On this day:
Journalist and French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat is assassinated in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday, a member of the opposing political faction.
1863
New York Draft Riots: in New York City, opponents of conscription begin three days of rioting which will later be regarded as the worst in United States history.
1878
Treaty of Berlin: The European powers redraw the map of the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania become completely independent of the Ottoman empire.
2024
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The Left is rushing to rationalize Mamdani's claim as an "African American." Why didn't they do that when Musk assumed it?
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Freedom of speech is indeed under attack in Europe, and the internet extends its reach, even to the U.S.
In France, a woman spent 23 hours in custody for giving President Emmanuel Macron the middle finger. A German woman who posted images of politicians with painted-on Hitler mustaches and called a minister a terrorist was fined about $690. And in Denmark, a landmark trial began in May for two men accused of burning a Quran at a folk festival.
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The typical length of cable tethered to the fiber-optic drones that Russia and Ukraine are deploying on the battlefield is 12.4 miles. Instead of using radio signals that can be easily blocked, fiber-optic drones transmit data back to the pilot through the cable they unspool as they fly. They are a game-changer in built-up areas, where walls or ravines interfere with radio signals.
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Sunday/Samaritan
Anyone thinking of using the Bible as a creative writing course could do a lot worse than starting with the Good Samaritan. The traveler is from the spiritual heights of Jerusalem, going to the worldly Jericho, the starting place of Israel. He is ignored by the religious and political leaders and saved by the despised outsider. He is taken to an inn, and the savior stays with him. Then he does one of those weird gospel specifics: he departs after leaving the innkeeper with two silver coins (said to be the Church and tradition). And then the kicker: He will return.
And of course, it finishes with poignancy and humor. When Christ asks the lawyer who his neighbor is, the Jewish lawyer says, "He who showed mercy on him."
The lawyer is unable to credit even a fictional cultural enemy.
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