Random News and Notes 16 June
On this date in 1779, Spain lays siege to the British held island of Gibraltar. The siege was part of the greater war of American Independence, Spain being allied with the French Crown. Gibraltar had been a British possession since the treaty ending War of the Spanish Succession was signed in 1713.
The siege would last 3 years, 7 months, and 2 weeks and ended as a humiliating defeat for the Franco-Spanish alliance. At the height of the blockade, some 60,000 French and Spanish troops, 49 ships of the line and a dozen specially constructed floating batteries surrounded the Rock, yet they were unable to dislodge the 5000 Redcoats defending the fortress.
We start the news on the Severn river in Maryland where a brave Puddle Pirate stopped a runaway boat. The drama started Thursday morning near Annapolis when a boater, chasing his son on a jet ski, got thrown overboard after hitting his own wake. His son pulled him to safety, but the 25-foot center-console boat circled wildly for 45 minutes until the Coast Guard matched its speed, pinned it, and had a member leap aboard to kill the engine
I take the piss out of the Coasties whenever I can, but it’s all in good fun. There is a reason for their unofficial motto: “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back”. Now, I just wish they’d leave me alone when I’m out on my kayak. . .
FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency thwarted an explosive drone plot that targeted the UFC event on the South Lawn on Sunday night.
Department of Justice in a multi-state operation, multiple individuals are now in custody and allegedly planned attacks were stopped cold. While the result represented the best of investigative work, it was also nothing out of the ordinary for this law enforcement team – we are built to detect, respond to, and bring to justice those who threaten the lives of American citizens – particularly during large gatherings like the historic UFC 250 fight. That’s exactly what we did here. I want to thank our great agents and partners, this work remains ongoing and we will continue to update the public as permitted. We continue to encourage any American to report anything suspicious at 1-800-CALL-FBI or http://tips.fbi.gov.”
The UFC Freedom 250 event went ahead after a weather delay, celebrating Trump’s 80th birthday and America’s 250th anniversary with seven bouts, including Justin Gaethje’s upset TKO win over Ilia Topuria.
A Boy Scout troop in Snohomish county Washington held a US Flag disposal ceremony on Sunday. The County Public Works shared the 89-second clip of the Lake Stevens scouts burning tattered flags collected from drop boxes, calling it a ceremonious event to encourage proper disposal over simply putting them in the trash.
And of course the retards are in the comments with their retarded opinions of things. ThEy aRe noT dOiNg iT rIghT. The worst part? The majority of said retards are trying to say VFW protocol is what counts. Retards. This is what US flag code (4 USC 8) has to say about the disposal of flags deemed no longer serviceable:
(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
No bullshit about folding. No bullshit about cutting the Union from the stripes and burying them. Simply that it should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
Well done that troop. Can ya tell this one irks me. So, so many retards so, so confidently wrong about something quite basic and easily researched.
A B-52 bomber crashed on takeoff at Edwards AFB in California yesterday. Commenter RADMIL broke the news in the comments at yesterday’s conversation post and I updated it some in the comments at yesterday’s RNN. Some additional details have surfaced since then, We know that there were 8 souls aboard at the time of the incident and all 8 have perished. The crew was a mixed military and civilian crew with 2 Boeing employees aboard at the time of the crash. The names of those killed had not been released as of the time of writing.
The airframe involved was a test mule for an upgraded AESA radar system, It is part of an ongoing upgrade program for the 74 year old design. We will pass along any updates as they become available.
Y’all know I am a huge Baseball fan. A few days ago I told you about Dodgers starter Blake Treinen and his sartorial choices while on the mound. Well it seems some SF Giants pitchers have similar thoughts. Giants pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker inscribed Genesis 9:12-16 on their black Pride caps. MLB has since issued warnings about it.
Admittedly, altering a uniform in that way does violate MLB rules. Still, this is a bad look for the league.