Random News and Notes 3 April
The items for this day in history are all WWII PTO related. In 1942, the first modern naval battle featuring two aircraft carrier equipped foes started. The Battle of the Coral Sea, while a nominal victory for the Japanese, they managed to take the Solomon Islands, caused so many pilot losses for the Japs that prevented them from moving on Port Moresby and the rest of Papua New Guinea. The Japanese would hold the Solomon Islands for a short period before the US would push them out starting at Guadalcanal in August of ’42.
In 1946, the war crimes tribunal for Japanese leadership would begin in Tokyo. The trial would adjudicate the cases of 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war. 25 of the 28 were found guilty by the time the tribunal wrapped up in November. Of the three other defendants, two had died during the lengthy trial, and one was declared insane. On November 12, the war crimes tribunal passed death sentences on seven of the men, including General Hideki Tojo, who served as Japanese premier during the war, and other principals, such as Iwane Matsui, who organized the Rape of Nanking, and Heitaro Kimura, who brutalized Allied prisoners of war. Sixteen others were sentenced to life imprisonment, and two were sentenced to lesser terms in prison. On December 23, 1948, Tojo and the six others were executed in Tokyo. This was not the only war crimes trial held for the Japanese, various tribunals sitting outside Japan judged some 5,000 Japanese guilty of war crimes, of whom more than 900 were executed.
In 1947, the new Japanese constitution was ratified. The document, largely written by Supreme Allied Commander General Douglas MacArthur, granted universal suffrage, stripped Emperor Hirohito of all but symbolic power, stipulated a bill of rights, abolished peerage, and outlawed Japan’s right to make war.
We start today’s news at Churchill Downs in Kentucky. The finish for yesterday’s Derby was one for the books. Underdog Golden Tempo (23-1 at post time) came from dead last 3 lengths back of the entire pack coming into the stretch to win.
The run was insane, and jockey Jose Ortiz picked the perfect line as he and Golden Tempo made their move.
It was the first Derby win for trainer Cherie DeVaux who became the first woman in 152 years to win the race.
There was an odd incident in Portland Yesterday. A man drove his vehicle into the lobby of the Multnomah Athletic Club. The vehicle was loaded with explosives and incendiaries. The driver, Bruce Valentine Whitman, a former MAC bartender and Portland resident was the only one killed and no-one else was injured.
The fire was quickly extinguished by firefighters. Authorities are saying this was not terror related, but it is Portland so who TF knows.
Raymond Eugene Chandler III, a Pennsylvania Dem candidate for Senate, faces two federal felony charges for allegedly leaving escalating voicemails over a year, including one on April 18 describing a mob slitting throats and another on April 29 urging a lawmaker to assassinate Trump. He was arrested Friday at his home in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, by Federal authorities.
Chandler had just launched his 2028 Senate campaign website and ActBlue page promoting progressive ideas like Medicare for All, but both went inactive after his arrest. Prosecutors want him detained pretrial, with a hearing set for May 8.
You may have seen this video taken during the WHCD assassination attempt. It isn’t what it is being portrayed as.
Those three women are TSA agents, not law enforcement. They are not armed, they are not trained, they were there to run the magnetometers and do manual searches.