History for May 11

History for May 11 - On-This-Day.com

Mother’s Day

Birth anniversary of Irving Berlin (1888-1989).

Birth anniversaries of Salvador Dali (1904-1989), Martha Graham (1894-1991) and Natasha Richardson (1963-2009).

Birth anniversary of conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker (1811-74).

Happy Birthday! Louis Farrakhan, Robert Jarvik, Mort Sahl

1647 - Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor. 


1910 - Glacier National Park in Montana was established. 



1947 - The creation of the tubeless tire was announced by the B.F. Goodrich Company. 


1949 - Siam changed its name to Thailand. 


1960 - Israeli soldiers captured Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires. 


1967 - The siege of Khe Sanh ended. 


1969 - the Battle of Hamburger Hill began at Dong Ap Bia Mountain in Vietnam.


1996 - An Atlanta-bound ValuJet DC-9 caught fire shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Florida Everglades. All 110 people on board were killed. 


1997 - Garry Kasparov, world chess champion, lost his first ever multi-game match. He lost to IBM's chess computer Deep Blue. It was the first time a computer had beaten a world-champion player. 


1998 - A French mint produced the first coins of Europe's single currency. The coin is known as the euro. 

Look How Many Democrats Approved Expanded Funding for Charter Schools | TheBlaze.com

Look How Many Democrats Approved Expanded Funding for Charter Schools | TheBlaze.com:
"The House on Friday easily approved a bill that would allow federal grant funding to be used to boost the performance of existing, high-quality charter schools.
Members passed the Success and Opportunity through Quality Schools Act in a 360-45 vote — it was opposed by just 34 Democrats, while 157 Democrats supported the measure."

Bold 14-Year-Old Girl Confronts School Board After Watching Her Dad Get Arrested for Violating Two-Minute Rule: ‘I Don’t Trust You’ | Video | TheBlaze.com

Bold 14-Year-Old Girl Confronts School Board After Watching Her Dad Get Arrested for Violating Two-Minute Rule: ‘I Don’t Trust You’ | Video | TheBlaze.com:
"Marina Baer watched her father get dragged away by a police officer after he violated the two-minute rule at a school board meeting in Gilford, New Hampshire. The dad, William Baer, was speaking out against the sexually graphic content found in a book assigned to his young daughter.
Earlier this week, 14-year-old Marina confronted the school board over the incident, telling members: “I honestly don’t feel safe around you people.”"

Four Pinocchios for Obama’s claim that Republicans have ‘filibustered about 500 pieces of legislation’

Four Pinocchios for Obama’s claim that Republicans have ‘filibustered about 500 pieces of legislation’:
"In addressing a dinner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Los Angeles, President Obama made a rather striking claim — that Senate Republicans have filibustered “500 pieces of legislation that would help the middle class.”
Regular readers knows that The Fact Checker has objected to the way that Senate Democrats tally these figures, but the president’s claim makes little sense no matter how you do the numbers."

Detroit 'Openly and Notoriously' Drove into Bankruptcy

Detroit 'Openly and Notoriously' Drove into Bankruptcy [Mackinac Center]:
.....It’s a tough sell for reasons Orr himself expressed with regard to a group that is getting no love from current policymakers — those who lent money to the city and would like to get repaid.

Here is how hecharacterized the actions of some of these lenders:
If you lent money to an insolvent city that has been going insolvent as openly and notoriously [emphasis added] as possible since 2000, and you don't have as security interest, then you are an unsecured creditor.

In other words, Orr contends the city's fiscal malpractice was so flagrant that these lenders knew or should have known trouble was coming, and so today have little ground to complain about proposals to give them disproportionately large financial "haircuts" compared to others.

But hang on, there's a big contradiction in this.
The lenders weren't the only ones who "knew or should have known." 
Both city and state officials were well aware of Detroit's looming fiscal problems, and in general they chose a business-as-usual approach to its "open and notorious" mismanagement, spending and debt.
For years, they themselves ignored countless warnings about the city's growing financial house of cards.

Hmmm, no mention of sex, drugs, beer and rock & roll as causes of sleep deprivation----------Napping station at University of Michigan a 'quick solution' for sleep-deprived students

Napping station at University of Michigan a 'quick solution' for sleep-deprived students | MLive.com

That's when the idea of a napping station at U-M's Shapiro Undergraduate Library was born. Bazbaz and Central Student Government, of which he is a participant, are piloting a napping station at the library.

"Folks could use a quick solution if they're tired," Bazbaz said. "It's been proven that naps can help your performance."

The station has six cots and lockers for students to stow their belongings as they sleep.
It's on the first floor of the library, where staff are working 24-7.

"The students seem to like it.
It's very simple set up," said Stephen Griffes, an operations supervisor at the Shapiro library who worked with students to set up the station.
"It's had a much larger positive response than we anticipated."

Griffes said U-M is considering setting up a napping station on North Campus, in the Duderstadt Center, if the one in Shapiro continues to go well.
The Shapiro pilot began during finals week in April, and is continuing during the spring, summer and fall semesters.

For Bazbaz, the station is also an illustration that students at U-M are overworked.

"This is also kind of a message to professors and schools. 
If there's a need for sleeping places in the library, there might be a little too much work," Bazbaz said.

New McKinsey Survey: 74% Of Obamacare Sign-Ups Were Previously Insured

New McKinsey Survey: 74% Of Obamacare Sign-Ups Were Previously Insured - Forbes:

"One of the principal flaws in the coverage of Obamacare’s enrollment numbers to date has been that the press has not made distinctions between those who have “signed up” for Obamacare-based plans, and those who have actually paid for those plans and thereby achieved enrollment in health insurance.
A new survey from McKinsey indicates that a large majority of people signing up are now paying for their coverage.
This is progress for the health law.
But the survey still indicates that three-fourths of enrollees were previously insured."

The House, Including 62 Democrats, Just Defied Obama | TheBlaze.com

The House, Including 62 Democrats, Just Defied Obama | TheBlaze.com:
"The House of Representatives on Friday overwhelmingly approved permanent tax relief for companies engaged in research and development, despite a warning from the White House that President Barack Obama would veto the legislation.
Members approved the American Research and Competitiveness Act in an easy 274-131 vote. Despite Obama’s veto threat, 62 Democrats voted for the bill along with nearly every Republican."

Hillary and MoveOn Petition: 'Reject Terrorist Designation for Boko Haram'

MoveOn Petition: 'Reject Terrorist Designation for Boko Haram' | Truth Revolt:
"..... Secretary of State Clinton was criticized earlier this week when it was revealed her State Department refused to designate Boko Harem, the Islamist group that is kidnapping girls in Nigeria, as a terrorist group.  
But Ms. Clinton had support; MoveOn.org, a progressive group founded by George Soros, ran a petition asking the Obama administration to "Reject Terrorist Designation for Boko Haram" in 2012.
The petition is still up and people have signed the petition as recently as May 9th, well after the terrorists kidnapped over 300 young female students"

And you thought the stock market and tech barons were corrupt BEFORE Obama?----------------------------Tech company Arista Networks CEO Jayshree Ullal tries to bribe Adam Lashinsky, a journalist, with shares in pre-IPO stock.

Tech company Arista Networks CEO Jayshree Ullal tries to bribe Adam Lashinsky, a journalist, with shares in pre-IPO stock
Here's a startling story about the extent of the hubris in Silicon Valley these days, as well as the lengths tech companies are currently willing to go to win favor and buzz...
A leading technology journalist, Adam Lashinsky, writes that he was just offered pre-IPO stock in Arista Networks, a company that makes a new networking technology.
The offer came directly and personally from the company's CEO, Jayshree Ullal:

I was surprised but not completely flabbergasted by the phone call I received a few weeks ago.
A representative of Arista Networks, a networking company I've written about recently, phoned to inform me that the company's chief executive wanted to offer me "friends and family" shares in Arista's upcoming initial public offering.
The offer was explicit, down to the number of shares I'd have the opportunity to purchase at the IPO price.
The caller specifically wanted me to understand this offer came directly from CEO Jayshree Ullal.

Lashinsky, like any good journalist, called Arista and asked whether the company was bribing other journalists, too. The answer, it sounds like, was, "yes":
I phoned Wednesday to ask if other journalists had been offered IPO shares; a spokeswoman pointed me to a section of its Form S-1 filing which states that a directed share program exists—and nothing more.
This response suggests that many people at Arista are involved in the journalist-bribery program, not just the company's CEO. 
It appears to be an organized public-relations campaign, dreamed up or at least actively supported by the most senior people at the company (who apparently didn't consider the possibility that the company might accidentally offer stock to a journalist with integrity).

The Miracle Of Modern-Day Keynesian Dreams (In 1 Insane Chart)

The Miracle Of Modern-Day Keynesian Dreams (In 1 Insane Chart) | Zero Hedge:
"With various extremely well paid sell-side economist slashing Q1 expectations for growth even further, we though it would be worth a glance at the ever-rising estimates for Q2 (that Goldman started this morning). Consensus for Q2 has now spiked to +3.3% (its highest since tracking began) as the Keynesian hockey-stick-believers have gone full bounce-tard now...

Well they did nail Q1!"

10 Ways That Birth Order Affects Your Life

10 Ways That Birth Order Affects Your Life | Zero Hedge:
 "While birth order is not the end all be all – for example Ted Bundy was also adopted – it certainly impacts our personality and therefore the course of our lives. 
Success in the business world is partly dependent on your ability to read people and understand their emotional intelligence, of which birth order plays a key role.
 Thus we’ve compiled a top 10 list of things you should keep in mind about birth order psychology and how it factors into our lives. 

Read on for the details…
1) More than half of Nobel prizewinners and U.S. presidents are firstborn children, as were 21 of the first 23 astronauts into space.  
Again, there is more than coincidence at play here because the general psychological consensus is that firstborns are natural leaders and perfectionists who tend to be ambitious and possess strong drive and determination. 
As a result, they gravitate toward professions requiring precision such as careers in science, medicine, law, engineering, computer science and accounting, according to research published in Science Daily."

Fed Chair: ‘Deficits Will Rise to Unsustainable Levels’ | CNS News

Fed Chair: ‘Deficits Will Rise to Unsustainable Levels’ | CNS News:
"Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen, referencing the Congressional Budget Office's long-term budget projections, told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress today that under current policies the federal government’s deficits “will rise to unsustainable levels.”
In the 10-year budget projections it released in April, the CBO estimated that the federal government will run $7.618 trillion in deficits from 2015 through 2024. At the same time, the CBO projected that the federal government’s debt held by the public would rise from $11.983 trillion at the end of fiscal 2013 to $20.947 trillion by the end of 2024."

The Unholy Trinity of Public Sector Unions, Environmentalists, and Wall Street

The Unholy Trinity of Public Sector Unions, Environmentalists, and Wall Street | Union Watch:

Taken at surface value, there ought to be minimal identity of interests between these three special interests.
But if you follow the money and power instead of the rhetoric and stereotypes, you will find this unhealthy alliance is alive and thriving. 
For example, unions use “greenmail,” the threat of a lawsuit on environmentalist grounds, to block developments until the businesses involved concede to union demands. 
Once they back down, the environmental problem magically disappears.

California’s much vaunted high-speed rail and delta tunnel proposals are also examples of the unhealthy rapprochement between unions (public and private) and environmentalists.
Because the construction unions, God bless ‘em, want thousands of good new construction jobs, and the only big projects that are environmentally correct are these monstrosities.
The unions have a choice – fight the environmentalists in order to lobby for public works that actually yield economic benefits to society, or enjoy their considerable support for a couple of misguided mega-projects.

Beyond obvious examples, how unions, environmentalists, and America’s overbuilt financial sector collude – often unwittingly, does not lend itself to emotionally resonant, simple narrative.
It can’t be expressed in a few declarative sentences.
But because this web of collusion is stunting the economic growth of America and systematically destroying its middle class, it is a story that must be told. 
Here are some points that all exemplify the chain of cause and effect, linking the interests of public sector unions, environmentalists, and Wall Street.
READ "EM ALL!

Small Business Owner: An Increased Minimum Wage Hurts Everyone

Small Business Owner: An Increased Minimum Wage Hurts Everyone [Michigan Capitol Confidential]
This would increase the wage by 36 percent for non-tipped employees and 280 percent for tipped employees. 
The magnitude of this increase will have a dramatic impact on the restaurant industry.

I would venture to say few industries, if any, in Michigan are capable of absorbing this percentage increase in costs when labor already represents 30 to 35 percent of every dollar spent by the consumer.
Research indicates that today 1 in 4 restaurants fail in the first year and 60 percent within three years.
That failure rate likely will increase significantly with this proposal.
Furthermore, future investments in this industry will be curtailed as investors/business owners will find more profitable ways to spend their time and capital.
The coalition behind this proposal suggests that this increase be passed on to the consumer in terms of higher prices, and in part be absorbed by the business owner via lower margins. 
What they fail to realize is that the return on investment for the business owners in this industry is only about 3 percent. 
Consequently, further reduction in the margins will make this industry even less attractive for investors/business owners.

Hmmmm, another liar who did NOT get elected--------Romney: We should raise minimum wage

Romney: We should raise minimum wage:
Romney had been a supporter of raising the minimum wage prior to his presidential bid, but in March 2012 in the face of conservative opposition, he said "there's probably not a need to raise the minimum wage."

GOP Rep. Sternly Lectures Democrats on the Lessons He Learned in the Army During Impassioned House Floor Speech on Benghazi

GOP Rep. Sternly Lectures Democrats on the Lessons He Learned in the Army During Impassioned House Floor Speech on Benghazi | Video | TheBlaze.com:
“A couple lessons I learned in the Army were you moved to the sound of gunfire and the most important step in the troop leading procedures is to supervise the execution of you orders,” he said. “When Americans were fighting for their lives in Benghazi, Barack Obama did neither. He sent no quick reaction force and didn’t even stay in the situation room to supervise the execution of his orders. We expect more from the lieutenants in the army than our president gave us that night.”

HGTV Drops Show After Controversy Erupts Over Hosts’ Christian Views on Gay Marriage and Abortion | Video | TheBlaze.com

HGTV Drops Show After Controversy Erupts Over Hosts’ Christian Views on Gay Marriage and Abortion | Video | TheBlaze.com:
"A scheduled do-it-yourself show has been canceled by Home and Garden Television before its fall 2014 premiere after controversy erupted surrounding its hosts’ Christian viewpoints on issues like gay marriage and abortion.
Twin brothers Jason and David Benham were scheduled to appear on “Flip It Forward,” a renovation show that was set to feature them helping families make improvements to their homes.

But when some left-leaning media outlets began digging into their backgrounds and personal perspectives, everything changed."

History for May 10 - On-This-Day.com

History for May 10 - On-This-Day.com:

Birth anniversary of composer Max Steiner (1888-1971). Composed the scores to King Kong, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca and other films.

Birth anniversaries of Fred Astaire (1899-1987) and Maybelle Carter (1909-78).

Happy Birthday! Bono, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Ara Parseghian

1773 - The English Parliament passed the Tea Act, which taxed all tea in the U.S. colonies. 


1869 - Central Pacific and Union Pacific Rail Roads meet in Promontory, UT. A golden spike was driven in at the celebration of the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. 


1908 - The first Mother's Day observance took place during a church service in Grafton, West Virginia. 


1924 - J. Edgar Hoover was appointed head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 


1933 - The Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany. 


1940 - Germany invaded Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. 

1960 - The U.S.S. Triton completed the first circumnavigation of the globe under water. The trip started on February 16. 


1969 - The National and American Football Leagues announced their plans to merge for the 1970-71 season. 


2001 - Boeing Co. announced that it would be moving its headquarters to Chicago, IL.

IRS Agrees to Turn Over All Lois Lerner Emails | TheBlaze.com

IRS Agrees to Turn Over All Lois Lerner Emails | TheBlaze.com:
"The IRS has agreed to give the House Ways and Means Committee all emails sent by Lois Lerner relating to the IRS targeting scandal, committee chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said Thursday.
The news was announced about a month after the Ways and Means Committee referred Lerner to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. That referral was based on findings that Lerner used her influence to delay tax-exempt status for conservative groups, impeded official investigations, and possibly disclosed confidential taxpayer information."

22 States Have Signed on to Oppose New York’s Gun Ban | TheBlaze.com

22 States Have Signed on to Oppose New York’s Gun Ban | TheBlaze.com:
“We have a lot of attorneys general throughout the states and would have more, except some believed they should not be involved with the Second Circuit,” New York State Rifle and Pistol Association President Tom King told TheBlaze. “We believe we will have 44 to 45 states by the time this reaches the Supreme Court.”
The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013, better known as the NY SAFE Act, bans possession of semi-automatic weapons that opponents call “assault weapons;” bans high-capacity magazines; expands background checks for gun buyers and gun dealers; and bans the Internet sale of guns, among other restrictions."

War against human beings--------When Boko Haram Killed Young Boys, Not Even A Hashtag

When Boko Haram Killed Young Boys, Not Even A Hashtag » Black & Right:
"This has been going on for years.
Granted Twitter’s only been around for almost eight, but sometimes it takes a sensational number and the right gender to have the world consider something important enough to be outraged about.
At least 59 children have been killed in Nigeria after Islamist gunmen opened fire at a boarding school before burning it to the ground, officials say.
Members of the Boko Haram group targeted secondary school students as they slept in a dormitory, police say.
The name Boko Haram means “Western education is sinful” and school attacks have featured prominently in the group’s four-and-a-half-year Islamist uprising, which has killed thousands of people.
The police chief said all the victims in Monday’s attack were boys, and the school’s 24 buildings, including staff quarters, had been completely destroyed by fire.
That incident happened in late February but barely a peep from the media or any of our political or entertainment class. 
No hashtag for any of the killings last year…"