History for February 17

History for February 17 - On-This-Day.com:
Thomas Malthus 1766 , Montgomery Ward 1843, Gene Pitney 1941 

Lou Diamond Phillips 1962 - Actor, Michael Jordan 1963 - Basketball player, Paris Hilton 1981 


1801 - The U.S. House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Jefferson was elected president and Burr became vice president. 


1876 - Julius Wolff was credited with being the first to can sardines. 


1933 - "Newsweek" was first published. 


1934 - The first high school automobile driver’s education course was introduced in State College, PA. 


1947 - The Voice of America began broadcasting to the Soviet Union. 


1964 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that congressional districts within each state had to be approximately equal in population. (Westberry v. Sanders) 


1992 - In Milwaukee, serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison. In November of 1994, he was beaten to death in prison. 


1995 - Colin Ferguson was convicted of six counts of murder in the December 1993 Long Island Rail Road shootings. He was later sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison. 


2005 - U.S. President George W. Bush named John Negroponte as the first national intelligence director.

ISIS Beheads 21 Christians on Video; Obama Goes Golfing

ISIS Beheads 21 Christians on Video; Obama Goes Golfing:

"Obama was so shook up by the horrific news that barbaric Islamic State savages had beheaded 21 Coptic Christian hostages in Egypt that he reacted in the same way he did literally minutes after learning that American journalists had been beheaded."

Slate: College Students Are Children And Do Not Deserve Free Speech Rights

Slate: College Students Are Children And Do Not Deserve Free Speech Rights:

"Eric Posner- a professor at the University of Chicago and son of famed judge Richard Posner- makes the case in Slate that college students are children and thus do not deserve free speech or due process rights.

Posner writes:"

Female lawmaker unafraid to slam ‘Islamic savages’

Female lawmaker unafraid to slam ‘Islamic savages’:

"A California assemblywoman is refusing to back down after fellow lawmakers and the Council for American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, have demanded she apologize for what they’re calling a “hateful” message she posted on Twitter.

On Feb. 10, after confirmation that American humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller was killed by the Islamic State, Republican Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez of Lake Elsinore sent out a tweet calling the murder “gut wrenching”

Strong cannabis causes one in four cases of psychosis

Strong cannabis causes one in four cases of psychosis | Daily Mail Online:

Strong cannabis causes one in four cases of psychosis: 
Users three times more likely to have an episode than those who have never tried it

• Scientists at King’s College London say youngsters must be told of risks
• Study will add weight to calls for a tougher stance on cannabis users
• More than 1 million 16-24-year-olds in England and Wales smoke the drug
• Those who use weaker 'hash' over potent 'skunk' less affected by episodes

Energy bills going up? CMS is GIVING your money away!--------Storyville library project gets $50K for construction from Consumers Energy

Storyville library project gets $50K for construction from Consumers Energy | MLive.com: "MUSKEGON, MI -- The Muskegon Area District Library's Storyville project recently got a shot in the arm, receiving a $50,000 grant from Consumers Energy.
Storyville is an interactive, a child-sized village within a library aimed at helping young children to learn to read.
Proposed for the district library's branch in Norton Shores, it would consist of seven themed areas of play and learning, each with books appropriate for the child's level of development.
"Our promise is to care for the Michigan communities we serve, and that starts with educating Michigan's next generation," said David Mengebier, president of the Consumers Energy Foundation.
The library is in the midst of a $2 million capital campaign to build Storyville.
"We appreciate the support of Consumers Energy and their willingness to collaborate with us on introducing literacy to our youngest patrons, said MADL Director Kelly Richards.
This matches well with Consumers' long-time support for Muskegon."

LIARS: New York Times Blames Scott Walker for Things That Happened BEFORE He Became Governor

LIARS: New York Times Blames Scott Walker for Things That Happened BEFORE He Became Governor:

"The facts be damned. 

Usually, the pro-Commie media types are too busy pumping up establishment RINO candidates on the Republican side to make sure that the electorate is faced with the false choice of, a) Big Government Democrat, and b) Big Government Republican.

Take 2008 for example. Just in case a Republican was elected, the leftstream media hedged their bets to make sure a Democrat-lite candidate was paired with a progressive communist Democrat."

Black mobs and looters matter..........Massive Black Mob Causes Mayhem At Florida Mall – 800 to 900 Black Teens Crash Movie Theater, Stores, and Begin Looting… |

Massive Black Mob Causes Mayhem At Florida Mall – 800 to 900 Black Teens Crash Movie Theater, Stores, and Begin Looting… | The Last Refuge

This happened last night and both police and media are downplaying the story as “kids and teens just being kids”; as would be expected in the new normal reality.  Another report shares “just a bunch of stupid kids”. [Two reports, one with video] – Obviously all media ignoring the racial aspect of the thugs gone wild.

REPORT #1 – OCOEE, Fla. — Orange County deputies are trying to figure out why hundreds of teenagers suddenly rushed into the movie theater at West Oaks Mall in Ocoee Saturday night. Deputies said as many as 900 kids, described as being in middle or high school, attempted to rush the theater at once.

Enemies of the West Find a Friend in Obama

Enemies of the West Find a Friend in Obama | National Review Online

At the risk of being melodramatic, it must nonetheless be said: We are in a war for civilization itself, and Barack Obama is not on the right side.

We are in a battle for civilization because the Islamic State, which is darkness and evil personified, hasdeclared war against us — and we in the West and the modernized Orient (Japan, India, Taiwan, and the like) are, despite our flaws, the very repository of civilization. 

They are backwards; we are enlightened. 

They are warped; we are well-intentioned. 

They are inhuman; we are humane. 

They are soul-less; we are desirous, however imperfectly, of a grace beyond our ken.

A national disgrace!!-----Let’s see her e-mails

Let’s see her e-mails | New York Post:
It’s been nearly two years since Lois Lerner planted a question at an American Bar Association gathering to slip in the fact that the IRS had singled out Tea Party groups for special scrutiny.

Since then, we’ve learned the following:

• We’re not going to get more from Lerner, who invoked the Fifth before Congress.
•  We’re not going to get real answers from IRS chief John Koskinen. To the contrary, the only assurance from him that we’re sure he’ll make good on is his recent promise that Americans will get terrible service from the IRS this year.
•  We’re not going to get any help from the Justice Department, which has refused to follow up Congress’ finding of contempt against Lerner by referring her case to a grand jury.

Still, we do know this.
Contrary to earlier assertions by the IRS, the Lois Lerner ­e-mails Congress sought were not lost forever.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), who chairs the Senate’s Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, says authorities have now managed to recover roughly 16,000 Lerner e-mails.

This has led Johnson to send Koskinen a letter in which the senator writes, “I respectfully request your assistance in better understanding the IRS’s document-retention and -production process.”

We prefer the way the senator put it on Fox News: “I smell a rat. I smell a number of rats, and that’s what we are going to get to the bottom of.”

What Key Word Did the White House Leave Out of Its Statement Condemning Denmark Shooting Attack? | TheBlaze.com

What Key Word Did the White House Leave Out of Its Statement Condemning Denmark Shooting Attack? | TheBlaze.com:

"The White House issued a statement following the shooting at a free speech event in Denmark, calling the attack “deplorable” but did not describe it as “terrorist” in nature, unlike Denmark’s prime minister who did use that term.

“The United States condemns today’s deplorable shooting in Copenhagen,” said National Security Council Spokesperson Bernadette Meehan in a statement. “We offer our condolences to the loved ones of the deceased victim, and our thoughts are with those wounded in this attack. We have been in close contact with our Danish counterparts and stand ready to lend any assistance necessary to the investigation.”
The statement was issued after the first shooting in Copenhagen on Saturday but before the killing of a Jewish man at a synagogue in the Danish capital."

And your money keeps rolling in..........Developers get $1 million for Capitol Park Building plan

Developers get $1 million for Capitol Park Building plan:
"The vacant and dilapidated Capitol Park Building in downtown Detroit is a step closer to offering upscale, market-rate apartments.
State development officials approved Friday a $1-million grant to help a trio of developers transform the 11-story building at the corner of Griswold and State into 63 apartments and nearly 15,000 square feet of commercial space. The address is 1145 Griswold.
Plans call for nine studio apartments, 45 one-bedroom units and nine two-bedroom units. The units are expected to rent for more than $1.80 per square foot, according to state documents, although final rates haven't been set. The project's planned completion date was not available Friday.
The project, dubbed Capitol Park Lofts, is to involve a total of $22.7 million in investment, including a $6-million state bridge loan and $3.1 million in federal historic tax credits. It gets its name from nearby Capitol Park, once home to Michigan's first state capitol building.
Although leasing rates for apartments and commercial space have been rising in Detroit, redevelopment projects still require significant subsidies to be financially feasible."

So the fact that Michigan has one of the highest college-grad emmigration rates means nothing?------ Michigan needs twice as many workers with college degrees by 2020, study says

Sooo, we don't need to focus on jobs?
Just give more money to the Big-Education/Loan Complex?
If we "educate", they will work?
Michigan needs twice as many workers with college degrees by 2020, study says | MLive.com
"LANSING -- Michigan is going to need to almost double the amount of college graduates living in the state by the end of the decade in order to have a competitive, knowledge-based economy, according to a report released Thursday.
Business Leaders for Michigan released their report "Business Leaders' Insights: How Higher Education Can Help Michigan Become a Top Ten State" Thursday morning.
Doug Rothwell, president and chief executive officer of the group, said higher education has a major role in Michigan's economic growth strategy.
According to the report, 34 percent of Michigan residents have a college degree.
Rothwell said that number needs to be closer to 70 percent by 2020 for Michigan to compete.
...By growing Michigan's higher education sector among the top 10 states in the country, the state would see its gross domestic product boosted by $200 million and see 40,000 potential new jobs coming to the state.
..."If you look at the education attainment rate, we're below average. Resources are below average, look at personal income levels, we're below average," Rothwell said.
"The countries and states performing the best have higher levels of education attainment and support.""

Death Panels: New 29-Point Checklist Determines if Elderly Person May Die in 30 Days | LifeNews.com

Death Panels: New 29-Point Checklist Determines if Elderly Person May Die in 30 Days | LifeNews.com:

"Killing patients whose perceived utility is declining is not exclusively an American phenomenon. The idea has shaped the healthcare system in the UK for decades, where the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) has been a fixture of end-of-life care.

Unfortunately, however, the LCP has morphed into a utilitarian means of freeing hospital beds and lowering healthcare costs – the unavoidable slippery slope that is presented any time the value of human beings is measured in monetary terms (as socialized healthcare plans do).

Oh, the humanty!!!---No Bologna! Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Crashes Near Harrisburg

No Bologna! Oscar Mayer Wienermobile Crashes Near Harrisburg « CBS Pittsburgh:
"PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile will be off the road for a while.
The truck slammed into a pole near Harrisburg today.
No one was hurt, but the truck is pretty banged up, including a smashed windshield and serious damage to the front of the “bun” fender. 
Oscar Mayer has several “wienermobiles,” all shaped like a hot dog bun."

Will Submarines Soon Become As Obsolete As the Battleship?

Will Submarines Soon Become As Obsolete As the Battleship? - Slashdot:
"An anonymous reader writes:
The United States spends $1.8 billion to build a brand new, state of the art, Virginia-class nuclear powered attack submarine.
They are the backbone of the U.S. Navy and the ultimate threat to those nations who are building massive amounts of missiles to keep U.S. naval forces like aircraft carriers away from their shores — think China, Russia, Iran and various others.
Sadly, the era of the submarine could be coming to an end.
New types of detection technology could make the stealth capabilities of subs obsolete, just like the age of flight made the battleship into a floating museum:
"The ability of submarines to hide through quieting alone will decrease as each successive decibel of noise reduction becomes more expensive and as new detection methods mature that rely on phenomena other than sounds emanating from a submarine. 
These techniques include lower frequency active sonar and non-acoustic methods that detect submarine wakes or (at short ranges) bounce laser or light-emitting diode (LED) light off a submarine hull.
The physics behind most of these alternative techniques has been known for decades, but was not exploited because computer processors were too slow to run the detailed models needed to see small changes in the environment caused by a quiet submarine. 
Today, "big data" processing enables advanced navies to run sophisticated oceanographic models in real time to exploit these detection techniques.
As they become more prevalent, they could make some coastal areas too hazardous for manned submarines."
This could force submarines to stay far away from areas where they could be found.
Alternately, they could evolve into something different: underwater aircraft carriers hosting drones that could strike below the surface."

History for February 16

History for February 16 - On-This-Day.com:
1838, Edgar Bergen 1903, Sonny Bono 1935 - Singer (Sonny and Cher), William Katt 1951 - Actor 


Margaux Hemingway 1955, LeVar Burton 1957 - Actor, John McEnroe 1959 - Tennis player 


1857 - The National Deaf Mute College was incorporated in Washington, DC. It was the first school in the world for advanced education of the deaf. The school was later renamed Gallaudet College. 


1883 - "Ladies Home Journal" began publication. 


1937 - Wallace H. Carothers received a patent for nylon. Carothers was a research chemist for Du Pont. 


1959 - Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba after the overthrow of President Fulgencio Batista. 


1960 - The U.S.S. Triton began the first circumnavigation of the globe under water. The trip ended on May 10. 


1968 - In the U.S., the first 911 emergency telephone system was inaugurated in Haleyville, AL. 


1989 - Investigators in Lockerbie, Scotland, announced that a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player was the reason that Pan Am Flight 103 was brought down the previous December. All 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground were killed. 


2005 - The Kyoto global warming pact went into effect in 140 nations. 

Video Claims to Show Islamic State Beheading 21 Egyptian Christian ‘Crusaders’ | TheBlaze.com

Video Claims to Show Islamic State Beheading 21 Egyptian Christian ‘Crusaders’ | TheBlaze.com:

"The makers of the video identify themselves as the Tripoli Province of the Islamic State group — the Islamic militant group that controls about a third of Syria and Iraq. Militants in Libya claiming affiliation with the Islamic State group had been holding 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians hostage for weeks.

The Associated Press could not immediately independently verify the video.

Original story below

Islamic State militants released a video Sunday purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christian captives, Reuters reported."

The United States must identify the enemy.  If the executive and his submissive administration won't do it, Congress better act.  

Female lawmaker unafraid to slam ‘Islamic savages’

Female lawmaker unafraid to slam ‘Islamic savages’:

"A California assemblywoman is refusing to back down after fellow lawmakers and the Council for American Islamic Relations, or CAIR, have demanded she apologize for what they’re calling a “hateful” message she posted on Twitter.

On Feb. 10, after confirmation that American humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller was killed by the Islamic State, Republican Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez of Lake Elsinore sent out a tweet calling the murder “gut wrenching”

Benghazi Terrorist Planner Met With Osama Bin Laden

Benghazi Terrorist Planner Met With Osama Bin Laden:

"The terrorist planner of Benghazi, Mohammed al Zahawi, met with Osama bin Laden when the latter was in Sudan, according to a senior official in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

According to Business Insider’s account of the official’s eulogy:"

Benghazi Committee ‘Confirmed’ Forthcoming Testimony From Hillary Clinton, Will Interview White House Officials | TheBlaze.com

Benghazi Committee ‘Confirmed’ Forthcoming Testimony From Hillary Clinton, Will Interview White House Officials | TheBlaze.com:

"The memo says that the State Department’s response to “compliance with outstanding subpoenas” has been “unreasonably slow.”

The Committee investigation is seeking answers from the Obama administration on the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the Benghazi compound, which the Obama administration first blamed on a YouTube video before admitting it was a terrorist attack.
When Clinton last spoke about Benghazi at a Senate hearing in 2013, she famously replied, “What difference, at this point, does it make?” when asked how the administration initially described the attack.

In a summary of what the committee has thus far accomplished, the memo said:"

Despite $454 million budget crunch, Michigan senators push for new offices

Despite $454 million budget crunch, Michigan senators push for new offices - WXYZ.com
"LANSING - A projected $454 million budget shortfall hasn't stopped state senators from pushing to buy nicer, newer offices.
The move, proposed last year by then Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe), would move senators into renovated office space while other state departments are being told to brace for cuts.
"You can question motives and you can question everything," Richardville told Channel 7's Ross Jones in November, "but this is a damn good business decision."
Richardville left the Michigan Senate at the end of last year due to term-limits, but not before choosing a proposal submitted by Lansing developer Ron Boji as the senate's future home.
The state has agreed to purchase his building, called Capitol View, for $51 million and is seeking $70 million in state bonds to finance the deal.
..."Not all of the offices face the Capitol, is that the crux of the problem?" asked a skeptical Tim Greimel (D-Auburn Hills).
"Pretty much," Viventi said.
"Isn’t this an expensive proposition for taxpayers in order to make sure that senators get a better view of the Capitol?" Greimel asked.
"The goal would be to provide office space to everyone that’s similar," Viventi responded....

Islamic State Generating ‘Militant Affiliates’ Beyond Iraq and Syria, U.S. Intelligence Officials Say | TheBlaze.com

Islamic State Generating ‘Militant Affiliates’ Beyond Iraq and Syria, U.S. Intelligence Officials Say | TheBlaze.com:

"Setting its sights beyond Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State is generating “militant affiliates” in Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt and Libya, the New York Times reported, citing American intelligence officials.

All of which raises the “prospect of a new global war on terror,” the paper said."