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Today in History

241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
418 - Jews are excluded from public office in the Roman Empire
1535 - Bishop Tomés de Berlanga discovers Galapagos Islands
1578 - Queen Elizabeth I gives Johan Casimir £20,000 to aid Dutch rebellion
1629 - King Charles I dissolved Parliament; he recalled it 11 years later
1661 - French King Louis XIV ends office of premier
1697 - Tsar Peter the Great begins a tour of Western Europe
1734 - Spanish army under Don Carlos (III) draws into Naples
1735 - An agreement between Nadir Shah and Paul I of Russia is signed near Ganja and Russian troops are withdrawn from Baku.
1762 - French Huguenot Jean Calas, who was wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform
1783 - USS Alliance under Captain Barry fights and wins last naval battle of US Revolutionary War off Cape Canaveral
1789 - Franklin College founded
1791 - John Stone, Concord, Mass, patents a pile driver
1801 - First census in Great Britain
1830 - The KNIL also known as the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army is created.
1831 - The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis-Philippe to support his war in Algeria.
1847 - 1st money minted in Hawaii
1849 - Abraham Lincoln applies for a patent  for a device to lift a boat over shoals and obstructions
1861 - El Hadj Umar Tall seizes the city of Segou, destroying the Bambara Empire of Mali.
1862 - Great Britain & France recognize independence of Zanzibar
1862 - US issues 1st paper money ($5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 & $1000)
1864 - Red River campaign LA
1865 - Battle of Monroe's Crossroads, NC
1874 - Purdue University (Indiana) admits its 1st student
1876 - 1st telephone call made (Alexander Graham Bell to Thomas Watson)
1880 - General Wolseley opens new legislative council in Pretoria
1888 - 1st performance of Caesar Franck's "Psyche"
1888 - HW Boxing champ John L Sullivan draws Charlie Mitchell in 30 rounds
1891 - Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
1893 - Ivory Coast becomes a French colony
1893 - New Mexico State University cancels its 1st graduation ceremony; its only graduand Sam Steele was robbed & killed the night before
1896 - Bronx acquires O'Brien Square
1896 - Charilaos Vasilakos of Greece wins 1st modern marathon in 3:18 [OS]
1896 - After Bob Fitzsimmons KOs much larger Jim Corbett to win world HW championship he says, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall"
1900 - Battle at Driefontein, South-Africa (Boers vs British army)
1900 - Regents for the King of Uganda and leading chiefs sign a treaty with Great Britain agreeing to the organization of the government, taxation, courts, military, and other functions of their country, which is under British protection.
1902 - Earthquake destroys Turkish city of Tochangri
1902 - A United States court of appeals rules that Thomas Edison did not invent the movie camera.
1903 - Harry Gammeter, Cleveland, patents multigraph duplicating machine
1903 - Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Montreal AAA in 2 games
1905 - Japanese Army captures Mukden (Shenyang)
1906 - 1st performance of Maurice Ravel's "Sonatine"
1906 - Coal dust explosion kills 1,060 at Courrieres France
1906 - Baker Street & Waterloo Railway opens, constructed by the Underground Electric Railways Company of London. The contraction Bakerloo became the official name in July 1906.
1909 - Jack Johnson fights Victor McLaglen to no decision in 6 for box title
1910 - China ends slavery
1910 - Pittsburgh Courier begins publishing
1913 - Stanley Cup: Quebec Bulldogs sweep Sydney (NS) Millionaires in 2 games
1913 - William Knox becomes 1st in American Bowling Congress to bowl 300
1914 - Suffragettes in London damage Rokeby's painting Venus of Velasquez
1915 - British Army in Belgium captures Neuve Chapelle
1917 - Batangas was formally founded as one of the Philippines's earliest encomiendas.
1920 - NHL's Quebec Bulldog Jim Malone scores 6 goals vs Ottawa Senators
1920 - The Home Rule Act is passed by the British Parliament, dividing Ireland into two parts; it is rejected by southern counties, where the Ango-Irish war continues for a year
1922 - KLZ-AM in Denver CO begins radio transmissions
1922 - State of siege proclaimed during mine strike Johannesburg South Africa
1925 - Walter Mittelholzer is 1st to flies over Demawend mountain, Iran
1926 - Run on Belgian banks
1927 - Albania mobilize by threat of Serbian, Croatian & Slovenes
1927 - Bavaria lifts ban on Hitler's speeches
1928 - Christine Collins' son, Walter Collins, disappears in Los Angeles
1931 - British Labour party removes fascist sir Oswald Mosley
1933 - Major earthquake in Long Beach, Calif
1933 - Nevada becomes 1st US state to regulate narcotics
1934 - Longest undefeated streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history (18 games)
1934 - US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Suzanne Davis
1934 - US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Roger Turner
1938 - 10th Academy Awards - "The Life of Emile Zola", Spencer Tracy & Luise Rainer win
1939 - 17 villages damaged by hailstones in Hyderabad India
1940 - 1st US opera telecast, W2XBS, NYC, I Pagliacci
1941 - Lee MacPhail, Dodger GM predicts all players will wear batting helmets
1944 - U-575 sinks HMS Asphodel
1945 - Fieldmarshal Albert Kesselring succeeds Gerd von Rundstedt as commander of German Army Command in the West
1945 - Germany blows-up Wessel Bridge on Rhine
1945 - Japan declares Vietnam Independence
1945 - Patton's 3rd Army makes contact with Hodge's 1st Army

1945 - Tokyo in fire after night time B-29 bombings, more than 100,000 people die, mostly civilians.
1945 - US troops lands on Mindanao
1946 - Train derailment kills 185 near Aracaju Brazil
1948 - 1st civilian to exceed speed of sound-Herb H Hoover, Edwards AFB Ca
1949 - Detroit Tiger pitcher Art Houtteman is critically injured in an auto accident but recovers to win 15 games in 1949
1951 - "Where's Charley?" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 56 perfs
1951 - FBI director J. Edgar Hoover declines post of baseball commissioner
1952 - Military coup led by General Fulgencio Batista in Cuba
1956 - General strike in Cyprus protesting exile of archbishop Makarios
1956 - Peter Twiss sets new world air record 1,132 mph (1,823 kph)
1957 - Thousands of soccer fans riot in Italy
1959 - Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, sells 54% of White Sox to Bill Veeck
1959 - Tennessee Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth" premieres in NYC
1959 - Uprising against Chinese occupation force in Lhasa Tibet
1960 - USSR agrees to stop nuclear testing
1962 - Due to its no black policy, Phillies leave Jack Tar Harrison Hotel & move to Rocky Point Motel, 20 miles outside Clearwater, Florida
1963 - Pete Rose debuts with hits in his 2 1st at bats in spring training
1963 - Wilt Chamberlain of NBA SF Warriors scores 70 points vs Syracuse
1964 - US reconnaissance plane shot down over East Germany
1965 - Dutch Princess Margriet & Pieter van Vollenhoven get engaged1966 - 5 time Horse of the Year, Kelso, retires
1966 - North Vietnamese capture US Green Beret Camp at Ashau Valley
1969 - James Earl Ray pleads guilty to murder of Martin Luther King Jr
1970 - Barbra Streisand records "The Singer" & "I Can Do It"
1970 - South Africa complete 4-0 series drubbing of Australia
1970 - Members of the Stormont (Parliament of Northern Ireland) given police protection
1971 - US Senate approves amendment lowering voting age to 18
1971 - Three members of the Royal Highland Fusiliers (a regiment of the British Army) are killed by members of the Irish Republican Army
1972 - 1st black US political convention opens (Gary Indiana)
1972 - Gen Lon Nol becomes pres & prince Sirik Matak premier of Cambodia
1972 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1973 - BPAA US Open by Mike McGrath
1973 - Morocco adopts constitution
1974 - "Sextet" closes at Bijou Theater NYC after 9 performances
1974 - Carol Mann wins LPGA S&H Green Stamp Golf Classic
1974 - Christian Democrats win Belgium parliamentary election
1974 - Lawrence Rowe completes 302 v Eng Bridgetown, 36 fours 1 six
1975 - "The Rocky Horror Show" opens at Belasco Theater NYC for 45 performances
1975 - Dog spectacles patented in England
1975 - Sanyo Shinkansen open between Osaka and Fukuoka.
1977 - Rings of Uranus discovered during occulation of SAO
1978 - Soyuz 28 returns to Earth
1978 - "The Incredible Hulk", starring Bill Bixby as David Banner, premieres on CBS
1980 - Willard Scott becomes the weather forcaster on the Today Show
1982 - Reagan proclaims economic sanctions against Libya
1982 - Salim Malik scores 100 in 2nd inning of Test Cricket debut (v SL)
1982 - Sygyzy: all 9 planets aligned on same side of Sun
1982 - Travis Jackson & Happy Chandler elected to Hall of Fame
1982 - The United States places an embargo on Libyan petroleum imports because of their support of terrorist groups.
1982 - 8th People's Choice Awards: Burt Reynolds, Sally Field & Jane Fonda win (Motion Picture) and Alan Alda & Barbara Mandrell win (TV)
1983 - Walter Alston, Dodgers manager, elected to Hall of Fame
1984 - Heavyweight Tim Witherspoon KOs Greg Page
1985 - Bonnie Lauer wins Uniden LPGA Golf Invitational
1985 - Dallas Maverick coach Dick Motta is 4th NBA coach to win 700 games
1985 - French socialists lose election (National Front 9%)
1985 - Ice Pairs Championship at Tokyo won by Elena Valova & O Vasiliev (URS)
1985 - India beat Pakistan to win "World Championship of Cricket"
1985 - Mens Figure Skating Championship in Tokyo won by Alexandr Fadeev (URS)
1986 - Ernie Lombardi, NL MVP in 1938, & Bobby Doerr, elected to Hall of Fame
1987 - Vatican formal opposition to test-tube fertilization & embryo transfer
1988 - Avalanche at Swiss Ski resort Klosters nearly kills Prince Charles
1988 - NY Islanders celebrate Mike Bossy night
1990 - 4th American Comedy Award: When Harry Met Sally
1990 - Ice Dance Championship at Halifax won by Klimova & Ponomarenko (URS)
1990 - Ice Pairs Championship at Halifax won by Gordeeva & Grinkov (URS)
1990 - Ladies Figure Skating Champions in Halifax won by Jill Trenary (USA)
1990 - Lt Gen Avril resigns as president of Haiti
1990 - Mens Figure Skating Championship in Halifax won by Kurt Browning (CAN)
1990 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1991 - Eddie Sutton is 1st NCAA coach to lead 4 schools into playoffs
1991 - Laura Davies wins LPGA Inamori Golf Classic
1991 - Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg clinches his 4th slalom World Cup
1991 - Merlene Ottey runs world record 200 m indoor (22.24 sec)
1991 - Rico Lieder/Jens Carlowitz/Karsten Just/Thomas Schonlebe walk 4x400m indoor world record (3:03.05)
1992 - 6th Soul Train Music Awards: Natalie Cole, Color Me Badd win
1992 - Sandra Seuser/Katrin Schreiter/Annet Hesselbarth/Grit Breuer walk female indoor world record 4x400m (3:27.22)
1994 - 1 million Greeks attend Melina Mercouri's funeral
1995 - Car bomb explodes in Karachi at shiite mosque, 17+ killed
1995 - Chiel Meijering's "St Louis Blues" premieres in Arnhem
1995 - Dow-Jones hits record 4035.64
1996 - 22nd People's Choice Awards: Tom Hanks & Demi Moore win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Tim Allen & Candice Bergen win (TV)
1996 - NYC Mayor Guiliani visits Israel
2000 - The NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom.
2000 - 16th Soap Opera Digest Awards - General Hospital wins
2006 - The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.
2006 - Mass unrest by the PCC started in São Paulo (the biggest city in Brazil) which would eventually kill more than 152 people.
2007 - 21st Soul Train Music Awards: Jermaine Dupri, Jennifer Hudson win
2012 - At least 130 rockets are fired into Israel from Gaza
2013 - Aung San Suu Kyi is re-elected leader of the Burmese National League for Democracy
2014 - German Chancellor Merkel warns Russia's Putin that making Crimea part of Russia is illegal and in violation of Ukraine's constitution

Random Celebrity Photos

Mae West, 1916

The Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Was Germany’s ‘Over-Engineered’ Tank

The Germans are a polarizing people, and so are their products. Sort of like when journalists review a BMW — people either love ‘em or hate ‘em. This is because Germany’s engineering prowess is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it enables Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, etc., to lead the pack when it comes to performance. On the other hand, the Germans are notorious for letting their reach exceed their grasp. They rush new and innovative products to market without giving them a proper shake-down first.
Not only does this odd duality explain Germany’s mixed record in building fine automobiles, it also sheds light on designs going as far back as World War II. Case in point: the Panzerkampfwagen Tiger battle tanks the Fatherland built to counter Allied armor. They were either deadly killers, clunky death traps, or both, depending on who you ask.
A Sobering Reality Check
German morale was high as the Wehrmacht launched operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941. Military leaders anticipated a quick, easy conquest of Stalin’s Soviet Union. They were shocked when the Russians proved far tougher than Hitler or his advisers had bargained for. Particularly troubling were the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 tanks that easily outclassed German armor. Save for the 88 mm flak gun, Ivan’s armor was virtually unstoppable.

To counter this threat, Ferdinand Porsche and his rivals at Henschel and Son submitted competing designs for a new tank. The Henschel design eventually won out, largely because Porsche’s vehicle used a hybrid gas-electric power unit that required large amounts of copper, a metal that was in short supply in wartime Germany.
As with most German designs, the first Tiger model was impressive on paper. 3.9 inches of armor protected the front hull, with 2.4 inch plating on the sides and 1 inch armor top and bottom. The interlocking plates were welded together rather than riveted. This, combined with its sheer bulk, made the Tiger immune to the American M4 Sherman tank and its 75 mm gun. The Tiger’s builders outfitted the new model with the formidable German 88 mm KWK 43, perhaps the most effective tank-mounted weapon to see service during World War II.
The Tiger was originally powered by a 1303 in.³ 12 cylinder gas-powered engine that turned out 650 horses at 3000 RPMs. This choice lacked the necessary power for the job, however, and the engine was soon upgraded to a 1409 in.³ version that turned out 700 horses at 3000 RPM. The latter engine also had a cast-iron block as opposed to the original’s aluminum one, which allowed for larger cylinders and, hence, added power.

Supporting the tank’s substantial weight required tracks almost 2 ½ feet wide. The Germans added a submersion system that enabled the Tiger to traverse streams as deep as a 4 m, or around 12 feet US.

Predictably, the Tiger was both loved and hated by its crews. When it ran well, it was unstoppable. Shells from opposing American and British tanks did little more than dent the frontal armor, while the Tiger’s 88 mm gun could take out a Sherman tank from a distance of 2 miles. The Tiger soon gained a fearsome reputation on the battlefield, winning the respect of Allied forces.

Luckily for the Allies, the Tiger was beset with a host of problems. It weight caused it to bog down in all but the driest ground, leaving it a sitting target for anti-tank crews armed with M3 90 mm cannons. The tank’s high production cost limited the number built, while America’s factories were churning out weapons at a breakneck pace. But perhaps the Tiger’s greatest weakness was its over-design, which caused frequent and time-consuming breakdowns.

Aware of the tank’s weaknesses, designers went back to the drawing board in 1943. The result was the Tiger II, which first saw action in 1944. The second generation Tiger was a vast improvement over its predecessor, with armor up to 7 inches thick in spots. It also featured sloping sides that improved its survivability. Early models suffered from leaking seals and gaskets, but builders quickly remedied these problems.

The Tiger II was amazingly agile for a tank of its size, giving it a commanding place on the battlefield. It stretched 33 feet and 9 inches in length including the barrel, was 12 feet wide, and reached 10’2” in height. Total weight was around 69 tons.
Ultimately, however, the new model failed to revive the Third Reich’s waning fortunes. Less than 500 were built, due largely to Allied bombing raids that destroyed most of Henschel’s production facilities. This, along with upgraded Allied armor and Hitler’s shortsighted mismanagement of his nation’s resources, sunk Germany’s bid to build a world empire.

As for the Tiger, a handful of both versions are on display in military museums across the globe. While its builders were on the wrong side of history, the insights they lent to tank design are still bearing fruit today. In many ways, modern US armor owes a debt to the German tanks American GIs fought more than 70 years ago.

When It Comes to Our Veterans’ Mental Health, We Ought to Spare No Expense

by Shawn Drury

If I were to form a line of people most deserving of help in the form of tax dollars, veterans with mental illnesses would be right at the front.

But those who need help are often afraid to ask for it.

Consider what happened to thirty-year-old Air Force Reserve Capt. Jamie Brunette, who was found dead early last month from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Brunette had a secret struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, but she rarely spoke of her troubles, so her death came as a shock to her family and friends, many of whom gathered last week at a memorial service in Tampa.

If you walk through a city of almost any decent size you will see homeless people, many of whom are veterans, many of whom have serious mental illness. The statistics are staggering. On average 22 veterans a day take their lives. Female veterans are three times as likely to commit suicide as women who did not serve.

When news broke last year of the failings of the Veterans Administration, Republicans were quick to point the finger at President Obama. Yet it was Republicans who supported the sequester, which cut much-needed funding for mental health services. It was Republicans who blocked a mental health bill.

Our government is too big, they say. We have to make difficult budget decisions, they say. Let the market fix this problem, they say. Actually, no. If there is one thing we ought to spend public money on it is to help our veterans overcome the horrors that resulted from their service to our country.

The next time an elected official extols the many virtues of our veterans, check his or her record. The worst kind of politician is the one who cavalierly sends troops off to risk their lives, only to vote against funding to help many of those same members of our military fight an even more pernicious enemy, one we can’t see.

“We owe our service members the very best and that means assuring that they always have access to high-quality services and care, including mental health care.” -Sen. Elizabeth Warren

The Paranoid’s Field Guide to Secret Societies

Secret societies actually do exist. In fact, there are dozens of them, from the Freemasons to the Ku Klux Klan. But are they really responsible for the world’s ills, as some people believe? Probably not, but on the other hand, you never know…

THE ILLUMINATI
Who They Are: The group was founded in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, a Jesuit priest, in Bavaria. His mission: to advance the 18th-century ideals of revolution, social reform, and rational thought (the name mean “The Enlightened Ones” in Latin). Weishaupt and his cronies were fiercely opposed by the monarchs of Europe and by the Catholic Church, which is why they had to meet and communicate in secret. German author Johann Goethe was a member. In the United States, both Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were accused of being members and denied it, but both wrote favorably about Weishaupt and his efforts.
What They’re Blamed For: The group has been associated with more conspiracy theories than any other. Considered the silent evil behind such bugaboos as One World Government and the New World Order, the Illuminati have been blamed for starting the French and Russian revolutions, as well as both World Wars, and almost every global conflict in between. They are said to use bribery, blackmail, and murder to infiltrate every level of power in society -business, banking, and government- to achieve their ultimate goal: world domination.
BILDERBERG GROUP

The Bilderberg Hotel.

Who They Are: Founded in 1952 by Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, the Bilderberg Group (named after the hotel in Oosterbeck, Holland, where the first meeting was held) was founded to promote cooperation and understanding between Western Europe and North America. To that end, leaders from both regions are invited to meet every year for off-the-record discussions on current issues. The list of attendees has included presidents (every one from Eisenhower to Clinton), British prime ministers (Lord Home, Lord Callaghan, Sir Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher), captains of industry like Fiat’s Giovanni Agnelli, and financiers like David Rockefeller.* Invitees are members of the power elite in their countries, mostly rich and male. Meetings are closed. No resolutions are passed, no votes are taken, and no public statements are ever made.
What They’re Blamed For: The fact that so many of the world's most powerful players refuse to disclose anything about the group’s meetings strikes many outsiders as downright subversive. What are they doing? The group has been accused of hand picking Western leaders to be their puppets, pointing to circumstantial evidence like the fact that Bill Clinton was invited to a attend a meeting before he became president, as was Britain’s Tony Blair before he became prime minister. Consipracy buffs have even accused the Bilderbergers of masterminding the global AIDS epidemic as a way of controlling world population to the benefit of the European/American elite.
TRILATERAL COMMISSION

Jimmy Carter hosting a meeting of the Trilateral Commission in 1978. 

Who They Are: Founded in 1973 by David Rockefeller and former National Security Council chief Zbigniew Brzezinski, this organization is composed of 350 prominent private citizens (none currently hold government positions) from Europe, North America, and Japan (the trilateral global power triangle). Like the Bilderberg Group, their stated goal is to discuss global issues and to promote understanding and cooperation. Unlike other groups, this one is more visible: it publishes reports, and members are identified. It’s also more diverse, with women and ethnic groups represented. However, membership is by invitation only, usually on the recommendation of serving members, making it one of the most exclusive clubs in the world. There are no representatives from developing nations.
What They’re Blamed For: Many conspiracy theorist view the Trilateral Commission as the “sunny” face of the evil machinations of international bankers and business moguls who are working to make the world their own little oyster, with one financial system, one defense system, one government, and one religion -that they will control. Again, all members are major players in business and government. Americans of note include Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, and George Bush (the elder), former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, former Speaker of the House Tom Foley, and former U.S. Trade Representative Carla Hills, to name a few. Since there is considerable crossover between the Trilateral Commission and the Bilderberg Group, the commission is thought by some to be under the control of the Illuminati. That it is completely private, with no direct role in government (read “no accountability”), only adds fuel to the fire of suspicious minds.
SKULL & BONES SOCIETY

Who They Are: This society was founded at Yale University in 1833. Only 15 senior-year students are admitted annually; they meet twice a week in a grim, windowless building called the Tombs. Unlike most campus fraternities, Skull & Bones appears to focus on positioning its members for success after college. But no one knows for sure, because members are sworn to total secrecy for life. The names of past and current members include many of America’s power elite: both George Bushes, William Howard Taft, as well as the descendants of such famous American families as the Pillsburys, Weyerhausers, Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Whitneys.
What They’re Blamed For: What’s wrong with a little good ol’ boy networking? Nothing, perhaps, but Skull & Bones members have also been accused of practicing satanic rites within the walls of the Tombs. Initiation reportedly requires pledges to lie down in coffins, confess sordid details of their sex lives, and endure painful torture so that he may “die to the world, to be born again into the Order.” Like the Illuminati, the Order (as it’s called by its members) supposedly works to creates a world controlled and ruled by the elite -members of Skull & Bones.
BOHEMIAN GROVE
Who They Are: Founded in 1872 by five San Francisco Examiner newsmen as a social boozing club, the Bohemian Grove has been called “one of the world’s most prestigious summer camps” by Newsweek. Prospective members may wait up to 15 years to get in and then have to pony up a $2,500 membership fee. The Grove itself is a 2,700-acre retreat set deep in a California redwood forest. Members’ privacy is zealously guarded: no strangers are allowed near the site, and reporters are expressly forbidden entry. The Bohemian Grove motto is from Shakespeare: “Weaving spiders come not here,” a reminder that all deal making is to be left at the gates. The members relax and entertain each other by putting on plays, lecturing on subjects of the day, and wining and dining lavishly.

Bohemian Grove gathering photographed by Jack London circa 1911-1916. 

So why does anyone care about the Bohemian Grove? Well, the membership is a virtual Who’s Who of the most powerful people (mostly Republican) in American government and business. Members past and present include Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger, Caspar Weinberger, Stephen Bechtel, Joseph Coors, Alexander Haig, Ronald Reagan, and hundreds more. Critic claim there is no way men tike that (no women are allowed) can hang out together and not make back-room deals.
What They’re Blamed For: Conspiracy theorists claim that the Manhattan Project was set up at the Grove and that the decision to make Eisenhower the Republican presidential candidate for 1952 was hammered out between drinks on the lawn.
Darker charges have been made against the Grove as well. Members are purported to practice some odd rituals, such as wearing red hoods and marching in procession like ancient druids, chanting hymns to the Great Owl. Members say it’s all in good fun, but outsiders wonder at the cult-like overtones. Outrageous rumors were rampant in the 1980s: sacrificial murders, drunken revels, even pedophilia, sodomy, kidnapping, and rape. Of course, none of this has ever been proven, but as limousines and private jets swoop into this secret enclave in the woods, the “big boys’ continue to party and the rest of the world remains in the dark about just exactly what goes on. 

How The Merchants Of Doubt Push Climate Denial On Your Television

by Denise Robbins

A new documentary shows how a "professional class of deceivers" has been paid by the fossil fuel industry to cast doubt on the science of climate change, in an effort akin to that from the tobacco industry, which for decades used deceitful tactics to deny the scientific evidence that cigarettes are harmful to human health. The film, Merchants of Doubt, explores how many of the same people that once lobbied on behalf of the tobacco industry are now employed in the climate denial game.
An infamous 1969 memo from a tobacco executive read: "Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the minds of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy." Using similar tactics, a very small set of people have had immense influence in sowing doubt on the scientific consensus of man-made climate change in recent years.
Merchants of Doubt features five prominent climate science deniers who have been particularly influential in deceiving the public and blocking climate action. Their financial connections to the fossil fuel industry are not hard to uncover. Yet major U.S. television networks -- CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, CBS, and PBS -- have given most of these deniers prominent exposure over the past several years.

Merchant of Doubt	Number of TV Appearances, 2009-2014
Marc Morano	30
James Taylor	8
Fred Singer	8
Tim Phillips	7

Now that these Merchants of Doubt have been exposed, the major cable and network news programs need to keep them off the airwaves, a sentiment echoed by Forecast the Facts, which recently launched a petition demanding that news directors do just that.
Marc Morano

Marc Morano rose to prominence working for two of the most vocal climate deniers in the U.S., Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and talk radio host Rush Limbaugh. These days Morano runs the climate science denial blog Climate Depot, for which he is paid by the fossil fuel industry-funded Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT). He played a key role  in falsely scandalizing "Climategate," and once said that climate scientists "deserve to be publicly flogged."
Whenever there is a big climate-related story, Fox News turns to Morano to sow doubt on climate science, featuring him 11 times in 2014 alone. Most recently, Morano appeared on Fox News' Happening Now to complain that Google's new policy of ranking websites by their accuracy would prevent climate denial sites like Morano's from getting enough attention. Morano has also appeared on CNN several times to debate climate science.
Not counting his recent appearance on Fox News, Morano appeared on major cable and network news shows 30 times between 2009 and 2014 to deny climate science or attack environmental policies.
James Taylor 

James Taylor is vice president for external relations and senior fellow for environment and energy policy at the Heartland Institute, an organization that has received funding from ExxonMobil and the Charles Koch Foundation and is perhaps best known for running a billboard campaign associating acceptance of climate science with "murderers, tyrants, and madmen" like the Unabomber and Charles Manson. For his part, Taylor dismisses "alarmist propaganda that global warming is a human-caused problem that needs to be addressed," and suggests that taking action to reduce emissions could cause a return to the "the Little Ice Age and the Black Death."
In addition to his many TV appearances, Merchants of Doubt highlighted Taylor's multitude of op-eds that have been published in newspapers across the country. Taylor is also a contributor at Forbes, where he writes columns that attack climate science and environmental policies without disclosing his fossil fuel ties. His latest column falsely asserts that the recent winter cold shows that "global warming predictions are proving no more scientifically credible than snake oil."
Taylor appeared on major cable and network news shows eight times between 2009 and 2014 to cast doubt on climate science or criticize environmental policies.
Fred Singer

Fred Singer is the president of the Science and Environmental Policy Project, which has received funding from Exxon Mobil and casts doubt on global warming. Singer has received funding from the Heartland Institute to "regularly and publicly counter the alarmist [anthropogenic global warming] message" and consulted for Shell, Arco, Unocal, Sun Energy and the American Gas Association.
Singer is the founder of the Heartland Institute's "Nongovernmental International Panel On Climate Change" (NIPCC), a collection of climate change deniers who have been criticized by many climate scientists for their attempts sow doubt and confusion about the firmly-established scientific findings of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He's claimed that there was "little if any global warming during 1978-1997" and that "the climate hasn't warmed in the 21^st century."
Between 2009 and 2014, Singer appeared on the cable and network news program to deny climate science or attack environmental policies eight times, including appearances on ABC and CNN. When once asked about the many scientific institutions that accept the consensus of human-caused global warming -- including IPCC, NASA, NOAA, the National Academy of Sciences, and many more -- he responded: "What can I say? They're wrong."
Tim Phillips 

Tim Phillips is the president of Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the conservative advocacy group that was founded by the oil giant Koch brothers. Under Phillips' leadership, AFP has against the Environmental Protection Agency's carbon pollution standards and tax incentives for wind energy, while denying the existence of subsidies for the oil and gas industries. The Washington Post has said that Americans for Prosperity "may be America's third-biggest political party" due to its widespread influence in elections.
Phillips appeared on the cable and network news programs to deny climate science or attack environmental policies seven times between 2009 and 2014.
William O'Keefe 

William O'Keefe is CEO for the George C. Marshall Institute, and previously held leadership positions at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the American Petroleum Institute. The George C. Marshall Institute, which has received at least $350,000 in funding from Koch foundations and over $800,000 from ExxonMobil, has published reports attempting to discredit established climate science. Newsweek called the organization a "central cog in the [climate change] denial machine."
Fortunately, O'Keefe has not appeared on the networks in recent years, although he did publish an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal casting doubt on whether humans are the primary cause of global warming.

Ten Internet Jokes That Got People Arrested

Everyone makes a stupid mistake once in a while, some more frequently (and more stupidly) than others. In today's digital culture, a tasteless joke that might once have netted the teller a few disapproving glances is now often relayed over social media and broadcast far and wide. This can get people into a world of trouble.
One unfortunate pair of jokers who got far more than the laughs they bargained for are UK-based couple Leigh van Bryan and Emily Bunting, shown in the photo above. Prior to leaving on a 2012 vacation to Los Angeles, van Bryan, an Irishman living in Britain, tweeted the following message:

"Free this week, for quick gossip/prep before I go and destroy America? and 3 weeks today, we're totally in LA p****** people off on Hollywood Blvd and diggin' Marilyn Monroe up!"

When they landed at LAX, federal Homeland Security officials detained the couple, confiscated their passports and questioned them for five hours. In spite of them telling the feds that "destroy America" is slang for getting drunk and rowdy, and in spite of them explaining that the Marilyn Monroe reference was from the animated American television show Family Guy, the authorities remained stone faced and serious. Van Bryan and Bunting maintained that the authorities searched their luggage, telling them they were looking for spades and shovels that would enable them to dig up a body.
Leigh was treated to a full body search before the two were handcuffed and jailed overnight in separate cells. The next morning they were put on a plane back to the UK, without so much as an adieu.
Read about nine more situations in which people got into hot water as a result of their internet usage in this article.

What Necessary Adult Skills Were You Never Taught Growing Up?

Lifehacker asked this question of its readers: What necessary adult skills were you never taught growing up? The site was properly called out for asking it as a call for article ideas, but that’s not really a sin. It’s kind of related to a discussion thread we once posted titled Buying Bread that asked what surprised you when you got out on your own away from family. The answers Lifehacker got were about personal finance, personal hygiene, sex, taxes, health, job hunting, and auto mechanics, among many other things. A thread at Metafilter has even more.

Non Sequitur

Boy recovering after sleepwalking out of first floor window then waking up in stranger's bed

McCauley Stratford from Foxton, New Zealand, has become a regular sleepwalker in the last year, but his latest adventure has astonished and horrified his parents. The 7-year-old climbed out of his upstairs bedroom window, plunged 4m on to a gravel driveway and broke his leg. He then managed to haul himself to a house 100m away where he climbed into a stranger's bed - all without waking up. He is now back home with his leg in a cast, much to the relief of his parents. "I burst into tears of joy," said father, Rhys. "I wouldn't wish it on anybody."

Stratford and wife Gemma went to check on McCauley, the third of their six children, at their home at about 10pm on Friday. When they discovered he had vanished they called police, sparking an eight-hour search. "It was absolutely devastating," said Stratford. "You put your boy to bed and check on him and he's not there." At its peak, more than 50 volunteers joined a frantic 1km search area, including the fire brigade, security guards, ambulance officers, neighbors and a specialist search and rescue team.
The home became a "bombsite" as police officers hunted for clues to the mystery disappearance. It wasn't until early on Saturday when a boy in the nearby house woke that he found he had an unexpected bedmate and alerted his caregiver. "He went to his aunty and said, 'There's a stranger in my bed'," said Stratford. McCauley was reunited with his family at 5am on Saturday. Stratford said McCauley started sleepwalking a year ago but had only ever wandered around the house. He had never ventured outside. "I just want to give my sincere thanks to everyone that pitched in overnight.
"We just felt so helpless. We've had people we don't know come around and say they helped search and they are so happy he is home and safe and well." Foxton deputy fire chief Michael Clement said searchers were thrilled McCauley had been found. "It's so satisfying that there wasn't a tragic ending to it. It's not hard to imagine the worst when a child has been missing between 10pm and 5am so this is a great outcome." Stratford said the family would take McCauley to see a specialist to investigate the sleepwalking - and he would be doing a spot of DIY. "The safety latches are going on the window today."

Leonard Nimoy fought for pay equity for Nichelle Nichols

Just in case you needed more reasons to miss the recently departed Leonard Nimoy: Last year, the website TrekMovie reported that during the filming of the original Star Trek series in the 1960s, Nimoy fought for pay equity for Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura. The revelation came courtesy of Walter Koenig, the actor who played Chekov.

Koenig: When it came to the attention of the cast that there was a disparity in pay in that George [Takei] and I were getting the same pay but Nichelle was not getting as much, I took it to Leonard and he took it to the front office and they corrected that.

He will be missed.

Abortion Bans Are Putting Women Behind Bars

by Tara Culp-Ressler

When a medical procedure is restricted to the point that it carries criminal penalties, some vulnerable people invariably end up behind bars.

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10-Year-Old Hangs from Moving Vehicle, Saves Sister from Convicted Sex Offender

by Jill Bond

Everybody should have a little bother as brave and fantastic as this!

According to Irish Independent, a 10-year-old boy Ireland is being hailed as a hero after demonstrating nerves of steel and quick reflexes by saving his sister from being abducted off of the side of the road by a convicted sex offender.

The 34-year-old man pulled up next to the girl and her two brothers playing in the village of Cullahill in County Laois and feigned that he needed directions to the local priest’s home. (He also reportedly likes to rob church poor boxes.)
But when the well-known convict, who was out on bail for robbery, grabbed the 12-year-old girl and tried to get away, the boy lunged through the driver-side window in the SUV and swung at the piece of sh*t trying to abduct his sister. (His cape must have been fluttering out behind him.)
As the would-be-kidnapper began to drive away, the boy didn’t let up, creating enough of a diversion for the girl to escape by jumping from the moving vehicle.
As you’d expect, the family is very proud of their awesome boy for saving his sister from the clutches of a convicted child sex offender. And presumably he’ll get all the cake and ice cream he wants for the rest of his life.
Local authorities launched a manhunt after the attack on Wednesday morning and took the man into custody. If he ever finds his way out of prison again I hope there’s someone as courageous as the 10-year-old boy to stop him in his tracks.

Random Photos

Mannequin used to trick taxi driver out of £200 fare

A taxi driver was tricked out of a fare worth hundreds of pounds by a mannequin. The driver who works for CityCabs was hailed for late-night a journey from Brighton station to London. But he was conned out of the fare when he discovered his apparently sleeping passenger was a dummy. CityCabs boss Andy Cheesman said: “Three people got into a cab at Brighton station. It was late at night and they asked to be taken to London.
“When they got to London the first one got out then asked for his friends to be dropped off at a second address. When he got to the second address the guy got out and said ‘my mate’s still asleep, can you take him to his address’.
“When he got there the driver couldn’t wake him up, then he realized it was a mannequin. He was expecting the last passenger to pay the fare so he lost the whole lot.” The fare would have been around £200.

Teenagers who stole cremated remains of homeowner’s father thought it was cocaine

Three teenage burglars in St. Louis, Missouri, thought they were stealing cocaine, but it turned out to be the cremated remains of the homeowner’s father, police said. The thieves realized their mistake after one of them tasted the ashes. Then they threw the cremains out of a car window, police said.

Devin M. Gesell, 17, of St. Charles, is charged with burglary and two counts of theft in the case. His accomplices, ages 15 and 16, were referred to juvenile authorities for charges. The burglary happened in November at a home in St Peters. Detectives tracked the three down through an IP address used on one of the stolen items, an Xbox 360 game system, police said. Gesell was charged this week.
According to police, the three were acquaintances of the family who lived at the home. They planned the burglary after seeing a posting on Facebook that said the family was going to be out of town. Gesell told police that one of the juveniles broke the glass out of the rear door of the home, unlocked it and entered the residence.
He said he had acted as a lookout while the two others took items that included the game system, cash, jewellery, prescription bottles of oxycodone and morphine and the ashes, which were in a wooden box. Police said Gesell could not remember where they had been driving when they discarded the remains. His bail is set at $10,000 cash-only.

Man who stole neighbors' credit card used it to treat them to tickets for football game

Police say a Florida couple were surprised to learn that tickets to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers football game given to them by a neighbor were actually paid for with their own credit card. Anthony James David faces a variety of charges after deputies say he also stole his neighbors' Discover and Best Buy gift cards. They say he had befriended the couple and gave them a false name and even took them to the Buccaneers game with the ill-gotten tickets, all without them knowing.

"As it turned out looking on our credit card statement, we had actually financed the entire day," Bill Callahan from Spring Hill said. "He seemed like a really nice guy. Introduced himself as a pharmaceutical rep, and everything seemed pretty accurate with what he was telling us." But Bill and his wife Melissa became suspicious after discovering their card has been used fraudulently to purchase flowers at a local florist, food from Panera, legal services from a Tampa attorney, PayPal services, and Verizon services. They also found that two of their Best Buy gift cards were used at Best Buy stores in Spring Hill and New Port Richey.
Detectives say surveillance video from some of those purchases implicated David, who had told the Callahans that his name was Anthony Sagglioca. "He is very skillful in the way he conducts himself," Bill said. They say they found the same thing when they contacted the Buccaneers' ticket office. "When detectives received statements from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it was confirmed that the victim's credit card was used to purchase the season tickets, as well as individual game tickets in Anthony's name, for an amount of $608.
"It was also confirmed that the game tickets, for which he invited and 'paid' for the victims to attend, were paid by Anthony using the victim's stolen credit card," the sheriff's office explained. "Obviously, the victims were unaware that the tickets to the game they were attending had been purchased using their credit card." In all, Anthony David allegedly made $2,969.38 in fraudulent purchases using the stolen credit card, as well as $100 using the stolen Best Buy cards. "It's embarrassing, it's maddening. It makes me think how will I trust anyone again?" Bill said. David, 37, was arrested last Friday night. Deputies say he has an "extensive history" of fraud charges.

Man tried to sell stolen ring to woman from whose home he had taken it

A 19-year-old Florida man was arrested after he tried to sell stolen jewellery to a woman who, it turns out, was the victim of the burglary, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. Clifton Tyler Johnson, 19, was initially arrested on charges of loitering and prowling in Fountain, BCSO said.

But BCSO has filed charges of burglary of a conveyance, dealing in stolen property and three counts of burglary of a dwelling. According to BCSO’s report, they received a complaint last Thursday of a burglary at a home in Bay County. The victim stated a white male was seen running from home. The victim went into the residence and found that jewellery had been taken.
Several other complaints of burglaries were received from the area at around the same time. Cars and homes were burgled. Items taken included cash, cellphones, prescription pills and jewellery, officials said. On Friday, one of the victims was approached by a white male at a store in the Fountain area who asked if she would like to buy jewellery. The victim recognized a ring as her own and stated to the suspect it was hers.
The suspect gave her the ring and left the store, officers reported. Later on the same day, a patrolling BCSO deputy spotted a white male running from one of the homes that had been previously burgled. The deputy pursued on foot and was able to take Johnson into custody. He was charged with loitering and prowling and booked into the Bay County Jail. Investigators interviewed Johnson and were able to connect him to several burglaries and the attempt to sell stolen jewellery, BCSO reported.

Drug runners filmed throwing bales of marijuana from car during police chase

The Pinal County Sheriff's Office in Arizona say suspects in a high-speed chase ditched marijuana bales on Interstate 10, and it was all caught on dashcam video.

According to the PCSO, the pursuit began just before noon on Wednesday when deputies on Interstate 8 in Casa Grande spotted a white SUV speeding. Deputies tried to catch up with the vehicle, but it took off onto I-10 going westbound.
When deputies caught up with it, they say, the occupants started throwing out bales of marijuana. Deputies used spike strips to flatten the tyres, and investigators say Mario Perez-Paz, 43, of Mexico, and Juan Aguilar-Zavala, 21, got out and ran from deputies but were later taken into custody.

YouTube link. Original PCSO Facebook video.

During their interviews, the men allegedly claimed they were offered $1,000 by a woman in Phoenix to drive the vehicle to I-8 to pick up unknown packages. Deputies and Department of Public Safety officers were not able to recover all of the bales thrown from the vehicle because of traffic conditions, and they say some drivers stopped to pick them up.

Robbers escaped with minor injuries when their getaway car was crushed by shipping container

Three Brazilian robbery suspects were battered but lucky to be alive after a shipping container crushed their getaway car on Friday.

The two men, aged 28 and 31, and a 15-year-old were allegedly fleeing a burgled construction shop in Navegantes, on the north coast of Santa Catarina, when a truck carrying the container hit another truck, causing the load to topple over. Surveillance footage captured at around 3:30pm showed the moment the container fell on the car used by the suspects as they sped past.
All three survived with only minor bruises to the head and arms despite their vehicle being almost flattened under the weight. According to the commander of the Volunteer Fire Department Navegantes, Ricardo Luiz da Silva, the trio were trapped in the wreckage for about 30 minutes.

LiveLeak link.

After being freed by emergency crews, they were placed directly in a military police vehicle and booked for theft and assault. Later that day, the two adults were sent to the penitentiary complex of Vale and the teenager was taken to Casep of Itajaí. All three were known to police.