THIS DAY IN HISTORY – FEBRUARY 16

HISTORICAL EVENTS

600 – Pope Gregory the Great decrees saying "God Bless You" is the correct response to a sneeze.



From GoogleImages

1804 – "The most daring act of the age," per British Admiral Horatio Nelson, is lead by American Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, Jr. in the First Barbary War.



From GoogleImages

1923 – Howard Carter opens the tomb of Tutankhamen in Thebes Egypt.



From GoogleImages

1945 – Bataan, the scene of the infamous Japanese prisoner of war Death March of 1942, is recaptured by forces led by American General Douglas MacArthur in World War II.



From GoogleImages

1951 – The USSR's Joseph Stalin attacks the United Nations "as a weapon of aggressive war."



FAMOUS BIRTHS


From GoogleImages

1942 – Supreme North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is born (dies December 17, 2011).



FAMOUS DEATHS

None.

100 DAYS OF THE BEATLES – TOP 100 SONGS – 54

From GoogleImages

NUMBER 54: "Two of Us" (McCartney – May 18, 1970)
Let It Be – Side 2, Track 2

YouTube Video 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (sans footnotes/references) –

"Two of Us" is a 1969 song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney).

"Two of Us" was originally released on Let It Be and was later released on Anthology 3 and Let It Be... Naked. Its title was used for a film Two of Us about a fictional 1976 reunion between McCartney and Lennon.

History

The song was originally titled "On Our Way Home". McCartney claimed it was dedicated to his wife-to-be Linda Eastman, though the lyrics (e.g.: "you and I have memories/longer than the road that stretches out ahead" or "you and me chasing paper/getting nowhere") sounded to author Ian MacDonald like they were actually addressing Lennon.

An early performance of the song, in a guitar-driven rock style, can be seen in the Let It Be film. Unsatisfied with this style, which McCartney described as "chunky", the band reworked the song around acoustic guitars. The Beatles performed a finished version of the song live at Apple Studios on 31 January 1969; this performance was included in both the Let It Be film and album.

In May 1969, McCartney produced a recording of the song using this title by the group Mortimer, a New York City trio that briefly recorded for Apple, but this recording was never released.

Personnel

Paul McCartney – lead vocal, lead acoustic guitar – Martin D-28
John Lennon – harmony vocal, whistling, rhythm acoustic guitar – Martin D-28
George Harrison – bassline on electric guitar – Fender Telecaster
Ringo Starr – drums

Cultural references

Two of Us is the title of a 2000 VH1 television drama which offers a fictionalized account of 24 April 1976, the day Lorne Michaels ofSaturday Night Live offered the Beatles $3,000 to appear on the program, when by coincidence McCartney was visiting Lennon at his New York apartment and watching the program.

The song was part of the soundtrack for the 2011 film Restless by Gus Van Sant.

FREEDOM V. EQUALITY – TODAY'S BIGGEST PROBLEM FOR AMERICA

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It is amazingly ironic that after over 200 years of existence, the fate of the United States would potentially come down to the battle between "freedom" and "equality". 

The Declaration of independence famously states that "all men are created equal." But that's where it ends, at creation. The significant part is that it means "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Full stop. Nothing about we'll all grow up to be brain surgeons, drive Ferrari's and wear Dolce and Gabbana. 

Unfortunately for those on the equality side, now that slavery has been abolished and women have the right to vote and basically possess every other right that men have, including some men don't have, such as a right to an abortion, it is universally acknowledged that we are equal.

But "therein lies the rub." Equal at birth and at opportunity BUT not at outcome which is where the debate has been centered for some time and has become more protracted and divisive in my lifetime.

Nothing in the universe implies equal outcomes FOR ANYTHING, from star formation, to planetary destruction, to gamma ray exposure to income, to job security, to life itself. BUT liberals/progressives would say that is not the case and would go as far as to actually TAKE AWAY from some and GIVE TO OTHERS in and ATTEMPT to make "outcomes" equal. The problem is that its ALWAYS an attempt; they are NEVER equal so liberals/progressive continue to TAKE from the some who are considered to have had the advantage in outcomes and GIVE to others who apparently have had no advantage. 

Unfortunately, liberals/progressives also put themselves in the position of judgment (as long as we'll let them) to determine what the "advantages" are. Surely some "advantages" must be more beneficial than others in determining "outcomes". The thing is, even if you make all "advantages" equal outcomes are STILL not the same since ALL INDIVIDUALS ARE DIFFERENT; dare I say not "equal"? Even in cases where individuals are IDENTICAL, as in identical twins, the outcomes of their lives are not always "equal."

So how it is society, which is instituted by man and is therefore truly not perfect, supposed to provide equal outcomes when nature itself, the Mother Spirit if you will, cannot? Again, the L/Ps would argue that not enough has been done to equalize. Again, I go to nature, no two natural "systems" if you will are equal in every way. Quantum physics tells us that there is an inherent randomness in everything so there is an inherent "inequality" and even that some things are mutually "exclusive"; one thing cannot be known if the other is.

Nature mostly just presses on with this fact while man, in his infinite knowledge, cannot. Man, while at one hand is supposed to bow to nature's superiority in every way, is then expected to trump nature in making things equal for one of the most complex species (systems) in nature.

MAN, as in the collective, cannot make things equal which is why Thomas Jefferson stated that God did it by CREATING man equally. We all start out with the same blank slate. All MAN can do is to provide the freedom for himself and others to become the best they can with the randomness, chaos, of a nature that cannot be controlled by man determining the final outcomes.

The problem with all this L/P "equality" propaganda, which is what it is since equality, in nature or in man, is impossible, is that it has set freedom on it's ear such that people imagine that Equality is more important that freedom and pitted man against man in competition for the "advantages" waiting to be doled out by the social scientists. Unfortunately, in an effort to create equality, our imperfect  L/P friends impinge on freedom, something a pretty good percentage of us still believe is pretty damn important and that does not mutually exclude a reasonably achievable amount of equality, even of outcome. 

However, when force of law is brought to bear on the freedom V. equality issue is when we ALL start to lose and can lose big. It can be extrapolated that the only way to achieve total equality is at the expense of freedom itself. Just as one can limit the "degress of freedom" of a physical system, limiting freedom can itself TEND to bring about equality. However, the equality that's been produced in this way then lacks all humanity and spontaneity. As Churchill put it, "misery" is then equally shared by all.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Take it and go.

THIS AND THAT – FEBRUARY 15

CALIFORNIA POLICE CHIEF: "A GUN IS NOT A DEFENSIVE WEAPON — THAT IS A MYTH"


From TheBlaze

Remember, Police Chiefs are APPOINTED POLITICIANS. They are NOT voted in by the citizenry NOR are they really police even though they have a police background because they report to POLITICIANS.

Then, I guess, if you considered defending your home an "offensive" act, then perhaps he's right. NO he's not.

SCRAP THE CONSTITUTION

From TheBlaze

Constitutional Law Professor Georgetown on CBS: "I've got a simple idea, let's give up on the Constitution. (chuckling) I know, it sounds radical, but it's really not. Constitutional obedience has a pernicious impact on our political culture. It's our country, we live in it, and we have a right to the kind of country we want. [We? Does this guy have a mouse in his pocket?] We would not allow the French or the United Nations to rule us [HA, this is why we have to continuously fight to keep the UN out of our countries business] and neither should we allow people who died over two centuries ago and knew nothing of our country as it exists today. If we are to take back our own country we have to start making decisions for ourselves and stop deferring to an ancient and outdated document." 

This is a guy who TEACHES the Constitution. This is a guy who TEACHES our children AND politicians about our Constitution so why the hell should we expect that THEY should know a goddam thing about it?

To quote from his book: "As the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos [due, in part, to unconstitutional meddling], observers [there's another one of those modern day journalistic vagaries that are employed as a substitute for reference to a specific individual or individuals used to hide specific people's  agendas; others are "experts", "sources" and "people"] are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken [yes, it IS broken, because we have not followed the Constitution for 50 years]. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright EVIL provisions."

For one, it's not an outdated document now and was not intended to be. It is a living document that can be changed and it has been changed 27 times. Here's the major point and is a HUGE stumbling block for libers/progeressives: The problem they have with the Constitution is that the progress it allows for TAKES TOO LONG. Further, THE PEOPLE have a say in the changes which means they (liberals and progressives) may not get their way AT ALL, like with the Equal Rights Amendment. That's why we have presidents now operating outside the "law" using Executive Orders and the like. The main problem with this is they succeed because the other Branches of government, namely Congress, DO NOT ACT ON THE POWERS ASSUMED by the president.

MISSOURI DEMS INTRODUCE ALARMING GUN CONFISCATION BILL


From The Blaze

Democrats in Missouri introduced startling anti-gun legislation that would require gun owners to hand over their legally purchased so-called “assault weapons” to “the appropriate law enforcement agency for destruction” within 90 days.



FED AUDIT REVEALS TAX-PAYER BACKED BATTERY FACTORY HASN’T PRODUCED OR SOLD A SINGLE BATTERY SINCE AWARDED FED GRANT IN 2009


From The Blaze

A taxpayer-backed battery plant in Holland, Mich., made headlines last year after it was discovered its employees were being paid to do nothing.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HUFFPOST INSANITY

CNN AGREES DORNER HAD A BEEF WITH LAPD

From GoogleImages

Why not. HuffPost Live "host" Marc Lamont Hill (of course) commenting on CNN:

“As far as Dorner himself goes, he’s been like a real life superhero to many people,” Hill continued. Yeah, and Timohty McVeigh was a hero to "many people" as well for being anti-government.

Hill also said that “when you read his manifesto (that was both anti-cop and anti-government), when you read the message that he left, he wasn’t entirely crazy.”

“It’s almost like watching Django Unchained in real life,” he explained. “It’s kind of exciting.” Really, fella? I guess we ought to be happy you didn't actually start "rooting" for him against the cops at the end. 

By any usual measure that the liberal media would employ in this type of situation Dorner was a serial killer. If he hadn't been a minority and written a "manifesto" (see above) he would have been labeled a "deranged gun nut" or "a rogue cop". I can only surmise that Hill felt Ted Kaczynski was some sort of "hero" since he was anti-capitalism.

From GoogleImages/ABC

I'll bet this little item above went a long way toward getting Dorner characterized as a "real-life superhero" as well as "interesting" and "exciting". 

What the hell is wrong with the main stream (leftist) media? They are in-sane. Bad boys and killers are anti-hero legends as long as they're "interesting" or "exciting" or write a "manifesto"? Hitler wrote a manifesto. Marx and Engles wrote a manifesto. Look how great those worked out in the wrong hands and in the wrong times.

it just goes to show you the left isn't really anti-gun as long as the right people have the guns and they've written a manifesto denigrating anything the left would consider main stream.

This kind of coverage along with an agenda-wielding strong-man in the White House is what got the Fort Hood shootings downgraded to "work-place violence" instead of terrorism as they incident so deserved to be categorized. And now victims there cannot get the benefits they deserve.

Wise up.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY – FEBRUARY 15

HISTORICAL EVENTS

399 - Greek philosopher Socrates is sentenced to death after a historical clash with Athenian society and politics.


1898 – A mysterious explosion occurs on board the U.S. battleship Maine in the harbor at Cuba initiating the Spanish-American War.


1903 – The first teddy bear goes on sale, using the nickname of President Theodore Roosevelt.

1950 – The USSR (Stalin) and the Peoples' Republic of China (Mao) sign a mutual defense treaty.

1961 – U.S. figure staking team is wiped-out in plane crash in Berg-Kampenhout, Belgium. Shortly after the crash the U.S. Figure Skating Fund was established to provide assistance to  elite U.S. skaters.



From Wikipedia

1965 – Canada adopts the Maple Leaf flag.



FAMOUS BIRTHS


From GoogleImages

1564 – Galileo Galilei, Italian astronomer and physicist, is born in Pisa.



From GoogleImages

1820 – American suffragette Susan B. Anthony is born in Adams, MA.



FAMOUS DEATHS


From Wikipedia

1965 – Singer Nathanial Admas "Nat King" Cole died of lung cancer in Santa Monica, CA.

100 DAYS OF THE BEATLES – TOP 100 SONGS – 55

List from Rolling Stone's The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs

From GoogleImages

NUMBER 55: "Taxman" (Harrison – August 8, 1966)
Revolver – Side 1, Track 1 (2:39)

YouTube Video

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (sans footnotes/references) –
"Taxman" is a song written by George Harrison released as the opening track on The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver. Its lyrics attack the high levels of progressive tax taken by the British Labour government of Harold Wilson.

Composition and recording

Harrison said, "'Taxman" was when I first realized that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes. It was and still is typical." The Beatles' large earnings placed them in the top tax bracket in the United Kingdom, liable to a 95% super tax introduced by Harold Wilson's Labour government (hence the lyrics "There's one for you, nineteen for me"). In a 1984 interview with Playboy magazine, Paul McCartney explained: "George wrote that and I played guitar on it. He wrote it in anger at finding out what the taxman did. He had never known before then what he'll do with your money."

In 1980, Lennon recalled in an interview with Playboy magazine, "I remember the day he [Harrison] called to ask for help on 'Taxman', one of his first songs. I threw in a few one-liners to help the song along, because that's what he asked for. He came to me because he couldn't go to Paul, because Paul wouldn't have helped him at that period. I didn't want to do it... I just sort of bit my tongue and said OK. It had been John and Paul for so long, he'd been left out because he hadn't been a songwriter up until then."

The backing vocals' references to "Mr Wilson" and "Mr Heath," suggested by Lennon, refer to Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, who were the leaders of the Labour Party and the Conservative Party, the two largest parties in British politics. Wilson, then Prime Minister, had nominated all four of The Beatles as Members of the Order of the British Empire just the previous year. The chanted names replaced two refrains of "Anybody got a bit of money?" heard in take 11, an earlier version released on Anthology 2 in 1996.

Recording began on 20 April 1966, but this was left unused and ten new takes occurred on 21 April 1966, the four tracks being filled that day with drums and bass, Harrison's distorted rhythm guitar, overdubs of his vocal and Lennon and McCartney's backing vocals. The ending was created on 21 June.

Musical characteristics

The song is in the key of D Major and in 4/4 time. The recording begins before the actual song with coughing and counting (pointedly cut short — the real count being heard in the background[10]) that McCartney described as sounds that were on the tape, and that Lennon "thought [the listeners] would like to hear."

The chords stress the flat VII (C-natural in the key of D major) and frequently involve a major/minor I chord (D/Dm), which evoke eitherMixolydian or Dorian modes. There is one flat-III (F chord) near the end, but unusually no V (A) chord. The song is also notable musically for its use of both a 5th string voicing of the Dominant seventh sharp ninth chord to embellish the tonic D7 chord at the end of each two-line verse (at 0.12 and 0.19secs), and a 6th-string form to create a complementary "jarring dissonance" with the lyrics in the subdominant (IV) G chord (to a G7#9) at 1.29 (after the solo) on "Cause I'm the taxman, yeah — I'm the taxman". McCartney's bass line has been considered to imitate Motown bassist James Jamerson in its active lines and glissandi (at 0.55-1.08) In the third verse McCartney doubles his own pentatonic bass line while outlining the jarring Iflat7 chord in octaves (at 1.32-1.44).

Paul's guitar solo utilises what Pollack describes as "fast triplets, exotic modal touches, and a melodic shape which traverses several octaves and ends with a breathtaking upward flourish". Everett considers that McCartney's solo is in the same Dorian mode adapted by Harrison inLove You To. In 1987, Harrison stated: "I was pleased to have Paul play that bit on 'Taxman'. If you notice, he did like a little Indian bit on it for me." Ian MacDonald praised McCartney's contributions to the song saying his guitar solo was "outstanding" and his bass part was "remarkable".

Legacy

In the show Love, the guitar solo was sampled in the piece "Drive My Car" / "The Word" / "What You're Doing".

"Taxman" was included in Harrison's concert repertoire during his solo career; on his tour of Japan in 1991 with Eric Clapton, "Taxman" was on the set list. "It's a song that goes regardless if it's the sixties, seventies, eighties or nineties," Harrison declared. "There's always a taxman." Harrison added more lyrics on that tour, such as "If you're overweight, I'll tax your fat."

In the US, radio disc jockeys and TV news reporters annually feature the song in the days leading up to 15 April, the date by which US income tax returns must usually be filed. Some post offices have even been known to sardonically play the song on in-house audio systems for the long lines of last-minute tax filers. In 2002, tax preparation service H&R Block used a slower-paced cover version of the song in television commercials.

Personnel

George Harrison – lead vocal, lead guitar
John Lennon – backing vocal
Paul McCartney – backing vocal, bass, lead guitar solo
Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine, cowbell
George Martin – producer
Geoff Emerick – engineer

HOW THE "OTHER SIDE" LIVES – FEBRUARY 14

Some of the things the Huffington Post thinks are important today:


"IMPLACCABLE" – Yeah, that is what Hagel is now that he's being nominated by El Presidente. Back when he was just one of those Republican flunkies he was, well, just a flunky and they could not have cared less.


"Obama Pledges Greater Transparency on Drones" – What about the OTHER transparency he promised in 2008 that he has yet to deliver on?


"The Obama Proposal that frightens the Business Lobby" – Sorry, but ALL Obama proposals should scare the shit out of ANY part of the business community.


"Reid: Latest Benghazi info 'Still not enough' for Republicans" – Sorry, to upset your play date, pal, this is important!


"GOP Playing with Fire" – Is that a threat? If not, stow it!


 "John Stewart Mocks Marco Rubio" – No. 12 from Liberal Play Book: If you can't defeat your opponents ideas, demean them.


"Study Reveals Big Tobacco, Koch Brothers Created Tea Party – "Created"? Out of whole cloth?


"NYT Magazine Publishes Must-Read On GOP's Failures" – Then they have a slide show of "100 years of Election Night Losers" just so they can show Mitt Ronmey first. Shit heads!


"We've Come a Long Way Since 2000: Gay Marriage World Map Shows Hopeful Trend" (from HuffPost Gay Voices) – Where's a video of that Howard Dean "yell" when you can use it?

"Oh No: Obama's Favorite Burger Joint Closes Down" – Like he REALLY eats burgers that much.

"Experts Warn: Street Setting Itself Up for Next Crisis" – And liberals asking for additional government spending on whatever when we already can't pay for all the other SHIT they have us paying for isn't a recipe for disaster?"

"The Trevor Project: A Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Service for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual, Transgender and 'Questioning' Youth'" – Oh, now Lesbian comes before Gay and "Questioning Youth" is now a protected group. Yippie!!! And she got through the whole name without even taking a breath.

"When the homophobic and controversial Westboro Baptist Church announced they will picket Vassar College..." – This is the largest version of this image I could get off of HuffPost. Why, are they so ashamed of it that they don't have a full-sized version? Hmmm? And aren't these Vassar "students" just model U.S. citizens? Note the sign "God Hates America." I guess that's why "God Created Liberals".

"Katie Perry and Rihanna Have Galling Out over Chris Brown" 

"[Tibetan] Self-Immolation protests Reach Grim New Milestone" – If the HuffPost really cared about Tibetan freedom, enough to call the Chinese despots, then I wouldn't mind them bringing this to the forefront. Otherwise, zip it!

"Hugh Jackman On Why Gay Rumors 'Bug' His Wife"


"Oprah's Tight Dress" – Hell, when you're fat everything it "tight." I know, I've got tight clothes, too.


"Lady Gaga Cancels Entire Tour" – OK, now that IS the end of the world.


"Right-Wing Gorup's Bizzare Fake Sex Video Involved Hillary, Panda: Report" – Was it a "main stream" right-wing group? No, it was Freedom Works. Hell, I could say, "non-right wing group espouses separation of races," (The Nation of Islam) implying Democrats. So what would that mean?

BENGHAZI COVER UP -- WHAT WILL THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA DO?

From Conservative Daily

Senator Inhoffe Confirms Benghazi Cover-Up; Impeachment Charges Next?

Last week, Secretary of Defense and former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Leon Pannetta testified on Capitol Hill. His testimony was as shocking as it was heart breaking. The night Americans were under attack, the night Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed and their dead bodies desecrated in the streets of Benghazi, on the night that our Embassy was under siege for more than seven hours by terrorists, President Obama was AWOL as Commander-in-Chief. Let us be incredibly precise: According to Sec. Pannetta, on the night that four Americans were killed and our embassy was attacked, neither President Obama nor ANY White House staff contacted the Secretary of Defense nor any other person or organization that was monitoring the situation in Libya. However, President Obama was in the White House and working that evening. He made an hour long politically motivated phone call. Even as Americans were under attack and being killed, Obama was more concerned about his own ambitions. He couldn’t be bothered to give the orders to send in Marines, who were only one hour away. Let us say that again: It was a seven-hour siege and Marines were only one hour away. President Obama refused to contact the Secretary of Defense; he knowingly and willingly let our people die proving that he is as much of a moral coward as he is a dictatorial presence in the White House. In the days and weeks following Benghazi, there was clearly a cover up. Senator Inhoffe (R-OK), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, stated “as bad as everything that I’ve stated is, what I think is worse is the cover-up... It was obvious from the information we had on Sept. 11 that the second wave... of attacks on the annex was unequivocally a terrorist attack, and we knew it right at the time”. For six months Americans have demanded to know what exactly transpired in Libya on September 11, 2012. We demand to know why our countrymen died defenseless, sacrificing their lives for their country. Of course the White House won’t comment. What? Did you expect Obama to tell the truth and relinquish power? The cover up was a knee jerk response from an Administration for which such un-American activities have become commonplace. Obama’s purposeful obfuscation is easy to understand: he had an election to steal. He didn’t want the American people to know that the Embassy lacked armed security even though it resided in a nation known for harboring terrorists and has been historically antagonistic to the United States. He didn’t want us to know that the Embassy had petitioned for added security and had been denied. He didn’t want us to know that on the day of the attack, Ambassador Stevens had begged for more security, only to be denied and then killed by the very men he feared; betrayed by the country Ambassador Stevens swore to protect. Obama wanted so badly to win this election that he allowed Americans to be killed and created a cover up surrounding the attacks. Effectively, he committed electoral fraud and stole the election; climbing on the backs of four dead American heroes. Now, Obama the Coward sends in his Secretary’s to speak for him since he is too scared to do it himself. Last month, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee released a damning report on the Benghazi fiasco. The report says it all; in discussing the security of the embassy and the danger in the country, the report states that Benghazi was “increasingly dangerous and unstable, and that a significant attack against American personnel there was becoming much more likely”. This information did not lead to increased security at the Benghazi consulate or closing the operation altogether. The report called both of these options “more than justified by the intelligence presented”. In fact, the report stops just short of placing all the blame for the failed security on directly on President Obama and Secretary Clinton. Don’t believe that President Obama and Secretary Clinton were at fault for the security failures in Benghazi? The Senate Report goes on to state that “In the months leading up to the attack on the Temporary Mission Facility in Benghazi, there was a large amount of evidence gathered by the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) and from open sources that Benghazi was increasingly dangerous and unstable, and that a significant attack against American personnel there was becoming much more likely. While this intelligence was effectively shared within the Intelligence Community (IC) and with key officials at the Department of State, it did not lead to a commensurate increase in security at Benghazi nor to a decision to close the American mission there, either of which would have been more than justified by the intelligence presented.” Let’s not forget, Libya is the same country where President Obama spiked the football after former Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi was deposed and later killed. In typical Obama fashion, he took credit for the success of others. Unfortunately, after the celebration, he didn’t bother to properly secure the American Embassy. The US Ambassador killed in the attack, J. Christopher Stevens, wrote in his diary that he was on an Al-Qaeda kill list and feared an imminent terrorist attack. Did the President or Secretary Clinton pay attention to the Ambassador’s concerns? Nope. In fact, the week before the terrorist attack, Obama didn’t bother to attend a single intelligence briefing, despite actionable intelligence warning of a possible active terror cell in Libya ready to strike American interests. Think that’s bad? Since President Obama was first inaugurated he has skipped over 66% of his intelligence briefings. Unbelievable! In a post 9/11 world, it is unfathomable that a sitting President would care so little for the lives of the American people that he would put their safety on the backburner so that he might keep his job. There are even reports saying that there was actionable intelligence more than a week before the tragic events transpired. Yet Obama did NOTHING. He allowed Americans to die so that he could save his job. His Presidency will forever be marred with the blood of American martyrs. Stand with us and demand a FULL Congressional investigation into the Benghazi cover up. President Obama must answer for his actions even if that requires impeachment. Lives have been lost, lies told, and injustice has been served. It is time Congress reigns in the Obama Administration. Barack Obama must not be allowed to use dead American patriots as cannon fodder. Demand CRIMINAL charges for any wrongdoing. We hope that you will stand with us. Our fallen patriots deserve better and we hope you will add your voice to ours so that their sacrifice won’t be made in vain. Fax Congress today and demand a full investigation! Will you stand by and do nothing or at least demand further investigations be made? Are Americans lives now not worth even that? Take it and go. .

DA PREZ VISITS LINAMAR CORPORATION (?)

From PEOPLEPC.COM and the AP

Summary: Blah, blah, blah – Republicans suck – blah – extend programs (i.e., spend more money and start propagandizing 4 year-olds) – blah – if "THEY don't act, I will" – blah – government shutdown (whine) – blah – move forward – blah, blah, blah. 

Oh, and why aren't there any direct quotes from what HE actually said in this? Why are OTHERS speaking for him?

I wasn't even going to comment on this article when I first started the post but then I ACTUALLY READ IT. OY!

And, you know the sad part, I could do this to EVERY NEWS ITEM THAT IS PUBLISHED by whatever news organization you probably read! What does that mean? For once, really read this pap and LET IT SINK IN. Don't take it at face value. Don't just ASSUME that there's going to be money for EVERY GODDAM GOVERNMENT PROGRAM THESE IDIOTS CAN COME UP WITH AD INFINITUM. Because, WHERE WILL IT ALL CONTINUE TO COME FROM? At what point does it KILL IT ALL? When does it break EVERYONE'S BANK? 

 Figure it out before I see you on TV when a Chinese government bill collector knocks on your door in a year or so. How about it?


Obama pushes preschool programs in Georgia trip


From AP

President Barack Obama speaks to workers and guests [victims of government persecution, perhaps?] at the Linamar Corporation plant in Arden, N.C., Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, as he travels after delivering his State of the Union address Tuesday.

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 10:41:13 -0500

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's ambitious [of course, he's not a shrinking violet when it comes to breaking YOUR bank] plan to expand preschool programs comes as one of every 13 students already in Head Start classrooms is at risk of being kicked out if lawmakers don't sidestep a budget meltdown.

Obama was set to talk about enlarging [again, of course] early childhood education programs such as Head Start during a stop Thursday in Georgia. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, meanwhile, told senators on Capitol Hill that pending budget cuts could be devastating to current students and could hurt the nation's economy for years to come if students aren't learning now.

"We're trying to do a lot more [of course, it's not YOUR money?] in terms of early childhood education [read indoctrination], not go in the opposite direction," Duncan said. "Doing that to our most vulnerable children [here we go, I think he's headed toward a crescendo] is education malpractice, economically foolish and morally indefensible." [Wow, just say what the hell  you really mean, man. Don't muck about!]

Obama's team is warning Congress — and lawmakers' constituents — what is expected to happen if leaders fail to avert $85 billion in automatic budget cuts set to begin March 1. With the cuts looming, the administration has increased its pressure on lawmakers, and Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday made clear he was not looking for compromise as he begins his second term.

"I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child in America," Obama told Congress and a national television audience.

The White House fleshed out Obama's plan Thursday, proposing a "continuum of high-quality early learning for a child, beginning at birth and continuing to age 5." [WOW, doesn't that SOUND just fantastically irresistible?] The government would fund public preschool for any 4-year-old whose family income is 200 percent or less of the federal poverty level — a more generous threshold than the current Head Start program [once more, OF COURSE], which generally serves kids from families below 130 percent of the poverty line. All 50 states and the federal government would chip in.

Obama also is proposing letting communities and child care providers compete for grants [Again, this sounds great but FROM WHO? Who they hell has any fucking money left?] to serve children 3 and younger, starting from birth. And once a state has established its program for 4-year-olds, it can use funds from the program [Please, which come from where?] to offer full-day kindergarten, the plan says.

Still missing from Obama's plan are any details about the cost, a key concern among Republicans. The White House says federal investment in Head Start, an $8 billion program that serves almost 1 million kids, will grow. [$8 billion on 1 million kids, that's $8000 per kid] But Obama's aides have stressed that the new programs would not add to the nation's nearly $16.5 trillion debt. [Of course, he's going to raise taxes.]

"The last budget had over $1.5 trillion of mandatory and revenue savings, things like reductions in entitlements, closing loopholes," Jason Furman, a deputy director of the National Economic Council, told reporters Wednesday. He said the new initiatives would be smaller than that.

If the White House wants to move ahead, officials are going to need help from the states [Really, just how much fucking help do "officials" want?  Where does it end? When is it enough? Hint: It ISN'T! EVER.] to provide political cover [Just what the hell is that and why the hell should the 49.4% of us give a shit?] and dollars alike. House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday involving the federal government in early childhood education was "a good way to screw it up." The Republican chairman of the House committee overseeing education policy was cool toward the proposal and was unlikely to approve new spending on it. And even Obama's allies acknowledged there was little Washington could do without governors' help.

"We can all agree on the importance of ensuring children have the foundation they need to succeed in school and in life," said Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee. "However, before we spend more taxpayer dollars on new programs, we must first review what is and is not working in existing initiatives, such as Head Start."

Obama will outline details about the plan's cost when he sends his 2014 budget proposal to Congress next month, Furman said.

Ahead of that, the White House and Congress are weighing whether to let the deep automatic spending cuts to take hold on March 1. If that happens, some 10,000 teachers [there is one teacher for every 7 students?] could be out of work and 70,000 students [70,000 students is 7% ONLY] could be kicked out of Head Start programs, Duncan warned lawmakers.

The cuts would also force an additional 14,000 Head Start workers to be laid off and would mean 1.2 million students from low-income families would have their schools' funding cut. Washington also would stop paying its share of 7,200 special needs educators' salaries. [More liberal fear-mongering and demagoguery. WHAT THE HELL ABOUT ALL THOSE OTHER PEOPLE (NOT JUST GOVERNMENT HEAD START WORKERS) WHO HAVE ALREADY LOST JOBS DUE TO GOVERNMENT OVER-SPENDING AND ARE NO LONGER PAYING TAXES TO FUND THIS CRAP AND THE EVEN MORE PEOPLE WHO WILL THEN LOSE JOBS AS THAT GOVERNMENT DECIDES IT NEEDS TO SPEND EVEN MORE!?! Excuse me, I just had an aneurysm.]

"I hope the committee members will keep those most vulnerable students [more propaganda] at the forefront of their mind, because they will be the ones who will be hurt worst if Congress allows sequestration to happen," Duncan said.

The federal government doesn't directly pay the salaries of those workers but sends money to states based on the number of students in specific categories [Don't you just love how we're ALL categorized by our government now?], such as those with learning disabilities or from at-risk communities. The states generally dole out those dollars to individual districts based on the schools' share of those students.

Duncan also repeated his warning that Education Department employees would be forced to take unpaid leave to deal with the budget crunch.

The automatic, across-the-board budget cuts were designed to kick in only if lawmakers failed to reach broad agreement to reduce the nation's debt.

Republicans and conservatives have questioned the effectiveness of Head Start programs, citing studies such as a Health and Human Services Department report last year showing that, while at-risk students enrolled in the pre-kindergarten programs saw tremendous gains in vocabulary and social development [What sort of "social development"--Environmental awareness? Anti-gun hysteria? Diversity sensitivity?] , those benefits largely faded by the time students reached third grade.

The HHS report didn't explain why the students saw a drop-off in performance or predict how they would fare as they aged. But it was a favorite reason to question Obama's plan.

"There's reason for huge skepticism," said Mike Petrilli, executive vice president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank. "Most states are still in a ditch financially [I wonder why? Is it because we, taxpayers, are required to GIVE those who don't have everything that the government thinks they SHOULD have?], and it's going to be a couple years  before they're out of it [Sorry, pal, it ain't ever gonna happen again]. ... I don't know where the states are going to come up with the money for this."

Scores of other studies, however, were more favorable toward the program, which has been shown to make at-risk students more likely to complete high school and avoid criminal arrests. In pure dollars and cents, academics called it a smart investment.




You know, I really DON'T want to include politics in my blog. I would like to just think happy thoughts and that everything is going to be OK (sigh). BUT, IT'S, NOT.

I have had to put up with increasingly harsh and far-reaching liberal/progressive (sorry but I just can't think of any better words for it) propaganda and indoctrination for the last 40+ years and, excuse me if it's too much for your delicate sensibilities, I JUST CANNOT STAND IT ANYMORE. My BS filter is full-up with hearing EVERY mainstream news agency, personality, comedian, etc. you can think of (that is, the ones they, the media, let you see on their precious air time) castigating everything I grew up with and cherish and want for my granddaughter. If I were a liberal that would have just brought tears to your eyes. BUT I'M NOT so I probably now have this big fucking target on my back. Well... so be it.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY – FEBRUARY 14

HISTORICAL EVENTS

278 – St. Valentine beheaded by Claudius II (Claudius the Cruel) of Rome.


1919 – President Woodrow Wilson presents the draft covenant for the League of Nations.


1929 – The St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago.



From Wikipedia

1929 - The wonder drug penicillin is discovered by bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming.



From Wikipedia

1943 – The battle of the Kasserine Pass is fought in North Africa in World War II. Allied forces are defeated by Gemany's Afrika Korps under Erwin Rommel.



FAMOUS BIRTHS

From GoogleImages

1818 – Abolitionist Frederick Douglass is born. Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born a slave in Talbot Country, MD. The exact date of his birth is unknown but he chose February 14 to celebrate it.



FAMOUS DEATHS

1400 – Richard II of England is murdered at age 33 at Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire.

1891 – U.S. Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman dies at 71 (born February 8).

From Wikipedia

1950 – Karl G. Janksy, American physicist and radio engineer and discoverer of cosmic radio waves emanating from the Milky Way galaxy, dies at 44.

100 DAYS OF THE BEATLES – TOP 100 SONGS – 56

From YouTube

NUMBER 56: "I'm Down" (McCartney – July 19, 1965)
B-Side of Help! (2:34)

YouTube Video

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (sans footnotes/references) – 

"I'm Down" is a song by the Beatles written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and first released as the B-side to the single "Help!" in 1965. According to critic Richie Unterberger of Allmusic, "I'm Down" is "one of the most frantic rockers in the entire Beatles catalog." The song was influenced by 1950s rhythm & blues artists—Amazon.com called it a "homage to Little Richard."—and some critics see it as a rewrite of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally", but Unterberger says there are significant differences. Another example of this style song by McCartney is 1964's "She's a Woman", the B-side of "I Feel Fine".

Composition

The Beatles recorded "I'm Down" on 14 June 1965 in the same session as "Yesterday" and "I've Just Seen a Face".

The Beatles recorded the backing track in seven takes. The first of these takes can be heard on Anthology 2, with a quiet organ track and no backing vocals. At the beginning of the Anthology version, McCartney says, "Let's hope this one turns out pretty darn good" in a faux American accent. During the session, particularly between takes one and two, McCartney can be heard repeating the phrase "Plastic soul, man, plastic soul". He later revealed that the phrase, which the Beatles later adapted for the title of their album Rubber Soul, was used by black musicians to describe Mick Jagger.

Release

The official release date for the "Help"/"I'm Down" single was 19 July 1965 on Capitol Records in the US and 23 July on Parlophone in the UK. "I'm Down" was never released on an official Beatle studio album, and was only available in the US. in mono as the B-side of the "Help!" single until the summer of 1976. That year, it appeared in stereo on Rock 'n' Roll Music, a compilation LP released in the US by Capitol featuring up tempo Beatles' tracks. The first CD release was in 1988 on the compilation Past Masters, Volume One, where it appeared in true stereo.

There is also an alternate version of the song (take 1) on Anthology 2. The tempo is slower and there are no backing vocals.

Live performances

The Beatles used "I'm Down" to close concerts in their final year as a live act replacing "Long Tall Sally" for most of those shows.

During their performance at Shea Stadium in August 1965 (the largest audience the Beatles ever drew during their career as a live touring band), the band played a memorably frenzied version of the song, with John Lennon playing a Vox Continental Organ with his elbows at times. Footage of this performance may be seen on The Beatles Anthology video.

The band also played this song during their 12 September 1965 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show which was recorded 14 August 1965, the day before the Shea concert. Lennon played the keyboard with his elbow for this performance as well. However, Lennon played guitar, rather than organ, for a version recorded in Tokyo on their 1966 tour even though a Vox organ was set up on stage.

McCartney played the song to open his set at the Concert for New York City following the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. The concert was held at Madison Square Garden in support of firefighters, policemen, and other public workers who suffered from the aftermath of the attacks. He also reintroduced "I'm Down" into his set list for his three historic concerts at Citi Field (which replaced Shea Stadium) in July 2009.

Personnel

Paul McCartney – vocal, bass John Lennon – backing vocal, rhythm guitar, Vox Continental organ 
George Harrison – backing vocal, lead guitar 
Ringo Starr – drums, bongos