Semi-retired, but still kicking. MA/History. Lifelong Californian. Lifelong Democrat. Naval and Maritime History aficionado. Servant to two cats. Reasonably articulate, but becoming more acerbic as time goes on.https://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtt6jvvv4s2cLooks like we had a bit of a ruckus last night at our local Convention Center. https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/100-person-brawl-breaks-out-at-visalia-convention-center-police/24 Aug 2026 11:16 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtt6jvvv4s2chttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtr66lyu3s2tU.S. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry is born on this day in 1785. The victor of the Battle of Lake Erie, he will die of yellow fever in the Caribbean this day in 1819. #NavalHistory23 Aug 2026 16:05 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtr66lyu3s2thttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtr5ddku4k2tOn this day in 1921, the airship R-38 suffered structural failure and exploded over the Humber Estuary near Hull, England killing 16 of the 17 Americans and 28 of the 32 Britons aboard. The airship was to be handed over to the US Navy upon completion of testing.23 Aug 2026 15:50 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtr5ddku4k2thttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtqzf63vvs2tWell there now. A properly cooked breakfast (oven roasted sausages with poached eggs on toast) eaten at the kitchen table, complete with a mug o' steaming coffee and a beggar cat who makes a lot of noise but won't eat the offerings. Everything's washed up. Better than going to a coffee shop!23 Aug 2026 14:39 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtqzf63vvs2thttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtmxxza7fk2jIs there any betting on Donald falling asleep during the Great Big Freedom 250 Grand Prix Race?22 Aug 2026 00:03 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmxxza7fk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtmx472w422jYou know, he didn't say exactly what kind of meat was in that 300,000 metric tons of beef he's importing into the States.21 Aug 2026 23:48 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmx472w422jhttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtmwtfxpgc2jI havn't done any real big production-type meals here in the new place, so tonight I'm making a big batch of spaghetti sauce that should last for at least three meals. It' called "Three Pound Sauce" because it has a pound of burger, a pound of Italian sausage, a big onion and a package of mushrooms.21 Aug 2026 23:43 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmwtfxpgc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtmkrs572c26My senior cat will join in with her daughter for the morning "Breakfast Song," but if there's one spot of metal showing in the dry food bowl she'll follow you around the house howling bloody murder. Appeasement is occasionally the only option with a cat.21 Aug 2026 20:07 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmkrs572c26https://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtlcm7ibm22tOn this day in 1810, French Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte is elected Crown Prince of Sweden by the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates. Adopted by the childless King Charles XIII in November, he takes the name Charles XIV John and will rule from 1818 to 1844. (He also helped defeat Napoleon.)21 Aug 2026 08:08 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtlcm7ibm22thttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtlbvujap22tMy junior cat has no internal clock. If I get up at 12:30 a.m. to use the bathroom, she still thinks it's breakfast time. So I'm going to have a twenty pound cat sitting next to my desk chair squeaking at me until I feed her and her mother, who is far more sedate.21 Aug 2026 07:56 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtlbvujap22thttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtjqm3af622yWhen they finally start sending Republicans to prison, they'll all have to go into protective housing. Not so much to prevent them from being sexually assaulted, but to stop them from pimping each other out to the general population.20 Aug 2026 17:13 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtjqm3af622yhttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtj5sxtjfs2kOn this day in 1672, former Grand Pensionary Johann De Witt, who had ruled the Netherlands for nearly 20 years, and his brother Cornelis are shot and killed by an Orangist mob in The Hague. Their bodies are gibbeted and partially cannabalized by the participants in the murders.20 Aug 2026 11:37 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtj5sxtjfs2khttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtizzx6qn22kOn this day in 1940, Leon Trotsky is assassinated in Mexico City by Ramón Mercader, a Spanish-born NKVD agent, who struck Trotsky in the head with an ice axe. Mercader spends 19 years in a Mexican prison before being released in 1960 and moving to Havana, Cuba.20 Aug 2026 10:29 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtizzx6qn22khttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtizknwhns2kOn this day in 1852, the paddle-wheel steamer Atlantic is rammed and sunk by the steamer Ogdensburg near Long Point, Ontario, in Lake Erie. Over 300 passengers are lost making this one of the worst disasters on the Great Lakes. #CivilMaritimeHistory20 Aug 2026 10:21 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtizknwhns2khttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtiyogioes2lOn this day in 1962, NS Savannah, the first nuclear powered merchant ship begins her maiden voyage. Built in Camden, New Jersey, she is the first of the only four nuclear-powered merchant ships to be built, remaining in service until 1971. #MaritimeHistory20 Aug 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtiyogioes2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mtfjnqnayk2kGotta get #President'sBinkey trending.19 Aug 2026 00:58 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtfjnqnayk2khttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mt27vtxj7s23My junior cat has a coat of very fine black hair which, despite the regular brushings, leaves little tufts and strands everywhere which are pushed about by the air currents from the AC. The Campaign Against The Cat Hair continues this morning, this time with a 20 year old vacuum that really sucks.14 Aug 2026 13:04 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt27vtxj7s23https://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mt27evtnf227On this day in 1967, the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act or Marine Offences Act comes into effect, banning radio stations which were cirumventing the BBC's monopoly on radio in the United Kingdom, including those stations broadcasting from ships in international waters. #MaritimeHistory14 Aug 2026 12:55 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt27evtnf227https://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3msxy5mllc22gOn this day in 1868, a major earthquake strikes Arica, Peru. The resulting tsunami washes the US warship Wateree 430 yards above the high tide line, where she remained in use as an inn, a hospital and a warehouse until destroyed by another tsunami in 1877. #NavalHistory13 Aug 2026 15:40 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3msxy5mllc22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3msvgsdwhmc2fWell, there now. Did a nice breakfast (two slices of bacon, two poached eggs and toast with a big steaming mug o' coffee). Sinks ruthlessly cleaned and the stove tidied up. And didn't have to leave a tip for the waiter or the cook!12 Aug 2026 15:24 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3msvgsdwhmc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3msva3q2dm225On this day in 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk was lost during naval exercises in the Barents Sea. Her sinking was officially attributed to a torpedo explosion caused by leaking hydrogen peroxide from a faulty weld in the torpedo casing. All 118 on board were killed.12 Aug 2026 13:24 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3msva3q2dm225https://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3msv3odumss25I live across the street from an elementary school, and today is the last day before classes start.12 Aug 2026 12:05 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3msv3odumss25https://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mstbhleyzc22Peter Doocy of Fox News had the chance to serve his President by acting as a decoy on Air Force One as Trump decamped into a catering truck. Isn't it nice to know your value to Donald Trump?11 Aug 2026 18:44 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mstbhleyzc22https://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3msqyl25qsk2p60 years ago our County Sheriff would have posted a deputy at the gate of the event to make sure he got his cut. https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/crime/tulare-county-rooster-fight-bust/10 Aug 2026 20:59 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3msqyl25qsk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mspssd35vk2pOn this day in 1628, the new 64 gun ship of the line Vasa capsizes and sinks on her maiden voyage in Stockholm harbor. She remains on the bottom of the harbor for 333 years until raised in April 1961 and preserved. #NavalHistory.10 Aug 2026 09:43 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mspssd35vk2phttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mspqg43tas2pJunior cat is doing her usual "Where's Breakfast?" song. Her mother is more phlegmatic and is just lying on the kitchen floor knowing that breakfast will come.10 Aug 2026 09:01 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mspqg43tas2phttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mspoivjsvc2pIt's been hot in Central California for the last few days, so I found a picture from early December 2013. I had checked into a motel in Rapid City, South Dakota just before a storm hit, went upstairs to my room and took a nap. When I woke up, my car was covered in snow (the white Cavalier).10 Aug 2026 08:26 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mspoivjsvc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3msooldx7zs2jJust another beautiful Sunday in Central California!09 Aug 2026 22:55 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3msooldx7zs2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3mshksqg7hk2z [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Aug 2026 02:59 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3mshksqg7hk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/briandunn.bsky.social/post/3msba4dwt5c2kScrubbed the kitchen floor this morning and my senior cat had to inspect the work. Haven't detected footy-prints on that nice clean floor yet.04 Aug 2026 14:32 +0000at://did:plc:w5hkkmncd5isp474d2wjoyli/app.bsky.feed.post/3msba4dwt5c2k