Good Morning,



This will be the last lesson for a few days. Friday I will be on the road to Pensacola Beach, Florida. I will be staying over in Montgomery Friday night and then go on down Saturday morning. I can taste this oysters and gumbo already. The next lesson will come on Sunday....maybe. I will send y'all some pictures.


I am having a discussion with one of my daughters (a democrat) about whether of not President Obama had to authorize the Special Ops. raid in Somalia where they killed a wanted al-queda leader and his entourage. She brought up the fact that I conceded that the president probably authorized the killing of those three pirates that had captured the captain of an American vessel. That shooting was done by three SEALS. If I am not mistaken the President said that they could shoot to kill only if the Captain's life was in imminent danger. That decision had to be made in the field. I do not believe they called the President immediately before the shots were fired.


The amazing thing is that the three pirates and all of the al-queda leader and his entourage were Muslims. I think all of this is to convince me that Obama is indeed a Patriot.


I have not heard any gossip about the scandal of Governor Sanford lately. Maybe it has just gone away.


Quote of the day:


"I am tired of hearing about money, money, money. All I want to do is play the game, drink Pepsi and wear Reebok products." Shaquille O'Neal


Good News:


Up in Vermont six dairy farmers have started gathering the manure from their cows and using some in their fields for fertilization and putting the rest in a digester and capturing the resulting methane. They are using the methane as a fuel in engines that used to be gasoline powered. The only side product from the combustion is water. They are able to sell any surplus to other dairy farms as engine fuel also.


Greenville Grime:


66 year old Edward Golden was killed in a head on collision over in Pickens county last night. He was just a block from his home. He was taken to the Greenville Memorial Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. He was wearing a seat belt. Sometimes nothing helps.


Greenville County Magistrate James Hudson has been suspended. Hudson detected money missing from the Magistrates bank account and asked for an investigation by the Sheriff's department. One person in the office has already been arrested. It is normal procedure to suspend a judge when an investigation is under way.



This date in history September 17



1932    Speed demon Sir Malcolm Campbell (no relation that I know of) sets a land speed record of 76.035 MPH. Think about that folks, that is about the average speed traveled on nearly all of the Interstate highways today. Anyway, Sir Malcolm at the age of 50 broke the 300 MPH barrier at the Bonneville Salt Flats, that’s better. Sir Malcolm also was interested in the speed record over water and did so on several occasions but his last try resulted in a gust of wind getting under his hydroplane and sent it airborne at which the hydroplane disintegrated killing Sir Malcolm. If anyone had the”need for speed” it was him.


1950    Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis make their debut on the TV show The Colgate Comedy Hour and are an immediate smash hit. They stayed together until 1956 when they decided to go their separate ways. Dean went on the nightclub circuit, especially in Las Vegas. Jerry made 3 or 4 movies that were a flop here in the US but were very popular in Europe where he is considered a comic genius. Dean teamed up with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop forming what was known as” The Rat Pack”. They were a nightclub act that was very popular for a long time. Dean also had a TV variety show for 9 years. After Peter Lawford died Dean was asked what had Peter died from, Dean responded with “Peter died of vodka”. Sad. Dean died in 1995 ending a remarkable life.


1862    The bloodiest single day in American history occurs on this day near a small town in Maryland named Sharpsburg and near a small creek name Antietam. There were actually 3 separate battles; Dunker Church, The West Woods and Miller’s cornfield. At dawn US Gen. Joseph Hooker unleashes an attack on the Confederate troops under the command of CSA Gen. Stonewall Jackson near Dunker Church. Hooker’s attack is stemmed by a ferocious counter-attack by the Confederates at which there was a ghastly number on casualties on both sides. The worst attack came when US Gen. Edwin Sumner was able to get artillery pieces aimed down a sunken road where the Confederates had a line of infantry lying down and shooting over the embankment. The slaughter was unbelievable. This road from then to this day is known as “Bloody Lane”. This battle was a tactical draw but it did force Lee back into Virginia to refit. The total casualty count was 22,807. What can I say here?


1957    Louis Armstrong had been asked to go to go on goodwill tour to Russia for the US and he agreed. On this day he angrily refused to go because of the happenings in Little Rock, Ark. It seems that a federal judge decreed that Central High School in Little Rock must be integrated. 9 black students showed up to go to school and were met by an angry white mob and the Arkansas National Guard sent there by Governor Orville Faubus to stop them from entering the school. Well, after hearing about this debacle Louis told the people responsible for the goodwill tour to take this tour and shove it even though President Eisenhower had sent in the airborne to get those kids in the school. Louis was not impressed and said words to the effect that “How can I go promote goodwill between the US and Russia when blacks are treated like that?” Indeed.


1868    A large contingent of Cheyenne and Sioux warriors attack US Maj. George Forsyth and 50 frontiersmen in Colorado. Maj. Forsyth leads his men to a sandbar in the middle of Arikaree River and there they make a stand. They were able to hold off the initial onslaught of the estimated 600 warriors because of the 7 shot repeating rifles they had. Forsyth knew that he and his men would be annihilated if he did not get help. Two of the frontiersmen volunteered to sneak out at night and go through the Indian lines and get help. The battle continued for 5 days until Forsyth saw that he had only 10 men still able to fight and that many of them were wounded and would die if they did not get medical help and soon. The Indians left figuring they had done enough damage. Early in the afternoon the 10th Colorado Cavalry showed up with a wagonload of food and medical supplies which saved many of the men. By the way, the 10th Cavalry was an all black unit known as “Buffalo Soldiers".



Born today:



1923    US singer/songwriter Hank Williams. He said “You have to smell a lot of mule shit before you can sing like a hillbilly.” Hank was from south central Alabama. There is a portion of I-65 in that area known as the “Lost Highway” named after one of Hanks most popular songs. Hank allowed his success to kill him with booze and drugs at the age of 30. What a damned shame.


1931   US actress Anne Bancroft. Anne was going to get married to Mel Brooks when Mel called his Jewish mother and told her he was going to marry a Catholic woman and his mother said “OK, bring her over, I will be in the kitchen....with my head in the oven.” Now I know where Mel got his sense of humor.


Died today.


1771    Scottish writer Tobias Smollett. He said “For my part most of the nation is mad, and the remainder is unbalanced.” Sounds like present day to me.


1996    US Vice-President Spiro Agnew. He said “Youth lacks, to some extent, experience.” Now you know why Spiro resigned the Vice-Presidency in disgrace because of corruption while Governor of Maryland. He was stupid.


1997    US comedian Red Skelton. He said “All men make mistakes. Married men just find out about it sooner.” I had forgotten why I ain’t married, now I remember


Goodbye from the land of Black-eyed peas, collards and Brittany Spears (Brittany is from Louisiana). Brittany is having a hard time coping with success as a lot of young women in show biz do. She was a Mouskateer, too.


Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow