Zero Tolerance works to stop violence. Police need this scope to address drunken violence which has claimed lives recently. Good government would act to implement it. Mr O'Farrell, will you act on this?
ALP leaders may not have integrity, but they have conviction that they are right. That kind of hubris can't be healthy, and evidently isn't. Still, it allowed a bad marriage between the ALP and Greens. But like all bad marriages, there is now a dispute over how to divide the innocent ones. The wisdom of Solomon assumes a good parent. Neither fits that description. They kill asylum seekers just to appear compassionate. Is there hope for ALP leader Shorten? Bolt thought so for a few moments, but no. Shorten has all the ability of a Nathan Reese who has stepped down as ALP shadow minister in NSW after caught having an extra marital affair with a constituent. I still won't contact Zangari, who is my local member. But I know Zangari won't help me because he says so.
A special shout out to Pope Francis. I'm not Catholic, but approve of his message and actions. Not all conservatives agree on everything. That is something that lefties do, and it results in group think. which results in things like the Obama Presidency and NSW ALP corruption. Francis is right to point to what unites his flock, not dwell on what divides it. But then Francis is not paid to lie and mislead as the ABC is. Also, many applause from me to the Executive Council of Australia Jewry who made a media release on the Armenian Genocide issue. I agree with the executive council on each point. Free speech means that idiot is allowed to say what he allegedly thinks. It also means I am free to show how stupid such 'thoughts' are. To suggest the killing of a million people over years was not something a government is responsible for is no different to voting for a person who has a particular skin colour. It is bigoted and inexcusable. It is irresponsible and natural justice suggests that it be addressed and redressed. I note it is not technically feasible to raise the dead or take back torture, so monetary compensation is part of what must happen. Also, those who have held up the process of natural justice should face jail.
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Daniel Nguyen. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
- 270 – Maximinus II, Roman emperor (d. 313)
- 1877 – Herbert Pitman, English ship officer, survivor of the Sinking of the RMS Titanic (d. 1961)
- 1889 – Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (d. 1953)
- 1908 – Alistair Cooke, English-American journalist (d. 2004)
- 1924 – Benoît Mandelbrot, Polish-French mathematician (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Robert F. Kennedy, American politician, 64th United States Attorney General (d. 1968)
- 1926 – John Gardner, English author (d. 2007)
- 1956 – Bo Derek, American actress and producer
- 2000 – Connie Talbot, English singer
Matches
- 284 – Diocletian is chosen as Roman Emperor.
- 762 – During An Shi Rebellion, Tang Dynasty, with the help of Huihe tribe, recaptured Luoyang from the rebels.
- 1407 – A truce between John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans is agreed under the auspices of John, Duke of Berry. Orléans would be assassinated three days later by Burgundy.
- 1695 – Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early Brazil, is executed by the forces of Portuguese bandeirante Domingos Jorge Velho.
- 1789 – New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
- 1820 – An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America (Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick is in part inspired by this story).
- 1936 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange, is killed by a republican execution squad.
- 1945 – Nuremberg Trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.
- 1947 – The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who becomes the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
- 1962 – Cuban missile crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
- 1974 – The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T Corporation. This suit later leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell System.
- 1985 – Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released.
- 1989 – Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
- 1998 – A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
Despatches
- 811 – Li Fan, Chinese statesman (b. 754)
- 869 – Edmund the Martyr, English king (b. 841)
- 1764 – Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (b. 1690)
- 1894 – Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1829)
- 1910 – Leo Tolstoy, Russian author (b. 1828)
The Left’s secrets and lies
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, November 20, 2013 (8:35am)
WHY did The Guardian sit on its bombshell allegations about Australia spying on Indonesia for five months?
The timing of its joint story with the ABC on Monday could not be more damaging. It came at a crucial point in Australian-Indonesian relations, when the new Abbott government had achieved fresh co-operation on people smuggling, and was beginning to “stop the boats”.
And yet the left-leaning British newspaper has had the information about Australia’s surveillance activity at least since June. That was when former CIA computer specialist Edward Snowden gave all the top-secret documents he stole from the US National Security Agency to selected journalists before fleeing to Moscow, the New York Times said.
Asked about the curious timing of the story, Guardian Australia editor Katharine Viner said yesterday that she only “got the material in the last few days”. The newspaper’s “US team” had been “carefully going through thousands of Snowden documents. (It’s a very) lengthy process.”
Speaking at a media forum at the Opera House last week, Alan Rusbridger, The Guardian’s international editor, divulged just how strategic the newspaper’s approach has been to Snowden’s material.
“We’ve published 17 documents (since June). So we haven’t been rushing this stuff out. We’ve been thinking about it.”
The Australian spy story, published on Monday by The Guardian and the ABC, was based on a Snowden leak of a PowerPoint presentation from Australia’s Defence Signals Directorate. It revealed covert surveillance on 10 high-ranking Indonesians over 15 days in August 2009, when Kevin Rudd was prime minister.
The document was marked “Top Secret”.
On Monday morning, hours before publication, The Guardian and the ABC are believed to have asked the Office of National Assessments, Australia’s security agency, for a formal response.
ABC chief Mark Scott yesterday told the parliamentary communications legislation committee that The Guardian brought the story to him last week. He knew “the release of some of this material may cause difficulties in the Australia-Indonesia relationship in the short term”.
But he said publication was “absolutely in the public interest and it was probably in the national interest in the long term”. It would allow debate about “the nature and the extent of intelligence activities undertaken by Australia”.
That sounds noble, but the truth is Snowden is not a hero whistleblower. He is a criminal fugitive who has damaged the national interest of the US and its allies and is crippling their ability to keep citizens safe.
Britain’s MI5 boss Andrew Parker said last month The Guardian had handed a ‘’gift’’ to terrorists by publishing Snowden’s stolen information. “It causes enormous damage to make public the reach and limits of (spy agency) techniques,” Parker said.
So it’s doubtful Scott is correct when he says his story was in Australia’s long term interest. But what is certain is that it has been an immediate diplomatic catastrophe which threatens to derail the Abbott government’s efforts to stop illegal boat arrivals.
The predictable consequence of publication was that Indonesia recalled its ambassador and stated it would review all “co-operation” with Australia. In case there was any doubt about the implications for border security, the ABC helpfully asked Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. “Of course,” he said, silkily. “People smuggling information in general.”
This is the end game for the bleeding heart Left and its media enablers: to prevent the Abbott government from fulfilling its election promise to “stop the boats”.
To curry favour with the Left, Rudd had dismantled the hard-won Howard government border protection policies in 2008.
Since then, more than 50,000 asylum seekers arrived and more than 1000 had drowned.
Rudd’s so-called “compassionate” approach proved a humanitarian disaster, as well as an assault on national sovereignty. It closed the door on genuine refugees and drove economic migrants from the Middle East into the arms of con-artist people smugglers, where they lost their life’s savings and, sometimes, their lives.
But Labor, the Greens, and the refugee industry have never admitted culpability. As the bodies piled up, their callousness knew no bounds.
“Accidents happen,” said Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young when an asylum boat capsized in 2011, drowning 200 people.
Yesterday, Greens leader Christine Milne could barely contain her glee when she joined former Labor foreign minister Bob “Chutzpah” Carr to demand Abbott apologise to Indonesia.She blames Abbott even though in August, 2009 he was the shadow indigenous affairs minister, and was visiting Cape York.
“Part of what our Prime Minister did in the lead-up to the election set the stage for this by trying to flex muscles towards Indonesia in a fairly insulting way and the Indonesians are now responding,” said Milne.
The Greens and their ilk are in denial over the fact that the open border policy they urged on Rudd amounted to a controlled experiment over five years which has exploded the myth that the policies of the Left are “compassionate”.
This is why they will do anything to ensure Abbott fails.
Zero tolerance the solution to violence
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, November 20, 2013 (7:37am)
TIM Priest spoke eloquently at the anti-violence rally organised yesterday in Sydney by victim groups.
The former detective’s common sense prescriptions met rapturous approval from 500 people who gathered in Martin Place to protest the lenient sentence handed to the killer of 18-year-old Thomas Kelly.
“There are reasons why we have victims like Thomas Kelly,” Priest told the rally.
“The police have had their hands tied for 20 years when dealing with serious violent offenders.”
When he was a cop he would throw inebriated troublemakers into his paddywagon and lock them up for the night.
“But now people can do what they want .”
He wants the O’Farrell government to take a zero tolerance approach to street offences.
“Every crime matters. The guy that swears on the train on the way to the city, the guy that urinates in the bushes at Hyde Park, potentially is a king-hit merchant and if you stop him at this first level before he goes any further you might not have incidents like Thomas Kelly.”
He also called for mandatory minimum sentencing for violent crimes.
“Judges have let us down time and time again.”
He wants judges placed on five-year contracts. “If they don’t perform they go.”
The cheers almost drowned him out.
If Tim Priest ran for premier he’d have a job for life.
Awkward facts are no bar to certainty
Miranda Devine – Tuesday, November 19, 2013 (1:59pm)
THE extraordinary thing about Eddie Obeid is how certain he is of being right.
In his fifth appearance in the ICAC witness box yesterday, his demeanour was that of an honourable man, bloodied but unbowed by a racist vendetta against him and his family.
“This is not some wog Lebanese [thing where] we all eat from the one bloody plate,” he snapped.
He denied using improper political influence to benefit family members who owned cafes at Circular Quay and agreed with counsel assisting, Ian Temby, that he sees himself as “a man of honour”.
“I went into politics … feeling I could make a difference… I was always part of a team that was trying to do the best by the State.”
By Obeid’s logic, tenants who leased shops at Circular Quay and spent $500,000 to upgrade them for the 2000 Olympics, were entitled to 10-year leases.
But former ports minister Carl Scully “screwed” the lessees, even after they donated $50,000 to Labor in 1996.
“This is how Government’s slide; this is how they lose favour with, in my opinion, the generator of our economic welfare… small business.”.
Obeid’s argument might have merit, if not for the inconvenient fact that his family leased two of the shops, a fact Scully says he never disclosed while lobbying colleagues.
Obeid told the inquiry his family’s interests were “coincidental”.
His evidence was greeted by folded arms and stern expressions from the packed public gallery.
But years of NSW Labor have left him with a thick skin.
In the lift downstairs for his usual lunch of dumplings at the Palace Chinese restaurant, Obeid was relaxed enough to banter about his barrister Stuart Littlemore’s garish tie.
“Usually when you buy a tie like this people ask if you are an architect,” said Littlemore.
“It’s meant to impress,” whispered Obeid.
With that, the pair swept off for yumcha - one tall and patrician, the other short and swarthy, and very much in charge.
But 12 months of corruption hearings have taken their toll. No one could ever break Eddie Obeid, but he seems suddenly weary.
Pope Francis restores the faith for believers across NSW and everywhere
Miranda Devine – Tuesday, November 19, 2013 (1:57pm)
It is good news for practising Catholics, as well as for the prodigal sons and daughters of the Church, that Pope Francis has inspired a popular faith resurgence.
Church attendances are up as much as 20 percent in Britain and mid-week papal audiences in St Peter’s Square have swelled.
In Australia, too, there has been an influx of new believers or lapsed Catholics rejoining church pews on Sundays.
There was a “noticeable increase” in the congregation at St Mary’s Cathedral, and in suburban churches, after the Pope’s election, said a Sydney Archdiocese spokesperson.
The “Francis effect” even has led to an increase in the numbers going to confession.
People are attracted to the Pope’s humility, pastoral approach and forgiving language.
But the Pope has also become a media darling because of comments mischievously interpreted to mean he plans to soften church teachings on divisive social issues.
“The Church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules [and] we cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods” the Pope said in an interview in September.
This won him new fans among people usually hostile to the Catholic Church – even atheists and The Guardian newspaper - who claim he is ushering in a new era of social liberalism, and repudiating his predecessors, Pope Benedict and John Paul II.
But this is wishful thinking which ignores his central point, overlooked in the same interview.
Pope Francis has no intention of changing church doctrine, but he is offering forgiveness and mercy to those he says are sinners just like him.
That is not a repudiation of faithful Catholics, as the enemies of the Church would like to think. It is a Christian act of love and reconciliation that can only strengthen the ancient institution.
YOUR TAXES
Tim Blair – Wednesday, November 20, 2013 (11:52am)
The rich get richer at the ABC:
The ABC is paying eight broadcasters more than $250,000 a year, with Q&A and Lateline host Tony Jones leading the pack on an annual salary of more than $350,000 …The salary documents obtained by The Australian contain a breakdown of $453m spent in 2011-12 on 5511 employees. Jones is the public broadcaster’s highest-paid presenter, earning $355,789 in basic pay last year, but he is yet to hit the pay level reached by former long-serving 7.30 Report host Kerry O’Brien, who earned $365,246 in 2009-10, according to the documents.
Click for further details on how the ABC spends your money. It’s a transparency and accountability story that the ABC doesn’t like. This is especially interesting:
Former Media Watch presenter Jonathon Holmes, who had expressed opposition to the release of ABC salary information, was earning $187,380 as host of the weekly 15-minute program before he was replaced by Paul Barry in July. The program’s executive producer, Lin Buckfield, is on $146,000.
Holmes previously denounced a climate sceptic group that received annual private funding of only $100,000, which is substantially less than he was paid to present his little TV show. He also recently warned that ABC funding cuts of just1.6 per cent to 3.3 per cent would have “devastating consequences” for the ABC.
DISGUSTING FOETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME MUTANTS
Tim Blair – Tuesday, November 19, 2013 (2:20pm)
Twitter isn’t a happy place for British Prime Minister David Cameron.
THE HORROR
Tim Blair – Tuesday, November 19, 2013 (1:48pm)
Labor leader Bill Shorten is tortured by memories of his party’s terrifying 2010 alliance:
The photo with the Greens was a moment you wish never happened.
On this, I think all of us might agree. Just look at those people:
And one more, to keep the nightmares alive:
And one more, to keep the nightmares alive:
LABOR HACKS
Tim Blair – Tuesday, November 19, 2013 (4:51am)
Former Labor foreign minister Bob Carr last night called on Prime Minister Tony Abbott to apologise over the Indonesian phone hacking scandal.
Really, Bob?
The attempted hacking took place four years ago, when Labor was in power and Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister. At the time of the attempt, in August 2009, Abbott wasn’t even the opposition leader. He was the shadow minister for indigenous affairs. During the same month that a Labor government was hacking phones, Abbott was working as a truancy officer at Aurukun in Cape York.
Incidentally, Labor’s fake outrage over Britain’s phone hacking disgrace led to an attempt launched in 2011 to imposegovernment control over Australia’s press. Yet – unlike Labor – the local media never tried to hack anybody.
UPDATE. Tony Abbott is playing this perfectly:
“I sincerely regret any embarrassment that recent media reports have caused [the Indonesian President].”
Shorten rebuffed by Treasury. Time he stopped that mindless negativity
Andrew Bolt November 20 2013 (5:24pm)
Opposition Leader Bill
Shorten took the wrong lesson from the last parliament. No, Bill, you
don’t oppose everything. You oppose only the other side’s mistakes.
Instead:
He won’t want to make many more mistakes like that. He’s very fast making Abbott look the adult in the room.
===Instead:
TREASURY Secretary Martin Parkinson has urged parliament to lift the federal debt limit to $500 billion or risk a backlash from investors amid a possible ?dislocation? on global financial markets. ..As for Shorten’s dangerously stupid suggestion that Tony Abbott apologise to Indonesia ...
The comments, made to a Senate estimates hearing this afternoon, increased the pressure on Labor to abandon its objections to Joe Hockey’s bill to increase the limit from its current $300bn level within weeks.
He won’t want to make many more mistakes like that. He’s very fast making Abbott look the adult in the room.
Blaming Abbott for Rudd’s spying
Andrew Bolt November 20 2013 (5:19pm)
Michael Smith has plenty to say about this latest example of the Fairfax jihad against Tony Abbott.
(Thanks to reader Andrew.)
Let Labor apologise for what Labor did
Andrew Bolt November 20 2013 (1:22pm)
Simon Benson:
===FORMER intelligence officials have confirmed it was likely the 2009 operation to spy on the Indonesian President was ticked off by senior cabinet ministers at the time.This would have been either the defence minister, the foreign minister or the attorney-general…Dennis Shanahan:
Intelligence sources say there is no way DSD would conduct an operation like that without ministerial cover.
Which makes Bob Carr’s call for Tony Abbott to apologise ridiculous. Carr alluded to as much when he admitted that either the defence or foreign minister at the time would have known or should have known. So this would make it Labor’s apology to make, if there was one to make at all.
It also makes Bill Shorten’s momentary lapse in bipartisanship by calling on Abbott to take the Obama route and say sorry to SBY smack of craven political opportunism.
[Opposition Leader Bill] Shorten's shortage of parliamentary >and broad political experience is showing. The irony is that the new Liberal Prime Minister is actually defending the period and actions of the old Labor prime minister, Kevin Rudd, and Shorten is floating Obama-style solutions that included an apology…Former Foreign Minsiter Alexander Downer:
The damaging irony that a call from the Labor leader for Abbott to consider an apology for the Rudd government’s actions was compounded by the imputation in a later question that perhaps Indonesia would retaliate by withdrawing its ban on visa-free arrivals by asylum-seekers from Iran.
One of the more bizarre ideas came from former foreign minister Bob Carr. He suggested Julie Bishop should fly to Jakarta and apologise to the Indonesians. I hope she doesn’t. That’s an absurd suggestion. It would undermine once and for all the age-old policy of neither confirm nor deny. And if The Guardian publishes another allegation, does she apologise again? Or if the allegation is serious, but false, how does she start explaining why she won’t apologise? You see the point.(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
The Carr formula is a formula that could unravel our intelligence capabilities. As Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten should dissociate himself from this nonsense. Instead, he seemed yesterday to endorse it.
What is more, neither Bishop nor Tony Abbott was in government at the time of the alleged phone interception. The prime minister was then Kevin Rudd and the foreign and defence ministers were Stephen Smith and John Faulkner, respectively. So if there was any apologising to do, they should do it
Why were these stolen documents leaked five months later?
Andrew Bolt November 20 2013 (10:12am)
Why did the Guardian Australia wait until now - the election of the Abbott Government - to reveal Australia spied on Indonesia?
Miranda Devine smells a rat:
===Miranda Devine smells a rat:
The timing of its joint story with the ABC on Monday could not be more damaging. It came at a crucial point in Australian-Indonesian relations, when the new Abbott government had achieved fresh co-operation on people smuggling, and was beginning to “stop the boats”.Isn’t there something off about the Guardian going through stolen information involving national security, deciding what to release at what time to cause maximum damage?
And yet the left-leaning British newspaper has had the information about Australia’s surveillance activity at least since June. That was when former CIA computer specialist Edward Snowden gave all the top-secret documents he stole from the US National Security Agency to selected journalists before fleeing to Moscow, the New York Times said.
Asked about the curious timing of the story, Guardian Australia editor Katharine Viner said yesterday that she only “got the material in the last few days”. The newspaper’s “US team” had been “carefully going through thousands of Snowden documents. (It’s a very) lengthy process."…
ABC chief Mark Scott yesterday told the parliamentary communications legislation committee that The Guardian brought the story to him last week. He knew “the release of some of this material may cause difficulties in the Australia-Indonesia relationship in the short term"…
The predictable consequence of publication was that Indonesia recalled its ambassador and stated it would review all “co-operation” with Australia. In case there was any doubt about the implications for border security, the ABC helpfully asked Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. “Of course,” he said, silkily. “People smuggling information in general.”
This is the end game for the bleeding heart Left and its media enablers: to prevent the Abbott government from fulfilling its election promise to “stop the boats”.
SCOTLAND Yard has assigned a squad of detectives to investigate the role of the Guardian newspaper in the Edward Snowden affair...Such arrogance, the ABC giving itself the power to decide which of the stolen documents damages our security too much even for the ABC:
The criminal inquiry ... adds to the pressure on the Guardian, which has published a series of articles on the scale of electronic surveillance of communications based on material stolen from the US National Security Agency by Mr Snowden, a former contractor.
.
Former British defence secretary Liam Fox has asked the Director of Public Prosecutions whether the Guardian committed a terrorist offence by passing on documents that could identify security personnel.
Mark Scott told a Senate estimates hearing today the agreement the Guardian Australia encompassed factors such as when the ABC would run the story and what aspects of the controversial intelligence documents would be redacted, but said this arrangement was not unusual.
Bloody, bloody ABC hypocrites
Andrew Bolt November 20 2013 (8:59am)
The ABC happily tells our national security secrets to the world,
damaging our relations with Indonesia, crippling attempts to stop the
boats and risking even cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
But when The Australian reveals what ABC staff are paid by the public, the ABC screams in protest. This should have been kept secret! I’ve heard ABC boss Mark Scott whinge for minutes on end on the ABC about this terrible breach of confidential information:
The ABC seriously thinks what it pays its stars is a bigger secret than what our spies do to protect Australians.
For the record, what you are paying to high-profile Leftists:
===Mr Scott said the relevant test was whether releasing the material was in the public interest. He drew a distinction between the national interest and the public interest.
He said the disclosures raised questions about the nature and extent of intelligence gathering in the digital age, how information was shared and the security of that information.
“Yes, I appreciate that the release of some of this material might be embarrassing and ... might cause some difficulties with the Australian-Indonesian relationship in the short term,” he said.
But when The Australian reveals what ABC staff are paid by the public, the ABC screams in protest. This should have been kept secret! I’ve heard ABC boss Mark Scott whinge for minutes on end on the ABC about this terrible breach of confidential information:
The ABC has been attempting to block release of pay information relating to its top-rating presenters for the past three years, fighting a Freedom of Information request lodged in 2010 by the Herald and Weekly Times, which is owned by News Corp Australia, publisher of The Australian… The ABC has argued against releasing the salary information on the grounds that it is contrary to public interest and is connected to confidential programming material.Hypocrites. Utter hypocrites.
The ABC seriously thinks what it pays its stars is a bigger secret than what our spies do to protect Australians.
For the record, what you are paying to high-profile Leftists:
THE ABC is paying eight broadcasters more than $250,000 a year, with Q&A and Lateline host Tony Jones leading the pack on an annual salary of more than $350,000. The ABC received $1.03 billion of taxpayer funds last financial year, of which $465 million was spent on wages, superannuation and other entitlements…
7.30 Report host Kerry O’Brien ... earned $365,246 in 2009-10…
The 7.30 presenter Leigh Sales - credited for reinvigorating the flagship current affairs program following O’Brien’s departure - is ranked eight journalists behind Jones, as the ABC’s 18th-highest earner on $280,400 a year…
ABCTV Breakfast hosts Virginia Trioli earns $235,664 - about $84,000 more than co-host Michael Rowland on $151,006.
NSW weeknight news anchor Juanita Phillips is the broadcaster’s second highest earning presenter on $316,454. Long-serving ABC journalist and presenter of Stateline in NSW, Quentin Dempster, is listed with an annual total salary of $291,505…
The corporation’s top-earning radio presenters are Sydney Drive’s Richard Glover and Melbourne Mornings’ Jon Faine, earning $290,000 and $285,249 respectively.
Former political editor Christopher Uhlmann is reported as earning $255,400 last year and Radio National’s Breakfast host Fran Kelly is on $255,000. ABC’s online political editor Annabel Crabb is on $217,426.
Fairfax to Indonesia: send more boats to beat Abbott
Andrew Bolt November 20 2013 (8:03am)
Fairfax reporters desperately want Tony Abbott to fail in stopping the boats.
Canberra Times editor-at-large Jack Waterford said it straight:
Sydney Morning Herald columnist Richard Ackland suggests Indonesia send an Armada to defeat Abbott:
===Canberra Times editor-at-large Jack Waterford said it straight:
There are many people, including me, who want to see our shameful policies fail.
Sydney Morning Herald columnist Richard Ackland suggests Indonesia send an Armada to defeat Abbott:
(Thanks to reader Wade.)
The ABC is killing private media and stifling diversity
Andrew Bolt November 20 2013 (8:01am)
The New Daily is a Leftist “news” site backed by super funds who claim it’s actually a marketing exercise.
But as former Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes points out, by using the ABC’s product it is also crowding out private media outlets which must sell their news to survive:
Here is a perfect example of the ABC killing off private competition.
In May, we got a new player in the private media:
===But as former Media Watch host Jonathan Holmes points out, by using the ABC’s product it is also crowding out private media outlets which must sell their news to survive:
The New Daily seems to be carrying that confusion to extremes. Either it’s an independent news website, or it’s a marketing exercise on behalf of its owners. It simply cannot be both.I don’t think we pay $1.1 billion a year to the ABC to produce copy for a marketing tool for super funds, to destroy the private media or to run a highly partisan political news service. The ABC is desperately in need of reform. A giant state-run media conglomerate is growing under our very eyes, stifling alternative voices. This is unhealthy in a democracy.
And if Guthrie, Beecher and the super funds are in a bit of a muddle, so, it seems to me, is the ABC…
But, as News and Fairfax attempt to erect paywalls around their websites, the fact that the ABC’s taxpayer-funded news-gathering is offered free on its own websites is cause for tension enough.
Now, the national broadcaster is garnering more income by selling that product to commercial websites - be they Yahoo!7 or The New Daily - which then offer it free to their readers as a point of difference between them and their News and Fairfax rivals. If I were the rivals, I would find that a bit galling.
Here is a perfect example of the ABC killing off private competition.
In May, we got a new player in the private media:
Peter Fray, the former publisher and editor-in-chief of The Sydney Morning Herald, has today launched his new political fact checking website PolitiFact Australia and says he is close to announcing a media partner for the site.But at the very time Fray was setting up Politifact, Labor gave the ABC an extra grant to launch exactly the same service:
Politifact Australia is based on the format of its US counterpart, created by the Tampa Bay Times, and seeks to test political statements categorising them along a ‘truthometer’, with different ratings from true to half true to “pants on fire” for completely untrue statements.
The ABC has received $10 million in additional funding from the Federal Government to enhance its news output… ABC News will also establish a fact-checking and research unit...And now Politifact is just about finished:
Australian fact-checking website Politifact has seen a series of major departures and is operating on a skeleton staff as it seeks an injection of funds to ensure the website’s survival…
As interim election partnerships with Fairfax Media and the Seven Network came to an end, Politifact ... has been reduced from around 7 full time editorial staff to just three part-time reporters…
“We don’t have the budget the ABC does and tax payers funding...”
Today’s diet of anti-Abbott in The Age
Andrew Bolt November 20 2013 (7:25am)
Never, never let The Age lecture anyone about Murdoch bias.
UPDATE
Meanwhile in the Sydney Morning Herald, Abbott as an eco-villain:
I’ve seen more sophisticated stuff in student magazines at uni.
Today’s Abbott-hate in The Age
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (10:35pm)
How desperate is The Age for Tony Abbott to fail? Count the anti-Abbott pieces today. And I’m being generous. I haven’t circled the main story on the Indonesia-Australia standoff, which has a strong bias against Abbott.
Never again let The Age lecture anyone about the bias of the Murdoch press. The Age is just out of control. Mad with hatred.
Let’s make money again
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (5:32pm)
Good line from Gary Johns in attacking car industry subsidies:
===Kevin Rudd famously said that he did not want to lead a country “that did not make things”. What about making money, doesn’t that count?(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Five families in Northern Territory connected to fibre NBN
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (5:19pm)
I’d laugh, if it didn’t cause a sharp stabbing pain in my wallet:
UPDATE
Reader Andrew of Randwick:
Reader JimmyJack:
===Five families in the Northern Territory are connected to the fibre national broadband network, with Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull gleefully revealing the latest figures from the company he now oversees…More unravelling of Labor’s disastrous NBN in Tasmania:
The Communications Minister told Parliament on Tuesday that only 322 families in the Northern Territory were capable of getting a broadband service on the fibre network and of those households, only five have connected…
In a speech that drew laughter and jeering, Mr Turnbull taunted Labor about its “switching on” ceremonies in which ministers would travel to the Northern Territory to haul fibre to dramatise the progress of the NBN… Former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy “went to the Northern Territory more often than there are active connections on the broadband network,” he said.
Under NBN Co’s agreement with Telstra, the copper network has to be decommissioned 18 months after an area has optic fibre ready for service.(Thanks to reader Steve.)
It means phone and internet services are already being cut in those areas, even though some customers are still waiting for connection to the NBN.
The Lewincamp family lives in an area where the network is available, but one month ago its internet and phone connection on the old copper network was cut by the service provider....
“We’ve been told the next available appointment is in January when they will come and see whether they can connect us or not...”
UPDATE
Reader Andrew of Randwick:
Seems like the whole rationale of the NBN going all the way to the home (rather than a street corner node) is dead before the NBN even gets started.UPDATE
ABC The Business interviews the man whose company invented ADSL technology and he explains:
1) Fibre-to-the-home is up to 10 times more expensive than fibre-to-the-node.
2) VDSL is now ready for adoption. Vectored DSL is a new technology that allows the last bit of copper wire to carry 100 MBS (at 1000 metres) or over 1,0000 MBS if the copper length is 100-300 metres.
Reader JimmyJack:
Hi Andrew, Your last update (well, Andrew of Randwick) is factually incorrect.
2) VDSL is now ready for adoption. Vectored DSL is a new technology that allows the last bit of copper wire to carry 100 MBS (at 1000 metres) or over 1,0000 MBS if the copper length is 100-300 metres.The good sir in the clip (around the 3min mark) is talking about megabits [Mb] or [Mbits], where you have megabytes [MB], whilst an easy mistake, it does change the quoted speed by a factor of 12.
For example, a connection running at 100Mbits will only yield a connection of 12.5MB.
He also referred to Gigabit(s), not Gigabyte. 1 Gigabit connection is 128MB or 1024Mbit connection.. Roughly 1/10 of you have have there.. And then a Gigabyte is only 1000MB (or close too) where you have 10,000.. Which would be 10Gigabytes. What you want to change it to would be this;
2) VDSL is now ready for adoption. Vectored DSL is a new technology that allows the last bit of copper wire to carry 100 MBits (at 1000 metres) or over 1 Gbit (or 1024Mbit) if the copper length is 100-300 metres.
Australia leads world against warming madness
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (4:46pm)
Tim Wilson - in Warsaw for the latest UN climate talks - says Australia is having a healthy impact:
UPDATE
Greg Sheridan:
===The developed world breaks into two main blocs - the European Union and the loose Umbrella group of non-European developed economies.But no longer. Australia has broken free, and others are following:
The negotiating trajectory of the Brussels-led delegation has been to argue for a binding international agreement while progressively putting more ambitious proposals to cut emissions on the table in the hope that both rich and poor countries will follow their leadership…
Broadly, the Umbrella group has argued for a voluntary approach to cut emissions using policies that suit each country’s national interests, while also insisting that developing countries that are the source of rising emissions also carry their share of the carbon cutting load.
Yet despite being chair of the Umbrella group, under the Rudd and Gillard governments Australia drifted toward the European position...
But it appears that even Europe’s position is fracturing. Major coal producing and consuming countries are increasingly voicing their concern about the path Brussels is leading them down.At the Commonwealth, too, Australia has for the first time negotiators can recall caused the communique to record a split:
Recently the Polish environment minister was reported saying “this concept of leading by example is not delivering” and follows earlier Polish vetoes against Europe increasing its emissions cuts.
Not that Poland is alone. On Friday last week, the Japanese government formally confirmed its previously hinted decision to reduce its 2020 emissions reduction target from 25 per cent to only 3.8 per cent.
As an extraordinary Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting concluded in Colombo, Mr Abbott joined with Canada in rejecting a decision by the summit to push for a Green Capital Fund to help vulnerable island states and poor African countries address the effects of rising sea levels, prolonged droughts, or catastrophic weather incidents, caused by climate change…
But the final agreement from the 53 members of the Anglosphere Commonwealth noted that “Australia and Canada… indicated they could not support a Green Capital Fund at this time”.
UPDATE
Greg Sheridan:
The Prime Minister refused to back language in the communique supporting the establishment of an international Green Fund… Canada backed the Australian position.(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
As a result, for the first time in its history the CHOGM leaders’ communique included a statement that some member nations did not support a specific provision of the communique…
Credit to Bill Shorten. UPDATE: I take back much of it. UPDATE: Marles backs off Shorten
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (3:08pm)
Opposition leader Bill
Shorten passed an important test today. In Parliament before Question
Time he backed a statement by Tony Abbott seeking to placate Indonesia
by expressing regret for the embarrassment caused to the Indonesian
President by reports of our alleged spying and pledging to rebuild
trust.
Shorten has not sought to politicise this very critical issue and jeopardise our relationship - unlike the Greens.
Statesmanlike.
Mind you, Abbott had earlier put Labor on notice by saying he would never apologise for actions taken by a previous government to safeguard our security, just as he expected a future government not to apologise for his own.
But it seems Abbott and Shorten had discussions beforehand to defuse this issue in the national interest. This is heartening.
UPDATE
Damn. Praised too much. I missed the one sentence in Shorten’s reply where he went off the reservation:
This is what Obama’s spokesman foolishly said after it was revealed the US had eavesdropped on the calls of Angela Merkel:
Second, if we give this assurance to Indonesia, what do we say to the leader of Malaysia? Thailand? China? Vietnam? Nauru? Burma?
Shorten has miscalculated here. I take back a big dollop of my praise.
See what happens when I try to be nice?
UPDATE
Labor seems to realise it’s overplayed its hand. Immigration spokesman Richard Marles on Sky News later refuses to say if Labor then wants Abbott to apologise to Yudhoyono as Obama apologised to Merkel. So what the hell is Labor saying?
UPDATE
It is astonishing to me that the Greens, however, are fanning Indonesian resentments by talking up Indonesia’s hurt, talking up our offence and demanding we end such spying in future. I thought the Left considered Indonesia a hostile neighbor, thanks to the 1960s massacres, the East Timor occupation, the role of the military in politics, the Aceh rebellion and the West Papua succession movement.
But if there’s a chance for some Abbott bashing and attacks on the US national security bureaucracy ...
UPDATE
I think Abbott’s statement is the very best possible under the circumstances:
Continue reading 'Credit to Bill Shorten. UPDATE: I take back much of it. UPDATE: Marles backs off Shorten'
===Shorten has not sought to politicise this very critical issue and jeopardise our relationship - unlike the Greens.
Statesmanlike.
Mind you, Abbott had earlier put Labor on notice by saying he would never apologise for actions taken by a previous government to safeguard our security, just as he expected a future government not to apologise for his own.
But it seems Abbott and Shorten had discussions beforehand to defuse this issue in the national interest. This is heartening.
UPDATE
Damn. Praised too much. I missed the one sentence in Shorten’s reply where he went off the reservation:
I believe, for instance, that the example of the United States in the way that it handled a similar issue with Germany provides the opportunity for us to consider the same course of action.Wrong, wrong, wrong.
This is what Obama’s spokesman foolishly said after it was revealed the US had eavesdropped on the calls of Angela Merkel:
The President assured the Chancellor that the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of Chancellor Merkel.Two points that Shorten foolishly overlooks. Indonesia is not Germany. Does Shorten seriously suggest that we would never have an interest in monitoring the calls of some future president of Indonesia, a country with nationalist and religious extremists?
Second, if we give this assurance to Indonesia, what do we say to the leader of Malaysia? Thailand? China? Vietnam? Nauru? Burma?
Shorten has miscalculated here. I take back a big dollop of my praise.
See what happens when I try to be nice?
UPDATE
Labor seems to realise it’s overplayed its hand. Immigration spokesman Richard Marles on Sky News later refuses to say if Labor then wants Abbott to apologise to Yudhoyono as Obama apologised to Merkel. So what the hell is Labor saying?
UPDATE
It is astonishing to me that the Greens, however, are fanning Indonesian resentments by talking up Indonesia’s hurt, talking up our offence and demanding we end such spying in future. I thought the Left considered Indonesia a hostile neighbor, thanks to the 1960s massacres, the East Timor occupation, the role of the military in politics, the Aceh rebellion and the West Papua succession movement.
But if there’s a chance for some Abbott bashing and attacks on the US national security bureaucracy ...
UPDATE
I think Abbott’s statement is the very best possible under the circumstances:
Continue reading 'Credit to Bill Shorten. UPDATE: I take back much of it. UPDATE: Marles backs off Shorten'Abbott haters note: Abbott’s words seem Indonesia’s idea
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (1:33pm)
The crisis in relations
with Indonesia has been caused by Leftist news outlets reporting on
spying carried out under a Labor Government.
But Tony Abbott must be made to look bad in some way. The Leftist ABC last night got a Leftist to suggest one:
===But Tony Abbott must be made to look bad in some way. The Leftist ABC last night got a Leftist to suggest one:
“Fatuous”? A word to McKinley and some fellow travellers in the media trying now to skewer Abbott for that response. Indonesia’s detikNews claims that Abbott’s line was actually suggested by the Indonesian Vice-President - before the latest revelations of tapping the President’s phone - as a way to smooth over the issue. (Translation from Ganesh Sahathevan):
SABRA LANE: But (the Prime Minister) says he’ll honour a longstanding tradition by not commenting on specific intelligence matters.
TONY ABBOTT: The Australian Government uses all the resources at its disposal, including information, to help our friends and our allies, not to harm them. Madam Speaker, my first duty is to protect Australia and to advance our national interests and I will never, ever depart from that. Consistent with that duty, I will never say or do anything that might damage the strong relationship and the close cooperation that we have with Indonesia, which is, all in all, our most important relationship.
MICHAEL MCKINLEY: So far the Prime Minister’s statements that what Australia has been doing is for the good of the relationship and by way of research is just simply really quite fatuous. It doesn’t stack up at all. And nor will it convince the Indonesians.
Secara resmi, Indonesia meminta agar ada perbaikan dalam proses pengumpulan informasi sehingga tidak merugikan kedua negara dan merusak hubungan yang sudah terjalin baik selama ini. Abbott merespons baik terhadap permintaan tersebut.Abbott hatred is distorting reporting and adding to our tensions with Indonesia. Fairfax and the ABC are out of control.
“Ide untuk ke depan ada suatu sistem di mana informasi yang dikumpulkan tidak dipakai untuk hal-hal merugikan kedua belah pihak. Nampaknya beliau tidak menolak. Artinya beliau sendiri pandangannya ke arah situ,” jelasnya
Officially , Indonesia has asked that intelligence obtained not be used in a manner that might be detrimental to both countries. Abbott responded positively to that suggestion.
“ The idea going forward is for a system where information collected will not be used in any way that will harm either country. Abbott did not object. I take that to mean that his thinking is along the same lines” , he (Boediono) explained.
Julian Burnside wrong again. And is his abuse appropriate from a QC and “human rights” lawyer?
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (12:31pm)
Julian Burnside, a
celebrity lawyer, has a terrible struggle with sticking to facts. And as
a celebrity “human rights” activist he has an even greater struggle
with actually staying civilised himself.
In short, Julian Burnside is a hypocrite whose word - in my opinion - cannot be taken at face value.
Last week he tweeted this false claim:
Burnside’s response to being shown to have made false claims? To retweet the most childish abuse, unbefitting a senior lawyer with pretensions to be an arts patron and spokesman for civilised values:
Now this:
Listen to my 2GB show last night, on which I twice fielded calls from listeners wishing to discuss Burnside. I did not accuse him of lacking courage, but of saying things that were not true. Burnside’s latest suggestion is as false as his earlier ones. In fact, he’s actually projecting, since it was Burnside himself who mentioned courage by retweeting more childish abuse about my own:
Julian, I’ve debated you in the most hostile venue you could have devised - at an asylum seeker fundraiser you’d organised, in front a crowd which hissed me as I was introduced, in a discussion you MC’d, and on a stage dominated by largely Leftist speakers you’d chosen. If you keep refusing to debate me on radio or television, man to man, with no one there to heckle, hiss, boo, groan or otherwise interfere with the discussion, you really do lack courage, after all.
And, please, for you own reputation, get out of the gutter, will you? It makes me feel dirty even offering you a debate.
UPDATE
To hear one of my debates with Burnside, go here. (Number 183.)
(Thanks to reader Peter.)
===In short, Julian Burnside is a hypocrite whose word - in my opinion - cannot be taken at face value.
Last week he tweeted this false claim:
In fact, the truth was exactly the opposite. As I have since pointed out, I’ve actually debated Burnside twice - once in front of a very hostile audience of his choosing. I’d also repeatedly asked Burnside to come on my television show. He refused, even after I made several promises to ensure he would be allowed to state his case without badgering.
Burnside’s response to being shown to have made false claims? To retweet the most childish abuse, unbefitting a senior lawyer with pretensions to be an arts patron and spokesman for civilised values:
Pathetic really.
Now this:
Plus this email to my blog:
Once again, Burnside has not merely stated something false. The truth is almost the opposite.
Listen to my 2GB show last night, on which I twice fielded calls from listeners wishing to discuss Burnside. I did not accuse him of lacking courage, but of saying things that were not true. Burnside’s latest suggestion is as false as his earlier ones. In fact, he’s actually projecting, since it was Burnside himself who mentioned courage by retweeting more childish abuse about my own:
(By the way, I suggest that any government foolish enough to contemplate appointing Burnside to any judicial role consider the nature of a man who publishes this kind of abuse.)
Julian, I’ve debated you in the most hostile venue you could have devised - at an asylum seeker fundraiser you’d organised, in front a crowd which hissed me as I was introduced, in a discussion you MC’d, and on a stage dominated by largely Leftist speakers you’d chosen. If you keep refusing to debate me on radio or television, man to man, with no one there to heckle, hiss, boo, groan or otherwise interfere with the discussion, you really do lack courage, after all.
And, please, for you own reputation, get out of the gutter, will you? It makes me feel dirty even offering you a debate.
UPDATE
To hear one of my debates with Burnside, go here. (Number 183.)
(Thanks to reader Peter.)
Fairfax’s daily Abbott-hate: sniggering at him for what was done before his time
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (12:19pm)
Fairfax’s loathing for
Tony Abbott has led to a string of reports in which he is blamed for the
failings of others. The latest example is a story which starts:
Only later do we read the paragraphs that make the first few seem the cheapest of cheap shots:
UPDATE
Reader Andrew is surprised Fairfax is so pro-Labor, given what’s happened to its share price over six years of Labor rule.
UPDATE
Remember this Fairfax Abbott-hate, which fooled even me?
MP John Alexander tells Parliament how Fairfax stitched him up:
(Thanks to reader Nick.)
===“Stop the waste,” Tony Abbott cried endlessly during the federal election, and then made a great show of moving into a little room in Canberra’s Australian Police College for $110 a night rather than spend fat money renting a Canberra mansion while The Lodge underwent renovations.Abbott the hypocrite. Abbott the wastrel. Abbott - wink, wink - “consorting” with police cadets.
Uh, oh.
Turns out a mansion had already been rented on the taxpayers’ docket, and will continue to be rented for a year. For $156,000.
It sits, vacant now, in one of Canberra’s most desirable suburbs, Forrest, unloved by a prime minister while Mr Abbott consorts with police cadets.
Only later do we read the paragraphs that make the first few seem the cheapest of cheap shots:
The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, which signed the lease, is – unsurprisingly – having trouble backing out of the deal. Which, of course, means that the owner is – you’d imagine – smiling all the way to the bank.Fairfax is out of control.
The Prime Minister’s Department signed up during the election campaign. Officials asked then prime minister Kevin Rudd if he’d like to inspect the property, just in case he won the election, but he was too busy. The same offer was made to Mr Abbott, but he was too busy, too…
The prime minister’s usual Canberra room and board, The Lodge, is undergoing big-time renovations and will be uninhabitable for more than eight months.
UPDATE
Reader Andrew is surprised Fairfax is so pro-Labor, given what’s happened to its share price over six years of Labor rule.
UPDATE
Remember this Fairfax Abbott-hate, which fooled even me?
MP John Alexander tells Parliament how Fairfax stitched him up:
In July last year I was invited to travel to Perth to deliver the keynote speech at a Curtin University forum relating to sporting-club development. During my short stay in Perth I had the opportunity to visit the club at Royal Kings Park and also to meet with the CEO of Perth Airport to discuss our shared issue of aircraft noise, another electorate matter.Fairfax and the ABC have declared war on the Abbott Government, and seem prepared to stop at nothing to drag it down.
While on the west coast I accepted an invitation from my committee colleague, the member for Forrest, to visit her region to meet with business leaders to discuss my work as chair of the coalition’s Sustainable Cities Taskforce. This work was born from the No. 1 issue facing Bennelong residents—a lack of urban planning, leading to our streets becoming the funnel for one of the fastest-growing regions in the country....
Yet it was an unrelated feature of the Forrest electorate that garnered a journalist’s interest in this trip more than a year later: the Margaret River community’s successful wine-production industry.
In order to ensure the public perception matched the integrity with which I approached the trip, I scheduled meetings over three days and was keen to ensure that all activities during that period related only to work matters. Whilst in the region, I also took three days of personal time, solely at my own expense. As a result of the success of my earlier meetings, more work related meetings took place on my personal days. I made no claim for that.
Early last month I was contacted by a Fairfax journalist wishing to have details about this trip. The questions were answered with a clear conscience, but preferring to avoid a story the information was given off the record, as background only.
The journalist in question affirmed his understanding of the status of this information, by reply email. Shortly after sending this email, the journalist transmitted a barrage of tweets that repeatedly quoted from the off-the-record information I had provided…
Interestingly, the final tweets from the Fairfax journalist read: ‘Mr Alexander’s trips fit within entitlements.’ So no story. Ten days later he printed a story that demeaned the good work that was being done into a farcical claim—that I had visited Margaret River to study traffic congestion. This absolute lack of accuracy in reporting directly undermines the important relationship between constituents and their elected representatives. These actions are performed in an overt attempt to injure us, to damage our reputations.
(Thanks to reader Nick.)
Indonesia phone taps: Bob Carr and Labor should say sorry first
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (12:12pm)
Stunning work from Bob Carr:
Carr is a dilettante.
Note also how Laurie Oakes last night on Channel 9 presented Carr as a commentator rather than, as I said last night, a man potentially complicit.
Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto at least shows the context and sense that so many Abbott haters commenting on this have lacked. In a television interview yesterday he pointed out the alleged spying occurred under Kevin Rudd’s government, and Abbott deserved time to respond.
UPDATE
Deep in a long interview on ABC Radio National, Fran Kelly finally gets around to asking Carr whether Labor should be apologising since this occurred on its watch. Carr brushes it off, saying he shouldn’t comment on intelligence gathering:
Then Kelly talks to Channel 10’s Paul Bongiorno who likewise prefers to to criticise Abbott, saying he should choose “a better form of words”.
Next Kelly interviews the Greens’ Scott Ludlum, who also attacks Tony Abbott, mocking him for adopting a “foetal position”.
UPDATE
Miranda Devine raises a very good point. Why didn’t the ABC and Guardian Australia report this spying story when Julia Gillard was Prime Minister? When Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister?
Why now?:
At least the focus shifts to those actually in charge at the time:
ABC chief Mark Scott denies sitting on what he admits is a damaging story until Abbott came along:
(Thanks to reader Andy.)
===Former Foreign Minister Bob Carr last night called on Mr Abbott to apologise - despite the phone taps being alleged to have occurred under the former Labor Government.Carr isn’t just acting like this alleged tapping of the phones of Indonesian politicians in August 2009 had nothing to do with Labor. He actually wants Abbott to implicitly confirm the spying allegation and rule out any such spying in future - even if it could be useful to our national interest. What next? Must Abbott rule out spying on every other head of state as well, including China’s and those of potentially hostile nations?
Carr is a dilettante.
Note also how Laurie Oakes last night on Channel 9 presented Carr as a commentator rather than, as I said last night, a man potentially complicit.
Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Legal, Political and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto at least shows the context and sense that so many Abbott haters commenting on this have lacked. In a television interview yesterday he pointed out the alleged spying occurred under Kevin Rudd’s government, and Abbott deserved time to respond.
UPDATE
Deep in a long interview on ABC Radio National, Fran Kelly finally gets around to asking Carr whether Labor should be apologising since this occurred on its watch. Carr brushes it off, saying he shouldn’t comment on intelligence gathering:
My focus has been on the way forward. How we get out of this.Kelly promptly moves on. Much of the interview was taken with attacking Abbott’s “tone” in responding.
Then Kelly talks to Channel 10’s Paul Bongiorno who likewise prefers to to criticise Abbott, saying he should choose “a better form of words”.
Next Kelly interviews the Greens’ Scott Ludlum, who also attacks Tony Abbott, mocking him for adopting a “foetal position”.
UPDATE
Miranda Devine raises a very good point. Why didn’t the ABC and Guardian Australia report this spying story when Julia Gillard was Prime Minister? When Kevin Rudd was Prime Minister?
Why now?:
UPDATE
At least the focus shifts to those actually in charge at the time:
Guardian Australia understands from several intelligence sources that the defence minister would normally have to approve such high-level surveillance targets. That minister was Joel Fitzgibbon until June 2009, and then John Faulkner. Both have declined to comment.UPDATE
ABC chief Mark Scott denies sitting on what he admits is a damaging story until Abbott came along:
ABC managing director Mark Scott ... dismissed suggestions the ABC or Guardian Australia “sat” on the documents for months… Mr Scott said the ABC received the documents “a matter of days before broadcast"…It’s a bit rich likening a whistleblower’s revelations of corruption to a traitor’s leaking of information about national security secrets.
He understood the number of documents leaked to The Guardian by Mr Snowden were massive and took a long time to examine.
Mr Scott said he believed Guardian Australia “only had access to this material 24 hours before the ABC was alerted to it"…
Mr Scott said the relevant test was whether releasing the material was in the public interest… He said the disclosures raised questions about the nature and extent of intelligence gathering in the digital age, how information was shared and the security of that information.
“Yes, I appreciate that the release of some of this material might be embarrassing and ... might cause some difficulties with the Australian-Indonesian relationship in the short term,” he said.
Mr Scott said previous reporting about AWB’s kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq regime also caused embarrassment but was in the public interest and “probably in the national interest in the long term”.
He said several slides were redacted (kept hidden) as a result of advice sought from unnamed Australian authorities.
(Thanks to reader Andy.)
Whether $400 billion or $500 billion, it’s Labor’s
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (10:06am)
Peter Costello:
===After six years, the government’s financial position has been smashed, Labor handing out all sorts of new benefits and leaving it to others to worry about how to pay for it in the future..(Thanks to readers Donna and Peter.)
We used to have no debt. Now we are arguing about whether Parliament should authorise borrowings of $400 billion or $500 billion .
We spy for good reasons, and Indonesia spies on us
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (9:53am)
Some context to this
outrage - fanned by the Greens and the Leftist media - that we are
spying on Indonesian leaders and should stop.
First, there are reasons we spy on Indonesia: Philip Dorling, between the ritual sneers at Tony Abbott demanded of Fairfax writers, reminds us why we do:
UPDATE
More context, from someone who was deputy prime minister at the time of the alleged bugging:
===First, there are reasons we spy on Indonesia: Philip Dorling, between the ritual sneers at Tony Abbott demanded of Fairfax writers, reminds us why we do:
Canberra just doesn’t trust Jakarta…Reader Token points out what none of the reporting so far has:
We find Indonesia’s political system opaque, riddled with corruption and prone to nationalist outbursts. We don’t regard Indonesia as true friends (certainly not in the way, for example, we view New Zealand or our other “Five Eyes” partners) and we don’t rule out the possibility that someday, perhaps in the distant future, they may be a threat…
In the 1970s the Defence Signals radio facility at Shoal Bay outside Darwin monitored Indonesian military communications and provided ample warning of Indonesia’s intentions to invade East Timor…
The burning of East Timor’s capital Dili by the Indonesian military and militias in September 1999 came as no surprise to Australian intelligence.
Just curious why none of the reporting around the spying in Aug 2009 mentioned the Jakarta bombing in mid July 2009 where Australians were hurt?Second, Indonesia spies on Australia as well. From 2004:
Can you help people understand why it was in the national interest for the PM of Australia to approve this spying?
In an extraordinary admission Indonesia says it bugged Australia’s embassy in Jakarta during the East Timor crisis and has tried to recruit Australians as spies.In fact, the Greens do support spying on Indonesia, as long as it helps Australian animals, not Australian humans:
Retiring Indonesian intelligence chief General Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono has claimed his agency tapped Australian civil and military communications and politicians’ phone calls…
Hendropriyono, who headed the Badan Intelijen Negara under president Megawati Soekarnoputri’s government, said it was well known that governments tapped each other’s communications and Indonesia had much evidence its embassies abroad were bugged…
“We can say this is a public secret. You know, secret but the whole public knows. This is quite common intelligence activity.”
Disturbing new footage has emerged showing what are believed to be Australian cattle being mistreated in Indonesian abattoirs.(Thanks to reader Yoda. Items bumped from earlier post.)
The footage aired on ABC1’s Lateline was shot in January in two abattoirs in Jakarta…
The Greens spokeswoman on animal welfare, Lee Rhiannon, says ... if the animals are confirmed to be Australian, the live export industry should be shut down....
“We do need the monitoring and auditing in this area,” she said.
UPDATE
More context, from someone who was deputy prime minister at the time of the alleged bugging:
(Thanks to reader Richard.)
In defence of Bob Carr. But then again…
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (9:42am)
I have been very critical of former foreign minister Bob Carr’s reaction to the Indonesia spying story, not least his suggestions on ABC radio this morning..
Reader Stephen cuts Carr some slack:
On the other hand there is this from Josh Frydenberg, a parliamentary secretary in the Abbott Government:
===Reader Stephen cuts Carr some slack:
But did you listen to the second half of Fran Kelly’s interview this morning with Bob Carr? It was about Sri Lanka.True. Credit where it is due. Carr did spike the latest media and Greens attack on Abbott’s boat people policy, with Fairfax and the ABC flaying Abbott for giving two patrol boats to Sri Lanka to help stop people smugglers bringing over what we’re meant to believe of victims of an appalling tyranny.
Carr was first class. He:
- noted the 35 years of civil war - wondered why people don’t dwell on the Tamil Tigers’ human rights abuses, including inventing suicide bombing and using women and children
- pointed out that if the Tigers had managed to carve out a ‘homeland’ in the north, it would have been pretty much like the Pol Pot regime
- noted that the UK and Canadian PMs actions were motivated largely by their large domestic Tamil constituencies
- rejected the notion that Australian foreign policy should be set by members of Diasporas that find their way here.
On the other hand there is this from Josh Frydenberg, a parliamentary secretary in the Abbott Government:
POOR old Carl Ungerer (”Abbott must abandon his Anglosphere nonsense”, 7/11).
In a fit of self-pity following Labor’s election defeat and his old boss Bob Carr’s humiliating dash to the parliamentary exit, Ungerer has launched a gratuitous and baseless attack on Tony Abbott and his outstanding senior adviser, Andrew Shearer.
While Abbott as PM has started strongly prosecuting his foreign and trade policy agenda, Carr as foreign minister was a complete dud.
On his watch, there were no headline speeches, no meaningful narrative for engaging the region and plenty of stuff-ups.
Who could forget Carr’s threat of sanctions against Papua New Guinea, the live animal export fiasco that cost hundreds of jobs and the thousands of unauthorised boat arrivals that made their way to our shores?
Not too interested in securing good policy outcomes, Carr was simply the nation’s leading taxpayer funded tourist scouring the world for stories to recount in his travel diary.
Were they protesting for global warming or against?
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (8:30am)
In Canada:
===Dozens of anti-pipeline and oilsands activists gathered Saturday in downtown Calgary as part of a nation-wide protest focusing on climate change…
Originally about 300 people were slated to participate in the Calgary protest, but due to a snow storm only about 50 showed up.
A modern academic
Andrew Bolt November 19 2013 (7:59am)
Stuart Grant is a Melbourne academic. Among his publications:
UPDATE
I thought a number of comments put up were mean and have removed them. I apologise to Mr Grant.
===Performing an aesthetics of atmospheresThis profile appeared in the Sunday Age on the weekend:
Fifteen theses on transcendental intersubjective audience,
Do theories and events deliver: A tripartite meditation on social dramaturgy
Abysmal Laughter
How to Say (Roughlyi??very Roughly): What Sort of a Thing a Triple Alice 3 is, Having Attended One
(Via James Paterson and Tim Blair.)
UPDATE
I thought a number of comments put up were mean and have removed them. I apologise to Mr Grant.
Journalists want Abbott’s boat people to fail. Now they’ve just done their best to make sure
Andrew Bolt November 18 2013 (7:52pm)
Journalists of the Left tend to hate Tony Abbott and his stop-the-boats policies.
One, Fairfax journalist Jack Waterford, at least admits it openly:
And now some may have succeeded in smashing Abbott’s warm relationship with Indonesia - a partnership critical in cracking down on people smugglers - by revealing Australia spied on Indonesian politicians:
And Abbott’s personal rapport with the president counts for little:
Note a few things.
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.
The media is failing to underscore that this alleged spying occurred in Labor’s watch, in 2009, when Kevin Rudd was prime minister. Indeed, Laurie Oakes on Channel 9 tonight quoted Bob Carr, Julia Gillard’s Foreign Minister, calling on Abbott to apologise to Indonesia with neither man pointing out that if any politician should apologise it is Rudd. Most reports seem keen to make Abbott the fall guy.
The reaction of the Indonesian English-speaking elite will be conditioned in part by the offence that the Australian “elite” - especially our “elite” media suggest they should take. If they catch ABC or Age reports that even we are as appalled as the Greens suggest we should be, they will feel even more strongly we have done them an evil.
Much of the media seems to be deliberately working against the national interest, and are blaming the damage on the man least responsible for it. Abbott hatred is hurting this country.
===One, Fairfax journalist Jack Waterford, at least admits it openly:
There are many people, including me, who want to see our shameful policies fail.
And now some may have succeeded in smashing Abbott’s warm relationship with Indonesia - a partnership critical in cracking down on people smugglers - by revealing Australia spied on Indonesian politicians:
Indonesia will call back its ambassador to Australia and “review” Australian diplomatic positions in Jakarta as anger rises in Indonesia over revelations that Australia tapped the phone of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife.Djoko is the minister co-ordinating all the agencies fighting people smugglers. If he’s threatening to end co-operation, it is very serious.
A statement from the office of the Co-ordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security, Djoko Suyanto, said Indonesia would: ...
Ask Australia to provide an official and public explanation and make a commitment not to repeat their actions;
Summon to Jakarta the Indonesian ambassador to Canberra, Primo Alui Joelianto, for a “consultation”;
Review the co-operation on the exchange of information between the Indonesian and Australian governments, including the assignments of Australian officers in the Australian embassy in Jakarta; and
Review all co-operation on the exchange of information and other co-operation with Australia.
And Abbott’s personal rapport with the president counts for little:
The spying revelations have ‘‘devastated’’ the President, according to his special adviser for political affairs, Daniel Sparringa.Job done.
‘‘Until today, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has always paid special attention toward the deepening of the two countries relations. Therefore the news has devastated us.”
Note a few things.
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.
The media is failing to underscore that this alleged spying occurred in Labor’s watch, in 2009, when Kevin Rudd was prime minister. Indeed, Laurie Oakes on Channel 9 tonight quoted Bob Carr, Julia Gillard’s Foreign Minister, calling on Abbott to apologise to Indonesia with neither man pointing out that if any politician should apologise it is Rudd. Most reports seem keen to make Abbott the fall guy.
The reaction of the Indonesian English-speaking elite will be conditioned in part by the offence that the Australian “elite” - especially our “elite” media suggest they should take. If they catch ABC or Age reports that even we are as appalled as the Greens suggest we should be, they will feel even more strongly we have done them an evil.
Much of the media seems to be deliberately working against the national interest, and are blaming the damage on the man least responsible for it. Abbott hatred is hurting this country.
Aprille Love
Shout out to the amazing @cueroshoes in rozelle for gifting me these amazing heels. Whether im wearing them on the red carpet or running around meeting with Parliament, they are the perfect pair of heels for any outfit or occassion! #lovethem#love #cuero
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G'day,
Do you remember the very funny hit film from the 80's, "SPIES LIKE US"?
Well if you do, then you can understand how I see this "international incident" as being just as funny and just as hyped up as the characters portrayed in that movie.
To think that there is any "surprise & shock" over the revelations that we would dare listen in on the communications of heads of government and defence related authorities in our region, AND let's not forget in this case, a nation that teachers its children that they have a birth right to the great southern land, a nation that spend billions of dollars of it's "foreign aid" on building it's military and a nation that has publicly admitted that strive to have an Defence Force greater & more powerful than ours, is a JOKE!
Diplomatically both sides do a great job of keeping the peace, and who would want anything to be different? BUT it must be understood that a huge part of the maintenance of regional peace is the agreed understanding of the fact that all major powers in this region DO and HAVE FOR A LONG TIME, monitored each other. Its keeps people honest.
The hypocrisy here is not that the Indonesians are in shock of these spying revelation, because what they are doing is purely playing a domestic card that shows strength and a little defiance due to the local elections in that country,...NO, the hypocrisy here is that the events reported took place whilst the ALP/GREENS coalition were in Government and it seems to me that the leader of the Greens, Christine Milne is purely playing for political points from the usual suspects & loss supporters, because she would have known this was going on & that she said nothing then!!! I have yet to hear her ever say how much she respects & admires the privacy of the President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono GCB in the past, and in my opinion, I doubt she likes the SBY regime much at all.
Godspeed
Zeg
Freelance Editorial Cartoonist/Caricaturist
0414293765
www.facebook.com/zegtoons
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Scum still on bathroom tiles .. thank you GIO
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This stunning Diamond Engagement Ring features a Marquise Cut Diamond set on the angle with a split graduated diamond channel set band....A totally gorgeous design to accentuate the beauty and elegance of an excellent cut Marquise shape diamond...the diamond in this handmade ring was 1.33ct F VVS2 — at Diamond Imports.
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Daniel Katz
SUNSET
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4 her
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Bill Glasson - LNP Candidate for Griffith
I am honoured to stand as your LNP candidate for Griffith. I have a passion for our community where I have lived for over 40 years and if given the privilege, I will be a strong local voice in government. I'll be committed to making positive changes for the people of Griffith, for our community and for Australia - Bill
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'Tony Abbott, worryingly, is risking the relationship with Indonesia for the red-neck vote at home,' Adam Bandt
http://www.skynews.com.au/
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BREAKING NEWS! The Executive Council of Australian Jewry have released a powerful statement outlining their concerns of Justin McCarthy's planned address in Parliament House.
"The ECAJ accepts the overwhelming view of history scholars that the killing of hundreds of thousands of civilians in these communities was done with genocidal intent".
"One of the venues to which Professor McCarthy has been invited to put forward his views, is a room in Parliament House Canberra, thereby lending his theories the misleading appearance of official approval. In our view, no part of Parliament House should be misused in this way".
The full release can be read below.
I agree with the executive council on each point. Free speech means that idiot is allowed to say what he allegedly thinks. It also means I am free to show how stupid such 'thoughts' are. To suggest the killing of a million people over years was not something a government is responsible for is no different to voting for a person who has a particular skin colour. It is bigoted and inexcusable. It is irresponsible and natural justice suggests that it be addressed and redressed. I note it i not technically feasible to raise the dead or take back torture, so monetary compensation is part of what must happen. Also, those who have held up the process of natural justice should face jail. - ed
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http://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=68515
Meh, their idea of adult fun involves alcoholic drinks .. just as with schoolies .. ed===
The majority are poor investments in left-wing agitation and spin. Can we have our money back?
http://www.news.com.au/money/money-matters/leaked-document-shows-abc-stars-salaries/story-e6frfmd9-1226764149242
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4 her
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http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/white-supremacist-serial-killer-joseph-paul-franklin-in-cnn-interview-days-before-execution/story-fnh81jut-1226763353722
The state isn't religious. if he repented, he would forgive his executor. - ed===
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Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin and her daughters visit Rush Limbaugh’s EIB Network studios in Florida on November 18, 2013, during the “Good Tidings and Great Joy” Book Tour. Photo by Shealah Craighead ©2013 All Rights Reserved Copyright Shealah Craighead Photography/SarahPAC — inPalm Beach, FL, United States.
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This is called the "100% Pure Chocolate Experience I Scream Max-Wich"... now that's a real mouthful.
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Stunning view in Norway
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Larry Pickering
INDONESIA'S FAKE OFFENCE
Rupert Murdoch knew as much about his employees’ phone hacking as did Kevin Rudd about ASIO’s. Phone tapping is disclosed only on a need-to-know basis and the boss has no need to know. In fact it’s important that he doesn’t know.
In 1973 under the hapless Whitlam ministry, Attorney General, Lionel Murphy mistrusted ASIO to the extent that he raided the joint, confiscating mountains of sensitive documents.
It was considered unprecedented that a government’s own spy agency was not to be trusted.
Murphy, along with half the Whitlam Cabinet, was at the time sharing the services of Jim (Commo) Cairns’ secretary, Junie Morosi, and confidentiality was not at a premium.
But ASIO was Murphy’s blind spot and, suspecting it was undermining him, he forced his way into their headquarters.
They weren’t of course, but such was the paranoia of a rapidly disintegrating Whitlam administration.
Murphy cheated jail on other matters by dying first.
Neither Kevin Rudd nor Julia Gillard would have been privy to ASIO phone tapping in 2009, and to suggest Tony Abbott is responsible is a notion entertained only by Labor nutters, the ABC and Fairfax.
That’s what ASIO’s is supposed to be doing... tapping phones! It is a bloody spy agency, what else would it do? And where else should it be tapping phones other than in the corrupt nest of Islamic terrorists to our north?
But ASIO and six other of our ridiculously fragmented spy agencies are still a law unto themselves.
The Chinese know more about our spy agencies’ activities than Abbott does. They easily acquired the blue prints of our newly constructed intelligence monolith in Canberra, necessitating the interior be ripped out and replaced.
Des Ball, of the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, said, "Once you get those building plans you can start constructing your own wiring diagrams, where the linkages are through telephone connections, via wi-fi connections."
Bob Carr said at the time, "It's got absolutely no implications for our strategic partnership (with China)." Really? Well said, Bob.
Indonesia’s confected outrage is aimed at its electorate, not us. Recalling its ambassador was a given, but in a few weeks he will be quietly reinstated.
Indonesia, feigning shock and horror, is as much embroiled in the spying game as everyone else is. It’s always been that way, except modern technology has made it much easier.
Last night’s 4 corners program confirmed what we’ve been saying all along: The Indonesians are corrupt to the core, cannot be trusted and are purposefully breaching our security on a daily basis.
Abbott has ample ammunition to diplomatically negate mere phone tapping and at least he has the intelligence to be making the right noises.
Sarah Hanson-Young of the Greens said today that Abbott should apologise to the Indonesians. WTF! Who the hell elects these Green gophers?
And thank God Julia, Nicola and Kevin are no longer required to navigate the complexities of international, quid pro-quo espionage.
It seems the only person enjoying these well-timed disclosures of international espionage is that little imp, Vladimir Putin.
Anyway, there will be no confrontation over spying but Indonesian assisted people trafficking to our shores is a different matter.
Especially when ex-Army General SBY has vowed to have a greater military capacity than Australia.
But we assist him with that ambition, don’t we?
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Rural Pennsylvania Sunset
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http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/jacktheinsider/index.php/theaustralian/comments/giant_tempest_in_a_huge_teacup/
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There is a donation box set up at Ricoh Australia in Fyshwick if anyone wants to give!
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A young lady was working In a watch shop one day when to her horror this fellow walked in, unzipped his trousers and put his John Thomas on the table.
"Sir, what is the meaning of this!" She said angrily. "This is a CLOCK shop!"
"Yeah, I know luv," replied the bloke. "I want you to put a face and a pair of hands on it!" —
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4 her
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C. H. Spurgeon
Anything is a blessing which makes us pray.
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Keep voting for the People's Choice Awards here:http://bit.ly/17b5w9z
Together we can take home the prize!
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Or, as my mother told me "Be yourself"
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Doctor Who – Starring You!
Throw yourself into the Time Vortex and put your name and face into the#DoctorWho opening titles. Create your video here:http://on.fb.me/DoctorWhoStarringYou
Throw yourself into the Time Vortex and put your name and face into the#DoctorWho opening titles. Create your video here:http://on.fb.me/DoctorWhoStarringYou
Post by Doctor Who.
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fascinating. No living person has ever helped them? - ed
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Anyone looking for a room in Sydney CBD? 1 bedroom+own bathroom available in King Street Wharf (part of 2bed apartment). Apartment is fully furnished, west facing overlooking darling harbor. Building has onsite gym, heated pool, sauna. $450 per week all bills and internet included
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This Canadian mum was fined $10 for sending a homemade lunch to school with her children. Here's why: http://bit.ly/1cFBjNO
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Cannot. Bear. To see this. *Sobs*
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/heartwrenching-photos-show-the-moment-dog-owners-say-goodbye-to-dying-friend/story-fngwib2y-1226764254217
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The war against Abbott by Fairfax. Pity, but unsurprisingly, they have to lie.
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2013/11/what-happens-after-tony-abbott-gets-sprung-snooping-or-the-sydney-morning-herald-is-sprung-bullshitt.html
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Who's your favourite #whereswally character?#wizardwhitebeard #wenda #woof #odlaw
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Pastor Rick Warren
When you are depressed, waiting until you FEEL like doing what's right is a huge mistake. You can't trust your feelings when depressed.
=We can give by #reason (What can I afford?) OR we can give by #revelation (God,what do u want to give through me?) Anyone can give the first way. The 2nd way activates faith, which pleases God.
WATCH HERE: http://bit.ly/ZvjGI9
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Father in heaven,I thank You for delivering me and setting me free. I will declare Your goodness. I will declare Your promises. I will declare Your favor so that I can live the good life You have prepared for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
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Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has delivered from the hand of the adversary (Psalm 107:2, AMP)
When you say what the Lord has done for you, when you declare that you are redeemed, you are opening the door for God to move on your behalf. The scripture tells us that He watches over His Word to perform it. When you declare His Word, when you speak His promises, He is faithful to fulfill them and lead you into victory all the days of your life.God bless you.
When you say what the Lord has done for you, when you declare that you are redeemed, you are opening the door for God to move on your behalf. The scripture tells us that He watches over His Word to perform it. When you declare His Word, when you speak His promises, He is faithful to fulfill them and lead you into victory all the days of your life.God bless you.
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Remember that the devil is a liar. So, don’t ever let the lies from the enemy or pressure from the world keep you from taking hold of everything the Lord has for you. Open your heart by faith and receive whatever you need today. Step out in boldness and strength because the Lord is with you.
PRAY ALONG.
Heavenly Father,I thank You for loving me today. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Thank You for being closer to me than the air I breathe. I receive Your promises today in faith and confidence. I cast all of my cares on You and set my heart on You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
PRAY ALONG.
Heavenly Father,I thank You for loving me today. Thank You for Your faithfulness. Thank You for being closer to me than the air I breathe. I receive Your promises today in faith and confidence. I cast all of my cares on You and set my heart on You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:9, NKJV)
No matter what today has in store, as a believer, you can approach the day with boldness and confidence. Why? Because the Lord is with you, and in Him is everything you need in this life. That means that if you need provision for something today, provision is with you. If you need wisdom today, wisdom is with you. If you need strength, joy or peace today, it’s with you. You can be confident today knowing that all of your needs are supplied spiritually, physically and emotionally because the Lord is with you. And best of all, He’s promised never to leave you nor forsake you.God bless you.
No matter what today has in store, as a believer, you can approach the day with boldness and confidence. Why? Because the Lord is with you, and in Him is everything you need in this life. That means that if you need provision for something today, provision is with you. If you need wisdom today, wisdom is with you. If you need strength, joy or peace today, it’s with you. You can be confident today knowing that all of your needs are supplied spiritually, physically and emotionally because the Lord is with you. And best of all, He’s promised never to leave you nor forsake you.God bless you.
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Father in heaven,I thank You for all of Your blessings in my life. I declare today that You are good and thank You for Your mercy. I set my heart and mind on You and ask that You have Your way in me. Help me to love You perfectly and keep me close to You in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Nuclear deal may sink in Geneva between hardline pressures in Tehran and tough Franco-Israel demands
http://debka.com/article/23451/Nuclear-deal-may-sink-in-Geneva-between-hardline-pressures-in-Tehran-and-tough-Franco-Israel-demands
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http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dennis-prager/the-midas-touch-and-the-leftist-touch/
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http://www.aish.com/jw/id/Devastation--Hope-in-the-Philippines.html
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http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2013/11/still-blaming-conservatives-for-lee-harvey-oswald
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November 20: National Sovereignty Day in Argentina
- 1820 – The American whaleship Essexsank 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) west of the western coast of South America after it was attacked by asperm whale, an event which inspiredHerman Melville's novel Moby-Dick.
- 1945 – The Nuremberg Trials (pictured) of 24 leadingNazis involved in the Holocaust and various war crimes during World War II began in Nuremberg, Germany.
- 1980 – An oil platform drilling accident caused Lake Peigneur in the U.S. state of Louisiana to drain into asalt mine underneath, creating a whirlpool that sucked down the lake's entire contents.
- 1991 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: An Azerbaijani military helicopter carrying a peacekeeping mission team was shot down in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, disrupting the ongoing peace talks.
- 1998 – The assembly of the International Space Stationbegan when Zarya, its first module, was launched fromBaikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
Events[edit]
- 284 – Diocletian is chosen as Roman Emperor.
- 762 – During An Shi Rebellion, Tang Dynasty, with the help of Huihe tribe, recaptured Luoyang from the rebels.
- 1194 – Palermo is conquered by Emperor Henry VI.
- 1407 – A truce between John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans is agreed under the auspices of John, Duke of Berry. Orléans would be assassinated three days later by Burgundy.
- 1695 – Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early Brazil, is executed by the forces of Portuguese bandeirante Domingos Jorge Velho.
- 1739 – Start of the Battle of Porto Bello between British and Spanish forces during the War of Jenkins' Ear.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces land at the Palisades and then attack Fort Lee. TheContinental Army starts to retreat across New Jersey.
- 1789 – New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
- 1820 – An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 2,000 miles from the western coast of South America (Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick is in part inspired by this story).
- 1845 – Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata: Battle of Vuelta de Obligado.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government.
- 1901- Mine fire in Telluride, Colo., kills 28 miners, prompts union call for safer work conditions
- 1910 – Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosi, denouncing Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.
- 1917 – World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins – British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are later pushed back.
- 1917 – Ukraine is declared a republic.
- 1923 – Rentenmark replaces the Papiermark as the official currency of Germany at the exchange rate of one Rentenmark to One Trillion(One Billion on the long scale) Papiermark.
- 1936 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange, is killed by a republican execution squad.
- 1940 – World War II: Hungary becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis Powers.
- 1943 – World War II: Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins – United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns.
- 1945 – Nuremberg Trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.
- 1947 – The Princess Elizabeth marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who becomes the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
- 1952 – Slánský trials – a series of Stalinist and anti-Semitic show trials in Czechoslovakia.
- 1962 – Cuban missile crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
- 1968 - A total of 78 miners are killed in an explosion at the Consolidated Coal Company’s No. 9 mine in Farmington, West Virginia
- 1969 – Vietnam War: The Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.
- 1969 – Occupation of Alcatraz: Native American activists seize control of Alcatraz Island until being ousted by the U.S. Government onJune 11, 1971.
- 1974 – The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T Corporation. This suit later leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell System.
- 1977 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets Israeli prime ministerMenachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
- 1979 – Grand Mosque Seizure: About 200 Sunni Muslims revolt in Saudi Arabia at the site of the Kaaba in Mecca during the pilgrimage and take about 6000 hostages. The Saudi government receives help from Pakistani special forces to put down the uprising.
- 1980 – Lake Peigneur drains into an underlying salt deposit. A misplaced Texaco oil probe had been drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Mine, causing water to flow down into the mine, eroding the edges of the hole. The resulting whirlpool sucked the drilling platform, several barges, houses and trees thousands of feet down to the bottom of the dissolving salt deposit.
- 1982 – The General Union of Ecuadorian Workers (UGTE) is founded.
- 1985 – Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released.
- 1989 – Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
- 1991 – An Azerbaijani MI-8 helicopter carrying 19 peacekeeping mission team with officials and journalists from Russia, Kazakhstan andAzerbaijan is shot down by Armenian military forces in Khojavend district of Azerbaijan.
- 1992 – In England, a fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, badly damaging the castle and causing over £50 million worth of damage.
- 1993 – Savings and loan crisis: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
- 1994 – The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol in Zambia, ending 19 years of civil war (localized fighting resumes the next year).
- 1998 – A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
- 1998 – The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched.
- 2001 – In Washington, D.C., U.S. President George W. Bush dedicates the United States Department of Justice headquarters building as the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Building, honoring the late Robert F. Kennedy on what would have been his 76th birthday.
- 2003 – After the November 15 bombings, a second day of the 2003 Istanbul Bombings occurs in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Bank AS and the British consulate.
- 2008 – After critical failures in the US financial system began to build up after mid-September, the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level since 1997.
Births[edit]
- 270 – Maximinus II, Roman emperor (d. 313)
- 1602 – Otto von Guericke, German physicist (d. 1686)
- 1621 – Avvakum, Russian priest (d. 1682)
- 1625 – Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (d. 1654)
- 1660 – Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian (d. 1741)
- 1750 – Tipu Sultan, Indian army officer and king (d. 1799)
- 1761 – Pope Pius VIII (d. 1830)
- 1762 – Pierre André Latreille, French zoologist (d. 1833)
- 1765 – Thomas Fremantle, English navy officer (d. 1819)
- 1781 – Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German jurist (d. 1854)
- 1813 – Franc Miklošič, Slovenian philologist (d. 1891)
- 1839 – Christian Wilberg, German painter (d. 1882)
- 1841 – Victor D'Hondt, Belgian mathematician (d. 1901)
- 1841 – Wilfrid Laurier, Canadian politician, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1919)
- 1851 – Margherita of Savoy (d. 1926)
- 1858 – Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
- 1866 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis, American judge (d. 1944)
- 1869 – Clark Griffith, American baseball player and manager (d. 1955)
- 1874 – James Michael Curley, American politician, 53rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1958)
- 1877 – Herbert Pitman, English ship officer, survivor of the Sinking of the RMS Titanic (d. 1961)
- 1880 – Walter Brack, German swimmer (d. 1919)
- 1880 – George McBride, American baseball player (d. 1973)
- 1882 – Andy Coakley, American baseball player and coach (d. 1963)
- 1884 – Norman Thomas, American minister and politician (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982)
- 1886 – Bray Hammond, American author (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Robert Hunter, American golfer (d. 1971)
- 1889 – Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (d. 1953)
- 1892 – James Collip, Canadian biochemist, co-discoverer of insulin (d. 1965)
- 1896 – Chiyono Hasegawa, Japanese super-centenarian (d. 2011)
- 1900 – Chester Gould, American cartoonist (d. 1985)
- 1903 – Alexandra Danilova, Russian ballerina (d. 1997)
- 1905 – François de Noailles, French nobleman (d. 2009)
- 1907 – Fran Allison, American actress and singer (d. 1989)
- 1907 – Henri-Georges Clouzot, French director (d. 1977)
- 1908 – Alistair Cooke, English-American journalist (d. 2004)
- 1910 – Kees Bastiaans, Dutch painter (d. 1986)
- 1910 – Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch mathematician (d. 1944)
- 1912 – Otto von Habsburg, Austrian-German son of Charles I of Austria (d. 2011)
- 1913 – Judy Canova, American actress (d. 1983)
- 1913 – Kostas Choumis, Greek footballer (d. 1981)
- 1914 – Emilio Pucci, Italian fashion designer and politician (d. 1992)
- 1915 – Kon Ichikawa, Japanese director (d. 2008)
- 1916 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (d. 2008)
- 1917 – Robert Byrd, American politician (d. 2010)
- 1917 – Bobby Locke, South African golfer (d. 1987)
- 1919 – Maurice Paul Delorme, French bishop (d. 2012)
- 1919 – Phyllis Thaxter, American actress (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Jim Garrison, American lawyer and judge (d. 1992)
- 1922 – Johnny Leach, English former table tennis player
- 1923 – Nadine Gordimer, South African author and activist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1924 – Benoît Mandelbrot, Polish-French mathematician (d. 2010)
- 1924 – Henk Vredeling, Dutch politician (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Kaye Ballard, American actress and singer
- 1925 – Robert F. Kennedy, American politician, 64th United States Attorney General (d. 1968)
- 1925 – Maya Plisetskaya, Russian ballerina
- 1926 – John Gardner, English author (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Terry Hall, English ventriloquist (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Andrew Schally, Polish endocrinologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1927 – Ed Freeman, American army officer and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2008)
- 1927 – Estelle Parsons, American actress and director
- 1928 – Aleksey Batalov, Russian actor and director
- 1928 – John Disley, Welsh horse racer
- 1929 – Penelope Hobhouse, Anglo-Irish garden designer, writer and lecturer
- 1929 – Don January, American golfer
- 1930 – Bernard Horsfall, English actor (d. 2013)
- 1932 – Richard Dawson, English-American actor and game show host (d. 2012)
- 1935 – Norman Barrett, English circus ringmaster
- 1936 – Don DeLillo, American author
- 1937 – Rhys Isaac, South African-born Australian historian (d. 2010)
- 1937 – René Kollo, German tenor
- 1937 – Ruth Laredo, American pianist (d. 2005)
- 1937 – Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish skier
- 1937 – Viktoriya Tokareva, Russian playwright
- 1939 – Dick Smothers, American actor and singer (Smothers Brothers)
- 1941 – Haseena Moin, Pakistani screenwriter and playwright
- 1941 – Oliver Sipple, American marine (d. 1989)
- 1942 – Joe Biden, American politician, 47th Vice President of the United States
- 1942 – Bob Einstein, American actor and comedian
- 1942 – Norman Greenbaum, American singer-songwriter
- 1942 – Meredith Monk, American composer and choreographer
- 1942 – Paulos Faraj Rahho, Iraqi archbishop (d. 2008)
- 1943 – Veronica Hamel, American actress
- 1944 – Louie Dampier, American basketball player
- 1944 – Mike Vernon, English record producer
- 1945 – Paul Langford, British historian
- 1945 – Rick Monday, American baseball player
- 1945 – Nanette Workman, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1946 – Kirill I, Patriarch of Moscow and all the Rus'
- 1946 – Duane Allman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Allman Brothers Band, Hour Glass, Derek and the Dominos, and The Allman Joys) (d. 1971)
- 1946 – Greg Cook, American football player
- 1946 – John Small, American football player (d. 2012)
- 1946 – Judy Woodruff, American journalist
- 1947 – George Grantham, American drummer and singer (Poco)
- 1947 – Joe Walsh, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (Eagles, James Gang, and Barnstorm)
- 1948 – John R. Bolton, American lawyer and diplomat, 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations
- 1948 – Park Chul-soo, South Korean director, screenwriter, and producer (d. 2013)
- 1948 – Barbara Hendricks, American-Swedish soprano
- 1948 – Richard Masur, American actor
- 1949 – Jeff Dowd, American film producer and activist
- 1949 – Thelma Drake, American politician
- 1951 – Rodger Bumpass, American actor
- 1951 – David Walters, American politician, 24th Governor of Oklahoma
- 1952 – John Van Boxmeer, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1954 – Berit Andnor, Swedish politician
- 1954 – Steve Dahl, American radio host
- 1956 – Gareth Chilcott, English former rugby union player
- 1956 – Bo Derek, American actress and producer
- 1956 – Mark Gastineau, American football player
- 1956 – Natasha Vlassenko, Russian-Australian pianist
- 1957 – Stefan Bellof, German race car driver (d. 1985)
- 1957 – Mike Craven, English footballer
- 1957 – John Eriksen, Danish footballer (d. 2002)
- 1958 – Rickson Gracie, Brazilian mixed martial artist
- 1959 – Orlando Figes, British historian
- 1959 – James McGovern, American politician
- 1959 – Sean Young, American actress
- 1960 – Veronika Bellmann, German politician
- 1960 – Marc Labrèche, Canadian actor
- 1961 – Jim Brickman, American pianist and songwriter
- 1961 – Tim Harvey, English race car driver
- 1961 – Larry Karaszewski, American screenwriter
- 1961 – Dave Watson, English footballer
- 1963 – Timothy Gowers, English mathematician
- 1963 – Ming-Na Wen, Macanese-American actress
- 1963 – Wan Yanhai, Chinese activist
- 1965 – Yoshiki, Japanese musician, songwriter, and producer (X Japan, S.K.I.N. and Globe)
- 1965 – Mike D, American rapper and drummer (Beastie Boys and The Latch Brothers)
- 1965 – Sen Dog, Cuban rapper (Cypress Hill and SX-10)
- 1965 – Jimmy Vasser, American race car driver
- 1966 – Kevin Gilbert, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1996)
- 1966 – Jill Thompson, American illustrator and writer
- 1967 – Teoman, Turkish singer-songwriter and actor
- 1967 – Chris Childs, American basketball player
- 1968 – Tommy Asinga, Surinamese runner
- 1968 – Chew Chor Meng, Singaporean actor
- 1969 – Callie Thorne, American actor
- 1970 – Matt Blunt, American politician, 54th Governor of Missouri
- 1970 – Phife Dawg, American rapper (A Tribe Called Quest)
- 1970 – Delia Gonzalez, American boxer
- 1970 – Geoffrey Keezer, American pianist
- 1970 – Sabrina Lloyd, American actress
- 1970 – Joe Zaso, American actor
- 1971 – Joey Galloway, American football player
- 1971 – Joel McHale, American comedian, actor, and producer
- 1971 – Marco Oppedisano, American guitarist and composer
- 1972 – Sheema Kalbasi, Iranian poet
- 1973 – Angelica Bridges, American actress and singer
- 1973 – Neil Hodgson, English motorcycle racer 2003 Superbike World Championship season winner
- 1975 – Dierks Bentley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1975 – Ryan Bowen, American basketball player
- 1975 – J. D. Drew, American baseball player
- 1975 – Joshua Gomez, American actor
- 1975 – Davey Havok, American singer-songwriter and actor (AFI, Blaqk Audio, and Son of Sam)
- 1976 – Dominique Dawes, American gymnast
- 1976 – Laura Harris, Canadian actress
- 1976 – Tusshar Kapoor, Indian actor
- 1976 – Jason Thompson, Canadian actor
- 1976 – Theodoros Velkos, Greek badminton player
- 1976 – Cemal Yıldız, Turkish footballer
- 1977 – Rudy Charles, American wrestling referee
- 1977 – Daniel Svensson, Swedish drummer (In Flames and Diabolique)
- 1977 – Josh Turner, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1978 – Freya Lim, Taiwanese-Malaysian singer
- 1978 – Nadine Velazquez, American actress and model
- 1979 – Maree Bowden, New Zealand netball player
- 1979 – Ericson Alexander Molano, Colombian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1980 – James Chambers, English footballer
- 1981 – Carlos Boozer, American basketball player
- 1981 – Sam Fuld, American baseball player
- 1981 – Kimberley Walsh, English singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress (Girls Aloud)
- 1982 – Margo Stilley, American actress
- 1984 – Tashard Choice, American football player
- 1984 – Ferdinando Monfardini, Italian race car driver
- 1984 – Justin Hoyte, English footballer
- 1985 – Juan Cruz Álvarez, Argentine race car driver
- 1985 – Dan Byrd, American actor
- 1985 – Aaron Yan, Taiwanese singer and actor (Fahrenheit)
- 1986 – Ashley Fink, American actress and singer
- 1986 – Özer Hurmacı, Turkish footballer
- 1986 – Oliver Sykes, English singer-songwriter (Bring Me the Horizon)
- 1988 – Rhys Wakefield, Australian actor
- 1988 – Max Pacioretty, American ice hockey player
- 1989 – Cody Linley, American actor and singer
- 1989 – Agon Mehmeti, Swedish footballer
- 1989 – Sergei Polunin, ballet dancer
- 1990 – Mark Christian, Manx cyclist
- 1991 – Anthony Knockaert, French footballer
- 1992 – Maiha Ishimura, Japanese singer (Berryz Kobo)
- 1993 – Sumire Sato, Japanese singer (AKB48)
- 2000 – Connie Talbot, English singer
Deaths[edit]
- 811 – Li Fan, Chinese statesman (b. 754)
- 855 – Theoktistos, Byzantine chief minister
- 869 – Edmund the Martyr, English king (b. 841)
- 1022 – Bernward of Hildesheim, English bishop (b. 960)
- 1314 – Albert II, Margrave of Meissen (b. 1240)
- 1316 – John I of France (b. 1316)
- 1437 – Thomas Langley, English bishop (b. 1363)
- 1518 – Marmaduke Constable, English soldier (b. 1458)
- 1518 – Pierre de la Rue, Flemish composer (b. 1452)
- 1529 – Karl von Miltitz, German pope (b. 1490)
- 1591 – Christopher Hatton, English politician (b. 1540)
- 1612 – John Harington, English writer (b. 1561)
- 1651 – Mikołaj Potocki, Polish soldier (b. 1595)
- 1662 – Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (b. 1614)
- 1695 – Zumbi, Brazilian king (b. 1655)
- 1704 – Charles Plumier, French botanist (b. 1646)
- 1737 – Caroline of Ansbach (b. 1683)
- 1742 – Melchior de Polignac, French cardinal, diplomat, and poet (b. 1661)
- 1758 – Johan Helmich Roman, Swedish composer (b. 1694)
- 1764 – Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (b. 1690)
- 1778 – Francesco Cetti, Italian scientist (b. 1726)
- 1856 – Farkas Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1775)
- 1894 – Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist and composer (b. 1829)
- 1898 – Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet, English engineer (b. 1817)
- 1908 – Georgy Voronoy, Russian mathematician (b. 1868)
- 1910 – Leo Tolstoy, Russian author (b. 1828)
- 1922 – Peter Ratican, American soccer player (b. 1887)
- 1925 – Alexandra of Denmark (b. 1844)
- 1934 – Willem de Sitter, Dutch mathematician, physicist, and astronomer (b. 1872)
- 1936 – Buenaventura Durruti, Spanish activist (b. 1896)
- 1936 – José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Spanish lawyer and politician (b. 1903)
- 1938 – Enzo Matsunaga, Japanese author (b. 1895)
- 1938 – Maud of Wales (b. 1869)
- 1943 – Emil Kellenberger, Swiss target shooter (b. 1864)
- 1945 – Francis William Aston, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)
- 1950 – Francesco Cilea, Italian composer (b. 1866)
- 1951 – Adolf Spinnler, Swiss gymnast (b. 1879)
- 1951 – Thomas Quinlan, English businessman (b. 1881)
- 1954 – Clyde Vernon Cessna, American aircraft designer (b. 1879)
- 1957 – Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, Russian-Lithuanian painter (b. 1875)
- 1973 – Allan Sherman, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1924)
- 1975 – Francisco Franco, Spanish dictator (b. 1892)
- 1976 – Trofim Lysenko, Russian biologist (b. 1898)
- 1978 – Giorgio de Chirico, Italian painter (b. 1888)
- 1978 – Vasilisk Gnedov, Russian poet (b. 1890)
- 1980 – John McEwen, Australian politician, 18th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1900)
- 1983 – Marcel Dalio, French actor (b. 1900)
- 1984 – Kristian Djurhuus, Faroese politician, 2nd Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1895)
- 1984 – Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani poet (b. 1911)
- 1994 – Jānis Krūmiņš, Latvian basketball player (b. 1930)
- 1994 – John Lucarotti, English-Canadian screenwriter (b. 1926)
- 1995 – Sergei Grinkov, Russian figure skater (b. 1967)
- 1995 – Robie Macauley, American author and critic (b. 1919)
- 1997 – Dick Littlefield, American baseball player (b. 1926)
- 1998 – Galina Starovoytova, Russian politician (b. 1946)
- 1999 – Amintore Fanfani, Italian politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Italy (b. 1908)
- 2000 – Mike Muuss, American computer programmer, created Ping (b. 1958)
- 2000 – Kalle Päätalo, Finnish author (b. 1919)
- 2003 – Robert Addie, English actor (b. 1960)
- 2003 – Loris Azzaro, French fashion designer (b. 1933)
- 2003 – David Dacko, African politician, 1st President of the Central African Republic (b. 1930)
- 2003 – Eugene Kleiner, American businessman, co-founded Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Roger Short, English diplomat (b. 1944)
- 2003 – Jim Siedow, American actor (b. 1920)
- 2003 – Kerem Yilmazer, Turkish actor (b. 1945)
- 2004 – David Grierson, Canadian radio host (b. 1955)
- 2004 – Jenny Ross, English singer (Section 25) (b. 1962)
- 2005 – Manouchehr Atashi, Iranian poet (b. 1931)
- 2005 – Nora Denney, American actress (b. 1928)
- 2005 – Sheldon Gardner, American psychologist (b. 1934)
- 2005 – James King, American tenor (b. 1925)
- 2005 – Chris Whitley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1960)
- 2006 – Robert Altman, American director (b. 1925)
- 2006 – Zoia Ceauşescu, Romanian mathematician (b. 1950)
- 2006 – Donald Hamilton, American writer (b. 1916)
- 2006 – Andre Waters, American football player (b. 1962)
- 2007 – Ian Smith, Rhodesian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Rhodesia (b. 1919)
- 2008 – Bennie Gonzales, American architect, designed the Heard Museum (b. 1924)
- 2008 – Sven Inge, Swedish painter (b. 1935)
- 2009 – Lino Lacedelli, Italian mountaineer (b. 1925)
- 2010 – Laurie Bembenek, American murderer (b. 1958)
- 2010 – Roxana Briban, Romanian soprano (b. 1971)
- 2010 – Chalmers Johnson, American author and scholar and (b. 1931)
- 2010 – Rob Lytle, American football player (b. 1954)
- 2010 – Danny McDevitt, American baseball player (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Kaspars Astašenko, Latvian ice hockey player (b. 1975)
- 2012 – Pedro Bantigue y Natividad, Filipino bishop (b. 1920)
- 2012 – David C. Copley, American businessman (b. 1952)
- 2012 – William Grut, Swedish pentathlete (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Ivan Kušan, Croatian author (b. 1933)
- 2012 – David O'Brien Martin, American politician (b. 1944)
- 2012 – Mike Ryan, Irish-American soccer player and coach (b. 1935)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Africa Industrialization Day (international)
- Black Awareness Day (Brazil)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Day of National Sovereignty (Argentina)
- Earliest day on which the Feast of Christ the King can fall, while November 26 is the latest; celebrated on the last Sunday before Advent. (Roman Catholic Church)
- Revolution Day (Mexico)
- Teachers' Day or Ngày nhà giáo Việt Nam (Vietnam)
- Transgender Day of Remembrance (LGBT community)
- Universal Children's Day (International)
- Wedding day of Elizabeth II (United Kingdom)
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"Avoid foolish questions."
Titus 3:9
Titus 3:9
Our days are few, and are far better spent in doing good, than in disputing over matters which are, at best, of minor importance. The old schoolmen did a world of mischief by their incessant discussion of subjects of no practical importance; and our Churches suffer much from petty wars over abstruse points and unimportant questions. After everything has been said that can be said, neither party is any the wiser, and therefore the discussion no more promotes knowledge than love, and it is foolish to sow in so barren a field. Questions upon points wherein Scripture is silent; upon mysteries which belong to God alone; upon prophecies of doubtful interpretation; and upon mere modes of observing human ceremonials, are all foolish, and wise men avoid them. Our business is neither to ask nor answer foolish questions, but to avoid them altogether; and if we observe the apostle's precept (Titus 3:8) to be careful to maintain good works, we shall find ourselves far too much occupied with profitable business to take much interest in unworthy, contentious, and needless strivings.
There are, however, some questions which are the reverse of foolish, which we must not avoid, but fairly and honestly meet, such as these: Do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Am I renewed in the spirit of my mind? Am I walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit? Am I growing in grace? Does my conversation adorn the doctrine of God my Saviour? Am I looking for the coming of the Lord, and watching as a servant should do who expects his master? What more can I do for Jesus? Such enquiries as these urgently demand our attention; and if we have been at all given to cavilling, let us now turn our critical abilities to a service so much more profitable. Let us be peace-makers, and endeavour to lead others both by our precept and example, to "avoid foolish questions."
Evening
"O that I knew where I might find him!"
Job 23:3
Job 23:3
In Job's uttermost extremity he cried after the Lord. The longing desire of an afflicted child of God is once more to see his Father's face. His first prayer is not "O that I might be healed of the disease which now festers in every part of my body!" nor even "O that I might see my children restored from the jaws of the grave, and my property once more brought from the hand of the spoiler!" but the first and uppermost cry is, "O that I knew where I might find Him, who is my God! that I might come even to his seat!" God's children run home when the storm comes on. It is the heaven-born instinct of a gracious soul to seek shelter from all ills beneath the wings of Jehovah. "He that hath made his refuge God," might serve as the title of a true believer. A hypocrite, when afflicted by God, resents the infliction, and, like a slave, would run from the Master who has scourged him; but not so the true heir of heaven, he kisses the hand which smote him, and seeks shelter from the rod in the bosom of the God who frowned upon him. Job's desire to commune with God was intensified by the failure of all other sources of consolation. The patriarch turned away from his sorry friends, and looked up to the celestial throne, just as a traveller turns from his empty skin bottle, and betakes himself with all speed to the well. He bids farewell to earth-born hopes, and cries, "O that I knew where I might find my God!" Nothing teaches us so much the preciousness of the Creator, as when we learn the emptiness of all besides. Turning away with bitter scorn from earth's hives, where we find no honey, but many sharp stings, we rejoice in him whose faithful word is sweeter than honey or the honeycomb. In every trouble we should first seek to realize God's presence with us. Only let us enjoy his smile, and we can bear our daily cross with a willing heart for his dear sake.
===Today's reading: Ezekiel 11-13, James 1 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 11-13
God’s Sure Judgment on Jerusalem
1 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. 2 The LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city.3 They say, ‘Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot, and we are the meat in it.’ 4 Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man.”
5 Then the Spirit of the LORD came on me, and he told me to say: “This is what the LORD says: That is what you are saying, you leaders in Israel, but I know what is going through your mind. 6 You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead....
Today's New Testament reading: James 1
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:
Greetings.
Trials and Temptations
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do....
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