History for April 20

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

Easter Sunday

Birth anniversaries of Lionel Hampton (1908-2002), Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) and Tito Puente, The King of the Mambo (1923-2000).

Happy Birthday! Felix Baumgartner, Jessica Lange, Ryan O’Neal,

1534 - Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, set sail from St. Malo to explore the North American coastline. 


1769 - Ottawa Chief Pontiac was murdered by an Illinois Indian in Cahokia. 











1792 - France declared war on Austria, Prussia, and Sardinia. It was the start of the French Revolutionary wars. 


1832 - Hot Springs National Park was established by an act of the U.S. Congress. It was the first national park in the U.S. 



1902 - Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium. 


1934 - The movie "Stand Up And Cheer" opened. It was Shirley Temple's debut. 


1942 - Pierre Laval, the premier of Vichy France, in a radio broadcast, establishes a policy of "true reconciliation with Germany." 






1961 - FM stereo broadcasting was approved by the FCC. 


1971 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools. 







1977 - Woody Allen's film "Annie Hall" premiered. 


1988 - The U.S. Air Forces' Stealth (B-2 bomber) was officially unveiled. 


1999 - 15th anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings at Littleton, CO.


2010 - An explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico resulted in the largest offshore oil spill in US history.

"Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war then let it begin here"

Timeline Photos - Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution:

""Stand your ground. 
Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war then let it begin here" ~ Captain John Parker 
239 years ago this morning On April 19, 1775. 
 The British Commander in Boston Thomas Gage dispatched an expedition of around 700 regulars under Colonel Francis Smith to search the town of Concord for hidden supplies and weapons.
Lexington lay directly on the road that Smith men's took to reach Concord........ "

Obama signs Ted Cruz bill into law, but says he won't enforce it | WashingtonExaminer.com

Obama signs Ted Cruz bill into law, but says he won't enforce it | WashingtonExaminer.com:
"President Obama on Friday signed into law a bill authored by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz that would bar an Iranian diplomat from entering the United States, but immediately issued a statement saying he won't enforce it.
Obama decided to treat the law as mere advice. "Acts of espionage and terrorism against the United States and our allies are unquestionably problems of the utmost gravity, and I share the Congress's concern that individuals who have engaged in such activity may use the cover of diplomacy to gain access to our Nation," Obama said in his signing statement."

Should airlines be allowed to advertise fares without including taxes and fees?

Should airlines be allowed to advertise fares without including taxes and fees? | L.A. Airspace

Are you familiar with the Transparent Airfares Act of 2014?

The proposed bill in Congress would allow airlines to go back to the practice of advertising their airfares without taxes. So a carrier could advertise a $99 fare online, but then customers would be hit with additional taxes. The actual ticket would cost a good deal more than the advertised price.

I’m no Washington, D.C. insider, so I can’t tell you if the bill, introduced by Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Penn.) has a chance of becoming law. I do know that Airlines 4 America, the trade group for major airlines, including American, Delta, Southwest and United, supports it.

On April 9, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to support the bill.

“We thank Chairman Shuster and Representative DeFazio (D, Ore.) for their leadership in promoting government transparency, protecting customers and holding Washington accountable for the taxes they impose on air travel,” “A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio said a statement after the committee moved the bill.

This would essentially move the industry back to where it was prior to 2012, when the DOT instigated a rule requiring airlines to include all taxes and fees in their advertised fare. The goal then was transparency.

Carney: Obama's Toughest Interview in 2012 Was With Comedian Jon Stewart | CNS News

Carney: Obama's Toughest Interview in 2012 Was With Comedian Jon Stewart | CNS News:
"A month before the 2012 presidential election, President Obama went on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" to reach the young voters he needed to win a second term. And according to White House press secretary Jay Carney, that was the "probably the toughest interview" Obama had in 2012."

Another leftist ambushed by left wing reality-------The Logical Conclusion Of Zero Tolerance: College Prof Suspended Because Daughter Wore A GoT Tshirt

The Logical Conclusion Of Zero Tolerance: College Prof Suspended Because Daughter Wore A GoT Tshirt | Techdirt:

A popular community college professor was suspended after posting a photo of his daughter wearing an oversized T-shirt bearing a tagline from this season of Game of Thrones—Daenerys Targaryen's "I will take what is mine with fire and blood." Francis Schmidt, who teaches art and animation at Bergen Community College in New Jersey, shared the photo on Google+, where it was seen by several of his work contacts. One of them, a dean, decided the shirt was a veiled threat of some kind.

In case you can't see the image, it's of Schmidt's daughter doing a handstand while wearing aGame of Thrones t-shirt that includes the tagline: "I will take what is mine with fire & blood." In case you think it's reasonable that such a picture being shared on social media could be interpreted as a threat to commit violence at a local community college, stop thinking that because that's a stupid thought. I imagine Schmidt said as much when he was called in to meet with the administration to explain why he'd sent a "threatening email", despite the fact that no email had been sent.

At the meeting, Schmidt explained the shirt in the context of Game of Thrones and showed Miller that the "fire and blood" tagline has 4 million results on Google. The professor asked why his photo had caused such a reaction, and was told that "fire" could be a metaphor for "AK-47s." Schmidt was placed on administrative leave without pay later that week, and told he would have to pass a psychiatric evaluation before he could return.

Now, like me, you should be even more confused. There's no way you could somehow interpret "fire" to mean "AK-47" any more than you could interpret "fire" to mean "Easter ham." They aren't related. And if you're thinking that there's so little sense being made here that there must be something more to this story, there sure as hell is. The head of the school's administration had just been delivered a vote of no confidence by the staff, including Schmidt, who had also filed a grievance recently for being denied a request for a sabbatical. You don't need to read between the lines much to understand that this is probably a trumped-up charge serving to punish a member of the teacher's union. 

Which brings us nicely back to my original point: it isn't just the stupid you have to worry about when it comes to zero-tolerance policies, it's also the corrupt. When we overreact to admittedly tragic occurrences, we almost invariably open up the possibility for abuse through that overreaction.

Bankrupt Illinois Proposes $100M to Fund Obama Presidential Library

Bankrupt Illinois Proposes $100M to Fund Obama Presidential Library | Truth Revolt

On Friday, an Illinois House Committee cleared a bill that would offer $100 million for the construction of the Barack Obama Presidential Library in Chicago.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel immediately labeled the proposal a brilliant one, stating, “This is the home where the president began his career in public life and also where his family calls home.”
Emanuel says that building the library would create economic development in the city.
There are six locations on the South Side of Chicago that have been targeted for the potential library home, and two universities also want the library.
......Historically, presidential libraries have been built with private funding, then kept open through public funding. 
They also lose money.

Deep-Six The CPI—It Measures Excuses For Money Printing, Not The Real Cost-Of-Living

Deep-Six The CPI—It Measures Excuses For Money Printing, Not The Real Cost-Of-Living | David Stockman's Contra Corner:
"Those claiming the weighting is accurate face a blizzard of legitimate questions.
For example, if healthcare is 18% of the U.S. GDP, i.e. 18 cents of every dollar goes to healthcare, then how can a mere 7% wedge of the CPI devoted to healthcare be remotely accurate? 
In my analysis, the debate over inflation is intrinsically flawed.
What really matters is not the overall rate of inflation, which can be endlessly debated, but the purchasing power of earned income, i.e. wages and the exposure to real-world costs."

What Common Core Proposes to Teach N.Y. Students on ‘Unintended Consequences of American Capitalism,’ ‘Fairness’ and the Progressive Era | TheBlaze.com

What Common Core Proposes to Teach N.Y. Students on ‘Unintended Consequences of American Capitalism,’ ‘Fairness’ and the Progressive Era | TheBlaze.com:
"The proposed k-8 standards for New York deal less with economics and more with history and government, including the founding, the Civil War, the progressive movement of the early 20th century and World Wars I and II, and state, “The purpose of government is to protect the rights of citizens and to promote the common good.”
“The United States is founded on the democratic principles of equality, fairness, and respect for authority and rules,” the proposed k-8 standards for New York says. “Students will explore democratic principles such as dignity for all, equality, fairness, and respect for authority and rules, and how those principles are applied to their community.”

The proposed k-8 standards go on to discuss the progressive movement."

Imagine the unimaginable: what if America never existed?

A Special Note From Dinesh D’Souza | Dinesh D'Souza

Teen charged with "hate crime", adults get a pass------Effort to whitewash Detroit beating suspect begins

Effort to whitewash Detroit beating suspect begins » News -- GOPUSA:
"A hate crime to me is burning a cross on somebody's lawn because of their race or color," lynching someone or painting swastikas on a synagogue, said Attorney Solomon Radner of Southfield following a brief court hearing today.
.....Four adults -- Bruce Wimbush Jr., Wonzey Saffold, James Davis and Latrez Cummings -- are charged with assault with intent to murder and assault with intent to do great bodily harm in the attack and are scheduled for their preliminary examinations on Monday."

Simply stated: Liar-in-chief------President Obama’s Bogus Voting Rights Claims

President Obama’s Bogus Voting Rights Claims:
"Last Friday, in a speech at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network conference, President Obama proudly announced that the Justice Department had taken on more than 100 voting rights cases since 2009.

The problem with that claim is that, since 2009, the Justice Department has taken on only 39 voting rights cases—and as former Voting Section lawyer Christian Adams points out, only 13 were related to protecting minority voting rights.
And, with respect to some of the cases in which the department has been involved, it lost spectacularly—such as its false claim that South Carolina’s voter ID law was discriminatory."
.....If the DOJ is going to ignore cases in which voter fraud is being openly admitted, their prosecution statistics will continue to lose any semblance of credibility.
Not surprisingly, the President ignored the hundreds of people that North Carolina just discovered to have voted twice in the 2012 election and the numerous other cases of voter fraud that have been successfully prosecuted over the past decade by state and local authorities. 
That wouldn’t fit his narrative either.
The President denounces voter fraud as myth, while ignoring documented cases of blatant voter fraud.

Earth Daze: Overcoming Environmental Hysteria

Earth Daze: Overcoming Environmental Hysteria - Reason.com:
"The recent hype about global warming comes from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Most of its members are serious scientists.
But reporters don't realize that those scientists, like bird flu specialists, have every incentive to hype the risk. 
If their computer models (which so far have been wrong) predict disaster, they get attention and money. 
If they say, "I'm not sure," they get nothing. 

 Also, the IPCC is not just a panel of scientists.
It's an intergovernmental panel.
It's a bureaucracy controlled by the sort of people who once ran for student council and are "exhilarated by the prospect of putting the thumb of the federal government on the scale." "

....."The amazing number that most people haven't heard is, if you take all the solar panels and all the wind turbines in the world," says Lomborg, "they have (eliminated) less CO2 than what U.S. fracking (cracking rocks below ground to extract oil and natural gas) managed to do." 

These 15 Grand Rapids Restaurants Will Blow Your Taste Buds Out Of Your Mouth

These 15 Grand Rapids Restaurants Will Blow Your Taste Buds Out Of Your Mouth - Movoto

17 Incredibly Creepy Easter Bunnies (easter, bunny, scary, creepy)

17 Incredibly Creepy Easter Bunnies (easter, bunny, scary, creepy) - ODDEE:

Harry Reid Goes Off: Clive Bundy Supporters are ‘Domestic Terrorists!’

Harry Reid Goes Off: Clive Bundy Supporters are ‘Domestic Terrorists!’:
"Sen. Reid declared on Thursday that the supporters of Cliven Bundy, the rancher who has been standing strong against the federal government, are nothing more than “domestic terrorists.”

Reid’s number one rule: When in doubt, call names.

Last year, Senator Reid stood on the Senate floor and labeled the Tea Party “anarchists” for our unwillingness to mindlessly accept government edicts and runaway spending."

Top 10 Reasons to Vote Democrat in 2014

Top 10 Reasons to Vote Democrat in 2014 | Allen B. West - AllenBWest.com:
"8. I’ll vote Democrat because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

"

Why Westernized Muslims Become 'Radicalized'

Articles: Why Westernized Muslims Become 'Radicalized':
"A new Danish statistical study finds that “Muslims [are] 218 percent more criminal in second generation than first.” 
While some of these crimes are clearly related to Islam – such as attackson Muslim apostates to Christianity – others, such as rampant theft against non-Muslims, would appear banal, until one realizes that even robbery and plunder are justified by Islamic doctrine– as one U.K. Muslim cleric onceclearly said.

The interesting question here is why second-generation Muslims, who are presumably more Westernized than their Muslim parents, are also more “radical.”
Lest one dismiss this phenomenon as a product of economics or some other “grievance” against European host nations, the fact is, even in America, where Muslims are much better assimilated than in Europe, young Muslims are turning to “radicalism.” "
....After all, the mainstream position evoked by most politicians maintains that all U.S. sacrifices in the Muslim world (Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) will pay off once Muslims discover how wonderful Western ways are, and happily slough off their “Islamist” veneer, which, as the theory goes, is a product of – you guessed it – a lack of democracy, liberty, prosperity, and freedom of expression.
.....Yet here are American and European Muslims, immersed in the bounties of the West, and still do they turn to violent jihad.
 Why think their counterparts, who are born and raised in the Muslim world, where Islam permeates every aspect of life, will respond differently?

History for April 19

History for April 19 - On-This-Day.com

Birth anniversary of legendary crimefighter Eliot Ness (1903-57).

Happy Birthday! Tim Curry, Hugh O’Brian, Maria Sharapova


1764 - The English Parliament banned the American colonies from printing paper money. 

1775 - The American Revolution began as fighting broke out at Lexington, MA. 


1892 - The Duryea gasoline buggy was introduced in the U.S. by Charles and Frank Duryea. 


1897 - The first annual Boston Marathon was held. It was the first of its type in the U.S. 


1927 - In China, Hankow communists declared war on Chaing Kai-shek. 


1933 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation that removed the U.S. from the gold standard. 

1938 - General Francisco Franco declared victory in the Spanish Civil War. 


1943 - The Warsaw Ghetto uprising against Nazi rule began. The Jews were able to fight off the Germans for 28 days. 


1951 - General Douglas MacArthur gave his "Old Soldiers" speech before the U.S. Congress. In the address General MacArthur said that "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." 



1989 - A gun turret exploded aboard the USS Iowa. 47 sailors were killed. 


1994 - A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to Rodney King for violation of his civil rights.
 




1995 - The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, was destroyed by a bomb. It was the worst bombing on U.S. territory. 168 people were killed including 19 children, and 500 were injured. Timothy McVeigh was found guilty of the bombing on June 2, 1997. 

WH Counterterror Chief: Parents Need to Watch for ‘Sudden Personality Changes in Their Children’ | CNS News

WH Counterterror Chief: Parents Need to Watch for ‘Sudden Personality Changes in Their Children’ | CNS News:

"White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Lisa Monaco said it could help prevent terrorism if parents watched for “sudden personality changes in their children at home.”
“President Obama has been laser-focused on making sure we use all the elements of our national power to protect Americans, including developing the first government-wide strategy to prevent violent extremism in the United States,” said Monaco"