Thursday, December 31, 2020
Light Bulb Lights, Marshall Plan Ends, Birthdays, & Yr. Finally Over ...
D For The Dead
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Fuck These People & Their Loser Gawd Who Needs His Ass Kissed 24/7
Wear a damn mask, idiot. That stops sickness before you have to heal it. And stop casting your demons on us.
— M. Bouffant (@MBouffant) December 31, 2020
Also, stop misquoting people. Actual quote: “This is a public health crisis, and I don’t think you need to be loving Jesus in L.A. right now in this manner,” Kyle said.
Doesn't Jesus call you not to lie or misquote people? Your hypocrisy is filthy & never-ending.
— M. Bouffant (@MBouffant) December 31, 2020
Bo Diddley Born, Chicago Theater Fire Kills 600, Hussein Gets Justice,
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Small Town Values: Hypocrisy & Idiocy
Yes, we coastal elites look down on you flyover lemmings in absolute & utter contempt, as you objectively prove your ignorance, stupidity & cruelty every fucking day of your empty meaningless lives. Just shut up & die already.A wave of departing medical professionals would leave gaping holes in the rural health care system, and small-town economies, triggering a death spiral in some of these areas that may be hard to stop.
Ten years ago, Dr. Kristina Darnauer and her husband, Jeff, moved to tiny Sterling, Kan., to raise their kids steeped in small-town values.
"The values of hard work, the value of community, taking care of your neighbor, that's what small towns shout from the rooftops, this is what we're good at. We are salt of the earth people who care about each other," Darnauer says. "And here I am saying, then wear a mask because that protects your precious neighbor."
But Darnauer's medical advice and moral admonition were met with contempt from some of her friends, neighbors and patients. People who had routinely buttonholed her for quick medical advice at church and kids' ballgames were suddenly treating her as the enemy and regarding her professional opinion as suspect and offensive.
Greg Hilburn / The News Star:Texas Becomes 28th State, Massacre At Wounded Knee, Nobles Kill Rasputin
Monday, December 28, 2020
Everything You Eat Is Made On The Backs Of Enslaved Children
Missed It By That Much
[©2020 CalNews Inc.]Every 10 Minutes: COVID Deaths Spike Amid 'Truly Dire’ Hospital Conditions
With conference rooms, cafeterias and gift shops converted into medical-care spaces, Los Angeles County hospitals continued to be overrun with COVID-19 and other patients Monday, while deaths from the virus spiked sharply upward, nearing the 10,000-fatality mark.
And while it will take several weeks to determine if the Christmas holiday will lead to another surge in virus cases, health officials said the weekend images of crowded airports and freeways paint a dim picture that likely portend an even more horrific situation at hospitals.
“The situation is truly dire,” county Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said, saying the county’s hospitals are “inundated with COVID patients.”
As of Monday, half of all the staffed hospital beds in the county were filled with COVID patients, as were two-thirds of the county’s staffed intensive-care unit beds. The county reported a total of 617 available hospital beds, and just 54 ICU beds — half of them pediatric beds.
Hospital emergency departments are overwhelmed, Ghaly said, with medical centers on Sunday spending 83% of their operating hours diverting ambulances to other hospitals due to lack of space or staffing.
“There’s many situations in which as many as 10 ambulances are waiting to offload patients, and those patients are being cared for and treated in the ambulances as if it’s part of the emergency room bay,” Ghaly said. “Hospitals are treating patients in other areas that are not typically used for patient care at all, not just not used for inpatient care. They’re using places like conference rooms or gift shops to provide patient care.”
And with rising COVID case numbers and hospitalizations, come rising deaths. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer announced another 73 COVID deaths on Monday. But she said the county is working to confirm an additional 432 fatalities over the past few days — deaths that weren’t initially tallied due to the holiday weekend and a Spectrum internet outage that impacted reporting.
If those deaths are confirmed, the county’s overall COVID death toll — which stood at 9,555 as of Monday — could surpass the 10,000 mark. Ferrer noted that over the past week, a person died in Los Angeles County from COVID every 10 to 15 minutes.
Ferrer reported 13,661 additional COVID cases on Monday, raising the countywide cumulative total to 733,325.
The county also reported a total of 6,914 people hospitalized due to COVID-19, however, the state — which generally has more updated figures — put the county’s total at 7,181 as of Monday, including more than 1,500 confirmed or suspected coronavirus patients in ICU care.
Between early November and Saturday, average daily coronavirus hospitalizations in the county increased by 674%, while daily deaths have jumped by 600%.
Health officials said the numbers are bound to get worse, with Ghaly noting that many residents appeared to have ignored warnings against holiday travel, noting television images of crowded freeways, busy airports and even public gatherings. Those pictures foretell an additional surge in cases and hospitalizations in January.
“Now it’s one thing to have a surge when the staff are well, when they’re resested, when the number of patients is steady,” Ghaly said. “It’s a very, very different and infinitely more dangerous situation to have hospitals experiencing a surge when the staff are exhausted, they’re stretched thin and they’re already caring for more patients than they can safely handle.”
Ferrer began emphasizing the anti-gathering message ahead of yet another holiday just days away: New Year’s Eve. She said anyone who traveled over Christmas in spite of warnings needs to self-quarantine for 10 days, even if they believe they took precautions.
“It has been hard to find joy this holiday season, in light of the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on so many across this county,” Ferrer said. “And the sad reality is that all indicators tell us that our situation may only get worse as we begin 2021. The rate of community transmission remains extraordinarily high, and this has taxed our hospital system as more COVID-19 patients continue to stream in on top of the thousands of patients already fighting for their lives. As cases continue to remain at these alarmingly high levels, hundreds more people are likely to die.”
Sunday, December 27, 2020
Happy Boxing Day From The U.S. Army
Fuck the troops. Every last baby-killing one of them.Army special forces member, 37, charged in shooting at Don Carter Lanes in Rockford — Kevin Haas Chris Green Rockford Register Star — ROCKFORD — A 37-year-old military member has been charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder after police say he gunned down multiple people …Haley Britzky / Task & Purpose: Special Forces soldier charged with allegedly killing three in bowling alley shootingCallie Patteson / Washington Examiner: Man charged in Illinois bowling alley shooting that left three dead and three injured
Saturday, December 26, 2020
What's Your Guess?
Price: $99.99 US
Delicate Beauty FigurineLimited edition of 8,000! Handcrafted figurine captures First Lady in her Murabba Palace gown. Hand-painted and sparkling with 18 Swarovski crystals.
Measures approximately 9-1/2" H
Friday, December 25, 2020
Popular Day To Die: James Brown Goes Down, Following Chaplin & Dino
Der Bingle Hollywood Palace Xmas
Thursday, December 24, 2020
I Have No Mouth ...
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Faith & Fraud Round-Up
I am so fucking tired of living in this nation of gullible, cretinous sub-human morons. Gun control nothing, America needs to license the breeders before we're washed away in a wave of illiterate dimbulbs.David Tarrant / Dallas Morning News:
Fort Worth pastor who urged ‘faith over fear’ in the pandemic mourns parents who died of COVID complications — The pastor of 2nd Mile Church in north Fort Worth, where his parents were members, said he was surprised by the sudden surge in COVID cases in recent weeks in Tarrant County.Davey Alba / New York Times:
Pennsylvania man is accused of casting Trump vote for his dead mother. — Shortly after the November election, the Trump campaign circulated on its Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as its website, the names of seven dead Americans in the battleground states of Georgia and Pennsylvania.
This One Has All The Adverts
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas (1977)
Dreyfus Convicted, Big "Fuck You" To Mr. & Mrs. Ceauçescu, Shoe Bomber
Tattered Flag In Beverly Hills
Monday, December 21, 2020
Stimulus Party
[You Ready, Grandma]After months of back and forth over what to provide in a stimulus package for the American people, Congress has finally managed to pass a bill that will offer every family a pizza party and a free copy of Shrek 3.According to Senator Mitch McConnell, another option that Congress was considering included a coupon for free chips and guacamole at Chipotle.“Besides the free, authentic Mexican food we also toyed with the idea of simply sending a dildo with a letter telling Americans to go fuck themselves,” McConnell laughed. “And in the end that’s essentially what we’ve done here.”When pressed for details on the pizza party, McConnell admitted that they will just be sending a 15-count bag of Totino’s Pepperoni Pizza Rolls™ to citizens.Notably, McConnell says they will be sending out the pizza rolls despite lacking the funds to keep the food frozen.“If anything this will help starving families heat these delicious and nutritious morsels even faster,” McConnell smiled. “What a treat!”
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Saturday, December 19, 2020
"American Family Life, Or, The Life We Nelsons Lead ..."
Truly pointless trivia:
This reporter lived four blks. south of the "actual" house for many yrs. (Camino Palmero becomes Martel at Hollywood Bl.) For quite some time one of the street signs at Hollywood read "Camino Palermo".The series strove for realism and featured exterior shots of the Nelsons' actual southern California home at 1822 Camino Palmero Street in Los Angeles as the fictional Nelsons' home.
American Family Life ...
Moon Unit Zappa, writer and daughter of Frank Zappa, is publishing a memoir.
Friday, December 18, 2020
The Andy Williams Christmas Show (1966)
Thursday, December 17, 2020
The Blues Came Up From The Delta On The Back Of A Rented Mule. Then It Added A Horn Section.
Burning All The Candles
& At Both Ends
From The Heartland: This Is America
Nick Reynolds / Casper Star-Tribune:
Wyoming lawmaker apologizes for tweet about Wyoming's first Black sheriff
Wright Bros. Slip The Surly Bonds Of Earth, Successful Atlas Launch
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Testing ... Testing ... One, Two ...
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Death Sentence For Eichmann, Glenn Miller Disappears, Sitting Bull Murdered, Disney Dead Too
Due to fears that he would use his influence to support the Ghost Dance movement, Indian Service agent James McLaughlin at Fort Yates ordered his arrest. During an ensuing struggle between Sitting Bull's followers and the agency police, Sitting Bull was shot in the side and head by Standing Rock policemen Lieutenant Bull Head (Tatankapah, Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Pȟá) and Red Tomahawk (Marcelus Chankpidutah, Lakota: Čhaŋȟpí Dúta), after the police were fired upon by Sitting Bull's supporters.
Monday, December 14, 2020
The Lemmings Speak: Down W/ Science!
More Songs About Food
Property Is Theft
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Saturday, December 12, 2020
Déjà Fucking Vu?
Don't Believe The Hype!
Friday, December 11, 2020
Friday Freak-Out
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Au R’voir, Petit Bourgeoisie
New Whale Species? Watch This Not At All Informative Video
[The Beeb. Even more data at The Ceeb.]'New' whale species seen off Mexican coast
Three whales spotted off the coast off Mexico are thought to be a previously unknown species. Researchers found the mammals while tracking beaked whales near the San Benito Islands in November.
Jay Barlow, a marine mammal biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, said they did not realise their discovery until later when studying photos.
The scientists are now awaiting the DNA analysis of water samples that could hold skin cells for possible DNA testing to confirm whether the whales are a new species.
If confirmed, it would bring the number of known beaked whale species to 24.
"Simply Having A Wonderful Christmastime"
“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.”Washington Post: Stealing to survive: More Americans are shoplifting food as aid runs out during the pandemic
The Intellectualist: Crimes Of Survival: More Americans Are Shoplifting Food As Poverty Deepens
Plague Schadenfreude
N.H. House Speaker Dick Hinch died from COVID-19, medical examiner finds
Hinch, who was only sworn in as leader of the state’s newly Republican-led Legislature a week ago, died Wednesday.
Ha ha ha. Fuck you all, moron Republicans.DHHS officials investigate string of COVID-19 cases stemming from NH House GOP meeting
Health officials did not specify number of cases connected to caucus meeting
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Lech Walesa Polish Prexy, Royals Break Up, Kirk Douglas 104
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
I Am Have A Pain In The Ass
Die, Pigs!
Deadliest days in American history:
— 𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 (@Sundae_Gurl) December 9, 2020
1. Galveston Hurricane - 8,000
2. Antietam - 3,600
3. 9/11 - 2,977
4. Last Thursday - 2,861
5. Last Wednesday - 2,762
6. Last Tuesday - 2.461
7. Last Friday - 2,439
8. Pearl Harbor - 2,403
December Is An Ugly Month
Monday, December 7, 2020
Galactic Conspiracy?
Really? I can't imagine Trump would keep his fat yap shut for 10 freaking secs.Aaron Reich / Jerusalem Post:
Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready — This “Galactic Federation” has supposedly been in contact with Israel and the US for years, but are keeping themselves a secret to prevent hysteria until humanity is ready. — Has the State of Israel made contact with aliens?
Phillip Nieto / The Daily Caller: Aliens Convinced Trump To Keep Them Secret, Claims Ex-Israeli Space Head
The New Arab: Former head of Israel's space programme says aliens cooperating with US, Israeli governments
Living In Infamy
SUN 7 DEC 1941
Atlantic
TU 4.1.2 (Commander Fred D. Kirtland), accompanied by salvage vessel Redwing (ARS-4) and oiler Sapelo (AO-11), while escorting convoy HX 162, reaches the MOMP; 21 of the 35 merchantmen scattered by the storm encountered on 1 December have rejoined by this time.Pacific
Unarmed U.S. Army-chartered steam schooner Cynthia Olson is shelled and sunk by Japanese submarine I 26 about 1,000 miles northwest of Diamond Head, Honolulu, T.H., 33°42'N, 145°29'W. She is the first U.S. merchantman to be sunk by a Japanese submarine in World War II. There are no survivors from the 33-man crew or the two Army passengers.Japanese Type A midget submarine attempts to follow general stores issue ship Antares (AKS-3) into the entrance channel to Pearl Harbor; summoned to the scene by the auxiliary vessel, destroyer Ward (DD-139), on channel entrance patrol, with an assist from a PBY (VP 14), sinks the intruder with gunfire and depth charges. Word of the incident, however, works its way with almost glacial slowness up the chain of command.
Army radar station at Opana Point, Oahu, soon thereafter detects an unusually large "blip" approaching from the north, but the operator reporting the contact is told not to concern himself with the matter since a formation of USAAF B-17s is expected from the west coast of the United States. The army watch officer dismisses the report as "nothing unusual." The "blip" is the first wave of the incoming enemy strike.
Consequently, "like a thunderclap from a clear sky" Japanese carrier attack planes (in both torpedo and high-level bombing roles) and bombers, supported by fighters, totaling 353 planes from naval striking force (Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi) attack in two waves, targeting ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, and nearby military airfields and installations. Japanese planes torpedo and sink battleships Oklahoma (BB-37) and West Virginia (BB-48), and auxiliary (gunnery training/target ship) Utah (AG-16). On board Oklahoma, Ensign Francis G. Flaherty, USNR, and Seaman First Class James R. Ward, as the ship is abandoned, hold flashlights to allow their shipmates to escape; on board West Virginia, her commanding officer, Captain Mervyn Bennion, directs his ship's defense until struck down and mortally wounded by a fragment from a bomb that hits battleship Tennessee (BB-43) moored inboard; on board Utah, Austrian-born Chief Watertender Peter Tomich remains at his post as the ship capsizes, securing the boilers and making sure his shipmates have escaped from the fireroom. Flaherty, Ward, Bennion, Tomich and Bennion's falling in action sets in motion a chain of events that will result in Mess Attendant First Class Doris Miller becoming the first African-American to be awarded the Navy Cross. Miller, a brawny, broad-shouldered former high school football player, is recruited to carry the mortally wounded captain from the bridge. Their egress temporarily blocked by fires, however, the men are compelled to remain on the bridge. Miller mans a .50-caliber machine gun and later tells interviewers modestly that he believes he may have damaged two low-flying Japanese planes. Sadly, Miller will not survive the war; he will perish with escort carrier Liscome Bay (CVE-56) on 24 November 1943 off the Gilberts.
Japanese bombs also sink battleship Arizona (BB-39); the cataclysmic explosion of her forward magazine causes heavy casualties, among them Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, Commander Battleship Division 1, who thus becomes the first U.S. Navy flag officer to die in combat in World War II. Both he and Arizona's commanding officer, Captain Franklin van Valkenburgh, are awarded Medals of Honor, posthumously. In addition, the ship's senior surviving officer on board, Lieutenant Commander Samuel G. Fuqua, directs efforts to fight the raging fires and sees to the evacuation of casualties from the ship; he ultimately directs the abandonment of the doomed battleship and leaves in the last boat. He is awarded the Medal of Honor.
When Arizona explodes, she is moored inboard of repair ship Vestal (AR-4); the blast causes damage to the repair ship, which has already been hit by a bomb. Vestal's captain, Commander Cassin Young earns the Medal of Honor by swimming back to his ship after being blown overboard by the explosion of Arizona's magazines, and directing her beaching on Aiea shoal to prevent further damage in the fires consuming Arizona.
Battleship California (BB-44) is hit by both bombs and torpedoes and sinks at her berth alongside Ford Island; during the battle, Ensign Herbert C. Jones, USNR, organizes and leads a party to provide ammunition to the ship's 5-inch antiaircraft battery; he is mortally wounded by a bomb explosion. Gunner Jackson C. Pharris, leading an ordnance repair party, is stunned by concussion of a torpedo explosion early in the action but recovers to set up an ammunition supply train, by hand; he later enters flooding compartments to save shipmates. Chief Radioman Thomas J. Reeves assists in maintaining an ammunition supply party until overcomes by smoke inhalation and fires; Machinist's Mate Robert R. Scott, although his station at an air compressor is flooding, remains at his post, declaring "This is my station and I will stay and give them [the antiaircraft gun crews] air as long as the guns are going." Jones, Pharris, Reeves and Scott all receive the Medal of Honor (Jones, Reeves and Scott posthumously).
Japanese bombs damage destroyers Cassin (DD-372) and Downes (DD-375), which are lying immobile in Drydock No. 1.
Minelayer Oglala (CM-4) is damaged by concussion from torpedo exploding in light cruiser Helena (CL-50) moored alongside, and capsizes at her berth; harbor tug Sotoyomo (YT-9) is sunk in floating drydock YFD-2. Contrary to some secondary accounts, Utah (a converted battleship) is not attacked because she resembled an aircraft carrier, she is attacked because, in the excitement of the moment, she looked sufficiently like the capital ship she once had been. Of the other sunken ships, California, West Virginia, Oglala, and Sotoyomo are raised and repaired; Cassin and Downes are rebuilt around their surviving machinery; all are returned to service. Oklahoma, although raised after monumental effort, is never repaired, and ultimately sinks while under tow to the west coast to be broken up for scrap. The hulks of Arizona and Utah remain at Pearl as memorials.
Battleship Nevada (BB-36), the only capital ship to get underway during the attack, is damaged by bombs and a torpedo before she is beached. Two of her men are later awarded the Medal of Honor: Machinist Donald K. Ross for his service in the forward and after dynamo rooms and Chief Boatswain Edwin J. Hill (posthumously) for his work in enabling the ship to get underway and, later, in attempting to release the anchors during the attempt to beach the ship.
Battleships Pennsylvania (BB-38), Tennessee (BB-43), and Maryland (BB-46), light cruiser Honolulu (CL-48), and floating drydock YFD-2 are damaged by bombs; light cruisers Raleigh (CL-7) and Helena (CL-50) are damaged by torpedoes; destroyer Shaw (DD-373), by bombs, in floating drydock YFD-2; heavy cruiser New Orleans (CA-32), destroyers Helm (DD-388) and Hull (DD-350), destroyer tender Dobbin (AD-3), repair ship Rigel (AR-11), and seaplane tender Tangier (AV-8)*, are damaged by near-misses of bombs; seaplane tender Curtiss (AV-4) is damaged by crashing carrier bomber; garbage lighter YG-17 (alongside Nevada at the outset) is damaged by strafing and/or concussion of bombs.
Destroyer Monaghan (DD-354) rams, depth-charges, and sinks Type A midget submarine inside Pearl Harbor proper, during the attack. This particular Type A may have been the one whose periscope harbor tug YT-153 attempts to ram early in the attack.
Light minelayer Gamble (DM-15) mistakenly fires upon submarine Thresher (SS-200) off Oahu, 21°15'N, 159°01'W.
Thresher mistakes Gamble for destroyer Litchfield (DD-336) (the latter ship assigned to work with submarines in the Hawaiian operating area), the ship with which she is to rendezvous. Gamble, converted from a flush-deck, four-pipe destroyer, resembles Litchfield. Sadly, the delay occasioned by the mistaken identity proves fatal to a seriously injured sailor on board the submarine, who dies four hours before the boat finally reaches port on the 8th, of multiple injuries suffered on 6 December 1941 when heavy seas wash him against the signal deck rail.
Carrier Enterprise (CV-6) Air Group (CEAG, VB 6 and VS 6) search flight (Commander Howard L. Young, CEAG), in two-plane sections of SBDs, begins arriving off Oahu as the Japanese attack unfolds; some SBDs meet their doom at the hands of Japanese planes; one (VS 6) is shot down by friendly fire. Another SBD ends up on Kauai where its radio-gunner is drafted into the local Army defense force with his single .30-caliber machine gun. Almost all of the surviving planes, together with what observation and scouting planes from battleship (VO) and cruiser (VCS) detachments, as well as flying boats (VP) and utility aircraft (VJ) that survive the attack, take part in the desperate, hastily organized searches flown out of Ford Island to look for the Japanese carriers whence the surprise attack had come.
Navy Yard and Naval Station, Pearl Harbor; Naval Air Stations at Ford Island and Kaneohe Bay; Ewa Mooring Mast Field (Marine Corps air facility); Army airfields at Hickam, Wheeler, and Bellows; and Schofield Barracks suffer varying degrees of bomb and fragment damage. Japanese bombs and strafing destroy 188 Navy, Marine Corps, and USAAF planes. At NAS Kaneohe Bay, Aviation Chief Ordnanceman John W. Finn mounts a machine gun on an instruction stand and returns the fire of strafing planes although wounded many times. Although ordered to leave his post to have his wounds treated, he returns to the squadron areas where, although in great pain, he oversees the rearming of returning PBYs. For his heroism, Finn is awarded the Medal of Honor.
Casualties amount to: killed or missing: Navy, 2,008; Marine Corps, 109; Army, 218; Civilian, 68; Wounded: Navy, 710; Marine Corps, 69; Army, 364; Civilian, 35. One particular family tragedy prompts concern in the Bureau of Navigation (later Bureau of Naval Personnel) on the matter of brothers serving in the same ship, a common peacetime practice in the U.S. Navy. Firemen First Class Malcolm J. Barber and LeRoy K. Barber, and Fireman Second Class Randolph H. Barber, are all lost when battleship Oklahoma (BB-37) capsizes. The Bureau considers it in the "individual family interest that brothers not be put on the same ship in war time, as the loss of such a ship may result in the loss of two or more members of the family, which might be avoided if brothers are separated." The Bureau, however, stops short of specifically forbidding the practice. On 3 February 1942, it issues instructions concerning the impracticality of authorizing transfers of men directly from recruit training to ships in which relatives are serving, and urges that brothers then serving together be advised of the undesirability of their continuing to do so. Authorizing commanding officers to approve requests for transfers to facilitate separation, the Bureau directs in July 1942 that commanding officers of ships not forward requests for brothers to serve in the same ship or station. This is too late, however, to prevent the five Sullivan brothers from serving in light cruiser Juneau (CL-52) (see 13 November 1942). Acts of heroism by sailors, marines, soldiers and civilians (from telephone exchange operator to yard shop worker), in addition to those enumerated above, abound. Among the civilians who distinguish themselves this day is Tai Sing Loo, the yard photographer, who has a scheduled appointment to take a picture of the marine Main Gate guards. During the attack, he helps the marines of the Navy Yard fire department fight fires in dry dock number one and later, in the wake of the morning's devastation, delivers food to famished leathernecks.
Japanese losses amount to fewer than 100 men, 29 planes of various types and four Type A midget submarines. A fifth Type A washes ashore off Bellows Field and is recovered; its commander (Ensign Sakamaki Kazuo) is captured, becoming U.S. prisoner of war number one.
Japanese Naval Aviation Pilot First Class Nishikaichi Shigenori, from the carrier Hiryu, crash-lands his Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 0 carrier fighter (ZERO) on the island of Niihau, T.H. He surrenders to the islanders who disarm him and confiscate his papers but, isolated as they are, know nothing of the attack on Pearl Harbor. "Peaceful and friendly," Nishikaichi is not kept in custody but is allowed to roam the island unguarded (see 9, 12-14 December).
First night recovery of planes in World War II by the U.S. Navy occurs when Enterprise turns on searchlights to aid returning SBDs (VB 6 and VS 6) and TBDs (VT 6) that had been launched at dusk in an attempt to find Japanese ships reported off Oahu. Friendly fire, however, downs four of Enterprise's six F4Fs (VF 6) (the strike group escort) that are directed to land at Ford Island. Other Enterprise SBDs make a night landing at Kaneohe Bay, miraculously avoiding automobiles and construction equipment parked on the ramp to prevent just such an occurrence.
Damage to the battle line proves extensive, but carriers Enterprise and Lexington (CV-2) are, providentially, not in port, having been deployed at the eleventh hour to reinforce advanced bases at Wake and Midway. Saratoga (CV-3) is at San Diego on this day, preparing to return to Oahu. The carriers will prove crucial in the coming months (see Chapter VI, February-May 1942). Convinced that he has proved fortunate to have suffered as trifling losses as he has, Vice Admiral Nagumo opts to set course for home, thus inadvertantly sparing fuel tank farms, ship repair facilities, and the submarine base that will prove invaluable to support the U.S. Pacific Fleet as it rebuilds in the wake of the Pearl Harbor disaster.
Midway Island is bombarded by Japanese Midway Neutralization Unit (Captain Kaname Konishi) consisting of destroyers Ushio and Sazanami; Marine shore batteries (6th Defense Battalion) return the fire, claiming damage to both ships. One of the submarines deployed on simulated war patrols off Midway, Trout (SS-202), makes no contact with the enemy ships; the other, Argonaut (SS-166), is unable to make a successful approach, and Ushio and Sazanami retire from the area. Subsequent bad weather will save Midway from a pounding by planes from the Pearl Harbor Attack Force as it returns to Japanese waters.
Damage control hulk DCH 1 (IX-44), formerly destroyer Walker (DD-163), being towed from San Diego, California, to Pearl Harbor, by oiler Neches (AO-5), is cast adrift and scuttled by gunfire from Neches at 26°35'N, 143°49'W.
Japanese declaration of war [N.B.: the so-called "Fourteen Point message" is not a declaration of war; it merely declares an impasse in the ongoing diplomatic negotiations. The Imperial Rescript declaring a state of war between the Japanese Empire and the United States is not issued until the next day, in Tokyo. pwc] reaches Washington, D.C., after word of the attack on Pearl Harbor has already been received in the nation's capital.
President orders mobilization.
*One more reminder that this reporter's father was a gunner's mate aboard the Tangier & returning fire in his skivvies.