Random News and Notes 27 May

Another busy day in History. List time:

• In 1703 St. Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great. The city would be the new capitol of the Russian Empire.
• In 1835 Jedediah Smith, one of the nation’s most important trapper-explorers, is killed by Comanche tribesman on the Santa Fe Trail. Smith’s role in exploring the Far West was not fully realized until modern scholars examined the records of his far-ranging journeys.
• The Hells Canyon Massacre begins on this date in 1887, in Lewiston, Washington Territory, in what is now Idaho. The mass slaughter of Chinese gold miners by a gang of white horse thieves was one of many racially motivated crimes perpetrated against Asian immigrants in the American West during this period.
• On this date I 1897, the first copies of the classic vampire novel Dracula, by Irish writer Bram Stoker, hit London bookstore shelves. Upon its release, Dracula enjoyed moderate success, though when Stoker died in 1912 none of his obituaries even mentioned Dracula by name.
• The Battle of Tsushima Strait which pitted Imperial Russia against the Japanese started today in 1904. The Russo-Japanese war began with a sneak attack by the Japanese. By the time the Battle of Tsushima was over, more than 30 Russian ships were sunk or captured by the Japanese.
• San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, a stunning technological and artistic achievement, opens to the public after five years of construction on this date in 1937.
• Mere days after the Germans having sunk the British flagship HMS Hood in 1941, the British navy returns the favor and sinks the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic near France. The German death toll was more than 2,000.
• On May 27, 1986, the U.S. Patent Office grants a patent to African American inventor Lonnie Johnson for his toy design simply titled ”Squirt Gun.” After a few name changes and additional patents, Johnson’s invention—ultimately re-named the “Super Soaker®”—would become the best-selling water toy of all time, eventually earning its rightful place in the American National Toy Hall of Fame.
• Two decades after being expelled from the USSR, Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returns to Russia in an emotional homecoming on this date in 1994. Despite his treatment by the State – he was sentenced to 8 years hard labor for criticizing Stalin – Solzhenitsyn was a hardcore commie until his death in 2008.

We start the news in Texas and with the results of the Primary runoffs there yesterday.

The biggest headline was Ken Paxton defeating incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican Senate race by a decisive margin (roughly 64% to 36%). Paxton will face Democrat James Talarico (who won his party’s nomination earlier) in November. For Attorney General, state Sen. Mayes Middleton (R) beat U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (about 55%-45%) to win the GOP nomination, while state Sen. Nathan Johnson won the Democratic side.

Of note on the Dem side is that the absolute lunatic Al Green lost his primary to Christian Menifee. Green was a victim of the Texas redistricting effort earlier this year.

The retards are at it again outside the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark NJ. Protesters have set up shop complaining about the conditions of the detainees as some 300 of the detainees have gone on a hunger strike.

See? Retards. And racist to boot. It’s probably a good thing I do not live anywhere near where regular protests are being held.

Senator Andy Kim (D, NJ) got caught up in the protests over the weekend and got pepper sprayed for his trouble. Some good memes resulted.

To be clear, the good Senator did not actually get sprayed. Others did and he got second hand smoke as it were, not a direct shot. Anyone who has been close to pepper spray or chemical mace being used knows what I am saying.

A couple of days ago I told you about the Ebola virus outbreak in Congo and Uganda. Well, it’s gotten worse. There are now more than 1000 cases and more than 250 dead in Congo. Uganda has 7 confirmed cases – all originating in Congo – and one death. Ugandan officials have closed the border to help prevent the spread of the Bundibugyo strain of the virus.

The Bundibugyo strain had a fatality rate of about 50%. The more common Zaire strain has an 80% CFR.