But the ALP have made Education their play thing and pursued a highly ineffective agenda. Modern education around the world began almost simultaneously in two separate places. The Madras System started in Madras circa 1792 when a headmaster (Dr Andrew Bell) of a school for orphans of British soldiers got a 12 year old boy, John Frisken, to teach the alphabet to much younger boys. Meanwhile Joseph Lancaster in England, began using older children to teach younger children. Both systems were adopted as models. One founded the British Foreign Service the other was adopted by the Catholic Church. In the 1870's, Britain began teacher training at university and dropped the Monitorial system. Teachers were supposed to model moral behaviour, as well as teach the basics. By early nineteenth century, kids were educated in Britain to year 8. After WW1, education in NSW was expected to be year 9, with university students being at school to year 11. Now there is discussion about a year 13.
Now, teachers are highly specialised. Science teachers don't even understand Global Warming theory. English teachers don't know how to teach reading. History teachers don't know when the White Australia Policy ended, and have fantasy stories about a stolen generation. But they need more money to teach less. So as to raise the standard. When did the ALP begin bending education away from the core purpose of teaching? Whitlam did a lot of damage, but a lot of bad things pre existed him. But if a good idea is put forward, so many people will denounce it so as to roll the dice of change.
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Sandra Flowers. Born on the same day, across the years
- 1368 – Charles VI of France (d. 1422)
- 1842 – Phoebe Hearst, American philanthropist and activist (d. 1919)
- 1857 – Joseph Conrad, Polish-English author (d. 1924)
- 1878 – Francis A. Nixon, American businessman, father of Richard Nixon (d. 1956)
- 1891 – Thomas Farrell, American general, Deputy Commanding General of the Manhattan Project (d. 1967)
- 1895 – Anna Freud, Austrian-English psychoanalyst (d. 1982)
- 1960 – Daryl Hannah, American actress
- 2005 – Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway
Matches
- 915 – Pope John X crowned Berengar I of Italy as Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1854 – Eureka Stockade: In what is claimed by many to be the birth of Australian democracy, more than 20 gold miners at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia are killed by state troopers in an uprising over mining licences.
- 1901 – US President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representativesasking the Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".
- 1910 – Modern neon lighting is first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.
- 1927 – Putting Pants on Philip, the first Laurel and Hardy film, is released.
- 1960 – The musical Camelot debuted at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway, and would become associated with the Kennedy administration.
- 1964 – Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property.
- 1967 – At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky).
- 1973 – Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.
- 1976 – An assassination attempt is made on Bob Marley. He is shot twice, but plays a concert two days later
- 1979 – In Cincinnati, Ohio, 11 fans are suffocated in a crush for seats on the concourse outside Riverfront Coliseum before a Who concert.
Despatches
- 311 – Diocletian, Roman emperor (b. 244)
- 1552 – Francis Xavier, Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1506)
- 1765 – Lord John Sackville, English cricketer (b. 1713)
THE PRESS, THE PRESIDENT AND THE PLASTIC TURKEY
Tim Blair – Tuesday, December 03, 2013 (3:59am)
The recent 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination gave us all reason to again consider one of modern history’s great tragedies. But, aside from the inadvisability of travelling in an open car while there are communists in nearby buildings, there are few lessons to be learned from that dreadful day in Dallas.
Another anniversary, however, is loaded with helpful learning moments, especially for the media.
Continue reading 'THE PRESS, THE PRESIDENT AND THE PLASTIC TURKEY'NO TO MO
Tim Blair – Tuesday, December 03, 2013 (3:56am)
A bunch of guys grow moustaches. The left responds:
Movember is divisive, gender normative, racist and ineffective against some very real health issues.
Probably better if they just killed themselves.
WAR ON SHRUGS
Tim Blair – Tuesday, December 03, 2013 (3:49am)
Anti-sarc rules loom in the west:
Negative body language including shrugging shoulders, rolling eyes, deep sighing and finger-pointing is to be prohibited at a Perth council under new guidelines on behavior …According to the document, raising one’s voice, taunting or trying to undermine others’ arguments, or attacking a suggestion as “that’s a dumb idea” or “that won’t work” is in breach of the code.As are backbiting and complaining about others behind their backs, criticism of an individual or group and asking excessive or inappropriate questions.
If this legislation catches on, every household with children is headed to court.
(Via J.F. Beck)
ALL COST, NO BENEFIT
Tim Blair – Tuesday, December 03, 2013 (3:08am)
We’re living in an age of madness:
Climate-change policies are expected to cost Britain more than £80 billion by the end of the decade, as critics warn that the global-warming industry is spiralling out of control …Vast sums are being spent on initiatives ranging from climate-change officers in local councils to the funding of “low carbon” agriculture in Colombia at a cost of £15 million alone. Billions of pounds are also being added to fuel bills to pay for green policies.
On a positive note, at least the latest leftist belief system isn’t actively killing people.
What’s fair about Fair Work?
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (8:18am)
Judith Sloan on the outrageous stacking of the Fair Work Commission - not least by Bill Shorten as Workplace Relations Minister:
===Of the 27 appointments made by the Labor government, 18 were either union officials or Labor affiliates. And of these appointments, nearly one-third were at the presidential level. The FWC is now a ridiculously top-heavy organisation, with half of all the members at the presidential level.Let us pray that Employment Minister Eric Abetz can unpick the lock on the box in which the government has put him.
And just take a look at the salaries. The total annual remuneration of a vice-president is $534,000 and of a deputy president, it is $435,000. Even the more junior commissioners earn $358,000…
There is, of course, the possibility the appointees to the FWC will act in a detached and even-handed way. But, alas, it has not been the case. One member of the tribunal is so inclined to hand down lop-sided and prejudiced decisions that many of them are appealed…
The Australian Mines and Minerals Association, the resources industry employer group, has outlined a number of areas of significant inconsistency. These include: whether employers have the right to test for drug and alcohol use by workers; whether accessing pornographic material is the basis for justified dismissal; whether assaulting a fellow worker is the basis for justified dismissal; whether annual leave can be cashed out; and whether individual flexibility agreements must actually deliver on their promise.
Boats slowing, but now Labor dismantles what’s working
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (8:08am)
Utterly bizarre. Has
Labor learned nothing from the humanitarian, financial and security
disaster it unleashed by scrapping such tough measures in 2008?
Now, with boats down to one a week, Labor tries to dismantle some of the policies which are clearly working:
===Now, with boats down to one a week, Labor tries to dismantle some of the policies which are clearly working:
THE Senate has scuttled the Coalition government’s reintroduction of temporary protection visas.So stupid.
Labor and the Greens teamed up on Monday night to pass a disallowance motion in the Senate, 36 votes to 26, to quash the controversial visas.
The coalition government reintroduced temporary protection visas via regulation in October as a key plank of its hardline Operation Sovereign Borders policy aimed at discouraging asylum-seeker boat journeys.
It must now wait for six months to reintroduce regulation of the same substance.
Turnbull rebukes ABC, but only for helping the Guardian sell itself
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (7:59am)
Interesting, and more stinging coming from Malcolm Turnbull - although he’s confined his criticism to the ABC getting into bed with a commercial entity:
===COMMUNICATIONS Minister Malcolm Turnbull has told ABC managing director Mark Scott it was an error of judgment for the national broadcaster to join The Guardian to publish claims Australia tapped the phones of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife…
Mr Turnbull ... defended the legitimacy of the story. However, he said it was The Guardian’s story, not the ABC’s.
“They were going to publish it and they just basically wanted a partner to help them amplify their publication,” Mr Turnbull said…
Mr Turnbull suggested The Guardian, which launched its Australian web edition earlier this year, would have proposed the partnership with commercial considerations in mind…
Mr Turnbull first raised his concerns with Mr Scott in a phone call he initiated last Monday.
A band you may well like
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (7:52am)
Reader Gary:
===About a year ago you shared my band’s video clip on your blog. The band is called Faith & Gasoline and the song, ”Reality Hurts”, dealt with freedom of speech and your recent trial. Thanks to your blog, we received over 100,000 views in under a fortnight and connected with listeners/readers from across Australia, as well as a few readers from Europe and the USA. We also met some interesting characters as we toured Vic, SA and NSW, who had recognised us from your blog!
We have now released our second record, “Better Left Unsaid”, as well as a video clip for the title track. The video can be viewed here. And the CD can be purchased in our online store.
How to win $1000 from a Liberal Lord Mayor and make Melbourne a “city of literature”
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (7:09am)
This is cartoonist
David Blumenstein with Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, a Liberal, who
has just given him a $1000 prize as an “emerging writer” who will ”strengthen Melbourne’s status as a UNESCO City of Literature”:
The Left may have conquered the institutions, but it took the acquiescence of conservatives too eager to seem broadminded.
===The criteria for Blumenstein’s award for a graphic short story in the Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards:
General criteria (across all categories)The prize was for a story in Blumenstein’s cartoon book:
Literary merit and overall quality of authorshipGraphic short story
Originality of concept
Stylistic excellence
Readability
Clarity of purpose
Editorial excellence
Intent of work met by author
Professional presentation
All of the general criteria apply but also
Artistic merit
It contains personal stories of people who shit me off — many of them politicians. One of the stories is a thing about Andrew Bolt which won a Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing prize the other day.The prize-winning story was presented as the work of Blumenstein’s much younger brother:
Presenting this as the work of a not-so-bright year 10 student excused Blumenstein the crudity of language and thought of a playground:
All right, so the drawings aren’t great, the writing adolescent - but the politics are right on. And so a former Victorian Liberal leader rewards the sentiments of this “emerging writer” with $1000 taken from ratepayers.
The Left may have conquered the institutions, but it took the acquiescence of conservatives too eager to seem broadminded.
A conservative government should laugh such critics to scorn
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (7:03am)
Gerard Henderson has typically sound advice:
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
===The tenor of intensity with which many journalists dislike the Prime Minister and his colleagues is evident in the note which accompanies the current edition of The Monthly magazine. Editor John van Tiggelen quotes “one of the magazine’s most popular contributors” as declaring: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a cabinet of creeps; I can’t bear to take them seriously yet."…A tip: George Brandis could play a significant role in the culture war this government must fight. Malcolm Turnbull has all the firepower, too, but whose side would he actually join?
So much is the dislike of Abbott that it appears some commentators want his policies to fail even if this is damaging to Australia’s national interest. This is evident in the reporting of the documents stolen by Edward Snowden…
It’s possible the overwhelmingly negative coverage may affect the Coalition at the next election. Or that the media’s apparent obsessions have little traction in the electorate. Despite promising starts, Howard only narrowly won his first election as prime minister in 1998 and Rudd did not even lead Labor to the 2010 campaign. Even so, the Coalition may need to consider whether its apparent tactic of low-profile engagement deserves reassessment.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
The warming religion will collapse from its sheer cost
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (6:46am)
How many billions of
dollars have been squandered on pretending to do something about the
weather? On placating the great Climate God?
Richard Lindzen, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
===Richard Lindzen, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
Global climate alarmism has been costly to society, and it has the potential to be vastly more costly. It also has been damaging to science, as scientists adjust both data and even theory to accommodate politically correct positions…For example:
There are past examples. In the U.S. in the early 20th century, the eugenics movement had coopted the science of human genetics and was driving a political agenda. The movement achieved the Immigration Restriction Act of 1923, as well as forced sterilization laws in several states. The movement became discredited by Nazi atrocities, but the American consequences survived well into the 1960s.
In the Soviet Union, Trofim Denisovich Lysenko (1898-1976) promoted the Lamarckian view of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. It fit with Stalin’s megalomaniacal insistence on the ability of society to remold nature….
Global warming differs from the previous two affairs. Global warming has become a religion. A surprisingly large number of people seem to have concluded that all that gives meaning to their lives is the belief that they are saving the planet by paying attention to their carbon footprint…
In contrast to Lysenkoism, Global Warming has a global constituency, and has successfully coopted almost all of institutional science. However, the cracks in the scientific claims for catastrophic warming are, I think, becoming much harder for the supporters to defend.
In fact:
How much more waste before the cost becomes so crippling that it forces politicians to admit voters have been conned - and fleeced?
“‘Real Risk of a Maunder Minimum ‘Little Ice Age’ announced the BBC this week, in reporting startling findings by Professor Mike Lockwood of Reading University. ‘Professor Lockwood believes solar activity is now falling more rapidly than at any time in the last 10,000 years [raising the risk of a new Little Ice Age]…, explained Paul Hudson, the BBC’s climate correspondent. If Earth is spared a new Little Ice Age, a severe cooling as ‘occurred in the early 1800s, which also had its fair share of cold winters and cold summers is, according to him, ‘more likely than not to happen.”
Climate-change policies are expected to cost Britain more than £80 billion by the end of the decade, as critics warn that the global-warming industry is spiralling out of control …(Thanks to reader fulchrum.)
Vast sums are being spent on initiatives ranging from climate-change officers in local councils to the funding of “low carbon” agriculture in Colombia at a cost of £15 million alone. Billions of pounds are also being added to fuel bills to pay for green policies.
Memo to the ABC: Edward Snowden is as much a “whistleblower” as Kim Philby
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (6:26am)
The ABC has decided on another adjective to describe the traitor Edwin Snowden:
But what crime? What corruption? What malpractice? And look at the damage done to the national security of his own country and that of its allies.
The ABC’s description of Snowden is loaded, inaccurate and informed by hostility to the security interests of the West and its citizens. Snowden is about as much a whistleblower as Kim Philby or Wilfred Burchett.
The ABC is out of control.
===The Guardian Australia has published secret documents from 2008, leaked by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden,...Here is how Whistleblowers Australia defines the term:
Whistleblowers Australia Inc. is an association for those who have exposed corruption or any form of malpractice...Here is how the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority defines it:
A ‘whistleblower’ is a person who exposes or brings to public attention an irregularity or a crime, especially from within an organisation.So the ABC is informing its audience as a matter of fact, not opinion, that Snowden, now granted asylum in Russia, has exposed corruption, crime or some malpractice in his country’s national security organisations. In the ABC’s language, Snowden is a hero.
But what crime? What corruption? What malpractice? And look at the damage done to the national security of his own country and that of its allies.
The ABC’s description of Snowden is loaded, inaccurate and informed by hostility to the security interests of the West and its citizens. Snowden is about as much a whistleblower as Kim Philby or Wilfred Burchett.
The ABC is out of control.
Round up these ma and pa throwbacks
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (4:49am)
What’s more worrying? That AWU boss Paul Howes thinks farming really is just a primitive “ma and pa” operation, or that a way of life “needs” to stop?
It essentially means the day of ma and pa farming in Australia needs to end.A phone call is made:
Senator Bill Heffernan ... said he made a “courtesy” phone call to express his views direct to Mr Howes late Sunday evening, which was met with blunt objection.
“He (Mr Howes) hung up actually because he was a bit upset that I’d called him on a Sunday night which was extraordinary,” he said.
“But I thought it was an extraordinary circumstance that he would demean the great institution of Australian family farmers with the comment that ma and pa farmers should get out.
“He obviously doesn’t understand farming and hasn’t had a real job ever in his life as a trade union person and doesn’t understand the issues or details around the ADM issue."…
He said farmers had made great advances over many decades in the uptake of on-farm technology and science to improve their operations.
“The bulk of family farmers are viable farmers and besides corporate farming in this country has had a history of going broke,” he said.
“Farmers don’t pay themselves overtime like the ma and pa trade unions do.”
Abbott’s big pitch: why is Shorten standing between you and $550?
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (12:01am)
I’m not sure why Tony Abbott wasn’t given an auto-cue or better lighting, but the message is very effective.
And the point isn’t just that Labor is ignoring the clear wish of most Australians to scrap the carbon tax and save Australians an average of $550 a year. There is also this, as Paul Murray pointed out on Sky last night: Abbott in the space of a week realised he was making a mistake on school funding and changed course. Labor made a terrible mistake on the carbon tax and in three years still hasn’t been able to change.
===And the point isn’t just that Labor is ignoring the clear wish of most Australians to scrap the carbon tax and save Australians an average of $550 a year. There is also this, as Paul Murray pointed out on Sky last night: Abbott in the space of a week realised he was making a mistake on school funding and changed course. Labor made a terrible mistake on the carbon tax and in three years still hasn’t been able to change.
Time this Government showed it can also do tough
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (8:30am)
Each individual decision taken by the Abbott Government might just be defensible, but the pattern is a worry:
===One of the most senior figures of the Howard government and a leading figure of the Liberal Party’s conservative wing, Peter Reith, has accused Prime Minister Tony Abbott of orchestrating the veto of a $3.4 billion US bid for GrainCorp, which he described as the latest of several botched decisions.So this is more heartening:
Mr Reith called on the new government to show more leadership and resist the push for government subsidies and assistance for business, and raised concerns that the GrainCorp decision, which was supposed to have been made by Treasurer Joe Hockey, makes a bailout of Qantas Airways more likely.
“Hockey says it should be the subject of a national debate. Australia does not need a debate; we need a government that makes it clear it will not be wasting any more taxpayer money with subsidies for business and that its priority, as promised, is to return the budget to surplus ASAP,” he said.
“I never thought that the Abbott government would be the first Australian government to knock back an application to Foreign Investment Review Board from the business community of our close ally the United States."…
Former treasurer Peter Costello criticised the decision on Sunday. On Monday, former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett said it had condemned Australia to be a “10th-order country” and “we are still back in the 18th century”.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has sought to dampen expectations that the government will offer financial help to Qantas to preserve its investment-grade credit rating, saying the airline has yet to tell politicians exactly what it wants…
‘’Maybe it wants to see the restrictions on ownership lifted,’’ he said on Brisbane radio. ‘’I’m not sure they really want to see a new government shareholding. And the trouble with providing a government loan guarantee is where does it stop?’’
Children diagnose discrimination in workplaces they’ve never seen
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (8:24am)
Children aged from 15 to 19 who’ve never had full-time jobs know exactly what’s wrong with the workplace:
===When [the survey of 15,000 youths is] carved up on gender lines, for [the] first time ever young women ranked equity and discrimination as the top issue facing the country, with female respondents indicating concerns about workplace discrimination, racism and gender inequality.Reader Jilly:
These girls have not yet experienced workplace situations, are not yet at Uni, live in a decade when women held every one of our highest public offices and are represented in the top level of success in private business of every kind - so where did they get this notion from?Good question. I have some strong suspicions.
Abbott finally unleashes
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (2:04pm)
A turn for the better in the Abbott Government’s communications strategy:
Now, if Speaker Bronwyn Bishop could seem less scared of the Oppositionn and demand less heckling and shouting, even better. It is a poor show when the Prime Minister and others need to remind her of standing orders or need to pause to make the point that the uproar is simply unacceptable. The Member for Parramatta in particular needs a few outings in the sin bin, and Tanya Plibersek’s shouting is surely too much.
Bishop, a classic conservative, thinks setting a good example in civility will impress the uncivil. Actually, a swish of the cane impresses the uncouth even more.
UPDATE
Better. A noisy Labor MP is thrown out.
Worse: Now Julie Bishop has to ask a “rude member” let her finish an answer. Where was Bronwyn Bishop?
UPDATE
Pyne then points out to the Speaker how rude a Labor MP just was to her. (Labor is treating Bishop with a labored patronisation.) She takes no action.
===- A keeping of the education funding promise (or close enough).Heartening.
- A far stronger performance - in fact, a good one - from Christopher Pyne on 7.30 last night.
- A good, aggressive performance from Tony Abbott in Question Time yesterday, without crossing that line into stridency that prime ministers must avoid.
- A press conference from Abbott today from a prime minister who at first held few.
- Some red meat in the press conference for Liberal voters, not least on the ABC.
Now, if Speaker Bronwyn Bishop could seem less scared of the Oppositionn and demand less heckling and shouting, even better. It is a poor show when the Prime Minister and others need to remind her of standing orders or need to pause to make the point that the uproar is simply unacceptable. The Member for Parramatta in particular needs a few outings in the sin bin, and Tanya Plibersek’s shouting is surely too much.
Bishop, a classic conservative, thinks setting a good example in civility will impress the uncivil. Actually, a swish of the cane impresses the uncouth even more.
UPDATE
Better. A noisy Labor MP is thrown out.
Worse: Now Julie Bishop has to ask a “rude member” let her finish an answer. Where was Bronwyn Bishop?
UPDATE
Pyne then points out to the Speaker how rude a Labor MP just was to her. (Labor is treating Bishop with a labored patronisation.) She takes no action.
Boats slowing, but now Labor dismantles what’s working
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (12:08pm)
Utterly bizarre. Has Labor learned nothing from the humanitarian, financial and security disaster it unleashed by scrapping such tough measures in 2008?
Now, with boats down to one a week, Labor tries to dismantle some of the policies which are clearly working:
THE Senate has scuttled the Coalition government’s reintroduction of temporary protection visas.So stupid.
Labor and the Greens teamed up on Monday night to pass a disallowance motion in the Senate, 36 votes to 26, to quash the controversial visas.
The coalition government reintroduced temporary protection visas via regulation in October as a key plank of its hardline Operation Sovereign Borders policy aimed at discouraging asylum-seeker boat journeys.
It must now wait for six months to reintroduce regulation of the same substance.
UPDATE
So the Abbott Government brought back temporary protection visas. Labor last night sided with the Greens in the Senate to scrap them. This is how an ABC reporter then grills the Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison:
JANE NORMAN: Bringing back temporary protection visas was one of the Coalition’s key election commitments, the key plank of your border protection policy. So is this now a broken promise?(Thanks to reader F, as well as to reader Andrew for the graphic.)
How a Melbourne academic slimes us in Indonesia
Andrew Bolt December 03 2013 (11:51am)
Indonesia’s elite are
reacting with disproportionate hostility to Australia over the spying
controversy, seemingly forgetful of so much help we have offered.
Now Melbourne University academic Professor Thomas Reuter eggs them on, with this virulently anti-Australian poison published in the Jakarta Post:
Australian troops were in Indonesia as a consequence of liberating Indonesia from the Japanese. Australia was actually a strong supporter of Indonesian independence from Dutch rule.
And if we are to get outraged by massacres in Bali, we should first be cross about mass killings of Indonesians by Indonesians in 1965, and of Australians by Indonesians in 2002. Have apologies been issued for either?
As for intervening in the Konfrontasi, it was only to protect Malaysia from Indonesian aggression, thanks to Sukarno. Why is that not mentioned?
Reuter’s research is handsomely funded by the Australian Research Council. Is such funding in our national interest? I resent every dollar of my taxes taken from me and given to him, when he’s spreading calumnies about Australia in a country where resentments can be lethal.
UPDATE
Reader Leo G says Reuter has form. In 2002 he suggested to a Parliamentary committee the Bali bombing might be the work not of al Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiyah, which would suit the wicked US. No, the Indonesian military might have done it:
===Now Melbourne University academic Professor Thomas Reuter eggs them on, with this virulently anti-Australian poison published in the Jakarta Post:
Australian troops massacred Indonesians in Bali? This is news to me. The evidence for this incendiary claim?
After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, Indonesia’s founding president Sukarno declared independence… Dutch prisoners of war, released by Indonesia, were armed and sent back on rampages against Indonesian civilians and police. Australian troops participated in the occupation of the outer islands, including Bali, and were involved in massacres.
Australian troops were in Indonesia as a consequence of liberating Indonesia from the Japanese. Australia was actually a strong supporter of Indonesian independence from Dutch rule.
The British have since apologized for this cruel attempt to stifle the young nation’s struggle for freedom and sovereignty. Australia has not.How can we apologise for something for which no credible evidence seems to exist? Who, other than Reuter, has ever demanded we do apologise?
And if we are to get outraged by massacres in Bali, we should first be cross about mass killings of Indonesians by Indonesians in 1965, and of Australians by Indonesians in 2002. Have apologies been issued for either?
An undeclared war (the “Confrontation") began, and Australian troops participated. Covert operations into Indonesian Kalimantan began in 1964 under the code name Operation Claret. Attempts to assassinate Sukarno failed.Australians tried to assassinate Sukarno? Where’s the evidence? The most famous attempts to kill him came from an Indonesian air force officer and Islamist radicals. You could even blame Suharto for Sukarno’s death. But Australia?
As for intervening in the Konfrontasi, it was only to protect Malaysia from Indonesian aggression, thanks to Sukarno. Why is that not mentioned?
In 1965, Indonesia witnessed one of the greatest genocides of the 20th century, as army general Soeharto led a military coup against the left-leaning but essentially nationalist and non-aligned Sukarno government.Applause? Where in Australia was there “applause”? Australian politicians should perhaps have protested more, and they certainly favored the pro-West Suharto to the far-Left Sukarno. But cheering on the massacres?
Up to one million innocent Indonesian civilians were butchered over the following year at a rate of 1,500 people per day, to the applause of western powers including Australia.
The deep involvement of British and American intelligence in staging this bloody military coup, similar to the Pinochet takeover of Chile, is beyond reasonable doubt.In every bloody coup, blame the CIA. The true hallmark of the far-Left. The responsibility for the massacres remain with Indonesians themselves, with Suharto leading a coup against the erratic and dictatorial Sukarno, so economically incompetent that his country was plagued by famines and his people were advised to eat rats..
The lack of an apology for such consistent un-neighborly behavior may seem astonishing in the context of the “Asian Century” and needs to be understood as a direct consequence of the ongoing nature of these operations.“On going” involvements in assassination plots, coups and massacres? Is this academic serious? We are “un-neighbourly”? Australia? Which backed Indonesian independence, gives $500 million a year in aid, bailed out Indonesia in the Asian financial crisis and donated $1 billion after the terrible tsunami? Why was none of the good we do mentioned in a piece which reads like a hate-stirring slander sheet?
Reuter’s research is handsomely funded by the Australian Research Council. Is such funding in our national interest? I resent every dollar of my taxes taken from me and given to him, when he’s spreading calumnies about Australia in a country where resentments can be lethal.
UPDATE
Reader Leo G says Reuter has form. In 2002 he suggested to a Parliamentary committee the Bali bombing might be the work not of al Qaeda or Jemaah Islamiyah, which would suit the wicked US. No, the Indonesian military might have done it:
Media reports, citing US and Australian government soms, quickly pointed the finger of blame at the international terrorist network Al-Qaeda and ‘its local operatives. Little attention was given to the national let alone local socio-political context in which the attack had taken place. It was not sufficiently noted that attacks of a similar kind, if not scope, have occurred with increasing frequency since the collapse of Suharto’s military dictatorship in 1998. As a consequence, the tragedy of October 12 was co-opted prematurely and uncritically into the global political agenda and rhetoric of the United States government’s “War on Terror."…(Thanks to reader Mick.)
The problem in allocating blame for the Bali blast is that radical Islamic groups like Jemaah Islamiyah are not the only groups in Indonesia today who may be willing and capable of committing or supporting acts of terrorism, such as the recent attacks in Bali… Different groups even within the government’s own security forces have been fighting turf wars, with clashes between police and army forces reported from Java, Sumatra and Flores in recent months. A string of violent incidents bears testimony to increasing lawlessness and an expanding culture of political and economic violence, cutting across all sectors of society. This diffusion makes it difficult to pinpoint a single person or group as the likely perpetrators in any particular case.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You are probably aware of the anti-Israel movement known as BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). They want you to boycott Israeli goods because they claim Israel is an "apartheid" state. You can help us defeat the anti-Israel boycotts by BUYING Israeli products. This week is the busiest shopping week of the year. A great way to show your support for Israel is to buy your holiday gifts from Israel! Click below for a great selection of meaningful gifts from Israel: http://unitedwithisrael.com As an added incentive, and a way to say "thank you", we have set up a special promo code, called "SHOPISRAEL". With this code, you can save 10% and at the same time express your desire to defeat the boycotts by shopping from Israel. Thank you in advance for buying Israeli gifts for the holidays. We are sure that the holidays will have extra meaning and are honored that you have chosen to stand United with the People, Country and Land of Israel. Click here to view our unique holiday gift guide --> http://unitedwithisrael.com/giftguide/ With Blessings from Israel, The 'United with Israel' Family PS - Remember to use promo code 'SHOPISRAEL' to receive your discount Click here to Shop Israel today --> www.unitedwithisrael.com===
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Because you are a registered member of the United With Israel e-mail list, you are
receiving this advertiser sponsored e-mail. Offers such as today's enable us
to provide and improve our services. No endorsement of advertiser products
or services, real or implied, is intended.
receiving this advertiser sponsored e-mail. Offers such as today's enable us
to provide and improve our services. No endorsement of advertiser products
or services, real or implied, is intended.
For more information:
C/O The J Media Group
5455 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1000
Los Angeles, CA 90036
===C/O The J Media Group
5455 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1000
Los Angeles, CA 90036
 
|
|
- 1800 – War of the Second Coalition: French forces under General Jean Moreau defeated the Austrians and Bavarians under Archduke John inHohenlinden, near Munich, forcing the Austrians to sign an armistice.
- 1910 – Modern neon lighting was first seen publicly after installation by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.
- 1959 – The current flag of Singapore was adopted, six months after Singapore became self-governing within theBritish Empire.
- 1967 – Cardiac surgeon Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
- 1999 – NASA lost contact with the Mars Polar Lander(artist's impression pictured) moments before it reached the atmosphere of Mars and disappeared.
Events[edit]
- 915 – Pope John X crowned Berengar I of Italy as Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1799 – War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Wiesloch, Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal Sztáray de Nagy-Mihaly defeats the French at Wiesloch.
- 1800 – War of the Second Coalition: Battle of Hohenlinden, French General Moreau defeats the AustrianArchduke John near Munich decisively, coupled with First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte's victory at Marengoeffectively forcing the Austrians to sign an armistice and ending the war.
- 1818 – Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. state.
- 1834 – The Zollverein (German Customs Union) begins the first regular census in Germany.
- 1854 – Eureka Stockade: In what is claimed by many to be the birth of Australian democracy, more than 20 gold miners at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia are killed by state troopers in an uprising over mining licences.
- 1898 – The Duquesne Country and Athletic Club defeated 16–0, an all-star collection of early football players, in what is considered to be the very first all-star game for professional American football.
- 1901 – US President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word speech to the House of Representativesasking the Congress to curb the power of trusts "within reasonable limits".
- 1904 – The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at California's Lick Observatory.
- 1910 – Modern neon lighting is first demonstrated by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show.
- 1912 – Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, and Serbia (the Balkan League) sign an armistice with the Ottoman Empire, temporarily halting First Balkan War (the armistice expired on February 3, at which time hostilities resumed).
- 1919 – After nearly 20 years of planning and construction, including two collapses causing 89 deaths, the Quebec Bridge opens to traffic.
- 1925 – World War I aftermath: The final Locarno Treaty is signed in London, establishing post-war territorial settlements.
- 1927 – Putting Pants on Philip, the first Laurel and Hardy film, is released.
- 1944 – Greek Civil War: Fighting breaks out in Athens between the ELAS and government forces supported by the British Army.
- 1959 – The current flag of Singapore is adopted, six months after Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire.
- 1960 – The musical Camelot debuted at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway, and would become associated with the Kennedy administration.
- 1964 – Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property.
- 1967 – At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky).
- 1970 – October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Canadian government grants five terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.
- 1971 – Indo-Pakistani War of 1971: Pakistan launches a pre-emptive strike against India and a full scale war begins claiming hundreds of lives.
- 1973 – Pioneer program: Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter.
- 1976 – An assassination attempt is made on Bob Marley. He is shot twice, but plays a concert two days later.
- 1979 – In Cincinnati, Ohio, 11 fans are suffocated in a crush for seats on the concourse outside Riverfront Coliseum before a Who concert.
- 1979 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini becomes the first Supreme Leader of Iran.
- 1982 – A soil sample is taken from Times Beach, Missouri that will be found to contain 300 times the safe level of dioxin.
- 1984 – Bhopal Disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills more than 3,800 people outright and injures 150,000–600,000 others (some 6,000 of whom would later die from their injuries) in one of the worst industrial disasters in history.
- 1989 – Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the cold war between NATO and The Soviet Union may be coming to an end.
- 1990 – At Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Northwest Airlines Flight 1482 collides with Northwest Airlines Flight 299 on the runway, killing 7 passengers and 1 crew member aboard flight 1482.
- 1992 – UN Security Council Resolution 794 is unanimously passed, approving a coalition of United Nations peacekeepers led by the United States to form UNITAF, with the task of establishing peace and ensuring that humanitarian aid is distributed in Somalia.
- 1992 – The Greek oil tanker Aegean Sea, carrying 80,000 tonnes of crude oil, runs aground in a storm while approaching La Coruña, Spain, and spills much of its cargo.
- 1992 – A test engineer for Sema Group uses a personal computer to send the world's first text message via the Vodafone network to the phone of a colleague.
- 1997 – In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries sign The Ottawa treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines. The United States, People's Republic of China, and Russia do not sign the treaty, however.
- 1999 – NASA loses radio contact with the Mars Polar Lander moments before the spacecraft enters the Martian atmosphere.
- 1999 – Six firefighters are killed in the Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire in Worcester, Massachusetts.
- 2005 – XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California.
- 2007 – Winter storms cause the Chehalis River to flood many cities in Lewis County, Washington, also closing a 20-mile portion of Interstate 5 for several days. At least eight deaths and billions of dollars in damages are blamed on the floods.
- 2009 – A suicide bombing in Mogadishu, Somalia, claims the lives of 25 people, including three ministers of the Transitional Federal Government.
- 2012 – At least 475 people are killed after Typhoon Bopha, makes landfall in the Philippines.
Births[edit]
- 1368 – Charles VI of France (d. 1422)
- 1560 – Jan Gruter, Dutch critic and scholar (d. 1627)
- 1596 – Nicola Amati, Italian violin maker (d. 1684)
- 1722 – Hryhorii Skovoroda, Ukrainian philosopher, poet, and composer (d. 1794)
- 1729 – Antonio Soler, Spanish composer (d. 1783)
- 1755 – Gilbert Stuart, American painter (d. 1828)
- 1800 – France Prešeren, Slovenian poet (d. 1849)
- 1826 – George B. McClellan, American general and politician, 24th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1885)
- 1838 – Cleveland Abbe, American meteorologist (d. 1916)
- 1838 – Octavia Hill, English activist (d. 1912)
- 1842 – Phoebe Hearst, American philanthropist and activist (d. 1919)
- 1842 – Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American businessman, founded the Pillsbury Company (d. 1899)
- 1842 – Ellen Swallow Richards, American chemist (d. 1911)
- 1857 – Joseph Conrad, Polish-English author (d. 1924)
- 1864 – Herman Heijermans, Dutch author (d. 1924)
- 1872 – William Haselden, English cartoonist (d. 1953)
- 1875 – Émile Delchambre, French rower (d. 1958)
- 1875 – Max Meldrum, Scottish-Australian painter (d. 1955)
- 1878 – Francis A. Nixon, American businessman, father of Richard Nixon (d. 1956)
- 1879 – Albert Asher, New Zealand rugby player (d. 1965)
- 1879 – Charles Hutchison, American actor, director and screenwriter (d. 1949)
- 1879 – Kafū Nagai, Japanese author and playwright (d. 1959)
- 1879 – Donald Matheson Sutherland, Canadian physician and politician, 4th Minister of Pensions and National Health (d. 1970)
- 1880 – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (d. 1945)
- 1880 – Alexander Hall, Canadian soccer player (d. 1943)
- 1883 – Anton Webern, Austrian composer (d. 1945)
- 1884 – Rajendra Prasad, Indian politician, 1st President of India (d. 1963)
- 1884 – Walther Stampfli, Swiss politician, President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1965)
- 1886 – Manne Siegbahn, Swedish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1978)
- 1887 – Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, Japanese politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1990)
- 1888 – Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Polish-Irish rabbi (d. 1959)
- 1889 – Khudiram Bose, Indian revolutionary (d. 1908)
- 1889 – Cyrillus Kreek, Estonian composer (d. 1962)
- 1891 – Thomas Farrell, American general, Deputy Commanding General of the Manhattan Project (d. 1967)
- 1893 – Edmond Decottignies, French weightlifter (d. 1963)
- 1894 – Deiva Zivarattinam, Indian lawyer and politician (d. 1975)
- 1895 – Te Ata Fisher, Chickasaw-American actress and storyteller (d. 1995)
- 1895 – Anna Freud, Austrian-English psychoanalyst (d. 1982)
- 1899 – Hayato Ikeda, Japanese politician, 58th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1965)
- 1900 – Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountaineer (d. 2004)
- 1900 – Richard Kuhn, Austrian-German biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
- 1902 – Mitsuo Fuchida, Japanese aviator (d. 1976)
- 1902 – Feliks Kibbermann, Estonian chess player and philologist (d. 1993)
- 1908 – Edward Underdown, English actor (d. 1989)
- 1911 – Nino Rota, Italian composer (d. 1979)
- 1918 – Abdul Haris Nasution, Indonesian general, Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (d. 2000)
- 1921 – Phyllis Curtin, American soprano
- 1922 – Sven Nykvist, Swedish cinematographer (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Dede Allen, American film editor (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Stjepan Bobek, Yugoslav footballer and manager (d. 2010)
- 1923 – Moyra Fraser, Australian-English actress and dancer (d. 2009)
- 1924 – Wiel Coerver, Dutch football manager (d. 2011)
- 1924 – F. Sionil José, Filipino author
- 1924 – Roberto Mieres, Argentine race car driver (d. 2012)
- 1924 – John Winter, Australian high jumper (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Kim Dae-jung, South Korean politician, 8th President of South Korea, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2009)
- 1925 – Ferlin Husky, American singer (d. 2011)
- 1927 – Andy Williams, American singer and actor (The Williams Brothers) (d. 2012)
- 1928 – Thomas M. Foglietta, American politician and diplomat (d. 2004)
- 1930 – Jean-Luc Godard, French-Swiss director and screenwriter
- 1931 – Franz Josef Degenhardt, German author
- 1931 – Jaye P. Morgan, American singer and actress
- 1932 – Corry Brokken, Dutch singer
- 1933 – Paul J. Crutzen, Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1934 – Nicolas Coster, American actor
- 1934 – Viktor Gorbatko, Soviet cosmonaut
- 1934 – Abimael Guzmán, Peruvian philosopher and revolutionary, leader of the Shining Path
- 1935 – Eddie Bernice Johnson, American politician
- 1937 – Bobby Allison, American race car driver
- 1937 – Morgan Llywelyn, American-Irish author
- 1937 – Binod Bihari Verma, Indian doctor and author (d. 2003)
- 1938 – Jean-Claude Malépart, Canadian politician, MP for Laurier—Sainte-Marie (d. 1989)
- 1940 – Jeffrey R. Holland, American educator and religious leader
- 1942 – Alice Schwarzer, German journalist, founded EMMA Magazine
- 1942 – David K. Shipler, American author
- 1943 – J. Philippe Rushton, Canadian academic and theorist (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Paul Nicholas English actor and singer
- 1946 – Joop Zoetemelk, Dutch cyclist
- 1947 – Patricia Krenwinkel, American murderer
- 1948 – Jan Hrubý, Czech violinist and songwriter (Framus Five and Etc...)
- 1948 – Ozzy Osbourne, English singer-songwriter and actor (Black Sabbath)
- 1949 – John Akii-Bua, Ugandan hurdler (d. 1997)
- 1949 – Heather Menzies, American actress
- 1949 – Mickey Thomas, American singer-songwriter (Jefferson Starship)
- 1950 – Alberto Juantorena, Cuban runner
- 1951 – Mike Bantom, American basketball player
- 1951 – Ray Candy, American wrestler (d. 1994)
- 1951 – Riki Chōshū, South Korean-Japanese wrestler
- 1951 – Rick Mears, American race car driver
- 1951 – Greg Rice, American actor
- 1951 – John Rice, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1951 – Nicky Stevens, Welsh singer (Brotherhood of Man)
- 1952 – Don Barnes, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (38 Special)
- 1952 – Benny Hinn, American evangelist and author
- 1952 – Mel Smith, English comedian, actor, director, and producer (d. 2013)
- 1953 – Franz Klammer, Austrian skier
- 1953 – Lothar Schneider, German footballer
- 1954 – Grace Andreacchi, American author
- 1955 – Steven Culp, American actor
- 1955 – Warren Jeffs, American religious leader, President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
- 1957 – Valerie Quennessen, French actress (d. 1989)
- 1959 – Eamonn Holmes, Irish journalist
- 1960 – Daryl Hannah, American actress
- 1960 – Igor Larionov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1960 – Julianne Moore, American actress
- 1960 – Mike Ramsey, American ice hockey player
- 1961 – Adal Ramones, Mexican comedian and actor
- 1963 – Joe Lally, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Fugazi and Ataxia)
- 1963 – Terri Schiavo, American right to die patient (d. 2005)
- 1963 – Scott Ian, American musician (Anthrax)
- 1965 – Steve Harris, American actor
- 1965 – Andrew Stanton, American director, screenwriter, producer, and voice actor
- 1965 – Katarina Witt, German figure skater
- 1966 – Monic Hendrickx, Dutch actress
- 1966 – Flemming Povlsen, Danish footballer
- 1966 – Irina Zhuk, Russian figure skater and coach
- 1968 – Brendan Fraser, Canadian-American actor
- 1968 – Montell Jordan, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1969 – Bill Steer, English guitarist and songwriter (Carcass, Firebird, Angel Witch, and Gentlemans Pistols)
- 1970 – Paul Byrd, American baseball player
- 1970 – Lindsey Hunter, American basketball player
- 1970 – Christian Karembeu, French footballer
- 1970 – Lu Parker, American journalist, Miss USA 1994
- 1971 – Ola Rapace, Swedish actor
- 1971 – Frank Sinclair, Jamaican footballer
- 1971 – Henk Timmer, Dutch footballer
- 1971 – Keegan Connor Tracy, Canadian actress
- 1971 – Vernon White, American mixed martial artist
- 1972 – Bucky Lasek, American skateboarder
- 1973 – Holly Marie Combs, American actress
- 1973 – Super Crazy, Mexican wrestler
- 1973 – MC Frontalot, American rapper
- 1973 – Sammy Leung, Hong Kong singer and actor
- 1975 – Mickey Avalon, American rapper
- 1975 – Malinda Williams, American actress
- 1976 – Mark Boucher, South African cricketer
- 1976 – Silvia Fontana, Italian figure skater
- 1976 – Gary Glover, American baseball player
- 1976 – Cornelius Griffin, American football player
- 1976 – Byron Kelleher, New Zealand rugby player
- 1976 – Todd Smith, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Dog Fashion Disco, Polkadot Cadaver, The Alter Boys, and Knives Out!)
- 1977 – Chad Durbin, American baseball player
- 1977 – Troy Evans, American football player
- 1977 – Adam Małysz, Polish ski jumper
- 1978 – Trina, American rapper
- 1978 – Daniel Alexandersson, Swedish footballer
- 1978 – Jiří Bicek, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1978 – Bram Tankink, Dutch cyclist
- 1979 – Daniel Bedingfield, New Zealand-English singer-songwriter
- 1979 – Rock Cartwright, American football player
- 1979 – Tiffany Haddish, American actress and dancer
- 1979 – Rainbow Sun Francks, Canadian actor
- 1979 – Sean Parker, American businessman, co-founded Napster
- 1980 – Anna Chlumsky, American actress
- 1980 – Jenna Dewan, American actress
- 1980 – Zlata Filipović, Bosnian author
- 1980 – Laryea Kingston, Ghanaian football player
- 1980 – Jim Sorgi, American football player
- 1981 – Ioannis Amanatidis, Greek footballer
- 1981 – Brian Bonsall, American actor
- 1981 – Tyjuan Hagler, American football player
- 1981 – Liza Lapira, American actress
- 1981 – Louise Roe, English model and journalist
- 1981 – Edwin Valero, Venezuelan boxer (d. 2010)
- 1981 – David Villa, Spanish footballer
- 1982 – Jaycee Chan, Hong Kong actor and singer
- 1982 – Manny Corpas, Panamanian baseball player
- 1982 – Lewis Marnell, Swedish-Australian professional skateboarder (d. 2013)
- 1982 – Michael Essien, Ghanaian footballer
- 1982 – Franco Sbaraglini, Argentine-Italian rugby player
- 1983 – Stephen Donald, New Zealand rugby player
- 1983 – Sherri DuPree, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Eisley)
- 1983 – James Ihedigbo, American football player
- 1983 – Kati Tolmoff, Estonian badminton player
- 1984 – Hind Laroussi, Dutch singer
- 1984 – Avraam Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1985 – László Cseh, Hungarian swimmer
- 1985 – Mike Randolph, American footballer
- 1985 – Sıla Şahin, German actress
- 1985 – Amanda Seyfried, American actress and singer
- 1985 – Robert Swift, American basketball player
- 1985 – Marcus Williams, American basketball player
- 1986 – Frank Elegar, American Virgin Islander basketball player
- 1986 – James Laurinaitis, American football player
- 1986 – Radek Smoleňák, Czech ice hockey player
- 1986 – Josh Vaughan, American football player
- 1987 – Michael Angarano, American actor
- 1987 – Brian Robiskie, American football player
- 1987 – Alicia Sacramone, American gymnast
- 1989 – Selçuk Alibaz, Turkish footballer
- 1990 – Sharon Fichman, Canadian-Israeli tennis player
- 1991 – Ekaterine Gorgodze, Georgian tennis player
- 1992 – Joseph McManners, English singer-songwriter and actor
- 1994 – Jake T. Austin, American actor
- 2005 – Prince Sverre Magnus of Norway
Deaths[edit]
- 311 – Diocletian, Roman emperor (b. 244)
- 649 – Birinus, Frankish-West Saxon religious leader, 1st Bishop of Dorchester
- 1154 – Pope Anastasius IV (b. 1073)
- 1265 – Odofredus, Italian jurist
- 1533 – Vasili III of Russia (b. 1479)
- 1552 – Francis Xavier, Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1506)
- 1610 – Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general, Lord of Kuwana (b. 1548)
- 1706 – Countess Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen, German hymn writer (b. 1637)
- 1765 – Lord John Sackville, English cricketer (b. 1713)
- 1789 – Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (b. 1714)
- 1815 – John Carroll, American priest, 1st Archbishop of Baltimore (b. 1735)
- 1845 – Gregor MacGregor, Scottish adventurer (b. 1786)
- 1882 – Archibald Tait, English priest, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1811)
- 1888 – Carl Zeiss, German lens maker (b. 1816)
- 1890 – Billy Midwinter, Australian cricketer (b. 1851)
- 1892 – Afanasy Fet, Russian poet (b. 1820)
- 1894 – Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish author and poet (b. 1850)
- 1902 – Robert Lawson, New Zealand architect, designed the Otago Boys' High School and Knox Church (b. 1833)
- 1904 – David Bratton, American water polo player (b. 1869)
- 1910 – Mary Baker Eddy, American author and religious leader, founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist (b. 1821)
- 1912 – Prudente de Morais, Brazilian politician, 3rd President of Brazil (b. 1841)
- 1917 – Harold Garnett, English cricketer (b. 1879)
- 1919 – Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French painter (b. 1841)
- 1928 – Ezra Meeker, American businessman (b. 1830)
- 1928 – Johan Olin, Finnish wrestler (b. 1883)
- 1934 – Charles James O'Donnell, Irish politician (b. 1849)
- 1935 – Princess Victoria of the United Kingdom (b. 1868)
- 1939 – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (b. 1848)
- 1941 – Pavel Filonov, Russian painter (b. 1883)
- 1949 – Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-American actress (b. 1876)
- 1952 – Rudolf Margolius, Czech politician (b. 1913)
- 1955 – Cow Cow Davenport, American pianist (b. 1894)
- 1956 – Alexander Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer (b. 1891)
- 1956 – Manik Bandopadhyay, Indian-Bengali author (b. 1908)
- 1967 – Harry Wismer, American broadcaster (b. 1913)
- 1969 – Mathias Wieman, German actor (b. 1902)
- 1972 – William Manuel Johnson, American bassist (b. 1872)
- 1973 – Emile Christian, American trombone player and composer (b. 1895)
- 1973 – Bea Miles, Australian writer (b. 1902)
- 1979 – Dhyan Chand, Indian field hockey player (b. 1905)
- 1980 – Oswald Mosley, English politician, founded the British Union of Fascists (b. 1896)
- 1981 – Walter Knott, American farmer and amusement park owner, founded Knott's Berry Farm (b. 1889)
- 1984 – Vladimir Rokhlin, Soviet mathematician (b. 1919)
- 1989 – Fernando Martin Espina, Spanish basketball player (b. 1962)
- 1989 – Connie B. Gay American businessman, founded the Country Music Association (b. 1914)
- 1993 – Lewis Thomas, American physician (b. 1913)
- 1994 – Michael Dacher, German mountaineer (b. 1933)
- 1994 – Elizabeth Glaser, American activist (b. 1947)
- 1995 – Jimmy Jewel, English actor (b. 1909)
- 1995 – Gerard John Schaefer, American serial killer (b. 1946)
- 1996 – Georges Duby, French historian (b. 1919)
- 1998 – Pierre Hétu, Canadian conductor and pianist (b. 1936)
- 1999 – Scatman John, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1942)
- 1999 – Madeline Kahn, American actress (b. 1942)
- 1999 – Jarl Wahlström, Finnish missionary, 12th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1918)
- 2000 – Gwendolyn Brooks, American poet (b. 1917)
- 2000 – Hoyt Curtin, American composer and producer (b. 1922)
- 2002 – Adrienne Adams, American children's book illustrator (b. 1906)
- 2002 – Glenn Quinn, Irish actor (b. 1970)
- 2003 – David Hemmings, English actor (b. 1941)
- 2004 – Shiing-Shen Chern, Chinese mathematician (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Frederick Ashworth, American navy officer, weaponeer on the B-29 Bockscar (b. 1912)
- 2005 – Herb Moford, American baseball player (b. 1928)
- 2006 – Logan Whitehurst, American drummer (The Velvet Teen) (b. 1977)
- 2007 – James Kemsley, Australian cartoonist and actor (b. 1948)
- 2008 – Robert Zajonc, Polish-American psychologist (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Leila Lopes, Brazilian actress (b. 1959)
- 2009 – Richard Todd, Irish-English soldier and actor (b. 1919)
- 2010 – Abdumalik Bahori, Soviet poet and author (b. 1927)
- 2011 – Dev Anand, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Jules Mikhael Al-Jamil, Iraqi-Lebanese archbishop (b. 1938)
- 2012 – Leo Rajendram Antony, Sri Lankan bishop (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Tommy Berggren, Swedish footballer (b. 1950)
- 2012 – Kuntal Chandra, Bangladeshi cricketer (b. 1984)
- 2012 – Fyodor Khitruk, Russian animator and director (b. 1917)
- 2012 – M. Mahroof, Sri Lankan politician (b. 1950)
- 2012 – Geoffrey Shakerley, English photographer (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Janet Shaw, Australian cyclist and author (b. 1966)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Advocate's Day (India)
- Christian Feast Day:
- United Nations' International Day of Persons with Disabilities (International)
- International Day of the Basque Language (Basque Country and Diaspora)
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”Hebrews 1:1-2 NIV
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
The Lord's admiration of his Church is very wonderful, and his description of her beauty is very glowing. She is not merely fair, but "all fair." He views her in himself, washed in his sin-atoning blood and clothed in his meritorious righteousness, and he considers her to be full of comeliness and beauty. No wonder that such is the case, since it is but his own perfect excellency that he admires; for the holiness, glory, and perfection of his Church are his own glorious garments on the back of his own well-beloved spouse. She is not simply pure, or well-proportioned; she is positively lovely and fair! She has actual merit! Her deformities of sin are removed; but more, she has through her Lord obtained a meritorious righteousness by which an actual beauty is conferred upon her. Believers have a positive righteousness given to them when they become "accepted in the beloved" (Eph. 1:6). Nor is the Church barely lovely, she is superlatively so. Her Lord styles her "Thou fairest among women." She has a real worth and excellence which cannot be rivalled by all the nobility and royalty of the world. If Jesus could exchange his elect bride for all the queens and empresses of earth, or even for the angels in heaven, he would not, for he puts her first and foremost--"fairest among women." Like the moon she far outshines the stars. Nor is this an opinion which he is ashamed of, for he invites all men to hear it. He sets a "behold" before it, a special note of exclamation, inviting and arresting attention. "Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair" (Song of Sol. 4:1). His opinion he publishes abroad even now, and one day from the throne of his glory he will avow the truth of it before the assembled universe. "Come, ye blessed of my Father" (Matt. 25:34), will be his solemn affirmation of the loveliness of his elect.
Evening
"Behold, all is vanity."
Ecclesiastes 1:14
Ecclesiastes 1:14
Nothing can satisfy the entire man but the Lord's love and the Lord's own self. Saints have tried to anchor in other roadsteads, but they have been driven out of such fatal refuges. Solomon, the wisest of men, was permitted to make experiments for us all, and to do for us what we must not dare to do for ourselves. Here is his testimony in his own words: "So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me. And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." What! the whole of it vanity? O favoured monarch, is there nothing in all thy wealth? Nothing in that wide dominion reaching from the river even to the sea? Nothing in Palmyra's glorious palaces? Nothing in the house of the forest of Lebanon? In all thy music and dancing, and wine and luxury, is there nothing? "Nothing," he says, "but weariness of spirit." This was his verdict when he had trodden the whole round of pleasure. To embrace our Lord Jesus, to dwell in his love, and be fully assured of union with him--this is all in all. Dear reader, you need not try other forms of life in order to see whether they are better than the Christian's: if you roam the world around, you will see no sights like a sight of the Saviour's face; if you could have all the comforts of life, if you lost your Saviour, you would be wretched; but if you win Christ, then should you rot in a dungeon, you would find it a paradise; should you live in obscurity, or die with famine, you will yet be satisfied with favour and full of the goodness of the Lord.
===
Today's reading: Ezekiel 42-44, 1 John 1 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 42-44
The Rooms for the Priests
1 Then the man led me northward into the outer court and brought me to the rooms opposite the temple courtyard and opposite the outer wall on the north side. 2 The building whose door faced north was a hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. 3 Both in the section twenty cubits from the inner court and in the section opposite the pavement of the outer court, gallery faced gallery at the three levels. 4 In front of the rooms was an inner passageway ten cubits wide and a hundred cubits long. Their doors were on the north. 5 Now the upper rooms were narrower, for the galleries took more space from them than from the rooms on the lower and middle floors of the building. 6 The rooms on the top floor had no pillars, as the courts had; so they were smaller in floor space than those on the lower and middle floors. 7 There was an outer wall parallel to the rooms and the outer court; it extended in front of the rooms for fifty cubits. 8 While the row of rooms on the side next to the outer court was fifty cubits long, the row on the side nearest the sanctuary was a hundred cubits long. 9 The lower rooms had an entrance on the east side as one enters them from the outer court....
Today's New Testament reading: 1 John 1
The Incarnation of the Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.
Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
===
Amasa [Ăm'asă]—burden-bearer.
- The son of David’s half-sister Abigail whom Absalom made captain of his rebel army (2 Sam. 17:25; 19:13;20 ). Amasa was completely defeated by his cousin Joab in the forest of Ephraim (2 Sam. 18:6-8). David not only forgave Amasa but gave him Joab’s place (2 Sam. 19:13). Joab treacherously slew him (2 Sam. 20:9-12).
- The name of an Ephraimite who with others resisted the bringing into Samaria the Jews Ahaz had made prisoners ( 2 Chron. 28:12).
===
| ||||||||||||||||||
|
===
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
===
| ||||||
|
===
| ||||||||
|
===
|
===
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
===
|
|  |
|
===
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
===
  | |
 | |
PEACE
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." - Luke 2:13-14
Peace is a noble aspiration at any time. In times of war or in times of harmony. When you find yourself at odds with someone, or when you are feeling pretty good about your relationships. When you feel in harmony with God, or when you feel a discord. It is always important to pursue peace.
Peace is so much more than the absence of conflict. Maybe you can lay your head on your pillow tonight and thank God that you experienced no conflict, but that is not the same thing as experiencing peace. If a husband and wife get tired of shouting at each other and both slip into an icy indifference, that is not peace.
In Hebrew, the word for "peace" is shalom, a well wishing that says it all: may you be healthy, whole and complete. May you know where you fit in the universe, and may you find tranquility there. Augustine said that peace is "the tranquility of order." When you know where you fit into God's world-that you are higher than the animals, but less than God-that is the sense of order that brings tranquility.
Therefore, we pray for peace at Christmas. We pray that both others and we discover the Christmas shalom-the confidence that when God's favor, his undeserved grace, rests on us, we will know a peace that goes beyond understanding. The peace gifted to us because Christ came into the world and put things in order, beginning with his birth, and completed in his sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection.
Prayer for today: Dear God, let your favor rest on me, and let me stand in the peace that Christ has made possible.
  | |
ADVERTISEMENT
 | Resources
|
 | |
===
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
===
No comments:
Post a Comment