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[CigarBanter]

Only a Few Days Left
Rich already met his goal of 50 shirts but flying to and staying in Torino, Italy isn't cheap.  So please consider supporting him anyway.  Your tee shirt will likely arrive with some quality cigars.   

Short Story:
Follow the link below to support a local athlete, Rich Riopel, at the (IAU) 24 Hour World Championship in Torino, Italy on April 11-12, 2015 by making a donation and/or getting a tee shirt from:

http://booster.com/runrichrun 

Long Story:
Follow this link ==> http://cigarbanter.com/forum/index.php/topic,267.0.html

[LSUFAN]

Good morning guys.

[LSUFAN]

Sorry, yahoo failed to update again.

[LSUFAN]

On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of newspaper publisher Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California, by two black men and a white woman, all three of whom are armed. Her fiance, Stephen Weed, was beaten and tied up along with a neighbor who tried to help. Witnesses reported seeing a struggling Hearst being carried away blindfolded, and she was put in the trunk of a car. Neighbors who came out into the street were forced to take cover after the kidnappers fired their guns to cover their escape.

Three days later, the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small U.S. leftist group, announced in a letter to a Berkeley radio station that it was holding Hearst as a "prisoner of war." Four days later, the SLA demanded that the Hearst family give $70 in foodstuffs to every needy person from Santa Rosa to Los Angeles. This done, said the SLA, negotiation would begin for the return of Patricia Hearst. Randolph Hearst hesitantly gave away some $2 million worth of food. The SLA then called this inadequate and asked for $6 million more. The Hearst Corporation said it would donate the additional sum if the girl was released unharmed.

In April, however, the situation changed dramatically when a surveillance camera took a photo of Hearst participating in an armed robbery of a San Francisco bank, and she was also spotted during a robbery of a Los Angeles store. She later declared, in a tape sent to the authorities, that she had joined the SLA of her own free will.

On May 17, Los Angeles police raided the SLA's secret headquarters, killing six of the group's nine known members. Among the dead was the SLA's leader, Donald DeFreeze, an African American ex-convict who called himself General Field Marshal Cinque. Patty Hearst and two other SLA members wanted for the April bank robbery were not on the premises.

Finally, on September 18, 1975, after crisscrossing the country with her captors--or conspirators--for more than a year, Hearst, or "Tania" as she called herself, was captured in a San Francisco apartment and arrested for armed robbery. Despite her claim that she had been brainwashed by the SLA, she was convicted on March 20, 1976, and sentenced to seven years in prison. She served 21 months before her sentence was commuted by President Carter. After leaving prison, she returned to a more routine existence and later married her bodyguard. She was pardoned by President Clinton in January 2001.

[LSUFAN]

On this day in 1789, George Washington becomes the first and only president to be unanimously elected by the Electoral College. He repeated this notable feat on the same day in 1792.

The peculiarities of early American voting procedure meant that although Washington won unanimous election, he still had a runner-up, John Adams, who served as vice president during both of Washington's terms. Electors in what is now called the Electoral College named two choices for president. They each cast two ballots without noting a distinction between their choice for president and vice president. Washington was chosen by all of the electors and therefore is considered to have been unanimously elected. Of those also named on the electors' ballots, Adams had the most votes and became vice president.

Although Washington's overwhelming popularity prevented problems in 1789 and 1792, this procedure caused great difficulty in the elections of 1796 and 1800. In 1796, Federalist supporters of John Adams cast only one of their two votes in an effort to ensure that Adams would win the presidency without giving votes to any of the other candidates. This led to a situation in which the Federalist Adams won the highest number of votes and became president, but Thomas Jefferson, the opposing Democratic-Republican candidate, came in second and therefore became his opponent's vice president.

In 1800, the system led to a tie between the Democratic-Republican candidates for president and vice president, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. This sent the vote to the House of Representatives, where Federalists voted for Burr instead of Jefferson, whom they despised. As a result, the Congressional vote ended in a tie 35 times before the Federalists decided to hand in blank ballots and concede the White House to Jefferson.

In 1804, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution ended this particular form of electoral chaos by stipulating that separate votes be cast for president and vice president.

[LSUFAN]

George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, is unanimously elected the first president of the United States by all 69 presidential electors who cast their votes. John Adams of Massachusetts, who received 34 votes, was elected vice president. The electors, who represented 10 of the 11 states that had ratified the U.S. Constitution, were chosen by popular vote, legislative appointment, or a combination of both four weeks before the election.

According to Article Two of the U.S. Constitution, the states appointed a number of presidential electors equal to the "number of Senators and Representatives to which the state may be entitled in Congress." Each elector voted for two people, at least one of whom did not live in their state. The individual receiving the greatest number of votes was elected president, and the next-in-line, vice president. (In 1804, this practice was changed by the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which ordered separate ballots for the office of president and vice president.)

New York--though it was to be the seat of the new United States government--failed to choose its eight presidential electors in time for the vote on February 4, 1789. Two electors each from Virginia and Maryland were delayed by weather and did not vote. In addition, North Carolina and Rhode Island, which would have had seven and three electors respectively, had not ratified the Constitution and so could not vote.

That the remaining 69 unanimously chose Washington to lead the new U.S. government was a surprise to no one. As commander-in-chief during the Revolutionary War, he had led his inexperienced and poorly equipped army of civilian soldiers to victory over one of the world's great powers. After the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, Washington rejected with abhorrence a suggestion by one of his officers that he use his preeminence to assume a military dictatorship. He would not subvert the very principles for which so many Americans had fought and died, he replied, and soon after, he surrendered his military commission to the Continental Congress and retired to his Mount Vernon estate in Virginia.

When the Articles of Convention proved ineffectual, and the fledging republic teetered on the verge of collapse, Washington again answered his country's call and traveled to Philadelphia in 1787 to preside over the Constitutional Convention. Although he favored the creation of a strong central government, as president of the convention he maintained impartiality in the public debates. Outside the convention hall, however, he made his views known, and his weight of character did much to bring the proceedings to a close. The drafters created the office of president with him in mind, and on September 17, 1787, the document was signed.

The next day, Washington started for home, hoping that, his duty to his country again served, he could live out the rest of his days in privacy. However, a crisis soon arose when the Constitution fell short of its necessary ratification by nine states. Washington threw himself into the ratification debate, and a compromise agreement was made in which the remaining states would ratify the document in exchange for passage of the constitutional amendments that would become the Bill of Rights.

Government by the United States began on March 4, 1789. In April, Congress sent word to George Washington that he had unanimously won the presidency. He borrowed money to pay off his debts in Virginia and traveled to New York. On April 30, he came across the Hudson River in a specially built and decorated barge. The inaugural ceremony was performed on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street, and a large crowed cheered after he took the oath of office. The president then retired indoors to read Congress his inaugural address, a quiet speech in which he spoke of "the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." The evening celebration was opened and closed by 13 skyrockets and 13 cannons.

As president, Washington sought to unite the nation and protect the interests of the new republic at home and abroad. Of his presidency, he said, "I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn in precedent." He successfully implemented executive authority, making good use of brilliant politicians such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson in his Cabinet, and quieted fears of presidential tyranny. In 1792, he was unanimously reelected but four years later refused a third term.

In 1797, he finally began his long-awaited retirement at Mount Vernon. He died on December 14, 1799. His friend Henry Lee provided a famous eulogy for the father of the United States: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

[LSUFAN]

On February 4, 1922, the Ford Motor Company acquires the failing luxury automaker Lincoln Motor Company for $8 million.

The acquisition came at a time when Ford, founded in 1903, was losing market share to its competitor General Motors, which offered a range of automobiles while Ford continued to focus on its utilitarian Model T. Although the Model T, which first went into production in 1908, had become the world's best-selling car and revolutionized the auto industry, it had undergone few major changes since its debut, and from 1914 to 1925 it was only available in one color: black. In May 1927, lack of demand for the Model T forced Ford to shut down the assembly lines on the iconic vehicle. Later that year, the company introduced the more comfortable and stylish Model A, a car whose sleeker look resembled that of a Lincoln automobile. In fact, the Model A was nicknamed "the baby Lincoln."

Henry Leland, a founder of the Cadillac auto brand, established the Lincoln Motor Company in 1917; he reportedly named the new venture after his hero, President Abraham Lincoln. Facing financial difficulties, Lincoln was purchased by Ford in 1922. Henry Ford's son, Edsel (1893-1943), was instrumental in convincing his father to buy Lincoln and played a significant role in its development as Ford's first luxury division. Edsel Ford had succeeded his father as company president in January 1919, after the elder Ford resigned following a disagreement with a group of stockholders. However, father and son soon managed to purchase the stock of these minority investors and regain control of the company. One of Edsel Ford's major contributions as president of Ford was the styling of cars, which he believed could be good-looking as well as functional. His push for style upgrades to the Model T eventually helped to convince his father to drop his famous rule: "You can have any color, as long as it's black." (The Model A, successor to the Model T, was available in a variety of colors from the start.)

In the 1930s, Ford's Lincoln division introduced its popular Zephyr model, which was inspired by the Burlington Zephyr, a streamlined, diesel-powered express train that debuted amid great fanfare in 1934 and featured an engine built by General Motors. The Lincoln Continental, which architect Frank Lloyd Wright reportedly described as "the most beautiful car ever made," launched in 1939 and was a flagship model for decades. President John Kennedy was riding in a 1961 Lincoln Continental when he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. Other leading Lincoln models over the years have included the Town Car, a full-size luxury sedan released in the 1980s (although Henry Ford had a custom-built vehicle called a Town Car in the 1920s), and the Navigator, a full-size luxury sport utility vehicle that launched in the late 1990s.

[LSUFAN]

1936 - Gary Conway, actor (Burke's Law, Land of the Giants), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1936 - David Brenner, American comedian
1937 - Collin Wilcox, Highlands NC, actor (To Kill a Mocking Bird)
1937 - John Devitt, Australia, 100m freestyle swimmer (Olympic-gold-1960)
1937 - Magnar Solberg, Norway, 20K biathalete (Olympic-gold-1968, 72)
1937 - David Newman, American filmmaker (d. 2003)
1938 - Donald W Riegle Jr, (Sen-D-MI, 1976- )
1939 - Jacques Charlier, Belgian sculptor
1939 - Stan Lundine, (Rep-D-NY, 1976-86)
1940 - John Schuck, American actor (McMillan & Wife, Holmes & Yoyo), born in Boston, Massachusetts
Actor & Director George RomeroActor & Director George Romero (1940)
1940 - George A Romero, actor/director (Creepshow, Martin, 2 Evil Eyes)
1941 - John Steel, rock drummer (Animals-House of the Rising Sun)
1942 - Johnny Gamble, rocker (Classics)
1943 - Cheryl Miller, Sherman Oaks California, actress (Paula-Daktari, Born Free)
1943 - Alberto João Jardim, Portuguese president of the regional government of Madeira
1943 - Ken Thompson, American computer scientist
1944 - Daniel A Mica, (Rep-D-FL, 1979- )
1944 - Florence LaRue Gordon, Penn, rocker (5th Dimension-One Less Bell)
1945 - David Brenner, Phila, comedian/TV talk show host (Nightlife)
1946 - Mary Meyer, US, 500m speed skater (Olympic-silver-1968)
1946 - Roy Yeager, Doraville Ga, rocker (Atlanta Rhythm Section)
1947 - James Danforth "Dan" Quayle, Indianapolis Indiana, USA (Sen-R-Ind, 44th Vice President 1989-93)
1947 - Jeannie Wilson, Memphis Tenn, actress (Simon & Simon, Stir Crazy)
1947 - Sanford Bishop, (Rep-D-Georgia)
Rocker Alice CooperRocker Alice Cooper (1948)
1948 - Alice Cooper, [Vincent Furnier], rocker (School's Out), born in Detroit, Michigan
1948 - Rakesh Shukla, cricket leg-spinner (1 Test India v Sri Lanka 1982)
1948 - Robert Coover, novelist (Pricksongs & Descants)
1948 - Rod Grams, (Rep-R-Minnesota), (d. 2013)
1949 - Michael Beck, Memphis Tn, actor (Hans Helms-Holocaust)
1950 - James Dunn, US vocalist (Stylistics-You make me feel Brand New)
1950 - Pamela Franklin, Tokyo Japan, actress (Satan's School for Girls)
1950 - Philip Ehart, rock drummer (Kansas)
1950 - Robert-John Stips, rock keyboardist/singer (The Nits)
1951 - Patrick Bergin, Irish actor
1951 - Dariush Eghbali, Iranian singer and musician
1951 - Stan Papi, American baseball player
1952 - Jerry Shirley, rock drummer (Humble Pie-Hot N Nasty, Eat It)
1952 - Lisa Eichhorn, Reading Pa, actress (Cutter's Way, Yanks)
1952 - Li Yinhe, Chinese sexologist
1953 - Svetlana Ulmasova, USSR, 3K (world title 1978)
1953 - Kitaro, Japanese composer
1955 - Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak Prime minister
1957 - Don Davis, American composer
1957 - Evan Wolfson, American attorney and activist
1958 - Mary Ann Pascal, actress (Samantha-Brothers)
1958 - Werner Schwab, writer
1958 - Tomasz Pacyński, Polish writer
Hall of Fame American Football Player Lawrence TaylorHall of Fame American Football Player Lawrence Taylor (1959)
1959 - Lawrence Taylor, Williamsburg Virginia, NFL's greatest linebacker (NY Giants)
1959 - Zenani Mandela, daughter of Nelson & Winnie Mandela
1960 - Pamelyn Ferdin, actress (Happy Birthday Wanda June, Tool Box Murders)
1960 - Tim Booth, British singer (James)
1960 - Siobhan Dowd, British/Irish author (d. 2007)
1960 - Jenette Goldstein, American actress
1960 - Jonathan Larson, American composer (d. 1996)
1961 - Denis Savard, Pointe Gatineau Ca, NHL center (Chicago Blackhawks)
1961 - Vern Fleming, LIC NY, basketball player (Olympic-gold-1984)
1961 - Stewart O'Nan, American author
1962 - Clint Black, Long Branch NJ, country vocalist (A Better Man)
1962 - Dan Plesac, Gary IN, pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates)
1962 - Vern Fleming, NBA guard (NJ Nets)
1962 - Alfred Twardecki, Polish historian
1962 - Michael Riley, Canadian actor
1963 - Jane Leary, Sydney Australia, golfer (1992 Australian Amateur Champ)
1963 - Pirmin Zurbriggen, Swiss alpine skier (Olympic-gold-1988)
1963 - Tracie Ruiz-Conforto, Hawaii, sync swimmer (Oly-2 gold/silver-84, 88)
1964 - Noodles, American guitarist (The Offspring)
1965 - John van Loen, Dutch soccer player (Feyenoord, San Frecce)
1966 - Barry Klein, Grand Rapids Mich, rower (Olympics-1996)
1966 - Marissa Laakso, Miss Mass-America (1991), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1966 - Spike, rocker [or Sep 18]
1966 - Viatcheslav Ekimov, Russian cyclist
1967 - Sergei Grinkov, Russian ice skater
1968 - Kristen Marie, actress (Cheryl McKinnon-Another World)
1968 - Marko Matvere, Estonian actor
1969 - Brad Cornett, US baseball pitcher (Toronto Blue Jays)
1969 - Chris Crooms, WLAF safety (Barcelona Dragons)
1969 - Dallas Drake, Trail, NHL center (Winnipeg Jets)
1969 - Joe Sacco, Medford, NHL right wing (Anaheim Mighty Ducks)
1969 - Duncan Coutts, Canadian bassist (Our Lady Peace)
1969 - Brandy Ledford, American actress and model
1970 - Alisa Marie Kimble, Miss USA-California (1997)
1970 - Gabrielle Anwar, Laleham England, actress (Body Snatchers)
1970 - John Frascatore, US baseball pitcher (St Louis Cardinals)
1970 - Nicole Wood, Canton OH, playmate (Apr, 1993)
1970 - Todd Peterson, NFL kicker (Seattle Seahawks)
1971 - Kevin Farkas, NFL tackle (Carolina Panthers)
1971 - Maarten Atmodikoro, soccer player (Dordrecht '90, NAC)
1971 - Pete Pierson, NFL tackle (Tampa Bay Bucs)
1971 - Sterling Palmer, NFL defensive end (Washington Redskins)
1971 - Michael Goorjian, American actor (Party Of Five, SLC Punk!), born in San Francisco, California
1971 - Rob Corddry, American actor and comedian
1972 - Kelvin Anderson, CFL running back (Calgary Stampeders)
1972 - Giovanni Silva De Oliveira, Brazilian footballer
1973 - Oscar De La Hoya, US boxer (Olympic Gold 92), born in Los Angeles, California
1974 - Brandon Convery, Kingston, NHL center (Toronto Maple Leafs)
1974 - Chris Ward, defensive end (Baltimore Ravens)
1974 - Mijntje Donners, Dutch hockey international
1975 - Elana Eve Chomiszak, Providence RI, Miss America-Rhode Island (1997)
1975 - Miriam Ruppert, Miss Universe-Germany (1996)
1975 - Konstantinos Nebegleras, Greek footballer
1976 - Cam'ron, American rapper
1977 - Gavin DeGraw, American musician
1978 - Laurence Borremans, Miss Belgium Universe (1997)
1978 - Danna Garcia, Colombian actress
1979 - Andrei Arlovski, Russian mixed martial artist
1979 - Giorgio Pantano, Italian racing car driver
1980 - Kelly Marie Sodan, Miss Kentucky Teen USA (1996)
1981 - Tom Mastny, Indonesian baseball player
1981 - Johan Van Summeren, Belgian cyclist
1981 - Ben Hendrickson, American baseball player
1981 - Jason Kapono, America professional basketball player
1982 - Chris Sabin, American professional wrestler
1982 - Tomas Vaitkus, Lithuanian professional road racing cyclist
1982 - Kimberly Wyatt, American singer and dancer (Pussycat Dolls)
1984 - Mauricio Pinilla, Chilean footballer
1985 - Bug Hall, American actor
1986 - Mohammad Mahmudullah, Bangladeshi cricketer
1987 - Lucie Šafářová, Czech tennis player
1988 - Eoin McDowell, Irish rugby player
1988 - Alexandros Pagalis, Greek footballer
1988 - Carly Patterson, American gymnast
1990 - Haruka

[LSUFAN]

Bears
-------------------------

In light of the rising frequency of human - grizzly bear 
conflicts, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is 
advising hikers, hunters, and fishermen to take extra 
precautions and keep alert of bears while in the field. They
advise that outdoorsmen wear noisy little bells on their 
clothing so as not to startle bears that aren't expecting 
them. They also advise outdoorsmen to carry pepper spray 
with them in case of an encounter with a bear. It is also a 
good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity. 
Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black 
bear and grizzly bear dung. Black bear dung is smaller and 
contains lots of berries and squirrel fur. Grizzly bear dung
has little bells in it and smells like pepper.

[LSUFAN]

Sheesh!

[South Carolina Redfish]

Sheesh!

Morning LSU.  I was checking the weather this morning, still some rain around but moving out soon.  42 degrees but up to the low 60's and sunny later.

[South Carolina Redfish]

Starting the day off with Bear Shit, man could be a rough one.

[LuvTooGolf]

Morning Chip, Dave.

[South Carolina Redfish]

Morning Chip, Dave.

Morning Golf.  Still got snow up there?

[South Carolina Redfish]

Time for work, BBL