Thursday, September 7, 2023

Fredericksburg Battlefield - Part 2

After visiting the "Sunken Road" area of Fredericksburg, Virginia, I proceeded to what could be called the "rural" portion of the Fredericksburg battlefield.  After I started driving down Lee Drive, I stopped at Confederate General Robert E. Lee's headquarters, known today as Lee Hill.  From the road, I had to take a hike uphill, which was fortunately rather short.  At the top of the hill are these two cannons, of different sizes.

Fredericksburg Battlefield - Part 1

Today I visited the Fredericksburg Battlefield area of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, including the "Sunken Road" area not far from downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia.  The Battle of Fredericksburg took place on December 11th through 13th, 1862, thus being the earliest of the four battles whose fields I visited during this week.  Before I started walking on the "Sunken Road", I was diverted to Marye's Heights by this sign.  Even so, the road's wall, which has been reconstructed, is on the right in this photo.

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Spotsylvania Battlefield

Today I visited the Spotsylvania Battlefield area of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, where the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House took place, from May 8th to 21st, 1864.  The first place where I stopped in was an exhibit shelter, a short walk from which are a monument, a cannon, and a directional marker.  All of these are seen in this first picture, along with a modern house in the background.

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Tuesday Things

On a sunny and very warm Tuesday somewhere in Virginia, here are some things going on:

From National Review, according to emails, Dr. Anthony Fauci knew by January 2020 knew that his agency was funding gain-of-function research on coronaviruses in China.

From FrontpageMag, the Department of Homeland Security fights heatstroke instead of illegal immigration.

From Townhall, what Republicans are focusing on as the congressional August recess ends.

From The Washington Free Beacon, presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy seeks a meeting with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

From the Washington Examiner, according to an opinion column, the pause in the confirmation of military promotions is the fault of "lazy" Democrats, not Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL).

From The Federalist, left-wing activists who were once about "fighting the man" are now "the man" himself.

From American Thinker, masks are back, and so are the neocons.

From MRCTV, Hurricane Idalia causes electric cars to catch fire.

From NewsBusters, right-wing journalist Brett Bozell points out that lack of media coverage of allegations of Biden family crime.

From Canada Free Press, was Obama a real-life Manchurian president?

From TeleSUR, Nicaragua announces that it intends to join the BRICS.

From TCW Defending Freedom, math lessons in the U.K. must prepare students for the real world of filing taxes and paying mortgages.

From Free West Media, the earth's climate is driven by the sun, not carbon dioxide.

From EuroNews, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could soon meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

From Voice Of Europe, Poland cuts its tax for first-time home buyers and raises taxes on people buying multiple properties.

From Al Arabiya, Austrian authorities break up a suspected terror cell allegedly linked to ISIS.  (via Voice Of Europe)

From ReMix, among people in the E.U., Serbians and Hungarians are the most satisfied with their governments.

From Balkan Insight, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama reorganizes his ministerial lineup, but critics say that the changes are cosmetic.

From The North Africa Post, Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine announces ongoing talks to facilitate the withdrawal of French military personnel from Niger.

From The New Arab, a new influx of Syrian refugees enters Lebanon.

From Allah's Willing Executioners, a couple from Tunisia alert police in Athis-Mons, France to graffiti on a town hall.  (If you read French, read the story at Valeurs Actuelles.)

From Gatestone Institute, how Iranian-backed terrorist leaders exploit the Palestinians.

From The Stream, presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) "has the right idea".

From The Daily Signal, the FBI greatly undercounts shooting incidents which are stopped by armed citizens.

From The American Conservative, Canada has committed anti-Catholic blood libel.

From The Western Journal, President Biden is fact-checked after claiming that Trump "didn't build a [bleep] thing" when he was a real estate developer.

From BizPac Review, a video of a knife-wielding migrant trying to break into an apartment in Sweden shows the problem when law-abiding people are kept unarmed.

From The Daily Wire, six co-defendants in the Georgia racketeering case plead not guilty and waive their in-person arraignments.

From the Daily Caller, congresscritter Jim Jordan (R-OH) suggests that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas may have committed perjury.

From the New York Post, due to heavy rains, people at the Burning Man festival find three-eyed "dinosaur shrimp" in the mud below their feet.

From Breitbart, the Chief Twit threatens to sue the Anti-Defamation League for its alleged effort to cut off ad revenue for the platform formerly known as Twitter.

From Newsmax, according to Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), the male work force is "not doing well".

And from The Babylon Bee, no one notices as Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is replaced by a lifelike cardboard cutout.

Monday, September 4, 2023

Wilderness Battlefield

Today I visited the Wilderness Battlefield area of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.  The Battle of the Wilderness took place on May 5th and 6th, 1864, a year after the Battle of Chancellorsville, and just a few miles farther west.  The first place where I stopped in was the site of General Grant's headquarters, which was a short walk from Virginia Route 20.  There's nothing to mark the place other than two informational plaques, one of which is seen here.

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Sunday Stories

On a warm sunny Sunday in Virginia, here are some things going on:

From National Review, authorities investigate a death at the Burning Man festival, which has been pelted with rain.

From Townhall, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) rightfully snubs President Biden.

From The Washington Free Beacon, a review of the memoirs of New Republic editor Martin Peretz.

From the Washington Examiner, presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy (R) claims that he would have handled the Capitol riot differently than then-President Trump did.

From American Thinker, modern globalists resurrect the Roman censor.

From NewsBusters, Ramaswamy denounces the media's "deranged mental cultural state".

From Canada Free Press, it sure looks like treason.

From TCW Defending Freedom, a pernicious bill would silence Christians in Australia.

From EuroNews, 872 migrants arrive in the U.K. on small boats in one day, the most for the year 2023.

From Voice Of Europe, Hungarian official Gergely Gulyás raises concerns about centralization in the E.U.

From The North Africa Post, Moroccan police and customs authorities foil an attempt to smuggle ecstasy and boufa into the country.

From The New Arab, three protesters are killed in clashes between ethnic groups in Kirkuk, Iraq.

From Barron's, Ugandan police foil an attempted bomb attack on a church.

From Gatestone Institute, starvation is "the invisible genocide weapon".

From The Stream, let's get "motivated".

From The Western Journal, leave it to "alleged college football fan" Jemele Hill to ruin Colorado's upset of TCU.  (Colorado's football team is coached by former NFL star Deion Sanders.)

From BizPac Review, employees at a jewelry store in El Monte, California fight back against a thief.

From The Daily Wire, more on events at the Burning Man festival.

From the Daily Caller, Americans keep getting crushed by debt, which could get even worse.

From Breitbart, London Mayor Sadiq Khan's government is forced to used spy vans to enforce its ULEZ tax against cars after citizens damage or destroy surveillance cameras.

From Newsmax, Jimmy Buffett died from skin cancer.

And from the New York Post, a Labor Day ode to the worker.

Saturday, September 2, 2023

Chancellorsville Battlefield - Part 2

My tour of Chancellorsville Battlefield resumed with a stop at a place named Hazel Grove, which like McLaws' Line has a hiking trail.  It also has a row of Confederate cannons.

Chancellorsville Battlefield - Part 1

Today I explored Chancellorsville Battlefield, which is part of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.  The Battle of Chancellorsville took place from April 27th to May 6th, 1863 during the Civil War.  The first place where I stopped was at the ruins of a house owned by a family named Chancellor, who used part of it as an inn before the war.  During the war, Union General Joseph Hooker used it as his headquarters, and it burned during the battle.  Here are two cannons near the ruins.

Jimmy Buffett 1946-2023

Jimmy Buffett, the singer/guitarist/songwriter who combined folk, rock, pop and calypso into a style that he called "drunken Caribbean rock 'n' roll", and whose fans were known as "Parrotheads", died late yesterday at age 76.  Neither the cause nor the location of his death has yet been reported.  According to his website, he "passed away peacefully" while he was "surrounded by his family, friends, music and dogs".

James William Buffett was born on Christmas day in 1946 in Pascagoula, Mississippi to James Delaney Buffett Jr. and the former Mary Lorraine Peets.  Parts of his childhood were spent in Fairhope and Mobile, Alabama.  He graduated from a Catholic high school in Mobile, after playing the trombone in a school band.  He enrolled at Auburn University, where he started playing guitar, but left after his freshman year due to poor grades.  He transferred to Pearl River Community College and later to the University of Southern Mississippi at Hattiesburg, where he received his bachelor's degree in history.  He was exposed to sailing by his grandfather, which would mean that the title of one of his albums, Son of a Son of a Sailor, was literally true about himself.

Buffett's musical career began in Nashville, Tennessee, where he recorded his 1970 debut album Down to Earth.  In 1971, he joined fellow musician Jerry Jeff Walker for a busking trip to Key West, Florida, and moved there soon afterwards.  He has released 31 studio albums and announced that he had recorded one more, which has not yet been released.  Of his many songs, some of the best known are Margaritaville, Come Monday, Fins, Volcano, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Why Don't We Get Drunk, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, and the title song to the aforementioned album Son of a Son of a Sailor.  His touring musicians were collectively called the Coral Reefer Band.

Besides making music, Buffett also wrote books (including three best-sellers), appeared in cameo roles on TV and in movies, launched a record label, opened restaurants and casinos, co-founded a real estate venture, put on musical plays, and launched a brand of cannabis.

Buffett was married twice.  He and Margie Washichek married in 1969 and divorced in 1971.  He married Jane Slagsvol in 1977, by whom he is survived, along with their daughters Savannah and Sarah and their adopted son Cameron.


Friday, September 1, 2023

A Sasquatch Travels On The Start Of September

Once again, this time on a Friday that starts September, I have traveled to an undisclosed location.  This one is fortunately a lot closer to home, being in Virginia and requiring just one day of driving.  It's in an area that I passed through last December, so I decided to return and stay here a while, to smell the proverbial roses.  Of course, various travelogues and other posts will be made in due time.

Now that I've bought some groceries and done a bit of unpacking, it's time to chill out for a bit.  See ya soon.