[FoxNews] Defense Secretary declares, 'We are taking the politics out of ship naming' as Pelosi condemns change
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a Navy oil tanker named after gay rights leader Harvey Milk will be renamed after Medal of Honor recipient Oscar V. Peterson.
"We are taking the politics out of ship naming," he wrote on X along with a video announcing the move.
Milk was California’s first openly gay politician, who was shot and killed inside San Francisco city hall by former San Francisco supervisor Dan White. The ship, a fleet replenishment oiler, was originally named after him in 2016 under President Barack Obama.
He served four years in the Navy in the Korean War but left due to his sexuality.
Peterson was awarded the Medal of Honor after his death, having died of his wounds during battle in World War II in an act of self-sacrifice that saved lives.
"People want to be proud of the ship they’re sailing in," Hegseth said of the change. "We're not renaming the ship to anything political. This is not about political activists, unlike the previous administration."
Peterson, who spent 20 years in the Navy, was in charge of running the steam engine in the U.S.S. Neosho when it came under Japanese fire in the Philippines in 1942.
On May 7, 1942, the Neosho was severely damaged during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Peterson and other members of his repair party were badly injured, but Peterson managed to close four bulkhead steam valves. He sustained third-degree burns in the process, but the move kept the ship afloat. On May 11, the U.S.S. Henley rescued 123 survivors from the Neosho, and Peterson died two days later from his wounds.
The renaming comes amid a push from Hegseth to remove DEI and "woke" policies from the Department of Defense.
When the move was first reported earlier this month, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called the move a "shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream."
Of course she did.
"As the rest of us are celebrating the joy of Pride Month, it is my hope that the Navy will reconsider this egregious decision," Pelosi said in a statement.
#1
When I first heard that this Oiler was going to be named after Milk (2016?), my first thought was that someone was having a joke.
Although the ship is a 'Lubrication Delivery System'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/28/2025 5:53 Comments ||
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#2
...I'm truly sorry that Mr. Milk was murdered; AFAIK he did nothing wrong to his killer other than existing. But he had a fairly well-known fondness for underage boys, and an unfortunate death cannot erase that. The naming never should have happened in the first place.
Now let's do USS John Murtha (LPD-26), who not only lied about US Marines committing war crimes, but cheerfully spread them. And then we can do USS John Stennis (CVN-74), named for one of the most bitter and brutal segregationists who ever walked Capitol Hill.
[Conservative Treehouse] Mexican President Sheinbaum Apoplectic at U.S. Sanctions Against Mexican Money Launderers
Things are getting very interesting as the clock ticks toward the end of the USMCA trade agreement.
Almost no one is watching the USMCA element because it quietly exists only in the background of events. However, pay close attention to the ancillary stories because they will eventually merge with the end of the USMCA and two bilateral trade agreements between the U.S-Canada and the U.S. and Mexico later this year.
NATO funding and Canadian economic independence, and by extension the EU and China, comes into the northern agreement. Border security and Mexican economic independence, and by extension immigration and China, comes into the southern agreement. The strength of MAGAnomic policy flows directly through both.
In the quiet sphere, a few days ago Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a key player in the trade program, announced sanctions against three Mexican financial organizations that underline the influence of the Mexican cartels and the Mexican government. [Treasury Announcement Here]
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued orders identifying three Mexico-based financial institutions—CIBanco S.A., Institution de Banca Multiple (CIBanco) [ORDER HERE], Intercam Banco S.A., Institución de Banca Multiple (Intercam) [ORDER HERE], and Vector Casa de Bolsa, S.A. de C.V. (Vector) [ORDER HERE]—as being of primary money laundering concern in connection with illicit opioid trafficking, and prohibit, respectively, certain transmittals of funds involving CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector. These orders are the first actions by FinCEN pursuant to the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which provide Treasury with additional authorities to target money laundering associated with the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, including by cartels”. (more)
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is furious. “The Treasury Department hasn’t provided a single piece of evidence to show that any money laundering was taking place,” she said. “We aren’t going to cover for anyone, there isn’t impunity here. They have to be able to demonstrate that there was actually money laundering, not with words, but with strong evidence.”
Secretary Scott Bessent has provided all of the evidence above in the three orders. However, this U.S. Treasury action is going to cause a massive disruption to the financial system used by Mexican officials to remain in power. This is the key point.
Remember, the Customs and Border Patrol enforcement action in Los Angeles was not about deporting illegal aliens. The origination of the chaos in Los Angeles centered around the ‘customs” aspect of the CBP as they targeted local businesses that were operating as money laundering outfits for drug and human trafficking into the USA.
#1
The cartels have moved a portion of their operations to Canada. They own stakes in US politicians and DC staffers as well as their Canadian equivalents. The resistance to fixing this will be extensive .
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/28/2025 11:29 Comments ||
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#2
I guess if you wanna hit 'em where it hurts, the banks would be a target.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/28/2025 13:17 Comments ||
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[ZeroHedge] On Wednesday morning at 6 a.m., a large-scale police operation was launched across Germany, targeting hundreds of individuals suspected of insulting politicians or spreading "hate and incitement" online.
The massive crackdown saw police launch morning raids against 170 individuals, which saw police seize computers, cell phones, and tablets, and conduct searches in multiple locations across the country.
The action, which was conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), uses the new Criminal Code Paragraph 188 to target individuals accused of racism and hate speech.
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister, Herbert Reul (CDU), who has overseen a massive increase in crime in his state in recent years — including violent crimes and knife crimes committed by foreigners — celebrated the police raids.
"Digital arsonists must not be able to hide behind their cell phones or computers," he said.
His state conducted 14 of the approximately 130 nationwide cases in a "day of action" against so-called hate postings.
In fact, even as the number of such raids has exploded in recent years, violent crime has also reached record highs in Germany, in large part due to mass immigration, which is a statistical fact. However, police resources have shifted towards targeting hate speech violations, including those complaining about rising crime in relation to mass immigration, with even politicians, such as Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) Marie-Thérèse Kaiser, being targeted in such cases.
Germany now routinely has these "days of action" against citizens who commit "violations" against new and more draconian speech laws in Germany. In some cases, a national scandal has erupted when the details of the cases became public, such as the case of a pensioner, Stefan Niehoff, having his house raided over calling former Economic Minister Robert Habeck an "idiot."
As the details of the case show, Niehoff became a major target for speaking out against the raid, with the state eventually dropping the "idiot" charge, the one they raided his house for, and pursuing other ones. He was eventually convicted for a variety of retweets despite these retweets being explicitly anti-Nazi posts that targeted left-wing politicians.
In another case, someone criticized CDU leader Friedrich Merz as "drunken."
It is unclear who was targeted in the latest raids and what statements they made. Most cases allegedly involve right-wing extremist statements, but a small number of cases involve extremist religious or left-wing extremist content. It should also be noted that Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel has also filed a number of such complaints, a point she has been criticized for. However, it is unclear if anyone’s house was raided over any of her complaints. So far, there have been no reports of such raids based on any complaints Weidel has filed.
CDU Interior Minister Reul said there needs to be a clear distinction between opinion and hate speech.
"What you don’t do in the real world isn’t appropriate digitally either. It’s time for more attitude, both offline and online," he said.
However, the federal interior ministry made a similar argument last year while conducting raids against multiple homes of Compact Magazine journalists, as well as the magazine’s publisher. The raids were followed by a ban on Compact Magazine and its erasure from the internet. A top federal court has now ruled this week that the ban was not constitutional and constituted a violation of freedom of the press in a major blow to the federal interior ministry.
These house raids are conducted with the support of various reporting centers run by left-leaning organizations. Essentially, a center reports a post, which then forwards this to the federal police for action.
Last year, there were 10,732 such cases recorded, which is quadruple the number of 2021.
As an example of the type of raids going on, last year, a 14-year-old German boy had his house raided for posting a banned hashtag on TikTok, which translated to "Everything for Germany."
#5
So it's OK for Muslim immigrants to commit acts of violence against their host but NOT OK for Germans to speak their minds about it. And it's OK for Hamas to terrorize Israelis but NOT OK for Israelis to defend themselves. And Germany must become a totalitarian police state because they're afraid of becoming Nazis. Gosh, that's a real predicament.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/28/2025 12:31 Comments ||
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#6
CDU Interior Minister Reul said there needs to be a clear distinction between opinion and hate speech.
But it's all just a matter of who gets to make that distinction, isn't it?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
06/28/2025 12:34 Comments ||
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#7
Reul is ingnoring or defying (West) German constitutional case law that has been developed since the 1950s.
With the exception of holocaust denial German free speech rights once arguably enjoyed stronger protection than Americans' free speech.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday fired at least three prosecutors involved in U.S. Capitol riot criminal cases, the latest moves by the Trump administration targeting attorneys connected to the massive prosecution of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Those dismissed include two attorneys who worked as supervisors overseeing the Jan. 6 prosecutions in the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington as well as a line attorney who prosecuted cases stemming from the Capitol attack, the people said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
A letter that was received by one of the prosecutors was signed by Attorney General Pam Bondi. The letter did not provide a reason for their removal, effective immediately, citing only "Article II of the United States Constitution and the laws of the United States," according to a copy seen by The Associated Press.
Don’t they serve at the pleasure of the president, meaning he or his representative can fire them — or demand their resignation — at will?
#1
They can now plead the 5th Amendment with impunity. As Federal employees, the 5th is off limits. I'm admittedly no attorney, but I'm not certain this was a good idea. Their termination agreements may have held other stipulations however.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/28/2025 8:38 Comments ||
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#5
^ #4
OK, then also have them testify WHO above them instructed / ordered them to violate civil right laws and the US Constitution for a reduce prison sentence.
Then charge those that ordered them with US Code violation fitting their actions.
Title 18, U.S.C., Section 241 - Conspiracy Against Rights
Title 18, U.S.C., Section 242 - Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law
Title 18, U.S.C., Section 245 - Federally Protected Activities
Title 42, U.S.C., Section 14141 - Pattern and Practice
For offenses not resulting in death, there is a 7 year statute of limitations. For offenses resulting in death, there is no statute of limitations.
[NPR] The Trump administration on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against all 15 federal judges in Maryland over an order blocking the immediate deportation of migrants challenging their removals, ratcheting up a fight with the federal judiciary over President Donald Trump's executive powers.
The remarkable action lays bare the administration's determination to exert its will over immigration enforcement as well as a growing exasperation with federal judges who have time and again turned aside executive branch actions they see as lawless and without legal merit.
"It's extraordinary," Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School, said of the Justice Department's lawsuit. "And it's escalating DOJ's effort to challenge federal judges."
#1
"And it's escalating DOJ's effort to challenge federal judges."
Good. These rogue judges have been an issue for too long and been little more than black robed tyrants. If this step doesn't work, hanging them is the next.
#4
Actually the next legal step is for the US Congress to abolish the courts that these federal judges serve on and then reconstitute the courts to exclude the renegades but we know Congress doesn't do that sort of thing.
#5
The set up in Maryland was egregious and had nothing to do with due process. It automatically froze the status of any illegal arrested without a review of their case or circumstance. The judiciary was intended to adjudicate matters before them based on existing statues and case law. Instead, judges with an agenda are manipulating the system to thwart a politician they don’t like. It fits the definition of an insurrection. There will be coordination emails that are discoverable for the purposes of impeachment and prosecution.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
06/28/2025 11:23 Comments ||
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#6
It fits the definition of an insurrection.
Whatever, there is already sufficient misbehavior on the part of those federal judges to have Congress abolish their court systems and institute substitutes, but without the jerksdges in question. Most of the US Congress is already running for relection 3 Nov 2026.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
