History for October 31

History for October 31 - On-This-Day.com:
John Keats 1795, Juliette Gordon Low (Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon) 1860, Chiang Kai-Shek 1887
 

Dan Rather 1931- Broadcast journalist, David Ogden Stiers 1942 - Actor ("M.A.S.H."), John Candy 1950 - Actor


1517 - Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church. The event marked the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.


1922 - Benito Mussolini became prime minister of Italy.


1926 - Magician Harry Houdini died of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a ruptured appendix. His appendix had been damaged twelve days earlier when he had been punched in the stomach by a student unexpectedly. During a lecture Houdini had commented on the strength of his stomach muscles and their ability to withstand hard blows.


1940 - The British air victory in the Battle of Britain prevented Germany from invading Britain.


1941 - Mount Rushmore was declared complete after 14 years of work. At the time the 60-foot busts of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln were finished.


1952 - The U.S. detonated its first hydrogen bomb.


1984 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated near her residence by two Sikh security guards. Her son, Rajiv, was sworn in as prime minister.


1999 - EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed off the coast of Nantucket, MA, killing all 217 people aboard.

White privilege bolstered by teaching math, university professor says | Fox News

White privilege bolstered by teaching math, university professor says | Fox News:

"A math education professor at the University of Illinois says the ability to solve geometry and algebra problems and teaching such subjects perpetuates so-called white privilege."

WaPo: Congress Has Special U.S. Treasury Fund to Payout Sexual Harassment Victims

WaPo: Congress Has Special U.S. Treasury Fund to Payout Sexual Harassment Victims:

"As the response to sexual harassment allegations against Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein spreads to America’s most public industries, the Washington Post reported Thursday on Congress’s unique system of handling sexual harassment claims from interns and staffers.
The Post describes Congress as playing by different rules — a workplace where “interns have limited harassment protections under the unique employment law that Congress applies to itself” and where a special U.S. Treasury fund has been established just for settlement payouts."

The way we were-----Carly Simon - You're So Vain (with lyrics)

Boob-tube-----April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated

Universities abandon core curriculums, offer ‘thin and patchy education,’ survey finds - The College Fix

Universities abandon core curriculums, offer ‘thin and patchy education,’ survey finds - The College Fix:
"A recent national survey found that a genuine, well-rounded college education is a thing of the past at many colleges and universities.
Instead, most institutions offer a patchwork of niche grad requirements that often skip over vital subjects such as history, government and economics.
Those are just some of the findings in “What Will They Learn? 2017-18” survey released this month. The ninth annual survey is conducted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a nonprofit that promotes academic freedom, liberal arts and high academic standards.
The group evaluated more than 1,100 colleges and universities based on their requirements in seven “key areas of knowledge”: composition, literature, foreign language, U.S. history, economics, mathematics and science.
The results showed that 66.5 percent of the schools required only three or fewer of those subjects..."
Read on!

Still waiting for a liberal media epiphany

Still waiting for a liberal media epiphany:
"An epiphany (from the ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia) is an experience of sudden and striking realization.
We voters outside the seaboard citadels of snobbery are still waiting for the Press to return from their celebrated cerebral safari and come to an obvious conclusion: the Democratic Party is the sleazebag party.  
The liars, the liars by omission, the sexual abusers, the Russian conspirators, and the cheaters are almost exclusively from the left. 
This makes them contented fellow travelers with our sketchy mainstream media types.
The press has long been in bed with anyone or anything liberal.
Ted Kennedy, a sozzled Weinsteiner and possible liquidator, is their type of guy – a role model for the "do as I say, ignore what I do" crowd.
Hillary Clinton is the media's kind of guy as well.  
She is, of course, the most qualified person ever to lose one kahillion emails from an illegal server while acting as secretary of donations funneled to Bill Clinton for speeches, saxophone recitals, and that oh, so personal touch he is oh, so famous for.  
Oh, and uranium, too.  
Bubba needs his uranium.
...Of course, this all goes nowhere.  
It will all go down the same memory hole as Mary Jo Kopechne.  
How could Hillary Clinton, the DNC, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz possibly
know what all those creepy lawyers they surround themselves with are up to at any given moment?  The press will nod their heads; after all, the Democrats are only human, but the Republicans, they are killers and anti-sciencers, and a lot of bad things..."
Read on!

Susan Collins: John Podesta, Debbie Wasserman Schultz need to be recalled by Senate intel panel - Washington Times

Susan Collins: John Podesta, Debbie Wasserman Schultz need to be recalled by Senate intel panel - Washington Times:

"“It’s difficult to imagine that a campaign chairman, that the head of the DNC, would not know of an expenditure of this magnitude and significance. But perhaps there’s something more going on here. But certainly, it’s worth additional questioning of those two witnesses,” said Mrs. Collins, Maine Republican.

If American Healthcare Kills, European Healthcare Kills More - Foundation for Economic Education - Working for a free and prosperous world

If American Healthcare Kills, European Healthcare Kills More - Foundation for Economic Education - Working for a free and prosperous world:
"The moral argument for universal healthcare is simple: more people receiving medical care means fewer preventable deaths. 
If universal healthcare, such as single-payer, leads to less death, then it is obviously the superior moral choice. 
Politicians like Bernie Sanders will go a step further and claim that Republican legislation, in fact, kills people by reducing government-sponsored coverage.
Yet, what if there were evidence to suggest that more people would die under a universal healthcare scheme than under the current US system? 
What if, by the left’s standards, the American healthcare system is less of a killer than the average European one?
Consider the best estimates of how many people die in the US due to a lack of healthcare. 
The question is hotly contested, and approximations range from 0 to 45,000 people per year. 
The latter figure is obviously what most progressives prefer to cite, and although there’s much to doubt about this number, let’s for the sake of argument accept that approximately 45,000 fewer people would die in the US every year if all Americans had decent health insurance.
Now flip the question: 
How many people die in other countries due to deficiencies in their healthcare systems? 
...A study by the Fraser Institute titled The Effect of Wait Times on Mortality in Canada estimated that “increases in wait times for medically necessary care in Canada between 1993 and 2009 may have resulted in between 25,456 and 63,090 (with a middle value of 44,273) additional deaths among females.” 
Adjusting for the difference in populations (the US has about 9 times as many people), that middle value inflates to an estimated 400,000 additional deaths among females over a 16 year period. 
This translates to an estimated 25,000 additional female deaths each year if the American system were to suffer from increased mortality similar to that experienced in Canada due to increases in wait times. 
A system that disproportionately harms women? 
How progressive..."
Read on!

REPORT: Obama Paid Nearly $1 Million To Law Firm That Hired Fusion GPS | Daily Wire

REPORT: Obama Paid Nearly $1 Million To Law Firm That Hired Fusion GPS | Daily Wire:

"Just days after The Washington Post revealed that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Convention (DNC) funded Fusion GPS as they produced the unverified Trump dossier, a new report indicates that former President Barack Obama's campaign organization might have played a part in financing the project as well.

Records filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) revealed that Obama’s official campaign organization, Obama For America (OFA), has given over $972,000 to Perkins Coie since last year — the same law firm representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC which hired Fusion GPS to conduct “research” on then-candidate Donald Trump, The Federalist reported."

Lunch video-----How to Raise Kids Who Are Smart About Money

Noon-toon

Records Show Conservatives Overtly Excluded as Leftists Got $1 Billion from Companies Sued by DOJ - Judicial Watch

Records Show Conservatives Overtly Excluded as Leftists Got $1 Billion from Companies Sued by DOJ - Judicial Watch:

"An Obama-era scheme that forced companies sued by the government to fund leftist groups overtly excluded conservative organizations, according to internal Department of Justice (DOJ) records obtained by Judicial Watch. As part of settlements, the DOJ would often give the corporations—mainly big banks—double credit if they gave money to leftwing interest groups handpicked by the administration instead of paying the government. The new records demonstrate a collaborative effort among high-level officials in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General (OAAG) and the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to ensure conservative groups did not receive any settlement cash."

Bonus quotation of the day on propaganda vs. education.... - AEI

Bonus quotation of the day on propaganda vs. education.... - AEI
Bonus quotation of the day on propaganda vs. education….

Carpe Diem

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…. is from Thomas Sowell writing in 2003 (“Twisted History“), emphasis added:

"One of the things that we take for granted today is that it is wrong to take other people’s land by force.  Neither American Indians nor the European invaders believed that. Both took other people’s land by force – as did Asians, Africans, Arabs, Polynesians, and others. The Indians no doubt regretted losing so many battles. But that is wholly different from saying that they thought battles were the wrong way to settle the question of who would control the land.Today’s child cannot possibly put himself or herself in the mindset of Indians centuries ago, without infinitely more knowledge of history than our schools have ever taught. Nor is understanding history the purpose of such questions. The purpose is to score points against Western society. In short, propaganda has replaced education as the goal of too many “educators.”

#1 Movie this week 1980-----Private Benjamin (1980) Trailer

Notice the MSM has ignored this story?-----A Strange Captivity | The Weekly Standard

A Strange Captivity | The Weekly Standard
"Their story has all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster. 
Caitlan Coleman and Joshua Boyle were idealistic adventurers, a newlywed couple who loved to explore unusual destinations and travel off the beaten path.
The North American pair married in 2011, and after spending a few months in Guatemala, they set off for Central Asia, trekking through Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Afghanistan was not part of their original plan, the couple’s friends and family say, but they met other travelers on their journey who raved about the country and its unique beauty, and, just like that, the carefree duo decided to explore the Wardak Province of central Afghanistan.
Within weeks, Coleman and Boyle were abducted by the Haqqani network, a fierce and ruthless faction of the Taliban.
...Unlike most kidnapping victims, the couple started a family and continued having children while in captivity. Caitlan Coleman, it turns out, was seven-months pregnant when the couple decided to backpack through the Taliban-controlled region of Afghanistan.
...And the more Boyle talks, the more he sounds like a religious fanatic.
Examining Boyle’s actions and considering his background, which includes a high-profile marriage into a renowned al Qaeda family, it’s easy to become skeptical of his story..."
Read on!

#1 This day 1971-----Rod Stewart - Maggie May (Lyrics)

The Insatiable Utopia - Reason.com

The Insatiable Utopia - Reason.com
"In February 1917, a 30-year-old Bolshevik named Valerian Osinsky wrote to his 22-year-old mistress about a coming revolution that would wipe away czarism and deliver what Christianity couldn't: the kingdom of heaven on earth. 
"Only in the world of insatiable utopia," he wrote, "will the simplest ethical rules become real and free from exceptions and contradictions."
Twenty-one years later, he would be executed as an "enemy of the people" for his blasphemies against the Soviet Union.
Stories like that abound in the Berkeley historian Yuri Slezkine's 1,100-page epic, The House of Government, which chronicles the lives of elite Bolsheviks and their families from their early days of revolutionary awakening through the overthrow of the czar, the building of "the dictatorship of the proletariat," Joseph Stalin's Great Terror, and their children's loss of faith.
Divided into three volumes, The House of Government isn't just history. It's art that self-consciously, and successfully, mimics Tolstoy's War and Peace and Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago.
...By the end it's also a horror story of grotesque proportions, as the "insatiable utopia" devours its own.
Forced collectivization was both an economic and a human rights disaster.
The servants of the state were given production quotas that couldn't be met, then beaten when they failed to produce.
"They whine and whimper that there's nothing left," wrote one party official responsible for grain procurement, "but when you grab them by the throat, they deliver both grain and hay, and whatever else they're required to."
Mass death resulted. "The determined enforcement of ambitious production plans," notes Slezkine, "resulted in a famine that killed between 4.6 and 8 million people." 
Some resorted to cannibalism to fill their bellies.
Meanwhile, the elite had more than enough.
A short time after witnessing the Kazakhstan countryside starving to death, one secret policeman's fashionista wife wrote about how they dined on "roast suckling pig."...
Read it all!

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WILLIAMS: Undermining America | Daily Wire

WILLIAMS: Undermining America | Daily Wire:

"Our nation's leftist progressives have long sought to undermine the American values expressed in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Though typical Democrats and Republicans do not have this leftist hate for our nation, they have been willing accomplices in undermining the most basic value the Founding Fathers sought to promote -- limited government. Leftists have had their greatest successes in undermining American values on the nation's college campuses. Derelict and dishonest college administrators, professors and boards of trustees have given them carte blanche. Let's look at some of it."