On this day:
1215
The Fourth Lateran Council meets, defining the doctrine of transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are, by that doctrine, said to transform into the body and blood of Christ. .
1620
The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod
1675The Fourth Lateran Council meets, defining the doctrine of transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are, by that doctrine, said to transform into the body and blood of Christ. .
1620
The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod
Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x).
1778
Cherry Valley Massacre: Loyalists and Seneca Indian forces attack a fort and village in eastern New York during the American Revolutionary War, killing more than forty civilians and soldiers.
1831
In Jerusalem, Virginia, Nat Turner is hanged after inciting a violent slave uprising.
1864
American Civil War: Sherman’s March to the Sea – Union General William Tecumseh Sherman begins burning Atlanta, Georgia to the ground in preparation for his march south.
1887
Anarchist Haymarket Martyrs August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer and George Engel are executed.
1918
World War I: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car in the forest of Compiègne, France. The fighting officially ends at 11:00 a.m., (the eleventh hour in the eleventh month on the eleventh day) and this is annually honoured with a two-minute silence. The war officially ends on the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28th June, 1919.
1930
Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator.
1940
World War II: Battle of Taranto – The Royal Navy launches the first aircraft carrier strike in history, on the Italian fleet at Taranto.
1942
World War II: Nazi Germany completes its occupation of France.
1942
World War II: The British win the Second Battle of El Alamein in El Alamein, Egypt.
1961
Thirteen Italian Air Force servicemen, deployed to the Congo as a part of the UN peacekeeping force are massacred by a mob in the course of the Kindu atrocity.
1967
Vietnam War: In a propaganda ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, three American prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to “new left” anti-war activist Tom Hayden.
World War I: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car in the forest of Compiègne, France. The fighting officially ends at 11:00 a.m., (the eleventh hour in the eleventh month on the eleventh day) and this is annually honoured with a two-minute silence. The war officially ends on the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28th June, 1919.
1930
Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator.
1940
World War II: Battle of Taranto – The Royal Navy launches the first aircraft carrier strike in history, on the Italian fleet at Taranto.
1942
World War II: Nazi Germany completes its occupation of France.
1942
World War II: The British win the Second Battle of El Alamein in El Alamein, Egypt.
1961
Thirteen Italian Air Force servicemen, deployed to the Congo as a part of the UN peacekeeping force are massacred by a mob in the course of the Kindu atrocity.
1967
Vietnam War: In a propaganda ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, three American prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to “new left” anti-war activist Tom Hayden.
My sister-in-law was transferred to a rehabilitation facility after a prolonged hospitalization. She was met by an employee at the door who said to her, "Welcome to Hell, that's what this place is."
Some things are difficult to legislate.
***
The Sierra Club calls itself the “largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the country.” But the righteous constantly purifies itself. The NYT has a fascinating article on the Sierra Club's circular firing squad. The group has lost 60 percent of the four million members and supporters it counted in 2019. It has held three rounds of employee layoffs since 2022, trying to climb out of a $40 million projected budget deficit.
***
Researchers in the field of swarm robotics are training machines to behave like ants, bees and even slime molds—simple creatures that achieve remarkable feats through collective intelligence.
This is fascinating stuff. A great fictional take is in Crichton's 'Prey', where nanobots undergo epigenetic change.
***
Near the Red Fort metro station in India's capital Delhi, an explosion in a car killed at least eight people and injured more than 20. It was so powerful that several vehicles nearby almost melted, and people could hear the blast from kilometres away.
***
Pittsburgh went 2-of-11 on third downs against the Chargers while committing three turnovers and zero takeaways.
***
The BBC and Mrs. Lincoln
BBC Director-General Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, resigned several days after The Daily Telegraph published details of a leaked internal memo arguing that a BBC Panorama documentary had juxtaposed comments by Mr. Trump in a way that made it appear that he had explicitly encouraged the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The BBC had made Trump's benign cheerleading malignant.
BBC Chairman Samir Shah says: “This is a sad day for the BBC. Tim has been an outstanding Director-General for the last five years. He has propelled the BBC forward with determination, single-mindedness and foresight.
“He has had the full support of me and the Board throughout. However, I understand the continued pressure on him, personally and professionally, which has led him to take this decision today. The whole Board respects the decision and the reasons for it.
“Tim has given 20 years of his life to the BBC. He is a devoted and inspirational leader and an absolute believer in the BBC and public service broadcasting. He has achieved a great deal. Foremost, under his tenure, the transformation of the BBC to meet the challenges in a world of unprecedented change and competition is well underway.
“Personally, I will miss his stamina, good humour and resilience and I will miss working with him. I wish him and his family the very best for the future.
“This is an important time for the Corporation and the Board and I will continue to work with Tim in the interim while we conduct the process to appoint his successor.”
Here are some of the key points from Tim Davie’s all-staff call with BBC colleagues
Davie did not address the billion-dollar lawsuit threatened by US President Trump or the BBC’s potential response, and whether it would pay compensation to stave off the litigation.
On the offending video edit of Trump’s speech, Davie said: “We did make a mistake and there was an editorial breach and I think some responsibility had to be taken”. It was one of the reasons he’d chosen to resign, he said, along with the “relentlessness” of the role and the opportunity to clear the runway for a new director general in the lead-up to 2027 charter renewal.
***
The Sierra Club calls itself the “largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the country.” But the righteous constantly purifies itself. The NYT has a fascinating article on the Sierra Club's circular firing squad. The group has lost 60 percent of the four million members and supporters it counted in 2019. It has held three rounds of employee layoffs since 2022, trying to climb out of a $40 million projected budget deficit.
***
Researchers in the field of swarm robotics are training machines to behave like ants, bees and even slime molds—simple creatures that achieve remarkable feats through collective intelligence.
This is fascinating stuff. A great fictional take is in Crichton's 'Prey', where nanobots undergo epigenetic change.
***
Near the Red Fort metro station in India's capital Delhi, an explosion in a car killed at least eight people and injured more than 20. It was so powerful that several vehicles nearby almost melted, and people could hear the blast from kilometres away.
***
Pittsburgh went 2-of-11 on third downs against the Chargers while committing three turnovers and zero takeaways.
***
The BBC and Mrs. Lincoln
BBC Director-General Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, resigned several days after The Daily Telegraph published details of a leaked internal memo arguing that a BBC Panorama documentary had juxtaposed comments by Mr. Trump in a way that made it appear that he had explicitly encouraged the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The BBC had made Trump's benign cheerleading malignant.
BBC Chairman Samir Shah says: “This is a sad day for the BBC. Tim has been an outstanding Director-General for the last five years. He has propelled the BBC forward with determination, single-mindedness and foresight.
“He has had the full support of me and the Board throughout. However, I understand the continued pressure on him, personally and professionally, which has led him to take this decision today. The whole Board respects the decision and the reasons for it.
“Tim has given 20 years of his life to the BBC. He is a devoted and inspirational leader and an absolute believer in the BBC and public service broadcasting. He has achieved a great deal. Foremost, under his tenure, the transformation of the BBC to meet the challenges in a world of unprecedented change and competition is well underway.
“Personally, I will miss his stamina, good humour and resilience and I will miss working with him. I wish him and his family the very best for the future.
“This is an important time for the Corporation and the Board and I will continue to work with Tim in the interim while we conduct the process to appoint his successor.”
Here are some of the key points from Tim Davie’s all-staff call with BBC colleagues
Davie did not address the billion-dollar lawsuit threatened by US President Trump or the BBC’s potential response, and whether it would pay compensation to stave off the litigation.
On the offending video edit of Trump’s speech, Davie said: “We did make a mistake and there was an editorial breach and I think some responsibility had to be taken”. It was one of the reasons he’d chosen to resign, he said, along with the “relentlessness” of the role and the opportunity to clear the runway for a new director general in the lead-up to 2027 charter renewal.
"Some responsibility"?
He mentioned “transition” a few times, but did not disclose details or any timeline for his departure and replacement. Shah, who joined in the call halfway, said the board was in “succession mode”.
Davie acknowledged that senior news editors were unhappy that their journalism had not been more vigorously defended, and said that while it was important to be “out there making our case”, when it came to responding to attacks, “we have to make sure we’re getting it right when we go out” and a sense of proportionality was also communicated – the few mistakes for several hundred hours of content. “It’s important that we calmly communicate to people the wood from the trees.”
He mentioned “transition” a few times, but did not disclose details or any timeline for his departure and replacement. Shah, who joined in the call halfway, said the board was in “succession mode”.
Davie acknowledged that senior news editors were unhappy that their journalism had not been more vigorously defended, and said that while it was important to be “out there making our case”, when it came to responding to attacks, “we have to make sure we’re getting it right when we go out” and a sense of proportionality was also communicated – the few mistakes for several hundred hours of content. “It’s important that we calmly communicate to people the wood from the trees.”
Of note, the BBC is government-funded.
This is like the old "Aside from that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?" Here, everyone within earshot is rushing to the nearest microphone to defend the sensibilities of arrogant journalists who have distorted the truth for their own petty political biases and have violated the public trust.
"Wood for the trees" indeed.
This is like the old "Aside from that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?" Here, everyone within earshot is rushing to the nearest microphone to defend the sensibilities of arrogant journalists who have distorted the truth for their own petty political biases and have violated the public trust.
"Wood for the trees" indeed.
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