Tiger Tiger, Burning Bright

TUE 31 MAR 1942
Indian Ocean
Submarine Seawolf (SS-197) is damaged by depth charges off Christmas Island, 10°26'S, 105°41'E.

Caribbean
Commander of All Forces Aruba and Curacao, Netherlands West Indies, is established (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf).

Atlantic
Unarmed U.S. tug Menominee and the barges that she is towing--Allegheny, Barnegat, and Ontario--are shelled by German submarine U-754 about 50 miles off the mouth of Chesapeake Bay at 37°34'N, 75°25'W. U-754 sinks Menominee and barges Allegheny and Barnegat; Ontario, with its dunnage cargo, remains afloat and provides a life preserver for the three men who had been on board each barge. Of Menominee's crew of 18 men, however, only two survive the U-boat's gunfire. Coast Guard lifeboat from the Metomkin Inlet station rescues the men from the barges while tanker Northern Sun rescues the tug crew's survivors. Later the same day, U-754 torpedoes unarmed U.S. tanker Tiger as the American vessel, en route to Norfolk, waits to embark a pilot. One crewman dies in the initial explosion; the surviving 36 men of the ship's complement, in addition to a six-man Navy gun crew riding the ship as passengers, abandon the ship (see 1 and 2 April).

Unarmed U.S. tanker T.C. McCobb, en route to Caripito, Venezuela from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is shelled, torpedoed, and sunk by Italian submarine Pietro Calvi at 07°10'N, 45°20'W; one crewman drowns and one is killed by shellfire (see 8 and 10 April and 16 May).

Destroyer Roper (DD-147) and tug Acushnet (AT-63) rescue 124 survivors (including a newborn infant) of U.S. steamship City of New York, sunk by U-160 off Cape Hatteras on 29 March (see 12 April).

Death To Whitey!

"I'm tired of living, but scared of dying ..."

Brookings Institution:

Senior Scholar - Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs  —  In “Mortality and morbidity in the 21st Century,” Princeton Professors Anne Case and Angus Deaton follow up on their groundbreaking 2015 paper that revealed a shocking increase in midlife mortality among white non …

Discussion:

Joel Achenbach / Washington Post:   New research identifies a ‘sea of despair’ among white, working-class Americans

Ronald Bailey / Hit & Run:   Poor White Americans Are Dying of Despair

Lambert Strether / naked capitalism:   2:00PM Water Cooler 3/23/2017

Robert Donachie / The Daily Caller:   First Time In History, Mortality Rate Among Middle-Aged Whites Outpaces Blacks

Jessica Boddy / NPR:   The Forces Driving Middle-Aged White People's ‘Deaths Of Despair’

Stephen Green / Instapundit:   DEPLORABLE: Death Rates Rise for Wide Swath of White Adults, Study Finds.

RELATED:

 Betsy McKay / Wall Street Journal:
Death Rates Rise for Wide Swath of White Adults, Study Finds

Discussion:

Alana Semuels / The Atlantic:   Is Economic Despair What's Killing Middle-Aged White Americans?

emptywheel:   Which Came First, the Failed Ideology or the Spiking Mortality Rates?

My heart bleedspumps piss for the deplorable crackers. Now they know how some of their fellow Americans have suffered for a few hundred yrs. Die pigs die!!

Moose & Squirrel Report

Former FBI agent details how Trump and Russia team up to weaponize fake news

Trump “has used Russian active measures at times, against his opponents.”

“Tell them is fake news, work of moose and squirrel.”

Copyright is theft from The New Yorker. 'Though to be fair, the copyright should belong to artist P. Byrnes, not the rent-seeking magazine. Headline from Think Progress.

Bureaucratic Maneuvering Continues

MON 30 MAR 1942
General
Pacific War Council representing United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, and China is established in Washington, D.C., to plan war policy.

Pacific
Joint Chiefs of Staff order Pacific Ocean divided into two commands: Pacific Ocean Areas (Admiral Chester W. Nimitz) and Southwest Pacific Area (Lieutenant General Douglas MacArthur).

Submarine Tambor (SS-198) damages Japanese transport Tatsuho Maru off Brown Atoll, 13°00'N, 157°30'E.

Destroyer Phelps (DD-360), undergoing repairs in drydock at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, is damaged when a railroad crane falls into the drydock.

Japanese forces occupy Christmas Island.

Submarine Sturgeon (SS-187) sinks Japanese transport Choko Maru off Makassar City, Celebes, N.E.I., 05°39'S, 119°00'E.

Atlantic
Debris sighted by plane at 34°52'N, 69°58'W includes five empty life rafts; no survivors are sighted in the area of the last reported position of antisubmarine vessel Atik (AK-101), sunk on 26 March by German submarine U-123.

PBY search of area in which U.S. steamship City of New York is torpedoed proves negative (see 31 March and 11 April).

North Russia
U.S. freighter Effingham, straggling 90 miles astern of Murmansk-bound convoy PQ 13, is torpedoed and set afire by German submarine U-435 at 70°28'N, 35°44'E. The ship explodes and sinks; two men drown during the abandonment (see 2 and 4 April).

Well, Of Course It Isn't

Michelle Nichols / Reuters: 

U.S. U.N. ambassador says Washington's focus no longer on removing Assad in Syria

Discussion:

Nancy LeTourneau / Washington Monthly:   Quick Takes: No Woman Allowed

Jen Kirby / New York Magazine:   Removing Assad From Power in Syria Is ‘No Longer a Priority’ for the U.S.

Aidan Quigley / Politico:   Haley: U.S. no longer focused on removing Assad from power

Axios:   U.S. will no longer push to oust Assad in Syria

Obvious to this reporter that the illegitimate Trump Admin. would have no interest in removing their dear friend
Putin's dear friend Assad. Also pretty obvious that Ambassador Haley, like Putin & Assad, now has Syria's blood
on her hands too. "Out, damn'd spot!"

Today In Sharia (But It's For Jesus) & Fear Of Girl Cooties

/r/AdviceAnimals

Sick fuck is too easy a description for deeply disturbed dimbulb/would-be theocrat Mike Pence.

Paul Waldman / Washington Post: 
Pence's unwillingness to be alone with a woman is a symptom of a bigger problem

Discussion:

Casey Quinlan / ThinkProgress:   It's a problem when men avoid one-on-one meetings with women

Olga Khazan / The Atlantic:   How Pence's Dudely Dinners Hurt Women

John Sexton / Hot Air:   Progressives are stunned Mike Pence chooses not to eat alone with women other than his wife

Dana Eisenberg / Mediaite:   Twitter Responds to Mike Pence's Rule About Not Having Dinner Alone With Other Women

Andrea Gonzalez-Ramirez / Refinery29:   This 2002 Mike Pence Comment Has Twitter Up In Arms

From the WaPo:

Let’s take just a moment to consider this pair of rules Mike Pence has for himself. He obviously thinks that every interaction he has with a woman is so sexually charged that it’s safe to be around them only if there are other people there, too. Unless someone might be drinking, in which case even the presence of a crowd isn’t enough to prevent … something from happening. There’s little distance between that perspective and that of the ultra-Orthodox Jews who refuse to sit next to a woman on an airplane, or the fundamentalist Muslims who demand that women be covered head to toe to contain the unstoppable sexual allure that renders men unable to control their urges.

In Pence's demon-haunted world, every woman is a succubus but his wife, whom he calls "mother". Apparently he can't relate to women except as mothers. Or his mother. Dr. Freud sez: "Sad? No, fucking pathetic!!"

Today In Man-Crushes

One lies, the other swears to it.

Pamela Engel / Business Insider: 

‘We share a strong mutual admiration’: Rand Paul praises Matt Drudge after meeting in Washington

Discussion:

Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller:   'America's Best Senator' — Drudge Praises Rand Paul After ‘Intriguing Lunch’

If theofascist Mike Pence won't have a meal w/ a woman not his wife, what does it tell us about Rand Paul that he enjoyed his meal w/ known poofter Drudge? Just asking.

What's The Matter W/ Bloody Kansas?

Tragic Prelude, John Steuart Curry, 1939.

Inane ignoramus Gov. Brownback of Kansas spews more lies. (Our emphasis.)

“Most grievously, this legislation funnels more taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry. From its infancy, the state of Kansas has affirmed the dignity and equality of each human life. I will not support this legislation that continues to fund organizations that undermine a culture of life.”

Yeah sure. Compare & contrast w/ actual history:

At the heart of the conflict was the question of whether Kansas would allow or outlaw slavery, and thus enter the Union as a slave state or a free state. Pro-slavery forces said every settler had the right to bring his own property, including slaves, into the territory. Anti-slavery "free soil" forces said the rich slaveholders would buy up all the good farmland and work it with black slaves, leaving little or no opportunity for non-slaveholders.

Vetoing expanded health insurance for the people of one's state certainly represents a "culture of life", doesn't it? Kee-rist, what an asshole!

Tugging Away

SUN 29 MAR 1942
Pacific
Fourth Defense Battalion, USMC, and VMF 212 arrive at Efate, New Hebrides.

Atlantic
U.S. steamship City of New York is torpedoed by German submarine U-160 about 40 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, 35°16'N, 74°25'W. Before the ship is torpedoed a second time, the Armed Guard, who man their gun stations promptly, manages to get 12 rounds off at the U-boat's periscope. A second torpedo sinks the ship, with the Armed Guard leaving only when the bridge is awash (see 30-31 March and 11 April).

U.S. tanker Paulsboro is damaged in heavy seas off Overfalls Lightship; tug Allegheny (AT-19) is sent to her assistance.

U.S. freighter Excelsior suffers engine breakdown off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; tug Kewaydin (AT-24) is sent to tow the ship to Norfolk.

Circling The Bowl Daily: Down To 35%

giphy

If he drops one percent every day, he'll be very close to nothing by the end of the first 100 days. Seems about right.

At Least That Whore Nancy Reagan, Her Senile Husband & Their Brats Had The Sense To Stop Whoring Before He Was Calif. Gov., Unlike ...

Look at this shit:How many times did she have to use her talents as a fellatrix to get this gig?

Sources Say

Devin Nunes, farmboy, in waaaay over his head, per anonymous sources quoted by Frank Bruni in The NYT.

All of this is irregular enough to peg him as a puppet of the Trump administration or a complete boob. Either way, he has surrendered his investigation’s integrity — and his own.

A Republican insider who once worked closely with him described him to me as an “overeager goofball” who can’t see “the line between ingratiating and stupid.” The insider said that Nunes crossed that line with John Boehner, the former House speaker, who gave him the committee chairmanship but grew weary of Nunes’s indiscriminate pep and constant bumming of his cigarettes.

My source wondered why Paul Ryan hadn’t kept a closer watch on Nunes, given his shortcomings. “No one is asking him to bring the potato salad to the Mensa picnic,” my source said.

If he did bring the potato salad it would probably make everyone at the picnic sick.

Emotional Lump

We thought @realdonaldtrump's tweets were as sad as it gets, until we turned his speeches into an early 2000s emo song. pic.twitter.com/TvI4n03Xog

— Super Deluxe (@superdeluxe) March 26, 2017

He's just a big whiny spoiled sissy, nothing more, nothing less.

Today In 21st Century Innovation

Trump to "return coal miners to work". Next on the agenda: Bailing out buggy whip mfrs.? Employment for elevator operators & telegraphers?

— M. Bouffant (@MBouffant) March 28, 2017

Where's The Money?

Crooked as the day is long:

Michele Bachmann’s missing million: Federal elections officials want to know where $1 million from her campaign committee went

In a three-month span, the former Tea Party congresswoman's committee had more than $1 million disappear

Nothing Pacific

SAT 28 MAR 1942
Atlantic
Attack on St. Nazaire concludes with HMS Campbelltown successfully ramming the caisson in the drydock area.

I think we all know how much that hurts.

'Cause You See I'm On A Losing Streak

Trump's approval & The Dow: Joined at the hip. 

Into the toilet w/ Dow & Jones:

Wall Street Journal:

Dow Suffers Longest Losing Streak Since 2011  —  Withdrawal of health-care plan has investors fretting about tax overhaul, infrastructure spending  —  The Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its longest losing streak in nearly six years, reflecting investors' doubts about the Trump administration's ability to enact its agenda.

Discussion:

Daniel W. Drezner / Washington Post:   How long will the soft data support Donald Trump?

Barbara Morrill / Daily Kos:   The stock market giveth and the stock market taketh away ... either way, Trump sucks

Admiral Overboard!

FRI 27 MAR 1942
Atlantic
Commander TF 39 (Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox), taking an unaccompanied walk on deck of his flagship, battleship Washington (BB 56), is washed overboard and disappears in a heavy sea. Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen becomes task force commander upon Wilcox's death.

Destroyer Greer (DD-145) proceeds to position indicated by Army plane and rescues five survivors from Panamanian freighter Equipoise, sunk the previous day by U-160; later, Greer picks up an additional eight survivors from the sunken Panamanian merchantman.

Europe
British raiding force begins attack on port facilities in German-held St. Nazaire, France; destroyer HMS Campbelltown (former U.S. destroyer Buchanan [DD 132]), reconfigured to resemble a German torpedo boat, is to ram the caisson of the only drydock on the French coast capable of handling the battleship Tirpitz.

Pacific
Submarine Gudgeon (SS-211) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship Nissho Maru southeast of Kumun Island, 33°50'N, 127°33'E.

Japanese collier Yubari Maru is sunk by Dutch planes off Koepang, Timor.

Japanese transport/cargo ship Kitano Maru is sunk by Japanese mine off Mabilao, Lingayen Gulf, 16°10'N, 120°24'E.

"Waste, Fraud & Abuse"

CNN:

First on CNN: Border wall ask: $1 billion for 62 miles  —  Washington (CNN)The Trump administration wants the first $1 billion of border wall funding to cover 62 miles — including replacing some existing fencing along the southern border.  —  The $999 million requested by the White House …

Discussion:

Shannon Vavra / Axios:   Trump wants $1 billion for first 62 miles of border wall

Billions wasted on a total fraud? Of course there will be abuse. It'll be uuuge!!

Daily Downer

57% to 36%. Which places Trump a mere nine points above the 27% American Idiot Approval Level. Can impeachment proceedings start once he's down to 30%?

"A Spirited Encounter"

THU 26 MAR 1942
Admiral Ernest J. King relieves Admiral Harold R. Stark as Chief of Naval Operations and thus becomes Commander in Chief U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations; Vice Admiral Frederick J. Horne (Vice Chief of Naval Operations) and Vice Admiral Russell Willson (COMINCH Chief of Staff) are his principal assistants.

Atlantic
TF 39 (Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox), including battleship Washington (BB 56), carrier Wasp (CV-7), heavy cruisers Wichita (CA-45) and Tuscaloosa (CA-37), and eight destroyers, sails from Portland, Maine, for Scapa Flow, to reinforce the British Home Fleet (see 27 March). [Wait for it! — M.B.]

Commander Eastern Sea Frontier is given operational control of certain USAAF units for antisubmarine patrol duty in the Atlantic. Unity of command over Navy and USAAF units operating over water to protect shipping and conduct antisubmarine warfare is thus vested in the Navy.

Antisubmarine vessel Atik (AK-101) is torpedoed and sunk with all hands by German submarine U-123 in the North Atlantic, 36°00'N, 70°00'W, after the "Q-ship's" gunfire damages the U-boat in a spirited encounter. Atik is the only U.S. Navy warship disguised as a merchantman that is lost to enemy action during World War II. Sistership Asterion (AK-100) will conduct a fruitless search for survivors (see 30 March).*

Unarmed U.S. tanker Dixie Arrow, bound for Paulsboro, New Jersey, is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-71 about 12 miles off the Diamond Shoals Lighted Buoy, off the coast of North Carolina, 34°59'N, 75°33'W. The ship breaks in half and sinks. Destroyer Tarbell (DD-142), directed to the scene by a Coast Guard plane, rescues 22 survivors; 11 merchant sailors either drown or burn to death, however, as the torpedo explosions set the ship's cargo of 86,136 barrels of crude oil afire.

Panamanian freighter Equipoise is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-160 at 36°36'N, 74°45'W (see 27 March).

---

*Bait Boats:

Atik (AK-101) was placed in commission at 16:45 on 5 March 1942, at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Lieutenant Commander Harry Lynnwood Hicks, USN, in command.

At the outset, all connected with the program apparently harbored the view that neither ship "was expected to last longer than a month after commencement of [her] assigned duty." Atik's holds were packed with pulpwood, a somewhat mercurial material. If dry, "an explosive condition might well develop and, if wet, "rot, with resultant fire, might well take place." Despite these disadvantages, pulpwood was selected as the best obtainable material to assure "floatability."

Atik's mission was to lure an unsuspecting U-boat into making a torpedo attack. According to the projected scenario, the submarine, having deemed the tramp unworthy of the expenditure of more torpedoes, would surface to sink the crippled foe with gunfire.

The plan presupposed that supporting forces would come to the rescue whenever a Q-ship ran into difficulties. In March 1942, though, there was no such reserve available. The commanding officers of the two ships were told that they could expect little help if they got into trouble. Every available combatant ship and plane was employed in convoy and patrol duties.

Following fitting out and brief sea trials, she and Asterion got underway on 23 March 1942. Soon after leaving port, Atik and Asterion went their separate ways. On the night of 26–27 March, she was cruising about 300 mi (480 km) east of Norfolk, Virginia and Asterion was cruising some 240 mi (390& km) to the south of this area.

Sunday In The City

Never ends, does it?

The Death Of Parody

The proverbial 27% of this nation's polled population would not find this amusing or mockable in any way,
& if you are laughing, Mr. & Ms. Libtard Smarty-Pantses, you are not real Americans, & may be subject to deportation.

"Epic over-the-top T-shirt depicts Trump rolling in on a tank to take care of pressing presidential matters his way."

"Until The Oil Tanker Got It"

WED 25 MAR 1942

Atlantic
Dutch tanker Ocana is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-552 at 42°36'N, 64°25'W; destroyer Mayo (DD-422) rescues four survivors.

Bouffant Sports Book Now Open For Business

Step right up, punters, our wickets are open.

Today's friendly wager: Which will last longer, the Affordable Health Care Act ("Obamacare"), the Trump residency,
or the Republican Party as currently constituted?

All-American Blues Bandstand

Somehow missed the passing of harmonica giant James Cotton at the age of 81, on 16 March. Rolling Stone has details & a good cross-section of embedded tunes. Pat Hare's guitar stands out in this Memphis number.Paying to see & hear a performance probably doesn't qualify as a "Brush w/ Greatness", nonetheless, this reporter saw Mr. Cotton wail thrice; once, probably in 1968, at Seattle's Eagles Auditorium, then at B.B. King's Blues Dump at Universal CityWalk, sometime in the early '00s, where J.C. was confined to a chair on stage, & co-billed w/ a giant of blues guitar, who I can't for the life of me remember. (Buddy Guy? Buddy Buddy?) The last time was this event at Hollywood's Bowl.

And I still have a promo single of a ℗1975 Buddah Records® remake of "Rocket 88", entitled "Rockett 88". One side of which is stereo (BDAS-468-A) & one mono (BDA-468-A) as if it made any difference in 1975.

Under Lawsuit Threat, Ed AngerAlex Jones Sorta Apologizes For Pizza Parlor Shooting

Gotta love Mediagazer, where at least half the "discussion" is Tweets.

Katy Perry's in on it too.

  Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

InfoWars' Alex Jones apologizes to Pizzagate restaurant's owner a day before becoming exposed to punitive damages in potential libel suit under Texas law  —  Alex Jones, the conspiracy-loving media personality, apologized Friday for his role in promoting “Pizzagate,” the baseless viral story …

Discussion:

Alex Jones / Infowars:   A Note to Our Listening, Viewing and Reading Audiences Concerning Pizzagate Coverage

Media Matters for America:   Alex Jones Apologizes For Pizzagate Coverage, Blames Other Media Outlets

Jesse Walker / @notjessewalker:   Can't help noticing that they kept the comments closed for this one. http://www.infowars.com/...

Dave McClure / @davemcclure:   Alex Jones spread lies & defamed ppl, leading a confused individual to fire a gun in a family restaurant. Jones is a criminal, not a pundit. http://twitter.com/...

Maggie Serota / Death and Taxes:   Alex Jones apologizes for spreading Pizzagate lies, then passes the buck to other outlets

Katie Rife / The A.V. Club:   Alex Jones actually kind of apologized for “Pizzagate”

Robert Maguire / @robertmaguire_:   Alex Jones just apologized for @infowars coverage of #PizzaGate. NO JOKE: @mmfa has video https://mediamatters.org/...

Peter Kafka / @pkafka:   If a guy shoots a gun inside your store b/c of crazy shit he read in Infowars, Infowars will apologize. Eventually. https://www.infowars.com/...

Peter Kafka / @pkafka:   Good thing Infowars never published anything that displeased Peter Thiel. https://twitter.com/...

Tom O'Connor / Newsweek:   ALEX JONES APOLOGIZES FOR ‘PIZZAGATE’ FAKE NEWS

Jezebel:   Is Today...Good?  —  Do you remember the last time anything felt good?

Media Matters / @mmfa:   BREAKING: Alex Jones apologizes for pizzagate coverage, blames other media outlets http://mm4a.org/2nwuuNv pic.twitter.com/EZtWV8yP6x

Rachel Stoltzfoos / The Daily Caller:   ‘Pizzagate’ Gunman Pleads Guilty To Weapons Charges

Greg P. / twitchy.com:   ‘We encourage you to hold us accountable’: Alex Jones apologizes for #PizzaGate coverage

Clint Rainey / grubstreet:   Comet Ping Pong Gunman Pleads Guilty to Weapons Possession

Sasha Lekach / Mashable:   Infowars apologizes for spreading #Pizzagate conspiracy

Art Of The (One-Shot) Deal

Next deal to close in the capital? "Tax Reform". Can't. Effing. Wait.Entropy increasing: Above musical selection will have been out 45 yrs. as of 5 July.

Despite what you hear in the press, healthcare is coming along great. We are talking to many groups and it will end in a beautiful picture!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 9, 2017

The Seeds "Faded Picture"Sad!

Bombing Daily: "We'll Be Here All Week."

TUE 24 MAR 1942
Pacific
Japanese naval planes (12th Kokutai) begin daily bombings of Corregidor.

That is all.

Eleventy-Dimensional Fake News

Puttin' the spin on it:

Joel B. Pollak / Breitbart: 
Health Care Bill's Failure: Just Part of the ‘Art of the Deal’

Discussion:

Cristina Laila / The Gateway Pundit:   ‘Art of the Deal’ Healthcare Bill Failure a Way to Oust Paul Ryan and Achieve Full Repeal of Obamacare?

Sure, not only will this end w/ Paul Ryan out on his ass but Obamacare will be repealed. That's the ticket! And just the distraction they'll need while Trump is doing a perp walk from the Executive Mansion following his arrest for treason.

Jesus H. Christ! "A Guide To Hiding From Queer People"

An atheist and a Christian review
‘The Benedict Option,’ a guide to hiding from queer people

[Think Progress]

"The Common Clay Of The New West ... Morons"

Could America just not have any more sod-busting simpletons involved in governing us,
or in anything beyond supplying urbane sophisticates w/ milk, butter, cheese, ice cream & so forth?

House Oxymoron Committee Chairman Nunes is from California's fly-over country (It's a big state, we have a lot of just about everything, good, bad, ugly &/or indifferent.) where his family has molested cattle for generations. My paternal grandparents had a dairy farm (& owned a gas station in town); I wouldn't have wanted either of them telling me how to live, yet the future security of these United Snakes may depend on a "normal dad" whose most complex task before this mess may have been navigating the cow-flops in his pappy's fields. Now he acts as if his job is to keep Donald Trump happy as a dairy cow.

Devin Nunes once said all he wanted to do was work on a dairy farm.

Now the Republican from the rural Central Valley of California is running one of the most scrutinized, complex and politically fraught congressional investigations in recent memory.

As chairman of the House intelligence committee, which holds its first public hearing on Monday, Nunes is at the helm of a probe of Moscow's meddling in the 2016 campaign and the murky web of contacts between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia. It's a potentially sprawling enterprise that spans continents, plumbs spycraft and dominates international headlines.

He's a long way from raising cattle.

[...]

Until recently, the soft-spoken 43-year-old — dubbed a "normal dad" by friends — was hardly a fixture on the national news circuit.

An' he sho' nuff stepped right in that cow-flop, did'n he? When you've lost even the very-very-conservative Jennifer Rubin ...

Nunes shows why he’s incapable of running an investigation

D For The Dead

A round-up of notables who've recently departed this steaming mortal coil. The pace has picked up of late, 'though it seems to be striking among those who are beyond their allotted three-score & ten.

Richard Schickel, 84, film critic, director and author

18 February.

No personal connection here, but we have the same print of the Eiffel Tower
that's seen to Bob's left on the TCM set above hanging in our bunker. (Ours isn't sepia, however.)

Robert Osborne, 84, host on Turner Classic Movies

6 March.

Previously noted in this space, founding definer Chuck Berry, 18 March.

Artist Bernie Wrightson, also 18 March, & sadly under his allotted 70.

Jimmy Breslin, ink-stained wretch, made 88 before croaking the 19th inst.

David Rockefeller, inheritor of vast wealth & power & rent-seeking parasite, made it to 101 before dying much too late, on the 20th. There is no justice.

Chuck Barris, whose Gong Show was a work of absurdist genius (he also created The Dating Game) 87 when he was gonged March 21st. "Brush w/ Greatness": Saw Mr. Barris in the (rather short) flesh in probably 1978, at the then-A.B.C. studios on Vine St., walking down the hall followed by several flunkies. The broadcast technicians were striking A.B.C., which meant the corporate accountants had to run the cameras on the soaps & news & this reporter was called in to do some work for the A.B.C. Records Group. (Fun Fact I Learned: The first Ramones album, on Sire, had only sold about 20,000 copies by mid-1978.)

And speaking of absurdity, we had neglected until now to mention the passing, on 6 February, of The World's Foremost Authority, Professor Irwin Corey, whose contributions to American intellectual discourse will long be remembered. The Professor outlived that bastard Rockefeller, having hit 102. There may be a slight amount of justice.

75 Yrs. Ago Today In Friendly Fire

MON 3 MAR 1942
Pacific
Submarine Gato (SS-212) is damaged when accidentally bombed by nonrigid airship (blimp) TC 13off the entrance to San Francisco Bay, California.

Indian Ocean
Japanese occupy Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal.

Political Wire, Congenital Liar

Bonus Quote of the Day

"The whole world had a chance to watch this unfold, and it was a direct test of his credibility. And the whole world now knows he lied about it. We’ve seen it again and again. When we have a president who is a congenital liar, it really matters.”

— Former White House aide David Gergen, quoted by the Washington Post.

And in the Palace, the Imperial Family continues to consolidate power.

Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune.

Fake Fake News

"I am not trying to get ‘top level security clearance’ for my children. This was a typically false news story.”

— President-elect Donald Trump, quoted by Politico, on November 16, 2016.

“Ivanka Trump to get top security clearance and office, White House official says”

— CNN headline, March 21, 2017.

Clearing Out California's Trailer Parks

Sending the spawn of the Okies back to fly-over country:

California exports its poor to Texas, other states, while wealthier people move in

Spoiler Alert: Landlords to blame.

Ken Boothe, 69 Today

If you give more of a crap the miracle of the iNternet allows you to learn more.Above from 1966. Later re-cut, re-make, re-mix, mutation:You may recognize this as a differently titled cover of a song whose best known version is also a cover.Curate this'n yourself.

Death At (Approx.) 28°00'N, 58°00'W

SUN 22 MAR 1942
Atlantic
Unarmed U.S. tanker Naeco is torpedoed by German submarine U-124 at 33°59'N, 76°40'W. Coast Guard cutter Dione (WPC-107) rescues 10 survivors from one lifeboat and two men from the sea; minesweeper Osprey (AM-56) rescues one survivor from a raft; tug Umpqua (AT-25) takes off one man who had returned to the ship after she had been abandoned. All told, 24 men perish with the ship, which later breaks in half (the stern section sinking). Destroyer Roper (DD-147) scuttles the bow section with gunfire.

Unarmed U.S. tanker Muskogee is torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-123 at 28°00'N, 58°00'W. U-123 draws near to the survivors on two rafts and questions them before clearing the area.
None of the 34-man crew, however, are ever seen again.

Nice World You Assholes Have Made For Yourselves

New York Daily News:

Racist Maryland man who fatally stabbed black New Yorker admits his intent to kill African-American men  —  The 28-year-old man busted for fatally stabbing a black stranger in Midtown on Tuesday has told cops he came the city from Baltimore to kill African-Americans, sources said.

Discussion:

Brad Reed / Raw Story:   Racist stabbing suspect drove from Maryland to New York with the sole goal of killing black men: NYPD

Alyssa Zauderer / New York's PIX11:   Midtown murder suspect came to NYC to kill black men: NYPD

Lindsey Ellefson / Mediaite:   Man Who Stabbed Black Man to Death Came to NYC to Kill People of Color

Breanna Edwards / The Root:   Md. Man Accused of Murder Traveled to NYC to Target Black People: Police

Emma Whitford / Gothamist:   NYPD: Midtown Stabbing Suspect Wanted To Kill Black Men In The Media Capital Of The World

AOL:   Police: Murder suspect says he came to the New York City to kill black men

RELATED:

 Shawn Cohen / New York Post:
White supremacist accused of murder says he came to NYC to kill blacks

Discussion:

The Times of Israel:   James Harris Jackson told police he was angry at black men …

 New York Post:
Cops searching for well-dressed man in fatal Midtown stabbing

Discussion:

Jen Chung / Gothamist:   [UPDATE] Man Arrested For Deadly Midtown Stabbing Reportedly Came To NYC To Kill Black People

The Guardian:
Parliament attack: man shot after police officer stabbed at House of Commons - live updates

Discussion:

Angela Dewan / CNN:   UK Parliament terror alert: One woman dead and police officer stabbed

Jen Kirby / New York Magazine:   4 Dead, Including Suspect, in Terror Attack Near U.K. Parliament

Nadia / Common Dreams:   Police Say Lone Assailant Among Four People Dead After Attack Near UK Parliament

Andy Towle / Towleroad:   UK Parliament on Lockdown After Possible Terrorist Incident in London

Jerry Iannelli / Miami New Times:

Rundle Won't Charge Prison Guards Who Allegedly Boiled Schizophrenic Black Man to Death … On June 23, 2012, Darren Rainey, a schizophrenic man serving time for cocaine possession, was thrown into a prison shower at the Dade Correctional Institution.  The water was turned up top 180 degrees …

Discussion:

Natasha Geiling / ThinkProgress:   No charges for Florida prison guards who allegedly locked mentally ill black man in scalding shower

RELATED:

 Julie K. Brown / miamiherald:

Prosecutors find no wrongdoing in shower death at Dade Correctional mental health unit  —  A 101-page investigation released Friday concludes that corrections officers who locked a schizophrenic inmate in a hot shower at Dade Correctional Institution and left him there for nearly two hours …

Discussion:

Ed Krayewski / Hit & Run:   Prison Guards Who Threw Inmate in Hot Shower, Killing Him, Committed No Crime, State's Attorney Rules

Atrios / Eschaton:   Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit

Note well that Trump has no direct involvement w/ any of this horror. None of you murderous assholes need any help, do you?

Anyway, the sooner you mother-fucking rat bastard sons-of-bitches finish killing each other the better. Your species is dead to me already, but I'll volunteer to stick around to cremate your rotting corpses.