History for April 15

History for April 15 - On-This-Day.com:
Leonardo da Vinci 1452 - Artist ("Mona Lisa", "The Last Supper"), Nikita Khrushchev 1894 - U.S.S.R. premier, Michael Ansara 1922 


Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery 1933 - Actress ("Bewitched"), Claudia Cardinale 1939 - Actress ("The Pink Panther"), Emma Thompson 1959 - Actress 


1817 - The first American school for the deaf was opened in Hartford, CT. 



1865 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln died from injuries inflicted by John Wilkes Booth. 



1912 - The ocean liner Titanic sank in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg the evening before. 1,517 people died and more than 700 people survived. 



1945 - During World War II, British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. 


1948 - The Arabs were defeated in the first Jewish-Arab battle. 


1952 - The first B-52 prototype was tested in the air. 


1953 - Charlie Chaplin surrendered his U.S. re-entry permit rather than face proceedings by the U.S. Justice Department. Chaplin was accused of sympathizing with Communist groups. 


1967 - Richard Speck was found guilty of murdering eight student nurses. 


1986 - U.S. F-111 warplanes attacked Libya in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5, 1986. 


1994 - The World Trade Organization was established. 

The Jab Rubio Took at Clinton During Presidential Announcement Speech That Everyone Is Talking About | TheBlaze.com

The Jab Rubio Took at Clinton During Presidential Announcement Speech That Everyone Is Talking About | TheBlaze.com:

"Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) used Hillary Clinton as a foil when he announced Monday evening that he would seek the White House in 2016, calling Clinton a relic of the past that the country needs to move beyond.
“Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday,” Rubio said to boos at the reference to Clinton.

“Yesterday’s over, and we’re never going back,” he said to cheers at the Freedom Tower in Miami."

Approve a massive tax increase? Add this to your calendar!

"Perfect" legislation. Vote for it or they will punish you-----4 takeaways from Norton Shores discussion about Michigan's Proposal 1

4 takeaways from Norton Shores discussion about Michigan's Proposal 1 | MLive.com
4. This is the best the lawmakers could come up with? 
Hansen underscored that the proposed law change is the result of 10 years of bipartisan compromise and policy work.

"For 10 years, we've talked about what are we going to do about our roads," Hansen said. "This has been a huge challenge to get where we are today.

"Is it perfect? 

Absolutely not. 

But I've never seen a piece of legislation come out of Lansing this perfect."

Hovey-Wright agreed.

"It's this or nothing, guys," she said.

ISIS plays soccer with severed heads

ISIS plays soccer with severed heads:

"The horrors just keep getting worse for Palestinians in the Damascus refugee camp in Yarmuk, where, after enduring two years of famine and siege, an eyewitness says he saw ISIS terrorists beheading civilians and playing soccer with their heads.

That’s when Abdel Fatah fled for his life.

“I saw severed heads,” he said. “They killed children in front of their parents. We were terrorized. We had heard of their cruelty from the television, but when we saw it ourselves … I can tell you, their reputation is well-deserved."

Huron County Pushes Stop Button on Wind Development

Huron County Pushes Stop Button on Wind Development [Michigan Capitol Confidential]: "Complaints that living near industrial wind turbines causes adverse health impacts have been voiced worldwide. 
They include symptoms such as headaches and dizziness allegedly caused by exposure to low-frequency noise, infrasound emitted by the turbines and visual problems allegedly caused by the flicker effect of the turbine blades.
“This is a big deal,” said Kevon Martis director of the Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition (IICC), a nonprofit organization that is concerned about the construction of wind turbines in the region.
“The moratorium in Huron County is a significant blow to Michigan wind development.
Wind developers will no doubt continue to whistle past the tombstones and claim that most people do not mind having entire townships and counties turned into 50-story-tall power plants.
But as wind development has increased in Michigan, people's voices of protest have also increased. And most communities hosting wind turbines are now using every legal and regulatory means at their disposal to stop the bleeding.”
Minnesota-based Geronimo Wind Energy, arguably the wind developer most immediately affected by the moratorium, did not respond to a phone call offering the opportunity to comment."

Residents fleeing high-tax states

STEPHEN MOORE: Residents fleeing high-tax states - Washington Times:
"Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren appeared on one of the late night talk shows last week, beating the class warfare drum and arguing for billions of dollars in new social programs paid for with higher taxes on millionaires and billionaires.

In recent years, though, blue states such as California, Illinois, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland and Minnesota adopted this very strategy, and they raised taxes on their wealthy residents. How did it work out? 
Almost all of these states lag behind the national average in growth of jobs and incomes.
So, if income redistribution policies are the solution to shrinking the gap between rich and poor, why do they fail so miserably in the states?
The blue states that try to lift up the poor with high taxes, high welfare benefits, high minimum wages and other Robin Hood policies tend to be the places where the rich end up the richest and the poor the poorest."

It ain't about farmers. It's about buying votes-------The Farm Bill: One giant redistribution of wealth

The Farm Bill: One giant redistribution of wealth - Watchdog.org:
"...Consumers, even the poorest among them, would also benefit from the abolition of SNAP.
In fact, food stamps is what the Farm Bill is all about, capturing 79 percent of the total cost. 
But food-stamp recipients do not get all that money; some of it goes to producers while some of it gets lost in inflation–getting almost unrestricted cash artificially increases demand.
True, states like Mississippi and Alabama, which receive greater SNAP benefits compare to other states, stand to lose from the abolition of the program.
However most other states will win from lower food prices.
It would also be the end of this highly inefficient income transfer to farmers, who receive one percent from every tax dollar levied for SNAP."

Rush Limbaugh: TPNN’s Scottie Hughes ‘Called it Exactly Right’ on Hillary’s Immunity to Criticism

Rush Limbaugh: TPNN’s Scottie Hughes ‘Called it Exactly Right’ on Hillary’s Immunity to Criticism:

"Limbaugh discussed how the same game is being played now with Hillary and praised Hughes and TPNN for sounding the alarm bell:

‘First female president! No criticism permitted. Any criticism that’s offered is sexist and part of the War on Women.’ Then after the first woman serves, then the Democrats will nominate the first Hispanic and repeat the whole thing. ‘First Hispanic president! No criticism permitted. If you criticize, you’re a bigot.’…

Rush went on to say that during her appearance on Fox News,"



I guess it's up to the women to sound the alarm.
Hillary is no good for our nation!  

At the bottom. Again!---2015’s States with the Best & Worst Taxpayer ROI

2015’s States with the Best & Worst Taxpayer ROI | WalletHub®:
"Ideological differences regarding the role of local taxation have resulted in citizens of each state shouldering dramatically different tax burdens.
This, of course, begs the question of whether people in high-tax states benefit from correspondingly superior government services or if low-tax states are more efficient.
In short, where do taxpayers get the most and least bang for their buck?
WalletHub sought to answer that question by contrasting state and local tax rates to the quality of the services provided within the following six categories: Infrastructure, Education, Health, Safety, Economy and Pollution. 
We used 22 total metrics to do so, and you can read our complete methodology as well as expert commentary below."

New Speak---White Kid Caught Ecstatically Singing "Nigga"

White Kid Caught Ecstatically Singing "Nigga" By Coachella Livestream:
"For years, white kids have been able to attend rap concerts and scream the word "nigga" in peace.
But now, at least at festivals, livestreams are ubiquitous, which means we inadvertently see something like this: a white kid catching the spirit of a Southern frat party during Drake's "Crew Love."
In Jace's defense (his name is probably Jace), Drake did ask the crowd to sing along to the song, and if Drake tells a teen to do something, well."

Thanks for the memories---Looking back at Muskegon Summer Celebration's history through photos

Looking back at Muskegon Summer Celebration's history through photos | MLive.com

Do Men Really Earn More Than Women?

Do Men Really Earn More Than Women? - Infographic - PayScale

A 9-Year-Old Girl Is Pregnant After Islamic State Fighters Raped Her, Aid Worker Claims | TheBlaze.com

A 9-Year-Old Girl Is Pregnant After Islamic State Fighters Raped Her, Aid Worker Claims | TheBlaze.com:

"The girl “was sexually abused by no fewer than 10 men,” Yousif Daoud, a Canadian aid worker, told the Toronto Star Thursday. The Star reported that Daoud asked that the paper use a pseudonym for him to avoid his losing trust with the Yazidis he helps.

“Most of them were front-line fighters or suicide bombers who are given girls as a reward. She was in very bad shape,” he said."

Well, it did happen in Germany, USSR, China........The 10 Greatest Dystopian Movies from the past 10 Years

The 10 Greatest Dystopian Movies from the past 10 Years | The Daily Sheeple

2081

This short film is based on a satirical story written by Kurt Vonnegut titled “Harrison Bergeron.”
It depicts a future America where inequality has been effectively outlawed. The strong must be tied down with heavy weights, the beautiful must don masks, and the intelligent must wear an electronic device that interrupts their thoughts.
To top it all off, the government has created a department to enforce these laws that is headed by the “handicapper general.”

The titular character is a young man who is extraordinary in every way.
He is handsome, brilliant, and incredibly athletic.
In fact, he is so special that the government shackled him with the most oppressive handicaps they could find, and tried to imprison him indefinitely.
Despite their efforts, he escapes and tries to overthrow the government.
At its heart, this film tries to depict what would happen if political correctness and cultural sensitivity are ever allowed to reach their full potential. 
I can’t think of a better critique of our current culture than this.

You can catch the short film, as well as the 1995 made for tv movie on YouTube if you don’t mind the lower film quality.

History for April 14

History for April 14 - On-This-Day.com
Anne Mansfield Sullivan 1866 - "The Miracle Worker", famous for teaching Helen Keller to read, write and speak, Arnold (Joseph) Toynbee 1889 - Historian, author , Frank Serpico 1934 


Loretta Lynn 1935 - Country singer, first woman to earn the CMA's Entertainer of the Year award , Julie Christie 1941 - Actress ("Dr. Zhivago", "Shampoo"), Pete Rose (Peter Edward Rose) 1941 - Baseball player 


1828 - The first edition of Noah Webster's dictionary was published under the name "American Dictionary of the English Language." 


1865 - U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in Ford's Theater by John Wilkes Booth. He actually died early the next morning. 


1902 - James Cash (J.C.) Penney opened his first retail store in Kemmerer, WY. It was called the Golden Rule Store. 


1912 - The Atlantic passenger liner Titanic, on its maiden voyage hit an iceberg and began to sink. 1,517 people lost their lives and more than 700 survived. 


1918 - The U.S. First Aero Squadron engaged in America's first aerial dogfight with enemy aircraft over Toul, France. 


1939 - The John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath" was first published. 


1984 - The Texas Board of Education began requiring that the state's public school textbooks describe the evolution of human beings as "theory rather than fact". 


1988 - In New York, real estate tycoons Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted for income tax evasion. 

A Tiny Catholic College in the Middle of Nowhere Is Taking a Big Stand Against the Federal Government | TheBlaze.com

A Tiny Catholic College in the Middle of Nowhere Is Taking a Big Stand Against the Federal Government | TheBlaze.com:

"Wyoming Catholic College joins a tiny number of holdouts against federal interference that includes Virginia’s Christendom College and Michigan’s Hillsdale College.

Many Wyoming Catholic students use private loans to pay the $28,000 annual tuition, and for some, that tradeoff is worth it.

“We prefer to stay on the side of siding with our beliefs,” senior Matthew Gaddis told the Times."

A Russian Fighter Jet Did Something to a U.S. Plane That Has the State Department Filing an Official Complaint | TheBlaze.com

A Russian Fighter Jet Did Something to a U.S. Plane That Has the State Department Filing an Official Complaint | TheBlaze.com:

"A Russian fighter jet’s “unsafe” and “unprofessional” action toward a U.S. RC-135U reconnaissance aircraft has the State Department lodging an official complaint with the increasingly combative country.

According to a tweet sent out on Saturday by the European Command, the United States is not happy about the incident that occurred near Poland on Tuesday."

Well, yeah. So hurtful, kemosabi.....Protesters call for Indians to change nickname, logo

Protesters call for Indians to change nickname, logo:
"CLEVELAND (AP) — Chanting "We are people, not your mascots," several dozen protesters gathered outside the Indians' home opener urging the team to change its nickname and abolish the Chief Wahoo logo.
The demonstration has taken place each year on opening day for several decades, gaining more attention because of similar protests in Washington against the Redskins.
..."This imagery, most sports teams are named after animals and they put us in that same category. We're human beings.
We're still a living culture and we still exist..."

Republicans React to Hillary Clinton’s Candidacy: ‘She Does Not Have the Right Vision to Lead America’ | TheBlaze.com

Republicans React to Hillary Clinton’s Candidacy: ‘She Does Not Have the Right Vision to Lead America’ | TheBlaze.com:

"After former secretary of state Hillary Clinton announced she’s running for president of the United States, several prominent Republicans shot back with responses on Sunday."

Oh yeah, everyone gets a piece of the marijuana pie----Michigan marijuana legalization group proposing 10% tax with revenue for roads, schools and cities

Michigan marijuana legalization group proposing 10% tax with revenue for roads, schools and cities | MLive.com:
"LANSING, MI -- An activist-led group seeking to put a marijuana legalization proposal on Michigan's 2016 ballot wants to tax retail sales at 10 percent and allow residents to grow up to 12 plants at home.
The Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Committee -- one of three unaffiliated groups considering a possible petition drive -- on Friday released draft language of its ballot proposal.
....In addition to the state sales tax, retail marijuana sales would be subject to a 10 percent excise tax, with 40 percent of revenue going to the Michigan Department of Transportation, 40 percent to School Aid Fund and 20 percent to the local government."

Controversial ‘American Sniper’ Screening at U. of Michigan Packs Room, Draws ‘Bias Response Team’ — but How Does ‘Paddington’ Do? | Video | TheBlaze.com

Controversial ‘American Sniper’ Screening at U. of Michigan Packs Room, Draws ‘Bias Response Team’ — but How Does ‘Paddington’ Do? | Video | TheBlaze.com:

"The screening on the Ann Arbor campus made national headlines this week when it was canceled in the wake of a letter from students who complained “American Sniper” is anti-Muslim; the alternate movie would be “Paddington.”

But shortly after head football coach Jim Harbaugh declared that he would show the movie to his team, the university walked back the decision to cancel the screening."

New business growth in Michigan remains weak

New business growth in Michigan remains weak | MLive.com

For the first time in decades, U.S. businesses are closing at a faster pace than new ones are being started.

..Some say the trend is deeply disturbing because new businesses provide so much innovation and economic vitality. 

"Let's get one thing clear: this economy is never truly coming back unless we reverse the birth and death trends of American businesses," Gallup CEO Jim Clifton recently wrote.

Thomas Edsall, a contributing columnist for the New York Times, cited increasing government regulation of small businesses, corporate consolidations, more occupational licensing requirements and too few skilled immigrants as among the reasons why start-ups are lagging. 

The trend in Michigan is similar, with one huge caveat...