For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
=== from 2014 ===
Mike Carlton failed in his fact challenge with award winning historian Colebatch. Carlton issued the challenge, only cited two examples and was wrong with each. Carlton had claimed the judging was biased. The head of the judging panel had previously lauded a book of Carlton's. But Carlton has a reach that extends beyond the truth. Many fans of his will never know the facts, but will know what Carlton wrote. There is an attitude of the left that confuse abuse and denouncement as arguments. Celebrated writer Flanagan, upon being lauded for winning a Booker Prize announced he was ashamed of being Australian. Maybe he felt that it was good to drown asylum seekers. Maybe he felt that dividing Australia by race was a good idea. Maybe he felt a useless tax that limited business was preferable to prosperity, but regardless of his thoughts, he hadn't substantive argument. He just felt ashamed. Had he stated why he felt ashamed, he could have been fact checked like Carlton was. But there is glory and greatness in Australian politics, sometimes. Mr Abbott corresponded with Mr Flanagan and made sure he was awarded a literary prize that was given in the name of his office. If only the left had such paragons of virtue who could be so humble.
Humbleness is not part of the senate make up. Faced with needed health care reform, brought on by the previous ALP government raising outrageously crippling debt, was opposed by senators on the pretext it was a cut in spending. Naturally fact challenged partisan press opposed it, claiming extraordinary hardship for people paying $7 to visit a doctor. The payment was to establish a $20 billion research fund and provided a price signal dampening doctors visits without preventing them. How much worse would it be to limit doctors visits? If it is wrong to pay $7 to see a doctor, isn't it wrong to spend $3.30 on a train to get to work? Or to spend $5.15 to fill a prescription for medicine? Hysterically, Opposition leader Shorten called it a tax, and said Mr Abbott had promised no new taxes. Except it isn't a tax, and even if it were, Mr Abbott had qualified what he had said regarding efficiency measures. But it is in the partisan press' interests to be confused on detail. And Mr Shorten opposes science research.
SMH are exposed through emails of lobbying against treasurer Joe Hockey. Editor in chief of the SMH Darren Goodsir reminds of a Turramurra High School student circa '85 who was son of the Deputy Principal. He had a weak heart and took up journalism. Maybe Darren is not the same, but if he is, he once had honour and capability which is not evident in his work now. Read the emails posted by Bolt who is astonished SMH had not settled before the court was given the evidence.
It is hard to justify the unjustifiable and not say something outrageous. In ALP fantasy land, claiming government spending is not the same as tax payer spending draws an important, albeit artificial, distinction. In fact both are the same. Staying in ALP fantasy land, the suggestion is put out that negative gearing should be scrapped. The theory goes that if investments are ruined for rich people, then poor people would buy houses which are bad investments. The policy mirrors Jimmy Carter's scheme which when wrenched up by Clinton wrought the global financial crisis.
Leftists love red tape. But Queensland Premier Newman has cut it from a coal council which put impediments in the way of buying coastal property because of their 'end of the world' AGW beliefs.
AGW predicts drought, or flood, or something. Meanwhile, Lima conference promises to break records for unleashing carbon dioxide to feed world's plants. Their conference attendees have flown in from everywhere and the place was built unsustainably. Even so, the Australian Federal government has rewarded the conference by giving $200 million away to a green fund for poor countries. Money for nothing.
CIA Torture? The CIA does a tremendous job keeping the world safe. Terrorism is a scourge. One cannot compare terrorism with torture from the CIA. The CIA might have made mistakes, but they weren't indiscriminate killers. Obama has demonstrated with the report into CIA terror activity he is only effective at dividing the nation. Had Obama believed in justice, he would have let Bin Ladin face it without killing him prematurely. Let the terrorists show their scars, I thank the operatives of the CIA for their ongoing work.
Cheating in Naplan is reported in a national review giving examples from Queensland. Naplan could be very important in teacher standards as it is with pupil standards, but the results need to be given to schools. Or, as the Courier Mail prints it, Shcools.
Humbleness is not part of the senate make up. Faced with needed health care reform, brought on by the previous ALP government raising outrageously crippling debt, was opposed by senators on the pretext it was a cut in spending. Naturally fact challenged partisan press opposed it, claiming extraordinary hardship for people paying $7 to visit a doctor. The payment was to establish a $20 billion research fund and provided a price signal dampening doctors visits without preventing them. How much worse would it be to limit doctors visits? If it is wrong to pay $7 to see a doctor, isn't it wrong to spend $3.30 on a train to get to work? Or to spend $5.15 to fill a prescription for medicine? Hysterically, Opposition leader Shorten called it a tax, and said Mr Abbott had promised no new taxes. Except it isn't a tax, and even if it were, Mr Abbott had qualified what he had said regarding efficiency measures. But it is in the partisan press' interests to be confused on detail. And Mr Shorten opposes science research.
SMH are exposed through emails of lobbying against treasurer Joe Hockey. Editor in chief of the SMH Darren Goodsir reminds of a Turramurra High School student circa '85 who was son of the Deputy Principal. He had a weak heart and took up journalism. Maybe Darren is not the same, but if he is, he once had honour and capability which is not evident in his work now. Read the emails posted by Bolt who is astonished SMH had not settled before the court was given the evidence.
It is hard to justify the unjustifiable and not say something outrageous. In ALP fantasy land, claiming government spending is not the same as tax payer spending draws an important, albeit artificial, distinction. In fact both are the same. Staying in ALP fantasy land, the suggestion is put out that negative gearing should be scrapped. The theory goes that if investments are ruined for rich people, then poor people would buy houses which are bad investments. The policy mirrors Jimmy Carter's scheme which when wrenched up by Clinton wrought the global financial crisis.
Leftists love red tape. But Queensland Premier Newman has cut it from a coal council which put impediments in the way of buying coastal property because of their 'end of the world' AGW beliefs.
AGW predicts drought, or flood, or something. Meanwhile, Lima conference promises to break records for unleashing carbon dioxide to feed world's plants. Their conference attendees have flown in from everywhere and the place was built unsustainably. Even so, the Australian Federal government has rewarded the conference by giving $200 million away to a green fund for poor countries. Money for nothing.
CIA Torture? The CIA does a tremendous job keeping the world safe. Terrorism is a scourge. One cannot compare terrorism with torture from the CIA. The CIA might have made mistakes, but they weren't indiscriminate killers. Obama has demonstrated with the report into CIA terror activity he is only effective at dividing the nation. Had Obama believed in justice, he would have let Bin Ladin face it without killing him prematurely. Let the terrorists show their scars, I thank the operatives of the CIA for their ongoing work.
Cheating in Naplan is reported in a national review giving examples from Queensland. Naplan could be very important in teacher standards as it is with pupil standards, but the results need to be given to schools. Or, as the Courier Mail prints it, Shcools.
From 2013
Holden wants a hand out despite having been gifted millions from cheaper electricity? Warmists devise another lie to promote their religion. Poll illustrates how ALP can be promoted without doing a thing worthwhile. ABC presenter is fighting for the other side? World record cold temperature recorded. Carbon dioxide blamed? How media covered up AWU scandal, similar to how the media covered up holocaust in WW2. Iran is not only given permission to develop nuclear weapons, their moderate terrorist is also executing more people. Who opposes Elton John performing in Russia? Not Putin, but Islamist leaders.
I don't have a Samsung phone and won't post video of how it burns up with routine use. So Samsung need not sue me. But I use Apple products because they work.
I don't have a Samsung phone and won't post video of how it burns up with routine use. So Samsung need not sue me. But I use Apple products because they work.
Historical perspective on this day
In 1041, the son of Empress Zoe of Byzantium succeeded to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V. In 1508, the League of Cambrai was formed by Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice. In 1510, Portuguese conquest of Goa: Portuguese naval forces under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque, and local mercenaries working for privateer Timoji, seized Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate, resulting in 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule. In 1520, Martin Luther burned his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate. In 1541, Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham were executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII. In 1665, the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps was founded by Michiel de Ruyter. In 1684, Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, was read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley. In 1799, France adopts the metre as its official unit of length.In 1817, Mississippi became the 20th U.S. state. In 1861, American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accepted a rival state government's pronouncement that declared Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy. Also, forces led by Nguyễn Trung Trực, an anti-colonial guerrilla leader in southern Vietnam, sank the French lorchaL'Esperance. In 1864, American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reached the outer Confederate defences of Savannah, Georgia. In 1868, the first traffic lights were installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they used semaphore arms and were illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps. In 1869, the Kappa Sigma Fraternity was founded at the University of Virginia. In 1884, Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published. In 1896, Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi premiered in Paris. A riot broke out at the end of the performance. In 1898, Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris was signed, officially ending the conflict. In 1899, Delta Sigma Phi fraternity was founded at the City College of New York.
In 1901, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded. In 1906, U.S. President Theodore Rooseveltwon the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize. In 1907, the worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students clashed with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected. In 1909, Selma Lagerlöfbecame the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1927, the phrase "Grand Ole Opry" is used for the first time on-air. In 1932, Thailand became a constitutional monarchy. In 1936, Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication. In 1941, World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were sunk by Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo bombers near Malaya. Also, World War II: Battle of the Philippines – Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma landed on the Philippine mainland. In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1949, Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army began its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan. In 1955, Mighty Mouse Playhouse premieres on American television.
In 1963, Zanzibar gained independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah. In 1965, the Grateful Dead's first concert performance under this new name. In 1968, Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", was carried out in Tokyo. In 1976, the United Nations General Assemblyadopted the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques. In 1978, Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of IsraelMenachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1979, Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations were suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organisers were arrested. In 1983, Democracy was restored in Argentina with the inauguration of President Raúl Alfonsín. In 1989,Mongolian Revolution: At the country's first open pro-democracy public demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union. In 1993, the last shift left Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland. The closure of the 156-year-old pit marked the end of the old County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the Middle Ages. In 1994, Rwandan Genocide: Maurice Baril, military advisor to the U.N. Secretary-Generaland head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, recommended that UNAMIR stood down.
=== Publishing News ===
This column welcomes feedback and criticism. The column is not made up but based on the days events and articles which are then placed in the feed. So they may not have an apparent cohesion they would have had were they made up.
===
Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August, September, October, or at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482020262/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_dVHPub0MQKDZ4 The kindle version is cheaper, but the soft back version allows the purchase of a kindle version for just $3.99 more.
List of available items at Create Space
The Amazon Author Page for David Ball
UK .. http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01683ZOWGFrench .. http://www.amazon.fr/-/e/B01683ZOWG
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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 Mirense Sunday Rose Sunday, Simon Cai, Andy Trieu and Thanh Tong. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
- 1452 – Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1531)
- 1713 – Johann Nicolaus Mempel, German cantor and organist (d. 1747)
- 1787 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator, founded the American School for the Deaf (d. 1851)
- 1804 – Carl Gustav Jakob Jacobi, German mathematician (d. 1851)
- 1815 – Ada Lovelace, English mathematician, eponym of the Ada programming language (d. 1852)
- 1830 – Emily Dickinson, American poet (d. 1886)
- 1851 – Melvil Dewey, American librarian, created the Dewey Decimal System (d. 1931)
- 1870 – Mary Bonaparte, French daughter of Napoléon Charles Bonaparte, 5th Prince of Canino (d. 1947)
- 1914 – Dorothy Lamour, American actress (d. 1996)
- 1941 – Peter Sarstedt, Indian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1952 – Susan Dey, American actress
- 1960 – Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish actor and director
- 1961 – Oded Schramm, Israel-American mathematician
- 1978 – Summer Phoenix, American actress
- 1994 – Matti Klinga, Finnish footballer
- 1684 – Edmond Halley presented the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, containing Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, to the Royal Society.
- 1861 – Forces led by Nguyễn Trung Trực, an anti-colonial guerrilla leader in southern Vietnam, sank the French lorcha L'Esperance.
- 1896 – Alfred Jarry's play Ubu Roi made its only performance in Paris at the Théâtre de l'Œuvre, infamously causing a riotous response in the audience.
- 1936 – Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, still desiring to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson (pictured) against widespread opposition, abdicated the throne, the only British monarch to have voluntarily done so since the Anglo-Saxon period.
- 1989 – At the first open pro-democracy demonstration in Mongolia, journalist Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announced the formation of the Mongolian Democratic Union, which would be instrumental in ending Communist rule four months later.
Deaths
- 949 – Herman I, Duke of Swabia
- 1041 – Michael IV the Paphlagonian, Byzantine emperor (b. 1010)
- 1198 – Averroes, Spanish astronomer, physicist, and philosopher (b. 1126)
- 1508 – René II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1451)
- 1541 – Thomas Culpeper, English courtier (b. 1514)
- 1541 – Francis Dereham, English courtier
- 1618 – Giulio Caccini, Italian composer and educator (b. 1551)
- 1626 – Edmund Gunter, English mathematician and academic (b. 1581)
- 1665 – Tarquinio Merula, Italian organist, violinist, and composer (b. 1594)
- 1736 – António Manoel de Vilhena, Portuguese military leader (b. 1663)
- 1831 – Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist (b. 1770)
- 1896 – Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist and engineer, invented Dynamite and founded the Nobel Prize (b. 1833)
- 1920 – Horace Elgin Dodge, American businessman, co-founded Dodge (b. 1868)
- 1941 – Erich Jacoby, Estonian-Polish architect (b. 1885)
- 1941 – Colin Kelly, American captain and pilot (b. 1915)
- 1944 – John Brunt, English captain Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1922)
- 1945 – Theodor Dannecker, German SS officer (b. 1913)
- 1967 – Otis Redding, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1941)
- 1978 – Ed Wood, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Augusto Pinochet, Chilean general, de facto head of state of Chile from 1973 to 1990 (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Ashleigh Aston Moore, Canadian actress (b. 1981)
- 2013 – Don Lund, American baseball player and coach (b. 1923)
LUVVIES DECIDE
Tim Blair – Thursday, December 10, 2015 (5:40pm)
As expected:
The ABC’s Q&A program does not have a “left wing anti-Coalition bias” and is equally a challenge to both sides of politics, according to a draft report of the long-awaited review of Q&A obtained by Guardian Australia.The key criticism by former prime minister Tony Abbott that the popular panel program hosted by Tony Jones is a “lefty lynch mob” was effectively dismissed by the report’s authors broadcaster Ray Martin and former managing director of SBS Shaun Brown.
But Martin and Brown do suggest one change:
Far from finding that it had too many local panelists from the left, the report said the program needed to have more Greens and independents.
Seriously.
FRIGHT CHRISTMAS
Tim Blair – Thursday, December 10, 2015 (12:12pm)
If you enjoy making small children cry – and who doesn’t? – then Fairfax has the perfect Christmas gift idea:
An Australian scientist has written a new children’s book, just in time for Christmas, that weaves the impacts of climate change into a story about Santa Claus, his reindeers and an evil billionaire.
Author Dr Ian Irvine, who has been a scientist for over three decades, first came up with the idea of marrying Christmas and climate change together for his eBook The Last Christmas, The North Pole is melting! two years ago.
It sounds just … great:
The ice at the North Pole is melting and Vixen, the smallest reindeer, is afraid.Santa’s toy workshop will soon fall into the sea, he has nowhere to go, and the elves who make the Christmas toys for him are threatening to leave.They’re terrified of an old enemy, but won’t say who it is, only that the dark is rising again.Will this be the last Christmas?
Irvine’s book, aimed at children as young as five, also features charming illustrations of dying animals:
Five-year-olds will just love this and won’t have any nightmares at all. Previous works from Irvine include climate doom novels for adults, which the author claims predicted the future:
Five-year-olds will just love this and won’t have any nightmares at all. Previous works from Irvine include climate doom novels for adults, which the author claims predicted the future:
Many of the events described in the books (such as the destruction of New Orleans) have now come true.
I was in New Orleans just a few weeks ago. Considering it’s been destroyed, the place seems to be doing pretty well. So too is dear old Santa.
(Via Waxing Gibberish.)
IN HIS CASE, THE ANSWER IS NO
Tim Blair – Thursday, December 10, 2015 (10:34am)
Hugs from a thug:
A Muslim convert who protested outside Parliament with a sign saying ‘I am Muslim, do you trust me enough for a hug?’ is facing jail for threatening to bomb an MP’s house.Craig Wallace used the sign as Stop The War protesters came to Westminster for the vote on military action in Syria last week.
But the 23-year-old, of Willesden Green, north London, is now facing a possible prison sentence after he threatened Tory MP Charlotte Leslie online following the vote.Wallace, who calls himself Muhammad Mujahid Islam online, wrote on Facebook: ‘I’m going to smash her windows then drop a bomb on her house while she’s tucked up in bed. You dirty f****** pig-s******* s***.’On December 3, the day after MPs voted to authorise the air strikes, he wrote: ‘I’m going to find her and show her what it’s like to murder innocents. You dirty pig-f****** w****.’
Nice. Huggy Wallace pleaded guilty to sending threatening communications, although his lawyer did offer an impressive excuse:
Defence lawyer Abu Sayeed said Wallace had posted the messages after he had been out protesting against the Syrian bombing vote for ‘two or three days and had very little sleep and had not taken his medication.’
(Via Jill.)
UPDATE. Hugs!
ARKANSAS ASHES
Tim Blair – Thursday, December 10, 2015 (9:39am)
An unexpected but delightful line from the Wall Street Journal:
One of the highest-stakes cricket games ever played in northwestern Arkansas was getting tense.
Sadly, tension may be missing from the First Test between Australia and the West Indies, beginning this morning. The Windies haven’t won in Australia since last century and enter their Australian series ranked only above Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. To his credit, former Windies fast bowling hero Curtly Ambrose is talking up his young team:
“At the end of the day when we perform and beat Australia, then the reporters will have to change their tune. We’re going to do much better than you think.”
It’s a big call, but let’s hope so.
UPDATE. Uh-oh. Australia 0/70 after just ten overs.
MAN OF MANY VIEWS
Tim Blair – Thursday, December 10, 2015 (9:22am)
Call a real cleaner to mop up Labor’s mess
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, December 10, 2014 (1:05am)
AMID their year-end woes, it might help the government to pin up a photo of Harvey Keitel in the party room, to remind them why they are in office.
Keitel was The Cleaner in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, whose job it was to clean up the mess after a gangland murder.
Like legitimate crime scene cleaners, who turn up in unmarked vans covered top to toe in disposable biohazard suits to scrub the gore off walls, they have a grisly job which needs to be done discreetly. Everyone knows it’s a bloodbath, but no one wants to hear the details. Gratitude comes later, if at all, after the smell of Pine O Cleen has faded.
That’s what the government was elected to do, clean up the mess of the Labor Party animals who massacred the economy. But they decided to dress up and bring along a brass band as well.
Paid parental leave, the medical research fund, infrastructure spending, the NDIS, the NBN — all big new spending programs out of kilter with a government elected to fix a busted budget.
You can’t be a crime scene cleaner in a party frock. Who would trust you?
Since Joe Hockey handed down his budget of mixed messages in May, the polls have gone negative and never recovered.
The budget wasn’t actually tough enough to balance the books and end the age of entitlement, but the confusing give-and-take narrative dented confidence anyway.
Recent moves to wind back parental leave and yesterday’s dumping of the $7 GP co-payment (slyly offloaded on to GPs) are signs the government may slowly be coming to terms with the unglamorous employment terms the electorate imposed last September.
It was no great love for Abbott and the Coalition that propelled them to office, only alarm at the dysfunction of their predecessors.
It is the grimmest, narrowest of mandates. The rewards will be in the nation’s future prosperity and history’s regard, not in the short-term ego-boost of a happy electorate bribed with $900 cheques and a left-wing media praising big government visions.
When the Howard government came to office, in March 1996, they also inherited a Labor mess — a $10 billion deficit and $96 billion in debt. But Peter Costello threw himself into the grisly crime scene clean-up, making sure to pin every atrocity on the Keating government.
By Christmas they were in good shape. Costello had brought down his first budget in August, with $8 billion of spending cuts locked in over the next two years and the public service slashed, setting the framework for the next 11 years. People forget the violent reaction that first budget provoked, with union thugs rioting at Parliament House.
Most of Costello’s budget was legislated by December, as well as industrial relations reform passed after a deal with Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot.
By contrast, the Abbott government had eight uneventful months, from September to May, to prepare their first budget and make sure adequate blame was laid at the feet of Labor. The excuse now of a fractious senate barely washes since that is the norm. Howard had a hostile senate for all but his last, and least impressive, term.
The one minister who understands the nature of his mandate is Scott Morrison, the standout performer, who holds the third most difficult portfolio — immigration.
He stopped the boats and smashed the people smuggling industry. And last week he managed to finesse a suite of measures, including temporary protection visas, through the senate, in order to deal with a backlog of 30,000 asylum seekers.
He has tackled Labor’s mess like the best crime scene cleaner — methodical, clinical, efficient, and without fanfare — while making sure to lay all the blame at the feet of the perpetrators, that revolving door of Labor ministers Chris Evans, Chris Bowen, Brendan O’Connor and Tony Burke.
“We’ve been left with an ugly, filthy mess from the Labor Party,” he said last week. “They’ve trashed the house, shot the dog, thrown the keys on the lawn and just burned out up the street. That’s what the Labor Party did on our borders, and what they did on the economy.”
Morrison’s clean-up has reaped dividends. Apart from drownings prevented and billions saved, he plans to expand our humanitarian intake to give new hope to genuine refugees languishing in camps in the Middle East and Africa.
He didn’t sit around complaining that the senate wouldn’t pass his legislation. He just rolled up his sleeves and ignored the abuse.
That’s why so many are clamouring for Morrison to be moved into the treasurer’s job so he can do the same for the budget.
It’s no big deal to move treasurers. Before Costello, it was fairly common. Whitlam, Fraser and Keating had no compunctions about flicking underperformers. That’s how Howard got his big break.
If your best crime scene cleaner is not the treasurer, you’re not a serious government.
No one likes a sore loser
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, December 10, 2014 (1:04am)
GREAT news that Hal Colebatch won a Prime Minister’s Literary Award for his best-seller, Australia’s Secret War, which exposes the shameful secret of how Australia’s unions sabotaged our troops in WWII.
The award will only drive more sales.
But not everyone is delighted, especially not former Fairfax columnist Mike Carlton, who began a tantrum on twitter on Monday night that continued all yesterday.
“Naturally I’ll be accused of sour grapes” he wrote, as he railed against Colebatch.
Well, yeah.
Carlton had entered a book in the same category and hadn’t won. So he tried to trash the winner.
Yet the attack piece he wrote yesterday for Crikey proves only that Carlton is a sloppy researcher.
He cites two incidents from the introduction of Australia’s Secret War:
1. The arrival of HMS Speaker into Sydney in October, 1945, which Colebatch says was delayed by strikes, but which Carlton claims, “simply did not happen”, citing an online history of HMS Speaker’s service written by one of its officers. Yet this is what that history says: “It was unfortunate for us that this period should have coincided with a wave of strikes ashore which put Sydney on a real austerity basis for lighting, cooking, transport and entertainments and made it difficult for many men to get away on leave.” Colebatch: 1; Carlton: 0.
2. The crash of a squadron of Vultee Vengeance dive bombers after they made a raid on Rabaul, which Carlton says is “sheer fiction”. Referencing Wikipedia, Carlton says the Americans did not fly the Vultee Vengeance in combat. But Colebatch only says they were American planes, that is, American-made. As the same Wikipedia entry records, the planes were used by the RAAF, and as a history of RAAF memoirs, another of Colebatch’s sources, confirms.
Colebatch: 2, and Carlton a big fat zero.
No one likes a sore loser.
UPDATE: Reader David writes in comments:
“As for the Vultee Vengeance dive bomber planes, I can assure you that my father flew those planes for the RAAF in dive bombing operations in New Guinea. The details of all this are within the Australian War Memorial records and silly old Carlton can access those records which will prove Colebatch’s history.Furthermore, my father was ordered/volunteered to fly from New Guinea to East Coast Ports in Australia at extreme danger to himself and his aircraft to secure basic supplies of food and ammunition being denied the troops in New Guinea by the Unions as set out in Colebatch’s important book.
If anyone cannot accept what he has written, then do get off your lazy and ignorant backsides and research at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and other places available to you.For his small part in this disgraceful episode, my father’s war records are also available in Canberra.”
DIESEL DO-GOODERS
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 10, 2014 (3:00pm)
It’s a record for the UN:
The Lima conference is expected to have the biggest carbon footprint of any UN climate meeting measured to date.At more than 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, the negotiations’ burden on global warming will be about 1 1/2 times the norm, said Jorge Alvarez, project coordinator for the U.N. Development Program.
This is one hell of a warm warmyfest:
Eleven football fields of temporary structures arose for the 13-day negotiations from what three months ago was an empty field behind Peru’s army’s headquarters. Concrete was laid, plumbing installed, components flown in from as far as France and Brazil.
And there is no solar power:
For electricity, the talks are relying exclusively on diesel generators.Organizers had planned to draw power from Peru’s grid, which is about 52 percent fed by non-polluting hydroelectric power. “We worked to upgrade transformers and generators but for some reason it didn’t work,” said Alvarez.
Green solutions never do.
(Via A.R.M. Jones)
(Via A.R.M. Jones)
CHAPTERLESS CHAP
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 10, 2014 (12:56pm)
Mike Carlton yesterday posted his promised “chapter and verse” demolition of Hal Colebatch’s award-winning Australia’s Secret War (at Crikey, behind a paywall; no point providing a link). Yet Carlton didn’t examine even a single word from any chapter, possibly because he hasn’t actually read the book. Instead he looked at two cases cited in the book’s introduction, then confidently predicted:
Miranda Devine will smack me with a feather in her next “column.” But she won’t contest my facts. Because she can’t.
Wrong again, Michael. Miranda’s response:
The attack piece he wrote yesterday for Crikey proves only that Carlton is a sloppy researcher.He cites two incidents from the introduction of Australia’s Secret War:1. The arrival of HMS Speaker into Sydney in October, 1945, which Colebatch says was delayed by strikes, but which Carlton claims, “simply did not happen”, citing an online history of HMS Speaker’s service written by one of its officers. Yet this is what that history says: “It was unfortunate for us that this period should have coincided with a wave of strikes ashore which put Sydney on a real austerity basis for lighting, cooking, transport and entertainments and made it difficult for many men to get away on leave.” Colebatch: 1; Carlton: 0.2. The crash of a squadron of Vultee Vengeance dive bombers after they made a raid on Rabaul, which Carlton says is “sheer fiction”. Referencing Wikipedia, Carlton says the Americans did not fly the Vultee Vengeance in combat. But Colebatch only says they were American planes, that is, American-made. As the same Wikipedia entry records, the planes were used by the RAAF, and as a history of RAAF memoirs, another of Colebatch’s sources, confirms.Colebatch: 2, and Carlton a big fat zero.
Here’s something to help ease Mike’s pain. While he’s sucking on those, let’s look at Carlton’s claim that Colebatch won because of a biased judging panel:
The chief judge of the non-fiction and history awards for this year was none other than our old friend Gerard “Gollum” Henderson, ringmaster of the right-wing Sydney Institute, long-time culture impresario and an Abbott confidante.
And, it seems, a literary award Carlton backer:
The conservative chairman of the history panel, Gerard Henderson, was a supporter of Carlton’s bookabout the fledgling Australian Navy’s early military success, First Victory 1914.
Mike is fighting on, but the debate appears to have drifted away from Colebatch’s central claims and towards the specifics of aircraft types and squadron identification.
FAIRFAX EXPOSED
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 10, 2014 (11:40am)
Surprising that the SMH didn’t settle its case with Joe Hockey prior to these emails and texts emerging in court:
Expletive-laden texts and emails by Fairfax’s two most senior editors were handed to the court yesterday in the defamation case triggered by a front-page headline “Treasurer for Sale” written by [SMH editor Darren] Goodsir last May …“They have a f…… hide,’’ Mr Goodsir texted his Fairfax colleague, The Age editor-in-chief Andrew Holden.Mr Holden replied: “Amazing they freeze us out and then think they have the relationship that allows them to call in the middle of the night”.Mr Holden advised Mr Goodsir to “dig” into the fundraising body (NSF) and “in that story you can run Hockey’s claim he knew nothing ... beyond that, f … him”.
Also from Goodsir: “I have long dreamt (well actually since last Friday) of a headline that screams: Sloppy Joe! I think we are not far off but perhaps even more serious than that.” Well, a defamation suit is fairly serious. Further on this in today’s editorial.
$200 MILLION BACKFLIP
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 10, 2014 (10:53am)
This is shameful:
Australia is to contribute $200m to the Green Finance Fund designed to offset the adverse affects of climate change which was included in the final statement of G20 summit in Brisbane.The Prime Minister will today announce a regional and practical contribution to the Green Fund based on caring for rainforests in South East Asia.Julie Bishop will follow the announcement with a speech at the UN climate change conference in Lima which is preparing for the Paris UN climate change conference to set carbon emissions targets next year.Cabinet finalised the decision on Australia’s contribution to the fund — which Mr Abbott has criticised in the past — with the input of Julie Bishop from the climate conference in Lima. The contribution of $200m will be paid over four years, bringing total international contributions to the fund to over the target of USD$10 billion.
None of which will do anything at all to cool the planet.
CHEETS CORT
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 10, 2014 (9:25am)
An unfortunate headline error in today’s Courier-Mail, although it does tend to support the story’s central claim:
Labor’s Catherine King claims government spending isn’t the same as taxpayers’ spending
Andrew Bolt December 10 2014 (5:07pm)
Labor’s health spokesman, Catherine King, seems to suggest the federal government can spend billions of dollars without taking a cent from taxpayers. Read and weep:
This level of fiscal spinning is frightening from someone who could soon be in charge of $65 billion a year health budget.
(Thanks to reader MP.)
===Is healthcare important in this country? Yes it is. Who pays for it? We think it is perfectly possible … for the government to continue to contribute alongside our taxpayers as they do both through the Medicare levy, Medicare levy surcharge and of course through general taxation to continue to have a sustainable Medicare system.It isn’t the first time she’s suggested the Government just grows its own money:
When the Government points out that the co-payment will at least pay for a new $20 billion medical research fund, Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King tells the Government to keep the fund but ditch the tax to pay for it, claiming the Government could somehow “find the money from consolidated revenue”. You know, the great big money pot that magically refills?For how much longer will Labor be allowed to get away with this swindle that governments can spend billions without cost to taxpayers?
This level of fiscal spinning is frightening from someone who could soon be in charge of $65 billion a year health budget.
(Thanks to reader MP.)
Abbott buys off the warmists with $200 million. UPDATE: Didn’t work
Andrew Bolt December 10 2014 (2:53pm)
Buying off the warmists by switching aid money from people to trees:
UPDATE
The hype continues:
So how well has this $200 million handout to the UN global warming bureaucracy worked out for the Government?
The base is dismayed, but the Liberals’ Lefist media critics are gloating that Abbott looks weak and inconsistent, and rival Bishop must protect him. From The Age:
===AUSTRALIA is to contribute $200m to the Green Climate Fund designed to offset the adverse affects of climate change which was included in the final statement of G20 summit in Brisbane.Abbott was right the first time. There is not the slightest evidence that world rain forests have been hurt overall by global warming.
The Prime Minister has announced a regional and practical contribution to the Green Fund based on caring for rainforests in South East Asia…
Cabinet finalised the decision on Australia’s contribution to the fund — which Mr Abbott has criticised in the past — with the input of Julie Bishop from the climate conference in Lima. The contribution of $200m will be paid over four years, bringing total international contributions to the fund to over the target of USD$10 billion…
The $200 million will be drawn from the existing foreign aid budget. Mr Abbott defended the government’s “fair and reasonable” change of mind on the fund, which he last year criticised as “a Bob Brown Bank on an international scale”.
UPDATE
The hype continues:
Peter Hannam, The Age, Thursday:Gee, that US deal with China that so excited Australian journalists looks less and less impressive:
THE world remains on course for its hottest year on record in 2014 ... the World Meteorological Organisation told UN climate talks in Peru.Matt Ridley, Britain’s The Times, Monday:
… Yet this predicted record would be only one-hundredth of a degree above 2010 and two-hundredths of a degree above 2005 — with an error range of one-tenth of a degree. True scientists would have said: this year is unlikely to be significantly warmer than 2010 or 2005 and left it at that. In any case, the year is not over, so why the announcement now? Oh yes, there’s a political climate summit in Lima this week ... To squeeze and cajole the data until they just crossed the line, the WMO “reanalysed” a merger of five data sets. Maybe that was legitimate but, given how the institutions that gather temperature data have twice this year been caught red-handed making poorly justified adjustments to “homogenise” and “in-fill” thermometer records in such a way as to cool down old records and warm up new ones, I have my doubts.
CHINA has rejected the scrutiny of efforts to limit carbon emissions, a key tool that the US says is necessary as more than 190 countries work to come up with a new deal to fight climate change. Chinese negotiators sought at a climate conference in Lima, Peru, to delete provisions in a draft text that would have paved the way for other countries and non-governmental organisations to submit questions about its carbon-reduction plans ... “The spirit of constructive co-operation of the US-China agreement seems to have come to a full stop,” Liz Gallagher, senior adviser to the policy analyst group E3G, said on Saturday ...UPDATE
So how well has this $200 million handout to the UN global warming bureaucracy worked out for the Government?
The base is dismayed, but the Liberals’ Lefist media critics are gloating that Abbott looks weak and inconsistent, and rival Bishop must protect him. From The Age:
The Abbott government has denied international pressure forced its decision to commit $200 million to a global climate fund it had previously said it could not support…The Government’s critics are simply implacable. Indeed, they are energised by this concession, and the ABC is only too happy to round them up:
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced at global climate talks in Lima that the government would take $200 million over four years from the foreign aid budget to put toward the Green Climate Fund, which will help developing countries deal with climate change.
It follows weeks of criticism after the government tried to resist the fund’s inclusion on a G20 communique and refused to join other world leaders at a conference in Berlin that aimed to raise an initial $10 billion for the measure. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously likened United Nations climate funds to “a Bob Brown bank on an international scale”.
Climate groups welcomed the announcement but said it was not enough.Whoever is handling Abbott’s media strategy has had the kind of success that will kill this government stone dead by the next Budget if repeated.
The Climate Institute’s Erwin Jackson said the total amount was “modest” given it “falls short of the $350 million per year [we] suggest is the minimum fair contribution to climate financing from Australia”.
Aid and development organisation Oxfam said it could only be called a first step…
Greens leader Christine Milne said that taking the money from the aid budget is “especially galling”.
A government disunited will fall - and every single one on board will lose
Andrew Bolt December 10 2014 (12:20pm)
Paul Kelly warns that tensions are dangerously high within the Abbott Government:
As for Bishop, should she or her allies really be elevating the global warming cause in what seems a pretty transparent pitch for the media’s support for Bishop personally? This seems the start of a mutual self-destruction.
On replacing Hockey, Paul Kelly makes a good argument:
On the other hand, Miranda Devine:
===There are two flashpoints — rumblings against Joe Hockey and the apparent strike by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop against the controls being exerted by Tony Abbott’s office chief, Peta Credlin.It is unacceptable that a Foreign Minister and deputy Liberal leader should at war with a chief of staff. Should this really be a fault line? Should there really be this briefing of journalists, advertising a preoccupation with internal relationships rather than the public good?:
Both relate to Abbott’s authority as Prime Minister.
Bishop is kicking back hard against Credlin, an event that has spilled into the public arena and could have unpredictable consequences. It seems Bishop is ready to bring to a head the tensions over Abbott’s office. The more concerted recent focus is the media rumblings against the Treasurer that threaten to generate their own momentum.
THERE is a growing view in the upper echelons of the Coalition government that the working relationship between the Liberal deputy leader and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Peta Credlin, has irretrievably broken down.Nor should a deputy Liberal leader “take orders” from a chief of staff. But is Credlin just being scapegoated? Made a proxy target for Abbott?
“They are like two Siamese fighting fish stuck in the same tank,” one frontbencher told The Australian yesterday. He also pointed out that there was no obvious circuit-breaker…
“Tony (Abbott) isn’t going to get rid of Peta and Julie isn’t going to stop."…
Both parties deny there is any rift, with Ms Credlin describing their relationship as “strong and constructive” and Ms Bishop insisting the pair have never had a cross word.
Ms Bishop is believed to have made the decision, however, that she will no longer be taking orders from Ms Credlin, an attitude that is receiving support from other members of cabinet, who also feel Ms Credlin is too controlling.
As for Bishop, should she or her allies really be elevating the global warming cause in what seems a pretty transparent pitch for the media’s support for Bishop personally? This seems the start of a mutual self-destruction.
On replacing Hockey, Paul Kelly makes a good argument:
What would happen if Abbott dumped Hockey? Abbott would be attacked from day one for making Hockey a scapegoat, refusing to accept responsibility himself and being disloyal. With Hockey eliminated, Abbott would then become the target of the same critics.UPDATE
Abbott would not appoint Malcolm Turnbull as treasurer but let us assume, for the sake of argument, that he did.... First, the day Turnbull became treasurer, the media would inaugurate the Abbott-Turnbull leadership contest.
This would occur independent of anything Turnbull said or did and, for the record, Turnbull has been scrupulously loyal to Abbott. It wouldn’t matter. With the government trailing in the polls, every poll would have a new meaning — as an argument for a leadership change.
The government’s critics, high on Hockey’s political blood, would become more thirsty for Abbott’s.
New polls would be commissioned to rate Turnbull against Abbott as preferred PM. Media outlets would conduct backbench surveys to report on the Abbott v Turnbull contest. Abbott would lose control of the political agenda… Turnbull’s media appearances would see the compulsory leadership question…
On the other hand, Miranda Devine:
The one minister who understands the nature of his mandate is Scott Morrison… He stopped the boats and smashed the people smuggling industry. And last week he managed to finesse a suite of measures, including temporary protection visas, through the senate, in order to deal with a backlog of 30,000 asylum seekers.(Thanks to reader brett t r.)
He has tackled Labor’s mess like the best crime scene cleaner — methodical, clinical, efficient, and without fanfare — while making sure to lay all the blame at the feet of the perpetrators, that revolving door of Labor ministers Chris Evans, Chris Bowen, Brendan O’Connor and Tony Burke…
That’s why so many are clamouring for Morrison to be moved into the treasurer’s job so he can do the same for the budget.
It’s no big deal to move treasurers. Before Costello, it was fairly common. Whitlam, Fraser and Keating had no compunctions about flicking underperformers. That’s how Howard got his big break.
If your best crime scene cleaner is not the treasurer, you’re not a serious government.
How Fairfax went for Hockey: “F… him.” “Launch our dirt.” “Have this nailed to the cross.”
Andrew Bolt December 10 2014 (10:24am)
Wow. How vindictive were Fairfax editors in devising the foul headline above?
On May 5 this year, the Herald and The Age ran the story under the headline “Treasurer for Sale” on their front pages, claiming the [Liberal fundraiser] North Sydney Forum charged annual membership fees of up to $22,000 for perks including “VIP” meetings with Mr Hockey.Those emails are absolutely astonishing. Remember them as you read those newspapers’ relentlessly critical and vindictive coverage of the Abbott Government.
Mr Hockey claims the articles falsely implied he accepted bribes to influence his decisions, corruptly sold privileged access to businessmen and lobbyists, and knowingly permitted a Liberal fundraising forum with which he was associated to accept money from the “corrupt Obeid family"…
In the Federal Court in Sydney yesterday, Mr Hockey’s barrister, Bruce McClintock SC, claimed ... [Sydney Morning Herald editor-in-chief, Darren] Goodsir was “very upset” after being forced to run an apology to the Treasurer over an incorrect story in March ... that incorrectly claimed the Treasurer personally had to pay back money to Australian Water Holdings [connected to Obeid]…
After being forced into running an apology, Goodsir urged [Age editori-in-chief Andrew] Holden not to run a follow-up story immediately but rather “have a red-hot go at this issue next week, and really go for it”.
On March 21, Goodsir told NSW political reporter Sean Nicholls to “drop all other work and be full-time on digging into NSF”, describing it as a “slush fund”.
After being updated by Nicholls of his progress on the story several days later, Goodsir wrote in an email to Holden and senior Fairfax reporters: “Given what Andrew and I endured last week with Hockey, I want to have this nailed to the cross in more ways than one ... I have long dreamed (well, actually only since last Friday), of a headline that screams: Sloppy Joe! I think we are not far off, but perhaps even more serious than that.”
Holden also discussed a news story in text messages the day after the initial controversial story ran. “In that story you can run hockey’s claim he knew nothing though as members of the forum entitled to meet him he must have seen membership list. Beyond that f..k him,” Holden texted Goodsir.
Holden also complained about the government “freezing us out”.
“Amazing they freeze us out and then think they have a relationship that allows them to call in the middle of the night.”
On April 19, before going on leave, Goodsir wrote: “I will be back on Mon 28 and want to be in a spot to launch our dirt on Hockey team. This one ain’t over yet!"… The barrister for Fairfax, Sandy Dawson, told the Federal Court yesterday there “was no conspiracy” against Mr Hockey and ... the story was “factually accurate” and concerned a matter of public importance and public policy considerations, and never intended to convey allegations of corruption.
(Thanks to reader Baden.)
A sane Senate could not block such a sane reform to Medicare
Andrew Bolt December 10 2014 (9:52am)
Making people pay just $5 for a visit to the doctor is plainly not excessive. Making people pay something for a doctor is just as plainly fair and good policy, especially with health costs soaring. And exempting 8 million Australians - children and the poor and struggling - from the payment is even more plainly fair, if not generous.
Yet even now the Senate demonstrates the corrosive power that comes from simply saying no, even to sane politics. No Senator outside the government gets noticed or thanked for agreeing with the government or approving an extra charge. And so even this very small charge and very necessary step to reform faces rejection:
UPDATE
Peter Martin explains how a $5 co-payment that excludes 8 million people raises almost as much money as the Government’s original (and better) proposal for a $7 co-payment applying to everyone.
He’s not tipping this will go through at all.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
===Yet even now the Senate demonstrates the corrosive power that comes from simply saying no, even to sane politics. No Senator outside the government gets noticed or thanked for agreeing with the government or approving an extra charge. And so even this very small charge and very necessary step to reform faces rejection:
LABOR and the Greens have put the government on notice they will seek to unwind the revamped changes to bulk-billing…Labor knows the damage it will do the Government to have even this compromise rejected. It is indifferent to the damage that blocking such a reform will do to the country.
The Prime Minister confirmed plans to reduce the Medicare rebate paid to GPs by $5 a visit — with the exception of children, pensioners and concession card holders — would be introduced via regulation. Regulations can be disallowed in either house of parliament, and Labor and the Greens would need the support of only four crossbenchers to disallow the measure in the Senate…
Greens health spokesman Richard Di Natale ... vowed the Greens would “be moving a disallowance motion at the first available opportunity in the next parliament’’.
Palmer United Party Senate leader Glenn Lazarus tweeted: “Abbott Government dumps GP Co-payment for a GP Woe-payment. What a NASTY government!’’
Independent senator Nick Xenophon described the changes as a “passive aggressive backdown’’ but said he was open to discussions.
Family First senator Bob Day, who urged the government to exempt the most vulnerable patients from payment, said “to be clear, I don’t support this yet’’
.Independent senators Jacqui Lambie and John Madigan were both “deeply suspicious” of the changes, saying the “devil was in the detail’’. The Liberal Democratic Party’s David Leyonhjelm said the changes were “good ideas” but the government “should’ve done it the first time”.
UPDATE
Peter Martin explains how a $5 co-payment that excludes 8 million people raises almost as much money as the Government’s original (and better) proposal for a $7 co-payment applying to everyone.
He’s not tipping this will go through at all.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
The best and political worst of Tony Abbott: making sure Richard Flanagan gets a prize
Andrew Bolt December 10 2014 (9:31am)
I’ve said Tony Abbott should take on his critics more aggressively, and stop believing that extending his hand will stop them kicking his head.
Abbott has again ignored that advice and shown the side of him I admire. Who knows, it might even have won some grudging respect from Richard Flanagan, even if Flanagan hasn’t said so:
It would have been nice for Flanagan to publicly show the inclusiveness that Abbott did, but I guess he at least didn’t use the awards night for more political grandstanding.
So I’m still not convinced that Abbott’s love-your-enemies style brings political rewards. In this case, rewarding Flanagan overshadowed the award to Hal Colebatch for exposing the union bastardry that sobataged our war effort.
But I admit I think more of Abbott as a man.
(Thanks to reader Baden.)
===Abbott has again ignored that advice and shown the side of him I admire. Who knows, it might even have won some grudging respect from Richard Flanagan, even if Flanagan hasn’t said so:
TWO months after outspoken author Richard Flanagan said Tony Abbott’s commitment to coal made him “ashamed to be Australian”, the Prime Minister has intervened in the nation’s richest literary awards to ensure the Tasmanian Man Booker Prize-winner shared in the spoils.Would Julia Gillard have read the books given prizes in her name? Yet the arts world persists in seeing the highly literate Abbott as the troglodyte.
Flanagan’s novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North was named joint winner of the $80,000 fiction prize in the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards on Monday night, but The Australian understands he was not the judges’ choice…
The fiction panel, also with five members, and chaired by publisher Louise Adler, unanimously recommended one winner: Melbourne writer Steven Carroll for A World of Other People. However, Mr Abbott, who has final say on all of the awards, decided Carroll and Flanagan would share the award.
One of the judges, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “...It was a surprise to us; the first we knew about it was when the PM announced the two winners.’’
It is understood Mr Abbott read the Narrow Road to the Deep North, which draws on the PoW experience of Flanagan’s father, Archie, after it won the Booker on October 14. The PM’s desire to read it and other shortlisted books across the six categories was one reason the awards ended up being held so late in the year.
It was in a BBC interview after his Booker win that Flanagan, asked about the Prime Minister’s comment that “Coal is good for humanity’’, said: “To be frank, I’m ashamed to be Australian when you bring this up.” Flanagan has been a critic of the government’s broader environmental policies and its stand on asylum-seekers.
Though conspicuously silent on the day Flanagan won the Booker — becoming the first Australian in a decade to do so — Mr Abbott revealed he wrote to the author privately to congratulate him. “To not to have done that would have been churlish,’’ Mr Abbott told The Australian. An exchange ensued, with Flanagan expressing the hope that Australia’s cultural life could be quarantined from any Left-Right political divide. He wrote to the Prime Minister that Australia’s strength as a nation was about inclusion, not exclusion. Mr Abbott said he endorsed that sentiment.
It would have been nice for Flanagan to publicly show the inclusiveness that Abbott did, but I guess he at least didn’t use the awards night for more political grandstanding.
So I’m still not convinced that Abbott’s love-your-enemies style brings political rewards. In this case, rewarding Flanagan overshadowed the award to Hal Colebatch for exposing the union bastardry that sobataged our war effort.
But I admit I think more of Abbott as a man.
(Thanks to reader Baden.)
Forget scrapping negative gearing. Envy politics won’t save us
Andrew Bolt December 10 2014 (9:23am)
Judith Sloan on the Left’s latest great scheme for fixing the deficit the Left created:
===HERE we go again. If only the government were to ditch negative gearing on residential real estate then our budget woes would disappear, all those subsidies to the undeserving rich would be eliminated and housing would become more affordable.(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Who is calling for this? The Fairfax dailies…
Being able to deduct costs associated with investing in an income-producing asset has always been part of the tax code…
To eliminate negative gearing would be to introduce double taxation. The flip side of an investor taking a loan to buy an asset is a lender providing the loan. And that lender pays taxation on the associated profit. So when you read about all those billions the government would save, it would be a case of gaining on the one hand and losing on the other…
To eliminate or restrict negative gearing on residential property would lead to a massive dislocation in the property market. It would hurt renters and affect the incentive for developers to invest in new residential property. If it were that simple, don’t you think Labor, under hapless treasurer Wayne Swan, would have restricted negative gearing?
Let the buyers beware, and get the warmist regulators off their back
Andrew Bolt December 10 2014 (8:44am)
The Queensland Government ends one power of warmists to bully landowners:
(Thanks to reader Westy.)
===Queensland Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney has intervened to force the removal of all references to climate change-derived sea level rises from the regional plan of Moreton Bay Regional Council…Here’s what that ABC report fails to add in a report that chides Seeney for being “at odds with the insurance industry and the majority of scientific opinion”. The sea level rise for the past two decades has remained around 3.2mm per year - or 32cm per century:
In a letter to the council dated November 28, Mr Seeney wrote: “I direct council to amend its draft planning scheme to remove any assumption about a theoretical projected sea level rise from all and any provision of the scheme."…
Some of the biggest coastal councils including Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Townsville have also incorporated the same assumption of a 0.8-metre rise in sea level by the year 2100 that Mr Seeney has ordered be removed in Moreton Bay… On coming to office, the LNP removed a Bligh government requirement for councils to incorporate the 0.8-metre rise in sea level… Mr Seeney told the ABC he had intervened “to ensure residents’ rights to build and develop their properties were maintained and not restricted by their local council”.
Add to that no further rise in temperature in the deep ocean for the past nine years, according to NASA.
(Thanks to reader Westy.)
Forget those predictions of permanent drought. Latest warmist scare: floods
Andrew Bolt December 10 2014 (8:36am)
Warmist Professor Andy Pitman yesterday:
But in 2008, and the end of the last big drought, it was a different story:
We know it’s going to be hotter, we know there’ll be intensification of heavy rainfall that will tend to exacerbate flood risk...Global warming will bring us more heavy rain and floods?
But in 2008, and the end of the last big drought, it was a different story:
IT MAY be time to stop describing south-eastern Australia as gripped by drought and instead accept the extreme dry as permanent, one of the nation’s most senior weather experts warned yesterday.(Thanks to reader handjive.)
“Perhaps we should call it our new climate,” said the Bureau of Meteorology’s head of climate analysis, David Jones… “There is a debate in the climate community, after … close to 12 years of drought, whether this is something permanent. Certainly, in terms of temperature, that seems to be our reality, and that there is no turning back...”
===
HOLDEN’S LAST CHANCE
Tim Blair – Tuesday, December 10, 2013 (5:31am)
(Scene: Parliament House. Two Holden marketing executives are in Joe Hockey’s office)
Executive #1: Thanks for meeting us, Mr Treasurer.
Joe Hockey: No problem. But I warn you, it won’t be a long meeting. There will be no subsidy increase.
Executive #2: Oh, but you haven’t seen our latest model, Mr Treasurer. It’s a game-changer!
Executive #1: A guaranteed winner! A mega-seller!
(The men present a large colour photograph and slide it across Hockey’s desk)
Hockey: [pause] This is a standard current model 2013 Holden Commodore. What’s new about it?
Executive #1: Take a closer look, Mr Treasurer.
Executive #2: Yes, Mr Treasurer. Look at the badges.
(Joe Hockey squints at the photograph)
Hockey: The Holden … Mandela?
Executive #2: If you say no to the Holden Mandela, Mr Treasurer, you’ll be saying no to the greatest human being who ever lived.
Executive #1: It’s a rolling tribute to the unifier of all humankind, Mr Treasurer.
Hockey: Are you people serious?
Executive #2: As serious as the mobs who will gather outside your house once they learn how much you hate the father of modern Africa, Mr Treasurer.
Hockey: What the …
Executive #1: This model also has the top of the line Madiba option package, Mr Treasurer, with Robben Island trim and Biko brakes.
Executive #2: Zuma zoom-zoom V6 power!
Executive #1: Stompie Seipei seat inserts!
Executive #2: Low-profile Bridgestone necklaces and …
Hockey: Get out. Now. Leave.
(Scene: the two executives are driving away from Canberra)
Executive #2: That didn’t go very well.
Executive #1: It isn’t over, mate. Have those Whitlam badges arrived yet?
APPLICATION ISOLATED
Tim Blair – Tuesday, December 10, 2013 (5:29am)
Warmists previously relied on the per-capita lie – a trick designed to make a very small number appear very large – to justify a massive and pointless carbon tax. Here’s their latest weasel argument:
The carbon tax is succeeding in cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the parts of the economy where it applies, Labor and the Greens say, as they vow to resist Abbott government plans to scrap the key climate change policy.
So it doesn’t matter that the carbon tax makes only a 0.1 per cent difference to Australia’s overall carbon emissions. These people are stupid.
SAID WITH A SMILE
Tim Blair – Tuesday, December 10, 2013 (5:27am)
From today, this is how I answer the phone:
that jabbering and largely unread halfwit Blair
COALITION DOWN
Tim Blair – Tuesday, December 10, 2013 (5:23am)
It doesn’t mean much this far from the next election, but still worth noting:
Tony Abbott and the Liberals have lost their three-year carbon tax advantage over Labor, with support for the Coalition dropping to its lowest since 2011 to leave the opposition leading on preferences for the first time since the election of the Gillard government.Just three months after being elected, the Abbott government’s primary vote support has dropped to 40 per cent while Labor’s two-party-preferred support has jumped five percentage points to put the ALP in front 52 per cent to 48 per cent.And for the first time since the September 7 election, more voters are dissatisfied with the Prime Minister than satisfied.
Early post-election polls can be deceptive. Recall Kevin Rudd’s soaring numbers in 2008. At the same time, you’d prefer to be ahead than behind.
UMPIRE!
Tim Blair – Monday, December 09, 2013 (6:39pm)
Labor front bench or mixed-gender mature age netball team? You be the judge.
ABC presenter compares Australians fighting for jihadists in Syria to Anzacs in World War 1
Andrew Bolt December 10 2013 (12:01pm)
Dominic Knight is an ABC presenter. And, like almost every ABC presenter, he is of the ... well, let him speak for himself:
KNIGHT: Can we just stop for a second. Here we have four white Australian males expressing views on Syrians who want to return to fight for what’s right in their homeland.To sum up. ABC presenter Dominic Knight (here debating on Sky News) doesn’t “see any difference” between Australians fighting for their country in a war to aid their country’s allies and Australians fighting for jihadist groups linked to the killing Australian civilians and soldiers, and who are now trying to overrun Syria.
JASON MORRISON: Well that might be your romantic view of things but I’ll point out that many of the people you say are heading home, their home is here. They were born here. Bankstown, Liverpool, Westmead hospitals. Yeah sure have passions about what’s going on over there but it’s a very different thing - a very worrying thing for Australia that they choose to fly to the other side of planet, pick up an AK47 and fight with Al-Qaeda in somebody else’s war…
KNIGHT : ...Somebody else’s war you say? Plenty of Australians historically have fought in other people’s wars. Are you as outraged about say Australian soldiers dying in Britain’s wars? In George Bush’s war?
MORRISON : are you serious?
KNIGHT : I am.
MORRISON : That’s a justification in your mind for young Australians joining up with the associates of terrorists to fight? You bring up 1914, World War One to prove your point. For God’s sake.
KNIGHT : well they weren’t Australia’s wars. I don’t see any difference.
MORRISON : you see no difference between Australians fighting with the sanction of their country in declared wars like the First World War and those fighting with the terrorists today in Syria? They’re just like the diggers are they?
KNIGHT : no it’s just a comparison and I think it’s too easy to condemn these men today.. MORRISON : ...Oh yeah everything is excusable isn’t it. That is a ridiculous comparison actually. Actually let’s call it what is is really - utter bullshit.
No difference at all (although, when challenged, he suggested he was just making “a comparison").
Now imagine Dominic Knight explaining his self-loathing theory to the jihadist groups he so honors with his comparison.
Explain to these guys, Dominic (CAUTION - extremely graphic):
Explain it to these guys, and these, and these. Again: CAUTION. Extremely graphic.Of course, explaining it to the jihadists might involve Knight taking a few risks with his safety:
A militant group kidnapped two Spanish journalists reporting in Syria in September and is holding them captive, El Mundo newspaper reports… The newspaper identified the captors as members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a jihadist faction in Syria.
Would it help if Knight said he was from the ABC, and there to help?
The ABC is out of control.
World record cold temperature measured
Andrew Bolt December 10 2013 (11:53am)
It’s weather, not climate - but would warmists say the same if the highest ever temperature had just been recorded instead?
===A new look at NASA satellite data revealed that Earth set a new record for coldest temperature recorded. It happened in August 2010 when it hit -135.8 degrees. Then on July 31 of this year, it came close again: -135.3 degrees.
The old record had been -128.6 degrees, which is -89.2 degrees Celsius.
The greatest scandal with the AWU slush fund is how many in the media aided the cover-up
Andrew Bolt December 10 2013 (11:50am)
There are actually two scandals. One centres on the AWU slush fund that Julia Gillard helped to create. The other involves the many, many senior journalists of the Left who didn’t just ignore the story, but in many cases aided Labor’s spin and attacked those trying to get at the truth.
Victoria’s Chief Magistrate, Peter Lauritsen, yesterday ruled that documents prepared or overseen by Julia Gillard as a solicitor were part of a fraud by her then boyfriend and others, and police are therefore entitled to seize them:
BlewittWilson denies any fraud. The magistrate’s finding is made on the “reasonable grounds” test, not “beyond reasonable doubt”.)
But Lauritsen’s finding and Mitchell’s affadavit again raise the question: why did so many in the media run dead on what is clearly a big story?
Michael Smith, who was forced out of 2UE after asking what management said were “unauthorised questions” of Gillard, sums up the case against the media:
How eager some were to dodge asking the hard questions
How studiously the ABC looked away.
How easily the ABC and senior correspondents such as Laurie Oakes accused the few journalists pursuing the story of just “beating up” old allegations that had been answered “multiple times”.
How astonishingly ready the ABC and Age were to blame themselves for making false claims about the case, when their real mistake was to have repeated Gillard’s spin.
How often the ABC echoed false claims by Gillard to trash the reputation of journalists who’d reported the case.
How hungry senior press gallery journalists were to swallow Gillard’s red herrings, like her confected outrage at a newspaper confusing “trust fund” with “slush fund”.
How hasty journalists such as Laurie Oakes were to declare Gillard had “answered every question” about the scandal and the real liar was Tony Abbott. How quick Michelle Grattan was to claim ”her answers were credible”. For Graham Richardson to vow ”I will speak or write no more on this matter”. For the ABC’s Jon Faine to dismiss the scandal as ”just an obsession for those who work for Rupert Murdoch”. For Age journalist Jason Koutsoukis to claim ”fending off an attack based on this old tale shouldn’t present too many problems for her (Gillard)” For Peter van Onselen to declare to Gillard: ”I believe you that you did nothing wrong.”
Can we now hear from the journalists who reassured Gillard there was nothing to this story when it was raised again in 2007 by since-sacked journalist Glenn Milne?
It continues. Reader Grant watched the ABC 24 breakfast show this morning:
===Victoria’s Chief Magistrate, Peter Lauritsen, yesterday ruled that documents prepared or overseen by Julia Gillard as a solicitor were part of a fraud by her then boyfriend and others, and police are therefore entitled to seize them:
For those documents that (would otherwise attract legal professional privilege under Section 118 of the Evidence Act) I am satisfied that, in each instance, the communication was made or the document prepared in furtherance of the commission of a fraud or an offence.Lauritsen in his finding referred to this affadavit from Victoria Police’s lead investigator in this case, Ross Mitchell, who was damning of the slush fund Gillard helped to create:
The evidence in this investigation points strongly towards establishing that the creation of the Australian Workers Union - Workplace Reform Association Inc was for the sole purpose of legitimising the ‘false’ invoicing for ‘work’ provided by the association.The fraud, according to Mitchell, involves:
- obtaining property by deception;(Gillard has insisted she did nothing wrong and did not know how her boyfriend used the slush fund.
- receiving secret commissions;
- making and using false documents; and
- conspiracy to cheat and defraud
But Lauritsen’s finding and Mitchell’s affadavit again raise the question: why did so many in the media run dead on what is clearly a big story?
Michael Smith, who was forced out of 2UE after asking what management said were “unauthorised questions” of Gillard, sums up the case against the media:
When a sitting Prime Minister, reliant on the votes of the very trade union at the centre of The AWU Scandal for her position, is named in a search warrant executed on her former law offices - that is news. Yesterday’s proceedings in court and the written reasons for Chief Magistrate Lauritsen’s judgement now make clear the breadth of our media’s shortcomings in bringing these matters to the nation’s attention.Hedley Thomas of The Australian:
A vibrant democracy is a fully informed democracy. That requires a curious, fearless and capable media - not a club of barrackers.
The closing words in (Lauritsen’s) ruling - “I am satisfied that, in each instance, the communication was made or the document prepared in furtherance of the commission of a fraud or an offence” - mean the police (subject to the decision not being reversed on appeal) will be able to access more than 360 documents taken from the law firm.But how easily the media was distracted by Labor into attacking Gillard’s accusers instead.
This is a major call. For a start, it should finally put to bed the fanciful arguments of Labor Party figures (such as former leader Mark Latham) and their naive barrackers that there never was a fraud in the first place. Lauritsen’s ruling might wake from their stupor those sections of Australia’s media who have self-censored, looked the other way and even tried to hose down serious matters involving the former prime minister, a key figure in a Victoria Police Fraud Squad investigation, for a year. It should incense taxpayers that the ABC has not reported on the police probe for all of this year, and is only now starting to realise its folly…
It is important to stress that nothing in Lauritsen’s ruling, and nothing in the evidence thus far revealed by the police, establishes that Gillard or (her then boss and now judge Bernard) Murphy were aware at the time the entity was being set up that they knew it would be used in a criminal fraud. Gillard has always strenuously denied knowing this, and Wilson has backed her up. She says she was profoundly misled. Murphy, who was appointed to the Federal Court by Gillard in 2011, has said very little but he has emphatically rejected any suggestion of wrongdoing. However, Gillard cannot undo her 1995 tape-recorded disclosure to the senior partner at Slater & Gordon, Peter Gordon, that the AWU Workplace Reform Association was really a “slush fund” established for the purpose of funding elections for union officials. It culminated in her abrupt departure from the firm, and the start of a full-time political career.
How eager some were to dodge asking the hard questions
How studiously the ABC looked away.
How easily the ABC and senior correspondents such as Laurie Oakes accused the few journalists pursuing the story of just “beating up” old allegations that had been answered “multiple times”.
How astonishingly ready the ABC and Age were to blame themselves for making false claims about the case, when their real mistake was to have repeated Gillard’s spin.
How often the ABC echoed false claims by Gillard to trash the reputation of journalists who’d reported the case.
How hungry senior press gallery journalists were to swallow Gillard’s red herrings, like her confected outrage at a newspaper confusing “trust fund” with “slush fund”.
How hasty journalists such as Laurie Oakes were to declare Gillard had “answered every question” about the scandal and the real liar was Tony Abbott. How quick Michelle Grattan was to claim ”her answers were credible”. For Graham Richardson to vow ”I will speak or write no more on this matter”. For the ABC’s Jon Faine to dismiss the scandal as ”just an obsession for those who work for Rupert Murdoch”. For Age journalist Jason Koutsoukis to claim ”fending off an attack based on this old tale shouldn’t present too many problems for her (Gillard)” For Peter van Onselen to declare to Gillard: ”I believe you that you did nothing wrong.”
Can we now hear from the journalists who reassured Gillard there was nothing to this story when it was raised again in 2007 by since-sacked journalist Glenn Milne?
Gillard later told biographer Jacqueline Kent: “Over the next two or three days I received phone calls from many of the biggest names in the Canberra press gallery expressing absolute disbelief that such things were said (by Milne).UPDATE
“Nobody followed up the story. It just died.”
It continues. Reader Grant watched the ABC 24 breakfast show this morning:
I watched Virginia and Michael from start to finish this morning and there was not a single mention of the AWU scandal.
The lead story was of the CEO of GM Holden asking for more handouts.
Even the goose who interrupted the Oxbridge rowing and whose appeal was upheld got a run with interviews of him and his wife; this was more newsworthy than the AWU scandal.
Unbelievable
Our subsidies, Holden’s high wages
Andrew Bolt December 10 2013 (11:14am)
If it’s good enough for Holden, why doesn’t the Government simply buy a million more jobs at $50,000 each per year? Unemployment fixed, right?
===TAXPAYERS are covering about $2500 of the cost of each Australian-made car with subsidies equivalent to as much as $50,000 for every employee directly involved in their manufacture.So what exactly are taxpayers subsidising?
Subsidies to the industry have averaged about $550 million a year for the past six years, not including the benefit of tariffs and the luxury car tax, according to the Productivity Commission.
Holden and Toyota both say their manufacturing costs are about $3750 per car higher in Australia than in other markets… Manufacturing costs added $2000, mainly as a result of labour costs, which it said were double the cost per vehicle compared with European manufacturers, and four times the cost of Asia.As Grace Collier notes, taxpayers are paying for Holden’s inflated wages:
Holden, which has about 2000 staff directly involved in manufacturing at its Elizabeth plant in South Australia and its engine plant in Port Melbourne, received $96m in subsidies last year, or just under $50,000 per employee.Toyota, with 2500 manufacturing employees, received $72m in government grants, or $29,000 per employee.
The Holden Enterprise Agreement is the document that has utterly sunk Holden’s prospects… Holden’s management masks a union culture beyond most people’s comprehension. Employment costs spiralled way beyond community standards long ago. Neither “pay freezes” nor more money will save Holden, but getting the Fair Work Commission to dissolve the agreement and put all workers on the award wage might be a start… Holden begins each working day paying its workforce almost double what it should. After you add in the other employment costs, I estimate Holden’s workforce costs it somewhere close to triple the amount it should..Terry McCrann:
It is not a good idea to pour billions of taxpayer money into a single company - and yes, we are talking about billions going forward - if that money is the only, and I do mean, the only, reason it keeps operating.So, after the billions spent on subsidies by Labor, what do we get? Rumors Holden is leaving anyway - rumors not convincingly denied by Holden:
Secondly, that means the company could still up sticks and close at any time. No matter how many billions you poured in, that buys you nothing so far as future certainty is concerned.
Indeed, we’ve got an exact example of that with none other than Holden itself. The last deal it did with the federal, Victorian and SA governments was supposed to guarantee it would stay until at least 2022. Yet it’s now demanding more money or it will go at the same time as Ford at the end of 2016. We give it more money, and all we guarantee is that - at best - it will ask for more...
Holden managing director Mike Devereux has rejected speculation the company has already decided to leave Australia.(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
“No decision has been made,” he told a Productivity Commission inquiry into taxpayer funding for the Australian car industry on Tuesday morning.
The news will be little relief for thousands of Holden workers, who, over the past week, have read stories of alleged leaks from unnamed federal government sources and at least one unnamed senior General Motors official in the US asserting that a decision had already been taken internally to close Holden’s Australian manufacturing operations…
Mr Devereux declined to answer questioning from the Productivity Commission, which is looking into public funding for auto manufacturing, about when the firm would hope to not need government funding… Mr Devereux said that the “business case for having an auto industry is understood all around the world”, because at least three jobs and perhaps up to six people were employed for every one that Holden gave a job in Australia… He said this “$32.7 billion of economic activity” was “a very good return for the country....”.
Time for talking. Newspoll: Labor 52, Coalition 48
Andrew Bolt December 10 2013 (9:18am)
Time the Abbott Government revised its media strategy big time. Its problem isn’t the execution but the sale - and the hysterical opposition from the media Left:
===More presence needed. More assertion. More narrative. And, I dare say, more independence for Ministers to create narratives of their own.
The Iran that’s given more rope by the West
Andrew Bolt December 10 2013 (9:13am)
The newly moderate Iran hailed in the media:
===Iran has executed 529 people this year, including more 300 since President Hassan Rouhani assumed office in August, according to a tally compiled by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC).(Thanks to reader ombudsman.)
The number of executions have significantly spiked since Rouhani took office, leading some to argue that this clashes with his image as a moderate reformer. Iran now has the dubious honor of being the global leader per capita in executions, according to the IHRDC.
Qantas is not Holden with wings
Andrew Bolt December 10 2013 (9:08am)
Qantas boss Alan Joyce denies he’s after a handout:
===First, Qantas is not Holden. In stark contrast to Qantas, the car industry has received billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money over many years. Since privatisation in 1995, Qantas has performed strongly with no taxpayer subsidies and no tax concessions—nor are we asking for any now…Can’t see anything in that to object to at all.
Second, Qantas is not looking for protection from the free market. On the contrary, the challenges Qantas faces are precisely because of the absence of a free and fair market. Virgin Australia’s 2012 restructure has enabled it to circumvent Australian law and pretend to be an Australian airline, when it is majority owned by three foreign government-backed airlines. Through Virgin, they are pouring money into our domestic market to weaken Qantas and ultimately funnel Australian traffic on their airlines and through their hubs… Third, Qantas is not seeking an anti-competitive handout or bail out. We are talking to the Abbott government because legislation and regulatory decisions (the Qantas Sale Act, the Air Navigation Act, and decisions by the Foreign Investment Review Board) have created the uneven playing field we find ourselves playing on. We are seeking a fair go ...
Magistrate differs with Gillard on Blewitt
Andrew Bolt December 10 2013 (7:12am)
Julia Gillard last year on former client Ralph Blewitt, who claimed the “slush fund” she helped create for him and her boyfriend Bruce Wilson was used for a fraud:
Which helped lead to this finding:
===Mr Blewitt, according to people who know him, has been described as a complete imbecile, an idiot, a stooge, a sexist pig, a liar and his sister has said he’s a crook and rotten to the core. His word against mine. Make your mind up.Victoria’s chief magistrate, Peter Lauritsen on Blewitt:
One does not reject a person’s sworn evidence unless there is a powerful reason to do so.. In the circumstance of delay between the events and the statement, Blewitt gave adequate detail.More from Lauritsen on Blewitt’s credit here.
Which helped lead to this finding:
VICTORIA’S most senior magistrate has found reasonable grounds to conclude that Julia Gillard’s former boyfriend was involved in a fraud, negating his right to claim privilege over documents held at her old law firm…Gillard says she did nothing wrong and did not know what her boyfriend did with the slush fund.
It is alleged Mr Wilson used the fund to siphon hundreds of thousands of dollars from construction giant Thiess and buy a house in the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy. After receiving evidence, including from lead investigator Ross Mitchell and Mr Wilson’s former bagman Ralph Blewitt, Mr Lauritsen said he was satisfied each document that met the requirements for privilege was “prepared in furtherance of the commission of a fraud or an offence"… Mr Wilson was in a long-term relationship with Ms Gillard when she provided legal advice to help establish the association while working at Slater & Gordon, later describing it to her employer as a “slush fund”.
Just radical Islamists? That’s all right, then
Andrew Bolt December 10 2013 (7:06am)
Russian president Vladimir Putin is a popular target of Western artists rightly concerned with the oppression of gays:
===British pop icon Elton John has escaped serious criticism in Russia after using a sold-out Moscow concert to challenge a highly contentious law banning the “propaganda of homosexuality” to minors…
The only visible outrage came from a radical Islamist organisation that urged the authorities of Tatarstan to forbid him from performing Saturday in the region’s capital of Kazan.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2520753/Chinese-boyfriend-jumped-death-girlfriend-insisted-going-clothes-shop.html
===
www.theaustralian.com.au
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/politics-dominates-facebook-trends-in-2013/story-fn3dxiwe-1226779888292===
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/aussies-grow-worlds-hottest-chilli.htm#.UqZCP9F5o8Q.facebook
===I am pleased to report that today I launched my new website.
Check it out at www.carolineglick.com
- Pro Israel Pro Zionist Forum discussing CarolineGlick.com editorials and current...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/opinion/why-machiavelli-matters.html?_r=0
===<" Sarah Hanson Young thought a photo-shopped picture did this:
Senator Hanson-Young says the article implied that being a sex object was the only thing she was good for, that she was not a serious politician, that she was a "joke" and that her asylum-seeking stance had exposed her to ridicule. "
1) Senator Hanson-Young says the article implied that being a sex object was the only thing she was good for…
IN HER FCUKING DREAMS
2) …that she was not a serious politician,
SHE GOT THAT BIT RIGHT LOL
3) that she was a "joke"
ANYONE LAUGHING ?
4) … that her asylum-seeking stance had exposed her to ridicule.
YES BUT WE ARE STIIL NOT LAUGHING.
and after all as Hanson confirmed it was just a thought.
Why must someone have to go to court to defend themselves against a thought.>
Zoo Weekly sorry for 'sexiest asylum seeker' competition
http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews/zoo-weekly-sorry-for-sexiest-asylum-seeker-competition?fb_action_ids=10152482155809899&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210152482155809899%22%3A10151292671048219%7D&action_type_map=%7B%2210152482155809899%22%3A%22og.likes%22%7D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
Men's magazine Zoo Weekly will print an apology for its controversial 'Australia's Hottest Asylum Seeker' competition in its upcoming edition after a public outcry.
===Brothers Grimm story come to life... http://www.news.com.au/world/new-twist-in-creepy-german-cannibal-case/story-fndir2ev-1226777979030
===
https://twitter.com/cvaldary/status/410065409493053440/photo/1/large?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=fb&utm_campaign=cvaldary&utm_content=410065409493053440
===
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/chris-kenny-out-in-the-provinces-the-abc-is-paying-lip-service/story-fni6unxq-1226777762584
===
Larry Pickering
MANDELA’S SAD SOUTH AFRICA
... but it's nothing a few decades won’t fix
The week-long Mandela epilogue will be an emotional farewell for South African blacks and coloureds and an excessive bore to others. Significant is the number of whites who also openly show grief at his passing.
Those are people who believe a black person is no less a human being than a white person. They are white people who always believed apartheid was wrong... and if you don’t believe apartheid was wrong you should go find another blog.
The enormity of what Mandela achieved should never be underestimated.
Blood was spilled on both sides as it was in America where, in 1990, Tiger Woods would have been banned from the Masters at Augusta National Golf Course, only blacks could have been caddies and where women gained membership only last year.
Silky crooner, Nat King Cole, could only perform at nightclubs if he entered through the kitchen while his wife waited outside on the pavement.
Martin Luther King, in 1968, paid with his life in return for the eventual dismantling of segregation. It has always taken one great man to change a nation’s hereditary wrongs.
Nelson Mandela was one of those men and history will laud him as one of the greatest.
But what he achieved has been mostly symbolic. South Africa is still a wild, selfish and corrupt nation. Black rule has done nothing to advance the splintered ‘brotherhood’.
It’s a strange place... beautiful but different.
Everyone still carries hand guns. A business associate of mine always carried a huge ceramic gun.
I asked him one day, “Have you ever killed anyone with this thing?” “Oh yes”, he said, “I killed a couple of black dudes last week.” “Why, how?” I asked. “I caught them stealing my car.”
“Really?” “Well, they weren’t actually stealing it… they were sort of leaning on it!” “So you shot them?” “Yeah, I shot one of ‘em dead but the other guy took off… I had only winged him. So I got in the car and chased ‘im up the street. When I caught ‘im, I put a bullet in his forehead… couldn’t have ‘im testifying.”
“Bloody hell”, I knew he was fair dinkum.
There are still 40,000 murders committed in this country each year. Legally they have to keep the bodies for 18 months if they are not identified beforehand.
The mortuary is ten stories high and by the time a police report has been filled in on one murder, another eight have been committed.
Rape is commonplace and rarely reported. Stabbings are rampant and bodies are strewn along the sides of the roads near townships.
But nearly all killings are black-on-black. The tribal fighting is relentless and brutal.
During the apartheid period, the media in the West was misleading its viewers with clips of tanks tearing through black townships with guns blazing. The tanks were there solely to prevent the black-on-black gang killings.
Thousands of hungry blacks from northern countries drift into South Africa. All are looking for a better life, but their brothers are there waiting to ensure their lives are worse.
Of the almost 50 corrupt countries on the African continent, South Africa is the least corrupt yet it’s still a lawless place. You can drive at any speed you want. The police won’t pull you up… it’s too risky for them. A lot of blacks think it’s still preferable to shoot the cop rather than pay the speeding ticket.
Black (and I include Coloureds, Bushmen and Xhosa) persecution is rife. But sometimes it’s hard to find balance.
The pass-card system, that only allowed blacks in and out of the city at certain times during the day, was implemented for a different reason than what the West’s media told us.
The fathers of black families in the townships travelled to the city for work, (mainly stealing) but they wouldn’t return home with the money… if they did, the township’s black warlord would take whatever they earned anyway, so they stayed in town and drank it.
Then the family would travel to the city to find the father and hopefully some food. This resulted in thousands of families sleeping in the doorways of city buildings.
As the morning sun’s rays shifted to different parts of the streets, families would race to different doorways to soak up the warmth.
There were babies and toddlers who, if they didn’t die from disease, froze to death. A mattress was any piece of cardboard.
The “pass-card” law was there to force the father to return to the family each evening.
It is a horrible existence in the city and only marginally better than in the townships, where they are mercilessly ripped off by their own kind.
Apartheid is over now, but the blacks are far worse off because the laws framed to assist them were understandably taken better advantage of by the educated whites.
The “affirmative action” policy means those blacks who want a job could get a “whitie’s” job whenever they wanted, at the expense of the “whitie”.
This doesn’t work of course because it is only a “whitie” who can teach the black how to do the job. And the “whitie” knows how to sabotage potential competition to ensure his own tenure.
I learnt quickly that the Blacks were cowards… they only hunted, stole, raped and killed in packs.
I would walk home from the pub in the early hours. There would be a gang of blacks on each corner. The law of the jungle is: “Never run.”
If you even looked like you were trying to avoid them or you crossed to the other side of the road, it immediately excited them. They would kill you for your sneakers, but only if you were hopelessly outnumbered.
The solution? Walk straight through them, look each of them in the eye. They will stand aside. You are safe as long as you show no weakness.
If I was eating a cold chicken I would walk to the rubbish bin on the corner and stand in front of them and eat the chicken, throwing the bones in the bin. They would dive in the bin and fight like dogs over the bones.
If I was silly enough to give them half the chicken or try to share it with them, that would be a weakness, they were then likely to kill me for the entire chicken.
Sounds wrong? It sure does, but it’s easy to be critical from afar. Time spent in South Africa changes you.
I always figured if I was confronted by a lion I would walk deliberately toward it. The lion must be unsettled by this. This is not the way a lion kills.
I have seen, on the Discovery Channel, a lioness’s total confusion when prey doesn’t flee. It simply doesn’t know how to handle such a situation.
There was an amazing incidence of a bereft antelope calf approaching a lion. It was looking for its mother… it had no fear.
The lion didn’t kill it, it actually adopted it as its own “cub”.
The two lived inseparably for weeks until the calf died through lack of food. Even then the starving lioness didn’t eat it.
But I had respect for the blacks when it came to their kids.
Each week-day morning, children in their thousands would emerge from filthy cardboard and tin shanties, prepared for school.
They would jump the pools of excrement and skip hand in hand to the waiting government buses. Their uniforms were ironed and schoolbags and shoes were polished. They wore pristine white socks and shirts. Little girls’ hair was carefully combed and ribboned. Their parents see education as a way forward.
"Wanna go on a hunting trip?" asked an Afrikaans guy.
A bit of bush tucker sounded fine to me. "Sure, when and where?" "Any long weekend, we shoot up to Botswana. You'll love it!" I went to this bloke's place to see his gear... it was the best I had seen:
A camouflaged four-wheel drive with collapsible seats on the front mudguards and a row of every type of spotlight fixed to a frame on the roof. There were dull metal bars welded everywhere. Inbuilt generators, water tanks and the latest camping equipment.
"Ok, count me in... but is it legal to shoot game up there?" "Not really but we don't shoot game anyway... we shoot blacks."
I searched his face for a sign that he was kidding. There was none.
Hmmm... I'll never know for sure. But others did confirm the atrocity.
The deep divisions are still there and whites are doing it tough under an incompetent and corrupt black administration.
But if you believe in true democracy, and you do, then you must believe apartheid was wrong. If you believe in one-man one-vote, then apartheid was wrong. If you believe in the equality of mankind, then apartheid was wrong.
Nelson Mandela single handedly changed that when he finally tapped the consciences of good white men.
The world must surely owe him something.
===
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/12/08/new-jersey-mayor-renames-towns-tree-christmas-tree
===
- 1041 – The son of Empress Zoe of Byzantium succeeds to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V.
- 1317 – The "Nyköping Banquet" - King Birger of Sweden treacherously seizes his two brothers Duke Valdemar and Duke Eric, who were subsequently starved to death in the dungeon of Nyköping Castle.
- 1508 – The League of Cambrai is formed by Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Ferdinand II of Aragon as an alliance against Venice.
- 1510 – Portuguese conquest of Goa: Portuguese naval forces under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque, and local mercenaries working for privateer Timoji, seize Goa from the Bijapur Sultanate, resulting in 451 years of Portuguese colonial rule.
- 1520 – Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg's Elster Gate.
- 1541 – Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.
- 1665 – The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps is founded by Michiel de Ruyter
- 1684 – Isaac Newton's derivation of Kepler's laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley.
- 1799 – France adopts the metre as its official unit of length.
- 1817 – Mississippi becomes the 20th U.S. state.
- 1861 – American Civil War: The Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy.
- 1861 – Forces led by Nguyễn Trung Trực, an anti-colonial guerrilla leader in southern Vietnam, sink the French lorcha L'Esperance.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach the outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia.
- 1868 – The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster in London. Resembling railway signals, they use semaphore arms and are illuminated at night by red and green gas lamps.
- 1869 – The Kappa Sigma Fraternity is founded at the University of Virginia.
- 1884 – Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published.
- 1896 – Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi premieres in Paris. A riot breaks out at the end of the performance.
- 1898 – Spanish–American War: The Treaty of Paris is signed, officially ending the conflict.
- 1899 – Delta Sigma Phi fraternity is founded at the City College of New York.
- 1901 – The first Nobel Prizes are awarded.
- 1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize.
- 1907 – The worst night of the Brown Dog riots in London, when 1,000 medical students clash with 400 police officers over the existence of a memorial for animals that have been vivisected.
- 1909 – Selma Lagerlöf becomes the first female writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature
- 1927 – The phrase "Grand Ole Opry" is used for the first time on-air.
- 1932 – Thailand becomes a constitutional monarchy.
- 1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII signs the Instrument of Abdication.
- 1941 – World War II: The Royal Navy capital ships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Imperial Japanese Navytorpedo bombers near Malaya.
- 1941 – World War II: Battle of the Philippines: Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on Luzon.
- 1948 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- 1949 – Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.
- 1955 – Mighty Mouse Playhouse premieres on American television.
- 1963 – Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.
- 1965 – The Grateful Dead's first concert performance under this new name.
- 1968 – Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "300 million yen robbery", is carried out in Tokyo.
- 1976 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques.
- 1978 – Arab–Israeli conflict: Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin and President of Egypt Anwar Sadat are jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
- 1979 – Kaohsiung Incident: Taiwanese pro-democracy demonstrations are suppressed by the KMT dictatorship, and organizers are arrested.
- 1983 – Democracy is restored in Argentina with the inauguration of President Raúl Alfonsín.
- 1989 – Mongolian Revolution: At the country's first open pro-democracy public demonstration, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj announces the establishment of the Mongolian Democratic Union.
- 1993 – The last shift leaves Wearmouth Colliery in Sunderland. The closure of the 156-year-old pit marks the end of the old County Durham coalfield, which had been in operation since the Middle Ages.
- 1994 – Rwandan Genocide: Maurice Baril, military advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General and head of the Military Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, recommends that UNAMIR stand down.
- 1452 – Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (d. 1531)
- 1588 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher (d. 1637)
- 1713 – Johann Nicolaus Mempel, German cantor and organist (d. 1747)
- 1751 – George Shaw, English botanist and zoologist (d. 1813)
- 1776 – Archduchess Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este (d. 1848)
- 1787 – Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, American educator, founded the American School for the Deaf (d. 1851)
- 1804 – Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, German mathematician and academic (d. 1851)
- 1805 – Joseph Škoda, Czech physician, dermatologist, and academic (d. 1881)
- 1815 – Ada Lovelace, English mathematician and computer scientist (d. 1852)
- 1821 – Nikolay Nekrasov, Russian poet and critic (d. 1877)
- 1822 – César Franck, Belgian organist and composer (d. 1890)
- 1824 – George MacDonald, Scottish minister, author, and poet (d. 1905)
- 1827 – Eugene O'Keefe, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1913)
- 1830 – Emily Dickinson, American poet (d. 1886)
- 1851 – Melvil Dewey, American librarian, created the Dewey Decimal System (d. 1931)
- 1861 – Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick (d. 1938)
- 1866 – Louis Bolk, Dutch anatomist and biologist (d. 1930)
- 1870 – Mary Bonaparte, French daughter of Napoléon Charles Bonaparte, 5th Prince of Canino (d. 1947)
- 1870 – Adolf Loos, Austrian architect, designed Villa Müller (d. 1933)
- 1870 – Pierre Louÿs, Belgian-French author and poet (d. 1925)
- 1878 – C. Rajagopalachari, Indian lawyer and politician, 45th Governor-General of India (d. 1972)
- 1880 – Fred Immler, German actor (d. 1965)
- 1882 – Otto Neurath, Austrian sociologist and philosopher (d. 1945)
- 1882 – Shigenori Tōgō, Japanese politician, 37th Minister for Foreign Affairs (d. 1950)
- 1882 – Louis Wilkins, American pole vaulter (d. 1950)
- 1885 – Marios Varvoglis, Greek composer and conductor (d. 1967)
- 1886 – Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis, English field marshal and politician, 17th Governor General of Canada (d. 1969)
- 1886 – Annie Bos, Dutch actress (d. 1975)
- 1886 – Victor McLaglen, English-American boxer and actor (d. 1959)
- 1889 – Ray Collins, American actor (d. 1965)
- 1891 – Arlie Mucks, American discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1967)
- 1891 – Nelly Sachs, German-Swedish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1970)
- 1896 – Torsten Bergström, Swedish actor and director (d. 1948)
- 1903 – Una Merkel, American actress and singer (d. 1986)
- 1905 – Valter Palm, Estonian-American boxer (d. 1994)
- 1906 – Jules Ladoumègue, French runner (d. 1973)
- 1907 – Rumer Godden, English author and poet (d. 1998)
- 1907 – Lucien Laurent, French footballer and coach (d. 2005)
- 1908 – Olivier Messiaen, French composer and ornithologist (d. 1992)
- 1909 – Hermes Pan, American dancer and choreographer (d. 1990)
- 1910 – Ambrosio Padilla, Filipino basketball player, baseball player and politician (d. 1996)
- 1911 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (d. 1974)
- 1912 – Philip Hart, American lawyer and politician, 49th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (d. 1976)
- 1913 – Pannonica de Koenigswarter, English-American composer (d. 1988)
- 1913 – Morton Gould, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Harry Locke, English actor (d. 1987)
- 1914 – Dorothy Lamour, American actress and singer (d. 1996)
- 1915 – Nicky Barr, Australian rugby player and fighter pilot (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Walt Arfons, American race car driver (d. 2013)
- 1916 – Rafael Ruiz, Spanish field hockey player (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Yahya Petra of Kelantan (d. 1979)
- 1918 – Anne Gwynne, American actress and singer (d. 2003)
- 1918 – Anatoli Tarasov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1995)
- 1919 – Alexander Courage, American composer and conductor (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Clarice Lispector, Ukrainian-Brazilian journalist and author (d. 1977)
- 1920 – Reginald Rose, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2002)
- 1920 – Thanassis Skordalos, Greek lyra player and composer (d. 1998)
- 1922 – Lucía Hiriart, Chilean wife of Augusto Pinochet, 30th First Lady of Chile
- 1923 – Harold Gould, American actor (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Clorindo Testa, Italian-Argentinian architect, designed the National Library of the Argentine Republic and Marriott Plaza Hotel (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Michael Manley, Jamaican pilot and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Jamaica (d. 1997)
- 1925 – Jean Byron, American actress (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Carolyn Kizer, American poet and academic (d. 2014)
- 1927 – Bob Farrell, American businessman, founded Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Danny Matt, German-Israeli general (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Agnes Nixon, American actress, director, and screenwriter
- 1928 – Dan Blocker, American sergeant and actor (d. 1972)
- 1928 – John Colicos, Canadian actor (d. 2000)
- 1928 – Jeremy Morse, English banker and academic
- 1928 – Barbara Nichols, American actress and singer (d. 1976)
- 1930 – Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Michael Jopling, Baron Jopling, English politician, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
- 1931 – Peter Baker, English-South African footballer and manager
- 1932 – Vyacheslav Kurennoy, Russian water polo player (d. 1992)
- 1933 – Philip R. Craig, American author (d. 2007)
- 1933 – Larry Morris, American football player (d. 2012)
- 1933 – Mako Iwamatsu, Japanese-American actor and singer (d. 2006)
- 1934 – Howard Martin Temin, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
- 1935 – Terry Allcock, English footballer and cricketer
- 1935 – Jaromil Jireš, Czechoslovak filmmaker (d. 2001)
- 1936 – Howard Smith, American journalist, director, and producer (d. 2014)
- 1937 – Scott Baker, English judge
- 1937 – Raphael Maklouf, Israeli-English sculptor
- 1938 – Yuri Temirkanov, Russian viola player and conductor
- 1939 – Dick Bavetta, American basketball player and referee
- 1939 – Barry Cunliffe, English archaeologist and academic
- 1940 – Anne Gibson, Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen, English union leader and author
- 1941 – Ken Campbell, English actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
- 1941 – Fionnula Flanagan, Irish actress and producer
- 1941 – Tommy Kirk, American actor and singer
- 1941 – Tommy Rettig, American actor and engineer (d. 1996)
- 1941 – Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor (d. 1985)
- 1941 – Peter Sarstedt, Indian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1942 – Ann Gloag, Scottish nurse and businesswoman
- 1944 – Andris Bērziņš, Latvian businessman and politician, former President of Latvia
- 1944 – John Birt, Baron Birt, English businessman
- 1944 – Steve Renko, American baseball player
- 1945 – Mukhtar Altynbayev, Kazakhstani general and politician, 3rd Defence Minister of Kazakhstan
- 1945 – George Amon Webster, American singer and pianist (Cathedral Quartet) (d. 2013)
- 1946 – Thomas Lux, American poet and academic
- 1947 – Rasul Guliyev, Azerbaijani politician, 22nd Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan
- 1947 – Douglas Kenney, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1980)
- 1947 – Howard Newby, English sociologist and academic
- 1947 – Rainer Seifert, German field hockey player
- 1948 – Dušan Bajević, Bosnian-Greek footballer and manager
- 1948 – Jessica Cleaves, American singer (The Friends of Distinction and Earth, Wind & Fire) (d. 2014)
- 1948 – Jasuben Shilpi, Indian sculptor (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Muhammad Zaidan, Syrian-Palestinian terrorist, founded the Palestine Liberation Front (d. 2004)
- 1950 – John Boozman, American football player, lawyer, and politician
- 1950 – Nicky Henderson, English horse trainer
- 1951 – Ellen Nikolaysen, Norwegian singer and actress
- 1952 – Clive Anderson, English lawyer and television host
- 1952 – Susan Dey, American actress and producer
- 1952 – Greg Mortimer, Australian geologist and mountaineer
- 1952 – Paul Varul, Estonian lawyer and politician, 6th Estonian Minister of Justice
- 1953 – Chris Bury, American journalist and academic
- 1954 – Eudine Barriteau, Barbadian economist and academic
- 1954 – Price Cobb, American race car driver
- 1954 – Jack Hues, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Wang Chung)
- 1954 – Gavin Smith, American businessman (d. 2012)
- 1956 – Rod Blagojevich, American lawyer and politician, 40th Governor of Illinois
- 1956 – Roberto Cassinelli, Italian lawyer and politician
- 1956 – Jacquelyn Mitchard, American journalist and author
- 1956 – Jan van Dijk, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1957 – Michael Clarke Duncan, American actor (d. 2012)
- 1957 – Paul Hardcastle, English composer and producer
- 1957 – Prem Rawat, Indian-American guru
- 1958 – Pepsi Demacque, English singer (Pepsi & Shirlie)
- 1958 – Cornelia Funke, German-American author
- 1958 – Kathryn Stott, English pianist and academic
- 1958 – John J. York, American actor
- 1958 – Eva Robin's, Italian actress and model
- 1959 – Mark Aguirre, American basketball player and coach
- 1959 – Udi Aloni, American-Israeli director and author
- 1959 – Kevin Ash, English journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1959 – Wolf Hoffmann, German guitarist (Accept)
- 1960 – Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish-born English actor director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1960 – Kōichi Satō, Japanese actor
- 1960 – Michael Schoeffling, American actor
- 1961 – Mark McKoy, Canadian hurdler and sprinter
- 1961 – Nia Peeples, American singer and actress
- 1961 – Oded Schramm, Israel-American mathematician and academic (d. 2008)
- 1962 – Rakhat Aliyev, Kazakh politician and diplomat (d. 2015)
- 1962 – John de Wolf, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1963 – Jahangir Khan, Pakistani squash player
- 1963 – Ole Amund Gjersvik, Norwegian bassist
- 1964 – Stef Blok, Dutch banker and politician
- 1964 – Bobby Flay, American chef and author
- 1964 – George Newbern, American actor
- 1965 – Greg Giraldo, American lawyer, comedian, actor, and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1965 – J Mascis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dinosaur Jr., Witch, Deep Wound, and Upsidedown Cross)
- 1965 – Stephanie Morgenstern, Swiss-Canadian actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Rein Ahas, Estonian geographer and academic
- 1966 – Mel Rojas, Dominican baseball player
- 1967 – Narimi Arimori, Japanese actress
- 1968 – Yōko Oginome, Japanese singer, actress, and voice actress
- 1969 – Stephen Billington, English actor
- 1969 – Rob Blake, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1970 – Kevin Sharp, American singer (d. 2014)
- 1970 – Bryant Stith, American basketball player and coach
- 1971 – Bill Baroni, American lawyer and politician
- 1971 – Brian Nichols, American spree killer
- 1971 – Carla Sacramento, Portuguese runner
- 1972 – Donavon Frankenreiter, American surfer, singer-songwriter, and guitarist
- 1972 – Puff Johnson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1972 – Brian Molko, Belgian-Luxembourger singer-songwriter and guitarist (Placebo)
- 1973 – Arden Myrin, American comedian and actress
- 1973 – Gabriela Spanic, Venezuelan actress and singer
- 1974 – Meg White, American drummer (The White Stripes)
- 1975 – Steve Bradley, American wrestler (d. 2008)
- 1975 – Josip Skoko, Australian footballer
- 1975 – Kristel Verbeke, Belgian singer and actress (K3)
- 1976 – Shane Byrne, English motorcycle racer
- 1977 – Mr. Águila, Mexican wrestler
- 1977 – Emmanuelle Chriqui, Canadian actress
- 1978 – Anna Jesień, Polish hurdler
- 1978 – Summer Phoenix, American actress
- 1979 – Matt Bentley, American wrestler
- 1979 – Iain Brunnschweiler, English cricketer
- 1979 – Tora Augestad, Norwegian singer and actor (Music for a While)
- 1980 – Massari, Lebanese-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1980 – Sarah Chang, American violinist
- 1981 – Taufik Batisah, Singaporean singer
- 1981 – Ryan Pini, Papua New Guinean swimmer
- 1981 – Fábio Rochemback, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Claudia Hoffmann, German sprinter
- 1982 – Sultan Kösen, Turkish giant
- 1983 – Lewis Buxton, English footballer
- 1983 – Patrick Flueger, American actor
- 1983 – Habib Mohamed, Ghanaian footballer
- 1983 – Xavier Samuel, Australian actor
- 1983 – Katrin Siska, Estonian singer (Vanilla Ninja)
- 1984 – JTG, American wrestler
- 1984 – Krista Ranillo, Filipino actress
- 1984 – Mark Applegarth, English rugby player
- 1985 – Charlie Adam, Scottish footballer
- 1985 – Scarlett Bowman, English actress
- 1985 – Matt Forté, American football player
- 1985 – T. J. Hensick, American ice hockey player
- 1985 – Trésor Mputu, Congolese footballer
- 1985 – Raven-Symoné, American actress, singer, and dancer
- 1985 – Lê Công Vinh, Vietnamese footballer
- 1986 – Matthew Bates, English footballer
- 1986 – Kahlil Bell, American football player
- 1987 – Gonzalo Higuaín, French-Argentinian footballer
- 1988 – Wilfried Bony, Ivorian footballer
- 1988 – Mitchell Donald, Dutch footballer
- 1988 – Neven Subotić, Serbian footballer
- 1989 – Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, French politician
- 1989 – Tom Sexton, Australian-Irish rugby player
- 1990 – Kazenga LuaLua, Congolese-English footballer
- 1990 – Sakiko Matsui, Japanese singer (AKB48)
- 1990 – Terrell Sinkfield, American football player
- 1990 – Shoya Tomizawa, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2010)
- 1991 – LE, South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter (EXID)
- 1991 – Eric Reid, American football player
- 1991 – Dion Waiters, American basketball player
- 1993 – Rachel Trachtenburg, American singer and actress (Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players and Supercute!)
- 1994 – Matti Klinga, Finnish footballer
- 2014 – Princess Gabriella, Countess of Carladès
- 2014 – Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco
Births[edit]
- 949 – Herman I, Duke of Swabia
- 1041 – Michael IV the Paphlagonian, Byzantine emperor (b. 1010)
- 1198 – Averroes, Spanish astronomer, physicist, and philosopher (b. 1126)
- 1508 – René II, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1451)
- 1541 – Thomas Culpeper, English courtier (b. 1514)
- 1541 – Francis Dereham, English courtier
- 1618 – Giulio Caccini, Italian composer and educator (b. 1551)
- 1626 – Edmund Gunter, English mathematician and academic (b. 1581)
- 1665 – Tarquinio Merula, Italian organist, violinist, and composer (b. 1594)
- 1736 – António Manoel de Vilhena, Portuguese soldier and politician (b. 1663)
- 1791 – Jacob Frank, Polish Jewish religious leader (b. 1726)
- 1831 – Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist and academic (b. 1770)
- 1850 – Józef Bem, Polish general and physicist (b. 1794)
- 1850 – François Sulpice Beudant, French mineralogist and geologist (b. 1787)
- 1865 – Leopold I of Belgium (b. 1790)
- 1867 – Sakamoto Ryōma, Japanese samurai and politician (b. 1836)
- 1896 – Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist and engineer, invented Dynamite and founded the Nobel Prize (b. 1833)
- 1909 – Red Cloud, American tribal chief (b. 1822)
- 1911 – Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist and explorer (b. 1817)
- 1914 – Robert Williams, American archer (b. 1841)
- 1917 – Mackenzie Bowell, English-Canadian journalist and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1823)
- 1920 – Horace Elgin Dodge, American businessman, co-founded Dodge (b. 1868)
- 1922 – Clement Lindley Wragge, English meteorologist and author (b. 1852)
- 1926 – Nikola Pašić, Serbian politician, 46th Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1845)
- 1928 – Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish architect and painter (b. 1868)
- 1936 – Bobby Abel, English cricketer (b. 1857)
- 1936 – Luigi Pirandello, Italian author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
- 1939 – John Grieb, American gymnast (b. 1879)
- 1941 – Erich Jacoby, Estonian-Polish architect (b. 1885)
- 1941 – Colin Kelly, American captain and pilot (b. 1915)
- 1944 – John Brunt, English captain, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1922)
- 1945 – Theodor Dannecker, German SS officer (b. 1913)
- 1946 – Walter Johnson, American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (b. 1887)
- 1946 – Damon Runyon, American journalist and author (b. 1884)
- 1948 – Na Hye-sok, South Korean journalist, poet, and painter (b. 1896)
- 1951 – Algernon Blackwood, English author (b. 1869)
- 1953 – Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Indian-English scholar and translator (b. 1872)
- 1956 – David Shimoni, Russian-Israeli poet and translator (b. 1891)
- 1957 – Napoleon Zervas, Greek general (b. 1891)
- 1958 – Adolfo Camarillo, American horse breeder, rancher, and philanthropist (b. 1864)
- 1964 – George Sutcliffe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
- 1967 – Ronnie Caldwell, American keyboard player (The Bar-Kays) (b. 1948)
- 1967 – Phalon Jones, American saxophonist (The Bar-Kays) (b. 1949)
- 1967 – Otis Redding, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1941)
- 1968 – Karl Barth, Swiss theologian and author (b. 1886)
- 1968 – George Forrest, Northern Irish politician (b. 1921)
- 1968 – Thomas Merton, American monk and author (b. 1915)
- 1972 – Mark Van Doren, American poet, critic, and academic (b. 1894)
- 1973 – Wolf V. Vishniac, German-American microbiologist and academic (b. 1922)
- 1974 – Toshinari Shōji, Japanese general (b. 1890)
- 1977 – Adolph Rupp, American basketball player and coach (b. 1901)
- 1978 – Ed Wood, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)
- 1979 – Ann Dvorak, American actress and singer (b. 1912)
- 1982 – Freeman Gosden, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1899)
- 1986 – Susan Cabot, American actress (b. 1927)
- 1986 – Kate Wolf, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
- 1987 – Jascha Heifetz, Lithuanian-American violinist and educator (b. 1901)
- 1988 – Richard S. Castellano, American actor (b. 1933)
- 1988 – Johnny Lawrence, English cricketer (b. 1911)
- 1990 – Armand Hammer, American businessman, founded Occidental Petroleum (b. 1898)
- 1991 – Greta Kempton, Austrian-American painter (b. 1901)
- 1991 – Headman Shabalala, South African singer (Ladysmith Black Mambazo) (b. 1945)
- 1992 – Dan Maskell, English tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1908)
- 1993 – Alice Tully, American soprano (b. 1902)
- 1994 – Keith Joseph, English lawyer and politician, Secretary of State for Education (b. 1918)
- 1994 – Alex Wilson, Canadian-American sprinter (b. 1905)
- 1995 – Darren Robinson, American rapper (The Fat Boys) (b. 1967)
- 1996 – Faron Young, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1932)
- 1999 – Rick Danko, Canadian singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (The Band) (b. 1942)
- 1999 – Lex Goudsmit, Dutch actor and singer (b. 1913)
- 1999 – Shirley Hemphill, American actress (b. 1947)
- 1999 – Franjo Tuđman, Croatian general, historian, and politician, 1st President of Croatia (b. 1922)
- 2000 – Marie Windsor, American actress (b. 1919)
- 2001 – Ashok Kumar, Indian actor, singer, and producer (b. 1911)
- 2002 – Andres Küng, Swedish journalist and politician (b. 1945)
- 2002 – Ian MacNaughton, Scottish actor, director, and producer (b. 1925)
- 2003 – Sean McClory, Irish-American actor and director (b. 1924)
- 2004 – Gary Webb, American journalist and author (b. 1955)
- 2005 – Eugene McCarthy, America poet, academic, and politician (b. 1916)
- 2005 – Richard Pryor, American comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1940)
- 2006 – Olivia Coolidge, English-American author and educator (b. 1908)
- 2006 – Augusto Pinochet, Chilean general and politician, 30th President of Chile (b. 1915)
- 2007 – Ashleigh Aston Moore, American-Canadian actress (b. 1981)
- 2007 – Aqsa Parvez, Pakistani-Canadian murder victim (b. 1991)
- 2008 – Didith Reyes, Filipino actress and singer (b. 1948)
- 2009 – Vladimir Teplyakov, Russian soldier and physicist (b. 1925)
- 2010 – John Fenn, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- 2010 – J. Michael Hagopian, Armenian-American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1913)
- 2010 – MacKenzie Miller, American horse trainer and breeder (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Iajuddin Ahmed, Bangladeshi academic and politician, 13th President of Bangladesh (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Antonio Cubillo, Spanish lawyer and politician (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Lisa Della Casa, Swiss soprano (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Bob Munden, American target shooter (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Tommy Roberts, English fashion designer (b. 1942)
- 2013 – The Child of Lov, Belgian-Dutch singer (b. 1987)
- 2013 – Alan Coleman, English-Australian director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Jim Hall, American guitarist and composer (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Don Lund, American baseball player and coach (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Rossana Podestà, Libyan-Italian actress (b. 1934)
- 2013 – Srikanta Wadiyar, Indian politician (b. 1946)
- 2014 – Ralph Giordano, German author and publicist (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Robert B. Oakley, American diplomat, 19th United States Ambassador to Pakistan (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Bob Solinger, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Judy Baar Topinka, American journalist and politician (b. 1944)
- 2014 – Gerard Vianen, Dutch cyclist (b. 1944)
Deaths[edit]
- Alfred Nobel Day or Nobeldagen (Sweden)
- Christian feast day:
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Constitution Day (Thailand)
- Human Rights Day (International)
- International Animal Rights Day (International)
““I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” John 15:5,8 NIV
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
God often delays in answering prayer. We have several instances of this in sacred Scripture. Jacob did not get the blessing from the angel until near the dawn of day--he had to wrestle all night for it. The poor woman of Syrophoenicia was answered not a word for a long while. Paul besought the Lord thrice that "the thorn in the flesh" might be taken from him, and he received no assurance that it should be taken away, but instead thereof a promise that God's grace should be sufficient for him. If thou hast been knocking at the gate of mercy, and hast received no answer, shall I tell thee why the mighty Maker hath not opened the door and let thee in? Our Father has reasons peculiar to himself for thus keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to show his power and his sovereignty, that men may know that Jehovah has a right to give or to withhold. More frequently the delay is for our profit. Thou art perhaps kept waiting in order that thy desires may be more fervent. God knows that delay will quicken and increase desire, and that if he keeps thee waiting thou wilt see thy necessity more clearly, and wilt seek more earnestly; and that thou wilt prize the mercy all the more for its long tarrying. There may also be something wrong in thee which has need to be removed, before the joy of the Lord is given. Perhaps thy views of the Gospel plan are confused, or thou mayest be placing some little reliance on thyself, instead of trusting simply and entirely to the Lord Jesus. Or, God makes thee tarry awhile that he may the more fully display the riches of his grace to thee at last. Thy prayers are all filed in heaven, and if not immediately answered they are certainly not forgotten, but in a little while shall be fulfilled to thy delight and satisfaction. Let not despair make thee silent, but continue instant in earnest supplication.
Evening
"My people shall dwell in quiet resting places."
Isaiah 32:18
Isaiah 32:18
Peace and rest belong not to the unregenerate, they are the peculiar possession of the Lord's people, and of them only. The God of Peace gives perfect peace to those whose hearts are stayed upon him. When man was unfallen, his God gave him the flowery bowers of Eden as his quiet resting places; alas! how soon sin blighted the fair abode of innocence. In the day of universal wrath when the flood swept away a guilty race, the chosen family were quietly secured in the resting-place of the ark, which floated them from the old condemned world into the new earth of the rainbow and the covenant, herein typifying Jesus, the ark of our salvation. Israel rested safely beneath the blood-besprinkled habitations of Egypt when the destroying angel smote the first-born; and in the wilderness the shadow of the pillar of cloud, and the flowing rock, gave the weary pilgrims sweet repose. At this hour we rest in the promises of our faithful God, knowing that his words are full of truth and power; we rest in the doctrines of his word, which are consolation itself; we rest in the covenant of his grace, which is a haven of delight. More highly favoured are we than David in Adullam, or Jonah beneath his gourd, for none can invade or destroy our shelter. The person of Jesus is the quiet resting-place of his people, and when we draw near to him in the breaking of the bread, in the hearing of the word, the searching of the Scriptures, prayer, or praise, we find any form of approach to him to be the return of peace to our spirits.
"I hear the words of love, I gaze upon the blood,
I see the mighty sacrifice, and I have peace with God.
'Tis everlasting peace, sure as Jehovah's name,
'Tis stable as his steadfast throne, for evermore the same:
The clouds may go and come, and storms may sweep my sky,
This blood-sealed friendship changes not, the cross is ever nigh."
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Today's reading: Daniel 11-12, Jude 1 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Daniel 11-12
The Kings of the South and the North
2 "Now then, I tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. 3 Then a mighty king will arise, who will rule with great power and do as he pleases. 4After he has arisen, his empire will be broken up and parceled out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants, nor will it have the power he exercised, because his empire will be uprooted and given to others.
5 "The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power. 6 After some years, they will become allies. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance, but she will not retain her power, and he and his power will not last. In those days she will be betrayed, together with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her....
Today's New Testament reading: Jude 1
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord....
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Micah, Michah, Mica, Micha[Mī'cah,Mī'chah, Mī'că, Mī'cha]—who is like jehovah.
- An Ephramite who hired a Levite to be priest to his image (Judg. 17; 18 ). This unworthy character brought great calamity to Israel. Dr. C. I. Scofield says of Micah’s consecration of the Levite that it affords a striking illustration of apostasy. “With his entire departure from the revealed will of God concerning worship and priesthood there is yet an exaltation of false priesthood. Saying, ‘Blessed be thou of Jehovah,’ Micah’s mother makes an idol; and Micah expects the blessing of Jehovah because he has linked the idolatry to the ancient levitical order.”
- The head of a family of Reuben (1 Chron. 5:5).
- A son of Mephibosheth , grandson of Saul (1 Chron. 8:34, 35; 9:40, 41).
- A Levite of the family of Asaph ( 1 Chron. 9:15). SeeMICHA.
- A son of Uzziel, a Kohathite (1 Chron. 23:20; 24:24, 25).
- Father of Abdon whom Josiah sent to enquire of the Lord when the Law was found (2 Chron. 34:20).
- The prophet surnamed the Morasthite, and called Michaiah in the V.L. (Jer. 26:18; Mic. 1:1).
The Man of Strong Convictions
Micah prophesied during the reign of Jothan, Ahaz and Hezekiah (Mic. 1:1; Jer. 26:18 ). He was a younger contemporary of Hosea. He is called “the Morasthite” since he came from Moresheth Gath. Micah, unlike Isaiah, was no politician. He did not censure the habit of looking to Egypt or to Assyria for help. He denounces the depravity of the nation, and threatens the vengeance of God. Isaiah prophesied to royalty, Micah ministered to common people, the sort who heard Jesus gladly. Isaiah was a courtier; Micah, a rustic from an obscure town some twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem.
Micah was probably a yeoman, farming his own plot of land, and in vivid sympathy with the class to which he belonged. The land hunger of rich men, always to be deprecated, was positively dangerous to a country like Palestine with little foreign trade, relying mainly on the produce of the soil for the support of its citizens. The grasping avarice of large landholders doomed to poverty a considerable part of the population, and so Micah stands out as a preacher to the poor and oppressed. He regarded selfish luxury, joined with oppression of the poor, as the crowning sin of Judah. The people were heavily taxed, the Assyrians demanding large payments in tribute to satisfy their lavishness in their architectural magnificence. Thus Zion was built up with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity (Mic. 3:10). Because of such exaction and idolatry, Micah was called and empowered to declare the judgment of God (Mic. 3:8).
Micah was a man of strong convictions and corresponding courage, and as a true preacher, uncovered sin and pointed to the coming Christ. As a prophet he went against the stream and uttered truths the people did not want. For this he was consequently stoned—the usual lot of a faithful prophet. His cry, in essence, was:
Back to Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2 ). In other words, back to the Messianic hope. Back to David, who did so much for the nation, and to whom God promised He would raise up the Messiah. Back to David, the constant ideal of the monarchy. The Messiah of Israel’s coming golden age would be like David.
Back to ethical righteousness (Mic. 6:8). Micah brushed aside all former ritual in favor of a righteousness given by God, and that had a heart for the need of others. It was a righteousness based upon God’s salvation.
Back to the prince of peace ( Mic. 4:1-3; 5:2-7). Micah heralded the message that the reign of the Messiah was Israel’s only hope of peace. We know it to be the only hope of world peace. The Messianic predictions form the most significant passages in Micah.
The most outstanding incident in Micah’s prophetic career was his preaching which led to the reformation under Hezekiah ( Jer. 26:18). When king and people sought God and repented, He turned from the fierceness of His anger. The humble crofter of Philistia was chosen as God’s messenger to the people, and the secret of his power was the fulness of the Holy Spirit (Mic. 3:8).
The book Micah wrote is characterized by deep spirituality, with a simple, but not rugged style. Sin and corruption, the sighing and agony of the people over the misrule of men in authority, the insistence on return to God, are all dealt with in no uncertain tones (Mic. 1:2; 3:1; 6:1 ). Broadly speaking, Micah’s prophecy can be divided thus:
Chapters one, two and three—judgment.
Chapters four and five—comfort.
Chapters six and seven—salvation.
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