History for January 21

History for January 21 - On-This-Day.com

Birth anniversary of Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen (1738-89).

Birth anniversaries of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson (1824-63); legendary disc jockey Wolfman Jack (1938-95).

Happy Birthday! Jack Nicklaus

1793 - During the French Revolution, King Louis XVI was executed on the guillotine. He had been condemned for treason. 



1908 - The Sullivan Ordinance was passed in New York City making smoking by women illegal. The measure was vetoed by Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. 



1924 - Soviet leader Vladimir Llyich Lenin died. Joseph Stalin began a purge of his rivals for the leadership of the Soviet Union. 


1954 - The Nautilus was launched in Groton, CT. It was the first atomic-powered submarine. U.S. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower broke the traditional bottle of champagne across the bow. 


1976 - The French Concorde SST aircraft began regular commercial service for Air France and British Airways. 


1977 - U.S. President Carter pardoned almost all Vietnam War draft evaders. 


1980 - Gold was valued at $850 an ounce.


1994 - A jury in Manassas, VA, acquitted Lorena Bobbitt by reason of temporary insanity of maliciously wounding (severing his penis) her husband John. She accused him of sexually assaulting her. 


1998 - A former White House intern said on tape that she had an affair with U.S. President Clinton. 


2003 - It was announced by the U.S. Census Bureau that estimates showed that the Hispanic population had passed the black population for the first time.

No-bid Obamacare contract: firm built 2012 voter-tracking

No-bid Obamacare contract: firm built 2012 voter-tracking | The Daily Caller:

"The Obama administration gave the latest no-bid Obamacare website contract to a company that developed the complex voter-tracking computer strategies that led Obama to victory in 2012."

Hey, there's lot of free money....right?---------------MTA ready to roll with I-75 bus rapid transit study for route from Bay City to Detroit

MTA ready to roll with I-75 bus rapid transit study for route from Bay City to Detroit | MLive.com: "GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- The Mass Transportation Authority says its kickstarting a stalled effort to study the idea of a bus rapid transit service on I-75 from Bay City to Detroit.

"Bus rapid transit would have the freedom and flexibility to operate along these corridors and not be held up by traffic," said MTA General Manager Ed Benning. "The beauty of it is, you're not competing with other vehicles in those traffic lanes.""

....The cost of the study alone is budgeted at $450,000 in the Genesee County Long Range Transportation Plan. Engineering is estimated to cost another $7.5 million and construction -- at some point after 2019 -- is estimated at $75 million.
...Those plans won't move ahead, however, without state and federal funding that's yet to be secured.

Detroit 'RoboCop' statue enters next phase of production

Detroit 'RoboCop' statue enters next phase of production | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Project manager Brandon Walley of Imagination Station, a nonprofit in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood that raised more than $60,000 for the statue through an onlineKickstarter campaign, said the plan is to secure a location in the spring and install the statue by the fall."

Michigan insurer doubtful of net jump in plans sold

Michigan insurer doubtful of net jump in plans sold | The Detroit News:
"But she said a bigger concern is that young and healthy residents are balking at the cost of plans even if they qualify for tax subsidies.
“It’s still sticker shock,” Budden said. “The cost of insurance for individuals went up substantially.”
She said while tax credits are helping to bring down premiums, consumers can face deductibles of $2,000 and other out-of-pocket costs. The penalty for not having insurance in the first year is $95 or 1 percent of income, whichever is higher.
“Are those policies perceived as valuable?” Budden said, noting they also may come with narrower provider networks."

DIY Pipe Freezing Kit

DIY Pipe Freezing Kit:

"Have you ever needed to freeze a water pipe to do a quick plumbing job without shutting off all the water?

It’s actually a fairly common practice for contractors, except they use a rather expensive tool to do it.

As it turns out, there’s actually a fairly cheap and easy DIY solution you can do with minimal supplies or experience."

No hope, Big Change-----Housing bust hurt minority home values most

Housing bust hurt minority home values most | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
"Hispanic communities were hit hardest, with home values in their neighborhoods falling an average of 46% from the height of the bubble to the bottom — generally from mid-2007 to the end of 2011.
Meanwhile, communities where blacks were the predominate group saw values drop 32.3% in the same period."

Is Prodigal GOP Inching Home?

Is Prodigal GOP Inching Home?:

"THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAD BETTER RUN, NOT WALK, BACK TOWARD THESE CONSERVATIVE PLATFORM PRINCIPLES;

OTHERWISE DEMOCRATS WILL RULE IN PERPETUITY. 

THE “PROGRESSIVE” JUGGERNAUT WILL FINISH OFF AN AMERICA IT HAS ALREADY MAIMED BEYOND RECOGNITION."

Hmmmmm......Anti-China protesters gather in Vietnam's capital

Anti-China protesters gather in Vietnam's capital - The Denver Post:
"Protests are extremely rare in communist Vietnam and are typically quashed quickly by security forces. Dissidents and others accuse the government of not being tough enough against Beijing and its increasing assertiveness in pressing claims in the South China Sea."

The left doesn't believe in Dr. King's colorblind dream

The left doesn't believe in Dr. King's colorblind dream | The Daily Caller

Tragically, King’s dream was hijacked by a growing movement that demanded race be part of almost every government decision. 

This race industry hides behind terms like “diversity” and “equality” to advocate policies that perpetuate a cycle of racial stereotyping, victimization, and government discrimination.
Consider that:

-In October of last year, an attorney for the group By Any Means Necessary, stood before the US Supreme Court and argued that the Fourteenth Amendment only protects certain racial groups from discrimination in order to overturn a state ban on race and gender preferences.

-Six federal financial regulatory agencies recently created regulations to assess the diversity policies of institutions they regulate. Rather than encouraging financial institutions to genuinely evaluate each employee based on individual talent and contributions, these standards incentivize artificially manufacturing “correct” diversity numbers to comply with government oversight.

-This month, the Department of Justice issued new guidance to K-12 schools, calling on administrators to use race in student disciplinary action to ensure punishments are distributed proportionately to each racial and ethnic group. Those that do not produce the right numbers may face aggressive civil-rights prosecution.

-Last year, NPR implied an urgent need for craft brewing diversity regulations when it bemoaned the lack of black and Latino individuals in the industry. Do we really want our government micro-managing and engineering who goes into each profession? What’s next? Should the federal government start issuing brewing licenses only to favored races in order to promote diversity?

Urban streets named for MLK still struggle

Urban streets named for MLK still struggle » The Commercial Appeal:
 "ST. LOUIS (AP) — A walk down the 6-mile city street named for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. yields plenty of images that would surely unsettle the civil rights leader: shuttered storefronts, open-air drug markets and a glut of pawn shops, quickie check-cashing providers and liquor stores.

The urban decay along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in St. Louis can be found in other major American cities, from Houston and Milwaukee to the nation's capital.

"It's a national problem," said Melvin White, a 46-year-old postal worker in St. Louis and founder of a 3-year-old nonprofit group that is trying to restore King's legacy on asphalt. "Dr. King would be turning over in his grave.""

Now we know!

His will be done. - Serrato

Leno to Bush: You Weren't Scared of Heart Surgery Because You Had Obamacare

We're losing the war on poverty because our schools turn boys into eunuchs

We're losing the war on poverty because our schools turn boys into eunuchs | WashingtonExaminer.com:

"Since 1960, the percentage of married Americans plunged from 72 percent to 51 percent, while the rate of unwed motherhood skyrocketed from 4 percent to 41 percent, causing 24 million boys to be raised in fatherless homes – ominous trends considering children of single mothers experience less economic mobility.

As the New York Times explained, the ensuing vicious cycle means less successful men “are less attractive as partners, so some women are choosing to raise children by themselves, in turn often producing sons who are less successful and attractive as partners.”"

Winter Olympics: The untold story

Tyree: Winter Olympics: The untold story | SummitDaily.com

Hundreds of millions of people will be following the 2014 Winter Olympics, even though the underwhelming motto — “Hot. Cool. Yours.” — sounds less like a paean to athletic excellence than the sort of progression that accompanies a court-ordered paternity suit.

Of course some people will be more keenly interested than others. According to Wikipedia, this 22nd Winter Olympics is on track to be the most expensive Olympics in history, with cost overruns more than quadrupling the original price tag. Perhaps the planners merely underestimated the cost of venues, transportation infrastructure and power supply infrastructure — but political opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin accuse him and his cronies of embezzling tens of billions of dollars.

An indignant Putin told reporters, “I will hold a televised speech to deny these scurrilous charges just as soon as Bill Gates gets through polishing my shoes.”

NBC, of course, has a lot at stake. The network hopes the Olympics will help launch Jimmy Fallon as the new “Tonight Show” host and boost their midseason series. Long-term, the network of “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago PD” hopes the Olympic momentum will catapult next fall’s “Chicago Lenin’s Tomb Guard” into the Nielsen ratings stratosphere.

Just a reminder......

Local leaders say phone number glitch is latest failure of health exchange website

Local leaders say phone number glitch is latest failure of health exchange website - baltimoresun.com: "Critics said Saturday that the latest problem to hit Maryland's online health exchange — an incorrect help-line number that directed hundreds of callers to a Seattle-based pottery business — was another symptom of the poorly operating website.

"You can't make this stuff up, and I guess if it wasn't so serious, it could be funny," said Senate Minority Leader David R. Brinkley, a Frederick County Republican."

7 Lies Liberals Tell Young Americans

7 Lies Liberals Tell Young Americans - John Hawkins - Page full:
"Saying that life is hard is kind of like saying the sun is hot, water is wet, or noting that politicians lie a lot.
It's so obvious that anyone who's paying attention already knows that it's true.
That being said, life's even harder when you're working under false assumptions that have been drilled into you by your teachers, college professors, Hollywood, and politicians in D.C.
Much of what liberalism drums into the young skulls full of mush simply isn't true and millions of lives have been ruined by people finding it out the hard way. 
The good news is that the truth is out there if you're willing to look for it and not accept the easy answers that make you feel good."

My democrat "friends" are auctioning off a visit to see "The One". Ain't that great.......

Friend --

We ask you to do a lot in an election year.

We'll ask you to pick up the phone and call your friends and neighbors, knock on doors to get out the vote, chip in to give our party and candidates some of the resources they need -- because we know that we can only be successful when each of us does our part.

So to say thanks -- in person -- for all that you do, we're flying one lucky supporter and their guest to D.C. for the evening of the State of the Union. If you pitch in $10 or more right now, it could be you!

History for January 20

History for January 20 - On-This-Day.com

Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday (US)

Happy Birthday! Buzz Aldrin

1885 - The roller coaster was patented by L.A. Thompson. 


1942 - Nazi officials held the Wannsee conference, during which they arrived at their "final solution" that called for exterminating Europe's Jews.

 

1981 - Iran released 52 Americans that had been held hostage for 444 days. The hostages were flown to Algeria and then to a U.S. base in Wiesbaden, West Germany. The release occurred minutes after the U.S. presidency had passed from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan. 


1986 - The U.S. observed the first federal holiday in honor of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.


1997 - Bill Clinton was inaugurated for his second term as president of the United States. 


1999 - The China News Service announced that the Chinese government was tightening restrictions on internet use. The rules were aimed at 'Internet Bars.' 

Cities assure us they want more visitors. Yet, they tax those who visit. Ah, the liberal mind......New credit card parking meters in Grand Rapids: Which kind do you prefer?

New credit card parking meters in Grand Rapids: Which kind do you prefer? | MLive.com:
""We have to make a decision at some point which way to go, if we decide to go in a manner where we take credit cards," said Kimberly Miller, parking system manager.
"We take credit cards now at meters by using Parkmobile and we have no capital investment for that.""

Interesting only as a perfect example of democrat public relations posing as un-biased news. Read it all-----Minimum wage hike, to more than $9, will be key election issue

Minimum wage hike, to more than $9, will be key election issue | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
LANSING — Raising Michigan’s $7.40-per-hour minimum wage is becoming a key rallying point in the upcoming elections — with many Democrats and organized labor in favor, while many Republicans and the state Chamber of Commerce oppose the effort.
It was the first policy platform announced by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer, who is calling for a boost in the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour.

Give the people the truth!----------------Candidates need better vetting

MARY KRAMER: Candidates need better vetting | Crain's Detroit Business:
"Last week, we saw a steady stream of bad-news items about Detroit councilman George Cushingberry Jr. Heck, the guy had barely gotten his president pro tem seat warm in City Hall.

It started with the now-famous traffic stop, but by week's end, reports included a temporary suspension of his law license for a past infraction, accusations by former clients of bad performance as an attorney and a personal bankruptcy filing.

Since most of the bad news actually occurred before the August 2013 primary, the question is: Where were the news media?"

This is a national disgrace-----Illinois home-care workers should not be forced into unions

George Will: Illinois home-care workers should not be forced into unions - The Washington Post:

"On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether the Illinois government’s policy of herding home-care workers into unions violates the workers’ First Amendment rights.
It does.
.....The state government gave the SEIU and a rival union the names and addresses of all the freshly minted government employees.Pam Harris, who is suing to get Illinois’s system declared unconstitutional, gets a modest stipend from Medicaid to support her care for her disabled son. 
She remembers a young SEIU employee coming to her door to say just sign the card “so my boss knows I spoke to you.” 
A majority of caregivers in one Illinois program chose the SEIU.

TaxProf Blog: The IRS Scandal, Day 255

TaxProf Blog: The IRS Scandal, Day 255:

From the Q&A session of Panel #3: Tax Reform in a Time of Crisis: Institutional Perspectives at Friday's  Pepperdine/Tax Analysts Symposium on Tax Reform in a Time of Crisis:

Question:  On a scale of 1-10, 1 being no damage and 10 being permanent long range damage, how much has the IRS and tax administration been damaged by the current IRS scandal?  (And I would append to that the question: was it a scandal?)

Donald Korb (Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell; former IRS Chief Counsel):  I think it is incredibly damaging.  Frankly, I see it as one of the seeds of the next tax shelter era. ... And in terms of scandal, I don't think we really know. We have not been permitted to understand exactly what happened. So, who knows.

NRA News Special Report From Ginny Simone | "The Wrong House

Tired of the same old, same old blab from RINOs and Democrooks?----Alan Jager running as independent for state representative against Lamonte, Hughes

Alan Jager running as independent for state representative against Lamonte, Hughes | MLive.com:
"Jager said he has a goal of eventually running for governor. In that vein, he had been planning the run for the House of Representatives for at least a year and had previously considered running against Holly Hughes in the Republican Primary.
His divergent opinions – for gay marriage, against the affordable health care act, for marijuana legalization, for gun rights – were ripe for a run as independent, though."

How is this any different from the Mafia?--------------Millions in farm subsidies flow freely to DC residents who don't actually farm

Millions in farm subsidies flow freely to DC residents who don't actually farm | WashingtonExaminer.com:
"Washington, D.C., doesn't have many farms, or farmers.
Yet thousands of residents in and around the nation's capital receive millions of dollars every year in federal farm subsidies, including working-class residents in Southeast, wealthy lobbyists on K Street and well-connected lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
In neighboring Chevy Chase, Md., one of the nation's wealthiest communities, lawyers, lobbyists and at least one psychologist collected nearly $342,000 in taxpayer farm subsidies between 2008 and 2011, according to the watchdog group Open the Books."

Sen. Feinstein defends Hillary from Benghazi report; Brit Hume destroys claim with one question

Sen. Feinstein defends Hillary from Benghazi report; Brit Hume destroys claim with one question | Twitchy

Isn't it sad that this photo and caption would be a thought today?

One small step for a man......Blogger gets same speech protections as traditional press: U.S. court

Blogger gets same speech protections as traditional press: U.S. court | Reuters:
"Blogger gets same speech protections as traditional press: U.S. court
(Reuters) - A blogger is entitled to the same free speech protections as a traditional journalist and cannot be liable for defamation unless she acted negligently, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday.
Crystal Cox lost a defamation trial in 2011 over a blog post she wrote accusing a bankruptcy trustee and Obsidian Finance Group of tax fraud.
A lower court judge had found that Obsidian did not have to prove that Cox acted negligently because Cox failed to submit evidence of her status as a journalist."

Energy security, more jobs, cheaper energy costs and B Hussein says "NO"?-------Canada Has Had Enough Of Obama's Keystone XL Pipeline Delays

Canada Has Had Enough Of Obama's Keystone XL Pipeline Delays - Investors.com:

Energy: President Obama continues to drag out a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. 
Meanwhile, the Canadians have been standing by while the administration dithers. 
Now they're tired of waiting.

'The time for Keystone is now," Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird said Thursday while speaking to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

Canada has reached the point where the uncertainty has become intolerable. 

Baird said Canada needs an answer right away, "even if it's not the right one," because his country "can't continue in this state of limbo."

....What is clear is that the Obama White House, which has rejected the pipeline once, is afraid to make a decision.

Obama: Danger of concussions in NFL ‘no longer a secret’

Obama: Danger of concussions in NFL ‘no longer a secret’ | TheHill:
"President Obama said that he believed NFL players “know what they’re doing” and understood the impact that concussions could have on their long-term health in an interview with The New Yorker published on Sunday, adding that he would not let his son play pro football."

Folks, this worked out "great" for the Germans in the 1930s-----Teachers 'instructed' to teach 'all right wing extremist groups' are fascist

Teachers 'instructed' to teach 'all right wing extremist groups' are fascist [VIDEO] | The Daily Caller
“For example, take the novel Mary Shelley’s Frankestein, which is a great classic, we all know it,” he told he Daily Caller in an exclusive interview. “Just because it’s part of our culture.”

“What they do is give you about three or four pages of Mary Shelley, not a selection from Frankenstein, but just writing about Frankenstein, and then you will have four or five of a modern author talking about frightening stories that she heard as a child that have no relation to Frankenstein.
..“Then on top of that, and this is in a leading text book they have five and a half pages, two more pages than the words you get from Mary Shelly, five and a half pages of a skit from Saturday Night Live on Frankenstein.”

In the skit, Moore explains, an actor makes a comment about Frankenstein having green skin.

That the skit is concluded by Frankenstein saying,

 “Oh, so this is a race thing? What are you guys? A bunch of fascists?”

Moore also details teaching standards and notes about what the teacher wants to do at that point in the class.

“In the margin of the teachers edition, the teacher is instructed to explain the term ‘fascist’ to the students and to point out that the term ‘fascist’ is now applied to all right-wing extremist groups.”

Obama Picks Soros Crony to Lead NSA Probe

Obama Picks Soros Crony to Lead NSA Probe | CNS News:
"When President Obama needs help, he can always turn to one of the Soros inner circle.
In a speech on Jan. 17, Obama announced that his new Presidential Counsel John Podesta will lead a "comprehensive review of Big Data and privacy," following the NSA privacy scandal that has dogged his administration.

What he didn't mention was that Podesta is the founder of the liberal Center for American Progress. CAP has gotten $7.3 million from liberal billionaire George Soros since 2000 and was one of the keystone liberal think tanks founded after the Democrats lost the 2004 election. "

America's major media=Hitler's major media

WaterCar Panther - Fastest Amphibious Car in the World - www.WaterCar.co...

13 House Democrats offer bill demanding government study on Internet hate speech

13 House Democrats offer bill demanding government study on Internet hate speech | TheHill:

Thirteen House Democrats have proposed legislation that would require the government to study hate speech on the Internet, mobile phones and television and radio.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and 12 other House Democrats, would look at how those media are used to "advocate and encourage violent acts and the commission of crimes of hate."

........"This legislation will mandate a comprehensive analysis of criminal and hateful activity on the Internet that occurs outside of the zone of the First Amendment protection."

Buck halts at $1.1 million bus ‘Super Stop’

Buck halts at $1.1 million bus ‘Super Stop’ « Watchdog.org:
"ARLINGTON, Va. — Arlington County dubs itself a “world-class” community.
Such hubris has led to a $1.1 million bus stop.
The so-called “Super Stop” was to be the first of 24 along the Columbia Pike corridor, but a torrent of bad publicity halted the $24 million program as local officials retrenched."

TalCual: Venezuelan Government Is Fresh Out of Toilet Paper

Latin American Herald Tribune - TalCual: Venezuelan Government Is Fresh Out of Toilet Paper:
TalCual: Venezuelan Government Is Fresh Out of Toilet Paper
The country is torn between the claws of a paradox. It is something inexplicable, in light of reason. If there is enough money to buy stuff, as much locally as abroad, why toilet paper, for example, as indispensable as food, has suddenly become nearly a luxury item? 

The country is torn between the claws of a paradox. It is literally being strangled by a flurry of petrodollars spilled all over it, which leads us to guess there is an abundant supply of goods and yet, at the same time, a significant shortage of food products in particular.

It is something inexplicable, in light of reason. 

If there is enough money to buy stuff, as much locally as abroad, why toilet paper, for example, as indispensable as food, has suddenly become nearly a luxury item? 
When travelling abroad, Venezuelans come back home fully loaded with packs of toilet paper. 

But the toilet paper shortage is not limited to that very particular sphere: The paper to make newspapers also seems it won’t last long in this country.

WeMOG Monday

CROSS-COUNTRY SKI

Ski Crystal Valley Ski Trails

Monday, January 20

1:00

Car Pool: 11:00, Russ's parking lot, Holton Road, southwest corner.

Pit Stop: 12:00, Pentwater Monroe Road Convenience Store/Gas Station.  

Buy lunch or bring your own.

Hit the Trails: 1:00, Crystal Valley Trailhead.

Cancellation by 8:00 a.m. if weather dictates.

WeMOG Sunday 1:00

Ski tomorrow at 1:00 pm. 

 Meet at Coast Guard Park off from N. Shore Dr. in Ferrysburg. 

Will ski in N. Ottawa Dunes

 Plan on skiing a couple of hours.

Hikers and snow shoers also welcome!

Will cancel via email by 10 am if weather really nasty!