09/13/2015 archive

John is back tonight. Yeah!

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 109 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1814, Francis Scot Key pens Star-Spangled Banner

“The Star-Spangled Banner“ is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from “Defence of Fort McHenry”, a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.

The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men’s social club in London. “The Anacreontic Song” (or “To Anacreon in Heaven”), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Key’s poem and renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner“, it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song. With a range of one and a half octaves, it is known for being difficult to sing. Although the song has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today, with the fourth (“O thus be it ever when free men shall stand…”) added on more formal occasions. In the fourth stanza, Key urged the adoption of “In God is our Trust” as the national motto (“And this be our motto: In God is our Trust”). The United States adopted the motto “In God We Trust” by law in 1956.

“The Star-Spangled Banner” was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.

Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom. “Hail, Columbia” served this purpose at official functions for most of the 19th century. “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee“, whose melody was derived from the British national anthem, also served as a de facto anthem before the adoption of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Following the War of 1812 and subsequent American wars, other songs would emerge to compete for popularity at public events, among them “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover  we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

Breakfast Tune: Tupac Shakur Bluegrass version of Pain

Today in History: September 13th

Israel and the Palestinians sign a major accord; President George W. Bush takes responsibility for the federal response to Hurricane Katrina; Attica prison uprising ends; Rapper Tupac Shakur dies. (Sept. 13)

Something to Think about, Breakfast News & Blogs Below

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

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The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with George Stephanopolis: The guests on Sunday’s “This Week” are: Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson; Gen. John Allen, Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS; and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX).

The roundtable guests are: NPR’s Morning Edition, Steve Inskeep; Washington Post national political reporter Robert Costa; Republican strategist Kristen Soltis Anderson; and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.

Face the Nation: Host John Dickerson’s guests are: Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson and Donald Trump.

His panel guests are: Democratic strategist David Axelrod; Peter Baker, The New York Times; Wall Street Journal contributor, Peggy Noonan; John Heilemann, Bloomberg Politics; and Gwen Ifill, PBS Newshour and Washington Week.

Meet the Press with Chuck Todd: The guests on this Sunday’s “MTP” are: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I_VT); Republican presidential candidate Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ); Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK); former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC); and former ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford.

The roundtable gusts are: David Brooks; Maria Hinljosa; Ron Fournier; and Sarah Fagen.

State of the Union with Jake Tapper: Mr. Tappers guests are: GOP presidential candidate Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI); and RNC Chair Reince Priebus.

Clashes as Israeli soldiers storm Al-Aqsa compound

  Israeli security personnel use tear gas as they enter compound to arrest Palestinian ‘stone throwers’.

13 Sep 2015 06:51 GMT

Clashes have erupted after a number of Israeli soldiers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, police and witnesses said.

The Israeli security personnel used tear gas as they entered the compound to arrest what they called Palestinian “stone throwers”.

The disturbances came with tensions running high after Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon last week outlawed two Muslim groups from entering the mosque compound – Islam’s third holiest site.

Israeli security forces closed the mosque’s compound to worshippers following the clashes.