=== from 2016 ===
More fallout regarding 1000 New Years eve revellers that ISIL call Muslim. The drunken louts had molested women because no one told them they couldn't. And it is their custom in ISIL. One person who had refused to stop them, the Cologne police chief, has resigned. German authorities have now identified 31 of the abusers. Eighteen of them were so called Syrian Asylum seekers. #ReformIslamNowDemocrat Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf refuses to be silenced regarding festivities. He declared he was concerned about too many guns being on the streets, one of which had been used by a mentally ill man who believed he was supporting ISIL in shooting at point blank a cop in Philadelphia. Many people are concerned at the large number of guns available to criminals, and they don't know why Obama wants to take guns from people who legally obtain them. But Obama cried about it. Maybe, if the constitution is not torn up soon, Obama will continue to cry. Luckily the policeman will recover. Police apprehended the mentally ill man. Lucky the policeman was armed.
For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
=== from 2015 ===
Haters have no sense of humour. After the Charlie Hebdo assault, an Israeli MLK wrote
Charlie Hebdo were staunchly socialist and not all agreed with them all the time. Jihadists are Islamic by name, and disturbingly, responsible Islamic leaders do not distance themselves from terrorists. Consider the tweets of some who claim that Charlie Hebdo insulted their prophet, but consider the policeman, who was Islamic, should not have been killed. Charlie Hebdo did not insult the prophet. It is hard for impotent Islamic leaders to understand it, but the magazine did not insult the prophet. The magazine published comics showing comics of Mohamed in compromised positions: Kissing a man; using a bomb; being foolish. Also, believers are depicted in extraordinary ways which resembled the activity of some Islamic peoples. Even so, it is no insult to any living God. And there is the rub. It isn't that Charlie insulted Allah and deserved to die. It is that faithless jihadis don't want to be embarrassed. They don't believe in Allah. They believe in appearances. And so they bring Islam into disrepute and their impotent leaders don't call them out. The policeman deserved a long, blessed life. So did the other victims. And Islamic peoples who don't recognise that, are bringing Islam into disrepute.
Bigotry tends to begin for a reason. Usually, a bad reason. In 681 the Twelfth Council of Toledo issued diverse measures against Jews in Spain. The reason for it is not known, but may be guessed at. Presiding King was Erwig of the Visigoths. He was really weak because of how he got the throne, and the Bishop of Toledo was a staunch anti semite. Erwig had come to the throne after the previous king had joined a monastery and named Erwig as successor. The previous king had thought he was dying, but recuperated. Then was poisoned to death. The speed with which Erwig assumed the throne suggests a coup. So a weak king went to a council and the bigot ran free. The restrictions placed on Jewry did not benefit the kingdom. Six years later, Erwig fell ill, retired to a monastery and named his son in law, Ergica, as successor king.
In 1349 in Basel, Jews were massacred. They were accused of being behind the Black Death because they had had a lower mortality rate. The city fathers of Basel tried to protect the Jews, but local guilds demanded they be handed over. They were shackled and locked in a barn, on the Rhine, which was set on fire. The few survivors, orphans, were converted to Christianity. Then it was decreed no Jew should enter Basel for the next two hundred years. Possibly that was to protect them.
"My condolences to the families of those killed in the Paris terror attack.More importantly, this attack only underscores the need for France to immediately engage in negotiations with French Muslims that will result in the creation of two states for two peoples, living side by side in peace and security, with Paris as a shared capital...I suggest the Israeli Knesset vote on this resolution."The words of the joke have been shared far and wide. In one site with strong patronage of the Australian Defence League, some of the haters took the suggestion seriously, expressing anger and saying it would never work. A bit like their brains. Very recently, the world has made the same demand of Israel, and it was not a joke.
Charlie Hebdo were staunchly socialist and not all agreed with them all the time. Jihadists are Islamic by name, and disturbingly, responsible Islamic leaders do not distance themselves from terrorists. Consider the tweets of some who claim that Charlie Hebdo insulted their prophet, but consider the policeman, who was Islamic, should not have been killed. Charlie Hebdo did not insult the prophet. It is hard for impotent Islamic leaders to understand it, but the magazine did not insult the prophet. The magazine published comics showing comics of Mohamed in compromised positions: Kissing a man; using a bomb; being foolish. Also, believers are depicted in extraordinary ways which resembled the activity of some Islamic peoples. Even so, it is no insult to any living God. And there is the rub. It isn't that Charlie insulted Allah and deserved to die. It is that faithless jihadis don't want to be embarrassed. They don't believe in Allah. They believe in appearances. And so they bring Islam into disrepute and their impotent leaders don't call them out. The policeman deserved a long, blessed life. So did the other victims. And Islamic peoples who don't recognise that, are bringing Islam into disrepute.
Bigotry tends to begin for a reason. Usually, a bad reason. In 681 the Twelfth Council of Toledo issued diverse measures against Jews in Spain. The reason for it is not known, but may be guessed at. Presiding King was Erwig of the Visigoths. He was really weak because of how he got the throne, and the Bishop of Toledo was a staunch anti semite. Erwig had come to the throne after the previous king had joined a monastery and named Erwig as successor. The previous king had thought he was dying, but recuperated. Then was poisoned to death. The speed with which Erwig assumed the throne suggests a coup. So a weak king went to a council and the bigot ran free. The restrictions placed on Jewry did not benefit the kingdom. Six years later, Erwig fell ill, retired to a monastery and named his son in law, Ergica, as successor king.
In 1349 in Basel, Jews were massacred. They were accused of being behind the Black Death because they had had a lower mortality rate. The city fathers of Basel tried to protect the Jews, but local guilds demanded they be handed over. They were shackled and locked in a barn, on the Rhine, which was set on fire. The few survivors, orphans, were converted to Christianity. Then it was decreed no Jew should enter Basel for the next two hundred years. Possibly that was to protect them.
From 2014
In the aftermath of the Harding v Kerrigan assault, where Harding's ex contracted a guy to hit talented figure skating rival Nancy Kerrigan' knee. It worked, Kerrigan did not win gold at the '94 olympics. But it backfired too, with Harding's first place in US championships denied by decree. Things were hysterical, with one wag announcing that NATO air strikes had been approved against Harding. The sad element of that joke was the vacillating President Clinton who had effortlessly achieved a million deaths in Rwanda, and was wondering how to bomb people in former Yugoslavia. One might question the commitment of left wing peoples to their espoused causes. History shows us that NATO hit a Serbian command tent. It was empty at the time, as NATO had told the Serbian terrorist command what they were going to do. And so justice is blind. Which is helpful when looking at what the compassionate middle class person does in sponsoring a World Vision child.
The children, World Vision collect money for, need it and benefit from it, but not as much as World Vision benefits from it. There are options World Vision offers to ensure payments go to the sponsored child, but it does not seem to be encouraged. The cost of feeling good.
What does one have to spend to feel good about their past? I am a bitsa. Bits from China, Ireland, Russia, Jew, Scotland, England, Netherlands, Aboriginal Australian .. and I was born in the US. I like the 1788 landing and what has happened since. I like 1901's start with Australia as a federation. But there is a lobby of hate claiming to represent my bits. They use emotive words like 'invasion' to frame the founding of Sydney. But cultural pluralism gave my mother her maiden name, Shying. No where else in the world had that name, it began in Sydney, thanks to '88. Those that claim '88 was bad weren't there. They don't know, or care. It is unsporting, like a strike to the knee of a figure skating rival.
The children, World Vision collect money for, need it and benefit from it, but not as much as World Vision benefits from it. There are options World Vision offers to ensure payments go to the sponsored child, but it does not seem to be encouraged. The cost of feeling good.
What does one have to spend to feel good about their past? I am a bitsa. Bits from China, Ireland, Russia, Jew, Scotland, England, Netherlands, Aboriginal Australian .. and I was born in the US. I like the 1788 landing and what has happened since. I like 1901's start with Australia as a federation. But there is a lobby of hate claiming to represent my bits. They use emotive words like 'invasion' to frame the founding of Sydney. But cultural pluralism gave my mother her maiden name, Shying. No where else in the world had that name, it began in Sydney, thanks to '88. Those that claim '88 was bad weren't there. They don't know, or care. It is unsporting, like a strike to the knee of a figure skating rival.
Historical perspective on this day
In 475, Byzantine Emperor Zeno was forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gained control of the empire. 681, Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiated a council in which he implemented diverse measures against the Jewsin Spain. 1127, Jin–Song wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin Dynasty besieged and sacked Bianjing(Kaifeng), the capital of the Song Dynasty of China, and abducted Emperor Qinzong and others, ending the Northern Song Dynasty. 1150, Prince Hailing of Jin and other court officials murdered Emperor Xizong of Jin. Hailing succeeds him as emperor. 1349, the Jewish population of Basel, Switzerland, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, was rounded up and incinerated. 1431, Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc began in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government. 1760, Afghans defeated Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat. 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to be admitted to the United States. 1793, Jean-Pierre Blanchard became the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States. 1799, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduced an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
In 1806, Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson received a state funeral and was interred in St Paul's Cathedral. 1816, Sir Humphry Davy tested his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery. 1822, the Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decided to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process. 1839, the French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process. 1857, the Fort Tejon earthquake struck California, registering an estimated magnitude of 7.9. 1858, Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, committed suicide. 1861 American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurred near Charleston, South Carolina. It was considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War". Also 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War. 1863, American Civil War: the Battle of Fort Hindman began in Arkansas. 1878, Umberto I became King of Italy. 1880, the Great Gale of 1880 devastated parts of Oregon and Washington with high winds and heavy snow. 1894, New England Telephone and Telegraph installed the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
In 1903, Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, became the second Governor-General of Australia. 1909, Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, planted the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time. 1914, Phi Beta SigmaFraternity Inc., the first historically black intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity to be officially recognized at Howard University, was founded. 1916, World War I: The Battle of Gallipoliconcluded with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces were evacuated from the peninsula. 1917, World War I: the Battle of Rafa was fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine. 1918, Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars. 1921, Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, began near Eskişehir in Anatolia. 1923, Juan de la Cierva made the first autogyro flight. Also 1923, Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebelled against the League of Nations' decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control. 1927, a fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, killed 78 children.
In 1938, Paul of Greece married Frederica of Hanover in Athens. 1941, World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster. Also 1941, World War II: The Greek Triton (Y-5) sank the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto. 1945, World War II: The United States invaded Luzon in the Philippines. 1947, Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the Black Dahlia, was last seen alive. 1957, British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigned from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty. 1960, President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opened construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile. 1964, Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths tried to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians. 1965, the Mirzapur Cadet College formally opens for academic activities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
In 1991, Representatives from the United States and Iraq met at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. 1992, the Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaimed the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia. 1996, First Chechen War: Chechen separatistslaunched a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyarin the neighboring Dagestan, which turned into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians. 2004, an inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalled near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements killed 28. 2005, Mahmoud Abbas won the election to replace Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He replaced interim president Rawhi Fattouh. Also 2005, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War. 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone. 2011, Iran Air Flight 277 crashed near Orumiyeh in the northeast of the country, killing 77 people. 2013, a SeaStreak ferry traveling to lower Manhattan, New York City, crashed into the dock, injuring 85 people. 2014, an explosion at a Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, killed at least five people and injured 17 others.
In 1806, Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson received a state funeral and was interred in St Paul's Cathedral. 1816, Sir Humphry Davy tested his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery. 1822, the Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decided to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process. 1839, the French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process. 1857, the Fort Tejon earthquake struck California, registering an estimated magnitude of 7.9. 1858, Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, committed suicide. 1861 American Civil War: The "Star of the West" incident occurred near Charleston, South Carolina. It was considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the American Civil War". Also 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War. 1863, American Civil War: the Battle of Fort Hindman began in Arkansas. 1878, Umberto I became King of Italy. 1880, the Great Gale of 1880 devastated parts of Oregon and Washington with high winds and heavy snow. 1894, New England Telephone and Telegraph installed the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
In 1903, Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, became the second Governor-General of Australia. 1909, Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, planted the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time. 1914, Phi Beta SigmaFraternity Inc., the first historically black intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity to be officially recognized at Howard University, was founded. 1916, World War I: The Battle of Gallipoliconcluded with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces were evacuated from the peninsula. 1917, World War I: the Battle of Rafa was fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine. 1918, Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars. 1921, Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, began near Eskişehir in Anatolia. 1923, Juan de la Cierva made the first autogyro flight. Also 1923, Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebelled against the League of Nations' decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control. 1927, a fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, killed 78 children.
In 1938, Paul of Greece married Frederica of Hanover in Athens. 1941, World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster. Also 1941, World War II: The Greek Triton (Y-5) sank the Italian submarine Neghelli in Otranto. 1945, World War II: The United States invaded Luzon in the Philippines. 1947, Elizabeth "Betty" Short, the Black Dahlia, was last seen alive. 1957, British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigned from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty. 1960, President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opened construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile. 1964, Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths tried to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians. 1965, the Mirzapur Cadet College formally opens for academic activities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
In 1991, Representatives from the United States and Iraq met at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. 1992, the Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaimed the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia. 1996, First Chechen War: Chechen separatistslaunched a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyarin the neighboring Dagestan, which turned into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians. 2004, an inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalled near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements killed 28. 2005, Mahmoud Abbas won the election to replace Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He replaced interim president Rawhi Fattouh. Also 2005, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War. 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone. 2011, Iran Air Flight 277 crashed near Orumiyeh in the northeast of the country, killing 77 people. 2013, a SeaStreak ferry traveling to lower Manhattan, New York City, crashed into the dock, injuring 85 people. 2014, an explosion at a Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, killed at least five people and injured 17 others.
=== 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
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
The Amazon Author Page for David Ball
UK .. http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B01683ZOWGFrench .. http://www.amazon.fr/-/e/B01683ZOWG
Japan .. http://www.amazon.co.jp/-/e/B01683ZOWG
German .. http://www.amazon.de/-/e/B01683ZOWG
Happy birthday and many happy returns Samuel Ball, Eric Golub, Andrew Mussell, Lynda Ly, Vu Tran and Natalie Tran. Born on the same day, across the years, along with
January 9: St. Stephen's Day (Eastern Christianity)
Deaths
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Tim Blair
TASMANIAN “BETRAYED, SHAMED”
MARCH MADNESS
MONDAY NOTICEBOARD
TONY TESTED
ONLY THE WALL PREVENTS FURTHER ATROCITIES
WHAT’S HIS NAME THEN?
THE ETHICAL TENANT
NO EVIDENCE, DECLARES MELBOURNE WOMAN
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 09, 2016 (4:52pm)
Clementine Ford’s Friday piece on Cologne’s recent cultural interactivity evening no longer appears on Fairfax’s main Lady Pages menu, possibly because of lines like these:
No evidence has emerged yet which suggests this heinous, frightening activity was coordinated solely by new arrivals in Germany. Even if it were, over one million people entered Germany last year – a portion of 1000 of them accounts for 0.1 per cent of that number.
Just 1000 or so lone wolves or bad eggs or future Facebook friends or whatever blame-diverting leftists want to call them this week. No problem there. And check this from Clementine’s Twitter account:
Reading some perspectives from German people, I’m not convinced the reporting has been accurate.
Really, Ms Ford? Let’s hear from one of the night’s victims – just one of the many young women attacked by Clementine’s 0.1 per cent:
I’m inclined to believe her. Incidentally, the number of people who have filed complaints of sexual assault in Cologne on New Year’s Eve is now up to 170. How many more does Clementine need?
I’m inclined to believe her. Incidentally, the number of people who have filed complaints of sexual assault in Cologne on New Year’s Eve is now up to 170. How many more does Clementine need?
===
PETER TALKS TO BLOKE
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 09, 2016 (4:41pm)
In his curious English-as-a-second-language way, Peter FitzSimons denounces an imaginary Chris Gayle supporter:
You, bloke, are what we call in the trade, a “ninny Neanderthal.”
Four quick points:
One. Nobody in Australia addresses anyone as “bloke”.
Two. FitzSimons assumes Gayle has no female supporters, which is sexist and triggering and microaggressive and means he must be sacked immediately.
Three. The only trade that might possibly use the phrase “ninny Neanderthal” is the trade of being Dr Zachary Smith on Lost in Space.
Four. Peter cannot punctuate properly.
===
REQUEST GRANTED
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 09, 2016 (3:58pm)
When your teenage daughter receives a text from a boy asking her to “send me a bra pic”, this is the perfect response.
===
WOLFGANG WALKS THE PLANK
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 09, 2016 (3:49pm)
The head of Cologne’s police force is leaving his post “to restore public trust in the police” following scores of attacks on women in the city on New Year’s Eve …The state interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ralf Jaeger said on Friday that he had suspended police chief Wolfgang Albers from his duties.He has been accused of holding back information about the attacks, in particular about the origin of the suspects.
Interesting. If holding back information about Islamic attacks was a more general firing offence, there’d be no remaining staff at the Guardian. Or at Fairfax. Or the ABC.
===
PRESENTING DARWIN MAN
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 09, 2016 (3:34pm)
Florida Man now has Australian competition.
===
PENNSYLVANIA – THE ISLAMIC STATE
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 09, 2016 (1:52pm)
Attempted murder in Philadelphia:
A man who shot and wounded a policeman at point blank range as he sat in his patrol car was inspired by Islamic State militants, police said.Edward Archer, using a stolen gun, fired at least 11 shots at Jesse Hartnett …
Despite being shot, Mr Hartnett left his vehicle and was able to return fire, striking the gunman three times.Mr Archer was arrested within minutes and later confessed to police he did it for Islam, officers told reporters …The shooting happened on the day two men who came to the US as refugees were charged with supporting terrorism – in Texas and California.
Little wonder that more guns were sold in the US during December than “almost any other month in nearly two decades.”
===
A FEATURE, NOT A BUG
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 09, 2016 (1:16pm)
South Australian reader Bruce P. is awaiting delivery of a Ford Mustang, but now discovers some terrifying information about his fine new ride. All by itself, a ‘Stang can change the climate:
I wonder what this model might be capable of. Besides more than 300kmh.
I wonder what this model might be capable of. Besides more than 300kmh.
UPDATE. In other automotive/global warming developments:
The number of cars set alight in France on New Year’s Eve fell significantly this year, the government has said.Some 12% fewer cars were set alight on Wednesday compared with 2013, in a measure of what has effectively become an annual event in French suburbs since riots in 2005 in Paris and elsewhere.The number of vehicles torched fell from 1,067 a year ago to 940, the interior ministry said in a statement.
At that rate of decline, the number should be down to mere double figures by the year … 2035.
===
FOR EVERY ACTION
Tim Blair – Friday, January 08, 2016 (11:47pm)
According to what is alleged to be a leaked police report, some of those involved in Cologne’s multicultural mauling on New Year’s Eve claimed to be Syrian refugees:
The outbreak of violence was also far more serious than previously thought, and at one point senior police officers feared “there could have been fatalities”.Two publications have released what they claim is an internal report by a senior officer who was at the scene.If confirmed, the report could have far-reaching consequences for Angela Merkel’s government as it tries to deal with the aftermath of the assaults.Ministers have said there is no evidence asylum seekers were involved in the violence.But the leaked police report, published in Bild newspaper and Spiegel, a news magazine, claims that one of those involved told officers: “I am Syrian. You have to treat me kindly. Mrs Merkel invited me.”
And now the reaction:
Dusseldorf, the neighbouring city to migrant sex attack capital Cologne is the first German city to see a new citizen protection league since the new year’s attacks, with thousands signing up to do their part …The group founder insists vigilante justice or any kind of violence are not what the group is about. All they intend to do is be “present and attentive” at major public events and on weekend evenings.
It’s like an “I’ll ride with you” campaign, except people might actually do something.
UPDATE. “The dangerous violent French-born movement.” Mark Steyn dissects a fantastically evasive Canadian piece on the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo slaughter.
UPDATE II. CNN reports:
German authorities have identified 31 people – 18 of them asylum seekers – as suspects in violence in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, one of several such incidents reported on the same date in other European cities.Six women in Zurich, Switzerland, told authorities they were “robbed from one side, [while] being groped ... on the other side” by groups of men described as having dark skin, according to a Zurich police statement released Friday.And in Helsinki, Finland, police said they are investigating two possible criminal offenses related to New Year’s Eve harassment centered around “a gathering of asylum seekers ...”The Cologne suspects include nine Algerian nationals, eight people from Morocco, five from Iran and four from Syria, German interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said. Two are German citizens, while one each are from Iraq, Serbia and the United States.
I wonder if all of these men might have something in common, besides being accused grabbists.
===
PARIS UNDER FIRE - DAY TWO
Tim Blair – Friday, January 09, 2015 (1:17am)
Further French horror:
A female police officer has been killed in a second shooting in Paris, French media reports.Automatic gunfire was reported at Montrouge, a southwestern suburb of the capital, this morning. Gunmen fled the scene via the metro.
One gunman has since been arrested. No connection has been established between this killing and the previous day’s Charlie Hebdo slaughter. Speaking of which:
The Charlie Hebdo attack suspects are believed to have stolen food and petrol at gunpoint from this service station in Villers-Cotteret, Picardy – around 50 miles northeast of Paris – before driving off in the direction of the capital.They are said to be on the RN2 motorway back into Paris - still in the same grey Renault Clio that was hijacked after the shootings yesterday. Its number-plates are apparently blacked out.
According to other reports, the pair are holed up in a village 60km from Paris.
UPDATE. A puzzling post-massacre decision from AP:
The Associated Press has removed an image of Andres Serrano’s 1987 photograph “Piss Christ” from its image library following Wednesday’s attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Serrano’s image has long been problematic for shallow media types. Via Iowahawk, whose Charlie Hebdo coverage predictions are now coming true:
UPDATE II. Savage Islamic terrorists:
UPDATE II. Savage Islamic terrorists:
We have killed Charlie Hebdo!
Maybe not:
Charlie Hebdo magazine will publish as scheduled next week, according to some of its surviving employees. The newspaper’s lawyer, Richard Malka, said one million copies would be printed instead of the normal 60,000 because of the worldwide attention.
Jeannette Bougrab, long-time partner of Charlie Hebdo editor-in-chief Stéphane Charbonnier:
I have been to Pakistan, I have been to the Afghan border, I went near the Taliban, I went to Yemen, I went to the north of Kenya while in the Congo where there was al-Shaabab, and I went to the ill side. Nothing happened to me. Nothing happened to me, I spent 17 days in Pakistan and nothing happened to me. And today, in France, where we give lessons to the whole world, well my partner is dead, murdered because he drew in a magazine.
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“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
===
===
OBVIOUS QUESTIONS
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (5:42am)
Further on the mystery of my 17-year-old World Vision sponsorship kid who draws like a pre-schooler. Here’s World Vision director Matt Davis:
We share your concern about the recent report you have received from Obvious and we have requested an immediate response from our team in Zimbabwe. We are yet to hear back and will let you know as soon as we do.I can assure you there are some really encouraging things happening ?in Obvious’s community and we are committed to ensuring you receive an appropriate explanation as to what has been happening with his development.
Also on the case: Radio 2UE summer drive host Mike Jeffreys, who interviewed Davis and me.
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1788 HATE
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (5:40am)
Leftoid Twitter folk shut down a supermarket’s t-shirt sale:
Aldi has pulled a portion of its Australia Day clothing from shelves following social media pressure over a “racist” design.
The alleged racism was a logo reading: “AUSTRALIA EST 1788”. Seriously.
Twitter users have called for the range to be pulled from shelves, including Sunshine Coast University lecturer Matt Mason.“This is historically wrong and racist,” Mr Mason posted.“Remove them from sale.”Others users have described the range as “sickening”.
Just as well the frightening logo wasn’t printed on a packet of crisps.
(Via Waxing Gibberish)
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THE UNENDING, INESCAPABLE HORROR OF A WARMER PLANET
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (5:38am)
It’s happening, people:
The effects of climate change could hinder sea snails’ extraordinary ability to leap away from predators on one foot, Queensland researchers have found.
Add this to the list.
(Via reader fidens, who emails: “I feel so helpless.")
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SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (5:21am)
Following interest from Australian media, the tiny island of Nauru applies a modest increase to the cost of journalist visas.
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AWESOME OF THE ANTARCTIC
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (5:15am)
Mark Steyn reviews the ice-tastic performance of Professor Chris Turney and his academic Antarcticians:
You’d have to have a heart as cold and unmovable as Commonwealth Bay ice not to be howling with laughter at the exquisite symbolic perfection of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition ‘stuck in our own experiment’, as they put it. I confess I was hoping it might all drag on a bit longer and the cultists of the ecopalypse would find themselves drawing straws as to which of their number would be first on the roasting spit.On Douglas Mawson’s original voyage, he and his surviving comrade wound up having to eat their dogs. I’m not sure there were any on this expedition, so they’d probably have to make do with the Guardian reporters. Forced to wait a year to be rescued, Sir Douglas later recalled, ‘Several of my toes commenced to blacken and fester near the tips.’ Now there’s a man who’s serious about reducing his footprint.
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ALLAH HAS WAN AT NEVER
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (5:05am)
John Tiedemann updates a classic Australian ad:
Further on Australian booze issues from James Morrow, who addresses the new prohibitionist mood encouraged by – among many others – anti-alcohol campaigner Tony Trimingham:
Further on Australian booze issues from James Morrow, who addresses the new prohibitionist mood encouraged by – among many others – anti-alcohol campaigner Tony Trimingham:
Reduction and regulation of advertising has been effective in countries such as France, Norway, Ukraine, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Sweden, Kenya, Hong Kong and most Muslim countries.
You don’t say.
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I WORK WITH GOOD PEOPLE
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (4:56am)
At the close of work yesterday I emailed a very senior Daily Telegraph identity to make sure all of the opinion pages were complete. His (censored) reply:
Go ---- yourself you ----.
Followed immediately by:
Sorry. Predictive text!
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OLD CHOPPERS
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (4:53am)
Texan shark cuddler Carey Barlow-Heyden – who received ABC applause for her opposition to Western Australian shark killing – turned out to have an interesting jewellery hobby, making decorations from:
Shark teeth, Arrowheads, Anything fun, colorful and unique
Ms Barlow-Heyden has since amended her list of preferred materials:
Fossilized Sharks Teeth, Arrowheads, Anything fun, colorful and unique
(Via J.F. Beck)
===
THEY COULD’VE JUST RIPPED UP THE PAMPHLET
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (4:39am)
An old-fashioned book burning in Lebanon:
“Unknown assailants torched the Saeh Library in Tripoli, destroying two thirds of some 80,000 booksand manuscripts housed there,” said the source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity …The attack came a day after “a pamphlet was discovered inside one of the books at the library that was insulting to Islam and the prophet Mohammad,” said the source.
I blame Presbyterians.
===
FREEDOM BOOT
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (4:11am)
Trapped in your car? Not a problem. Just use your feet, as one of Peter Brock’s mechanics demonstrated at Bathurst in 1985. (From 2:00 at the link. Under race rules, if a damaged windscreen is removed the rear glass must also be removed. Doesn’t take long.)
===
OUT OF THE ASHES
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 09, 2014 (2:56am)
A rare but priceless win:
England cricketers Matt Prior and Stuart Broad have been credited with helping prevent a suicidal man from jumping off a bridge in Darling Harbour.Prior is said to have pulled the man – who was saying he wanted to drown – away from the edge of a foot bridge in the early hours of Wednesday morning.Prior and Broad, who had been attending a Barmy Army charity event nearby, talked to the man for nearly an hour before police arrived.
Impressive, especially because star power wasn’t in play. Although the man is believed to be British, he did not recognise either player.
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www.wired.com
Reporting to police is not a punishment .. they need to know if there was culpability. Reporting to the Age is irresponsible. - ed
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Labor Shadow Immigration Minister Mr. Marles proclaimed ; “Turning back the boats was always a furphy.”
Mr Marles is now wiping egg off his face, as today we hear that the head of Indonesia's military General Moeldoko has confirmed he has reached an agreement with the Chief of the Australian Defence Force to accept boat turn-backs and said late on Tuesday that boat turn-backs by Australia were ''justifiable''.>
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/indonesian-military-head-says-boats-turned-back-will-be-accepted-20140108-30hmj.html#ixzz2pohWPhTW
www.smh.com.au
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www.glennbeck.com
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green.autoblog.com
Parasites find host - ed
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twitchy.com
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WWW.NEWS.COM.AU
Where was Sheik Cat's meat? - ed
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www.techeblog.com
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stream.aljazeera.com
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www.canberratimes.com.au
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9gag.com
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www.jpost.com
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calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.se
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calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.se
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<The Wonder Workers
"The love of money is the root of all evil." Unfortunately too many rabbis have been put on pedestals until we finally realize they are just as human as the rest of us. This does not negate the fact that there have always been Gedolai HaDor, rabbis who truly care about the sanctity of Jewish life and our relationship with Hashem and His wonders. It is these corrupt few who not only commit a chilul Hashem, but shame us all.>
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www.meforum.org
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www.israelvideonetwork.com
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www.phyllis-chesler.com
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cnsnews.com
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www.frontpagemag.com
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carolineglick.com
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virtualjerusalem.com
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- 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
- 681 – Twelfth Council of Toledo: King Erwig of the Visigoths initiates a council in which he implements diverse measures against the Jews in Spain.
- 1127 – Jin–Song Wars: Invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin dynasty besiege and sack Bianjing(Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty of China, and abduct Emperor Qinzong of Song and others, ending the Northern Song dynasty.
- 1150 – Wanyan Liang and other court officials murder Emperor Xizong of Jin. Wanyan Liang succeeds him as emperor.
- 1349 – The Jewish population of Basel, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated.
- 1431 – Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
- 1760 – Ahmad Shah Durrani defeats the Marathas in the Battle of Barari Ghat.
- 1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to be admitted to the United States.
- 1792 – Treaty of Jassy between Russian and Ottoman Empire is signed.
- 1793 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard becomes the first person to fly in a balloon in the United States.
- 1799 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the Napoleonic Wars.
- 1806 – Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral.
- 1816 – Sir Humphry Davy tests his safety lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery.
- 1822 – The Portuguese prince Pedro I of Brazil decides to stay in Brazil against the orders of the Portuguese King João VI, beginning the Brazilian independence process.
- 1839 – The French Academy of Sciences announces the Daguerreotype photography process.
- 1857 – The 7.9 Mw Fort Tejon earthquake shakes Central and Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent).
- 1858 – Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas, commits suicide.
- 1861 – American Civil War: "Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina.
- 1861 – Mississippi becomes the second state to secede from the Union before the outbreak of the American Civil War.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fort Hindman begins in Arkansas.
- 1878 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy.
- 1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.
- 1903 – Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, son of the poet Alfred Tennyson, becomes the second Governor-General of Australia.
- 1909 – Ernest Shackleton, leading the Nimrod Expedition to the South Pole, plants the British flag 97 nautical miles (180 km; 112 mi) from the South Pole, the farthest anyone had ever reached at that time.
- 1914 – Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., the first historically black intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity to be officially recognized at Howard University, is founded.
- 1916 – World War I: The Battle of Gallipoli concludes with an Ottoman Empire victory when the last Allied forces are evacuated from the peninsula.
- 1917 – World War I: The Battle of Rafa is fought near the Egyptian border with Palestine.
- 1918 – Battle of Bear Valley: The last battle of the American Indian Wars.
- 1921 – Greco-Turkish War: The First Battle of İnönü, the first battle of the war, begins near Eskişehir in Anatolia.
- 1923 – Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogyro flight.
- 1923 – Lithuanian residents of the Memel Territory rebel against the League of Nations' decision to leave the area as a mandated region under French control.
- 1927 – A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, kills 78 children.
- 1941 – World War II: First flight of the Avro Lancaster.
- 1945 – World War II: The Sixth United States Army begins the invasion of Lingayen Gulf.
- 1957 – British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty.
- 1960 – President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
- 1964 – Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
- 1965 – The Mirzapur Cadet College formally opens for academic activities in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
- 1991 – Representatives from the United States and Iraq meet at the Geneva Peace Conference to try to find a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
- 1992 – The Assembly of the Serb People in Bosnia and Herzegovina proclaims the creation of Republika Srpska, a new state within Yugoslavia.
- 1996 – First Chechen War: Chechen separatists launch a raid against the helicopter airfield and later a civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar in the neighboring Dagestan, which turns into a massive hostage crisis involving thousands of civilians.
- 2004 – An inflatable boat carrying illegal Albanian emigrants stalls near the Karaburun Peninsula while on the way to Brindisi, Italy; exposure to the elements kills 28.
- 2005 – Mahmoud Abbas wins the election to replace Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He replaces interim president Rawhi Fattouh.
- 2005 – The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and the Government of Sudan sign the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the Second Sudanese Civil War.
- 2007 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco.
- 2011 – Iran Air Flight 277 crashes near Orumiyeh in the northeast of the country, killing 77 people.
- 2014 – An explosion at a Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant in Yokkaichi, Japan, kills at least five people and injures 17 others.
- 2015 – The perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris two days earlier are both killed after a hostage situation. Elsewhere, a second hostage situation, related to the Charlie Hebdo shooting, occurs at a Jewish market, Hypercacher, in Vincennes.
- 727 – Emperor Daizong of Tang (d. 779)
- 1475 – Crinitus, Italian scholar and author (d. 1507)
- 1554 – Pope Gregory XV (d. 1623)
- 1571 – Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy, French commander (d. 1621)
- 1624 – Empress Meishō of Japan (d. 1696)
- 1674 – Reinhard Keiser, German composer (d. 1739)
- 1685 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch philologist and critic (d. 1766)
- 1728 – Thomas Warton, English poet, historian, and critic (d. 1790)
- 1735 – John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, English admiral and politician (d. 1823)
- 1745 – Caleb Strong, American lawyer and politician, 6th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1819)
- 1753 – Luísa Todi, Portuguese soprano and actress (d. 1833)
- 1773 – Cassandra Austen, English painter and illustrator (d. 1845)
- 1778 – Hammamizade İsmail Dede Efendi, Turkish Ney player and composer (d. 1846)
- 1811 – Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English journalist and author (d. 1856)
- 1818 – Antoine Samuel Adam-Salomon, French sculptor and photographer (d. 1881)
- 1819 – James Francis, English-Australian businessman and politician, 9th Premier of Victoria (d. 1884)
- 1822 – Carol Benesch, Czech-Romanian architect, designed the Peleș Castle (d. 1896)
- 1823 – Friedrich von Esmarch, German surgeon and academic (d. 1908)
- 1829 – Thomas William Robertson, English director and playwright (d. 1871)
- 1829 – Adolf Schlagintweit, German botanist and explorer (d. 1857)
- 1832 – Félix-Gabriel Marchand, Canadian journalist and politician, 11th Premier of Quebec (d. 1900)
- 1839 – John Knowles Paine, American composer and academic (d. 1906)
- 1848 – Princess Frederica of Hanover (d. 1926)
- 1849 – John Hartley, English tennis player (d. 1935)
- 1854 – Lady Randolph Churchill, American-born wife of Lord Randolph Churchill (d. 1921)
- 1856 – Anton Aškerc, Slovenian priest and poet (d. 1912)
- 1859 – Carrie Chapman Catt, American activist, founded the League of Women Voters and International Alliance of Women (d. 1947)
- 1864 – Vladimir Steklov, Russian mathematician and physicist (d. 1926)
- 1868 – S. P. L. Sørensen, Danish chemist and academic (d. 1939)
- 1870 – Joseph Strauss, American engineer, co-designed the Golden Gate Bridge (d. 1938)
- 1873 – Hayim Nahman Bialik, Ukrainian-Austrian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1934)
- 1873 – Thomas Curtis, American sprinter and hurdler (d. 1944)
- 1873 – John Flanagan, Irish-American hammer thrower (d. 1938)
- 1875 – Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, American sculptor and art collector, founded the Whitney Museum of American Art (d. 1942)
- 1879 – John B. Watson, American psychologist and academic (d. 1958)
- 1881 – Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and critic (d. 1938)
- 1881 – Giovanni Papini, Italian journalist, author, and poet (d. 1956)
- 1885 – Charles Bacon, American runner and hurdler (d. 1968)
- 1886 – Lloyd Loar, American sound engineer and instrument designer (d. 1943)
- 1889 – Vrindavan Lal Verma, Indian author and playwright (d. 1969)
- 1890 – Karel Čapek, Czech author and playwright (d. 1938)
- 1890 – Kurt Tucholsky, German-Swedish journalist and author (d. 1935)
- 1891 – August Gailit, Estonian journalist and author (d. 1960)
- 1892 – Eva Bowring, American lawyer and politician (d. 1985)
- 1893 – Edwin Baker, Canadian soldier and educator, co-founded the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (d. 1968)
- 1896 – Warwick Braithwaite, New Zealand-English conductor and director (d. 1971)
- 1897 – Karl Löwith, German philosopher, author, and academic (d. 1973)
- 1898 – Gracie Fields, English actress and singer (d. 1979)
- 1899 – Harald Tammer, Estonian journalist and weightlifter (d. 1942)
- 1900 – Richard Halliburton, American journalist and author (d. 1939)
- 1901 – Vilma Bánky, Hungarian-American actress (d. 1991)
- 1901 – Chic Young, American cartoonist (d. 1973)
- 1902 – Rudolf Bing, American impresario and businessman (d. 1997)
- 1902 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint, founded Opus Dei (d. 1975)
- 1907 – Eldred G. Smith, American patriarch (d. 2013)
- 1908 – Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher and author (d. 1986)
- 1909 – Anthony Mamo, Maltese lawyer and politician, 1st President of Malta (d. 2008)
- 1909 – Patrick Peyton, Irish-American priest, television personality, and activist (d. 1992)
- 1910 – Tom Evenson, English runner (d. 1997)
- 1912 – Ralph Tubbs, English architect, designed the Dome of Discovery (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Richard Nixon, American commander, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (d. 1994)
- 1915 – Fernando Lamas, Argentinian-American actor, singer, and director (d. 1982)
- 1915 – Anita Louise, American actress (d. 1970)
- 1916 – Vic Mizzy, American soldier, pianist, and composer (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Peter Twinn, English mathematician and entomologist (d. 2004)
- 1918 – Alma Ziegler, American baseball player and golfer (d. 2005)
- 1919 – William Morris Meredith, Jr., American poet and academic (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Clive Dunn, English actor (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Hakim Said, Pakistani scholar and politician, 20th Governor of Sindh (d. 1998)
- 1921 – Lister Sinclair, Indian-Canadian broadcaster and playwright (d. 2006)
- 1921 – John Sperling, American businessman, founded the University of Phoenix (d. 2014)
- 1922 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian-American biochemist and academic, Nobel laureate (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Ahmed Sékou Touré, Guinean politician, 1st President of Guinea (d. 1984)
- 1924 – Sergei Parajanov, Georgian-Armenian director and screenwriter (d. 1990)
- 1925 – Len Quested, English footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor (d. 1989)
- 1926 – Jean-Pierre Côté, Canadian lawyer and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (d. 2002)
- 1928 – Judith Krantz, American novelist
- 1928 – Domenico Modugno, Italian singer-songwriter, actor, and politician (d. 1994)
- 1929 – Brian Friel, Irish author, playwright, and director (d. 2015)
- 1929 – Heiner Müller, German poet, playwright, and director (d. 1995)
- 1929 – Tom Riley, American lawyer and politician (d. 2011)
- 1931 – Algis Budrys, Lithuanian-American author and critic (d. 2008)
- 1933 – Robert García, American soldier and politician
- 1933 – Wilbur Smith, Zambian-English journalist and author
- 1934 – Bart Starr, American football player and coach
- 1935 – Bob Denver, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1935 – Dick Enberg, American game show host and sportscaster
- 1935 – Earl G. Graves, Sr., American businessman and publisher, founded Black Enterprise magazine
- 1936 – Anne Rivers Siddons, American author
- 1936 – Marko Veselica, Croatian academic and politician
- 1937 – Michael Nicholson, English journalist and author
- 1938 – Claudette Boyer, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2013)
- 1938 – Peter Edelman, American lawyer and educator
- 1938 – Stuart Woods, American author and critic
- 1939 – Susannah York, English actress and activist (d. 2011)
- 1940 – Barbara Buczek, Polish composer (d. 1993)
- 1940 – Al Downing, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2005)
- 1940 – Ruth Dreifuss, Swiss journalist and politician, 86th President of the Swiss Confederation
- 1941 – Joan Baez, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and activist
- 1941 – Roy Head, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1941 – Gilles Vaillancourt, Canadian politician
- 1942 – John Dunning, American author
- 1942 – Tony Harding, English illustrator (d. 2014)
- 1942 – Lee Kun-hee, South Korean businessman
- 1942 – Judy Malloy, American poet and author
- 1943 – Robert Drewe, Australian author and playwright
- 1943 – Elmer MacFadyen, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 2007)
- 1943 – Scott Walker, American singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
- 1944 – Harun Farocki, German filmmaker (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Jimmy Page, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1944 – Mihalis Violaris, Cypriot singer-songwriter and actor
- 1945 – Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Syrian-Armenian scholar and politician, 1st President of Armenia
- 1946 – Mohammad Ishaq Khan, Indian historian and academic (d. 2013)
- 1946 – Mogens Lykketoft, Danish politician, 45th Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1947 – Ronnie Landfield, American painter and educator
- 1948 – Bill Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2006)
- 1948 – Jan Tomaszewski, Polish footballer, manager, and politician
- 1950 – Alec Jeffreys, English geneticist and academic
- 1951 – M. L. Carr, American basketball player and coach
- 1951 – Crystal Gayle, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1952 – Kaushik Basu, Indian economist and academic
- 1952 – Hugh Bayley, English politician
- 1952 – Mike Capuano, American lawyer and politician
- 1953 – Javad Alizadeh, Iranian cartoonist and painter
- 1953 – Morris Gleitzman, English-Australian journalist and author
- 1953 – Shigeru So, Japanese runner
- 1953 – Takeshi So, Japanese runner
- 1954 – Philippa Gregory, Kenyan-English author and academic
- 1955 – Michiko Kakutani, American journalist and critic
- 1955 – J.K. Simmons, American actor
- 1956 – Waltraud Meier, German soprano and actress
- 1956 – Imelda Staunton, English actress and singer
- 1958 – Stephen Neale, English philosopher and academic
- 1959 – Mark Martin, American race car driver and coach
- 1959 – Rigoberta Menchú, Guatemalan activist and politician, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1959 – Otis Nixon, American baseball player
- 1960 – Lisa Walters, Canadian golfer
- 1961 – Oliver Goldstick, American screenwriter and producer
- 1961 – Henry Omaga-Diaz, Filipino journalist
- 1963 – Irwin McLean, Northern Irish biologist and academic
- 1964 – Stan Javier, Dominican baseball player and manager
- 1965 – Eric Erlandson, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1965 – Haddaway, Trinidadian-German singer and musician
- 1965 – Andrei Nazarov, Estonian decathlete and coach
- 1965 – Joely Richardson, English actress
- 1966 – Stephen Metcalfe, English politician
- 1967 – Carl Bell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1967 – Claudio Caniggia, Argentinian footballer
- 1967 – Dave Matthews, South African-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1968 – Jimmy Adams, Jamaican cricketer and coach
- 1968 – Giorgos Theofanous, Greek-Cypriot composer and producer
- 1970 – Lara Fabian, Belgian-Italian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1970 – Alex Staropoli, Italian keyboard player and songwriter
- 1971 – Angie Martinez, American rapper, actress, and radio host
- 1971 – Hal Niedzviecki, Canadian author and critic
- 1971 – Scott Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1972 – Jay Powell, American baseball player
- 1972 – Rawson Stovall, American video game producer and author
- 1973 – Sean Paul, Jamaican rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, record producer. and actor
- 1975 – James Beckford, Jamaican long jumper
- 1976 – Radek Bonk, Czech ice hockey player
- 1978 – Mathieu Garon, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Gennaro Gattuso, Italian footballer and manager
- 1978 – Chad Johnson, American football player and actor
- 1978 – A. J. McLean, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actor
- 1979 – Athanassios Prittas, Greek footballer
- 1979 – Tomiko Van, Japanese singer-songwriter and actress
- 1980 – Édgar Álvarez, Honduran footballer
- 1980 – Sergio García, Spanish golfer
- 1980 – Luke Patten, Australian rugby league player and referee
- 1981 – Euzebiusz Smolarek, Polish footballer and manager
- 1982 – Timmy Bowers, American basketball player
- 1982 – Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
- 1982 – Grétar Steinsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1983 – Marek Doronin, Estonian basketball player
- 1984 – Benjamin Danso, German rugby player
- 1985 – Juan Francisco Torres, Spanish footballer
- 1986 – Jéferson Gomes, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 – Uwe Hünemeier, German footballer
- 1986 – Amanda Mynhardt, South African netball player
- 1987 – Sam Bird, English race car driver
- 1987 – Lucas Leiva, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – Paolo Nutini, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1987 – Jami Puustinen, Finnish footballer
- 1988 – Katherine Copely, American ice dancer
- 1988 – Marc Crosas, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Lee Yeon-hee, South Korean actress
- 1989 – Michael Beasley, American basketball player
- 1989 – Nina Dobrev, Bulgarian-Canadian actress
- 1989 – Michaëlla Krajicek, Dutch tennis player
- 1989 – Yana Maksimava, Belarusian heptathlete
- 1989 – Chris Sandow, Australian rugby league player
- 1990 – Justin Blackmon, American football player
- 1993 – Ashley Argota, American actress and singer
- 1993 – Katarina Johnson-Thompson, English long jumper and heptathlete
Births[edit]
- 1150 – Emperor Xizong of Jin (b. 1119)
- 1202 – Birger Brosa, Jarl of Sweden
- 1282 – Abû 'Uthmân Sa'îd ibn Hakam al Qurashi, Minorcan ruler (b. 1204)
- 1283 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese general and scholar (b. 1236)
- 1324 – Marco Polo, Italian merchant and explorer (b. 1254)
- 1463 – William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent, English soldier (b. 1405)
- 1499 – John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1455)
- 1511 – Demetrios Chalkokondyles, Greek scholar and academic (b. 1423)
- 1534 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (b. 1477)
- 1543 – Guillaume du Bellay, French general and diplomat (b. 1491)
- 1561 – Amago Haruhisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1514)
- 1571 – Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, French admiral (b. 1510)
- 1598 – Jasper Heywood, English poet and scholar (b. 1553)
- 1757 – Louis Bertrand Castel, French mathematician and philosopher (b. 1688)
- 1757 – Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, French author, poet, and playwright (b. 1657)
- 1766 – Thomas Birch, English historian and author (b. 1705)
- 1799 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1718)
- 1800 – Jean Étienne Championnet, French general (b. 1762)
- 1805 – Noble Wimberly Jones, American physician and politician (b. 1723)
- 1843 – William Hedley, English engineer (b. 1773)
- 1848 – Caroline Herschel, German-English astronomer (b. 1750)
- 1856 – Neophytos Vamvas, Greek cleric and educator (b. 1770)
- 1858 – Anson Jones, American physician and politician; 4th President of the Republic of Texas (b. 1798)
- 1873 – Napoleon III, French politician, 1st President of France (b. 1808)
- 1876 – Samuel Gridley Howe, American physician and activist (b. 1801)
- 1878 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy (b. 1820)
- 1895 – Aaron Lufkin Dennison, American-English businessman (b. 1812)
- 1901 – Richard Copley Christie, English lawyer and academic (b. 1830)
- 1908 – Wilhelm Busch, German poet, illustrator, and painter (b. 1832)
- 1908 – Abraham Goldfaden, Russian actor, playwright, and author (b. 1840)
- 1911 – Edwin Arthur Jones, American violinist and composer (b. 1853)
- 1911 – Edvard Rusjan, Italian-Slovene pilot and engineer (b. 1886)
- 1918 – Charles-Émile Reynaud, French scientist and educator, invented the Praxinoscope (b. 1844)
- 1923 – Katherine Mansfield, British novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1888)
- 1924 – Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Sri Lankan civil servant and politician (b. 1853)
- 1927 – Houston Stewart Chamberlain, English-German philosopher and author (b. 1855)
- 1930 – Edward Bok, Dutch-American journalist and author (b. 1863)
- 1931 – Wayne Munn, American football player and wrestler (b. 1896)
- 1936 – John Gilbert, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1899)
- 1939 – Johann Strauss III, Austrian violinist, composer, and conductor (b. 1866)
- 1941 – Dimitrios Golemis, Greek runner (b. 1874)
- 1945 – Shigekazu Shimazaki, Japanese admiral and pilot (b. 1908)
- 1945 – Jüri Uluots, Estonian journalist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Estonia (b. 1890)
- 1945 – Osman Cemal Kaygılı, Turkish journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1890)
- 1946 – Countee Cullen, American poet and playwright (b. 1903)
- 1947 – Karl Mannheim, Hungarian-English sociologist and academic (b. 1893)
- 1960 – Elsie J. Oxenham, English author and educator (b. 1880)
- 1961 – Emily Greene Balch, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
- 1964 – Halide Edib Adıvar, Turkish author and academic (b. 1884)
- 1971 – Elmer Flick, American baseball player and scout (b. 1876)
- 1972 – Ted Shawn, American dancer and choreographer (b. 1891)
- 1975 – Pierre Fresnay, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1897)
- 1975 – Pyotr Novikov, Russian mathematician and theorist (b. 1901)
- 1979 – Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian engineer and architect, designed the Tour de la Bourse and Pirelli Tower (b. 1891)
- 1981 – Kazimierz Serocki, Polish pianist and composer (b. 1922)
- 1984 – Bob Dyer, American-Australian radio and television host (b. 1909)
- 1985 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1879)
- 1987 – Arthur Lake, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1988 – Peter L. Rypdal, Norwegian fiddler and composer (b. 1909)
- 1989 – Bill Terry, American baseball player and manager (b. 1898)
- 1990 – Spud Chandler, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1907)
- 1990 – Cemal Süreya, Turkish poet and journalist (b. 1931)
- 1992 – Steve Brodie, American actor (b. 1919)
- 1992 – Bill Naughton, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1910)
- 1993 – Paul Hasluck, Australian historian and politician, 17th Governor-General of Australia (b. 1905)
- 1994 – Johnny Temple, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
- 1995 – Souphanouvong, Laotian politician, 1st President of Laos (b. 1909)
- 1995 – Peter Cook, English actor and screenwriter (b. 1937)
- 1996 – Félix González-Torres, Cuban-American sculptor (b. 1957)
- 1996 – Walter M. Miller, Jr., American soldier and author (b. 1923)
- 1997 – Edward Osóbka-Morawski, Polish politician, Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1909)
- 1997 – Jesse White, American actor (b. 1917)
- 1998 – Kenichi Fukui, Japanese chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
- 1998 – Imi Lichtenfeld, Slovakian-Israeli martial artist, founded Krav Maga (b. 1910)
- 2000 – Arnold Alexander Hall, English engineer and academic (b. 1915)
- 2000 – Nigel Tranter, Scottish historian and author (b. 1909)
- 2001 – Maurice Prather, American photographer and director (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Will McDonough, American journalist (b. 1935)
- 2004 – Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and academic (b. 1909)
- 2006 – Andy Caldecott, Australian motorcycle racer (b. 1964)
- 2007 – Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer (b. 1977)
- 2007 – Jean-Pierre Vernant, French anthropologist and historian (b. 1914)
- 2008 – Johnny Grant, American radio host and producer (b. 1923)
- 2008 – John Harvey-Jones, English businessman and television host (b. 1924)
- 2009 – Rob Gauntlett, English mountaineer and explorer (b. 1987)
- 2009 – T. Llew Jones, Welsh author and poet (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Vimcy, Indian journalist (b. 1925)
- 2011 – Makinti Napanangka, Australian painter (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Brian Curvis, Welsh boxer (b. 1937)
- 2012 – Augusto Gansser-Biaggi, Swiss geologist and academic (b. 1910)
- 2012 – William G. Roll, German-American psychologist and parapsychologist (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Malam Bacai Sanhá, Guinea-Bissau politician, President of Guinea-Bissau (b. 1947)
- 2012 – László Szekeres, Hungarian physician and academic (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Brigitte Askonas, Austrian-English immunologist and academic (b. 1923)
- 2013 – James M. Buchanan, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1919)
- 2013 – Robert L. Rock, American businessman and politician, 42nd Lieutenant Governor of Indiana (b. 1927)
- 2013 – John Wise, Canadian farmer and politician, 23rd Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Amiri Baraka, American poet, playwright, and academic (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Josep Maria Castellet, Spanish poet and critic (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Paul du Toit, South African painter and sculptor (b. 1965)
- 2014 – Dale T. Mortensen, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1939)
- 2015 – Michel Jeury, French author (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Robert V. Keeley, Lebanese-American soldier and diplomat, United States Ambassador to Greece (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Józef Oleksy, Polish economist and politician, 7th Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1946)
- 2015 – Bud Paxson, American broadcaster and businessman, founded the Home Shopping Network and Pax TV (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, Malaysian politician, 3rd Chief Minister of Sarawak (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Roy Tarpley, American basketball player (b. 1964)
- 2016 – John Harvard, Canadian journalist and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Angus Scrimm, American actor and author (b. 1926)
Deaths[edit]
- Christian feast day:
- Martyrs' Day (Panama)
- National Cassoulet Day (United States)
- Non-Resident Indian Day (India)
- Peace Agreement Day (South Sudan)
- Republic Day (Republic of Srpska)
Holidays and observances[edit]
“Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.” -Amos 5:14-15
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Charles Spurgeon morning and evening
January 8: Morning
"The iniquity of the holy things." - Exodus 28:38
What a veil is lifted up by these words, and what a disclosure is made! It will be humbling and profitable for us to pause awhile and see this sad sight. The iniquities of our public worship, its hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness, irreverence, wandering of heart and forgetfulness of God, what a full measure have we there! Our work for the Lord, its emulation, selfishness, carelessness, slackness, unbelief, what a mass of defilement is there! Our private devotions, their laxity, coldness, neglect, sleepiness, and vanity, what a mountain of dead earth is there! If we looked more carefully we should find this iniquity to be far greater than appears at first sight. Dr. Payson, writing to his brother, says, "My parish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden of the sluggard; and what is worse, I find that very many of my desires for the melioration of both, proceed either from pride or vanity or indolence. I look at the weeds which overspread my garden, and breathe out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why? What prompts the wish? It may be that I may walk out and say to myself, In what fine order is my garden kept!' This is pride. Or, it may be that my neighbours may look over the wall and say, How finely your garden flourishes!' This is vanity. Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds, because I am weary of pulling them up. This is indolence." So that even our desires after holiness may be polluted by ill motives. Under the greenest sods worms hide themselves; we need not look long to discover them. How cheering is the thought, that when the High Priest bore the iniquity of the holy things he wore upon his brow the words, "Holiness to the Lord:" and even so while Jesus bears our sin, he presents before his Father's face not our unholiness, but his own holiness. O for grace to view our great High Priest by the eye of faith!
Evening
"Thy love is better than wine." - Song of Solomon 1:2
Nothing gives the believer so much joy as fellowship with Christ. He has enjoyment as others have in the common mercies of life, he can be glad both in God's gifts and God's works; but in all these separately, yea, and in all of them added together, he doth not find such substantial delight as in the matchless person of his Lord Jesus. He has wine which no vineyard on earth ever yielded; he has bread which all the corn-fields of Egypt could never bring forth. Where can such sweetness be found as we have tasted in communion with our Beloved? In our esteem, the joys of earth are little better than husks for swine compared with Jesus, the heavenly manna. We would rather have one mouthful of Christ's love, and a sip of his fellowship, than a whole world full of carnal delights. What is the chaff to the wheat? What is the sparkling paste to the true diamond? What is a dream to the glorious reality? What is time's mirth, in its best trim, compared to our Lord Jesus in his most despised estate? If you know anything of the inner life, you will confess that our highest, purest, and most enduring joys must be the fruit of the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. No spring yields such sweet water as that well of God which was digged with the soldier's spear. All earthly bliss is of the earth earthy, but the comforts of Christ's presence are like himself, heavenly. We can review our communion with Jesus, and find no regrets of emptiness therein; there are no dregs in this wine, no dead flies in this ointment. The joy of the Lord is solid and enduring. Vanity hath not looked upon it, but discretion and prudence testify that it abideth the test of years, and is in time and in eternity worthy to be called "the only true delight." For nourishment, consolation, exhilaration, and refreshment, no wine can rival the love of Jesus. Let us drink to the full this evening.
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Today's reading: Genesis 20-22, Matthew 6:19-34 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Genesis 20-22
Abraham and Abimelech
1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman...."
Today's New Testament reading: Matthew 6:19-34
Treasures in Heaven
19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money....
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