Why This Illinois City Built a Gate to Seal Itself Off

IT'S HISTORY   

"At the southern tip of Illinois, where the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers collide, the city of Cairo [kay-ro] once relied on one of the most extraordinary flood defenses in American history. Hanging above the road into town was the Big Subway Gate — an enormous iron barrier designed to drop into place and seal the city off from the outside world, turning Cairo into a fortified island during catastrophic floods.

"In this episode, we explore how Cairo rose from swampy failure to Civil War stronghold, why its location made it both powerful and vulnerable, and how the Big Subway Gate became the centerpiece of a desperate engineering plan to hold back two of the most dangerous rivers in North America. This is the story of survival, decline, and one forgotten structure that still hangs over the city today."

White Paper: Grant at Cairo: Logistical Strategy in the Early Civil War and the Modern Failure of Cairo, Illinois to Capitalize on Its Strategic Location | Edge Induced Cohesion    "During the opening phase of the American Civil War, Cairo, Illinois served as one of the most strategically important logistical hubs in the Western Theater. Its position at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers made it the northern gateway to the South’s interior waterways—arteries essential for moving men, materiel, and gunboats. Under the command of Ulysses S. Grant (initially as a brigadier general), Cairo became the launching pad for operations that cracked open Confederate defenses in the West: the seizure of Paducah, the Forts Henry and Donelson campaign, and the opening of the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Mississippi waterways.

"Yet Cairo today is a fraction of its former self." . . .

Fort Defiance State Park - Lewis and Clark Trail Experience

Cairo, Illinois: The 'City That Died From Racism'

USS Cairo Gunboat and Museum - Vicksburg National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service)  Union Navy ironclad gunboats were largely named after river cities.

Cairo, Illinois was ABANDONED & Left to ROT

WNBA Hero Sophie Cunningham’s Text After Enes Kanter Got Tossed Defending Women’s Sports

 RedState   

"After he was booted, Kanter posted, "I just got kicked out of a WNBA game for supporting WOMEN! Let that sink in, AMERICA!"  TMZ

"Enes Kanter Freedom says Sophie Cunningham reached out after he was tossed from a WNBA arena for daring to stand in her corner in the fight to keep biological males out of women's and girls' locker rooms.

The former NBA center told Fox News that the Indiana Fever guard’s message after the game against the Chicago Sky was brief.

She wanted to know, "What happened?"

Freedom was famously sporting a simple black shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female" during the game in question.

At some point during the third quarter, Sky guard Natasha Cloud lost it, triggered by Freedom's presence. Cloud began pointing in the draft prospect's direction and yelling. She was very animated.

Freedom simply smiled, arms wide-open, and stepped toward the floor. He never stepped over the baseline and really wasn't close to doing so. Security eventually escorted him out of the arena regardless. They eventually banned him from the arena.

Cloud probably should have focused more on the game. They lost by 23 points, dropped to 15-23 on the season, and had to continue stewing over the fact that not even Angel Reese, with her putrid field goal percentage, wanted to play for that franchise."   More.

Enes Freedom Foundation

Talarico’s cynical rebranding is here

 Silvio Canto, Jr.  

"He sounds like a DSA candidate, doesn’t he? Yes he does. Talarico is now claiming that those are old videos and that he has “changed.'” 

"The first money truck has arrived in Texas, and you can see early results on local TV. The ads about Talarico’s record are showing up a lot. The first money truck is from MAGA:

After weeks of speculation about whether President Donald Trump would deploy his vast campaign resources in Texas, MAGA Inc., the main pro-Trump super PAC, made a $10 million ad buy in the Texas Senate race.

The buy, which goes towards television streaming and digital advertising, is MAGA Inc.’s first expenditure of the general election, signalling the importance of the Texas Senate race to Trump’s political operation and the competitive nature of the contest.

Half of the $10 million tranche will go towards positive advertising boosting Republican Ken Paxton, an ally of the president, while the other half will go toward negative messaging against Democrat James Talarico. The ad spend was disclosed in an FEC filing Saturday afternoon.

"As I mentioned, the results are evident to anyone watching the Rangers’ games over the weekend or other programming. We are finally hearing about Talarico’s record.

"The other batch is coming from Elon Musk.

Again, the cash is evident in the new ads contrasting “High taxes” Talarico and “Low Taxes” Paxton.

"There is also something else happening. Talarico is starting to get some media questions about his record. A good one was over border security, where the candidate was critical of the Biden record. He now calls himself a “border security Democrat,” but the rebranding lacks substance. Did he ever criticize the former administration over border security? His answer is yes, but there is no record on that. It doesn’t get better on the oil and gas industry. Again. He claims to be a strong supporter, but nobody in the industry recalls that support.

"So the Texas campaign has finally moved into substantive debates over issues. It’s hard to see how Talarico can compete on that front. His remarks on capitalism will be hard to swallow for most Texas:" . . . More

IranStrike — Live Missile Tracker & Radar | Iran vs Israel

 "The coordinated assault targeted critical oil infrastructure and military airbases across multiple Saudi provinces, marking a significant escalation in the Yemen-Saudi conflict."

AfterMath - Home

Houthis launch massive missile barrage on Saudi Arabian military targets

Houthis strike Saudi Aramco, airbases across kingdom with ballistic missiles, drones

Israeli strikes kill 27 in Lebanon over 3 days; targeted motorcycle strike near Rihan

Houthis strike PLC positions in Al-Wadi'ah with ballistic missiles, precision artillery

Houthis claim downing third Saudi Wing Loong II drone in 24 hours over Al-Bayda