Random News and Notes 28 April
Captain William Bligh gets a bad rap. He was a well respected Royal Navy officer when a malcontent named Fletcher Christian stepped aboard HMS Bounty. It was this day in 1789 that Christian led a group of mutineers that took over the ship and set Bligh and 18 loyal men adrift in an open boat three weeks into a trip from Tahiti to the British West Indies.
Christian and his co-conspirators assumed they had delivered a death sentence to Bligh, but they were mistaken. By remarkable seamanship, however, Bligh and his men reached Timor in the East Indies on June 14, 1789, after a voyage of about 3,600 miles. Christian did not fare as well. After settling on Pitcairn Island, all but one of the male mutineers was dead – either from sickness or violence – by 1802.
Bligh on the other hand flourished. He was aquitted for the loss of the Bounty, served under Nelson at Copenhagen, and eventually named governor of New South Wales. In 1814, he was promoted to vice-admiral of the blue. Bligh died of cancer in Bond Street, London, on 7 December 1817.
On this date in 1945, Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, are shot by Italian partisans who had captured the couple as they attempted to flee to Switzerland.
Now, News!
I am not entirely sure what to make of this one. The United Arab Emirates has announced it is withdrawing from OPEC effective 1 May this year after joining in 1967, to align with its strategic vision and ramp up production from 4 million to 5 million barrels per day by 2027. Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei described the decision as a policy evolution focused on market stability and sustainability.
OPEC – the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries – is a cartel that sets oil production numbers of its member states. That effectively sets pricing. The UAE is no longer going to be bound by OPEC or OPEC+ quota limits. That should cause oil pricing to drop significantly.
Some climate retards tried gluing themselves to the road somewhere in France. The Gendarmerie were having none of it. A video captures tactical police detaching climate activists in orange vests from a roadway, with one man yelling in pain and a woman grimacing nearby before they’re escorted away.
Quelle surprise! Or not. I expect manbun plays soccer by the way he flops around.
Death Valley National Park is undergoing its first major superbloom in a decade, transforming the desert landscape with vibrant carpets of yellow, pink, and purple wildflowers. The event was triggered by record winter rainfall of 1.7 to 2.5+ inches, along with rare October rainstorms that activated millions of dormant seeds.
Cool as.
FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents executed 22 court-approved search warrants at more than 20 locations in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, primarily targeting Somali-owned businesses such as the Quality Learing Center. The raids are part of ongoing federal fraud investigations involving the misuse of U.S. taxpayer dollars in programs like childcare assistance.
Officials confirmed the operations are unrelated to immigration enforcement and involved assistance from federal, state, and local law enforcement.