Paradise Driver

Monday, December 08, 2008

DECEMBER 8TH

Today is Monday, Dec. 8, the 343rd day of 2008.
There are 23 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 8, 1941, the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

On this date:

In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington's retreating army crossed the Delaware River from New Jersey into Pennsylvania.
In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free of original sin from the moment of her own conception.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced his plan for the Reconstruction of the South.
In 1886, the American Federation of Labor was founded in Columbus, Ohio.
In 1949, the Chinese Nationalist government moved from the Chinese mainland to Formosa as the Communists pressed their attacks.
In 1978, former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir died in Jerusalem at age 80.
In 1980, rock star John Lennon was shot to death outside his New York City apartment building by an apparently deranged fan.
In 1982, a man demanding an end to nuclear weapons held the Washington Monument hostage, threatening to blow it up with explosives he claimed were inside a van. After a 10-hour standoff, Norman D. Mayer was shot dead by police; it turned out there were no explosives.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev signed a treaty at the White House calling for destruction of intermediate-range nuclear missiles.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed into U.S. law the North American Free Trade Agreement, which went into effect at the start of 1994.

Ten years ago:

Struggling to stave off impeachment, President Bill Clinton's defenders forcefully pleaded his case before the House Judiciary Committee.
The Supreme Court ruled that police cannot search people and their cars after merely ticketing them for routine traffic violations.
San Francisco and several suburbs suffered a power blackout; it was more than seven hours before electricity was fully restored.

Five years ago:

President George W. Bush signed a $400 billion Medicare overhaul bill that included a prescription drug plan for seniors.
Congress approved legislation to stem the flood of unwanted junk e-mail known as "spam."
U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow resigned from Congress just after being convicted in the traffic death of a motorcyclist, Randy Scott, in South Dakota.
A Greek anti-terrorism court convicted 15 members of the November 17 cell for their roles in a nearly 30-year killing campaign.

One year ago:

The Justice Department and CIA announced a joint inquiry into the spy agency's destruction of videotapes of interrogations of two suspected terrorists.
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey publicly endorsed Barack Obama for president during appearances in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Skiers, fire-eaters and an ice sculptor joined in worldwide demonstrations to draw attention to global warming.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy.

Today's Birthdays:

Actor-director Maximilian Schell is 78.
Actor David Carradine is 72.
Actor James MacArthur is 71.
Flutist James Galway is 69.
Singer Jerry Butler is 69.
Pop musician Bobby Elliott (The Hollies) is 67.
Actor John Rubinstein is 62.
Rock singer-musician Gregg Allman is 61.
Reggae singer Toots Hibbert (Toots and the Maytals) is 60.
Actress Kim Basinger is 55.
Rock musician Warren Cuccurullo is 52.
Rock musician Phil Collen (Def Leppard) is 51.
Country singer Marty Raybon is 49.
Rock musician Marty Friedman is 46.
Actor Wendell Pierce is 45.
Actress Teri Hatcher is 44.
Rapper Bushwick Bill (The Geto Boys) is 42.
Singer Sinead O'Connor is 42.
Actor Matthew Laborteaux is 42.
Rock musician Ryan Newell (Sister Hazel) is 36.
Actor Dominic Monaghan is 32.
Actor Ian Somerhalder is 30.
Rock singer Ingrid Michaelson is 29.
Rock singer-actress Kate Voegele is 22.
Actress AnnaSophia Robb is 15.

Thought for Today:

"So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private individuals will occasionally kill theirs."
Elbert Hubbard, American author (1856-1915).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-343

"Let's all be careful out there!"

Sunday, December 07, 2008

DECEMBER 7TH

Today is Sunday, Dec. 7, the 342nd day of 2008.
There are 24 days left in the year.

The Day That Will Live In Infamy

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked American and British territories and possessions in the Pacific, including the home base of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

On this date:

In 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1796, electors chose John Adams to be the second president of the United States.
In 1808, electors chose James Madison to be the fourth president of the United States.
In 1836, Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.
In 1946, fire broke out at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta; the blaze killed 119 people, including hotel founder W. Frank Winecoff.
In 1972, America's last moon mission to date was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
In 1982, convicted murderer Charlie Brooks Jr. became the first U.S. prisoner to be executed by injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas.
In 1983, in Madrid, Spain, an Aviaco DC-9 collided on a runway with an Iberia Air Lines Boeing 727 that was accelerating for takeoff, killing all 42 people aboard the DC-9 and 51 aboard the Iberia jet.
In 1987, 43 people were killed after a gunman aboard a Pacific Southwest Airlines jetliner in California apparently opened fire on a fellow passenger, the two pilots and himself, causing the plane to crash.
In 1988, a major earthquake in the Soviet Union devastated northern Armenia; official estimates put the death toll at 25,000.

Ten years ago:

On the eve of historic hearings, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde said there was a "compelling case" for impeaching President Bill Clinton.
Attorney General Janet Reno declined to seek an independent counsel investigation of President Clinton over 1996 campaign financing.

Five years ago:

Allies of President Vladimir Putin won a sweeping victory in Russia's parliamentary elections.
Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth of Britain and its former colonies, which had suspended it for alleged abuses of civil liberties.

One year ago:

Congressional Democrats demanded a full Justice Department investigation into whether the CIA had obstructed justice by destroying videotapes documenting the harsh 2002 interrogations of two alleged terrorists.
Two window washers fell 47 stories from a Manhattan skyscraper when their scaffolding failed; Edgar Moreno was killed, but his brother, Alcides, miraculously survived.
Barry Bonds pleaded not guilty in San Francisco to charges he'd lied to federal investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs.

Today's Birthdays:

Actor Eli Wallach is 93.
Political philosopher Noam Chomsky is 80.
Bluegrass singer Bobby Osborne is 77.
Actress Ellen Burstyn is 76.
Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is 71.
Broadcast journalist Carole Simpson is 68.
Baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Bench is 61.
Country singer Gary Morris is 60.
Singer-songwriter Tom Waits is 59.
Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, is 56.
Actress Priscilla Barnes is 53.
Basketball Hall-of-Famer Larry Bird is 52.
Former "Tonight Show" announcer Edd Hall is 50.
Rock musician Tim Butler (The Psychedelic Furs) is 50.
Actor Jeffrey Wright is 43.
Actor C. Thomas Howell is 42.
Football player Terrell Owens is 35.
Pop singer Nicole Appleton (All Saints) is 33.
Country singer Sunny Sweeney is 32.
Actress Shiri Appleby is 30.
Pop-rock singer Sara Bareilles is 29.
Singer Aaron Carter is 21.

Thought for Today:

"No nation ever had an army large enough to guarantee it against attack in time of peace or insure it victory in time of war."
President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933).

"Let's all be careful out there!"

DAILY CHUCKLE 8-342

"Let's all be careful out there!"

Saturday, December 06, 2008

DECEMBER 6TH

Today is Saturday, Dec. 6, the 341st day of 2008.
There are 25 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 6, 1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed as Vanguard TV3 rose only about four feet off a Cape Canaveral, Fla., launch pad before crashing back down and exploding.

On this date:

In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York.
In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.
In 1907, the worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, W.Va.,
In 1917, some 2,000 people died when an explosives-laden French cargo ship collided with a Norwegian vessel at the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, setting off a blast that devastated the city.
In 1922, the Irish Free State came into being under terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
In 1947, Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Harry S. Truman.
In 1957, AFL-CIO members voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. (The Teamsters were readmitted in 1987, but disaffiliated themselves from the AFL-CIO in 2005.)
In 1973, House minority leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew.
In 1982, 11 soldiers and six civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded at a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.
In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.

Ten years ago:

In Venezuela, former Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez, who'd staged a bloody coup attempt against the government six years earlier, was elected president.
Endeavour's astronauts connected the first two building blocks of the international space station in the shuttle cargo bay.

Five years ago:

A U.S. warplane in pursuit of a "known terrorist" attacked a village in eastern Afghanistan, mistakenly killing nine children.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld met with senior American commanders in Iraq, and was assured that a recent switch to more aggressive anti-insurgency tactics had begun to pay off.
Army became the first team to finish 0-13 in major college history after a 34-6 loss to Navy.
Ireland's Rosanna Davison was crowned Miss World at the southern Chinese tropical resort of Sanya.

One year ago:

CIA Director Michael Hayden revealed the agency had videotaped its interrogations of two terror suspects in 2002 and destroyed the tapes three years later out of fear they would leak to the public and compromise the identities of U.S. questioners.
President George W. Bush announced a plan to freeze interest rates on subprime mortgages held by hundreds of thousands of homeowners.
Republican Mitt Romney said his Mormon faith should neither help nor hinder his quest for the White House and vowed to serve the interests of the nation, not the church, if elected president.

Today's Birthdays: