Random News and Notes 28 January
We start out today’s RNN with a couple of historical notes.
On this date in 1915, the US Coast Guard was created by an act of Congress. I know the puddle pirates like to claim their history starts with the Revenue Cutter Service founded in 1790 by then Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton. But the fact is, it wasn’t until 1915 that they became a ‘thing’ when the revenue cutter service was merged with the Life Saving Service – founded in 1878 – to become the Coast Guard.
While considered a military service, they are not under the control of the DOD, but rather the DHS. Prior to 2002, they were under the control of the Transportation department, and before that the Treasury. Anyway, Yay Coasties!
The second history note is less happy, if not downright tragic. Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster.
Astronauts Francis R. “Dick” Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, Gregory B. Jarvis and school teacher S. Christa McAuliffe were all killed when the shuttle blew apart 73 seconds after liftoff.
The culprit, other than the hubris of NASA administrators and engineers, was a pair of rubber o-rings. They failed and allowed hot gasses to escape, melting a key strut and causing the rapid, unintentional disassembly of Challenger.
Your editor was a senior in Highschool and we as a class were watching live as the disaster unfurled. It did not seem real. Still doesn’t.
On Wednesday, President Trump highlighted the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group—now in the Arabian Sea—urging Iran to negotiate or face attacks far worse than Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes that set back Tehran’s nuclear program years using B-2 bombers and bunker-busters. The warning follows Iran’s brutal crackdown on protests that killed at least 6,000, with Trump voicing support for demonstrators at a rally.
Iran responded defiantly, ready for dialogue but vowing fierce defense, as oil prices rose over 1% amid the tension.
The Iranian defiance is for an internal audience. The Ayatollahs know they are unable to cause any real harm to the US of its interests in the Gulf. The total response from Iran after Midnight Hammer was three missiles shot at Qatar – all intercepted – and two missiles that leaked through Iron Dome in Israel that wounded 16. Oh, and a stern speech from Ali Khamenei. So, in reality nothing.
There is a quick sports note to share. Bill Belichick, the long-time coach of the New England Patriots was in his first year of eligibility for the Football Hall of Fame. Belichick won 6 Super Bowls at the Head Coach of the Pats and two more as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants. He has more playoff wins than any other coach in NFL history.
He apparently fell short of the 40 votes he needed to get in the hall on his first ballot.
Oh well. . .