Monthly Archives: February 2018
Today in History – February 28
1844 – A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing eight people, including two United States Cabinet members.
1849 – Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 21 days after leaving New York Harbor. Due to the Panama Canal being some distance in the future, this trip goes all the way around the Horn.
1933 – Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire. Generate a crisis, then use it to pass laws that shut down your opponents. Worked then.
1935 – DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents nylon. Billions of silkworms breathe a sigh of relief.
1942 – In the dark opening days of American participation in World War II, the heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth which lost 375 men.
1954 – The first color television sets using the NTSC (Never Twice the Same Color) standard are offered for sale to the general public, for a mere $1,295, or $11,200 in today’s dollars.
1956 – Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory. And why did they call it ‘core’ memory? Because the data was stored as the magnetic state of tiny little ferrite donut ‘cores’, written and accessed by tiny little copper wires. Interesting stuff, that.
1993 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group’s leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff. Is your church approved by the BATFE?
Food for Thought – 2/27/18
Today in History – February 27
1776 – American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia. You have to understand that there are a lot of people who will fight to keep the status quo.
1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. From that bright hope, we come to today’s “wretched hive of scum and villainy.”
1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti. This is a brilliant move. Like “night” separating from “day”.
1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
1933 – Reichstag fire: Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire. I halfway expect something of similar nature here before long. Cynical? Who, me?
1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified. If only it included Congress.
1986 – The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis, with unexpected consequences. Today the most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a TV camera. Your viewing pleasure will be enhanced if you play “Yakety Sax’ as an accompaniment.
Food for Thought – 2/26/18
Today in History – February 26
1848 – The Second French Republic is proclaimed. The first one started with a bloodbath, went on to a dictatorship and finished as a monarchy. This one lasts until the French are again deluded by the name ‘Napoleon’, this one being Napoleon III and declare the Second Empire. The Germans realign their thinking in 1870. The Germans are amazingly good for realigning French politics.
1863 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law. This put us solidly on the road to a paper currency backed by the whim of banks.
1917 – The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever jazz record for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York. “Victrola” used to be almost synonymous with “record player”.
1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. Imagine that! A dictator with plans for increased domination ignores international treaty. I’m SOOOO glad that doesn’t happen today, because the Clintons fixed us up with North Korea and Obama secured our future with Iran.
1936 – Hitler introduces Ferdinand Porsche’s “Volkswagen”, the precursor to the the VW Type 111, or “Beetle”, a particularly delightful car. I owned several.
1952 – United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
1960 – A New York bound Alitalia airliner crashed into a cemetery at Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board. Irish rescue crews recover 347 bodies.
1970 – National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation, assuring the Left of a free forum for its ideas.
1971 – U.N. Secretary-General U Thant signs United Nations proclamation of the vernal equinox as Earth Day, which is effective as the UN itself.
1983 – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album goes to #1 &stays #1 for 37 weeks, proving the popularity of prancing fop pedophiles.
1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand, but it’s only a law enforcement matter.
Food for Thought – 2/25/18
But there’s room for worse…
California’s senator Dianne Feinstein has set a low for Lefty politics for decades, but she may have run to the end of her belt.
California Dems Reject Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Re-Election Bidby Kathryn Blackhurst
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) suffered a humiliating setback Sunday when the California Democratic Party withheld its endorsement of her 2018 reelection bid after the state’s senior senator failed to garner enough support among an increasingly progressive electorate.
Feinstein, at age 84, is the Senate’s oldest member and has served since 1992. She is a ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary and was viewed widely as a middle-of-the-road Democrat for much of her political career.
But when the California Democratic Party voted on endorsements this weekend at its annual convention, progressive state Senate leader Kevin de León (D) surpassed Feinstein with a 54 percent to 37 percent margin. The results weren’t announced until Sunday.
If he’s MORE ‘progressive’ than Feinstein, the dude’s gonna make Fidel Castro look like a republican.
The Name Game #506
Sixty overcast, wet, drizzly degrees at 0800 this morning. I’m not planning any travel this week, but sometimes events change that idea.
Opened the paper over a bowl of steel-cut oats. Waded past the normal amount of trivial and bright ideas and found that the big hospital across the river reports thirty-four new babies from between February 9 and February 19. That’s thirty-four new babies, half – seventeen – born to unwed parents, and five new mommies aren’t laying claim to a baby daddy. Half! We, folks, are LIVING in the opening scene of Idiocracy.
Let us step off into the abyss:
Stephen M. & Destining(!) H. have a son, Daelyn Amari.
Levi (Named for the jeans, not the Hebrew tribe) & Blythe M. do a son with Roan Austin.
Cory W. & Amber B. start a daughter off with her very first stripper name, Kori Starr.
Tyler & Jillian S. pick a random surname and toss it on their new daughter, giving us little Monroe Diana.
Miss Jessica P. triples up on her daughter Graislyn Merci Serenity. She plenty of room to write since she didn’t need to use that ‘father’ block on the form.
Christopher & Lacie B. tag a baby boy with Jackson Reese. Great! Name the kid after some random dude and a peanut butter cup.
we get our first apostrophe of the week as Michael & Reagan(!) D. tag a daughter with Ryliann Shae’.
Jacob H. & Treasure(!) F. have a daughter, Graisyn Lynn.
Paul & Lisa R. give their son a nudge towards a career with Carter Paul.
Domonique(!) N. apostrophicates her daughter Tai’lan Nicole.
T.J. & Kasie M. show their daughter Kya Lynae.
Matthew & Kari A. do a son with Cason David.
James B. & Whitney W. name their daughter after fabric, Paisley Louise. Perhaps we should await a brother, Houndstooth Jack.
And that’s enough for this week.
Today in History – February 25
1797 – Colonel William Tate and his force of 1000–1500 soldiers surrender after the Last invasion of Britain. Tate, the ‘French’ commander, is Irish-American, and half his force is Irish.
1836 – Samuel Colt receives an American patent for the Colt revolver.
1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress.
1919 – Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax. This is known as ‘the camel’s nose under the tent’…
1932 – Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident. See what happens when you screw around with immigration law?
1933 – The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier. Her first combat action is against the French in North Africa.
1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt, after having Israel kick his butt in 1948. He tries two rematches, 1956 and 1967, loses those, too.
1956 – In his speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin. What!??! There are consequences to a personality cult? Somebody tell the dimmocrats.
1964 – Speaking of personality cults, North Korean Prime Minister Kim Il-sung calls for the removal of feudalistic land ownership aimed at turning all cooperative farms into state-run ones. This single brilliant move turns North Korea into a cornucopia of riches. South Koreans line up at the DMZ, clamoring to get in. Right?!?
1991 – The Warsaw Pact is declared disbanded. After all those years of me and a million other American soldiers waiting for them to come streaming through the Fulda Gap…
Food for Thought – 2/24/18
Saturday Song #230
Beethoven’s shot at ‘Spring’:
Today in History – February 24
1803 – The Supreme Court of the United States, in Marbury v. Madison, establishes the principle of judicial review.
1868 – The first parade to have floats is staged at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana. I have never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and have no desire to go. However, I do note that standing on the side of the road waiting for mystical creatures to give you stuff for free has a particular character that fits New Orleans well.
1917 – World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if that country declares war on the United States. Seeing that Germany is happily pursuing attacks on the United States by means of a surrogate, Mexico, helps make us decide to enter the war.
1976 – Cuba: national Constitution is proclaimed. Article I: Fidel is always right. Article II: If Fidel is wrong, refer to Article I.
1968 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué. You’d never know from news reports and conventional histories that EVERYWHERE the communists attacked, we (and the South Vietnamese) beat the ever-loving crap out of them. After this, the Viet Cong ceased to be a viable combat force and the North Vietnamese Army was shattered until American politicians chose to let South Viet Nam die.
1983 – In a spirited burst of 20/20 hindsight, a special commission of the United States Congress condemns the Japanese American internment during World War II.
1989 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie. And Mr. Khomeini is a member of WHAT religion? Radical baptist?
2008 – Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years. He passed control to his brother, like he was a freakin’ Kennedy or Clinton or something…
Food for Thought – 2/23/18
