The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan on June 30, 1953

The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan: On this day in 1953, workers at a Chevrolet plant in Flint, Michigan, assemble the first Corvette, a two-seater sports car that would become an American icon. The first completed production car rolled off the assembly line two days later, one of just 300 Corvettes made that year.

The idea for the Corvette originated with General Motors’ pioneering designer Harley J. Earl, who in 1951 began developing plans for a low-cost American sports car that could compete with Europe’s MGs, Jaguars and Ferraris. The project was eventually code-named “Opel”. In January 1953, GM debuted the Corvette concept car at its Motorama auto show at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. It featured a fiberglass body and a six-cylinder engine and according to GM, was named for the “trim, fleet naval vessel that performed heroic escort and patrol duties during World War II”. The Corvette was a big hit with the public at Motorama and GM soon put the roadster into production.

On June 30, 1953, the first Corvette came off the production line in Flint. It was hand-assembled and featured a Polo White exterior and red interior, two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission, a wraparound windshield, whitewall tires and detachable plastic curtains instead of side windows. The earliest Corvettes were designed to be opened from the inside and lacked exterior door handles. Other components included a clock, cigarette lighter and red warning light that activated when the parking brake was applied–a new feature at the time. The car carried an initial price tag of $3,490 and could go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 11 or 12 seconds, then considered a fairly average speed.

In 1954, the Corvette went into mass production at a Chevy plant in St. Louis, Missouri. Sales were lackluster in the beginning and GM considered discontinuing the line. However, rival company Ford had introduced the two-seater Thunderbird around the same time and GM did not want to be seen bowing to the competition. Another critical development in the Corvette’s survival came in 1955, when it was equipped with the more powerful V-8 engine. Its performance and appeal steadily improved after that and it went on to earn the nickname “America’s sports car” and become ingrained in pop culture through multiple references in movies, television and music.

History Channel / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / GM Corporate Newsroom / Night of the Long Knives on June 30, 1934 (YouTube)

Night of the Long Knives on June 30, 1934

Night of the Long Knives: In Germany, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler orders a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed had the potential to become political enemies in the future. The leadership of the Nazi Storm Troopers (SA), whose four million members had helped bring Hitler to power in the early 1930s, was especially targeted. Hitler feared that some of his followers had taken his early “National Socialism” propaganda too seriously and thus might compromise his plan to suppress workers’ rights in exchange for German industry making the country war-ready.

In the early 1920s, the ranks of Hitler’s Nazi Party swelled with resentful Germans who sympathized with the party’s bitter hatred of Germany’s democratic government, leftist politics, and Jews. In November 1923, after the German government resumed the payment of war reparations to Britain and France, the Nazis launched the “Beer Hall Putsch”–their first attempt at seizing the German government by force. Hitler hoped that his nationalist revolution in Bavaria would spread to the dissatisfied German army, which in turn would bring down the government in Berlin. However, the uprising was immediately suppressed, and Hitler was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for high treason.

Sent to Landsberg jail, he spent his time dictating his autobiography, Mein Kampf, and working on his oratorical skills. After nine months in prison, political pressure from supporters of the Nazi Party forced his release. During the next few years, Hitler and the other leading Nazis reorganized their party as a fanatical mass movement that was able to gain a majority in the German parliament–the Reichstag–by legal means in 1932. In the same year, President Paul von Hindenburg defeated a presidential bid by Hitler, but in January 1933 he appointed Hitler chancellor, hoping that the powerful Nazi leader could be brought to heel as a member of the president’s cabinet.

However, Hindenburg underestimated Hitler’s political audacity, and one of the new chancellor’s first acts was to use the burning of the Reichstag building as a pretext for calling general elections. The police, under Nazi Hermann Goering, suppressed much of the party’s opposition before the election, and the Nazis won a bare majority. Shortly after, Hitler took on absolute power through the Enabling Acts. In 1934, Hindenburg died, and the last remnants of Germany’s democratic government were dismantled, leaving Hitler the sole master of a nation intent on war and genocide.

History Channel / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / Jewish Virtual Library.org / Night of the Long Knives on June 30, 1934 (YouTube)

Understanding Military Terminology - Munitions Effectiveness Assessment

(DOD) Conducted concurrently and interactively with battle damage assessment, the assessment of the military force applied in terms of the weapon system and munitions effectiveness to determine and recommend any required changes to the methodology, tactics, weapon system, munitions, fusing, and/or weapon delivery parameters to increase force effectiveness. Munitions effectiveness assessment is primarily the responsibility of operations with required inputs and coordination from the ntelligence community. Also called MEA. See also Assessment; Battle Damage Assessment.

Joint Publications (JP 2-01) Joint and National Intelligence Support to Military Operations

The Old Salt’s Corner

“Slave” (continued)

Brought in chains, to a raised wooden stage.

Bids tallied carefully, sales written on a page.

That was when I witnessed, a most perfect girl.

Bought by a fat man, she was placed in a cage!

I was up next, I stood still as he bid on me.

“One dollar, gimme two, two dollars, sold for three!”

Then I was taken and locked up in the cage with her.

Together we both dreamt, of one day being free.

Brought to the plantation, in late September.

I worked in cotton fields, until November.

Then I would be purposed, to cutting fire wood.

For cold and snow came, by early December.

In the evening, we were left to be with our kind.

While in the big house, our master dined.

Later at dusk, my angel girl would come.

Her beauty so amazing, she made me blind!

The taste of her body, my rememberance of home.

We gave each other pleasure, when we were alone.

Even though the master, wanted her for only him.

I felt like a free man, when I would hear her moan!

Her pregnant, I wondered if the child was mine?

If I was the father, I would be bound in twine.

Still inside I prayed, that the child belonged to me.

In the end, that would be certainly be fine.

Nine months later, almost to the day.

The love of my life was taken away.

In death our child born, middle of September.

The master's anger, I could not sway.

I was awoken, ripped out of my bed!

He took out a musket loaded with lead.

Finally free, in spirit we both travel.

There are certainly worse things, than being dead!

~ Richard Lamoureux (Part II)

“I’m Just Sayin”

“The only person you are destined to become

is the person you decide to be.”

“Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake

of dreaming that I am persecuted

whenever I am contradicted.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Thought for the Day”

“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly,

and I did. I said I didn’t know.”

“Kindness is the language

which the deaf can hear

and the blind can see.”

~ Mark Twain

“What I Learned”

“Say what you mean, mean what you say”

“Say something wise and your name will live forever.”

“Say something stupid and your name will be remembered for forever and a day.”

~ Anonymous

Second Hand News (Links to Articles from Week 26 - June 24, 2019 - June 30, 2019)

Trump: 'We don't need any more wars' • Ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes threatens ninth criminal referral, says Trump-Russia conspiracy peddlers are 'possessed' • Former South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy: FBI gave 'two different kinds of defensive briefings' to Trump and Clinton in 2016

Documents indicate Ilhan Omar lived with Ahmed Hirsi while claiming to be married to Ahmed Elmi • Elizabeth Warren promises reparations for gay couples • Bodies of two babies, toddler, and woman found on Texas border • The 16,000 migrants passing through San Antonio came with a cost

Editor's Picks: Sex, crimes and incompetence: Smears fly in White House press secretary race • Ex-top CIA official perturbed by John Durham's review of intelligence analysts • Officials accuse DHS chief Kevin McAleenan of leaking ICE raids plan to sabotage operation

Commentary - Washington Secrets - Red Alert: Celebrities advertise abortion to young girls • Medicaid expansion is a failure: Lots of spending, little benefit - Let the bad times roll • Republicans should reject Maxine Waters' bad Export-Import Bank deal Washington Examiner

Iran claims it has foiled all cyber-attacks launched by U.S. in retaliation for gunning down of an American spy drone last week and says it is ready to shoot down more • Iran calls America's $50billion Middle East peace plan 'shameful' as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he is certain it will fail • Trump to visit South Korea for talks with President Moon after G20 summit as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he hopes to revive stalled nuclear talks with Pyongyang

Wife of Navy SEAL on trial for the murder of an ISIS prisoner labels the prosecution 'completely vile and corrupt' after a special forces medic testified that HE killed the teenager • Four hundred bikers gather to bid goodbye to seven motorcyclists, including Marine veterans and a married couple, killed in crash with Dodge pickup truck driver who 'plowed into their procession'

Bernie Sanders to propose canceling all $1.6 TRILLION of student loan debt - paid for with a new tax on Wall Street • A VERY rattled Mayor Pete Buttigieg is branded a 'traitor' and heckled during fiery town hall meeting the Democrat presidential candidate called after a black man was shot dead by police in South Bend • Jerry Nadler says calling Hope Hicks 'Ms Lewandowski' meant nothing as ex-Trump aide Jason Miller labels him a 'scumbag' and 'fat f***' before deleting his Twitter

'Traumatized sick children who haven't bathed for weeks, forced to wear urine-stained clothes and eat rotten food': The 'inhumane' conditions at the migrant detainee camps are exposed • Eleven state Republican senators flee Oregon and go into HIDING to prevent voting on climate change bill, with one threatening to shoot dead police who have been ordered to hunt them down

More victims of the Hawaii skydive tragedy are pictured as it's revealed plane which crashed killing all 11 on board had a close call in 2016 when its engine stalled forcing all its skydivers to jump early • 'Bodies of three children and a young woman are found by border patrol in Texas • American missionary working in Uganda is sued by African mothers who claim she has caused more than 100 babies' deaths by giving them medical treatment despite NOT being a doctor • Survey on 'White Privilege' is posted in Manhattan school with almost no white students as city councilman asks whether the questionnaire aimed to 'inflame tensions' Daily Mail UK

Facial recognition software and the long goodbye to privacy and non-transparency online.

Iran predators are out of options.

Russia always has a Plan B.

Erdogan of Turkey is not ten feet tall.

Washington responds to Iran's provocation.

Tales of the New Cold War: The U.S. boasts of a Cyber Attack on Russia. 2 of 2. John Batchelor (06/24/2019)

CORRUPTION CHRONICLES: OBAMA STATE DEPARTMENT AT CENTER OF ANTI-TRUMP COUP CABAL • ‘Investigating the Investigators’ - The REAL Collusion Scandal, Obama State Deptartment Launders Steele Dossier, Leftists Threaten Electoral College • Judicial Watch Sues Colorado for Documents on Electoral College Change, Files Suit on Behalf of Reporter Over State’s New National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

ISIS Fighter Affirms What Judicial Watch Exposed Years Ago - Terrorists Enter U.S. Via Mexico • Mexican Cartels Among Greatest Criminal, National Security, Public Health Threat to U.S. • U.S. Sues Bus Co. for Banning Muslim Driver from Wearing Robe Symbolic of Islamic Piety • U.S. Government Wastes Billions on “Fragmented, Overlapping or Duplicative” Programs Judicial Watch

Mr. Answer Man Please Tell Us: Why Do Bats Hang Upside Down?

The age-old question of upside down bats. Yes, it is awfully weird that there is an animal - a mammal even - that hangs upside down. Sure, some monkeys do it when they're just monkeying around. And a few other tree climbers, like margays, hang upside down if they are reaching for something or - again, like the margay cat - may actually even hunt that way ... But bats are the only animals that actually spend most of their time hanging upside down: feeding this way, raising their young this way, and, yes, sleeping or roosting this way.

There is actually a very good and sensible reason why they do this: They have to hang upside down so that they can fly.

We have to acknowledge that bats are not birds, nor are they insects. These are the other two animals that have true powered flight (as opposed to gliding). The difference between bat flight and bird or insect flight is weight - specifically, the ratio of weight to lift-capacity of the wings. If you walk up to a bird or insect, most species will be able to fly right up into the air from a motionless position, and do it quickly.

Bats, on the other hand (or, other wing), can’t do that. They have a lot of difficulty taking off from the ground (not that they can’t do it ... it’s just more difficult). Insects and birds often actually jump into the air to give them a start in the right direction, then their powerful wings take them up, up, and away.

Birds have hollow bones; bats don’t. Insects are made of lightweight chitin or soft, light tissue; bats aren’t. And bats don’t have what you could call “powerful” wings. These amazing creatures are mammals, after all. The only flying mammals. Nature found a way to evolve such an unlikely thing as a flying mammal, so some compromises had to be made. Bats, once airborne, manage perfectly well in the air, and can literally fly circles around most birds in flight. The problem is in first getting off the ground.

To compensate for the extra weight that mammals must have, to compensate for the problem of getting off the ground, evolution found another way for bats to transition from being motionless to immediately being able to fly when necessary. Evolution said, “How about if we drop them from above? That way they are immediately in the air, and all they need to do is start flapping.”

It was a great idea, as it turns out. Except bat feet aren’t any good for perching on a branch. They are mammals, not birds, so their musculature, their bones, and their tendons are set up in a completely different way. When a bird squats down on a branch, their tendons actually lock their toes into an even tighter grip on the perch. It happens automatically. That’s part of being a bird, and is universal. That’s why they don’t fall off in their sleep.

Bats, as mammals, are set up differently. Therefore, to compensate for that fact, nature said, “How about if we have them hang upside down? That way, their tendons will actually pull their toes closed, just like a bird does from the opposite direction.” So that’s what evolved. Bats hang from the bottom of something, and all they have to do is “let go” and they are instantly flying. In fact, with this gravity-assist method, they can achieve instant flight even faster than birds, who have to work against gravity.

Side note: In case you were wondering how bats poop and pee while upside down ... First off, pooping is no big deal. Bat poop looks like tiny grains of rice; if they are hanging, it just falls to the floor of the bat cave as guano. Pee, however ... well, they have that covered too. They just “hold it” until they are flying.

So there you go. Bats sleep hanging upside down because they are mammals and can’t take off into the air like birds can (at least not without difficulty). But, if they're hanging, all they do is let go.

Not all of the 1240-plus species of bats do hang upside down. There are exceptions - about six of them, within two different families. One is in South America (Thyropteridae) and the other is in Madagascar (Myzopodidae). The Myzopodidae, which includes just one species, is exceedingly rare.

So it turns out that these bats roost inside the tubes of young, unfurled banana leaves and other similar large leaves. When they attach themselves to the inside of this rolled leaf, they do it head-up. The problem with living inside of rolled-up leaves is that within a few days, these leaves will continue growing, and eventually open up. Whenever that happens, the whole group of bats has to pick up and move to another home. Over and over again. All six of these species of rare bats have a suction cup on each wrist and ankle, and they use these to attach to the smooth surface of the inside of the leaf tube. Evolution: the more you learn, the more amazing it becomes.

National Geographic • Quora (Stefan Pociask) - Quora (14 Answers) • Wikipedia • Wonderopolis.org / Why Do Bats Hang Upside Down? (YouTube)

NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang

Donut: A floating device used to store oily waste pumped out of the bilges in port.

DOR: Disenroll at Own Request, Drop at Own Request. To drop out of a voluntary program such as aviation or submarines.

Douche down: To wash, usually using fresh water.

Double Digit Midget: A short-timer, someone who is less than 100 days from retirement, EAOS, or being discharged to civilian life.

Double Nuts: Aircraft flown by the squadron or air wing commander, typically has “00” (zero zero) painted on the nose and also printed on routing slips for correspondence.

Down: Not working, out of commission, broken, “broke-dick”. In aviation, non-flyable, usually for maintenance reasons. When applied to an aviator, it means not allowed to fly. This can be for a variety of reasons: Medical, personal, disciplinary, etc. In flight training, a down is a failed flight.

DRB (Disciplinary Review Board): Step in the NJP process in which the accused attempts to prove his innocence by being screamed at for 2 hours.

Drift Count: Monitoring the movement of the ship while at anchor.

Drifty: Lacking the ability to stay focused while attempting to perform a given task. (Petty Officer to Sailor: “is there something the matter with you? You are acting drifty today!”).

Drifter: Sailor who at all times lacks the ability to stay focused. Also called drift-pack, or in the very extreme case “COMNAVDRIFTLANT/PAC”, a parody of COMNAVSURFLANT/PAC.

Drill Rodeo: A game in which a screwdriver is inserted head first into drill where bit should go and battery is removed. The trigger is taped down and once someone holds the end of the screwdriver, the battery is slapped in and the player must attempt to hold on to the screwdriver for as long as possible. Best used with higher voltage drills.

Wiktionary.org

Just for you MARINE

Dope: Data On Previous Engagements, information, or sight settings or wind corrections for a rifle under given conditions.

DPICM: Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions, a specialized artillery round that releases sub-munitions.

Drill: Close order drill, the procedures and methodology of handling weapons and moving troops about in an orderly fashion, used to indoctrinate recruits in obedience to commands and military appearance.

Drill Hat: A Drill Instructor, usually the second most senior behind the SDI and who specializes in the instruction of close order drill.

Wikipedia.org

Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission (VRM) (VRM-40) - nicknamed the “Titans”

United States Navy - Naval Air Station Norfolk - Norfolk, Virginia. - Established December 14, 2018 (Planned for future establishment).

Where Did That Saying Come From?

“Hope for the best and prepare for the worst:”

 Meaning: We should all be optimistic, but ready at the same time to meet trouble and difficulties whenever they arise.

“Cautious optimism” or “guarded optimism” You expect something to be fine but are also aware of (and hopefully prepared for) the possibility of things turning out badly.

History: Late Middle English: via Old French from Latin praeparatio(n-), from praeparare 'make ready before' ... from prae 'before' + parare 'make ready'.

Hope for the best is a baseline mental preparation that motivates and supports all other preparation activities. Expect the worst begins to identify the obstacles that must be overcome to achieve success. The remaining preparation steps flow intuitively from there:

• Slicing every obstacle into discrete challenges

• Developing a detailed plan to meet each challenge

• Practicing all the necessary steps to overcome every obstacle

This preparation systematically transforms the hope into confidence, which can then be leveraged in the final deployment of the plan.

English.StackExchange

Science & Technology

Diving into Earth's interior helps scientists unravel secrets of diamond formation • Ancient poop helps show climate change contributed to fall of Cahokia • New periodic table of droplets could help solve crimes • Plants' drought alert system has unlikely evolutionary origin: underwater algae • U.S. opioid deaths jump fourfold in 20 years; epidemic shifts to Eastern states • Outfitting T cell receptors to combat a widespread and sometimes deadly virus • Clinical trial: Prenatal DHA prevents blood-pressure increase from obesity during childhood • Doctor-affiliated PACs fund political candidates who oppose firearm safety policies

Phys.org / MedicalXpress / TechXplore

Bizarre News (we couldn’t make up stuff this good – real news story)

Someone Decapitated a “Crusader” Mummy in Ireland and Ran Off with Its Head

The head of an 800-year-old mummy known as “The Crusader” has been lopped off and stolen from its crypt below St. Michan's Church in Dublin.

According to a statement issued by the Church of Ireland, vandals are believed to have broken into the church's underground vaults over the weekend, where they “desecrated” the bodies of several mummies interred there. St. Michan’s staff discovered the damage. [Photos: Medieval Skeletons Unearthed Near Saint's Tomb in England]

In addition to beheading the mummy known as “The Crusader” and flipping it over in its coffin, the vandals also damaged the 400-year-old remains of a mummy known as “The Nun”, the church reported.

“I would appeal to those responsible to examine their consciences and return the head of The Crusader to its rightful place”, the archbishop of Dublin said in the statement.

Irish police are investigating the incident.

St. Michan's Church dates to 1095, but the present church building was completed in 1685, according to the church's website. The crypts below St. Michan's hold many mummies, though their history is not fully known. According to the church, the bodies of the men and women entombed there slowly mummified over time thanks to the basement's naturally dry atmosphere, which is partially due to limestone bricks sucking moisture out of the air.

This dryness has also caused some of the mummies' caskets to disintegrate, exposing the corpses inside to public view. The Crusader and The Nun were among the crypt's most visible and most visited mummies. According to Atlas Obscura, church officials once encouraged visitors to shake The Crusader's outstretched hand (a practice that ended in 2017).

Historians believe The Crusader participated in the Fourth Crusade, which spanned from 1202 to 1204. Standing more than 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall, the mummy previously had to have its legs broken and folded up behind it just to fit in the coffin.

• Photos: Mummies Discovered in Tombs in Ancient Egyptian City

• Religious Mysteries: 8 Alleged Relics of Jesus

• Holy Dream Team? The Most Notorious Catholic Saints

Live Science (02/26/2019)