The Lament of the Leasing Broker
by Barry S. Marks, Alabama Poet
(Up-dated by editor)

"What, Me Worry?"

Let’s raise up a glass of Holiday Cheer
And toast to the passing of one awful year!
Forget the two buck Chuck
Now it's $2.99, just my luck.

And now we have blue state against red:
One wants more, the other less of the fed,
The senate stays late, Congress is out
and the people, we are about to lose the bout.

The leasing is off, and commissions are down
The worst is no funder to be found.

What we have is cash advance
or high rate loan that makes us dance
to get our commission,
Oh, what a mission!

Now we head to the cliff
That doesn't give me a real lift.
Of course we’ll survive, in leasing we do,
Each turn of the wheel always brings something new

So the bright day is coming, the red sky’s at night
Though today we’re all yelling, “It just isn’t right…
“The Visa card’s calling about a remittance,
My 401k has shrunk to a pittance,
Retirement waves to me from a distance,
Disposable cash? Now barely subsistence,
Recovery’s a myth I doubt its existence,
Please help me, Obama!--- or get Congress to listen,
My funders once were lions, now they cry like a kitten.
Goodbye to twelve, goodbye, I’ll make it somehow.

BARRY S. MARKS

Happy New Year!!! We hope

Classified Ads---Controller/Credit

(These ads are “free” to those seeking employment or looking
to improve their position)

Chicago, IL experienced in lease accounting, operations, management, and Sarbanes-Oxley. Seeking position with equipment lessor. Would consider contract assignments or relocating.  Email: leasecontroller@comcast.net

Southeastern, MI Controller & Management experience w/ equip lessors &broker. MBA, CPA w/ extensive accounting, management, securitization experience with public and private companies. Willing to relocate.  Email: Leasebusiness@aol.com

Greater Atlanta, GA 13 yrs. small ticket--directly w/brokers & direct sale, plus working capital.. Most recently Medical.  StuartJablonski@aol.com   Cell: (770) 561-1434 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stuartjablonski | Resume

Free Posting for those seeking employment in Leasing:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm

All “free” categories “job wanted” ads:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

 

Why Choose Advanced Property Tax Compliance?

Dedicated to the leasing industry click here to learn more.  Hear What Our Clients say about us  click here Gary DiLillo, President 440.871.0555 or gary@avptc.com

 

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Leasing Companies in Upper Central States Open
---and Round Up by Kit Menkin

Many leasing companies were closed due to the blizzard as well as tornado warnings right after Christmas. Most are open, such as First Federal Leasing, such as reported by its CEO Paul Witte in Richmond, Indiana.

Lease Police, located in Plano, Texas, has been down due to changes made by their service provider, and the decision has been made to move all files to a virtual server for not only better service, faster service, but a higher degree of security, according to Bernie Boettingheimer, CLP

On December 24, there were over 400 “autoresponder” responses from the Constant Contact email edition that readers had taken their vacation. While many said they would be back on Wednesday or Thursday, over half that were opened said it would not be until the first week of January--- several also mentioned not until January 7th.

Several mentioned the entire company would be closed until January.

It doesn't look like December will be a record month for the finance and leasing business, although retail may be better, most likely via the internet as weather halted many from leaving their residence.

The weather will be more a factor in the December sales than the fear of the "fiscal cliff."

It will be interesting to see how January starts, and if it anything like the last four years, the first quarter is usually the slower of the year. Be prepared to work harder!!! Don’t back off!

 

 

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End of Year Alexa Report--Leasing News #1

	U.S.	World Wide	Links	Web Site
1	39,521	191,981	222	LeasingNews.com
2	55,268	435,548	81	Lessors.com
3	102,806	679,878	182	Monitordaily.com
4	221,223	1,473,103	56	Equipment Finance Advisor
5	282,637	1,118,699	318	ELFAonline.org
6	298,684	1,752,111	77	Worldleasingnews.com
7	333,816	1,416,320	157	Commercial Finance Association
8	358,558	1,902,739	127	NAELB.org
9	456,576	2,905,054	125	Equip. Leasing Finance Foundation
10	No Data	2,178,169	70	NEFAssociation.org
11	No Data	2,738,393	33	CLPFoundation.org
12	No Data	10,048,288	23	Assoc. Gov. Leasing/Finance

Despite not being a daily media as the other finance/leasing media issue, Leasing News remains at the end of the year, with Google or other assistance, the most read on line equipment leasing on line news media.

The main reason comes from readers who send in information, tips, or make requests for follow-up or information that they are seeking.

Thank you.

Kit Menkin and Staff

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New Hires---Promotions

Katherine Nordendahl, CLP, has been promoted at Bank of the West Equipment Finance Division, San Ramon, California, moving to the Healthcare Department, Vendor Group. She joined the bank in 1998 and was appointed assistant vice-president in 2005, promoted to vice-president Indirect Equipment Finance Division as a Marketing Officer August, 2011.

"Katherine has been an important contributor to our department for the last 15 years, Stephen P. Crane, Vice President & Marketing Manager | Indirect Equipment Financing, said. "While we are sad that she is leaving her role in our group, we are happy to see her career at Bank of the West advance."

 

 

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Leasing Industry Help Wanted

Business Development Officer Baltimore-Washington DC Area Should have existing client base.  Work from corporate office as required. Salary plus commission structure, benefits, expense plan. Email:Alevine@madisoncapital.com or npistorio@madisoncapital.com www.madisoncapital.com 35 years equipment & vehicle financing full service direct funder for small to mid-ticket transactions, with syndication abilities for large ticket.

Credit Coordinator 11620 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025 Liaison between the Brokers/Clients and Maxim Credit Underwriters during the underwriting process. Coordinator will be responsible for managing the process of each transaction through our CRM and workflow management software. Click here for more information www.maximcc.com Founded 2008, Maxim Commercial Capital, LLC is a nationwide funding source for Equipment and Real Estate secured commercial transactions.

For information on placing a help wanted ad, please click here:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Hwanted/Hwanted-post.htm 

Please see our Job Wanted section for possible new employees.

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We made our Salvation Army Kettle Goal!

At the time of going to press, the kettle received $2,575

$10
Anonymous

$15
Gary Trebels

$25
Larry Mudgett
Gerry Oestreich
Rosanne Wilson
Haroon Saghian

$50.00
Andrew Bender
Ed Castagna
Barbara Griffith
Shawn Halladay
Theresa Kabot
Allan Levine
Robert Teichman
Ginny Young

$100
Randy Haug
Bruce Kropschot
Bruce Lurie
Klaus Pache
F. Jared Sprole

$250
Richard Cohen

$300
Susan Robert

$500
John Caulfield
Gary DiLillo

Thank you all who donated---and to those who said they also donated
to a Salvation Army kettle at home. Kit Menkin

Don't forget to bookmark us! (CTRL-D)

 

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Free OfficeSuite Professional 6 App
from the Amazon Appstore

Verizon Apps will be closing in January 2013 opening up the battle between iPhone and Amazon. With the Android system overtaking iPhone, it leaves Amazon to battle Google.

In a marketing effort, Amazon is attempting to attract users with offers, such as free OfficeSuite Professional 6 App

http://amzn.to/qokJFP

It was free last time I went on, and you need to access from your digital device, not computer, where I found it free. I am sure there will be an up-date, that won't be free, but by then you can decide if you want to keep this or not. When not on sale, it was $14.99 at Amazon.

They have “free specials” every day as a promotion.

The program has Extended cloud support - now compatible with Microsoft SkyDrive with abilities to print, as well as access tools for word processing, developing spreadsheets, delivering presentations, and browsing PowerPoint and PDF files. Create, view, and edit Microsoft Word and Excel files.

The software features the most commonly used desktop document formats and includes a File Browse. The integration with Google Docs allows you to access your remotely stored documents.

The program supports Microsoft Office 97 to 2010 text documents - DOC and DOCX (open , edit, and save), Microsoft Office 97 to 2010 spreadsheets - XLS and XLSX (open , edit, and save), opening PPT, PPTX, PPS, and PPSX presentations, PDF files viewing, and integration with Google Docs.

Look for other free apps on Amazon.

Kit Menkin

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### Press Release ############################

MicroFinancial Announces Increase in Bank Credit Facility

BURLINGTON, Mass., (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MicroFinancial Incorporated (Nasdaq:MFI) a financial intermediary specializing in vendor-based leasing and finance programs for microticket transactions, announced that its operating subsidiary, TimePayment Corp., has increased its revolving line of credit from $100 million to $150 million with a six member bank syndicate led by Sovereign Bank, a subsidiary of Santander Holdings USA, Inc. and Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN).

The credit agreement allows the Company to borrow up to $150 million against eligible lease receivables subject to a borrowing base calculation. The interest rate under the amended agreement continues to provide for either a Prime Rate based or a Libor Rate based borrowing at the Company's option and the maturity date of the amended facility was extended to December 21, 2016.

Richard Latour, President and Chief Executive Officer said, "Our ability to increase our line of credit in this challenging economic environment demonstrates a continued confidence in our Company. We are pleased to have increased our credit facility which, when combined with our strong cash flow from operations, will allow us to continue to provide our customers with the financial services they need to grow their business."

About MicroFinancial

MicroFinancial Inc. (Nasdaq:MFI), is a financial intermediary specializing in microticket leasing and financing. MicroFinancial has been operating since 1986, and is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts.

About Sovereign Bank, N.A., Santander Holdings USA, Inc. and Banco Santander, S.A.

Sovereign Bank is among the top 25 banks in the United States with principal presence in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Sovereign has 721 branches, 2,195 ATMs and over 8,800 team members. Sovereign Bank's principal regulator is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Sovereign Bank is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC"). For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 877-SOV-BANK.

Santander Holdings USA, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A., and parent company of Sovereign Bank, N.A.. Banco Santander is a retail and commercial global bank, with a presence in 10 main markets: US, Germany, UK, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Spain, and Portugal. Founded in 1857, Santander has more than 102 million customers, approximately 14,500 branches – more than any other international bank – and 188,000 employees. Santander was recently recognized as the Best Global Bank in 2012 by Euromoney magazine. For more information on Santander, visit http://www.santander.com.

#### Press Release #############################

 

((Please Click on Bulletin Board to learn more information))
(Leasing News provides this ad “gratis” as a means
to help support the growth of Lease Police)

Labrador Retriever
Richmond, Indiana Adopt-a-Dog

Ajay

(Looking sad in this photo)
ID#: 5216730-D2012556
Breed: Labrador Retriever
Color: Black
Age: Young
Size: Large 61-100 lbs. (28-45 kg)
Sex: Male

“I am purebred and up to date with shots.”

Ajay's Story...

“Ajay is a tall, dark and handsome Labrador Retriever. Ladies, what more do you need? He is easy to train, doesn't leave the seat up, doesn't talk back to you. Ajay is just over a year old and loves attention. He walks great on leash and is working on his obedience training. Ajay would love a nice fenced in yard to play and run in. Please go to www.helptheanimalsinc.com to fill out an application to adopt Ajay.*You can also check out HELP The Animals Inc. on Facebook!”

Contact This Shelter...
Shelter: HELP The Animals Inc.
Pet ID #: 5216730-D2012556
Phone: (765) 962-6811
Let 'em know you saw "Ajay" on Adopt-a-Pet.com!
E-mail: helptheanimalsinc@comcast.net
Let 'em know you saw "Ajay" on Adopt-a-Pet.com!
Website: http://members.petfinder.com/~IN135/index.html
Address: 2101 West Main Street, Richmond, IN 47375

 

Adopt-a-Pet by Leasing Co. State/City
http://www.leasingnews.org/Conscious-Top%20Stories/Adopt_Pet.htm

Adopt a Pet
http://www.adoptapet

Leasing News: Best Movies of 2012
By Fernando Croce

This was an especially fine year at the movies, with marvelous visions coming from established directors as well as promising newcomers. So, as we look forward to new cinematic discoveries in the upcoming year, let us look back at ten exceptional 2012 releases.

Bernie: The versatile Richard Linklater continues to surprise audiences with this dark comedy based on bizarre yet true events, set in the tiny Texas town. Jack Black stars as Bernie , a straight-arrow funeral home director who, despite his occupation, remains one of the city's most beloved citizens. That is, until he befriends a rich widow (Shirley MacLaine), whose demanding ways eventually lead Bernie to take shocking action. Structured as a mock-documentary, the film somehow manages to turn tragic, sometimes grim subject matter into a creative and even endearing ode to human eccentricity, helped immensely by the pitch-perfect performances of its cast

Cosmopolis: Following the subdued period piece "A Dangerous Method," director David Cronenberg is up to his thrillingly perverse tricks again with this often brilliant dark comedy. Robert Pattinson stars as a young millionaire whose simple plan to get a haircut turns into a long day full of discoveries and upheavals as his stretch limo makes its way through Manhattan. The free-flowing, almost stream-of-consciousness series of encounters that results relies more on mood and concepts than on plot, making for difficult viewing for some audiences. Yet Cronenberg's crisp style and a cast that includes Juliette Binoche and Paul Giamatti make it an unforgettable trip.

The Deep Blue Sea: A director of visual beauty and aching emotions, Terence Davies serves up another exceptional cinematic experience with this affecting drama set in England in the 1950s. Rachel Weisz stars as a court judge's wife whose seemingly comfortable upper-class life masks an aching yearning for something exciting. She hopes to find it through an affair with the ex-pilot (Tom Hiddleston) she first met during the days of World War 2. Though based on a theatrical play, Davies imbues the poignant story with a purely cinematic flow, largely helped by the terrific blend of repression and abandon in Weisz's performance.

Django Unchained: After reimagining World War II in "Inglourious Basterds," Quentin Tarantino takes another dizzying trip to the past with this audacious tale of revenge in the 19th-century American South. Styled as a Spaghetti Western, the story follows Django (Jamie Foxx), a former slave who, with the help of a charming but deadly traveling doctor (Christoph Waltz), rides through the country in search of his wife (Kerry Washington). They find her at the plantation of a cruel young landowner (Leonardo DiCaprio), and a tense confrontation gradually unfolds. A brutal, shocking, and funny yarn from one of modern cinema's most mischievous masters.

Goodbye First Love: The many ecstasies and agonies of romance are chronicled with freshness and poignancy in this delicate drama, directed by Mia Hansen-Love. The story is an emotional duet played between a pair of teenagers (Lola Creton, Sebastian Urzendowsky) who, while enjoying a sun-dappled idyll of beach houses and forest rendezvous, plead eternal love to each other. This bond is tested, however, when they’re separated for years. Once they meet again, their changed lives cast shadows on their previous adolescent ideals. With a palpable sense of privileged moments inevitably dissolving with the passage of time, Hansen-Love crafts a charming portrait of feelings found and lost.

The Kid with a Bike: Master filmmakers whose movies are ardently humanistic and viscerally exciting, Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne deliver another powerful tale of struggle and redemption. Their alienated main character this time is a young boy (Thomas Doret) obsessed with finding his father after being left in an orphanage. Once discovering that his dad is a deadbeat, however, he befriends a kind, no-nonsense hairdresser. But can this new life survive the pressures of his rough and tumble neighborhood? Just as emotionally wrenching as the Dardennes' earlier movies, this marvelous drama showcases a lighter, sunnier touch.

Killer Joe: Matthew McConaughey scored several impressive film roles this year, but perhaps none more so than his marvelously disturbing performance in this pitch-black comedy from director William Friedkin. The exuberantly lurid story focuses on a clan of trailer park dwellers so dysfunctional that nobody bats an eye when the son puts a hit on his mom's life in order to collect insurance. Enter Killer Joe (McConaughey), a sheriff who doubles as a hired killer, and soon enough he's circling the other characters like a suave shark. The blend of sardonic humor and uncompromising violence may be too strong for some viewers to stomach, but there's no denying its intensity.

Lincoln: Entering his fourth decade as a director, Steven Spielberg continues making inspired and relevant movies. In his latest, he turns his gaze to the world of politics at a decisive moment in American history, following Abraham Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis in a magnificent performance) as he finds himself square in the middle of clashing groups, from Union and Confederate forces to slave owners and emancipators. Detailing his relationships to such famous figures like Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field) and Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones), the film is simultaneously a vast historical canvas and a small and intimate portrait of a great man who has achieved wisdom the hard way.

The Master: Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson follows "There Will Be Blood" with another devastating study of men on the edge of private worlds. Taking place in the years after World War II, the film charts the fascinating relationship between a troubled sailor (Joaquin Phoenix) whose often psychotic behavior keeps him from re-entering society, and the charismatic leader of a growing faith (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). But as one man's star rises while another's behavior grows more volatile, can a violent clash of personalities be far off? With forceful style and mesmerizing performances, this is an astounding portrait of the forces at play in postwar America.

This Is Not a Film: Accused of subversion, Iranian filmmaking Jafar Panahi has his cinematic rights revoked and is forced into house arrest while waiting for his sentence. Out of this real-life Kafkaesque situation emerges one of a truly unique first-person documentary, in which Panahi slyly makes a passionate cinematic statement about his own (as well as his country's) predicament. The result is a multi-layered yet immediately accessible examination of an artist's dilemma which, despite the anxieties hanging over the scenario, brims with humor and hope. Yes, it is indeed a film, and one of the year's very best.

John Kenny Receivables Management www.jrkrmdirect.com • End of Lease Negotiations & Enforcement • Fraud Investigation • Credit Investigations • Asset Searches • Skip-tracing • Third-party Commercial Collections The Solution to Your Credit & Accounts Receivable Needs  John Kenny 315-866-1167 |  John@jkrmdirect.com

(Leasing News provides this ad as a trade for investigations
and background information provided by John Kenny)

 

 

News Briefs----

 

Element to Acquire Nexcap for $20 Million
http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/12/27/4508659/element-advances-vendor-finance.html

Mortgage rates inch downward at year's end
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/mortgage-analysis.aspx?ic_id=Top_Stories_link_1

A gallon of milk could cost $8 in 2013. Here’s why
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/26/a-gallon-of-milk-could-cost-8-in-2013-heres-why/

Small Biz, the Fiscal Cliff, and the Big, Bad Bank
http://www3.cfo.com/article/2012/12/credit-capital_fiscal-cliff-small-business-libor-ubs-offshore-profits-taxes-apple-microsoft

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---You May Have Missed

Tax scandals of the rich and famous--43 people
http://www.boston.com/business/taxes/gallery/famoustaxfraud/

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SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer

SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer

Make Your Resolutions On Purpose this Year
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/motivation_articles.asp?id=330

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Sports Briefs----

 

San Jose State thrives, wins bowl game after coaching upheaval
http://www.contracostatimes.com/breaking-news/ci_22271793/purdy-san-jose-state-thrives-after-coaching-upheaval

Possible dream matchups are within reach for first round of NFL playoffs
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--direct-snap--dream-first-round-nfl-playoff-matchups--202447999.html

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American Football Poem

“Every Good Boy Does Fine”

I practiced my cornet in a cold garage
Where I could blast it till the oil in drums
Boomed back; tossed free throws till I couldn't move my thumbs;
Sprinted through tires, tackling a headless dummy.

In my first contest, playing a wobbly solo,
I blew up in the coda, alone on stage,
And twisting like my hand-tied necktie, saw the judge
Letting my silence dwindle down his scale.

At my first basketball game, gangling away from home
A hundred miles by bus to a dressing room,
Under the showering voice of the coach, I stood in a towel,
Having forgotten shoes, socks, uniform.

In my first football game, the first play under the lights
I intercepted a pass. For seventy yards, I ran
Through music and squeals, surging, lifting my cleats,
Only to be brought down by the safety man.

I took my second chances with less care, but in dreams
I saw the bald judge slumped in the front row,
The coach and team at the doorway, the safety man
Galloping loud at my heels. They watch me now.

You who have always homed your way through passages,
Sat safe on the bench while some came naked to court,
Slipped out of arms to win in the long run,
Consider this poem a failure, sprawling flat on a page

David Wagoner's “Traveling Light :From Collected Poems, 1956-1976

When my kids were growing up, I only had a few rules about participating in different activities: if you started something you had to finish it; if you played you had to do your best; and, you could always quit at the end of the season if you wanted to, it was your choice, not mine. As a result, they both seem to have grown up more confident than I ever was and are both willing to risk many things I never would.

All of us are probably haunted by our failures, but the real failures are those who are afraid to take the chances to do what they really want to do. There's no reason to play football, or participate in one particular activity, but it's a mistake not to play football or participate in a play simply because you're afraid you will fail. Failure is less destructive than not giving life a chance.

Needless to say, I don't consider this poem a failure.

    loren

 

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California Nuts Briefs---

 

Ray Kurzweil, Google meld minds
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Ray-Kurzweil-Google-meld-minds-4147721.php

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“Gimme that Wine”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

To Reach Younger Buyers, Vintners Think Outside the Bottle
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/26/business/media/to-reach-younger-buyers-vintners-rethink-their-packaging.html?_r=0

Iron Ladies of Champagne
http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/47802

Salon.com partners with leading online wine merchant The Wine Spies to launch wine of the day store
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/saloncom-partners-with-leading-online-wine-merchant-the-wine-spies-to-launch-wine-of-the-day-store-184246691.html

Free Mobile Wine Program
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2010/2_26.htm#mobile

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

      1722--Birthday of Elizabeth Lucas Pinckney . Left to manage her father's three plantations in the Carolinas when he was called back to Antigua as military lieutenant general. Not only did she experiment with various crops trying to produce one that would increase the plantations' income - plantations being agricultural businesses, not family farms - she developed a method whereby the touchy indigo plant could be raised in the harsher Carolina climate. The English government was enthusiastic and subsidized its growing as the U.S. government would later subsidize tobacco. Export reached in excess of one million pounds and was a major income source for the entire region. After her marriage, she developed a method for growing silkworms in the Charleston area and manufacturing silk. As a widow she would return to her family's plantations and manage them - successfully, as usual. Two of her sons were prominent in the new United States politics. Her first shipment of 17 pounds of indigo dye caused a furor in London as merchants found it equal to the dye from the French colonies. The English Parliament gave the South Carolina growers a subsidy. France made it a major crime to export indigo seeds but it was too late. Then ELP did the most unusual thing ... and perhaps the most feminist thing: she distributed the seeds from her crop to any colonist planter who wanted them instead of keeping the magic seeds to herself for her other gain. Within five years, the 17 pounds of dye had increased to 40,000 pounds. This output increased in time and became a major source of income for the fledgling United States that desperately needed cash. President George Washington served as one of the pallbearers at her funeral.
    1732 -- The Pennsylvania Gazette carried the first known advertisement for the first issue of Poor Richard's Almanack by Richard Saunders (Benjamin Franklin) for the year 1733. The advertisement promised "many pleasant and witty verses, jests and sayings . . . new fashions, games for kisses . . . men and melons . . . breakfast in bed, &c." America 's most famous almanac, Poor Richard's was published through the year 1758 and has been imitated many times since. From The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: "In 1732 I first publish'd my Almanack, under the name of Richard Saunders; it was continu'd by me about twenty-five years, commonly call'd Poor Richard's Almanack. I endeavor'd to make it both entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to be in such demand, that I reap'd considerable profit from it, vending annually near ten thousand. And observing that it was generally read, scarce any neighborhood in the province being without it, I consider'd it as a proper vehicle for conveying instruction among the common people, who bought scarcely any other books; I therefore filled all the little spaces that occurr'd between the remarkable days in the calendar with proverbial sentences, chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality, as the means of procuring wealth, and thereby securing virtue; it being more difficult for a man in want, to act always honestly, as, to use here one of those proverbs, it is hard for an empty sack to stand upright."
    1793 - Thomas Paine is arrested in France for treason. Though the charges against him were never detailed, he had been tried in absentia on December 26 and convicted. Before moving to France, Paine was an instrumental figure in the American Revolution as the author of Common Sense, writings used by George Washington to inspire the American troops. Paine moved to Paris to become involved with the French Revolution, but the chaotic political climate turned against him, and he was arrested and jailed for crimes against the country. While in prison, he continued to work on The Age of Reason and began an affair with actress Muriel Alette, who had been sentenced to death for being the mistress of a nobleman. Paine's imprisonment in France caused a general uproar in America and future President James Monroe used all of his diplomatic connections to get Paine released in November 1794. Ironically, it wasn't long before Paine came to be despised in the United States, as well. After The Age of Reason was published, he was called an anti-Christ, and his reputation was ruined. Thomas Paine died a poor man in 1809 in New York.
    1832- The first vice-president of the United States to resign was the famous John C. Calhoun, who had served as vice-president of the US under two presidents (John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson ) Mar 4-1825-December 28,1832). Finding himself in growing disagreement with President Jackson, he resigned the office of vice president to fill the vacancy in the Senate caused by the resignation of Robert Young Hayne, senator from South Carolina . He spent most of his subsequent political life as a US Senator from South Carolina , a strong states right and pro-slavery, where he felt he was more effective than being a vice-president under a man he “despised.” advocate.
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000044
http://www.studyworld.com/john_c_calhoun.htm
    1832- In Missouri , St. Louis Academy (founded in 1818) was chartered as St. Louis University . It was the first Catholic university established in the U.S. west of the Allegheny Mountains .
    1837- John A. Pitts and Hiram Abial Pitts of Winthrop, ME, received a patent for a “ machine for threshing or cleaning grain” employing steam. the machine separated grain from the straw and chaff.
    1839 - The third storm in two weeks hit the northeastern U.S. It brought two more feet of snow to Hartford, CT, and Worcester, MA. Whole gales swept the coast causing many wrecks
    1846- Iowa becomes 29 th state. The 29th state's name is derived from an American Indian word meaning ‘the beautiful land'. It is widely thought that Iowa 's nickname, the Hawkeye State , is in honor of Black Hawk, the famous Indian chief who led the Sauk and Fox tribes against the Iowa area settlers in the Black Hawk War of 1832. Iowa City was the first capital of Iowa . 11 years later, Des Moines , the state's largest city, became the permanent capital. The Iowa state bird is the eastern goldfinch, the state flower, the wild rose, and the state motto: “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.”
    1848- Gaslight was turned on in the White House. James Knox Polk was the president.
    1851- The Young Men's Christian Association was organized in the United States in Boston , MA . It was patented after a similar organization started in London on June 6, 1844. The first gymnasium was opened in New York City in 1869, and in the same year, the first separate boys' department was opened in Salem , MA . The first YMCA branch for African-American members was organized in Washington , DC , in 1853 by Anthony Bowen and Jerome Johnson, who served respectively as president and secretary.
    1856-(Thomas) Woodrow Wilson, 28 th president of the US was born at Staunton , Virginia . Twice elected president (1912 and 1916,) it was Wilson who said, “The world must be made safe for democracy, “as he asked the Congress to declare war on Germany , April 2, 1917. His first wife, Ellen, died August 6, 1914, and married Edith Bolling Galt, December 18, 1915. He suffered a paralytic stroke, September 16, 1919, never regaining his health. There were many speculations about who (possibly Mrs. Wilson?) was running the government during his illness. His second term of office ended March 3, 1921, and he died at Washington , DC , Feb. 3, 1924. Wilson was the last president to be born in Virginia , the state where the most presidents of the US were from: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?amtoday:2:
    1867- David Groesbeck and Company, a member of the New York Stock Exchange, became the first stock brokerage to use a telegraph ticker. It was installed by the Gold and Stock Telegraph Company, New York City , on a lease of $6 a week from Daniel Drew, who also provided maintenance. It is considered the first “maintenance lease” in America . ( no option to purchase).
    1869-Labor Day was inaugurated by the Knights of Labor, a workers' organization formed in Philadelphia , PA. the first states to declare Labor Day a state holiday were Oregon , In February 1887; Colorado , in March 1887; and New York , in May 1887. The annual nationwide observance of Labor Day was sponsored by the American Federation of Labor, which resolved in convention at Chicago, IL, On October 7, 1884, “ that the first Monday in September be set aside as a laborer's national holiday.” On June 28, 1894, Congress designed the first Monday in September a legal holiday for federal employees and for the District of Columbia . The first Labor Day parade was held in New York City on September 5, 1882, under the auspices of the Central Labor Union. It featured musical bans and 10,000marchers who carried placards reading “ Less Work and More Pay,” “Less Hours, More Pay.” “Labor Pays All Taxes, “ “Labor creates All Wealth,” “To the Workers Should Belong the Wealth,” and “The Laborer Must Receive and Enjoy the Full Fruit of his Labor.”
    1881- Jess Willard, Boxer born at Pottawatomie County , KS . The towering Willard, 6' 6 ¼” tall, took the heavyweight title from Jack Johnson in a fight oat Havana , Cuba on April 5, 1915. He defended his title only once in four years and then lost it to Jack Dempsey on July 4, 19191. Died at Los Angeles , CA. December 15, 1968.
    1891- Thomas Alva Edison of Menlo Park , New Jersey , received a patent for a “means of transmitting signals electrically.” In the patent, he stated that “signaling between distant points can be carried on by induction without the use of wires connecting such distant points.” Marconi in 1894 experimented with hertzian waves to communicate wireless telegraph and Nathan Stubblefield, claimed he invented it earlier 
http://www.nathanstubblefield.com/
    1897 - The temperature at Dayville , OR , hit 81 degrees to establish a state record for December
    1903—Pianist/composer Earl “Fatha” Hines Birthday 
http://www.redhotjazz.com/hines.html
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/whatisjazz/bt_hines.html
    1903-Birthday of , Fanny "Bobbie" Rosenfeld - celebrated Canadian track and field athlete, named Canada 's woman athlete of the half-century. In the 1928 Olympics, she won a silver and gold. She excelled in almost every sport from hockey to softball and did it on her own since there were no coaches for women at the time. She became a sports columnist.
    1905-- legendary jazz pianist Earl (Fatha) Hines was born in Pittsburgh. Hines, whose complex rhythms influenced musicians for five decades, began his career in the 1920's. Jazz took a revolutionary turn in that decade because of the recordings he made, both as a solo artist and with Louis Armstrong's Hot Five combo. In the 1930's and '40s, Hines led his own big band, and among those he helped to stardom were Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker and Billy Eckstine. A forgotten figure in the 1950's, he reappeared in the following decade for concerts and recordings, even turning up on rock guitarist Ry Cooder's album "Paradise and Lunch." Earl Hines died of a heart attack at his home in Oakland, California, on April 22nd, 1983.
    1908- Otto Zachow and William Besserdick of Clintonville , WI obtained a patent for a four wheel brake for cars, calling it a “power applying mechanism”, quickly adopted by the car industry who were employing a hand brake against one wheel..
    1912- guitarist Billy Markel born Baltimore , MD
    1921--Singer/Band Leader/Disc Jockey/Musician/Politician Johnny Otis was born in Vallejo , California . I listed to him with "Willie and the Hand Jive" as a disc jockey as I grew up in West Los Angeles , California , saw many of his small and large bank performances, the last at the San Jose Fairmont Hotel. He is a painter/sculptor, and still plays music and appears as on radio every Saturday.
http://www.johnnyotisworld.com/biography/index.html
http://home.bluemarble.net/~jjperry/features/otis.html
http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=162
http://lyrics.blueaudio.com/song/07260
    1924 - Iowa experienced it coldest December morning of record. Morning lows averaged 25 degrees below zero for the 104 weather stations across the state
    1924-- rhythm-and-blues bandleader and singer Johnny Otis was born in Vallejo, California. His first big hit was "Willie and the Hand Jive" in 1958, but he had begun recording in the late 1940's. Otis was also responsible for discovering such artists as Little Esther Phillips, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John and Hank Ballard. He had a hit radio show in Los Angeles in the late 1950's and 1960's, and kept his band going, moving to Sebastopol, California (Santa Rosa area) where he paints to this day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Otis
http://www.last.fm/music/Johnny+Otis
http://www.history-of-rock.com/johnny_otis.htm
http://www.johnnyotisworld.com/books.html 
    1932---Birthday of actress Nichelle Nichols, first black woman regularly featured on a weekly TV show, activist of great force in NASA's first recruitment drive of minorities and women, but better known to Trekkies as Uhura of the Star Trek series, Whoopi Goldberg in the eulogy of Star Trek originator Gene Roddenberry's funeral with whom Nichols had been lovers said that 25 years earlier she was a kid from the projects who saw Uhura as "The only vision of black people in the future," autobiography Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories (1995).
B. 12-28-1934, Maggie Smith, British screen 
    1938- Ziggy Elman cuts “Fralich in Swing.”
    1938---Birthday of Charles Neville (The Neville Brothers) 
    1940- Herb Jefferies cuts “Flamingo” with Duke Ellington Band, Chicago
    1944- Leonard Bernstein scores his first big hit when his musical On the Town, featuring the song "New York, New York," opens on Broadway. 
    1945- The US Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and urged its frequent recitation in America 's schools. The pledge was composed in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister. At the time, Bellamy, was chairman of a committee of state school superintendents of education, and several public schools adopted his pledge that year as part of the Columbus Day quadricentennial celebration that year. In 1955, the Knights of Columbus persuaded Congress to add the words “under God” to the pledge.
    1949- 1949--Top Hits
I Can Dream, Can't I? - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Jack Leonard)
A Dreamer's Holiday - Perry Como
Dear Hearts and Gentle People - Bing Crosby
Mule Train - Tennessee Ernie Ford
    1952- The Sonotone Corporation, Elmsford , NY , offered for sale a hearing aid using transistors. It weighed 3.5 ounces and was three inches long.
    1954-Denzel Washington actor ("St. Elsewhere," Glory, Malcolm X), born Mount Vernon , NY .
    1955 - Anchorage , AK , was buried under 17.7 inches of snow in 24 hours, a record for that location.     1958 - Albuquerque , NM , received 14.2 inches of snow to establish a 24 hour record.
    1957--Top Hits
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
At the Hop - Danny & the Juniors
Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
My Special Angel - Bobby Helms
    1957-- "At the Hop" by Danny and the Juniors reached the top of the U-S charts. The song by the Philadelphia street-corner group was originally called "Do the Bop," but the title and lyrics were changed at the suggestion of Dick Clark. 
    1958-- Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon & Theodore with David Seville) hit #1
    1959-- Frankie Avalon's "Why" hits #1 
    1961-The first airline to carry 100 million passengers was American Airlines, New York City, which selected pioneering aviator Lieutenant General James Harold Doolittle, chairman of the board of Space Technology Laboratories, Los Angeles, as the national symbol of the 100,000,000 th passenger and presented him with a crystal bowl this day.
    1963-The single "Dominique" and its companion LP "The Singing Nun" top the Billboard singles chart and album chart respectively. So far, the 45 has sold over 700,000 copies and the LP, 670,000.
    1963-A quartet from Minneapolis, Minnesota who called themselves The Trashmen saw their first release, "Surfin' Bird", enter the Billboard Hot 100 where it would reach #4 during the first week of February, next year. The song is a combination of two R&B hits by The Rivingtons: "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word".
    1963--- The magazine The New Yorker publishes an interview with Beatles manager Brian Epstein in their "Talk of the Town" column about the band's upcoming Ed Sullivan gig -- the first major press the group has received in the US.
    1964--- Trumpeter Hugh Masekela is a featured guest on CBS-TV's game show To Tell the Truth. 
    1965--Top Hits
Over and Over - The Dave Clark Five
I Got You (I Feel Good) - James Brown
The Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
Buckaroo - Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
    1967-- Muriel Siebert pays $445,000 plus $7515 initiation fee to become the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.
    1968 - The (double) album named "The Beatles" (called by most, "The White Album") was #1 in the U.S. It was the Beatles' first album on their own Apple label and was #1 for nine weeks. The tracks: "Back in the U.S.S.R.", "Dear Prudence", "Glass Onion", "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da", "Wild Honey Pie", "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "Martha My Dear", "I'm So Tired", "Blackbird", "Piggies", "Rocky Raccoon", "Don't Pass Me By", "Why Don't We Do It in the Road", "I Will", "Julia", "Birthday", "Yer Blues", "Mother Nature's Son", "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey", "Sexy Sadie", "Helter Skelter", "Long, Long, Long", "Revolution I", "Honey Pie", "Savoy Truffle", "Cry Baby Cry", "Revolution 9", and "Good Night".
    1968-The Doors' "Touch Me" is released. With a guitar intro strongly influenced by The Four Seasons' "C'mon Marianne", the song would reach #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #1 in Canada, #10 in Australia.
    1968- The first major rock concert on the East Coast, the Miami Pop Festival, takes place, a three-day affair featuring Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, The Turtles, Joni Mitchell, Procol Harum, Steppenwolf, Canned Heat, Iron Butterfly, The McCoys, Fleetwood Mac, The Box Tops, Three Dog Night, Pacific Gas and Electric, and The Grateful Dead.
    1973--Top Hits
The Most Beautiful Girl - Charlie Rich
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce
If We Make It Through December - Merle Haggard
    1974-- Helen Reddy's "Angie Baby" hits #1 
    1978- Ohio State University football coach Woody Hayes punched a player from Clemson University during Clemson's 19-15 victory in the Gator Bowl. Hayes was upset that the Buckeyes were losing, but OSU official were upset, too. They fired Hayes for the incident.
    1978--- 30th hat trick in Islander history (Mike Bossy
    1981-The first child born in the United States through in vitro fertilization was Elizabeth Jordan Carr, born at Norfolk Hospital , Norfolk , VA.
    1981--Top Hits
Physical - Olivia Newton-John
Waiting for a Girl like You - Foreigner
Let's Groove - Earth, Wind & Fire
Love in the First Degree – Alabama
   1981-Warner Brothers Records, which includes Elektra and Asylum, follows the lead of RCA and raises its price for 45 rpm singles to $1.99.
    1984---Singer Michael Jackson won a record eight Grammy Awards at the presentation ceremony in Los Angeles. But he lost the best song award to "Every Breath You Take," written by Sting for the Police. Jackson's Pepsi commercial - the one in which he was injured when his hair caught fire - premiered that day on MTV. 
    1987 - A winter storm produced heavy snow in the Upper Mississippi Valley and the Upper Great Lakes Region. Up to twenty inches of snow buried southern Minnesota , and 20 to 40 mph northwesterly winds produced snow drifts six feet high, and reduced visibilities to near zero at times in blowing snow. There were a thousand traffic accidents in Michigan during the storm, resulting in thirty-five injuries.
    1989--Top Hits
Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins
Don't Know Much - Linda Ronstadt (featuring Aaron Neville)
Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson
A Woman in Love - Ronnie Milsap
    1996 - Canadian singer Alanis Morissette won four major Grammy Awards, including album of the year and rock album of the year for "Jagged Little Pill." She also picked up trophies for best rock song and best female rock vocal performance, both for her single "You Oughta Know." Canadians picked up a total of 11 Grammys, including two by Joni Mitchell for her album "Turbulent Indigo." Faith Hill won the best country album Grammy for "The Woman in Me."
    2003 - A severe snow storm hit northern California and southern Oregon. As much as 2 feet of snow fell along Interstate 5 closing a 150-mile stretch of the interstate, stranding hundreds of travelers. Winds from the storm caused power outages to more than 200,000 customers in California and Oregon. One man died of a heart attack after helping other drivers.
     2004 - Los Angeles (downtown) broke a daily rainfall record for the month of December (5.55 inches). This was the third wettest calendar day in Los Angeles since records began in 1877.