Borgia, being based on material leading to Machiavelli's The Prince, could have been as seminal as the Godfather. But the writers and directors went to cheap thrills rather than nuanced interpretation. So it portrays Cesare and Lucretia as being lovers and everyone knows, as opposed to being close and everyone suspects. Cesare's faithful companion Micheletto is gay, but not with Cesare. Rodrigo Borgia has an enemy in future Pope Julius, but one does not understand the reason for the antipathy, except through a Spanish Italian demarcation. The storylines regarding Greek Fire in naval battle, and understanding of Christian theology were awful. Lucretia turning to witchcraft to explain her poison knowledge and Rodrigo and Cesare expressing atheism jarred. It seemed more like Assassins Creed than historical faction.
I am a decent man and don't care for the abuse given me. I created a video raising awareness of anti police feeling among western communities. I chose the senseless killing of Nicola Cotton, a Louisiana policewoman who joined post Katrina, to highlight the issue. I did this in order to get an income after having been illegally blacklisted from work in NSW for being a whistleblower. I have not done anything wrong. Local council appointees refused to endorse my work, so I did it for free. Youtube's Adsence refused to allow me to profit from their marketing it. Meanwhile, I am hostage to abysmal political leadership and hopeless journalists. My shopfront has opened on Facebook.
French .. 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 to those born on this day, across the years, along with
===
Here is a video I made Weakness in me
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE (born 9 December 1950) is a British singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She also received an Ivor Novello award for Outstanding Contemporary Song Collection in 1996
=== from 2017 ===
Journalists are not biased. Most journalists have no pretence of balance and are actively partisan in politics. This is of concern because Democracy relies on freedom of the press, and a partisan press is not free. Many journalists are highly remunerated and have good reason to hold their paid opinions. There is a political cycle. In Australia, when the political cycle favours conservatives, the partisan mantra is that no politician is worthy of a vote, and so people should vote for the left. When the left are ascendant, the press are quick to downplay issues, like immigration procedural unfairness, biased judges, unionised corruption, expenses scandals, and so on. Yet just because the press is partisan does not mean that people are not corrupt. ALA correctly called out a fake news journalist who hit them over their issue with Islam. Except the fake news journalist was mainstream. And they do take the issue to extremes. By focusing on wider Islam, ALA make the mistake of excusing horrendous acts of extremist scum. For example the "Halal Tax" where money has been paid to Islamic organisations by mainstream companies labelling their foods Halal. An investigation has found that the money in Australia does not fund terrorism. ALA is adamant it does. Only their argument is the same as the claim that the Catholic Church funds pedophilia. They have no way of addressing what they perceive as being the problem. And they won't discuss it. I disagree wth Pauline Hanson on a number of issues, and agree with her on some. I don't wish to overstate my disagreement. Meanwhile, the corrupt press really are out to get her. And the ALA. It isn't that press incompetence means one can just oppose the press line to see what is right. In fact, the press line is merely uninformative smoke.
For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
=== from 2016 ===
Islamic terrorism in Africa is a problem with soft Democrat foreign policy. Idi Amin did terrible things under Carter. Bill Clinton watched a million slaughtered in Rwanda (note, not Islam inspired, but communist inspired) and later (1998) did little in response to US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Obama is notable for his powerlessness as terrorists strike in Africa. A few years ago, Obama begged to hit Syria. Russia and China said 'no' in the UN. Benghazi was not disputed. Small nations do not respond well to weakness. It confuses them. Iran and North Korea have been particularly belligerent under Obama as POTUS. For world peace, one hopes a good GOP person is elected POTUS. For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
=== from 2015 ===
The best known Australian in the world is an ethnically Vietnamese girl, Natalie Tran, or Community Channel. She is humorous, self deprecating and talented. She makes social observations and now, after many years, she has taken a stand on an issue that is utterly reasonable, but she is being torn apart for. She said it was ridiculous for religious people to tie young girls with bombs to blow up others. So as to not point the finger at any one religion, she stated she wasn't a fan of any of them. She is an atheist. Not in the Dawkins mould where anyone who is not atheist is a fantasist by definition, Tran has made the personal choice not to believe in God. One might disagree with that view, but her right to have it is absolute. It is an informed point of view, with many corrupt (so called) Christians contributing to it, from the KKK and IRA, through the hating Westboro Baptist, Gosford Anglican or Tim Costello or Fred Nile. Tran has examples of stupid and compromised people who speak out on issues they don't understand. With free speech, one might listen to Tran and present a different front to her showing that religion is not as she knows it, and that God is real. Instead, some ridiculously outraged 'fans' have abused her. Free speech is not mere abuse.
On this day in 27 BC Octavian took on the title Augustus, which is Latin for Majestic. It is connected with the word Augury and some said that Rome was founded after Romulus' august augury. The day marks the beginning of imperial Rome and the passing of the republic. Many believed the republic did not truly pass. Many died believing that. Some things are known of the Maya, although much was destroyed of there culture by conquistadors and the passing of time. In 378, General Siyaj K'ak' conquered land in what is now Guatemala. During this time he highly influenced Maya with culture from Mexico, but it is not known precisely how that influence was made. In 1412, the Medici family were made official bankers of the Papacy. In 1492, the first grammar for Spanish was presented to the Spanish Queen Isabella I .. and in 1605, the first edition of book one of Don Quixote by Cervantes was published in Madrid. In 1707, the Scottish parliament passed legislation allowing the creation of Great Britain.
In 1862, the Hartley Colliery mining disaster resulted in legislation changes to make mines safer. The US modernised her civil service in 1883. In 1919, the US ratified the prohibition 18th amendment. In 1939, sensing an opportunity to promote Hitler, the IRA began a campaign of bombing and sabotaging in England. In 1942, Actress Carol Lombard died when TWA flight 3 crashed, killing all 22 on board. Fantasist Orson Welles was to claim it had been shot down by Germans, but it had failed from navigational error flying from Las Vegas to California over an inconvenient mountain range. In 1945, Hitler went to his bunker. In 1956, Egyptian President Nasser, armed with a Nazis developed military, threatened to take so called Palestine. In 1969 a Czech student burned himself alive to protest the Soviet Union occupation. On the same day, the Soviet Union performed the first of transferring crew via spacewalk between craft. In 1991, the first Gulf War began. In 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia took off on her final journey. No one could have helped the damaged craft, and she burned up on re entry.
On this day in 27 BC Octavian took on the title Augustus, which is Latin for Majestic. It is connected with the word Augury and some said that Rome was founded after Romulus' august augury. The day marks the beginning of imperial Rome and the passing of the republic. Many believed the republic did not truly pass. Many died believing that. Some things are known of the Maya, although much was destroyed of there culture by conquistadors and the passing of time. In 378, General Siyaj K'ak' conquered land in what is now Guatemala. During this time he highly influenced Maya with culture from Mexico, but it is not known precisely how that influence was made. In 1412, the Medici family were made official bankers of the Papacy. In 1492, the first grammar for Spanish was presented to the Spanish Queen Isabella I .. and in 1605, the first edition of book one of Don Quixote by Cervantes was published in Madrid. In 1707, the Scottish parliament passed legislation allowing the creation of Great Britain.
In 1862, the Hartley Colliery mining disaster resulted in legislation changes to make mines safer. The US modernised her civil service in 1883. In 1919, the US ratified the prohibition 18th amendment. In 1939, sensing an opportunity to promote Hitler, the IRA began a campaign of bombing and sabotaging in England. In 1942, Actress Carol Lombard died when TWA flight 3 crashed, killing all 22 on board. Fantasist Orson Welles was to claim it had been shot down by Germans, but it had failed from navigational error flying from Las Vegas to California over an inconvenient mountain range. In 1945, Hitler went to his bunker. In 1956, Egyptian President Nasser, armed with a Nazis developed military, threatened to take so called Palestine. In 1969 a Czech student burned himself alive to protest the Soviet Union occupation. On the same day, the Soviet Union performed the first of transferring crew via spacewalk between craft. In 1991, the first Gulf War began. In 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia took off on her final journey. No one could have helped the damaged craft, and she burned up on re entry.
From 2014
New Zealand is beautiful. I cannot thank her enough for snowing in summer. Sydney hasn't done that for me recently. Meteorologists called some white stuff falling in Turramurra a decade ago "Soft Hail" which is apparently warmer than snow .. We need a Poley Dancer .. a dancer for money .. heat waves in Australia could be made a thing of the past with a Bradfield scheme .. Still, there is a blast of cold coming from highly paid climate scientists claiming the world is warming.
A shot is heard around the world. Rumour has it that an unidentified police source that might be from Indonesia thinks an Australian defence person has discharged a weapon without hitting their target. Further evidence, were it needed, that training has suffered under the ALP in the armed services. Become a climate champion. Change your lights to plasma TVs. Keep the oven hot. If a light is out, replace that TV set. Burn a candle or ten for Maurice Newman.
A shot is heard around the world. Rumour has it that an unidentified police source that might be from Indonesia thinks an Australian defence person has discharged a weapon without hitting their target. Further evidence, were it needed, that training has suffered under the ALP in the armed services. Become a climate champion. Change your lights to plasma TVs. Keep the oven hot. If a light is out, replace that TV set. Burn a candle or ten for Maurice Newman.
Historical perspective on this day
In 27 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus was granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire. 378, General Siyaj K'ak'conquered Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán. 550, Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquered Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison. 929, Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba.
In 1120, the Council of Nablus was held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1362, a storm tide in the North Sea destroyed the Germancity of Rungholt on the island of Strand. 1412, the Medici family was appointed official banker of the Papacy. 1492, the first grammar of the Spanish language was presented to Queen Isabella I. 1547, Ivan IV of Russia aka Ivan the Terrible became Czar of Russia. 1556, Philip IIbecame King of Spain. 1572, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk was tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. 1581, the English Parliamentoutlawed Roman Catholicism. 1605, the first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain. 1707, the Scottish Parliament ratified the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain. 1761, the British capture Pondichéry, India from the French. 1780, American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent. 1786, Virginia enacted the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
In 1809, Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña. 1847, John C. Frémont was appointed Governor of the new California Territory. 1862, Hartley Colliery Disaster: 204 men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompted a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape. 1878, Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) – Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Buragowith a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberated Plovdiv from Ottoman rule. 1883, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, established the United States Civil Service, was passed. 1896, Defeat of Cymru Fydd at South Wales Liberal Federation AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire.
In 1900, the United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounced its claims to the Samoan islands. 1909, Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole. 1919, Temperance movement: The United Statesratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorising Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification. 1920, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University. 1920, the League of Nations held its first council meeting in Paris, France. 1924, Eleftherios Venizelos became Prime Minister of Greecefor the fourth time. 1939, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) began a bombing and sabotage campaign in England.
In 1942, Crash of TWA Flight 3, killed all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard. 1945, Adolf Hitler moved into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker. 1956, President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt vowed to reconquer Palestine. 1964, Hello, Dolly! (musical)starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances. 1969, Czech student Jan Palach committed suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before. Also 1969, Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk. 1970, Buckminster Fullerreceived the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects. 1979, the last Iranian Shah fled Iran with his family for good and relocated to Egypt.
In 1986, first meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force. 1991, the Coalition Forces went to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War (U.S. Time). 1992, El Salvador officials and rebel leaders signed the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives. 2001, Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards. Also 2001, US President Bill Clinton awarded former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War. 2002, the UN Security Council unanimously established an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban. 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia took off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry. 2005, Romanian university lecturer and novelist Adriana Iliescu gave birth at 66 to her daughter Eliza, breaking the record for the oldest birth mother in the world. 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as Liberia's new president. She became Africa's first female elected head of state. 2013, an estimated 41 international workers were taken hostage in an attack in the town of In Aménas, Algeria.
In 1120, the Council of Nablus was held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1362, a storm tide in the North Sea destroyed the Germancity of Rungholt on the island of Strand. 1412, the Medici family was appointed official banker of the Papacy. 1492, the first grammar of the Spanish language was presented to Queen Isabella I. 1547, Ivan IV of Russia aka Ivan the Terrible became Czar of Russia. 1556, Philip IIbecame King of Spain. 1572, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk was tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England. 1581, the English Parliamentoutlawed Roman Catholicism. 1605, the first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain. 1707, the Scottish Parliament ratified the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain. 1761, the British capture Pondichéry, India from the French. 1780, American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent. 1786, Virginia enacted the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
In 1809, Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña. 1847, John C. Frémont was appointed Governor of the new California Territory. 1862, Hartley Colliery Disaster: 204 men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompted a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape. 1878, Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) – Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Buragowith a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberated Plovdiv from Ottoman rule. 1883, the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, established the United States Civil Service, was passed. 1896, Defeat of Cymru Fydd at South Wales Liberal Federation AGM, Newport, Monmouthshire.
In 1900, the United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounced its claims to the Samoan islands. 1909, Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole. 1919, Temperance movement: The United Statesratified the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorising Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification. 1920, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University. 1920, the League of Nations held its first council meeting in Paris, France. 1924, Eleftherios Venizelos became Prime Minister of Greecefor the fourth time. 1939, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) began a bombing and sabotage campaign in England.
In 1942, Crash of TWA Flight 3, killed all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard. 1945, Adolf Hitler moved into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker. 1956, President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt vowed to reconquer Palestine. 1964, Hello, Dolly! (musical)starring Carol Channing opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances. 1969, Czech student Jan Palach committed suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before. Also 1969, Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk. 1970, Buckminster Fullerreceived the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects. 1979, the last Iranian Shah fled Iran with his family for good and relocated to Egypt.
In 1986, first meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force. 1991, the Coalition Forces went to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War (U.S. Time). 1992, El Salvador officials and rebel leaders signed the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives. 2001, Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards. Also 2001, US President Bill Clinton awarded former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War. 2002, the UN Security Council unanimously established an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban. 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia took off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry. 2005, Romanian university lecturer and novelist Adriana Iliescu gave birth at 66 to her daughter Eliza, breaking the record for the oldest birth mother in the world. 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as Liberia's new president. She became Africa's first female elected head of state. 2013, an estimated 41 international workers were taken hostage in an attack in the town of In Aménas, Algeria.
=== 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
- 1093 – Isaac Komnenos, Byzantine sebastokratōr (d. 1152)
- 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, English prince and crusader (d. 1296)
- 1516 – Bayinnaung, Burmese king (d. 1581)
- 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer (d. 1800)
- 1853 – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (d. 1931)
- 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
- 1933 – Susan Sontag, American author (d. 2004)
- 1948 – John Carpenter, American director
- 1974 – Kate Moss, English model
- 1979 – Aaliyah, American singer, dancer, and actress (d. 2001)
- 1995 – Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer
- 27 BC – Gaius Octavianus was given the title Augustus by the Roman Senate when he became the first Roman emperor.
- 1780 – American Revolutionary War: The British Royal Navy gained their first major naval victory over their European enemies in the war when they defeated a Spanish squadron in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent(pictured).
- 1862 – The beam of a pumping engine broke at the Hartley Colliery in Northumberland, England, and fell down the shaft trapping the men below, resulting in the deaths of 204 men.
- 1945 – World War II: Adolf Hitler and his staff moved into the Führerbunker, where he would eventually commit suicide.
- 1969 – Student Jan Palach set himself on fire in Wenceslas Square in Prague as a protest against the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia the previous year.
Deaths
- 378 – Chak Tok Ich'aak I, Mayan king
- 654 – Gao Jifu, Chinese politician, Chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (b. 596)
- 970 – Patriarch Polyeuctus of Constantinople (b. 956)
- 1327 – Nikephoros Choumnos, Byzantine scholar and politician (b. 1250)
- 1387 – Elizabeth of Bosnia (b. 1339)
- 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician (b. 1352)
- 1545 – George Spalatin, German reformer (b. 1484)
- 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
- 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish publisher and scholar (b. 1480)
- 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral (b. 1512)
- 1592 – John Casimir of the Palatinate-Simmern (b. 1543)
- 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
- 1710 – Emperor Higashiyama of Japan (b. 1675)
- 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Indian-Sri Lankan priest (b. 1651)
- 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet (b. 1680)
- 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch scholar (b. 1684)
- 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal (b. 1667)
- 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English historian (b. 1705)
- 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (b. 1737)
- 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician (b. 1769)
- 1907 – Hélène Napoleone Bonaparte, French noblewoman and reputed child of Napoleon (b. 1816)
- 1935 – Fred Barker, American criminal (b. 1901)
- 1935 – Ma Barker, American criminal (b. 1871)
- 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. 1850)
- 1942 – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet and linguist (b. 1885)
- 1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress (b. 1908)
- 1942 – Ernst Scheller, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1899)
- 1959 – Phan Khôi, Vietnamese journalist and author (b. 1887)
- 1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor (Alvin and the Chipmunks) (b. 1919)
- 1975 – Israel Abramofsky, Russian-American painter (b. 1888)
- 1997 – Ennis Cosby, American educator (b. 1969)
- 2001 – Auberon Waugh, English author and journalist (b. 1939)
- 2013 – André Cassagnes, French toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Ruth Duccini, American actress (b. 1918)
Tim Blair 2018
HAT SLASH FEVER GRIPS GREAT WHITE NORTH
CNN reports from Canada: “Khawlah Noman was walking to her Toronto school when a man suddenly appeared behind her and cut her hijab.”
THE BURGUS IS BETTER
I don’t know about the rest of you people, but I could really go a hurgusburgus right now.
THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS
Having fixed climate change, cancelled capitalism and achieved peace in our time, the Greens now turn to the issue of when Australians should celebrate Australia Day.
DAN GURNEY
The son of a New York opera singer, Dan Gurney became one of world’s greatest racing drivers and a remarkable improvisational engineer. He has died in California at 86.
LAKEMBA AND BEYOND, FOUR YEARS LATER
Nearly four years ago, back in August 2014, I dropped in on the Sunni Sydney suburb of Lakemba to gauge the joint’s mood.
BLUNT FORCE DEFEATS A TOMIC WEAPON
Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic was asked Sunday what was next for him following an Australian Open qualifying loss.
Tim Blair
DH
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FORD vs HOLDEN, CHRYSLER, CHEVROLET AND OTHER FORDS
PROUDLY PRESENTED BY BeakAway™ GIANT PARROT REPELLENT
MONDAY NOTICEBOARD
INNOVATEY FLOODGATEY INFLATEY MATEY
TODAY’S DAILY TELEGRAPH EDITORIAL
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
TODAY’S DAILY TELEGRAPH EDITORIAL II
THE YEAR OF MILO
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 16, 2016 (4:13pm)
Excellent Breitbart columnist and jazz hands scholar Milo Yiannopoulos is 16 days into his year of revolutionary cultural libertarianism:
It stands against any authoritarian, from the Right or the Left, who sucks fun and freedom from the world like some kind of vampire without the cool factor, and who uses faux grievances and exaggerated victimhood to get what they want. Cultural libertarianism rejects the fainting-couch feminism and race-baiting of the Left in favour of deliberately provocative joyfulness and exuberance. It also predicates facts over hurt feelings, versus the social justice crowd who want to turn harrowing anecdotes into “lived experience” — which we are then expected to treat like scientific data.While college campuses retreat into safe spaces, emotional coddling and treating the leaders of tomorrow like primary school children, cultural libertarians think of new ways to provoke and offend people. In a culture of control, conformity, and coddling, cultural libertarians are the true counterculture. 2015 was the year victimhood and hurt feelings became social currency — but cultural libertarians are putting an end to the madness.
It’s all part of Milo’s Dangerous Faggot tour of 2016, which aims to take down the social justice warrior movement:
If you take their crybully pronouncements at face value, social justice warriors believe, with all the fervor of a paranoiac, that they are helpless, fragile things, buffeted by sinister structural forces they are powerless to resist. They believe that their opponents possess power that, if used ruthlessly enough, could eradicate them. What do you say we prove them right?
Quite so. Milo should bring his tour to target-rich Australia.
===
THEY’RE SCARED OF MALCOLM
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 16, 2016 (4:12pm)
An unusual phobia at the ABC:
The former technology editor of the ABC’s website has claimed he was gagged from writing about the National Broadband Network because management “didn’t want to upset” Malcolm Turnbull.
ABC fans always claim their billion dollar baby is independent because it is not beholden to advertisers. Of course, this just means it is beholden to government.
UPDATE. Turnbull with one of his ABC supporters:
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OUAGADOUGOU ATTACKED
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 16, 2016 (3:20pm)
Bloodlust in Burkina Faso, where up to 20 people have been killed in a hotel raid by Islamic terrorists. The hotel is now ablaze:
Several cars outside the hotel, which is popular with Westerners, also were engulfed in flames after the attackers set them on fire when they launched their assault.It was not immediately known how many people may have been killed during the siege, though a survivor told hospital director Robert Sangare he estimated the toll could be as high as 20.
At least 15 other people were seriously wounded by bullets and undergoing treatment at the Yalgado Ouedraogo hospital, he said …In a message posted in Arabic on the militants’ “Muslim Africa” Telegram account, [al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb] said fighters had “broke into a restaurant of one of the biggest hotels in the capital of Burkina Faso, and are now entrenched and the clashes are continuing with the enemies of the religion.”
Innocent non-Muslims enjoying a meal, in other words.
UPDATE:
Members of Burkina Faso’s fire brigade found about ten bodies on the terrace of a restaurant opposite the Splendid Hotel in the capital that was attacked by suspected militants.
UPDATE II:
Burkina Faso’s Interior Minister says 126 people have been freed and three jihadists killed in the operation against al-Qai’da-linked extremists who seized a foreigners’ hotel in the capital of the West African nation.As many as 30 people are reported killed.
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OLD BULL
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 16, 2016 (3:00pm)
Whenever Red Bull presents one of their impressive publicity stunts, they always use an elderly non-turbo car – presumably because the current turbo engines are difficult to run in sub-optimal conditions and sound like garbage:
Nine news last night claimed driver Max Verstappen was performing in Red Bull’s 2016 vehicle. Not so. The RB7 last ran in competition five years ago.
Nine news last night claimed driver Max Verstappen was performing in Red Bull’s 2016 vehicle. Not so. The RB7 last ran in competition five years ago.
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EVERYTHING GREEN IS HOPELESS AND SLOW
Tim Blair – Saturday, January 16, 2016 (1:41pm)
Tony Thomas reviews the progress of the $250 million Solar Impulse 2, a sun-powered aircraft attempting to fly around the world:
Departing Abu Dhabi, Solar Impulse 2 got half-way in 200 days, but it’s going nowhere until at least April. That’s because its solar batteries overheated during a wrong flight pattern and have to be replaced.The fuel-free plane was meant to show the delicious potential of clean solar energy, ‘therapy for the planet’ and a climate-change stopper, as its founders balloonist Bertrand Piccard and ex-Swiss air force man Andre Borschberg see it. The solar plane’s actually demonstrated the superiority of a few drums of avgas.Its 17,200 solar cells generate 17 horsepower for each of the four props – less than half the grunt of my four-cylinder Camry …The solar plane is at the mercy of sun and breezes. It was held up at Nagoya for a month waiting for favorable winds, much like a 17th century galleon.But there’s more. To keep this gossamer confection airborne, an Ilyushin 76 strategic airlifter flies ahead with a blow-up hangar and all the high-tech servicing gear. Aviation buffs call the airlifter a ‘bad-ass’, not just because of its ugly nose and four droopy jets, but because its takeoffs are real Russian screamers. Once aloft, it burns eight tons of CO2-spewing avgas per hour.This behemoth is accompanied by a twin-turboprop ATR72 which can carry a support crew of up to 60, apart from the dozens left at Monaco mission control. The ATR burns a more modest tonne of fuel per 90 minutes.With these two little helpers, the solar plane flies (half) around the world ‘without using a drop of fuel’. Piccard says, ‘What we have here is the future’.
The future is a busted-arse quarter-billion sky Camry? Give me the past any day.
UPDATE. In further aviation news, this discussion about the BAC 1-11 and its Nigerian fate is hilarious.
UPDATE II. The real future is pies.
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POODLE LADY STRIKES AGAIN
Tim Blair – Friday, January 16, 2015 (11:32am)
Whether she’s riding her bicycle, avoiding parked trucks, walking her dog or trying to book a flight, Elizabeth Farrelly invariably encounters some form of transport trouble. And now it’s happened again:
It’s Sunday afternoon. I’m walking the dog on Cleveland Street. The traffic is relatively light and the footpath outside the Greek Orthodox church relatively cluttered – three poles, two palm trees, one oncoming pedestrian with full set of golf clubs, and a standard poodle (mine).
Natch.
Behind me sounds a bicycle bell. It gets louder, faster, more insistent every second. In fact, it sounds increasingly bad-tempered. Yet, given Golf-club Guy, dopey poodle and fixed paraphernalia, inside four linear metres, I cannot let a bike past without actually stepping into the carriageway. Plus, to be honest, I shouldn’t have to.
Queen Elizabeth, as we know, never steps aside.
Within 20 seconds of Golf-club Guy’s passing, there’s the unmistakable sound of collision. I turn to see Golf-club standing, gobsmacked, and Bike Bloke on the ground – large, middle-aged, helmetless, red-faced, shouting. I stand, astonished. Which is when Bike Bloke starts on me.“And you, ya f-----g c---!” he roars, straight to full throttle. “You could’ve got outta the way! You’re just a great big f-----g c---!”I explain politely that there was limited room on the path and rather a lot of room on the road, where he, a cyclist, belongs.
This latest incident bears remarkable similarities to a previous Farrelly clash: “Anzac Day, mid-morning. A quiet street on quieter day. I’m poodle-walking. Dog’s a little wide, footpath’s a little narrow, so between us we occupy it. Behind me comes the jolly yet peremptory ‘tring!’ of a bicycle bell. Ignore it. Beside me, the road is empty, as is its designated cycle lane.” On that occasion, the angry cyclist followed the initial dispute with a belated rejoinder ("Don’t be so rude, lady!"). The pattern is repeated:
He cycles off. I walk on. After a few second he returns.“You’re Elizabeth Farrelly, aren’t you?” he screams.
Lizzie’s brilliantly regal response:
I say this is irrelevant to the discussion in hand.
Our favourite columnist really should start wearing a Russian-style dash cam on her head. Farrelly is a one-woman reality show just waiting to happen.
UPDATE. Reader Brad checks Google Street View’s image of the Farrelly conflict zone, and discovers it has enough space to walk THREE dogs:
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HEBDO II AVERTED
Tim Blair – Friday, January 16, 2015 (10:49am)
Two dead following terror raids in Belgium:
Belgian police have killed two men in a fierce gunfight – foiling a major and imminent terror attack in the country, according to authorities.They died in the eastern town of Verviers during one of 10 raids as part of an investigation into Islamist extremists returning from fighting in Syria.As police closed in near a train station, the suspects opened fire with automatic weapons and there was an intense shootout for several minutes before the pair were killed, said a prosecutor …The website of La Meuse newspaper quoted an unidentified police officer as saying: “We’ve averted a Belgian Charlie Hebdo.”
Meanwhile, in Sydney:
Controversial Islamic preacher Junaid Thorne has warned his “brothers” to be secretive after his western Sydney home was raided by police yesterday …The 25-year-old is expected to attend a Hizb ut-Tahrir rally in Lakemba tomorrow night “We Will Not Abandon Our Prophet”.
None of this has anything to do with Islam.
UPDATE. Solitary Melbourne-raised Canis lupus Suhan Rahman:
I say stuf the peaceful protests. Spill blood, young aussiesThey say ‘were all charlie.’ I say that means uze all deserve death and worse.Let the heads fly and blood flow.May allah accept the french brothers who terrorised france. Day by daywe will bring the war home to you.No matterr how much they try they cant stop the influence. They can lok mee away but by that time i vee already f… the world.
Rahman is now running with the pack in Syria:
His distraught father Lutfur Rahman told The Daily Telegraph Rahman had brought “shame” on the family.
I’ll say. That spelling is atrocious.
UPDATE II. Several Australia-connected wolves of loneliness are arrested in Malaysia.
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I remember a scientist visiting my elementary school to tell us of global cooling circa '76 in Princeton NJ. They had cool chemical lights that were lit by breaking the internal seals. We were told that there was only a decade of gas left to power cars. And a futuristic TV series had scientists in a futuristic camper van that ran on solar power .. Thing is, I was sanguine with it. As I am with less heat needed for toast. But other kids shivered in their boots bemoaned losing life to nuclear strikes and enjoyed listening to KISS.
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It is a fantasy/drawing .. I didn't think anything *could* be *wrong* with fantasy .. even if same sex lions and deer
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don't fall for it ..
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What’s hot is the alarmism back home
Andrew Bolt January 16 2014 (6:56am)
Back last night from New Zealand, where tour operators on the South Island were apologising for the unseasonal cold, with summer snow falling on mountains from Southland to Kaikoura. In Queenstown, though, a tourist from Chicago still gloated to me how he’d dodged therecord-breaking cold gripping the US:
But back in Melbourne I am plunged back in the same global warming madness, with a local heat wave treated by warmists as a proxy for a world-wide heating. The Climate Council of professional alarmist Tim Flannery once again hypes the scare with the ABC’s help:
But back in Melbourne I am plunged back in the same global warming madness, with a local heat wave treated by warmists as a proxy for a world-wide heating. The Climate Council of professional alarmist Tim Flannery once again hypes the scare with the ABC’s help:
Heatwaves in Australia are becoming more frequent, hotter and are lasting longer, a report released today by the Climate Council says.Decades of man-made warming and we still can’t beat a 1908 record?
The interim findings of the report, Australian Heatwaves: Hotter, Longer, Earlier and More Often, come as southern Australia swelters through a heatwave. After notching up two consecutive days over 40 degrees Celsius, Melbourne is on track to record its second-longest heatwave since records began in the 1830s… The longest heatwave in Melbourne was in 1908, when there were five consecutive days over 40C.
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Still waiting for warming - and a sorry
Andrew Bolt January 16 2014 (6:33am)
Richard Kerr in Science, flagship publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, talked to warmist scientists convinced global warming would resume within five years:
What would it take for warmist scientists to admit they were wrong?
Well, more than mere evidence, suggests Maurice Newman:
The blogosphere has been having a field day with global warming’s apparent decade-long stagnation…Time’s up. Kerr wrote that five years ago. And sill no warming.
The latest response from the climate community comes in State of the Climate… [in] the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Climate researcher Jeff Knight and eight colleagues at the Met Office Hadley Centre in Exeter, U.K., first establish that—at least in one leading temperature record—greenhouse warming has been stopped in its tracks for the past 10 years… But natural climate variability in the model has its limits. Pauses as long as 15 years are rare in the simulations, and “we expect that [real-world] warming will resume in the next few years,” the Hadley Centre group writes.
And that resumption could come as a bit of a jolt, says Adam Scaife of the group, as the temperature catches up with the greenhouse gases added during the pause…
Solar physicist Judith Lean of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., and climate modeler David Rind of GISS reached the same conclusion in a peer-reviewed 15 August paper in Geophysical Research Letters…
Researchers may differ about exactly what’s behind recent natural climate variability, but they agree that no sort of natural variability can hold off greenhouse warming much longer. “Our prediction is that if past is prologue, the solar component will turn around and lead to rapid warming in the next 5 years,” says Rind. Climate modeler David Smith of the Hadley Centre, who was not involved in the State of the Climate analysis, says his group’s climate model forecasts—made much the way weather forecasts are made—are still calling for warming to resume in the next few years as ocean influences reverse...
What would it take for warmist scientists to admit they were wrong?
Well, more than mere evidence, suggests Maurice Newman:
The IPCC was bound to be captured by the green movement. After all, it is a political body. It is not a panel of scientists but a panel of governments driven by the UN. Its sole purpose is to assess the risks of human-induced climate change. It has spawned industries. One is scientists determined to find an anthropogenic cause. Another is climate remediation. And, naturally, an industry to redistribute taxes to sustain it all. With hundreds of billions of dollars at stake, this cartel will deny all contrary evidence. Its very survival depends on it. But the tide is turning and Mother Nature has signalled her intention not to co-operate.
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POLEY DANCER
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 16, 2014 (2:47pm)
There are no words.
(Via Jaki)
I'm your poley dancer. A dancer for money. Do what you want me to do. - ed
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NAVY ACCUSED
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 16, 2014 (2:45pm)
A totally believable claim from an impeccable source:
Indonesian authorities have quoted the asylum seekers on board saying Australian navy personnel fired shots as part of the operation to turn around the boat carrying 25 people …A local police commissioner from southern Java, who did not want his name or his district published, has told Fairfax Media that villagers plucked a number of asylum seekers from the water a week ago, on January 8, after their boat was turned back by Australia.The officer, quoting one of those on board, Snilul, 25, from Bangladesh, said the navy had “shot into the air just to scare them”.
Naturally, leftoids fell for it. They’re seething like hot rats. Never mind this, from immigration minister Scott Morrison:
“Without commenting on any specific alleged incident I can confirm that no shots have been fired at any time by any persons involved in Operation Sovereign Borders since the operation commenced,” he said in a statement.
Leftoids aren’t listening to him. They prefer secondhand claims passed on by “a local police commissioner from southern Java, who did not want his name or his district published”.
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I’M A CLIMATE CHAMPION
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 16, 2014 (4:45am)
The latest Greens email to their tragic supporters:
Yet Sophie is somehow still alive despite all those years of superheated horror. Her email launches the Greens’ fantastic new climate champion campaign:
Yet Sophie is somehow still alive despite all those years of superheated horror. Her email launches the Greens’ fantastic new climate champion campaign:
The Abbott Government wants to demolish our clean energy laws – legislation we know is working to halt global warming.
This is a lie. Australian legislation cannot change the planet’s temperature.
Currently, the Greens are standing in the way of Abbott ramming his roll-back through the Senate.
Sophie! Language!
Becoming a climate champion means you’ll be the first to know about campaign actions and opportunities in the coming months. We’ll send you a Climate Champion toolkit with everything you need to build awareness and support in your community.
A climate champion toolkit … how absolutely darling. I’ve already applied for mine, and strongly encourage all of my fellow climate champions to join in. We want our climate champion toolkits now.
UPDATE. Links dropped out earlier, possibly due to climate change. Or maybe the Greens don’t want us in their climate champion club. Try them again.
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ALL ABOARD
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 16, 2014 (4:40am)
Pirelli’s fancy 50th anniversary calendar has nothing on this:
Note the Winfield cigarettes ad. Order here to satisfy all of your hot 1970s bus action needs, or select from an extensive calendar range featuring road trains, trams and … huts.
Note the Winfield cigarettes ad. Order here to satisfy all of your hot 1970s bus action needs, or select from an extensive calendar range featuring road trains, trams and … huts.
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BUTTOCKS OF SHAME
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 16, 2014 (2:44am)
David Thompson’s latest examination of leftist pain includes the phrases “intersectional revolutionary movement” and “performativity of gender”.
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MINISTER FOR SNOOP
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 16, 2014 (2:17am)
Immigration minister Scott Morrison no doubt anticipated one or two elements of his current job: hypocritical heckling from those whose policies killed more than one thousand asylum seekers, for example, and crybaby complaints from reporters who never bothered covering illegal boat arrivals when Labor was in power. But he probably didn’t expect thismagnificent ministerial moment:
“Snoop Dogg has a visa,” Mr Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
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PARTY OVER
Tim Blair – Thursday, January 16, 2014 (1:49am)
Maurice Newman, the man who made Jonathan Holmes so angry he could barely concentrate, continues his pursuitof climate berserkers:
The IPCC was bound to be captured by the green movement. After all, it is a political body. It is not a panel of scientists but a panel of governments driven by the UN. Its sole purpose is to assess the risks of human-induced climate change. It has spawned industries. One is scientists determined to find an anthropogenic cause. Another is climate remediation. And, naturally, an industry to redistribute taxes to sustain it all. With hundreds of billions of dollars at stake, this cartel will deny all contrary evidence. Its very survival depends on it. But the tide is turning and Mother Nature has signalled her intention not to co-operate.In the meantime, childish personal attacks on those who point out flaws in IPCC reasoning and advice only increase scepticism. They are no substitute for empirical evidence and are well into diminishing returns. The party’s over.
Not much fun these days either for Lord Stern, the bumbling British warmist who doesn’t know anything aboutCadillacs and China.
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Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa men have loved you ..
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they don't take drugs ..
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- 27 BC – Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
- 378 – General Siyaj K'ak' conquers Tikal, enlarging the domain of King Spearthrower Owl of Teotihuacán.
- 550 – Gothic War: The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
- 929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba.
- 1120 – The Council of Nablus is held, establishing the earliest surviving written laws of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
- 1362 – A storm tide in the North Sea ravages the East coast of England and destroys the German city of Rungholt on the island of Strand.
- 1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy.
- 1492 – The first grammar of the Spanish language (Gramática de la lengua castellana) is presented to Queen Isabella I.
- 1547 – Ivan the Terrible becomes Czar of Russia.
- 1556 – Philip II becomes King of Spain.
- 1572 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk is tried for treason for his part in the Ridolfi plot to restore Catholicism in England.
- 1605 – The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain.
- 1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
- 1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
- 1786 – Virginia enacts the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
- 1809 – Peninsular War: The British defeat the French at the Battle of La Coruña.
- 1847 – John C. Frémont is appointed Governor of the new California Territory.
- 1862 – Hartley Colliery disaster: Two hundred and four men and boys killed in a mining disaster, prompted a change in UK law which henceforth required all collieries to have at least two independent means of escape.
- 1878 – Russo-Turkish War (1877–78): Battle of Philippopolis: Captain Aleksandr Burago with a squadron of Russian Imperial army dragoons liberates Plovdiv from Ottoman rule.
- 1883 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed.
- 1900 – The United States Senate accepts the Anglo-German treaty of 1899 in which the United Kingdom renounces its claims to the Samoan islands.
- 1909 – Ernest Shackleton's expedition finds the magnetic South Pole.
- 1919 – Temperance movement: The United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification.
- 1920 – Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated was founded on the campus of Howard University.
- 1920 – The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France.
- 1921 – The Marxist Left in Slovakia and the Transcarpathian Ukraine holds its founding congress in Ľubochňa.
- 1924 – Eleftherios Venizelos becomes Prime Minister of Greece for the fourth time.
- 1938 – Benny Goodman and his band performed in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City
- 1942 – Crash of TWA Flight 3, killing all 22 aboard, including film star Carole Lombard.
- 1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
- 1964 – Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway, beginning a run of 2,844 performances.
- 1969 – Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before.
- 1969 – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of manned spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
- 1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
- 1979 – The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
- 1991 – Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War.
- 1992 – El Salvador officials and rebel leaders sign the Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City, Mexico ending the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War that claimed at least 75,000 lives.
- 2001 – Congolese President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is assassinated by one of his own bodyguards.
- 2001 – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
- 2002 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
- 2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
- 2006 – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is sworn in as Liberia's new president. She becomes Africa's first female elected head of state.
- 2016 – Thirty-three out of 126 freed hostages are injured and 23 killed in terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on a hotel and a nearby restaurant.
- 972 – Sheng Zong, emperor of the Liao Dynasty (d. 1031)
- 1093 – Isaac Komnenos, son of Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (d. 1152)
- 1245 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1296)
- 1362 – Robert de Vere, duke of Ireland (d. 1392)
- 1409 – René of Anjou, king of Naples (d. 1480)
- 1477 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (d. 1547)
- 1501 – Anthony Denny, confidant of Henry VIII of England (d. 1559)
- 1516 – Bayinnaung, king of Burma (d. 1581)
- 1558 – Jakobea of Baden, Margravine of Baden by birth, Duchess of Jülich-Cleves-Berg by marriage (d. 1597)
- 1616 – François de Vendôme, duke of Beaufort (d. 1669)
- 1626 – Lucas Achtschellinck, Belgian painter and educator (d. 1699)
- 1630 – Guru Har Rai, Sikh Guru (d. 1661)
- 1634 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, Norwegian author and poet (d. 1716)
- 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1755)
- 1691 – Peter Scheemakers, Belgian sculptor and educator (d. 1781)
- 1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, Italian composer and educator (d. 1800)
- 1749 – Vittorio Alfieri, Italian poet and playwright (d. 1803)
- 1757 – Richard Goodwin Keats, English admiral and politician, 3rd Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland (d. 1834)
- 1807 – Charles Henry Davis, American admiral (d. 1877)
- 1815 – Henry Halleck, American lawyer, general, and scholar (d. 1872)
- 1821 – John C. Breckinridge, American general and politician, 14th Vice President of the United States (d. 1875)
- 1834 – Robert R. Hitt, American lawyer and politician, 13th United States Assistant Secretary of State (d. 1906)
- 1836 – Francis II of the Two Sicilies (d. 1894)
- 1838 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (d. 1917)
- 1851 – William Hall-Jones, English-New Zealand politician, 16th Prime Minister of New Zealand(d. 1936)
- 1853 – Johnston Forbes-Robertson, English actor and manager (d. 1937)
- 1853 – Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton, Greek-English general (d. 1947)
- 1853 – André Michelin, French businessman, co-founded the Michelin Tyre Company (d. 1931)
- 1870 – Jüri Jaakson, Estonian businessman and politician, State Elder of Estonia (d. 1942)
- 1872 – Henri Büsser, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1973)
- 1874 – Robert W. Service, English-Canadian poet and author (d. 1958)
- 1875 – Leonor Michaelis, German biochemist and physician (d. 1949)
- 1876 – Claude Buckenham, English cricketer and footballer (d. 1937)
- 1878 – Harry Carey, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1947)
- 1880 – Samuel Jones, American high jumper (d. 1954)
- 1882 – Margaret Wilson, American author (d. 1973)
- 1885 – Zhou Zuoren, Chinese author and translator (d. 1967)
- 1888 – Osip Brik, Russian avant garde writer and literary critic (d. 1945)
- 1892 – Homer Burton Adkins, American chemist (d. 1949)
- 1893 – Daisy Kennedy, Australian-English violinist (d. 1981)
- 1894 – Irving Mills, American publisher (d. 1985)
- 1895 – Evripidis Bakirtzis, Greek soldier and politician (d. 1947)
- 1895 – T. M. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (d. 1966)
- 1895 – Nat Schachner, American lawyer, chemist, and author (d. 1955)
- 1897 – Carlos Pellicer, Mexican poet and academic (d. 1977)
- 1898 – Margaret Booth, American producer and editor (d. 2002)
- 1898 – Irving Rapper, American film director and producer (d. 1999)
- 1900 – Kiku Amino, Japanese author and translator (d. 1978) [1]
- 1900 – Edith Frank, German-Dutch mother of Anne Frank (d. 1945) [2]
- 1901 – Fulgencio Batista, Cuban colonel and politician, 9th President of Cuba (d. 1973)
- 1901 – Frank Zamboni, American businessman, founded the Zamboni Company (d. 1988)
- 1902 – Eric Liddell, Scottish runner, rugby player, and missionary (d. 1945)
- 1903 – William Grover-Williams, English-French race car driver (d. 1945)
- 1905 – Ernesto Halffter, Spanish composer and conductor (d. 1989)
- 1906 – Johannes Brenner, Estonian footballer and pilot (d. 1975)
- 1906 – Diana Wynyard, English actress (d. 1964)
- 1907 – Alexander Knox, Canadian-English actor and screenwriter (d. 1995)
- 1907 – Paul Nitze, American banker and politician, 10th United States Secretary of the Navy (d. 2004)
- 1908 – Sammy Crooks, English footballer (d. 1981)
- 1908 – Ethel Merman, American actress and singer (d. 1984)
- 1908 – Günther Prien, German captain (d. 1941)
- 1909 – Clement Greenberg, American art critic (d. 1994)
- 1910 – Dizzy Dean, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1974)
- 1911 – Ivan Barrow, Jamaican cricketer (d. 1979)
- 1911 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chilean lawyer and politician, 28th President of Chile (d. 1982)
- 1911 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (d. 1996)
- 1914 – Roger Wagner, French-American conductor and educator (d. 1992)
- 1915 – Leslie H. Martinson, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1916 – Eddie Burns, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2004)
- 1916 – Philip Lucock, English-Australian minister and politician (d. 1996)
- 1917 – Carl Karcher, American businessman, founded Carl's Jr. (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Nel Benschop, Dutch poet and educator (d. 2005)
- 1918 – Allan Ekelund, Swedish director, producer, and production manager (d. 2009)
- 1918 – Clem Jones, Australian surveyor and politician, 8th Lord Mayor of Brisbane (d. 2007)
- 1918 – Stirling Silliphant, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1996)
- 1919 – Jerome Horwitz, American chemist and academic (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Alberto Crespo, Argentinian race car driver (d. 1991)
- 1920 – Elliott Reid, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004)
- 1923 – Gene Feist, American director and playwright, co-founded the Roundabout Theatre Company (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (d. 2004)
- 1923 – Keith Shackleton, English painter and television host (d. 2015)
- 1924 – Katy Jurado, Mexican actress (d. 2002)
- 1925 – Peter Hirsch, German-English metallurgist and academic
- 1925 – James Robinson Risner, American general and pilot (d. 2013)
- 1928 – William Kennedy, American novelist and journalist
- 1928 – Pilar Lorengar, Spanish soprano and actress (d. 1996)
- 1929 – Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, Sri Lankan anthropologist and academic (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Mary Ann McMorrow, American lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Norman Podhoretz, American journalist and author
- 1931 – John Enderby, English physicist and academic
- 1931 – Robert L. Park, American physicist and academic
- 1931 – Johannes Rau, German journalist and politician, 8th Federal President of Germany (d. 2006)
- 1932 – Victor Ciocâltea, Romanian chess player (d. 1983)
- 1932 – Dian Fossey, American zoologist and anthropologist (d. 1985)
- 1933 – Susan Sontag, American novelist, essayist, and critic (d. 2004)
- 1934 – Bob Bogle, American rock guitarist and bass player (d. 2009)
- 1934 – Marilyn Horne, American soprano and actress
- 1935 – A. J. Foyt, American race car driver
- 1935 – Udo Lattek, German footballer, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2015)
- 1936 – Michael White, Scottish actor and producer (d. 2016)
- 1937 – Luiz Bueno, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2011)
- 1937 – Francis George, American cardinal (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Marina Vaizey, American journalist and critic
- 1939 – Ralph Gibson, American photographer
- 1941 – Christine Truman, English tennis player and sportscaster
- 1942 – René Angélil, Canadian singer and manager (d. 2016)
- 1942 – Barbara Lynn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1943 – Gavin Bryars, English bassist and composer
- 1943 – Ronnie Milsap, American singer and pianist
- 1944 – Dieter Moebius, Swiss-German keyboard player and producer (d. 2015)
- 1944 – Jim Stafford, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1944 – Jill Tarter, American astronomer and biologist
- 1944 – Judy Baar Topinka, American journalist and politician (d. 2014)
- 1945 – Wim Suurbier, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1946 – Katia Ricciarelli, Italian soprano and actress
- 1946 – Kabir Bedi, Indian actor
- 1947 – Elaine Murphy, Baroness Murphy, English academic and politician
- 1947 – Harvey Proctor, English politician
- 1947 – Laura Schlessinger, American physiologist, talk show host, and author
- 1948 – John Carpenter, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer
- 1948 – Ants Laaneots, Estonian general
- 1948 – Cliff Thorburn, Canadian snooker player
- 1948 – Ruth Reichl, American journalist and critic
- 1949 – Anne F. Beiler, American businesswoman, founded Auntie Anne's
- 1949 – R. F. Foster, Irish historian and academic
- 1949 – Andrew Refshauge, Australian physician and politician, 13th Deputy Premier of New South Wales
- 1950 – Debbie Allen, American actress, dancer, and choreographer
- 1950 – Robert Schimmel, American comedian, actor, and producer (d. 2010)
- 1952 – Fuad II, King of Egypt
- 1952 – Piercarlo Ghinzani, Italian race car driver and manager
- 1952 – L. Blaine Hammond, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
- 1952 – Julie Anne Peters, American engineer and author
- 1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant, founded The Order (d. 1984)
- 1954 – Wolfgang Schmidt, German discus thrower
- 1954 – Vasili Zhupikov, Russian footballer and coach (d. 2015)
- 1955 – Jerry M. Linenger, American captain, physician, and astronaut
- 1956 – Wayne Daniel, Barbadian cricketer
- 1956 – Martin Jol, Dutch footballer and manager
- 1956 – Greedy Smith, Australian singer-songwriter and keyboardist
- 1957 – Jurijs Andrejevs, Latvian footballer and manager
- 1957 – Ricardo Darín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1957 – Mitar Mirić, Serbian pop-folk singer
- 1957 – Mark Pawsey, English businessman and politician
- 1958 – Andriy Bal, Ukrainian footballer and coach (d. 2014)
- 1958 – Anatoli Boukreev, Russian mountaineer and explorer (d. 1997)
- 1958 – Lena Ek, Swedish lawyer and politician, 9th Swedish Minister for the Environment
- 1958 – Andris Šķēle, Latvian businessman and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Latvia
- 1959 – Lisa Milroy, Canadian painter and educator
- 1959 – Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1961 – Kenneth Sivertsen, Norwegian guitarist and composer (d. 2006)
- 1962 – Joel Fitzgibbon, Australian electrician and politician, 51st Australian Minister of Defence
- 1962 – Maxine Jones, American R&B singer–songwriter and actress
- 1964 – Gail Graham, Canadian golfer
- 1966 – Jack McDowell, American baseball player
- 1968 – Rebecca Stead, American author
- 1969 – Neil Back, English rugby player and coach
- 1969 – Marinus Bester, German footballer
- 1969 – Stevie Jackson, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
- 1969 – Roy Jones Jr., American boxer
- 1970 – Ron Villone, American baseball player and coach
- 1971 – Sergi Bruguera, Spanish tennis player and coach
- 1971 – Josh Evans, American film producer, screenwriter and actor
- 1971 – Jonathan Mangum, American actor
- 1972 – Ruben Bagger, Danish footballer
- 1972 – Ang Christou, Australian footballer
- 1972 – Yuri Alekseevich Drozdov, Russian footballer and manager
- 1972 – Ezra Hendrickson, Vincentian footballer and manager
- 1972 – Joe Horn, American football player and coach
- 1974 – Marlon Anderson, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1974 – John Hopoate, Tongan-Australian rugby league player and boxer
- 1974 – Kate Moss, English model and fashion designer
- 1976 – Viktor Maslov, Russian race car driver
- 1976 – Martina Moravcová, Slovak swimmer
- 1977 – Jeff Foster, American basketball player
- 1978 – Alfredo Amézaga, Mexican baseball player
- 1979 – Aaliyah, American singer and actress (d. 2001)
- 1979 – Brenden Morrow, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1979 – Jason Ward, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer
- 1980 – Albert Pujols, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1981 – Jamie Lundmark, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1981 – Paul Rofe, Australian cricketer
- 1982 – Preston, English singer-songwriter
- 1982 – Tuncay Şanlı, Turkish footballer
- 1983 – Emanuel Pogatetz, Austrian footballer
- 1983 – Andriy Rusol, Ukrainian footballer
- 1984 – Stephan Lichtsteiner, Swiss footballer
- 1984 – Miroslav Radović, Serbian footballer
- 1985 – Joe Flacco, American football player
- 1985 – Jayde Herrick, Australian cricketer
- 1985 – Gintaras Januševičius, Russian-Lithuanian pianist
- 1985 – Jonathan Richter, Danish footballer
- 1986 – Johannes Rahn, German footballer
- 1986 – Mark Trumbo, American baseball player
- 1986 – Reto Ziegler, Swiss footballer
- 1987 – Jake Epstein, Canadian actor
- 1987 – Charlotte Henshaw, English swimmer
- 1988 – Nicklas Bendtner, Danish footballer
- 1988 – Jorge Torres Nilo, Mexican footballer
- 1991 – Matt Duchene, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1993 – Hannes Anier, Estonian footballer
- 1993 – Amandine Hesse, French tennis player
- 1994 – Chris Smith, Australian rugby league player
- 1995 – Mikaela Turik, Australian-Canadian cricketer
- 1998 – Cameron Murray, Australian rugby league player[3]
Births[edit]
- 654 – Gao Jifu, Chinese politician and chancellor (b. 596)
- 957 – Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Madhara'i, Tulunid vizier (b. 871)
- 970 – Polyeuctus of Constantinople, Byzantine patriarch (b. 956)
- 1263 – Shinran Shonin, Japanese founder of the Jodo Shinshu branch of Pure Land Buddhism
- 1289 – Buqa, Mongol minister
- 1327 – Nikephoros Choumnos, Byzantine monk, scholar, and politician (b. 1250)
- 1354 – Joanna of Châtillon, duchess of Athens (b. c.1285)
- 1373 – Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (b. 1342)
- 1391 – Muhammed V of Granada, Nasrid emir (b. 1338)
- 1400 – John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, English politician, Lord Great Chamberlain (b. 1352)
- 1443 – Erasmo of Narni, Italian mercenary (b. 1370)
- 1545 – George Spalatin, German priest and reformer (b. 1484)
- 1547 – Johannes Schöner, German astronomer and cartographer (b. 1477)
- 1554 – Christiern Pedersen, Danish publisher and scholar (b. 1480)
- 1585 – Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln, English admiral and politician (b. 1512)
- 1595 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (b. 1546)
- 1659 – Charles Annibal Fabrot, French lawyer (b. 1580)
- 1710 – Higashiyama, Japanese emperor (b. 1675)
- 1711 – Joseph Vaz, Indian-Sri Lankan priest and saint (b. 1651)
- 1747 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet and playwright (b. 1680)
- 1748 – Arnold Drakenborch, Dutch lawyer and scholar (b. 1684)
- 1750 – Ivan Trubetskoy, Russian field marshal and politician (b. 1667)
- 1752 – Francis Blomefield, English historian and author (b. 1705)
- 1794 – Edward Gibbon, English historian and politician (b. 1737)
- 1809 – John Moore, Scottish general and politician (b. 1761)
- 1817 – Alexander J. Dallas, Jamaican-American lawyer and politician, 6th United States Secretary of the Treasury (b. 1759)
- 1834 – Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, French mathematician and academic (b. 1769)
- 1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, American entomologist and botanist (b. 1795)
- 1864 – Anton Schindler, Austrian secretary and author (b. 1795)
- 1865 – Edmond François Valentin About, French journalist and author (b. 1828)
- 1879 – Octave Crémazie, Canadian-French poet and bookseller (b. 1827)
- 1886 – Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer and academic (b. 1834)
- 1891 – Léo Delibes, French pianist and composer (b. 1836)
- 1898 – Charles Pelham Villiers, English lawyer and politician (b. 1802)
- 1901 – Jules Barbier, French poet and playwright (b. 1825)
- 1901 – Arnold Böcklin, Swiss painter and academic (b. 1827)
- 1901 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, American soldier, minister, and politician (b. 1822)
- 1906 – Marshall Field, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Marshall Field's (b. 1834)
- 1917 – George Dewey, American admiral (b. 1837)
- 1919 – Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 5th President of Brazil (b. 1848)
- 1933 – Bekir Sami Kunduh, Turkish politician (b. 1867)
- 1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer, rapist and cannibal.
- 1938 – Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Indian author and playwright (b. 1876)
- 1942 – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (b. 1850)
- 1942 – Villem Grünthal-Ridala, Estonian poet and linguist (b. 1885)
- 1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress and comedian (b. 1908)
- 1942 – Ernst Scheller, German lawyer and politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1899)
- 1957 – Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, English general and politician, 16th Governor General of Canada (b. 1874)
- 1957 – Arturo Toscanini, Italian cellist and conductor (b. 1867)
- 1959 – Phan Khôi, Vietnamese journalist and author (b. 1887)
- 1960 – Arthur Darby, English rugby player (b. 1876)
- 1961 – Max Schöne, German swimmer (b. 1880)
- 1962 – Frank Hurley, Australian photographer, director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1885)
- 1962 – Ivan Meštrović, Croatian sculptor and architect, designed the Monument to the Unknown Hero (b. 1883)
- 1967 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic (b. 1901)
- 1968 – Bob Jones Sr., American evangelist, founded Bob Jones University (b. 1883)
- 1968 – Panagiotis Poulitsas, Greek archaeologist and judge (b. 1881)
- 1969 – Vernon Duke, Russian-American composer and songwriter (b. 1903)
- 1971 – Philippe Thys, Belgian cyclist (b. 1890)
- 1972 – Teller Ammons, American soldier and politician, 28th Governor of Colorado (b. 1895)
- 1972 – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., American singer-songwriter, pianist, producer, and actor, created Alvin and the Chipmunks (b. 1919)
- 1973 – Edgar Sampson, American musician and composer (b. 1907)
- 1975 – Israel Abramofsky, Russian-American painter (b. 1888)
- 1978 – A. V. Kulasingham, Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1890)
- 1981 – Bernard Lee, English actor (b. 1908)
- 1983 – Virginia Mauret, American musician and dancer
- 1986 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist, author, and publisher (b. 1892)
- 1987 – Bertram Wainer, Australian physician and activist (b. 1928)
- 1988 – Andrija Artuković, Croatian politician, war criminal, and Porajmos perpetrator, 1st Minister of Interior of the Independent State of Croatia (b. 1899)
- 1995 – Eric Mottram, English poet and critic (b. 1924)
- 1996 – Marcia Davenport, American author and critic (b. 1903)
- 1996 – Kaye Webb, English journalist and publisher (b. 1914)
- 1999 – Jim McClelland, Australian lawyer, jurist, and politician, 12th Minister for Industry and Science (b. 1915)
- 2000 – Robert R. Wilson, American physicist and academic (b. 1914)
- 2001 – Auberon Waugh, English author and journalist (b. 1939)
- 2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, English astronomer and physicist (b. 1916)
- 2003 – Richard Wainwright, English politician (b. 1918)
- 2004 – Kalevi Sorsa, Finnish politician 34th Prime Minister of Finland (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Marjorie Williams, American journalist and author (b. 1958)
- 2006 – Stanley Biber, American soldier and physician (b. 1923)
- 2007 – Benny Parsons, American race car driver and sportscaster (b. 1941)
- 2009 – Joe Erskine, American boxer and runner (b. 1930)
- 2009 – John Mortimer, English lawyer and author (b. 1923)
- 2009 – Andrew Wyeth, American painter (b. 1917)
- 2010 – Glen Bell, American businessman, founded Taco Bell (b. 1923)
- 2010 – Jyoti Basu, Indian lawyer and politician, 9th Chief Minister of West Bengal (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Takumi Shibano, Japanese author and translator (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Joe Bygraves, Jamaican-English boxer (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Jimmy Castor, American singer-songwriter and saxophonist (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Sigursteinn Gíslason, Icelandic footballer and manager (b. 1968)
- 2012 – Lorna Kesterson, American journalist and politician (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Gustav Leonhardt, Dutch pianist, conductor, and musicologist (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Wayne D. Anderson, American baseball player and coach (b. 1930)
- 2013 – André Cassagnes, French technician and toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Gussie Moran, American tennis player and sportscaster (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Glen P. Robinson, American businessman, founded Scientific Atlanta (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Gary Arlington, American author and illustrator (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Ruth Duccini, American actress (b. 1918)
- 2014 – Wiley W. Hilburn, American journalist and academic (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Dave Madden, Canadian-American actor (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Hiroo Onoda, Japanese lieutenant (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Miriam Akavia, Polish-Israeli author and translator (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Yao Beina, Chinese singer (b. 1981)
- 2016 – Joannis Avramidis, Greek sculptor (b. 1922)
- 2016 – Ted Marchibroda, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
- 2017 – Eugene Cernan, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (b. 1934)
- Christian feast day:
- National Religious Freedom Day (United States)
- Teacher's Day (Myanmar)
- Teachers' Day (Thailand)
===
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
The setting here is Jesus talking to elite Pharisitical Jews. The Pharisees were knowledgeable and well schooled in the word of God. They were gatekeepers, testing those who made claims on God. Only the tests did not allow success. When faced with Jesus, they did not know him. And Jesus does not abandon them, but draws a clear line.
Jesus points out who the parents are of those who would kill him. The children of Abraham welcome God. And so those who would kill him were not the children of Abraham. This is very upsetting for those who wanted him dead who felt Jesus had failed their tests. Today, the quote about knowing the truth and the truth setting the truthful one free is the cornerstone of the CIA’s original headquarters.
===
Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
January 15: Morning
"Do as thou hast said." - 2 Samuel 7:25
God's promises were never meant to be thrown aside as waste paper; he intended that they should be used. God's gold is not miser's money, but is minted to be traded with. Nothing pleases our Lord better than to see his promises put in circulation; he loves to see his children bring them up to him, and say, "Lord, do as thou hast said." We glorify God when we plead his promises. Do you think that God will be any the poorer for giving you the riches he has promised? Do you dream that he will be any the less holy for giving holiness to you? Do you imagine he will be any the less pure for washing you from your sins? He has said "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Faith lays hold upon the promise of pardon, and it does not delay, saying, "This is a precious promise, I wonder if it be true?" but it goes straight to the throne with it, and pleads, "Lord, here is the promise, Do as thou hast said.'" Our Lord replies, "Be it unto thee even as thou wilt." When a Christian grasps a promise, if he does not take it to God, he dishonours him; but when he hastens to the throne of grace, and cries, "Lord, I have nothing to recommend me but this, Thou hast said it;'" then his desire shall be granted. Our heavenly Banker delights to cash his own notes. Never let the promise rust. Draw the sword of promise out of its scabbard, and use it with holy violence. Think not that God will be troubled by your importunately reminding him of his promises. He loves to hear the loud outcries of needy souls. It is his delight to bestow favours. He is more ready to hear than you are to ask. The sun is not weary of shining, nor the fountain of flowing. It is God's nature to keep his promises; therefore go at once to the throne with "Do as thou hast said."
Evening
"But I give myself unto prayer." - Psalm 109:4
Lying tongues were busy against the reputation of David, but he did not defend himself; he moved the case into a higher court, and pleaded before the great King himself. Prayer is the safest method of replying to words of hatred. The Psalmist prayed in no cold-hearted manner, he gave himself to the exercise--threw his whole soul and heart into it--straining every sinew and muscle, as Jacob did when wrestling with the angel. Thus, and thus only, shall any of us speed at the throne of grace. As a shadow has no power because there is no substance in it, even so that supplication, in which a man's proper self is not thoroughly present in agonizing earnestness and vehement desire, is utterly ineffectual, for it lacks that which would give it force. "Fervent prayer," says an old divine, "like a cannon planted at the gates of heaven, makes them fly open." The common fault with the most of us is our readiness to yield to distractions. Our thoughts go roving hither and thither, and we make little progress towards our desired end. Like quicksilver our mind will not hold together, but rolls off this way and that. How great an evil this is! It injures us, and what is worse, it insults our God. What should we think of a petitioner, if, while having an audience with a prince, he should be playing with a feather or catching a fly?
Continuance and perseverance are intended in the expression of our text. David did not cry once, and then relapse into silence; his holy clamour was continued till it brought down the blessing. Prayer must not be our chance work, but our daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to prayer. We must be immersed in prayer as in our element, and so pray without ceasing. Lord, teach us so to pray that we may be more and more prevalent in supplication.
Continuance and perseverance are intended in the expression of our text. David did not cry once, and then relapse into silence; his holy clamour was continued till it brought down the blessing. Prayer must not be our chance work, but our daily business, our habit and vocation. As artists give themselves to their models, and poets to their classical pursuits, so must we addict ourselves to prayer. We must be immersed in prayer as in our element, and so pray without ceasing. Lord, teach us so to pray that we may be more and more prevalent in supplication.
===
Today's reading: Genesis 36-38, Matthew 10:21-42 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Genesis 36-38
Esau's Descendants
1 This is the account of the family line of Esau (that is, Edom).
2 Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite-- 3 also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan.
6 Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob. 7 Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock. 8 So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.
Today's New Testament reading: Matthew 10:21-42
21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 "The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
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