History for July 28

History for July 28 - On-This-Day.com
Beatrix Potter 1866, Rudy Vallee 1901, Charles Hard Townes 1915


Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis 1929, Jim Davis 1945, Sally Struthers 1948


1866 - The metric system was legalized by the U.S. Congress for the standardization of weights and measures throughout the United States.


1868 - The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was declared in effect. The amendment guaranteed due process of law.


1914 - World War I officially began when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.


1945 - A U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York City's Empire State Building. 14 people were killed and 26 were injured.


1965 - U.S. President Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.


1982 - San Francisco, CA, became the first city in the U.S. to ban handguns.


1998 - Bell Atlantic and GTE announced $52 billion deal that created the second-largest phone company.


1998 - Monica Lewinsky received blanket immunity from prosecution to testify before a grand jury about her relationship with U.S. President Clinton.

Intelligence Agencies: North Korea Close To Having Missiles That Can Hit California | Daily Wire

Intelligence Agencies: North Korea Close To Having Missiles That Can Hit California | Daily Wire:

"For years, North Korea has been hard at work modernizing its military technology in order to threaten America and its allies. Now it appears that all that hard work is finally paying dividends. According to U.S. intelligence agencies with expert knowledge of the rogue regime’s missiles program, North Korea may be within one year of obtaining the ability to successfully launch a missile strike against the continental United States. "

The way we were-----Angels - My Boyfriend's Back

Feds Crack Trump Protesters' Phones To Charge Them With Felony Rioting - Slashdot

Feds Crack Trump Protesters' Phones To Charge Them With Felony Rioting - Slashdot: 
"...Officials seized Trump protesters' cell phones, cracked their passwords, and are now attempting to use the contents to convict them of conspiracy to riot at the presidential inauguration. 
Prosecutors have indicted over 200 people on felony riot charges for protests in Washington, D.C. on January 20 that broke windows and damaged vehicles. 
Some defendants face up to 75 years in prison, despite little evidence against them. 
But a new court filing reveals that investigators have been able to crack into at least eight defendants' locked cell phones. 
Now prosecutors want to use the internet history, communications, and pictures they extracted from the phones as evidence against the defendants in court..."

IT Aide Was Still on DWS's Payroll After Stealing Equipment - Cortney O'Brien

IT Aide Was Still on DWS's Payroll After Stealing Equipment - Cortney O'Brien
"Debbie Wasserman Schultz is at the center of a scandal in Washington this week after it was discovered her IT aide was stealing equipment. 
Imran Awan was accused of “serious, potentially illegal, violations on the House IT network.” 
For instance, he reportedly charged the House double the amount required for IT equipment and may have exposed House information online.

Awan was also charged with multiple counts of bank fraud after allegedly engaging in "a scheme to defraud a Congressional Federal Credit Union," according to Fox News.

He was caught at Virginia's Dulles International Airport trying to flee the country to Pakistan Monday night.

Awan’s crimes were discovered back in February and he had been banned from using the House computer network. 

Every congressional Democrat whom he worked for fired him after learning of the report. 

Everyone that is, except Wasserman Schultz, who did not let him go until this week. 

It was unclear which tasks he was still trusted with.

The Weston Democrat has not explained in detail why she continued to employ Awan until Tuesday when she fired him — after he was arrested on bank-fraud charges at Dulles International Airport in Virginia attempting to board a flight to Pakistan.

And she has not elaborated on what work Awan did for her after he lost access to the House computer network.

In a statement, Wasserman Schultz spokesman David Damron defensively said that her team had been given no evidence to suggest Awan had broken a law. 

As such, she was under the impression he had been the victim of religious profiling. 

"Upon learning of his arrest," however, Awan was promptly terminated.

"After details of the investigation were reviewed with us, my office was provided no evidence to indicate that laws had been broken, which over time, raised troubling concerns about due process, fair treatment, and potential ethical and religious profiling. Upon learning of his arrest, he was terminated."

This is all very dramatic news. 
Of course, you didn’t hear about it in the mainstream media. 
Unless you happened to be watching the 37 seconds of coverage CBS dedicated to it..."
Read on!

Breaking: Democratic IT aide Imran Awan arrested at Dulles while trying to flee the US – TheBlaze

Breaking: Democratic IT aide Imran Awan arrested at Dulles while trying to flee the US – TheBlaze:


"Pakistani-born Imran Awan, who was a longtime IT aide to former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was reportedly arrested at Washington, D.C.’s Dulles International Airport Monday night while trying to flee the country."

Here's what polls say about a transgender military ban

Here's what polls say about a transgender military ban:
"...Rasmussen surveyed 1,000 likely voters on the topic in late June, almost exactly one year after then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the shift last summer.
"The U.S. Department of Defense now allows transgender people, those who identify with and want to live as the opposite sex, to serve openly in the military," the survey said.
"Is this decision good for the military, bad for the military or does it have no impact?"
Only 23 percent of people surveyed responded that it was good, while 31 percent said it was bad. The largest bloc of respondents, 38 percent, said it has no impact.
As the Washington Examiner reported earlier today, a Military Times poll conducted last December found 41 percent of active-duty troops believed the policy hurt military readiness, while only 12 percent said it helped..."
Read on!

Must read of the YEAR!!-----Why Illinois Is In Trouble - 63,000 Public Employees With $100,000+ Salaries Cost Taxpayers $10B

Why Illinois Is In Trouble - 63,000 Public Employees With $100,000+ Salaries Cost Taxpayers $10B

OpenTheBooks.com

The 'Big Dogs' of local government in Illinois.

Illinois is broke and continues to flirt with junk bond status. But the state’s financial woes aren’t stopping 63,000 government employees from bringing home six-figure salaries and higher.

Whenever we open the books, Illinois is consistently one of the worst offenders. Recently, we found auto pound supervisors in Chicago making $144,453; nurses at state corrections earning up to $254,781; junior college presidents making $465,420; university doctors earning $1.6 million; and 84 small-town “managers” out-earning every U.S. governor.

Using our interactive mapping tool, quickly review (by ZIP code) the 63,000 Illinois public employees who earn more than $100,000 and cost taxpayers $10 billion. Just click a pin and scroll down to see the results rendered in the chart beneath the map.

Here are a few examples of what you’ll uncover:

• 20,295 teachers and school administrators – including superintendents Joyce Carmine ($398,229) at Park Forest School District 63, Troy Paraday ($384,138) at Calumet City School District 155, and Jon Nebor ($377,409) at Indian Springs School District 109. Four of the top five salaries are in the south suburbs – not the affluent north shore.
• 10,676 rank-and-file workers and managers in Chicago – including $216,200 for embattled Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) and $400,000 for Ginger Evans, Commissioner of Aviation – including a $100,000 bonus. Timothy Walter, a deputy police chief, made $240,917 – that’s $146,860 in overtime on top of his $94,056 base salary. Ramona Perkins, a police communications operator, pulled down $121,318 in overtime while making $196,726!
• 9,567 college and university employees – including the southern Illinois junior college power couple Dale Chapman ($465,420) and Linda Terrill Chapman ($217,290). The pair combined for a $682,000 income at Lewis and Clark Community College. Fady Toufic Charbel ($1.58 million) and Konstantin Slavin ($1.04 million) are million-dollar doctors at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
• 8,640 State of Illinois employees – including $258,070 for Marian Frances Cook, a “contractual worker” at the newly created Dept. of Innovation and Technology. Further, there are the “barber” and “teacher of barbering” positions in the state prisons making $100,000+. Loreatha Coleman made $254,781 as a nurse at the Dept. of Corrections.
• 8,817 small town city and village employees – including 84 municipal managers out-earning every U.S. governor at $180,000. These managers include Lawrence Hileman (Glenview – $297,988); Michael Ellis (Grayslake – $264,486); Robert Kiely (Lake Forest – $255,247); Kevin Bowens (Libertyville – $254,428); and Richard Nahrstadt (Northbrook – $250,248).

In total, there is roughly $12 billion in cash compensation flowing to six-figure government workers when counting the 9,031 federal employees based in Illinois.

So, who are the biggest culprits in conferring six-figure salaries? We ranked the top 15 largest public pay and pension systems in Illinois:

OpenTheBooks.com

Illinois’ largest pay and pension systems conferring $100,000+ cash compensation

Corruption in Chicago

Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago now pays out more six-figure incomes than the state government. We found city truck drivers, tree trimmers, and street light repair workers earned six-figures. But, really, the problem is the overtime. Last year, the city paid out $283 million in overtime to 1,000 employees who pocketed more than $40,000 apiece.

OpenTheBooks.com

Chicago paid out $283 million in overtime (2016) - here are the top 10 city departments.

Taxpayer-Expensive Educators

Some of Illinois’ K-12 schools are spiking salaries and padding pensions. Data reveals nearly 30,000 teachers and administrators earned $100,000+ incomes. However, just 20,295 of those educators are currently employed; the other 9,305 are retired, resting on six-figure pensions.

Here’s how it breaks down in two of 900 school districts. Just 1,236 of the 2,147 educators with $100,000+ incomes are currently working.

• In Township High School District 214, there were 500 retirees receiving six-figure annual pensions in addition to 640 working educators.
• In Palatine Township High School 211, while 596 educators earned a six-figure salary, 491 retirees received six-figure lifetime pensions.

Private associations, nonprofits, and retired lawmakers

All kinds of entities are jumping on the gravy train. Private associations, nonprofit organizations and former lawmakers have gamed the system for personal gain. All of this is legal, although it shouldn’t be:

• Former state representative Roger Eddy (R) currently makes $334,433 – that’s $303,953 as Executive Director of Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) and $30,500 from his lawmaker’s pension. Eddy is double dipping for a second government pension, and his employer (IASB) – a private nonprofit – is further burdening an underfunded Teacher’s Retirement System.
• Two of the highest earners within the municipal pension system work for private associations – not government. Brett Davis, Executive Director of Park District Risk Management Agency, makes $319,404, while Peter Murphy, Executive Director of Illinois Park District Association, brings in $309,972. These private nonprofits muscled their way into the government system and their huge salaries will mean lavish taxpayer-guaranteed pensions.
• Former Gov. Jim Edgar (R) took $2.38 million in compensation from the University of Illinois (2000-2013) and has received at least $2 million in pension payments earned from his 20-year career as legislator, secretary of state and governor. Today, Edgar receives $241,272 ($20,106 per month) per year from two pension systems: the General Assembly Retirement System ($161,016) and the State University Retirement System ($80,256).

Highly Compensated Locals

County bosses are getting in on the action. In three of the 102 counties – DuPage (201), Lake (237) and Will (190) – 628 employees earned $100,000+. Lake won top honors with 237 six-figure employees. In DuPage, Tom Cuculich, the “Chief of Staff” to DuPage Board Chair Dan Cronin (R), made $201,750.

Even “water district” employees are tapping into the taxpayer largess with 1,432 employees making $100,000+. Across Illinois, 348 highly compensated “park district” employees make over $100,000.

Illinois, like many states, is in serious trouble. Policymakers are exploring desperate measures. Two weeks ago, ten Republicans voted with Democrats to override Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto of a permanent 32-percent income tax hike. Without reforms the tax hike will only feed a culture of waste and abuse.

Rauner was right to veto the income tax hike but he hasn’t shown serious resolve to curtail spending. In fact, he created a personal assistant position for his wife – who has no official state duties – for $100,000 a year at taxpayer expense.

But, hey folks, it’s Illinois!

Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) is the Founder and CEO of OpenTheBooks.com – a national transparency organization with a database of 4 billion federal, state and local expenditures.

When referencing this piece, please use the following citation: 'Adam Andrzejewski, CEO of OpenTheBooks.com, as published at Forbes.'