Little Girl to Lincoln: “All the Ladies Like Whiskers”

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Even among the distinguished company of former U.S. presidents, Abraham Lincoln’s portrait stands out. Nearly every schoolchild can pick out the 16th president, thanks his to tall, this frame, his long coat and stovepipe hat – and the distinctive beard on his chin.

The source of the president’s facial hair has been revealed as an 11-year-old girl who wrote a letter to the then-Republican presidential candidate and urged him to grow a beard because ‘all the ladies like whiskers.’

Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, penned a letter to Lincoln in October 1860 suggesting that he would have a better chance of getting elected if he grew a beard, Mental Floss magazine reports. The story of Lincoln’s trademark beard has become a source of national interest after the release – and success – of Steven Spielberg’s newest film, ‘Lincoln.’ Daniel Day Lewis takes on the role of the battle-hardened president as he lead the nation through the brutal Civil War.

‘You would look a great deal better for your face is so thin,’ she said. ‘All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President.’ Women weren’t allowed to vote at the time, and did not gain the right until 1920.

Remarkably, the Illinois Senator promptly wrote her back. ‘As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin it now’
He did not promise her a beard, but photographs from the era reveal he stopped shaving shortly after the letter was written.

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U.S. Birth Rate Hits Record Low

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The U.S. birth rate dropped to its lowest level since the beginning of the Great Depression, led by a drop among immigrants, according to a report data released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

In 2011, the overall birth rate was 63.2 per 1,000 women of childbearing age, the lowest since at least 1920, Pew reported, citing numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics. The birth rate reached 122.7 in 1957, the peak of the Baby Boom. After the mid-1970s, the birth rate stabilized at about 65 to 70 births per 1,000 women annually, until the beginning of the Great Recession.

Since 2007, both the U.S. birth rate (the number of live births per 1,000 women ages 15-44) and the number of births have dropped significantly, according to the report.

Overall, the birth rate declined 8 percent from 2007 to 2010. Among U.S.-born women, the birth rate dropped 6 percent. The decline among foreign-born women was 14 percent. Among Mexican women, the birth rate fell even more, to 23 percent.

Despite the recent decline, foreign-born moms continue to give birth to a disproportionate share of the country’s babies, the report said. In 2010, immigrants represented about 13 percent of the U.S. population while foreign-born mothers accounted for 23 percent of all births.

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Islamist-Dominated Egypt Panel Hastily Approves Draft Constitution Without Input From Liberal & Christian Members

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CAIRO (AP) — Islamists approved a draft constitution for Egypt early Friday without the participation of liberal and Christian members, seeking to pre-empt a court ruling that could dissolve their panel with a rushed, marathon vote that further inflames the clash between the opposition and President Mohammed Morsi.

The move advanced a charter with an Islamist bent that rights experts say could give Muslim clerics oversight over legislation and bring restrictions on freedom of speech, women’s rights and other liberties.

The draft must now be put to a nationwide referendum within 30 days. Morsi said Thursday it will be held “soon.”

The Islamist-dominated assembly that has been working on the constitution for months raced to pass it, voting article by article on the draft’s more than 230 articles for more than 16 hours. The lack of inclusion was on display in the nationally televised gathering: Of the 85 members in attendance, there was not a single Christian and only four women, all Islamists. Many of the men wore beards, the hallmark of Muslim conservatives.

For weeks, liberal, secular and Christian members, already a minority on the 100-member panel, have been withdrawing to protest what they call the Islamists’ hijacking of the process.

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Gallup: Americans Turn on Government-guaranteed Health Care

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A new Gallup poll shows that 54 percent of Americans think it is not the federal government’s responsibility to ensure all citizens have health care coverage. This is the first time Gallup trends have shown a majority of Americans holding this opinion since 2000, according to Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones.

From 2000 until around the time President Barack Obama was elected, polls showed an easy majority of Americans supported government-ensured health care. In most years during that time frame, more than 60 percent of Americans thought the government should make sure everyone had health care.

“The shift away from the view that the government should ensure healthcare coverage for all began shortly after President Barack Obama’s election and has continued the past several years during the discussions and ultimate passage of the Affordable Care Act in March 2010,” Jones wrote, adding that 48 percent of Americans support Obamacare while 45 percent oppose it.

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U.N. Votes to Recognize Palestine

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UNITED NATIONS — The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to grant Palestinians limited recognition of statehood, prompting exuberant celebrations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip and immediate condemnations from the United States and Israel.

The 193-member U.N. body voted 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions, to recognize Palestine as a “non-member observer state,” a status that falls well short of independence but provides Palestinians with limited privileges as a state, including the right to join the International Criminal Court and other international treaty bodies.

Speaking before the vote, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the U.N. actions offered the only means to salvage a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We did not come here to delegitimize a state established years ago, and that is Israel,” he said. “Rather we came to affirm the legitimacy of a state that must now achieve its independence, and that is Palestine.”

But the United States and Israel said the Palestinian bid would complicate efforts to restart stalled Middle East peace talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement accusing Abbas of having “violated the agreements” between the two sides, and pledging that “Israel will act accordingly.”

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McConnell ‘Burst Into Laughter’ as Geithner Outlined Obama’s Plan

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photo credit: gage skidmore

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, says he “burst into laughter” Thursday when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner outlined the administration proposal for averting the fiscal cliff. He wasn’t trying to embarrass Geithner, McConnell says, only responding candidly to his one-sided plan, explicit on tax increases, vague on spending cuts.

Geithner’s visit to his office left McConnell discouraged about reaching a “balanced” deal on tax hikes and spending reductions designed to prevent a shock to the economy in January. “Nothing good is happening” in the negotiations, McConnell says, because of Obama’s insistence on tax rate hikes for the wealthy but unwillingness to embrace serious spending cuts.

Geithner suggested $1.6 trillion in tax increases, McConnell says, but showed “minimal or no interest” in spending cuts. When congressional leaders went to the White House three days after the election, Obama talked of possible curbs on the explosive growth of food stamps and Social Security disability payments. But since Geithner didn’t mention them, those reductions appear to be off the table now, McConnell says.

Obama is pushing to raise the tax rates on couples earning more than $250,000 and individuals earning more than $200,000. But those wouldn’t produce revenues anywhere near $1.6 trillion over a decade.

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Verdict: Loving Husband Turned Into Homosexual Addict by Parkinson’s Drug

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A Parkinson’s sufferer has won a six figure pay-out against a drug giant after his medication turned him into a ‘gay sex and gambling addict’.

Didier Jambart had been a well respected man, an upstanding member of the community in Nantes, western France, and a loving father and husband. But within two years of taking the drug Requip he was so addicted to both his vices he sold his children’s toys to raise money and advertised himself on the internet for sex. He has now been given £160,000 in damages after a court in Rennes, France, upheld his claims.

The ground-breaking ruling was made yesterday by the appeal court, which awarded the damages to Mr Jambart from GlaxoSmithKline, the British pharmaceuticals giant.

With his wife Christine beside him, Mr Jambart, 52, broke down in tears as judges upheld his claim that his life had become ‘hell’ after he started taking Requip, a drug made by GSK. He told reporters ‘this is a great day’ after the court threw out the firm’s appeal against an earlier ruling to award him 117,000 euros. The court increased the level of damages to 197,468.83 euros after finding that there was ‘serious, precise and corroborated’ evidence to blame his transformation on Requip.

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eBay Yanks Beck’s ‘Obama in Pee Pee’ Art Project Meant to Raise Money for Charity (+video)

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The popular online auction site eBay has yanked a piece of artwork done by Glenn Beck citing its belief that the project featured an Obama figurine floating in actual urine (it was not, however).

On Tuesday evening, Glenn Beck featured an Obama bobble head doll in a jar of yellow liquid, catalyzed by Michael D’Anouto’s painting titled, “Truth,” which features a crucified Obama and also parodies the controversial “artwork” dubbed “Piss Christ” that defaced a crucifix in a glass of urine.

Beck’s piece was meant to underscore the importance of adhering to the First Amendment and highlight the hypocrisy of those who adhere to it only when it suits them. Often, members of the Left will rail against the disparaging of figures they hold dear, but do not hold themselves to the same standard when disparaging figures others hold dear.

Beck was auctioning the jar, complete with the Obama doll, on the auction site, with all the proceeds set to go to Beck’s Mercury One charity. At the last entry its bid was up to $11,300. On Wednesday morning, however, eBay removed the auction page.

Listen to Beck’s radio team discuss:

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Russian Mafia Whistleblower Found Dead

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photo credit: sergio vassio

WEYBRIDGE/LONDON – A Russian businessman helping Swiss prosecutors to uncover a powerful fraud syndicate has died in unexplained circumstances near his mansion in Britain, in a twist to a Russian mafia scandal that has strained Moscow’s ties with the West.

Alexander Perepilichny, 44, sought refuge in Britain three years ago and had been helping a Swiss investigation into a Russian money-laundering scheme by providing evidence against corrupt officials, his colleagues and media reports said.

He has also provided evidence against those linked to the 2009 death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, a case that caused an international outcry and prompted the US to push for a bill cracking down on Russian corruption.

Perepilichny, a Russian citizen, collapsed and died not far from his home on an upmarket, heavily protected estate in the county of Surrey, south of London, on November 10.

He is now the fourth person linked to the Magnitsky case to have died in strange circumstances.

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Mitt Romney: A good man. The right fight.

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Over the years, one of the more troubling characteristics of the Democratic Party and the left in general has been a shortage of loyalty and an abundance of self-loathing. It would be a shame if we Republicans took a narrow presidential loss as a signal that those are traits we should emulate.

I appreciate that Mitt Romney was never a favorite of D.C.’s green-room crowd or, frankly, of many politicians. That’s why, a year ago, so few of those people thought that he would win the Republican nomination. But that was indicative not of any failing of Romney’s but of how out of touch so many were in Washington and in the professional political class. Nobody liked Romney except voters. What began in a small field in New Hampshire grew into a national movement. It wasn’t our campaign, it was Romney. He bested the competition in debates, and though he was behind almost every candidate in the GOP primary at one time or the other, he won the nomination and came very close to winning the presidency.

In doing so, he raised more money for the Republican Party than the party did. He trounced Barack Obama in debate. He defended the free-enterprise system and, more than any figure in recent history, drew attention to the moral case for free enterprise and conservative economics.

When much of what passes for a political intelligentsia these days predicted that the selection of Rep. Paul Ryan meant certain death on the third rail of Medicare and Social Security, Romney brought the fight to the Democrats and made the rational, persuasive case for entitlement reform that conservatives have so desperately needed. The nation listened, thought about it — and on Election Day, Romney carried seniors by a wide margin. It’s safe to say that the entitlement discussion will never be the same.

On Nov. 6, Romney carried the majority of every economic group except those with less than $50,000 a year in household income. That means he carried the majority of middle-class voters. While John McCain lost white voters younger than 30 by 10 points, Romney won those voters by seven points, a 17-point shift. Obama received 4½million fewer voters in 2012 than 2008, and Romney got more votes than McCain.

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Stuart Stevens was the chief strategist for the Romney presidential campaign.