Meanwhile, the appointment of Tim Wilson to the Human Rights Commission is really good. Personally I despise the Human Rights Commission, which does not stand for human rights, but privileges of left wing orthodoxy. Tim can change that. I'd rather dismantle it.
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Janet Mobbs, Kenny Tran, Thanh Tia and Tian Yuan Fu. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
- 1507 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyo (d. 1551)
- 1707 – Charles Wesley, English hymn composer (d. 1788)
- 1778 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor and dancer (d. 1837)
- 1847 – Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)
- 1863 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (d. 1914)
- 1886 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player (d. 1961)
- 1888 – Gladys Cooper, English actress (d. 1971)
- 1890 – Edwin Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (d. 1954)
- 1913 – Alfred Bester, American author (d. 1987)
- 1916 – Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)
- 1938 – Chas Chandler, English bass player and producer (The Animals) (d. 1996)
- 1939 – Michael Moorcock, English author
- 1943 – Keith Richards, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (The Rolling Stones, The Dirty Mac, and The New Barbarians)
- 1946 – Steve Biko, South African activist, founded the Black Consciousness Movement (d. 1977)
- 1946 – Steven Spielberg, American director
- 1963 – Brad Pitt, American actor and producer
- 1978 – Katie Holmes, American actress
- 1992 – Bridgit Mendler, American actress and singer
Matches
- 218 BC – Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of theRoman Republic.
- 1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynastyof Mongolia and China.
- 1642 – Abel Tasman becomes first European to sight New Zealand.
- 1655 – The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290.
- 1777 – The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over British General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.
- 1878 – John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania.
- 1892 – Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- 1912 – The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is announced by Charles Dawson.
- 1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game is moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 80 yards (73 m) long.
Despatches
- 821 – Theodulf of Orléans, Spanish bishop (b. 750)
- 1075 – Edith of Wessex (b. 1025)
- 1133 – Hildebert, French scholar and poet (b. 1055)
- 1737 – Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644)
Self-inflicted wounds an opening for enemies
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, December 18, 2013 (9:04am)
ON its 100th day in power the Abbott government shot itself in the foot.
Appointing avowed leftist Natasha Stott Despoja to a bogus job as Australia’s Global Ambassador for Women and Girls is a betrayal of conservatives on every level.
It’s stupid, cowardly and ultimately self-defeating.
Having faded into relative obscurity in Adelaide, Stott Despoja, 44, has already used her platform to highlight the gender imbalance in the Abbott government and her opposition to offshore processing.
Did anyone tell Scott Morrison? Nope.
The former Democrats leader is pleasant enough, but she holds all the orthodox leftist-feminist views that have proved so toxic for the nation.
This is a woman who invited convicted terrorist David Hicks to her Senate retirement party.
This is a woman who launched a book for Bob Ellis, whose previous book had been pulped because of scurrilous claims about Tony Abbott and Peter Costello’s wife.
This is a woman who branded John Howard “mean-spirited”, and his policies “callous and unacceptable”. She politicized the abortion debate, and attacked Abbott, when he was Health Minister, on everything from a pregnancy counseling hotline, to human cloning and a republic.
This is a woman who gave a standing ovation to Julia Gillard during an election campaign event in 2010, as part of an adoring crowd alongside Joan Kirner. That was a couple of months after she wrote a piece for Fairfax criticising Labor … for “joining” the Coalition in a “race to the bottom” on offshore processing.
This is a woman who wasted no time telling the ABC on Monday night that she would be giving the government “honest and upfront advice” about its treatment of asylum seekers. Oh, and she was just about to head to Nauru where she hoped to see “first hand” Australia’s offshore processing centre.
She also opined on the dearth of women in the Abbott cabinet.
“I think the irony is not lost”.
Stott Despoja’s appointment does not redress the gender imbalance in the government. It just puts it up in neon lights.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s choice of the woman she says is known simply as “Natasha” comes straight after Industry minister Ian Macfarlane’s inexplicable appointment of union warhorse Greg Combet to an IR panel.
Suddenly Abbott’s over-praising of Kevin Rudd the day he resigned from parliament, and needless sideswipe at Howard, look like attempts to curry favour with enemies.
Hello? Appeasing the left is not a winning strategy.
Government insiders claim they are striving to be bipartisan, following the “Rudd template”, if you can believe it.
They claim handing out a few low-level appointment to leftists will give them political cover for when they give serious jobs to partisan individuals from their own side.
But that doesn’t pass the sniff test. It is an attempt to justify a cowardly sop to the misogyny police.
After all, having Julie Bishop as the only female minister in Abbott’s inner sanctum gives her inordinate power - and denying her the “women and girls” ambassador role she describes as “pivotal to our foreign policy priorities “ must have seeemed more trouble than it was worth.
Even if the cover story were true, cheap political tricks wasting taxpayer money on useless jobs are no way for a serious government to behave.
In a flurry of activity yesterday, the government made two appointments belatedly to appease their own troops. Former Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella gets a comparatively unglamorous role on the board of a shipbuilding firm.
Tim Wilson from the free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs was also announced as the Human Rights Commissioner. But why have a Human Rights Commission at all? It’s just another $30 million haven for leftists, no matter who’s the boss.
Exactly how much the Australian taxpayer is paying for its Ambassador for Women and Girls has been difficult to ascertain.
After two days of inquiries from two reporters, a spokeswoman from the Department of Foreign Affairs divulged that Stott Despoja would be paid a daily rate “according to the Remuneration Tribunal Rates for a Category 3 Chairperson”. That appears to be $698 a day, with $493 a day accommodation and $170 a day for meals within Australia.
“Tier 1” travel benefits provide first class travel to all those lovely UN meetings in New York.
No wonder Stott Despoja describes it as her “dream job”.
Whatever the final total, the government is nuts to spend a cent on feminist posturing that will likely alienate our regional neighbours.
The Ambassador for Women and Girls is just a trick job that Julia Gillard dreamed up as part of her misogyny capers back in 2011.
And what about boys? They’re children too. On any number of measures they are more vulnerable - literacy, suicide, child mortality. Why exclude them?
In one fell swoop the Abbott government has made itself look weak and foolish.
Staying firm on history of war
Miranda Devine – Wednesday, December 18, 2013 (6:01am)
WAR Memorial director Brendan Nelson fumbled badly when he tried to replace Kipling’s iconic quotation “Known unto God” on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with a Paul Keating quote.
He compounded the error by giving the divisive former PM free rein on Remembrance Day to patronise the World War I Digger whose remains are in that tomb - as witless “cannon fodder”.
But Nelson may have redeemed himself.
Fears were swirling that he would buckle to pressure from leftist historians such as Henry Reynolds to devote an exhibit at the War Memorial to the “Frontier Wars”, already well covered in the National Museum up the road.
As Quadrant editor Keith Windschuttle writes in the magazine’s upcoming January edition, Reynolds’ latest book Forgotten War is an attempt to “depose the history of the landing at Anzac Cove in 1915 as the symbolic founding event of the Australian nation."In its place, [Reynolds wants to] substitute the history of frontier conflict between British colonists and Aborigines.”
Reynolds sneers at “what he called ‘the ongoing carnival of military commemoration’ in the histories supported by… the Australian War Memorial in the lead-up to the centenary of Anzac in 2015”, says historian Windschuttle.
To his credit, Nelson has managed to stand firm.
“The Memorial’s official role is to develop a memorial for Australians who have died on, or as a result of, active service,” a spokeswoman said yesterday.
“The definition does not include internal conflicts between the Indigenous populations and the colonial powers of the day.”
If a Labor government were still in office, chances are Reynolds would have won the history war.
16 OF 26
Tim Blair – Wednesday, December 18, 2013 (3:25am)
James Anderson’s defensive prod against Mitchell Johnson in Perth delivers the Ashes to Australia:
This astonishing result follows fifteen earlier contests during which the England team were usually in control –until recently. Now, for the first time, Australia ties for wins in the great dual-hemisphere cricket contest and is ahead on overall runs. Current standings:
This astonishing result follows fifteen earlier contests during which the England team were usually in control –until recently. Now, for the first time, Australia ties for wins in the great dual-hemisphere cricket contest and is ahead on overall runs. Current standings:
Australia: Six wins, 6364 runs
England: Six wins, 5698 runs
Three draws
One match abandoned
England: Six wins, 5698 runs
Three draws
One match abandoned
The two Tims: why the Abbott Government cannot compromise with those now savaging Tim Wilson
Andrew Bolt December 17 2013 (5:37pm)
One Tim was a Liberal and a member of a conservative think tank. Here is how the ABC greeted his appointment today by a Coalition Government to the Human Rights Commission::
Anyone else wanting evidence of the Left’s sense of entitlement to control of all such bureaucracies, here it is - with savagery thrown in:
The Abbott Government had better wake up. There is zero chance of it ever placating its intellectual enemies with any compromise to its agenda. It is in a cultural war, so it may as well be hated by its foes for following its principles than despised by its friends for offering compromises to those who will accept none.
Just go for it. The haters gotta hate anyway.
PS:
Imagine the screams if the ABC now hired a conservative as a TV current affairs host…
UPDATE
Shadow Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, surely the most sanctimonious Labor MP in federal politics, “questions” Wilson’s appointment:
President
Simple: he’s a conservative, appointed to a taxpayer-funded activist body the Left claims for its own.
Squeals from the golden trough.
===But first to Canberra where the Federal Attorney-General George Brandis has just appointed a director from one of Australia’s most conservative think tanks to be Australia’s next Human Rights Commissioner.The other Tim was a Labor member and staffer to Kevin Rudd and Bob Carr, and a member of a Leftist think tank. Here is how the ABC greeted his appointment by a Labor Government to the Human Rights Commission just five months ago:
The Institute of Public Affairs has previously called for the commission to be disbanded. But the new appointee, Tim Wilson, says he’ll now be focusing on the promotion of freedom of speech.
Mr Brandis defended his decision saying that under the previous government, the Australian Human Rights Commission had become increasingly narrow and selective in its view of human rights, and the appointment of Mr Wilson will help to restore the balance.
Political commentator Tim Soutphommasane has been appointed as Australia’s new Race Discrimination Commissioner.ABC chairman Jim Spigelman wants evidence of ABC bias? Here it is.
Dr Soutphommasane, a first-generation Australian of Chinese and Lao background, is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights at the University of Sydney…
He has written for newspapers and his book Don’t Go Back To Where You Came From won the 2013 NSW Premier’s Literary Award…
Australian Human Rights Commission president Professor Gillian Triggs welcomed the appointment.
“Dr Soutphommasane is an influential thinker, writer and broadcaster who has substantially contributed to national discussions about diversity and national identity,” Professor Triggs said…
Dr Soutphommasane is also a board member of the National Australia Day Council, a member of the Australian Multicultural Council and a fellow of Per Capita and the St James Ethics Centre.
Anyone else wanting evidence of the Left’s sense of entitlement to control of all such bureaucracies, here it is - with savagery thrown in:
Remember that Wilson’s threat to the Left is that he wishes we had more freedom to speak. Now check again the tweets of some enemies of that freedom - commentators and journalists from the ABC and Fairfax in particular, along with a Greens senator. Note the sheer hatred and hypocrisy - the refusal to countenance any Liberal appointment, even as the token libertarian. And bear in mind that Wilson is in many ways the kind of conservative even the ABC should tolerate - a gay man who is in favor of a form of same sex marriage and is more a libertarian than conservative.
The Abbott Government had better wake up. There is zero chance of it ever placating its intellectual enemies with any compromise to its agenda. It is in a cultural war, so it may as well be hated by its foes for following its principles than despised by its friends for offering compromises to those who will accept none.
Just go for it. The haters gotta hate anyway.
PS:
Imagine the screams if the ABC now hired a conservative as a TV current affairs host…
UPDATE
Shadow Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, surely the most sanctimonious Labor MP in federal politics, “questions” Wilson’s appointment:
By appointing Mr Wilson, Senator Brandis has sent a strong signal about exactly the kind of blatant political agenda he wishes to pursue as Attorney-General,” Mr Dreyfus said.Dreyfus is either a fool or a hypocrite. You’d think from his statement that no Labor government had ever appointed an activist of the Left to the Human Right Commission: But let’s check who Wilson is joining as a commissioner
President
Professor Gillian Triggs – appointed by the Gillard Government. Backed Labor’s plans for further restrictions to our free speech.Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
Mick Gooda – appointed by the Rudd Government. Advertised speaker on ”Building a Stronger Left” at the Australian Left Renewal Conference in April.Age Discrimination Commissioner
Susan Ryan - former minister in the Hawke Labor Government, and appointed commissioner by the Gillard Government.Children’s Commissioner
Megan Mitchell – former CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, and appointed commissioner by the Gillard Government.Disability Discrimination Commissioner
Graeme Innes – widely criticised for whipping up a social media to attack Myer for not introducing a 10 per cent quota of disabled workers, something not required under any law or HRC policy.Race Discrimination Commissioner
Tim Soutphommasane – former Labor member, staffer to Bob Carr and Kevin Rudd and member of Left-wing Per Capita think tank. A supporter of the apology, but not a giver of one.Sex Discrimination Commissioner
Elizabeth Broderick – gender warrior who presented Prime Minister Julia Gillard as a victim of the media.So what makes Wilson different? What makes him the target of so much media outrage?
Simple: he’s a conservative, appointed to a taxpayer-funded activist body the Left claims for its own.
Squeals from the golden trough.
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freedomwatch.ipa.org.au
<Watching staff working at maccers is like watching busy black ants. They are all scurrying around doing something. You just aren't sure exactly what they are doing & they probably have no clue either, except you're still waiting on your frozen come 5 mins later!>
That exciting new service McDonalds is providing .. is it Australia wide or only the ACT? Would they ration it in the NT? Is it in the main queue, or is there a select queue? Is it part of the breakfast menu? - ed
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4 her
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<*Chuckles*. No inconsistency whatsoever with joining an organisation you once criticised.Don't these shrieking leftie dills understand precisely that an organisation changes when its leadership changes? For instance, the ABC under the present leadership warrants criticism and calls for dismantling. The ABC under Jason Fong, on the other hand would deserve effusive praise and an increase in funding. >
www.canberratimes.com.au
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Bush's values different to .. (from boy on a bike)
1. Country
2. Ideology/values
3. Party
He there describes himself as an American first, a conservative second and a Republican third. The good of the country is more important than the good of the party. He is happy to beat the crap out of the Republicans if they stray from the true path. And he does. Daily.
The left view it this way:
1. Party
2. Ideology/values
3. Country
Labor values, and the good of the country, take second and third places to the party gaining power.
Ideologues like Gillard use:
1. Ideology/values
2. Party
3. Country
She trashed the Labor Party by being true to her socialist values.
Rudd is:
1. Rudd
2. Rudd
3. Rudd
This is why the left and right will never see eye to eye. Their frameworks are completely different.>
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Lol, maybe it would be easier to write it in French? Service extérieur - ed
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The Richmond Rollercoaster
The bay area has a few bridges, and a couple of them are quite famous, but this one is deemed as the ugly duckling along with the San Mateo bridge... I say that by twilight this one looks quite exceptional. — with Miguel De La Cruz atRichmond Bridge.
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Madu Odiokwu Pastorvin
Another year of grace.
This year has almost gone and we are on the brink of another. What kind of a year has 2013 been for you? Where would you place it on a scale of 1 – 10?
Maybe you would give 2013 8 or 9 out of 10 – in other words, it was a really good year. It was a good year because you had success in your business, a good year at work or at school, good family relationships, new friendships?
2013 was a year that included a lot of exciting things, new challenges, tasks completed, a great holiday.Or maybe you rate this past year 8 out of ten compared to the previous year which was a horrible year.
Or maybe you would give 2013 a 5. It was just another year, pretty much the same as any other year? Nothing very exciting happened, in fact, it was kind of dull and dreary. Just getting up, going to work, coming home, going to bed and then doing the same thing the next day and the next and the next.
Maybe 2013 deserves only 2 out of 10. That’s because it was a really dreadful year. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The year included tragedy, sickness, loss of friends, marriage problems, the kids were just impossible, even a death in your family. How would you rate this year?
Think back and check what kind of a person you were during 2013. Are there some regrets? If you were able to have some part of the year over again, how would you have behaved differently? Would you have shown more understanding, cared more, been more patient, less critical, been more supportive and helpful?
How about your relationship with God? Did that flourish and grow during 2013 or did it just hover in much the same place as it did the previous year or perhaps even went backwards as you prayed less, heard less from God through his Word, worshipped less. Maybe God didn’t have a big part to play in your life this year.You could well ask the question: how much did my life reflect the fact that I am God's child.
did I speak as a child of God;
did I act with the love of God in my heart;
did I interact with others with the same love and forgiveness that Jesus has shown toward me? As we stand on the threshold of another year, Jesus tells us a parable. It’s brief but the point is clear.
"Listen," Jesus says. "A man has a fig tree and plants it in his vineyard. (Apparently it was common for fruit trees to be planted among the vines). Three years later he’s making his way up and down his vineyard, he is looking forward to the taste of a ripe fig but he sees that the fig tree still doesn’t have any fruit. He calls to his gardener, ‘Hey. Get over here. Why is this tree still here? It’s taking up soil and moisture and space. Cut it down, right now.’Why should that tree remain standing? Why should it keep taking up space, using up the goodness of the soil if it’s serving no purpose?
What’s the point of having a tree that should bear fruit but does nothing?
Jesus’ words, "Cut it down, right now, and stick a match to it" cuts deeply. The owner has a right to be disappointed and angry at that useless tree. It’s no wonder he wants it destroyed. But as we listen to Jesus story we know Jesus isn’t just talking about a fig tree. He’s talking about you and me. We are led to ask ourselves, "Am I bearing fruit? I keeping sucking up the nutrients of the soil in which I’ve been planted and when am I going to show some kind of fruit to match the years I’ve been standing in God's garden and all the opportunities I’ve been given?"
Jesus takes a breath and continues. "Leave it alone for one more year", the gardener pleads, "I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year fine. If not, then cut it down.".I promise to put more fertilizer in you so that next year you bear more fruits for the Master.You are all wonderful people and I bless you in Jesus Name,Amen.
=This year has almost gone and we are on the brink of another. What kind of a year has 2013 been for you? Where would you place it on a scale of 1 – 10?
Maybe you would give 2013 8 or 9 out of 10 – in other words, it was a really good year. It was a good year because you had success in your business, a good year at work or at school, good family relationships, new friendships?
2013 was a year that included a lot of exciting things, new challenges, tasks completed, a great holiday.Or maybe you rate this past year 8 out of ten compared to the previous year which was a horrible year.
Or maybe you would give 2013 a 5. It was just another year, pretty much the same as any other year? Nothing very exciting happened, in fact, it was kind of dull and dreary. Just getting up, going to work, coming home, going to bed and then doing the same thing the next day and the next and the next.
Maybe 2013 deserves only 2 out of 10. That’s because it was a really dreadful year. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The year included tragedy, sickness, loss of friends, marriage problems, the kids were just impossible, even a death in your family. How would you rate this year?
Think back and check what kind of a person you were during 2013. Are there some regrets? If you were able to have some part of the year over again, how would you have behaved differently? Would you have shown more understanding, cared more, been more patient, less critical, been more supportive and helpful?
How about your relationship with God? Did that flourish and grow during 2013 or did it just hover in much the same place as it did the previous year or perhaps even went backwards as you prayed less, heard less from God through his Word, worshipped less. Maybe God didn’t have a big part to play in your life this year.You could well ask the question: how much did my life reflect the fact that I am God's child.
did I speak as a child of God;
did I act with the love of God in my heart;
did I interact with others with the same love and forgiveness that Jesus has shown toward me? As we stand on the threshold of another year, Jesus tells us a parable. It’s brief but the point is clear.
"Listen," Jesus says. "A man has a fig tree and plants it in his vineyard. (Apparently it was common for fruit trees to be planted among the vines). Three years later he’s making his way up and down his vineyard, he is looking forward to the taste of a ripe fig but he sees that the fig tree still doesn’t have any fruit. He calls to his gardener, ‘Hey. Get over here. Why is this tree still here? It’s taking up soil and moisture and space. Cut it down, right now.’Why should that tree remain standing? Why should it keep taking up space, using up the goodness of the soil if it’s serving no purpose?
What’s the point of having a tree that should bear fruit but does nothing?
Jesus’ words, "Cut it down, right now, and stick a match to it" cuts deeply. The owner has a right to be disappointed and angry at that useless tree. It’s no wonder he wants it destroyed. But as we listen to Jesus story we know Jesus isn’t just talking about a fig tree. He’s talking about you and me. We are led to ask ourselves, "Am I bearing fruit? I keeping sucking up the nutrients of the soil in which I’ve been planted and when am I going to show some kind of fruit to match the years I’ve been standing in God's garden and all the opportunities I’ve been given?"
Jesus takes a breath and continues. "Leave it alone for one more year", the gardener pleads, "I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year fine. If not, then cut it down.".I promise to put more fertilizer in you so that next year you bear more fruits for the Master.You are all wonderful people and I bless you in Jesus Name,Amen.
Luke 13:6-9
Jesus told them this parable: "There was once a man who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard. He went looking for figs on it but found none. So he said to his gardener, "Look, for three years I have been coming here looking for figs on this fig tree, and I haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it go on using up the soil?' But the gardener answered, "Leave it alone, sir, just one more year; I will dig around it and put in some fertilizer. Then if the tree bears figs next year, so much the better; if not, then you can have it cut down.' " If you did not make it,next year is your turn,rejoice and give thanks to God.You are blessed.
=
Father, today I choose to set my mind and focus on You. I choose to look for what You want to do in and through me. I let go of any wrong thinking, attitudes or actions that would hold me back from You in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.(Proverbs 29:18, NIV)
We have to have a vision for increase. If you’re not expecting favor, or if you are just satisfied with where you are, then you will live below your privileges. But if you will get a vision for increase, a vision for who you are as a child of the Most High God and what He wants to do in your life, you’ll see supernatural opportunities, favor and increase in your life. When you look for what God is doing, when you follow His commands, you won’t just be “average” or “good enough.” No, as a child of the Most High, you are the most blessed.
Today, take time to focus your heart and mind on God and His promises. Meditate on His Word and ask Him to increase your capacity to receive His blessings. Get a vision for increase, embrace His promises, and boldly move forward in the good things God has in store for you.God bless you.
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www.foreignpolicy.com
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www.algemeiner.com
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sultanknish.blogspot.com
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pjmedia.com
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www.jewishpress.com
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www.meforum.org
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pjmedia.com
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calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com
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www.nytimes.com
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unitycoalitionforisrael.org
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Help Us Help Them The longest day in Aung's life: in Meikhtila, March 2013, Aung (pseudonym) watched as young students were rounded up by mobs and security forces. He watched from 10 meters away as his 10-year old classmate was burned alive. Others were led to a killing field. Those who survived witnessedwomen being beaten, men stabbed, and children burned alive. Why? Because they were Muslim in Burma. The police coerced them out and watched their massacre. Similar instances of heinous violence have erupted across Burma from western Arakan state to Lashio, Shan state. All attacks suspiciously appear well organized and coordinated. They need our help. Please donate today. 2013 has been a challenging year for USCB as we have combatted the discrimination and targeted violence toward the Muslim minorities, the Chin, Karen and Kachin Christian minorities, and the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims in western Burma. The trend of Propaganda → Hate Speech → Discrimination → Violence → Rape → Murder → Ghettos → Ethnic Cleansing has created the building blocks of genocide in Burma. Help us demonstrate and advocate for equality, justice and accountability for all in Burma by donating today. We must push onward with our action demanding an international investment into government-led systems of violence and impunity in Burma. Messages of hate must be countered with messages of tolerance and unity. Thanks to your help, one of our most successful ventures this year was inviting our fellow activists to participate in an Anti-Discrimination, Anti-Violence design contest. Our winning designers produced beautiful messages of hope and peace for all across Burma. Check out our Freedom Store to learn how you can purchase your own copy of their inspiring message. The Rohingya in Burma need you. The Muslim minorities need you. The ethnic nationalities need you. Every man, woman, youth and child in Burma that face discrimination and violence need you. Help us help them by considering a donation today. In solidarity, Jennifer, Myra, Brianna, and Rachel |
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- 1892 – The first performance of the fairy tale-ballet The Nutcracker was held at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- 1916 – The French defeated German forces around the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in northeast France, ending the longest battle and one of the bloodiest in World War I.
- 1958 – The United States launched SCORE, the world's first communications satellite.
- 1966 – Epimetheus, one of the moons of Saturn, was discovered, but was mistaken as Janus. It took twelve years to determine that they are two distinct objects sharing the same orbit.
- 2010 – The Tunisian Revolution began, and what was initially a series of protests (pictured) with a set of demands evolved into nationwide demonstrations that eventually toppled the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Aliafter nearly 23 years of rule.
Events[edit]
- 218 BC – Second Punic War: Battle of the Trebia – Hannibal's Carthaginian forces defeat those of theRoman Republic.
- 1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynastyof Mongolia and China.
- 1622 – Portuguese forces score a military victory over the Kingdom of Kongo at the Battle of Mbumbi in present-day Angola.
- 1642 – Abel Tasman becomes first European to sight New Zealand.
- 1655 – The Whitehall Conference ends with the determination that there was no law preventing Jews from re-entering England after the Edict of Expulsion of 1290.
- 1777 – The United States celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over British General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.
- 1787 – New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
- 1793 – Surrender of the frigate La Lutine by French Royalists to Lord Samuel Hood; renamed HMS Lutine, she later becomes a famous treasure wreck.
- 1878 – John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires is executed in Pennsylvania.
- 1878 – The Al-Thani family become the rulers of the state of Qatar
- 1888 – Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discover the ancient Indian ruins of Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde.
- 1892 – Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- 1898 – Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat sets the first officially recognized land speed record of 39.245 mph (63.159 km/h) in a Jeantaudelectric car.[1]
- 1900 – The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook, Victoria Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) inVictoria, Australia is opened for traffic.
- 1912 – The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, is announced by Charles Dawson.
- 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Verdun ends when German forces under Chief of staff Erich von Falkenhayn are defeated by the French, and suffer 337,000 casualties.
- 1917 – The resolution containing the language of the Eighteenth Amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by the United States Congress.
- 1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans 9-0 in the first ever NFL Championship Game. Because of a blizzard, the game is moved from Wrigley Field to the Chicago Stadium, the field measuring 80 yards (73 m) long.
- 1935 – The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is founded in Ceylon.
- 1939 – World War II: The Battle of the Heligoland Bight, the first major air battle of the war, takes place.
- 1944 – World War II: 77 B-29 Superfortress and 200 other aircraft of U.S. Fourteenth Air Force bomb Hankow, China, a Japanese supply base.
- 1956 – Japan joins the United Nations.
- 1958 – Project SCORE, the world's first communications satellite, is launched.
- 1966 – Saturn's moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.
- 1969 – Capital punishment in the United Kingdom: Home Secretary James Callaghan's motion to make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for all crimes) for a period of five years.
- 1971 – Capitol Reef National Park is established in Utah.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will engage North Vietnam in Operation Linebacker II, a series of Christmas bombings, after peace talks collapsed with North Vietnam on the 13th.
- 1973 – Soviet Soyuz Programme: Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, is launched from Baikonur in theSoviet Union.
- 1973 – The Islamic Development Bank is founded.
- 1978 – Dominica joins the United Nations.
- 1987 – Larry Wall releases the first version of the Perl programming language.
- 1989 – The European Economic Community and the Soviet Union sign an agreement on trade and commercial and economic cooperation.
- 1997 – HTML 4.0 is published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
- 1999 – NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODISand MOPITT.
- 2002 – 2003 California recall: Then Governor of California Gray Davis announces that the state would face a record budget deficit of $35 billion, roughly double the figure reported during his reelection campaign one month earlier.
- 2005 – The civil war in Chad begins when rebel groups, allegedly backed by neighbouring Sudan, launch an attack in Adré.
- 2006 – The first of a series of floods strikes Malaysia. The death toll of all flooding is at least 118, with over 400,000 people displaced.
- 2006 – United Arab Emirates holds its first-ever elections.
- 2010 – Anti-government protests begin in Tunisia, heralding the Arab Spring.
Births[edit]
- 1507 – Ōuchi Yoshitaka, Japanese daimyo (d. 1551)
- 1602 – Simonds d'Ewes, English historian and politician (d. 1650)
- 1610 – Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange, French philologist and historian (d. 1688)
- 1620 – Heinrich Roth, German scholar (d. 1668)
- 1661 – Christopher Polhem, Swedish scientist and inventor (d. 1751)
- 1662 – James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, Scottish politician (d. 1711)
- 1707 – Charles Wesley, English hymn composer (d. 1788)
- 1725 – Johann Salomo Semler, German historian (d. 1791)
- 1734 – Jean-Baptiste Rey, French conductor and composer (d. 1810)
- 1778 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor and dancer (d. 1837)
- 1825 – Charles Griffin, American general (d. 1876)
- 1825 – John S. Harris, American politician (d. 1906)
- 1835 – Lyman Abbott, American author (d. 1922)
- 1847 – Augusta Holmès, French composer (d. 1903)
- 1849 – Henrietta Edwards, Canadian activist and author (d. 1931)
- 1851 – Graciano López Jaena, Filipino journalist (d. 1896)
- 1856 – J. J. Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
- 1860 – Edward MacDowell, American composer and pianist (d. 1908)
- 1861 – Lionel Monckton, English composer (d. 1924)
- 1863 – Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (d. 1914)
- 1867 – Foxhall P. Keene, American polo player (d. 1941)
- 1870 – Saki, Burmese-English author and playwright (d. 1916)
- 1873 – Francis Burton Harrison, American politician, 6th Governor-General of the Philippines (d. 1957)
- 1878 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet marshal and politician, 4th Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1953)
- 1879 – Paul Klee, Swiss-German painter (d. 1940)
- 1882 – Paulin Lemaire, French gymnast
- 1882 – Richard Maury, American-Argentine engineer, designed the Salta–Antofagasta railway (d. 1950)
- 1883 – Raimu, French actor (d. 1946)
- 1886 – Ty Cobb, American baseball player (d. 1961)
- 1886 – Martin Dooling, American soccer player (d. 1966)
- 1887 – Bhikhari Thakur, Indian author (d. 1971)
- 1888 – Gladys Cooper, English actress (d. 1971)
- 1888 – Robert Moses, American urban planner, designed the Northern State Parkway and Southern State Parkway (d. 1981)
- 1890 – Edwin Armstrong, American engineer, invented FM radio (d. 1954)
- 1897 – Fletcher Henderson, American composer (d. 1952)
- 1899 – Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian philosopher and author (d. 1990)
- 1904 – George Stevens, American director (d. 1975)
- 1907 – Bill Holland, American race car (d. 1984)
- 1907 – Lawrence Lucie, American guitarist (Mills Blue Rhythm Band) (d. 2009)
- 1908 – Celia Johnson, English actress (d. 1982)
- 1908 – Paul Siple, American geographer and explorer (d. 1969)
- 1910 – Abe Burrows, American author, playwright, and director (d. 1985)
- 1910 – Eric Tindill, New Zealand rugby player, cricketer, and umpire (d. 2010)
- 1911 – Jules Dassin, American director (d. 2008)
- 1912 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American general (d. 2002)
- 1913 – Alfred Bester, American author (d. 1987)
- 1913 – Willy Brandt, German politician, 4th Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1992)
- 1913 – Ray Meyer, American basketball coach (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Douglas Fraser, Scottish-American union leader (d. 2008)
- 1916 – Betty Grable, American actress (d. 1973)
- 1917 – Ossie Davis, American actor and activist (d. 2005)
- 1920 – Robert Leckie, American marine and author (d. 2001)
- 1922 – Jack Brooks, American politician (d. 2012)
- 1927 – Ramsey Clark, American lawyer, 66th United States Attorney General
- 1927 – Roméo LeBlanc, Canadian journalist and politician, 25th Governor General of Canada (d. 2009)
- 1928 – Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Indian-Pakistani 4th caliph of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (d. 2003)
- 1929 – Gino Cimoli, American baseball player (d. 2011)
- 1929 – Józef Glemp, Polish cardinal (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Moose Skowron, American baseball player (d. 2012)
- 1931 – Allen Klein, American talent agent and businessman (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Alison Plowden, English historian (d. 2007)
- 1932 – Roger Smith, American actor
- 1933 – Lonnie Brooks, American singer and guitarist
- 1934 – Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman (d. 2013)
- 1934 – Boris Volynov, Russian astronaut and engineer
- 1935 – Jacques Pépin, French-American chef and author
- 1936 – Malcolm Kirk, English wrestler (d. 1987)
- 1938 – Chas Chandler, English bass player and producer (The Animals) (d. 1996)
- 1938 – Joel Hirschhorn, American songwriter and composer (d. 2005)
- 1938 – Roger E. Mosley, American actor
- 1939 – Michael Moorcock, English author
- 1939 – Harold E. Varmus, American scientist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 – Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpet player and composer (Creative Construction Company)
- 1941 – Sam Andrews, American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, artist and guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company)
- 1942 – Harvey Atkin, Canadian actor
- 1943 – Keith Richards, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (The Rolling Stones, The Dirty Mac, and The New Barbarians)
- 1943 – Alan Rudolph, American director and screenwriter
- 1945 – Jean Pronovost, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1946 – Steve Biko, South African activist, founded the Black Consciousness Movement (d. 1977)
- 1946 – Alex Ligertwood, Scottish singer (Average White Band and The Senate)
- 1946 – Steven Spielberg, American director
- 1947 – Leonid Yuzefovich, Russian author
- 1948 – Edmund Kemper, American serial killer
- 1948 – Bill Nelson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Be-Bop Deluxe and Bill Nelson's Red Noise)
- 1948 – Laurent Voulzy, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1949 – Terry Hertzler, American poet
- 1949 – David A. Johnston, American volcanologist (d. 1980)
- 1950 – Gillian Armstrong, Australian director
- 1950 – Randy Castillo, American drummer (Red Square Black and Mötley Crüe) (d. 2002)
- 1950 – Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan general and politician
- 1950 – Heinz-Josef Kehr, German footballer
- 1950 – Leonard Maltin, American critic and author
- 1951 – V. Balachandran, Sri Lankan Tamil politician
- 1952 – John Leventhal, American songwriter and producer
- 1953 – Elliot Easton, American guitarist and singer (The Cars, The New Cars, and Creedence Clearwater Revisited)
- 1953 – Khas-Magomed Hadjimuradov, Chechen singer-songwriter
- 1954 – John Booth, English race car driver
- 1954 – Ray Liotta, American actor
- 1955 – Vijay Mallya, Indian businessman and politician
- 1956 – Ron White, American comedian and actor
- 1957 – Jonathan Cainer, English astrologer
- 1958 – Geordie Walker, English guitarist (Killing Joke, The Damage Manual, and Murder, Inc.)
- 1958 – Julia Wolfe, American composer
- 1960 – Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist
- 1961 – Brian Orser, Canadian figure skater
- 1961 – Leila Steinberg, American poet
- 1962 – Renaldo Lapuz, Filipino-American singer-songwriter
- 1963 – Norman Brown, American singer and guitarist (BWB)
- 1963 – Greg D'Angelo, American drummer (White Lion, Britny Fox, Pride and Glory, and AntiProduct)
- 1963 – Karl Dorrell, American football player and coach
- 1963 – Pauline Ester, French singer
- 1963 – Allan Kayser, American actor
- 1963 – Charles Oakley, American basketball player
- 1963 – Brad Pitt, American actor and producer
- 1963 – Pierre Nkurunziza, Burundian politician, President of Burundi
- 1964 – Stone Cold Steve Austin, American wrestler, actor, and producer
- 1964 – Don Beebe, American football player
- 1964 – Robson Green, English actor and singer
- 1965 – Shawn Christian, American actor
- 1965 – Mick Collins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Gories and The Dirtbombs)
- 1965 – Manuel Peña Escontrela, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
- 1965 – Fawna MacLaren, American model and actress
- 1966 – Makiko Esumi, Japanese actress
- 1966 – Mille Petrozza, German singer-songwriter and guitarist (Kreator and Voodoocult)
- 1966 – Gianluca Pagliuca, Italian footballer
- 1967 – Toine van Peperstraten, Dutch journalist
- 1967 – Mario Frangoulis, Greek tenor
- 1968 – Mario Basler, German footballer
- 1968 – Rachel Griffiths, Australian actress
- 1968 – Alejandro Sanz, Spanish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1968 – Casper Van Dien, American actor
- 1969 – Santiago Cañizares, Spanish footballer
- 1969 – Akira Iida, Japanese race car driver
- 1969 – Justin Edinburgh, English footballer and manager
- 1970 – DMX, American rapper and actor
- 1970 – Lucious Harris, American basketball player
- 1970 – Giannis Ploutarhos, Greek singer-songwriter
- 1970 – Victoria Pratt, Canadian actress and model
- 1970 – Fernando Solabarrieta, Chilean journalist
- 1970 – Cowboy Troy, American rapper (MuzikMafia)
- 1970 – Rob Van Dam, American wrestler and actor
- 1970 – Jonathan Yeo, English painter
- 1971 – Barkha Dutt, Indian journalist
- 1971 – Noriko Matsueda, Japanese composer
- 1971 – Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Spanish tennis player
- 1972 – Trevor Chowning, American painter
- 1972 – Rah Digga, American rapper and actress (The Conglomerate)
- 1972 – Raymond Herrera, American drummer (Fear Factory, Arkaea, and Brujeria)
- 1972 – DJ Lethal, Latvian-American DJ and producer (House of Pain, Limp Bizkit, and La Coka Nostra)
- 1973 – Leila Arcieri, American actress and model
- 1973 – Neil Busch, American former bassist and sampler/sound manipulator for rock band ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
- 1974 – Peter Boulware, American football player
- 1974 – Bill Duggan, American actor
- 1974 – Mutassim Gaddafi, Libyan army officer (d. 2011)
- 1974 – Knut Schreiner, Norwegian singer, guitarist, and producer (Turbonegro, Euroboys, and Mirror Lakes)
- 1975 – Sia Furler. Australian singer-songwriter
- 1975 – David O'Doherty, Irish comedian and actor
- 1975 – Trish Stratus, Canadian wrestler and actress
- 1975 – Masaki Sumitani, Japanese wrestler and comedian
- 1975 – Vincent van der Voort, Dutch darts player
- 1976 – Koyuki, Japanese actress and model
- 1977 – Axwell, Swedish DJ and producer
- 1977 – José Acevedo, Dominican baseball player
- 1977 – Claudia Gesell, German runner
- 1978 – Daniel Cleary, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Ali Curtis, American soccer player
- 1978 – Katie Holmes, American actress
- 1978 – Naomi Lang, American ice dancer
- 1979 – Mamady Sidibé, Malian footballer
- 1979 – Carlos Fernandes, Portuguese footballer
- 1979 – Eric Pérez, Puerto Rican wrestler
- 1980 – Christina Aguilera, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1980 – Heinz Inniger, Swiss snowboarder
- 1980 – Benjamin Watson, American football player
- 1983 – Andy Fantuz, Canadian football player
- 1984 – Derrick Tribbett, American bass player and singer (Twisted Method, Makeshift Romeo, and Dope)
- 1985 – Tara Conner, American model, Miss USA 2006
- 1985 – Natalie Gal, Russian-American model and actress
- 1985 – Hana Soukupová, Czech model
- 1986 – François Hamelin, Canadian speed skater
- 1986 – Usman Khawaja, Australian cricketer
- 1987 – Ayaka, Japanese singer-songwriter
- 1987 – Miki Ando, Japanese figure skater
- 1987 – Fernando Jara, Panamanian jockey
- 1987 – Sneha Ullal, Indian actress
- 1988 – Lizzie Armitstead, English cyclist
- 1989 – Emily Atack, English actress
- 1989 – Ashley Benson, American actress
- 1989 – Ashley Slanina-Davies, English actress
- 1990 – Sierra Kusterbeck, American singer-songwriter (VersaEmerge)
- 1992 – Bridgit Mendler, American actress and singer
Deaths[edit]
- 821 – Theodulf of Orléans, Spanish bishop (b. 750)
- 1075 – Edith of Wessex (b. 1025)
- 1133 – Hildebert, French scholar and poet (b. 1055)
- 1495 – Alfonso II of Naples (b. 1448)
- 1591 – Marigje Arriens, Dutch suspected witch (b. 1520)
- 1692 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German politician (b. 1626)
- 1737 – Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker (b. 1644)
- 1787 – Soame Jenyns, English author (b. 1704)
- 1799 – Jean-Étienne Montucla, French mathematician (b. 1725)
- 1803 – Johann Gottfried Herder, German philosopher, theologian, and poet (b. 1744)
- 1829 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French soldier and biologist (b. 1744)
- 1843 – Thomas Graham, 1st Baron Lynedoch, Scottish army officer and politician (b. 1748)
- 1848 – Bernard Bolzano, Bohemian mathematician and priest (b. 1781)
- 1869 – Louis Moreau Gottschalk, American composer and pianist (b. 1829)
- 1880 – Michel Chasles, French mathematician (b. 1793)
- 1892 – Richard Owen, English biologist (b. 1804)
- 1922 – Sir Carl Meyer, 1st Baronet, German-English banker and businessman (b. 1851)
- 1936 – Andrija Mohorovičić, Hungarian-Croatian meteorologist and seismologist (b. 1857)
- 1944 – Alexander Cudmore, American soccer player (b. 1888)
- 1950 – Johnny Hyde, Russian-American talent agent (b. 1895)
- 1968 – Joan Tabor, American actress (b. 1932)
- 1969 – Charles Dvorak, American pole vaulter (b. 1878)
- 1971 – Bobby Jones, American golfer (b. 1902)
- 1971 – Diana Lynn, American actress (b. 1926)
- 1973 – Allamah Rasheed Turabi, Indian-Pakistani religious leader and philosopher (b. 1908)
- 1974 – Harry Hooper, American baseball player (b. 1887)
- 1975 – Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ukrainian geneticist and biologist (b. 1900)
- 1977 – Michio Nishizawa, Japanese baseball player (b. 1921)
- 1980 – Alexei Kosygin, Soviet politician (b. 1904)
- 1980 – Gabrielle Robinne, French actress (b. 1886)
- 1982 – Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German pilot (b. 1916)
- 1984 – Aris Maliagros, Greek actor (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Xuan Dieu, Vietnamese poet (b. 1916)
- 1987 – Conny Plank, German musician and producer (Moebius & Plank) (b. 1940)
- 1990 – Anne Revere, American actress (b. 1903)
- 1990 – Paul Tortelier, French cellist and composer (b. 1914)
- 1991 – George Abecassis, English race car driver (b. 1913)
- 1992 – Mark Goodson, American television producer (b. 1915)
- 1993 – Sam Wanamaker, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1994 – Roger Apéry, Greek-French mathematician (b. 1916)
- 1995 – Brian Brockless, English organist, conductor, and composer (b. 1926)
- 1995 – Ross Thomas, American author (b. 1926)
- 1995 – Konrad Zuse, German engineer, designed the Z3 computer (b. 1910)
- 1996 – Yulii Borisovich Khariton, Russian physicist (b. 1904)
- 1997 – Chris Farley, American comedian and actor (b. 1964)
- 1998 – Lev Dyomin, Soviet astronaut (b. 1926)
- 1999 – Robert Bresson, French director (b. 1907)
- 2000 – Stan Fox, American race car driver (b. 1952)
- 2000 – Randolph Apperson Hearst, American businessman (b. 1915)
- 2000 – Kirsty MacColl, English singer-songwriter (b. 1959)
- 2001 – Gilbert Bécaud, French singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1927)
- 2001 – Dimitris Dragatakis, Greek composer (b. 1914)
- 2001 – Marcel Mule, French saxophonist (b. 1901)
- 2002 – Ray Hnatyshyn, Canadian politician, 24th Governor General of Canada (b. 1934)
- 2002 – Wayne Owens, American politician (b. 1937)
- 2004 – Anthony Sampson, English journalist and author (b. 1926)
- 2005 – Alan Voorhees, American engineer and urban planner (b. 1922)
- 2006 – Joseph Barbera, American animator, director, and producer, co-founded Hanna-Barbera (b. 1911)
- 2006 – Ruth Bernhard, American photographer (b. 1905)
- 2006 – Mike Dickin, English radio host (b. 1943)
- 2006 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani author and activist (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Gerald Le Dain, Canadian lawyer and judge (b. 1924)
- 2007 – Jack Linkletter, American television host (b. 1937)
- 2007 – William Strauss, American author and playwright (b. 1947)
- 2007 – Alan Wagner, American businessman and critic (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Majel Barrett, American actress and producer (b. 1932)
- 2008 – Mark Felt, American FBI agent (b. 1913)
- 2010 – Phil Cavarretta, American baseball player (b. 1916)
- 2010 – Jacqueline de Romilly, French philologist, author, and scholar (b. 1913)
- 2010 – Tasso Kavadia, Greek actress (b. 1921)
- 2010 – Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italian banker and economist (b. 1940)
- 2010 – James Pickles, English judge and columnist (b. 1925)
- 2011 – Václav Havel, Czech politician, 1st President of the Czech Republic (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Koko, Australian acting dog (b. 2005)
- 2012 – Skippy Baxter, American figure skater (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Leman Çıdamlı, Turkish actress (b. 1932)
- 2012 – Georgi Kaloyanchev, Bulgarian actor (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Ben Luján, American politician (b. 1935)
- 2012 – Frank Macchiarola, American academic (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Bessie Moody-Lawrence, American politician (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Mustafa Ould Salek, Mauritanian army officer and politician, President of Mauritania (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Camil Samson, Canadian politician (b. 1935)
- 2012 – George Showell, English footballer (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Danny Steinmann, American director and screenwriter (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Jim Whalen, American football player (b. 1943)
- 2012 – Marcus Worsley, English politician (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Anatoliy Zayaev, Ukrainian footballer and coach (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Ronnie Biggs, English criminal (b. 1929)
Holidays and observances[edit]
- Christian Feast Day:
- Eponalia, feast of Epona, celebrated during Saturnalia. (Roman Empire)
- International Migrants Day (International)
- National Day (Qatar)
- Republic Day (Niger)
- UN Arabic Language Day (United Nations)
“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.””Matthew 1:20-21 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"I remember thee."
Jeremiah 2:2
Jeremiah 2:2
Let us note that Christ delights to think upon his Church, and to look upon her beauty. As the bird returneth often to its nest, and as the wayfarer hastens to his home, so doth the mind continually pursue the object of its choice. We cannot look too often upon that face which we love; we desire always to have our precious things in our sight. It is even so with our Lord Jesus. From all eternity "His delights were with the sons of men;" his thoughts rolled onward to the time when his elect should be born into the world; he viewed them in the mirror of his foreknowledge. "In thy book," he says, "all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them" (Ps. 139:16). When the world was set upon its pillars, he was there, and he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. Many a time before his incarnation, he descended to this lower earth in the similitude of a man; on the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18), by the brook of Jabbok (Gen. 32:24-30), beneath the walls of Jericho (Jos. 5:13), and in the fiery furnace of Babylon (Dan. 3:19, 25), the Son of Man visited his people. Because his soul delighted in them, he could not rest away from them, for his heart longed after them. Never were they absent from his heart, for he had written their names upon his hands, and graven them upon his side. As the breastplate containing the names of the tribes of Israel was the most brilliant ornament worn by the high priest, so the names of Christ's elect were his most precious jewels, and glittered on his heart. We may often forget to meditate upon the perfections of our Lord, but he never ceases to remember us. Let us chide ourselves for past forgetfulness, and pray for grace ever to bear him in fondest remembrance. Lord, paint upon the eyeballs of my soul the image of thy Son.
Evening
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."
John 10:9
John 10:9
Jesus, the great I AM, is the entrance into the true church, and the way of access to God himself. He gives to the man who comes to God by him four choice privileges.
1. He shall be saved. The fugitive manslayer passed the gate of the city of refuge, and was safe. Noah entered the door of the ark, and was secure. None can be lost who take Jesus as the door of faith to their souls. Entrance through Jesus into peace is the guarantee of entrance by the same door into heaven. Jesus is the only door, an open door, a wide door, a safe door; and blessed is he who rests all his hope of admission to glory upon the crucified Redeemer.
2. He shall go in. He shall be privileged to go in among the divine family, sharing the children's bread, and participating in all their honours and enjoyments. He shall go in to the chambers of communion, to the banquets of love, to the treasures of the covenant, to the storehouses of the promises. He shall go in unto the King of kings in the power of the Holy Spirit, and the secret of the Lord shall be with him.
3. He shall go out. This blessing is much forgotten. We go out into the world to labour and suffer, but what a mercy to go in the name and power of Jesus! We are called to bear witness to the truth, to cheer the disconsolate, to warn the careless, to win souls, and to glorify God; and as the angel said to Gideon, "Go in this thy might," even thus the Lord would have us proceed as his messengers in his name and strength.
4. He shall find pasture. He who knows Jesus shall never want. Going in and out shall be alike helpful to him: in fellowship with God he shall grow, and in watering others he shall be watered. Having made Jesus his all, he shall find all in Jesus. His soul shall be as a watered garden, and as a well of water whose waters fail not.
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Today's reading: Amos 7-9, Revelation 8 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Amos 7-9
Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line
1 This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. 2 When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, “Sovereign LORD, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
3 So the LORD relented.
“This will not happen,” the LORD said.
4 This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: The Sovereign LORD was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. 5 Then I cried out, “Sovereign LORD, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!”
6 So the LORD relented.
“This will not happen either,” the Sovereign LORD said.
7 This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?”
“A plumb line,” I replied.
Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer...."
Today's New Testament reading: Revelation 8
The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake....
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EVERLASTING FATHER
And he will be called...Everlasting Father. -Isaiah 9:6
What a remarkable string of names in Isaiah 9:6! Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Now, these were radical statements indeed, and they described the one who was coming to rule heaven and earth. A coming ruler might-if he were an ordinary ruler-simply assert his authority and prerogatives as sovereign. As we well know, a king is one who has the power because he has an army, and who has wealth because he controls the resources of his realm. That is the way of earthly rulers. But Isaiah also spoke of a ruler whom people would look to in far more personal terms: "Father."
But Jesus would be no mere earthly ruler. His reign would be "everlasting." Enduring, unstoppable, without challenge, having the qualities of heaven. An everlasting ruler would have to be a divine king.
It is a different kind of king who reigns as father. A king (or, for that matter, a prime minister, a president, etc.) does not have to treat his subjects as though the he were their father. They can wield power simply because they have it. But a ruler who cares for those in his realm, who truly wants to protect, and provide for his subjects out of a familial kind of love, is as much a father as he is king
Hundreds of years before his birth, Jesus was called "Everlasting Father" because his reign would be about protecting and providing-a king, yes, but a fatherly one. And we should not forget that Jesus' relationship with God the Father was so close that Jesus could say: "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father."
In some parts of the world, the legend of Santa Claus, derived from St. Nicholas, is called "Father Christmas." At its best, the legend expresses the belief in someone out there that is bigger than life, full of benevolence and magical charm. That Everlasting Father exists. Nothing can compare to the reality that Jesus Christ has become, for the world, the Powerful Protector and Perfect Provider, a king whose authority is so right and so good, it will never end.
Born a child, destined to bring fatherly care. Always and forever. In this, the children of God place their faith and hope.
Prayer for today:
Lord, help me to fully submit to your authority as king in my life, and then let me know your protection and provision which goes beyond what any early father can provide.
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