It’s Valentine’s Day, but more importantly, it’s Pops’ 88th birthday. Pops shares his date with these headlines from yesteryear:

• 1349 – Several hundred Jews are burned to death by mobs while the remainder of their population is forcibly removed from the city of Strasbourg.
• 1778 – The United States Flag is formally recognized by a foreign naval vessel for the first time, when French Admiral Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte renders a nine gun salute to USS Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones.
• 1779 – James Cook is killed by Native Hawaiians near Kealakekua on the Island of Hawaii.
• 1849 – In New York City, James Knox Polk becomes the first serving President of the United States to have his photograph taken.
• 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone, as does Elisha Gray.
• 1929 – Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre: Seven people, six of them gangster rivals of Al Capone‘s gang, are murdered in Chicago, Illinois.

Let’s get right to today’s Headlines Du Jour:

LGBT NEWS:

Virginia Ban on Gay
Marriage Overruled

Kansas’ Anti-Gay Segregation Bill Is an Abomination

Facebook adds gender options

How Texas Health Care Failed Israel, A Man With
Terminal Cancer Who’d Worked His Whole Life

GUNS, GUNS, GUNS:

Court overturns restrictions on
concealed guns in much of California
Appeals panel finds state rules allowing
counties to restrict the right to carry concealed
weapons in public violate the 2nd Amendment.

Takeover of the crazy ants: It’s creepy!

Kentucky Sinkhole Eats
Corvettes, Raises Questions
Geologists explain what happened—and
which other areas might be vulnerable.

THE “O” IN GOP STANDS FOR OLD:

WSJ: Ted Cruz on Mission to ‘Make Republicans Even More Unpopular’

Colorado lawmaker shocks victim’s dad: ‘Good thing’ Aurora shooter had 100-round magazine

Montana Republican Charged With Felony Assault After Throwing 4-Year Old Daughter

Darrell Issa Is Raising Millions Of Dollars
Off Of His Bogus Obama Investigations

Gun Owner Blames Fictional Black Man for Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound

MONOPOLY ISN’T JUST A GAME:

Comcast Announces $45.2 Billion Takeover of
Time Warner Cable

Al Franken Drops the
Hammer on the Comcast
Time-Warner Deal

The Comcast Deal Won’t Make a Terrible Industry Any Worse

CAREFUL WHAT YOU TYPE ON FACEBOOK:

The Facebook Comment
That Ruined a Life

Rick Perry urges move toward marijuana decriminalization

Scott Walker: Big difference between
having a beer and smoking marijuana

Headlines Du Jour is a leisure-time activity of Not Now Silly, home of the
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