Now the ALP are claiming the Liberal Party need to put the $1.2 billion back. Education minister Pyne noted it was missing. Now it has been restored. Laurie Oakes, acting as an ALP shadow minister, called it a multiple back flip. At no stage has the LNP gone back on its' election promises. Close questioning by Bolt as well as ABC almost exacted what looked like it might have been a broken promise. A recording of Pyne talking about schools funding seemed to show .. nothing. Despite the affirmation, it is clear Pyne has improved on the ALP model as well as raising spending. In time to come, that will be clear. In the short term, there is the gloating of the press. Still, one can't help but feel the ALP will direct the money to vaginal knitting in South Australia and Tasmania.
Cate Blanchet weeps for the lost opportunities of planet killing travel. Wealthy urban lefties are leaving private education, at the expense of cheaper private education for all Australians. Michael Clarke suffers from ACB's hysteria over a friendly warning. Note to Obama on health care "You did not build this" .. very well. Flannery earns pay in obtaining consensus on Global Warming in the community, as people disbelieve it. Wagga Anglican church questions the role of Jesus in the church. Where is the bias incident response team? More on Snowden's intelligence leak. Keating knew what he was doing, but he was wrong.
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Dazzaa T One-Thousand. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
- 885 – Li Cunxu, Chinese emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty (d. 926)
- 1578 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1640)
- 1891 – Otto Dix, German painter and illustrator (d. 1969)
- 1944 – Cathy Lee Crosby, American actress
- 1973 – Monica Seles, Yugoslavian-American tennis player
- 1993 – Kostas Stafylidis, Greek footballer
Matches
- 1409 – The University of Leipzig opens.
- 1697 – St Paul's Cathedral is consecrated in London.
- 1775 – The USS Alfred becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones.
- 1804 – At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French, the first French Emperor in a thousand years.
- 1823 – Monroe Doctrine: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James Monroe proclaims American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warns European powers not to interfere in the Americas.
- 1845 – Manifest Destiny: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposes that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
- 1859 – Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16th raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
- 1867 – At Tremont Temple in Boston, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.
- 1899 – Philippine–American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed "The Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.
- 1930 – Great Depression: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Herbert Hoover proposes a US$150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.
- 1942 – World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
- 1956 – The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.
- 1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba is going to adoptCommunism.
- 1980 – Salvadoran Civil War: Four U.S. nuns and churchwomen, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel, are murdered by a military death squad.
Despatches
- 1348 – Emperor Hanazono of Japan (b. 1297)
- 1515 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general (b. 1453)
- 1547 – Hernán Cortés, Spanish explorer (b. 1485)
- 1972 – Yip Man, Chinese martial artist (b. 1893)
- 1985 – Petros, Greek pelican
WEEP FOR THEM
Tim Blair – Monday, December 02, 2013 (6:43pm)
Cate Blanchett, who is paid a reported $10 million to appear in perfume advertisements, would like to discuss thesacrifices made by herself and other planet-saving celebrities:
We need to keep switching up the language around climate change. For so long we’ve talked about sacrifice and people get discredited for what they haven’t given up. [Celebrities] get criticised for taking flights, but the truth is someone like Leo [DiCaprio] takes fewer flights than he’s asked to. If we want it to stay on the radar, we need to focus on the fact there’s a lot of opportunity.
We truly do not appreciate their suffering.
(Via Waxing Gibberish)
SPEND YOUR OWN MONEY
Tim Blair – Monday, December 02, 2013 (10:56am)
There’s a fashion among wealthy urban lefties of putting their kids in state schools, presumably to stop them from meeting the children of Liberal voters or to prevent them from learning to read.
Continue reading 'SPEND YOUR OWN MONEY'FOREARM FOREWARNED
Tim Blair – Monday, December 02, 2013 (10:53am)
All Michael Clarke said to English batsman James Anderson was: “Get ready for a broken f****** arm.” That’s it. Yet the Australian cricket captain ended up in the centre of an international sledging controversy and was even fined by the ICC.
It all seems a little excessive for a remark you’d hear in just about any spirited suburban cricket match, or even within a typically robust Australian family. Why, my own little sister once used almost the exact form of words against me following a dispute over Lego blocks.
And that was just last Tuesday.
Continue reading 'FOREARM FOREWARNED'YOU DIDN’T BUILD THIS … VERY WELL
Tim Blair – Monday, December 02, 2013 (4:33am)
Via the New York Times, a quick history of the US government’s attempt to build a website:
HealthCare.gov, the $630 million online insurance marketplace, was a disaster after it went live on Oct. 1, with a roster of engineering repairs that would eventually swell to more than 600 items …“We created this problem we didn’t need to create,” Mr. Obama said …The website, which the administration promised would “function smoothly” for most people by Nov. 30, remains a work in progress …It still suffers sporadic crashes, and large parts of the vital “back end” that processes enrollment data and transactions with insurers remain unbuilt …[On October 15] the president directed aides to make plans for him to tell the public that “yes, the website is screwed up” …One senior White House official said they briefly considered scrapping the system altogether …As engineers tried to come to grips with repeated crashes, a host of problems were becoming apparent: inadequate capacity in its data center and sloppy computer code, partly the result of rushed work amid the rapidly changing specifications issued by the government …The website had barely been tested before it went live, so a large number of software and hardware defects had not been uncovered …A system intended to handle 50,000 simultaneous users was fundamentally unstable, unable to handle even a tiny fraction of that. As few as 500 users crippled it …HealthCare.gov — a site Mr. Obama once promised would be as easy to shop on as Amazon.com — went dark for 10 to 12 hours, unheard of in the online business world …
So much for the Obama government’s technical abilities. Supporters now turn to Jesus:
“The glitches have not prohibited one ounce of enrollment in the African American community,” says Barbara Williams-Skinner, co-chair of the National African American Clergy Network, which says it has reached out to 5,000 pastors across the country to promote enrollment under the act.
Prayer is all they have left.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Tim Blair – Monday, December 02, 2013 (3:58am)
This site frequently draws attention to the ridiculous predictions and general strangeness of former climate commissioner Tim Flannery, but credit where it’s due. Just two years ago, armed only with his own scientific charisma, the support of the ABC, Fairfax, the UN and several million of your dollars, Flannery led an attempt to build aconsensus on the carbon tax:
Former Australian of the Year Tim Flannery will head the Federal Government’s climate change commission.The commission is being set up to help the Government build community consensus on the need for a price on carbon.
By the time of the last election, a consensus had indeed been achieved. Australians overwhelmingly rejected the need for a price on carbon dioxide. Granted, this may not have been the consensus sought by Flannery or the rest of his tax-funded anti-carbon collective, but a consensus it still was. Well done, sir.
UPDATE. Further proof that climate panic is a religion for the wealthy.
ABCLICANS
Tim Blair – Monday, December 02, 2013 (2:19am)
Gosford’s Anglican church of deluded self-loathing is now in competition with Wagga’s Anglican church of predictable leftoid causes for the title of Australia’s most wussified parish:
Is there an even lamer Anglican church in your area? Or perhaps one led by someone who smiles during hearings into the Anglican church’s failure to report victims of child sexual abuse? Present evidence in comments.
Is there an even lamer Anglican church in your area? Or perhaps one led by someone who smiles during hearings into the Anglican church’s failure to report victims of child sexual abuse? Present evidence in comments.
UPDATE. Gosford fights back.
THIS IS A JOB FOR THE BIAS INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM
Tim Blair – Monday, December 02, 2013 (1:55am)
Terrible hatred and bigotry at New York’s Vassar College:
On Nov. 14, the college sent a mass email to students advising them that the Bias Incident Response Team had received at least six reports in the last few months of hateful and insensitive messages being scrawled and spray painted on student residences. Messages included “Avoid Being Bitches” …Five days after the email was sent, Vassar President Catharine Hill sent a follow-up email announcing that the bias incidents were hoaxes perpetrated by two students. The students wrote the vile messages and then filed the reports themselves, claiming to be the victims of unknown haters.
(Via Iowahawk)
Intelligence lacking in latest leak
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (5:48pm)
Christopher Joye suggests caution with the latest attempt to harm Australia:
===Multiple intelligence sources say The Guardian has got its big scoop on Australian intelligence agencies allegedly shelling out information on local residents wrong.
The Guardian reported on Monday that “Australia’s surveillance agency offered to share information collected about ordinary Australian citizens with its major intelligence partners, according to a secret 2008 document leaked by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden”.
Other media outlets have reflexively recycled The Guardian’s allegations.
But the Australian Signals Directorate does not intercept domestic communications precisely because it is prohibited from doing so under the Intelligence Services Act.
So why on earth did Abbott go through this week of pain?
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (5:32pm)
Actually, it still
doesn’t guarantee no individual school will be worse off, but this
backflip makes it much less likely the promise will be broken:
Warning, warning, warning to the Liberals: you lack what Bob Hawke had in Peter Barron, what Margaret Thatcher had in Bernard Ingham and what John Howard had in Grahame Morris. A critical - and alternative - source of advice is missing. Someone as senior and trusted as is Peta Credlin, but in charge of communications, not delivery.
===THE Coalition says it has done a new school funding deal with the states and territories that restores $1.2 billion removed by Labor and guarantees no school will be worse off as a result of the commonwealth.Which raises the question: why in God’s name has this government so bungled the policy and the messaging that it earned a week of terrible headlines for - in the end - actually finding $1.2 billion that Labor ripped out?
After a week of bad press over the government’s decision to walk away from the Gonski school funding plan, Tony Abbott and Education Minister Christopher Pyne fronted the media to say a fresh deal had been done.
The Prime Minister said the “command and control” elements of Labor’s plan was gone, but the states would receive their promised funding.
Warning, warning, warning to the Liberals: you lack what Bob Hawke had in Peter Barron, what Margaret Thatcher had in Bernard Ingham and what John Howard had in Grahame Morris. A critical - and alternative - source of advice is missing. Someone as senior and trusted as is Peta Credlin, but in charge of communications, not delivery.
On 2GB tonight - Abbott and Palmer’s maiden speech
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (11:49am)
And is your tree up yet?
On with Steve Price from 8pm. Listen live here. Talkback: 131 873.
Listen to all past shows here.
===On with Steve Price from 8pm. Listen live here. Talkback: 131 873.
Listen to all past shows here.
“Liar” is sexist only when it’s Gillard
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (9:31am)
Anne Summers said calling Julia Gillard a liar showed we were sexists:
===Other prime ministers have changed policies or gone back on promises. Paul Keating did not proceed with the L-A-W tax cuts. John Howard introduced a GST. Both were accused of backflips and of breaking promises. Neither was ever called a “liar”.Bill Shorten:
The term “Juliar” seems to have been coined by broadcaster Alan Jones and quickly adopted by opponents of Gillard. It featured prominently on banners at a rally protesting the carbon tax that ... was the first time that many of us were exposed to the virulence of the attacks that were beginning to be made against Gillard…
Over the past two years Tony Abbott has relentlessly used Gillard’s backflip on the carbon tax to depict her as unreliable, as untrustworthy and as a liar… Calling her a “liar” might not be gender-specific, although as I have pointed out, it was not a term used against back-flipping male prime ministers.
Abbott lied when he said no school would be worse off.Over to you, Ms Summers. Is Shorten sexist?
Callas. Birthday of a great artist
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (9:23am)
The great, great Maria Callas was born 90 years ago today.
(Thanks to reader Stephen Dawson.)
===(Thanks to reader Stephen Dawson.)
Keating on power: just use it
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (9:15am)
Paul Keating has an attractive theory of leadership - but one sobering fact spoils the effect. He won just one election:
===‘’Politicians come in three varieties: straight men, fixers and maddies,’’ he declares in the final part of Keating, The Interviews, on ABC television on Tuesday, insisting the maddies, including Margaret Thatcher, are those who ‘’charge in and get it done’’…
‘’I always believed in burning up the government’s political capital, not being Mr Safe Guy, you know?’’
UN predicts less food, reports more food
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (8:50am)
HOW odd. Last month a
United Nations climate conference in Warsaw heard a Dr Sonja Vermeulen
warn global warming could make us hungry.
“Global leaders are not taking the problem of food security under climate change seriously enough,” he said. “The picture is not rosy.”
But another UN body, the Food and Agriculture Organization, last month told us food crops were in fact growing bigger and bigger.
The world had just had a year of record rice harvest, and wheat and corn harvests were also near all-time highs.
Even better, the FAO tipped that the total cereal production this financial year would be the biggest yet.
Does the UN ever made its professional alarmists sit down and talk to its agronomists?
(Read full article here.)
===“Global leaders are not taking the problem of food security under climate change seriously enough,” he said. “The picture is not rosy.”
But another UN body, the Food and Agriculture Organization, last month told us food crops were in fact growing bigger and bigger.
The world had just had a year of record rice harvest, and wheat and corn harvests were also near all-time highs.
Even better, the FAO tipped that the total cereal production this financial year would be the biggest yet.
Does the UN ever made its professional alarmists sit down and talk to its agronomists?
(Read full article here.)
Take them on, Prime Minister
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (8:45am)
HIS enemies will scoff, but Tony Abbott’s problem is he’s too nice. He really does think the Left could learn to like him.
So he shies from reforming the ABC, telling me yesterday he doesn’t need more enemies and joking his job was “to be as appealing as possible”.
He’s refused to rebuke Governor-General Quentin Bryce for her crass politicking when she backed same-sex marriage and a republic, telling me yesterday there was a convention for prime ministers not to criticise the Queen’s representative.
Abbott even kept to himself his anger when former prime minister Julia Gillard sided with Indonesia’s demand that he promise Australia would never again spy on its leaders - as the Labor Government had done in 2009.
And Abbott for too long cheerfully assumed if he just governed well, the results would simply speak for themselves. Even some of his critics would be silenced.
Mate, wake up.
These people hate you. Loathe you. They want you to fail.
(Read full article here.)
The great copyright gravy train
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (8:26am)
It’s time someone really investigated this outfit:
But I have other concerns.
I’ve been astonished in some years to find the money I get from the Copyright Agency suddenly falling to relatively scanty amounts, given how often my articles are used, for instances, by teachers lecturing on the sins of the media. Once when I questioned how one payment could be so low I got a bigger one. It all seemed arbitrary.
I’ve been amazed that the Copyright Agency has treated the income it gets as its own to dispense on allegedly good causes. This is income often earned by artists. authors and journalists who aren’t so well-paid that they couldn’t do with the cash themselves. (And, no, I’m not talking about me.) And so we get this:
It strikes me that another institution has been captured by people who think they are better at spending other people’s money than are those who actually earned it.
===THE body that collects author and artist royalties has defended its chief executive’s annual package of nearly $500,000, and says it is moving to lower its fees.That salary is astonishing enough. The person merely collecting royalties is earning more than almost everyone who actually earned them.
The Copyright Agency recorded a wages bill of $10.8 million for the year, excluding directors’ fees. An investigation of its costs by The Australian in 2010 - which also scrutinised its level of spending - showed it had recorded a salaries bill of $9.4m for the preceding year.
However, Copyright Agency chairman Sandy Grant, speaking on Friday, denied suggestions it was bloated or wasteful. “If this is a gravy train, I don’t know who’s getting the gravy.” He was “comfortable” with the $16.5 million in costs the agency levied on the royalty earnings of members in the past financial year.
But I have other concerns.
I’ve been astonished in some years to find the money I get from the Copyright Agency suddenly falling to relatively scanty amounts, given how often my articles are used, for instances, by teachers lecturing on the sins of the media. Once when I questioned how one payment could be so low I got a bigger one. It all seemed arbitrary.
I’ve been amazed that the Copyright Agency has treated the income it gets as its own to dispense on allegedly good causes. This is income often earned by artists. authors and journalists who aren’t so well-paid that they couldn’t do with the cash themselves. (And, no, I’m not talking about me.) And so we get this:
On top of the $16.5m paid for Copyright Agency expenses, royalty recipients also saw $1.93m of their funds directed to a “cultural fund”.Luvvies spending on luvvies what laborers earn.
Included in the payments was $10,000 for “emerging screenwriters’ from western Sydney in developing “script treatments and pitches”, and $15,000 in “professional training sessions” for “artists in water colour techniques”.
A string of “career development” payments were made to a range of applicants, including $3200 for a person to attend a “deep slumping” glass masterclass in New York and $3500 for another for “exploring innovative transmedia storytelling” at a book fair in Frankfurt.
It strikes me that another institution has been captured by people who think they are better at spending other people’s money than are those who actually earned it.
It’s not just their ABC
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (8:20am)
The
ABC can’t assume it can live forever on the fat of the great public
trust in the institution that was built up over generations:
===TONY Abbott has questioned the ABC acting as an “amplifier” for a rival’s spy story, saying people are entitled to query the national broadcaster’s judgment for “advertising” the phone-tapping claims that have sparked a diplomatic row between Australian and Indonesia....
“I think it’s fair enough for people to question the judgment of the ABC,” the Prime Minister told the Ten Network’s Bolt Report…
(F)ormer treasurer Peter Costello lashed out at the ABC’s handling of the story on the same program, saying Mr Scott “has got a lot to answer for and I think the board has got a lot to answer for”.
His comments came as an overwhelming majority of delegates at the Victorian Liberal Party state conference over the weekend voted in support of a motion calling for the privatisation of the ABC.
Palmer loses a chip
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (8:17am)
Clive Palmer loses a stick to hold over the Chinese company he claims owes him his main income:
===THE Abbott government has backed a major Chinese company with a decision out of Canberra that sidelines political rival Clive Palmer and thwarts his attempts to prevent valuable iron ore concentrate being shipped to China from the Pilbara region of Western Australia.(Thanks to reader Peter.)
The high-level decision to give the green light to the first loading of a Chinese vessel with concentrate from Mr Palmer’s tenements means West Australian Premier Colin Barnett will today mark the occasion with Chinese dignitaries at Cape Preston, near Karratha, just hours before Mr Palmer’s maiden speech in federal parliament.
But senior sources told The Australian yesterday that Mr Palmer, whose Mineralogy company purports to control the port at Cape Preston, is angrily rejecting the move and is threatening to launch a new round of legal action in a bid to block the imminent supply of the iron ore concentrate to mills in China.Mr Palmer claims to be owed hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties by Citic Pacific, which has spent more than $7 billion on the trouble-plagued project - the largest ever undertaken in Australia by a Chinese company. Citic Pacific emphatically rejects Mr Palmer’s claims to be owed such royalties.
A theory with hairs on it
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (7:57am)
Beyond parody. In fact, indistinguishable from parody. Academic Arianne Shavisi says Movember is racist and sexist:
So what message does Movember convey to those whose moustaches are more-or-less permanent features? With large numbers of minority-ethnic men—for instance Kurds, Indians, Mexicans—sporting moustaches as a cultural or religious signifier, Movember reinforces the “othering” of “foreigners” by the generally clean-shaven, white majority…Some people seem really, really determined to take offence. As Freud allegedly once said, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
In solidarity with Movember, some women have also relaxed normative shaving-etiquette during “No Shave November.” Instead of being met with the same teasing words of encouragement, many have been subject to ferocious abuse across social media, reflective of the intolerability of women’s body hair… From this we learn that men’s facial hair (as with the appearance of men more generally) is neither here nor there, and is therefore fair game for a bit of charitable fun, while female breaches of prescribed gender norms are quickly policed, and may result in disgust, ostracisation, and threats…
As the month of sacrificial hirsutism draws to a close, mo-bros may convene at their nearest “gala party”. These events showcase the worst of what the Movember “movement” is really about: white young men ridiculing minorities…
One of the Movember mantras is: “Real men, growing real moustaches, talking about real issues”. The slogan is as misguided as its campaign: Movember is divisive and gender normative, not least because it centres on the notion that there is such a thing as a “real” man; it is racist, inasmuch as it steamrollers over the cultural significance of the moustache ...
(Via Sinclair Davidson at the Cat.)
Hear from the military why you won’t hear it from the Government
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (7:37am)
It shouldn’t need these
leaks to convince people of the obvious - that releasing instant
information about which boats are intercepted where and how just helps
people smugglers.
But for the media conspiracists who seriously claim this restriction on information is just to save the Government embarrassment ...:
===But for the media conspiracists who seriously claim this restriction on information is just to save the Government embarrassment ...:
THE government’s excessive secrecy over its border-protection operations was demanded by military commanders who advised the Coalition against releasing any operational information and even suggested rationing media briefings to fewer than those already being provided.(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Rear Admiral David Johnston, the head of Border Protection Command, stipulated on the Monday after the September 7 election that the timing and release of any information about asylum-seeker boats “must not prejudice the successful achievement of active operations”.
“The contents of any release must not include any information that might reveal asset capabilities, posture, tactics that could prejudice future operations,” he advised in an email. Just over a week later, a “transitional media handling strategy” briefing note ... suggested “initial indications are such briefings may be held fortnightly"…
Customs chief executive Michael Pezzullo sent an email on September 18 to Rear Admiral Johnston and others advising: “Cease and desist forthwith the issuance of SIEV (suspected irregular entry vessels) arrival media releases."The minister and I are in discussion about a different public communication model, noting that OSB will be a maritime security operation and not an immigration program”.
Plucking out our own eyes in a hostile world
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (7:09am)
The Snowden leaks
seemed timed to cause maximum harm. For instance, a leak about our
spying on Indonesia followed by a leak about our spying in China would
be more effective than the other way around, which would be
anti-climactic.
The leaks will be hugely damaging to the Western alliance. There will be a fracturing of friendships, restrictions on our spying, fear of cooperation in spying, and a lessening of the West’s prestige.
The leaks, suspiciously, are not damaging to Russia and China - the two authoritarian countries most likely to challenge the values and interests of the West. Snowden has been given asylum in Russia, which may have access to the US secrets he stole.
And Leftist media organisations in the West, not least the ABC, are providing a willing market for the stolen intelligence secrets so damaging to their own countries.
All this suggests a simple “publish and be damned” approach may be dangerously naive. Are media outlets just pawns in a big play?
Greg Sheridan’s report suggests the Abbott Government is preparing defences for more to come:
===The leaks will be hugely damaging to the Western alliance. There will be a fracturing of friendships, restrictions on our spying, fear of cooperation in spying, and a lessening of the West’s prestige.
The leaks, suspiciously, are not damaging to Russia and China - the two authoritarian countries most likely to challenge the values and interests of the West. Snowden has been given asylum in Russia, which may have access to the US secrets he stole.
And Leftist media organisations in the West, not least the ABC, are providing a willing market for the stolen intelligence secrets so damaging to their own countries.
All this suggests a simple “publish and be damned” approach may be dangerously naive. Are media outlets just pawns in a big play?
Greg Sheridan’s report suggests the Abbott Government is preparing defences for more to come:
NEW revelations from the stockpile of documents stolen by US security contractor Edward Snowden are expected to include evidence of Australian espionage against China and other Asian neighbours and expose the scale of surveillance by Australian agencies against their own citizens.
The Abbott government is bracing for a new series of disclosures about Australian intelligence activity, which is likely to include fresh details on Indonesian spying that will further test the relationship with Jakarta…
Senior intelligence figures say the Snowden documents ... reveal US and Australian techniques of intelligence-gathering, particularly technical matters, which will make defences against such efforts much stronger in the future…
The latest leaks are also producing a great deal of tension between the US and many of its allies, such as Germany and Spain, and its friends, such as Brazil and Mexico… Most importantly, sources said the leaks had fatally compromised domestic US support for the intelligence agencies and would result in greater restrictions on the agencies. They may also end the quiet but essential co-operation of US companies…
Snowden spent time in Hong Kong before moving to Russia. Western agencies believe the Chinese accessed all the information that Snowden took with him, as have the Russians.
However, it is believed that Snowden has even more material stored in “the cloud” and accessible by a complicated series of passwords. It is not clear whether the Chinese and the Russians have access to that too.
Sin one: a stupid promise. Sin two: a broken promise. Sin three: this “what promise?”
Andrew Bolt December 02 2013 (6:56am)
I like Christopher Pyne
and said from the start the Gonski “reforms” were irresponsibly
expensive and failed to tie the extra spending to better performance.
But Pyne, in now so brazenly claiming he never promised to keep each school’s funding, is causing terrible damage to not just his reputation but the government’s.
That promise, having stupidly been made, should be kept and savings found elsewhere. And this kind of spinning - sloppy and insulting to the intelligence - must stop.
There is clearly no one senior enough in charge of the communications strategy to understand the damage done and how to minimise it.
UPDATE
Paul Sheehan is right about the recklessly selfish baby-boomers, and surely this is the line the Abbott Government should be shouting:
===But Pyne, in now so brazenly claiming he never promised to keep each school’s funding, is causing terrible damage to not just his reputation but the government’s.
That promise, having stupidly been made, should be kept and savings found elsewhere. And this kind of spinning - sloppy and insulting to the intelligence - must stop.
There is clearly no one senior enough in charge of the communications strategy to understand the damage done and how to minimise it.
UPDATE
Paul Sheehan is right about the recklessly selfish baby-boomers, and surely this is the line the Abbott Government should be shouting:
Reality: Australia cannot afford the Gonski spend, plus the NDIS spend, plus the carbon reduction spend, plus the paid parental leave spend, plus the infrastructure surge, plus the promised increase in defence spending, plus the cost of unfunded retiring boomers, plus reducing indigenous disadvantage, plus $1 billion a year for asylum seekers. The revenue is simply not there. It is never going to be there under the present mix of existing tax arrangements, budget commitments, social welfare obligations, low productivity growth, ageing population and the debt-service burden. Yet the critique is all about spin and social equity.
http://www.news.com.au/national/clive-palmer-remembers-filmmaker-father-and-emerges-as-feminist-by-calling-for-more-roles-for-women-in-first-parliamentary-speech/story-fncynjr2-1226773663311
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Aprille Love
Evening run — at Centenial Parklands.
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Ninja don't always wear black. Before 1751, all Geisha were men .. the reason for Ninja wearing black is to do with Japanese stage. Stage hands wear black .. sometimes, stage hands 'kill' actors .. ed
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Pastor Rick Warren
I was so blown away this weekend as Saddleback artists used dozens of ways (posters, art objects, chairs with messages, a "getting to zero" interactive art with thousands of balloons, custom t-shirts, videos, and performances) to highlight our church's ministry to people living with HIV/AIDS, compassion for them, and our global efforts to remove the stigma and find a cure. Bless you all on this #WorldAIDSday.
=
Tuesday, my 1st book in 10 yrs (since PurposeDrivenLife) comes out. It's about what saved MY life:http://amzn.to/1b9Tfxe
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"God never changes his mind about the people he calls and the gifts he gives them." Romans 11:29 (NCV)
=
Get it free now: Saddleback's #FreeApp of 30 Christmas Devotionals for ADVENT. For iPhone AND Androidhttp://ow.ly/rflDa pic.twitter.com/SqgL3Ringr
===
Sarah Palin
It was an honor meeting Rush Limbaugh during the first leg of the “Good Tidings and Great Joy” book tour and getting a copy of his great book “Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims.” As the daughter of a schoolteacher, I received cherished books for Christmas from my parents growing up. Such books bring us back to simpler, sweeter times; many of them are now passed along to kids and grandkids and still appreciated today. “Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims” reminds me of those cherished books of my childhood. Our books make great stocking stuffers!
Here’s a great review of Rush’s book:
http://www.breitbart.com/
===Here’s a great review of Rush’s book:
http://www.breitbart.com/
How easily they swing... #obama
===
The Coalition Government announced today it will restore the $1.2 billion funding cut by Labor from schools – and a national agreement on school funding has been secured following negotiations with Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
You can read more here: http://lbr.al/30uz
===
James Calore
British accent: Justin Biebah.
American: Justin Biebur.
Australian: Jastin Beybah.
You just tried out all of the accents, didn't you ?
===American: Justin Biebur.
Australian: Jastin Beybah.
You just tried out all of the accents, didn't you ?
You can't be too distant from the child to not know why. Sometimes they cry for attention, sometimes they cry in pain. It is wrong to ignore a child's pain. - ed
===
Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing.(Psalm 34:10)
God wants you to live in the fullness of His blessing. His blessing is His supernatural empowerment. It is His favor. We’ve all seen a measure of His blessing, but there is a whole new level He wants to take you to. God has promises and opportunities in store for you that you haven’t even thought of yet. What you’ve seen in the past is only a fraction of what God wants to do in your future.
The Scripture says,“But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.”(Romans 15:29, NKJV) God bless you.
God wants you to live in the fullness of His blessing. His blessing is His supernatural empowerment. It is His favor. We’ve all seen a measure of His blessing, but there is a whole new level He wants to take you to. God has promises and opportunities in store for you that you haven’t even thought of yet. What you’ve seen in the past is only a fraction of what God wants to do in your future.
The Scripture says,“But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.”(Romans 15:29, NKJV) God bless you.
=
Father, I come before You today with an open and humble heart, ready to receive all You have for me. Teach me to live a life that is pleasing to You so that I can be an example of Your love in the world around me in Jesus’ name. Amen.
===Michelle Malkin
Jezebel editor on Paul Walker’s death: Why couldn’t it have been Scott Walker? Update: Tweets deleted ==> http://twitchy.com/2013/11/30/
===
Pieve d'Alpago, Italy
Summer in Sydney means .. ed
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Jere VanLoan Music Blue Dot Records
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Holly Sarah Nguyen
Try hard not to let things bring you down ~ bother your heart or mess with your head, even if it's a horrible situation ~ Always remember if you pray and believe with all your heart God will be walking right beside you to help you through.. and I believe that's enough for anyone to solider on...
~ Let Go and Let God ~
===~ Let Go and Let God ~
I think the nurses would feel the charges should be answered - ed
Sylvia Lee Yeah, did you read the Fair Work Report? I did and it was quite comprehensive and well done although in reading it, that I thought it-Fair Work -- could have laid further charges - 1. given Craig was an active and paid up union member at the time.
===
Baby won't distract her again. - ed
Jere VanLoan
===
Aprille Love
Meeting with Porsche to see if they will come on board! #help4haiyan #porsche #911 #carerra
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He's more than welcome to toss the cash again - in my house. I don't judge.
http://www.news.com.au/money/man-throws-1k-cash-into-mall-of-america-rotunda/story-e6frfmci-1226772599684
===
Aprille Love
In between organising this charity event... off to a casting! #casting #actor #love #life #audition
===
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/steamy-confessions-from-valerie-baber-the-call-girl-who-brought-down-ny-governor-eliot-spitzer/story-fnet0gt3-1226773300043
One can understand her sadness. Her life profiting from the criminal activity surrounding her work ended. Instead of paying for her, her clients might now have to be kind to some people. An alternative to sex with strangers could be a relationship with someone who loves you and is invested in your life so that everything improves. But then, that might not satisfy some who prefer to concentrate on their strengths .. which aren't being good to others.===
A Night on the Rocks
My friends Miguel and Mike were certain I was going to get swept away by the big waves hitting the rocks beside me, but I sort of knew what I was up to... I mean, I might be crazy, but I ain't stupid
===
===
www.theage.com.au
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/melbourne-cbd-is-being-swallowed-by-the-food-chain-20131201-2yjvg.htmlAnd the problem is…? ed
===
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nick-lalichs-16000-gambling-study-tours-run-of-bad-luck-20131201-2yjpg.html
===
4 her
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===
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===
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/killer-nanny-louise-woodward-is-pregnant/story-fnixwvgh-1
www.news.com.au
Children require supervision. The parents are still partly responsible for farming out their responsibility. It is unfair. - ed===
If anyone finds a Kennedy era nuke, they know what t do. Of course, such things need maintenance .. ed
===
===
Lol, Philip K Dick wrote a short story about a middle aged US married man who went to Africa and brought back a little figurine called a God by the locals. His wife calls it a bad buy. But then it animates .. and kills them both when they fail to worship him .. - ed===
===
Roma Downey
"God hugs you.
You are encircled by the arms
of the mystery of God." - St. Hildegard von Bingen
===You are encircled by the arms
of the mystery of God." - St. Hildegard von Bingen
WWW.NEWS.COM.AU
===
WWW.NEWS.COM.AU
===Ziad al-Jarrah Battalion, was proudly named for a Lebanese-Arab hijacker involved in the ghastly September 11, 2001 terror attacks. Does that sound strange? Does it sound equally strange that at the time of the 9/11 tragedy, Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank area initially shouted out approval, until hushed up by their then-leader, Yassir Arafat?
http://www.niagara-gazette.com/opinion/x517512612/SINGER-The-mirage-of-Mideast-peace
======
===
http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/singing-and-dancing-for-chanukah-in-jerusalem
===
Is the US changing sides in the regional conflict between Iran and its enemies? :: Middle East Forum
http://www.meforum.org/3686/us-iran-switchwww.meforum.org
===
http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.co.il/2013/12/the-passing-of-resolution-181-and-day.html
======
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“Obama has no interest in weakening our adversaries while he does seem to have an interest in weakening our allies”, warned Dinesh D’Souza…"
Noteworthy as well, is a recent article from RIA Novosti, 'Iran Deal Nullifies Needs for Europe Missile Shield - Russian FM
"Implementation of a deal on Iran’s nuclear program reached in Geneva this weekend will make the US missile defense system in Europe unnecessary, Russia’s foreign minister said Monday." - RIA Novosti
"Now if I were asked: “How would anyone, who was purposefully aiming to undermine the Western world and bolster its antipodal adversaries, behave?,” I would be compelled to respond: “Much like Obama.” - Martin Sherman
Continue to the link, reading this and more articles at ...….http://paper.li/
===
INSIGHT TO ISRAEL / HOLIDAY REPLAY: Listen to "Insight to Israel" this Sunday at 10 a.m. est. (5 p.m. Israel time) and 2 p.m. est. (9 p.m. Israel time) - and every Sunday on America's Web Radio!
https://www.facebook.com/
Insight to Israel FB:
*https://www.facebook.com/
America's Web Radio:
*http://
* https://www.facebook.com/
For convenience "on the go" you can download the America's Web Radio app. to your cell (Apple/Android) or Ipad.
*http://www.androidpit.de/de/
* http://www.app-store.es/
===
What is wrong with this man....???
"“The Taliban are not our enemies and we don’t want to fight them.”
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
===
https://www.youtube.com/
Interview with a Muslim Doctor
Spot on !
===
 
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Today, the Coalition Government secured a national agreement on school funding.
This agreement fulfils the commitment we made to parents and schools before the election.
The Coalition Government has restored the $1.2 billion that Labor ripped out of schools funding – and this brings total additional school funding over the next four years to $2.8 billion.
No state or territory misses out.
That’s good news for schools, parents and students in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory which did not have agreements with the previous government.
Labor and the former Education Minister, Bill Shorten left school funding in a mess.
The hurried agreements signed in the dying days of the Gillard-Rudd Government meant some states secured additional funding, while others didn’t.
Our announcement ensures that every student in Australia is treated exactly the same way by the Commonwealth regardless of what jurisdiction they live in.
We have kept our commitments on school funding and delivered more funding over the next four years than promised by Labor.
As parents approach the Christmas school holidays, they can be confident that the Coalition Government will always support their choice in education - and that whatever choice they do make, they will be properly funded.
Regards,
Christopher Pyne
Minister for Education
- 1823 – U.S. President James Monroeissued the Monroe Doctrine, a proclamation of opposition to Europeancolonialism in the New World.
- 1852 – On the one-year anniversary of his dissolution of the Second French Republic, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (pictured) declared himself Emperor of the French and took the nameNapoleon III.
- 1943 – World War II: The Luftwaffe conducted a surprise air raid on Allied ships in Bari, Italy, sinking 18 ships and releasing one ship's secret cargo of mustard gas.
- 1975 – The Pathet Lao overthrew the royalist government in Vientiane, forcing King Savang Vatthana to abdicate, and established the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
- 1988 – Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister of Pakistan, the first woman to head the government of a Muslim-majority state.
Events[edit]
- 1409 – The University of Leipzig opens.
- 1697 – St Paul's Cathedral is consecrated in London.
- 1755 – The second Eddystone Lighthouse is destroyed by fire.
- 1763 – Dedication of the Touro Synagogue, in Newport, Rhode Island, the first synagogue in what will become the United States.
- 1775 – The USS Alfred becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones.
- 1804 – At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French, the first French Emperor in a thousand years.
- 1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Austerlitz – French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte defeat a joint Russo-Austrian force.
- 1823 – Monroe Doctrine: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James Monroe proclaims American neutrality in future European conflicts, and warns European powers not to interfere in the Americas.
- 1845 – Manifest Destiny: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President James K. Polk proposes that the United States should aggressively expand into the West.
- 1848 – Franz Josef I becomes Emperor of Austria.
- 1851 – French President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte overthrows the Second Republic.
- 1852 – Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte becomes Emperor of the French as Napoleon III.
- 1859 – Militant abolitionist leader John Brown is hanged for his October 16th raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
- 1867 – At Tremont Temple in Boston, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.
- 1899 – Philippine–American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed "The Filipino Thermopylae", is fought.
- 1908 – Puyi becomes Emperor of China at the age of two
- 1917 – World War I: Russia and the Central Powers sign an armistice at Brest-Litovsk, and peace talks leading to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk begin.
- 1920 – Following more than a month of Turkish-Armenian War, the Turkish dictated Treaty of Alexandropol is concluded.
- 1927 – Following 19 years of Ford Model T production, the Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Model A as its new automobile.
- 1930 – Great Depression: In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Herbert Hoover proposes a US$150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy.
- 1939 – New York City's La Guardia Airport opens.
- 1942 – World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.
- 1943 – World War II: A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbour of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous cargo and transport ships, including the American SS John Harvey, which is carrying a stockpile of World War I-era mustard gas.
- 1947 – Jerusalem Riots of 1947: Riots break out in Jerusalem in response to the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
- 1954 – Cold War: The United States Senate votes 65 to 22 to censure Joseph McCarthy for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute".
- 1954 – The Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Taiwan, is signed in Washington, D.C.
- 1956 – The Granma reaches the shores of Cuba's Oriente province. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and 80 other members of the 26th of July Movement disembark to initiate the Cuban Revolution.
- 1961 – In a nationally broadcast speech, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist and that Cuba is going to adoptCommunism.
- 1962 – Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfieldbecomes the first American official to comment adversely on the war's progress.
- 1970 – The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.
- 1971 – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai, and Umm Al Quwain form the United Arab Emirates.
- 1975 – The Pathet Lao seizes the Laotian capital of Vientiane, forces the abdication of King Sisavang Vatthana, and proclaims the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
- 1976 – Fidel Castro becomes President of Cuba, replacing Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado.
- 1980 – Salvadoran Civil War: Four U.S. nuns and churchwomen, Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel, are murdered by a military death squad.
- 1982 – At the University of Utah, Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.
- 1988 – Benazir Bhutto is sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan, becoming the first woman to head the government of an Islam-dominated state.
- 1993 – Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar is shot and killed in Medellín.
- 1993 – Space Shuttle program: STS-61 – NASA launches the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
- 1999 – Glenbrook Rail Accident: Seven passengers are killed when two trains collide near Sydney, New South Wales.
- 1999 – The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive.
- 2001 – Enron files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Births[edit]
- 885 – Li Cunxu, Chinese emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty (d. 926)
- 1578 – Agostino Agazzari, Italian composer and theorist (d. 1640)
- 1694 – William Shirley, English politician, Governor of Massachusetts Bay (1741-1749, 1753-1756) and the Bahamas (1760-1768) (d. 1771)
- 1703 – Ferdinand Konščak, Croatian missionary and explorer (d. 1759)
- 1710 – Bertinazzi, Italian actor and author (d. 1783)
- 1738 – Richard Montgomery, Irish-American general (d. 1775)
- 1754 – William Cooper, American judge and politician, founded Cooperstown, New York (d. 1809)
- 1760 – John Breckinridge, American politician, 5th United States Attorney General (d. 1806)
- 1760 – Joseph Graetz, German composer, organist, and educator (d. 1826)
- 1810 – Henry Yesler, American politician, 7th Mayor of Seattle (d. 1892)
- 1811 – Jean-Charles Chapais, Canadian politician, 1st Minister of Agriculture (d. 1885)
- 1817 – Heinrich von Sybel, German historian (d. 1895)
- 1825 – Pedro II of Brazil (d. 1891)
- 1846 – Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, French politician, 68th Prime Minister of France (d. 1904)
- 1859 – Georges Seurat, French painter (d. 1891)
- 1863 – Charles Edward Ringling, American businessman, co-founded the Ringling Brothers Circus (d. 1926)
- 1865 – Louis Zutter, Swiss gymnast (d. 1946)
- 1866 – Harry Burleigh, American singer and composer (d. 1949)
- 1872 – Carl Lehle, German rower (d. 1930)
- 1874 – Joseph Olivier, French rugby player (d. 1901)
- 1884 – Erima Harvey Northcroft, New Zealand lawyer and judge (d. 1953)
- 1885 – George Richards Minot, American physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
- 1886 – Lennart Lindroos, Finnish swimmer
- 1891 – Otto Dix, German painter and illustrator (d. 1969)
- 1891 – Charles H. Wesley, American historian and author (d. 1987)
- 1893 – Leo Ornstein, Russian-American pianist and composer (d. 2002)
- 1894 – Warren William, American actor (d. 1948)
- 1895 – Harriet Cohen, English pianist (d. 1967)
- 1897 – Ivan Bagramyan, Soviet military leader (d. 1982)
- 1898 – Indra Lal Roy, Indian pilot (d. 1918)
- 1899 – John Barbirolli, English cellist and conductor (d. 1970)
- 1899 – John Cobb, English race car driver (d. 1952)
- 1899 – Ray Morehart, American baseball player (d. 1989)
- 1901 – Raimundo Orsi, Argentine-Italian footballer (d. 1986)
- 1906 – Peter Carl Goldmark, Hungarian-American recording engineer (d. 1977)
- 1909 – Walenty Kłyszejko, Estonian–Polish basketball player and coach (d. 1987)
- 1909 – Joseph P. Lash, American political activist and author (d. 1987)
- 1910 – Russell Lynes, American photographer, historian, and author (d. 1991)
- 1914 – Bill Erwin, American actor (d. 2010)
- 1914 – Adolph Green, American composer (d. 2002)
- 1914 – Ray Walston, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Prince Mikasa, Japanese soldier and scholar
- 1917 – Sylvia Syms, American singer (d. 1992)
- 1921 – Carlo Furno, Italian cardinal
- 1922 – Iakovos Kambanelis, Greek poet, author, and scriptwriter (d. 2011)
- 1923 – Maria Callas, Greek soprano (d. 1977)
- 1924 – Alexander Haig, American general and diplomat, 59th United States Secretary of State (d. 2010)
- 1924 – Vilgot Sjöman, Swedish screenwriter and director (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Julie Harris, American actress (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Prabhakar Thokal, Indian cartoonist
- 1928 – Gerhard Kaufhold, German footballer (d. 2009)
- 1929 – Dan Jenkins, American sportswriter
- 1929 – Leon Litwack, American historian and author
- 1930 – Gary Becker, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1930 – David Piper, English race car driver
- 1931 – Nigel Calder, English author and screenwriter
- 1931 – Masaaki Hatsumi, Japanese martial artist, founder of the Bujinkan
- 1931 – Wynton Kelly, Jamaican-American pianist (d. 1971)
- 1931 – Edwin Meese, American lawyer and author, 75th United States Attorney General
- 1933 – Peter Robin Harding, English former Chief of Defence Staff
- 1933 – Mike Larrabee, American sprinter (d. 2003)
- 1933 – K. Veeramani, Indian lawyer and activist
- 1934 – Tarcisio Bertone, Italian cardinal and diplomat, Cardinal Secretary of State (2006-2013)
- 1934 – Sissela Bok, Swedish-American philosopher and ethicist
- 1934 – Andre Rodgers, Bahamian baseball player (d. 2004)
- 1935 – David Hackett Fischer, American historian
- 1935 – Harry Taylor, American baseball player (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Manohar Joshi, Indian politician, 15th Chief Minister of Maharashtra
- 1939 – Yael Dayan, Israeli politician and author
- 1939 – Francis Fox, Canadian politician, Senator for Victoria, Quebec (2005-2011)
- 1939 – Harry Reid, American politician, Senate Majority Leader
- 1941 – Mike England, Welsh former footballer and manger
- 1942 – Tim Boswell, English politician
- 1943 – Wayne Allard, American politician, Senator from Colorado (1997-2009)
- 1944 – Cathy Lee Crosby, American actress
- 1944 – Inger Davidson, Swedish politician
- 1944 – Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovan politician, 1st President of Kosovo (d. 2006)
- 1944 – Dionysis Savvopoulos, Greek singer-songwriter
- 1944 – Botho Strauß, German author
- 1945 – Penelope Spheeris, American director
- 1946 – Pedro Borbón, Dominican baseball player (d. 2012)
- 1946 – John Banks, New Zealand politician, MP for Epsom
- 1946 – David Macaulay, English-American author and illustrator
- 1946 – Gianni Versace, Italian fashion designer, founded Versace (d. 1997)
- 1947 – Isaac Bitton, Moroccan-French drummer (Les Variations)
- 1947 – Tommy Jenkins, English footballer
- 1947 – Ivan Atanassov Petrov, Bulgarian neurologist
- 1947 – Andy Rouse, English racing driver, four-time British Touring Car Champion
- 1948 – Elizabeth Berg, American author
- 1948 – T. Coraghessan Boyle, American author
- 1948 – Patricia Hewitt, Australian-born British politician
- 1948 – Toninho Horta, Brazilian guitarist
- 1949 – Ron Raines, American actor
- 1950 – Bob Kevoian, American radio host
- 1950 – Amin Saikal, Afghan-Australian academic
- 1950 – Benjamin Stora, French historian
- 1950 – Paul Watson, Canadian activist, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
- 1951 – Adrian Devine, American baseball player
- 1952 – Carol Shea-Porter, American politician
- 1952 – James Lancelot, English Master of Choristers, Durham Cathedral
- 1952 – Rob Mounsey, American keyboard player, composer, and producer (Joe Cool)
- 1953 – David Anderson, English politician
- 1954 – Dan Butler, American actor
- 1954 – Stone Phillips, American journalist
- 1956 – Steven Bauer, American actor
- 1957 – Dagfinn Høybråten, Norwegian politician, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers
- 1958 – Andrew George, English politician
- 1958 – Vladimir Parfenovich, Belarusian canoe racer
- 1958 – George Saunders, American writer
- 1959 – Kelefa Diallo, Guinean general (d. 2013)
- 1959 – Frank Dietrich, German footballer
- 1959 – Boman Irani, Indian actor
- 1960 – Razzle, English drummer (Hanoi Rocks) (d. 1984)
- 1960 – Rick Savage, English singer-songwriter and bass player (Def Leppard and Atomic Mass)
- 1960 – Justus von Dohnányi, German actor
- 1961 – Richard Quinn, Scottish jockey
- 1962 – Kardam, Prince of Turnovo, Spanish-born Bulgarian nobleman
- 1963 – Dan Gauthier, American actor
- 1963 – Ann Patchett, American author
- 1963 – Rich Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 – Ron Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1963 – Brendan Coyle, English actor
- 1966 – Philippe Etchebest, French chef
- 1966 – Jinsei Shinzaki, Japanese wrestler
- 1967 – Mary Creagh, English politician
- 1967 – Laurie Morgan, English politician, 1st Chief Minister of Guernsey
- 1968 – Darryl Kile, American baseball player (d. 2002)
- 1968 – Lucy Liu, American actress and producer
- 1968 – Nate Mendel, American bass player (Foo Fighters, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Fire Theft, and Juno)
- 1968 – Rena Sofer, American actress
- 1968 – David Batty, English footballer
- 1969 – Pavel Loskutov, Estonian runner
- 1969 – Tanya Plibersek, Australian politician and Labor MP
- 1970 – Treach, American rapper and actor (Naughty by Nature)
- 1970 – Yang Hyun-suk, South Korean singer-songwriter and producer (Seo Taiji and Boys)
- 1970 – Joe Lo Truglio, American actor
- 1971 – Wilson Jermaine Heredia, American actor
- 1971 – Jüri Reinvere, Estonian composer
- 1971 – Francesco Toldo, Italian footballer
- 1971 – Mine Yoshizaki, Japanese illustrator
- 1972 – Sergei Zholtok, Latvian ice hockey player (d. 2004)
- 1973 – Graham Kavanagh, Irish footballer
- 1973 – Monica Seles, Yugoslavian-American tennis player
- 1973 – Jan Ullrich, German cyclist
- 1976 – Eddy Garabito, Dominican baseball player
- 1976 – Masafumi Gotoh, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist (Asian Kung-Fu Generation)
- 1977 – Siyabonga Nomvethe, South African footballer
- 1978 – Jarron Collins, American basketball player
- 1978 – Jason Collins, American basketball player
- 1978 – Nelly Furtado, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1978 – Luigi Malafronte, Italian footballer
- 1978 – Peter Moylan, Australian baseball player
- 1978 – Maëlle Ricker, Canadian snowboarder
- 1978 – David Rivas, Spanish footballer
- 1978 – Christopher Wolstenholme, English singer-songwriter and bass player (Muse)
- 1979 – Melissa Archer, American actress
- 1979 – Sabina Babayeva, Azerbaijani singer
- 1979 – Yvonne Catterfeld, German singer-songwriter and actress
- 1979 – Michael McIndoe, Scottish footballer
- 1980 – Adam Kreek, Canadian rower
- 1981 – Danijel Pranjić, Croatian footballer
- 1981 – Britney Spears, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1982 – Michelle Banzer, American model, Miss Kentucky USA 2007
- 1982 – Christos Karipidis, Greek footballer
- 1982 – Mike Scala, American rapper, producer, and politician
- 1982 – Matt Ware, American football player
- 1982 – Maria Ferekidi, Greek slalom canoer
- 1983 – Chris Burke, Scottish footballer
- 1983 – Bibiana Candelas, Mexican volleyball player
- 1983 – Jaime Durán, Mexican footballer
- 1983 – Jana Kramer, American actress and singer
- 1983 – Aaron Rodgers, American football player
- 1983 – Daniela Ruah, American actress
- 1983 – Sarah Vandella, American porn actress
- 1984 – Péter Máté, Hungarian footballer
- 1985 – Amaury Leveaux, French swimmer
- 1985 – Dorell Wright, American basketball player
- 1986 – Claudiu Keserü, Romanian footballer
- 1986 – Adam le Fondre, English footballer
- 1986 – Tal Wilkenfeld, Australian bass player and composer
- 1987 – Teairra Marí, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1987 – Mari-Leen, Estonian singer
- 1988 – Alfred Enoch, English actor
- 1988 – Soniya Mehra, Indian actress
- 1988 – Stephen McGinn, Scottish footballer
- 1989 – Cassie Steele, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1989 – Etta Bond, British singer-songwriter and rapper
- 1990 – Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Ghanaian footballer
- 1990 – Gastón Ramírez, Uruguayan footballer
- 1990 – Fausto Rossi, Italian footballer
- 1990 – Hikaru Yaotome, Japanese singer-songwriter and actor (Hey! Say! JUMP)
- 1993 – Kostas Stafylidis, Greek footballer
Deaths[edit]
- 1348 – Emperor Hanazono of Japan (b. 1297)
- 1381 – John of Ruysbroeck, Flemish mystic (b. 1293)
- 1463 – Albert VI, Archduke of Austria (b. 1418)
- 1469 – Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, Italian politician (b. 1416)
- 1515 – Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, Spanish general (b. 1453)
- 1547 – Hernán Cortés, Spanish explorer (b. 1485)
- 1594 – Gerardus Mercator, Flemish cartographer (b. 1512)
- 1615 – Louis des Balbes de Berton de Crillon, French general (b. 1541)
- 1665 – Catherine de Vivonne, marquise de Rambouillet, French author (b. 1588)
- 1694 – Pierre Paul Puget, French painter, sculptor, and architect (b. 1622)
- 1719 – Pasquier Quesnel, French theologian (b. 1634)
- 1723 – Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, French nobleman, regent for Louis XV of France (b. 1674)
- 1726 – Samuel Penhallow, English-American historian (b. 1665)
- 1747 – Vincent Bourne, English scholar (b. 1695)
- 1748 – Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, English politician, Master of the Horse (b. 1662)
- 1774 – Johann Friedrich Agricola, German composer and organist (b. 1720)
- 1814 – Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade, French politician, philosopher and author (b. 1740)
- 1844 – Eustachy Erazm Sanguszko, Polish general and politician (b. 1768)
- 1849 – Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, German wife of William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1792)
- 1859 – John Brown, American insurrectionist (b. 1800)
- 1860 – Alfred Bunn, English stage manager (b. 1796)
- 1881 – Jenny von Westphalen, German writer, wife of Karl Marx (b. 1814)
- 1888 – Namık Kemal, Turkish poet (b. 1840)
- 1892 – Jay Gould, American financier (b. 1836)
- 1899 – Gregorio del Pilar, Filipino general (b. 1875)
- 1918 – Edmond Rostand, French poet and playwright (b. 1868)
- 1924 – Kazimieras Būga, Lithuanian linguist and philologist (b. 1879)
- 1931 – Vincent d'Indy, French composer (b. 1851)
- 1935 – Albert Jean Louis Ayat, French fencer (b. 1875)
- 1936 – John Ringling, American businessman, co-founded Ringling Brothers Circus (b. 1866)
- 1943 – Nordahl Grieg, Norwegian author and journalist (b. 1902)
- 1944 – Josef Lhévinne, Russian pianist (b. 1874)
- 1944 – Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Egyptian-Italian poet (b. 1876)
- 1944 – Eiji Sawamura, Japanese baseball player (b. 1917)
- 1950 – Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist and composer (b. 1917)
- 1953 – Reginald Baker, Australian rugby player and actor (b. 1884)
- 1953 – Trần Trọng Kim, Vietnamese scholar and politician, Cabinet Secretary of the Empire of Vietnam (b. 1883)
- 1957 – Harrison Ford, American actor (b. 1884)
- 1957 – Manfred Sakel, Polish psychiatrist (b. 1902)
- 1963 – Sabu Dastagir, Indian-American actor (b. 1924)
- 1963 – Thomas Hicks, English-American runner (b. 1875)
- 1966 – Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer, Dutch mathematician and philosopher (b. 1881)
- 1966 – Giles Cooper, Irish playwright (b. 1918)
- 1967 – Billy Chapman, English footballer (b. 1902)
- 1968 – Adamson-Eric, Estonian painter (b. 1902)
- 1969 – José María Arguedas, Peruvian author, poet, and anthropologist (b. 1911)
- 1969 – Kliment Voroshilov, Soviet politician, 3rd Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (b. 1881)
- 1972 – Yip Man, Chinese martial artist (b. 1893)
- 1974 – Max Weber, Swiss politician (b. 1897)
- 1976 – Danny Murtaugh, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917)
- 1980 – Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, Pakistani politician, 4th Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1905)
- 1980 – Roza Eskenazi, Greek singer (b. 1890s)
- 1980 – Romain Gary, Lithuanian-French diplomat and author (b. 1914)
- 1981 – Wallace Harrison, American architect (b. 1895)
- 1982 – Marty Feldman, English comedian and actor (b. 1933)
- 1982 – Giovanni Ferrari, Italian footballer (b. 1907)
- 1983 – Fifi D'Orsay, Canadian actress (b. 1904)
- 1985 – Aniello Dellacroce, American gangster (b. 1914)
- 1985 – Philip Larkin, English poet and author (b. 1922)
- 1985 – Petros, Greek pelican
- 1986 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1917)
- 1986 – Lee Dorsey, American singer (b. 1924)
- 1986 – John Curtis Gowan, American psychologist (b. 1912)
- 1987 – Luis Federico Leloir, French-Argentinian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1987 – Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Karl-Heinz Bürger, German SS officer (b. 1904)
- 1988 – Tata Giacobetti, Italian singer-songwriter (Quartetto Cetra) (b. 1922)
- 1990 – Aaron Copland, American composer and conductor (b. 1900)
- 1990 – Robert Cummings, American actor (b. 1908)
- 1992 – Michael Gothard, English actor (b. 1939)
- 1993 – Pablo Escobar, Colombian drug lord (b. 1949)
- 1995 – Robertson Davies, Canadian author (b. 1913)
- 1995 – Roxie Roker, American actress (b. 1929)
- 1995 – Mária Telkes, Hungarian–American scientist and inventor (b. 1900)
- 1997 – Shirley Crabtree, English wrestler (b. 1930)
- 1997 – Michael Hedges, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1953)
- 2000 – Gail Fisher, American actress (b. 1935)
- 2002 – Ivan Illich, Austrian priest and philosopher (b. 1926)
- 2002 – Arno Peters, German historian (b. 1916)
- 2003 – Alan Davidson, Irish author (b. 1924)
- 2004 – Alicia Markova, English ballerina and choreographer (b. 1910)
- 2004 – Mona Van Duyn, American poet (b. 1921)
- 2004 – Leonid Telyatnikov, Kazakhstani firefighter (b. 1951)
- 2005 – Kenneth Lee Boyd, American murderer (b. 1948)
- 2005 – William P. Lawrence, American navy officer (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Van Tuong Nguyen, Thai-Australian drug trafficker (b. 1980)
- 2005 – Nat Mayer Shapiro, American painter (b. 1919)
- 2006 – Mariska Veres, Dutch singer (Shocking Blue) (b. 1947)
- 2007 – Jennifer Alexander, Canadian ballet dancer (b. 1972)
- 2008 – Odetta, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Kathleen Baskin-Ball, American minister (b. 1958)
- 2008 – Edward Samuel Rogers, Canadian businessman (b. 1933)
- 2009 – Foge Fazio, American football player and coach (b. 1938)
- 2009 – Maggie Jones, English actress (b. 1934)
- 2009 – Eric Woolfson, Scottish singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (The Alan Parsons Project) (b. 1945)
- 2012 – Hiroshi Kato, Japanese martial artist (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Israel Keyes, American murderer (b. 1978)
- 2012 – Ehsan Naraghi, Iranian sociologist and author (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Décio Pignatari, Brazilian poet (b. 1927)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Christian Feast Day:
- International Day for the Abolition of Slavery (International)
- National Day (Laos)
- National Day (United Arab Emirates)
- Armed Forces Day (Cuba)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”John 1:1-2, 14 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"Thou hast made summer and winter."
Psalm 74:17
Psalm 74:17
My soul begin this wintry month with thy God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind thee that he keeps his covenant with day and night, and tend to assure thee that he will also keep that glorious covenant which he has made with thee in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to his Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove unfaithful in his dealings with his own well-beloved Son.
Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, and if it be upon thee just now it will be very painful to thee: but there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord makes it. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes over the once verdant meadows of our joy: he casteth forth his ice like morsels freezing the streams of our delight. He does it all, he is the great Winter King, and rules in the realms of frost, and therefore thou canst not murmur. Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills, are of the Lord's sending, and come to us with wise design. Frosts kill noxious insects, and put a bound to raging diseases; they break up the clods, and sweeten the soil. O that such good results would always follow our winters of affliction!
How we prize the fire just now! how pleasant is its cheerful glow! Let us in the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw nigh to him, and in him find joy and peace in believing. Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of his promises, and go forth to labours which befit the season, for it were ill to be as the sluggard who will not plough by reason of the cold; for he shall beg in summer and have nothing.
Evening
"O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men."
Psalm 107:8
Psalm 107:8
If we complained less, and praised more, we should be happier, and God would be more glorified. Let us daily praise God for common mercies--common as we frequently call them, and yet so priceless, that when deprived of them we are ready to perish. Let us bless God for the eyes with which we behold the sun, for the health and strength to walk abroad, for the bread we eat, for the raiment we wear. Let us praise him that we are not cast out among the hopeless, or confined amongst the guilty; let us thank him for liberty, for friends, for family associations and comforts; let us praise him, in fact, for everything which we receive from his bounteous hand, for we deserve little, and yet are most plenteously endowed. But, beloved, the sweetest and the loudest note in our songs of praise should be of redeeming love. God's redeeming acts towards his chosen are forever the favourite themes of their praise. If we know what redemption means, let us not withhold our sonnets of thanksgiving. We have been redeemed from the power of our corruptions, uplifted from the depth of sin in which we were naturally plunged. We have been led to the cross of Christ--our shackles of guilt have been broken off; we are no longer slaves, but children of the living God, and can antedate the period when we shall be presented before the throne without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Even now by faith we wave the palm-branch and wrap ourselves about with the fair linen which is to be our everlasting array, and shall we not unceasingly give thanks to the Lord our Redeemer? Child of God, canst thou be silent? Awake, awake, ye inheritors of glory, and lead your captivity captive, as ye cry with David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." Let the new month begin with new songs.
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Today's reading: Ezekiel 40-41, 2 Peter 3 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 40-41
The Temple Area Restored
1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city—on that very day the hand of the LORD was on me and he took me there. 2 In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. 3 He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4 The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”
The East Gate to the Outer Court
5 I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high....
Today's New Testament reading: 2 Peter 3
The Day of the Lord
1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly....
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Gideon, Gedeon [Gĭd'eon, Gĕd'e on]—a cutting down, he that bruises orgreat warrior. A son of Joash of the family of Abiezer, a Manassite, who lived in Ophrah and delivered Israel from Midian. He is also called Jerubbaal, and judged Israel forty years as the fifth judge (Judg. 6; 7;8).
The Man of Might and Valor
Without doubt Gideon is among the brightest luminaries of Old Testament history. His character and call are presented in a series of tableaux. We see:
I. Gideon at the flail. The tall, powerful young man was threshing wheat for his farmer-father when the call came to him to rise and become the deliverer of his nation. History teaches that obscurity of birth is no obstacle to noble service. It was no dishonor for Gideon to say, “My family is poor.”
II. Gideon at the altar. Although humble and industrious, Gideon was God-fearing. His own father had become an idolator but idols had to go, and Gideon vowed to remove them. No wonder they called him Jerubbaal, meaning “Discomfiter of Baal.”
III. Gideon and the fleece. Facing the great mission of his life, he had to have an assuring token that God was with him. The method he adopted was peculiar, but found favor with heaven, God condescending to grant Gideon the double sign. With the complete revelation before us in the Bible, we are not to seek supernatural signs, but take God at his Word.
IV. Gideon at the well. How fascinating is the incident of the reduction of Gideon’s army from thirty-two thousand to ten thousand, then to only three hundred. Three hundred men against the countless swarms of Midian! Yes, but the few choice, brave, active men and God were in the majority. God is not always on the side of big battalions.
V. Gideon with the whip. Rough times often need and warrant rough measures. The men of Succoth and Penuel made themselves obnoxious, but with a whip fashioned out of the thorny branches off the trees, Gideon meted out to them the punishment they deserved.
VI. Gideon in the gallery of worthies. It was no small honor to have a niche, as Gideon has, in the illustrious roll named in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, where every name is an inspiration, and every character a miracle of grace.
Preachers desiring to continue the character-study of Gideon still further might note his humility (Judg. 6:15); caution (Judg. 6:17); spirituality (Judg. 6:24); obedience (Judg. 6:27); divine inspiration ( Judg. 6:34); divine fellowship (Judg. 6:36; 7:4, 7-9); strategy (Judg. 7:16-18); tact (Judg. 8:1-3); loyalty to God (Judg. 8:23); the fact that he was weakened by his very prosperity ( Judg. 8:24-31).
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JOY
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord." - Luke 2:10-11
Great joy? Is it almost too much to hope for?
Where did all the Christmas joy go? How did things get so complicated? So rushed? So squeezed and cluttered? A non-stop buzz of Christmas lights and weary shoppers, boisterous television specials and pleading children. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can choose to step aside, step into a quieter moment, and read the angel’s words that came on the night that changed the world: "I bring you news of great joy!"
It was just another night of work in the field for shepherds. A chill in the air, calm and the soft bleating of their flocks. Another night of work, a night like those thousands of nights before, even thousands of years before-when the shepherd David was still a boy and stood watch in the same fields. Life hadn’t changed in a millennium. But this night, everything changed.
When the angel appeared, bathed in a glorious light, the shepherd men and boys, who were used to fending off wild beasts to protect their sheep, were filled with terror. Were they convinced by the simple words: “I bring you great news of great joy”? Probably not. Joy would have to come later. They would have to see proof.
That’s the way it works with joy. Real joy is never something that originates from within: it must come from without. Searching for joy within you is like searching for the ocean within a droplet of water. Perhaps this is why so many of us have a difficult time finding joy at Christmas. Bite into a Christmas cookie, and you might enjoy it. Open a shiny package, and you might delight in what you find inside. But joy itself-true and pure-is so much more than enjoyment.
Joy is the startling realization that God has claimed territory in this world. He has taken back what belongs to him. Every day, we can remind ourselves of this revelation: reignite this joy again and again. Joy is a thirst that doesn’t want to be quenched; a hunger that knows it will go on and on. It’s a good thing, to never get enough of God.
This "great joy," God come into the world, is “great” because it is everywhere. A joy "that will be for all the people"-is here. Now. Let us delight in this tremendous news today.
Prayer for today: Dear God, turn my fear into great joy.
This is the first post in the Christmas devotional, “Christmas Joy.” Want to read more devotionals by Mel Lawrenz?
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