jgo
jgo's JournalOn This Day: Einstein publishes "the most beautiful of all existing physical theories" - Mar. 20, 1916
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March 20, 1916: The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity
1916 – Albert Einstein sent a paper off to Annelen Der Physik. The paper was called “Die Grundlage der Allgemeinen Relativitatstheorie” – translated as “The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity”.
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https://dayintechhistory.com/dith/march-20-1916-foundation-general-theory-relativity/
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Widely acknowledged as a theory of extraordinary beauty, general relativity has often been described as the most beautiful of all existing physical theories.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity
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What is relativity? Einstein's mind-bending theory explained
How our ideas about space and time changed forever.
What is general relativity?
Essentially, it’s a theory of gravity. The basic idea is that instead of being an invisible force that attracts objects to one another, gravity is a curving or warping of space. The more massive an object, the more it warps the space around it.
For example, the sun is massive enough to warp space across our solar system — a bit like the way a heavy ball resting on a rubber sheet warps the sheet. As a result, Earth and the other planets move in curved paths (orbits) around it.
This warping also affects measurements of time. We tend to think of time as ticking away at a steady rate. But just as gravity can stretch or warp space, it can also dilate time. If your friend climbs to the top of a mountain, you’ll see his clock ticking faster compared to yours; another friend, at the bottom of a valley, will have a slower-ticking clock, because of the difference in the strength of gravity at each place. Subsequent experiments proved that this indeed happens.
Tests of special and general relativity
In 1971, scientists tested both parts of Einstein’s theory by placing precisely synchronized atomic clocks in airliners and flying them around the world. A check of the timepieces after the planes landed showed that the clocks aboard the airliners were running a tiny bit slower than (less than one millionth of a second) than the clocks on the ground.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/what-relativity-einstein-s-mind-bending-theory-explained-ncna865496
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General relativity
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General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics. General relativity generalises special relativity and refines Newton's law of universal gravitation, providing a unified description of gravity as a geometric property of space and time or four-dimensional spacetime. In particular, the curvature of spacetime is directly related to the energy and momentum of whatever matter and radiation are present. The relation is specified by the Einstein field equations, a system of second order partial differential equations.
Newton's law of universal gravitation, which describes classical gravity, can be seen as a prediction of general relativity for the almost flat spacetime geometry around stationary mass distributions. Some predictions of general relativity, however, are beyond Newton's law of universal gravitation in classical physics. These predictions concern the passage of time, the geometry of space, the motion of bodies in free fall, and the propagation of light, and include gravitational time dilation, gravitational lensing, the gravitational redshift of light, the Shapiro time delay and singularities/black holes. So far, all tests of general relativity have been shown to be in agreement with the theory. The time-dependent solutions of general relativity enable us to talk about the history of the universe and have provided the modern framework for cosmology, thus leading to the discovery of the Big Bang and cosmic microwave background radiation. Despite the introduction of a number of alternative theories, general relativity continues to be the simplest theory consistent with experimental data.
[Reconciliation with quantum physics]
Reconciliation of general relativity with the laws of quantum physics remains a problem, however, as there is a lack of a self-consistent theory of quantum gravity. It is not yet known how gravity can be unified with the three non-gravitational forces: strong, weak and electromagnetic.
[Black holes and expanding universe]
Einstein's theory has astrophysical implications, including the prediction of black holes—regions of space in which space and time are distorted in such a way that nothing, not even light, can escape from them. Black holes are the end-state for massive stars. Microquasars and active galactic nuclei are believed to be stellar black holes and supermassive black holes. It also predicts gravitational lensing, where the bending of light results in multiple images of the same distant astronomical phenomenon. Other predictions include the existence of gravitational waves, which have been observed directly by the physics collaboration LIGO and other observatories. In addition, general relativity has provided the base of cosmological models of an expanding universe.
Current status - [a highly active area of research]
General relativity has emerged as a highly successful model of gravitation and cosmology, which has so far passed many unambiguous observational and experimental tests. However, there are strong indications that the theory is incomplete. The problem of quantum gravity and the question of the reality of spacetime singularities remain open. Observational data that is taken as evidence for dark energy and dark matter could indicate the need for new physics.
Even taken as is, general relativity is rich with possibilities for further exploration. Mathematical relativists seek to understand the nature of singularities and the fundamental properties of Einstein's equations, while numerical relativists run increasingly powerful computer simulations (such as those describing merging black holes). In February 2016, it was announced that the existence of gravitational waves was directly detected by the Advanced LIGO team on 14 September 2015. A century after its introduction, general relativity remains a highly active area of research.
Gravitational wave
Gravitational waves are waves of the intensity of gravity that are generated by the accelerated masses of binary stars and other motions of gravitating masses, and propagate as waves outward from their source at the speed of light. They were first proposed by Oliver Heaviside in 1893 and then later by Henri Poincaré in 1905 as the gravitational equivalent of electromagnetic waves. In 1916 Albert Einstein demonstrated that gravitational waves result from his general theory of relativity as ripples in spacetime.
Gravitational waves transport energy as gravitational radiation, a form of radiant energy similar to electromagnetic radiation. Newton's law of universal gravitation, part of classical mechanics, does not provide for their existence, since that law is predicated on the assumption that physical interactions propagate instantaneously (at infinite speed) – showing one of the ways the methods of Newtonian physics are unable to explain phenomena associated with relativity.
The first indirect evidence for the existence of gravitational waves came in 1974 from the observed orbital decay of the Hulse–Taylor binary pulsar, which matched the decay predicted by general relativity as energy is lost to gravitational radiation. In 1993, Russell A. Hulse and Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr. received the Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery.
The first direct observation of gravitational waves was made in 2015, when a signal generated by the merger of two black holes was received by the LIGO gravitational wave detectors in Livingston, Louisiana, and in Hanford, Washington. The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics was subsequently awarded to Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish for their role in the direct detection of gravitational waves.
In gravitational-wave astronomy, observations of gravitational waves are used to infer data about the sources of gravitational waves. Sources that can be studied this way include binary star systems composed of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes; events such as supernovae; and the formation of the early universe shortly after the Big Bang.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_wave
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On This Day: Governor signs bill legalizing gambling in Nevada - March 19, 1931
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374572
On This Day: Caligula comes to power, issues in popular reforms - March 18, 37
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374524
On This Day: Burst of Joy photo symbolizes release of POWs from North Vietnam - Mar. 17, 1973
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374479
On This Day: Plane on secret war mission disappears with no trace - Mar. 16, 1962
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374414
On This Day: George Washington quells serious discord movement in the military - Mar. 15, 1783
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374380
On This Day: Governor signs bill legalizing gambling in Nevada - March 19, 1931
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NEVADA MARKS 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF LEGAL GAMBLING
MOBSTERS PLAYED CRITICAL ROLE IN GROWTH OF SILVER STATE’S DOMINANT INDUSTRY
Published: March 19th, 2021
When Governor Fred Balzar signed Assembly Bill 98 on March 19, 1931, few Nevadans could have foreseen the long-term significance of what had occurred. The Las Vegas Evening Review-Journal surely didn’t, as news of the bill signing earned one short paragraph at the bottom of the front page the following day.
The newspaper’s killjoy prediction proved to be more accurate in the short run. The transformation of Las Vegas from dusty railroad town to American Monte Carlo was delayed, at least in part, by the Great Depression. While Las Vegas was doing better economically than many other communities across the country thanks to Hoover Dam construction, the banks that hadn’t gone under were not exactly handing out loans to build bigger betting palaces, especially considering that gambling was still considered a sin in wide swaths of the country.
Even in Las Vegas, there was some reluctance to fully embrace gambling. The first city ordinance outlining casino licensing fees and regulations required that “all glass doors to gambling establishments and abutting on streets or alleys must be opaque or curtained to shield the interior from view by passers-by,” according to the Review-Journal.
Most of the licensed casinos crowded along the west end of Fremont Street. There was no vision, in those early days, that the city could attract millions of tourists by building casino resorts with showrooms, buffets, swimming pools and horse stables. That discovery would come a decade later.
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https://themobmuseum.org/blog/nevada-marks-90th-anniversary-of-legal-gambling/
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During the Great Depression in the United States, Nevada legalized gambling—terming it "gaming"—in 1931; (the Northern Club received the first license). At the time, the leading proponents of gambling expected that it would be a short term fix until the state's economic base widened to include less cyclical industries. However, re-outlawing gambling has never been seriously considered since, and the industry has become Nevada's primary source of revenue today. Gambling taxes account for 34% of state revenue.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Nevada#Twentieth_century
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History of Las Vegas
1930–1941: Hoover Dam and the first casinos
On July 3, 1930, President Herbert Hoover signed the appropriation bill for the Boulder Dam. The dam was renamed the Hoover Dam during the Truman administration. Work started on the dam in 1931 and Las Vegas' population swelled from around 5,000 citizens to 25,000, with most of the newcomers looking for a job building the dam. However, the demographic of the work force consisting of males from across the country with no attachment to the area created a market for large-scale entertainment. A combination of local Las Vegas business owners and Mafia crime lords helped develop the casinos and showgirl theaters to entertain the largely male dam construction workers.
Despite the influx of known crime figures, the local business community tried to cast Las Vegas in a respectable light when the Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur visited in 1929 to inspect the dam site. However a worker was found with alcohol on his breath (this was during the time of Prohibition) after a visit to Block 16 in Las Vegas. The government ultimately decided that a federally controlled town, Boulder City, would be erected for the dam workers.
Realizing that gambling would be profitable for local business, the Nevada state legislature legalized gambling at the local level in 1931. Las Vegas, with a small but already well-established illegal gambling industry, was poised to begin its rise as the gaming capital of the world. The county issued the first gambling license in 1931 to the Northern Club, and soon other casinos were licensed on Fremont Street, such as the Las Vegas Club and the Hotel Apache. Fremont Street became the first paved street in Las Vegas and received the city's first traffic light in 1931.
In reply, the federal government restricted movement of the dam workers to Las Vegas. Smuggling and circuitous routes then were developed. In 1934, to curtail these activities and the resulting growth of criminal figures in the gambling industry, the city's leading figures purged gambling dens and started an effort to stem the flow of workers from the dam. This only emboldened some dam workers who still contrived to visit Las Vegas. A celebration of this era has become known as Helldorado Days.
Although the suppression efforts resulted in declines at gambling venues and resulted in a business downturn, the city was recharged—both literally and figuratively—when the dam was completed in 1935. In 1937, Southern Nevada Power became the first utility to supply power from the dam, and Las Vegas was its first customer. Electricity flowed into Las Vegas, and Fremont Street became known as Glitter Gulch due to the many bright lights powered by electricity from the Hoover Dam. Meanwhile, although the dam worker population disappeared, the Hoover Dam and its reservoir Lake Mead turned into tourist attractions on their own and the need for additional higher-class hotels became clear.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Las_Vegas
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On This Day: Caligula comes to power, issues in popular reforms - March 18, 37
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374524
On This Day: Burst of Joy photo symbolizes release of POWs from North Vietnam - Mar. 17, 1973
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374479
On This Day: Plane on secret war mission disappears with no trace - Mar. 16, 1962
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374414
On This Day: George Washington quells serious discord movement in the military - Mar. 15, 1783
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374380
On This Day: King fails to stop controversial execution of British admiral - Mar. 14, 1757
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374271
On This Day: Caligula comes to power, issues in popular reforms - March 18, 37
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How do you solve a problem like Caligula?
March 18, 2023
Caligula was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37-41 AD – a short but unstable reign. He came to power on 18 March but was assassinated on 24 January 41 AD, not quite making four years as an emperor.
At first, Caligula was welcomed by the Roman population. He become emperor at the age of 25 and set out a series of reforms that made him popular, abolishing onerous and unfair taxes, freeing those who had been jailed unjustly – and winning over the militia by granting generous bonuses to Roman soldiers.
There is suggestion that Caligula became cruel and unstable because of the trauma of his early childhood – as well as speculation that he might have been mentally ill or suffering from any number of physical illnesses, such as hyperthyroidism.
But his early life was blighted by the alleged murder of his parents and brothers – and his own physical hang ups. The intricate family relationships of the Romans and their ruthlessness in dispatching family members who posed a challenge to their political power may seem unbelievable to us today – but Caligula shows that perhaps, underneath, they were still oh so very human and just as hung up as anyone else about their appearance and place in the great scheme of things.
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https://novelromealone.com/2023/03/18/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-caligula-7/
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Caligula
Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31– 41), better known by his nickname Caligula, was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in AD 41. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Augustus' granddaughter, members of the first ruling family of the Roman Empire. He was born two years before Tiberius was made emperor. Gaius accompanied his father, mother and siblings on campaign in Germania, at little more than four or five years old. He had been named after Gaius Julius Caesar, but his father's soldiers affectionately nicknamed him "Caligula" ('little boot').
Germanicus died at Antioch in 19, and Agrippina returned with her six children to Rome, where she became entangled in a bitter feud with emperor Tiberius, who was Germanicus' biological uncle and adoptive father. The conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. In 26, Tiberius withdrew from public life to the island of Capri, and in 31, Caligula joined him there. Tiberius died in 37 and Caligula succeeded him as emperor, at the age of 24.
Of the few surviving sources about Caligula and his four-year reign, most were written by members of the nobility and senate, long after the events they purport to describe. They portray Caligula as a noble and moderate emperor during the first six months of his rule, but increasingly self-indulgent, cruel, sadistic, extravagant and sexually perverted thereafter, an insane tyrant who demanded and received worship as a living god, and planned to make his horse a consul. Most modern commentaries seek to explain Caligula's position, personality and historical context. Many of the allegations against him are dismissed as misunderstandings, exaggeration, mockery or malicious fantasy.
During his brief reign, Caligula worked to increase the unconstrained personal power of the emperor, as opposed to countervailing powers within the principate. He directed much of his attention to ambitious construction projects and luxurious dwellings for himself. He began the construction of two aqueducts in Rome: the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus.
During his reign, the empire annexed the client kingdom of Mauretania as a province. He had to abandon an attempted invasion of Britain, and the installation of his statue in the Temple of Jerusalem.
In early 41, Caligula was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators, and courtiers. At least some of the conspirators might have planned this as an opportunity to restore the Roman Republic and aristocratic privileges; but if so, their plan was thwarted by the Praetorians, who seem to have spontaneously chosen Caligula's uncle Claudius as the next emperor. Caligula's death marked the official end of the Julii Caesares in the male line, though the Julio-Claudian dynasty continued to rule until the demise of Caligula's nephew, the emperor Nero.
Private life
The sources are somewhat contradictory on the matter of Caligula's sex life. He is said to have had "enormous" appetites, several mistresses and male lovers, but in relation to the alleged "perversions" practised at Corfu by Tiberius and, in some sources, by himself, he appears remarkably prudish in expelling the spintriae [bronze tokens depicting graphic scenes of sexual acts] from the island on his accession.
He was briefly married to Livia Orestilla. His marriage to the "Beautiful... very wealthy" and extravagant Lollia Paulina was quickly followed by divorce. His fourth and last marriage, to Caesonia, seems to have been a love-match, in which he was both "uxorious and monogamous", and fathered a daughter. Caligula named her Julia Drusilla, in commemoration of his late sister. Caligula's contemporaries could not understand her appeal to Caligula. Some believed that she must have given him a love potion, which turned his mind and brought on his "madness".
Allegations of incest between Caligula and his sisters, or just his favourite, Drusilla, go back no further than Suetonius, who admits that in his own time, they were hearsay. Seneca and Philo, moralistic contemporaries of Caligula, do not mention these stories even when, after Caligula's death, it would have been safe to do so. Then and now, allegations of incest fit the amoral, "mad Emperor" stereotype, promiscuous with money, sex and the lives of his subjects. Dio repeats, as fact, the allegation that Caligula had "improper relations" with his two older sisters, Agrippina and Livilla.
Source opinions
There is no real or reliable evidence of Caligula's mental state at any time in his life. In the course of their narratives, all the primary and contemporary sources give reasons to discredit and ultimately condemn him, for offences against proprieties of class or religion or both. They are unreliable guides to Caligula himself, or his motives. "Thus, his acts should be seen from other angles, and the search for 'mad Caligula' abandoned."
Philo and Seneca the Younger, contemporaries of Caligula, describe him as insane, self-absorbed and short-tempered, murderous, profligate and sexually voracious. He is accused of sleeping with other men's wives and bragging about it and killing for mere amusement. Once, at some games at which he was presiding, he was said to have ordered his guards to throw an entire section of the audience into the arena during the intermission to be eaten by the wild beasts because there were no prisoners to be used and he was bored. Barrett considered Dio’s report to be a garbled version of Suetonius’ account that Caligula resorted to feeding criminals to wild beasts when the cost of using cattle became too excessive.
While repeating these earlier stories, the later sources of Suetonius and Cassius Dio accuse Caligula of incest with his sisters, Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla, and Livilla, and say that he prostituted them to other men. They also mention sexual affairs with various men including his brother-in-law Marcus Lepidus. They say he sent troops on illogical military exercises and turned the palace into a brothel. Philo, Josephus and Seneca see Caligula's apparent "insanity" as a personality trait accentuated through self-indulgence and the unlimited exercise of power. Seneca states that Caligula became arrogant, angry and insulting once he became emperor. Philo claims that Caligula became more ruthless after nearly dying of an illness in the eighth month of his reign (in 37).
Several modern sources offer medical diagnoses including encephalitis, epilepsy and meningitis. Suetonius claims that Caligula had "falling sickness" (epilepsy in his youth; Benediktson refines this to a diagnosis of Interictal Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, and a consequent fear of seizures that prevented his learning to swim.) In Romano-Greek medical theory, severe epilepsy attacks were associated with the full moon and the moon goddess Selene, with whom Caligula was claimed to converse and enjoy sexual congress. Suetonius' descriptions of Caligula's appearance as repulsive are unreliable and unlikely, considering his ecstatic and enthusiastic reception by the populace.
Contemporary historiography
The facts and circumstances of Caligula's reign are mostly lost to history. Two major literary sources contemporary with Caligula have survived – the works of Philo and Seneca the Younger. Philo's works, On the Embassy to Gaius and Flaccus, give some details on Caligula's early reign, but mostly focus on events surrounding the Jewish population in Judea and Egypt with whom he sympathizes.
Seneca's various works give mostly scattered anecdotes on Caligula's personality. Seneca was almost put to death by Caligula in AD 39, probably due to his associations with conspirators. At one time, there were detailed contemporaneous histories on Caligula, but they are now lost. Tacitus describes them as biased, either overly critical or praising Caligula. Nonetheless, these lost primary sources, along with the works of Seneca and Philo, were the basis of subsequent histories. Fabius Rusticus and Cluvius Rufus both wrote histories condemning Caligula. They are now lost, but Tacitus describes Fabius Rusticus as a friend of Seneca, and prone to embellishments and misrepresentations. Cluvius Rufus was a senator involved in Caligula's assassination.
Caligula's sister, Agrippina the Younger, wrote an autobiography that included a detailed account of Caligula's reign, but it too is lost. Agrippina was banished by Caligula for her connection to Marcus Lepidus, who conspired against him. The inheritance of Nero, Agrippina's son and the future emperor, was seized by Caligula. Gaetulicus, a poet, produced a number of flattering writings about Caligula, but they are lost. Suetonius wrote his biography of Caligula 80 years after his assassination, and Cassius Dio over 180 years after. Dio's work offers a loose chronology. Josephus gives a detailed description of Caligula's assassination. Tacitus provides some information on Caligula's life under Tiberius. In a now lost portion of his Annals, Tacitus gave a detailed history of Caligula. Pliny the Elder's Natural History has a few brief references to Caligula. None of the few surviving sources paints Caligula in a favourable light. The paucity of sources has resulted in significant gaps in modern knowledge of the reign of Caligula. Little is written on the first two years of Caligula's reign, and there are only limited details on later significant events, such as the annexation of Mauretania, Caligula's military actions in Britannia, and his feud with the Roman Senate, whose class provides, almost without exception, the most blatantly hostile accounts of Caligula the man, his reign and his various infamies.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula
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On This Day: Burst of Joy photo symbolizes release of POWs from North Vietnam - Mar. 17, 1973
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374479
On This Day: Plane on secret war mission disappears with no trace - Mar. 16, 1962
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374414
On This Day: George Washington quells serious discord movement in the military - Mar. 15, 1783
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374380
On This Day: King fails to stop controversial execution of British admiral - Mar. 14, 1757
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374271
On This Day: Finland cedes major assets to Soviets as Winter War ends - Mar. 13, 1940
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374215
On This Day: Burst of Joy photo symbolizes release of POWs from North Vietnam - Mar. 17, 1973
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Burst of Joy
Burst of Joy is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Press photographer Slava "Sal" Veder, taken on March 17, 1973, at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, California, United States involving Lt Col Robert L. Stirm and his family.
[POWs leave North Vietnam]
The first group of American POWs leaving North Vietnamese prison camps left Hanoi on a United States Air Force (USAF) Lockheed C-141 Starlifter nicknamed the Hanoi Taxi, which flew them to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for medical examinations. On March 17, the plane landed at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, California. Even though there were only twenty POWs of that first increment released aboard the plane, almost 400 family members turned up for the homecoming.
USAF Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm made a speech "on behalf of himself and other POWs who had arrived from Vietnam as part of Operation Homecoming."
Smithsonian Magazine says that "Veder, who'd been standing in a crowded bullpen with dozens of other journalists, noticed the sprinting family and started taking pictures. 'You could feel the energy and the raw emotion in the air'."
Developing the latent images
Veder then rushed to the makeshift photo developing station (for 35 mm film) in the ladies' room of the air base's flightline washrooms, while the photographers from United Press International were in the men's. Smithsonian Magazine says that "In less than half an hour, Veder and his AP colleague Walt Zeboski had developed six remarkable images of that singular moment. Veder's pick, which he instantly titled Burst of Joy, was sent out over the news-service wires".
The depicted persons
The photograph depicts United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm being reunited with his family, after spending more than five years in captivity as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.
On October 27, 1967, Stirm was shot down over Hanoi while leading a flight of F-105s on a bombing mission, and was not released until March 14, 1973. The centerpiece of the photograph is Stirm's 15-year-old daughter Lorrie, who is excitedly greeting her father with outstretched arms, as the rest of the family approaches directly behind her.
Lorrie later recounted in 2003: "We were in a car behind the aircraft on the tarmac, and then they said, "You can get out now." So we just burst out of the car and started running to my dad. . . We were very excited." Lorrie's exuberant reaction earned her moniker "The Jumper" or "The Leaper".
Despite outward appearances, the reunion was an unhappy one for Stirm. Three days before he arrived in the United States, the same day he was released from captivity, Stirm received a Dear John letter from his wife Loretta informing him that their marriage was over.
Stirm was later promoted to full Colonel and retired from the Air Force in 1977.
After Burst of Joy was announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, all of the family members depicted in the picture received copies. The depicted children display it prominently in their homes, but not Colonel Stirm, who in 2005 said he cannot bring himself to display the picture.
Reactions [to photo]
About the picture and its legacy, Lorrie Stirm Kitching once noted, "We have this very nice picture of a very happy moment, but every time I look at it, I remember the families that weren't reunited, and the ones that aren't being reunited today—many, many families—and I think, I'm one of the lucky ones."
Donald Goldstein, a retired Air Force colonel and a co-author of a prominent Vietnam War photojournalism book, The Vietnam War: The Stories and The Photographs, says of Burst of Joy, "After years of fighting a war we couldn't win, a war that tore us apart, it was finally over, and the country could start healing."
United States prisoners of war during the Vietnam War
Members of the United States armed forces were held as prisoners of war (POWs) in significant numbers during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1973. Unlike U.S. service members captured in World War II and the Korean War, who were mostly enlisted troops, the overwhelming majority of Vietnam-era POWs were officers, most of them Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps airmen; a relatively small number of Army enlisted personnel were also captured, as well as one enlisted Navy seaman, Petty Officer Doug Hegdahl, who fell overboard from a naval vessel.
Most U.S. prisoners were captured and held in North Vietnam by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN); a much smaller number were captured in the south and held by the Việt Cộng (VC). A handful of U.S. civilians were also held captive during the war.
Thirteen prisons and prison camps were used to house U.S. prisoners in North Vietnam, the most widely known of which was Hỏa Lò Prison (nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton " ). The treatment and ultimate fate of U.S. prisoners of war in Vietnam became a subject of widespread concern in the United States, and hundreds of thousands of Americans wore POW bracelets with the name and capture date of imprisoned U.S. service members.
American POWs in North Vietnam were released in early 1973 as part of Operation Homecoming, the result of diplomatic negotiations concluding U.S. military involvement in Vietnam. On February 12, 1973, the first of 591 U.S. prisoners began to be repatriated, and return flights continued until late March. After Operation Homecoming, the U.S. still listed roughly 1,350 Americans as prisoners of war or missing in action and sought the return of roughly 1,200 Americans reported killed in action, but whose bodies were not recovered. These missing personnel would become the subject of the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue.
Phases of captures
On March 26, 1964, the first U.S. service member imprisoned during the Vietnam War was captured near Quảng Trị, South Vietnam when an L-19/O-1 Bird Dog observation plane flown by Captain Richard L. Whitesides and Captain Floyd James Thompson was brought down by small arms fire. Whitesides was killed, and Thompson was taken prisoner; he would ultimately spend just short of nine years in captivity, making him the longest-held POW in American history. The first fighter pilot captured in North Vietnam was Navy Lieutenant (junior grade) Everett Alvarez, Jr., who was shot down on August 5, 1964, in the aftermath of the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
American pilots continued to be captured over the north between 1965 and 1968 as part of Operation Rolling Thunder, the sustained aerial bombing campaign against North Vietnam. After President Lyndon Johnson initiated a bombing pause in 1968, the number of new captures dropped significantly, only to pick up again after his successor, President Richard Nixon, resumed bombing in 1969. Significant numbers of Americans were also captured during Operation Linebacker between May and October 1972 and Operation Linebacker II in December 1972, also known as the "Christmas Bombings". They would have the shortest stays in captivity.
Severe treatment years
Beginning in late 1965, the application of torture against U.S. prisoners of war became severe. During the first six years in which U.S. prisoners of war were held in North Vietnam, many experienced long periods of solitary confinement, with senior leaders and particularly recalcitrant POWs being isolated to prevent communication.
The POWs made extensive use of a tap code to communicate, which was introduced in June 1965 by four POWs held in the Hỏa Lò. Throughout the war the tap code was instrumental in maintaining prisoner morale, as well as preserving a cohesive military structure despite North Vietnamese attempts to disrupt the POW's chain of command. During periods of protracted isolation the tap code facilitated elaborate mental projects to keep the prisoners' sanity.
U.S. prisoners of war in North Vietnam were subjected to extreme torture and malnutrition during their captivity. The goal of the North Vietnamese was to get written or recorded statements from the prisoners that criticized U.S. conduct of the war and praised how the North Vietnamese treated them. Such POW statements would be viewed as a propaganda victory in the battle to sway world and U.S. domestic opinion against the U.S. war effort.
[Blinked "T-O-R-T-U-R-E"]
During one such event in 1966, then-Commander Jeremiah Denton, a captured Navy pilot, was forced to appear at a televised press conference, where he famously blinked the word "T-O-R-T-U-R-E" with his eyes in Morse code, confirming to U.S. intelligence that U.S. prisoners of war were being harshly treated.
[POWs paraded through streets]
Two months later, in what became known as the Hanoi March, 52 American POWs were paraded through the streets of Hanoi before thousands of North Vietnamese civilians. The march soon deteriorated into near riot conditions, with North Vietnamese civilians beating the POWs along the 2 miles route and their guards largely unable to restrain the attacks.
[First in, first out]
The North Vietnamese occasionally released prisoners of war for propaganda or other purposes. The POWs had a "first in, first out" interpretation of the Code of the U.S. Fighting Force, meaning they could only accept release in the order they had been captured, but making an exception for those seriously sick or badly injured. When a few captured servicemen began to be released from North Vietnamese prisons during the Johnson administration, their testimonies revealed widespread and systematic abuse of prisoners of war. Initially, this information was downplayed by American authorities for fear that conditions might worsen for those remaining in North Vietnamese custody. Policy changed under the Nixon administration, when mistreatment of the prisoners was publicized by U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird and others.
Later years
Beginning in October 1969, the torture regime suddenly abated to a great extent, and life for the prisoners became less severe and generally more tolerable. North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh had died the previous month, possibly causing a change in policy towards POWs. Many POWs speculated that Ho had been personally responsible for their mistreatment. Also, a badly beaten and weakened POW who had been released that summer disclosed to the world press the conditions to which they were being subjected, and the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia heightened awareness of the POWs' plight.
[Escape and rescue attempts]
Despite several escape attempts, no U.S. POW successfully escaped from a North Vietnamese prison, although James N. Rowe successfully escaped from North Vietnamese captivity.
On November 21, 1970, U.S. Special Forces launched Operation Ivory Coast in an attempt to rescue 61 POWs believed to be held at the Sơn Tây prison camp 23 miles west of Hanoi. Fifty-six commandos landed by helicopter and assaulted the prison, but the prisoners had been moved some months earlier and none were rescued. While the raid failed to free any POWs and was considered a significant intelligence failure, it had several positive implications for American prisoners. The most immediate effect was to affirm to the POWs that their government was actively attempting to repatriate them, which significantly boosted their morale. Additionally, soon after the raid all acknowledged American prisoners in North Vietnam were moved to Hỏa Lò so that the North Vietnamese had fewer camps to protect and to prevent their rescue by U.S. forces.
The post-raid consolidation brought many prisoners who had spent years in isolation into large cells holding roughly 70 men each. This created the "Camp Unity" communal living area at Hỏa Lò. The increased human contact further improved morale and facilitated greater military cohesion among the POWs. At this time, the prisoners formally organized themselves under the 4th Allied POW Wing, whose name acknowledged earlier periods of overseas captivity among American military personnel in World War I, World War II and the Korean War. This military structure was ultimately recognized by the North Vietnamese and endured until the prisoners' release in 1973.
Nevertheless, by 1971, some 30–50 percent of the POWs had become disillusioned about the war, both because of the apparent lack of military progress and what they heard of the growing anti-war movement in the U.S. and some of them were less reluctant to make propaganda statements for the North Vietnamese. Others were not among them; there were defiant church services[27] and an effort to write letters home that only portrayed the camp in a negative light. Such prisoners were sometimes sent to a camp reserved for "bad attitude" cases.
[Bombing cheered]
At the "Hanoi Hilton", POWs cheered the resumed bombing of North Vietnam starting in April 1972, whose targets included the Hanoi area. The old-time POWs cheered even more during the intense "Christmas Bombing" campaign of December 1972, when Hanoi was subjected for the first time to repeated B-52 Stratofortress raids.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burst_of_Joy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_prisoners_of_war_during_the_Vietnam_War
---------------------------------------------------------
On This Day: Plane on secret war mission disappears with no trace - Mar. 16, 1962
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374414
On This Day: George Washington quells serious discord movement in the military - Mar. 15, 1783
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374380
On This Day: King fails to stop controversial execution of British admiral - Mar. 14, 1757
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374271
On This Day: Finland cedes major assets to Soviets as Winter War ends - Mar. 13, 1940
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374215
On This Day: Cold War starts; U.S. pledges to oppose Soviet bloc spread of authoritarianism - Mar. 12, 1947
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374192
On This Day: Plane on secret war mission disappears with no trace - Mar. 16, 1962
(edited from article)
"
60 Years Missing: The Mystery Of Flying Tiger Line Flight 739
In the opening days of the Vietnam War, an aircraft carrying 107 people went missing as it was en route to Saigon on a secret mission.
March 16, 2022
Sixty years ago, as the U.S. was becoming more involved in the opening salvo of the Vietnam War, a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation was making its way west.
The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) charter flight was operating under Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, and was headed to Saigon, leapfrogging across the South Pacific by way of Honolulu, Wake Island, and Guam.
March 15, 1962, marked the first day of the Vietnam War Campaign, according to U.S. Army historians. It was a time when the U.S. was quietly increasing its presence in Vietnam, sending advisers and equipment, such as those on Flight 739, to bolster the government of the Republic of Vietnam against the VietCong insurgency.
While Flight 739’s final destination was known, the reason behind the secret mission of those on board still remains a mystery to their families. The airplane—and all 107 people on board it— disappeared over the Pacific Ocean before it reached a planned stopover in the Philippines, becoming the biggest aviation mystery to emerge from what would become a decade of conflict.
"
https://www.flyingmag.com/60-years-missing-the-mystery-of-flying-tiger-line-flight-739/
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Flying Tiger Line Flight 739
Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 was a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation propliner that disappeared on March 16, 1962, over the western Pacific Ocean. The aircraft, which had been chartered by the United States Army, was transporting ninety-six military passengers from Travis Air Force Base in California to Tan Son Nhut International Airport in Saigon, South Vietnam. After refueling at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the Super Constellation disappeared while en route to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. All 107 aboard were declared missing and presumed dead.
The airliner's disappearance prompted one of the largest air and sea searches in the history of the Pacific. Aircraft and surface ships from four branches of the U.S. military searched more than 144,000 square miles during the course of eight days. A civilian tanker observed what appeared to be an in-flight explosion believed to be the missing Super Constellation, though no trace of wreckage or debris was ever recovered.
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) determined that, based on the tanker's observations, Flight 739 probably exploded in-flight, though an exact cause could not be determined without examining the remnants of the aircraft. This was the deadliest single-aircraft aviation accident involving the Super Constellation.
Flight
The incident aircraft was a five-year-old Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation with 17,224 airframe hours. It carried eleven American civilian crew members and ninety-six military passengers. The flight was operated by the Flying Tiger Line as Military Air Transport Service (MATS) Flight 739, chartered by the United States Army.
The Super Constellation carried 93 Ranger-trained Army communications specialists en route to South Vietnam. Their orders were to relieve soldiers in Saigon who had been training South Vietnamese troops to fight Viet Cong guerrillas. Also on board were three members of the South Vietnamese military. The flight crew consisted of eleven civilians based out of California, including seven men, under the command of Captain Gregory P. Thomas.
Flight 739 departed Travis Air Force Base, California, at 05:45 GMT, on March 14, 1962, and set its course for Saigon. There were four planned refueling stops: Honolulu International Airport in Hawaii; Wake Island Airfield; Andersen Air Base in Guam; and Clark Air Base in the Philippines. The flight arrived at Guam at 11:14 GMT, on March 15, after being delayed for minor maintenance on engines numbers 1 and 3 at Honolulu, and later at Wake Island. The aircraft departed from Guam at 12:57 GMT with an estimated time of arrival at the Philippines at 19:16 GMT. The Super Constellation carried nine hours' worth of fuel for the eight-hour flight of 1,600 miles.
Eighty minutes after departure, at 14:22 GMT, the captain radioed a routine message and gave his position as being 280 nautical miles (520 km; 320 mi) west of Guam at coordinates (13°40′N 140°0′E). The aircraft was expected to reach 14°0′N 135°0′E at 15:30. At that time, the Guam IFSS experienced temporary communication difficulties with heavy radio static. At 15:39 the Guam radio operator attempted to contact Flight 739 for a position report but was unable to establish contact. The aircraft was not seen or heard from again.
Investigation
The Clark Field Rescue Coordinating Center declared the aircraft missing on the morning of March 16, 1962. United States Navy officials reported that they believed that the aircraft had crashed closer to Guam than the Philippines. At the time of the disappearance, the weather was clear and the sea was calm. The Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marines ordered aircraft and ships to the area.
The first day of searching continued overnight. Over the first two days in the search, vessels crisscrossed 75,000 square miles of ocean. U.S. Secretary of the Army Elvis Stahr told newspapers that "we have not given up hope that it will be found and that those aboard are safe," and that a "maximum effort" was being made. After four days of searching, Major General Theodore R. Milton of the 13th Air Force told newspapers that although the chance of finding survivors was doubtful, every effort would be made "as long as there is any hope at all."
Search efforts included aircraft from Clark Air Field, the United States Seventh Fleet, and the Air Force detachment at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. Additionally, surface ships and aircraft from numerous U.S. bases in the western Pacific contributed to the search efforts. After eight days, however, the search was called off. The search, which was at the time one of the largest to ever take place in the Pacific, had covered more than 200,000 square miles of ocean.
[Another airplane meets misfortune on the same day]
Speculation of foul play
Flight 739 was one of two Flying Tiger Line flights with military connections that had been destroyed under similar circumstances on the same day. This led both airline officials and the press to offer suggestions of sabotage and conspiracy.
Both Flight 739 and the other aircraft, an L-1049 Super Constellation, departed from Travis Air Force Base at around 09:45 PST on Wednesday, March 14, 1962, and both encountered difficulties several hours later. The other aircraft was carrying "secret military cargo" when it crashed in the Aleutian Islands and caught fire.
Flying Tiger Lines released a statement outlining some possible reasons for the two occurrences, including sabotage of either or both aircraft or kidnapping of Flight 739 and its passengers. The airline also said that these were merely "wild guesses" and that there was no evidence to support either theory.
Possibility of sabotage
A Liberian tanker, the SS T L Linzen, reported seeing a bright light in the sky near the aircraft's expected position about ninety minutes after the last radio contact. U.S. military officials described it as being a "bright light strong enough to light a ship's decks". It was reported that the tanker observed a flash of light approximately 500 miles west of Guam, followed immediately by two red lights falling to the ocean at different speeds.
A Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigation determined that crewmen aboard the tanker also observed what appeared to be vapor trails, and observed the two fireballs fall into the ocean. The tanker proceeded to the location where the fireballs had been observed to fall into the ocean but was unable to find any trace of the falling objects during their six-hour search. A spokesman at the rescue effort command post in Guam said that as time passed with no sign of the aircraft, "more credence is given to the possibility that the tanker may have seen the missing aircraft explode in flight."
The executive vice president of operations said that experts considered it impossible for explosions to occur on the Super Constellation in the course of normal operation. Additionally, he claimed that there was nothing powerful enough aboard the aircraft to completely blow it apart, and that "something violent must have happened."
The CAB determined that, given the observations of the tanker crew, the flight most likely exploded in midair. As no part of the wreckage was ever found, the agency was unable to establish a determination of cause. The accident report concluded:
A summation of all relevant factors tends to indicate that the aircraft was destroyed in flight. However, due to the lack of any substantiating evidence the Board is unable to state with any degree of certainty the exact fate of N 6921C.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tiger_Line_Flight_739
---------------------------------------------------------
On This Day: George Washington quells serious discord movement in the military - Mar. 15, 1783
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374380
On This Day: King fails to stop controversial execution of British admiral - Mar. 14, 1757
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374271
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https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374215
On This Day: Cold War starts; U.S. pledges to oppose Soviet bloc spread of authoritarianism - Mar. 12, 1947
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374192
On This Day: President Biden signs $1.9 trillion rescue plan funds to be spent by Dec. 2026 - Mar. 11, 2021https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374122
On This Day: George Washington quells serious discord movement in the military - Mar. 15, 1783
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Newburgh Address (1783)
by George Washington
Delivered in Newburgh, New York on 15 March 1783.
(This address is Washington's answer to the Newburgh letter.)
... And let me conjure you, in the name of our common country, as you value your own sacred honor, as you respect the rights of humanity, and as you regard the military and national character of America, to express your utmost horror and detestation of the man, who wishes, under any specious pretences, to overturn the liberties of our country; and who wickedly attempts to open the flood-gates of civil discord, and deluge our rising empire in blood.
Newburgh Conspiracy
The Newburgh Conspiracy was a failed apparent threat by leaders of the Continental Army in March 1783, at the end of the American Revolutionary War. The Army's commander, George Washington, successfully calmed the soldiers and helped secure back pay. The conspiracy may have been instigated by members in the Congress of the Confederation, which circulated an anonymous letter in the army camp at Newburgh, New York, on March 10, 1783. Soldiers were unhappy that they had not been paid for some time and that pensions that had been promised remained unfunded.
The letter suggested that they should take unspecified action against Congress to resolve the issue. The letter was said to have been written by Major John Armstrong, aide to General Horatio Gates, although the authorship and underlying ideas are subjects of historical debate. Commander-in-Chief George Washington stopped any serious talk of rebellion when he made an emotional address to his officers asking them to support the supremacy of Congress. Not long afterward, Congress approved a compromise agreement that it had previously rejected: it funded some of the pay arrears, and granted soldiers five years of full pay instead of a lifetime pension of half pay.
The motivations of numerous actors in these events are debated. Most historians say that the plot was led by civilians. Their goal was forcing Congress to make good on its long-standing promises to the soldiers. Some historians allege that serious consideration was given within the army to some sort of coup d'état, while others dispute the notion. The exact motivations of congressmen involved in communications with army officers implicated in the events are similarly debated.
Background
A number of officers organized under the leadership of General Henry Knox and drafted a memorandum to Congress. Signed by enough general officers that it could not be readily dismissed as the work of a few malcontents, the memo was delivered to Congress by a delegation consisting of General Alexander McDougall and Colonels John Brooks and Matthias Ogden in late December 1782.
It expressed unhappiness over pay that was months in arrears, and concern over the possibility that the half pay pension would not be forthcoming. The seriousness of the situation was also communicated to Congress by Secretary at War Benjamin Lincoln.
Actions of Congress
Congress was bitterly divided on the subject of finance, with Rhode Island preventing action. The treasury was empty, and Congress lacked the power to compel the states to provide the necessary funds for meeting its obligations.
The army delegation first met with Robert Morris and other nationalists. The politicians convinced McDougall that it was imperative for the army to remain cooperative while they sought funding. The hope they expressed was to tie the army's demands to those of the government's other creditors to force opposing Congressmen to act.
[Secret resignation]
On January 6 Congress established a committee to address the army's memo. When it met with McDougall on January 13, the general painted a stark picture of the discontent at Newburgh; Colonel Brooks opined that "a disappointment might throw [the army] into blind extremities." When Congress met on January 22 to debate the committee's report, Robert Morris shocked the body by tendering his resignation, heightening tension. The Congressional leadership immediately moved to keep Morris's resignation secret.
The arrival on February 13 of rumors that a preliminary peace agreement had been reached in Paris heightened the sense of urgency among the nationalists. Alexander Hamilton wrote a letter to General Washington the same day, essentially warning him of the possibility of impending unrest among the ranks, and urging him to "take the direction" of the army's anger.
[Washington stands up for the Republic]
Washington responded that he sympathized both with the plight of his officers and men and with those in Congress, but that he would not use the army to threaten the civil government. Washington believed such a course of action would violate the principles of republicanism for which they had all been fighting.
Call for meeting, [an ultimatum]
On the morning of March 10 an unsigned letter began circulating in the army camp. Later acknowledged to be written by Major John Armstrong, Jr., aide to General Gates, the letter decried the army's condition and the lack of Congressional support, and called upon the army to send Congress an ultimatum. Published at the same time was an anonymous call for a meeting of all field officers for 11 a.m. the next day.
The Newburgh Address
Washington reacted with dispatch. On the morning of the 11th in his general orders he objected to the "disorderly" and "irregular" nature of the anonymously called meeting, and announced that there would be a meeting of officers on the 15th instead. This meeting, he said, would be presided over by the senior officer present, and Washington requested a report of the meeting, implying that he would not attend. On the morning of the 12th a second unsigned letter appeared, claiming Washington's agreement to a meeting as an endorsement of the conspirators' position. Washington, who had initially thought the first letter to be the work of individuals outside the camp (specifically citing Gouverneur Morris as a likely candidate), was compelled to admit this unlikely given the speed at which the second letter appeared.
The March 15 meeting was held in the "New Building" or "Temple", a 40 by 70-foot building at the camp. After Gates opened the meeting, Washington entered the building to everyone's surprise. He asked to speak to the officers, and the stunned Gates relinquished the floor. Washington could tell by the faces of his officers, who had not been paid for quite some time, that they were quite angry and did not show the respect or deference as they had toward Washington in the past.
Washington then gave a short but impassioned speech, now known as the Newburgh Address, counseling patience. His message was that they should oppose anyone "who wickedly attempts to open the floodgates of civil discord and deluge our rising empire in blood." He then produced a letter from a member of Congress to read to the officers. He gazed upon it and fumbled with it without speaking. He then took a pair of reading glasses from his pocket, which were new; few of the men had seen him wear them. He then said:
Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country.
[Moved to tears]
This caused the men to realize that Washington had sacrificed a great deal for the Revolution, just as much as any of them. These, of course, were his fellow officers, most having worked closely with him for several years. Many of those present were moved to tears, and with this act, the conspiracy collapsed as he read the letter.
He then left the room, and General Knox and others offered resolutions reaffirming their loyalty. Knox and Colonel Brooks were then appointed to a committee to draft a suitable resolution. Approved by virtually the entire assembly, the resolution expressed "unshaken confidence" in Congress, and "disdain" and "abhorrence" for the irregular proposals published earlier in the week.
Historian Richard Kohn believes the entire meeting was carefully stage-managed by Washington, Knox, and their supporters. The only voice raised in opposition was that of Colonel Timothy Pickering, who criticized members of the assembly for hypocritically condemning the anonymous addresses that only days before they had been praising.
[Army disbanded]
The soldiers continued to grumble, with the unrest spreading to the noncommissioned officers (sergeants and corporals). Riots occurred and mutiny threatened. Washington rejected suggestions that the army stay in operation until the states found the money for the pay. On April 19, 1783, his General Orders of the day announced the end of hostilities against Great Britain. Congress thereafter ordered him to disband the army, since everyone agreed that a large army of 10,000 men was no longer needed, and the men were eager to go home.
Congress gave each soldier three months pay, but since they had no funds Robert Morris issued $800,000 in personal notes to the soldiers. Many soldiers sold these notes to speculators, some even before they left camp, in order to be able to make their way home. Over the next several months, much of the Continental Army was furloughed, although many of the rank and file realized it was effectively a disbandment. The army was formally disbanded in November 1783, leaving only a small force at West Point and several scattered frontier outposts.
Discontent related to pay had resurfaced in Philadelphia in June 1783. Due in part to a critical miscommunication, troops in eastern Pennsylvania were led to believe that they would be discharged even before Morris' promissory notes would be distributed, and they marched to the city in protest. Pennsylvania President John Dickinson refused to call out the militia (reasoning they might actually support the mutineers), and Congress decided to relocate to Princeton, New Jersey. There is circumstantial evidence that several participants in the Newburgh affair (notably Walter Stewart, John Armstrong, and Gouverneur Morris) may have played a role in this uprising as well.
Although many acts have been passed since to grant pensions to veterans of the revolutionary war, most notably the Pension Act of 1832, escaped slaves who fought in the war were denied pension, one of whom was Jehu Grant. Grant's 1832 pension application stated that during the Revolutionary War he had escaped from his enslaver, a Loyalist from New England, so that he would not be compelled to serve in the British forces. The application was rejected in 1834 due to Grant being an escaped slave. However, many freed slaves and slaves who enlisted with their owners' permission were granted pensions such as in the case of Jeffrey Brace, who was granted pension in 1821.
[Civilian control of military]
[Coups against republican values]
The main long-term result of the Newburgh affair was a strong reaffirmation of the principle of civilian control of the military, and banishing any possibility of a coup as outside the realm of republican values. It also validated Washington's stature as a leading proponent of civilian control.
"
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Newburgh_address
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newburgh_Conspiracy
---------------------------------------------------------
On This Day: King fails to stop controversial execution of British admiral - Mar. 14, 1757
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374271
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https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374081
On This Day: King fails to stop controversial execution of British admiral - Mar. 14, 1757
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
John Byng
Admiral John Byng (1704 – 1757) was a British Royal Navy officer who was court-martialed and executed by firing squad. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen, he participated at the Battle of Cape Passaro in 1718. Over the next thirty years he built up a reputation as a solid naval officer and received promotion to vice-admiral in 1747. He also served as Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland Colony in 1742, Commander-in-Chief, Leith, 1745 to 1746 and was a member of Parliament from 1751 until his death.
Byng failed to relieve a besieged British garrison during the Battle of Minorca at the beginning of the Seven Years' War. He had sailed for Minorca at the head of a hastily assembled fleet of vessels, some of which were in poor condition. In the ensuing battle with a French fleet off the Minorcan coast, he was defeated and the fleet under his command considerably damaged. He then elected to return to Gibraltar to repair his ships. Upon return to Britain, Byng was court-martialled and found guilty of failing to "do his utmost" to prevent Minorca from falling to the French. He was sentenced to death and, after pleas for clemency were denied, was shot dead by a firing squad on 14 March 1757.
Career
John Byng entered the Royal Navy in March 1718, aged 13, when his father was a well-established admiral at the peak of a uniformly successful career. Early in his career, Byng was assigned to a series of Mediterranean postings. In 1723, aged 19, he was promoted lieutenant and, at 23, rose to become captain of HMS Gibraltar. His Mediterranean service continued until 1739 without much action.
In 1742 he was appointed Commodore-Governor of the British colony of Newfoundland. He was promoted to rear-admiral in 1745 and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Leith, a post he held until 1746. Byng, stationed off Scotland, thwarted the resupply of the Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart, during the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. The admiral also assisted the Duke of Cumberland in Britain's crackdown after the Battle of Culloden. He was promoted to vice-admiral in 1747 and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. He served as a Member of Parliament for Rochester from 1751 until his death.
Battle of Minorca
We have lately been told
Of two admirals bold,
Who engag'd in a terrible Fight:
They met after Noon,
Which I think was too soon,
As they both ran away before Night.
The island of Minorca had been a British possession since 1708, when it was captured during the War of the Spanish Succession. On the approach of the Seven Years' War, numerous British diplomats based in the Mediterranean raised the alarm that Minorca was threatened by a French naval attack from Toulon.
Byng was given orders to raise a fleet on March 1756, with only six of ten assigned ships present in Portsmouth, and all of them severely undermanned. Byng's orders were multiplex, his first target being the alleged new French fleet at Toulon, while the British garrison of Fort St Philip at Port Mahon was a secondary concern.
Despite his protests, he was not given enough money or time to prepare the expedition properly. His fleet was delayed in Portsmouth for over a month and Byng was ordered by the Admiralty Office to outfit other channel ships ahead of his own fleet. Additionally, half of his assigned ships were in disrepair or missing. When the Defiance pulled into Portsmouth, for example, the warship was missing its fore and main topmast.
By 6 April, still short of over 800 men, Byng set sail from Portsmouth using Colonel Robert Bertie's fusiliers in place of sailors.
Byng arrived at Gibraltar and was told of the French landing. Remarkably, General Thomas Fowke, then in command at Gibraltar, held a war council and refused to supply Byng with a regiment of marines, as ordered by the War Office. Further, naval facilities at Gibraltar were dilapidated.
Byng wrote a letter to the Admiralty Office explaining the situation as dire. Many military historians have interpreted that dispatch as Byng preparing for failure and that Byng did not believe that the garrison could hold out against the French force. Without marines to land, and with only fusiliers to lend to the garrison (which would render his fleet – once again – severely undermanned), Byng nonetheless steered his fleet toward Minorca to assess the situation for himself.
Byng sailed on 8 May 1756. On 19 May, Byng's fleet appeared off of Port Mahon and he endeavoured to open communications with the fort. The French squadron appeared before he could open up a line of communication with any fort officer, however.
The Battle of Minorca was fought on the following day. Byng had gained the weather gage, which both forces had attempted to gain. However, the two fleets were not parallel with one another. Byng called for a lasking manoeuvre, meaning that all his ships would turn in unison and, with the wind behind them, sail straight toward the enemy bow first.
Because of the angle, the leading van took the brunt of the damage. The last ship in that squadron, the Intrepid, was heavily damaged, losing three of its masts including the main. The next three ships, the Revenge, Princess Louisa and Trident, did not pass the now listing Intrepid to keep the sanctity of the battle line. Instead, those ships nearly collided with one another, with Captain Frederick Cornwall of the Revenge eventually navigating his ship between the Intrepid and the enemy.
Byng's battle line was broken. It cost Byng twenty to thirty minutes to reform the line and once the line was reformed, the French pulled full sail and expediently pulled away.
Byng remained near Minorca for four days without establishing communication with the fort or sighting the French. On 24 May, he called a war council of his own where, by unanimous voting, Byng's fleet would return to Gibraltar for repairs, succour, sailors and more marines for the garrison. The fleet arrived at Gibraltar on 19 June, where they were reinforced with four more ships of the line and a 50-gun frigate. Repairs were effected to the damaged vessels and additional water and provisions were loaded aboard. But, before his fleet could return to sea, another ship arrived from England with further instructions, relieving Byng, Fowke and several others of their command and ordering a return to home.
On arrival in England, Byng was placed in custody. The garrison resisted the Siege of Fort St Philip until 29 June, when it was forced to capitulate.
Fallout after Minorca
News of the Battle of Minorca's outcome was wanting. The Newcastle ministry had suffered military setbacks elsewhere in the British Empire; George Washington's defeat at Fort Necessity, Edward Braddock's army's losses in Pennsylvania, the siege of Fort Oswego, and the renewal of the Carnatic Wars in India with the fall of Calcutta. Domestically, conditions were also horrid: food riots had broken out, beginning in the Midlands, spreading to Wales to the south and as far north as Glasgow. Another failure would challenge Newcastle's hold on power. Indeed, in the wake of publication of the battle, George II was flooded with petitions and addresses to investigate the government's poor handling of a whole host of issues.
When news of the Battle of Minorca did arrive, it was via a Spanish diplomat, who carried a dispatch from the French admiral, Byng's counterpart, Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière. Without any word from Byng, or any other naval or army officer attached to his fleet, ministers chose to recall several officers, Byng included. It would be another 20 days before Byng's version of the battle arrived in London. By then, however, ministers had chosen a course of action detrimental to Byng.[citation needed]
On 26 June 1756, the government newspaper, The London Gazette, printed an edited version of Byng's report removing passages and rewording others to make the admiral appear a coward. Protest against Byng began with effigy burnings mostly in port cities throughout England and one as far away as Boston, Massachusetts.
Even prior to the battle, George Bubb Dodington informed Henry Fox that ministers had already chosen a scapegoat in case events in the Mediterranean went astray. Clearly the government had chosen Byng to take the fall for their neglect of the Mediterranean theatre.
Court-martial
Byng's perceived failure to relieve the garrison at Minorca caused public outrage among fellow officers and the country at large. Byng was brought home to be tried by court-martial for breach of the Articles of War which had been revised eleven years prior to mandate capital punishment for officers who did not do their utmost against the enemy, either in battle or pursuit.
Byng's court-martial was convened on 28 December 1756 aboard the elderly 96-gun vessel HMS St George, which was anchored in Portsmouth Harbour.
The court acquitted Byng of personal cowardice. However, its principal findings were that Byng had failed to keep his fleet together while engaging the French; that his flagship had opened fire at too great a distance to have any effect; and that he should have proceeded to the immediate relief of Minorca rather than returning to Gibraltar. As a consequence of these actions, the court held that Byng had "not done his utmost" to engage or destroy the enemy, thereby breaching the 12th Article of War.
Once the court determined that Byng had "failed to do his utmost", it had no discretion over punishment under the Articles of War. In accordance with those Articles the court condemned Byng to death, but unanimously recommended that the Lords of the Admiralty ask King George II to exercise his royal prerogative of mercy.
Death warrant [not signed]
It fell to Admiral John Forbes, in his role as Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, to sign Byng's death warrant. This he refused to do, believing the sentence to be illegal, instead attaching to the warrant a document explaining his refusal.
Clemency denied and execution
First Lord of the Admiralty Richard Grenville-Temple was granted an audience with George II, to request clemency, but this was refused in an angry exchange. Four members of the board of the court-martial petitioned Parliament, seeking to be relieved from their oath of secrecy to speak on Byng's behalf. The Commons passed a measure allowing this, but the Lords rejected the proposal.
Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder was aware that the Admiralty was at least partly to blame for the loss at Minorca due to the poor manning and repair of the fleet. The Duke of Newcastle, the politician responsible, had by now joined the Prime Minister in an uneasy political coalition and this made it difficult for Pitt to contest the court-martial's verdict as strongly as he would have liked. He did, however, petition the King to commute the death sentence. The appeal was refused; Pitt and the king were political opponents, with Pitt having pressed for George to relinquish his hereditary position of Elector of Hanover as being a conflict of interest with the government's policies in Europe.
The severity of the penalty, combined with suspicion that the Admiralty had sought to protect themselves from public anger over the defeat by throwing all the blame on the admiral, led to a reaction in favour of Byng in both the Navy and the country, which had previously demanded retribution. Pitt, then Leader of the House of Commons, told the King: "the House of Commons, Sir, is inclined to mercy", to which George responded: "You have taught me to look for the sense of my people elsewhere than in the House of Commons."
The King did not exercise his prerogative to grant clemency. Following the court-martial and pronouncement of sentence, Byng was detained aboard HMS Monarch in the Solent and, on 14 March 1757, he was taken to the quarterdeck for execution in the presence of all hands and men from other ships of the fleet in boats surrounding Monarch. The admiral knelt on a cushion and signified his readiness by dropping his handkerchief, whereupon a squad of Marines shot him dead.
Legacy [and Voltaire]
Byng's execution was satirised by Voltaire in his novel Candide. In Portsmouth, Candide witnesses the execution of an officer by firing squad and is told that "in this country, it is good to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others."
Byng was the last of his rank to be executed in this fashion and, 22 years after the event, the Articles of War were amended to allow "such other punishment as the nature and degree of the offence shall be found to deserve" as an alternative to capital punishment.
In 2007, some descendants of the Byng family petitioned the government for a posthumous pardon. The Ministry of Defence refused. Members of his family continue to seek a pardon, along with a group at Southill in Bedfordshire where the Byng family lived.
Byng's execution has been called "the worst legalistic crime in the nation's annals". Some defend the policy, however; naval historian N. A. M. Rodger believes it may have influenced the behaviour of later naval officers by helping inculcate:
a culture of aggressive determination which set British officers apart from their foreign contemporaries, and which in time gave them a steadily mounting psychological ascendancy. More and more in the course of the century, and for long afterwards, British officers encountered opponents who expected to be attacked, and more than half expected to be beaten, so that [the latter] went into action with an invisible disadvantage which no amount of personal courage or numerical strength could entirely make up for.
Such policy considerations were no comfort to the family of their victim. Warren Tute said "far from encouraging anyone at all, this judicial murder had the opposite effect". Admiral Byng was buried in the Byng vault at the Church of All Saints in Southill, Bedfordshire. His epitaph there expresses their view:
To the perpetual Disgrace
of PUBLICK JUSTICE
The Honble. JOHN BYNG Esqr
Admiral of the Blue
Fell a MARTYR to
POLITICAL PERSECUTION
March 14th in the year 1757 when
BRAVERY and LOYALTY
were Insufficient Securities
For the
Life and Honour
of a
NAVAL OFFICER
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Byng
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On This Day: Finland cedes major assets to Soviets as Winter War ends - Mar. 13, 1940
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374215
On This Day: Cold War starts; U.S. pledges to oppose Soviet bloc spread of authoritarianism - Mar. 12, 1947
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On This Day: Finland cedes major assets to Soviets as Winter War ends - Mar. 13, 1940
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Winter War
The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940. Despite superior military strength, especially in tanks and aircraft, the Soviet Union suffered severe losses and initially made little headway. The League of Nations deemed the attack illegal and expelled the Soviet Union.
The Soviets made several demands, including that Finland cede substantial border territories in exchange for land elsewhere, claiming security reasons – primarily the protection of Leningrad, 20 mi from the Finnish border. When Finland refused, the Soviets invaded. Most sources conclude that the Soviet Union had intended to conquer all of Finland, and cite the establishment of the puppet Finnish Communist government and the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocols as evidence of this, while other sources argue against the idea of a full Soviet conquest.
Finland repelled Soviet attacks for more than two months and inflicted substantial losses on the invaders in temperatures as low as −43 °C (−45 °F). The battles focused mainly on Taipale along the Karelian Isthmus, on Kollaa in Ladoga Karelia and on Raate Road in Kainuu, but there were also battles in Salla and Petsamo in Lapland.
Following the initial setbacks, the Soviets reduced their strategic objectives and put an end to the puppet Finnish communist government in late January 1940, informing the Finnish government that they were willing to negotiate peace. After the Soviet military reorganized and adopted different tactics, they renewed their offensive in February 1940 and overcame the Finnish defences on the Karelian Isthmus. This left the Finnish army in the main theatre of war near the breaking point, with a retreat seeming inevitable. Consequently, Finnish commander-in-chief Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim urged a peace deal with the Soviets, while the Finns still retained bargaining power.
Hostilities ceased in March 1940 with the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty in which Finland ceded 9% of its territory to the Soviet Union. Soviet losses were heavy, and the country's international reputation suffered. Their gains exceeded their pre-war demands, and the Soviets received substantial territories along Lake Ladoga and further north. Finland retained its sovereignty and enhanced its international reputation. The poor performance of the Red Army encouraged German Chancellor Adolf Hitler to believe that an attack on the Soviet Union would be successful and confirmed negative Western opinions of the Soviet military. After 15 months of Interim Peace, in June 1941, Germany commenced Operation Barbarossa, and the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviets began.
Soviet offensive on the Karelian Isthmus
The Soviets increased bombardments, wearing down the defenders and softening their fortifications. During daylight hours, the Finns took shelter inside their fortifications from the bombardments and repaired damage during the night. The situation led quickly to war exhaustion among the Finns, who lost over 3,000 soldiers in trench warfare. The Soviets also made occasional small infantry assaults with one or two companies. Because of the shortage of ammunition, Finnish artillery emplacements were under orders to fire only against directly threatening ground attacks. On 1 February, the Soviets further escalated their artillery and air bombardments.
Although the Soviets refined their tactics and morale improved, the generals were still willing to accept massive losses to reach their objectives. Attacks were screened by smoke, heavy artillery, and armour support, but the infantry charged in the open and in dense formations. Unlike their tactics in December, Soviet tanks advanced in smaller numbers. The Finns could not easily eliminate tanks if infantry troops protected them. After 10 days of constant artillery barrage, the Soviets achieved a breakthrough on the Western Karelian Isthmus in the Second Battle of Summa.
By 11 February, the Soviets had approximately 460,000 soldiers, 3,350 artillery pieces, 3,000 tanks and 1,300 aircraft deployed on the Karelian Isthmus. The Red Army was constantly receiving new recruits after the breakthrough. Opposing them, the Finns had eight divisions, totalling about 150,000 soldiers. One by one, the defenders' strongholds crumbled under the Soviet attacks and the Finns were forced to retreat. On 15 February, Mannerheim authorised a general retreat of the II Corps to a fallback line of defence. On the eastern side of the isthmus, the Finns continued to resist Soviet assaults, achieving a stalemate in the battle of Taipale.
Peace negotiations
Although the Finns attempted to re-open negotiations with Moscow by every means during the war, the Soviets did not respond. In early January, Finnish communist Hella Wuolijoki contacted the Finnish Government. She offered to contact Moscow through the Soviet Union's ambassador to Sweden, Alexandra Kollontai. Wuolijoki departed for Stockholm and met Kollontai secretly at a hotel. On 29 January, Molotov put an end to the puppet Terijoki Government and recognized the Ryti–Tanner government as the legal government of Finland, informing it that the USSR was willing to negotiate peace.
By mid-February, it became clear that the Finnish forces were rapidly approaching exhaustion. For the Soviets, casualties were high, the situation was a source of political embarrassment to the Soviet regime, and there was a risk of Franco-British intervention (which was overestimated by Soviet intelligence in February and March 1940). With the spring thaw approaching, the Soviet forces risked becoming bogged down in the forests. Finnish Foreign Minister Väinö Tanner arrived in Stockholm on 12 February and negotiated the peace terms with the Soviets through the Swedes.
Both Germany and Sweden were keen to see an end to the Winter War. The Germans feared losing the iron ore fields in Northern Sweden and threatened to attack at once if the Swedes granted the Allied forces right of passage. The German invasion plan, named Studie Nord, was later implemented as Operation Weserübung. Leon Trotsky opined after the war that Hitler would view a Soviet occupation of Finland as a threat to this plan. Any potential German plans for bases in Finland would also be thwarted if the Soviets occupied Finland, though Trotsky himself believed that Hitler was not interested in occupying Finland, but rather its role as a buffer between Germany and the USSR.
End of war in March
On 9 March, the Finnish military situation on the Karelian Isthmus was dire, as troops were experiencing heavy casualties. Artillery ammunition was exhausted and weapons were wearing out. The Finnish government, realizing that the hoped-for Franco-British military expedition would not arrive in time, as Norway and Sweden had not given the Allies right of passage, had little choice but to accept the Soviet terms. Finnish President Kyösti Kallio resisted the idea of giving up any territory to the Soviet Union, but eventually agreed to sign the Moscow Peace Treaty. When he signed the document, the tormented president uttered the well-known words:
Let the hand wither that signs this monstrous treaty!
Moscow Peace Treaty
The Moscow Peace Treaty was signed in Moscow on 12 March 1940. A cease-fire took effect the next day at noon Leningrad time, 11 a.m. Helsinki time. With it, Finland ceded a portion of Karelia, the entire Karelian Isthmus and land north of Lake Ladoga. The area included Viipuri (Finland's second-largest city [Population Register] or fourth-largest city [Church and Civil Register], depending on the census data), much of Finland's industrialised territory, and significant land still held by Finland's military – all in all, nine per cent of Finnish territory. The ceded territory included 13 per cent of Finland's economic assets. 12 per cent of Finland's population, 422,000 to 450,000 Karelians, were evacuated and lost their homes. Finland ceded a part of the region of Salla, Rybachy Peninsula in the Barents Sea, and four islands in the Gulf of Finland. The Hanko peninsula was leased to the Soviet Union as a military base for 30 years. The region of Petsamo, captured by the Red Army during the war, was returned to Finland according to the treaty.
Finnish concessions and territorial losses exceeded Soviet pre-war demands.
Aftermath and casualties
The 105-day war had a profound and depressing effect in Finland. Meaningful international support was minimal and arrived late, and the German blockade had prevented most armament shipments.
Immediately after the war, Helsinki officially announced 19,576 dead. According to revised estimates in 2005 by Finnish historians, 25,904 people died or went missing and 43,557 were wounded on the Finnish side during the war.
The official Soviet figure published on 26 March 1940, with 48,475 dead and 158,863 sick and wounded. More recent Russian estimates vary. In 2013, Pavel Petrov stated that the Russian State Military Archive has a database confirming 167,976 killed or missing along with the soldiers' names, dates of birth and ranks.
Germany
The Winter War was a political success for the Germans. Both the Red Army and the League of Nations were humiliated, and the Anglo-French Supreme War Council had been revealed to be chaotic and powerless. The German policy of neutrality was unpopular in the homeland, and relations with Italy had suffered. After the Moscow Peace Treaty, Germany improved its ties with Finland, and within two weeks, Finnish-German relations were at the top of the agenda. More importantly, the very poor performance of the Red Army convinced Hitler that an invasion on the Soviet Union would be successful. In June 1941, Hitler declared, "we have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down".
Allies
The Winter War laid bare the disorganisation and ineffectiveness of the Red Army and that of the Allies. The Anglo-French Supreme War Council was unable to formulate a workable plan, revealing its unsuitability to make effective war in either Britain or France. This failure led to the collapse of the Third Daladier Government in France and the nomination of Paul Reynaud as the new Prime Minister of France.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War
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On This Day: Cold War starts; U.S. pledges to oppose Soviet bloc spread of authoritarianism - Mar. 12, 1947
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374192
On This Day: President Biden signs $1.9 trillion rescue plan funds to be spent by Dec. 2026 - Mar. 11, 2021https://www.democraticunderground.com/1016374122
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On This Day: Cold War starts; U.S. pledges to oppose Soviet bloc spread of authoritarianism - Mar. 12, 1947
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine is an American foreign policy that pledges American "support for democracies against authoritarian threats." The doctrine originated with the primary goal of countering the growth of the Soviet bloc during the Cold War. It was announced to Congress by President Harry S. Truman on March 12, 1947, and further developed on July 4, 1948, when he pledged to oppose the communist rebellions in Greece and Soviet demands from Turkey. More generally, the Truman Doctrine implied American support for other nations threatened by Moscow. It led to the formation of NATO in 1949. Historians often use Truman's speech to Congress on March 12, 1947 to date the start of the Cold War.
Truman told Congress that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." Truman contended that because totalitarian regimes coerced free peoples, they automatically represented a threat to international peace and the national security of the United States. Truman argued that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid, they would inevitably fall out of the United States sphere of influence and into the communist bloc with grave consequences throughout the region.
The Truman Doctrine was informally extended to become the basis of American Cold War policy throughout Europe and around the world. It shifted U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union from a wartime alliance to containment of Soviet expansion, as advocated by diplomat George Kennan. It was distinguished from rollback by implicitly tolerating the previous Soviet takeovers in Eastern Europe.
The Turkish Straits
At the conclusion of World War II, Turkey was pressured by the Soviet government to allow Russian shipping to flow freely through the Turkish Straits, which connected the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. As the Turkish government would not submit to the Soviet Union's requests, tensions arose in the region, leading to a show of naval force on the site of the Straits. Since British assistance to Turkey had ended in 1947, the U.S. dispatched military aid to ensure that Turkey would retain chief control of the passage. Turkey received $100 million in economic and military aid and the U.S. Navy sent the Midway-class aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Greek crisis
By late 1946, Britain informed the United States that due to its own weakening economy, it could no longer continue to provide military and economic support to royalist Greece.
In 1946–47, the United States and the Soviet Union moved from being wartime allies to Cold War adversaries. The breakdown of Allied cooperation in Germany provided a backdrop of escalating tensions for the Truman Doctrine. To Truman, the growing unrest in Greece began to look like a pincer movement against the oil-rich areas of the Middle East and the warm-water ports of the Mediterranean.
In February 1946, Kennan, an American diplomat in Moscow, sent his famed "Long Telegram", which predicted the Soviets would only respond to force and that the best way to handle them would be through a long-term strategy of containment; that is, stopping their geographical expansion. After the British warned that they could no longer help Greece, and following Prime Minister Konstantinos Tsaldaris's visit to Washington in December 1946 to ask for American assistance, the U.S. State Department formulated a plan. Aid would be given to both Greece and Turkey, to help cool the long-standing rivalry between them.
American policy makers recognized the instability of the region, fearing that if Greece was lost to communism, Turkey would not last long. Similarly, if Turkey yielded to Soviet demands, the position of Greece would be endangered. A regional domino effect threat therefore guided the American decision. Greece and Turkey were strategic allies important for geographical reasons as well, for the fall of Greece would put the Soviets on a particularly dangerous flank for the Turks, and strengthen the Soviet Union's ability to cut off allied supply lines in the event of war.
Truman's address
To pass any legislation Truman needed the support of the Republicans, who controlled both houses of Congress. The chief Republican spokesman Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg strongly supported Truman and overcame the doubts of isolationists such as Senator Robert A. Taft. Truman laid the groundwork for his request by having key congressional leaders meet with himself, Secretary of State George Marshall, and Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson.
Acheson laid out the "domino theory" in the starkest terms, comparing a communist state to a rotten apple that could spread its infection to an entire barrel. Vandenberg was impressed, and advised Truman to appear before Congress and "scare the hell out of the American people." On March 7, Acheson warned Truman that the communists in Greece could win within weeks without outside aid.
When a draft for Truman's address was circulated to policymakers, Marshall, Kennan, and others criticized it for containing excess "rhetoric." Truman responded that, as Vandenberg had suggested, his request would only be approved if he played up the threat.
On March 12, 1947, Truman appeared before a joint session of Congress. In his eighteen-minute speech, he stated:
I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.
I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way.
I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.
The domestic reaction to Truman's speech was broadly positive, though there were dissenters. Anti-communists in both parties supported both Truman's proposed aid package and the doctrine behind it, and Collier's described it as a "popularity jackpot" for the President. Influential columnist Walter Lippmann was more skeptical, noting the open-ended nature of Truman's pledge; he felt so strongly that he almost came to blows while arguing with Acheson over the doctrine. Others argued that the Greek monarchy Truman proposed to defend was itself a repressive government, rather than a democracy.
Despite these objections, the fear of that there was a growing communist threat almost guaranteed the bill's passage. In May 1947, two months after Truman's request, a large majority of Congress approved $400 million in military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey. Increased American aid assisted the Greek government's defeat of the KKE, after interim defeats for government forces from 1946 to 1948. The Truman Doctrine was the first in a series of containment moves by the United States, followed by economic restoration of Western Europe through the Marshall Plan and military containment by the creation of NATO in 1949.
Long-term policy and metaphor
Historian Eric Foner writes that the doctrine "set a precedent for American assistance to anticommunist regimes throughout the world, no matter how undemocratic, and for the creation of a set of global military alliances directed against the Soviet Union."
The Truman Doctrine underpinned American Cold War policy in Europe and around the world. In the words of historian James T. Patterson:
The Truman Doctrine was a highly publicized commitment of a sort the administration had not previously undertaken. Its sweeping rhetoric, promising that the United States should aid all 'free people' being subjugated, set the stage for innumerable later ventures that led to globalisation commitments. It was in these ways a major step.
The doctrine endured, historian Dennis Merill argues, because it addressed broader cultural insecurity regarding modern life in a globalized world. It dealt with Washington's concern over communism's domino effect, it enabled a media-sensitive presentation of the doctrine that won bipartisan support, and it mobilized American economic power to modernize and stabilize unstable regions without direct military intervention. It brought nation-building activities and modernization programs to the forefront of foreign policy.
The Truman Doctrine became a metaphor for aid to keep a nation from communist influence. Truman used disease imagery not only to communicate a sense of impending disaster in the spread of communism but also to create a "rhetorical vision" of containing it by extending a protective shield around non-communist countries throughout the world. It echoed the "quarantine the aggressor" policy Truman's predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had sought to impose to contain German and Japanese expansion in 1937 ("quarantine" suggested the role of public health officials handling an infectious disease). The medical metaphor extended beyond the immediate aims of the Truman Doctrine in that the imagery combined with fire and flood imagery evocative of disaster provided the United States with an easy transition to direct military confrontation in later years with the Korean War and the Vietnam War. By framing ideological differences in life or death terms, Truman was able to garner support for this communism-containing policy.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truman_Doctrine
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On This Day: President Biden signs $1.9 trillion rescue plan funds to be spent by Dec. 2026 - Mar. 11, 2021
(edited from Wikipedia)
"
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to speed up the country's recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. First proposed on January 14, 2021, the package builds upon many of the measures in the CARES Act from March 2020 and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, from December.
On February 8, 2021, the Financial Services and Education and Labor committees released a draft of $1.9 trillion stimulus legislation. A portion of the relief package was approved by the House Ways and Means on February 11, setting it up for a vote in the House. The legislation was also approved by the Transportation and Infrastructure, Small Business, and House Veterans Affairs committees. On February 22, the House Budget Committee voted 19–16 to advance the bill to the House for a floor vote. The bill passed the House by a vote of 219–212 on February 27. All but two Democrats voted for the bill and all Republicans voted against the bill. A modified version passed the Senate on March 6 by a vote of 50–49. The final amended bill was passed by the House on March 10 by a vote of 220–211 with one Democrat (Jared Golden) voting against it alongside all Republicans. The bill was signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021.
The American Rescue Plan Act provided for direct economic stimulus payments to individual taxpayers with incomes of $75,000 or less. The Act also allocated $350 billion in assistance to state and local governments, $14 billion for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, and $130 billion to schools to help them safely re-open for in-person instruction. The Act included $300 billion in unemployment benefits that were scheduled to extend through Labor Day 2021, as well as an expanded child tax credit. In addition, the Act called for the distribution of $50 billion to small businesses and another $25 billion for relief for small and mid-sized restaurants. The Act expanded eligibility for Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies and gave states incentives to expand Medicaid.
Key elements
The Act allocated $60 billion to counties and $10 billion for a Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. (The bill initially passed by the House would have instead allocated $65 billion to counties and $65 billion to municipalities; rather, the Senate formula was adopted). Key elements and provisions of the Act include:
Employment
Extending expanded unemployment benefits with a $300 weekly supplement through Labor Day (September 6, 2021), preventing benefits from expiring on March 31, 2021.
Most Democrats favored a higher unemployment benefit amount. The version of the bill initially passed by the House provided for a $400 weekly supplement. Also, some favored continuing the benefits through early October 2021; however, the final bill contained a scaled-back provision at the insistence of Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and other moderate Senate Democrats.
The Act made the first $10,200 in unemployment benefits for 2020 non-taxable for households with incomes below $150,000, thus avoiding the risk of many workers incurring surprise federal tax liability.
The Act provided for $1,400 direct economic stimulus payments to individuals.
The Act granted emergency paid leave to over 100 million Americans.
The Act provided a tax credit through October 1, 2021, to employers who chose to offer paid sick leave and paid family leave benefits. However, the Act did not require employers to provide the benefit, as Biden had initially proposed to do.
The Act extended a 15% increase in food stamp benefits. The increase, which was passed in previous rounds of stimulus legislation, was set to expire at the end of June 2021; the Act extended it through September 2021).
Tax provisions
Expands the child tax credit.
Expands the child and dependent care credit.
Expands the earned income tax credit.
Forgiven student loan debt is made tax-free.
Reduction of reporting requirement threshold (1099-K) for third party settlement organizations.
Three tax increases on large corporations and wealthy individuals, collectively raising $60 billion in revenue. These are:
- Limits publicly traded companies' ability to deduct executive compensation (for employees more than $1 million) from their corporate taxes (will generate $6 billion in tax revenue).
- Repeals an obscure provision in the tax code that gave multinational corporations additional discretion in accounting for interest expenses (will generate $22 billion in tax revenue).
- Extends "loss limitation" restrictions on unincorporated businesses (will generate $31 billion in tax revenue)[92]
Grants to small businesses, specifically:
- $28.6 billion for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.
- $15 billion for Emergency Injury Disaster Loans (a long-term, low-interest loan program of the Small Business Administration); priority for some funds would go to "severely impacted small businesses with fewer than 10 workers".
- An additional $7 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, and an expansion of the eligibility criteria to some non-profit organizations previously excluded from the program.
$3 billion for a payroll support program for aviation manufacturers.
$1.25 billion in funding for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant for music halls and other concert venues.
$175 million for a Community Navigator Program to reach out to eligible businesses.
Funding for the Recovery Startup provision of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), a refundable payroll tax credit. Small businesses that launch a new offering after February 15, 2020, can claim up to $7,000 per employee per quarter in Q3/Q4 2021, capped at $100,000.
State, local, and tribal government aid
$350 billion to help state, local, and tribal governments bridge budget shortfalls and mitigate the fiscal shock.
A total of $195 billion would be allocated among the states and the District of Columbia, and the tribes and territories would be allocated about $25 billion.
Education
$122 billion for K-12 schools, to safely reopen most schools within 100 days.
T K-12 school funds may be used to improve ventilation in school buildings, reduce class sizes to make social distancing possible, purchase personal protective equipment, and hire support staff.
At least half of the money to colleges and universities must go to emergency grants to students.
20% of school funding must be directed to programs to help counteract "learning loss" for students who missed school during the pandemic.
Almost $40 billion for colleges and universities, including:
- Over $10 billion to over 1,000 community colleges
- Over $2.7 billion to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
- Over $190 million to Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
- About $11 billion to Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs)
- About $5 billion to Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions (AANAPISIs)
- Almost $1 billion to Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs)
Housing
$21.6 billion for rental assistance programs. This fund will provide money to states and local governments, which will then provide grants to eligible households. These grants can be used to pay for rental assistance as well as utility fees.
$10 billion for the Homeowner Assistance Fund. This fund will allocate money to states and local governments, which will then give grants to homeowners to prevent them from defaulting on their mortgage or foreclosing on their home. These grants can also be used to pay for flood insurance premiums, HOA fees, utility bills, and any other necessary payments to prevent the homeowner from losing their home.
$5 billion for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program. These funds must go to those who are or were recently homeless, as well as individuals who are escaping from domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking.
$5 billion to support state and local programs for the homeless and at-risk individuals. These funds can be used for rental assistance, housing counseling, and air humidifiers. and homelessness prevention services. Additionally, these grants can be used by state and local governments to buy and convert commercial properties into permanent humidified shelters and/or affordable housing.
$4.5 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which will assist homeowners with the costs of heating and cooling.
$750 million for housing assistance for tribes and Native Hawaiians. These grants can be used by tribal nations or Native Hawaiians to pay rent or stay housed.
$500 million in grants for low-income homes to help with water services.
$139 million for rural housing assistance programs.
$120 million for housing counseling services.
COVID-19 Provisions
COVID-19 funding (including for COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and contact tracing) and other healthcare-related funding:
-$50 billion to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for vaccine distribution and assistance. Additionally, FEMA will reimburse up to $9,000 for a funeral held for a COVID-19 victim.
$47.8 billion on COVID-19 testing, mitigation, and transmission prevention, including diagnosis, tracing, and monitoring.
$13.48 billion for Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare programs through September 30, 2023.
$10 billion under the Defense Production Act for personal protective equipment and other medical gear, and for response to pathogens that could become future public health emergencies.
$7.66 billion for workforce programs for state, local, and territorial public health departments and certain nonprofits, including funds to hire and train "case investigators, contact tracers, social support specialists, community health workers, public health nurses, disease intervention specialists, epidemiologists, program managers, laboratory personnel, informaticians, communication and policy experts, and any other positions as may be required to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19."
$7.6 billion to community health centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers to combat COVID-19, including promotion, distribution, and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine; COVID-19 tracing and mitigation; COVID-19-related equipment; and COVID-19 outreach and education.
$7.5 billion to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, administration, and tracking,[102] including preparation of community vaccination centers and mobile vaccine units and acceleration of vaccine deployment.[3][102] The bill funds 100,000 public health workers for vaccination outreach and contact tracing.
$6.05 billion for "expenses related to research, development, manufacturing, production and purchase of vaccines".
$5.4 billion to the Indian Health Services.
$3.5 billion in block grants to states, evenly split between the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant program and the Substance Abuse Prevention Treatment Block Grant program.
$1.75 billion for genomic sequencing, analytics, and disease surveillance.
$1 billion to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for vaccine confidence programs to increase vaccination rates.
Approximately $750 million on global health security to fight COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases.
$500 million to the Food and Drug Administration to evaluate vaccine performance and facilitate vaccine oversight and manufacturing.
$330 million for teaching health centers with graduate medical education programs.
$500 million to the CDC for public health surveillance and analytics, including a modernization of the U.S. disease warning system to predict COVID-19 "hot spots" and emerging public health threats.
$200 million for nursing loan repayment programs.
$100 million for the Medical Reserve Corps.
$100 million for a Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program.
$80 million for mental and behavioral health training.
$86 billion for a rescue package/bailout for approximately 185 multiemployer pension funds (usually pension plans set up by a union and industry) that are close to insolvency. The pension funds collectively cover 10.7 million workers.
Transportation
$30.5 billion in grants to public transit and commuter rail agencies across the country to mitigate major decreases in ridership and fare revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes $6 billion to the MTA in the New York area (the U.S.'s largest public transit agency) and $1.4 billion to WMATA, VRE and MARC in the D.C. area.
$15 billion for airlines and airline contractors for a third extension of Payroll Support Program (which would otherwise have expired at the end of March 2021). The extension will prevent the furlough of more than 27,000 aviation employees.
$8 billion for U.S. airports.
$2 billion for Amtrak.
$10.4 billion for agriculture and USDA, of which:
$4 billion (39% of total agricultural expenditures) and $1 billion (9.7% of total agricultural expenditures) goes to debt forgiveness and outreach/support, respectively, for socially disadvantaged farmers. Experts identified the relief bill as the most important legislation for African-American farmers since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, benefiting many who were not fully compensated by the Pigford settlements.
$3.6 billion (35% of total agricultural expenditures) for COVID-19 response (e.g., for agricultural and supply chain workers) and for the purchase and distribution of food.
$800 million (7.7% of total agricultural expenditures) for Food for Peace.
$500 million (4.8% of total agricultural expenditures) for USDA-administered Emergency Rural Development Grants for Rural Healthcare.
Cybersecurity
$1.85 billion for cybersecurity funding as a response to the SolarWinds hack.
$1 billion will go to the General Services Administration's Technology Modernization Fund which will help the federal government launch new cyber and information technology programs.
$650 million will go to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to improve its risk mitigation services.
$200 million will go to the U.S. Digital Service.
Healthcare
Subsidizes 100% of premiums for COBRA recipients from April 1 to September 30, 2021. Due to these subsidies, at least 2.2 million additional people will enroll in COBRA in 2021.
- Changes to ACA
Removing the welfare cliff by removing the income limit on premium subsidies. Instead, anyone can be eligible for premium subsidies if the cost of their premiums is more than 8.5% of their income. These subsidies will not affect rich households.
Increasing subsidies that are already available to low-income households. An estimated 2.5 million uninsured people will get covered due to these changes. Additionally, about 3.4 million of the lowest income enrollees will see their premiums fall by 100%.
Create a special rule whereby anyone who qualifies for unemployment automatically qualifies for the maximum amount of subsidies.
Protect any ACA subsidy recipient from clawbacks due to income fluctuations in 2020.
- Changes to Medicaid and CHIP
Requires coverage of COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine counseling and COVID-19 treatment. Expands state options for COVID-19 testing for the uninsured.
Allows states to give 12 months of post-partum coverage for new mothers.
Introduce new incentives for states to expand Medicaid coverage.
Impact
The bill's economic-relief provisions were overwhelmingly geared toward low-income and middle-class Americans, who received the direct payments, the bill's expansion of low-income tax credits, child-care subsidies, expanded health-insurance access, extension of expanded unemployment benefits, food stamps, and rental assistance programs.The bill contains little direct aid to high income-earners, who largely retained their jobs during the COVID-19 economic shock and bolstered their savings. Biden's administration crafted the plan in part because economic aid to lower-income and middle-income Americans (who are more likely to immediately spend funds on bills, groceries, and housing costs to avoid eviction or foreclosure) is more likely to stimulate the U.S. economy than aid to higher-earners (who are more likely to save the money). The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy predicted that the stimulus bill's direct payments, child tax credit expansion, and earned income tax credit expansion would boost the income of the poorest one-fifth of Americans by nearly $3,590. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill's increase in health insurance subsidies would lead to 1.3 million previously uninsured Americans gaining health insurance coverage.
The Tax Policy Center wrote that, for households making under $25,000, the bill would cut their taxes by an average of $2,800, which would boost their after-tax income by 20%. Additionally, low-income households with children would see an average tax cut of about $7,700, and this would boost their after-tax income by 35%. Middle-income households will also see an average tax cut of about $3,350, and this would increase their after-tax income by 5.5%. Overall, about 70% of the bill's tax benefits will go to households making under $91,000.
Inflationary impact
A March 2022 study released by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimated that U.S. fiscal support measures designed to counteract the severity of the pandemic's economic effect (among them, the American Rescue Plan and the 2020 CARES Act) may have raised core inflation about 3 percentage points by the end of 2021, noting that this estimate falls "in the upper range of findings from other recent research". At the same time, the study notes that these measures may have prevented "outright deflation and slower economic growth, the consequences of which would have been harder to manage". The study estimates the effect on inflation from the aggregate of all U.S. fiscal support measures and does not give estimates for the effects of individual measures.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Rescue_Plan_Act_of_2021
(edited from article)
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ARPA 3-Year Anniversary: Documenting the Success of Direct Federal Aid to Cities and Towns
March 4, 2024
APRA’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) provided integral relief for local governments to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure stability for communities moving forward. During a time of uncertainty, SLFRF allocations ushered in funds to help cities, towns and villages ignite a bottom-up economic recovery strategy to assist the hardest-hit residents, stabilize municipal budgets, and maintain consistent spending on standard local government operations and services.
The SLFRF program provided direct federal aid in the form of block grants to all state, county and municipal governments, allowing for more opportunities for regional and multi-jurisdictional collaborations compared to competitive or categorical grants that are often limited to narrowly defined activities. Additionally, the SLFRF distribution model equitably allocated aid for metropolitan cities by borrowing the anti-poverty formula from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to deliver funding where it was needed the most. Relatedly, the three- and a half-year timeframe given to recipients to obligate funds has continued to foster opportunities to broadly engage residents and respond to community feedback on decisions around the use of these one-time dollars to address historic, immediate and long-term inequities. Many communities formalized community feedback opportunities, like Dayton, OH, which invested in a resident survey to use community voices and data to guide their decisions.
New safeguards for local government autonomy also allowed local leaders to tailor expenditures to their own community’s top priorities by discouraging states from layering additional or more restrictive spending limitations beyond those approved by Congress. The combination of direct federal aid and safeguards for local autonomy largely eliminated any cause for state and local competition that characterized earlier allocations of emergency aid.
As the December 2024 obligation deadline approaches, municipalities must make a final decision on where to obligate any remaining SLFRF dollars. Given that these are one-time funds, local governments will likely endeavor to obligate and spend down their grant funds to as close to zero as possible.
"
https://www.nlc.org/article/2024/03/04/arpa-3-year-anniversary-documenting-the-success-of-direct-federal-aid-to-cities-and-towns/
(edited from article)
"
As 2024 deadline approaches, local governments have committed the bulk of their American Rescue Plan dollars
By the end of June 2023, 335 large cities and counties had committed SLFRF dollars to 13,268 projects, up from 11,771 projects at the end of March 2023 (a 13% increase). Large cities and counties appropriated $55 billion (85%) of their SLFRF dollars across these projects and had spent $30 billion of those appropriations.
While the SLFRF program was designed as a pandemic relief package, the Treasury Department’s Final Rule allowed for these funds to be used to address long-standing health, social, and economic disparities, recognizing that these inequities exacerbated the impact of the pandemic in many of the U.S.’s most vulnerable communities. By the end of June 2023, large local governments had committed roughly $17.8 billion of their SLFRF allocations across programs that provide aid to disproportionately impacted communities, including projects that address housing insecurity, community violence, mental health, and substance abuse. These investments account for approximately one third of all SLFRF commitments made to-date.
This trend supports findings from previous Brookings Metro research that local governments largely pursued “dual-track” investment strategies with their SLFRF allocations, first choosing to support emergency relief programs before investing in longer-term strategic priorities. Among SLFRF projects targeting economic disadvantage, investments in community aid and other acute, grant-based supports (like rental assistance and small business loans) were much more likely to have been obligated or spent. This contrasts with lower expenditure rates across long-term programmatic investments in mental health support, substance abuse prevention, affordable housing, and broadband expansion. These expenditure categories have a longer time horizon for desired impact, can be more capital-intensive, and require complex planning around program design, execution, and financial sustainability.
While local governments have until December 2024 to finish obligating their SLFRF allocations and until December 2026 to spend them, having these funds in their possession now provides a unique opportunity to address worsening community and public health crises, such as rising deaths by suicide and drug overdoses.
"
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/as-2024-deadline-approaches-local-governments-have-committed-the-bulk-of-their-american-rescue-plan-dollars/
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