USS Cairo Gunboat and Museum -

 Vicksburg National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service)

Brief Overview   "One of seven shallow-draft City Class river ironclads, The U.S.S. Cairo was commissioned in January of 1862. Named after towns along the upper Mississippi and Ohio rivers (Cairo, Illinois in this instance), the seven formidable City Class gunboats prowled the Mississippi River and connecting shallow waterways, menacing Confederate supply lines and shore batteries.

"The Cairo’s career was short, seeing limited action in battles at Plum Point, Tennessee (also known as the battle of Fort Pillow) in May,1862, and Memphis, Tennessee in June, 1862."

Selfridge and the Sinking of the USS Cairo   "The Cairo's skipper, Lt. Commander Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr., was an aggressive and skilled captain. On the cold morning of December 12, 1862, Selfridge led a small flotilla of gunboats into the hazardous confines of the Yazoo River. Tasked with destroying Confederate batteries and clearing the river of torpedoes (underwater mines) the flotilla inched its way up the murky waters. As the Cairo reached a point seven miles north of Vicksburg the flotilla came under fire and the aggressive Selfridge ordered his guns to the ready and called for full steam, bringing the ironclad into action. Seconds later, disaster struck. Cairo was rocked by two explosions in quick succession. The first tore and gaping hole into the port (left) bow of the wooden hulled ironclad. The second detonated a moment later near the armored belt amidships on the starboard side. The hole on the bow proved to be catastrophic. As the doomed ironclad took on water, Selfridge ordered the Cairo to be beached and the crew to abandon ship. Within twelve minutes the Cairo slid from the river bank into six fathoms (36 feet) of water without any loss of life."

Learn more about the USS Cairo

• View and Explore the USS Cairo Gunboat- check out the virtual museum and other articles exploring the unique stories of the ironclad.
• View the Artifacts in the Museum- Thousands of artifacts were recovered from the Cairo and are on display at the USS Cairo Museum.
• Lt. Commander Selfridge - Skipper of the USS Cairo- a portrait of the leader of 214 brave men.
• Crew List of USS Cairo- learn the names and hometowns of the 215 crewmembers. [Currently being transferred to new web page]
• USS Marmora - Witness to the Cairo's destruction
• The Seven Sisters - the USS Cairo was one of seven ships built for action on the western waterways.

'Everybody should be fired': Rob Lowe says entertainment industry has abandoned Los Angeles and California

The Blaze  

. . ."He said that it was more expensive to walk across the street and shoot a film than it was to move the entire production to another country." . . .

"Actor Rob Lowe decried the state of the entertainment business in California and claimed that he was forced to miss out on a television show because of mismanagement.

"Lowe made the comments while speaking with guest Adam Scott on his "Literally! With Rob Lowe" podcast. He said that it was more expensive to walk across the street and shoot a film than it was to move the entire production to another country.

" 'It's cheaper to bring a hundred American people to Ireland than to walk across the lot to Fox, past the sound stages, and do it there," Lowe said.

" 'Crazy!" Scott responded.

"Scott then asked Lowe if they were to film the popular series "Parks and Rec" again if they would have to move it out of California.

" 'One hundred percent, we would be," Lowe replied. "We would be in Budapest."

“ 'It’s so weird how nothing shoots in Los Angeles,” Scott said.

" 'Nothing!" Lowe interjected. “I had my next show already done, scripts, deals closed, and they said we’re shooting this in New York, and I said I’m not moving to New York to do this, and it went away. The show’s done. Not doing it."

" 'Wow!" Scott replied. "No s**t!"

"Lowe explained that other places in the world offer tax incentives of up to 40% and other perks in order to steal production from Los Angeles.

" 'That's not even talking about the union stuff!" he added.

" 'It's criminal what California and L.A. have let happen. It's criminal. Everybody should be fired," Lowe said.

"Scott offered an anecdote about studios where he had worked, claiming they were bustling with new shows in the past but have since become a ghost town.

" '"It's weird," he said.

" 'Super, super weird," Lowe added.

"Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom recently announced a plan to double the tax incentives for the entertainment industry to $750 million in an attempt to revive business in Hollywood. Some have criticized the effort as not comprehensive enough to reverse the industry's decline." . . .

Kamala Harris Reveals Her Possible Next Move, and You'll Be Rolling on the Floor Laughing

 RedState   

"We need to guard that spirit. We have to guard that spirit. Let it always inspire us. Let it always be the source of our optimism, which is that spirit that is so uniquely American. And let that then inspire us by helping us to be inspired to solve the problems that so many face." Kamala Harris

"What will Kamala Harris do next? That's been the question bouncing around since she suffered one of the most embarrassing presidential election defeats in modern history. 

"Despite having a billion dollars to spend over a three-month period, making her dollars go further than basically any other candidate in modern history, and having the press so in her corner that they laughably tried to remake her as a cultural icon, Harris still managed to not only lose, but lose in an electoral college landslide. In a sane world, the question wouldn't be what she does next. It'd be where she retires to while she collects lucrative checks from various corporate boards. 

"But this is 2025, and that means a Democrat never truly fails. They can only be failed, and that's left the former vice president searching for a new gig. Will she run for Governor of California? Will she bide her time to run for president again in 2028? Both seem like absurd options given how awful of a politician she is, but there's another option being weighed: Opening an institute of policy and ideas." . . .

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Andrew Stiles

@AndrewStilesUSA

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2h

NYT: Kamala Harris, known for her deep knowledge and ability to articulate complex issues, is thinking about launching "an institute for policy and ideas."

Kamala Harris is a mean girl   . . ."GovTrack’s non-partisan report card rated Senator Kamala Harris as the furthest-left congressperson, even further left than self-avowed socialist, Senator Bernie Sanders. Harris continued her pro-abortion — and even pro-infanticide — rabidity while serving in the Senate, voting against the Born Alive Infant Survivors Protection Act, which simply required babies who survived abortion to be given medical care. The bill did not restrict abortion at all. Even so, Senator Harris voted “no.”

"There’s no other way to say it: Kamala Harris is mean. And like any mean girl, she enjoys calling those she doesn’t like “weird.” That’s her moniker for Trump and Vance — beloved fathers who, unlike Harris, have spent years building things bigger and better than political careers. Trump is a successful businessman and an adored grandfather. Vance is a veteran, entrepreneur, acclaimed author and family man whose story typifies the American Dream. Kamala Harris is a vengeful, power-hungry bully who calls normal “weird.' ” . . .

Trump’s policies will make the middle-class wealthy; But AOC didn't help

 BPR  

"President Trump is implementing his economic agenda for the country. He wants continued low taxes, deregulation, inexpensive energy and a strong manufacturing base. He is advancing his agenda as quickly as possible. Mostly the signs are positive, except for his tariff policy. His recent tariff actions have caused the stock market to lose about 15% of its value. That certainly is not making anyone wealthier.

"The Senate passed an extension to the tax cuts originally passed in 2017. The hope is that the House of Representatives also passes this legislation which Trump will quickly sign into law, keeping tax rates low.

"Those who oppose the extension of the tax cuts, and opposed the initial passage, say that these cuts are simply a tax cut for the wealthy and do nothing to help the middle or lower classes. The reality is that this tax cut treated nearly all taxpayers the same.

"In 2017 Trump said he wanted to pass tax relief that was fair. So, he cut tax rates for all taxpayers by 10%. Except for those who lost their State and Local tax deduction, every taxpayer paid 10% less. That seems fair to me.

"Of course, if an individual was paying $2,000,000 in taxes annually, the tax cut was $200,000. If a taxpayer paid $2,000 annually, the tax cut was $200, which is why the opponents say this is a tax cut for the rich.

"Still, the tax cut was proportional and fair." . . .

AOC Celebrated Amazon's Pullout; Cuomo Said It Cost 25K Jobs | TIME  "Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declared victory when Amazon announced Thursday that it would not build a second headquarters (known as HQ2) in Queens, New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it a “lost economic opportunity” and blamed “a small group [of] politicians [who] put their own narrow political interests above their community.”

The dispute between the two Democrats lays bare a divide over the plan to offer $2.8 billion in tax breaks for Amazon to establish a major presence in New York City. On one side, old hands like Cuomo; on the other, the newly insurgent, left-leaning wing represented by Ocasio-Cortez.

“Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers and their neighbors defeated Amazon’s corporate greed, its worker exploitation and the power of the richest man in the world,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. The new development would have been in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens, near Ocasio-Cortez’s district.

The outspoken freshman Congresswoman was a critic of the deal Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio had brokered with Amazon.

Cuomo and other supporters of the project said that Amazon would have brought more than enough investment to the city to justify the tax breaks, and would have established New York as a tech hub to rival other hubs like San Francisco.

Additionally, he said, HQ2 would have brought “at least 25,000-40,000 good paying jobs for our state and nearly $30 billion dollars in new revenue to fund transit improvements, new housing, schools and countless other quality-of-life improvements.” . . .

We have seen what AOC's generation has done during the George Floyd riots and are currently doing at Tesla dealerships. All of this lending credence to Sen. Kennedy's statement about shampoo bottles. TD