THE PEGASUS DAILY NEWS

[pegasus]

Adopt A Greyhound Month
Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 100th day of 2013 with 265 days left in the year.

Today in History:
1778--Commander John Paul Jones and his crew of 140 men aboard the USS Ranger set sail from the naval port at Brest, France, and headed toward the Irish Sea to begin raids on British warships.
1790--Pres. Washington signed into law the first United States Patent Act.
1790--Capt. Robert Grey completed the first circumnavigation of the world by an American vessel, the Columbia.
1814--Napoleon's army was defeated by the British and Spanish at the Battle of Toulouse, leading to his abdication and exile to Elba.
1829--William Booth, English minister and founder of the Salvation Army, was born; died 1912 at age 83.
1834--a fire at the LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans, La., led to the discovery of a torture chamber where slaves were routinely brutalized by Delphine LaLaurie.
1847--Joseph Pulitzer, influential 19th-century American newspaper editor and publisher whose will furnished the funds for the Pulitzer Prizes, was born; died 1911 at age 64.
1849--New York City's Walter Hunt patented the safety pin.
1864--Archduke Maximilian of Austria accepted the throne of Mexico.
1865--Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee game his final address to his Army of Northern Virginia troops.
1866--the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.
1870--Vladimir Lenin, Russian Communist leader of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), was born; died 1924 at age 64.
1906--O. Henry's second short story collection, The Four Million, was published and included one of his most beloved stories, "The Gift of the Magi,"
1912--the RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.
1916--the first professional golf tournament was held at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York.
1919--Emiliano Zapata, a leader of peasants and indigenous people during the Mexican Revolution, was ambushed and shot to death in Morelos by government forces.
1921--Sun Yat-sen was elected president of China.
1922--the Genoa Conference opened to discuss the reconstruction of Europe after World War I.
1925--The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published.
1932--German president Paul Von Hindenburg was re-elected in a runoff, with Adolf Hitler coming in second.
1933--Pres. Roosevelt signed into law the Civilian Conservation Corps.
1938--in a referendum, 99.75 percent of Austrians voted for a merger with Germany.
1941--the German and Italian invaders of Yugoslavia set up the Independent State of Croatia (also including Bosnia and Herzegovina) as a puppet Axis regime.
1942--the 75,000 Filipino and American troops captured on the Bataan Peninsula begin a forced march to a prison camp near Cabanatuan, known as the "Bataan Death March," in which 100s of Americanas and many more Filipinos died.
1947--Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey announced he had purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals, paving the way for Robinson to become the first black to play in the major leagues.
1953--Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden was installed as secretary-general of the United Nations for a five-year term. (He began a 2nd term on the same day in 1958)
1953--the first color 3-D film, a horror movie House of Wax, produced by Warner Bros. and starring Vincent Price, premiered in New York.
1957--Egypt reopened the Suez Canal to all shipping traffic. (The canal had been closed due to wreckage resulting from the Suez Crisis.)
1961--Gary Player, age 25, from South Africa became the first foreign golfer to win the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga.
1963--the fast-attack nuclear submarine USS Thresher sank during deep-diving tests east of Cape Cod, Mass., in a disaster that claimed 129 lives.
1970--Paul MacCartney announced his leaving of the Beatles, officially breaking up the most successful rock group in world history.
1972--the B-52 US Air Force bombers began attacking North Vietnam.
1972--more than 50 countries signed a treaty outlawing the stockpiling of biological weapons.
1974--Golda Meir told party leaders she was resigning as prime minister of Israel.
1981--imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands won election to the British Parliament.
1992--financier Charles Keating Jr. was sentenced to nine years in prison for swindling investors when his Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed.
1992--a huge Irish Republican Army bomb exploded in London's financial district; three people were killed and 91 injured.
1994--NATO warplanes launched air strikes for the first time on Serb forces advancing on the Bosnian Muslim town of Gorazde, a United Nations-declared safe area.
1998--negotiators in Northern Ireland reached a landmark settlement that called for Protestants and Catholics to share power.
2001--The Netherlands legalized mercy killings and assisted suicide for patients with unbearable, terminal illness.
2003--the US Congress overwhelmingly passed a package of child safety protections, including a national Amber Alert network.
2003--a fire in a boarding school for the deaf in southern Russia killed 28 children.
2006--Tiger Woods won his fourth Masters title.
2007--a woman wearing an explosives vest strapped underneath her black robe blew herself up in the midst of 200 police recruits in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, killing 16.
2008--the U.S. Board on Geographic Names officially renamed Squaw Peak in Phoenix Piestewa Peak, in honor of Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, who was killed in Iraq in 2003.
2008--Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, suspected of killing a pregnant colleague, was arrested in Tacambaro, Mexico.
2010--Polish Pres. Lech Kaczynski was killed in a plane crash in western Russia that also claimed the lives of his wife and top Polish political, military and church officials.
2012--Rick Santorum quit the presidential race, clearing the way for Mitt Romney to claim the Republican nomination.
2012--Syrian troops defied a UN-brokered cease-fire plan, launching fresh attacks on rebellious areas.

World News Capsules:

China's former rail minister is charged with corruption
....Liu Zhijun, who was removed from his post in 2011, has been reviled by state-run media and Chinese bloggers since a deadly high-speed train crash.

Coptic Christian leader in Egypt criticizes government over violence
....Pope Tawadros II, the Coptic pope, accused Pres. Mohamed Morsi’s government of “delinquency” and “misjudgments” for failing to prevent sectarian fighting.

Horse meat problems resurface across Europe
....The scandal over horse meat sold as beef re-emerged with a Dutch alert over 50,000 tons of meat sold across Europe and an earlier recall of a product in Britain containing a veterinary drug.

Hollande finds his gift camel was consumed
....A young camel presented to Pres. François Hollande in thanks for France’s intervention in Mali fell victim to a misunderstanding, and then the butcher’s knife.

In Britain, a dig turns up 400-year slice of Roman life

....Archaeologists uncover a trove of good luck charms, buildings, jewelry and documents iwhile excavating n London's financial district.

Iran quake kills 37, injures more than 850

....A powerful earthquake struck southern Iran, killing at least 37 people but apparently sparing the nearby Bushehr nuclear plant from any damage, Iranian state-run media reported.

Iraq's branch of al-Qaida merges with Syria jihadists
....The announcement appeared to further strengthen the role of Islamic militants in the Syrian insurgency.

Silence on awkward topics at inauguration of Kenya's president

....Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya's first president, has taken the reins of power, despite accusations of war crimes.

Online, Latvians' ideas can bloom into law

....The country, which has one of the lowest levels of political engagement in the European Union, is at the forefront of efforts to shift some political participation to the Internet.

Tough new words for North Korea - Hagel: They're skating close to dangerous line

....Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says North Korea's actions in recent weeks "have not helped defuse a combustible situation."

Gunman kills policeman guarding polio workers in Pakistan
....There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban have repeatedly targeted health workers vaccinating against polio.
a. Taliban defend new perch in Northern Pakistan, gaining sway as election nears
....Taliban fighters defended the Tirah Valley, which they acquired last month, killing about 30 soldiers in Pakistan’s army over five days.

Peace envoys from Taliban at loose ends in Qatar
....After peace talks with the US broke down in Doha, Taliban negotiators remained there without a mission.

Russia takes legal action against election monitors
....The action came after Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany publicly criticized the Putin government for its intimidation of nongovernmental organizations.

South Korea and US gird for Missile test by North Korea

....American and South Korean troops increased alert levels as South Korea’s foreign minister warned that the North could launch its medium-range Musudan missile “any time from now.”

A very busy man behind the Syrian civil war's casualty count

....The grandly named Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is virtually a one-man band, run by Rami Abdul Rahman from a drab city in Britain.
a. Before meeting Syrian opposition, Kerry says US is considering more support

....Secretary of State John Kerry said that the administration still favored a diplomatic solution, but that additional pressure on Pres. al-Assad was needed.

US News Capsules:
1. A billion-dollar gift gives the Met a new perspective (Cubist)

....Leonard A. Lauder, the cosmetics tycoon, will donate his collection of 78 pieces of Cubist art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, filling a glaring gap.
2. Cuba trip by star pair was legal, official says
....Jay-Z and Beyoncé were part of a fully licensed trip to Cuba two weeks ago, the Treasury Department said in response to a query by two Florida lawmakers.
3. Military tightens media rules in case of private who leaked files
....A judge added restrictions to reporters covering the court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning because a bootleg recording of him speaking at a pretrial hearing in February surfaced online.
4. Oyster farm caught up in pipeline politics
....The fate of a family-run business north of San Francisco has drawn the attention of a Louisiana senator, Tea Party supporters and Alice Waters, the owner of Chez Panisse.
5. New guidelines call for broad changes in science education
....New standards for curriculum, which at least 26 states have pledged to consider, take a firm stand on climate change and evolution and emphasize hands-on learning.
6. Christie's is poised to auction art in China

....The auction house has received a license to operate independently in China, which has overtaken the United States as the world's largest art and auction market.
7. 12-year-old building at MoMA is doomed

....Just 12 years old and critically acclaimed, the former American Folk Art Museum will be torn down to make room for an expansion by its neighbor, the Museum of Modern Art.
POLITICS:
1. Senators reach bipartisan deal on checks of gun buyers

.... A compromise measure announced that would expand background checks to gun shows and online sales raised the chances that a viable package of gun safety laws will hit the Senate floor.
2. Obama pushes choice to join appeals court
....The nomination of Sri Srinivasan to a federal appeals court will test an aggressive new strategy that the White House and Senate Democrats are hoping will put Republicans in a bind.
3. Broad outlines of Senate immigration agreement emerge
....The legislation would require tough border measures to be in place before illegal immigrants could take the first steps to become American citizens.
4. Obama budget is meant to draw the GOP to the table

....In his $3.7 trillion budget proposal on Wednesday, President Obama included changes to Medicare and Social Security intended to entice Republicans to pursue a compromise.
5. As governor steers Maryland to the left, talk turns to 2016
....With victory after victory in the state legislature, Gov. Martin O’Malley is looking toward a presidential race, according to supporters and opponents alike.
6. Lifted by gun control issue, Democrat wins House seat
....Robin Kelly, whose stance on stricter federal gun laws brought her “super PAC” support, easily won the Illinois Congressional seat resigned by Jesse L. Jackson Jr.

Sports Headlines:
1. The Masters: Watson wears heart on sleeve of his green jacket

....Bubba Watson, the defending Masters champion, joked that he was open to the idea of a plaque to mark the spot of his near-miraculous shot during last year’s playoff at Augusta.
2. With Cano's help, a lineup expected to struggle keeps slugging
....Robinson Cano went 4 for 6 with a home run, two doubles and five runs batted in to support Andy Pettitte’s strong pitching in a blowout 14-1 victory over the Indians.
3. NBA: Stoudemire to revisit Israel as a coach

....Amar’e Stoudemire, who took a much-publicized trip to Israel in 2010, will return this summer as an assistant coach for Canada in the Maccabiah Games..
4. NCAABK: Woman's Tournament: An 8th national title, built on spirit, not stars

....UConn battled through injury and self-doubt to win a national title over Louisville and give Coach Geno Auriemma the same number of championships as his rival, Pat Summitt.
a. Pitino's week kept getting better
....Louisville’s national title capped a tremendous run for Coach Rick Pitino, who was elected to the Hall of Fame, whose son was hired to coach Minnesota and whose horse won the Santa Anita Derby.

Thought for Today
"All fantasy should have a solid base in reality." _
--Max Beerbohm (1872-1956).English critic and essayist

[pegasus]

International Day of Human Space Flight
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me

This is the 102nd day of 2013 with 263 days left in the year.

Today in History:
1204--in the Fourth Crusade, Constantinople was captured by the Crusaders.
1606--England's King James I decreed the design of the original Union Flag, which combined the flags of England and Scotland.
1633--chief inquisitor Father Vincenzo Maculano da Firenzuola, appointed by Pope Urban VIII, began the inquisition of physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei for holding the belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun, which was deemed heretical by the Catholic Church.
1654--the Ordinance of Union came into effect, uniting Ireland and Scotland with England.
1770--the British government moved to mollify outraged colonists by repealing most of the clauses of the hated Townshend Act that had imposed taxes on many of the British products bought by Americans, including lead, paper, paint and glass and leavingthe tax ontea
1777--Henry Clay, lawyer, orator, Kentucky congressman and senator (1806-52), was born; died 1852 at age 76.
1861--the American Civil War began as Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
1864--Major Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest's Confederate raiders massacred the isolated Union garrison at Fort Pillow, Tenn., overlooking the Mississippi River. Of the 500-strong Union garrison defending the fort, more than half the soldiers were African-Americans.
1877--the catcher for Harvard's baseball team, James Tyng, wore a modified fencing mask behind the plate against the Lynn Live Oaks, probably the first time a catcher's mask was used during a game.
1877--Great Britain annexed the Boer South African Republic as the Transvaal.
1892--voters in Lockport, NY, had the honor of becoming the first in the US to use voting machines.
1908--a fire in Chelsea, Mass. threatened Boston oil refineries and left 12 dead, 85 missing and more than 17,000 homeless3
1912--Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, died in Glen Echo, Md., at age 90.
1914--George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion[/u[ opened in London with Mrs. Patrick Campbell as Eliza Doolittle and Sir Herbert Tree as Professor Higgins.
1917--after three days of fierce combat and over 10,000 casualties, the Canadian Corps seized the previously German-held Vimy Ridge in northern France.
1934--Tender Is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was first published in book form after being serialized in Scribner's Magazine.
1945--Pres. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga., at age 63, succeeded by Vice Pres. Harry S. Truman.
1954--Bill Haley and the Comets recorded "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock." beginning amusical, social and cultural revolution.
1955--the Salk vaccine against polio was declared safe and effective.
1961--Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, orbiting the Earth once before making a safe landing.
1961--Walt W. Rostow, senior White House specialist on Southeast Asia and a principal architect of U.S. counterinsurgency doctrine, advised Pres. Kennedy that the time had come for "gearing up the whole Vietnam operation."
1963--civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Ala., charged with contempt of court and parading without a permit.
1981--the space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its first test flight.
1981--the NY Giants drafted University of North Carolina linebacker Lawrence Taylor as their first-round pick and the second selection overall in the NFL Draft, who went on to revolutionize the linebacker position.
1981--former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis died in Las Vegas, Nev., at age 66.
1983--Harold Washington was elected Chicago's first African-American mayor.
1985--Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah) became the first sitting member of Congress to fly in space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off.
1999--District Judge Susan Webber Wright found Pres. Clinton in contempt of court for giving "intentionally false" testimony in a lawsuit filed by Paula Jones about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
2002--Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez resigned under pressure from the country's divided military. (He was returned to office two days later.)
2003--rescued POW Jessica Lynch returned to the US after treatment at a US military hospital in Germany.
2003--women activists took their fight against the all-male Augusta National Golf Club as close as they could get to the Masters tournament.
2008--Democrat Barack Obama conceded that comments he'd made privately during a fundraiser about bitter working class voters who "cling to guns or religion" were ill chosen.
2008--Boston College won the Frozen Four NCAA hockey championship, 4-1, over Notre Dame.
2009--American cargo ship captain Richard Phillips was rescued from Somali pirates by US Navy snipers who shot and killed three of the hostage-takers.
2012--jury selection began in Greensboro, NC, for the trial of former presidential candidate John Edwards, charged with six counts of campaign finance fraud. (The jury ended up acquitting Edwards of accepting illegal campaign contributions but deadlocking on the other five counts.)
2013--Japan ranked its nuclear crisis at the highest possible severity on an international scale – the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

World News Capsules:
1. Taliban attacks highly regarded Afghan Army unit
....Insurgents dealt a serious blow to a battalion in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, killing 13 soldiers and overrunning their outpost.
2. Islands, and now a funeral, strain Argentine-British ties
....After the president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, did not receive an invitation to the ceremonial funeral for Margaret Thatcher in London next week, Argentina called it “yet another provocation.”
3. China defends vaccination of poultry as flu spreads

....China’s Agriculture Ministry said its policy of poultry vaccination for the H5N1 virus was not interfering with its efforts to identify the H7N9 virus.
a. Mystery surrounds withdrawal of Django Unchained in China
....No official reason was given for the decision to suspend Django Unchained, but there was talk among the industry that brief nudity had offended Chinese officials.
4. Europe: Bailout terms eased for Ireland and Portugal
....Euro zone finance ministers agreed to give Ireland and Portugal more time to repay their bailout loans after a chaotic rescue for Cyprus renewed animosity toward the authorities overseeing the single currency area.
5. French Senate passes same-sex marriage bill

....A final vote on the legislation is scheduled for next week in the lower house of Parliament, where the bill is expected to pass.
a. Hopi masks sold at auction after judge's ruling
....The auction in Paris was fiercely contested by the Hopi tribe of northeastern Arizona and generated more than $1 million in sales.
6. Cameron to seek German support on European reform
....The leaders of Britain and Germany have begun a “not purely routine” weekend visit to discuss Britain’s future in the European Union.
7. US blacklists an Iranian and businesses over violation of sanctions
....The Treasury Department said Babak Morteza Zanjani had conspired with a bank and a network of front companies to move money for Iran.
8. Pentagon finds nuclear strides by North Korea

....A report by the Pentagon's intelligence arm concluded North Korea has learned to make a nuclear weapon small enough to be carried by a missile, but cautioned its "reliability will be low."
9. Ex-Pakistani Pres. Musharraf admits secret deal with US ondrone strikes

....Ex-Pakistani Pres. Pervez Musharraf acknowledged his government secretly signed off on US drone strikes, the first time a top past or present Pakistani official has admitted publicly to such a deal.
10. Papua New Guinea considers repealing sorcery law
....The prime minister has vowed to repeal a controversial sorcery act after the latest in a string of brutal public killings of people accused of practicing black magic.
11. In Seoul, South Korea, Kerry warns North Korea against missile test

....Secretary of State John Kerry warned North Korea on Friday not to proceed with a test launching of its Musudan missile and said the nation would be defeated if a conflict broke out.
12. Military in Syria is accused of massacre
....A report by Human Rights Watch said the Syrian Air Force carried out indiscriminate and in some cases deliberate airstrikes against civilians.
a.Rebel victory in Syria might not stop conflict, US officials say
....The American ambassador to Syria, Robert S. Ford, told Congress that without a negotiated political transition, supporters of the Assad government “would fight to the death.”
13. Rebel keeps Kurds' guns close at hand in peace talks with Turkey

....The defiance of Murat Karayilan, commander of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, suggests that the process could be longer and more arduous than anticipated.
a. US Embassy in Turkey said to be targeted
....12 people were arrested in a plot said to be linked to al-Qaida to attack the embassy in Ankara and other targets.
14. Emirates' laws trap a doctor just passing through
....A South African doctor on a layover in the United Arab Emirates is trapped there by criminal charges he had not been aware of.

US News Capsules:
1. Jonathan Winters, funny man and comedic inspiration, dies at 87

....Mr. Winters shined as a guest on TV talk shows and kept audiences in stitches with characters like Maude Frickert, a sweet-seeming grandmother with a barbed tongue.
2. Maria Tallchief, who dazzled at the ballet, dies at 88

....Ms. Tallchief achieved renown with George Balanchine’s City Ballet, entertaining audiences with her speed, energy and fire.
3. With police in schools, more children in court
....Youth advocates and judges say more children are being sent into the criminal justice system for acts like scuffles and truancy that are better handled in the principal's office.
4. US Justice Dept. releases judge's ruling on ex-Salvadoran general
....The immigration judge’s ruling ordered the deportation of former Gen. Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova for his role in human rights violations, including 1980 rape and murder of four American churchwomen.
5. A busy California port seeks to grow, but a neighbor objects
....Plans for a new railyard at the Port of Los Angeles have struck a nerve in the town of Long Beach, whose working-class neighborhoods are near the port.
6. Checks find unsafe practices at compounding pharmacies
....Federal regulators said they had found problems like black particles floating in vials, rust and mold in clean rooms and improper air flow at about 30 compounding pharmacies.
7. School vote stirs debate on girls as leaders
....A letter by girls at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., cites embarrassment at the plight of female students at a progressive institution.
8. When shareholder democracy is sham democracy

....There are 41 publicly traded companies with directors who lost their elections last year. Despite these votes of no confidence, they remained in their posts.
9. A festival now comfortable in its skin
....In its 12th season the Tribeca Film Festival, which begins Wednesday and includes the premieres of 53 features, has woven itself into the fabric of the New York cultural schedule.
10. Americans lose jobs at lower rates, but hiring is also down
....Data from the Labor Department may help explain why long-term unemployment persists.
11. Scientists: People didn't cause last summer's drought

....Extreme natural events, not man-made climate change, led to 2012's historic drought in the Great Plains, a new study says.
12. Teens accused of posting assault photos

....Three California boys face charges of sexual battery in connection with the alleged rape of a girl who later committed suicide, authorities said.
POLITICS:
1. Immigration plan sets 2011 cutoff for path to legalization
....Illegal immigrants who arrived after Dec. 31, 2011, would be excluded in a plan to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws, said three people with knowledge of the negotiations.
2. Obama took message to America on guns; Did it matter?

....In the days before the Senate voted to end a filibuster and take up gun control this week, the president crisscrossed the nation, flying from Colorado to Connecticut in an effort to energize public opinion and pressure reluctant lawmakers.
a. Rare accord in gun debate on fixes to mental health system
....Lawmakers have been working on plans to improve the nation’s mental health system that stand a good chance of being in the final gun-control bill the Senate is taking up.

Sports Headlines:
1. Major sports leagues prepare for the 'I'm gay" disclosure
....The NHL has formed a partnership with a gay advocacy group to plan training and counseling on gay issues, and the NFL is looking to smooth the way for acceptance.
2. MLB: Baseball pays for clinic documents tied to doping case

....Major League Baseball's purchase underscores how determined it has become to find out what went on at an anti-aging clinic suspected of dispensing performance-enhancing drugs.
a. A baseball brawl that hurts
....The Dodgers were fuming and furious after the Padres’ Carlos Quentin charged the mound on Thursday night and broke pitcher Zack Greinke’s collarbone.
b. Mets find out they won't have a snow day
....The Twins announced Friday afternoon that their game with the Mets on that night would be played despite wintry weather in the area.
c. Remembering Robinson's passion and fury

....The movie 42 captures the intensity Jackie Robinson brought to baseball. But Robinson also had an eye for spotting talent and — at least once — even a good tip for a newspaper reporter.
3. NBA: Robinson helps Bulls end Knicks' streak
....Nate Robinson, the Chicago Bulls' sprightly 5-foot 9-inch guard, exploded for 35 points, including 8 in overtime, sending the Knicks to their first loss since March 17 118-111 (OT).
a. Changing coaches changed Nets late in games
....Avery Johnson was 3-4 in games decided by 5 or fewer points this season, but in P.J. Carlesimo’s first 28 games the Nets were 9-0 in such games, a significant swing.
4. Masters Tournament: Impressive 73 for 141-year-old

....With Sergio Garcia and Marac Leishman tied at the top of the leaderboard,Guan Tianlang of China displays a composure and a short game that has him on the verge of making the cut at the Masters.
5. NCAA Frozen Four: Yale and Quinnipiac advance to final
....Yale advanced to the NCAA men’s Division I hockey final after defeating UMass Lowell, 3-2, in overtime on Thursday.

Thought for Today
"Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are."
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, (1882-1945), 32nd president of the US (1933-45).

[pegasus]

YoYo & Skill Toy Weekend
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me

This is the 103rd day of 2013 with 262 days left in the year.

Today in History:
1059--Pope Nicholas II issued a decree on the election of popes, declaring that only cardinals would be allowed to elect them.
1360--on "Black Monday" a hail storm kills an estimated 1,000 English soldiers in Chartres, France as part of the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
1598--King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes, granting rights to the Protestant Huguenots.
1613--Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, was captured by English Capt. Samuel Argall in Virginia and held in exchange for English prisoners and stolen weapons.
1742--George Frideric Handel's "Messiah" was first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland.
1743--Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the US (1801-1809) and author of the Declaration of Independence, was born; died 1826 at age 83.
1777--Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis led 4,000 British troops and Hessians in a surprise attack on a small garrison ofin the village of Bound Brook in central New Jersey.
1829--the English Parliament granted freedom of religion to Catholics.
1860--the Pony Express completed its inaugural run from St. Joseph, Mo. to Sacramento, Calif. in 10 days.
1861--at the start of the Civil War, Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC fell to Confederate forces after relentless bombardment.
1902--J.C. Penney opened his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1906--Samuel Beckett, 1969 Nobel Prizepwinning Irish-borb French playwright, author and critic, was born; died 1989 at age 83.
1912, the Royal Flying Corps, a predecessor of Britain's Royal Air Force, was created.
1919--In Amritsar, India's holy city of the Sikh religion, British and Gurkha troops massacre at least 379 unarmed Indian nationalist demonstrators protesting the British government's forced conscription of Indian soldiers and the heavy war tax imposed against the Indian people.
1940--the first of the ‘Road’ movies, The Road to Singapore, starring with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour opened at Paramount Theatre in New York City.
1941--Japan and the USSR signed a firve-year non-aggression pact
1943--Pres. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of the third American president's birth.
1943--Radio Berlin announced the discovery of thousands of graves of massacred Polish officers in Russia's Katyn Forest. (Post-Soviet Russia acknowledged that Stalin's much feared secret police did it.)
1945--Vienna, the first foreign capital to be occupied by Hitler, was liberated by the Russians under Fedor Tolbukhin.
1958--Van Cliburn from Kilgore, Tex., won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition for piano in Moscow, Russia.
1961--Carnival opened at the Imperial Theatre in New York City, starring Anna Maria Alberghetti and ran for 719 performances.
1964--Sidney Poitier became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Academy Award, for Lilies of the Field.
1970--Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst.
1973--North Vietnamese launched a major attack on An Loc, the capital of Binh Long Province.
1980 --after 8 years, and 3,388 performances, Broadway’s longest-running musical, Grease, closed, after earning $8 million.
1984--Christopher Wilder killed himself in a scuffle withstate police after a month-long crime spree involving at 11 young women who disappeared or were killed.
1985--after 60 years on radio, The Grand Ole Opry, a staple from Nashville, Tenn., came to television on The Nashville Network
1986--Pope John Paul II visited a Rome synagogue in the first recorded papal visit of its kind.
1992--the Great Chicago Flood took place as the city's century-old tunnel system and adjacent basements filled with water from the Chicago River.
1997--Tiger Woods, 21, became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament and the first person of African heritage to claim a major golf title.
1999--Dr. Jack Kervorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, Mich. for the second-degree murder of a man whose assisted suicide was videotaped and shown on 60 Minutes.
2003--U.S.-led forces announced the capture of Watban Ibrahim Hasan, a half-brother of and adviser to Saddam Hussein.
2003--seven U.S. POWs, including Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson, were released by Iraqi troops near Tikrit, Iraq.
2003--Mike Weir became the first Canadian to win the Masters after the first sudden-death playoff in 13 years.
2008--a construction worker's bid to curse the NY Yankees by planting a Boston Red Sox jersey in their new stadium was foiled when the home team removed the offending shirt from its burial spot.
2009--former all-star pitcher Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, 54, was accidentally killed on his Massachusetts farm while working on a Mack truck.
2011--a federal jury in San Francisco convicted Barry Bonds of obstruction of justice, but failed to reach a verdict on allegations that he'd used steroids and lied to a grand jury about it.
2011--ousted Egyptian Pres. Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were detained for investigation of corruption, abuse of power and killings of protesters.
2012--Pres. Obama arrived in Cartagena, Colombia, to attend the Summit of the Americas; however, the visit was overshadowed by a scandal involving Secret Service agents and prostitutes.
2012--North Korea's much-touted satellite launch ended in a nearly $1 billion failure.

World News Capsules:
1. Australia's brand neame for ferocity, softened by time
....Perhaps the most feared criminal in Melbourne's criminal history, the man known as Chopper has added another entry in his résumé: cancer patient.
2. All aboard rescued after plane skids into water at Bali airport
....A plane with 108 people onboard skidded off the runway on Saturday, cracked in half and landed in the sea while trying to land.
3. Mystery shrouds rise and aims of rebel at helm of Central African Republic
....Michel Djotodia, who conducted a coup d’état in March, continues to hold on to the presidency, despite an outcry from his critics
4. Seeking China's help on Korea, Kerry makes arms overture

....Secretary of State John Kerry offered to reduce American missile defenses in Asia if North Korea abandoned its nuclear arms program, an overture aimed at getting China’s help in easing tensions on the peninsula.
5. Mubarak appears at trial, which ends abruptly in Egypt
....Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s former president, appeared to display new confidence in court, or perhaps a certain schadenfreude, as he appeared at a hearing to open his retrial.
6. A push against tax havens gains support in Europe
....A crackdown against tax evasion could eventually extend to dividends, capital gains and royalties, significantly expanding the revenue earned by national treasuries.
7. North Korean leader, young and defiant, strains ties with Chinese
....Chinese news media openly discuss the souring alliance and some see Kim Jong-un’s youth as a factor in the less familiar relations with China’s leaders.
8. Palestinian prime minister resigns, adding uncertainty to government
....Prime Minister Salam Fayyad had clashed politically with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank.
9. Russia bars 18 Americans after sanctons by US
....A day after the US imposed sanctions, Moscow responded with a list of current and former American officials it is barring from Russia over harsh interrogation methods.
10. Steely leader of South Korea is battle-ready
....As the crisis with North Korea escalates, critics and supporters alike wonder if President Park Geun-hye may have gone too far in presenting herself as an ultra-tough leader.
11. Syrian forces kill 12 rebels in an ambush
.... The government troops were trying to relieve a besieged military base in the country’s northwest.
12. Pope Francis names advisory panel at Vatican
....Vatican experts said the move was a strong sign that Francis was eager to consult widely and promote greater dialogue between the Vatican hierarchy and churches worldwide.
13. Tasting good life, opposition in Zimbabwe slips off pedestal
....As long-awaited elections approach, faith is slipping in Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change.

US News Capsules:
1. In gun debate, no rift on better care for mentally ill
....Lawmakers have been working across party lines on legislation advocates say could help keep killers like the gunman in Newtown, Conn., from slipping through the cracks.
2. Experiment in Oregon gives Medicaid very local roots
....The state and the federal government have wagered $1.9 billion on a project intended to improve the health of low-income people and lower the rate of spending growth.
3. 'Lone worlf' theory gains ground in Texas deaths
....Officials are moving away from a theory that a white supremacist prison gang or Mexican drug cartels were responsible for killing two prosecutors eight weeks apart in Kaufman, Tex.
a. Texas official questioned in killings is held over alleged threat
....Eric L. Williams, a former Texas justice of the peace who was convicted of theft and prosecuted by the district attorney who was fatally shot last March, has been charged with making a terroristic threat.
4. DNA project aims to make public a company's data on cancer genes
....Researchers are asking cancer clinics to hand over Myriad Genetics' test results so they can more easily interpret the risk posed by mutations of two breast cancer genes.
5. Quietly, Indians reshape cities and reservations

....High unemployment and violence continue to affect more than 7 of 10 American Indians now living in urban areas, according to new Census Bureau data.
6. A missionary's quest to remake Motor City

....Against tall odds, Dan Gilbert, the Quicken Loans chairman, is putting down money to revive a two-square-mile area that was once Detroit’s core.
7. Hawaii panel approves telescope plan
....The project, backed by several universities, would build the world’s largest telescope atop the Mauna Kea volcano, at a cost of $1 billion.
8. Conduct at issue as military officers face a new review
....The American military for the first time will require generals and admirals to be evaluated by the people they command on qualities including character
POLITICS:
1. For Evangelicals, a shift in views on immigration

....The shift among evangelical Christians toward supporting a path to citizenship for immigrants could have a powerful effect on the fight in Washington.
2. Shy no more, NRA's top gun sticks to cause
....Wayne LaPierre, the chief executive of the National Rifle Association, has honed a no-compromise strategy over the last 35 years that is now facing its most difficult test in decades.
3. Mother of a 6-year-old boy killed at Newtown delivers the White House's weekly address
....Francine Wheeler, her husband, David, by her side, offered a sorrowful plea for passage of stricter gun control laws.
4. Obama's budget revives benefits as divisive issue
....It seems certain that liberal Democrats will focus on Social Security and Medicare in the midterm elections next year — and perhaps in the 2016 presidential contest.

Sports Headlines:
1. MLB: Yankees' Rodriguez tied to clinic records purchase
....Former employees of an anti-aging clinic and others with ties to it told investigators that the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez arranged to buy documents from the clinic, according to two people briefed on the case.
a. An error and a triple play brighten the Yanks' night
....It was a game that featured a bit of everything - dismal weather, a key error by the Orioles, a triple play and masterly pitching by C. C. Sabathia.
b. Dominant for third straight time, Mets' Harvey flirts with no-hhitter
....Matt Harvey continued his sensational start to the season, taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning as the Mets beat the Twins for the second day in a row.
2. THE MASTERS: Snedeker seeks second chance as Cabrera chases second green jacket

....Brandt Snedeker, a near winner in 2008, and Angel Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champion, shared the lead after the third round at seven under. Tiger Woods was four shots back.
3. Horse Racing: Mindful of drugs,race officials will keep closer eye on Kentucky Derby
....Under new security measures at the Kentucky Derby, horses will be under 24-hour surveillance and those with access to the horses must log in and log out. Expanded drug testing also will be in place.

Thought for Today
"The excursion is the same when you go looking for your sorrow as when you go looking for your joy." _
--Eudora Welty (1909-2001) American author

[pegasus]

Astronomy Week
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me

This is the 105th day of 2013 with 260 days left in the year.

Today in History:
1450--the French defeated the English at the Battle of Formigny in the last phase of the 100 Years' War.
1452--Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Renaissance artist, architect, scientist, inventor and engineer, was born; died 1519 at age 67.
1741--Charles Willson Peale, American portrait painter of leading American Revolution figures, was born; died 1827 at age 86.
1755--Dr. Samuel Johnson, English poet, journalist and lexicographer, had his famous dictionary published.
1783--the Continental Congress officially ratified the preliminary peace treaty with Great Britain that was signed in November 1782.
1850--the city of San Francisco was incorporated.
1861--Pres. Lincoln declared a state of insurrection and called out Union troops three days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, SC.
1865--Pres. Lincoln died nine hours after being shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington.
1865--Andrew Johnson became the 17th president of the United States following the death of Abraham Lincoln.
1874--an exhibition of paintings by 30 artists, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cezanne, opened in Paris. (A critic derisively referred to the painters as "Impressionists.")
1889--A. Philip Randolph, African American civil rights leader and president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly Black labor union, was born; died 1979 at age 90.
1891--Katanga Company was formed in Belgium to exploit copper deposits in the Katanga area of Central Africa
1912--the British luxury liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland more than 2 1/2 hours after striking an iceberg; 1,514 people died.
1920--the Sacco-Vanzetti case about the killing of a paymaster and a guard during an armed robbery in Massachusetts drew national attention.
1922--Harold Washington, politician and the first African-American mayor of Chicago, was born; died 1987 at age 65.
1923--Insulin, discovered in 1922, became available for general use.
1942--Britain's King George VI awarded the George Cross to Malta for its heroism in the early days of World War II.
1945--British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
1947--Jackie Robinson became baseball's first black major league player when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1955--Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
1959--Cuban leader Fidel Castro arrived in Washington to begin a goodwill tour of the US.
1960--a conference to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) began at Shaw University in Raleigh, NC and its 1st chairman was Marion Barry, later mayor of Washington, D.C.
1967--massive parades to protest Vietnam policy were held in New York City and San Francisco.
1970--As part of the US troop withdrawals from Vietnam, the 1st Infantry Division, known as The Big Red One, and the oldest division in the US Army, departed Vietnam.
1971--the British and Chinese governments agreed to the reopening of a telephone link between London and Shanghaim closed for 22 years.
1980--existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre died in Paris, France at age 74.
1981--journalist Janet Cooke of returned the Pulitzer Prize she had won once it was discovered that the newspaper article she had written for the prize was fabricated.
1986--the US launched an air raid against Libya in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5; Libya said 37 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
1989--96 people died in a crush of soccer fans at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England.
1989--students in Beijing launched a series of pro-democracy protests that culminated in a government crackdown at Tiananmen Square.
1998--Pol Pot, the notorious leader of the Khmer Rouge, died at age 73, evading prosecution for the deaths of two million Cambodians.
2000--Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles became the 24th major league player to reach 3,000 hits.
2002--retired Supreme Court Justice Byron "Whizzer" White died at age 84.
2003--looters and arsonists ransacked Iraq's National Library, as well as Iraq's principal Islamic library.
2008--Pope Benedict XVI visited the US for the first time as pontiff and was greeted by Pres0 W. Bush and his family.
2008--bombings blamed on al-Qaida in Iraq tore through market areas in Baghdad and outside the capital, killing nearly 60 people.
2010--civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks, one-time executive director of the NAACP, died in Memphis, Tenn. at age 85.
2012--five people were killed by a tornado in Woodward, Okla.
2012--Taliban insurgents struck the heart of the Afghan capital and three eastern cities.
2012--North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong Un, gave his first public speech since taking power, portraying himself as a strong military chief unafraid of foreign powers.

World News Capsules:

US News Capsules:

Sports Headlines:

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
"History would be an excellent thing if only it were true." _
--Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) Russian author (War and Peace)

[pegasus]

National Public Safety Telecommunicators (911 Operators) Week
Good afternoon from Tuxy and me

This is the 106th day of 2013 with 259 days left in the year.

Today in History:
1705--Queen Anne of England knighted Isaac Newton, one of history's greatest scientists best remembered for his theory of universal gravitation that revolutionized science.
1746--the Duke of Cumberland's forces defeated the Jacobite Scots under Prince Charles Edward at the Battle of Culloden, near Inverness, Scotland.
1789--Pres.-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.
1856--the Declaration of Paris was signed, recognizing the principle of free ships and free goods and defining contraband and blockade.
1862--Pres. Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. 1862--the Confederacy conscripted all white men between the ages of 18 to 35.
1863--Union Admiral David Porter led 12 ships past the heavy barrage of Confederate artillery at Vicksburg, Miss., lloosing only one ship.
1867--Wilbur Wright, American inventor and aviation pioneer , was born; died 1912 at age 46.
1879--(St.) Bernadette Soubirous, who'd described seeing visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, died in Nevers, France.
1881--on the streets of Dodge City, famous western lawman and gunfighter Bat Masterson fought the last gun battle of his life.
1883--Paul Kruger became president of the South African Republic.
1912--Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel, traveling from Dover, England, to France in 59 minutes.
1917--revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of exile.
1917--the second Battle of the Aisne River in northern France began.
1922--the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Treaty of Rapallo, forcing Germany to recognized the Soviet Union.
1927--Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI turned 86 years old today.
1940--Bob Feller earned the first no-hit, no-run game thrown on an opening day of the baseball season, when the Cleveland Indians shut out the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
1940--Queen Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark, turned 73 today.
1943--the hallucinogenic effects of LSD were discovered by a Swiss chemist, Albert Hoffman, in Basel, Switzerland at the Sandoz pharmaceutical research laboratory.
1945--US troops reached Nuremberg, Germany
1947--financier and presidential confidant Bernard M. Baruch said in a --fpeech at the South Carolina statehouse, "Let us not be deceived. We are today in the midst of a cold war."
1947--the US's worst harbor explosion occurred in Texas City, Tex., when the French ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer, caught fire and blew up, devastating the town, killing more than 500 with 200 others missing.
1948--the Organization for European Economic Co-operation was set up in Paris.
1959--the Bolshoi Ballet made its debut US appearance at the Metropolitan Opera House with a performance of Romeo and Juliet.
1962--Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of "The CBS Evening News."
1962--Bob Dylan debuted his song "Blowin' in the Wind" at Gerde's Folk City in New York.
1963--Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in which the civil rights activist responded to a group of local clergymen who'd criticized him for leading street protests
1964--"The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers)," the band's debut album, was released.
1964--nine men received sentences of between 25 and 30 years for their part in Britain's 1963 Great Train Robbery.
1972--Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon with astronauts John W. Young, Charles M. Duke Jr. and Ken Mattingly on board.
1972--the US resumed the bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong.
1982--Queen Elizabeth proclaimed Canada's new constitution, severing the last colonial links with Britain.
1992--the House ethics committee listed 303 current and former lawmakers who had overdrawn their House bank accounts.
1996--Britain's Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, announced they were getting a divorce.
2003--Michael Jordan played his last NBA game as his Washington Wizards ended their season with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
2003--the Bush administration lowered the terror alert level from orange to yellow, saying the end of heavy fighting in Iraq had diminished the threat of terrorism.
2007--in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern US history, student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech before taking his own life.
2008--the US Supreme Court upheld the most widely used method of lethal injection, allowing states to resume executions after a seven-month halt.
2008--Pope Benedict XVI became only the second pope to visit the White House and the first in 29 years.
2012--A trial began in Oslo, Norway, for Anders Breivik, charged with killing 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage in July 2011.
2012--for the first time in 35 years, no Pulitzer Prize for fiction was given.

World News Capsules:
1. Production of opium by Afghans is up again

....A UN report raises concerns for the economy after coalition forces leave in 2014.
2. An Argentine tradition threatens to crumble with city architecture
....Preservationists say illegal demolitions, chronic underinvestment and unimaginative architecture threaten to erase the city’s history.
3. China suggests US is stirring tensions in Asia-Pacific region
....A defense paper said Washington’s move to strengthen its military presence in Asia and cement ties with allies was a threat to China.
4. Europe split over austerity as a path to growth
....Europe is divided over the road to recovery: is strict belt-tightening or an easing of monetary policy and some stimulus best?
5. Under orders, French officials reveal financial worth
....Pres. François Hollande ordered his 38 cabinet ministers to publicly declare their holdings as part of an effort to “moralize” French politics.
6. Officials urge tight security for London marathon after Boston bombs

....Security arrangements are likely to be reviewed before the ceremonial funeral of Margaret Thatcher on Wednesday and Sunday’s London Marathon.
7. Powerful earthquake strikes in Iran near Pakistan border

....A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Iran’s border with Pakistan, and it was felt as far away as India and the Middle East.
8. Deadly wave of bombings and assassinations grow as Iraqi elections near

....A series of bomb blasts across Iraq killed at least 42 people and wounded more than 257 others, police said. At least 15 Sunni candidates have been killed, and many others have been wounded or kidnapped, or have received menacing text messages telling them to withdraw.
9. Kuwait gives 5-year sentence to dissenter
....The opposition figure Musallam el-Barrak, a former member of Parliament, was sentenced for comments he made during a speech at a political rally.
10. North Korea: 'We wwon't give any warning'

....North Korea is raising the temperature on its neighbors, saying in its latest threat that it would not give any advance warning before any attack on South Korea.
a. Obama voices doubts on North Korean nuclear warhead
....Pres. Obama said he did not believe that North Korea had the ability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon, and he said nothing would deter him from refusing to reward the North for provocative acts.
11. Musharraf is disqualified from Pakistani elections

....A ruling by a court tribunal dashed the political hopes of Pakistan’s former military ruler, who had returned from exile last month.
12. In break with tradition, it's open season on the Spanish royal family
....No longer treated with profound deference, King Juan Carlos and the rest of the monarchy are under scrutiny, and some residents are even calling for an elected head of state.
13. Assad's forces break through rebel blockade of military bases
....Loyalists to Pres. al-Assad of Syria breached the blockage of two important bases, possibly opening the way to try to recapture lost territory.
14. Pope upholds reprimand of American nuns' group
....Pope Francis reaffirmed a plan to have three bishops supervise an overhaul of the nation’s largest umbrella group of American nuns.
15. Victory proves gloomy for Venezuela's new leader

....Nicolás Maduro, Hugo Chávez’s handpicked successor, was supposed to ride to a resounding victory in the presidential election. Instead, he squeaked by, and the country seemed headed toward a political showdown.

US News Capsules:
1. Boston Marathon blasts kill 3
....Two bombs exploded seconds apart near the finish line, creating a bloody, chaotic scene more than four hours into the race.
a. War zone at mile 26: 'So many people without legs'
....Witnesses said they saw runners and bystanders who lost limbs and sustained other traumatic injuries.
2. For 3 years after killing, evidence fades as a suspect sits in jail
....Chad Hooks, 23, spent three years, seven months and three days at Rikers Island before his trial on charges of killing a man finally got under way in the Bronx. The family of the victim had to wait, too.
3. US practiced torture after 9/11, nonpartisan review concludes
....The report said the use of torture had "no justification," "damaged the standing of our nation" and "potentially increased the danger to US military personnel."

Sports Headlines:

Today's Headlines of Interest:


Thought for Today
"Chaos is the score upon which reality is written." _
--Henry Miller (1891-1980) American author

[pegasus]

Police Officers Who Gave Their Lives In The Line of Duty Week
Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 110th day of 2013 with 255 days left in the year.

Today in History:
1534--French explorer Jacques Cartier set sail from St. Malo to explore the North American coastline.
1653--Oliver Cromwell expelled the Long Parliament for trying to pass the Perpetuation Bill, which would have kept Parliament in the hands of a few members only.
1657--the English navy under Admiral Robert Blake attacked and destroyed all 16 ships of the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz harbor, Tenerife, and then destroyed the city.
1689--James II, the former British king, began a siege of Londonderry, a Protestant stronghold in Northern Ireland.
1769--Pontiac, chief of the Ottawa Indians, was murdered by an Illinois Indian.
1777--the first New York state constitution was formally adopted.
1792--France declared war on Austria, Prussia and Sardinia in the War of the First Coalition and the start of the French Revolutionary wars.
1812--Vice President George Clinton, a former New York governor, died at age 73.
1832--Hot Springs National Park, the first US national park, was established by an act of Congress.
1836 - The US Congress separated the western part of Michigan Territory and formed a new territory to be known as Wisconsin.
1841--generally considered to be the first detective story, Edgar Allen Poe's story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," appears in Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine. .
1850--Daniel Chester French, American sculptor; works included Lincoln's Memorial, was born; died 1931 at age 81.
1861--Col. Robert E. Lee resigned his commission in the US Army.
1863--Pres. Lincoln signed a proclamation admitting West Virginia to the Union, effective in 60 days.
1871--Congress authorized Pres. Grant to declare martial law, impose heavy penalties against terrorist organizations, and use military force to suppress the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
1889--Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Austria; committed suicide 1945 in his Berlin bunker.
1898--Pres. McKinley asked for Congress to declare war on Spain.
1902--scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium.
1912--Fenway Park in Boston and Navin Field (Tiger Stadium) in Detroit opened.
1914--ending a bitter coal-miners' strike, Colorado militiamen attack a tent colony of strikers, killing dozens of men, women, and children.
1920---John Paul Stevens, Supreme Court justice, turns 93 today.
1934--the most successful child actor in Hollywood history, Shirley Temple's first major movie, Stand Up and Cheer, was released to New York theaters
1939--Hall of Fame outfielder Ted Williams made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox.
1940--RCA publicly demonstrated its new electron microscope.
1945--allied forces took control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
1945--in Operation Corncob, allied bombers in Italy begin a three-day attack on the bridges over the rivers Adige and Brenta to cut off German lines of retreat on the peninsula.
1949--Hall of fame jockey, Willie Shoemaker, won his first race riding Shafter V at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif.
1961--the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved FM stereo broadcasting
1968--Pierre Elliott Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister of Canada
1970--Pres. Nixon announced more troopwithdrawals from Vietnam.
1971--the US Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.
1972--the manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.
1978-- a Korean Air Lines Boeing 707 crash-landed in northwestern Russia after being fired on by a Soviet interceptor after entering Soviet airspace; 2 passengers died.
1980--the first Cubans sailing to the US as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reached Florida.
1986--pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who emigrated in 1925, gave his first concert in the Soviet Union in 61 years.
1987--Starlight Express, the roller-skating musical, posted the largest week’s gross in the history of Broadway, earning $606,081 at the box office.
1988--in Algeria, gunmen who'd hijacked a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet ahreed to free their 31 hostages after 15-day siege in which 2 hostages had been killed in return for safe passage out of the country.
1992 - Britain's top comedian Benny Hill died in his home in England at age 67 of heart disease.
1993--Mexican comedian Cantinflas (aka. Mario Moreno) died in Mexico City at age 81.
1996--Ukraine reluctantly confirmed, a decade after the Chernobyl disaster, that it would close down the plant by the year 2000.
1999--in Colorado, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Columbine High School students, shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives.
2003-US Army forces took control of Baghdad from the Marines in a changing of the guard that thinned the military presence in the capital. 2003--celebrating Easter, the Rev. Emmanuel Delly, a longtime Iraqi bishop, pleaded for safeguards against the persecution of Christians in the new Iraq.
2003--a landslide in southern Kyrgyzstan killed some three dozen people.-
2008--Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history by capturing the Indy Japan 300.
2008--Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his final Mass in the US before a full house in Yankee Stadium.
2008--Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward during a visit to Iraq.
2010--an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, leased by BP, killed 11 workers and began spewing an estimated 200 million gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly three months.
2012--a judge ruled that George Zimmerman could be released on $150,000 bail while he awaited trial on a charge of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
2012--a Bhoja Air Boeing 737-200 crashed on approach to the main airport in Islamabad, killing all 127 people on board.

World News Capsules:
1. Deadly Chinese quake evokes bitter memories of 2008 tremblor

....The earthquake struck the western region of Sichuan Province, where a previous quake killed 70,000 people.
2. British police arrest entertainer in sexual offense inquiry
....The British media identified Rolf Harris, a singer and artist, as the newest high-profile arrest after the Jimmy Savile affair.
3. Trial annulment in Guatemala rejected by judge

....The confusion surrounding the genocide trial of Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt highlighted the polarized emotions raised by a month of testimony about the bloodiest chapter in the country's long civil war.
4. Indian police arrest man for allegedly raping 5-year-old girl

....An attack and the police response struck a chord in the nation, still dealing with the trauma of another brutal rape case.
5. Iraq's first election since exit of US troops is largely peaceful

....Limiting violence is one gauge of success, but observers are also waiting to see whether the results will embolden the prime minister to expand power along sectarian lines.
a. Top UN rights official denounces executions in Iraq as 'obscene'
....The official, Navi Pillay, accused the Baghdad government of killing prisoners "like animals in a slaughterhouse."
6. Relatives of flotella raid victims reject Israel compensation
....The relatives of the nine people killed in Israel’s raid on a Turkish-led flotilla to Gaza in 2010 also said that they would not drop their lawsuits against those involved in the raid.
7. The latest threat to Pompeii's treasures: Italy's red tape

....Pompeii, destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, was first excavated in 1748, and now draws more than 2.3 million tourists each year. Conservationists warn the city is dangerously exposed to the elements, and is poorly served by red tape, lack of strategic planning and limited personnel of the site’s troubled management.
8. Tensions high after riot at Syrian refugee camp in Jordan
....Ten Jordanian security officers were injured by stone-throwing protesters in the camp of 120,000 Syrian refugees.
9. In Russia, Boston attacks turn spotlight on troubled region of Chechnya
....With the Chechen background of the suspects in the Boston attacks, questions arise about a connection to the bloody conflict in the Russian republic of Chechnya, which has appeared calm for some time.
10. Serbia and Kosovo reach agreement on power-sharing
....The accord over municipalities in Kosovo's Serb-majority north paves the way for Kosovo and Serbia to pursue membership in the European Union.
11. Venezuela to audit all votes

....Venezuela's top election official said Thursday that authorities will complete a 100% audit of votes cast in Sunday's presidential election. Following the close, disputed election, there have been protests and violent clashes

US News Capsules:
1. Eerie stillness at the center of a frenzied crime scene
....The hub of the universe, as Boston's popular nickname would have it, was on lockdown from first light until near dark on Friday.
a. 2nd bombing suspect caught after intense search locked down Boston

....The teenage suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, was taken into custody in Watertown, Mass., after a search that left his brother dead and the Boston area virtually shut down.
b. Suspects with foot in 2 worlds, perhpas echoing plots of past
....The case of the Boston suspects echoes that of other young men who, caught between life in America and loyalty to fellow Muslims in a distant homeland, turned to violence.
c. Boy at home in US, swayed by one who wasn't
....Life as an immigrant seemed easy for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. For his older brother, Tamerlan, also a suspect in the bombings and now dead, it seemed more fraught.
2. Violent trail adds 2 victims, offiers linked by friendship and dedicataion
....Two police officers involved in last night's chase became friends as classmates in a police academy; now one is dead, and the other is hospitalized, fighting for his life.
3. Boy Scouts move to lift ban on gay youth members
....A proposal announced on Friday would end a long ban on openly gay scouts but continue to exclude gay adults as leaders.
4. Debate over delaying of Miranda warning
....The decision to question Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev for 48-hours without first reading him the Miranda warning has revived a constitutionally charged debate over the handling of terrorism cases in the criminal justice system.
5. A Texas town mourns the first responders who paid with their lives

....Days after a fertilizer plant explosion destroyed homes and killed at least 14 in West, Tex., the magnitude of the human toll had barely started to settle in.
6. Before housing bubbles, there was land fever
....American real estate manias are as old as the nation itself, but until recently they were localized — and focused on land, not homes.
7. California tries to regain fuller control of prisons

....Despite spending $1.2 billion on improving mental health care in its prison system, California has so far failed in efforts to lessen federal oversight.
8. 5 people dead in Colorado avalanche
....Five members of backcountry snowboarder group were found dead after they were trapped by an avalanche on a high mountain pass in Colorado's White River National Forest,
POLITICS:
1. Bombing suspects' immigration story adds layer to debate on overhaul
....As a debate over major immigration reform begins in Congress, some opponents are pointing to the Boston attack as cause for concern about expanding visa programs and offering illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

Thought for Today
"If anyone tells you something strange about the world, something you had never heard before, do not laugh but listen attentively; make him repeat it, make him explain it; no doubt there is something there worth taking hold of." _
--Georges Duhamel (1884-1966).French author

[pegasus]

Mother Earth Day
Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 112th day of 2013 with 253 days left in the year.

Today in History:
1451--Isabella I, Queen of Castile (1474-1504) who sponsored Columbus's voyage to the New World, bas born; died 1504 at age 53.
1500--Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral, on a voyage to India, sailed far to the southwest and discovered Brazil, claiming it for Portugal.
1509--Henry VIII became king of England following the death of his father, Henry VII.
1724--Immanuel Kant, German Enlightenment philosopher, was born; died 1804 at age 80
1778--Commander John Paul Jones led a small detachment of two boats from his ship, the USS Ranger, to raid the shallow port at Whitehaven, England.
1793--Pres. Washington issued a Proclamation of Neutrality to ensure that the United States did not become involved in the war between France and Britain.
1834--the Quadruple Alliance was formed between Britain, France, Portugal and Spain, supporting Isabella II's claim to the Spanish throne.
1838--the British steamship Sirius became the first to cross the Atlantic from Britain to New York on steam power only, taking 18 days 10 hours.
1863--Col. Benjamin Grierson’s Union troops bring destruction to Central Mississippi as part of a two-week raid along the entire length of the state cutting telegraph wires.
1864--the US Congress authorized the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins.
1870--Communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in Simbirsk, Russia; died 1924 at age 54.
1889--the Oklahoma Land Rush began at noon as thousands of homesteaders staked claims.
1904--J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American nuclear physicist who headed the Manhattan Project (the atomic bomb development project), was born; died 1967 at age 62.
1912--the US Chamber of Commerce had its beginnings with a National Commercial Conference held in Washington, D.C.
1914--Babe Ruth made his professional baseball pitching debut while playing for the Baltimore Orioles, beating the Buffalo Bisons, 6-0.
1915--German forces shock Allied soldiers along the western front by the first firing lethal chlorine gas against two French colonial divisions at the 2nd battle of Ypres in Belgium.
1930--the US, Britain and Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, which regulated submarine warfare and limited shipbuilding.
1934-George "Baby Face" Nelson killed Special Agent W. Carter Baum during an FBI raid in northern Wisconsin.
1937--Jack Nicholson, Academy Award-winning actor, turns 76 today.
1938--45 workers were killed in a coal mine explosion at Keen Mountain in Buchanan County, Va.
1944--US forces began Operation Persecution by invading Japanese-held New Guinea with amphibious landings at Hollandia and Aitape.
1945--Adolf Hitler admitted to all in his underground bunker that the war iwa lost and that suicide was his only recourse.
1952--an atomic test in Nevada became the first nuclear explosion shown on live network TV as a 31-kiloton bomb was dropped from a B-50 Superfortress
1954--the televised US Senate Committee on Un-American Activities began the US Army-McCarthy hearings. These televised hearings gave the American public their first view of McCarthy in action and resulted in his fall from prominence.
1963--Lester B. Pearson took office as Canada's 14th prime minister.
1969--British lone yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnston arrived at Falmouth after completing the first solo nonstop circumnavigation of the Earth in just 312 days.
1970--Earth Day was observed for the first time.
1976--Barbara Walters became the first anchorwoman of a network news program (ABC).
1978--the Blues Brothers made their world premiere on Saturday Night Live.
1983--called by many "The Father of Modern Jazz Piano," Earl "Fatha" Hines died at age 77 in Oakland, Calif.
1983--the West German news magazine Stern announced the discovery of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler that turned out to be a hoax.
1984--photography legend Ansel Adams died in Carmel, California, at age 82.
1992--dozens of sewer explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico due to a gas leak, killed more than 200 people and damaged 1,000 buildings
1993--the Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, D.C. to honor victims of Nazi Germany's policy of extermination.
1994--Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the US, died at age 81 in New York City, four days after suffering a stroke.
1995--the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan army opened fire on Hutu refugees in the Kibeho refugee camp; death toll reports varied from 300 to 2000.
1997--in Peru, government commandos stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence, ending a 126-day hostage crisis; all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels were killed, all 72 hostages were rescued (one died later of gunshot wounds).
2000--armed immigration agents seized Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' home in Miami, reuniting the 6-year-old boy with his father.
2003--Pres. Bush announced he would nominate Alan Greenspan for a fifth term as Federal Reserve chairman.
2004--pro football player Pat Tillman, who'd traded in a multimillion-dollar contract to serve as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, was killed by friendly fire.
2005--Zacarias Moussaoui pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring with the Sept. 11 hijackers to kill Americans. (He was later sentenced to life in prison.)
2010--the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, operated by BP, sank into the Gulf of Mexico two days after a massive explosion that killed 11 workers.
2012--George Zimmerman was quietly released from a Florida jail on $150,000 bail to await his second-degree murder trial in the fatal shooting of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin.
2012--the US and Afghanistan reached a deal on a strategic partnership agreement ensuring that Americans would provide military and financial support to the Afghan people for at least a decade beyond 2014.
2012--in the first round of the French presidential election, Socialist Francois Hollande narrowly edged conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, sending the candidates to a May 6 runoff, which Hollande won.

World News Capsules:
1. Foreigners among as many as 11 civililans feared abducted by Taliban
....A civilian helicopter made a forced landing in an insurgent-held area of eastern Afghanistan, and its crew and passengers may have been abducted.
2. China presses crackdown on campaign against graft
....Six more activists were detained after demanding that Communist Party officials disclose their personal wealth, another sign of the limits of the leadership’s war on graft.
a. After earthquake, Chinese seek out private charities for their donations

....The quake that struck China last weekend has drawn a flood of donations, but those eager to donate are looking past official charity groups that now have a reputation for corruption.
b. US box office heroes proving mortal in China
....Hollywood blockbusters appeared poised last year to take over China’s box office, but something unexpected happened on the way to the bank: demand tapered off sharply.
c. Bird flu puts spotlight on age-old traditions in China

....China has one of the oldest food cultures in the world and, like that acme of Western food culture French cuisine, the food needs to be fresh; but the way the birds are handled, stored and slaughtered has the potential to make you very sick..
3. Activist's death in Egypt spurs charges of police abuse
....The death has underscored one of the most vexing challenges facing the new government: how to tame Egypt's unaccountable and despised security forces.
4. Runners start London Marathon with a moment of silence for Boston victims

....Thousands of runners joined in a 30-second silence on the start line to remember those killed and injured by the blasts near the finish of the Boston Marathon on Monday.
5. Ex-defense minister on trial in Greek corruption case
....During his stint as defense minister, Akis Tsochatzopoulos is alleged to have used a network of offshore companies to siphon off millions of euros in bribes.
6. Rape of girl, age 5, draws focus to child assault in India

....Amid angry protests, another girl who was raped was treated in the same hospital as the 5-year-old who was tortured last week. The rape has provoked painful questions in India, and officials are looking into other rapes of minors in New Delhi, with victims ranging in age from 2 to 15.
7. No bunker-buster bomb in Israel's US arms deal
....The Israelis said they would need such a weapon if they were to attack Iran’s underground nuclear fuel enrichment site.
8. Magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits Mexico

....An earthquake centered more than 200 miles from Mexico City, hit the Mexican state of Michoacan near the Pacific Coast on Sunday night, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries in Michoacan, according to state civil protection officials.
9. Civilians are killed in Nigerian battle

....Fighting between the country’s military and Islamic extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing community in the northeast, officials said Sunday.
10. Taliban attacks in northwest Pakistan are reshaping ballot

....An intense campaign of attacks in the region has all but derailed the governing party and has struck fear in its candidates.
a. Treason charges against Musharraf are put off
....Pakistan’s caretaker government declined to bring treason charges against Pervez Musharraf, saying it was beyond its mandate.
11. South Korean official cancels expected Japan trip
....Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se has canceled a trip to Japan out of anger after Japanese Cabinet ministers visited a controversial war shrine.
12. Slaughter reported near Damascus

....Syrian opposition activists said that government forces had killed at least 80 people in Jdaidet al-Fadl and then made mass arrests as residents tried to bury the bodies.
a. Syrian war spilling into Lebanon, rights group says
....A report by Human Rights Watch faulted both sides in the Syria conflict for increasing cross-border attacks.

US News Capsules:
1. Bomb supect is charged and will be tried in civilian court
....Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston bombings, was charged Monday with “using a weapon of mass destruction” that resulted in three deaths, according to court documents.
a. Search for home led suspect to land marred by strife

....Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in the Boston bombings, found comfort in Dagestan, a region in the North Caucasus that is the center of violent Islamic insurgency in Russia.
2. Struggle at home intrudes on Chechen haven in America
....After the suspects in the Boston bombings were identified as being of Chechen origin, Chechens in the US said the attack had left them feeling exposed and embarrassed.
3. In Atlanta, Ga., two churches lie in new stadium's path

....The mayor is championing a new stadium as an engine for construction jobs and a way to transform an impoverished section of downtown.
4. Water rights tear at an Indian reservatioin
....The dispute at the Flathead Reservation centers on a proposed bill that would specify who is entitled to the water, and how much they can take from the reservoirs and ditches.
5. Five dead in aparrtment shooting near Seaattle

....Gunfire at an apartment complex left five people dead, including a suspect who was shot by arriving officers and a man and a woman in separate apartments.
6. Natural gas becomes a fuel for the long haul

....Natural gas is expected to gain popularity as a truck fuel for a number of reasons, including its low cost and demand from companies that ship goods.
7. Witherspoon, husband arrested

....Actress Reese Witherspoon and her husband were arrested Friday in Atlanta after they were pulled over for suspected drunken driving, the Georgia State Patrol says.
a. Legendary sportscaster Al Michaels arreested, charged with DUI

....The man revered for yelling "Do you believe in miracles?" as the US hockey team upset the mighty Soviets in the 1980 Winter Olympics was arrested and charged with misdemeanor DUI in Southern California on Friday night, Santa Monica police said.
8. High court keeps tobacco marketing restrictions intact
....The US Supreme Court turned aside an appeal from tobacco companies seeking to block a federal law that further restricts the marketing, packaging and event promotion of cigarettes.
POLILTICS:
1. Senators at immigration hearing clash over Boston bombings

....Partisan tempers flared at a Senate immigration hearing on Monday as top Democrats accused opponents of comprehensive reform legislation of using last week's Boston Marathon bombings to slow or even derail the bill.
2. Sen. Ted Cruz takes on Marco Rubio and a pathway to citizenship

....Ted Cruz may emerge as a counterpoint on the right to Marco Rubio in his quest to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
3. Sen. Graham backs off FBI criticism over bombing suspect

....Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who said Sunday the FBI may have dropped the ball in its investigation of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, began easing off that claim Monday, saying instead the agency "responsibly handled" the situation.

Sports Headlines:
1. [u\]NFL: A franchise in ruins and a coach's future in doubt[/u]

....The trade of cornerback Darrelle Revis to the Buccaneers makes it much more difficult to imagine a Jets future that includes Coach Rex Ryan.
a. A deal that seemed inevitable: Revis is a Buccaneer

....The Buccaneers acquired the Jets' All-Pro cornerback, Darrelle Revis, who agreed to terms with Tampa Bay on a new long-term contract, for six years and $96 million (but not guaranteed).
2. NBA: From phenom to everyday NBA player

....The former Knick Jeremy Lin, with a big contract and big expectations, has focused on improving his game with the Houston Rockets, who are now in the playoffs.
a. Lakers stifled by Spurs despite Bryant's advice
....San Antonio cruised to a 91-79 win in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series, frustrating the Lakers’ injured Kobe Bryant, who offered criticisms on Twitter.
3. MLB: Nova loses control, and Yankees lose finale
....The struggling Blue Jays scored four times in the sixth inning to salvage the final game 8-4 in their three-game series with the Yankees.
a. Mets get contributions from unlikely sources, including a National
....The back end of the Mets’ rotation, their bullpen and their defense all played crucial roles in taking the rubber game of a series against one of the league’s elite teams.
4. NHL: Callahan helps Rangers oust Devils from playoff picture

....The Rangers, clinging to the final playoff spot in the East, beat the Devils behind two goals from Ryan Callahan, one each from Derek Stepan and Taylor Pyatt and a 26-save performance from Henrik Lundqvist.
5. Tennis: Monte Carlo streak ends for Nadal
....Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters, ending Nadal’s streak of 8 straight titles and 46 consecutive victories at the event.

Thought for Today
"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach." _
--Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) English author
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[pegasus]

Clean Air Month
Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 134th day of 2013 with 231 days left in the year.

Today in History:
1607--the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States got started at Jamestown, Virginia.
1643--Louis XIV became King of France at age 4 on the death of his father, Louis XIII.
1787--delegates began gathering in Philadelphia for a convention to draw up the U.S. Constitution.
1796--English physician Edward Jenner administered the first vaccination against smallpox.
1804--the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory and the Pacific Northwest left left camp near present-day Hartford, Ill.
1811--Paraguay gained independence from Spain.
1842--Alfred, Lord Tennyson, published his populaar book, Poems, that included "Ulysses" and "Morte D'Arthur."
1863--Union forces defeated the Confederates in the Battle of Jackson, Miss.
1864--the Battle of Resaca, Georgia, began, one of the first engagements in a summer-long campaign by Union Gen. Sherman to capture the Confederate city of Atlanta.
1874--McGill University and Harvard met at Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the first college football game to charge admission.
1897--a statue of George Washington was unveiled in Philadelphia, Pa. and to commemorate the occasion, John Philip Sousa’s march, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" was fperformed for the first time.
1900--the Olympic games opened in Paris, held as part of the 1900 World's Fair.
1904--the third modern Olympiad and the first Olym to be held in the US opened in St. Louis, Mo.
1913--the Rockefeller Foundation was founded in New York City by John D. Rockefeller with $100,000,000.
1940--The Netherlands surrendered to Nazi Germany.
1942--Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait" was first performed, by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
1942--the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) was established.
1944--Director- producer George Lucas (Star Wars movies) turns 69 years old today.
1948--the independent state of Israel was proclaimed as British rule in Palestine came to an end.
1955--representatives from the Soviet Union and seven other Communist bloc countries signed the Warsaw Pact in Poland.
1961--Freedom Riders were attacked by violent mobs in Anniston and Birmingham, Ala.
1962--Princess Sophia of Greece wedded Don Juan Carlos, heir to the Spanish crown.
1973--the National Right to Life Committee was incorporated.
1973--the US launched Skylab 1, its first manned space station. (Skylab 1 remained in orbit for six years before burning up during re-entry in 1979.)
1984--founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg turns 29 years old today.
1988--27 people, mostly teens, were killed when their church bus collided with a pickup truck going the wrong direction on a highway near Carrollton, Ky.
1991--two diesel trains carrying commuters crash head-on, killing more than 40 people and injuring 400 near Shigaraki, Japan.
1998--singer & Academy Award-0winning actor Frank Sinatra died at a Los Angeles hospital at age 82.
1999--Pres. Clinton apologized to Chinese Pres. Jiang Zemin on the phone for the accidental NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
1998--the TV sitcom Seinfeld aired its final episode after 9 years.
2001--the US Supreme Court ruled that there is no exception in federal law for people to use marijuana to ease their pain from cancer, AIDS or other illnesses.
2003--more than 100 immigrants were abandoned in a locked trailer at a Texas truck stop; 19 of them died.
2003--in Chechnya, a female suicide bomber killed 18 people in an apparent attempt on the life of the Moscow-backed chief administrator. Akhmad Kadyrov.
2007--DaimlerChrysler said it was selling almost all of Chrysler to a private equity firm for $7.4 billion, backing out of a troubled 1998 takeover.
2007--the trial of suspected al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla opened in Miami.
2008--the US Interior Department declared the polar bear a threatened species because of the loss of Arctic sea ice.
2008--Belgian Justine Henin, age 25, became the first woman to retire from professional tennis while atop the WTA rankings.
2011--Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund and potential candidate for president of France, was charged with sexually assaulting a Manhattan hotel maid.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

World News Capsules:
1. Commander denies US to blame in Afghan deaths
....Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. said that neither the US nor NATO was at fault in the deaths of civilians after airstrikes in April.
a. 3 Americans killed in southern Afghan bombing
....The attack hit in a district of Kandahar Province that was a showcase for the American troop surge — and the birthplace of the Taliban.
2. Global retailers join safety plan for Bangladesh

....Under mounting pressure, several companies agreed to a landmark plan to help pay for safety improvements in Bangladesh's garment factories.
3. A colorful Bolivian bastion, floating above it all

....Open displays of wealth are often embraced in El Alto, an illustration of the city’s unusual mix of leftist uprisings and capitalist strivings.
4. Grind of euro crisis wears down support for union, poll finds
....A survey by the Pew Research Center suggests the European Union may struggle to take the steps needed to make it viable over the long term.
5. France confirms 2nd case of virus linked ot SARS
....The cases are being watched closely because the transmission occurred in a shared hospital room.
a. French entrepreneurs strive for success
....As immigrant enclaves in the Parisian suburbs struggle with 30 percent youth unemployment, some entrepreneurs are trying to build businesses that will create jobs for their communities.
6. Nepotism in Bavarian politics creates a scandal Merkel could do without
....Germany’s Christian Social Union, the sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, is embroiled in a scandal that threatens her re-election chances.
7. Cameron seeks to calm turmoil over Europe
....Prime Minister David Cameron’s efforts came at a time of heightened division among lawmakers over Britain’s position within the European Union.
8. Indonesian police kill suspect in attempted bomb attack
....Police said a series of raids on terrorist cells prompted the attempted attack by a suspected Islamist militant on a police traffic post in West Java Province.
9. After citizen protests, Israel approves austerity budget
....A plan for higher taxes has prompted demonstrations reminiscent of those that rocked the country in 2011, when crowds protested the high cost of living.
10. Japanese aide visits North Korea
....A political adviser to the prime minister of Japan arrived in Pyongyang, but officials in Tokyo refused to confirm or comment about the trip.
a. Women forced into WWII brothels served necessary role, Osaka mayor says

....Toru Hashimoto’s view that so-called comfort women provided relief for Japanese soldiers “risking their lives” was swiftly condemned by lawmakers and human rights groups.
11. 2 waiters arrested in Mexico or the killing of Malcolm X's grandson

....The men taken into custody worked at a bar in Mexico City where Malcolm Shabazz was beaten during what a prosecutor called a dispute over an excessive bill.
12. Pakistani president Sharif vs. Army, Round 3

....Nawaz Sharif's previous term as prime minister ended when he was deposed by the military, and his new tenure may depend on how he gets along with the generals.
a. Pakistani leader moves quickly to form new government
....Nawaz Sharif signaled his choice for finance minister as vote projections showed his party was near a majority in Parliament.
13. Russia orders expulsion of US diplomat

....Russia’s Federal Security Service announced that it had detained US diplomat Ryan Christopher Fogle as an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency attempting to recruit a Russian agent.
14. South Korea proposes border meeting with North

....South Korea proposed on to hold a border meeting with North Korea to discuss bringing finished goods and raw materials from an industrial park that was jointly operated until last month.
15. A focus on Syria for Obama and Cameron
....Pres. Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have taken generally cautious and deliberate approaches to the Syrian conflict.
a. Syria gives Russia list of envoys to peace talks
....Russia and the US hope to convene international talks intended to end the war in Syria within a month.

US News Capsules:
1. The 2-way street that is snooping and the news media
....Lines are being crossed in all directions, with the government seizing journalists’ phone records, and Bloomberg reporters monitoring the actions of their clients.
a. AP blasts feds for phone records search

....The Associated Press president Gary Pruitt reported that the Justice Department had secretly obtained the phone records of its offices and journalists, calling it a "massive and unprecedented intrusion."
2. Philadelphia abortion doctor guilty of murder in late-term procedures
....Dr. Kermit Gosnell, known for performing late-term abortions, was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder over his actions at his West Philadelphia clinic.
3. Fewer rain forests mean less energy for developing nations, study finds
....The loss of tropical rain forests is likely to reduce the energy output of hydroelectric projects for countries whose economies depend on them.
4. Young Americans lead trend to less driving

....In the middle of the last decade, the number of miles driven - both over all and per capita - began to drop, notes a report to be published on Tuesday by a nonprofit advocacy organization.
5. Jolie's disclosure highlights a breast cancer dilemma

....Angelina Jolie’s decision to have her breasts removed because she carries a rare defective gene underscored the painful choices women face in trying to prevent breast cancer.
6. Safety board endorses lower legal alcohol limit for drivers

....The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that states reduce the allowable blood-alcohol content to 0.05 percent, instead of the current 0.08 percent.
7. No benefit in sharply restricting salt, panel finds

....Health experts for the government say there is no good reason for many Americans to keep sodium consumption below 2,300 milligrams a day, as national dietary guidelines advise.
8. Vermont passes 'Aid in Dying' measure
....Vermont is the first state to permit physician-assisted suicide by legislation, rather than referendum or court order.
9. St Louis development aims for a home team advantage

....The long-delayed Ballpark Village, an entertainment, restaurant and retail project outside Busch Stadium scheduled to open in 2014, will take advantage of two St. Louis institutions: Cardinals baseball and Budweiser beer.
10. In Barbara Walter's highlight reel, TV's fise and fade

....Barbara Walters’s announced retirement is a reminder that her long career mirrors the trajectory of television: as more and more viewers abandon broadcast TV, so does she.
11. Seeking clues to heart disease in DNA of an unlucky family

....Scientists are studying the DNA of the Del Sontro family for mutations or aberrations, hoping to see if genetics can explain why heart disease strikes apparently healthy people.
POLITICS:
1. Obama dismisses Benghazi furor but assails IRS
....Presi. Obama rejected criticism of his handling of the Libya attacks as "a sideshow." On the scandal at the Internal Revenue Service, he said the practice of singling out certain groups was "outrageous."
a. Justice Department opesn inquiry into IRS audits

....Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said that he had ordered an investigation into whether IRS officials broke any criminal laws by singling out conservative groups for special scrutiny.
b. Uneven IRS scrutiny seen in political spending by big tax-exempt groups
....An agency that is supposed to stay as far away from partisan politics as possible has been left in charge — almost by accident — of regulating a huge amount of election spending.
2. Minnesota Senate clears way for same-sex marriage

....Gov. Mark Dayton says he will sign a bill making Minnesota the 12th state to permit same-sex marriage and the first in the Midwest to do it without a court forcing it to.
3. For Republicans, incentives to strike a budget deal with Obama
....Delaying steps to rein in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid means delaying significant attempts to curb the size of the government.

Sports Headlines:
1. NHL: One-sided ending to a tense playoff
....The Rangers trounced the Capitals to win a playoff Game 7 on the road for the first time and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Bruins.
a. Eastern Conference semifinals" No love lost between foes

....Like the West, the East has one matchup of Original Six teams in the Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers. But that is just one subplot as rivalries old and new are renewed.
b. Bruins save best for last

....The Bruins became the first team to overcome a three-goal deficit in the third period of a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Patrice Bergeron tied the game with 51 seconds left in regulation then scored in overtime to give Boston the 5-4 (OT) victory over Toronto and a ticket to the second round.
c. One-sided ending to a tense playoff duel
....The Rangers trounced the Capitals 5-0 to win a playoff Game 7 on the road for the first time and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Bruins.
2. Shumpert seeing doctor about sore left knee

....Iman Shumpert, who has started every game of the playoffs for the Knicks at small forward, skipped the team’s morning shootaround.
a. Balancing Anthony's need to shoot and need to share
....Facing implicit criticism for not moving the ball around, Carmelo Anthony says he will still come out shooting in Game 4 against the Pacers.
b. Bulls' physical approach to James is familiar
....Coach Tom Thibodeau, facing LeBron James with a depleted roster, has his team employing tactics that had limited success against Chicago’s own Michael Jordan.
3. MLB: A star who jumped at the chance to stay

....Felix Hernandez, the rare elite talent who chose small-market Seattle over Los Angeles or New York, will either be rewarded for his patience or doomed to waste his prime outside the playoffs.
a. Ankiel arrives without a bat, and thus fits right in with the Mets

....The NY Mets signed Rick Ankiel off waivers from the Astros, hoping he can add some punch, but the outcome was much the same in a 6-3 loss in St. Louis.
b. Indians and Yankees take turns throwing shutouts at each other
....Cleveland’s Justin Masterson pitched a four-hit shutout in Game 1, and the Yankees responded with a five-hitter in Game 2, led by the little-known Vidal Nuno.
c. How the Yankees turn has-beens into studs
....Vernon Wells is just the latest example of a seemingly washed-up or borderline player becoming a useful piece in pinstripes.
c. L.A. scapegoats
....The heat is on Don Mattingly and Mike Scioscia as they try to manage their slow-starting LA teams back into contention. The real problem are the slumping and injured players but they can't be fired.
4. PREAKNESS: Orb's breezy speed stirs talk of a Crown

....Before heading to Baltimore for Saturday’s Preakness, the thoroughbred turned in what trainer Shug McGaughey described as a “breathtaking” workout Monday.

Thought for Today
"Sometimes there is greater lack of communication in facile talking than in silence."
--Faith Baldwin (1893-1978).American romance novelist

[pegasus]

EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week
[/img]
Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 140th day of 2013 with 225 days left in the year.

Today in History:
1303--the Treaty of Paris restored Gascony to the British in the Hundred Years War.
1347--in Rome, Cola di Rienza took the title of Tribune and assumed dictatorial powers in his drive to revive the city as the capital of Italy.
1498--Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama becomes the first European to reach India at Calicut via the Atlantic Ocean.
1506--the great Italian explorer Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid, Spain.
1712--the original version of Alexander Pope's satirical mock-heroic poem "The Rape of the Lock" was published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany..
1768--Dolley Madison, wife of Pres. James Madison, was born; died 1849 at age 81.
1774--Great Britain passed the Quebec Act, extending its boundaries northwards to Hudson's Bay and as far south as the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
1778--the Battle of Barren Hill, Pa." British forces from Philadelphia fail to trap 2,200 Continentals defending Valley Forge led by Marquis de Lafayette.
1830--H.D. Hyde of Reading, Pennsylvania patented the fountain pen.
1861--North Carolina became the last state to secede from the Union.
1861--the capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, Ala., to Richmond, Va.
1862--Pres. Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which encouragd settlements west of the Mississippi River by making federal land available for farming.
1873--San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and Reno, Nev. tailor Jacob Davis received a patent for denim blue jeans reinforced with metal rivets.
1875--the International Bureau of Weights and Measures was established.
1902--the US ended a three-year military presence in Cuba as the Republic of Cuba was established under its first elected president, Tomas Estrada Palma.
1927--Charles Lindbergh took off for Paris from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, N.Y., aboard the "Spirit of St. Louis" on the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
1927--Great Britain signed the Treaty of Jeddah with King Ibn Saud, recognizing the independence of Saudi Arabia
1932--Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland for Ireland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
1939--regular trans-Atlantic air service began as a Pan American Airways plane took off from Port Washington, N.Y., bound for Europe.
1940--the Germans broke through to the English Channel at Abbeville, France.
1941--German troops invaded the Mediterranean island of Crete.
1956--the US dropped the first-airborne test of a hydrogen bomb over a tiny island in the Bikini Atoll.
1959--nearly 5,000 Japanese-Americans had their US citizenship restored after renouncing it during World War II.
1961--a white mob attacked a busload of "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Ala., prompting the federal government to send in US marshals to restore order.
1965--a Pakistan Airways Boeing 707 crashed upon landing at the airport in Cairo, Egypt, killing 124 people
1969--US and South Vietnamese forces captured Apbia Mountain, referred to as Hamburger Hill by the Americans in one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam Conflict.
1980--the Canadian province of Quebec voted against a proposal to negotiate independence from Canada.
1982--TV’s Barney Miller was seen for the last time in its original network run on ABC-TV.
1983--a car bomb exploded outside air force headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa, killing some 20 people.
1988--Laurie Dann, 30, walked into a Winnetka, Ill. elementary school where she shot to death 8-year-old Nicholas Corwin and wounded several other children. After wounding a young man at his home, Dann took her own life.
1989--comedian Gilda Radner died at age 42 after firghting ovarian cancer for two years.
1989--Chinese communist authorities slapped martial law on the capital of Beijing after student-led protests brought millions of people onto the streets
1993--an estimated 93 million people tuned in for the final first-run episode of Cheers aired on NBC.
1995--Pres. Clinton announced that the two-block stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House would be permanently closed to traffic as a security measure.
1996--the US Supreme Court struck down a Colorado measure banning laws that protect homosexuals from discrimination.
2002--East Timor became an independent nation.
2003--the US banned all beef imports from Canada after a lone case of mad cow disease was discovered in the heart of Canada's cattle country.
2005--ex-teacher and convicted pedophile Mary Kay Letourneau, 43, married her former victim and the father of two of her children, Vili Fualaau, 22.
2006--San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds tied Babe Ruth for second place on the career list with his 714th home run.
2007--The Simpsons aired its 400th episode.
2008--Sen. Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumo.(Kennedy died in August 2009.)
2008--Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and her professional dance partner, Mark Ballas, won ABC's Dancing with the Stars.
2009--Suspended NFL star Michael Vick was released after 19 months in prison for running a dogfighting ring.
2012--1000s of protesters marched through downtown Chicago, airing grievances about war, climate change and a wide range of other complaints.
Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, 60, the only man convicted in connection with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, died in Tripoli, Libya.
2012--Robin Gibb, 62, who along with his brothers Maurice and Barry, defined the disco era as part of the Bee Gees, died in London.

Today's Headlines of Interest:

World News Capsules:

US News Capsules:

Sports Headlines:


Thought for Today
"Intolerance of ambiguity is the mark of an authoritarian personality." _ --Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) German philosopher
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[pegasus]

Skyscraper Month

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Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 170th day of 2013 with 195 days left in the year.

Today in History:
240 BC--the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes was the first to estimate accurately the diameter and circumference of the Earth.
1586--English colonists sailed from Roanoke Island, N.C., after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America.
1623--Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, physicist and religious philosopher was born; died 1662 at age 39.
1846--the first organized baseball game was played in Hoboken, N.J. with the New York Baseball Club defeating the Knickerbocker Club, 23-1.
1856--in Music Fund Hall in Philadelphia, the first national Republican convention ended.
1862--Cthe US ongress passed, and Pres. Lincoln signed, a measure abolishing slavery in US territories.
1864--the successful and feared Confederate commerce raider, the CSS Alabama, siank after a spectacular battle off the coast of France with the USS Kearsarge.
1865--Union troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Tex., with news that the Civil War was over, and that all remaining slaves in Texas were free.
1867--Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, iEmperor of Mexico,was executed on the orders of Benito Juarez, the president of the Mexican Republic.
1903--Lou Gehrig, baseball Hall of Fame 1st baseman for the NY Yankees (1925-1939) was born in New York City; died 1941 of amyotrophic lateral scelrosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) in New York City
1905--the world’s first nickelodeon opened in Pittsburgh, Pa.
1910--Father's Day was celebrated for the first time, in Spokane, Wash.
1917--King George V changed the British royal family's German-sounding surname, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, to Windsor.
1934--the Federal Communications Commission was created.
1938--four dozen people were killed when a railroad bridge in Montana collapsed, sending a train known as the Olympian hurtling into Custer Creek.
1944--the US scored a major victory against the Japanese in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
1947--Manmar Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi turned 68 years old today.
1953--Julius Rosenberg, 35, and his wife, Ethel, 37, convicted of conspiring to pass US atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, were executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, N.Y.
1961--the US Supreme Court struck down a provision in Maryland's constitution requiring state officeholders to profess a belief in God.
1963--Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova returned to Earth after three days as the first woman in space.
1964--the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after an 83-day filibuster in the US Senate.
1972--Hurricane Agnes, blamed for at least 122 deaths, made landfall over the Florida Panhandle.
1973--the rock musical The Rocky Horror Show premiered in London.
1977--Pope Paul VI proclaimed a 19th-century Philadelphia bishop, John Neumann, the first male U.S. saint.
1978--the comic strip, Garfield, created by cartoonist Jim Davis, debuted in US newspapers.
1986--University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias, the first draft pick of the Boston Celtics, suffered a fatal cocaine-induced seizure.
1987--the US Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law requiring any public school teaching the theory of evolution to teach creation science as well.
1999--author Stephen King was seriously injured when he was struck by a van driven by Bryan Smith in North Lovell, Me.
1999--Britain's Prince Edward married commoner Sophie Rhys-Jones in Windsor Castle, England.
2000--the US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, barred officials from letting students lead stadium crowds in prayer before football games.
2003--the FBI put cosmetics heir Andrew Luster aboard a plane in Mexico and flew him back to California, five months after he'd been convicted in absentia of drugging and raping three women.
2003--federal authorities said Iyman Faris an Ohio truck driver who met Osama bin Laden and admitted plots against trains and the Brooklyn Bridge, had pleaded guilty to felony charges.
2007--a truck bomb struck a Shiite mosque in central Baghdad, killing at least 87 people.
2008--Democrat Barack Obama announced he would bypass public financing for the presidential election, even though Republican John McCain was accepting it.
2012--the Southern Baptist Convention voted to elect its first African-American president, Rev. Fred Luter Jr
2012--Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was moved out of prison to a military hospital after the 84-year-old ousted leader reportedly suffered a stroke and his condition rapidly deteriorated. .

World News Capsules:
1. US presses Taliban on Qatar office in bid to save talks

....American officials, worried about a crumbling peace process, moved to try to resolve the Afghan government’s objections to what appeared to be a publicity coup.
a. Blast apparently aimed at an Afghan politician kills 2in Kabul
....An explosion heard across Kabul on Tuesday morning appeared aimed at killing a prominent ethnic Hazara politician as he was traveling in his armored convoy.

Ex-Senator Feingold choses as Special Envoy to African region
....In choosing Russ Feingold, Secretary of State John Kerry moved to raise the profile of the Great Lakes region of Africa, which has been torn by conflict but overshadowed by other crises.

Protests widen as Brazilians chide leaders

....Demonstrators remained defiant Tuesday, pouring into the streets by the thousands and venting their anger over political corruption, the high cost of living and huge public spending for the World Cup and the Olympics.

China's great uprooting: moving 250 million into cities
....A 12-year plan to move hundreds of millions of rural residents into cities is intended to spur economic growth, but could have unintended consequences, skeptics warn.

Islamists press blasphemy cases in a new Egypt
....The number of blasphemy cases, once rare in Egypt, has increased sharply as Islamists assert their new power in public life.

Europe fines drug companies for delaying generics
....Antitrust regulators levied a total of $195.5 million in penalties for what they said were companies’ attempts to block a less expensive generic version of a popular antidepressant

Merkel challenges Obama onsurveillance
....Speaking in Berlin, Pres. Obama said that German terrorist threats were among those foiled by American surveillance programs, which the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, seemed to confirm.
a. Warm notes in Berlin for Obama and Merkel
....Pres. Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel showed an easy familiarity with each other during a news conference at the Chancellery and later at the Brandenburg Gate.

Irish lawmakers expected to approve limited abortion
....he legislation would allow terminations in cases when there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, including the threat of suicide, and details the circumstances.

Vandals hit mixed suburb of Jerusalem
....Slashed tires and anti-Arab graffiti were found in Abu Ghosh, a village of 6,000 that many see as a symbol of coexistence.

Japan to overhaul nuclear safety guidelines
....The announcement by the country’s nuclear regulator starts a process that could allow some idled reactors to come back online early next year.

Rebels in north Mali sign peace deal allowing in government troops
....Rebels whose revolt last year split Mali signed a peace deal with the government, resolving a stumbling block to the West African nation’s reconstruction.

Russian space center in Kazakhstan counts down its days of glory
....Baikonur, Kazakhstan, is set to be replaced as the Russian space launching center, and ethnic tensions and economic challenges are already creeping into the city.

UN compound in Somalia is attacked
....The Shabab claimed responsibility for the assault in Mogadishu, which government officials said left at least 15 people dead, including 7 attackers.

Syrian tensionis spill into a city in southern Lebanon
....At least two people were reported killed in sectarian clashes in the Mediterranean port of Sidon, underscoring the Syrian conflict’s effects in Lebanon.
a. The price of loyalty in Syria
....Members of the Alawite sect are caught between support for their own increasingly brutal leaders and a rebellion that may want to wipe them off the map.

Turkey arrests dozens in crackdown on protests
.....The Turkish police arrested dozens of people in several cities early Tuesday as part of an intensifying crackdown against recent protests.

US News Capsules:
1. The FBI deemed agents faultless in 150 shootings
....Critics say the fact that no agent in the past two decades has been disciplined for any instance of deliberately shooting someone raises questions about the bureau's internal investigations.
a. FBI hunt for Hoffa's remains ends
....The excavation of a rural field in suburban Detroit has failed to turn up the remains of former Teamsters union leader James R. Hoffa, adding another unsuccessful chapter to a nearly 40-year-old mystery.
b. FBI director warns against dismantling surveillance program
....Robert Mueller III told the Senate Judiciary Committee that investigators would be slowed in seeking to prevent terrorist attacks.
2. In Bulger's underworld, a 'Judas was the wors"
....In the first few days of testimony in the criminal trial of James (Whitey) Bulger, who is charged with racketeering and murder, witnesses discussed the concepts of honor and loyalty.
3. Clues in the search for a sunken ship, lost in the 1600s
....Experts hope that the search is over for the Griffin, a ship lost in Lake Michigan over 300 years ago that was commanded by a 17th-century French explorer.
4. Spoils of the sea elude many in an Alaska antipoverty plan
....A government-backed fishery program meant to help impoverished Alaskans has made some villages haves and others have-nots.
POLITICS:
1. In partisan vote, House approves ban on abortions after 22 weeks
....The House of Representatives approved a bill that would ban abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy in a largely symbolic vote.
2. Dissent festers in states that Obama forgot
....In a country splintered by partisanship and race, President Obama’s near-complete absence from more than 25 percent of states may have consequences.
3. Obama preparing bit effort to curb climate change
....Officials said President Obama would announce new policy initiatives in the coming weeks, including the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants.

Sports Headlines:


Thought for Today
"Free thinkers are generally those who never think at all."
--Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) English author
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[pegasus]

Ride the Wind Day
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Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 235th day of 2013 with 130 days left in the year
Today in History:

1305--Scottish rebel leader Sir William Wallace was executed by the English for treason.
1754--France's King Louis XVI was born at Versailles; guillotined 1793 at age 39 in Paris, France, beginning the French Revolution.
1775--Britain's King George III proclaimed the American colonies in a state of open rebellion.
1912--[Eugene Curran] Gene Kelly, dancer, actor, choreographer and director, was born in Pittsburgh, Pa.; died 1996 at age 83.
1913--Copenhagen's Little Mermaid statue, inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story, was unveiled in the harbor of the Danish capital.
1914--Japan declared war against Germany in World War I.
1926--silent film star Rudolph Valentino died at age 31 in New York City of peritonitis due to a ruptured appendix.
1927--amid protests, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery.
1939--Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in Moscow.
1944--Romanian prime minister Ion Antonescu was dismissed by King Michael, paving the way for Romania to abandon the Axis in favor of the Allies.
1960--Broadway librettist Oscar Hammerstein II died at age 65 in Doylestown, Pa.
1973--a bank robbery-turned-hostage-taking began in Stockholm, Sweden; the four hostages ended up empathizing with their captors, a psychological condition now referred to as "Stockholm Syndrome."
1979--Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defected while the Bolshoi Ballet was on tour in New York.
1982--Lebanon's parliament elected Christian militia leader Bashir Gemayel president and was assassinated some three weeks later.
1989--Yusuf Hawkins, an African-American teenager, was shot dead by white youths in Brooklyn.
2000--the first season finale of the reality show Survivor aired on CBS, with contestant Richard Hatch winning the $1 million prize.
2003--former Roman Catholic priest John Geoghan, a convicted child molester whose prosecution sparked the sex abuse scandal that shook the Roman Catholic Church, was killed by a fellow inmate in a Massachusetts prison.
2005--Israeli forces evicted militant holdouts from two Jewish settlements, completing a historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.
2008--two foreign journalists, Canadian Amanda Lindhout and Australian Nigel Brennan, were kidnapped near Mogadishu, Somalia.
2010--Golfer Tiger Woods and his wife, Elin Nordegren, divorced.
2011--Judges in New York put an end to the sensational sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, setting him free.
2012--first lady Michelle Obama consoled relatives of worshippers gunned down at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee.
2012--Lance Armstrong chose not to pursue arbitration in the drug case brought against him by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

World News Capsules:
1. Soldier gets life without parole in deaths of Afghan civilians
...A six-member military jury declined to allow Staff Sgt. Robert Bales any chance at freedom after he slaughtered 16 Afghan civilians inside their homes.
2. Formal arrest of advocate is approved by China
...Xu Zhiyong was detained last month, and prosecutors formally approved his arrest Thursday in a case that has prompted protests in China and criticism from the United States.
3. Rebels delay peace talks in Colombia
...The move by the group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, complicates negotiations to end Latin America’s longest-running guerrilla war.
4. Mubarak is moved from prison to house arrest, stoking anger of Islamists
...Former Pres. Hosni Mubarak's release ended more than two years of incarceration but stopped short of granting him full freedom.
a. Lockdown by government smothers day of planned protest in Egypt
...A relatively small number of demonstrators were so cowed by the violence of the recent crackdown that they took steps to avoid even the smallest confrontation.
5. Mumbai police arrest suspect in gang rape
...The woman, 22, who works for an English language magazine, was raped by five men in Mumbai, undercutting the city’s image as the rare Indian city where women can safely move about in public spaces.
6. Iran said to pave over site linked to nuclear talks
...Iran put down asphalt over large sections of a military base, satellite images show, suggesting an attempt to sanitize a site where United Nations inspectors have tried to gain access.
7. Suicide bombing and attacks kill 36 in Iraq
...A suicide bomber attacked a park in northern Baghdad on Friday night, the bloodiest attack in a day of violence that killed at least 36 people across the country, the authorities said.
8. Israel claims 'successful hit' in southern Lebanon
...The military said it bombed “a terrorist site” early Friday, a response to four rockets that were fired into Israel the previous day/
9. Japan agency calls Fukushima inspectors 'careless'
...Japan’s nuclear regulator on Friday criticized the operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant for failing to adequately inspect tanks storing radioactive water.
10. Deadly blasts in Lebanon raise fears of sectarian conflict
...The blasts outside two Sunni mosques in Tripoli killed dozens of people and reinforced fears that the Middle East could be plunging into unbridled Sunni vs. Shiite warfare.
11. These walls speak, recalling victims of violence
...A hulking memorial that allows Mexicans to scribble or draw messages about grief and loss has set off of a debate about whether it should be a tribute to all the drug war's victims or those subjected to abuses by the authorities.
a. Mexican mass grave may be tied to abductions
...Officials are investigating whether the victims are a group of young people kidnapped from a Mexico City bar in May.
12. Pressure mounts on Hamas as economic lifelines are cut
...The Palestinian militant group is reeling after the loss of powerful patrons, adding another volatile element to the rapidly changing landscape across the region.
13. Russia urges Syria to cooperate in chemical weapons inquiry
...Moscow said it was now up to the opposition to guarantee safe access for UN investigators to examine the site of a suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
14. Syrian Kurds find more than a refuge in northern Iraq
...Tens of thousands of ethnic Kurds have streamed into northern Iraq in recent days, where they have got a warm welcome and a measure of hope.
a. American tells of odyssey as prisoner of Syrian rebels
...Matthew Schrier, a photographer, says he was held for seven months by jihadi fighters opposed to Pres. Assad. After being robbed, tortured and accused of being an American spy, he escaped in July.
15. Thai officials play down effects of oil spill
....In Thailand's third-largest oil spill, the government was quick to try to declare the affected areas safe for tourists, with one official going as far to swim in one of the worst-contaminated areas.

US News Capsules:
1. Council reverses Bloomberg veto of policing bills
....The City Council voted to greatly increase oversight of the New York Police Department and of its widespread use of stop-and-frisk tactics.
2. CIA acknowledges Area 51 exists, but what about those little green men?
...Extraterrestrials' big cultural moment may have come and gone, but for residents of a remote corner of Nevada, mysteries and conspiracy theories never go out of style.
3. Military jury convicts Army psychiatrist on all 45 counts in Fort Hood rampage
...A military jury convicted Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, on all counts in the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood in which 13 people were killed and 32 wounded or shot at.
4. Despite strides, 'minorities still face barriers,' Obama says
...Speaking at a town-hall-style meeting, President Obama said that the economic troubles of recent years had exacerbated racial and class divisions.
5. A conservative Catholic now backs same-sex marriage
...Joseph Bottum, in an essay in Commonweal magazine, writes about his change of heart on the issue, citing the “natural law” theology of Thomas Aquinas.
6. Pop music videos? I want my YouTube!
...Thirty years after MTV's first Video Music Awards, videos are as important as ever for music success. But it is now the YouTube hit that labels covet. .
POLITICS:
1. Clock is ticking for recess, and for a deficit deal
....Talks between the White House and Senate Republicans have gone nowhere this summer, increasing the likelihood of a government shutdown this fall.
2. San Diego mayor resigns in sexual harassment scandal
...Mayor Bob Filner, who was accused by 18 women of groping and kissing them, apologized to his accusers, but denied their claims.
3. Public defenders are tightening belts because of steep federal budget cuts
...The result, said lawmakers, judges and public defenders, are court delays that might violate defendants’ rights to speedy trials.

Sports Headlines:
1. MLB: Brewers' Braun admits to doping in MVP season
...Ryan Braun, the suspended Milwaukee slugger, said in a statement that he took a cream and a lozenge containing banned substances while rehabilitating from an injury.
2. NFL: ESPN quits film project on concussions in NFL
...Citing a lack of editorial control, ESPN ended its collaboration with the public affairs series "Frontline" on a two-part documentary set to run in October. ESPN had been working with PBS on a film about head injuries in the NFL, whose games are shown on the sports network and represent a cherished source of revenue.
a. More barbs exchanged over HGH test delay
...The NFL and its players union continued trading barbs about the league’s drug testing regimen and the implementation of a preliminary test for human growth hormone.
3. HORSE RACING: For generations, a family vacation, horses and all
...The Phipps family will have a special rooting interest Saturday when their horse Orb powers out of the starting gate in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, NY.
4. UP OPEN: Players to watch: not the usual suspects
....There are a few players flying under the radar who could have a big impact at the Open, including Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina and the US's Sloane Stephens.
a. A few dollars to help a prospect
...The Web site Involved Fan, much in the mold of Kickstarter, hopes to help finance lower-ranked professionals with online donations from fans.
5. NCAA: Thriving on chaos, Manziel shocks a traditional system
...Johnny Manziel’s style at Texas A&M, rooted in improvisation and individualism, is challenging a tradition of institutional dominance valued by Nick Saban and Alabama.
a. The legend of Jadeveon Clowney
...The story of South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney, known for his exploits from an early age, reflects the popularity and the hype of college football today.

Thought for Today
"The chains which cramp us most are those which weigh on us least."
—Anne Sophie Swetchine (1782-1857) Russian-French author
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[pegasus]

Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month
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Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 282nd day of 2013 with 82 days left in the year.

Today in History:

1446--the Korean alphabet, created under the aegis of King Sejong, was first published.
1635--religious dissident Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1701--the Collegiate School of Connecticut – later Yale University – was chartered in New Haven.
1776--a group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco.
1813--Giuseppe Verdi, operatic composer (Aida, 'La Traviata, Rigoletto), was born in the Italian village of Le Roncole. (numerous sources say he was actually born on Oct. 10.)
1888--the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument.
1910--a coal dust explosion at the Starkville Mine in Colorado left 56 miners dead.
1930--Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the US as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field in New York to Glendale, Calif.
1936--the first generator at Boulder (later Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles.
1940--rock and roll legend John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England; killed 1980 in New York City.
1946--the Eugene O'Neill drama The Iceman Cometh opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theater.
1958--Pope Pius XII died at age 82, ending a 19-year papacy. (He was succeeded by Pope John XXIII.).
1962--Uganda won autonomy from British rule.
1967--guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed in Bolivia while attempting to incite revolution.
1974--businessman Oskar Schindler, credited with saving about 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust, died in Frankfurt, West Germany (at his request, he was buried in Jerusalem).
1975--Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1985--the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered after the ship arrived in Port Said, Egypt.
2001--letters postmarked in Trenton, NJ, that later tested positive for anthrax spores were mailed to Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
2006--North Korea announced that it had conducted its first nuclear weapons test.
2006--Google Inc. announced it was snapping up YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in a stock deal.
2008--calm gave way to fear in financial markets, turning a relatively steady day into a rout that pushed the Dow Jones industrials below 9,000 — to 8,579.19 — for the first time in five years.
2008--Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio of France won the Nobel Prize in literature.
2009--Pres. Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
2010--Chile's 33 trapped miners cheered and embraced each other as a drill punched into their underground chamber where they had been stuck for an agonizing 66 days.
2012--former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison following his July conviction on 45 counts of sexual abuse of boys.

World News Capsules:

1. Pres. Obama expected to reduce military aid to Egypt
....The anticipated move will hold up weapons, but not counterterrorism aid, in the wake of a deadly military crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
a. Court in Egypt sets trial date for ex-President Morsi
....The trial of Egypt's ousted Pres. Mohammed Morsi will begin on Nov. 4, launching a politically charged prosecution of the country's first democratically elected leader on charges he incited the killing of opponents while in office — and taking the crackdown against the Islamist leader and his Muslim Brotherhood to a new level.
2. European Union official calls for more surveillance of migrant routes

....A European Union commissioner said more patrols would help prevent disasters like the sinking of a boat near Sicily last week that killed hundreds of African migrants.
a. European lawmakers tighten rules on fracking
....European Parliament lawmakers voted to force companies to carry out environmental studies before the technique for extracting natural gas is deployed.
3. Indian workers strike over plan to split state
....Thousands of government workers shut off electricity and cellphone service to a large section of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh over a plan to divide the state in two.
a. India increases effort to harness biomass energy
....The prime minister of India has called for a doubling of the alternative energy supply by 2017, and some see a big opportunity in using the country’s abundance of agricultural waste as fuel.
4. US officials say Libya approved commando raids

....Libyan officials denounced the operation to capture a senior Qaeda militant, but American officials say the raid, and another to seize a suspect in the 2011 attack on a diplomatic mission, had Libya's tacit approval.
a. Lawyer sought for terror suspect held on US Navy ship
....The chief federal public defender in Manhattan asked that his office be appointed to represent the suspect, Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, who had been captured in Libya.
5. Taliban and Pakistan argue over fate of Islamist detainee
....Pakistan insists it freed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a founder of the Taliban, last month, but the group says he remains in jail and wants him released.
a. Former dictator Musharraf granted bail, free to leave Pakistan
....Pakistan’s former military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, could leave the country as soon as Thursday after a decision by a court paving the way for his release.
b. Karzai lashes out at the US for its role and rocus in Afghanistan
....Pres. Hamid Karzai’s comments came as talks on the long-term American security presence have reached an impasse
6. 'Imperfect intelligence' said to hinder US raid on militant in Somalia
....The Navy SEALs who approached the Somali coast in pursuit of a militant seen as a pivotal connection for extremists encountered more civilians than they expected, American officials said.
7. Sweden: For Nobel, they can thank the 'god particle'
....François Englert of Belgium and Peter W. Higgs of Britain were honored for suggesting that an invisible ocean of energy is responsible for the mass and diversity of the universe.
8. Watchdog says Syria has been 'cooperative' on weapons
....The head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said a team of 15 inspectors had begun to visit weapons sites in the country. Now, the second team will expand on the work undertaken by an initial team.
9. Turkish court upholds convictions of coup plotters
....Senior military officers were among the leading defendants in a case that highlights the power struggle between the pro-Islamic government and the military.
a. Turkey lifts longtime ban on head scarves in state offices
....The change, which went into effect immediately, was introduced as part of a series of measures aimed at bolstering democratic standards.
10. Envoys near deal to free ex-premier of Ukraine
....Under the agreement, Yulia V. Tymoshenko would be pardoned by her rival, Pres. Viktor F. Yanukovich, in exchange for a commitment from her to leave the country.

US News Capsules:
1. With new abortion restrictions, Ohio walks fine line

....Ohio has become a laboratory for a political strategy designed to discourage women from getting abortions and hamper clinic operations, without flagrantly violating Supreme Court precedent.
2. Boston school-bus drivers return to work amid uncertainty
.... A day after they left thousands of Boston schoolchildren stranded, drivers were back, but schools warned parents to be ready with contingency plans in case of another walkout.
3. 8 lawmakers arrested at immigration protest

....The representatives, all Democrats, and more than 150 other protesters were arrested as thousands gathered on the National Mall to urge Congress to pass a broad immigration overhaul this year.
4. the US Supreme Court again weighs spending limits in campaigns
....The justices’ questions suggest some favor striking down overall limits for individual contributions to federal candidates and political party committees.
5. US issues warning on salmonella believed to be linked to a poultry farm
....The Agriculture Department says a strain of salmonella in Foster Farms poultry may have caused 278 people to become ill, mostly on the West Coast.
6. $10 million gift to help Head Start through shutdown
....John and Laura Arnold of Houston donated the money for education programs in six states: Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi.
7. Starbucks aims to move beyond beans
....With recent acquisitions, the chain is expanding its offerings in an attempt to broaden its appeal beyond coffee drinks.
8. ART: These donors will take anything but Manhattan
....Patrons like Shelley and Donald Rubin often go outside the Manhattan art world to make donations that help smaller institutions survive.
9. MUSIC: The Met's commissioning program is starting to bear operas
....After seven years, an initiative to develop fresh works is sending new productions to the Metropolitan Opera stage.
POLITICS:
1. Obama to pick Yellen as leader of Fed, officials say

Ms. Yellen, the Federal Reserve's No. 2 official, would become the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve, and the first Democrat to get the job since 1987. Janet Yellen has backed aggressive steps to promote employment but shown only limited willingness to tolerate higher inflation.
2. US warned by Japanese over perils of a default
....Japan, a major holder of US Treasury bonds, urged Washington to end a budget standoff and reach a deal on raising its debt ceiling to avoid a default.
3. Uninsured find more success via health exchanges run by states
....The experience is in stark contrast to reports of widespread technical problems that have hampered enrollment in the online marketplace run by the federal government.
4.The Fiscal Crisis
a. In shutdown, clinical trial enrollment slows but doesn't halt
....The federal government is still enrolling some critically ill people in clinical trials, but the pace has slowed dramatically and many sick people will have to wait for treatment.
b. Republicans use shutdown to stake positions for 2016 bids
....Republicans’ actions as the crisis drags on offer an early glimpse of the contours of the 2016 primary.
d. Many in GOP offer theory: default wouldn't be
....Leaders in both parties are counting on the prospect of an economic meltdown to pull Republicans into line, but a surprisingly broad section of the party says a default poses little threat.
e. Complacency on Wall Street could be worse than a panic
....Market participants don’t think that the government will default on its debts, but the ideological fissures in Washington are deeper than investors grasp.
f. Shutdown's effects begin to ripple through small businesses
....Owners whose companies depend on a guaranteed loan, regulatory approval, or a national park’s operation express worry.
g. Deal struck on military death benefits

....The Pentagon is entering into an agreement with the Fisher House Foundation, a private foundation to ensure families of fallen troops are paid survivor benefits that were suspended because of the government shutdown, the U.S. Secretary of Defense said.

Thought for Today
"There is nothing harder than the softness of indifference."
--Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987) American author, playwright (The Women) and diplomat
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[pegasus]

World Rainforest Week
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Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 283rd day of 2013 with 82 days left in the year.

Today in History:

19--Germanicus, the best loved of Roman princes, died of poisoning after accused Piso, the governor of Syria, of doing the act
732--at the Battle of Tours near Poitiers, France, Frankish leader Charles Martel, a Christian, defeated a large army of Spanish Moors, halting the Muslim advance into Western Europe.
1733--France declared war on Austria over the question of the succession to the Polish throne.
1775--Gen. William Howe was named the interim commander in chief of the British army in America, replacing Lt Gen. Thomas Gage.
1780--a powerful storm hit the West Indies, killing more than 20,000 people, the deadliest storm ever recorded.
1789--in Versailles, France, Joseph Guillotin said the most humane way of carrying out a death sentence was decapitation by a single blow of a blade..
1845--the US Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Md.
1846--Neptune's moon Triton was discovered by William Lassell .
1862--Confederate Gen. John Bankhead Magruder was sent to Texas and given command of the Trans-Mississippi Department.
1865--John Wesley Hyatt patented the billiard ball
1877--Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer was buried at West Point, NY.
1886--the tuxedo dinner jacket made its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, NY.
1911--revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen overthrew China's Manchu dynasty.
1916--Italian forces began the 8th Battle of the Isonzo on Austrian positions near the river to increase gains made during previous battles in the same region.
1935--George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, featuring an all-black cast, opened on Broadway.
1943--Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China.
1944--800 Gypsy children, including more than a hundred boys between 9 and 14 years old are systematically gassed to death at Auschwitz..
1951--Pres. Truman signed the Mutual Security Act that promised to provide military aid to "free peoples."
1957--Pres. Eisenhower offered his apologies to Ghanian Finance Minister, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, who had been refused service at a restaurant in Dover, Del.
1964--the 18th Summer Olympic Games opened in Tokyo.
1965--In their first major operation, the US 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) with South Vietnamese Marines struck at 2,000 North Vietnamese troops in the Central Highlands.
1966--The Beach Boys released the single "Good Vibrations."
1970--the Quebec Liberation Front (FLQ), a militant separatist group, kidnaped Quebec labor minister Pierre Laporte in Montreal, demanding the release of two dozen FLQ members convicted of various criminal charges.
1970--Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule.
1973--Vice President Spiro T. Agnew pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion and resigned his office.
1979--Hockey Hall-of-Famer Wayne Gretzky made his NHL debut with the Edmonton Oilers.
1985--US fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody.
1991--former US postal worker Joseph Harris shot two former co-workers to death at the post office in Ridgewood, NJ, after killing his supervisor Carol Ott, with a three-foot samurai sword, and shot her fiance, Cornelius Kasten, in their home. His violent outburst was one of several high-profile attacks that resulted in the phrase "going postal" becoming part of the American lexicon.
2002--the US House of Representatives voted 296-133 to give Pres. Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraq. (The Senate followed suit the next day.)
2004-- the actor Christopher Reeve, famous for his starring role in four Superman films and paralyzed in a 1994 horse-riding accident,, died from heart failure at the age of 52 at a hospital near his NY home.
2005--Angela Merkel became Germany's first female chancellor and its first leader from the former Communist east.
2008--Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled that gay couples have the right to marry.


World News Capsules:

1. By 2047, coldest years may be warmer than hottest in past, scientists say

....A new paper based on top climate models says that by about 2047, average temperatures across the globe will be higher than any highs recorded previously, with tropics hit earlier.
a. Study finds setbacks for carbon capture projects
....The number of large projects to capture and bury carbon dioxide has fallen, a report says, even though scientists say such projects are needed to fight climate change.
2. Conflicting reports on fairness of Azerbaijan election
....A delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said it had documented widespread irregularities in Wednesday’s vote, but other observers disagreed.
3. u]Canada's Alice Munro, 'master' of contemporary short stories, wins Nobel Prize in literature[/u]

....Ms. Munro, 82, the first Canadian Nobel Prize-winning author, was honored for work that explores the relationships between men and women, small-town existence and the fallibility of memory. The prize committee compared the 82-year-old author to Anton Chekhov, the 19th century Russian who is considered one of the greatest short story writers in history.
4. UN backs peace effort in Central African Republic
....The Security Council approved a resolution that promised support for a multinational African Union force and raised the possibility of a UN peacekeeping mission.
5. As drilling practice takes off in US, Europe proves reluctant
....The temptation to follow the US in extracting shale gas from rock presents Europeans with contentious trade-offs
6. Sinking of migrant boat off Italy complicates German politics
....In the search for a new German government, key figures in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party demanded change in European policies toward asylum seekers.
7. Europe pledges aid to Italy for refugees
....The European Union’s top official visited an Italian island where a boat capsized last week and announced that Italy would receive $40.5 million, to deal with refugees.
8. Extremist group gains foothold among Kenyans
....Among disaffected and neglected Muslims in Kenya, the Shabab are finding a source of fund-raising and recruits.
9. Gunmen seize, free Libyan P.M.

....Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan appealed for calm Thursday in his first public comments since he was freed after being abducted by militia gunmen for several hours.
10. Myanmar, once shunned, accepts Asian leader post
....At the close of the East Asia Summit, Myanmar’s president, Thein Sein, formally assumed responsibility for hosting the meeting a year from now.
11. North Korean leader tightens grip with removal of top general
....Kim Jong-un engineered recent reshuffles to retire or sideline old generals and promote a new set of aides more loyal to him.
12. Norway says citizen may have been involved in Kenya mall siege
....Police are investigating whether a Norwegian citizen of Somali origin helped the Shabab militant group in planning and executing the deadly attack.
13. Pakistan rearrests ex-Pres. Musharraf over Red Mosque deaths
....The move came after former President Pervez Musharraf had been granted bail in three other cases and his lawyer said he was cleared to leave the country.
a. Pakistani student wins top European human rights award

....Malala Yousafzai, 16, the Pakistani schoolgirl who survived a Taliban assassination attempt a year ago, was chosen as the winner of the $65,000 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
14. Cutbacks in UN food assistance set off outcry in Gaza
....The UN Relief and Works Agency pointed to a $55 million budget shortfall and said the cuts were based on a re-evaluation of Gaza’s needs.

US News Capsules:
1. California expands availability of abortions
....Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill allowing nurse practitioners, midwives and physician assistants to perform aspiration abortions during the first trimester.
2. American cities report stronger finances, but continued threats
....Cities’ fiscal conditions are improving, aided by higher tax revenue, according to an annual study, but there are also sources of worry.
a. Real estate boom in Phoenix brings its own problems
....The housing rebound has come faster in Phoenix than elsewhere, but starter homes are scarce, and prospective buyers are having a hard time finding a place to live.
3. 2 ex-Navy football players face court-martial in rape case

....The men are accused in an assault on a female midshipman, a case stemming from an off-campus party in 2012.
4. R.I.P. Scott Carpenter, Mercury astronaut who orbited the eart, dies at 88

....Carpenter was one of the Mercury Seven astronauts chosen by NASA. He was a backup pilot for John Glenn in the preparation for America's first manned orbital space flight in February 1962.Carpenter flew the second American manned orbital flight in May of that year. Flight time was four hours and 54 minutes.
POLITICS:
1. Business groups see loss of sway over House GOP
....Washington's traditionally cautious and pragmatic business lobby could slip into open warfare with the Tea Party faction, which has grown in influence since the 2010 election.
FISCAL CRISIS:
1. GOP to offer short-term debt limit plan to Obama

....House Republicans are coalescing around a plan that would increase the debt limit through Nov. 22 in exchange for talks with Pres. Obama on a broader deal, but it would not reopen the government.
2. Tracing the calendar down to the last cent
....Officials in Washington and traders on Wall Street are looking to Nov. 1st, when more than $55 billion in federal payments come due.
3. Death benefits for soldiers to continue
....The temporary withholding of death benefits — including burial costs — for families of soldiers recently killed in action threatened to become a public-relations debacle.
4. Standoff on debt has yet to rattle Asia
....Although trillions of dollars in investments in US Treasury securities are at stake, hand-wringing is only just now starting.

Thought for Today
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
--Aristotle (384 BC-322 BC) ancient Greek philosopher
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[pegasus]

Native American Day

Good afternoon from Tuxy and me

This is the 287th day of 2013 with 78 days left in the year.

Today in History:

1066--the Normans under William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, defeated the English under King Harold at the Battle of Hastings.
1322--Robert the Bruce of Scotland heavily defeated King Edward II of England at Byland, north of York, ro establish the independence of Scotland.
1586--Mary, exiled-Queen of Scots, went on trial in England, accused of committing treason against Queen Elizabeth I.
1644--William Penn, English Quaker and advocate for religious liberty; founded American colony of Pennsylvania; died 1719 at age 73.
1705--the English navy captured Barcelona in the War of the Spanish Succession.
1806--Napoleon defeated the Prussians and Saxons at the battles of Jena and Auerstadt in Saxony.
1809--the Treaty of Vienna was signed with Austria ceding Trieste and Illyria to France, Galicia to Poland and Russia and Inn District to Bavaria.
1882--Eamon de Valera, Irish politician and patriot; prime minister (1932-48; 1951-4; 1957-9) and president (1959-73); died 1975 at age 92
1890--Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas; died 1969 at age 78.
1908--the E.M. Forster novel A Room With a View was first published by Edward Arnold of London.
1912--former Pres. Theodore Roosevelt, campaigning for the White House as the Progressive candidate, was shot in the chest in Milwaukee, Wis. by New York saloonkeeper John Schrank.
1933--Nazi Germany announced it was withdrawing from the League of Nations.
1939--a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the HMS Royal Oak, a British battleship anchored at Scapa Flow in Scotland's Orkney Islands; 833 of the more than 1,200 men aboard were killed.
1944--German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.
1947--Air Force test pilot Charles E. Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier when he flew the experimental Bell X-1 rocket plane over Edwards Air Force Base in California.
1960--Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy suggested formation of a Peace Corps during a talk at the University of Michigan.
1961--the Frank Loesser musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, starring Robert Morse, opened on Broadway.
1964--civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. who advocated non-violent protests, was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1968--the first live telecast from a manned U.S. spacecraft was transmitted from Apollo 7.
1977--Oscar-winning actor-singer Bing Crosby died at age 73 outside Madrid, Spain while playing golf .
1979--hockey Hall-of-Famer Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers scored the first of his record 894 goals in a home game against the Vancouver Cancucks.
1986--Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate Elie Wiesel was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
1987--a 58-hour drama began in Midland, Texas, as 18-month-old Jessica McClure slid 22 feet down an abandoned well at a private day care center.
1990--composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein died at age 72.
1991--Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
2003-- John Allen Muhammad pleaded not guilty to murder as the first trial in the deadly Washington-area sniper rampage got under way in Virginia Beach, Va.
2003--the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israel for building a barrier that cut into the West Bank.
2006--the UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose punishing sanctions on North Korea for carrying out a nuclear test.
2008--big banks started falling in line behind a revised bailout plan that was fast becoming more of a buy-in with the Bush administration pledged to fork over as much as $250 billion in exchange for partial ownership.
2008--Canada's Conservative Party won in national elections but fell short of a parliamentary majority.
2012--daredevil skydiver Felix Baumgartner became the first man to shatter the sound barrier without traveling in a jet or a spacecraft, jumping from a balloon 24 miles above the New Mexico desert.

World News Capsules:

France to send more troops into the Central African Republic
....The Central African Republic has descended into chaos since rebels ousted Pre. François Bozizé in March, the latest coup in a country that remains one of the world’s poorest

American held in Egypt killed himself, officials say
....James Lunn had been detained for more than six weeks after his arrest in the Sinai Peninsula in a security sweep in August.

In India's politics, jail time is a badge of honor
....A growing, urbanized middle class wants to drive from the system hundreds of tainted politicians who are seen as heroes among tribal voters.
a. Quick evacuation efforts help India minimize deaths from cyclone

....Reports after a powerful storm struck the country's eastern coast showed the success of an operation that moved more than 800,000 people to safety.
b. Scores of pilgrims die in stampede on bridge in India

....At least 109 people died after thousands of pilgrims crossing a bridge to a temple in Madhya Pradesh State panicked because they believed the bridge was about to collapse, officials said.

Iran to offer proposal and speak of peaceful aims at nuclear talks in Geneva

....Iranian nuclear negotiators said that they would give assurances on Tuesday in Geneva that Iran was not trying to assemble atomic weapons.

To ousted boss, arms watchdog was seen as an obstacle in Iraq
....A former head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said he was ousted more than a decade ago because of pressure from the Bush administration over inspections in Iraq.

In Syria, motorists press on, yielding for war

....Driving in Syria reveals the sometimes surreal experience of Syrians’ trying to move themselves and their goods around a country that has become a patchwork of rebellion and control.
a. Syrian combatants urged to let inspectors visit chemical sites
....The head of the global chemical weapons watchdog said it had reached 5 of 20 sites but had “access problems” at others because of the civil war.
b. In rare cease fire, hundreds evacuate rebel-held Syrian town
....Hundreds of civilians were allowed to leave Moadhamiyeh, outside Damascus, but aid workers said they were still unable to enter the besieged town, where six people have reportedly died of malnutrition.

US News Capsules:
1. World leaders press the US on fiscal crisis
....The fiscal problems of the US dominated meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Washington this weekend.
2. Pulling aid away, shutdown deepens Indians' distress

....Tribes that depend on the government for revenue have furloughed workers and halted programs, adding to their economic hardship.
3. Patients mired in costly credit from doctors
....Some doctors and dentists offer older patients a way to pay for costly procedures not covered by Medicare, but the plans' high interest rates can strain the finances of people on fixed incomes.
4. Privacy fears grow as cities increase surveillance
....A program in Oakland, Calif., is one of the latest and most contentious examples of cities using big data technology, and federal dollars, for routine law enforcement.
5. Bankruptcy for ailing Detroit, but prosperity for its teams
....As Detroit furloughs municipal workers and struggles to provide basic services, the city's professional sport teams operate in a vastly different economic world.
6. After downtown fire, a historic South Carolina city ponders its next steps
....John Witzl Walters, a painter who lost his studio and home, is among those who may stick around for yet another rebirth in Georgetown, S.C.
7. An Alabama synagogue, once struggling for congregants, stretches out its hand
....A Jewish businessman’s $1 million gift to help Jews relocate to a corner of the Deep South could become a blueprint for other small-town Jewish congregations trying to stay alive.
8. All-Qaida operative Al Libi taken to New York week after capture
....The US has brought Abu Anas al Libi, whom U.S. Army Delta Force soldiers captured in Libya this month, to law enforcement custody the office of Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said.
9. Man survives 19 days in the woods

....When Gene Penaflor, 72, came to, he didn't know how long he'd been unconscious, but he knew he had to figure out how to survive. For almost three weeks, he subsisted on a diet of lizards, frogs and squirrels.
10. Nobel Prize for economics awarded to 3 Americans

....Yale University professor Robert Shiller, famous for his warnings of the housing and Internet bubbles, is one of three Americans who were awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. The Nobel committee recognized Shiller and University of Chicago professors Eugene Fama and Lars Peter Hansen for their work on the pricing of financial assets.
POLITICS:
1. Spending dispute leaves a Senate deal elusive

....An impasse over the spending level for a stopgap measure to reopen the government was a stumbling block as Senators Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell spoke cordially but fruitlessly by phone. "I'm very optimistic that we will reach an agreement that's reasonable in nature this week to reopen the government, pay the nation's bills, and begin long-term negotiation to put our country on sound fiscal footing," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday
2. Statue of Liberty reopens on New York state's dime as other sites stay closed

....Under a deal negotiated by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, New York will pay the National Park Service $61,600 per day to keep the Statue of Liberty open during the federal government shutdown.

Thought for Today
"Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are."
--Felix Baumgartner, skydiver after becoming the first man to shatter the sound barrier without using a jet or a spacecraft.

Happy Thanksgiving to all Canadians!!

[pegasus]

Freedom From Bullies Week

Good evening from Tuxy and me

This is the 291st day of 2013 with 74 days left in the year.

Today in History:

1685--King Louis XIV of France revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had established the legal toleration the Protestant Huguenots.
1812--in the War of 1812, the British ship HMS Frolic was captured off the Virginia coast by the crew of the USS Wasp, which was in turn captured by the HMS Poitiers.
1867--the US took possession of Alaska from Russia.
1892--the first long distance telephone line between Chicago and New York was opened.
1922--the British Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (later the British Broadcasting Corp. of BBC) was founded.
1931--inventor Thomas Alva Edison died in West Orange, NJ, at age 84.
1944--Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia in World War II.
1961--the movie musical West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer, premiered in New York City..
1962--James D. Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins were honored with the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology for determining the double-helix molecular structure of DNA.
1968--the US Olympic Committee suspended two black sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for giving a "black power" salute as a protest during a victory ceremony in Mexico City.
1969--the federal government banned artificial sweeteners known as cyclamates because of evidence they caused cancer in laboratory rats.
1972--the US Congress passed the Clean Water Act, overriding Pres. Nixon's veto.
1977--West German commandos stormed a hijacked Lufthansa jetliner on the ground in Mogadishu, Somalia, freeing all 86 hostages and killing three of the four hijackers.
1982--former first lady Bess Truman died at age 97 in Independence, Mo.
2001--four followers of Osama bin Laden were convicted in New York for the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa.
2003--Pope John Paul II celebrated a Mass at the Vatican marking the 20th anniversary of his election to the papacy.
2007--former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan, ending eight years of self-imposed exile.
2008--Pres. Bush announced that he would host an international summit in response to the global financial crisis.
2012--the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled that a federal law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman was unconstitutional.

World News Capsules:
Suicide bombers attack international convoy in Kabul
....The blast, near a compound housing foreigners, killed two people and injured at least four, but a subsequent attack did not breach compound security.

US prepares to train African forces to fight terror
....The program is drawing on troops from a brigade in the Army’s First Infantry Division to conduct more than 100 missions in Africa over the next year.

Australia bush fires claim their first victim

....Bush fires blazing in Australia's New South Wales claimed their first victim Friday after a man died of a suspected heart attack defending his home against the blaze on the NSW Central Coast.

China hits at effort to export cars to West
....Western executives say Chinese automakers are starting to ask them to supply parts that meet American and European regulatory standards by 2016.

Dominican court's ruling on citizenship stirs emotions in New York
....Protesters denounced a recent court ruling in the Dominican Republic that annulled the citizenship of anyone born in the country to noncitizens after 1929, which mostly applied to people of Haitian descent.

Europe moves to shield citizens' data
....Lawmakers have introduced a measure that could require American companies to seek European clearance before complying with United States data warrants.

German parties to begin talks to revive coalition
....Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc and the Social Democrats to open formal negotiations next week on reviving the “grand coalition” after a breakthrough on the issue of minimum wage.
a. Posters lost to Nazis are recovered, and up for sale
....Premier poster collections that were forfeited when the Nazis came to power in Germany and Austria are gradually going on the block after being returned to the owners’ families.

Hopeful city, buoyed by campaign vows, waits for change in Iran

....Pres. Hassan Rouhani has stoked hopes for liberalization and economic relief, but people in Tehran have seen little of that yet.
a. White House weighs easing Iran sanctions' bite with slow release of assets
....The US could free up frozen Iranian assets in installments as a reward for taking steps to curb its nuclear program.

Norwegian may have been involved in Kenya's Westgate mall attack

....Investigators are questioning the family and friends of Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, a Norwegian citizen born in Somalia, whose sister said he began taking “long vacations” there in 2009.

Snowden says he took no secret files to Russia

....In an interview, Edward J. Snowden responded to accusations by critics, provided insights into why he disclosed secret documents and talked about the debate over surveillance.

Saudi Arabia rejects Security Council seat

....The unprecedented decision, apparently made overnight by the country’s ruling monarchy, assailed what it called double standards at the United Nations.

Syrian official says peace talks could be held late November
....The announcement from a deputy prime minister raised speculation about who would attend and who would represent the fractured opposition.

Turkey's Erdogan, Syrian rebels' leading ally, hesitates
....Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long backed the Syrian rebels. But Turkey shelled rebel positions this week, signaling concern about the dominance of radical Islamist groups.
a. Report that Turkey exposed spies strains its relations with Israel
....Turkey’s foreign minister denied claims by an opinion column in The Washington Post that his country had revealed the identities of up to 10 Iranians who had spied for Israel.

US News Capsules:
1. More American Jewish students take up study of the Arab world
....These students say their interest grew because of their heritage and that they are drawn to act as bridges between cultures — explaining the Arab world to Americans, and America (and sometimes Jews) to Arabs.
2. In North Dakota, new concerns over mixing oil and wheat

....A proposed landfill for oil drilling waste has farmers worried that a state long known for agriculture is putting the energy industry's needs ahead of theirs.
3. Former Pentagon official to be chosen as Homeland Security chief
....If confirmed by the Senate, Jeh C. Johnson, a former general counsel for the Defense Department, will fill the vacancy left by Janet Napolitano, who resigned in July.
4. Court rules on 'Stand Your Ground' costs
....A defendant who successfully uses a self-defense claim is entitled to reimbursement for lost wages and other costs, as well as legal fees, a court ruled.
5. Police hunt for mistakenly freed murderers

....State and federal police fanned out across Florida in search of two murderers who walked out of prison after documents bearing forged signatures resulted in their release, authorities said.
6. Belgian brewery buys US maker of craft beers
....As global brewers take interest in American craft beers, Duvel Moortgat of Belgium has acquired the Boulevard Brewing Company, the United States’ 12th-largest craft brewer.
POLITICS:
1. Two parties start work to avoid repeat crisis
....The need for a bipartisan breakthrough, even a modest one, was amplified by the economic costs wrought by the 16-day shutdown and near-default on government obligations.
a. From the right, despair, anger and disillusion
....For glum and frustrated conservatives, the end of the government shutdown was as much a surrender to reality as to Democratic demands.
b. Government gets back to business, but effects of the shutdown linger

....Hundreds of thousands of employees streamed back to work after Pres. Obama and Congress ended the shutdown, paving the way for another series of budget talks in the weeks ahead.
2. Obama's edge over GOP is still unclear after victory in standoff
....Republicans, stung from the outcome of the budget battle, could be more flexible or more determined not to lose again.
3. Lingering confusion in debt ceiling deal's temporary fix
....There’s confusion over the text of the deal that Congress just approved and President Obama signed, but it doesn’t kill the debt ceiling.
4. After pause, resupplying economic data
....Delayed data will trickle out over the month. September’s jobs report will not be released until next Tuesday.
5. Congressional fight over Obamacare turns to website woes

....The deal ending the shutdown may not have put a dent in Obamacare, but the battle over implementing the health coverage law is not over.
6. Spending cuts are hurting the economy

....If you thought this year's cuts to preschoolers, senior meals and medical research were bad, get ready for more. The two-week U.S. government shutdown may have ended and the U.S. didn't default on its debt. But the deal passed by Congress late Wednesday night allows the series of unforgiving budget cuts, also known as sequester, to continue through Jan. 15.

Thought for Today
"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast — you also miss the sense of where you are going and why."
--Eddie Cantor (1892-1964 )American comedian-singer