Crabs and Beer!

On this day in 1943, the USS Harmon was commissioned. She was a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy. USS Harmon was named after Mess Attendant Leonard Roy Harmon, who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions on the cruiser USS San Francisco during the Battle of Guadalcanal. USS Harmon was the first warship to be named after an African-American.

Harmon was born in Cuero, Texas, on January 21, 1917. He attended the segregated all-black Daule High School before working in livestock production. He was 22 years of age when he enlisted in the United States Navy in June 1939. He trained as a Mess Attendant, one of the few jobs available to black men in the navy at that time.

During his service, Harmon became a Mess Attendant First Class and was serving aboard the San Francisco during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. On November 13, 1942, San Francisco was raked by Japanese gunfire during the battle, killing nearly every officer on the bridge. Harmon rushed in to evacuate the wounded. He assisted Pharmacist’s Mate Lyndford Bondsteel in evacuating and caring for the wounded. While the ship was being raked by enemy gunfire, Harmon helped evacuate the wounded to a dressing station. While doing so he deliberately stood between Bondsteel and enemy gunfire in order to protect his wounded shipmate. This action resulted in his death.

Harmon was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously in March 1943.

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Today is the birthday, in 1945, of Northern Irish singer, songwriter and musician Va n Morrison. Who had with Them, the 1965 UK No.2 single ‘Here Comes The Night’, and the solo, 1970 album Moondance, plus over 15 other UK Top 40 albums. He has received six Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqXSBe-qMGo

On this day in 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act received royal assent, making the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal in the British Empire with a few exceptions. The act was legislated by Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey’s reforming administration, and it was enacted by ordering the British government to purchase the freedom of all slaves in the British Empire, and by outlawing the further practice of slavery in the British Empire. The Act explicitly delineated 19 separate pots of compensation covering the Caribbean, South Africa, and Mauritius. Although Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were technically included, these had relatively few slaves at this time for other reasons. India was excluded. Around 800,000 freed slaves were attested in the claims process.

While the 1833 Act was a landmark, it did not end slavery throughout the entire British sphere of influence. The Act explicitly excluded territories like British India, where slavery was addressed separately by the Indian Slavery Act, 1843. In regions colonized later, such as Nigeria, the abolition of pre-existing local systems of slavery was a gradual process that extended into the early 20th century. Furthermore, in British protectorates, which retained their own local laws, the institution persisted for much longer. For example, slavery in Bahrain was not legally abolished until 1937.

Portrait of Earl Grey by Thomas Phillips, 1820

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photo-bombing…

Enjoy the weekend! Tell Me Something Good!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm_cFzVAoo8

On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was certified. The amendment prohibits the United States and its states from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recognizing the right of women to vote. The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women’s suffrage in the United States, at both the state and national levels, and was part of the worldwide movement towards women’s suffrage and part of the wider women’s rights movement.

Before 1776, women had a vote in several of the colonies in what would become the United States, but by 1807 every state constitution had denied women even limited suffrage. The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised 26 million American women in time for the 1920 U.S. presidential election, but the powerful women’s voting bloc that many politicians feared failed to fully materialize until decades later.

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Some dogs live very well…

BADA BING!!!

If you feel depressed, go for a run. You’ll find out that your physical health is far worse than your mental health.

After researchers found that women who jog without a bra get longer breasts, some men have started running without underwear.

Medicare will pay for your heart surgery. It will not pay for the glasses you need to read the bill afterward. Medicare doesn’t cover your teeth, eyes, or your ears. 3 things retirees actually need.

I saw an overweight woman at the bus stop today. I asked her, “When is it due?”  She said, “I’m not pregnant, you rude prick!” I said, “I meant the bus, you fat bitch!”

Just be thankful that Covid hit us when Dr. Fauci was the Chief Medical Advisor.  Can you imagine if Kennedy was in office, we’d all be dead.

Stop leaving your kids with the grandparents. I recently asked my nephew how old he was. He said, “God willing I’ll be 7 in June.”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE PEOPLE ARE COMPARING TRUMP TO SATAN. YES, HE’S EVIL, BUT HE’S CERTAINLY NOT AS EVIL AS TRUMP”.

Some are upset that tRUMP keeps falling asleep. I’m pissed off that he keeps waking up.

Can’t stop thinking about people who first ate mushrooms through trial and error. You know like, this one tastes like beef, this one killed Kevin instantly, and this one made me see God for 2 weeks.

Doc: I’m just waiting for your X-Ray.Female patient: But I’ve never dated anyone named Ray.Doc: And we might do a brain scan.

Employee: Sir, could I have a day off to help my mother-in-law move?Boss: Absolutely not! Employee: Thank you so much, I knew I could count on you!

There’s something deeply bizarre about the possibility that humanity’s first truly simultaneous global celebration, across every time zone, might be triggered by the death of a single human being.

Someone should form an organization of missionaries to go into American evangelical churches and convert them to Christianity.

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Dolly Parton… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW2TgGy5gjY

In 1814, the Burning of Washington went into its second day. It was a successful British amphibious attack conducted by Rear Admiral George Cockburn during Admiral John Warren’s Chesapeake campaign. Following the defeat of American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, a British army led by Major-General Robert Ross marched on Washington, D.C. That evening, British soldiers and sailors set fire to multiple public buildings, including the Presidential Mansion (White House), United States Capitol, and Washington Navy Yard.

The attack was in part a retaliation for prior American actions in British-held Upper Canada, in which U.S. forces had burned and looted York the previous year and had then burned large portions of Port Dover. President James Madison, along with his administration and several military officials, evacuated and found refuge for the night in Brookeville, a small town in Montgomery County, Maryland.

An 1814 watercolor and ink depiction of the United States Capitol after the burning of Washington, D.C., in the War of 1812. Painting by George Munger.

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This is Emmylou Harris with an old favorite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv6fdib3GBI

On this day in 1992, Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Homestead, Florida. Hurricane Andrew was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged or destroyed, and remained the costliest in financial terms until Hurricane Irma surpassed it 25 years later. Andrew was also the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States in decades and the costliest hurricane to strike anywhere in the country, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Passing directly through the cities of Cutler Bay and Homestead in Dade County (now known as Miami-Dade County), the hurricane stripped many homes of all but their concrete foundations and caused catastrophic damage. In total, Andrew destroyed more than 63,500 houses, damaged more than 124,000 others, caused $27.3 billion in damage (equivalent to $65 billion in 2023), and left 65 people dead.

Damage from Hurricane Andrew in a large mobile home community

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Yes, it’s Monday, but always look on the bright side…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0