Saturday, June 1, 2019
Do Alleged FBI Files re MLK Sexual Liaisons Portend "Me Too" Reckoning?
African-American Dodgers Pitcher Don Newcombe An FBI Source
Former U.S. Atty Andrew McCarthy nails it:
The Mueller Investigation Was Always an Impeachment Probe
Friday, May 31, 2019
On this day in 1889,
Johnstown Flood Kills 2,209
On this day in 1889, the Johnstown Flood killed 2,209 people. The flood occurred when the South Fork Dam, 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, collapsed after heavy rains. The dam had recently been bought and modified by the local hunting club, which had turned the area into a vacation retreat for notable millionaires, including Andrew Carnegie.
As the storm worsened, a dam engineer noticed that a spillway was blocked and might cause the dam to collapse. He tried to notify all local townspeople but telegraph lines were down or the warning was ignored because there had been many previous false alarms.
Ninety-nine entire families died in the flood, including 396 children. One hundred twenty-four women and 198 men were widowed, 98 children were orphaned. One-third of the dead, 777 people, were never identified; their remains were buried in the "Plot of the Unknown" in Grandview Cemetery in Westmont.
Clara Barton led 50 volunteers in the Red Cross’ first major relief effort.
The Johnstown area suffered from several subsequent floods until 1936, when the Army Corps of Engineers reworked the river and declared it “flood free.” However, in 1972, a “100 year flood” killed 78 people, caused $200 million in damage, and rendered 50,000 people homeless.
In 2016 a hydraulic analysis concluded that the hunting club’s pre-1889 modifications to the dam severely weakened it, rendering it unable to withstand severe storms like the one which caused the Johnstown Flood.
On this day in 1862,
The Battle of Seven Pines
Robert E. Lee Takes Over Confederate Army For Injured Gen. Johnston
On this day in 1862, Union and Confederate forces started the Battle of Seven Pines, a little known but bloody skirmish that proved to have a big impact on the remainder of the Civil War. The outmanned Confederate forces, led by General Joseph Johnston, tried to draw the Union forces, led by Gen. George McClellan, into a trap as the Rebels retreated to their capital, Richmond. As the Yankees struggled to cross a river and marsh area, Johnston ordered three divisions to attack one of McClellan’s vulnerable flanks from three directions. The inexperienced Rebels bungled the maneuver, allowing the Union forces to bring in reinforcements. The battle was essentially a draw but 6,000 Union soldiers and 5,000 Confederate soldiers were killed. McClellan was so distraught over the carnage he witnessed that he became far more cautious in his future battles, causing Lincoln to replace him months later. Confederate General Johnston was shot and seriously wounded during the battle, requiring his replacement by Gen. Robert E. Lee, who to this time had served without distinction in Western Virginia.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
CLIFF'S BOOK NOTES:
From Pat Buchanan, the man who presaged Trumpism and today’s major political issues more than 25 years ago.
Like many Reaganites, Buchanan believes The Gipper’s biggest mistake was picking George H. W. Bush to be his VP because this led to Bushes 41 and 43, both of whom implemented policies favored by open border, globalist free trade fundamentalists, and interventionist “war party” NeoCons.
Buchanan believes that great civilizations must be prepared to fight great wars, but they cannot survive long if they do, and he fears the U.S. has entered an era of permanent war.
The U.S. needs to be concerned because the 20th century was a graveyard for several empires (Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, German, Japanese, British, Russian).
Buchanan believes the British Empire declined because it fought two prolonged wars and sacrificed its industrial primacy for the lower consumer prices that result from global free trade, “believing money equaled wealth and financial primacy was important than manufacturing power.”
Buchanan fears the same for the U.S. given its “permanent war” in the Mideast and its loss of manufacturing to China in exchange for lower consumer prices at WalMart.
“[F]ree trade puts the demands of consumers ahead of the duties of citizens, the unbridled freedom of the individual in the marketplace ahead of all claims of family, community and country. Free trade says what is best for me, now, at the cheapest price, is what is best for America. That is not conservatism.”
Time to bring back the duel? On this day in 1806,
Andrew Jackson Kills Crack Shot Slanderer of Wife in Duel After Being Shot in Chest
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
David French agrees with Bill Barr:
Bad Law Is Corrupting the Obstruction Debate
We’ve left the definition of criminal conduct to the eye of the prosecutorial beholder.
An intellectually honest liberal,
Alan Dershowitz: Mueller has Revealed Himself as a Partisan and Worse Than Comey
Alan Dershowitz: Mueller has Revealed Himself as a Partisan and Worse Than Comey
Law Prof Jonathan Turley:
California Emergency Rooms Overwhelmed With Wait Times Averaging Five And A Half Hours
California Emergency Rooms Overwhelmed With Wait Times Averaging Five And A Half Hours
On this day in 1922,
Supreme Court Holds Baseball Exempt
from Anti-Trust Laws
Deemed a sport and not interstate commerce - until the Curt Flood case
About this day in 1861,
Lincoln Orders Arrest of Chief Justice Taney
Lincoln irate over SCOTUS decision
voiding Honest Abe's unconstitutional suspension of habeas corpus
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
SCOTUS Denies Review of Indiana Law Prohibiting Eugenic Abortions.
Clarence Thomas Dissents: The Constitution Does Not Protect Eugenic Abortions
On this day in 1957,
MLB Approves
Brooklyn Dodgers & New York Giants
Move to California
Video summary
Monday, May 27, 2019
Columbia Journalism Review:
Obama's Spying On The Press Was Far More Extensive Than Previously Thought
Liberal Law Prof Jonathan Turley:
Is Mueller Refusing To Testify In Public Because He Failed to Reach a Required Conclusion About Obstruction?
On this day in 1939,
U.S Turns Away Ship With 937 Jewish Refugees Fleeing Nazi Germany
Two-Thirds Die in Holocaust
Sunday, May 26, 2019
CLIFF'S BOOK NOTES
Richard Thaler
MISBEHAVING
The Making of Behavioral Economics
This is an easy to read and entertaining self-deprecatory semi-autobiography and history of the development of behavioral economics for which Richard Thaler won a Nobel Prize in 2015.
A graduate of fairly undistinguished schools who was deemed lazy by his friends, who his Ph. D thesis reviewers said they “did not expect much from,” but who as the son of an actuary kept wondering why some things defied convention, Thaler was instrumental in disproving standard microeconomic theory that individuals and businesses generally make rational decisions to optimize their benefit.
Thaler helped show that individuals frequently make non-rational decisions due to sunk cost, The Endowment Effect, loss aversion, status quo bias, mental budgeting, perceived bargains, lack of self-control, fairness, and other Supposedly Irrelevant Factors. [Similarly Ariely’s Predictably Irrational and Cialdini’s Presuasion.]
Thaler says the biggest non-rational decision-making he has come across is the gross overrating of the value of high first round NFL draft picks compared to the value of higher second round draft picks. Regarding the stock market, Thaler believes if it were truly efficient and rational, there would be fewer fluctuations in prices, no bubbles, and far fewer stock trades, similar to how often we buy a house or a car.
Thaler and his fellow behavioralists are generally credited with having effectively rebutted much of classical economic theory, including that espoused by my favorite economist, Milton Friedman.
Not surprisingly, upon being awarded the prize money accompanying his Nobel Prize, Thaler said he planned to spend it irrationally.
On this day 60 years ago at Milwaukee County Stadium:
Pirates' Harvey Haddix Pitches 12 Perfect Innings - Loses to Braves in the 13th
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Summary
On this day in 1924,
Coolidge Signs Restrictive Immigration Bill
Skills-based entry allowed. Mexicans, Japanese, Eastern/Southern Europeans Banned.
Former Dem senator Bob Kerrey:
“If the president of the United States is vulnerable to prosecutorial abuse, then God help all the rest of us.”
“If the president of the United States is vulnerable to prosecutorial abuse, then God help all the rest of us.”
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