Random News and Notes 9 July

Busy day in history today, so it’s list time.

• 118 AD – Hadrian becomes Emperor of Rome.
• 1755 – General Edward Braddock is killed by French and Indian troops at Ft. Duquesne.
• 1762 – Catherine is declared Empress of the Russian Empire. She is more commonly known as Catherine the Great.
• 1846 – U.S. Navy Captain John Montgomery took possession of the settlement of Yerba Buena. The tiny village would become San Francisco.
• 1850 – President Zachary Taylor dies after a brief illness. Vice President Millard Fillmore, was sworn in as the new president the next day.
• 1900 – The Commonwealth of Australia is established by an act of British Parliament, uniting the separate colonies under a federal government.
• 1915 – The military forces of the Union of South Africa accept a German surrender in the territory of Southwest Africa.
• 1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in Amsterdam.
• 1943 – Operation Husky, the allied landings on Sicily kicks off.
• 1962 – Starfish Prime, the largest manmade exo-atmospheric nuclear detonation. the 1.5 mt bomb caused an EMP the blew out lights and other electronics as far away as Hawaii, some 900 miles away.
• 1971 – The US completes the handover of responsibility of the DMZ to the ARVNs

We start today’s news in the Persian Gulf region where the U.S. military launched two waves of airstrikes on July 8, targeting about 90 Iranian sites after an initial 80 the night before, focusing on air defenses, missile storage, and naval facilities to protect shipping. The action followed Iran’s attacks on a Marshall Islands tanker, a Saudi oil carrier, and a Liberian cargo ship. We talked about Trump’s reaction to the Iranian violations yesterday.

Among the reported targets is a previously undisclosed uranium processing site near the Bushehr nuclear power plant on the southern coast of the Persian gulf. The US also severed a key railway line that connected Iran, Russia and China. The bridge at Aq Tekeh Khan on the Turkmenistan border -now rubble- was a key part of the transport net that the regime was relying on to keep the country supplied.

Iran has not been idle. They reportedly launched a wave of missiles and drones at Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. You will note there is one name missing: Israel. I doubt the IRGC want the Israelis involved this go-round. That said, I’m confident the Israelis are sharing targeting data with CENTCOM.

It is being reported that the IRGC is massing troops in the north. It seems the Kurds are acting up.

It seems like the regime is panicking a bit. It also seems like any troop concentration would make a fine target considering bombs are falling again.

The Porta-Nazi Graham Platner has officially dropped his bid for US Senate from Maine. The 41-year-old primary winner, who beat rivals with 72% of the vote on June 9, faces claims from Jenny Racicot of a 2021 rape and from Lyndsey Fifield of repeated non-consensual acts years earlier.

Democrats, including Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, pulled support after the latest revelations despite backing him amid prior controversies like explicit texts and a SS Totenkopf tattoo. Maine Dems will now hold a party convention by July 27 to pick a replacement under Maine law.

Christopher Peden cut off his own junk and set fire to it in his mother’s garage. The 36-year-old Fort Wayne, Indiana, resident initially told police he’d been stabbed downtown, but confessed en route to the hospital that he’d harmed himself around 2 a.m. on May 6, 2026.

Officers found a gas can, lighters, and the knife at the scene; Peden now faces felony arson charges after posting $10,000 bond, with a hearing set next week.

Yikes.

And I am going to use this as an opportunity to discuss mental health. If you or someone you know is in crisis reach out. If you’re a Vet, dial 988 and press 1 for the Veterans Crisi Line.

Traffic cameras captured Emery Alexander approaching a random wheelchair bound man at West Main Street and North Lee Avenue in Oklahoma City around 8 a.m., igniting a Molotov cocktail, throwing it, and pushing the man backward as he tried to escape. Bystanders and nearby detectives acted fast: one held Alexander at gunpoint while others pulled the victim to safety, limiting injuries to minor burns on his arms and neck—he’s expected to fully recover.

Emery faces multiple felony charges including arson and assault with intent to kill after the random attack.