PeoViejo

PeoViejo's Journal

April 27, 2015

The Baltimore Riot of 1861

April 19, 1861
Union route through Baltimore, as later depicted by Mayor George Brown

On April 17, the Sixth Massachusetts Militia departed from Boston, Massachusetts, arriving in New York the following morning and Philadelphia by nightfall. On April 19, the unit headed on to Baltimore, where they anticipated a slow transit through the city. Because of an ordinance preventing the construction of steam rail lines through the city, there was no direct rail connection between the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad's President Street Station and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Camden Station (ten blocks to the west).[8] Rail cars that transferred between the two stations had to be pulled by horses along Pratt Street.[9]

Sometime after leaving Philadelphia, the unit's Colonel Edward F. Jones received information that passage through Baltimore "would be resisted".[10] According to his later report, Jones went through the railroad cars and gave this order:

The regiment will march through Baltimore in column of sections, arms at will. You will undoubtedly be insulted, abused, and, perhaps, assaulted, to which you must pay no attention whatever, but march with your faces to the front, and pay no attention to the mob, even if they throw stones, bricks, or other missiles; but if you are fired upon and any one of you is hit, your officers will order you to fire. Do not fire into any promiscuous crowds, but select, any man whom you may see aiming at you, and be sure you drop him.[11]

Indeed, as the militia regiment transferred between stations, a mob of anti-War supporters and Southern sympathizers attacked the train cars and blocked the route. When it became apparent that they could travel by horse no further, the troops got out of the cars and marched in formation through the city. However, the mob followed the soldiers, breaking store windows and causing damage until they finally blocked the soldiers. The mob attacked the rear companies of the regiment with "bricks, paving stones, and pistols."[12] In response, several soldiers fired into the mob, beginning a giant brawl between the soldiers, the mob, and the Baltimore police. In the end, the soldiers got to the Camden Station, and the police were able to block the crowd from them. The regiment had left behind much of their equipment, including their marching band's instruments.

Four soldiers (Corporal Sumner Needham of Co I and Privates Luther C. Ladd, Charles Taylor, and Addison Whitney of Company D)[13][14] and twelve civilians were killed in the riot. About 36 of the regiment were also wounded and left behind. It is unknown how many additional civilians were injured.[15] Sumner Henry Needham is sometimes considered to be the first Union casualty of the war, though he was killed by civilians in a Union state. Needham is buried in Lawrence, Massachusetts.[16] Ladd and Whitney are buried in Lowell, Massachusetts.[17] Taylor was buried in Baltimore; though his grave was lost, his name appears on the Lowell Monument.[14]

More at the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_riot_of_1861

April 9, 2015

Oligarch Valley: How Beverly Hills billionaire farmers profit from Iran Sanctions

http://mondoweiss.net/2013/07/oligarch-valley-how-beverly-hills-billionaire-farmers-lynda-and-stewart-resnick-profit-from-the-iran-sanctions-they-lobbied-for

Beverly Hills agri-billionaires Lynda and Stewart Resnick are the newest and oddest landlords in California’s Oligarch Valley. You might not recognize the name, but you’ve certainly seen their luxury Fiji Water bottles at your local 7-Eleven, or maybe you’ve seen Palin family dropout Levi Johnston hawking the Resnicks’ Paramount brand pistachio nuts on TV. If nothing else, you’ve eaten their Sunkist oranges.

Fiji Water comes from Fiji, but just about everything else the Resnicks sell comes from Oligarch Valley, where they preside over several hundred square miles of land. A large chunk of their empire straddles Highway 33, just north of Taft and right next to the gas station where James Dean stopped for a Coke right before ramming his souped-up Porsche racer head-on into a hapless university student driving a Ford Tudor.

April 9, 2015

Iceland Sets Precedent: Jails Four Top Bankers for Fraud

Reykjavik, Iceland – Four Kaupthing bank executives have been given the heaviest sentences in Iceland’s history for their role in the nation’s 2008 financial collapse. It is said that the prison sentences, which were upheld by Iceland’s Supreme Court, are setting a precedent for the rest of the world.

Hreidar Mar Sigurdsson, former CEO of Kaupthing, received 5 ½ years; Sigurdur Einarsson, former chairman of the board, received four years; Magnus Gudmundsson, director of Kaupthing Luxembourg, received 4 ½ years; and finally Ólafur Ólafsson, one of the banks biggest shareholders, received 4 ½ years.

The bankers were found guilty in December of 2013 by the Reykjavik District Court of hiding the fact that a Qatari investor bought a stake in the firm with money lent, illegally, by the bank itself. Kaupthing announced a few weeks before the collapse that “His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Hamad al-Thani” had bought a 5.1% stake during the financial crisis in 2008. Kaupthing collapsed under the massive debt.

More at the link: http://anonhq.com/iceland-sets-precedent-jails-four-top-bankers-fraud/

April 8, 2015

Ever wonder where the Water went?

http://www.alternet.org/story/144427/meet_stewart_resnick,_corporate_farming_billionaire_and_one-man_environmental_wrecking_crew

March 21, 2015

Clinton run for presidency swept up in Haitian gold permit affair

Clinton run for presidency swept up in Haitian gold permit affair
Andrew Topf | March 8, 2015

The presidential ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton have become ensnared in an obscure gold-mining project in Haiti, as the Democratic favorite for the presidency begins her second run for the White House.

In a story that suggests cronyism, questionable ethics and a blurring of the lines between charity and profiteering, The Daily Mail reported on Sunday that Clinton's brother, Tony Rodham, sat on the board of VCS Mining when the unlisted, Delaware-based junior was granted a permit to mine gold in Haiti following a massive earthquake on the impoverished island nation in 2010. The permit was the first to be granted in over 50 years, VCS Mining wrote in the press release announcing the awarding of the 5-year exploitation permit.

While Rodham's involvement in the gold project, called Morne Bossa, would normally be of little cause for concern, what has raised eyebrows is the timing of the permit, granted two years after the earthquake that killed over 100,000 people, and the fact that Rodham "was a board member of a North Carolina mining company that enjoyed prime access to Haitian gold deposits in the wake of post-earthquake relief work organized in part by former president Bill Clinton through the Clinton Foundation," according to the Daily Mail. Another VCS board member was Jean-Max Bellerive, noted the Mail, who co-chaired the charitable Interim Haiti Recovery Commission with former US president Bill Clinton.

More at the link: http://www.mining.com/clinton-run-presidency-swept-haitian-gold-permit-affair-45216/

March 20, 2015