Random News and Notes 26 May
On this date in 1637, two hours before dawn, a mixed Puritan, Mohegan, Narragansett, and Niantic force marched on the Pequot village at Mystic, Connecticut slaughtering all but a handful of its inhabitants. It marked the start of the Pequot massacres. Some ome 500 Pequot women, men and children were killed in the first raid. By the time the Pequot War (1636–1638) ended, an estimated 700 to 1,500 Pequot people were killed or enslaved.
Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of the Confederate Trans-Mississippi division, surrenders on this date in 1865, one of the last Confederate generals to capitulate. Kirby Smith, who had become commander of the area in January 1863, was charged with keeping the Mississippi River open to the Southerners. He drew sharp criticism for his failure to provide relief for Vicksburg, Mississippi in the summer of 1863.
When the Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee and Joseph Johnston surrendered in the spring of 1865, Kirby Smith continued to resist with his small army in Texas. Kirby Smith himself fled to Mexico, and then to Cuba, before returning to Virginia in November 1865 to sign an amnesty oath. He was the last surviving full Confederate general until his death in 1893.
On this date in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signs into law the Immigration Act of 1924, the most stringent U.S. immigration policy up to that time in the nation’s history. Under the new law, immigration remained open to those with a college education and/or special skills, but entry was denied disproportionately to Eastern and Southern Europeans and Japanese.
Operation Dynamo, the British effort to evacuate their troops from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France, started on this day in 1940. By the time the Operation ended, some 338,000 British, French, and other Allied soldiers escaped to Britain using a flotilla of naval vessels and hundreds of civilian “little ships,” an effort often called the “Miracle of Dunkirk.”
We start today’s news in Iran. Despite the talk of a deal over the weekend, there were kinetic strikes against IRI targets yesterday. CENTCOM announced “defensive strikes” after they caught Iranian boats laying mines in the strait and Iranian air defense radars targeting US aircraft.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “The straits have to be open. They’re going to be opened one way or the other… What’s happening there is unlawful — it’s illegal, it’s unsustainable for the world, and unacceptable.” during a press gaggle yesterday. He also said “Our position is well stated… It’s either going to be a good deal or there isn’t going to be one.”
I expect that kinetic actions will resume. For whatever reason, be it political, cultural or religious, the regime in Iran is pathologically unable to admit when it has no leverage. And if they think the US and Israel do not know where Mojtaba Khomeini is they are sadly mistaken.
File this one under things I did not see coming, ever. Massachusetts Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a moderate Democrat, told CNN that Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner’s recently covered SS Totenkopf makes him unfit for office. Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, says he picked the design unknowingly in 2007 in Croatia and covered it last year amid scrutiny, though some critics like a former staffer claim he knew its ‘Totenkopf’ ties earlier.
Of course the attack dogs on the left are now out for Auchincloss’ blood. It seems all the autistic screeching about Nazis by the left really didn’t mean anything.
A couple of days ago the Republican-led Energy and Commerce Committee voted 48-1 to include the Sunshine Protection Act in a transportation package, making daylight saving time permanent nationwide while letting states opt out for standard time. President Trump praised the move on Truth Social, vowing to sign it to end biannual clock changes.
Look, all time is arbitrary. At one point, the Soviet Union – the largest country by landmass – had a single time zone. All I ask is that we stop changing time twice a year.
Today is primary runoff day in Texas. Of note are the races for US senate and Texas AG.
The Senate race pits 4 term incumbent John Cornyn against current Texas AG Ken Paxton. The AG race is down to Rep Chip Roy and State Sen. Mayes Middleton. We’ll be covering the results in tomorrow’s RNN.
Polls are open 7 AM–7 PM.
A display for the semisesquicentennial was unveiled at the Hoover dam Yesterday. A 300-foot-wide, 2,000-pound flag hangs alongside 550 automated LED lights powered by the dam’s own hydroelectricity now decorate the structure. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo joined a ceremony with patriotic music, a cannon salute, and an Army flyover.
The display, organized by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, will shine nightly through Independence Day.