Good Spiritual Sunday Yonkersites, currently at 5:28 AM EDT Yonkers is cloudy and 65 to 66 degrees with east/south-east winds at 4 mph, 93% humidity, the dew point is 63 degrees, the barometer is 29.9 inches and steady, and the visibility is 5 miles. Today Yonkers will have widely scattered showers and thunderstorms in the morning, clouds will linger, a high of 78 degrees with south/south-east winds at 5 to 10 mph. The chance of rain is 30%. Partly cloudy tonight, a stray shower or thunderstorm is possible, a low of 63 degrees with west/south-west winds at 5 to 10 mph. Sun-up occurs at 6:42 AM and descends gracefully beyond the Palisades at 6:53 PM. You’ll have 12 hours and 10 minutes of available daylight. Hazard, Perry County, Kentucky, Population: 4,465. At 5:37 AM EDT Hazard is partly cloudy and 62 degrees. Hazard will have mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms today, a few storms may be severe, a high of 79 degrees with west/south-west winds at 10 to 15 mph. The chance of rain is 60%. Clear skies tonight, a low of 53 degrees with west/north-west winds at 5 to 10 mph. Tumba, Sudermanland Provence, Sweden, Population: 37,852. At 11:41 AM CEST Tumba is misty and 54 degrees. ***SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT --- POTENTIAL DISRUPTIONS DUE TO RAIN IN STOCKHOLM COUNTY UNTIL 8:12 AM CEST MONDAY. *** Tumba will have rain today, a high of 63 degrees with light and variable winds. The chance of rain is 90% with rainfall totals near 1/4 inch. Tonight will be cloudy with periods of rain, a low around 50 degrees with north/north-east winds at 10 to 15 mph. The chance of rain is 90% with rainfall totals near 1/2 inch. Dothan, Houston County, Alabama. At 4:49 AM CDT Dothan is clear and 64 degrees. Areas of patchy fog early today, abundant sunshine, a high around 90 degrees with light and variable wind. Clear skies for tonight, a low of 66 degrees with light and variable winds. Today 9/21 In HISTORY: 1 - 1780 - American Revolution - During the American Revolution, American General Benedict Arnold meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British, in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold, a former American hero, became synonymous with the word traitor. Arnold was born into a well-respected family in Norwich, Connecticut, on January 14, 1741. He apprenticed with an apothecary and was a member of the militia during the French and Indian War (1754-1763). He later became a successful trader and joined the Continental Army when the Revolutionary War broke out between Great Britain and its 13 American colonies in 1775. When the war ended in 1883, the colonies had won their independence from Britain and formed a new nation, the United States. During the war, Benedict Arnold proved himself a brave and skillful leader, helping Ethan Allens troops capture Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and then participating in the unsuccessful attack on British Quebec later that year, which earned him a promotion to brigadier general. Arnold distinguished himself in campaigns at Lake Champlain, Ridgefield and Saratoga, and gained the support of George Washington. However, Arnold had enemies within the military and in 1777, five men of lesser rank were promoted over him. Over the course of the next few years, Arnold married for a second time and he and his new wife lived a lavish lifestyle in Philadelphia, accumulating substantial debt. The debt and the resentment Arnold felt over not being promoted faster were motivating factors in his choice to become a turncoat. In 1780, Arnold was given command of West Point, an American fort on the Hudson River in New York (and future home of the U.S. military academy, established in 1802). Arnold contacted Sir Henry Clinton, head of the British forces, and proposed handing over West Point and his men. On September 21 of that year, Arnold met with Major John Andre and made his traitorous pact. However, the conspiracy was uncovered and Andre was captured and executed. Arnold, the former American patriot, fled to the enemy side and went on to lead British troops in Virginia and Connecticut. He later moved to England, though he never received all of what hed been promised by the British. He died in London on June 14, 1801. 2 - 1779 - American Revolution - The Louisiana governor and Spanish military officer Bernardo de Galvez, with the aide of American troops and militia volunteers, captures the British post and garrison at Baton Rouge, located in what was then British-controlled West Florida. In a cunning and brilliant move, de Galvez included in the terms of the British surrender of Baton Rouge that the British also surrender Fort Panmure at Natchez to Spanish control. Defeated and on the verge of utter annihilation, the British had no other choice but to accept the terms. The Spanish capture of Baton Rouge and Fort Panmure ended British control of the Mississippi Valley and opened the Mississippi River to a Spanish supply line—running from the Gulf of Mexico to the Ohio Valley--that greatly benefited the American cause. De Galvez was then able to lay siege to the British-occupied city of Pensacola, Florida, in the spring of 1781, which ended in a British surrender on May 8. Spain never officially signed an alliance with the American revolutionaries, as King Charles III was hesitant about the precedent he might be setting by encouraging the population of another empire to overthrow their monarch. However, Spain also wanted to regain Gibraltar in the Mediterranean from the British and solidify control of its North American holdings, so it allied itself to France in the international war against Britain. Spain regained West Florida during the fighting and East Florida, which it exchanged for the Bahamas, in the final peace. Though Gibraltar remained in British control, Spain also won all the land surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. 3 - 1820 - Civil War - Union General John Fulton Reynolds is born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. One of nine children, Reynolds received his education at private academies before Senator James Buchanan, a family friend, secured him an appointment at West Point in 1837. He graduated in 1841, 26 out of 52 in his class. Prior to the Mexican War, Reynolds served in Maryland, South Carolina, and Florida. He was part of General Zachary Taylors army in Mexico, and he distinguished himself at the Battles of Monterey and Buena Vista. His heroism earned him promotions to captain and major. In the 1850s, Reynolds served in Maine, fought Native Americans in the West, and participated in the Mormon War of the late 1850s. In 1860, he returned to West Point as commandant of cadets. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Reynolds received command of a regular army regiment. His orders were soon changed, however, and he became a brigade commander with orders to serve at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Before he shipped for service along the coast, General George B. McClellan—then commander of the Army of the Potomac—used his leverage to secure Reynoldss service in McClellans army. In 1862, Reynolds participated in the Seven Days Battles around Richmond, Virginia. This was the climax of McClellans Peninsular campaign, in which Confederate General Robert E. Lee attacked the Yankees and drove them away from the Rebel capital. At the Battle of Gaines Mills, Virginia, on June 26, Reynoldss brigade—protecting a Union retreat—bore the brunt of a Confederate attack. The next day, Reynolds held his position, but he was detached from the main Union army. The Confederates overran Reynolds and part of his command, and the general was sent to Richmonds Libby Prison. Reynolds spent less than six weeks at Libby before he was exchanged in August 1862. He was given command of a division, and fought at the Second Battle of Bull Run, Virginia, on August 29 and 30, just three weeks after his release. In November, Reynolds returned to the Army of the Potomac as a commander of I Corps. His force fought at Fredericksburg, Virginia in December, but was held in reserve at Chancellorsville, Virginia, in May 1863. Reynolds commanded the left wing of the Army of the Potomac during the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, campaign. On the morning of July 1, he rode into Gettysburg and placed his force in front of advancing Confederates, forcing Union General George Meade, commander of the Army of the Potomac, to fight. The 42-year-old Reynolds was killed that day, most likely by a Confederate volley, and was buried in Lancaster, his birthplace. 4 - 1949 - Cold War - At the opening of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference in Peking, Mao Zedong announces that the new Chinese government will be under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The September 1949 conference in Peking was both a celebration of the communist victory in the long civil war against Nationalist Chinese forces and the unveiling of the communist regime that would henceforth rule over China. Mao and his communist supporters had been fighting against what they claimed was a corrupt and decadent Nationalist government in China since the 1920s. Despite massive U.S. support for the Nationalist regime, Maos forces were victorious in 1949 and drove the Nationalist government onto the island of Taiwan. In September, with cannons firing salutes and ceremonial flags waving, Mao announced the victory of communism in China and vowed to establish the constitutional and governmental framework to protect the peoples revolution. In outlining the various committees and agencies to be established under the new regime, Mao announced that Our state system of the Peoples Democratic Dictatorship is a powerful weapon for safeguarding the fruits of victory of the peoples revolution and for opposing plots of foreign and domestic enemies to stage a comeback. We must firmly grasp this weapon. He denounced those who opposed the communist government as imperialistic and domestic reactionaries. In the future, China would seek the friendship of the Soviet Union and the new democratic countries. Mao also claimed that communism would help end reputation as a lesser-developed country. The era in which the Chinese were regarded as uncivilized is now over. We will emerge in the world as a highly civilized nation. On October 1, 1949, the Peoples Republic of China was formally announced, with Mao Zedong as its leader. He would remain in charge of the nation until his death in 1976. 5 - 1999 - An earthquake in Taiwan on this day in 1999 kills thousands of people, causes billions of dollars in damages and leaves an estimated 100,000 homeless. It was the worst earthquake to hit Taiwan since a 1935 tremor that killed 3,200 people. 6 - 1792 - In Revolutionary France, the Legislative Assembly votes to abolish the monarchy and establish the First Republic. The measure came one year after King Louis XVI reluctantly approved a new constitution that stripped him of much of his power. 7 - 1938 - Without warning, a powerful Category 3 hurricane slams into Long Island and southern New England, causing 600 deaths and devastating coastal cities and towns. Also called the Long Island Express, the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was the most destructive storm to strike the region in the 20th century. 8 - 1989 - The Senate Armed Forces Committee unanimously confirms President George H. Bushs nomination of Army General Colin Powell as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell was the first African American to achieve the United States highest military post. 9 - 1939 - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appears before Congress and asks that the Neutrality Acts, a series of laws passed earlier in the decade, be amended. Roosevelt hoped to lift an embargo against sending military aid to countries in Europe facing the onslaught of Nazi aggression during World War II. 10 - 1961 - World War Two - President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appears before Congress and asks that the Neutrality Acts, a series of laws passed earlier in the decade, be amended. Roosevelt hoped to lift an embargo against sending military aid to countries in Europe facing the onslaught of Nazi aggression during World War II. 11 - 1961 - Vietnam War - The U.S. Armys 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, is activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The Special Forces were formed to organize and train guerrilla bands behind enemy lines. President John F. Kennedy, a strong believer in the potential of the Special Forces in counterinsurgency operations, visited the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg to review the program and authorized the Special Forces to wear the headgear that became their symbol, the Green Beret. The 5th S.F. Group was sent to Vietnam in October 1964, to assume control of all Special Forces operations in Vietnam. Prior to this time, Green Berets had been assigned to Vietnam only on temporary duty. The primary function of the Special Forces in Vietnam was to organize the Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDG) among South Vietnams Montagnard population. The Montagnards, mountain people or mountaineers, were a group of indigenous people made up of several tribes, such as the Rhade, Bru, and Jarai, who lived mainly in the highland areas of Vietnam. These forces manned camps along the mountainous border areas to guard against North Vietnamese infiltration. At the height of the war the 5th S.F. controlled 84 CIDG camps with more than 42,000 CIDG strike forces and local militia units. The CIDG program ended in December 1970 with the transfer of troops and mission to the South Vietnamese Border Ranger Command. In February 1971, the 5th Special Forces Group was withdrawn as part of the U.S. troop drawdown. 12 - 1967 - Vietnam War - Gen. William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam, welcomes 1,200 Thai troops as they arrive in Saigon. By 1969, Thai forces in Vietnam would number more than 12,000. The effort to get additional Free World Military Forces to participate in the war in support of South Vietnam was part of President Lyndon Johnsons Many Flags program. Under this program, 40 nations would send aid and assistance to the Saigon government. However, only five nations--Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and the Philippines--sent troops. A total of 351 Thai soldiers were killed in action in Vietnam. 13 - 1917 - World War One - Austria-Hungary and Germany make separate replies to the proposal issued by Pope Benedict XV at the beginning of the previous month calling for an immediate armistice between the Allied and Central Powers in World War I. Since being named to the papacy in early September 1914, Benedict had been a consistent advocate for peace. His idea for a general Christmas truce had been dismissed by the leadership of the warring powers—though spontaneous breaks in fighting and celebrations of the holiday, initiated by the soldiers themselves, had in fact occurred in many areas along the lines on Christmas Day 1914. Even after Italy entered the war on the Allied side, declaring war on Austria-Hungary in May 1915, the Vatican continued its efforts to promote peace. In a seven-point peace proposal issued on August 1, 1917, and addressed to the heads of the belligerent peoples, Pope Benedict called for the cessation of hostilities, general reduction of armaments, freedom of the seas and international arbitration of any territorial questions among the warring nations. Unfortunately for Benedict, none of the belligerent nations were inclined to accept a peace along the lines that he had suggested. In fact, Germany and the Allies both saw the Vatican as prejudiced toward the other, and neither was at that point prepared to accept anything less than a complete victory. According to one Allied leader, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, German intransigence had made peace along the lines suggested by the pope—a return to the status quo, in Wilson’s eyes—utterly impossible. The object of the war, Wilson stated in his reply to the Vatican on August 27, 1917, was now to deliver the free peoples of the world from the menace and the actual power of a vast military establishment controlled by an irresponsible Government. The one exception to the general rejection of the Papal Peace Note of August 1917 was Austria-Hungary, who issued its own reply on September 21, concluding that: Guided by a spirit of moderation and consideration, we see in the proposals of your Holiness a suitable basis for initiating negotiations with a view to preparing a peace, just to all and lasting, and we earnestly hope our present enemies may be animated by the same ideals. That same day, however, Austria’s more powerful ally, Germany, expressed its own inability to accept peace based on Benedict’s terms. Even after an armistice ended the war on November 11, 1918, the Vatican found itself on the outside, as its requests to be included in the peace negotiations were denied and it was excluded from the Paris Peace Conference at Versailles in 1919. 14 - 1942 - World War Two - The U.S. B-29 Superfortress makes its debut flight in Seattle, Washington. It was the largest bomber used in the war by any nation. The B-29 was conceived in 1939 by Gen. Hap Arnold, who was afraid a German victory in Europe would mean the United States would be devoid of bases on the eastern side of the Atlantic from which to counterattack. A plane was needed that would travel faster, farther, and higher than any then available, so Boeing set to creating the four-engine heavy bomber. The plane was extraordinary, able to carry loads almost equal to its own weight at altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000 feet. It contained a pilot console in the rear of the plane, in the event the front pilot was knocked out of commission. It also sported the first radar bombing system of any U.S. bomber. The Superfortress made its test run over the continental United States on September 21, but would not make its bombing-run debut until June 5, 1944, against Bangkok, in preparation for the Allied liberation of Burma from Japanese hands. A little more than a week later, the B-29 made its first run against the Japanese mainland. On June 14, 60 B-29s based in Chengtu, China, bombed an iron and steel works factory on Honshu Island. While the raid was less than successful, it proved to be a morale booster to Americans, who were now on the offensive. Meanwhile, the Marianas Islands in the South Pacific were being recaptured by the United States, primarily to provide air bases for their new B-29s—a perfect position from which to strike the Japanese mainland on a consistent basis. Once the bases were ready, the B-29s were employed in a long series of bombing raids against Tokyo. Although capable of precision bombing at high altitudes, the Superfortresses began dropping incendiary devices from a mere 5,000 feet, firebombing the Japanese capital in an attempt to break the will of the Axis power. One raid, in March 1945, killed more than 80,000 people. But the most famous, or perhaps infamous, use of the B-29 would come in August, as it was the only plane capable of delivering a 10,000-pound bomb—the atomic bomb. The Enola Gay and the Bocks Car took off from the Marianas, on August 6 and 9, respectively, and flew into history. The four day Yonkers extended weather forecast is: Monday, sunny, 0% chance of rain 69/49; Tuesday, sunny, 0% chance of rain, 73/54; Wednesday, mostly sunny, 0% chance of rain, 73/54; Thursday, partly cloudy, 10% chance of rain, 72/52. Baseball last night had the Blue Jays topping the Yankees 6-3, Orioles 7 - Red Sox 2, the Rays 3 - White Sox 1, and in the Senior League the Mets 4 - Braves 2. In Military Academy football, Navy was beaten by Rutgers 31-14 and Army was defeated by Wake Forest 24-21. Air Force had no game scheduled. Today is Spiritual Sunday, the day to give our creator his due. Pray for the needs of family and friends, pray for the protection of America from our enemies both foreign and domestic, and pray for peace and stability in this fragile world we live in. Enjoy those roasts today, and if you make potatoes make plenty, and hopefully you will enjoy the company of family today. Think of those who must work those public service and retail jobs today and be extra courteous to them, they, also, would rather be with their loved ones. Have a great day and as always, keep safe, P(ray) U(ntil) S(omething) H(appens), and keep smiling.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 10:09:52 +0000
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