My Predictions for the Next Four Years

Should Barack Obama fulfill four years as President of the United States, I believe we're going to see some interesting and some very troubling things throughout his Presidency. These are my predictions:

• Republicans will regain control of the Senate in a huge landslide in 2010. The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives will narrow so much (in 2010) as to make it an insignificant majority.
  
• Barack Obama will make several token appointments (or offers of appointments) to Republicans and/or Independents in an attempt to cross party lines (thinking of the 2012 re-election campaign). Most (if not all) of those bi-partisan appointments will resign before the midterm elections.
• Barack Obama will speak about making amendments to the Constitution early in his Presidency. Congress might even concur and support prior to midterms, but the states will not vote to ratify.
• Barack Obama's first budget proposal will include federal funding for stem cell research, federal funding to help unwed mothers pay for abortion procedures, federal funding to schools for sex education programs and contraception programs (he'll describe it as a program intended to reduce teen pregnancy) as well as contraception programs for low income women.
• Obama's tax cut plan for the middle class will be lost among tax increases to fund increased spending and his plan to increase taxes on the wealthy to provide credits to the poor. The middle class will never see a tax cut under an Obama Presidency.
• We will find ourselves in an energy crisis similar to the Carter years, as Obama will refuse to drill offshore, will tax coal companies into near oblivion, and the country's reliance upon foreign oil will become crippling.
• America will return to an Affirmative Action state, with preferential employment for blacks and hispanics mandated and enforced through tax credits and penalties. Whites will begin to become the oppressed class.
• Obama will push legislation providing even more protection to the credit unworthy than the Community Reinvestment Act. This plan will include protection for credit card borrowers, added mortgage protection for struggling homeowners, and socialized medicine. If acted upon before the midterm election, the bill will see several rewrites in both houses of Congress and the final version will include protection from credit card debt, mortgage debt, and medical debt, but will fall short of instituting socialized medicine.
• Early in an Obama administration, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will announce her resignation. With a Democrat controlled Congress, Obama will nominate an extreme liberal to replace her on the bench, and Congress will confirm her nomination (yes, a woman, and likely a black or hispanic woman) quickly. Justice John Paul Stevens will either die or fall seriously ill and be forced to retire from the bench, resulting in a second speedily confirmed Obama liberal to the bench. The repercussions will be felt for decades.
• The now liberal government will attempt to prosecute President Bush and Vice President Cheney for war crimes.
• As more states enact legislation legalizing gay marriage, the Supreme Court will refuse to hear suits to ban it, resulting in gay marriage sweeping the nation on the state level. I would expect to see additional vacancies to the Supreme Court result in more liberal appointments and further Court action to legalize gay marriage on a national level.
• Private schools and home schooling will suffer greatly under the weight of mandated sex education, to include mandated education that homosexuality is normal and okay. Home schoolers will go underground and faith based private schools will be forced to comply or be shut down. Public education will become over-crowded due to the lack of private schools and home schooling issues, resulting in poor education across the country.
• Obama will attempt to fulfill his campaign promise on the Iraq war and will attempt to withdraw troops within 17 months. The progress of redeployment will be halted as terrorist elements will stage a dual attack on American troops in Iraq and on American soil. Obama will be forced to return redeployed troops to the region to restabilize Iraq and the middle east, and will order National Guard units to deploy on American soil in response to the attacks here. Martial Law will be all but officially declared in the new ground zero.
• I do have a prediction about Obama's promise to meet without preconditions with leaders of Iran, North Korea, etc., but I think it prudent to exclude that prediction from this article for now.

I could go on and on, but it will only begin to sound more spectacular. I think we will see much more than we can even imagine at this point in American history. Most importantly, after the Republicans resume some parity (and possibly control) in Congress, we will see a Republican President returned to the White House in 2012. Much of the damage caused by an Obama administration will take several decades to reverse as a liberal Supreme Court will continue to legislate their liberal agenda from the bench.

It will be at least a generation before we see one party control of the Executive and Legislative branches again.

God Bless America (please). We are going to need it!

Don't believe me? Bookmark this page and check my accuracy over the next four years.

Your comments?

Joe

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My Thoughts on Saddleback and Why Obama Isn't Ready To Lead

Watching CNN's webcast of Senators McCain and Obama during the Saddleback Civil Forum, and a subsequent volley on Twitter with an inflamed Obama supporter, made me start thinking about what's really at stake in this Presidential election cycle. What really matters, and what is just hot air? I have been asked by some to elaborate on my thinking, and I will also share with you that Twitter volley I mentioned. This is likely to amuse some and enrage others, but I hope it will make just a few people give some serious thought to the issues that lie beneath the rhetoric.

Let me start by clearly explaining my position. I am a Christian Conservative, registered as a Republican. I do not vote the party line, and have actually voted for Democrat candidates in the past (not for President, but for other national, state, and local offices). I have always cast my vote for the best candidate, regardless of party affiliation. I believe firmly in the sanctity of human life and the institution of marriage (though I don't believe they should carry the weight that they do in deciding how to cast our vote in November). I believe that we pay too much for gasoline (regardless of what they pay elsewhere in the world) and that we pay too much in taxes. I believe that our political election process is the best in the country, but still far from perfect and in need of an overhaul. I believe that families should have the right to educate their children in whatever way they choose, so long as they meet a standard of education (which, unfortunately, dictates some form of testing for verification purposes). I do not believe that the constitution says anything about the separation of church and state (in fact, it dictates only that there will be no establishment of a national religion) and that if money is allowed to play such a major role in politics, so then should religion be allowed to assert it's influence. Our nation was established on Christian principles, and if we lose touch with those principles, we are no longer the nation that we once were. I believe that, as the longest enduring democracy in the world, we have a duty to foster freedom throughout the world. I don't believe we should do so by force, unless force is required to free a nation's people from an oppressive dictator who denies them of their freedoms and other basic rights. I believe that we must finish what we start, and that living with the freedoms that our nation provides requires from each of us a price to be paid in defense of that freedom.

All of that being said, I will now elaborate.

I am firmly pro-life. I believe that life begins the instant that fertilization occurs. At that point, it is not up to us to determine whether a person should be given a chance to live or not. At Saddleback, Senator Obama spoke of the need to find a way to reduce unwanted pregnancies. He spoke of this as if it is more important than protecting the live of unwanted babies. I find it very difficult to place a higher value on the lifestyle of someone who has become pregnant by accident than on the value of that life she carries inside her. It is my belief that we can reduce both unwanted pregnancies and abortions by taking responsibility for our actions and not getting pregnant in the first place. It's a simple task, really. Don't commit the act if you aren't prepared to live with all possible consequences, including unwanted pregnancy, and to deal with them in a manner that causes no harm to anyone of any age, including the unborn. There will always be a number of women who become pregnant because they are victimized in one or another. These women are not personally responsible for committing the act that created the unwanted pregnancy, and shouldn't be forced to suffer the consequences. The unborn baby is also not personally responsible for committing the act that created the unwanted pregnancy, and shouldn't be forced to suffer the consequences. Unfortunately, people are victimized in hundreds of ways every day and must suffer the consequences. If you burn down my home, I must suffer the consequences (and so might you, if you are caught). If shot in a drive -by shooting, I must suffer the consequences. If faced with the unwanted pregnancy of a loved one, regardless of how it was created, I must suffer the consequences. That's just a fact of life, and it's something we should learn to live with and quit expecting a quick fix to solve the problem for us. I suggest adoption be considered as an alternative to abortion.

Though being firmly pro-life, I do not believe that abortion should be such a hot topic in choosing our next President. Our system of government prevents the President from taking any personal action that would either make abortion legal or illegal on his own. He must work with the 535 members of Congress to pass such legislation, and frankly, it's never going to happen. Let's face it, as long as our political system is based upon constantly running for the next election, we're never going to see 536 people agree on such a hot topic as abortion. Granted, the President can nominate his pro-life or pro-choice candidates to the Supreme Court, but they, too, must be confirmed by the 100-member Senate before being seated on the bench. Though possible, it is not likely that we would see an all-liberal or all-conservative Supreme Court. And let's be honest, liberals really don't have much to worry about from a Conservative bench. The Conservatives are historically strict constitutionalists and less likely to legislate from the bench than are liberal justices, and therefore less likely to write a sweeping decision outlawing abortion. So while the topic of abortion is of critical importance when selecting our Senators and Representatives, it's nothing but hot air in the Presidential debate.

Which brings me to the topic of marriage. I believe that marriage was established by God (we only created the ceremony and legal documentation) as the union of one man (originally Adam) and one woman (originally Eve), and that we do not have the authority as God's creation to modify this institution. God's first commandment to the first couple was to "be fruitful and multiply." As that is only possible with the involvement of a man and a woman, I do not feel that there is any need for further debate on this topic. Adam and Eve can be fruitful and multiply, Adam and Steve can only multiple with a pen and paper, or calculator, or some other such instrument that does not result in the continuation of the species.

Again, I do not believe that marriage should be such a hot topic in choosing our next President, and again for the same reasons as I stated earlier on abortion. Should a rogue Judicial Branch decide that same-gender marriage should be legal, we as a nation have the tools at our disposal to rise up and take action. The legislative process provides for us to petition each other for the passing of a law to eliminate the legalization of same-gender marriage. Our 535 representatives -- whom we can choose or unchoose with our votes -- can pass such legislation to overturn any such Supreme Court decision. Utopia, right? Maybe, but I believe that if we focus our efforts on what really matters and what can best be affected by whom, then maybe it isn't so unrealistic to expect such supposedly utopian results. Marriage is not an issue for the President to be overly concerned with, as he has the least impact of all elected officials on the definition of marriage. This, like abortion, should be a major factor in determining how we vote for the Senate and Congress, not the President.

So where does that leave the President? Can he influence education? Clearly President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act is evidence that he can. Can he affect the price of gasoline? Yes, and more easily so if we allow him to tap our own natural resources and not rely so heavily on foreign oil. Can he reduce (or raise) our taxes? Well, if you're an American reading this, you probably received at least one of President Bush's tax rebates or so-called economic stimulus checks over the past eight years.

Most importantly, the President is (or should be) our chief foreign policy expert. No one can be expected to have more knowledge or more expertise of world affairs than the recognized leader of the free world. And while all of the issues I've discussed so far can have an impact on the way we live our lives from day to day, nothing can have a greater impact on life as we know it than living our lives in fear of invasion, attack, or the downfall of our democracy. No single issue is as important to the furtherance of liberty as foreign policy. We must elect a President who is familiar with world affairs, who knows and has worked with world leaders, who has life experience to suggest that he can make strong, sound judgment calls, and who has the courage to stand upon his convictions and the humility to admit when he is wrong and to amend course as needed. If our President cannot be the leader in world affairs, there is nothing he can do domestically to compensate for the damage he might cause.

As I stated at the beginning of this article, I am a Christian Conservative. I registered to vote as a Republican because the Republican platform most consistently aligns with my values and my beliefs. I am not so closed-minded as to believe everything the Republican party says, however. I vote my values, my beliefs, my convictions. When this Presidential campaign cycle began so many months and so many candidates ago, I was a Fred Thompson supporter. When he dropped from the race, after much consideration and study, I fell in behind Rudy Guiliani (who, by the way, does not share my stance on abortion). When John McCain became the last Republican candidate standing, and the only Democrat choices remaining were Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, I reluctantly threw my support to the candidate who would achieve the greater good on the world front and do the least damage here at home: John McCain (actually, upon researching tonight, I realize that in January 2007, before Guiliani and Thompson were in the race, I had chosen McCain). Now that we are down to two major party candidates (and Bob Barr for the Libertarians), and I have seen those two candidates speak in the unique setting provided at the Saddleback Civil Forum, I no longer stand behind John McCain because he's all that's left. I support him now because I think that going forward, America needs a man like John McCain to preserve all that our founding fathers had in mind some 2000+ years ago.

I share with you now the volley that took place in 140 character snippets on Twitter as I watched the Saddleback forums. The debate was between myself and one petersantilli (his Twitter handle and, presumably, his name). For clarity, I have arranged the "tweets" as a thread, with replies falling in the appropriate place. I have also colored my tweets in Red and his tweets in Blue. Any additional editorializing I've added will appear in black italicized text.

Enjoy.

Watching the Saddleback Civil Forum with Obama and McCain. Wow, this should make the choice clear for anyone! http://is.gd/1Dky

No kidding. The choice is clearly OBAMA!

I don't know what you've been watching to come up with that choice.

Been studying Obama since Dec 2007, didn't change my opinion @ Saddleback

You've been studying, what, nearly his entire career in the Senate then?

Senator Obama has not yet completed his first four-year term in the Senate. Merely pointing out this lack of national experience to petersantilli.

Exactly what people are looking for, less tenure in DC.

In the middle of watching the Saddleback forums, CNN seems to have pulled the video. That's MSM corruption if ever it existed!

MSM conspiracy. Corrupt because they won't let you spin it to your liking

Not looking to spin it in any way. Just looking to watch it, and the video suddenly became unavailable. It's up again now.

But no spin is needed from me. The candidates give it all the spin that it needs.

Got the video going again, but the embed code points to a dead URL. Was going to post it for others to find easily.

Obama's a kind heart. Warm, sincere, thoughtful, and not-so-hot-headed-and-quick-on-the- "AT CONCEPTION"-trigger to get ur Christianity vote

When asked at what point an unborn baby has human rights, Senator McCain replied immediately, "At conception." Senator Obama shuffled and stalled while he came up with the following response: "that's above my pay-grade," suggesting that it is for God to decide. It is, of course, for God to decide, and we must either choose to interpret what God's decision is, or to accept that God's decision is that life begins at conception. Kudos to Senator McCain for having the conviction to take a stance and make a decision on what he believes. It concerns me that a Presidential candidate might be hesitant to make some kind of decision on the topic. This is also the first point at which the Obama supporter engages in attack mode. To suggest that McCain's stance is only given for the purpose of wooing Christian voters, and that Christian voters are so easily swayed into how to vote.

If you knew me at all, you'd know mine is not a "Christianity" vote, just a "Patriotic American" vote.

I'm not a McCain man, so much. But given the current choices, there is no other choice to make.

I don't believe it really matters where POTUS stands on marriage, abortion, etc., regardless what my own views are....

...don't think he can really effect change there. Most importantly is, will he lead us to our downfall....

...by making poor decisions on the world front? Or will he stand up for American principles and democracy?

Meaning: to lead us to the downfall of American society as we have known it for over two centuries by being unable to form a thought, decision, or strategy without first weighing the political ramifications. Like him or not, President Bush has always done what he thought was best, regardless of what the polls might say about him afterward. Senator McCain has had many unpopular positions on the issues, but has always had the courage to stand upon his convictions whether people agree with him or not. I challenge anyone to describe where Senator Obama stands on any issue that is not fully in toe with the party line. When push comes to shove, there may not be time to consider political ramifications before making a decision. Our President has to be able to act swiftly and intelligently, and can only do so based upon experience and upon wanting to do what's right, not just what's right today.

...at whose expense? Standing up for principles & democracies costs $10 billion per month. I really want OURS to be a priority

Establishing our principles and democracy cost our founders their lives. Defend that at any financial cost!

If concerned about our downfall, current trends set by years of GOP war & reck-onomy are not upward towards prosperity

I'm not concerned about financial prosperity. Defending our values has never come cheap, but always been money well spent.

If we allow ourselves to become ruled by money, we are doomed to failure. We cannot fail to achieve our goals because of the price tag. During World War II, the entire country sacrificed for the cause of defeating evil abroad. Food products and petroleum products were rationed. Women went to work in factories while their husbands went to war. Everyone did their part. We once again face a great evil. Regardless of why this war started, or where you think it should be fought, we are at war against an evil force that believes it's God-given purpose is to eliminate us. What have you sacrificed for your country in support of this cause? Why is it that sixty years after World War II we suddenly don't have to sacrifice when our nation is at war?

We'll put all you big spenders on an island off the coast, shoot missiles & yell at Jihaddies. Let us know how that goes

It goes like this: we establish a new great democracy while the one you're so careless about crumbles.

All the money in the world cannot defeat the determination of the passionate defenders of freedom.

Democracy will survive and thrive where liberty is defended. It will fail when we let our guard down and take our sites off the prize.

Well then. Try it out. I think it's worth descovering (sic) if your new island gets attacked, or if we fair better by minding our own

See you in the history books, then. Thanks for the interesting chatter. GOODNIGHT TO ALL.

It is at this point that this debate was over for me. It was midnight here in Indiana, and an early morning ahead. Past experience has taught me that people such as petersantilli will go on forever, sounding less coherent and making less sense, just for the sake of the argument. Read on as he proves my point.

People who say that typically have a sub-prime loan, credit card bills, and let other people balance the war check-book

Shall we blame your stupidity & ignorance on failure of education, Patriot Act, or solely on governmental control of our media?

Again, more attacks and insults. I'll only address the "governmental control of our media" by saying, tune into CNN or MSNBC or CBS or ABC and you'll see that not only does the government not control our media, but if anything the media controls our government. The mainstream media has overlooked so much real news this election cycle in favor of spinning the latest rumor or hearsay in favor of the candidate(s) that they favor that I don't think anyone with a working knowledge of the English language can say that the government controls American media.

A quote for the history books "I'm not concerned about financial prosperity." - Average Joe

It's voters like @AverageJoe that frighten me & my family

Interesting, to say the least. It's sad that some people can't have an informed political debate without resorting to smear tactics, insults, lies, and innuendo. I guess I shouldn't have expected much more given the situation.

Your comments?

Joe

Read more at Redstate.com.

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5,500 more VOLUNTARY Years of American Military Service in Baghdad!

Judging by these people -- the men and women fighting in Iraq -- the war is worth fighting to victory. These 1,215 men and women voluntarily reenlisted into their respective branches of the military for a collective 5,500 years of additional service in the United States military. You can see them here being sworn in yesterday in one of Saddam Hussein's palaces.



Direct video link.

Your comments?

Joe

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Memorial Day

From the Hoosier Patriots Memorial in Indianapolis.

Mobile post sent by averagejoe using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Presidents' Day at the Museum

The three greatest Presidents in American history were all born in the month of February. George Washington, the first President and "Father of our country" was born on February 22, 1732. Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President and "Great Emancipator" was born on February 12, 1809. Ronald Reagan, the 40th President and "Great Communicator" was born on February 6, 1911. Presidents' Day was first recognized in 1880 to honor George Washington's birthday. While is has never been officially declared as a holiday to honor the births of any other Presidents, it is typically seen as a day of honor for both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

To me, the day should be an official opportunity to recognize the three greatest Presidents in American history: Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan.

Tomorrow is Presidents' Day, and we're lucky enough here in Indianapolis to have a Children's Museum that gives free admission on Presidents' Day. We started what can easily become a tradition by taking our kids to the museum on Presidents' Day last year. In addition to several special events scheduled to mark the occasion, my son just loves the Dinosphere! And this year, for the first time, my daughter will actually be able to enjoy the museum rather than spending most of the day in a stroller (she was only nine months old last time).

So, for us, tomorrow is a Personal Day off from work to celebrate the birth of three of the greatest leaders the world has ever known, as well as an opportunity to let our kids have some educational fun at the Children's Museum. If you're in the Indy area and have kids, I encourage you to give it a try. The museum will be open tomorrow from 10 AM to 5 PM Eastern.

Joe

Thankfulness: Freedom

Part three in my short Thanksgiving series about thankfulness.

This time of the year, it can be very easy to become distracted by food, family, shopping, the start of the Christmas season, football: all of the things that we as Americans have come to enjoy, appreciate, and [yes] take for granted. I submit to you: we often fail, at this time of year, to think about the one thing that we, as Americans -- citizens of the greatest nation on Earth -- take for granted more than any other. The one thing without which we would be unable to truly enjoy all of the others.

FREEDOM

We've all been there, we've all done that. We have all, at one time or another, become so caught up in the hectic rush of the holiday season that we forget to be thankful for why we are able to celebrate such things as just being thankful.

We all know the story of the first Thanksgiving. Pilgrims. Indians. Corn. Squanto. You know the story. The whole bountiful harvest thing. Right?

Maybe not.

Did you know that early Thanksgiving celebrations involved not only feasts and festivals, but ships, and massacres? The first Thanksgiving proclamation, issued on December 4, 1619 at Jamestown [Virginia], read as follows:

"Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty god."

It actually had nothing to do with food, or the harvest, or friendship between Pilgrims and Indians. That didn't come until 1621 in Massachusetts. But you didn't come here for a history lesson. You can go to Wikipedia for that.

My point is this: early settlers to America were thankful for their freedom to colonize in the New World; for their safe guidance by ship over mysterious and often unchartered waters; and yes, for bountiful harvests and friendship with the Native Americans of the time.

Tomorrow, when you sit down for your Thanksgiving dinner (which I hope you will have the good fortune to do), for what will you be thankful?

I ask you to remember one thing. It is only for the sake of freedom that you are able to sit down in such a way and enjoy such an incredible feast with loved ones gathered all around you. And freedom does not come without a price. And regardless of what your political leanings might be, or your opinion about the current Presidential administration, or our current activities in the Middle East, please take a moment to remember that the same people who fought and earned the freedom you now deserve; the same people who throughout history have fought to defend the freedom we now so easily take for granted may not be home with their loved ones on Thanksgiving day. Because, as a whole, they are so thankful for their freedom that they are willing to die for it!

You might argue that they aren't currently fighting for your freedom or their freedom, but for some other reason or cause. I have only two things to say to that mindless argument:

1. They were not forced to join the uniformed services, they did voluntarily so because they love their country and what their country stands for so much that they have answered a call to go wherever, whenever, to defend both their country and that cause -- even if that defense might sometimes appear [and rightfully so] to be vengeance.
2. It is inarguable that the people of Iraq under the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein were never free, and any time freedom is threatened anywhere, freedom is threatened everywhere!

So, this Thanksgiving, as on every day of my life, I thank God that I have been blessed to live in the greatest, strongest, free-est country on Earth, and I thank each and every member of our uniformed services throughout history that has served to make and keep that possible.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Joe

National Day of Prayer

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER, 3 MAY 2007

On 6 May 1982, Ronald Reagan offered these words: “Today, prayer is still a powerful force in America, and our faith in God is a mighty source of strength. Our Pledge of Allegiance states that we are ‘one nation under God,’ and our currency bears the motto, ‘In God We Trust.’ The morality and values such faith implies are deeply embedded in our national character. Our country embraces those principles by design, and we abandon them at our peril. Yet in recent years, well-meaning Americans in the name of freedom have taken freedom away. For the sake of religious tolerance, they’ve forbidden religious practice in the classrooms. The law of this land has effectively removed prayer from our classrooms. How can we hope to retain our freedom through the generations if we fail to teach our young that our liberty springs from an abiding faith in our Creator?”

History of the National Day of Prayer

• 1775 The First Continental Congress called for a National Day of Prayer.
• 1863 Abraham Lincoln called for such a day.
• 1952 Congress established NDP as an annual event by a joint resolution, signed into law by President Truman.
• 1988 The law was amended and signed by President Reagan, to be the first Thursday in May.

April Bloody April

You've no doubt heard most of this already in the past week, but you haven't heard it from me. With the tragic events at Virginia Tech that started this week off, and the history of tragedies that seems to plague the month of April, it's enough to make one wonder exactly what it is about the start of spring that brings such disaster to us. Consider these other great tragedies of history:

April 19, 1993: Seventy-nine members of the Branch Davidian religious cult, including twenty-one children, perished in defense of their compound in Waco, Texas. While the compound burned to the ground during a government siege, autopsies later revealed that many of the cult's members, including leader David Koresh, died of single gunshot wounds to the heads.

April 19, 1995: The Alfred P. Murrah federal building was bombed by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, killing at least 168 people.

April 20, 1999: At Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado, twelve students and a teacher were killed during the shooting rampage of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

April 16, 2007: Thirty-two people were killed by Cho Seung-Hui in the worst such massacre in modern history.

Other April tragedies:

• The San Francisco earthquake in 1906
• The sinking of the Titanic in 1912
• The assassinations of both Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King
• The Rodney King riots
• A record number of tornadoes in one day in 1974
• The Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986

And, lest we forget, Adolph Hitler was born 108 years ago today.

So what is it about the month of April? Email me with your thoughts, or call 206-600-4JOE.

Joe

Friday the 13th

It's Friday the 13th again. Are you afraid of Friday the 13th? If so, you may suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia, a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.

But really, there's nothing to be afraid of. Don't believe me? Take the phobia quiz at Infoplease.com. Unless you're one of the 9-10% of Americans who simply dread this day, you'll find it quite interesting.

Because there really is nothing to be afraid of. Right, Jason?

Joe

Presidents Day

On this Presidents Day, don't forget that three great Presidents were born in the month of February:

George Washington: our first President and father of our country, without whom we would likely have become a British protectorate.

Abraham Lincoln: defender of the nation, victor of the Civil War, and the Great Emancipator.

Ronald Reagan: champion of returning patriotism to America, architect of the end of the Cold War, and the Great Communicator.

This is more than just a bank holiday. It's a day to remember great men of the past and hope for great men in the future.

Joe

Remembering The Gipper

A man of simple origins, Reagan always and waveringly did what was right for America. He brought trust, dignity, and humility to the presidency.

..[A]s a nation we must embrace our faith, for as long as we endeavor to do good---and we must believe that will be always---we will find our strength, our hope, and our true happiness in prayer and in the Lord's will." ---Ronald Reagan

"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." ---Ronald Reagan

"And I hope that someday your children and grandchildren will tell of the time that a certain president came to town at the end of a long journey and asked their parents and grandparents to join him in setting America on the course to the new millennium---and that a century of peace, prosperity, opportunity, and hope followed. So, if I could ask you just one last time: Tomorrow, when mountains greet the dawn, would you go out there and win one for the Gipper?" ---Ronald Reagan

"[Today] would have been Ronald Reagan's 96th birthday, which is amazing when you consider he is, in a way, more with us than ever: his memory and meaning summoned in political conversation, his name evoked by candidates. I remember 10 years ago when there was controversy over the movement to name things for him---buildings and airports. I was away from home at the time, and I realized that to talk to people in Washington about it, I'd have to land at JFK, take the FDR Drive and go through the Lincoln tunnel. This is America; we remember our greats. You tell yourself who you are by what you raise a statue to... It's part of why when you next fly to Washington, you'll land at Reagan National Airport." ---Peggy Noonan

"[T]he trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." ---Ronald Reagan

"I believe that everything happens in God's time and His time and our time is not always on the same plane. We wanted my father to get the nomination and win in '76 but God had other plans. Now, looking back, those plans are clear as they were not at the time... If Dad had won in 1976, who would have been in place then to bring about the momentous events in the 80s that saw the Evil Empire destroyed? Think about it, none of the key players in the drama were onstage. In 1976 Mrs. Thatcher was not Britain's prime minister, Karol Wytola was not the pope, Mikhail Gorbachev was not in charge in Moscow and Lech Walesa was an obscure electrician in a Polish shipyard. Anybody familiar with Ronald Reagan's plans for dealing with the Soviets and their domination of Eastern Europe knows that his determination to bring down the Soviet monolith depended on a number of factors, and having the right allies in the right places at the right times eventually proved to be the key to victory. Those factors were not present in 1976... I believe that everybody is here on earth for a purpose. God arranged for them to be where he wanted them to be, when he wanted them to be there---and it wasn't in 1976." ---Michael Reagan

"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, butI don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind swept, God blessed and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here... And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that; after two hundred years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home. We've done our part. And as I walk into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time, we made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad. Not bad at all. And so, good-bye. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America." ---Ronald Reagan

http://PatriotPost.US/

Ronald Reagan's Birthday

It should not go unnoticed that today would have been Ronald Reagan's 96th birthday.

America Attacks Somalian Warlords

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MSNBC Breaking News
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NBC: U.S. airstrikes target suspected Al-Qaeda operations in Somalia

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More from The Guardian:

The US airstrikes which reportedly killed large numbers of people in southern Somalia on Sunday and Monday - whether they are jihadi militants or civilians is not yet known - were the first overt military action Washington has taken in the country since 1994, the year after bloody clashes between UN forces and warlords and the grim Black Hawk Down battle which left 18 US servicemen dead. ...

Pentagon officials said the targets were al-Qaida members who organised the attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Top of the hit list was a Sudanese explosives expert called Abu Taha al-Sudani, thought to be the head of al-Qaida operations in east Africa. ...

While I fully support our military, and the President's leadership of it, I do hesitate for a moment at the wisdom behind taking on another front at this time. We're spread pretty thin between Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention our several other overseas bases, and I would just be concerned that you can only spread an Army so thin before it becomes entirely ineffective.

Joe

Proceed With Caution

Okay, if you really MUST witness the actual death by hanging of Saddam Hussein, here it is. I caution you, this could be VERY disturbing. Please do not view it with children in the room. Joe

Saddam Hussein in the Gallows

The following video of the hanging of Saddam Hussein may contain disturbing images. There is no video of the actual hanging, but it does include video of Saddam being led to the gallows and placed into the noose, as well as images of his body after the execution.

Hussein Executed - Video

Book Review: Spare Parts by Buzz Williams

If you've served in the United States military, especially during a time of combat, then this book doesn't really need much comment for you. The book is Spare Parts, by former United States Marine Corps Reservist Buzz Williams.

Buzz grew up with an older brother he admired. An older brother who stuck up for him on the elementary school playground and protected him from bullies. A brother who enlisted in the Marine Corps and left Buzz wondering when his brother would return. A brother who told Buzz all about the yellow footprints at Parris Island, where boys become men, then men become Marines. A brother who lost touch with Buzz after planting a seed. A brother who killed himself in a senseless car accident and left Buzz alone and confused. A brother whom Buzz might never again connect with if not for that seed -- the calling of the yellow footprints.

Buzz joined the Marine Corps Reserve to be a LAV -- Light Armored Vehicle -- crewman. He wanted to be in the Infantry, but felt the need to be more than just a rifleman. Allured by the posters in the recruiting station, Buzz answered the call to become part of a LAV crew.

In the Marines, as in the rest of the military, every recruit is trained to be one thing first and foremost: a rifleman -- an infantryman, a "grunt" -- a killer. Because in combat, when under attack, it doesn't matter if your an Engineer or Pilot, work in the mess hall or supply room, you have to be able to fight, to defend, to kill -- to survive.

So many of our brave fighting men and women are doing just that today. They have learned the same lesson that Buzz Williams learned -- the lesson that so many Guard and Reserves have learned -- that a soldier is a soldier, a sailor is a sailor, and a Marine is a Marine. No matter what you do from nine to five Monday thru Friday, when your country calls -- when the cause of Liberty and Democracy must be served -- the Guard and Reserve are just as likely to find themselves in a foxhole -- or in this era, the desert -- as the Active Duty Infantry. That's exactly what Buzz learned when his Reserve unit was deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield -- the first Gulf War -- by the first President Bush.

Buzz takes us from enlistment to training, drill to combat, and separation to the return to society. With a no holds barred, no punches pulled narrative, Buzz tells the story like it is -- like only a fighting man could. Like only a Marine could.

From being "digged" by merciless Drill Instructors in Basic Training to the shocking discovery of an Iraqi torture room in an abandoned Kuwaiti home, Buzz holds nothing back. The language. The misery. The fear of a chemical attack on New Years Eve. The heartbreak. The motivation, dedication, and obsession of a fighting man training for war. The uncertainty. The disappointment. The disillusionment with one's leaders. Buzz Williams delivers it all in a colorful narrative that -- but for the lack of deadly shells flying over your head -- will put you in the scene.

This should be required reading for anyone who doesn't understand why today, under the leadership of the second President Bush, our brave fighting men and women risk their lives every day in this second Gulf War. There is a call that must be answered. A call that is heard only by The Few. The proud. The Marines.

Joe
Comment

Having served myself for eight years on Active Duty in the U.S. Army -- though gracefully being spared the horrors of combat -- I would be remiss if I didn't recognize the rest of our fighting men and women: soldiers, sailors, and airmen (and women). For, with the Marines, they serve as a Team, defending our country, serving Liberty, and answering the call. God be with them all.

The Daily Gripe #37 - Camouflage

I'm no military strategist. I'm certainly not qualified to make battle plans or lead troops into battle. I served eight years on Active Duty in the Army. I was lucky enough to get to see other parts of the world at no cost to myself (other than my portion of taxes that covered such things). I was also lucky enough to never be deployed into harms way. I served during Operation Desert Shield/Storm. I served during Operation Just Cause, and numerous other maneuvers. I was lucky enough to be assigned to units that were not deployed in any of these activities.

Lucky, I say, because although I was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for my country, I was never asked to. While I have the utmost respect for those serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world, I am thankful today that I was never asked to go into battle.

But something really gripes me!

Any time you turn on the network news -- CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, MSNBC, CNN -- you see two things. First, you see insurgents on the street, armed and dressed in the common attire of the rest of society. Second, you see United States military members on the same city street, standing next to armored desert-colored "Humvees," wearing full battle dress: desert camouflage; Kevlar helmets; LBE belts heavily laden with ammunition pouches, canteens and other equipment; cravats; combat boots; flak vests; full ruck sacks; etc. What's the problem here? Let me tell you.

During my time in the military, while on training maneuvers, I never found myself even remotely comfortable in full battle dress. That's the first problem. While our troops are loaded down with a hundred pounds of movement-restricting equipment, the enemy looks just like any other man on the street.

Which is the second problem: our troops stick out like sore thumbs while the enemy blends in. If some Saddam-loyalist freak wants to kill an American GI all he has to do is look for the color of desert sand in the middle of town. Boom! And if he hits an Iraqi civilian, who cares? But how does that same GI defend himself? Duck! Because if he retuns fire, at whom does he shoot? If our soldier kills an Iraqi civilian because he can't tell the difference between a civilian and the enemy, he could go on trial for his life. At the very least, that soldier, the American military, President Bush, and the entire cause in Iraq will be dragged through the press and crucified for killing an innocent civilian.

I know we have to outfit our troops with the latest in protective equipment for their safety, but come on! What protection does a person get from wearing a desert camouflaged uniform on the streets of Baghdad? You may as well dress him in a t-shirt and paint a bullseye on his back!

I served during the late eighties and early nineties, more than twenty years after the "end" of the Vietnam War, and we wore jungle fatigues! Why? We haven't fought a war in the jungle since Vietnam, but American GI's stationed here in the U.S. are still issued jungle fatigues!

I'm a supporter of the military, and I voted for President Bush twice, and for his father twice, but I think it's past time to outfit our soldiers with real camouflage. The word camouflage is defined as: the act of concealing the identity of something or someone by modifying its appearance. Tell me, how is it camouflage if we dress our troops in ways that make them unmistakably identifiable as American miltary?

I believe if we ever want to truly win this war and bring our troops home we need to forget about such nonsense as the antiquated and oft-overlooked (by others) Geneva Conventions and adopt a new convention: When In Rome. That's right, if we're going to fight a nonstandard enemy on his own turf, we have to fight like the enemy. We have to look like the enemy, act like the enemy, and fight by the same rules (or lack thereof). As long as we continue to hold ourselves to a standard that no one holds this enemy to, we will be fighting an uphill battle.

Tell me what you think. Email me, or submit your comments using the link below.

Joe

Paraskavedekatriaphobia

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.

It's almost 11:00 pm here in the United States Eastern Time Zone, and it appears that my family and I have made it safely through Friday the 13th. Not that I'm prone to superstition. In fact, I didn't realize it was Friday the 13th today until I started writing this post just a few moments ago.

In preparing to write this entry, I read up a little about the history of para-..... parask-..... parasi-..... the fear of Friday the 13th. There are nearly as many supposed reasons for this irrational fear as there are websites that discuss it. From having religious roots (though the Bible nowhere describes 13 as an unlucky number, and the Friday on which Christ was crucified is called "Good Friday), to ties to Norse mythology, to just about everything else in between, you could probably take your pick at any one of the supposed roots to this ridiculous fear.

The bottom line is, Friday the 13th is just another day on the calendar. There really is nothing to fear about it. Well, I guess there is one logical fear you could have: the fear of yet another Friday the 13th movie sequel.

But if you actually want to have a little fun with this baseless fear that reportedly afflicts from nine to ten percent of the American population, try taking the Phobia Quiz at Infoplease.com. It's quick, and it, too, is meaningless, but I scored ten out of eleven. If you take it, drop me a note and let me know which question you think I answered incorrectly.

Joe

What Else Happened Today?

With Columbus Day and Leif Erikson Day both occurring on this date this year, I did a quick search on Wikipedia to see what else of note occurred on this date.

Events

• 1000 - Leif Ericson lands at Vinland (Newfoundland), becoming the first known European to set foot in Canada. His father, Erik the Red, was previously the first European to set foot in North America when he landed in Greenland in 982.
• 1075 - Dmitar Zvonimir was crowned as king of the Croatia.
• 1238 - James I of Aragon conquered Valencia and founded the Kingdom of Valencia.
• 1446 - The Hangul alphabet is published in Korea.
• 1514 - marriage of Louis XII of France and Mary Tudor
• 1582 - Due to the implementation of the Gregorian calendar October 9 does not exist in 1582 in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1604 - Supernova 1604, the most recent supernova to be observed in the Milky Way.
• 1635 - Founder of Rhode Island Roger Williams is banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident after he spoke out against punishments for religious offenses and giving away Native American land.
• 1701 - The Collegiate School of Connecticut (later renamed Yale University) is chartered in Old Saybrook, Connecticut.
• 1771 - The Dutch merchant ship Vrouw Maria sinks near the coast of Finland.
• 1776 - Father Francisco Palou founds Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California.
• 1799 - Sinking of HMS Lutine with the loss of 240 men and a cargo worth £1,200,000.
• 1812 - War of 1812: In a naval engagement on Lake Erie, American forces capture two British ships; the HMS Detroit and the HMS Caledonia.
• 1820 - Guayaquil declared independence from Spain.
• 1831 - Capo d'Istria was assassinated.
• 1845 - The eminent and controversial Anglican, John Henry Newman, was received into the Roman Catholic Church.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Tom's Brook - Union cavalrymen in the Shenandoah Valley defeat Confederate forces at Tom's Brook, Virginia.
• 1871 - The Great Chicago Fire is brought under control.
• 1874 - General Postal Union was created as a result of the Treaty of Berne.
• 1888 - The Washington Monument officially opens to the general public.
• 1914 - World War I: Siege of Antwerp - Antwerp, Belgium falls to German troops.
• 1919 - Black Sox scandal: The Cincinnati Reds "win" the World Series.
• 1934 - Regicide at Marseille: The assassination of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Louis Barthou, Foreign Minister of France.
• 1936 - Generators at Boulder Dam (later renamed to Hoover Dam) begin to transmit electricity from the Colorado River 266 miles to Los Angeles, California.
• 1940 - World War II: Battle of Britain - During a nighttime air raid by the German Luftwaffe, St. Paul's Cathedral is pierced by a bomb.
• 1942 - Statute of Westminster Adoption Act formalizes Australian autonomy.
• 1957 - Neil H. McElroy was sworn in as the 6th Secretary of Defense of United States.
• 1962 - Uganda becomes a republic.
• 1963 - In northeast Italy, over 2,000 people are killed when a large landslide behind the Vajont Dam causes a giant wave of water to overtop it.
• 1967 - A day after being caught, Che Guevara is executed for attempting to incite a revolution in Bolivia.
• 1969 - In Chicago, the United States National Guard is called in for crowd control as demonstrations continue in connection to the trial of the "Chicago Eight" (trial started on September 24).
• 1970 - The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia.
• 1983 - Rangoon bombing: attempted assassination of South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan during an official visit to Rangoon, Burma. Chun survived but the blast killed 17 of his entourage, including four cabinet ministers, whilst 17 others were injured. Four Burmese officials also died in the blast.
• 1986 - United States District Court Judge Harry E. Claiborne becomes the fifth federal official to be removed from office through impeachment.
• 1986 - The FOX Network begins broadcasting.
• 1989 - An official news agency in the Soviet Union reports the landing of a UFO in Voronezh.
• 1989 - In Leipzig, East Germany, 70,000 protesters demand the legalization of opposition groups and democratic reforms.
• 1991 - Ecuador becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
• 1992 - A 13 kilogram (est.) meteorite lands in the driveway of the Knapp residence in Peekskill, New York, destroying the family's 1980 Chevrolet Malibu.
• 1995 - An Amtrak Sunset Limited train is derailed by saboteurs near Palo Verde, Arizona.
• 2001 - Second mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attack.
• 2002 - After losing a massive amount of ground during the summer of 2002, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closes at 7,286.27, its lowest level in five years. The NASDAQ also hit a six-year low of 1,114.11.
• 2004 - Democratic elections held for the first time in Afghanistan.
• 2004 - The tri-annual federal election is held in Australia and Liberal Party of Australia leader, John Howard, wins a fourth term as Prime Minister in a landslide victory over opponent, Mark Latham of the Australian Labor Party.
• 2005 - China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping officially announces the new accurate height of Mount Everest is 8848.43 m.
• 2005 - When Tropical Depression 23 strengthens into Hurricane Vince it makes the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season the first season on record to use a name beginning with V.
• 2005 - Smoking is fully banned on the UK rail network.

Births

• 1201 - Robert de Sorbon, French theologian and founder of the Sorbonne (d. 1274)
• 1221 - Salimbene di Adam, Italian chronicler
• 1261 - King Dinis of Portugal (d. 1325)
• 1328 - King Peter I of Cyprus (d. 1369)
• 1581 - Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician (d. 1638)
• 1585 - Heinrich Schütz, German composer (d. 1672)
• 1586 - Archduke Leopold V of Austria (d. 1632)
• 1757 - King Charles X of France (d. 1836)
• 1796 - Joseph Bonomi the Younger, English Egyptologist (d. 1878)
• 1835 - Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (d. 1921)
• 1840 - Simeon Solomon, British artist (d. 1905)
• 1852 - Hermann Emil Fischer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1919)
• 1859 - Alfred Dreyfus, French military officer (d. 1935)
• 1871 - George Gauthier, Bishop of Montreal and rector of the University of Montreal (d. 1940)
• 1873 - Karl Schwarzschild, German physicist and astronomer (d. 1916)
• 1873 - Charles Walgreen, American entrepreneur (d. 1939)
• 1873 - Carl Flesch, Hungarian violinist (d. 1944)
• 1874 - Nicholas Roerich, Russian painter (d. 1947)
• 1879 - Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
• 1886 - Rube Marquard, baseball player (d. 1980)
• 1888 - Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, Russian politician (d. 1938)
• 1890 - Aimee Semple McPherson, American evangelist (d. 1944)
• 1892 - Ivo Andrić, Serbo-Croatian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
• 1892 - Marina Tsvetaeva, Russian poet (d. 1941)
• 1893 - Mário de Andrade, Brazilian writer and photographer (d. 1945)
• 1900 - Alastair Sim, Scottish actor (d. 1976)
• 1903 - Walter O'Malley, American baseball executive (d. 1979)
• 1906 - Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese poet and politician (d. 2001)
• 1907 - Quintin Hogg, British politician (d. 2001)
• 1908 - Jacques Tati, French filmmaker (d. 1982)
• 1909 - Donald Coggan, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 2000)
• 1911 - Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (d. 2006)
• 1915 - Clifford M. Hardin, United States Secretary of Agriculture
• 1918 - Lila Kedrova, Russian-born actress (d. 2000)
• 1920 - Jens Bjørneboe, Norwegian author (d. 1976)
• 1921 - Michel Boisrond, French film director (d. 2002)
• 1923 - Fyvush Finkel, American actor
• 1925 - Johnny Stompanato, American organized crime figure (d. 1958)
• 1926 - Danièle Delorme, French actress
• 1928 - Einojuhani Rautavaara, Finnish composer
• 1933 - Peter Mansfield, British physicist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate
• 1935 - Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, member of the British Royal Family
• 1936 - Brian Blessed, English actor
• 1938 - Heinz Fischer, Austrian politician
• 1940 - John Lennon, British musician and songwriter (The Beatles) (d. 1980)
• 1941 - Trent Lott, American politician
• 1941 - Chucho Valdés, Cuban musician
• 1944 - John Entwistle, British musician (The Who) (d. 2002)
• 1944 - Nona Hendryx, American singer (LaBelle)
• 1944 - Peter Tosh, Jamaican musician (d. 1987)
• 1946 - Tansu Çiller, Prime Minister of Turkey
• 1947 - France Gall, French singer
• 1948 - Jackson Browne, American musician
• 1950 - Jody Williams, American teacher and aid worker, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• 1952 - Sharon Osbourne, English music manager and wife of Ozzy Osbourne
• 1953 - Tony Shalhoub, American actor
• 1954 - Scott Bakula, American actor
• 1957 - Don Garber, American sports commissioner
• 1958 - Michael Pare, American actor
• 1960 - Kenny Garrett, American jazz saxophonist
• 1962 - Jorge Burruchaga, Argentinian footballer
• 1964 - Bobby Flay, American celebrity chef and restaurateur
• 1966 - David Cameron, British politician
• 1967 - Eddie Guerrero, Mexican professional wrestler (d. 2005)
• 1969 - P.J. Harvey, English musician
• 1970 - Kenny Anderson, American basketball player
• 1970 - Savannah, American actress (d. 1994)
• 1970 - Annika Sörenstam, Swedish golfer
• 1971 - Simon Atlee, British photographer (d. 2004)
• 1971 - Michael Manna, American professional wrestler
• 1973 - Steven Burns, American actor and musician
• 1973 - Fabio Lione, Italian musician (Rhapsody)
• 1973 - Terry Balsamo - American guitarist
• 1975 - Sean Lennon, English musician
• 1975 - Mark Viduka, Australian footballer
• 1978 - Nicky Byrne, Irish musician (Westlife)
• 1978 - Juan Dixon, American basketball player
• 1979 - Gonzalo Sorondo, Uruguayan footballer
• 1979 - Brandon Routh, American Actor
• 1980 - Henrik Zetterberg, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1981 - Zachery Ty Bryan, American actor
• 1981 - Darius Miles, American basketball player
• 1982 - António Mendonça, Angolan footballer
• 1986 - Laure Manaudou, French swimmer
• 1992 - Tyler James Williams, American actor
• 1994 - Jodelle Ferland, Canadian actress

[edit]

Deaths

• 1047 - Pope Clement II (b. 1005)
• 1253 - Robert Grosseteste, English statesman and bishop
• 1390 - King John I of Castile (b. 1358)
• 1555 - Justus Jonas, German protestant reformer (b. 1493)
• 1562 - Gabriele Falloppio, Italian anatomist (b. 1523)
• 1569 - Vladimir of Staritsa, Russian prince (b. 1533)
• 1597 - Ashikaga Yoshiaki, Japanese shogun (b. 1537)
• 1691 - William Sacheverell, English statesman (b. 1638)
• 1709 - Barbara Palmer, 1st Duchess of Cleveland, English mistress of Charles II of England (b. 1640)
• 1729 - Richard Blackmore, English physician and writer (b. 1654)
• 1793 - Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, French missionary (b. 1718)
• 1797 - Vilna Gaon, Lithuanian rabbi (b. 1720)
• 1806 - Benjamin Banneker, American astronomer (b. 1731)
• 1831 - John Capodistria, Governor of Greece (b. 1776)
• 1924 - Valery Bryusov, Russian writer and critic (b. 1873)
• 1934 - King Alexander I of Yugoslavia (assassinated) (b. 1888)
• 1934 - Louis Barthou, Prime Minister of France (assassinated) (b. 1862)
• 1940 - Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador (b. 1865).
• 1941 - Helen Morgan, American singer and actress (b. 1900)
• 1943 - Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1865)
• 1950 - George Hainsworth, National Hockey League goaltender (b. 1895)
• 1955 - Theodor Cardinal Innitzer, Austrian Catholic archbishop (b. 1875)
• 1956 - Marie Doro, American actress (b. 1882)
• 1958 - Pope Pius XII (b. 1876)
• 1962 - Milan Vidmar, Slovenian electrical engineer and chess player (b. 1885)
• 1967 - Che Guevara, Argentine revolutionary and guerilla leader (executed) (b. 1928)
• 1967 - Cyril Norman Hinshelwood, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
• 1967 - André Maurois, French author (b. 1885)
• 1968 - Pierre Mulele, Congolese revolutionary
• 1972 - Miriam Hopkins, American actress (b. 1902)
• 1974 - Oskar Schindler, German businessman (b. 1908)
• 1978 - Jacques Brel, Belgian singer and actor (b. 1929)
• 1987 - Guru Gopinath, Indian classical dancer (b. 1908)
• 1987 - Clare Boothe Luce, American diplomat (b. 1903)
• 1987 - William Parry Murphy, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1892)
• 1989 - Penny Lernoux, American journalist and author (b. 1940)
• 1995 - Alec Douglas-Home, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1903)
• 1996 - Walter Kerr, American theater critic (b. 1913)
• 1999 - Milt Jackson, American jazz vibraphonist (b. 1923)
• 2000 - David Dukes, American actor (b. 1945)
• 2000 - Patrick Anthony Porteous, Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1918)
• 2001 - Dagmar, American television personality (b. 1921)
• 2001 - Herbert Ross, American film director and producer (b. 1927)
• 2005 - Louis Nye, American comedian and actor (b. 1913)

I guess that pretty much covers it.

Joe