- As shoppers faced the tough task of seeking Boxing Day bargains, Sulayman Khalid, from Regents Park in Sydney’s West, was facing Parramatta Local Court after being charged by counter-terrorism police with possessing documents and material designed to facilitate a terrorist attack. SBS brought him to national attention when they tried to get him to air his 'opinion.' Apparently he won an ISIL flag on the show.
- Amnesty International documented a number of cases of jihadi capturing non Muslim girls (some as young as 10) and forcing them into sexual slavery or even suicide bombing. IS have stoned to death for adultery at least 8 women in Mosul, and ten women were killed for speaking out against the group
- A German journalist has been warned that ISIL intends to conquer Europe.
- Former Australian PM Malcolm Fraser slammed police for anti terrorism raids following the Sydney Siege.
- Yasir Arafat plays for Scorchers. He has the name of a Palestinian terrorist. He should not be playing where families of holocaust victims must endure.
- 'No threat to the dead' according to the judge who bailed a terrorist who committed the Sydney Siege. He was wrong in that judgement.
2013
Alan Turing, convicted of gross indecency in 1952, has been granted a posthumous royal pardon. His crime was in reporting a break in to his residence to police, it was discovered he had a homosexual relationship with another mature man. And rather than be sent to prison, he accepted chemical castration. He took cyanide in 1954. Turing was a genius who had contributed to the world's defence against Nazism as a code breaker. He is considered the father of modern computer science and artificial intelligence. When circumstances are not just, it is nice to believe that the royals can intercede. But this just seems too late. On the issue of injustice and forgiveness, the US has imprisoned Jonathan Pollard. Israel's PM Netanyahu has stood up for him, calling for his release, but because of the politics of the situation, Pollard remains in jail. His crime was one of US government mismanagement, he was a known security risk and, through lack of appropriate supervision, became an Israeli spy. It is apparent that the claims are not of the order of Assange or Snowden. Pollard has served more time than any one else convicted in the US of a similar crime. He is an Israeli citizen. Maybe Obama could release him, as a gesture favouring peace?
Historical perspectives on this day
In 1135, coronation of King Stephen of England. 1481, Battle of Westbroek: Holland defeated troops of Utrecht. 1776, American Revolutionary War: In the Battle of Trenton, the Continental Army attacked and successfully defeated a garrison of Hessian mercenaries. 1790, Louis XVI of France gave his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution. 1793, Second Battle of Wissembourg: France defeated Austria. Also 1793, the wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz took place. 1799, four thousand people attended George Washington's funeral where Henry Lee III declared him as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
In 1805, Austria and France signed the Treaty of Pressburg. 1806, Battles of Pultusk and Golymin: Russian forces held French forces under Napoleon. 1811, a theater fire in Richmond, Virginia killed the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia Abraham B. Venable. 1825, advocates of liberalism in Russia rose up against Czar Nicholas I and were put down in the Decembrist revolt in Saint Petersburg. 1846, trapped in snow in the Sierra Nevadas and without food, members of the Donner Party resorted to cannibalism. 1860, the first ever inter-club association football match took place between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at the Sandygate Road ground in Sheffield, England, United Kingdom. 1861, American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell were freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and United Kingdom. 1862, American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou began. Also 1862, Four nuns serving as volunteer nurses on board USS Red Rover were the first female nurses on a U.S. Navy hospital ship. Also 1862, the largest mass-hanging in U.S. history took place in Mankato, Minnesota, 38 Native Americans died. 1870, the 12.8-km long Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps was completed. 1871, Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated for the first time, on their lost opera, Thespis. It did modestly well, but the two would not collaborate again for four years. 1883, the Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orangemen caused five deaths in Newfoundland. 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie announced the isolation of radium.
In 1900, a relief crew arrived at the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles of Scotland, UK, only to find the previous crew has disappeared without a trace. 1919, Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox was sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee, allegedly establishing the Curse of the Bambino superstition. 1925, Turkey adopted the Gregorian calendar. 1941, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States. 1943, World War II: German warship Scharnhorst was sunk off of Norway's North Cape after a battle against major Royal Navy forces. 1944, World War II: George S. Patton's Third Army broke the encirclement of surrounded U.S. forces at Bastogne, Belgium. 1948, Cardinal József Mindszenty was arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy. 1963, The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" were released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level. 1966, the first Kwanzaa was celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach. 1972, Vietnam War: As part of Operation Linebacker II, 120 American B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi, including 78 launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history. 1976, the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist–Leninist) was founded. 1982, Time's Man of the Year was for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.
In 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union met and formally dissolved the Soviet Union. 1994, four Armed Islamic Group hijackers seized control of Air France Flight 8969. When the plane landed at Marseille, a French Gendarmerie assault team boarded the aircraft and killed the hijackers. 1996, six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado. Also 1996, start of the largest strike in South Korean history. 1997, the Soufrière Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat exploded, creating a small tsunami offshore. 1998, Iraq announced its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones. 1999, the storm Lothar swept across Central Europe, killing 137 and causing US$1.3 billion in damage. 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastated southeast Iranian city of Bam, killing tens of thousands and destroying the citadel of Arg-é Bam. 2004, a 9.3 magnitude earthquake created a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000. Also 2004, Orange Revolution: The final run-off election in Ukraine was held under heavy international scrutiny. 2006, an oil pipeline in Lagos, Nigeria exploded, killing at least 260.
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This column welcomes feedback and criticism. The column is not made up but based on the days events and articles which are then placed in the feed. So they may not have an apparent cohesion they would have had were they made up.
===
Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August https://www.createspace.com/4124406
===
For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball
Or the US President at
https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-change-this-injustice#
or
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/change-injustice-faced-david-daniel-ball-after-he-reported-bungled-pedophile-investigation-and/b8mxPWtJ or http://wh.gov/ilXYR
Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may; I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - ed
Lorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.
I have begun a bulletin board (http://theconservativevoice.freeforums.net) which will allow greater latitude for members to post and interact. It is not subject to FB policy and so greater range is allowed in posts. Also there are private members rooms in which nothing is censored, except abuse. All welcome, registration is free.
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Matches
2014
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If a movie is released in the USA, then 2 months later in Australia - I'm just going to pirate it.
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There needs to be a story to tell that hits the right notes. Joss Whedon is not alone with having a great style .. I love Moffat's Dr Who and what he does for the female companions .. which he also did in Coupling (UK version). But there is a cult in writing promoting character external to a storyline .. it isn't character, but story which creates the character .. Buffy was hurt and damaged .. nobody does that to a character they like .. but it is only then that character asserts itself .. ed
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When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.
Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in mags for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.
And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.
Cranky Old Man
What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . ... . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!
Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!
PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM (originally by Phyllis McCormack; adapted by Dave Griffith)
The best and most beautiful things of this world can't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart!
elderhelpers.org
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Clive Palmer?
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<Do the Alarmists check both sides of the debate or just go ahead and publish already busted alarm stories?
They're Ba-a-ack! With the busted c@w f@rt methane causes global bµllt!sh!>
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<... I just don't care. I still like seeing Xmas trees. There are worse things to look at despite being conflicted.
" The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm-tree; in Rome it was the fir; the palm tree denoting the pagan messiah, as Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as Baal-Berith. The mother of Adonis, the sun-god and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been recognized as the 'Man the branch.' And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas Eve, and the appearance of the Christmas tree the next morning."
That sure puts a different spin on Christmas traditions, now doesn't it?
Most Christians don't even realize that G-d warned us about such things in the Bible.
In Jeremiah 10:1-4, G-d warns us against putting up these decorated trees like the pagans were doing....
Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter."
The Puritans understood this. It comes as a surprise to most Americans to learn that the Puritans once banned Christmas trees in many areas of the United States because they were considered so pagan. ">
David Daniel Ball Atheist researcher attacks Joseph Atwill's work ..http://www.patheos.com/.../joseph-atwill-has-not-proven.../
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Holden promise to continue making substandard cars for Australia, but not in Australia. - ed
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"Mommy?"
"Yes, Max?"
"Does Santa go to every country in the world?"
"Yep."
"How about Australia?"
"Yep."
"Africa?"
"Yep."
"Even South Yorkshire?"
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===
===
This column welcomes feedback and criticism. The column is not made up but based on the days events and articles which are then placed in the feed. So they may not have an apparent cohesion they would have had were they made up.
===
Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August https://www.createspace.com/4124406
===
For twenty two years I have been responsibly addressing an issue, and I cannot carry on. I am petitioning the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to remedy my distress. I leave it up to him if he chooses to address the issue. Regardless of your opinion of conservative government, the issue is pressing. Please sign my petition at https://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/tony-abbott-remedy-the-persecution-of-dd-ball
Or the US President at
https://www.change.org/p/barack-obama-change-this-injustice#
or
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/change-injustice-faced-david-daniel-ball-after-he-reported-bungled-pedophile-investigation-and/b8mxPWtJ or http://wh.gov/ilXYR
Mr Ball, I will not sign your petition as it will do no good, but I will share your message and ask as many of friends who read it, to share it also. Let us see if we cannot use the power of the internet to spread the word of these infamous killings. As a father and a former soldier, I cannot, could not, justify ignoring this appalling action by the perpetrators, whoever they may; I thank you Douglas. You are wrong about the petition. Signing it is as worthless and meaningless an act as voting. A stand up guy would know that. - ed
Lorraine Allen Hider I signed the petition ages ago David, with pleasure, nobody knows what it's like until they've been there. Keep heart David take care.
===
Happy birthday and many happy returns Ann Thompson. Born on the same day, across the years, as
- 1194 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1250)
- 1687 – Johann Georg Pisendel, German violinist and composer (d. 1755)
- 1723 – Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German author (d. 1807)
- 1780 – Mary Somerville, Scottish polymath and author (d. 1872)
- 1791 – Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer, invented the Difference engine (d. 1871)
- 1921 – Steve Allen, American actor, comedian, and singer (d. 2000)
- 1935 – Abdul "Duke" Fakir, American singer (Four Tops)
- 1947 – Richard Levis McCormick, American historian and academic
- 2000 – Samuel Sevian, American chess player
December 26: Boxing Day in Commonwealth countries; St. Stephen's Day (Western Christianity); Kwanzaa begins in Canada and the United States
- 1806 – War of the Fourth Coalition: French troops under Napoleon engaged Russian forces in both the Battles of Pultusk and Golymin.
- 1825 – Imperial Russian Army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in a protest against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne after his elder brother Constantine removed himself from the line of succession.
- 1900 – A relief crew arrived at the lighthouse (pictured) on the Flannan Isles of Scotland and discovered that the previous crew had disappeared without a trace.
- 1968 – The Communist Party of the Philippines, which is fighting an insurgency, was established by Jose Maria Sison.
- 1996 – The Federation of Korean Trade Unions called upon its 1.2 million members to walk off the job, beginning the largest organized strike in the nation's history,
Matches
- 1135 – Coronation of King Stephen of England.
- 1481 – Battle of Westbroek: Holland defeats troops of Utrecht.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: In the Battle of Trenton, the Continental Army attacks and successfully defeats a garrison of Hessian mercenaries.
- 1790 – Louis XVI of France gives his public assent to Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution.
- 1793 – Second Battle of Wissembourg: France defeat Austria.
- 1793 – The wedding of Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia and Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz takes place.
- 1799 – Four thousand people attend George Washington's funeral where Henry Lee III declares him as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
- 1805 – Austria and France sign the Treaty of Pressburg.
- 1806 – Battles of Pultusk and Golymin: Russian forces hold French forces under Napoleon.
- 1811 – A theater fire in Richmond, Virginia kills the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia Abraham B. Venable.
- 1825 – Advocates of liberalism in Russia rise up against Czar Nicholas I and are put down in the Decembrist revolt in Saint Petersburg.
- 1846 – Trapped in snow in the Sierra Nevadas and without food, members of the Donner Party resort to cannibalism.
- 1860 – The first ever inter-club association football match takes place between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at the Sandygate Roadground in Sheffield, England, United Kingdom.
- 1861 – American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and United Kingdom.
- 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chickasaw Bayou begins.
- 1862 – Four nuns serving as volunteer nurses on board USS Red Rover are the first female nurses on a U.S. Navy hospital ship.
- 1862 – The largest mass-hanging in U.S. history took place in Mankato, Minnesota, 38 Native Americans died.
- 1870 – The 12.8-km long Fréjus Rail Tunnel through the Alps is completed.
- 1871 – Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate for the first time, on their lost opera, Thespis. It does modestly well, but the two would not collaborate again for four years.
- 1883 – The Harbour Grace Affray between Irish Catholics and Protestant Orangemen causes five deaths in Newfoundland.
- 1898 – Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium.
- 1900 – A relief crew arrives at the lighthouse on the Flannan Isles of Scotland, UK, only to find the previous crew has disappeared without a trace.
- 1919 – Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee, allegedly establishing the Curse of the Bambino superstition.
- 1925 – Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar.
- 1941 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
- 1943 – World War II: German warship Scharnhorst is sunk off of Norway's North Cape after a battle against major Royal Navy forces.
- 1944 – World War II: George S. Patton's Third Army breaks the encirclement of surrounded U.S. forces at Bastogne, Belgium.
- 1948 – Cardinal József Mindszenty is arrested in Hungary and accused of treason and conspiracy.
- 1963 – The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level.
- 1966 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
- 1972 – Vietnam War: As part of Operation Linebacker II, 120 American B-52 Stratofortress bombers attacked Hanoi, including 78 launched from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the largest single combat launch in Strategic Air Command history.
- 1976 – The Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist–Leninist) is founded.
- 1982 – Time's Man of the Year is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer.
- 1991 – The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the Soviet Union.
- 1994 – Four Armed Islamic Group hijackers seize control of Air France Flight 8969. When the plane lands at Marseille, a French Gendarmerie assault team boards the aircraft and kills the hijackers.
- 1996 – Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey is found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado.
- 1996 – Start of the largest strike in South Korean history.
- 1997 – The Soufrière Hills volcano on the island of Montserrat explodes, creating a small tsunami offshore.
- 1998 – Iraq announces its intention to fire upon U.S. and British warplanes that patrol the northern and southern no-fly zones.
- 1999 – The storm Lothar sweeps across Central Europe, killing 137 and causing US$1.3 billion in damage.
- 2003 – A magnitude 6.6 earthquake devastates southeast Iranian city of Bam, killing tens of thousands and destroying the citadel of Arg-é Bam.
- 2004 – A 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldivesand many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000.
- 2004 – Orange Revolution: The final run-off election in Ukraine is held under heavy international scrutiny.
- 2006 – An oil pipeline in Lagos, Nigeria explodes, killing at least 260.
Hatches
- 1194 – Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1250)
- 1532 – Wilhelm Xylander, German scholar and academic (d. 1576)
- 1536 – Yi I, Korean philosopher and scholar (d. 1584)
- 1646 – Robert Bolling, English-American merchant and planter (d. 1709)
- 1687 – Johann Georg Pisendel, German violinist and composer (d. 1755)
- 1716 – Jean François de Saint-Lambert, French soldier and philosopher (d. 1803)
- 1716 – Thomas Gray, English poet and scholar (d. 1771)
- 1723 – Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, German-French author and playwright (d. 1807)
- 1737 – Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (d. 1815)
- 1751 – Clemens Maria Hofbauer, Austrian priest, missionary, and saint (d. 1820)
- 1771 – Julie Clary, French wife of Joseph Bonaparte (d. 1845)
- 1780 – Mary Somerville, Scottish mathematician, astronomer, and author (d. 1872)
- 1785 – Étienne Constantin de Gerlache, Belgian lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Belgium (d. 1871)
- 1782 – Philaret Drozdov, Russian metropolitan (d. 1867)
- 1791 – Charles Babbage, English mathematician and engineer, invented the Difference engine (d. 1871)
- 1803 – Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, Estonian physician and author (d. 1882)
- 1819 – E. D. E. N. Southworth, American author (d. 1899)
- 1820 – Dion Boucicault, Irish actor and playwright (d. 1890)
- 1837 – Morgan Bulkeley, American soldier and politician, 54th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1922)
- 1837 – George Dewey, American admiral (d. 1917)
- 1853 – René Bazin, French author and academic (d. 1932)
- 1859 – William Stephens, American politician, 24th Governor of California (d. 1944)
- 1863 – Charles Pathé, French record producer, co-founded Pathé Records (d. 1957)
- 1864 – Yun Chi-ho, Korean Resistance activists, politicians (d. 1945)
- 1867 – Phan Bội Châu, Vietnamese activist (d. 1940)
- 1872 – Norman Angell, English journalist, academic, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
- 1873 – Thomas Wass, English cricketer (d. 1953)
- 1874 – Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, Bangladeshi theologist and academic (d. 1965)
- 1883 – Maurice Utrillo, French painter (d. 1955)
- 1887 – Arthur Percival, English general (d. 1966)
- 1888 – Marius Canard, French orientalist and historian (d. 1982)
- 1890 – Percy Hodge, British steeplechase runner (d. 1967)
- 1890 – Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (d. 1992)
- 1891 – Henry Miller, American author and painter (d. 1980)
- 1892 – Don Barclay, American actor (d. 1975)
- 1893 – Mao Zedong, Chinese general and politician, 1st President of the People's Republic of China (d. 1976)
- 1894 – Jean Toomer, American author and poet (d. 1967)
- 1899 – Udham Singh, Indian martyr and activist (d. 1940)
- 1901 – Elmar Muuk, Estonian linguist and author (d. 1941)
- 1902 – Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan, Russian painter and sculptor (d. 1980)
- 1903 – Elisha Cook, Jr., American actor and singer (d. 1995)
- 1904 – Alejo Carpentier, Swiss-Cuban musicologist and author (d. 1980)
- 1905 – William Loeb III, American publisher (d. 1981)
- 1906 – Imperio Argentina, Argentinian actress and singer (d. 2003)
- 1907 – Albert Gore, Sr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1998)
- 1908 – Ralph Hill, American long-distance runner (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Matt Gordy, American pole vaulter (d. 1989)
- 1911 – Arsenio Lacson, Filipino journalist and politician, Mayor of Manila (d. 1962)
- 1913 – Frank Swift, English footballer and journalist (d. 1958)
- 1914 – Annemarie Wendl, German actress (d. 2006)
- 1914 – Richard Widmark, American actor and producer (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Georgios Rallis, Greek politician, 173rd Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2006)
- 1918 – Olga Lopes-Seale, Guyanese-born Barbados-based social and community worker, radio broadcaster and singer (d. 2011)
- 1921 – John Severin, American artist and illustrator (d. 2012)
- 1921 – Steve Allen, American actor, singer, and screenwriter (d. 2000)
- 1922 – Richard Mayes, English actor (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Richard Artschwager, American painter, illustrator, and sculptor (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Frank Broyles, American football player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1926 – Earle Brown, American composer (d. 2002)
- 1926 – Gina Pellón, Cuban-French painter and poet
- 1927 – Denis Gifford, English journalist and historian (d. 2000)
- 1927 – Alan King, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1927 – Stu Miller, American baseball player
- 1927 – Denis Quilley, English actor (d. 2003)
- 1929 – Régine Zylberberg, French singer and actress
- 1930 – Jean Ferrat, French singer-songwriter (d. 2010)
- 1930 – Harry Gamble, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Donald Moffat, English-American actor
- 1933 – Ugly Dave Gray, English-Australian actor
- 1933 – Olavi Salsola, Finnish middle-distance runner (d. 1995)
- 1933 – Caroll Spinney, American puppeteer and voice actor
- 1935 – Abdul "Duke" Fakir, American singer (Four Tops)
- 1935 – Norm Ullman, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1936 – Peep Jänes, Estonian architect
- 1936 – Trevor Taylor, English race car driver (d. 2010)
- 1937 – John Horton Conway, English-American mathematician and academic
- 1937 – Jay Heimowitz, American poker player
- 1938 – Bahram Beyzai, Iranian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1938 – Robert Hamerton-Kelly, South African-American pastor, scholar, and author (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Alamgir Kabir, Bangladeshi director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1989)
- 1939 – Fred Schepisi, Australian director and screenwriter
- 1939 – Phil Spector, American singer-songwriter and producer (The Teddy Bears)
- 1940 – Edward C. Prescott, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1940 – Ray Sadecki, American baseball player (d. 2014)
- 1941 – Daniel Schmid, Swiss actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
- 1942 – Vinicio Cerezo, Guatemalan politician, 28th President of Guatemala
- 1942 – Catherine Coulter, American author
- 1942 – Gray Davis, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 37th Governor of California
- 1942 – Dan Massey, American activist and author (d. 2013)
- 1944 – Jane Lapotaire, English actress and singer
- 1945 – John Walsh, American television host, producer, and activist, created America's Most Wanted
- 1946 – Alan Frumin, American lawyer and politician
- 1946 – Tiit Rosenberg, Estonian historian and academic
- 1947 – James T. Conway, American general
- 1947 – Jean Echenoz, French author
- 1947 – Carlton Fisk, American baseball player
- 1947 – Josef Janíček, Czech singer-songwriter, guitarist, and keyboard player (The Plastic People of the Universe)
- 1947 – Richard Levis McCormick, American historian and academic
- 1948 – Candy Crowley, American journalist
- 1949 – Mikhail Boyarsky, Russian actor and singer
- 1949 – Bob Hartman, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Petra)
- 1949 – José Ramos-Horta, East Timorese lawyer and politician, 2nd President of East Timor, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1950 – Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Pakistani businessman and politician, 17th Prime Minister of Pakistan
- 1951 – C. J. Henderson, American author and critic (d. 2014)
- 1951 – John Scofield, American guitarist and composer (Trio Beyond)
- 1951 – Richard Skinner, English radio and television host
- 1953 – Leonel Fernández, Dominican lawyer and politician, 51st President of the Dominican Republic
- 1953 – Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Swedish-Estonian journalist and politician, 4th President of Estonia
- 1953 – Makis Katsavakis, Greek footballer and manager
- 1953 – Henning Schmitz, German drummer (Kraftwerk)
- 1954 – Peter Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer
- 1954 – Tony Rosato, Italian-Canadian actor
- 1954 – Ozzie Smith, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1954 – Steve Steen, English actor and screenwriter
- 1955 – Evan Bayh, American lawyer and politician, 46th Governor of Indiana
- 1956 – David Sedaris, American comedian, author, and radio host
- 1957 – Dermot Murnaghan, English journalist and game show host
- 1957 – Mike South, American porn actor and director
- 1958 – Adrian Newey, English engineer
- 1958 – Mieko Harada, Japanese actress
- 1959 – Wang Lijun, Chinese police officer and politician
- 1959 – Kōji Morimoto, Japanese animator and director
- 1959 – Hans Nielsen, Danish motorcycle racer
- 1960 – Keith Martin Ball, Mathematician
- 1960 – Temuera Morrison, New Zealand actor
- 1960 – Christian Müller, German footballer
- 1960 – Jim Toomey, American cartoonist
- 1961 – Andrew Lock, Australian mountaineer
- 1961 – John Lynch, Irish actor
- 1962 – Mark Starr, American wrestler (d. 2013)
- 1963 – Lars Ulrich, Danish-American drummer, songwriter, and producer (Metallica)
- 1963 – Bill Wennington, Canadian basketball player and sportscaster
- 1964 – Elizabeth Kostova, American author
- 1966 – Jay Farrar, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, and Gob Iron)
- 1966 – Tim Legler, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1966 – Sandra Taylor, American model and actress
- 1966 – Jay Yuenger, American guitarist and producer (White Zombie)
- 1968 – Tricia Leigh Fisher, American actress and singer
- 1968 – Dennis Knight, American wrestler
- 1969 – Isaac Viciosa, Spanish runner
- 1970 – Krissada Sukosol Clapp, Thai actor and singer
- 1970 – James Mercer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Shins and Broken Bells)
- 1971 – Jared Leto, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor and director (Thirty Seconds to Mars)
- 1971 – Mika Nurmela, Finnish footballer
- 1971 – Jonathan M. Parisen, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1971 – Tatiana Sorokko, Russian-American model and journalist
- 1972 – Esteban Fuertes, Argentinian footballer
- 1972 – Shane Meadows, English actor, director, and producer
- 1972 – Robert Muchamore, English author
- 1973 – Paulo Frederico Benevenute, Brazilian footballer
- 1973 – Zach Blair, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Hagfish, Gwar, Rise Against, and Only Crime)
- 1973 – Gianluca Faliva, Italian rugby player
- 1973 – Reichen Lehmkuhl, American model and actor
- 1973 – Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Japanese baseball player
- 1973 – Steve Prescott, English rugby player (d. 2013)
- 1974 – Tiffany Brissette, American actress
- 1974 – Josie Ho, Hong Kong singer and actress
- 1974 – Joshua John Miller, American actor
- 1975 – Marcelo Ríos, Chilean tennis player
- 1975 – María Vasco, Spanish race walker
- 1976 – Lea De Mae, Czech porn actress and model (d. 2004)
- 1976 – Simon Goodwin, Australian footballer and coach
- 1976 – Nadia Litz, Canadian actress and director
- 1977 – Sofia Bekatorou, Greek sailor
- 1977 – Adrienn Hegedűs, Hungarian tennis player
- 1978 – Karel Rüütli, Estonian politician
- 1978 – Kaoru Sugayama, Japanese volleyball player
- 1979 – Fabián Carini, Uruguayan footballer
- 1979 – Chris Daughtry, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Daughtry)
- 1979 – Dimitry Vassiliev, Russian ski jumper
- 1979 – Craig Wing, Australian rugby player
- 1980 – Todd Dunivant, American soccer player
- 1981 – Pablo Canavosio, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
- 1982 – Kenneth Darby, American football player
- 1982 – Shun Oguri, Japanese actor and model
- 1982 – Roxanne Pallett, English actress and singer
- 1982 – Aksel Lund Svindal, Norwegian skier
- 1984 – Ahmed Barusso, Ghanaian footballer
- 1984 – Leonardo Ghiraldini, Italian rugby player
- 1984 – Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker
- 1985 – Beth Behrs, American actress
- 1985 – Yu Shirota, Japanese-Spanish actor and singer (D-Boys)
- 1986 – Hugo Lloris, French footballer
- 1986 – Kit Harington, English actor
- 1987 – Adam Walker, English flute player
- 1989 – Yohan Blake, Jamaican sprinter
- 1989 – Jennica Garcia, Filipino actress
- 1989 – Lecabela Quaresma, São Toméan runner
- 1989 – Ben Schumann, Australian actor
- 1990 – Andy Biersack, American singer-songwriter (Black Veil Brides)
- 1990 – Denis Cheryshev, Russian footballer
- 1990 – Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer
- 1990 – James Wolpert, American singer
- 1991 – Eden Sher American actress
- 1992 – Kätlin Aas, Estonian model
- 1992 – Cecilia Costa Melgar, Chilean tennis player
- 1994 – Samantha Boscarino, American actress and singer
- 1994 – Souleymane Coulibaly, Ivorian footballer
- 1995 – Zach Mills, American actor
- 2000 – Samuel Sevian, American chess player
Despatches
- 268 – Pope Dionysius
- 831 – Euthymius of Sardis, Byzantine iconodule monk and bishop (b. c. 754)
- 1350 – Jean de Marigny, French archbishop
- 1458 – Arthur III, Duke of Brittany (b. 1393)
- 1476 – Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Italian husband of Bona of Savoy (b. 1444)
- 1530 – Babur, Mongolian emperor (b. 1483)
- 1574 – Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine (b. 1524)
- 1731 – Antoine Houdar de la Motte, French author (b. 1672)
- 1771 – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher and activist (b. 1715)
- 1780 – John Fothergill, English physician and botanist (b. 1712)
- 1784 – Seth Warner, American colonel (b. 1743)
- 1786 – Gasparo Gozzi, Italian playwright and critic (b. 1713)
- 1869 – Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille, French physician and physiologist (b. 1797)
- 1890 – Heinrich Schliemann, German-Italian archaeologist and author (b. 1822)
- 1909 – Frederic Remington, American painter and illustrator (b. 1861)
- 1923 – Dietrich Eckart, German journalist and politician (b. 1868)
- 1925 – Jan Letzel, Czech architect, designed the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (b. 1880)
- 1931 – Melvil Dewey, American librarian and educator, created the Dewey Decimal Classification (b. 1851)
- 1933 – Anatoly Lunacharsky, Russian journalist and politician (b. 1875)
- 1933 – Henry Watson Fowler, English lexicographer and educator (b. 1858)
- 1933 – Eduard Vilde, Estonian author and diplomat (b. 1865)
- 1959 – Jack Tresadern, English footballer and manager (b. 1890)
- 1960 – Tetsuro Watsuji, Japanese historian and philosopher (b. 1889)
- 1963 – Gorgeous George, American wrestler (b. 1915)
- 1966 – Herbert Otto Gille, German SS officer (b. 1897)
- 1966 – Guillermo Stábile, Argentinian footballer and manager (b. 1905)
- 1970 – Lillian Board, South African-English runner (b. 1948)
- 1972 – Harry S. Truman, American colonel and politician, 33rd President of the United States (b. 1884)
- 1973 – Harold B. Lee, American religious leader, 11th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1899)
- 1974 – Farid al-Atrash, Syrian-Egyptian singer-songwriter, oud player, and actor (b. 1915)
- 1974 – Jack Benny, American actor, singer, and producer (b. 1894)
- 1974 – Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, Scottish admiral (b. 1890)
- 1975 – Karl Tarvas, Estonian architect (b. 1885)
- 1976 – Yashpal, Indian author (b. 1903)
- 1977 – Howard Hawks, American director and screenwriter (b. 1896)
- 1980 – Tony Smith, American sculptor and educator (b. 1912)
- 1981 – Savitri, Indian actress, director, and producer (b. 1937)
- 1981 – Amber Reeves, New Zealand-English author and scholar (b. 1887)
- 1983 – Violet Carson, English actress and singer (b. 1898)
- 1984 – Sheila Andrews, American singer (b. 1953)
- 1985 – Margarete Schön, German actress (b. 1895)
- 1986 – Elsa Lanchester, English-American actress and singer (b. 1902)
- 1988 – Glenn McCarthy, American businessman, founded the Shamrock Hotel (b. 1907)
- 1988 – Pablo Sorozábal, German-Spanish composer (b. 1897)
- 1989 – Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1924)
- 1990 – Gene Callahan, American art director and production designer (b. 1923)
- 1992 – Nikita Magaloff, Georgian-Russian pianist (b. 1912)
- 1994 – Parveen Shakir, Pakistani civil servant and poet (b. 1952)
- 1996 – Kostas Palios, Greek actor (b. 1926)
- 1997 – Cornelius Castoriadis, Greek economist and philosopher (b. 1922)
- 1999 – Curtis Mayfield, American singer-songwriter and producer (The Impressions) (b. 1942)
- 1999 – Shankar Dayal Sharma, Indian politician, 9th President of India (b. 1918)
- 2000 – Jason Robards, American actor and singer (b. 1922)
- 2001 – Nigel Hawthorne, English actor and producer (b. 1929)
- 2002 – Herb Ritts, American photographer and director (b. 1952)
- 2002 – Armand Zildjian, American businessman, founded the Avedis Zildjian Company (b. 1921)
- 2004 – Troy Broadbridge, Australian footballer (b. 1980)
- 2004 – Jonathan Drummond-Webb, South African surgeon and academic (b. 1959)
- 2004 – Marianne Heiberg, Norwegian diplomat (b. 1945)
- 2004 – Poom Jensen, American son of Ubolratana Rajakanya (b. 1983)
- 2004 – Sigurd Køhn, Norwegian saxophonist and composer (b. 1959)
- 2004 – Angus Ogilvy, English businessman (b. 1928)
- 2004 – Aki Sirkesalo, Finnish singer-songwriter (b. 1962)
- 2004 – Mieszko Talarczyk, Polish-Swedish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Nasum and Genocide Superstars) (b. 1974)
- 2004 – Reggie White, American football player (b. 1961)
- 2005 – Muriel Costa-Greenspon, American soprano (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Ted Ditchburn, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
- 2005 – Kerry Packer, Australian publisher and businessman (b. 1937)
- 2005 – Viacheslav Platonov, Russian volleyball player and coach (b. 1939)
- 2005 – Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (b. 1948)
- 2005 – Erich Topp, German commander (b. 1914)
- 2006 – Gerald Ford, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 38th President of the United States (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Ivar Formo, Norwegian skier (b. 1951)
- 2006 – Munir Niazi, Pakistani poet (b. 1928)
- 2007 – Joe Dolan, Irish singer (b. 1943)
- 2007 – Stu Nahan, American sportscaster (b. 1926)
- 2008 – Gösta Krantz, Swedish actor (b. 1925)
- 2009 – Felix Wurman, American cellist and composer (b. 1958)
- 2010 – Edward Bhengu, South African activist (b. 1934)
- 2010 – Teena Marie, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1956)
- 2011 – Houston Antwine, American football player (b. 1939)
- 2011 – Pedro Armendáriz, Jr., Mexican-American actor and producer (b. 1940)
- 2011 – Sarekoppa Bangarappa, Indian politician, 15th Chief Minister of Karnataka (b. 1932)
- 2011 – Joe Bodolai, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1948)
- 2011 – Fred Fono, Solomon politician (b. 1962)
- 2011 – Sam Rivers, American flute player and composer (b. 1923)
- 2011 – James Rizzi, American painter and illustrator (b. 1950)
- 2012 – Abdul Ghafoor Ahmed, Pakistani educator and politician (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Gerry Anderson, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Fontella Bass, American singer-songwriter (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Paul T. Bateman, American theorist and scholar (b. 1919)
- 2012 – E. Porter Hatcher Jr., American politician (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Gerald McDermott, American author and illustrator (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Ibrahim Tannous, Lebanese general (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Rebecca Tarbotton, Canadian-American activist (b. 1973)
- 2013 – Malena Alvarado, Venezuelan actress (b. 1954)
- 2013 – Paul Blair, American baseball player and coach (b. 1944)
- 2013 – E. Otis Charles, American bishop (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Davide Lufrano Chaves, Italian-English guitarist (Alejandro Toledo and the Magic Tombolinos) (b. 1983)
- 2013 – Marta Eggerth, Hungarian-American actress and singer (b. 1912)
- 2013 – Dr. Tangalanga, Argentinian comedian and actor (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Sally Vincent, English journalist (b. 1937)
2014
- Boxing Day, except when December 26 is a Sunday. If it is a Sunday, Boxing Day is transferred to December 27 by Royal Proclamation. (Commonwealth of Nations), and its related observances:
- Christian feast day:
- Abadiu of Antinoe (Coptic Church)
- Earliest day on which Feast of the Holy Family can fall, celebrated on Sunday after Christmas or 30 if Christmas falls on a Sunday.
- James the Just (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Stephen (Western Church)
- Synaxis of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox Church)
- December 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence and Unity Day (Slovenia)
- Mauro Hamza Day (Houston, Texas)
- Mummer's Day (Padstow, Cornwall)
- St. Stephen's Day (public holiday in Alsace, Austria, Catalonia, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland), and its related observances:
- The first day of Kwanzaa, celebrated until January 1 (United States)
- The first day of Junkanoo street parade, the second day is on the New Year's Day (The Bahamas)
- The first of Twelve Holy Days (Esoteric Christianity)
- The second day of the Twelve Days of Christmas (Western Christianity)
- Wren Day (Ireland and the Isle of Man)
Piers Akerman – Friday, December 26, 2014 (9:58am)
This has been a sombre Christmas for many Australians, a view shared by Margie Abbott, Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s wife, in the couple’s heartfelt message to the nation.
“Mostly Christmas is a joyous time - but it can be a sad time too and this year we are thinking of those families who have lost loved ones.
“This is a time to reach out - to those who have had a difficult year, as well as those who, for whatever reason, are doing it tough.” Mrs Abbott’s remarks were refreshingly direct. It has been a confronting year with too many tragedies to gloss over.
Many Australians have had a very tough year through no fault of their own and all too often because of the activities of others.
Her husband frequently frames his policy hopes with appeals to “our better angels”.
Again, too often, that call is ignored.
As last-minute city shoppers hurried home for Christmas Eve, many paused for a few minutes of reflection at the site of the spontaneous floral tribute to murder victims Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson in Martin Place.
The contemplative crowd was a microcosm of our society. Office workers, shoppers, tourists, people who made a special trip in from the suburbs, families with children, even members of Sydney-Hobart yacht race crews who had taken an hour off from preparing their vessels to pad up to the impromptu shrine in their deck shoes from their boats in Rushcutters Bay.
Some carried flowers obviously cut from home gardens. Others had simple bouquets. For most it was a moment of connection with the loss felt by the Dawson and Johnson families.
As they stood in the grey light, a sneering young man named Sulayman Khalid, from Regents Park in Sydney’s West, was facing Parramatta Local Court after being charged by counter-terrorism police with possessing documents and material designed to facilitate a terrorist attack.
Police said the documents ‘certainly talked a little bit about potential government targets and so on, and what that did, coupled with other things that were seized during the search warrant, gave us significant concern to be able to act early.” A rifle, a shortened shotgun and a double-barrelled shotgun were among objects seized.
Khalid, a part-time labourer, came to national attention when he appeared on the SBS Insight program with his then lawyer, the former Palmer United Party candidate Zali Burrows.
He stormed off the set after being quizzed about the cancellation of his Australian passport by ASIO last December. Khalid - who calls himself Abu Bakr after the Prophet Mohammed’s father-in-law - had worn an Islamic State flag on the SBS show and said that he sympathised with the values of Islamic State as he was being unfairly targeted by Australians.
A report by Amnesty International released on Tuesday gave a glimpse of some of those values when it detailed the capture of young non-Muslim girls - some as young as 10 and 12 - and told how they were forced to endure torture, rape and sexual slavery, and confirmed that several abducted girls committed suicide.
A Lebanese Australian man was identified as being in control of the sale of the young women to IS members who were seeking sex.
Pandering to sexually starved torturers is not the only role IS members have performed as they impose their Islamist caliphate across Syria and northern Iraq.
At least eight women have been stoned to death for alleged adultery in IS-controlled areas in northern Syria, activists say, and at least 10 women in Mosul have been killed for speaking out against the group.
The barbarism rampant in the Middle East is just a beginning, followers of the death cult boast.
In an interview with veteran German journalist Juergen Todenhoefer in Mosul, a spokesman for IS bragged that the killers have greater goals.
“We will conquer Europe one day. It is not a question of if we will conquer Europe, just a matter of when that will happen. But it is certain ... for us, there is no such thing as borders. There are only frontlines,” he told the German journalist.
“Our expansion will be rapid and perpetual. The Europeans need to know that when we come, it will not be in a nice way. It will be with our weapons. Those who do not convert to Islam or pay the Islamic tax will be killed.” Having beheaded and executed thousands and enslaved members of religious minorities and women, there is no reason to doubt that IS believes it will conquer the world and is prepared to commit whatever horrendous acts it deems necessary in the pursuit of that goal.
Todenhoefer noted that IS is a lot more dangerous than it has been perceived by Western leaders.
His interview was published shortly after former prime minister Malcolm Fraser slammed police for conducting anti-terrorist raids in the aftermath of the Sydney cafe siege.
Fraser, who was PM between 1975 and 1983, said the action was misguided “because of the timing of their raids it will be allied to what happened in Sydney”.
There is an appalling naiveté abroad this nativity season.
“Mostly Christmas is a joyous time - but it can be a sad time too and this year we are thinking of those families who have lost loved ones.
“This is a time to reach out - to those who have had a difficult year, as well as those who, for whatever reason, are doing it tough.” Mrs Abbott’s remarks were refreshingly direct. It has been a confronting year with too many tragedies to gloss over.
Many Australians have had a very tough year through no fault of their own and all too often because of the activities of others.
Her husband frequently frames his policy hopes with appeals to “our better angels”.
Again, too often, that call is ignored.
As last-minute city shoppers hurried home for Christmas Eve, many paused for a few minutes of reflection at the site of the spontaneous floral tribute to murder victims Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson in Martin Place.
The contemplative crowd was a microcosm of our society. Office workers, shoppers, tourists, people who made a special trip in from the suburbs, families with children, even members of Sydney-Hobart yacht race crews who had taken an hour off from preparing their vessels to pad up to the impromptu shrine in their deck shoes from their boats in Rushcutters Bay.
Some carried flowers obviously cut from home gardens. Others had simple bouquets. For most it was a moment of connection with the loss felt by the Dawson and Johnson families.
As they stood in the grey light, a sneering young man named Sulayman Khalid, from Regents Park in Sydney’s West, was facing Parramatta Local Court after being charged by counter-terrorism police with possessing documents and material designed to facilitate a terrorist attack.
Police said the documents ‘certainly talked a little bit about potential government targets and so on, and what that did, coupled with other things that were seized during the search warrant, gave us significant concern to be able to act early.” A rifle, a shortened shotgun and a double-barrelled shotgun were among objects seized.
Khalid, a part-time labourer, came to national attention when he appeared on the SBS Insight program with his then lawyer, the former Palmer United Party candidate Zali Burrows.
He stormed off the set after being quizzed about the cancellation of his Australian passport by ASIO last December. Khalid - who calls himself Abu Bakr after the Prophet Mohammed’s father-in-law - had worn an Islamic State flag on the SBS show and said that he sympathised with the values of Islamic State as he was being unfairly targeted by Australians.
A report by Amnesty International released on Tuesday gave a glimpse of some of those values when it detailed the capture of young non-Muslim girls - some as young as 10 and 12 - and told how they were forced to endure torture, rape and sexual slavery, and confirmed that several abducted girls committed suicide.
A Lebanese Australian man was identified as being in control of the sale of the young women to IS members who were seeking sex.
Pandering to sexually starved torturers is not the only role IS members have performed as they impose their Islamist caliphate across Syria and northern Iraq.
At least eight women have been stoned to death for alleged adultery in IS-controlled areas in northern Syria, activists say, and at least 10 women in Mosul have been killed for speaking out against the group.
The barbarism rampant in the Middle East is just a beginning, followers of the death cult boast.
In an interview with veteran German journalist Juergen Todenhoefer in Mosul, a spokesman for IS bragged that the killers have greater goals.
“We will conquer Europe one day. It is not a question of if we will conquer Europe, just a matter of when that will happen. But it is certain ... for us, there is no such thing as borders. There are only frontlines,” he told the German journalist.
“Our expansion will be rapid and perpetual. The Europeans need to know that when we come, it will not be in a nice way. It will be with our weapons. Those who do not convert to Islam or pay the Islamic tax will be killed.” Having beheaded and executed thousands and enslaved members of religious minorities and women, there is no reason to doubt that IS believes it will conquer the world and is prepared to commit whatever horrendous acts it deems necessary in the pursuit of that goal.
Todenhoefer noted that IS is a lot more dangerous than it has been perceived by Western leaders.
His interview was published shortly after former prime minister Malcolm Fraser slammed police for conducting anti-terrorist raids in the aftermath of the Sydney cafe siege.
Fraser, who was PM between 1975 and 1983, said the action was misguided “because of the timing of their raids it will be allied to what happened in Sydney”.
There is an appalling naiveté abroad this nativity season.
NO THREAT TO THE DEAD
Tim Blair – Friday, December 26, 2014 (12:07am)
Magistrate William Pierce last year granted bail to Martin Place terrorist Man Monis and his wife Amirah Droudis after they were charged with the murder of Monis’s previous wife, Noleen Hayson Pal:
A transcript of the bail hearing reveals that Mr Pierce thought the prosecution case was “circumstantial” and “weak” …Ms Pal was stabbed 18 times and set alight outside [Monis’s] Werrington apartment in April 2013.Monis claimed the unit was broken into and a number of items were stolen including an Islamic book, a gold necklace and some cash. In a transcript of the bail hearing, prosecutor Brian Royce said Monis’ claims that ASIO or the Iranian secret police were behind the break-in were fanciful.Mr Pierce disagreed, saying the claims should not be dismissed ... Mr Pierce said he would be “very wary” of coming to the view that ASIO or the Iranian secret police could not have been involved. “It could have been ASIO. We don’t know that it wasn’t,” he said.
It gets worse:
Mr Pierce then granted Monis and Droudis bail on the grounds that the case against them was “weak”.“Are they a threat to other people? No they are not. If there was a threat it was to this woman who was murdered,” Mr Pierce said.
Yes. He really said that.
Post by Daniela Andrade.
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Video: vote4may: Gif print gift for the inlaws! #gifpop http://t.co/aQoZ8Xv2Rv
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 26, 2014
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A good plan .. Japan's PM plans Y3.5 trillion stimulus http://t.co/e3KobnLqZP via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 26, 2014
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Great work S Smith .. Australia vs India Boxing Day Test day one in Melbourne http://t.co/UyTYvIdMaN via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 26, 2014
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ridiculous .. Facebook is in trouble for reading users’ private messages http://t.co/OYBMwHF70C via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 26, 2014
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‘Eat more squirrel’: The most bizarre New Year’s resolution? http://t.co/9TlaMdhVBA via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 26, 2014
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This Kiwi just made HOW many runs? http://t.co/NOdC83nhoq via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 26, 2014
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A Former AP Correspondent Explains How and Why His Colleagues Get Israel So Wrong http://t.co/3qUJB0GuFa via @tabletmag
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 25, 2014
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CCTV footage shows cop ‘ambush’ http://t.co/52mnmaJUdQ via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 25, 2014
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Photo: latimes: Since it’s Christmas, and it’s Thursday, we have a little Christmas Throwback Thursday for... http://t.co/JHLe54bVLL
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 25, 2014
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bad reporting by the @HuffingtonPost gave a mob their story and here's the reaction, thanks @SebastianMurdoc pic.twitter.com/jhAhGbSnIF
— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyJamesG) December 24, 2014
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Christmas under ISIS is a time of tension throughout the Middle East http://t.co/g4fnyWvkBs via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 25, 2014
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‘My dad gave me to Boko Haram’ http://t.co/xcDoEXRmvt via @newscomauHQ
— David Daniel Ball (@DaOddBall67) December 25, 2014
=== Posts from last year ===
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Dean Hamstead
"Nevertheless we try to represent this data relationally, because we have a relational database, and when you have a hammer, you go around hammering everything with it, whether or not that thing needs hammering."=
If a movie is released in the USA, then 2 months later in Australia - I'm just going to pirate it.
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There needs to be a story to tell that hits the right notes. Joss Whedon is not alone with having a great style .. I love Moffat's Dr Who and what he does for the female companions .. which he also did in Coupling (UK version). But there is a cult in writing promoting character external to a storyline .. it isn't character, but story which creates the character .. Buffy was hurt and damaged .. nobody does that to a character they like .. but it is only then that character asserts itself .. ed
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www.news.com.au
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www.news.com.au
Australian journalism is so poor that it is hard not to feel sympathy for Thailand. - ed===
Unbelievable facts
In October of 1994 Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption and Jurassic Park were all in theatres at the same time.===
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When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.
Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in mags for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.
And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.
Cranky Old Man
What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you're looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . ... . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . ... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. ...Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future ... . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It's jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. .... . ME!!
Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within. We will all, one day, be there, too!
PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM (originally by Phyllis McCormack; adapted by Dave Griffith)
The best and most beautiful things of this world can't be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart!
elderhelpers.org
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Andy Trieu
I told a bunch of tourists once that boxing day was named after a famous Australian boxing match between a kangaroo and a emu...#boxingday
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Clive Palmer?
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http://www.news.com.au/national/the-surprising-reason-why-man-flu-is-a-real-thing/story-e6frfkp9-122
www.news.com.au
Soldier on - ed===<Do the Alarmists check both sides of the debate or just go ahead and publish already busted alarm stories?
They're Ba-a-ack! With the busted c@w f@rt methane causes global bµllt!sh!>
theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com
http://===
<... I just don't care. I still like seeing Xmas trees. There are worse things to look at despite being conflicted.
" The Christmas tree, now so common among us, was equally common in Pagan Rome and Pagan Egypt. In Egypt that tree was the palm-tree; in Rome it was the fir; the palm tree denoting the pagan messiah, as Baal-Tamar, the fir referring to him as Baal-Berith. The mother of Adonis, the sun-god and great mediatorial divinity, was mystically said to have been changed into a tree, and when in that state to have brought forth her divine son. If the mother was a tree, the son must have been recognized as the 'Man the branch.' And this entirely accounts for the putting of the Yule Log into the fire on Christmas Eve, and the appearance of the Christmas tree the next morning."
That sure puts a different spin on Christmas traditions, now doesn't it?
Most Christians don't even realize that G-d warned us about such things in the Bible.
In Jeremiah 10:1-4, G-d warns us against putting up these decorated trees like the pagans were doing....
Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel. This is what the LORD says: "Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter."
The Puritans understood this. It comes as a surprise to most Americans to learn that the Puritans once banned Christmas trees in many areas of the United States because they were considered so pagan. ">
unexplainedmysteriesoftheworld.com
- See more at: http://unexplainedmysteriesoftheworld.com/archives/the-mystery-of-the-pagan-origin-of-christmas-jesus-was-not-born-on-december-25th-but-a-whole-bunch-of-pagan-gods-were#sthash.a8Rz2Kjr.dpufDavid Daniel Ball Atheist researcher attacks Joseph Atwill's work ..http://www.patheos.com/.../joseph-atwill-has-not-proven.../
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Holden promise to continue making substandard cars for Australia, but not in Australia. - ed
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www.news.com.au
Who knew? - ed===
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"Mommy?"
"Yes, Max?"
"Does Santa go to every country in the world?"
"Yep."
"How about Australia?"
"Yep."
"Africa?"
"Yep."
"Even South Yorkshire?"
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www.algemeiner.com
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“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 7:14
Let us today go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in him, and can sing, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first glance his miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran thus, "The seed of the woman," not the offspring of the man. Since venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although truly man, was as to his human nature the Holy One of God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood its ancient glory; and let us pray that he may be formed in us, the hope of glory. Fail not to note his humble parentage. His mother has been described simply as "a virgin," not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron of large estate. True the blood of kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation afforded to the new-born King!
Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour.
Evening
"And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually."
Job 1:5
Job 1:5
What the patriarch did early in the morning, after the family festivities, it will be well for the believer to do for himself ere he rests tonight. Amid the cheerfulness of household gatherings it is easy to slide into sinful levities, and to forget our avowed character as Christians. It ought not to be so, but so it is, that our days of feasting are very seldom days of sanctified enjoyment, but too frequently degenerate into unhallowed mirth. There is a way of joy as pure and sanctifying as though one bathed in the rivers of Eden: holy gratitude should be quite as purifying an element as grief. Alas! for our poor hearts, that facts prove that the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting. Come, believer, in what have you sinned today? Have you been forgetful of your high calling? Have you been even as others in idle words and loose speeches? Then confess the sin, and fly to the sacrifice. The sacrifice sanctifies. The precious blood of the Lamb slain removes the guilt, and purges away the defilement of our sins of ignorance and carelessness. This is the best ending of a Christmas-day--to wash anew in the cleansing fountain. Believer, come to this sacrifice continually; if it be so good tonight, it is good every night. To live at the altar is the privilege of the royal priesthood; to them sin, great as it is, is nevertheless no cause for despair, since they draw near yet again to the sin-atoning victim, and their conscience is purged from dead works.
Gladly I close this festive day,
Grasping the altar's hallow'd horn;
My slips and faults are washed away,
The Lamb has all my trespass borne.
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Today's reading: Zephaniah 1-3, Revelation 16 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Zephaniah 1-3
1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:
Judgment on the Whole Earth in the Day of the LORD
2 “I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
3 “I will sweep away both man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea—
and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”
from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
3 “I will sweep away both man and beast;
I will sweep away the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea—
and the idols that cause the wicked to stumble.”
“When I destroy all mankind
on the face of the earth,” declares the LORD,
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,
the very names of the idolatrous priests—
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to worship the starry host,
those who bow down and swear by the LORD
and who also swear by Molek,
6 those who turn back from following the LORD
and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him....”
on the face of the earth,” declares the LORD,
4 “I will stretch out my hand against Judah
and against all who live in Jerusalem.
I will destroy every remnant of Baal worship in this place,
the very names of the idolatrous priests—
5 those who bow down on the roofs
to worship the starry host,
those who bow down and swear by the LORD
and who also swear by Molek,
6 those who turn back from following the LORD
and neither seek the LORD nor inquire of him....”
Today's New Testament reading: Revelation 16
The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
“You are just in these judgments, O Holy One,
you who are and who were;
6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve....”
you who are and who were;
6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve....”
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