Today In History

On this day, April 1st

1789–House of Representatives has its first full session.

1826–Samuel Mory patents internal-combustion engine.

1836–Charles Darwin aboard HMS Beagle reaches Cocos Islands.

1865–Battle of the Five Forks, Virginia, signals the end of Lee’s Army.

1876–1st official National League baseball game: Boston 6, Phiadelphia 5.

1889–1st dish-washing machine marketed in Chicago. (2 early versions.)

1927–1st automatic record changer introduced by “His Master’s Voice”–Victor Records.

1930–Leo Hartnett of the Chicago Cubs caught a baseball dropped from a Goodyear Blimp 550-feet up in the air over Los Angeles.  He broke both the record…and his jaw.

"Lookout Below!"

1930– “Blue Angel” starring unknown Marlene Dietrich, premieres in America.

1931–Jackie Mitchell becomes 1st female in professional baseball.

1934–Bonnie & Clyde kill 2 police officers.

1938–Baseball Hall-Of-Fame opens in Cooperstown, NY.

1938–Joe Louis KOs Harry Thomas in 5 to retain title.

1945–U.S. forces invade Okinawa during WWII.

1946–Weight Watchers forms.

1952–Big Bang Theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe, and Gamow.

1954–1st Army Helicopter Battalion forms.

1956–10th Tony Awards; “Diary of Anne Frank,” and “Damn Yankees” win.

1970–President Nixon signs bill limiting cigarette advertisements.

1973–John & Yoko form a new country, “Nutopia” with no borders or laws.  It’s national anthem is silence.

1976–Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs found Apple Computer.

1984–8 men record longest distance ever rowed in 24 hours…(13 miles).

1987–Steve Newman became the first person to walk solo around the world (15,000 miles and 4 years to complete).

1990–CBS fires sportscaster Brent Musberger.

1990–It becomes illegal in Salem, Oregon to be within 2′ of nude dancers.

Oops...looks like we have a couple of lawbreakers!

1990–Wrestlemania VI; Ultimate Warrior beats Hulk Hogan.

Manson Family Member Dying…Wants A “Compassionate Release” From Prison

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Former Manson family member Susan Atkins has requested a “compassionate release” from prison because she has less than six months to live, a California prisons spokeswoman said Friday.

Susan Atkins: Murderer, Torturer.

Atkins, 60, was convicted in the 1969 slayings of actress Sharon Tate and four others. She had been incarcerated at the California Institution for Women in Corona, California.

But Atkins, the state’s longest- serving female inmate, has been hospitalized since March 18 and is listed in serious condition, state corrections department spokeswoman Terry Thornton said. Because of privacy laws, Thornton would not disclose the nature of Atkins’ illness.

Atkins’ husband and attorney, James Whitehouse, was quoted as saying she has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, according to a blog called Manson Family Today. She also has had a leg amputated, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday, citing sources close to the case.

The compassionate release request has been approved by the prison, which conducted an evaluation, and is under corrections department review, Thornton said.

If the department approves, the Board of Parole Hearings and the sentencing court in Los Angeles also must sign off on the request. There is no timeline for a decision to be made, Thornton said.

Atkins, known within the Manson family as “Sadie Mae Glutz,” has been in prison since 1971 and has been denied parole 11 times.

According to historical accounts of the murders, Atkins stabbed Tate, who was 8½ months pregnant, and scawled the word “pig” in blood on the door of the home the actress shared with director Roman Polanski.

“I don’t want to seem like a heartless creature, but in all my years, I never considered this could happen,” Debra Tate, the actress’ sister, told the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

“She showed no compassion. She told my sister as she slit her throat that she didn’t (care) for her or her unborn baby,” Tate added.  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–This is why you not only have a death penalty; you need a death penalty.  Decades pass and so does the memory of the victims–and their suffering.  But you’re left with a picture of a broken, dying woman begging to be released so she can die at home instead of prison.

What is missing is the fact that she wants to be shown compassion while compassion was the furthest thing shown to her victims as she was butchering them.

We don’t simply look at the criminal and release them because they’re no longer a danger to society.  We keep them in prison based on the crimes they commit because it’s the right thing to do.  That’s justice.  Justice would have been not allowing this killer; this torturer, to be allowed to live for 40 full years after she viciously took the lives of innocent people.

Nope, making her die in prison is the least we can do to honor the memory of her victims.

3 Minors Arrested For Alleged Sex Video

From Boston Channel

Aspiring Young Filmmakers Using Forbidden Subject Matter

HOLBROOK, Mass. — Police in Holbrook are investigating charges against three minors who allegedly created a video of two of them having sexual intercourse while the third recorded it, then distributed the video to junior high students.

B.S.–Ah, young entrepreneurs in action!  How refreshing–did they receive course credit?

I don't think this is how Alfred Hitchcock got started on his directorial path--though he might have wanted to.

“The video depicts two minors engaging in sexual intercourse,” Holbrook police officer Keysha Mitchell said.  She said the person recording the scene was also a minor. The video was then distributed among students at Holbrook Junior-Senior High School, police said, and the charges that may be leveled against the teens are serious as the forwarding of such a video, also known as “sexting,” is a felony offense.

“Some of the kids involved could be looking at possession of child pornography, dissemination of child pornography. There’s also the possibility of statutory rape and if there’s any audio discovered on the video there’s also the possible charge of wiretapping,” Mitchell said.

Police said the video was taken at a home, not at the school.  The alleged victim, a girl under 16, told them she did not realize she was being captured on cell phone.  She went to police with her parents when she realized the video was circulating. Police were planning to be in the schools for assemblies on the matter.  Meanwhile, parents in the community reacted to the situation.  “All these new technologies and they seem to abuse them sometimes,” parent Chris Hawkesworth said.

B.S.–Yikes!  Some of the parents seem to have not grasped the lesson here…This isn’t about the technology!  It’s not that the kids abused the technologies!   Technology did what technology does–if they weren’t having sex the technology wouldn’t have abused them.  Perhaps the behavior is at issue here.  Having 15-year-old kids (or younger) engaging in sex is probably not a good idea.

In the meantime, the district attorney will be deciding what charges to bring and police are asking for students who have received the video on their phones to bring it to police so it can be disposed of properly.

They said they understand that parents want their children to have phones but advised that the video and photo-taking capability of the phones can be disabled to lower a child’s risk of being exposed to inappropriate material.

B.S. Report–Yep, those videos will be returned about the same time those people in San Diego return the money they picked up off the highway after drug criminals threw the money out of their vehicle while fleeing the cops….like never.

This Is A World Turned Upside Down–Russia Backs Partial Return To The Gold Standard…

Fiscal Sanity Being Proposed By The…Russians?

Arkady Dvorkevich, the Kremlin’s chief economic adviser, said Russia would favour the inclusion of gold bullion in the basket-weighting of a new world currency based on Special Drawing Rights issued by the International Monetary Fund.

Backing up paper currency to gold...brilliant!

Chinese and Russian leaders both plan to open debate on an SDR-based reserve currency as an alternative to the US dollar at the G20 summit in London this week, although the world may not yet be ready for such a radical proposal.

Mr Dvorkevich said it was “logical” that the new currency should include the rouble and the yuan, adding that “we could also think about more effective use of gold in this system”.

The Gold Standard was the anchor of world finance in the 19th Century but began breaking down during the First World War as governments engaged in unprecedented spending. It collapsed in the 1930s when the British Empire, the US, and France all abandoned their parities.

It was revived as part of fixed dollar system until US inflation caused by the Vietnam War and “Great Society” social spending forced President Richard Nixon to close the gold window in 1971.

The world’s fiat paper currencies have lacked any external anchor ever since. It is widely argued that the financial excesses and extreme debt leverage of the last quarter century would have been impossible – or less likely – under the discipline of gold.

Russia is a major gold producer with large untapped reserves of ore so it has a clear interest in promoting the idea. The Kremlin has already instructed the central bank to  gradually raise the gold share of foreign reserves to 10pc.

China’s government has floated a variant of this idea, suggesting a currency based on 30 commodities along the lines of the “Bancor” proposed by John Maynard Keynes in 1944.  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–When it comes to printing money, governments will make as much as they can get away with.  Tying currency to gold is the way we prevent this since the supply of gold cannot be increased rapidly.  But that ended for us back in 1933 when FDR took us off the gold standard.

Since then, our government has often printed so much money that it would lead to inflation–like the awful spiral we’re in right now.  To give you an idea how insidious inflation can be, according to economist Thomas Sowell, a $20.00 bill in the 1960′s bought more groceries than a $100.oo bill could buy in 1998.

That means if you saved your money from the ’60′s to 1998 inflation ate up four-fifths of the value of your money–now that is government theft!

So You Want To Be A Cop? Officer And Dog Square Off Against Mob Of 60

Cop Finds Himself Amidst Angry Mob

A Modesto police officer had to pull his gun to keep a hostile crowd at bay early Sunday.

The officer sustained minor injuries in the southwest Modesto incident, said police spokesman Sgt. Brian Findlen. Police are not releasing the officer’s name. The officer’s dog was assaulted but not seriously injured, Findlen said. Police arrested several suspects in connection with the incident. A loaded assault rifle was found later at the scene of the struggle, which unfolded about 2 a.m.

Findlen said the officer pulled his gun only after other deterrents, including his police dog, failed to keep the crowd under control. “In a situation where you really feel that your life is in imminent danger, your options become very few,” Findlen said.

Some members of the crowd told the officer that “he was not going to leave the scene alive,” according to police.

The crowd of as many as 60 people included some known gang members, Findlen said. Police believe the group was gathered for a party in the 1700 block of Pelton Avenue. The officer happened upon the group when he was responding to another call in the area.

The officer saw several people assaulting one man, Findlen said. As the officer tried to break up the fight, the crowd’s attention shifted from the assault victim to the officer. The crowd surrounded the officer. The officer sent his dog into the crowd in an attempt to stop the group. (Read more.)

B.S. Report–There are areas all over the country that are too dangerous for even the cops to venture into.  This cop, fortunately, got out alive.  There are gangs that are better armed than the police officers they come in contact with–remember the North Hollywood shootout in L.A. where the cops had to borrow weapons from a local gun shop?  These guys are underpaid and under-appreciated.

15-Year-Old Boy Arrested After Arizona School Explosion

Kid Builds Bomb And Injures Himself And 8 Classmates

QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. (AP) — A 15-year-old boy was arrested after a device made of drain cleaner exploded in an Arizona school yard Monday, injuring him and eight other students.

Pinal County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Lt. Tamatha Villar said the boy told investigators he has been building such devices with different chemicals and reactive agents to see what happened. Authorities planned to search his home for a second device.

Villar said four other boys and four girls suffered injuries, including burns to their hands, arms and faces. All were treated at a hospital and released.

She said investigators were not able to determine a motive after interviewing the boy. The boy appeared to know the device would explode but did not understand the injuries it would cause, she added.

The boy was taken to a juvenile detention center and faces eight felony aggravated assault counts and other charges.

The school is in Queen Creek, about 30 miles southeast of Phoenix.

B.S. Report–I assume this wasn’t a class assignment.  He didn’t receive school credit.

Now lets look at the facts:  The kid was smart enough to build a bomb; yet too dumb to realize that it might possibly hurt someone…sorry, I’m not buying what the kid’s selling.…Waterboard Him!!

But I was just mixing a few chemicals together:

World Getting More Dangerous…China’s “Not-So Secret” Weapon Can Destroy U.S. Aircraft Carriers

China Talking Up New Offensive Weapon

With tensions already rising due to the Chinese navy becoming more aggressive in asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, the U.S. Navy seems to have yet another reason to be deeply concerned.

After years of conjecture, details have begun to emerge of a “kill weapon” developed by the Chinese to target and destroy U.S. aircraft carriers.

DF-21 ASBM

First posted on a Chinese blog viewed as credible by military analysts and then translated by the naval affairs blog Information Dissemination, a recent report provides a description of an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) that can strike carriers and other U.S. vessels at a range of 2000km.

The range of the modified Dong Feng 21 missile is significant in that it covers the areas that are likely hot zones for future confrontations between U.S. and Chinese surface forces.

The size of the missile enables it to carry a warhead big enough to inflict significant damage on a large vessel, providing the Chinese the capability of destroying a U.S. supercarrier in one strike.

Because the missile employs a complex guidance system, low radar signature and a maneuverability that makes its flight path unpredictable, the odds that it can evade tracking systems to reach its target are increased. It is estimated that the missile can travel at mach 10 and reach its maximum range of 2000km in less than 12 minutes.

Supporting the missile is a network of satellites, radar and unmanned aerial vehicles that can locate U.S. ships and then guide the weapon, enabling it to hit moving targets.  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–The world’s changing by the moment. We’ve got a neophyte in office who has grand plans to reduce the military by at least 10%.  Now we learn that our Navy needs to restructure their capabilities.  Coincidence that all of this is happening so quickly.

Partly, for sure.  But don’t think for a second that all these countries aren’t fattening up while we have a “weak” president in office.  Look at all the recent military activity by Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, and Japan.

Just in case you didn’t realize it, we are the world’s policeman–and right now the policeman is on break and the potential criminals are seeing what they can get away with.  They’re misbehaving as if they suspect that there’s a substitute teacher running the classroom–and they suspect right.

It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, No It’s Just A Baby Falling Out Of A 40-Foot-High Window…Nice Catch Guys!

Is There No End To Human Ingenuity? Man Arrested For DUI On Motorized Barstool

Efficient way to travel...especially if you're trying to find a jail.

From The Smoking Gun

MARCH 31–In a law enforcement first, Ohio cops this month arrested a man for drunk driving on a motorized bar stool.  That’s right, a motorized bar stool, which can be seen below in a police evidence photo.  According to cops, Kile Wygle, 28, crashed his bar stool near his Newark home earlier this month and called 911 due to his injuries.  When an officer arrived and asked Wygle what happened, he answered, “I wrecked my bar stool.”

According to a Newark Police Division report, a copy of which you’ll find here, Wygle’s homemade ride is powered by a Briggs & Stratton lawnmower engine. Wygle noted that the bar stool could hit nearly 40 miles per hour, but that he was only going 20 when he wiped out late in the afternoon on March 4 (a witness told police that he spotted someone driving a “strange motorized machine” before the crash).

A plastered Wygle, who failed a series of field sobriety tests, was charged with DUI and driving with a suspended license, both misdemeanors.  His bar stool was not impounded.  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–I don’t understand–if you’re not allowed to drink on a bar stool, where can you drink these days?  So the guy admits to having a beer or two (or fifteen!), he’s still sitting on the sacredly protected throne of a drunk–his very own bar stool.

You mean you lose the legal protection of a bar stool simply because it’s buzzing around city streets between 20-40 miles-per-hour?  Watch yourself you drunkards–you can now be 86′d from your own bar stool!  What a world!

“Octomom” Staff Fired For Looking At Medical Records

Kaiser Staff Fired For Privacy Breach Against “Octomom”

From Bild.com

The Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Centre in Los Angeles disciplined a further eight members of staff and reported the violations of health care privacy laws, and has warned employees to stay away from the records according to hospital spokesman Jim Anderson.

Suleman gave birth to octuplets on January 26 at the hospital, which anticipated that the birth of eight babies would create a media frenzy so started courses in patient privacy laws.

But it seems the lure of knowing more about the 33-year-old mum-of-14 proved too much for some workers.

Anderson said: “Despite the notoriety of this case, to us this person is a patient who deserves the privacy that all our patients get. This is something we take very, very seriously.”

Hospital officials said the infringement was discovered during computer security monitoring which showed who snooped at the files and if they had a medical reason to do so.

Anderson said it didn’t appear that employees intended to sell the information or disclose it: “There’s nothing to indicate that the people who looked at the records provided it to anyone else. You can only guess that this was human nature and curiosity that got the best of people.”

Octomom’s attorney Jeff Czech said she does not plan to file a lawsuit over the breach, though he suspects employees were looking for information on the sperm donor.

It is unclear whether a state investigation is under way at the hospital.

B.S. Report–Saw this winning Mardi-Gras costume on Debbie Schlussel’s site.