250 Years Ago on this day, 22 March, the British Parliament Passed the Stamp Act. If you are reading this tomorrow morning, on the 23rd, we get official credit for the last celebration of this daily reminder you will see.

Our Section Leader Miles had a throw-away story that he was going to use for daily production in a time of war and national disorder. It was going to be about the Patrol Squadron Master Chief Radioman in his outfit who had been a young sailor at the end of the Second World War. His plane was on the squadron schedule for a routine Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) Sortie which was not yet cancelled. That morning a somewhat hung-over crew manned up and the young radio guy told the one junior to him that he was going aft in the plane to sleep behind the torpedo bay.

“Wake me if you got anything,” is what he said as he headed aft. What he didn’t plan on was the airplane running over a German submarine on the surface, crew on deck, signaling by flashing light that they wished to surrender to allied forces. The kid had only been in the Navy a couple months and was unclear on his role with the radio and the capitulation of heavily-armed men-of-war.”

“So that is how you get called into this thing?” asked Rocket.

“We had a quick story on the Stamp Act that would have been perfect. We have great weather headed in the direction of Spring and would rather be doing something else, like figuring our what our Navy is going to do with mine-countermeasures in the Strait of Hormuz that won’t be like throwing ice-balls at British Troops in Boston
Square. We had a goofy legislative act in Britain back then that had some unintended consequences. That fits nicely with everything going on over here and now. And the tax thing, which is why we had the Boston Massacre and the other troubles that led to the Declaration of Independence a quarter Millennium ago.”

“So that is why we are not running that sweet little piece Holly and I spent nearly an hour after lunch talking about why nine colonies agreed instead of thirteen and that sort of stuff.”

“Yeah,” said Holly. “It makes it look like we did some real research which would justify the voucher for lunch at Bud & Edith’s.”

Splash slumped back in his chair. “We got a war in progress for which our NATO allies can’t seem to show interest, even if half their gasoline runs through those waters and the news people here are acting like some of us haven’t been thinking about this for nearly a half century.”

“We thought about it before then, too,” said Miles with a frown. “We can use this one as a sort of throw-away due to the date, which is unmistakably the 22nd of March.” He looked around with suspicion. “At least if we send it now.”

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