The Media Watch stance on Reese, questions posted in Tim Blair's posts, raises questions about the media response into my issue regarding the death of school boy Hamidur Rahman. After I told Tripodi's office of media interest, they backed off. Apparently, it was enough for Tripodi to tell a story to have the public interest story squashed. The questions can be quite illustrative on a range of media issues, from reporting on Indonesia, through reporting on Global Warming. The implied corruption is worth examining through a royal commission.
Bob Ellis predicts Mr Abbott will step down as PM before Christmas. UN climate delegates accused of enjoying themselves. Their enjoyment is reportedly public, not army regulation private. But we won't ever know for sure because of the assumed Media Watch position on the issue. Last November saw 2630 illegal arrivals on 43 boats. Under Liberals, now, we have some 200 on four boats. That means people smugglers have less profit and fewer people are drowning. This is viewed by Fairfax as a loss.
Free speech means more than calling Obama a liar. It involves saying how Obama lied and giving him opportunity to fix his problems. We have free speech. Obama has failed to address his problems. We must not assume the Media Watch position and reward him for his lies, we must call him to account, or step aside.
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Alexander Meluskey and Sunny Sivieng. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
- 1515 – Mary of Guise (d. 1560)
- 1710 – Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, German composer (d. 1784)
- 1744 – Abigail Adams, American wife of John Adams, 2nd First Lady of the United States (d. 1818)
- 1808 – Thomas Cook, English businessman, founded Thomas Cook Group (d. 1892)
- 1926 – Lew Burdette, American baseball player (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Robert Vaughn, American actor
- 1940 – Terry Gilliam, American-English actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1958 – Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress
- 1965 – Mads Mikkelsen, Danish actor
- 1967 – Boris Becker, German tennis player
- 1984 – Scarlett Johansson, American actress and singer
- 1991 – Saki Shimizu, Japanese singer (Berryz Kobo, ZYX, and High-King)
Matches
- 498 – After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Palace, while Laurentiusis elected Pope in Santa Maria Maggiore.
- 845 – The first King of all Brittany, Nominoe defeats the Frankish king Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon near Redon.
- 1718 – Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
- 1858 – Denver, Colorado is founded.
- 1869 – In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched – one of the last clippers ever built, and the only one still surviving today.
- 1928 – The premier performance of Ravel's Boléro takes place in Paris.
- 1942 – World War II: Battle of Stalingrad – General Friedrich Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th army is surrounded.
- 1943 – World War II: War in the Pacific – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leaderChiang Kai-shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan (see Cairo Conference)
- 1954 – The Humane Society of the United States is founded.
- 1963 – In Dallas, Texas, US President John F. Kennedy is assassinated and Texas Governor John Connally is seriously wounded. SuspectLee Harvey Oswald is later captured and charged with the murder of both the President and police officer J. D. Tippit. Oswald is shot two days later by Jack Ruby while in police custody.
- 1995 – Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.
- 2005 – Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.
Despatches
- 365 – Antipope Felix II
- 1718 – Blackbeard, English pirate (b. 1680)
- 1963 – Aldous Huxley, English author (b. 1894)
- 1963 – John F. Kennedy, American politician, 35th President of the United States (b. 1917)
- 1963 – C. S. Lewis, Irish author (b. 1898)
- 1980 – Mae West, American actress (b. 1893)
Tony Abbott responds to crisis in a mature way
Piers Akerman – Thursday, November 21, 2013 (8:31pm)
THE combined best efforts of the ABC and the Fairfax media to shred the critical relationship Australia enjoys with Indonesia appear to have failed.
VIOLENT TREATMENT
Tim Blair – Friday, November 22, 2013 (6:57am)
A review of events in Brisbane.
C'mon England Cricketers! You are in Australia, but you don't have to play like Australians.
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) November 22, 2013
===
REALITY CHECKED
Tim Blair – Friday, November 22, 2013 (5:27am)
“Anybody who is getting in a lather about the salaries of the ABC’s biggest TV and radio stars needs to have a reality check,” writes Colin Vickery:
To many people those salaries seem outrageous but the bottom line is that Sales, Phillips, Henderson, Jones and their ABC colleagues are getting a fraction of the money of their commercial television and radio counterparts.
This comparison is meaningless. Commercial media personalities are privately funded. Sales, Phillips, Henderson, Jones and the rest of the ABC’s half-billion dollar annual wage drains are funded by taxpayers. Vickery continues:
Film industry figure Pat Fiske made the point on Facebook with a picture of $2 million man Kyle Sandilands. The radio shock jock and Australia’s Got Talent judge was lined up against nine ABC TV and radio identities whose combined salaries met that mark.
The picture Vickery describes was promoted this week by the Community and Public Sector Union’s ABC go-to gal, who sent this email to ABC-friendly types:
Nice that the union is on the ABC’s side. More from Vickery:
Nice that the union is on the ABC’s side. More from Vickery:
Sandilands isn’t the only commercial identity to be making big bucks. In 2011, Larry Emdur signed a new deal with Channel 7, reportedly worth $800,000 per year – and he isn’t even in prime time.
Irrelevant. None of Emdur’s money is from taxpayers.
New Zealander Paul Henry earned a reported $1 million to front Ten’s dismal Breakfast which didn’t last the year.
Irrelevant. None of Henry’s money was from taxpayers.
If you believe the rumours, Today’s Lisa Wilkinson earns $600,000, Seven’s Sydney news anchor Chris Bath is on $900,000, David Koch pockets $1 million and Melissa Doyle was on $700,000 before having to take a $150,000 pay cut when she left Sunrise.
Irrelevant. None of their money is from taxpayers.
You would have to think that A Current Affair presenter Tracy Grimshaw is earning at least two to three times Sales’ salary.
Irrelevant. None of Grimshaw’s money is from taxpayers.
3AW breakfast radio presenter Ross Stevenson was said to be earning $1 million per year as far back as 2004.
Irrelevant. None of Stevenson’s money was from taxpayers.
That makes ABC radio presenters Virginia Trioli, on just under $236,000, and Jon Faine’s $285,000 look like very small beer indeed.
Well, let’s just give everybody a quarter-mill from taxes every year. Small beer. No big deal. (Incidentally, Trioli hasn’t been a radio presenter for seven years or so.)
ALL THEY ARE SAYING IS GIVE REES A CHANCE
Tim Blair – Friday, November 22, 2013 (4:30am)
Former NSW Premier Nathan Rees stood down as Labor police spokesman this week after the Daily Telegraph revealed he’d been polling the electorate:
Mr Rees, a former NSW premier, expressed his “deep regret” yesterday for having an affair with a constituent.Mr Rees admitted the relationship with the single mother lasted for five months until March.During the affair they had secret trysts in parks and his electoral office and exchanged hundreds of text messages.
Game over for Rees. But now Media Watch weighs in:
The ABC’s Media Watch programme has fired a series of questions at The Daily Telegraph attacking the credibility of the woman at the centre of the Nathan Rees sex scandal …The woman is a 40-year-old single mother of two and a public housing tenant who had gained assistance from Mr Rees’ office with public housing when he asked his staff for her telephone number so he could start pursuing her.Mr Rees then continued a relationship with the woman, including asking her for sex in his office, while he was promising to represent her on a police matter.The exclusive story was broken by State Political editor Andrew Clennell, who has already received one apology from Media Watch.Former host Jonathan Holmes was forced to apologise on air last year after the Australian Communications and Media Authority found the ABC show was in breach of its own code of practice by not providing Clennell a fair opportunity to respond to allegations.Clearly having learnt from that experience, Media Watch fired its questions in on Thursday night – one day earlier than its customary late Friday afternoon email.A spokesman for the Daily Telegraph said: “We have decided to run Media Watch’s latest questions in full because we had no faith that the ABC would itself provide a fair and balanced story.”Media Watch asked:1. Were you aware at the time of publication that this story had been rejected by two other media outlets?2. Did that give you any concerns?3. Why did you decide it was in the public interest to reveal what several commentators have described as a private matter?4. Why did you not reveal the name of the woman involved, given that the credibility and completeness of her account may be at issue?5. Were you concerned about this woman’s reported connection to people in the NSW ALP?
These questions are stupid. Rees has already confessed his shame and stood down. There is no dispute from him over the events. Media Watch is a million-dollar tax-draining clown show.
EARLY EXIT
Tim Blair – Friday, November 22, 2013 (4:16am)
Elderly Labor groupie and ABC favourite Bob Ellis predicts:
It seems unlikely Tony Abbott will be Prime Minister by Christmas.One of the reasons is his ignorance of Indonesian women.
THEY WORE T-SHIRTS
Tim Blair – Friday, November 22, 2013 (4:12am)
At pointless UN climate talks in Poland, the Australian delegation treated discussions with all the respect they deserved:
“They wore T-shirts and gorged on snacks throughout the negotiation. That gives some indication of the manner they are behaving in,” said a spokeswoman for the Climate Action Network.
T-shirts, you say? Snacks? Gorging? Gaia is offended. Then again, here’s footage from a previous UN climate conference in Cancun three years ago, when warmies from many nations were in full-on party mode:
(Via CL)
(Via CL)
TEARS OF UNFATHOMABLE SADNESS ARE DELICIOUS
Tim Blair – Thursday, November 21, 2013 (7:51pm)
Following certain events in Parliament today, Australian leftists have all turned into Scott Tenorman.
But isn’t a private apology private? And if it’s not, should Abbott give one?
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (4:28pm)
I’m hearing Tony Abbott
being attacked on Sky News - and by many Leftist critics elsewhere -
for not privately apologising to the Indonesian President for our
alleged spying on his phone. (I presume his critics are slowly
accepting that initial demands Abbott apologise publicly were against
the national interest.)
Excuse me, but how do these critics know Abbott hasn’t rung Yudhoyono privately?
And if these critics reply that a private apology would have been leaked, then they are back to where they started: demanding Abbott make what actually is a public apology.
===Excuse me, but how do these critics know Abbott hasn’t rung Yudhoyono privately?
And if these critics reply that a private apology would have been leaked, then they are back to where they started: demanding Abbott make what actually is a public apology.
Abbott haters rule
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (4:22pm)
Good heavens. This from people who seemed fine with the Gillard Government’s attempts to cow and regulate the media:
===When a decision was made, for whatever reason, to scale down the number of days each week The Conversation’s Michelle Grattan commented on Australia’s politics – [the ABC’s Radio National Breakfast] replaced her with Channel 10’s Paul Bongiorno. Mr Bongiorno has described himself as a left-liberal. Moreover, he is regarded by the Coalition as the most pro-Labor/Greens journalist in the commercial media part of the National Press Gallery in Canberra.
Discussing the Abbott government’s parliamentary tactics on RN Breakfast this morning – and those of Speaker Bronwyn Bishop – Bonge condemned the Coalition’s behaviour as “a brutal use of the numbers that smacked of, of, eh, more of dictatorship than of democratic argument”. Yeah, go on.
Even with Indonesia angry, the boats are slowing
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (3:00pm)
Not bad so far:
===[Immigration Minister Scott Morrison] said last November there were 2630 asylum-seekers on 43 boats and so far this month there had been four boats carrying fewer than 200 people.
Obama’s mistake now comes to hurt Australia
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (10:33am)
Julia Gillard is one of many who make the wrong point about Barack Obama, who set not a good example but disastrous:
Australia is now under pressure to follow Obama’s lead, meaning denying ourselves the right to try to track the calls of future Indonesian politicians. Once we do that, we’ll have set our own example, which will in turn be used to demand we don’t spy on many other targets in many other countries.
The end is obvious: massive restrictions on our ability to gather information. And many more Age articles attacking our spies for not predicting terrorist attacks or properly assessing the military capabilities of our enemies.
Can’t Abbott’s critics just drop their hatred for a second to think through our national interest? And can Abbott now resist the precedent Obama has so foolishly set - a precedent that seems one more retreat in the power of the West?
===FORMER prime minister Julia Gillard has suggested Tony Abbott follow the example of US President Barack Obama …What so much commentary on the Left misses in quoting Obama’s response to Germany is how much damage Obama has actually caused by this breach of long-standing practice not to comment on intelligence operations.
Gillard said it was not appropriate for her to comment on intelligence matters but she praised the way Mr Obama handled similar allegations of US phone taps on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“If he had been aware he wouldn’t have authorised it, and he could certainly say for the future that it wouldn’t happen again,” she told CNN.
“I think that that’s an appropriate response from Australia to Indonesia at this very difficult time.”
Australia is now under pressure to follow Obama’s lead, meaning denying ourselves the right to try to track the calls of future Indonesian politicians. Once we do that, we’ll have set our own example, which will in turn be used to demand we don’t spy on many other targets in many other countries.
The end is obvious: massive restrictions on our ability to gather information. And many more Age articles attacking our spies for not predicting terrorist attacks or properly assessing the military capabilities of our enemies.
Can’t Abbott’s critics just drop their hatred for a second to think through our national interest? And can Abbott now resist the precedent Obama has so foolishly set - a precedent that seems one more retreat in the power of the West?
The Age said our spies knew too little. Now it says they know too much
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (9:43am)
2002 - An Age article damns our intelligence agencies for not knowing more:
===Australian intelligence received no advance warning of the Bali bombings, an inquiry exonerating the spy agencies has found… Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said the inquiry had only examined the narrow question of specific intelligence, not the broader questions about the government’s assessments and warnings of the emerging al Qaeda terrorist threat.2003 - An Age article damns our intelligence agencies for not knowing more:
Militant Islam was there in Indonesia for all to see long before the Bali bombing. How could Australian security analysts miss it?2004 - An Age article damns our intelligence agencies for not knowing more:
Report finds intelligence failure on Iraq…2004 - An Age article damns our intellegence agencies for not knowing more:
Australia relied on thin and ambiguous intelligence information about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD), a wide-ranging inquiry into the intelligence community has found.
The report, by former intelligence chief Philip Flood, also says agencies failed to properly target Jemaah Islamiah’s terrorist activities in Asia, contributing to a lack of warning about the Bali bombings.2004 - An Age editorial damns our intelligence agencies for not knowing more:
Australian intelligence agencies also underestimated the threat of radical Islamic groups in our region such as Jemaah Islamiah…But now The Age criticises our intelligence agencies for trying to find out too much, and demands Tony Abbott guarantee they will never do so again:
The problem facing intelligence agencies has two parts. The first is that the terrorist threat requires them to imagine scenarios that were unprecedented before September 11. Their failure then was one of imagination.
On learning that the United States had covertly monitored calls on her mobile phone, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel last month phoned President Barack Obama and demanded a personal explanation. She did so because the friendship between their countries, cultivated over decades, is sufficiently robust to endure such ructions. Indeed, it must endure despite them.
In confronting Mr Obama, Dr Merkel armed herself. While she may not have got an apology per se, she elicited a response that effectively confirmed the surveillance and embarrassed the US. Mr Obama told Dr Merkel that the US ‘’is not and will not in the future’’ monitor her phone. Those words set a benchmark. If it emerges in the future that the US has again monitored a German leader’s personal communications, the trust between the allies - for now repaired - will have been breached. And it will be a grave rupture.
Australia is at the same point with Indonesia. It has not always been an easy relationship, but the two nations have enjoyed a closer and warmer friendship in the past decade than at any time previously, one that overcame even Indonesia’s bold admission in 2004 that it had spied on Australia. Revelations that Australian intelligence units monitored the phone contacts of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife, and his closest advisers, strikes at the heart of the friendship.
So why did Labor twice make him PM?
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (9:12am)
Graham Richardson on the man Labor twice made Prime Minister:
Rudd was only as bad a leader as Labor let him be.
===I have been a member of the ALP for 47 years and I have not known a more hated figure… He was without friends and allies and yet he chose to make even those who were willing to serve into bitter enemies. His abuse of staff members and underlings is the stuff of legend…Yet I repeat: Labor twice made Rudd prime minister and two month ago told us to keep him as prime minister for another three years.
Rudd’s real legacy is a shattered party and a list of enemies that appears endless....
The lesson here is that you need more to lead Australia than intelligence and desire. You can’t inspire a nation if you can’t manage relationships with those in your cabinet and caucus. Furthermore, you must stand for something. In your words and deeds Australians need to see that you are not just there for the glory. They need to know you have a plan based on real convictions. Australians never saw that in Rudd because it wasn’t there.
Rudd was only as bad a leader as Labor let him be.
This “diplomacy” confirms it: take the Australia Network off the ABC
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (8:57am)
ABC boss Mark Scott once claimed Labor should leave the ABC in charge
of the Australia Network international television service, broadcasting
into Indonesia and the rest of Asia, because the ABC was better at
“diplomacy” than, say, News Corp:
===[A] public broadcaster, like the ABC, gives us the best possible means – with Radio Australia and Australia Network – of representing Australia’s international interests through broadcasting…This, now, is what the ABC’s diplomacy has helped to achieve by publishing secret intelligence material revealing Australia once spied on the Indonesian president’s phone:
It’s worth asking if the entrepreneurial talent, daring and risk that give you an edge in commercial media are also the right credentials for the world of public diplomacy....
I am confident that, when Australia’s reputation is at stake, international broadcasting by an energetic, independent public broadcaster owned by the Australian people, is the right way to continue.
And I am confident that the job of advancing Australia’s international interests is in not just the most efficient and effective, but the safest possible hands.
So it’s not surprising many people now argue the ABC should be stripped of the Australia Network, as was twice recommended by a tender committee - and twice controversially overruled by Labor in suspicious circumstances:
As Australians were warned about travelling to Indonesia and a large group of protesters burnt replicas of the Australian flag in Jakarta, Liberal senator Cory Bernardi yesterday called on the government to review the Australia Network contract.
“Given the ABC’s preparedness to publish stolen top-secret documents that impact upon our national security, one needs to question whether they are a suitable organisation to be operating an important diplomatic outreach,” he told The Australian…
Former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer threw his weight behind calls for a review of the contract.
And long-time ABC-watcher Gerard Henderson of the Sydney Institute ... said there were issues with the ABC’s decision to air the report claiming Australian intelligence agencies tapped the phones of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and senior colleagues.
“There are problems, particularly in the region, when to many people a government funded public broadcaster has a degree of government embedded in it even if, as we know in Australia, the government has no control over it whatsoever, people think it does,” he said. “The view within the ABC management appears to be despite the fact that it’s getting this special money to project Australia into the region is that it should behave like any other media institution that chooses to act in this way, that it should run stolen documents in the public sphere without any concern whatsoever of the consequences.”
If only that clown Abbott took the experts’ advice on Indonesia
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (8:32am)
One thing is certain about this crisis with Indonesia: the Prime Minister is stuffing this up completely.
Why doesn’t he just take the advice of the many people who know better:
===Why doesn’t he just take the advice of the many people who know better:
Abbott should say sorry but should not explain:
INDONESIA’S former intelligence chief says the diplomatic row with Australia can be resolved with an apology from Prime Minister Tony Abbott.Abbott should not say sorry but should explain:
“Just apologise and ... forgive and forget,” Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono told the ABC.
FORMER prime minister Julia Gillard has suggested Tony Abbott follow the example of US President Barack Obama and provide Indonesia with an explanation of spying allegations. But she stopped short of saying the prime minister apologise for the actions of Australia’s electronic spy agency in 2009.Abbott should say sorry and should explain:
An apology will not be enough to smooth the waters with Indonesia, the letter from the Indonesian president to Tony Abbott makes clear - only a full explanation of the extent of Australia’s spying and a signed agreement regulating future intelligence gathering will do that.
Abbott should not say sorry and should not explain:
SABRA LANE: Philip Flood is the former ambassador to Indonesia. He was the head of Foreign Affairs under John Howard and headed the Office of National Assessments…Abbott should not say sorry, should not apologise and the rest of us should say get stuffed:
PHILIP FLOOD: Look, I said to you it’s not appropriate to comment on the details of intelligence matters. I agree totally with the stand Mr Abbott’s taken.
Posted by: Neil Mitchell…
The Indonesians are bullies – illogical, threatening bullies… They are not interested in friendship. They seem at times interested in our dollars, but a friendship has to go both ways and, at the moment, it is all from us. That’s the end of me ever going to Indonesia… Tony Abbott has to tread carefully… But he has to stand up for this country, too.
Shorten’s test: side with Fairfax or act for Australia
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (8:02am)
A critical moment of decision for Labor - to side with the Abbott haters
of Fairfax and the ABC or act in the national interest. So Bill Shorten’s wobbles are a worry:
The rule of thumb should be simple: if the Greens want it, Labor should drop it. If the Age demands it, Labor should suspect it. If the ABC supports it, swinging voters probably don’t.
UPDATE
Another rule of thumb for Shorten: if Julia Gillard wants it, you probably don’t:
Consider this: the security secrets stolen by the traitor Edward Snowden are likely to include a lot, lot more about Australian spying in Asia. If Abbott responds to this leak by effectively acknowledging spying and guaranteeing to not do it again, what does he say in response to the next revelation, involving, say, China? And to the next? And next? And next?
If we were to respond each time as Gillard recommends, a strategic campaign of leaks of the material stolen by Snowden, now given asylum in Russia, could smash Australian prestige in Asia and defang our spying agencies.
===Labor appears torn between the temptation to score political points over the Prime Minister’s obvious difficulty and maintaining bipartisanship.Labor needs to scrap two disastrous alliances - with the Greens and the Fairfax/ABC media Left. Those alliances led it to adopt suicidal policies, including the carbon tax, media restrictions and Budget-breaking spending splurges.
The strategy has confused some of Shorten’s senior colleagues amid fears that the crisis could backfire, particularly as the bugging took place under Kevin Rudd’s watch and Australia’s difficulties with Jakarta can be traced back to the then prime minister’s call to Yudhoyono, which sparked the Oceanic Viking asylum-seeker standoff in 2009, when a boatload of Sri Lankans refused to leave an Australian customs boat in Indonesia.
Shorten’s reference on Tuesday to a similar furore between the US and Germany was immediately seen as a call for Abbott to pick up the phone to Yudhoyono and apologise.
That afternoon, Shorten’s office was at pains to emphasise that Labor was in bipartisan agreement with the government and was not demanding an apology.
The rule of thumb should be simple: if the Greens want it, Labor should drop it. If the Age demands it, Labor should suspect it. If the ABC supports it, swinging voters probably don’t.
UPDATE
Another rule of thumb for Shorten: if Julia Gillard wants it, you probably don’t:
Former prime minister Julia Gillard has suggested Tony Abbott follow the example of US President Barack Obama and provide Indonesia with an explanation of spying allegations…I suspect Abbott behind the scenes is doing something like that. But to do it publicly? Really?
Ms Gillard said it was not appropriate for her to comment on intelligence matters but she praised the way Mr Obama handled similar allegations of US phone taps on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“If he had been aware he wouldn’t have authorised it, and he could certainly say for the future that it wouldn’t happen again,” she told CNN.
“I think that that’s an appropriate response from Australia to Indonesia at this very difficult time.”
Consider this: the security secrets stolen by the traitor Edward Snowden are likely to include a lot, lot more about Australian spying in Asia. If Abbott responds to this leak by effectively acknowledging spying and guaranteeing to not do it again, what does he say in response to the next revelation, involving, say, China? And to the next? And next? And next?
If we were to respond each time as Gillard recommends, a strategic campaign of leaks of the material stolen by Snowden, now given asylum in Russia, could smash Australian prestige in Asia and defang our spying agencies.
Australian spying bad, Indonesian spying good
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (7:11am)
Spare us the hypocrisy:
===INDONESIA has strengthened its ability to spy on Australia and other neighbours this year by boosting its army’s intelligence unit and buying new eavesdropping equipment, despite claims by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa that his country has no need to spy on foreign governments…
BIN now has more that 1800 employees and agents in more than 17 countries and, according to its former chief Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono, it “taps many countries”.
Amid fury in Indonesia about claims Australia’s Defence Signals Directorate bugged the phone of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and senior colleagues in 2009, Dr Natalegawa dismissed suggestions his country needed to spy on other governments.
“Nowadays, I would like to think that it is possible to be decent by not spying on the international stage,” he said on Monday…
He tweeted: “We don’t do it, we certainly should not be doing it among friends.”
You can be for free speech, yet criticise how the media speaks
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (6:15am)
Fairfax columnist Gay
Alcorn takes an alarmingly simplistic view of free speech - that those
of us who oppose increasing state power to determine what we may say
cannot therefore criticise what some people do indeed say.
In this case Alcorn suggest I am a hypocrite for making the unarguable point that the Guardian and the ABC have damaged Australian interests by releasing secret and stolen intelligence material on how our spies monitored the phones of the Indonesian president, his wife and ministers:
To defend free speech does not mean you cannot criticise how others exercise it. The very opposite, if anything. With weaker legal restrictions on, say, racist insults there should be stronger social sanctions - criticism, debate, counter-arguments. It’s called manners, and when were conservatives ever against those? It’s just that I believe we are safer when manners are determined organically, by free people freely talking things over, than by an elite using the organs of the state to punish opinions they do not like and silence people they like even less.
In this case I have noted the damage done by the release of this stolen intelligence information - with Australians in greater danger, particularly in Indonesia, and more boat people likely to be are lured to their deaths at sea. Can Alcorn even deny it? Is she seriously arguing that because I want fewer restrictions on free speech, I’m restricted even from noticing this damage?
Just to avoid shocking Alcorn in future, here are some other forms of speech I would criticise, despite arguing for fewer laws to actually ban what we do say: threats to kill, bomb-making guides for DIY terrorists, child pornography, racist abuse, vile attacks on the children of public figures, lies and more. Heavens, I’d even criticise toxic ideologies and damaging myths.
I also reserve my right to criticise the release of information deliberately aimed at seriously harming the national interest for no identifiable gain. At the very least, I feel perfectly free to point out that damage and insist those who incited it bear some moral responsibility for it.
Alcorn should not act shocked by suggestions that the media actually has a choice not to publish damaging information. After all, the ABC itself said it chose not to publish some of the stolen intelligence on our spying which it deemed too damaging. The ABC’s Media Watch seems even to be praising media outlets which refused to publish information damaging to former NSW Premier Nathan Rees. ABC staff have tried to censor a program damaging to global warming extremists. And the ABC has for three years fought to keep secret other information it claims is damaging - what it pays its stars with our cash.
The argument is not as black and white as Alcorn pretends. It’s not about whether you are for free speech or against it. It is about whether the ABC, happy to self-censor so much, was too free this time to publish what could only hurt us.
UPDATE
Another crudely simplistic argument from another Fairfax columnist, Richard Ackland. who seems to think that criticising the leaking of some secret information means you are against the leaking of all:
The binary mind of a Leftist…
And note the deceit:
Indeed, the position is actually the mirror of what Ackland claims. I actually accuse many in Fairfax and the ABC of using this stolen material simply to cause this conservative government embarrassment, and never mind the harm to Australia.
Check one of Ackland’s own tweets:
Case closed.
===In this case Alcorn suggest I am a hypocrite for making the unarguable point that the Guardian and the ABC have damaged Australian interests by releasing secret and stolen intelligence material on how our spies monitored the phones of the Indonesian president, his wife and ministers:
It is one thing for former politicians such as Alexander Downer to turn on the ‘’left-wing’’ Guardian for ‘’shamelessly dribbl[ing] out this material to maximise the pain and embarrassment to the Western alliance’’.What a preposterous argument by Alcorn.
It is another for journalists, particularly ones who are vociferous champions of a free press, to fall into line. ‘’The media, not Abbott, have now damaged our relationship with Indonesia by revealing news against the national interest about activities that were in the national interest,’’ wrote the Herald Sun’s Andrew Bolt.
To defend free speech does not mean you cannot criticise how others exercise it. The very opposite, if anything. With weaker legal restrictions on, say, racist insults there should be stronger social sanctions - criticism, debate, counter-arguments. It’s called manners, and when were conservatives ever against those? It’s just that I believe we are safer when manners are determined organically, by free people freely talking things over, than by an elite using the organs of the state to punish opinions they do not like and silence people they like even less.
In this case I have noted the damage done by the release of this stolen intelligence information - with Australians in greater danger, particularly in Indonesia, and more boat people likely to be are lured to their deaths at sea. Can Alcorn even deny it? Is she seriously arguing that because I want fewer restrictions on free speech, I’m restricted even from noticing this damage?
Just to avoid shocking Alcorn in future, here are some other forms of speech I would criticise, despite arguing for fewer laws to actually ban what we do say: threats to kill, bomb-making guides for DIY terrorists, child pornography, racist abuse, vile attacks on the children of public figures, lies and more. Heavens, I’d even criticise toxic ideologies and damaging myths.
I also reserve my right to criticise the release of information deliberately aimed at seriously harming the national interest for no identifiable gain. At the very least, I feel perfectly free to point out that damage and insist those who incited it bear some moral responsibility for it.
Alcorn should not act shocked by suggestions that the media actually has a choice not to publish damaging information. After all, the ABC itself said it chose not to publish some of the stolen intelligence on our spying which it deemed too damaging. The ABC’s Media Watch seems even to be praising media outlets which refused to publish information damaging to former NSW Premier Nathan Rees. ABC staff have tried to censor a program damaging to global warming extremists. And the ABC has for three years fought to keep secret other information it claims is damaging - what it pays its stars with our cash.
The argument is not as black and white as Alcorn pretends. It’s not about whether you are for free speech or against it. It is about whether the ABC, happy to self-censor so much, was too free this time to publish what could only hurt us.
UPDATE
Another crudely simplistic argument from another Fairfax columnist, Richard Ackland. who seems to think that criticising the leaking of some secret information means you are against the leaking of all:
In the past 20 years or so, journalism has been turned on its head. Many of my contemporaries in the game had thought it was their duty to publish the secrets of state, to enlighten the public as to what’s really going on.It’s their duty to publish all secrets of state, Richard? Every single one?
The binary mind of a Leftist…
And note the deceit:
But now we find serried ranks of salaried writers believing it is their duty to cosy-up to and protect the government, particularly their preferred government, from any embarrassment.No, the argument is not driven by a desire to protect “the government ... from any embarrassment” but Australia and Australians from real harm.
Indeed, the position is actually the mirror of what Ackland claims. I actually accuse many in Fairfax and the ABC of using this stolen material simply to cause this conservative government embarrassment, and never mind the harm to Australia.
Check one of Ackland’s own tweets:
(By “SDY” Ackland actually means SBY - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.)
Case closed.
Leftist media weakens: Obama’s lie goes from “misspoke” to “not the whole truth”
Andrew Bolt November 22 2013 (5:12am)
All right, Time still doesn’t call the “broken promise” for what it clearly is - a lie:
So the sign that the Obama presidency had reached a turning point came not when his poll numbers sank or his allies shuddered or the commentariat went hunting for the right degree of debacle to compare to the rollout of Obamacare.But the time is gone when Leftist news outlets such as the New York Times could wave away the lie like this:
It happened when he started apologizing. In triplicate. For not knowing what was going on in his own Administration. For failing to prevent his signature achievement from detonating in prime time. For not telling the whole truth when he promised people that Obamacare would not touch them without permission: “If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.”
Mr. Obama clearly misspoke when he said that.Or this:
The split between lawmakers and the White House reflects the dilemma the president finds himself in as he seeks to follow through on last week’s acknowledgment about his incorrect promise on health care coverage.
Andy Trieu
Hey guys, a zombie movie I worked on last year is having it's premier at Dendy Cinemas Canberra, Thursday 28th. If ur in town and wanna join, pm me for details. Cheers! #theatreofthedead
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For those concerned about climate change, Nuclear energy is the only real answer, It is cheaper, safer and just as clean as wind or solar power whilst being massively more reliable and able to supply baseload power 24/7. Even if you dont believe in climate change, there is still a lot of reasons to...
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Community: 30 like this.
I'm angry. Marvin the Martian angry. I'm really becoming quite irate with GIO. I've contacted personal injury lawyers. They haven't returned my call yet, so if you know any feel free to suggest them. - ed
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http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/not-very-photogenic-then-give-squinching-a-go-20131122-2y09j.html
Is this from the Age's political reporter? - ed===
Nebraska
A beautiful sunset greeted Brendon Lindsey and myself back in 2010 after we got skunked on my first ever storm chase. The beauty of the plains glowed and provided a different reward than the one we were after. The next two days found me seeing shelf clouds and tornadoes in Oklahoma.
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Sydney Intercultural Film FestivalAwards Night
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Insert a flat joke here...
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Aprille Love
Thanks so much to Pete from the BASE WAREHOUSE for kindly donating $5,000 to our charity event!!! For all your party and event hire needs! Visit www.thebasewarehouse.com.a
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Oh, well, whatever it takes to humiliate Abbott, right?>
http://www.afr.com/p/blogs/christopher_joye/abc_has_compromised_public_interest_mTS4P4NusdEYYHrWX9GN8H
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Competing issues here. People want a long, high quality of life. People want to sell something that people want. Juice is a kind of sugar pill, and the placebo works. But as a religious experience, it is empty. - ed===
Roma Downey
"Have you forgotten God? Even if you have, He has not forgotten you." -Moses #TVMiniseries #PeoplesChoice
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“Don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.” Matthew 10:31 #bibleseries #PeoplesChoice #tvminiseries
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This custom designed handmade Round Brilliant Cut Diamond Engagement Ring features a Baguette Diamond channel set band providing a striking contrast between the brilliant cut of the round diamond and the elegant step cuts in the band......This design has a matching Baguette Diamond channel set wedding ring — at Diamond Imports.
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Just keep opposing, Bill - more revenue for the government, more uncertainty for businesses in the meantime.>
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bill-to-repeal-carbon-tax-clears-one-hurdle-but-senate-vote-looms-20131121-2xyq9.html
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Holocaust Memorial, Bratislava
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“Sorry don’t get it done, Dude.”
JOHN WAYNE adjusting Ricky Nelson's hat on the set of Rio Bravo.
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"He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power.' -The Bible Series
Vote 'The Bible' for People's Choice Outstanding TV Miniseries here: http://bit.ly/17b5w9z
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US Campaign for Burma
The Burmese government & some from the National League for Democracy party have banded together to reject this week's United Nations General Assembly draft resolution that urges Burma to grant the #Rohingyacitizenship.“Even if anyone pressured us, we will not give citizenship to those who are not qualified," presidential spokesperson Ye Htut said on Facebook. A spokesman for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, Nyan Win, also criticized the resolution: “Even the United Nations is interfering in Myanmar’s internal affairs,” he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/government-says-myanmar-wont-bend-to-un-pressure-over-ethnic-rohingya-citizenship/2013/11/21/af20821e-52ad-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html
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Sarah Palin
Here’s yet another example of why I wrote “Good Tidings and Great Joy.” A national humanist organization (read: Angry Atheists Armed with an Attorney – with a Scrooge Complex!) threatened to sue a school because students participated in Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse’s "Operation Christmas Child," a beautiful program that distributes gifts for children in need. (My family has been honored to work in this worthy cause with the Grahams, including their mission’s work in Haiti). It’s appalling that ANYONE would be so cold hearted as to object to such a merciful program that gives Christmas gifts to poor kids. But this is what we’re up against, friends! Thank goodness good folks in Colorado wouldn’t back down to this bullying tactic aimed at small schools that don’t have enough financial resources for defense in a legal battle. Parents and students creatively defied the atheist Scrooges by holding their Operation Christmas Child gift box collection just right outside on a public sidewalk outside school grounds where their rights were protected. Go Colorado! Scrooges: put that in your pipe...
Here’s the article about this:
http://www.foxnews.com/
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Which of the eleven Doctors are you?
Take Anglophenia's personality quiz and find out:http://bbc.in/HZx3PP
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
What does it take to grow and become spiritually mature?
Growth is development or improvement toward a goal called "maturity" (or, in the Bible, "perfection"). When one is "born again" as a child of God, he is spiritually immatured. As time passes, he should develop the qualities or abilities which the Bible says characterize the maturity. Many Scriptures describe the need to grow and mature spiritually:Ephesians 4:14,15 - Be no longer children, but grow up in Christ.
2 Peter 3:18 - but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.2 Thessalonians 1:3 - The Thessalonians grew exceedingly in faith.
Many problems result when members fail to grow: some go back to the world, others cause strife because of ignorance or become stumblingblocks because of irregular attendance, worldliness, or indifference.The purpose of this lesson is to study the steps each Christian should take to grow spiritually.Just as a baby needs to do certain things to grow physically, so Christians need certain kinds of activities to grow spiritually. When members don't grow, it is because they lack one or more of these.I urge you today to study the Bible,for all you need to grow are there in the Scripture.God bless you.
Growth is development or improvement toward a goal called "maturity" (or, in the Bible, "perfection"). When one is "born again" as a child of God, he is spiritually immatured. As time passes, he should develop the qualities or abilities which the Bible says characterize the maturity. Many Scriptures describe the need to grow and mature spiritually:Ephesians 4:14,15 - Be no longer children, but grow up in Christ.
2 Peter 3:18 - but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.2 Thessalonians 1:3 - The Thessalonians grew exceedingly in faith.
Many problems result when members fail to grow: some go back to the world, others cause strife because of ignorance or become stumblingblocks because of irregular attendance, worldliness, or indifference.The purpose of this lesson is to study the steps each Christian should take to grow spiritually.Just as a baby needs to do certain things to grow physically, so Christians need certain kinds of activities to grow spiritually. When members don't grow, it is because they lack one or more of these.I urge you today to study the Bible,for all you need to grow are there in the Scripture.God bless you.
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I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11, NIV)
When our goals and dreams start to frustrate us, and we lose our peace and we’re not enjoying life, that’s a sure sign that we’re holding on too tightly. What’s the solution? You’ve got to release it. Freedom comes when you say, “God, I’m turning it all over to You. You know my desires, and You know what’s best for me. I’m choosing to trust You and Your timing.”
When we learn to be content whatever the circumstances, the power of the enemy is broken. It takes away his ability to frustrate us. Not only that, but by our actions we are showing our faith in God. When you choose to trust in His timing, you can live in peace, you can live in joy, and you can rest in Him.God bless you.
When our goals and dreams start to frustrate us, and we lose our peace and we’re not enjoying life, that’s a sure sign that we’re holding on too tightly. What’s the solution? You’ve got to release it. Freedom comes when you say, “God, I’m turning it all over to You. You know my desires, and You know what’s best for me. I’m choosing to trust You and Your timing.”
When we learn to be content whatever the circumstances, the power of the enemy is broken. It takes away his ability to frustrate us. Not only that, but by our actions we are showing our faith in God. When you choose to trust in His timing, you can live in peace, you can live in joy, and you can rest in Him.God bless you.
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PRAY ALONG.
Heavenly Father,I thank You for making a way where there seems to be no way. I choose to trust You, and I believe that all things are possible! Show me Your power today. Work through me to encourage those around me to trust You more in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Heavenly Father,I thank You for making a way where there seems to be no way. I choose to trust You, and I believe that all things are possible! Show me Your power today. Work through me to encourage those around me to trust You more in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Jesus Said,All Things Are Possible.
Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26 NIV)Are you facing something today that seems impossible? With man it may be, but with God, ALL things are possible. If you seem to be in an impossible situation, get “with God!" Sometimes it’s so easy to focus on our problems and try to solve them in our own strength. But remember that the battle belongs to the Lord. He has a plan for your victory. He has a plan to give you a way out. He is making the things that seem impossible, possible. You can trust Him today. The Bible says that He has plans for your good, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Start believing and confessing today.God bless you.===
Matt Granz
Just watched the chase scene from Bullitt for the umpteenth billionth time in my life, and I have to say it's still the greatest car chase scene ever made... even with the insane route through SF and the way the cars are endlessly shifting gears, it is still the best. An added bonus now that it's so old, is seeing the city as it once was and all the old cars... too cool!
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Pastor Rick Warren
Leaders: Your charisma may attract new staff but only your character will keep them loyal for 20 years. Charisma fades but character lasts.
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lemongrass marinade for chicken. For this particular batch of 4kg of chicken I used 3 sticks of lemongrass, finely chopped, 10 pairs of kaffir lime leaves, 3 big cloves of garlic & half a teaspoon of turmeric. That all then goes into a food processor to finely chop even more. Then when its added to the chicken I add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 2 tablespoon of salt & massage it into the chicken. You can lessen the salt & use oyster sauce & msg, but I chose not to, to keep with a gluten free, preservative free, allergy free recipe
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"Of course, journalists are permitted to produce pure poppycock if the media outlet they are associated with has no objection to publishing it, or to leading its readers astray.
So the claptrap that Friedman inflicts on his readers is not really a valid reason for his dismissal by the NYT – which has given ample indication that not only does it have no objection to leading its readers astray, but when it comes to Israel, it has a strong interest in doing so.
With stunning gall, he writes: “Iran has lied and cheated its way to the precipice of building a bomb, and without tough economic sanctions – sanctions that President Obama engineered.... Iran would not be at the negotiating table.”
Sanctions that Obama engineered? Really? One can only wonder whether Friedman is counting on his readers’ total ignorance or total amnesia. Or whether he is suffering from them himself.
In fact the Obama administration was one of the greatest obstacles to the sanctions that brought the Iranians to the table, virtually coerced to do so by pressure from Congress (and even some Europeans)." - Martin Sherman
Continued…..http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/
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http://www.israpundit.com/archives/63591758
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Dr. Kedar's knowledge of Arabic allows him to understand the nuances of what the Palestinians are actually saying. We would say these people speak with 'forked tongue.'
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The 'United with Israel' family is proud of the young men and women of the IDF who risk their lives each day to provide security for the citizens of Israel.
As we have done the past 2 years, we're running a campaign to provide Israeli soldiers who are stationed outside in the cold with 'WARM WINTER' care packages.
Unfortunately, the IDF does not provide winter gear such as fleece jackets, neck warmers and gloves to the soldiers. While some families do provide these items, many soldiers including thousands of Israel's 'lone soldiers' do not have family in Israel to help. They are alone.
Click below to send your gift to Israeli Soldiers:
On Thursday evening November 28, 2013, the second night of Chanukah (Thanksgiving Day in the USA), we have organized a special Chanukah Party in honor of the soldiers at an IDF base near Shechem.
The soldiers on this base are stationed in one of the most dangerous areas in all of Israel. Shechem, an important biblical city, has become a hotbed of 'nationalistic' fervor and a breeding ground of Palestinian violence and terror.
These soldiers are from the Givati Brigade, a superior fighting and counter-terrorism intelligence unit. They are outside most of the day and get very cold in the winter, just like we do!
At the party, they will be presented with warm winter care packages and personal letters from admirers like YOU. This makes the soldiers very happy!
Send your Warm Winter Gift and personal note:
Learn more about the party in Shechem and watch a video of last year's amazing party at a base right next to the Gaza border. You can watch this year's party LIVE from Shechem!
Click here --> www.idfparty.com
We feel privileged to thank the brave young men and women of the IDF who risk their lives every day to protect and defend the People of Israel. The soldiers are truly touched by your thinking of them. It means so much to them!
This Chanukah, and Thanksgiving, bring BLESSING and JOY to Israeli Soldiers by saying... THANK YOU!
Click Below to Send Your Gift:
Thank you very much for your kindness and generosity.
With Blessings from Israel,
THE 'UNITED WITH ISRAEL' FAMILY
Checks can be mailed directly to Israel:
United with Israel
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ISRAEL
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- 498 – Following the death of Anastasius II, both Symmachus and Laurentius were elected pope, causing a schism that would last until 506.
- 1635 – Dutch colonial forces on Taiwan launched a three-month pacification campaign against Taiwanese aborigines.
- 1963 – Hours after John F. Kennedy was assassinated inDallas, Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson (pictured) was sworn in aboard Air Force One as the 36th President of the United States.
- 1988 – The first B-2 stealth bomber of the United States Air Force was first displayed in public at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.
- 2005 – Angela Merkel assumed office as the first femaleChancellor of Germany.
Events[edit]
- 498 – After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Palace, while Laurentiusis elected Pope in Santa Maria Maggiore.
- 845 – The first King of all Brittany, Nominoe defeats the Frankish king Charles the Bald at the Battle of Ballon near Redon.
- 1307 – Pope Clement V issues the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets.
- 1574 – Discovery of the Juan Fernández Islands off Chile.
- 1635 – Dutch colonial forces on Taiwan launch a pacification campaign against native villages, resulting in Dutch control of the middle and south of the island.
- 1718 – Off the coast of North Carolina, British pirate Edward Teach (best known as "Blackbeard") is killed in battle with a boarding party led by Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard.
- 1812 – War of 1812: 17 Indiana Rangers are killed at the Battle of Wild Cat Creek.
- 1837 – Canadian journalist and politician William Lyon Mackenzie calls for a rebellion against the United Kingdom in his essay "To the People of Upper Canada", published in his newspaper The Constitution.
- 1858 – Denver, Colorado is founded.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Confederate General John Bell Hood invades Tennessee in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General William T. Sherman from Georgia.
- 1869 – In Dumbarton, Scotland, the clipper Cutty Sark is launched – one of the last clippers ever built, and the only one still surviving today.
- 1908 – The Congress of Manastir establishes the Albanian alphabet.
- 1928 – The premier performance of Ravel's Boléro takes place in Paris.
- 1935 – The China Clipper, the first transpacific mail and passenger service, takes off from Alameda, California for its first commercial flight. It reaches its destination, Manila, a week later.
- 1940 – World War II: Following the initial Italian invasion, Greek troops counterattack into Italian-occupied Albania and capture Korytsa.
- 1942 – World War II: Battle of Stalingrad – General Friedrich Paulus sends Adolf Hitler a telegram saying that the German 6th army is surrounded.
- 1943 – World War II: War in the Pacific – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leaderChiang Kai-shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan (see Cairo Conference)
- 1943 – Lebanon gains independence from France.
- 1954 – The Humane Society of the United States is founded.
- 1963 – In Dallas, Texas, US President John F. Kennedy is assassinated and Texas Governor John Connally is seriously wounded. SuspectLee Harvey Oswald is later captured and charged with the murder of both the President and police officer J. D. Tippit. Oswald is shot two days later by Jack Ruby while in police custody.
- 1967 – UN Security Council Resolution 242 is adopted by the UN Security Council, establishing a set of the principles aimed at guiding negotiations for an Arab-Israeli peace settlement.
- 1973 – The Italian Fascist organization Ordine Nuovo is disbanded.
- 1974 – The United Nations General Assembly grants the Palestine Liberation Organization observer status.
- 1975 – Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco.
- 1977 – British Airways inaugurates a regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service.
- 1986 – Mike Tyson defeats Trevor Berbick to become youngest Heavyweight champion in boxing history.
- 1987 – Two Chicago television stations are hijacked by an unknown pirate dressed as Max Headroom.
- 1988 – In Palmdale, California, the first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber is revealed.
- 1989 – In West Beirut, a bomb explodes near the motorcade of Lebanese President René Moawad, killing him.
- 1990 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher withdraws from the Conservative Party leadership election, confirming the end of her premiership.
- 1995 – Toy Story is released as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery.
- 1997 – In Nigeria, more than 100 people are killed at an attack aimed at the contestants of the Miss World contest.
- 2003 – 2003 Baghdad DHL attempted shootdown incident, shortly after takeoff the left wing is hit by a surface-to-air missile and is forced to land.
- 2004 – The Orange Revolution begins in Ukraine, resulting from the presidential elections.
- 2005 – Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.
- 2012 – Ceasefire begins between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Israel after eight days of violence and 150 deaths.
Births[edit]
- 1515 – Mary of Guise (d. 1560)
- 1564 – Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English conspirator (d. 1610)
- 1602 – Elisabeth of France (d. 1644)
- 1635 – Francis Willughby, English biologist (d. 1672)
- 1690 – François Colin de Blamont, French composer (d. 1760)
- 1698 – Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal, Canadian-American politician, 10th Governor of Louisiana (d. 1778)
- 1709 – Franz Benda, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1786)
- 1710 – Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, German composer (d. 1784)
- 1721 – Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres, Swiss-Canadian politician (d. 1824)
- 1722 – Hryhorii Skovoroda, Ukrainian poet (d. 1794)
- 1744 – Abigail Adams, American wife of John Adams, 2nd First Lady of the United States (d. 1818)
- 1766 – Charlotte von Lengefeld, writer and wife of German poet Friedrich Schiller (d. 1826)
- 1767 – Andreas Hofer, Austrian innkeeper and activist (d. 1810)
- 1780 – José Cecilio del Valle, Honduran politician (d. 1834)
- 1787 – Rasmus Christian Rask, Danish linguist (d. 1823)
- 1808 – Thomas Cook, English businessman, founded Thomas Cook Group (d. 1892)
- 1814 – Serranus Clinton Hastings, American politician (d. 1893)
- 1819 – George Eliot, English author (d. 1880)
- 1849 – Christian Rohlfs, German painter (d. 1938)
- 1852 – Paul-Henri-Benjamin d'Estournelles de Constant, French diplomat and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1924)
- 1856 – Heber J. Grant, American religious leader, 7th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1945)
- 1861 – Ranavalona III of Madagascar (d. 1917)
- 1868 – John Nance Garner, American politician, 32nd Vice President of the United States (d. 1967)
- 1869 – André Gide, French author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
- 1870 – Howard Brockway, American composer (d. 1951)
- 1873 – Leo Amery, Indian-English politician (d. 1955)
- 1873 – Alfred Bowerman, English cricketer (d. 1947)
- 1874 – Eugène Balme, French target shooter (d. 1914)
- 1875 – Roscoe Lockwood, American rower (d. 1960)
- 1876 – Emil Beyer, American gymnast (d. 1934)
- 1877 – Endre Ady, Hungarian poet (d. 1919)
- 1877 – Joan Gamper, Swiss footballer, founded FC Barcelona (d. 1930)
- 1881 – Enver Pasha, Ottoman military officer (d. 1922)
- 1883 – Martin Flavin, American playwright and novelist (d. 1967)
- 1884 – Sulaiman Nadvi, Pakistani biographer (d. 1953)
- 1890 – Charles de Gaulle, French general and politician, President of France (d. 1970)
- 1893 – Harley Earl, American businessman (d. 1969)
- 1896 – David J. Mays, American lawyer and author (d. 1971)
- 1897 – Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer (d. 1989)
- 1898 – Wiley Post, American pilot (d. 1935)
- 1899 – Hoagy Carmichael, American composer (d. 1981)
- 1900 – Tom Macdonald, Welsh journalist and author (d. 1980)
- 1900 – Helenka Pantaleoni, American actress and humanitarian, co-founded U.S. Fund for UNICEF (d. 1987)
- 1901 – Joaquín Rodrigo, Spanish composer (d. 1999)
- 1902 – Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, French general (d. 1947)
- 1902 – Emanuel Feuermann, Austrian-American cellist (d. 1942)
- 1902 – Humphrey Gibbs, English-Rhodesian politician, Governor of Southern Rhodesia (d. 1990)
- 1902 – Albert Leduc, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1990)
- 1904 – Louis Néel, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
- 1904 – Fumio Niwa, Japanese novelist (d. 2005)
- 1909 – Mikhail Mil, Russian engineer, founded the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant (d. 1970)
- 1910 – Mary Jackson, American actress (d. 2005)
- 1913 – Benjamin Britten, English composer, conductor, and pianist (d. 1976)
- 1913 – Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, Filipino jurist (d. 2006)
- 1913 – Gardnar Mulloy, American tennis player
- 1914 – Peter Townsend, Burmese pilot (d. 1995)
- 1917 – Jon Cleary, Australian author (d. 2010)
- 1917 – Andrew Huxley, English physiologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
- 1918 – Claiborne Pell, American politician (d. 2009)
- 1919 – Máire Drumm, Irish activist (d. 1976)
- 1920 – Anne Crawford, Israeli-English actress (d. 1956)
- 1921 – Brian Cleeve, Irish broadcaster and author (d. 2003)
- 1921 – Rodney Dangerfield, American comedian and actor (d. 2004)
- 1922 – Fikrat Amirov, Azerbaijani composer (d. 1984)
- 1922 – Wiyogo Atmodarminto, Indonesian general and politician, 10th Governor of Jakarta (d. 2012)
- 1922 – Eugene Stoner, American weapons designers, designed the AR-15 Rifle (d. 1997)
- 1923 – Arthur Hiller, Canadian director
- 1923 – Dika Newlin, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Geraldine Page, American actress (d. 1987)
- 1925 – Jerrie Mock, the first woman to fly solo around the world
- 1925 – Gunther Schuller, American composer and conductor
- 1926 – Gene Berce, American basketball player
- 1926 – Lew Burdette, American baseball player (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Arthur Jones, American businessman, founded Nautilus, Inc. and MedX Corporation (d. 2007)
- 1927 – Steven Muller, German-American academic (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Timothy Beaumont, Baron Beaumont of Whitley, English politician (d. 2008)
- 1929 – Staughton Lynd, American historian and activist
- 1930 – Peter Hall, English theatre and film director
- 1930 – Peter Hurford, English organist and composer
- 1932 – Robert Vaughn, American actor
- 1932 – Keith Wickenden, English politician (d. 1983)
- 1934 – Rita Sakellariou, Greek singer (d. 1999)
- 1936 – Joachim Bißmeier, German actor
- 1936 – Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Bahraini politician, Prime Minister of Bahrain
- 1936 – John bird, English actor and comedian
- 1938 – John Eleuthère du Pont, American businessman, founded Delaware Museum of Natural History (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Henry Lee, Chinese-American criminologist
- 1939 – Allen Garfield, American actor
- 1939 – Tom West, American engineer and author (d. 2011)
- 1939 – Mulayam Singh Yadav, Indian politician
- 1940 – Terry Gilliam, American-English actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1940 – Roy Thomas, American author
- 1941 – Tom Conti, Scottish actor and director
- 1941 – Jacques Laperrière, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1941 – Terry Stafford, American singer-songwriter (d. 1996)
- 1941 – Jesse Colin Young, American singer-songwriter and bass player (The Youngbloods)
- 1942 – Guion Bluford, American astronaut
- 1943 – Peter Adair, American director and producer (d. 1996)
- 1943 – Yvan Cournoyer, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1943 – Billie Jean King, American tennis player
- 1943 – Roger L. Simon, American author and screenwriter
- 1945 – Tom Freston, American businessman
- 1946 – Aston Barrett, Jamaican bass player and songwriter (The Wailers Band and Bob Marley & The Wailers)
- 1947 – Sandy Alderson, American businessman
- 1947 – Rod Price, English guitarist (Foghat) (d. 2005)
- 1947 – Paloma San Basilio, Spanish singer-songwriter and producer
- 1947 – Salt Walther, American race car driver (d. 2012)
- 1947 – Valerie Wilson Wesley, American author
- 1948 – Radomir Antić, Serbian footballer and manager
- 1948 – Stewart Guthrie, New Zealand police officer (d. 1990)
- 1949 – Richard Carmona, American physician, 17th Surgeon General of the United States
- 1949 – David Pietrusza, American historian and author
- 1950 – Lyman Bostock, American baseball player (d. 1978)
- 1950 – Jim Jefferies, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1950 – Wayne Larkins, English former cricketer
- 1950 – Art Sullivan, Belgian singer
- 1950 – Steven Van Zandt, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (E Street Band, Steel Mill, and Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes)
- 1950 – Tina Weymouth, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club)
- 1951 – Kent Nagano, American conductor
- 1953 – Urmas Alender, Estonian singer (Propeller and Ruja) (d. 1994)
- 1955 – James Edwards, American basketball player
- 1956 – Lawrence Gowan, Scottish-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboard player (Styx)
- 1956 – Richard Kind, American actor
- 1956 – Ron Randall, American comic book artist
- 1957 – Donny Deutsch, American television host and advertising executive
- 1958 – Horse, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1958 – Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress
- 1958 – Lee Guetterman, American baseball player
- 1958 – Bruce Payne, English actor
- 1959 – Eddie Frierson, American actor
- 1959 – Frank McAvennie, Scottish footballer
- 1959 – Fabio Parra, Colombian cyclist
- 1959 – Lenore Zann, Australian-Canadian actress and politician
- 1960 – Leos Carax, French director
- 1960 – Jim Bob, British singer-songwriter of Carter USM
- 1961 – Mariel Hemingway, American actress
- 1961 – Stephen Hough, English-Australian pianist and composer
- 1961 – Randal L. Schwartz, American computer programmer and author
- 1962 – Sumi Jo, South Korean soprano
- 1962 – Victor Pelevin, Russian author
- 1962 – Rezauddin Stalin, Bangladeshi poet
- 1963 – Winsor Harmon, American actor
- 1963 – Scoop Jackson, American journalist
- 1963 – Hugh Millen, American football player
- 1963 – Tony Mowbray, English footballer and manager
- 1963 – Kennedy Pola, Samoan-American football player and coach
- 1963 – Brian Robbins, American actor and director
- 1963 – Corinne Russell, English model, actress, and dancer
- 1964 – Robbie Slater, English-Australian footballer
- 1965 – Jörg Jung, German footballer
- 1965 – Mads Mikkelsen, Danish actor
- 1965 – Peter Safran, English-American film producer and manager
- 1966 – Ed Ferrara, American wrestler
- 1966 – Mark Pritchard, English politician
- 1966 – Richard Stanley, South African director
- 1966 – Michael K. Williams, American actor
- 1967 – Boris Becker, German tennis player
- 1967 – Quint Kessenich, American lacrosse player and sportscaster
- 1967 – Mark Ruffalo, American actor
- 1967 – Bart Veldkamp, Dutch-Belgian speed skater
- 1968 – Sidse Babett Knudsen, Danish actress
- 1968 – Rasmus Lerdorf, Greenlandic-Canadian computer programmer, created PHP
- 1968 – Sarah MacDonald (musician), Canadian organist and conductor
- 1969 – Byron Houston, American basketball player
- 1969 – Marjane Satrapi, Iranian author and illustrator
- 1970 – Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lankan cricketer
- 1970 – Stel Pavlou, English author and screenwriter
- 1971 – Cath Bishop, English rower
- 1972 – Russell Hoult, English footballer
- 1972 – Jay Payton, American baseball player
- 1973 – Dmitri Linter, Russian-Estonian political activist
- 1973 – Chad Trujillo, American astronomer
- 1974 – Joe Nathan, American baseball player
- 1974 – David Pelletier, Canadian figure skater
- 1975 – Aiko, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1976 – Adrian Bakalli, Belgian footballer
- 1976 – Torsten Frings, German footballer
- 1976 – Regina Halmich, German boxer
- 1976 – Ville Valo, Finnish singer-songwriter (HIM)
- 1977 – Sydney Blu, Canadian DJ and record producer
- 1977 – Annika Norlin, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Hello Saferide)
- 1977 – Michael Preston, English footballer
- 1978 – Karen O, South Korean-American singer-songwriter and pianist (Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Native Korean Rock)
- 1979 – Chris Doran, Irish singer
- 1979 – Christian Terlizzi, Italian footballer
- 1980 – David Artell, English footballer
- 1980 – Shawn Fanning, American businessman, founded Napster
- 1980 – Rait Keerles, Estonian basketball player
- 1980 – Yaroslav Rybakov, Russian high jumper
- 1981 – Ben Adams, English singer-songwriter and producer (A1)
- 1981 – Joleigh Fioravanti, American actress
- 1981 – Seweryn Gancarczyk, Polish footballer
- 1981 – Song Hye-kyo, South Korean model and actress
- 1981 – Pape Sow, Senegalese basketball player
- 1981 – Jenny Owen Youngs, American singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Nigerian footballer
- 1982 – Charlene Choi, Canadian-Hong Kong singer and actress (Twins)
- 1982 – Alasdair Duncan, Australian author and journalist
- 1982 – Isild Le Besco, French actress
- 1983 – Corey Beaulieu, American guitarist and songwriter (Trivium)
- 1983 – Tyler Hilton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1983 – Peter Ramage, English footballer
- 1984 – Scarlett Johansson, American actress and singer
- 1985 – Austin Brown, American singer
- 1985 – Asamoah Gyan, Ghanaian footballer
- 1985 – Mandy Minella, Luxembourgian tennis player
- 1985 – James Roby, English rugby player
- 1985 – DeVon Walker, American football player
- 1986 – Oscar Pistorius, South African sprinter
- 1987 – Martti Aljand, Estonian swimmer
- 1987 – Marouane Fellaini, Belgian footballer
- 1988 – Jamie Campbell Bower, English actor and singer
- 1988 – Jyoti Guptara, English-Swiss author
- 1988 – Suresh Guptara, English-Swiss author
- 1988 – Austin Romine, American baseball player
- 1989 – Candice Glover, American singer
- 1989 – Gabriel Torje, Romanian footballer
- 1991 – Diana Danielle, American-Malaysian actress
- 1991 – Saki Shimizu, Japanese singer (Berryz Kobo, ZYX, and High-King)
Deaths[edit]
- 365 – Antipope Felix II
- 950 – Lothair II of Italy (b. 926)
- 1286 – Eric V of Denmark (b. 1249)
- 1318 – Mikhail of Tver (b. 1271)
- 1617 – Ahmed I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1590)
- 1694 – John Tillotson, English archbishop (b. 1630)
- 1697 – Libéral Bruant, French architect, designed Les Invalides (b. 1635)
- 1710 – Bernardo Pasquini, Italian composer (b. 1637)
- 1718 – Blackbeard, English pirate (b. 1680)
- 1758 – Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe, English politician (db. 1680)
- 1774 – Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, English general (b. 1725)
- 1794 – John Alsop, American politician (b. 1724)
- 1813 – Johann Christian Reil, German physician (b. 1759)
- 1875 – Henry Wilson, American politician, 18th Vice President of the United States (b. 1812)
- 1886 – William Bliss Baker, American painter (b. 1859)
- 1886 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, American author (b. 1823)
- 1893 – James Calder, American academic (b. 1826)
- 1900 – Arthur Sullivan, English composer (b. 1842)
- 1902 – Walter Reed, American physician (b. 1851)
- 1916 – Jack London, American journalist and author (b. 1876)
- 1917 – Teoberto Maler, German explorer (b. 1842)
- 1919 – Francisco Moreno, Argentine explorer and academic (b. 1852)
- 1920 – Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet (b. 1884)
- 1926 – Darvish Khan, Iranian tar player (b. 1872)
- 1932 – William Walker Atkinson, American author (b. 1862)
- 1941 – Werner Mölders, German pilot (b. 1915)
- 1943 – Lorenz Hart, American songwriter (b. 1895)
- 1944 – Arthur Eddington, English astrophysicist (b. 1882)
- 1946 – Burt McKinnie, American golfer (b. 1879)
- 1946 – Otto Georg Thierack, German jurist and politician (b. 1889)
- 1953 – Syed Sulaiman Nadvi, Pakistani scholar and biographer (b. 1884)
- 1954 – Jess McMahon, American wrestling promoter, founded Capitol Wrestling Corporation (b. 1882)
- 1955 – Shemp Howard, American actor (b. 1895)
- 1956 – Theodore Kosloff, Russian-American choreographer (b. 1882)
- 1963 – Wilhelm Beiglböck, Austrian physician (b. 1905)
- 1963 – Aldous Huxley, English author (b. 1894)
- 1963 – John F. Kennedy, American politician, 35th President of the United States (b. 1917)
- 1963 – C. S. Lewis, Irish author (b. 1898)
- 1963 – J. D. Tippit, American police officer (b. 1924)
- 1967 – Pavel Korin, Russian painter (b. 1892)
- 1980 – Jules Léger, Canadian politician, 21st Governor General of Canada (b. 1913)
- 1980 – Norah McGuinness, Irish painter (b. 1901)
- 1980 – Mae West, American actress (b. 1893)
- 1981 – Hans Adolf Krebs, German-English physician and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)
- 1986 – Scatman Crothers, American actor (b. 1910)
- 1986 – William Bradford Huie, American journalist and author (b. 1910)
- 1988 – Luis Barragán, Mexican architect, designed the Torres de Satélite (b. 1908)
- 1989 – C. C. Beck, American cartoonist (b. 1910)
- 1989 – René Moawad, Lebanonese politician, 13th President of Lebanon (b. 1925)
- 1992 – Sterling Holloway, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1993 – Anthony Burgess, English author and composer (b. 1917)
- 1994 – Forrest White, American businessman (b. 1920)
- 1996 – María Casares, Spanish-French actress (b. 1922)
- 1996 – Terence Donovan, English photographer and director (b. 1936)
- 1996 – Mark Lenard, American actor (b. 1924)
- 1997 – Michael Hutchence, Australian singer-songwriter and actor (INXS and Max Q) (b. 1960)
- 1998 – Stu Ungar, American poker player (b. 1953)
- 2000 – Christian Marquand, French actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1927)
- 2000 – Emil Zátopek, Czech runner (b. 1922)
- 2001 – Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Inc. (b. 1915)
- 2001 – Norman Granz, American record producer (b. 1918)
- 2004 – Arthur Hopcraft, English screenwriter and journalist (b. 1932)
- 2005 – Bruce Hobbs, American jockey (b. 1920)
- 2006 – Pat Dobson, American baseball player (b. 1942)
- 2007 – Verity Lambert, English television producer First Woman producer of Doctor Who (b. 1935)
- 2007 – Maurice Béjart, French-Swiss choreographer (b. 1929)
- 2008 – MC Breed, American rapper (b. 1971)
- 2010 – Jean Cione, American baseball player (b. 1928)
- 2010 – Frank Fenner, Australian microbiologist (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Lynn Margulis, American biologist (b. 1938)
- 2012 – Frank Barsalona, American talent agent (b. 1938)
- 2012 – Bryce Courtenay, South African-Australian author (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Raimund Krauth, German footballer (b. 1952)
- 2012 – P. Govinda Pillai, Indian politician and author (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Fahimeh Rastkar, Iranian actress (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Mel Shaw, American animator and screenwriter (b. 1914)
- 2012 – K. H. Ting, Chinese bishop (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Jan Trefulka, Czech author (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Christian Feast Day:
- Cecilia
- George (Eastern Orthodox, a national holiday in Georgia)
- November 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Day of the Albanian Alphabet (Albania and ethnic Albanians)
- Earliest day on which Thanksgiving Day can fall, while November 28 is the latest; celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. (United States)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Lebanon from France in 1943.
“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—” 1 Corinthians 1:4-5 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"Grieve not the Holy Spirit."
Ephesians 4:30
Ephesians 4:30
All that the believer has must come from Christ, but it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of grace. Moreover, as all blessings thus flow to you through the Holy Spirit, so also no good thing can come out of you in holy thought, devout worship, or gracious act, apart from the sanctifying operation of the same Spirit. Even if the good seed be sown in you, yet it lies dormant except he worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure. Do you desire to speak for Jesus--how can you unless the Holy Ghost touch your tongue? Do you desire to pray? Alas! what dull work it is unless the Spirit maketh intercession for you! Do you desire to subdue sin? Would you be holy? Would you imitate your Master? Do you desire to rise to superlative heights of spirituality? Are you wanting to be made like the angels of God, full of zeal and ardour for the Master's cause? You cannot without the Spirit--"Without me ye can do nothing." O branch of the vine, thou canst have no fruit without the sap! O child of God, thou hast no life within thee apart from the life which God gives thee through his Spirit! Then let us not grieve him or provoke him to anger by our sin. Let us not quench him in one of his faintest motions in our soul; let us foster every suggestion, and be ready to obey every prompting. If the Holy Spirit be indeed so mighty, let us attempt nothing without him; let us begin no project, and carry on no enterprise, and conclude no transaction, without imploring his blessing. Let us do him the due homage of feeling our entire weakness apart from him, and then depending alone upon him, having this for our prayer, "Open thou my heart and my whole being to thine incoming, and uphold me with thy free Spirit when I shall have received that Spirit in my inward parts."
Evening
"Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him."
John 12:2
John 12:2
He is to be envied. It was well to be Martha and serve, but better to be Lazarus and commune. There are times for each purpose, and each is comely in its season, but none of the trees of the garden yield such clusters as the vine of fellowship. To sit with Jesus, to hear his words, to mark his acts, and receive his smiles, was such a favour as must have made Lazarus as happy as the angels. When it has been our happy lot to feast with our Beloved in his banqueting-hall, we would not have given half a sigh for all the kingdoms of the world, if so much breath could have bought them.
He is to be imitated. It would have been a strange thing if Lazarus had not been at the table where Jesus was, for he had been dead, and Jesus had raised him. For the risen one to be absent when the Lord who gave him life was at his house, would have been ungrateful indeed. We too were once dead, yea, and like Lazarus stinking in the grave of sin; Jesus raised us, and by his life we live--can we be content to live at a distance from him? Do we omit to remember him at his table, where he deigns to feast with his brethren? Oh, this is cruel! It behoves us to repent, and do as he has bidden us, for his least wish should be law to us. To have lived without constant intercourse with one of whom the Jews said, "Behold how he loved him," would have been disgraceful to Lazarus; is it excusable in us whom Jesus has loved with an everlasting love? To have been cold to him who wept over his lifeless corpse, would have argued great brutishness in Lazarus. What does it argue in us over whom the Saviour has not only wept, but bled? Come, brethren, who read this portion, let us return unto our heavenly Bridegroom, and ask for his Spirit that we may be on terms of closer intimacy with him, and henceforth sit at the table with him.
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Today's reading: Ezekiel 16-17, James 3 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 16-17
Jerusalem as an Adulterous Wife
1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices 3 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
6 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”
Today's New Testament reading: James 3
Taming the Tongue
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell....
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Melchisedec, Melchizedek[Mĕlchĭs'e dĕc, Mĕl chĭz'e dĕk]—king of righteousness or justice. The priest and king of Salem, who met Abraham and blessed him (Gen. 14:18; Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1-21). His pedigree is not recorded ( Ezra 2:59,62).
The Man Who Prefigured Christ’s Priesthood
Although a mysterious figure, Melchisedec is yet a figure of great importance. His biography is short. He comes before us in history (Gen. 14); in prophecy (Ps. 110); in doctrine (Heb. 7), and prefigures Christ’s priesthood. He is King of Righteousness, and King of Peace—cause and effect. Christ alone can bring us peace since He is our righteousness (Isa. 32:17 ). In a book consisting of genealogies, Melchisedec has no record of father, mother, birth or death. Such silence is part of the divine plan to make him typify more strikingly the mystery of Christ’s birth and the eternity of His priesthood.
The priesthood of this mysterious man was not based on what he was, or on any inherited right. Christ was without father on earth as to His humanity, and without mother as to His deity. He was the only-begotten of the Father, and without pedigree as to His priesthood. The greatness of Melchisedec is seen in that Abraham gave him tithes, and was blessed of him. Christ being greater, deserves and demands our all.
In Christ we have an unchallengeable priesthood, for He was made Priest by the solemnity of a divine oath. His is also an uninterrupted priesthood, for death cannot overtake Him. His priesthood is likewise nontransferable—it cannot be delegated to anyone on earth. Christ, like Melchisedec, had in His office as Priest, no ancestor, no associate, no descendant. With the Aaronic priesthood it was different.
Tradition identifies Melchisedec as Shem, the son of Noah (Gen. 11:11), or as Philitis, the builder of the great Pyramid of Egypt.
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Euodias
The Woman Who Fell Out With Her Friend
Name Meaning - Euodias is actually a man's name. Euodia is its right form here ( Philippians 4:2, rv). Euodias means "prosperous journey" - Euodia, "fragrant." Wilkinson has the note, "Euodia is 'a good journey,' and was used in the colloquial Attic Greek as the French use the expression bon voyage." Euodia is coupled with another female, Syntyche, and both may have been among the women who resorted to prayer at the river bank (Acts 16:13-15), and among the honorable women who believed ( Acts 17:12). Scripture is silent on the genealogy and family association of these two women who, after their conversion became colaborers with Paul in the Gospel (Philippians 4:3). Belonging to a class bespeaking prosperity they doubtless ministered unto Paul of their substances.
At Philippi women were the first hearers of the Gospel and Lydia the first convert. If Euodias and Syntyche were also brought to the Lord there, they naturally took a leading part in teaching the Gospel to other women in a private sphere of labor once the Church had been formed there (1 Timothy 2:11, 12).
When Paul exhorted these two prominent workers to "be of the same mind in the Lord," he implied that they had been previously at variance. What caused the breach between these two deaconesses in the Philippian Church we are not told. Perhaps one had a more dominant personality than the other and received more attention. Whatever the dispute was, it became serious and hindered the work of the Lord, so Paul besought the two women to give up their differences and live at peace in the Lord. The lack of harmony between Euodias and Syntyche disturbed the Apostle, so he urged a reconciliation, for as those professing to be redeemed their whole life should be lived in peace and in an endeavor to please Him who had saved them.
A humorist has suggested that because of the strife between these sisters in Christ they should have been calledOdiousand Soon-touchy . It was sad that there was this difference of opinion, and more tragic still that divisions have kept Christians apart all down the ages. "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" is an old adage we have lost sight of. We like to believe that Paul did not plead in vain, and that Euodias and Syntyche were completely reconciled and went on unitedly to serve the God of peace. Is there any need of such a reconciliation in your life as a Christian? If so, for the sake of your own peace of heart and your influence in the world, go out and put wrong things right.
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