Daily lesson

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

"It is not the strongest that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most responsive to change."

                                           Charles Darwin

It started raining last night about dark with the onset of a weak thunderstorm and it hasn't stopped yet. It is a light rain, almost a mist. The wind is from the northeast at about 12 MPH.

Four of Greenville's police have resigned in light of a federal investigation about the abuse of people's civil rights and physical abuse. The Greenville police department state that they were fired. The problem is that the Greenville Police will not identify the former policemen nor will they describe what problems were under investigation. That ain't fair, y'all. If you get arrested for nearly any crime, not only is your name broadcast, an arrest photo will be on line in a matter of hours. Are the police protecting their own so they can find another job in law enforcement? I think so. It is called the "blue line". It ain't right.

Monday night at about 3:30a, 31 year old Jeremy McCall of Brewton, Alabama started beating his way into the bedroom of a stranger's house. He made a lot of noise getting in which alerted the home owner way in advance. Jeremy finally broke into the bedroom and pointed a gun at the home owner and his wife. What Jeremy did not know was that the homeowner was also armed and fired one round as soon as Jeremy appeared and Jeremy dropped like a sack of wheat. The homeowner then called 911. When the cops arrived, Jeremy was unresponsive. For the life of me I cannot understand how a criminal can expect to do a home invasion and not expect to be killed. If it happened to me, I can assure you that either the piece of trash doing the invading of my home or myself would suffer a bullet and/or shotgun wound...or worse. By the way, the homeowner was not arrested and I don't think he will be.

I have just finished reading Dan Brown's new book "The Lost Symbol". If any part of this book is factual, we have a real problem. I have just started reading a book about a rogue Russian nuclear submarine. If this book is factual, were were just seconds from a nuclear war with China. I am exhausted.

Good news:

Recently customs officials at several British airports confiscated over 3,000 pieces of art that were stolen from Afghanistan by Islamic fighters in the the civil war in the 1990's. Some of the pieces date back 10,000 to 15,000 year meaning at the time of the birth of present day civilization. A lot of the works that were created in pre-Islamic times, before 700AD, were sought out and destroyed for not being Islamic. Much of the Buddhist works of art were destroyed for the same reason. The new director of the Afghanistan Museum in Kabul is very pleased and has been assure by Interpol that a close eye will be kept on British airports looking for more attempts to carry out illegal loot. What a thrill it would be to see something made 10,000 years ago but I am not about to go to Kabul to see them. The most treasured work of art recently recovered was an oil lamp made of copper in the shape of a peacock. It is over 7,000 years old.

This date in history October 14


1947    On this date United States Air Force ace Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager breaks the sound barrier for the first time in history. Chuck was USAF test pilot driving a Bell X-1 rocket plane that was taken to 40,000 feet attached to the belly of a B-29 and then released whereupon Chuck fired up the rocket engine and began climbing and accelerating at a hitherto unheard of rate. At about 60,000 the plane achieved 663 MPH which was the speed of sound at that altitude. This event was so secret that it was not announced until a year later. Previously aircraft “experts” believed that the speed of sound was not achievable because the drag on the airframe would tear it apart. That just goes to show you what so-called “experts” know. Anyway, Chuck made several other supersonic flights successfully. By the way, Chuck was a P-51 fighter pilot during WWII and was indeed an ace meaning he shot down five or more enemy aircraft. He was shot down himself over France but was concealed by the French underground and hustled back to his base in England to fly again. In the early days of supersonic flight it was pretty much a contest between Chuck and civilian test pilot Scott Crossfield as to who would fly the fastest. I do not remember who won this contest but all the flights originated at Edwards Air Force Base out on the California desert. No one with the knowledge will admit to this day where the high flying SR-71 Blackbird capable of Mach 3 (2,500 MPH) and altitudes above 60,000 feet or the F-117 stealth fighter was developed but it wasn’t at Edwards. The only other explanation would be at the infamous Area 51 (Groom’s Lake) on the southwestern Nevada desert which its very existence has been denied since 1964. I recently opened up Google Earth and zoomed in on that area and found Area 51 on a satellite view. The US government that denied its existence before now says that they have closed the base. When I zoomed in close I could see one or two aircraft on the ramp. They looked like C-130 Hercules. Maybe they were there picking up some leftover furniture. Yeah, right.


1066    On this date William, The Duke of Normandy (France) lands on the south coast of England near Pevensey along with 7,000 troops and a company of cavalry to claim his right to the throne of England. Earlier about 1051 William claimed that the King of England, Edward the Confessor, had promised the throne to William upon his death because he had no heirs. However, on his deathbed Edward named Harold Godwine as his successor. Harold was a member of a very influential family in England. He was titled Harold II, King of England and assumed the throne. A few weeks before the arrival of William, England was invaded from the north by a combined force of William’s brother Tostic and an army of Vikings. Harold and his army met the Vikings at Stamford Bridge in northern England and administered a severe ass-whipping to the Vikings almost to the point of annihilation and they did it the hard way with swords, pikes, axes and clubs. Anyway, the Vikings gathered up what they could, ran like rats to where their boats were beached on the Humber River and sailed their young asses back to Scandinavia. About the time the battle ended, a messenger arrived and told Harold about William and company landing on the south coast. Harold began a 29 day forced march toward Pevensey gathering recruits along the way. Harold arrived in the area of Pevensey and found William’s army within a rocks throw of the town of Hastings thus that is why it is called the Battle of Hastings. Harold dug in on the high ground to minimize the effect of the cavalry and awaited Williams attack. William did not disappoint and began a general assault. But Harold was right, the steep flanks of the hill diluted the cavalry’s effectiveness but William skillfully redeployed his archers and infantry and began again. During this attack, Harold received an arrow in the eye but was not killed. Then a French mounted knight broke through Harold’s defensive line and beheaded Harold with one sweep of his sword. After this the English army melted away. William continued to London and went in unopposed. He was crowned the King of England in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day thus ending the lineage of Anglo-Saxon rule in Britain. William did not forget Harold’s bravery and had an abbey erected where Harold died with the high altar on the very spot. As usual, a village grew up around that abbey and that village is named Battle.


1912    President Theodore Roosevelt was preparing to make a speech in Milwaukee during his campaign to gain the presidency for the third time in spite of what the Constitution read. If was to be re-elected he would have win by write-in votes. While greeting people in front of the Hotel Gilpatrick a man named John Schrank walked up and pumped a .32 caliber bullet into Roosevelt’s chest at point blank range. Schrank was immediately detained but Teddy went on in the auditorium and made an hour long speech with the bullet still in him. Teddy had a heavy coat on and a glass case and a manuscript in the breast pocket that slowed down the bullet. After the speech Teddy pulled out the bloody manuscript and said “It take more that a bullet to kill a “Bull Moose”. The Bull Moose was the nickname for his political party. Anyway, after he completed the speech he was rushed to the hospital and had the bullet removed. When asked why he had shot Teddy, Schrank said “Anybody that would run for President three times needs to be shot.” The end result of all of this is that Roosevelt was defeated by Woodrow Wilson and Schrank spent the rest of his days in an asylum.


1976    A man named Marshal Cummings, Jr. is charged with attempted robbery in a purse snatching incident in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cummings rejected a court appointed attorney and decided to act as his own attorney. His actions later reinforced the phrase that “He who acts as his own attorney has a fool for a client.” Cummings called the victim to testify and the first question he asked was “Did you get a good look at my face when I snatched your purse?” Marshal went to the slammer for 10 years.


1944    Earlier an attempt was made of the life of Adolph Hitler during a meeting when a bomb in a brief case was placed under the table by one of Hitler’s generals who then left under the guise of having to make a phone call. This plan was devised by several Hitler’s generals and name Operation Valkirie. The bomb was on a timer and when the bomb went off, the room and the building was destroyed killing three people, but not Hitler. He was wounded but was back on his feet the next day. After the explosion, the conspirators put the rest of Operation Valkirie into effect believing Hitler was dead. Well, when they found out that Hitler was not dead, they knew the shit was going to hit the fan. And sure enough, Hitler went through the ranks of his military hierarchy and murdered many of them. But Hitler came to find out that his most successful general Field Marshal Erwin Rommel who kicked ass in North Africa for a while, even though was not part of the conspiracy, should have known of its existence. So representatives of Hitler paid Rommel a visit at his home and told him that he had two choices. Stand trial for the conspiracy and his family would receive no assistance and live in shame, or commit suicide and get a hero’s funeral and his family would be cared for. On this date Rommel committed suicide with poison. The news of his death was explained that he had died of wounds received in earlier combat. Sure enough, Rommel’s funeral was a pure spectacle with all the pomp and circumstance that had been promised. It was good for us because if Rommel had led the breakout in the Battle of the Bulge we might still be fighting.


Born today:


1888    New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield. She said “How idiotic civilization is! What are you given a body and have to keep it in a case like a rare fiddle.” Obviously Katherine is talking of the days of tight corsets and chastity belts and not of present day thong Bikinis.


1890    US President Dwight Eisenhower. He said “An atheist is a person that can watch a football game between Notre Dame and Southern Methodist University and doesn’t care who wins.” I don’t care who wins as long as Notre Dame loses.


1906    German political activist Hannah Arendt. She said “Even the most fervent revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.” Good vision there, Hannah.


Died today:


1885    US writer Josh Billings. He said “Flattery is like cologne, it is to be smelled but not swallowed.”


1977    US entertainer Bing Crosby. His last words were “That was a great round of golf, fellers.” My father loved Bing.


Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow