Saturday, March 15, 2025
Saturday, March 15, 1975. Abandoning Buôn Ma Thuột and Huế.
Gen. Phu gave up on trying to retake Buôn Ma Thuột and ordered his forces to retreat to the coast.
President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered the ARVN to abandon the defense of Huế, and to retreat southward to defend Saigon. The decision led to a mass civilian exodus.
The war was, effectively, over. The tragedy was not.
It's about this point that eleven year old me really began to take notice of the unfolding drama, although it might have been before that. A National Geographic map of Vietnam was up on my wall, with my color pencil notations of how things were progressing.
Last edition:
Friday, March 14, 1975. Desperate measures.
Thursday, March 15, 1945.
The Red Army launched the Upper Silesian Offensive.
Operation Spring Awakening ended in a German failure.
The 7th and 3d Armies attacked near Saarbrucken and Bitche.
Last edition:
Wednesday, March 14, 1945. Large bombs.
Friday, March 14, 2025
Towering Wyoming statesman Alan Simpson dies at 93
Towering Wyoming statesman Alan Simpson dies at 93: Former U.S. Senator and storied politician was known for folksy bon mots, hard-nosed politics and a signature straight-shooting style.
A note. "To be honest with you".
Pre statement declarations of honesty are only made by people who 1) aren't about to say something honest, or 2) are very unsure of what they're saying.
Trump says "to be honest with you" all the time, as an example. People are entitled to believe that a person they're listening to is speaking honestly. A person who repeatedly starts his comments with "to be honest with you" has a different world view. It implied the speaker normally lies, and is probably lying right now.
Friday, March 14, 1975. Desperate measures.
President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu met with his military commanders and ordered General Phú to retake Buôn Ma Thuột.
Regarded as an unrealistic order, the tactical situation was such that if the situation was not capable of being reversed, the Vietnam War was effectively over, save for American reentry in the conflict. The order resulted in the withdrawal of ARVN forces from other parts of the Central Highlands in order to supply the effort, and also to defend the South Vietnamese coast. US and South Vietnamese provincial authorities were not informed, and Montagnard highland forces were left to their fate.
Effectively Thieu was abandoning the upper half of the country in order to try to save Saigon.
Last edition:
Thursday, March 13, 1975. Chili's and other red things.
Labels: 1970s, 1975, Cambodia, Distributism, Donald Trump, Food, Hubert Humphrey, Khemr Rouge, restaurants and bars
Wednesday, March 14, 1945. Large bombs.
"Mortar team of the 99th Infantry Division, U.S. First Army, prepares to fire 81mm mortar shell to halt advance of enemy patrol in woods between American-held Ariendorf, and Germany-held Honningen.
14 March, 1945. Company M, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division."
The Red Army took Zvolen, Czechoslovakia.
Army Group South committed its reserves in Hungary.
The RAF used a 22,000 lbs bomb, the largest conventional bomb of the war, for the first time on a raid on the Bielfeld viaduct.
The U-714 and U-1021 were sunk by British and South African surface ships, and a mine, respectively.
Last edition:
Tuesday, March 13, 1945. The road to Mandalay.
Saturday, March 14, 1925. Spring.
France's Senate Finance Committee voted to keep its embassy at the Vatican, over the wishes of Prime Minister Édouard Herriot.
The Council of the League of Nations expressed its hopes that Germany would join the body.
Sunday, March 14, 1915. Planning on the future of Constantinople.
The Royal Navy forced the German light cruiser SMS Dresden to scuttle, ending the German East Asia Squadron.
The UK, France and the Russian Empire agreed to give Constantinople and the Bosporus to Russia in the event of victory.
Last edition:
Saturday, March 13, 1915. Worries over Japan.
Thursday, March 13, 2025
RFK, Jr. opines that the best protection against measles is the breast milk from an unvaccinated woman. . .
presumably with the recipient being an infant, of course.
This is seriously weird.
At this point in time, the United States is being run by dimwit weirdos.
Thank you, GOP, for fighting climate change with tariffs
Thank you, GOP, for fighting climate change with tariffs: Republicans embrace tool climate-conscious economists, environmentalists see as solution to pollution tied to global trade, economist explains.
Thursday, March 13, 1975. Chili's and other red things.
The first Chili's opened.
There are now 1,400 Chili's locations, including one here in town I've never been to.
Over the years, for distributist reasons, and other, I've grown less fond of chain restaurants. Indeed, I avoid them. When occasionally on the road, I try to find a real local establishment rather than Appleby's or what not. But at one time I really liked Chili's. The first one I ever went to was in downtown Denver, and it was pretty good. The one in Cheyenne we discovered after that, and I really liked it. Frankly, for a time, before the real revival of local eateries, they were a really good option, and there as a time when it was hard to find a local eatery that wasn't a greasy spoon bucket o lard type of place.
That's really changed.
Anyhow, while I haven't eaten at a Chili's for a long time, I like them.
The Khmer Rouge joined the growing Indochinese red tide and destroyed an ammunition dump at Phnom Penh.
We'll soon enjoy Russians in Poland, to the befuddlement of toddler King Donny, so history does indeed rhyme. He'll avoid any serious duty this time as well.
U.S. Senator Hubert H. Humphrey agreed to pay back taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service, after his claim of a deduction of $199,153 for the donation of records from service as Vice President of the United States, was disallowed.
Hmmm. . . . .
By the way, King Donny's weekend flights to the Florida so he can ride in his toy car on the golf course, are costing the US taxpayer more than Trump could conceivably make up by donating his salary. Indeed, it makes a mockery of it.
Last edition:
Wednesday, March 12, 1975. Last conscription levy.
Tuesday, March 13, 1945. The road to Mandalay.
"These First U.S. Army infantrymen, known as "Grover's Ghosts", are a combat patrol of the 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. They captured the German town of Seilsdorf using Nazi weapons and equipment after their own ammunition ran out. Hermulheim, Germany. 13 March, 1945." 121st Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. Photographer: Pvt. H. Jaquith, 165th Signal Photo Co.
The Battle of Kiauneliškis ended in a Red Army victory with the destruction of the Lithuanian partisan bunkers.
The British Indian 62nd Bde took the last Japanese rail link to Mandalay.
"En route from Kunming, China, to Kai Yuan, China, in the Petrified Forest area. 13 March, 1945.
Entire convoy personnel of Maj. Gen. R. B. McClure, C.G. of C.G.C. and Gen. Ho Ying Chin, Supreme Commander of the Chinese Armies. Photographer: Pfc. E. J. Frayne, Jr."
Last edition:
Monday, March 12, 1945. Santa Fe Riots.
Friday, March 13, 1925. Tennessee prevents evolution in schools.
In a uniquely American struggle, due to the strong influence of Evangelical Protestantism in the country, the Tennessee General Assembly approved the Butler Act, which prohibited public schools from teaching evolution.
CHAPTER NO. 27
House Bill No. 185
(By Mr. Butler)
AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.
Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act, Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One Hundred $ (100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($ 500.00) Dollars for each offense.
Section 3. Be it further enacted, That this Act take effect from and after its passage, the public welfare requiring it.
Passed March 13, 1925
W. F. Barry,
Speaker of the House of Representatives
L. D. Hill,
Speaker of the Senate
Approved March 21, 1925.
Austin Peay,
Governor.
Calvin Coolidge held a press conference.
The Hay-Quesada Treaty between Cuba and the United States was ratified by the U.S. Senate, recognizing that the Isla de Pinos was the territory of Cuba.
Last edition:
Thursday, March 12, 1925. Passing of Sun Yat-sen. British rejection of the Geneva Protocol.
Saturday, March 13, 1875. Sheep.
M.E. Post was noted as having added five thousand sheep to his flock on Pole Creek by the Cheyenne Leader.
Last edition:
Friday, March 5, 1875. The death of Andrew Johnson.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
The Populist Far Right and their goal to touch Social Security.
Eh?
I know, you're thinking, I voted for Don Trump and I sure didn't vote to eliminate retirement.
Well, first of all, Donny isn't exactly dialed in most of the time. He's out golfing.
That he wouldn't be dialed was obvious to those who had eyes to see. And likewise was that the Project 2025 cabal would be running the show.
Barely noticed in all of this are the statements by far right punditry that are outright hostile to retirement, but they're there. Comments about how "nobody should retire". Not there? Consider this:
And let's be real about this - it's insane that we haven't raised the retirement age in the United States. It's totally crazy. Joe Biden -- if that were the case, Joe Biden should not be running for president. OK? Joe Biden is 81 years old. The retirement age in the United States, at which you start to receive Social Security and you are eligible for Medicare, is 65. Joe Biden has technically been eligible for Social Security and Medicare for 16 years, and he wants to continue in office until he is 86, which is 19 years past when he would be eligible for retirement. No one in the United States should be retiring at 65 years old. Frankly, I think retirement itself is a stupid idea unless you have some sort of health problem. Everybody that I know who is -- who is elderly, who has retired, is dead within five years. And if you talk to people who are elderly and they lose their purpose in life by losing their job and they stop working, things go to hell in a handbasket real quick.
Ben Shapiro.
Now, Shapiro was largely populist babbling, so there's an extra element of stupidity in what he said. In the Trump era, saying really stupid stuff as a populist has become almost mandatory for that class. But is there something to what Shapiro said?
Well yes and no.
On the yes side, a fair number of men in particular become their jobs, their souls basically a burnt out husk with nothing left, and they slip into missing their job or depression It happens.
But like the polls that deal with lawyers who hate practicing law (a surprisingly high percentage), I suspect the figure are weighted towards confirmation bias.
Lots of people retire and love it.
And exactly what retirement is, isn't the same for everyone. By retirement, what quite a few people actually have is time to devote to something else they've always wanted to, but couldn't.
And that gets to this. The current crop of Cultural Calvinists don't like the concept of retirement, as all they value in the world is work. That's it. Work makes them part of the Elect and without work, they'd have to be human beings. They don't want that.
So they're attacking retirement itself.
It'll be hard to pull that off, so what they'll do is push the retirement age up closer to death. Project 2025 would like the "full" Social Security age to be 69, up two from 67, which was up two from 65. At some point they'll start moving the bottom age upwards. And their argument, which at least makes fiscal sense, is that this is necessary to save the fund.
My guess is that within a decade the full will be 70, and the lower something like 67.
The dirty little secret, however, is that starting in a person's late 50s, an increasingly number simply can't carry on at work. The average retirement age in the US right now falls between 61 and 64, with layoffs and health playing into that.
And a good argument can be made that for some jobs, those requiring a license, the retirement age really ought to be something like 60.
Why Trump’s Idol, McKinley, Abandoned His Own Tariff Strategy | WSJ
This is well worth watching as it not only gives a good historical glimpse into McKinley's tariffs, which King Donny admires, but gives an insight into what King Donny is likely really trying to do.
The entire drug smuggling this is bs. I don't know why Donny feels he has to lie about this, but he's a pathological liar and lies about everything. The real goal is autarky.
Somewhere, probably somewhere inside of the Heritage Foundation, somebody believes that if we make tariffs high enough, industry will spring up here and the golden age of the 1950s will return. Those people don't care if it drives prices up, as they believe that "good" middle class jobs making 1958 Cadillacs will "come back" to the country. That's the essence of it.
It won't work.
Instead, it'll inflate prices and drive the country towards a major recession which will be in full bloom when the mid term elections come around.
Wednesday, March 12, 1975. Last conscription levy.
The last draft lottery for 18 year old Americans took place. Nobody was levied from the conscription pool and registration for the draft was suspended on April 1. Indeed these levies were serving no real point by this time as the last actual conscription of troops took place on June 30, 1973.
An Air Vietnam DC4 went down over NVA controlled territory. American citizens were on board the aircraft whose fate was never determined.
Memorandum Secretary of State Henry Kissinger Regarding Ominous Developments in Vietnam
The Dubai Islamic Bank was established in the United Arab Emirates, becoming the first private institution to operate under the principles of Islamic banking.
Last edition:
Wednesday, March 12, 1975. Reporting the grim news.
Monday, March 12, 1945. Santa Fe Riots.
Riots broke out at the internment camp at Santa Fe.
The Red Army took Küstrin.
The Germans made a determined counterattack at Remagen.
Friedrich Fromm, who had been a fence sitter in the July 20 plot, was executed.
Last edition:
Sunday, March 11, 1945. Essen destroyed.
Monday, March 13, 1775. The Westminster Massacre.
William French and Daniel Houghton were killed by a sheriff's posse, after a crowd occupied the Westminster Courthouse to protest the evictions of several poor farmers from their homes by judges and other officials from New York.
Some regard it as a battle of the American Revolution.
Last edition:
Sunday, March 5, 1775. The Boston Massacre.
Thursday, March 12, 1925. Passing of Sun Yat-sen. British rejection of the Geneva Protocol.
Sun Yat-sen died at age 58.
The British government rejected the Geneva Protocol on the basis that the lack of US participating in the League of Nations rendered the Protocol unenforceable.
It's interesting that while the US had competent leadership at the time, as opposed to the rampaging buffoons who govern it now, the isolationist mallogic was strong at the time, helping to doom the world to a Second World War.
The Nazi stand in Großdeutsche Volksgemeinschaft disbanded in favor of the Nazis, with its populist members folding right back in.
Yes, populists. The Nazi Party was a populist right wing party.
Retired General W. R. E. Murphy, Commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, launched overnight raids on all of the brothels ("Kip-Houses") in the Irish capital signalling the end of the tolerance of prostitution.
Last edition:
Wednesday, March 11, 1925. Private manufacture of arms.
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