Random News and Notes 19 August

On this date:

• 1493 – Maximilian succeeds his father Frederick III as Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1587 – Sigismund III is chosen to be the king of Poland.
• 1692 -Five women are hanged in Salem, Massachusetts after being convicted of the crime of witchcraft. Fourteen more people are executed that year and 150 others are imprisoned.
• 1772 – Gustavus III of Sweden eliminates the rule of parties and establishes an absolute monarchy.
• 1779 – Americans under Major Henry Lee take the British garrison at Paulus Hook, New Jersey.
• 1812 – The USS Constitution earns the nickname “Old Ironsides” during the battle off Nova Scotia that saw her defeat the HMS Guerriere.

• 1895 – Gunslinger John Wesley Hardin is killed.
• 1909 – First car race is held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• 1914 – The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) lands in France.
• 1934 – 38 million Germans vote to make Adolf Hitler the official successor to President von Hindenburg.
• 1942 – A raid on Dieppe, France by British and Canadian commandos is repulsed by the German Army.
• 1944 – In an effort to prevent a communist uprising in Paris, Charles De Gaulle begins attacking German forces all around the city.
• 1953 – The Iranian military overthrows the government of Premier Mohammad Mosaddeq and reinstates the Shah of Iran.
• 1974 – US Ambassador to Cyrus Rodger P. Davies assassinated by a sniper of Greek Cypriot paramilitary group EOKA-B during a demonstration outside the embassy in Nicosia.
• 1987 – Hungerford Massacre in the UK; armed with semi-automatic rifles and a handgun Michael Ryan kills 16 people before committing suicide. In response, Parliament passed the Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1988 banning ownership of certain classes of firearms.
• 1988 – Cease fire begins in 8-year war between Iran and Iraq.
• 1991 – Yankel Rosenbaum, a 29-year-old visiting student from Australia, is stabbed by a mob in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. Rosenblum would die the next day.
• 1991 – Communist hard-liners place President Mikhail Gorbachev under house arrest in an attempted coup that failed two days later.

We start the news in Florida where they held their primary elections yesterday. The results weren’t all that surprising, mostly.

Congressman Byron Donalds beat Jay Collins and James Fishbeck for the GOP nod for Governor. Donalds will face Dem David Jolly in November to see who will replace term limited Ron DeSantis.

In the other notable statewide primary races, Ashley Moody secured the Republican nom for US Senate. The Dem side of that race is an interesting one. Chow thief and impeachment trial star Alexander Vindman lost to DSA candidate Angela Nixon. Vindman outspent Nixon $16 million to $975k.

Elsewhere in the state, scandal plagued Cory Mills was beaten by Ryan Elijah in the 7th Congressional District.

Staying in Florida, a bunch of urban scholars had issues in the customs area of a Carnival Cruise terminal. The fight broke out in the crowded U.S. Customs area, involving punches, hair-pulling, and toppled stanchions until officers stepped in.

Carnival placed all sixteen people on its ‘Do Not Sail’ list, though neither family pressed charges and no arrests were made.

We really do not have to live like this.

Hopping the pond to Cameroon where a gold mine collapse has killed at least 107 people. Rescue teams in Zamboye village near Garoua-Boulaï recovered at least 107 bodies after the landslide at an unregulated gold mine, with searches continuing for more victims amid fears the toll will rise. Local mayor Amadou Abdon confirmed the number late Tuesday, while opposition leader Maurice Kamto condemned the lack of safety measures and blamed ‘gold mafias’ involving officials for the tragedy.

So, the slug that attracted my attention to this story is somewhat . . .

Well, here is a screenshot, because you have to see it to believe it:

Artisanal Gold Mine. I knew right then it was an unregulated, illegal mine. I mean, what even is an Artisanal mine?

Anyway, I hope that they find the rest of the bodies soon.

I bring you this next one as an example of what not to do.

A South Carolina mother has been arrested and charged with a felony. What did she do? She left a firearm unsecured and her  6-year-old kid brought it to school. The Richland County Sheriff’s Department said a resource officer at JP Thomas Elementary School was called around 7:30 a.m. after it was discovered the child had a loaded gun on the bus.

Ignore the hyperbole in the post above. I used it for the photos.

Deputies determined 35-year-old Destar Hall had left the gun unsecured at home, leading to her arrest on a charge of unlawful conduct toward a child. The charge is a felony in South Carolina and Hall faces up to 10 years in prison.