History for March 23

History for March 23 - On-This-Day.com
Erich Fromm 1900 - German-American psychologist and humanistic philosopher, Joan Crawford 1905 - Actress (Mildred Pierce, The Unknown) Born: Lucille Fay LeSueur, Wernher Von Braun 1912 - Rocket scientist, generally regarded as the father of the United States space program 
(Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun) 


Roger Gilbert Bannister 1929 - Neurologist, British athlete, first man to run the mile in less than four minutes, Craig Breedlove 1937 - First to reach 400 mi/h, 500 mi/h and 600 mi/h using turbojet-powered vehicles, Keri Russell 1976 - Actress ("Felicity") 


1775 - American revolutionary Patrick Henry declared, "give me liberty, or give me death!" 


1839 - The first recorded printed use of "OK" [oll korrect] occurred in Boston's Morning Post. 


1857 - Elisha Otis installed the first modern passenger elevator in a public building. It was at the corner of Broome Street and Broadway in New York City. 


1901 - Dame Nellie Melba, revealed the secret of her now famous toast. 

1912 - The Dixie Cup was invented. 


1919 - Benito Mussolini founded his Fascist political movement in Milan, Italy. 


1933 - The German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act. The act effectively granted Adolf Hitler dictatorial legislative powers. 


1942 - During World War II, the U.S. government began evacuating Japanese-Americans from West Coast homes to detention centers. 


1965 - America's first two-person space flight took off from Cape Kennedy with astronauts Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young aboard. The craft was the Gemini 3. 


1972 - Evel Knievel broke 93 bones after successfully jumping 35 cars. 


1983 - U.S. President Reagan first proposed development of technology to intercept enemy missiles. The proposal became known as the Strategic Defense Initiative and "Star Wars." 

The UN Just Condemned a Single Nation for Women’s Rights Violations. Can You Guess Which One? | TheBlaze.com

The UN Just Condemned a Single Nation for Women’s Rights Violations. Can You Guess Which One? | TheBlaze.com:

"Rather than focus on rampant female genital mutilation in Somalia or Saudi Arabia’s treatment of women as second-class citizens who can’t even drive themselves to the hospital, the U.N. took aim at Israel in a report titled, “Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women.”

The report blames the Israeli occupation of the West Bank for ”[h]igh levels of unemployment and poverty” among Palestinians that hit women especially hard.

In a 2014 World Economic Forum report on women’s political empowerment worldwide, Israel ranked 49th worldwide, compared to the U.S. at No. 54."

Dems want to empower Boehner

Dems want to empower Boehner | TheHill:
"House Democrats fighting for leverage in the GOP Congress are hoping they can empower an unlikely ally: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Democrats are outnumbered by more than 50 members – and have almost no power to bring bills to the floor.
But they see Boehner as a willing compromiser on must-pass legislation like funding the government and raising the debt ceiling – once the Speaker can convince his troops that the partisan route endorsed by his conservative wing has been denied."

Ayatollah: Iran nuke talks 'fraudulent'

Ayatollah: Iran nuke talks 'fraudulent' | TheHill:
"Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, tweeted his outrage Saturday over talks with the U.S. over his nation’s nuclear weapons research.
“We reject fraudulent offer of reaching w #Iran first than lifting sanctions,” Khamenei tweeted. “Lifting sanctions is a part of deal, not its outcome.”
“#US sanctions are ineffective,” he continued.
“Threatening to sanction or military action won’t scare #Iran-ians.
God backs Iranian nation’s resistance.”
The Ayatollah’s remarks come amid a break in negotiations between Tehran and the West that began Friday.
Secretary of State John Kerry noted “substantial progress” in bargaining Saturday but said a deal is not done yet.
 Khamenei refuted Kerry’s comments Saturday.
The Ayatollah said his people would not accept U.S “bullying” during the talks...

Obama Addresses His People -- in Iran! - The Rush Limbaugh Show

Obama Addresses His People -- in Iran! - The Rush Limbaugh Show:

"Obama goes on television in Iran to complain about Americans.  And he equates the American people who disagree with him to hardliners in Iran who disagree with their government.  He compares Iranian hardliners to Americans who are skeptical of his deal.  We must have audio sound bites of this.  It's unprecedented.  An American president addressing the Iranians.  Here.  Just listen.

OBAMA:  Hello.  To everyone celebrating Nowruz -- across the United States and in countries around the world -- Nowruz Mubarak.  This year we had the best opportunity in decades to pursue a different future between our countries.  Just over a year ago"

Today MSU became the 7th all time with 61 tournament wins

Today MSU became the 7th school with 61 tournament wins
Team... Yrs in Tourney.... Games Won 
Kentucky 53 115 
North Carolina 45 109 
UCLA 46 100 
Duke 38 98 
Kansas 43 95 
Louisville 40 70 
Michigan State 28 61
Indiana 37 60 
Syracuse 37 60 

Thought police and our new "america"-----Guess why: LSU frat’s ‘Old South Ball’ won’t take place on an old plantation

Guess why: LSU frat’s ‘Old South Ball’ won’t take place on an old plantation
The “Old South Ball,” sponsored by the Kappa Alpha Fraternity at Louisiana State University, won’t take place at an old plantation this year due to concerns that it is racially insensitive.

This, according to the frat’s national chapter.
The ball is the frat’s spring formal event where attendees dress up in costumes like those worn in the film Gone with the Wind.
This, some members of the university believe, is offensive.

The Daily Reveille reports:

“Just going back to a plantation and wearing the clothing of their supposive [sic] ancestors but it’s not a time that was great for everyone,” said [Vice President of Black Student Union Brent] Chapuis.

...Another African American student named Willie Jones went to the fraternity house in person to ask questions about the event.

“I just feel like the Old South Ball is something that’s racially insensitive and if you can’t celebrate something without offending a group of people or minority then you shouldn’t be doing that at all,” Jones said...

Read the full article.

An American disgrace-----The James Taylor Doctrine

The James Taylor Doctrine :: SteynOnline
...Dr Shakil Afridi could have used a friend like that. 
Instead, he made friends with the Government of the United States, and a fat lot of good it did him. As I said on the radio a couple of years ago:

When Joe Biden goes, 'Obama, he's the toughest hombre who ever lived...' This was the decision to take out bin Laden, to pull the trigger, as Obama did personally. 'This was the toughest decision any world leader has had to make in 2,000 years since Pontius Pilate decided to whack Jesus, this is the toughest decision any guy has ever had to take …and in fact, the reality is the guy who took the tough decision was that little Pakistani doctor who made the decision to go to the Americans, and is now being tortured in jail. And Mister Tough Guy, Joe Biden, and the toughest hombre in a millennium, Obama, haven't done a thing about him, poor fellow.

Were it not for Dr Afridi, Osama bin Laden would still be alive and whooping it up with his pals in Abbottabad. Instead, President Obama got to do his "Osama is dead and al-Qaeda is on the run" routine right through the 2012 election and all the way until ISIS took Mosul. 
Meanwhile, Dr Afridi is about to begin the fourth year of his 33-year prison term. 
And the preening poseurs who run the global superpower have lifted not a finger to help him.

You've got a friend? 
In the Age of Obama, who would be a friend of America? 
Indeed, who would be a friend of a friend of America? 
Yesterday, Dr Afridi's lawyer was shot dead in Peshawar:

"Two men on a motorcycle opened fire on Mr Samiullah who was travelling alone in his car near Bashir Bagh Aslam Dehri, killing him on the spot" said SSP (operations) Dr Mian Saeed.

He told Dawn that the attackers had fired four shots on the lawyer and the bullets hit him in the chest and abdomen. He said that it was early to determine the motive behind the murder.

Actually, it's not all that difficult to "determine":

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat ur Ahrar accepts responsibility for the attack on Samiullah, the lawyer of Shakil Afridi, who was co-operating with the killers of Sheikh Osama bin Laden. The enemy should remember that we will kill each and every one of the killers of each of our brothers.

All you gotta do is call, and the White House will put you on hold while you listen to James Taylor's Greatest Hits.
The doctor is in jail because he's a friend of America. 
The lawyer is dead because he's a friend of a friend of America. 
How come the United States could plan a flawless operation to bust into Osama's compound and put a bullet in him, but it couldn't do a thing for the operation's indispensable human intelligence?
This is usually the point where I quote the great Bernard Lewis' words when we chanced to be on a panel discussion a few years back - that America risked being seen as harmless as an enemy and treacherous as a friend...

The IRS Scandal, Day 681

TaxProf Blog: The IRS Scandal, Day 681
American Center for Law and Justice, IRS Bureaucracy Continues to Target Conservatives’ Constitutional Freedoms:

The new IRS commissioner brought in to clean up the corrupt bureaucracy responsible for targeting grassroots conservative groups and infringing upon ordinary Americans’ constitutional freedoms admits that the targeting has not stopped.

Commissioner John Koskinen, testifying before the House Appropriations subcommittee this week, admitted that nearly a dozen grassroots conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status are still awaiting determination.

One thing is clear – the unelected and corrupt IRS bureaucracy continues to infringe upon our basic freedoms.

Commissioner Koskinen claimed that he has offered a path to tax-exempt status if these groups would agree to limit their overtly political activity. But the standard offered in this so-called compromise is arbitrary and continues to infringe upon fundamental freedoms. The offer asked our clients and other groups to agree to spend no more than 40% of their resources on political activity.

The Washington Times reported with more:

Mr. Koskinen's agency offered groups still awaiting approval a deal that they could get immediate approval if they promised to limit political activity to 40 percent of their budgets. 
Conservative lawyers, however, argue that the law and regulations suggest groups should be able to spend 49.9 percent of their money on political activity, and so agreeing to the 40-percent level would be ceding some of their rights to the government.

Trey Gowdy Threatens Possible House Action if Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Hand Over Her Server | TheBlaze.com

Trey Gowdy Threatens Possible House Action if Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Hand Over Her Server | TheBlaze.com:

"Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) on Friday officially asked Hillary Clinton to turn her private server over to a neutral party for an assessment of whether it still contains work-related emails dealing with the 2012 attack in Benghazi.

Gowdy also explicitly warned that refusing to comply with this request could lead to action by the House to force Clinton hand over the server."