Ostensibly exploring the practice of law before the internet. Heck, before good highways for that matter.
Thursday, June 5, 2025
I'm tired of all of this rain.
Tuesday, June 5, 1945. The Berlin Declaration.
The Berlin Declaration was signed by the United States, USSR, Britain and France, confirming the complete legal dissolution of the German state.
Declaration regarding the defeat of Germany and the assumption of supreme authority with respect to Germany by the Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the Provisional Government of the French Republic.
The German armed forces on land, at sea and in the air have been completely defeated and have surrendered unconditionally and Germany, which bears responsibility for the war, is no longer capable of resisting the will of the victorious Powers. The unconditional surrender of Germany has thereby been effected, and Germany has become subject to such requirements as may now or hereafter be imposed upon her.
There is no central Government or authority in Germany capable of accepting responsibility for the maintenance of order, the administration of the country and compliance with the requirements of the victorious Powers.
It is in these circumstances necessary, without prejudice to any subsequent decisions that may be taken respecting Germany, to make provision for the cessation of any further hostilities on the part of the German armed forces, for the maintenance of order in Germany and for the administration of the country, and to announce the immediate requirements with which Germany must comply.
The Representatives of the Supreme Commands of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United Kingdom and the French Republic, hereinafter called the "Allied Representatives," acting by authority of their respective Governments and in the interests of the United Nations, accordingly make the following Declaration:
The Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom, and the Provisional Government of the French Republic, hereby assume supreme authority with respect to Germany, including all the powers possessed by the German Government, the High Command and any state, municipal, or local government or authority. The assumption, for the purposes stated above, of the said authority and powers does not affect the annexation of Germany.
The Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom, and the Provisional Government of the French Republic, will hereafter determine the boundaries of Germany or any part thereof and the status of Germany or of any area at present being part of German territory.
In virtue of the supreme authority and powers thus assumed by the four Governments, the Allied Representatives announce the following requirements arising from the complete defeat and unconditional surrender of Germany with which Germany must comply:
ARTICLE 1
Germany, and all German military, naval and air authorities and all forces under German control shall immediately cease hostilities in all theatres of war against the forces of the United Nations on land, at sea and in the air.
ARTICLE 2
(a) All armed forces of Germany or under German control, wherever they may be situated, including land, air, anti-aircraft and naval forces, the S.S., S.A. and Gestapo, and all other forces of auxiliary organisations equipped with weapons, shall be completely disarmed, handing over their weapons and equipment to local Allied Commanders or to officers designated by the Allied Representatives
(b) The personnel of the formations and units of all the forces referred to in paragraph (a) above shall, at the discretion of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Allied State concerned, be declared to be prisoners of war, pending further decisions, and shall be subject to such conditions and directions as may be prescribed by the respective Allied Representatives.
(c) All forces referred to in paragraph (a) above, wherever they may be, will remain in their present positions pending instructions from the Allied Representatives.
(d) Evacuation by the said forces of all territories outside the frontiers of Germany as they existed on the 31st December, 1937, will proceed according to instructions to be given by the Allied Representatives.
(e) Detachments of civil police to be armed with small arms only, for the maintenance of order and for guard duties, will be designated by the Allied Representatives.
ARTICLE 3
(a) All aircraft of any kind or nationality in Germany or German-occupied or controlled territories or waters, military, naval or civil, other than aircraft in the service of the Allies, will remain on the ground, on the water or aboard ships pending further instructions.
(b) All German or German-controlled aircraft in or over territories or waters not occupied or controlled by Germany will proceed to Germany or to such other place or places as may be specified by the Allied Representatives.
ARTICLE 4
(a) All German or German-controlled naval vessels, surface and submarine, auxiliary naval craft, and merchant and other shipping, wherever such vessels may be at the time of this Declaration, and all other merchant ships of whatever nationality in German ports, will remain in or proceed immediately to ports and bases as specified by the Allied Representatives. The crews of such vessels will remain on board pending further instructions.
(b) All ships and vessels of the United Nations, whether or not title has been transferred as the result of prize court or other proceedings, which are at the disposal of Germany or under German control at the time of this Declaration, will proceed at the dates and to the ports or bases specified by the Allied Representatives.
ARTICLE 5
(a) All or any of the following articles in the possession of the German armed forces or under German control or at German disposal will be held intact and in good condition at the disposal of the Allied Representatives, for such purposes and at such times and places as they may prescribe:
(i) all arms, ammunition, explosives, military equipment, stores and supplies and other implements of war of all kinds and all other war materials;
(ii) all naval vessels of all classes, both surface and submarine, auxiliary naval craft and all merchant shipping, whether afloat, under repair or construction, built or building;
(iii) all aircraft of all kinds, aviation and anti-aircraft equipment and devices;
(iv) all transportation and communications facilities and equipment, by land, water or air;
(v) all military installations and establishments, including airfields, seaplane bases, ports and naval bases, storage depots, permanent and temporary land and coast fortifications, fortresses and other fortified areas, together with plans and drawings of all such fortifications, installations and establishments;
(vi) all factories, plants, shops, research institutions, laboratories, testing stations, technical data, patents, plans, drawings and inventions, designed or intended to produce or to facilitate the production or use of the articles, materials, and facilities referred to in sub-paragraphs (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) and (v) above or otherwise to further the conduct of war.
(b) At the demand of the Allied Representatives the following will be furnished:
(i) the labour, services and plant required for the maintenance or operation of any of the six categories mentioned in paragraph (a) above; and
(ii) any information or records that may be required by the Allied Representatives in connection with the same.
(c) At the demand of the Allied Representatives all facilities will be provided for the movement of Allied troops and agencies, their equipment and supplies, on the railways, roads and other land communications or by sea, river or air. All means of transportation will be maintained in good order and repair, and the labour, services and plant necessary therefor will be furnished.
ARTICLE 6
(a) The German authorities will release to the Allied Representatives, in accordance with the procedure to be laid down by them, all prisoners of war at present in their power, belonging to the forces of the United Nations, and will furnish full lists of these persons, indicating the places of their detention in Germany or territory occupied by Germany. Pending the release of such prisoners of war, the German authorities and people will protect them in their persons and property and provide them with adequate food, clothing, shelter, medical attention and money in accordance with their rank or official position.
(b) The German authorities and people will in like manner provide for and release all other nationals of the United Nations who are confined, interned or otherwise under restraint, and all other persons who may be confined, interned or otherwise under restraint for political reasons or as a result of any Nazi action, law or regulation which discriminates on the ground of race, colour, creed or political belief.
(c) The German authorities will, at the demand of the Allied Representatives, hand over control of places of detention to such officers as may be designated for the purpose by the Allied Representatives.
ARTICLE 7
The German authorities concerned will furnish to the Allied Representatives:
(a) full information regarding the forces referred to in Article 2 (a), and, in particular, will furnish forthwith all information which the Allied Representatives may require concerning the numbers, locations and dispositions of such forces, whether located inside or outside Germany;
(b) complete and detailed information concerning mines, minefields and other obstacles to movement by land, sea or air, and the safety lanes in connection therewith. All such safety lanes will be kept open and clearly marked; all mines, minefields and other dangerous obstacles will as far as possible be rendered safe, and all aids to navigation will be reinstated. Unarmed German military and civilian personnel with the necessary equipment will be made available and utilized for the above purposes and for the removal of mines, minefields and other obstacles as directed by the Allied Representatives.
ARTICLE 8
There shall be no destruction, removal, concealment, transfer or scuttling of, or damage to, any military, naval, air, shipping, port, industrial and other like property and facilities and all records and archives, wherever they may be situated, except as may be directed by the Allied Representatives.
ARTICLE 9
Pending the institution of control by the Allied Representatives over all means of communication, all radio and telecommunication installations and other forms of wire or wireless communications, whether ashore or afloat, under German control, will cease transmission except as directed by the Allied Representatives.
ARTICLE 10
The forces, ships, aircraft, military equipment, and other property in Germany or in German control or service or at German disposal, of any other country at war with any of the Allies, will be subject to the provisions of this Declaration and of any proclamations, orders, ordinances or instructions issued thereunder.
ARTICLE 11
(a) The principal Nazi leaders as specified by the Allied Representatives, and all persons from time to time named or designated by rank, office or employment by the Allied Representatives as being suspected of having committed, ordered or abetted war crimes or analogous offences, will be apprehended and surrendered to the Allied Representatives.
(b) The same will apply in the case of any national of any of the United Nations who is alleged to have committed an offence against his national law, and who may at any time be named or designated by rank, office or employment by the Allied Representatives.
(c) The German authorities and people will comply with any instructions given by the Allied Representatives for the apprehension and surrender of such persons.
ARTICLE 12
The Allied Representatives will station forces and civil agencies in any or all parts of Germany as they may determine.
ARTICLE 13
(a) In the exercise of the supreme authority with respect to Germany assumed by the Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom, and the Provisional Government of the French Republic, the four Allied Governments will take such steps, including the complete disarmament and demilitarization of Germany, as they deem requisite for future peace and security.
(b) The Allied Representatives will impose on Germany additional political, administrative, economic, financial, military and other requirements arising from the complete defeat of Germany. The Allied Representatives, or persons or agencies duly designated to act on their authority, will issue proclamations, orders, ordinances and instructions for the purpose of laying down such additional requirements, and of giving effect to the other provisions of this Declaration. All German authorities and the German people shall carry out unconditionally the requirements of the Allied Representatives, and shall fully comply with all such proclamations, orders, ordinances and instructions.
ARTICLE 14
This Declaration enters into force and effect at the date and hour set forth below. In the event of failure on the part of the German authorities or people promptly and completely to fulfill their obligations hereby or hereafter imposed, the Allied Representatives will take whatever action may be deemed by them to be appropriate under the circumstances.
ARTICLE 15
This Declaration is drawn up in the English, Russian, French and German languages. The English, Russian and French are the only authentic texts.
BERLIN, GERMANY, June 5, 1945.
Signed at 1800 hours, Berlin time, by
Dwight D. Eisenhower,
General of the Army USA;
Zhukov,
Marshal of the Soviet Union;
B. L. Montgomery,
Field Marshal, Great Britain;
De Lattre de Tassisny,
French Provisional Government.
The U.S. Army Air Force dropped 3,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Kobe, Japan.
The 37th Infantry Division occupied Aritao on Luzon.
More hard fighting on Okinawa occurred and a sudden typhoon damaged 4 battleships, 8 aircraft carriers, 7 cruisers, 14 destroyers, 2 tankers, and and ammunition transport ship, of the US 3rd Fleet.
A Kamikaze attack crippled the USS Mississippi and the heavy cruiser USS Louisville.
Esquire magazines second class mailing privileges were restored by a US appellate court after having been suspended due to the feature of Vargas Girl pinups, which foreshadowed Playboy Playmates. The decision was appealed to the United States Supreme Court which upheld the decision, unfortunately, in 1946.
This demonstrates that the widespread public acceptance of pornography was already occurring in advance of the 1953 introduction of Playboy, so the trend we've discussed here in other threads was already underway with the Courts frustrating efforts to restrict the development. This also, we'd note, runs a bit counter to the heavy attribution we've attached to Hefner's rag, because, as noted, the trend was underway, although Esquire's depictions were illustrations, rather than photographs. To a certain degree, the U.S. Army publication Yank had headed in the same direction, with its centerfolds, although they were always full clothed.
It wasn't a good trend.
Last edition:
Monday, June 4, 1945. Marines land on the Oroku Peninsula on Okinawa.
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Wednesday,. June 3, 1925. Blimps and Stormy Weather.
June 3, 1925: The 1st Goodyear Blimp
Last edition:
Tuesday, June 2, 1925. A headache becomes history, Marines in Shanghai, and Amundsen lost
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Staffing shortage, DOGE-led cuts halt Cheyenne’s around-the-clock weather monitoring
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Friday, March 19, 1875. The execution of Tiburcio Vásquez.
Legendary Californio bandido Tiburcio Vásquez was executed at age 39.
The March 1875 Southeast tornado outbreak struck the Southern United States producing no less than 19 tornadoes.
Last edition:
Saturday, March 13, 1875. Sheep.
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Wednesday, March 18, 1925. The Tri State Tornado.
The deadliest tornado in U.S. History, the Tri State Tornado, swept across the states of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana killing 751 people.
The Yunnan–Guangxi War began in China's Yunnan province over succession of leadership in the Kuomintang.
Last edition:
Saturday, March 14, 1925. Spring.
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Monday, February 12, 1945. Peru enters the war.
The Treaty of Varkiza was signed in which Greek resistance agreed to disarm and relinquish control of all the territory it occupied in exchange for legal recognition, free elections, and the removal of Nazi collaborators from the armed forces and police, which seems reasonable enough.
Greek politics had been a mess for years, and would continue to be for many more years.
The Japanese executed Antonio Villa-Real, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in the Philippines.
Peru declared war on Germany and Japan.
A tornado outbreak in Mississippi and Alabama killed 45 people.
Himmler appeared on the cover of Time magazine, in an illustration depicting him as a death's head.
Last edition:
Sunday, February 11, 1945. Yalta winds up.
Monday, January 20, 2025
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Blaze (in Los Angeles) threatens to leap highway near densely populated regions
A headline in the Tribune this morning.
The tragedy we're seeing here is indescribable. Truly, this is one of the worst disaster in American history.
Saturday, January 11, 2025
Saturday, January 11, 1975. Storms. Things can, and do, get worse.
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Friday, January 2, 1925
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Monday, December 18, 1944. Typhoon Cobra.
Typhoon Cobra struck the Pacific Fleet doing severe damage to the ships of Task Force 28. The destroyers Hull, Monaghan and Spence all foundered in the storm. Other ships were damaged.
Last edition:
Sunday, December 17, 1944. SS murders in Belgium.
Friday, December 13, 2024
Wednesday, December 13, 1944. USS Goshen commissioned.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Monday, December 11, 1944. The Great Snowstorm of 1944.
The Great Snowstorm of 1944 set in, impacting northeastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, upstate New York, southern Ontario and southern Quebec.
The British 8th Army crossed the Lamone.
The Soviets heavily bombard Budapest.
The US 7th Army entered Haguenau. The Germans unsuccessfully attacked 3d Army bridgeheads over the Saar.
The Germans completed the murder of the inmates of the Hartheim Euthanasia Centre.
British reinforcements reach Athens to combat some 25,000 ELAS troops.
The USS Reid was sunk off of Leyte by a kamikaze.
Kia (기아), then Kyungsung Precision Industry (京城精密工業), was founded in Seoul, which of course was occupied as part of the Japanese Empire.
Last edition:
Sunday, December 10, 1944. Hall of Fame.
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Sunday, November 7, 1824. St. Petersburg Flood.
The horrific St. Petersburg Flood, by some measures the worst flood in Russian history, occurred.
Last edition:
Tuesday, November 2, 1824. The Blackpore Mutiny of 1824.
Friday, November 1, 2024
Saturday, November 1, 1924. Political, and real, warfare.
It was Saturday.
Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi II invaded the Emirate of Sharjah resulting in the overthrow of Khalid bin Ahmad Al Qasimi, who had been the Emir since 1914.
Sharjah was one of the Trucial States under British protectorate status. It is now one of the United Arab Emirates.
He'd find his rule ineffective as he was ignored by Beudoins and Khalid retained support. He remained the titular rule, however, until his death in 1951.
The Royal Air Force introduced its Meteorological Flight Service.
Éamon de Valera was sentenced to a month in prison for entering Ulster illegally.
Frontier lawman Bill Tilghman, age 70, was shot and killed by drunken prohibition agement Wiley Lynn, who obviously wasn't that dedicated to the cause of his employment. Tilghman would lie in State in the Oklahoma state house. Lynn would escape conviction, pleading self defense, but was killed in a gunfight in 1932.
The days headline did, and did not, read like today's.
Last edition:
Thursday, October 30, 1924. King maker.
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Just two weeks ago Congress passed a bill that included funding for FEMA.
Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true!
Aesop.
The hard right in Congress, including Wyoming's lone Congressman, voted against it. Voting against such bills has been really popular in the populist street level politics of Wyoming. And the hard right sees it as a way to force fiscal responsibility, as long as you don't want to be too cynical about it. It'd also handicap the government if it didn't pass, of course, which some long for.
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman voted in favor of H.R. 9494 - Continuing Appropriations and Other Matters Act, 2025 (CR) that would keep the federal government open through March 28, 2025 and include the SAVE Act. The SAVE Act, cosponsored by Rep. Hageman and passed earlier this year by the House of Representatives with bipartisan support, would require states to obtain proof of citizenship—in person—when registering an individual to vote and require states to remove non-citizens from existing voter rolls. The bill failed 220-202.Representative Hageman stated, “Safeguarding our election process is critically important, especially with the open border policies of the Biden-Harris administration that have allowed over 11 million illegals to enter our country. By including the SAVE Act with government funding and extending the funding into 2025, when Republicans have a strong chance of controlling the House, Senate, and White House, America wins. We will be able to craft responsible appropriations bills that slash wasteful spending, stop the current administration’s radical climate agenda, and eliminate woke DEI programs from federal agencies – at the same time, we can ensure that only American citizens vote in federal elections.
“I am disappointed that the House was unable to pass H.R. 9494 today. While Continuing Resolutions are never ideal, securing our elections and creating an opportunity to pass conservative spending bills in 2025 created a unique opportunity. I will not support a CR that fails to include the SAVE Act.”
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And quite frankly, there are going to be more to come.
The Elk Fire near Dayton and Sheridan is now up to 75,000 and is only 10% contained as of this morning. A forest fire broke out in this county yesterday afternoon.*
These fires aren't stopping until it snows, and daily temperatures are freakishly high for October.
Let's discuss subsidiarity.
Subsidiarity on this site is defined in the Catholic sense. It is an organizing principle that things (problems, matters, politics, economics) ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority.
Least centralized competent authority, not the least centralized authority.
The most centralized competent authority can indeed be the Federal government for large disasters, particularly multistate disasters, and ones which require large sums of money that cannot be locally obtained.
That latter is particularly the case for Wyoming.
We can't afford these disasters on our own. We can't afford to fight them. We can't address what they destroy.
Wyomingites are on social media right now complaining that the country is ignoring us. Well, attention works two ways.
This upcoming 2025 Legislature is likely to see the House controlled by the "Wyoming" Freedom Caucus. The "Wyoming" Freedom Caucus basically wants to give the Federal Government the middle finger salute. But nobody in the state wants to tell Washington "no thanks, you keep your FEMA, Highway, FAA money, we'll do it on our own".
There's a word for lashing out when you don't get what you want, and see yourself as the center of things.
A tantrum, angry outburst, temper tantrum, lash out, meltdown, fit, or hissy fit is an emotional outburst, usually associated with those in emotional distress. It is typically characterized by stubbornness, crying, screaming, violence, defiance, angry ranting, a resistance to attempts at pacification, and, in some cases, hitting and other physically violent behavior. Physical control may be lost; the person may be unable to remain still; and even if the "goal" of the person is met, they may not be calmed. Throwing a temper tantrum can lead to a child getting detention or being suspended from school for older school age children, and can result in a timeout or grounding, complete with room or corner time, at home. A tantrum may be expressed in a tirade: a protracted, angry speech.
Wikipedia.
“Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true!”, Aesop counseled, and for a reason. And Sappho counseled "don't bite the hand that feeds you".
And, of course:
Pride goes before disaster, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 16:18.
We've been pretty proud here recently.
Footnotes:
*A message from the Game and Fish:
Sheridan – The Wyoming Game and Fish Department advises hunters that the Elk Fire in Sheridan County continues to grow, impacting wildlife habitat and access to certain hunt areas.
Hunt areas impacted by the fire or associated public access closures are currently located within Elk Hunt Areas 37 and 38 and Deer Hunt Areas 24 and 25. This is an active fire situation and these areas may change. Game and Fish is maintaining a fire information page for hunters and updating it regularly.
As of Oct. 5, 2024, the following Access Yes areas have been closed until further notice:
- PK Lane Hunter Management Area.
Sheridan County Walk in Areas #8 and #12.
Game and Fish personnel are assisting public safety officials and fire suppression efforts as requested.
Personnel will assess impacts to Commission-owned properties and wildlife habitat when it is safe to do so.
Members of the public should be extra vigilant in watching for wildlife on roadways to avoid collisions, as animals may relocate to new areas where they usually aren’t expected.
Wildlife are generally adept at moving away from wildfires and the department has not received reports of injured animals at this time. Members of the public who see an injured animal can report the location to the Stop Poaching Hotline at 1-877-WGFD-TIP. The hotline operates 24 hours a day and reports are sent to the nearest wildlife manager to respond.
Hunters should consult the Bighorn National Forest website and Facebook page for the most current information on fire conditions and public access closures.
Other resources for information about the fire, current road closures and other impacts include the Sheridan County Emergency Management Department and Wyoming Department of Transportation.
Hunters can call the Sheridan Regional Office at 307-672-7418 for more information.