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

That really didn't work out the way predicted.

All the magazines had a Christmas theme that Saturday.

 

Last edition:

Wednesday, December 17, 1924. An election and a promise.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, baseball, Greece, Greek Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Personalities, Turkey

The Agrarian's Lament: The irony.

The Agrarian's Lament: The irony.: 

The irony.

 Same day, same paper.

One ad celebrating agriculture, and one celebrating its destruction.

Blog Mirror: Can the Muskrat shut the United States government?

Can the Muskrat shut the United States government?

Sure looks that way. The richest person in the world has turned his wealth into raw power. That's what oligarchy looks like.

Tuesday, December 19, 1944. Reacting to Wacht am Rhein.

 

"Troops of 10th Armored Division preparing for attack on German spearhead headed toward Bastogne, Belgium, await order to move out. Note refugees in foreground. 19 December, 1944. 10th Armored Division."

The Germans took about 9,000 surrounded U.S. troops prisoner in the Schnee Eifel region on the Belgian-German border.  US forces were pushed out of German territory.  The 6th SS Panzer Army reached Stavelot and 5th Panzer Army approached Houffalize. US forces in-between these advances continue to hold Gouvy and St. Vith.

"Infantrymen of 1st U.S. Army gather in Bastogne, Belgium, to regroup after being cut away from their regiment by Germans in the enemy drive in this area. 19 December, 1944. 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division."

Eisenhower appoints Field Marshal Montgomery, commanding British 21st Army Group, to lead all Allied forces to the north of " the Bulge" and General Bradley, all Allied forces to the south reflecting the tactical situation.

"101st Airborne Division on the road between Bastogne and Houffalize, Belgium, as they move up to stem German drive. 19 December, 1944. 101st Airborne Division."

Chester Nimitz was promoted to five star rank.

Japan determined to cease reenforceing the Japanese 35th Army on Leyte.

The Japanese aircraft carrier Unryū was sunk in the East China Sea by the Redfish. The German submarine U-737 sank in a collision with depot ship MRS 25 in Vestfjorden, Norway.

The French newspaper Le Monde published for the first time.

Last edition:

Monday, December 18, 1944. Typhoon Cobra.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, boats and ships, British Army, Dekemvriana (Δεκεμβριανά), Douglas MacArthur, Greek Civil War, Internment of Japanese, Navy, Oklahoma, Pacific, Petroleum, Weather, World War Two, Wyoming

Monday, December 18, 1944. Typhoon Cobra.

Typhoon Cobra struck the Pacific Fleet doing severe damage to the ships of Task Force 28.  The destroyers Hull, Monaghan and Spence all foundered in the storm.  Other ships were damaged.

USS Langley during the storm.

Douglas MacArthur was promoted to five star rank.

The Third Army ceased operations in Lorraine to redeploy to Belgium.

British troops in Greece opened an offensive against the ELAS.

1944  The Governor of Oklahoma predicted that Mississippi and Wyoming had the brightest oil related futures in the nation.  Attribution.  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1944  U.S. Supreme Court upholds the wartime internment of U.S. Citizens of Japanese extraction, which would of course include those interned at Heart Mountain, Wyoming.

Last edition:

Sunday, December 17, 1944. SS murders in Belgium.

Labels: "Wacht am Rhein", 1940s, 1944, Battle of the Bulge, Belgium, Internment of Japanese, Malmedy Massacre, Prisoners of War, Royal Air Force, War Crimes, Wereth Massacre, World War Two

Friday, December 18, 1874. Congress received King Kalakaua.

A joint session of the U.S. Congress received King Kalakaua, the first joint congressional session to receive a foreign head of state.

Last edition:

Tuesday, December 8, 1874. The James Gang robs a train.

Labels: 1870s, 1874, Blog Mirror, Crime, Kansas, Missouri, The James Gang

Thursday, December 18, 1890. No booze for the faculty.

And, according to the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center, on December 18, 1890, the trustees passed a resolution that required all faculty to abstain from alcohol to get or keep their jobs.

Page Updates: The Art of Beverage, and other things, Containers

Another new page.

The Art of Beverage, and other things, Containers

This one has been in draft for years.  I just never got around to posting it, and kept adding to it.

Page Update: M65 Field Jackets in the wild.

 A minor page, but a new feature:

M65 Field Jackets in the wild.

I really like the M65 Field Jacket, which is no doubt obvious.  I've posted on them, and their ancestors, before.  I've owned quite a few of them over the years, indeed probably back to age 15 or so.  I have an assortment of them now.

They're not as warm as some other options, I freely admit.  Getting a Carhartt coat as a gift from my wife when we were first married was a revelation, it was so much warmer.  Still, with all the pockets, and whatnot, the M65 is a great military jacket.

Sunday, December 17, 1944. SS murders in Belgium.

 

Soldiers of SS Kampfgruppe Peiper murdered eighty-four U.S. prisoners of war at Malmedy.

Peiper survived the war and a death sentence for war crimes, which was commuted and oddly took up residence in France.  In spite of clear warnings that he should get out, he stayed, and was murdered himself on Bastille Day, 14 July 1976, by French communists who also set fire to his house.

Peiper is also associated with the 1943 Boves Massacre in Italy.

On the same day, eleven 11 African-American prisoners of war were murdered by members of the 1st SS Panzer Division at Wereth, Belgium.

The Germans took Lanzerath Ridge.  U.S. resistance held the Germans up for an entire day.  While the Germans were advancing, things were already going wrong.

Eisenhower released the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions from reserve and committed them to the Ardennes.  Elements of the 12th Army Group were redeployed as well.

"An anti-tank gun is rapidly put into position in a forward area on the German-Belgium border, to repel a strong German counter attack in the First Army sector. 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, V Corps, First U.S. Army. 17 December, 1944.

The Germans took 9,000 US pows at Ecternach.

The RAF hit Ulm in a nighttime raid for the first time.

The Army's Western Defense Command rescinded orders to incarcerate people of Japanese ancestry from the West coast.

Last edition:

Saturday, December 16, 1944. Wacht am Rhein

Labels: "Wacht am Rhein", 1940s, 1944, Battle of Mindoro, Battle of the Bulge, George C. Marshall, German Wehrmacht, Mussolini, World War Two

Wednesday, December 17, 1924. An election and a promise.

Constantine VI, the Metropolitan of Derkoi, was elected as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.

Prior to his election, Turkey had warned that they regarded him as subject to deportation as he was an immigrant to what was now Turkey.

All but one of the owners of the teams in the American League presented a statement to Commissioner Landis that actions would be taken to bring League President Ban Johnson's behavior to heel.  He had been criticizing Landis, but ceased to do so.

Last edition:

Tuesday, December 16, 1924. Looking back.

Labels: 1760s, 1766, 1910s, 1915, 1919, 1920s, 1924, Conservation, Enlightenment, Environmentalism, Hungary, Spain, The Law of Unintended Consequences, The Reformation, World War One

Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 9. Sudden collapse edition.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Matthew, Chapter 24.

British troops entering Damascus, October, 1918.

I am Syrian, I was made in Syria, I have to live in Syria and die in Syria. 

Bashar al-Assad

It is no exaggeration to say that Syria holds the key for nearly all of America's foreign policy goals in the Middle East. As Syria goes, so goes the region. 

Reza Aslan

From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only grow worse when they are kindly treated.

Ignatius of Antioch

December 8, 2024

Syrian Civil War

Syrian rebels took Damascus and Assad has fled.  The Syrian army is still fighting in some places, but has declared it is not under Assad.

Syrian rebels have attacked Kurdish forces in the north of the country.

cont:

It appears that the Russian manufactured airplane carrying Assad and his family out of the country was shot down near the Lebanese border.  Or at least that's the rumor.

December 9, 2024

Syrian Civil War

Assad fled to Moscow and has received asylum.

Israel has seized positions in the Golan Heights outside of those it normally occupies.

cont:

Israel has occupied Mt. Hermon, Syria's highest peak, which puts Damascus within range of Israeli artillery.

December 11, 2024

Syrian Civil War

The US has been hitting ISIL targets in Syria since the fall of Assad.  Israel has been hitting Syrian Army supplies.  Turkey hit the Kurds with a drone strike.

December 13, 2024

Pope Francis.

Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace

I. Listening to the plea of an endangered humanity

1. At the dawn of this New Year given to us by our heavenly Father, a year of Jubilee in the spirit of hope, I offer heartfelt good wishes of peace to every man and woman. I think especially of those who feel downtrodden, burdened by their past mistakes, oppressed by the judgment of others and incapable of perceiving even a glimmer of hope for their own lives. Upon everyone I invoke hope and peace, for this is a Year of Grace born of the Heart of the Redeemer!

2. Throughout this year, the Catholic Church celebrates the Jubilee, an event that fills hearts with hope. The “jubilee” recalls an ancient Jewish practice, when, every forty-ninth year, the sound of a ram’s horn (in Hebrew, jobel) would proclaim a year of forgiveness and freedom for the entire people (cf. Lev 25:10). This solemn proclamation was meant to echo throughout the land (cf. Lev 25:9) and to restore God’s justice in every aspect of life: in the use of the land, in the possession of goods and in relationships with others, above all the poor and the dispossessed. The blowing of the horn reminded the entire people, rich and poor alike, that no one comes into this world doomed to oppression: all of us are brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the same Father, born to live in freedom, in accordance with the Lord’s will (cf. Lev 25:17, 25, 43, 46, 55).

3. In our day too, the Jubilee is an event that inspires us to seek to establish the liberating justice of God in our world. In place of the ram’s horn, at the start of this Year of Grace we wish to hear the “desperate plea for help” [1] that, like the cry of the blood of Abel (cf. Gen 4:10), rises up from so many parts of our world – a plea that God never fails to hear. We for our part feel bound to cry out and denounce the many situations in which the earth is exploited and our neighbours oppressed. [2] These injustices can appear at times in the form of what Saint John Paul II called “structures of sin”, [3] that arise not only from injustice on the part of some but are also consolidated and maintained by a network of complicity.

4. Each of us must feel in some way responsible for the devastation to which the earth, our common home, has been subjected, beginning with those actions that, albeit only indirectly, fuel the conflicts that presently plague our human family. Systemic challenges, distinct yet interconnected, are thus created and together cause havoc in our world. [4] I think, in particular, of all manner of disparities, the inhuman treatment meted out to migrants, environmental decay, the confusion willfully created by disinformation, the refusal to engage in any form of dialogue and the immense resources spent on the industry of war. All these, taken together, represent a threat to the existence of humanity as a whole. At the beginning of this year, then, we desire to heed the plea of suffering humankind in order to feel called, together and as individuals, to break the bonds of injustice and to proclaim God’s justice. Sporadic acts of philanthropy are not enough. Cultural and structural changes are necessary, so that enduring change may come about. [5]

II. A cultural change: all of us are debtors

5. The celebration of the Jubilee spurs us to make a number of changes in order to confront the present state of injustice and inequality by reminding ourselves that the goods of the earth are meant not for a privileged few, but for everyone. [6] We do well to recall the words of Saint Basil of Caesarea: “Tell me, what things belong to you? Where did you find them to make them part of your life? … Did you not come forth naked from the womb of your mother? Will you not return naked to the ground? Where did your property come from? If you say that it comes to you naturally by luck, you would deny God by not recognizing the Creator and being grateful to the Giver”. [7] Without gratitude, we are unable to recognize God’s gifts. Yet in his infinite mercy the Lord does not abandon sinful humanity, but instead reaffirms his gift of life by the saving forgiveness offered to all through Jesus Christ. That is why, in teaching us the “Our Father”, Jesus told us to pray: “Forgive us our trespasses” ( Mt 6:12).

6. Once we lose sight of our relationship to the Father, we begin to cherish the illusion that our relationships with others can be governed by a logic of exploitation and oppression, where might makes right. [8] Like the elites at the time of Jesus, who profited from the suffering of the poor, so today, in our interconnected global village, [9] the international system, unless it is inspired by a spirit of solidarity and interdependence, gives rise to injustices, aggravated by corruption, which leave the poorer countries trapped. A mentality that exploits the indebted can serve as a shorthand description of the present “debt crisis” that weighs upon a number of countries, above all in the global South.

7. I have repeatedly stated that foreign debt has become a means of control whereby certain governments and private financial institutions of the richer countries unscrupulously and indiscriminately exploit the human and natural resources of poorer countries, simply to satisfy the demands of their own markets. [10] In addition, different peoples, already burdened by international debt, find themselves also forced to bear the burden of the “ecological debt” incurred by the more developed countries. [11] Foreign debt and ecological debt are two sides of the same coin, namely the mindset of exploitation that has culminated in the debt crisis. [12] In the spirit of this Jubilee Year, I urge the international community to work towards forgiving foreign debt in recognition of the ecological debt existing between the North and the South of this world. This is an appeal for solidarity, but above all for justice. [13]

8. The cultural and structural change needed to surmount this crisis will come about when we finally recognize that we are all sons and daughters of the one Father, that we are all in his debt but also that we need one another, in a spirit of shared and diversified responsibility. We will be able to “rediscover once for all that we need one another” and are indebted one to another. [14]

III. A journey of hope: three proposals

9. If we take to heart these much-needed changes, the Jubilee Year of Grace can serve to set each of us on a renewed journey of hope, born of the experience of God’s unlimited mercy. [15]

God owes nothing to anyone, yet he constantly bestows his grace and mercy upon all. As Isaac of Nineveh, a seventh-century Father of the Eastern Church, put it in one of his prayers: “Your love, Lord, is greater than my trespasses. The waves of the sea are nothing with respect to the multitude of my sins, but placed on a scale and weighed against your love, they vanish like a speck of dust”. [16] God does not weigh up the evils we commit; rather, he is immensely “rich in mercy, for the great love with which he loved us” ( Eph 2:4). Yet he also hears the plea of the poor and the cry of the earth. We would do well simply to stop for a moment, at the beginning of this year, to think of the mercy with which he constantly forgives our sins and forgives our every debt, so that our hearts may overflow with hope and peace.

10. In teaching us to pray the “Our Father”, Jesus begins by asking the Father to forgive our trespasses, but passes immediately to the challenging words: “as we forgive those who trespass against us” (cf. Mt 6:12). In order to forgive others their trespasses and to offer them hope, we need for our own lives to be filled with that same hope, the fruit of our experience of God’s mercy. Hope overflows in generosity; it is free of calculation, makes no hidden demands, is unconcerned with gain, but aims at one thing alone: to raise up those who have fallen, to heal hearts that are broken and to set us free from every kind of bondage.

11. Consequently, at the beginning of this Year of Grace, I would like to offer three proposals capable of restoring dignity to the lives of entire peoples and enabling them to set them out anew on the journey of hope. In this way, the debt crisis can be overcome and all of us can once more realize that we are debtors whose debts have been forgiven.

First, I renew the appeal launched by Saint John Paul II on the occasion of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 to consider “reducing substantially, if not cancelling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations”. [17] In recognition of their ecological debt, the more prosperous countries ought to feel called to do everything possible to forgive the debts of those countries that are in no condition to repay the amount they owe. Naturally, lest this prove merely an isolated act of charity that simply reboots the vicious cycle of financing and indebtedness, a new financial framework must be devised, leading to the creation of a global financial Charter based on solidarity and harmony between peoples.

I also ask for a firm commitment to respect for the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, so that each person can cherish his or her own life and all may look with hope to a future of prosperity and happiness for themselves and for their children. Without hope for the future, it becomes hard for the young to look forward to bringing new lives into the world. Here I would like once more to propose a concrete gesture that can help foster the culture of life, namely the elimination of the death penalty in all nations. This penalty not only compromises the inviolability of life but eliminates every human hope of forgiveness and rehabilitation. [18]

In addition, following in the footsteps of Saint Paul VI and Benedict XVI, [19] I do not hesitate to make yet another appeal, for the sake of future generations. In this time marked by wars, let us use at least a fixed percentage of the money earmarked for armaments to establish a global Fund to eradicate hunger and facilitate in the poorer countries educational activities aimed at promoting sustainable development and combating climate change. [20] We need to work at eliminating every pretext that encourages young people to regard their future as hopeless or dominated by the thirst to avenge the blood of their dear ones. The future is a gift meant to enable us to go beyond past failures and to pave new paths of peace.

IV. The goal of peace

12. Those who take up these proposals and set out on the journey of hope will surely glimpse the dawn of the greatly desired goal of peace. The Psalmist promises us that “steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss” ( Ps 85:10). When I divest myself of the weapon of credit and restore the path of hope to one of my brothers or sisters, I contribute to the restoration of God’s justice on this earth and, with that person, I advance towards the goal of peace. As Saint John XXIII observed, true peace can be born only from a heart “disarmed” of anxiety and the fear of war. [21]

13. May 2025 be a year in which peace flourishes! A true and lasting peace that goes beyond quibbling over the details of agreements and human compromises. [22] May we seek the true peace that is granted by God to hearts disarmed: hearts not set on calculating what is mine and what is yours; hearts that turn selfishness into readiness to reach out to others; hearts that see themselves as indebted to God and thus prepared to forgive the debts that oppress others; hearts that replace anxiety about the future with the hope that every individual can be a resource for the building of a better world.

14. Disarming hearts is a job for everyone, great and small, rich and poor alike. At times, something quite simple will do, such as “a smile, a small gesture of friendship, a kind look, a ready ear, a good deed”. [23] With such gestures, we progress towards the goal of peace. We will arrive all the more quickly if, in the course of journeying alongside our brothers and sisters, we discover that we have changed from the time we first set out. Peace does not only come with the end of wars but with the dawn of a new world, a world in which we realize that we are different, closer and more fraternal than we ever thought possible.

15. Lord, grant us your peace! This is my prayer to God as I now offer my cordial good wishes for the New Year to the Heads of State and Government, to the leaders of International Organizations, to the leaders of the various religions and to every person of good will.

Forgive us our trespasses, Lord,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

In this cycle of forgiveness, grant us your peace,

the peace that you alone can give

to those who let themselves be disarmed in heart,

to those who choose in hope to forgive the debts of their brothers and sisters,

to those who are unafraid to confess their debt to you,

and to those who do not close their ears to the cry of the poor.

From the Vatican, 8 December 2024

The Kurd's in control of northern Syria have ordered the pre 1964 Syrian flag, which is used by rebel forces, flown on their territory.

December 14, 2024

South Korea

In a process that's clearly different than the American one, the President of South Korea has been stripped of his powers for declaring martial law, but remains in office until a constitutional court decides his fate.  This is the result of an impeachment, one I'd note that worked.

December 16, 2024

Poland

Poland Poland has introduced compulsory military firearms classes in all its elementary and secondary schools.

December 17, 2024

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukrainian agents killed Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, who chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, outside an apartment building in Moscow.

Last edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2024. Part 8. Wider wars.

Labels: 2020s, 2024, Hezbollah, Iran, Kursk Ukraine, Lebanon, Mercenaries, Middle Eastern War, North Korea, Russia, Russo Ukrainian War, South Korea, Trailing thread, Ukraine, War, Wars and rumors of wars

 

Secretary Haaland Designates 19 New National Historic Landmarks

New designations recognize nationally significant sites for many historically marginalized communities across 15 states, territories, and DC

WASHINGTON — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today announced the designations of 19 new National Historic Landmarks (NHLs), reflecting the importance of the sites in sharing America’s diverse history. The new NHLs are nationally significant properties for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Americans, African Americans, Asian American Pacific Islanders, and women’s history in addition to moments important in development of American technology, landscape design, and art. 

“As America’s storyteller, it is our privilege at the Department of the Interior, through the National Park Service, to tell our nation’s history and honor the many historical chapters and heroic communities that brought us to where we all are today,” said Secretary Haaland. “These newly designated historic landmarks join a list of the nation’s premier historic and cultural places, all of which were nominated through voluntary and locally led stewardship.” 

An NHL designation is the highest federal recognition of a property’s historical, architectural or archeological significance, and a testament to the dedicated stewardship of many private and public property owners who seek this designation. While the National Park Service (NPS) maintains NHL listings, most are privately owned.  

The new NHLs join a select group of over 2,600 nationally significant places that have exceptional value in illustrating the history and culture of the United States. NHL theme studies supported many of these nominations and designations. 

“The National Park Service is committed to helping preserve and share a fuller and more inclusive account of our nation's history, a history that is not complete until all stories are represented. These 19 newly designated landmarks help do just that,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said. “We are proud to recognize these nationally significant places representing the diversity of the American experience and our country’s collective heritage.” 

In addition to the new designations, the NPS has updated documentation for 14 current NHLs and has withdrawn designation of three NHLs because of demolition or destruction. View these changes on the NHL website. 

For more information about these landmarks and the National Historic Landmarks Program, please visit https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks. 

###

Blog Mirror: It's Not Just A Cold, It's 'Sickness Behavior'

So this explains it:

It's Not Just A Cold, It's 'Sickness Behavior'

Ugh.

I have less in the way of visible signs of having a cold today, but I'm dead tired and dragging myself through work.

I drug myself through the day yesterday.  The day before, I went elk hunting as the last day was coming up, even though I should not have.  That was a struggle, although one I put in miles for anyhow.

Monday, December 16, 1974. Safe Drinking Water.

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

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

Hmmm. . . . 

The Safe Drinking Water Act was signed into law.

Probably wouldn't happen today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Last edition:

Sunday, November 17, 1974. Greek democracy restored.

Labels: 1960s, 1964, 1967, 1970s, 1974, Democracy, Greece