Random News and Notes 27 April
You know the line, but did you know that on this date in 1805, US Marines attacked Derna, Tripolitania – now called Libya – to help depose a local ruler. Led by Army Captain William Eaton and Marine Lt. Presley O’Bannon, the force marched 500+ miles from Egypt to depose Yusuf Karamanli, the ruling pasha of Tripoli, who had seized power from his brother, Hamet Karamanli, a pasha who was sympathetic to the United States.
Lieutenant Presley O’ Bannon, commanding the Marines, performed so heroically in the battle that Hamet Karamanli presented him with an elaborately designed sword that now serves as the pattern for the swords carried by Marine officers.
Now, News!
The video and images coming out of the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt at the WHCD are 🧑🍳 😽.
Like the video of the attendees stealing wine and champagne form the tables as the room was being emptied:
Or this one:
Or this legend:
Look, unlike a lot of online commentators, I am not gonna be Judgey McJudgeface here. While I will say the theft – or what appears to be theft – of the bottles in the first post is a bad look, had I paid what they paid for a seat I’d probably be looking to recoup some of that spend particularly if the event got interrupted.
As far as the other two go, I say good on you. I’d want a drink and some mashed after that mess too.
The Falkland Islands/Las Malvinas thing is heating up. Again. I feel like this was a topic here not that long ago, but I can’t be assed to check, so here goes.
The Falkland Islands (known as Las Islas Malvinas in Argentina) were uninhabited when first sighted by Europeans in the late 16th century, with the first recorded landing made by English Captain John Strong in 1690, who named the waterway between the main islands after Viscount Falkland.
In the 18th century, France established the first settlement in 1764, followed by British claims and a short-lived settlement; Spain later took control before withdrawing in 1811. Britain reasserted control in 1833 after expelling Argentine officials, leading to a long-running sovereignty dispute that culminated in the 1982 Falklands War, when Argentina invaded and British forces recaptured the islands after a 10-week conflict.
Since then, the islands have remained a British Overseas Territory, with residents overwhelmingly voting to maintain that status in a 2013 referendum.
On to today. Some Argentine officials have been making noises about reclaiming the islands. Most recently, the VP, Victoria Villarruel posted on X that the Falklands belong to her country, insisting the discussion is solely between states and telling islanders feeling English to return to their homeland. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper fired back, affirming British sovereignty and the islanders’ right to self-determination, while President Javier Milei reiterated Argentina’s claim.
This all comes down to the weakness of the British military and foreign service. I’ll be honest, Argentina doesn’t have the ability to take them and the Brits would have a tough time defending them. Lots of dead people for what are essentially a couple of rocks out in the middle of nowhere in the Southern Atlantic.
The Supreme Court just turned back a challenge to the Texas mid-cycle Congressional re-districting. A 6-3 court summarily reversed a 5th circuit ruling putting the re-drawn maps on hold. The map, enacted in August 2025 after a DOJ letter on minority voting districts, faced challenges from groups like LULAC, who argued it diluted Latino voting power to favor GOP seats.
Citing a prior stay and a presumption of legislative good faith, the Court cleared the map for 2026 primaries and generals.
In more redistricting news, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just unveiled a new map for that state. It goes from 20 Republicans and seven Democrats to a heavily Republican lineup with just four blue seats.
I saw it noted that this redistricting would cancel out the crap Spanberger and the Dems pulled in Virginia.
And speaking of Virginia, the VA supreme court is hearing arguments about the constitutionality of the redistricting process. According to all the sources I’ve seen, the Dems did some not-so-kosher things with the referendum not limited to using leading language in the question.
I would expect an expedited decision on this one. The primaries are in August, but early voting begins in June.