Daily Lesson

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

"Right is right no matter if no one is doing it and wrong is wrong no matter if everybody is doing it".

                     Marion Morrison AKA "John Wayne"


I think it will be a cheese omelet, rye toast and a small bowl of Nassau grits along with coffee and tomato juice for breakfast. The Coffee Cup makes their omelets by running the eggs through a blender to the point that they are high and frothy and so is the omelet. It is almost like eating cotton candy, YUMMY! Of course there will be plenty of Tabasco scattered throughout.


As I said I have ceased from paying attention to local, regional or national news but I could not help but see the flooding in the Powder Springs, Georgia area in the last couple of days. My friends tell me that it has been raining continuously in the Greenville, South Carolina area since last Thursday. It is cloudy here but it has not rained other than mist since I got here on Saturday. I can see the storm clouds passing north of me headed northeast toward the Carolinas. The forecast for the next week here is occasional thunderstorms and highs in the mid 80's. The wind is continuously from the northeast during the day and it reverses at night.


I saw a couple of photos yesterday of Muslims in London holding up signs saying "Behead those that belittle Islam" and other such nonsense. These jackasses think they are scaring people and are going to get their way with fear.


This is a message to the radical Muslims. I am not afraid and neither are many people from places like Marble Falls, Texas- Putnam, Oklahoma-Fayetteville, Arkansas-Houma, Louisiana-Greenwood, Mississippi-Dothan, Alabama-Dublin, Georgia-Newberry, South Carolina-Rocky Mount, North Carolina-Cleveland, Tennessee-Paducah, Kentucky-Fredericksburg, Virginia, Sharpsburg, Maryland and many, many other places in this great land where people take their patriotism very seriously and many, many of us are armed.....to the teeth. All I have to say is "I've got your Islam and Mohammed right here." You will have to use your imagination as to where my right hand is at this point. I have two word for you, "Bring it on" while I gather up the patriots from the locations mentioned. I know, it was three words, but I don't speak Arabic.


                     This date in history September 23


1779    Earlier Scottish born John Paul Jones came to America as a cabin boy aboard a cargo ship. He lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia for while with his brother who had a business there. He eventually went back to sea as a deckhand and eventually an officer aboard slave and cargo ships and proved to be a capable seaman. He killed a shipmate during a mutiny attempt and went back to America just before the start of the American Revolutionary War. The American colonies began organizing a fleet of naval warships and Jones was recruited and given the rank of Lieutenant and given command of the USS Bonhomme Richard. On this date John Paul Jones engaged the British warships HMS Serapis and the smaller HMS Countess of Scarborough off the east coast of England. It was a furious battle and after while the commander of the Serapis signaled Jones asking if he was ready to “strike his colors” meaning surrender. Jones signaled back the immortal phrase “I have not yet begun to fight” and battle resumed with even more ferocity. An hour or two later both the Serapis and the Countess “struck their colors” and surrendered to Jones. The next morning Jones transferred his flag to the Serapis and soon after the Bonhomme Richard sank. This was not the only victory for Jones; he was instrumental in the suppression of the British Fleet in the Bahamas and the Chesapeake Bay. Jones was revered by the French but for some strange reason his was not thought of as well in America. Jones moved to France and was caught up in the throes of the French Revolution in 1789. He died of an unknown cause in France and was buried in an unmarked grave when he was 45 years old. Later on the United States Ambassador to France had Jones disinterred and his remains were brought to America aboard a warship. He was re-buried in a crypt of honor on the grounds of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. On occasion the crypt is included in ceremonies and when it is opened there is a United States Marine Honor Guard standing by.


1806    On this afternoon the Lewis and Clark expedition rounded the last bend in the Missouri River before reaching the intersection with the Mississippi and are within sight of the docks and piers of Saint Louis, Missouri. The “Corps of Discovery” had begun three years before and most had thought that the whole crew had been wiped out since they had been gone so long. But fortunately they had lost only one crewman and they lost him through illness, he was not killed. The expedition had been ordered by President Thomas Jefferson who wanted to know what the United States had gained in the Louisiana Purchase and the Missouri River basin was the best avenue. The expedition wintered the first year near a known Indian village in South Dakota. The next spring the expedition shoved off heading upstream into unknown territory. When they departed, Meriwether Lewis wrote in his journal “This is the most exciting day of my life.” It would have been the same for me. What an adventure it would have been.


1863 A few days before US General Rosecrans had his ass handed to him by the Confederate Army at the Battle of Chickamauga. The Yankees retreated into Chattanooga, Tennessee and were quickly surrounded. The US had suffered 16,000 casualties in a very short period of time. In Washington President Abraham Lincoln hold a conference with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to try to work something out because the US army in Chattanooga was in serious danger of annihilation. Most experts stated that it would take at least a month get an army there to relieve them because there was no other US armies close by. Lincoln and Stanton decided to pull US General Joseph Hooker’s Corp from the vicinity of Virginia and send them to relieve the troops in Chattanooga. But the difference here was one thing, the telegraph. Hooker commandeered whatever railroads he needed and the telegraph messages preceded his arrival and gave him and his army top priority. Hooker was able to move his army, including the animals, equipment and artillery to Chattanooga and depots in Alabama in a week and was able to break the Confederate siege and save the troops.


1875    On this date the 15 year old “Billy the Kid” was arrested for the first time. As a joke a friend of Billy’s stole a bag of clothes from a Chinese laundry and gave it to Billy to hide for him. Bill was literally caught “holding the bag” by a Silver City policeman and threw him in jail for two days. It was during this time that Billy discovered that he just could not handle being caged. Using his small size to an advantage, he shinnied up the chimney and escaped. I have read that Billy was about 5’-2” and about 120 pounds. It was not long before he was in Lincoln County, New Mexico deeply involved in a range war. It was during this combat that he sharpened his skills with a gun and being unmoved by killing another man. I think we all know what eventually happened to Billy.


Born today:


480BC    Greek playwright Euripides. He said “Talk sense to a fool and he will call you foolish.” I think we all know some of them.


1863    US writer Mary Eliza Terrell. She said “The chasm between the principles on which the nation was founded, in which it still professes to believe, and those which are daily practiced under the protection of the flag, yawn wide and deep.” Hey Mary, nothing has changed from that day to this.


1970    US Singer Ani DeFranco. She said “I had rather be able to look at myself in the bathroom mirror than be rich and famous.” I wonder if Bill Gates looks at himself every morning.”


Died today:


1943    US writer Elinor Glyn. She said “Romance is the glamour that turns everyday dust into a golden haze.” I wonder what romance feels like anymore.


1925    US Journalist Carl Rowan. He said “There are no embarrassing questions, only embarrassing answers.” OK, Carl, here is a question. What the hell happened in the town of Jena, Louisiana a while back and why?


Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow