jgo
jgo's JournalOn This Day: Gabby Giffords, 18 others, shot; 6 killed - Jan. 8, 2011
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
2011 Tucson shooting
On January 8, 2011, U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords and 18 others were shot during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in the Tucson metropolitan area. Six people were killed, including federal District Court Chief Judge John Roll; Gabe Zimmerman, one of Giffords's staffers; and a 9-year-old girl, Christina-Taylor Green.
Giffords was holding the meeting, called "Congress on Your Corner", in the parking lot of a Safeway store when Jared Lee Loughner drew a pistol and shot her in the head before proceeding to fire on other people. One additional person was injured in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. News reports identified the target of the attack to be Giffords, a Democrat representing Arizona's 8th congressional district. She was shot through the head at point-blank range, and her medical condition was initially described as "critical".
Loughner, a 22-year-old Tucson man who was fixated on Giffords, was arrested at the scene. Federal prosecutors filed five charges against him, including the attempted assassination of a member of Congress and the assassination of a federal judge. Loughner previously had been arrested once (but not convicted) on a minor drug charge and had been suspended by his college for disruptive behavior. Court filings include notes handwritten by Loughner indicating he planned to assassinate Giffords.
Loughner did not cooperate with authorities, invoking his right to remain silent. He was held without bail and indicted on 49 counts. In January 2012, Loughner was found by a federal judge to be incompetent to stand trial based on two medical evaluations, which diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia. On August 7, Loughner had a hearing in which he was judged competent. He pleaded guilty to 19 counts, and in November 2012 was sentenced to life in prison.
Following the shooting, American and international politicians expressed grief and condemnations. Gun control advocates pushed for increased restrictions on the sale of firearms and ammunition, specifically high-capacity magazines. Some commentators criticized the use of harsh political rhetoric in the United States, with a number blaming the political right wing for the shooting. In particular, Sarah Palin was criticized for a poster by her political action committee that featured stylized crosshairs on an electoral map which included Giffords. Palin rejected claims that she bore any responsibility for the shooting. President Barack Obama led a nationally televised memorial service on January 12, and other memorials took place.
Victims
Six people were killed in the attack:
Christina-Taylor Green, 9, of Tucson.
Dorothy "Dot" Morris, 76, a retired secretary from Oro Valley.
John Roll, 63, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Arizona.
Phyllis Schneck, 79, homemaker from Tucson.
Dorwan Stoddard, 76, retired construction worker.
Gabriel "Gabe" Zimmerman, 30, community outreach director for Giffords.
In addition to the six dead, thirteen other people were wounded by gunshot in the attack, while a fourteenth person was injured subduing Loughner. Gabrielle Giffords and two other members of her staff were among the surviving gunshot victims. Staffer Ron Barber, shot in the thigh and face, would later succeed Giffords in her House seat.
Gabby Giffords
Daniel Hernández Jr., one of Giffords's interns, assisted her after she was wounded and is credited with saving her life.
Giffords was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition, although she was still conscious. Within 38 minutes, Giffords underwent emergency surgery, and part of her skull was removed to prevent further brain damage caused by swelling. She was placed into a medically induced coma to allow her brain to rest. During a memorial ceremony on January 12, President Obama announced that earlier that day Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time since the attack.
As Giffords's status improved, she began simple physical therapy and music therapy. On January 21, 2011, less than two weeks after the attack, her condition was deemed sufficiently stable for her to be released to Houston's Memorial Hermann Medical Center. A few days later she was moved to the center's Institute for Rehabilitation and Research to undergo a program of physical therapy and rehabilitation. After examination, her Houston doctors were optimistic, saying she has "great rehabilitation potential".
On August 1, 2011, she made her first public appearance on the House floor to vote in favor of raising the debt limit ceiling. She was met with a standing ovation and accolades from her fellow members of Congress. Giffords engaged in intensive rehabilitation treatments in Asheville, North Carolina, from October 25 through November 4. In 2011, Mark Kelly, Giffords's husband, published a memoir, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, crediting her with joint authorship. He wrote that Giffords vows to return to Congress, although she continues to struggle with language and has lost 50 percent of her vision in both eyes. Kelly himself was elected U.S. Senator from Arizona in 2020.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting#
(edited from New York Times)
"
For Giffords, Progress on Gun Safety Is Like Her Recovery: ‘Inch by Inch’
A 2011 mass shooting left Gabrielle Giffords, then a Democratic congresswoman, partly paralyzed and unable to speak fluently. She has since built a powerful advocacy group.
Published Jan. 30, 2023
Updated June 20, 2023
WASHINGTON — Twelve years after a bullet ripped through the left side of her brain, Gabrielle Giffords speaks mainly in stock phrases and short bursts, conveying meaning with her eyes or a boxer’s swing of her left arm, the one that is still fully mobile. “Enough is enough!” she might say. Or: “Be passionate! Be courageous!”
But in an interview at the headquarters of the gun safety group that bears her name, amid a string of mass shootings in California, there was something more that Ms. Giffords wanted to say. Asked what Americans should know about her, she closed her eyes and rocked slowly back and forth, as if to summon words from deep within. She shushed a colleague who tried to speak for her. And then she delivered a speech unlike any she had given as a congresswoman from Arizona, before the 2011 mass shooting that nearly killed her.
“I’m getting better,” she said haltingly, laboring over each word. “Slowly, I’m getting better. Long, hard haul, but I’m getting better. Our lives can change so quickly. Mine did when I was shot. I’ve never given up hope. I chose to make a new start, to move ahead, to not look back. I’m relearning so many things — how to walk, how to talk — and I’m fighting to make the country safer. It can be so difficult. Losses hurt; setbacks are hard. But I tell myself: Move ahead.”
Ms. Giffords, 52, who goes by Gabby, is arguably America’s most famous gun violence survivor. She had come to the group’s headquarters in Washington for an update and a strategy session. The timing of her visit underscored two competing truths: The gun safety movement she helps lead is stronger than ever. But the nation’s gun violence epidemic is worsening.
"
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/30/us/politics/gabby-giffords-mass-shootings.html
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On This Day: Chrysler saved by $1.5 Billion bailout; saved again by minivan - Jan. 7, 1980
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370899
On This Day: FDR speaks out for the "Four Freedoms" - Jan. 6, 1941
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370866
On This Day: Dreyfus paraded through streets amid chants for death - Jan. 5, 1895
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370841
On This Day: Baltimore native breaks 12 year GOP majority with Speaker's chair - Jan. 4, 2007
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370787
On This Day: Bitcoin network created with mining of genesis block - Jan. 3, 2009
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370741
On This Day: Chrysler saved by $1.5 Billion bailout; saved again by minivan - Jan. 7, 1980
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Chrysler
[Struggles in the 1970's]
Chrysler struggled to adapt to the changing environment of the 1970s. When consumer tastes shifted to smaller cars in the early 1970s, particularly after the 1973 oil crisis, Chrysler could not meet the demand, although their compact models on the "A" body platform, the Dodge Dart and Plymouth Valiant, had proven economy and reliability and sold very well.
Additional burdens came from increased US import competition, and tougher government regulation of car safety, fuel economy, and emissions. As the smallest of the Big 3 US automakers, Chrysler lacked the financial resources to meet all of these challenges. In 1976, with the demise of the reliable Dart/Valiant, quality control declined.
Their replacements, the Dodge Aspen and Plymouth Volare, were comfortable and had good roadability, but owners soon experienced major reliability problems which crept into other models as well. Engines failed and/or did not run well, and premature rust plagued bodies.
[Lee Iacocca]
In 1978, Lee Iacocca was brought in to turn the company around, and in 1979 Iacocca sought US government help. Congress later passed the Loan Guarantee Act providing $1.5 billion in loan guarantees.
On January 7, 1980, Carter signed Law H.R. 5860 aka Public Law 96–185, known as The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979.
The Loan Guarantee Act required that Chrysler also obtain $2 billion in concessions or aid from sources outside the federal government, which included interest rate reductions for $650 million of the savings, asset sales of $300 million, local and state tax concessions of $250 million, and wage reductions of about $590 million along with a $50 million stock offering. $180 million was to come from concessions from dealers and suppliers.
Also in 1978, Iacocca offloaded the ailing European operation to PSA Peugeot Citroën for a nominal $1, taking with it the group's substantial losses and debts which had been dragging the rest of the business down.
After a period of plant closures and salary cuts agreed to by both management and the auto unions, the loans were repaid with interest in 1983.
[Chrysler minivans]
In November 1983, the Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager was introduced, establishing the minivan as a major category, and initiating Chrysler's return to stability.
The first-generation Chrysler minivans are a series of minivans produced and marketed by the Chrysler Corporation from the 1984 to the 1990 model years. Introduced as the first minivans from an American-brand manufacturer and popularizing the minivan as a vehicle, the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager were launched ahead of chief competitors Chevrolet Astro/GMC Safari and Ford Aerostar.
Using the front-wheel drive Chrysler S platform, the minivans were produced in both passenger and cargo configurations. Initially offered in a single wheelbase, a longer-wheelbase Grand Caravan/Grand Voyager was introduced for 1987. For 1988, the Chrysler Voyager was introduced for export sale (mainly to Europe), intended as a competitor for the Renault Espace. For the final year of the generation, the luxury-oriented Chrysler Town & Country was introduced.
Chrysler manufactured the S-platform minivans in the United States and Canada in its Saint Louis Assembly (Fenton, Missouri) and Windsor Assembly (Windsor, Ontario) facilities.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_minivans_(S)
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On This Day: FDR speaks out for the "Four Freedoms" - Jan. 6, 1941
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370866
On This Day: Dreyfus paraded through streets amid chants for death - Jan. 5, 1895
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370841
On This Day: Baltimore native breaks 12 year GOP majority with Speaker's chair - Jan. 4, 2007
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370787
On This Day: Bitcoin network created with mining of genesis block - Jan. 3, 2009
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370741
On This Day: DOJ arrests thousands as suspected socialists - Jan. 2, 1920
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370706
On This Day: FDR speaks out for the "Four Freedoms" - Jan. 6, 1941
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Four Freedoms
The Four Freedoms were goals articulated by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Monday, January 6, 1941. In an address known as the Four Freedoms speech (technically the 1941 State of the Union address), he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy:
Freedom of speech
Freedom of worship
Freedom from want
Freedom from fear
Roosevelt delivered his speech 11 months before the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that caused the United States to declare war on Japan, December 8, 1941. The State of the Union speech before Congress was largely about the national security of the United States and the threat to other democracies from world war. In the speech, he made a break with the long-held tradition of United States non-interventionism. He outlined the U.S. role in helping allies already engaged in warfare, especially Great Britain and China.
In that context, he summarized the values of democracy behind the bipartisan consensus on international involvement that existed at the time. A famous quote from the speech prefaces those values:
"As men do not live by bread alone, they do not fight by armaments alone."
In the second half of the speech, he lists the benefits of democracy, which include economic opportunity, employment, social security, and the promise of "adequate health care".
The first two freedoms, of speech and religion, are protected by the First Amendment in the United States Constitution. His inclusion of the latter two freedoms went beyond the traditional Constitutional values protected by the U.S. Bill of Rights. Roosevelt endorsed a broader human right to economic security and anticipated what would become known decades later as the "human security" paradigm in studies of economic development.
He also included the "freedom from fear" against national aggression and took it to the new United Nations he was setting up.
Historical context
In the 1930s many Americans, arguing that the involvement in World War I had been a mistake, were adamantly against continued intervention in European affairs. With the Neutrality Acts established after 1935, U.S. law banned the sale of armaments to countries that were at war and placed restrictions on travel with belligerent vessels.
When World War II began in September 1939, the neutrality laws were still in effect and ensured that no substantial support could be given to Britain and France.
With the revision of the Neutrality Act in 1939, Roosevelt adopted a "methods-short-of-war policy" whereby supplies and armaments could be given to European Allies, provided no declaration of war could be made and no troops committed. By December 1940, Europe was largely at the mercy of Adolf Hitler and Germany's Nazi regime. With Germany's defeat of France in June 1940, Britain and its overseas Empire stood alone against the military alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan. Winston Churchill, as Prime Minister of Britain, called for Roosevelt and the United States to supply them with armaments in order to continue with the war effort.
Roosevelt's hope was to provide a rationale for why the United States should abandon the isolationist policies that emerged from World War I. In the address, Roosevelt critiqued Isolationism, saying:
No realistic American can expect from a dictator's peace international generosity, or return of true independence, or world disarmament, or freedom of expression, or freedom of religion–or even good business. Such a peace would bring no security for us or for our neighbors. Those, who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
The speech coincided with the introduction of the Lend-Lease Act, which promoted Roosevelt's plan to become the "arsenal of democracy" and support the Allies (mainly the British) with much-needed supplies. Furthermore, the speech established what would become the ideological basis for America's involvement in World War II, all framed in terms of individual rights and liberties that are the hallmark of American politics.
The speech delivered by President Roosevelt incorporated the following text, known as the "Four Freedoms":
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech, and expression—everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium.
It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.
That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.
— Franklin D. Roosevelt, excerpted from the State of the Union Address to the Congress, January 6, 1941
Later in the same speech the president went on to specify six basic goals:
Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privilege for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
Justification for war
The declaration of the Four Freedoms as a justification for war would resonate through the remainder of the war, and for decades longer as a frame of remembrance. The Freedoms became the staple of America's war aims and the center of all attempts to rally public support for the war. With the creation of the Office of War Information (1942), as well as the famous paintings by Norman Rockwell, the Freedoms were advertised as values central to American life and examples of American exceptionalism.
Opposition
The Four Freedoms Speech was popular, and the goals were influential in postwar politics. However, in 1941 the speech received heavy criticism from anti-war elements. Conservatives who opposed social programs and increased government intervention argued against Roosevelt's attempt to justify and depict the war as necessary for the defense of lofty goals.
United Nations
The concept of the Four Freedoms became part of the personal mission undertaken by former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1948. She helped inspire the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, General Assembly Resolution 217A. Indeed, these Four Freedoms were explicitly incorporated into the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Disarmament
FDR called for "a world-wide reduction of armaments" as a goal for "the future days, which we seek to make secure" but one that was "attainable in our own time and generation." More immediately, though, he called for a massive build-up of U.S. arms production:
Violation
On February 19, 1942, he authorized Japanese American internment with Executive Order 9066. By 1946, the United States had incarcerated 120,000 individuals of Japanese descent, of whom about 80,000 had been born in the United States.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms
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On This Day: Dreyfus paraded through streets amid chants for death - Jan. 5, 1895
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370841
On This Day: Baltimore native breaks 12 year GOP majority with Speaker's chair - Jan. 4, 2007
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370787
On This Day: Bitcoin network created with mining of genesis block - Jan. 3, 2009
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370741
On This Day: DOJ arrests thousands as suspected socialists - Jan. 2, 1920
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370706
On This Day: Irish girl becomes first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island - Jan. 1, 1892
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370683
On This Day: Dreyfus paraded through streets amid chants for death - Jan. 5, 1895
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Dreyfus affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided the Third French Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. L'Affaire Dreyfus has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francophone world; it remains one of the most notable examples of a complex miscarriage of justice and antisemitism. The press played a crucial role in exposing information and in shaping and expressing public opinion on both sides of the conflict.
The scandal began in December 1894 when Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a 35-year-old Alsatian French artillery officer of Jewish descent, was convicted of treason for communicating French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent overseas to the penal colony on Devil's Island in French Guiana, where he spent the following five years imprisoned in very harsh conditions.
In 1896, evidence came to light—primarily through the investigations of Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, head of counter-espionage—which identified the real culprit as a French Army Major named Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy. High-ranking military officials suppressed the new evidence, and a military court unanimously acquitted Esterhazy after a trial lasting only two days. The Army laid additional charges against Dreyfus, based on forged documents. Subsequently, writer Émile Zola's open letter J'Accuse...! in the newspaper L'Aurore stoked a growing movement of political support for Dreyfus, putting pressure on the government to reopen the case.
In 1899, Dreyfus was returned to France for another trial. The intense political and judicial scandal that ensued divided French society between those who supported Dreyfus, the "Dreyfusards" such as Sarah Bernhardt, Anatole France, Charles Péguy, Henri Poincaré and Georges Clemenceau; and those who condemned him, the "anti-Dreyfusards" such as Édouard Drumont, the director and publisher of the antisemitic newspaper La Libre Parole. The new trial resulted in another conviction and a 10-year sentence, but Dreyfus was pardoned and released. In 1906, Dreyfus was exonerated. After being reinstated as a major in the French Army, he served during the whole of World War I, ending his service with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He died in 1935.
The affair from 1894 to 1906 divided France into pro-republican, anticlerical Dreyfusards and pro-Army, mostly Catholic anti-Dreyfusards. It embittered French politics and encouraged radicalisation.
Summary
At the end of 1894, French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a graduate of the École Polytechnique and a Jew of Alsatian origin, was accused of handing secret documents to the Imperial German military. After a closed trial, he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was deported to Devil's Island in French Guiana. At that time, the opinion of the French political class was unanimously unfavourable towards Dreyfus.
The Dreyfus family, particularly his brother Mathieu, remained convinced of his innocence and worked with journalist Bernard Lazare to prove it. In March 1896, Colonel Georges Picquart, head of counter-espionage, found evidence that the real traitor was Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy. The General Staff refused to reconsider its judgment and instead transferred Picquart to a position in North Africa.
In July 1897, Dreyfus's family contacted the President of the Senate Auguste Scheurer-Kestner to draw attention to the weakness of the evidence against Dreyfus. Scheurer-Kestner reported three months later that he was convinced Dreyfus was innocent, and persuaded Georges Clemenceau, a newspaper reporter and former member of the Chamber of Deputies, of the same. In the same month, Mathieu Dreyfus complained about Esterhazy to the Ministry of War. In January 1898 two events raised the case to national prominence: Esterhazy was acquitted of treason charges (subsequently shaving his moustache and fleeing France), and Émile Zola published his J'accuse...!, a Dreyfusard declaration that rallied many intellectuals to Dreyfus's cause. France became increasingly divided over the case, and the issue continued to be hotly debated until the end of the century. Antisemitic riots erupted in more than twenty French cities, and riots in Algiers resulted in several deaths.
Despite covert attempts by the army to quash the case, the initial conviction was annulled by the Supreme Court after a thorough investigation. A new court-martial was held at Rennes in 1899. Dreyfus was convicted again and sentenced to ten years of hard labour, though the sentence was commuted due to extenuating circumstances. Dreyfus accepted the presidential pardon granted by President Émile Loubet. In 1906 his innocence was officially established by an irrevocable judgement of the Supreme Court. Dreyfus was reinstated in the army with the rank of Major and participated in the First World War. He died in 1935.
The implications of this case were numerous and affected all aspects of French public life. It was regarded as a vindication of the Third Republic (and became a founding myth), but it led to a renewal of nationalism in the military. It slowed the reform of French Catholicism and republican integration of Catholics.
The Affair engendered numerous antisemitic demonstrations, which in turn affected sentiment within the Jewish communities of Central and Western Europe. At the same time, Jews in the Russian Empire were under pressure of pogroms in response to political instability within the Pale. These factors persuaded Theodor Herzl, one of the founding fathers of Zionism, that the Jews must leave Europe and establish their own state.
Conviction, degradation, and deportation
On 22 December 1894, after several hours of deliberation, the verdict was reached. Seven judges unanimously convicted Alfred Dreyfus of collusion with a foreign power, to the maximum penalty under section 76 of the Criminal Code: permanent exile in a walled fortification (prison), the cancellation of his army rank and military degradation. Dreyfus was not sentenced to death, as it had been abolished for political crimes since 1848.
For the authorities, the press and the public, doubts had been dispelled by the trial and his guilt was certain. Right and left regretted the abolition of the death penalty for such a crime. Antisemitism peaked in the press and occurred in areas so far spared. Socialist leader Jean Jaurès regretted the lightness of the sentence in an address to the Chamber of Deputies and wrote, "A soldier has been sentenced to death and executed for throwing a button in the face of his corporal. So why leave this miserable traitor alive?" Radical Republican Georges Clemenceau in La Justice made a similar comment.
On 5 January 1895, the ceremony of degradation took place in the Morlan Court of the Military School in Paris. While the drums rolled, Dreyfus was accompanied by four artillery officers, who brought him before an officer of the state who read the judgment. A Republican Guard adjutant tore off his badges, thin strips of gold, his stripes, cuffs and sleeves of his jacket.
As he was paraded throughout the streets, the crowd chanted "Death to Judas, death to the Jew." Witnesses report the dignity of Dreyfus, who continued to maintain his innocence while raising his arms: "Innocent, Innocent! Vive la France! Long live the Army". The Adjutant broke his sword on his knee and then the condemned Dreyfus marched at a slow pace in front of his former companions.
An event known as "the legend of the confession" took place before the degradation. In the van that brought him to the military school, Dreyfus is said to have confided his treachery to Captain Lebrun-Renault. It appears that this was merely self-promotion by the captain of the Republican Guard, and that in reality Dreyfus had made no admission.
Due to the affair's being related to national security, the prisoner was then held in solitary confinement in a cell awaiting transfer. On 17 January 1895, he was transferred to the prison on Île de Ré where he was held for over a month. He had the right to see his wife twice a week in a long room, each of them at one end, with the director of the prison in the middle.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair
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On This Day: Baltimore native breaks 12 year GOP majority with Speaker's chair - Jan. 4, 2007
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370787
On This Day: Bitcoin network created with mining of genesis block - Jan. 3, 2009
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370741
On This Day: DOJ arrests thousands as suspected socialists - Jan. 2, 1920
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370706
On This Day: Irish girl becomes first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island - Jan. 1, 1892
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370683
On This Day: Barbarians cross the Rhine, ushering in upheaval of Western Roman Empire - Dec. 31, 406
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370634
On This Day: Baltimore native breaks 12 year GOP majority with Speaker's chair - Jan. 4, 2007
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi (1940-) is an American politician who served as the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman elected as U.S. House Speaker and the first woman to lead a major political party in either chamber of Congress, leading the House Democrats from 2003 to 2023. A member of the House since 1987, Pelosi currently represents California's 11th congressional district, which includes most of San Francisco.
Pelosi was born and raised in Baltimore, and is the daughter of mayor and congressman Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. She graduated from Trinity College, Washington in 1962 and married businessman Paul Pelosi the next year; the two had met while both were students. They moved to New York City before settling down in San Francisco with their children. Focused on raising her family, Pelosi stepped into politics as a volunteer for the Democratic Party in the 1960s. After years of party work, she was first elected to Congress in a 1987 special election and is now in her 19th term; she is the dean of California's congressional delegation. Pelosi steadily rose through the ranks of the House Democratic Caucus to be elected House minority whip in 2001 and elevated to House minority leader a year later, becoming the first woman to hold each of those positions in either chamber of Congress.
In the 2006 midterm elections, Pelosi led the Democrats to a majority in the House for the first time in 12 years and was subsequently elected Speaker, becoming the first woman to hold the office. Until Kamala Harris became vice president in 2021, Pelosi was the highest-ranking woman in the presidential line of succession in U.S. history, as the speaker of the House is second in the line of succession. During her first speakership, Pelosi was a major opponent of the Iraq War as well as the Bush administration's attempts to partially privatize Social Security. She participated in the passage of the Obama administration's landmark bills, including the Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and the 2010 Tax Relief Act. Pelosi lost the speakership after the Republican Party retook the majority in the 2010 midterm elections, but she retained her role as leader of the House Democrats and became House minority leader for a second time.
In the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats regained majority control of the House, and Pelosi was again elected Speaker, becoming the first former speaker to reclaim the gavel since Sam Rayburn in 1955. During her second speakership, the House twice impeached President Donald Trump, first in December 2019 and again in January 2021; the Senate acquitted Trump both times. She participated in the passage of the Biden administration's landmark bills, including the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, and the Respect for Marriage Act. In the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans narrowly regained control of the House for the new Congress, ending her tenure as speaker. She subsequently retired as House Democratic leader. On November 29, 2022, the Steering and Policy Committee of the House Democratic Caucus named Pelosi "Speaker Emerita".
Early life and education
Nancy Pelosi was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to an Italian-American family. She was the only daughter and the youngest of six children of Annunciata M. "Nancy" D'Alesandro (née Lombardi) and Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.
Pelosi helped her father at his campaign events, and she attended President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address in January 1961.
In 1958, Pelosi graduated from the Institute of Notre Dame, an all-girls Catholic high school in Baltimore. In 1962, she graduated from Trinity College (now Trinity Washington University) in Washington, D.C., with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. Pelosi interned for Senator Daniel Brewster (D-Maryland) in the 1960s alongside future House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
Early career
After moving to San Francisco, Pelosi became friends with 5th district congressman Phillip Burton and began working her way up in Democratic politics.
Phillip Burton died in 1983 and his wife, Sala Burton, won a special election to fill the remainder of her husband's congressional term. She was then reelected to two more terms in her own right. Burton became ill with cancer in late 1986 and decided not to run for reelection in 1988. She wanted Pelosi to succeed her, guaranteeing Pelosi the support of the Burtons' contacts.
Pelosi won the special election to succeed her, defeating Democratic San Francisco supervisor Harry Britt on April 7, 1987, and Republican Harriet Ross in a June 2 runoff.
Pelosi has continued to represent approximately the same area of San Francisco for her entire congressional career, despite the boundaries shifting marginally in decennial post-reapportionment redistrictings.
At the time that Pelosi entered office, there were only 23 women in the House.
[House Representative career]
When Pelosi entered office, the AIDS epidemic was at a dire point. San Francisco was greatly affected; its large population of gay men was the epidemic's initial epicenter. Beginning in her first term, Pelosi became a prominent congressional advocate on behalf of those impacted by HIV/AIDS. With great stigma around the subject, some in her party privately chastised her for publicly associating herself with it. Pelosi co-authored the Ryan White CARE Act, which allocated funding dedicated to providing treatment and services for this impacted by HIV/AIDS. President George H. W. Bush signed the bill into law in December 1990.
In March 1988, Pelosi voted for the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (as well as to override President Ronald Reagan's veto).
In 2001, Pelosi was elected the House minority whip, second-in-command to Minority Leader Dick Gephardt. She was the first woman in U.S. history to hold that post. Pelosi defeated John Lewis and Steny Hoyer for the position. A strong fundraiser, she used campaign contributions to help persuade other members of Congress to support her candidacy.
In 2002, Pelosi opposed the Iraq Resolution authorizing President George W. Bush to use military force against Iraq, which passed the House on a 296–133 vote. She said, "unilateral use of force without first exhausting every diplomatic remedy and other remedies and making a case to the American people will be harmful to our war on terrorism."
First tenure as minority leader (2003–2007)
In November 2002, after Gephardt resigned as House minority leader to seek the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election, Pelosi was elected to replace him, becoming the first woman to lead a major party in either chamber of Congress. Critics of Pelosi characterized her as too liberal to be a successful House leader.
As minority leader, Pelosi sharply criticized the handling of the Iraq War by President Bush and his administration, in 2004 saying Bush had demonstrated areas of "incompetence".
In a relative surprise, the Democratic Party lost three seats in the 2004 House elections, which coincided with Bush's reelection as president. Focused on retaking the House majority in 2006, in her second term as minority leader Pelosi worked to criticize the Bush administration more effectively and to contrast the Democratic Party with it. As part of this, Pelosi voiced even harsher criticism of Bush's handling of the Iraq War.
In November 2005, prominent congressional Democrat John Murtha proposed that the U.S. begin a withdrawal of troops from Iraq at the "earliest predictable date". Pelosi initially declined to commit to supporting Murtha's proposal. Speaker Dennis Hastert soon brought to the floor a vote on a non-binding resolution calling for an immediate withdrawal of troops, seeking to trap Democrats into taking a more radical stance. But Pelosi led Democrats in voting against the resolution, which failed in a 403–3 floor vote. Roughly two weeks later, Pelosi held a press conference in which she endorsed Murtha's proposal. Some critics believed that Pelosi's support for a troop withdrawal would prevent the Democrats from winning a House majority in the 2006 elections.
During her time as minority leader, Pelosi was not well-known to much of the American public. Before the 2006 elections, Republicans made a concerted effort to taint public perception of her, running advertisements assailing her. Republicans ran more than $50 million in ads that negatively characterized or invoked Pelosi, and in the 2010 cycle, they spent more than $65 million on such ads.
First speakership (2007–2011)
In the 2006 elections, the Democrats took control of the House, picking up 30 seats, the party's largest House seat gain since the 1974 elections, in the wake of the Watergate scandal. The party's House majority meant that as minority leader, Pelosi was widely expected to become speaker in the next Congress. On November 16, 2006, the Democratic caucus unanimously nominated her for speaker.
On January 4, 2007, Pelosi defeated Republican John Boehner of Ohio, 233 votes to 202, in the election for speaker of the House.
Pelosi was the first woman, the first Californian, and the first Italian-American to hold the speakership. She was also the second speaker from a state west of the Rocky Mountains. The first was Washington's Tom Foley, the last Democrat to hold the post before Pelosi.
During her speech, she discussed the historical importance of being the first woman to hold the position of Speaker:
This is a historic moment—for the Congress, and for the women of this country. It is a moment for which we have waited more than 200 years. Never losing faith, we waited through the many years of struggle to achieve our rights. But women weren't just waiting; women were working. Never losing faith, we worked to redeem the promise of America, that all men and women are created equal. For our daughters and granddaughters, today, we have broken the marble ceiling. For our daughters and our granddaughters, the sky is the limit, anything is possible for them.
Social Security
Shortly after being reelected in 2004, President Bush claimed a mandate for an ambitious second-term agenda and proposed reforming Social Security by allowing workers to redirect a portion of their Social Security withholding into stock and bond investments. Pelosi strongly opposed the plan, saying there was no crisis, and as minority leader she imposed intense party discipline on her caucus, leading them to near-unanimous opposition to the proposal, which was defeated.
Blocking of impeachment proceedings against President Bush
In the wake of Bush's 2004 reelection, several leading House Democrats believed they should pursue impeachment proceedings against him, asserting that he had misled Congress about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and violated Americans' civil liberties by authorizing warrantless wiretaps.
In May 2006, with an eye on the upcoming midterm elections—which offered the possibility of Democrats taking back control of the House for the first time since 1994—Pelosi told colleagues that, while the Democrats would conduct vigorous oversight of Bush administration policy, an impeachment investigation was "off the table". A week earlier, she had told The Washington Post that although Democrats would not set out to impeach Bush, "you never know where" investigations might lead.
After becoming speaker in 2007, Pelosi held firm against impeachment, notwithstanding strong support for it among her constituents. In the 2008 election, she withstood a challenge for her seat by antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan, who ran as an independent primarily because of Pelosi's refusal to pursue impeachment.
Opposition to Iraq War troop surge of 2007
On January 5, 2007, reacting to suggestions from Bush's confidants that he would increase troop levels in Iraq (which he announced in a speech a few days later), Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid condemned the plan.
Healthcare reform
Pelosi has been credited for spearheading Obama's health care law, the Affordable Care Act, when it seemed doomed to defeat.
After convincing [Obama] that this was their only shot at health care reform because of the large Democratic majorities in Congress, she rallied her caucus as she began an "unbelievable marathon" of a two-month session to craft the bill, which passed the House 219–212. In Obama's remarks before signing the bill into law, he called Pelosi "one of the best speakers the House of Representatives has ever had."
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi
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On This Day: Bitcoin network created with mining of genesis block - Jan. 3, 2009
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370741
On This Day: DOJ arrests thousands as suspected socialists - Jan. 2, 1920
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370706
On This Day: Irish girl becomes first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island - Jan. 1, 1892
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370683
On This Day: Barbarians cross the Rhine, ushering in upheaval of Western Roman Empire - Dec. 31, 406
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370634
On This Day: "the most important strikes in American history" - Dec. 30, 1936
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370620
On This Day: Bitcoin network created with mining of genesis block - Jan. 3, 2009
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Bitcoin
On 3 January 2009, the bitcoin network was created when [Satoshi] Nakamoto mined the starting block of the chain, known as the genesis block. Embedded in this block was the text "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks", which is the date and headline of an issue of The Times newspaper.
Nine days later, Hal Finney received the first bitcoin transaction: ten bitcoins from Nakamoto. In 2010, the first known commercial transaction using bitcoin occurred when programmer Laszlo Hanyecz bought two Papa John's pizzas for ₿10,000.
[History]
Bitcoin is the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Nodes in the peer-to-peer bitcoin network verify transactions through cryptography and record them in a public distributed ledger, called a blockchain, without central oversight.
Consensus between nodes is achieved using a computationally intensive system based on proof-of-work called mining. Bitcoin mining requires increasing quantities of electricity and was responsible for 0.2% of world greenhouse gas emissions as of 2022.
Based on a free market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, an unknown person. Use of bitcoin as a currency began in 2009,with the release of its open-source implementation. In 2021, El Salvador adopted it as legal tender. Bitcoin is currently used more as a store of value and less as a medium of exchange or unit of account. It is mostly seen as an investment and has been described by many scholars as an economic bubble. As bitcoin is pseudonymous, its use by criminals has attracted the attention of regulators, leading to its ban by several countries as of 2021.
2008–2009: Creation
On 31 October 2008, a link to a white paper authored by Satoshi Nakamoto was posted to a cryptography mailing list. Nakamoto's paper was not peer-reviewed and initially ignored by academics, who argued that it could not work, based on theoretical models, even though it was working in practice.
2010–2012: Early growth
Blockchain analysts estimate that Nakamoto had mined about one million bitcoins before disappearing in 2010 when he handed the network alert key and control of the code repository over to Gavin Andresen.
After early "proof-of-concept" transactions, the first major users of bitcoin were black markets, such as the dark web Silk Road. During its 30 months of existence, beginning in February 2011, Silk Road exclusively accepted bitcoins as payment, transacting ₿9.9 million, worth about $214 million.
2013–2014: First regulatory actions
In March 2013, the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) established regulatory guidelines for "decentralized virtual currencies" such as bitcoin, classifying American bitcoin miners who sell their generated bitcoins as money services businesses, subject to registration and other legal obligations. The FBI seized about ₿30,000 in October 2013 from Silk Road, following the arrest of its founder Ross Ulbricht.
In December 2013, the People's Bank of China prohibited Chinese financial institutions from using bitcoin. After the announcement, the value of bitcoin dropped.
2015–2019
Research produced by the University of Cambridge estimated that in 2017, there were 2.9 to 5.8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of them using bitcoin.
In February 2018, [the] price crashed after China imposed a complete ban on Bitcoin trading. During the same year, Bitcoin prices were negatively affected by several hacks or thefts from cryptocurrency exchanges.
2020–present
In 2020, some major companies and institutions started to acquire bitcoin. PayPal added support for bitcoin in the US.
In February 2021, Bitcoin's market capitalization reached $1 trillion for the first time.
In May and June 2022, the bitcoin price fell following the collapses of TerraUSD and the Celsius Network.
In 2023, ordinals, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Bitcoin, went live.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin
---------------------------------------------------------
On This Day: DOJ arrests thousands as suspected socialists - Jan. 2, 1920
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370706
On This Day: Irish girl becomes first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island - Jan. 1, 1892
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370683
On This Day: Barbarians cross the Rhine, ushering in upheaval of Western Roman Empire - Dec. 31, 406
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370634
On This Day: "the most important strikes in American history" - Dec. 30, 1936
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370620
On This Day: Pocahontas saves John Smith's life (may be a cultural fiction) - Dec. 29, 1607
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370588
On This Day: DOJ arrests thousands as suspected socialists - Jan. 2, 1920
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were a series of raids conducted in November 1919 and January 1920 by the United States Department of Justice under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson to capture and arrest suspected socialists, especially anarchists and communists, and deport them from the United States.
The raids particularly targeted Italian immigrants and Eastern European Jewish immigrants with alleged leftist ties, with particular focus on Italian anarchists and immigrant leftist labor activists. The raids and arrests occurred under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, with 6,000 people arrested across 36 cities. Though 556 foreign citizens were deported, including a number of prominent leftist leaders, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, which had authority for deportations and objected to Palmer's methods.
The Palmer Raids occurred in the larger context of the First Red Scare, a period of fear of and reaction against communists in the U.S. in the years immediately following World War I and the Russian Revolution. There were strikes that garnered national attention, and prompted race riots in more than 30 cities, as well as two sets of bombings in April and June 1919, including one bomb mailed to Palmer's home.
Background
During the First World War there was a nationwide campaign in the United States against the real and imagined divided political loyalties of immigrants and ethnic groups, who were feared to have too much loyalty for their nations of origin. In 1915, President Wilson warned against hyphenated Americans who, he charged, had "poured the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life." "Such creatures of passion, disloyalty and anarchy", Wilson continued, "must be crushed out".
The Russian Revolutions of 1917 added special force to fear of labor agitators and partisans of ideologies like anarchism and communism. The general strike in Seattle in February 1919 represented a new development in labor unrest.
The fears of Wilson and other government officials were confirmed when Galleanists—Italian immigrant followers of the anarchist Luigi Galleani—carried out a series of bombings in April and June 1919. At the end of April, some 30 Galleanist letter bombs had been mailed to a host of individuals, mostly prominent government officials and businessmen, but also law enforcement officials.
An initial raid in July 1919 against an anarchist group in Buffalo, New York, achieved little when a federal judge tossed out Palmer's case. That taught Palmer that he needed to exploit the more powerful immigration statutes that authorized the deportation of alien anarchists, violent or not. To do that, he needed to enlist the cooperation of officials at the Department of Labor. Only the Secretary of Labor could issue warrants for the arrest of alien violators of the Immigration Acts, and only he could sign deportation orders following a hearing by an immigration inspector.
At 9 pm on November 7, 1919, a date chosen because it was the second anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution, agents of the Bureau of Investigation, together with local police, executed a series of well-publicized and violent raids against the Union of Russian Workers in 12 cities.
Newspaper accounts reported some were "badly beaten" during the arrests. Many later swore they were threatened and beaten during questioning. Government agents cast a wide net, bringing in some American citizens, passers-by who admitted being Russian, some not members of the Russian Workers. Others were teachers conducting night school classes in space shared with the targeted radical group. Arrests far exceeded the number of warrants. Of 650 arrested in New York City, the government managed to deport just 43.
Raids and arrests in January 1920
The Justice Department launched a series of raids on January 2, 1920, with follow up operations over the next few days. Smaller raids extended over the next 6 weeks. At least 3000 were arrested, and many others were held for various lengths of time. The entire enterprise replicated the November action on a larger scale, including arrests and seizures without search warrants, as well as detention in overcrowded and unsanitary holding facilities.
Hoover later admitted "clear cases of brutality." The raids covered more than 30 cities and towns in 23 states, but those west of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio were "publicity gestures" designed to make the effort appear nationwide in scope.
Because the raids targeted entire organizations, agents arrested everyone found in organization meeting halls, not only arresting non-radical organization members but also visitors who did not belong to a target organization, and sometimes American citizens not eligible for arrest and deportation.
The Department of Justice at one point claimed to have taken possession of several bombs, but after a few iron balls were displayed to the press they were never mentioned again. All the raids netted a total of just four ordinary pistols.
Aftermath
In a few weeks, after changes in personnel at the Department of Labor, Palmer faced a new and very independent-minded Acting Secretary of Labor in Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis Freeland Post, who canceled more than 2,000 warrants as being illegal. Of the 10,000 arrested, 3,500 were held by authorities in detention; 556 resident aliens were eventually deported under the Immigration Act of 1918.
[ACLU founded in response]
On May 28, 1920, the nascent American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which was founded in response to the raids, published its Report Upon the Illegal Practices of the United States Department of Justice, which carefully documented unlawful activities in arresting suspected radicals, illegal entrapment by agents provocateur, and unlawful incommunicado detention.
In June 1920, a decision by Massachusetts District Court Judge George W. Anderson ordered the discharge of 17 arrested aliens and denounced the Department of Justice's actions. He wrote that "a mob is a mob, whether made up of Government officials acting under instructions from the Department of Justice, or of criminals and loafers and the vicious classes." His decision effectively prevented any renewal of the raids.
Palmer, once seen as a likely presidential candidate, lost his bid to win the Democratic nomination for president later in the year. The anarchist bombing campaign continued intermittently for another twelve years.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_Raids
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On This Day: Irish girl becomes first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island - Jan. 1, 1892
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370683
On This Day: Barbarians cross the Rhine, ushering in upheaval of Western Roman Empire - Dec. 31, 406
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370634
On This Day: "the most important strikes in American history" - Dec. 30, 1936
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370620
On This Day: Pocahontas saves John Smith's life (may be a cultural fiction) - Dec. 29, 1607
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370588
On This Day: "The Greatest Game Ever Played" helps launch an industry - Dec. 28, 1958
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370563
On This Day: Irish girl becomes first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island - Jan. 1, 1892
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
[Immigration station built]
On April 11, 1890, the federal government ordered the magazine at Ellis Island be torn down to make way for the U.S.'s first federal immigration station at the site. The Department of the Treasury, which was in charge of constructing federal buildings in the U.S., officially took control of the island that May 24. Congress initially allotted $75,000 (equivalent to $2,443,000 in 2022) to construct the station and later doubled that appropriation.
The main structure was a two-story structure of Georgia Pine, which was described in Harper's Weekly as "a latterday watering place hotel" measuring 400 by 150 ft. Its outbuildings included a hospital, detention building, laundry building, and utility plant that were all made of wood. Some of the former stone magazine structures were reused for utilities and offices. Additionally, a ferry slip with breakwater was built to the south of Ellis Island.
[Open for business]
The station opened on January 1, 1892, and its first immigrant was Annie Moore, a 17-year-old girl from Cork, Ireland, who was traveling with her two brothers to meet their parents in the U.S.
On the first day, almost 700 immigrants passed over the docks. Over the next year, over 400,000 immigrants were processed at the station. The processing procedure included a series of medical and mental inspection lines, and through this process, some 1% of potential immigrants were deported.
Additional building improvements took place throughout the mid-1890s, and Ellis Island was expanded to 14 acres by 1896. The last improvements, which entailed the installation of underwater telephone and telegraph cables to Governors Island, were completed in early June 1897. On June 15, 1897, the wooden structures on Ellis Island were razed in a fire of unknown origin. While there were no casualties, the wooden buildings had completely burned down after two hours, and all immigration records from 1855 had been destroyed. Over five years of operation, the station had processed 1.5 million immigrants.
[12 million immigrants]
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 million immigrants arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey were processed there under federal law. Today, it is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and is accessible to the public only by ferry. The north side of the island is the site of the main building, now a national museum of immigration. The south side of the island, including the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, is open to the public only through guided tours.
In the 19th century, Ellis Island was the site of Fort Gibson and later became a naval magazine. The first inspection station opened in 1892 and was destroyed by fire in 1897. The second station opened in 1900 and housed facilities for medical quarantines and processing immigrants. After 1924, Ellis Island was used primarily as a detention center for migrants. During both World War I and World War II, its facilities were also used by the US military to detain prisoners of war. After the immigration station's closure, the buildings languished for several years until they were partially reopened in 1976. The main building and adjacent structures were completely renovated in 1990.
The 27.5-acre island was greatly expanded by land reclamation between the late 1890s and the 1930s. Jurisdictional disputes between New Jersey and New York State persisted until the 1998 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in New Jersey v. New York.
Conversion to detention center
With the passing of the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, the number of immigrants being allowed into the United States declined greatly, ending the era of mass immigration. Following the Immigration Act of 1924, strict immigration quotas were enacted, and Ellis Island was downgraded from a primary inspection center to an immigrant-detention center, hosting only those that were to be detained or deported. Final inspections were now instead conducted on board ships in New York Harbor. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 further decreased immigration, as people were now discouraged from immigrating to the U.S. Because of the resulting decline in patient counts, the hospital closed in 1930.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Island
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On This Day: Barbarians cross the Rhine, ushering in upheaval of Western Roman Empire - Dec. 31, 406
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370634
On This Day: "the most important strikes in American history" - Dec. 30, 1936
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370620
On This Day: Pocahontas saves John Smith's life (may be a cultural fiction) - Dec. 29, 1607
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370588
On This Day: "The Greatest Game Ever Played" helps launch an industry - Dec. 28, 1958
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370563
On This Day: New Netherland residents protest for religious freedom - Dec. 27, 1657
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370540
On This Day: Barbarians cross the Rhine, ushering in upheaval of Western Roman Empire - Dec. 31, 406
(edited from article)
"
Barbarian Invasion: The Beginning of the End for Rome?
In 406 AD, there was a large-scale barbarian invasion across the Rhine frontier into the territory of the Western Roman Empire, beginning a period of upheaval and decline.
According to the account of Prosper of Aquitaine, a contemporary Christian writer whose life was thrown into disarray by Gothic incursions into the Roman Empire, a large-scale crossing of the Rhine by barbarian confederations occurred on 31st December 406. This migration was a crucial moment in the decline of the Roman Empire in the west and marked the beginning of a tumultuous period which saw widespread raiding and the collapse of Roman order in the provinces. The crossing, or ‘barbarian invasion’ of 406 led to a breakdown of central Roman power along the Rhine frontiers and arguably instigated the usurpation of Constantine III, a rebellion that presented a grave threat to the Western Emperor Honorius.
The crossing of the Rhine in 406 AD was part of a period of European history known as the Migration Period,’ or the ‘Barbarian Invasions.’ Lasting from the mid-to-late-4th century until the 560s, large numbers of Germanic peoples, Huns, Avars, and Slavs either migrated within the Roman Empire’s boundaries or else migrated into the Empire from outside its borders. Traditionally, the arrival of the Huns in Europe in 375 is considered the beginning of the Migration Period, while the Lombard conquest of Italy in 568 marks its end.
There is a great deal of debate concerning the cause of these migrations. Were these opportunistic tribal warbands intent on looting and pillaging Roman cities, or were they refugees fleeing from more powerful political entities further east, such as the Huns? The construction of the Great Wall of China has been suggested as a cause for the migrations, forcing tribes westward, creating a domino effect that led to Germanic tribes moving into the Western Roman Empire. Climate change, poor harvests, and population pressures have all been cited as reasons for these large-scale movements.
Therefore, the Rhine crossing of 406 was a seminal moment in the decline of the Western Roman Empire, as well as exacerbating the rebellion of Constantine III. As a result of the ‘barbarian invasion,’ the empire abandoned one of its long-standing frontiers and was forced to allow various barbarian groups into the political landscape of the empire. It is these barbarian polities that would go on to grow into the kingdoms that would eventually replace the Western Roman Empire.
"
https://www.thecollector.com/barbarians-crossing-the-rhine-the-end-of-rome/
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Crossing of the Rhine
The crossing of the Rhine River by a mixed group of barbarians which included Vandals, Alans and Suebi is traditionally considered to have occurred on the last day of the year 406 (December 31, 406). The crossing transgressed one of the Late Roman Empire's most secure limits or boundaries and so it was a climactic moment in the decline of the Empire. It initiated a wave of destruction of Roman cities and the collapse of Roman civic order in northern Gaul. That, in turn, occasioned the rise of three usurpers in succession in the province of Britannia. Therefore, the crossing of the Rhine is a marker date in the Migration Period during which various Germanic tribes moved westward and southward from southern Scandinavia and northern Germania.
Motives
The initial gathering of barbarians on the east bank of the Rhine has been interpreted as a banding of refugees from the Huns or the remnants of Radagaisus' defeated Goths, without direct evidence. Scholars such as Walter Goffart and Guy Halsall have argued instead that the barbarian groups crossed the Rhine not (so much) because they were fleeing away from the Huns, but seized the opportunity to plunder and settle in Gaul when the Roman garrisons on the Rhine frontier were weakened or withdrawn in order to protect Italy. Peter Heather (2009), on the other hand, argued that this hypothesis does not explain all the evidence, such as the fact that 'the vast majority of the invaders who emerged from the middle Danubian region between 405 and 408 had not been living there in the fourth century', and that the evidence for any Roman military withdrawal from the northwest at this time is weak; escaping 'the Hun-generated chaos and predation' was still a better explanation.
Frozen Rhine?
A frozen Rhine, making the crossing easier, is not attested by any contemporary source, but was a plausible surmise made by 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon. Although many later writers have since mentioned a frozen Rhine as if it were a fact, for Gibbon himself it was merely a hypothesis ('in a season when the waters of the Rhine were most probably frozen') to help explain why the Vandals, Alans and Suebi were able to cross the Rhine into Gaul with such apparent ease. It is also possible that they used a Roman Rhine bridge, or that the migrating peoples simply used boats.
Unguarded Rhine?
It is not clear why the Germanic bands crossing the Rhine apparently met no organised military resistance on the Roman side. A common hypothesis is that Roman general Stilicho may have depleted the garrisons on the Rhine border in 402 to face the Visigothic invasion of Alaric I in Italy.
Aftermath
According to bishop Hydatius of Aquae Flaviae, the barbarians crossed into Spain in September or October 409; little is known about the acts of the Vandals, Alans and Suevi in Gaul between the crossing of the Rhine and their invasion of Spain. Gregory of Tours only mentions that 'the Vandals left their own country and burst into the Gauls under king Gunderic. And when the Gauls had been thoroughly laid waste they made for the Spains. The Suebi, that is, Alamanni, following them, seized Gallaecia.' Based on Jerome's letter, Kulikowski argued that the Vandals, Alans and Suebi probably mostly stayed in northern Gaul until at least the spring of 409 (the earliest possible date of Jerome's letter), because almost all cities pillaged by the barbarians listed by Jerome were located in the north, and the southern city of Toulouse (Tolosa) had so far been able to repel the invaders, and they hadn't yet crossed into Spain.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_of_the_Rhine
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On This Day: "the most important strikes in American history" - Dec. 30, 1936
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370620
On This Day: Pocahontas saves John Smith's life (may be a cultural fiction) - Dec. 29, 1607
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370588
On This Day: "The Greatest Game Ever Played" helps launch an industry - Dec. 28, 1958
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370563
On This Day: New Netherland residents protest for religious freedom - Dec. 27, 1657
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370540
On This Day: Lincoln averts war with Great Britain by agreeing to release Confederate diplomats - Dec. 26, 1861
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016370495
On This Day: "the most important strikes in American history" - Dec. 30, 1936
(edited from article)
"
The 1936 Sit-Down Strike That Shook the Auto Industry
Over 136,000 GM workers participated in the strike in Flint, Michigan that became known as 'the strike heard round the world.'
Historically, striking workers had risked their lives on the picket lines. Though unions often formed in response to dangerous working conditions, going on strike exposed workers to the danger of physical violence from hired thugs or police that served as companies’ strong-arms. Unions had long struggled to create unions across industries.
The United Auto Workers, a recently formed trade union, had slowly and secretly begun organizing at GM. If the union was to bring the automobile industry together, it had to go after its largest employer—and do so strategically. Organizers decided to focus on the Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan, home to 7,000 workers and the place where car bodies were made. Organizers met with Flint workers at their homes and talked them out of walking off the job right away. Instead, organizers planned to stop production through a sit-down strike in January of 1937, after Christmas bonuses had been paid and a new labor-friendly governor was in power in Michigan.
That plan was derailed on December 30, 1936, when workers at the body plant saw critical equipment being lugged onto railroad cars to be sent to other factories. Word was out that the Flint factory was a union stronghold. Workers gathered for an emergency meeting, then flooded back into the plant. The strike was on.
“They were the most important strikes in American history,” says Lichtenstein. For decades, he says, industrial unionism reigned supreme, leading to a higher standard of living for working Americans. Today, the UAW has over 400,000 active members and more than 600 locals around the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
"
https://www.history.com/news/flint-sit-down-strike-general-motors-uaw
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
[Sit-down strike]
In a conventional strike, union members leave the plant and establish a picket line to discourage other employees from entering, thus preventing the employer from operating. In a sit-down strike, the workers physically occupy the plant, keeping management and others out. By remaining inside the factory rather than picketing outside of it, striking workers prevented owners from bringing strikebreakers to resume production. It was in some ways easier to maintain the morale of participants in a sit-down than in a conventional strike. The strikers were removed from outside pressures and the hostility of the community that their action might have induced. Bad weather did not constitute a problem for sit-downers as it did for the pickets in an outside strike.
The Flint sit-down strikers set up their own civil system within the strike. A mayor and other civic officials were elected by the workers to maintain order within the plant. Departments included Organized Recreation, Information, Postal Service, and Sanitation. All rules were enforced by what was called a "Kangaroo Court" by the workers. Any person who broke the rules was given a trial, and punishments ranged from washing dishes to expulsion from the plant (in the most extreme cases). It was important for the strikers to maintain order in the plant; if property damage occurred, the Governor would intervene with the National Guard. In addition to maintaining order, the civic government also insured a steady stream of supplies from friendly vendors outside the plant. Most of the meals for the approximately 2,000 workers occupying the plant were provided free of charge by a diner across the street.
Resistance
The police, armed with guns and tear gas, attempted to enter the Fisher Body 2 plant on January 11, 1937. The strikers inside the plant pelted them with hinges, bottles, and bolts, led by Bob Travis and Roy Reuther. They were able to withstand several waves of attack, eventually ending the standoff. The strikers dubbed this "The Battle of Running Bulls " , a mocking reference to the police ( " bulls " ). Fourteen strikers were injured by gunfire during the battle.
At the time, Vice President John Nance Garner supported federal intervention to break up the Flint Strike, but this idea was rejected by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The president urged GM to recognize a union so the plants could re-open.
GM obtained a second injunction against the strike on February 2, 1937. GM was granted the injunction by Judge Edward S. Black. Judge Black owned over three thousand shares of GM. Judge Black was disbarred from the case after the UAW found out about the revelation. The union not only ignored the order, but spread the strike to Chevrolet Plant #4. To avoid tipping its hand, the union let it be known in the hours before the move that it intended to go after another plant in the complex, changing directions only at the last minute. GM, tipped off by an informant within the UAW, was ready and waiting for the union at the other plant and caught completely off guard at Plant #4. The strike ended after 44 days.
That development forced GM to bargain with the union. John L. Lewis, President of the United Mine Workers and founder and leader of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, spoke for the UAW in those negotiations; UAW President Homer Martin was sent on a speaking tour to keep him out of the way. GM's representatives refused to be in the same room as the UAW's, so Governor Frank Murphy acted as courier and intermediary between the two groups. Governor Murphy sent in the Michigan National Guard, not to evict the strikers, but rather to protect them from the police and corporate strike-breakers. The two parties finally reached agreement on February 11, 1937, on a one-page agreement that recognized the UAW as the exclusive bargaining representative for GM's employees who were members of the union for the next six months.
Conclusion
The agreement that GM consented to was to rehire workers that were a part of the strike, allow workers to wear buttons and other symbols that represented unions, and granted 6 months of negotiations in the plants that participated in a strike to UAW-CIO.
As short as this agreement was, it gave the UAW instant legitimacy. The workers there also got a 5% increase in pay and were allowed to talk about the union during lunch. The UAW capitalized on that opportunity, signing up 100,000 GM employees and building the union's strength through grievance strikes at GM plants throughout the country. Several participants in the strike, including Charles I. Krause, went on to greater prominence within the union. Other notable participants in the sit-down strike were future D-Day hero and Greco-Roman wrestling champion Dean Rockwell, labor leader and future UAW president Walter Reuther, and the uncle of documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, whose debut feature Roger & Me contains a clip from the strike.
In the next year, UAW membership grew from 30,000 to 500,000 members. Employees of other car manufacturers such as Ford joined, as the entire industry was rapidly unionized. As later noted by the BBC, "the strike was heard 'round the world".
The Sit-Down Strike projected a principle weapon of mass organization in the labor industry projecting nearly 5000 strikes to come within the next year. Giving labor workers newfound unionization regardless of race, education status creating opportunities for membership agreements, payroll negotiation, and even government protection for workers. The Sit-Down Strike provoked a newfound impact in the labor industry, giving the workers a newfound confidence to join unions and use their voice.
The GM sit-down strike of 1936–37 was, all in all, the most significant American labor conflict in the 20th century. When the UAW victory in the strike was followed by the capitulation of the United States Steel Corporation to the Steel Workers' Organizing Committee, the Financial Observer remarked that "an era of labor-management relations" had come to an end and "a new era" had begun.
[Sit-down strikes later illegal]
A sit-down strike is a labor strike and a form of civil disobedience in which an organized group of workers, usually employed at factories or other centralized locations, take unauthorized or illegal possession of the workplace by "sitting down" at their stations.
The attraction of the tactic is that it prevents employers from replacing them with strikebreakers or removing equipment to transfer production to other locations. Neal Ascherson has commented that an additional attraction is that it emphasizes the role of workers in providing for the people and allows workers to in effect hold valuable machinery hostage as a bargaining chip.
A few sit-down strikes happened in the United States before 1936.
[In 1936, the] workers at the largest [rubber] factory, Goodyear invented a new tactic—the sitdown strike whereby the strikers seize the plant, stop production, and keep strikebreakers out. Goodyear gave up, and recognized the United Rubber Workers (URW). It was a major victory for the labor movement, established the United Rubber Workers as the dominant union in the rubber industry, and provided a new tactic for future labor struggles.
In Flint, Michigan, strikers occupied several General Motors plants for more than forty days, and repelled the efforts of the police and National Guard to retake them. A wave of sit-down strikes followed but diminished by the end of the decade as the courts and the National Labor Relations Board held that sit-down strikes were illegal and sit-down strikers could be fired (see the 1939 Supreme Court ruling in NLRB v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corp.). While some sit-down strikes still occur in the United States, they tend to be spontaneous and short-lived.
Sit-ins
The sit-down strike was the inspiration for the sit-in, where an organized group of protesters would occupy an area in which they are not wanted by sitting and refuse to leave until their demands are met.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_sit-down_strike
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitdown_strike
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