Random News and Notes 1 May
Welcome to the May Day edition of RNN. May Day is not just a commie holiday, it commemorates the coming of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. The non-commie celebrations include the May pole, Morris dancers and the crowning of the May Queen.
“You may fire when ready, Gridley.” Those words, spoken by Commodore George Dewey started the Battle of Manila Bay on this date in 1898. It was the first major action of the Spanish-American war. In 4 hours the US squadron wrecked or captured 10 Spanish vessels and killed at least 400 Spanish sailors for the cost of only 6 US sailors.
At 5:41 a.m., at a range of 5,400 yards from the Spanish fleet, Dewey’s flagship, the Olympia, opened fire starting the Battle. Two hours later, with most of the Spanish vessels resting on the bottom, Dewey called a cease fire. Four surviving Spanish vessels, trapped in the little harbor at Cavite, refused to surrender, and at 11:15 a.m. fighting resumed. At 12:30 p.m., a signal was sent from the gunboat USS Petrel to Dewey’s flagship: “The enemy has surrendered.”
On May 1, 1931, President Herbert Hoover officially dedicates New York City’s Empire State Building, pressing a button from the White House that turns on the building’s lights. At the time of its completion, the Empire State Building, at 102 stories and 1,250 feet high (1,454 feet to the top of the lightning rod), was the world’s tallest skyscraper. It would remain so until 1972 when the World Trade Center was completed.
In 1960, a U-2 spy plane was shot down over the USSR. The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, ejected safely and was captured by the KGB. The U-2 spy plane was the brainchild of the Central Intelligence Agency, and it was a sophisticated technological marvel. Traveling at altitudes of up to 70,000 feet, the aircraft was equipped with state-of-the-art photography equipment that could take high-resolution pictures as it flew overhead. Flights over the Soviet Union began in mid-1956. The CIA assured President Eisenhower that the Soviets did not possess anti-aircraft weapons sophisticated enough to shoot down the high-altitude planes.
Powers was sentenced to 3 years in a Soviet prison camp for espionage. He was released in 1962 in exchange for a captured Soviet spy.
Now, News!
There is breaking-ish news of a small plane crash in Texas. A Cessna 421C crashed around 11:05 p.m. on Round Rock Road in the Wimberley area of Hays County, about 40 miles southwest of Austin. Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra confirmed there were fatalities Friday, with preliminary signs pointing to high speed on impact but no mid-air collision. A nearby plane landed safely in New Braunfels, and the FAA and NTSB are investigating as families await victim identifications and privacy.
Authorities have confirmed that all five occupants lost their lives as a result of the incident. Fire and EMS personnel remained on scene through the early morning hours. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) have been notified and will be leading the investigation into the cause of the crash.
Some interesting video from the WHCD shooting/assassination attempt was released today. It shows a security checkpoint and 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen casually passing metal detectors at the Washington Hilton, only to sprint out firing at an agent moments later. The agent, hit by shotgun fire, returned shots while falling.
I’d like to break this video down a bit starting at the very beginning. The first thing I noticed was the K9 unit alerted on the skell, enough so that the handler was pulled but the dog. That critter was the only one who sensed something was off and was the only one paying any attention at all.
Next, watch the agents/cops for a second. Only one manages to draw a weapon before Allen is long past them. And he misses every shot he fires despite being at touching distance.
Finally, the only reason they stopped the guy is that he tripped. Not a single one of them engaged the would-be assassin.
Everyone on scene there needs to be fired.
It looks like Fatigue Airlines err Spirit Airlines is preparing to cease operations. The low cost carrier is insolvent and a bailout plan failed to materialize. Jet Blue had tried to take over the troubled ultra-low cost airline two years ago but the feds prevented the merger.
I’ll miss the gate videos, but bus people are gonna have to ride the bus again.