The final primaries of the 1976 election season were held. Gerald Ford came out with a lead of 105 delegates over Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter has 1,250 of the 1,505 delegates he needed to secure the election.
Several state conventions remained to be held.
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The United Kingdom celebrated victory in World War Two with a massive parade in London.
The U.S. gave permission to the Mexican government, now an interim government awaiting elecdtions, to transit 1,500 Mexican troops across the United States into Baja California. The troops were disarmed in Arizona where they were embarked and then given their arms and ammunition at their border crossing from California into Baja.
Glen Curtiss received U.S. Pilot's License #1 from the Aero Club of America. The first first batch of licenses were issued in alphabetical order with Wilbur Wright receiving license #5.
Charles Post of cereal fame conducted an experiment in which kites were set aloft with dynamite charges to see if that would induce rain.
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The Department of Defense scaled back its list of recognized religions. There were 211, now there are 31. Here is the full list:
Agnostic (AN)
Baha'i faith (BH)
Buddhism (BU)
Christian - Assemblies of God (AG)
Christian - Baptist (BA)
Christian - Brethren (BR)
Christian - Catholic (CA)
Christian - Church of Christ (CC)
Christian - Church of God (CG)
Christian - Church of the Nazarene (CN)
Christian - Episcopal/Anglican (EA)
Christian - Evangelical (EV)
Christian - Jehovah's Witnesses (JW)
Christian - Lutheran (LU)
Christian - Methodist (ME)
Christian - Non Denominational (ND)
Christian - Orthodox (OX)
Christian - Other (CO)
Christian - Pentecostal (PE)
Christian - Presbyterian (PR)
Christian - Quaker (QU)
Christian - Reformed (RE)
Christian - Scientist (SC)
Christian - Seventh Day Adventist (SA)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (CJ)
Hindu (HI)
Islam (Muslim) (IS)
Judaism (Jewish) (JU)
No Religion (NR)
Other Religions (OR)
Sikh (SI)
One of the things that I find discouraging to do is to give any credit to Hegseth's Department of Defense, but every now and then he's right. Frankly, his view that too much social experimentation, or "woke" policies as the far right would have it, had been going on inside the military was correct. Transgenderism and the the like had no place in the military.
And frankly the huge number of religions that the DoD recognized was a problem.
One thing I'd thought that Hegseth would do, and which I wish he would do, is to remove women from combat roles. To some degree it looks like he's creeping up on that, but if that's the case, he ought to realize that after January 2027 he's going to be much less capable of doing anything.
The problem Hegseth interjects, however, is that like the Trumpian far right in general is that he combines some concerns over legitimate problems, including legitimate social problems, with wackiness, which makes it really hard to give him credit on anything. In terms of religions, Hegseth is festooned with Crusader related tattoos which would be an insult to Crusaders, given his own beliefs, and fits into the theologically unsupportable hardcore millenialist Calvinist camp.
Anyhow, this probably made sense, in the abstract.
And this is a far more complicated story than people might imagine.
The U.S. Army has had chaplains since July 29, 1775, sort of, as there were religious that served on a regimental level at that time. Religious diversity existed in the colonies that early, but nowhere near to the extent it does not. An official Army chaplain did not exist until Reverend John Hurt of Virginia (who had served as Chaplain of the 6th Virginia Regiment during the American Revolution) was appointed to the position of Chaplain of the Continental Army on 4 March 1791, which even for the Revolution is sort of late in the day.
It wasn't until the Mexican War that there were Catholic Chaplains in the Army, the influx of German and Irish immigrants, and the bigoted attitudes of the Southern officer class making it a necessity. The Mexican War remains the most unpopular war that Americans ever fought, something even some professional soldiers acknowledged, and the desertion rate in general was huge. The desertion rate of Catholic Irish and German troops was particularly problematic. So, during that war, Catholic Chaplains came into the service in response to the government recognizing the problem. It's sometimes noted that the Mexican War served as a training ground for the Civil War, and in that context it certainly did, as huge numbers of Catholic troops served in the Civil War, with most of them serving the Union. Some senior officers by that time, such as Sheridan and McClellan, were Catholic.
The service did not start issuing "dog tags" until 1906, and that was due to the concern of Army Chaplain Charles C. Pierce, who who was in charge of the Army Morgue and Office of Identification in the Philippines. To put this in context 40% of the Union dead from the Civil War remained unidentified after the war. Their bodies were never identified. The early dog tags did not identify religion, but late Great War ones did, with that being indicated by a single initial, P, C, or H, for Protestant, Catholic, and Hebrew, the latter being the term used to identify Jewish soldiers. After the war, with a return to a small military, the practice was discontinued, but it was revived in 1941.
By the Vietnam War the practice had changed to allow troops to choose what would be stamped on their dog tags. This is the type we had in the 1980s, and in my case it was stamped "Catholic". Apparently this is the system that's still used.
Of course dog tags are one thing and ministering to troops another. I honestly have no idea how the protestant chaplains minister to protestant troops There are so many varieties of Protestantism it must be difficult. The task faced by Catholic, Jewish and Muslim must accordingly be easier in that regard.
Anyhow, with the current diversity of the US, this must be a huge task. Cutting the categories down to sizes makes sense, but its also guaranteed to upset people.
One group it's upset is the Latter Day Saints, as they aren't listed as Christians, which they aren't. Jehovah's Witnesses, however, are listed as Christians on this list, and they are not either. Both religions recognize that Christ existed, but their theologies are radically different from Christians. Mormon theology is really had to nail down, and it moves, but generally the LDS do not believe Jesus is the co-eternal God of the Holy Trinity, but rather view Him as an exalted, separate being who is the literal spirit brother of all humanity and Satan. Jehovah Witnesses believe that Jesus is the most exalted of God's created beings. Neither religion, therefore, hold what Christians do, as defined by the Nicene Creed:
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
In other words, they don't believe in one eternal God with three personalities, which have always existed.
At least traditionally they haven't believed that. As noted, Mormon theology moves and frankly isn't well defined.
Nonetheless, this has upset the LDS, which regards itself as Christian. It may regard itself as such, and surely does given its name, but it isn't.
That it upsets them and is a big deal to them makes sense, however, as its a direct rejection of their religious claims. So in essence the Pentagon has made a statement rejecting their theology, and it pretty much had to, which shows the danger of recognizing even 31 faiths. But you also have to recognize some distinctions as well. Protestants and Catholics are different. The LDS is extremely different.
A peculiarity of this we'd note is that this would only matter in practical terms if you have troops fitting these categories. Jehovah's Witnesses are precluded from serving under their religion, so not only is the identification of them as Christians incorrect, but even having that category for the service may be fairly pointless.
There are about 36,000 Mormons in the military, which is surprisingly slightly lower than the number of Orthodox, which is about 39,000. There are only 15,000 active duty members of the service who are Jewish.
So, I guess, is there a point to this discussion?
I suppose, with part of it just being to note what the overall story is. The US is very diverse and that reflects in the military, but not to the extent that a person might think. 20% of servicemembers are Catholic which mirrors our percentage of the American population. In Korea, to attend Easter Mass, a colleague of mine and I went to an on base chapel, but the Priest was Australian and not in the Army. Probably a fairly typical scenario. In contrast, my father was pretty good friends with a Catholic Chaplain in the Air Force when he was stationed overseas.
70% of servicemembers overall are Protestant, but of course, as noted Protestantism is very diverse. That makes the 20% of the service that's Catholic a pretty big block.
The other part of this story is, I guess, that you are going to upset people with a list like this. The service can't possibly list every single Protestant faith and Protestants themselves notoriously disregard their own denominations. Catholics, Orthodox, Jews, and Muslims, don't. That's a real reason some discretion is needed. A Catholic needing last rights needs it from a Catholic or Orthodox Priest, who are the only ones who can deliver that. The LDS are their own thing as well, and frankly, except they obviously feel uncomfortable that, they ought to accept it.
But is there more to this?
(To Be Continued).
BBC Television, which had been off the air since September 1, 1939, resumed broadcasting. The resumption was for only an hour on June 7, but it signaled its first return. The programming featured speakers welcoming the audience back, a performance by ballerina Margo Fonteyn, a talk segment, and a rebroadcast of Disney's Mickey's Gala, the latter being the last thing broadcast in 1939.
There were over 18,000 television sets in the US when service was suspended.
The players of the Pittsburgh Pirates, which had threatened to walk out if they were not allowed to join the American Baseball Guild, didn't.
First flight of the Short Sturgeon.
A crowd of 100,000 people turned out to watch Francisco Madero enter Mexico City.
An earthquake occurred at 04:26 local time (11:02 UTC) bear the coast of Michoacán, Mexico, killing at least 45 people. Due to the other events in Mexico on the day, it's sometimes called the "temblor maderista".
Orphans were taken for a visit to Coney Island.
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Andrew Carnegie transferred $10,000,000 worth of his U.S. Steel bond holdings to improve universities in his Scotland, with half of the money going to a scholarship fund.
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The best posts of May 31, 2026.
The Feral Week.
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It's worth noting that before World War One there were no restrictions at all.
Army lays out criteria for evaluating religious waivers for beards
She's a young beautiful woman, never smiles. I never see a smile on her face. I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes, like she has hatred because we have borders, because we have a strong military, because we cut our taxes...
Donald Trump in a recent press conference.
Donald Trump is a creepy old man.
A few years ago there was a lot of ink spilled and electrons expended on whether or not there was a "crisis of masculinity" in American culture. There's still a fair amount of discussion of it, as evidenced by this New York Times op ed from this year:
A much-needed, nuanced conversation about masculinity and feminism today.
I've thought about posting in it from time to time, but never had as its a difficult topic to really address, even though, as it involves a shift in social standards, it fits right into this site's purpose.
Seeing Donald Trump insult of a female reporter the other day however, makes it impossible not to address.
Trump is a creepy old man who came of age in the 70s and had early sexual morals like that of an alley cat. He seems to lack any morals today. The comment he made was not only demeaning, it demonstrates an absolute contempt of women. The reporter is supposed to be a pretty adornment, in his view.
How many women have been confronted by the lech stating "why don't you smile more". Indeed, if you are of a certain age, "why don't you smile more?" or "why don't you wear prettier dresses" or the like is pretty much raising the flag of an intended sexual assault of the pressure type. Given Trump's dementia, it's not impossible to wonder if that was a line other women in other context have heard before.
It should have been met with a male reaction.
When I was young, even though I grew up in the 1960s and 70s, there was a set of expectations that boys learned and men followed. I think to some extent they've fallen aside as in the 1970s men lost track of what was expected of them due to the wave of First Generation Feminism. That era has passed, but knowing what to do and how to behave seems to have gone out to sea.
There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."
Chesterton, The Thing.
The old standards weren't quaint, they existed for a reason. Two of the reasons are that men are more powerful than women and if the law of the jungle applies, lots of men will abuse women, and by abuse, you know what we mean. The vulnerable girls at Epstein Island, where Trump traveled with the other rich and often unprincipled, provide an example of that. Another reason is that the rules restrained men and oriented them towards decent behavior. Finally, and quite frankly, the rules in fact reflected centuries old views of the relationship between men and women, much of which underwent assault in the 1970s, but frankly which reflect women, and men, in their more natural roles.
Now, let's be clear. There were men who always violated these rules, some very openly, but they weren't admire for that. And the reaction to violation could go far beyond mere internal contempt.
Amongst the rules were some that seem pretty minor. You always opened the door for women, including women you didn't know. You walked around a car to let a woman out of the car and opened the door for her, and when entering a car you opened the door for her. Both of those actually reflect an era when doors were heavier, including car doors.
A man got up from his seat when women approached to address them, something depicted in the final seat of True Grit when Frank James does not get up when she approaches, and when she leaves she states "Keep your seat, trash".
That is how that was viewed.
More seriously, however, men, including teenage boys, were taught not to insult a woman's virtue in any fashion. The instruction was so serious that if you were in a relationship with a woman so insulted you were expected to immediately intervene, but it went beyond that. If you were in a setting where that was done you were also expected to intervene, particularly if you knew the girl or the knew somebody who was in a relationship with the girl. It was universally understood that a verbal rebuke of a person talking smack or insulting a girl, or saying the kind of thing Trump was saying, didn't cause them to knock it off, a fistfight was the probable result. Generally, the exchange went something like:
"Hey, knock it off and leave her alone."
The reply normally was:
"Hey dude, I didn't mean anything by it".
If,, however, the insulting person did not back off, a fight often ensued.
This is, of course, amongst younger men. If an older man, like Trump, said something like that, a verbal rebuke and walking out was the norma.
That went something like:
"You sir, are being insulting and owe her an apology".
With an old baffoon like Trump, that was normally met with:
"Um, I all I meant. . .
At which point the other men started leaving.
This is all 20th Century stuff, I'd note, and 20th Century middle class stuff. Even when I was young in rougher society fights could arise in this fashion which went right to knives. In European and European American middle class and upper class society of the 18th and 19th Century failing to yield often outright resulted in a duel.
Now, these guys just stand there like lumps, saying nothing.
One of the things about our current society is that it's really become White Trash. The gutter morals of men who view women as objects and who can't speak with any proficiency are dictating the culture of the country, and combined with this is the corruption that wealth has always brought about.
Again, Trump provides us a fine example of that. He's an immoral man who is steeped in immorality. He's hung around with the rich men who abuse teenage women to the point where questions about his behavior are legitimate questions. He's made creepy comments about his own daughter when she was young. The wheels are coming off of his ability to restrain himself. He gets closer and closer to the point at which he's going to outright proposition a woman on national television and not one male reporter has the courage to do anything about it.
But we're going to have to start doing something about this behavior.
Part of the claim of the MAGA movement and entities like the Wyoming Freedom Caucus is that they were restoring America. Instead, they're just White Trashing it up. Chuck Gray have us just such an example the other day when he acted like a 12 year old brat the Cowboy State Daily video program.
One of the things about the old rules is that even one person enforcing them was normally effective. Even within the last few years I've seen that when an official got mad about something and started swearing and another official rebuked him with "there are ladies here". I hadn't heard that in years, but it resulted in an immediate apology.
People around Trump need to start calling him on his behavior. People around Trump who pretend its not important need to be called on that. But beyond that, people in everyday conversation need to do the same. The long road back won't become from the top of the generation in charge. It'll have to come from the bottom.
Leaks in the dam started at 7:30 am and increased over a two hour period. Crews were sent to repair the dam but by noon the earthen dam was beyond repair and collapsed.
Belfast pubs were bombed as part of ongoing IRA and UVF campaigns.
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