James Madison introduces 12 amendments, the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution in Congress on June 08, 1789

James Madison introduces 12 amendments, the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution in Congress: On June 8, 1789, James Madison addressed the House of Representatives and introduced a proposed Bill of Rights to the Constitution. More than three months later, Congress would finally agree on a final list of Rights to present to the states.

Some of Madison’s opening list of amendments didn’t make the final cut in September. The House agreed on a version of the Bill of Rights that had 17 amendments, and later, the Senate consolidated the list to 12 amendments. In the end, the states approved 10 of the 12 amendments in December 1791. One of two amendments rejected by the states was eventually ratified in 1992 as the 27th Amendment; it restricted the ability of Congress to change the pay of a sitting Congress while in session.

(The other proposed amendment not ratified dealt with the number of representatives in Congress, based on the 1789 population.)

But if Madison had his original way, our Constitution would have a two-part Preamble that includes part of Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence before the current preamble.

On June 8, 1789, Madison told Congress the Preamble needed a “pre-Preamble”.

“First. That there be prefixed to the Constitution a declaration, that all power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people. That Government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right of acquiring and using property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their Government, whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purposes of its institution.”

In essence, Madison wanted to bury arguably the most famous sentence in American history, “We the People”, in the middle of a combined Preamble.

Roger Sherman of Connecticut was among the first to question the move to downplay “We the People”.

“The truth is better asserted than it can be by any words what so ever. The words ‘We the People’ in the original Constitution are as copious and expressive as possible”, he said. And in time, Congress deleted the entire “pre-Preamble” as the Bill of Rights went through committees.

Another item that Madison proposed was making sure at least three of the liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights applied to all states. “No State shall violate the equal rights of conscience, or the freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases”, Madison said in the fifth part of his original Bill of Rights proposal. The selective incorporation of parts of the Bill of Rights to the states didn’t happen until the early part of the 20th century as the Supreme Court interpreted the 14th Amendment in a series of cases.

Madison also wanted to clearly spell out that each branch of government had clear, distinct roles.

“The powers delegated by this Constitution are appropriated to the departments to which they are respectively distributed: so that the Legislative Department shall never exercise the powers vested in the Executive or Judicial, nor the Executive exercise the powers vested in the Legislative or Judicial, nor the Judicial exercise the powers vested in the Legislative or Executive Departments”, he said in the last part of his proposed Bill of Rights.

Neither of these items made it through the congressional review process. But Madison felt strongly enough about the separation of powers clause that he wanted it as the new Article VII in the Constitution.

And the second part of the new “Article VII” did survive in the Bill of Rights. It became the Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated by this Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively.”

Another interesting twist in Madison’s proposed Bill of Rights was a different version of what became the Second Amendment.

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person”, said Madison.

And the final, big difference that Madison wanted was the entire Bill of Rights interwoven within the Constitution, and not appended at the document’s end.

That idea didn’t pass muster with Congress because there were concerns of an appearance that the Constitution was being rewritten. Madison dropped his support of “interweaving” the amendments during the House debate about moving his already amended Bill of Rights to the Senate. In the end, many core ideas introduced by Madison in June 1789 made it into the ratified version of the Bill of Rights.

“I think we should obtain the confidence of our fellow citizens, in proportion as we fortify the rights of the people against the encroachments of the government”, Madison said in his address to Congress in June 1789.

Constitution Center.org / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / National Archives.gov / Library Of Congress.gov / Visit The Capitol.gov / Architect of the Capitol.gov / U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services.gov / History Channel / James Madison introduces 12 amendments, the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution in Congress on June 08, 1789 (YouTube)

This Day in History June 08

•  218 Battle of Antioch: With the support of the Syrian legions, Elagabalus defeats the forces of emperor Macrinus. He flees, but is captured near Chalcedon and later executed in Cappadocia.

•  793 Norse activity in the British Isles: Vikings raid the abbey at Lindisfarne in Northumbria.

• 1042 Edward the Confessor becomes King of England - the country's penultimate Anglo-Saxon king.

• 1663 Battle of Ameixial Portuguese victory ensures Portugal's independence from Spain.

• 1776 American Revolutionary War: Battle of Trois-Rivières: American attackers are driven back.

• 1783 Laki a volcano in Iceland, begins an eight-month eruption which kills over 9,000 people and starts a seven-year famine

• 1794 French Revolution: Robespierre inaugurates the French Revolution's new state religion, the Cult of the Supreme Being, with large organized festivals all across France.

• 1862 American Civil War: Battle of Cross Keys: Confederate forces under General Stonewall Jackson save the Army of Northern Virginia from a Union assault on the James Peninsula led by General George B. McClellan.

• 1887 Herman Hollerith applies for U.S. patent #395,781 for the 'Art of Compiling Statistics', which was his punched card calculator.

• 1906 Theodore Roosevelt signs the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.

• 1940 World War II: Norwegian Campaign: Operation Alphabet: completion evacuation of Allied forces from Narvik.

• 1941 World War II: Syria–Lebanon Campaign: Allies commence against the possessions of Vichy France in the Levant.

• 1942 World War II: The Japanese imperial submarines I-21 and I-24 shell the Australian cities of Sydney and Newcastle.

• 1949 George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is published.

• 1949 Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson are named in an FBI report as Communist Party members.

• 1953 United States Supreme Court rules in District of Columbia v. John R. Thompson Co. that restaurants in Washington, D.C. cannot refuse to serve black patrons.

• 1959 USS Barbero and the United States Postal Service attempt the delivery of mail via Missile Mail.

• 1966 F-104 Starfighter collides with XB-70 Valkyrie prototype no. 2, destroying both aircraft during a photo shoot near Edwards Air Force Base. Joseph A. Walker, a NASA test pilot, and Carl Cross, a United States Air Force test pilot, are both killed.

• 1967 Six-Day War: The USS Liberty incident occurs, killing 34 and wounding 171.

• 1972 Vietnam War:Nine-year-old Phan Thị Kim Phúc is burned by napalm, an event captured by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut moments later while the young girl is seen running down a road, in what would become an iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo.

Wikipedia.org

Understanding Military Terminology

Protective Clothing

(DOD) Clothing especially designed, fabricated, or treated to protect personnel against hazards.

Joint Publications (JP 3-11) Operations in Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Operations Contents

Protective Minefield

(DOD) 1. In land mine warfare, a minefield employed to assist a unit in its local, close-in protection.

2. In naval mine warfare, a minefield emplaced in friendly territorial waters to protect ports, harbors, anchorages, coasts and coastal routes.

Joint Publications (JP 3-15) Barriers, Obstacles, and Mine Warfare for Joint Operations

Joint Publication - Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms

The Old Salt’s Corner

Typical Carrier Departments

Each department is further subdivided into divisions with personnel manning these divisions assigned to “Watches”, “Sections”, or both.

1. Administrative Department

The Administrative Department is responsible for maintaining all administrative data and paperwork necessary for the ship to function properly. These functions include data processing, as well as recreational, police, and postal services. This department is also responsible for operation of the ship’s Public Affairs Office as well as the onboard television and radio stations. This department typically handles personnel records, including visiting Naval Reserve personnel (see Module 1).

2. Air Department

The Air Department gives direct support to the embarked air wing. The Air Department is in charge of launching and landing aircraft, fueling, moving, and controlling fixed and variable wing aircraft. It is also responsible for the routine handling of aircraft on the flight deck and in the hangar bays. Note: Smaller vessels with embarked helicopter detachments should have some flavor of an Air Department, although it may be very small.

3. Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD)

The AIMD provides industrial level maintenance for the air wing and the ship’s ground support equipment.

4. Chaplain Department

Onboard the carrier, the Chaplain Department is dedicated to promoting the spiritual, religious and personal morale of embarked military personnel. The Chaplain Corps extends this mission to all military personnel and their dependents. The Chaplain Department also coordinates all personal emergency communications from the American Red Cross, provides pastoral care and counseling, and directs operation of the ship’s library. Smaller vessels may not have their own chaplain, especially if they are deployed with a CVBG. In these cases, a chaplain will fly from the carrier via helicopter to conduct services.

5. Communications Department

The Communications Department sends and receives messages to and from other ships, aircraft and shore facilities via various sophisticated electronic equipment. Such equipment includes computers, satellites, cryptographic devices, and high power transmitters and receivers.

6. Deck Department

The Deck Department is charged with the most traditional of nautical responsibilities. Enlisted Boatswain’s Mates (BM) maintain the exterior of the ship’s surfaces, anchor and moor the ship, man the rescue and assistance lifeboats, and monitor underway replenishment. The BMs’ most prevalent (and audible) duty is the "piping away" of different events over the ship’s intercom. This department is headed by the ship’s First Lieutenant (a job title, not to be confused with the Army, Air Force or Marine Corps rank of O-2).

7. Dental Department

The Dental Department provides comprehensive dental care, encompassing simple preventative care through emergency services for all embarked personnel. Note: Only large ships, such as carriers and amphibious warfare ships, have embarked Dental Departments. This department, along with Medical and Supply, are known as support departments.

8. Engineering Department

The Engineering Department maintains the ship’s power plants providing steam for propulsion and aircraft launch catapults. It also provides all life support systems, fresh water, heating, air conditioning, ventilation, hot water, electrical power, telephone service, and maintains the ship’s sewage system. The ship’s Chief Engineer, or “Cheng”, heads this department.

9. Maintenance Management Department

The Maintenance Management Department is responsible for the scheduling and coordination for all off-ship maintenance (i.e., repairs at shipyards or dry docks) and planned organic maintenance ship-wide.

10. Medical Department

The Medical Department is responsible for maintaining the health of the crew, the treatment of sick and injured ship’s personnel, disease prevention and the promotion of good health ship-wide. The head of this department must be an officer of the Navy Medical Corps (MC). Additionally, the Medical Officer also advises the ship’s CO on ship’s hygiene and sanitation conditions. Smaller ships may not have an embarked Medical Officer in which case Hospital Corps personnel run the department under the administrative auspices of the Operations Department (see below).

11. Navigation Department

The enlisted navigation Quarter Masters (QMs) and the ship’s navigator brief the Commanding Officer and the Officer-of-the Deck (OOD) on the position of the ship, the direction of travel and the safest sea lanes to traverse. Computations are made using celestial navigation, electronic machinery and visual reports. The Navigation Department is also responsible for executing all military traditions, customs and honors onboard ship.

12. Operations Department

The Operations Department is responsible for collecting, cataloging, analyzing and distributing combat information vital to the accomplishment of the ship’s offensive and defensive missions. Heading this very important department is the ship’s Operations Officer, or “Ops”. This individual is one of the busiest persons on the ship. Intelligence, photographic intelligence, local air traffic control, and missile system maintenance are types of services provided by this department. The ship’s intelligence officer and the CVIC spaces fall under this department on a carrier. On other ships, 3905 enlisted Intelligence Specialists and/or collateral duty intelligence officers fall under the Operations Department. As a reserve intelligence officer (1635) or enlisted Intelligence Specialist, you most likely will be assigned to this department during your AT-at-Sea. The Operations Department will be discussed in more detail in the next module.

13. Safety Department

The Safety Department is responsible for ongoing training and education programs, equipment dangers, procedural hazards, and accident prevention. It is found only on aircraft carriers. As mentioned earlier, a ship can be an extremely dangerous place to work (see Module 1). While onboard, constantly be aware of maintaining posted safety regulations and procedures.

14. Supply Department

The Supply Department is responsible for feeding and paying the ship’s crew, including the running of ship’s wardroom(s) and messing spaces. This department holds responsibility for the laundry and dry cleaning services, stores, barbershops, and recreation services. This department also stocks spare parts for underway ship and/or aircraft repairs. Heading this department is the ship’s Supply Officer, or “Support”, a member of the Navy Supply Corps (SC). The Supply Officer may have assistants for disbursing, food service, ship’s store, or wardroom mess.

15. Training Department

The Training Department is responsible for the continued coordination of enlisted advancement exams, reenlistments and coordination of special schools. Training also handles general damage control and 3M training.

16. Weapons Department

The Weapons Department maintains and operates the ship’s various weapons systems. Personnel of the Weapons Department also assemble, test and maintain bombs, missiles, torpedoes and small weapons ammunition. On smaller ships, this department might fall under the administrative auspices of the Deck Department (see above).

“I’m Just Sayin”

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

“We know what we are,

but know not what we may be.”

“A fool thinks himself to be wise,

but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

“Love all.

Trust a few.

Do wrong to none.”

“Some are born great,

some achieve greatness,

and some have greatness thrust upon them.”

~ William Shakespeare

“Thought for the Day”

“There is no sin but ignorance.”

“Jigging veins of rhyming mother wits.”

“Accursed be he that first invented war.”

“What feeds me destroys me.”

“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships,

and burnt the topless towers of Ileum?”

“What are kings,

when regiment is gone,

but perfect shadows in a sunshine day?”

~ Christopher Marlowe

“What I Learned”

“He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.”

“Language most shows a man, speak that I may see thee.”

“They that know no evil will suspect none.”

“There is no greater hell than to be a prisoner of fear.”

“He knows not his own strength that has not met adversity.”

“Weigh the meaning and look not at the words.”

“True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends,

but in the worth and choice.”

“To speak and to speak well,

are two things.

A fool may talk,

but a wise man speaks.”

“Drink to me only with thine eyes,

And I will pledge with mine;

Or leave a kiss but in the cup

And I'll not look for wine.”

~ Ben Jonson

Second Hand News: Articles from Week 23 - June 07, 2021 - June 13, 2021

House Intelligence Committee Member Eric Swalwell named in a report about suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang “finally” serves House Representatives Mo Brooks a member of the Freedom Caucus with January 6 riot lawsuit • Republican wins mayoral race in majority-Hispanic McAllen, Texas • “It would divide us further:” Manchin to vote against Democrats' election bill

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says public health officials made a “mistake” in early dismissal of Wuhan lab leak theory • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton credits Trump's state victory in decision to block counties from sending out “Illegal” Mail-in Ballots • Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vows to go after Republicans school board members who support teaching “Critical Race Theory” • Michael Flynn's brother takes command of U.S. Army Pacific • Corrections officer and two others dead after Miami-Dade shooting

National Security: U.S. helps Ukraine fend off Russia after most of fleet was captured with Crimea • Healthcare: A lesson leaks out for the censorious Left: Embrace open debate, because sometimes you're wrong • Business: Economy falls short of expectations with 559,000 jobs added in May • Editorial: Biden Report Card: Inflation, Weak Jobs, Harris “Face Plant” Sour Week • Featured: China identifies first case of H10N3 bird flu

MOST READ: Hunter Biden played armchair therapist to stripper in 14-minute recording on laptop • Fight over discovery erupts in 2020 election fraud lawsuit in Michigan's Antrim County • Idaho bald eagles massacre 54 sheep Washington Examiner

Pork-Stuffed Bill About To Pass Senate Enables Splicing Aborted Babies With Animals? • Biden’s Energy Policy Is Just A Dangerous And Costly Green New Deal • Big Tech Censors Are Unqualified To Talk About Free Speech

Oil And Gas Company Slams North Face For “Green” Hypocrisy • Florida And Alaska Join Keystone XL Pipeline Lawsuit Against Biden • Babylon Bee Demands New York Times Retract Statement Declaring Satire Site “Far-Right Misinformation” • NASA Plans Return To Venus For First Time In Three Decades To Probe Microbial Life

MOST READ: Lecturer At Official Yale Event Fantasizes About Brutally Murdering White People, Claims All White People Are Rotten • How The New York Times Botched Its Dispatch On A Local Culture War Blow-Up • Washington State Mandates “Critical Race Theory” In All Public Schools • Our Leaders And Corporate Press Are Oz And It’s Time To Pull Back The Curtain

Is Grafting Dead Babies’ Scalps Onto Lab Rats Any Better Than Child Sacrifice? • Immigration Without Assimilation Is Just Invasion • How The Biden Administration Inflicted Chaos On Alaska’s Oil And Gas Resources • White House Defends Fauci, Says He’s Not Going Anywhere Despite Email Scandal • Facebook, Instagram Using Fake Fact Checks To Curb Reporting On Fauci Emails The Federalist

DEL RIO, Texas: 10,864 Venezuelans Pour Into Texas Border Region, Up From 135 Last Year • Trump Says U.S., World Should Demand Pandemic Reparations From Chinese Communist Party (CCP) • Iran’s Long Standing “Strategic Hedging” in Afghanistan to Intensify Due to U.S. Troop Withdrawal • Former Deputy PM Nick Clegg Turned Facebook Executive Defends 2-Year Trump Suspension

NATO Plans to Adapt to Authoritarian Pushback Against Rules-Based International Order • Ukraine’s Zelensky: Biden Has Handed Russia ‘Bullets’ by Waiving Nord Stream 2 Sanctionst • Hungarians Protest Against Planned Chinese University Campus • News Break App Founded, Controlled, and Backed by Chinese Entities

Justice Department to Stop Using Court Orders to Seize Journalists’ Records in Leak Probes: Spokesperson • Ashli Babbitt’s Family Sues to Learn Identity of Officer Who Shot Her • THREE U.S. Senators to Visit Taiwan, Trip Likely to Irritate Chinese Regime • Illinois Approves Fixes to Criminal Justice Overhaul to Address Police Concerns The Epoch Times

CORRUPTION CHRONICLES: Judicial Watch Obtains Records Showing NIAID under Dr. Fauci Gave Wuhan Lab $826k for Bat Coronavirus Research From 2014 to 2019 • Children Taught “Make America Great Again (MAGA)” is “Covert White Supremacy” • Judicial Watch Represents the Center for Medical Progress in Lawsuits against Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for Grant Applications Related to the Use of Human Fetal Tissue

“Investigating the Investigators:” Court Rules Judicial Watch Lawsuit for Access to Illinois Voter Roll Data Can Proceed • Judicial Watch Seeks Preliminary Injunction against Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Racist Interview Policy

The Maxine Waters Debacle Judicial Watch

CNN Thinks You're All Stupid, and Too Many of You Watch Fox News • New York Times' Silly David Brooks on DEFUND PBS: “I'm No Progressive”, But I Endorse Biden's $6 Trillion Budget • ABC's Jonathan Karl Struggles to Admit Trump Could Be Right About Lab Leak Theory • New York Times Memorial Day Editorial: Social Gatherings Unpatriotic (Except Protests?)

Another Deranged Trump Vengeance Fantasy from Vanity Fair • Barbra Streisand: Republicans Wants An “Authoritarian State” • Preposterous! New York Times Opinion Editor Denies They're Progressives or Partisans • “Competence Is Actually at the Helm:” MSNBC Regular's Laugh Line of the Day News Busters

Mr. Answer Man Please Tell Us: Why Do Dogs Yawn?

When it comes to dogs, not all yawns are the same. Aside from that, the reasons for yawning are not fully understood (in dogs or in humans).

It used to be thought that yawning was a way to replenish oxygen supply in the brain, but science has yet to find any evidence of this. Yawning also hasn’t been shown to wake up a tired brain, even though we yawn most when we are bored or tired. Since yawning is most likely to occur in a warm room, it’s thought that it does have some effect on cooling the brain. However, more studies need to be done on this. Now, it’s thought that yawning is a form of communication.

Stress

Most trainers and behaviorists will advise owners to watch out for signs of stress in their dogs, and one of these signs is often excessive yawning. This is accurate information, as dogs do seem to yawn when they are feeling anxious

For example, you might find during an obedience class that dogs feeling stress and displeasure from their owners will often yawn as if to display their understanding that punishment may be coming. If you’re out on a walk and stop to talk to a neighbor, you might notice your dog yawn a few times. This is because your dog is either uncomfortable with the person, or perhaps she is just anxious to get moving again. After all, a dog excited to go on a walk certainly doesn’t want to stop and sit around for 20 minutes!

Indifference

Yawning as a sign to communicate indifference has been observed in both domesticated dogs and wild canids. Many times, when a dog is faced with an aggressive dog, he will offer a yawn in response to the aggressor. This simply means that the yawning dog is not interested in any sort of conflict. It’s not a sign of submission, but rather a sign of pacification. Yawning can also be seen in dominant dogs and wolves. When they are confronted with submissive or fearful pack members or strangers, they will often yawn to show their lack of concern with the submissive one. This often seems to have a calming effect on the anxious dog or wolf.

Catch a Yawn

The phenomenon of yawns being contagious is an interesting one, and it is not unique to humans. Although thought to be a learned behavior (since infants and preschoolers do not catch yawns the way older humans do), it’s a known observation that yawns are contagious among people. What’s more interesting though, is that yawns are contagious to dogs, as well. Dogs will yawn in response to another dog yawning, and they will also yawn in response to humans yawning, especially if it’s a human they know very well. Many believe this is a sign that dogs are empathetic to both fellow canines and humans alike.

So the next time your dog yawns, you don’t necessarily have to worry about him or her feeling a lot of stress and anxiety. Although this very well might be the case, it isn’t always. Many times, the yawning is a normal part of daily life, just as it is for us humans.

American Kennel Club / Wikipedia / Pet MD / Mental Floss / Reader's Digest / Rover / Why Do Dogs Yawn? (YouTube)

NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang

Socked-in: When the ceiling and visibility at an airfield or over an air-capable ship are below minimums for takeoff and landing.

S.O.L.: “Shit Out of Luck”.

S.O.S.: “ame Old Shit”, or “Shit On a Shingle”.

Sonar Girls (Submarine Service): Sonar Technicians. So called because they have the least physically-demanding occupation (sitting in an air-conditioned space, watching a screen), and they have no grease or machinery to deal with.

Sougee: To scour; sougee powder = generic term for scouring powder, although in yachting refers to a chemical cleaner. Sorry Sarah: USS Saratoga.

Soup Sandwich: Any situation or individual that is FUBAR. Sometimes referred to by specific ingredients, e.g. Split-pea on Rye.

Sparks: Radioman. From the rating badge which has 4 lightning bolts.

Sparky: Electrician(s).

Splash: Name earned by a sailor who has had the good fortune to be recovered after accidentally falling overboard until the ship returns home from deployment.

Wiktionary.org

Just for you MARINE

SOC or (SOC): Special Operations Capable used in conjunction with MEU written as MEU (SOC).

SOG: Sergeant of the Guard The acting Sergeant (or near rank) Commanding the 'COG' Corporal of the Guard and all other marines for watch, radio watch, or post.

SNCOIC: Staff Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge, a SNCO responsible for a group of Marines, but without the authority of a commissioned officer; sometimes also the senior enlisted Marine acting with the officer in charge. See also NCOIC & OIC.

Soup Cooler: Synonym for the mouth. Term oft used by DIs in reference to the mouth of a recruit, or other senior person in reference to trainees.

Soup Sandwich: Refers to a disorganized operation or a gaggle.

South Maryland Small Boat & Barge Institute: Nickname for the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. See also Canoe U.

SOTG: Special Operations Training Groupd.

Wikipedia.org

Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

HSM-70 Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) Squadron SEVEN ZERO - nicknamed the “Spartans”

United States Navy - Marine Corps Commander, Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing Atlantic - Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, / HSM-70: March 01, 2008 - present

Where Did That Saying Come From?

“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link:”

Meaning: The proverb 'A chain is only as strong as its weakest link' has a literal meaning, although the 'weakest link' referred to is figurative and usually applies to a person or technical feature rather than the link of an actual chain.

History: We are most likely these days to come across the phrase 'the weakest link' in reference to the popular TV quiz show of that name, which originated in the UK, hosted by Anne Robinson, and was later syndicated for use in many other countries.

The show, which relies on the demonstration of the abysmal lack of general knowledge by many of the participating contestants, is an example of the many 'humiliation television' shows of the early 21st century and is a sad spectacle.

“It is clearly a literal fact that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The conversion of that notion into a figurative phrase was established in the language by the 18th century. Thomas Reid's Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, 1786, included this line:

“In every chain of reasoning, the evidence of the last conclusion can be no greater than that of the weakest link of the chain, whatever may be the strength of the rest.”

Phrases.org.uk

Science & Technology

FEATURED: NASA space copter ready for first Mars flight • Dozens of ultra-compact dwarf galaxies detected

New, reversible CRISPR method can control gene expression while leaving underlying DNA sequence unchanged • Better solutions for making hydrogen may lie just at the surface • Children learned 'little or nothing' during school closures, despite online learning: study

Exploration of ocean currents beneath the 'Doomsday Glacier' • Abrupt ice age climate changes behaved like cascading dominoes • Australian bush fires warmed the stratosphere for six months • Treating https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-ai-safely-people-red-flags.htmlsleep apnea may reduce dementia risk Phys.org / MedicalXpress / TechXplore

FEATURED: Hungry polar bears are struggling to hunt seabird eggs • Honey bees rally to their queen via ‘game of telephone’

Ancient fish share a key feature of human vision • Glass molded like plastic could usher in new era of complex glass shapes

With ‘smoke ring’ technology, fusion startup marks steady progress • A pigment from red cabbage could help turn your favorite foods blue

Special diets might boost the power of drugs to vanquish cancers • Hydrated crust stores Mars’ missing water Science AAAS

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

It's not likely, but humans have the tool kit to evolve venom.

Could humans ever evolve venom? It's highly unlikely that people will join rattlesnakes and platypuses among the ranks of venomous animals, but new research reveals that humans do have the tool kit to produce venom - in fact, all reptiles and mammals do.

This collection of flexible genes, particularly associated with the salivary glands in humans, explains how venom has evolved independently from nonvenomous ancestors more than 100 times in the animal kingdom.

“Essentially, we have all the building blocks in place”, said study co-author Agneesh Barua, a doctoral student in evolutionary genetics at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology in Japan. “Now it's up to evolution to take us there.”

Oral venom is common across the animal kingdom, present in creatures as diverse as spiders, snakes and slow lorises, the only known venomous species of primate. Biologists knew that oral venom glands are modified salivary glands, but the new research reveals the molecular mechanics behind the change.

“It's going to be a real landmark in the field”, said Bryan Fry, a biochemist and venom expert at The University of Queensland in Australia who was not involved in the research. “They've done an absolutely sensational job of some extraordinarily complex studies.”

A flexible weapon

Venom is the ultimate example of nature's flexibility. Many of the toxins in venom are common across very different animals; some components of centipede venom, for example, are also found in snake venom, said Ronald Jenner, a venom researcher at the Natural History Museum in London who was not involved in the research.

The new study doesn't focus on toxins themselves, as those evolve quickly and are a complex mix of compounds, Barua told Live Science. Instead, Barua and study co-author Alexander Mikheyev, an evolutionary biologist at Australian National University who focuses on “housekeeping” genes, the genes that are associated with venom but aren't responsible for creating the toxins themselves. These regulatory genes form the basis of the whole venom system.

The researchers started with the genome of the Taiwan habu (Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus), a brown pit viper that is well studied, in part because it's an invasive species in Okinawa.

“Since we know the function of all the genes that were present in the animal, we could just see what genes the venom genes are associated with”, Barua said.

The team found a constellation of genes that are common in multiple body tissues across all amniotes. (Amniotes are animals that fertilize their eggs internally or lay eggs on land; they include reptiles, birds and some mammals.) Many of these genes are involved in folding proteins, Barua said, which makes sense, because venomous animals must manufacture a large quantity of toxins, which are made of proteins.

“A tissue like this really has to make sure that the protein it is producing is of high quality”, he said.

Unsurprisingly, the same sorts of regulatory housekeeping genes are found in abundance in the human salivary gland, which also produces an important stew of proteins - found in saliva - in large quantities. This genetic foundation is what enables the wide array of independently evolved venoms across the animal kingdom.

From nonvenomous to venomous

In other words, every mammal or reptile has the genetic scaffolding upon which an oral venom system is built. And humans (along with mice) also already produce a key protein used in many venom systems. Kallikreins, which are proteins that digest other proteins, are secreted in saliva; they're also a key part of many venoms. That's because kallikreins are very stable proteins, Fry said, and they don't simply stop working when subjected to mutation. Thus, it's easy to get beneficial mutations of kallikreins that make venom more painful, and more deadly (one effect of kallikreins is a precipitous drop in blood pressure).

“It's not coincidental that kallikrein is the most broadly secreted type of component in venoms across the animal kingdom, because in any form, it's a very active enzyme and it's going to start doing some messed-up stuff”, Fry said.

Kallikreins are thus a natural starting point for theoretically venomous humans.

If after the drama of 2020, Barua joked,

“people need to be venomous to survive, we could potentially start seeing increasing doses of kallikreins”.

But that's not so likely - not unless humans' currently successful strategies of acquiring food and choosing mates start falling apart, anyway. Venom most commonly evolves as either a method of defense or as a way of subduing prey, Jenner told Live Science. Precisely what kind of venom evolves depends heavily on how the animal lives.

Evolution can essentially tailor venom to an animal's needs via natural selection, Fry said. There are some desert snakes, for example, that have different venom despite being the same species, just due to where they live, he said:

On the desert floor, where the snakes hunt mostly mice, the venom acts mostly on the circulatory system, because it's not difficult for a snake to track a dying mouse a short distance on flat ground. In nearby rocky mountains, where the snakes hunt mostly lizards, the venom is a potent neurotoxin, because if the prey isn't immediately immobilized, it can easily scamper into a crevice and disappear for good.

A few mammals do have venom. Vampire bats, which have a toxic saliva that prevents blood clots, use their chemical weapon to feed from wounds more effectively. Venomous shrews and shrew-like solenodons (small, burrowing mammals) can outpunch their weight class by using their venom to subdue larger prey than they could otherwise kill. Shrews also sometimes use their venom to paralyze prey (typically insects and other invertebrates) for storage and later snacking. Meanwhile, platypuses, which don't have a venomous bite but do have a venomous spur on their hind legs, mostly use their venom in fights with other platypuses over mates or territory, Jenner said.

Humans, of course, have invented tools, weapons and social structures that do most of these jobs without the need for venomous fangs. And venom is costly, too, Fry said. Building and folding all those proteins takes energy. For that reason, venom is easily lost when it isn't used. There are species of sea snakes, Fry said, that have vestigial venom glands but are no longer venomous, because they switched from feeding on fish to feeding on fish eggs, which don't require a toxic bite.

The new research may not raise many hopes for new superpowers for humans, but understanding the genetics behind the control of venom could be key for medicine, Fry added. If a cobra's brain were to start expressing the genes that its venom glands expressed, the snake would immediately die of self-toxicity. Learning how genes control expression in different tissues could be helpful for understanding diseases such as cancer, which causes illness and death in large part because tissues start growing out of control and secreting products in places in the body where they shouldn't.

“The importance of this paper goes beyond just this field of study, because it provides a starting platform for all of those kinds of interesting questions”, Fry said.

Related: Why do Cambrian creatures look so weird?

Related: Are you genetically more similar to your mom or your dad?

Science Daily (03/29/2021)

Second Hand News: Articles from Week 23 - June 07, 2021 - June 13, 2021

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