Free Republic

On this day in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Social Security Act. Press photographers snapped pictures as FDR, flanked by ranking members of Congress, signed into law the historic act, which guaranteed an income for the unemployed and retirees. FDR commended Congress for what he considered to be a "patriotic" act. Roosevelt had taken the helm of the country in 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, the nation's worst economic crisis. The Social Security Act (SSA) was in keeping with his other "New Deal" programs, including the establishment of the Works Progress Administration and...

All races White Black Year Both sexes Male Female Both sexes Male Female Both sexes Male Female 2010 78.7 76.2 81.1 79.0 76.5 81.3 75.1 71.8 78.0 2007 77.9 75.4 80.4 78.4 75.9 80.8 73.6 70.0 76.8 2006 77.7 75.1 80.2 78.2 75.7 80.6 73.2 69.7 76.5 2005 77.8 75.2 80.4 78.3 75.7 80.8 73.2 69.5 76.5 20041 77.8 75.2 80.4 78.3 75.7 80.8 73.1 69.8 76.3 2003 77.5 74.8 80.1 78.0 75.3 80.5 72.7 69.0 76.1 2002 77.3 74.5 79.9 77.7 75.1 80.3 72.3 68.8 75.6 2001 77.2 74.4 79.8 77.7 75.0 80.2 72.2 68.6 75.5 2000 77.0 74.3...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XVzHTg706s This is an interesting speech. Speaker burns Secretary Hillary Clinton for treating Kurd PKK who are fighting for freedom, as a terrorist group (enemy of USA) even though they killed no Americans

Born out of the necessity rapidly to put inexpensive submachine guns in the hands of American soldiers and Marines, it was so cheap it looked like a mechanic’s tool rather than the product of advanced American industrial know-how. It was supposed to serve as a replacement to the iconic and expensive Thompson submachine gun, but developed a reputation of its own that kept it in the U.S. military inventory from World War II all the way through Desert Storm. Nobody really loved the M-3 that G.I.s dubbed the “Grease Gun.” But nobody really hated, either.

'Archaeologists unearthing a burial site at Amphipolis in northern Greece have made an "extremely important find", says Greek PM Antonis Samaras. Experts believe the tomb belonged to an important figure dating back to the last quarter of the Fourth Century BC. A large mound complex has been unearthed at the Kasta hill site in the past two years. Lead archaeologist Katerina Peristeri said it certainly dated from after the death of Alexander the Great.'

The College Board has changed the framework for the U.S. Advanced Placement History exam and has released a practice exam. I have just glanced at it, but the reading passage for questions 18-20, from "Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America" by Mae Ngai are interesting.

When people joyously discover on Ancestry.com that they're related to, say, a medieval archduke or a notorious Victorian criminal, evolutionary biologists may be permitted to snicker. Because in actuality, we are all related: Humans all share at least one common ancestor if you go far enough back. You are related to every king and criminal who ever lived, to Gandhi and Paris Hilton and Carrot Top. You are even related to me. But buckle up — that's only the beginning. Humanity, after all, is but one ugly branch on the big tree of life. Go back far enough, and you'll...

Archaeologists have unearthed a funeral mound dating from the time of Alexander the Great and believed to be the largest ever discovered in Greece, but are stumped about who was buried in it. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Tuesday described the find as "unique" after he visited the site, which dates to the era following Alexander's death, at the ancient town of Amphipolis in northern Greece. "It is certain that we stand before an exceptionally important find," Samaras said in a statement. "This is a monument with unique characteristics." Hidden under a hill at the ancient town, the Hellenistic-era mound...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry paid a visit Wednesday to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, where he met the tiny nation’s leaders and commemorated the ferocious World War II battles fought on Guadalcanal. Kerry met with Solomon’s Prime Minister Gordon Lilo and Governor General Frank Kabui to discuss sustainable development, ocean preservation and how the islands’ 600,000 residents are coping with the effects of climate change. …

Canterbury Cathedral, where Archbishop Thomas Becket was killed, is the city’s biggest tourist attraction with a million visitors every yearAfter nearly 1,000 years, murder in the cathedral is still luring visitors to Canterbury. It was in the Canterbury Cathedral in 1107 that Archbishop Thomas Becket was killed, viciously, by four knights who believed they were doing the bidding of King Henry 2. As a result, Becket became a martyr and the cathedral a place of pilgrimage to his shrine. The homicide was the subject of Murder in the Cathedral, a verse drama by T.S. Eliot, and was more famously immortalised...

This photograph was taken off Cape Otway 20 minutes before pilot Frederick Valentich went missing. Picture: Supplied INVESTIGATORS have shed new light on one of ­Australia’s greatest aviation mysteries. Almost 36 years to the month that Victorian pilot Fred Valentich vanished without a trace, an independent researcher says there is evidence suggesting the 20-year-old’s Cessna was spotted in the sky over South Australia — attached to a UFO.The Victorian UFO ­Action group wants help to identify a farmer near Adelaide who reportedly ­witnessed the 30m craft hovering over his property the morning after Mr Valentich went missing.It is claimed...

Robin Williams, the famed comedian and actor, died on Monday at age 63. He had a remarkable career, and was one of the funniest people of all time. But beyond his career of making people laugh — one of my favorites being his role as Vietnam-era radio personality Adrian Cronauer — his response in 2007 to troops in Kuwait who basically turned their back on him is one worth remembering. Williams was there for a USO tour for the soldiers, most of whom were either headed to Iraq or supporting combat troops already there. In the middle of a bit,...

In the summer of '45, the United States concluded a war that had come to be seen by some as unwinnable after the carnage at Iwo Jima with a bang. ~~snip~~ The two bombs stand in stark contrast to our endless nation-building exercises in which nothing is ever finished until we give up. Instead Truman cut the Gordian Knot and avoided a long campaign that would have depopulated Japan and destroyed the lives of a generation of American soldiers.

In the predominantly black Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, racial tension reaches a breaking point after two white policemen scuffle with a black motorist suspected of drunken driving. A crowd of spectators gathered near the corner of Avalon Boulevard and 116th Street to watch the arrest and soon grew angry by what they believed to be yet another incident of racially motivated abuse by the police. A riot soon began, spurred on by residents of Watts who were embittered after years of economic and political isolation. The rioters eventually ranged over a 50-square-mile area of South Central Los Angeles, looting...

I'm not sure if this is permitted, but if not the monitor can remove my post. I'm informing you about my book free on Kindle today, Aug. 11, because I believe it is in the public interest. The book is called: Injustice Hits Rock Bottom Down Under: The Vakras Case. Vakras and his girl-friend are non-Jews but they called out an anti-Semite on their Internet site referring to him as a left-wing Nazi. He sued and a brain-dead judge gave him $450,000 even though everything they said about him was true and their comments were virtually unknown among the public....

Colonial Crimes and Punishments Crime: assault in sudden anger, blasphemy, counterfeiting, idolatry, murder, rebellion, robbery of a church, witchcraft Punishment: death by hanging Crime: denying God, killing chickens, spying, stealing grapes, striking one’s mother or father Punishment: death (usually by hanging) Crime: forgery, manslaughter, theft Punishment: branding with an “F” for forgery, an “M” for manslaughter, or a “T” for theft Crime: hog theft Punishment: first offense: 25 lashes and a fine of 400 pounds of tobacco (39 lashes for a Native American or mulatto), second offense: time in the pillory, ear nailing third offense: death (usually by hanging)...

I have lived near by, for the last 2 weeks: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zollverein_Coal_Mine_Industrial_Complex This is an extraordinary museum, that you need to visit, one of the best in Europe, IMHO. The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex (German Zeche Zollverein) is a large former industrial site in the city of Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Zollverein survived the Second World War with only minor damages and by 1953 again placed on top of all German mines with an output of 2.4 million tons. Why was this extraordinary place not bombed out out of existence during WW2? From coal to coke to pig iron to...

While the history of civilization is being demolished by war and religious zealots in the rest of Iraq, in the Kurdistan Region archeologists are marveling at a stunning discovery: the remains of a long-lost temple from the biblical kingdom of Urartu, dating back to the 9th century BC. Kurdish archaeologist Dlshad Marf Zamua, who has studied the columns and other artifacts at the find, told Rudaw these were unearthed piecemeal over the past four decades by villagers going about their lives, digging for cultivation or construction. But only recently, after the discovery of life-size human statues and the unearthed columns,...