Month: May 2013

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Prayer Requests 5-6-13

Who can we pray for today?

Psalm 29

1 Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

2 Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters.

4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn.

7 The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire.

8 The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

9 The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

10 The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.

11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.

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News/Politics 5-6-13

What’s interesting in the news today?

Open Thread.

We’ve had a bunch of new stuff released on Benghazi over the weekend.

From the get go. From CBS

“Everybody in the mission” in Benghazi, Libya, thought the attack on a U.S. consulate there last Sept. 11 was an act of terror “from the get-go,” according to excerpts of an interview investigators conducted with the No. 2 official in Libya at the time, obtained by CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

“I think everybody in the mission thought it was a terrorist attack from the beginning,” Greg Hicks, a 22-year foreign service diplomat who was the highest-ranking U.S. official in Libya after the strike, told investigators under authority of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Hicks, the former U.S. Embassy Tripoli deputy chief of mission, was not in Benghazi at the time of the attack, which killed Chris Stevens – then the U.S. ambassador to Libya – and three other Americans.”

Here’s the video of an Issa interview on “Face the Nation”. Looks like Bob Schieffer is coming around now that he knows they lied to him on his show.

 The Benghazi Talking Points, and how they were changed to obscure the truth, is addressed nicely at TheWeeklyStandard

“Even as the White House strove last week to move beyond questions about the Benghazi attacks of Tuesday, September 11, 2012, fresh evidence emerged that senior Obama administration officials knowingly misled the country about what had happened in the days following the assaults. The Weekly Standard has obtained a timeline briefed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence detailing the heavy substantive revisions made to the CIA’s talking points, just six weeks before the 2012 presidential election, and additional information about why the changes were made and by whom.”

The Whistleblowers have been named. From FoxNews

More info in this video from Fox News Sunday.

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Israel has made strikes in Syria. From Bloomberg

“Syria accused Israel of attacking targets on the outskirts of Damascus in an aerial strike that sent a fireball over the capital and drew threats of retaliation.”

“Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad told CNN the airstrikes were a “declaration of war” and that the government would retaliate in its own time. The country’s information minister, Omran al-Zoubi, said in a statement on state TV that the attack opens doors to all possibilities and that Syria would use “any means” to protect its people.”

We also have a new report that says it was the rebels, and not the regime, that used chemical weapons in Syria. A possible false flag to get outsider(US) weapons and aid for the rebels. From TheHill

“United Nations human rights investigators said Sunday they have gathered  testimony from outside Syria suggesting rebels, not Bashar Assad’s regime, may  have used chemical weapons.

“Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims,  doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I  have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible  proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated,” Carla Del  Ponte, a member of the independent commission of inquiry on Syria, told  Swiss-Italian television. “This was use on the part of the opposition, the  rebels, not by the government authorities.”

The allegations will likely make it harder for the Obama administration to  justify taking a more active role in the two-year-old civil war on the side of  the opposition. The administration has said in recent days that chemical weapons  appeared to have been used in Syria, which would violate the “red line” Obama  set for Assad’s forces.”

John McCain will be hardest hit by this news. He so wanted to help arm the rebels.

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The Editor of the Aurora Sentinel has called for cracking down on the real terrorists and kidnappers among us. Those dastardly NRA members. He wants to strip them of their rights and send them to Gitmo. If you suggested doing that to an actual terrorist, he’d flip his liberal lid. No word on if they will be waterboarded or not.

And they wonder why newspapers are dying. 🙄 Maybe it has something to do with constantly insulting half your readers. Just sayin’… From TheAuroraSentinel

“I have seen the light. After all these years, I now agree that it’s fruitless to give the benefit of the doubt to people who are so obviously corrupt, so clearly malevolent, so bent on hurting innocent people for their own sick gain.

No more due process in the clear-cut case of insidious terrorism. When the facts are so clearly before all Americans, for the whole world to see, why bother with this country’s odious and cumbersome system of justice? Send the guilty monsters directly to Guantanamo Bay for all eternity and let them rot in their own mental squalor.

No, no, no. Not the wannabe sick kid who blew up the Boston marathon or the freak that’s mailing ricin-laced letters to the president. I’m talking about the real terrorist threat here in America: the National Rifle Association.”

“Hundreds of editorials across the country used the same language, making it clear that the NRA had bullied a handful of low-life senators who are so cowardly, so corrupt that they would knowingly lie and distort the issue in a painfully obvious attempt to cover their political tracts and back ends. This, this is on par with Nixon’s nastiness. This is unforgiveable.”

Of course they used the same language, they all used the same White House talking points. What they made clear was that they’re all reading the same script. The JournoList is obviously alive and well.

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More evidence showing that Gosnell was not an exception, and that Pennsylvania isn’t the only state with a problem. From HotAir

“Besides the actions of the defendants in the Kermit Gosnell house-of-horrors abortion clinic in Philadelphia, the original grand jury expressed outrage in their 2011 report over the lack of intervention by the city and state of Pennsylvania to stop Gosnell’s operation.  The refusal to address numerous reports and complaints over a years-long period was “by design,” the grand jury emphasized, as the political and regulatory establishments chose to protect abortionists rather than the women they maimed and the children they killed.

Pennsylvania isn’t the only state with designs to protect abortionists, either.  Earlier this week, Michigan Live and WOOD TV exposed the cronyism and official neglect that allowed a now-defunct abortion clinic to operate while owned by a convicted felon and piling up complaint after complaint:”

“Michigan lawmakers say that an alleged conflict of interest on the state Board of Medicine allowed a Muskegon doctor, who served time in prison and whose abortion clinic recently closed due to unsanitary conditions, to continue performing abortions despite complaints of “horrendous” misconduct.”

“MLive and The Muskegon Chronicle reported that Dr. Robert Alexander’s abortion clinic was closed in December after police discovered “filthy” and unsanitary conditions throughout the Muskegon clinic, including “blood on the floor and walls in multiple locations.”

Turns out the Board Chairman responsible for deciding an investigation was un-necessary was also the same guy who mentored this felon in the 90’s, and helped him get his license back after he lost it for selling illegal prescriptions. Sounds like another Gosnell type clinic, and operator.

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Our Daily Thread 5-4-13

Good Morning! 🙂

The weekend has arrived, and it’s supposed to be a nice one here in our neck of the woods. 🙂

On this day in 1626 a Dutch explorer named Peter Minuit landed on Manhattan Island.

In 1776 Rhode Island declared its freedom from England two months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

In 1930 Mahatma Gandhi was arrested by the British.

In 1942 the Battle of the Coral Sea commenced between American and Japanese forces. It was also the day the U.S. began food rationing.

In 1970 Ohio National Guardsmen fired on students during an anti-war protest at Kent State University. Four students were killed, nine others were wounded.

In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first woman prime minister.

And in 1989 Oliver North was convicted of shredding documents and two other crimes. He was acquitted of nine other charges in the Iran-Contra affair. The convictions were later vacated and dismissed.

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Quote of the Day

“It’s that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so don’t fuss, dear; get on with it.”

Audrey  Hepburn

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Today we have Dick Dale, the “King of the Surf Guitar”

We might as well stick with the surfer sound…

 

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Who has a QoD for us?

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Prayer Requests 5-4-13

Who has a request or praise to share today?

Psalm 28:6-9

6 Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.

7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

8 The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.

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News/Politics 5-4-13

What’s interesting in the news today.

Open Thread.

The President took his gun control campaign to Mexico, where he blamed the US for gun violence in Mexico. No mention of the thousands his admin allowed to go to drug cartels in his Fast and Furious fiasco. From TheDailyMail

“President Obama used a speech at Mexico’s  Museo Nacional de Antropología – the National Anthropology Museum – to claim  that ‘most of the guns used to commit violence here in Mexico come from the United States.’”

“‘But at the same time, as I’ve said in the  United States, I will continue to do everything in my power to pass common-sense  reforms that keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people.”

“Obama also did not mention the more than 2,000  firearms that his Department of Justice ‘walked’ across the Mexican border as  part of Operation Fast and Furious, a federal law enforcement project that aimed  to track weapons to drug traffickers.”

Gee, I wonder why… 🙄

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Meanwhile back in the States, the biggest opponent to his anti-gun agenda held their annual meeting. Needless to say, liberals are not happy that Republicans spoke to the NRA at the meeting. The comment section is quite amusing. The meme is R’s support gun rights and gun groups, so they support murder. Yet they have no problem with abortion and abortion groups, which are responsible for killing many millions more. From NBCNews

“In an indicator of the continued influence of the nation’s largest gun-owners’ group, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and other Republican politicians addressed the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Houston Friday, celebrating the defeat of gun legislation in the Senate, assailing the media, and offering a strong defense of the powerful lobbying organization.”

“Alluding to the defeat of a Senate measure two weeks ago to expand background checks for gun buyers, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told the crowd that gun control measures a month ago had “looked like an unstoppable freight train” but that they and fellow gun owners across the nation had mobilized to stop it in a victory that was “truly amazing.” But he said Obama and his allies have said “that they intend to come back at us” with another attempt to pass gun legislation in the Senate.

“We must do everything we can to stop violent crime,” the Texas Republican said, as he accused the Obama administration of not doing enough to prosecute felons and fugitives who try to buy guns as well as criminals who use a gun in the commission of a crime.”

While there, Ted Cruz issued a challenge to debate the issue with VP Joe Biden. That seems kinda unfair. Cruz would be in a battle of wits with an unarmed man. 🙂 From TheWashingtonExaminer

“Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, noting that Vice President Joe Biden reportedly plans to revive a legislative push for gun control,  challenged him to a debate about policy responses to gun violence.”

“Cruz indicated that he doesn’t regard Biden as a formidable opponent, noting that Biden’s home defense advice — firing a shotgun twice into the air — “is very useful, if it so happens that you’re being attacked by a flock of geese.”

So I guess it goes without saying, Chris Matthews is beside himself over the whole affair. 🙂 From NewsBusters

“The staunchly pro-gun control Chris Matthews on Friday sneered that the  National Rifle Association is doing a “dance of death” in celebration of their  victory over Barack Obama. Regarding senators who voted with the gun group, the Hardball host mocked, “These are the guys who took the easiest vote in  American political history. They backed the NRA.” He added that “it was almost a  religious experience for these clowns.” (Couldn’t that last part be said of  journalists in relation to Obama?)

Regarding speakers at the NRA conference in Texas, Matthews snarled, “I  think it might be a dance of death over the President’s political grave, is what  it really is. ”

🙄 Drama Queen.

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New info, and confirmation, that it was high level people in the Obama admin that changed the talking points on Benghazi to more politically friendly language for the President’s benefit. From TheWeeklyStandard

“Even as the White House strove last week to move beyond questions about the Benghazi attacks of Tuesday, September 11, 2012, fresh evidence emerged that senior Obama administration officials knowingly misled the country about what had happened in the days following the assaults. The Weekly Standard has obtained a timeline briefed by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence detailing the heavy substantive revisions made to the CIA’s talking points, just six weeks before the 2012 presidential election, and additional information about why the changes were made and by whom.”

“As intelligence officials pieced together the puzzle of events unfolding in Libya, they concluded even before the assaults had ended that al Qaeda-linked terrorists were involved. Senior administration officials, however, sought to obscure the emerging picture and downplay the significance of attacks that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans. The frantic process that produced the changes to the talking points took place over a 24-hour period just one day before Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made her now-famous appearances on the Sunday television talk shows. The discussions involved senior officials from the State Department, the National Security Council, the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the White House. ”

“The exchange of emails is laid out in a 43-page report from the chairmen of five committees in the House of Representatives. Although the investigation was conducted by Republicans, leading some reporters and commentators to dismiss it, the report quotes directly from emails between top administration and intelligence officials, and it includes footnotes indicating the times the messages were sent. In some cases, the report did not provide the names of the senders, but The Weekly Standard has confirmed the identities of the authors of two critical emails—one indicating the main reason for the changes and the other announcing that the talking points would receive their final substantive rewrite at a meeting of top administration officials on Saturday, September 15.”

No surprise that the lap-dog members of the media would dismiss it. Just like with Gosnell, it doesn’t fit their agenda. And heaven forbid they ever report on anything that may make their chosen one look bad.

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Israel appears to have carried out air strikes in Syria. From CNN

“The United States believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria, two U.S. officials tell CNN.

U.S. and Western intelligence agencies are reviewing classified data showing Israel most likely conducted a strike in the Thursday-Friday time frame, according to both officials. This is the same time frame that the U.S. collected additional data showing Israel was flying a high number of warplanes over Lebanon.”

“The Israeli military had no comment. But a source in the Israeli defense establishment told CNN’s Sara Sidner, “We will do whatever is necessary to stop the transfer of weapons from Syria to terrorist organizations. We have done it in the past and we will do it if necessary the future.””

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This one is disappointing, and I must say a little surprising that it comes from Texas. From WFAADallas

“An act of faith has cost an area track team a win and a chance to advance to the state championships.

This past weekend, the Columbus High School Mighty Cardinals had just won a boys relay race when a runner’s final gesture got them disqualified.

As he was crossing the finish line, Derrick Hayes pointed up to the sky. His father believes he was giving thanks in a gesture to God.”

“Though O’Connor cannot say why the student pointed, he says it was against the rules that govern high school sports. The rules state there can be no excessive act of celebration, which includes raising the hands.”

C’mon Texas. I’ve come to expect better from you folks given past history. I mean really, it’s not like he Tebowed….. 🙂

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Our Daily Thread 5-3-13

Good Morning!

It’s Finally Friday! 🙂

On this day in 1802 Washington, DC, was incorporated as a city.

In 1921 West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax.  😦

In 1937 Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for “Gone With The Wind.”

In 1966 the game “Twister” was featured on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

In 1971 anti-war protesters began four days of demonstrations in Washington, DC.

In 1971 National Public Radio broadcast for the first time.

In 1992 five days of rioting and looting ended in Los Angeles, CA. The riots killed 53 people. It began after the acquittal of police officers in the beating of Rodney King.

And in 2006 Al-Quaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was given a sentence of life in prison for his role in the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

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Quote of the Day

“One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present.”

Golda Meir

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We have lot’s of musicians with birthdays today. We’ll start off with Mr. Crosby.

Then it’s on to Mr. Valli, and 4 other guys. 🙂

And then Mr. Cross, with help from Mr. MacDonald.

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Now for the QoD……

I have no questions. You?

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Prayer Requests 5-3-13

Who has a request or praise to share today?

Psalm 25

1 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.

5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.

8 Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

12 What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.

14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.

17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.

19 Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

20 O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.

21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

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News/Politics 5-3-13

What’s interesting out there today?

Here’s a few and then you folks can have at it. 🙂

We’ll start with things that make you go Hmmmmmm…….  From FoxNews

“The State Department’s Office of Inspector General is investigating the  special internal panel that probed the Benghazi terror attack for the State  Department, Fox News has confirmed.

The IG’s office is said by well-placed sources to be seeking to determine  whether the Accountability Review Board, or ARB — led by former U.N. Ambassador  Thomas Pickering and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike  Mullen — failed to interview key witnesses who had asked to provide their  accounts of the Benghazi attacks to the panel.”

“This disclosure marks a significant turn in the ongoing Benghazi case, as it  calls into question the reliability of the blue-ribbon panel that then-Secretary  of State Hillary Clinton convened to review the entire matter. Until the report  was concluded, she and all other senior Obama administration officials regularly  refused to answer questions about what happened in Benghazi.”

This video from Brett Baier’s Special Report with the disguised witness said much the same on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the FBI has finally gotten around to releasing photos of the Benghazi militants responsible. Maybe. From Reuters

“The FBI on Thursday released the photographs of three men it said were at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, when it was attacked last September.

The FBI did not call the three men suspects in the attacks, saying only that they “may be able to provide information to help in the investigation.”

“The FBI is now asking Libyans and people around the world for additional information related to the attacks,” the U.S. investigative agency said in a statement with the photographs.”

Wow. And it only took like 8 months. And they won’t call them suspects. And you have video, but you’re not sure. OK then.

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Here’s a story on drone strikes. The allegation is that they’d rather kill suspected militants than send them to Gitmo. From TheGuardianUK

“The lawyer who first drew up White House policy on lethal drone strikes has accused the Obama administration of overusing them because of its reluctance to capture prisoners that would otherwise have to be sent to Guantánamo Bay.

John Bellinger, who was responsible for drafting the legal framework for targeted drone killings while working for George W Bush after 9/11, said he believed their use had increased since because President Obama was unwilling to deal with the consequences of jailing suspected al-Qaida members.

“This government has decided that instead of detaining members of al-Qaida [at Guantánamo] they are going to kill them,” he told a conference at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

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The Boston bombers were originally planning a July 4th attack, but they completed the bombs sooner than expected. From CNN

“The bombs used in the Boston Marathon attack were built in the apartment that suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev shared with his wife and child, a U.S. law enforcement official with first-hand knowledge of the investigation told CNN on Thursday. The official was not authorized to release the information.

Katherine Russell, Tsarnaev’s widow, has remained largely out of view inside her parents’ North Kingstown home since her husband’s death.

According to her attorney, Amato DeLuca, the 24-year-old widow knew nothing of plans to bomb the race, and reports of her husband’s involvement came as an “absolute shock” to Russell and her family.”

I don’t see how you and your brother produce multiple bombs in an apartment and no one else living there sees anything.

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And this last one, well I think we need to get a pool going. How many months until the “My neighbors are them hateful crazy christian people. And they have guns. You should go check them out.” calls start from “concerned” neighbors.? Tea Party Members and legal gun owners should worry too I’d imagine. From ThePalmBeachPost

“Florida House and Senate budget leaders have awarded Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw $1 million for a new violence prevention unit aimed at preventing tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., from occurring on his turf.

Bradshaw plans to use the extra $1 million to launch “prevention intervention” units featuring specially trained deputies, mental health professionals and caseworkers. The teams will respond to citizen phone calls to a 24-hour hotline with a knock on the door and a referral to services, if needed.”

“Bradshaw is readying a hotline and is planning public service announcements to encourage local citizens to report their neighbors, friends or family members if they fear they could harm themselves or others.”

““We want people to call us if the guy down the street says he hates the government, hates the mayor and he’s gonna shoot him,” Bradshaw said. “What does it hurt to have somebody knock on a door and ask, ‘Hey, is everything OK?’ ””

I seem to recall similar programs in another country that I read about…… now where was that…..?

Oh well, anyway, I’m sure it’ll be fine.

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Our Daily Thread 5-2-13

Good Morning!

On this day in 1519 Leonardo da Vinci died.

In 1776 France and Spain agreed to donate arms to American rebels fighting the British.

In 1865 U.S. President Andrew Johnson offered $100,000 reward for the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

In 1890 the Oklahoma Territory was organized.

In 1939 Lou Gehrig set a new major league baseball record when he played in his 2,130th game.

In 1946 prisoners revolted at California’s Alcatraz prison.

And in 1970 student anti-war protesters at Ohio’s Kent State University burned down the campus ROTC building. The National Guard took control of the campus.

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Quote of the Day

“Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of liberty.”

Henry Martyn Robert

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Today is Manfred von Richthofen’s birthday.

Who’s he right?

This guy. No, not the dog…. 🙂

It’s also Lesley Gore’s…

And Lou Gramm’s too. So yeah, some Foreigner. 

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Anyone have a QoD for us today?