Truth-tellers are not always palatable. There is a preference for candy bars. -Gwendolyn Brooks, poet (7 Jun 1917-2000)
Chris is off to Europe.
We had dinner at the old Rico's and it was pretty good.
We had dinner at the old Rico's and it was pretty good.
U.S. imports from Mexico came to $372 billion last year, according to the federal government. So slapping a 5% tariff on them amounts to a federal tax hike of … … $19 billion. Total federal taxes last year: $3.3 trillion. So that's about a 0.6% tax hike. And it will, after the mandatory theft, get recycled back into the economy.
Facebook employees have given nearly 10 times more campaign cash to Democrats than Republicans since it was founded in 2004.
“Women who work full time are paid just 80 cents, on average, for every dollar paid to men.” But these figures are raw medians for all men and women, meaning they don’t control for occupational choices, career paths, hours worked, differing risks of on-the-job fatality, and so forth. The “80 cents” figure is simply incompatible with calls of equal pay for equal work. Studies that compare apples with apples find a much narrower pay gap—or none at all.
Spotify struck a deal for Higher Ground, the entertainment-production company started by Barack and Michelle Obama, to develop and produce podcasts that will be available only on the streaming service
Today, by contrast, government is trying to “protect” us from pillows that don’t match, poorly constructed caskets, and bad massages. The state now obstructs entry into occupations like truck driving ( beyond showing that you can drive a truck), florists, funeral attendants, and hairdressers, and so many more professions. This is crazy as the only license that anyone should need to be free to sell her services to another adult is the willingness of a buyer to purchase the service. The buyer’s willingness to spend his own money on the service certifies that it meets the buyer’s standards. And if the consumer isn’t happy, he won’t come. There is no need for the state to intervene.--deRugy
The Amazing Story of the USS Liberty
Damaged USS Liberty. Photo: US Navy.
(This is from St. Clair, mostly a summary of "Assault on the Liberty," a first-hand account by James Ennes Jr. whose book of the event is hair-raising story of betrayal by America's presumed friends and its own leadership. On this day in history.)
'In early June of 1967, at the onset of the Six Day War, the Pentagon sent the USS Liberty from Spain into international waters off the coast of Gaza to monitor the progress of Israel’s attack on the Arab states. The Liberty was a lightly armed surveillance ship.
Only hours after the Liberty arrived it was spotted by the Israeli military. The IDF sent out reconnaissance planes to identify the ship. They made eight trips over a period of three hours. The Liberty was flying a large US flag and was easily recognizable as an American vessel.
Soon more planes came. These were Israeli Mirage III fighters, armed with rockets and machine guns. As off-duty officers sunbathed on the deck, the fighters opened fire on the defenseless ship with rockets and machine guns.
A few minutes later a second wave of planes streaked overhead, French-built Mystere jets, which not only pelted the ship with gunfire but also with napalm bomblets, coating the deck with the flaming jelly. By now, the Liberty was on fire and dozens were wounded and killed, excluding several of the ship’s top officers.
The Liberty’s radio team tried to issue a distress call, but discovered the frequencies had been jammed by the Israeli planes with what one communications specialist called “a buzzsaw sound.” Finally, an open channel was found and the Liberty got out a message it was under attack to the USS America, the Sixth Fleet’s large aircraft carrier.
Two F-4s left the carrier to come to the Liberty’s aid. Apparently, the jets were armed only with nuclear weapons. When word reached the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara became irate and ordered the jets to return. “Tell the Sixth Fleet to get those aircraft back immediately,” he barked. The planes turned around. And the attack on the Liberty continued.
After the Israeli fighter jets had emptied their arsenal of rockets, three Israeli attack boats approached the Liberty. Two torpedoes were launched at the crippled ship, one tore a 40-foot wide hole in the hull, flooding the lower compartments, and killing more than a dozen American sailors.
As the Liberty listed in the choppy seas, its deck aflame, crew members dropped life rafts into the water and prepared to scuttle the ship. Given the number of wounded, this was going to be a dangerous operation. But it soon proved impossible, as the Israeli attack boats strafed the rafts with machine gun fire. No body was going to get out alive that way.
After more than two hours of unremitting assault, the Israelis finally halted their attack. One of the torpedo boats approached the Liberty. An officer asked in English over a bullhorn: “Do you need any help?”
The wounded commander of the Liberty, Lt. William McGonagle, instructed the quartermaster to respond emphatically: “Fuck you.”
The Israeli boat turned and left.
A Soviet destroyer responded before the US Navy, even though a US submarine, on a covert mission, was apparently in the area and had monitored the attack. The Soviet ship reached the Liberty six hours before the USS Davis. The captain of the Soviet ship offered his aid, but the Liberty’s conning officer refused.
Finally, 16 hours after the attack two US destroyers reached the Liberty. By that time, 34 US sailors were dead and 174 injured, many seriously. As the wounded were being evacuated, an officer with the Office of Naval Intelligence instructed the men not to talk about their ordeal with the press.
The following morning Israel launched a surprise invasion of Syria, breaching the new cease-fire agreement and seizing control of the Golan Heights.
Within three weeks, the Navy put out a 700-page report, exonerating the Israelis, claiming the attack had been accidental and that the Israelis had pulled back as soon as they realized their mistake. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara suggested the whole affair should be forgotten. “These errors do occur,” McNamara concluded.'
The Children of Israel are never alone. But sometimes it's hard to see why.
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