The American Continental Army is disbanded on Novmber 03, 1783

The American Continental Army is disbanded: This Day In U.S. History November 3, 1783 – Struggle for Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness – After eight years of war the American Continental Army is disbanded.

George Washington, Tletter to the Continental Army, June 8, 1783:

“These are the pillars on which the glorious Fabrick of our Independency and National Character must be supported; Liberty is the Basis, and whoever would dare to sap the foundation, or overturn the Structure, under whatever specious pretexts he may attempt it, will merit the bitterest execration, and the severest punishment which can be inflicted by his injured Country.”

The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in their revolt against the rule of Great Britain. The Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and other troops that remained under control of the individual states. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war.

Most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris ended the war. The 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form the nucleus of the Legion of the United States in 1792 under General Anthony Wayne. This became the foundation of the United States Army in 1796.

In his 1783 Farewell Order, Washington thanked his officers and men, and hailed the Army’s combination of many different states into “one patriotic band of Brothers” as a symbolic pursuit during war or peace. He returned his commission as Commander-in-Chief on December 23, 1783, to Congress. The War ended on January 14, 1784 when Congress ratified the peace treaty signed in Paris on September 3, 1783. Washington proposed a permanent standing army with an organized militia, arsenals, and a military academy, though this was rejected by Congress.

Legacy America / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / History.com /History of Massachusetts.org / Mount Vernon.org / The American Continental Army is disbanded on Novmber 03, 1783 (YouTube)

Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market on Novmber 03, 1911

Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market: Louis Chevrolet and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant start the company on November 3, 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company.

Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a controlling stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2, 1918 and propelled himself back to the GM presidency.

After Durant's second ousting in 1919, Alfred Sloan, with his maxim “a car for every purse and purpose”, would pick the Chevrolet brand to become the volume leader in the General Motors family, selling mainstream vehicles to compete with Henry Ford's Model T in 1919 and overtaking Ford as the best-selling car in the United States by 1929.

Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / Auto News / Chevrolet.com / Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market on Novmber 03, 1911 (YouTube)

Photo © RacingOne/ISC Images & Archives/Getty Images - MSN

The Soviet space dog on Novmber 03, 1957

The Soviet space dog: The Soviet Union launches the first animal into space - a dog name Laika - aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft.

Laika, part Siberian husky, lived as a stray on the Moscow streets before being enlisted into the Soviet space program. Laika survived for several days as a passenger in the USSR’s second artificial Earth satellite, kept alive by a sophisticated life-support system. Electrodes attached to her body provided scientists on the ground with important information about the biological effects of space travel. She died after the batteries of her life-support system ran down.

At least a dozen more Russian dogs were launched into space in preparation for the first manned Soviet space mission, and at least five of these dogs died in flight. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space, aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1. He orbited Earth once before landing safely in the USSR.

History.com / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / Smithsonia / Space.com / Russia Today / National Archives and Records Administration.gov / Library Of Congres.gov / The Soviet space dog on Novmber 03, 1957 (YouTube)

Understanding Military Terminology

National Security Agency/Central Security Service Representative

(DOD) The senior theater or military command representative of the Director, National Security Agency/Chief, Central Security Service in a specific country or military command headquarters who provides the Director, National Security Agency, with information on command plans requiring cryptologic support. The National Security Agency/Central Security Service representative serves as a special advisor to the combatant commander for cryptologic matters, to include signals intelligence, communications security, and computer security.

Also called NCR. See also counterintelligence.

Joint Publications (JP 2-01.2) Joint and National Intelligence Support to Military Operations

The Old Salt’s Corner

“TENTACLES”

In the heart of the blackest abyss, down,

Down, in fathoms deep crypt, where light,

Does not penetrate, and the structured protective hauls,

Of men, are crushed beneath pressures massive

Weight, of the oceans deepest depth.

This is truly inner spaces aquatic zone of the

Unknown, a realm of stilled silence frozen

In the icy currents of the barren straights.

Where prehistoric giants dwell, amongst the

Tidal flow, ambush predators, forgotten beasts,

From long ago, living krakens whom devour

All life, hidden within their dark domain.

In Poseidon's mighty anger, the waves answer

To his fists of fury, hurricanes wrath of vengeance,

Gives birth to the perfect storms rage,

Vessels rise and than fall in the tidal surging

Waters.

Nay do the sailors cry out to the Lord God on high,

For redemption's salvation, but the sacrificial altars must

Be appeased, by flesh and bloods sacred offerings.

Summons does the mighty lord of the seven seas,

To release the last of the ancient Leviathans.

Two thousand hands, of a thousand dead men,

Heave and pull at the tethering heavy chains,

To this devil of the depths cage.

From within interments vaulted keep,

Captivities living spawn from hell, is

Unshackled and released, to reek havocs

Devastation above.

An aquatic spider, a maritime widow maker,

Flexing and in-flexing, its body’s motions,

Towards the surface, in pulsations rhythmic

Orchestrations, the gray giant is ready to strike,

With its killing arms extended wide, to grapple

At its unprotected prey, to engorge itself with

All living matter that it surveys, within its icy reach.

As bubbles shoot upwards breaking the waters

Surface, suction cups and talon claws are drawn

Outwards, aligning his eight legged tentacles of bone

Crushing death, behold the Giant Squid, instrument of

Lethal torture, a living killing machine from the fathoms

Deepest depths.

For it is the beast, the true essence of evil

Incarnate, and none survive its destructive wrath.

~ Cherl Dunn

“I’m Just Sayin”

“Try not, do or do not.”

“Once you start down the dark path,

forever will it dominate your destiny,

consume you it will.”

“Clear your mind must be,

if you are to find the villains behind this plot.”

“Wars not make one great.”

~ Yoda

“Thought for the Day”

“Try to make sense of what you see

and wonder about what makes the universe exist.

Be curious,

and however difficult life may seem,

there is always something you can do,

and succeed at.

If words control you,

It matters that you don’t just give up.

~ Stephen Hawking

“What I Learned”

“Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”

“Without education, we are in horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”

“Wise men make proverbs. Fools repeat them.”

~ Anonymous

Second Hand News (Links to Articles from Week 44 - October 28, 2019 - November 03, 2019)

Trump announces death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi • ISIS spokesman blown up in airstrike following Baghdadi raid • Delta Force operator hails valor of military dog wounded in Baghdadi raid

Attorney General William Barr: FBI director is helping in Trump-Russia origins investigation • Trump on Baghdadi raid silence: ‘Adam Schiff is the biggest leaker in Washington’ • 'Leaking machine': Trump kept House Intelligence Committee in the dark about Baghdadi raid

Former Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice: Tpercent95 should have notified Obama ahead of raid • Democrats “threaten” to hold former Tpercent95 administration official in contempt • DOJ fights court order to hand Mueller grand jury info to Dems

UPDATED: Washington Post changes obituary to make Baghdadi 'austere religious scholar' instead of 'terrorist-in-chief' • 'You have no evidence': ABC host challenges Adam Schiff on calling Durham investigation 'tainted' • 'You lost': Democratic Left hits back at Hillary Clinton and donors fretting about quality of 2020 field Washington Examiner

ISIS leader 'dead': Dramatic blast footage claims to show moment U.S. Special Ops forces 'blitzed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's Syrian lair as he detonated his own suicide vest' • The Kentucky special forces commander who helped plan and lead the mission to kill al-Baghdadi as it is revealed the raid was canceled THREE times before this one was given the green light

Operation Obliteration: How U.S. gunships cornered ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before he 'dragged three children with him into a dead-end tunnel and detonated a suicide belt' - as Donald Trump said he watched live on TV link 'like a movie' • Donald Trump says he is considering releasing footage of the raid which killed Baghdadi amid questions over his description of ISIS leader's last minutes

Trump and Melania are BOOED by crowd chanting 'lock him up' and waving 'veterans for impeachment' banner as President makes appearance at World Series game in DC after celebrating death of ISIS leader in daring US raid

Hate Trump all you like, but for Americans to boo him on the day he rid the world of the barbaric leader of ISIS was an unpatriotic and shameful moment Daily Mail UK

CORRUPTION CHRONICLES: U.S. Spends Millions to Give Delinquent, Gangbanger, Pregnant Illegal Immigrant Minors Special Care

“Investigating the Investigators:” Inside Judicial Watch - The LATEST on the Biden-Ukraine Corruption Scandal

State Department Used Soros-Linked Media Tracking Tool to Monitor Journalists, Trump Allies

State Department Completes Internal Investigation Into Hillary Clinton’s Use Of Private Email Judicial Watch

Ukrainegate "Behind closed doors" & What is to be done?   

The Trump Administration offers water to the Breadbasket of the Solar System, the San Joaquin Valley.   

The Woke and Broke Graduate, 2019; & what is to be done?   

Lessons Learned by the Red China from Leyte Gulf, 1944.    John Batchelor (10/27/2019)

Mr. Answer Man Please Tell Us: Burning Halloween Questions

WHO STARTED HALLOWEEN?

Halloween got its start thousands of years ago, and we can thank the Celts for getting things going. They celebrated a holiday known as Samhain on October 31, one of the four “quarter days” of the calendar, and possibly the Celtic New Year. They believed that the dead could walk the earth on Samhain and cause mischief but, on the plus side, their presence also made it easier for the Druid priests to predict the future.

WHY DO WE WEAR COSTUMES?

On Samhain, a big bonfire would be built and sacrifices made to the dead, while the common folk would dress up in animal skins and try to tell their own fortunes (probably with the same success rate as the “professionals”). The costumes, Halloween's most enduring tradition, were donned either to calm the spirits or to blend in with them, so as to not incur their wrath.

HOW DID SAMHAIN BECOME HALLOWEEN?

Starting in 43 CE, the Roman war machine rolled through Britain and conquered a large chunk of the Celtic population. But the Romans, always the master conquerors, cleverly blended two of their own holidays with the Celtic Samhain to make the transition to Roman rule more seamless. One holiday was a celebration of the dead (easy enough to mix with Samhain) and the other was a celebration of the Pomona, the goddess of fruit and tress, where, supposedly, the tradition of bobbing for apples takes root.

When Christianity arrived on the scene, the hodgepodge holiday again was forced to change. Like the previous blending, the Christians incorporated their own holidays into the Samhain tradition. November 1 became All-hallow's, a day to celebrate the saints and martyrs, and October 31 became All-hallow's Even (“Even” being short for “evening”, and providing the “n” in “Halloween”). Through the magic of etymology, All-hallow's Even became Halloween.

HOW DID WE GET FROM BONFIRES AND DEAD SAINTS TO PLASTIC MASKS AND CANDY CORN?

Puritans in New England suppressed the superstitious holiday. In the South, however, where religious piety was less important, Halloween was celebrated in much the same way it was in Europe. But a great tide of immigration in the late 1800s brought a new life to the holiday, and no amount of piety could contain it.

Through the years, the “spookiness” of Halloween was replaced with a more wholesome community feel, out of which grew trick-or-treating and, as towns celebrated together, stripped any religious significance away. Finally, after many thousands of years and many cultural modifications, we arrived at a holiday involving witches, costumes, candy, mischief, the deceased and pumpkins.

WHY PUMPKINS?

Making vegetable lanterns can be traced back to Great Britain and Ireland, where carving turnips, beets and potatoes had been a fall tradition for many centuries. According to an Irish myth, a man named Stingy Jack once had a drink with the Devil and, when he didn't want to pay for it, he convinced the Devil to turn into a coin. However, Stingy Jack lived up to his name and pocketed the coin next to a cross, keeping the Devil locked in a monetary state until he struck a deal with Jack to leave him alone and not claim his soul for Hell upon his death. When Jack did die, Heaven rejected him and, true to his word, so did the Devil.

As punishment for his trickery, the Devil sent Jack out to wander the earth forever with a single coal in a hollowed-out turnip to light his way. To Irish children he was Jack of the Lantern or, as the Irish are wont to do when confronted with an “of the”, Jack O'Lantern.

But Jack-o'-Lanterns were not a part of Halloween celebrations in Britain; it would take a new continent to cement that tradition. The first mention of a Jack-o'-Lantern being part of a Halloween celebration comes from a Canadian paper which, in 1866, wrote, “The old time custom of keeping up Hallowe'en was not forgotten last night by the youngsters of the city. They had their maskings and their merry-makings, and perambulated the streets after dark in a way which was no doubt amusing to themselves. There was a great sacrifice of pumpkins from which to make transparent heads and face, lighted up by the unfailing two inches of tallow candle.”

WHY DID PUMPKINS BEAT OUT TURNIPS, BEETS AND POTATOES?

Pumpkins abounded in America and were much better for carving and illuminating than any of the aforementioned veggies. We can assume the tradition of smashing pumpkins originated very soon after the carved pumpkin entered the Halloween celebration in the late 1800s.

WHERE DOES CANDY CORN COME FROM?

Nobody knows who invented candy corn, but we do know it began to appear in the 1880s, and we know the first company to make it commercially was the Wunderle Candy Company of Philadelphia. Soon after, the Goelitz Confectionery Company began production of candy corn in Cincinnati in 1898. The process at first was daunting: a candy blend was mixed up, heated and then poured by hand into molds. Each mold needed three separate pours to achieve the tri-color glory that is candy corn. Today the process is mechanized and the tri-color composition isn't nearly as impressive as it was to the people of the 19th century, but Goelitz has never changed the recipe and they continue to make the candy to this day. The Goelitz Confectionery Company even went on to invent another fairly popular candy a few decades later, although they had to change the company name to do so. Today they are known as Jelly Belly.

History Channel • Library of Congress • Live Science • Mental Floss • Pumpkin Patches and More.org • Quara • Wikipedia

NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang

“Got your six”: Looking out for your or your buddy's ass.

Gouge: The inside scoop, the skinny, the low-down. Only the information one needs to know in a given situation, with nothing else to waste one's time. Some black shoes say “Live by the gouge, die by the gouge.” Aviators say “Live by the gouge, excel by the gouge.”

Grape:

1. (Submarine Service) Easy as pie, man. Examples: “This is fuckin' grape duty.” “That was a fuckin' grape sig, you cocksuckin' asshole piece of shit.” The latter example can be translated as “Bravo Zulu, shipmate!” (See Bravo Zulu, above. Also see “sig” below.)

2. (Aviation Service) A sailor in an aviation fuels rating; so named because of the purple flight deck jersey such sailors wear.

3. USMC: A person's head. “...then you smash his fucking grape!”

Great Mistakes: Common epithet used when complaining about RTC/NTC Great Lakes Illinois. Commonly used by old school sailors to complain about the quality of sailors after the Navy shutdown RTC San Diego and RTC Orlando. It was “mistake” to keep RTC Great Lakes, as the sailors have continually failed to measure up.

Green Scrubby: Mildly abrasive scouring pad. Also called a “Greeny Weeny”. It's green, of course.

Green Side: The figurative side one is stationed at if one is stationed at a Marine Corps Command; contrasted with the “Blue Side” (Naval Command).

Grip and grin: A public affairs or awards event in which some member of the command must shake hands, smile, and have their photo taken.

Wiktionary.org

Just for you MARINE

Gore-Tex: All Purpose Environmental Clothing System (APECS), a cold/wet weather protective parka and trousers, based on the Extended Cold Weather Clothing System, usually in reference to the parka; from the fabric it is made from.

Gouge: Information or news. See also word: (General term for instructions, orders, and information that is required for all members of a unit to know; or the act of passing information to a collected group of servicemembers.)

Grab-Ass: Horseplay, usually wrestling.

Grand Old Man of the Marine Corps: Usually refers to Brevet Brigadier General Archibald Henderson.

Grape: A Marine's head, as in: “Keep on grab assing and you're going to fall and bust your grape!”

Greens: Service uniforms in reference to their color.

Wikipedia.org

Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

VX-20 Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Twenty - nicknamed the “Force”

United States Navy - Naval Air Station - Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland: 1975 - Present.

Where Did That Saying Come From?

“Enough is enough:”

 Meaning: To get Enough is enough is to come off worst in a bargain or contest.

History: The expression 'enough is enough' is old enough to have been considered proverbial in the 16th century. John Heywood included the phrase in his collection of Tudor language A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the englishe tongue, 1546:

Here is enough, I am satisfied (sayde he.)

Sens enough is enough (sayd I) here maie we,

With that one word take end good, as maie be geast.

For folke say, enough is as good as a feast.

Heywood was obliging enough also to include the first known usage of 'enough is as a good as a feast' which, as he implies, is an even older proverb. At that stage 'enough is enough' meant 'enough is good enough, we don't need more' - another way of saying 'enough is as good as a feast' in fact.

'Enough is enough' wasn't commonly used for several centuries until it received a boost in the civil rights and feminist movements in the USA in the 1960s. The meaning is the expression had by then completely changed, 'enough is good - all I need' to 'I had enough of that - no more'.

Since then the use of the expression has grown considerably and now any group who is complaining about anything they want to stop is likely to say, chant or make into a banner 'enough is enough'.

Phrases.org UK

Science & Technology

Ultra-short period brown dwarf discovered • Optimal quantum computation linked to gravity • NASA: Intense work under way on rocket for future moonshots • Controlling deadly malaria without chemicals • NASA will fly a drone to Titan to search for life • Multifaceted design optimization for superomniphobic surfaces • Brain cells that curb overeating found diminished activity in mice on a high-fat diet

Phys.org / MedicalXpress / TechXplore

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

Handlers Thought This Owl Was Male for 23 Years —Then He Laid an Egg

An eagle owl named Kaln lived for 23 years at a sanctuary in Gloucester, England. For that whole length of time, its handlers thought it was a male. Then, according to Vincent Jones, founder and trustee of the sanctuary, it elaid an egg.

The egg wasn't fertilized, Jones told, so Kaln won't get to mother a chick. But still, it was a big surprise to all of Kaln's handlers.

“I think he was just as shocked as we were”, Jones said. [Photos: Salmon-Eating Owls Revealed in Stunning Images]

Sexing owls is tricky, because males and females outwardly have more or less identical bodies, according to a study published Jan. 24, 2008, in the Journal of Heredity. Unlike mammals and other creatures, there's no obvious difference even between their genitals.

Additionally, Jones said, his sanctuary has no interest in the biological sexes of the birds it takes in. Most of them are rescued from lives as pets or captive working birds, he said. And the sanctuary has no interest in breeding captive owls, only rehabilitating them.

“We have 46 birds”, Jones said. “If they have the behavior of a male, we say they're male. If they have the behavior of a female, we say they're female.”

Typically, according to the National Aviary, Eurasian eagle owl females lay up to six eggs across a month-long period in late winter. [Whooo Knew? 10 Superb Facts About Owls]

Kaln never did that though in his 23 years at the sanctuary, Jones said.

“He's always shown signs of being a male”, Jones added.

Many of the male birds in the sanctuary “imprint” on their human handlers and treat them as mates, he said. And during breeding season, “Kaln always wants to bonk everything”, he said.

Even genetic tests don't always show a clear distinction between male-sexed owls from female-sexed owls in many species, according to that 2008 paper. Female-sex birds have Z and W chromosomes, while male-sex birds have two Z chromosomes. But those chromosomes can be similar enough that they're difficult to distinguish. The authors of that paper specifically tried to distinguish the genes of male and female Eurasian eagle owls and failed.

“The egg hasn't changed how the sanctuary views Kaln”, Jones said.

“It's no different than people. There's no difference between male and female. We're all individuals”, he said. “Kaln is an individual. He's a very special individual. Now we say he's a tomboy.”

The larger concern is that around the same time the bird laid its egg, it began acting “depressed” and displaying some health issues that turned out to be unrelated.

“Today, however,” Jones said that “Kaln has seemed more active and upbeat.”

“And that's what really matters isn't it? The health of the owl”, Jones said.

• Whooo's in There? Amazing Images of Owls

• Happy Feet: A Gallery of Pudgy Penguins

• Pretty Bird: Images of a Clever Parrot

Live Science (06/27/2019)