#Peace Treaty Pageant

[reddirttown]

Spirit of the Prairie

In honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I am sharing the Prologue to “Spirit of the Prairie: The History of the Making of the Medicine Lodge Indian Peace Treaty Pageant.” “Spirit of the Prairie.” Contact me here to buy a book. October 1867. Smoke hangs over the valley like shreds of silver silk. The autumn dawn is perfectly still; no breeze stirs the chattery cottonwoods. The scent of coffee is…

[thechanelmuse]

Juneteenth is a Black American holiday. 

We call Juneteenth many things: Black Independence Day, Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Jubilee Day. We celebrate and honor our ancestors. 

December 31 is recognized as Watch Night or Freedom’s Eve in Black American churches because it marks the day our enslaved ancestors were awaiting news of their freedom going into 1863. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. But all of the ancestors wouldn’t be freed until June 19, 1865 for those in Galveston, Texas and even January 23, 1866 for those in New Jersey (the last slave state). (It’s also worth noting that our people under the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations wouldn’t be freed until April 28, 1866 and June 14, 1866 for those under the Cherokee Nation by way of the Treaties.)

Since 1866, Black Americans in Texas have been commemorating the emancipation of our people by way of reading the Emancipation Proclamation and coming together to have parades, free festivities, and later on pageants. Thereafter, it spread to select states as an annual day of commemoration of our people in our homeland. 

Here’s a short silent video filmed during the 1925 Juneteenth celebration in Beaumont, Texas:

(It’s also worth noting that the Mascogos tribe in Coahuila, Mexico celebrate Juneteenth over there as well. Quick history lesson: A total of 305,326 Africans were shipped to the US to be enslaved alongside of American Indians who were already or would become enslaved as prisoners of war, as well as those who stayed behind refusing to leave and walk the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma. In the United States, you were either enslaved under the English territories, the Dutch, the French, the Spanish, or under the Nations of what would called the Five “Civilized” Native American Tribes: Cherokee, Creek (Muscogee), Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminoles. Mascogos descend from the Seminoles who escaped slavery during the Seminole Wars, or the Gullah Wars that lasted for more than 100 years if you will, and then settled at El Nacimiento in 1852.)

We largely wave our red, white and blue flags on Juneteenth. These are the only colors that represent Juneteenth. But sometimes you may see others wave our Black American Heritage flag (red, black, and gold).

Juneteenth is a day of respect. It has nothing to do with Africa, diversity, inclusion, immigration, your Pan-African flag, your cashapps, nor your commerce businesses. It is not a day of “what about” isms. It is not a day to tap into your inner colonizer and attempt to wipe out our existence. That is ethnocide and anti-Black American. If you can’t attend a Black American (centered) event that’s filled with education on the day, our music, our food and other centered activities because it’s not centered around yours…that is a you problem. Respect our day for what and whom it stands for in our homeland. 

Juneteenth flag creator: “Boston Ben” Haith 

It was created in 1997. The red, white and blue colors represent the American flag. The five-point star represents the Lone State (Texas). The white burst around the star represents a nova, the beginning of a new star. The new beginning for Black Americans. 

Black American Heritage Flag creators: Melvin Charles & Gleason T. Jackson

It was created in 1967, our Civil Rights era. The color black represents the ethnic pride for who we are. Red represents the blood shed for freedom, equality, justice and human dignity. Gold fig wreath represents intellect, prosperity, and peace. The sword represents the strength and authority exhibited by a Black culture that made many contributions to the world in mathematics, art, medicine, and physical science, heralding the contributions that Black Americans would make in these and other fields. 

SN: While we’re talking about flags, I should note that Grace Wisher, a 13-year-old free Black girl from Baltimore helped stitched the Star Spangled flag, which would inspire the national anthem during her six years of service to Mary Pickersgill. I ain’t even gon hold you. I never looked too far into it, but she prob sewed that whole American flag her damn self. They love lying about history here until you start unearthing them old documents. 

In conclusion, Juneteenth is a Black American holiday. Respect us and our ancestors.

[panem-plus]

panem+ | hunger games' inception

word count. 1,076 warnings. none

President Ravinstill watched on in glee at the crowds of citizens who stood before him, eyes lit up with excitement for what punishments the Academy had come up with for the districts. Beside him stood Casca Highbottom, creator of the ever-awaiting punishment, already itching to down the morphling bottle that sat heavy in his pocket. Pockets of scarlet stood out from the crowds of grey, the eye-catching Academy Red students ready to get through the announcement ceremony and get on with their graduation that was scheduled later that day. 

Ravinstill raised his hands as he stepped upon the stone pedestal, a hush falling over the buzzing crowd. He smirked before he started his speech, reeling in the power he held over his citizens. " Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Panem, I stand before you today on a momentous occasion in the history of Panem - the signing and declaration of the Treaty of Treason." 

He held the scroll beside him up for the crowd to see, the golden seal of Panem shining brightly back at them. "This document, with the hopes and aspirations of our great nation, signifies a turning point in our relationship with the districts and the dawn of a new era for Panem." 

"As we gather here to celebrate this historic accord, let us reflect upon the journey that brought us to this pivotal moment. The districts, once disparate entities, are now bound together by the threads of understanding and cooperation, woven into the fabric of a stronger Panem." Cheers rippled through the crowds at the words of victory and unity of the Capitol. "This Treaty will not only dictate the laws of peace within the districts but as a foundation for us to build a future defined by cooperation, understanding and mutual respect." 

Ravinstill paused before he carried on with his speech, turning to face the pair standing beside him; whilst Highbottom was already downing his second bottle of the morphling he had stowed in his pockets, Doctor Volumnia Gaul stood grinning. Her maddening eyes and crazed hair matched the eerily wide smile that took over her face, her striking eyes scanned the crowd before landing on the blues of President Ravinstill himself, sending a chill down the man's spine. 

"Today signifies a crucial juncture in the annals of our esteemed nation. As your President, it is both my duty and honour to declare the full details of the Treaty to my esteemed citizens." Ravinstill turned back towards the crowd. "And to announce these details, may I president to you, Casca Highbottom, creator of the Hunger Games, himself." 

Screams and roars of applause echoed through the packed academy hall, Casca stepping up to the podium with a slight stumble. The Capitol citizens knew of the vast intelligence and genius of the Academy graduate. 

"Citizens of Panem, The Hunger Games will not be merely a spectacle; they are a symbol of our collective will to survive and thrive in the face of adversity." Highbottom hand's already shook as the nineteen-year-old stood before his old classmates. "n these trying times, we must remember that it is the responsibility of each citizen to contribute to the prosperity of Panem. The Hunger Games embody this spirit by offering two brave representatives from each of our twelve districts to participate in a display of skill, cunning, and determination." 

Whispers travelled from person to person, as the Capitol tried to decipher where Highbottom's punishment was going; was it a survival-type show? were they to be brought in as performers to perform for them all? 

"These tributes shall be delivered to the custody of the Capitol. And then transferred into a public arena, where they will fight to the death until a lone victor remains. Henceforth and forevermore this pageant shall be known as, The Hunger Games." Casca stepped down from the podium almost as quickly as he had stepped up, already regretting his decision to agree to announce the games personably. 

Dr Gaul took his place with a skip in her step, gleefully giggling as she clapped her hands loudly in front of the mic creating a booming noise that silenced the crowd once more. 

"I am Doctor Volumnia Gaul, Head Gamemaker for the inaugural Hunger Games, and Head of the War Department and all its affiliated concerns. I stand before you to give a glimpse into the meticulously crafted games where the tributes will face their trials." Gaul continued to grin wildly. "Once reaped for the Games, these tributes will be shipped to the Capitol where they will be kept on display for you all to come and see. All twenty-four children will then be sent into the Capitol Arena where only one will remain victorious. Thank you, all." 

Gaul winked at the main camera that had zoomed in on her as she stepped backwards off of the podium and seemed to slip between the President and Highbottom back into the chair she had come from. A wave of uproar started in a corner of the room at Gaul's words, having been the first to announce that these tributes were to be reaped from children. 

"I understand that the concept of the Hunger Games may be met with mixed emotions but let us not forget the purpose behind this event." Ravinstill rushed to take over the microphone, scrapping the rest of his prepared speech in hopes of earning the trust of his citizens once more. "The Games are a reminder that, as a nation, we are bound together by a common destiny. Through this shared experience, we will forge stronger connections, solidify our unity, and ensure a brighter future for generations to come." 

Thinking on the spot, Ravinstill repeated the words he remembers his mother had said to his father before he left for the war. "May the odds be ever in your favour. And may these inaugural Hunger Games serve as a beacon of hope, a testament to the indomitable spirit of Panem. Let us stand together, shoulder to shoulder, as we witness history unfold before our eyes. May the victor emerge not only triumphant in the arena but also as a symbol of our collective strength. Thank you and may Panem endure forever." 

Fireworks burst into the sky, their lights coming through the floor to ceiling windows of the Academy Hall. Far away in the depths of the districts, mothers wailed and father screamed in anguish at the announcements of their child's possible death.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.7

70 – A Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem. 878 – Louis the Stammerer is crowned as king of West Francia by Pope John VIII. 1159 – Pope Alexander III is chosen. 1191 – Third Crusade: Battle of Arsuf: Richard I of England defeats Saladin at Arsuf. 1228 – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II lands in Acre, Israel, and starts the Sixth Crusade, which results in a peaceful restoration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1303 – Guillaume de Nogaret takes Pope Boniface VIII prisoner on behalf of Philip IV of France. 1571 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, is arrested for his role in the Ridolfi plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. 1620 – The town of Kokkola (Swedish: Karleby) was founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. 1652 – Around 15,000 Han farmers and militia rebel against Dutch rule on Taiwan. 1695 – Henry Every perpetrates one of the most profitable pirate raids in history with the capture of the Grand Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai. In response, Emperor Aurangzeb threatens to end all English trading in India. 1706 – War of the Spanish Succession: Siege of Turin ends, leading to the withdrawal of French forces from North Italy. 1764 – Election of Stanisław August Poniatowski as the last ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1776 – According to American colonial reports, Ezra Lee makes the world's first submarine attack in the Turtle, attempting to attach a time bomb to the hull of HMS Eagle in New York Harbor (no British records of this attack exist). 1778 – American Revolutionary War: France invades Dominica in the British West Indies, before Britain is even aware of France's involvement in the war. 1812 – French invasion of Russia: The Battle of Borodino, the bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, is fought near Moscow and results in a French victory. 1818 – Carl III of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Norway, in Trondheim. 1822 – Dom Pedro I declares Brazil independent from Portugal on the shores of the Ipiranga Brook in São Paulo. 1856 – The Saimaa Canal was inaugurated. 1857 – Mountain Meadows massacre: Mormon settlers slaughter most members of peaceful, emigrant wagon train. 1860 – Italian unification: Giuseppe Garibaldi enters Naples. 1863 – American Civil War: Union troops under Quincy A. Gillmore capture Fort Wagner in Morris Island after a 7-week siege. 1864 – American Civil War: Atlanta is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. 1876 – In Northfield, Minnesota, Jesse James and the James–Younger Gang attempt to rob the town's bank but are driven off by armed citizens. 1901 – The Boxer Rebellion in Qing dynasty (modern-day China) officially ends with the signing of the Boxer Protocol. 1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont flies his 14-bis aircraft at Bagatelle, France successfully for the first time. 1907 – Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City. 1909 – Eugène Lefebvre crashes a new French-built Wright biplane during a test flight at Juvisy, south of Paris, becoming the first aviator in the world to lose his life in a powered heavier-than-air craft. 1911 – French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum. 1916 – US federal employees win the right to Workers' compensation by Federal Employers Liability Act (39 Stat. 742; 5 U.S.C. 751) 1920 – Two newly purchased Savoia flying boats crash in the Swiss Alps en route to Finland where they were to serve with the Finnish Air Force, killing both crews. 1921 – In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant, a two-day event, is held. 1921 – The Legion of Mary, the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church, is founded in Dublin, Ireland. 1923 – The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) is formed. 1927 – The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Farnsworth. 1929 – Steamer Kuru capsizes and sinks on Lake Näsijärvi near Tampere in Finland. One hundred thirty-six lives are lost. 1932 – The Battle of Boquerón, the first major battle of the Chaco War, commences. 1936 – The last thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial named Benjamin, dies alone in its cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. 1940 – Romania returns Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria under the Treaty of Craiova. 1940 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe begins the Blitz, bombing London and other British cities for over 50 consecutive nights. 1942 – World War II: Japanese marines are forced to withdraw during the Battle of Milne Bay. 1943 – A fire at the Gulf Hotel in Houston kills 55 people. 1943 – World War II: The German 17th Army begins its evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead (Taman Peninsula) in southern Russia and moves across the Strait of Kerch to the Crimea. 1945 – World War II: Japanese forces on Wake Island, which they had held since December 1941, surrender to U.S. Marines. 1945 – The Berlin Victory Parade of 1945 is held. 1953 – Nikita Khrushchev is elected first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 1963 – The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio with 17 charter members. 1965 – During an Indo-Pakistani War, China announces that it will reinforce its troops on the Indian border. 1965 – Vietnam War: In a follow-up to August's Operation Starlite, United States Marines and South Vietnamese forces initiate Operation Piranha on the Batangan Peninsula. 1970 – Fighting begins between Arab guerrillas and government forces in Jordan. 1970 – Vietnam Television was established. 1977 – The Torrijos–Carter Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The United States agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century. 1977 – The 300-metre-tall CKVR-DT transmission tower in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, is hit by a light aircraft in a fog, causing it to collapse. All aboard the aircraft are killed. 1978 – While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Gullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from a specially-designed umbrella. 1979 – The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for US$1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy. 1981 – British plantation company, Guthrie was taken over by the Malaysian government after successfully purchasing shares to become the major shareholder. This is famously called the 'Dawn Raid attack'. 1984 – An explosion on board a Maltese patrol boat disposing of illegal fireworks at sea off Gozo kills seven soldiers and policemen. 1986 – Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town. 1988 – Abdul Ahad Mohmand, the first Afghan in space, returns to Earth after nine days on the Mir space station. 1996 – Rapper and hip hop artist Tupac Shakur is fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He succumbs to his injuries six days later. 1997 – Maiden flight of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. 1999 – The 6.0 Mw  Athens earthquake affected the area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 143, injuring 800–1,600, and leaving 50,000 homeless. 2005 – Egypt holds its first-ever multi-party presidential election. 2008 – The United States government takes control of the two largest mortgage financing companies in the US, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 2010 – A Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats in disputed waters near the Senkaku Islands. 2011 – A plane crash in Russia kills 43 people, including nearly the entire roster of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Kontinental Hockey League team. 2012 – Canada officially cuts diplomatic ties with Iran by closing its embassy in Tehran and orders the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa, over nuclear plans and purported human rights abuses. 2017 – The 8.2 Mw  2017 Chiapas earthquake strikes southern Mexico, killing at least 60 people. 2017 – Equifax announce a cyber-crime identity theft event potentially impacting approximately 1451⁄2 million U.S. consumers. 2019 – Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and 66 others are released in a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.

[olivia-longueville]

His main triumph was to retain the king’s favor for years

On November 29, 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was in the king’s favor for most of his life, died at Leicester Abbey around the age of 57.

From 1515 to 1529, Wolsey had a profound influence on King Henry.  He was an extremely dedicated and ardent administrator who held various important positions in the government and in the Roman Catholic Church in England, including Lord Chancellor and Papal Legate.

Henry VIII’s ascension to the throne was viewed as the dawn of a new majestic age in England.   Wolsey was always by the king’s side, always ready to dispense knowledge and wisdom to his sovereign, always ready to cater to Henry’s every whim.  He wanted to play a significant role in England’s politics and help usher the country into an era of stability and prosperity.  Wolsey fawned over the new king and flattered him to the utmost, and soon Henry noticed him.

A few months after his coronation, the king appointed Wolsey royal almoner.  Young Henry was an intelligent, well-educated, and clever man, but like most monarchs, he preferred the pleasurable aspect of his rule to the ordinary routine of state affairs which had to be conducted with dignity and skill.  The king was well disposed towards Wolsey and eagerly delegated the major responsibility of running the government to the competent man.  Henry allowed Wolsey to make most of the decisions.

Cardinal Wolsey was known for being an efficient administrator, both for the Crown and the Church.  He was made Archbishop of York in 1514 and then a Cardinal in 1515. Fortune’s wheel was spinning in Wolsey’s favor again: he became a papal legate in 1518, and, in 1524, his appointment as papal legate was renewed for life. It seemed that God smiled down on Wolsey and blessed his career in the Church, making him feel as if he were standing near the golden gates to paradise while still being on earth.  Indeed, he became the most important clergyman in England, and all his positions gave him absolute control of the Church within the kingdom. Soon afterwards, King Henry appointed him Lord Chancellor.

The king trusted Wolsey so much that he would allow him to do things that he wouldn’t ordinarily permit his other subjects.  Wolsey became fully responsible for England’s foreign policy and had near-complete control of England’s state affairs.  Even though England had meager resources and was not in a position to generate sufficient funds for constant military training of royal armies and shipbuilding, Wolsey still succeeded in creating a consistent, pragmatic, and flexible foreign policy.  A clever man by nature, Wolsey comprehended that Henry’s much-desired foreign policy – to obtain the crown of France – was unrealistic because England’s resources were small compared to those of other nations, and he managed to delicately balance on the thin line between his sovereign’s desires and real possibilities.

Wolsey allied England with powerful countries to ensure that the country’s security and interests were protected.  Famous events such as the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 added to the prestige of England abroad.  Treaty of London of 1518 (a non-aggression pact between the major European nations) was his greatest success, binding twenty countries together in peace, including Burgundy, France, England, the Holy Roman Empire, the Netherlands, the Papal States, and Spain.

Despite being Chancellor and controlling the country’s foreign policy, Cardinal Wolsey failed to develop England’s overseas trade and to ensure that royal revenue increased at the same rate as the king’s spending, because his knowledge of finance was poor.  In the early 16th century, the economy was changing (the so-called Price Revolution which refers to the high rate of inflation that occurred during this period across Western Europe), but Wolsey didn’t comprehend the complexities behind this change.

Thomas Wolsey was quite successful in his administration of the Church. The reorganization of the dioceses to correspond with population levels was his main success and a useful reform.  He endeavored to ensure that the Church served Henry’s interests, and these aspirations were explained by his strong sense of loyalty to the king.  He dissolved a number of small monasteries in order to build Cardinal College at Oxford and a school at Ipswich because of his desire to increase the educational level of priests to counter the spreading Lutheran teachings, but contemporaries thought that their creation was meant to leave a permanent mark of Wolsey’s power in England.  Wolsey also attempted to try and control Irish dioceses by appointing English clergyman to position there.

There are also many negative points about Wolsey’s administration of the Church.  There were too many bishoprics and abbotships which he controlled but never visited.  Most of them were controlled by him for financial purposes, and he didn’t know what was happening in them.  Such bishoprics included York, which he was Archbishop of for 15 years and didn’t go there once.

Unfortunately, being selfish and greedy like any sane man in power, Wolsey sought to increase his wealth and, thus, channeled some of his energy into clerical affairs, including appointments and elections of clergy.  For the purpose of personal enrichment, he kept bishoprics vacant and took the income from them, and he even made up his mind to introduce an inheritance tax on wills.  Furthermore, Wolsey took advantage of his secular power in increasing his income by making nobles present him with expensive gifts.

Geoffrey Moorhouse characterizes Thomas Wolsey in the book “The Pilgrimage of Grace”:

“Arrogant by nature, he [Thomas Wolsey] was also greedy for emoluments of one sort and another, a lucrative Church appointment here, the acquisition of property there. He built palaces, including Hampton Court, and in these he entertained extravagantly with an entourage which far outnumbered that of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who would attend royal pageants with seventy servants, whereas Wolsey always turned up with 300 or more. Like many another priest he fathered children and saw to it that his son was promoted to one valuable benefice after another, despite the fact that he was not even old enough to be ordained. On the other hand, mindful of his own background, he had much sympathy for the poor in any struggle they had with the rich (who regarded him as an upstart) and he appointed commissions to look into the vexatious matter of enclosures; though it did little good, because it did not address the real problems of rural poverty, he had illegally created hedges and walls pulled down and open fields restored. His greatest achievement at home was to overhaul the legal system and provide it with a sound bedrock on which later reforms could be built.”

Cardinal Wolsey’s main triumph was to retain the king’s high favor until 1529, for so long, in spite of having a swarm of enemies.  He achieved that by keeping other councilors’ and nobles’ access to Henry limited and by ensuring that he had the sole control of the daily state affairs.

His fate was sealed when he failed to accomplish the annulment of King Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn.  Catherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, controlled the pope at the time, especially after the Sack of Rome in 1527.  It is possible that Anne Boleyn and her faction conspired against Wolsey and persuaded King Henry that the cardinal was deliberately slowing proceedings. The pope decided that the official decision regarding Henry’s first marriage would be made in Rome, not England, but that was not what the king wished.

King Henry supposed that Wolsey, as “Legate a latere” (a papal legate of the highest class) had the significant influence in Rome and could convince the pope to grant him his annulment. Consequently, Henry probably believed the Boleyns, and Wolsey fell out of the king’s favor.  On the king’s orders, Wolsey was stripped of his offices and property, including the magnificent Hampton Court. At first, he was permitted to remain Archbishop of York, so he journeyed to Yorkshire for the first time in his life. When he arrived in North Yorkshire, he learned that he had been accused of high treason and commanded to return to London. A distressed Wolsey set out for the capital, but he fell ill on the journey and passed away soon.

Just before his death, Cardinal Wolsey reputedly spoke these words:

“I see the matter against me how it is framed. But if I had served God as diligently as I have done the King, he would not have given me over in my grey hairs.”

[jroamieee-blog]

The Province of Bohol

Bohol is a province of the Philippines, in the country’s Central Visayas region. It comprises Bohol Island and numerous smaller surrounding islands. Bohol is known for coral reefs and unusual geological formations, notably the Chocolate Hills. On the main island, near the town of Carmen, these 1,200 or so symmetrical mounds turn cocoa-brown in the dry season, contrasting with the surrounding jungle's greenery.

Image Source: http://carmenanon.online/?p=55

Chocolate Hills of Bohol

The Chocolate Hills are considered one of Philippine's natural wonders and Bohol is often referred to as the Jewel of the Philippines. They are hills made of limestone left over from coral reefs during the Ice Age when the island was submerged. They turn brown during the summer.

Image Source: https://500px.com/search/chocolate%20hills-photos

The Philippine Tarsier

The Philippine tarsier, (Tarsius syrichta or Carlito syrichta) is very peculiar small animal. In fact it is one of the smallest known primates, no larger than a adult men's hand. Mostly active at night, it lives on a diet of insects. Folk traditions sometimes has it that tarsiers eat charcoal, but actually they retrieve the insects from (sometimes burned) wood. It can be found in the islands of Samar, Leyte, Bohol, and Mindanao in the Philippines.

Image Source: http://www.bohol-philippines.com/tarsiers.html

Sandugo Festival Bohol

The Sandugo Festival is an annual historical celebration that takes place every year in Tagbilaran City on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. This festival commemorates the Treaty of Friendship between Datu Sikatuna, a chieftain in Bohol, and Spanish conquistador Migel Lopez de Legazpi. This 16th-century peace treaty occurred on March 16, 1565 through a blood compact or "sandugo".

The Sandugo Festival is held every July. The Tagbilaran City Charter Day on July 1 kicks-off the month-long festival with a holy mass, diana, motorcade and program sponsored by the City Government of Tagbilaran. Among the major activities during the month is the Miss Bohol Sandugo Beauty Pageant, and the Sandugo Street Dancing Competition which is usually held on the 3rd or 4th Sunday of July, and organized by the Bohol Sandugo Foundation, Inc. (BSFI).

Image Source: https://www.linawbeachresort.com/area-information/

@maamdoralakwatsera #Phwolit

[jhamaicavaldez]

The Sandugo Festival is an annual historical celebration that takes place every year in Tagbilaran City on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. This festival commemorates the Treaty of Friendship between Datu Sikatuna, a chieftain in Bohol, and Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi. This 16th-century peace treaty occurred on March 16, 1565 through a blood compact or "sandugo".[1][2]

The Sandugo Festival is held every July. The Tagbilaran City Charter Day on July 1 kicks-off the month-long festival with a holy mass, diana, motorcade and program sponsored by the City Government of Tagbilaran. Among the major activities during the month is the Miss Bohol Sandugo Beauty Pageant, and the Sandugo Street Dancing Competition which is usually held on the 3rd or 4th Sunday of July, and organized by the Bohol Sandugo Foundation, Inc.

[ramrodd]

The rise of nationalism around the globe began in 1981  with Reagan, but Robert Kagan’s Project for the New American Century lit the afterburners behind the astroturfing. Netayahu is just a fellow traveler in Rudy Giuliani’s “drug deal”.

COMMENTARY:

Robert Kagan is an apologist, and active agent, for the Project for the New American Century, the neo-con rationalization for the criminal invasion of Iraq.

The rise of Nationalism since 1981 reflects the commitment of the GOP Shadow Agenda to blow up the peaceful structures Nixon and Moynihan conceived and installed to leverage the legacy of the New Deal and the Marshall Plan, and to catch the global wave set into motion by Apollo 11 in order to complete the transition from the Military Industrial Complex to an Aerospace- Entrepreneurial Matrix set into motion when Eisenhower doubled down on the New Deal with his 1956 Presidential Platform. If either Carter or Bush the Elder had been re-elected, there would have been a NASA-Soyuz lab on the moon by 2001, just like the movie, and man would be engaged in an active survey on Mars.

Robert Kagan represents the right-wing agenda that has successfully sabotaged that agenda since people like Roger Stone and Pat Buchanan came to town with Reagan in 1981. Robert Kagan and Bill Kristol were the authors of The Project for the New American Century and it is the antithesis of the Nixon-Moynihan peaceful structures. In terms of the global rule of law, The Project for the New American Century is the diplomatic equivalent of the Nuremberg racial laws that enabled the Final Solution. The invasion of Iraq, which is the reason why The Project for the New American Century was published, was a war crime, initiated entirely for the benefit of Richard "Dick" Cheney, America's favorite war criminal, Houston Big Oil patrons. He was hired out of governent to be a rain maker and, with Operation Iraqi Freedom, he delivered.

And, of course, this is the reason why the people in the GOP are so outraged by the insignificant shake down of Zirinsky: it's part of a bigger on-going criminal agenda and, when it comes to High Crimes and Misdimeanors, Cheney is the bar Pelosi has to get over to convict and too many people within 3 degrees of Robert Kagan in the GOP Shadow Agenda have bet the ranch on what Bush the Elder called a "big River Boat gamble" and Donny Duck Ass is just the current agent of the Project for the New American Century.

Robert Kagan's Russian narrative requires Putin to be the bad guy: it is the impluse behind Hillary Clinton's outburst at Tulsi Gabbard, who recognizes the essential fraud of the regime change dynamic of the Project of the New American Century. The fact that Hillary Clinton still fails to recognize the moral equivalence of the assassination of the Diem brothers and the murder of Ghaddafi reflects Kagan's influence in the Obama-Clinton foreign policy, which they inherited from Bush-Cheney.

I voted for Obama, twice, and I'd vote for him a third time, but he needs to return his Nobel Peace Prize because he and Clinton, in an inadvertant complicity with Bush-Cheney, extended America's status as an outlaw nation. I assumed that Obama would restore the (Bill) Clinton Doctrine that obtained as a result of the Dayton Accords and America's moral leadership, globally. Instead, they, Obama-Clinton, doubled-down on the Project for the New American Century with the murder of Ghaddafi and essentially created the moral vacuum which allowed the Ukraine to be astroturfed by the same people who astroturfed Brexit and perverted the 2016 election, to produce the Ukranian Independence movement.

Contrary to the Kagan-Clinton Russian narrative, it wasn't Putin. It was the same business associates Donny Duckass partnered with to stage the Miss Universe Pageant and has now been caught in bed with Rudy Giuliani's "drug deal". As long as Putin is the Russian boogeyman, the nature of the treason Donny Duckass committed to be elected won't be apparent.

Mueller established that there was no collusion between Putin and the Trump organization. If there had been, there would be a Moscow Trump Tower.

Putin is not connected with the Russian Oligarch's who invested in the Miss Universe Pageant. The Russian Oligarchs represent the people who sent the tanks to crush democracy that Yeltsin faced down. By definition, these people included the Russian mafia emerging from Soviet Marxism. Virtually everything that kept the Soviet Union running from the Bolsheviks until Gorbachev pulled the plug was anti-dialectical if not specifically illegal.

Since the World Wide Web actually became the World Wide Web, hacking has been a major Russian cottage industry, dwarfing the Swedish dark web of Lisbeth Salander by several magnitudes, if not capability. I ran into it in 2013 in connection to Ukrainian Independence and I have no sense of its dimensions. Not everything is criminal in the Russian Dark Web, but the existential threat to the constitutional structures of Russia, as personified by Putin, is connected directly to the transnational criminal consortium that hacked the 2016 election and supported the perversion of the election by Duckass Donny through the theft of intellectual property from the Clinton campaign that resulted in the gaming of the Electoral College.

The purpose of the astroturfing of the Ukraine was to create the Free Market Fascism of a open economy like Panama where businessmen like Donny Duckass, the Kushner family, privateers like Bill Brower and Jeffrey Epstein and the various mafia families represented the rule of law and could do business above it.

And, basically, Robert Kagan and Bill Kristol created the ideological construct to achieve this end as a function of national defense and continues to constantly advocate for their neo-con wet dream contained in the Project for the New American Century.

The irony is that Donny Duckass ran on the (Bill) Clinton Doctrine because he hates all things Obama and created the opportunity to end the Korean War because Chairman Kim began to spool up his nukes and rockets program as a direct result of the demonstrated threat against him, personally, by both the Bush-Cheney and Obama-Clinton enthusiastic exercise of the regime change elements of the Project for the New American Century and the murder of Ghaddafi lit the afterburners in his activities. For various reasons, Chairman Kim is prepared to give away the ranch to complete a DPRK-ROK Peace Treaty, which is why he sent his sister to the Winter Olympics. The thing is, like Putin, he isn't going to do business on the basis of the lie, cheat and steal "Art of the Deal" business model of Donny Duckass and, until he keeps his promise to change his ways, publically, there won't be any collusion between him and Kim, either.

And his attempts to enforce the crime family tactics employed against the Ukraine to do a deal will just delay the diplomacy until Sleepy Joe Biden can restore the (Bill) Clinton Doctrine as National Policy and release the Peace Dividend the end of the Korean War achieve.W

The only thing preventing the end of the Korean War is Rober Kagan's Project for the New American Century and Duckass Donny's vanity.

[racefortheironthrone]

One question why is their a large lack of large scale big knight orders like the knights templar knights hospitaler and Teutonic Knights even warhammer has the down with the reiksguard knights of the white wolf and knights of Moore so for example I think their would be say a knights of the golden lion and you should make up orders for all the kingdoms

Ok, well you’ve pushed me into it…

The Vale: The Brotherhood of Winged Knights, natch. Seven knights to honor the Seven. Chosen by a tourney of no less than 77 applicants to guard the King of the Mountain and Vale for seven years. To honor the memory of Artys Arryn’s victory, the Brotherhood have a custom of insisting that any Arryn who takes the field of battle must don an eighth set of the armor and livery of the Brotherhood, to ensure that his enemies cannot spy him out. And hey, let’s go nuts and say that the Winged Knights are especially feared for their horse-frightening harnesses. 

The Riverlands: The Order of the Trident. One of the more recent chivalric orders in Westeros, the Order of the Trident was founded by House Teague in order to bolster their hold on their newly-won kingdom. By their original charter, the knights of the Trident were charged with maintaining the peace on the “roads and rivers of our kingdom,” which led to the construction of many chapter houses at fords and other intersections where travelers could sleep protected - in more recent centuries following the fall of House Teague, many of these chapter houses were abandoned and later converted into inns. This charter also requires each member to maintain a shallow-drafted warship of no less than 10 oars a side, which may explain their ceremonial weapons. Notably, rather than implicitly stating it, only members of the Faith of the Seven are allowed to join, which is why no Blackwood has ever participated and why every single generation of Brackens have held membership (with no less than a dozen grand-masters among them). According to rumor, the Order may have been instrumental behind-the-scenes in many of the rebellions against those rulers who succeeded the Teagues to the crown of the Riverlands - which is probably false…

The Westerlands: The Grand and Most Puissant Order of the Golden Mane. Unlike most orders of chivalry in Westeros, the Order of the Golden Mane was primarily not a martial order - rather, the Order was established during the reign of King Norwin Lannister as a means of raising revenue, with membership dues being originally listed at 100 grains of pure gold annually. In exchange for their dues, members were granted knighthoods if they did not already have them, but also a number of privileges including the right to be tried only by the Order, the right to arbitration by the Order in all disputes between fellow members, and even the right to advise the king on “weighty matters.” During the rule of Tytos Lannister, these privileges were badly abused by dozens of social climbers, leading to the diminishment of the order’s prestige and an increase in public disorder, as many used the order’s immunity from normal criminal procedure as a shield against Casterly Rock itself. Shortly before the Reynes of Castamere, Tywin Lannister raised the membership fee to five times the member’s body-weight in gold, and then took advantage of a number of sudden vacancies to have the order declared extinct due to lack of quorum. 

The Reach: since the Order of the Green Hand is taken, let’s talk about the Lady Companions of the Blessed Maris. Given the Reach’s love affair with tourneys, pageants, dances, and other social occasions, someone has to do the organizing of the social calendar, otherwise the whole thing goes haywire and vendettas set up. Guided by an inner circle of noblewomen who can trace their descent to Maris the Maid, Rowan Goldenhair, or Ellyn Ever-Sweet (all women of acceptable moral purity, although of course the Gardener Queen was always given a position out of respect for Highgarden), the Lady Companions make sure that each seat of note is appropriately honored with fetes, that there are always enough tourneys to keep the knights occupied while ensuring decent attendance at each, and that enough mixed-gender events are held to ensure that the right young ladies meet the right young men. While the Green Hand may have perished on the field of battle, the work of the Lady Companions continue to this day, although there was much grumbling when a certain Tyrell claimed the Gardener Seat for her house on the grounds that Aegon had deeded Highgarden to them.

The Stormlands: The Ancient and Most Honorable Guild of Castlewrights. While the origins of the Guild are lost to legend and myth (some tales claim that the founders of the guild were the assistants of the mysterious Brandon who built the final castle of Storm’s End), the Stormlands takes the construction of castles more seriously than any other realm. To that end, the Durrandon kings gave (in addition to the honor of knighthood) this order the “responsibility for inspecting and maintaining the castles of my kingdom,” along with some fairly wide-ranging powers to commandeer labor and materials to make repairs when necessary for the defense of the realm. Over the centuries, the Guild turned into an order of knights who were experts both in the construction of castles and siegecraft. Many a seemingly desperate siege was won or lost due to the presence of a single Guildman using their authority to take over direction of assault or defense of the castle, especially in the Marches. Famously, the Guildmen take an oath never to allow themselves to be captured alive, lest they be tortured into revealing their occult wisdom. 

Dorne: The Knights of the Wells. If there is anything that unites the often fractious peoples of Dorne, it is their common love of horse-riding. Thus, to keep their people happy and distracted, the Martells have organized both hippodrome races and cross-country races for the better part of a thousand years. Recruited from among the ranks of the winners, the Knights of the Wells were trained in the arts of cartography by maesters from Sunspear, given the best sand steeds that the Martells can buy and, formally, charged with little more than accurately mapping the oft-foreboding terrain of Dorne. Informally, the Knights of the Wells were the Martells’ best spies and scouts, who use their superior knowledge of the land to guide the armies of Dorne and track the armies of her enemies, and many wars have been won (or lost) because of the bravery and cunning of these swordless knights. Membership in the Wells is a dangerous proposition, however - both in Aegon’s War and Daeron’s, the order saw casualties of more than nine in ten of their members, with the Targaryens frequently posting lavish bounties for their deaths. Indeed, it was a significant provision of Daeron II’s treaty that the Martells were forbidden from re-establishing the Knights of the Wells, although some claim the order continues in secret…

[1765liberty]

Russia Timeline

It’s been a while and a lot has happened with the Russia story.

I believe the following is the most comprehensive timeline out there detailing past and present developments surrounding the Russian involvement in the elections and potential connections to Trump.  There's likely a lot more - this is just what I've been able to find through media reporting, and just where I believe an established connection has been shown. If you don't believe there's a connection after reading this, I'm not sure what else will convince you.

Please feel free to share as widely as you like.  

April 2009 Sergei Millian (born Sergei Kukut), President of the Russian  American Chamber of Commerce (an organization that  bailed Trump out after his last bankruptcy when no bank would loan him money) states “We have signed formal agreements with… The Trump Organization… to jointly service the Russian clients’ commercial, residential and industrial real estate needs, [After meeting Michael Cohen]  Trump Organization & Related Group […] signed an exclusive contract with  me for promoting their companies in Russia and CIS countries,” Millian said in an interview.  Millian was quoted in an ABC News interview as saying Trump benefitted to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars from business dealings with Russia.    

2011 In January 2016, the NY Times ran a story about a Russian government-backed investment fund started by Putin in 2011. Authorities signed up a high-powered board of international advisers to oversee its activities, a group that included American private equity executives David Bonderman of TPG and Stephen A. Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group.

After the United States and Europe imposed economic sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict in 2014, many board members distanced themselves (Schwarzman was one). The fund has been known to make numerous LARGE investments (like $1B+) in Russian businesses with equally large conflicts of interest.

April 18, 2012 In a joint announcement by Exxon/Mobil’s CEO Rex Tillerson and Rosneft Executive Chairman Igor Sechin, Exxon and state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft unveil an offshore exploration partnership that could invest upward of $500 billion in developing Russia's vast energy reserves in the Arctic and Black Sea.  Sechin, a close ally of Russian Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin, hailed the partnership, saying it had already added $7 billion to Exxon and Rosneft's combined market capitalization since it was announced.

June 21, 2013 Vladimir Putin awards Rex Tillerson the Order of Friendship.The Order of Friendship is awarded to Russian and foreign nationals for special merit in strengthening peace, friendship, cooperation and understanding between nations.

November 19, 2013 Trump holds Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.  During this trip, later intelligence reports would suggest the KGB/FSB filmed Trump watching Russian prostitutes perform "golden showers" in his hotel room and began compiling compromising financial and personal information on Trump.

December 17, 2013 A treaty between the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Vladimir Putin is signed whereby it was agreed that Russia would buy $15 billion of Ukrainian Eurobonds and that the cost of Russian natural gas supplied to Ukraine would be lowered to $268 per 1,000 cubic metres (the price was more than $400 at the time). The deal relinquished Crimea's Kerch peninsula to the Russian Navy, granting Russia highly desirable warm-water ports and strategic access to the Mediterranean and beyond. The treaty was signed amid massive, ongoing protests in Ukraine for closer ties between Ukraine and the European Union.

The treaty became defunct months later when Russia halted its purchase of Eurobonds and ousted President Yanukovich on February 22, 2014 and the Russian natural gas discount was cancelled in April of 2014.

February 22, 2014 Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych flees Kiev during a series of violent protests.  Later, Vladimir Putin admits to helping Yanukovych escape Ukraine to Russia.

February 28-March 18, 2014 Russia invades the Ukraine and annexes Crimea and Sebastopol.  

March 17, 2014 The US, the EU and Canada introduce the first round of specifically targeted sanctions against Russian the day after the Crimean referendum and a few hours before the Russian president Vladimir Putin, by signing a decree recognizing Crimea as an independent state, laid the groundwork for its annexation by Russia.  The sanctions lead to the Russian financial crisis with losses estimated at $100 Billion Euros.

March 24, 2014 In an interview with Fox and NBC News Trump suggests imposing sanctions to hurt Russia economically and then later says he supports such sanctions. Trump also says (about Mitt Romeny) "Well, Mitt was right, and he was also right when he mentioned in one of the debates about Russia, and he said, 'Russia's our biggest problem, and Russia is, you know, really something."

April 28, 2014 The United States imposes a ban on business transactions within its territory on seven Russian officials, including Igor Sechin, executive chairman of the Russian state oil company Rosneft, and seventeen Russian companies.  The result includes a block of the formerly announced partnership between Exxon and Rosneft worth $500 billion.

February 25, 2015 Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov visits his friend and colleague, Ilya Yashin, to ask for help with his latest investigation: a sensitive report on Russian soldiers secretly fighting in Ukraine.

February 27, 2015 Nemtsov is shot dead near the Kremlin as he was walking home.

May 28, 2015 Nemtsov's report was published with the help of friends Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza.  The report alleges that Russian troops have taken part in the Ukrainian conflict – with at least 220 killed – and that Russia has covertly supplied the rebels with military hardware, intelligence and training. Putin denies Russian forces have been involved in the war.

May, 2015 Kara-Murza is hospitalized from an attempted poisoning.  He would survive, only to be hospitalized from a 2nd attempted poisoning in 2017 following a trip to Russia.

June 16, 2015 Donald Trump announces he will run for president of the United States.

July 2015 A hacking group possibly linked to the FSB, the main successor to the K.G.B., entered Democratic National Committee servers undetected for nearly a year, security researchers said. The group was nicknamed Cozy Bear, the Dukes or A.P.T. 29 for “advanced persistent threat.”

December 10, 2015 Lt. Gen Michael Flynn sat at Putin's table for the 10th anniversary gala of Russia's state owned television network, RT.  Flynn had made a paid appearance on the network.

December 17, 2015 Putin is quoted as saying (about Trump), "He’s a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt,” Putin told reporters, according to a translation by Interfax. "It’s not our job to judge his qualities, that’s a job for American voters, but he’s the absolute leader in the presidential race.”

March 2016 Investigators believe that the G.R.U., or a hacking group known as Fancy Bear or A.P.T. 28, was the second group to break into the D.N.C., but it played a bigger role in releasing the committee’s emails.

March 21, 2016 Trump names Carter Page one of his foreign policy advisors.  Page, Managing Partner of Global Energy Capital, is known for brokering energy deals in Russia and has been an advisor to (and investor in) Gazprom, the Russian state-controlled natural gas company.

April 20, 2016 Trump promotes Paul Manafort to campaign chair and chief strategist.  Manafort worked as a political consultant for the Ukraine’s ruling party from 2006-2012, and specifically for then-Ukrainian Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych (whom he helped get into office). During that time, Manafort persuaded the Ukrainian government to change its grain policies in a way that benefited a U.S. agribusiness giant, and to consider deals with Exxon and Chevron for oil exploration.

Manafort and Roger Stone (both now working for Trump) were former business partners at Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, a Washington lobbyist group that lobbied on behalf of foreign dictators like Mohamed Siad Barre of Somalia, dictator Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, dictator Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, and Jonas Savimbi of Angola.  They also represented Bethlehem Steel and The American Tobacco Institute as well as helping get Senators Phil Gramm, Jesse Helms, Charles McCurdy Mathias Jr., Arlen Specter, Paula Hawkins and David F. Durenberger get elected.

June 14, 2016 Russian government hackers penetrate the computer network of the DNC and gain access to the entire database of opposition research on Donald Trump.

June 15, 2016 American cyber-technology firm Crowdstrike releases a detailed statement about Russian hacking of the DNC. Trump’s team issues a statement: “We believe it was the DNC that did the ‘hacking’ as a way to distract from the many issues facing their deeply flawed candidate and failed party leader.” A hacker calling himself Guccifer 2.0 says he’s given the hacked emails to WikiLeaks, and also publishes them himself, complete with telltale Russian-language formatting errors.

July 2016 A January 27, 2017 Business Insider article details a dossier with unverified claims about President Donald Trump's ties to Russia contained allegations that Igor Sechin, Executive Chairman of Rosneft (and former deputy prime minister), offered former Trump foreign policy advisor Carter Page and his associates the brokerage of a 19% stake in the company in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions on Russia.   The dossier says the offer was made in July, when Page was in Moscow giving a speech at the Higher Economic School and just prior to the Republican National Convention. The claim was sourced to "a trusted compatriot and close associate" of Sechin, according to the dossier's author, former British spy Christopher Steele. Yahoo News (September 23) reports that on that same Page trip, U.S. intelligence agencies received reports that Page met with another top Putin aide while in Moscow — Igor Diveykin. A former Russian security official, Diveykin now serves as deputy chief for internal policy and is believed by U.S. officials to have responsibility for intelligence collected by Russian agencies about the U.S. election.

July 18, 2016 The Washington Post reports the Trump campaign worked behind the scenes on a Republican convention platform plank.  It gutted the GOP's longstanding support for Ukrainians' popular resistance to Russia's 2014 intervention.

July 22, 2016 WikiLeaks publishes the first in a series of hacked emails taken from the DNC. It releases a statement on Twitter reading, "Today, Friday 22 July 2016 at 10:30am EDT, WikiLeaks releases 19,252 emails and 8,034 attachments from the top of the US Democratic National Committee -- part one of our new Hillary Leaks series," the introduction says. "The leaks come from the accounts of seven key figures in the DNC," including Communications Director Luis Miranda (10,770 emails), National Finance Director Jordon Kaplan (3,797 emails), Finance Chief of Staff Scott Comer and others. The newly released emails cover the period from January 2015 through May 25, 2016.

July 24, 2016 Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigns from her position as DNC Chair amid email revelations that party officials were trying to undermine the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders. Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook tells ABC News' "This Week" that their researchers (Crowdstrike) believe the Russians are responsible for the attack.

July 25, 2016 The FBI announces it's investigating the hack. The DNC apologizes to Sen. Sanders. Trump: "The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me."

July 27, 2016 In a news conference, Trump tells reporters that if Russia is behind the DNC hack that they most likely accessed her deleted emails from her tenure as secretary of state."By the way, if they hacked, they probably have her 33,000 emails. I hope they do," Trump said. "They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted.” He then says, directly facing toward the cameras: "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing."

At the same press conference Trump insisted, "I never met Putin. I've never spoken to him."

July 28, 2016 Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News' "Fox & Friends," clarifies that "of course" he was being "sarcastic" with his comments about Russia hacking into Clinton's deleted emails.

August 6, 2016 NPR confirms the Trump campaign's involvement in the Republican platform change on Ukraine.

August 14, 2016 A New York Times investigation conducted with the help of Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau shows that Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort received $12.7 million in cash from the former president of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych.

August 19, 2016 The investigation causes Manafort to step down from his post. Steve Bannon replaces Manafort as Chief Strategist and Kellyanne Conway replaces Manafort as Trump’s campaign manager.

August 30, 2016 Harry Reid (R-Nev) writes to FBI Director James B. Comey asking him to initiate an investigation into Page’s Moscow visit stating the FBI should investigate his meetings as part of a larger look into whether the Trump campaign was conspiring with the Russian government to tamper with the U.S. presidential election.

September 13, 2016 UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin lodges a formal complaint with the United Nations over a top U.N. official's condemnations of Donald Trump and some European politicians. Eight days before, Zeid went after Trump in a speech in The Hague, Netherlands, lumping the billionaire businessman with several populist leaders in Europe. "All seek in varying degrees to recover a past, halcyon and so pure in form, where sunlit fields are settled by peoples united by ethnicity or religion," Zeid said, calling it a sentiment they share with the Islamic State. "This is not only strange — it's scary," senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan said. "A major-party candidate for the presidency of the United States is being protected by the Kremlin. Wow."

September 23, 2016 Yahoo news reports that although Trump first mentioned Carter Page’s name when asked to identify his “foreign policy team” during an interview with the Washington Post editorial team, his precise role in the campaign remains unclear; Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks last month called him an “informal foreign adviser” who “does not speak for Mr. Trump or the campaign.”  When Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller was asked about Page he responded Page “has no role” and added: “We are not aware of any of his activities, past or present.” Miller did not respond when asked why Trump had previously described Page as one of his advisers.

September 26, 2016 Carter Page announces he is taking a leave of absence from his work with the Trump campaign due to the controversy over Rosneft. At the first presidential debate, Trump states “I don’t think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. [Clinton’s] saying Russia, Russia, Russia, but I don’t—maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?”

Oct 1, 2016 Six days before Wikileaks releases the first batch of DNC emails, Trump's informal advisor, Roger Stone, tweets "Wednesday @HillaryClinton is done #Wikileaks"

October 6, 2016 DC Leaks publishes some hacked DNC emails. October 7, 2016 ‪Beginning on Oct. 7, WikiLeaks publishes the first in a series of 50,000 emails belonging to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of the National Intelligence issue a joint statement concluding: “The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process.”

October 9, 2016 2nd debate: Trump questions whether Russia is behind the hacks and suggests "maybe there is no hacking." “I notice any time anything wrong happens, they like to say ‘The Russians!’ She doesn't know if it's the Russians doing the hacking," Trump said of his rival Hillary Clinton. "Maybe there is no hacking. But they always blame Russia and the reason they blame Russia is because they think they are trying to tarnish me with Russia.”

October 20, 2016 3rd debate: Trump: [Clinton] has no idea whether it is Russia, China or anybody else. Clinton: I am not quoting myself. Trump: You have no idea. Clinton: I am quoting seventeen, seventeen [US intelligence agencies.] Do you doubt… Trump: Our country has no idea.

October 30, 2016 FBI Director James Comey announces an investigation and possible link between Clinton email server and emails from Anthony Weiner.

November 6, 2016 FBI Director Jamey Comey affirms the FBI’s July decision not to charge Clinton after review of Weiner emails.

November 7, 2016 WikiLeaks releases second batch of thousands of DNC emails.

November 8, 2016 Donald Trump wins the US presidential election.

November 9, 2016 After Putin announces Trump's election victory, Russia's Parliament erupts in applause.

November 10, 2016 Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov states that Russian government officials conferred with members of Donald Trump’s campaign team in an interview with the Interfax news agency.

November 17, 2016 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, tells reporters she believes there should be a federal investigation into the hacking and that her team's own investigations alongside the DNC and other Democratic groups had led them to believe it was the Russians.

Trump names Lt Gen Michael Flynn National Security Advisor.

December 2016

A February 2017 Washington Post article reports that National security adviser Michael Flynn privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador (Sergey Kislyak ) to the United States during the month before President Trump took office, contrary to public assertions by Trump officials, current and former U.S. officials said.

December 5/6, 2016 Sergei Mikhailov, a senior officer of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B. (formerly the K.G.B.) in their cyber security department was attending a routine staff meeting when several armed police officers burst in, threw a hood over his head, and dragged him from the room. That is the last anyone has seen of him.  Following that day, the Russian State charged him with treason.

Later, Russian media broke the story that another high ranking intelligence official Ruslan Stoyanov), at Kaspersky Labs, a leading private sector cybersecurity firm, had been detained. There was sketchy information as to whether or not the official had also been imprisoned and charged.  Kaspersky Labs, maker of anti-virus software, has long been rumored to be associated with the Russian government.

December 7, 2016 Russia makes surprising announcement it has sold 19.5% of Rosneft, the state-controlled oil company.  Reports on the investors are hazy, but include Glencore and Qatar. Although Rosneft is valued at $59 Billion, total investment by Glencore and Qatar is $3B Euros and additional funding may have occurred of up to $2.5Billion by Russian and Cayman Island banks and a series of shell companies.The deal defies expectations that no investor would dare buy a share in the Russian asset, given Western sanctions against the government of President Vladimir V. Putin.

December 9, 2016 President Obama’s counter-terrorism adviser Lisa Monaco announces that the intelligence community’s review of the Russian hacking incident will be completed before the inauguration and presented to Congress. The Washington Post reports that the CIA says the hack was done to help Trump get elected. The New York Times matches the Post's reporting and says the Republican National Committee was also hacked but information wasn’t shared. Trump's transition team says of the intelligence community: "These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and 'Make America Great Again.'"

December 11, 2016 RNC Chairman, and Trump's incoming White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus and Trump deny the RNC was hacked and separately deny that Russia was trying to interfere in the election, counter to the DHS and DNI's October statement. Trump tells "Fox News Sunday" that the reports of Russia hacking are "ridiculous" and “Nobody really knows, and hacking is very interesting. Once they hack, if you don’t catch them in the act you’re not going to catch them.” Trump also argues that U.S. intelligence has "no idea" if Russia or China are behind the hackings. Breach remediation firm Crowdstrike points out that it did in fact catch the hackers “in the act,” monitoring their activities inside the DNC network for weeks. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) calls for a select committee to investigate the Russian hacking, saying "it’s clear the Russians interfered."

December 12, 2016 Republican lawmakers announce that congressional committees will also investigate the allegations made by the CIA.

December 13, 2016 Trump names Rex Tillerson his nominee for Secretary of State.  Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil, received the Russian Order of Friendship from Putin in 2011 following negotiation of a partnership to drill in the Arctic. The partnership was delayed due to US sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea.  Tillerson has had a close and personal relationship with Igor Sechin, head of the Russian oil giant Rosneft, for over a decade.

December 14, 2016 Rep. Devin Nunes, R-California, who chairs the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, releases a statement, calling it "unacceptable" that intelligence community directors declined the House Intelligence Committee's request to be briefed on the hacking. "The Committee is vigorously looking into reports of cyber-attacks during the election campaign, and in particular we want to clarify press reports that the CIA has a new assessment that it has not shared with us," Nunes added in the statement. "The Committee is deeply concerned that intransigence in sharing intelligence with Congress can enable the manipulation of intelligence for political purposes."

December 16, 2016 In a press conference, Obama says that the hacks were initiated by the “highest levels of the Russian government.” Obama suggests he will retaliate but doesn’t specify how.

December 26, 2016 The Telegraph is reporting (1/28/17) an ex-KGB chief suspected of helping the former MI6 spy Christopher Steele to compile his dossier on Donald Trump may have been murdered by the Kremlin and his death covered up. it has been claimed.

Oleg Erovinkin, a former general in the KGB and its successor the FSB, was found dead in the back of his car in Moscow on Boxing Day in mysterious circumstances.

Erovinkin was a key aide to Igor Sechin, a former deputy prime minister and now head of Rosneft, the state-owned oil company, who is repeatedly named in the dossier.

December 28, 2016 On reports of impending sanctions,Trump tells reporters, "I think we ought to get on with our lives.”

December 29, 2016 Obama announces sanctions against Russian officials, including expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and the closing of Russian compounds in Maryland and New York on suspicion they were used for intelligence gathering. Trump: "It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things. Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation." The Russian government vows retaliation.

Russian entities and people specifically called out: 1. Main Intelligence Directorate (a.k.a. GRU) 2. Federal Security Service (a.k.a FSB) 3. Special Technology Center (a.k.a. STLC) 4. Zorsecurity (a.k.a. Esage Lab) 5. "Professional Assoc of Designers of Data Processing Systems" (a.k.a. ANO PO KSI) Individuals 1. Igor Valentinovich Korobov 2. Sergey Aleksandrovich Gizunov 3. Igor Olegovich Kostyukov 4. Vladimir Stepanovich Alexseyev

December 30, 2016 Putin makes the surprise announcement that he won’t kick U.S. diplomats out of Russia. "We will not create problems for U.S. diplomats," Putin says in a statement. "We will not expel anybody.” Trump: "Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!"

December 31, 2016 Trump: “I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.”

January 3, 2017 Trump tweets that his intelligence briefing on the Russian hacking evidence has been postponed.

January 5, 2017 Trump: "So how and why are they so sure about hacking if they never even requested an examination of the computer servers? What is going on?"

NBC News reports that the FBI said they had already captured the necessary forensic data via “upstream” intelligence, a term that refers to capturing data in transit.

January 6, 2017 Classified documents are presented to President Obama and President-elect Trump by four of the senior-most US intelligence chiefs -- Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers.  These documents include allegations that Russian operatives claim to have compromising personal and financial information about Mr. Trump multiple US officials with direct knowledge of the briefings tell CNN.

January 10, 2017 The Daily Beast (1/11/17) reports a leaked dossier says that Diveykin (the report identifies him as “Devykin”) had warned Page at their meeting in July about the Kremlin preparing an ugly “kompromat” or compromising materials on Trump that involved the golden shower video.

January 11, 2017 Trump: “Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to ‘leak’ into the public,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “One last shot at me. Are we living in Nazi Germany?”

Trump admits to Russia hacking but denies the attacks were meant to boost him

January 17, 2017 In a WSJ interview Trump suggested he would be open to lifting sanctions on Russia.

January 19, 2017 The New York Times reports that American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are investigating “intercepted communications” that potentially show ties between longtime Donald Trump ally Roger Stone and Russian officials.

Late January The Washington Post states the acting attorney general (Sally Yates) informed the Trump White House late in January that she believed Michael Flynn had misled senior administration officials about the nature of his communications with the Russian ambassador to the United States, and warned that the national security adviser was potentially vulnerable to Russian blackmail, current and former U.S. officials said.

January 22, 2017 Rex Tillerson nomination for Secretary of State receives the endorsement of the Senate Panel.

January 23, 2017 Trump announces James Comey will remain FBI Director

January 31, 2017 According to The Moscow Times, a report in Novaya Gazeta claims Mikhailov (currently charged with treason) implicated Vladimir Fomenko and his server rental company King Servers. In September 2016, ThreatConnect (a US cyber investigations agency) accused King Servers of involvement in the hacking of the Arizona and Illinois voting systems. And according to The New York Times, Fomenko claims he was unaware that this had happened until ThreatConnect released its findings.

February 1, 2017 Rex Tillerson, former CEO of Exxon Mobil, sworn in as Secretary of State

February 2, 2017 The U.S. Treasury Department eased economic sanctions on Russia, allowing some cyber-security transactions with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

February 3, 2017 Congress repeals Dodd-Frank anti-corruption law. As a result, oil companies like Exxon Mobil will no longer be required to publicly state the taxes and other fees they pay to foreign governments (like Russia).

February 13, 2017 CNN reports Michael Flynn resigns from National Security Advisor role.

The Huffington Post reports (and then temporarily retracts an article while they continue to investigate) that the ownership group that bought 19% of Rosneft (Russian-owned oil company "offered" to Trump in exchange for lifting US sanctions against Russia) is a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group.  The CEO and chairman of Blackstone is Stephen Schwarzman, a financial advisor to Trump.  Stephen Schwarzmann and Trump are friends. Trump attended Schwarzman's 69th birthday last year and although he couldn't attend Schwarzman's 70th birthday party (he was with Prime Minister Abe), Ivanka, Jared Kushner, Wilbur Ross and Steve Mnuchin all attended.

February 19, 2017 NY Times reports a backchannel deal to lift sanctions on Russia was hand-delivered to Michael Flynn's office the day he resigned.  The proposal, a peace plan for Ukraine and Russia, remains, along with those pushing it: Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, who delivered the document; Felix H. Sater, a business associate who helped Mr. Trump scout deals in Russia; and a Ukrainian lawmaker trying to rise in a political opposition movement shaped in part by Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager Paul D. Manafort.

Michael Cohen is Trump's chief personal lawyer and was named in the Steele Dossier as having "an ongoing secret liaison relationship between the New York tycoon’s campaign and the Russian leadership,” and that he met secretly with Kremlin officials in Prague in August 2016.

Sater is a longtime Trump associate who helped Trump scout deals in Russia and worked out of Trump Tower.  He has been in prison twice, once for embezzlement and once for stabbing a man in the face with a broken margarita glass.  He has also been a government informant.

Manafort, as discussed earlier, has deep ties with the former Ukrainian President Yanukovych and was also named in the Steele Dossier as working directly with the Russian government during the Trump campaign.

February 20, 2017 The Washington Post reports that Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, died suddenly in New York today.  He is believed to have suffered from cardiac arrest while at the Russian Mission on East 67th Street, a law enforcement official said. He was taken to New York's Presbyterian Hospital, where he died.  On September 13, 2016, Churkin publicly defended Donald Trump when a top UN official criticized Trump's action during his campaign.

February 21, 2017 The NY Times reports prosecutors in Ukraine are investigating whether Andrii V Artemenko, a member of Parliament committed treason by working with two associates of President Trump’s to promote a plan for settling Ukraine’s conflicts with Russia.

In a court filing on Tuesday, prosecutors accused Artemenko of conspiring with Russia to commit “subversive acts against Ukraine,” in particular by advancing a proposal that could “legitimize the temporary occupation” of the Crimean peninsula. Russia forcibly annexed the peninsula in 2014, a step that Ukraine, the United States and other governments have refused to recognize; Mr. Artemenko said his proposal would allow Ukraine to formally cede control of the territory to Russia, at least temporarily.

[jirehjaneetanong]

SANDUGO FESTIVALS (JULY)

The Sandugo Festival is an annual historical celebration that takes place every year in Tagbilaran City on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. This festival commemorates the Treaty of Friendship between Datu Sikatuna, a chieftain in Bohol, and Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi. This 16th-century peace treaty occurred on March 16, 1565 through a blood compact or "sandugo".The Sandugo Festival is held every July. The Tagbilaran City Charter Day on July 1 kicks-off the month-long festival with a holy mass, diana, motorcade and program sponsored by the City Government of Tagbilaran. Among the major activities during the month is the Miss Bohol Sandugo Beauty Pageant, and the Sandugo Street Dancing Competition which is usually held on the 3rd or 4th Sunday of July, and organized by the Bohol Sandugo Foundation, Inc. (BSFI).

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.7

70 – A Roman army under Titus occupies and plunders Jerusalem. 878 – Louis the Stammerer is crowned as king of West Francia by Pope John VIII. 1159 – Pope Alexander III is chosen. 1191 – Third Crusade: Battle of Arsuf: Richard I of England defeats Saladin at Arsuf. 1228 – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II lands in Acre, Israel, and starts the Sixth Crusade, which results in a peaceful restoration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. 1303 – Guillaume de Nogaret takes Pope Boniface VIII prisoner on behalf of Philip IV of France. 1571 – Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, is arrested for his role in the Ridolfi plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots. 1652 – Around 15,000 Han farmers and militia rebel against Dutch rule on Taiwan. 1695 – Henry Every perpetrates one of the most profitable pirate raids in history with the capture of the Grand Mughal ship Ganj-i-Sawai. In response, Emperor Aurangzeb threatens to end all English trading in India. 1706 – War of the Spanish Succession: Siege of Turin ends, leading to the withdrawal of French forces from North Italy. 1764 – Election of Stanisław August Poniatowski as the last ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1776 – According to American colonial reports, Ezra Lee makes the world's first submarine attack in the Turtle, attempting to attach a time bomb to the hull of HMS Eagle in New York Harbor (no British records of this attack exist). 1778 – American Revolutionary War: France invades Dominica in the British West Indies, before Britain is even aware of France's involvement in the war. 1812 – French invasion of Russia: The Battle of Borodino, the bloodiest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, was fought near Moscow and resulted in a French victory. 1818 – Carl III of Sweden–Norway is crowned king of Norway, in Trondheim. 1822 – Dom Pedro I declares Brazil independent from Portugal on the shores of the Ipiranga Brook in São Paulo. 1857 – Mountain Meadows massacre: Mormon settlers slaughter most members of peaceful, emigrant wagon train. 1860 – Italian unification: Giuseppe Garibaldi enters Naples. 1863 – American Civil War: Union troops under Quincy A. Gillmore captures Fort Wagner in Morris Island after a 7-week siege. 1864 – American Civil War: Atlanta is evacuated on orders of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. 1876 – In Northfield, Minnesota, Jesse James and the James–Younger Gang attempt to rob the town's bank but are driven off by armed citizens. 1901 – The Boxer Rebellion in Qing dynasty (modern-day China) officially ends with the signing of the Boxer Protocol. 1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont flies his 14-bis aircraft at Bagatelle, France for the first time successfully. 1907 – Cunard Line's RMS Lusitania sets sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York City. 1909 – Eugène Lefebvre crashes a new French-built Wright biplane during a test flight at Juvisy, south of Paris, becoming the first aviator in the world to lose his life in a powered heavier-than-air craft. 1911 – French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is arrested and put in jail on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum. 1916 – US federal employees win the right to Workers' compensation by Federal Employers Liability Act (39 Stat. 742; 5 U.S.C. 751) 1920 – Two newly purchased Savoia flying boats crash in the Swiss Alps en route to Finland where they would serve with the Finnish Air Force, killing both crews. 1921 – In Atlantic City, New Jersey, the first Miss America Pageant, a two-day event, is held. 1921 – The Legion of Mary, the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church, is founded in Dublin, Ireland. 1923 – The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) is formed. 1927 – The first fully electronic television system is achieved by Philo Farnsworth. 1929 – Steamer Kuru capsizes and sinks on Lake Näsijärvi near Tampere in Finland. One hundred thirty-six lives are lost. 1932 – The Battle of Boquerón, the first major battle of the Chaco War, commences. 1936 – The last thylacine, a carnivorous marsupial named Benjamin, dies alone in its cage at the Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. 1940 – Romania returns Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria under the Treaty of Craiova. 1940 – World War II: The German Luftwaffe begins the Blitz, bombing London and other British cities for over 50 consecutive nights. 1942 – World War II: Japanese marines are forced to withdraw during the Battle of Milne Bay. 1943 – A fire at the Gulf Hotel in Houston kills 55 people. 1943 – World War II: The German 17th Army begins its evacuation of the Kuban bridgehead (Taman Peninsula) in southern Russia and moves across the Strait of Kerch to the Crimea. 1945 – World War II: Japanese forces on Wake Island, which they had held since December 1941, surrender to U.S. Marines. 1945 – The Berlin Victory Parade of 1945 is held. 1953 – Nikita Khrushchev is elected first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. 1963 – The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio with 17 charter members. 1965 – During an Indo-Pakistani War, China announces that it will reinforce its troops on the Indian border. 1965 – Vietnam War: In a follow-up to August's Operation Starlite, United States Marines and South Vietnamese forces initiate Operation Piranha on the Batangan Peninsula. 1970 – Fighting begins between Arab guerrillas and government forces in Jordan. 1970 – Bill Shoemaker beats Johnny Longden's record to become the winningest jockey in horse racing history at Del Mar racetrack 1977 – The Torrijos–Carter Treaties between Panama and the United States on the status of the Panama Canal are signed. The United States agrees to transfer control of the canal to Panama at the end of the 20th century. 1977 – The 300-metre-tall CKVR-DT transmission tower in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, is hit by a light aircraft in a fog, causing it to collapse. All aboard the aircraft are killed. 1978 – While walking across Waterloo Bridge in London, Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is assassinated by Bulgarian secret police agent Francesco Gullino by means of a ricin pellet fired from a specially-designed umbrella. 1979 – The Chrysler Corporation asks the United States government for US$1.5 billion to avoid bankruptcy. 1981 – British plantation company, Guthrie was taken over by the Malaysian government after successfully purchasing shares to become the major shareholder. This is famously called the 'Dawn Raid attack'. 1984 – An explosion on board a Maltese patrol boat disposing of illegal fireworks at sea off Gozo kills seven soldiers and policemen. 1986 – Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Diocese of Cape Town. 1988 – Abdul Ahad Mohmand, the first Afghan in space, returns to Earth after nine days on the Mir space station. 1996 – Rapper and hip hop artist Tupac Shakur is fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada. He succumbs to his injuries six days later. 1997 – Maiden flight of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. 1999 – The 6.0 Mw  Athens earthquake affected the area with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing 143, injuring 800–1,600, and leaving 50,000 homeless. 2005 – Egypt holds its first-ever multi-party presidential election. 2008 – The United States government takes control of the two largest mortgage financing companies in the US, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 2010 – A Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats in disputed waters near the Senkaku Islands. 2011 – A plane crash in Russia kills 43 people, including nearly the entire roster of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl Kontinental Hockey League team. 2012 – Canada officially cuts diplomatic ties with Iran by closing its embassy in Tehran and orders the expulsion of Iranian diplomats from Ottawa, over nuclear plans and purported human rights abuses. 2017 – The 8.2 Mw  2017 Chiapas earthquake strikes southern Mexico, killing at least 60 people. 2017 – Equifax announce a cyber-crime identity theft event potentially impacting approximately 145​1⁄2 million U.S. consumers. 2019 – Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and 66 others are released in a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.

[yeahmovies1]

Zombie Beauty Pageant: Drop Dead Gorgeous

In 2027. After the world-ravaging zWars and a shaky peace treaty, humans and zombies coexist, but it gets treacherous when half the population thinks the other half is snack-worthy. Beautiful, deadly zGirls, burned out ex-zhunters, media moguls and a beauty pageant going off the rails – “Zombie Beauty Pageant” is a thrill ride in a future no one predicted.

from Yeah Movies https://ift.tt/2GBfbf0 via IFTTT

[hymnrevival]

The Meaning of Independence Day Independence is America's Heritage

The Fourth of July is a holiday that most Americans celebrate for various reasons. The festivity may involve family, friends or public gatherings. Popular culture would have you believe that the gala is a birthday party for the country. Flags wave, bands march and bystanders cheer. The parades are pageants, visible spectacles for all to applaud and enjoy. After the confetti blows away, what is the meaning of the day? Commemoration of the Declaration of Independence should be the primary reason for the remembrance. Other than historically conscious traditionalists that understand the nature of the Republic, few perceive the real purpose of the founding of America. Looking to the John Adams' famous letter of July 3, 1776, to his wife Abigail will put the celebration into perspective. (exact text from his letter with his original spellings) “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.” (The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784, Harvard University Press, 1975, 142). The intention of the remembrance is to memorialize the Declaration of Independence. But the meaning of the word and certainly the idea of independence is routinely ignored and often purged from the gala. A party for the sake of enjoyment snubs the solemn legacy of the founders. Yet, those who rally their attention on patriotic fervor, make an even more profound error. The basic distinction between establishing independence, which is a prime essential to live out liberty and nationalistic allegiance, risks a fundamental disconnect in the purpose of a consensual union. The American Revolution was fought against a monarchy that prohibited basic rights of all Englishmen. The original thirteen colonies sought to become independent states, no longer under the boot of George III and the British Crown. The goal for the rebellion was to gain self-government, for each colony and to establish a state sovereignty for each commonwealth. The union that evolved and formed after the Paris Peace Treaty of 1783, into the country known as the United States was a process separate from the crucial principle established in that accord. Note the following from this treaty in Article 1: “His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.” The use of plural for states acknowledges that the fundamental right of sovereignty resides within each former colony. The meaning of aligning and forming a federal union of independent states is at the heart of the national celebration. Yet, this fact of history is lost to the political culture because it serves the interests of the internal despots that scrambled to replace the British King with their own form of domestic tyranny. The miserable failure of the American experiment to be faithful to the principles of independence for the sake of national uniformity is self-evident. Only a charlatan would support the theft of autonomy for the aggrandizement of centralization. Only a scoundrel would seek to preserve and compel a failed marriage at the cost of inherent independence. And only a Judas traitor to the 1776 Revolution, conspire to impose their treason upon a free people. Patriotism to betrayal by a federal government is worse than belief in a false cause. The coercion and power of absolutism has replaced the promise and hope of independence. So what will you celebrate on this day of observance, our true heritage or an odious despotism that pretends to be American? Independence requires the will and courage of our forbearers. The Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson suggests a heritage worthy of homage. By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world. The foe long since in silence slept; Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; And Time the ruined bridge has swept Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. On this green bank, by this soft stream, We set today a votive stone; That memory may their deed redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone. Spirit that made those heroes dare To die, and leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and thee. Celebrate that which deserves to be venerated, shun that which deforms our indispensable values and noble aspirations. The Fourth of July is not a government anniversary. It is a time to remember that independence is the spirit and the soul of the nation. The fireworks are for as John Adams rightly affirms - a Day of Deliverance. That liberation from captivity is what we honor and so often forget. If you are incapable of understanding the distinction between the goal of liberty and the reality of tyranny, you should study your heritage on this solemn day. You will find a wealth of information on the Fourth of July Celebrations Database. Display the original Betsy Ross flag and beware of the reasons that cause the fifty star forgery to be disgraced. The Meaning of Independence Day has not changed. Now, citizens who are oblivious to the national crisis just yearn for the intoxication of a never-ending party. What kind of an American are you, an original patriot or a government lackey? This day is yours if you know who you are and what you should be . . . SARTRE – July 4, 2005 http://batr.org/autonomy/070405.html

[politicaltheatre]

Lies We Tell, pt.2

Diplomacy

No doubt, you've heard a lot about diplomacy the past few weeks, and somehow the name at the center of every discussion was Donald Trump. Even recognizing his current day job, this is very strange.

It's strange for two reasons. The first is obvious: not only is diplomacy something Trump appears not to understand, it is something he has made very clear that he hates. The second is that diplomacy requires a great deal of lying.

Now, we all know how much Trump likes to lie. He isn't particularly good at it, but he's enthusiastic. Not only does he love lying, he loves to be lied to. You might think this would make him a natural for diplomacy, which is simply a form of negotiation, something he swears he is "the best" at, but you would be very, very wrong.

The reason Trump hates diplomacy is the kinds of lies diplomats have to tell. The pageantry alone would seem to be right up Trump's alley, but, no, the pageantry has to make both parties look good. This is a man to whom life has always been and always will be a zero sum game. Remember the group picture at the N.A.T.O. summit a year ago? Remember how he pushed his way to the front?

Don't think for a second any of those men and women forgot. When Trump pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, they may have expressed suitable disappointment, but they were more than happy to see him - not the United States, just him - go. When he pulled the same routine this month by pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, they were furious. And yet, despite the public anger, there are quite a few in Brussels, Berlin, and Paris who see this as a long term opportunity.

Why? Because with Trump pulling out of every deal signed by Barack Obama, seemingly because it was signed by Barack Obama, and with the Brits withdrawing from the European Union, Germany and France are now the two western countries with the most credibility among the rest of the world. That's credibility they have gained at the United States' expense. 

That credibility can and probably will lead to business opportunities for Europe based companies at the expense of American ones. The sanctions the United States may re-impose on companies doing business with Iran may hurt in the short term, but they will spur supply chains that cut the United States out of the loop if its traditional partners aren’t cooperating. You'd think a man who's lived his entire life as a zero sum game would get that, but, no.

Trump, like any other right wing thinker, doesn't think like a diplomat. He can't. Everything for him is short term. The idea that the impression the rest of the world has of his dishonesty, his corruption, and his seeming lack of control over his administration will play into negotiations on trade and nuclear weapons is beyond him.

What exactly was the goal of Trump's now-aborted trade war with China anyway? The steel tariffs didn't end up creating more jobs in the United States; if anything, they just shuffled jobs around. And, yes, the price of soup cans may have gone up so much that Campbell's Soup actually did suffer.

And the withholding of intellectual property rights to the Chinese mobile phone company ZTE raises all sorts of questions. It was definitely a classic case of "hostage taking", an age old negotiating tactic that sometimes involves the actual taking of hostages, as North Korea has demonstrated for decades.

The questions are these: 1) Was ZTE taken hostage to extract concessions from the Chinese in Trump's attempt at a trade war?; 2) Was ZTE being used as a bargaining chip to encourage the Chinese to apply pressure on the North Koreans in the peace talks with South Korea?; 3) Was Trump hoping to apply pressure on Chinese investors so that they would invest in his property in Indonesia?

North Korea did release three hostages, two of whom it took on Trump's watch, and Trump's company did receive investment from some well connected Chinese, but the threat that a Chinese company might be used this way can't be good news for American companies currently partnering with Chinese ones. In the long term, the Chinese companies won't trust the arrangement.

Trust, despite the lies necessary to diplomacy, is the ultimate goal of diplomacy. This is not the kind of trust we have with friends and loved ones but the kind we have with business partners. It's a matter of reducing risk, of managing it. If I think you're aren't going to pay your bills or are going to run out on a deal, I won't do business with you.

You'd think Mr. "Art of the Deal" would get that, but he's run out on a lot of bills and now he's pulling out of a lot of deals. Granted, they weren't his deals, they were his predecessor's, his black predecessor's.

There's a reason racism and the right wing have traveled such a long road together. Racism is a justification for doing harm to others without accountability or apology. Never having to be accountable or apologize, which is an admission of accountability, is what right wing ideology is all about. In the eyes of the right wing, to be accountable is to be weak, to accept an "other" as an equal is to be weak, and to codify that accountability and acceptance into law is intolerable.

In destroying Barack Obama's legacy, Trump is sending a message both to his right wing, American backers and to the men - always men - he idolizes more than anyone, possibly even himself, the "strong men", the Vladimir Putins and Xi Jinpings and Benjamin Netayahus of the world. It's at once an adolescent "fuck you" to anyone demanding accountability from the wealthy to the poor and a dog whistle to anyone on the fence about voting for him in 2020.

It is for this that Trump pushed for withdrawal from the Iran nuclear treaty, for this that he fired anyone who dared say "No”. It is for this that he moved the United States embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, when the diplomats managed to persuade twelve United States presidents not to.

Why would anyone trust a negotiating partner like that? Why would anyone think, This is the time to start negotiating? Trump was offered a great deal of credit by South Korean President Moon Jae-In for rattling his saber and bringing North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un to the table, but given the daily tantrums and contradicting of his own, chosen representatives, a better question to ask might be, Why would anyone ever believe Kim has any intention of going through with it?

The peace talks between Kim and Moon that grabbed so much attention just a month ago actually had very little to do with Trump and his words. The first scene in the pageant took place back at the Winter Olympics in Peyongchang, South Korea. Remember them? Remember the diplomatic welcome of the North Korean delegation? Remember how Mike Pence snubbed them?

Well, the groundwork for that, and for the unified Korean teams, was handled behind closed doors over a period of years, basically going back to South Korea's bid, which was before Kim Jong-Un even succeeded his father, Kim Jong-Il. All of it required allowing North Korea to present a version of itself that all sides knew was a lie so that it could save face. The country is poor and its people may well be every bit as oppressed and miserable as we believe; you just don't say so out loud, not if you want to achieve something.

That North Korea offered to enter discussions about possibly ending the war between North and South and offered to include a meeting with Trump more or less came down to timing and Kim's possible belief that in Trump he was dealing with an idiot who can't control himself or his lackeys. That Kim has already shown the telltale signs of pulling out of the deal are what we should have expected. After all, it's what his father and grandfather already did when it was their turn.

None of this surprises the South Koreans or the Chinese, who may not have been invited to Singapore but would most definitely be there. It very likely doesn't surprise the Americans, either. Kim is expected to lie. He's expected to make promises and then to find excuses to withdraw while saving face. It's a pantomime and it's as much part of diplomacy as a state dinner.

Trump is a bullshit artist's bullshit artist. Perhaps this is why the people who chose him choose to believe he might actually have an edge on North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. It takes a bullshit artist to catch a bullshit artist, right? That, unfortunately, is one more lie.

Trump hasn't been able to handle any of the other bullshit artists in power, not Putin, not Xi, not Netanyahu, and not either of his Republican counterparts in Congress. He hasn't been able to grasp the pantomime necessary for diplomacy. Instead, like the rest of us, he chooses to believe the lie as long as he can. He surrounds himself with those willing to lie to him, and fires those who break the spell. If Trump truly believes his own bullshit, Kim will eat him alive.

It's possible Trump isn't foolish enough to believe Kim would give up nuclear weapons, the one real bargaining chip he has, but there he is with Iran expecting them to do the same. The likely result of both new negotiations is the same: North Korea and Iran will end up with the ability to create nuclear weapons, but will hold off in exchange for financial incentives provided, respectively, by China and the European Union/Russia. Even with that investment, any chance at real change for North Korean and Iranian citizens, in the form of access to international media and expanded human rights within their own countries, is unlikely.

The United States will have seen its prestige and its international clout damaged. On the upside, Trump's campaign promise to reduce American overseas obligations will have been kept, but only because the United States will be neither needed nor wanted by anyone else anymore.

Trump may like to pretend he's "Nixon going to China" with his wild and crazy routine, but the reality is that Nixon only went to visit Mao after years of toning down his rhetoric and months of behind the scenes work by a team of diplomats. 

Nixon, despite his many, many faults - including racism, paranoia, and lying - and his escalation of the American war in China’s neighbor Vietnam into China’s other neighbors Cambodia and Laos, went into his meeting with the Chinese with diplomatic goals, chiefly de-escalating tension between nuclear, Cultural Revolution-era China and the United States. And he de-escalated.

De-escalation, like diplomacy in general, isn't a word that seems to fit with Donald Trump. It's something he doesn't seem to understand and does seem to hate. To tell ourselves otherwise would just be another lie.

- Daniel Ward

[yumsnippets]

Moments in Fredericksburg, Texas...

Fredericksburg is a unique town in Texas. The town has a strong German influence... you can see this in the architecture, taste in their foods and find it in their craftsman boutiques.

Let me tell you a little bit about this historic town!

Aka wiki has some pretty informative history and facts - - I’ll share them :)

History of Fredericksburg, TexasFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Vereins Kirche was the first public structure erected in Fredericksburg

The History of Fredericksburg, Texas dates back to its founding in 1846. It was named after Prince Frederick of Prussia. Fredericksburg is also notable as the home of Texas German, a dialect spoken by the first generations of German settlers who initially refused to learn English. Fredericksburg shares many cultural characteristics with New Braunfels, which had been established by Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfelsthe previous year.

Contents

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119th Century

220th and 21st Centuries

3See also

4Notes

5References

6External links

1.1Meusebach-Comanche Treaty

1.2Town founding

1.3Fort Martin Scott

1.4Civil War and Reconstruction

1.1.1Easter Fires

19th Century[edit]

Fredericksburg (German: Friedrichsburg) was founded in 1846 by Baron Otfried Hans von Meusebach, new Commissioner General of the "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas", also known as the "Noblemen's Society" (in German: Mainzer Adelsverein).[1][2] The emigration was in part the liberal, educated Germans fleeing the social, political and economic conditions that later resulted in the Revolution of 1848, and in part working-class Germans.[3][4] Baron von Meusebach renounced his noble title and became known in Texas as John O. Meusebach.[5] The area's Barons Creek was named in Meusebach's honor.[6]

Meusebach-Comanche Treaty

.The reddish-blonde haired John O. Meusebach was named El Sol Colorado (The Red Sun) by Penateka Comanche Chief Ketemoczy (Katemcy), who had encountered Meusebach and his group in the area of present-day Mason.[7][8][9] Meusebach, accompanied by geologist Ferdinand von Roemer, Special Agent Robert Neighbors, F. Shubbert, Jean Jacques von Coll, trader John F. Torrey[10] and interpreter Anton Felix Hans Hellmuth von Blücher[11] (aka Felix A. von Blücher), brokered the 1847 Treaty between the Comanche and the German Immigration Company. The treaty was unique in that it did not take away the rights of the Penateka Comanche, but was an agreement that the Comanche and settlers would mutually share the land, co-existing in peace and friendship. Meusebach paid the Penateka Comanches $3,000, slightly less than $70,000 in today's money, in food, gifts and other commodities for their participation in the signing of the agreement. The native American signers of the treaty were only from the Penateka band. It is one of the very few treaties with native American tribes that was never broken.[12][13][14]

Easter Fires[

The Easter Fires pageant in Fredericksburg draws from two beginnings. In Germany and the Catholic Church, there have been variations on the custom of lighting hilltop evening bonfires in close proximity of Easter to celebrate the coming of spring.[15][16]

The Fredericksburg variation is a living history event which celebrates the signing of the 1847 Meusebach-Comanche Treaty.[17] While the Treaty was signed after Easter, the final negotiations were completed on March 1 and 2, with Easter of 1847 occurring on April 3. The Fredericksburg Easter Fires legend has it that Penateka Comanches signaled each other about the progress of the treaty negotiations by lighting huge fires on the hills. Settler mothers calmed their children by giving a twist on the traditional German story of Easter fires, and telling children the fires on the hills were lit by bunnies who were boiling water to make eggs for Easter morning. In some versions of the story, the Comanches lit the fires to celebrate the signing of the treaty, and the bunnies were boiling Texas wildflowers to make the colors for the eggs.[18]

The pageant is held traditionally the Saturday before Easter and recreates the signing of the treaty with bunny-dressed participants of all ages lighting the fires on surrounding hillsides. The show has been a big tourist draw since 1946. The pageant was suspended in recent years due to cost and logistics, but a group of citizens is trying to revive it.[19][20]

Town founding[

Frederickburg, Texas 1896 parade celebrating 50th anniversary of the town's founding. Vereins Kirche in the background.

House of Heinrich G. Dietz

In 1845, Meusebach set out from New Braunfels, traveling 60 miles (97 km) northwest to select the second settlement of the Fisher-Miller Land Grant.[21][22] He opted for a valley situated between two creeks, which are now known as Barons Creek and Town Creek, and surrounded by seven hills. He named it in honor of Prince Frederick of Prussia, the highest-ranking member of the Mainzer Adelsvereinand nephew of King Frederick William III of Prussia. For the settlement, he purchased 10,000 acres (40 km2) on credit, for an allotment per settler of one town lot, plus 10 acres (40,000 m2) of farmland.[23][24]

In December 1845, on orders from Meusebach, Lieutenant Louis (Ludwig) Bene, along with lead surveyor Johann Jacob Groos[25] and crew, constructed a road from New Braunfels to the site of Fredericksburg.[26] The town was laid out by surveyor Herman Wilke.[27] On April 23, 1846, the first wagon train of settlers left New Braunfels, encountering friendly Delaware Indians en route, and arrived at the Fredericksburg site on May 8, 1846.[28] The first colonists immediately set about to plant a garden and build a storehouse out of logs, and a stockade and a blockhouse.[27]

The settlers soon received via courier a belated message from Governor James Pinckney Henderson advising them that uncertain movements by the government ofMexico made it unclear whether Texas could offer protection to the settlers. Governor Henderson advised against moving into the area at that time.[29] The settlers refused to return to New Braunfels.[22]

Meusebach designated Dr. Friedrich A. Schubbert, aka Friedrich Armand Strubberg,[30] as director of the new colony, to lead a second expedition into Fredericksburg in June 1846.[31] Schubbert designed the Vereins Kirche, the first public building in Fredericksburg.[32] Without authorization from Meusebach, in 1846 Schubbert led an armed group of colonists into Comanche territory. Shawnee scouts reported seeing 40,000 to 60,000 Kickapoo at the Llano River, and Schubbert's group retreated to Fredericksburg.[33] Meusebach decided to enter Comanche territory himself, resulting in the treaty with the Penateka.[34]

.

Ferdinand von Roemer arrived in Fredericksburg in January 1847, and described what he estimated to be a settlement of six hundred people:[35]

“The main street, however, did not consist of a continuous row of houses, but of about fifty houses and huts, spaced long distances apart on both sides of the street. Most of the houses were log houses for which the straight trunks of the oak trees growing round about furnished excellent building material. Most of the settlers, however, were not in possession of such homes, since they required so much labor, but they lived in huts, consisting of poles rammed into the ground. The crevices between the poles were filled with clay and moss, while the roof was covered with dry grass. Some even lived in linen tents which proved very inadequate during these winter months.”

Roemer described a diet of bear meat, corn and coffee. He reported that dysentery was a common ailment. He also noted the disease of "stomachache" that engulfed the lungs and throat, was treated with citric acid, but still caused daily fatalities.[36]

Schubbert instigated a failed coup d'état against Meusebach. Ninety-five colonists signed a petition urging Meusebach to remain as Commissioner-General.[37] On July 12, 1847, Meusebach sent Schubbert a letter of dismissal from his position as director of Fredericksburg.[38] Jean Jacques von Coll was appointed his successor. Coll was a retired First Lieutenant of theDuchy of Nassau who had been appointed by Prince Solms as the first financial officer of New Braunfels. Coll was later elected mayor of New Braunfels in 1852.[39]

On December 15, 1847, a petition was submitted to create Gillespie County. In 1848, the legislature formed Gillespie County from Bexar and Travis counties.

For more details on this topic, see

List of Petitioners to Create Gillespie County, Texas

.

While the signers were overwhelmingly German immigrants, names also on the petition were Castillo, Pena, Munos, and a handful of non-German Anglo names.

First sheriff of the county was Louis (Ludwig) Martin,[40][41] who emigrated from Erndtebrück North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with the first Adelsverein group aboard the Johann Detthard in 1844, and moved with the original settlers to Fredericksburg. He was one of the 1847 signers of the petition to create Gillespie County. He became District Clerk in 1850.[42]

Guenther's Mill on Live Oak Creek painted in 1855 by

Hermann Lungkwitz

Wilhelm Victor Keidel, who emigrated from Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, Germany, became the area's first doctor and the first elected Chief Justice in 1848.[43][44]

Theodore Specht became the first Postmaster of Fredericksburg on December 7, 1848.[45] Specht was from Braunschweig, Germany and emigrated to Fredericksburg with his wife Maria Berger in 1846. The Spechts operated a store out of their home that was frequented by Penateka Comanches.[46] Local Penateka chief Santa Anna brought one of his wives to the store during a cold winter for her to give birth to a son.[47]

Pioneer Flour Mills was founded on Live Oak Creek in Fredericksburg in 1851 by Carl Hilmar Guenther, an immigrant from Weissenfels, Germany. He served as Justice of the Peace in 1856. In 1859, after two years of drought, the Guenther family moved the mills to San Antonio.[48][49]

Fort Martin Scott[

On July 1, 1850 an angry mob of fifty Fort Martin Scott soldiers burned down the store-courthouse in Fredericksburg, in a clash with store owner and County Clerk John M. Hunter over refusal to sell whiskey to a soldier. Soldiers also prevented townspeople from saving the county records.[50][51]

Civil War and Reconstruction[

Fredericksburg was primarily part of the Pro-Union Texas resistance during the Civil War, but a portion of the population remained loyal to the Confederacy. While many Germans saw slavery as an evil, the 1860 census showed thirty-three slaves in Gillespie County.[52] Matthew Gaines was a runaway slave from a Robertson County plantation and had been captured in 1863 by the Texas Rangers at Menard. He was taken to Fredericksburg where he was forced to work for the duration of the war. Upon gaining his freedom, he moved to Burton where he was eventually elected as a member of theTexas Senate.[53] In 1877, the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church served both as a house of worship and as a school for black families in the area.

The citizenry dealt with the spread of lawlessness during and after the war years. School teacher Louis Scheutze was kidnapped from his home and hanged, an act suspected to have been carried out by James P. Waldrip in response to Scheutze's vocal opposition to Confederate rule. Waldrip was alleged to have been part of the notorious Die Haengebande[54] (Hanging Band) that handed out vigilante justice in the Hill Country. He was also a convicted thief and generally feared and disliked by people of the area.[55] In 1867, Waldrip was shot by an unknown person outside the Nimitz Hotel.[56] He was buried in secret, so as to prevent desecration of his grave.[22][57]

20th and 21st Centuries[edit]

Der Lindenbaum reflects the German heritage of Fredericksburg.

Estimated Fredericksburg population for 1904 was 1,632.[22] Frank Stein built the town's first ice factory in 1907.[58] From 1913 to 1942, the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway connected Fredericksburg to Waring.[59] Fredericksburg was incorporated as a city in 1928.[60]

During the first half of the 20th Century, Fredericksburg remained much like other Texas Hill County farm and ranch communities of German heritage, isolated from the commercialization of their culture. The most notable influx of outsiders were sporadic visitors during events like the Easter Fires, the county fair, and hunting season. But the population and its growth remained anchored to its roots.

Things began to change when Lyndon B. Johnson became Vice President of the United States. Possibly the most momentous event in modern Fredericksburg happened on Sunday, April 16, 1961, when Johnson, Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz and the first Chancellor of West Germany Konrad Adenauer helicoptered in to the Fredericksburg fairgrounds racetrack for a reception.[61] They were joined onstage by U.S. Congressman O. C. Fisher and John O. Meusebach's only surviving offspring, 95-year-old Mrs. Ernest Marschall of Llano. Crowd estimates were between 7,000 and 10,000. The 1960 population of Fredericksburg was only 4,629.[22] Accompanying the dignitaries was an entourage of family members, German state officials, multiple security forces, and the national media. Speeches were in English (Nimitz, LBJ), and in German (everyone else) with no translation needed. The Austin Recording Company was on hand to tape the saengerfest segment of the program. The fest featured the Marychorale Choir of St. Mary's Catholic Church and Felix Pehl directing the Arlon Männerchor. Chancellor Adenauer sang along with the Kinderchor portion of the fest, which was directed by Erna Dietel Heinan. The Fredericksburg High School Band entertained and appeared the following day at an Austin parade honoring the Chancellor. The Fredericksburg event was capped by a 10-car caravan tour of Fredericksburg, while Nimitz instead visited his relatives.[62]

On November 22, 1963 when Lyndon Johnson became President of the United States, global attention focused upon the Texas White House at nearby Stonewall. The Nimitz Hotel served as headquarters for the media who intertwined their favorable impressions of the area with their reporting on the President.[63] The Johnsons attended church in Fredericksburg. Dignitaries and were escorted around Fredericksburg by the President. West Germany Chancellor Ludwig Erhard visited Fredericksburg in 1963 and was greeted with "Herzlich Wilkommen" and heard a sermon in German at Bethany Lutheran Church.[64][65][66] Throughout LBJ's vice presidency and presidency, Fredericksburg prospered from the tourism trade, and it changed from an isolated community into one catering to the tourist dollar.[67]

Fredricksburg capitalizes on its German heritage for tourists.

Main Street (Hauptstrasse)

Fredericksburg has profited from spill-over tourism of nearby Luckenbach ever since a couple of events propelled the little town with a population of three to global fame.Jerry Jeff Walker recorded his landmark 1973 Viva Terlingua album at the Luckenbach dance hall. In 1977, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson recorded their hit Luckenbach, Texas (Back to the Basics of Love).[68] Additionally, the National Museum of the Pacific War has become a big draw to military history buffs.[69]Fredericksburg has become attractive to retirees and people looking to relocate to a simpler way of life.[67] Real estate became a prime business as prices rose.[63][70]The city has become a weekend destination for people in Central Texas, specifically those from Austin and San Antonio.[71]

Fredericksburg in the 21st Century is in a state of flux. As each generation of descendants of the original settlers dies away, or moves to new horizons, the authenticity of the rural German farm culture of the Texas Hill Country communities also dies away. It is gradually blending with the customs of newcomers and being replaced by tourist-oriented concepts of both German heritage and the Texas cowboy culture.[63][68] In 1934, the Gillespie County Historical Society was formed and now houses over 300,000 artifacts. Along with like-minded individuals and organizations, the historical society is dedicated to preserving artifacts, architecture and the history of Fredericksburg.