Dr. Billy Graham is the world renowned author, preacher, and evangelist, who has delivered the Gospel message to more people face-to-face than anyone in history and has ministered on six of the world’s continents. Millions have read his inspirational classics, including Angels, The Secret of Happiness, Peace with God, The Holy Spirit, Hope for the Troubled Heart, and How to Be Born Again.
Type in Billy Graham.org on your server to learn more. Become a member. This ministry is an excellent ministry to send your support. If you go there today there is still time to hear Franklin Graham’s wonderful Christmas message.
Dr. Tim LaHaye, who conceived the Left Behind series, is a renowned prophecy scholar, minister, and educator. He has written over forty non-fiction work that have been published in over thirty languages. He and his wife, Beverly, live in Southern California.
Jerry B. Jenkins, writer of the series, is the author of more than one hundred books. His books can be found regularly on the New York Times best-seller lists. He and his wife, Dianna, live in Colorado Springs.
Jerry B Jenkins (www.jerryjenkins.com) is the writer of the nationally syndicated sports story comic strip “Gil Thorp”, distributed to newspapers across the United States by Tribune Media Services. Jerry and his wife, Dianna, live in Colorado Springs and have three grown sons.
Dr. Tim LaHaye has written over forty books that have been published in more than thirty languages. He is written books and a wide variety of subjects, such as family life, temperaments, and Bible prophecy. His current fiction works, the Left Behind series, written with Jerry B Jenkins, continues to appear on the bestseller lists of the Christian Booksellers Association, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the New York Times.
Jerry B Jenkins has appeared in publications as varied as Reader’s Digest, Paraded, Guideposts, in-flight magazines, and dozens of other periodicals. Jenkins biographies include books with Billy Graham, Hank Aaron, Bill Gaither, Luis Palau, Walter Payton, Orel Hershiser, and Nolan Ryan, among many others. His books appear regularly on the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.
Dr. Tim LaHaye holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Western Theological Seminary and a doctor of literature from Liberty University. For twenty-five years he pastored one of the nations outstanding churches in San Diego, which grew to three locations. It was during that time that he founded two accredited Christian high schools, a Christian school system of ten schools, and Christian Heritage College.
Published by Tyndale at www.tyndale.com
Discover the latest about the Left Behind series at www.leftbehind.com
An Imam discovers Christ in the Koran A great testimony from a former Imam living in India who became a Christian through reading the Koran. To find more stories from converted Muslims go to TrueSpiritWorship YouTube.
There is a former Muslim Imam, Mario Joseph who became a Christian after studying Quran. It started one person asked about who Jesus was. He tried to find out Jesus in the Quran and he compared Jesus to Muhammad. Soon he found out Jesus was superior than Muhammad. After he became a Christian, his family tried to kill him but God allowed him to escape that situation. In order to go to heaven, we have to repent our sins and accepts Jesus as our Savior and the Son of God who died for our sins. Jesus is the only way to heaven!
To see more testimonies from former Muslims, http://www.muslimtestimony.com
To see more testimonies of heaven and hell, http://www.heavenvisit.com Category Nonprofits & Activism License Standard YouTube License
Chapters 10-12 WAR OF THE DRAGON Left Behind The Kids
Jerry B Jenkins (www.jerryjenkins.com) is the writer of the Left Behind series. He owns the Jerry B Jenkins Christian Writers Guild, an organization dedicated to mentoring aspiring authors. Former vice president for publishing for the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago; he also served many years as editor of the Moody magazine and is now Moody’s writer–at–large.
Dr. Tim LaHaye (www.timlahaye.com) who conceived the idea of fictionalized an account of the Rapture and the Tribulation, is a noted author, minister, and nationally recognized speaker on Bible prophecy. He is the founder of both Tim LaHaye Ministries and The Pretrib Research Center. He also recently cofounded the Tim LaHaye School of Prophecy at Liberty University. Presently Dr. LaHaye speaks it many major Bible prophecy conferences in the U.S. and Canada, where his current prophecy books are very popular.
Chapters 10-12 WAR OF THE DRAGON Left Behind The Kids
Left Behind The Kids: WAR OF THE DRAGON Chapter 7-9
Dr. Tim LaHaye, who conceived the Left Behind series, is a renowned prophecy scholar, minister, and educator. He has written over forty non-fiction work that have been published in over thirty languages. He and his wife, Beverly, live in Southern California.
Jerry B. Jenkins, writer of the series, is the author of more than one hundred books. His books can be found regularly on the New York Times best-seller lists. He and his wife, Dianna, live in Colorado Springs.
Left Behind The Kids: WAR OF THE DRAGON Chapter 7-9
Dr. Tim LaHaye, who conceived the Left Behind series, is a renowned prophecy scholar, minister, and educator. He has written over forty non-fiction work that have been published in over thirty languages. He and his wife, Beverly, live in Southern California.
Jerry B. Jenkins, writer of the series, is the author of more than one hundred books. His books can be found regularly on the New York Times best-seller lists. He and his wife, Dianna, live in Colorado Springs.
Left Behind The Kids: WAR OF THE DRAGON Chapter 1-3
Nicolae Carpathia (indwelt by the Antichrist) concluded his horrific display of blasphemy in the holy Temple and has returned to New Babylon. Because of Chaim Rosenzweig’s (now known as Micah) power and message to those who had not already taken the mark of the beast and the power he displayed against Carpathia at the Temple and his message to believers and unbelievers at Masada, a multitude of more believers have escaped toward the ancient fort – the Rose colored city of Petra.
Meanwhile, Judd continually hears updates from his friend Chang Wong who is coordinating the entire adult Tribulation Force and the Young Tribulation Force. Judd and Lionel leave for the airport where Westin Jakes, Z-Van’s pilot, offered to fly the two young men home. But when they got to the airport the next morning, Z-Van’s plane had been destroyed.
Vicki and Mark have barely escaped a Global Community plot and have been welcomed back to the crowded Wisconsin hideout. There the two of them with everyone else at the hideout watched television reports about a new plague of blood on the seas.
Vicki is alone when an alarm rings inside the hideout. Something moves on the monitor and Vicki gasps as a strange face fills the screen.
Dr. Tim LaHaye, who conceived the Left Behind series, is a renowned prophecy scholar, minister, and educator. He has written over forty non-fiction work that have been published in over thirty languages. He and his wife, Beverly, live in Southern California.
Jerry B. Jenkins, writer of the series, is the author of more than one hundred books. His books can be found regularly on the New York Times best-seller lists. He and his wife, Dianna, live in Colorado Springs.
War Of The Dragon is the 32nd book in the series of 40 books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins called Left Behind–The Kids.
Left Behind The Kids: WAR OF THE DRAGON Chapter 1-3
This is a poem I have known since childhood. But it never loses its fun and creative imagination. As I read it, you should be able to visualize the whole experience of a visit from Santa. Ho! Ho! Ho! and Merry Christmas – Ray
The Remnant: On the Brink of Armageddon is the tenth book in the Left Behind series written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins and published in July 2002. It was on The New York Times Best Seller List for 19 weeks. It takes place from 43 months to 6 years into the Tribulation and a month to 2 1/2 years into the Great Tribulation.
On this day, December 23, 1944, General Dwight Eisenhower endorsed the finding of a court-martial in the case of Eddie Slovik, who was tried for desertion, and authorized his execution, the first such sentence against a U.S. Army soldier since the Civil War, and the only man so punished during World War II.
Private Eddie Slovik was a draftee. Originally classified 4-F because of a prison record (grand theft auto), he was bumped up to a 1-A classification when draft standards were lowered to meet growing personnel needs. In January 1944, he was trained to be a rifleman, which was not to his liking, as he hated guns.
In August of the same year, Slovik was shipped to France to fight with the 28th Infantry Division, which had already suffered massive casualties in the fighting there and in Germany. Slovik was a replacement, a class of soldier not particular respected by officers. As he and a companion were on the way to the front lines, they became lost in the chaos of battle, only to stumble upon a Canadian unit that took them in.
Slovik stayed on with the Canadians until October 5, when they turned him and his buddy over to the American military police, who reunited them with the 28th Division, now in Elsenborn, Belgium. No charges were brought; replacements getting lost early on in their tours of duty were not unusual. But exactly one day after Slovik returned to his unit, he claimed he was “too scared and too nervous” to be a rifleman and threatened to run away if forced into combat. His admission was ignored-and Slovik took off. One day after that he returned, and Slovik signed a confession of desertion, claiming he would run away again if forced to fight, and submitted it to an officer of the 28th. The officer advised Slovik to take the confession back, as the consequences would be serious. Slovik refused, and he was confined to the stockade.
The 28th Division had seen many cases of soldiers wounding themselves or deserting in the hopes of a prison sentence that would at least protect them from the perils of combat. So a legal officer of the 28th offered Slovik a deal: Dive into combat immediately and avoid the court-martial. Slovik refused. He was tried on November 11 for desertion and was convicted in less than two hours. The nine-officer court-martial panel passed a unanimous sentence: execution-“to be shot to death with musketry.”
Slovik’s appeal failed. It was held that he “directly challenged the authority” of the United States and that “future discipline depends upon a resolute reply to this challenge.” Slovik was to pay for his recalcitrant attitude-and he was to be made an example. One last appeal was made-to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander. The timing was bad for mercy. The Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes forest was issuing in literally thousands of American casualties, not to mention the second largest surrender of an American Army unit during the war. Eisenhower upheld the sentence.
Slovik would be shot to death by a 12-man firing squad in eastern France in January of 1945. None of the rifleman so much as flinched, believing Slovik had gotten what he deserved.
On this day in 1972, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake in Managua, Nicaragua, kills more than 10,000 people and leaves 250,000 homeless.
The quake hit in the middle of the night and immediately destroyed nearly 75 percent of Managua. All electricity, gas, water, sewage and telephone lines were brought down so the only light for hours (during which the tremors continued non-stop) came from the many fires that broke out around the city. A later study revealed that the quake’s epicenter was quite shallow–only nine miles beneath the city–which combined with the relatively unstable soil on which the city was built and the shoddy construction practices of the day, resulted in widespread destruction. The city is right in the middle of a volcanic region and has four parallel faults that run directly beneath it. Previous quakes in 1885 and 1931 had done similar damage, but on a much smaller scale.
The following day, chaos reigned throughout the city. Although people remained trapped under the rubble, there were few rescue workers available to help them. President Anastasio Somoza was forced to order the entire city evacuated, although the order was ignored in many places. The government did not provide for the distribution of food and police were ordered to shoot looters on the spot. Four of the major hospitals in the city were also destroyed in the quake, making it difficult for the thousands of injured victims to receive medical care.
Costa Rica provided the first relief efforts from outside the country and other nations began to step forward during the week as the extent of the damage became known. Future Hall of Fame baseball player Roberto Clemente organized his own private relief effort, but the plane he filled with supplies crashed, killing him and four others.
For weeks following the earthquake, nearly half the city’s population remained homeless. Eventually, a significant portion of the city was just bulldozed without ever recovering bodies that may have been under the rubble. The entire nation was left reeling for years afterward, as half of the economy was based in Managua and virtually every business in the city was gravely affected.
Troubles ballooned for the Heene family
Richard Heene, carried out a hoax in which he told authorities his 6-year-old son Falcon has floated off in a runaway, saucer-shaped helium balloon. On December 23, Heene is sentenced to 90 days in jail in Fort Collins, Colorado. Heene’s wife Mayumi received 20 days of jail time for her role in the incident.
The so-called “Balloon Boy” saga riveted viewers around the globe two months earlier, on October 15, when it played out on live television. At around 11 a.m. that day, Richard Heene, a handyman, amateur scientist and father of three boys, called the Federal Aviation Administration to report that a large balloon in his family’s Fort Collins backyard had become untethered, and it was believed his son Falcon had crawled aboard the craft before it took flight. Minutes later, Heene phoned a local TV station, requesting a helicopter to track the balloon. A short time afterward, Mayumi Heene called 911.
The homemade silver craft was soon being tracked by search-and-rescue personnel, as well as reporters, on the ground and in the air. The Colorado National Guard launched two helicopters to follow the balloon, and a runway at Denver International Airport was briefly shut down as the balloon traveled into its flight path. At around 1:35 p.m., the craft touched down in a Colorado field after drifting a distance of some 50 miles from its starting location. Rescue officials soon discovered the balloon was empty, prompting fears that Falcon Heene had fallen from the craft during its flight. A massive ground search ensued, and later that afternoon it was announced the boy had been found safe at home, where he reportedly had been hiding.
Suspicions that the entire incident had been a hoax intensified that night, after Falcon Heene told his parents during a live interview on CNN: “You guys said we did this for the show.” Mayumi Heene later confessed to police the incident had been staged to help the family get a reality TV show. (The Heenes had previously appeared on the program “Wife Swap.”)
In November 2009, Richard Heene pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempting to influence a public official (“to initiate a search-and-rescue mission which in turn would attract media attention,” according to an affidavit filed by prosecutors), while Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of making a false report. Richard Heene later claimed he pleaded guilty only to placate authorities and prevent his wife from being deported to her native Japan. In addition to jail time, the Heenes were required to perform community service and Richard Heene was later ordered to pay $36,000 in restitution for the search effort.
In a horserace, the announcer would be saying “They are rounding the clubhouse turn.” Lindsey Graham dropped out this past week but the rest of the 13 13 Republican establishment candidates are locked in a mortal fight to win the state of New Hampshire – where failure, for some, could mark the end of their presidential ambitions.
This report is from England’s newspaper The Guardian. As the outsider Donald Trump widens his lead over the Republican field in national polls, with less than six weeks until the first nominating contests begin, the more traditional candidates are shuttling frenetically around the critical early state.
“The people of Iowa pick corn, the people of New Hampshire pick presidents,” the adage goes. And so four Republicans currently splitting the mainstream vote –Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich – crisscrossed the state ahead of the Christmas holiday seeking to distinguish themselves from a crowded field of 13 candidates.
Rubio vowed to be a unifying figure amid challenging times both at home and abroad, while acknowledging the disillusionment that has driven voters into the arms of outsider candidates who have never held elected office.
“I know that times are tough,” the Florida senator told voters at a town hall in the riverside city of Berlin on Tuesday. “I know that people are frustrated and that this is a time to be angry about the direction of our country. But not just to be angry. This is a time to act. This is a time of urgency,” he said.
A few hours later, at his own town hall just down the street, Bush also emphasized the necessity of the moment – but as part of an appeal to voters to reject candidates he dubbed as unserious.
Standing inside a garage classroom at a community college, the former Florida governor began with a confession that – from the very outset – he had served as a particular foil to the bombastic arrogance that has defined Trump’s candidacy.
“I don’t know everything. I’m not the biggest personality on stage,” Bush said. “We have a few candidates – I won’t mention their names, you all know who I’m talking about – that don’t pass the humility test.”
“Humility is a sign of strength, not weakness,” he added.
New Hampshire will not hold its primary, the first in the nation, until 9 February. But with its potential to significantly winnow the field, the sense of urgency among those who have placed nearly all of their bets on the Granite State was palpable.
“You are the most powerful people in America,” Christie, the New Jersey governor, told a crowd in Exeter. “You are going to take this race from 14 people to four or five. After you vote, 10 of us go home.”
The implications of a strong showing in New Hampshire are especially dire for candidates like Bush, Christie and Kasich, who have spent a disproportionate amount of time wooing the state’s pragmatic-minded voters in the hope that they will bring order to a dramatic race where conventional rules have thus far fallen flat.
The three governors all hoped to have distinguished themselves as Washington outsiders with a record of getting things done – in Florida, New Jersey and Ohio. Yet they are all averaging in single digits, trailing a national top tier that increasingly consists of Trump, Rubio and Texas senator Ted Cruz.
But the race remains unexpectedly open at this juncture, with most New Hampshire voters yet to firmly commit to a candidate.
Beverly Kempton, of Alton, said she was leaning toward Kasich after attending the Ohio governor’s town hall in Rochester on Monday. But in the next breath, she named Rubio and Bush as other contenders on her shortlist. She had but one criterion: anyone not named Trump.
“I don’t understand it. He is rude, he’s nasty,” Kempton said. “I don’t think he knows anything – except money.”
The real estate mogul nonetheless holds a commanding lead in New Hampshire, with numbers inching toward 30% despite a scarce presence on the campaign trail. It was a trend Bush appeared intent on reversing, fresh off the heels of a debate in Las Vegas where the two repeatedly sparred.
“He’s wrong,” Bush said of Trump – on the threat posed by the Islamic State, on banning Muslims from the United States, and on the merits of being praised by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. “These are serious times. We need a serious leader.”
It was one of several times Bush brought up Trump unprompted, eventually drawing the former governor into a moment of self-awareness – in a race where Trump is sucking up most of the oxygen, candidates should at least bar him from their own events.
“I promise I won’t talk about Trump again,” Bush said, only to break the rule moments later.
Elsewhere, Christie zeroed in on a more immediate threat to his prospects: Rubio, the fresh-faced Florida senator who in recent months has steadily risen in the polls, ticked up in congressional endorsements and drawn the backing of influential high-dollar donors.
Christie, whose race was thought to be over when he was relegated to the undercard debate in November, has been given another look in large part due to his dogged campaigning in New Hampshire. The governor secured the endorsement of the influential New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper, and has used his trademark personal style to positive effect.
A clip of Christie emotionally discussing substance abuse, a crisis that has torn its way across New Hampshire, went viral with millions of views. In the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, his reflections on his role as a US attorney in the aftermath of 9/11 have also carried more potency.
This week, Christie, on a four-day bus tour which took him from Al’s Automotive shop in Exeter to sports bars and town halls across the state, showed a more aggressive tone in taking on his opponents – with a marked focus on Rubio.
The governor launched into an attack on Rubio for missing a Senate vote last week on the $1.15 trillion dollar budget, a jibe he repeated in a pair of television interviews on Tuesday before going after Rubio’s style of campaigning.
“We’ve been looking for Marco, but we can’t find him,” Christie said on MSNBC. “We’ve had the bus all over New Hampshire. We haven’t been able to find him. We understand he did a very quick town hall here and then left to go back to Madison Avenue in New York.”
Rubio was, in fact, in the midst of a three-day swing of his own through New Hampshire when Christie made his comments. But the senator’s rivals have seized on a slew of press reports in recent weeks that have questioned his strategy of holding a lighter campaign schedule and ground operation in the early states compared with some of the other candidates.
Foreign policy experience takes on new significance for Iowa conservatives after the Paris attacks, as Rubio separates fears of Isis from being anti-Muslim
Rubio largely ignored the criticism while barnstorming the state with his wife and children in tow, choosing instead to stick with the familiar themes of his campaign. In a series of town halls before enthusiastic crowds, the senator placed an emphasis on national security and boosting defense, detailed his plans for higher education, and touted his efforts to dismantle Obamacare in the US Senate.
At each event, he fielded a wide range of questions from the audience for over an hour – on topics ranging from climate change to criminal justice and the refugee crisis – interspersing detailed discussions of policy with occasional humor.
After receiving two questions in the same day on the embargo against Cuba, for example, Rubio quipped, “This is a long way to travel to talk about Cuba!”&
He continued to take subtle shots at Cruz, with whom Rubio has locked horns of late on immigration and national security, although never mentioning the Texas senator by name. In particular, Rubio noted that a strategy against Isis must be more substantial than carpet bombing the terrorist group “until sand glows in the dark” – a reference to what Cruz has vowed to do as president.
He also made several retail stops – at a diner, a general store and a candy shop – taking questions from patrons, chatting up the owners about local business and competition, and keeping an eye on his young children.
Despite the fixation in the media on his commitment to the campaign trail, Rubio has risen to second place in New Hampshire behind Trump. Voters who came to see the senator indicated they were still shopping around, and an increased presence by Rubio in the coming weeks could be enough to persuade them in his direction.
“I have more interest in him now than I did before I came here,” said Troy Allen, of Conway, who was also impressed by Bush at a recent event. “I think he hit pretty much everything – I’m leaning toward Rubio, but I’ll make my decision on who are the top two or three standing when it’s time to vote.”
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, [a]magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the [b]Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written [c]by the prophet:
6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them [d]the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” 9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they [e]fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
The Flight to Egypt 13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”
14 So [f]Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He [g]remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
Herod Slaughters Babies 16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she refused to be comforted, Because they were no more.” 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, 20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So [h]Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, 23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Footnotes:
Matthew 2:1 A caste of wise men specializing in astronomy, astrology, and natural science
Matthew 2:4 Gr Christos (Christ)
Matthew 2:5 Or through
Matthew 2:7 Lit the time of the appearing star
Matthew 2:11 Lit prostrated; i.e. face down in a prone position to indicate worship
This is Ray Mossholder with It Happened on December 22.
Fyodor Dostoevsky
On December 22, 1849, author Fyodor Dostoevsky was led before a firing squad and prepared for execution. He had been convicted and sentenced to death on November 16 for allegedly taking part in antigovernment activities. However, at the last moment he was reprieved and sent into exile.
Dostoevsky’s father was a doctor at Moscow’s Hospital for the Poor, where he grew rich enough to buy land and serfs. After his father’s death, Dostoevsky, who suffered from epilepsy, studied military engineering and became a civil servant while secretly writing novels. His first, Poor People, and his second,The Double, were both published in 1846–the first was a hit, the second a failure.
On December 22, 1849, Dostoevsky was led before the firing squad but received a last-minute reprieve and was sent to a Siberian labor camp, where he worked for four years. He was released in 1854 and worked as a soldier on the Mongolian frontier. He married a widow and finally returned to Russia in 1859. The following year, he founded a magazine, and two years after that he journeyed to Europe for the first time.
In 1864 and 1865, his wife and his brother died, the magazine folded, and Dostoevsky found himself deeply in debt, which he exacerbated by gambling.
In 1866, he published Crime and Punishment, one of his most popular works. In 1867, he married a stenographer, and the couple fled to Europe to escape his creditors. His novel The Possessed (1872) was successful, and the couple returned to St. Petersburg. He published The Brothers Karamazov in 1880 to immediate success, but died a year later.
On December 22, 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C. for a series of meetings with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on a unified Anglo-American war strategy and a future peace.
Now that the United States was directly involved in both the Pacific and European wars, it was incumbent upon both Great Britain and America to create and project a unified front. Toward that end, Churchill and Roosevelt created a combined general staff to coordinate military strategy against both Germany and Japan and to draft a future joint invasion of the Continent. Roosevelt also agreed to a radical increase in the U.S. arms production program: the 12,750 operational aircraft to be ready for service by the end of 1943 became 45,000; the proposed 15,450 tanks also became 45,000; and the number of machine guns to be manufactured almost doubled, to 500,000.
Among the momentous results of these U.S.-Anglo meetings was a declaration issued by Churchill and Roosevelt that enjoined 26 signatory nations to use all resources at their disposal to defeat the Axis powers and not sue for a separate peace. This confederation called itself the “United Nations.” Lead by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, all 26 nations declared a unified goal to “ensure life, liberty, independence and religious freedom, and to preserve the rights of man and justice.” The blueprint for the destruction of fascism and a future international peacekeeping organization was born.
Who said I’m not beautiful?
On this day in 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo enters the world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity. Weighing in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla whose name was a combination of Columbus and Ohio, was the daughter of Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa, who were brought to the Columbus Zoo in 1951. Before Colo’s birth, gorillas found at zoos were caught in the wild, often by brutal means. In order to capture a gorilla when it was young and therefore still small enough to handle, hunters frequently had to kill the gorilla’s parents and other family members.
Gorillas are peaceful, intelligent animals, native to Africa, who live in small groups led by one adult male, known as a silverback. There are three subspecies of gorilla: western lowland, eastern lowland and mountain. The subspecies are similar and the majority of gorillas in captivity are western lowland. Gorillas are vegetarians whose only natural enemy is the humans who hunt them. On average, a gorilla lives to 35 years in the wild and 50 years in captivity.
At the time Colo was born, captive gorillas often never learned parenting skills from their own parents in the wild, so the Columbus Zoo built her a nursery and she was reared by zookeepers. In the years since Colo’s arrival, zookeepers have developed habitats that simulate a gorilla’s natural environment and many captive-born gorillas are now raised by their mothers. In situations where this doesn’t work, zoos have created surrogacy programs, in which the infants are briefly cared for by humans and then handed over to other gorillas to raise.
Colo, who generated enormous public interest and is still alive today, went on to become a mother, grandmother, and in 1996, a great-grandmother to Timu, the first surviving infant gorilla conceived by artificial insemination. Timu gave birth to her first baby in 2003.
Today, there are approximately 750 gorillas in captivity around the world and an estimated 100,000 lowland gorillas (and far fewer mountain gorillas) remaining in the wild. Most zoos are active in captive breeding programs and have agreed not to buy gorillas born in the wild. Since Colo’s birth, 30 gorillas have been born at the Columbus Zoo alone.
Rev. Franklin Graham
Franklin Graham says in order for America to avoid trouble that is on the horizon, Christians need to pray about running for office “where they can have an impact.” And, by the way, he writes, that doesn’t necessarily mean aligning with the Republican Party, which throughout the years has had a long history of supporting biblical values. Because Franklin Graham has just resigned from the Republican Party.
“Unless more godly men and women get in this process and change this wicked system,” the chief of Samaritan’s Purse wrote on his Facebook page, “our country is in for trouble. “I want to challenge Christians, even pastors, across the country to pray about running for office where they can have an impact. We need mayors, [county] commissioners, city council members, school board members who will uphold biblical values.”
He said neither the Democrats nor the Republicans can be looked to for help.
He cited the recent budget approved by House Speaker Paul Ryan, endorsed by the House and Senate and signed by President Obama – more than a trillion dollars of spending. Nowhere does it protect the lives of the unborn, he noted.
“This is an example of why I have resigned from the Republican Party and declared myself independent. I have no hope in the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, or tea party to do what is best for America. After all of the appalling facts revealed this year about Planned Parenthood, our representatives in Washington had a chance to put a stop to this, but they didn’t. There’s no question – taxpayers should not be paying for abortions! Abortion is murder in God’s eyes. Seeing and hearing Planned Parenthood talk nonchalantly about selling baby parts from aborted fetuses with utter disregard for human life is reminiscent of Joseph Mengele and the Nazi concentration camps! That should’ve been all that was needed to turn off the faucet for their funding.” Yet he said, “Nothing was done to trim this 2,000 page, $1.1 trillion budget.”
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your [a]masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; 6 not [b]by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the [c]heart. 7 With good will [d]render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, 8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
9 And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
The Armor of God 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against [e]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 [f]in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 [g]With all prayer and petition [h]pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, [i]be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in [j]chains; that [k]in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
21 But that you also may know about my circumstances, [l]how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. 22 [m]I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know [n]about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.
23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ [o]with incorruptible love.
Footnotes:
Ephesians 6:5 I.e. earthly masters, with fear
Ephesians 6:6 Lit according to
Ephesians 6:6 Lit soul
Ephesians 6:7 Lit rendering
Ephesians 6:12 Lit blood and flesh
Ephesians 6:16 Lit in all
Ephesians 6:18 Lit Through
Ephesians 6:18 Lit praying
Ephesians 6:18 Lit being
Ephesians 6:20 Lit a chain
Ephesians 6:20 Two early mss read I may speak it boldly
From the freeing of the slaves in Santo Domingo to the building of Boulder Dam. And from General George Patton to the meeting in the White House between President Nixon and Elvis Presley. From “The Cat And The Cradle” to Carlos the Jackal. Ray will bring you these stories that all took place in other years on December 21, and many more stories beside. Join Ray now.
I am red-faced as I apologize to you for not having the script and pictures ready for you to see. There was a technical glitch that removed the script and pictures entirely. But the video is still very much alive. This is the only time this is happened with the script and pictures and the glitch will be fixed by the time I record December 22, so please come back. Please also accept my apology. This disappearance represented nearly 6 hours of work. I thank God for the Internet and Google every day, but just like me, it sure isn’t perfect.
39 Now [a]at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And [b]how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she who [c]believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her [d]by the Lord.”
The Magnificat
46 And Mary said:
“My soul [e]exalts the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 “For He has had regard for the humble state of His [f]bondslave;
For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.
49 “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;
And holy is His name.
50 “And His mercy is [g]upon generation after generation
Toward those who fear Him.
51 “He has done [h]mighty deeds with His arm;
He has scattered those who were proud in the [i]thoughts of their heart.
52 “He has brought down rulers from their thrones,
And has exalted those who were humble.
53 “He has filled the hungry with good things;
And sent away the rich empty-handed.
54 “He has given help to Israel His servant,
[j]In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and his [k]descendants forever.”
56 And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.
John Is Born
57 Now the time [l]had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had [m]displayed His great mercy toward her; and they were rejoicing with her.
59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, [n]after his father. 60 But his mother answered and said, “No indeed; but he shall be called John.”
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says,”Awake, sleeper,And arise from the dead,And Christ will shine on you.” Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
7 Things You Need To Know About Isis by APs Mary Chastain
AP
7 Islamic State Facts Every American Must Know by Mary Chastain (Associated Press)
7 Dec 2015 – The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has been terrorizing the Middle East for almost three years. Unfortunately, the mainstream media and President Barack Obama act as if they want the public to remain ignorant about a radical Islamic group so horrific that al-Qaeda does not want anything to do with them.
These are the facts that every American must know.
1. ISIS IS WINNING THE SOCIAL MEDIA WAR
Facebook. YouTube. Twitter. If it is a social media outlet, ISIS knows how to use it to amp up their recruits and spread their message.
In February, former National Security Council staffer Hillary Mann Leverett claimed the terrorist group sends out 90,000 social media messages a day. While that seems like a lot, others believe the number is actually double that number.
“My best estimate is something over 200,000 a day, including retweets, but that comes with a lot of caveats,” explained J.M. Berger, a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution. “It is not entirely possible to break down members vs. fanboys and the bulk of accounts don’t visibly differentiate. But a plurality of the accounts we examined for the study appeared to be based in Iraq and Syria.”
Breitbart News regularly reports how militants use social media to recruit Westerners,especially women. The Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at King’s College discovered that the feeling of “sisterhood” was just as much of a draw as finding a mujahid groom for the majority of women from the West.
2. ISIS RAKES IN BETWEEN $25 TO $90 MILLION A MONTH FROM OIL SALES
The squabble between Turkey and Russia pushed the subject of ISIS-controlled oil fields into the headlines. Both countries accuse each other of purchasing oil from ISIS, but how much does that give the group?
In July 2014, experts believed oil earned ISIS at least $3 million a day, or roughly $90 million a month. The group captured numerous oil fields in Syria’s Diar Alzour province, including the Omar oil field. Almost a year later, the U.S. claimed ISIS was weakening, but militants “seized most of the Baiji oil refinery, the largest in Iraq.”
Other analysts said that ISIS only makes $2 million a month from oil, which is around $24 million a year.
3. ISIS CALIPHATE SPANS UP TO 35,000 SQUARE MILES
On, November 17, GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush tweeted out this picture of the caliphate.
The picture shows the state ISIS has formed so far is about the size of Indiana, with over 8 million residents. They established Raqqa, Syria, as the capital of their caliphate. In 2014, one publication said the the caliphate sized at 12,000 square miles while others put it at 35,000 miles. Either way, one thing remains constant: “They would like the entire world to be Muslim, but they want the world to be Muslim in a very, very narrowly defined manner,” said William Beeman, chair of the anthropology department at the University of Minnesota. “They are fundamentalist Muslims and their idea of Islam is quite different from the rest of the Islamic world.”
4. FBI RUNNING OVER 900 INVESTIGATIONS OF ISIS OPERATIVES IN THE 50 STATES
In October, FBI Director James Comey told intelligence officials his department is currently running at least 900 investigations against alleged ISIS operatives in America. However, the stats also showed that the majority of Americans are not fleeing to ISIS. That only means the domestic threat rises if they stay in the states.
5. THOSE INVESTIGATIONS SPAN TO ALL 50 STATES
Comey also alerted the nation that ISIS “tentacles” spread to all 50 states. Unfortunately, though, potential recruits and ISIS use encrypted software to communicate.
“ISIS is sending a poisonous message that buzzes in the pockets of troubled souls, unmoored people, all day long,” said Comey. “The challenge we face is finding those needles in a nationwide haystack, assessing where they are on a spectrum between consuming this poison and acting on it, and disrupting them before they act.”
6. 72 DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY EMPLOYEES ON FEDERAL WATCHLIST
The second amendment clearly states that “the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” But Sunday night, President Barack Obama pushed for more gun control at the federal level by urging Congress to make sure people on the federal no-fly list can buy a gun. However, that list is far from perfect.
On December 1,
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
14%
revealed an investigation in August showed 72 employees of the Department of Homeland Security were on the watch list. This led to Lynch and other Democrats voting with Republicans on a bill to “ramp up screening requirements for Syrian and Iraqi refugees.” He said:
Back in August, we did an investigation—the inspector General did—of the Department of Homeland Security, and they had 72 individuals that were on the terrorist watch list that were actually working at the Department of Homeland Security. The director had to resign because of that. Then we went further and did and eight-airport investigation. We had staffers go into eight different airports to test the department of homeland security screening process at major airports. They had a 95 percent failure rate. We had folks—this was a testing exercise, so we had folks going in there with guns on their ankles, and other weapons on their persons, and there was a 95 percent failure rate.
Which leads us to the final fact:
7. ZERO SAN BERNARDINO TERRORISTS WERE ON THAT NO-FLY LIST
The no-fly list mentioned 72 Homeland Security employees. In the past, the name “T. Kennedy” appeared on the list, causing troubles for former Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA). Civil Rights icon
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
22%
ended up on the list, which caused numerous headaches and travel delays. Babies and toddlers remained on the list.
But Obama and Democrats want to rely on the list, even though San Bernardino terrorists Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik never appeared on the list. They slaughtered 14 people in cold blood. Investigators believe Malik pledged allegiance to ISIS. Others said the bombs the couple made mirrored those in al-Qaeda’s Inspire magazine. CBS confirmed reports that both of the attackers viewed ISIS propaganda online.
They never once appeared on the no-fly list
7 Things You Need To Know About Isis by APs Mary Chastain
A highly startling statement came from Martin Luther after he discovered what launched the Reformation through him. To him, and to millions upon millions since, was what he believed is the secret of living the Christian life – Hebrews 10:38 “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” A man totally afraid of almost everything, with a hideous nightmares of going to hell and nightly occurrence for him, Luther had lived his life until that point “shrinking back.” But he was instantly transformed when he discovered that biblical truth. That moment launched the beginning of the Reformation.
Of course, Luther found a myriad of Scriptures that totally agree with Hebrews 10:38. He now formed a relationship with Christ not based on his good works or his failures, but simply believing that “the blood of Christ cleanses from ALL sin” (1 John 1:7). Romans 3:10 verified what Luther had found – “There is none righteous, no, not one”; and Romans 3:23 “ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Martin Luther had been trying to earn his salvation by keeping a set of rules he had been told he had to keep perfectly in order to be saved from his sins. Now he realized no one alive could be perfect enough to earn salvation. That’s why Christ died for him and for every other person in all time and that salvation began when a person sincerely asked Christ to be their God and Savior.
So what was the startling statement Martin Luther made. He said “If a Christian is going to sin, they should sin BIG!” He said that when he is and his friends kidnapped a cart full of nuns! One of those nuns kidnapped that day was Katherina Von Bora who subsequently fell in love with Martin Luther and married him.
KATHERINA VON BORA’S LIFE was one of hard work and solid virtue. When she was a young girl, her father placed her in a convent following his remarriage. She heard Luther’s teachings in her early twenties and accepted his doctrine of justification by faith alone. With some other nuns she contacted the reformer, requesting help to escape the convent. Luther arranged for a delivery-man to smuggle the women out in empty fish barrels.
Luther asked the families of the young women to take them back. When they proved unwilling, he found husbands for all of them. However, he was not able to find a place for Katie. Eventually he proposed to her and married her the same day.
They seem to have been a happy couple. Her hard work and practical domestic skills (budgeting, raising livestock, and brewing beer) fed and clothed them, their children, several orphans, and the many students who boarded with them.
After Luther’s death, Katie reared their younger children alone for six years. Elector John Frederick, the ruler of Saxony, set up a small trust fund and helped her purchase a farm near Wittenberg. However, her land was taxed unmercifully by contending armies during the Schmalkaldic War, leaving her in crushing poverty. As a result, she had to flee. Her animals were confiscated and her house burned to the ground. After peace was restored, Katie borrowed a thousand gulden to rebuild. To repay her loan, she took student boarders.
When plague broke out in Wittenberg in 1522, the university staff and students moved to Torgau, a place less affected by the disease. With her boarders gone, Katherina was again in dire financial straits. She decided to follow the university, but her decision proved catastrophic. At the end of the sixty mile trip, not far from the gate of Torgau, her horses bolted and she had to leap from the wagon into a lake. She was lifted from the water severely bruised. Friends carried her into the city. Although she fought for life for three months, the pain and hardships of her latter years sealed her inevitable end. Her last recorded words were, “I will cling to my Lord Christ as a burr on a coat.” On this day, 20 December 1552 she died. Next day, the entire university turned out for her funeral.
Without a shot fired, the French hand over New Orleans and Lower Louisiana to the United States on December 20, 1803.
In April 1803, the United States purchased from France the 828,000 square miles that had formerly been French Louisiana. The area was divided into two territories: the northern half was Louisiana Territory, the largely unsettled (though home to many Indians) frontier section that was later explored by Lewis and Clark; and the southern Orleans Territory, which was populated by Europeans.
Unlike the sprawling and largely unexplored northern territory (which eventually encompassed a dozen large states), Orleans Territory was a small, densely populated region that was like a little slice of France in the New World. With borders that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Louisiana, Orleans Territory was home to about 50,000 people, a primarily French population that had been living under the direction of a Spanish administration.
These former citizens of France knew almost nothing about American laws and institutions, and the challenging task of bringing them into the American fold fell to the newly appointed governor of the region, twenty-eight-year-old William Claiborne. Historians have found no real evidence that the French of Orleans Territory resented their transfer to American control, though one witness claimed that when the French tri-color was replaced by the Stars and Stripes in New Orleans, the citizens wept. The French did resent that their new governor was appointed rather than elected, and they bridled when the American government tried to make English the official language and discouraged the use of French.
It didn’t help matters that young Claiborne knew neither French nor Spanish. Claiborne soon found himself immersed in a complex sea of ethnic tensions and political unrest that he little understood, and in January he wrote to Thomas Jefferson that the population was “uninformed, indolent, luxurious-in a word, ill-fitted to be useful citizens for a Republic.” To his dismay, Claiborne found that most of his time was spent not governing, but dealing with an unrelenting procession of crises like riots, robberies, and runaway slaves.
Despite his concerns, Claiborne knew that somehow these people had to be made into American citizens, and over time he gradually made progress in bringing the citizenry into the Union. In December 1804 he was happy to report to Jefferson that “they begin to view their connexion with the United States as permanent and to experience the benefits thereof.” Proof of this came eight years later, when the people of Orleans Territory drafted a constitution and successfully petitioned to become the eighteenth state in the Union. Despite Claiborne’s doubts about whether the French would ever truly fit into their new nation, the approval of that petition meant that the people of Louisiana were officially Americans.
On this day in 1836, President Andrew Jackson presents Congress with a treaty he negotiated with the Ioway, Sacs, Sioux, Fox, Otoe and Omaha tribes of the Missouri territory. The treaty, which removed those tribes from their ancestral homelands to make way for white settlement, epitomized racist 19th century presidential policies toward Native Americans. The agreement was just one of nearly 400 treaties–nearly always unequal–that were concluded between various tribes and the U.S. government between 1788 and 1883.
American population growth and exploration of the west in the early to mid-1800s amplified conflicts over territory inhabited by Native American tribes who held different views of land and property ownership than white settlers. During this time, Andrew Jackson played a major part in shaping U.S. policy toward Native Americans. A hero of the War of 1812, he earned equal recognition as an Indian fighter and treaty negotiator. In fact, he brokered nine treaties before becoming president in 1829. In 1830, as part of his zealous quest to acquire new territory for the nation, President Jackson pushed for the passing of the Indian Removal Act. It was this act that allowed for the 1838 forced removal by the U.S. military of Cherokee from their Georgia homeland to barren land in the Oklahoma territory. The march at gunpoint–during which 4,000 Cherokee died from starvation, disease and the cold–became known as the Trail of Tears. Jackson’s policies toward Indians reflected the general view among whites of the time that Indians were an inferior race who stood in the way of American economic progress.
A few presidents have made small attempts to bridge the gap of mistrust and maltreatment between the U.S. government and Native Americans. In 1886, Grover Cleveland protected Indian land rights when a railroad company petitioned the government to run tracks through a reservation. In 1924, Calvin Coolidge passed the Indian Citizen Act of 1924, which granted automatic U.S. citizenship to all American tribes, along with all the rights pertaining to citizenship. On personal moral grounds, Coolidge sincerely regretted the state of poverty to which many Indian tribes had sunk after decades of legal persecution and forced assimilation. Throughout his two terms in office, Coolidge presented at least a public image as a strong proponent of tribal rights. In recognition of his advocacy for Native Americans, a North Dakota tribe of Sioux “adopted” Coolidge as an honorary tribal member in 1927. However, U.S. government policies of forced assimilation, which worked to separate families and tribes and destroy native cultures, remained in full swing during his administration.
Largely relegated to reservations by the late 1800s, Native American tribes across the country were obliterated by disease and plunged into poverty, a state many remain in today.
1860
South Carolina secedes from the Union to defend slavery; the first of many to follow.
1924 Adolf Hitler is released from prison after serving less than one year of a five year sentence for treason.
December 20, 1941, in one of his first acts as the new commander in chief of the German army, Adolf Hitler informs General Franz Halder that there will be no retreating from the Russian front near Moscow. “The will to hold out must be brought home to every unit!”
Halder was also informed that he could stay on as chief of the general army staff if he so chose, but only with the understanding that Hitler alone was in charge of the army’s movements and strategies.
Halder accepted the terms, but it was another blow to their already tense relationship. Halder had been at odds with the Fuhrer from the earliest days of the Nazi regime, when he spoke disparagingly of Hitler’s leadership ability and feared that “this madman” would plunge Germany into war. Promoted to chief of staff in September 1938, Halder began concocting an assassination scheme shortly thereafter along with other military officers who feared another European war over the Sudetenland crisis, when Hitler demanded the German-speaking population of Czechoslovakia-and the territory in which they resided-be made part of a greater Germany. Only a “peaceful” resolution to the crisis—the forced diplomatic capitulation of Czechoslovakia—killed the conspiracy. With Hitler’s popularity among the German people growing, and the timidity of the then-commander in chief of the army, General Walter von Brauchitsch, Halder learned to live with the “madman” in power.
But Halder would continue to butt heads with Hitler, urging that military strategy be left to the general staff when Hitler wanted to impose his imperious will on the army. But as the offensive against Moscow collapsed, an offensive which Halder had supported, and for which he began to agonize over, given the number of German dead, Halder could only concede to Hitler’s seizing of power, if just to retain his position on the general staff. By staying on, Halder hoped to be able to protect the remaining German troops on the Eastern front from the consequences of Hitler’s obsession over defeating the Soviets. Unfortunately, Hitler dismissed Halder during another disastrous Russian offensive, this one against Stalingrad in 1942.
On December 20, 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-and-roll star Elvis Presley receives his draft notice for the United States Army.
With a suggestive style–one writer called him “Elvis the Pelvis”–a hit movie, Love Me Tender, and a string of gold records including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel,” Presley had become a national icon, and the world’s first bona fide rock-and-roll star, by the end of 1956. As the Beatles’ John Lennon once famously remarked: “Before Elvis, there was nothing.” The following year, at the peak of his career, Presley received his draft notice for a two-year stint in the army. Fans sent tens of thousands of letters to the army asking for him to be spared, but Elvis would have none of it. He received one deferment–during which he finished working on his movie King Creole–before being sworn in as an army private in Memphis on March 24, 1958.
After six months of basic training–including an emergency leave to see his beloved mother, Gladys, before she died in August 1958–Presley sailed to Europe on the USS General Randall. For the next 18 months, he served in Company D, 32nd Tank Battalion, 3rd Armor Corps in Friedberg, Germany, where he attained the rank of sergeant. For the rest of his service, he shared an off-base residence with his father, grandmother and some Memphis friends. After working during the day, Presley returned home at night to host frequent parties and impromptu jam sessions. At one of these, an army buddy of Presley’s introduced him to 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom Elvis would marry some years later. Meanwhile, Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, continued to release singles recorded before his departure, keeping the money rolling in and his most famous client fresh in the public’s mind. Widely praised for not seeking to avoid the draft or serve domestically, Presley was seen as a model for all young Americans. After he got his polio shot from an army doctor on national TV, vaccine rates among the American population shot from 2 percent to 85 percent by the time of his discharge on March 2, 1960.
December 20, 1963 – More than two years after the Berlin Wall was constructed by East Germany to prevent its citizens from fleeing its communist regime, nearly 4,000 West Berliners are allowed to cross into East Berlin to visit relatives. Under an agreement reached between East and West Berlin, over 170,000 passes were eventually issued to West Berlin citizens, each pass allowing a one-day visit to communist East Berlin.
The day was marked by moments of poignancy and propaganda. The construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 separated families and friends. Tears, laughter, and other outpourings of emotions characterized the reunions that took place as mothers and fathers, sons and daughters met again, if only for a short time. Cold War tensions were never far removed from the scene, however. Loudspeakers in East Berlin greeted visitors with the news that they were now in “the capital of the German Democratic Republic,” a political division that most West Germans refused to accept. Each visitor was also given a brochure that explained that the wall was built to “protect our borders against the hostile attacks of the imperialists.” Decadent western culture, including “Western movies” and “gangster stories,” were flooding into East Germany before the wall sealed off such dangerous trends. On the West Berlin side, many newspapers berated the visitors, charging that they were pawns of East German propaganda. Editorials argued that the communists would use this shameless ploy to gain West German acceptance of a permanent division of Germany.
The visits, and the high-powered rhetoric that surrounded them, were stark reminders that the Cold War involved very human, often quite heated, emotions.
On December 20, 1983, ice hockey stars Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt of the Montreal Canadiens score their 500th and 400th career goal, respectively, in a 6-0 rout of the New Jersey Devils at Byrne Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey.
Revered for his offensive game and considered one of the best right wings of all time, Lafleur played a total of 17 years–from 1971 to 1985 with the Canadiens and from 1988 to 1991 with the New York Rangers and the Quebec Nordiques–in the National Hockey League (NHL). With the Canadiens, he became the first player in NHL history to score at least 50 goals and 100 points in six consecutive seasons. Also a prolific scorer, Shutt joined the team at left wing in 1972 and contributed to that year’s Stanley Cup win alongside Lafleur and center Pete Mahovlich. Led by Lafleur and Shutt, the Habs enjoyed a four-year Stanley Cup run from 1976 through 1979.
During the game against the Devils on December 20, 1983, Shutt took a pass from Ryan Walter in the second period and faked Devils’ goalkeeper Glenn Resch to the right to score his 400th career goal and put Montreal up 3-0. Lafleur scored his own milestone goal at 8:34 into the third period, taking a rising shot from about 30 feet away to beat Resch. With the shot, Lafleur became only the 10th player in the history of the NHL (founded in 1917) to score 500 goals.
Shutt left Montreal for the Los Angeles Kings early in the 1984-5 season, but retired at the end of that year with a career total of 424 goals. Lafleur also retired that year, in a ceremony held before 18,000 fans at the Montreal Forum. In 1988, he decided to return to the ice, becoming only the second player since Gordie Howe to continue playing after being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He retired for good in 1991 and took a front-office job in the Canadiens organization. Shutt was elected to the Hall himself in 1993, and has worked as a television commentator and an assistant coach for the Canadiens.
On the 20th of December 1986, three black men are attacked by a group of white teenagers yelling racial slurs in Howard Beach, a predominately white, middle-class, Italian-American neighborhood in Queens, New York. Earlier that night, the men were driving from Brooklyn to Queens, when their car broke down near Howard Beach. They walked several miles to a pizza parlor in Howard Beach, where they asked to use a phone to call for assistance. After being told there was no phone available, they ordered some pizza. When the men left the pizzeria, they were confronted by the gang of teens. One of the men, Michael Griffith, 23, was chased into traffic on the Belt Parkway and died after being hit by a car. A second man, Cedric Sandiford, was severely beaten, while the third man, Timothy Grimes, outran the assailants and escaped without serious injury.
The attack stoked racial tensions in New York City and garnered national headlines. The two surviving victims, distrustful of police in Queens who they believed were treating them like perpetrators, refused to cooperate further with investigators and the district attorney’s office. Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton led a large group of demonstrators on a protest march through Howard Beach and was met by a smaller band of counter-demonstrators who shouted abuse. Sharpton and other black leaders believed the Queens District Attorney’s office was mishandling the case and called for the appointment of a special state prosecutor. New York Governor Mario Cuomo named Charles Hynes to the position. Sharpton was later accused of using the case to further his own political agenda and increase his national profile. In December 1987, after 12 days of jury deliberations, three teens were convicted of manslaughter in the death of Griffith.
In 1988, Timothy Grimes was arrested for shooting his brother and sentenced to a long prison term. Cedric Sandiford died of illness in 1991.
Almost a decade after the killing, in June 2005, history seemed to repeat itself when three black men in Howard Beach were attacked with baseball bats by a group of young white men who yelled racial epithets. One of the black men was beaten, while the other two escaped unharmed. Further controversy erupted in the case after one of the victims reportedly admitted to police that he had gone to Howard Beach to steal a car. However, in the years since the 1986 incident, New York enacted stronger hate-crime laws and in June 2006, Nicholas Minucci, 20, was found guilty of racially motivated assault and robbery. The following month, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
A passenger ferry collides with an oil tanker near Manila in the Philippines on December 20, 1987, leaving 4,000 people dead. The ferry, the Dona Paz, was severely overcrowded, carrying more than twice its stated capacity, and nearly everyone on board was killed.
Sulpicio Lines owned the 2,215-ton Dona Paz, which was supposed to carry 1,400 passengers among the many islands of the Philippines. On December 20, it was going from Tacloban on Leyte Island to Manila. There was much demand due to the Christmas holidays and the company allowed approximately 4,000 people to board. Passengers shared cots and mats were laid out in the corridors as night fell during the 375-mile journey.
By 10 p.m., many of the ship’s officers were drinking and watching television while an apprentice officer piloted the ship through the busy Tablas Strait, 110 miles south of Manila. Also coming through the strait was the 629-ton tanker Victor, carrying 8,000 barrels of oil to Masbate Island. The two ships collided, for reasons still unknown, and a huge explosion resulted. Both ships sank quickly and although the Don Eusebio arrived on the scene shortly to help, it could only circle the fiery area in vain looking for survivors.
Only 24 survivors were found, half of whom were crew members from theVictor. For the next week, burned or drowned bodies washed ashore up and down Manila Island. President Corazon Aquino called it a “tragedy of harrowing proportions.” The precise number of people on board the Dona Paz is not known, but the best estimate puts the death toll near 4,000. This makes it twice as deadly as the Titanic disaster and the worst maritime tragedy in history.
The United States invades Panama in an attempt to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges and was accused of suppressing democracy in Panama and endangering U.S. nationals. Noriega’s Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) were promptly crushed, forcing the dictator to seek asylum with the Vatican anuncio in Panama City, where he surrendered on January 3, 1990.
In 1970, Noriega, a rising figure in the Panamanian military, was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to assist in the U.S. struggle against the spread of communism in Central America. Noriega became involved in drug trafficking and in 1977 was removed from the CIA payroll. After the Marxist Sandinista government came to power in 1979, Noriega was brought back into the CIA fold. In 1983, he become military dictator of Panama.
Noriega supported U.S. initiatives in Central America and in turn was praised by the White House, even though a Senate committee concluded in 1983 that Panama was a major center for drug trafficking. In 1984, Noriega committed fraud in Panama’s presidential election in favor of Nicolás Ardito Barletta, who became a puppet president. Still, Noriega enjoyed the continued support of the Reagan administration, which valued his aid in its efforts to overthrow Nicaragua’s Sandinista government.
In 1986, just months before the outbreak of the Iran-Contra affair, allegations arose concerning Noriega’s history as a drug trafficker, money launderer, and CIA employee. Most shocking, however, were reports that Noriega had acted as a double agent for Cuba’s intelligence agency and the Sandinistas. The U.S. government disowned Noriega, and in 1988 he was indicted by federal grand juries in Tampa and Miami on drug-smuggling and money-laundering charges.
Tensions between Americans in the Panama Canal Zone and Noriega’s Panamanian Defense Forces grew, and in 1989 the dictator annulled a presidential election that would have made Guillermo Endara president. President George H. Bush ordered additional U.S. troops to the Panama Canal Zone, and on December 16 an off-duty U.S. Marine was shot to death at a PDF roadblock. The next day, President Bush authorized “Operation Just Cause”–the U.S. invasion of Panama to overthrow Noriega.
On December 20, 9,000 U.S. troops joined the 12,000 U.S. military personnel already in Panama and were met with scattered resistance from the PDF. By December 24, the PDF was crushed, and the United States held most of the country. Endara was made president by U.S. forces, and he ordered the PDF dissolved. On January 3, Noriega was arrested by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents.
The U.S. invasion of Panama cost the lives of only 23 U.S. soldiers and three U.S. civilians. Some 150 PDF soldiers were killed along with an estimated 500 Panamanian civilians. The Organization of American States and the European Parliament both formally protested the invasion, which they condemned as a flagrant violation of international law.
In 1992, Noriega was found guilty on eight counts of drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering, marking the first time in history that a U.S. jury convicted a foreign leader of criminal charges. He was sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.
2007
Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the UK; previously, that honor belonged to Queen Victoria.
Every day she lives that record grows. This much-loved queen has been the Queen of England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and head of the Commonwealth since her accession in 1952.
