ALP are still in denial regarding their bad policy in all areas. While they were in government, able to siphon and divert money to mates, the world seemed ok to them. Political enemies were smeared. An economic problem, McGurk, was assassinated, a bogus training mine was established, pedophiles and rapists were given free passes. Prisoners given parole. And what has changed? A budget analysis by Hockey shows how inept the ALP have been .. they weren't hampered by falling tax receipts, the ALP had spent too big. Too big on desalination plants they can't use. Too much on dying industry props. Too much on ruining functioning industry. Too much on empty symbols. Meanwhile the ALP devalued family, the family home, the cradle. In 2008, the ALP legal advisers sought to end the NT intervention. Not for compassion .. for money and control. Meanwhile, new ALP leaders are promising to change nothing.
Global warming believers struggle with the inconvenient truth the world hasn't warmed for 15 years. Obama struggles domestically with spending and internationally with decision making. Meanwhile it turns out that the only safe haven for Islamic peoples, Israel, was shortchanged by Australian ALP government keen to bow to anti semitic bigots that claim to represent Australian Islamic peoples.
===
Hatches
Happy birthday and many happy returns Mikki Diep, Sam Nov, Cameron Ngo , Elena Francioni and Doan Nguyen. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
823 – Ermentrude of Orléans (d. 869)
1271 – Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (d. 1305)
1601 – Louis XIII of France (d. 1643)
1677 – Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari, Italian composer (d. 1754)
1894 – Lothar von Richthofen German pilot (d. 1922)
1954 – Ray Hadley, Australian broadcaster
1958 – Shaun Cassidy, American actor, singer, screenwriter, and producer
1961 – Andy Lau, Hong Kong singer, actor, and producer
1984 – Avril Lavigne, Canadian singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer
1995 – Anderson Lim, Bruneian swimmer
Matches
1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme River, beginning the Norman Conquest of England.
1540 – The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) receives its charter from Pope Paul III.
1669 – The Venetians surrender the fortress of Candia to the Ottomans, thus ending the 21-year long Siege of Candia.
1822 – Jean-François Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta stone.
1903 – Wreck of the Old 97, a train crash made famous by the song of the same name.
1905 – The physics journal Annalen der Physik received Albert Einstein's paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc².
1908 – The first production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
1940 – World War II: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy.
1968 – The stage musical Hair opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, where it played 1,998 performances until its closure was forced by the roof collapsing inJuly 1973.
1988 – National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and various others to help fight against dictatorship in Myanmar
2005 – After 162 episodes, Tom and Jerry aired its final episode titled, The Karate Guard.
Despatches
855 – Lothair I, Emperor of the Romans (b. 795)
1660 – Vincent de Paul, French priest and saint (b. 1581)
1783 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician (b. 1730)
1960 – Sylvia Pankhurst, English activist (b. 1882)
1975 – Jack Lang, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of New South Wales (b. 1876)
1991 – Oona O'Neill, English wife of Charlie Chaplin (b. 1926)
2011 – Johnny "Country" Mathis, American singer-songwriter (Jimmy & Johnny) (b. 1933)
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A flood of information left the ALP all at sea
Piers Akerman – Thursday, September 26, 2013 (6:25pm)
THE Labor Party has yet to learn that every appearance by its leadership contenders Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese, or its acting leader Chris Bowen, only serves to remind most Australians of the worst six years of governance in the nation’s history.
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Promise kept: navy brings boat people back to Indonesia
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (4:36pm)
Well, well, well. Turns out you can turn back boat people after all, as the Abbott Government has proved after less than two weeks in office:
So I repeat what I said this morning: there may be much less to this Indonesian tiff with Australia than the media and Labor are furiously suggesting. Some Indonesian MPs may be just playing to their constituents and hiking the price for Indonesian cooperation.
Forty four Pakistani asylum-seekers, including four children, and two crew were brought to Indah Kiat port at Banten in Java at about 8am today, according to Indonesian police and rescue officers.It has been years since boat people picked up at sea by our navy were returned to Indonesia, and this could not have been done without Indonesian cooperation at the highest levels.
They were rescued yesterday by HMAS Ballarat near the southern mouth of the Sunda Strait after the engine on their fishing boat failed and it began taking water.
Ballarat was met late last night by an Indonesian coast guard vessel in the strait, southwest of Indah Kiat and close to Indonesia’s 12 nautical mile territorial boundary.
So I repeat what I said this morning: there may be much less to this Indonesian tiff with Australia than the media and Labor are furiously suggesting. Some Indonesian MPs may be just playing to their constituents and hiking the price for Indonesian cooperation.
===
The Bolt Report on Sunday
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (2:08pm)
On The Bolt Report on Sunday on Channel 10 at 10am and 4pm:
Time to hold the ABC’s climate alarmists to account.
New senator David Leyonhjelm on a change in the intellectual climate as sceptics move in on the Senate.
The panel: Michael Kroger and Bruce Hawker, Kevin Rudd’s former campaign advisor.
A little unspinning of Christine Milne’s spin.
The twitter feed.
The place the videos appear.
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“Ethicist” Clive Hamilton scores zero from four as he ups the abuse
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (8:57am)
How many pejoratives can Professor Clive Hamilton, the Gaian who denounces ”highly personal attacks”, stuff in a single sentence?
Excuse me, Clive, I am a conservative, not “Right-wing”. I am actually an enemy of mobs, not a “demagogue”. I am a sceptic, not a “denialist” - a term you deliberately link to Holocaust denial like a real demagogue. And I am a sceptic of your kind of warming catastrophism not to fight “progressive trends” but to challenge untruths and false scares about global warming.
And by the way, I do not consider your alarming suggestion we have a ”suspension of democratic processes” to be very “progressive” at all.
Four pejoratives, four falsehoods.
And Hamilton’s stuff is actually published by a taxpayer-funded site purporting to be a ”fact-based and editorially independent forum” for academics which “promotes new thinking and evidence-based research”.
How do you qualify to be a professor of “public ethics” when you actually seem to lack some?
Right-wing demagogues like Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones have taken up the denialist cause as a means of prosecuting their war against progressive trends in Australian society.Wow.
Excuse me, Clive, I am a conservative, not “Right-wing”. I am actually an enemy of mobs, not a “demagogue”. I am a sceptic, not a “denialist” - a term you deliberately link to Holocaust denial like a real demagogue. And I am a sceptic of your kind of warming catastrophism not to fight “progressive trends” but to challenge untruths and false scares about global warming.
And by the way, I do not consider your alarming suggestion we have a ”suspension of democratic processes” to be very “progressive” at all.
Four pejoratives, four falsehoods.
And Hamilton’s stuff is actually published by a taxpayer-funded site purporting to be a ”fact-based and editorially independent forum” for academics which “promotes new thinking and evidence-based research”.
How do you qualify to be a professor of “public ethics” when you actually seem to lack some?
===
One last car grant would be like one last cigarette
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (8:32am)
Insisting a car maker accept the next grant is the last is a fantasy and unenforcable:
A politician who promises the next grant will be the last is like the smoker saying he’ll stop after one more cigarette.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
THE Federal Government will call on Holden to almost double its vehicle exports in return for further taxpayer assistance — and the company will not be allowed to ask for more money after an agreement is signed…Nonsense. Labor has only to say that it, at least, will hand over more millions to keep Holden open and the bidding war will be on again. The only real end is now.
(T)he Coalition’s Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane says he wants Holden to export “at least 30 per cent” of its annual production. Holden currently exports just 17 per cent of the cars its makes locally, compared to Toyota which exports 72 per cent of its Australian production…
Holden was pledged $275 million by state and federal governments in March 2012 but it has asked for further funding assistance because it says market conditions have “changed significantly since then”.
However the Coalition says it will make good on its pre-election promise to cut $500 million from the $5.4 billion set aside for car manufacturing industry assistance.
“We’re not giving back the $500 million, so I’ve got to come up with a solution there,” said Mr Macfarlane.
“And then we’ve got to have a long term plan which will be ‘The End’, in capital letters, in black, six feet high, ‘This is all we’re ever going to give you’. That’ll be the end. I won’t be seeing car companies after that.”
A politician who promises the next grant will be the last is like the smoker saying he’ll stop after one more cigarette.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
===
How dare Labor let this Grand Mufti blackball Howes
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (7:43am)
Most alarming is not
that the Grand Mufti of Australia wrote this but that Labor officials
leaked it, presumably to stop Paul Howes from running for a Sydney seat
with a big Muslim minority:
That Labor would listen to the Mufti is a serious worry, given his links to extremists:
Something is very, very sick in NSW Labor.
Australia’s senior Islamic cleric threatened to withdraw community support for federal Labor in Western Sydney if union leader Paul Howes replaced Bob Carr in the Senate, a leaked email reveals.How much has Labor, thanks to people like Bob Carr and Sam Dastyari, prostituted Labor policy and the national interest to win the votes of the Muslim community - or at least those votes influenced by the likes of the Mufti?
The email, written on behalf of the Grand Mufti of Australia, Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, by his chief political adviser, accused Mr Howes of a “blind bias for Israel” and said that if he was appointed to the Senate, community support for Labor that was mustered for the federal election would be withdrawn…
Mr Howes, the national secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union, withdrew from the contest last week…
The email says that ... “Paul has had a repeated pattern of blind bias toward Israel. His appointment would not at all help the engagement effort between the ALP and the wider Muslim community,” it says.
“As you know we have worked very hard to marshal our community to support and successfully retain the majority of ALP seats in Western Sydney against all odds, and the choice of Paul will threaten our efforts to maintain this momentum, especially if new elections are called in the next year.
That Labor would listen to the Mufti is a serious worry, given his links to extremists:
AUSTRALIAN Grand Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohamed’s meeting with Hamas officials – including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh – in Gaza has been met with deep concern from Jewish community leaders.This comment from the Mufti was particularly disturbing:
TV footage from December 26, translated by MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute), quotes the Grand Mufti as saying, “We came here in order to learn from Gaza.
“We will make the stones, trees and people of Gaza talk in order to learn steadfastness, sacrifice, and the defence of one’s rights from them,” he said.
“We feel like we are on cloud nine, we feel like we are on top of the world.”
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) executive director Colin Rubenstein said ... “Hamas is a terrorist organisation, subject to Australian financial sanctions, which is engaged in terrorism and war crimes, is rife with extreme anti-Semitism, and is dedicated, in word and deed, to the violent destruction of a friendly state,” he said.
“It is incomprehensible that anyone with pretensions of moral authority would hold up Hamas-led Gaza as a model from which Australians can learn."…
Dr Mohamed ... expressed his happiness at being in Gaza, describing it as the land of pride and martyrdom.Nor did I think it helpful to describe Australian soldiers in Afghanistan as agents of oppression who could inflame passions among Australian Muslims:
”I am pleased to stand on the land of jihad to learn from its sons and I have the honour to be among the people of Gaza where the weakness always becomes strength, the few becomes many and the humiliation turns into pride,” he told local news agencies.
He also said Australian troops in Afghanistan had the potential to inflame passions in the community, adding: “It is a nature of mankind that if there is any oppression upon any nation that our emotions start to move and react.”The linking of Australian foreign policy to reprisals by Muslims here may sound like an explanation to some but a threat to others - or a legitimisation:
Dr Mohamed suggested there was a relationship between Western foreign policy and the homegrown threat.And after so many years here, what does it say that even the well-educated Mufti has felt no need to learn more than the most basic English? What example is he setting? Are Muslims here immigrating or colonising?
Referring to the Israel-Palestine dispute and the recent push by the Palestinian Authority for UN recognition of Palestinian sovereignty, he said justice must have “one face”.
Despite his remarkable contributions to Islamic communities in Australia since he moved to the country over 20 years ago, Dr Ibrahim’s English remains limited, causing some to question his ability to fulfil the role of mufti.And this is the man Labor takes its tips from in deciding whether the talented Howes may stand for election - or actually not.
Something is very, very sick in NSW Labor.
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The one faith Dawkins cannot criticise
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (7:29am)
Richard Dawkins is feted for his attacks on Christianity. On Islam less so:
But in this Age of Seeming, truth so often is irrelevant in the great debates, whether on Islam, immigration, global warming or nuclear power. What matters more is how you seem.
The outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins was involved in an online Twitter row on Thursday after tweeting: ”All the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.”The usual you’re-a-bigot smearing from the Left rather than an engagement:
Owen Jones, the left-leaning commentator and author of Chavs, told Dawkins: “How dare you dress your bigotry up as atheism. You are now beyond an embarrassment.” Legal blogger Jack of Kent added: “Following @RichardDawkins tweet, Trinity Cambridge has presumably also produced more Soviet-supporting traitors to the UK than Islam.”The proper reaction should of course be to ask if Dawkins is right and to discuss what the evidence means:
The row also drew in historian Tom Holland and Channel 4’s economics editor Faisal Islam who commented: “I thought scientists were meant to upbraid journalists for use of spurious data points to ‘prove’ existing prejudgements”.
Trinity College, Cambridge, has 32 Nobel laureates, as against 10 Muslims listed in Wikipedia.Actually, there is a link between the lack of intellectual breakthroughs in the Muslim world and the danger in pointing out such stuff.
But in this Age of Seeming, truth so often is irrelevant in the great debates, whether on Islam, immigration, global warming or nuclear power. What matters more is how you seem.
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Fairfax: Milne lost staff after Bandt leadership push
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (7:20am)
Greens leader Christine Milne lost six senior staff this week, but claimed that was normal after an election.
Also normal, of course, is that a party loses its leader after a bad result:
If you can’t say anything nice about someone ...
Also normal, of course, is that a party loses its leader after a bad result:
Fairfax Media can reveal the departure of Senator Milne’s most senior political aide, Ben Oquist, is linked to moves within the federal party to switch to Adam Bandt, her deputy.UPDATE
A source close to the turmoil inside the leader’s office said Senator Milne had demanded the resignation of Mr Oquist, her chief of staff, after she became aware he had backed moves for Mr Bandt to mount a challenge at Monday’s party room meeting.
‘’This is about disloyalty. Ben was trying to get rid of Christine. Adam Bandt was going to make a run for the leadership, but they called it off about an hour before party room because they didn’t have the numbers,’’ the source said.
If you can’t say anything nice about someone ...
FORMER Greens leader Bob Brown has refused to defend his successor Christine Milne as tensions rise in the minor party following an exodus of staff…
“I have no comment on that,” he told News Corp Australia.
“Sorry I just have no comment,” he said when asked if he had spoken to Mr Oquist.
Asked if he thought Senator Milne was doing a good job he again said: “I have no comment”.
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Too many already
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (7:05am)
Does this massive
growth seem such a good idea when roads are full, trains are packed and
assimilation of some minorities clearly not working?
Our high immigration level seems something that worries a lot of people who think it’s too irresistible or too dangerous to protest. But levels like this cannot possibly be in our interest.
Victoria’s population growth has surged to more than 100,000 a year for the first time since 2009, as net overseas migration swelled to a four-year high.Do see the infrastructure being built at a rate to match?
At this rate, Australia would have 25 million people by the end of 2017 - with the last 5 million added in just 13 years.
Our high immigration level seems something that worries a lot of people who think it’s too irresistible or too dangerous to protest. But levels like this cannot possibly be in our interest.
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Good things about Hawke’s joke
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (6:39am)
Things I like about the joke. Hawke is right - it defines something very
Australian. The joke also defies the suffocating and foreign puritanism
we have institutionalised to stop such “racism”.
Moreover, Hawke seems autumnal - not just in years but in temperament; he doesn’t care too much and is happy. In telling the joke, Hawke also lays a friendly hand on the shoulder of the bereaved Alan Bond, who served jail time, yes, but paid for his sins and still deserves to remembered for the good things he did, too.
And, of course, the joke is funny. Hawke tells it particularly well because he has the supreme confidence that comes from someone who was much loved.
Moreover, Hawke seems autumnal - not just in years but in temperament; he doesn’t care too much and is happy. In telling the joke, Hawke also lays a friendly hand on the shoulder of the bereaved Alan Bond, who served jail time, yes, but paid for his sins and still deserves to remembered for the good things he did, too.
And, of course, the joke is funny. Hawke tells it particularly well because he has the supreme confidence that comes from someone who was much loved.
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There may be less to this standoff than the screams suggest
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (6:09am)
For all the bluster, is this a hint that Indonesia may now take responsibility for Indonesian boats in Indonesian waters?
UPDATE
Mind you, this won’t help us to sell our case to the Indonesian public:
The Indonesian search and rescue service Basarnas was notified about 1am (AEST) of a fishing boat with 75 people on board about 45km south of West Java, well inside the Indonesian search and rescue zone.Former Foreign Minister Alexander Downer explains the matter exactly to Indonesian Minister Marty Natelagawa, who is loudly warning Australia not to infringe on Indonesia’s sovereignty:
A Basarnas official said that by 6.30pm an Australian navy vessel had located the boat, with a broken engine, and the Indonesians were waiting for a call from the Australians to collect the asylum-seekers to land them back in Indonesia.
Let me make this point for Mr Natalegawa’s benefit: Indonesian boats, Indonesian-flagged boats with Indonesian crews are breaking our laws, bringing people into our territorial waters.But the fact is few concrete objections have been raised by Indonesia other than the obvious and perfectly reasonable one that Australia should not unilaterally pay Indonesian citizens for information or boats. That would indeed by a breach of Indonesian sovereignty. Other than that, Indonesia is making a noisy declaration of principle and a bland suggestion we talk:
The minutes reveal that Mr Natalegawa responded by underlining the importance of multilateral forums, saying he “suggested” that the “steps that will be taken by Australia be put under the Bali Process”.I wonder whether this “confrontation” is being beaten up. And how much of the posturing is for show?
“It’s feared that unilateral steps by Australia may constitute a risk to the close cooperation and trust that has been built within the Bali Process framework and therefore they should be avoided,” Mr Natalegawa said.
He said a multilateral approach would prevent “a shocking effect to the system that has been built so far”.
UPDATE
Mind you, this won’t help us to sell our case to the Indonesian public:
A SENIOR military officer attached to the Australian Embassy in Jakarta has been suspended after being charged with possessing and producing child pornography in Indonesia and Australia…
The man, who appeared in this official government photo alongside former federal minister for defence materiel Jason Clare and defence minister Stephen Smith, has entered pleas of not guilty to all charges and he will be defending them.
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Note Dean’s new venue, thanks to massive interest
Andrew Bolt September 27 2013 (5:57am)
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In case you missed the news earlier – extra tickets are now available to the #DoctorWho 50th Celebration in November via a public ballot (closing at 10am BST on 30 September). Get more info and apply for your tickets here:http://bit.ly/DWCballot
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http://www.news.com.au/national-news/treasurer-joe-hockey-and-finance-minister-matthias-cormann-release-budget-update/story-fncynjr2-1226728387873
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And yes, the irony of me writing this is not lost on me.>
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/meet-the-letter-writers-con-vaitsas-20130925-2ue20.html
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Abbott is being too diplomatic, understandably. I'd put it more bluntly as Alexander Downer so aptly did:
Mr Downer said the Indonesian government needed to accept some responsibility for the people-smuggling problem.
''They do have to understand that it's their boats with their crews, their flagged boats, which are breaking our sovereignty and are breaking our law by transgressing our national borders, our maritime borders,'' Mr Downer told Fairfax Radio.
''When we say we'd like to turn back the boats, they need to understand, and they need to understand very clearly, that it is ... their people who are breaking our law and I think they have to be told this very directly.
''There's no point in allowing ourselves to be bullied by the Indonesians in this way. I mean, we have to stand up for ourselves and stand up for our national interest and be prepared to call it as it is. I can understand the [Australian] government not doing that, but since I'm not part of the government, I'm quite happy to.''>
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-says-boats-issue-with-indonesia-a-passing-irritant-20130927-2uhzs.html
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Iranian news agency Fars on Wednesday accused CNN of "fabricating" comments made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani about the Holocaust in an interview with Christiane Amanpour that was aired on Tuesday.
Rouhani who was speaking in Farsi was quoted by CNN as saying: "Whatever criminality they committed against the Jews we condemn," and he added according to CNN, "The taking of human life is contemptible. It makes no difference if that life is Jewish life, Christian or Muslim. For us it is the same."
Fars, who provided its own translation of Rouhani's remarks claimed that the above quotes were fabrications of the American news network.
According to Fars, CNN either added, completely altered, executed a "conceptual" or not a precise translation or completely changed what Rouhani said.
Former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad often made inflammatory remarks denying the Holocaust. In Fars's translation of Rouhani's remarks to CNN there was an unequivocal condemnation of the Nazis' crimes both against Jews and non-Jews.
The Iranian news agency provided the Fars and the CNN translations side-by-side in order to demonstrate the alleged fabrications. The italicized words in the CNN text below are the remarks that Fars claimed were fabricated.
CNN translation of Rouhani remarks:
"I've said before that I am not a historian and then, when it comes to speaking of the dimensions of the Holocaust, it is the historians that should reflect on it. But in general I can tell you that any crime that happens in history against humanity, including the crime that Nazis committed towards the Jews as well as non-Jews is reprehensible and condemnable.Whatever criminality they committed against the Jews, we condemn, the taking of human life is contemptible, it makes no difference whether that life is Jewish life, Christian or Muslim, for us it is the same, but taking the human life is something our religion rejects but this doesn’t mean that on the other hand you can say Nazis committed crime against a group now therefore, they must usurp the land of another group and occupy it. This too is an act that should be condemned. There should be an even-handed discussion".
Fars translation of Rouhani remarks:
"I have said before that I am not a historian and historians should specify, state and explain the aspects of historical events, but generally we fully condemn any kind of crime committed against humanity throughout the history, including the crime committed by the Nazis both against the Jews and non-Jews, the same way that if today any crime is committed against any nation or any religion or any people or any belief, we condemn that crime and genocide. Therefore, what the Nazis did is condemned, (but) the aspects that you talk about, clarification of these aspects is a duty of the historians and researchers, I am not a history scholar."
Amanpour replied to the accusations on her Twitter feed, insisting that "CNN reported exactly what Rouhani said" and providing a link to a video of the full unedited interview.
She also responded to a report on The Wall Street Journal on the controversy, saying she was "stunned by willingness of @WSJ ed page and others to jump into bed with Iranian extremist mouthpiece like Fars."
Because they know he should have said that - ed
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Although Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and some of his aides have been telling Israelis, Americans and Europeans that they are opposed to violence and terror attacks against Israel, they continue to incite Palestinians against Israel on an almost daily basis
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will be allowed to sit in the UN General Assembly's heads-of-state chair, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
Abbas, who is scheduled to speak at the UN on Thursday at noon EST, will be the first Palestinian leader to use the chair, reserved for heads of state waiting to take the podium to address the General Assembly.
In the past, Palestinian leaders, who were considered representatives of a stateless people, had to stand while waiting to address the meeting.
The new diplomatic honor bestowed on Abbas comes after the Palestinians' upgrade to an "observer state" at the UN last November.
The UN has a lot of ways of insulting those it harms - ed
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26 Sept 2013 Tehran’s Nuclear Cooperation? : Tehran calls IAEA Iranian Inspections & Findings "unfair, illegal" in 20-page condemnation document
http://www.reuters.com/
the logic which produces those statements .. beggars belief - ed===
Data shows global temperatures aren't rising the way climate scientists have predicted. Now the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change faces a problem: publicize these findings and encourage skeptics -- or hush up the figures.
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Aprille Love
Good morning! Life is all about perspective. Have a great friday!
I'm making a wish - ed===
We are all lab mice now: White House didn’t think this Obamacare promo through [pic] ==>http://twitchy.com/2013/
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Glenn began the radio this show this morning in a bit of a bad mood. Since Senator Ted Cruz wrapped up his marathon anti-Obamacare speech yesterday around noon after 21 hours, the media wasted no time mocking the Senator. Considering how recently the media lionized Democratic Texas State Legislator Wendy Davis in the wake of her 11-hour filibuster against stricter abortion laws, Glenn found himself especially frustrated.
“Here’s my problem. My problem is I have no problem living in a world where we all have different opinions. I have no problem coexisting with people. I have no problem if I can’t convince you to come my way. I have no problem with your religion, I have no problem with whom you voted for,” Glenn said. “But there is something called the freedom of conscience. And what I believe is what I believe. What you believe is what you believe. And that’s good. That’s really good. That’s what makes the world go around. Here’s what I can’t take anymore. I can’t take people who won’t treat people and conditions the same.”
Consistency of opinion is an admirable trait in any person, but it should be seen as a necessary trait for the media. In theory, it is the job of the media to present both sides of a situation and let the audience decide. Or, in the case of cable news, be up front about the angle you are taking. But the media coverage of Sen. Cruz has proven that such a standard simply does not exist in the American media today.
“Now [Wendy Davis is] a woman who stood up for what she believed in and she made a cogent case. I disagree with her, but she made a cogent case and people heard her. And all of the newspapers reported it,” Glenn said. “Ted Cruz gets up and he makes a cogent case for 20 hours and nobody reports on what he’s really saying. They make it all into Green Eggs and Ham – like all he did for 20 hours was talk about Green Eggs and Ham, that all he did was talk about White Castle.”
One of the more egregious offenders was CNN
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Dai Le
http://t.co/pNPSxmIR0E
DAWN - creating our brand:Top Tips For Creating a Recognisable Brand | LinkedIn http://t.co/pNPSxmIR0E
=
Tried to post this great quote on LinkedIn but it cut it short! So here is the amazing quote. To my DAWNs....
The Social Synapse
From: The Neuroscience of Human Relationships
“If you would like to establish a connection with people from another culture is it always good to offer a few gifts as a gesture of friendship. But, an even better way to forge a lasting bond is by creating something together. Whether it’s a meal, an art project, or just a spontaneous dance party, when you create with others, you build a connection that lasts a lifetime.”
From the social synapse by Nona Epinephrine and Sarah Tonin
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Bette Midler accuses Ted Cruz of not being a real Christian, beclowns herself in the process ==> http://twitchy.com/2013/09/25/
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http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/experts-right-to-give-suzuki-a-hard-time/story-fni0ffxg-1226727156895
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Denis Napthine
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A KENYAN doctor has told of finding eyes, ears and noses torn from the bodies of hostages recovered from Nairobi's Westgate Mall.
The doctor told Kenya's The Star newspaper that the hostages had been tortured before being killed.
"Those are not allegations. Those are f****ng truths," the emotional doctor is reported as saying.
"They removed (testicles), eyes, ears, nose. They get your hand and sharpen it like a pencil then they tell you to write your name with the blood. They drive knives inside a child's body. Actually if you look at all the bodies, unless those ones that were escaping, fingers are cut by pliers, the noses are ripped by pliers."
The doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the condition of the bodies was worse than those he had seen after a 2009 oil tanker explosion in Sachangwan claimed 139 lives.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/nairobi-westgate-mall-survivor-tells-i-used-dead-teens-blood-to-fool-terrorists/story-fndir2ev-1226727931521#ixzz2g4H9z5UX
Further testimony at the link - ed
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THE new Government today used a $20 billion blowout revealed in final Budget figures for 2012-13 to accuse Labor of a “Budget mess” only the Coalition could fix.
Treasurer Joe Hockey accused the Labor government of “over-promising and underdelivering” and falsely claiming there had been a fall in revenue caused by the easing of the mining boom which required spending cuts.
“The fact is it is a litany of failures and political promises,” Mr Hockey told reporters.
The figures had no substantial surprises and closely matched the estimates presented by Treasury just before the September 7 election.
And Treasurer Hockey denied he had promised a surplus in his first year in office, saying he was now dealing with “an entirely different set of numbers”.
Mr Hockey said there had been “a further deterioration’’ in the figures projected for subsequent years, and he was testing Labor’s forecasts to see how “robust” they were.
“But what Australia needed was an injection of confidence. And we have done that,” said Mr Hockey, declining to speculate on further forecasts.
He said the $1.8 billion Labor had claimed was being dodged on fringe benefits tax on vehicles had already been found to be untrue.
The Coalition in Opposition had argued the government was spending too much, not bringing in too little in tax returns.
“There has been no ‘fall in revenue and receipts’ as often asserted by Labor,” Mr Hockey and Finance Minister Mathias Corman said in a statement.
“Receipts for 2012-13 alone increased by 6.4 per cent, or $21 billion, over the previous year, 2011-12.”
The final figures for the year showed that forecasts made in May 2012 for the 12 months to the end of June this year were well off the mark:
* GDP growth estimated to be five per cent came in at 2.5 per cent;
* The expected $1.5 billion Budget surplus became an $18.8 billion deficit — a $20.4 billion deterioration;
* Net debt estimated to be $143.3 billion ended at $153 billion;
* Interest payments on debt were expected to reach $7 billion but ended up at $8.3 billion
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national-news/hockey-exposes-8220litany-of-failures8221-in-labor8217s-forecasts-but-stops-short-of-promising-a-surplus-in-its-first-year/story-fncynjr2-1226728442460#ixzz2g4KOjiPt
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THE Mars rover Curiosity has had a major breakthrough: It has found water after scraping the dusty surface of the red planet.
The fine-grained soil has revealed a water content of about 2 per cent - a level which could be useful for future human missions.
The water is not free flowing, but is bound to other molecules contained in the dirt.
The Curiosity rover has been scouring the surface of mars since August 2012.
NASA scientists formally published a series of papers last night detailing the results of experiments carried out by the robot's various scientific instruments.
"We tend to think of Mars as this dry place to find water fairly easy to get out of the soil at the surface was exciting to me," said Laurie Leshin, lead author on the Science paper which confirmed the presence of water.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/mars-rove-curiosity-finds-water-contained-in-soil-on-the-surface-of-the-red-planet/story-e6frfro0-1226728319860#ixzz2g4LIbrId
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A GOLD Coast police officer shot in the face by an armed robbery suspect is being lauded for his bravery after returning fire to help capture his attackers.
On the same day Gold Coast detective Damian Leeding's killers were due to be sentenced, which also happened to be Police Remembrance Day, Sergeant Gary Hamrey could very well have been another fallen officer.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/police-officer-shot-on-gold-coast/story-e6frfku9-1226728178860#ixzz2g4M5CNh9
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WASHINGTON – Secretary of State John Kerry signed an international treaty on arms regulation Wednesday, angering conservative lawmakers and rattling the National Rifle Association despite claims that the treaty won't infringe on gun rights.
If it doesn't do anything, why sign it? - ed
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Bill Gates has confessed that it was a mistake to set "Control-Alt-Delete" as a way to log in to Windows.
During a talk at Harvard
, Gates said that there was an option to make a single button for such a command, but the IBM keyboard designer didn’t want to give Microsoft one.
, Gates said that there was an option to make a single button for such a command, but the IBM keyboard designer didn’t want to give Microsoft one.
"You want to have something you do with the keyboard that is signaling to a very low level of the software -- actually hard-coded in the hardware -- that it really is bringing in the operating system you expect, instead of just a funny piece of software that puts up a screen that looks like a log-in screen, and then it listens to your password and then it’s able to do that," Gates said. "It was a mistake."
David Bradley, a designer of the original IBM PC, invented the "Control-Alt-Delete" combo.
"I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous," Bradley said.
The command also effectively restarts the computer, but Bradley said "Why they used it for the log-in also, I don’t know."
They made lots of mistakes - ed
===
A last-ditch effort to refute climate “skeptics”—people unconvinced that we need to spend trillions to reshape our economies to halt or slow “climate change”-- has failed.
Last week, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published a study by 13 prestigious atmospheric scientists that supposedly provides “clear evidence for a discernible human influence on the thermal structure of the atmosphere.”
The NAS researchers pointedly echo the famous declaration by the United Nation-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, that the “balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate.” With this new study, the authors claim to clinch the case. The IPCC, we’re supposed to believe, has been right all along.
With the IPCC now issuing the first segment of its latest mammoth study on the same topic, readers should take the NAS pronouncement with a large grain of salt—and the IPCC report too. This is an attempt to change the subject and ignore the elephant in the room: the crisis in “consensus” climate science arising from the growing mismatch between model-predicted warming and observed warming.
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Just a reminder that The #DoctorWho Exhibition at the ABC Centre Ultimo, Sydney is open this weekend! You can check out costumes, monsters, a Dalek and more!
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Just days after dozens of innocent victims were massacred and hundreds more injured during Al-Shabaab’s attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya, handmade flags resembling the black flag of Islamic jihad were spotted flying around New York City.
TheBlaze commissioned numerous translations of the flags. One could not make it out. Three others said they weren’t positive, but that the flags appeared to show the “shehadah,” one of the five pillars of Islam that’s also said by those converting to Islam and a staple on so called “black flags of jihad.” Similar looking flags have been used for numerous reasons, but more recently they have become to be associated with both Al Qaeda and Al-Shebaab — the group claiming responsibility for the massacre at the Kenyan shopping mall.
The event where these flags were spotted? The annual Muslim Day Parade in New York City.
Both black and white versions of the flags were spotted:
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When Jestin Anthony Joseph walked into a McDonald’s and asked for a cup of water, that’s not all he was after.
Witnesses say the 24-year-old soon pulled out a gun and pointed it at employees and customers — who were with children — demanding their possessions.
Prayer works - ed
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Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
In this clip, author Guy Kawasaki explains how crowdsourcing editing could help you get early readers and reviews.
Have you tried reaching out to peers while writing?
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not everything need be taught at school .. I'm for smaller government - ed===
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New Video! Helpful/Hurtful >> http://youtu.be/
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Last week, Glenn purchased the microphone of Iva Toguri – aka Tokyo Rose – used during her World War II radio broadcasts. And this morning on radio, Glenn decided to broadcast with the mic, which had not been used in nearly 70 years.
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
My faith, my heart, my marriage, my home, my family, my friends, my life...are ALL under the watchful eye of my protective God!
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Are you in debt? Click here to start on your path toward financial freedom: http://bit.ly/
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It comes down to choice. I made the choice to stand up for the dead school child Hamidur Rahman when no one else would. Maybe I really am a southpaw .. but my powers of caring only extend to one thing, and not the other. I thank God that not every choice I make matters. And I beg God to strengthen me to make the ones that do. - ed===
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Grant Line Road
on January 23rd, 2010 I was still moving in to our new residence on the east side of Mount Diablo, still learning the area, when the TV announced early this morning that we were under a tornado warning... very unusual to say the least! I was sick with a cold, but still jumped into our Saturn Vue and sped off towards Brentwood where the reports of a funnel cloud were being proclaimed. Unfortunately, I made a wrong turn and wound up near the Altamont Pass... I shot this as I realize I was losing the chase. The rest of the year was an incredible experience.
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"Obama and Kerry insisted nothing the US would do would have any impact on the outcome of the Syrian civil war. This was supposed to be the strikes' selling point. But by launching worthless strikes, Obama was poised to wreck America's deterrent posture, transforming the world's superpower into an international joke.http://www.jpost.com/
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Strawberries: "Stop! We've got you surrounded!"
Chocolate: "Okay FINE, jump in."
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- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, became the capital of the United States for one day as members of the Continental Congress fledPhiladelphia, which had been captured by the British.
- 1875 – The Ellen Southard wrecked in a storm atLiverpool, England; the United States Congresssubsequently awarded 27 gold Lifesaving Medals to the lifeboat men who rescued her crew.
- 1916 – Lij Iyasu, the emperor-designate of Ethiopia, was deposed in favor of his aunt, Zewditu.
- 1988 – Led by pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured), the political party National League for Democracy was founded in Burma.
- 1993 – War in Abkhazia: After capturing the city of Sukhumi, Abkhazseparatists and their allies massacred large numbers of Georgiancivilians.
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Events[edit]
- 1066 – William the Conqueror and his army set sail from the mouth of the Somme River, beginning the Norman Conquest of England.
- 1331 – The Battle of Płowce between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order is fought.
- 1422 – After the brief Gollub War the Teutonic Knights sign the Treaty of Melno with the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania
- 1529 – The Siege of Vienna begins when Suleiman I attacks the city.
- 1540 – The Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) receives its charter from Pope Paul III.
- 1590 – Pope Urban VII dies 13 days after being chosen as the Pope, making his reign the shortest papacy in history.
- 1605 – The armies of Sweden are defeated by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Battle of Kircholm.
- 1669 – The Venetians surrender the fortress of Candia to the Ottomans, thus ending the 21-year long Siege of Candia.
- 1777 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the capital of the United States, for one day.
- 1821 – Mexico gains its independence from Spain.
- 1822 – Jean-François Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta stone.
- 1825 – The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens, and begins operation of the world's first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains.
- 1854 – The steamship SS Arctic sinks with 300 people on board. This marks the first great disaster in the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1875 – The merchant sailing ship Ellen Southard is wrecked in a storm at Liverpool; the United States Congress subsequently awards 27 gold Lifesaving Medals to the lifeboat men who went to rescue her crew.
- 1903 – Wreck of the Old 97, a train crash made famous by the song of the same name.
- 1905 – The physics journal Annalen der Physik received Albert Einstein's paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc².
- 1908 – The first production of the Ford Model T automobile was built at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1916 – Iyasu is proclaimed deposed as ruler of Ethiopia in a palace coup in favor of his aunt Zauditu.
- 1922 – King Constantine I of Greece abdicates his throne in favor of his eldest son, King George II.
- 1928 – The Republic of China is recognised by the United States.
- 1930 – Bobby Jones wins the U.S. Amateur Championship to complete the Grand Slam of golf. The old structure of the grand slam was the U.S. Open, British Open,U.S. Amateur, and British Amateur.
- 1937 – Balinese Tiger declared extinct.
- 1938 – Ocean liner Queen Elizabeth launched in Glasgow.
- 1940 – World War II: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy.
- 1941 – The SS Patrick Henry is launched becoming the first of more than 2,700 Liberty ships.
- 1942 – Last day of the September Matanikau action on Guadalcanal as United States Marine Corps troops barely escape after being surrounded by Japanese forces near the Matanikau River.
- 1944 – The Kassel Mission results in the largest loss by a USAAF group on any mission in World War II.
- 1949 – The first Plenary Session of the National People's Congress approves the design of the Flag of the People's Republic of China.
- 1954 – The nationwide debut of Tonight Starring Steve Allen (The Tonight Show) hosted by Steve Allen on NBC.
- 1956 – USAF Captain Milburn G. Apt becomes the first man to exceed Mach 3 while flying the Bell X-2. Shortly thereafter, the craft goes out of control and Captain Apt is killed.
- 1959 – Nearly 5000 people die on the main Japanese island of Honshū as the result of a typhoon.
- 1961 – Sierra Leone joins the United Nations.
- 1962 – The Yemen Arab Republic is established.
- 1964 – The British TSR-2 aircraft XR219 makes its maiden flight from Boscombe Down in Wiltshire.
- 1968 – The stage musical Hair opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, where it played 1,998 performances until its closure was forced by the roof collapsing inJuly 1973.
- 1977 – a United States Navy McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II crashes into a residential neighborhood in Yokohama, Japan, killing two children on the ground and injuring seven other people.
- 1979 – The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency.
- 1983 – Richard Stallman announces the GNU project to develop a free Unix-like operating system.
- 1988 – National League for Democracy is formed by Aung San Suu Kyi and various others to help fight against dictatorship in Myanmar.
- 1989 Rudresh M Prakash Birthday
- 1993 – The Sukhumi massacre takes place in Abkhazia.
- 1996 – In Afghanistan, the Taliban capture the capital city Kabul after driving out President Burhanuddin Rabbani and executing former leader Mohammad Najibullah.
- 1996 – The Julie N. tanker ship crashes into the Million Dollar Bridge in Portland, Maine spilling thousands of gallons of oil.
- 1997 – Communications are suddenly lost with the Mars Pathfinder space probe.
- 1998 – The Google internet search engine retrospectively claims this as its birthday.
- 2001 – Zug massacre: In Zug, Switzerland, Friedrich Leibacher shoots 18 citizens, killing 14 and then himself.
- 2002 – Timor-Leste (East Timor) joins the United Nations.
- 2003 – Smart 1 satellite is launched.
- 2005 – After 162 episodes, Tom and Jerry aired its final episode titled, The Karate Guard.
- 2007 – NASA launches the Dawn probe.
- 2008 – CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on Shenzhou 7.
Births[edit]
- 823 – Ermentrude of Orléans (d. 869)
- 1271 – Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (d. 1305)
- 1275 – John II, Duke of Brabant (d. 1312)
- 1389 – Cosimo de' Medici, Italian ruler (d. 1464)
- 1544 – Takenaka Shigeharu, Japanese samurai (d. 1579)
- 1601 – Louis XIII of France (d. 1643)
- 1627 – Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and theologian (d. 1704)
- 1643 – Solomon Stoddard, American pastor (d. 1729)
- 1657 – Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia (d. 1704)
- 1677 – Giovanni Carlo Maria Clari, Italian composer (d. 1754)
- 1696 – Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Italian bishop and saint (d. 1787)
- 1719 – Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, German mathematician (d. 1800)
- 1722 – Samuel Adams, American politician, 4th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1803)
- 1729 – Michael Denis, Austrian poet (d. 1800)
- 1739 – Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock, British politician (d. 1767)
- 1765 – Antoine Philippe de La Trémoille, French military leader (d. 1794)
- 1772 – Martha Jefferson Randolph, American daughter of Thomas Jefferson (d. 1836)
- 1803 – Samuel Francis Du Pont, American admiral (d. 1865)
- 1805 – George Müller, Prussian-English missionary, founded Ashley Down Orphanage (d. 1898)
- 1818 – Adolph Wilhelm Hermann Kolbe, German chemist (d. 1884)
- 1821 – Henri-Frédéric Amiel, Swiss philosopher, poet, and critic (d. 1881)
- 1824 – William "Bull" Nelson, American navy and army officer (d. 1862)
- 1830 – William Babcock Hazen, American general (d. 1887)
- 1838 – Lawrence Sullivan Ross, American general and politician, 19th Governor of Texas (d. 1898)
- 1840 – Alfred Thayer Mahan, American captain and historian (d. 1914)
- 1840 – Thomas Nast, German-American cartoonist (d. 1902)
- 1842 – Alphonse Francois Renard, Belgian geologist (d. 1903)
- 1843 – Gaston Tarry, French mathematician (d. 1913)
- 1861 – Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, American sister of Theodore Roosevelt (d. 1933)
- 1864 – Andrej Hlinka, Slovak politician and priest (d. 1938)
- 1866 – Eurosia Fabris, Italian saint (d. 1932)
- 1871 – Grazia Deledda, Italian author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
- 1871 – George Ducker, Canadian soccer player (d. 1952)
- 1879 – Hans Hahn, Austrian mathematician (d. 1934)
- 1879 – Fred Schule, American hurdler (d. 1962)
- 1879 – Cyril Scott, English composer (d. 1970)
- 1885 – Harry Blackstone, Sr., American magician (d. 1965)
- 1885 – Charles Benjamin Howard, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1964)
- 1894 – Olive Tell, American actress (d. 1951)
- 1894 – Lothar von Richthofen German pilot (d. 1922)
- 1895 – Woolf Barnato, English race car driver (d. 1948)
- 1896 – Sam Ervin, American politician (d. 1985)
- 1898 – Vincent Youmans, American composer and producer (d. 1946)
- 1904 – Edvard Kocbek, Slovenian poet and politician (d. 1981)
- 1906 – William Empson, English poet (d. 1984)
- 1906 – Jim Thompson, American author (d. 1977)
- 1907 – Maurice Blanchot, French philosopher (d. 2003)
- 1907 – Bernard Miles, English actor, scriptwriter, and director (d. 1991)
- 1907 – Bhagat Singh, Indian activist (d. 1931)
- 1911 – John Harvey, English actor (d. 1982)
- 1911 – Marcey Jacobson, American photographer (d. 2009)
- 1913 – Albert Ellis, American psychologist (d. 2007)
- 1916 – S. Yizhar, Israeli author and politician (d. 2006)
- 1917 – Louis Auchincloss, American novelist (d. 2010)
- 1917 – Carl Ballantine, American magician and actor (d. 2009)
- 1917 – William T. Orr, American actor and producer (d. 2002)
- 1918 – Martin Ryle, English astronomer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1919 – Charles H. Percy, American politician (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Johnny Pesky, American baseball player (d. 2012)
- 1919 – James H. Wilkinson, American mathematician (d. 1986)
- 1920 – William Conrad, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1920 – Jayne Meadows, American actress and author
- 1921 – Milton Subotsky, American screenwriter and producer, co-founded Amicus Productions (d. 1991)
- 1921 – Bernard Waber, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Sammy Benskin, American pianist and bandleader (d. 1992)
- 1922 – Arthur Penn, American director (d. 2010)
- 1924 – Ernest Becker, American cultural anthropologist (d. 1974)
- 1924 – Bud Powell, American pianist (d. 1966)
- 1924 – Fred Singer, Austrian-American physicist
- 1924 – Josef Škvorecký, Czech-Canadian author and publisher (d. 2012)
- 1924 – Bernard Waber, American author
- 1925 – Robert Edwards, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Chrysostomos I of Cyprus, Greek archbishop (d. 2007)
- 1927 – Red Rodney, American trumpet player (d. 1994)
- 1927 – Romano Scarpa, Italian writer and illustrator (d. 2005)
- 1927 – Steve Stavro, Canadian businessman (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Calvin Jones, American musician, composer, and educator (d. 2004)
- 1929 – Barbara Murray, English actress
- 1931 – Freddy Quinn, Austrian singer and actor
- 1932 – Geoff Bent, English footballer (d. 1958)
- 1932 – Roger C. Carmel, American actor (d. 1986)
- 1932 – Yash Chopra, Indian director (d. 2012)
- 1932 – Michael Colvin, English politician (d. 2000)
- 1932 – Gabriel Loubier, Canadian politician
- 1932 – Oliver E. Williamson, American economist
- 1933 – Rodney Cotterill, Danish-English physicist (d. 2007)
- 1933 – Paul Goble, American author
- 1933 – Greg Morris, American actor (d. 1996)
- 1933 – Will Sampson, American actor (d. 1987)
- 1934 – Wilford Brimley, American actor
- 1934 – Claude Jarman Jr., American actor
- 1934 – Dick Schaap, American sportscaster (d. 2001)
- 1935 – Al MacNeil, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1936 – Don Cornelius, American television host and producer, created Soul Train (d. 2012)
- 1936 – Gordon Honeycombe, English actor, playwright, and author
- 1937 – Vasyl Durdynets, Ukrainian politician and diplomat, 8th Prime Minister of Ukraine
- 1938 – Jean-Loup Dabadie, French journalist, songwriter, and screenwriter
- 1939 – Ioannis Banias, Greek politician (d. 2012)
- 1939 – Carol Lynn Pearson, American poet and author
- 1939 – Kathy Whitworth, American golfer
- 1940 – Benoni Beheyt, Belgian cyclist
- 1941 – Peter Bonetti, English footballer
- 1941 – Gay Kayler, Australian singer
- 1941 – Serge Ménard, Canadian politician
- 1941 – Don Nix, American saxophonist, songwriter, producer, and author (The Mar-Keys)
- 1942 – Dith Pran, Cambodian photographer and journalist (d. 2008)
- 1942 – Alvin Stardust, English singer and actor
- 1943 – Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta
- 1943 – Randy Bachman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Guess Who, Ironhorse, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Bachman & Turner, and Brave Belt)
- 1944 – Gary Sutherland, American baseball player
- 1945 – Max Boyce, Welsh comedian and singer
- 1945 – Jack Goldstein, Canadian-American painter (d. 2003)
- 1945 – Kay Ryan, American poet
- 1945 – Bob Spiers, Scottish director (d. 2008)
- 1946 – Nicos Anastasiades, Cypriot politician, 7th President of Cyprus
- 1946 – T. C. Cannon, American painter (d. 1978)
- 1946 – Robin Nedwell, English actor (d. 1999)
- 1947 – Barbara Dickson, Scottish singer-songwriter and actress
- 1947 – Denis Lawson, Scottish actor
- 1947 – Meat Loaf, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1947 – Liz Torres, American actress and singer
- 1948 – Tom Braidwood, Canadian actor
- 1948 – Les Chapman, English footballer and manager
- 1948 – Michele Dotrice, English actress
- 1948 – Duncan Fletcher, Rhodesian-Zimbabwean cricketer and coach
- 1948 – Robin Jackson, Irish activist (d. 1998)
- 1948 – A Martinez, American actor and singer
- 1949 – Graham Richardson, Australian politician
- 1949 – Mike Schmidt, American baseball player
- 1949 – Jahn Teigen, Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1950 – Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Japanese actor
- 1951 – Paul Craig, English educator and author
- 1951 – Michel Rivard, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Beau Dommage)
- 1951 – Jim Shooter, American writer and illustrator
- 1951 – David Starobin, American guitarist, producer, and director
- 1952 – Didier Dubois, French mathematician
- 1952 – Katie Fforde, English author
- 1952 – Dumitru Prunariu, Romanian astronaut
- 1952 – André Viger, Canadian wheelchair racer (d. 2006)
- 1953 – Diane Abbott, English politician
- 1953 – Mata Amritanandamayi, Indian guru and saint
- 1953 – Claudio Gentile, Italian footballer
- 1953 – Greg Ham, Australian singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (Men at Work) (d. 2012)
- 1953 – Robbie Shakespeare, Jamaican bass player and producer (Sly and Robbie)
- 1954 – Ray Hadley, Australian broadcaster
- 1954 – Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Russian violinist and conductor
- 1955 – Richard Bucher, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 2012)
- 1958 – Shaun Cassidy, American actor, singer, screenwriter, and producer
- 1958 – Irvine Welsh, Scottish author
- 1959 – Beth Heiden, American speed skater
- 1960 – Jean-Marc Barr, French-American actor, director, screenwriter, and producer
- 1960 – Christopher Cousins, American actor
- 1960 – Barron Lerner, American physician and historian
- 1961 – Andy Lau, Hong Kong singer, actor, and producer
- 1962 – Gavin Larsen, New Zealand cricketer
- 1963 – Marc Maron, American comedian and radio host
- 1964 – Predrag Brzaković, Serbian footballer (d. 2012)
- 1964 – Johnny DuPlooy, South African boxer (d. 2013)
- 1964 – Stephan Jenkins, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Third Eye Blind)
- 1965 – Ricky Fuji, Japanese wrestler
- 1965 – Steve Kerr, American basketball player
- 1965 – Bernard Lord, Canadian politician, 30th Premier of New Brunswick
- 1965 – Peter MacKay, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1965 – Alexis Stewart, American radio host
- 1966 – Uche Okechukwu, Nigerian footballer
- 1966 – Debbie Wasserman Schultz, American politician
- 1966 – Stephanie Wilson, American engineer and astronaut
- 1968 – Mari Kiviniemi, Finnish politician, 41st Prime Minister of Finland
- 1968 – Patrick Muldoon, American actor
- 1969 – Sofia Milos, American actress
- 1970 – Yoshiharu Habu, Japanese chess player
- 1970 – Tamara Taylor, Canadian actress
- 1971 – Amanda Detmer, American actress
- 1971 – Horacio Sandoval, Mexican illustrator
- 1971 – Li Yapeng, Chinese actor
- 1972 – Sylvia Crawley, American basketball player
- 1972 – Lhasa de Sela, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and actress (d. 2010)
- 1972 – David Graziano, American television writer-producer
- 1972 – Clara Hughes, Canadian cyclist
- 1972 – Gwyneth Paltrow, American actress and singer
- 1972 – Craig L. Rice, American politician
- 1974 – Carrie Brownstein, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (Wild Flag and Sleater-Kinney)
- 1974 – Sascha Licht, German footballer
- 1975 – Thanos Petrelis, Greek singer
- 1976 – Matt Harding, American dancer
- 1976 – Jason Phillips, American baseball player
- 1976 – Francesco Totti, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Ani Lorak, Ukrainian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1978 – Jon Rauch, American baseball player
- 1978 – Pastora Soler, Spanish singer-songwriter
- 1978 – Mihaela Ursuleasa, Romanian pianist (d. 2012)
- 1979 – Jon Garland, American baseball player
- 1979 – La'Myia Good, American singer and actress (Isyss)
- 1979 – Zita Görög, Hungarian actress and model
- 1979 – Christian Jones, Australian race car driver
- 1979 – Steve Simpson, Australian rugby player
- 1980 – Asashōryū Akinori, Mongolian sumo wrestler, the 68th Yokozuna
- 1980 – Ehron VonAllen, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1981 – Cytherea, American porn actress and model
- 1981 – Lakshmipathy Balaji, Indian cricketer
- 1981 – Sophie Crumb, American illustrator
- 1981 – Brendon McCullum, New Zealand cricketer
- 1982 – Anna Camp, American actress
- 1982 – Zero Kazama, Japanese-American actor
- 1982 – Markus Rosenberg, Swedish footballer
- 1982 – Lil Wayne, American rapper and actor (The B.G.'z)
- 1982 – Darrent Williams, American football player (d. 2007)
- 1983 – Jeon Hye-bin, South Korean actress and singer (LUV)
- 1983 – Shermon Tang, Hong Kong actress
- 1984 – Paul Bevan, Australian footballer
- 1984 – Davide Capello, Italian footballer
- 1984 – John Lannan, American baseball player
- 1984 – Avril Lavigne, Canadian singer-songwriter, actress, and fashion designer
- 1984 – Abhinav Shukla, Indian actor
- 1985 – Massimo Bertocchi, Canadian decathlete
- 1985 – Grace Helbig, American Youtube vlogger
- 1985 – Daniel Pudil, Czech footballer
- 1986 – Vin Mazzaro, American baseball player
- 1986 – Ricardo Risatti, Argentine race car driver
- 1987 – Ádám Bogdán, Hungarian footballer
- 1987 – Austin Carlile, American singer-songwriter (Attack Attack! and Of Mice & Men)
- 1987 – Olga Puchkova. Russian tennis player
- 1988 – Lisa Ryzih, German pole vaulter
- 1989 – Park Tae-Hwan, South Korean swimmer
- 1992 – Jake Burbage, American actor
- 1992 – Luc Castaignos, Dutch footballer
- 1992 – Gabriel Vasconcelos Ferreira, Brazilian footballer
- 1992 – Pak Kwang-Ryong, North Korean footballer
- 1992 – Granit Xhaka, Swiss footballer
- 1993 – Mónica Puig, Puerto Rican tennis player
- 1995 – Lina Leandersson, Swedish actress
- 1995 – Anderson Lim, Bruneian swimmer
Deaths[edit]
- 855 – Lothair I, Emperor of the Romans (b. 795)
- 1249 – Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse (b. 1197)
- 1404 – William of Wykeham, English bishop (b. 1320)
- 1557 – Emperor Go-Nara of Japan (b. 1497)
- 1590 – Pope Urban VII (b. 1521)
- 1615 – Lady Arbella Stuart, English wife of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset (b. 1575)
- 1651 – Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria (b. 1573)
- 1660 – Vincent de Paul, French priest and saint (b. 1581)
- 1674 – Thomas Traherne, English poet (b. 1637)
- 1700 – Pope Innocent XII (b. 1615)
- 1719 – George Smalridge, English bishop (b. 1662)
- 1730 – Laurence Eusden, English poet (b. 1688)
- 1735 – Peter Artedi, Swedish naturalist (b. 1705)
- 1737 – John Sidney, 6th Earl of Leicester, English politician (b. 1680)
- 1742 – Hugh Boulter, Irish archbishop (b. 1672)
- 1783 – Étienne Bézout, French mathematician (b. 1730)
- 1832 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher (b. 1781)
- 1833 – Ram Mohan Roy, Indian reformer (d. 1772)
- 1838 – Bernard Courtois, French chemist (b. 1777)
- 1876 – Braxton Bragg, American general (b. 1817)
- 1886 – Charles Gordon Greene, American journalist (b. 1804)
- 1891 – Ivan Goncharov, Russian author (b. 1812)
- 1911 – Auguste Michel-Lévy, French geologist (b. 1844)
- 1915 – Remy de Gourmont, French poet (b. 1858)
- 1917 – Edgar Degas, French painter (b. 1834)
- 1921 – Engelbert Humperdinck, German composer (b. 1854)
- 1940 – Walter Benjamin, German philosopher (b. 1892)
- 1940 – Julius Wagner-Jauregg, Austrian physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1857)
- 1944 – Aimee Semple McPherson, Canadian-American evangelist, founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel (b. 1890)
- 1956 – Gerald Finzi, English composer (b. 1901)
- 1956 – Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American golfer (b. 1911)
- 1960 – Sylvia Pankhurst, English activist (b. 1882)
- 1965 – Clara Bow, American actress (b. 1905)
- 1965 – William Stanier, English engineer, co-designed the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (b. 1876)
- 1967 – Felix Yusupov, Russian prince, participated in the murder of Grigori Rasputin (b. 1887)
- 1972 – S. R. Ranganathan, Indian mathematician (b. 1892)
- 1974 – Silvio Frondizi, Argentine lawyer (b. 1907)
- 1975 – Jack Lang, Australian politician, 23rd Premier of New South Wales (b. 1876)
- 1979 – Gracie Fields, English-Italian actress and singer(b. 1898)
- 1979 – Jimmy McCulloch, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (One in a Million, Small Faces, Wings, Thunderclap Newman, and The Dukes) (b. 1953)
- 1981 – Robert Montgomery, American actor (b. 1904)
- 1983 – Wilfred Burchett, Australian journalist (b. 1911)
- 1984 – Chronis Exarhakos, Greek actor (b. 1932)
- 1985 – Lloyd Nolan, American actor (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Alexandru Epureanu, Moldovan Football player (b. 1902)
- 1986 – Cliff Burton, American bass player and songwriter (Metallica, EZ-Street, and Trauma) (b. 1962)
- 1991 – Oona O'Neill, English wife of Charlie Chaplin (b. 1926)
- 1993 – Jimmy Doolittle, American general (b. 1896)
- 1993 – Fraser MacPherson, Canadian saxophonist (b. 1928)
- 1997 – Walter Trampler, American viola player and educator (b. 1915)
- 1998 – Narita Brian, Japanese racehorse (b. 1991)
- 1998 – Doak Walker, American football player (b. 1927)
- 2003 – Donald O'Connor, American actor, singer, and dancer (b. 1925)
- 2004 – John E. Mack, American psychiatrist and author (b. 1929)
- 2005 – Ronald Golias, Brazilian comedian and actor (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Dale Houston, American singer (b. 1940)
- 2007 – Kenji Nagai, Japanese photographer and journalist (b. 1957)
- 2008 – Mahendra Kapoor, Indian singer (b. 1934)
- 2009 – Ivan Dykhovichnyy, Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1947)
- 2009 – Charles Houston, American mountaineer (b. 1913)
- 2009 – William Safire, American author and journalist (b. 1929)
- 2010 – George Blanda, American football player (b. 1927)
- 2010 – Trevor Taylor, English Formula One racing driver (b. 1936)
- 2010 – Balaji Sadasivan, Singaporean politician and neurosurgeon (b. 1955)
- 2011 – David Croft, English scriptwriter, producer and director (b. 1922)
- 2011 – Johnny "Country" Mathis, American singer-songwriter (Jimmy & Johnny) (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Aleksandr Gorelik, Russian figure skater (b. 1945)
- 2012 – Herbert Lom, Czech-English actor (b. 1917)
- 2012 – Ted Boy Marino, Italian-Brazilian wrestler and actor (b. 1939)
- 2012 – John Silber, American academic (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Frank Wilson, American songwriter and producer (b. 1940)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Christian Feast Days:
- End of Independence War (Mexico)
- French Community Holiday (French community of Belgium)
- Meskel (Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church, following Julian calendar)
- World Tourism Day (International)
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“For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”Hebrews 10:30-31 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"The myrtle trees that were in the bottom."
Zechariah 1:8
Zechariah 1:8
The vision in this chapter describes the condition of Israel in Zechariah's day; but being interpreted in its aspect towards us, it describes the Church of God as we find it now in the world. The Church is compared to a myrtle grove flourishing in a valley. It is hidden, unobserved, secreted; courting no honour and attracting no observation from the careless gazer. The Church, like her head, has a glory, but it is concealed from carnal eyes, for the time of her breaking forth in all her splendour is not yet come. The idea of tranquil security is also suggested to us: for the myrtle grove in the valley is still and calm, while the storm sweeps over the mountain summits. Tempests spend their force upon the craggy peaks of the Alps, but down yonder where flows the stream which maketh glad the city of our God, the myrtles flourish by the still waters, all unshaken by the impetuous wind. How great is the inward tranquility of God's Church! Even when opposed and persecuted, she has a peace which the world gives not, and which, therefore, it cannot take away: the peace of God which passeth all understanding keeps the hearts and minds of God's people. Does not the metaphor forcibly picture the peaceful, perpetual growth of the saints? The myrtle sheds not her leaves, she is always green; and the Church in her worst time still hath a blessed verdure of grace about her; nay, she has sometimes exhibited most verdure when her winter has been sharpest. She has prospered most when her adversities have been most severe. Hence the text hints at victory. The myrtle is the emblem of peace, and a significant token of triumph. The brows of conquerors were bound with myrtle and with laurel; and is not the Church ever victorious? Is not every Christian more than a conqueror through him that loved him? Living in peace, do not the saints fall asleep in the arms of victory?
Evening
"Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen."
Zechariah 11:2
Zechariah 11:2
When in the forest there is heard the crash of a falling oak, it is a sign that the woodman is abroad, and every tree in the whole company may tremble lest to-morrow the sharp edge of the axe should find it out. We are all like trees marked for the axe, and the fall of one should remind us that for every one, whether great as the cedar, or humble as the fir, the appointed hour is stealing on apace. I trust we do not, by often hearing of death, become callous to it. May we never be like the birds in the steeple, which build their nests when the bells are tolling, and sleep quietly when the solemn funeral peals are startling the air. May we regard death as the most weighty of all events, and be sobered by its approach. It ill behoves us to sport while our eternal destiny hangs on a thread. The sword is out of its scabbard--let us not trifle; it is furbished, and the edge is sharp--let us not play with it. He who does not prepare for death is more than an ordinary fool, he is a madman. When the voice of God is heard among the trees of the garden, let fig tree and sycamore, and elm and cedar, alike hear the sound thereof.
Be ready, servant of Christ, for thy Master comes on a sudden, when an ungodly world least expects him. See to it that thou be faithful in his work, for the grave shall soon be digged for thee. Be ready, parents, see that your children are brought up in the fear of God, for they must soon be orphans; be ready, men of business, take care that your affairs are correct, and that you serve God with all your hearts, for the days of your terrestrial service will soon be ended, and you will be called to give account for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil. May we all prepare for the tribunal of the great King with a care which shall be rewarded with the gracious commendation, "Well done, good and faithful servant"
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Today's reading: Isaiah 1-2, Galatians 5 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Isaiah 1-2
1 The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
A Rebellious Nation
2 Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!
For the LORD has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
For the LORD has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
3 The ox knows its master,
the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.”
4 Woe to the sinful nation,
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the LORD;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
a people whose guilt is great,
a brood of evildoers,
children given to corruption!
They have forsaken the LORD;
they have spurned the Holy One of Israel
and turned their backs on him.
Today's New Testament reading: Galatians 5
Freedom in Christ
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love....
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Bathsheba
The Woman Whose Beauty Resulted in Adultery and Murder
Name Meaning - The Seventh Daughter, or The Daughter of an Oath. "Bath" means "daughter." A kindred name is Bath Shua, a Canaanite name which implies, "the daughter of opulence." The wife of Judah is referred to as "Shua's daughter" (Genesis 38:2;1 Chronicles 2:3). Bath Shua was also the name of the daughter of Ammiel and wife of David ( 1 Chronicles 3:5).
Family Connections - Bathsheba came of a God-fearing family. She was the daughter of Eliam or Ammiah, who was the son of Ahithophel. Eliam, whose name means "God is gracious," was one of David's gallant officers. Bathsheba became the wife of Uriah, the most loyal of David's men. After the murder of Uriah, she became the wife of David, and mother of five sons by him. The first died in infancy. The others were Solomon, Shimea, Shobub and Nathan. She is mentioned in our Lord's genealogy as "her that had been the wife of Uriah" ( Matthew 1:6).
The sacred record informs us that David's association with Bathsheba was the only stain upon the escutcheon of David. "David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah" (1 Kings 15:5). If this was the only blot on his page, it was a heavily engrained one, and one that could not be erased, as far as the effects of his treatment of Uriah was concerned. While God freely pardons a sinner, often the effects of committed sin remain. The tragic lapse in the life of the man after God's own heart is built up with consummate art, from David's first sight of Bathsheba to the climax of his unutterable remorse when realizing the enormity of his most grievous sin, he flung himself upon the mercy of God.
The sad story begins with the significant phrase, "But David tarried still at Jerusalem" ( 2 Samuel 11:1 ). The Israelites were at war with the Ammonites, and the king who had shown himself brave and victorious in battle should have been with his army. But now a mature man, and veteran of many wars, and ruler over Israel for some twelve years now David had become somewhat soft and self-indulgent. He had had his day of hard campaigning and war weariness. Now it was time to leave the rigors and risks of battle to his officers, and sit back and take things easy. But no longer fighting the battle of the Lord, David was open to attack and so found himself involved in the triangle drama of passion, intrigue and murder.
Lazing around on the flat roof of his palace, David saw a woman on the roof of a nearby house undressing and bathing herself, and his passions were excited. Bathsheba, the woman exposing herself nudely, was "very beautiful to look upon," and David, ever attracted by lovely women, coveted her, and became guilty of an outrageous disgrace. Although David was to confess that his foul sin was his, and his alone, one wonders how far Bathsheba was the accomplice in such a sin, as well as its provocation. Had she been a careful, modest woman, surely she would have looked around the easily seen adjacent roofs, and if others had been looking her way, she would have been more appropriately modest in bathing herself.
Further, when sent for by David, had she been a true wife and a woman of principle she should have refused to obey the king's summons. As she saw David feasting his eyes upon her, did she have a presentiment of what would happen? If not, then, when before the king, she should have bravely refused to yield to adultery. Later on in the sacred record, a heathen woman - a queen - brave Vashti, stoutly refused to expose herself before wine-in-flamed men, and was expelled from court. Had Bathsheba shown the same determination to preserve her dignity, David, the anointed of Israel, would never have sinned as he did. After the adulterous act in the king's bedchamber, Bathsheba manifested no sense of guilt, but after her husband's murder almost immediately went to the palace to supplement David's many wives.
Bathsheba only added insult to the injury by indulging in her illicit affair with another man, while her lawful husband was risking his life in the service of her seducer. Learning of Bathsheba's pregnant condition, David hurried Uriah home to allay suspicion, but returning, the devoted soldier, a man of highest principle, refused any physical contact with his wife. David's clever plan failed, and the plot thickens. Uriah must be gotten rid of, so he was sent back to the battlefield with a letter to Joab to put Uriah in a foremost place where he was bound to be killed. Godly, gallant Uriah had no ideas that that sealed letter carried his death warrant. Thus, for David lust, adultery, deceit, treachery and murder followed in quick succession.
After the accustomed period of mourning Bathsheba became the wife of David, and their child of an adulterous union was born without disgrace, only to die within a week of his birth. "The Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare David." The deep grief of David over the sickness and death of the child, while not relieving the king of his murderous crime, gives us a glimpse of his better nature and of his faith in reunion beyond the grave. Perhaps no other passage of the Bible has been used to comfort sorrowing hearts in the hour of death as that in which David assures us of immortality. Mourning over his dead child he said, "Can I bring him back again?" No, he could not. Then came words binding up the cruel wound death causes, "I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." Both David and Bathsheba must have had much agony of soul as they became deeply conscious that the death of their son, conceived out of wedlock, was a divine judgment upon their dark sin.
Divinely instructed, Nathan the prophet brought David to a realization of his terrible evil, and sincere in his confession of his iniquity, he received from Nathan the assuring word, "The Lord also hath put away thy sin." Much has been written about David's repentance preserved for us in Psalm 51 - a Psalm saturated with penitential tears - and of Psalm 32, expressing David's gratitude to God for His pardoning grace and mercy. But graciously forgiven, even God could not avert the natural consequences of David's transgression, and he came to prove its inevitable subsequent sorrow. Evil rose up against him in his own house ( 2 Samuel 12:11). David found himself disgraced by one son (13:4), banished by another (15:19), revolted against by a third (1 Kings 2), bearded by his servant, betrayed by his friends, deserted by his people, bereaved of his children.
What about Bathsheba? With David, was she made conscious of her share in the iniquitous transaction of the past? Coresponsible in David's sin, did her tears of repentance mingle with those of her husband's? It would seem so, because God blessed them with another son whom they called Solomon, meaning, "Beloved of the Lord." Why was not such a son given to one of David's other wives? Given to David and Bathsheba was not Solomon an evidence and expression of God's pardoning love for both? Then, is not Bathsheba's inclusion in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1) another token that God had put her sins behind His back? Restored to divine favor, and now virtuous and wise as well as beautiful, Bathsheba brought up her son Solomon in all godly diligence and care. Solomon himself came to write, "Train up a child in the way he should go" (Proverbs 22:6), which counsel reflected his own godly upbringing. Tradition says that it was Bathsheba who composed Proverbs 31, as an admonition to Solomon on his marriage to Pharaoh's daughter. If this be so, we can understand all the warnings against the flatteries of strange women with which Proverbs abounds.
After her lapse, recovery and the birth of Solomon the rest of Bathsheba's life is veiled in silence. We can imagine how noble calmness, gentle dignity and queenly courage became hers. That she retained her influence over David until his death is proven by the way she reminded the king of his promise to make their son, Solomon, his successor. The veil of silence is lifted again when Solomon became king, and Bathsheba, whom Solomon revered, came into his presence to ask that Abishag, who cared for David in his last days, be given in marriage to Adonijah, the son of Haggith, one of David's other wives.
A lesson we can learn from Bathsheba is that being assured of God's forgiveness she did not let her one sin ruin her entire life. Repentant, she used her mistake as a guide to future, better conduct. When we brood over sins God has said He will remember no more against us, we actually doubt His mercy, and rob ourselves of spiritual power and progress. Read again Psalm 51 and then Psalm 32.
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Demetrius
[Dēmē'trĭŭs] - belonging to demeter. Demeter was the goddess of agriculture and rural life.
[Dēmē'trĭŭs] - belonging to demeter. Demeter was the goddess of agriculture and rural life.
- The silversmith at Ephesuswho made silver models of the celebrated Temple of Diana, and who opposed Paul and incited the mob against him (Acts 19:24, 38).
- A believer, well-commended by the Apostle John (3 John 12 ). This man of God had the testimony of all men of the truth and of John also. It is one of the finest recommendations of the Gospel when a Christian impresses and attracts those around him by the reality of his or her life.
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