Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Tue Dec 20th Todays News

The December IPA Review is out and includes a Scott Hargreaves and Daniel Wild article on Trump's America. IPA criticism of candidate Trump was weak and these weak allegations are included in the current analysis or the analysts would be admitting their mistake. They are wrong to label Trump and Pence protectionist and liable to tear up free trade. They will want to improve free trade, and are willing to tear up the bad regulations to achieve it. To do so, they will have to get past Australia's resistance to free trade. Malcolm Turnbull has all the agility of a stone at sea. And that is our conservative government leader. Meanwhile, Trump will be clever and agile by lowering tax and improving efficiency by cutting regulation. There is a lot of awful regulation to cut. Ideological opposition to cheap energy is going to be replaced with a 'can do' leader. But despite all the effectiveness of Campbell Newman in Queensland, Turnbull effectively engineered a one term administration through undermining. Trump has to watch out for friends like the IPA wanting to be right, rather than effective. 

 The German President had a photo opportunity at a German school with refugees. The idea was to show that refugees were becoming German in their own idiosyncratic ways. One graceless separatist schoolgirl refused to shake hands with the President. She later argued her hubris was based on the idea she wouldn't shake hands with an outsider. Only the German head of state is not an outsider. Neither was he asking her for sex or her hand in marriage. He was not going to deny her family her bridal price. He is deserving of respect and the handshake is older than writing as a form of agreement. The photo opportunity became deeply symbolic as elsewhere two terrorists drove a truck into a crowd of Christmas shoppers. That schoolgirl is fit to shake the hands of those refugees. But while they were refugees, they are also terrorists. That schoolgirl does not know it, but she has symbolically linked herself to ISIS. And the press will cheer as they use her to attack Merkel. Meanwhile ISIS and Erdogan have apparently conspired to kill a Russian ambassador. A story is told how, under Jimmy Carter, some US generals were captured, tortured and killed by Hezbollah in Lebanon. A Soviet envoy was also captured by Hezbollah. The Soviets captured the brother of the Hezbollah leader, killed and castrated him, and sent his balls in a paper bag to the Hezbollah leader. The Soviet envoy was released unharmed. Expect Putin's response to be proportionate. 
=== from 2015 ===
Obama has successfully framed the US foreign policy debate, even though he has failed abysmally. Former Secretary of State Clinton claims that nothing works and the best that can be done is to minimise damage while horse trading. The GOP front runner, Trump, who is said to "say what others think" has unworkable slogans that offend many. Two GOP ideas people, Cruz and Rubio put forward the debate from within the former Bush administration which is low in public perception. Cruz embraces Dem rhetoric in saying that the US has no business in toppling dictators like Assad. Cruz is keen to only act when it supports US interests, and feels that no one is beneficial in the fractured state of Syria. Rubio, alternatively, feels the promotion of dignity through democracy is the best policy. Some claim that Obama's successful takedown of Iraqi Democracy with Iran is an example of why Democracy cannot work in the Middle East. But Israel is a powerful example of Rubio's position. To win in the Middle East, one needs to support Israel, and dismantle Obama's Cold War policy. But the press love failed Democrat policy, and point to Trump being populist. 

For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
From 2014
Obama 'faces' press and chooses to only answer questions from women. It isn't as if men don't vote for him. But because more women support him, men don't matter to him. It makes a statement about division and sexism in politics. Obama is not a uniter, but like former Australian PM, Rudd, Obama is like Zelig. Faced with a Jewish Audience, Obama declared he had a Jewish Soul. So does Jonathan Pollard, but only one of them faithfully served Israel. Obama hosted a dinner for those who jailed the Nobel Peace Prize the year after Obama was awarded one. Maybe Obama should free Pollard before women notice that. 

Obama used his press conference to outline his agenda under the new congress. He will talk about a sensible, broad, flat rate tax, but then the IRS would not be able to persecute people he doesn't like. Obama criticised Sony for pulling the film The Interview when it turns out it was a non decision after theatres had pulled it first. Cuba won't change much, he anticipates, but he expects to fight congress over the trade embargo. Obama won't allow Canada to profit from oil trade if he can avoid it. 

The Guardian fails to get facts right in an assault on the Telegraph. Murdoch owns the Telegraph so the Guardian can make outrageous lies about coverage of the Sydney Siege, suggesting Telegraph misreported facts for political reasons, when that is exactly what the Guardian had done. Usually the Guardian spins facts, but this time they didn't use the inconvenient things. 

Boston bomber accused to face court. Symbols against the establishment, or mere terrorism? Whomever the terrorist is there is clearly support for them, which is absurd. There may be thoughts behind terrorism, but there certainly is not reason. 

Should Gillard be given undue weight for credit for being PM? She has told a royal commission she should be treated better than those she lied to and stole from. The presiding judge has said 
… there is virtually no evidence of Julia Gillard’s good reputation and character beyond that which is to be inferred from her status as a former Prime Minister … 
He then continues 
This is a mystifying submission. It is a dangerous submission …
If some such presumption were adopted, it would always be the case that the powerful, the celebrated and the successful will have undue advantages over the weak, the obscure and those of moderate achievement. Then would be the time to ask the question: ‘Little man, what now?’ It is a strange submission to be advanced on behalf of a former politician belonging to the Australian Labor Party tradition – a tradition of social democracy. 
It isn't about receiving gifts, but for one Canberra public servant, it is. He got a secret Santa gift in '12 and has nightmares about implied criticism of his work. 

Bolt on holiday .. he will be back in the new year
From 2013
 Akerman is the latest to claim that Mr Abbott is not really a conservative for some of his appointments and decisions. However, the criticism is thin. It is true that the appointment of Natasha Stott Despoja to a girl's body is weak. But it is hardly an important position. At worst, Despoja will do a bad job and the body gets wound up. At best, the body does nothing worthwhile and doesn't cost much. The danger with appointing a conservative to the position is that they might try to be effective. Despoja knows how to be a useless parasite. This way any failure is not fully owned by the LNP. The danger of fully divorcing left wing from decision making can be seen with President George Bush (jr) in his first term. His decision making was confident and his decisions were good, but he was harangued by Democrats who had no responsibility in their decision making. So Obama and Clinton could make all sorts of claims which simply weren't true. An example of decision making without responsibility is Van Badham.

SBS fell for a criminal who claimed to be bad. But he was really a pumpkin. Or a step sister with big feet .. or something. Marketing for Manus as a sex worker gets filmed. Paul Keating is best heard while pretending classical music is playing in the back ground, ala God Father. Keating describes the job losses in the car industry as 'liberation' for workers. I view it as union parasites killing a viable industry.   Warmist hysteria has channel 9 opening news on heat wave in summer. I respectfully point out that had a Bradfield scheme been implemented, it would not be happening. The hot air is coming from a dry outback baked by sun. Give that outback fresh water and the heat is diminished from the water body ..
Historical perspective on this day
In 69, Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, entered Rome to claim the title of Emperor. 217, the papacy of Zephyrinus ended. Callixtus I was elected as the sixteenth pope, but was opposed by the theologian Hippolytus who accuses him of laxity and of being a Modalist, one who denies any distinction between the three persons of the Trinity. 1192, Richard I of England was captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third Crusade. 1522, Siege of Rhodes: Suleiman the Magnificent accepted the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who were allowed to evacuate. They eventually settled on Malta and became known as the Knights of Malta. 1606, the Virginia Company loaded three ships with settlers and set sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was completed at a ceremony in New Orleans. 1808, Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza began. 1832, HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrived at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands. 1860, South Carolina became the first state to attempt to secede from the United States.

In 1915, World War I: The last Australian troops were evacuated from Gallipoli. 1917, Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, was founded. 1924, Adolf Hitler was released from Landsberg Prison 1941, World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China. 1942, World War II: Japanese air forcesbombed Calcutta, India. 1946, the popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life was first released in New York City. 1951, the EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho became the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs. 1952, a United States Air Force C-124 crashed and burned in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87. 1955, Cardiff was proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom. 1957, the initial production version of the Boeing 707 made its first flight. 1959, unknown attackers murder the Walker family in Osprey, Florida.

In 1960, the National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam was formed. 1967, a Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeded 155 mph on their New York Division, also present day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. 1968, the Zodiac Killer killed Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California. 1971, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took over as the fourth President of Pakistan. 1973, the Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, was assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid. 1977, Djibouti and Vietnam joined the United Nations. 1984, the Summit Tunnel fire was the largest underground fire in history, as a freight train carrying over 1 million liters of gasoline derailed near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines. 1985, Pope John Paul II announced the institution of World Youth Day. 1987, in the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sank after colliding with the oil tanker Vector in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official). 1988, the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances was signed in Vienna, Austria. 1989, United States invasion of Panama: The United States sent troops into Panama to overthrow the government of Manuel Noriega. This was also the first combat use of purpose-designed stealth aircraft.

1991, a Missouri court sentenced the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to deathfor the honor killing of their daughter Palestina. Also 1991, Paul Keating sworn in as the 24th Prime Minister of Australia after defeating Bob Hawke in a leadership ballot of the Australian Labor Party. 1995, NATO began peacekeeping in Bosnia. Also 1995, American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashed into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 159. 1996, NeXT merged with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X. 1999, Macau was handed over to China by Portugal. 2004, a gang of thieves stole £26.5 million worth of currency from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, one of the largest bank robberies in British history. 2005, Aleksandër Moisiu University was founded in Durrës, Albania. 2007, Elizabeth IIbecame the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days. Also 2007, the Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and O Lavrador de Café by Brazilian modernist painter Cândido Portinari, were stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art. 2013, China successfully launched the Bolivian Túpac Katari 1 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
=== Publishing News ===
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.
===
I am publishing a book called Bread of Life: January. 

Bread of Life is a daily bible quote with a layman's understanding of the meaning. I give one quote for each day, and also a series of personal stories illustrating key concepts eg Who is God? What is a miracle? Why is there tragedy?

January is the first of the anticipated year-long work of thirteen books. One for each month and the whole year. It costs to publish. It (Kindle version) should retail at about $2US online, but the paperback version would cost more, according to production cost.If you have a heart for giving, I fundraise at gofund.me/27tkwuc
===
Editorials will appear in the "History in a Year by the Conservative Voice" series, starting with August, September, October, or at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/1482020262/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_dVHPub0MQKDZ4  The kindle version is cheaper, but the soft back version allows a free kindle version.

List of available items at Create Space
Happy birthday and many happy returns Alan Vongsavanh and Bich Ngoc Ly. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
Cardiff City Hall
You have left the union. When you speak, whales listen. Your bathtub duck sank. You served pineapple face. Your Picasso is a glorious fake. Let's party. 
Deaths
===
Tim Blair



===
Andrew Bolt



===

We must tackle the unspeakable truth

Piers Akerman – Saturday, December 19, 2015 (10:38pm)

AS Christmas approaches, ­Silent Night plays in shopping malls, yet nowhere is it really calm and the future for world peace doesn’t look bright ­despite the best intentions of every Miss World contestant. 

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'We must tackle the unspeakable truth'
===

Readers really decked my halls over this year

Miranda Devine – Saturday, December 19, 2015 (10:36pm)

THIS year there were more hot topics than ever to get readers riled.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'Readers really decked my halls over this year'
===

The get tough Tony message hit the mark

Miranda Devine – Saturday, December 19, 2015 (8:59pm)

ONE col­umn this year drew unan­i­mous ap­proval from read­ers.

Icon Arrow Continue reading 'The get tough Tony message hit the mark'
===

Artists are excused

Andrew Bolt December 20 2015 (12:11am)

Malcolm Turnbull in September:
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called on all Australians to make a “cultural shift” and stop disrespecting women, declaring that gender inequality lies at the heart of domestic violence. 
In comments that have been labelled a “gamechanger” for the fight against domestic violence, Mr Turnbull called on parents, teachers and employers to get on board the culture change, saying he wanted Australia to become known as a country that respects women…
“Violence against women is one of the great shames of Australia. It is a national disgrace,” Mr Turnbull said. 
But this week:
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Arts Minister Mitch Fifield announced the winners at an event in Sydney on Monday night… The award for best non-fiction was shared by ... Darleen Bungey for John Olsen: An Artist’s Life…

Olsen is a fine and fascinating artist, but the hagiographic tone of this biography is best summed up by this astonishing passage about Olsen and his third wife:

After dinner that evening, as summer thunder and lightning filled the sky, a fierce argument broke out inside the Paddington terrace. At one point, as John’s arms flailed about orchestrating his anger, he unintentionally hit Noela. A hospital visit ensued, to tend her broken nose, and the only arguments left between the two were over property and paintings.
Nothing further is said of Olsen breaking his wife’s nose. No negative judgement is made. Not the slightest scepticism is shown about Olsen’s excuse. Indeed, the whole ugly incident is given an artistic makeover - “John’s arms flailed about orchestrating his anger”.
Some important context, though is given a bit earlier in Bungey’s book - in an account of Olsen’s jealousy when he suspected his third wife was as unfaithful to him as he’d been to so many wives and lovers before:
Peter O’Shaughnessy, writer and theatre director, ... recalls an occasion when ... John related a story over dinner: “ I was a bit amused, a bit chilled too, when, at table, he brought to mind some occasion when [Noela] had been flirting with someone. When they got home, she turned up the sheets prior to their getting into bed to find a sharp knife lying on the under-sheet. A warning, John told me - in her presence - of what might be in store for a a woman if she played false with her lover...” 
When Noela related the incident she described the shock of finding a long, black knife against the white sheets of her bed, and of the fear that drove her running from the house into the darkness, unable to return until dawn.
Again, Bungey offers not the slightest moral judgement of this episode. No judge of the Prime Minister’s book prize noted it, either. Nor did Turnbull himself, who announced the prize given in his name, three months after making his big stand against domestic violence.
I don’t think anyone’s life should be judged solely or even largely by two such incidents, and surely not when it’s a life as productive as Olsen’s. But I wonder how many other Australians - those outside the charmed inner circle of our culture - would be granted such mercy.
UPDATE
Artists of all kinds seem excused from the usual norms. Tim Blair:
A group of “progressive, left-leaning, uni-educated men” who became “five of the most successful young comedians in Australia” are accused of covering up repeated domestic assaults committed by a colleague: “They must have known, and they still stood by him.”
===

What other Liberal MPs is Turnbull handing over to the spooks?

Andrew Bolt December 19 2015 (11:59pm)

What the hell does Turnbull think he’s playing at?

Malcolm Turnbull says he provided ASIO’s chief Duncan Lewis with the phone number of one of the government MPs controversially asked by Mr Lewis to try to avoid the risk of inflaming tensions between local Muslims and others in the community. 
The Prime Minister, returning from a brief trip to Japan, said he had given Mr Lewis, by personal text, the mobile phone number of a new Liberal federal backbencher from Western Australia, Andrew Hastie, a former SAS soldier.
Mr Turnbull also said this was not an instruction to Mr Lewis to call Mr Hastie, according to a report in The Sunday Telegraph.
“I certainly did not direct Duncan Lewis to call him, let alone suggest what he would say,” Mr Turnbull said. “I welcome Mr Lewis engaging with MPs’’ on these issues. The newspaper says it confirmed the Prime Minister had talks with Mr Hastie, the member for Canning, who has spoken publicly of links he sees between terrorism and some Islamic teaching, in Perth on December 9 before texting his number to Mr Lewis.
And what exactly is the truth here?:
The Australian revealed this week that Mr Lewis had phoned some Coalition poli­ticians to urge them to use the soothing language favoured by Mr Turnbull in their public discussion of Islam. 
In what is thought to be an unprecedented intervention in politics by a head of the spy agency, Mr Lewis is said to have told the MPs that their more robust comments risked becoming a danger to national security.
It was believed the Office of the Prime Minister had been involved in arranging for these phone calls to take place....
In a Sunday Telegraph interview published last week, Mr Lewis said that critical rhetoric concerning Muslims could fuel a dangerous backlash against Muslims that would make it harder for ASIO to do its work… Several Liberals told The Australian they believed the Prime Minister’s Office was involved in the timing and content of Mr Lewis’s interview with The Sunday Telegraph. The Prime Minister’s office emphatically ­denied this to The Australian. 
It is plainly stupid - a craven surrender - to refrain from criticising Islam as endorsing violence for fear that Islam’s followers will commit violence. That alone says all we need to know.
But it is sinister if the Prime Minister connives in having the ASIO boss make his backbenchers toe his controversial line.
A memo to the ASIO boss. Your job is to keep us safe, but not at the cost of curbing debate.
UPDATE
One thing, however, is clear. When Turnbull praises Islam, we know he actually fears its followers. No wonder:
On August 9 this year, about 300 leading figures in Australia’s Muslim community gathered for a dinner at the Waterview reception centre in the Sydney suburb of Homebush. 
While the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohamed, sat at his table, the evening was not about him — instead it was about feting Sheik Abdul Salam Zoud, one of the leading candidates to be the next grand mufti.
Zoud is a Salafist — until a year ago a prominent member of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, an extremist Salafist organisation with strong Wahhabi inclinations. He was educated at the Islamic University of Medina in Saudi Arabia, the spiritual home of Wahhabism — a hardline sect of Islam from which emerged al-Qa’ida and Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks in the US. 

Don’t expect Turnbull to say a word of protest. 
===

KEY FACTS RIGHT

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 20, 2014 (1:08pm)

Amanda Meade, the Guardian‘s Weekly Beast, attempts a Daily Telegraph takedown: 
So it turns out Paul Whittaker is not to blame for the Daily Telegraph’s much-maligned late-afternoon edition on the day of the siege. The editor of the Tele was on leave on Monday while critics were blaming him for the “IS takes 13 hostages in city cafe siege”. The front page, which got key facts about the siege wrong, was edited by the deputy editor, Ben English. 
Leftoids have been Home Alone-ing about that front page from the moment it appeared, but they rarely go beyond blank assertions of wrongness. For example, here’s Fairfax’s John Birmingham: “The special edition of yesterday’s Daily Telegraph was probably the low point in the full spectrum media coverage of Monis’s crime. It was wrong on every count.”
No evidence offered. Here’s the front page in question:



The number of hostages turned out to be incorrect; it was 18 rather than 13. At the time this edition was being put together, however, credible sources put the number as high as fifty. The Telegraph cautiously erred in favour of the lower figure. As for the gunman’s IS identification, it is undeniable. Monis requested an IS flag and demanded the media refer to the siege as an IS attack. This may surprise leftists, but IS affinity is not determined by application forms or membership cards. It is made evident through words and actions (further on this from Joe Hildebrand). Meade continues: 
On Wednesday night Whittaker dined with his boss, Rupert Murdoch, in Sydney, along with other News Corp editors. We can’t say for sure whether English was welcomed. 
As Birmingham would say, wrong on every count. Whittaker was in the US. And English was welcomed. Meade subsequently offered a lame correction. In her honour, please enjoy this roundup of 2014’s media blunders.
(Via Brat)
===

PLASTIC REINDEER TRAUMA

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 20, 2014 (4:05am)

Canberra’s famously sensitive public service community throws up yet another victim: 
A former Canberra public servant has told how his career was ruined by a heartless “Secret Santa” prankster.
Ngoc Luan Ho Trieu says he never got over the cruel “Kris Kringle” gift he was given by an anonymous colleague in Christmas 2012.
Mr Ngoc was working as an economic modeller for the Finance Department when he was targeted by the unnamed colleague with a present that clearly implied his economic modelling work was animal poo …
Mr Ngoc was presented with a plastic reindeer. “When you press its tail it gives you a chocolate dropping, and a play dough with handwritten words ‘Luan’s modelling kit’,” the economist said.
“I was shocked and very upset.
“That really spoiled the joy of the division’s Christmas lunch so I quit halfway through it.
“I had many sleepless nights after that, and always felt heartbroken when going to work the following days” …
When a round of redundancies came in June 2013, the economist says he put up his hand “with a heavy heart”.
“Now, 2014 Christmas is coming and ... I still cannot escape from the sad feelings that Secret Santa forced on me two years ago,” Mr Ngoc said. 
The real Santa is much nicer.
===

THE HELP THEY NEED

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 20, 2014 (3:33am)

Accused Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faces court, with the backing of fans and supporters: 
In a preview of the bedlam that could become a daily event at the terrorism trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, his fans outside waved provocative signs as a Boston Marathon amputee confronted them yesterday, while a supporter inside the courtroom shouted out in Russian, “Be strong, son” …
“I’m sure outside every day will be an absolute chaotic scene,” said Matt Sienkiewicz, a media culture professor at Boston College. “We have been living in the shadow of fear since Sept. 11, 2011. And fear is not just something we feel: It’s a ratings-grabber. When a particular case hits the public nerve, you’ve got to deal with this.”
He said while bestowing Tsarnaev “rock-star status sounds crass, there are certain people who are interested in finding symbols that are against establishment,” even though “he stands for terrorism and horror.” 
Deadly Islamists are now “the coolest gang on the planet”, as Mark Steyn noted following recent Canadian atrocities. We’re hitting a wall here. A western social class that rages against any perceived gender or ethnic slur now celebrates a man on trial for the murder and maiming of innocent people. In Australia, the same class excuses an Islamic terrorist on the basis of assumed mental frailty. Here’s Overland editor Jeff Sparrow’s advice in the wake of Martin Place: 
We might profitably launch a discussion about how Australia deals with mental illness and whether or not those at risk of a psychotic breakdown are receiving the help they need. 
The poor babies.
===

THE POWERFUL, THE CELEBRATED AND THE SUCCESSFUL

Tim Blair – Saturday, December 20, 2014 (2:26am)

One line leaps out from former High Court judge Dyson Heydon’s Royal Commission into Union Corruption: 
… there is virtually no evidence of Julia Gillard’s good reputation and character beyond that which is to be inferred from her status as a former Prime Minister … 
This was in response to a request from Gillard’s lawyers that the commission “give significant weight to Ms Gillard’s good character and reputation.” Heydon continued: 
This is a mystifying submission. It is a dangerous submission …
If some such presumption were adopted, it would always be the case that the powerful, the celebrated and the successful will have undue advantages over the weak, the obscure and those of moderate achievement. Then would be the time to ask the question: ‘Little man, what now?’ It is a strange submission to be advanced on behalf of a former politician belonging to the Australian Labor Party tradition – a tradition of social democracy. 
Modern Labor has less of a tradition than a reputation. Much more from Andrew Bolt.
===

Sort of goodbye

Andrew Bolt December 20 2014 (12:29am)

I’m off for a break - but will post one or two things in that time.
Thank you so much for your kind support. Thank you even to the furious critics who post so frantically, because they at least demonstrate that on this blog, at least, there is no fear of debate.
It’s been a privilege to have so many chances to have my say this year, here and elsewhere, and as my wife and I often agree, it sure is better than just having me yell at the TV.
Have a wonderful Christmas. Prize your family and your happiness.
See you next year. Oh, and The Bolt Report will be back. 
===

Tony Abbott keeping his enemies far too close for comfort

Piers Akerman – Thursday, December 19, 2013 (7:17pm)

AS experienced as senior members of the Abbott government are, they are wasting their political capital with extraordinary decisions that fly in the face of true conservative governments.
===

TOASTIE THROWN

Tim Blair – Friday, December 20, 2013 (1:42pm)

It turns out that Guardian columnist Van Badham’s capacity for indulgent hysteria was inherited from her father: 
When I was 13, my dad left one job after he had been offered another one – and the new job fell through. My parents had only just taken out a mortgage, and now dad was unemployed ...
The events which pushed dad into unemployment were entirely beyond his control – just like Holden’s collapse is not to blame on its workers – but he was humiliated by them anyway. He was a man who defined himself by a willingness to work hard, and his ambitions were simple: to look after my mother and provide his only child everything he could to realise her dreams. When he became unemployed the two simple pillars of his character – his self-belief and role as a provider – were annihilated by forces beyond his control.
I can now write about this openly only because my beloved father is dead. He was a fantastically resilient man who never cried but with the sense of personal failure that accompanied the disappearance of his income, he talked about killing himself. He raged at my mother for staying with him. He raged at me and when I made him a cheese toastie as a peace offering, he hurled it against the wall. I had failed to comprehend that my acts of charity were corroding any self-esteem he had left. 
Or maybe he just didn’t like crappy sandwiches. Throw it on the ground! Anyway, for how long did this fellow endure what Badham describes as the “horrific stress of unemployment” and “the soul-shattering destruction of pride that goes with unemployment”? How long did it take before this victim of vicious capitalism found another job? 
A total of six weeks. 
UPDATE. The extract above is now expanded to give even greater insight into Van’s family tragedy, which basically goes like this: Dad quit his job. Then his new job didn’t happen. A month-and-a-half later, he got a job somewhere else. In the meantime he threw away a sandwich. The end. 
===

ONCE UPON A LIE

Tim Blair – Friday, December 20, 2013 (1:16pm)

Instead of five years in prison, Michael LaHoud spent just four days on remand. But SBS fell for his wild tales of gangster and jail life: 
TV network SBS has today canned one of next year’s most highly anticipated reality shows after the Daily Telegraph revealed its star lied about his “criminal past”.
The station’s bosses were sent into an embarrassing, last-minute editing frenzy after it was revealed Michael LaHoud, the alleged “gangster star’’ of its upcoming series Once Upon A Time in Punchbowl, was not what he claims to be. 
Usually, criminals claim to be innocent. Things work differently in Sydney. Read on.
===

WORKERS LIBERATED

Tim Blair – Friday, December 20, 2013 (11:20am)

Tony Abbott’s insensitive remark about “liberating” car workers has infuriated leftists: 
People have found better jobs. I mean, did we ever hurt anybody liberating them from the car assembly line? When they left the car assembly line and got a more interesting job in the economy, did we do them a disservice? 
No, wait – that was Labor’s own Paul Keating back in 2000. Abbott’s comment was actually far milder: 
Some of them will find it difficult, but many of them will probably be liberated to pursue new opportunities and to get on with their lives. 
(Via Marcus Strom)
UPDATE. Also on automotive issues, the SMH’s Paul Sheehan is being cheeky: 
As the motor industry analyst Joshua Dowling observed after reading Bromberg’s judgment: ‘’The fate of Toyota Australia’s manufacturing operations has effectively been sealed by a decision in the Federal Court today. The court’s decision to block Toyota from asking its factory workers to vote tomorrow on changes to shift flexibility and overtime bonuses means … the entire Australian car industry is likely to grind to a halt after Ford’s factory shutdowns in 2016, Holden’s closures in 2017 and a likely end to Toyota’s operations in 2018, when the current Camry ends its run.’’ 
A more accurate way to describe Joshua: News Corp’s national motoring editor.
===

DEBBIE DOES MANUS

Tim Blair – Friday, December 20, 2013 (10:58am)

According to a Papua New Guinean politician: 
Asylum seekers on Manus Island have starred in a “truly sickening’’ XXX-rated pornographic video with young local women on the island …
Federal government security contractor G4S yesterday said it was “very concerned’’ about the allegations at its processing centre after Manus MP Ronny Knight slammed the centre as “out of control’’ while detailing how he had seen the mobile phone-captured video.
Mr Knight, who has been a critic of the detention centre, could not be contacted yesterday but reportedly posted about the video on his Facebook page and threatened to take the footage to Australian authorities in PNG. 
So far, there is no actual evidence of the alleged video.
===

Smooth Tasmania

Andrew Bolt December 20 2013 (8:06am)

In Tasmania sampling the local product.
Outstanding.  
===

Warmist snowed

Andrew Bolt December 20 2013 (7:56am)

Tony Thomas on a warmist who finally twigs that his fellow warmists don’t really want to talk about the boring weather, after all:

It must be a tipping point in the climate debate when a senior Shell executive notices something odd about the green activists with whom he has been consorting. 
David Hone, Shell UK’s Melbourne-born “senior climate change adviser”, went to an academic conference on “radical emission reduction strategies” in London on December 10-11.
He concluded that he had fallen among eco-idiots wanting to remould society froym the ground up. 
===
THE PERFORMANCE OF STATE LABOR GOVERNMENTS
Craig Kelly
‘The Performance of State Labor Governments’, released today by the Menzies Research Centre, analyses the performance of recent state Labor governments drawing upon publicly available data from independent, objective sources.

The report finds that clear patterns emerge, that across Australia, state Labor governments have consistently:

• spent more than they earned

• imposed higher taxes and charges

• increased state debt and other liabilities, such as unfunded superannuation

• increased the number of state public sector employees, especially those in backroom administration, much faster than populations have grown

• spent revenue windfalls rather than saved them

• failed to build the infrastructure their citizens and businesses need; and

• failed to achieve significantly improved health and education outcomes despite spending much more money in these areas.

The report also finds that Coalition governments at both state and federal level have a long history of cleaning up a mess Labor governments have left behind.

This is occurring again as Coalition governments in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia work to restore prudent management to their state finances.

Sadly, South Australia and Tasmania still have Labor governments. And in both states, the budget situation has deteriorated badly and repairing it will present future governments, whoever they are, with major challenges.
Menzies Research Centre - Public policy ideas with impact for a free society - The Performance...
menziesrc.org
The Menzies Research Centre works to promote the principles of individual liberty, free speech, competitive enterprise, limited government and democracy.
http://menziesrc.org/publications/item/the-performance-of-state-labor-governments
===
"As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." Nelson Mandela 
LightWorkers Media #inspire
===
Report on the 11 common misconceptions about mass murder
www.news.com.au
EVERYTHING you think you know about mass killings is wrong.
Myth 12 .. voting Democrat or ALP will improve things with gun control .. ed
===
On the 11th day of ObamaCare, Democrats gave to me online hackers stealing, lots of paychecks shrinking, all the unions begging, coverage a’ dropping, businesses-a-closing, six-in-ten disapprovin', five million cancelled plans, Four-Oh-Four errors, fewer physicians, two times the cost and a nightmare for my family. http://bit.ly/1cCCEDL
===
​The Worst Lies You've Been Told About the Singularity
io9.com
You've probably heard of a concept known as the Technological Singularity — a nebulous event that's supposed to happen in the not-too-distant future. Much of the uncertainty surrounding this possibility, however, has led to wild speculation, confusion, and outright denial. Here are the worst myths y…

Hmm, what fluid will bring it forth?

Ronan Antonine Sinclair well, the first thing i thought was moores law and it mentioned it, but the basic idea here is that a computer program, or ai is only up to as smart as the person or persons creating it. its mainly why programers specialism in certain areas, especially when they are working in groups, so that each part is as good as it can be. so if an ai were to be implimented and then destroy humanity, it is only bewcause it was litterally programed that way. sure it may be programed to respond to new data. but the response is progrmaed

David Daniel Ball A few assumptions there .. in fact individuals often over achieve their mentors. My brother has written a program that can allow a computer to read text like a person .. not like a dumb machine. More disturbing is the assumption that foolishness is desirable in public administration.


Ronan Antonine Sinclair ah the genius of politics returns! i have to ask, do you even understand how a computer works? cause it may save us a lot of time, I've found from previous experience. i mean, on a programing, and to an extent a hardware level, because the thing that you have described...... well, how does it read the the text, im assuming your talking about something that uses a camera on a page with some witting on it. it will then cross referencing the individual symbol with a symbol on a database such as a b c or d ect, and then that symbol itno what ever medium that the user wants, wether it be a search bar or a word document or what ever. now when you come down to it, YES the machine is reading like a dumb machine! but humans are doing the same damn thing! soi in a way you have managed to be both wrong, and right. here is a simple test though. draws a + sign and a = sign in the same place on a page so they over lap, then ask your brother what the machine would make of it. more likely it will come up with error, or something wrong. now show that to a human and the human will be able to see its a plus sign and a equals sign over the top of each other more than likely. so infarct, YES! it is just reading like a dumb machine, not like a human.

now i already stated that the program was only as smart as the people programing it. now an ai is basically a program that can "learn" and react to new situations, however at the core it is still like all other programs and that a logic argument. if you knew about programing you would understand that. now this links to what i was saying before. when a program gets input from the user it runs it through the argument and if it is valid it gives "output X". however if the input is not valid wwith the argument ie the + and the = sign, ie it hasnt got that in its data base, then it comes out as "output NOT X", or "error" to most peoiple. and this is true for all programs, ai or other wise, its just a logic argument, and the ai is no different, exept its able to take more inputs that just the ones the user whats. computer games have ais. the best example of this is a computer in a real time strategy game. no game is really the same. sure basic strategy is the same alot of the time, but each game is fairly new in tactics. and if you try something, the computer will react. this is the essence of an ai, that it will have new data and react to it in a way that the programers didnt specifically plan, they wernt in blizzard studios thinking every single minute thing a user could do on every single map witht the zerg against the terran. no they made some form of ai that would be able to respond to each new threat or ally. thats basically it. you would not however say, A. this ai would be better at the game than the programers, or B. say this ai is playing like a human, cause its not and its pretty clearly not!

and the "More disturbing is the assumption that foolishness is desirable in public administration" thing.... where did you get that from?


David Daniel Ballhttp://www.thinkingsolutions.com.au/AboutUs.aspx .. a person does not read by pattern matching symbols .. why should a computer? With my brother's 'method' for dynamic memory storage a computer learns to read much as a person does .. he can pull apart any sentence in any language into syntax parts and reconstruct it in any grammar .. a perfect translator and perfect for 'plain english.' NSA can use it to read arabic in real time.

About Uswww.thinkingsolutions.com.au
Thinking Solutions has an extensive research and development program underway that has led to its online prototype, the intelligent dictionary.


David Daniel Ball As for the kicker .. it rises naturally .. if computer can process information at speed in excess of humans, why would they be bad for public administration? But the nightmare of machines running the world and treating humans badly .. humans do that already.
===
Papua New Guinea MP claims asylum seekers appearing in 'sickening' XXX porn videos
www.news.com.au
ASYLUM seekers on Manus Island have starred in a "truly sickening'' XXX-rated pornographic video with young local women on the island, <​a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/manus-mp-claims-asylum-seekers-are-appearing-in-sickening-xxx-porn-videos-with-local-girls/story-fni0cx4q-12267871038...
.. land of opportunity .. ed
===

Colorado Judge Rules in Favor of Holding Drone-Hunting Vote After Legal Fight
www.foxnews.com
Under the guidelines of the ordinance, any registered drone hunter would be given $100 if he presents "identifiable parts of an unmanned aerial vehicle whose markings and configuration are consistent with those used on any similar craft known to be owned or operated by the United States federal gove...

===
Paranoid disdain of the digital Left at work
www.theaustralian.com.au
WHEN Tim Wilson arrived in Sydney for his introductory meeting with the Human Rights Commission yesterday, we caught up for coffee.
===

Turkey, the Armenian genocide and the politics of memory
theconversation.com
Victims of genocide die twice: first in the killing fields and then in the texts of denialists who insist that “nothing happened” or that what happened was something “different”. On the eve of two centennial…

===
Chinese cartoon blamed after kids burned
www.news.com.au
A CHINESE court has ruled that the producer of a hit kids' cartoon was partly to blame for the injuries suffered by two children when their friend tied them to a tree and set them on fire in an imitation of a scene from the show, state media report.
Does not bode well for Californication .. ed
===

Mum, daughter in topless pic scandal
www.news.com.au
A US mother who posed topless in a hot tub with her equally topless daughter, 14, has been charged after the photos circulated around local schools.

Hysteria increasing ..exponentially! - ed
===
Samsung, LG to unveil 105-inch curved TVs
www.news.com.au
SAMSUNG Electronics and LG Electronics say their curved TVs will get bigger and sport sharpness four times that of regular HD television sets.
4 should suffice, per room .. ed
===

Angry, broke, and a chronic masturbator. The inventor of hardcore porn Al Goldstein has died
www.news.com.au
AL Goldstein, the bearded, bird-flipping publisher of Screw magazine who smashed down U.S. legal barriers against pornography and raged against politicians, organised religion and anything that even suggested good taste, died Thursday, according to a friend. He was 77.

===

Ellen Show winner Cherilyn McGraw's husband Brandon dies skydiving during Aussie holiday
www.news.com.au
A US Marine has died in a parachuting accident after he won the chance to do it in Australia via The Ellen Show.

Second prize was? ed
===

US pastor Frank Schaefer defrocked for officiating at his son's gay wedding
www.news.com.au
UNITED Methodist church officials defrocked a US pastor who officiated his son's gay wedding.

Is that all? A church is divided over an issue of civil law? It brings into question their adherence to their faith. - ed
===
#studio10 discussion on human rights commission. HRC has done nothing over the issue of Hamidur Rahman. It will do nothing on it. It produces reports, but achieves very poor outcomes on asylum seeker issues, disability, sex discrimination et al. We don't need a censor body. Get rid of it. -  ed
===
Pope Announces Preliminary Plans for Trip to Israel | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com
www.algemeiner.com
JNS.org - The preliminary details for Pope Francis’s much-anticipated trip to the Holy Land have been revealed. The trip is scheduled for May 25-26. According to the preliminary plans, the pontiff will first arrive in Jordan and then take a helicopter to Tel Aviv, where he will be welcomed by an off...
===

Gaza and Their Dam Lies
www.jewishpress.com
I wish, just once, if they were going to accuse us of something, that it was at least halfway credible.

===

A Soldier's Mother: Gaza and Their Dam Lies
israelisoldiersmother.blogspot.com

===
<Wow ....... threatening to wipe Israel off the map .. so what are all those rockets Iran is sending to Hamas that is being fired into Israeli children homes, the Scud & cruise missiles to Hezbollah which are being aimed at Israel .. bomb grade nuclear enrichment, the building of nuclear capable missiles ... this is Peace Offerings ????>

Rafsanjani: Iran was between peace and war
ara.tv
Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said Thursday that Iran faced two options prior to

===
<ABBAS WANTS UN DO NOTHING FORCE LIKE LEBANON Abbas wrote that the Palestinians and Israelis had come to agreement on a plan during Ehud Olmert’s term as prime minister that would place an international force, not the IDF, on the Israeli-Jordanian border.>

Abbas sends letter to Obama complaining about Kerry
www.timesofisrael.com
Furious over proposals on Jordan Valley security, PA president goes over head of top US diplomat

===
Report: Iran, Syria smuggling weapons to Hezbollah through Iraq
www.jpost.com
Transfer through Iraqi airports is done to avoid risk of IDF attack on weapons convoys from Syria to Lebanon.
===

===
<This is nothing new they have always hated us they hate us still and they will always hate us. Abbas will not recognize Israel as the Jewish State. That unyielding hatred is the only impediment to peace>
Roman Catholic Cleric Uses Christmas Address To Slam Israel
virtualjerusalem.com
Mideast peace efforts are being hampered by Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem claimed Wednesday in his traditional Christmas message.
===

The Palestinian Red Line | Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
besacenter.org
The Palestinian Red Line, by Prof. Efraim Inbar

===

David Suissa: Why won’t liberals defend Israel?
www.jewishjournal.com
As I was reading about “engagement” — the new buzzword regarding Israel that came out of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Biennial this past weekend in San Diego — I wondered: Did anyone at the convention notice the other hot word circulating regarding the Jewish state?

===
http://www.virtualjerusalem.com/news.php?Itemid=11598
www.virtualjerusalem.com
===
The White House Can't Have It Both Ways on Iran :: Jonathan Schanzer
schanzer.pundicity.com
Defying a White House veto threat, a bipartisan group of senators rolled out a new Iran sanctions bill Thursday that aims to give America more leverage at the negotiating table in the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran. And the bill couldn't have come soon
===

Obama Threatens Veto as Senators Promote New Iran Sanctions
www.israelnationalnews.com
White House threatened to use its veto power against legislation that would impose new sanctions on Iran.

===

Column one: The Left against Zion
www.jpost.com
The Left’s doctrinaire insistence that Israel is the root of all evil is not limited to campuses.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Column-one-The-Left-against-Zion-335594
===

===
How Has Israel done All of This?!?!
www.israelvideonetwork.com
===
Shemot (5774) - Women as Leaders - Rabbi Sacks
www.rabbisacks.org
This week’s parsha could be entitled “The birth of a leader.” We see Moses, adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, growing up as a prince of Egypt. We see him as a young man, for the first time realising the implications of 
===
Two Islamists Convicted Over London Beheading
virtualjerusalem.com
A British court on Thursday found Muslim converts Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale guilty of murdering soldier Drummer Lee Rigby on a London street last May, and attempting to behead him with knives and a meat cleaver.
Meh, UK don't have the death penalty .. I would like to think they will both die in jail a long time after discovering the futility of their atrocity. I would like their sponsors to join them. - ed
===

A Strike on Iran: Complex, But Possible | Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
besacenter.org
A Strike on Iran: Complex, But Possible, by Prof. Efraim Inbar

===

Second Palestinian killed during firefight in Qalqilya
www.timesofisrael.com
IDF forces neutralize shooter in West Bank city hours after deadly incident in Jenin

===
This is Al-Qaeda, of whom US President Barak Obama boasted several times during his re-election campaign last year, of decimating this murderous, psychopathic, Islamist organisation. 

To wit, “Al Qaeda is on the path to defeat."

Here instead, is another gruesome reminder of truth and reality:

Syria: Horrific Abuse in Secret Al Qaida Prisons - Israel National News

"Sources told Amnesty that some of those imprisoned by ISIS are as young as eight years old. Witnesses reported seeing teenagers being tortured, including a 14-year-old boy who was given 90 lashes during an interrogation." - Maayana Miskin

Continue to the link, reading this and more articles at ...….http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440Allyson’s Geo-Political Inspections
paper.li
Allyson’s Geo-Political Inspections, by Allyson Christy: Israel, The West and Political Islam
===

In the West Bank, an intifada lurks beneath
www.timesofisrael.com
Wednesday night’s firefight in Jenin exposed potentially explosive tensions in the refugee camps, making talks even more pressing

===
Victor Davis Hanson: The lost generation: Young people have been had
www.jewishworldreview.com
Victor Davis Hanson
===

Chris Matthews, Who Compared Conservatives to 'Nazis,' Howls Over Nazi Comparison for ObamaCare...
www.mrc.org
Chris Matthews, who has repeatedly compared conservatives to Nazis, indignantly objected to a North Carolina state senator comparing ObamaCare to Nazism. Showing no self awareness, Matthews on Monday sneered, "Ted Cruz has a formidable challenger in the hyperbole department these days when it comes…

===

Obama 'Would Abandon Israel Just Like South Vietnam'
www.israelnationalnews.com
American professor claims US administration consciously sidelining American foreign policy, bodes ill for Israel.

===

Israeli Medical Innovation Will Help Bone Fractures Heal Faster
www.israelnationalnews.com
Israeli biotech firm is working on a special 'wrapping paper' that, applied to fractures, will hasten the process of healing.

===

US, Germany Threaten IDF Not to Move Academies to Mt. Scopus
www.israelnationalnews.com
The US and Germany threatened to boycott IDF academies on Mt. Scopus - despite it being internationally recognized as Israeli.

===
Terrorist Who Opened Fire at Soldiers Eliminated
www.israelnationalnews.com
IDF soldiers eliminated a terrorist in the Arab town of Kalkilya early Thursday after the armed terrorist opened fire at the soldiers
===

===

===
===
“And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven” Luke 1:76-78 NIV
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord."
Proverbs 16:33

If the disposal of the lot is the Lord's whose is the arrangement of our whole life? If the simple casting of a lot is guided by him, how much more the events of our entire life--especially when we are told by our blessed Saviour: "The very hairs of your head are all numbered: not a sparrow falleth to the ground without your Father." It would bring a holy calm over your mind, dear friend, if you were always to remember this. It would so relieve your mind from anxiety, that you would be the better able to walk in patience, quiet, and cheerfulness as a Christian should. When a man is anxious he cannot pray with faith; when he is troubled about the world, he cannot serve his Master, his thoughts are serving himself. If you would "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," all things would then be added unto you. You are meddling with Christ's business, and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances. You have been trying "providing" work and forgetting that it is yours to obey. Be wise and attend to the obeying, and let Christ manage the providing. Come and survey your Father's storehouse, and ask whether he will let you starve while he has laid up so great an abundance in his garner? Look at his heart of mercy; see if that can ever prove unkind! Look at his inscrutable wisdom; see if that will ever be at fault. Above all, look up to Jesus Christ your Intercessor, and ask yourself, while he pleads, can your Father deal ungraciously with you? If he remembers even sparrows, will he forget one of the least of his poor children? "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain thee. He will never suffer the righteous to be moved."

My soul, rest happy in thy low estate,

Nor hope nor wish to be esteem'd or great;

To take the impress of the Will Divine,
Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

Evening

"And there was no more sea."
Revelation 21:1
Scarcely could we rejoice at the thought of losing the glorious old ocean: the new heavens and the new earth are none the fairer to our imagination, if, indeed, literally there is to be no great and wide sea, with its gleaming waves and shelly shores. Is not the text to be read as a metaphor, tinged with the prejudice with which the Oriental mind universally regarded the sea in the olden times? A real physical world without a sea it is mournful to imagine, it would be an iron ring without the sapphire which made it precious. There must be a spiritual meaning here. In the new dispensation there will be no division--the sea separates nations and sunders peoples from each other. To John in Patmos the deep waters were like prison walls, shutting him out from his brethren and his work: there shall be no such barriers in the world to come. Leagues of rolling billows lie between us and many a kinsman whom tonight we prayerfully remember, but in the bright world to which we go there shall be unbroken fellowship for all the redeemed family. In this sense there shall be no more sea. The sea is the emblem of change; with its ebbs and flows, its glassy smoothness and its mountainous billows, its gentle murmurs and its tumultuous roarings, it is never long the same. Slave of the fickle winds and the changeful moon, its instability is proverbial. In this mortal state we have too much of this; earth is constant only in her inconstancy, but in the heavenly state all mournful change shall be unknown, and with it all fear of storm to wreck our hopes and drown our joys. The sea of glass glows with a glory unbroken by a wave. No tempest howls along the peaceful shores of paradise. Soon shall we reach that happy land where partings, and changes, and storms shall be ended! Jesus will waft us there. Are we in him or not? This is the grand question.
===

Today's reading: Jonah 1-4, Revelation 10 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Jonah 1-4


Jonah Flees From the LORD

1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.

4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish....”

Today's New Testament reading: Revelation 10

The Angel and the Little Scroll
1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”
5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets....”
===

Abigail

The Woman With Beauty and Brains


Scripture References—1 Samuel 25:1-42; 2 Samuel 3:3

Name Meaning—Father of Joy, orCause of Joy

Family Connections —Scripture gives us no clue as to Abigail’s parentage or genealogy. Ellicott suggests that the name given this famous Jewish beauty who became the good angel of Nabal’s household was likely given her by the villagers of her husband’s estate. Meaning “Whose father is joy,” Abigail was “expressive of her sunny, gladness-bringing presence.” Her religious witness and knowledge of Jewish history testify to an early training in a godly home, and acquaintance with the teachings of the prophets in Israel, Her plea before David also reveals her understanding of the events of her own world.

The three conspicuous characters in the story of one of the loveliest females in the Bible are Nabal, Abigail and David. Nabal is described as “the man churlish and evil in his doings” (1 Samuel 25:3), and his record proves him to be all that. Churlish means, a bear of man, harsh, rude and brutal. Destitute of the finer qualities his wife possessed, he was likewise avaricious and selfish. Rich and increased with goods and gold, he thought only of his possessions and could be classed among those of whom it has been written—
The man may breathe but never lives
Whoe'er receives but nothing gives—
Creation’s blot, creation’s blank,
Whom none can love and none can thank.
Nabal was also a drunken wretch, as well as being unmanageable and stubborn and ill-tempered. Doubtless he was often “very drunken.” This wretch of a man was likewise an unbeliever, “a son of Belial,” who bowed his knee to the god of this world and not to the God of his fathers. Further, as a follower of Saul he shared the rejected king’s jealousy of David. Added to his brutal disposition and evil doings was that of stupidity, as his name suggests. Pleading for his unworthy life, Abigail asked for mercy because of his foolishness. “As his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him” ( vs 25). Nabal means “a fool,” and what Abigail actually meant was, “Pay no attention to my wretched husband for he’s a fool by name, and a fool by nature.” Truly, such a man will always provoke the profoundest perversion in all who read his story.
Abigail is as “a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance.” In her, winsomeness and wisdom were wed. She had brains as well as beauty. Today, many women try to cultivate beauty and neglect their brains. A lovely face hides an empty mind. But with Abigail, loveliness and intelligence went hand in hand, with her intelligence emphasizing her physical attractiveness. A beautiful woman with a beautiful mind as she had is surely one of God’s masterpieces.
Added to her charm and wisdom was that of piety. She knew God, and although she lived in such an unhappy home, she remained a saint. Her own soul, like that of David, was “bound in the bundle of life with the Lord God.” Writing of Abigail as “A Woman of Tact” W. Mackintosh Mackay says that, “she possessed in harmonious combination these two qualities which are valuable to any one, but which are essential to one who has to manage men—the tact of a wise wife and the religious principle of a good woman.” Eugenia Price, who writes of Abigail as, A Woman With God’s Own Poise , says that, “only God can give a woman poise like Abigail possessed, and God can only do it when a woman is willing to cooperate as Abigail cooperated with Him on every point.” True to the significance of her own name she experienced that in God her Father there was a source of joy enabling her to be independent of the adverse, trying circumstances of her miserable home life. She must have had implicit confidence in God to speak to David as she did about her divinely predestined future. In harmony with her many attractions was “the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is more lustrous than the diamonds that decorate the delicate fingers of our betters, shone as an ornament of gold about her head, and chains about her neck.”
David is the other outstanding character in the record. He it was who fought the battles of the Lord, and evil had not been found in him all his days (25:28). He could match Abigail’s beauty, for it was said of him that he was “ruddy...of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to” (1 Samuel 16:12 ). When Abigail and David became one they must have been a handsome pair to look upon! Then, in addition to being most musical, David was equal with Abigail in wisdom and piety for he was “prudent in matters,...and the Lord [was] with him” (1 Samuel 16:18).
The sacred historian tells us how these three persons were brought together in a tragic way. David was an outlaw because of Saul’s hatred, and lived in the strongholds of the hills with his loyal band of 600 followers. Having often helped Nabal’s herdsmen out, being in need of food for his little army, David sent a kind request to Nabal for help. In his churlish fashion, Nabal bluntly refused to give David a crumb for his hungry men, and dismissed David as a marauding hireling. Angered, David threatened to plunder Nabal’s possession and kill Nabal and all those who emulated his contempt. Abigail, learning from the servants of David’s request and her husband’s rude refusal, unknown to Nabal, acted with thought, care and great rapidity. As Ellicott comments &--;
Having often acted as peace-maker between her intemperate husband and his neighbours, on hearing the story and how imprudently her husband had behaved, saw that no time must be lost, for with a clever woman’s wit she saw that grave consequences would surely follow the churlish refusal and the rash words, which betrayed at once the jealous adherent of Saul and the bitter enemy of the powerful outlaw.
Gathering together a quantity of food and wine, sufficient she thought for David’s immediate need, Abigail rode out on an ass and at a covert of a hill met David and his men—and what a momentous meeting it turned out to be. With discreet tact Abigail averted David’s just anger over Nabal’s insult to his messengers, by placing at David’s feet food for his hungry men. She also revealed her wisdom in that she fell at the feet of David, as an inferior before a superior, and acquiesced with him in his condemnation of her brutal, foolish husband.
As a Hebrew woman was restricted by the customs of her time to give counsel only in an emergency and in the hour of greatest need, Abigail, who had risked the displeasure of her husband whose life was threatened, did not act impulsively in going to David to plead for mercy. She followed the dictates of her disciplined will, and speaking at the opportune moment her beautiful appeal from beautiful lips, captivated the heart of David. “As his own harp had appeased Saul, the sweet-toned voice of Abigail exorcised the demon of revenge, and woke the angel that was slumbering in David’s bosom.” We can never gauge the effect of our words and actions upon others. The intervention of Abigail in the nick of time teaches us that when we have wisdom to impart, faith to share, and help to offer, we must not hesitate to take any risk that may be involved.
Abigail had often to make amends for the infuriated outbursts of her husband. Neighbors and friends knew her drunken sot of a husband only too well, but patiently she would pour oil on troubled waters, and when she humbly approached with a large peace offering, her calmness soothed David’s anger and gave her the position of advantage. For her peace-making mission she received the king’s benediction (25:33 ). Her wisdom is seen in that she did not attempt to check David’s turbulent feelings by argument, but won him by wise, kind words. Possessing heavenly intelligence, self-control, common sense and vision, she exercised boundless influence over a great man, and marked herself out as a truly great woman. After Abigail’s successful, persuasive entreaty for the life of her worthless husband, the rest of her story reads like a fairy tale. She returned to her wicked partner to take up her hard and bitter life again.
It is to the credit of this noble woman that she did not leave her godless husband or seek divorce from him, but remained a loyal wife and the protector of her worthless partner. She had taken him for better or for worse, and life for her was worse than the worst. Wretched though her life was, and spurned, insulted and beaten as she may have been during Nabal’s drinking bouts, she clung to the man to whom she had sworn to be faithful. Abigail manifested a love stronger than death. But the hour of deliverance came ten days after her return home, when by a divine stroke, Nabal’s worthless life ended. When David hearkened to the plea of Abigail and accepted her person, he rejoiced over being kept back by her counsel from taking into his own hands God’s prerogative of justice (Romans 12:19).
When David said to Abigail, “Blessed be thy advice,” he went on to confess with his usual frank generosity that he had been wrong in giving way to wild, ungovernable passion. If Abigail had not interceded he would have carried out his purpose and destroyed the entire household of Nabal, which massacre would have included Abigail herself. But death came as the great divorcer or arbiter, and Nabal’s wonderful wife had no tears of regret, for amid much suffering and disappointment she had fulfilled her marriage vows. In that farmer’s house there had been “The Beauty and the Beast.” The Beast was dead, and the Beauty was legally free of her terrible bondage.
After Nabal’s death, David “communed with Abigail” (1 Samuel 25:39)—a technical expression for asking one’s hand in marriage (Song of Solomon 8:8)—and took her as his wife. Married to Israel’s most illustrious king, Abigail entered upon a happier career. By David, she had a son named Chileab, or Daniel (compare 2 Samuel 3:3 with 1 Chronicles 3:1). The latter name means, “God is my Judge,” and one has an inkling that the choice of such a name was Abigail’s because of her experience of divine vindication. She accompanied David to Gath and Ziklag (1 Samuel 27:3; 30:5, 18). Matthew Henry’s comment at this point is, “Abigail married David in faith, not questioning but that, though now he had not a house of his own, yet God’s promise to him would at length be fulfilled.” Abigail brought to David not only “a fortune in herself,” but much wealth so useful to David in the meeting of his manifold obligations.
Among the lessons to be learned from the life of Abigail, the first is surely evident, namely, that much heartache follows when a Christian woman marries an unbeliever. Unequal yokes do not promote true and abiding happiness. The tragedy in Abigail’s career began when she married Nabal, a young man of Naon. Already we have asked the question, Why did she marry such a man? Why did such a lovely girl throw herself away upon such a brute of a man? According to the custom of those times marriages were man-made, the woman having little to say about the choice of a husband. Marriage was largely a matter of family arrangement. Nabal was of wealthy parentage and rich in his own right with 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats and thus seemed a good catch for Abigail. But character should be considered before possessions.
Many a woman in the world today made her own choice of a partner. Perhaps she knew of his failures and thought that after marriage she would reform him, but found herself joined to one whose ways became more evil. Then think of those brave, unmurmuring wives who have to live with the fool of a husband whose drunken, crude ways are repellant, yet who, by the grace of God accept and live with their trial; and who, because of a deep belief in divine sufficiency retain their poise. Such living martyrs are among God’s heroines. All of us know of those good women chained with the fetters of a wretched married life for whom it would be infinitely better for them—
To lie in their graves where the head, heart and breast,
From care, labour and sorrow forever should rest.
Thinking of modern Abigails the appropriate lines of noble Elizabeth Barrett Browning come to mind—
The sweetest lives are those to duty wed,
Whose deeds, both great and small, and closeknit strands
Of an unbroken thread; where love ennobles all.
The World may sound no trumpets, ring no bells:
The Book of Life the shining record tells.
===

Ahaz [Ā'hăz]—jehovah hath seized orsustains.
  1. A Benjamite of the family of Saul (1 Chron. 8:35, 36; 9:41,42).
  2. The son of Jotham, king of Judah and father of Hezekiah, Ahaz became the eleventh king of Judah and reigned for sixteen years (2 Kings 16). He is called Achaz in Matthew 1:9. An Assyrian inscription gives the name of the king as Jehoahaz. But the abbreviation Ahaz was commonly used and was found on the seal ring of one of his courtiers. Perhaps the consistent omission of the first part of the name Jeho, meaning “Jehovah” was deliberate because of the abhorrent apostasy of Ahaz.

The Man Who Rejected a Message of Hope


Let it not be forgotten that it was to king Ahaz that Isaiah’s first evangelistic announcement was made in the promise of Emmanuel. The prophet sent a message to terrified Ahaz, but he would not turn to God and trust His deliverance. In order to help restore the faith of the wavering king, Isaiah urged Ahaz to ask for a sign from Jehovah, but he refused and in rejecting the message of hope, forfeited his soul.

It is interesting to observe that Ahaz came between two good men—between his father, Jotham, and his son, Hezekiah.

Summarizing the chief aspects of the reign of Ahaz we note his:
I. Pursuit of the religious policy of Jehoram ( 2 Kings 8:18); of Ahaziah (2 Kings 8:27); of Joash (2 Chron. 24:18). The religious vices of Ahaz were possible because of a corrupt church and a corrupt state (Isa. 1:4 , 13).
II. Rejection of David’s way to tread Jeroboam’s way. This bad ruler exceeded the idolatry of his time by burning his children in the fire (2 Chron. 28:3). Ahaz did honor to the gods of Assyria who were reckoned to be more powerful than Jehovah. The terrible slaughter of one hundred twenty thousand valiant men of Judah had no salutary effect upon Ahaz ( 2 Chron. 28:6).
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)