History for May 22

History for May 22 - On-This-Day.com:

Birth anniversaries of composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), artist Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes (1859-1930)

In 1992, Johnny Carson hosted his final “Tonight Show” on NBC. Carson started his hosting gig on Oct 1, 1962.

Happy Birthday! Richard Benjamin, Novak Djokovic, Peter Nero

1570 - Abraham Ortelius published the first modern atlas in Belgium. 


1761 - In Philadelphia, the first life insurance policy was issued in the U.S. 


1819 - The steamship Savannah became the first to cross the Atlantic Ocean. 


1841 - Henry Kennedy received a patent for the first reclining chair. 


1849 - Abraham Lincoln received a patent for the floating dry dock. 


1892 - Dr. Washington Sheffield invented the toothpaste tube. 


1906 - The Wright brothers received a patent their flying machine. 


1939 - Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini signed a military alliance between Germany and Italy known as the "Pact of Steel." 


1947 - The Truman Doctrine was enacted by the U.S. Congress to appropriate military and economic aid Turkey and Greece. 


1955 - A scheduled dance to be headlined by Fats Domino was canceled by police in Bridgeport, Connecticut because "rock and roll dances might be featured." 


1972 - U.S. President Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Russia. He met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. 


1977 - Janet Guthrie set the fastest time of the second weekend of qualifying, becoming the first woman to earn a starting spot in the Indianapolis 500 since its inception in 1911. 


1990 - Microsoft released Windows 3.0. 


1997 - Kelly Flinn, the U.S. Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepted a general discharge. She thereby avoided court-martial on charges of adultery, lying and disobeying an order. 


1998 - A federal judge said that Secret Service agents could be compelled to testify before a grand jury in Monica Lewinsky investigation concerning U.S. President Clinton. 

Harry Reid Hints at More Changes to Senate Rules that Republicans Won’t Like | TheBlaze.com

Harry Reid Hints at More Changes to Senate Rules that Republicans Won’t Like | TheBlaze.com: "
The GOP has said Reid’s move was a dangerous decision to strip the minority party of its historic rights in a way that may forever change how the Senate operates. Some Republicans have said since Reid’s decision, Obama’s nominees are no longer answering questions from Republican senators, since they know the GOP is not needed at all for confirmation."

CNN President: We Won’t Be ‘Shamed’ Into Covering Benghazi | TheBlaze.com

CNN President: We Won’t Be ‘Shamed’ Into Covering Benghazi | TheBlaze.com:
"Climate change and the missing Malaysian flight are important to CNN. The Obama administration’s continued evasion of serious investigation into the 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, not so much.
At least that’s what Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide, told a New York Times reporter at the Deadline Club’s annual awards dinner Monday night.
“We’re not going to be shamed into [Benghazi coverage] by others who have political beliefs that want to try to have temper tantrums to shame other news organizations into covering something,” Zucker said. “If it’s of real news value, we’ll cover it.”

Compound reverses symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in mice

Compound reverses symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in mice -- ScienceDaily:
A molecular compound developed by Saint Louis University scientists restored learning, memory and appropriate behavior in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, according to findings in the May issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
The molecule also reduced inflammation in the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory.

VA Health Spending Per Patient Exploded Amid Chronic Treatment Delays

VA Health Spending Per Patient Exploded Amid Chronic Treatment Delays - Investors.com:


The VA's budget has been exploding, even as the number of veterans steadily declines.
From 2000 to 2013, outlays nearly tripled, while the population of veterans declined by 4.3 million.
Medical care spending — which consumes about 40% of the VA's budget — has climbed 193% over those years, while the number of patients served by the VA each year went up just 68%, according to data from the VA.
From 2008 to 2012 alone, per-patient spending at the VA climbed 27%. To put that in perspective, per capita health spending nationwide rose just 13% during those years.
And per-enrollee spending for Medicare went up only 10%, government data show.

‘They Brandished Shields’ and Pointed Rifles ‘Directly at Innocent Citizens’ — and That Was Just the Start: Lawsuit Details Shock Case of Alleged Fourth Amendment Violation | TheBlaze.com

‘They Brandished Shields’ and Pointed Rifles ‘Directly at Innocent Citizens’ — and That Was Just the Start: Lawsuit Details Shock Case of Alleged Fourth Amendment Violation | TheBlaze.com:
"One law professor reacted to the controversy online, contending that “protecting the public from armed bank robbers is certainly very important,” but “handcuffing dozens of innocent people — in a situation where it was certain that the great bulk of the people were indeed innocent — for over an hour as part of this sort of blanket seizure strikes me as much too high a price to pay for this sort of law enforcement."

Teacher: I helped write Common Core to combat WHITE PRIVILEGE

Teacher: I helped write Common Core to combat WHITE PRIVILEGE (Video) | Progressives Today
Here’s a defense of Common Core that we haven’t heard before:
American schools need the nationalized learning standards so minority students can learn to read as well as white students.
In other words, supporting the experimental learning standards is a matter of social justice.
That view was articulated by teacher David Pook during a recent Common Core debate that occurred at a New Hampshire college, according to Examiner.com.
When Pook, who teaches history at the private and pricey Derryfield School, explained his position, it elicited laughs, groans and jeers from the audience:
“The reason why I helped write the standards and the reason why I am here today is that as a white male in society, I’ve been given a lot of privilege that I didn’t earn. … I think it’s really important that all kids have an equal opportunity to learn how to read. I think I had decided advantages as a result of who I was, not because of any (inaudible).

Benghazi 101: College Students Are Clueless About Terrorist Attack

Benghazi 101: College Students Are Clueless About Terrorist Attack:
Joseph went to George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., located 30 minutes outside Washington, D.C., to ask a few simple questions.
When he asked them who sings the hit “Happy,” students came up with the answer easily: Pharrell Williams.
But when Joseph asked, “What is Benghazi?” he received mostly blank stares.
Two students said it was a “place in Afghanistan.”
Others were even further off—one woman suggested the word was related to a “Save the Children” initiative.

Republicans Predicted This New Obamacare Failure… and Sure Enough It Came True | TheBlaze.com

Republicans Predicted This New Obamacare Failure… and Sure Enough It Came True | TheBlaze.com:
"Under the law, people can report their income level to the federal government or any state running its own insurance exchange, to see if they qualify for health insurance subsidies. But the report said officials don’t have the ability to verify those income levels easily and quickly, as no computer application for doing so has been built.
As a result, subsidy payments may be too high or too low, and the government has no way of knowing at this point. The Post story said officials will start to work on the problem by hand, later this summer."

Lots of "free" money EVERYWHERE!-------Planning moves ahead for the renovation of downtown's Muskegon Area Transit Center

Planning moves ahead for the renovation of downtown's Muskegon Area Transit Center | MLive.com:

MUSKEGON, MI – City and county officials have few stops left on the route to completion of a revamped downtown bus center.

......The bus center on Morris Avenue is a terminal and transfer center for the Muskegon Area Transit System, called MATS, as well as a docking center for Greyhound and other private bus companies. 

Development of the project had been stalled for about 10 years after $2 million in federal money first became available for the project in 2003. 

......Now, construction of an addition, as well as renovation of the old building could begin in August or early September 2014, Lukens said.

Racist WPC14 Conference Puts Out Flyers on “Pitfalls of Working With White People”

Racist WPC14 Conference Puts Out Flyers on “Pitfalls of Working With White People” | Progressives Today

Moron alert!-----Dem congressman Joe "earwax eater" Garcia gets in America's crosshairs (again) with 'Communism works' line

Joe Garcia gets in America Rising's crosshairs (again) with 'Communism works' line | Naked Politics:
When the Democratic Miami Congressman appeared to eat earwax during a committee hearing (he didn't, he says), the political action committee was quick to catch it and post the video.
......."And two of the safest cities in America, two of them are on the border with Mexico.
And of course, the reason is we’ve proved that Communism works. 
If you give everybody a good, government job, there’s no crime. 
But that isn’t what we should be doing on the border.
The kind of money we’ve poured into it, and we’re having diminishing returns. "

‘Outraged’ Obama KNEW About VA Backlogs in 2008

‘Outraged’ Obama KNEW About VA Backlogs in 2008:
"On Sunday, Obama Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on CBS’s Face the Nation told Major Garrett that Obama was “madder than hell,” about the scandal at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA).
But according to briefing materials obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by the Washington Times, Obama knew about the deadly backlog as far back as 2008, following the presidential election which elected Obama to his first term."

The "cancer" is defined benefit pensions for employees. If they don't excise it, Detroit dies. Again.--------Duggan tells Lansing he's OK with city oversight but wants changes in bills

Duggan tells Lansing he's OK with city oversight but wants changes in bills | Detroit Free Press | freep.com: "It doesn’t address a bill that would require new employees to go into 401(k)-type retirement plans instead of the traditional defined-benefit pension plan. 
That provision got the support from Duggan, who noted that those retirement benefits were the norm when he worked for Wayne County and the Detroit Medical Center.
The provision, however, troubled unions because the language differed from recent agreements reached with the emergency manager."

And democrats are stonewalling the investigation, AGAIN!

Michigan committee to consider road funding bills

Michigan committee to consider road funding bills | Crain's Detroit Business:
"LANSING — The Michigan Senate is poised to consider whether it's time to spend significantly more maintaining deteriorating roads.

A Senate panel today will hold a hearing on a House-approved plan to pump $450 million into Michigan's $2.6 billion budget for road projects.
The key is whether senators will try to at least triple the marker laid down by the House.
Generating that much money likely would require a significant increase in Michigan's 19-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax or perhaps a constitutional amendment asking voters to boost the 6 percent sales tax.
The House legislation would raise Michigan's diesel tax to equal the gas tax and let them rise to cover construction costs if fuel prices increase.
Most of the $450 million funding increase would be diverted from elsewhere in the state budget."

How Lansing's ignorance cost Michigan a cool $280M

Brian Dickerson: How Lansing's ignorance cost Michigan a cool $280M | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:
Would you sign a contract without knowing what it might cost you?
That’s exactly what Michigan legislators did this past January — every feckless, reckless Republican and Democrat in the House and Senate — when they unanimously approved a bill making it harder for the state Treasury Department to collect overdue taxes from corporate officers.
Gov. Rick Snyder signed Public Act 3 into law less than three weeks later, boasting in a Feb. 6 news release that the legislation would “bring more fairness” to the collection of business taxes and “establish a more positive business tax environment.”

How much would all this “relentlessly positive action” cost the state in lost tax revenues?
Snyder had no clue.
Neither did state lawmakers, because the nonpartisan agency responsible for putting a price tag on legislative proposals had been unable to quantify the tax bill’s likely cost.
“This will have an unknown impact on state revenue,” the Senate Fiscal Agency’s Elizabeth Pratt wrote in an analysis submitted to the Legislature on March 3, almost a month after Snyder signed PA 3 into law.

........But just two months later, state Treasurer Kevin Clinton, Senate Fiscal Agency director Ellen Jeffries and House Fiscal Agency director Mary Ann Cleary revealed last week that the hastily adopted PA 3 will cost the state more than $280 million in tax revenues over just the next three fiscal years — more than a quarter of the $986-million reduction in estimated revenues that the three state officials disclosed Thursday.

An Email Service So Secure Even the NSA Can’t Crack It? | TheBlaze.com

An Email Service So Secure Even the NSA Can’t Crack It? | TheBlaze.com:

"It’s been a year since former government contractor Edward Snowden started to reveal the extent to which the National Security Agency was spying on various forms of communications in the name of national security. With this and other revelations made since, many have felt their privacy rights have been infringed and have turned to more secure Web and email servers, but even some of those suspended their service due to pressure from the government.

Now, there might just be a service secure enough that even the NSA can’t touch it. Meet ProtonMail."

McDonald's New Mascot Will Scare Your Children Away from Happy Meals

McDonald's New Mascot Will Scare Your Children Away from Happy Meals:
Meet Happy, McDonald's terrifying new mascot.
Happy is the new ambassador of the restaurant's new healthy Happy Meals. Maybe McDonald's is trying to scare children into eating their vegetables.
Happy is the "ambassador for balanced and wholesome eating."
He is encouraging kids to eat the healthy Happy Meal options: fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and water or juice.
He is especially welcoming of the new Low Fat Strawberry Go-Gurt.
Because nothing says "finish your carrot sticks" like a psychotic stare from the side of a box.
.....McDonald's has said, "Happy is about bringing more fun and excitement to kids’ meals, including eating wholesome food choices like low-fat yogurt." Sure, McDonald's.
Whatever you say.

History for May 21

History for May 21 - On-This-Day.com

Fleet Week New York 2014 (May 21-27), New York, NY. 

Happy Birthday! Judge Reinhold, Leo Sayer and Mr T.

1542 - Hernando de Soto died along the Mississippi River while searching for gold. 


1819 - Bicycles were first seen in the U.S. in New York City. They were originally known as "swift walkers." 


1832 - In the U.S., the Democratic Party held its first national convention. 

1881 - The American branch of the Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton. 


1881 - The United States Lawn Tennis Association was formed in New York City. 


1906 - Louis H. Perlman received his patent for the demountable tire-carrying rim. 


1924 - Fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks was murdered in a "thrill killing" committed by Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb. The killers were students at the University of Chicago. 


1927 - Charles A. Lindberg completed the first solo nonstop airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The trip began May 20. 


1956 - The U.S. exploded the first airborne hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean over Bikini Atoll. 


1968 - The nuclear-powered U.S. submarine Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, was last heard from. The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores. 


1982 - The British landed in the Falkland Islands and fighting began. 

1991 - In Madras, India, the former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi was killed by a bouquet of flowers that contained a bomb. 

Common Core Lesson Teaches that America is a Racist Nation

Common Core Lesson Teaches that America is a Racist Nation:
"Much has been made of the nonsensical Math lessons courtesy of Common Core and the elimination of the great classics of literature in favor of informative, progressive pieces. However, one lesson that should concern Americans comes courtesy of Barack Obama himself. His biography has been, not surprisingly, designated as an approved piece of Common Core literature. As a result, 4th graders in some parts of America are being taught a narrative as reality that we have witnessed the President and his lackey media push over the last 5 years. Our children are being taught that America is, at its core, a racist nation."

Warning: The Literary Canon Could Make Students Squirm - NYTimes.com

Warning: The Literary Canon Could Make Students Squirm - NYTimes.com:
"Should students about to read “The Great Gatsby” be forewarned about “a variety of scenes that reference gory, abusive and misogynistic violence,” as one Rutgers student proposed? Would any book that addresses racism — like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” or “Things Fall Apart” — have to be preceded by a note of caution? Do sexual images from Greek mythology need to come with a viewer-beware label?"

Video Shows Just How Easy It Was for U.S. Marine Trapped in a Mexican Prison to Accidentally Cross the Border | TheBlaze.com

Video Shows Just How Easy It Was for U.S. Marine Trapped in a Mexican Prison to Accidentally Cross the Border | TheBlaze.com:
"After “hit men” threatened to rape and torture him to death, Tahmooressi escaped, but was quickly recaptured. He was then moved to solitary confinement, where his hands and feet were chained to a bed for over thirty days. Tahmooressi has now been transferred to a maximum security facility roughly 40 miles outside of Tijuana. If convicted, he could serve up to 21 years in a Mexican prison for carrying his firearms across the border."

Michelle Obama Would Like Students to Monitor Family Members for Racial Insensitivity | TheBlaze.com

Michelle Obama Would Like Students to Monitor Family Members for Racial Insensitivity | TheBlaze.com: "First lady Michelle Obama is encouraging students to monitor their older relatives, friends and co-workers for any racially insensitive comments they might make, and to challenge those comments whenever they’re made.
The first lady spoke on Friday to graduating high school students in Topeka, Kansas, and in remarks released over the weekend, Obama said students need to police family and friends because federal laws can only go so far in stopping racism."

The IRS’s Media Firewall

The IRS’s Media Firewall - Robert Knight - Page 1:
The paper noted that the House was to vote Thursday to create a select committee to investigate the Sept. 11, 2012 Benghazi attack and allegations of a cover-up.

Again, the spin:
“Republicans have raised a delicate set of questions and opened themselves up to accusations that they are politicizing a tragedy that cost four Americans their lives and misusing congressional oversight authority for gain in an election year.”
Hear that? 
It wasn’t the people who got four Americans killed or who covered their own butts with brazen lies for the last two years who are on the hot seat. 
It’s the ones trying to get to the truth.
The New York Times authors buttressed the IRS portion of their scenario with a quote from Ms. Lerner’s attorney, William W. Taylor III, who you can easily picture making an eloquent case that cigarettes are good for you:
“Today’s vote has nothing to do with the facts or the law. Its only purpose is to keep the baseless I.R.S. ‘conspiracy’ alive through the midterm elections.”
Baseless?
Well, lawyers are paid to say such things, but journalists are paid to report as objectively as possible – in theory. 
Which is why we need to ask media outlets why they ignored the other big story on the front page of the Washington Times: “GOP finds 10% of tea party donors audited.”

Very sad. Very strange. Cowardly American State Department--------Did North Korea Kidnap an American Hiker?

Did North Korea Kidnap an American Hiker? | Politics | OutsideOnline.com:
"At intermission I approached Furuya, who told me that he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe believe that NARKN’s information is entirely credible.
“It is most probable that David Sneddon is still residing in North Korea,” he said.
“But I do not think that the United States is working fast enough to collect evidence.”
And since David is an American, he lamented, Japan can’t get involved.
Ambassador King stated in his symposium remarks that the United States’ “commitment to this issue could not be stronger.”
But in reality, officials want nothing to do with David’s case. 
Since David’s disappearance, Roy and Kathleen have written 55 letters to various members of the State Department, including Hillary Clinton during her time as the department’s secretary.
Most went unanswered, but the replies that did come were infuriating. 
Under the Privacy Act, the U.S. government will not release any information about David without David’s written consent. 
To Roy and Kathleen, it is the mother of all catch-22’s."