Nine

Reginald Stanley Bartholomew was the United States Ambassador to Italy from 1993 to 1997. Prior to Italy, he was the ambassador to Lebanon, stationed in Beirut. The day after his October 1983 arrival, the Marine barracks were bombed by terrorists, killing 241 people. Bartholomew toured the scene the next morning, his first full day on the job.  The bombing convinced President Ronald Reagan to pull the U.S. troops stationed there, although Bartholomew persuaded him to delay withdrawal until February 1984. That September, terrorists bombed the newly constructed embassy annex near East Beirut, which had been built to replace the one bombed the year before. Nine people were killed and Bartholomew had to be pulled from the rubble. Although he was not seriously wounded, he needed stitches and a cast on his arm.  Bartholomew was later appointed ambassador to Spain in 1986, and then to Italy in 1993. Upon retirement, he joined Merrill Lynch Investment Banking as Vice-Chairman Europe and Chairman Italy. Bartholomew died on this date in 2012 in New York City, aged 76, from cancer.  Impermanence is swift.

Two suicide bombers struck near a main gate amid crowds gathered outside the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan today, making an infernally difficult situation that much more complicated.  As I write this, it's still an ongoing situation, but it appears that 12 U.S. Marines are among the dead, the first American casualties there in almost 16 months.  The Islamic State (aka ISIS, or ISIS-K) has claimed responsibility. There will be plenty of time to assign blame later, once we know more about what actually happened, so I've nothing more to say on the matter at this time other than to remind you again of the swiftness of impermanence.

I'm still watching those three storms out in the Atlantic and Caribbean.  The one storm that was off the Venezuela coast is now Tropical Depression Nine, and is expected to develop into a full-blown hurricane, make landfall on the Louisiana coast, and then track up the Mississippi River.  I would not be at all surprised if it doesn't change course and head for Atlanta, as most hurricanes seem to do this year.

My deepest condolences to those Marines who died today and to their families.  About 54 people in the U.S. lose their lives each day from gun violence, and on average, the covids is killing about 1,100 people per day.  Now I need someone to explain to me how the tragedy in Kabul is worse than the 22 people who lost their lives in Tennessee last week from climate-change induced flash flooding.