August 23rd

Good Morning,

Quote of the day:

"Karate is a form of martial arts in which people train for years can, using only their hands and feet, make some of the worst movies in the history of the world." Dave Barry

I went out Friday and celebrated the release of the bomber of Pan Am 103, a Boeing 747, that crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland. I did not celebrate the deaths of 270 innocent people by this Arab hyena, I was celebrating the release of the information that the bomber had terminal cancer. I go bed at night hopeful that it is cancer of the anus. Some have told me that he still could have a reasonable quality of life even with cancer. I can assure you that there is no quality of life after reaching stage four. I hope that hyena is unable to draw a breath without excruciating pain until he draws his last.

I would like to see a show of hands of all that have read the proposed health care legislation. Now I would like to see a show of hands that have read tons of media garbage either advocating or denigrating it. I only know of two people that have read it. But I know hundreds that have read one opinion or another by others, some of which were downright lies, and have chosen to believe whatever they choose to believe without concrete knowledge of where the truth lies. Both sides of this issue have an axe to grind and have no opposition to flooding the media with cheers for their side. In this area of the world, there is little question that if either of our US legislators voted for the acceptance of this legislation he/she would unquestionably be voted out of office if for no other reason that the health care reform bill smacks of Socialism. Not only that, he/she would a pariah for the rest of their days here in the land of peaches, heat and The Shag. Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security is Socialism. Some of you will say that you paid for all of that with the FICA deductions while you worked. It has been proven that on the average whatever FICA monies that were deducted from your paycheck will be used up after 4 1/2 years of retirement/Social Security. This means that you are a ward of the state at the age of 69 1/2 and tax monies from others are supporting you and this is widely acceptable. Think on it. I will probably catch a lot of flak about this but my training and experience as an air traffic controller says do not accept conjecture, base your decisions on data and facts. This position leads to no room for argument making it pretty boring.

Question # 1: Why do we have combat troops in Afghanistan?

Question #2: What country leads the world in the production of narcotics. One would think it is Mexico or Colombia. It isn't, it is Afghanistan. In fact it all comes from one province about the size of Maryland.

Do any of y'all see a peculiarity here besides me?

Good News:

Scientists at Cambridge University have created a new drug named salinomycin that kills the stem cells of cancerous cells preventing them from spreading or forming tumors. Breast cancer cells in rats have already been eliminated. This drug will be especially effective in breast cancer, skin cancer, internal organ cancer and prostate cancer, among others. The scientist claim that if Farah Fawcett would have had access to this drug she would still be with us today. It was reported that this drug will be fully tested and on the open market within ten years.

Greenpatch Grime:

For the second time in a week, someone ended up on the wrong side of an Interstate Highway. 33 year old Traci Freeman was headed east on the westbound lanes of I-26 and collided head-on with a car driven by 40 year old Katherine Hall. 43 year old Janice Williams, a passenger was killed. She also was not wearing a seat belt. There were two juveniles in the back who were also injured but will survive, They were wearing seat belts. Traci Freeman was driving a minivan and not injured. She was tested for alcohol and blew a 1.3 making the charge against her as two charges of felony DUI. One charge was for the death and the other was for serious injury to the juveniles She is in the Spartanburg, SC Detention Center will no bail offered. The collision occurred at 5:30 am. Her life is ruined.

The Spartanburg PD answered to a call about a shooting at Prince Hall apartments at about 11:30pm Friday night. Upon arrival they found 12 year old Curtis Garrett lying on the front porch with a gunshot wound of the upper torso. After interviewing some of the residents, the police determined that the shooting was accidental. It didn't matter, though, Curtis died on the way to the hospital.

This Date In History, AUGUST 23rd

1784 On this date four counties in the state of North Carolina declare their independence from the state and form a new state of Franklin. The state of North Carolina has previously ceded some of the lands in western North Carolina to the United States Congress. The residents in these lands equaling four counties were afraid that Congress would sell these lands to either France or Spain to pay off war debts accumulated during the Revolutionary War. In order to prevent this, the four counties form their own state. They had their own constitution, legislature, courts and president. The president was John Sevier who was a patriot warrior leader during the Revolutionary War. Franklin existed on it’s own for two years but got into financial trouble and offered to sell their lands to Spain. Needless to say the state of North Carolina frowned on the prospect of having a Spanish colony on their border and arrested Sevier. But the real problem with the state of Franklin was that they had no appreciable militia and this information got to the Cherokee, Chickamauga and Chickasaw and raids on frontier villages in the state of Franklin increased exponentially. So the state of Franklin asked to rejoin the state of North Carolina if for no other reason that the protection of the state militia from the Indians. These four counties were absorbed into the state of Tennessee later on.

1861 On this date Allen Pinkerton arrests Rose Greenhow in Washington, DC. Rose was an outspoken supporter of the Confederacy and was without a doubt the leader of a very efficient spy network in the nation’s capitol. Rose was close friends if not more with one of the Senators from Massachusetts and many of his friends. Rose fed information to CSA General P.T.G. Beauregard just before the Battle of 1st Manassas about the deployment of the Union troops commanded by US General Irwin McDowell which resulted in the severe ass-kicking delivered by the Confederates. After the war CSA General Jubal Early testified that the information delivered by Rose was instrumental in the defeat of the US army in more than one engagement. While Rose and her daughter were under house arrest in Washington she was allowed to have visitors which meant that he spy network did not slow down. Pinkerton became very exasperated with Rose and her daughter “Little Rose” and imprisoned her and her daughter in a real prison south of Washington. After a while she and he daughter was released and banned to live in the south until the war was over. Rose went abroad to drum up money for the Confederacy. On one occasion she was on her way back home to Charleston, SC when her ship was encountered by a US blockade ship and was run aground. Rose was washed overboard from her lifeboat and went to the bottom like an anvil because he had many pounds of gold on her person meant for the Confederacy. She died supporting her belief.

1877 Three years before outlaw John Wesley Hardin kills a deputy named Charles Webb in a small town near Austin, Texas. This murder was just one of several murders committed by this monster. If ever there was a “bad seed” on this earth it was John Wesley Hardin. He apparently took delight in killing, especially law enforcement officers. The Texas Rangers tasked their best man, John Armstrong, to find Hardin and bring him to justice. Hardin moved to southeast using and alias and divided his time between Florida and Alabama. The relentless Armstrong discovered his alias and tracked Hardin down to a rail yard in Pensacola, Florida. On this date Armstrong and two of his deputies boarded the rail car that held Hardin and two of his compatriots. The two of Hardin’s compatriots tried to draw their pistols and were shot and killed for their trouble. Hardin had a pistol in a shoulder holster but he got tangled up and Armstrong ran over and knocked Hardin’s brains out with the barrel of his pistol. As you might suspect, Armstrong and his buddies being Texas Rangers had no authority in Florida but Armstrong and company would not be denied. They took the unconscious Hardin off the train and waited until the next train headed west came by and got aboard. They arrived in Texas with Hardin in tow. Hardin was tried and sentenced to life in prison in the Huntsville, Texas prison. He spent 15 years in prison and was paroled. He went to El Paso, Texas and tried to settle down but a deputy sheriff found out who he was and walked up behind him in a bar and blew his brains out at point blank range. The good citizens of El Paso rejoiced.


Born today:

1932 US comedian Mark Russell. He said “I like the scientific theory that the rings around Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage.” Mark is a funny guy.

1933 The governor of California Pete Wilson. When speaking of his adversaries he said “They can kiss my ass, if they can jump that high.” I like his attitude.

1834 US actress Barbara Eden. She said “If gentlemen prefer blondes then I am a blonde that prefers gentlemen.” Barbara had a drop dead good looking body, ya’ll.

1970 US actor River Phoenix. He said “I am having a hard time keeping my head above water in this crazy business.” This young man was a dynamite actor who died of an overdose at the age of 23. What a damned shame.


Died today:

1960 US lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. He said “If you want to be admitted to the fold of the brotherhood of man, you have to let everyone else in also.” We are already there, Oscar.

1995 German photographer Alfred Eisenstadt. He said “As long as I have a camera in my hand, I have no fear.” Good thought Alfred, but I prefer a .40 caliber Glock automatic.

 
Thanks for listening, I can hardly wait until tomorrow....