Badass, Not Bad Ass

On This Day In History
1912: Theodore Roosevelt nominated as Bull Moose candidate

Quote Of The Day
"I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose ...... the bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best."
(Theodore Roosevelt, address at Milwaukee, October 14, 1912)

Just how badass was Theodore Roosevelt? You mean, besides delivering a fifty minute speech immediately after being shot in the chest and only then going to the hospital for medical attention?

Well let's see.

1.) When a drunken saloon patron pointed a gun in the unarmed Teddy Roosevelt's face, Theo laughed in his face, charged at him and then beat him senseless before dragging the drunken sot out of the bar and locking him in a shed until morning.

2.) Regularly went skinny dipping in the Potomac River in all weather.

3.) Regularly practised judo and ju-jitsu, even while in the White House. He was America's first brown belt.

4.) Hired the American middleweight wrestling champion to train him in wrestling and frequently sparred with challengers in the White House.

5.) Authored 38 books, including a definitive history of The Naval War of 1812 and a four-volume series entitled The Winning Of The West.

6.) He was the first president to invite a black man, former slave and educator Booker T. Washington, to the White House.

7.) Would often read one or two books before breakfast daily.

8.) Won the Nobel Prize for Peace for mediating the Treaty of Portsmouth and used the prize money to fund a trust to promote industrial peace.

9.) After his presidency, he co-led the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition following the path of the Rio da Duvida in the Amazon basin. Malaria, infection and starvation nearly killed him.

10.) While once on the trail, he jumped off his horse and stabbed a cougar to death.

Theodore Roosevelt once famously said, "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."



Certainly beats, "Grab 'em by the pussy," for a legacy, doesn't it?

I'll Make A Man Out Of You

UPDATE
Took a walk to the beach this afternoon and it was really bizarre; the whole time I was there I could hear what sounded like loud bells ringing in the air. I couldn't determine the location; for a while it seemed to be coming from the north, then the south, then the east and then the west. I say it sounded like bells but it only occasionally could the striking of the bells be heard; mostly it was the ringing sound that occurs after the bell has struck. So far I have not been able to find out what the sound was. I'll let you know if I do find out. In the meantime, it is my own personal Why File.

Terrifying Sounds That Signal the End of the World

UPDATE
Possible explanation for the noise at the beach. A few minutes ago, looking from our balcony, I spotted something flying in the sky in small, roughly circular patterns. I took a photograph of it and, as you can see, zooming in I could see that it was a kite. V noticed that there was a pole on the roof of the building directly below that kite. She then noticed that many buildings have similar poles on them that she insists were not there yesterday. I mean dozens of buildings. I can't confirm that because, honestly, I don't remember if they were there before or not. V also found out that NTT are testing out the use of kites in place of lightning rods. Interestingly, there was a young man at the beach where the sound was loudest and he was flying two kites. Also, today is National Mechanics' Day in Japan. So, perhaps that sound was something to do with electricity, lightning or new methods of diverting lightning.

Any ideas out there?