SBS fell for a criminal who claimed to be bad. But he was really a pumpkin. Or a step sister with big feet .. or something. Marketing for Manus as a sex worker gets filmed. Paul Keating is best heard while pretending classical music is playing in the back ground, ala God Father. Keating describes the job losses in the car industry as 'liberation' for workers. I view it as union parasites killing a viable industry. Warmist hysteria has channel 9 opening news on heat wave in summer. I respectfully point out that had a Bradfield scheme been implemented, it would not be happening. The hot air is coming from a dry outback baked by sun. Give that outback fresh water and the heat is diminished from the water body ..
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Alan Vongsavanh and Bich Ngoc Ly. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
- 1494 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician (d. 1555)
- 1629 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (d. 1684)
- 1792 – Nicolas Toussaint Charlet, French painter (d. 1845)
- 1838 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English educator, theologian, and author (d. 1926)
- 1894 – Robert Menzies, Australian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978)
- 1901 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist, invented the Van de Graaff generator (d. 1967)
- 1905 – Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricketer (d. 1992)
- 1946 – Uri Geller, Israeli illusionist
- 1948 – Alan Parsons, English keyboard player and producer (The Alan Parsons Project)
- 1948 – Stevie Wright, English-Australian singer-songwriter (The Easybeats)
- 1952 – Jenny Agutter, English actress
- 1998 – Ivett Tóth, Hungarian figure skater
Matches
- 69 – Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor.
- 217 – The papacy of Zephyrinus ends. Callixtus I is elected as the sixteenth pope, but is opposed by thetheologian Hippolytus who accuses him of laxity and of being a Modalist, one who denies any distinction between the three persons of the Trinity.
- 1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home toEngland after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third Crusade.
- 1522 – Siege of Rhodes: Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.
- 1606 – The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
- 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 1893 – The end of one of the most dramatic Test Matches of all time. In the first to involve six days of play, England became the first team to win one after following on at Sydney.
- 1915 – World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli.
- 1946 – The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York, New York.
- 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
- 1985 – Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day.
- 2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
Despatches
- 217 – Pope Zephyrinus
- 1968 – John Steinbeck, American author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1971 – Roy O. Disney, American businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (b. 1893)
- 1973 – Bobby Darin, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1936)
===
Tony Abbott keeping his enemies far too close for comfort
Piers Akerman – Thursday, December 19, 2013 (7:17pm)
AS experienced as senior members of the Abbott government are, they are wasting their political capital with extraordinary decisions that fly in the face of true conservative governments.
TOASTIE THROWN
Tim Blair – Friday, December 20, 2013 (1:42pm)
It turns out that Guardian columnist Van Badham’s capacity for indulgent hysteria was inherited from her father:
When I was 13, my dad left one job after he had been offered another one – and the new job fell through. My parents had only just taken out a mortgage, and now dad was unemployed ...The events which pushed dad into unemployment were entirely beyond his control – just like Holden’s collapse is not to blame on its workers – but he was humiliated by them anyway. He was a man who defined himself by a willingness to work hard, and his ambitions were simple: to look after my mother and provide his only child everything he could to realise her dreams. When he became unemployed the two simple pillars of his character – his self-belief and role as a provider – were annihilated by forces beyond his control.I can now write about this openly only because my beloved father is dead. He was a fantastically resilient man who never cried but with the sense of personal failure that accompanied the disappearance of his income, he talked about killing himself. He raged at my mother for staying with him. He raged at me and when I made him a cheese toastie as a peace offering, he hurled it against the wall. I had failed to comprehend that my acts of charity were corroding any self-esteem he had left.
Or maybe he just didn’t like crappy sandwiches. Throw it on the ground! Anyway, for how long did this fellow endure what Badham describes as the “horrific stress of unemployment” and “the soul-shattering destruction of pride that goes with unemployment”? How long did it take before this victim of vicious capitalism found another job?
A total of six weeks.
UPDATE. The extract above is now expanded to give even greater insight into Van’s family tragedy, which basically goes like this: Dad quit his job. Then his new job didn’t happen. A month-and-a-half later, he got a job somewhere else. In the meantime he threw away a sandwich. The end.
ONCE UPON A LIE
Tim Blair – Friday, December 20, 2013 (1:16pm)
Instead of five years in prison, Michael LaHoud spent just four days on remand. But SBS fell for his wild tales of gangster and jail life:
TV network SBS has today canned one of next year’s most highly anticipated reality shows after the Daily Telegraph revealed its star lied about his “criminal past”.The station’s bosses were sent into an embarrassing, last-minute editing frenzy after it was revealed Michael LaHoud, the alleged “gangster star’’ of its upcoming series Once Upon A Time in Punchbowl, was not what he claims to be.
Usually, criminals claim to be innocent. Things work differently in Sydney. Read on.
WORKERS LIBERATED
Tim Blair – Friday, December 20, 2013 (11:20am)
Tony Abbott’s insensitive remark about “liberating” car workers has infuriated leftists:
People have found better jobs. I mean, did we ever hurt anybody liberating them from the car assembly line? When they left the car assembly line and got a more interesting job in the economy, did we do them a disservice?
No, wait – that was Labor’s own Paul Keating back in 2000. Abbott’s comment was actually far milder:
Some of them will find it difficult, but many of them will probably be liberated to pursue new opportunities and to get on with their lives.
(Via Marcus Strom)
UPDATE. Also on automotive issues, the SMH’s Paul Sheehan is being cheeky:
As the motor industry analyst Joshua Dowling observed after reading Bromberg’s judgment: ‘’The fate of Toyota Australia’s manufacturing operations has effectively been sealed by a decision in the Federal Court today. The court’s decision to block Toyota from asking its factory workers to vote tomorrow on changes to shift flexibility and overtime bonuses means … the entire Australian car industry is likely to grind to a halt after Ford’s factory shutdowns in 2016, Holden’s closures in 2017 and a likely end to Toyota’s operations in 2018, when the current Camry ends its run.’’
A more accurate way to describe Joshua: News Corp’s national motoring editor.
DEBBIE DOES MANUS
Tim Blair – Friday, December 20, 2013 (10:58am)
According to a Papua New Guinean politician:
Asylum seekers on Manus Island have starred in a “truly sickening’’ XXX-rated pornographic video with young local women on the island …Federal government security contractor G4S yesterday said it was “very concerned’’ about the allegations at its processing centre after Manus MP Ronny Knight slammed the centre as “out of control’’ while detailing how he had seen the mobile phone-captured video.Mr Knight, who has been a critic of the detention centre, could not be contacted yesterday but reportedly posted about the video on his Facebook page and threatened to take the footage to Australian authorities in PNG.
So far, there is no actual evidence of the alleged video.
Smooth Tasmania
Andrew Bolt December 20 2013 (8:06am)
In Tasmania sampling the local product.
Outstanding.
===Outstanding.
Warmist snowed
Andrew Bolt December 20 2013 (7:56am)
Tony Thomas on a
warmist who finally twigs that his fellow warmists don’t really want to
talk about the boring weather, after all:
===It must be a tipping point in the climate debate when a senior Shell executive notices something odd about the green activists with whom he has been consorting.
David Hone, Shell UK’s Melbourne-born “senior climate change adviser”, went to an academic conference on “radical emission reduction strategies” in London on December 10-11.
He concluded that he had fallen among eco-idiots wanting to remould society froym the ground up.
===
===
THE PERFORMANCE OF STATE LABOR GOVERNMENTS
Craig Kelly
‘The Performance of State Labor Governments’, released today by the Menzies Research Centre, analyses the performance of recent state Labor governments drawing upon publicly available data from independent, objective sources.The report finds that clear patterns emerge, that across Australia, state Labor governments have consistently:
• spent more than they earned
• imposed higher taxes and charges
• increased state debt and other liabilities, such as unfunded superannuation
• increased the number of state public sector employees, especially those in backroom administration, much faster than populations have grown
• spent revenue windfalls rather than saved them
• failed to build the infrastructure their citizens and businesses need; and
• failed to achieve significantly improved health and education outcomes despite spending much more money in these areas.
The report also finds that Coalition governments at both state and federal level have a long history of cleaning up a mess Labor governments have left behind.
This is occurring again as Coalition governments in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia work to restore prudent management to their state finances.
Sadly, South Australia and Tasmania still have Labor governments. And in both states, the budget situation has deteriorated badly and repairing it will present future governments, whoever they are, with major challenges.
menziesrc.org
http://menziesrc.org/publications/item/the-performance-of-state-labor-governments===
"As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." Nelson Mandela
LightWorkers Media #inspire
===
===
It's not only the English who have a sense of humor.
The Scots do as well! New Antiseptic!!
This cartoon originated in Scotland . It looks like most
Of the world is laughing at our nation's leadership!
How sad that the world is laughing at the United States ,
While we sit by and watch and wonder what will happen next!
"This one nails it perfectly."
President Obama's approval ratings are so low now, the Kenyans Are accusing him of being born in the United States .
===
Myth 12 .. voting Democrat or ALP will improve things with gun control .. ed
===
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Liberal Party of Australia
Today, Prime Minister Tony Abbott committed the Commonwealth Government to delivering reform on overseas adoption.
The Government will work with premiers and chief ministers to try to ensure overseas adoption is working in the best way possible.
You can read more here: http://lbr.al/x81r
===
"The key is to concentrate. After that you just have to..." - Hermione Granger "Battle a dragon." - Harry Potter
===
The Yankees sign 8-time All-Star OF Carlos Beltran to 3-year contract.#WelcomeToTheYankees
===
passione mediterranea
Scusate se sono rimasto nell'epoca in cui la fedelta' la fiducia e la sincerita' sono la base di un rapporto solido ed equilibrato
Cit.
===
Another teaser for you from#TheTimeoftheDoctor...
===
On the 11th day of ObamaCare, Democrats gave to me online hackers stealing, lots of paychecks shrinking, all the unions begging, coverage a’ dropping, businesses-a-closing, six-in-ten disapprovin', five million cancelled plans, Four-Oh-Four errors, fewer physicians, two times the cost and a nightmare for my family. http://bit.ly/1cCCEDL
===
"How does the ordinary person come to an experience of the transcendent? For a start, I would say, study poetry. Learn how to read a poem. You need not have the experience to get the message, or at least some indication of the message. It may come gradually. There are many ways, however, of coming to the transcendent experience.
"A significant approach is the way of ritual. A ritual allows us to participate in the enactment of a myth. One prepares internally to move with the image and the transcendent comes through."
Joseph Campbell, Thou Art That, p.92-93
===
===
Michelle Malkin
Debbie Wasserman Schultz to Michelle Malkin: You’re going to eat your words about Obamacare ==> http://twitchy.com/2013/
===
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“There’s another grim truth we should face up to: Medical science doctors confirm that when the lives of the unborn are snuffed out, they often feel pain, pain that is long and agonizing.” - Ronald Reagan, Jan. 30th, 1984. #throwbackthursday#prolife
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Rocky road and mars bar slice #work #sugarhigh
===
Adobe Vs. Mammatus
As a photographer we are ofttimes left with the choice of how to handle any given photograph we've taken... whether to go straight forward and recreate what we saw to document the event as well as our skills allow, or to take it into a surreal realm. This picture posed me that very question back in June of 2012. I decided to go with black light surrealism, as I like to thing of it. I pumped the colors and added a teal tone to the clouds. It looked pretty awesome that way. Today I revisited the image and as I took my new found developing skills to this shot decided to go for a document of the storm and what it actually looked like standing under it. I'm pretty stoked with the final outcome and am now wanting to share it. Spring can't come soon enough. The Central Plains are a callin' and I want to answer...
— with Mike Olbinski and Andy Hoeland at Springfield Colorado.As a photographer we are ofttimes left with the choice of how to handle any given photograph we've taken... whether to go straight forward and recreate what we saw to document the event as well as our skills allow, or to take it into a surreal realm. This picture posed me that very question back in June of 2012. I decided to go with black light surrealism, as I like to thing of it. I pumped the colors and added a teal tone to the clouds. It looked pretty awesome that way. Today I revisited the image and as I took my new found developing skills to this shot decided to go for a document of the storm and what it actually looked like standing under it. I'm pretty stoked with the final outcome and am now wanting to share it. Spring can't come soon enough. The Central Plains are a callin' and I want to answer...
===
www.news.com.au
.. land of opportunity .. ed===
===
I hate seeing soldiers go to war, but I love seeing them come home!
===
===
www.theaustralian.com.au
======
.. and fair and even handed ,, if pushed, the examiner could have imagined the boy was girl .. ed
===
www.news.com.au
Does not bode well for Californication .. ed===
Hysteria increasing ..exponentially! - ed
===
www.news.com.au
4 should suffice, per room .. ed===
===
Second prize was? ed
===
Is that all? A church is divided over an issue of civil law? It brings into question their adherence to their faith. - ed
===
#studio10 discussion on human rights commission. HRC has done nothing over the issue of Hamidur Rahman. It will do nothing on it. It produces reports, but achieves very poor outcomes on asylum seeker issues, disability, sex discrimination et al. We don't need a censor body. Get rid of it. - ed
===
www.algemeiner.com
======
===
<Wow ....... threatening to wipe Israel off the map .. so what are all those rockets Iran is sending to Hamas that is being fired into Israeli children homes, the Scud & cruise missiles to Hezbollah which are being aimed at Israel .. bomb grade nuclear enrichment, the building of nuclear capable missiles ... this is Peace Offerings ????>
===
<ABBAS WANTS UN DO NOTHING FORCE LIKE LEBANON Abbas wrote that the Palestinians and Israelis had come to agreement on a plan during Ehud Olmert’s term as prime minister that would place an international force, not the IDF, on the Israeli-Jordanian border.>
===
<IDF stopping Arab Palestinians from killing Israelis is destructive to the Peace Process .... Yep they said that !!!!>
===
===
www.virtualjerusalem.com
===
schanzer.pundicity.com
======
www.jpost.com
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/===
===
www.israelvideonetwork.com
======
www.jpost.com
======
<This is nothing new they have always hated us they hate us still and they will always hate us. Abbas will not recognize Israel as the Jewish State. That unyielding hatred is the only impediment to peace>
virtualjerusalem.com
======
I'm not 'we' .. I don't like the rhetoric of Islam exposed. I'm not disputing the facts. I just feel it is naive to attack Islam for the terrorism that is part of it. I've been given no reason to believe it is possible, but one day Islam won't house terrorists. But coming back to reality, there is no reward in uniting the enemy .. or giving them more than they are .. ed===
===
virtualjerusalem.com
Meh, UK don't have the death penalty .. I would like to think they will both die in jail a long time after discovering the futility of their atrocity. I would like their sponsors to join them. - ed======
===
This is Al-Qaeda, of whom US President Barak Obama boasted several times during his re-election campaign last year, of decimating this murderous, psychopathic, Islamist organisation.
To wit, “Al Qaeda is on the path to defeat."
Here instead, is another gruesome reminder of truth and reality:
Syria: Horrific Abuse in Secret Al Qaida Prisons - Israel National News
"Sources told Amnesty that some of those imprisoned by ISIS are as young as eight years old. Witnesses reported seeing teenagers being tortured, including a 14-year-old boy who was given 90 lashes during an interrogation." - Maayana Miskin
Continue to the link, reading this and more articles at ...….http://paper.li/
===
===
www.jewishworldreview.com
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to provide and improve our services. No endorsement of advertiser products
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===C/O The J Media Group
5455 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1000
Los Angeles, CA 90036
-- outside groups have begun invading Wyoming. Just recently a shadowy, out-of-state Super PAC launched a dishonest smear campaign to distort my record. And the National Republican Senatorial Committee partnered with my opponent to raise money to try and stop us. This is the same Washington Establishment that endorsed Democrat Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio. Liberal Republican Senators like John McCain and Olympia Snowe have endorsed my opponent. We must be doing something right if these folks are fighting so hard to preserve the status quo. These attacks are just the beginning. The Washington Establishment is doing all it can to try to stop us. Even with the mess in Washington today, the Establishment is fighting hard to protect incumbents. You and I know that protecting incumbents won't protect our freedom. Your support is critical to the continued success of my campaign and our efforts to stand and fight in defense of Wyoming values and freedom. Will you please stand with my campaign and make a much needed donation of $25, $50, $75, $100 or more? I am standing up to and fighting back against these Washington insiders but I cannot do it without the support of conservatives from across the country. And that means you. Please help me respond to these attacks by clicking this link and contributing to my campaign. Thank you for your support and friendship. With your continued support, we will prevail. Sincerely, Liz Cheney P.S. The Washington establishment would like to see my campaign defeated. I need your immediate financial help to ensure that doesn't happen. Please follow this link to make a secure online donation of $25, $50, $75 or more right now. Thank you. |
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- 1860 – South Carolina became the first of eleven slave states to secede from the United States, leading to the eventual creation of the Confederate States of America and later the American Civil War.
- 1955 – Cardiff (Cardiff City Hall pictured) was proclaimed as the capital of Wales.
- 1968 – The Zodiac Killer murdered the first of his five confirmed victims in Vallejo, California, a case which remains unsolved.
- 1988 – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances governing international cooperation against the illegal drug trade was signed in Vienna.
- 1995 – As per the Dayton Agreement that ended theBosnian War, the NATO-led IFOR began peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Events[edit]
- 69 – Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor.
- 217 – The papacy of Zephyrinus ends. Callixtus I is elected as the sixteenth pope, but is opposed by thetheologian Hippolytus who accuses him of laxity and of being a Modalist, one who denies any distinction between the three persons of the Trinity.
- 1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home toEngland after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third Crusade.
- 1522 – Siege of Rhodes: Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.
- 1606 – The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
- 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- 1808 – Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins.
- 1860 – South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States.
- 1893 – The end of one of the most dramatic Test Matches of all time. In the first to involve six days of play, England became the first team to win one after following on at Sydney.
- 1915 – World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli.
- 1917 – Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded.
- 1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison
- 1941 – World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.
- 1942 – World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India.
- 1946 – The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York, New York.
- 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
- 1952 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
- 1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
- 1957 – The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.
- 1959 – Unknown attackers murder the Walker family in Osprey, Florida.
- 1960 – The National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed.
- 1967 – A Pennsylvania Railroad Metroliner reaches over the limit of 155 mph on their New York Division, also present day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
- 1968 – The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.
- 1971 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto takes over as the fourth President of Pakistan.
- 1973 – The Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.
- 1977 – Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations.
- 1984 – The Summit Tunnel fire is the largest underground fire in history, as a freight train carrying over 1 million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England in the Pennines.
- 1985 – Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day.
- 1987 – In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
- 1988 – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed in Vienna, Austria.
- 1989 – United States invasion of Panama: The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega. This is also the first combat use of purpose-designed stealth aircraft.
- 1991 – A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
- 1991 – Paul Keating sworn in as the 24th Prime Minister of Australia after defeating Bob Hawke in a leadership ballot of the Australian Labor Party.
- 1995 – NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.
- 1995 – American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 159.
- 1996 – NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
- 1999 – Macau is handed over to China by Portugal.
- 2004 – A gang of thieves steal £26.5 million worth of currency from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast,Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, one of the largest bank robberies in British history.
- 2005 – Aleksandër Moisiu University was founded in Durrës, Albania.
- 2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
- 2007 – The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and O Lavrador de Café by Brazilian modernist painterCandido Portinari, are stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art.
Births[edit]
- 1494 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician (d. 1555)
- 1537 – John III of Sweden (d. 1592)
- 1626 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German politician (d. 1692)
- 1629 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (d. 1684)
- 1641 – Urban Hjärne, Swedish chemist, geologist, and physician (d. 1724)
- 1717 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French politician and diplomat (d. 1787)
- 1740 – Arthur Lee, American diplomat (d. 1792)
- 1786 – Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (d. 1853)
- 1792 – Nicolas Toussaint Charlet, French painter (d. 1845)
- 1833 – Samuel Mudd, American physician (d. 1883)
- 1838 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English educator, theologian, and author (d. 1926)
- 1841 – Ferdinand Buisson, French politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
- 1860 – Dan Leno, English actor (d. 1904)
- 1861 – Ferdinand Bonn, German actor (d. 1933)
- 1861 – Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (d. 1926)
- 1865 – Elsie de Wolfe, American actress and interior decorator (d. 1950)
- 1868 – Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (d. 1938)
- 1869 – Charley Grapewin, American actor (d. 1956)
- 1873 – Kan'ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian (d. 1948)
- 1874 – Frederick Steep, Canadian soccer player (d. 1956)
- 1881 – Branch Rickey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
- 1886 – Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player (d. 1974)
- 1888 – Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian (d. 1980)
- 1888 – Fred Merkle, American baseball player (d. 1958)
- 1890 – Yvonne Arnaud, French-English actress and singer (d. 1958)
- 1890 – Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
- 1894 – Robert Menzies, Australian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978)
- 1898 – Konstantinos Dovas, Greek general and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1973)
- 1898 – Irene Dunne, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1901 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist, invented the Van de Graaff generator (d. 1967)
- 1902 – Prince George, Duke of Kent (d. 1942)
- 1902 – Sidney Hook, American author (d. 1989)
- 1904 – Spud Davis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1984)
- 1904 – Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian philosopher (d. 1977)
- 1905 – Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricketer (d. 1992)
- 1907 – Paul Francis Webster, American songwriter (d. 1984)
- 1908 – Dennis Morgan, American actor and singer (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Vakkom Majeed, Indian politician (d. 2000)
- 1911 – Hortense Calisher, American author (d. 2009)
- 1914 – Harry F. Byrd, Jr., American lieutenant, publisher, and politician (d. 2013)
- 1915 – Aziz Nesin, Turkish author (d. 1995)
- 1916 – Michel Chartrand, Canadian union leader (d. 2010)
- 1917 – David Bohm, American-English physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (d. 1992)
- 1918 – Jean Marchand, Canadian trade unionist and politician (d. 1988)
- 1918 – Audrey Totter, American actress (d. 2013)
- 1922 – George Roy Hill, American director (d. 2002)
- 1922 – Beverly Pepper, American sculptor and painter
- 1924 – Judy LaMarsh, Canadian politician, author, and broadcaster (d. 1980)
- 1925 – Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer (d. 2007)
- 1926 – Geoffrey Howe, Welsh politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1926 – Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German politician (d. 2009)
- 1927 – Charlie Callas, American actor (d. 2011)
- 1927 – Kim Young-sam, South Korean politician, 7th President of South Korea
- 1931 – Mala Powers, American actress (d. 2007)
- 1931 – Terry Sanders, American director and producer
- 1932 – Leslie Adams, American composer and educator
- 1932 – John Hillerman, American actor
- 1933 – Jean Carnahan, American politician
- 1933 – Rik Van Looy, Belgian cyclist
- 1935 – Khalid Ibadulla, Pakistani cricketer
- 1938 – John Harbison, American composer
- 1939 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (d. 2012)
- 1940 – Pat Chapman, English author, founder The Curry Club
- 1941 – Tommy Cole, American actor, singer, and makeup artist
- 1942 – Rana Bhagwandas, Pakistani judge, Chief Justice of Pakistan1942
- 1942 – Jean-Claude Trichet, French banker and economist
- 1944 – Bobby Colomby, American drummer (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
- 1944 – Jean Fergusson, English actress
- 1945 – Peter Criss, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer (Kiss, Wicked Lester, and Chelsea)
- 1945 – Sivakant Tiwari, Singaporean lawyer (d. 2010)
- 1946 – Uri Geller, Israeli illusionist
- 1946 – Lesley Judd, English dancer and television host
- 1946 – Lloyd Mumphord, American football player
- 1946 – Sonny Perdue, American politician, 81st Governor of Georgia
- 1946 – John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1946 – Dick Wolf, American director, screenwriter, and producer
- 1947 – Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer-songwriter and journalist
- 1948 – Alan Parsons, English keyboard player and producer (The Alan Parsons Project)
- 1948 – Stevie Wright, English-Australian singer-songwriter (The Easybeats)
- 1949 – Soumaïla Cissé, Malian politician
- 1949 – Cecil Cooper, American baseball player
- 1949 – Oscar Gamble, American baseball player
- 1949 – Leigh Hamilton, New Zealand-American actress (d. 2012)
- 1950 – Arturo Márquez, Mexican composer
- 1951 – Peter May, Scottish author and scriptwriter
- 1951 – Gilbert Montagné, French singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1951 – Joey Silvera, American pornographic actor and director
- 1952 – Jenny Agutter, English actress
- 1952 – Sky Gilbert, Canadian drag queen performer, actor, and author
- 1954 – Michael Badalucco, American actor
- 1954 – Sandra Cisneros, American author
- 1955 – David Breashears, American mountaineer
- 1955 – Ed Kuepper, German-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Saints, Laughing Clowns, and The Apartments)
- 1955 – Rory Markas, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
- 1956 – Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Mauritanian general and politician, President of Mauritania
- 1956 – Guy Babylon, American keyboardist (d. 2009)
- 1956 – Blanche Baker, American actress
- 1957 – Stephen Bicknell, English organ builder (d. 2007)
- 1957 – Billy Bragg, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1957 – Joyce Hyser, American actress
- 1957 – Anna Vissi, Cypriot singer-songwriter and actress (Epikouri)
- 1957 – Mike Watt, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Banyan, Minutemen, Dos, The Stooges, and Firehose)
- 1958 – James Thomson, American biologist
- 1959 – Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Polish politician, 12th Prime Minister of Poland
- 1959 – Trent Tucker, American basketball player
- 1960 – Nalo Hopkinson, Canadian author
- 1960 – Kim Ki-duk, South Korean director
- 1961 – Mohammad Fouad, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actor
- 1961 – Mike Keneally, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dethklok)
- 1961 – Freddie Spencer, American twice Grand Prix Motorcycle World Champion (1983 & 1985)
- 1963 – Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo
- 1963 – Joel Gretsch, American actor
- 1963 – Iqbal Theba, Pakistani actor
- 1964 – Mark Coleman, American mixed martial artist
- 1965 – Jim Carr, American educator
- 1965 – Robert Cavanah, Scottish actor
- 1965 – Rich Gannon, American football player
- 1966 – Matt Neal, English race car driver
- 1966 – Chris Robinson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Black Crowes, Phil Lesh and Friends, and Chris Robinson Brotherhood)
- 1968 – Joe Cornish, English comedian and actor
- 1968 – Karl Wendlinger, Austrian race car driver
- 1969 – Bobby Phills, American basketball player (d. 2000)
- 1970 – Nicole de Boer, Canadian actress
- 1970 – Grant Flower, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1970 – Alister McRae, Scottish race car driver
- 1970 – Jörg Schmidt, German footballer
- 1971 – Roger J. Beaujard, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Mortician)
- 1972 – Anders Odden, Norwegian guitarist, songwriter, and producer (Cadaver, Magenta, Satyricon, Celtic Frost, Apoptygma Berzerk, andDoctor Midnight & The Mercy Cult)
- 1973 – Maarja Kangro, Estonian writer
- 1973 – David Nedohin, Canadian curler
- 1973 – Cory Stillman, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1974 – Die, Japanese guitarist (Dir En Grey)
- 1975 – Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer
- 1975 – Jaydy Michel, Mexican model
- 1976 – Aubrey Huff, American baseball player
- 1976 – Jang Hyuk, South Korean actor
- 1976 – Adam Powell, Welsh game designer and businessman, co-founded Meteor Games
- 1976 – Ramon Stoppelenburg, Dutch author
- 1976 – Nenad Vučković, Croatian footballer
- 1978 – Andrei Markov, Russian-Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer
- 1979 – David DeJesus, American baseball player
- 1979 – George Lamb, English radio and television host
- 1979 – Ramón Rodríguez, Puerto Rican American actor
- 1979 – Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist
- 1980 – Israel Castro, Mexican footballer
- 1980 – Ashley Cole, English footballer
- 1980 – Anthony da Silva, French-Portuguese footballer
- 1980 – Martín Demichelis, Argentine footballer
- 1980 – Fitz Hall, English footballer
- 1981 – Royal Ivey, American basketball player
- 1981 – James Shields, American baseball player
- 1981 – Roy Williams, American football player
- 1982 – Keny Arkana, French rapper
- 1982 – Mohammad Asif, Pakistani cricketer
- 1982 – David Cook, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Axium and Midwest Kings)
- 1982 – Kasper Klausen, Danish footballer
- 1982 – David Wright, American baseball player
- 1983 – Jonah Hill, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1983 – Chelsea Johnson, American pole vaulter
- 1983 – Lucy Pinder, English model
- 1983 – Darren Sammy, St. Lucian cricketer
- 1983 – Lara Stone, Dutch model
- 1983 – Adrián Varela, Mexican singer
- 1984 – Nikolaos Karabelas, Greek footballer
- 1984 – David Tavaré, Spanish singer
- 1985 – Jillian Grace, Play boy Playmate Miss March 2005
- 1986 – Benjamin Brierley, English-German rugby player
- 1986 – Anoop Desai, American singer-songwriter
- 1987 – Tariel Zintiridis, Greek martial artist
- 1988 – Andrés Bottiglieri Italian–Argentine footballer
- 1989 – Allan Hyde Danish actor
- 1990 – Filipp Breytveyt, Russian footballer
- 1990 – JoJo, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1991 – Hunter Gomez, American actor
- 1992 – Ksenia Makarova, Russian-American figure skater
- 1997 – Nazlati Mohamed Andhumdine, Comorian swimmer
- 1997 – Suzuka Nakamoto, Japanese idol, singer, model (Babymetal, Karen Girl's & Sakura Gakuin)
- 1998 – Ivett Tóth, Hungarian figure skater
Deaths[edit]
- 217 – Pope Zephyrinus
- 860 – Æthelbald of Wessex (b. 834)
- 1022 – Elvira Mendes, Portuguese wife of Alfonso V of León (b. 996)
- 1355 – Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (b. 1308)
- 1494 – Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian poet (b. 1434)
- 1539 – Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer (b. 1506)
- 1590 – Ambroise Paré, French physician (b. 1510)
- 1722 – Kangxi Emperor of China (b. 1654)
- 1723 – Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician and botanist (b. 1652)
- 1740 – Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, English military officer and politician (b. 1675)
- 1765 – Louis, Dauphin of France (b. 1729)
- 1768 – Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, Italian poet (b. 1692)
- 1783 – Antonio Soler, Spanish composer (b. 1729)
- 1812 – Sacagawea, American member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (b. 1788)
- 1856 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian activist (b. 1820)
- 1862 – Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (b. 1791)
- 1880 – Gaspar Tochman, Polish-American soldier (b. 1797)
- 1915 – Upendrakishore Ray, Indian painter and composer (b. 1863)
- 1916 – Louis de Champsavin, French horse rider (b. 1867)
- 1917 – Lucien Petit-Breton, French cyclist (b. 1882)
- 1920 – Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (b. 1863)
- 1921 – Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general (b. 1850)
- 1927 – Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1872)
- 1929 – Émile Loubet, French politician, 8th President of France (b. 1838)
- 1935 – Martin O'Meara, Irish-Australian soldier (b. 1882)
- 1937 – Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865)
- 1938 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary (b. 1850)
- 1938 – Matilda Howell, American archer (b. 1859)
- 1941 – Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887)
- 1950 – Enrico Mizzi, 6th Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1885)
- 1954 – James Hilton, English author (b. 1900)
- 1956 – Ramón Carrillo, Argentine neuroscientist (b. 1906)
- 1959 – Juhan Simm, Estonian copmpser (b. 1885)
- 1961 – Moss Hart, American playwright (b. 1904)
- 1961 – Earle Page, Australian politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880)
- 1968 – John Steinbeck, American author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1971 – Roy O. Disney, American businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (b. 1893)
- 1973 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (b. 1904)
- 1973 – Bobby Darin, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1936)
- 1974 – Rajani Palme Dutt, British journalist and communist politician (b. 1896)
- 1974 – André Jolivet, French composer (b. 1905)
- 1976 – Richard J. Daley, American politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1902)
- 1981 – Dimitris Rontiris, Greek actor and director (b. 1899)
- 1982 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist (b. 1887)
- 1984 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1946)
- 1986 – Joe DeSa, American baseball player (b. 1959)
- 1988 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian businessman (b. 1908)
- 1989 – Kurt Böhme, German opera singer (b. 1908)
- 1991 – Simone Beck, French chef (b. 1904)
- 1991 – Sam Rabin, English wrestler, sculptor and singer (b. 1903)
- 1991 – Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (b. 1942)
- 1993 – William Edwards Deming American statistician, professor, author, lecturer and consultant (b. 1900)
- 1994 – Dean Rusk, American diplomat, 54th United States Secretary of State (b. 1909)
- 1996 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer and author (b. 1934)
- 1997 – Denise Levertov, English-American poet (b. 1923)
- 1997 – Juzo Itami, Japanese actor and director (b. 1933)
- 1997 – Dawn Steel, American film producer (b. 1946)
- 1998 – Irene Hervey, American actress (b. 1909)
- 1998 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
- 1998 – C. P. Lyons, Canadian historian and author (b. 1915)
- 1999 – Riccardo Freda, Italian director (b. 1909)
- 1999 – Hank Snow, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1914)
- 2000 – Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, Bangladeshi politician and philanthropist (b. 1920)
- 2001 – Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese politician, 1st President of Senegal (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Bernard King, Australian actor and chef (b. 1934)
- 2005 – Maniam Moorthy, Malaysian mountaineer
- 2006 – Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (b. 1929)
- 2006 – Piergiorgio Welby, Italian poet and activist (b. 1945)
- 2006 – Shi Yuejun, Chinese spree killer (b. 1970)
- 2007 – Nataline Sarkisyan, American medical patient (b. 1990)
- 2008 – Adrian Mitchell, English poet (b. 1932)
- 2009 – Mairoon Ali, Trinidadian actress (b. 1954)
- 2009 – Jack Hixon, English sports scout (b. 1921)
- 2009 – Brittany Murphy, American actress (b. 1977)
- 2009 – Arnold Stang, American actor (b. 1918)
- 2010 – Brian Hanrahan, English journalist (b. 1949)
- 2010 – Steve Landesberg, American actor and comedian (b. 1936)
- 2010 – James R. Mann, American lawyer and politician (b. 1920)
- 2010 – K. P. Ratnam, Sri Lankan Tamil politician (b. 1914)
- 2011 – Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Stan Charlton, English football player and manager (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Leslie Claudius, Indian field hockey player (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Richard Crandall, American physicist and computer scientist (b. 1947)
- 2012 – Niall FitzGerald, Irish footballer (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Robert Juniper, Australian painter and sculptor (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Eagle Keys, American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Larry L. King, American journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Jimmy McCracklin, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Victor Merzhanov, Russian pianist (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Albert Renaud, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Kamil Sönmez, Turkish singer and actor (b. 1947)
- 2012 – Dennis Stevens, English footballer (b. 1933)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Abolition of Slavery Day, also known as Fête des Cafres (Réunion, French Guiana)
- Bo Aung Kyaw Day (Myanmar)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Earliest date for Winter solstice's eve (Northern Hemisphere), and its related observances:
- International Human Solidarity Day (International)
- Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau)
“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven” Luke 1:76-78 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord."
Proverbs 16:33
Proverbs 16:33
If the disposal of the lot is the Lord's whose is the arrangement of our whole life? If the simple casting of a lot is guided by him, how much more the events of our entire life--especially when we are told by our blessed Saviour: "The very hairs of your head are all numbered: not a sparrow falleth to the ground without your Father." It would bring a holy calm over your mind, dear friend, if you were always to remember this. It would so relieve your mind from anxiety, that you would be the better able to walk in patience, quiet, and cheerfulness as a Christian should. When a man is anxious he cannot pray with faith; when he is troubled about the world, he cannot serve his Master, his thoughts are serving himself. If you would "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," all things would then be added unto you. You are meddling with Christ's business, and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances. You have been trying "providing" work and forgetting that it is yours to obey. Be wise and attend to the obeying, and let Christ manage the providing. Come and survey your Father's storehouse, and ask whether he will let you starve while he has laid up so great an abundance in his garner? Look at his heart of mercy; see if that can ever prove unkind! Look at his inscrutable wisdom; see if that will ever be at fault. Above all, look up to Jesus Christ your Intercessor, and ask yourself, while he pleads, can your Father deal ungraciously with you? If he remembers even sparrows, will he forget one of the least of his poor children? "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain thee. He will never suffer the righteous to be moved."
My soul, rest happy in thy low estate,
Nor hope nor wish to be esteem'd or great;
To take the impress of the Will Divine,
Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.
Evening
"And there was no more sea."
Revelation 21:1
Revelation 21:1
Scarcely could we rejoice at the thought of losing the glorious old ocean: the new heavens and the new earth are none the fairer to our imagination, if, indeed, literally there is to be no great and wide sea, with its gleaming waves and shelly shores. Is not the text to be read as a metaphor, tinged with the prejudice with which the Oriental mind universally regarded the sea in the olden times? A real physical world without a sea it is mournful to imagine, it would be an iron ring without the sapphire which made it precious. There must be a spiritual meaning here. In the new dispensation there will be no division--the sea separates nations and sunders peoples from each other. To John in Patmos the deep waters were like prison walls, shutting him out from his brethren and his work: there shall be no such barriers in the world to come. Leagues of rolling billows lie between us and many a kinsman whom tonight we prayerfully remember, but in the bright world to which we go there shall be unbroken fellowship for all the redeemed family. In this sense there shall be no more sea. The sea is the emblem of change; with its ebbs and flows, its glassy smoothness and its mountainous billows, its gentle murmurs and its tumultuous roarings, it is never long the same. Slave of the fickle winds and the changeful moon, its instability is proverbial. In this mortal state we have too much of this; earth is constant only in her inconstancy, but in the heavenly state all mournful change shall be unknown, and with it all fear of storm to wreck our hopes and drown our joys. The sea of glass glows with a glory unbroken by a wave. No tempest howls along the peaceful shores of paradise. Soon shall we reach that happy land where partings, and changes, and storms shall be ended! Jesus will waft us there. Are we in him or not? This is the grand question.
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Today's reading: Jonah 1-4, Revelation 10 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Jonah 1-4
Jonah Flees From the LORD
1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish....”
Today's New Testament reading: Revelation 10
The Angel and the Little Scroll
1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”
5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets....”
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Abigail
The Woman With Beauty and Brains
Scripture References—1 Samuel 25:1-42; 2 Samuel 3:3
Name Meaning—Father of Joy, orCause of Joy
Family Connections —Scripture gives us no clue as to Abigail’s parentage or genealogy. Ellicott suggests that the name given this famous Jewish beauty who became the good angel of Nabal’s household was likely given her by the villagers of her husband’s estate. Meaning “Whose father is joy,” Abigail was “expressive of her sunny, gladness-bringing presence.” Her religious witness and knowledge of Jewish history testify to an early training in a godly home, and acquaintance with the teachings of the prophets in Israel, Her plea before David also reveals her understanding of the events of her own world.
The three conspicuous characters in the story of one of the loveliest females in the Bible are Nabal, Abigail and David. Nabal is described as “the man churlish and evil in his doings” (1 Samuel 25:3), and his record proves him to be all that. Churlish means, a bear of man, harsh, rude and brutal. Destitute of the finer qualities his wife possessed, he was likewise avaricious and selfish. Rich and increased with goods and gold, he thought only of his possessions and could be classed among those of whom it has been written—
The man may breathe but never lives
Whoe'er receives but nothing gives—
Creation’s blot, creation’s blank,
Whom none can love and none can thank.
Nabal was also a drunken wretch, as well as being unmanageable and stubborn and ill-tempered. Doubtless he was often “very drunken.” This wretch of a man was likewise an unbeliever, “a son of Belial,” who bowed his knee to the god of this world and not to the God of his fathers. Further, as a follower of Saul he shared the rejected king’s jealousy of David. Added to his brutal disposition and evil doings was that of stupidity, as his name suggests. Pleading for his unworthy life, Abigail asked for mercy because of his foolishness. “As his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him” ( vs 25). Nabal means “a fool,” and what Abigail actually meant was, “Pay no attention to my wretched husband for he’s a fool by name, and a fool by nature.” Truly, such a man will always provoke the profoundest perversion in all who read his story.
Abigail is as “a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance.” In her, winsomeness and wisdom were wed. She had brains as well as beauty. Today, many women try to cultivate beauty and neglect their brains. A lovely face hides an empty mind. But with Abigail, loveliness and intelligence went hand in hand, with her intelligence emphasizing her physical attractiveness. A beautiful woman with a beautiful mind as she had is surely one of God’s masterpieces.
Added to her charm and wisdom was that of piety. She knew God, and although she lived in such an unhappy home, she remained a saint. Her own soul, like that of David, was “bound in the bundle of life with the Lord God.” Writing of Abigail as “A Woman of Tact” W. Mackintosh Mackay says that, “she possessed in harmonious combination these two qualities which are valuable to any one, but which are essential to one who has to manage men—the tact of a wise wife and the religious principle of a good woman.” Eugenia Price, who writes of Abigail as,A Woman With God’s Own Poise , says that, “only God can give a woman poise like Abigail possessed, and God can only do it when a woman is willing to cooperate as Abigail cooperated with Him on every point.” True to the significance of her own name she experienced that in God her Father there was a source of joy enabling her to be independent of the adverse, trying circumstances of her miserable home life. She must have had implicit confidence in God to speak to David as she did about her divinely predestined future. In harmony with her many attractions was “the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is more lustrous than the diamonds that decorate the delicate fingers of our betters, shone as an ornament of gold about her head, and chains about her neck.”
David is the other outstanding character in the record. He it was who fought the battles of the Lord, and evil had not been found in him all his days (25:28). He could match Abigail’s beauty, for it was said of him that he was “ruddy...of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to” (1 Samuel 16:12 ). When Abigail and David became one they must have been a handsome pair to look upon! Then, in addition to being most musical, David was equal with Abigail in wisdom and piety for he was “prudent in matters,...and the Lord [was] with him” (1 Samuel 16:18).
The sacred historian tells us how these three persons were brought together in a tragic way. David was an outlaw because of Saul’s hatred, and lived in the strongholds of the hills with his loyal band of 600 followers. Having often helped Nabal’s herdsmen out, being in need of food for his little army, David sent a kind request to Nabal for help. In his churlish fashion, Nabal bluntly refused to give David a crumb for his hungry men, and dismissed David as a marauding hireling. Angered, David threatened to plunder Nabal’s possession and kill Nabal and all those who emulated his contempt. Abigail, learning from the servants of David’s request and her husband’s rude refusal, unknown to Nabal, acted with thought, care and great rapidity. As Ellicott comments &--;
Having often acted as peace-maker between her intemperate husband and his neighbours, on hearing the story and how imprudently her husband had behaved, saw that no time must be lost, for with a clever woman’s wit she saw that grave consequences would surely follow the churlish refusal and the rash words, which betrayed at once the jealous adherent of Saul and the bitter enemy of the powerful outlaw.
Gathering together a quantity of food and wine, sufficient she thought for David’s immediate need, Abigail rode out on an ass and at a covert of a hill met David and his men—and what a momentous meeting it turned out to be. With discreet tact Abigail averted David’s just anger over Nabal’s insult to his messengers, by placing at David’s feet food for his hungry men. She also revealed her wisdom in that she fell at the feet of David, as an inferior before a superior, and acquiesced with him in his condemnation of her brutal, foolish husband.
As a Hebrew woman was restricted by the customs of her time to give counsel only in an emergency and in the hour of greatest need, Abigail, who had risked the displeasure of her husband whose life was threatened, did not act impulsively in going to David to plead for mercy. She followed the dictates of her disciplined will, and speaking at the opportune moment her beautiful appeal from beautiful lips, captivated the heart of David. “As his own harp had appeased Saul, the sweet-toned voice of Abigail exorcised the demon of revenge, and woke the angel that was slumbering in David’s bosom.” We can never gauge the effect of our words and actions upon others. The intervention of Abigail in the nick of time teaches us that when we have wisdom to impart, faith to share, and help to offer, we must not hesitate to take any risk that may be involved.
Abigail had often to make amends for the infuriated outbursts of her husband. Neighbors and friends knew her drunken sot of a husband only too well, but patiently she would pour oil on troubled waters, and when she humbly approached with a large peace offering, her calmness soothed David’s anger and gave her the position of advantage. For her peace-making mission she received the king’s benediction (25:33 ). Her wisdom is seen in that she did not attempt to check David’s turbulent feelings by argument, but won him by wise, kind words. Possessing heavenly intelligence, self-control, common sense and vision, she exercised boundless influence over a great man, and marked herself out as a truly great woman. After Abigail’s successful, persuasive entreaty for the life of her worthless husband, the rest of her story reads like a fairy tale. She returned to her wicked partner to take up her hard and bitter life again.
It is to the credit of this noble woman that she did not leave her godless husband or seek divorce from him, but remained a loyal wife and the protector of her worthless partner. She had taken him for better or for worse, and life for her was worse than the worst. Wretched though her life was, and spurned, insulted and beaten as she may have been during Nabal’s drinking bouts, she clung to the man to whom she had sworn to be faithful. Abigail manifested a love stronger than death. But the hour of deliverance came ten days after her return home, when by a divine stroke, Nabal’s worthless life ended. When David hearkened to the plea of Abigail and accepted her person, he rejoiced over being kept back by her counsel from taking into his own hands God’s prerogative of justice (Romans 12:19).
When David said to Abigail, “Blessed be thy advice,” he went on to confess with his usual frank generosity that he had been wrong in giving way to wild, ungovernable passion. If Abigail had not interceded he would have carried out his purpose and destroyed the entire household of Nabal, which massacre would have included Abigail herself. But death came as the great divorcer or arbiter, and Nabal’s wonderful wife had no tears of regret, for amid much suffering and disappointment she had fulfilled her marriage vows. In that farmer’s house there had been “The Beauty and the Beast.” The Beast was dead, and the Beauty was legally free of her terrible bondage.
After Nabal’s death, David “communed with Abigail” (1 Samuel 25:39)—a technical expression for asking one’s hand in marriage (Song of Solomon 8:8)—and took her as his wife. Married to Israel’s most illustrious king, Abigail entered upon a happier career. By David, she had a son named Chileab, or Daniel (compare 2 Samuel 3:3 with 1 Chronicles 3:1). The latter name means, “God is my Judge,” and one has an inkling that the choice of such a name was Abigail’s because of her experience of divine vindication. She accompanied David to Gath and Ziklag (1 Samuel 27:3; 30:5, 18). Matthew Henry’s comment at this point is, “Abigail married David in faith, not questioning but that, though now he had not a house of his own, yet God’s promise to him would at length be fulfilled.” Abigail brought to David not only “a fortune in herself,” but much wealth so useful to David in the meeting of his manifold obligations.
Among the lessons to be learned from the life of Abigail, the first is surely evident, namely, that much heartache follows when a Christian woman marries an unbeliever. Unequal yokes do not promote true and abiding happiness. The tragedy in Abigail’s career began when she married Nabal, a young man of Naon. Already we have asked the question, Why did she marry such a man? Why did such a lovely girl throw herself away upon such a brute of a man? According to the custom of those times marriages were man-made, the woman having little to say about the choice of a husband. Marriage was largely a matter of family arrangement. Nabal was of wealthy parentage and rich in his own right with 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats and thus seemed a good catch for Abigail. But character should be considered before possessions.
Many a woman in the world today made her own choice of a partner. Perhaps she knew of his failures and thought that after marriage she would reform him, but found herself joined to one whose ways became more evil. Then think of those brave, unmurmuring wives who have to live with the fool of a husband whose drunken, crude ways are repellant, yet who, by the grace of God accept and live with their trial; and who, because of a deep belief in divine sufficiency retain their poise. Such living martyrs are among God’s heroines. All of us know of those good women chained with the fetters of a wretched married life for whom it would be infinitely better for them—
To lie in their graves where the head, heart and breast,
From care, labour and sorrow forever should rest.
Thinking of modern Abigails the appropriate lines of noble Elizabeth Barrett Browning come to mind—
The sweetest lives are those to duty wed,
Whose deeds, both great and small, and closeknit strands
Of an unbroken thread; where love ennobles all.
The World may sound no trumpets, ring no bells:
The Book of Life the shining record tells.
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Ahaz [Ā'hăz]—jehovah hath seized orsustains.
- A Benjamite of the family of Saul (1 Chron. 8:35, 36; 9:41,42).
- The son of Jotham, king of Judah and father of Hezekiah, Ahaz became the eleventh king of Judah and reigned for sixteen years (2 Kings 16). He is called Achaz in Matthew 1:9. An Assyrian inscription gives the name of the king as Jehoahaz. But the abbreviation Ahaz was commonly used and was found on the seal ring of one of his courtiers. Perhaps the consistent omission of the first part of the name Jeho, meaning “Jehovah” was deliberate because of the abhorrent apostasy of Ahaz.
The Man Who Rejected a Message of Hope
Let it not be forgotten that it was to king Ahaz that Isaiah’s first evangelistic announcement was made in the promise of Emmanuel. The prophet sent a message to terrified Ahaz, but he would not turn to God and trust His deliverance. In order to help restore the faith of the wavering king, Isaiah urged Ahaz to ask for a sign from Jehovah, but he refused and in rejecting the message of hope, forfeited his soul.
It is interesting to observe that Ahaz came between two good men—between his father, Jotham, and his son, Hezekiah.
Summarizing the chief aspects of the reign of Ahaz we note his:
I. Pursuit of the religious policy of Jehoram ( 2 Kings 8:18); of Ahaziah (2 Kings 8:27); of Joash (2 Chron. 24:18). The religious vices of Ahaz were possible because of a corrupt church and a corrupt state (Isa. 1:4 , 13).
II. Rejection of David’s way to tread Jeroboam’s way. This bad ruler exceeded the idolatry of his time by burning his children in the fire (2 Chron. 28:3). Ahaz did honor to the gods of Assyria who were reckoned to be more powerful than Jehovah. The terrible slaughter of one hundred twenty thousand valiant men of Judah had no salutary effect upon Ahaz ( 2 Chron. 28:6).
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MAGI
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." -Matt. 2:1-2
Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem many months after the birth of Jesus, yet we know nothing about that time. How was Mary treating her baby, knowing she would have to submit to him as her Lord? How much attention were they getting from the townspeople? What were they telling people, if anything? We simply don't know. But we do know that one day some travelers from the east-maybe Persia or Mesopotamia (the regions of modern day Iran or Iraq)-suddenly showed up in Bethlehem, claiming to have been guided to a new king by a star.
The word Magi refers to people who belonged to a priestly caste that focused on special knowledge, interpretation of dreams, and astrology. Despite popular depictions, they were not kings; we don't know their names, and we don't know for certain that there were three of them (that is a tradition inferred from the fact that they bore three gifts: gold, incense, and myrrh). There may have been two; there may have been twelve.
But what we do know of them is startling. They saw a sign. They were motivated. They traveled. No wonder they are sometimes called "wise men." They were not merely astrologers. They were worshippers. Jerusalem was their first stop, where they inquired about a new king (which is a sure way to set off an alarm for the existing king); but then they found Bethlehem. They delivered their valuable gifts, and they bowed in worship. If people in Bethlehem weren't paying much attention in the months following the birth of Jesus, they surely were now.
Though foreign to this land, Jesus was of keen interest to them. These stories remind us that we can often overlook the miracles taking place in our own neighborhoods. If we are not careful, the celebration of Christmas can become so familiar to us, that we let it come and go without taking time to truly contemplate the miracles and blessing we celebrate each season. Men from far east went out of their way to find Christ and to set treasures before him: would it take strangers to remind us too of the blessings in our midst?
One of the best things we can do in this retail-obsessed Christmas season is to bring the gift of worship to him.
Prayer for today:
Lord, I know that what you want me to give you is my life. Help me with my motivation. With my willingness to go the distance. Show me what gifts I can bring you.
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