Random News and Notes 25 March
Today is Medal of Honor Day. The Medal dates back to the Civil War. Originally proposed by LTC Edward Townsend in 1861, it wasn’t accepted until Winfield Scott – then commander of the entire US Army – retired, and then only by the Navy.
The Army version didn’t come about until 1862 with the first awards not happening until this date in 1863. The resolution authorized the awarding a medal of honor “to such non-commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection.” There have been 3,552 Medals of Honor awarded, with over 40 percent awarded for actions during the Civil War.
There are separate designs for the Medal for the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. The Marine Awardees get the Navy version as did the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor, Douglas Munro.
We start the news today in Daegu ROK, where the locals have taken offense at the attempts to build a mosque. Residents near Kyungpook National University in Daegu have opposed the Daruleeman Mosque using severed pig heads, public pork feasts, and legal challenges, citing noise, traffic, and crime fears linked to foreign Muslims.
The Buk District office’s December 2025 delay halted work for over two years in a country with about 200,000 mostly migrant Muslims. Seems like a good way to deal with them if you ask me.
On January 25, 2026, around 11 p.m., someone targeted the local Republican party office at 909 E. Rand Road in Arlington Heights, Illinois. They drew antisemitic symbols and curse words over a Charlie Kirk poster, while smearing feces and liquid on the walkway. Police arrested 72-year-old Brock McNerney and 69-year-old Moisette McNerney from nearby East Clarendon Avenue on March 23, charging them with misdemeanor criminal damage and defacement.
They were released pending court.
TF is on ‘her’ face? Also, one would think that being as old as they are they would know better. I hope they do time.
The criminal demographic stats for the first 9 months of last year for New York City were released. The numbers for shootings are a bit lopsided. Of the shootings where the race of the shooter was known, 356 had a black gunman and just 2 were committed by whites.
This came as overall shootings dropped to record lows of 553 incidents, a 20% decline over the first 3 quarters last year.
A pair of Supreme Court decisions dropped this morning. The first, a case called Rico v US, an 8-1 opinion by Justice Gorsuch that the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 does not authorize courts to automatically extend a defendant’s term of supervised release simply because the defendant fails to report to a probation officer. The Court rejected the application of the common-law “fugitive tolling” doctrine in this context, reversing the Ninth Circuit and remanding the case. Justice Alito dissented.
The second ruling today is in Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that an internet service provider like Cox cannot be held contributorily liable for its subscribers’ copyright infringement merely because it knew users were infringing copyrighted music (via BitTorrent) and chose not to terminate their accounts.
Justice Thomas wrote the majority opinion, holding that contributory liability requires the provider to have induced the infringement or offered a service specifically tailored to enable it; Cox did neither, so the Court reversed the Fourth Circuit and remanded the case (which had previously upheld a $1 billion jury verdict against Cox on contributory infringement while vacating the vicarious liability finding).
Epic Fury News
Iran has reportedly rejected the ceasefire proposals that had been on the table.
Two things. First, do not take my use of a particular account as an endorsement. I used the post above because it was clear, concise and near the top. I know that account to be unreliable at best and outright propaganda at worst.
Second, I’m not sure who is left to negotiate with on the Iranian side. I have to wonder if we are dealing with some sort of zombie regime at this point.
Open-source trackers have logged about 50 flights from bases like Pope Army Airfield, home to Delta Force and the 82nd Airborne, landing mostly at Jordan’s King Faisal Air Base and Israel’s Ovda Air Base. This pattern emerges during Operation Epic Fury, the U.S.-led campaign that has struck over 9,000 Iranian targets since February 28, 2026, without ground troops entering Iran.
I highly recommend you click through and read this whole post. This is, I think, spot on analysis of what is going on with the current surge of airlift.