Random News and Notes 31 May
On this date in 1889, Pennsylvania’s South Fork Dam collapses, causing the catastrophic Johnstown Flood. More than 2,200 people die in the disaster.
Located 60 miles east of Pittsburgh in a valley near the Allegheny, Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek Rivers, Johnstown sits on a floodplain subject to frequent disasters. In 1840, officials constructed a dam on the Little Conemaugh River, 14 miles upstream from Johnstown. Nine hundred feet by 72 feet, it stood as the largest earthen dam in the United States, creating the largest man-made lake of the time, Lake Conemaugh. At 3:10 p.m., the dam collapsed, causing a roar that could be heard for miles. All of the water from Lake Conemaugh rushed forward at 40 miles per hour, sweeping away everything in its path.
A spillway at the dam became clogged with debris that could not be dislodged. An engineer at the dam saw warning signs of an impending disaster and rode a horse to the village of South Fork to warn the residents. However, the telegraph lines were down and the warning did not reach Johnstown.
The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval engagement of WWI and the largest battleship-centric Naval Battle in history. Just before four o’clock on the afternoon on this day in 1916, a British naval force commanded by Vice Admiral David Beatty confronts a squadron of German ships, led by Admiral Franz von Hipper, some 75 miles off the Danish coast. The two squadrons opened fire on each other simultaneously.
The German navy lost 11 ships, including a battleship and a battle cruiser, and suffered 3,058 casualties; the British sustained heavier losses, with 14 ships sunk, including three battle cruisers, and 6,784 casualties. Ten more German ships had suffered heavy damage, however, and by June 2, 1916, only 10 ships that had been involved in the battle were ready to leave port again. (Jellicoe, the British Commander, on the other hand, could have put 23 to sea).
Near Tel Aviv, Israel, Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi SS officer who organized Adolf Hitler’s “final solution of the Jewish question,” was executed for his crimes against humanity on this date in 1962. In January 1942, Eichmann met with top Nazi officials at the Wannsee Conference near Berlin for the purpose of planning a “final solution of the Jewish question”. Eichmann was appointed to coordinate the identification, assembly, and transportation of millions of Jews from occupied Europe to the Nazi death camps, where Jews were gassed or worked to death.
Following the war, Eichmann was captured by U.S. troops, but he escaped a prison camp in 1946 before having to face the Nuremberg International War Crimes Tribunal. Eichmann traveled under an assumed identity between Europe and the Middle East, and in 1950 he arrived in Argentina. In 1957, a German prosecutor secretly informed Israel that Eichmann was living in Argentina. Agents from Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, were deployed to Argentina, and in early 1960 they finally located Eichmann; he was living in the San Fernando section of Buenos Aires under the name of Ricardo Klement.
On April 11, 1961, Eichmann’s trial began in Jerusalem. It was the first televised trial in history. Eichmann faced 15 charges, including crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and war crimes. He claimed he was just following orders, but the judges disagreed, finding him guilty on all counts on December 15 and sentencing him to die. His body was cremated and his ashes thrown into the sea.
Just the other day we talked about an Indian national getting removed from the census by a black bear in Canada. Well, here’s another black bear story. This one is a bit less gruesome though. A woman in North Carolina filmed a black bear casually opening the door on a U-haul van and helping itself to the contents.
Bears are relatively intelligent creatures and can solve simple problems – like how to open a pull-handle door on a vehicle. And while this is cute and all, that bear is going to wind up dead. It is clearly habituated to humans and that is not a Good Thing™. I know I have relayed this one before, but NYS bear biologist once told me and I quote “A fed bear is a dead bear”.
While I am not sure how much it is going to help, Newark NJ mayor Ras Baraka has instituted a curfew after riots erupted outside the ICE facility at Delaney Hall. Demonstrations at the 1,000-bed ICE detention center began May 22 after detainees started a hunger and labor strike over spoiled food, overcrowding, no air conditioning, and poor medical care, as reported by attorneys, relatives, and visiting lawmakers like Rep. Jerry Nadler and Sen. Cory Booker. Federal officials deny the claims, insisting detainees get proper meals and care.
Violence erupted when protesters threw projectiles and set a street fire, prompting state police to use tear gas and other measures; six arrests followed, including Brendan John Geier charged with assaulting ICE officers. The curfew is set to go into effect tonight.
There is very good evidence that these riots are being funded by NGOs and the like. It is time that the funding apparatus felt the full weight of the federal government. RICO indictments would be a good start.
United Flight 236 from Newark to Spain turned back Saturday after the crew spotted a suspicious bluetooth device name on phones and entertainment screens about an hour into the trip. The pilot declared an emergency, landed safely at Newark around 10 p.m. A 16-year-old boy passenger reportedly renamed a Bluetooth device “BOMB.” The device name appeared on nearby phones, other passengers’ IFEs, and crew devices, triggering standard security protocols. The Purser announced on the loudspeaker that all passengers must turn off Bluetooth devices. This instruction was repeated multiple times, but the device was still on, prompting a U-turn back to Newark where the flight was met by security.
Passengers faced re-screening and long delays, while the plane was cleared with no bomb found. No word on whether the retard will face charges for his dumbass stunt.
