The future is bright .. but there is a nebulous quality to how it will be bright. The hope of fusion power is over balanced by a forest fire in California or by the war torn Iranian puppet called Syria. Will Obama bomb Syria into submission? Wouldn't it have been better if he had organised the community to pull the puppet's strings sooner, rather than drawing a line and threatening world peace when that line was crossed? Obama failed in North Korea and Afghanistan with poorly executed diplomacy, and a tragedy is unfolding before the world's eyes again. But Obama's ascendancy as a bad diplomat will soon be curtailed by a changing congress, should the US voters choose wisely in the mid terms. Australia has a choice to make, and her choice is on Saturday September 7th, a week before Yom Kippur.
A political debate between PM Rudd and Opposition Leader Abbott was held today. Conservative politician Abbott did a very solid, restrained performance while Rudd lied about policy. Rudd claims that Opposition costings are not clear. The government hasn't released any. Meanwhile the opposition has made its agenda clear, and outlined over $30 billion in savings. Rudd has thought bubbles involving fast trains, moving islands and taxing Northern Territory different to other Australians.
Regardless of who wins the debate, the ABC will award it to Rudd. But the vote will be less biased.
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Happy birthday and many happy returns Tristan Anderson and Farina Keo. Born on the same day, across the years, along with Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (1025), George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham (1592), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749), John Betjeman (1906), Jack Vance (1916), LeAnn Rimes (1982) and Quvenzhané Wallis (2003). On your day, Feast of the Assumption (Julian calendar); Krishna Janmashtami (Hinduism, 2013)
1640 – Bishops' Wars: Scottish Covenanter forces led by Alexander Leslie defeated the English army near Newburn, England.
1850 – German composer Richard Wagner's romantic opera Lohengrin, containing the Bridal Chorus, was first performed under the direction of Franz Liszt in Weimar, present-day Germany.
1937 – Toyota Motors, now Japan's largest automobile manufacturer, was spun off from Toyota Industries as an independent company.
1963 – During a large political rally in Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, describing his desire for a future where blacks and whites would coexist harmoniously as equals.
1973 – Swedish police used gas bombs to end a seven-day hostage situation in Stockholm; during the incident the hostages had bonded with their captors, giving rise to the term "Stockholm syndrome". Scotland is safe, for now. Wagner gave a chorus for Brides. Toyota was born in a barn. The greatest speech of hope for change was given in '63, made a nightmare by Obama. Lock your friends and yourself away from the critics, and give in to Stockholm syndrome. Live the dream.
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Chaos v consistency: A tale of two campaigns

Miranda Devine – Tuesday, August 27, 2013 (7:22pm)

WHEN you board the VIP RAAF 737 carrying Opposition Leader Tony Abbott around the country this election campaign, it’s like stepping back in time to an era when plane travel was still glamorous. There are huge blue leather seats, wood panelling, a carpeted hush and hors d’oeuvres before takeoff.

But best of all are the charming RAAF flight attendants. They whip out crisp white tablecloths to serve delicious chicken caesar wraps with Petaluma Riesling, and bustle around efficiently all flight.

How a Prime Minister accorded such privileges could reduce one of these charming young women to tears for serving the wrong meal is just one of the many mysteries of Kevin Rudd.

One way or the other, these mysteries should be revealed after September 7, especially the question of how valuable, in electoral terms, is what Rudd likes privately to call the “Me Factor”.

If you measure a candidate by the logistical execution of their campaign, then so far, according to the travelling media pack, the Abbott camp wins, hands down.

“Chaos” and “late” are the two words most frequently used to describe Rudd’s campaign.

On Monday afternoon for instance, camera crews were told to assemble at Circular Quay for a Prime Ministerial picture opportunity.

After waiting more than 90 minutes, during which time Rudd conducted an interview with the ABC’s youth radio station Triple J, the waiting crews were told he would not be arriving. No explanation.

No one expects sympathy for the media. But there is talk of other, far less forgivable delays, such as Aborigines in Arnhem land kept waiting for three hours for Rudd to arrive for a brief stump speech, soldiers in full kit in Townsville languishing for two hours in 35 degree heat.

The delays are chronic and inexplicable, often involving Rudd sitting in his VIP RAAF jet.

There are stories of RAAF crews and AFP officers left cooling their heels on tarmacs all over the nation, delays which play havoc with rosters.

Even the one night Rudd put on media drinks at a pub in Townsville, he didn’t arrive till 10.30pm, by which stage some of the media, who had been up since 5am, had given up waiting and gone to bed.

Rudd’s tardiness has become such a hallmark of his campaign that one photographer created an online video called Waiting for Kevin, showing people standing around, just waiting.

These may seem like small quibbles in the context of an important federal election, but the logistical differences between the two campaigns are a clue to each candidate’s temperament and leadership style.

With most media alternating weeks in each campaign, the contrasts are stark.

It probably didn’t hurt the mood on the Abbott media plane that they were fed oysters on a flight out of Tasmania, though the usual fare is Up&Go drinks and a big jar of mixed nuts passed around the bus.

But the real difference between the two campaigns is organisation and punctuality, the hallmarks of the Abbott campaign.,

Of course it helps that Abbott has kept largely the same personnel (48 of 50) for the last four years. They are battle hardened campaigners, with one election under their belts. Rudd’s campaign has a mixture of Gillard and Swan staffers along with Rudd loyalists, all working professionally to a common goal, but with less cohesion and corporate memory. In addition, Abbott, by contrast to Rudd, is “ a routine man”, who tends to keep predictable hours and stick to his schedule.

This has endeared him to the AFP officers assigned to his “close personal protection”, since they know he will go to the gym at 5am, and be back in his room by 6am taking phone calls.

But nothing about modern election campaigns is normal. They are a series of media events, tightly choreographed by staffers who look like Ryan Gosling. Real locals are sometimes given speaking parts, designed to help the candidate showcase messages of the day, and provide matching images for the nightly TV news. And everywhere the candidate goes, he is encased by a wall of cameras and fluffy microphones on poles.

People slip into roles. Candidate. Journalist. Staffer. Public. And somewhere, democracy is supposed to be served.

Abbott doesn’t elicit the high-charged “selfie” popularity from the public that propelled Rudd back into the prime ministership. But as he moves through marginal seats and is photographed in factories with blue collar workers and apprentices in high visibility vests, he is gradually eating his way into Labor heartland.

Despite the momentum he has gained in the polls and the stories of cracks in Rudd’s campaign, Abbott says he has a healthy respect for his opponent, because no one becomes Prime Minister of a serious country without being a “substantial” person.

That may have been the nicest thing said about Rudd all week.

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JUST ASK

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 28, 2013 (4:46pm)

The best line of the 2013 election campaign, from Tony Abbott:

If you want to know my character, ask my colleagues. If you want to know Mr Rudd’s character, ask his colleagues.

Quite so.

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MARGO EMBARGO FARRAGO

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 28, 2013 (2:30pm)

Just three days after announcing her Murdoch media boycott, Margo Kingston promotes a News Corp story:

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DEVASTATION

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 28, 2013 (3:44am)

ABC leftist turned Fairfax leftist Jonathan Holmes claims:

Pulling $50 million or even $100 million out of its triennial funding would have devastating consequences for the ABC …

The ABC receives around $1 billion of your taxes every year. Holmes is talking about triennial reductions ranging from just 1.6 per cent to 3.3 per cent.

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National Ignition Facility target area.jpg

It’s one small step for energy -- and one giant blast for lasers.

Lawrence Livermore’s National Ignition Facility announced Tuesday a successful test of its ultrapowerful laser system, which melds 192 laser beams into a single incredible burst of energy. On Aug. 13, the facility was activated for 14 billionths of a second and aimed at a tiny capsule of fuel. The result: approximately 350 trillion watts of power -- hundreds of times more than the entire United States consumes at any given instant.

“We’re working in a place where no human has ever gone before,” Ed Moses, principle associate director for NIF and Photon Science, told FoxNews.com. “We’re working on the bleeding edge of fusion physics.”

Fusion is similar to fission, where atoms are split releasing massive amounts of energy. But instead of being torn apart, atoms are welded together in fusion. It’s the same ongoing energy process in the sun and other stars, a "perfect power" because more energy is released than used. Fusion could solve the world’s energy problems -- if it's possible at all.

ReachTEL: Labor 47 to Coalition 53

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (8:29am)

From ReachTEL:

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Greens poison Labor

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (8:02am)

Labor faces a wipe-out in Tasmania:

The latest polling by ReachTEL, published in Hobart’s The Mercury last Saturday, suggests Labor potentially faces a wipeout.
The automated phone poll of 2285 has the Liberals stealing Bass, Braddon and Lyons, while Franklin—held by Labor minister Julie Collins—is too close to call. It has Wilkie holding Denison, despite a strong Labor campaign to wrest it back.

Correct conclusions are being drawn:

Tasmanian federal Labor MPs told The Australian they in large part blamed the party’s relationship with the Greens at the state and federal levels for the potential slide back into oblivion.
Dick Adams, a stalwart of the party who the latest polling suggests will fail to defend a margin of 12.3 per cent in rural Lyons, said the party should review its power-sharing deal with the Greens in the state…
“The Liberals ... are using it in their ads - ‘Green means Labor’ - and that sort of caper,” Mr Adams said. “The Greens have created an image in Tasmania that they oppose everything. And that’s the general feeling that 80 per cent of Tasmanians would have about the Greens.
“The majority of Tasmanians think that the Greens are a negative force to jobs, growth and economic activity."…
The Labor MP for the marginal seat of Braddon, Sid Sidebottom, who faces a strong challenge from Liberal Brett Whiteley, agreed that Labor was being damaged by its association with the Greens. “There are people who view the Greens as anti-development,” he said.

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This man wants to be your prime minister

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (7:47am)

Clive Palmer, buffoon, claims the polls predicting his party will win zero seats have been rigged. He says he used to do such bribing when he was a director of the National Party.
The alleged billionaire who has relatives and employees standing for his party peddles the old Murdoch conspiracy theory as well.

His interview on Lateline is a clown show. The bad language suggests a man under stress.

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Labor gives our army not bullets but hot air

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (6:59am)

Governments are best judged not by how they seem but by what they actually do:
7.30 shows the difference:

CHRIS UHLMANN...: ...Kevin Rudd...in 2007...promised to keep Defence spending at two per cent of gross domestic product and increase it at three per cent above inflation for nine years.
KEVIN RUDD, PRIME MINISTER: To maintain real defence expenditure into the future by at least three per cent real annually out to 2016. At least three per cent real annually out to 2016.
CHRIS UHLMANN: Today he reaffirmed part of that pledge.
KEVIN RUDD: Our objective remains to Defence expenditure at two per cent of GDP.
CHRIS UHLMANN: That might be the Government’s objective but it’s utterly at odds with its deeds. Between 2009 and 2013 about $20 billion of promised funding was cut from the Defence Budget as Labor scrambled to build a surplus. Defence spending has fallen from about two per cent to 1.6 per cent of gross domestic product, its lowest level since 1938.

A very Ruddish story.
Now, despite the cuts, Rudd makes a $6 billion promise - to move the naval base from Sydney to Brisbane - that doesn’t actually give the defence forces any extra capability Greg Sheridan:

(T)he key problem is that the move especially from Garden Island to Brisbane would cost in itself a vast amount of money. This is an irresponsible new commitment because Labor’s defence budget cuts means there is an urgent need right now to remediate our capabilities.
We do not have enough money to run our existing kit. Our patrol boats are breaking up through over use. There is no chance we will have any new subs before the mid-2030s. We need new supply ships....
So into this environment of declining capability and funding shortfalls, Rudd injects a grand new proposal without any costings and without the slightest attention to all the urgent tasks that confront defence.

Another Rudd thought bubble:

Defence was not consulted on Labor’s high-powered taskforce to look at moving major navy facilities from Sydney to Queensland, it emerged on Tuesday…
(Mr Rudd) avoided direct answers on whether Defence - either the department or the uniformed forces - had been directly consulted about the plan. He said only that the government had been ‘’in deep consultations through the Defence Minister [and] … with all the relevant ministers within the government’’. Fairfax Media understands the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, not Defence, worked on the proposal.

(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)

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Rudd accuses Abbott of lacking the temperament to call the Chinese “rat f@#&ers”

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (6:08am)

Kevin Rudd claims Tony Abbott doesn’t have the temperament for diplomacy:

You’ve got to sit back, think and calmly reflect, and then work through what the best decision is, and temperament and judgment and experience are quite important… He doesn’t have a background in this field and sometimes I find in him a bit of an impulsive nature, that is rushing ahead to judgment.
You know what his background is ... he’s been in Parliament for 20 years, 19 of which he was the great pugilist, you know and the last 12 months he’s suddenly become the statesman, so the Tony Abbott that I know, having served 15 years in the Parliament with him, is of a different nature. This stuff is complex and in diplomacy, words are bullets.

Kevin Rudd, diplomat:

Tired and exasperated, surrounded by a knot of Australian officials and press, Rudd began to rage against the Chinese… Was a deal still possible, asked one of the Australians.
“Depends whether those rat-f...ing Chinese want to f… us.”

Kevin Rudd, statesman:

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has been embarrassed by an account of his phone conversation with US President George Bush that made the American leader look ignorant.
The report has drawn a sharp reaction from the Bush Administration.
The story in the Weekend Australian played up Mr Rudd’s role in convincing Mr Bush to convene a Group of Twenty (G20) nations meeting in Washington next month on the financial crisis.
The degree of detail in the report suggested it must have been informed by sources close to the PM [actually Rudd himself]…
The story ... reported that when Mr Rudd argued for using the G20 as the forum for addressing the crisis, “Rudd was then stunned to hear Bush say, ‘What’s the G20?’ “
Now the Washington Post has reported that a US official who monitored the call “denied that Bush made any such remark”.

Rudd, who knows words are bullets:

Kevin Rudd warned Hillary Clinton to be prepared to use force against China ‘’if everything goes wrong’’, an explosive WikiLeaks cable has revealed.
Mr Rudd also told Mrs Clinton during a meeting in Washington on March 24 last year that China was ‘’paranoid’’ about Taiwan and Tibet and that his ambitious plan for an Asia-Pacific community was intended to blunt Chinese influence.

Rudd, Mr Judgment:

FOREIGN Minister Kevin Rudd and his office privately referred to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as “Spanky Banky”, according to a new book…

Rudd, Mr Discreet:

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd witnessed a heated discussion between US President George W. Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, over Russia’s invasion of a tiny neighbouring country as athletes paraded before them in the Opening Ceremony [of the Beijing Olympics]…
“The President and Mr Putin were in animated conversation two seats in front of us and I imagine they had a few things on their agenda,” Mr Rudd said.
Mr Rudd said that Mr Bush appeared to be making a strong point to the Russian Prime Minister, even as the world’s elite athletes filed into Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium.

Rudd, so much smoother than that “pugilist”:

JUST short of a year ago Prime Minister Kevin Rudd chose to snub the Chinese Ambassador to Britain, Fu Ying, by requesting not to sit next to her at a BBC talk show during a G20 meeting in London…
Whether our Mandarin-speaking former diplomat Prime Minister gave this incident a second thought is not clear. But he should now because last month Fu was appointed deputy Chinese Foreign Minister, based in Beijing.

Rudd, so calmly reflective:

Further consternation about Rudd’s international forays came in June 2008 when he gave a speech to a domestic audience revealing his plans to redraw the regional diplomatic and strategic architecture through the establishment of an “Asia Pacific Community” that would include the US, Japan, China, Australia, India, Indonesia and others.
Yet not one of these countries had been consulted, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was oblivious to the news…
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa dismissed Rudd’s foolhardy foray into regional affairs as “another layer, an out-of-nowhere construction, not in concert, not in synergy with what we have”.

Rudd, the steady hand:

Indonesia has dismissed Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s suggestion that the Coalition’s asylum seeker policy could cause “conflict”.

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Waiting for Kevin

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (6:03am)

Same old Rudd. Miranda Devine:

“Chaos" and “late” are the two words most frequently used to describe Rudd’s campaign.
On Monday afternoon for instance, camera crews were told to assemble at Circular Quay for a Prime Ministerial picture opportunity.
After waiting more than 90 minutes, during which time Rudd conducted an interview with the ABC’s youth radio station Triple J, the waiting crews were told he would not be arriving. No explanation.
No one expects sympathy for the media. But there is talk of other, far less forgivable delays, such as Aborigines in Arnhem land kept waiting for three hours for Rudd to arrive for a brief stump speech, soldiers in full kit in Townsville languishing for two hours in 35 degree heat.
The delays are chronic and inexplicable, often involving Rudd sitting in his VIP RAAF jet…
Even the one night Rudd put on media drinks at a pub in Townsville, he didn’t arrive till 10.30pm, by which stage some of the media, who had been up since 5am, had given up waiting and gone to bed.

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Paul Barry and the art of not recognising your own ABC-approved bias

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (4:56am)

ABC Media Watch host Paul Barry on the Daily Telegraph, a wicked Murdoch paper:

Looking through the pages it’s also clear that it’s not policies or performance that Murdoch’s paper is attacking. It’s Rudd himself, whom they paint as a psychopath, a narcissist, a bore and a cheat, and a great deal more.

How Rudd’s own colleagues portray him:

Julia Gillard, February 23, 2012:

KEVIN Rudd as prime minister always had very difficult and very chaotic work patterns ... the 2010 election was sabotaged.
Another. Nicola Roxon, ABC TV, February 23, 2012:

HE was very difficult to work with ... I think we need to get out of this idea that Kevin is a messiah who will a deliver an election back to us ... It wouldn’t be good for the country to have Mr Rudd as prime minister again.
ABC1’s 7.30, February 22, 2012:

TONY Burke: And the stories that were around of the chaos, of the temperament, of the inability to have decisions made, they are not stories.
Stephen Conroy, Today Show, February 23, 2012:

KEVIN Rudd had contempt for the cabinet. Contempt for the cabinet members. Contempt for the caucus. Contempt for the parliament. Ultimately what brought him down ... was the Australian public worked out that he had contempt for them as well.
Stephen Smith, ABC 720, Perth, February 23, 2012:

IF you wanted one sentence why the cabinet and the caucus and the party moved away from Kevin, it was because it became increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to work difficult issues through with him.
ABC AM, 23 February 23, 2012:

WAYNE Swan: The truth is, that Prime Minister Rudd is deeply flawed ... he has great weaknesses ... which today have not necessarily been seen in public.

Paul Barry on the Telegraph’s strangely critical coverage of a government which squandered billions on waste, gave us record deficits, knifed two of its own prime ministers, attacked media freedom, tried to restrict freedom of speech, opened the door to 50,000 boat people, presided over rising unemployment, deliberately hiked power bills, preached division, protected an MP accused of corruption, fomented a mini race riot, made massive unfunded promises, broke fundamental election promises, was led by a prime minister now under investigation by police and had a third of cabinet refuse to serve under the present prime minister:

So let’s look at the Telegraph in a little more detail, because there is absolutely no doubt about its bias in this election. In the first week of the campaign we tallied the Tele’s coverage and found that exactly half its 80 political stories were slanted against Labor, while none were against the Coalition.

Paul Barry himself, a man of the Left, is forced to make exactly the conclusion reached by the Daily Telegraph:

Paul Barry says it’s just the bias he doesn’t like:

Paul Barry and other ABC outlets run a media campaign like the one Barry denounces:

The anti-Murdoch hysteria on the ABC is astonishing. British Labour MP Tom Watson, out here to help demonise Murdoch, was a Q&A guest, having earlier yesterday been a guest on ABC Melbourne radio. Just before Q&A, the ABC’s Media Watch devoted its entire show to attacking Murdoch papers and just after the show the ABC’s Lateline had another session devoted to criticising Murdoch. As I type, Watson is now being interviewed by the ABC’s Fran Kelly on Radio National. He will also be on ABC 24’s Breakfast show with Virginia Trioli. The ABC is campaigning against Murdoch papers just like it says Murdoch papers shouldn’t campaign against our worst government in living memory.

Paul Barry, a Leftist like every other Media Watch host in the show’s 24-year history, insists the ABC rejects bias:

Former ABC chairman Maurice Newman says ABC staff are in denial about bias:

The ABC is not being frank and open about the way global warming is portrayed on its various platforms, although the sense of imbalance is becoming more overt, I feel…
As a taxpayer-funded organisation, the ABC shouldn’t even have a view on global warming. What it does have is a duty to all Australians to broadcast honestly the best available evidence on both sides of the argument so that we can make up our own minds. This is not happening.
I retain a deep affection for the ABC. But, like the BBC, there are signs that a small but powerful group has captured the corporation, at least on climate change.

Paul Barry denounces media attacks on the character of public figures:

Now, given that Kevin Rudd is running a presidential-style campaign and that Labor has been attacking Tony Abbott’s personality, the PM can hardly complain if voters and the media judge Rudd on his character.
But this is character assassination.

Paul Barry and other Media Watch hosts demonstrate ABC-approved character assassination, as summed up by a search of Media Watch archives:

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“Attempts to bypass the Security Council, to once again create artificial, unproven excuses for an armed intervention in the region are fraught with new suffering in Syria and catastrophic consequences for other countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement posted on the Ministry's website."

http://en.rian.ru/world/20130828/183002667/US-Gathers-Intl-Support-for-Possible-Syria-Military-Action.html
US action is too late While Obama was community organising, the opportunity to use diplomacy was passed. Obama referred to a red line which was a challenge for Syria to step over. Thing is, Syria is merely an Iranian puppet. Hit the puppet and make things worse. But pulling the puppet's strings .. that would have been good last week or month .. ed
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Post by The best of Youtube.

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Today we welcome a new Chocolate Bar to the Max Brenner family; Max Brenner Gasworks in Newstead, QLD! Come down to experience Max's chocolate culture.
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Larry Pickering

From AMSA today:

PAN PAN
FM RCC AUSTRALIA 280606Z AUG 2013 AUSSAR 2013/5809
CHART AUS 4708 AUSTRALIA WEST COAST AND INDONESIA
ASYLUM SEEKER VESSEL WITH 55 PERSONS ON BOARD IN POSITION 07-03.73S 105-05.63E AT 280430UTC AUG 2013 ENCOUNTERING HEAVY SEAS AND REQUESTS ASSISTANCE. VESSELS WITHIN 30NM OF POSITION ARE REQUESTED TO MAINTAIN LOOKOUT, PROVIDE ASSISTANCE AS NECESSARY AND REPORT SIGHTINGS TO RCC AUSTRALIA VIA TELEPHONE +61262306811 INMARSAT THROUGH LES BURUM (POR 212,IOR 312), SPECIAL ACCESS CODE (SAC) 39, HF DSC 005030001, EMAIL: rccaus@amsa.gov.au OR BY FAX +61262306868.
NNNN

That location is only 30km from the West Java coast, but of course WE will be expected to come to the rescue.

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Oh Japan. You never are one to do things by half are you? This dinosaur prank will delight everyone, especially Jurassic Park fans, not only because the dinosaur looks so real, but because the poor prankee's reaction is just brilliant. It's probably informed by a lifetime of cultural influence from Godzilla. Poor guy.

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This is a good candidate who can represent Griffith better than it has been in many years .. ed
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I don't agree with this. There is far more to the issue not addressed by the diminution. But Gay Pride people have in the past smeared me in such a way as to threaten my life. I don't take to censorship well. My Lord tells me that it isn't my role to judge others, but act with love. I'm sorry for those who misunderstand. - ed
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One tip for successful complaining - don't lose your temper.

One tip for successful complaining - don't lose your temper.

Nobody likes to be a whinger. But there are some situations in which you absolutely shouldn't put up and shut up: a cockroach runs across your table in a restaurant; your new-ish mobile breaks down; you fork out for a fancy weekend away and find the accommodation needs a serious facelift.

When bad things happen, you have to be able to complain - and get results.

Dr Catriona Wallace is the chief executive of customer experience analyst Fifth Quadrant. According to its research, complaints account for 1 million of the 21 million interactions Australian consumers have with organisations on any given day. While that sounds like a lot of whining, Wallace says Australians are actually reluctant to complain. ''It's tied into mateship culture that we, sociologically, don't really like to complain,'' she says.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/money/planning/how-to-make-complaining-work-20130828-2spp1.html#ixzz2dFzTe09S
My wife says it is ok for me to complain, but I shouldn't *sound* like I do, when I do. But I enjoy ABBA. - ed
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School is a prison -- and damaging our kids

Longer school years aren't the answer. The problem is school itself. Compulsory teach-and-test simply doesn't work

BY PETER GRAY
Yes, but your perspective is too narrow .. the assumption being an adult at home provides leadership of a type .. most are not like that .. reated in an attempt to raise literacy .. everyone in Great Britain was to read and write to a year 8 standard. Catholic church initiated a similar program at about the same time. from early 1800's to mid 1800's, students became teachers of the younger years .. boot strapping .. and records were kept of attainments .. rewards given on assembly. Then in mid 1800's, teacher training began at university to make teachers who would inculcate moral values .. this article is asinine .. I use it as a counter example of good scholarship .. ed===

my grandma was trying to fill out a form for the UK pension ..
It asked for her birth year and began 19 with two spaces .. but she was born in 1898 .. true story .. you don't care? Do you!! ed
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Successful election campaigns reward work horses, not show ponies, Sarah.>

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A Canadian woman took matters into her own hands when her bike was stolen last week.

Kayla Smith followed the appropriate channels, filing a police report when her $1,000 bike went missing outside of an apartment building in Vancouver, even though it had been locked. But when she saw an ad on Craigslist featuring her bicycle the next morning for $300, she devised a way to get it back on her own, according to the Vancouver Sun.

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Craig Kelly
KEVIN'S LATEST HALF-BAKED IDEA

Where did Mr Rudd latest half-baked idea of moving the Garden Island Naval base come from ?

• It can’t have come from Defence – it’s clear today Defence was not consulted

• It didn’t come from former military leaders – former chief of navy Russ Crane and former chief of army Ken Gillespie say moving navy’s HQ is impractical.

• It didn’t come from the Labor Government – which released a defence white paper in May making it clear Garden Island facilities and staff would not be relocated

• And it’s not clear whether the idea came from Kevin Rudd’s Minister for Defence, Stephen Smith. Where was the Minister for Defence yesterday when the Garden Island announcement was made?

It's clear that Mr. Rudd is just making it up as he goes along.

While it’s one thing for Mr Rudd to roll-out a series of half-baked ideas that damage the economy – when Mr Rudd’s half-baked ideas threaten to damage our nation’s military & defence infrastructure – it should be an ominous warning of the clear and present danger that Mr Rudd is to Australia.

The pattern of this Labor Government has been chaos, dysfunction and division, making it all up as they go along - continues.

Nothing’s changed.

If Labor are re-elected it won’t just be another three years as bad as the last six – it will be even worse. More debt, more deficits, more chaos, more disunity and more sheer dysfunction.

Australians deserve so much better than this
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Larry Pickering
DEAR UNCLE KEV...

I am really happy you can come to my school so we can all have our pictures taken with you. Everyone is soooo excited!

Guess what Uncle Kev, you know our school essay on, “What a silly man Mr Abbott is”? I copied a story in The Age and my teacher gave me top marks. I got 3 stars and a big ribbon.

Anyway, my Dad says you have no money left and that’s very sad, so everyone is bringing some food for you. My Dad’s coming too, but some of the fruit he is bringing is a bit old.

Mum has bought some high protein free-range eggs and my brother, Shamus, has a hessian bag full of vine-ripened tomatoes.

We won’t let you go hungry, Uncle Kev, we Australians all pull together to help poor people.

I am really worried about you tho’, Uncle Kev, ‘cos I have seen horrible pictures of all those starving little children with big tummies and I noticed your tummy is getting bigger all the time.

My Dad says you’re a psychopathic megalomaniac, I think that means ‘movie star’. So, hurry up and come to see us.

My name is Phoebe and I’m here to help you Uncle Kev.

Love,
Phoebe, (8)
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This is Papakolea Beach, this is one of only four green sand beaches in the World.

Here are some more beautiful images:http://tmblr.co/Znyl3utTQFOQ
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Ann Coulter slammed President Obama and all Democrats for that matter on foreign policy. Tonight on Hannity, she reacted to the developing situation out of Syria and possible missile strikes by the United States on the country. “Do not vote for Democrats for commander in chief, America. This is what happens.”

Read more: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/08/27/ann-coulter-obama-bomb-syria-so-he-wont-look-idiot#ixzz2dG6RoDvP
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A former high school teacher in Montana will only serve 30 days in jail, despite being convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl who later committed suicide.

The sentence was handed down on Monday by Judge G. Todd Baugh to Stacey Dean Rambold, 54, who admitted to having sexual relations with Cherice Morales, a then 14-year-old student.

Baugh reportedly sentenced Rambold to 15 years prison for nonconsensual sexual intercourse, but suspended all except 31 days. The judge then gave the former teacher credit for one day served, reducing his total jail sentence to just 30 days.

According to The Billings Gazette, the judge said 14-year-old Morales was “older than her chronological age” and Rambold’s lawyer asked the judge to “consider how he’s been punished to this point.”

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The immigration bill seems to be stalled in Congress right now. In an attempt to speed up the process, the American Catholic Church is urging its congregation to support the bill. The issue? Some of that will take place in sermons during mass.

Read more: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/08/27/catholic-church-push-immigration-reform-sermons#ixzz2dG79yBkZ
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Pastor Rick Warren
Fear makes everything seem impossible.
Faith makes everything seem possible.
"With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
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Despite being wrapped in red tape and taken for granted, we think small business owners are local heroes. Tag your local small business hero here to tell them are #2BIG2IGNORE
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The Greens claim to support democracy and open debate, but their actions speak louder than their words. Help stop the Greens todayhttp://ow.ly/nCMYg
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Pastor Rick Warren
Anyone can handle one problem at a time, but to be a LEADER you must learn to handle multiple attacks at once without giving up.
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Holly Sarah Nguyen

God decide who you MEET, but you decide who you KEEP.

God brings people together for a valid reason, and it's your

full time responsibility to keep or hold on to who God has

placed in your life. If you agree say: Amen!

Amen .. and I'll add .. I have really troublesome relatives .. but I see them as an inheritance. I have no idea what to do with them or how God wants me to work with them, but they are there. - ed
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The Zionist project was based on the historical necessity, to use a Marxist phrase, of creating a safe haven for European Jews as a reaction to 19th-century anti-Semitism.

But this miraculous process of Jewish reappropriation of the military also spurred the conflict between the State of Israel and the Land of Israel. Such a state for assimilated Jews could have been actualized in Argentina, Uganda or Birobidzhan.

The consequences have been Amona, Homesh, Gush Katif, Kadim, Gadim, Migron.... Ruthless and merciless experiments of Jewish self-exile which have dramatically tested even the faith of non-Jews who believe in the State of Israel.

Now the Eretz Yisrael's mountains, valleys, borders, historical identity, cultural affections, national passions which characterize the entiremountain range from Jenin to Hevron - historically, culturally and religiously the Jewish land of the Bible, where lie the greatest Jewish names of hope and redemption - Elon Moreh, Itamar, Negohot, Beit Haggai, Yitzhar, Tel Rumeida - have been put on the "negotiating table" once again, like meat at the market.

And to the names of the historic destroyers like Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, Commander of the Roman Legions, we risk adding the Jewish names Rabin, Peres, Barak, Olmert, Livni - and now Netanyahu.

Everybody knows that a Palestinian Arab Islamic state cannot come into existence if the Jewish "settlements" remain in their present locations. And this is a consequence of terrorism.

It began with the slogan "only a political solution will end Palestinian terrorism", which was echoed by IDF commanders who lost the war on terrorism. It was a war that for seven years (1987-1994) they were never required to win. Cynically, the governments directed things so that there was no possible solution but surrender.

IDF strongholds have been abandoned, dismantled, even looted by Palestinian mobs. Above all, the prime ministers' pronouncements isolated "Jewish settlers", questioned their legitimacy, defamed them, and tried to break their spirit. They also made life in some of the besieged "settlements" impossible.

Everybody also knows that evacuating the IDF from Palestinian Arab-populated areas will primarily affect the Jewish population in Jerusalem and the center of the country. A hostile foreign army will not face obstacles on the way to Tel Aviv.

The shocking memories of synagogues ablaze in Gush Katif is a sight unseen since the Nazi Kristallnacht and was now repeated in the State of the Jews by the Jews. Could it happen again? Why not?

For me, the Jewish cause transcends everything. Israel is the Jewish state; Jerusalem is Jewish, and exclusively Jewish; Hevron is forever Jewish.

If the "settlements", the world's Jewish designated sacrifical lamb, will be abandoned and destroyed, for the first time since the days of Joshua, the holy land will become the home of a foreign, vicious people. This is what I learned from the Bible.

No real pro-Israel friend will be able to be comforted after the day the Jewish state forsakes the most precious pieces of real estate in the world.

Let's hope that the tragedy of Oslo, the very grave of the Jewish people, will never repeat itself.

A post-retreat and rationalistic-hedonist State of Israel, which gives up the heartland for the sake of "democracy" and under the threat of the PA death sentence for the Jewish people, doesn't deserve my activism and support.

What genius in the UN thought to have Jerusalem separate? ed
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In his defence, she was an embarrassment ed
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Get ready for Leftist hysteria if Abbott wins the election

BY:JANET ALBRECHTSEN

THERE is a reason so many in Hollywood gravitate towards the political Left. Both groups trade in emotion rather than reason and prefer hyperbole over facts.

Hence, anyone who has seen the latest Hollywood blockbuster - Elysium - could be forgiven for thinking it was directed by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young with the screenplay by John Pilger and financed by GetUp! Adam Bandt or Scott Ludlam would surely have taken Matt Damon's place as the planet-saving protagonist for a fraction of Damon's exorbitant fee.

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The Earth Story
Airglow over Mono lake.

It's not just auroras that fill our sky with eerie light. A weaker phenomenon called airglow (aka nightglow) also exists, and unlike the aurora, which are focussed towards the poles by Earth's magnetic field, it can be seen from anywhere on Earth with luck and a dark sky or long exposure photo. Both phenomena arise from excited atmospheric atoms, but with different solar sources for the excitation energy. Like aurorae, airglow can be patchy and shift on a scale of minutes across the night sky. It is also present during the day but hidden in the glare.

Aurorae are due to high speed collisions with the high energy particles in the solar wind, usually during a coronal mass ejection that is pointed towards our planet and funnelled down our world's field lines. Airglow arises from high energy components of ordinary sunlight, in this case short wave ultraviolet and X-Rays. Several mechanisms combine in the lower reaches of space to produce this glow.

Between 80 and 100 Km up from the surface, oxygen atoms get chemically excited and ionised (the electrons are stripped off from the nuclei by the energy). They then react with hydroxyl molecules (OH) to form water, or recombine into O2 and start to glow green from both chemically stimulated energy and the decay of those atoms excited by cosmic rays (just once in my life I think I've had the blue flash of Cherenkov radiation in one eye reported by astronauts). They only occur at high altitude because lower down the nitrogen in the atmosphere quenches the reaction. Other types of atom also recombine to contribute to the effect, such as nitrogen and oxygen forming nitric oxide (NO), emitting a photon of light as they do so.

It was first identified by the Swede Angstrom in 1868, and subsequent laboratory studies have shown the chemical pathways that create the light as an energetic by product of the photochemical reactions. It limits the sensitivity of ground based telescopes at visible wavelengths, and is one of the reasons space telescopes are so useful to astronomers, as they can see faint objects normally masked by airglow. It usually appears bluish green, and seems brightest about ten degrees above the horizon. Only part of the layer of air that forms our bubble glows, too high up and the atoms are too tenuous to combine, too low and their density means that the energy is dissipated by collisions rather than photochemical reactions.

While it is normally quite weak, and the photographer tells me that this picture has an unusual intensity for the phenomenon, he states that a friend obtained similar results when shooting from the same place in the same direction.

Sometime in the next couple of days, we'll put up a photo of airglow from space, so you can see the shimmering band that encircles our wonderful Blue Marble.

Loz

Image credit: Matt Granz,https://www.facebook.com/mattgranz

http://mattgranz.zenfolio.com/p605465417/h480576aa#h480576aa

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/airglow2.htm

http://www.universetoday.com/89688/what-is-airglow/

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/10997/airglow
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Good illustration of where defenders of freedom come from, and where terrorists come from. ed
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Matt Granz Photography
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This storm was situated just a little South West of Tucson. It kept firing off in different directions, so I kept re-aiming my camera and in turn kept missing strikes. Finally this one happened. I like the trees and the distant row of lights. It lends a little more story to this shot.

Please feel free to share this, and take a look at the image in a much better non compressed environment here:
http://mattgranz.zenfolio.com/p13072832/h67092787#h67092787
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*An Arizona Supercell*

I've gotten lucky this year...the hail core by Douglas...and now this storm. Wow. I've never seen anything like it in Arizona before. It was intense. The timelapse (once I'm done with it) will show you all the movement and dust and rain and lightning...it was crazy.

I photographed this north of Tucson in the Red Rock community. I still can't believe it. This is Arizona...we just don't see stuff like this very much!

Copyright © Mike Olbinski Photography // buy print - http://gallery.mikeolbinski.com/stormchasing2013/h669f48b9#h669f48b9
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Yosemite continues to burn. I wish our government would throw more resources at getting this monster under control. It is fast approaching some of the most beautiful scenic areas of California.
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FORMER Prime Minister Julia Gillard returned to her Federal electorate of Lalor to say goodbye to the community yesterday.

On her visit, Ms Gillard did a tour of the Wyndham Vale GP Super Clinic which is under construction and attended the opening of the Mambourin Cafe at Isis Primary Care in Hoppers Crossing.

The Lalor MP of 15 years, who announced she would retire from politics in June after losing a leadership poll to Kevin Rudd, was flanked by the Labor candidate for Lalor, Joanne Ryan.

Ms Gillard also farewelled the community at a Civic Reception held by Wyndham Council last night.

Ms Gillard thanked the community for their support and said she had a continued interest in the community and its issues.

She said despite her decision to move back to Adelaide, she would return to Wyndham regularly to attend Werribee Football Club games and stay in touch with the community.

Is the image of Gillard trying to find her electorate on a map? - ed
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New Oil Field Could Yield Rich Returns for Israel

A newly discovered field off Israel's coast may contain significant deposits of light crude oil – the kind used for gasoline.

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Iran Threatens Israel Over Syria Attack as Gas Mask Demands Soar in Jewish State

Posted by: Doni Kandel

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With sports in the US getting more competitive every year, a torn knee ligament can mean “game over” for a professional footballer, tennis star or basketball champion.

Yet these kinds of injuries are becoming more and more common, with an estimated 700,000 tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) –– the most common type of knee tear –– every year.

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Hot, dry summers put forests at great risk of fire. Since January of this year alone, hundreds of wildfires destroyed large swaths of Australia, while Colorado’s Black Forest experienced the worst blaze in state history.

The devastation might not be as vast in the future, if firefighters adopt Israel’s unique Matash Fire Forecasting System, developed by the research department of the Ministry of Public Security in reaction to the record-breaking Carmel Forest fire of 2010.

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Israelis are pretty passionate about their dairy products. So important is cottage cheese to the average Israeli that the price of the product was the poster issue for the Israeli social protests three summers ago.

But Joshua Miron, head of the Ruminant Sciences Department at the Volcani Center in Israel, says his work is much more than about a love for milk.

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For African migrants in Israel, a life in legal limbo

By Ben Sales

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2013/08/20/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/for-55000-eritreans-in-israel-a-life-in-legal-limbo#ixzz2dGR9iFS2
Sad. It isn't their fault their people are so terrible .. the UN is culpable in its dealings .. ed
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Time for a 'Plan B'? - Israel National News

Conference held Sunday, 25 August 2013, though the substance of historical truth and not continued fabrication, must be elevated to the far reaches of public and diplomatic attention and policy's scope. To wit:

"Here The Kingdom of Jordan (originally known as "Transjordan") was established in 1946, on three quarters of the territory previously allocated for a Jewish state in the famous Balfour Declaration in 1917.

It was the result of a partition of the British Mandate of Palestine as a compromise between Jews and Arabs - a compromise which began at the 1922 San Remo Conference, when the Arab population received the lion's share (77%) of the country, to the east of the River Jordan, and the Jews received the remaining portion to its west.

But instead of handing over control to the local Arab population, the British government installed the Hashemite tribe of Jordan's King Abdullah I (grandfather of King Abdullah II), which was sympathetic to British imperial interests.

That ushered in an era of autocratic, minority rule which lasted until today, and left the local Jews and Arabs to continue to fight over the remaining 23%.

Despite being the majority, Palestinians in Jordan are subject to widespread discrimination and repression by the government. Recently, sensing the growing threat from disgruntled Palestinians, the Jordanian government began stripping large numbers of their Jordanian citizenship, dealing another blow to their collective civil rights, and illustrating how it relies on their disenfranchisement to survive." - (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/171185#.UhzQrBaXuFJ)

http://paper.li/allysonchristy/1338794440
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4 her
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Teen Jeopardy Champion Gives Hilarious, Subtle Insult to 'Incompetent' President(s)

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C. H. Spurgeon

The more you know about Christ, the less you will be satisfied with superficial views of Him.

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Mo Gelber

'Terminally ill man loses right to die court battle'

He may have lost the battle but something tells me he'll eventually win the war.

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Israel. The only place in the middle East where an Arab can openly speak out against the government without fearing for their life.
It is good to be an Arab in Israel -
READ MORE : http://www.i24news.tv/en/opinion/130826-it-is-good-to-be-an-arab-in-israel
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Kelly O'Dwyer.

Last night I appeared on QandA where we discussed Paid Parental Leave, Murdoch Press and other Coalition Policies, because the Government refuse to talk about their own or their record. #auspol
http://youtu.be/sstgUUOfF30

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MSNBC host Karen Finney called into conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt’s program on Monday for the first, and likely final, time. She ended up hanging up on Hewitt after she grew increasingly frustrated with the host’s persistent questions on “McCarthyism” and whether communists had actually infiltrated the U.S. government in the 1950s.

Hewitt began the interview with a clip from Finney’s weekend MSNBC show in which she compared Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to Joe McCarthy in their shared “paranoia” and “fear-stoking” behavior. Things just got more and more tense from there.

MSNBC Anchor Hangs Up on Conservative Radio Host During Explosive Debate on McCarthyism

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Chocolate doesn’t make the world go ’round, but it sure does make the trip worthwhile!
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4 her
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Breathtaking tidal wave of FOG rolls over Newfoundland.
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David Bowles

"Atticus-" said Jem bleakly.
He turned in the doorway.
"What, son?"
"How could they do it, how could they?"
"I don't know, but they did it. They've done it before and they
did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it- seems that only children weep."

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Kevin Rudd's plan to close the Garden Island Naval Base will be devastating to the NSW economy.

Share and like if you oppose Labor's reckless plans!
Register your opposition here: http://ow.ly/oiDCI
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The Green extremists cannot have control in the Senate again. Help stop them http://ow.ly/nCMYg
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More Atticus Finch: "As you grow older, you'll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don't you forget it- whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash."
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Daniel Bogo
Uluru sunset
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Oops, I accidentally swapped the oxygen with chlorine .. still, it works! ed===

J.John

“@lexloiz: If you remove“Christ” from Christian,you are left with “Ian” and Ian just isn’t going to help you!” I wonder who first said that!

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Today I released an update of the Coalition’s Plan to get the Budget back under control and repay debt.

Today, the Coalition has detailed over $31 billion in savings we will make if elected to government. You can read more here.

We are committed to living within our means and ending Labor’s waste and reckless spending.

As part of our commitment to prudent Budget management, I can also confirm today that:

There are no cuts to spending on hospitals or schools – Labor’s claims that the Coalition would slash such funding are just more Labor lies;
There are no cuts to spending on defence or medical research – Labor’s claims that the Coalition would slash funding to these areas are just more Labor lies;
Total Coalition savings will be vastly below the $70 billion figure routinely touted by Labor. That figure had already been discredited as false by various fact‑checking organisations, and this announcement confirms that it is a complete fiction; and
There is - and will be - no change to the GST under a Coalition Government – full stop, end of story.

Our statement today goes further than any previous Opposition and is far more comprehensive than what Labor has provided prior to the final day of the election campaigns in 2007 and 2010.

Ten of the last eleven Budgets brought down by the Coalition were all surpluses – including the four biggest surpluses in modern Australian history.

By contrast, every single one of Labor’s last eleven Budgets have been deficits – including the biggest deficit in modern Australian history under Kevin Rudd. Labor last delivered a surplus Budget in 1989, almost 25 years ago.

With 10 days to go until the election, Labor still has not launched its campaign and still not released the bulk of their costings.

Prudent budget management. That’s our pledge.

Regards,
Joe Hockey

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Friend,

As Labor Day approaches and we take time to celebrate American workers, I'd like to invite you to nominate a Labor Day hero in your life who inspires you.

Patriot Voices is kicking-off a contest asking our members to nominate a person or group of people who exemplify the spirit of the American worker.

Maybe it's your favorite server at the diner in town, or the teller at your bank who is friendly and fast, or maybe it's someone you work with in your office. It could be your mail carrier or your office landscaping or cleaning crew. Bosses and supervisors can nominate their staff/workers too!

Every job is an important one and we want to recognize the unsung heroes of the American workforce - those who work hard to keep our communities and our country running.

Entering this contest is easy. Just snap a photo of your nominee, then email it to contact@patriotvoices.com along with a few sentences as to why you're nominating this person/group. Be sure to get their permission before submitting the photo, and please include your name and contact info in case we need to reach you.

We'll upload the nominees to the Patriot Voices Facebook page for voting. Encourage everyone you know to vote for your nominee by "liking" your photo! The nominee with the most "likes" wins lunch on us!

Just our little way of saying thanks for working hard and working towards the American dream.

Thanks and God Bless,

Rick Santorum

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Hi everyone! Here's the MichelleMalkin.com newsletter for August 27th. Enjoy!

To your health: @BarackObama thanks Katy Perry for spreading word about Obamacare

Welcome to the new normal...

Please click here to read the rest

‘Al Gore’s ‘category six’ hurricanes flap

The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein interviewed Al Gore recently, and the original transcript contains this gem...

Please click here to read the rest

Thomas Sowell: A truly great phony

The Washington Examiner: Obama's creeping amnesty plan

Conservative Intelligence Briefing: Detroit is in ruins, but they’re building a $140 million, three-mile streetcar, and you’re helping pay for it

Twitchy: Mediaite: How dare conservatives enjoy pop culture?!

Twitchy: How will Obama prep for speech on race hate and Belton murder? James Woods has ‘priceless’ answer

Yesterday on "America Live," Michelle talked with Shannon Bream about the Oberlin College hate-crime hoax.

Michael, meanwhile, clearly has the makings of a great pundit.

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August 28: Feast of the Assumption (Julian calendar);Krishna Janmashtami (Hinduism, 2013)

Martin Luther King oration, "I have a dream"

1640 – Bishops' Wars: Scottish Covenanter forces led by Alexander Leslie defeated the English army nearNewburn, England.
1850 – German composer Richard Wagner's romantic opera Lohengrin, containing the Bridal Chorus, was first performed under the direction of Franz Liszt in Weimar, present-day Germany.
1937 – Toyota Motors, now Japan's largest automobile manufacturer, was spun off from Toyota Industries as an independent company.
1963 – During a large political rally in Washington, D.C.,Martin Luther King, Jr. (pictured) delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, describing his desire for a future where blacks andwhites would coexist harmoniously as equals.
1973 – Swedish police used gas bombs to end a seven-day hostage situation in Stockholm; during the incident the hostages had bonded with their captors, giving rise to the term "Stockholm syndrome".

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Events[edit source | editbeta]

475 – The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city,Ravenna.
489 – Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths defeats Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into Italy.
663 – Silla–Tang armies crush the Baekje restoration attempt and force Yamato Japan to withdraw from Korea in the Battle of Baekgang.
1189 – Third Crusade: the Crusaders begin the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan
1521 – The Ottoman Turks occupy Belgrade.
1524 – The Kaqchikel Maya rebel against their former Spanish allies during the Spanish conquest of Guatemala.
1542 – Turkish–Portuguese War (1538–1557): Battle of Wofla: the Portuguese are scattered, their leaderChristovão da Gama is captured and later executed.
1565 – Pedro Menéndez de Avilés sights land near St. Augustine, Florida and founds the oldest continuously occupied European-established city in the continental United States.
1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay.
1619 – Ferdinand II is elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
1640 – Second Bishop's War: King Charles I's English army loses to a Scottish Covenanter force at the Battle of Newburn.
1648 – Siege of Colchester ended when Royalists Forces surrender to the Parliamentary Forces after eleven weeks, during the English Civil War.
1709 – Meidingnu Pamheiba is crowned King of Manipur.
1789 – William Herschel discovers a new moon of Saturn: Enceladus.
1810 – Battle of Grand Port – the French accept the surrender of a British Navy fleet.
1830 – The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's new Tom Thumb steam locomotive races a horse-drawn car, presaging steam's role in US railroading.
1833 – The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 receives Royal Assent, abolishing slavery through most the British Empire.
1845 – The first issue of Scientific American magazine is published.
1849 – After a month-long siege, Venice, which had declared itself independent as the Republic of San Marco, surrenders to Austria.
1859 – A geomagnetic storm causes the Aurora Borealis to shine so brightly that it is seen clearly over parts of USA, Europe, and even as far away as Japan.
1862 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Bull Run, also known as the Battle of Second Manassas.
1867 – The United States takes possession of the, at this point unoccupied, Midway Atoll.
1879 – Cetshwayo, last king of the Zulus, is captured by the British.
1898 – Caleb Bradham invents the carbonated soft drink that will later be called "Pepsi-Cola".
1901 – Silliman University is founded in the Philippines. The first American private school in the country.
1909 – A group of mid-level Greek Army officers launches the Goudi coup, seeking wide-ranging reforms.
1913 – Queen Wilhelmina opens the Peace Palace in The Hague.
1914 – World War I: the Royal Navy defeats the German fleet in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.
1914 – World War I: German troops conquer Namur.
1916 – World War I: Germany declares war on Romania.
1916 – World War I: Italy declares war on Germany.
1917 – Ten Suffragettes are arrested while picketing the White House.
1924 – The Georgian opposition stages the August Uprising against the Soviet Union.
1931 – France and the Soviet Union sign a treaty of non-aggression.
1937 – Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.
1943 – World War II: in Denmark, a general strike against the Nazi occupation starts.
1944 – World War II: Marseille and Toulon are liberated.
1953 – Nippon Television broadcasts Japan's first television show, including its first TV advertisement.
1955 – Black teenager Emmett Till is brutally murdered in Mississippi, galvanizing the nascent American Civil Rights Movement.
1957 – U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond begins a filibuster to prevent the Senate from voting on Civil Rights Act of 1957; he stopped speaking 24 hours and 18 minutes later, the longest filibuster ever conducted by a single Senator.
1963 – March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech
1963 – Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie are murdered in their Manhattan apartment, prompting the events that would lead to the passing of the Miranda Rights.
1963 – The Evergreen Point Bridge, the longest floating bridge in the world, opens between Seattle and Medina, Washington, US.
1964 – The Philadelphia race riot begins.
1968 – Riots in Chicago, Illinois, during the Democratic National Convention.
1979 – An IRA bomb explodes on the Grote Markt in Brussels.
1988 – Ramstein airshow disaster: three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collide and the wreckage falls into the crowd. 75 are killed and 346 seriously injured.
1990 – Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province.
1990 – An F5 tornado strikes the Illinois cities of Plainfield and Joliet, killing 29 people.
1991 – Collapse of the Soviet Union – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.
1996 – Charles, Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales divorce.
1998 – Pakistan's National Assembly passes a constitutional amendment to make the "Qur'an and Sunnah" the "supreme law" but the bill is defeated in the Senate.
1998 – Second Congo War: Loyalist troops backed by Angolan and Zimbabwean forces repulse the rebels' offensive on Kinshasa.
2003 – An electricity blackout cuts off power to around 500,000 people living in south east England and brings 60% of London's underground rail network to a halt.
2011 – Hurricane Irene strikes the United States east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage.

Births[edit source | editbeta]

1025 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (d. 1068)
1582 – Taichang Emperor, of China (d. 1620)
1592 – George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English statesman (d. 1628)
1612 – Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn, Dutch scholar (d. 1653)
1667 – Louise of Mecklenburg-Güstrow (d. 1721)
1691 – Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (d. 1750)
1714 – Duke Anthony Ulrich of Brunswick (d. 1774)
1728 – John Stark, American general (d. 1822)
1739 – Agostino Accorimboni, Italian composer (d. 1818)
1749 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and scientist (d. 1832)
1774 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American nun and saint (d. 1821)
1789 – Stéphanie de Beauharnais, French wife of Charles, Grand Duke of Baden (d. 1860)
1801 – Antoine Augustin Cournot, French mathematician (d. 1877)
1814 – Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish author (d. 1873)
1827 – Grand Duchess Catherine Mikhailovna of Russia (d. 1894)
1840 – Alexander Cameron Sim, Scottish pharmacist and businessman, founded Kobe Regatta & Athletic Club (d. 1900)
1853 – Vladimir Shukhov, Russian engineer and architect (d. 1939)
1859 – Matilda Howell, American archer (d. 1938)
1859 – Vittorio Sella, Italian photographer (d. 1943)
1867 – Umberto Giordano, Italian composer (d. 1948)
1878 – George Whipple, American physician and pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1976)
1884 – Peter Fraser, New Zealand politician, 24th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1950)
1885 – Vance Palmer, Australian author (d. 1959)
1887 – István Kühár, Prekmurian priest, politician, and writer (d. 1922)
1894 – Karl Böhm, Austrian conductor (d. 1981)
1896 – Firaq Gorakhpuri,Indian writer (d.1982)
1898 – Charlie Grimm, American baseball player (d. 1983)
1899 – Charles Boyer, French actor (d. 1978)
1899 – Andrei Platonov, Russian author (d. 1951)
1903 – Bruno Bettelheim, American psychologist (d. 1990)
1904 – Secondo Campini, Italian engineer (d. 1980)
1905 – Cyril Walters, England cricketer (d. 1992)
1906 – John Betjeman, English poet (d. 1984)
1908 – Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and author (d. 1996)
1910 – Tjalling Koopmans, Dutch-American economist Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1985)
1911 – Joseph Luns, Dutch politician and diplomat, 5th Secretary General of NATO (d. 2002)
1913 – Robertson Davies, Canadian journalist, author, and playwright (d. 1995)
1913 – Jack Dreyfus, American businessman, founded the Dreyfus Corporation (d. 2009)
1913 – Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer (d. 1993)
1913 – Robert Irving, British conductor (d. 1991)
1913 – Boris Pahor, Italian author
1913 – Terence Reese, English bridge player and writer (d. 1996)
1913 – Richard Tucker, American tenor (d. 1975)
1915 – Max Robertson, British sportscaster (d. 2009)
1915 – Tasha Tudor, American author and illustrator (d. 2008)
1916 – Hélène Baillargeon, Canadian singer (d. 1997)
1916 – C. Wright Mills American sociologist (d. 1962)
1916 – Jack Vance, American author (d. 2013)
1917 – Jack Kirby, American writer and illustrator (d. 1994)
1918 – L. B. Cole, American illustrator and publisher (d. 1995)
1919 – Godfrey Hounsfield, British engineer Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
1921 – Fernando Fernán Gómez, Spanish actor, director, and playwright (d. 2007)
1921 – Nancy Kulp, American actress (d. 1991)
1924 – Janet Frame, New Zealand author (d. 2004)
1924 – Tony MacGibbon, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2010)
1924 – Peggy Ryan, American actress (d. 2004)
1925 – Donald O'Connor, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 2003)
1925 – Billy Grammer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2011)
1928 – F. William Free, American businessman (d. 2003)
1928 – Vilayat Khan, Indian sitar player and composer (d. 2004)
1929 – Ken Gampu, South African actor (d. 2003)
1929 – István Kertész, Hungarian conductor (d. 1973)
1930 – Windsor Davies, English actor
1930 – Ben Gazzara, American actor (d. 2012)
1931 – Tito Capobianco, Argentinian director
1931 – John Shirley-Quirk, English opera singer
1932 – Andy Bathgate, Canadian ice hockey player
1933 – Patrick Kalilombe, Malawian bishop (d. 2012)
1935 – Melvin Charney, Canadian artist and architect (d. 2012)
1935 – Gilles Rocheleau, Canadian politician (d. 1998)
1936 – Don Denkinger, American baseball umpire
1938 – Maurizio Costanzo, Italian journalist
1938 – Paul Martin, Canadian politician
1940 – William Cohen, American politician and author, 20th United States Secretary of Defense
1940 – Ken Jenkins, American actor
1940 – Roger Pingeon, French cyclist
1941 – Sybille de Selys Longchamps, Belgian mother of Delphine Boël
1941 – Paul Plishka, American opera singer
1942 – Sterling Morrison, American singer and guitarist (The Velvet Underground) (d. 1995)
1942 – Jorge Urosa, Venezuelan cardinal
1943 – Surayud Chulanont, Thai politician, 24th Prime Minister of Thailand
1943 – Lou Piniella, American baseball player and manager
1943 – David Soul, American actor and singer
1944 – Melvin Dummar, American forger of Howard Hughes estate
1944 – Marianne Heemskerk, Dutch swimmer
1944 – Kay Parker, English New Age author and pornographic actress
1945 – Robert Greenwald, American director and producer
1945 – Bob Segarini, American singer-songwriter and composer (The Wackers)
1947 – Liza Wang, Hong Kong actress
1948 – Vonda McIntyre, American author
1948 – Murray Parker, New Zealand cricketer
1948 – Heather Reisman, Canadian businesswoman, founded Indigo Books and Music
1948 – Danny Seraphine, American drummer and producer (Chicago)
1949 – Hugh Cornwell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Stranglers)
1949 – Svetislav Pešić, Serbian basketball player and coach
1950 – Ron Guidry, American baseball player and coach
1951 – Wayne Osmond, American singer-songwriter (The Osmonds)
1951 – Keiichi Suzuki, Japanese composer
1952 – Jacques Chagnon, Canadian politician
1952 – Rita Dove, American poet
1952 – Guy Nadon, Canadian actor
1952 – Wendelin Wiedeking, German businessman
1953 – Ditmar Jakobs, German footballer
1954 – George M. Church, American biologist
1956 – Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican actor
1956 – Mark Lutz, Puerto Rican actor
1957 – Ivo Josipović, Croatian politician, 3rd President of Croatia
1957 – Rick Rossovich, American actor
1957 – Daniel Stern, American actor
1958 – Scott Hamilton, American figure skater
1958 – Whip Hubley, American actor
1959 – Brian Thompson, American actor
1960 – Dinah Cancer, American singer-songwriter (45 Grave)
1960 – Emma Samms, English actress
1961 – Kim Appleby, English singer-songwriter and actress (Mel and Kim)
1961 – Cliff Benson, American football player
1961 – Ian Pont, English cricketer
1962 – Paul Allen, English footballer
1962 – Craig Anton, American actor
1962 – David Fincher, American director
1963 – Jennifer Coolidge, American actress
1963 – Regina Jacobs, American runner
1964 – Kaj Leo Johannesen, Faroese footballer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands
1965 – Satoshi Tajiri, Japanese video game designer, founded Game Freak
1965 – Amanda Tapping, Canadian actress, director, and producer
1965 – Shania Twain, Canadian singer-songwriter
1966 – Priya Dutt, Indian politician
1966 – Yoko Takahashi, Japanese singer
1967 – Dominic Lucero, American actor, singer, and dancer (d. 1994)
1968 – Billy Boyd, Scottish actor
1969 – Jack Black, American actor, singer, and guitarist (Tenacious D)
1969 – Mary McCartney, English photographer
1969 – Jason Priestley, Canadian actor and director
1969 – Pierre Turgeon, Canadian ice hockey player
1970 – Sherrié Austin, Australian actress and singer
1970 – Rick Recht, American singer-songwriter
1971 – Shane Andrews, American baseball player
1971 – Todd Eldredge, American figure skater
1971 – Janet Evans, American swimmer
1971 – Raúl Márquez, Mexican-American boxer
1972 – Ravindu Shah, Kenyan cricketer
1972 – Jay Witasick, American baseball player
1973 – Matthew John Armstrong, American actor
1973 – DJ Assault, American DJ
1973 – Kirby Morrow, Canadian actor
1974 – Johan Andersson, Swedish game programmer and designer
1974 – Takahito Eguchi, Japanese composer
1974 – Carsten Jancker, German footballer
1974 – Jen Kirkman, American comedian, writer, and actress
1974 – Kaori Mizuhashi, Japanese voice actress
1975 – Jamie Cureton, English footballer
1975 – Gareth Farrelly, Irish footballer
1975 – Vera Jordanova, Finnish actress and model
1976 – Federico Magallanes, Uruguayan footballer
1978 – Jess Margera, American drummer (CKY, Foreign Objects, Viking Skull, and The Company Band)
1979 – Shaila Dúrcal, Spanish singer-songwriter
1979 – Robert Hoyzer, German football referee
1979 – Kristen Hughes, Australian netball player
1979 – Markus Pröll, German footballer
1979 – Ruth Riley, American basketball player
1980 – Debra Lafave, American teacher and convicted sex offender
1980 – Carly Pope, Canadian actress
1981 – Matt Alrich, American lacrosse player
1981 – Martin Erat, Czech ice hockey player
1981 – Daniel Gygax, Swiss footballer
1981 – Raphael Matos, Brazilian race car driver
1981 – Agata Wróbel, Polish weightlifter
1982 – Anderson Silva de França, Brazilian footballer
1982 – Kevin McNaughton, Scottish footballer
1982 – Thiago Motta, Brazilian-Italian footballer
1982 – LeAnn Rimes, American singer-songwriter and actress
1983 – Ashley Hansen, Australian rules footballer
1983 – Alfonso Herrera, Mexican actor and singer (RBD)
1983 – Kimberly Kane, American porn actress and director
1983 – Lasith Malinga, Sri Lankan cricketer
1983 – Luke McAlister, New Zealand rugby player
1983 – Lilli Schwarzkopf, German heptathlete
1984 – Sarah Roemer, American actress and model
1985 – Ashlyne Huff, American singer-songwriter
1986 – Jeff Green, American basketball player
1986 – Armie Hammer, American actor
1986 – Gilad Shalit, Israeli soldier
1986 – Florence Welch, English singer-songwriter (Florence and the Machine)
1987 – Caleb Moore, American snowmobile racer (d. 2013)
1989 – César Azpilicueta, Spanish footballer
1989 – Valtteri Bottas, Finnish racing car driver
1989 – Jo Kwon, South Korean singer, dancer, and actor (2AM)
1989 – Cassadee Pope, American singer-songwriter (Hey Monday)
1989 – Christina Von Eerie, American wrestler
1990 – Bojan Krkić, Spanish footballer
1990 – Jane Randall, American model
1991 – Felicio Brown Forbes, German footballer
1991 – Samuel Larsen, American actor and singer
1991 – Kyle Massey, American actor and rapper
1991 – Andrej Pejić, Australian model
1992 – Gabriela Drăgoi, Romanian gymnast
1992 – Max Collins, Filipina television actress
1999 – Prince Nikolai of Denmark
2003 – Quvenzhané Wallis, American actress

Deaths[edit source | editbeta]

388 – Magnus Maximus, Roman Emperor (b. 335)
430 – Augustine of Hippo, Algerian saint and theologian (b. 354)
476 – Orestes, Roman general and politician
683 – K'inich Janaab' Pakal, Mayan ruler (b. 603)
876 – Louis the German, Frankish king (b. 804)
1341 – Leo V, King of Armenia (b. 1309)
1481 – Afonso V of Portugal (b. 1432)
1645 – Hugo Grotius, Dutch philosopher and writer (b. 1583)
1648 – Sir Charles Lucas, a Royalist commander in the English Civil War (b. 1613)
1654 – Axel Oxenstierna, Swedish statesman, Lord High Chancellor of Sweden (b. 1583)
1678 – John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, English soldier (b. 1602)
1757 – David Hartley, English philosopher (b. 1705)
1784 – Junípero Serra, Spanish missionary (b. 1713)
1793 – Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine, French general (b. 1740)
1805 – Alexander Carlyle, Scottish church leader (b. 1722)
1818 – Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, American founder of Chicago (b. 1750)
1820 – Andrew Ellicott, American surveyor (b. 1754)
1839 – William Smith, English geologist (b. 1769)
1900 – Henry Sidgwick, English philosopher (b. 1838)
1903 – Frederick Law Olmsted, American journalist and landscape designer (b. 1822)
1919 – Adolf Schmal, Austrian fencer and cyclist (b. 1872)
1928 – Karl Röderer, Swiss target shooter (b. 1868)
1933 – Helen Dunbar, American actress (b. 1863)
1934 – Tannatt William Edgeworth David, Australian geologist and explorer (b. 1858)
1943 – Boris III of Bulgaria (b. 1894)
1943 – George Underwood, American runner (b. 1884)
1955 – Emmett Till, American murder victim (b. 1941)
1959 – Bohuslav Martinů, Czech composer (b. 1890)
1960 – Julius Frey, German swimmer (b. 1881)
1960 – Edward Hennig, American gymnast (b. 1879)
1965 – Giulio Racah, Israeli physicist (b. 1909)
1971 – Reuvein Margolies, Israeli author and scholar (b. 1889)
1972 – Prince William of Gloucester (b. 1941)
1975 – Fritz Wotruba, Austrian sculptor (b. 1907)
1976 – Anissa Jones, American actress (b. 1958)
1978 – Bruce Catton, American historian and journalist (b. 1899)
1978 – Robert Shaw, English actor and author (b. 1927)
1981 – Béla Guttman, Hungarian footballer (b. 1900)
1982 – Geoff Chubb, South African cricketer (b. 1911)
1984 – Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian president (b. 1901)
1985 – Ruth Gordon, American actress (b. 1896)
1987 – John Huston, American director (b. 1906)
1988 – Jean Marchand, Canadian politician (b. 1918)
1988 – Max Shulman, American comedian and writer (b. 1919)
1989 – John Steptoe, American author and illustrator (b. 1950)
1990 – Willy Vandersteen, Belgian writer and illustrator (b. 1913)
1991 – Alekos Sakellarios, Greek writer and director (b. 1913)
1993 – William Stafford, American poet (b. 1914)
1995 – Earl W. Bascom, American rodeo performer (b. 1906)
1995 – Michael Ende, German author (b. 1929)
1995 – Carl Giles, English cartoonist (b. 1916)
1997 – Masaru Takumi, Japanese mobster (b. 1936)
2003 – Brian Douglas Wells, American pizza delivery man forced bank robber (b. 1956)
2005 – Jacques Dufilho, French actor (b. 1914)
2005 – Esther Szekeres, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1910)
2005 – George Szekeres, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1911)
2006 – Benoît Sauvageau, Canadian politician (b. 1963)
2006 – Melvin Schwartz, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1932)
2007 – Arthur Jones, American inventor and businessman, founded Nautilus, Inc. and MedX Corporation (b. 1926)
2007 – Hilly Kristal, American businessman, founded CBGB (b. 1932)
2007 – Paul MacCready, American engineer, founded AeroVironment (b. 1925)
2007 – Nikola Nobilo, New Zealand winemaker (b. 1913)
2007 – Antonio Puerta, Spanish footballer (b. 1984)
2007 – Francisco Umbral, Spanish journalist and novelist (b. 1935)
2007 – Miyoshi Umeki, Japanese-American actress and singer (b. 1929)
2008 – Phil Hill, American race car driver & 1961 Formula One World Champion(b. 1927)
2009 – Adam Goldstein, American drummer, DJ, and producer (Crazy Town and TRV$DJAM) (b. 1973)
2009 – Wayne Tippit, American actor (b. 1932)
2010 – William P. Foster, American bandleader and educator (b. 1919)
2011 – Bernie Gallacher, British footballer (b. 1967)
2012 – Said Afandi al-Chirkawi, Russian spiritual leader (b. 1937)
2012 – Rhodes Boyson, British educator, politician and author (b. 1925)
2012 – Maffeo Giovanni Ducoli, Italian bishop (b. 1918)
2012 – William Pascal Kikoti, Tanzanian bishop (b. 1957)
2012 – K. Pankajakshan, Indian politician (b. 1928)
2012 – Ramón Sota, Spanish golfer (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances[edit source | editbeta]

Assumption of Mary (Eastern Orthodox Church, a public holiday in the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Georgia)
Christian Feast Day:

===

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3 NIV

===

Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning

"How long will it be ere they believe me?"
Numbers 14:11

Strive with all diligence to keep out that monster unbelief. It so dishonours Christ, that he will withdraw his visible presence if we insult him by indulging it. It is true it is a weed, the seeds of which we can never entirely extract from the soil, but we must aim at its root with zeal and perseverance. Among hateful things it is the most to be abhorred. Its injurious nature is so venomous that he that exerciseth it and he upon whom it is exercised are both hurt thereby. In thy case, O believer! it is most wicked, for the mercies of thy Lord in the past, increase thy guilt in doubting him now. When thou dost distrust the Lord Jesus, he may well cry out, "Behold I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves." This is crowning his head with thorns of the sharpest kind. It is very cruel for a well-beloved wife to mistrust a kind and faithful husband. The sin is needless, foolish, and unwarranted. Jesus has never given the slightest ground for suspicion, and it is hard to be doubted by those to whom our conduct is uniformly affectionate and true. Jesus is the Son of the Highest, and has unbounded wealth; it is shameful to doubt Omnipotence and distrust all-sufficiency. The cattle on a thousand hills will suffice for our most hungry feeding, and the granaries of heaven are not likely to be emptied by our eating. If Christ were only a cistern, we might soon exhaust his fulness, but who can drain a fountain? Myriads of spirits have drawn their supplies from him, and not one of them has murmured at the scantiness of his resources. Away, then, with this lying traitor unbelief, for his only errand is to cut the bonds of communion and make us mourn an absent Saviour. Bunyan tells us that unbelief has "as many lives as a cat:" if so, let us kill one life now, and continue the work till the whole nine are gone. Down with thee, thou traitor, my heart abhors thee.

Evening

"Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."
Psalm 31:5

These words have been frequently used by holy men in their hour of departure. We may profitably consider them this evening. The object of the faithful man's solicitude in life and death is not his body or his estate, but his spirit; this is his choice treasure--if this be safe, all is well. What is this mortal state compared with the soul? The believer commits his soul to the hand of his God; it came from him, it is his own, he has aforetime sustained it, he is able to keep it, and it is most fit that he should receive it. All things are safe in Jehovah's hands; what we entrust to the Lord will be secure, both now and in that day of days towards which we are hastening. It is peaceful living, and glorious dying, to repose in the care of heaven. At all times we should commit our all to Jesus' faithful hand; then, though life may hang on a thread, and adversities may multiply as the sands of the sea, our soul shall dwell at ease, and delight itself in quiet resting places.

"Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth." Redemption is a solid basis for confidence. David had not known Calvary as we have done, but temporal redemption cheered him; and shall not eternal redemption yet more sweetly console us? Past deliverances are strong pleas for present assistance. What the Lord has done he will do again, for he changes not. He is faithful to his promises, and gracious to his saints; he will not turn away from his people.

"Though thou slay me I will trust,

Praise thee even from the dust,

Prove, and tell it as I prove,

Thine unutterable love.

Thou mayst chasten and correct,

But thou never canst neglect;

Since the ransom price is paid,

On thy love my hope is stay'd."

===

Today's reading: Psalm 120-122, 1 Corinthians 9 (NIV)

View today's reading on Bible Gateway

Today's Old Testament reading: Psalm 120-122

A song of ascents.

¹ I call on the LORD in my distress,
and he answers me.
² Save me, LORD,
from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.

³ What will he do to you,
and what more besides,
you deceitful tongue?
⁴ He will punish you with a warrior's sharp arrows,
with burning coals of the broom bush.

⁵ Woe to me that I dwell in Meshek,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
⁶ Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
⁷ I am for peace;
but when I speak, they are for war....

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

Today's New Testament reading: 1 Corinthians 9

Paul's Rights as an Apostle

¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? ² Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴Don't we have the right to food and drink? ⁵ Don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas? ⁶Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?

⁷ Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? ⁸ Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is concerned?¹⁰ Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? ¹² If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?

...read the rest on Bible Gateway

===

Greetings from Bible Gateway! We hope that those of you bracing for Hurricane Irene will stay safe this weekend. You're in our prayers.

We have two pieces of Bible Gateway news to share:

Do You Have Tough Questions About the Bible?

Even the most devout Bible reader would probably admit to running into confusion at points, or to harboring tough questions about Scripture's reliability and accuracy. And so next week, we're kicking off a new free email newsletter specifically for anyone who's ever asked a tough question about Scripture:Questions Answered.

Every week, Questions Answered will tackle a different question about the Bible and offer an honest answer that doesn't beat around the bush. Here are some of the questions you'll see addressed:

Can the Bible exaggerate and still be true?
Why do details sometimes differ from one Gospel account to another?
Are proverbs iron-clad promises?

It's not wrong to ask tough questions like these of the Bible-in fact, in earnestly looking for answers, you might be surprised how much you learn about God's Word. So whether you've asked these questions yourself or have been challenged by others to answer them, you'll find Questions Answered to be a thought-provoking exploration of the Bible and its claims.

Questions Answered begins on August 30-sign up today!

Farewell to Eugene Nida, Father of Dynamic Equivalence

Eugene Nida, the man who developed the "dynamic equivalence" Bible translation philosophy, passed away this week at age 96.

Nida's name might not be familiar to many Christians, but his ideas had a massive influence on modern Bible translation. His translation philosophy (also known as functional equivalence) encourages Bible translators to convey the thoughts and ideas expressed in Bible passages, rather than translating each phrase word-for-word. The driving goal behind the philosophy is to make the meaning of each Scripture passage clear and accessible to modern readers, even if it means sacrificing the exact form of the passages in their original language.

His might not be a household name, but Nida's work and ideas had a lasting influence on many of the Bibles on our bookshelves-and on the way that scholars today approach the task of translating Scripture. You can read more about Nida's life and legacy on the Bible Gateway blog.

That's all for now. Thanks, as always, for your continued support of Bible Gateway!

Sincerely,
the Bible Gateway team

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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Wed 28th Aug Todays News

Miranda Devine – Tuesday, August 27, 2013 (7:22pm)

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 28, 2013 (4:46pm)

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 28, 2013 (2:30pm)

Tim Blair – Wednesday, August 28, 2013 (3:44am)

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (8:29am)

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (8:02am)

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (7:47am)

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (6:59am)

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (6:08am)

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (6:03am)

Andrew Bolt August 28 2013 (4:56am)

God decide who you MEET, but you decide who you KEEP.

God brings people together for a valid reason, and it's your

full time responsibility to keep or hold on to who God has

placed in your life. If you agree say: Amen!

The more you know about Christ, the less you will be satisfied with superficial views of Him.

'Terminally ill man loses right to die court battle'

He may have lost the battle but something tells me he'll eventually win the war.

Kelly O'Dwyer.

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Events[edit source | editbeta]

Births[edit source | editbeta]

Deaths[edit source | editbeta]

Holidays and observances[edit source | editbeta]

Morning

Evening

Today's reading: Psalm 120-122, 1 Corinthians 9 (NIV)

Today's Old Testament reading: Psalm 120-122

Today's New Testament reading: 1 Corinthians 9

Paul's Rights as an Apostle

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