Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public on May 27, 1930

Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public:

Designed by William Van Alen and often cited as the epitome of the Art Deco skyscraper. Its sunburst-patterned stainless steel spire remains one of the most striking features of the Manhattan skyline.

Built between 1928 and 1930, the Chrysler Building was briefly the tallest in the world, at 1,046 feet (318.8 metres). It claimed this honour in November 1929 - when the building was topped off with a 180-foot (55-metre) spire - and held the record until the Empire State Building opened in 1931.

The decorative scheme of the facade and interior is largely geometric; at the request of Walter P. Chrysler, who commissioned the building, stainless steel automobile icons (e.g., radiator caps in the form of Mercury) were incorporated in the frieze on the setback at the base of the tower and in decorative work on other parts of the building.

The Chrysler Building was the first supertall building taking the title of World's Tallest Building after winning a height battle with The Bank of Manhattan.

The quest for height supremacy continued in secret. Being built simultaneously, 40 Wall Street was also boasting of becoming the tallest building in the world. Financed by a 34-year-old banker nicknamed “the kid”, and designed by Craig Severance, Van Alen’s estranged former partner, 40 Wall Street’s spire was lengthened by 60 feet to push it to 925 feet, or 85 feet taller than the Chrysler building’s plan.

So Chrysler and Van Alen decided to add a surprise 186-foot spire. They hoisted 4 parts of the spire secretly to the top and riveted them together in 90 minutes. 40 Wall Street even held a celebration for being the tallest building in the world, without realizing that they had been passed.

But Chrysler’s victory would only last for 11 months when the Empire State Building passed it as the tallest building in the world. But here we see that the quest for the world’s tallest building didn’t really matter, as buildings will always be built taller. In the end, it was Van Alen’s design that is most iconic. It may not be the tallest building in New York, but it is the best looking.

In 2009, the Chrysler Building went through a retrofit, gaining the certification LEED Gold for Existing Buildings.

Skyscraper.org / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / James Maher Photography / Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public on May 27, 1930 (YouTube)

This Day in History May 27

This Day in History May 27

• 1096 Rhineland massacres: Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed.

• 1703 Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.

• 1927 Ford Motor Company ceases manufacture of the Ford Model T and begins to retool plants to make the Ford Model A.

• 1935 New Deal: The Supreme Court of the United States declares the National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, (295 U.S. 495).

• 1937 Golden Gate Bridge opens to pedestrian traffic, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.

• 1940 World War II: Le Paradis massacre; 99 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops; two survive.

• 1940 World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims an “unlimited national emergency”.

• 1941 World War II: German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the North Atlantic killing almost 2,100 men.

• 1940 World War II: Operation Anthropoid; Reinhard Heydrich is fatally wounded in Prague; he dies of his injuries eight days later.

• 1958 McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II first flight.

Understanding Military Terminology

Operational Testing

(DOD) A continuing process of evaluation that may be applied to either operational personnel or situations to determine their validity or reliability.

Joint Publications (JP 4-02) Joint Health Services

Operation and Maintenance

Maintenance and repair of real property, operation of utilities, and provision of other services such as refuse collection and disposal, entomology, snow removal, and ice alleviation.

Also called O & M.

Joint Publications (JP 3-34) Joint Engineer Operations

Operation Order

A directive issued by a commander to subordinate commanders for the purpose of effecting the coordinated execution of an operation.

Also called OPORD.

Joint Publications (JP 5-0) Joint Planning - Federation Of American Scientists

The Old Salt’s Corner

“The Odyssey”

Book III

But as the sun was rising from the fair sea into the firmament of heaven to shed light on mortals and immortals, they reached Pylos the city of Neleus. Now the people of Pylos were gathered on the sea shore to offer sacrifice of black bulls to Neptune lord of the Earthquake. There were nine guilds with five hundred men in each, and there were nine bulls to each guild. As they were eating the inward meats and burning the thigh bones [on the embers] in the name of Neptune, Telemachus and his crew arrived, furled their sails, brought their ship to anchor, and went ashore.

Minerva led the way and Telemachus followed her. Presently she said, “Telemachus, you must not be in the least shy or nervous; you have taken this voyage to try and find out where your father is buried and how he came by his end; so go straight up to Nestor that we may see what he has got to tell us. Beg of him to speak the truth, and he will tell no lies, for he is an excellent person.”

“But how, Mentor”, replied Telemachus, “dare I go up to Nestor, and how am I to address him? I have never yet been used to holding long conversations with people, and am ashamed to begin questioning one who is so much older than myself.”

“Some things, Telemachus”, answered Minerva, “will be suggested to you by your own instinct, and heaven will prompt you further; for I am assured that the gods have been with you from the time of your birth until now.”

“The Odyssey” - Book III continued ...

~ Homer

Written 800 B.C.E

Translated by Samuel Butler

“The Odyssey” - Table Of Contents

“I’m Just Sayin”

“In the end,

it's not the years in your life that count.

It's the life in your years.””

“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.”

“Character is like a tree

and reputation like a shadow.

The shadow is what we think of it;

the tree is the real thing.”

~ Abraham Lincoln

“Thought for the Day”

“Never complain and never explain.”

“A University should be a place of light,

of liberty,

and of learning.”

“Seeing much,

suffering much,

and studying much,

are the three pillars of learning.”

~ Benjamin Disraeli

“What I Learned”

“Never say, 'oops'. Always say, 'Ah, interesting'.”

“A mistake should be your teacher,

not your attacker.

A mistake is a lesson,

not a loss.

It is a temporary,

necessary detour,

not a dead end.”

~ Anonymous

Second Hand News: Articles from Week 22 - May 25, 2020 - May 31, 2020

Trump aims to cut red tape tying up doctors • Servicemembers who died in training still helped the cause • Ambulance services getting crushed by getting roped into virus response • 'Related to obvious other causes': Gunshot victims included in Washington coronavirus death tally

'Bad for China:' U.S. threatens to impose sanctions on country over Hong Kong crackdown • Chinese official says U.S. 'pushing our two countries to the brink of a new Cold War' • Bay of Pigs Museum awaits Trump christening • White House tells people to get outdoors and into churches

MOST READ: 'None of the men are wearing masks': CNN tracks down Trump at golf course • 'That is a false statement:' Liberal law professor slams CNN for coverage of edited clip favoring Biden • Charlamagne tha God: Klobuchar as vice president 'would be suicide' for Biden campaign • Schiff attacks Grenell with 'facts' from Flynn eavesdropping report he refused to confirm

California doctors say they've seen more deaths from suicide than coronavirus since lockdowns • 'Mass casualty incident': Over 600 doctors sign letter warning Trump of dangers of continued lockdowns • Trump donates quarterly paycheck to HHS to study coronavirus treatments • Judge rules in favor of Michigan barber, allowing him to stay open despite lockdown order Washington Examiner

The Deeply American Reason The Oldest Saloon West Of The Mississippi Won’t Have To Shut Down Forever • 10 Notable Faith-Conscious Films On Disney Plus - And 5 Still In The Vault • Black Entertainment TV Founder Says Biden Should Spend The Rest Of Campaign Apologizing • ‘Clearly A Joke’ Or Not, Biden’s ‘You Ain’t Black’ Comment Reeked Of Identity Politicss

Joe Biden Needs A Class On Political Correctness • Appeals Court Order In Michael Flynn Case Bodes Well For Him, Poorly For Judge Sullivan • Federal Court Denies Public Access To D.C. Metro’s Consumer Satisfaction Survey Questions • Hollywood’s Relationship With Communist China

MOST READ: How The Obama Administration Weaponized Surveillance Laws To Target Trump • Biden Tells Black Voters If They Are Undecided, ‘Then You Ain’t Black’ • How The Media Buried Two Huge FBI Stories Yesterday • BREAKING: Declassified Susan Rice Email Confirms Michael Flynn Was Personally Targeted In Oval Office Meeting

Our Coronavirus Response Is Making Us Lose Our Humanity • ‘Relapses Are Through The Roof, Overdoses Are Through The Roof’: How The Pandemic Is Upping Substance Abuse • Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Failed Response To Coronavirus In Nursing Homes • Most Kids Are Better Off With Schools Shut Down Because They’re Anti-American Daycare The Federalist

CORRUPTION CHRONICLES: Judicial Watch and Election Integrity Project California Both Work to Restore Voter Confidence Nationwide

“Investigating the Investigators:” Judicial Watch Lawsuit Forces Declassification and Release of “Electronic Communication” Used to Launch Obama Administration’s Spy Operation on President Trump’s 2016 Campaign

Judicial Watch’s Battle Against Maryland’s Illegal #Coronavirus Cash Payments to Illegals

“UNBELIEVABLY SEDITIOUS:” Here's What We Know About Barack Obama's Involvement in #Obamagate

Judicial Watch Sues to Stop California Governor Newsom’s “Vote by Mail” Mandate Judicial Watch

OUTING FAKE NEWS OMISSIONS and DISTORTIONS: When Professors Deny Media Bias? Guess They Didn't READ Anything • NBC Admits Georgia Reopening Looks Successful So Far • Chuck Todd Laments Biden Has to Answer for Racist Comment • Charlamagne on MSNBC: Biden Apology 'Cool' - But What About Reparations?

Cuomo Brings on Discredited Florida Employee to Spread Anti-DeSantis Conspiracy Theory • Michael Moore Fantasizes About Forcibly Removing Defeated Trump From Office: 'Best Eviction Ever' • PBS Cues Guest to Slam 'Infantile' Conservative View of Freedom • Unmasking Mask Hypocrisy at the New York Times and Time Magazine News Busters

Mr. Answer Man Please Tell Us: What's the Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes?

What's a Sweet Potato?

Sweet potato and Yam aren't just different names for the same thing: The two produce items belong to their own separate botanical categories. Sweet potatoes are members of the morning glory family. Regular potatoes like russets, meanwhile, are considered part of the nightshade family, which means that sweet potatoes aren't actually potatoes at all.

Almost all of the foods most Americans think of as yams are really sweet potatoes. The root vegetable typically has brown or reddish skin with a starchy inside that's orange (though it can also be white or purple). It's sold in most supermarkets in the country and used to make sweet potato fries, sweet potato pie, and the sweet potato casserole you have at Thanksgiving.

What's a Yam?

Yams are a different beast altogether. They are more closely related to lilies and grasses and mostly grow in tropical environments. The skin is more rough and bark-like than what you'd see on a sweet potato, and the inside is usually white or yellowish - not orange.

They're a common ingredient in parts of Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Because the inside of a yam is less moist than the inside of a sweet potato, they require more fat to make them soft and creamy. They're also less sweet than their orange-hued counterparts. In many regions in the U.S., yams aren't sold outside of international grocery stores.

Where did the mix-up come from?

So if yams and sweet potatoes are two totally different vegetables that don't look or taste that similar, why are their names used interchangeably in the U.S.? You can blame the food industry. For years, “firm” sweet potatoes, which have brown skin and whitish flesh, were the only sweet potatoes grown in the U.S. In the early 20th century, "soft" sweet potatoes, which have reddish skin and deep-orange flesh, entered the scene. Farmers needed a way to distinguish the two varieties, so soft sweet potatoes became yams.

Nearly a century later, the misnomer shows no signs of disappearing. Many American supermarkets still call their orange-fleshed sweet potatoes yams and their white-fleshed ones sweet potatoes, even though both items are sweet potatoes. But this isn't a strict rule, and stores often swap the names and make things even more confusing for shoppers. So the next time you're shopping for a recipe that calls for sweet potatoes, learn to identify them by sight rather than the name on the label.

Bon Appetit / Yam - Sweet potato, Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / Mental Floss / Quora / The Kitchn / Health Line / What's the Difference Between Yams and Sweet Potatoes? (YouTube)

NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang

Mighty Battle Pig: Nickname for USS WS Sims (FF-1059) — “Mighty Battle Frigate”.

Mighty Mo: Nickname for the USS Missouri (BB-63), now a museum ship at Pearl Harbor.

Mike boat: See “8-boat”.

Missile Sponge: Usually a frigate or destroyer with limited air defense capability stationed on the outer ring of a battlegroup, as they are the ships most likely to be hit in a convoy.

Miss Shit Can: The USS Michigan (SSGN-727).

Mobile Chernobyl: USS Enterprise (CVN-65), due to it being the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. See Quarter Mile Island”.

Wiktionary.org

Just for you MARINE

Mike: Minute.

Mike-mike: Millimetre.

Military Left: Pertaining to the left side of something or the direction to the left of the subject in question. Used sarcastically when giving orders when a subordinate turns the wrong way or is unsure of which way to turn.

Military Right: Pertaining to the right side of something or the direction to the right of the subject in question. Used sarcastically when giving orders when a subordinate turns the wrong way or is unsure of which way to turn.

Military Time: The time of day on a 24-hour clock. General Wallace M. Greene forbade the practice of suffixing the unnecessary word "hours" after each indication of time of day (“1330” or “thirteen-thirty” instead of “1330 hours”); the practice of saying “oh” instead of “zero” for hours before 1000 has diminished as well.

Wikipedia.org

Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

HSM-41 Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) Squadron FORTY ONE- nicknamed the “Seahawks”

United States Navy Naval Air Station - Naval Air Station North Island, Naval Base Coronado - San Diego, California / Coronado, California / Navy’s Fleet Replacement Squadron - Squadron Lineage; HSL-41: January 21. 1983 - December 2005 / HSM-41: December 8, 2005 - present.

Where Did That Saying Come From?

“All things come to those who wait:”

Meaning: A literal meaning, advocating patience.

History: This proverbial saying was used by the English poet Lady Mary Montgomerie Currie (1843-1905), under her pseudonym of Violet Fane, in her poem Tout vient a qui sait attendre:

“ALL hoped-for things will come to you

Who have the strength to watch and wait,

Our longings spur the steeds of Fate,

This has been said by one who knew.”

...

“'Ah, all things come to those who wait',

(I say these words to make me glad),

But something answers soft and sad,

'They come, but often come too late.' ”

The saying 'all (good) things come to those (who/that) wait' is frequently attributed to Fane. While this is exactly the type of uplifting exhortation to be expressed by a Victorian gentlewoman, The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations disputes her authorship and dates the proverb as "early 16th century". I've no reason to doubt the ODQ but, sadly, they offer no citation to check against.

Phrases.org.uk

Science & Technology

New fossil pushes back physical evidence of insect pollination to 99 million years ago • Hurricanes have become bigger and more destructive for the U.S., study finds • Vietnam deer rediscovered after nearly 30 years • Cracking the mystery of a rare bleeding disorder - and pursuing 'off-the-shelf' drugs to treat it Phys.org / MedicalXpress / TechXplore

Explaining the puzzle of human diversity • Increasing gender diversity in the STEM research workforce • Deflating the myth of isolated communities • This amber-encased beetle may have been one of the first insects to pollinate flowers Science AAAS

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

A Runaway Star Ejected from the Galactic Heart of Darkness

Source: Carnegie Mellon University

Summary: Astronomers have spotted an ultrafast star, traveling at a blistering 6 million km/h, that was ejected by the supermassive black hole at the heart at the Milky Way five million years ago.

The discovery of the star, known as S5-HVS1, was made by Carnegie Mellon University Assistant Professor of Physics Sergey Koposov as part of the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey (S5). Located in the constellation of Grus -- the Crane -- S5-HVS1 was found to be moving ten times faster than most stars in the Milky Way.

“The velocity of the discovered star is so high that it will inevitably leave the galaxy and never return”, said Douglas Boubert from the University of Oxford, a co-author on the study.

Astronomers have wondered about high velocity stars since their discovery only two decades ago. S5-HVS1 is unprecedented due to its high speed and close passage to the Earth, "only" 29 thousand light years away. With this information, astronomers could track its journey back into the center of the Milky Way, where a four million solar mass black hole, known as Sagittarius A*, lurks.

“This is super exciting, as we have long suspected that black holes can eject stars with very high velocities. However, we never had an unambiguous association of such a fast star with the galactic center”, said Koposov, the lead author of this work and member of Carnegie Mellon's McWilliams Center for Cosmology. “We think the black hole ejected the star with a speed of thousands of kilometers per second about five million years ago. This ejection happened at the time when humanity's ancestors were just learning to walk on two feet.”

Superfast stars can be ejected by black holes via the Hills Mechanism, proposed by astronomer Jack Hills thirty years ago. Originally, S5-HSV1 lived with a companion in a binary system, but they strayed too close to Sagittarius A*. In the gravitational tussle, the companion star was captured by the black hole, while S5-HVS1 was thrown out at extremely high speed.

“"This is the first clear demonstration of the Hills Mechanism in action," said Ting Li from Carnegie Observatories and Princeton University, and leader of the S5 Collaboration. "Seeing this star is really amazing as we know it must have formed in the galactic center, a place very different to our local environment. It is a visitor from a strange land.”

The discovery of S5-HVS1 was made with the 3.9-meter Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) near Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia, coupled with superb observations from the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite, that allowed the astronomers to reveal the full speed of the star and its journey from the center of the Milky Way.

“The observations would not be possible without the unique capabilities of the 2dF instrument on the AAT”, said Daniel Zucker, an astronomer at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and a member of the S5 executive committee. “It's been conducting cutting-edge research for over two decades and still is the best facility in the world for our project.”

These results were published on November 4 online in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and the S5 collaboration unites astronomers from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Chile.

“I am so excited this fast-moving star was discovered by S5”, says Kyler Kuehn, at Lowell Observatory and a member of the S5 executive committee. “While the main science goal of S5 is to probe the stellar streams - disrupting dwarf galaxies and globular clusters - we dedicated spare resources of the instrument to searching for interesting targets in the Milky Way, and voila, we found something amazing for 'free.' With our future observations, hopefully we will find even more!”

Science Daily (11/12/2019)

Second Hand News: Articles from Week 22 - May 25, 2020 - May 31, 2020

Daytona Beach celebrates while hundreds gather for a 'Zero Ducks Given' pool party at Lake of the Ozarks as the U.S. sees wild Memorial weekend blowouts after lockdown was eased

Trump's national security adviser compares China's handling of the coronavirus pandemic to Chernobyl 'cover-up' and blames nation 'destroying trillions of dollars' of U.S. economy • U.S. bans entry from Brazil after South American country passes 347,000 recorded cases - second only to America globally - and the death toll hits 22,000 • President Trump wants a commission set up to review left wing bias and censorship on social media

'The mask is off. America can see the real Biden': Former NFL player Jack Brewer slams the presidential hopeful for his 'ain't black' comment • Trump accuses the Democrats of trying to 'rig the election' with mail-in voting • 'It will be the greatest rigged election in history!' Trump doubles down on attack against mail-in ballots saying people will grab them from mail boxes, print forgeries and 'force' voters to sign them

• Trump hits back at Biden campaign ad criticizing him for golfing amid pandemic - claiming it's his 'exercise' - before attacking Obama for infamously hitting the links after James Foley ISIS beheading in 2014 Daily Mail

White House counsels don't submit to interrogation, which protects Memo to Self - We’ll never hear from Susan Rice, who says she’ll never talk again.   

One-party rule closes beaches and barbers; scares the voters   

Prepping for reopening: risk, rewards and transforming.   

#TheScalaReport: After the pandemic, what of office life? of prime office real estate? of junior staffers?   

Brazil and Ecuador must choose between lockdown poverty and pandemic risk.    John Batchelor (05/19/2020)