Fitz John's Folly: An Accident of the Most Thrilling Nature

How a Union General went on an unexpected joyride

Afghanistan, the graveyard of empire

Space Force reveals new dress uniform

"I wish we had never seen Miami" The 95th anniversary of The Big Blow

Former Speaker Paul Ryan researched how to interact with people with Narcissism after tRump win

Former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) started researching how to interact with people with narcissistic personality disorder after President Trump's win in 2016, a new book by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa reportedly reveals.

Business Insider obtained a copy of their book, "Peril," and reported that Ryan was caught off guard by Trump's win against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. But, realizing that he was going to need to work with Trump and since the GOP control both the House and the Senate, Ryan started to research how to work with someone "amoral and transactional," according to the book.

Ryan was also reportedly told by a wealthy doctor, a Republican donor, that he needed "to understand what narcissistic personality disorder is." The doctor explained his "thoughts on how to best deal with a person with anti-social personality disorder" in an email, with links to articles and information about the disorder, according to the book.

"Ryan studied them for weeks, convinced Trump had the personality disorder," Woodward and Costa write.

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/572531-paul-ryan-researched-narcissistic-personality-disorder-after-trump-win-book

The Surprising Story of the Only Cat Ever to Win the Highest Honor for Animal Military Gallantry

Simon was discovered in March 1948 poking around the docks of Stonecutters Island in Hong Kong. Thought to be about a year old, the scrawny black and white tomcat was scrounging for food when a British sailor spotted him. Seventeen-year-old Ordinary Seaman George Hickinbottom decided a cat was just what the ship needed to get rid of its rats. The rodent infestation posed risks to onboard foodstuffs—and to the crew’s overall health. So George tucked Simon inside his jacket, smuggled him aboard the Amethyst, and hid the tomcat in his cabin.

In April 1949, the Amethyst was ordered to sail up the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Nanking, then relieve the HMS Consort of her duties. China was in the midst of a bloody civil war between the communist insurgents of Mao Tse Tung’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the ruling nationalist (or Kuomintang) Party of Chiang Kai-shek, and the Consort was long overdue for relief, having guarded the British Embassy for some time in case Mao’s army took the city and forced an embassy evacuation.

Because Britain had not taken a side in the Chinese conflict, no trouble was expected, and British officials believed the Amethyst could reach Nanking before the cease-fire ended. But, on the morning of April 20, the Amethyst was still about 60 miles from the city when communist fire resumed from the north shore. Explosions rocked the ship, with the bridge, wheelhouse and low power room hit first. In all, the ship sustained more than 50 hits. Nineteen men, including its captain, were killed in the April 20 attack; 27 more were wounded. Eventually, the Amethyst took shelter in a creek a little way upstream. Negotiations with the communists soon began for the release of the stricken, cornered Amethyst and its crew.

Where was Simon during the chaos and carnage? No one knows for sure, but when the shelling began, he likely was in the captain’s cabin curled up in his cap. A Chinese shell blasted a huge hole in the nearby bulkhead, and four shards of shrapnel hit the defenseless cat in the back and legs as he bolted or was thrown by the force of the explosion. Simon’s face was also burned, and his whiskers and eyebrows singed. The stunned cat apparently crawled into a corner, out of the way, and passed out.

https://time.com/5396568/simon-cat-war-medal/?xid=tcoshare

How the US once Hijacked A Soviet Space Sat for 24 Hours

I love cold war history & just learned about it so wanted to share it. MIT has a great article about it but a paywall so here is another:

In the early days of the Space Race, the Soviet Union was making bold moves putting itself far ahead of the United States. With the successful launch of the first satellite—Sputnik 1—in October of 1957 followed up by the launching of the first animal into Earth orbit a month later—Sputnik 2—the United States was in trouble of falling further and further behind with each successful Russian launch.

However, an opportunity in late 1959 presented itself that the United States government could not resist. The Soviet Union, flexing its muscle for the world, put on a traveling exhibition of its hardware and vehicles that included the Sputnik and Lunik satellites. American operatives gathered whatever limited intelligence they could throughout the exhibition, but it was determined that a closer look was needed at the Lunik satellite and its launching vehicle.

After a bit of reconnaissance, a plan was devised. Like something out of Ocean’s 11 (or 8 depending which Ocean you prefer) CIA operatives decided that they were going to “kidnap” the Lunik on its route from one destination to the next. The plan was simple enough, hijack the truck carrying the satellite, pull it over to a nondescript location, dissect it, then return it back to the tour the next day before the Soviets ever found out.

The whole plan was recounted by Sydney Wesley Finer in redacted CIA documents made public in 1967. In those documents, CIA operatives determined the most opportune moment to hijack the satellite. On a particularly non-descript evening, the Lunik, packed in a crate 20 feet long, 11 feet wide, and 14 feet deep, was loaded onto a truck to make the trek to the next location on the tour. Shortly after leaving the fairgrounds, when it was determined the coast was clear, disguised CIA agents pulled the truck over, switched drivers (escorting the original Russian driver to a local motel) and took the now hijacked satellite to a local salvage yard, they had rented for the occasion.

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/satellite-hijack/

Speak softly & carry a big stick- President Theodore Roosevelt

Big Stick diplomacy was used from about 1901 to get our way with other countries, mostly with South & Central America. It worked to a degree but left countries damaged, both politically & economically. Fast forward to 2001 & the Big Stick diplomacy mutated, bypassing the carefully mediated negotiations & went right for the big stick.

We have been using that mutated version for the last 2 decades, it doesn't work, it never will work. Carrot diplomacy will but its too late for US. China, Arab Emirates & other will use the carrot to do their version of nation building & I hope it works out for both them & Afghanistan.