable ally in the region, is repeatedly singled out for abuse. He alone is the target of an orchestrated attempt to defeat him at the polls, with Obama political operatives, funded in part by American taxpayers, working to elect his opponent.
Martin Ferguson demands a new cop for the lawless CFMEU. So why is Labor against it?
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (8:06am)
Why is Labor defending these thugs and leaving employers defenceless?
A former Labor minister speaks out:
Foul.
===A former Labor minister speaks out:
FORMER ACTU president Martin Ferguson has backed the reinstatement of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, likening the actions of elements of the CFMEU to the outlawed Builders Labourers Federation and declaring the union must be “brought to heel’’.Wait. The only reason the Government will need the support of the crossbenchers is that Labor now opposes the ABCC. It does not want this policeman to stand watch over the lawless CFMEU, a major donor to the party.
Mr Ferguson, the resources minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments, said that for the sake of the building industry, there had to be a “policeman on the beat’’…
“My position is one of consistency as a cabinet minister and, prior to that, as a shadow minister. I supported the Australian Building and Construction Commission.’’
Mr Ferguson’s comments come after Fair Work Building and Construction director Nigel Hadgkiss warned last week about increasing lawlessness in the industry, saying 75 CFMEU officials were before the courts, facing 403 alleged breaches of workplace laws.
With parliament weighing up a crucial vote on the reinstatement of the ABCC to replace the Fair Work Building and Construction agency, ... the government needs support of six of the eight crossbench senators…
Foul.
InvisiBill Shorten
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (7:56am)
If NSW Labor leader
Luke Foley loses by a fair margin on Saturday - something like the 46 to
54 now suggested by polls - the heat will really go on another
opposition leader who is likewise trying to steal government with
deceitful scaremongering and bloody-minded opposition to real reform:
Former Prime Minister John Howard yesterday:
===In opposition, Tony Abbott was accused of adopting a small-target strategy.Note that Shorten feels comparatively safer with the ABC and the Canberra press pack than with the media outlets that pitch more to Labor’s traditional working class.
But the current opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has made himself an even smaller target, giving at least 200 fewer interviews and perhaps as many as 400 fewer while avoiding hostile commercial media outlets and commentators such as Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones and Ray Hadley.
An analysis by Fairfax Media of the pair’s media outings in 2011 and 2014 respectively – each man’s first full year as opposition leader after a federal election – has also prompted questions in the Labor caucus among MPs about the opposition’s strategy.
While Mr Shorten has promised 2015 will be a year of ideas for the ALP, some sections of the caucus believe the opposition is not capitalising on the Abbott government’s political woes to define itself and announce more policies. Labor has so-far released only a handful of policies, including on multi-national tax avoidance and $70 million extra for family violence critical services.
The comparative analysis of publicly available published transcripts shows Mr Abbott gave 457 radio and TV interviews, press conferences and shorter “doorstop” interviews in 2011, while Mr Shorten gave just 265 in the equivalent 2014 period.
The publicly available information shows both men faced the scrutiny of the Canberra press gallery about the same number of times – 47 times for Mr Abbott and 54 times for Mr Shorten – and both men spoke to the ABC about the same number of times – 40 times for Mr Abbott and 45 times for Mr Shorten.UPDATE
Former Prime Minister John Howard yesterday:
ONE of the reasons we came back was that deep down, people didn’t think Kim Beazley — terrific bloke — stood for anything. And there’s a lot of parallels now. I don’t think Bill Shorten stands for anything. And I think one of the things that will increasingly be put in the spotlight is the policy vacuum of the Labor Party.
Lee Kuan Yew dies
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (7:04am)
Didn’t like his authoritarianism at all, but cannot help but admire his final legacy:
The worst of Lee Kuan Yew:
===SINGAPORE’S founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew has died at the age of 91, the prime minister’s office says.Australia’s trajectory in the meantime?
Lee, as the founder of modern Singapore helped transform the sleepy port into one of the world’s richest nations.
The worst of Lee Kuan Yew:
The best:
The legacy:
Faces of the modern Left
Andrew Bolt March 23 2015 (7:01am)
The Left purports to represent people with a more developed sense of morality.
You know, people with more compassion, a higher devotion to truth and a greater passion for peace.
Yet I cannot help suspecting that the Left is dragging back to barbarity.
Strange.
(Via Tim Blair.)
===You know, people with more compassion, a higher devotion to truth and a greater passion for peace.
Yet I cannot help suspecting that the Left is dragging back to barbarity.
Strange.
(Via Tim Blair.)
Israel and Singapore: A mysterious historical bondIsrael Trade & Economic Office, Embassy of Israel http://t.co/mWJwH9EA0q via @sharethis
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
ALP feed PBO lies.. http://t.co/Vp6DsmoW7w via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
Local councils make us do the same with pets .. Childcare sending kids home with poo in bags. http://t.co/83qpVZsbe6 via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
Lee Kuan Yew died at 91, great uncompromising statesman, first met 50 years ago in Canberra. Advice always wise.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) March 22, 2015
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Photo: Be the poem http://t.co/O50H71Q2xN
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
I like that woman .. Indian student drags drunk attacker to police by his hair http://t.co/x74kdWs4kG via @theage
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
An opportunity to block legislation, gone. Senator rubbishes decision to suspend Parliament 4 Fraser trib http://t.co/Nw5wB47YU9 via @theage
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
Ex-TV presenter Charlo Greene’s cannabis club raided by police http://t.co/77EFr4TA0K via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
Singaporeans mourn death of founding father Lee Kuan Yew as world leaders pay tribute | http://t.co/Hdu1ZkH1Ey
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
McCain to Obama: 'Get over your temper tantrum, Mr. President' and focus on ISIS | http://t.co/69m2MVBLlg
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
They hid like cowards. Their followers speak out like bullies http://t.co/yvm7wMa7BF
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 23, 2015
===
Life is sweet .. Sick girl, 14, who begged to die changes her mind about euthanasia http://t.co/HmY5GX4M9T via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) March 22, 2015
=== Posts from last year ===
Shorten’s hypocrisy knows no bounds
Piers Akerman – Sunday, March 23, 2014 (5:51am)
FEDERAL Labor is asking way, way too much of the public with its high-minded moralistic posturing over Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos.
Sinodinos, who stood aside as assistant treasurer on Wednesday to give the government clear air in the lead-up to the May Budget, has been called as a witness in the current NSW ICAC hearings into whether former NSW Labor heavyweights Eddie Obeid, Joe Tripodi and Tony Kelly misused their positions to favour Australian Water Holdings.
No allegations of any criminal activity have been made against the NSW Senator, a former chief of staff to former prime minister John Howard, with an enviable reputation for honesty and integrity.
Yet former AWU boss and Labor leader Bill Shorten, who is likely to be called before the royal commission headed by former High Court justice Dyson Heydon into alleged trade union corruption, has occupied almost all Question Time with his attempts to besmirch Sinodinos and by association, Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
As Education Minister firmly told Parliament on Thursday, the Abbott government “will not be judged by the party of Craig Thomson, and the party of Michael Williamson, and the party of the AWU slush fund, and the party of Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald”.
Thomson, the former Health Services Union official and former Labor MP, has been found guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court of misusing union members funds to pay for prostitutes and personal expenses. He will be sentenced next Tuesday.
Williamson, a former national president of the ALP and a former head of the Health Services Union, pleaded guilty last October 15 to four charges of cheating or defrauding as a director, fabricating invoices and recruiting someone to hinder a police investigation.
His bail has been revoked and he in prison awaiting final sentencing this Friday.
The AWU slush fund affair is likely to see former Labor prime minister Julia Gillard called before the Heydon royal commission where she is likely to be asked to explain her role in assisting her then boyfriend Bruce Wilson establish a fund that was kept secret from both Wilson’s union, and Gillard’s employers, the Labor law firm Slater & Gordon.
Both Obeid and Macdonald were found to be corrupt by the NSW ICAC in connection with the issuance of mining licenses.
Little wonder that Pyne pulled Shorten up firmly.
Labor has clung to tainted MPs, even defended them, when the stench of corruption was evident to all (except, perhaps, Labor’s media arm, the ABC).
As Shorten and some unwise souls on the Opposition benches feigned outrage, Pyne walked through them through Labor’s sad record, reminding the smarting Opposition MPs that their party lacked all credibility and left itself shamefully exposed on the topics of ministerial accountability and parliamentary standards.
He said Labor presided over a “sewer” in the past three years with “an endless list of atrocities committed against this parliament”.
He reminded the House that Labor had not only suborned former Liberal MP Peter Slipper by offering him the Speakership (replacing the universally respected Labor MP Harry Jenkins) but had kept Thomson in their party room until April 29, 2012, even though there a cloud had been hanging over the former NSW Central Coast MP as early as January, 2009, well before the 2010 election, when the Fair Work Commission commenced its inquiry into the HSU’s Victorian No. 1 Branch.
So concerned was Labor about the allegations engulfing Thomson that former prime minister Gillard’s chief of staff Ben Hubbard rang the then Industrial Registrar Doug Williams in early 2009 to inquire into whether Thomson was under investigation – before the fraud allegations were made public.
Then, despite the New South Wales police launching Strike Force Carnarvon, in September, 2011, despite the Victorian police fraud squad’s confirmation of its investigation into Thomson in October, 2011, despite Fair Work Australia’s publication of its investigation into the HSU in April 2012, and its release of its investigation into the Victorian HSU No. 1 Branch, Labor continued to protect Thomson and his caucus vote.
No allegations, I repeat, have been made against Sinodinos. He has been called before ICAC as a witness.
Labor has had its share of MPs and ministers called as witnesses before ICAC, not least being former climate change minister Greg Combet who was questioned about a letter he wrote supporting a controversial mining licence sought by union official John Maitland.
The noisy Senator Doug Cameron was called to give evidence about the Obeids.
In neither case did the Liberals demand either be stripped or their responsibilities or disciplined.
The contrast between the behaviour of the two principal parties in Australian politics could not be greater.
Labor is the party of smear, innuendo and hypocrisy.
There is probably no greater example of Labor’s gutter tactics than the ugliness revealed by Gillard herself during the confected frenzy of her extremely personal tirade against Tony Abbott during which she falsely claimed he was a misogynist as she attempted to distract the public from her personal appointment of Slipper, a man who had made the most appalling references to women’s sexual organs, to the highest parliamentary office.
“I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man,” she shrieked. “Not now, not ever.”
Pathetic and baseless charges eagerly seized upon by the mindless twitterati who chose to ignore Gillard’s moral deceit and betrayal of principle in regard to Slipper’s promotion.
“Not now, not ever,” Gillard screeched theatrically.
Well, “not now, not ever”, should anyone from Labor try and lecture anyone about morality, about ethics or parliamentary standards.
Labor over the past six years has demonstrated it lacks all understanding of the terms.
CHURCH OF ONE
Tim Blair – Sunday, March 23, 2014 (2:47pm)
This won’t come as a surprise, but Peter FitzSimons worships himself:
For the photo for my licence, I was asked to remove my bandanna …The lady confirmed that in NSW exceptions were made for hijabs, so I said I wanted to wear my bandanna for my religion.‘’And what is that?’’ she asked.‘’The Me religion,’’ I said, deadpan.She conferred with a colleague, and came back.‘’OK, you can wear it,’’ she said.
UPDATE. “You missed the best bit about the Fitzy column,” emails PWAF. “Read the Gillard segment aloud in a Jiminy Glick voice. You’ll thank me later.”
1-800-MUTILATE
Tim Blair – Saturday, March 22, 2014 (11:47pm)
Britain’s female genital mutilation helpline receives an unexpected call:
A suspect contacted an FGM helpline to request the procedure for his two daughters after misunderstanding the purpose of the service for victims.
Mark Steyn comments:
What an unfortunate “misunderstanding”. The gentleman had called the Female Genital Mutilation Helpline thinking it was a helpline set up by Her Majesty’s Government to help you find someone to genitally mutilate your daughters. In the rich, vibrant diversity of the modern multicultural state, it’s easy to see why the poor fellow might make that assumption. Just give it a couple more years, sir.
It’s a life-imitates-art moment. Observe this scene from Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator.
The Bolt Report today
Andrew Bolt March 23 2014 (6:31am)
On the show today:
Unwanted boat people - and a little chat about activists who cry “racist”.
Guests Josh Frydenberg, Peter Costello and Bruce Hawker.
In NewsWatch, Sharri Markson on the ABC’s weird war against the Murdoch media.
Plus Your Say - and a few hypocrites exposed.
On Network 10 at 10am and 4pm.
In my interview with Frydenberg we discussed the regulatory burden. I drew on figures supplied by Chris Berg of the IPA. Chris has written an excellent paper on the explosion of laws which you can read here.
The videos of the show appear here.
UPDATE
I think it is time other Jewish leaders stepped forward to support Josh and marginalise those pushing the extreme position. There must be room for compromise, because the damage being done by the uncompromisers is not just to the cause of free speech but to their community and their more reliable allies:
Continue reading 'The Bolt Report today'
===Unwanted boat people - and a little chat about activists who cry “racist”.
Guests Josh Frydenberg, Peter Costello and Bruce Hawker.
In NewsWatch, Sharri Markson on the ABC’s weird war against the Murdoch media.
Plus Your Say - and a few hypocrites exposed.
On Network 10 at 10am and 4pm.
In my interview with Frydenberg we discussed the regulatory burden. I drew on figures supplied by Chris Berg of the IPA. Chris has written an excellent paper on the explosion of laws which you can read here.
The videos of the show appear here.
UPDATE
I think it is time other Jewish leaders stepped forward to support Josh and marginalise those pushing the extreme position. There must be room for compromise, because the damage being done by the uncompromisers is not just to the cause of free speech but to their community and their more reliable allies:
THE government’s only Jewish MP, Josh Frydenberg, has placed himself at odds with the nation’s Jewish leadership by backing the Coalition’s reforms to the Racial Discrimination Act.UPDATE
THE BOLT REPORT
23 MARCH 2014
INTERVIEW WITH JOSH FRYDENBERG
ANDREW BOLT, PRESENTER: The last Labor government said it was a success because of the number of laws it passed.ANTHONY ALBANESE, LABOR FRONTBENCHER (FEB 2013): We’ve been stable. More than 430 pieces of legislation through the House of Representatives. (SEPT 2013) We got through almost 600 pieces of legislation.ANDREW BOLT: That’s the kind of attitude that’s given us too many laws and too little freedom. Now let me show you. To set up and run Australia at the start of last century, our parliament passed 358 pages of legislation in the first two years. A pile of paper this high. But in the last full year of the Gillard Government, Parliament passed 8,150 pages of legislation. Have a look, pages of laws in our first two years, pages of laws in the last full year of the Gillard Government. Well, the Abbott Government will on Wednesday introduce another measure of government success - not passing laws but scrapping them - around 10,000 regulations and Acts of Parliament. Now, Josh Frydenberg joins me, he is the parliamentary secretary in charge of this annual bonfire of laws. Josh, you’ve promised to cut red tape by $1 billion a year. Your press release says that on Wednesday you’ll be cutting just about $700 million of red tape. Why have you fallen short?
JOSH FRYDENBERG, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY: Well, we’re going to have two repeal days a year, Andrew, and the second will be in the second half of the year. And I’m hopeful that, by the end of the year, we would have met our $1 billion target. It’s an ambitious target. It’s, as you say, succeeding where Labor failed, and it’s really important to job creation in this country, to investment, to innovation in this country, even for the not-for-profit sector. They’re all going to benefit out of cutting red tape.
ANDREW BOLT: Maybe you fell short by failing to get rid of the gender reporting requirements, you know, forcing companies with 100 or more employees to say what they’re doing for female workers. Now, why did you back off such stupid nanny-ism?
Continue reading 'The Bolt Report today'
Independent calls sick in SA. Ugly draw now possible
Andrew Bolt March 23 2014 (6:27am)
South Australia might be headed to a fresh election to sort this out:
UPDATE
Brock makes the only call in the circumstances that avoids the risk of calling another election. He backs Labor, giving it 24 votes in all to the Liberals 22, with the other independent off sick.
Brock will be as nervous as hell that he’ll become another Oakeshott or Windsor, but in his press conference today insisted he’ll be free to vote against the government on every issue bar supply and a vote of no confidence. I suspect he’ll be looking at chances to prove he’s independent, too.
(Thanks to readers CA and Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
===INDEPENDENT MP and powerbroker Bob Such is in hospital and likely to require extended sick leave from parliament — throwing negotiations to form the next state government into chaos.More:
Dr Such is one of two independent MPs who hold the power to select the next state government, after last weekend’s state election ended in a hung parliament.
His sudden illness could even result in the state being forced back to the polls.Dr Such, 69, is in Flinders Medical Centre and Advertiser.com.au understands he will take sick leave that could last for months. The exact nature of his condition has not been revealed, but it is understood he has been scheduled for surgery in coming days… Dr Such’s absence throws open the possibility of another state election if Mr Brock decides to back the Liberal Party, resulting in a 23-23 deadlock…
Advertiser.com.au’s revelation yesterday that independent MP Bob Such is taking extended leave on health grounds ... piles immense pressure on the Port Pirie independent MP and reluctant kingmaker Geoff Brock. He now shoulders an even greater burden in this historic decision.Or he could just support neither, leaving Labor with most seats but no majority.
If Dr Such is unable or unwilling to back either party to form government then Mr Brock, a former mayor from a conservative electorate, faces an diabolical choice.
He could back Labor and give it a clear two-vote advantage on the floor of State Parliament… If Dr Such remains absent, Mr Brock could throw his support behind the Liberals and deliver a 23-23 voting gridlock on the floor of Parliament. It would struggle to find a speaker as both sides refused to lose votes from the floor and a government would be hard to form in the mess.
UPDATE
Brock makes the only call in the circumstances that avoids the risk of calling another election. He backs Labor, giving it 24 votes in all to the Liberals 22, with the other independent off sick.
Brock will be as nervous as hell that he’ll become another Oakeshott or Windsor, but in his press conference today insisted he’ll be free to vote against the government on every issue bar supply and a vote of no confidence. I suspect he’ll be looking at chances to prove he’s independent, too.
(Thanks to readers CA and Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Talking about “an unconscious bias”, dear Judge…
Andrew Bolt March 23 2014 (5:30am)
Hypocrite alert:
===On Friday, [Queensland] Supreme Court of Appeal president Justice Margaret McMurdo questioned in a speech whether “an unconscious bias” by the LNP leadership meant women were being ignored for judicial appointments.
It drew an angry response from the politicians yesterday… [Attorney-General Jarrod] Bleijie said Justice McMurdo had been consulted about a replacement when Justice Margaret White retired from the Queensland Court of Appeal last year, and did not recommend any women, but did mention her husband Justice Philip McMurdo…
“(She said) if I couldn’t appoint her husband, or promote her husband to the Court of Appeal … then I should appoint Justice Peter Lyons.... “She said ... you have to appoint the best people for the job, and the best person for the job is not a woman at the bar at the moment.”
A natural misunderstanding
Andrew Bolt March 23 2014 (4:55am)
Mark Steyn on a little misunderstanding on the multicultural help line:
===Meanwhile, across the North Sea, Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service is bringing to court the first cases over female genital mutilation. But not for everyone:(Thanks to reader Bruce.)
The CPS has decided to take no further action in four other cases of alleged FGM.
In one of those cases… a suspect contacted an FGM helpline to request the procedure for his two daughters after misunderstanding the purpose of the service for victims.
Oh, dear. What an unfortunate “misunderstanding”. The gentleman had called the Female Genital Mutilation Helpline thinking it was a helpline set up by Her Majesty’s Government to help you find someone to genitally mutilate your daughters. In the rich, vibrant diversity of the modern multicultural state, it’s easy to see why the poor fellow might make that assumption. Just give it a couple more years, sir.”
One of those rules we should worry were needed
Andrew Bolt March 23 2014 (4:51am)
The NSW Government actually needed to tell this to teachers?
===T-shirts, ripped jeans, strapless dresses and mid-riff tops will be prohibited, with male teachers required to wear collars, while females must banish clothes that are “revealing or suggestive”.
And although rubber thongs, singlets, tracksuits and clothes displaying alcohol advertising are also in the state government’s sights, the code does not go as far as banning tattoos and piercings.
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DID YOU KNOW?What IS The Main Ingredient of WD-40?
Before you read to the end, does anybody know what the main ingredient of WD-40?
No Cheating.....
WD-40 ~ Who knew!
I had a neighbor who bought a new pickup.
I got up very early one Sunday morning and saw that someone had spray painted red all around the sides of this beige truck (for some unknown reason).
I went over, woke him up, and told him the bad news.
He was very upset and was trying to figure out what to do....
probably nothing until Monday morning, since nothing was open.
Another neighbor came out and told him to get his WD-40 and clean it off.
It removed the unwanted paint beautifully and did not harm his paint job that was on the truck. I was impressed!
WD-40 who knew?
"Water Displacement #40".
The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and degreaser to protect missile parts.
WD-40 was created in 1953, by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company.
Its name comes from the project that was to find a 'Water Displacement' Compound.
They were finally successful for a formulation, with their fortieth attempt, thus WD-40.
The 'Convair Company' bought it in bulk to protect their atlas missile parts.
Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would hurt you.
When you read the 'shower door' part, try it.
It's the first thing that has ever cleaned that spotty shower door.
If yours is plastic, it works just as well as on glass.
It's a miracle!
Then try it on your stovetop.
It's now shinier than it's ever been.
You'll be amazed.
WD-40 Uses:
1. Protects silver from tarnishing.
2. Removes road tar and grime from cars.
3. Cleans and lubricates guitar strings.
4. Gives floor that 'just-waxed' sheen without making them slippery.
5. Keeps the flies off of Cows, Horses, and other Farm Critters, as well. (Ya gotta love this one!!!)
6. Restores and cleans chalkboards.
7. Removes lipstick stains.
8. Loosens stubborn zippers.
9. Untangles jewelry chains.
10. Removes stains from stainless steel sinks.
11. Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill.
12. Keeps ceramic / terracotta garden pots from oxidizing.
13. Removes tomato stains from clothing.
14. Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots.
15. Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors.
16. Keeps scissors working smoothly.
17. Lubricates noisy door hinges on both home and vehicles doors.
18. It removes that nasty tar and scuff marks from the kitchen flooring.
It doesn't seem to harm the finish and you won't have to scrub nearly as hard to get them off.
Just remember to open some windows if you have a lot of marks.
19. Remove those nasty Bug guts that will eat away the finish on your car if not removed quickly!
20. Gives a children's playground gym slide a shine for a super fast slide.
21. Lubricates gearshift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding mowers...
22. Rids kids rocking chair and swings of squeaky noises.
23. Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open.
24. Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close.
25. Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl bumpers.
26. Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles.
27. Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans.
28. Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons, and bicycles for easy handling.
29. Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly.
30. Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools.
31. Removes grease splatters from stovetops.
32. Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging.
33. Lubricates prosthetic limbs.
34. Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell).
35. Removes all traces of duct tape.
36. Folks even spray it on their arms, hands, and knees to relieve arthritis pain.
37. Florida's favorite use is: 'cleans and removes love bugs from grills and bumpers.'
38. The favorite use in the state of New York, it protects the Statue of Liberty from the elements.
39. WD-40 attracts fish. Spray a little on live bait or lures and you will be catching the big one in no time. Also, it's a lot cheaper than the chemical attractants that are made for just that purpose.
Keep in mind though, using some chemical laced baits or lures for fishing are not allowed in some states.
40. Use it for fire ant bites. It takes the sting away immediately and stops the itch.
41. It is great for removing crayon from walls. Spray it on the marks and wipe with a clean rag.
42. Also, if you've discovered that your teenage daughter has washed and dried a tube of lipstick with a load of laundry, saturate the lipstick spots with WD-40 and rewash. Presto! The lipstick is gone!
43. If you spray it inside a wet distributor cap, it will displace the moisture, allowing the engine to start.
P.S.
As for that Basic, Main Ingredient.......
Well.... it's FISH OIL....
Who would have guessed ? ? ?
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- 1400 – After 175 years of rule, the Trần Dynasty of Vietnam was deposed by Hồ Quý Ly, a court official.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate General Stonewall Jackson suffered his only defeat during the war in the First Battle of Kernstown in Frederick County, Virginia.
- 1905 – About 1,500 Cretans, led by Eleftherios Venizelos(pictured), met at the village of Theriso to call for the island's unification with Greece, beginning the Theriso revolt.
- 1978 – The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was dispatched to confirm Israeli withdrawal after its invasion nine days earlier.
- 1989 – Two researchers announced the discovery of cold fusion, a claim which was later discredited.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” -Ephesians 6:10-11
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
March 22: Morning
"And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed." -Matthew 26:39
There are several instructive features in our Saviour's prayer in his hour of trial. It was lonely prayer. He withdrew even from his three favoured disciples. Believer, be much in solitary prayer, especially in times of trial. Family prayer, social prayer, prayer in the Church, will not suffice, these are very precious, but the best beaten spice will smoke in your censer in your private devotions, where no ear hears but God's.
It was humble prayer. Luke says he knelt, but another evangelist says he "fell on his face." Where, then, must be thy place, thou humble servant of the great Master? What dust and ashes should cover thy head! Humility gives us good foot-hold in prayer. There is no hope of prevalence with God unless we abase ourselves that he may exalt us in due time.
It was filial prayer. "Abba, Father." You will find it a stronghold in the day of trial to plead your adoption. You have no rights as a subject, you have forfeited them by your treason; but nothing can forfeit a child's right to a father's protection. Be not afraid to say, "My Father, hear my cry."
Observe that it was persevering prayer. He prayed three times. Cease not until you prevail. Be as the importunate widow, whose continual coming earned what her first supplication could not win. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.
Lastly, it was the prayer of resignation. "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." Yield, and God yields. Let it be as God wills, and God will determine for the best. Be thou content to leave thy prayer in his hands, who knows when to give, and how to give, and what to give, and what to withhold. So pleading, earnestly, importunately, yet with humility and resignation, thou shalt surely prevail.
It was humble prayer. Luke says he knelt, but another evangelist says he "fell on his face." Where, then, must be thy place, thou humble servant of the great Master? What dust and ashes should cover thy head! Humility gives us good foot-hold in prayer. There is no hope of prevalence with God unless we abase ourselves that he may exalt us in due time.
It was filial prayer. "Abba, Father." You will find it a stronghold in the day of trial to plead your adoption. You have no rights as a subject, you have forfeited them by your treason; but nothing can forfeit a child's right to a father's protection. Be not afraid to say, "My Father, hear my cry."
Observe that it was persevering prayer. He prayed three times. Cease not until you prevail. Be as the importunate widow, whose continual coming earned what her first supplication could not win. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.
Lastly, it was the prayer of resignation. "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." Yield, and God yields. Let it be as God wills, and God will determine for the best. Be thou content to leave thy prayer in his hands, who knows when to give, and how to give, and what to give, and what to withhold. So pleading, earnestly, importunately, yet with humility and resignation, thou shalt surely prevail.
Evening
"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." - John 17:24
O death! why dost thou touch the tree beneath whose spreading branches weariness hath rest? Why dost thou snatch away the excellent of the earth, in whom is all our delight? If thou must use thine axe, use it upon the trees which yield no fruit; thou mightest be thanked then. But why wilt thou fell the goodly cedars of Lebanon? O stay thine axe, and spare the righteous. But no, it must not be; death smites the goodliest of our friends; the most generous, the most prayerful, the most holy, the most devoted must die. And why? It is through Jesus' prevailing prayer--"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." It is that which bears them on eagle's wings to heaven. Every time a believer mounts from this earth to paradise, it is an answer to Christ's prayer. A good old divine remarks, "Many times Jesus and his people pull against one another in prayer. You bend your knee in prayer and say Father, I will that thy saints be with me where I am;' Christ says, Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.'" Thus the disciple is at cross-purposes with his Lord. The soul cannot be in both places: the beloved one cannot be with Christ and with you too. Now, which pleader shall win the day? If you had your choice; if the King should step from his throne, and say, "Here are two supplicants praying in opposition to one another, which shall be answered?" Oh! I am sure, though it were agony, you would start from your feet, and say, "Jesus, not my will, but thine be done." You would give up your prayer for your loved one's life, if you could realize the thoughts that Christ is praying in the opposite direction--"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am." Lord, thou shalt have them. By faith we let them go.
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Agrippa
[Ä‚grÄ p'pa] - one who at his birth causes pain.
Great grandson of Herod the Great. Agrippa's father was eaten by worms. See Herod (Acts 25:13-26; 26 ). Was Agrippa almost persuaded by Paul's eloquent witness to become a Christian? Bible scholars disagree on the point. There are those who affirm that the original language indicates clearly that Agrippa interrupted Paul to warn him that he was going too far in presuming that he was admitting his argument. "Too eagerly art thou persuading thyself that thou canst make me a Christian." The RV of 1881 has it, "With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian." However, the words of Agrippa as they stand in the A.V. have formed the basis of many an earnest and powerful gospel appeal.
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Today's reading: Joshua 10-12, Luke 1:39-56 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Joshua 10-12
The Sun Stands Still
1 Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and had become their allies. 2 He and his people were very much alarmed at this, because Gibeon was an important city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were good fighters.3So Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem appealed to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish and Debir king of Eglon. 4"Come up and help me attack Gibeon," he said, "because it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites."
Today's New Testament reading: Luke 1:39-56
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!"
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Today's Lent reading: Matthew 27-28 (NIV)
View today's Lent reading on Bible GatewayJudas Hangs Himself
1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.
3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."
"What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."
5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself....
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