Showing posts with label Panama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Panama. Show all posts

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Friday, November 30, 1900. Long canals.

Oscar Wilde died at age 46 of meningitis.  He received a conditional baptism, indicating that there was uncertainty if he'd ever been baptised, shortly before his death, and was received into the Catholic Church.  He'd been raised an Anglican.

The Isthmian Canal Commission voted unanimously to recommend to U.S. President William McKinley and to the United States Congress that the proposed canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans be built across Nicaragua rather than the Colombian Departamento del Istmo.

1,200 Filipino troops surrendered to U.S. forces at Vigan.

Last edition:

Thursday, November 29, 1900. Thanksgiving Disaster.

Sunday, November 23, 2025

Wednesday, November 23, 1910. Provisional President of Mexico.

Undeterred by an unimpressive start to his attempt to overthrow the Mexican government three days prior, Francisco Madero proclaimed himself, with some justification, as "President of the provisional government of Mexico".

President Taft returned to the United States after visiting Panama and Cuba.

Visitor II, a yacht owned by Commodore W. Harry Brown, became the first vessel to travel the Panama Canal, which was completed as far as the Gatún lock.

The Army and Navy Academy, a prep school, opened in Carlsbad California.  I've never heard of it, but it's still in operation, and has beachfront property.

It's interesting how many of these there were at one time, or for that matter, still are.

Last edition:

Sunday, November 16, 2025

Wednesday, November 16, 1910. No canal grabbing.

President Taft was in Panama City inspecting the Panama Canal, where he assured Panamanians that the US wasn't going to grab the canal "so long as Panama performed her part under the treaty."

And there's this


"Samuel F. Perkins on Broad St., Philadelphia, Nov. 10th, 1910 - just going up First special permit ever granted in any American city, for man carrying kites."

Last edition:

Monday, November 14, 1910. First Ship Launch.

Monday, November 3, 2025

Thursday, November 3, 1910. La Matanza

Twenty-year-old ranch hand Antonio Rodriguez was lynched by being burned alive by a mob in Rocksprings Texas after having been accused of murdering a "white woman".  His murder in Texas sparked a reaction in Mexico, which was on the verge of revolution as it was, leading to boycotts on U.S. businesses and partially leading to the Plan of San Diego.

President Taft denied that the US was considering annexting Panama.

Interesting, isn't it?  The U.S. was in its high colonial era, having just beaten Span in the Spanish American War, and yet it didn't annext Cuba and it wasn't threatening to annex Panama, where it had constructed the canal.  Oh for the days when Republican Presidents weren't threatening to annex everything in site.

Of course, McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft weren't demented narcissists.

Former Democratic Mayor of New York City, the city's second Roman Catholic mayor, died at age 55.

Last edition:

Tuesday, November 1, 1910. The Pale of Settlement.

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Monday, October 12, 1925. Rent.

U.S. troops landed in Panama to put down a renter's strike at the request of President Rodolfo Chiari, which seems like complete BS, frankly.

The Ethel Hays cartoon for today:

The era was one in which Dude Ranches were particularly popular.

Large scale protests and strikes broke out in France, heavily influenced by the French left, against the Rif War.

Last edition:

Sunday, October 11, 1925. The line of duty.

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Wednesday, February 25, 1925. Preventing cruelty.

The 1925 Wyoming Legislature passed a law prohibiting the Wyoming Legislature passed a law prohibiting harsh, cruel or abusive treatment of human beings.  The law was inspired by the work of E. T. Payton who worked at the State Mental Hospital.

The first electrical recording of a phonograph record was made on a Western Electric patent by the Columbia Phonograph Company.

The Guna Revolution broke out in Panama in which native peoples rose up on the islands of Tupile and Ukupseni in an attempt to create their own nation. 

After a few days, a U.S. Navy cruiser arrived and a truce was negotiated to make the San Blas Islands autonomous within Panamanian rule.


Monday, January 20, 2025

Trump's Inaugural Speech.

Donald Trump was sworn in as President earlier today. and then delivered this speech.  A few things have been highlighted where they provide a preview of coming attractions:

Donald Trump: Thank you. Thank you very much everybody. Well, thank you very, very much. Vice President Vance, Speaker Johnson, Senator Thune, Chief Justice Roberts, justices of the United States Supreme Court, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and my fellow citizens.

The Golden Age of America begins right now.

From this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world. We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government will end. And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free.

America will soon be greater, stronger, and far more exceptional than ever before. I return to the presidency confident and optimistic that we are at the start of a thrilling new era of national success, a tide of change is sweeping the country, sunlight is pouring over the entire world, and America has the chance to seize this opportunity like never before.

But first, we must be honest about the challenges we face. While they are plentiful, they will be annihilated by this great momentum that the world is now witnessing in the United States of America.

As we gather today, our government confronts a crisis of trust. For many years, a radical and corrupt establishment has extracted power and wealth from our citizens, while the pillars of our society lay broken and seemingly in complete disrepair.

We now have a government that cannot manage even a simple crisis at home, while at the same time stumbling into a continuing catalog of catastrophic events abroad. It fails to protect our magnificent, law-abiding American citizens, but provide sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.

We have a government that has given unlimited funding to the defense of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders or more importantly, its own people. Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency, as recently shown by the wonderful people of North Carolina, been treated so badly. And other states who are still suffering from a hurricane that took place many months ago.

Or more recently in Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense. They’re raging through the houses and communities, even affecting some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in our country, some of whom are sitting here right now. They don’t have a home any longer. That’s interesting, but we can’t let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That’s going to change.

We have a public health system that does not deliver in times of disaster, yet more money is spent on it than any country anywhere in the world. And we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves, in many cases to hate our country despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them. All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly.

My recent election has a mandate to completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal, and all of these many betrayals that have taken place, and to give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and indeed, their freedom.

From this moment on, America’s decline is over. Our liberties and our nation’s glorious destiny will no longer be denied, and we will immediately restore the integrity, competency, and loyalty of America’s government. Over the past eight years, I have been tested and challenged more than any president in our 250 year history, and I’ve learned a lot along the way the journey to reclaim our republic has not been an easy one that I can tell you.

Those who wish to stop our cause have tried to take my freedom, and indeed to take my life. Just a few months ago, in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again. Thank you. Thank you very much.

That is why each day under our administration of American patriots, we will be working to meet every crisis with dignity and power and strength. We will move with purpose and speed to bring back hope, prosperity, safety, and peace for citizens of every race, religion, color and creed. For American citizens, Jan. 20th, 2025 is Liberation Day.

It is my hope that our recent presidential election will be remembered as the greatest and most consequential election in the history of our country.

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As our victory showed, the entire nation is rapidly unifying behind our agenda with dramatic increases in support from virtually every element of our society, young and old, men and women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, urban, suburban, rural and very importantly, we had a powerful win in all seven swing states, and the popular vote we won by millions of people.

To the black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote. We set records and I will not forget it. I’ve heard your voices in the campaign, and I look forward to working with you in the years to come. Today is Martin Luther King Day and his honor, this will be a great honor, but in his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality. We will make his dream come true. Thank you. Thank you.

National unity is now returning to America and confidence and pride is soaring like never before. In everything we do. My administration will be inspired by a strong pursuit of excellence and unrelenting success. We will not forget our country. We will not forget our Constitution and we will not forget our God. Can’t do that.

Today, I will sign a series of historic executive orders. With these actions, we will begin the complete restoration of America and the revolution of common sense. It’s all about common sense.

First, I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.

We will reinstate my remain in Mexico policy. I will end the practice of catch and release. And I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.

Under the orders I signed today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. And by invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to U.S. soil, including our cities and inner cities. As Commander in Chief, I have no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions and that is exactly what I am going to do. We will do it at a level that nobody has ever seen before.

Note:  The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 is regarded as extending powers during wartime.  The United States is not (yet) at war.  Invocation of terrorist status for these groups and this statute indicate a freighting extension of martial authority into what are police matters, and possibly intervention in Mexico.

Next, I will direct all members of my cabinet to marshal the vast powers at their disposal to defeat what was record inflation and rapidly bring down costs and prices.

This is pretty much nonsense. 

The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will drill, baby, drill.

There is not national energy emergency, and oil and gas production is currently at capacity considering price at the wellhead. 

America will be a manufacturing nation once again, and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have, the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth and we are going to use it, and they use it. We will bring prices down, fill our strategic reserves up again, right to the top and export American energy all over the world.

As its expensive to produce American oil, if the price of petroleum goes down, American production all so does. 

We will be a rich nation again and it is that liquid gold under our feet that will help to do it.

With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers.

Wasting, in effect, four years of effort, and pushing us closer to environmental disaster. 

In other words, you’ll be able to buy the car of your choice. We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago and thank you to the autoworkers of our nation for your inspiring vote of confidence. We did tremendously with their vote.

I will immediately begin the overhaul of our trade system to protect American workers and families. Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens.

Tariffs are demonstrated to hurt the country imposing them.

For this purpose, we are establishing the External Revenue Service to collect all tariffs, duties and revenues. It will be massive amounts of money pouring into our treasury coming from foreign sources. The American Dream will soon be back and thriving like never before.

This is flat out dumb.  A second revenue agency would simply be stupid.. 

To restore confidence and effectively is to our federal government, my administration will establish the brand new Department of Government Efficiency.

M'eh. 

After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America. Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents. Something I know, something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again.

Under my leadership, we will restore a fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law and we are going to bring law and order back to our cities.

This week I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit based. As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.

This week, I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate, with full back pay. And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It’s going to end immediately.

Our armed forces will be free to focus on their sole mission: defeating America’s enemies.

Like in 2017, we will again build the strongest military the world has ever seen. We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.

My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier, that’s what I want to be, a peacemaker and a unifier. I’m pleased to say that as of yesterday, one day before I assumed office, the hostages in the Middle East are coming back home to their families.

Thank you. America will reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on Earth, inspiring the all and admiration of the entire world.

A short time from now, we are going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America and we will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs. President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent. He was a natural businessman and gave Teddy Roosevelt the money for many of the great things he did, including the Panama Canal, which has foolishly been given to the country of Panama after the United States, the United States, I mean, think of this spent more money than ever spent on a project before and lost 38,000 lives in the building of the Panama Canal.

What the crap.

Changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico is flat out dumb, and changing the name of Denali is insulting to Native Alaskans. And frankly hardly any American cares much about William McKinley. 

We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made and Panama’s promise to us has been broken. The purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharge, charged and not treated fairly in any way, shape or form. And that includes the United States Navy and above all, China is operating the Panama Canal and we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama and we’re taking it back.

So the peacemaker is, apparently, going to seize the Panama Canal. 

Above all, my message to Americans today is that it is time for us to once again act with courage, vigor, and vitality of history’s greatest civilization. So as we liberate our nation, we will lead it to new heights of victory and success. We will not be deterred.

Together, we will end the chronic disease epidemic and keep our children safe, healthy, and disease free. The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation, one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations, and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons.

And we will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars.

Ambition is the lifeblood of a great nation and right now, our nation is more ambitious than any other. There’s no nation like our nation. Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts. The call of the next great adventure resounds from within our souls.

Our American ancestors turned a small group of colonies on the edge of a vast continent into a mighty republic of the most extraordinary citizens on Earth. No one comes close. Americans pushed thousands of miles through a rugged land of untamed wilderness.

They crossed deserts, scaled mountains, braved untold dangers, won the Wild West, ended slavery, rescued millions from tyranny, lifted billions from poverty, harnessed electricity, split the atom, launched mankind into the heavens and put the universe of human knowledge into the palm of the human hand.

If we work together, there is nothing we cannot do and no dream we cannot achieve. Many people thought it was impossible for me to stage such a historic political comeback. But as you see today, here I am, the American people have spoken. I stand before you now is proof that you should never believe that something is impossible to do.

In America, the impossible is what we do best. From New York to Los Angeles, from Philadelphia to Phoenix, from Chicago to Miami, from Houston to right here in Washington, DC, our country was forged and built by the generations of patriots who gave everything they had for our rights and for our freedom. They were farmers and soldiers, cowboys and factory workers, steel workers and coal miners, police officers and pioneers who pushed onward, marched forward, and let no obstacle defeat their spirit or their pride.

Together they laid down the railroads, raised up the skyscrapers, built great highways, won two world wars, defeated fascism and communism, and triumphed over every single challenge that they faced. After all we have been through together, we stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history. With your help, we will restore America’s promise and we will rebuild the nation that we love and we love it so much.

We are one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God. So to every parent who dreams for their child and every child who dreams for their future, I am with you. I will fight for you and I will win for you. We are going to win like never before. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly but we are going to bring it back and make it great again, greater than ever before. We will be a nation like no other, full of compassion, courage and exceptionalism. Our power will stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent and totally unpredictable.

America will be respected again and admired again, including by people of religion, faith, and goodwill. We will be prosperous. We will be proud. We will be strong and we will win like never before. We will not be conquered. We will not be intimidated. We will not be broken and we will not fail.

From this day on, the United States of America will be a free, sovereign and independent nation. We will stand bravely. We will live proudly. We will dream boldly, and nothing will stand in our way because we are Americans.

The future is ours and our golden age has just begun. Thank you. God bless America. Thank you all. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. 

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Casually dismissing Trump's ravings.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, December 20, 1924. Hitler released from...: That really didn't work out the way predicted. All the magazines had a Christmas theme that Saturday.   Last edition: Wednesday, Decembe...

Saturday, December 20, 1924. Hitler released from prison.


That really didn't work out the way predicted.

Watching the gutless wonders in the Republican Party bend over to receive the ramblings of a seemingly demented billionaire, or try to excuse them away as not serious, should give us serious pause.

It's easy to dismiss such stuff as nonsense. The problem with the nonsensical is that they believe what they say, and will act upon it.

Monday, December 23, 2024

And now he's proposing buying Greenland.

Seriously, this absurd proposal that Greenlanders do not desire, coming hard on the heels of a threat against Panama, after serial insults to Canada.

Trump isn't okay.  

That's been obvious for quite a while, but there's something wrong with him.  He spouts every stupid idea that comes into his head.

Elon Musk, not attempting to be ironic, suggested this week that office holders take a competency test.  Trump is publicly failing one right now.

Tuesday, July 9, 2024

Wednesday, July 9, 1924. John W. Davis nominated.

John W. Davis, former Congressman of West Virginia and little known until that time, became the Democratic nominee for President.  Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska was chosen as the VP candidate.

McAdoo withdrew reluctantly and bitterly, leaving the Democrats divided.

Calvin Coolidge Jr. was laid to rest.





Columbia recognized Panama.

Last edition:

Monday, July 7, 1924. The death of Calvin Coolidge, Jr.

Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Wednesday, May 28, 1924. Border Patrol and Foreign Service.

We earlier posted this: 

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, May 24, 1924. Foreign services.

Saturday, May 24, 1924. Foreign services.

President Coolidge signed the Foreign Service Act of 1924, creating the Foreign Serve and the Immigration Act of 1924, the National Origins Act.


The act reflected immigration by national origins, banned all immigration from Asia and set a total immigration quota of 165,000 for countries outside the Western Hemisphere.  It also authorized the creation of The Border Patrol.

And on this day, those agencies came into being.

Japan issued a formal protest over the Immigration Act of 1924.

President Coolidge issued a proclamation:


Max Wallraf was elected as the President of the Reichstag,

New York National Guardsman, Pvt. George Herman Ruth was photographed saluting Gen. Pershing.



Coolidge was photographed with cadet officers.


Last prior edition:

Friday, April 12, 2024

Saturday, April 12, 1924. Madeline Blair and the USS Arizona.


The Chief Radio Operator of the USS Arizona discovered 19 year old prostitute Madeline Blair on board the ship when she lingered too long on deck at a water cooler, called a scuttlebutt, while the ship was off of Balboa, Panama, getting ready to pass through the canal.

She had been allowed to stow away and hide on board by sympathetic sialors who bought her sad tale of poverty and the need to go to California.  On board she was hidden in an unused genetaror compartment and charged $10.00/day for lodging and meals, a huge sum at the time, by ship's cooks and she plied her trade at $3.00 per trick.

Going on deck only at night, and dressing in dungarees and blue sailor's work shirt, she'd been earlier discovered by a sailor while watching a movie from a searchlight platform when he'd reached into the breast pocket of the shirt she was wearing and detected her correct anatomy.  While shocked, that sailor had kept his discovery to himself.  The Chief Radio Operator did not.  She was put ashore and then returned to New York on hte Panama Railway Company SS Cristobal, which charged the Navy for her fare.

Twenty-three sailors would be court-martialed and Blair would write her story for The San Francisco Examiner in 1928.

Dawes met with Mussolini, who expressed support for the Dawes Plan.

The House passed the Japanese Exclusion Act.

Friday, April 11, 1924. Closing borders.

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Monday, January 21, 1924. Death claims bloody Lenin.

 



Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known to history as Vladimir Lenin, the illegitimate leader of a "soviet" state the Russian people had not wished to come into existence, died, having brought untold misery to millions.

The monster was 53 years of age.

His father had died at 54, so there's likely a genetic component to his "stroke", but in actuality, the exact cause of his death is not really known.

Parliament passed a no confidence motion in the government of Stanley Baldwin.

British railway workers went on strike the same day.

Mexican Federal troops crossed the US into Mexico, repeating the event which had lead Pancho Villa to attack Columbus, New Mexico, in March 1916.




Thursday, November 2, 2023

Friday, November 2, 1923. A person of interest.

Actress Margaret Gibson was arrested on charges of running a blackmail and extortion ring.  The charges would later be dropped,   She would keep working in the film industry until 1929.


During her career she performed under the names Patricia Palmer, Patsy Palmer, Margie Gibson, Marguerite Gibson, Ella Margaret Lewis, Ella Margaret Arce, Pat Lewis and perhaps others.  She started running into legal trouble in 1917, when she was arrested for vagrancy with allegations of opium dealing.  She was acquitted, but her career did thereafter decline.

On this day in 1923 she was arrested on federal felony charges. As things developed, George W. Lasher told authorities he had paid Gibson $1155 to avoid prosecution for a reputed violation of the Mann Act. Charges were, however, later dropped.

She married in 1935 to oil executive Elbert Lewis. They lived overseas, and the marriage was successful.  In 1940, at age 45, she returned to the United States without her husband for surgery.  World War Two intervened, and they would not be reunited as her husband was killed when the Japanese bombed Socony-Vacuum's oil facility at Penang, Malaysia on March 15, 1942.

She returned to Hollywood in 1964, and at that time, converted to Catholicism.  Only shortly thereafter, she became gravely ill, called for a priest, and confessed to neighbors the February 1, 1922, murder of Hollywood film director William Desmond Taylor.  The murder of Taylor remains officially unsolved, and while there were a handful of suspects, Gibson was never one of them.  In spite of her deathbed confession and her being distraught at the time, there are still those who doubt she committed the crime.  

Gibson with Taylor in a still from the 1914 film "The Riders of Petersham".

Given her conversion to Catholicism, and the sudden deathbed conversion, my guess is that she was the killer.  Suspicion on this is tied to her earlier efforts at extortion, and a flurry of that which occured following the Fatty Arbuckle episode.

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Harlold J. Brow set a new flight airspeed record of 250 mph, making him the first person to fly faster than 400 kph.  His plane was a Curtis racer.




The three Socialist members of Gustav Stresemann's cabinet resigned in protest over the governments refusal to curtail the dictatorial government in Bavaria.

Oklahoma's Governor Walton wasn't prepared to give up.


Ceremonies were held at Arlington National Cemetery for twenty-three U.S. Navy sailors and Marines from the USS Pittsburgh who died of influenza in 1918 and were returned to the United States from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.





And it was a busy day on the Panama Canal, like most days.


Panama Canal - West Lirio slide 11/2/23.

Are there lessons from today's entry?  Almost surely.  Redemption after a long journey to one who ultimately pursued, but also life cut short.