History for December 11

History for December 11 - On-This-Day.com
Fiorello La Guardia 1882, Perez Prado 1918, Alexander Solzhenitsyn 1918 


Rita Moreno 1931, J. Frank Wilson 1941, Teri Garr 1949 


1769 - Edward Beran of London patented venetian blinds. 


1792 - France's King Louis XVI went before the Convention, which had replaced the National Assembly, to face charges of treason. He was convicted and condemned and was sent to the guillotine the following January. 


1816 - Indiana was admitted to the Union as the 19th American state. 


1872 - Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback became America's first black governor when he took office as acting governor of Louisiana. 


1930 - The Bank of the United States in New York failed. 


1936 - Britain's King Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry American Wallis Warfield Simpson. He became the Duke of Windsor. 


1941 - Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The U.S in turn declared war on the two countries. 


1961 - The first direct American military support for South Vietnam occurred when a U.S. aircraft carrier carrying Army helicopters arrived in Saigon. 


1994 - Thousands of Russian troops, armored columns and jets entered Chechnya. The move by Moscow was an effort to restore control the breakaway republic. 



1997 - More than 150 countries agreed at a global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan, to control the Earth's "greenhouse gases." 


1998 - The Mars Climate Orbiter blasted off on a nine-month journey to the Red Planet. However, the probe disappeared in September of 1999, apparently destroyed because scientists had failed to convert English measures to metric values. 


2001 - Ted Turner purchased 12,000 acres in Nebraska for Bison ranches. 

Should you be able to sue the parents of an unvaccinated child if your child gets sick or dies?-------Vaccination waivers put hundreds of Michigan communities at risk of disease outbreaks

Vaccination waivers put hundreds of Michigan communities at risk of disease outbreaks | MLive.com:
"Michigan has one of the highest vaccine-waiver rates for kindergartners in the country, three times the national median, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And the number of kindergartners getting vaccine waivers is growing.
In five years, it's increased 23 percent, the CDC says."

Obama: Christmas Season Should Help Us Understand Executive Amnesty

Obama: Christmas Season Should Help Us Understand Executive Amnesty:

"President Barack Obama thinks that Christians should use the Christmas season and “the good book” to understand the importance of immigration reform."

New York Claims Hundreds of Residents are Too ‘Mentally Unstable’ to Be Allowed to Own Firearms

New York Claims Hundreds of Residents are Too ‘Mentally Unstable’ to Be Allowed to Own Firearms:
"Such a state was New York who passed the SAFE Act that implemented new anti-Second Amendment laws that placed arbitrary restrictions on firearm ownership and included provisions that make it easier for government to revoke the irrevocable right of individual firearm ownership for those deemed mentally unfit for such a right.

According to Freedom Outpost, 278 licensed gun owners in the Empire State are now deemed too “mentally unstable” to exercise their Second Amendment right. "

How they "think"----President Obama is Too Intelligent for Republicans to Understand

The Simple Truth: President Obama is Too Intelligent for Republicans to Understand:
"Which brings me to President Obama. 
While I’m not calling him a genius, I do think he’s extremely intelligent. 
I also believe that his tendency to use “big picture” thinking while drafting policy is something most Republican voters simply can’t understand.
Take “Obamacare” for instance.
It’s not a “fix health care today” law.
In fact, the law itself is made to grow and evolve over time.
My belief is that it’s a springboard to true socialized medicine.
But, as it is now, it’s a long-term outlook on our health care.
While many Republicans want to look at the “now” aspect of the Affordable Care Act, they seem unable to grasp the reality that as more Americans get health insurance, giving them access to preventable care, this lowers expenses down the road for everyone.
If people can prevent very costly heart attacks, strokes or other debilitating health issues now, that’s an overall savings for practically everyone from consumers to health insurers to doctors who now have more patients.
Quite literally, improving the overall health of Americans will improve the health of this country.
It even makes sense for our economy.
If workers are healthier, because they have access to quality health care, that means there will be fewer people calling in sick to work, showing up sick to work (putting other employees at risk) or relying on government programs because their health conditions (that were preventable) render them unable to work at all.
But to see all of that requires “big picture” thinking and Republicans seem unable to understand anything beyond the spoon-fed bumper sticker talking points they’re given by the GOP and the conservative media.
Minimum wage is another issue you see this with.
Republicans constantly paint it as a “job killer” (it’s not) while also rallying against the millions of people who are on government assistance..... "

Ten Stories NBC Nightly News Aired Instead of Covering Gruber Scandal

Ten Stories NBC Nightly News Aired Instead of Covering Gruber Scandal:

"But over the past month, NBC has found a lot of so-called “news” to fill up its evening broadcast, including a Washington story about a previously-unknown GOP staffer writing a snarky Facebook post about President Obama’s daughters. Nightly News has also carved out a lot of airtime for network self-promotion, including multiple plugs for NBC's live broadcast of Peter Pan, an entertainment program starring the daughter of anchor Brian Williams.

Below are ten stories that, unlike the Gruber videos, were deemed worthy of coverage by NBC Nightly News during the past month. With Gruber himself set to answer questions at a congressional hearing later today, NBC has a fresh opportunity tonight to fix the glaring omission of the past 30 days — the question is, will they once again pretend the Gruber story doesn’t exist?"

In Obamacare's Wake, New York's Tale of Two Medicaid Programs

In Obamacare's Wake, New York's Tale of Two Medicaid Programs:
"On the one hand, just last month Akim Murray, employee of New York City’s Medicaid Reimbursement Unit, pled guilty in U.S. District Court to a Medicaid fraud scheme in which he issued fake reimbursements to “friends and criminal associates” to the tune of more than $1 million.
In 2010, the Poughkeepsie Journal exposed massive overbilling in the state’s program for the developmentally disabled that charged $5,000 per day, or $2 million per patient, bilking the federal government for some $15 billion over 20 years that went right into the state’s coffers.
Indeed, absent several enterprising Albany-based journalists, the scam might still be going on.
In late July, the feds announced that they were seeking $1.3 billion in overpayments from 2010 (and possibly more for additional years).
In a system as vast and complex as New York’s Medicaid program, detecting waste, fraud, and abuse remains a serious challenge.
In 2013 alone, the state Office of the Medicaid Inspector General recovered close to $900 million in “improperly expended Medicaid funds”—perhaps the mere tip of the iceberg."

What Politicians Do 17 Seconds Into This Video Is Being Called ‘Un-American’ and an Act of Discrimination | Video | TheBlaze.com

What Politicians Do 17 Seconds Into This Video Is Being Called ‘Un-American’ and an Act of Discrimination | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"A politician in Lake Worth, Florida, is breaking her silence one week after she joined others in abruptly and silently walking out of a city meeting before an atheist delivered his secular invocation."

Government: Gas to average $2.60 next year

My Way News - Government: Gas to average $2.60 next year:
"The Energy Department again slashed its prediction for next year's average price of gasoline across the U.S., this time to $2.60 a gallon.
That would be 23 percent below this year's projected average and the lowest full-year average since 2009."

Bank of America sees $50 oil as Opec dies

Bank of America sees $50 oil as Opec dies - Telegraph:
"Our biggest worry is the end of the liquidity cycle.
The Fed is done.
The reach for yield that we have seen since 2009 is going into reverse”, said Bank of America."
The Opec oil cartel no longer exists in any meaningful sense and crude prices will slump to $50 a barrel over the coming months as market forces shake out the weakest producers, Bank of America has warned.
Revolutionary changes sweeping the world’s energy industry will drive down the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG), creating a “multi-year” glut and a much cheaper source of gas for Europe.
Francisco Blanch, the bank’s commodity chief, said Opec is “effectively dissolved” after it failed to stabilize prices at its last meeting.
“The consequences are profound and long-lasting,“ he said.
The free market will now set the global cost of oil, leading to a new era of wild price swings and disorderly trading that benefits only the Mid-East petro-states with deepest pockets such as Saudi Arabia.
If so, the weaker peripheral members such as Venizuela and Nigeria are being thrown to the wolves.

How to care for illegal alien children for only $182,129,786!

How to care for illegal alien children for only $182,129,786! by Curtice Mang
Thanks to the folks at Judicial Watch, we recently learned that Health and Humans Services (HHS) paid Baptist Children and Family Services $182,129,786 to house and feed illegal alien children for four months. 
That seems like a lot of money, especially when you consider this – the number of children was 2,400. 
I think that’s even more than the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) spends on its Las Vegas retreats.

That works out to almost $76,000 per illegal alien child.
And you thought it was expensive to send your kids to college!
What exactly did these millions provide? 
Here is a sampling, but not a complete list:
Catering services at $75 per day for three meals and two snacks.

Three New Ways Government Threatens to Tax the Internet

Three New Ways Government Threatens to Tax the Internet – As Soon As Thursday | Somewhat Reasonable:
 ...The Feds keep breaking records for taking our money – yet have racked up an $18+ TRILLION (and counting) debt.
Government doesn’t have a revenue problem – it has a spending one.
It needs to find ways to stop being so ridiculously profligate – rather than looking for new ways to take our money.
 But was we know, that ain’t happening.
Government views our money like Jello – there’s always room for more.  
Whenever it can raise taxes – or create new ones – it all but leaps at the opportunity. 
The Internet is currently threatened with multiple brand new taxes levied by multiple levels of government.
One tax tidal wave can happen by Washington simply doing nothing.
On Thursday, the federal moratorium on Internet access taxes expires.
…Instead of putting the same (PITFA) bill to the Senate,
…Reid has decided to attach it to a proposed law called the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA).
That bill…would require online retailers to collect tax on sales they make to out-of-state consumers (subjecting these retailers to 9,998 different tax jurisdictions).
 ...And as huge as these new taxes are – they aren’t the hugest prospective new tax.
 If President Barack Obama and the leftist of the Left (like the aforementioned Pelosi) get their way, the Feds will soon begin slamming the ridiculous, bloated, wasteful, utterly unnecessary Universal Service Fund (USF)’s gi-normous phone tax – onto the Internet. 
...That’s the USF tax – which is currently 16.1%.  
And it goes up every quarter – automatically. 

Obamacare Architect Jonathan Gruber: Abortion of 'Marginal Children' a 'Social Good'

Obamacare Architect Jonathan Gruber: Abortion of 'Marginal Children' a 'Social Good':

"No, Gruber’s abortion advocacy is of a particularly pungent eugenics variety. He’s on record repeatedly making the case from social science that abortion is a “social good” because it reduces the number of “marginal children,” by which he means urban poor—those he says can be counted on to commit crimes if they were ever born.
Gruber co-authored a paper during the Clinton years which argued that legal abortion had saved the U.S. taxpayer upwards of $14 billion in welfare benefits and that it also lowered crime."

Lima Climate Talks Set for Record Carbon Footprint

Lima Climate Talks Set for Record Carbon Footprint - US News:
"LIMA, Peru (AP) — The current U.N. climate talks will be the first to neutralize all the greenhouse gas pollution they generate, offset by host country Peru's protection of forest at three different reserves, organizers say.
Now the bad news: The Lima conference is expected to have the biggest carbon footprint of any U.N. climate meeting measured to date.
At more than 50,000 metric tons of carfb/phbon dioxide, the negotiations' burden on global warming will be about 1 1/2 times the norm, said Jorge Alvarez, project coordinator for the U.N. Development Program.
The venue is one big reason.
It had to be built.
Eleven football fields of temporary structures arose for the 13-day negotiations from what three months ago was an empty field behind Peru's army's headquarters.
Concrete was laid, plumbing installed, components flown in from as far as France and Brazil.
Standing in the midday sun here can get downright uncomfortable, but the Lima sun is not reliable.
That's one reason solar panels were not used.
For electricity, the talks are relying exclusively on diesel generators.
Organizers had planned to draw power from Peru's grid, which is about 52 percent fed by non-polluting hydroelectric power. 
"We worked to upgrade transformers and generators but for some reason it didn't work," said Alvarez.

6 Years Later, Stimulus Funds Still Being Spent on Manure

6 Years Later, Stimulus Funds Still Being Spent on Manure | Washington Free Beacon:
"Almost six years after the passage of the stimulus package, taxpayer dollars have finally found their way into a shovel ready project: $60,000 to haul horse manure.
Sold as an opportunity to bring America into the “21st century,” the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the stimulus, is now being used to remove wild horse manure off of public lands.
According to a contract awarded last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will pay $58,650 to load, haul, and dispose manure from a corral in Burns, Oregon.
The facility holds wild horses and burros found on the Oregon range where they await adoption.
“Manure shall be wind-rowed, piled if necessary, loaded, and hauled to a site for a beneficial use,” the BLM said in their solicitation outlining the project.
“If there is no beneficial use for the manure, then it shall be legally disposed of in a landfill or by another approved disposal practice.”
“Stockpiling of the manure shall not be permitted,” they added.
The government anticipated that laborers would be paid $16.86 an hour plus fringe benefits for the job, which was awarded to ACW, Inc., a company in Hines, Oregon."

History for December 10

History for December 10 - On-This-Day.com
Thomas H. Gallaudet 1787 - Pioneer of educating the deaf, Emily Dickinson 1830 - Writer, Melvil Dewey 1851 - Created the "Dewey Decimal Classification" system 


Tommy Kirk 1941 - Actor, Susan Dey 1952 - Actress ("L.A. Law," "The Partridge Family"), Kenneth Branagh 1960 - Actor-director 


1520 - Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict. The papacy demanded that he recant or face excommunication. Luther refused and was formally expelled from the church in January 1521. 


1817 - Mississippi was admitted to the Union as the 20th American state. 


1845 - British civil engineer Robert Thompson patented the first pneumatic tires. 


1906 - U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for helping mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War. 


1931 - Jane Addams became a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, she was the first American woman to do so. 


1941 - The Royal Naval battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse were sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Battle of Malaya. 


1950 - Dr. Ralph J. Bunche was presented the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the first African-American to receive the award. Bunche was awarded the prize for his efforts in mediation between Israel and neighboring Arab states. 


1953 - Hugh Hefner published the first "Playboy" magazine with an investment of $7,600. 


1964 - In Oslo, Norway, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the youngest person to receive the award. 


1994 - Advertising executive Thomas Mosser of North Caldwell, NJ, was killed by a mail bomb that was blamed on the Unabomber. 

New Tape Reveals Jonathan Gruber Admitting Obama Lied About Obamacare Cost Savings

New Tape Reveals Jonathan Gruber Admitting Obama Lied About Obamacare Cost Savings:

"As Jonathan Gruber, the Obamacare architect who admitted that the law was a scheme to deceive, who also referred to on multiple occasions, “the stupid American voter,” testifies today on Capitol Hill, a newly discovered podcast captures Gruber admitting that the supposed cost savings that Obama used to sell the law were completely fictitious."

Hume: 'Inexplicable' For Dems To Release CIA 'Torture Report' | The Daily Caller

Hume: 'Inexplicable' For Dems To Release CIA 'Torture Report' | The Daily Caller:

"Fox senior political correspondent Brit Hume said Monday on “America’s Newsroom” that the Senate Intelligence Committee’s decision to release a report on the CIA’s interrogation tactics, despite the Obama administration and American allies alike warning that it could lead to violence, was “inexplicable” and “burning the ban on your way out.”

The Shocking, Three-Word Question Darrell Issa Asked Jonathan Gruber During Obamacare Hearing | Video | TheBlaze.com

The Shocking, Three-Word Question Darrell Issa Asked Jonathan Gruber During Obamacare Hearing | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) challenged Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber Tuesday by asking if Gruber is a “stupid” man who lucked his way into key jobs advising governments on health care and a professorship at MIT.

Issa said he thought to ask the question after the Kennedy Center honored Tom Hanks, who played Forrest Gump, the “ultimate in successful stupid man.”

“Are you stupid?” Issa asked Gruber, quoting a line from “Forrest Gump,” in which a young girl asked Gump, “Are you stupid or something?”

Must-Know Facts About the Chokehold Killing of Eric Garner

Must-Know Facts About the Chokehold Killing of Eric Garner | The Daily Sheeple
And the Christian Science Monitor notes:

Many on the political right and left united to condemn the grand jury decision, a rare event in an age of acute polarization.

The cover of the conservative New York Post says: “IT WAS NOT A CRIME,” written in big, bold letters, accompanied by still frames of Pantaleo putting Garner in a chokehold.

Fox News syndicated columnist and contributor Charles Krauthammer called the grand jury’s decision “totally incomprehensible.”

“I think anybody who looks at the video would think this was the wrong judgment,” Krauthammer said.

“It defies reason. It makes no sense,” wrote Sean Davis at the Federalist. “Just going on the plain language of the law, the police officer who killed Garner certainly appears to be guilty of second-degree manslaughter at the very least … All we have to do is watch the video and believe our own eyes.”

Leon Wolf of the conservative blog Redstate wrote, “This decision is really and truly baffling to me, and infuriating besides.”

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson endorsed this statement from the conservative Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. “[A] government that can choke a man to death on video for selling cigarettes is not a government living up to a biblical definition of justice or any recognizable definition of justice.”

Twitter also lit up with reaction, with many on the right uniting to condemn the decision.

For example, Noah Rothman – Associate Editor at Hotair – tweeted:

This is one of those moments where left and right could unite. Few seem comfortable with this outcome.

The vending machine of the future is here, and it knows who you are

The vending machine of the future is here, and it knows who you are - Telegraph:
"The vending machine brought an element of anonymity to snacking: you could scoff chocolate all day and no shopkeeper would know just how many bars -- or cigarettes, or ice creams, or lottery tickets -- you’d already gone through that day.
But that’s all about to change, because the vending machine of the future is here, and it knows who you are.
The Luce X2 Touch TV vending machine, which was debuted to industry professionals in Hertfordshire in October, is claimed to be the first in the world to use facial recognition technology.
The machines are able to identify and greet a user, remember a person’s preferences and even refuse to vend a certain product based on a shopper’s age, medical record, dietary requirements or purchase history.
For example, a school can link the Luce X2 with its database and tell the machine to refuse to sell certain products, such as cigarettes, to underage students.
A gym could program the machine with its membership database not to sell fattening snacks to a person who is on a diet, while a hospital could prevent a user with health conditions such as diabetes buying a sugary product...."

Law School Students Will Be Allowed To Postpone Final Exams | The Daily Caller

Law School Students Will Be Allowed To Postpone Final Exams | The Daily Caller:

"Columbia University has allowed law school students who feel they suffered trauma from two high-profile grand jury decisions to postpone taking their final exams, the school’s interim dean Robert Scott wrote in a message to students this weekend."

Yabba Dabba Dough: Wisconsin DOT spends $30K on 'Flintstones'-style training video

Yabba Dabba Dough: Wisconsin DOT spends $30K on 'Flintstones'-style training video « Watchdog.org:
"MADISON, Wis. — Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and let your mind go blank.
Now picture, if you will, a group of motorists navigating traffic, only their cars are not powered by gas, solar power or electricity.
Nope, the only way to get around in these vehicles is by extending your feet through the floorboard and skipping your toes across the pavement, a la the “Flintstones.”
But you would be incorrect.
What I’m talking about is a two-minute roundabout training video produced by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that features actors walking around in a circle with what appears to be cardboard automobiles hanging over their shoulders with straps.
And it cost you $30,000, according to DOT spokesman Steven Olson."

Former ABC Reporter Reveals Unflattering Account of How Obama Sometimes Handled Press Behind Closed Doors | Video | TheBlaze.com

Former ABC Reporter Reveals Unflattering Account of How Obama Sometimes Handled Press Behind Closed Doors | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"Compton is the latest in a string of journalists who have complained recently about a lack of transparency from the Obama administration, including former New York Times editor Jill Abramson and Susan Page, formerly of USA Today.
“Before I walked out the door on September 10, I was a strong voice for complaining that this particular administration has been more opaque than any I have covered about what the President does in the Oval Office everyday,” Compton said. “He is far less accessible on photo-ops with meetings."