When A President Secretly Had Part of His Jaw Removed July 1, 2010

Who Dares Do Battle with Grover?

On This date in History:  President Grover Cleveland was an interesting fellow.  He is the only person in history to have been elected president and serve two non-consecutive terms.  He is also the second heaviest president in history.  During one of his presidential campaigns, Cleveland was charged with having fathered a child out of wedlock.   While he wasn’t certain if the child was his, he took what was  perceived as the honest approach, acknowledged his paternal responsibility and was rewarded by being elected.  It makes one wonder what would happen if today’s candidates for office accepted the charges against them and continued their campaigns instead of denying charges or dropping out of the campaign.   His real first name was Stephen but discontinued its use   in a “search for something more sonorous and distinctive.”  As sheriff of Erie County, NY Grover Cleveland had Susan B. Anthony arrested for voting.   He was the first Democrat to be elected after the Civil War and served as both the 22nd and 24th president, having been defeated in between by Benjamin Harrison.  Curiously though, when he was considering a run to recapture the White House in 1892, he wrote: “Why should I have any desire or purpose to return to the Presidency? I do not want the office. It involves a responsibility beyond human strength to a man who brings conscience to the discharge of his duties.”  I suppose he must have answered his own question because he did run and did win.  During his second term, Cleveland attempted to root out any immigrants serving in the government. 

Cleveland Often Portrayed as Rotund

Throughout his life, Grover Cleveland battled against a number of challenges.  He had always been considered a chubby child so it must have been difficult when at age 18 he was treated for typhoid with starvation and bed rest.  He did recover from his near-death experience but he must have quickly returned to the dinner table because by the time he was in his 30′s his nieces and nephews called him “Uncle Jumbo.”   He apparently loved beer and developed a large “beer belly” to supplement his natural rotundness.  When he was a candidate for the position of District Attorney of Erie County, NY he was friends with his opponent.  They would meet each day to chat over beer.   They limited themselves to 4 glasses but it got pretty hot that summer so they decided to “anticipate” their future supply.  After a few days, his friend and opponent Lyman K. Bass said, “Grover, do you know we have anticipated the whole campaign?”  Dejectedly, Cleveland agreed.  So, the next night they remedied the problem for good when they each brought large tankards into the saloon, said that they were glasses and then presumably resumed the 4 glass limit.

"Uncle Jumbo" Can Be Found on the $1000 bill

In relation to the issue of his health, President Grover Cleveland pulled off one of the biggest cover-ups in Presidential History. The cigar chomping President was found to have cancer of the jaw in June 1893.   So, he created a cover story that he was going on a summer vacation at his summer home.   But really, he was on board his friend’s yacht, the Oneida, anchored in the East River in New York.  On this date in 1893, the 24th President of the United States had  part of his jaw removed and almost no one knew about it.   So secret was the surgery, not even his pregnant wife was told.  This was the woman whom he had agreed to care for as a child when his friend died.  After little Frances came of age, Cleveland married her!   I wondered in a previous post if his wife called him “Uncle Grover” but now I wonder if she called her husband “Uncle Jumbo.” Anyway, members of the cabinet and even the Vice-President were not told of the risky surgery. The public did not know that their President had been treated for cancer until 1917…Nine years following his death. Not only could Grover woo the little girl whom he was charged with caring for by his dead friend, he also knew how to keep a secret.  It seems to me that the foibles of Grover Cleveland make today’s politicians look tame in comparison.

Real Issue with Alex will be Inland Flooding

Weather Bottom Line:  It looks like I missed the landfall of Hurricane Alex by 10 miles.  Well, truth in advertising, I had surmised 5 days before landfall that it would get to Tampico and my revised notion was just 24 hours before landfall.  Anyway, it wasn’t too exciting though it did blossom late into a very impressive hurricane and I bet if it had lasted over water another 24 hours then it probably would have pushed 150 mph given its pressure at landfall of about 947 mb.  Anway, my point yesterday was that it was going to hit a very sparsely populated area and thus not be much of an effect.  However, it did provide a glimpse of what a tropical cyclone might do to the oil spill. I had thought that it would spread the oil around as we keep on hearing trumpted in the media.  But it also did what I thought was possible which is break up the oil…kinda nature’s dispersent.  I’m sure there will probably be at least another tropical cyclone of some intensity this season and they aren’t going to stop the oil flow anytime soon, so we’ll see what happens.

High to East By Saturday AM Will Bring Back Heat and Humidity

Alex got driven westward in the end as a big fat high settled down from the plains.  That high also brought us the nice break from the heat and humidity.   But, as the high drifts to our east, we will get on the backside and just as quickly as we got the drier cooler air in our area, it will draw back up the heat and humidity from the South.  So, enjoy the end of this week because this weekend will be a return to 90′s and dewpoints in the 70′s.

1st Female Pres. Candidate Victoria Woodhull Advocated “Free Love” May 10, 2010

Victoria Woodhull's Legacy?

On This Date In History: This obviously wasn’t Mother’s Day because it wasn’t officially established until 1914. But, this woman was seen by many as the antithesis of motherhood. On this date in 1872 Victoria Woodhull began her campaign for President. Her running mate was abolitionist, former slave and intellectual Frederick Douglass.    At that time, women weren’t even allowed to vote yet, she was running for president. Her platform was as a “free-thinking reformer” and supported free love, abortion, divorce, legalized prostitution and, of course, the women’s right to vote. One of the photos above is a portrait while the other is a cartoon showing her as the Devil. As part of her campaign, she sent out an article congratulating preacher Henry Ward Beecher for having an affair with a married woman in his congregation. But, she chastised him for not advocating the free love that she said he obviously practiced. On election day, she was in jail. The charge was for sending obscene material through the mail in violation of the Comstock Act. The offensive material was the Beecher article. Reports of her personal practices of free love did not help her at the polls. An opponent of hers didn’t learn from her mistake.

Woodhull Covorting With Satan!

Also on the ballot was George Francis Train who ran for President as the self proclaimed “Champion Crank of America.”   He was a millionaire with nothing else to do except to try and break speed records and advocate what he saw as struggles for freedom. Jules Verne is said to have based his novel Around the World In 80 Days on a trip that Train once took. But, Train didn’t count the days he spent in prison in France against his 80 days. He got involved in an attempted revolution and barely escaped a firing squad before he continued his global journey. He later beat his own record by going around the world in 67 1/2 days. No word on if he cheated on that one too.   Neither he nor Woodhull were elected President. In fact, I bet you won’t find them on any 1872 election tally boards.

George Francis Train

But, Train had a penchant for making money because his campaign proved to be a money making venture for him. He charged money for people to hear his speeches and he spoke over 1000 times to more than 2,000,000 people. He may have been the only presidential candidate to make a profit in the venture.  When Woodhull got in trouble, he tried to help her cause by publishing a collection of biblical quotations that he said were much more obscene than anything Woodhull had written.  They slapped the old bracelets on him too and he was whisked off to jail.

Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin drive the bulls and bears on Wall Street, Evening Telegram, February 18, 1870

Here’s a funny thing about this story. The Equal Rights party platform  was generally that of Ms. Woodhull.  If you care to search you can find numerous links that unravel the whole thing, but rest assured,   it was quite scandalous in 1872.  While it did not specify abortion and divorce, I suppose that Ms. Woodhull extracted that from the calls for protection of women from abuses of men and other forms of what they called equality.  This document supports the contention and inference of the concept of “free love,” divorce and abortion rights.  (note how it says “Children come into this world undesired and unprovided for…”)  It is interesting that they were vehemently against the death penalty but favored abortion.  Anyway, the specifics outlined regarding the platform talk about taxing the rich, a graduated tax, term limits for the President, Vice-President and Senators and the issuing of paper currency.  They also were against any land grants to railroads and thought that disagreements among nations should be settled by a “congress of nations” instead of armed conflict.   

Woodhull for President!

Today, we have a currency backed by the “full faith and credit of the United States,”  the United Nations and a graduated tax scale.  There are increasing calls to tax the rich and movements to try and limit governmental aid to corporations.  Divorce is certainly a part of society and prostitution is legal in parts of Nevada.  The US Supreme Court issued its famous (or infamous) Roe V Wade decision in 1973.  The platform actually went further as it wished to have government regulation of labor and also referred to children and the poor to be seen as “wards of the state” with the government taking responsibility for their care and eduction.  I bet that if you told someone in 1872 that many of the calls of Victoria Woodhull would be legal and/or accepted in 2010, they’d probably fall over. Then again, they’d probably also collapse if you told them that man had walked on the moon, cured any number of diseases and that baseball players were making millions of dollars a year.  I’ve heard a saying that illustrates an aspect of human nature: The people of Venice did nothing about the flooding problem until sewage was coming in their homes.  Perhaps the roots of the Tea Party movement were set long ago.

By the way….US Grant won re-election in the 1872 presidential race.

(Edit: You will find a somewhat militant sounding response below from someone who claims absolutely that it is false that Ms. Woodhull was in favor of abortion.  My source said otherwise without explanation.  The commenter left several quotes from Ms. Woodhull that seems to support the view.  I have examined the quotations and it does appear that Ms. Woodhull believed that abortion was murder.  However, the commenter has left out some key quotes.  For instance from Woodhull’s and Claffin’s Weekly (September 23, 1871: “ Abortion is only a symptom of a more deep-seated disorder of the social state. It cannot be put down by law.”  Also, from the same edition:  “Who proposes to disturb Madame Restel [underground abortion practitioner]? Who really wants that there should be no opportunity to secure an abortion under peculiarly trying circumstances?”  The stance seems a bit at odds with her “abortion is murder” contention.  But, from my analysis, Ms. Woodhull makes the argument that she wished to eradicate the situation caused women to want to have an abortion.  She blaimed the male dominated societal atmosphere.  In the same Sept. 23, 1871 article she concluded that, “Nearly every child born is an unwelcome guest. Abortion is the choice of evils for such women.”  She seemed to be saying the pregnancy was more often than not forced on women and therefore it was unpleasant and left them with a very difficult ordeal.  So, while the commenter is correct that she thought abortion was murder, it does not appear that she wished to make it illegal.  I attempted to contact the commenter by email but the person declined to reply.  She made some comment that the statement of her support for abortion was “utterly false” and then added a link to “someone who has actually done their homework.”  It is feministforlife.org.  When researching history, it is important to note exactly who is doing the research as they may have an agenda.  Often, when one has a point of view that they wish to push on any given subject, they may play up some positions and low key others to such an extent that they omit anything that may detract from the thesis.  I went to the primary source and I believe that my secondary source was justified in the position that Woodhull was in favor of abortion in the sense that she did not want to criminalize it.  There is no getting around the fact though, that on a number of occasions, she did equate it to murder.  BTW…the commentor also failed to point out that Ms. Woodhull’s publication was the first in the US to publish Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto in 1872.  My guess is that little fact may sway a reader’s sympathies, eh?   Nor  was it pointed out that Woodhull later married a rich UK Banker, John B. Martin, after which she apparently disavowed her previous position on free love, though I’m not sure if that included an alteration of her abortion view.    See…the truth is not always the whole truth. If you want more details, you need to secure a complete historiography; not just this blog, websites or single sources. 

SPC Severe Risk Tuesday AM to Wednesday AM

SPC Severe Probability Tuesday AM to Wed. AM

Weather Bottom Line:  This week will prove quite a challenge.  First off there will a warm front coming back through our area.  The NAM wants to bring some showers around here by midnight and then cuts it off by day break but then reintroduces showers late morning.  The RUC has rain from midnight to 5AM but the data ends there.  The GFS brings rain by about 3 AM and then carries it through the morning.  None of of the models advertises a rain total of much significance.  Now, I don’t see that the NAM severe parameters really going bananas while it calls for rain late Tuesday into Wednesday but the energy fields do rise markedly, which makes sense because the warm front comes through.  Early Wednesday morning, the dynamic fields start getting into the interesting territory.  Now, the GFS is similiar except that it has rain along with the rising dyanmic parameters late Tuesday into early Wednesday.  After that, the models both bring rain at varying times.

Tuesday Evening

The issue down the line will be periodic bits of energy being tossed out through the flow throughout the week.  That is what is prompting week-long forecasts having a chance of rain every day.  The truth is, no one can really time the impulses nor the exact route; so put in a chance of rain to CYA.  It is probable for rain as the warm front comes through on Tuesday.  The SPC has varying reasons for concern regarding strong storms on Tuesday so they put in a slight risk for our area but it doesn’t really have anything to hang your hat on conclusively except that a cold front is approachin.  The SPC does not mention late night Tuesday night but the GFS data supports that possibility as the cold front approaches, perhaps a shade behind the NAM. Either way, the slight risk area goes from Tuesday morning to Wednesday morning so the GFS solution is still covered.  If the cold front does come through, it won’t be for long as it will retreat rapidly back to the north in advance of another system coming through the flow.

Bottom line is that we get warmer and more humid by Tuesday afternoon through Friday at least with rain chances popping up now and then.  We’ll have to see how the severe potential actually shakes out.

Yugo, Dan Quayle Went the Way of the Roosevelt Simplified Spelling Guidelines August 26, 2009

Danny is looking for an "e"

On This Date In History: On this date in 1906, President Teddy Roosevelt made his final plans for his effort to be Vice-President Dan Quayle about 90 years before there was a Vice-President Dan Quayle. If you recall, on June 15, 1992 then Vice-President Dan Quayle went to an elementary school in Trenton, New Jersey. He decided to help a kid with his spelling and added an “e” to the end of the word, potato. That was effectively the end of Quayle’s political career and was no help in President Bush’s re-election bid. Well, Theodore Roosevelt got almost as much of a backlash, but managed to hold his seat in the White House.

In the early 20th Century, Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie funded an organization that crusaded for a more simplified spelling system. They advocated dismissing the “u” in behaviour and honour. To that end, they were successful, unless you live in Europe. They failed in their effort to convert “kissed” to “kist” and “though” to “tho”. There are many examples of success and failure but the point is, Teddy liked the concept. So, he ordered the public printer to change the spelling of 300 words to adhere to the code of the Simplified Spelling Board guidelines.

The response was swift, broad and wicked. One columnist wrote that “nuthing escapes Mr. Rucevelt. No subject is tu hi fr him to takl, no tu lo for him tu notis.” Congress wasn’t too certain that presidential powers extended to the spelling book and ordered the printer to pay no attention to the man with the big stick in the bully pulpit. So great was the public response, Mr. Roosevelt withdrew the order but later wrote that he glad “did the thing anyhow.”

Make sure you learn to spell properly. Dan Quayle never won another election and neither did Theodore Roosevelt.

Here is a list of all of the changes that President Roosevelt wanted to change…

WALL STREET JOURNAL-Rozevult’s List

 

Could the Yugo beat Herbie the Love Bug?

 

You GO!  Remember the Yugo?  It was a small, inexpensive car from Yugoslavia that went on the market in the USA on this date in 1985.  There were just 90 Yugo dealerships in America and the minute the automobile’s availability was announced, people had come in droves to put down a deposit on the $3990 car before they even saw it.   It was thousands less than any other car offered in America and by the time 1500 had arrived from Yugoslavia, there were orders for over 6500 waiting.  Though sales weren’t as high as expected for inaugural year, second year sales rose. 

Now, the Yugo was small but had lots of standard features.   Standard equipment included fabric upholstery, full carpeting, reclining front seats, folding rear seat, rear window wiper/washer, opening rear quarter windows, rear window electric defroster, low fuel warning light, cigarette lighter, locking gas cap, and a full size spare tire. There were few options such as air conditioning, stereos, floor mats, wheel covers, and roof racks.  I can tell you two things that shouldn’t be an option in the United States is air-conditioning and a stereo.

Check Out the Monster Yugo!

But, that wasn’t the only problem.  Seems that owners complained of mechanical problems including premature engine failure, bad brakes, poor shifter and transmission, and faulty electrical systems, and terrible dealer service.   Then there was the safety issue.  The insurance industry faulted the cars crash worthiness.  That last one is kinda stupid to me because anyone buying such a tiny cars are not buying it for safety.  Well, things didnt go so well and in 1989, they stopped importing Yugos to the US and Yugo America went bankrupt. But, it came back for a last hurrah in 1990 when new models came to US shores, but they didn’t last with the 1991 model year being the last for Yugo in the US.

Poor Little Car-Video Abuse

The company that made (makes) the Yugo is Zasatava.  If it weren’t for bad luck, they’d have none at all.  The plant at which they made Yugos was bombed by the US and its allies in the Kosovo war…seems it  was determined that it was making strategic arms.  But, they haven’t given up. In spite of crappy US exposure the first time around and in spite of not so crappy US bombs falling on the factory, Zasatava is at it again with the Yugo and it may try the US market again.  That is the history of Yugo.  Many people in the US have a different individual history of their Yugo.  Someone from Europe decided to show their video history of their Yugo..poor little car.

Weather Bottom Line: Well, the AC came back on Wednesday afternoon.  A bit too humid for me and the fat cats.  I saved some money for 3 days though.  There is a strong front that will come down, just like last weekend.  It will take us back to conditions more reminiscent of October or late September than late August.  It is also going to steer Tropical Storm..and probably Hurricane…Danny up the east coast..just like Bill except that it will probably be closer to the coast, even along part of the coast, than Bill was.  Not a slam dunk but we should get rain late Thursday or early Friday.  Not likely at this point but if we get destablized then we may get some strong storms but at this point, it does not appear that the atmosphere will get drunk..er…loaded up for that.

VOTE November 4, 2008

I’m taking a hiatus. They tell me the lines to vote will be long so I’m being prepared. Let us hope, for the sake of our nation, that the best man…the right man…wins. And let us hope for a successful presidency. It always bothers me when people wish for bad things to happen for a particular president so that the other party might have a better chance of gaining the White House the next time around. But that means that bad things would happen for the country. While President Clinton was in office, I always hoped that he made the right choices and decisions. While President Bush has been in office, I have always hoped that he has made the right decisions. One cannot really judge a president’s term in office for at least a quarter century. During his presidency, Abraham Lincoln was throught of by many as being stupid and being the worst president ever…he was said to be so divisive that he “caused” the Civil War. I doubt if any historian would judge Mr. Lincoln’s term in office in such terms today. Many students are taught today that President Grant was a splendid General but a not so great President. (I would not necessarily agree with the assessment) Nevertheless, Grant was wildly popular in the nation and was beloved around the world as evidenced by the crowds clamoring for him during a two year round the world tour. Grant was very nearly nominated for a third term and had a good chance of winning had he received the nomination.

So, let us all endeavor to search within ourselves to determine whom we think would really be the best leader for our nation at this time. Then let us all hope that our collective wisdom was correct and then let us all rally behind him.

Hurricane Ike Preliminary Reports; Upper Low Close to Valhalla; 3rd Time’s The Charm For Chet Arthur September 20, 2008

Hurricane Ike Prior to Landfall

The preliminary reports from the NWS and the National Hurricane Center are in regarding Hurricane Ike.  Be careful regarding some of the data.  You will notice that at IAH they reported a lowest pressure of 961 mb yet they translated that into 29.97 in.  I think that should be 28.97 in.  Also, Scholes Field on Galveston reported a low pressure of 1002 mb.  Nonsense. I played a Rugby Tournament at Scholes Field and can tell you that it was very close to where the eye passed over.  I suspect that the instruments failed as the storm was approaching.  In any event, it is what it is, which is “preliminary” and I’m sure that there will be corrections or footnotes when the final report is issued.  The second link is really about the life of the storm with links to images and all sorts of stuff. The first is data pertaining to the NWS Houston region.

Here is the NWS Houston preliminary report

Here is the NWS Hurricane Ike preliminary report

For photos, video and stories pertaining to Hurricane Ike Damage, CLICK HERE and scroll down.  There’s lots of stuff in several posts.

Ryder Cup: An upper low snuck up from the south rotating up.  Between the heating and the fringe of the disturbance to the SW, a little shower popped up at Bowman Field in Louisville on Friday.  But never fear, the disturbance will move through but is weakening as it moves over the area.  Short wave ridging should build in on Saturday and for the most part snuff it out, though an isolated shower can’t be ruled out.  Nevetheless,  all in all, the general forecast will hold….just a little wrinkle for a few…let’s just hope those few are not teeing it up at Valhalla. So, it will be for most warm afternoons with partly cloudy skies with cool nights.  The Yanks are off to a good start with Boo and JB leading the way.  Do you really think the Euros can be Americans with names like Boo and JB?

On This Date in History: Rutherford B. Hayes served as President from 1877 to 1881.  The man who took his place was Congressman James A. Garfield from Ohio.  I don’t think he ever made it to General in the Union Army but had served with some distinction as a Colonel.  He was a conservative who won the election and was inaugurated in March of 1881.  Remember, originally, inauguration day was in March.  Later it was moved to January 20.  Anyway, Garfield had the misfortune of getting the way of the bullet from the gun of a nutbag, disgruntled ( I love that adjective) office seeker, Charles Guiteau.  Garfield was in a train station on July 2, 1881 and was shot in the back.  He lingered for several months and it is widely speculated that he may have survived had they had him up and walking around, getting stronger.  I”ve read that he got weak and died and I’ve read that he died of an aneurism or some other complication.   In any event, he died on September 19, 1881 and Vice-President Chester Alan Arthur was sworn in  on this date in 1881.  From jail, Guiteau wrote to Arthur claiming credit for his elevation to the highest office in the land.  I suppose that he was lobbying from death-row for that evasive political appointment.   It was the second time in American history that the United States had three presidents in one calendar year.  The other time it happened was in 1841 when President Martin Van Buren gave way to William Henry Harrison who got pneumonia at his inaugural (Marth 1841) after Harrison walked a very long parade route and then gave a very long winded speech in sub-freezing temperatures.  He died a month later and John Tyler became president.

Chester Alan Arthur was basically a political hack who had served as New York Port Authority Commissioner during a time of great corruption on the New York docks.  He served just one term…a term described by former President Hayes as one of “liquor, snobbery and worse.”  He was not only not re-elected but didn’t even get the nomination of his party for another term.  Just as well. He would have died in office had he been allowed to run and if he had won because he died in November 1886 and then we would have had another VP take over the helm.  Arthur otherwise would have been lost to the pages of history except that he seems to have been one of our more dapper presidents and also more recently showed up in the 3rd Die Hard movie with Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Irons when the clue is the 21st President of the United States.  The school that was threatened by the terrorists was named for him.  No one knew who it was…except for the truck driver Jerry who proudly told Bruce Willis all about Chet Arthur.  I think to this day, Jerry still knows more than anyone else about Chester Alan Arthur.