re: GMT

Today in History: October 4

1363
End of the Battle of Lake Poyang; Chinese rebel forces led by Zhu Yuanzhang defeat those of his rival, Chen Youliang, in one of the largest naval battles in history with approximately 850,000 participants

1777
At Germantown, Pa., British General Sir William Howe repels George Washington's last attempt to retake Philadelphia, compelling Washington to spend the winter at Valley Forge.

1795
General Napoleon Bonaparte leads the rout of counterrevolutionaries in the streets of Paris, beginning his rise to power.

1927
Gutzon Borglum begins sculpting the heads of 4 US presidents on Mount Rushmore.

1940
Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass.

1957
Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite, is launched, beginning the "space race." The satellite, built by Valentin Glushko, weighed 184 pounds and was launched by a converted Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Sputnik orbited the earth every 96 minutes at a maximum height of 584 miles. In 1958, it reentered the earth's atmosphere and burned up.

1976
In Gregg v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court lifts the ban on the death sentence in murder cases. This restores the legality of capital punishment, which had not been practiced since 1967. The first execution following this ruling was Gary Gilmore in 1977.

1993
Russia's constitutional crisis over President Boris Yeltsin's attempts to dissolve the legislature: the army violently arrests civilian protesters occupying government buildings.

2004
SpaceShipOne, which had achieved the first privately funded human space flight on June 21, wins the Ansari X Prize for the first non-government organization to successfully launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space.

2021
Global outage of Facebook and its apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, for six hours

2023
Kevin McCarthy becomes the first Speaker of the US House of Representatives to be removed from office after fellow Republican hardliners, led by Matt Gaetz, vote for his ouster

2021
Global outage of Facebook and its apps, including Instagram and WhatsApp, for six hours

Today in History: Born on October 4
1822
Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the U.S. (1877-1881).

1862
Edward Stratemeyer, author, creator of the Hardy Boys, Rover Boys, Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins.

1923
Charlton Heston, American film actor.

1981
Ilhan Omar, Somali American politician (Rep-D-Minnesota 2018-) one of first Muslim women elected to US House, born in Mogadishu, Somalia

1989
Dakota Johnson, American actress (50 Shades of Grey), and daughter of Melanie Griffith & Don Johnson, born in Austin, Texas

JOTD

This wealthy couple are employing a housemaid. She decides to ask for a raise.

She goes to the lady and asks: “Ma’am, I’d like a raise.”

The lady responds: “A raise? But why on earth? I see no reason why.”

The housemaid says: “Well, for starters, I cook better than you, ma’am.”

The lady gets annoyed and replies: “Where does that come from?”

“Well, Ma’am, your husband told me he likes the food better when I make it than when you do.”

Seriously annoyed, the lady interjects: “I’m not giving you a raise. That’s just your job.”

The housemaid tries again: “And I’m sorry ma’am, but I’m also better at laundry than you.”

“Nonsense. What makes you think that?”

“Again I’m sorry ma’am, but your husband says, his shirts are better ironed when I’m the one who cleaned them, than when you are.”

Even more annoyed, the lady says: “okay I’ll have a talk with him. But you’re still not getting a raise for doing your job.”

“Well... I’m very sorry ma’am, but maybe you should also consider the fact that I’m better at sex than you.”

The lady responds, red with anger: “EXCUSE ME? My HUSBAND told you that?”

The housemaid answers: “Oh, no. The gardener, ma’am.”

Gooooood morning!

High water

Afternoon All

Dry and hotter than #&@#^&^ here. Most of the grass is dead. I have been haying cattle for a couple weeks now. I hate droughts.

Morning

Good morning!

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Chester A. Arthur, 21st president of the United States (1881-1885).

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Arthur is one of the more curious Presidents in US history in that he didn't want to be President or Vice President.

Chester was a product of the New York Machine, a group of Republicans who controlled New York City absolutely, and thru that the rest of the country. At the time the majority, and I do mean vast majority, of all foreign imported goods came through the New York Customs House. Which meant that since the government was mostly funded by import fees and tariffs whoever controlled New York City controlled the purse strings for the rest of the country.

Politicians and civil servants were encouraged to, ahem, prosper off this rich bounty of money and Arthur, bless him, was as dedicated as anyone to bellying up to the trough of money. At one point Chester Arthur was the most detested and distrusted politician in American politics.

So, how the hell did he become President? Compromise. The Republicans were split between those that backed Grant, and those that supported anyone other than Grant considering how dismal the old general had been as President. They were so deadlocked at the national convention that they selected a genial nobody in James Garfield as the nominee and Arthur as his VP to balance the ticket.

Garfield, an avid book reader and fairly shy person, had to be bullied into running and Arthur, whose health was starting to decline, wanted nothing more than to finish his political career sucking at the teat of the NY Customs House. The pair won an election that featured both doing as little campaigning as humanely possible. Garfield settled into office intent on minor reforms... and was assassinated a few months into his Presidency. Unless you have a strong stomach I advise against reading up on his slow and agonizing death which involved Garfield rotting from the inside out.

Which put Arthur, who was terrified he'd be the next to be killed, in the White House. Once settled in the master of the spoils system... became a reformer who did a great deal to purge the government of the very corruption he had indulged in himself. The steady decline of his health meant that after the initial wave of reforms his Presidency became more of a maintenance administration. Arthur died a year after his term ended and at that time was perhaps the most highly regarded politician in the United States. There are, indeed, second acts in politics folks.

Most of this was gleaned from Sarah Vowell's "Assassination Vacation", a history book dedicated to the sadly rich history of Presidential assassinations. I'll warn you Vowell is a Capital D Democrat, and doesn't hide that in her books. But she has a knack for the finding the human element in history and brings up weird historical facts left and right. She's also the voice of Violet from The Incredibles if you are a fan of that movie.

If you are curious about the New York Machine and how it was finally toppled Teddy Roosevelt is who you want. He burned it to the ground and pissed on the ashes so effectively that the members of the group used their rapidly dwindling political power to make him VP... so he would leave the state. Teddy got the last laugh as he ascended to the Presidency and took great pleasure in using the executive branch to finish their destruction.

Dude. You're doing the Lord's work with your write ups. THIS is quality, even if you did use AI to write these obvious masterpieces..

(Kidding, I believe you)

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Dude. You're doing the Lord's work with your write ups. THIS is quality, even if you did use AI to write these obvious masterpieces..

(Kidding, I believe you)

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I'm actually too lazy to use AI!