Random News and Notes 30 August

On this date:

• 1617 – Rosa de Lima of Peru becomes the first American saint to be canonized.
• 1721 – The Peace of Nystad ends the Second Northern War between Sweden and Russia, giving Russia considerably more power in the Baltic region.
• 1776 – General George Washington gives the New York Convention three reasons for the American retreat from Long Island. That same day, he rejects British General William Howe’s second letter of reconciliation.
• 1778 – The French fleet arrives in the Chesapeake Bay to aid the American Revolution.
• 1813 – Creek Indians massacre over 500 whites at Fort Mims, Alabama.
• 1860 – The first British tramway is inaugurated at Birkenhead by an American, George Francis Train.
• 1861 – Union General John Fremont declares martial law throughout Missouri and makes his own emancipation proclamation to free slaves in the state. President Lincoln overrules the general.
• 1892 – The Moravia, a passenger ship arriving from Germany, brings cholera to the United States.
• 1918 – After speaking at a factory in Moscow, Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is shot twice by Fanya Kaplan, a member of the Social Revolutionary party. Lenin was seriously wounded but survived the attack.
• 1944 – Ploesti, the center of the Rumanian oil industry, falls to Soviet troops. (For more on Ploesti, check out Walt’s fine piece here)
• 1961 – President John F. Kennedy appoints General Lucius D. Clay as his personal representative in Berlin.
• 1963 – Hot Line communications link installed between Moscow and Washington, DC.
• 1967 – US Senate confirms Thurgood Marshall as Supreme Court justice.
• 1979 – First recorded instance of a comet (Howard-Koomur-Michels) hitting the sun; the energy released is equal to approximately 1 million hydrogen bombs.
• 1982 – Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) forced out of Lebanon after 10 years in Beirut during Lebanese Civil War.
• 1983 – Eiffel Tower welcomes its 150 millionth visitor, 33-year-old Parisian Jacqueline Martinez. The Eiffel Tower was officially inaugurated on 31 March 1889.
• 1986 – KGB arrests journalist Nicholas Daniloff (US News World Report) on a charge of spying and hold him for 13 days.

We start today’s news with a fun story out of Florida where The Dog Bar at 2300 Central Ave in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District blends an off-leash dog park with a full bar, where staff called ‘wooferees’ keep play safe. A video from a ‘Rave the Woof’ event shows pups romping in glowing bubbles amid music and neon.

I can see this spreading across the country. It looks fun.

I do have a concern or two. First, I hope the foam is pet safe, and yes that is a thing. And second, what happens if someone leaves a present in the foam?

This one is funny, but in a much different way. The Clinton Global Initiative, the money laundering slush fund of slick Willie and Kankles, is advertising for an intern with a ‘high level of discretion’. The Office of Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York listed the hybrid role on platforms like DayBook, asking for research, writing, memos, and office help, with academic credit for students. It stresses strong skills and discretion.

Monica Lewinsky has entered the chat.

The people of Iceland went to the polls yesterday to determine the future of their sovereignty. There was a referendum held there about restarting accession talks with the EU. Iceland is not currently a member of that body. And after yesterday’s vote, they will remain non-members.

The no’s garnered some 52% of the vote, ending any Icelandic attempt to enter the European Union.

It seems that the rural portions of Iceland drove the no vote. They were worried about fishing rights and national sovereignty. Iceland is already a member of the Schengen group and the Euro Market, so EU membership was primarily a negative one.