McKinley dies of infection from gunshot wounds on September 14, 1901

McKinley dies of infection from gunshot wounds: On this day in 1901, U.S. President William McKinley dies after being shot by a deranged anarchist during the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

McKinley won his first Congressional seat at the age of 34 and spent 14 years in the House, becoming known as the leading Republican expert on tariffs. After losing his seat in 1890, McKinley served two terms as governor of Ohio. By 1896, he had emerged as the leading Republican candidate for president, aided by the support of the wealthy Ohio industrialist Mark Hanna. That fall, McKinley defeated his Democratic rival, William Jennings Bryan, by the largest popular margin since the Civil War.

As president, McKinley became known–controversially–as a protector of big businesses, which enjoyed unprecedented growth during his administration. He advocated the protective tariff as a way of shielding U.S. business and labor from foreign competition, and he successfully argued for using the gold standard of currency.

Above all, however, McKinley’s presidency was dominated by his foreign policy. In April 1898, he was pushed by Congress and American public opinion to intervene in Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spanish colonial rule. In the first American war against a foreign power since 1812, the United States handily defeated Spain in just three months, freeing Cuba–although the island became a U.S. protectorate–and annexing Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. For the first time, the United States had become a colonialist power.

America’s growing interests in the Pacific led McKinley’s administration to greatly increase its involvement in Asian politics. In 1900, McKinley sent thousands of U.S. troops to China to help put down the Boxer Rebellion, aimed at driving out foreigners. His aggressive “Open Door” policy declared U.S. support for an independent China and argued that all nations with commercial interests in China should be able to compete on equal footing.

The popular McKinley won a second term by even greater margins over Bryan, who attacked him on his “imperialism” in the Pacific and, domestically, on the growth of illegal monopolies, or trusts. There was little time to see what his second term would bring, however. On September 6, 1901, while standing in a receiving line at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, McKinley was approached by Leon Czolgosz, a Polish-American anarchist carrying a concealed .32 revolver in a handkerchief. Drawing his weapon, Czolgosz shot McKinley twice at close range. One bullet deflected off a suit button, but the other entered his stomach, passed through the kidneys, and lodged in his back. When he was operated on, doctors failed to find the bullet, and gangrene soon spread throughout his body. McKinley died eight days later. Czolgosz was convicted of murder and executed soon after the shooting.

History Channel / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / University of Buffalo.edu / Library of Congress / Shapell.org President McKinley Assassinated (YouTube search)

Understanding Military Terminology - Meteorological and oceanographic data

(DOD) Measurements or observations of meteorological and oceanographic variables.

Joint Publications (JP 3-59) (Meteorological and Oceanographic Operations - Defense)

The Old Salt’s Corner

“The Odyssey”

BOOK XIX

Ulysses was left in the cloister, pondering on the means whereby with Minerva's help he might be able to kill the suitors. Presently he said to Telemachus, “Telemachus, we must get the armour together and take it down inside. Make some excuse when the suitors ask you why you have removed it. Say that you have taken it to be out of the way of the smoke, inasmuch as it is no longer what it was when Ulysses went away, but has become soiled and begrimed with soot. Add to this more particularly that you are afraid Jove may set them on to quarrel over their wine, and that they may do each other some harm which may disgrace both banquet and wooing, for the sight of arms sometimes tempts people to use them.”

Telemachus approved of what his father had said, so he called nurse Euryclea and said, “Nurse, shut the women up in their room, while I take the armour that my father left behind him down into the store room. No one looks after it now my father is gone, and it has got all smirched with soot during my own boyhood. I want to take it down where the smoke cannot reach it.”

“I wish, child”, answered Euryclea, “that you would take the management of the house into your own hands altogether, and look after all the property yourself. But who is to go with you and light you to the store room? The maids would have so, but you would not let them.”

“The stranger”, said Telemachus, “shall show me a light; when people eat my bread they must earn it, no matter where they come from.”

BOOK XIX continued ...

~ Homer

Written 800 B.C.E

Translated by Samuel Butler

Table of Contents

“I’m Just Sayin”

“An empirical rule relating traffic fatalities to traffic congestion as measured by the proxy of motor vehicle registrations and country population.”

~ Smeed's law

“Thought for the Day”

“From this instant on,

vow to stop disappointing yourself.

Separate yourself from the mob.

Decide to be extraordinary

and do what you need to do now.”

~ Epictetus

“What I Have Learned”

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

'I've pooped 11 times since this morning' - man allergic to milk rants at Starbucks from his toilet

When you have a food intolerance, life can be full of small, everyday battles and frustrations.

Whether it's gluten or lactose, doing something as simple as buying a takeaway coffee can be a case of trial-and-error.

Demit Strato knows this only too well. In fact, Demit knows that going to buy a coffee can have serious consequences.

This is what happened after a recent trip to Starbucks - and he had something to say about it.

“This the second time I ordered a Venti Iced Coffe with Soy Milk this month...

...where the Soy Milk request was ignored and regular milk was instead used.”

“Do you think I enjoy soy milk? Does anyone enjoy soy milk? Really? I don't order soy milk because I'm bored and want my drink order to sound fancy.”

“I order soy milk so that my bottom doesn't blast fire for 4 hours. I'm not a Charmander. Thank you for listening to my rant.”

“P.S. I'm writing this from the comfort OF MY TOILET.”

So there you go, when someone orders soy milk, there's every chance they're not doing it to be awkward.

Mirror (06/29/2017)

Mr. Answer Man Please Tell Us: Is a Tomato a Fruit?

Tomatos have been called a super food, a functional food, and just plain delicious. It's the tomato, and it has an abundance of vitamins and nutrients that help keep our bodies moving, from lycopene (which may help ward off some chronic disease) and beta-carotene to Vitamin C.

It should be a regular part of your diet. But if you're big into food classification, you might be wondering—is a tomato a fruit? Is it a vegetable? Or is it some weird hybrid of the two?

The answer is that it depends on who's asking. In the world of botany, a fruit is defined as the part that develops from the fertilized ovary of a flower. Vegetables are the edible parts of plants that aren't fruits. By this definition, the tomato is a fruit.

Botanists, however, don't have the last word on the subject. In 1893, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a tomato was a fruit or a vegetable after importer John Nix was slapped with a 10 percent import tax on vegetables coming in to New York's Port Authority. He argued the botanical definition, but the judges disagreed, ruling that in the “common language of the people, whether sellers or consumers of provisions”, the tomato was a vegetable.

Nutritionists in particular like to categorize the tomato as a vegetable because it lacks the abundance of fructose (sugar) found in many fruits like oranges and apples. In less formal terms, fruits are also classified based on their ability to be incorporated into desserts due to their sweetness. There's a reason we have apple pie and not broccoli pie.

So is the tomato a fruit? As a seeded growth, yes. Nutritionally, no. If you want to stick to the legal term, according to Nix's case, the tomato is a vegetable. He couldn't prove otherwise. Then again, it might depend on where you live. Tennessee made it the official state fruit, while New Jersey calls it the official state vegetable. Arkansas played both sides of the fence by declaring the tomato both the state fruit and the state vegetable.

Business Insider • Encyclopedia Britannica • National Geographic • Mental Floss • Quara • Wikipedia

NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang

PQS: Personnel Qualification Standards, a card carrying various qualifications for a warfare badge or similar. Must be signed off by a superior or expert.

Just for you MARINE

Sandbox: Iraq or other desert area.

Sand Monster: To bury/hide something in the sand, usually MRE trash and brass. (Locale to 29 Palms)

SARC: Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, a Marine (usually an SNCO) assigned as the point of contact for personnel who are victims of or witnesses to sexual assault. Such duty is often ironically assigned to one of the least tactful/sensitive members of a unit.

Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

VAQ-137 - “Rooks”
CVW-1 Naval Aviation Squadron Whidbey Island, Washington - Established October 1, 1996

Where Did That Saying Come From?

“Up to scratch”  Meaning: Acceptable.

Origin: The phrase used in pugilists' fights. A line was scratched on the ground to which the contestants had to put their forward foot before the fight could begin.

Sporting.' A line or mark drawn as an indication of a boundary or starting-point; in Cricket, a 'crease' (obs.); in Pugilism, the line drawn across the ring, to which boxers are brought for an encounter. Hence in various phrases (often fig.), as 'to come up to the scratch,' 'to bring to the scratch,' 'to toe the scratch,' etc.

English.StackExchange

Science & Technology

Personalized cancer vaccines show glimmers of success (Treatments tailored to a person's individual cancer mutations train immune system to attack tumours.) • Seawater is the secret to long-lasting Roman concrete (Ancient recipe has lasted 2,000 years thanks to chemical reactions that result in a rare mineral.) • Single-cell sequencing made simple • Immunology, one cell at a time • The trickiest family tree in biology • How to build a human cell atlas

Nature

The Strange, Mysterious or Downright Weird

Oozing Methane Blasts Holes in Siberian Tundra

Escaping methane gas has blown at least two new holes in the Siberian tundra in the past few months, according to eyewitness accounts to the Siberian Times and the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Reindeer herders northwest of the village of Seyakha in Siberia's far north reported seeing an eruption of fire and smoke on the morning of June 28 — an event caught on seismic sensors at 11 a.m. local time, according to The Siberian Times. Scientists visiting the site photographed a fresh crater blown into the banks of a river. Reindeer herders northwest of the village of Seyakha in Siberia's far north reported seeing an eruption of fire and smoke on the morning of June 28 — an event caught on seismic sensors at 11 a.m. local time, according to The Siberian Times. Scientists visiting the site photographed a fresh crater blown into the banks of a river.

Researchers also discovered a second, previously unknown crater in the Tyumen region of Siberia this month, the newspaper reported. Local herders told Aleksandr Sokolov, a researcher at the Institute of Ecology of Plants and Animals in Russia, that they'd observed fire in the area of that crater in the winter or early spring. [See Photos of Siberia's Mysterious Craters] Researchers also discovered a second, previously unknown crater in the Tyumen region of Siberia this month, the newspaper reported. Local herders told Aleksandr Sokolov, a researcher at the Institute of Ecology of Plants and Animals in Russia, that they'd observed fire in the area of that crater in the winter or early spring. [See Photos of Siberia's Mysterious Craters]

When permafrost melts, it releases large amounts of methane. According to Russian scientists, this sudden release could have led to the explosions. How fast and how frequently this is happening remain controversial topics in the scientific community, given that Siberia is so remote and unexplored. But scientists do agree that Siberia's permafrost is in danger of melting as the globe warms.

Permafrost is soil that stays frozen all year long. Any organic matter, like dead grass or animal corpses, caught up in permafrost stays frozen, too. But as the Arctic warms, the depth of the spring thaw gets deeper and deeper — a process called active-layer deepening. As the soil thaws, the organic material locked inside begins to decompose all at once, releasing flammable gases such as methane, University of Michigan postdoctoral researcher Ben Abbott tells.

Past research suggests that warming can cause explosive changes in the landscape. A study released in June found that at least 100 giant craters formed in one region on the Arctic seafloor about 11,600 years ago as the ice sheet retreated and destabilized mounds of frozen methane underneath. These mounds, call pingos, sometimes blew craters up to 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) wide into the ocean bottom.

Some Arctic scientists think something similar is happening in Siberia today. Pingos, or soil-covered permafrost hills, occur on land, too. If they melt rapidly, they could release a fiery burst of methane and create craters similar to the ancient ones seen on the seafloor. Previously, Siberian researchers had discovered craters that had never been seen before, but they had not published any information on the ages of the craters or scientific analyses of how they'd formed. The new eyewitness accounts from local herders suggest that the formation of these craters may, indeed, be violent.

Live Science (07/06/2017)