The best posts of the week of May 6, 2023.
Saturday, May 13, 2023
Saturday, May 13, 1943. The Germans lay down their arms in North Africa (after having sustained greater losses than they did at Stalingrad), Postwar careers of the Wehrmacht, Mary Wells born.
Today In Wyoming's History: May 13: 1943 A measles epidemic was raging in the state. As everyone in my family has the stomach flu today, I can sympathize with epidemics. Attribution: Wyoming State Historical Society.
That was, of course, in 2013, when that entry was written. Other health problems are visiting now, ten years later, of a more serious nature.
Lieutenant General Bernard Freyberg (left), commander of the 2nd New Zealand Division, Brigadier Graham and Major General Kurt von Liebenstein at the surrender.
The German Army's 164th Infantry Division laid its weapons down and Major General Kurt Freiherr von Liebenstein surrendered the unit, becoming the last Afrika Korps unit to do so.
Of significant note, in the few days that the final Axis surrender in North Africa took place, 267,000 Afrika Korps troops became POWs.
In contrast, the Soviets took 91,000 German prisoners at Stalingrad. In fairness, the Germans lost 500,000 men at Stalingrad. However, in fairness again, during the entire North African campaign, the Germans and Italians suffered 620,000 casualties. The British Commonwealth lost 220,000 men and the United States 18,500, one of whom was the brother of one of my father's good friends.
I note this as, once again, it sheds light on the Soviet propaganda of the time that they were fighting the war alone. The Soviets lost 750,000 men fighting the Germans at Stalingrad, which is a massive loss, and the battle is regarded as the largest in human history, but in terms of campaign loss, if viewed that way, the Germans and Italians loss more men fighting the British (mostly) and the Americans in North Africa.
Von Liebenstein would go on to join the Bundesherr in 1955 and retire five years later at his World War Two rank of Major General. He died in 1975 at age 76. His career dated back to World War One.
This raises a question I've never been able to get a good answer for. Did the Federal Republic of Germany recognize per 1955 military service for retirement purposes for West German soldiers? I'm thinking it must have.
The early Bundesheer was packed with former members of the Wehrmacht, and even a handful of SS officers, capped at major for career advancement, were allowed into it, after first being declined. I don't know the percentage, but a roster of Bundesheer officers reads like a whose who of former Nazi era Heer rolls.
Indeed, amazingly, the West German government called upon ten senior former Nazi era officers in the early 1950s, including Erich von Manstein, about how to reestablish a German army. In 1953 Manstein addressed the Bundestag on this topic, noting that he favored a conscript army with 18 to 24 months mandatory male service, thereby looking back to the pre-1939 German system. This system was in fact adopted. Von Manstein himself was not allowed back into that army, but it's well known that he had a veto power over former German officers applying to join it, and that he did not want "traitors".
One American historian, a former Army officers, has called this group a "handful", but that's far from true. There were a lot of them. And more than a few of them had a background like von Liebenstein. He'd started off as a junior Imperial German Army in 1916, had gone on to the Reichsheer after the German defeat, had served the Nazi's after that, and completed his career in the service of the Federal Republic of Germany.
How did he view his loyalties?
On this, it ought to also be noted, the post World War Two German Federal Republic's offices were simply packed with those who had served the Third Reich. Over 70% of its judiciary in that era had. This really began to come apart with the upheavals of 1968, which gave us the Germany, culturally, we have today.
FWIW, the post-war Austrian Army also had officers who had been in the German Heer, and before that, in the Austrian Army.
Famous Motwon singer Mary Wells was born on this day in Detroit.
Sunday, May 13, 1923. Mother's Day. Russian's bluster, Elopement frustrated, Pool Halls closed, Shirt Sleeves Slim back, Parachute Jump.
The Russian habit of threatening other nations was in evidence on this Mother's Day of 1923.
And related to the theme of the day, in a way, an elopement was frustrated. The intended bride was 16, the groom 20.
I wonder if that ended it, or if their union later developed? Seems like the parents, implicitly, were not thrilled. Note also the judge intended to go ahead with it.
Ritualized bride kidnapping is a surprisingly common human custom, perhaps derived from actual bride kidnapping. In Christian societies actual bride kidnapping cannot give rise to a valid marriage, but in many non-Christian societies, including pre-Christian European ones, it was fairly common. The entire origin of Rome came about that way.
After the rise of Christianity in various cultures, some retained a ritualized form of which, as in this instance, existed to overcome parental objections. The bride was complicit in her kidnapping and consent was generally given afterward with a negotiation on the bride's price. This was common, for example, in Medieval Scandinavia. Implicit in the negotiation was; 1) as women could freely consent to marriage, there was no stopping it, and 2) the girl was likely "ruined" by that time, or would be so regarded. Additionally, the use of force by the groom implied that the kidnapping was not so much that, but an armed intervention in favor of the couple's intentions, which was a dicey thing to disregard without violence.
In spite of the constant boosterism, the real nature of Casper was showing through. Pool Hall fights were breaking out during an era when Casper had a really thriving open red-light district. "Shirt Sleeves" slim was going to be escorted out of town.
In boosterism, a parachute jump was planned over a new subdivision.
Mother's Day (Muttertag) was officially recognized for the first time in Germany, although it had been widely celebrated the year prior. Lacking the nationalist tones that it had in Germany, the day had been recognized in the United States since 1908. The celebration also spread to Czechoslovakia and Poland for the first time in 1923.
It was of course Mother's Day in the US.
In Philadelphia, the unknown mother of the unknown soldier was honored.
In various states, such as Michigan, the Governor issued a proclamation in honor of the day.
A Proclamation By the Governor
Mothers' Day Proclamation By the Governor
In compliance with our beautiful custom, which in a few years has come to be universally observed throughout the land, the time has come to set apart a day in honor of American motherhood.
The American home is at once the cradle and the bulwark of all that is finest and best in our present day civilization, and the American mother is the heart of that home. If the home spirit is what it should be the major portion of the credit belongs to her.
It is impossible for us to compute the debt we owe our mothers, and it is only fitting that in this way we should pay our tribute of respect and devotion to the mothers of the nation, living and dead.
Therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Michigan, I do hereby designate and proclaim Sunday, May thirteenth, 1923, as Mothers' Day, and I call upon our people, both old and young, to gather in their several places of worship and take part in services appropriate to the day.
And let absent sons and daughters take this occasion to visit the mother in the old home, or, where such a visit is impossible, let them send a message of cheer and greeting.
In accordance with a resolution of the Congress of the United States, I further request the people of Michigan on the day aforesaid to display the United States flag in their homes and in other suitable places, as a fitting expression of their desire to pay homage to American motherhood.
Given under my hand and the Great Seal of the State this Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three, and of the Commonwealth the eightyseventh.
Alex J Governor.
By the Governor:
Oddly, the Casper paper for the day didn't mention Mother's Day at all.
Crisis on the border. Roots, origins, angst, and what is to be done.
May 13, 2023
Mexican Border Crisis
The predicted chaos did not ensue yesterday, which doesn't mean it's not arriving.
Those seeking asylum, FWIW, are required to have first applied in the countries from which they are departing, or online, or if they traveled through another country or countries, those places. The problem remains of dealing with the requests of those who are allowed in.
Most of the migrants are fleeing economic distress or violence in their homelands, the product of a wide-ranging number of things, and which varies by countries. Haiti, for example, remains impoverished as a legacy of paying its original French slaveholders upon achieving independence long ago. Almost all of the Central American and South American states contributing to the human flood also suffer from the legacy of Spanish Colonialism, which saw its original liberators largely act in the name of their own self-interest rather than that of the native populations. Stable Central American states, looked at with a long lens, have a single stable government example, which also contributes to the flood due to being in an unstable neighborhood. The existence of multiple Central American states in the first place is nonsensical and is a symptom of failed policies itself. They should really all be part of Mexico, which in fact was at least partially the plan early on. Repeated efforts to reunite into one state have failed, leaving tiny rump states that have been corruptly ruled and which have fallen into the control of criminal gangs, something the US's unending appetite for illegal drugs, a symptom of its own failed American Dream, fuels.
Marines in Nicaragua, 1932.
Central Americans have lived in fear of US intervention for decades, although that seems to have ceased, as has U.S. intervention. Unfortunately, the region is terribly governed, with Socialist ineptitude governing in some places (Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela), to simply featuring failed states in others. The US has repeatedly tried a "good neighbor" policy of non-intervention, and it retains guilt over supposed "American colonialism" for intervention. The US last put troops on the ground in Panama when it deposed the Panamanian leader during the Reagan Administration and then went right on to invade Grenada.
The problem remains that the neighbor analogy may be too appropriate. It might be neighborly to ignore your neighbor's dissolute living for a while, but when it turns violent, do you?
It's clear something has to be done to address the root problems of what's being seen. But what is that?
Friday, May 12, 2023
May 12, 1943. The Afrika Korps Surrenders.
Axis forces in North Africa surrendered.
This was the first full theater collapse of an Axis army during World War Two.
Regarding this event, Sarah Sundin notes:
Today in World War II History—May 12, 1943: 80 Years Ago—May 12, 1943: German and Italian troops surrender in Tunisia, ending the campaign in North Africa; Allies take 225,000 prisoners.
The Axis surrender was affected by Colonel General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim and General Giovanni Messe, commanders, of the German Army and the Italian Army in North Africa. Von Arnim refused to surrender the terms of the unconditional surrender, although his troops were surrounded and in fact were surrendered.
Messe.
Messe had experience in armored warfare, and had served on the Russian Front prior to being posted to North Africa. This is all the more remarkable when you consider that Messe was an Italian Royalist and would go on to serve as Chief of Staff of the Italian Co-Belligerant Army after Italy switched sides in the war, making him a unique figure. He was popular with the Italian people and went on to serve in the Italian Senate.
Messe wearing Iron Cross and inspecting Italian troops in Russia.
He may be the only figure to have fought with the Germans on two fronts, and then against them in his homeland, as well as perhaps being the only commander to have fought against the Soviets on Soviet territory to go on to fight in an army allied to them.
He died in 1968 at age 85.
The Trident conference between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt commenced in Washington, D.C. It would run for sixteen days.
Sundin, in her blog, also notes that the Indian Army evacuated Maungdaw.
The massive Battle of West Hubei commenced in China between the Nationalist Chinese Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. The Japanese offensive would fail, with each army loosing about 25,000 casualties.
The "Fido" acoustic homing torpedo came into action in the North Atlantic, being used by a Royal Air Force B-24 to damage the U-456.
Saturday, May 12, 1923. Operations Plan 712.
The Country Gentleman went to press with an illustration of a cow, a fitting illustration for today, which is the day we normally run far related posts.
Sigh. . .
Lieutenant Colonel Earl Hancock "Pete" Ellis died in Palau. He was the author of Operations Plan 712: Advanced Base Operations in Micronesia, which became the basis of the American amphibious campaign during World War Two.
A brilliant career Marine, who had entered the Corp in 1900 as a private, he had been on an intelligence gathering mission in the Far East at the time of his death in Palau, a fact which gave rise to rumors that the Japanese had poisoned whiskey he was drinking. In reality, the whiskey itself was likely the poison, as Ellis was a severe alcoholic who likely finally succumbed to the natural implications of that condition.
Judge went to press with an illustration that featured a play on words.
The Chinese bandit kidnapping drama continued.
Go ahead, living on pie and whiskey won't hurt you. . . .
Sen. John Barrasso@SenJohnBarrasso
Democrats’ runaway spending continues to fuel today’s high prices.
@POTUS & Democrats refuse to cut spending even though the nation has blown past its limit. Families are worn out by Washington Democrats’ nonstop spending & worried about making ends meet.
barrasso.senate.gov
Barrasso: Democrats Refuse to Cut Spending Even Though the Nation Has Blown Past Its Limit
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, today issued the following statement after the April 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI) revealed...
10:23 AM · May 10, 2023
A few observations.
1. The U.S. didn't have a budget deficit in 1835.
1835. That's it.
It had built up debt to pay down, but it didn't have a budget deficit, for that one year only.
This means "the Democrats did it" is devoid of historical accuracy.
2. The recent massive public debt really began to ramp up during Gulf War II, which we fought on borrowed money.
The President who started that was a Republican. The President who finished it was a Democrat.
So again, "the Democrats did it" is, well, not really true.
3. The huge recent ramp up started during Donald Trump's administration, and continued on in the current one.
This got rolling in part due to COVID, but during the Trump Administration there was no loyalty to the "no debt" line of the GOP whatsoever.
John Barrasso was there the entire time.
Joe Biden's early spending plans would have made it much worse, but Congress did partially reign that in.
By the way, we ramped up a huge one during the Cold War too, and the government basically inflated its way out of it. I can't say that was intentional, but that is what occurred.
4. Spending cuts?
Yes, they are needed, but cut all the non-discretionary spending but for defense to the bone, or just flat out, out, and this isn't actually fixed.
We are in a time of peril, but some of our defense spending remains stupid. We just launched, for example, a littoral combat ship of a class we're getting rid of.
At any rate, to really address spending, you need to touch entitlements, or raise taxes, or both. Any politician who has examined this must know this, or be willfully blind to it.
5. Fuel prices?
In case nobody has noticed, one of the globes largest petroleum producers has attacked one of the world's largest grain producers.
Wars have impacts like huge boulder thrown in small ponds. The Russo Ukrainian War has resulted in a massive disruption of Russian petroleum on the market and Ukrainian grain on the market.
Massive.
And every day, a massive amount of fuel is consumed in the war.
D'uh.
There should really be consequences for telling what amounts to half-truths, let alone untruths, to the public. But that would depend on the public being willing to listen to what it does not wish to hear. In Wyoming, we wish to hear that 1) we can have high prices at the wellhead, and 2) high wages in extractive industries; and 3) free fuel at the pump. Nobody wants to hear that we can't have those three. And no politician is really willing to admit it.
So, we suffer the consequences of our unwillingness not to hear that we can't have pie and whiskey for dinner, and be just fine.
But it will.
It'll kill you.
"Lummis reintroduces bill to raise pilot retirement age to 67"
Oh, crap. Why not just raise it to 167?
Or better yet, why not just have a special bill that Boomer get to run absolutely everything for a good decade after they're all dead.
Is there literally nothing whatsoever the Boomer generation won't get out of the way on?
Some Gave All: Ft. Benning renamed Ft. Moore.
Some Gave All: Ft. Benning renamed Ft. Moore.: .jpeg)
Ft. Benning renamed Ft. Moore.
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This will be the first in a series of such name changes.
Ft. Benning was named for Henry L. Benning, a Georgia lawyer who had served as a Confederate General during the Civil War. Benning was a lifelong Georgia resident who died in the state at age 61 in 1875. He was an ardent secessionist and opponent of emancipation, who nonetheless had the fort and a Liberty Ship named for him.
Lt. Gen. Hal Moore was a legendary Vietnam War commander who served as the first air cavalry commander in the war. Julia Moore was his wife, who was born of a military family, and who is closely associated with supporting the family members of the unit when it was deployed. Their relationship is portrayed in the film version of the general's book, We Were Soldiers Once, And Young.
The forst was renamed yesterday.
Blog Mirror: Being Old-Fashioned on Purpose
It's an advertisement, but it does raise some interesting questions.
Being Old-Fashioned on Purpose
I could say a lot more about this, but I'm not informed enough of the author's overall views. I suspect I'm a lot more radical in outlook than she is, while she's actually applying her radicalism where I am not, largely.
For the time being, I'll leave it there.
Thursday, May 11, 2023
A few technological observations
1. Once the wrong phone number gets in a record of any kind, it's permanent.
It doesn't matter how many times you tell the record keeper you gave them your wife's cell phone number by mistake. They aren't correcting it, ever.
And it doesn't matter that your old landline number that you never use is in the records, and you've tried to replace it with your cell phone number, they aren't going to.
2. Once you give your cell phone number to somebody, even with a "use for official business this one time only", that's the number you are going to. It doesn't matter if you have a receptionist employed full time to take calls, they'll bypass it. Even if your cell phone voice message instructs the caller not to do this, they're going to do it anyway, leave a message there, and not call your office number. Ever.
3. Anyone you give a cell phone number to for work purposes will take up texting you at night and on weekends.
Some basic economics, for economists
The simple reason being, economist grasp almost nothing about the economy and how it actually works, on a more existential level.
Including, even why the economy exists.
And politicians, speaking about the economy, don't look at the whole, but the part, as the whole isn't very satisfactory in a right/left construct.
Indeed, left wing politicians would be horrified by a real deep reform of the economy in ways that would actually work, as would right wing politicians.
Witness the latest by economist Robert Reich:
The economic message that will get Biden reelected and give Dems a majority in both Houses of Congress
Indeed, let's break them down and look at the uncomfortable truth.
The economic goal should be more jobs at higher wages. Right?
Let's start there. That seems reasonable enough, so I'll basically concede it. But perhaps a better position would be to state that the economic goal would be more worthwhile jobs that allow for individual family independence, at middle class reasonable wages.
Because, what's an economy for? To serve people.
It isn't really "more decent jobs at higher wages". Indeed, it would really be all jobs at family supporting wages. That's not really the same thing.
I don't know that Reich would disagree with that, but it's important to keep it in overall mind. Economist tend to think that all jobs are super nifty, not matter what they are, as long as 100% of everyone who can work is working, and for good wages.
Actual people, however, don't think that way. They want decent jobs worth doing to support themselves, and their families if they have one, and most people do.
The irony here is that the left and the right have come around to the same position on this, over the year. It's a very Soviet, warehouse the children you unfortunately had so that everyone can work, until they are old, of course, as the Boomer run the economy and it's okay if they retire.
We continue.
Yet the Fed, corporate economists, and the GOP have turned the goal upside down — into fewer jobs and lower wages. Otherwise, they say, we’ll face more inflation.
Bob can't quite seem to grasp that unless an overheated economy is slowed down, wages erode. And the Fed, etc., isn't trying to depress wages. Inflation itself erodes wages. They're trying to slow inflation in the only method known to work.
He knows that, but he has a pet thesis that is, as he would put it:
Rubbish.
And here, several paragraphs later, is the thesis.
The Fed has raised borrowing costs at 10 consecutive meetings, pushing its benchmark rate to over 5 percent. Yet inflation has barely budged. In April, it dropped to 4.9 percent (year-over-year) from 5 percent in March — according to Wednesday’s Labor Bureau data.
Why are the Fed’s rate hikes having so little effect?
Actually, historically, that's not bad.
An ideal inflation rate would be 0%, or quite frankly slight, perhaps 1% or 2% deflation, to recover some lost ground. 5%, however, is headed in the right direction. 3% for much of my life was regarded as basically no inflation at all, and the extremely low inflationary rates we had until COVID were simply extraordinary.
Oh, COVID, remember that? The thing that closed the ports and kept good from coming in, reminding Americans that we make nothing.
A thing like that could almost have been inflationary.
A think like that may also have served to remind Americans that some of the jobs they had left, pre COVID, were awful. Note the big decrease in long haul truck drivers, employees in an industry that had already seen a massive departure of Americans in favor of foreign nationals, and which is effectively subsidized, as we've noted elsewhere.
It's an awful job. It's almost as if we might want to think about doing this more efficiently.
If only private companies could be induced to ship things by rail. . . .oh wait. . .
Anyhow, raising interest rates hasn't worked as it hasn't been high enough, that's why. 5% is a joke. It ought to be at least 8%.
And, additionally, because this inflationary cycle is global, that's also why.
Because, left wing economist, global food prices and energy prices have risen dramatically as a former far left wing operative, now politicians, and a person with a strange relationship (listening right wing politicians) with Donald J. Trump, has invaded a neighbor resulting in the first peer to peer, large scale, conventional war since the Korean War.
That's a lot of the reason why.
But, left wing economist states:
Because inflation is not being propelled by an overheated economy. It’s being propelled by overheated profits.
Okay, I'm a distributist, and I'd favor addressing this to the element it's the truth, but it's just frankly not very true. One basic fact is that those supposedly profiteering business are taking in money that's worth less every day. No wonder they feel they have to take in more.
But Bob says:
So, what’s causing inflation? Corporations with enough monopoly power to raise their prices and fatten their profits — which the Fed’s rate hikes barely affect.
Okay, well then let's go to a Distributist economy and limit the number of areas business enterprises can operate the corporate business form. That would be extremely deflationary, make for more good jobs at a wider level, and be much more stable. It'd do a whole lot more than raising taxes, as Bob suggest, which would be most likely passed on to everyone else.
Any regular economist in favor of that?
Absolute not, as they're all really just corporate capitalist economist and favor slightly tinkering with the mechanics of things. Basically, the difference between a conservative economist and a liberal economist is the difference motor heads of the 70s exhibited on whether they were Holly Carb or Edlebrock fans.
Big whoop.
But here's another uncomfortable truth. Let's go back to the first item.
The economic goal should be more jobs at higher wages. Right?
Part of the reason that wages rose is that during COVID there was a big decrease in immigration, legal and illegal, into the United States.
For years, economist on the left and right have claimed that immigrants take jobs that Americans won't, never mind that they take what are frankly a lot of middle class jobs in some industries. As they didn't come in, Americans took those jobs, but demanded living wages.
Supposedly, in the economist world, immigration had no impact on inflation, or jobs, and in fact boosted the economy. They may have boosted the economy, but its now conclusively demonstrated that they did so by depressing wages.
And this worked an injustice for the native born, including the native born poor. This was always known at some level as it provided the fuel to the occasional riots and domestic strife at the inner city urban level.
This has also caused liberals like commentator Chuck Todd to directly claim that we're experiencing inflation as we aren't seeing immigrants come in. But what this implicitly admits is that the high American immigration rate operates to keep wages low, and that is what was depressing inflation. Absent the high immigration levels, wages would rise to their natural level.
And that's what they've been doing.
Setting aside Donald Trump's pal, Vlad "if Czar Nikki owned I still do" Putin, part of what is going on is at attempt at wage stabilization, at American living wage levels, something that was frustrated by decades of wage erosion due to immigration.
A hundred year old example of advice that may be worth listening to, today?
It’s Silly to be Extravagant with Food
I can't help but wonder what the author would think of an era that has a "Food Channel" for entertainment.
Friday, May 11, 1973. Charges dropped, sovereignty recognized.
Espionage charges against Daniel Ellsberg were dropped due to prosecutorial misconduct.
Ellsberg is still alive, but suffering terminal pancreatic cancer. He's 92 years old.
The Federal Republic of Germany ratified the Grundiagenvertrag treat with the German Democratic Republic, in which both countries recognized the sovereignty of the other. The Bundestag also voted to join the United Nations, accepting the condition that East Germany also be allowed to join.
Tuesday, May 11, 1943. Retaking Attu.
The Navy, supported by the Royal Canadian Air Force, landed elements of 7th Infantry Division on Attu in order to retake the Japanese occupied island. The resulting battle was the only land battle on American territory during World War Two and the only battle between the US and Japan in the Arctic.
Fighting would cover two weeks with the Japanese putting up a stout defense. The Japanese Navy formed a task force to relieve the island but the Allies took it before it cold depart Tokyo Bay. Knowing that they would not be relieved, the Japanese forces went down on May 29 in a banzai charge. Of the entire Japanese garrison of over 2,800 men, only 28 survived.
Casualties of the final charge.
The 7th Infantry Division was committed to the war in the Pacific for the balance of World War Two, and would have occupation duty in Japan and Korea after the war. It was stationed in Japan when the Korean War broke out. During the Korean War, the then under strength division took on an international character, incorporating very large numbers of South Korean troops, as well as Columbian and Ethiopian solders.
Secretary of the Navy publically stated that "Possession of Sicily by the Allies would obviously be a tremendous asset" leading to fears that he'd blow the success of Operation Mincemeat. Instead, it convinced the Germans that he was trying a "smoke screen".
Friday, May 11, 1923. Speed, home runs and volleys
USS Richmond, May 11, 1923. This was during a pre commissioning speed trial. The ship would be commissioned in July. Ordered during World War One, the Richmond would serve through World War Two and be stricken in 1946.
A Major League baseball record that would stand until 1966 was set when the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillis hit a combined ten home runs. The Phillies won 20 to 14.
The Hardings took in a tennis match.
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Monday, May 10, 1943. Not even bothering with the Reichstag.
Texaco Company advertisement; "Just eleven hours on earth...with Hitler!". Time, May 10, 1943.
Hitler extended the Enabling Act of 1933, the organic act of his dictatorship, indefinitely, not even bothering to cal the Reichstag into session to do it.
300 large U.S. libraries flew their flags at half-mast on the same day to mark the book burnings that had occurred in Nazi Germany.
On the same day, he approved the plans for Operation Citadel, a giant planned attack on the Kursk Citadel, while, at the same time, as Sarah Sundin notes, Axis efforts were collapsing in North Africa:
Today in World War II History—May 10, 1943: 80 Years Ago—May 10, 1943: In Tunisia, British First Army takes Hammamet, cutting off Cap Bon Peninsula.
Time magazine issued one of its classic covers of World War Two, depicting a stone faced German Admiral Doenitz as a periscope, accompanied by other periscopes depicted as snake heads.
Thursday, May 10, 1923. The bizarre actions of Maurice Conradi.
Soviet delegate to the Conference of Lausanne was shot dead by former Russian White officer and émigré Maurice Conradi in the Cecil Hotel. Two other members of the Soviet mission were wounded when they attempted to resist. Conradi then handed his gun to a waiter and asked him to call the police, which they did.
Conradi.
Conradi was born to Swiss parents in 1896. They were living in St. Petersburg at the time, where they ran a candy factory. Most of Conradi's family were killed during the Russian Revolution, with several being executed by the Bolsheviks. During this period he married his wife, Vladislava Lvovna Svartsevich, and he immigrated to Switzerland following the defeat of Wrangel's army.
Conradi and his confederate Arkady Polunin were tried that following November and defended themselves on moral grounds, introducing evidence of Communist horrors. The prosecution fell into this, oddly enough, and introduced evidence of the happiness of Soviet citizens, something that would have had to have involved an element of delusion. The jury found that all the elements of murder were present, but failed to convict him 5 to 4 anyhow, leading to a rupture in diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union.
In 1925 the Conradi's moved to Paris. They divorced in 1929. Conradi then joined the French Foreign Legion, returning to Switzerland and remarrying in 1942. He died in 1947. Polunin went to Paris as well and died under mysterious circumstances in 1933.
Of the Soviet survivors, one, was executed in Stalin's purges in 1938. The other was killed in 1942 while serving in the Red Army.
About as much as can be said of this entire episode is that it was downright bizarre.
Thursday, May 10, 1923. The Chicago Tribune notes The Great Migration.
The epic mass exodus of African Americans from the South had been on for a decade, and it was on in such numbers now that it could not be ignored.
Up until 1910, 90% of the black population of the United States lived in the South, a legacy of slavery. Starting in the 1910s, after twenty years of the restoration of die hard segregation following the collapse of Reconstruction, followed by the rise of Southern racism in the form of The Lost Cause myth, and aided by improved transportation, they began to leave for Northern cities. European immigration collapsed during World War One, and employment opportunities increased, boosting the departure rate.
The massive social trend continued up into the early 1970s, by which time it had transformed the ethnic map of the country.
Wars and Rumors of War, 2023, Part 4. Бездоріжжя
April 6, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
Бездоріжжя, mud season.
It stopped fighting on the Eastern Front during World War Two, and it bogged down the Russians last year in Ukraine.
We ought to be in it now.
The much feared Russian spring offensive was a flop. Much of the intense fighting took place in and around Bakmut, which is now effectively destroyed, but in spite of a titanic efforts, including the expenditure of many Wagner Group lives, it still isn't fully in Russian hands. Russia is dragging early Cold War armor out of storage while the Ukrainian army is taking receipt of new Western armor.
Everyone expects a Ukrainian offensive in the near term. That may determine the outcome of the war.
A not too surprising item on the Russian forces:
Israel v. Hamas
April 9, 2023
Hamas fired rockets into Israel from Lebanon yesterday, and Israel retaliated with air strikes.
United States v. Taliban
The U.S. released its report on the withdrawal from Afghanistan:
U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan
Israel v. Hamas
Events repeated as six more rockets were fired from Syrian territory towards Israel, only two of which entered Israeli territory. Israel responded with artillery fire, then an air strike. Hamas is indicating it intends to deescalate the situation.
China v. Taiwan
China has been menacing the Taiwanese coasts with aircraft in the modern version of saber-rattling, upset by Speaker McCarthy's visit to Taiwan.
April 10, 2023
Pope Francis addressed the Russo Ukrainian War and the situation involving the Isreali's and Palestinians in an Easter homily.
Russo Ukrainian War
The US and Ukraine are dealing with leaked Pentagon information, which seems to be genuine, on the war in Ukraine and discussing a wide range of topics.
The Department of Justice has opened up an investigation on leaks from U.S. intelligence, which apparently provides information on Ukrainian and Russian forces, as well as information regarding some U.S. allies.
April 12, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
For some days now, the news has been circulating that:
The US and Ukraine are dealing with leaked Pentagon information, which seems to be genuine, on the war in Ukraine and discussing a wide range of topics.The Department of Justice has opened up an investigation on leaks from U.S. intelligence, which apparently provides information on Ukrainian and Russian forces, as well as information regarding some U.S. allies.
I haven't discussed here what those reports reveal, as it hasn't been very clear to me. By and large, most of the information I've seen related to the leaks simply confirms news that had already been circulating, something that; 1) makes you wonder to what extent this was leaking before, and 2) makes you wonder if this is really a deception campaign.
Indeed, on the latter, the Ukrainians have been remarkably adept at keeping their own plans secret. Having said that, this would be a U.S. leak and Americans are phenomenally bad at keeping anything secret, which is one of the reasons the theory that the US has been keeping details of extraterrestrials secret for eighty years is absurd. We couldn't have kept that secret for thirty days.
Anyhow, more recent news stories have stated a couple of things that are of interest and haven't really been revealed before, and they're worth mentioning.
One is that the US is under equipping the Ukrainians. We've put a lot of military hardware in their hands, but we have yet to make use of the Lend Lease bill that Congress passed and really get them everything we could. As a result, there are real reasons to doubt that they could mount a successful Spring offensive. And in some areas, we desperately undersupply them in critical weapons.
Another is a host of NATO armies do have boots on the ground, including the U.S. The numbers are minuscule, with the country with the most, the UK, having less than 20 at any one time.
These are no doubt advisers, and I'd frankly wondered. It makes sense that they'd be there, and now we know that they are.
A video is circulating of Russian soldiers beheading captured members of the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. On the video, they can be heard saying "mercenaries".
April 13, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
The Washington Post reports the intelligence news leaks came from Thug Shaker Central Discord server and the person releasing them is a member, "OG", who works for U.S. intelligence in some capacity.
April 13, cont.
A1C Jack Teixeira, 21 years of age and a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested in connection with the intelligence leaks described above.
April 16, 2023
Sudan
Sudanese government and paramilitary forces have been engaged in heavy fighting in the nation's capital over the past couple of days.
Russo Ukrainian War
The war is beginning to have peculiar domestic impacts inside of Russia.
A debate over migration from Central Asia has commenced, with backers wanting to nearly triple immigration into Russia to stabilize a crashing population. This has sparked a reaction in that opponents are accusing the backers of wanting to basically sell out Russians to Central Asian cultures.
In the meantime, advertisements are now appearing on Russian television for Russian women to move to China as brides.
Russia is introducing conscription via electronic notices.
April 23, 2023
Sudan
The U.S. Embassy staff has been evacuated from Sudan and civilians are leaving the country.
Russo Ukrainian War
The Ukrainians have crossed the Dnipro near Kherson.
The Russian military is attempting to pressure Putin to go to defensive operations.
Russian authorities are oppressing Catholics in occupied areas, most recently occupying the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in occupied Berdyansk, accusing the priests there of hiding weapons.
April 24, 2023
Sudan
The US and UK airlifted their embassy staffs out of the country in military operations.
April 25, 2023
Sudan
Rival factions vying for control of the country, mostly through fighting in its capital Khartoum, have agreed to a US brokered three day ceasefire.
Russo Ukrainian War
Ukraine apparently had planned deep strikes inside of Russia on the anniversary of the invasion of the country, including on Moscow, but were restrained from doing so by the US.
Such an effort would likely have been a waste of munitions and only served to unite Russians more completely behind Putin.
April 30, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
A Russian ship that carries rescue submarines was photographed near the location of the Nord Stream gas pipeline prior to its explosion last September.
Hmmm. . .
Ukrainian drones hit a Russian fuel depot in Crimea.
Sudan
The U.S. has evacuated private citizens from Sudan.
There's been some medial criticism that the US hasn't treated the situation in Sudan the same way it has the war in Ukraine. But how would it? Intervene in a civil war?
May 2, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
The US believes that the Russians have sustained100,000 causalities, including 80,000 wounded and 20,000 killed, in the Battle of Bakhmut. Half of the 20,000 dead were Wagner Group troops.
May 3, 2023
United States/Mexican Border
Not a war, but the US will deploy 1,500 troops on the border as Covid era emergency restrictions come off.
This is a topic for another post, but the problems with illegal immigration across the border are something the US just hasn't had the stomach or foresight to really deal with. Given the level of illegal immigration, and its deep existential nature, the time to do so, if its not going to amount to simply ordering the border and fundamentally changing the nature of the country by giving up on having any immigration controls at all, is right now.
Russo Ukrainian War
Trains have been targeted by blown rails in Crimea the last two days, a classic sabotage, resistance move, although in this instance it appears to be via drones.
May 4, 2023
Russian Ukrainian War
The Kremlin was attacked, oddly and ineffectively, by two drones. The respected ISW suspects this was a Russian false flag operation.
May 5, 2023
Russian Ukrainian War
Russia asserted the absurd hypothesis that the US was behind the drone strikes on the Kremlin.
More and more Russia looks like the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
The leader of the mercenary Wagner Group claimed he is pulling his troops out of Bakhmut next week. A feud between the group and the Russian forces over supplies has been running for several days.
May 7, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
It appears that the Wagner Group will pull out of Bakhmut and that it will be replaced by Chechens.
At this point, the Wagner Group may have been effectively eliminated as a fighting force.
Chechens haven't really been put to the test, but it's worth noting that dissident Chechens are already fighting for Ukraine.
May 11, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
Russia had a much scaled down Victory Day celebration, that annual event in which Russia pretends the USSR single-handedly defeated its former ally Nazi Germany. This year's event featured a single tank, that being a World War Two vintage T-24. Putin delivered a speech in which he acted as if the attempted rape of Ukraine was a war against the entire West, and the West's fault.
This parade does point out something we've noted before, that being that one of Russia's great liabilities in the modern era is believing that it won World War Two. It did not. Nor did the USSR do it single-handedly. In reality, the USSR fought with millions of men who were not Russian, along with millions of Russians, most of whom were conscripted, and whom signficant numbers of which deserted and defected to the Nazis in spite of all that the Nazis fought for. Moreover, this would have been a good parade to thrown an American made Sherman or British made Churchill tank into, sybolizing the extent to which the Soviets were saved by Western Allied materials.
Putin may imagine himself at war with the West, or state it as propganda, but in reality, the Soviets were Allies of Western fascism in the form of Nazism, until attacked by it, at which point they were saved, in no small part, by the Western democracies.
Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin used the occasion to mock Putin, which is a bit surprising, even though Prigozhin has been outspoken in his discontent. Indeed, I'd regard it as dangerous even if Russian forces need Wagner's wholly disposable troops. Those troops, however, are now not going to be withdrawn from Bakhmut, that whole episode apparently being theater of some sort.
Russia has been engaging in large-scale missile attacks on Ukraine. Drone attacks are being attempted as well, but Ukraine is having a lot of success in shooting drones down.
Last edition:
Wars and Rumors of War, 2023, Part 3. Spring Storms.
Related threads:
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Oops.
I'm a bit late to this but, um, no, that was Grant.
Roosevelt was just 13 years old at the time.
I have no doubt whatsoever that if the same thing was attempted today, Wyoming's Congressional representation would oppose it, and probably the senior elected officials in the state as well.
Sunday, May 9, 1943. Mothers Day, Franco suggests Peace, German pilots defect, Training accident.
It was Mother's Day in the United States.
Mother's Day Mass st Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia in 1943. From the collection of Charles E. Emory & Ronald L. Glendinning Photographs (COLL/2439), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections. Marine Corps Photograph.
Spanish dictator Francisco Franco delivered a speech in which he favored a restoration of the peace, claiming that "neither the Axis nor the Allies could destroy the other".
As shrewd as Franco was, there's reason to believe that he did not believe that, but perhaps he was rather hoping that the war would conclude at this point before Spain was dragged in on the doomed Axis side.
Ju 88 with Lichtenstein radar.
A crew of Luftwaffe defectors flew a Ju 88 fitted with new Lichtenstein radar to Scotland. This story, even now, is shrouded in mystery, with it being only really clear that two members of the crew intended to defect, while a third may have been an unwilling passenger.
The aircraft was significant in allowing the Allies to study German aviation radar.
Wilmeth Sidat-Singh was killed in a training accident.
Blog Mirror: Why Dianne Feinstein must resign. Now.
Why Dianne Feinstein must resign. Now.
From this essay:
American politics at the highest levels is coming to bear an uncomfortable resemblance to a gerontocracy. From the Senate to the presidency to the Supreme Court, top positions are held more and more by people in their late 70s or above.
What the actual case is, while I agree with Reich, is that the 89-year-old Senator should have stepped down 20 years ago.
People don't remain invulnerable to the ravishes of age.
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