Random News and Notes 18 November

We start out today’s edition of RNN with a couple of historical notes.

On this date in 1916, British Donkey err General Douglas Haig called off the Somme Offensive. The Battle started on 1 July of ’16 and by the end, more than 1.1 million were dead or wounded to the point they would never return to battle. The British suffered more than 57,000 casualties on the first day. In a war known for extreme casualty counts, the Somme stands out. Only the Brusilov Offensive on the eastern front had more casualties than the Somme.

Suddenly into the still air burst thudding
And thudding and cold fear possessed me all,
On the gray slopes there, where Winter in sullen brooding
Hung between height and depth of the ugly fall
Of Heaven to earth; and the thudding was illness own.
But still a hope I kept that were we there going over
I; in the line, I should not fail, but take recover
From others courage, and not as coward be known.
No flame we saw, the noise and the dread alone
Was battle to us; men were enduring there such
And such things, in wire tangled, to shatters blown.
Courage kept, but ready to vanish at first touch.
Fear, but just held. Poets were luckier once
In the hot fray swallowed and some magnificence

On Somme, by Ivor Gurney, English poet and WWI soldier

Also today, but this time in 1978, the events at Jonestown, Guyana came to a head. Depending on what source you look at, the events at the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project are variously called a mass suicide, a massacre or mass murder. What is not in doubt is that some 909 people died, nearly all by cyanide poisoning. Not everyone drank the Kool aid as it were. Evidence indicates that a large number of the dead were injected against their will, including more than 70 children. Not included in the total are the members of a congressional delegation led by Cali rep Leo Ryan. They were attacked at an airfield near Jonestown. Ryan, NBC cameraman Bob Brow and several others were shot to death by cult members.

Now, the news.

The current Dem push to release the Epstein ‘files’ has claimed a scalp. Too bad it was a Dem. Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary, former Harvard President and Obama advisor, has announced he was stepping back from ‘public life’ after relevations that he was buddy-buddy with Epstein.

Epstein aside, Summers was 64 at the time, married and was trying to bed a subordinate 30 years his junior.. None of that is a good look. That he went to a by-then-known sex pest is, well you come up with the proper adjective.

Operation Charlotte’s Web kicked off in that city over the weekend. DHS has started large scale immigration enforcement in that city. Some people weren’t happy about it so they decided that they should do something. It didn’t turn out all that well for a couple of them.

. . . the individual a warning—They then tried to box agents in to prevent them from leaving. Agents issued another warning. The individual then backed up into a government vehicle, then took off leading agents on a high-speed pursuit for about a mile.
The individual who is reportedly a U.S. citizen was arrested for assault on a federal agent but denied any wrongdoing.

Denied wrongdoing. Ok. I wonder how Stuart will hold up in the slam. . .

There is some news about the Francis Scott Key disaster in Baltimore. The NTSB has released a preliminary report that points to electrical faults on the M/V Dali that led to a loss of control. The Board is meeting today to discuss the findings in the report. It seems the majority of fault can be ascribed to a single loose wire connection.

The cost of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key bridge has exploded. Original estimates were in the $2 billion range. The most recent projections have it between $5 and 6 billion.

The UN Security Council approved a US backed initiative to place Gaza under the control of an international peacekeeping force.

This idea is fraught with danger. First, Hamas needs to be dealt with once and for all, and they have not agreed to not be in charge of the Strip. Second, the success of the mission will be very dependent on what countries are involved. If it is mostly Turkey, it won’t work at all. If they come from the Arab League nations, there is a chance. I need to point out that US troops will not be boots on the ground in Gaza regardless.