Daily History

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

"Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring."

                                         Oscar Wilde

A hell of a rainstorm came sweeping in about daylight and it rained as hard as I have ever seen for about 45 minutes. The wind has shifted to a west-northwest direction meaning the low pressure area has passed north of this location and we are on the backside of a cold front. It is not really cold, it is 75 at 10:00a.

Over in Union County a man's uncle died and he went to look at his property and possessions. He found Class 2 explosives, barrels of black powder and many grenades. He loaded all of that stuff into a truck and drove into downtown Union to turn it in to the police so it "would not fall into the wrong hands". The police took one look and cordoned off the street and evacuated everyone close by. The explosives were eventually move to a safe location. What was that man's uncle doing with all those explosive? Sounds like a militia training camp to me.

Speaking of Union. Governor Mark Sanford saw to it that nearly all the city officials in Union, SC were removed from office for committing felonies like skimming money off public funds, accepting bribes, etc. A couple of days ago he replaced the Union Clerk of Court. I don't know what those officials were thinking. You just can't steal from the people and expect to get away with it, that is unless it is at the Federal level.

Within the last few days the US Marshals and the FBI have been gathering up the members of a Mexican drug ring. The have captured of 1,000, 14 of which came from the Greenville, SC area. Those sons-of-bitches are everywhere.

Speaking of that, I chatted with a man in the construction business and he said the hiring practices have tightened up considerably. Now they must produce a valid green card or work visa and whatever Social Security number they offer must match the personal data and the pic on Social Security records. He said that many of the workers are able to work about two weeks before being discovered as being ineligible and fired. Then they move on to another job and do the same thing just to get the work for as long as they can. I don't get it. When I take a job my identity must be confirmed before I step foot on the property.

Another case of child abuse. A 21 year old mother put a pillow on top of her 3 month old son's face and left it there for several hours. The child has suffered brain damage because of the lack of oxygen. The mother said that she put it there to keep the pacifier in place. She is in the joint for child abuse and endangerment. How stupid can you be?

Over in Mobile, Alabama a circuit judge that was looked at as being a "rising star" in Alabama politics is on trial. The Judge Herman Thomas was indicted for abuse of power and sexual perversion and resigned in 2007. His trial has been underway for the past two weeks. Eleven witnesses for the prosecution testified that the judge would come and get them from their jail cells, take them to a room that only the judge had access to and tell them that they had to take a whipping with a wooden paddle, allow him to sodomize them, or demand that they masturbate while he watched. If they did not, back to cell they went, if they did, they got out of jail. Semen was found in that room. The prosecution and the defense have presented their final arguments and the case is in the hands of the jury. If the judge is convicted on all charges, he is looking at 40 years in an Alabama prison with some of the people he put there. Not a good situation for the judge. I will keep y'all advised.

Due to the frontal passage the wind has increased and is from the southwest meaning the surf is very dangerous and all the beaches with life guards are closed. There are red flags and warnings everywhere. On the way back from lunch I saw a rescue vehicle and an ambulance in front of the Holiday Inn Express and several people walking around on the beach. I can assume what happened and so can y'all.

Good news:

The United States Department of the Interior has proposed naming 200,000 square miles on the north coast of the Alaska as a critical habitat area to try and protect the decimation of the polar bears. Once this proposal in enacted, the bears survival possibilities will double. It will require the control of greenhouse gas emissions, no commercial hunting and the elimination of toxic chemical being fed into this area. This is a step in the right direction.

This date in history October 24

1775    The last British governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, orders British Captain Matthew Squire to take British warships up the James River and then up Hampton Creek and attack and capture Norfolk. On this date Captain Squire carries out his orders and brings 6 British warships into Hampton Creek and opens up an artillery barrage on the city of Norfolk. At the same time a contingent of British infantry disembarks in small boats and heads to the city. Upon arriving the artillery barrage ends and the infantry deploys in finely shaped lines of attack and await a similar arrangement from the Patriots. The only problem here is that the Patriots are not about to line up out in the open and array themselves in front of the British. The Patriots are outnumbered at least two to one and it would be suicide to fight as the British wished so they did the smart thing. The British did not know that the Patriots had a large contingent of expert sharpshooters and they began picking off the British infantry at extreme range while well hidden. Upon hearing the gunfire, the leader of the local militia brought an additional 100 marksman to the fore and the British infantry suffered even more dramatically. Even though the British thought this form of warfare as being ungentlemanly, they knew they had to do something and fast because they were falling like leaves. They beat a hasty retreat back to their ships and re-boarded still falling in rapid succession. Once aboard their ships, the carnage was not yet over. The sharpshooters moved closer and began picking them off while aboard their ships. Captain Squire ordered his ships to sail the hell out of there and fast. In his retreat, two of his warships ran aground and were captured. There was not even one injury to the Patriots. It was not a good day for the British, this October 24, 1775.

1862    US General Don Carlos Buell is relieved of his command and is replaced by US General William Rosecrans. Buell had proven himself as a capable leader in previous engagements, especially at Shiloh. A few days before Buell had defeated the army of CSA General Braxton Bragg at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky and for reasons known only to Buell, he failed to vigorously pursue Bragg and try to eliminate the threat of that army and Bragg and his army slipped away. Needless to say the US military and especially A. Lincoln was not pleased. Buell was assigned several different tasks but none that included combat. His days of command of a combat unit were over. After the war Buell retired and settled in Kentucky. He died in 1898.

1970    On his third try for the Presidency of Chile, devout Marxist Salvador Allende is elected much to the chagrin of the United States. The US, ITT and Kennecott Copper had poured a lot of money into keeping Allende out of office knowing what he would do one elected. Allende did not disappoint. He established diplomatic relations with North Korea, Red China and Cuba and began nationalizing ITT and Kennecott Copper. Well, with that the US, ITT and Kennecott started peeing in their pants and began trying to find a way to get that son-of-a-bitch out of there. It would not be easy because Allende was elected peacefully and democratically so an invasion like the Bay of Pigs was out of the question. But the CIA was equal to the challenge and spread enough money around that the Chilean army rose up in a coup, arrested and murdered Allende and peace, as the CIA saw it, prevailed. I suspect that the ouster of Allende was not the first nor will it be the last interference in a foreign government by the good old CIA.

1997    Famous sportscaster Marv Alpert is arrested in New York for biting a woman on the butt. That right folks, I said Marv was arrested for biting a woman on the butt. It seems that Marv had met 42 year old Vanessa Perhach in Miami a few years before and they had a continuing liaison since. On this night, after Marv had called a basketball game in Madison Square Garden between the Knicks and the Bullets, he had invited Vanessa up to his hotel room. At first Marv approached Vanessa for a threesome and she refused. Then he approached her for oral sex and she again refused. It was then that Marv pinned her down and administered the bites. Yes, there was more than one bite. At first Marv denied it but a court ordered dental match of Marv’s teeth and the bite marks confirmed Marv as the biter. To add insult to injury, another woman came forward claiming the Marv had done the same to her. Marv was convicted and was sentenced to one year probation and a $2,500 fine and was fired by the Madison Square Garden. The deal was that if Marv kept his nose clean for year his arrest record would be expunged. After a year his record was indeed cleansed and he was re-hired by MSG.

1648    On this date the 30 Year War comes to the end with the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia. The war had started in 1618 when the king of Bohemia, Ferdinand II, became the Holy Roman emperor and had declared that everyone is his domain, almost all of Eastern Europe, would be required to become a Catholic. Needless to say what happened next. The Protestant princes and kings said “Not no, but hell no we ain’t giving up our Duchies and Earldoms to the Catholic Church” and went to war. It was not one continuous battle but several battles stretched out over many years. The end result was that the Catholic Church did not get what it wanted and France, with Louis XIV as king, emerged as the most powerful country in Europe. It still do not understand the need of the Catholics to own property or dominate people. What has that got to do with saving my soul?

Births and deaths:

1830    US writer Belva Lockwood is born. She said “No one can be called a Christian that spends money on warships or arsenals.” Hey Belva, you need to read about Adolph Hitler, Atilla the Hun and Napoleon Bonaparte. But better still, just stay encapsulated in that little cocoon you are in and quit ruining my life.

1909    US writer Moss Hart is born. He said “So far as I know, anything worth hearing is not uttered at 7:00 in the morning; if it is, it will probably be repeated later on at a reasonable hour.” I like the way Moss thinks.

1981    US costume designer Edith head dies. She said “I have yet to see a completely unspoiled star, except for Lassie."

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.