About the company: Located on the water in beautiful Newport Beach, California.The environment is positive.

Growing vendor based equipment leasing company   Learn our value proposition   2 Years Sales or Related Exp.   College Degree Preferred   You will work with people that you can trust and respect   Click here to learn more

www.bluestreetcapital.com

Friday, August 15, 2008

Benjamin Geza “Ben” Affleck, actor, producer, writer, born August 15, 1972, Berkeley, California; raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000255/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Affleck

Headlines---

Classified ads--Controller
    Vineyard National Bank in Trouble
        Kit Menkin heard it on the grapevine
Cartoon—Take some time off
    Ex-Pawnee runs the business
    Web Sites: New Category/Outsourcing
Classified Ads---Help Wanted
    Google Tool Bar
        Fernando’s View
        2 Movies/3 DVD’s to Rent this Week
Quotes from George S. Patton
    Inflation Climbs to 17-Year High
        Georgia’s jobless rate highest 15 years
Illinois unemployment rates jumps 7.3%
    Gannett is cutting 1,000 newspaper jobs
        Home Median prices fall in most places
Foreclosures rose 55 percent in July
    Nordstrom's Q2 profit drops 21%
        Apple's market cap surpasses Google's
News Briefs---
    Facebook overtakes MySpace
    You May have Missed---
Sports Briefs---
    "Gimme that Wine"
        Calendar Events
Snapple Real Facts
    Today's Top Event in History
        This Day in American History
Baseball Poem
    SuDoku
        Daily Puzzle
GasBuddy
    Weather, USA or specific area
        Traffic Live----
News on Line---Internet Newspapers
Georgia Newspaper

######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release”

[headlines]

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Classified ads—Controller

Controller

For a full listing of all “job wanted” ads, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

Leasing Recruiters:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Recruits/index.htm

To place a free “job wanted” ad here, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm

[headlines]

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Vineyard National Bank in Trouble

Typical of small regional banks in financial difficulties, once considered
by Fortune as the fourth fastest growing companies, Vineyard National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VNBC) (the "Company"), parent company of Vineyard Bank, N.A. ("Vineyard") and other subsidiaries, based in Southern California, is in serious difficulty. Originally formed to finance the construction and then mortgages of expensive houses, including wine facilities, as well as lending to small businesses, the Federal Reserve last month put several restrictions on the troubled bank as Vineyard struggles for survival. Stockholders recently voted in new directors as there were reportedly many disputes, as well
as unhappiness with shareholders. They hope to survive.

At Vineyards 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on August 5, 2008, shareholders re-elected David A. Buxbaum and Charles L. Keagle. The Company's shareholders also elected Cynthia Harriss, Douglas Kratz, Harice Ogle, Lester Strong and Glen Terry, who ran as nominees of two of the Company's shareholders, Jon Salmanson and Norman Morales. Of the shares voted at the Annual Meeting, 27.2% (2,091,270 shares) were voted in favor of the Company's nominees and 72.8% (5,610,392 shares) were voted in favor of Messrs. Salmanson and Morales's nominees. Each director will serve a term commencing August 11, 2008 and ending at the Company's next annual meeting and until his or her respective successor is elected and qualified.

Vinyard Bank operates “sixteen full-service offices, which are located in each of the communities of Chino, Corona, Covina, Crestline, Diamond Bar, Irvine, Irwindale, Lake Arrowhead, La Verne, Manhattan Beach, Rancho Cucamonga, San Diego, San Dimas, San Rafael, Upland and Walnut all of which are located within the Orange, Los Angeles, Marin, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties of California. The Bank also operates four regional financial centers located in Anaheim, Los Altos, Sherman Oaks and Westlake Village, California.”

Out of its Los Altos, Silicon Valley, and San Rafael, Marin County, both in Northern California , the bank was seeking loans for the construction of multi-million houses in nearby counties as well as 10,000 square foot houses and up in the wine country in both Sonoma and Napa counties; seeking the glamorous from the dot.com industry as well as the once very attractive wine industry (in the last year, many of the well-established wine companies have been sold to conglomerates.)

The stock has tumbled for the company who in 2005 Fortune magazine rated Vineyard National Bancorp the fourth fastest growing company in the United States; "Bank holding company has a specialty in small-business lending."

The bank reported in July it had lost it lost $226.9 million in deposits in its savings, according to its second quarter SEC report, after acquiring $266.3 million in brokered deposits. The Federal Reserve now requires permission to access additional funds, also placing a consent order has placed the line of credit back under default with its corresponding bank.

In addition, all the bank unsecured borrowing lines were suspended, all totaling to $132 million. $400 million in collateral was recently pledged to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. How that
will be used or distributed is up to the regulators. Hopefully
the new board of directors may have an input as well as come
up with new depositors or sell to another larger bank.

Board of Directors:
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/people.asp?symbol=VNBC

Bank locations:
http://www.vineyardbank.com/locations/BranchesSouthern.aspx

[headlines]

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Kit Menkin heard it on the grapevine

Where have all the 42 employees from Irwin Financial USA gone? Leasing News has gotten many inquiries as employers want to hire them. One is going to advertise in Leasing News classified on Monday, opening up our credit category. By the way, several leasing companies have told Leasing News they are running UCC's, hoping to pick up new leases from Irwin customers...one wanted to know
where they could obtain Irwin’s vendor list?

The National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers committee on "Trigger Data" is now asking its members for their input:
“Have you been impacted Positively or Negatively by ‘Trigger Leads?’ Please Provide Feedback and share with us how you have benefitted from Trigger Leads or have been adversely affected by Trigger Leads.
Please send your responses to larry@gpscapitalusa.com by August 30.”

…so far NAELB is the only association looking to take a stand. It appears the three major leasing companies using Trigger Data are Balboa Capital, Direct Capital, Five Point Capital.
Guess which of the three belongs to NAELB and who may be asked to stop the practice or leave the association...You got it right, Toyota.

In the complaint about Balboa Capital and Fair Market Value, one reader pointed out:

“As to the issue of Geospann as lessee and Balboa as lessor, let's review the numbers and its underlying pricing per an Hewlett Packard 12C lease calculation:

Amount: $43,555.00
Term: 48 months
Fixed Monthly Payment, set in advance: $1,351.93 per month
Buyout: Fair Market Value
Implicit Lease Rate, excluding FMV buyout: 21.137%

Kit, am I dense? Is not a rate of 21.137% representing the apparent implicit lease rate plus the positive monetary impact of the depreciation benefits extending to the lessor more than sufficient yield to any given lessor? “ A smart attorney will want to represent Geospann on this one.

Monday, Leasing News will reveal who is the leasing company in the $101 purchase option document not signed by the lessor. Can you guess? Right again!!! Another field day for the right attorney.

Did you catch that despite all the negative news, Marlin Business Service stock Thursday last trade was $8.13? The low was $5.85, but the stock has being going up. What am I missing? Oh yes, the volume was only 12,940 shares at $8.13.

…that Mona James, CLP, formerly who was Bob Baker's right hand in running Wildwood, is leaving Canyon Capital is an incorrect rumor. She loves it there, she told Leasing News, but misses Bob yelling at her every day (he was the greatest boss letting us bring kids to work on holidays, etc., buying them ice cream, always buying employees lunch, and really cared about all of us, she said, and people thought we were married we disagreed so much, she said laughing.)

...Leasing News is everywhere because our readers are our eyes
and ears: one was at the UAEL Regional cocktail party in Lake Oswego, OR. It was put on by QuikTrak, Commercial Equipment Lease, and Kenco Leasing. Free food, free drinks. Open to all members of the leasing industry in the Northwest regardless if you are a member of UAEL or not. Jim Merrilees was there, President of QuikTrak was reportedly telling those who attended (he had reportedly already spoken to board members at NAELB) about the UAEL & EAEL merger. The deal is done, he was said to have said, but they are waiting to vote on the name of this newly merged association: NEFA (National Equipment Finance Association). Where is Ray Williams when we need him?

I remember the good old days when leasing looked down at the “finance” industry as we were sophisticated, no money down, no blanket UCC liens, longer terms, tax benefits, and no "hock shop" collateral oriented (“We have tax advantages!!!.”) Of course, we didn't have fax machines let alone computers, no cell phones, internet connections, or even FED Express in those days. Gas was 40 cents a gallon, too, plus green stamps, and full service, too, including they cleaned all your windows, and we drove the application in along with financial statements and tax returns.

I also remember when I smoked putting a quarter in the cigarette machine and getting a pack of Herbert Tareytons’ back with two pennies in the bottom of the pack ( and what bothers me most today is when I ask for a senior citizen discount at the "movie house" they never ask to verify my age with my driver's license.) Yes, I have
no hair, and maybe out to date, too (I still like Teresa Brewer.)

Speaking of bald headed men, it reminds me of Barry Reitman's most recent e-mail:

"Help me in boycotting Anheuser-Busch since they are sellouts to a foreign company.

“Drop your beer off at my house & I will dispose of it. We'll teach those b**tards."

baldguy@keystoneleasing.com

[headlines]

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[headlines]

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Ex-Pawnee runs the business

Web Sites: New Category/Outsourcing

This company specializes in web sites for leasing companies. Dana Freemen was formerly with Pawnee Leasing for nine years as a Regional Marketing Manager. Since leaving Pawnee about two years,
Dana has been working with brokers across the country to help them improve their web presence and overall marketing effectiveness.

You will see he has brought together a top web staff and they understand the leasing business.

Please visit: www.dfco.com/leasing

Classified Ad Listing:

Web Sites

Full Classified Ad List:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Outsourcing/Outsourcing.htm

[headlines]

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Classified Ads---Help Wanted

Sales Person

Frustrated Sales Person If you are experiencing difficulty in fulfilling local banks' credit criteria with your transactions, believe that foreign funding could be of assistance and are ready for an exciting new challenge---then you need to apply for this sales position.

gocustomcapital.com is an International equipment leasing company recently established in Brea, California, seeking to attract frustrated sales persons.

Vendor Sales Specialists

VENDOR SALES SPECIALISTS LEASING SALES PROFESSIONALS Like selling vendor programs and large transactions? Enjoy international financing programs? Prefer the advantages of a commission only environment with the security of health and welfare benefits? CLICK HERE to find out how to have fun again.

About the company: Located on the water in beautiful Newport Beach, California.The environment is positive.

Growing vendor based equipment leasing company   Learn our value proposition   2 Years Sales or Related Exp.   College Degree Preferred   You will work with people that you can trust and respect   Click here to learn more

www.bluestreetcapital.com

[headlines]

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Google Tool Bar

If you have not downloaded the Google Tool Bar, you are missing many features and short cuts. Just type in www.toolbar.google.com. It is very fast. You may not want to accept all the “options, but
that is your call.

There are many features and short cuts, especially if download on Mozilla Firefox.

Some of the things you can get:
Type in stock symbol and get the latest.
Type in UPS or Fed Ex package number, get the full report
Use as a calculator---
Converts measurements
Type in a question

Here is more about how Google works:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_search

For those who want to learn more:
Google Apps For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/Google-Apps-Dummies-Computer-Tech/dp/0470189584/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218740080&sr=1-16

Here are our collection of computer tips for the leasing industry:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Computer_Tips.htm

Calculators:
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/lease-finance.htm

Books:

Books
Direct Purchase
Certified Leasing Professional (CLP) Foundation
Equipment Leasing Association
Equipment  Leasing and Finance Foundation Reports
United Association of Equipment Leasing

Library Research from Home

[headlines]

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Fernando’s View
2 Movies/3 DVD’s to Rent this Week

By Fernando F. Croce

Out in Theaters:

Tropic Thunder (DreamWorks): Ben Stiller’s Hollywood satire starts on such a furious and funny note that viewers may worry about the energy level dropping afterwards. Fortunately, Stiller and his gang of talented comics pull enough rabbits out of their hats to keep the laughs coming even as the movie around them loses energy on its way to the finish line. In this spoof of action movies and superstar vanity, a blockbuster star (Stiller), a comic actor trying his hand at drama (Jack Black), and a serious Oscar-winner (Robert Downey, Jr.) go the jungles of Southeast Asia to shoot and movie and find themselves dodging real bullets. Like most send-ups of the movie business, “Tropic Thunder” is never as bold as it thinks it is, but the performers (especially Downey, Jr.) keep it humming.

Frozen River (Sony Pictures Classics): The deserved winner of the Grand Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, this powerful film combines skillful suspense with emotional performances. Single mother Ray (Melissa Leo) has to struggle to hang on to her family after her husband runs off with their final home payment, and things take an even harsher turn after she meets a young Mohawk woman named Lila (Misty Upham). Though at first distrustful of each other, the two women work together for the money they need in a series of increasingly dangerous situations. Director Courtney Hunt watches it all with insight and compassion, and the terrific Leo never makes a false move.

New on DVD:

Brand Upon the Brain! (Criterion): Canadian director Guy Maddin, the one-of-a-kind mind behind “The Saddest Music in the World” and “My Winnipeg,” offers one of his most fascinating films in this simultaneously giddy and haunting tale of dreams and traumas. Shot in black-and-white to suggest ancient silent melodramas, the film follows a man back to his childhood island home, where his sister has secrets of her own and his intimating mother controls everything from a lighthouse. To heighten the experience, Maddin originally presented the film with a live orchestra, sound-effects man, and narrator on the stage. Even without the presentation, however, the movie does justice to its title by being truly unforgettable.

CJ7 (Sony): Best known for his cheeky, breathless martial-arts bonanzas (“Kung Fu Hustle”), Hong Kong star-director Stephen Chow moves into family fare without sacrificing his playful sensibility with this unique fantasy. Chow this time plays only a supporting role as the father of a poor boy named Dicky (played by Xu Jiao, actually a girl). Dicky yearns for a friend and toys as cool as those of the snooty kids at school, and both dreams come true in the shape of a blobby alien that’s been left behind by a spaceship. Viewers looking for the fast-paced spoof of Chow’s earlier movies may be surprised by his sentimental touch here, yet “CJ7” has so much weird charm that fans of both “E.T.” and “Shaolin Soccer” will be equally beguiled.

Smart People (Disney / Miramax): In this week’s second Sundance Film Festival offering, Dennis Quaid plays a widowed literature professor who is forced to reconsider his sour life after an accident leaves him in the care of his lay about brother (Thomas Hayden Church). While Quaid brightens up his worldview with the help of a former student (Sarah Jessica Parker), his equally uptight daughter (“Juno’s” Ellen Page) learns to loosen up thanks to her uncle, who proves to be a delightfully grubby presence. Exploring how even the most cultured people still have something to learn from life’s unexpected turns, this comedy-drama is buoyed by a strong cast, with Church and Page particularly standing out.

[headlines]

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Quotes from George S. Patton

(photo: George S. Patton Museum)

Patton: Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

Translator: The general would like to know if you will drink a toast with him.
Patton: Thank the general and tell him I have no desire to drink with him or any other Russian son of a bitch.
Translator: [Nervous] I can't tell him that!
Patton: Tell him, every word.
Translator: [In Russian] He says he will not drink with you or any Russian son of a bitch.
Russian general: [In Russian] Tell him he is a son of a bitch, too. Now!
Translator: [Very nervous] He says he thinks you are a son of a bitch, too.
Patton: [Laughing] All right. All right, tell him I'll drink to that; one son of a bitch to another.

(Leasing News provides this ad “gratis” as a means
to help support the growth of Lease Police)

[headlines]

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News Briefs----

Inflation Climbs to 17-Year High
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/14/AR2008081400733.html

Georgia’s jobless rate highest in 15 years
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/08/14/georgia_jobless_report.html

Illinois unemployment rates jumps to 7.3%
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chicago-illinois-unemployment-aug14,0,5791769.story

Gannett is cutting 1,000 newspaper jobs
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2008-08-14-gannett-job-cuts_N.htm

Home Median prices fall in most places
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/mortgages/home-values1.asp?caret=1

Foreclosures in US rose 55 percent in July as housing market continued to sink
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-foreclosure-rates,0,6229726.story

Nordstrom's Q2 profit drops 21%; retailer cuts annual profit forecast
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008114068_webnordstrom14.html

Apple's market cap surpasses Google's
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_10193420?nclick_check=1

[headlines]

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You May have Missed--

Facebook named world's top social networking site
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Facebook_named_worlds_top_
social_networking_site/articleshow/3363437.cms

[headlines]

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Sports Briefs----

History on the horizon for Phelps
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/beijing/swimming/2008-08-14-phelps-six_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

USA's Blake ousts Federer; Williams sisters also fall
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/beijing/racket/2008-08-14-federer-blake_N.htm

Raiders' Walker now a changed man
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_10195645

[headlines]

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(This ad is a “trade” for the writing of this column. Opinions
contained in the column are those of Mr. Terry Winders, CLP)

“Gimme that Wine”

Sonoma Grape harvest appears to be 10-20% below average
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080814/NEWS/846361787/1350&title=Grape_harvest_down

Napa Harvest 2008 to be ‘exceptional year’
http://www.sthelenastar.com/articles/2008/08/14/features/community/doc48a3aac0cd133085839766.txt

U.S. halts some Italian, Bordeaux wine imports
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSN1348086520080814

Winiarskis give gift to their college alma mater
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/08/14/business/doc48a3b94781bd9056665078.txt

NY State Sen. Young secures $1.05 million for Grape Discovery Center
http://www.observertoday.com/page/content.detail/id/507616.html?nav=5047

Living and Drinking in the Moment ---Eric Asimov
http://events.nytimes.com/2008/08/13/dining/reviews/13wine.html?ref=dining

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/
US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/
Winery Atlas
http://www.carterhouse.com/atlas
Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm
The London International Vintners Exchange (Liv-ex) is an electronic exchange for fine wine.
http://www.liv-ex.com/

[headlines]

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Calendar Events This Day

Best Friend’s Day
Celebrate this special day by doing something with your best friend. Larry Faber died and I announced his passage on August 15, 2003. I miss him terribly. You don’t know how much, as I get depressed
thinking about his not being around to argue with and discuss current events and life, in general.
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/August_%202003/8-15-03.htm#dedicated

Chauvin Day
A day named for Nicholas Chauvin, French soldier from Rochefort, France, who idolized Napoleon and who eventually became a subject of ridicule because of his blind loyalty and dedication to anything French. Chauvinism has come to mean blind or absurdly intense attachment to any cause.

Congo( Brazzaville) National Day
National day of the People’s Republic of the Congo. Commemorates independence from France in 1060.

Equatorial Guinea:
Constitution Day. National holiday commemorating the 1982 revision of the original constitution of 1968.

Hawaii admission Day Holiday.
The third Friday in August is observed as a state holiday each year, recognizing the anniversary of Hawaii’s statehood. Hawaii became the 50th state August 21, 1959.

Hello Day
(1877, Thomas Edison wrote a letter to the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, suggesting that when people answer the phone, they use the word "Hello" instead of the word "Ahoy" suggested by Alexander Graham Bell.)

India: Independence Day.
National Holiday. Anniversary of Indian independence from Britain in 1947.

Korea: Independence Day.
National Holiday. Commemorates the acceptance by Japan of Allied terms of surrender in 1945, thereby freeing Korea form 26 years of Japanese domination.

Lichtenstein: National Day
Public holiday on Assumption Day

National Lemon Meringue Pie Day

National Relaxation Day
http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/August/relaxationday.htm
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/langearlyread/ss/letterxcolor_8.htm

Panama: Panama City Foundation Day
Traditional annual cultural observance recognizing foundation of Panama City

Saint feast Days

• St. Tarsicius
• St. Alipius
• St. Altfrid
• St. Arduinus
• St. Arnulf
• St. Limbania
• St. Neopolus

http://www.catholic.org/saints/f_day/aug.php

http://www.123greetings.com/events/august2008.html

[headlines]

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The expletive, "Holy Toledo," refers to Toledo, Spain, which became an outstanding Christian cultural center in 1085.

[headlines]

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Today's Top Event in History

1974-President Richard Nixon announced in a televised address that he would resign. Three days earlier he had released tape transcripts revealing he had impeded the Watergate investigation. Nixon told an audience of some 100,000,000, he had made some wrong decisions but that he was resigning because he no longer had enough support in Congress.

[headlines]
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This Day in American History

    1588 – This event is mentioned as history may have been quite different for the founding of the United States. The Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130 huge ships, met defeat at the hands of English sailors and their smaller, more maneuverable vessels. Then a series of wicked Atlantic storms off the coast of Southern England took their toll. Only half of the 130 Spanish ships managed to limp ... at best ... home. The 60 or so English ships, plus the weather, saved England from the Spanish invaders.
    1814-Esther Hobart McQuigg Morris was born at Tioga County, NY, but eventually moved to Wyoming Territory, where she worked in the women’s rights movement and had a key role in getting a women’s suffrage bill passed. Morris became justice of the peace of South Pass City, WY, in 1870, one of the first times a woman held public office in the US. She represented Wyoming at the national suffrage convention in 18795. She died April 2, 1902, at Cheyenne, WY.
    1844- Brigham Young chosen Mormon Church head following Joseph Smith death.
    1866-Birthday of Mathew Henson, famous African-American explorer, born at Charles County, MD. He met Robert E. Peary while working in a Washington, DC, store in 1888 and was hired to be Peary’s valet. He accompanied Peary on his seven subsequent Arctic expeditions. During the successful 1908—09 expedition to the North Pole, Henson and two of the four Eskimo guides reached their destination Apr 6, 1909. Peary arrived minutes later and verified the location. Henson’s account of the expedition. A Negro Explorer at the North Pole, was published in 1912. In addition to the Congressional medal awarded all members of the North Pole expedition, Henson received the Gold Medal of the Geographical Society of Chicago and, at 81, was made an honorary member of the Explorers Club at New York, NY. Died Mar 9,1955, at New York, NY.
http://www.matthewhenson.com/
http://www.arcticice.org/henson.htm
    1866-The first queen to visit the United Sates was Queen Emma, widow of King Kamehameha IV of the Sandwich Islands ( later to be re-named Hawaii), who arrived in New York City from England on the Cuuard liner Java. She was received on August 14,1866 by President Andrew Johnson and introduced to his family. American business had already started to invest in the island, bringing coffee, potatoes, hybrid sugarcane, horses and cattle.
    1878 - The temperature at Denver, CO, soars to an all-time record high of 105 degrees.
    1899-Birthday Of Russell Markert, American choreographer Russell Markert, born at Jersey City, NJ. He founded and directed the Radio City Music Hall Rocketts from 1932 to 1971. He died December 1, 1990, at Waterbury, CT.     1899 - A.T. Marshall of Brockton, MA patented the refrigerator. It was not practical in cost for many households and “ice” refrigerators were common until perhaps World War II.
    1876-Thomas Alva Edison of Menlo Park, NJ, obtained a patent for a “method of preparing autographic stencils for printing”. He went on to improve the “mimeograph,” who until the advent of the photocopier, was the most widespread method of paper communication and duplication.
    1896-Birthday of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, American short story writer and novelist ( The Yearling), born at Washington, DC. Rawlings died at St. Augustine, FL, December 14, 1953.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/aug08.html.
    1900-Birthday of bandleader Lucky Millinder, Anniston, AL.
    1911 - Membership in the U.S. House of Representatives was established at 435. Every 211,877 residents of the U.S. were represented by one member of Congress.
1918 –Birthday alto Sax player Benny Carter Birthday (Died July 12,2003)
http://www.bennycarter.com/
http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/ijs/bc/
http://www.jazzradio.org/benny.htm
http://www.riverwalk.org/profiles/carter.htm
    1918-Two days after the Battle of Marne ended, the British Fourth Army mounted an offensive at Amiens with the objective of freeing the Amliens-Paris railways from bombardment by the German Second and Eighteenth Armies. More than 16,000 German prisoners were taken in two hours of fighting the first day. The German forces were forced back to the Hindenburg’s line by September 3. This battle is considered a turning point by many historians because of its impact on the psyche o f Germany. August 8 was described by General Erich Ludendorff as a “Black Day” for Germany.
    1923-Birthday of singer Jimmy Witherspoon, Gurdon,AR.
    1926-Birthday of trombonist Urbie Green, Mobile, AL.
    1922-Louis Armstrong, 22 years old, leaves for the Windy City. His autobiography is fascinating to read about his version of the beginnings of jazz. He perhaps is not only the best known jazz musicians, but considered even today to have been quite ahead of his time. On old records, it is easy to pick him out playing the trumpet. He had tone, melody and rhythm that still wants you to sing, dance, or tap your foot.
    1923 - Benny Goodman was 14 years old as he began his professional career as a clarinet player. He took a job in a band on a Chicago-based excursion boat on Lake Michigan.
    1932-Birthday of singer/songwriter Mel Tillis, Pahokee,FL. Tillis was the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year . Equally talented as a singer and as a songwriter, Tillis began his hit-making career in 1958 with "The Violet and the Rose." His top-ten singles have included "Who's Julie," "The Arms of a Fool" and "Memory Maker." Tillis has a speech impediment, but has made his stuttering a part of his act.
    1933-Louisiana Governor O.K.Allen pardon’s Huddie William Ledbetter, better known as the folksinger “Leadbelly.,” He got the name while in prison in Texas for being very strong. He was a very big man with an explosive temper, and was in for murder. He was pardoned by Texas Governor Pat Neff from a thirty year sentence, something that was unheard of in Texas and from the very conservative Neff, but it is said, he sang a song of why he should be released that so affect the warden, and then Neff, that they released him. Leadbelly was one of my father’s favorite folksingers, that he played all the time, and my first memories of my father are listening to this music in the forties. I remember sitting on his knee, perhaps the earliest recollection of my father, who I miss more and more as each year goes by.
http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/ledbet.html
http://www.blueflamecafe.com/index.html
http://members.fortunecity.com/kgerald/personel/LedbetterHuddie.htm
http://www.cycad.com/cgi-bin/Leadbelly/biog.html
http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/cit/citlcleadbelly.htm
    1933-The first savings and loan association established by the federal government was the first Federal Savings and Loan Association of Miami, Florida. The creation of savings and loan institutions had been authorized by the Home Owners Loan Act of June 13, 1933, to provide a convenient place for the investment of small and large sums and to lend money to local applicants for first mortgages.
    1941 - Les Brown and His Band of Renown paid tribute to baseball’s ‘Yankee Clipper’, Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees, with the recording of "Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio" on Okeh Records. From that time on, DiMaggio adopted the nickname, Joltin’ Joe.
    1942-Adding to the fear of the times from both the war in the Pacific and Atlantic, this event is forgotten by many today. Six Germans were electrocuted this day in 1942 in Washington, DC. They were part of a group of eight who were tried by a military commission of seven generals. One saboteur, George John Dasch, was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and another Ernest Peter Bruger, received a life sentence. All eight were found guilty of landing in rubber boats from enemy submarines, carrying explosives, incendiaries, fuses, detonators timing devices, acids, and similar material. Four of them landed on June 13, 1942, at Amagansett, NY, on Long Island, and were discovered by Seamen Second Class John C. Cullen of the Amagansett Coast Guard Station. Four others landed on June 17, 1942, at Poine Vedra Beach near Jacksonville, FL.
    1951-Birthday of Randy Shilts, journalist known for his reporting on the AIDS epidemic. One of the first openly homosexual journalists to work for a mainstream newspaper and the author of And the Band Played On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic. Born at Davenport, IA, and died at Guerneville, CA, Feb 17, 1994.
    1951---Top Hits
Too Young - Nat King Cole
Mister and Mississippi - Patti Page
Because of You - Tony Bennett
I Wanna Play House with You - Eddy Arnold
    1959---Top Hits
Lonely Boy - Paul Anka
A Big Hunk o’ Love - Elvis Presley
My Heart is an Open Book - Carl Dobkins, Jr.
Waterloo - Stonewall Jackson
    1960- British Decca destroyed 25,000 copies of Ray Peterson's death-rock song, "Tell Laura I Love Her." The company refused to release a song which it said was "too tasteless and vulgar for the English sensibility." A rival firm, however, had no such compunction, recording a cover version by a singer named Ricky Valance, which went to number one on the British chart. In the US, Ray Peterson's recording of "Tell Laura I Love Her" reached number seven on the Billboard pop chart.
    1967---Top Hits
Light My Fire - The Doors
All You Need is Love - The Beatles
A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum
I’ll Never Find Another You - Sonny James
    1968- Race riot in Miami Florida.
    1969-Photographer Iain Macmillan took six pictures of the Beatles crossing the street outside their Abbey Road studio in London. A police officer held up traffic while the band walked back and forth several times. Paul McCartney chose one of the pictures for the cover of the "Abbey Road" album.
    1970-New York Yankees honor Casey Stengel, retiring his number 37.
    1970-CCR's "Looking Out My Back Door" is released.
    1970- Janis Joplin bought a tombstone for blues singer Bessie Smith's unmarked grave in a Philadelphia cemetery. Less than two months later, Joplin herself was dead of a drug overdose. Smith had died following an auto accident in 1942 at the age of 37.
    1973-Vice-President Spiro T Agnew brands them "damned lies" regarding reports he took kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland. He vowed not to resign; that he was innocent.
    1974-President Richard Nixon announced in a televised address that he would resign. Three days earlier he had released tape transcripts revealing he had impeded the Watergate investigation. Nixon told an audience of some 100,000,000, he had made some wrong decisions but that he was resigning because he no longer had enough support in Congress.
    1974-Eric Clapton receives a gold record for "461 Ocean Boulevard." It's his comeback album and contains his Number One version of "I Shot the Sheriff." The album reaches the top of the charts.
    1974 - Roberta Flack received a gold record for the single, "Feel Like Makin’ Love". Flack, born in Asheville, NC and raised in Arlington, VA, was awarded a music scholarship to Howard University in Washington, DC -- at the age of 15. One of her classmates became a singing partner on several hit songs. Donny Hathaway joined Flack on "You’ve Got a Friend", "Where is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You". She had 10 hits on the pop charts in the 1970s and 1980s.
    1975---Top Hits
One of These Nights - Eagles
Jive Talkin’ - Bee Gees
Please Mr. Please - Olivia Newton-John
Just Get Up and Close the Door - Johnny Rodriguez
    1975- country singer Hank Williams Junior suffered severe head injuries when he fell 150 metres while mountain climbing in Montana. When he returned to performing months later, he had switched to a country-rock sound from the pure country style made famous by his father.
    1976-The Chicago White Sox made baseball sartorial history by donning shorts for a game against the Kansas City Royals. The Sox won, 5-2, but the shorts, a novelty thought up by owner Bill Veeck, lasted only a while.
    1981-Shiaway St. Pat, driven by Ray Remmen, won the Hambletonia, the most important race for three-year-old trotters, contested for the first time at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
    1983---Top Hits
Every Breath You Take - The Police
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics
She Works Hard for the Money - Donna Summer
Your Love’s on the Line - Earl Thomas Conley
    1984 - Carl Lewis won his third gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics. He won the 200-meter sprint. At the same time, Greg Louganis received his first gold medal in diving in the springboard competition.
    1986- singer David Crosby, sentenced to a five-year term for drug and weapons charges, was paroled from a prison in Huntsville, Texas after serving only five months. The convictions were overturned by a Texas appeals court in November 1987- Crosby said when he was released that he had kicked a ten-year drug habit and wanted to resume his musical career. He gained fame with the Byrds in the late 1960's, then teamed with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young.
    1987 - Less than three months after they go to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 for the first time with "With or Without You," U2 return to the top of the chart with "I Still Haven't Found what I'm Looking For," the second single from "The Joshua Tree."( A birthday present for the Edge.)
    1988-The first night game of Chicago’s Wrigley Field was postponed by rain with the Cubs leading the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1, in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Phillies’ Phil Bradley let off the game with a home run, but in a postponed game, all statistics are washed out.
    1990- Iraq annexes Kuwait. The US has been sending troops to Saudi Arabia and moving the US Navy into the Mediterranean seas.
    1991---Top Hits
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You - Bryan Adams
P.A.S.S.I.O.N. - Rythm Syndicate
Summertime - D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
She’s in Love with the Boy - Trisha Yearwood
    1993-The Dream Team, a specially-assembled team of NBA all-stars, defeated Crotia, 117-85, to win the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The Dream Team, coached by Chuck Daly, including Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and John Stockton.
    1994- Janet Jackson tied Aretha Franklin for the most gold singles by a female artist - 14 - when "Any Time, Any Place" was certified as having sold more than 500,000 copies.
    1995- the Canadian stage production of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" opened at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto. At $17 million, it was the most expensive stage production in Canadian history.
    1998-The largest free jazz festival in the world, San Jose, California, draws 200,000 to hear Sandoval, Broadbent, Schuur, among many others.

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