Tomorrow is business as normal. I started two events between Bolt and Voice in order to allow the community to bond on a common cause. That was a minor success. In the future, I hope to do more, and hope to build on what we have. I hope to hold the Abbott government to its promises, although I largely expect them to honour them. I have my own agenda and I will begin prosecuting it more. I resigned as a teacher to speak out over the issue of a bungled pedophile investigation and the death of school child Hamidur Rahman in 2007. My issue has been covered up to date by senior ALP identities, all of which have moved on. Those responsible for the death of the child still work and the case has not been examined by police, although it well may be too late .. regardless, the child will still be dead. Some who have covered up the issue for the ALP by failing to help me when I asked for it, are still in parliament .. Jason Clare and Chris Hayes, I'm going to make your time in office uncomfortable until you do your sworn duty.
In Moscow, the G20 is over. No action has been decided regarding Syria. Obama is dithering, but looking dangerous too.
===
Update (10pm) Rudd concedes. It is worrying the ALP election policy of denying anything has been successful in minimising loss like that experienced in QLD or NSW state elections.
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Deric Ly, Thavee Rose Ftk and Thao Le. Born on the same day, across the years, as Louis II, Landgrave of Lower Hesse (1438), Elizabeth I of England (1533), J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867), C. J. Dennis (1876), Vic Richardson, (1894), John Paul Getty, Jr. (1932), Buddy Holly (1936) and Michelle Creber (1997). On your day, Independence Day in Brazil (1822)
1191 – Third Crusade: Forces under Richard I of England defeated Ayyubid troops under Saladin in Arsuf, present-day Israel.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: France invaded the island of Dominica and captured the British fort there before the latter even knew that France had entered the war as an ally of the United States.
1901 – With Peking occupied by foreign troops from the Eight-Nation Alliance, Qing China was forced to sign the Boxer Protocol, an unequal treaty ending the Boxer Rebellion.
1999 – Three weeks after an earthquake struck northwestern Turkey, a major earthquake struck Athens, causing Greece and Turkey to initiate "earthquake diplomacy".
2011 – Yak-Service Flight 9633, carrying the players and coaching staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional ice hockey team, crashed near the Russian city of Yaroslavl, killing all aboard but one. Another crusade (to party!). France has joined the party unannounced. There is a Boxer Protocol. The earth shakes in anticipation. Avoid bad flights .. Your day is shared with one of the greatest Australian Love Poets (CJ Dennis). You have been blessed, enjoy the gift of life.
===
MILEY Cyrus, this one is on you.
A young woman has injured herself, catching on fire, in an awkward and embarrassing imitation of Miley's favourite dance move twerking.
Cyrus's infamous performance at the MTV Awards (the VMAs) is behind the proliferation of "twerking" in popular culture.
And loungerooms, apparently.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/when-twerking-goes-really-really-really-wrong-woman-catches-on-fire-making-video/story-e6frfmqi-1226714096356#ixzz2eCNgWlro
<Stupid dance done by stupid ppl. Reminds me of when baboons present themselves for mating.>
===
So Father Yoannis moved behind a wall in the charred skeleton of an ancient monastery to describe how it was torched by Islamists and then looted when they took over this southern Egyptian town following the ouster of the country's president.
"The fire in the monastery burned intermittently for three days. The looting continued for a week. At the end, not a wire or an electric switch is left," Yoannis told The Associated Press. The monastery's 1,600-year-old underground chapel was stripped of ancient icons and the ground was dug up on the belief that a treasure was buried there.
"Even the remains of ancient and revered saints were disturbed and thrown around," he said.
A town of some 120,000 — including 20,000 Christians — Dalga has been outside government control since hard-line supporters of the Islamist Mohammed Morsi drove out police and occupied their station on July 3, the day Egypt's military chief removed the president in a popularly supported coup. It was part of a wave of attacks in the southern Minya province that targeted Christians, their homes and businesses.
Since then, the radicals have imposed their grip on Dalga, twice driving off attempts by the army to send in armored personnel carriers by showering them with gunfire.
Their hold points to the power of hard-line Islamists in southern Egypt even after Morsi's removal — and their determination to defy the military-backed leadership that has replaced him.
With the army and police already fighting a burgeoning militant insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, there are growing signs that a second insurgency could erupt in the south — particularly in Minya and Assiut provinces, both Islamist strongholds and both home to Egypt's two largest Christian communities.
The takeover of Dalga has been disastrous for the Christian community in the town, located 270 kilometers (160 miles) south of Cairo in Minya, on the edge of the Nile Valley near the cliffs that mark the start of the desert.
In the initial burst of violence, the town's only Catholic church was ransacked and set ablaze, like the Monastery of the Virgin Mary and St. Abraam. The Anglican church was looted.
Some 40 Christian families have fled Dalga since, Yoannis said. Nearly 40 Christian-owned homes and stores have been attacked by Islamists, according to local Minya activists. Bandits from the nearby deserts joined the looting and burning, they said. To ensure the spread of fear, the attackers torched houses in all Christian neighborhoods, not just in one or two.
Among the homes torched was that of Father Angelos, an 80-year-old Orthodox priest who lives close to the monastery. Yoannis' home was spared a similar fate by his Muslim neighbors. A 60-year-old Christian who fired from his roof to ward off a mob was dragged down and killed, the activists said.
"Even if we had firearms, we would be reluctant to use them," said Yoannis. "We cannot take a life. Firing in the air may be our limit."
Those who remain pay armed Muslim neighbors to protect them. Yoannis said his brother paid with a cow and a water buffalo. Most Christian businesses have been closed for weeks.
Armed men can be seen in the streets, and nearly every day Islamists hold rallies at a stage outside the police station, demanding Morsi's reinstatement.
Most Christians remain indoors as much as possible, particularly during the rallies. They say they are routinely insulted on the streets by Muslims, including children. Christian women stay home at all times, fearing harassment by the Islamists, according to multiple Christians who spoke to the AP. Most requested that their names not be published for fear of reprisals.
"The Copts in Dalga live in utter humiliation," said local rights activist Ezzat Ibrahim. "They live in horror and cannot lead normal lives."
None of the town's churches held Mass for a month, until Wednesday, when one was held in one of the monastery's two churches. About 25 attended, down from the usual 500 or more.
"They don't want to see any Christian with any power, no matter how modest," Yoannis said of the hard-liners now running Dalga. "They only want to see us poor without money, a trade or a business to be proud of."
Like other Christians in town, he said police and authorities were helpless to intervene.
"Everyone keeps telling me that I should alert the police and the army," he said. "As if I hadn't done that already."
At intervals, the 33-year-old father of three would stop talking, move carefully to the edge of a wall, stick his head out to check if someone was coming.
His big worry was the bearded Muslim at the gate, Saber Sarhan Askar.
Skinny with hawk-like hazelnut eyes, Askar is said by Dalga's Christians to have taken part in the torching and looting of the monastery. Outside the monastery that day, Askar was telling priests he was there to protect it. But the orders he yelled to other priests left no doubt who was in charge.
"Bring us tea!" he barked at one priest. "I need something cold to drink!" he screamed at another soon after.
School teacher and part-time entrepreneur Kromer Ishaq fled Dalga a day after the Islamists took over. The Islamists already were accusing his father in a family blood feud — a charge that could prompt the killing of Ishaq. Then on the night of the takeover, Ishaq's gold shop was broken into and looted.
The son of a wealthy family, Ishaq fled with his extended family all the way to the Nile Delta north of Cairo, where he is now looking for work.
"I used to employ people and now I'm looking for work. I once lived in a house I own and now I live in a rented apartment. You ask me what life is like? It's like black tar," Ishaq said by telephone.
Dalga is the most extreme example of Islamist power in Minya — no other towns are known to be under such extreme lockdown. But the province in general has seen a surge in Islamist violence since the coup against Morsi.
In the province, 35 churches have been attacked, including 19 completely gutted by fire. At least six Christian schools and five orphanages have been destroyed, along with five courthouses, seven police stations and six city council buildings. A museum in the city of Malawi was looted and ransacked.
On Aug. 11, policemen suspected of loyalty to Morsi stormed the provincial police headquarters in Minya city. They dragged out the province's security chief and his top aide from their offices and ordered them both to leave the province. They did.
Minya was the epicenter of an Islamic militant insurgency against the rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak in the 1980s and 1990s. It remains a stronghold of Islamists, including the extremist Gamaa Islamiya group. It also has the largest Christian community of any of Egypt's 29 provinces — at 35 percent of Minya's 4 million people, compared to around 10 percent nationwide.
Over Egypt's past 2 ½ years of turmoil, Islamist strength has grown. Hundreds of jailed radicals who purportedly forswore violence — though not their hard-line ideology — were freed after Mubarak's 2011 fall and given the freedom to recruit. The south has seen a flood of heavy weapons smuggled across the desert from neighboring Libya.
A top Interior Ministry official in Cairo said the Minya police force suffered large-scale infiltration by pro-Morsi Islamists. The local force is now under investigation by the ministry. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe was still undergoing.
The Minya security chief who fled the province, as well as two top aides, were replaced on Wednesday for what the Interior Ministry called the failure to maintain law and order.
In the security vacuum, it has been Christians largely paying the price.
Christian businessman Talaat Bassili recounted how on Aug. 15, dozens of men, some armed, stormed his home in the city of Malawi, not far from Dalga. For three hours, with no police or army in sight, the attackers made off with TV sets, washing machines, mobile phones, jewelry and cash.
The attackers descended on the house from the scaffoldings of a mosque next door. In footage from Bassili's security camera, shown to AP, men in robes and boys in sandals try to force their way into the house, then finally blast away the lock with Kalashnikov assault rifles. Some loaded their loot into a donkey cart.
Later, the footage shows Bassili, his wife Nahed Samaan — in a nightgown and a house robe — and son Fady leaving to take refuge with a neighbor.
A week later, Bassili said a man called him on his mobile phone to ask whether he wanted to buy some of his stuff back.
"I said no."
===
===
1. It's Rupert Murdoch's fault
2. It's Rupert Murdoch's fault
3. It's Rupert Murdoch's fault
4. All of the above.>
===
===
Australian PM Tony Abbott and family
===
===
===
===
Labor's campaign was marred by an embarrassing bungle over Coalition costings and won't be remembered well, former prime minister Bob Hawke has said.
Speaking on Sky News on the eve of the election, Mr Hawke said objective observers would agree Labor is poised to lose the election, but Prime Minister Kevin Rudd "might have had a different story" if he'd better planned his campaign.
"I don't think it'll go down as a great campaign," Mr Hawke – who led Australia from 1983-1991 – said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/bob-hawke-regrets-labor-didnt-go-to-polls-sooner-20130906-2tacm.html#ixzz2eCQtybCy
.. I begged them to go .. they didn't listen to me, either ed
===
===
12,000 Christians slaughtered by Muslims in Nigeria. But would Obama intervene and stop aiding and abetting the jihadists? Not when it's Christians. He won't even designate the genocidal Boko Haram a terrorist group.
Armed Muslims in Nigeria Kill Christians in their Homes Morning Star News, September 6, 2013ADU, Nigeria, September 6, 2013 – Gabriel Anthony, 25, was steeped in quiet, prayerful devotion at 5 a.m. on Sunday (Sept. 1) in this northern Nigerian village when he heard gunshots.
“Within minutes, bullets were piercing into our rooms,” Anthony told Morning Star News. “I escaped from my room by jumping through the window.”
A half hour later, seven of his relatives in Adu village, Kaduna state, were dead, including his father, 60-year-old Anthony Nkom; his mother, 45-year-old Asabe Anthony; his brother, 35-year-old James Anthony; and another brother, 37-year-old Andrew Anthony. Also killed were three of his nephews – 5-year-old Meshack Aaron, 12-year-old Bulus James Anthony, and 15-year-old Happiness Anthony.
The bodies of Happiness and Meshack were buried in one grave, and those of the other five in another.
===
Allen West
Just watched President Obama's press conference, post G-20 summit, and am even more concerned. When you study history and understand the series of uncontrollable events that began WW I, we find ourselves not too far from that position now. It's not just about taking military action against Assad (which in the press conference Obama seemed reticent about), it is about the unintended consequences. President Putin has vowed to continue arms shipments and support, and Iran is issuing orders to its Islamic terrorist dogs for release. The window of opportunity for a quick' decisive response against Assad has closed. We cannot afford to destabilize another Middle Eastern country in favor of Islamists and establish terrorist sanctuaries. My recommendation? Instead of President Obama delivering a weak' politically-scripted speech on Tuesday, read "The Guns of August" and learn something about leadership and strategic policymaking.
===
ST. PETERSBURG (The Borowitz Report)—Hopes for a positive G20 summit crumbled today as President Obama blurted to Russia’s Vladimir Putin at a joint press appearance, “Everyone here thinks you’re a jackass.”
The press corps appeared stunned by the uncharacteristic outburst from Mr. Obama, who then unleashed a ten-minute tirade at the stone-faced Russian President.
“Look, I’m not just talking about Snowden and Syria,” Mr. Obama said. “What about Pussy Riot? What about your anti-gay laws? Total jackass moves, my friend.”
As Mr. Putin narrowed his eyes in frosty silence, Mr. Obama seemed to warm to his topic.
“If you think I’m the only one who feels this way, you’re kidding yourself,” Mr. Obama said, jabbing his finger in the direction of the Russian President’s face. “Ask Angela Merkel. Ask David Cameron. Ask the Turkish guy. Every last one of them thinks you’re a dick.”
Shortly after Mr. Obama’s volcanic performance, Mr. Putin released a terse official statement, reading, “I should be afraid of this skinny man? I wrestle bears.”
After one day of meetings, the G20 nations voted unanimously on a resolution that said maybe everyone should just go home.
That just shows how arrogant and unsuitable Obama is to be President ed
===
Doctors believe baby Abigail Beutler, the daughter of U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler and her husband, Dan, may be the first baby ever to survive Potter's Syndrome, a prenatal condition affecting the development of a baby’s lungs.
The Republican congresswoman from Washington was five months pregnant when she found out that her baby had no kidneys, and therefore was producing no fetal urine. Doctors say that leads to little-or-no amniotic fluid, which ultimately prevents the lungs from developing.
Herrera-Beutler described the moment she and her husband received the grim news.
“As the doctor was giving us the diagnosis (Abigail) was kicking,” she said. “We're totally broken, we're sobbing, we're asking, ‘What can be done? Is there anything that can be done?’ And she's moving inside of me, and the doctor is saying, ‘No, there is no option. This is fatal.’”
Refusing to give up on their daughter, the Beutlers found a doctor at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md. who was willing to try an experimental treatment that could potentially save Abigail’s life.
The doctor injected multiple doses of a saline solution into the congresswoman's abdomen to try to create enough fluid for the lungs to develop. The couple then waited to see if the treatment would work – and miraculously, Abigail was born on July 15th.
“When she came out and everybody was quiet, I think … a lot of these medical professionals were prepared for the worst. And she looked at us, and she cried, which means her lungs were functioning,” said Congresswoman Herrera-Beutler. “I think that cry kind of startled everybody in the room.”
Doctors at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in California, where Abigail is currently being treated, say her weight has doubled since she was born, and she has “excellent lung function.”
According to Dr. Steven Alexander, a pediatric kidney specialist at Lucile Packard, Abigail will be on dialysis until she can get a kidney transplant in about a year or so, but he is confident about her prognosis.
“The kidney transplant success rate now is so good that we would predict a full adult life for her,” Alexander said.
The Beutlers are going public with their story, because they want other families that get a diagnosis of Potter’s Syndrome to have some hope.
“Our daughter had a 100 percent fatal diagnosis, and she'll be 8 weeks on Monday,” Dan Beutler said. “We and many people around the country have spent a lot of time praying for her. We don't know exactly how it all worked out, but we know for sure she's a miracle.”
Herrera-Beutler says she has received a lot of support from her congressional colleagues during this time, including a call from House Speaker John Boehner and a note from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/06/congresswoman-infant-daughter-may-be-first-baby-to-survive-potter-syndrome/#ixzz2eCSJauBF
===
The Palestinian Authority is doling out millions of dollars in cash grants to convicted terrorists recently released from Israeli prisons in a program announced the same day as the P.A. accepted $148 million in the latest round of U.S. aid.
The authority announced Aug. 18 it would disburse $15 million in so-called “Dignified Life Grants” to more than 5,000 prisoners who had served more than five years in Israeli lockups, but had been recently released as a show of good faith by the Jewish state to bolster the Middle East peace process, according to Palestinian Media Watch.
The announcement came on the same day the State Department’s Michael Ratney, consulate general of the U.S. in Jerusalem, signed off on $148 million in aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, currently in the throes of a budget crisis.
“It’s not certain our specific dollars are finding their way into terrorists’ or former terrorists’ pockets but - at the least - it’s freeing funds for the P.A. to do these types of things.”
- Jim Phillips, the Heritage Foundation
Although the U.S. funnels about $400 million per year in aid to the authority, none of the money, by law, is supposed to go to terrorists or former terrorists. Critics say there is no way to separate money from U.S. taxpayers and the funds which go to the former prisoners.
“We have a lot of funding that goes to the PA that is fungible and co-mingled and there is a lot of concern the money is going to radical causes and extremist issues,” Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the bipartisan think tank, Foundation for Defense of Democracy, told FoxNews.com.
“There are many problematic questions concerning the way the Palestinian Authority disperses funds and especially those coming from the U.S. This is not unique. We’ve seen in the past, monies allocated from the PA’s budget to the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, which is a designated terrorist organization, and all of this points to a troubling trend whereby the U.S. has tried to get a handle on financing within the P.A.”
In August, The Associated Press reported that Israel published the names of 26 men to be freed before the latest peace talks between the Jewish State and the P.A. In all, 104 prisoners have been slated for release in four phases over a period of nine months that the U.S. has set aside for negotiations. But their freedom is reportedly contingent on progress in the talks.
It’s not clear who exactly has applied for the “Dignified Life Grants,” although Palestinian Media Watch reports that prisoners released from Israeli prisons swarmed the P.A.’s Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs office in Gaza following the grants’ announcement.
And among those Israel was slated to release was Mustafa al-Haj, convicted of killing an American-born settler hiking in the West Bank in 1989.
“It’s not certain our specific dollars are finding their way into terrorists’ or former terrorists’ pockets but - at the least - it’s freeing funds for the P.A. to do these types of things,” Jim Phillips, Middle East analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank, told FoxNews.com.
“The Palestinians will argue this money is not fungible, but the fact that they are making these grants is a sign to me that the P.A. has plenty of money and maybe the U.S. should be scaling back its aid to the organization.”
Andrea Lafferty, president of the Traditional Values Coalition, a national conservative organization, turned up the rhetorical heat a few degrees further, telling FoxNews.com, “The Israelis were wrong to release these murderers and Obama is wrong to pay them a bonus for their evil actions. No good can come with any cooperation with the Palestinian Authority.
“These are repeat, serial terrorists and murderers that we have been funding. And The more we learn about the twisted foreign policy of the Obama Administration, the better we understand why the president is so inept to handle any issue foreign or domestic.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/06/palestinian-authority-takes-150m-from-us-doles-out-grants-to-convicted/#ixzz2eCSYLzHH
Obama gives aid to terrorists - ed
===
===
===
IT'S the age old question: when you're standing at a pedestrian crossing, fitfully smashing the button with your palm, does it actually make a difference?
Don't feel ashamed for feeling paranoid. There are plenty of "placebo buttons" scattered all around New York City.
And the UK's pedestrian crossing buttons work in some places but not in others.
But what about us?
Fear not Australia, news.com.au has the answer.
According to almost all various roads and transportation authorities of all seven states, pressing the pedestrian crossing button actually does make a difference.
Brendan Joyce, senior project manager for traffic in the department of Infrastructure in the Northern Territory, told news.com.au that when a person pushes a pedestrian call button, a demand gets logged in the traffic signal controller.
"This demand calls for a vehicle or pedestrian movement (called a phase) where the demanded pedestrian can go," he said.
"The traffic signal controller is programmed to turn any vehicle movements to red that oppose the pedestrian movement (fully protected pedestrian movement) or if the vehicle signal groups runs in parallel to the pedestrian movement, it may be left in green."
And no, there are no placebo buttons in Australia. So stop being paranoid.
Also pushing the button more than once will make absolutely no difference, so stop doing it.
In Perth the buttons are automatically "pre-pressed" during peak hours in order to register for pedestrian need during high traffic times.
"However, the buttons will return to normal operations outside of the peak periods," said public affairs co-ordinator, Stephanie Dahl.
News.com.au was reassured by roads and transport authorities in NSW, The Northern Territory, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland that the pedestrian button is very much a real, working thing that affects the flow of traffic and pedestrians across busy streets.
The only state authorities that did not reply to our queries was South Australia and Tasmanians so apologies for inadvertent paranoia we may have caused to the good people of South Australia and our brothers and sisters across the ditch.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/does-pushing-the-crossing-button-do-anything/story-fn5fsgyc-1226713968493#ixzz2eCTLT1rn
How about constituents approaching an ALP member or help? Placebo button? - ed
===
AUSTRALIA has shown its irrelevance on world affairs with Foreign Minister Bob Carr failing to hold a closing press conference on the outcomes of the G20 leaders forum.
In a stunning decision, Senator Carr snubbed usual protocols of wrapping up the summit with a press conference discussing decisions made or not made at the annual forum this year on such critical questions as Syria.
This is despite the fact Australia currently has the presidential chair of the UN Security Council and is next year to be the host leader of the G20 summit, a position that would normally prompt a baton-passing statement.
French, Russian and American media were left surprised when most other leaders held a press conference except Australia whose showing at the forum has been marginal, despite it holding key positions on the world stage.
Even Australian diplomatic officials were left red-faced when foreign media turned up for a planned press conference and Senator Carr never showed up for.
Australia’s official delegation offices – tucked between the offices of African minnows Ethiopia and Senegal as well as Turkey, Brunei and the delegates toilet block – were closed up and lights off even before the conference closed for the night.
"And apparently Australia is supposed to be hosting next year’s summit of the world’s leading economies?" one American journalist quipped in between attending other leader’s public appearances. He said he just hoped delegates’ gift bags were good enough to encourage them to travel Down Under to Brisbane next year.
The latest snub comes after World Vision Australia boss Tim Costello who was attending the summit said foreign delegates had been left disappointed by the fact Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had failed to attend the forum, leaving Australia one of only two nations not to send a leader to Russia for critical talks on conflict in the Middle East, the other being Saudi Arabia whose ailing king was unfit for travel.
The fact Senator Carr was unlikely to be about after this weekend’s federal election was not lost on many who had attended the G20.
Whatever policy initiative he wanted to launch or position taken on vexed issues such as Syria were potentially to be irrelevant come next week.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world-news/bob-carr-snubs-stunned-g20-media-pack/story-fndir2ev-1226713884340#ixzz2eCU7PWqY
===
===
This is why aliens don't visit us. ROTFL - ed
===
===
Final Foto Friday...
Looks best viewed large, so go ahead and click on it... go ahead... I know ya wanna!
Well, the weekends here and I have a photo taking friend visiting (Darvin) so tonight will be a nice time of getting out with him and a couple other friends to shoot... something... somewhere...
Meanwhile, here's a pic for my friends here who keep up with this thing that I do... and greatly enjoy doing. It's from the Canyonlands of Southern Utah as a monsoon storm was moving in while standing in some ancient ruins. Have a great weekend everyone!
===
Zaya Toma
The no carbon protestor with the Liberetts at St Johns Park High.
===
===
Emerald Circular Box - 103 Emeralds - Mughal India -1635
===
After two decades of life in Germany, an American Jew reflects on the Berlin Jewish Museum's controversial "Jew in the Box" exhibition and her experiences in a country that still has a dearth of Jews, even decades after the war.
===
Elections require us to think about the differences between political parties - not what they have in common.
===
This is how you do it. Observe and learn.>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeF41_coSX8
===
Quick question: How come Obama and his crew have so much intelligence as to know for certain what happened in Syria but they still have no clue what happened in Benghazi?
===
“When you start putting your hands on a woman in anger … that is a drop-dead deal breaker.”http://bit.ly/DRP090613 #DrPhil
===
A Swedish reporter asked Obama what it's like to be a Nobel Peace Prize winner that's trying to attack Syria.
See how he responded at the link below...
It’s not been an easy in Stockholm for Obama. First, he denied that he had drawn a red line on the use of chemical weapons in Syria, insisting it was “the world” and “Congress” who had drawn the red line.
So, when a Swedish reporter asked our president how he could reconcile being a Nobel Peace Prize winner with a guy who was doing his best to order a cruise missile strike on Syria, a weary-looking Obama mostly mailed in his response – beginning by stating the obvious:
“I think I started the speech by saying that compared to previous recipients I was certainly unworthy.”
[Most of the world seen feverishly nodding in approval.]
Obama went on to give a predictable answer; peaceful people living in a dangerous world, how he ended the war in Iraq and is winding down the war in Afghanistan, the need to promote diplomacy to solve the world’s problems, yada yada.
The thing most striking about his response, was that Obama looks like a guy who is clearly out of gas. A guy who would rather be anywhere in the world than standing at that podium answering that question.
A guy who frankly, is looking more and more like he’d rather spend the rest of his days on the golf course and leave this all behind.
===
Covering an area as large as London and considered one of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's most brutal prison camps, a site designated as Camp No 22 saw a drastic reduction in its population prior to its closing last year - investigators fear as many as 22,000 inmates may have been left to die from disease and/or starvation.
The details are contained in a new report by the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK). The group is now demanding a deeper inquiry.
At Camp No. 22, in North Hamyong Province, in the far north-east of the country, the prison population shrank dramatically in the months before its closure, probably in December 2012. Reports suggest that a severe food shortage meant that little was passed on to inmates and that numbers dwindled rapidly from 30,000 to 3,000.
Investigators believe it's possible that up to 8,000 prisoners were transferred to other camps; however, there's no evidence suggesting that any of the inmates were released. Numbers gleaned from multiple methods and sources leave approximately 22,000 individuals un-accounted for and feared dead from what's considered to be one of the world's harshest prison regimes.
===
===
Tony Abbott "I would like to be an infrastructure Prime Minister”
===
Zaya Toma
After three years of hand-to-hand election campaigning combat, the effort of Liberals everywhere comes down to the election tomorrow. I wish our local candidates Andrew Nguyen, Liberal for Fowler and Ray King - Liberal for McMahon the very best of luck.
===
===
WARNING: This is an absolutely sickening video no child should see. We share it because it is important. THIS is what is happening in Syria! If you think congress should HAVE to watch this before they get us involved in Syria, please click LIKE and SHARE. Facebook will show it to more people if you click LIKE and SHARE. Call congress in the morning: 202-224-3121 ... we have no business in Syria and no business helping evil like this!
http://bit.ly/17cwsCq
===
A number of Sen. John McCain’s constituents are not happy with the Arizona Republican’s support of President Barack Obama’s plan to take military action against Syria. Voters made that much perfectly clear when they confronted him at a town hall in Phoenix on Thursday.
“We didn’t send you to make war for us. We sent you to stop the war,” one man said to applause,CNN reports.
Another man told McCain Congress is ignoring its duty to represent voters.
“This is what I think of Congress,” he said, holding a bag of marshmallows in his hand. “They are a bunch of marshmallows. That’s what they are. That’s what they’ve become. Why are you not listening to the people and staying out of Syria? It’s not our fight.”
===
Under Obama, seven times as many part-time jobs have been created as full-time jobs.
Sign our petition to make this stop!
http://bit.ly/14nMbAS
===
===
Captain Jack Minion!
===
===
===
ELECTION 2013 II
Tim Blair – Saturday, September 07, 2013 (8:16pm)
Describing the past four years as a “dance of death”, Labor’s Jason Clare calls for a “generational change” of ALP leadership: “It’s time to put the Rudd-Gillard era behind us.”
Australia’s already done that, Jase.
UPDATE. It’s difficult to tell on Ten’s chaotic broadcast, but someone appears to have given Clive Palmer the win in Fairfax.
UPDATE II. Craig Emerson is losing it on Nine: “I’m entitled to have my say!” He’s still running lines about Abbott’s negativity - as if it matters now. Move on, Craig.
UPDATE III. Julia speaks! It’s her first Twitter comment since July.
UPDATE IV. Kevni’s farewell looms – or does it?
Journalists with Team Rudd have been briefed that Mr Rudd’s speech is about half an hour away. They have been told Mr Rudd has written a draft of a concession speech but that there is a blank space for the bit about whether he stays on as leader.
Maybe he’s worried that someone will leak it. Like himself.
UPDATE V. Laurie Oakes: “Clive Palmer in federal parliament will be interesting.”
UPDATE VI. Readers picked an 8pm-9pm concession speech. As usual, however, Kevin Rudd is running late.
UPDATE VII. Adam Bandt claims his victory is a “win for refugees”. Which is great news for all the refugees who live in inner-city Melbourne.
===
ELECTION 2013
Tim Blair – Saturday, September 07, 2013 (6:13pm)
A cheery start to counting, thanks to Sky’s exit poll:
The prospect of Labor losing all of its eight Queensland seats is looming large as the final votes are cast in Kevin Rudd’s home state …Only the Brisbane-based seats of Griffith and Lilley, held by the prime minister and former treasurer Wayne Swan, are still in play and some commentators say they too could go.
UPDATE. Homeless union identity Paul Howes, part of Seven’s panel, hasn’t seemed this threatened since he survived a Young Labor camp. The Seven bunch is impressively lively. Ten’s production looks a little shambolic. The ABC’s subdued presentation isn’t helped by an ominous echo; commentators sound as though they’re speaking from the bottom of a well.
UPDATE II. Olden-times election images, featuring John Gorton and a fan. And also his wife.
UPDATE III. “If I wanted to be daring I’d call the election now,” says the ABC’s Antony Green, noting that all early numbers are against Labor. He’s waiting for at least another ten minutes.
UPDATE IV. It’s all happening in the Maldives. The way things are going, Tony Abbott will probably win there, too.
UPDATE V. Barnaby Joyce is currently running at above 80 per cent after preferences in early numbers from New England.
UPDATE VI. Wayne Swan is hanging on in Lilley, as in Chris Bowen in McMahon. David Bradbury doomed in Lindsay. Nine’s current count: Coalition 36 seats, Labor 11.
UPDATE VII. From a less-gentle media era, the Sunday Observer‘s 1975 election edition:
Hmmm. Maybe something for the Sunday Telegraph to look at there.
Hmmm. Maybe something for the Sunday Telegraph to look at there.
(Via bobx)
UPDATE VIII. Craig Thomson in Dobell is on just 3.7 per cent after more than one-fifth of all votes counted. Peter Slipper is on 1.4 per cent.
Recriminations have already begun inside the Labor Party, with outgoing Northern Territory senator Trish Crossin calling for the head of national secretary and campaign director, George Wright.The veteran senator, whose career ended when Julia Gillard exercised her ‘’captain’s pick’’ to replace her with Nova Peris, took to Twitter before polls closed, declaring: ‘’If we see a massive defeat tonight then George Wright has to go.’’
He won’t be alone.
===
ELECTION BOTTLEGROUND
Tim Blair – Saturday, September 07, 2013 (5:43pm)
Minderbinder of QLD kicks off the election-night drinky action:
After the celebratory magnum of sparkling Pinot Noir, a homemade strawberry liqueur, without the lemon! Oh, happy day!
===
HEADING FOR THE EXIT
Tim Blair – Saturday, September 07, 2013 (2:28pm)
UPDATE II. Not for the first time, Kevin Rudd has trouble with a redhead.
===
BE HERE OR BE ELSEWHERE
Tim Blair – Saturday, September 07, 2013 (4:49am)
This site – the people’s site – was here for you during the highs of 2004, the lows of 2007 and the ties of 2010, and it’ll be here again when Labor hits the rotors on Election Night 2013. The main threads open at 6.00pm and will continue until hope is restored/the world ends, depending on your point of view.
===
BOTTLE COLLECTION
Tim Blair – Saturday, September 07, 2013 (4:43am)
Readers are invited to send photographs of their election-night drink choices. Email your pics totrblair@ozemail.com.au, along with any other entertaining electoral imagery. Personally, I’ll be sipping an award-winning vodka:
Full disclosure: I’m an investor in this fine vodka company.
Full disclosure: I’m an investor in this fine vodka company.
===
TREND POSITIVE
Tim Blair – Saturday, September 07, 2013 (4:39am)
Tony Abbott is in poll position:
Labor’s support has not changed, stuck on a dismal primary vote of 33 per cent, compared with an unchanged 46 per cent primary support for the Coalition. On a two-party-preferred basis, using preference flows at the last election, the Coalition’s lead remains 54 per cent to Labor’s 46 per cent – the same result in a Nielsen Poll published today by Fairfax Media.
Those numbers could translate to Labor being cut down to fewer than 50 seats in the next parliament, which would be a remarkable result considering that Labor and the Coalition were tied just 47 days ago. Ex-PM Bob Hawke believes Kevin Rudd erred by not calling an election earlier, which might be right; the less time voters were exposed to Rudd, the greater his chances of winning against a candidate rated highly by Laurie Oakes:
No other politician can craft a message as succinctly and deliver it as sharply as he can.No politician since Keating has been better at using the English language to demolish as well as to sell.Abbott understands instinctively what will make a headline and what will get a run on the TV news. He knows about deadlines and pictures and the demands of the 24-hour news cycle. He is as adept at spin as the spin doctors who work for him.
I’d add that Abbott has another, possibly more crucial quality: like John Howard, he is exactly the same in person as he is in Parliament or on television. Abbott’s opponent, besides offering more aspects than a shattered crystal, also turns out to be a lousy campaigner:
During the election campaign Rudd’s personal approval fell from a positive net satisfaction to minus 26 – a faster, sharper slump than any leader in history.
To know him is to not vote for him.
===
ACADEMIC DISTRESS
Tim Blair – Saturday, September 07, 2013 (3:48am)
A beautiful era of cruelty dawns:
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney has told staff he was ‘’distressed’’ to see the work of a renowned philosophy academic from the university unfairly ridiculed by the Coalition as an example of ‘’ridiculous’’ and wasteful government spending.The Coalition announced on Thursday it would audit and redirect funds from the Australian Research Council in an attempt to curb government ‘’waste’’, with opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey singling out certain projects during a press conference.Among the projects highlighted by the Coalition is “The God of Hegel’s Post-Kantian idealism”, a research project being led by Professor Paul Redding from the university’s Department of Philosophy.
The cost of that study: $443,000.
===
MAYBE TOM WATSON ATE THEM
Tim Blair – Friday, September 06, 2013 (5:47pm)
Another deputation of anti-News protesters was scheduled to appear today at 4pm. The Australian‘s James Jeffrey is still waiting:
===
THIS COULD BE A PROBLEM
Tim Blair – Friday, September 06, 2013 (4:30pm)
Malcolm Mackerras declares:
I’m predicting 94 seats for the Coalition, 54 for Labor and two others in the seats of Denison and Kennedy. That would be an absolute majority for the Coalition of 38 seats.
Make of this what you will. Mackerras also believes that “discredited” Kevin Rudd will lose his seat to Bill Glasson, shown here in dramatic contrast to his rival.
===
The results
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (4:47pm)
Finally, a man worthy of the office of Prime Minister - and humble enough to hope it.
Newspoll exit poll is predicting Coalition will pick up an extra 25 seats - to 97. Kevin Rudd is 50-50 to lose his seat.
UPDATE
Peter Beattie all but concedes:
Swan behind badly with 20 per cent counted.
UPDATE
Sadly, with a third of votes counted in Fairfax, Palmer has 30 per cent.
Newspoll exit poll is predicting Coalition will pick up an extra 25 seats - to 97. Kevin Rudd is 50-50 to lose his seat.
It predicts the only crossbenchers to keep their seats will be Tasmanian Andrew Wilkie and Queenslander Bob Katter.Wayne Swan, author of our deficits, seems gone.
Greens MP Adam Bandt is predicted to lose the seat of Melbourne.
UPDATE
Peter Beattie all but concedes:
Reader AP:
Did anyone else see the woman smoking the pipe standing behing Beattie, in Peter Beattie’s campaign HQ on ABC? Maybe this is how Labor will deal with the loss?UPDATE
Swan behind badly with 20 per cent counted.
UPDATE
Sadly, with a third of votes counted in Fairfax, Palmer has 30 per cent.
===
Join the election celebrations here - or mourning, if you prefer
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (1:47pm)
Blogging here from 6pm, with moderator John posting your comments.
Join in.
And from 6pm, listen here as Alan Jones, Michael Costa and I cover the election. Talkback: 131 873.
And tomorrow on The Bolt Report at 10am on Channel 10: Michael Costa, Warren Mundine and Peter Reith join me on an election post-morten - or the dawn of a new era.
Join in.
And from 6pm, listen here as Alan Jones, Michael Costa and I cover the election. Talkback: 131 873.
And tomorrow on The Bolt Report at 10am on Channel 10: Michael Costa, Warren Mundine and Peter Reith join me on an election post-morten - or the dawn of a new era.
===
Leave your sour grapes here
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (1:28pm)
Post examples here of
Leftist weeping furious tears and blaming everyone but themselves. Post
examples here of frustrated megalomania, choking hatreds and that
peculiar lack of proportion that today will be buried in the ballot box.
First example, Anne Summers in the Sydney Morning Herald:
Second, note that she actually prays for the election of a leader who lies to win an election. No wonder she’s unhappy Julia Gillard is gone.
Bring on the return of integrity in politics. Bring on the return of people who - unlike divisive tribalists such as Summers - treat people with respect, even if they disagree with their opinions.
Your own examples?
First example, Anne Summers in the Sydney Morning Herald:
I don’t think I can recall an election where so many people are telling me they are not just unhappy but are actually repelled by the choices on offer. Who can I vote for, people are saying. I can’t stand either of them…Summers seems to live in a sheltered workshop. In a Mecca, closed to non-believers. She might meet only people who say they can’t vote for either party, but in fact the Liberals will get the first preferences of nearly half the population. Oddly, Summers seems not to know any of them.
Tony Abbott says we can trust him. Many of us are hoping, perhaps even praying, that we can’t. We are hoping that once he is in office he will see things differently and that he won’t honour his promises… We will, for the first time in 40 years, actually go backwards.
Second, note that she actually prays for the election of a leader who lies to win an election. No wonder she’s unhappy Julia Gillard is gone.
Bring on the return of integrity in politics. Bring on the return of people who - unlike divisive tribalists such as Summers - treat people with respect, even if they disagree with their opinions.
Your own examples?
===
ABC on Abbott and the crack of doom
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (1:10pm)
===
Morgan exit poll: smaller win for Coalition
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (12:57pm)
Roy Morgan exit poll at noon: Coalition 51.5, Labor 48.5. (APOLOGIES: I earlier had a higher figure after misreading the previously linked page.)
Earlier polling by Morgan put the lead at 53.5 to Labor’s 46.5. John Comnenus:
Earlier polling by Morgan put the lead at 53.5 to Labor’s 46.5. John Comnenus:
This results in a house with:
Coalition 90 seats, ALP 57 seats, andSportsbet predicts a somewhat different result where we need to work the other way, that is work out the seats and then predict the 2PP amount. Sportsbet predicts a win of 99 seats for the LNP with three more seats tied.
Independents / minor parties 3 seats.
The punting predicts that the make-up of the house as follows:
Coalition 99-102 seats,
ALP 49-48 seats,
Others 2 seats (Katter and Wilkie).
===
Abbott will be even more winning in time
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (10:17am)
Paul Kelly is right. I think Tony Abbott will be even more formidable next time as a man that outsiders will have warmed to:
Labor fell for its own propaganda about Abbott, a grievous error… The key to Abbott as PM would be his conviction that people want a return to stable, consistent and conservative government. He uses the label “adult government” to capture its essence.Because - pssst - here’s the tip. Tony Abbott is actually a very nice and quite sensitive man. The more that people see that, the more that the sliming of him will wash away.
For Abbott, the priorities will be sticking by his word, consultation with stakeholders, orthodox decision-making, avoiding shocks, executive caution and projecting as an inclusive prime minister…
As a personality, Abbott accentuates the insiders-outsiders division at the heart of Australia’s culture wars. The insiders will continue to loathe him; the outsiders are likely to warm to him more as PM in office.
===
Newspoll: Labor faces wipeout
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (9:07am)
Kevin Rudd risks losing almost as badly as Julia Gillard would have:
UPDATE
Reader Baa Humbug:
The Coalition is on course to gain at least 22 seats and up to 32 in the worst case for Labor, including the seat of Treasurer Chris Bowen, and with Kevin Rudd’s Brisbane seat of Griffith at risk…The seats in play.
On a two-party-preferred basis, using preference flows at the last election, the Coalition’s lead remains 54 per cent to Labor’s 46 per cent - the same result in a Nielsen Poll published today by Fairfax Media.
UPDATE
Reader Baa Humbug:
Pre-polling indications are that Rod McGarvie will take Wayne Swans seat of Lilley 52% to 48%
===
Labor staffers already blame Rudd
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (8:25am)
The recriminations start already. Kevin Rudd is being blamed for costing seats he should have won:
Bruce Hawker will be made a scapegoat:
Rudd ends the campaign with his signature chaos:
The Prime Minister - beamed live on August 15, close to the end of week two of the campaign - was announcing an ambitious plan to cut corporate tax in the Northern Territory as a way of attracting investors....I agree to a point. As I said at the time, this was the moment the wheels fell off the campaign. But the car was going nowhere because Rudd actually is who he is.
As the cameras rolled in Darwin and Rudd kept talking about the Territory tax plan, at times stumbling over the detail, jaws dropped in Melbourne HQ.
Labor policy experts had warned against Rudd proposing a regional tax cut… As one campaign adviser said: “People literally looked at each other and said, ‘What the f . . k? ... It was an absolute debacle. It was a classic Kevin moment. It wasn’t enough to announce something. It had to have a huge ‘wow’ factor. We ended up with a negative story."…
In the story of how Rudd lost the election campaign, Darwin was a turning point.
Bruce Hawker will be made a scapegoat:
Today there will be one key figure for Labor in this blame game:
The one consistent thread for Rudd has been his relationship with Hawker, a veteran manager of past state Labor campaigns who helped strategise the Labor PM’s resurrection in late June and has accompanied him since as a close adviser on the election trail.
Yet Hawker is not on Labor’s payroll… Hawker is paid by Rudd out of his own pocket.
As a result, Hawker has been in no position to stand up to Rudd in a campaign riddled with dysfunction…
A senior Labor campaign source described the lack of campaign accountability. “Within days it became clear this campaign wasn’t being run out of Melbourne; it was being run out of Kevin’s campaign plane,” the source said.
“He was directing strategy, changing travel schedules and even cutting ads on-board. It was a joke… He couldn’t just do his job. And nobody stood up to him - nobody - that was a key problem. He didn’t listen, he didn’t want to listen, he thought he knew it all. Well, he didn’t. But what he did know how to do was lose us 20 seats.”
His return was meant to be the difference between losing up to 40 seats with Gillard - or 15 to 20 with Rudd…UPDATE
During the election campaign Rudd’s personal approval fell from a positive net satisfaction to minus 26 - a faster, sharper slump than any leader in history…
“Look, at the start of the campaign we were looking at picking up maybe up to 10 seats in Queensland; now we’ll be lucky to hold any seats,” a senior Labor campaign source said.
“...We had a chance of winning, but we blew it. Kevin blew it.”
Rudd ends the campaign with his signature chaos:
There has been absolute disaster and pandemonium at St Paul’s Church in Brisbane where Kevin Rudd has just cast his vote with his wife Therese Rein.
The Prime Minister’s team gave the polling station and the media just five minutes notice before he arrived to vote.
At first, media were told they weren’t allowed inside the polling booth to film him voting, creating some angry scenes with officials. Rudd was also heckled by Socialist Alliance protesters.
When they were finally allowed inside the booth, ordinary voters were caught up in a dangerous crush of security minders, protesters, cameramen, sound guys and journalists.
“It could not have gone worse,” says Fairfax reporter Jacqueline Maley. “It was absolute chaos, it was insanely unsafe for members of the public and difficult for us to get out shots.”
One cameraman was overheard saying it was “the last straw in a completely chaotic campaign”.
===
Fantasist Carlton searches for a liar
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (8:10am)
Fairfax fantasist Mike Carlton:
So, are we the people really going to elect a liar to The Lodge today?Question. When did write Carlton write that line?:
In 2007, when Labor was led by a man who promised to turn back the boats and stop this “reckless spending”?A slightly deceptive way of putting the question I know, but Carlton is such a predictable buffoon that I’m sure you know the answer.
In 2010, when Labor was led by a woman who promised to never introduce a carbon tax?
In 2013, when Labor is led by a man who claimed he would never again be Labor leader, that he would not campaign negatively, that Tony Abbott planned $70 billion in cuts and that he had Treasury documents proving a $10 billion hole in Abbott’s costings?
===
Time to “cleanse” the ABC as the Faine wished to “cleanse” News Corp?
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (7:58am)
After the election I plan to write a column which looks back on these comments in 2008 by Jon Faine, a presenter of the ABC, which has refused to let a conservative host any of its main current affairs shows:
UPDATE
Reader Anthony Marshall writes my first paragraph:
Reader Case:
JON FAINE:Please write my first paragraph for me. I will publish the best below. Heavens, I may even pinch one for my column in a week or two.
I want to expand our discussion to another aspect of media which I think is quite intriguing as the Rudd Government is about to start it’s first session in the parliament, and that is whether or not the media needs to go through a bit of a rethink, as it would seem, according to last year’s election, the nation has. Have things moved on and have some of the staples of the media in the Howard era worn out their usefulness as we enter a Rudd era? ... I’m going to talk in particular about columnists… and Bruce you have some notorious ones of your own? Although I’m going to here, stick my neck right out, and say I think The Australian newspaper has perhaps the most loyal band of Howard supporters amongst its current crop of columnists. And you have to wonder how they’re quite going to adjust, and cope, and fit in when the people they are so well connected to, are no longer in office.BRUCE GUTHRIE (Editor-in-chief of the Herald Sun, my employer):
Yes, I’d probably take issue with the word notorious Jon, by the way. I’d say notable rather than notorious…JON FAINE:
But it’s more the columnists (on the The Australian), the sort of Christopher Pearson’s and Janet Albrechtsens and Mark Steyn was the American columnist who was used in the paper yesterday and so on. And you think, well, it kind of represents the thinking that’s out of step with the result of the election in a way, some of the material that those people are very much making their own and their own beat.BRUCE GUTHRIE:
I guess it comes down to whether you think newspapers need to be in step with the Government?JON FAINE:
Oh no, not with the Government with the electorates… But within your newspaper, rather than asking you to speculate about other things, within your own newspaper, does the result of the election mean you rethink any of the component parts that make up your weekly diet?…BRUCE GUTHRIE:
I think it’s very, very hard to contribute a column on a weekly basis over a long, long period of time and so we’re forever monitoring that.JON FAINE:
Very interesting, so you’re not going through a cleansing process?BRUCE GUTHRIE:
Definitely not.
UPDATE
Reader Anthony Marshall writes my first paragraph:
Following the repudiation of the ALP by the Australian electorate over the weekend, maybe it is now time to investigate how well our taxpayer funded national broadcaster has served us.Reader BruceT:
During the past three years, Labor and the Greens have attempted to muzzle the free press to mute criticism of its poor performance in government, cheered on by the commentators from “Our ABC”. Perhaps it is time for a cleansing of the ABC to address their failure and refusal to follow their charter.
The massacre that Labor earned on Saturday provided inarguable proof that the publicly funded ABC is completely out of step with the opinions of those very same public.UPDATE
This raises the question: Is it time for the Coalition to run a metaphoric toilet brush through the befouled pipes of our publicly owned broadcaster? Perhaps a cleansing bias enema filled with the disinfectant of it’s own charter?
Reader Case:
Andrew,Unless Anthony Marshall is channeling me, I actually wrote-although it may have been slightly edited. - “Following the repudiation of the ALP by the Australian electorate over the weekend, maybe it is now time to investigate how well our taxpayer funded national broadcaster has served us.”
===
Unelectable no more
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (7:48am)
A victory over the media class:
Bernard Keane in Crikey on November 29, 2009:More at the link.
ABBOTT will reduce the party to a reactionary rump struggling to accept the 20th, let alone the 21st, century.Peter Hartcher in The Sydney Morning Herald on November 26, 2009:
IN short, the Coalition is split, the Liberals are divided, the leader’s support is hollow, the party faces electoral oblivion. There are no grown-ups.Not mucking about. Rod Cameron’s description of new opposition leader Tony Abbott on December 1, 2009:
UNELECTABLE.Laura Tingle fleshing out this thought in The Australian Financial Review on December 1, 2009:
THE election of Tony Abbott is a disaster of epic proportions for a party that was already up against it in the race to remain competitive at the next election. They have now taken a major step to the Right, towards their base, and away from mainstream voters.Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald the same day:
THE Liberal Party has decided that it’s more important to be combative than to be electable. By electing Tony Abbott leader, the Liberal Party has chosen to fight on climate change and to risk all on an unpopular cause.David Marr in the Sydney Morning Herald on December 2, 2009:
A NEW face will now join the black-and-white portraits of Liberal leaders staring down the room. So many hopeful new starts: a dozen leaders from Bob Menzies to Malcolm Turnbull, most of them torn down by their party colleagues.Peter Hartcher on the “accidental leader” in the Sydney Morning Herald on December 5, 2009:
The photographer shouldn’t tarry ... Early in the day I found myself ... behind a National Party senator talking on his mobile phone. “Tony may get up, which personally pleases me,” he said. “But even my mother won’t vote for him.”
(NICK) Minchin knew very well what everyone else in the room knew - that of the three leadership candidates, Abbott was the most unpopular. The parliamentary members of the Liberal Party had just chosen to elect a leader that most of them considered to be unelectable.Laura Tingle in the Australian Financial Review on December 9, 2009:
THE unexpected opposition leader clearly believes in being open about his deep conservatism. This is the only way to explain the make-up of the shadow cabinet: ultra-conservative, ultra-sceptical about climate, ultra-reminiscent of the former Howard government. That would be fine had the electorate swung wildly to the right. However, there are no such voters.Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald on January 30, 2010:
RUDD is now playing Howard to Tony Abbott’s Latham. Rudd is seen as the experienced, committed, focused prime minister. The “tonal meta-message” is all about reassurance.Peter Lewis in the Punch on June 22, 2010:
Labor expects that the “tonal meta-message” conveyed by Tony Abbott will be something like that of Latham.
Aggressive, unpredictable, unsettling, perhaps even a little creepy with his well-publicised talk about female sexuality. The polls, the betting markets, the precedents all give Rudd a commanding advantage.
THE real leadership story in Australian politics is that Tony Abbott is unelectable.Former ABC religion editor Paul Collins in Eureka Street on August 17, 2010:
I AM not claiming that Abbott consciously follows Santamaria’s integralism. But there is always the danger of osmosis, of absorbing attitudes without realising it. If I were a politician - or an archbishop - I’d want to put considerable distance between myself and the most divisive man in the history of Australian Catholicism.Mark Kenny in The Punch on February 10, 2011:
TONY Abbott was right about one thing. Shit happens. After this latest episode, his colleagues are increasingly concerned at why he keeps making it happen to them.Philip Coorey pondering focus groups in the Sydney Morning Herald on February 14, 2011:
WHEN Abbott is mentioned, the reaction is laughter and disrespect ... The focus groups have little regard for Abbott. Abbott’s great strength was his appeal to the conservative base and the soft voters “don’t take to him”. “He’s nothing to these people, he doesn’t engage middle, soft-voting Australia, they don’t respect him” (said political pollster John Scales).Laura Tingle in the Australian Financial Review on October 28, 2011:
OH for goodness sake. Enough. Pledges in blood. Policy run on the smell of intestinal fortitude alone. We are supposed to be talking about who becomes prime minister here, not an action man movie. It’s a shame politics is such a confidence game. Party colleagues and commentators temper their assessments about what a leader is putting forward if it seems to be working for them, even if what is being put forward is complete schlock.Bruce Haigh in the Drum on January 30, 2012:
Thus has Tony Abbott prospered until now instead of being called for the hollow man that he is ... Focus groups show voters still don’t really like Abbott, and a majority are uncomfortable with the idea of him as prime minister. Yes, he has been shielded from the implications of these views by the fact that voters like the PM even less. But two years is a long time to get away with being such a negative, opportunistic and hollow man.
ABBOTT is not the man for prime minister, he is not the man to lead this great country.David Marr, Quarterly Essay, in September 2012:
AUSTRALIA doesn’t want Tony Abbott. We never have.Michael Short in The Sydney Morning Herald on July 16:
IN their own self-interest, the Liberals would be wise to at least consider replacing Tony Abbott with Malcolm Turnbull. It has long been clear the two leaders Australian voters would like to choose between are Rudd and Turnbull.Mark Kenny in Fairfax Media on July 10, 2013:
SENIOR Liberals have brushed off fears Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s political strategy has been exposed as static or one-dimensional by Labor’s late move back to Kevin Rudd. But privately, concerns are growing, fuelled by uncertainty about the election and opinion polls showing Labor drawing even and Rudd pulling away from Abbott as preferred prime minister. The return of Rudd has increased the scrutiny of the alternative prime minister. The pressure is starting to show on Abbott’s face and colleagues are wondering if their leader’s gift for devastating cut-through lines is becoming a negative against the new positive Rudd persona.Motion seconded. Laura Tingle in the Australian Financial Review on July 26, 2013:
RUDD’S return has only once again raised the question of whether Abbott is electable.
===
Laurie Oakes grudingly praises the man he tried to finish off
Andrew Bolt September 07 2013 (7:02am)
Laurie Oakes has on election day decided Tony Abbott isn’t so bad as Oakes has painted:
August 24:
November 2011:
Abbott’s real problem is he is an enthusiast and eager to win over critics with examples of his good intentions. That can lead him to embrace high-minded symbolic symbols of good intentions. He had a conversion to multiculturalism that was fuzzily explained. He now back the constitution recognition of Aborigines, a well-intentioned but doomed descent into New Racism - one which will divide, not unite.
But even on this point I have some faith in Abbott’s ability to change his mind when presented with good arguments. I also trust his good heart.
By the time he went for the leadership again Mr Abbott was a much more serious and disciplined politician, and he has continued to develop - to the point that, throughout this campaign, he has looked considerably more prime ministerial than his opponent.Actually, Oakes should say he’s the one who’s changed his mind from this, less than two years ago:
Colleagues who once dismissed him as a lightweight and thought he would never have what it takes to be prime minister have changed their minds.
Politicians don’t come any more ferocious and brutal than Abbott. He reverted to the wild the moment he got his paws on the Liberal leadership.Today Oakes still has a worry:
His style is pure attack dog, as feral as you’d get.
The main concern I have relates to Mr Abbott’s confession to Malcolm Turnbull a few years ago: “I’m a bit of a weather vane, mate.”That’s nothing. Oakes has had a dozen different positions on turning points in Labor’s failing fortunes:
At the stage this became public knowledge he had publicly expressed four different views on the issue of climate change and how to deal with it, and gone though three different positions on paid parental leave.
August 24:
Labor is getting some traction from the scare campaign alleging that a Coalition government would engage in massive spending cuts to pay for its policies.November 2012:
It suggests even more strongly that attacks on Tony Abbott’s gold-plated paid parental leave scheme - six months on full pay to women earning up to $150,000 a year - are biting. Hard.
[Signing up Peter Slipper as Speaker] gives Gillard a chance to try to build respect, notch up some achievements and claw back support.
November 2011:
She has started, at long last, to look prime ministerial, and having her close relationship with the US president on show should burnish that improving image at least a little.August, 2011:
But another factor was Gillard’s switch from campaigning on carbon to delivering outcomes and unveiling policy in other areas - disability pensions, health reform, national broadband and aged care among them. It was a good week for Gillard. A bit more of this and she might start to look prime ministerial.July 2011:
IT should be possible to sell Julia Gillard’s climate change package to voters. Despite Tony Abbott’s alarmist claims, it can be portrayed as a good news story.March 2011:
So last Monday - again in dire trouble and desperate to turn things around in the carbon tax battle - Gillard faced the Q&A audience again. And again it paid off… The performance at last gave some direction to the Government’s botched campaign to sell the policy.December 2009:
There is also a strong view that action must be taken to reduce emissions. The “do nothing” ... approach has very little support in the community.November 2009:
It’s not hard to imagine the response (Liberal Senator and sceptic Nick) Minchin would have got if he’d tried to sell his “no need for action” line to mothers of young children in Adelaide as the temperature hit 42C the other day.
So (Malcolm) Turnbull is right when he says a party without a policy to deal with climate change would have no credibility.
Kevin Rudd and Company can hardly believe their luck… Unless (Opposition Leader Malcolm) Turnbull can bring the climate change dissidents to heel, the Liberals will face humiliation at the polls...But Oakes is almost right. Abbott’s problem isn’t so much that he can change his mind. Properly exercised, this is a virtue. As with John Howard, it means a politicians doesn’t get stuck defending the indefensible and is prepared to compromise to succeed.
Abbott’s real problem is he is an enthusiast and eager to win over critics with examples of his good intentions. That can lead him to embrace high-minded symbolic symbols of good intentions. He had a conversion to multiculturalism that was fuzzily explained. He now back the constitution recognition of Aborigines, a well-intentioned but doomed descent into New Racism - one which will divide, not unite.
But even on this point I have some faith in Abbott’s ability to change his mind when presented with good arguments. I also trust his good heart.
===
Labor vote collapsing
Andrew Bolt September 06 2013 (10:34pm)
The latest Nielsen poll shows another drop in Labor’s support as Kevin Rudd gives up and goes home:
The latest Age/Nielsen survey suggests 54 per cent of the nation’s 14.7 million electors are embracing the Coalition (after preferences).
Labor’s primary vote has slumped to 33 per cent, with the Coalition on 46 per cent.
===
Bolt Report on Sunday - election special
Andrew Bolt September 06 2013 (4:17pm)
On The Bolt Report on Channel 10 on Sunday:
Tony Abbott - from unelectable to landslide. Labor - from green dreaming to nightmare.
Our special panel - Warren Mundine, Michael Costa and Peter Reith.
On Sunday at 10am and 4pm.
The twitter feed.
The place the videos appear.
Tony Abbott - from unelectable to landslide. Labor - from green dreaming to nightmare.
Our special panel - Warren Mundine, Michael Costa and Peter Reith.
On Sunday at 10am and 4pm.
The twitter feed.
The place the videos appear.
===
“I’m here with my pet polar bear this morning”
Andrew Bolt September 06 2013 (2:53pm)
A sad thank you from a lonely Kevin Rudd.
UPDATE
His opponent in Griffith, however, seems in fine spirits. Watch Bill Glasson belt it out with the help of a soulful Julie Bishop and camera-hog Campbell Newman:
UPDATE
His opponent in Griffith, however, seems in fine spirits. Watch Bill Glasson belt it out with the help of a soulful Julie Bishop and camera-hog Campbell Newman:
In a battle of the videos, I’d say Griffith would fall to Glasson.
===
| ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
|
===
|
===
- 1191 – Third Crusade: Forces under Richard I of England defeated Ayyubid troops under Saladin inArsuf, present-day Israel.
- 1778 – American Revolutionary War: France invaded(pictured) the island of Dominica and captured the British fort there before the latter even knew that France had entered the war as an ally of the United States.
- 1901 – With Peking occupied by foreign troops from the Eight-Nation Alliance, Qing China was forced to sign the Boxer Protocol, an unequal treaty ending the Boxer Rebellion.
- 1999 – Three weeks after an earthquake struck northwestern Turkey, a major earthquake struck Athens, causing Greece and Turkey to initiate "earthquake diplomacy".
- 2011 – Yak-Service Flight 9633, carrying the players and coaching staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional ice hockey team, crashed near the Russian city of Yaroslavl, killing all aboard but one.
===
Events
- 70 – A Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem.
- 1191 – Third Crusade: Battle of Arsuf – Richard I of England defeats Saladin at Arsuf.
- 1228 – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II landed in Acre, Palestine and started the Sixth Crusade, which resulted in a peaceful restitution of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
- 1571 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, is arrested for his role in the Ridolfi plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots.
- 1631 – Battle of Breitenfield (30 Years' War) Swedish troops commanded by Gustavus Adolphus win a decisive victory over Catholic Forces.
- 1652 – Around 15,000 Han farmers and militia rebel against Dutch rule on Taiwan.
- 1695 – Henry Every perpetrates one of the most profitable pirate raids in history with the capture of the Grand Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai. In response, Emperor Aurangzeb threatens to end to all English trading in India.
- 1776 – According to American colonial reports, Ezra Lee makes the world's first submarine attack in the Turtle, attempting to attach a time bomb to the hull of HMS Eagle in New York Harbor (no British records of this attack exist).
- 1778 – American Revolutionary War: France invades Dominica in the British West Indies, before Britain is even aware of France's involvement in the war.
- 1812 – French invasion of Russia : The Battle of Borodino, the bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, was fought near Moscow and resulted in a French victory.
- 1818 – Carl III of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Norway, in Trondheim.
- 1822 – Dom Pedro I declares Brazil independent from Portugal on the shores of the Ipiranga Brook in São Paulo.
- 1857 – Mountain Meadows massacre: Mormon settlers slaughter most members of peaceful, emigrant wagon train.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Atlanta, Georgia, is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman.
- 1876 – In Northfield, Minnesota, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang attempt to rob the town's bank but are driven off by armed citizens.
- 1893 – The Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club, to become one of the oldest Italian football clubs, is established by British expats.
- 1895 – The first game of what would become known as rugby league football is played, in England, starting the 1895–96 Northern Rugby Football Union season.
- 1901 – The Boxer Rebellion in China officially ends with the signing of the Boxer Protocol.
- 1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont flies his 14-bis aircraft at Bagatelle, France for the first time successfully.
- 1907 – Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.
- 1909 – Eugene Lefebvre crashes a new French-built Wright biplane during a test flight at Juvisy, south of Paris, becoming the first 'pilot' in the world to lose his life in a powered heavier-than-air craft.
- 1911 – French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum.
- 1916 – US federal employees win the right to Workers' compensation by Federal Employers Liability Act (39 Stat. 742; 5 U.S.C. 751)
- 1920 – Two newly purchased Savoia flying boats crash in the Swiss Alps en route to Finland where they would serve with the Suomen Ilmavoimat, killing both crews.
- 1921 – In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant, a two-day event, is held.
- 1921 – The Legion of Mary, the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church, is founded in Dublin, Ireland.
- 1922 – In Aydin, Turkey, independence of Aydin, from Greek occupation.
- 1927 – The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Taylor Farnsworth.
- 1929 – Steamer Kuru capsizes and sinks on Lake Näsijärvi near Tampere in Finland. 136 lives are lost.
- 1932 – The Battle of Boquerón, the first major battle of the Chaco War, commences.
- 1936 – The last surviving member of the thylacine species, Benjamin, dies alone in her cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania.
- 1940 – Treaty of Craiova: Romania loses Southern Dobrudja to Bulgaria.
- 1942 – First flight of the Consolidated B-32 Dominator.
- 1942 – World War II: Australian and US forces inflict a significant defeat upon the Japanese at the Battle of Milne Bay.
- 1943 – A fire at the Gulf Hotel in Houston, Texas, kills 55 people.
- 1943 – World War II: The German 17th Army begins its evacuation of the Kuban River bridgehead (Taman Peninsula) in southern Russia and moves across the Strait of Kerch to the Crimea.
- 1945 – Japanese forces on Wake Island, which they had held since December of 1941, surrender to U.S. Marines.
- 1953 – Nikita Khrushchev is elected first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
- 1963 – The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio with 17 charter members.
- 1965 – China announces that it will reinforce its troops on the Indian border.
- 1965 – Vietnam War: In a follow-up to August's Operation Starlight, United States Marines and South Vietnamese forces initiate Operation Piranha on the Batangan Peninsula.
- 1970 – Fighting between Arab guerrillas and government forces in Amman, Jordan.
- 1970 – Bill Shoemaker sets record for most lifetime wins as a jockey (passing Johnny Longden).
- 1977 – The Torrijos-Carter Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The United States agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century.
- 1977 – The 300 metre tall CKVR-DT transmission tower in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, is hit by a light aircraft in a fog, causing it to collapse. All aboard the aircraft are killed.
- 1978 – While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Giullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from a specially-designed umbrella.
- 1979 – The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, better known as ESPN, makes its debut.
- 1979 – The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for USD $1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy.
- 1986 – Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.
- 1986 – Gen. Augusto Pinochet, president of Chile, escapes attempted assassination.
- 1988 – Abdul Ahad Mohmand, the first Afghan in space, returns aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz TM-5 after 9 days on the Mir space station.
- 1999 – A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rocks Athens, rupturing a previously unknown fault, killing 143, injuring more than 500, and leaving 50,000 people homeless.
- 2004 – Hurricane Ivan, a Category 5 hurricane hits Grenada, killing 39 and damaging 90% of its buildings.
- 2005 – Egypt holds its first-ever multi-party presidential election.
- 2008 – The US Government takes control of the two largest mortgage financing companies in the US, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- 2010 – A Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats in disputed waters near the Senkaku Islands. The collisions occurred around 10am, after the Japanese Coast Guard ordered the trawler to leave the area. After the collisions, Japanese sailors boarded the Chinese vessel and arrested the captain, Zhan Qixiong.
- 2011 – A plane crash in Russia kills 43 people, including nearly the entire roster of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Kontinental Hockey League team.
- 2012 – A series of earthquakes in Yunnan, China, kills 89 people and injures 800 others.
- 2012 – Canada officially cuts diplomatic ties with Iran by closing its embassy in Tehran and ordered the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa, over support for Syria, nuclear plans and alleged rights abuses.
Births
- 1438 – Louis II, Landgrave of Lower Hesse (d. 1471)
- 1524 – Thomas Erastus, Swiss theologian (d. 1583)
- 1533 – Elizabeth I of England (d. 1603)
- 1683 – Maria Anna of Austria (d. 1754)
- 1694 – Johan Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg, Danish politician (d. 1763)
- 1705 – Matthäus Günther, German painter (d. 1788)
- 1707 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French naturalist, biologist, and author (d. 1788)
- 1726 – François-André Danican Philidor, French chess player and composer (d. 1795)
- 1740 – Johan Tobias Sergel, Swedish sculptor (d. 1814)
- 1777 – Heinrich Stölzel, German horn player and composer (d. 1844)
- 1801 – Sarel Cilliers, Voortrekker leader and preacher (d.1871)
- 1810 – Hermann Heinrich Gossen, Prussian economist (d. 1858)
- 1815 – John McDouall Stuart, Australian explorer (d. 1866)
- 1817 – Louise of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1898)
- 1818 – Thomas Talbot, American politician, 31st Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1886)
- 1819 – Thomas A. Hendricks, American politician, 21st Vice President of the United States (d. 1885)
- 1829 – Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz, German chemist (d. 1896)
- 1831 – Alexandre Falguière, French sculptor and painter (d. 1900)
- 1836 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Scottish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1908)
- 1836 – August Toepler, German physicist (d. 1912)
- 1842 – Johannes Zukertort, German chess player (d. 1888)
- 1848 – Emma Cooke, American archer (d. 1929)
- 1851 – Edward Asahel Birge, American academic (d. 1950)
- 1855 – William Friese-Greene, English photographer (d. 1921)
- 1860 – Grandma Moses, American painter (d. 1961)
- 1862 – Edgar Speyer, American-English financier and philanthropist (d. 1932)
- 1866 – Tristan Bernard, French playwright and novelist (d. 1947)
- 1867 – Albert Bassermann, German actor (d. 1952)
- 1867 – J. P. Morgan, Jr., American banker and philanthropist (d. 1943)
- 1869 – Ben Viljoen, South African general (d. 1917)
- 1870 – Aleksandr Kuprin, Russian pilot, adventurer, and author (d. 1938)
- 1871 – George Hirst, English cricketer (d. 1954)
- 1876 – Francesco Buhagiar, 2nd Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1934)
- 1876 – C. J. Dennis, Australian poet (d. 1938)
- 1877 – Mike O'Neill, Irish baseball player (d. 1959)
- 1885 – Elinor Wylie, American poet and novelist (d. 1928)
- 1887 – Edith Sitwell, English poet and critic (d. 1964)
- 1892 – Eric Harrison, Australian politician (d. 1974)
- 1892 – Oscar O'Brien, Canadian priest, pianist, and composer (d. 1958)
- 1893 – Leslie Hore-Belisha, 1st Baron Hore-Belisha, English politician (d. 1957)
- 1894 – Vic Richardson, Australian cricketer (d. 1969)
- 1894 – George Waggner, American actor, director, and producer (d. 1984)
- 1895 – Jacques Vaché, French writer, associated with Surrealism (d. 1919)
- 1898 – Mamie Rearden, American super-centenarian (d. 2013)
- 1900 – Taylor Caldwell, English-American author (d. 1985)
- 1900 – Giuseppe Zangara, Italian-American assassin of Anton Cermak and attempted assassin of Franklin D. Roosevelt (d. 1933)
- 1903 – Margaret Landon, American author and missionary (d. 1993)
- 1904 – C.B. Colby, American author (d. 1977)
- 1908 – Paul Brown, American football coach and executive (d. 1991)
- 1908 – Michael DeBakey, American surgeon (d. 2008)
- 1908 – Max Kaminsky, American trumpet player and bandleader (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Elia Kazan, Greek-American actor, director, producer, and writer (d. 2003)
- 1911 – Todor Zhivkov, Bulgarian politician (d. 1998)
- 1912 – David Packard, American engineer and businessman, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Martin Charteris, Baron Charteris of Amisfield, English soldier and royal courtier (d. 1999)
- 1913 – Anthony Quayle, English actor and director (d. 1989)
- 1914 – Graeme Bell, Australian pianist and composer (d. 2012)
- 1914 – James Van Allen, American scientist (d. 2006)
- 1915 – Pedro Reginaldo Lira, Argentinian bishop (d. 2012)
- 1917 – Leonard Cheshire, English pilot and humanitarian (d. 1992)
- 1917 – John Cornforth, Australian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1917 – Jacob Lawrence, American painter (d. 2000)
- 1917 – Ewen Solon, New Zealand actor (d. 1985)
- 1919 – Alberic Schotte, Belgian cyclist (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Al Caiola, American guitarist and composer
- 1920 – Harri Webb, Welsh Poet (d. 1994)
- 1921 – Arthur Ferrante, American pianist (Ferrante & Teicher) (d. 2009)
- 1922 – Lucien Jarraud, Canadian radio host (d. 2007)
- 1923 – Nancy Keesing, Australian author and poet (d. 1993)
- 1923 – Peter Lawford, English-American actor (d. 1984)
- 1924 – Bridie Gallagher, Irish singer (d. 2012)
- 1924 – Daniel Inouye, American captain and politician, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2012)
- 1924 – Leonard Rosenman, American composer (d. 2008)
- 1925 – Laura Ashley, Welsh fashion designer (d. 1985)
- 1925 – Allan Blakeney, Canadian politician, 10th Premier of Saskatchewan (d. 2011)
- 1925 – Bhanumathi Ramakrishna, Indian actress, singer, and director (d. 2005)
- 1926 – Ronnie Gilbert, American singer
- 1926 – Donald J. Irwin, American politician, 32nd Mayor of Norwalk, Connecticut (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Erich Juskowiak, German footballer (d. 1983)
- 1926 – Don Messick, American voice actor (d. 1997)
- 1927 – Eric Hill, English author and illustrator
- 1927 – Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Canadian jurist
- 1928 – Kathleen Gorham, Australian ballerina (d. 1983)
- 1930 – Baudouin of Belgium (d. 1993)
- 1930 – Sonny Rollins, American saxophonist and composer
- 1930 – S. Sivanayagam, Sri Lankan journalist (d. 2010)
- 1930 – Maureen Toal, Irish actress (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Charles Camilleri, Maltese composer (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Josep Lluís Núñez, Spanish businessman
- 1931 – Bruce Reynolds, English criminal (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Malcolm Bradbury, English author and academic (d. 2000)
- 1932 – John Paul Getty, Jr., American-English philanthropist and book collector (d. 2003)
- 1934 – Mary Bauermeister, German painter
- 1934 – Meir Brandsdorfer, Belgian-Israeli rabbi (d. 2009)
- 1934 – Waldo de los Ríos, Argentinian composer and conductor (d. 1977)
- 1934 – Sunil Gangopadhyay, Indian author and poet (d. 2012)
- 1934 – Dan Ingram, American radio host
- 1934 – Omar Karami, Lebanese politician, 58th Prime Minister of Lebanon
- 1934 – Little Milton, American singer and guitarist (d. 2005)
- 1935 – Abdou Diouf, Senegalese politician, 2nd President of Senegal
- 1935 – Ronnie Dove, American singer
- 1935 – Denis Vaugeois, Canadian author, historian, and politician
- 1936 – Buddy Holly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Crickets) (d. 1959)
- 1936 – Apostolos Kaklamanis, Greek politician
- 1937 – Cüneyt Arkın, Turkish actor
- 1937 – John Phillip Law, American actor (d. 2008)
- 1937 – Oleg Lobov, Russian politician
- 1937 – Olly Wilson, American composer, pianist, and bassist
- 1939 – Latimore, American singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1940 – Dario Argento, Italian director
- 1940 – Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesian politician, 4th President of Indonesia (d. 2009)
- 1942 – Alan Oakes, English footballer
- 1943 – Beverley McLachlin, Canadian jurist, 17th Chief Justice of Canada
- 1943 – Lena Valaitis, Lithuanian-German singer
- 1944 – Forrest Blue, American football player (d. 2011)
- 1944 – Bertel Haarder, Danish politician
- 1944 – Earl Manigault, American basketball player (d. 1998)
- 1944 – Houshang Moradi Kermani, Iranian writer
- 1945 – Jacques Lemaire, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1946 – Willie Crawford, American baseball player (d. 2004)
- 1946 – Joe Klein, American journalist and novelist
- 1946 – Suzyn Waldman, American sportscaster
- 1948 – Susan Blakely, American actress
- 1949 – Gloria Gaynor, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1949 – Barry Siegel, American journalist
- 1950 – Johann Friedrich Hohenberger, German-Australian engineer and con-artist (d. 1991)
- 1950 – Julie Kavner, American actress
- 1950 – Peggy Noonan, American author
- 1951 – Mammootty, Indian actor, producer, and lawyer
- 1951 – Morris Albert, Brazilian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1951 – Chrissie Hynde, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Pretenders and The Moors Murderers)
- 1951 – Mark Isham, American trumpet player and composer
- 1952 – Ricardo Tormo, Spanish motorcycle racer (d. 1998)
- 1953 – Michael Byron, American composer
- 1953 – Marc Hunter, New Zealand singer-songwriter (Dragon and The Party Boys) (d. 1998)
- 1953 – Benmont Tench, American keyboard player (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch)
- 1954 – Corbin Bernsen, American actor
- 1954 – Doug Bradley, English actor
- 1954 – Michael Emerson, American actor
- 1955 – Mira Furlan, Croatian actress
- 1955 – Efim Zelmanov, Russian mathematician
- 1956 – Michael Feinstein, American singer, pianist, and archivist
- 1956 – Byron Stevenson, Welsh footballer (d. 2007)
- 1956 – Diane Warren, American songwriter
- 1957 – Jermaine Stewart, American singer-songwriter and dancer (Shalamar) (d. 1997)
- 1960 – Brad Houser, American musician (Edie Brickell & New Bohemians and Critters Buggin)
- 1960 – Phillip Rhee, Korean-American actor, martial artist, and director
- 1960 – Andrew Voss, Australian sportscaster
- 1961 – LeRoi Moore, American saxophonist and songwriter (Dave Matthews Band) (d. 2008)
- 1961 – Jean-Yves Thibaudet, French pianist
- 1962 – Jennifer Egan, American author
- 1963 – Eazy-E, American rapper and producer (N.W.A.) (d. 1995)
- 1963 – Brent Liles, American bass player (Social Distortion and Agent Orange) (d. 2007)
- 1964 – Andy Hug, Swiss martial artist and kick-boxer (d. 2000)
- 1965 – Angela Gheorghiu, Romanian soprano
- 1965 – Darko Pančev, Macedonian footballer
- 1965 – Uta Pippig, German runner
- 1965 – Andreas Thom, German footballer
- 1966 – Chris Acland, English drummer (Lush) (d. 1996)
- 1966 – Vladimir Andreyev, Russian race walker
- 1966 – Chris Barfoot, English screenwriter and producer
- 1966 – Lutz Heilmann, German politician
- 1966 – Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, German speed skater
- 1967 – Toby Jones, English actor
- 1968 – Marcel Desailly, French footballer
- 1969 – Darren Bragg, American baseball player
- 1969 – Angie Everhart, American model and actress
- 1969 – Diane Farr, American actress
- 1969 – Rudy Galindo, American skater figure
- 1970 – Gino Odjick, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1970 – Tom Everett Scott, American actor
- 1971 – Shane Mosley, American boxer
- 1971 – Briana Scurry, American soccer player
- 1972 – Slug, American rapper (Atmosphere, Deep Puddle Dynamics, and Felt)
- 1972 – Jason Isringhausen, American baseball player
- 1973 – Shannon Elizabeth, American actress
- 1973 – Alex Kurtzman, American film and television writer, producer and director
- 1974 – Mario Frick, Swiss-Liechtensteiner footballer
- 1974 – Antonio McDyess, American basketball player
- 1974 – Hiroki Takahashi, Japanese voice actor
- 1975 – Norifumi Abe, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2007)
- 1975 – Harold Wallace, Costa Rican footballer
- 1976 – Oliver Hudson, American actor
- 1977 – Nora Greenwald, American wrestler
- 1977 – Jon Macken, English-Irish footballer
- 1978 – Matt Cooke, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Erwin Koen, Dutch footballer
- 1978 – Devon Sawa, Canadian actor
- 1979 – Pavol Hochschorner, Slovak canoer
- 1979 – Paul Mara, American ice hockey player
- 1979 – Owen Pallett, Canadian singer, composer, and musician (The Mountain Goats and Enter the Haggis)
- 1979 – Brian Stokes, American baseball player
- 1980 – Emre Belözoğlu, Turkish footballer
- 1980 – Sara Carrigan, Australian cyclist
- 1980 – Gabriel Milito, Argentine footballer
- 1980 – Javad Nekounam, Iranian footballer
- 1980 – Mark Prior, American baseball player
- 1981 – Paul McCoy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (12 Stones)
- 1981 – Gökhan Zan, Turkish footballer
- 1982 – Andre Dirrell, American boxer
- 1982 – Ryoko Shiraishi, Japanese voice actress
- 1983 – Philip Deignan, Irish cyclist
- 1983 – Annette Dytrt, German skater figure
- 1983 – Pops Mensah-Bonsu, English basketball player
- 1983 – Mehmet Topuz, Turkish footballer
- 1983 – Piri Weepu, New Zealand rugby player
- 1984 – Ben Hollingsworth, Canadian actor
- 1984 – Kate Lang Johnson, American actress and model
- 1984 – Farveez Maharoof, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1984 – Vera Zvonareva, Russian tennis player
- 1985 – Rafinha, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Alyssa Diaz, American actress
- 1985 – Adam Eckersley, English footballer
- 1986 – Colin Delaney, American wrestler
- 1987 – Tommy Elphick, English footballer
- 1987 – Sammy Moore, English footballer
- 1987 – Danny North, English footballer
- 1987 – Evan Rachel Wood, American actress
- 1987 – Aleksandra Wozniak, Canadian tennis player
- 1988 – Alex Harvey, Canadian skier
- 1988 – Paul Iacono, American actor
- 1988 – Kevin Love, American basketball player
- 1989 – Hugh Mitchell, English actor
- 1990 – Tanja Kolbe, German ice dancer
- 1991 – Montana Fishburne, American porn actress
- 1991 – Amar Garibović, Serbian skier (d. 2010)
- 1991 – Jennifer Veal, English actress
- 1992 – Suzuka Morita, Japanese gravure model and actress
- 1993 – Taylor Gray, American actor
- 1997 – Michelle Creber, Canadian voice actress and singer
Deaths
- 251 – Sima Yi, Chinese general and politician (b. 179)
- 355 – Claudius Silvanus, Roman general
- 1151 – Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou (b. 1113)
- 1312 – Ferdinand IV of Castile (b. 1285)
- 1464 – Frederick II, Elector of Saxony (b. 1412)
- 1496 – Ferdinand II of Naples (b. 1469)
- 1559 – Robert Estienne, French printer (b. 1503)
- 1632 – Susenyos of Ethiopia (b. 1572)
- 1644 – Guido Bentivoglio, Italian cardinal, statesman, and historian (b. 1579)
- 1655 – François Tristan l'Hermite, French author and playwright (b. 1601)
- 1657 – Arvid Wittenberg, Swedish field marshal (b. 1606)
- 1685 – William Carpenter, English-American founding settler of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (b. abt. 1605)
- 1719 – John Harris, English writer, priest, and scientist (b. 1666)
- 1729 – William Burnet, Dutch-American civil servant and administrator (b. 1688)
- 1741 – Blas de Lezo, Spanish admiral (b. 1689)
- 1799 – Louis Guillaume Lemonnier, French botanist (b. 1717)
- 1809 – Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, Thai king (b. 1737)
- 1833 – Hannah More, English poet, playwright, and philanthropist (b. 1745)
- 1840 – Jacques MacDonald, French marshal (b. 1765)
- 1871 – Kimenzan Tanigorō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 13th Yokozuna (b. 1826)
- 1881 – Sidney Lanier, American poet and academic (b. 1842)
- 1891 – Lorenzo Sawyer, American lawyer and judge (b. 1820)
- 1892 – John Greenleaf Whittier, American poet (b. 1807)
- 1893 – Hamilton Fish, American politician, 26th United States Secretary of State (b. 1808)
- 1910 – William Holman Hunt, English painter (b. 1827)
- 1920 – Simon-Napoléon Parent, Canadian politician, 12th Premier of Quebec (b. 1855)
- 1921 – Alfred William Rich, English author and painter (b. 1856)
- 1923 – Nikolai von Glehn, Baltic German landowner and activist (b. 1841)
- 1929 – Frederic Weatherly, English lawyer, author, and songwriter (b. 1848)
- 1933 – Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, English politician (b. 1862)
- 1939 – Kyōka Izumi, Japanese novelist (b. 1873)
- 1949 – José Clemente Orozco, Mexican painter (b. 1883)
- 1951 – Maria Montez, Dominican actress (b. 1912)
- 1954 – Bud Fisher, American cartoonist (b. 1885)
- 1956 – C. B. Fry, English cricketer, politician, academic, and writer (b. 1872)
- 1959 – Maurice Duplessis, Canadian politician, 16th Premier of Quebec (b. 1890)
- 1962 – Karen Blixen, Danish author (b. 1885)
- 1962 – Graham Walker, English motorcycle racer and journalist (b. 1897)
- 1962 – Eiji Yoshikawa, Japanese novelist (b. 1892)
- 1965 – Catherine Dale Owen, American actress (b. 1900)
- 1969 – Everett Dirksen, American politician (b. 1896)
- 1971 – Spring Byington, American actress (b. 1886)
- 1971 – Ludwig Suthaus, German tenor (b. 1906)
- 1973 – Holling C. Holling, American authro and illustrator (b. 1900)
- 1974 – S. M. Rasamanickam, Ceylon Tamil politician (b. 1913)
- 1978 – Cecil Aronowitz, South African-English viola player (b. 1916)
- 1978 – Keith Moon, English drummer, songwriter, producer, and actor (The Who and Plastic Ono Band) (b. 1946)
- 1978 – Charles Williams, English composer and conductor (b. 1893)
- 1981 – Christy Brown, Irish writer and painter (b. 1932)
- 1982 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player (b. 1931)
- 1984 – Joe Cronin, American baseball player and manager (b. 1906)
- 1984 – Josyf Slipyj, Ukrainian cardinal (b. 1892)
- 1984 – Don Tallon, Australian cricketer (b. 1916)
- 1985 – José Zabala-Santos, Filipino cartoonist (b. 1911)
- 1986 – Les Bury, Australian politician (b. 1913)
- 1989 – Mikhail Goldstein, Soviet violinist and composer (b. 1917)
- 1990 – Earle E. Partridge, American pilot and general (b. 1900)
- 1990 – A. J. P. Taylor, English historian and journalist (b. 1906)
- 1991 – Edwin McMillan, American physicist (b. 1907)
- 1994 – James Clavell, Australian-American author (b. 1924)
- 1994 – Eric Crozier, English director (b. 1914)
- 1994 – Dennis Morgan, American actor (b. 1908)
- 1994 – Godfrey Quigley, Irish actor (b. 1923)
- 1994 – Terence Young, Chinese-English director and screenwriter (b. 1915)
- 1995 – Russell Johnson, American cartoonist (b. 1893)
- 1997 – Elisabeth Brooks, Canadian actress (b. 1951)
- 1997 – Mobutu Sese Seko, Congolese politician, President of Zaire (b. 1930)
- 1999 – Jim Keith, American conspiracy theorist and author (b. 1949)
- 2000 – Bruce Gyngell, Australian television executive (b. 1929)
- 2001 – Igor Buketoff, American conductor (b. 1915)
- 2001 – Spede Pasanen, Finnish comedian, director, and producer (b. 1930)
- 2001 – Billie Lou Watt, American actress (b. 1924)
- 2002 – Katrin Cartlidge, English actress (b. 1961)
- 2002 – Cyrinda Foxe, American actress and model (b. 1952)
- 2002 – Erma Franklin, American singer (b. 1938)
- 2002 – Uziel Gal, German-Israeli gun designer, designed the Uzi (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Great Antonio, Croatian-Canadian strongman (b. 1925)
- 2003 – Warren Zevon, American singer-songwriter and musician (Hindu Love Gods and lyme and cybelle) (b. 1947)
- 2004 – Bob Boyd, American baseball player (b. 1925)
- 2005 – Sergio Endrigo, Italian singer-songwriter (b. 1933)
- 2005 – Hope Garber, Canadian actress and singer (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Robert Earl Jones, American actor (b. 1911)
- 2006 – Hiroshi Takase, Japanese cinematographer (b. 1955)
- 2008 – Ilarion Ciobanu, Romanian actor (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Dino Dvornik, Croatian singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (b. 1964)
- 2008 – Peter Glossop, English opera singer (b. 1928)
- 2008 – Don Haskins, American basketball player and coach (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Gregory Mcdonald, American mystery writer (b. 1937)
- 2008 – Nagi Noda, Japanese director (b. 1973)
- 2010 – Amar Garibović, Serbian skier (b. 1991)
- 2010 – William H. Goetzmann, American historian and author (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Barbara Holland, American author (b. 1933)
- 2010 – John Kluge, German-American businessman (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Glenn Shadix, American actor (b. 1952)
- 2011 – Victims of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster
- Pavol Demitra, Slovakian ice hockey player (b. 1974)
- Alexander Karpovtsev, Russian ice hockey player (b. 1970)
- Igor Korolev, Russian-Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1970)
- Stefan Liv, Swedish ice hockey player (b. 1980)
- Jan Marek, Czech ice hockey player (b. 1979)
- Brad McCrimmon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1959)
- Karel Rachůnek, Czech ice hockey player (b. 1979)
- Kārlis Skrastiņš, Latvian ice hockey player (b. 1974)
- Ruslan Salei, Belarussian ice hockey player (b. 1974)
- Josef Vašíček, Czech ice hockey player (b. 1980)
- 2012 – Richard Bucher, Swiss ice hockey player (b. 1955)
- 2012 – Leszek Drogosz, Polish boxer and actor (b. 1933)
- 2012 – César Fernández Ardavín, Spanish director and screenwriter (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Francisco Fernández Fernández, Spanish super-centenarian (b. 1901)
- 2012 – Abdul Ghafoor, Pakistani footballer (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Louise LaPlanche, American actress (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Aleksandr Maksimenkov, Russian footballer and coach (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Maestro Reverendo, Spanish composer (b. 1955)
- 2012 – Nicole Russell, Duchess of Bedford (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Daniel Weinreb, American computer scientist and programmer (b. 1959)
Holidays and observances
- Christian Feast Day:
- Independence day, celebrates the independence of Brazil from Portugal in 1822
- National Threatened Species Day (Australia)
- Pakistani Air Force Day since 1971. (Pakistan)
- Victory Day (Mozambique)
===
“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” John 14:23 NIV
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."
Philippians 2:15
Philippians 2:15
We use lights to make manifest. A Christian man should so shine in his life, that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the gospel. His conversation should be such that all who are about him should clearly perceive whose he is, and whom he serves; and should see the image of Jesus reflected in his daily actions. Lights are intended for guidance. We are to help those around us who are in the dark. We are to hold forth to them the Word of life. We are to point sinners to the Saviour, and the weary to a divine resting-place. Men sometimes read their Bibles, and fail to understand them; we should be ready, like Philip, to instruct the inquirer in the meaning of God's Word, the way of salvation, and the life of godliness. Lights are also used for warning. On our rocks and shoals a light-house is sure to be erected. Christian men should know that there are many false lights shown everywhere in the world, and therefore the right light is needed. The wreckers of Satan are always abroad, tempting the ungodly to sin under the name of pleasure; they hoist the wrong light, be it ours to put up the true light upon every dangerous rock, to point out every sin, and tell what it leads to, that so we may be clear of the blood of all men, shining as lights in the world. Lights also have a very cheering influence, and so have Christians. A Christian ought to be a comforter, with kind words on his lips, and sympathy in his heart; he should carry sunshine wherever he goes, and diffuse happiness around him.
Gracious Spirit dwell with me;
I myself would gracious be,
And with words that help and heal
Would thy life in mine reveal,
And with actions bold and meek
Would for Christ my Saviour speak.
Evening
"If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law."
Galatians 5:18
Galatians 5:18
He who looks at his own character and position from a legal point of view, will not only despair when he comes to the end of his reckoning, but if he be a wise man he will despair at the beginning; for if we are to be judged on the footing of the law, there shall no flesh living be justified. How blessed to know that we dwell in the domains of grace and not of law! When thinking of my state before God the question is not, "Am I perfect in myself before the law?" but, "Am I perfect in Christ Jesus?" That is a very different matter. We need not enquire, "Am I without sin naturally?" but, "Have I been washed in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness?" It is not "Am I in myself well pleasing to God?" but it is "Am I accepted in the Beloved?" The Christian views his evidences from the top of Sinai, and grows alarmed concerning his salvation; it were better far if he read his title by the light of Calvary. "Why," saith he, "my faith has unbelief in it, it is not able to save me." Suppose he had considered the object of his faith instead of his faith, then he would have said, "There is no failure in him, and therefore I am safe." He sighs over his hope: "Ah! my hope is marred and dimmed by an anxious carefulness about present things; how can I be accepted?" Had he regarded the ground of his hope, he would have seen that the promise of God standeth sure, and that whatever our doubts may be, the oath and promise never fail. Ah! believer, it is safer always for you to be led of the Spirit into gospel liberty than to wear legal fetters. Judge yourself at what Christ is rather than at what you are. Satan will try to mar your peace by reminding you of your sinfulness and imperfections: you can only meet his accusations by faithfully adhering to the gospel and refusing to wear the yoke of bondage.
===
Today's reading: Psalm 148-150, 1 Corinthians 15:29-58 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Psalm 148-150
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD,
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever-
he issued a decree that will never pass away....
for at his command they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever-
he issued a decree that will never pass away....
Today's New Testament reading: 1 Corinthians 15:29-58
29 Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I face death every day-yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,
"Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die."
for tomorrow we die."
33 Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."34 Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God-I say this to your shame....
===
Zacharias
[Zăcha rīas] - jehovah is renowned.
[Zăcha rīas] - jehovah is renowned.
- The son of Barachias, or Jehoiada (2 Chron. 24:20-22). This Zacharias is the martyr mentioned by Christ (Matt. 23:35; Luke 11:51) who was the righteous man murdered by the Jews in the court of the Temple, between the sanctuary and the house.
- The father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-67; 3:2).
The Man Who Was Stricken Dumb
The priest of the eighth course of Abia was visited by the angel Gabriel as he was ministering in his turn in the Temple. The revelation came to him about the birth of a son in his old age, and of his name and mission. His disbelief of the divine message was punished by dumbness, an affliction which vanished when John was circumcised and named.
In obedience to Gabriel's command, the babe was named John, and upon his presentation to God, Zacharias, by the Spirit, composed his magnificent Benediction. After this he vanishes from Holy Writ.
3. The name suggested for John the Baptist by his friends (Luke 1:59).
===
| ||||||
|
===
| ||||||||
|
===
|
===
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
===
No comments:
Post a Comment