Random News and Notes 2 September

On this date:

• 31 BC – At the Battle of Actium, off the western coast of Greece, Roman leader Octavian wins a decisive victory against the forces of Roman Mark Antony and Cleopatra, queen of Egypt.
• 1666 – The Great Fire of London, which devastates the city, begins.
• 1789 – The Treasury Department, headed by Alexander Hamilton, is created in New York City.
• 1792 – Verdun, France, surrenders to the Prussian Army.
• 1798 – The Maltese people revolt against the French occupation, forcing the French troops to take refuge in the citadel of Valletta in Malta.
• 1870 – Napoleon III capitulates to the Prussians at Sedan, France.
• 1885 – In Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory, 28 Chinese laborers are killed and hundreds more chased out of town by striking coal miners.
• 1898 – Sir Herbert Kitchener leads the British to victory over the Mahdists at Omdurman and takes Khartoum.

• 1910 – Alice Stebbins Wells is admitted to the Los Angeles Police Force as the first woman police officer to receive an appointment based on a civil service exam.
• 1915 – Austro-German armies take Grodno, Poland.
• 1944 – Troops of the U.S. First Army enter Belgium.
• 1944 – Ensign George Bush is shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft gunners during a bombing raid on Chi Chi Jima.
• 1945 – Japan signs the document of surrender aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II

• 1945 – Vietnam declares its independence and Nationalist leader Ho Chi Minh proclaims himself its first president.
• 1956 – Tennessee National Guardsmen halt rioters protesting the admission of 12 African-Americans to schools in Clinton.
• 1963 – Alabama Governor George Wallace calls state troopers to Tuskegee High School to prevent integration.
• 1963 – The US gets its first half-hour TV weeknight national news broadcast when CBS Evening News expands from 15 to 30 minutes.
• 1969 – America’s first automatic teller machine (ATM) makes its public debut, dispensing cash to customers at Chemical Bank in Rockville Centre, New York.
• 1969 – President Ho Chi Minh of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam dies of a heart attack in Hanoi.
• 1992 – The US and Russia agree to a joint venture to build a space station.
• 1996 – The Philippine government and Muslim rebels sign a pact, formally ending a 26-year long insurgency.
• 1998 – Jean Paul Akayesu, former mayor of a small town in Rwanda, found guilty of nine counts of genocide by the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

We start today’s news in the DIstrict where the House voted to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) for “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct” toward two young female staffers who worked for him. A monthslong Ethics Committee investigation found Edwards provided the women with lavish gifts, including jewelry totaling over $1,000, and sent texts expressing “deeply personal and seemingly romantic thoughts” that violated House rules.

I should note here that the conduct did not rise to the level of harassment, sexual or otherwise. I seem to recall covering this when the report was first released last month. Anyway, Edwards has suspended his re-election campaign.

There was some good news out of Israel yesterday. The Israelis announced they captured the head of Hamas internal security, Muein Mohammed Al-Arabid. According to reports in Israeli media, Shin Bet, the Israeli FBI, carried out the operation.

Shin Bet said Arabid ‘recently worked to consolidate the Hamas terrorist organization’s control over the northern Gaza Strip and to advance terrorist attacks against IDF troops.’

In a somewhat surprising result, Senator Ed Markey fended off his primary opponent in Massachusetts primaries yesterday. 80 year old Markey defeated Rep. Seth Moulton in the Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary, marking a significant victory for the party’s non-insane non-DSA wing. Don’t get me wrong, Markey is an old-school prog Dem, but he is not an outright commie.

And, he’s 80. I expect Maura Healey, the commie governor to appoint another commie to replace him in a year or so. . .

In a quick note from the Sports desk, Tiger Woods entered into a plea deal over his DUI arrest earlier this year. Woods pled no contest to reckless driving and refusal to submit to a lawful test in exchange for a 60 suspension of his driving privileges. This was his 2nd DUI case.

Lets be honest, he should have a driver on call 24 hours a day. Were I worth $1.2 billion, I know I would.