History for March 16

History for March 16 - On-This-Day.com

Freedom of Information Day

Birth anniversary of James Madison, fourth president of the United States (1751-1836).

225th birth anniversary of physicist Georg Simon Ohm (1789-1854).

In 1957, the “Gumby Show” premiered on TV.

Happy Birthday!  Erik Estrada, Jerry Lewis, Chuck Woolery

1521 - Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan reached the Philippines. He was killed the next month by natives. 


1802 - The U.S. Congress established the West Point Military Academy in New York. 


1917 - Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicated his throne. 


1926 - Physicist Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fuel rocket. 


1935 - Adolf Hitler ordered a German rearmament and violated the Versailles Treaty. 


1939 - Germany occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia. 


1950 - Congress voted to remove federal taxes on oleomargarine. 


1964 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson submitted a $1 billion war on poverty program to Congress. 


1978 - Italian politician Aldo Moro was kidnapped by left-wing urban guerrillas. Moro was later murdered by the group. 


1989 - The Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee approved large-scale agricultural reforms and elected the party's 100 members to the Congress of People's Deputies. 


1993 - In France, ostrich meat was officially declared fit for human consumption. 


1994 - Tonya Harding pled guilty in Portland, OR, to conspiracy to hinder prosecution for covering up the attack on her skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. She was fined $100,000. She was also banned from amateur figure skating. 


1998 - Rwanda began mass trials for 1994 genocide with 125,000 suspects for 500,000 murders. 


1999 - The 20 members of the European Union's European Commission announced their resignations amid allegations of corruption and financial mismanagement.

What Facebook Founder Did After Learning the Gov’t Was Using His Site to Track People | TheBlaze.com

What Facebook Founder Did After Learning the Gov’t Was Using His Site to Track People | TheBlaze.com:

"When most of us are unhappy about government policies — say, for instance, National Security Agency information-gathering techniques — the most we can (legally) do is educate ourselves, maybe complain a little, and wait for the next election cycle.

But apparently Mark Zuckerberg can do a little more. He called the president directly."

You’ll Likely Be Offended at Who Bill Maher Just Called a ‘Psychotic Mass Murderer’ | Video | TheBlaze.com

You’ll Likely Be Offended at Who Bill Maher Just Called a ‘Psychotic Mass Murderer’ | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Late night comedian Bill Maher expressed disbelief Friday that 60 percent of Americans are “stupid” enough to believe the tale of Noah’s ark is literally true and questioned why individuals worship God, who he described as a “psychotic mass murderer.”

“Isn’t life hard enough without making s*** up out of thin air to f*** with yourself?” he asked.

Maher — who is atheist and produced an anti-religion film years ago — said he believes that the tale of Noah’s ark is not only false, but also “immoral.”

“It’s about a psychotic mass murderer who gets away with it and his name is God.”"

Ukraine says Russian forces move outside Crimea

Ukraine says Russian forces move outside Crimea - Yahoo News:

"SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces backed by helicopter gunships and armored vehicles Saturday took control of a village near the border with Crimea on the eve of a referendum on whether the region should seek annexation by Moscow, Ukrainian officials said.

The action in Strilkove appeared to be the first move outside Crimea, where Russian forces have been in effective control since late last month."

‘I’m Not Lying’: Cancer Patient Hits Back at Critics Who Question Her Facts Against Obamacare | Video | TheBlaze.com

‘I’m Not Lying’: Cancer Patient Hits Back at Critics Who Question Her Facts Against Obamacare | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"As for Boonstra, who called out these congressmen in her piece, she wrote that she “never asked for this. Obamacare has turned my life into a nightmare.

“That’s why I’m speaking out for the 225,000 Michiganians who also lost their insurance plans thanks to Obamacare. Like them, I want a plan that works for me,” she continued. “Instead, Obamacare has denied me my choice of coverage, President Barack Obama has betrayed my trust, Harry Reid called me a liar, and Gary Peters has tried to silence me.”"

Venezuela warns airlines not to cut flights amid debt woes

Venezuela warns airlines not to cut flights amid debt woes - Yahoo News:
"CARACAS (Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro on Friday warned airlines not to limit flights in and out of Venezuela, a day after reports a Colombian airline was reducing services to Caracas amid industry complaints of billions of dollars in unpaid debts.
"Airlines have no excuse to reduce their flights to Venezuela," Maduro said during a press conference.
"If airlines reduce (flights), I will take severe measures.""

U.S. Preps for Russian Retaliation

U.S. Preps for Russian Retaliation - Yahoo News:

As Russian tanks amass on the Ukrainian border and John Kerry travels for a last-ditch meeting with his Russian counterpart, signs are increasing that Washington and Moscow are preparing for a series of punitive and retaliatory measures following a planned referendum in Crimea on Sunday.

President Obama and his team have repeatedly and loudly warned Vladimir Putin that unless Russia deescalates the current crisis, the U.S. in conjunction with its European partners will begin to increase the “costs” for the Russian government and business community, through a series of sanctions and other tactics. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the Obama administration is preparing for the blowback that will sure come when Russia retaliates.

“Of course we are looking at the possibility of retaliation,” one administration official told The Daily Beast. “We’re looking at all areas of cooperation we have with the Russians.

"I don't want to go into all of the detail, except to say this: It can get ugly fast [if] the wrong choices are made," Kerry noted in Congressional testimony this week. "And it can get ugly in multiple directions."

Another disgusting lie from the liberal media-----------WHAT THE KITTY GENOVESE STORY REALLY MEANS

Instapundit » Blog Archive » WHAT THE KITTY GENOVESE STORY REALLY MEANS: If crimes don’t involve anyone powerful or well kno…:

WHAT THE KITTY GENOVESE STORY REALLY MEANS:

If crimes don’t involve anyone powerful or well known, they generally aren’t considered news. But a few such crimes do become news, big news, and hold the public’s imagination in a tight, enduring grip.

An excellent example is the murder of Kitty Genovese, a twenty-eight-year-old bar manager, by Winston Moseley, a twenty-nine-year-old computer punch-card operator, just after three in the morning on Friday, March 13, 1964, in Kew Gardens, Queens. The fact that this crime, one of six hundred and thirty-six murders in New York City that year, became an American obsession—condemned by mayors and Presidents, puzzled over by academics and theologians, studied in freshman psychology courses, re-created in dozens of research experiments, even used four decades later to justify the Iraq war—can be attributed to the influence of one man, A. M. Rosenthal, of the New York Times. . . .

It’s evidence of a kind of editorial genius that Rosenthal, by playing the story in the way that he did, was able to get such a reaction. The tabloids had treated it simply as a sensational tale of urban violence. The Times made sure that its apathetic-witness angle would land by prominently displaying the story on its front page. The murder now stood for a profoundly disturbing sociological trend. The key line in Gansberg’s story came from one of the witnesses (none of whom were named), who said, “I didn’t want to get involved.” . . .

It’s now clear that this version of events is wrong, thanks to a number of Genovese revisionists who have emerged over the years. They include Jim Rasenberger, a journalist who has written a couple of influential articles about the case, notably one in the Times, in 2004; and Rachel Manning, Mark Levine, and Alan Collins, the authors of a 2007 article in American Psychologist (which quotes from, and debunks, the textbook rendering). The essential facts are these. Winston Moseley had been out in his car, looking for a victim, when he came across Genovese driving home from work. He followed her. She parked at the Kew Gardens train station, adjacent to her apartment. Moseley parked, too, and attacked her with a hunting knife. She screamed, and a man named Robert Mozer opened his window and shouted, “Leave that girl alone!” Moseley ran away. Genovese, wounded but not mortally, staggered to the back of her apartment building and went inside a vestibule. Moseley returned, found her, and attacked again, stabbing her and assaulting her sexually. He fled again before she died.

The Times story was inaccurate in a number of significant ways. There were two attacks, not three. Only a handful of people saw the first clearly and only one saw the second, because it took place indoors, within the vestibule. The reason there were two attacks was that Robert Mozer, far from being a “silent witness,” yelled at Moseley when he heard Genovese’s screams and drove him away. Two people called the police. When the ambulance arrived at the scene—precisely because neighbors had called for help—Genovese, still alive, lay in the arms of a neighbor named Sophia Farrar, who had courageously left her apartment to go to the crime scene, even though she had no way of knowing that the murderer had fled.

Insider Timesman lunches with police bigshot, publishes version of story that lets police off the hook, does incalculable damage to national psyche. All in a day’s work. . . .

New Dire Warnings on Russia: The Move That Could Lead to ‘Catastrophe’

New Dire Warnings on Russia: The Move That Could Lead to ‘Catastrophe’ | TheBlaze.com:

"But threats from the West to sanction the financial assets of Russian oligarchs may not be as effective a tool as some analysts may have suggested, Wilson said.

“Make no doubt that the Kremlin holds all the power in the country now, not the oligarchs — even though the oligarchs have the money — there’s a very important quid-pro-quo between the oligarch’s and Kremlin.
Putin basically said, I’ll let you keep your money and return you never delve in politics and if you do I’ll take your money away and put you in jail,” he explained.
“Russians view Obama as extremely weak. 
They didn’t like [George W.] Bush but they respected him, they knew he would use force … they have no respect for Obama and they view him as an extremely weak leader, almost laughable.”
Therefore, any sanctions on Russia need to deal a severe blow to Putin."

The socialists/progressives/government unionists will destroy all hope for job seekers in order to keep their power-----Raise Minimum Wage, Kill Jobs

Raise Minimum Wage, Kill Jobs | Cato @ Liberty:

"During his State of the Union address, President Obama announced that he intended to raise minimum wages to $10.10/hour for certain workers.

Based on data from EU countries, it is clear that minimum wage laws kill jobs.

I concluded that hiking the minimum wage will kill jobs in the U.S., too. Executives surveyed in the Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey agree.

 Chief Financial Officers from around the world were interviewed and the majority of them concurred: a minimum wage increase from $7.25/hour to $10.10/hour would kill a significant number of jobs."

And they're hiding the true cost, too---------Did You Know Your Friendly Public Servant Probably Out Earns You?

Did You Know Your Friendly Public Servant Probably Out Earns You?:
"It used to be that public wages were dramatically less than those in the private sector. 
Their relative permanence and insulation from the rigors of the marketplace were thought to be sufficient compensation to offset the financial difference. 
Clearly, that has turned upside down. 
While still maintaining their employment-security aspects, these jobs now earn significantly more.
As roughly 1 out of 8 working Americans have jobs in the government, this is a very big deal.
So, next time you’re in an argument about government spending, it may not just simply be a philosophical or policy difference.
There’s a 1 in 8 chance their real agenda is just making sure your money keeps flowing into their pocket."

Goodyear's first new blimp design in 45 years... isn't actually a blimp

Goodyear's first new blimp design in 45 years... isn't actually a blimp:

 "The new aircraft, which set the company back $20 million, is 52 feet longer and 20mph faster (at 246 feet long with a max speed of 73mph) than Goodyear's current ones.

It's the first of three zeppelins the company plans to build, and it's slated to begin its test flights sometime this month from Wingfoot Lake Hangar in Ohio.

Wondering how it feels to fly on a dirigible?

We hope you're good at naming things, then, because Goodyear's taking suggestions for the airship's name. The winner will get exclusive use of the zeppelin -- and its bathroom with a window! -- for a day."

Remember That Food Stamp ‘Beach Bum’? Sean Hannity Offered to Help Him Find a Job. This Is How He Responded. | Video | TheBlaze.com

Remember That Food Stamp ‘Beach Bum’? Sean Hannity Offered to Help Him Find a Job. This Is How He Responded. | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Greenslate went on Fox News Thursday and said he hasn’t worked in a year because he believes practicing with his band is his real job.

Fox host Sean Hannity noted that Greenslate’s lifestyle, which also includes a Cadillac Escalade and strip clubs, is all done on someone else’s dime.

Hannity asked the surfer where he thinks the money comes from to pay for his food stamps and health care.

“Government; taxes; us; the people,” Greenslate said.

“Not you, because you’re not paying taxes,” the host responded.

Hannity noted that Californians are taxed at an enormous rate, nearly 60 cents of every dollar going toward the government, adding that Greenslate doesn’t seem to be very grateful for his subsidized lifestyle."

History for March 15

History for March 15 - On-This-Day.com
44 BC - Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by high ranking Roman Senators. The day is known as the "Ides of March." 


1781 - During the American Revolution, the Battle of Guilford Courthouse took place in North Carolina. British General Cornwallis' 1,900 soldiers defeated an American force of 4,400. 


1892 - New York State unveiled the new automatic ballot voting machine. 


1892 - Jesse W. Reno patented the Reno Inclined Elevator. It was the first escalator. 


1916 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sent 12,000 troops, under General Pershing, over the border of Mexico to pursue bandit Pancho Villa. The mission failed. 


1917 - Russian Czar Nicholas II abdicated himself and his son. His brother Grand Duke succeeded as czar. 


1935 - Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda banned four Berlin newspapers.
 

1937 - In Chicago, IL, the first blood bank to preserve blood for transfusion by refrigeration was established at the Cook County Hospital. 


1938 - Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia. 

1956 - The musical "My Fair Lady" opened on Broadway. 


1979 - Pope John Paul II published his first encyclical "Redemptor Hominis." In the work he warned of the growing gap between the rich and poor. 


1998 - CBS' "60 Minutes" aired an interview with former White House employee Kathleen Willey. Wiley said U.S. President Clinton made unwelcome sexual advances toward her in the Oval Office in 1993. 

2002 - In the U.S., Burger King began selling a veggie burger. The event was billed as the first veggie burger to be sold nationally by a fast food chain. 

Benghazi bombshell! Al-Qaida vowed to kill ambassador

Benghazi bombshell! Al-Qaida vowed to kill ambassador:

"Months before the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, the U.S. State Department had at least three detailed intelligence reports warning of al-Qaida’s build-up in Benghazi and quoting a militant leader who vowed to kill the U.S. ambassador, according to a new book chronicling the heroism of Navy SEALs.

American diplomats in Benghazi made even more urgent pleas for beefed up security than previously thought, and officials also refused to consider at least five military scenarios that could have saved the lives of two Americans in the terrorist attacks.

In “Eyes on Target: Inside Stories from the Brotherhood of the U.S. Navy SEALs,” authors Richard Miniter and Scott McEwen point to newly discovered government reports showing Ambassador Chris Stevens and his colleagues desperately requesting additional security and better personnel than the suspect Libyans already on the job. Those intelligence reports came in addition to multiple requests for additional security."

NY High School Orders Sophomore to Take Off His Smith & Wesson Sweatshirt – They Were Just as Upset to See the T-Shirt Underneath | Video | TheBlaze.com

NY High School Orders Sophomore to Take Off His Smith & Wesson Sweatshirt – They Were Just as Upset to See the T-Shirt Underneath | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Teachers at Grand Island High School — just a couple of miles east of the Canadian border in western New York state — getting miffed at his “Protected by Smith and Wesson” sweatshirt.

“They’ve yelled at me for wearing it before because it has a gun on it and I had to duct tape it,” Kinney told WBEN-AM in Buffalo, N.Y.

But when Kinney said he removed his sweatshirt, things escalated just a tad.

Because underneath the sophomore was wearing a National Rifle Association T-shirt emblazoned with the phrases “2nd AMENDMENT Shall not be Infringed” and “Live Free or Die” and the pair of rifles crossed over each other."

$3 Billion for Ukraine to Go Straight to…Russia | Video | TheBlaze.com

$3 Billion for Ukraine to Go Straight to…Russia | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"That first installment was $3 billion—in U.S. dollars, as dictated by the terms of the deal—issued on Dec. 24. It carries a lenient interest rate considering the shattered state of Ukraine’s economy: a coupon of only 5 percent, payable semiannually on June 20 and Dec. 20. It is short-term debt, maturing on Dec. 20, 2015.

Startlingly, the notes are governed by U.K. law and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of British courts. And most crucially, there is an odd and crucial clause in the bonds that has a direct impact on European and American taxpayers, as CNBC learned through a review of the bond agreement:


—Paragraph 3 (b) under Covenants:

(b) Debt Ratio
So long as the Notes remain outstanding the Issuer shall ensure that the volume of the total state debt and state guaranteed debt should not at any time exceed an amount equal to 60 percent of the annual nominal gross domestic product of Ukraine."

‘How Does Going From Being a Senator to a President Rewrite the Constitution?’: Trey Gowdy Explodes on Obama in Stirring Floor Speech | Video | TheBlaze.com

‘How Does Going From Being a Senator to a President Rewrite the Constitution?’: Trey Gowdy Explodes on Obama in Stirring Floor Speech | Video | TheBlaze.com:

“How does going from being a senator to a president rewrite the Constitution?” Gowdy asked. “What’s different from when he was a senator? Mr. Speaker, I don’t think there’s an amendment to the Constitution that I’ve missed. I try to keep up with those with regularity.”

Gowdy went on to argue that “process matters” in law enforcement, noting that evidence gathered with a legitimate search warrant is thrown out if an officer so much as accidentally checks the wrong box on the application.

“Even though he was well-intended, even though he had good motivations, even though he got the evidence — because process matters,” he added.

“We all swore an allegiance to the same document that the president swears allegiance to, to faithfully execute the law,” Gowdy continued. “If a president does not faithfully execute the law… what are our remedies?”"

How Irked Is the White House About a Senator’s Allegation of a Constitutional Violation? | TheBlaze.com

How Irked Is the White House About a Senator’s Allegation of a Constitutional Violation? | TheBlaze.com:
 "But White House press secretary Jay Carney was hesitant to answer even if President Barack Obama was troubled by the allegation.

“I’m not characterizing his point of view on a matter under investigation,” Carney said.

Feinstein said on the Senate floor that she had “grave concerns that the CIA’s search may well have violated the separation of powers principles embodied in the U.S. Constitution.”

Feinstein said the CIA searched the Senate Intelligence Committee’s computer network in January and said she has not received any answers to letters she sent the CIA on Jan. 17 and Jan. 23."

History for March 14

History for March 14 - On-This-Day.com

1794 - Eli Whitney received a patent for his cotton gin. 


1891 - The submarine Monarch laid telephone cable along the bottom of the English Channel to prepare for the first telephone links across the Channel. 


1900 - U.S. currency went on the gold standard with the ratification of the Gold Standard Act. 

1905 - The British House of Commons cited a need to compete with Germany in naval strength. 


1914 - Henry Ford announced the new continuous motion method to assemble cars. The process decreased the time to make a car from 12½ hours to 93 minutes. 


1923 - President Harding became the first U.S. President to file an income tax report. 


1932 - George Eastman, the founder of the Kodak company, committed suicide. 


1936 - Adolf Hitler told a crowd of 300,000 that Germany's only judge is God and itself. 


1954 - The Viet Minh launched an assault on Dien Bien Phu in Viet Nam. 


1958 - The U.S. government suspended arms shipments to the Batista government of Cuba. 

1964 - A Dallas jury found Jack Ruby guilty of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald. 


1989 - Imported assault guns were banned in the U.S. under President George H.W. Bush. 


1996 - U.S. President Bill Clinton committed $100 million for an anti-terrorism pact with Israel to track down and root out Islamic militants. 

Pastor Finds the Courage to Confess Past Sin to His Flock – Then Drops Dead | TheBlaze.com

Pastor Finds the Courage to Confess Past Sin to His Flock – Then Drops Dead | TheBlaze.com:

A Connecticut pastor asked parishioners to stick around after last Sunday’s service so he could confess his past infidelity and seek forgiveness. Moments after his confession, he reportedly fell over and suffered a suspected fatal heart attack.

Judy Stovall, a parishioner who was in attendance on Sunday, told the Connecticut Post that Bishop Bobby Davis wanted to finally come clean. Davis is the pastor and founder of the Miracle Faith World Outreach Church in Bridgeport, Conn.

“We were shouting, ‘We forgive you, we love you,’ but the stress of all of it — he had a heart attack,” Stovall recalled. “I held his head as he lay on the floor … Our congregation is hurting now.

Valerie Harper's Star Shines While Battling Incurable Lung Cancer - AARP

Valerie Harper's Star Shines While Battling Incurable Lung Cancer - AARP: "Valerie Harper: Fearless, Funny and Footloose"

Battling incurable lung cancer, the celebrated TV star proves, with grace and humor, that each day is worth living to the fullest

Valerie Harper is sitting on a rose-colored sofa in the living room of her Spanish-style Santa Monica home, her life reflected in the things that surround her. On one wall hangs a modern, colorful painting of her TV alter ego, Rhoda Morgenstern, in trademark '70s head scarf, and there are photos on every shelf of her husband, daughter and five stepchildren. A dining table is piled high with letters and gifts from admirers — flowers, a prayer shawl, a set of rosary beads

Kirk, Local Pols Oppose Plan To Separate Waterways From Lake Michigan « CBS Chicago

Kirk, Local Pols Oppose Plan To Separate Waterways From Lake Michigan « CBS Chicago:

(CBS) — An Army Corps of Engineers report has a U.S. Senators, local mayors and waterway industry representatives speaking out against one of its solutions to stop the spread of Asian Carp.

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk says to fight the spread of Asian carp by isolating Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River would cost Chicago more than $4 billion over the next 20 years.

He is against it, and so is Romeoville Mayor John Noak and Westchester Mayor Sam Pulia.

“From our perspective, the impact of separation has so much negative impact on the potential economic impact activity that exists today and the future,” said Noak.

“If this separation is going to cause any, at all, increased flooding situations for any municipality I am here to stand up and say I think it is a bad idea,” said Pulia.

Del Wilkins with canal barge says separating Lake Michigan could hurt barge traffic, so more research is needed.

“What has to happen is more time needs to be given to be able to understand the true impacts,” said Wilkins.