Showing posts with label United Kingdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Kingdom. Show all posts

Sunday, February 9, 2025

Thursday, February 9, 1775. Privileged shortsightedness, then and now.

A joint resolution of Parliament declared:

We find, that a part of your Majesty's subjects in the province of the Massachusetts Bay have proceeded so far to resist the authority of the supreme legislature, that a rebellion at this time actually exists within the said province; and we see, with the utmost concern, that they have been countenanced and encouraged by unlawful combinations and engagements, entered into by your Majesty's subjects in several of the other colonies, to the injury and oppression of many of their innocent fellow-subjects resident within the kingdom of Great Britain, and the rest of your Majesty's dominions

February must be the month for deliberative bodies declaring dumbass things. Goodness knows that the Wyoming Legislature's SJ 2 does. Ironically, those making aristocratic decisions either believe themselves, or in some cases pretend themselves, to be heirs to the American Revolutionaries, when in fact, in some instances at least, they're heirs to the British landed aristocracy. But, in reality, at least some of those voting for SJ2 are much like the House of Lords.  Landed gentry benefiting from the good fortune of their forbearers believing in their own superiority, or that they somehow worked for their position. 

Up the Revolution!

La tierra es de quien la trabaja.  Some of you ought to remember that. . . 

Related threads:

Wyoming Senate demands Congress hand over federal land, including Grand Teton


Saturday, February 4, 1775. Logan's Lament published by the Virginia Gazette.

Last edition:

Saturday, February 4, 1775. Logan's Lament published by the Virginia Gazette.

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Tuesday, February 4, 1975. Prometheus

Robert Russin's Prometheus statute, which I've never liked, was placed in front of the Natrona County Library.

Russin also did the bust of Lincoln on Interstate 80 an the UW Family at the University of Wyoming.

Interesting to think that there was a time when an abstract work of art found acceptance in Central Wyoming.  I cannot imagine that occurring now.

The Haicheng earthquake killed 2,041 and injured 27,538 in Haicheng, Liaoning, China.  Warnings actually were given preceding the earthquake, perhaps saving thousands.

Edward Heath stepped down as head of the Conservative Party in favor of Margaret Thatcher.

Last edition:

Wednesday, February 3, 1915. Ottoman's held up.


    Saturday, January 11, 2025

    Wednesday, January 11, 1775. Francis Salvador takes his seat.

    Francis Salvador, a Sephardic Jew born into that community in London, and an emigrant to South Carolina, took his seat in that colonies Provincial Congress, making him the first Jewish elected official in North America.


    Coat of arms of Francis Salvador.

    He was killed in action in the American Revolution in 1776.

    Interestingly, Salvador means "savior" or "salvation" in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese and is associated with Catholicism.

    Last edition:

    Thursday, December 22, 1724. The Greenwich Tea Party


    Wednesday, January 1, 2025

    Wednesday, January 1, 1975. Cutting off Phnom Penh.

    The Khemr Rouge cut off supply lines to Phnom Penh.

    John N. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman, and John Ehrlichman were found guilty on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal. 

    Robert Mardian was found guilty on one count of conspiracy.

    Queen Elizabeth II conferred knighthood on Charlie Chaplin, P. G. Wodehouse, Roger Bannister, and Gary Sobers.

    I would have passed on Chaplin.

    Last edition:

    Tuesday, December 31, 1974. Americans get to own gold again.

    Monday, January 1, 1945. Operation Bodenplatte. Reprisal massacre.

    The Luftwaffe commenced Operation Bodenplatte, which had originally been planned for December 16, in an attempt to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries. The hope was to gain air superiority so that the stalled German advance in Wacht am Rhein could resume.

    A tactical surprise resulting in the destruction of 500 Allied aircraft on the ground, it none the less failed to achieve its goal and actually destroyed the Luftwaffe as an offensive, or even defensive, force due to heavy losses.  Allied losses were replaced within one week.

    Soldiers of the 11th Armored Division murdered about 80 German POWs at Chenogne, Belgium, in reprisal for the Malmedy Massacre.

    Some of the boys had some prisoners line up. I knew they were going to shoot them, and I hated this business.... They marched the prisoners back up the hill to murder them with the rest of the prisoners we had secured that morning.... As we were going up the hill out of town, I know some of our boys were lining up German prisoners in the fields on both sides of the road. There must have been 25 or 30 German boys in each group. Machine guns were being set up. These boys were to be machine gunned and murdered. We were committing the same crimes we were now accusing the Japs and Germans of doing.... Going back down the road into town I looked into the fields where the German boys had been shot. Dark lifeless forms lay in the snow.

    Following the Malmedy Massacre some US units were issued orders not to take SS POWs, a clearly illegal order.  The murdered POWs, however, were members of the Führerbegleitbrigade and 3rd Panzergrenadier Division, German Army units, the latter of which had been associated with atrocities in Italy.

    The killing of SS POWs became routine in some units.

    The event was covered up and only really became known in detail in 2018.  This was not the only such event that occurred, and some units began to routinely kill SS prisoners.

    The UK refused to recognize the Soviet sponsored Polish government.

    Hitler made a radio address which omitted the current German situation to such an extent that it provoked Allied debate on who made it, and when.

    It's worth noting at this point that while October, 1944, was the bloodiest month of the war for the US, in larger terms, the killing and dying ramped up massively starting in January, 1945, as the Allies closed in on Germany.

    Last edition:

    Sunday, December 31, 1944. Unternehmen Nordwind launched Ichi-Go concludes a success.

    Monday, December 16, 2024

    Monday, December 16, 1974. Safe Drinking Water.

    The Republic of Mali invaded the Republic of Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) in a border conflict over water rights.

    The United States Senate unanimously (93 to 0) ratified the Geneva Protocol, the "Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare", almost 50 years after it had first been signed signed in Switzerland on June 17, 1925, and became effective on February 28, 1928.

    Hmmm. . . . 

    The Safe Drinking Water Act was signed into law.

    Probably wouldn't happen today.

    ANZUK, a military unit created in 1971 by agreement of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, was disbanded after slightly more than two years of having been in existence.

    No surprise, given the Vietnam War and the "winds of change".

    The Towering Inferno premiered.  I recall seeing it in the theaters with a friend on a Saturday afternoon, even though I was 11 years old.  It was awful.

    Frankly, they shouldn't have let us in the movie at all.  I'm sure we walked down and watched it, but it features a totally stupid 1970s example of full frontal that serves no purpose other than to be a toss out to the Playboy ethos of the era, which no 11 year old, or 21 year old, or 61 year old, should have to put up with.

    It also, fwiw, runs down the National Guard, in the 1970s post Vietnam War style.

    And the plot is moronic.  One of the 1970s scare movies.

    Last edition:

    Sunday, November 17, 1974. Greek democracy restored.

    Labels: 

    Monday, November 4, 2024

    2024 Elections In Other Countries.

    Taiwan


    Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party returned an historic third Presidential victory in a blow to the People's Republic of China.

    The party regards Taiwan as de facto independent, which it should be.  President Biden, following the election, stated the US didn't support Taiwanese independence, which it very much should.

    January 14, 2024.

    Hungary


    The President of Hungary, Katalin Novák, age 46, has resigned due to a scandal involving the pardoning of an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case.

    February 11, 2024.

    Ireland


    I had a post on the Irish referendum to amend its constitution, and was frankly way off 

    Blog Mirror: On marriage, family, and the Irish constitutional referendum.

    The referendum failed massively.  Actually two proposals, the one that sought to expand the definition of family from a relationship founded on marriage to include other durable relationships, failed 67.7% to 32.3%.  The one to replace language surrounding a woman's duties in the home with a clause recognizing the role of family members in the provision of care was rejected 73.9% to 26.1%.

    This deserves its own thread.

    March 10, 2014

    Russia


    Putin.  Gee, what a surprise.

    March 18, 2024.

    South Africa.


    The ANC lost the majority of parliamentary seats so, if it is to stay in power, it needs to form a coalition with minority parties.

    Mexico


    Claudia Sheinbaum won the presidential election, becoming the countries first woman elected to this office.

    She is a protégé of the incumbent populist Manuel López Obrador and served as his pro oil environmental minister, in spite of having a degree in the field.  Mexican presidents may only serve one six year term.

    June 3, 2024

    European Union


    Far right parties gained overall in EU parliamentary elections over the weekend, although in Scandinavia, the far left did.  President Macron dissolved the French parliament as a result, and France will now have elections.  Poland's governing conservative party came out on top for that country, edging out the further right wing party that had governed Poland before it came to power last year.

    June 10, 2024

    France


    In round one of a snap French election, the far right Le Pen RN bloc took 33.15% of the vote, the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition came second with 27.99% and President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble alliance took 20.76%.  Voting concludes next week, but it's clear the far right is going to take the most votes, but not enough to form a non coalition government.

    And so the far right, globally, continues its rise.

    July 1, 2024.

    United Kingdom


    Labor won the recent election and Sir Keir Starmer will become Prime Minister.

    July 5, 2024.

    Iran


    Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Iran’s runoff presidential election.

    July 7, 2024.

    France

    In an amazing one week long rally, the French left and Macron's Ensemble stages a comeback with the left wing NFP now having the majority of seats in the French Assembly and Ensemble the second largest.  

    None of the parties have enough seats to form a government, and nobody is certain what will occur.  If a government is to be formed, it will have to be a coalition government.

    July 8, 2024.

    Venezuela


    Both sides have declared victory in the election for the nation's president, with the incumbent having the current reigns of power.  The election has been accused of having irregularities.

    July 30, 2024.

    Georgia


    Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has likely won a simple majority in the Georgian parliamentary election held on October 26, 2024, according to preliminary results. Partial preliminary results released by the Georgian Central Election Committee (CEC) on October 26 indicate that the Georgian Dream party will likely win the majority of seats in parliament, but the results are neither complete nor final.[1] The results suggest that Georgian Dream will form the new Georgian government, but that it will not have the 113 seats required to obtain the  “constitutional majority” it needs to pursue some of the goals it has outlined, including outlawing nearly all opposition parties.[2] The CEC reported that voter turnout was nearly 59 percent- the highest since 2012 when Georgian Dream first came to power.[3]

    Institute for the Study of War.

    October 26, 2024. 

    Moldova


    Pro Western President Maia Sandu has won a second term against a pro Russian opponent.

    November 4, 2024

    Thursday, October 24, 2024

    Friday, October 24, 1924. Republicans, Monarchs and Fascists.

    Éamon de Valera was arrested in Newry as he arrived at a meeting of the Sinn Féin. He was charged with entering a prohibited area under the Civil Powers Act.

    Romanian fascist Iron Guard leader Corneliu Codreanu assassinated Constantin Manciu, the police chief of the city of Iași, and shot several other policemen. 

    He would be acquitted on the grounds that he had acted in self-defense, despite entering the meeting and shooting Manciu from behind.

    The British Foreign Office released the Zinoviev letter. The letter purported to be a directive from the Soviets addressed to the Communist Party of Great Britain to increase labor unrest in the UK.  A protest was lodged with the Soviet Embassy.

    Belgium signed the Geneva Protocol.

    Crown Princes Wilhelm of Germany and Rupprecht of Bavaria reconciled.

    The Prince of Wales ended his visit to the United States and Canada.

    Last edition:

    Thursday, October 23, 1924. Beijing Coup.

    Saturday, October 12, 2024