On-line Opinion Magazine…OK, it's a blog

Juneteenth

… On the morning of Monday, June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston, Texas, to take command of the more than 2,000 federal troops recently landed in the department of Texas to enforce the emancipation of its slaves and oversee a peaceful transition of power, additionally nullifying all laws passed within Texas during the war by Confederate lawmakers. The Texas Historical Commission and Galveston Historical Foundation report that Granger’s men marched throughout Galveston reading General Order No. 3 first at Union Army Headquarters at the Osterman Building (formerly at the intersection of Strand Street and 22nd Street, since demolished), in the Strand Historic District. Next they marched to the 1861 Customs House and Courthouse before finally marching to the Negro Church on Broadway, since renamed Reedy Chapel-AME Church. The order informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves were free:

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

Some people are attempting to make this something that it isn’t. Having Juneteenth as a Federal holiday has no impact on any other Federal holiday. Some people seem to believe if something new is created that something old is destroyed. They assume that life is a zero sum game. They are ignorant and pathetic, but there are a lot of them so they are dangerous.

Position: 28.9N 90.9W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [010°] near 13 mph [20 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 205 miles [330 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1007 mb.

Currently about 60 miles [ 95 km] South-Southeast of Morgan City, Louisiana.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Gulf Coast from Morgan City, Louisiana, to the Okaloosa/Walton County line in Florida, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and Metropolitan New Orleans.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 23.5N 92.2W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [ 45 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1007 mb.

Currently about 435 miles [ 695 km] South of Morgan City, Louisiana.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Gulf Coast from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Alabama/Florida border, including Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas, and Metropolitan New Orleans.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

According to the James Joyce Center

Bloomsday is a celebration that takes place both in Dublin and around the world. It celebrates Thursday 16 June 1904, which is the day depicted in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses. The novel follows the life and thoughts of Leopold Bloom and a host of other characters – real and fictional – from 8am on 16 June 1904 through to the early hours of the following morning.

Why not?

John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou in the meadow which is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, 1215, signed the Great Charter in the presence of assorted heavily armed peers of the realm, who assured him it was the right thing to do.

The British Library has pictures of the Magna Carta available, but they are now requiring registration. Wikipedia has a nice discussion of the document.

The Magna Carta of 1297 is permanently residing in the US National Archives.

The Avalon Project has a translation of the 1215 version with an index and definitions.

John abided by the charter for several months, before he returned to business as normal, but the principle was established – no one is above the law.

Position: 43.5N 57.0W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [035°] near 29 mph [46 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Wind Gusts: 65 mph [100 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 105 miles [165 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1002 mb ↑.

Currently about 335 miles [ 540 km] East of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

This is the last public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on this system.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 36.7N 69.8W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [055°] near 23 mph [37 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1003 mb ↓.

Currently about 335 miles [ 540 km] East-Northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Adopted as the flag of the United States of America by the Flag Resolution of 1777 enacted on 14 June, 1777.

The flag was first flown from Fort Stanwix, on the site of the present city of Rome, New York, on August 3, 1777. It was first under fire three days later in the Battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777.

An official flag has a rise to run ratio of 1 to 1.9 [the flag should be 1.9 times as long as it is high] with the canton [the dark blue part] that rises over the top seven stripes with a run of 40% of the flag’s run.

The only time you will see a “correct” US Flag is if you see the official colors of a military unit. Most flags are 3’X5′ or 4’X6′ instead of 3’X5.7′ or 4’X7.6′.

Frances Bellamy, the Baptist minister and socialist who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance was from Rome, New York.

This is the 77^th anniversary of one of history’s biggest military gambles – the invasion of Normandy. There were so many things that had to fall into place for it to work, that it really is amazing that it did.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt told a news conference the invasion did not mean the war was over. He said: “You don’t just walk to Berlin, and the sooner this country realizes that the better.”

The war continued for almost a year, but FDR did not, dying a month before the German surrender.

This is what it was like when the US had adults in the White House.

In some circumstances you might be able to do a short-term rental, but you can’t buy it. 😈

Every day my e-mail is primarily made of people wanting money for media buys. I have yet to see any of the ads that various groups are supposedly financing, so I can’t judge the efficacy of these ads, but the fact that I haven’t seen them indicates that they are not targeting people like me. Many of these e-mail appeals are bewailing the amount of money Republicans are gathering and possibly spending for their policies, candidates, and/or obsessions, but I haven’t seen any of those, either. From time to time I will see a reference to ads in a media report, but the ads themselves are apparently only for the media, not for peasants like me.

One of the latest crises was a special election in New Mexico that was going to be a total disaster if I didn’t donate money. The Democrat won by more than 25% without my money or the ad it would have helped to finance.

Another thing are the petitions that groups want me to sign. Who do they think petitions will influence? They are about as useful as suggestion that I contact my Congresscritter and Senators. Yeah, right, like my opinion is going to influence Matt Gaetz, Marco Rubio, or Rick Scott. Get real people!

June 1^st:

The official start of the hurricane season.

Events:
1495 – Friar John Cor records the first known batch of Scotch whisky.
1660 – Mary Dyer is hanged in Boston, Massachusetts, for defying a law banning Quakers from the colony. She is considered by some to be the last religious martyr in what would become the United States.
1890 – The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith’s tabulating machine to count census returns.
1967 – The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.
1980 – The Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting.

Births:
1563 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English statesman and spymaster (d. 1612)
1780 – Karl von Klausewitz, Prussian general (d. 1831)
1804 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (d. 1857)

For some reason, I didn’t make the list. 🧙🏻‍♂️

This is a picture from one of the columbariums at the Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place of many of those who served the United States since the middle of the 19^th century.

That is my Father’s marker. He didn’t know those located around his marker, but they all shared service to their country as part of their life.

The country continues to ask for service and people still respond to that call. As you think about the sacrifices represented by Arlington and other cemeteries, ask yourself if you have done what you could to prevent misuse of the willingness of some to serve.

It is rather for us the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Taps – the final salute to a fallen comrade.

Towel Day

Do you know where your towel is?

People just don’t understand history or the modern military.

First there is a Space Cadet Force squadron commander who succumbs to Marjory Taylor Green syndrome and puts on a public display of his lack of knowledge of Marxism or military regulations:

Washington, DC (CNN)A Space Force lieutenant colonel has been removed from his command after appearing on a conservative podcast criticizing the United States military.

Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier joined The Steve Gruber show to discuss his new book, “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military,” which alleges that Marxist ideologies are becoming widespread within the armed forces. He expounded on those concerns in the podcast.

Lt. Col. Lohmeier can forget about the courtesy promotion to full Colonel if he is allowed to retire rather than being court martialed. There is no chance in hell his self-published book would have made it through review. He should have retired before displaying his ignorance. He is apparently really upset about anti-discrimination training which has been going on since Harry Truman integrated the military. If he had done some honest research he would have realized that fascism is a bigger problem for the military than Marxism.

Brian Williams of MSNBC has blessed Ted Cruz with a replacement for “Cancun Cruz”, Kremlin Cruz, for his approving sharing of the Russian recruiting agitprop and denigrating the US Army’s recruiting video featuring Corporal Emma Malonelord. Russia has a draft; the US is all volunteer. Push-ups aren’t a lot of good for operating the control panel of a Patriot anti-missile system.

Madison Cawthorn, if possible, is more ignorant of history than epidemiology or aetiology. Congresscritter Cawthorn, who rarely bothers to show up for votes, is totally unaware of the 1775–1782 North American smallpox epidemic. If Washington had been aware of the respiratory side of smallpox, he would have demanded the army wear masks, in addition to his order for entire army to be subjected to variolation. Unlike Jenner’s later discovery of the efficacy of cowpox producing immunity, variolation involved smearing the active virus in a small wound, which is a hell of a lot more dangerous.

These people deal in opinion and don’t approve of facts.