Random News and Notes 13 October
There is joy and elation in Israel today. All 20 of the remaining living hostages were released by Hamas this morning. For the first time in 738 days, there are no living Israeli hostages in the hands of Hamas.
There are some issues with the return of the remains of those Hamas killed while in captivity. Only four of the 28 deceased hostages have been released. It seems that Hamas is having trouble locating the rest.
The hostage return, is not unalloyed good news however. Hamas got some 2000 people back. All had been duly convicted and sentenced to varying prison terms by Israeli courts. That number includes at least 250 who were sentenced to life terms for terror related convictions.
President Trump visited the region and spoke at the Knesset. earlier today.
I think it is a bit early to say that there is peace in the region. Hamas is still armed, still in control and still willing to sacrifice their fellow Arabs to promote their cause. It is a goodly step forward though.
I dunno if there is something going on with general aviation or if it is just one of those clusters that happen occasionally. Since reporting on the Bell 222 crash in Huntington Beach yesterday there have been two more incidents. A Beech King Air – a light twin passenger plane – crashed in the Ft. Worth area. At least two were killed in the crash.
The other incident occurred in Massachusetts. A Socata TBM 700 crashed onto the median of I-195 in Dartmouth around 0815 this morning. The TBM 700 is a single turbo-prop engined light aircraft. There is no word of casualties at this point.
There is speculation that the weather contributed to the crash.
It is day 13 of the Schumer Shutdown. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) made the rounds on the Sunday shows yesterday. I don’t think he expected what was to come. CBS’ Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan hit him with a montage of Murphy being critical of shutdowns.
. . . amidst a government shutdown, and trying to USE our nation’s security and all of these federal workers and the work that they do as hostages!”
BRENNAN: Aren’t you doing today EXACTLY what you were criticizing then?
SEN. MURPHY: No…that was long term…
I have to say I am surprised that the MSM is pushing back on the Dems on this. Well, at least some in the MSM are.
In addition to being the US Navy’s 250th Birthday, it is also Columbus day. Well, technically yesterday, 12 October, was Columbus day but as a federal holiday, it is celebrated today this year. The day commemorates the day Columbus landed on Guanahaní, an island in the Bahamas.
. . .the human spirit. May we never stop exploring new frontiers.
Columbus gets a bad rap. Some is revisionism, some is presentism, very little of it is correct. Even the things we think of as free from the previous. That includes the thought that he ‘discovered’ the Americas.
Norse, Dane and Svear vikings had all visited North America some 500 years before the Italian Columbus. The Danes in particular had traveled as far south as Long Island. The Danes had a settlement at a place now called L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland. There is also good evidence that the Frisians – people from what is now the Low Countries in Western Europe – had at least visited some time in the early 1000s.
Does that mean I want his name taken off the day? Hell no. Columbus changed the course of history.
Regardless, it is Columbus day and not some retarded Indigenous Peoples day. And I mean that in the most loving and caring way possible. Trying to change an established holiday to something else because of feels is retarded. If you want a day to honor Indians and (God I hate this term) First Nations, fine I think it’s a Grand Idea, just pick another day.
