Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Headlines---

Classified Ads---Controller
    Ex-ELFA President: “rate cut won't help Leasing”
        Credit sell off predicted by Steve Chriest, 2006
Ken Bentsen for U.S. Vice-President?
    Key Equipment Finance Numbers
        Key...adequate loan loss reserves says CEO
Classified Ads---Help Wanted
    Cartoon---Understanding the Stock Market
        Employment in the Leasing Industry
        by Christopher Menkin
    FireFox/Iphone gaining On Microsoft
Sales makes it Happen—by Adrian Miller
“Sweat the Small Stuff”
    Hilco and Winternitz Unite
        New CEO named at Republic Financial
    News Briefs---
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
Football Poem
    SuDoku
        Daily Puzzle
    GasBuddy
News on Line---Internet Newspapers
http://www.thepaperboy.com/

Friday---San Francisco Valley Leasing
“Barry saves the day” by Christopher Menkin

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

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Classified Ads---Controller

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

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

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Ex-ELFA President says rate cut won't help Leasing

Mike Fleming predicts--It will take more than a big interest rate cut to motivate companies to invest in capital equipment

BY Marie Leone
CFO.com

The cut in the federal funds rate on Tuesday by 75 basis points — the biggest drop since 1982 — won't stimulate the equipment leasing market, according to one expert. That's because a cut in the interest rate is not enough to motivate companies to lease capital equipment amid larger market uncertainties, such as a looming recession. "Lowering the cost of funds doesn't necessarily increase liquidity," said Michael Fleming, a principal of the Alta Group, an equipment leasing and finance industry consultant (and former long time president of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association; 27 years. editor)

Michael J. Fleming, principal, the Alta Group
(photo: the Alta Group)

"Companies don't buy or lease equipment because the price is right or because interest rates go down, [they acquire equipment] because they need it," Fleming told CFO.com. He also pointed out that his clients, which comprise finance companies that fund equipment leases for companies of all sizes, are being "very cautious" about capital spending, because the markets are unpredictable right now. "That may be irrational, because business fundamentals are all pretty good, all in all . . . but that's the reality," added Fleming.

Looking at the market from the lease finance company's point of view, Fleming noted that a drop in the cost of capital, even if it is 75 basis points, doesn't mean lessors or lenders are more anxious to fund deals. Instead, finance companies see the rate cut as a margin buffer, a way to add 50 basis points to the lending premium for the risk they assume in an uncertain market. "To that degree, lessors may be a little more inclined to fund deals."

Charge-offs, or the average losses on equipment leases, have been relatively low compared to reports of bad debt write-offs at subprime mortgage lenders. In December, the charge-off rate for equipment leases rose to 0.62 percent as a percentage of net receivables, which was the highest point reached this year, according to data from the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association. In May, the charge-off-rate hit an annual low of 0.45 percent. In 2006, charge-offs dropped as low as 0.33 percent in July, and climbed to a high of 0.61 percent in February.

In the end, said Fleming, "if there is a chance that you are not going to be paid back, what does the price [of capital] matter?"

Mr. Fleming’s biography:
http://www.thealtagroup.com/bios-fleming.php

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Credit sell off predicted by Steve Chriest, 2006

As to what is happening due to the subprime marketplace today, Leasing News had several articles foreshadowing events, such as Steve Chriest’s February 3, 2006 article,
“Bad Moon on the Rising:”

“Evolution guarantees that the causes of each economic downturn differs, at least slightly, from previous downturns. In our current situation, the housing industry has generally been credited with propping up an otherwise wobbly economy for the past several years. With the large number of interest only, adjustable rate, no money down, no income verification, and no credit required loans written over the past few years, and the reality of stagnant or declining house values, it seems inevitable that the housing industry will contribute mightily to the bad moon rising.”

“Bad Moon on the Rising,” by Steve Chriest
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/February%202006/02-03-06.htm#moon

Steve Chriest is the founder of Selling UpTM (www.selling-up.com), a sales consulting firm specializing in sales improvement for organizations of all types and sizes in a variety of industries. He is also the author of Selling The E-Suite, The Proven System For Reaching and Selling Senior Executives and Five Minute Financial Analyst, Basic Finance & Analysis Tools for Non-Accountants. You can reach Steve at schriest@selling-up.com.

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Ken Bentsen for U.S. Vice-President?

by Christopher Menkin

Leasing News has been trying to confirm information in the US Senate lobbyist disclosure site that the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) paid Washington Council Ernst & Young $200,000 in 2007.

The reaction by the media has been almost as if ELFA President Ken Bentsen, Jr. was running for president of the United States and said in a debate that he was in favor of lobbyists. It was like “big news” ELFA has hired lobbyists.

Hon. Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr.
(photo: ELFA.org)

If Bentsen were one of the U.S. presidential candidates, the others surely would have jumped upon his position in hiring lobbyists to influence equipment finance and leasing interests in Washington. Perhaps the news media knows more than the rest of us in the leasing industry. Bentsen is a U.S. vice-presidential candidate? Most of us thought he was an equipment finance and leasing advocate, not
a candidate for vice-president of the United States.

Leasing News reported the story originally from Associated Press that ELFA "lobbied Congress and the Treasury Department on tax issues, according to the form posted online Thursday by the Senate's public records office.

"Leasing and financing divisions of American International Group Inc., Cisco Systems Inc. and General Electric Co. are members of the trade group, which also paid $100,000 to the lobbying firm in the first six months of 2007."

How this became a big financial story is a mystery as the trade association has for years advertised for donations for lobbying activity, and has been actively soliciting its members for years to get more involved in Washington and State legislative processes. There are not only advertised trips to Washington, but coverage on their web site and magazine, and also the activity is listed as one of the main goals on their web site. It is also one of the key reasons the board of directors chose an ex-congressman (and a Democrat at that, too!!!)

Reportedly the Center for Public Integrity, the ELFA spent $3.1 million lobbying the federal government from 1998-2004. For the filing years 2005 through 2007, lobbying expenditures totaled roughly $1.1 million, according to disclosure records.

If there is any criticism, it should be the dollar amount is much too small in relation to the amount of business the equipment leasing and finance industry creates. The ELFA "2007 Survey of Industry Activity" pointed out that in 2005, equipment financing amounted to $570 billion before growing to $598 billion last year. It is projected to reach $625 billion will be 2007. The dollar spent to make sure the industry voice is heard and considered is embarrassing small.

Leasing News has made several efforts to confirm or deny the numbers reported in the US Senate lobbyist survey. The amount should be no surprise to the leasing industry as ELFA has been very transparent in its efforts and goals, with wide support of its members.

Dennis Brown, Vice President, State Government Relations
(photo: ELFAonline.org)

ELFA VP Dennis Brown has made many "dog and pony" shows to drum up not only dollars but for more members to get involved. The facts are you are not going to end someone coming to Washington or their state legislature to plead for their industry, their livelihood, their competition in the way laws are made and money is spent. You better get involved or you will lose out.

Dennis Brown Multi-Media presentation:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Pages/Bureaucracy-and-Leasing.ppt

Here is a Leasepac from 2006 listing the members and what they contributed
and where it went:
http://leasingnews.org/PDF/ELFA_PAC.PDF

It should be noted this information was readily available from the ELFA
web site: www.elfaonline.org

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Key Equipment Finance Numbers

The financial statement recorded (in millions)
for commercial lease financing, year-end 2007 and year-end 2006:

Balance Interest Yield /Rate Balance Interest Yield /Rate

Commercial lease financing
$10,154 606 5.97% $9,773 595 6.08%

Consolidated Average Balance Sheets, Net Interest Income and Yields/Rates (dollars in millions)
From Continuing Operations

Balance Interest Yield /Rate Balance Interest Yield /Rate

$10,252 171 6.65% $10,172 147 5.80% $9,891 160 6.47%

Does not count operating leases, counted separately.
2007: $117 2006: $230

Note: all dollar figures are in millions

Full Press Release, 4th Quarter, Keycorp:
https://www.snl.com/Cache/1001139355.PDF?FID=1001139355&O=PDF&T=&D=
&IID=100334&Y=

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Key is entering 2008 with adequate loan loss reserves says CEO

Key Corp, parent of Key Equipment Finance , reported net income totaled $25 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, compared to net income of $146 million for 2006.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Henry L. Meyer III
(photo: www.keycorp.com)

“With these actions, previously announced on December 20, we believe Key is entering 2008 with adequate loan loss reserves and a disciplined approach to managing its expense structure,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Henry L. Meyer III.

"Key’s provision for loan losses from continuing operations was $363 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, up from $53 million for the same period one year ago. The increase was due primarily to deteriorating market conditions in the commercial real estate portfolio. Also, during the fourth quarter of 2007, the fixed income markets continued to experience extraordinary volatility, widening credit spreads and significantly reduced liquidity. The widening of credit spreads has adversely impacted the market values of Key t portfolios. During the fourth quarter, Key recorded net losses of $6 million from loan sales and write downs, $1 million from dealer trading and derivatives, and $23 million from certain real estate-related investments for a total of $30 million in net losses. This compares to net gains of $58 million from these activities for the fourth quarter of 2006 and net losses of $77 million for the third quarter of 2007.”
Key Corp. Press Release

“Key’s results for the fourth quarter of 2007 were adversely affected by a number of charges related to additional reserves for loan losses, separation expenses, losses associated with volatility in the fixed markets and the strategic decision to exit certain business activities,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Henry L. Meyer III said.

Full Press Release:
https://www.snl.com/Cache/1001139355.PDF?FID=1001139355&O=PDF&T=
&D=&IID=100334&Y=

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Leasing Industry Help Wanted

Documentation / Funding Manager

Documentation / Funding Manager Austin, Texas Great opportunity with well-respected company, working in the best part of the world. Click here for more information. Affiliated Investment Group has 22 years experience serving the broker community.

www.affiliatedinvestment.com

EFD Marketing Officer

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Employment in the Leasing Industry

by Christopher Menkin

In his telephone conference call last week, CIT Group Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Peek told listeners his company stopped originating home mortgages last year to focus on providing loans and advisory services to mid-sized companies. CIT will cut its workforce this year by 5 percent, or about 330 jobs.

``We are doing our best to put our home lending behind us,'' Peek said.
``We will retreat to our core.''

The company reduced the workforce by 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter with the sale of a leasing business and ended the year with about 6,700 employees.

From the CIT web site, when Leasing News recorded their last employee count, it was 7,500. The numbers match, but the point is the employees came from their mortgage and student loan department, although the sale of the Dell Financial did affect their leasing.

On the other hand, the expansion in Europe in Leasing, has added more employees, as the Dublin office itself went to 400 at the end of the year.

When Leasing News started its lists by funder and “broker/lessor”
as well as “story credits” and “super broker,” they were ranked by number of employees. The reason: because that is how we started it at the Business Journal, where I served on the advisory board and many of the publishers were good friends, so when this idea came up, I said you can’t believe private
companies, and also many will not tell you the real numbers, but they will tell you how many employees they have.

Leasing News not only has these records, but in helping place ads we learn the growth of companies. A current one is Bank of the West. Most of these ads come from their advertising/ placement companies, such as the previous Dell and other national companies. In giving us the latest Bank of West ad, the wrong link was given and it went to their employment page, not the specific position. Bank of the West is hiring!!!!

Ken Vancini, Managing Partner,ZRG has his staff tracking leasing employment figures. Next month Leasing News will be presenting these findings in an exclusive basis to learn where the industry is headed. Readers can stay ahead of the curve by hearing directly from “insiders” and the experts in this specific industry.

Certainly from a news standpoint, there are more brokers and small leasing companies compared to last year. This was predicted in Jeff Taylor, CLP, CPA, book "The Future of Equipment Leasing," published September, 2006:

“While FASB/SEC focuses on taking down large public leasing companies, the true leasing marketplace has started to migrate back to the small local lessor who existed before he sold out to large corporations with deep pockets.

“If the FASB gets their way, they will require that all public leasing companies and public users of leases report all material long-term leases on the balance sheet using a rights and obligations approach based on fair value estimates derived principally from analytical models.

“The only company that would not be affected by this ruling would be a private company, one that is not in the limelight of public reporting. So, if you work for a large public leasing company and want to sell equipment leasing over the next 5-10 years, you may want to consider becoming a broker or start your own private leasing company.”

(Best price, $14.95 at Target:
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-9088894-4914218?asin=0972704736&afid=
yahoosspplp_bmvd&lnm=0972704736|The_Future_of_Equipment_Leasing_:_Books&ref=
tgt_adv_XSNG1060 )

The predictions in Jeff Taylor's book seem to be coming true, including
the growth of such companies as Solarcom Capital LLC, Norcross, Georgia.

Their president Robert Necessary told Leasing News, "We are growing and hiring as fast as we can find people."

Robert Necessary is not new to the equipment leasing industry. His company has been a member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation, and he was on the Board of Directors a few years ago.

“We are in the midst of changing our websites and don’t have a lot of the things on it, “ he said, after visiting his web site (http://solarcomcapital.com/.) “ As you probably saw we are a wholly owned sub of Presidio, Inc. Our total organization had June 30, 2007 fiscal year revenues of about $800 mill. This fiscal year we are on track for $975 million. We act as the captive for our technology sales force and my reps originate business on their own. About 50% of our lease volume in generated by our technology reps bringing us in to lease their deals and the rest is my reps originating on their own. We will generate about $100 million in new originations this year.

“In 2006 we were a part of Solarcom, Inc and were acquired by Presidio, Inc in October of 2006. Our hiring was limited that year for a number of obvious reasons; building the P&L for the sale, uncertainty of what would happen after the sale.”

“In 2007 we hired 15 new leasing sales reps. Our goal for 2008 is to hire 20-25 reps. As we are not a general lessor but rather an IT operating lease lessor and it is hard for us to find qualified people. If I could find 50 I would hire them today. Most of the sales people in the industry are money over money, yield lessors or are managing vendor programs. We do operating leases (not all are fasb13 but are at least fmv). We are an aggressive residual investor and have the infrastructure to warehouse, refurbish and remarket the used IT equipment in over 70 countries. We have about 60 sales reps in our remarketing company, Atlantix Global Systems.”

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FireFox and Iphone gaining On Microsoft

www.netapplications.com

Aliso Viejo, CA based Net Applications announces December 2007 Internet Usage Market Share. In the browser battles, Firefox is once again heating up.

The iPhone is having a much bigger impact than just unit sales. Over 1 in every 1000 page views on the internet are now coming from iPhones. The iPhone has only been on the market since June 2007. It has already sold over 4 million units. And, apparently, people are browsing with the iPhone in huge numbers. What are the corporate policies for phones and handheld devices?

In the last 2 months Firefox has gone from 14.97% to 16.80% market share, which is a rather remarkable gain. We'll have to watch how January's numbers turn out because the same trend happened in November and December of 2006. Firefox gained significant market share for those 2 months, but then dipped slightly in January 2007. This leads to speculation that because of the holiday season, and many people shopping on the internet from home during November and December, that perhaps Firefox is more widely used on home computers than those at work.

Is it possible that corporate standards dictating common operating systems and browsers are keeping Microsoft's market share higher than what true freedom of choice would allow? And, if that's the case, what conditions would it take for corporations to change the OS or browser they dictate? Or, at least allow options? We at Net Applications have proffered in the past that having at least 10% market share would put a product in consideration for corporate standards. That 10% was a critical mass that might influence decision makers.

Firefox crossed 10% market share in March 2006, and while their market share has continued to increase overall, it stayed fairly steady for much of 2007. There wasn't a quantum leap in market share once they crossed 10%. So, what is the real critical mass. Are corporate decision makers waiting for Firefox to have at least 50% market share before they take it seriously?

And, now that Apple is approaching 10% market share, does critical mass for computers differ from browsers? We can see from our marketshare statistics that universities have a much higher market share for both Apple and Firefox than worldwide stats show. When do corporations start adopting Apple and Firefox. How long before all these University students and home users start influencing corporate standards?

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

Hilco and Winternitz Unite to Broaden Hilco's Industrial Disposition
and Equipment Leasing Capabilities

Charles and Glenn Winternitz to Lead Hilco's Industrial Online Auction and
Equipment Leasing Business Units

NORTHBROOK, Ill.---Jeffrey B. Hecktman, Chairman and CEO of The Hilco Organization (“Hilco”), announced the acquisition of Winternitz, Inc., a leading auctioneer and appraiser of machinery, equipment and other industrial assets. Charles J. Winternitz and Glenn A. Winternitz will become partners in and assume managerial responsibilities for Hilco Online LLC, an Internet-based industrial asset auction platform, and Hilco Equipment Leasing Solutions LLC, which specializes in machinery and equipment sale/leaseback services. They will also partner with Robert Levy and Steve Wolf in the operations of Hilco Industrial. The Winternitz staff will, according to their backgrounds and expertise, join the aforementioned Hilco business units and Hilco Appraisal Services. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, Winternitz, Inc. was an industrial auctioneering pioneer in the United States. The company has helped thousands of industrial concerns maximize value for surplus and under-utilized machinery and equipment through on-site and online auctions. Clients have included Quaker Oats, The Marmon Group, AT&T and Siemens. Winternitz also served as a trusted appraiser of industrial assets and provider of asset liquidation services to many asset-based lenders.

Jeffrey Hecktman
(photo hilcotrading.com)

“Charlie and Glenn, their team, and the Winternitz legacy, are all greatly respected,” said Jeffrey Hecktman. “I am confident they will add great value to Hilco as we expand our industrial disposition, equipment leasing and appraisal businesses,” he added.

Charlie Winternitz
(photo hilcotrading.com)

“Speaking on behalf of my brother, Glenn, and the Winternitz team, we could not be more excited and enthusiastic about becoming part of the growing Hilco family,” said Charlie Winternitz. He added, “The collective expertise, technology and experience that results from this integration is quite impressive and is certain to bring tremendous financial benefits to present and future clients of both Hilco and Winternitz.”

Hilco Online LLC was established by Hilco Industrial LLC in 2003 to conduct Internet-based, eBAY® style auctions and online catalog-style sales of industrial machinery and equipment. Designed to augment Hilco’s on-site and webcast auctions, and provide an economical means to sell industrial assets on a “one-off” basis, Hilco Online reaches tens of millions of online buyers, internationally.

Hilco Leasing Solutions LLC was founded in 2007 to structure and deliver machinery and equipment sale/leasebacks, principally on assets currently in-use versus new and for companies needing immediate, additional short-term liquidity to fund business expansion or restructuring.

About The Hilco Organization

The Hilco Organization (“Hilco”) is a privately-held, diversified financial services firm, whose principal competency is understanding the value of tangible and intangible business assets. Using this knowledge, Hilco appraises, buys, sells, finances and enhances the performance of business assets through a platform of 22 integrated business units located in North America and the European Union. Each unit provides a specific set of services pertaining to certain asset categories, to include consumer products and industrial inventory, machinery and equipment, real estate, accounts receivable and intellectual property. Hilco serves retailers, wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers, direct and through their financial institutions and consulting professionals. Hilco also serves lenders, private equity firms, hedge funds and investment banking firms. For more information, visit: www.hilcotrading.com.

http://www.winternitz.com/about/

Contact:
The Hilco Organization
Richard L. Kaye
Executive Vice President
rkaye@hilcotrading.com
847-418-2711

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### Press Release ###########################
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News Briefs----

New CEO named at Republic Financial
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/01/21/daily11.html

Bank of America earnings drop amid credit losses
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-080123bofa,0,7205234.story

WaMu leaders awarded new stock options, bonuses
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004139518_webwamu22.html

Yahoo hoping to win back investors with biggest purge in 7 years
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20080122-1334-ca-yahoo-layoffs.html

Writers Drop Demand and a Picket Plan
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/business/media/23strike.html?_r=1&ref=
business&oref=slogin

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You May have Missed---

Readius bends to needs of e-mail, calling or pocketing
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2008-01-21-folding-phone_N.htm

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Sports Briefs----

Brady: High ankle sprain
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2008/01/
brady_high_ankl.html
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2008/01/22/
brady_sheds_boot_on_right_foot/
http://multimedia.boston.com/pub/tn/17/sports.htm?bctid=1386389216

Rivers' knee injury worse than he let on
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/chargers/20080122-9999-1n22chargers.html

Holmgren will return to Seahawks for final season in 2008
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8062beff&template=
without-video&confirm=true

Jones: 'We're going to have Terrell back'
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7706306

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“Gimme that Wine”

Toehold in Napa: Some Starter Bottles---by Eric Asimov
http://events.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/dining/reviews/23wine.html?ref=dining

Schramsberg soap opera-style feud splits dynasty
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/01/18/MNEVUDRAT.DTL

Spurned by Feds, Meritage Wineries Get Respect for Their Blends
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aoglWSZwRQBk&refer=muse

Stanford Business School Research: Does a Wine's Pricetag Affect Its Taste?
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&
newsId=20080117006311&newsLang=en

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/

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Calendar Events This Day

638 -- Start of Islamic calendar.
http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-islamic.html
http://fisher.osu.edu/~muhanna_1/hijri-intro.html et/ildl/

Bulgaria: Babin Den.
Celebrated throughout Bulgaria as Day of the Midwives and Grandmother’s Day. Traditional festival.

Measure Your Feet Day
http://homeschooling.about.com/library/bljan23c.htm

National Handwriting Day
Popularly observed on birthday of John Hancock to encourage more legible handwriting.
http://homeschooling.about.com/library/bljan23a.htm
http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/January/handwritingday.htm

Pie Day
http://holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/January/nationalpieday.htm

Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day
It’s wintertime and time for snowplow drivers everywhere to see how many rural mailboxes they can knock over.

Saint feast Days

• St. Ildephonsus
• St. Agathangelus
• ST. Amasius
• St. Asclas
• St. Barnard
• St. Severian & Aquila
• St. Colman of Lismore
• St. Emerentiana
• St. Eusebius
• St. Henry Suso, Blessed
• St. John the Almoner
• St. Luthfild
• St. Maimbod
• St. Ormond
• St. Parmenas
• St. Abakuh (Apa Kauh)

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

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A full moon always rises at sunset.

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Today's Top Event in History

1948-John Huston's "Treasure of Sierra Madre" starring Humphrey Bogart opens
http://www.filmsite.org/trea.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/TheTreasureoftheSierraMadre-1021979/
http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_product.asp?master_movie_id=14163

“We don’t need to show you any stinkin’ badges!”

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This Day in American History

    By the late seventeenth century, the African slave trade was a relatively large-scale business enterprise, largely in the hands of the Dutch until the 1660s, it was continued by the English, with New Englanders especially active after the Royal Africa Trade Company lost its monopoly in 1696. In the trade, a ship sailed from New England with rum and other goods for the Slave Coast. The slave were then carried, under the most miserable conditions, to the West Indies or to the colonial South, where they were exchange for sugar, molasses, and tobacco for the North. During the period Virginia planters relied more on white indentured servants from Europe than on slaves from Africa. There were 6000 indentured servants in Virginia in 1681, compared with 2000 salves. Some indentured servants came voluntarily, signing papers for five or more years, at the end of which time they would receive some clothing and perhaps a parcel of land. They often then became tenant farmers. Criminals, vagrants, and debtors were sent involuntarily to the New World, usually for a term of service of seven years. And others, children and adults, were victims of kidnapping. They were sold to shipmasters who in turn sold them into servitude in America. Many debtor servants caused trouble in the colonies. As a result, the end of the seventeenth century saw a steady growth in the slave trade.
    1730- Joseph Hewes birthday. Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Born at Princeton, NJ, he died Nov 10, 1779, at Philadelphia, PA.
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/hewes.htm
http://www.colonialhall.com/hewes/hewes.asp
    1737-Birthday of John Hancock, American patriot and statesman, first signer of the Declaration of Independence and one of the richest men in the country at the time. He had a lot to lose if the revolution were to fail. Born at Braintree, MA, he died at Quincy, MA, Oct. 8, 1793. Because of his conspicuous signature on the Declaration, Hancock’s name has become part of the American language, referring to any handwritten signature, as in “Put your John Hancock on that.”
http://www.johnhancock.org/
http://www.colonialhall.com/hancock/hancock.asp
    1789 - Georgetown College was founded by Father John Carroll, 54, the first Catholic college in the United States. The school is in Washington, DC. It’s name today is Georgetown University.
http://www.georgetown.edu/
    1837--Birthday of Amanda Smith, prominent Afro-American evangelist who also preached in Europe, India, and Africa, probably the first woman to preach in India. She created an orphanage for black children in Illinois using the down payment from the sale of her books.
    1849- Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to receive an MD degree. The native of Bristol, England, was awarded her degree by the Medical Institution of Geneva, NY.
    1863-Confederate General John Bell Hood is officially removed as commander of the Army of Tennessee. He had requested the removal a few weeks before; the action closed a sad chapter in the history of the Army of Tennessee. A close personal friend of President Jefferson Davis, a Kentucky native, Hood attended West Point and graduated in 1853. He served in the frontier army until the outbreak of the Civil War. Hood resigned his commission and became a colonel commanding the 4th Texas Infantry. Hood's unit was sent to the Army of Northern Virginia, where it fought during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. Hood, now a brigadier general, built a reputation as an aggressive field commander. He distinguished himself during the Seven Days' battle in June, and was given command of a division. His counterattack at Antietam in September may have saved Robert E. Lee's army from total destruction. After being severely wounded at Gettysburg in July 1863, Hood was transferred to the Army of Tennessee. He was soon wounded again, losing a leg at Chickamauga in September. Hood was promoted to corps commander for the Atlanta campaign of 1864, and was elevated to commander of the army upon the removal of Joseph Johnston in July. Over the next five months, Hood presided over the near destruction of that great Confederate army. He unsuccessfully attacked General William T. Sherman's army three times near Atlanta, relinquished the city after a month-long siege, then took his army back to Tennessee in the fall to draw Sherman away from the deep South. Sherman dispatched part of his army to Tennessee, and Hood lost two disastrous battles at Franklin and Nashville in November and December 1864.
There were about 65,000 soldiers in the Army of Tennessee when Hood assumed command in July. On January 1, a generous assessment would count 18,000 men in the army. The Confederate Army of Tennessee was no longer a viable fighting force.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/hoodbio.htm
http://ngeorgia.com/people/hood.html
    1870- US Soldiers deliberately massacre the wrong camp of Indians
Declaring he did not care whether or not it was the rebellious band of Indians he had been searching for, Colonel Eugene Baker orders his men to attack a sleeping camp of peaceful Blackfeet along the Marias River in northern Montana.
The previous fall, Malcolm Clarke, an influential Montana rancher, had accused a Blackfeet warrior named Owl Child of stealing some of his horses; he punished the proud brave with a brutal whipping. In retribution, Owl Child and several allies murdered Clarke and his son at their home near Helena, and then fled north to join a band of rebellious Blackfeet under the leadership of Mountain Chief. Outraged and frightened, Montanans demanded that Owl Child and his followers be punished, and the government responded by ordering the forces garrisoned under Major Eugene Baker at Fort Ellis (near modern-day Bozeman, Montana) to strike back.
Strengthening his cavalry units with two infantry groups from Fort Shaw near Great Falls, Baker led his troops out into sub-zero winter weather and headed north in search of Mountain Chief's band. Soldiers later reported that Baker drank a great deal throughout the march. On January 22, Baker discovered an Indian village along the Marias River, and, postponing his attack until the following morning, spent the evening drinking heavily.
At daybreak on the morning of January 23, 1870, Baker ordered his men to surround the camp in preparation for attack. As the darkness faded, Baker's scout, Joe Kipp, recognized that the painted designs on the buffalo-skin lodges were those of a peaceful band of Blackfeet led by Heavy Runner. Mountain Chief and Owl Child, Kipp quickly realized, must have gotten wind of the approaching soldiers and moved their winter camp elsewhere. Kipp rushed to tell Baker that they had the wrong Indians, but Baker reportedly replied, "That makes no difference, one band or another of them; they are all Piegans [Blackfeet] and we will attack them." Baker then ordered a sergeant to shoot Kipp if he tried to warn the sleeping camp of Blackfeet and gave the command to attack.
Baker's soldiers began blindly firing into the village, catching the peaceful Indians utterly unaware and defenseless. By the time the brutal attack was over, Baker and his men had, by the best estimate, murdered 37 men, 90 women, and 50 children. Knocking down lodges with frightened survivors inside, the soldiers set them on fire, burnt some of the Blackfeet alive, and then burned the band's meager supplies of food for the winter. Baker initially captured about 140 women and children as prisoners to take back to Fort Ellis, but when he discovered many were ill with smallpox, he abandoned them to face the deadly winter without food or shelter.
When word of the Baker Massacre (now known as the Marias Massacre) reached the east, many Americans were outraged. One angry congressman denounced Baker, saying "civilization shudders at horrors like this." Baker's superiors, however, supported his actions, as did the people of Montana, with one journalist calling Baker's critics "namby-pamby, sniffling old maid sentimentalists." Neither Baker nor his men faced a court martial or any other disciplinary actions. However, the public outrage over the massacre did derail the growing movement to transfer control of Indian affairs from the Department of Interior to the War Department--President Ulysses S. Grant decreed that henceforth all Indian agents would be civilians rather than soldiers.
    1907 - Charles Curtis, of Kansas, began his term serving in the United States Senate, making him the first American Indian to become a United States Senator. In March of 1929, he resigned to become United States President Herbert Hoover’s Vice President
http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C001008
    1910 –Jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt’s birthday
http://www.hotclub.co.uk/
http://www.classicjazzguitar.com/artists/artists_page.jsp?artist=26
    1913 -- Joe Hill's song "Mr. Block" published in the "Industrial Worker". anarchist
http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics/joe-hill.html
http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/parton/2/mrblock.html
    1919- birthday of Ernie Kovacs, early television pioneer and great comedian .. Along with his wife "Edie Adams," he had both a morning and then one of the first late night television shows, smoking a large cigar, that his wife later made even more famous. I remember as a teenager the superimposing of Ernie being very small, looking down his wife's well-endowed evening gown. This was very new and shocking on TV. The gorilla's and his great humor. He died in a bizarre car accident in Beverly Hills in 1962, with his wife in a separate car in the lead, his slipped on the wet pavement and went slamming at 25 miles an hour into a telephone poll, where the leadsman had left the bottom rung to climb, and it went through the driver's door, killing him instantly.
    1930-Birthday of Black American poet and playwright Derek Walcott, born in St. Lucia, in the Carribbean. Walcott will win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992. Walcott's family descended from slaves in the West Indies, and the legacy of slavery is a common theme in his work. Both his parents were schoolteachers and encouraged a love of reading in their three children. When Walcott's father died, his mother raised the family on her own. Walcott knew early on he wanted to be a writer: His first book of poems was published when he was only 18. He continued writing and began teaching as well. Deeply interested in theater as well as poetry, he received a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1957, which allowed him to study with a prominent director in New York for two years. In New York, Walcott founded the Trinidad Theater Workshop. A prolific poet, Walcott published In a Green Night: Poems 1948-1960 in 1962, Selected Poems in 1964, The Castaway in 1965, and The Gulf in 1969. His lush style explores multicultural tensions and questions of identity. Meanwhile, he continued his work in the theater, with plays like Ti-Jean and His Brothers (produced in 1958), Dream on Monkey Mountain (produced 1967), and Pantomime (produced 1978). He wrote more than 30 plays while continuing to publish poetry collections regularly. His book-length poem Omeros, published in 1990, evokes Homer's Odyssey in the environment of the Caribbean. Walcott was the first Caribbean writer to win the Nobel Prize.
http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/1992/
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/walcott.htm
http://www.sinnewe.info/
    1933-the 20th Amendment was ratified, fixing the date of the presidential inauguration at the current Jan 20 instead of the previous Mar 4. It also specified that were the president-elect to die before taking office, the vice president-elect would succeed to the presidency. In addition, it set Jan 3 as the official opening date of Congress each year.
    1941-Charles A. Lindbergh, a national hero since his nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the Lend-Lease policy-and suggests that the United States negotiate a neutrality pact with Hitler. In March 1932, Lindbergh made headlines again, but this time because of the kidnapping of his two-year-old son. The baby was later found dead, and the man convicted of the crime, Bruno Hauptmann, was executed. Many historians believe the real murdered was Lindbergh’s sister, who had a history of mental disorder and violence, plus she was living in the house. To flee unwanted publicity, Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow, daughter of U.S. ambassador Dwight Morrow, moved to Europe. During the mid-1930s, Lindbergh became familiar with German advances in aviation and warned his U.S. counterparts of Germany's growing air superiority. But Lindbergh also became enamored of much of the German national "revitalization" he encountered, and allowed himself to be decorated by Hitler's government, which drew tremendous criticism back home. Upon Lindbergh's return to the States, he agitated for neutrality with Germany, and testified before Congress in opposition to the Lend-Lease policy, which offered cash and military aid to countries friendly to the United States in their war effort against the Axis powers. His public denunciation of "the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt Administration" as instigators of American intervention in the war, as well as comments that smacked of anti-Semitism, lost him the support of other isolationists. When, in 1941, President Roosevelt denounced Lindbergh publicly, the aviator resigned from the Air Corps Reserve. He eventually contributed to the war effort, though, flying 50 combat missions over the Pacific. His participation in the war, along with his promotion to brigadier general of the Air Force Reserve in 1954 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a popular Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Spirit of St. Louis,, and a movie based on his exploits all worked to redeem him in the public's eyes.
    1941- Artie Shaw records Moonglow/Dancing in the Dark ( Victor 27405/27335)
In the band were Johnny Guarnieri, Jack Jenney, Billy Butterfield and Ray Conniff on trombone.
    1943- The New Tribes Mission was incorporated in Los Angeles by founder Paul W. Fleming. NTM works today primarily in missionary aviation, Bible translation, church planting and the production and distribution of Christian literature.
http://www.ntm.org/
    1943- Duke Ellington band plays first Carnegie Hall concert, introduces “Black, Brown, and Beige.”
    1943-pioneering rhythm-and-blues artist Louis Jordan topped the Billboard r-and-b chart with "What's the Use of Getting Sober." It was the first of his 18 Number-One singles. Artists such as Chuck Berry and Ray Charles credited Jordan as a major influence.
    1943--FOSS, JOSEPH JACOB Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Fighting Squadron 121, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. Place and date: Over Guadalcanal, 9 October to 19 November 1942, 15 and 23 January 1943. Entered service at: South Dakota. Born: 17 April 1 915, Sioux Falls, S. Dak. Citation: For outstanding heroism and courage above and beyond the call of duty as executive officer of Marine Fighting Squadron 121, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, at Guadalcanal. Engaging in almost daily combat with the enemy from 9 October to 19 November 1942, Capt. Foss personally shot down 23 Japanese planes and damaged others so severely that their destruction was extremely probable. In addition, during this period, he successfully led a large number of escort missions, skillfully covering reconnaissance, bombing, and photographic planes as well as surface craft. On 15 January 1943, he added 3 more enemy planes to his already brilliant successes for a record of aerial combat achievement unsurpassed in this war. Boldly searching out an approaching enemy force on 25 January, Capt. Foss led his 8 F-4F Marine planes and 4 Army P-38's into action and, undaunted by tremendously superior numbers, intercepted and struck with such force that 4 Japanese fighters were shot down and the bombers were turned back without releasing a single bomb. His remarkable flying skill, inspiring leadership, and indomitable fighting spirit were distinctive factors in the defense of strategic American positions on Guadalcanal.
    1944- The Detroit Red Wings set an NHL record for consecutive goals scored when they defeated the New York Rangers, 15-0.
    1945--ORESKO, NICHOLAS Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 302d Infantry, 94th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Tettington, Germany, 23 January 1945. Entered service at: Bayonne, N.J. Birth: Bayonne, N.J. G.O. No.: 95, 30 October 1945. Citation: M/Sgt. Oresko was a platoon leader with Company C, in an attack against strong enemy positions. Deadly automatic fire from the flanks pinned down his unit. Realizing that a machinegun in a nearby bunker must be eliminated, he swiftly worked ahead alone, braving bullets which struck about him, until close enough to throw a grenade into the German position. He rushed the bunker and, with pointblank rifle fire, killed all the hostile occupants who survived the grenade blast. Another machinegun opened up on him, knocking him down and seriously wounding him in the hip. Refusing to withdraw from the battle, he placed himself at the head of his platoon to continue the assault. As withering machinegun and rifle fire swept the area, he struck out alone in advance of his men to a second bunker. With a grenade, he crippled the dug-in machinegun defending this position and then wiped out the troops manning it with his rifle, completing his second self-imposed, 1-man attack. Although weak from loss of blood, he refused to be evacuated until assured the mission was successfully accomplished. Through quick thinking, indomitable courage, and unswerving devotion to the attack in the face of bitter resistance and while wounded, M /Sgt. Oresko killed 12 Germans, prevented a delay in the assault, and made it possible for Company C to obtain its objective with minimum casualties.
    1948-John Huston's "Treasure of Sierra Madre" starring Humphrey Bogart opens
http://www.filmsite.org/trea.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/TheTreasureoftheSierraMadre-1021979/
http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_product.asp?master_movie_id=14163
    1951 –Top Hits
Tennessee Waltz - Patti Page
The Thing - Phil Harris
A Bushell and a Peck - Perry Como & Betty Hutton
The Shot Gun Boogie - Tennessee Ernie Ford
    1952-- Robin Zander, lead vocalist of Cheap Trick, was born in Loves Park, Illinois. The Rockford, Illinois-based foursome first appeared on the national scene in 1977, and within two years had a chart-topping live album and a top-10 single, "I Want You to Want Me."
    1953---Birthday of American Composer John Luther Adams.
    1955-- The U.S. Presbyterian Church votes to accept women as ministers.
    1959–Top Hits
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - The Platters
My Happiness - Connie Francis
Donna - Ritchie Valens
Billy Bayou - Jim Reeves
    1962- Jackie Robinson became the first black ballplayer to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Robinson broke baseball’s color line in 1947 and played for the Brooklyn Dodgers through 1956.
    1964- the Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. Poll taxes and other taxes were eliminated as a prerequisite for voting in all federal elections by the 24th Amendment Payment of the tax stood as a potent prerequisite, and sometimes outright barrier, to voting in national elections. And, for the Southern Democrats who designed and helped pass the tax in a number of Southern states during the 1880s and 1890s, this was precisely the point: the poll tax was a blunt tool for barring poverty-stricken African-Americans and whites from participating in the electoral process. As such, the tax was also a means for stemming the rise of the Populist Party, which had used a racially mixed coalition of poor and lower class voters to gain a place on the national stage. Attempts to roll back the poll tax were generally blocked in the Senate. However, in 1949, Senator Spessard L. Holland of Florida took up the cause of killing the tax forever via a constitutional amendment. When the Senate finally passed the Twenty-Fourth Amendment in 1962, the poll tax remained in effect in five Southern states: Virginia, Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama. After 1964, it was constitutionally legal in none.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan23.html
    1965-“The King Family” premiered on television, the ABC musical variety show featuring the signing and playing of the King sisters and other descendents of William King Driggs, who organized the family musical group in the 1930s. Including spouses, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, some three dozen members of the King family have appeared on camera at one time.
    1967–Top Hits
I’m a Believer - The Monkees
Tell It Like It Is - Aaron Neville
Georgy Girl - The Seekers
There Goes My Everything - Jack Greene
    1968- North Korea seized the USS Pueblo in the Sea of Japan, claiming the ship was on a spy mission. The crew was held for 11 months. The vessel was confiscated.
    1968 – The Pueblo incident began when the Navy intelligence ship U.S.S. Pueblo was seized off the coast of North Korea by North Korean patrol boats. It was claimed that the Pueblo had been caught within North Korean waters. Its crew of 83 was subjected to harsh treatment until their release. Accompanying the crew when they were released--on Dec 22, 1968--was the body of Seaman Duane D. Hodges, the only crewman killed. The Pueblo incident was a blow to the Johnson administration's credibility, as the president seemed powerless to free the captured crew and ship. Combined with the public's perception--in the wake of the Tet Offensive--that the Vietnam War was being lost, the Pueblo incident resulted in a serious faltering of Johnson's popularity with the American people. The crewmen's reports about their horrific treatment at the hands of the North Koreans during their 11 months in captivity further incensed American citizens, many of whom believed that Johnson should have taken more aggressive action to free the captive Americans. It was not to the expose of the FBI traitor was it learned he had given the cipher codes to the Soviets, but they wanted an actual cipher machine and this was the main plan in the capture of the Pueblo. With it, the could read all secret communication by the US military, which was not known until the capture of the traitor until early this century.
    1971 - In Prospect Creek Camp, Alaska the lowest temperature ever recorded in the United States was reported when the thermometer fell to minus 80 degrees.
    1973-President Nixon announces that Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, the chief North Vietnamese negotiator, have initiated a peace agreement in Paris "to end the war and bring peace with honor in Vietnam and Southeast Asia", preliminary signed on January 22 and official agreement singed on January 27. Kissinger and Tho had been conducting secret negotiations since 1969. After the South Vietnamese had blunted the massive North Vietnamese invasion launched in the spring of 1972, Kissinger and the North Vietnamese had finally made some progress on reaching a negotiated end to the war. However, a recalcitrant South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu had inserted several demands into to the negotiations that caused the North Vietnamese negotiators to walk out of the talks with Kissinger on December 13. President Nixon issued an ultimatum to Hanoi to send its representatives back to the conference table within 72 hours "or else." The North Vietnamese rejected Nixon's demand and the president ordered Operation Linebacker II, a full-scale air campaign against the Hanoi area. This operation was the most concentrated air offensive of the war. During the 11 days of the attack, 700 B-52 sorties and more than 1,000 fighter-bomber sorties dropped roughly 20,000 tons of bombs, mostly over the densely populated area between Hanoi and Haiphong. On December 28, after 11 days of intensive bombing, the North Vietnamese agreed to return to the talks. When the negotiators met again in early January, they quickly worked out a settlement.
    1973- Neil Young interrupted a concert in New York to announce that the US had accepted a ceasefire in Vietnam. The audience was reported to have hugged and kissed for 10 minutes.
    1974 - The movie "The Exorcist", based on William Peter Blatty's novel, opened with Mike Oldfield’s "Tubular Bells" playing over the movie's credits. The song was awarded a gold record.
    1975–Top Hits
Mandy - Barry Manilow
Please Mr. Postman - Carpenters
Laughter in the Rain - Neil Sedaka
Kentucky Gambler - Merle Haggard
    1975-"Barney Miller" premiered on Television, about a New York precinct captain starred Hal Linden as Captain Barney Miller. The 12th Precinct gang included Barbara Barrie as Miller's wife, Abe Vigoda as Detective Phil Fish, Max Gail as Sergeant Stan Wojciehowicz, Gregory Sierra as Sergeant Chano Amenguale, Jack Soo as Sergeant Nick Yemana, Ron Glass as Detective Ron Harris and a host of others. It was one of my favorite television shows ( not seen on re-run, yet ).
http://timvp.com/bmiller.html
    1977 - When Carole King’s landmark album, "Tapestry", hit its 302nd week on the album charts, it became the longest-running album to hit the charts in history.
    1982 -- CBS broadcasts The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception, charging General William Westmoreland oversaw the intentional underestimation of enemy forces to improve the perception of how things were going. The general files a libel suit, which he subsequently lost. generally speaking.
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/U/htmlU/uncountedene/uncountedene.htm
http://www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/avcatalog/88419.htm
    1983 - "The A-Team", began it's run on television, full of action and drama, starring, Mr. T. Wearing a ton of gold jewelry, he played the not so mild-mannered Sergeant Bosco B.A. Baracus, under the command of George Peppard as John Hannibal Smith
http://www.timstvshowcase.com
http://www.dollsandtoysaustralia.com/ateam.html
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/6677/
    1983–Top Hits
Down Under - Men at Work
The Girl is Mine - Michael Jackson /Paul McCartney
Dirty Laundry - Don Henley
(Lost His Love) On Our Last Date - Emmylou Harris
    1983 — Miami linebacker A.J. Duhe has three interceptions, including one he returns for a 35-yard touchdown, as the Dolphins defeat the Jets 14-0 in the AFC Championship Game. The teams combined for 12 turnovers on a muddy field.
    1986--Ten performers, including Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Fats Domino, were the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Other performers honored at the ceremony in New York were Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, James Brown, the Everly Brothers and Jerry Lee Lewis. Three of rock's forefathers - Mississippi delta blues singer Robert Johnson, country and western singer Jimmie Rodgers and blues pianist Jimmy Yancey - were also inducted into the Hall of Fame.
    1988- for the first time ever, a bowler rolled a 300 game on television to win a professional tournament. Bob Benoit was the bowler. He won the Quaker State Open in grand Prairie,, TX, and earned a $100,000 bonus. 1991- Policeman's Videotaped Murder Leads to Killers' Convictions in Texas .Darrell Lunsford, a county constable in Garrison, Texas, is killed after pulling over a traffic violator. His murder was remarkable because it was captured on a camera set up in Lunsford's patrol vehicle. The videotape evidence led to the conviction of the three men who beat, kicked, and stabbed the officer to death along the East Texas highway.
Lunsford pulled over a vehicle with Maine license plates and turned on the video camera installed on his front dashboard. He appeared to have asked the three men in the car to open the trunk. However, when the men got out of the car they tackled Lunsford and stabbed him in the neck. The men took his gun, badge, and wallet and drove off in their car.
Later that night, Reynaldo Villarreal was picked up by officers as he was walking a few miles from the murder site. His brother, Baldemar, and another man, Jesse Zambrano, were also arrested a short time later. At the trial of the three men, the jury watched the videotape and all were convicted.
The videotaped murder of Lunsford has ushered in a new era. Video cameras have become ubiquitous in police cars, and can be a potent law-enforcement tool.
    1991–Top Hits
Love Will Never Do (Without You) - Janet Jackson
The First Time - Surface
Sensitivity - Ralph Tresvant
Unanswered Prayers - Garth Brooks
    1997- Madeleine Korbel Albright, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, was sworn in as secretary of state, the first woman to hold this position. She served as ambassador to the United Nations during the first administration of President William Jefferson Clinton. While she was raised a Catholic, during her term she learned she was the child of Jewish parents killed by the Nazi’s and hidden and raised as a Catholic.

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Football Poem

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http://leasingnews.org/Soduku/soduko-main.htm

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Refresh for current date:
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