Welcome To Our New Website!
Pardon our mess.
The kinks aren’t out of the system yet. We’ve just transferred more than 2,000 posts to this new website. In the coming days, we promise our info will be current, clean and clutter-free (aka: “smarter”)
The kinks aren’t out of the system yet. We’ve just transferred more than 2,000 posts to this new website. In the coming days, we promise our info will be current, clean and clutter-free (aka: “smarter”)
The kinks aren’t out of the system yet. We’ve just transferred more than 2,000 posts to this new website. In the coming days, we promise our info will be current, clean and clutter-free (aka: “smarter”)
“The Taliban wants to make a deal…It’s got to be a real deal, but we’ll see.”
“…the stakes going forward are potentially huge.”
“They really are the best of us…Thank you to them on behalf of all Londoners.”
“We apologize for any inconvenience.”
“It was so many, I couldn’t keep count.”
More than half of all Americans will shop during this unofficial national holiday … that may trace its name to a famous American football rivalry.
Army-Navy
More than half the U.S. population – that’s how many people are expected to shop during the 5-day shopping weekend (Thanksgiving – Cyber Monday).
That number is about the same as 2018 when more than 165 million Americans shopped during the long holiday weekend, spending on average $313 in total.
The shopping weekend kicks off the holiday retail season.
During the 26 days in between Thanksgiving & Christmas Day this year Americans are expected to spend upwards of $727B, or about $1,047 per person (excluding gas, cars & dining out) – about 4% more than we did 2018.
Still hungry, but not in the mood for leftovers? Today's deals aren't limited to boots and laptops; spots like Red Lobster, Jack in the Box, STK Steakhouse, and Dunkin' are also handing out major discounts today. See ya, pumpkin spice - hello, peppermint!
No American has ever gone directly from the mayoral office to the Oval Office.
Mike Bloomberg is the latest to try.
Gun control or “gun safety” as Bloomberg references on his website, a passion project after his tenure as NYC mayor.
Founded leading nonprofits advocating for certain gun laws.
Spent more than $100M last year to help elect candidates who support strict gun control policies.
“I believe I would defeat Donald Trump in a general election. But I am clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the Democratic nomination in such a crowded field.”
While much has been made of the relationship between politicians and news organizations, Mike Bloomberg is the only candidate that actually owns a media company. He is the majority owner of Bloomberg - a financial data and international media company.
Pigeons potentially with turkey…venison instead of ham…maybe a side of eel…but definitely…
NO PIE.
Wait. No Pie?
“The colonists did not have butter and wheat flour to make crusts for pies and tarts… So what are they putting on instead? I think meat, meat and more meat.”
LIKELY during Thanksgiving 1621:
Wild Turkey
Corn (dried), Beans & Carrots
Pumpkins (squash)
Mussels, eel or shellfish
LIKELY NOT:
Potatoes (not in North America)
Cranberry sauce (not talked about for another 50 yrs) – plus, sugar was scarce.
Hale's work paid-off. A letter to Pres. Lincoln in Sept. 1863 is thought to have inspired his proclamation to make Thanksgiving a national holiday on November's third Thursday. He did this during the Civil War in 1863 (the same year he delivered the Gettysburg Address) as a way to unify the country around a common history. Read Hale's letter here:
“It looks shaky for the balloons.”
“… her symptoms have abated …”
“I hereby acknowledge my termination…”
“It’s nothing short of a revolution.”
“The time has come to investigate the investigators.”
Have a great holiday week!
How the simple hiring of a librarian in Philadelphia set the stage for the world’s largest library before America even existed.
A young 20-something Benjamin Franklin helped found the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731
On November 14, 1732, the Library Company hired its first librarian.
Operating like a membership service (costing 40 shillings to join &10 shillings per year), patrons could visit & borrow books arriving from Europe that would be too expensive for them to buy.
We discovered this "On This Day" while perusing one of our favorite websites: LOC.gov (Library of Congress). If you put all the bookshelves in the Library of Congress end to end, they would stretch from Washington D.C. to Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Pres. Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address.
But the famous speech would not have happened without this one man whose name isn’t as well known.
“It will be a source of great gratification to the many widows and orphans that have been made almost friendless by the Great Battle here, to have you here personally.”
32-years-old when the Civil War battle raged between Union & Confederate soldiers.
Helped care for those injured, clear the battlefield of dead, communicate with families looking for missing relatives.
One of the main forces behind purchasing 17 acres for a cemetery to honor the fallen.
David Wills' home is still standing in Gettysburg, PA. You can visit the room where Pres. Lincoln slept the night before he delivered the Gettysburg Address. Re-read the whole speech on our source page.
“Find your good, and do it.”
Jon Bon Jovi
Grammy-awarding winning rocker Jon Bon Jovi, who built the JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, NJ, a farm-to-table community restaurant which relies primarily on donated food sand services. It serves both paying and in-need customers unable to pay the requested $20 donation fee.
3 Takeaways From This Week’s Historic Impeachment Hearings
“something for something”
Witnesses, including those “friendly” to the administration, testified they believed a quid pro quo was being used in White House policy towards Ukraine.
Not one witness heard a quid pro quo demand from the President himself.
Witnesses agreed understood the “quid pro quo” in different ways.
Some believed a White House visit was being used as a “carrot” in exchange for an investigation into a Ukrainian company that employed Joe Biden’s son.
Some theorized or concluded military aid was being withheld for the investigation.
Army war veteran, son of a refugee from the Soviet Union. (Alexander Vindman)
Self-made millionaire, son of German holocaust survivors who fled to Uruguay before immigranting to Seattle. (Ambassador Sondland)
The daughter of a North England coal miner who has served as a nonpartisan adviser for 3 presidents. (Fiona Hill)
Democrats, who have the majority in the house, will drive the timeline on what happens next; The House Judiciary Cmte can draw up articles of impeachment to vote on. If the Pres. is impeached by the house, Republicans, who have the majority in the Senate, will drive the timeline on a trial.
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.”
President Kennedy
Pres. Kennedy issued his last Thanksgiving Day proclamation Nov. 4 1963, continuing an annual tradition that started 200 years earlier after Pres. Lincoln officially made Thanksgiving a holiday in 1863. Kennedy was assassinated shortly after on Nov. 22 1963.
“I have been shown in darkness, light and have learned that even in prison, one can be free. I am grateful. I have come to see that there is good in every situation, sometimes we just have to look for it.”
Kayla Mueller
“I have come to a place in this experience, where in every sense of the word, I have surrendered to our creator, because literally there was no one else…and by God and by your prayers, I have felt tenderly cradled in freefall.”
“One of the things that (Gen.) Milley did was named the operation that took down al-Baghdadi after Kayla Mueller, after what she had suffered.”
After hearing of al-Baghdadi's death, Kayla's mother, Martha, said, "I still want to know, 'Where is Kayla?' and what truly happened to her and what aren't we being told."
LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WASTE TIME filtering through headlines searching for the facts. That's when we realized the need for a quick, trustworthy news source that makes staying up-to-date easy and interesting.
OUR GOAL IS TO CLEAR THE CLUTTER. We're committed to providing non-partisan news, in small servings, available wherever you are, whenever you want it.
AND FOR THE RECORD: WE BELIEVE YOU'RE ALREADY SMART. We don't need to tell you what to think or how to feel or what to believe. We just want to equip you with clear facts so you're prepared for any conversation, any vote, any choice and never feel like you're falling behind.
Bullet Points Without The Bias ~ We're bringing you #SmartHERNews.