An Introduction to Animals and Political Theory, a 2010 textbook by the
British political theorist Alasdair Cochrane (pictured), was one of the
first works to link the question of animal rights to the concept of
justice in political philosophy. Cochrane's book examines five schools
of political theory—utilitarianism, liberalism, communitarianism,
Marxism and feminism—and their positions on animal rights and the
political status of (non-human) animals. He concludes that each
tradition has something to offer, but ultimately prefers what he calls
an interest-based approach, building primarily upon liberalism and
utilitarianism. He argues that rights derived from interests can protect
animals and place limits on what can be done to them; these rights
cannot be violated, even in the name of the greater good. The Oxford
Centre for Animal Ethics described the book as "the first introductory
level text to offer an accessible overview on the status of animals in
contemporary political theory". Cochrane's account of interest-based
rights for animals was considered at greater length in his 2012 book
Animal Rights Without Liberation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Introduction_to_Animals_and_Political_Theo…>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1066:
King Harald III of Norway and Tostig Godwinson, his English
ally, fought and defeated the Northern Earls Edwin and Morcar in the
Battle of Fulford near York, England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fulford>
1792:
The French Army achieved its first major victory in the War of
the First Coalition at the Battle of Valmy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valmy>
1906:
The ocean liner RMS Mauretania, the largest and fastest ship in
the world at the time, was launched.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Mauretania_(1906)>
1971:
Hurricane Irene moved west from Nicaragua, and crossed from the
Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific, the first known tropical cyclone to do
so.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irene%E2%80%93Olivia>
2001:
During a televised address to a joint session of the United
States Congress, U.S. President George W. Bush declared a "war on
terror" against Al-Qaeda and other global terrorist groups.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Terror>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
malcontent:
Dissatisfied with current conditions; disaffected, discontented,
rebellious.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/malcontent>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The battle between good and evil is a legitimate theme for a
Fantasy (or for any work of fiction, for that matter), but in real life
that battle is fought chiefly in the individual human heart. Too many
contemporary Fantasies take the easy way out by externalizing the
struggle, so the heroic protagonists need only smite the evil minions of
the dark power to win the day. And you can tell the evil minions,
because they're inevitably ugly and they all wear black. I wanted to
stand much of that on its head. In real life, the hardest aspect of the
battle between good and evil is determining which is which.
--George R. R. Martin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_R._R._Martin>
The Battle of Dürenstein (11 November 1805) was an engagement in the
Napoleonic Wars during the War of the Third Coalition, fought in the
Wachau Valley of the Danube, 73 kilometers (45 mi) upstream from
Vienna, Austria. A combined force of Russian and Austrian troops trapped
a French division commanded by Théodore Maxime Gazan, part of the VIII
Corps under Édouard Mortier. Pursuing the Austrian retreat from
Bavaria, Mortier had overextended his three divisions. Mikhail
Illarionovich Kutuzov, commander of the Coalition force, enticed Mortier
to send Gazan's division into a trap, and the French troops were caught
in a valley between two Russian columns. They were rescued by the timely
arrival of a second division, under Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. The
battle extended well into the night. Both sides had losses of around
4,000 wounded or dead, and both claimed victory. Austria lost Johann
Heinrich von Schmitt, one of its most capable chiefs of staff. After the
Russo-Austrian defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz three weeks later,
Austria withdrew from the war.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_D%C3%BCrenstein>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
634:
Arab–Byzantine wars: Rashidun Arabs under Khalid ibn al-Walid
captured Damascus from the Byzantine Empire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Damascus_(634)>
1676:
During Bacon's Rebellion, Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel
Bacon burned the colonial capital of Jamestown to the ground.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon%27s_Rebellion>
1893:
New Zealand became the first country to introduce universal
suffrage, following the women's suffrage movement led by Kate Sheppard
(pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_New_Zealand>
1991:
Ötzi, a well-preserved natural mummy of a man from about
3300 BC, was discovered by two German tourists.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96tzi>
2006:
The Royal Thai Army overthrew the elected government of Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra while he was in New York City for a
meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Thai_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
arr:
1. (Britain, West Country, West Midlands) Yes.
2. Used stereotypically in imitation of pirates.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/arr>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
"Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill!
You knew, didn't you?" said the head. For a moment or two the forest and
all the other dimly appreciated places echoed with the parody of
laughter. "You knew, didn't you? I'm part of you? Close, close, close!
I'm the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?"
--William Golding
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Golding>
Baryonyx was a theropod dinosaur of the early Cretaceous Period, about
130–125 million years ago. An identifying specimen of the genus was
discovered in 1983 in Surrey, England; fragmentary specimens were later
discovered in other parts of the United Kingdom and Iberia. Meaning
"heavy claw", Baryonyx refers to the animal's very large claw (31 cm or
12 in) on the first finger. The 1983 specimen is one of the most
complete theropod skeletons from the UK, and its discovery attracted
media attention. Baryonyx was about 7.5 m (25 ft) long and weighed
1.2 t (1.3 short tons). It had a long, low, bulbous snout and narrow,
many-toothed jaws, which have been compared to gharial jaws. It is now
recognised as a member of the family Spinosauridae of large, sail-backed
predators. It was the first theropod dinosaur identified as fish-eating,
and may also have been an active predator of larger prey and a
scavenger, since the 1983 specimen contained bones of a juvenile
Iguanodon. Baryonyx caught and held its prey primarily with its strong
forelimbs and large claws. The creature lived near bodies of water, in
areas where other theropod, ornithopod, and sauropod dinosaurs have also
been found.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baryonyx>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
14:
Tiberius, one of Rome's greatest generals, succeeded his
stepfather Augustus as Roman emperor.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius>
1809:
The second theatre of the Royal Opera House (interior pictured)
in London opened after a fire destroyed the original theatre one year
earlier.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Opera_House>
1879:
The Blackpool Illuminations in the English seaside town of
Blackpool, billed as "the greatest free light show on earth", were
switched on for the first time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackpool_Illuminations>
1911:
Premier Pyotr Stolypin, considered one of the last major
statesmen of Imperial Russia, was fatally wounded while attending a
performance at the Kiev Opera House.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Stolypin>
1974:
Hurricane Fifi struck Honduras, destroying 182 towns and
villages in the first 24 hours, and ultimately causing over 8,000
deaths.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Fifi%E2%80%93Orlene>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
clamorous:
1. Of or pertaining to clamor.
2. Noisy, loud.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clamorous>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him
absolutely no good.
--Samuel Johnson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson>
Horatio Bottomley (1860–1933) was an English financier, newspaper
proprietor, Member of Parliament (MP), and swindler. Brought up in an
orphanage, he began as an errand boy; his hard work enabled him, at 24,
to found a publishing company through which he launched, among other
titles, the Financial Times. As a financier his methods often brought
him into conflict with the law, but by 1900 he had amassed a fortune as
a promoter of shares in dubious gold-mining companies. Bottomley entered
parliament as a Liberal Party MP in 1906, and founded John Bull magazine
as a platform for his populist views. In 1912 he was declared bankrupt
and forced to resign from parliament, but following the outbreak of war
in 1914 he became a leading propagandist for the patriotic cause. In
1918, having been discharged from bankruptcy, he re-entered parliament
and launched a fraudulent "Victory Bonds" scheme which led to his
conviction and imprisonment in 1922. Released in 1927, he eked out a
living with lectures and appearances in music halls, before his death in
poverty.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Bottomley>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1716:
French soldier Jean Thurel enlisted in the Régiment de
Touraine at the age of 18, beginning a career of military service that
would span 90 years.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Thurel>
1849:
American slave Harriet Tubman escaped; she later orchestrated
the rescues of more than 70 other slaves via the "Underground Railroad".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman>
1939:
World War II: The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east,
sixteen days after Nazi Germany's attack on that country from the west.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Poland>
1976:
Enterprise, the first Space Shuttle built for NASA, was rolled
out of the manufacturing facilities in Palmdale, California.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Enterprise>
2006:
Mass protests across Hungary erupted after Prime Minister
Ferenc Gyurcsány's private speech was leaked to the public, in which he
admitted that the Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006
election.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_protests_in_Hungary>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
anneal:
1. (metallurgy) To subject to great heat, and then cool slowly for the
purpose of rendering less brittle; to temper; to toughen.
2. (figuratively) To strengthen or harden.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anneal>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismograph.
--Ken Kesey
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ken_Kesey>
Hurricane Nora was the fourteenth named tropical cyclone and seventh
hurricane of the 1997 Pacific hurricane season, and only the third
tropical storm on record to reach Arizona. Forming on September 16 off
the Pacific coast of Mexico, the storm was aided by waters warmed by El
Niño, and eventually peaked at Category 4 intensity on the Saffir-
Simpson Hurricane Scale. It made its first landfall as a hurricane in
central Baja California; later the same day, it became one of the few
hurricanes to make a landfall in northern Baja. The storm was blamed for
two direct casualties in Mexico, as well as substantial beach erosion on
the Mexican coast and flash flooding in Baja. Although Nora weakened
quickly after landfall, its remnants lashed the Southwestern United
States with tropical-storm-force winds, torrential rain, and flooding.
Arizona received record precipitation. The remnants persisted far
inland, dissipating near the Arizona–Nevada border, although near-
hurricane-force winds were observed as far north as Cedar City, Utah.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Nora_(1997)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1776:
American Revolutionary War: On hearing the British troops
sounding their bugles as if it were a fox hunt, the American colonists
held their ground and were victorious at the Battle of Harlem Heights in
present-day New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harlem_Heights>
1940:
World War II: Italy captured the town of Sidi Barrani, but its
invasion of Egypt progressed no further.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_invasion_of_Egypt>
1961:
Typhoon Nancy (radar image pictured), with possibly the
strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, made initial
landfall in Muroto, Kōchi, Japan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Nancy_(1961)>
1982:
A Lebanese militia under the direct command of Elie Hobeika
carried out a massacre in the Palestinian refugee camp of Sabra and
Shatila, killing at least 700 civilians.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabra_and_Shatila_massacre>
1994:
The British government lifted its ban that prevented Sinn Féin
and several Irish republican and loyalist groups from being broadcast on
television and radio.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988%E2%80%9394_British_broadcasting_voice_re…>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
compotator:
One who drinks (alcoholic beverages) with another; a fellow drinker.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/compotator>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Heart of my heart, we are one with the wind, One with the clouds
that are whirled o'er the lea, One in many, O broken and blind, One as
the waves are at one with the sea! Ay! when life seems scattered apart,
Darkens, ends as a tale that is told, One, we are one, O heart of my
heart, One, still one, while the world grows old.
--Alfred Noyes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_Noyes>
No. 38 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) transport unit.
Formed in 1943, the squadron ferried supplies and personnel during World
War II between Australia and combat zones in New Guinea and Borneo,
using Douglas Dakota aircraft. It was deployed to Singapore from 1950 to
1952, supplying Commonwealth forces engaged in the Malayan Emergency. It
started flying de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribous (pictured) in 1964.
Throughout Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, the squadron
prepared aircrew for operational service with No. 35 Squadron, and
maintained a detachment in Papua and New Guinea to provide pilots with
experience flying in tropical conditions. During the 1980s it provided
search and rescue capabilities within Australia, working with Australian
Army units. From 1999 until 2001, a detachment was deployed to East
Timor as part of the Australian-led peacekeeping force in the newly
independent nation. The squadron continued to fly the ageing Caribous
until 2009, when it was re-equipped with eight Beechcraft King Air 350
aircraft. Currently stationed at RAAF Base Townsville, Queensland, it is
responsible for light transport tasks and for training RAAF pilots to
operate King Airs.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._38_Squadron_RAAF>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1816:
HMS Whiting became wrecked on the Doom Bar, a treacherous
shoal off the coast of Cornwall, England, that has caused over 600 known
shipwrecks.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_Bar>
1862:
American Civil War: Confederate forces captured the Union
garrison at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, taking more than 12,000 prisoners.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Harpers_Ferry>
1916:
Tanks, the "secret weapons" of the British Army during the
First World War, were first used in combat at the Battle of the Somme in
Somme, Picardy, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme>
1935:
Nazi Germany enacted the Nuremberg Laws, which deprived German
Jews of citizenship, and adopted a new national flag emblazoned with a
swastika.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Germany#Nazi_Germany>
1963:
A bomb planted by members of the Ku Klux Klan exploded in the
16th Street Baptist Church, an African American Baptist church in
Birmingham, Alabama, US, killing four children and injuring at least 22
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_Street_Baptist_Church_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
scream queen:
(informal) An actress who appears in many horror films.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/scream_queen>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The demagogue is usually sly, a detractor of others, a professor
of humility and disinterestedness, a great stickler for equality as
respects all above him, a man who acts in corners, and avoids open and
manly expositions of his course, calls blackguards gentlemen, and
gentlemen folks, appeals to passions and prejudices rather than to
reason, and is in all respects, a man of intrigue and deception, of sly
cunning and management, instead of manifesting the frank, fearless
qualities of the democracy he so prodigally professes. The man who
maintains the rights of the people on pure grounds, may be distinguished
from the demagogue by the reverse of all these qualities. He does not
flatter the people, even while he defends them, for he knows that
flattery is a corrupting and dangerous poison. Having nothing to
conceal, he is frank and fearless, as are all men with the consciousness
of right motives. He oftener chides than commends, for power needs
reproof and can dispense with praise. He who would be a courtier under a
king, is almost certain to be a demagogue in a democracy.
--The American Democrat
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_American_Democrat>
Thunder is the horse mascot for the Denver Broncos, an American football
team. Three gray purebred Arabians whose coats turned white with age
have held this role since 1993, named JB Kobask, Winter Solstyce, and Me
N Myshadow. Ann Judge has been their rider and trainer for almost two
decades, and Sharon Magness-Blake has been their owner. The first
Thunder performed in Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII, and Thunder III
appeared in XLVIII and Super Bowl 50. The mascot routinely attends
parades and other public functions, and makes hospital and school
visits. He has flown on airplanes, ridden in elevators, and appeared
indoors at press conferences and banquets. His duties include leading
the team onto the field at the start of every home game and galloping
down the length of the field whenever they score a touchdown or field
goal. Thunder also greets fans, and children are allowed to pet him. He
remains calm around exploding pyrotechnics and thousands of cheering
fans, situations that frighten most horses. Thunder shares mascot duties
with Miles, a human who wears a horse head mask atop a Broncos uniform.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunder_(mascot)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
81:
Domitian, the last Flavian emperor of Rome, was confirmed by the
Senate to succeed his brother Titus.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domitian>
1723:
António Manoel de Vilhena, Grand Master of the Knights
Hospitaller, laid the first stone of Fort Manoel in Malta.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Manoel>
1901:
Theodore Roosevelt became President of the United States at age
42, the youngest person ever to do so, eight days after William McKinley
was fatally wounded in Buffalo, New York.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt>
1982:
President-elect of Lebanon Bachir Gemayel was assassinated when
a bomb exploded in the Beirut headquarters of the Phalange.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachir_Gemayel>
2008:
All 88 people aboard Aeroflot Flight 821 died when the aircraft
crashed on approach to Perm International Airport in Perm Krai, Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_821>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
crow over:
(transitive) To triumph over (someone).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crow_over>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Character is something you forge for yourself; temperament is
something you are born with and can only slightly modify. Some people
have easy temperaments and weak characters; others have difficult
temperaments and strong characters. We are all prone to confuse the two
in assessing people we associate with. Those with easy temperaments and
weak characters are more likable than admirable; those with difficult
temperaments and strong characters are more admirable than likable. Of
course, the optimum for a person is to possess both an easy temperament
and a strong character, but this is a rare combination, and few of us
are that lucky.
--Sydney J. Harris
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sydney_J._Harris>
SS Montanan was a cargo ship operated by the American-Hawaiian Steamship
Company. Built in 1912 by the Maryland Steel Company as one of eight
sister ships, the freighter was employed in inter-coastal service, first
via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and then the Panama Canal, after it
opened in 1914. The ship was 6,649 gross register tons (GRT), 428 ft
9 in (130.68 m) in length and 53 ft 7 in (16.33 m) abeam. Used by
the United States Army Transport Service during World War I, USAT
Montanan carried cargo and animals to France, and sailed in the first
American convoy to France after the United States entered the war in
April 1917. During another eastbound convoy in August 1918, Montanan was
torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-90 some 500 nautical miles
(900 km) west of Le Verdon-sur-Mer, France. Of the 86 men aboard the
ship, 81 were rescued by a convoy escort. The other five were killed,
including two of the ship's Naval Armed Guardsmen, drowned when their
lifeboat capsized in the heavy seas.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Montanan>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1437:
A Portuguese expeditionary force led by Henry the Navigator
began an ultimately unsuccessful siege of Tangiers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tangier_(1437)>
1541:
After three years of exile, John Calvin returned to Geneva to
reform the church under a body of doctrine that came to be known as
Calvinism.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism>
1848:
An explosion drove an iron rod through the head of railroad
foreman Phineas Gage, making him an important early case of personality
change after brain injury.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage>
1964:
South Vietnamese Generals Lam Van Phat and Duong Van Duc staged
a coup attempt after junta leader Nguyen Khanh demoted them.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_1964_South_Vietnamese_coup_attempt>
2006:
Kimveer Gill shot 19 people for unknown reasons, killing one,
at Dawson College in Montreal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson_College_shooting>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Mammon:
1. The desire for wealth personified as an evil spirit or a malign
influence.
2. Often mammon: wealth, material avarice, profit.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Mammon>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The life of reality is confused, disorderly, almost always without
apparent purpose, whereas in the artist's imaginative life there is
purpose. There is determination to give the tale, the song, the
painting, form — to make it true and real to the theme, not to life.
Often the better the job is done, the greater the confusion. … The
confusion arises out of the fact that others besides practicing artists
have imaginations. But most people are afraid to trust their
imaginations and the artist is not.
--Sherwood Anderson
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sherwood_Anderson>
Subway Sadie is a comedy-drama film that premiered in New York on
September 12, 1926. It was adapted from Mildred Cram's 1925 short story
"Sadie of the Desert" and directed by Alfred Santell. The silent film
focuses on a relationship between New York salesgirl Sadie Hermann
(Dorothy Mackaill) and subway guard Herb McCarthy (Jack Mulhall), who
meet on a subway and become engaged. After Sadie receives a promotion,
she must choose between her new job and marrying Herb. The cast includes
Charles Murray, Peggy Shaw, Gaston Glass, and Bernard Randall. The film
began production in May 1926 and was distributed by First National
Pictures. Arthur Edeson served as cinematographer, shooting scenes in a
nightclub and a casino, and at Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park. Many
publications wrote positively of the film, praising its acting and
Santell's direction. Today, it remains unclear if a print of Subway
Sadie has survived. A poster of the film can be seen at the New York
Transit Museum.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subway_Sadie>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1309:
Reconquista: Forces of the Kingdom of Castile captured
Gibraltar from the Emirate of Granada, although they would lose control
of it 24 years later.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Siege_of_Gibraltar>
1848:
Switzerland became a federal state with the adoption of a new
constitution.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland>
1933:
Hungarian-American physicist Leo Szilard conceived of the idea
of the nuclear chain reaction while waiting for a traffic light in
Bloomsbury, London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Szilard>
1942:
A U-boat sank RMS Laconia with a torpedo off the coast of West
Africa and attempted to rescue the passengers, which included some 80
civilians, 160 Polish and 268 British soldiers and about 1800 Italian
POWs.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_incident>
1980:
The Turkish Armed Forces ousted Prime Minister Süleyman
Demirel and would rule the country for three years before democracy was
restored.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Turkish_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
gecko:
Any lizard of the family Gekkonidae. They are small, carnivorous, mostly
nocturnal animals with large eyes and adhesive toes enabling them to
climb on vertical and upside-down surfaces.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gecko>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Like it or not, we have placed our destiny in the hands of the
experts. A politician is, after all, a kind of expert, if self-styled.
Even the fact that competent experts must serve under politicians of
mediocre intelligence and little foresight is a problem that we are
stuck with, because the experts themselves cannot agree on any major
world issue. A logocracy of quarreling experts might be no better than
the rule of the mediocrities to which we are subject. The declining
intellectual quality of political leadership is the result of the
growing complexity of the world. Since no one, be he endowed with the
highest wisdom, can grasp it in its entirety, it is those who are least
bothered by this who strive for power.
--Stanisław Lem
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_Lem>
Banksia coccinea, commonly known as the scarlet banksia, is an erect
shrub or small tree in the family Proteaceae. It grows along the
southern coast of Western Australia on white or grey sand in shrubland,
heath or open woodland. Reaching up to 8 m (26 ft) in height, it is a
single-stemmed plant with oblong leaves. The prominent red and white
flower spikes appear mainly in the spring. As they age they develop
small follicles that store seeds until opened by bushfire. Though widely
occurring, it is highly sensitive to dieback, and large populations of
plants have succumbed to the disease. It was first collected and
described by Robert Brown in the early 19th century. The flowers attract
nectar- and insect-feeding birds, particularly honeyeaters, and a
variety of insects. A popular garden plant and one of the most important
Banksia species for the cut flower industry, it is grown commercially in
Australia, South Africa, Canada, the United States, New Zealand and
Israel. In cultivation, it grows well in a sunny location on well-
drained soil, but cannot survive in areas with humid or wet summers.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksia_coccinea>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1226:
The Catholic practice of Eucharistic adoration among lay people
formally began in Avignon, France.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharistic_adoration>
1789:
Alexander Hamilton, co-writer of the Federalist Papers, became
the first US Secretary of the Treasury.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton>
1893:
On the opening day of the first Parliament of the World's
Religions in Chicago, Swami Vivekananda introduced Hinduism to the
United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda>
1945:
The Japanese-run camp at Batu Lintang, Sarawak, in Borneo was
liberated by the Australian 9th Division, averting the planned massacre
of its 2,000-plus Allied POWs and civilian internees by four days.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Lintang_camp>
1973:
A coup d'état in Chile led by General Augusto Pinochet
overthrew the government of President Salvador Allende and established a
junta.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Chilean_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
remembrance:
1. The act of remembering; a holding in mind, or bringing to mind;
recollection.
2. The state of being remembered, or held in mind; memory, recollection.
3. Something remembered; a person or thing kept in memory.
4. That which serves to keep in or bring to mind; a memento, a memorial, a
souvenir, a token; a memorandum or note of something to be remembered.
5. The power of remembering; the reach of personal knowledge; the period
over which one's memory extends.
6. (obsolete) Something to be remembered; an admonition, counsel,
instruction.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/remembrance>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Terrorists will never be able to defeat the United States. Their
only hope is to terrorize us into changing who we are or our way of
life. That’s why we Americans will never give in to fear. And it’s
why this weekend we remember the true spirit of 9/11. We’re still the
America of heroes who ran into harm’s way; of ordinary folks who took
down the hijackers; of families who turned their pain into hope. We are
still the America that looks out for one another, bound by our shared
belief that I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper. In
the face of terrorism, how we respond matters. We cannot give in to
those who would divide us. We cannot react in ways that erode the fabric
of our society. Because it’s our diversity, our welcoming of all
talent, our treating of everybody fairly — no matter their race,
gender, ethnicity, or faith — that’s part of what makes our country
great. It’s what makes us resilient. And if we stay true to those
values, we’ll uphold the legacy of those we’ve lost, and keep our
nation strong and free. God bless you, and God bless the United States
of America.
--Barack Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>