Random News and Notes 19 June
On this day in 1865, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston Texas at the head of some 2000 Union troops. He had been appointed as the commander of the military district of Texas at the end of the Civil War.
Upon his arrival, he issued General Order No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”
Let’s be clear about a couple of things, First, the slaves in Texas weren’t really freed. That wouldn’t be a legal fact until the passage and ratification of the 13th Amendment on 6 December 1865.
Second, Juneteenth was a local to Galveston celebration until the middle of the 20th century. It’s kind of like Cinco de Mayo in that way.
Speaking of Mexico, on this date in 1867, the Austrian-born, French-installed Emperor of Mexico, Ferdinand Maximilian, is executed by firing squad on the orders of Benito Juarez, the president of the Mexican Republic.
On this date in 1944 the Marianas Turkey Shoot kicked off. The Battle of the Philippine Sea pitted the remains of the Kido Butai against a superior US carrier force.
The Japanese lost 2 fleet carriers sunk, 1 light carrier sunk, 2 oilers sunk, 550–645 aircraft destroyed, 1 fleet carrier damaged 2 light carriers damaged 1 battleship damaged 1 oiler damaged and an estimated 2,987 dead. The US on the other hand losses were 123 aircraft destroyed and 109 dead.
On this date in 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, are executed at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York. Both refused to admit any wrongdoing and proclaimed their innocence right up to the time of their deaths, by the electric chair. The Rosenbergs were the first U.S. citizens to be convicted and executed for espionage during peacetime and their case remains controversial to this day.
President Dwight D Eisenhower weighed in on the matter: “I can only say that, by immeasurably increasing the chances of atomic war, the Rosenbergs may have condemned to death tens of millions of innocent people all over the world. The execution of two human beings is a grave matter. But even graver is the thought of the millions of dead whose deaths may be directly attributable to what these spies have done.”
There was a horrific attack in the UK the other day. A 30 year old, unnamed man threw a 3 year old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a Norfolk zoo. There was no relation between victim and attacker. The boy was rescued by the zoo owner’s wife and is critical condition in a Norfolk hospital after being mauled by the crocs
The story only gets worse. The police have released the attacker on bond stating “he was unfit for interview”. It seems he is mentally deficient, though I mistrust that particular reportage. Why? Coulter’s Law, the longer it takes for authorities to release identifying information the more likely it is that the perp is just who we think it is. There is still no word on the perps name or ethnicity, just a vaguely worded statement about mental incapacity.
The Pride tide is shifting. I told you about Blake Treinen refusing to wear the rainbow flag hat and the three Giants pitchers who wrote bible verses on their gay hats. Well today we have a story out of PA where a minor league team, the York Revolution cancelled a game because less than a third of their players agreed to wear the homo unis.
I need to be clear here, the Revolution are part of the Atlantic league, an independent league with no MLB team affiliation. Were this a MiLB team the players would have had a choice of whether or not to wear the queer shirts. That said, forfeiting a game seems a bit extreme to em.
On her way out the door, soon-to-be former DNI Tulsi Gabbard detonated a bomb. Figuratively that is. She declassified a bunch of documents related to Anthony Fauci and COVID 19. The declassified release includes emails, memos, and whistleblower accounts alleging Fauci directed millions in U.S. funds to risky coronavirus experiments at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology through EcoHealth Alliance grants totaling around $600,000. Documents highlight 2018 biosafety warnings, illnesses among Wuhan researchers in fall 2019, and Fauci’s briefings with intelligence experts that ODNI says contradict his 2024 congressional testimony.
Gabbard stated the files reveal Fauci worked with politicized intelligence elements to suppress the truth.
We need to make lampposts great again.
