The U.S.S. Maine was sent into Havana's harbor to protect American citizens and property and to intimidate the Cubans into behaving. Then it exploded on February 15. It killed more than 250 sailors.

Cuba rebelled against Spain in 1868 and fought for ten years.

On February 25, Theodore Roosevelt cabled naval commanders in the Pacific to prepare for military action against Spain. President McKinley ordered most of the cables undone, but he did leave Admiral George Dewey. Dewey was told to attack the Spanish fleet in the Philippines if the U.S. went to war with Spain.

Late in March, McKinley sent a list of demands to Spain, including; compensation for the Maine, an end to the reconcentration camps, a truce in Cuba, and Cuban independence. Spain accepted all but the last.

McKinley decided he could not stop the cries for war, even after Spain accepted all but the last of his demands. On April 11, 1898 he sent a war message to Congress. Not soon after that, Congress recognized Cuban independence and authorized force against Spain.

Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.

Oddly, because she has that confidence, the people around her like her more. She becomes more a part of the Reaper family, and she also is able to get along with people more outside of their circle as well.

I don't have any elaborate uniforms; I come to the ring in a T-shirt, a pair of sneakers and some shorts.

Women need to hear the words, 'It's okay if things don't go exactly the way you want them to.' Give yourself a break!

I think all the filmmakers in Hong Kong are influenced by John Woo.

While I have no empirical evidence to back this up, I bet that the number of homosexual people per thousand has not fluctuated all that much over the centuries. I do not believe the dented wisdom my father used to extol, that homosexuality was a sure sign of a civilization in decline.

I earnestly feel terrible for any mistakes at the bank.

Football players should always remember there's a whole lot more to life.

I grew up in a time when being a musician and learning to be a musician was actually very wonderful.

All these years, they've been giving lip service to saying that we are a party that is inclusive instead of exclusive. We've said the Democratic Party has a great big umbrella, and everybody can be comfortable under that umbrella. If they didn't mean it, then it ought to be pulled apart.

If we don't take responsiblity of what happens to our society, then no amount of Independence can improve human condition.

If a man confessed anything on his death bed it was the truth for no man could stare death in the face and lie.

Your divine design dictates your future direction.

The idea that a book can advise a woman how to capture a man is touchingly naive. Books advising men how to capture a woman are far less common, perhaps because few men are willing to admit to such a difficulty. For both sexes, I recommend a good novel, offering scenarios you might learn from, if only because they reflect a lot of doubt.

Love is never wrong.

When you're on tour, you're trying to get the crowd involved and really sing and perform to them. When you're going to write and be in the studio, it's like, 'Now I have to think about me.' That's the mind-set you have to work with.

Vicious habits are so odious and degrading that they transform the individual who practices them into an incarnate demon.

I always say to my students that being a scientist is like being an explorer, and I really mean that because, in a sense, I think in science we explore the world, the universe around us.

I'm a better mother if I'm also doing my work. Some women find a lot more satisfaction from doing the hardest job, which is being a mom. But I like my day job, so I juggle a lot.

Communism is a monopolistic system economically and politically.

I haven't signed as many films as I'd like to because there are no good roles, as disheartening as it is to say.

There are some heterosexuals that have heterosexual behavior that is appalling sexually, that is deviant and bad and not really moral and Christ-like and biblical. But those people are never questioned as to whether or not they're allowed to be a parent.

I can't imagine an argument that says that raising marginal tax rates on high income people, many of whom are business owners, is a recipe for economic growth.

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