I am very good and don't deserve 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.
Here is a video I made Art Spot-Michelangelo's David returns to Italy from USA
Art Spot reports on the statue of David, which has completed its tour of the US. Even after five hundred years, the statue reflects the times.
=== from 2016 ===
To play Pokemon Go, some joke about tethering their iPhone to a dog. It means less walking. However, some suggest letting children run around too. The game is fun, but normal propriety rules exist. Children need to be supervised. A child will follow Pokemon onto a street with the same awareness as chasing a ball. Some adults are similarly challenged. One cannot teach common sense in the abstract. Driving and playing Pokemon Go is as safe as it sounds. The ridiculous over reach which prevents people playing the game in some suburbs or at some locations is absurd. Mind you, the thought crossed my mind when I found Blue Apex Park that maybe the in game naming structure was bad, referencing the gang terrorising Melbourne at the moment. It turns out that is the name of the park given by the local council. The gang was named after a street in North Dandenong. So what was PM Turnbull playing at when he examined the possibility of making Rudd UN Secretary General? It wasn't Pokemon. And now it turns out that the recent election gave Turnbull the thinnest of knife edges as majority. Just as Turnbull has burned his second in charge.
For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
For some, at the moment, the Sex Party has more credibility.
=== from 2015 ===
When I began writing for my books in 2013, I noticed that August began, from the way July ended, with an unusual take on how people treated victory at different points in time. In England in 1588 and in Alexandria in 30 BC. The responses of Elizabeth I and Mark Antony are an interesting study. She triumphed at her triumph. He suicided. To be fair, Antony did not suicide because he won, but because he won badly. Cleopatra had helped him win, but in doing so they were stuck on land and their troops were running away from Octavian. Antony suicided, partly to protect his underlings from revenge attacks by Octavian. It wasn't perfect, as plans went, because although Antony suicided, Octavian took bloody revenge.
Bill Shorten is hoping for success. He hasn't had one recently. He has lied about turning back boats. He has lied about protecting the environment with a business ruining tax. He is losing popularity and relevance. However, he is leading another campaign to disrupt PM Tony Abbott. Earlier, Shorten tried to have Peta Credlin booted from Abbott's office. Now he is trying to have the Speaker of the Parliament, Bronwyn Bishop booted. Bishop has done what politicians do. She was entitled to have expenses compensated. The arbitrary public concern over expenses has been successful in the UK with getting conservatives into trouble. It is happening here too. The issues for which Bishop is being attacked are historic. The only answer for Mr Abbott is how to engineer a win. Bishop's political suicide is not the answer, although many are baying for it. And Shorten feels he has earned it.
One powerful issue which Shorten has fed, but which is not directly related to Shorten, but Rudd, is that of booing former Australian of the Year Adam Goodes. It doesn't mean much in the wider political sense, but is smoke to obscure issues of corruption surrounding the ALP and industrial relations. But, more directly people are booing Goodes and being called racist. Goodes' race was known before he was booed, when he was being lauded. And the people booing may well be doing so based on their beliefs on race. And people supporting Goodes may well be doing so for no other reason than race. But it isn't racism that is booing Goodes but his support of racism to define the world. Racism is a truth that should never be employed by government in its' activity. Goodes is not a product of racism, but of love. It is worth comparing Goodes Australian of the year speech with Elizabeth I's victory speech.
Bill Shorten is hoping for success. He hasn't had one recently. He has lied about turning back boats. He has lied about protecting the environment with a business ruining tax. He is losing popularity and relevance. However, he is leading another campaign to disrupt PM Tony Abbott. Earlier, Shorten tried to have Peta Credlin booted from Abbott's office. Now he is trying to have the Speaker of the Parliament, Bronwyn Bishop booted. Bishop has done what politicians do. She was entitled to have expenses compensated. The arbitrary public concern over expenses has been successful in the UK with getting conservatives into trouble. It is happening here too. The issues for which Bishop is being attacked are historic. The only answer for Mr Abbott is how to engineer a win. Bishop's political suicide is not the answer, although many are baying for it. And Shorten feels he has earned it.
One powerful issue which Shorten has fed, but which is not directly related to Shorten, but Rudd, is that of booing former Australian of the Year Adam Goodes. It doesn't mean much in the wider political sense, but is smoke to obscure issues of corruption surrounding the ALP and industrial relations. But, more directly people are booing Goodes and being called racist. Goodes' race was known before he was booed, when he was being lauded. And the people booing may well be doing so based on their beliefs on race. And people supporting Goodes may well be doing so for no other reason than race. But it isn't racism that is booing Goodes but his support of racism to define the world. Racism is a truth that should never be employed by government in its' activity. Goodes is not a product of racism, but of love. It is worth comparing Goodes Australian of the year speech with Elizabeth I's victory speech.
From 2014
It is said to have happened on this day, but it may not have happened at all, but it is certainly the case that Daniel Defoe was certainly not harmed by his stay in the stocks in 1703. It was said after that he had been pelted with flowers, not the more traditional rotten fruit after he had announced a poem to the Stocks. He had been placed in the stocks because King William had died and Queen Anne had different policies, and Defoe wrote satire. A particular pamphlet in this case had been written by Defoe anonymously, but he had been identified. He had suggested that non conformists be killed. John Robert Moorelater said that "no man in England but Defoe ever stood in the pillory and later rose to eminence among his fellow men".
Also on this day the Spanish Armada was sighted off the English coast. But, it was never a real threat of invasion as the large number of troops that had been assembled would never have been able to board the ships as they were never able to get past the smaller Dutch ships which would have prevented it in shallower waters. Even so, it was a remarkable success and allowed Queen Elizabeth to later give her stirring speech at Tillbury.
Today is another of infamy for anti semitism. In 1492 the Alhambra Decree took effect, kicking all Jews out of Spain, five years after the Spanish King had instigated the Spanish Inquisition. In 1932 the NAZI Party won 38% of the vote. One can only guess what the 38% wanted of them, their activity was evident from the beginning. Brutal and ugly. In 1941, Hitler instructed Hermann Göring to give orders to SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question."
In 1201, John Komnenos the Fat failed to usurp the Byzantine empire. In 1498 on his third voyage, Christopher Columbus discovered Trinidad. In 1658 Aurangzeb took control of India, ending secular administration and putting in place Islamic rule, his administration was to mark the downfall of Islamic leaders in India. In 1715, 12 Spanish treasure galleons set sail from Havana, eleven sank in a storm, allowing their treasure to be claimed centuries later. In 1763, Chief Pontiac defeated British in the Battle of Bloody Run. In 1777, the US Second continental Congress gave Lafayette an honorary rank of Major General of US forces. In 1790, US granted a patent for Potash. In 1856, Christchurch became a city. In 1913, the Balkan states signed an armistice. In 1919, Germany adopted the Weimar constitution. In 1930, radio program The Shadow first aired. In 1931 the future TV WCBS first broadcasted. In 1938, archaeologists discovered gold and silver plates from Darius the Great at Persepolis. In 1945, Pierre Laval, former socialist turned fascist leader of Vichy France, surrendered to allies in Austria.
Also on this day the Spanish Armada was sighted off the English coast. But, it was never a real threat of invasion as the large number of troops that had been assembled would never have been able to board the ships as they were never able to get past the smaller Dutch ships which would have prevented it in shallower waters. Even so, it was a remarkable success and allowed Queen Elizabeth to later give her stirring speech at Tillbury.
"My loving people, we have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes for fear of treachery; but, I do assure you, I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself, that under God I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and goodwill of my subjects; and, therefore, I am come amongst you as you see at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of battle, to live or die amongst you all – to lay down for my God, and for my kingdoms, and for my people, my honour and my blood even in the dust. I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king – and of a King of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonour should grow by me, I myself will take up arms – I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. I know already, for your forwardness, you have deserved rewards and crowns, and, we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. In the mean time, my lieutenant general shall be in my stead, than whom never prince commanded a more noble or worthy subject; not doubting but by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people"Mark Antony had had success at the Battle of Alexandria, 30 BC, against Octavion, but instead of a stirring speech to his men, he committed suicide. One can learn a lot by studying Elizabeth Rex. Antony's example is less glorious.
Today is another of infamy for anti semitism. In 1492 the Alhambra Decree took effect, kicking all Jews out of Spain, five years after the Spanish King had instigated the Spanish Inquisition. In 1932 the NAZI Party won 38% of the vote. One can only guess what the 38% wanted of them, their activity was evident from the beginning. Brutal and ugly. In 1941, Hitler instructed Hermann Göring to give orders to SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question."
In 1201, John Komnenos the Fat failed to usurp the Byzantine empire. In 1498 on his third voyage, Christopher Columbus discovered Trinidad. In 1658 Aurangzeb took control of India, ending secular administration and putting in place Islamic rule, his administration was to mark the downfall of Islamic leaders in India. In 1715, 12 Spanish treasure galleons set sail from Havana, eleven sank in a storm, allowing their treasure to be claimed centuries later. In 1763, Chief Pontiac defeated British in the Battle of Bloody Run. In 1777, the US Second continental Congress gave Lafayette an honorary rank of Major General of US forces. In 1790, US granted a patent for Potash. In 1856, Christchurch became a city. In 1913, the Balkan states signed an armistice. In 1919, Germany adopted the Weimar constitution. In 1930, radio program The Shadow first aired. In 1931 the future TV WCBS first broadcasted. In 1938, archaeologists discovered gold and silver plates from Darius the Great at Persepolis. In 1945, Pierre Laval, former socialist turned fascist leader of Vichy France, surrendered to allies in Austria.
Historical perspective on this day
In 30 BC, Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieved a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserted, leading to his suicide. 781, the oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781). 1009, Pope Sergius IV became the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII. 1201, attempted usurpation of John Komnenos the Fat. 1423, Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: The French army was defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. 1451, Jacques Cœur was arrested by order of Charles VII of France. 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decreetook effect. 1498, on his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus became the first European to discover the island of Trinidad. 1588, the Spanish Armada was spotted off the coast of England. 1655, Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army entered the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it held for six years. 1658, Aurangzeb was proclaimed Moghul emperor of India. 1667, Second Anglo-Dutch War: Treaty of Breda ended the conflict.
In 1703, Daniel Defoe was placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but was pelted with flowers. 1712, Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clashed in the Baltic Sea; the result was inconclusive. 1715, seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sank in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure was salvaged from these wrecks. 1741, Charles Albert of Bavaria invaded Upper Austria and Bohemia. 1763, OdawaChief Pontiac's forces defeated British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War. 1777, the U.S. Second Continental Congress passed a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." 1790, the first U.S. patent was issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. 1856, Christchurch, New Zealand was chartered as a city. 1865, the first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opened at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
In 1904, Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeated units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation. 1913, the Balkan States signed an armistice in Bucharest. 1919, German national assembly adopted the Weimar Constitution, which came into force on August 14. 1930, the radio mystery program The Shadow aired for the first time. 1932, the NSDAP (Nazi Party) won more than 38% of the vote in German elections. 1938, Bulgaria signed a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia). Also 1938, Archaeologists discovered engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
In 1941, The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question." 1945, Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrendered to Alliedsoldiers in Austria. 1948, at Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) was dedicated. Also 1948, USS Nevada was sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.
In 1954, first ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio. 1961, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in Major League Baseball history occurred when the game was stopped in the 9th inning because of rain. 1964, Ranger program: Ranger 7 sent back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes. 1970, Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy. 1971, Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts became the first to ride in a lunar rover 1972, the Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-took the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It was the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians were killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy. 1988, thirty-two people were killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapsed in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
In 1991, the United States and Soviet Union both signed the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles. 1992, Georgia joined the United Nations. 1999, Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashed the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface. 2006, Fidel Castro handed over power to brother Raúl Castro. 2007, Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, came to an end. 2009, three members of the popular South Korean group TVXQ, (Kim Jaejoong, Kim Junsu, and Park Yoochun), filed lawsuit against their Korean management S.M. Entertainment. 2012, Michael Phelps broke the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
In 1703, Daniel Defoe was placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but was pelted with flowers. 1712, Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clashed in the Baltic Sea; the result was inconclusive. 1715, seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sank in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure was salvaged from these wrecks. 1741, Charles Albert of Bavaria invaded Upper Austria and Bohemia. 1763, OdawaChief Pontiac's forces defeated British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War. 1777, the U.S. Second Continental Congress passed a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." 1790, the first U.S. patent was issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process. 1856, Christchurch, New Zealand was chartered as a city. 1865, the first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opened at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
In 1904, Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeated units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation. 1913, the Balkan States signed an armistice in Bucharest. 1919, German national assembly adopted the Weimar Constitution, which came into force on August 14. 1930, the radio mystery program The Shadow aired for the first time. 1932, the NSDAP (Nazi Party) won more than 38% of the vote in German elections. 1938, Bulgaria signed a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia). Also 1938, Archaeologists discovered engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
In 1941, The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question." 1945, Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrendered to Alliedsoldiers in Austria. 1948, at Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) was dedicated. Also 1948, USS Nevada was sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.
In 1954, first ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio. 1961, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in Major League Baseball history occurred when the game was stopped in the 9th inning because of rain. 1964, Ranger program: Ranger 7 sent back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes. 1970, Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy. 1971, Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts became the first to ride in a lunar rover 1972, the Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-took the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It was the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians were killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy. 1988, thirty-two people were killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapsed in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
In 1991, the United States and Soviet Union both signed the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles. 1992, Georgia joined the United Nations. 1999, Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashed the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface. 2006, Fidel Castro handed over power to brother Raúl Castro. 2007, Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, came to an end. 2009, three members of the popular South Korean group TVXQ, (Kim Jaejoong, Kim Junsu, and Park Yoochun), filed lawsuit against their Korean management S.M. Entertainment. 2012, Michael Phelps broke the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
=== 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
1917 – First World War: The Battle of Passchendaele began near Ypres in West Flanders, Belgium, with the Allied Powers aiming to force German troops to withdraw from the Channel Ports.
1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to handle "the final solution of the Jewish question".
1975 – The Troubles: In a botched paramilitary attack, three members of the popular Miami Showband and two Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen were killed in County Down, Northern Ireland.
1991 – Soviet Special Purpose Police Unit troops killed seven Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious attack of their campaign against Lithuanian border posts. Avoid seditious libel that will get you pilloried. Also, avoid big battles. Try and solve problems without hurting people. Or you may become a joke. Sometimes, it might be best to turn a blind eye .. and just have fun.
1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to handle "the final solution of the Jewish question".
1975 – The Troubles: In a botched paramilitary attack, three members of the popular Miami Showband and two Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen were killed in County Down, Northern Ireland.
1991 – Soviet Special Purpose Police Unit troops killed seven Lithuanian customs officials in Medininkai in the most serious attack of their campaign against Lithuanian border posts. Avoid seditious libel that will get you pilloried. Also, avoid big battles. Try and solve problems without hurting people. Or you may become a joke. Sometimes, it might be best to turn a blind eye .. and just have fun.
- 1143 – Emperor Nijō of Japan (d. 1165)
- 1396 – Philip the Good, French son of John the Fearless (d. 1467)
- 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (d. 1752)
- 1718 – John Canton, English physicist (d. 1772)
- 1724 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801)
- 1796 – Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Czech-French actor and mime (d. 1846)
- 1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist (d. 1882)
- 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish engineer, co-designed the Novelty Locomotive (d. 1889)
- 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
- 1867 – S. S. Kresge, American businessman, founded Kmart (d. 1966)
- 1880 – Premchand, Indian author (d. 1936)
- 1886 – Fred Quimby, American animator and producer (d. 1965)
- 1892 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist and publisher, founded Worldwide Church of God (d. 1986)
- 1911 – George Liberace, American violinist (d. 1983)
- 1912 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (d. 2008)
- 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
- 1914 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1983)
- 1918 – Frank Renouf, New Zealand businessman and financier (d. 1998)
- 1921 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International (d. 2005)
- 1929 – José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer, coach, and manager
- 1939 – France Nuyen, French actress
- 1944 – Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
- 1947 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)
- 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria
- 1962 – Wesley Snipes, American martial artist, actor, and producer
- 1964 – Jim Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Corrs)
- 1965 – J. K. Rowling, English author
- 1966 – Tatsuya Ishihara, Japanese animator and director
- 1967 – Minako Honda, Japanese singer and actress (d. 2005)
- 1974 – Emilia Fox, English actress
- 1982 – Blessing Mahwire, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1989 – Jessica Williams, American actress
- 1992 – Lizzy, South Korean singer, dancer, and actress (After School and Orange Caramel)
- 1998 – Rico Rodriguez, American actor
- 54 BC – Aurelia Cotta, Roman wife of Gaius Julius Caesar (b. 120 BC)
- 450 – Peter Chrysologus, Italian bishop and saint (b. 380)
- 1358 – Étienne Marcel, French rebel leader (b. 1302)
- 1508 – Na'od, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1494)
- 1556 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish priest and theologian, founded the Society of Jesus (b. 1491)
- 1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher (b. 1713)
- 1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1811)
- 1943 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer (b. 1905)
- 1953 – Robert Taft, American politician (b. 1889)
July 31: Tu B'Av (Judaism, 2015); Feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola; Ka Hae Hawai'i Day (Flag Day) in Hawaii
- 1201 – John Komnenos the Fat briefly seized the throne of the Byzantine Empire from Alexios III Angelos, but he was soon caught and executed.
- 1703 – English writer Daniel Defoe was placed in a pillory for seditious libel after publishing a pamphlet politically satirising the High Church Tories.
- 1777 – The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution allowing French nobleman Marquis de Lafayette to enter the American revolutionary forces as a Major General.
- 1975 – The Troubles: In a botched paramilitary attack, three members of the popular Miami Showband and two Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen were killed in County Down, Northern Ireland.
- 1991 – The Soviet Union and the United States signed the bilateral START I treaty (signing pictured), the largest and most complex arms controltreaty in history, which eventually removed 80% of all strategic nuclear weapons then in existence.
Nick, he is your fame. Defoe had written something popular. Let him be called a Major General. Troubles shared are disturbing. It is a start. Let's party.
Tim Blair
DIVERSITY DELAYS
Andrew Bolt
DRUG THE SCEPTICS! MAKE CHILDREN SHORTER!
No hope for America or the world in this poll
Piers Akerman – Saturday, July 30, 2016 (11:57pm)
THE world dodged a bullet when Malcolm Turnbull refused to endorse Kevin Rudd’s tepid candidacy for the UN Secretary-General’s job.
Continue reading 'No hope for America or the world in this poll'Pell report is a sick fantasy
Piers Akerman – Saturday, July 30, 2016 (11:54pm)
THE fanfare around the ABC’s 7.30 program last week would make you think Cardinal George Pell is the master paedophile sitting atop the global paedophile ring that is the Catholic Church.
Continue reading 'Pell report is a sick fantasy'Fix Australian of the Year gong or scrap it
Piers Akerman – Saturday, July 30, 2016 (11:53pm)
AFTER the debacle of David Morrison as Australian of the Year, it’s time we scrapped the award altogether, or at least got it right.
Continue reading 'Fix Australian of the Year gong or scrap it'SYDNEY GREENS BRANCHES
Tim Blair – Sunday, July 31, 2016 (2:49am)
A poignant protest on Anzac Parade, where even a few stray branches are mourned:
If only the SMH’s Elizabeth Farrelly had been there. She could’ve written another attack on fluoro monkeys, her least-favourite invasive species. Instead, for this week’s column Elizabeth handed in a review of Archibald Prize artworks:
If only the SMH’s Elizabeth Farrelly had been there. She could’ve written another attack on fluoro monkeys, her least-favourite invasive species. Instead, for this week’s column Elizabeth handed in a review of Archibald Prize artworks:
Two portraits stand in contrast, picked out not by skill or insight but by a smug opacity more aligned with that older habit, portrait as propaganda. “We,” they seem to say, “are the fossilised relics of the braggart tradition. We stand for commerce, not creativity; patriarchy, not openness; exploitation, not love.”
Liz thinks those are opposites. They stand for evil, not caterpillars; tyranny, not shoes; injustice, not left-arm Sri Lankan unorthodox spin bowling.
I came to them blind …
Not a great qualification as an art critic.
The first … is Deputy Premier Troy Grant. Its colouring is vaguely Andrew Wyeth, but there’s no romance here. No sweetness. The wheat is cut-to-length and stubby and the man, somewhat bizarrely, occupies not the ground but a chair. His right hand holds – literally centre-field – a police hat and crucifix, all of it bespeaking unrivalled dominance over a landscape that is anyway monocultured and chemicaled into submission, not a tree in sight.
The Archibald is a portrait prize. Landscapes are down the hall.
The other portrait … shows Josh Frydenberg, aka “Mr Coal”, grinning affably, suited and sated-looking like a banker after a fancy lunch. Around his balding head is a soft white halo of “outstanding achievements” …Was this some kind of sick joke? Had Australia been very bad in some former existence to deserve such punishment? Did these people even breathe air?
The last time I ran into Josh he seemed to be breathing air, but it could have been a combination of ammonia fumes and acetate. You never know these days with Victorian Liberals.
(Via Bill D.)
AT LEAST NIXON IS TUNING IN
Tim Blair – Sunday, July 31, 2016 (1:45am)
The “they’ve stopped listening” moment occurs when an electorate ceases to follow a particular contender’s campaign. In 2007, that moment was detected some weeks prior to the election:
Swinging voters had stopped listening to John Howard and see him as yesterday’s man …When influential US pollster Frank Luntz asked 24 carefully selected floating voters which politician they wanted to hear from first, the response was overwhelming – 23 chose Mr Rudd, while only one said Mr Howard.
In 2010, the electorate stopped listening to Kevin Rudd even before an election was called:
It has reached the stage where voters aren’t listening any more. When that happens, what can you say that will turn things around? Not much.
Turning things around is even harder if your own party isn’t listening. Rudd was knifed by Julia Gillard just one month later. It’s way too early to say we’ve hit a no-listening point in the US election, but USA TODAY editorial page deputy David Mastio is calling it anyway:
No one is listening anymore … I don’t care how much Hillary Clinton spends on attack ads revealing the full awful truth about Donald Trump. As long as she is talking, nobody is going to hear a word over all the laughter.
It’s an entertaining piece. Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reports a stunning campaign comment:
Former US president Richard Nixon also weighed in, encapsulating what some people feel about the presidential race: that they’re voting against Trump and the Republicans, not for Hillary.
It isn’t every day that a dead 103-year-old offers his opinion on contemporary politics. Poll-wise, an eleven-day average currently shows Trump and Clinton in a tie. According to the Wall Street Journal: “After what even critics said was a highly effective Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton appears to have emerged as … the underdog.”
THE COMMUTER
Tim Blair – Sunday, July 31, 2016 (12:33am)
A previous era of US drag racers and their cars typically went by entertainingly predatory nicknames. During the 1970s, for example, drag strips across the nation thrilled to battles between the Snake and the the Mongoose.
In Britain, however, names were slightly more restrained. Behold the Commuter:
Unusually for a slingshot dragster, the Commuter ran a Ford engine. Presumably its nemesis was the notorious Timetable, or perhaps the always-rapid Ticket Collector.
Unusually for a slingshot dragster, the Commuter ran a Ford engine. Presumably its nemesis was the notorious Timetable, or perhaps the always-rapid Ticket Collector.
Not vindicated then, by Kelly’s election-day test
Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (6:18pm)
Paul Kelly set the test on election day, July 2:
===If Turnbull wins a comfortable working majority it will vindicate the Abbott/Turnbull leadership change. It will validate the Turnbull/Morrison economic policy and give Turnbull the chance to stabilise a brand of Liberal government, more progressive with a positive leadership style and incremental approach to reform.Kelly will have to draw the logical conclusion, then, after today’s final declaration:
Malcolm Turnbull will be left with the barest majority of one seat in Parliament after the Australian Electoral Commission called the disputed seat of Herbert for Labor by just 37 votes.
Spitters free, warders muzzled
Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (6:11pm)
This overreaction is becoming quite mad. Now when offenders spit at warders, it’s the warders who have to have their heads in a bag:
(Thanks to reader Steve.)
===YOUTH detention officers at WA’s Banksia Hill centre have been ordered to wear surgical masks with eye shields rather than put spit hoods on juveniles.Quite literally, the lunatics are running the asylum.
The sudden policy change to drop the use of the hoods at WA’s only juvenile jail came after shocking footage of guards mistreating young detainees in the Northern Territory was aired on ABC’s Four Corners program this week, sparking a royal commission.
(Thanks to reader Steve.)
Do you trust Warren Mundine or Malcolm Turnbull?
Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (11:24am)
Another member of Malcolm Turnbull’s extended team has reason to question the Prime Minister’s trustworthiness:
And here’s a sign of the dangerous new viciousness of the Left:
===The head of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council Nyunggai Warren Mundine is at odds with Malcolm Turnbull over whether there should be a new Royal Commission and whether he was consulted, saying ... we need action, not more reports…But did he consult on the royal commission?
Mr Mundine said the Prime Minister spoke to him late Wednesday about the terms of reference, but not before the decision was made to launch an inquiry.
“I expressed my views in regard to it but [they made no difference] because my comments were after the announcement of the Royal Commission,” he said… Turnbull rejected suggestions he had not consulted Mr Mundine about setting up the commission, saying they spoke before the inquiry was announced on Tuesday morning. “I did speak to Mr Mundine actually before the royal commission was announced, as a matter of fact,” he said.
And here’s a sign of the dangerous new viciousness of the Left:
NT Attorney General and former Corrections Minister John Elferink has fled to South Australia ... after receiving death threats over the footage aired by the ABC’s Four Corners.Reader Peter of Bellevue Hill:
How shocking to read of Elferink’s flight. It cannot be that many years ago that it would have been scarcely imaginable that Australia would be a place where journalists must move house over Islamist death threats, a place where elements within the police and the national broadcaster seek to destroy a public figure with untested allegations, and a place where an elected official receives death threats over a television program.
Bishop the latest to learn the curse of backing Turnbull
Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (10:58am)
Why is Barnaby Joyce telling fibs for Malcolm Turnbull?
Katharine Murphy:
Indeed:
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
===Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull accurately reflected the mood of the federal Cabinet when he rejected Kevin Rudd’s bid to lead the United Nations, according to deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce… “I’ve seen some reports that this was a captain’s pick, it was not. It was a decision of Cabinet,” the Nationals leader told the ABC. “I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say it was a majority.”That is the opposite of what Turnbull’s office is briefing. Peter Hartcher:
In ... Thursday’s cabinet debate ... Turnbull presided as a neutral chairman, showing no inclination, as he listened to the arguments for and against. In the face of a divided cabinet, he asked his colleagues for a “hunting licence” – permission to take the decision himself – and was given one…And Turnbull was always in favor of this idiotic idea to back Rudd until he realised his job was on the line.
Turnbull ... fears for the unity of his government. He is acutely conscious that he was narrowly returned to power, that he is subject to a lot of biting internal criticism over the campaign, that a small knot of his party’s conservatives – [Eric] Abetz, Cory Bernardi, George Christiansen, Kevin Andrews - will enjoy making trouble for him if they can....
Before the election, when Turnbull imagined his future self to be in a stronger position, he was committed to supporting Rudd… As Rudd wrote to Turnbull in a letter he released on Friday night: “You in fact sent me a message on your preferred Wickr system [encrypted message service] where you stated that you and the FM [foreign minister] were ‘as one’ in your support for my candidature.”
Newly anxious, Turnbull has preferred to appease his right faction ... than to support his deputy leader and foreign affairs minister… This is a decision taken in fear. It’s a decision about preserving the personal political position of the leader.
Katharine Murphy:
Notwithstanding [the] bruising communications between Turnbull and Rudd, Bishop was asked to work up a cabinet submission that would be considered by the government after the election. Government sources say it was Turnbull’s call to put the issue to the full cabinet…The Courier-Mail editorial:
(C)olleagues had the impression from Bishop that the prime minister would have no option [but to] nominate Rudd. Bishop then set about the business of establishing whether Rudd was suitably qualified for the post…
Given her character traits, it is highly unlikely Bishop would have extended herself that far if she felt she lacked high-level support. As a leading moderate who supported Turnbull during the leadership change from Tony Abbott, Bishop faces a degree of internal vulnerability. After the election there was talk of replacing her as deputy Liberal leader with a conservative.. (O)n the balance of the evidence it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Turnbull was walking both sides of the street in the hope he would be able to finesse a complex situation after an election when he emerged from the campaign in possession of a personal mandate. That didn’t quite come off, of course.
Turnbull can dissemble all he likes about his Government’s rejection of Kevin Rudd for a nomination to run for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations – but at its heart this was a brutal blow to his authority and that of his Liberal Party deputy, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.Some reflections.
Anyone who understands Mr Turnbull’s private, very positive views of Mr Rudd will chuckle at his assertion he did not think the former Labor prime minister was suitable for the role of UN Secretary-General. And this assertion becomes doubly unbelievable when you consider the recommendation was taken to Cabinet by Ms Bishop on the advice of the Department of Foreign Affairs.Put simply, if Mr Turnbull did not believe Mr Rudd was suitable why did he allow his deputy to take this submission forward?
Turnbull betrayed Rudd and Rudd will make him pay.Turnbull has now damaged his two key fellow plotters - Bishop and Treasurer Scott Morrison - in exactly the same way. He encouraged both to do something stupid (Morrison to spruik a higher GST, Bishop to promote Rudd) and then cut them off at the knees when the plans went pear-shaped. For everyone in the Turnbull coterie this question must now be paramount: will Turnbull drag them down, too. Backing him comes at a terrible cost.
Turnbull humiliated Bishop and Bishop will make sure he carries the can.
Turnbull would have backed Rudd - against the overwhelming sentiment of Liberal members - had he not been humiliated at the election.
Turnbull has no political judgement.
Bishop’s authority has been shredded since the coup.
Indeed:
Of the plotters who gathered in Peter Hendy’s outhouse in September last year to engineer Malcolm Turnbull’s ascension, a third is gone from Federal politics.Read on the full list of Turnbull plotters and advisers - most of them B grade and many, I predict, destined for humiliation.
Nine Liberals secretly met at Hendy’s rural Queanbeyan property on the Sunday night before the leadership spill that saw Tony Abbott removed as prime minister… Two staffers were there as observers: Julie Bishop’s chief of staff Murray Hansen and Turnbull’s now principal private secretary Sally Cray… Wyatt Roy and Hendy were knocked out by voters on July 2. And Mal Brough knocked himself out of contention.
(Thanks to reader Peter of Bellevue Hill.)
Missing the chance to see Phillip Adams made a slave of Chavez economics
Andrew Bolt July 31 2016 (10:36am)
Then:
===[Eight] years ago a collective of our snowfield socialists - including the ABC’s Phillip Adams, propagandist John Pilger, the Greens’ Kerry Nettle and Kevin Rudd’s nephew Van Thanh Rudd - beggedVenezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez to come teach Australians a lesson:Now:
Every country has its own traditions and culture and has to find its own solutions, but what Venezuela has been able to achieve in so little time will be a source of inspiration and ideas for many in Australia.
A new decree establishing that any employee in Venezuela can be effectively made to work in the country’s fields as a way to fight the current food crisis is unlawful and effectively amounts to forced labour, said Amnesty International…It’s a pity, in a way, that Phillip Adams and his fellow socialists never succeeded in converting Australia to Chavez-style socialism. I would have rather enjoyed seeing the millionaire ad man forced to work in the fields and learn the consequences of his authoritarian dreams.
The decree, officially published earlier this week, establishes that people working in public and private companies can be called upon to join state-sponsored organizations specialized in the production of food. They will be made to work in the new companies temporarily for a minimum of 60 days after which their “contracts” will be automatically renewed for an extra 60-day period or they will be allowed to go back to their original jobs.
Andes Bolt
Andrew Bolt July 30 2016 (11:34pm)
My book took off on an international frolic without me, visiting London, Lake Como, Ithaca, Scotland, the Bay of Naples and Fiji, before being caught and sentenced to work in the mines of Kalgoorlie. On release, it worked on the coal seam gas fields of Condabri, Queensland, before taking to the road to meet an Aboriginal giant at Aileron, in the Northern Territory.
It has now left the country to see the Andes. Here is the view reader Michael Braaksma snapped from the balcony of Huinganco Hosteria, near Andacollo in Argentina:
To buy a copy for the traveler in your life, go here. A second edition will be printed soon, so don’t wait if you want one of the remaining first editions.
The third edition of the Bolt Bulletin, available to on-line buyers, went out last week.
UPDATE
Thank you very much to the 150 people who turned up to the Adelaide launch of my book on Friday. I am grateful to you. Terrific event.
===It has now left the country to see the Andes. Here is the view reader Michael Braaksma snapped from the balcony of Huinganco Hosteria, near Andacollo in Argentina:
To buy a copy for the traveler in your life, go here. A second edition will be printed soon, so don’t wait if you want one of the remaining first editions.
The third edition of the Bolt Bulletin, available to on-line buyers, went out last week.
UPDATE
Thank you very much to the 150 people who turned up to the Adelaide launch of my book on Friday. I am grateful to you. Terrific event.
NON-DENTIST OBLITERATES ANONYMOUS ANIMALS
Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (3:39pm)
Just as well Robert Mugabe isn’t a Minnesota dentist, otherwise he might have been in big trouble back in March:
Robert Mugabe isn’t known for his subdued taste, and his million-dollar birthday was just as extravagant as people have come to expect …His guests were fed a young elephant, and two buffaloes, two sables and five impalas were also donated to the president by a local landowner. He also threw in a lion and a crocodile to be stuffed as an extra gift for Mugabe. On top of this, 40 cows were offered to the president by two members of his government. A second elephant is going to be shot and given to the Victoria Falls community.
For the sake of Twitter’s Cecil-concerned community, let’s hope that none of these creatures had names.
(Via Habib.)
BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE
Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (2:56pm)
This week’s podcast discusses, among other topics, the appropriate way to deal with unruly football fans.
BIG AL BRINGS THE FREEZE
Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (3:59am)
Are you all cold down in Melbourne? Colder even than us in Sydney? Here’s why.
(Via Roger B.)
EVEN WORSE THAN A DEAD CAT
Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (3:17am)
Fairfax reports:
Really? Do you really think so? And what might that outrage be, exactly?
And that’s the worst damn thing happening in Africa at the moment. Everything else is just fantastic.
Really? Do you really think so? And what might that outrage be, exactly?
And that’s the worst damn thing happening in Africa at the moment. Everything else is just fantastic.
UPDATE. Even worserer than five dead elephants:
Two research chimpanzees at a state university on Long Island shouldn’t be considered legal persons and given the rights bestowed by so-called personhood, a New York State Supreme Court judge ruled Wednesday.
BELLA LELLA
Tim Blair – Friday, July 31, 2015 (1:00am)
My first RendezView column celebrates a fearless feminist and identifies Europe’s solitary superiority.
On The Bolt Report on Sunday, July 31
Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (11:48am)
On Channel 10 on Sunday at 10am and 3pm:
Editorial: On booing Goodes.
My guest: gifted Aboriginal blogger Dallas Scott.
The panel: Australian columnist Niki Savva and John Roskam, head of the IPA.
NewsWatch: Rowan Dean, editor of Spectator Australia and columnist for the Courier Mail and Financial Review. Why are sports journalists on one side of the debate on Goodes and many sports fans the other?
So much to talk about: can Bronwyn Bishop be saved? Fighting Labor’s xenophonic campaign against free trade. Want to see a real expenses scandal?
The videos of the shows appear here.
===Editorial: On booing Goodes.
My guest: gifted Aboriginal blogger Dallas Scott.
The panel: Australian columnist Niki Savva and John Roskam, head of the IPA.
NewsWatch: Rowan Dean, editor of Spectator Australia and columnist for the Courier Mail and Financial Review. Why are sports journalists on one side of the debate on Goodes and many sports fans the other?
So much to talk about: can Bronwyn Bishop be saved? Fighting Labor’s xenophonic campaign against free trade. Want to see a real expenses scandal?
The videos of the shows appear here.
Financing Mel
Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (7:59am)
Mel Gibson is lured back to Australia by a handout of taxpayers’ money:
===Hacksaw Ridge will be the true story of Second World War army medic Desmond Doss, who served in the Battle of Okinawa and was America’s first conscientious objector to win a Congressional Medal of Honour.Paul Murray asks: exactly when did we forgive Mel Gibson?
Gibson and Deputy Premier Troy Grant on Thursday announced the film would be shot in Sydney and parts of “regional NSW"… The NSW Government has promised to invest an undisclosed figure into the production that Mr Grant said would bring 720 jobs and $26 million in investment to the state.
If not all then none: the sloppy arguments of David Penberthy
Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (6:35am)
Many collectivists fall for a logical error that fits their weakness for generalising and dividing people into races, classes, victimhoods or economic units. The first is to believe: if not all then none. The second: if some, then all.
Confused? David Penberthy demonstrates the first:
Seriously?
Jonathan Pearlman now demonstrates the second and related logical error: if one then all:
But back to Penberthy. I won’t deal with all the exaggerations and distortions in his article - I haven’t got all day - but a couple did stand out.
First, there’s the personal abuse and non-sequiturs that so common among the lesser intellects of the Left:
Penberthy then makes a claim that only the blind and deaf could seriously advance:
UPDATE
Even after the eventual removal of four defamations and one startling error (for which I guess I should be grateful), this hostile Age report still misrepresents my comments from the very first paragraph:
But who preferred instead to misrepresent it?
===Confused? David Penberthy demonstrates the first:
There’s been a couple of columns published this week by people such as Rita Panahi and Andrew Bolt which were framed around the assertion that the silent majority is appalled by the preachy Goodes, and that the media has read this all wrong.What an astonishing claim. Overlook the hyperbolic “Goodes-haters” and “appalled” - taken from Penberthy’s vast stockroom of straw men. Essentially, Penberthy is suggesting that because the whole stadium is not so rude and mean as to boo Goodes then the silent majority must agree to the opposite proposition: he’s actually the victim of racism.
On numerical grounds their argument doesn’t stack up. If the Goodes-haters were the silent majority, they wouldn’t be silent, they’d be booing him too.
Seriously?
Jonathan Pearlman now demonstrates the second and related logical error: if one then all:
Australian rules football players and officials have appealed for crowds to stop the relentless, racially-motivated booing and taunting of Adam Goodes… The heckling included a call to “get back to the zoo” by a crowd member who was ejected by securityOne foul heckler now defines tends of thousands of other fans? Is that because that one heckler helps the writer to frame the rest on his trumped up charge? Or fitted a stereotype that conformed to Pearlman’s prejudices?
But back to Penberthy. I won’t deal with all the exaggerations and distortions in his article - I haven’t got all day - but a couple did stand out.
First, there’s the personal abuse and non-sequiturs that so common among the lesser intellects of the Left:
I am not sure who dresses Rita [Panahi] but her argument, like Bolt’s and that of Alan Jones, has at its centre a massive logical flaw. They insist that the booing of Goodes has nothing to do with race, and in the same breath argue that people are sick of Goodes lecturing them on race issues.The sneering at Rita is cheap. And it is perfectly consistent to argue (as I in fact do) that Goodes is not primarily booed because he is Aboriginal but because his playing of the race card is rejected and resented. I have never denied this is an argument about racial politics.
Penberthy then makes a claim that only the blind and deaf could seriously advance:
The extent to which Goodes has ever lectured Australia is also a moot point.It is? From just one of Goodes’ public statements:
That process starts with understanding our very dark past, a brutal history of dispossession, theft and slaughter…From another:
Put yourself in Aboriginal shoes for a minute. Imagine watching a film that tells the truth about the terrible injustices committed over 225 years against your people, a film that reveals how Europeans, and the governments that have run our country, have raped, killed and stolen from your people for their own benefit.
The history of our country is built on so much lies and racial policies, and things that have suppressed my people and lots of minorities in this country, so you can’t blame people for having the views that they have.But all praise to Penberthy. It’s a credit to this man that he managed to edit a newspaper despite being unable to read.
UPDATE
Even after the eventual removal of four defamations and one startling error (for which I guess I should be grateful), this hostile Age report still misrepresents my comments from the very first paragraph:
Andrew Bolt says it’s up to Adam Goodes to say ‘it was wrong’ to stand up to a 13-year-old girl who racially vilified him to end the booing controversy.No, I did not at all say it was “up to Adam Goodes” to end the booing. I repeatedly said it should stop:
I wish the booing had never started. I wish it would stop. I think it’s a sort of cruel bullying of its own.As anyone listening to what I said on the ABC last night would now, what I in fact suggested was a way for Adam Goodes to emerge from this even more admired than he was before the controversy began:
Look, how it would be best stopped, but it won’t be, is for Adam Goodes to say, “Look, I did overreact [by publicly shaming a 13-year-old girl]. We mustn’t forget we’re all human beings, we’re all together in this. And singling out a girl for public humiliation like that I thought was wrong and if Adam Goodes said it was wrong, I think he’d be a superstar. People of all sides would rush to embrace him on this.And so they would. He’d be hailed for his courage and magnanimity. He’d become an oracle, a healer, much as I might still object to his message. Who could deny it?
But who preferred instead to misrepresent it?
Clinton falling
Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (6:25am)
Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers keep falling, albeit from a height, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll:
===If the election were held today, Clinton would be tied with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in the poll—down from significant leads in a May 28 survey—but would top the current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
The poll, which was conducted amid new reporting on the existence of classified information on Clinton’s private email server, found further declines in Clinton’s perceived trustworthiness, with 57% of Americans now viewing her as neither honest nor trustworthy.
I don’t think this option has worked
Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (6:20am)
Dennis Shanahan on Tony Abbott’s three options in dealing with Bronwyn Bishop’s expenses scandal:
===Abbott’s choices of bold action are: to tell Bishop to go; to stand by her in the face of intense public criticism and share her political damage; or to vow to the change the system.So far Abbott has chosen the worst option.
Feeling reconciled yet?
Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (6:12am)
This is all going brilliantly to plan - the AFL’s “reconciliation” plan:
===SYDNEY supporters have vowed to take justice into their own hands if opposition fans boo Brownlow medallist Adam Goodes again.
Swans fans say they will sneak eggs into the next game Goodes plays and pelt any opposition supporter who dares boo the dual medallist.
A lecture from Clive Palmer on spending other people’s money
Andrew Bolt July 31 2015 (5:56am)
The sanctimony over Bronwyn Bishop is enough to make even a strong man gag:
===Conscience of the nation. Clive Palmer, media release, yesterday:
Clive Palmer is urging the public to join the fight in removing Bronwyn Bishop from the position of Speaker ... “They are tired of the abuse of parliamentary entitlements.”Palmer’s record. Hedley Thomas, The Australian, October 31, 2014:
Clive Palmer went on a spending spree after siphoning $10 million of Chinese funds into a bank account he controlled, according to fresh documents lodged in the Queensland Supreme Court yesterday. The documents … include evidence that he drew a $6m cheque ... three days before the federal election.Thomas again, November 8, 2014:
New evidence in a fraud and dishonesty case against Clive Palmer shows he used Chinese cash to funnel $6 million to the coffers of his Palmer United Party and $97,000 to pay a credit card bill, using funds that were meant to pay for the operations of a remote port … China’s state-owned international investment company, which accuses Mr Palmer of dishonesty and fraud, filed documents in the Supreme Court in Brisbane yesterday that reveal all of the details of a series of cheques drawn by the resources tycoon for his personal and political benefit after he took $10m from a bank account, called “Port Palmer Operations”. The funds in the ... Port Palmer Operations account were meant to pay for operating costs at the West Australian port of Cape Preston, which Mr Palmer’s company Mineralogy was neither in possession of nor operating at the time the money was taken.
Adam Goodes is an incredibly talented footballer. He is a passionate advocate for his people and his country. He has received the highest honours in the game. He has been recognised by the nation as Australian of the Year. And right now, he is hurting.
Regardless of the conscious or subconscious motivations of the hecklers, we can all see that Goodsey is hurting to the point of not wanting to lace up his boots. And, whichever team we support, surely we can all agree that risking the premature ending of the career of one of AFL’s great players is totally unacceptable.
There is a place for good-natured heckling in Australian sport. I’ve booed a few Queensland league players in my time (Wally Lewis comes to mind). And some may argue that the line between good-natured and malicious heckling can be fuzzy. But there is nothing fuzzy about this. The line has been crossed.
There are many things we pride ourselves on as Australians… and good sportsmanship is right at the top of that list. The relentless booing of Adam Goodes breaks this spirit of good sportsmanship. It must stop.
Goodsey… I hope you feel the waves of support from the many thousands of supporters that have got your back. I can’t wait for you to get back on the field. When you do, I’ll be cheering loudly for you. And I won’t be alone.
Okkaaayyy then(H/t Dan Nolan)
Posted by Tim Andrews on Thursday, 30 July 2015
The opening sentence to a book is crucial! Here's a collection of some of the most legendary openers: http://bit.ly/1I13ibX
Posted by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing on Wednesday, 29 July 2015
===
All we are saying, is give war a chance
Piers Akerman – Thursday, July 31, 2014 (6:57pm)
THE real message coming from the Gazan conflict is give war a chance. That’s right. All peace-loving people should be demonstrating in the streets and singing, “All we are saying, is give war a chance”.
Continue reading 'All we are saying, is give war a chance'SARAH CAUSE-EFFECT
Tim Blair – Thursday, July 31, 2014 (5:08am)
As Labor has learned, Greens bring trouble:
An internal report provided to the Immigration Department has warned that, when Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young turns up at a detention centre, there is a corresponding spike in “incidents” involving asylum seekers.The operational brief provided by the security company Serco to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection claimed “high profile” visits to detention centres sparked an increase in reportable “incidents” and “adverse behaviour” among detainees.
Greens also cause “accidents" and “tragedies”.
ISLAM IMITATES COMEDY
Tim Blair – Thursday, July 31, 2014 (4:58am)
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc:
Women should not laugh out loud in public, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has said while complaining about “moral corruption” in Turkey …“[The woman] will know what is haram and not haram. She will not laugh in public. She will not be inviting in her attitudes and will protect her chasteness,” Arinc said.
Excellent US sitcom Parks and Recreation:
(Via Miss Piggy)
(Via Miss Piggy)
UPDATE. A laughter rebellion!
CRATE OF ORIGIN
Tim Blair – Thursday, July 31, 2014 (2:43am)
An interstate crate dispute has broken out over Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s plans to install $9.3 million worth of public art throughout inner Sydney.
Just one day after Moore’s plans were announced to widespread ridicule, Melbourne artist Jarrad Kennedy claimed that he was the first to design and build a giant milk crate.
Victoria vs NSW: state against state, crate against crate
A similar giant crate, named Pavilion and designed by Sydney artist Hany Armanious, is a key feature of Moore’s proposed art project.
Continue reading 'CRATE OF ORIGIN'Victoria vs NSW: state against state, crate against crate
A similar giant crate, named Pavilion and designed by Sydney artist Hany Armanious, is a key feature of Moore’s proposed art project.
Hamas to the children: shoot Jews. UPDATE: Sydney protest: “jihad is the answer”
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (6:10pm)
What does Hamas care that Palestinian children die in the war it started and will not stop? After all, it’s been recruiting them for years for jihad.
What kind of culture broadcasts this filth?
UPDATE
Filmed on the streets of Lakemba, this protest, with young men chanting:
===What kind of culture broadcasts this filth?
UPDATE
Filmed on the streets of Lakemba, this protest, with young men chanting:
Philistine philistine (Arabic for Palestine),(Thanks to readers Philip and Robyn, with help from Mariane.)
Allah hedik Israel (God destroy you Israel)
Palestine is Muslim land
With the Umma we will stand
Palestine is Muslim land
The solution is Jihad
Palestine is Muslim land
Your oppression will not stand
You can never stop Islam
From Australia to al Sham (Syria)
One umma hand in hand
From Lakemba to Gaza
Gaza debate tells us to scrap laws against free speech
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (1:00pm)
Reader Graham Hyde, a solicitor and barrister, says the Gaza debate shows why our hate speech laws must be repealed:
===The debate over Israel’s military action in Gaza shows why section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act should be fully repealed and replaced with a Federal Freedom of Expression Act or a guarantee of free expression in the Federal Constitution.Graham adds:
Presently, Jewish activists could complain to numerous Human Rights Commissions that former Ambassador Ross Burns (‘Israel may not have a way back‘, 31/7/14) has breached s.18C or other censorship laws as in the Kazak case. They may argue that he accuses Israel of cruelty, apartheid, ethnic discrimination and cleansing, and encaging, blockading, and sending tanks through Gaza’s population like the ‘Sudetenland’ (comparing Israelis to Hitler?) thus committing war crimes.
Jews may find this offensive, insulting, humiliating, vilifying, or bigoted, or think it incites racial hatred. Given the Holocaust, and recent attacks on Jews in Europe and elsewhere, some may even think it is intimidating, or incites violence or even genocide.
I strongly disagree with Mr Burns, but support his right to free expression, as I believe the vast majority of Australians do. ’
Note: In the case of Kazak v John Fairfax Publications Limited [2000] NSWADT 77 on very similar facts a complaint against journalist Tom Switzer was upheld. He said among other things: ‘...the Palestinians cannot be trusted in the peace process..the Palestinians are the true culprits in derailing efforts to reach an agreement over Gaza and the West Bank…the Palestinians remain vicious thugs who show no serious willingness to comply with agreements….’. Note also the use of the term ‘Israelis’ (joint reference to the people of Israel?) in Mr Burns’s opening paragraph and his repeated use of the term Israel and see paras 78 to 83 of the Kazak judgement). [That judgment was later overturned on appeal.]
The recent case of Clarke v Nationwide News Pty Ltd trading as The Sunday Times [2012] FCA 307, demonstrates that the publisher of offensive material (eg The Australian newspaper in respect of Mr Burns’s article) could be held liable for the simple act of publication.
Embedded with Islamists. So be wary of their reports
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (11:32am)
How free are the reporters embedded with Hamas terrorists in Gaza free to see and to report?
===HAMAS is not just targeting Israeli civilians, threatening Gazans and using them as humans shields.Then there’s the double-counting of Palestinian victims, many of whom aren’t as innocent as usually portrayed:
It has another terror tactic: intimidating foreign journalists…
Reporter Peter Stefanovic, of the Nine Network’s news, stationed in Gaza, received a surge of abuse and threats when he tweeted that he had seen rockets fired into Israel from near his hotel, in a civilian area…
John Reed, a reporter for Britain’s Financial Times, tweeted about seeing “two rockets fired toward Israel from near al-Shifa hospital (the largest in Gaza), even as more bombing victims were brought in”. He was also subject to threats and abuse.
The Wall Street Journal’s reporter Nick Casey fell foul of Hamas by reporting that Shifa hospital was Hamas’s control centre. On July 21, Casey posted a photo on Twitter of a chief Hamas spokesman being interviewed from a room in Shifa hospital in front of a makeshift backdrop of a photo of a destroyed house… Almost immediately, Casey received a flood of online threats. Two days later, the tweet was deleted…
French-Palestinian journalist Radjaa Abu Dagga wrote that he was forcibly blocked from leaving Gaza and detained and interrogated by members of Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigade at a room in Shifa hospital next to the emergency room. His account of his treatment, in the French newspaper Liberation, also has since been taken down from the paper’s website at Dagga’s request…
Italian reporter Gabriele Barbati tweeted on Tuesday: “Out of #Gaza far from #Hamas retaliation: misfired rocket killed children today in Shati. Witness: militants rushed and cleared debris.”
He was referring to a strike on Monday at al-Shati refugee camp which, together with a near-simultaneous hit on Shifa hospital, killed 10 people, including a number of children.
Israel vehemently denied responsibility and said it had proof via photos and radar that misfired Islamic Jihad rockets had caused the deaths.
In his tweet, Barbati backed up the Israeli version (the fast clean-up suggests a cover-up) — and implied that he would not have been free to say this had he been in Gaza.
According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre, out of 775 fatalities analysed (as of July 23), 229 were militants or terrorists, 267 were civilians, and 279 could not yet be classified.
The Meir Amit centre examines each reported casualty’s background on Palestinian websites and looks for details about their funerals to determine their occupation and to confirm or rule out any affiliation with terror groups, giving much greater accuracy about whether the person was a civilian.
Back off, Big Brother
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (9:52am)
Too much Big Brother? What’s it to you if I decide to eat only baked beans so I can spend some of my dole on a nice bottle of champagne for Christmas, just to feel rich for a day?
But to the disabled, too? And the sick? Their carers?
===ABOUT 2.5 million welfare recipients on “working-age payments”, including disability support pensioners and carers, would be forced into a cashless world where 100 per cent of their payments were income managed and they were banned from purchasing “prohibited” goods.But, yes, I agree that pension payments for children should come with strings attached. Even payments to the unemployed.
The radical proposal is contained in mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s blueprint for indigenous welfare and employment, which he has delivered to the Abbott government…
Mr Forrest also wants all families receiving family tax benefits to have access to the money directly linked to school attendance of their children.
But to the disabled, too? And the sick? Their carers?
Scrap this useless tax and the spending it was meant to pay for
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (9:21am)
Judith Sloan is right. The mining tax must go - along with the mad welfare spending it was stupidly meant to fund:
===It has been a fiasco from the start. The first version was a form of institutionalised theft which would have meant every global mining company leaving Australia in due course. The second version, which was designed by the big mining companies themselves, is much less harmful in terms of discouraging investment, but it doesn’t really raise any revenue…
The net effect ... has been to produce a mere $600,000 in net revenue to the federal government in the June quarter…
Recall that the Gillard government, under the stewardship of treasurer Wayne Swan, expected to raise $300 million this financial year and a total of $26.5 billion over the period 2013-14 to 2016-17.
If the dribble of revenue is not bad enough, the Labor government’s decision to link a whole lot of poor quality spending to the revenue from the mining tax has been calamitous… But here’s the thing: the mining tax is unlikely to raise serious revenue and the spending commitments amount to some $17bn over this year and the next three years. Something has to give — the expenditure has to be abandoned along with the tax.
Once again. The Jew-haters return
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (8:32am)
A PUTRID Jew-hatred has returned to the West, fed by mass immigration and stoked by the Left.
Do not mistake this anti-Semitism for mere anger at Israel over the war in Gaza. That war is just the calculated pretext for a month of menace that has terrified many Jews — as well as those of us who prize civilisation over barbaric tribalism.
France now has more than six million Muslims and two weeks ago Arab protesters — some chanting “death to Jews” — attacked synagogues, torched cars and burned Jewish shops in Sarcelles, a suburb of Paris dubbed “Little Jerusalem”.
Germany now has four million Muslims. Arab and Turkish protesters were this month filmed shouting “Gas the Jews” and other Jew-hating slogans and a Berlin imam, Sheik Abu Bilal Ismail, was filmed at his mosque preaching: “Oh Allah, destroy the Zionist Jews ... Count them and kill them to the very last one. Don’t spare a single one of them.” Two Jews wearing yarmulkes were attacked in Berlin.
(Read full article here.)
===Do not mistake this anti-Semitism for mere anger at Israel over the war in Gaza. That war is just the calculated pretext for a month of menace that has terrified many Jews — as well as those of us who prize civilisation over barbaric tribalism.
France now has more than six million Muslims and two weeks ago Arab protesters — some chanting “death to Jews” — attacked synagogues, torched cars and burned Jewish shops in Sarcelles, a suburb of Paris dubbed “Little Jerusalem”.
Germany now has four million Muslims. Arab and Turkish protesters were this month filmed shouting “Gas the Jews” and other Jew-hating slogans and a Berlin imam, Sheik Abu Bilal Ismail, was filmed at his mosque preaching: “Oh Allah, destroy the Zionist Jews ... Count them and kill them to the very last one. Don’t spare a single one of them.” Two Jews wearing yarmulkes were attacked in Berlin.
(Read full article here.)
There is no “root cause” to discuss with such animals
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (8:15am)
I hear ABC presenters forever talking about negotiating with various Islamist extremists - this time Hamas - about addressing “root causes” of their anger.
And then the Islamic State releases a video showing how gleefully it slaughters unarmed civilians (CAUTION -GRAPHIC) and demonstrating that there is no root cause that can be addressed that doesn’t involve Jews and other unbelievers dying. There is nothing to talk about with such people, and the only rational response is to shoot them before they shoot you:
===And then the Islamic State releases a video showing how gleefully it slaughters unarmed civilians (CAUTION -GRAPHIC) and demonstrating that there is no root cause that can be addressed that doesn’t involve Jews and other unbelievers dying. There is nothing to talk about with such people, and the only rational response is to shoot them before they shoot you:
You think I talk too brutally? I sound too harsh? Then tell me how exactly what settlement you’d expect to reach with animals that do this - and CAUTION - GROSS SCENES OF BEHEADED SYRIANS:
There is an evil. Israel is on the front line in fighting it.
Abbott must lead us back home
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (7:42am)
TONY Abbott has led well, but his crusade for justice for the victims of MH17 looks increasingly likely to fail.
Even more reason, then, for his switch back to domestic politics this week — and for managing some expectations.
The 230 police and soldiers sent by the Prime Minister to search the Ukrainian fields where MH17 was shot down have been blocked for days from even visiting the site, let along conducting a methodical search. Remains will inevitably be lost and evidence destroyed.
The problem is that there is something even stronger than Abbott’s will: Russian power and Ukraine’s self-interest.
(Read full article here.)
===Even more reason, then, for his switch back to domestic politics this week — and for managing some expectations.
The 230 police and soldiers sent by the Prime Minister to search the Ukrainian fields where MH17 was shot down have been blocked for days from even visiting the site, let along conducting a methodical search. Remains will inevitably be lost and evidence destroyed.
The problem is that there is something even stronger than Abbott’s will: Russian power and Ukraine’s self-interest.
(Read full article here.)
The warming pause is 13 years and four months
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (7:30am)
Christopher Monckton checks all five of the main measures of global warming and works out the mean. Conclusion:
... the Great Pause has endured for 160 months – i.e., 13 years 4 months.And the rise in temperatures we’re seen since 1950 has been at the non-catastrophic rate of no more than 1.55 degrees per century:
Who wouldn’t feel bad after a visit from Hanson-Young?
Andrew Bolt July 31 2014 (7:06am)
Sarah Hanson-Young makes me feel depressed and angry, too, so I fully understand:
===AN internal report provided to the Immigration Department has warned that, when Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young turns up at a detention centre, there is a corresponding spike in “incidents” involving asylum seekers.I’m sure Hanson-Young does not wish or intend harm, but there is no question that reports of trouble in detention centres is useful to the cause of “refugee” advocates. I suspect detainees know this, and are also made by supporters to feel like victims rather than queue-jumpers.
The operational brief provided by the security company Serco to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection claimed “high profile” visits to detention centres sparked an increase in reportable “incidents” and “adverse behaviour” among detainees…
The Serco report, however, revealed that, during a visit by the Senator to Christmas Island between January 24 to 28 this year, the number of incidents more than doubled to 15 from an average of around six. An accompanying graph showed the number of incidents peaked at 15 on the second day of her visit. It did not specify the types of incidents but claimed the visits caused “anxiety” and “elevated levels of adverse behaviour”.
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"That they have been able to live out their lives enjoying the freedoms of this country, after depriving others of freedom and life itself, is an affront to the memory of those who perished," said Paul Shapiro, director of the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.===
<So wrong on so many levels. Irony meter just exploded.>
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<"Progressive". Quite possibly the most misleading term ever employed in political discourse.>
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Wayne Matey Mattner.
familiar with this issue
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Sarah Palin was criticized for the telling the "biggest lie of the year" about ObamaCare in 2009. Now, the former head of the Democratic Party suggests she was right all along.
How will this affect you? Plus, hear Palin's reaction on tonight's Hannity! Watch: http://tinyurl.com/lxyoury
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Andrew Danger Nguyen
If I started a workout business it would be called Pecasaurus Pty LTD, and all the workout programs would be dinosaur based puns like BICEPatops, TRAPasaurus Rex, and instead of reps you take on REPtors#reasonswhynooneasksmeforhelp #awesomebusinessideas #dinobots
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Well initially this might look to you like any normal girl being treated by a doctor,the girl in the photo is not any normal living girl but the mummy of a 15 year old child who has been dead for about 500 years.
She was found in 1999 near Llullaillaco's 6739 meter summit. An Argentine-Peruvian expedition found the perfectly preserved body and she was nicknamed "La doncella" which means “The maiden”. According to the Inca she was chosen to go and live with the gods. But in reality she was a sacrifice to the Inca Gods and had been brutally killed in the name of religion.
Scientists say that her organs are intact and its as if she had died just a few weeks ago. From testing the samples of her hair they could determine the type of diet she was on before her death. This lead to the discovery that the Incan fattened their children before killing them. Months or even years before the sacrifice pilgrimage these children were given diets which were those of the elite, consisting of maize and animal proteins.
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July 31: Ka Hae Hawai'i Day (Flag Day) in Hawaii
- 1201 – John Komnenos the Fat briefly seized the throne of the Byzantine Empire fromAlexios III Angelos, but he was soon caught and executed.
- 1423 – Hundred Years' War: The English and their Burgundianallies were victorious over the French at the Battle of Cravantnear Auxerre, France.
- 1948 – New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airportwas dedicated as New York International Airport.
- 1954 – A team of Italian climbers led by Ardito Desio became the first to reach the summit of K2 (pictured), the world's second-highest mountain.
- 2006 – Following intestinal surgery, Fidel Castro provisionallytransferred the duties of the Cuban presidency to his brotherRaúl.
- 30 BC – Battle of Alexandria: Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide.
- 781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji(Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781).
- 1009 – Pope Sergius IV becomes the 142nd pope, succeeding Pope John XVIII.
- 1201 – Attempted usurpation by John Komnenos the Fatfor the throne of Alexios III Angelos.
- 1423 – Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant: The French army is defeated by the English at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.
- 1451 – Jacques Cœur is arrested by order of Charles VII of France.
- 1492 – The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect.
- 1498 – On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbusbecomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
- 1588 – The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.
- 1618 – Maurice, Prince of Orange disbands the waardgelders militia in Utrecht, a pivotal event in the Remonstrant/Counter-Remonstrant tensions.
- 1655 – Russo-Polish War (1654–67): The Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilnius, which it holds for six years.
- 1658 – Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India.
- 1703 – Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.
- 1712 – Action of 31 July 1712 (Great Northern War): Danish and Swedish ships clash in the Baltic Sea; the result is inconclusive.
- 1715 – Seven days after a Spanish treasure fleet of 12 ships left Havana, Cuba for Spain, 11 of them sink in a storm off the coast of Florida. A few centuries later, treasure is salvaged from these wrecks.
- 1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
- 1763 – Odawa Chief Pontiac's forces defeat British troops at the Battle of Bloody Run during Pontiac's War.
- 1777 – The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Gilbert du Motier "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States."
- 1790 – The first U.S. patent is issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potashprocess.
- 1856 – Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city.
- 1865 – The first narrow-gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Queensland, Australia.
- 1874 – Dr. Patrick Francis Healy became the first African-American inaugurated as president of a predominantly white university.
- 1904 – Russo-Japanese War: Battle of Hsimucheng: Units of the Imperial Japanese Army defeat units of the Imperial Russian Army in a strategic confrontation.
- 1913 – The Balkan States sign an armistice in Bucharest.
- 1919 – German national assembly adopts the Weimar Constitution, which comes into force on August 14.
- 1932 – The NSDAP (Nazi Party) wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.
- 1938 – Bulgaria signs a non-aggression pact with Greece and other states of Balkan Antanti (Turkey, Romania, Yugoslavia).
- 1938 – Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.
- 1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS General Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired Final Solution of the Jewish question."
- 1945 – Pierre Laval, the fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Alliedsoldiers in Austria.
- 1948 – At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.
- 1948 – USS Nevada is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.
- 1964 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
- 1970 – Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.
- 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.
- 1972 – The Troubles: In Operation Motorman, the British Army re-takes the urban no-go areas of Northern Ireland. It is the biggest British military operation since the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the biggest in Ireland since the Irish War of Independence. Later that day, nine civilians are killed by car bombs in the village of Claudy.
- 1973 – A Delta Air Lines jetliner, flight DL 723 crashes while landing in fog at Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.
- 1975 – The Troubles: three members of a popular cabaret band and two gunmen are killed during a botched paramilitary attack in Northern Ireland.
- 1988 – Thirty-two people are killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapses in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia.
- 1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first to reduce (with verification) both countries' stockpiles.
- 1992 – The nation of Georgia joins the United Nations.
- 1992 – Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing all 113 people on board.
- 1999 – Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector: NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.
- 2006 – Fidel Castro hands over power to his brother, Raúl.
- 2007 – Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end.
- 2012 – Michael Phelps breaks the record set in 1964 by Larisa Latynina for the most medals won at the Olympics.
- 2014 – Gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung kill at least 20 people and injure more than 270.
- 1143 – Emperor Nijō of Japan (d. 1165)
- 1396 – Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)
- 1526 – Augustus, Elector of Saxony (d. 1586)
- 1527 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1576)
- 1595 – Philipp Wolfgang, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1641)
- 1598 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
- 1686 – Charles of France, Duke of Berry (d. 1714)
- 1702 – Jean Denis Attiret, French missionary and painter (d. 1768)
- 1704 – Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician and physicist (d. 1752)
- 1718 – John Canton, English physicist and academic (d. 1772)
- 1724 – Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer and author (d. 1801)
- 1759 – Ignaz Anton von Indermauer, Austrian nobleman and government official (d. 1796)
- 1777 – Pedro Ignacio de Castro Barros, Argentinian priest and politician (d. 1849)
- 1796 – Jean-Gaspard Deburau, Czech-French actor and mime (d. 1846)
- 1800 – Friedrich Wöhler, German chemist and academic (d. 1882)
- 1803 – John Ericsson, Swedish-American engineer, co-designed the Novelty Locomotive (d. 1889)
- 1816 – George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)
- 1826 – William S. Clark, American colonel and politician (d. 1886)
- 1835 – Henri Brisson, French lawyer and politician, 50th Prime Minister of France(d. 1912)
- 1835 – Paul Du Chaillu, French-American anthropologist and explorer (d. 1903)
- 1836 – Vasily Sleptsov, Russian author and activist (d. 1878)
- 1837 – William Quantrill, American captain (d. 1865)
- 1839 – Ignacio Andrade, Venezuelan general and politician, 25th President of Venezuela (d. 1925)
- 1843 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and author (d. 1918)
- 1847 – Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban pianist and composer (d. 1905)
- 1854 – José Canalejas, Spanish academic and politician, Prime Minister of Spain (d. 1912)
- 1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, English seismologist and geologist (d. 1936)
- 1860 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American painter and illustrator (d. 1940)
- 1867 – S. S. Kresge, American businessman, founded Kmart (d. 1966)
- 1875 – Jacques Villon, French painter (d. 1963)
- 1880 – Premchand, Indian author and playwright (d. 1936)
- 1883 – Ramón Fonst, Cuban fencer (d. 1959)
- 1884 – Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, Polish-German economist and politician (d. 1945)
- 1886 – Salvatore Maranzano, Italian-American mob boss (d. 1931)
- 1886 – Fred Quimby, American animator and producer (d. 1965)
- 1887 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher (d. 1969)
- 1892 – Herbert W. Armstrong, American evangelist and publisher, founded Worldwide Church of God (d. 1986)
- 1892 – Joseph Charbonneau, Canadian archbishop (d. 1959)
- 1894 – Fred Keenor, Welsh footballer (d. 1972)
- 1901 – Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)
- 1902 – Gubby Allen, Australian-English cricketer and soldier (d. 1989)
- 1904 – Brett Halliday, American engineer, surveyor, and author (d. 1977)
- 1909 – Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Austrian theorist and author (d. 1999)
- 1911 – George Liberace, American violinist (d. 1983)
- 1912 – Bill Brown, Australian cricketer (d. 2008)
- 1912 – Milton Friedman, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
- 1912 – Irv Kupcinet, American football player and journalist (d. 2003)
- 1913 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1984)
- 1914 – Paul J. Christiansen, American conductor and composer (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Louis de Funès, French actor and screenwriter (d. 1983)
- 1916 – Sibte Hassan, Pakistani journalist, scholar, and activist (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (d. 1979)
- 1918 – Paul D. Boyer, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1918 – Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2010)
- 1918 – Frank Renouf, New Zealand businessman and financier (d. 1998)
- 1919 – Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricketer (d. 2003)
- 1919 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Primo Levi, Italian chemist and author (d. 1987)
- 1920 – James E. Faust, American religious leader, lawyer, and politician (d. 2007)
- 1921 – Peter Benenson, English lawyer and activist, founded Amnesty International(d. 2005)
- 1921 – Donald Malarkey, American sergeant and author
- 1921 – Whitney Young, American activist (d. 1971)
- 1922 – Hank Bauer, American baseball player and manager (d. 2007)
- 1923 – Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American songwriter and producer, founded Atlantic Records (d. 2006)
- 1923 – Stephanie Kwolek, American chemist and engineer, invented Kevlar (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Jimmy Evert, American tennis player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1925 – Carmel Quinn, Irish singer, actress and writer
- 1926 – Bernard Nathanson, American physician and activist (d. 2011)
- 1926 – Hilary Putnam, American mathematician, computer scientist, and philosopher (d. 2016)
- 1927 – Peter Nichols, English author and playwright
- 1928 – Bill Frenzel, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2014)
- 1929 – Lynne Reid Banks, English author
- 1929 – Gilles Carle, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
- 1929 – Don Murray, American actor
- 1929 – José Santamaría, Uruguayan footballer and manager
- 1931 – Nick Bollettieri, American tennis player and coach
- 1931 – Kenny Burrell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1932 – Ted Cassidy, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1979)
- 1932 – John Searle, American philosopher and academic
- 1933 – Cees Nooteboom, Dutch journalist, author, and poet
- 1935 – Yvon Deschamps, Canadian comedian, actor, and producer
- 1935 – Geoffrey Lewis, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
- 1939 – Steuart Bedford, English pianist and conductor
- 1939 – Susan Flannery, American actress
- 1939 – France Nuyen, Vietnamese-French actress
- 1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, 8th Chief Minister of Gujarat (d. 2004)
- 1943 – William Bennett, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Education
- 1943 – Lobo, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1944 – Geraldine Chaplin, American actress and screenwriter
- 1944 – Jonathan Dimbleby, English journalist and author
- 1944 – Sherry Lansing, American film producer
- 1944 – Robert C. Merton, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1944 – David Norris, Congolese-Irish scholar and politician
- 1945 – William Weld, American lawyer and politician, 68th Governor of Massachusetts
- 1946 – Gary Lewis, American pop-rock musician
- 1947 – Karl Green, English bass player and songwriter (Herman's Hermits)
- 1947 – Richard Griffiths, English actor (d. 2013)
- 1947 – Hubert Védrine, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1947 – Ian Beck, English children's illustrator and author
- 1948 – Russell Morris, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1949 – Mike Jackson, American basketball player
- 1949 – Alan Meale, English journalist and politician
- 1950 – Richard Berry, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1950 – Charlie Williams, English racing motorcyclist
- 1951 – Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Australian tennis player
- 1952 – Chris Ahrens, American ice hockey player
- 1952 – Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and politician, 23rd Mayor of Fresno, California
- 1952 – Helmuts Balderis, Latvian ice hockey player and coach
- 1952 – João Barreiros, Portuguese author and critic
- 1952 – Faye Kellerman, American author
- 1953 – Ted Baillieu, Australian architect and politician, 46th Premier of Victoria
- 1953 – Jimmy Cook, South African cricketer and coach
- 1953 – Hugh McDowell, English cellist (Electric Light Orchestra)
- 1954 – Manivannan, Indian actor and director (d. 2013)
- 1954 – Derek Smith, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1956 – Michael Biehn, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1956 – Bill Callahan, American football player and coach
- 1956 – Ernie Dingo, Australian actor and television host
- 1956 – Ron Kuby, American lawyer and radio host
- 1956 – Deval Patrick, American lawyer and politician, 71st Governor of Massachusetts
- 1956 – Lynne Rae Perkins, American author and illustrator
- 1957 – Daniel Ash, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1957 – Mark Thompson, English business executive
- 1958 – Bill Berry, American drummer and songwriter
- 1958 – Mark Cuban, American businessman and television personality
- 1958 – Suzanne Giraud, French music editor and composer
- 1959 – Stanley Jordan, American guitarist, pianist, and songwriter
- 1959 – Andrew Marr, Scottish journalist and author
- 1959 – Peter Senior, Australian golfer
- 1960 – Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1960 – Malcolm Ross, Scottish guitarist and songwriter
- 1961 – Frank Gardner, English captain and journalist
- 1962 – John Chiang, American lawyer and politician, 31st California State Controller
- 1962 – Kevin Greene, American football player and coach
- 1962 – Wesley Snipes, American actor and producer
- 1963 – Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), English DJ and musician
- 1963 – Fergus Henderson, English chef and author
- 1963 – Brian Skrudland, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1964 – Jim Corr, Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1964 – Urmas Hepner, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1965 – Scott Brooks, American basketball player and coach
- 1965 – John Laurinaitis, American wrestler and producer
- 1965 – Ian Roberts, English-Australian rugby league player and actor
- 1965 – J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer; created Harry Potter
- 1966 – Dean Cain, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
- 1967 – Tony Massenburg, American basketball player
- 1967 – Tim Wright, Welsh composer
- 1968 – Saeed-Al-Saffar, Emirati cricketer
- 1968 – Julian Richards, Welsh director and producer
- 1969 – Loren Dean, American actor
- 1969 – Kenneth D. Schisler, American lawyer and politician
- 1970 – Ahmad Akbarpour, Iranian author and poet
- 1970 – Ben Chaplin, English actor
- 1970 – Andrzej Kobylański, Polish footballer and manager
- 1970 – Giorgos Sigalas, Greek basketball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1971 – Gus Frerotte, American football player and coach
- 1973 – Nathan Brown, Australian rugby league player and coach
- 1973 – Fabulous Flournoy, American basketball player and coach
- 1974 – Leona Naess, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1974 – Jonathan Ogden, American football player
- 1975 – Randy Flores, American baseball player and coach
- 1975 – Andrew Hall, South African cricketer
- 1975 – Gabe Kapler, American baseball player and manager
- 1975 – Ruben Patterson, American basketball player
- 1975 – Allan von Schenkel, American bassist and composer
- 1976 – Joshua Cain, American guitarist and producer
- 1976 – Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer and manager
- 1978 – Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Will Champion, English drummer and singer
- 1978 – Nick Sorensen, American football player and sportscaster
- 1978 – Justin Wilson, English race car driver (d. 2015)
- 1979 – Jaco Erasmus, South African-Italian rugby player
- 1979 – J.J. Furmaniak, American baseball player
- 1979 – Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer
- 1979 – Carlos Marchena, Spanish footballer
- 1979 – B.J. Novak, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1980 – Mikko Hirvonen, Finnish race car driver
- 1980 – Mils Muliaina, New Zealand rugby player
- 1981 – Titus Bramble, English footballer
- 1981 – Vernon Carey, American football player
- 1981 – Paul Whatuira, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1982 – Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spanish tennis player
- 1982 – DeMarcus Ware, American football player
- 1985 – Daniel Ciofani, Italian footballer
- 1985 – Rémy Di Gregorio, French cyclist
- 1986 – Evgeni Malkin, Russian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Brian Orakpo, American football player
- 1987 – Michael Bradley, American soccer player
- 1988 – Alex Glenn, New Zealand rugby league player
- 1989 – Victoria Azarenka, Belorussian tennis player
- 1991 – Réka Luca Jani, Hungarian tennis player
- 1992 – José Fernández, Cuban baseball player (d. 2016)
- 1992 – Ryan Johansen, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Kyle Larson, American race car driver
- 1993 – Curtis Sironen, Australian rugby league player
- 1994 – Lil Uzi Vert, American rapper
Births[edit]
- 54 BC – Aurelia Cotta, Roman mother of Gaius Julius Caesar (b. 120 BC)
- 450 – Peter Chrysologus, Italian bishop and saint (b. 380)
- 910 – Feng Xingxi, Chinese warlord
- 1098 – Hugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury
- 1358 – Étienne Marcel, French rebel leader (b. 1302)
- 1396 – William Courtenay, English archbishop and politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1342)
- 1508 – Na'od, Ethiopian emperor (b. 1494)
- 1556 – Ignatius of Loyola, Spanish priest and theologian, founded the Society of Jesus (b. 1491)
- 1616 – Roger Wilbraham, Solicitor-General for Ireland (b. 1553)
- 1653 – Thomas Dudley, English soldier and politician, 3rd Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)
- 1726 – Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician and theorist (b. 1695)
- 1750 – John V of Portugal (b. 1689)
- 1762 – Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla Spanish sailor and commander (b. 1711)
- 1784 – Denis Diderot, French philosopher and critic (b. 1713)
- 1805 – Dheeran Chinnamalai, Indian soldier (b. 1756)
- 1864 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (b. 1800)
- 1875 – Andrew Johnson, American general and politician, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)
- 1884 – Kiến Phúc, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1869)
- 1886 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1811)
- 1914 – Jean Jaurès, French journalist and politician (b. 1859)
- 1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish soldier and poet (b. 1881)
- 1917 – Hedd Wyn, Welsh soldier and poet (b. 1887)
- 1920 – Ion Dragoumis, Greek philosopher and diplomat (b. 1878)
- 1940 – Udham Singh, Indian activist (b. 1899)
- 1943 – Hedley Verity, English cricketer and soldier (b. 1905)
- 1944 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French pilot and poet (b. 1900)
- 1953 – Robert A. Taft, American soldier and politician (b. 1889)
- 1954 – Onofre Marimón, Argentinian race car driver (b. 1923)
- 1958 – Eino Kaila, Finnish philosopher and psychologist, attendant of the Vienna circle (b. 1890)
- 1963 – Sir Robert Chapman, 1st Baronet, English colonel and politician (b. 1880)
- 1964 – Jim Reeves, American singer-songwriter (b. 1923)
- 1966 – Bud Powell, American pianist (b. 1924)
- 1968 – Jack Pizzey, Australian politician, 29th Premier of Queensland (b. 1911)
- 1971 – Walter P. Carter, American soldier and activist (b. 1923)
- 1972 – Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian lawyer and politician, 40th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)
- 1973 – Azumafuji Kin'ichi, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 40th Yokozuna (b. 1921)
- 1979 – Beatrix Lehmann, English actress and director (b. 1903)
- 1980 – Pascual Jordan, German physicist, author, and academic (b. 1902)
- 1981 – Omar Torrijos, Panamanian general and politician, Military Leader of Panama (b. 1929)
- 1985 – Eugene Carson Blake, American religious leader (b. 1906)
- 1986 – Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)
- 1987 – Joseph E. Levine, American film producer (b, 1905)
- 1990 – Albert Leduc, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
- 1992 – Leonard Cheshire, English captain and pilot (b. 1917)
- 1993 – Baudouin, King of Belgium (b. 1930)
- 2000 – William Keepers Maxwell Jr., American editor, novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1908)
- 2001 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (b. 1914)
- 2001 – Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
- 2003 – Guido Crepax, Italian author and illustrator (b. 1933)
- 2004 – Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)
- 2005 – Wim Duisenberg, Dutch economist and politician, 1st President of the European Central Bank (b. 1935)
- 2009 – Bobby Robson, English footballer and manager (b. 1933)
- 2009 – Harry Alan Towers, English-Canadian screenwriter and producer (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Mollie Hunter, Scottish author and playwright (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Alfredo Ramos, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
- 2012 – Tony Sly, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1970)
- 2012 – Gore Vidal, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic (b. 1925)
- 2013 – Michael Ansara, Syrian-American actor (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Michel Donnet, English-Belgian general and pilot (b. 1917)
- 2013 – John Graves, American captain and author (b. 1920)
- 2013 – Trevor Storer, English businessman, founded Pukka Pies (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Warren Bennis, American scholar, author, and academic (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Nabarun Bhattacharya, Indian journalist and author (b. 1948)
- 2014 – Jeff Bourne, English footballer (b. 1948)
- 2014 – Wilfred Feinberg, American lawyer and judge (b. 1920)
- 2015 – Alan Cheuse, American writer and critic (b. 1940)
- 2015 – Howard W. Jones, American surgeon and academic (b. 1910)
- 2015 – Billy Pierce, American baseball player and sportscaster (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Roddy Piper, Canadian wrestler and actor (b. 1954)
- 2015 – Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (b. 1926)
- 2016 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 58th Yokozuna (b. 1955)
- 2016 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician
Deaths[edit]
- Christian feast day:
- End of the Trinity term (sitting of the High Court of Justice of England)
- Ka Hae Hawaiʻi Day (Hawaii, United States)
- Martyrdom Day of Shahid Udham Singh (Haryana and Punjab, India)
- Treasury Day (Poland)
- Warriors' Day (Malaysia)
Holidays and observances[edit]
““You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14,16 NIV
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Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon
Morning
"And when he thought thereon, he wept."Mark 14:72
It has been thought by some that as long as Peter lived, the fountain of his tears began to flow whenever he remembered his denying his Lord. It is not unlikely that it was so, for his sin was very great, and grace in him had afterwards a perfect work. This same experience is common to all the redeemed family according to the degree in which the Spirit of God has removed the natural heart of stone. We, like Peter, remember our boastful promise: "Though all men shall forsake thee, yet will not I." We eat our own words with the bitter herbs of repentance. When we think of what we vowed we would be, and of what we have been, we may weep whole showers of grief. He thought on his denying his Lord. The place in which he did it, the little cause which led him into such heinous sin, the oaths and blasphemies with which he sought to confirm his falsehood, and the dreadful hardness of heart which drove him to do so again and yet again. Can we, when we are reminded of our sins, and their exceeding sinfulness, remain stolid and stubborn? Will we not make our house a Bochim, and cry unto the Lord for renewed assurances of pardoning love? May we never take a dry-eyed look at sin, lest ere long we have a tongue parched in the flames of hell. Peter also thought upon his Master's look of love. The Lord followed up the cock's warning voice with an admonitory look of sorrow, pity, and love. That glance was never out of Peter's mind so long as he lived. It was far more effectual than ten thousand sermons would have been without the Spirit. The penitent apostle would be sure to weep when he recollected the Saviour's full forgiveness, which restored him to his former place. To think that we have offended so kind and good a Lord is more than sufficient reason for being constant weepers. Lord, smite our rocky hearts, and make the waters flow.
Evening
"Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."John 6:37
No limit is set to the duration of this promise. It does not merely say, "I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming," but, "I will in no wise cast out." The original reads, "I will not, not cast out," or "I will never, never cast out." The text means, that Christ will not at first reject a believer; and that as he will not do it at first, so he will not to the last.
But suppose the believer sins after coming? "If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But suppose that believers backslide? "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him." But believers may fall under temptation! "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but he will "Purge them with hyssop, and they shall be clean; he will wash them and they shall be whiter than snow"; "From all their iniquities will I cleanse them."
"Once in Christ, in Christ forever,
Nothing from his love can sever."
"I give unto my sheep," saith he, "eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." What sayest thou to this, O trembling feeble mind? Is not this a precious mercy, that coming to Christ, thou dost not come to One who will treat thee well for a little while, and then send thee about thy business, but he will receive thee and make thee his bride, and thou shalt be his forever? Receive no longer the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby thou shalt cry, Abba, Father! Oh! the grace of these words: "I will in no wise cast out."
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Today's reading: Psalm 51-53, Romans 2 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: Psalm 51-53
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place....
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place....
Today's New Testament reading: Romans 2
God's Righteous Judgment
1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
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