History for December 29

History for December 29 - On-This-Day.com
Charles Goodyear 1800, Andrew Johnson 1808, William Gladstone 1809


Mary Tyler Moore 1936 - Actress, Jon Voight 1938 - Actor, Ted Danson 1947 - Actor ("Cheers")


1845 - U.S. President James Polk and signed legislation making Texas the 28th state of the United States.


1997 - Hong Kong began killing 1.25 million chickens, the entire population, for fear of the spread of 'bird flu.'

The cost of the wall is nothing compared to the yearly cost of illegal immigration - Conservative Review

The cost of the wall is nothing compared to the yearly cost of illegal immigration - Conservative Review:

Last week, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen testified before the House Judiciary Committee that the Border Patrol is averaging 2,100 apprehensions per day so far this fiscal year. That is an annualized rate of 766,500 illegals. Those are just the ones we catch. How many are allowed to come in undetected as a result of the agents being tied up with family units?

The way we were-----The Last Song - Edward Bear - 1972

Boob-tube-----Ding Dong School Miss Frances

Layoffs and more buyouts planned at Detroit Free Press, Detroit News

Layoffs and more buyouts planned at Detroit Free Press, Detroit News

• Detroit Free Press plan to lay off up to six employees from the paper's bargaining unit
• Some layoffs could be avoided if more buyout volunteers come forward before Jan. 9 deadline
• Detroit News planning layoffs if buyout offer fails to attract enough employees by Jan. 12

...Both papers have suffered large staff reductions in the past decade amid an industry-wide struggle to remain profitable as advertising revenue and print circulation fall..."
Read on.

Spotless Sun Sparks a Geomagnetic Storm | Watts Up With That?

Spotless Sun Sparks a Geomagnetic Storm | Watts Up With That?
"But, last night the spotless sun produced a G1-class geomagnetic storm with bright auroras reported from Iceland to Alaska.  
More lights are in the offing as a stream of solar wind is expected to buffet Earth’s magnetic field for the next 24 to 48 hours.

Similar displays were reported over Iceland (“the best auroras of the season,” says Jónína Óskarsdóttir) and Canada (“STEVE made an appearance as well,” reports Harlan Thomas).

This storm was caused not by sunspots, which have been absent for most of 2018, but rather by a hole in the sun’s atmosphere.  
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the gaseous fissure on Dec. 24th:
More at Spaceweather.com

Mueller-target Corsi says special counsel harassing family members - WND

Mueller-target Corsi says special counsel harassing family members - WND:

“Previously, Mueller and his dishonest leftist hack prosecutors, including Jeannie Rhee, who before joining the special counsel’s office has been a lawyer for the Clinton Foundation, had mocked in closed door settings Dr. Corsi’s Christian beliefs requiring him not to lie under oath, and also ordered him not to report any agreed sealed plea deal to government regulators, which he would have been required to do under his license to sell and market securities. Thus, Jeannie Rhee and others in Mueller’s office incredibly counseled Dr. Corsi to commit more crimes in addition to perjury,” he said.
Corsi, too, explained what he sees as Mueller’s harassment of his family.

Swedish National TV under fire for 'censoring' murder on tourists and saying 'it has nothing to do with Islam'

Swedish National TV under fire for 'censoring' murder on tourists and saying 'it has nothing to do with Islam'
"The state broadcaster SVT’s coverage of the double murder of 24-year-old Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and 28-year-old Maren Ueland by Islamists in Morocco has sparked a fury of criticism.

Besides running an article that the savage murder of the two Scandinavian girls “had nothing to do with Islam”, they also pushed the narrative that sharing of the graphic video of the murder is illegal, warning Swedes not to share the video as that is punishable with up to four years imprisonment.
Scores of viewers complained that SVT was more concerned by people sharing the video of the killing, than they were with the horrific murders, themselves. 
As well, they failed to mention the ISIS style execution by beheading, instead reported the murder from “neck wounds”..."
Read all!

EXPLOSIVE: Report Says WaPo Reporter Killed In Saudi Consulate May Have Been Foreign Agent | Daily Wire

EXPLOSIVE: Report Says WaPo Reporter Killed In Saudi Consulate May Have Been Foreign Agent | Daily Wire
"A new report asserts that Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, may have been a foreign agent working for the government of Qatar in order to change U.S. policy against Saudi Arabia and in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood.

...Hanson ups the ante considerably as to Khashoggi’s possible status as a foreign agent, writing:

But during Security Studies Group research for our report on the information operation after his death, we heard from reliable sources familiar with the investigation that documents showing wire transfers from Qatar were found in his apartment in Turkey. They were immediately put out of reach by Turkish security services, so they did not show the collusion between Khashoggi, Qatar, and Turkey prior to his death. We have published a new, unredacted set of findings about the case. It is damning to Qatar, Turkey, and the Washington Post. Khashoggi may have been operating in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act by doing this on behalf of Qatar.

Hanson points out Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood, which is regarded as a terrorist organization by many Gulf nations; members of Congress have pushed for naming the group a terrorist organization.

Hanson adds that Turkey and Qatar drove the narrative after the killing of Khashoggi and fed their chosen information to “major Western English-language journalist outlets.”..."
Read on.

Lunch video-----Why 50 Million Chinese Homes are Empty

Noon-toon

Tom Homan, former ICE chief, rips Nancy Pelosi for doubting border wall works - Washington Times

Tom Homan, former ICE chief, rips Nancy Pelosi for doubting border wall works - Washington Times:

Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan on Wednesday blasted House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi for calling a border wall ineffective and accusing President Trump of “fear mongering” with the illegal immigration issue.
“Every place a wall or barrier has been built, it has resulted in decreased illegal immigration, decreased drug smuggling. One hundred percent of the time, it has proven effective,” Mr. Homan said on Fox News, where he is a contributor.
“Look at the rest of the data on the border, where arrests of MS-13 [gang] this year are up 118 percent, the seizures of guns — for God’s sake — are up almost 200 percent. There’s your data. Look at it. You can see why we need a wall,” he said.

Report: 38 Percent of FEMA Employees Aren't 'Qualified' for Their Jobs - Hit & Run : Reason.com

Report: 38 Percent of FEMA Employees Aren't 'Qualified' for Their Jobs - Hit & Run : Reason.com
"If it sometimes seems like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) doesn't know what it is doing, well, that might be because many FEMA employees don't know what they are doing.
As part of an ongoing review of its response to the 2017 hurricane season—a particularly bad summer that included major storms hitting Florida, Puerto Rico, and Texas—FEMA concluded that as many as 38 percent of it's workforce were unqualified for the positions they held, according to Politico.
Being unqualified, in this case, means those employees had not completed mandatory training for their current position.
As a result, FEMA "placed staff in positions beyond their experiences and, in some instance, beyond their capabilities," according to the agency's internal analysis of the 2017 hurricane season..."

Wall Street Journal Shreds Washington Post Trump Coverage

Wall Street Journal Shreds Washington Post Trump Coverage
"The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page offered a feisty Boxing Day piece on Wednesday lashing into the Washington Post over coverage of President Trump’s Christmastime visit to the troops.
The Journal focused on this piece by the Post’s Philip Rucker and Paul Sonne, citing the opening two paragraphs and accusing it of needlessly working in unrelated Trump scandals into a piece that did not call for it.
“Can anyone reading those opening two sentences wonder why millions of Americans believe Donald Trump when he tells them that he can’t get a fair shake from the press?” the Journal asked.
“The point isn’t to feel sorry for Mr. Trump, whose rhetorical attacks on the press have often been contemptible.
The point is that such gratuitously negative reporting undermines the credibility of the press without Mr. Trump having to say a word.”
“These reporters can’t even begin a news account of a presidential visit to a military base without working in a compilation of Mr. Trump’s controversies, contradictions, and failings,” the paper added.
The offending paragraphs were quoted verbatim by the journal..."
Read on.

#1 This day in 1985-----lionel richie-say you say me

African soldier sues as army 'failed to protect him' from UK winter | Daily Mail Online

African soldier sues as army 'failed to protect him' from UK winter | Daily Mail Online

• Michael Asiamah says he suffered a cold injury during exercises in Leicestershire
• Said black people of Caribbean and African origin are more susceptible to cold
• Mr Asiamah said the lack of proper clothing has left him with numbness and pain
• Claims superiors failed to warn him to bring kit such as gloves, socks and boots

+3

Michael Asiamah (pictured) is suing the military for £150,000 after accusing them of failing to protect him from the British winter

An African soldier is suing the military for £150,000 after accusing them of failing to protect him from the British winter.

Michael Asiamah says he suffered from a 'cold-related' condition after officers neglected to supply him with warm clothing during an 18-hour exercise in the freezing wind.

The 36-year-old, who served with the Adjutant General's Corps, said the army exposed him to the cold despite knowing that people of black Caribbean and African origin are more susceptible to cold injuries.

Mr Asiamah, who was born in Ghana, told the High Court the exercises on Salisbury Plain and Naseby Battlefield in Leicestershire left him with numbness and pain.

He claims that superiors failed to warn him to bring kit such as gloves, winter socks and boots for the exercise in March 2016, and when he told them about his susceptibility to the cold he was told to carry on..."

You ought to know!

A Victory for Free Speech | The Heritage Foundation

A Victory for Free Speech | The Heritage Foundation:

Conservatives at the University of California at Berkeley got an early Christmas gift this year: a victory for free speech.
It’s been a rocky road lately for the First Amendment on campus, at least for those who don’t hold to the usual liberal orthodoxy. Invite a controversial speaker, as certain student groups have done, and you’re courting trouble.

Teacher: Stroking Egos Does Nothing for Students. Raising Expectations Does. | Intellectual Takeout

Teacher: Stroking Egos Does Nothing for Students. Raising Expectations Does. | Intellectual Takeout
"Armed with a bachelor of science in elementary education, I charged into my career as a teacher.
I was immediately exposed to students at three levels of public schools:

• A rather wealthy district with an average IQ of 120.
• A classic, middle-class school.
• A school that is best described as a mini United Nations.

In the “UN” school, approximately 25 percent of students were new immigrants, 30-35 percent were American-born blacks, and the remainder were 40-45 percent Caucasian.
The economic structure ranged from welfare to upper middle class.
One day, while grading fifth grade division papers I realized that the mistakes were not those of process but those of factual knowledge. 
The students did not know their times tables.
Believing the errors were redeemable, I asked myself, “What can be done to fix these computation mistakes?”..."
Read on!

History for December 28

History for December 28 - On-This-Day.com
Woodrow Wilson 1856 - 28th U.S. President, Arthur Stanley Eddington 1882, John Molson 1763 - Beer brewer, founder of Molson Beer


Stan Lee 1922 - Artist, writer, creator of Marvel Comics (Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk), Martin Milner 1927 - Actor (Route 66, Adam 12, Columbo), Denzel Washington 1954 - Actor (Glory, Malcolm X, The Hurricane)


1945 - The U.S. Congress officially recognized the "Pledge of Allegiance." 

1973 - Alexander Solzhenitsyn published "Gulag Archipelago," an expose of the Soviet prison system.