Greetings and welcome to April 6, 2026. Today is National Tartan Day and National Student Athlete Day.
1808: John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company.
1830: Joseph Smith and five others officially organize the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) in Fayette, N.Y.
1843: Queen Victoria appoints William Wordsworth British Poet Laureate.
1860: Joseph Smith III, creates the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by reorganizing the previous church organized by his father, Joseph Smith, Jr.
1866: Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson forms the Grand Army of the Republic in Decatur, Ill.
1889: George Eastman begins selling Kodak flexible roll film for the first time.
1906: J. Stuart Blackton releases the world's first animated cartoon, "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces."
1909: American explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson almost reach the North Pole. It wasn’t until years later that they discovered a navigational error that had them off by a few miles.
1930: Bakery executive James Dewar invents Hostess Twinkies.
1950: John Foster Dulles becomes advisor to Secretary of State Dean Acheson with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region.
1955: Failed coup in Yemen by Abdullah Seif el-Islam.
1974: 200,000 attend rock concert "California Jam" at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California; line-up includes Earth, Wind & Fire, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Birthdays today include: Italian painter Raphael; William Dawes, American soldier and patriot who with Paul Revere and Samuel Prescott warned Massachusetts minutemen that the regulars are coming; Donald Wills Douglas, American aircraft industrialist; Lowell Thomas, American newscaster; baseball great Mickey Cochrane; André Previn, German-American conductor; Ivan Dixon, American actor, director and civil rights activist; actor and singer Billy Dee Williams; country great Merle Haggard; film director Barry Levinson; radio show host Neal Boortz; session guitarist Danny Kortchmar; actress Marilu Henner; and Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.).
If today is your day as well, make it a good one!
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By now, you’ve seen my piece from yesterday, “The Islamic Immigrant Problem.” The huge response to that article continues to amaze me, frankly.
So you might imagine the look on my face when this Fox News headline greeted me: “King Charles sparks backlash from UK Christians by not delivering an Easter message this year.” This is after taking the time to wish a "blessed and happy Ramadan" on social media in February. Apparently, maintaining an image is not exactly Charles' forte'.
"This came as a shock to most U.K. Christians here in the United Kingdom… we expect a message from the Monarch," Neil Sean, a royal commentator, told Fox News Digital.
He added, "It’s not clear why he’s decided to not offer a message up, which is why the British people are angry… but more so when he made video contributions filmed inside Royal palaces for Eid and Ramadan." Sean noted that Charles is being accused in the United Kingdom as being a "secret Muslim."
For someone who swore at his coronation to “uphold the faith,” this seems a strange way to accomplish that goal.
Ian Pelham Turner, a royals expert, echoed Sean's sentiments and explained that this was an easy way for Charles to start another scandal overseas.
"How do you turn a Royal drama into a crisis? Simply do not follow decades of tradition and decide not to write an Easter message even though King Charles is head of the Church and swore an oath at his Coronation to uphold the faith," Turner said.
"At a time when there are tensions in the country over the further evolution of Islam and the beliefs many believe that Charles is a closet Muslim add on to the fact that the newly ordained Archbishop of Canterbury is the first woman in centuries and this will cause controversy for her to deal with it just leaves William no doubt to fulfill a plan already orchestrated to fill the gap," he continued.
The people surrounding the royal family do not seem to be all on the same page regarding this business, with some saying the lack of an Easter message was a mistake, and others suggesting there is no tradition of a royal Easter message.
Regardless of how you read all of this, it does seem like another public relations crisis at the palace, at the very least.
After his (30-minute-long!) message to Muslims last month, the Brits are taking this as a huge snub at least, and given that around only 6 or 7% of Brits are Islamists, an indicator that will surely be seen as the tail wagging the dog. With the palace identifying the tensions over the growth (and threat) of Islam within the UK, some reinforcement by the "defender of the faith" would be in order. Charles didn't, and there's a serious problem brewing because of that lack.
Ironically, Charles said, as a part of his Ramadan message: "There are moments in ones life when silence speaks louder than proclamation.”
I'd say offhand that that's very true and that one of two things is going on here: Either he didn't think this non-message through, or the silence is an indication of a line of thinking he dare not speak aloud.
A comment on X about all of this says it well:
The head of the Church of England going out of his way to mark Eid and Ramadan while Christians wait to see if Easter gets the same energy from the palace is a legitimate question, not fake outrage. Equal treatment isn't a radical ask. If the institution exists to defend the faith it was built on, Easter Sunday should be the easiest message of the year to send. The fact that it's even a question tells you everything about where the establishment's priorities have drifted.
Indeed. As an indicator of how far the "defender of the faith" has slipped, do you notice that we're now struggling for equal treatment of Islam and the Christian faith, which he's supposed to be defending?
There will be attempts to sweep this under the nearest prayer rug, but I doubt they'll be successful.
Thought for the day: I'm at the age where my back goes out more than I do. —Phyllis Diller
I'll see you tomorrow. Take care.
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