The Great Seal of the United States Came About Through Great Effort June 20, 2010

The Great Seal of the United States of America

Americans Love to Create Committees

On This Date in History:   When an American politician isn’t sure what to do or does not want to make a decision, he tends to set up a committee.  That way, if its a good idea, he can take credit and if it doesn’t work out so well, then he can just say he was following the committee’s recommendation.   This tradition goes back to the beginning as the founders were confounded as to what kind of symbol they wanted for their new nation.   Over a period of 6 years, three separate committees studied the situation in an effort to come up with an acceptable national coat of arms that was needed for the authentification of official documents.    So, who would be the members of such a committee.  Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had done pretty well with a Declaration of Independence so they were given the first shot.

Jefferson's Proposal For the Great Seal Does Not Fit the Paradigm Set That He Wanted No Religion Associated With the Nation

The three creators of the declaration were appointed to the new mission just hours after the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence.  I suppose the work of a founding father is never done.  They had turned to scholarly writings of the past for inspiration and guidance for the declaration and for a symbol, they looked to the bible and classical mythology from which to take their cues.   Now, Jefferson is often called a “Deist” or non-Christian by some modern historians so it is interesting that he proposed an image of the Israelites passage through the wilderness as they were led by a Divine cloud and pillar of fire.  Adams favored Hercules choosing between a path of virtue or self-indulgence.  For his part, Franklin proposed the likeness of Moses commanding the Red Sea to swallow up pharoah.  They were stuck.

Tough To See: Du Simitière's sketch of his rejected proposal for the Great Seal

So, they called on the help of a consultant.  A Philadelphia artist who hailed from Switzerland, Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere, told them that the greatest virtue of the United States was that it was a new nation forged together by many people of differing backgrounds.  So, he suggested a giant shield that featured the emblems of the 6 most common European nations of most Americans origin.  Around that shield was 13 smaller ones to represent the 13 states, linked by a gold chain.  Holding up the shield were the goddesses of Justice and Liberty.  Above all of that was the Eye of Providence and on the bottom was the motto, E Pluribus Unum, which means “Out of Many, One.”  The committe chose Franklin’s Moses idea for the back and Du Simitiere’s idea for the front.  But, the Continental Congress must not have thought that these guys would come up with something so quickly because they were preoccupied with the Revolutionary War and tabled the issue.   A few years later, in 1780, a second committee was formed and they chose a front side of a shield with 13 stripes that was held up by a soldier and a woman holding an olive branch.  The crest featured a constellation of 13 stars.  On the back was an image of the Goddess of Liberty.  Apparently no one liked that one either because it wasn’t tabled; it was rejected out of hand.

Perhaps Charles Thomson is Ultimately Responsible For the Final Design of the Great Seal. This Engraving of Thomson Was Created by None Other than Pierre Eugene Du Simitiere

In 1782, they tried again.  This time they turned to William Barton who was an authority on heraldry.  He came up with a front side of a European eagle within a crest and for the reverse side, he proposed an incomplete 13-stepped pyramid.   By this time, the Continental Congress had all sorts of designs and so they just shoved them all over to the Secretary of Congress, Charles Thomson.  Thomson took a little bit of this and a little bit of that from each idea to synthesize them into a single entity.  He kept E Pluribus Unum from the first committee, the olive branch and shield from the second committee and the third proposal of an eagle and a pyramid.  But, he decided to substitute a rising American Bald Eagle for the European Heraldic Eagle.  He made the grand bird of America the centerpiece with a constellation of 13 stars above its head to support the motto E Pluribus Unum.  He put the shield with the stripes on its chest with the stripes on the shield arranged vertically and he raised the eagle’s wings.  He placed the olive branch in one of its talons and in the other he had the bird clutching 13 arrows.  I guess he wanted to add his own personal touch.  On the reverse side, the unfinished pyramid found a home, topped by the Eye of Providence with the  latin phrase Novus Ordo Seclorum below and the latin Annuit Coeptis above.  On this date in 1782, the Continental Congress instantly approved the design of the Great Seal of the United States.  Seven years later, the first federal Congress similarly adopted the seal and placed it in the custody of the nation’s first Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, who may or may not have still been seeting over his Israelites in the wilderness idea being rejected.

Conventional wisdom is that the Eye of Providence and Annuit Coeptis, which means ”He has favored our undertaking”, as a symbol of the Founders’ Faith.  The  eye  was put in a radiant triangle which is an ancient symbol of humanity’s accumulation of knowledge.  The constellation of stars bunched together as one illustrates the motto (which is found just below) and the radiance that shines through is emblematic of the new nation taking its place among the others.  The eagle is a symbol of power with the 13 stripes on the shield represents the unification of the 13 original states.  The arrows in the talons shows America’s ability to make war with the olive branch and its 13 leaves and 13 fruits indicating the power to make peace.  I’ve also heard it suggested that the arrows and  olive branch symbolize the idea that the nation makes peace through strength.  The unfinished pyramid symbolizes the unfinished nation as one of strength and endurance.  The base is adorned with 1776 in roman numerals.  Novus Ordo Seclorum means “A new order of the ages” and proclaims the rise of the revolutionary concept of a nation founded on freedom.

The Ideas of the Symbols of America by Emmet Fox Are Detailed in "Alter Your Life"

Now, over time many people have tried to come up with almost conspiratorial ideas about these symbols as they suggest some sort of secrets hidden in Freemasonry.  But, I found an interesting take by an early 20th century theologian named Emmet Fox who took the position that America is part of God’s plan; that in order for people to have the freedom to know the singular God, they have to have political freedom.  Hence, the United States provided that conduit.  Fox says that the motto illustrates man’s initial idea that he is separate from the Divine but the “Light of Truth” dawns on him and he progresses from having many gods to the One God.  He suggests that there is a spiritual significance to the number 13 and also for the number 4.  After all, the Declaration of Independence was officially adoped on July 4th, which was the same day that the order was given to come up with the Great Seal.  The original inauguration day was March 4 and the President serves 4 year terms, which is not duplicated in any other country.  He points out that both Novus Ordo Seclorum and Annuit Coeptis came from Virgil and that “nothing could better describe exactly what America is doing for the world, the fact that she has a Divine mission.”   He says that the olive branch being in the right claw and the arrows in the left is significant.  He has the similar notion that it denotes peace and good-will are to be the primary consideration with defense only as a last resort but he adds that, metaphysically, the olive branch stands for affirmation and the arrows for denial.  It is important, says Fox, to first affirm the presence  of God.  An interesting observation is that most national escutcheons, such as the American shield, are supported by something.  The fact that the American Shield rests on the eagle’s breast shows that it needs not external or material reinforcement.  Fox goes on the detail many other items which may be of interest to some.  But, he does say that the eye is “striking and remarkable.”  He says that the ancient all-seeing eye is the “Single Eye” of which Jesus spoke when He said, “When the eye is single, the whole body is full of light.”  Fox concludes that when an individual or a nation puts God first, and everything else second,” then the whole body, the whole life of that person or that nation, will be healthy and prosperous.”

I'm Not Sure What the Founders Had In Mind For Certain But This Certainly Would have been the Cutest Great Seal of Any Nation

So, what is the truth of the symbols of the Great Seal?  It’s hard to say.  The founders were well steeped in scholarship of antiquity.  The ideals put forth on the Declaration of Independence were not new, but instead it was the way that Jefferson expressed them that makes the document stand out.  The symbols collected for the Great Seal also were not new.  In spite of what modern scholars may suggest, the founders were indeed greatly influenced by some form or Christianity.  As we have seen, Jefferson was in favor of a Judao-Christian related symbol to be the emblem for the nation as was Franklin.  However, the fact that ultimately, the Contiental Congress chose not to include any overt references to the Christian Faith in the Great Seal is of some importance.  Perhaps they wished to cloak their faith such as Fox suggests.  Or, maybe they were being careful to not tie their objectives for the nation to any religion in order to symbolize a desire for a secular government.  Unfortunately, I do not believe that Thomson or anyone else left notes or minutes that describe their line of thinking.  In any event, the Great Seal of the United States does seem to stand out among nations…and maybe that was the intent all along.

SPC Severe Weather Outlook Sun June 20 2010

Weather Bottom Line:  The morning storms on Saturday held us only to 90 for the first part of the weekend.  Snow White and I went for a bike ride and it really wasn’t too bad.  Today will be much hotter and more uncomfortable though.  The models advertise a decent shortwave in Iowa during the day but tend to want to just kill it by the time it gets to Illinois as it makes what seems to me a bee-line for our area.  I’m not so sure why it would just go away as they suggest.  I would think that Sunday evening we should get the left overs at least if not something decent.  I mean, we’ll certainly be hot and there will be ample moisture.  Provided there is not some sort of big cap, I would think that there is no reason for that guy to hold together in some form.  Okay..maybe not severe, but still some storms.  The SPC seems to agree as they have the slight risk area kinda nosing down toward our area.  After this, the next several days seem similar.  Unseasonably hot and humid with no real line for storms to come our way but always the possibility of some guys wandering through.

America and Britain In Pig War Standoff June 15, 2010

Pig War, not War Pigs

On This Date in History:  Let’s see. We have had many wars in American History: American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Pig War.  The Pig War?  

Battle of New Orleans: Pointless Battle Almost NOT the final Conflict Between Britain and America

After the conclusion of the War of 1812 in late 1814 and after the Battle of New Orleans, which came about in January 1815 after the treaty concluding the war had been reached, America and Britain still had differences.  However, after a war of independence and then a second war between the former brothers, one would think that further armed conflict was not a possibility.  In 1818, both English and American citizens had settled in what was known as the Oregon Country, which includes present day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia and parts of Wyoming and Montana.  So, the two sides simply agreed to be cohabitants of the region.  I suppose they figured that sooner or later that they’d straighten it all out.   However, by 1845, nothing had changed and the folks in the region seemed to be growing weary of each other.

Map of Pig War Dispute

Americans thought that the British presence was nothing but an obstacle to their divine “Manifest Destiny” and the Brits thought that the wild influx of American settlers were trespassers on land guaranteed to the crown through previous treaties and trading practices established by the Hudson Bay Company.  Cooler heads prevailed and in 1846, the Oregon Treaty was signed and it stipulated that the Americans had control of all territory south of the 49th parallel with the boundary extending “to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver’s Island; and thence southerly through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca’s straits to the Pacific Ocean.”  The wording must have been made up by eastern lawyers who had never been there because the truth was there were two channels, not one.  Dividing the two straights was San Juan Island and each side claimed the island for themselves.

Griffin, no ordinary farmer, refused to pay tax to Uncle Sam

So, citizens of both nations quickly staked claims to the island.    The old bugaboo of taxation led to the first conflict when America tried to collect taxes on British produce.  Englishman farmer Charles John Griffin refused to pay, claiming he was not subject to American taxation.   Griffin was no ordinary farmer though.  He had been appointed as the chief agent of the Hudson Bay Company.  Nevertheless, it just so happens that of all the people on the island, it was Griffin’s pig on this date in 1859 that got loose and began to stick his snout in the potato patch of Lyman A. Cutlar(Cutler).   Being a true American, Cutlar did what any well bred Yankee would do: He shot the pig dead.  Griffing marched with quite indignation straight to the office of the British magistrate and demanded compensation of $100 from Cutlar.   To me, $100 is a lot of money today and back then it was a small fortune.  Naturally, Cutlar refused to pay, claiming that he was not subject to British law.

George E. Pickett as a 1st Lieutenant

The Americans on the island called on the government for protection and so, Uncle Sam sent young Captain George E. Pickett with troops.  That would be the same Pickett who gained fame for his exploits as a Confederate General at the Battle of Gettysburg.   In response to the presence of Pickett and his 66 troops, Britain sent a bunch of warships with an eye toward routing the American command.  Pickett was reinforced by 171 more troops.  When it was apparent that the Americans were still outgunned by the British ships, more troops were called for.  Could the United States and Britain be headed back to war again over a pig rooting around in a potato patch?  For a time it looked that way until “Old Fuss and Feathers,” commanding American General Winfield Scott, arrived from Washington at the direction of President James Buchanan with a proposal.  Each side would station 100 men on the island in a contrived stand-off, or balance of power, until an agreement could be reached. 

There's Even a Book About the Pig War

Well, the slavery issue was boiling over in America around that time and Uncle Sam had bigger fish to fry.  So, the “Pig  War”, as it became known,  got put on the back burner for 12 years.  In 1871, there was an Anglo-American treaty signed called the Treaty of Washington.  That document called for the “Pig War”  matter was taken up by German Emperor Wilhelm I who promptly referred the question to a 3 member arbitration board.  The board, through the kaiser, ruled in favor of the Americans.  In November 1872, all British troops evacuated the island and two years later, all American troops left.  Thus, after the governments of both countries had kicked the sovereignty issue down the road to let someone else deal with, peace finally came to the Pacific Northwest.  Politicians had left the question of slavery to others from the Declaration of Independence  through the Missouri Compromise and the result was a war in which over 600,000 Americans died.  At least the punting of the San Juan Island issue only resulted in the death of a single pig, in what has been fondly remembered as “The Pig War.”

SPC Severe Outlook June 15 2010

SPC Severe Wind Probability June 15 2010

Weather Bottom Line:  On Monday night, Snow White and I went for a walk.  She is always quite concerned about thunderstorms and she got nervous when we saw distant lightning to our North and to our South.  I told her that I suspected that, not only would we have time for the walk, but also that we may get no rain at all as I thought that we would be in between the storms.  The lightning was cool.  This is the second time that I saw lightning shoot up from the cloud to no apparent destination.  The first time I saw this was at the Kitty Cat Castle on the Georgia Coast.  I’m guessing that what I am seeing are called sprites.  They were first discovered by astronauts on the Shuttle.  A very interesting phenomena that I don’t think anyone has quite figured out yet.  Anyway, I was right.  We got the walk in and we never had any rain.   When I came home, I looked at the radar and it appeared to me that the storms I saw to the north were almost all the way to Cincinnati and the ones to the South were in Meade county.  Quite a distance, though farther than I would have expected.  Needless to say, there was no thunder. 

SPC Tornado Probability June 15 2010

We remain in the same pattern but it seems to me that the storm track has shifted slightly north.  So, there is a shortwave out in Iowa on Tuesday afternoon and the vector appears to be taking it Northeast toward the Great Lakes.  It may swing around to a more easterly component later on but I would think that the main part of the short will be well north of our area.  Having said that, there is an appendage from that vortmax extending into Central Missouri and a new outcrop of storms ahead of the main short in Central Illinois. That too is moving Northeast.  I think our issue will be with the appendage. I see some indication of a low level convergence zone setting up with other parameters suggesting that the appendage may blossom into storms during the heat of the day as it moves into Southern Illinois.  I would think that there will be a reasonable shot of storms late in the day or the evening, very similar to what we had Monday.  Whether or not a line forms or if that line holds together by the time it gets here remains to be seen.  Also, I betcha we get some scattered guys ahead of the short wave in the heat of the day forming ahead of the shortwave, similar to what it already going on in Illinois.  That would be my greatest concern for severe weather…perhaps and errant supercell would not be totally out of the question.  As I am writing this, I see the boys at the SPC have seen the same thing because they just now changed the outlook to include a moderate risk for the region just north of Louisville, between say Charlestown and Indianapolis.  So, keep that in mind as you go into the late afternoon and evening.  If you find yourself in a thunderstorm, be sure to tune into your radio or tv to see what the story is. After today, the ridging of the storm track should continue and I think the storm chances will be decreasing for the rest of the week until Saturday when a weak cold front comes knocking at the door.

Donald Trump is Older Than Congressional Recognition of Flag Day June 14, 2010

The Flag Is Commemorated in all Worlds

On This Date in History: Flag Day commemorates June 14, 1777 when Congress adopted officially the stars and stripes. The colonial army had the Grand Union flag, supposedly created by Betsy Ross. Now, historians have not been able to prove the legend…BUT…they have not been able to disprove it either…so who knows. I say stick with the legend until someone can prove otherwise.

Hundreds of Thousands Have Defended the Stars and Stripes

Anyway, the first day which was called Flag Day was a celebration  On This Date In 1877 to mark the 100th anniversary of Old Glory.   President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as Flag day on May 30, 1916. So on this date in 1916, he made a big speech…the speech was more about rallying the nation behind the war effort as just two months before the US had declared War on Germany and entered WWI.   Actually, Wilson made several speeches related to the flag.  The first was on June 14, 1915.  Then he made one on May 30, 1916 explaining why he wanted to designate the date as Flag Day and then again on June 14, 1916 the day that he had designated.  But, the date still was not an officially sanctioned national annual day of recognition for the flag..  It wasn’t until August 3, 1949 that Congress  officially designated, this date,  June 14 as Flag Day as a day of national observance and President Truman signed the Act of Congress into law. So, if Flag Day was so important and had been around so long, why did Congress wait until 172 years after the fact to make it official? Well, the Democrats had re-taken control of Congress in 1948 after a brief period of Republican control. Around this time, there was Soviet communist expansion in Europe and Mao Tse Tung in mid 1949 had run Chang Kai Shek off to Taiwan and mainland China was communist. Though Congress at the time didn’t know it, the Soviets were about to explode their first nuclear weapon on Aug. 29, 1949, breaking America’s brief monopoly on nukes.

Joe McCarthy Influenced Flag Day?

There were cases of espionage involving Soviet communist spies in the American Government like the Alger Hiss case. Republicans were charging the Democrats with being soft on communism and creating an atmosphere that fostered the growth of communism in this nation. So…Congress officially adopted Flag Day as June 14. Its probably a pretty fair spot to argue that the Red Scare of the 1950′s really began on June 14, 1950.  Along the same lines, the words “Under God” were not inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance until 1954.  I guess with the fear of communism fading, so has the ideals that created the first Flag Day in 1877…but go ahead and think about the flag anyway and what it means to you. A lot of people have fought and died for the ideals that the flag represents and it at least deserves a moment’s reflection.

Fred Trump Celebrated Flag Day in 1946 Welcoming Donald into the World

Now, Fred Trump was a successful real-estate developer in New York. On this date in 1946, three years before Congress officially recognized Flag Day. Fredintroduced the world to his son Donald, who seems to be intent on making a bigger splash than anyone in human history. After Donald Trump finished his MBA at the Wharton School of Business, he went to work for dad. He quickly developed an ability to work the business of building and development. In the 1970′s, New York was in terrible financial condition and Trump took advantage by buying up properties at good prices and gaining tax concessions for his projects.

You're Fired!

In the 1980′s, he looked toward hotels, high rise condos and casinos. He claims his net worth skyrocketed into the billions. Others think that was a large over-estimate. In any event, when the 90′s came about, his fortunes turned and his empire crumbled and he even had to declare bankruptcy on some of his developments. But, by the late 90′s, he was back on his feet and amassing wealth once again. On a couple of occasions he was urged to run for President but instead he took his celebrity and turned to the tube. He had several years of The Apprentice which was a hit for a while and his trademark “you’re fired” became part of the pop culture lexicon. In 2005, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $2.7 billion. Trump says it was way more. Critics claim he wasn’t even a billionaire.

Martha A Sandweiss's Book Agrees to Print the Legend!

But you know what…if the legend is better than the truth, print the legend. Trump has marketed himself and his name to the point that he is one of the best known people in America if not the world. And, as Larry King indicates in the photo above, his hair may have outstripped the rest of his worldly accomplishments as the most famous part of him. But, you have to admit, he doesn’t look like a 64 year-old man. Wonder what I would look like if I had some money.

SPC Severe Outlook Mon June 14 2010

Weather Bottom Line:  Late Sunday night we had one of those little shortwaves rolling through the flow and this time the arc of the flow lines brought it right over Louisville.  They lost some of their ooomph by the time they got to Louisville as the heating of the day abated.  The strongest winds were up in Orange and Jackson counties in Indiana and by the time they got to Louisville there was a lot of lightning, brief heavy rain and some gusty but not too terribly strong winds.   I kept hearing someone on television say that they were “tremendous” thunderstorms and that’s okay I guess except when we really do have big boppers, people may not listen since they’ve heard so much hyperbole regarding some decent thunderstorms. I mean, even with a second wave coming through in the early morning hours, rain totals were not all that excessive.  The rain gauge in Mt. St. Francis in Floyd County registered just 1.09 inches of rain.  At my house, we had about an inch but the rain gauge network only ranged from about a quarter inch in PRP to .79″ near downtown Louisville. The airport only had .12″ for the two rain events.  Hardly “tremendous.”   I think I’m becoming a grumpy old man. 

SPC Severe Outlook Tue June 15, 2010

Anyway, this is the type of thing that we can expect over the next few days and the timing of the short waves and the exact track of the flow will be the key as to whether or not we get storms and an appreciable amount of rain.  There still will be abundant moisture and ample latent heat so, as I’ve said before, if we get a match to toss on this big pile of potential energy that we store up, then we may have something to talk about.  That is why I would suggest that if by chance you see some big fat billowing cumulous clouds in the late afternoon or evening, it may be wise to check your radio or tv to see what’s up.

Will Pioneer 10 Ever Phone Home or Return with Some Friends? June 13, 2010

The Close-Up Picture Taker of Jupiter Not Only Left the Building, it left the Solar System

Pioneer 10 Says Good-Bye To Earth With Nixon in the White House

On This Date in History:  When the space probe, Pioneer 10, was launched by NASA from Cape Canaveral on March 3, 1972 its primary mission was to encounter Jupiter in December 1973.  Pioneer 10 met the challenge of its mission as earthlings stood spellbound watching the images sent back from the tiny spacecraft.  For the first time, from up close, people were able to see the “Great Red Spot” that had fascinated and perplexed earthbound observers since it was first observed.    It was during the encounter between the mosquito Pioneer 10 and the Giant Jupiter that it was confirmed that the mammoth planet consisted of liquid hydrogen without a solid surface below the thick clouds that envelop it.

Pioneer 10 Kept Going and Going

In reaching Jupiter, Pioneer 10 also proved that it was possible for a spacecraft to navigate through the asteroid belt as on July 15, 1972 it was the first man-made satellite known to do so.  Pioneer 10 also answered the question as to whether a spacecraft could handle the powerful radiation belts of Jupiter.  Pioneer 10 truly lived up to its moniker as when it got done with its Jupiter observations, it just kept on going.  It became the first spacecraft to cross the orbits of Uranus, Pluto and Neptune.  On this date in 1983,  over 11 years since it first left the earth, Pioneer 10  left the solar system using a first ever used nuclear power plant.  

NOMAD Thought that Kirk was the Creator

Now, Pioneer 10 was not alone.   Its twin, Pioneer 11 was launched about a year after Pioneer 10 shoved off from earth.  Pioneer 11 got the first close up views of Saturn and its rings, unlocking more centuries old mysteries.    The two Pioneer spacecraft paved the way for the more sophisticated Voyager probes 4 years later.  The Voyager probe became the premise for the original Star Trek movie, but that too had been more or less an expansion of a story told during the original series.  (Remember the one with “NOMAD”  the wayward 20th century probe that was looking for the creator?) 

Pioneer 10 plaque designed by Frank Drake Carl Sagan and Jon Lomberg. I'm Not Sure How Any Alien Could Make Sense of It.

When men first landed on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left behind a plaque with a greeting from President Nixon in which he said “we came in peace for all mankind.”  I think that there were also some symbols or maps or something, just in case any aliens couldn’t read english.  Well, America felt like it had to say something in the event that their little probe might wander into the hands of someone else so on both Pioneers, there is a plaque. In fact, most human probes into space have plaques.   The two on the Pioneer spacecrafts are but 6 inches by 9 inches and each plaque is designed to show any intelligent life that may come upon them where they came from and who sent them.  There is a diagram of a man and woman along with some basic scientific symbols along with a  diagram of the solar system.  Never mind that the vast majority of the humans living on the earth could probably not recognize the solar system and certainly not the scientific symbols, any space men might think that we’re all that smart.  Scientists have noted that the plaques represent a “mark of humanity that might survive…the Solar System itself.”    One thing that they don’t say is that one of the Pioneers just might fall into the hands of someone who can decide that there is a pretty primitive civilization out there that is easily invaded and is so dumb that it provided an road map related to how to invade it.  If you look at the diagram, then you see how really far fetched it is because it seems pretty random to me, but then again, presumably, an alien would have a little more going on.  Either way anyone who finds Pioneer 10 would have a long way to come to bring it home.  The last signal received from Pioneer 10 was on January 22, 2003 or 30 years after it was launched. I think the American taxpayer got its money’s worth on a gizmo that was only supposed to last 21 months.  At last contact, Pioneer 10 was 7.6 billion miles from earth and it took over 11 hours for the faint radio signal traveling at the speed of light to reach the earthbound listeners. 

Who Knows Who May Bring Back Pioneer 10. They'd have to Be pretty advanced to figure out the schematic invented by Carl Sagan

Maybe far fetched but, how different is it really to the American Indians.  Here they were  minding their own business when from across the ocean comes some beings that look similar but different from them.  They have tools and machines that they did  not have and they just kept coming and coming from somewhere.  Would not natives of any particular region of the world look at exploring or invading Europeans much in the same way that we would view aliens from another world?  After all, even the Europeans called North America “the New World” even though it wasn’t new to the Indians.  In any event, wherever Pioneer 10 is today, 27 years after it left our Solar System, it is well beyond the imagination of those who struggled in covered wagons across the continent in the 19th century.  In fact, if you think about it, the frontier of the United States was considered closed in 1890 and  just 93 years later, man had left the Solar System.  Perhaps this is symbolic of a society whose technology is developing faster than its humanity.

NAM Called for Over 1.5" of rain from 8P to 2AM Saturday Night..It Was WRONG!!

Weather Bottom Line:  This weekend is a great example of why one should not get too married to a particular model or make grand pronouncements.  I had explained all of the caveats related to the forecast and the various solutions of the models.  I had said that there would be disturbances coming through the flow from time to time but that the timing and exact track of each would be tough.  I had guessed that late Saturday night and early Sunday morning was the best chance for heavy rain with a secondary chance early Saturday morning.  I left myself a lot of wiggle room.  Well, I saw on local TV the station that is supposedly “rated most accurate” on Friday.  The guy then had a grand pronouncement of “Local Flooding” for Saturday.   Not a percent chance or heavy rain but, “Local Flooding.”  I told Snow White that was not very wise as it was possible, but not necessarily probable and that was an awfully long limb to be on. If he was right, he’s a hero, if he’s wrong (which was the most likely scenario) then he’d look like a goat and people would definitely remember it.  In TV y0u’re usually doing well if your mistakes are not highlighted.  Even in my scenario of heavy rain on late Saturday night, the wettest models were only throwing out 1.5 to 2 inches of rain over 6 hours and I don’t think that would cause “local flooding.”  Beside that, it was possible that the main storm track would be to our North.  Some of the models did have that.  Another thing that bothered me about the forecast that I saw was the depiction of a low sitting right in the middle of a high pressure ridge.  Made no sense…but then again I had the sound turned down so maybe the error was pointed out or there was some other explanation…a supposed upper low, perhaps? I dunno.  Twas confusing to me.

SPC Severe Outllook Monday-It's obvious where the expected storm track resides

Anyway, on Friday night, the lead shortwave was mainly to our North with an appendage sticking down bringing some pretty decent rain across the area.  As I had suspected, when that guy got farther east, the sun was coming up and it got pretty rough in Eastern Kentucky and Western Virginia.  We were in the wake of that one which would provide subsidence or sinking air behind it and therefore it would  be tough for afternoon heating to overcome that resistance.  Nevertheless, Snow White was at a wedding and reported that they saw someone on in the afternoon saying that storms would be prevalent until 5 pm.  I told the brides father that if we got anything it would be well after 5 pm and to go ahead and take the photos out side. 

SPC Monday Severe Weather Probability

I believe what we have is a couple of folks looking at computers and not bothering to look and see what is really happening or not having the ability to know what is going on.  In this case, the computers were wrong.  It was not a bad forecast to call for a healthy chance for t’storms or rain Saturday evening or Saturday night.  It was wrong headed to call for “Local Flooding” 24 hours before anything ever happened.  That’s either sensationalism, ignorance or foolishness.  By Saturday afternoon, it was apparent that there was not going to be much in the way of storms in the region beyond isolated activity.  Again, its either foolish, ignorant or attempts to scare people to continue give a forecast based on what a computer said it was supposed to do instead of looking out the window and seeing what is really going on.  As it turns out, about 11pm on Saturday night…our big shortwave did come across the Ohio Valley…trouble was it was farther north, taking an Indy-Cincy route and any appendage sticking down faded out before it got to Louisville.  So, as I had feared, the models were right about the upper disturbance and even the timing, but the exact route was off by about 90 miles, which isn’t too bad given that the earth is 25000 miles around. 

Tuesday SPC Severe Outlook

So, what the hell does this have to do with anything?  We will stay in this pattern which is unsettled.  There will continue to be a trof out west that will be kicking out small pieces of energy from time to time and it will continue to be tough to know exactly where and when these guys will be tracking until they actually show themselves.  It will continue to be hot and humid.  Therefore, it will continue to be a situation in which we are just loaded with energy.  If we get a good spark in here under the right conditions, and we could see some rough weather.  But, with nothing real specific to hang your hat on, its pretty tough to give anything of reasonable certainty.  I can say that it will be unstable, hot and humid and each day there will be a risk of t’storms at least through Wednesday.  I would say that, if we do get storms in the afternoon or early evening, stay tuned to local tv or radio because there would be a fair chance of any afternoon/evening storms being trouble maker.

The LSD Psychedelic No-Hitter- No One Died June 12, 2010

Dallas Braden Celebrated His Mother's Day No-Hitter

On this Date in History:  A pitcher throwing a no-hitter is quite an accomplishment as going through an entire Major League line-up without giving up a single hit to big league hitters is quite difficult.  Typically, it happens 2 or 3 times in any given season.  Every now and then a pitcher not only denies any hits, but he also issues no walks, does not hit a batter and his teammates to do give up an error.  That would mean that 27 men came to the plate and 27 men went back to the dugout.  Perfect games are pretty rare, though Oakland A’s pitcher Dallas Braden pulled off the feat this year against the Tampa Bay Rays and there were two others as well, which is very odd. 

Speed Makes Hitting Difficult..throw in some wildness and you can really be effective

Most of the time, a no-hitter is celebrated.  There have been some interesting ones that end up with a pitcher giving up zero hits but still losing the game.  Then there was the time that Nolan Ryan no-hit the Tigers in 1973 (box score).  Ryan was one of the hardest throwers in baseball history and racked up 5,714 strikeouts in his storied career.  He had 7 no-hitters, 12 one-hitters and 18 two-hitters.  Early in his career, he was wild and so batters had a sense of fear going against a guy who wasn’t too accurate with his pitches that often reached 100 mph.  In the 6-0 victory, Ryan struck out 17 Tigers but walked 4, which wasn’t too bad considering he walked 8 in his next no-hitter.  But, he was just wild enough to keep the Tigers on edge.  In the 9th inning, the Tigers’ Norm Cash came to the plate with a sawed off table leg as a bat.  “I wasn’t going to hit him anyway,” explained Cash.

Dock Ellis Could Be a Dominating Pitcher

Now, Ryan was naturally a little wild but he was always in control of his emotions and his focus.  The same can’t be said of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Dock Ellis.  When the right-hander took to the hill in San Diego on this date in 1970 he sported a pedestrian  4-4 record.  In his four losses, his lack of control was a key reason for the team’s defeat.  Wildness was certainly a hall mark of this game as well except for the final 3 innings.  Observers say that Ellis’ concentration suddenly became laser like and he only allowed one baserunner over the last 3 frames.     The thing is that Ellis did not even know he was going to pitch that night.  He thought that he wasn’t going to pitch until the next day.  So, what exactly  does a big leaguer do on an off day? 

Dock Ellis was known as a "free spirit"

Well, the Pirates had finished a series in San Francisco on Wednesday June 10th and after the game, the team flew to San Diego where they were to start a weekend series on Friday June 12, 1970, hence  the team was off on Thursday.   So, after the team arrived in San Diego, Ellis decided it was a good time to take a couple of trips.  First he dropped acid and then drove to Los Angeles to spend the team’s off day with friends.  He was up until all hours of the night drinking screw drivers and smoking dope.  When he woke up around noon, he promptly took another hit of acid.  He figured that it was a good thing to do since he was not going to pitch until Friday.  What Dock Ellis didn’t know was that it was Friday.  Ellis had slept all day Thursday.     About an hour after venturing into his second inning of Purple Haze, his girlfriend informed him that he was scheduled to pitch that night.  Whoops!   So, he caught a quick flight from LA to San Diego and arrived in time for the game.  What’s a guy to do who is tripping on LSD before he starts throwing 90 mph fastballs to batters? Should you call in sick? Nope; can’t let the team down.  Dock decided it was a good idea to load up on 6 amphetimines!

Ellis Was Pretty Care-Free In His 20's but Later Gave His Time to Rehabilitate Prisoners

Ellis recalled later, “I can only remember bits and pieces of the game.  I was psyched.”   I suppose he’s lucky that he didn’t have a “bad trip” because Ellis says that he had a “feeling of euphoria” and was “zeroed in on the cather’s glove.”  Ellis admitted though that he did not hit the catcher’s mitt too much.  See, Ellis hit one batter and walked 8 others.  After 6 innings the count was one hit batter and 7 walks!   Of the 9 total baserunners, 3 successfully stole bases off him, but no one crossed  the plate…and no one registered a base hit.  But, Ellis doesn’t remember much of that either.  He recalls the bases being loaded a couple of times and he remembers hitting the batter…but that’s about it.  What he does remember is the hallucinations he had while on the mound and most observers say that its a miracle that he not only pitched a no-hitter but also did not hurt or kill anyone.    As it turns out, Ellis can thank Willie Stargell for his success as the slugger hit two solo homeruns to secure the 2-0 win.  This was truly an ugly no-hitter that has only gotten uglier 40 years later when it is now known that Dock Ellis threw the only LSD aided No-Hitter in Major League History.

SPC Severe Weather Outlook June 12 2010

Weather Bottom Line:  Saturday morning featured that little shortwave that I had mentioned yesterday.  As I had suspected it was mainly just  a rain event with perhaps some thunder.  It will continue to be warm and humid throughout the day.  The next disturbance on Saturday morning was well out to the west so it fits that we get our next best chance of rain late Saturday night into early Sunday morning.  The timing will also limit the severe potential but heavy rain in spots is possible.   After that, I suspect that this unsettled pattern will stick around for a few days so get used to the unseasonably warm and humid conditions with periods of rain and t’storms passing through from time to time.

Some of the Most Creative and Patriotic Photos of the 20th Century June 11, 2010

June 11, 1918

American Flag Made Up of Americans

On This Date in History:  Once American committed to participating in the Great War, American patriotism rose to great levels.  A young commercial photographer by the name of Arthur Mole rode the wave of patriotic zeal with a series of creative photographs.   So popular was his work that it continued after World War I was over.  Mole was an Englishman by birth and worked with an American photographer by the name of John D. Thomas.  One must remember that, in those days there were no technical tricks to enhance a photo.  What the camera lens saw was what was recorded on the film.   Today, there is a photographer, Spencer Tunick,  that uses masses of human bodies who are naked to make some sort of artistic statement or merely to add to the shock value.  But,  Mole choreographed people to form patriotic images on a large scale. 

A Close-Up of the Wilson formation; note the people who make up the nose and glasses

Look at the photo at the top of the page of Woodrow Wilson carefully.  It’s not a drawing. It’s perhaps Moles most famous  photo taken from a 70 foot tower On This Date in 1918 by Arthur Mole.  He got some 21,000 soldiers at Camp Sherman in Chillicothe, Ohio to stand in formation such that it looked like President Wilson from his perch above.  It seems like to me these guys were supposed to be “army training” as Bill Murray said in Stripes.  But, somehow they found time to fill in a carefully detailed outline on the ground.  Mole then got a megaphone and barked instructions.  One soldier was so excited about standing around for the photo that he wrote his mother, “Hey Mom!  I was part of President Wilson’s left eyebrow today.”  I guess it was a nice diversion to the prospect of going “over there” to fight World War I.  Then again, maybe they never went overseas because the war was over by the end of the year and Mole went on to use thousands of soldiers to pose for numerous patriotic pictures.  I can hear it now, “what did  you do in the Great War, Grandpa?….I stood around and represented a dot on huge human portraits!”    It’s kinda silly but kinda cool too.  Mole inspired innovative ideas in photography in the 20th century. 

Arthur S. Mole "Human Liberty Bell" (1918) Camp Dix (sources claim anywhere from 12,500 soldiers to 27,000)

With the popularity of his photos, Mole and Thomas were commmissioned after the war to continue to use military personnel to create numerous photographs of symbols.  We often see this type of effort used in large stadiums in which people hold up cards to create a large scale image and it’s often quite impressive.  But, if you look at the detail on the images, Mole’s work is quite remarkable.  The eyeglasses on President Wilson are so clear and distinct it’s hard to believe that those eyeglasses are made up of people.  Now, aside from the popularity of the photos, the US government had an ulterior motive for commissioning the work of Mole and Thomas.  During the war, they were intended to help combat public support for isolationism.  After the war, they were used as a way to inspire a patriotic spirit and ward off the socialist movement that had been building since the early part of the 20th Century.    I’m not sure if how much these photos lived up to the political expectations but the imagery is certainly timeless.  In my mind, Mole must have had a keen imagination; not just for the entire concept but also how he had to have envisioned in his mind how a photograph would appear if he dressed certain people in a certain manner in a certain position.  He had no computers; it was all in his mind. 

Wonder Who Got to Be the Point of Uncle Sam's Beard?

There is no doubt that Mole and Thomas had tremendous creativity flowing through their brains to conceive of the project and then envision what it would look like before they started.  Beyond that, there was also a remarkable ability related to logistics.  It’s difficult to get thousands of people to stand in straight lines.  For this project, they had to get thousands of people to dress appropriately and then stand in a specific spot that was rarely in a logical place from an earthbound observer.  Only someone perched high above could see the rationale behind the placements.  It is difficult to ascertain just exactly how long each photograph took to create. 

US Marine Corps

Naturally, snapping the shutter wasn’t the issue but the time it took to get everyone in place.  Imagine if you were the first guy.  You might be standing in the same place for hours.  These photos were generally taken in the summer months so the participants had to be fed and watered and also allowed to find restroom facilities.  Everyone involved had to have great patience.  Perhaps the military was the only organization that would be able to pull such an effort off.  Their soldiers had discipline and had the sheer numbers necessary. 

There are so many photos available, that it is impossible to show each one individually.  So, I”ve added a bunch of thumbnails so that you can click on each one to see a better view of that image.  Curiously, it’s difficult to find much reliable biographical information on Arthur Mole.  Wikipedia is not really a realiable source but even that entry is relatively small.  Although Mole died in 1983, I suppose that its fitting that we don’t know much about the man because an artist tends to tell his story through his work. 

So, while there is not much text regarding Arthur Mole, the images he left behind will last forever.  One might say that his work is a living legacy to the United States, but then again, one might say that it’s a living legacy to a creative genius whose story must be quite interesting, yet, seems to take a backseat to his legacy of art.  I suppose he’d probably like it that way.

SPC Severe Outlook Saturday

Weather Bottom Line:   I fully expected Friday to be a warm and humid day.  As of this writing, it was exactly that.  However, in the middle of the day some strong storms popped up in the western part of the viewing area around Dubois county.  I wasn’t surprised by the scattered thunderstorms or that they could individually drop heavy rain and feature some strong winds.  What did surprise me was the time of the day.  What this indicates to me is that we obviosly have a very unstable environment and that there are little upper disturbances coming through flow.  These disturbances are so small that its difficult to pinpoint as to timing or location. 

SPC Severe Probability Outlook June 12 2010

One feature that does show up on both the 12Z GFS and NAM models is a fairly robust vormax that comes from the southwest almost right  over the top of Louisville on Saturday morning and that has actually been fairly consistent over the past model runs.  Given that the feature would come through in the early morning, my guess is that we get some heavy rain with gusty winds but that the liklihood of it being severe in nature is somewhat limited.  Having said that, it is possible.  I should think that if another little shortwave appears in the afternoon that there would be sufficient heating and enough time for the atmosphere to reload from any morning activity that we may have some potential for rough stuff Saturday afternoon.  I’m seeing on some models that another fairly significant disturbance shows up on Sunday morning but that goes into the “who knows” category given that it is so far out and that it is not a consistent feature on all of the models.  But, the front is not going to come through so we’ll stay warm and humid and if the boundary doesn’t lift far enough north, then Sunday may be active too.

NAM Calls for Over 1.5" of rain from 8P to 2AM Saturday Night

The GFS vertical profile derived parameters for the next few days advertises rain off and on through Monday.  There is a bunch of energy but it does not just go bananas on severe parameters.  However it does advertise the heaviest rain for Saturday evening and night.  The NAM has pretty high levels for Saturday morning but not much rain and then on Saturday afternoon and evening the severe parameters just go bonkers and it calls for well over an inch of rain Saturday night through midday Sunday.  The RUC was convinced that there would be strong stuff Friday afternoon, but that does not seem to be in the cards.  So, as you can see, its all over the place but its safe to say that at some time, we will probably be under the threat for thunderstorms; most likely Saturday morning and then Saturday evening with I would think the best chance for strong stuff late Saturday.  I would also keep in nmind that rain chances will be relatively healthy all  weekend.

Ben Franklin Flies Kite Into History, Though He Wasn’t The First June 10, 2010

Franklin Developed the Declaration of Independence with Adams and Jefferson

On This Date in History: Benjamin Franklin was remarkable.  He invented the pot-bellied stove that bears his name, bifocal glasses and a number of other items. He was a successful printer and, of course, statesman.  He was the first Postmaster General of America, contributed to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution as well as a diplomat throughout the American Revolution.  While he is considered a key member of America’s founding fathers, his scientific endeavors have left him with a legacy of one of the great experimental scientists of the 18th Century.  Franklin is  largely credited with proving that lightning was electrical in nature.   Now, he first proposed an experiment in which he would attach a long iron rod to a box and then place the box and rod atop a bell tower or something else tall. He then would have a man in the box holding on to the rod.  If the person thought it was too dangerous, then he could hold on to a wax handle attached to a wire that was attached to the rod.   Franklin never tried his experiment with the rod sticking 20 or 30 feet above his box.  But a few other people in Europe did.  Swedish physicist G. W. Richmann met an untimely death in Russia in 1753 trying the experiment out. 

Young Printer Ben

On this date in 1752, Franklin attempted his other great idea and that was with the kite.  Keep in mind, that some accounts have different dates.   He thought it was more practical than his previous proposition because it would extend higher in the sky and was a mobile experiment.  He could go to the storm instead of the storm coming to him.  He attached a key on the string and when the lightning hit the kite, he received a shock. See, electricity had already been discovered and lightning was hypothesized to be electrical based on observation but Franklin wanted to prove it.  Some claim that Ben had an early capacitor, a Leyden Jar, attached that stored the charge.  Either way, Franklin generally gets credit for proving that lightning was electrical and he lived to tell about it.  But….there was this French guy…Thomas-Francois D’Alibard… tried Franklin’s proposed experiment in May 1752 near Paris.  Apparently, Franklin had published an outline of the experiment that he proposed.  D’Alibard attempted the experiment before Franklin had an opportunity to do so and it worked.  The Frenchman lived to tell about it and he did so.  But,  no one seems to remember D’Alibard.  I can’t even find a picture or painting of D’Alibard.   Perhaps he didn’t shout it loud enough or maybe  it was due to the fact that  it was Franklin’s idea and Franklin’s published experiment.  In any event, Ben gets the credit.  In this account, the author says that Dr. Franklin never recorded the events of his kite flying experiment but instead apparently dictated the account to Joseph Priestley who published the story of the event 15 years after the experiment.  In this account, Priestley says that Franklin touched his knuckle to the key to confirm the presence of electricity.  Interestingly, Priestley also seems to confirm that, not only did the Frenchmen conduct the experiment a month before, but that Franklin was aware of the claim but not before he made his own experiment.   

Schematic of Franklin's Lightning Bells

 Franklin went on to invent the lightning rod to protect homes from the electricity he proved.  He also  coined the terms still in use today that are related to electricity:   battery, conductor, condenser, charge, discharge, uncharged, negative, minus, plus, electric shock, and electrician.   Dr. Franklin followed up his kite experiment with another device he called lightning bells.   In September 1752, he took an iron rod to draw electricity down to his house during a thunderstorm so he could conduct more experiments.  It was attached to bells and when the bells rung, then he knew it was electrified.  Much to his surprise, Franklin found that the bells would ring when there was no lightning or thunder present but instead just a dark cloud.  Other times the bells would stop ringing after he observed the flash of lightning. 

Why this French guy or Franklin wasn’t killed is more of a miracle than anything else. They had no idea that the temperature lightning can be as high as  50,000 degrees F and have millions of volts and tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of Amps.  It is has been speculated that, in cases in which people have been hit by a full stroke of lightning, they are vaporized.  My guess is that in both cases, the two of them captured but a small portion of the actual lightning strike and therefore only received a small shock.  Otherwise, Ben might not have made it on the $100 bill or been around to help found the nation.

Franklin's observer was his son, who was a full grown man at the time

If you look at the picture above….there is another person.  In many paintings, there is this unidentified person with Franklin.  I had heard years ago that really an African American slave held the key and was killed, which explains why Franklin didn’t die.  But, that seems very unlikely since Franklin was a Quaker and was against slavery wholeheartedly.  Instead, the other person portrayed is that of Franklin’ s son.  Ben didn’t  like to advertise his experiements because, when something went wrong, he would be subject to ridicule from the public.  So, the only person he told about his conducting the kite experiment was his son, who was in his early 20′s at the time.  In some paintings, the extra person is a young boy as some artists assumed that, if Franklin’s son was present, he must have been a young boy and not a full grown man.  There is another error in the painting.  Franklin was under a shed or some other awning for protection from the rain.  He wasn’t standing out in a thunderstorm.   

It Was Hector Heathcote!

 I like another explanation as to why Franklin wasn’t killed.  There was a cartoon with a guy named Hector Heathcote who always was involved in historical events. In one episode, Franklin was flying his kite and he handed it to Heathcote for a moment. At that moment, lightning struck and Heathcote was electricuted!  I say it was Hector Heathcote that discovered electricity!  Yes indeed.  American television cartoons uncovered the mystery and you heard it here first.  Perhaps Hector should be on the $100 bill.

SPC Severe Weather Outlook Saturday

Weather Bottom Line:  It’s going to be pretty warm on Thursday and early Friday, we have a warm front moving north.  What that will do is open us up to a southerly flow and an increase in moisture.  So, with temperatures pushing toward 90 and increased instability brought about with higher moisture, we could see some afternoon thunderstorms on a scattered basis.  Saturday, we have a cold front coming down into the moisture  rich environment.  In addition to the lifting feature of this front, there will no doubt be some waves of energy wandering along the front.  Hence, Saturday there will be the prospects of some strong storms in the area.   At one time, the front was progged to come through and cool things off but now, it would seem unlikely as the long wave flow is such that the boundary will most likely simply stay to our north and slip by to the east.  With that scenario, we will continue dancing with 90 for the foreseeable future.

Immigration To US Has Been Controversial for over 150 Years June 8, 2010

1899 Cartoon: Immigrant-"Can I come in?" Uncle Sam- "I 'spose you can; there's no law to keep you out."

Big Daddy Grover?

On This Date in History:  Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve two non-consecutively terms as President of the United States. So, it is quite common for him to be  listed as the 22nd and 24th President.  In his first campaign, there was much mud-slinging between he and Republican James G. Blaine.  The accusations against Blaine were pretty pedestrian.   They claimed that he took bribes.  Cleveland was accused of fathering a child with a woman to whom he was not married!   In a world in which we are used to politicians making denials to claims against them, Cleveland took a novel approach.   Guilty as charged.  He acknowledged the legitimacy to the question and said that the child was indeed his.  The American people seemed to shrug their shoulders and Cleveland was promptly elected.  Goes to show, all you need to do is tell the truth!   It’s amazing how difficult it is for some politicians to try such a simple and winning formula. Interestingly, the mother named the baby boy, Oscar Folsom Cleveland.

Grover's Bride Was His Best Friends Daughter

Now, Cleveland was an attorney by trade and he had a partner in practice by the name of Oscar Folsom, which raises the question as to why the mother used both the law partner’s names.  Anyway,  Folsom died in 1873 following an unfortunate carriage accident and left his old friend Grover to manage the estate.  And manage he did!  No, he didn’t marry his good friend’s wife…he married his daughter.  Frances Clara Folsom was but 9 years old when her father died but Cleveland made sure that she and her mother’s finances were in order.  After Frances Clara  graduated from Wells College, he proposed marriage.   Frances was not one to make a rush decision so she took a trip to Europe to clear her mind.  When she returned, no doubt some thought she had lost her mind because the on June 2,  1886, President Grover Cleveland became the first president to be married in the White House to Frances, who was 27 years his junior.  I wonder if when she was growing up she called him “Uncle Grover.” 

Doubtful that the Baby Ruth Bar Was Named For Cleveland's Daughter Ruth

They had several children, one of which was Ruth.  The official story by the maker of the “Baby Ruth” candy bar was that it was named after the President’s daughter.  Somehow, a judge sided with the company in a lawsuit it brought against the makers of the “Babe Ruth Home Run Bar” saying the competitor’s name too closely resembled “Baby Ruth.”  Trouble is, Ruth Cleveland died in 1904, the candy company wasn’t in existance until 1916 and the “Baby Ruth” bar wasn’t born until 1921…or about the time that a certain George Herman Ruth was beginning to make a name for himself.  But, the makers stuck to the story  and, to this day as far as I know, the estate of Babe Ruth has not gotten a dime from the makers of the bar.

Big Daddy Grover-Investigated Anyone in Gov't Who Was Not Born in the US...How Would That Fly Today?

So, let’s jump ahead almost to the Cleveland’s 10th wedding annivesary.  President Cleveland was in his second term as President and was the defacto head of a Democrat Party.  Now, at this time there were no real laws to limit or control immigration.  Yet, anti-immigrant sentiment had run high in the nation throughout the 19th century.  In Antebellum America there was even a political party called the American Party that had some cloudt and became known as the “Know Nothings” with a platform that took an exceptional view of Americans born in the country and opposed any “non-native” Americans.  Well, by the late 19th Century, the Democrat Party had taken the lead in anti-immigrant sentiments.  Hence, as head of that party,  on this date in 1896 Cleveland ordered his cabinet secretaries to determine exactly how many foreigners worked in the federal government.  Much like illegal immigrants today, late 19th Century immigrants from Europe were blamed for rising crime rates. Cleveland held these “aliens” responsible for bringing with them ideas like socialism and communism. Once he found out the identities of the culprits, he had them investigated for potential subversive behaviour.   Cleveland maintained that it was his duty and the right of the government to “prevent the influx of elements hostile to its internal peace and security…even where there is not treaty stipulation on the subject.” I’m just not sure how far back Cleveland took this. I mean, ultimately, everyone except for the Native Americans were immigrants at one point or another. If the investigators took it to the limit, then they’d have to investigate everyone in the government including the other investigators and the President himself!!

We are a Nation of Laws

Today, we often hear of protestors who claim that governmental is unconstitutional or over-reaching.   Many times, those bringing the charges are simply not well versed in Constitutional Law but, some times, the charges may hold merit.  Either way,  it would be wrong to assume it had never happened in American history.   And it would be wrong to assume that the country would necessarily fall to pieces if the supposed un-Constitutional behavior of the government came about.  Eventually, we seem to get things right.   The pendulum of power has always swayed too and fro and as long as there are counterbalances amongst the people, the branches of government and the judicial system then things tend to work out in the end.  The key to this democracy, in my view, is to maintain the balance of power between states, Congress, the executive and judiciary and to make certain that each part of government is by and for the people, not by and for those who would make themselves king or the would-be king makers.

SPC Severe Outlook Tuesday...I wouldn't worry about it.

Weather Bottom Line:  Snow White and I had planned to take our niece, McKenna, to visit the animals at Henry’s Ark today.  My sister-in-law informed us “it’s supposed to rain” on Tuesday.  I told her nonsense.  But, it’s an example of how people perceive forecasts.  I told you yesterday that I had seen forecasts of 50% chance of rain for Tuesday and 50% on Wednesday and then it changed to 40% on Tuesday and 60% on Wednesday.  Either way, when someone sees 40% then most people assume its going to rain.  The truth is, it has been my experience that the majority of people on TV don’t even know what the rain chance means.  They will usually say that a 40% chance of rain means that there will be “a 40% coverage of rain.”  That would be wrong.  Officially what it means is that at the forecast site, in this case the airport, given the forecast conditions that there would be measurable rain in that rain gauge 40 out of 100 days of similar weather conditions.  It has nothing to do with coverage nor with rain amounts.  In order for it be to an issue of coverage, uou would have to have a rain gauge about every 100 feet in the area because one must be able to verify an hypothesis.  Now, the last station I worked for was quite reasonable because no one lives at the airport.  So, we modified the meaning to say that at any given point in our viewing area we were forecasting that there would be rain 40 out of 100 days. 

SPC Severe Outlook Wednesday

When I forecast, I always took the public perception into account.  I personally did not think it would rain on Tuesday but had noted that a couple of models wanted to throw out a few sprinkles.  I  figured that the best chance for rain would be after midnight and on Wednesday.  So, I would have put a 20% or 30% chance of rain on Tuesday because when people see that, they think that it won’t rain and I didn’t much think that it would but would have allowed for perhaps an outside possibility.  By elevating the rain chances to say 70% for late Tuesday night and Wednesday, that would indicate to people when the best chance for rain was and also play to the perception that 70% means to most people that it will indeed rain. 

SPC Wednesday Severe Probability

All of this is holding true.  Our air is just so doggone dry that I don’t see how the storms from the west will be able to hold together and by the time they get here, it will be after dark.   On Wednesday, the storms will get going again but the best chance for them to really get rambunctious would be to our east when they are  moving through  the heating of the day.  My guess is that we get rain in the first part of Wednesday and those storms become stronger as they head toward Lexington.  However, should the initiation take place just to our west on say an outflow boundary left over from the Tuesday storms, then there would be the potential for some strong storms on Wednesday.   So, I would say that its possible but  not probable for strong storms in our region but that at least some shower or even thundershower activity will be in the region.  After that, it gets hot heading into next weekend when it would appear that there may be another opportunity for strong storms.

Skid Road to Skid Row: Seattle Pays Its Namesake For His Trouble June 7, 2010

Skid Road Seattle

Skid Road Near Utsalady

On This Date in History:  In the early 1850′s, white settlers set up logging operations in what is now Seattle.  The settlement was mainly made up of men which prompted Asa Mercer to set up a scheme to import women to the region.  About 140 years later that effort was made famous in a television adaptation called Here Comes the Brides.   Now, what the area lacked in women it made up in timber.  The area was teeming with trees but they needed a way to easily get the felled trees to the sawmill set up in the town.   They used to skid logs down a chute on the main street to get them to the sawmill. The road came to be known as “skid road”.    Later, as the town’s main center moved north, the road was left in a dilapidated part of town filled with drunkards and derelicts. The part of town went from being known as “skid road” to “skid row” and today the term “skid row” has made its way into the American lexicon for the dilapidated area of any town in the country.

Skid Road Near Snoqualmie

By the end of the Civil War, business was blowing and going in the Pacific Northwest as westward expansion was back on the minds of Americans (it never really abated much) and there was the issue of reconstructing all of the destruction brought on by the Civil War.  So, Seattle was a growing, bustling town and skid road was no doubt a busy  timber thoroughfare. Amidst all of this,  On This Date in 1866, an Indian Chief died. He was a chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes having gained the leadership of both tribes by having a Suquamish father and a Duwamish mother. He was born in the late 18th century and by the 1850′s,  when white settlers from America started setting up villages, the chief welcomed the strangers.   Inn homage to his kindness, the settlers named the village they set up on Puget Sound for him. They called it Seattle. Chief Seattle  (aka Sealth) was a pretty smart guy as, even though he thought the whites would eventually eradicate his people, he figured that fighting them would only hasten their demise. A couple of other tribes disagreed and started a war, only to surmise that Seattle was probably right all along and they too put down their weapons and made the best of the situation as they could.

Chief Seattle An Unlikely Benefactor For the Pacific Northwest

However, Chief Seattle had a little problem. In the Indian tradition, the mention of a dead man’s name would disturb his eternal rest and with a town bearing his name, the Chief would be quite restless in eternity. Well, the settlers couldn’t possibly change the name of their town. So, instead, they came up with a truly American solution.  For the discomfort of his having to live eternity in a restless state they thought that they would pay him to make his final years on earth a little more settled.  Americans from the beginning of the nation have been repulsed by the idea of taxation when they felt it was subjected on them by outside forces.  But this was different because the citizenry levied a tax on themselves to raise money for a little fund that they paid to Chief Seattle before he died as a payoff for the trouble he would be in when he passed from this world. On June 7, 1866 Chief Seattle died and by not living longer, Seattle gave one more gift to the people of the town that bore his name:  he saved the taxpayers of Seattle money.

SPC Severe Outlook Tuesday

Weather Bottom Line:  I have to say that in a quick analysis of the maps and other data, I was fully prepared to say that we have a decent risk of severe weather on Wednesday.  We have a low coming through the flow that will be just to our North and closer than the last one that moved west to east along the lower Great Lakes and brought a bunch of nasty weather from Northern Illinois through Northern Ohio over the weekend.  It seemed a reasonable assumption.  But, closer examination gives me some pause.

SPC Severe Outlook Wednesday

First off, I’ve seen several forecasts that have Tuesday with either an equal or even higher rain chance than Wednesday.  The boys at the SPC have our area on the eastern edge of the area of slight risk for severe weather on Tuesday.  Then, we’re on the western periphery of a smaller area for the Wednesday slight risk.  From observing the maps, I was not certain exactly why they would be so agressive on the Tuesday outline.  The only thing that I could figure was that they were looking at perhaps storms to the west holding together sufficiently to make it to our area before midnight.  I’m not so sure  I buy this.  We’ve got pretty dry air over us and I”m not so sure that the atmospheric column will destablize enough by late Tuesday to support any such storms.  The GFS does throw out a few showers on Tuesday afternoon but the NAM keeps us dry.

SPC Wed Severe Weather Probability

I had anticipated that severe parameters derived from forecast vertical profiles would reveal a healthy severe chance for Wednesday when the low actually comes close, we would have an extra day to reload the atmosphere with warm and more humid air and with some afternoon heating.  But, alas, neither the vertical profiles of the NAM or the GFS are very exciting for Wednesday either.  I am speculating that is the reason why the severe area for Wednesday is mainly to our east and also relatively small in areal coverage.  When the best dynamics swing through here, they come after midnight Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning.  When the afternoon heating kicks in, those areas of greatest instability and dyanmic forcing is to our east.  This is all just a bunch of machines talking.  What I would expect would be increasing clouds and humidity on Tuesday and it will be mainly dry with perhaps some scattered stuff late Tuesday.  I will suppose that the SPC has a handle on this but will keep in mind that the low will not move quite as fast, thus providing a more elevated risk for rain and t’storms on Wednesday though I have only marginal data to support any real significant severe weather in our area.  In essence, for me I’m not so sure that Wednesday will be so sedate but would not anticipate wide spread death and destruction.  Things will be more clear on Tuesday.  We get much warmer by next weekend.

Elvis Presley’s 1st National TV Appearance Huge, Not On Sullivan June 5, 2010

Elvis Began His Road to Coronation As King of Rock and Roll on the Milton Berle Show June 5 1956

On June 5, 1956 A National TV Audience Got the Full Elvis on the Milton Berle Show

On this Date in History:  I would wager that if someone asked you which TV show was Elvis Presley’s first television appearance, you would answer the Ed Sullivan Show.  That would be wrong.  His first TV appearance was on January 28, 1956 on the little remembered, Stage Show, co-hosted by Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey.  He appeared on the next 3 episodes and a total of 6 appearances.  I’m not sure if the show lasted much longer than that but the press really didn’t pay much attention.  His first national TV appearance was on April 3, 1956 on the Milton Berle Show.   Berle remembered that there were many stars on that night including Hugh Jarrett, Esther Williams, Buddy Rich and Harry James.  Milton Berle also mentioned Buddy Hackett but the rundown of those who appeared does not list Hackett.  In any event, Elvis was an unknown young performer.  Elvis’s agent, Colonel Parker (see book about Parker and Presley) had called Berle and asked him to give Elvis an audition.  Berle did and was impressed enough to book Elvis on the show.  Elvis performed “Shake Rattle and Roll,” “Heartbreak Hotel” and “Blue Suede Shoes.”  Of the three, Elvis wrote “Heartbreak Hotel.”

Steve Allen Came Up With a Creative Way in Which to Control Presley When He Sang "Hound Dog"

The story gets a little cloudy here because in an interview of Berle, he seems to mix two appearances into one.  Apparently, Elvis was gaining in popularity but the press still generally ignored him.  You see, it was the second appearance of Elvis on the Milton Berle Show on this date in 1956 that launched him into immortal superstardom.  On that show, Elvis performed “Hound Dog.”   For some reason, the press decided to pay attention this time.  Perhaps Elvis had not shown much style in his first appearance but I suppose he was feeling more confident the second time around because he showed off his moves.  He gyrated and shook and the kids went wild, the parents were aghast and the censors were frantic.  The New York Journal-American wrote that the young man’s “primitive physical movement difficult to describe in terms suitable to a family newspaper.”  The San Francisco Chronicle called the performance “In appalling taste.”  The New York  Daily News said that Elvis “gave an exhibition that was suggestive and vulgar, tinged with the kind of animalism that should be confined to dives and bordellos.”  Berle said that 4 days after the show he received 400,000 “pan” letters.  Not “fan mail” but “pan mail.”  People wrote to Berle and said that they would never watch his show again after he showed that disgusting young man.  Berle said that he called Colonel Parker to inform him that he had a star on his hands.  Berle recognized that if that many people took the time to write letters then he had to be on the minds of just about everyone.  All publicity is good publicity.

Sullivan Initially Said No To Elvis

Now, Ed Sullivan had vowed to never book Elvis on his show due to all of his controversial wiggling.   But, there were more shows besides Sullivan.  Three days prior to his groundbreaking second appearance on Milton Berle, Elvis showed up on Your Hit Parade and went on the show again on June 9, 1956.  The first of July found Elvis on the Steve Allen Show where he wore a tuxedo as he performed “Hound Dog” singing to a sad looking basset hound.  Allen had considered pulling him from the show after the backlash of the Berle appearance.  Instead, he took a comic approach and put Elvis in the tuxedo with the dog in an effort to control him.  Elvis went along with it.   An appearance with Jack Benny followed that.  Sullivan had turned down an offer to pay $5000 to put Elvis on his show but after Allen with Elvis destroyed Sullivan without Elvis in the ratings, old Ed promptly changed his mind.  The show was called originally called “Toast of the Town” and the guest host on September 9, 1956 was Charles Laughton of Captain Bligh fame from Mutiny on the Bounty.  Also on the show was the same Hugh Jarrett who was booked on the Milton Berle show on which Elvis made his national debut.   Sullivan wasn’t in the New York theatre as he was recovering from injuries suffered in an automobile accident so Laughton filled in.  Elvis wasn’t in the theatre either.  He was in Hollywood shooting his first movie.  So, Laughton tossed to the guest by saying “away to Hollywood to meet Elvis Presley.”  Elvis performed from a studio there.  Sullivan was happy because his show that night got boffo ratings and he must have also been relieved.  His delay resulted in Sullivan signing Elvis for 3 appearances for $50,000 which was an unheard of some in those days. 

I Think Charles Laughton in 1935 Made a Better Bligh Than the Real Bligh

By not having Elvis on sooner, Sullivan may have helped himself even though he cost himself money.  Other shows built his popularity so, by the time he made it to the biggest show on TV, the Sullivan Show, people watched in record numbers.  Myths get spread so much that often that the myth becomes the truth.  As previously mentioned, many people probably remember the Sullivan appearance as Elvis’s national TV debut.  They also probably recall that the censors on Sullivan’s show required that all shots of his performances would be from the waste up.    Well, on that first Sullivan appearance, his first song was “Don’t be Cruel” and the cameras did in fact stay from the waste up, showing The King in a very loud plaid jacket.  But the jacket was not the only thing that screamed out.  Women in the audience were screaming at something Elvis did beyond the camera range.  He then performed “Love Me Tender” which was his new song associated with his first movie of the same title.  But, the cameras gave the television audience the full Elvis for his second segment.  They showed his feet, his hips, his legs…everything wildly moving about as he performed the Little Richard song “Ready Teddy” and a couple of verses of “Hound Dog.”  So, Elvis was not really censored by Ed Sullivan. 

Plenty of Ladies Got to See Elvis Wiggle on the Sullivan Show

The myth was created by the press who noted that tight shots were used whenever he started to dance.  Perhaps it was censorship but more likely it was a director taking different camera shots.  The audience saw plenty of Elvis in action and they certainly heard the women in the audience sqeal every time Elvis grunted, crossed his eyes, moved his tongue or even just stood perfectly still.  Laughton concluded the show by saying, ”Well, what did someone say? Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast?”  On that night, Ed Sullivan’s show was seen by  82.6% of the total television audience in America.  Steve Allen didn’t even try as NBC pre-empted his show with a movie. 

It may have been Parker (left) and Not Sullivan who had the cameras show Elvis from Waist Up for just one song but the public got the "Full Elvis" on other segments. Myth Busted

Now, the last time that Elvis appeared on Sullivan’s show (by that time it was called the Ed Sullivan Show) was on January 6, 1957 and the TV camera’s did indeed only show him from the waste up as he sang the Gospel song,  ”Peace in the Valley.”  Given that these close ups were for a non-rock and roll tune, many historians believe it was Parker’s idea to limit the camera shots as a way of creating publicity and not an order from Sullivan.   Elvis never performed for Sullivan again but it wasn’t because Ed was upset; he was a tightwad.  Colonel Parker had raised the fee for his star to perform on TV to $300,000 with a stipulation that the network had to agree to put him on two additional guest spots as well as a one hour special.  Parker credited the Sullivan appearances as the key to the success of the single and the movie “Love Me Tender.”  And many music and tv historians say that it was the 3 Sullivan appearances by Elvis to gain support from the parents of the kids who already loved  the king as Sullivan somehow bridged a generation gap.  Obviously, Elvis’s movements were tame by today’s standards, or lack thereof, but it was his breakthrough in his performing style that continues to influence rock stars today.

SPC Severe Outlook Saturday June 5, 2010

Weather Bottom Line:  A pretty strong cold front is sagging down from the North.  It will eventually get here but during the afternoon and early evening heating hours the focus of the attention will generally be to our North.  The SPC has put an area from near Gary, IN to Seymour IN in a moderate risk for severe thunderstorms with a 10% risk of tornadoes, a 30% chance for hail and 45% chance of high winds.  The reason for this is that there will be a little jet streak running across the region as the front sags through.  By the time the front gets to Louisville,it will be night and the heating of the day will be on the wane and the jet streak will have moved through.  However, there will be sufficient latent heat to support thunderstorms with the frontal passage.  While the slight risk of the severe weather threat is officially to the North of Louisville, do not be surprised to see some strong storms in our area on a isolated basis. 

Once the front moves through, we will get relief from the heat and humidity with highs on Sunday and Monday in the low 80′s to upper 70′s.  It will warm back up by the middle to late part of next week.  Depending on how pokey this front is, it is possible on Sunday to have some isolated, mainly elevated afternoon storms in the afternoon.