Random News and Notes 14 July

On this date:

• 1430 – Joan of Arc is handed over to Pierre Cauchon, the Bishop of Beauvais, following her capture by Burgundian forces. Cauchon, an English partisan, would preside over Joan’s trial for heresey and was a key driver in her execution.
• 1789 – French Revolutionaries storm the Bastille, a medieval fortress that was being used as a prison,  At the time, the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. The prison contained only seven inmates at the time of its storming and was already scheduled for demolition but was seen by the revolutionaries as a symbol of the monarchy’s abuse of power. Its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. Joyeux Quatorze Juillet!
• 1798 – the Sedition Act is passed by Congress. The Act permitted the deportation, fine, or imprisonment of anyone deemed a threat or publishing “false, scandalous, or malicious writing” against the government of the United States.
• 1881 – Billy the Kid is shot to death by Pat Garrett at the the Maxwell Ranch in New Mexico. Or not if you believe Brushy Bill.
• 1882 – Notorious gunslinger Johnny Ringo is found dead in Turkey Creek Canyon, Arizona. Despite what the movies say, who actually did the killing is up for debate.
• 1900 – During the Boxer rebellion in China, a multinational Eight-Nation Alliance (featuring Japanese, Russian, British, and US troops) attacked the walled city of Tientsin to relieve a besieged foreign population.
• 1933 – Germany passes the Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases. The law mandated the compulsory sterilization of German citizens deemed to have inheritable conditions. It targeted individuals with nine specific ailments, including schizophrenia, congenital feeblemindedness, manic-depressive disorder, and severe alcoholism.
• 1945 – US battleships and cruisers bombard the Japanese Home Islands for the first time.
• 1968 – Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hits his 500th homer. He would go on to club 755 dingers in his career. Only the cheater Barry Bonds has more.

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We start the news with a story from my home state of the People’s Republic of New York. Frau Gauleiterin Hochul and her merry band of commies in the state legislature have made it their mission to increase the tax burden on the wealthiest New Yorkers. Well, in a move that should surprise no one, those at the top of the tax bracket are leaving the state in droves. In the past 10 years, the state’s share of millionaires fell from 12.7% in 2010 to just 8.7% in 2022. That decline led directly to a loss of more than $10 billion in tax revenue last year.

And what is Albany doing about it? Doubling down. This state would be better off if someone nuked that whole county. . .

Inflation numbers are out, and it looks like good news. The consumer price index fell .4% and inflation came in at 3.5%. Both numbers beat analyst expectations.

The drop in CPI is the biggest since 2020.

I’m not sure how I feel about this next one. South Carolina governor Henry McMaster has appointed Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, as his replacement.

I understand the need for this at some level, legacy is one hell of a drug. However, the Republican Party – and the country at large – would have been better served if the replacement was the person who is going to be the candidate in the fall. Nordone is reportedly just serving until the end of the term in January.

And our final story today is wildlife related. A young-ish bull moose stopped by to visit a woman who was sitting on her patio. He seems mostly unbothered by the woman and her friend, while the two humans were shocked to say the least.

Keep in mind, that is a juvenile moose, perhaps 2 or 3 years old, and not a full grown adult bull moose. An adult bull can measure as much as 7′ at the shoulder, have a 75″ antler spread and weigh 2000 pounds. Their hooves are the size of dinner plates.