✝️ Mike Check 🇸🇴

How it feels to live in the South. "Nice."

One year ago today, Austin Metcalf, 17, was savagely stabbed to death at a High School track meet. Karmelo Anthony, 17, confessed to police that he did it. Anthony is walking free despite a first degree murder charge. A jury trial is set for June 1st.

Out of the 750,000 who fought for the Confedaracy in the Civil War, these were the last 3 alive in 1951, together.

submission by @shrek2fanboy

1 year ago, Austin Metcalf (17) was kiIIed in coId bIood by Karmelo Anthony at a track meet. There's security footage of the attack. It still hasn't seen the light of day.

Show me a place that made you stop the car.

,,, 🫡🫡🫡

#OTD in 1865, Federal troops break through the Confederate lines south of Petersburg, VA. Gen. Robert E. Lee orders his army to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond, while Jefferson Davis heads to Danville, VA. Fighting continues until darkness covers the retreat. #CivilWar #APX161

Another glorious day for Dixie.

Attended the event, yesterday. Agreed on most things said. Good seeing you in my town, @j_fishback.

More of our good Southern Boys.

1866 Library of Congress. The framers of the 14th amendment specifically said foreigners and aliens do NOT get birthright citizenship. “This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of embassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons. It settles the great question of citizenship and removes all tens of the United States: This has ont ce-a great desideratum in the jurisprudence and legislation of this country.”

The battle between the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama off Cherbourg, France on June 19, 1864 is one of the most celebrated naval engagements of the Civil War. The Setup After nearly two years of raiding, the Alabama was in rough shape. Her hull was fouled with marine growth, her boilers were deteriorating, and her powder was unreliable. Semmes put into Cherbourg in mid-June 1864 for repairs. Captain John Winslow of the Kearsarge, who had been hunting Semmes for months, received word and steamed to Cherbourg, taking station outside the harbor. Semmes could have stayed in port indefinitely under French protection, but he chose to fight. His reasons were partly a matter of honor and pride — he didn't want to appear a coward — and partly practical, believing the Alabama would only deteriorate further with time. He sent a formal challenge to Winslow through the U.S. consul. The Battle On a clear Sunday morning, the Alabama steamed out of Cherbourg before crowds of spectators lining the cliffs and aboard pleasure boats (including the famous painter Édouard Manet, who later painted the scene). A French ironclad escorted her to the edge of territorial waters. The two ships were roughly similar in size and armament, but the Kearsarge had a critical hidden advantage: Winslow had draped sections of anchor chain along her hull amidships, covered by wooden planking, creating an improvised form of armor. Semmes later called this unsporting, though it was a well-known tactic. The ships closed to about a mile and began circling each other in a clockwise pattern, exchanging broadsides — seven full circles in all. The fight lasted about an hour. The Alabama's degraded powder and worn guns told badly; her shots did comparatively little damage. One shell lodged in the Kearsarge's sternpost but failed to explode — had it detonated, it might have sunk her and changed the outcome entirely. The Kearsarge's fire, meanwhile, was devastating. Her 11-inch Dahlgren guns punched holes at the waterline, and the Alabama began taking on water rapidly. Semmes attempted to make for the French coast but couldn't reach it. He struck his colors and gave the order to abandon ship. The Aftermath The Alabama sank stern-first at about 12:24 PM. Semmes and about 40 of his crew were rescued by the English yacht Deerhound, whose owner spirited them to England rather than surrendering them to Winslow — a decision that infuriated the Union and delighted the Confederacy. Most of the remaining crew were picked up by the Kearsarge and French boats. Casualties were relatively light: roughly 9 killed and 21 wounded on the Alabama, and only 3 wounded on the Kearsarge. Semmes was treated as a hero in the South and eventually made his way back to the Confederacy. Winslow was promoted to commodore. The battle effectively ended the most successful commerce-raiding campaign of the war.

The CSS Alabama was one of the most famous warships of the American Civil War, serving as a commerce raider for the Confederate States Navy from 1862 to 1864. She was built secretly at the Birkenhead shipyard of John Laird Sons and Company in England — a fact that later became a major diplomatic controversy between the United States and Great Britain. The ship was constructed under the guise of being a merchant vessel (initially called "Hull No. 290") to skirt British neutrality laws. Captain Raphael Semmes, a skilled and aggressive naval officer, commanded her throughout her career. The Alabama never once docked at a Confederate port. Instead, she roamed the world's oceans — the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Indian Ocean, and the South China Sea — hunting Union merchant ships. Over roughly two years, she captured or destroyed 65 Union vessels, causing enormous damage to Northern commerce and driving up insurance rates so sharply that many American shipowners re-flagged their vessels under foreign registries. This flight from the American flag had lasting effects on the U.S. merchant marine for decades. Her career ended on June 19, 1864, in a dramatic battle off the coast of Cherbourg, France, where she was sunk by the USS Kearsarge. Semmes survived, dramatically escaping capture aboard a British yacht. The aftermath was equally significant. The United States held Britain responsible for allowing the Alabama and other Confederate raiders to be built in British yards. The resulting "Alabama Claims" were settled through international arbitration in 1872 at Geneva, where Britain was ordered to pay $15.5 million in damages. The case is considered a landmark in the development of international arbitration and diplomatic law. The wreck was discovered on the seabed off Cherbourg in 1984 and has since been the subject of archaeological study.

Two weeks until Iran has atomic bombs. Two weeks to stop the spread. Two weeks to release the Epstein files. And now, two weeks until we pull out from the Iran war. We're staying there for good, aren't we?

We will have our home again.

Following the death of Jefferson Davis, his former slaves sent a letter to Varina, his widow: BRIERFIELD, MISS., January 12, 1890. TO MRS. JEFFERSON DAVIS,
Beauvoir, Miss. We, the old servants and tenants of our beloved master, Honorable Jefferson Davis, have cause to mingle our tears over his death, who was always so kind and thoughtful of our peace and happiness. We extend to you our humble sympathy. Respectfully, your old tenants and servants, NED GATOR, TOM MCKINNEY, GRANT MCKINNEY, MARY PENDLETON, MARY ARCHER, ELIJA MARTIN, WILLIAM NERVIS, ISABEL KITCHENS,
TEDDY EVERSON, HENRY GARLAND, LAURA NICK, WILLIAM GREEN, GUS WILLIAMS, and others.