Quote of the Day

“We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet.  We are more committed to those goals today than ever before.  Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers.  Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it.” 

– Current TV network founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt in a statement terminating Keith Olbermann as host of “Countdown,” just one year into his 5-year, $50 million contract. 

In a seemingly unrelated event, Olbermann said he plans to sue.  Poor Keith.  All pissed off and nowhere to go with it.

 

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March 30, 2012 – 265 days Until Baktun 12

Survivalist Tip:  Vitamin C is one of the best vitamins for normal physical growth and development.  That, of course, leads to normal spiritual growth and development, which explains why a lot of Jews, Christians and Muslims are Vitamin C-deficient.  Therefore, make certain you have a good supply of Vitamin C in your survival stockpile.  The human body neither produces nor stores Vitamin C, so you’ll have to consume it through natural food sources, such as fruits and vegetables, or capsules.  Vitamin C helps to heal from wounds and form scar tissue.  It contains free radicals which can assist you in combating such things as tobacco smoke, radiation and stupidity.  Radiation may be present when the axes shift, which will throw power plants off-line and upend garbage dumps.  Stupidity, of course, is a perennial problem, so you have to be on guard for that regardless of what happens.  But, with plentiful sources of Vitamin C in your arsenal, you can handle any dilemma.

 

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Senate Republicans Defeat White House Proposal to Strip Subsidies from Oil Companies

Yesterday Senate Republicans foiled President Obama’s plan to strip $24 billion in tax subsidies from the country’s largest oil companies, potentially fueling an election-year issue among voters disgruntled by escalating gas prices.  The 51-47 vote was mostly along party lines.  Gosh, I didn’t know the oil companies were having such a tough time these days!

 

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Today’s Notable Birthdays

If yours is today also, “Happy Birthday!”

Actor Richard Dysart (L.A. Law, Wall Street, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman) is 83.

 

Actor John Astin (The Addams Family, The Pruitts of Southampton, Operation Petticoat) is 82.

 

TV host Peter Marshall (Hollywood Squares) is 82.

 

Actor Warren Beatty (Splendor in the Grass, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone, Bonnie and Clyde) is 75.

 

Drummer Graeme Edge (The Moody Blues) is 71.

 

Country singer Bobby Wright is 69.

 

Guitarist – singer – songwriter Eric Clapton (Yardbirds; solo) is 67.

 

Actor – comedian Paul Reiser (Diner, Mad About You, Aliens) is 55.

 

 

Pop singer – songwriter Tracy Chapman is 48.

 

Actor Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210, The Fighter) is 48.

 

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On March 30…

1842 – Dr. Crawford W. Long performed the first operation on a patient using ether.

 

1853 – Vincent Van Gogh was born in Groot-Zundert, Holland.

 

1858 – Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia, PA patented the pencil.

 

1867 – Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of “Russian America” – better known as Alaska – for 2 cents an acre.

 

1870 – The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting African-American men the right to vote, was ratified.

1909 – The Queensboro Bridge, the first double-decker bridge, opened in New York City.

 

1948 – Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin ordered all road and rail access to Berlin, Germany blocked, in what later became known as the “Berlin Blockade.”

 

1965 – A bomb exploded in a car parked in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 people, injuring 183 others and virtually destroying the building.

1981 – President Ronald Reagan was shot by John W. Hinckley, Jr., as the President walked to his limousine in Washington, D.C.  Press Secretary James Brady and two police officers were also wounded in the attack.

1987 – Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers brought $39.85 million, more than triple the record for an auctioned painting.

 

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Board Game for Home-Schoolers

Conquer the world for Christ – again!  This board game not only challenges home-schooled (brain-washed) kids’ geographic and navigational skills, it also commands them to conquer the world once more in the name of religion.  Yes, there’s nothing like enslaving Negroes and killing Indians to make a Christian feel whole and complete.  Source: Christian Nightmares.

 

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Cartoon of the Day

 

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Picture of the Day

South Korea’s mountainous Yeosu peninsula’s contains 300-plus jagged islands, two protected national marine parks and a rich maritime heritage.  Photograph by Topic Photo Agency.

 

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Quote of the Day

“Rick Santorum is from God and will win with Christians and Catholics uniting for Santorum.” 

– Pastor Steven Andrew, USA Christian Ministries. 

Christians AND Catholics?  I think he’s insinuating that Catholics aren’t Christians, a claim I’ve heard before from the usually self-righteous evangelicals.  I should know.  I’ve worked around plenty of them.  I hate to break the pastor’s heart – then again, not really – but the Catholic Church was the first Christian church, and everything is descended from there.  Some evolved rather nicely; e.g. Methodists and Lutherans.  Others not so much; e.g. Baptists and Pentecostals.

 

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Eisenhower in Video Color

While yesterday marked the 43rd anniversary of the death of Dwight D. Eisenhower, here’s one little known fact about the nation’s 34th U.S. President – he was the first Chief Executive to be photographed on videotape; in both black and white, of course, but more interestingly, in color.  Charles Ginsburg had led the development of videotape at the Ampex Corporation in 1951.  Ampex had been founded two years earlier by Alexander M. Poniatoff,  a Russian immigrant.  The earliest realistic model of a videotape recorder was called the “Quadruplex” machine, or “Quad.”  Some TV stations began utilizing the new technology by 1954, but it was cumbersome and expensive.  This is the oldest known color videotape recording, which is highlighted by a speech Eisenhower gave on May 22, 1958 on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.

 

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