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tallmadgeandtea · 10 months

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Turn Week 2023:

History Nerdery!

Hello, and Happy Fourth of July! For today's Turn Week, I wanted to talk about Benjamin's regiment in the Continental Army. We all know he's a Connecticut Dragoon, but what does that mean and what did they do, exactly? I'm going to let you know! The Continental Cavalry is my favorite unit in the army, and I actually did an Honors Research Project on them last year for my college. WARNING: this is going to be LONG. I'm sorry. Kind of.

What is the Continental Cavalry?

The cavalry is the mounted troops in a military force, meaning they fight on horseback. At the time of the Revolution, the cavalry was considered an elite and necessary force for a proper military. Combat on horseback was dangerous- you not only had to avoid cannon and gunfire, but you had to attack other mounted troops with lances and sabers of their own.

There are two types of cavalry: light cavalry and heavy cavalry. The light cavalry had three primary duties. Scouting, which was to patrol enemy forces, movements, and the terrain surrounding camps and battlefields, which also played into reconnaissance. They also served as messengers to officers on and off the battlefield. On the other hand, heavy cavalry was troops used in action. Their objective was to lead charges and weaken the enemy’s unmounted troops, like going after their flanks. They also performed raids/ambushes or small skirmishes against the enemy. Their combat was on and off the battlefield.

Due to the near constant lack of funds for the Continentals, their Dragoons performed both light and heavy cavalry roles. A dragoon/trooper is a soldier who fights either on horseback or on foot, depending on the amount of horse available. They used weapons such as: a cavalry saber, a shortgun, and a musket.

Unlike the British army, which brought over cavalry forces, at the beginning of the war, there was not an official cavalry for the Continentals. Some state and organized militias had mounted troops- such as the Philadelphia Light Horse- but professional, commissioned troops had not seen action.

After seeing the performance of the British cavalry during the New York Campaign, General George Washington realized his army needed horses of their own. Writing to Congress in late 1776, “From the Experience I have had in this Campaign… I am Convinced there is no carrying on the War without them.”

What made up the Continental Cavalry?

In 1777, the cavalry's first year in action, there were four regiments of Light Dragoons.

The 1st Regiment of Dragoons- from Virginia, also known as Bland's Light Horse. Their uniforms were originally the "classic" Continental coat: blue with red facings, but they then changed the standard to brown with green facings.

The 2nd Regiment, also known as the Connecticut Light Dragoons, Colonel Elisha Sheldon and Benjamin Tallmadge's force, mustered from Connecticut, hence the name. Their uniform was blue with buff facings.

The 3rd Regiment, aka Colonel Baylor's or Lady Washington's Light Horse, in honor of Martha Washington. Their uniform was white with blue facings (one of my favorite uniforms in the army.)

And the 4th Regiment, led by Colonel Stephen Moylan. His troops originally wore red! coats, and this lead to some incidents of friendly fire. At Washington's order, the regiment changed to green with red facings.

How does this relate to Turn: Benjamin Tallmadge and His Dragoons.

Although the show does not get into heavy detail about Benjamin Tallmadge's battle experience, we know what battles he was present at with his regiment.

1777 the cavalry's first years as professional troops in battle. Both had very... different outcomes, let's say. Both were also mentioned or briefly shown in season 2 of Turn, and my research focused on this.

During the Campaigns, a set of troops from each regiment of Dragoons was stationed with General Washington in Pennsylvania, led by Bland, Moylan, Baylor, Sheldon, and Tallmadge.

Benjamin Tallmadge and his soldiers were present at both the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown.

At Brandywine, Washington first used the dragoons for only scouting, not combat. But as the British went after his insecure right flank, he frantically sent units of soldiers and cavalry to prevent the British from getting to the road along and to Brandywine Creek. The cavalry also acted as messengers to officers during this battle, but insufficient preparation and speed led to delayed reports. The cavalry did lead a charge that allowed Washington to retreat, but the day was lost. Afterwards, the British marched into the Continental capital of Philadelphia.

After Brandywine, Washington needed another battle to try and take back Philadelphia. With a night march, he decided to attack the British near their camp in Germantown, Pennsylvania, a small village outside the city.

Washington had four columns, 2 made up of Continental forces and two of state militias. Just as at Brandywine, his right wing was commanded by Sullivan, and his left by Greene. The Dragoons were now under their newly commissioned commander, General Pulaski. Tallmadge stated in his memoirs that, “if every division of the army had performed its allotted part, it seems as if we must have succeeded.”

Unfortunately, this would not be the outcome at Germantown. At the beginning of the battle, the Continentals were winning. Part of the camp was captured. A heavy fog and rain set over the battlefield, and the British used this fog to their advantage. They retreated into a local country house and created a stalemate.

Benjamin Tallmadge and his dragoons were first stationed with Sullivan’s division, close upon “the scene of the action.” As the battle turned against the Continental forces and the troops became victim to enemy and friendly fire, Washington ordered him to use his 2nd Dragoons to block any further retreat, to no avail. Germantown was lost.

Germantown was the last official engagement of the Philadelphia campaign. But on June 28, 1778, the Continental Army and the Cavalry engaged the forces at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey. Due to proper military training thanks to the Inspector General Baron von Steuben and six months of waiting at Valley Forge, the army emerged as a proper fighting force and prevailed against the British. The victory allowed the Continentals to take back their capital and keep Washington in as Commander in Chief.

Monmouth is the shown in the finale of season 2- Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot- with Benjamin leading his dragoons into the battle.

After the 1777 campaigns, Tallmadge and his dragoons would stay up north, particularly New York, to patrol and engage the enemy in raids. They also participated in the Battles of Stony Point and Fort St. George, which were shown in seasons 3 and 4 of Turn.

Sources (and further reading):

Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge : Tallmadge, Benjamin, 1754-1835 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Brandywine: A Military History of the Battle that Lost Philadelphia but Saved America, September 11, 1777 by Michael C. Harris, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Germantown: A Military History of the Battle for Philadelphia, October 4, 1777 by Michael C. Harris, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Cavalry of the American Revolution - Jim Piecuch - Westholme Publishing

#oh my GOD #i went insane #i went crazy #i'm so so sorry #i just really really like dragoons.#turn week 2023 #turn: washington's spies #benjamin tallmadge #military history #american revolution #the Philadelphia campaign #saber & shortgun #I hope I got everything right. oh my god. I’m sorry.#long post

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odinsblog · 9 months

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Remember: these are allegedly “pro-life” “Christian” Republicans supporting murder

WASHINGTON — Officers working for Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative have been ordered to push small children and nursing babies back into the Rio Grande, and have been told not to give water to asylum seekers even in extreme heat, according to an email from a Department of Public Safety trooper who described the actions as “inhumane.”

The July 3 account, reviewed by Hearst Newspapers, discloses several previously unreported incidents the trooper witnessed in Eagle Pass, where the state of Texas has strung miles of razor wire and deployed a wall of buoys in the Rio Grande.

According to the email, a pregnant woman having a miscarriage was found late last month caught in the wire, doubled over in pain. A four-year-old girl passed out from heat exhaustion after she tried to go through it and was pushed back by Texas National Guard soldiers. A teenager broke his leg trying to navigate the water around the wire and had to be carried by his father.

The email, which the trooper sent to a superior, suggests that Texas has set “traps” of razor wire-wrapped barrels in parts of the river with high water and low visibility. And it says the wire has increased the risk of drownings by forcing migrants into deeper stretches of the river.

The trooper’s email sheds new light on a series of previously reported drownings in the river during a one-week stretch earlier this month, including a mother and at least one of her two children, who federal Border Patrol agents spotted struggling to cross the Rio Grande on July 1.

According to the email, a DPS boat found the mother and one of the children, who went under the water for a minute. They were pulled from the river and given medical care before being transferred to EMS, but were later declared deceased at the hospital. The second child was never found, the email said.

The governor has said he is taking necessary steps to secure the border and accused federal officials of refusing to do so.

(continue reading)

#politics #immigration #asylum seekers #greg abbott #republicans are evil #texas #white supremacy #racism #christofascism

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jedipoodoo · 8 months

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Heavens and Earth Collide (Arc Trooper Echo x OC, Wild West AU)

Notes: my first piece that's solely Yulia and Echo and not through Saachi's POV. I aimed for third person omniscient POV but it's a lot of third person from Echo's POV. Wild West AU, Echo lost his legs in the war and moved to Pabu Creek with his brothers, finding work various work with Yulia's father, a moderately wealthy rancher. Echo's self-esteem issues, heavy inspiration taken from that one scene in the Queen Charlotte miniseries (iykyk) Omega is Megan because I wanted to. Featuring Crosshair and his harmonica as headcanoned by @paperback-rascal

A party at the Secura's was never dull. The rancher had made a good life for himself and his family, and he graciously shared that good fortune with the entire town.

It was Miss Yulia Secura's twentieth birthday, as well as her graduation from nursing college. To celebrate, she'd brought home a couple friends, escorted by her father's business partner, Senator Orn Free Taa, all the way from Washington DC.

Echo didn't like politicians on principle, but he would make an effort for Yulia's father's sake. Rolfe Secura had been kind enough to offer Echo a job in bookkeeping when his daughter left, and Echo felt he owed the rancher a great debt.

"And Orn, this is my bookkeeper, Echo. He's the smartest young man this side of the Missisippi. Nothing gets past him!"

"Ah, so you're the one responsible for our profits!" Senator Taa said, though instead of meeting Echo's eyes, his gaze drifted down to Echo's legs. Or rather, the lack thereof. Senator Taa smiled smugly and chuckled to himself.

"Well, Rolfe, you did always have a bleeding heart for the less fortunate!" He patted Secura on the back, and called for more wine when Rolfe tried to clarify.

"Tell me son, how did that come about?" He waved his champagne flute in Echo's direction, and Echo sat up in the wicker frame of his chair as if he were a soldier called to attention once more.

"I was a corporal in the army. My legs were unfortunate to be in the way of a cannonball."

"Our side, I assume?" Taa raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Yulia stiffened at the callous nature of Taa's comments.

"I served for the north, if that's what you're asking, sir. I served two years in the Union before I was hit. If my brothers hadn't pulled me out I wouldn't have made it."

Taa seemed put off by the insinuation, and mumbled something about "thank you for your service, young man," and insisting that Rolfe introduce him to the mayor.

Yulia shuddered as Taa disappeared into the crowd. The barn was currently empty of all hay and seed, making it the perfect spot to gather everyone in town, at least until the harvest was brought in and the cows had to be sheltered for the winter. But as Echo looked up at his dearest friend (And yes, maybe Tech was right in stating that the amount of letters they sent back and forth made them sweethearts) the candlelight from Missus Secura's oil lamps cast Yulia in a heavenly glow. All the sounds of Shep's fiddle and Wrecker's laughter faded into the background as Yulia turned to look at him.

"I apologize for the Senator. He's...not the most intuitive."

"Strange, then how'd he get to be a politician?" Echo asked.

"Money," Yulia sighed. Echo chuckled. It certainly seemed to make the world go round.

Senator Taa wasn't the first person to ask Echo about his injuries from the war, and he certainly wouldn't be the last, but it bugged him that Senators were supposed to care for their constituents. Taa's whole ulterior motive for coming to Marauder Valley, in addition to escorting Yulia and her school friend home, was to win over more votes in the upcoming election. From what Echo had seen, he was doing a bang-up job of it.

But it was hardly disappointing. Echo had known too many congressmen like that to be surprised by their apathy towards anything that truly bothered people.

But Echo refused to let some bum senator occupy his thoughts much more than he occupied theirs. Yulia was home. His best friend had returned, and he'd missed her.

She's changed from the elegant, slimming travel suit she'd worn when she'd gotten off the train with her wide-brimmed hat and her parasol to keep off the sun. Now her hair was down in their silky braids that moved whenever she talked and she wore a soft blue dress that looked like it was made from the fabric of the sky itself.

"Remember how we used to dance?" Yulia asked. Her gaze traveled over to the band in the corner. The mayor himself was on the fiddle, and then there was the bule and the washboard. Missus Secura had even brought out her piano to be able to entertain as the townsfolk spun and leaped in their best Sunday shirts and their dresses as colorful as the candy in the general store.

"Oh I haven't done that in a while," Echo said, nervously smoothing down the front of his vest with his good hand. Crosshair had insisted on ironing it for him, "Haven't you been learning all that fancy ballroom dancing back east? I would've thought you'd forgotten all about that."

"Oh come on, Echo!" Yulia pulled at his hand, "It's no fun to dance without you."

Echo sighed and stared into her deep brown eyes. It was impossible to say no to her.

"Alright, come on," Echo sat up straight and placed his hands on the wheels, making room for Yulia to sit on his lap. She tucked her skirt up just a bit so that it wouldn't drag and catch on the wheels.

Echo heard the town seamstress whispering with the blacksmith's wife as he wheeled them both into the dance floor. This was the only way Echo had been able to come close to dancing with anyone, and Yulia was the only one stubborn enough to make him do it, despite the scandalous appearance it gave. It was fine once they were on the dance floor, and the chair spun in time with the other dancers under Echo's dexterous steering, but the whispers were hard to get past.

They were always hard to get past.

The other party dancers skillfully avoided running into Echo's chair, allowing him to find a good pace as he rocked the chair back just enough to get it on the back wheels.

"Hold on," He warned, but Yulia was already laughing with her arms around his neck. She squealed as the chair spun and spun, not daring to move and disrupt the balance of the chair. Echo chuckled in her ear as the music picked up pace, but his arms tired and he had to return to all four wheels again.

Yulia's laughter tickled his ear. Her hold on his neck relaxed, but she didn't stand, clearly expecting to dance again.

"Echo!" His little sister called his name, making her way through the crowd with Wrecker as the song ended.

"Heya kid," Echo smiled.

"Welcome back home, Miss Yulia," Megan said. So Hunter was teaching her manners after all.

"Thank you, Megan, It's good to be home."

Megan just nodded, turning to Echo eagerly, "Can I have a turn dancing with you, Echo?"

Yulia laughed at Megan's impetuousness. It wasn't her fault, being polite all the time was exhausting, Echo knew firsthand.

Wrecker tried to let her down easy, "Actually, Megs, I think Yulia was still dancing with Echo."

"Oh, it's fine," Yulia said, still rosy-cheeked from all the laughter as she stood up, "Of course Megan can dance with her brother."

Megan beamed up at Echo, already clambering up onto his lap. How was he supposed to say no? Even if the woman he loved and admired more than anything in the world had just returned from two long years studying in the nation's capital and was standing right there?

Megan hadn't gotten to meet Yulia before she left. Echo and his brothers had only discovered that they had a sister just after Yulia left, and Megan was still being introduced to the town and getting used to how life was supposed to be lived. He could hardly begrudge her a dance, even if it left his arms felling as limp as prairie grass.

Crosshair began to hum on his harmonica, someone had requested a slower song for a change of pace. A few couples vacated the floor, too shy to be caught with a potential lover, but Lyanna, the Mayor's daughter, was asking Wrecker to show her the dance steps the way he'd taught Megan.

Megan got comfortable on Echo's lap, and wrapped her arms around his chest.

"You don't have to hang on that tight, kid," Echo chuckled as Megan braced her chin against His chest to look up at him.

"But I want you to spin me!"

Echo shook his head, "I'm not gonna spin that fast with this song."

"Please?" Omega held the "E" for his benefit. Echo would have warned her to hang on tight, but she already was. He leaned back in his seat again, lifting the front wheels off the ground, and spinning the back two wheels in opposite directions.

Megan giggled, and Echo couldn't help but laugh. Megan had been a light in his life, in all his brother's lives, since they'd found her. Megan's joy and zest for life gave him bravery that he hadn't felt since the battlefield.

He couldn't imagine life without her any more than he could imagine life without Yulia.

Echo glanced around the room. Tech was wooing the pawn shop owner with his knowledge of fancy dance steps, and Hunter was talking with Yulia's friend from school. Maybe he'd actually get a dance out of her, but Yulia had emphasized how stubborn she was, so Echo was a little doubtful.

Echo's chair nearly fell over when he stopped abruptly.

Yulia was dancing with Senator Taa.

She's just doing it to be polite, he told himself. Her movements were stiff, and she was trying to maintain an appropriate distance, but the Senator didn't seem to take a hint.

"Echo, are you okay?" Megan asked.

Echo shook his head, "I'm fine, Megs." He wheeled her around the floor in an attempt to distract himself, and to keep Megan from asking anymore questions.

He wasn't sure what he was feeling. Yulia was his friend, nothing more. He couldn't expect her to give him every dance when there were other men around. Men with all their limbs, who were able to accomplish much more than Echo could, sitting at a desk all day.

Echo would never expect Yulia to give herself to him.

The song ended, and things just got worse. Echo wheeled himself over to Tech and Phee to try and hide, but Senator Taa's voice rang out in the barn, calling for everyone's attention.

"It is has been such a pleasure to be here in beautiful Pabu Creek with all of you. If you would all raise your glasses," Taa was one of the only people actually holding a glass with which to do one of those fancy toasts, "And join me in toasting Yulia Secura to congratulate her on her twentieth birthday."

Polite applause rippled through the barn, and Echo wasn't so totally soured that he couldn't applaud with them. Yulia flushed under the attention, and her mother squeezed her shoulder as her friend from school slipped into place beside her in order to offer her support. Echo's heart gave a little pang, wishing he had the courage to offer Yulia that kind of support. He knew from the way she adjusted her braids that she was trying to hide her face, embarrased by the senator's show, but he just couldn't stop himself.

"A toast to Miss Secura on her birthday, for her exceptional beauty as well as her wit, and many more to come!" Taa's voice boomed. Was he drunk?

People started to talk amongst themselves, thinking that Taa's speech was done, and that the music would start up again, but Taa just couldn't stop himself.

"And on this exceptional night, Miss Secura, I would like to ask if you would do the honor of being my wife."

Everyone froze. The room went silent.

"Huh?" Megan asked. She was, perhaps, a bit louder than was polite, but Taa's eyes snapped to her in a glare that lasted only for a moment before he focused on Yulia again, his hand outstretched as he plastered on his sickeningly sweet smile.

Yulia's face was red as she turned to her friend, trying to look anywhere but at Senator Taa. Whispers echoed through the room as Taa tried to convince Yulia what a perfect match they'd be, and Echo couldn't bear it. He ran over the toe of Tech's shoe as he hurried out of the barn and into the cool night air.

"Wait, Echo!" Megan called after him, but he ignored it. He pushed his wheels as fast as he could despite the ache in his arms, kicking up the dust behind him as he went.

Echo didn't like the raw, hollow feeling in his chest that felt like he was being carved from the inside out. He couldn't even feel his heart beating anymore as he ran.

Yulia wasn't his, he knew it. He could never ask Yulia to be his, to doom herself to a life of a caretaker and social outcast. She deserved better than that.

Even if Taa was a pain in the shebs, he could give Yulia so much more than Echo could.

"Echo, wait!" Yulia cried.

Echo screeched to a halt. He'd wheeled himself out to the river. He was unable to cross, and the ground was too rocky on either side to try and escape.

"Echo!" Yulia gasped for breath as her feet slammed against the dusty ground. Her hands rested on her knees as she crouched beside him.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Echo opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His throat was too dry.

"I... I'm fine..." He gasped.

Yulia sighed, "No, you are not. I saw you leave when Taa proposed."

"You shouldn't leave your fiancé like that, especially with another man-"

"Fiancé?" Yulia asked. She looked appalled at the mere suggestion and shook her head, rubbing at her temples.

"Echo, I refuse to marry Senator Taa not only because he is almost three times my age, but because he is absolutely nothing like the man I want to marry."

Echo rolled his eyes, and something pulled the pettiest of his feelings to the surface of the pit in his chest. "Really? And who would that be?"

Yulia simply fixed him with a focused stare.

Echo's heart stopped.

"I thought it was obvious," Tech's ever-annoying catchphrase echoed in his head.

"No. No, you can't be serious, Yulia."

"Echo," Yulia stared, mustering all the sincerity of her soul, "Echo I love-"

"No!" Echo protested, "No, you can't! You can't be in love with me, you can't!"

"And why not?"

"You shouldn't want me."

"That doesn't change the fact that I do, Echo. I mean it. And you still haven't answered my question."

"You do not want a life with me for yourself!"

"Who are you to decide what I do or do not want!?" Yulia placed both her hands on the arms of Echo's wheelchair.

Echo gulped, his face gaunt as Yulia loomed over him, her eyes unflinching from his own.

Echo shook his head, "I...I can't provide for you. I can't do what a husband is able to do for his wife."

"I can provide for us! Echo, I am a midwife, a doctor. I don't need you to take care of me!"

"It... It's humiliating, the work others have to do for me. I can't ask you to give up a life of comfort to take care of me."

Yulia's face softened. She knelt in front of Echo and placed her hand over his fist.

"You are not asking me. I am volunteering. Not because I pity you, but because every moment I am away from you pains my heart. The thought of living without you..." Yulia gasped as though the air could not reach her lungs, "I can't breathe."

Echo's fist loosened, and before he could back away Yulia laced her fingers in between his and held tight.

"I am used to hard work. Any labor pales in comparison to the joy that comes from being your companion, from being with you."

Yulia's other hand came up to cradle Echo's face. As she traced his cheekbone, a tear leaked out from his eye.

"I love you, Echo. And despite your reasoning that I should not love you, every excuse you have given me leads me to believe that you love me too."

Echo gasped, unable to keep another tear from falling.

"I... I can't...Yulia, you do not..." He couldn't form the words.

Yulia set her mouth in a firm line, but she refused to remove her hand. Echo's eyes darted about like a spooked stallion, but he leaned into her touch, as if her weathered palm were a down pillow.

"If you do not love me, if I am wrong, then I will accept Mr. Taa's proposal."

"You should," Echo's voice betrayed him with a squeak, but Yulia's eyes never left his.

"First, you have to tell me that you do not love me." She said, her voice filled with the conviction of a senator.

"I do-" Her heart stopped for a moment but Echo couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence and her hope soared again.

"I do- I can't -"

"I love you, Echo," She repeated. "Do you love me?"

"Yes!" Echo said without hesitation, "Yes, I love you."

The moment he admitted it, Yulia smiled at him, a smile brighter and with more warmth than the desert sun. It made his heart beat funny, and tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Then Yulia's second hand clasped his face, pulling him towards her, and pulling herself up to meet him.

Her lips felt as warm as the sun. They were as warm as the sun, and as soft as a baby lamb.

Her hands trembled against his cheek, and he used his good arm to wrap around her back, pulling her close to sit on his lap in his chair.

Her nose bumped against his, and she sat back, wrapping her arms around his neck, draping across the back of his chair, to make sure that he wouldn't disappear.

"I love you, Echo Fett, and nothing in this world could change that." She whispered.

Echo squeezed her hip, running his thumb across the ruffles in the floral fabric of her dress.

"I love you too, Yulia Secura," He said, "I love you more than all the stars in the sky."

She tapped a finger his chest, "And don't you forget it," She nestled her head between his shoulder and his neck, and he could feel her steady breathing beneath the cotton of his shirt.

"I won't," He vowed, pulling her closer, "I promise, I won't."

#lizart writes #the bad batch #arc trooper echo x reader #echo x reader #the bad batch echo #arc trooper echo #tbb echo #echo #tbb echo x reader #star wars oc #the bad batch oc #yulia secura #wild west au

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ausetkmt · 11 months

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CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN RACE RIOTS AND RACIAL VIOLENCE p-5

1961 May First Freedom Ride. 1962 Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU) is founded. Robert F. Williams publishes Negroes with Guns, exploring Williams’ philosophy of black self-defense. October Two die in riots when President John F. Kennedy sends troops to Oxford,Mississippi, to allow James Meredith to become the first African American student to register for classes at the University of Mississippi. 1963 Publication of The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) is founded. April Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., writes his ‘‘Letter from Birmingham Jail.’’

June Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is assassinated in Mississippi. August March on Washington; Rev. King delivers his ‘‘I Have a Dream’’ speech before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

September Four African American girls—Carol Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins—are killed when a bomb explodes at theSixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. 1964 June–August Three Freedom Summer activists—James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner—are arrested in Philadelphia, Mississippi; their bodies are discovered six weeks later; white resistance to Freedom Summer activities leads to six deaths, numerous injuries and arrests, and property damage acrossMississippi. July President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act. New York City (Harlem) riot. Rochester, New York, riot. Brooklyn, New York, riot. August Riots in Jersey City, Paterson, and Elizabeth, New Jersey. Chicago, Illinois, riot. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, riot. 1965 February While participating in a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Jimmie Lee Jackson is shot by an Alabama state trooper. Malcolm X is assassinated while speaking in New York City. March Bloody Sunday march ends with civil rights marchers attacked and beaten by local lawmen at the Edmund Pettus Bridge outside Selma, Alabama. Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) is formed in Lowndes County,Alabama. First distribution of The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, better known as The Moynihan Report, which was written by Undersecretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Nathan Glazer. July Springfield, Massachusetts, riot. August Los Angeles (Watts), California, riot. 1965–1967 A series of northern urban riots occurring during these years, including disorders in the Watts section of Los Angeles, California (1965), Newark, New Jersey (1967), and Detroit, Michigan (1967), becomes known as the Long Hot Summer Riots. 1966 May Stokely Carmichael elected national director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). June James Meredith is wounded by a sniper while walking from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi; Meredith’s March Against Fear is taken up by Martin Luther King, Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and others. July Cleveland, Ohio, riot. Murder of civil rights demonstrator Clarence Triggs in Bogalusa, Louisiana. September Dayton, Ohio, riot. San Francisco (Hunters Point), California, riot. October Black Panther Party (BPP) founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. 1967

Publication of Black Power: The Politics of Liberation by Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton. May Civil rights worker Benjamin Brown is shot in the back during a student protest in Jackson, Mississippi. H. Rap Brown succeeds Stokely Carmichael as national director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Texas Southern University riot (Houston, Texas). June Atlanta, Georgia, riot. Buffalo, New York, riot. Cincinnati, Ohio, riot. Boston, Massachusetts, riot. July Detroit, Michigan, riot. Newark, New Jersey, riot. 1968 Publication of Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver. February During the so-called Orangeburg, South Carolina Massacre, three black college students are killed and twenty-seven others are injured in a confrontation with police on the adjoining campuses of South Carolina State College and Claflin College. March Kerner Commission Report is published. April Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968. Washington, D.C., riot. Cincinnati, Ohio, riot. August Antiwar protestors disrupt the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 1969 May James Forman of the SNCC reads his Black Manifesto, which calls for monetary reparations for the crime of slavery, to the congregation of Riverside Church in New York; many in the congregation walk out in protest. July York, Pennsylvania, riot. 1970 May Two unarmed black students are shot and killed by police attempting to control civil rights demonstrators at Jackson State University in Mississippi. Augusta, Georgia, riot. July New Bedford, Massachusetts, riot. Asbury Park, New Jersey, riot. 1973 July So-called Dallas Disturbance results from community anger over the murder of a twelve-year-old Mexican-American boy by a Dallas police officer. 1975–1976 A series of antibusing riots rock Boston, Massachusetts, with the violence reaching a climax in April 1976. 1976 February Pensacola, Florida, riot. 1980 May Miami, Florida, riot. 1981 March Michael Donald, a black man, is beaten and murdered by Ku Klux Klan members in Mobile, Alabama. 1982 December Miami, Florida, riot. 1985 May Philadelphia police drop a bomb on MOVE headquarters, thereby starting a fire that consumed a city block. 1986 December Three black men are beaten and chased by a gang of white teenagers in Howard Beach, New York; one of the victims of the so-called Howard Beach Incident is killed while trying to flee from his attackers. 1987 February–April Tampa, Florida, riots. 1989 Release of Spike Lee’s film, Do the Right Thing. Representative John Conyers introduces the first reparations bill into Congress—the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act; this and all subsequent reparations measures fail passage. August Murder of Yusef Hawkins, an African American student killed by Italian-American youths in Bensonhurst, New York. 1991 March Shooting in Los Angeles of an African American girl, fifteen-year-old Latasha Harlins, by a Korean woman who accused the girl of stealing. Los Angeles police officers are caught on videotape beating African American motorist Rodney King. 1992 April Los Angeles (Rodney King), California, riot. 1994 Survivors of the Rosewood, Florida, riot of 1923 receive reparations. February Standing trial for a third time, Byron de la Beckwith is convicted of murdering civil rights worker Medgar Evers in June 1963.

#CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN RACE RIOTS AND RACIAL VIOLENCE p-5

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 2 months

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James Karales’ photograph of the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights, Alabama, 1965 (via here)

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 6, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAR 7, 2024

Black Americans outnumbered white Americans among the 29,500 people who lived in Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s, but the city’s voting rolls were 99% white. So, in 1963, Black organizers in the Dallas County Voters League launched a drive to get Black voters in Selma registered. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a prominent civil rights organization, joined them.

In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, but the measure did not adequately address the problem of voter suppression. In Selma a judge had stopped the voter registration protests by issuing an injunction prohibiting public gatherings of more than two people.

To call attention to the crisis in her city, Amelia Boynton, who was a part of the Dallas County Voters League but who, in this case, was acting with a group of local activists, traveled to Birmingham to invite Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., to the city. King had become a household name after the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech, and his presence would bring national attention to Selma’s struggle.

King and other prominent members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference arrived in January to push the voter registration drive. For seven weeks, Black residents tried to register to vote. County Sheriff James Clark arrested almost 2,000 of them for a variety of charges, including contempt of court and parading without a permit. A federal court ordered Clark not to interfere with orderly registration, so he forced Black applicants to stand in line for hours before taking a “literacy” test. Not a single person passed.

Then on February 18, white police officers, including local police, sheriff’s deputies, and Alabama state troopers, beat and shot an unarmed 26-year-old, Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was marching for voting rights at a demonstration in his hometown of Marion, Alabama, about 25 miles northwest of Selma. Jackson had run into a restaurant for shelter along with his mother when the police started rioting, but they chased him and shot him in the restaurant’s kitchen.

Jackson died eight days later, on February 26.

The leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Selma decided to defuse the community’s anger by planning a long march—54 miles—from Selma to the state capitol at Montgomery to draw attention to the murder and voter suppression. Expecting violence, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee voted not to participate, but its chair, John Lewis, asked their permission to go along on his own. They agreed.

On March 7, 1965, the marchers set out. As they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, named for a Confederate brigadier general, Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan, and U.S. senator who stood against Black rights, state troopers and other law enforcement officers met the unarmed marchers with billy clubs, bullwhips, and tear gas. They fractured John Lewis’s skull and beat Amelia Boynton unconscious. A newspaper photograph of the 54-year-old Boynton, seemingly dead in the arms of another marcher, illustrated the depravity of those determined to stop Black voting.

Images of “Bloody Sunday” on the national news mesmerized the nation, and supporters began to converge on Selma. King, who had been in Atlanta when the marchers first set off, returned to the fray.

Two days later, the marchers set out again. Once again, the troopers and police met them at the end of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, but this time, King led the marchers in prayer and then took them back to Selma. That night, a white mob beat to death a Unitarian Universalist minister, James Reeb, who had come from Massachusetts to join the marchers.

On March 15, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed a nationally televised joint session of Congress to ask for the passage of a national voting rights act. “Their cause must be our cause too,” he said. “[A]ll of us…must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome.” Two days later, he submitted to Congress proposed voting rights legislation.

The marchers remained determined to complete their trip to Montgomery, and when Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, refused to protect them, President Johnson stepped in. When the marchers set off for a third time on March 21, 1,900 members of the nationalized Alabama National Guard, FBI agents, and federal marshals protected them. Covering about ten miles a day, they camped in the yards of well-wishers until they arrived at the Alabama State Capitol on March 25. Their ranks had grown as they walked until they numbered about 25,000 people.

On the steps of the capitol, speaking under a Confederate flag, Dr. King said: “The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. And that will be a day not of the white man, not of the black man. That will be the day of man as man.”

That night, Viola Liuzzo, a 39-year-old mother of five who had arrived from Michigan to help after Bloody Sunday, was murdered by four Ku Klux Klan members who tailed her as she ferried demonstrators out of the city.

On August 6, Dr. King and Mrs. Boynton were guests of honor as President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Recalling “the outrage of Selma,” Johnson said: "This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies."

The Voting Rights Act authorized federal supervision of voter registration in districts where African Americans were historically underrepresented. Johnson promised that the government would strike down “regulations, or laws, or tests to deny the right to vote.” He called the right to vote “the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men,” and pledged that “we will not delay, or we will not hesitate, or we will not turn aside until Americans of every race and color and origin in this country have the same right as all others to share in the process of democracy.”

As recently as 2006, Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act by a bipartisan vote. By 2008 there was very little difference in voter participation between white Americans and Americans of color. But then, in 2013, the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision got rid of the part of the Voting Rights Act that required jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination in voting to get approval from the federal government before changing their voting rules. This requirement was known as “preclearance.”

The Shelby County v. Holder decision opened the door, once again, for voter suppression. Since then, states have made it harder to vote; in 2023, at least 14 states enacted 17 restrictive voting laws. A recent study by the Brennan Center of nearly a billion vote records over 14 years shows that the racial voting gap is growing almost twice as fast in places that used to be covered by the preclearance requirement.

Democrats have tried since 2021 to pass a voting rights act but have been stymied by Republicans, who oppose such protections. Last September, on National Voter Registration Day, House Democrats reintroduced a voting rights act, now named the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act after the man who went on from his days in the Civil Rights Movement to serve 17 terms as a representative from Georgia, bearing the scars of March 7, 1965, until he died on July 17, 2020.

On March 1, 2024, 51 Democratic senators introduced the measure in the Senate.

Speaking in Selma last Sunday at the commemoration of the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris shared that the first thing she sees on walking into her office is a “large framed photograph taken on Bloody Sunday depicting an injured Amelia Boynton receiving care at the foot of [the Edmund Pettus] bridge.”

“[F]or me,” she said, “it is a daily reminder of the struggle, of the sacrifice, and of how much we owe to those who gave so much before us.”

“History is a relay race,” she said. “Generations before us carried the baton. And now, they have passed it to us.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Bloody Sunday #Selma To Montgomery #history #Letters from an American #Heather Cox Richardson #voting #voting rights #voting rights act #Edmund Pettis Bridge #Civil Rights Act

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inkandguns · 2 months

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lol

@riflebrass another little Toyota

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rooster-does-art · 10 months

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Battle of Gettysburg - Day 1

July 1

8:00 AM

Buford's Cavalry Defend Gettysburg

Taking cover behind low stone walls and fences, the cavalry troopers watched as the enemy began to deploy before them. There were two brigades of rebel infantry in front of them, while a whole corps lay further west. Meanwhile, there were only two brigades of cavalry troops defending the ridges west of the town of Gettysburg. The odds were clearly against them. However, they must hold. Good ground lay south of Gettysburg, ground that they must deny to the enemy. They knew that if they failed, the enemy would capture and fortify that ground and the Army of the Potomac will be forced to make devastating assaults to dislodge them.

By June 1863 the American Civil War had been raging for three years. In hopes of ending the war, and bringing away from his war-torn state of Virginia, General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, planned to invade Northern territory. His plan was to threaten Washington and prominent Northern cities such as Boston and Harrisburg. By doing this, the Northern population may urge the Lincoln government for peace.

In early June the Army of Northern Virginia began marching out of their camps near Fredericksburg, moving north through the Shenandoah Valley, through Maryland, and emerging at Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the Union Army of the Potomac, noticing their foes dissapearance, began chasing after them.

Lee had hoped that he would have enough time to maneuver around Pennsylvania before the Army of the Potomac arrived. However, Union forces were moving uncharacteristically fast. But Lee did not know this. His main cavalry force, under General J.E.B. Stuart, was missing and had not yet reported to him. Cavalry were the eyes of the army and without Stuart the Army of Northern Virginia was essentially blind.

With the army blind and corps scattered all over Pennsylvania, Lee, on June 29, gave orders to all corps commanders, telling them not to engage in major combat until the army was massed together. He feared that once the larger Union force arrived, they would be attacked piecemeal and defeated. Beacause of that he gave orders for all corps to converge on Cashtown.

On June 30, the Confederate Third Corps was encamped near Cashtown. Wanting to scout the nearby area, Brigadier General Pettigrew's brigade moved east from Cashtown and moved towards the town of Gettysburg. At the the town, the brigade noted Union cavalry in the area. Pettigrew reported this to his division commander, Major General Heth. However, Heth did not believe that Union cavalry would be this far north so fast. He thought it was merely militia, not cavalry. However, just to confirm it, he decided to coduct a reconnaisssance in force the next day.

Little did Heth know, Pettigrew was right. What the latter has saw was the 1st Division of the Army of the Potomac's Cavalry Corps. Under the command of Brigadier General John Buford, they had sighted campfires in the Gettysburg direction and decided to follow it. Arriving at Gettysburg, they managed spot Pettigrew's brigade. Further scouting of the area told Buford that the Confederate Third Corps was operating in the area.

Realizing the importance of Gettysburg, as the town was a major road junction connecting major of areas of Pennsylvania, Buford decided to hold on to the town in order to deny it to the enemy. Sending word to the newly appointed commander of the Army of the Potomac, Major General George Meade, Buford then dismounted and deployed his brigade on the heights west of town, with the main defensive line being along McPherson's ridge. Buford wanted to prevent the Confederates from capturing the vital high ground south of town. However, with only two brigades of 2,900 cavalry troopers against the Third Cops composed of 23,000 troops, he would to fight like hell to accomplish his objective.

On the morning of July 1, Heth's reconnaissance in force was conducted by Archer's brigade, which marched eastward, along the Chambersburg Pike, towards Gettysburg. They soon encountered Buford's picket line, which conducted a fighting retreat back towards Gettysburg.

By 8:00 in the morning Archer's brigade reached Herr's ridge, as the skirmishing cavalry troops retreated back to McPherson's ridge. Realizing that he was indeed fighting cavalry, Heth deployed two of his brigades to the line. Archer's brigade was to deploy south of the Chamberburg Pike, while Davis' brigade deployed on the northern end. Both were to attack eastward and capture McPherson's ridge.

At 10:15 both brigades moved against Buford's forces. The cavalry troopers holding McPherson's ridge were from Gamble's brigade. Buford's cavalry troopers managed to hold the line, but the attacks were fierce. At some points, the Union lines were begining to buckle. Desperately, Buford sent out couriers, asking for any infantry corps to come and aid them.

Luckily for Buford, the nearest corps was I Corps, under the command of the brilliant Major General John Reynolds. Upon recieving Buford's messages, Reynold's ordered his corps to move quickly north to Gettysburg. With him also being the commander of the left wing of the Army of the Potomac, he also sent word for the two other corps under his command, III Corps and XI Corps, to converge on Gettysburg.

However, as I Corps was moving as fast as it could to Gettysburg, Buford's cavalry division was fighting for its life.

----------------------------------------

Featuring @temper-temper @randomgurustuffs and @askpokeeosin as members of the 8th New York Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. The 8th New York were part a part of Gamble's brigade and held the left flank of McPherson's ridge. All three are armed with Sharps carbrines, which were one of the most common breechloading carbines assigned to the cavalry. With these breechloaders, cavalry troops were able to reload their weapons faster than the muzzleloading rifles carried by infantry troops.

Behind them is the Lutheran Seminary, located at Seminary ridge. The cupola atop the Seminary was used by Buford as an observation post.

#temper-temper #randomgurustuffs #askpokeeosin #MLP #My Little Pony #Pegasus #Pegasi #Earth Pony #History #Gettysburg #Battle of Gettysburg #Gettysburg 160th Anniversary #Gettysburg 160

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newstfionline · 4 months

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Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Less sustainable (NYT) The federal debt starts the new year at a level that is hard to grasp: $34 trillion. That is 1.2 times the U.S.’s annual economic output. Both parties have contributed to the situation. Republicans have passed large tax cuts. Democrats have enacted ambitious climate and health care initiatives. Both funneled money to Americans in response to the Covid pandemic. For years, many economists believed the country’s debt was not a problem. But times have changed, and federal deficits now look scarier. In November, the financial firm Moody’s lowered its outlook on U.S. debt from “stable” to “negative.” The solution remains unclear. And the economy may be able to continue growing at a steady clip for years despite the debt. At some point, though, the federal government will likely need to raise taxes and cut spending in ways that many Americans will find unpleasant.

Biden and Trump are poised for a potential rematch that could shake American politics (AP) U.S. presidential elections have been rocked in recent years by economic disaster, stunning gaffes, secret video and a pandemic. But for all the tumult that defined those campaigns, the volatility surrounding this year’s presidential contest has few modern parallels. In the coming weeks, the high court is expected to weigh whether states can ban former President Donald Trump from the ballot for his role in leading the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court is weighing Trump’s argument that he’s immune from prosecution. The maneuvers are unfolding as prosecutors from New York to Washington and Atlanta move forward with 91 indictments across four criminal cases involving everything from Trump’s part in the insurrection to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his hush money paid to a porn actress. On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden is seeking reelection as the high inflation that defined much of his first term appears to be easing. But that has done little to assuage restless voters or ease widespread concerns in both parties that, at 81, he’s simply too old for the job.

Maine Secretary of State Targeted by ‘Swatting’ After Trump Ballot Decision (NYT) Maine’s secretary of state was the victim of a “swatting” call to her home, the authorities said, the latest politician to be targeted in recent weeks by people reporting fake crimes to the police, hoping to provoke heavily armed responses. A hoax call was placed on Friday night, just a day after the secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, barred Donald J. Trump from the state’s ballot, a politically fraught decision that drew criticism from Republicans across the country. The state police said that in the call, a man claimed to have broken into Ms. Bellows’s home in Manchester, just outside the capital city of Augusta. State troopers searched the residence, but did not find anything suspicious. Swatting incidents have risen in recent years, and advances in technology have made it easier for perpetrators to make 911 calls sound more credible. In the days before the hoax call against Ms. Bellows, numerous other high-profile politicians said swatters had targeted their homes.

Brazil’s economy improves during President Lula’s first year back, but a political divide remains (AP) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva likes to boast he had a good first year after returning to the job. The economy is improving, Congress passed a long-overdue tax reform bill, rioters who wanted to oust him are now in jail, and his predecessor and foe Jair Bolsonaro is barred from running for office until 2030. Still, the 78-year-old leader has struggled to boost his support among citizens and lawmakers. Some major setbacks, including a series of votes by Congress to override his vetoes, signaled that Lula’s future could be less productive in a Brazil almost evenly split between his supporters and Bolsonaro’s. “Brazil’s political polarization is such that it crystallized the opinions of Lula and Bolsonaro voters beyond the economy,” said political consultant Thomas Traumann, the author of a recent best-selling book on Brazil’s political divisions. “These groups are separated by very different world views, the values that form the identity of each group are more important than food prices or interest rates.”

British fish and chips is endangered (NBC News) Ever since she was old enough to walk, Terrilea Coglan was climbing aboard fishing boats that set sail each morning from the rocky beachfront of Hastings to harvest the key ingredient in Britain’s most iconic dish: fish and chips. The day’s catch travels just a short way from the boats up to the seaside fish and chips shops, or “chippies,” that pride themselves as much in the freshness of the fish as in the secret recipes for their gooey batter. Now, all along the British coast, towns like Hastings are being squeezed by a cost-of-living crisis that’s hit the supply chain behind fish and chips, pushing up prices beyond what some are willing to pay for a humble, if comforting, weeknight meal. The cost of diesel to power the fishing boats, the sunflower oil to fry the fish and the electricity to run the friers have all skyrocketed. The high prices are threatening a billion-dollar business and a staple of the British menu: Every year, Brits eat more than 382 million orders of fish and chips, the federation says.

Heavy Russian missile attacks hit Ukraine’s 2 largest cities (AP) Ukraine’s two largest cities came under heavy Russian missile attacks on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring dozens. Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, said one person died and 41 were injured in Russian missile strikes that hit the center of Kharkiv city and other areas. In Kyiv, the capital, five areas of the city were hit in the strikes and at least 12 people injured, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko. The barrage of the cities continued Russia’s escalated attacks on Ukraine in recent days that began on Friday with its largest single attack on Ukraine since the war started, in which at least 41 civilians were killed.

Myanmar’s ‘watermelons’: Soldier on the outside, rebel inside (Reuters) For about two years, says 24-year-old Yan, a former Myanmar police officer, he risked his life pretending to serve the military junta while secretly spying for the armed resistance. “I freed myself from unfair orders,” he told Reuters from a room in a town near the Myanmar border where he said he was taking refuge after fleeing the country in April. Opposition groups said it was difficult to determine how many members of the security forces supplied information to the resistance, and their number was likely small given the risk, but they play a crucial role. They have supplied intelligence, including about the transportation of military supplies, that has helped opposition groups plan attacks, a spokesperson for People’s Goal, a group that supports defectors, told Reuters. Sources inside the security forces are known in Burmese as “watermelons”—green on the outside, appearing loyal to the army, but red, the colour of the ousted National League for Democracy government, on the inside.

China Is Pressing Women to Have More Babies. Many Are Saying No. (WSJ) Chinese women have had it. Their response to Beijing’s demands for more children? No. Their refusal has set off a crisis for the Communist Party, which desperately needs more babies to rejuvenate China’s aging population. With the number of babies in free fall—fewer than 10 million were born in 2022, compared with around 16 million in 2012—China is headed toward a demographic collapse. China’s population, now around 1.4 billion, is likely to drop to just around half a billion by 2100, according to some projections. When Beijing said it would abolish its 35-year-old one-child policy in 2015, officials expected a baby boom. Instead, they got a baby bust.

South Korean opposition leader is stabbed in the neck by a knife-wielding man (AP) South Korea’s tough-speaking liberal opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck by an unidentified knife-wielding man who attempted to kill him during his visit to the southeastern city of Busan, police said. Lee, 59, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was airlifted to a Seoul hospital for surgery after receiving emergency treatment in Busan. Police and emergency officials earlier said he was conscious after the attack and wasn’t in critical condition, but his exact status was unknown.

Planes collide and catch fire at Japan’s busy Haneda airport, killing 5 (NYT) A Japan Airlines flight carrying 367 passengers and 12 crew members collided with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft today while landing at an airport in Tokyo. The crash killed five Coast Guard members and caused the passenger jet to burst into flames. But the airline said that every person on the Japan Airlines plane was able to evacuate to safety. “The crew was spectacular in their reaction times,” one aviation expert said. “It really is a miracle.” The Coast Guard members had been en route to deliver supplies to the region affected by the powerful earthquake that struck western Japan yesterday, killing at least 55 people.

The U.S. and Israel: An Embrace Shows Signs of Strain After Oct. 7 (NYT) No other episode in the past half-century has tested the ties between the United States and Israel in such an intense and consequential way. The complicated diplomacy between Washington and Jerusalem since Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people and seized 240 hostages has played out across both governments, in direct interactions between the leaders and intense back and forth between military and intelligence agencies. The relationship has grown increasingly fraught as Mr. Biden has involved himself more intensely in the conflict than almost any other issue in three years in office. Mr. Biden has seen growing internal resistance to his backing of Israel, including multiple dissent cables from State Department diplomats. In November, more than 500 political appointees and staff members representing some 40 government agencies sent a letter to Mr. Biden protesting his support of Israel’s war in Gaza. Congressional Democrats have been pressing him to curb Israel’s assault, and the United States has found itself at odds with other countries at the United Nations. The friction appears to be coming to a head as the new year arrives. The Biden team recognizes that its challenge is not just Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, since Israelis across the board support the military operation that according to the Gaza Health Ministry has killed more than 20,000 people. But there is no serious discussion inside the administration of a meaningful change in policy, like cutting off the arms supply to Israel.

Ethiopia signs pact to use Somaliland’s Red Sea port (Reuters) Landlocked Ethiopia signed an initial agreement with Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland on Monday to use its Red Sea port of Berbera, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said. The Horn of Africa country currently relies on neighbouring Djibouti for most of its maritime trade. President Abdi said as part of the agreement, Ethiopia would also be the first country to recognise Somaliland as an independent nation in due course. Somaliland has not gained widespread international recognition despite declaring autonomy from Somalia in 1991. Somalia says Somaliland is part of its territory.

Books (YouGov) A new poll found that 46 percent of Americans did not read a book in 2023 as of a December 16-18 poll. Overall, 26 percent of respondents reported reading between one and five books, 10 percent somewhere between six and 10 books, 8 percent between 11 and 20 books, and 11 percent more than 20 books so far. Indeed, the most active readers are reading a whole lot of books: 6 percent of respondents said they read over 40 books, a truly impressive stack.

#headlines #news

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coochiequeens · 6 months

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The man who didn't even bother showing up to court is angry that the judge awarded custody to the ex wife.

Judge Andrew Wilkinson was "a pillar in our community," one mourner said.Washington County Bar AssociationCNN —

A suspect is still on the loose after he shot and killed a state judge at his home Thursday, hours after the judge ruled against him in a child custody case, a Maryland sheriff said Friday.

“This was a targeted attack against Judge (Andrew) Wilkinson,” Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert said.

The suspect, Pedro Argote, 49, “is considered armed and dangerous,” Albert said. Argote is 5-foot-7 and 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, the sheriff’s office said. He may be driving a silver 2009 Mercedes GL450 with Maryland plates.

Pedro ArgoteWashington County Sheriff's Office

Argote did not attend the divorce hearing earlier Thursday at which Wilkinson granted child custody to Argote’s partner, Albert said.

Wilkinson, a county circuit court judge, was in his own driveway – with his wife and son at home – when he was shot, Albert said. The 52-year-old was found around 8 p.m. in the northern Maryland city of Hagerstown, then taken to a medical facility where he died, the sheriff’s office said.

Wilkinson’s death spurred a wave of heightened security for judges throughout the county. “Out of precautionary reasons, last night troopers were deployed to protect judges residing in Washington County,” Maryland State Police said Friday.

The court where Wilkinson worked now has a “high-level” of security, and all judges and court personnel are getting increased security, Circuit Court Administrative Judge Brett Wilson told CNN.

The US Marshals Service is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to Argote’s arrest, the agency said Friday.

Wilkinson’s death marks the latest in a series of threats and attacks against judges or their families. More than 1,300 threats or possible threats among federal court personnel were investigated in fiscal year 2022, according to the US Marshals Service.

Last year, a Wisconsin judge was killed in a targeted attack, officials said. In August, a Texas woman was charged with threatening to kill a judge overseeing Trump’s federal election interference case.

And in 2020, an attorney who had argued a case before US District Court Judge Esther Salas went to her home and opened fire, killing the judge’s son and seriously wounding her husband. Since then, Salas has called for greater privacy protections for judges.

The ‘catastrophic’ loss of a renowned judge

Born in Agana, Guam, Wilkinson had been an associate judge for the Washington County court since January 2020, according to his court biography.

“Drew was an exceptional lawyer and a man who loved his family,” his former law partner Jason Divelbiss said in a written statement. “His wife and kids were always his highest priority and my thoughts go out to them at this horrible time.

“Drew was also very close with his brother and the office always filled with laughter when he dropped by,” Divelbiss wrote. “One of Drew’s greatest assets was his ability to bring stability to the most difficult situations which is what made him a great attorney, mediator and eventually judge.”

Wilkinson was “an excellent judge, truly committed to his community,” said Wilson, the circuit court administrative judge. Staff members at the court will have access to support services as they grapple with Wilkinson’s death, he said.

The slain judge also had “a contagious smile,” wrote Neil Parrott, a former delegate in the Maryland House of Delegates.

“Judge Wilkinson was an exceptional judge and was a pillar in our community,” Parrott said in a statement. “The events tonight are catastrophic for Washington County, for Maryland, and for our justice system. Judge Wilkinson served faithfully and will be severely missed.”

CNN’s Michelle Watson, Amanda Jackson, Lindsay Knight and Miguel Marquez contributed to this report.

#usa #Hagerstown #Maryland #Rest in Peace Judge Andrew Wilkinson #Pedro Argote is still on the loose #He had a history of domestic violence and was still able to purchase guns

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beardedmrbean · 6 months

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A judge who was shot to death at home was "targeted" by a suspect in a divorce case, authorities in Maryland said Friday.

Washington County Sheriff Brian Albert said authorities are "actively working" to apprehend 49-year-old Pedro Argote in the shooting of Maryland Circuit Court Judge Andrew Wilkinson.

Wilkinson, 52, was found with gunshot wounds around 8 p.m. Thursday in the driveway of his home in Hagerstown, authorities said. Wilkinson was taken to Meritus Medical Center, where he died of his injuries.

Albert said at a news conference Friday that the judge's wife and son were also home at the time of the shooting.

Authorities are "actively looking" for Argote, who is considered "armed and dangerous." Albert said Argote legally owned a handgun.

Wilkinson had presided over a divorce proceeding involving Argote earlier Thursday, but Argote was not present for the hearing.

Albert said that the judge gave custody of Argote's children to his wife at the hearing and that was the motive for the killing.

State troopers were deployed overnight as a precaution to protect judges who live in Washington County, state police spokesperson Elena Russo said.

In a statement, the Maryland Judiciary said it is mourning Wilkinson's death and that it is working with law enforcement to help resolve the matter and ensure the safety of judges, staff and visitors.

Wilkinson was sworn in as a circuit court judge in 2020. The 1994 University of North Carolina graduate received his law degree from Emory University School of Law in 1997 and then became a circuit court law clerk in Washington County.

At his swearing-in, Wilkinson said he wanted to become a judge to serve the community, The Herald-Mail reported.

"It's an honor and it's humbling, and I'm happy to serve," he said.

Wilkinson thanked retired Judge Frederick C. Wright III for guiding his career. Wilkinson's military family had moved around, but when Wright hired his mother as a law clerk in 1983, Hagerstown became his home.

In Maryland, circuit courts in each county handle serious criminal and civil cases, including many that are appealed from the lower-level district courts, according to the state courts website.

Court records list Pedro Argote as the plaintiff who brought the divorce case in June 2022. Attorneys on both sides of the case didn't immediately respond to emails and calls seeking comment.

However, the attorney representing the children in the divorce case had words of praise for the late jurist.

"Judge Wilkinson was an amazing man, father, husband and judge and I am blessed to have known and worked with him," attorney Ashley Wilburn wrote in an email. "He is a hero."

The city of nearly 44,000 lies about 75 miles northwest of Baltimore in the panhandle of Maryland, near the state lines of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

#nunyas news

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offender42085 · 1 year

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Post 794

With sworn public safety officers, even though the burden of proof is lesser than in criminal court cases, the evidence here is insufficient and reinstatement is ordered. -- Arbitrator

Kenneth Garrison, Washington inmate 380441, born 1963, incarceration intake in 2015 at age 52, sentenced to 10 years, scheduled discharge date not available

Child Molestation

A former lieutenant with the Washington State Patrol was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two relatives.

Judge Robert Lewis sentenced Kenneth S. Garrison to the maximum penalty for his crimes, which is a minimum of 130 months but up to life in prison. After serving just less than 11 years behind bars, Garrison’s release will be decided by the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree child molestation, first-degree incest and possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Garrison, 52, was most recently the lieutenant responsible for supervising troopers who patrol the Southwest Washington district, which is headquartered in Vancouver. When the sex abuse allegation surfaced in December 2013, Garrison resigned from the State Patrol. A month later he retired from his position as a lieutenant colonel in the Washington Army National Guard.

In exchange for his guilty plea, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Camara Banfield dropped charges of another count of first-degree incest, second-degree incest, second-degree rape and eight counts of possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The child pornography was found on Garrison’s phone when he was arrested, Banfield said.

Friday’s prison sentence is punishment not for only local sex crimes but also for crimes that occurred in neighboring Cowlitz County nearly 15 years ago.

When detectives began investigating the sex abuse allegations in 2013, the Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office reviewed a 2001 case in which Garrison was accused of touching the private parts of a 6-year-old relative while the child was sleeping, according to court papers.

Garrison was charged with the crime in Cowlitz County more than 10 years ago, but the charge was later dismissed.

The 2001 allegation against Garrison led to an internal investigation by the Washington State Patrol that ended in Garrison’s termination, according to personnel records. Garrison was fired in 2003 and then decertified as a peace officer, State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins has said.

In an internal investigation, the burden of proof is lesser than in a criminal court case. Garrison’s supervisor at the time reviewed the 2001 allegation and determined that there was enough proof that the sex abuse happened, Calkins said.

However, when Garrison appealed his termination, an arbitrator ruled in his favor, awarded him some back pay and ordered him back to work, according to his personnel records. He returned to duty with the State Patrol in 2008 and remained with the agency until his resignation in December 2013, when the new sex abuse allegations surfaced, Calkins said.

Investigators began investigating Garrison in 2013 when a different relative alleged that Garrison had sexually abused her over the course of seven years.

Detectives arrested Garrison in January 2014 at the Rodeway Inn and Suites in Gresham, Ore., on suspicion of sexually assaulting a relative between 2006 and 2013 in Clark County.

Prosecution of the Cowlitz County case was handed over to the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for efficiency purposes, Banfield said. The first-degree child molestation conviction was related to the older case, according to court papers.

The victims in both cases were in the courtroom for Friday’s sentencing and the victim in the Cowlitz County case spoke to the judge, ultimately saying that she and her parents forgave Garrison for the damage he caused.

When given the opportunity, Garrison did not speak at his sentencing hearing.

Though Banfield and Garrison’s attorney Shon Bogar had come to a negotiated plea agreement that recommended 10 years behind bars, Lewis implemented the maximum sentence, adding nearly a year to Garrison’s sentence, including the possibility for life in prison.

Lewis said his sentence was not due to devastation to parents or embarrassment to law enforcement, but was on behalf of “the two young women who were here today and the thousands of children who are subjected to sexual abuse to feed the child pornography industry in this country and throughout the world.”

The sentence includes a lifetime no-contact order with the two victims and a requirement that Garrison register as a sex offender until he is otherwise notified by the court.

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