Tag Archives: National

What’s the Difference Between Memorial Day and Veterans Day?

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freedom-bannerBoth Memorial Day and Veterans Day are federal government holidays that honor American military personnel. However, one honors all past and present American veterans, and the other is set aside to remember specifically those who have died in battle.

Here’s the history of each holiday and a breakdown of the differences between them:

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May, which in 2011 falls on May 30. The day is predominantly for honoring and remembering military personnel who died while in the military service, particularly those who died in combat or as a result of injuries sustained during battle.

Memorial Day was originally celebrated under a different name. After the Civil War ended in 1865, people began dedicating certain days to placing flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who had died in the war . In 1868, former Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, the head of an organization of Union veterans, established May 30 as Decoration Day. The holiday’s name was formally changed to Memorial Day in 1882.

Read more at Live Science

Vast Oklahoma Tornado Kills at Least 91

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MOORE, Okla. — A giant tornado, a mile wide or more, killed at least 91 people, 20 of them children, as it tore across parts of Oklahoma City and its suburbs Monday afternoon, flattening homes, flinging cars through the air and crushing at least two schools.

The injured flooded into hospitals, and the authorities said many people remained trapped, even as rescue workers struggled to make their way through debris-clogged streets to the devastated suburb of Moore, where much of the damage occurred.

Amy Elliott, the spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City medical examiner, said at least 91 people had died, including the children, and officials said that toll was likely to climb. Hospitals reported at least 145 people injured, 70 of them children.

Read more at the New York Times
SEE ALSO: How to help Oklahoma tornado victims

Rolling Thunder say American U.S. Army Soldier still prisoner of war

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WBTW-TV: News, Weather, and Sports for Florence, SC
By Leah Mishkin, May 13, 2013
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) – The first of the two weekends for the 74th annual spring rally is in the books as thousands of bikers hit the Strand for a good time and for a good cause.

The Rolling Thunder set up a booth at the Harley-Davidson dealership hoping to raise money to continue their mission of finding and bringing home American prisoners of war.

“Since World War 2, there are over 84 thousand unaccounted for and our mission is to educate people at the same time we also lobby up with congress to put pressure on them to bring our Americans home,” said chairman of the Rolling Thunder Myrtle Beach chapter Bill DeVaughn.

And while this organization is not only for bikers, Rolling Thunder members said with bikers, many find great interest in finding prisoners of war since many are veterans.

More on Rolling Thunder at WBTW News 13

The challenge of the two Spocks

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Apparently, the new five-year mission of Star Trek is to sell Audi. That mission, though, is limited to two crew members—Well, one crew member. The older Spock against the newer Spock.

This mission taken on by Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy will probably much less than even the television series from the sixties. And, of course, the success of this mission depends on how many Trekkie stickers you see on new Audis. Wonder if the two Spock bobble-head dolls come with that?

The one thing that is apparent, however, is that experience has taught the old Spock something over the new Spock. How to cheat.

Solar Impulse lands in Arizona

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The Solar Impulse, the first solar powered aircraft, took off from Moffett Field in Mountain View, California yesterday around 9 am and landed in Phoenix at midnight this morning. Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard flew the first leg of a proposed four-leg flight to eventually end up in New York. He is joined on the adventure by pilot André Borschberg.

Solar Impulse over San Francisco

Solar Impulse over San Francisco


Solar impulse has already been test flown in Europe. In May 2012, the Solar Impulse achieved the first solar-powered intercontinental flight by flying from Spain to Morocco in just over 19 hours.

The aircraft contains 12,000 silicon solar cells and the plane is designed to fly to levels of commercial airliners to charge the batteries to keep it in flight for hours after the sun goes down. The 880 pounds of batteries account for more than 25% of the weight of the plane.

The month-long journey will be flown at the planes top speed of forty-miles per hour.

The plane was built at a cost of about $140-million funded through the contributions of various companies.

You can find videos and pictures and follow the journey with live streaming at the Solar Impulse website.

Boston Marathon bombing suspect killed; one on the run

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BOSTON —One of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, who was killed overnight in a shootout with law enforcement officials, is being described as a “true angel.” – WCVB

BOSTON —One of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, who was killed overnight in a shootout with law enforcement officials, is being described as a “true angel.”

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in the Watertown shootout. His brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the other suspected bomber, remained on the run early Friday.

The brother’s father described the dead man as a “true angel,” saying his son was a gifted student who had aspirations to become a doctor.

The brothers grew up in Chechnya and moved to the United States in 2003 to start a new life.

Read more at WCVB.COM

Representative Engel wants to make you Facebook safe.

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WASHINGTON—Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY-16) has submitted the Social Networking Online Protection Act to make your social network and e-mail accounts safe from prying eyes. At least, the eyes of your employer, potential employer or your school.

H.R. 537 would make it illegal for “employers and certain other entities” to demand that you provide passwords for them to access your private social network and email accounts. It would make it unlawful for employers or potential employers to discriminate against you, dismiss you or in anyway harass you for refusing to give this personal information.

The bill would add a section to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 which essentially provides the same limitations on educational facilities as to employers above.

The Department of Homeland Security and other alphabet agencies, of course, will still be able to employ face recognition software and spy techniques in their on-going effort to make us safe from persons who support the Constitution, veterans and those rabid Ron Paul fans.

The house is also considering H.R. 624—the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act—for just that purpose.

House legislation may unlock cell phones once again

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Unlocking-cell-phones-how-to-do-300x224WASHINGTON—Before January of this year, people could unlock cell phones in order to utilize whatever phone service they chose. After January 1st, that option was locked-out. That is to say that you could no longer unlock your cell phone and had to buy a new cell phone to switch services. Although unlocked cell phone are still sold through several stores and Internet sources.

That could change if legislation submitted by Representative Bob Goodlatte (R-VA6) passes.

The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, H.R. 1123, would repeal Paragraph (3) of section 201.40(b) of title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations, amended by the Library of Congress in October of 2012, to allow consumers to unlock cell phones. Cell phones were locked based on Copyright infringement.

This would, of course, allow consumers to switch services without having to purchase new phones. The Bill, with 8 cosponsors, was referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, And The Internet on the 15th.

It is expected that cell phone industry lobbyists will be out in force.

Police, ‘anti-gun’ prosecutor clash with soldiers in area around Fort Hood [VIDEO]

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The conflict between law enforcement and armed military personnel in the community around Fort Hood, one of America’s largest military bases, has recently and repeatedly involved the issue of gun control — and the tension has been exacerbated in part by an Obama-supporting prosecutor described as a “bandleader” of anti-gun efforts in the heavily conservative community.

The conflict reached a fever pitch last month, when Texas police arrested an active-duty Army sergeant for “rudely displaying” a hunting rifle. The sergeant, C.J. Grisham, established an online legal defense fund after he was, in his words, “illegally arrested and disarmed” for carrying the firearm.

“While out hiking with my son through backcountry roads to help him earn his Eagle Scout rank, I was illegally arrested and disarmed without cause. I was thrown in jail and my lawfully owned weapons were confiscated without receipt or notice,” Grisham wrote on the website for the defense fund.

Video of the incident obtained by The Daily Caller shows officers defending their behavior to Grisham while restraining him.

“In this day and age, [people] are alarmed when they see someone with what you have,” one of the officers tells Grisham in the video. “They don’t care what the law is.”

Read more at The Daily Caller

Comedy legend Jonathan Winters gone at age 87

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winters122wayMontecito, California—Legendary comedian and WWII veteran Jonathan Winters passed away yesterday in his Montecito home. He was 87. Winters was born November 11, 1925, in Dayton, Ohio.

Jonathan was a favorite on the talk show circuit and a regular on the Dean Martin Roast series. He had his own variety show on separate occasions. Although he had several characters he played, such as Aunt Maude, he is also noted for his impromptu work with props handed to him. At the end of his variety shows, Winters would be handed a stack of cards with situations which the audience had written down. He would act out the situation on the card. He was probably the first “mad libber” in the business.

Although he always seemed to wear a smile, in 1961 he suffered a breakdown and was diagnosed as bipolar. Upon his release on April Fools day in 1962, he was immediately cast in the movie “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” He also played some dramatic roles; most notably his role as Minnesota Fats opposite the late Jack Klugman on the Twilight Zone.

Winters was also an artist and author.