I don't like being upset with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department but. . .

I am.

Again.

The department changed its fairly horrible license application system to one that has the appearance of being somewhat better earlier this year.  A couple of months ago, I went to apply for limited draw licenses and had to register for the new system. I then applied for my licenses.

When I did, it had the feel that something didn't work right, but I chalked that up to paranoia about the old site, which was pretty glitchy.  I went along on my way happy I'd complied well before the due date for applications.

Later, I helped set up the new site for the kids and helped them apply.

Well, the draw results came out on Thursday and sure enough, the system has me not applying for anything.

I haven't drawn an antelope license or a limited deer or elk for two years running. The G&F insists on giving out more licenses to out of staters than any other Western state, which certainly doesn't help that at all.  And now their website has screwed me.

As a subsistence hunter, I'm angry.  Over the past two, now three, years I haven't been able to draw a license in the state I'm native to.  For two years running I've been harassed by Game Wardens while bird hunting as I note the routes into places better than they do. Both of those wardens are imports from out of state, the latter one from California, in a job that used to go to people who had grown up in a wild environment. The first one, in fairness, apologized for being wrong and the second one eventually backed down, but he also acted like a big city cop.  He ought to be sent packing back to California where he's from.

Somehow government entities manage to have bad websites fairly frequently. There are exceptions. The Wyoming Oil and Gas Commissions is excellent.  The Game and Fish site, on the other hand, has always been bad. They now force you to use it, however.

Well, even though its tilting at windmills, I tried to call. . . two days running. The phone was off the hook.

I probably wasn't the only one with a problem.

Related threads:

The Agrarian's Lament: A Tribune op ed and some thoughts on outfitters and locals.

The frustrating big game season of 2020.

Monday, June 19, 1911. Never going back to Mexico and La Agrupación Protectora Mexicana.

Porfirio Díaz, now in exile in France, stated he would not return to Mexico even if asked to do so.

And in fact, he was never asked to do so, and he remains, now passed on, in Paris.

Antonio Gómez, age 14, was lynched in Thorndale, Milam County, Texas.  The victim had killed a white Texan in an altercation.  This particular murder was instrumental in the creation of the Mexican American mutual aid society, La Agrupación Protectora Mexicana.

Last edition:

Sunday, June 18, 1911. Human remains on the USS Maine, Detroit Tigers make comeback.

Labels: 1910s, 1911, baseball, boats and ships, Cuba (Havana), It was because of the Spanish American War, U.S. Navy

Thursday June 19, 1941. Blackout

U.S. Tank in training accident in Tennessee, June 19, 1941.  The US was engaged in full scale training in anticipation of war at this time.

Germany and Italy retaliated for the closure of German and Italian consulates in the US by closing US consulates in the two countries, something no doubt expected.  We learned of that here:

Today in World War II History—June 19, 1941

As you can also see from that item, the Soviet Union, realizing that things were looking ominous along its long border with the Axis, ordered a nighttime blackout on the border and camouflaged its airfields.

The Battle of Merdjayoun commenced in southern Lebanon, pitting British Commonwealth forces against Vichy French and Colonial Lebanese forces.

Australian artillery during the Battle of Merjayoun.

Sunday, June 19, 1921. Sliver dollars.

While Sunday was an odd day in which to do it, the U.S. resumed minting silver dollars for the the first time since the 1904, with the pattern that was first minted being the Morgan pattern.  A  new pattern was introduced later in the year.

I Ain't Got No Home In This World Anymore - Woody Guthrie

Life's Mission

 

Dog ejected from vehicle in Idaho crash found two days later herding sheep

Juneteenth. What the new Federal Holiday Commemorates

Today is a Federal Holiday.  And for the first time.

Emancipation Day celebration, Richmond Virginia, 1905.

The holiday is Juneteenth.

The creation of the holiday is certainly proof that the Federal Government can in fact act quickly.  The bills on this were very recently introduced and this just passed Congress earlier this week and was signed into law yesterday, giving Federal employees the day off today. On Monday, they weren't expecting a day off.

So what is it?

The day basically celebrates the end of slavery, but in a bit of an unusual way. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on September 22, 1862.  Juneteenth, however, marks the calendar date of June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, after the end of the war, and issued proclamations voiding acts of the Texas legislature during the war and proclaiming the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation.  His General Order No. 3 was read aloud in the streets. Hence, June 19 became recognized, regionally, as the day that the Emancipation Proclamation reached the most distant outposts of the slave states, bringing slavery finally to an end.

Band for Texas Emancipation Day celebration, 1900.

Celebration of the day in Texas started almost immediately, being first observed just one year later, by the state's freed African American population.  Interestingly, the day was generally known as Emancipation Day.  However, the revival of segregation in the South in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century caused the day to suffer a decline, until it began to be revived in the 1950s.  Upon revival, the name Juneteenth began to apply to it.  It was made a state holiday in Texas in 1979.  The day received recognition in 47 of the states since then, with North and South Dakota and Hawaii being the only ones that had not up until now.

Talk of making it a Federal holiday has existed at least since the 1980s.  Generally there's been very broad support for the move, but it obviously has taken years to accomplish, if we regard 1979 as the onset.  It's interestingly been an example of states largely being out in front of the Federal Government on a holiday, and not surprisingly the various ways that states have recognized it have not been consistent.

Gen. Gordon, who brought news to African Americans in Texas that they'd been freed two years prior.

There's been next to no opposition to the holiday being created which is interesting, in part, as the current times have been very oddly polarized in all sorts of ways.  The measure had bipartisan support, although fourteen Republican members of Congress voted against it.  One interestingly voted against it as he thought the official name confusing, Juneteenth National Independence Day, which in fact it somewhat is.  That individual wanted to use the original name, Emancipation Day, which is a view I somewhat sympathize with.

It'll be interesting to see what the public reaction is given that this happened seemingly so quickly.  By and large people who are aware of it seem pleased, although Candace Owens, the African American conservative columnists and quasi gadfly, predictably wasn't.  It'll probably be next year until there's widespread national recognition of the day.

In very real ways, what it commemorates is the suffering of one of the most American of all American demographics, the African Americans, who have been in the country since its founding, but who still were the victims of legal discrimination all the way into the 1960s and whose economic plight remains marked.

Blog Mirror: Is the Allure of Farming Irresistible?

 A question posted by the USDA blog:

Is the Allure of Farming Irresistible?

I think the answer may perhaps be yes, but here's another question.  Is satisfaction of that allure obtainable?

Wednesday June 18, 1941. The Middle East

 The Battle of Damascus began on this day in 1941.

Free French Circassian cavalry in Damascus.

The battle pitted Allied forces, lead by Indian troops on the ground, but including various Commonwealth countries and Free French forces against Vichy French and colonial Syrian troops.

The battle ran until June 21 and resulted in the surrender of the Vichy French administration to the Allies, thereby closing an Axis rear door in North Africa.

Germany and Turkey signed a treaty of friendship.

The treaty closed the door to the possibility, in German minds, of the Allies wooing Turkey, which was unlikely in the first place. Turkey, for its part, was on a dedicated path of neutrality.

The treaty would benefit both Germany and Turkey, with the Turks benefitting in some unexpected ways.  The Germans received a guaranteed supply of chromite from turkey through the treaty, putting the Turks basically in the same position as the Swedes in buying neutrality through raw materials, although in both instances the countries would have been a handful for the Germans to attack if they'd thought it necessary.  Indeed, in Turkey's situation the country was far more valuable to Nazi Germany as a neutral than as a combatant, as that closed the door to the British to the south who, as can be seen from the above, were defeating the Vichy French in Syria and who had already defeated an attempt at fascism in Iraq.  Unbeknownst to the Turks, the treat also shortened German lines, already pretty stretched, for Operation Barbarossa, which was just about to commence.

The Turks received cash, for chromite, but they also received a large guaranteed supply of arms which, in the dangerous world in which they were living, were something they very much needed.  Germany actually took advantage of this provision to supply the Turks with a large supply of unfinished Polish arms, which were of very high quality.  Polish small arms were partially based on German designs and the Germans themselves had put them to use in their own armed forces, but Poland had used "small ring" Mausers rather than the "large ring" ones used by the Germans which made finishing them off unattractive to the Germans.  This was not the case for the Turks.

The treaty did not preclude other nations, including belligerents, from trading with Turkey and the treaty would inspire a chromite buying effort on the part of the Allies.

The treaty's term was ten years, but the Turks would terminate the agreement in 1944, seeing which way the war was going, and they declared war on Germany on February 23, 1945.  Their declaration did not mean that they contributed troops in the final months of the war but can be seen as a means of attempting to protect themselves against a potential Soviet incursion into their territory.

Joe Louis knocked out Billy Conn in a heavyweight boxing match.

Friday Farming: What's Wrong With the World "West Texas Ranch Up for Grabs Is One of State's Largest" and may sell for $200,000,000

 A price so large, it can't ever balance economically.  Ag land as playground for the super wealthy, in other words, rather than the most basic way of making a living in the most vital industry that exists.

West Texas Ranch Up for Grabs Is One of State's Largest

Blog Mirror: World Beer Production Between 1913 and 1934

An interesting looks at suds and the first half of the 20th Century.  Interesting comment on the impact of the Great War, perhaps, on French production as well.

World Beer Production Between 1913 and 1934

Blog Mirror: U.S. ARCHIVIST: LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE

 

U.S. ARCHIVIST: LET’S TALK ABOUT RACE

Saturday June 18, 1921. Illustrations

A deeply illustrated bond of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes for the liquidation of the agro-debts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, issued on this day in 1921, and featuring many agrarian themes.

A Neysa McMein illustration graced the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

Sunday, June 18, 1911. Human remains on the USS Maine, Detroit Tigers make comeback.

The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 16 to 15 after coming back from being down 13 to 1 earlier in the game, a feat that has bee duplicated only twice, once in 1925 and once in 2001.

The ongoing efforts to recover the wreckage of the USS Maine resulted in water in the ship being raised lowering to the point where human remains began to be recovered.

Last edition:

Wednesday, June 11, 1911. Not yet stars.

Labels: 1910s, 1911, 1915, Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, The class the stars fell on, United States Military Academy

WAR - Low Rider (Official Video) [Remastered in 4K]

Fashionable trends of thought

[I]n the West fashionable trends of thought and ideas are carefully separated from those that are not fashionable:  nothing is forbidden, but what is not fashionable will hardly ever find its ways into periodicals or books or be heard in colleges.

Solzhenitsyn. 

Juneteenth

This passed Congress earlier this week, and was signed into law today.  Unusually, the impact is truly immediate.

For those who might not know, Juneteenth commemorates the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reaching Texas, which would have been the Confederacies most distant territorial assertion. 

Governor Gordon Responds to Federal Recognition of Juneteenth Holiday

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Today, President Biden signed a law creating a federal holiday recognizing Juneteenth. Governor Gordon has also signed a proclamation recognizing the significance of the day, which commemorates the end of slavery, while encouraging self-development and respect for all cultures. Wyoming has recognized the Juneteenth holiday since 2003, when the state legislature passed a bill establishing the holiday on the third Saturday of the month.

Because of the President's action, Friday June 18, 2021 is a holiday for most federal employees per the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. In Wyoming the Legislature has set State Holidays. While tomorrow will not be a state holiday, the Governor will work with lawmakers to consider this option for future years. 

“Freedom is always a cause for celebration and this is a momentous day in our nation’s history. I encourage people to observe this commemoration of the full enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation, which embodies the values of all Americans,” Governor Gordon said.

--END--

Tuesday, June 17, 1941. Fatal Decisions.

Hitler issued final orders for Operation Barbarossa setting June 22, 1941 as D-Day and 03:00 as H-Hour.

On the same day, probably in anticipation of D-Day and H-Hour, Finland withdrew her membership from the League of Nations.

The British terminated Operation Battleaxe, faced with a German counterattack.  As discussed yesterday, the operation was largely a failure.

German armor in the desert, including Czech manufactured tanks as well as German ones.  Early in the war the quality of captured Czech tanks was as good as German armor.  The Germans were about to encounter seriously superior armor for the first time, starting on June 22.

The United States and Canada created a Joint Economic Committee.

Friday June 17, 1921. Gatherings

On this day in 1921, the Hardings met with some Camp Fire Girls.

 

While it seems late in the season for, there were also graduations with honorary degrees.

A retired, from rebellion, Pancho Villa was photographed on his hacienda with some of his employees.

Quel Chapeau Choisir? Which hat to chose?

 Good article on  various styles of men's hats:

QUEL CHAPEAU CHOISIR ?

😱

 

The last thing Vladimir Putin “wants now is a Cold War,” President Biden said, noting the U.S. has “significant cyber-capabilities, and he knows it."

So reads a headline in the New York Times.

Seriously, how dumb do we have to believe a thing like that.  Doesn't want a Cold War?  No problem, we're in a hot cyber war with Russia right now.

Monday, June 16, 1921. German consulates closed, Iceland occupied, Yeomanry patrol, Washington National opened.

The United States ordered all German consulates closed by July 10, 1941, along with all German news and propaganda organs.  The order did not apply to its embassy.

Today in World War II History—June 16, 1941

The US was clearly walking closer and closer to entry into the war.

In another example of that, the US commenced occupying Iceland, a Danish possession at that time (it'd declare independence in 1944).  This ends up being contrary to an earlier entry here, but this is likely the correct date for the commencement of the U.S. occupation of Iceland.  

This was done by way of a request from the United Kingdom which had been occupying the country, much to its discontent, both with its own troops as well as with Canadian ones.

Our earlier, and I believe mistake containing entry, stated the following:

4,000 Marines, a substantial number, arrived in Iceland to replace British troops garrisoning the country.

USS New York off of Reykjavik, July 1941.

Iceland had not regarded the British invasion of their island, done to keep the Germans from seizing it, as a favor.  US forces were not invited either, but were better tolerated under the circumstances.

The occupation remains controversial in Iceland today.  It lead to Icelandic independence and had a predictable economic development aspect for the island.  It also lead to cultural connections, of all types, with a group of people who were highly self isolated and who remain so to a degree today.

In a much warmer place, the Cheshire Yeomanry, a British Army reservists unit mobilized for the war, was photographed on patrol in Syria.

Winston Church accepted an honorary degree from Rochester University in the US and delivered a speech directed at an American audience from London, by radio.

A significant American airport opened on this day in 41.

July 16, 1941. The Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport opened.

It was the Washington National Airport in 1941.

The airport opened, obviously, just before the United States' entry into the Second World War, it's 1941 opening partially explained by a prohibition in airport funding that was lifted in 1938.

Washington National in 1944.

It was built on grounds near Arlington that had been part of a large plantation, but its location very much constrains it size, so it remains a shockingly small airport in spite of its signficance.

It was renamed for President Ronald Reagan in 1998.  

I've personally never flown into it, having landed at the nearby Baltimore airport once.

Fanny - Ain't that peculiar (1972)

Pioneering "girl group" Fanny, from the early 1970s, when Rock & Roll still was somewhat serious and not all, post Kiss, fluff.

Negro League Statistics Added To Major League Stats.

 Negro League Statistics Added To Major League Stats.

Sunday June 15, 1941 Battle of Kissoué and Operation Battleaxe. The death of Evelyn Underhill.

 The Second World War became, for a time, a French civil war at the Battle of Kissoué where French "Free" forces fought "Vichy" forces in Syria. The Free French forces were part of an overall Allied force which flanked the Vichy forces and caused them to withdraw.

Fort Capuzzo.

On the same day the British launched Operation Battleaxe in North Africa which had the goal of relieving Tobruk. While it gained ground, and the British retook Ft. Capuzzo, it suffered disastrous armor losses and was an overall failure.  The results proved German superiority in the use of armor, and perhaps the superior nature of German armor itself, and lead to the British quietly sacking their command structure in Libya.

Also on this day Anglican writer  Evelyn Underhill died at age 65.  She is highly regarded in Anglican circles, having a place on the Church of England's and the US Episcopal Church's calendars on this day.  As an Anglican writer, she is regarded as being in the Anglo Catholic category.  

Anglo Catholicism was a strong movement within the Anglican Communion, particularly in England itself, in the second half of the 19th Century and emphasized the Anglican Communion's Catholic roots to the extent that it sought to emphasize that it shared Apostolic succession and, therefore, was a full Catholic church, somewhat sharing the status of the Orthodox Church, or perhaps even closure to Rome than that.  It ultimately resulted in a Vatican decree that its holy orders were "completely null and utterly void", which it has reacted to on more than one occasion by seeking ordinations from clearly valid Bishops in other denominations  The movement still exists within the Anglican Communion.

Wednesday June 15, 1930. Bessie Coleman receives a pilots license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

The Aerodrome: June 15, 1930. Bessie Coleman receives a pilots l...:   

June 15, 1930. Bessie Coleman receives a pilots license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

 

On this day in 1921, Bessie Coleman received a pilots license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, making her the first black person to be a "licensed" pilot.  As her grandparents were Cherokee, she was also the first licensed Native American pilot.

The event is a real milestone, but it's somewhat deceiving.  The US didn't require pilots licenses at the time and the global requirement was far from universal.  Pilots licenses would be introduced in the US in 1927.  This is significant here as Coleman's international pilots license was a real license, but one that was not recognized everywhere and, moreover, she was not the first black or female black pilots as is sometimes suggested.

She was a pioneering aviator however and earned her living as a barnstormer after taking up flying.  In that career she was also an advocate for African Americans.  She tragically died in 1930 at an airshow when her aircraft had catastrophic failure.

Θαλασσάκι/Thalassaki - Anastasia & Iliana Fergadioti

Saturday, June 14, 1941. The Soviets commence mass Baltic deportations.

On this day in 1941 the Soviet Union, which was mere days away from being attacked by Germany, which was receiving warnings from its own intelligence as well as the United Kingdom, started mass deportations of its perceived internal enemies in the Baltic States.

Mass deportations in Estonia

Today in World War II History—June 14, 1941

Given the horrors of the Second World War, and coming so close in time to Germany's invasion, this event has largely been forgotten outside of the Baltic States. There the day is a national day of mourning in the three countries which were impacted.

Deportations were on a mass scale with the victims largely sent to Siberia.  Most never returned and many died quickly.  The Soviets were already massively unpopular in the Baltic States, which had been independent following the Russian Revolution until overrun by the USSR in 1939, but the deportations would have an impact that would find immediate anti Soviet expression within a few days, given the time at which they came.

 As the second item there notes, the US also froze German and Italian assets in the U.S., as well as the assets of certain other Axis powers and countries now occupied by Germany or the Soviet Union, b y way of an executive order issued by President Roosevelt.

It read:

By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 5 (b) of the Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 415), as amended, by virtue of all other authority vested in me, and by virtue of the existence of a period of unlimited national emergency, and finding that this Order is in the public interest and is necessary in the interest of national defense and security, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do prescribe the following:

Executive Order No. 8389 of April 10, 1940, as amended, is amended to read as follows:

SECTION 1. All of the following transactions are prohibited, except as specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury by means of regulations, rulings, instructions, licenses, or otherwise, if (i) such transactions are by, or on behalf of, or pursuant to the direction of any foreign country designated in this Order, or any national thereof, or (ii) such transactions involve property in which any foreign country designated in this Order, or any national thereof, has at any time on or since the effective date of this Order had any interest of any nature whatsoever, direct or indirect:

A. All transfers of credit between any banking institutions within the United States; and all transfers of credit between any banking institution within the United States and any banking institution outside the United States (including any principal, agent, home office, branch, or correspondent outside the United States, of a banking institution within the United States);

B. All payments by or to any banking institution within the United States;

C. All transactions in foreign exchange by any person within the United States;

D. The export or withdrawal from the United States, or the earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency by any person within the United States;

E. All transfers, withdrawals or exportations of, or dealings in, any evidences of indebtedness or evidences of ownership of property by any person within the United States; and

F. Any transaction for the purpose or which has the effect of evading or avoiding the foregoing prohibitions.

SECTION 2. A. All of the following transactions are prohibited, except as specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury by means of regulations, rulings, instructions, licenses, or otherwise:

(1) The acquisition, disposition or transfer of, or other dealing in, or with respect to, any security or evidence thereof on which there is stamped or imprinted, or to which there is affixed or otherwise attached, a tax stamp or other stamp of a foreign country designated in this Order or a notarial or similar seal which by its contents indicates that it was stamped, imprinted, affixed, or attached within such foreign country, or where the attendant circumstances disclose or indicate that such stamp or seal may, at any time, have been stamped, imprinted, affixed, or attached thereto; and

(2) The acquisition by, or transfer to, any person within the United States of any interest in any security or evidence thereof ' if the attendant circumstances disclose or indicate that the security or evidence thereof is not physically situated within the United States.

B. The Secretary of the Treasury may investigate, regulate, or prohibit under such regulations, rulings, or instructions as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, the sending, mailing, importing, or otherwise bringing, directly or indirectly, into the United States, from any foreign country, of any securities or evidences thereof or the receiving or holding in the United States of any securities or evidences thereof so brought into the United States.

SECTION 3. The term "foreign country designated in this Order" means a foreign country included in the following schedule, and the term "effective date of this Order" means with respect to any such foreign country, or any national thereof, the date specified in the following schedule:

(a) April 8, 1940 —Norway and Denmark;

(b) May 10, 1940 —The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg;

(c) June 17, 1940 —France (including Monaco);

(d) July 10, 1940 —Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania;

(e) October 9, 1940 -Rumania;

(f) March 4, 1941 —Bulgaria;

(g) March 13, 1941 —Hungary;

(h) March 24, 1941 —Yugoslavia;

(i) April 28, 1941 —Greece; and

(j) June 14, 1941 —Albania,

Andorra, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Danzig, Finland, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The "effective date of this Order" with respect to any foreign country not designated in this Order shall be deemed to be June 14, 1941.

SECTION 4. A. The Secretary of the Treasury and/or the Attorney General may require, by means of regulations, rulings, instructions, or otherwise, any person to keep a full record of, and to furnish under oath, in the form of reports or otherwise, from time to time and at any time or times, complete information relative to, any transaction referred to in Section 5 (b) of the Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 415), as amended, or relative to any property in which any foreign country or any national thereof has any interest of any nature whatsoever, direct or indirect, including the production of any books of account, contracts, letters, or other papers, in connection therewith, in the custody or control of such person, either before or after such transaction is completed; and the Secretary of the Treasury and/or the Attorney General may, through any agency, investigate any such transaction or act, or any violation of the provisions of this Order.

B. Every person engaging in any of the transactions referred to in Sections 1 and 2 of this Order shall keep a full record of each such transaction engaged in by him, regardless of whether such transaction is effected pursuant to license or otherwise, and such record shall be available for examination for at least one year after the date of such transaction.

SECTION 5. A. As used in the first paragraph of Section 1 of this Order "transactions [which] involve property in which any foreign country designated in this Order, or any national thereof, has... any interest of any nature whatsoever, direct or indirect," shall include, but not by way of limitation (i) any payment or transfer to any such foreign country or national thereof, (ii) any export or withdrawal from the United States to such foreign country, and (iii) any transfer of credit, or payment of an obligation, expressed in terms of the currency of such foreign country.

B. The term "United States" means the United States and any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof; the term "continental United States" means the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Territory of Alaska.

C. The term "person" means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, or other organization.

D. The term "foreign country" shall include, but not by way of limitation,

(i) The state and the government thereof on the effective date of this Order as well as any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof or any territory, dependency, colony, protectorate, mandate, dominion, possession, or place subject to the jurisdiction thereof,

(ii) Any other government (including any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof) to the extent and only to the extent that such government exercises or claims to exercise de jure or de facto sovereignty over the area which on such effective date constituted such foreign country, and

(iii) Any person to the extent that such person is, or has been, or to the extent that there is reasonable cause to believe that such person is, or has been, since such effective date, acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly for the benefit or on behalf of any of the foregoing.

E. The term "national" shall include,

(i) Any person who has been domiciled in, or a subject, citizen, or resident of a foreign country at any time on or since the effective date of this Order,

(ii) Any partnership, association, corporation, or other organization, organized under the laws of, or which on or since the effective date of this Order had or has had its principal place of business in such foreign country, or which on or since such effective date was or has been controlled by, or a substantial part of the stock, shares, bonds, debentures, notes, drafts, or other securities or obligations of which, was or has been owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, such foreign country and/or one Or more nationals thereof as herein defined,

(iii) Any person to the extent that such person is, or has been, since such effective date, acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly for the benefit or on behalf of any national of such foreign country, and

(iv) Any other person who there is reasonable cause to believe is a "national" as herein defined. In any case in which by virtue of the foregoing definition a person is a national of more than one foreign country, such person shall be deemed to be a national of each such foreign country.

In any case in which the combined interests of two or more foreign countries designated in this Order and/or nationals thereof are sufficient in the aggregate to constitute, within the meaning of the foregoing, control or 25 per centum or more of the stock, shares, bonds, debentures, notes, drafts, or other securities or obligations of a partnership, association, corporation, or other organization, but such control or a substantial part of such stock, shares, bonds, debentures, notes, drafts, or other securities or obligations is not held by any one such foreign country and/or national thereof, such partnership, association, corporation, or other organization shall be deemed to be a national of each of such foreign countries. The Secretary of the Treasury shall have full power to determine that any person is or shall be deemed to be a "national" within the meaning of this definition, and the foreign country of which such person is or shall be deemed to be a national. Without limitation of the foregoing, the term "national" shall also include any other person who is determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be, or to have been, since such effective date, acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly for the benefit or under the direction of a foreign country designated in this Order, or national thereof, as herein defined.

F. The term "banking institution" as used in this Order shall include any person engaged primarily or incidentally in the business of banking, of granting or transferring credits, or of purchasing or selling foreign exchange or procuring purchasers and sellers thereof, as principal or agent, or any person holding credits for others as a direct or incidental part of his business, or brokers; and, each principal, agent, home office, branch, or correspondent of any person so engaged shall be regarded as a separate "banking institution."

G. The term "this Order," as used herein, shall mean Executive Order No. 8389 of April 10, 1940, as amended.

SECTION 6. Executive Order No. 8389 of April 10, 1940, as amended, shall no longer be deemed to be an amendment to or a part of Executive Order No. 6560 of January 15, 1934. Executive Order No. 6560 of January 15, 1934, and the Regulations of November 12, 1934, are hereby modified in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Order, and except as so modified, continue in full force and effect. Nothing herein shall be deemed to revoke any license, ruling, or instruction now in effect and issued pursuant to Executive Order No. 6560 of January 15, 1934, as amended, or pursuant to this Order; provided, however, that all such licenses, rulings, or instructions shall be subject to the provisions hereof. Any amendment, modification, or revocation by or pursuant to the provisions of this Order of any orders, regulations, rulings, instructions, or licenses shall not affect any act done, or any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any civil or criminal case prior to such amendment, modification, or revocation, and all penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities under any such orders, regulations, rulings, instructions, or licenses shall continue and may be enforced as if such amendment, modification, or revocation had not been made.

SECTION 7. Without limitation as to any other powers or authority of the Secretary of the Treasury or the Attorney General under any other provision of this Order, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and empowered to prescribe from time to time regulations, rulings, and instructions to carry out the purposes of this Order and to provide therein or otherwise the conditions under which licenses may be granted by or through such officers or agencies as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate, and the decision of the Secretary with respect to the granting, denial, or other disposition of an application or license shall be final.

SECTION 8. Section 5 (b) of the Act of October 6, 1917, as amended, provides in part:

". . . Whoever willfully violates any of the provisions of this subdivision or of any license, order, rule or regulation issued thereunder, shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $10,000, or, if a natural person, may be imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both; and any officer, director, or agent of any corporation who knowingly participates in such violation may be punished by a like fine, imprisonment, or both."

SECTION 9. This Order and any regulations, rulings, licenses, or instructions issued hereunder may be amended, modified, or revoked at any time.

Occupied Croatia joined the Axis powers.

Colliers magazine ran an article on Pearl Harbor which termed it "impregnable".  The reporter who wrote the admiring piece had been invited by the Navy to examine and review the installation.

Wednesday, June 11, 1911. Not yet stars.

The West Point Class of 1915, "the class the stars fell on" took their military oaths.  New cadets included:

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 

General of the Army Omar Bradley.

General Joseph T. McNarney.

General James Van Fleet.

Lieutenant General Henry Aurand.

Lieutenant General Hubert R. Harmon.

Lieutenant General Stafford LeRoy Irwin.

Lieutenant General Thomas B. Larkin

Lieutenant General John W. Leonard.

Lieutenant General George E. Stratemeyer

Lieutenant General Joseph M. Swing.

Major General John Stewart Bragdon

Major General Ralph P. Cousins

Major General William E. R. Covell

Major General Luis R. Esteves

Major General Vernon Evans

Major General Thomas J. Hanley Jr.

Major General Thomas G. Hearn

Major General Leland S. Hobbs

Major General James A. Lester

Major General Edwin B. Lyon

Major General Henry J. F. Miller

Major General Paul J. Mueller

Major General Vernon Prichard

Major General George J. Richards

Major General Charles W. Ryder

Major General Henry B. Sayler

Major General William F. Tompkins

Major General Albert W. Waldron

Major General Leo A. Walton

Major General Leroy H. Watson

Major General Douglas L. Weart

Major General A. Arnim White

Major General John B. Wogan

Major General Roscoe B. Woodruff

Brigadier General Herman Beukema

Brigadier General Carl C. Bank

Brigadier General Frederic W. Boye

Brigadier General Charles M. Busbee

Brigadier General John F. Conklin

Brigadier General John F. Davis

Brigadier General Michael F. Davis

Brigadier General Donald A. Davison

Brigadier General Benjamin G. Ferris

Brigadier General Adlai H. Gilkeson

Brigadier General Walter W. Hess

Brigadier General Clinton Wilbur Howard

Brigadier General Reese M. Howell

Brigadier General John Keliher

Brigadier General Pearson Menoher

Brigadier General Lehman W. Miller

Brigadier General Earl L. Naiden

Brigadier General Hume Peabody

Brigadier General Norman Randolph

Brigadier General John N. Robinson

Brigadier General Robert W. Strong

Brigadier General Victor V. Taylor

Brigadier General Clesen H. Tenney

Brigadier General Edward C. Wallington

Brigadier General Edwin A. Zundel.

The RMS Olympic departed Southampton, UK, on its maiden voyage.

RMS Olympic.

Last edition:

Monday, June 12, 1911. Madero meets Zapata.

Labels: 1910s, 1911, Colorado, Emiliano Zapata, Francisco I. Madero, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, Mexico (Morelos), panoramic

Boston 1775: When and Why Johannes Hofer Wrote about “Nostalgia”

Boston 1775: When and Why Johannes Hofer Wrote about “Nostalgia”: Last month I gave a presentation about the first year of the Continental Army to the interpretive staff at Boston National Historical Park ...

Old Radio: June 13, 1913 Bob Bailey (You can hear him as John...

Old Radio: June 13, 1913 Bob Bailey (You can hear him as John...: On this day in 1913, Bob Bailey was born.

Johnny Dollar is one of my favorite radio shows.

When I still had XM Radio, I'd listen to it frequently. 

On Empathy

I really pondered whether to post this at all.  Ultimately, I decided to, but with some hesitation.

When people who intend to go to law school, or those in law school, are asked "why do you want to become a lawyer" a common answer is "I want to help people".

Indeed, if you read interviews of young lawyers that tends to show up  as well, and if you read late career interviews of lawyers, there sometimes, but not always, is an effort at autohagiography in this regard.

Any occasional reader of this blog would realize that there's a lot of cynicism that's expressed here about certain things, and one of those things occasionally has to deal with this topic.  Suffice it to say I've been deeply skeptical of a lot of the propaganda lawyers put out about their occupation and, additionally, I've occasionally pondered why they put it out.  Is it advertising, or is it verbal laudanum?  Or both, or some of each.

Anyhow, for almost all of my career as a lawyer I've been exposed to the really vigorous propaganda that's put out by "trial lawyers" on the nature of their purpose.  

I should note here, before I go on, that "trial lawyers" are far less than 50% of all lawyers.  Lots of lawyers don't go anywhere near a courtroom.  Probably less than half engage in litigation frequently.  Of those, most who do are lawyers in the criminal law arena, whom "trial lawyers" don't really count as "trial lawyers" unless they also do that in addition to plaintiff's work in civil litigation.  And, for some weird reason, "trial lawyers" don't include those who do defense work as "trial lawyers", even though they very clearly are.

So we're talking about a minority of lawyers here.

Anyhow, it's really common to read trial lawyer assertions about their deep compassion for mankind.

And for some, it's really, really true.

But I've come to the conclusion that for a lot of them, that's pretty much merely propaganda.  

Now, some of that may be my cycnical nature, to be sure.  But the origin of this post comes from an event last year in which I spent almost all day, on a Saturday, as a defense lawyer working to make sure that a massive disaster didn't happen to a plaintiff, working to contact people and arrange for a type of rescue, if you will.  I was aware of the situation as the pliantiff's lawyer informed me, but that lawyer didn't do anything to effectuate the rescue.  

It was as if they really didn't care.

More recently I've experienced another incident in which it seemed as if the plaintiff's lawyer really didn't give a carp about the fate of plaintiff.  In another situation I sat through an event in which the plaintiff's lawyer somewhat made fun of an excused a deeply held belief of the plaintiff as it wasn't something, probably that, he expected a middle class lawyer to understand or even accept.  Frankly, being eclectic, or having a very different world view, I didn't find the subject's belief to be odd at all and I was appalled by the subject's representatives reaction.  Following that, I endured another event in which I tried to make certain that a result wasn't going to have a detrimental effect on a person in real terms to sort of receive a yawn from the person representing them.

More recently, however, and the event that sort of pushed me over the edge here, I was out for a family medical matter of real importance and received a series of pushy emails from an impatient opposing lawyer until I reacted extremely sharply to it. Even then, I didn't really receive an apology for it.

Having said that, I did receive a real expression for concern, under somewhat similar circumstances, from another lawyer representing a plaintiff.

One of the really dispiriting things about practicing law is the long slow disillusionment that accompanies it. Law students are told by their friends and family that lawyers are really smart, and the fact that you are in law school means you too are really smart.  Soon after practicing law you learn that there's a lot of lawyers who are very far from smart.  And if you are like me, and had an unusual background before going into law, you were already shocked to find that law school is extraordinarily easy.

A later shock comes when you realizes that the concept that all jurists are chosen from the smartest and wisest simply isn't the case.  There are some extremely smart judges, and there are some extremely good judges who may not be geniuses, but they're really good.  But it becomes clear after awhile that politics and political agendas enter the selection process.  Indeed, at one point a friend of mine, a really good lawyer, was told by somebody in the know, that lawyers with established civil trail practices really ought to stop putting in for judgeships as they "didn't need" the positions and therefore wouldn't be considered.  I'm not going to go into criteria on what it takes to become a judge, but after having been asked to apply again and again, it became pretty clear to me I lacked some criteria that I really couldn't do anything about, but which really ought not to matter. That was disillusioning.

And as a sort of final disillusionment, at some point it becomes very hard not to view civil litigation as being mostly about money, and mostly about money for the lawyers engaged in it.  It's hard to feel that its about justice, or redressing wrong, when so many of the lawyers engaged in it really don't seem to care about the actual parties.

Not that this is universal.  Oddly enough, in litigation, I've found a fair number of defense litigators who actually are deeply empathetic towards people, and towards the plaintiffs they're opposing among those.  And I've seen some plaintiff's lawyers that even though they had a rough exterior, would go far out of their way to help people, including strangers.

So maybe I'm just deep in my cups due to recent events.  But I don't think so.  I think the law, or rather civil litigations, has an empathy problem.  Money is the root of that.

St. Paul wrote that "the love of money is the root of all evil."

That's pretty much what civil litigation has become for lawyers, I fear.  An expression of the love of money.

UW College of Law Graduation Spring 2021