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I'm Valin and I DON'T approve of Jacques Kerrey.
I DO approve of...
On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on March 20:
1634 Balthasar Bekker Frisian theologist
1725 Abdül-Hamid I 27th sultan of Turkey (1774-89)
1770 Johann Friedrich Hölderlin Tübingen Germany, lyric poet (Der Rhein, Andenken)
1804 Neal Dow Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1897
1811 George Caleb Bingham US, politician/painter (Country Election)
1811 Napoleon Bonaparte II Napoleon's son/King of Rome
1812 George Bibb Crittenden Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1880
1823 John Echols Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1896
1825 William Nelson Rector Beall Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1828 Henrik Ibsen Norway, dramatist (Peer Gynt, Hedda Gabler)
1830 Eugene Asa Carr Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1910
1834 Charles William Elliot Boston MA, President of Harvard (1869-1909)
1856 Frederick Winslow Taylor father of scientific management
1870 Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck Prussian General/politician (East Africa)
1882 René Coty Le Havre France, President of France (1953-58)
1902 Edgar Buchanan Humansville MO, actor (Uncle Joe-Petticoat Junction)
1904 B(urrhus) F(rederic) Skinner Susquehanna PA, Behaviorism pioneer (Skinner box)
1906 Abraham Beame (Mayor-Democrat-NYC), NYC's 1st Jewish mayor
1906 Ozzie Nelson Jersey City NJ, actor (Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet)
1908 Frank Stanton Muskegon MI, broadcasting executive (CBS)
1908 Sir Michael Redgrave Bristol England, actor (Browning Version, The Lady Vanishes)
1914 Wendell Corey Dracut MA, actor (11th Hour, Peck's Bad Girl)
1918 Bernd-Alois Zimmermann German composer (Soldiers)
1918 Jack Barry Lindenhurst NY, game show emcee (Joker's Wild)
1920 Marian McPartland jazz pianist (Bill Mayer, Jimmy McPartland)
1920 Werner Klemperer Cologne Germany, actor (Colonel Klink-Hogan's Heroes)
1922 Carl Reiner Bronx NY, comedian/actor (2000 Year Old Man, Dick Van Dyke Show)
1922 Ray Goulding Lowell MA, comedian (Bob & Ray)
1925 John D Erlichman Politician (Nixon aide, Watergate conspirator)
1928 Hans Küng Swiss religious theologist
1928 Mr [Fred McFeely] Rogers Latrobe PA, children's television host (Mr Roger's Neighborhood)
1931 Hal Linden [Harold Lipshitz] Bronx NY, actor (Barney Miller, Blacke's Magic, Rothchild)
1937 Helmut Recknagel Germany, 90 meter ski jump (Olympics-gold-1960)
1937 Jerry Reed Atlanta GA, singer/actor ('Gator, Bat 21, Smokey & the Bandit)
1939 Brian Mulroney (P-C) 18th Prime Minister of Canada (1984-93)
1945 Pat Riley Schenectady NY, NBA star/coach (San Diego Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Miami Heat)
1946 Ranger Doug [Douglas Green], Illinois, singer (Riders in Sky-Cowboy Way)
1947 Carl Palmer drummer (Asia-Heat of the Moment, Emerson Lake & Palmer)
1948 Bobby Orr Parry Sound Ontario, Hall of Fame NHL defenseman (Boston Bruins)
1948 John de Lancie actor (Q-Star Trek Next Generation, Eugene Bradford-Days of our Lives)
1950 William Hurt Washington DC, actor (Big Chill, Children of a Lesser God)
1951 Jimmie Vaughan guitarist (Fabulous Thunderbirds)
1951 John Wetton rocker (Asia, UK, King Crimson)
1954 Jim Seales Hamilton AL, singer(Shenandoah-Sunday in the South)
1957 Spike Lee Atlanta GA, director (Mo Better Blues, Jungle Fever,Malcolm X)
1958 Holly Hunter Conyers GA, actress (The Piano, Broadcast News, Roe vs Wade)
1961 Slim Jim Phantom [Jim Mcdonnell] rock drummer (Stray Cats-Stray Cat Strut)
1967 Dana Rinehart Dalton Orlando FL, Miss Florida-America (1990)
1969 Thang Thanh Nguyen Soc Trang Vietnam, murderer (FBI Most Wanted)

Deaths which occurred on March 20:
0842 Alfonso II the Chaste king of Asturia (791-842), dies
1191 Clement III [Paolo Scolari], Pope (1187-91, 3rd crusades), dies
1351 Mohammed ibn-Tughluq sultan of Delhi India, dies
1393 Johannes Nepomucenus [Jan Nepomucky], Czechoslovakian saint, killed
1415 Henry IV Bolingbroke King of England (1399-1413), dies at 45
1549 Thomas Seymour of Sudely English Lord Admiral, beheaded
1619 Matthias II Holy Roman Catholic emperor (1611-19), dies

1727 Sir Issac Newton English physicist/astronomer, dies in London at 84

1899 Martha M Place of Brooklyn NY, becomes 1st woman to die by electrocution
1920 Venustiano Carranza President of Mexico (1915-20), murdered at 60
1925 George N Curzon British Foreign minister (1919-22), dies at 66
1929 Ferdinand Foch Marshal of France (WWI), dies at 77
1933 Giuseppe [Joe] Zangara electrocuted for assassination attempt on FDR
1941 D A van den Bosch anti-Nazi clergyman (Amersfoort Camp), dies
1962 C Wright Mills US sociologist (Power Elite), dies at 45
1962 Dr Andrew E Douglass Dendrochronologer (Study of Tree Rings) dies
1964 Brendan Behan Irish writer/poet, dies at 41
1967 A J F Moody 1st US Army General to die in Vietnam
1972 Marilyn Maxwell actress (Grace-Bus Stop), dies at 50
1974 Chet Huntley newscaster (NBC Huntley-Brinkley Report), dies at 62
1974 Edward Platt actor (Chief-Get Smart), dies at 58
1988 Gil Evans Canadian/US jazz composer (Out of the Cool), dies at 75
1995 Rachida Hammadi Algerian TV journalist, murdered at 32

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 BEACH ARTHUR J.---ORANGE COVE CA.
1966 MULLIGAN JAMES A.---LAWRENCE MA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 RATZLAFF RICHARD R.---ABERDEEN SD.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DIED 2/28/81]
1968 FELLOWS ALLEN E.---MINNEAPOLIS MN.
1968 SAYRE LESLIE B.---FAIRBORN OH.
1968 THOMPSON FRED---COLUMBUS NC.
[08/04/68 RELEASED HANOI]
1968 TAYLOR WILLIAM B.---HAMILTON NC.
[05/06/68 ESCAPED, ALIVE IN 96]
1969 DAVIS RICARDO G.---CARLSBAD NM.
1970 BUTLER JAMES E.---BUIES CREEK NC.
[REMAINS ID 10/4/97]
1970 COZART ROBERT G. JR.---HAMMOND LA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 07/25/89]
1971 BARKER JACK L.---WAYCROSS GA.
["EXPLODED, FIRE, NO SEARCH"]
1971 CHUBB JOHN J.---GARDENA CA.
["EXPLODED, FIRE, NO SEARCH"]
1971 DILLENDER WILLIAM E.---NAPLES FL.
["EXPLODED, FIRE, NO SEARCH"]
1971 DUGAN JOHN F.---ROSELLE NJ.
["EXPLODED, FIRE, NO SEARCH"]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0141 6th predicted perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1345 Saturn/Jupiter/Mars-conjunction; thought "cause of plague epidemic"
1602 United Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) forms
1616 Walter Raleigh released from Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana
1627 France & Spain signs accord for fighting protestantism
1760 Great Fire of Boston destroys 349 buildings
1800 French army defeats Turks at Helipolis Turkey, & advance to Cairo
1815 Napoleon enters Paris after escape from Elba, begins 100-day rule
1816 US Supreme Court affirms its right to review state court decisions
1833 US & Siam conclude commercial treaty
1848 King Louis I of Bayern abdicates to marry dancer Lola Montez
1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" published (Boston)
1863 Battle of Pensacola FL: evacuated by Federals
1865 2nd day of Battle of Bentonville NC
1868 Jesse James Gang robs bank in Russelville KY of $14,000
1885 John Matzeliger of Suriname patents shoe lacing machine
1885 Yiddish theater opens in New York with Golldfaden operetta
1886 1st AC power plant in US begins commercial operation, Massachusetts
1888 Start of the Sherlock Holmes Adventure, "A Scandal in Bohemia"
1890 German emperor Wilhelm II fires republic chancellor Otto Von Bismarck
1896 Marines land in Nicaragua to protect US citizens
1897 1st known intercollegiate basketball game, Yale beats University of Pennsylvania 32-10
1897 1st US orthodox Jewish Rabbinical seminary (RIETS) incorporates in New York
1914 1st international figure-skating tournament held in US, New Haven
1916 Allies attack Zeebrugge Belgium
1920 1st flight from London to South Africa lands (1½ months)
1922 USS Langley is commissioned, Navy's 1st aircraft Carrier
1930 Clessie Cummins sets diesel engine speed record of 129.39 kph
1931 Bishop Schreiber warns against national-socialism in Berlin
1933 Dachau, 1st concentration camp, completed
1934 Female Babe Didrickson pitches hitless inning for Philadelphia A's in exhibition game against Brooklyn Dodgers
1935 "Your Hit Parade" made its debut on radio
1937 Franco-offensive at Guadalajara Spain
1939 7,000 Jews flee German occupied Memel Lithuania
1940 Paul Reynoud becomes French premier
1941 Nazi-German/Yugoslav pact drawn
1942 Convoy PQ13 departs Reykjavik Iceland to Russia
1942 General MacArthur vows, "I shall return"
1942 Major German assault on Malta
1944 Mount Vesuvius, Italy explodes
1945 US 70th Infantry division/7th Armour division attack Saar
1947 180-metric ton blue whale (record) caught in South Atlantic
1948 1st live televised musical Eugene Ormandy on CBS followed in 90 minutes by 2nd live televised musical Arturo Toscanini on NBC
1952 US Senate's final ratification of peace treaty restoring sovereignty to Japan
1953 Senator Edwin C Johnson offers a bill to give clubs the sole right to ban radio-TV broadcasts of major league games in their own territory
1954 1st newspaper vending machine used (Columbia Pennsylvania)
1955 KXTV TV channel 10 in Sacramento CA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1956 Mount Bezymianny on Kamchatka Peninsula (USSR) explodes
1956 Tunisia gains independence from France
1956 Union workers ended a 156-day strike at Westinghouse Electric Corp
1963 1st "Pop Art" exhibition (New York NY)
1963 Sikkim crown prince Paldan Thondup Namgyal marries Hope Cooke
1967 Supremes release "The Happening"
1968 President Lyndon Johnson signs a bill removing gold backing from US paper money
1969 Beatle John Lennon marries Yoko Ono in Gibraltar
1969 US President Nixon proclaims he will end Vietnam war in 1970
1972 19 mountain climbers killed on Japan's Mount Fuji during an avalanche
1973 Roberto Clemente elected to hall of fame, 11 weeks after his death
1976 Patricia Hearst convicted of armed robbery
1977 Parisians elect former Prime Minister Jacques Chirac as 1st mayor in a century
1980 The Mi Amigo ship containing England's pirate Radio Caroline sinks
1980 US appeals to International Court on hostages in Iran
1981 Argentine ex-President Isabel Perón sentenced to 8 years
1981 Jean Harris sentenced 15-to-life for slaying of Scarsdale Diet Doctor
1982 Joan Jett & Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" goes #1 for 7 weeks
1984 Senate rejects amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools
1985 Libby Riddles is 1st woman to win Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race
1986 228 KPH gust of wind strikes Cairngorm (UK record)
1986 Jacques Chirac become Prime Minister of French government
1987 FDA approves sale of AZT (AIDS treatment)
1987 Soviet filmmakers arrive in Hollywood for an entertainment summit (Big fat hairy deal)
1988 Mike Tyson KOs Tony Tubbs in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
1989 Baseball announces Reds manager Pete Rose is under investigation
1989 Richard J Kerr replaces Robert M Gates as deputy director of CIA
1990 Los Angeles Lakers retire Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's #33
1990 Singer Gloria Estefan breaks her collarbone in a bus accident
1991 Court awards Peggy Lee $3 million in contract violation suit against Disney
1991 Michael Jackson signs $65M six album deal with Sony records
1991 Supreme Court rules unanimously employers can't exclude women from jobs where exposure to toxic chemicals could potentially damage fetus
1991 US forgives $2 billion in loans to Poland
1992 Janice Pennington is awarded $1.3M for accident on Price is Right set
1992 Noriega's wife Felicidad arrested for stealing buttons from dresses
1993 IRA-bomb kills 3 year old in Warrington England
1994 14th Golden Raspberry Awards: Indecent Proposal wins
1994 El Salvador's 1st Presidential election following 12-year-old civil war
1994 Zulu-king Goodwill Zwelithini founds realm in South Africa
1995 Dow-Jones hits 4083.68 (record)
1995 Poison Gas released in Tokyo subway 12 killed, 4,700 injured
1996 Erik & Lyle Menendez found guilty of killing their parents
1996 UK admits humans can catch CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease aka Mad Cow Disease)
1997 Liggett admits cigarettes are addictive (SHOCK!!)
1999 Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland and Brian Jones of Britain became the first aviators to fly a hot air balloon around the world without stopping.
2000 Pope John Paul II embarked on a strenuous and spiritual tour of the Holy Land, beginning with a stop in Jordan.
2000 President Clinton arrived in Bangladesh on the first such visit by an American president.
2000 Former Black Panther Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, once known as H. Rap Brown, was captured in Alabama; he was wanted in the fatal shooting of a sheriff's deputy. Al-Amin maintains his innocence.
2001 The skipper of the USS Greeneville took the stand in a Navy court and accepted sole responsibility for the Feb. 9 collision of his submarine with a Japanese trawler off Hawaii that killed nine Japanese.
2001 New York native Lori Berenson, accused of aiding guerrillas in Peru, received a retrial in civilian court (she was later convicted of "terrorist collaboration").
2001 Power-strapped California saw a second day of rolling blackouts.
2001 Five days after explosions destroyed one of its support beams, the largest oilrig in the world collapsed and sank off the coast of Brazil.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Iran : Oil Nationalization Day
Tunisia : Independence Day (1956)
US : Daffodil Days Ends
Indiana : Pigeons Day
UN : Earth Day
Festival Of Extraterrestrial Abductions Day
International Hamburger & Pickle Month

Religious Observances
Anglican : Commemoration of Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne

Religious History
1739 English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'I look upon all the world as my parish.'
1747 American missionary David Brainerd, 28, ended two_andÂone_half years of labor among the colonial Indians of New England, after having been continually plagued with ill health. (Brainerd died of tuberculosis seven months later.)
1840 Scottish clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in a letter: 'The more God opens your eyes, the more you will feel that you are lost in yourself.'
1852 American abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe, 41, published her classic antislavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The controversy it kindled helped lead to the American Civil War, nine years later.
1928 Birth of Fred Rogers, American Presbyterian clergyman and since its premiere in 1965 host of public television's longest running children's program: "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood."

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions."

Hallmark cards that never made it...
You are such a good friend
If we were on a sinking ship
And there was only one life jacket ...
(inside card)
I'd miss you terribly
And think of you often.

New State Slogans...
Nevada: Whores and Poker!

Male Language Patterns...
"You know how bad my memory is," REALLY MEANS,
"I remember the words to the theme song of "F Troop",
the address of the first girl I kissed,
the Vehicle Identification Number of every car I've ever owned,
but I forgot your birthday."

Female Language Patterns...
"That's Okay"
This is one of the most dangerous statements that a woman
can say to a man. "That's Okay" means that she wants to think long and hard before deciding what the penalty will be for whatever you have done.
"That's Okay" is often used with the word "Fine" and in conjunction with a raised eyebrow "Go Ahead."
Once she has had time to plan it out, you are in for
some mighty big trouble.

I will admit Valin, that I often skim quickly over the list you provide each day of the POW-MIA soldiers, but today this caught my eye...and my heart....

1966 MULLIGAN JAMES A.---LAWRENCE MA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]

So I did some digging...this is his story.

CAPT JAMES A. MULLIGAN, USN (RET.) Captain Mulligan had served in the Navy for 24 years when he was shot down over North Vietnam on 20 March 1966. Stationed aboard the USS ENTERPRISE as Executive Officer of VA-36, he was flying his A-4 Skyhawk just south of Vinh, when he was struck by a Surface to Air Missile (SAM), and was forced to eject. He was immediately captured by North Vietnamese regulars, and then transported to Hoa Lo Prison in Hanoi, the infamous Hanoi Hilton. As one of the more senior Navy POWs, he endured torture, abuse, and miserable conditions for nearly seven years, until his release in February 1973. What prepared him to survive a captivity experience, which included 42 months of solitary confinement? In response to that question, Captain Mulligan cites the process of receiving a liberal education, i.e., undergoing the intellectual preparation necessary to find out who he was. He recalls that the first time he ever heard the Code of Conduct, he thought to himself, “Why do we need this? Why is this necessary? Isn’t this basic to who and what we are? Doesn’t everybody know this?” The answer, as he discovered during his years in the Navy was, no, not everybody does understand what integrity, commitment, and loyalty mean. For Captain Mulligan, imprisonment in North Vietnam was a supreme test of those values embodied in the Code of Conduct, values of right and wrong. Captivity was an experience in which a prisoner had to live off of whatever was in his head. When it was all over, Captain Mulligan was able to recall some of what he felt on the day of release, as described in his book, The Hanoi Commitment: This was the only good day I would ever have in North Vietnam, and it would only become good when I boarded that plane and flew out of this damn country. I had spent 2522 days here and I hated every damn one of them. They were firmly etched deep in my mind. I couldn’t forget them even if I wanted to. They were as much a part of me as an arm or a leg. In one way I had been a loser for all of those days, yet in another way I had much to be thankful about. For out of the miseries had come strength; out of the suffering, compassion; out of hate, love. If nothing else, I would come home a better man than when I entered there. Life would be more meaningful in every aspect from now on. Freedom, integrity, moral character had new and stronger meanings for me. I knew that I could face the future with faith and hope. I had learned firsthand that in life’s darkest hours in Hanoi, God’s grace had shone down upon me. In my heart I knew that during my captivity I had lost all the battles, but had won the war because I had done my best. I had paid the price. I had day by day put myself on the line for what I believed in. Alone and in solitary, when no one knew and no one cared, I and the others had fought the good fight. If nothing else, I cared, and they cared. There was no easy way. When the chips were down we did what we had to and we paid the price with physical and mental pain. Now that it was over, we could go home with heads held high. We would walk erect as free men taking our rightful place in a free world. The man who appreciates freedom the most is the free man who has become a slave. We were leaving Hanoi, slaves no more. Captain Mulligan recalls that the greatest challenge he faced during his imprisonment was the process of living out his convictions and beliefs about who he was in the face of the loss of self-respect. Prior to captivity, he had experienced and understood divine forgiveness; he also knew of human forgiveness; but he did not really know, nor had he fully experienced, personal forgiveness. Survival in the dehumanizing environment of Hoa Lo Prison was critically dependent on his ability to forgive himself, and then come back to fight another day. Indeed, it was self-forgiveness and inner fortitude that enabled the POWs, as a unit, to win a moral war in 1971, even though victory came at the expense of a hard won battle for group living. Following Christmas of 1970, the North Vietnamese began housing prisoners together in rooms of 45 to 50 each. For many of the prisoners, this move marked the first time they had ever met one another face to face. Nevertheless, they were willing to risk small cells and solitary confinement once again for the sake of the right to worship. As Captain Mulligan recounts what was later referred to as the “Church Riot,” the Vietnamese “became upset” when each room conducted Sunday worship services. Apparently, group worship posed such a threat, perhaps because of the evident spirit of unity that resulted, that all such services were subsequently forbidden. As the senior POWs met to discuss what action they should take, most favored the politically “smart” course: not making an issue of the worship services, lest the Vietnamese retaliate by moving everyone back into small or solitary cells. Captain Mulligan took the opposite position, that making a moral stand on the freedom of religion took precedence over political strategy. In the overall assessment of what would be lost and what would be gained, he concluded, “We don’t have a choice.” The agreement of the group was unanimous. Because he and the other prisoners were confronted daily with time slipping away, time which they were missing with their families, especially their children, Captain Mulligan and others developed their own special responses to the question, “If you had just five minutes to spend with your kids, what would you pass on to them?” His answer was: 1. Live a life of order, i.e., as to the priority of things. 2. Live a life of discipline, i.e., absolute self-discipline to do what is right, and not to do what is wrong. 3. Live a life of moderation, i.e., there is plenty to go around — share the wealth! As for himself, what are the lessons which 42 months in solitary confinement gave him the time to think through and assess? · With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:20). · Permissiveness is the corruption of Freedom. · Anarchy is the corruption of Democracy. · Immorality is the corruption of Morality. A free democratic moral society has the right as well as the obligation to resist the incursions of those perversions, which would lead to its destruction. A free society requires order, discipline, and moderation. Thus it follows that rights and freedoms demand corresponding duties and obligations from all citizens. Man is an imperfect creature living in an imperfect world but he should always strive to be better than he is. In this struggle he should never, never, never, give up!

Jim Mulligan May 1984

I'm sorry it's so long, but I wanted to share it with you all.