Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“They more I learn about people, the more I like dogs”.

                   Dr. Walter Robinson DVM

I guess all of you know by now that Governor Mark Sanford and wife Jenny have parted company permanently. Here are the latest rumors about that whole jungle. Governor Sanford had sired a child by his Argentinean paramour and the child was born when the Governor disappeared for those few days. He was going to present at the birth of his child in Argentina come hell or high water. As soon as the child was able to travel, the Argentine woman and child moved to a house in the suburbs of Columbia and will follow the Governor to the Charleston area after this, his final term in office, is over. Jenny will keep the house of Sullivan’s Island (near Mount Pleasant, SC) so the boys can continue to go to their present school(s). All of this is conjecture but it make for a great soap opera….and these are the days of our lives. By the way, that house on Sullivan’s Island is no more than 7 blocks from two of my favorite of all time watering holes. They are Poe’s Tavern and Dunleavy’s Pub. Two of the bartenders at Poe’s was Carol and Irene but they have a turnover there from time to time. The bartender/manager supreme at Dunleavy’s is Andy Donovan. If ya’ll ever get into the Charleston, SC area both of these establishments are worth your time for a visit. After all, you may see Mark or Jenny there, but I doubt they will be together.

The PGA and the golfers themselves are saying the absence of Tiger Woods has no effect on televised golf tournaments. Yet all the TV polls say that the percentage of viewers of golf tournaments this year is down 40%. That is an effect, y’all. The ability for golf tournaments to be televised depends of the various sponsors paying for air time to advertise their products. If I was a CFO of Proctor & Gamble for instance, and saw my product advertisements being viewed by 40% less people during the tournaments I would demand a cheaper price per minute for advertising time. No effect??….my big old butt.

All of you know by now there has been an earthquake near the South American country of Chile that was a 8.8 on the Richter scale. That is a heavy one, y’all. This will produce a tsunami west of Chile in the Pacific Ocean, the Hawaiian Islands included. There will be plenty of advanced warning because of satellite linked buoys distributed throughout the Pacific. It looks like the world has another sick child to assist in addition to Haiti. The upside of this is that there are far fewer people per square mile in Chile than there is in Haiti.

After the king of slime in John Ludwig here in Greenville was able to avoid and jail time for what was clearly vehicular homicide and then avoided jail time after being convicted for criminal domestic violence when he slapped his estranged wife around and kicked her in the crotch, I thought justice was a farce her in the Palmetto State. But I am a little better off after I read that two used car dealers were convicted of fraud and sentenced to 40 months in jail. They put in loan applications to different banks that they had altered to show the potential buyer had more assets that he really did and showing the car having less mile than reality. The only bad side is that this is a Federal charge and they will do time in a federal facility. So perhaps the South Carolina system of justice really is corrupt after all.

This date in history February 28

1784    On this date John Wesley established the first Methodist church in America in colonial Georgia. Wesley was a devout Anglican but after the defeat of the British during the American Revolutionary War the Anglican Church abandoned the United States and Wesley felt that he had to replace the Anglican Church so he devised the Methodical Anglicans or Methodists. While in Georgia he became involved with a religious sect mostly from Germany called the Moravians. This was a turning point in Wesley’s life because he admitted that for the first time that he felt the presence of God was at one of those meeting that he attended. While keeping touch with the Moravians he sought the advice of fellow Cambridge graduate George Whitefield. While at Cambridge Wesley and his brother Charles had founded the “Holy Club”. John Wesley’s teachings were not allowed in any Anglican Church so he preached out in the open and over a period of years he had gathered a large following. He finally realized that there had to be more evangelicals than himself along with a administrative staff. His only problem was that his new church had no bishops. He was still used to the Anglican way of things where a minister must be ordained by the ”laying on of hands” by a bishop. So John decided that he would ordain the ministers himself and the first two were Dr. John Coke and Francis Asbury and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

1864    US Cavalry Commander Hugh Judson Kilpatrick and Colonel Ulrich Dahlgren are tasked with riding into Richmond and freeing the Union prisoners of war. It was Dahlgren’s job to release the prisoners while Kilpatrick provided cover. They had one additional job and that was to tell every Johnny Reb they met that President Lincoln had offered amnesty and restoration of property to those that would lay down their arms and swear allegiance to the United States. To provide a diversion two divisions of cavalry one led by General John Sedgwick and the other led by Colonel George A. Custer would made raid into the western parts of Virginia. On this date Sedgwick, Custer, Kilpatrick and Dahlgren parted company and went about their assignments. Dahlgren was supposed to approach Richmond from the west and Kilpatrick from the northwest. Kilpatrick arrived of March 1st with CSA General Wade Hampton III and his howling, wild-eyed Confederate Cavalry hot on his tail. Kilpatrick knows he is danger of annihilation and turns his young ass back north which leaves Dahlgren cut off. In the mean time Dahlgren had hired a local guide to take his cavalry to the shallowest part of the James River for crossing into Richmond. The guide instead leads him to the deepest and swiftest current part of the river. The infuriated Dahlgren hanged the guide on the spot. The Dahlgren had no choice but to backtrack out of there knowing the Confederates knew he was there. Not only that, by now he had found out that Kilpatrick had been routed and he was on his own. Dahlgren’s cavalry was ambushed time and time again on their way out and they were nearly cut to pieces. There is no record of a Confederate Soldier taking Lincoln’s offer of amnesty and restoration. They were a hard-headed bunch.

1993    Earlier a squabble occurred between two people trying to organize the Mount Carmel Church. One of the squabblers was Vernon Howell who claimed to be God and therefore his children would be children of God. The other guy said that to prove who should lead the church would be the one that could dig up a corpse from a graveyard. Howell nixed that idea and in fact went to the police and told them that the other guy was out digging in graveyards. The police did not want anything to do with a religious disagreement. Finally, the two settle it the Christian way, they have a gun fight and Howell wins so it must be God’s will. Howell changes his name to David Koresh and calls his church the Branch Davidian and they buy a compound outside Waco, Texas. One day a delivery man going to the compound drops a package and out rolls hand grenades. The deliveryman goes to the local police who then notified the Alcohol, Tax and Firearms division. Well, the ATF try to talk Davis Koresh into giving up his considerable stash of weapons and Koresh refuses saying he has the right to bear arms. On this date, the ATF organizes a raid of the compound in which 4 ATF agents are killed along with 6 of the faithful inside. The ATF back off and a two month siege ensues. Finally on one very windy day, a US Army tank rolls up to the buildings, pokes its cannon through the wall and pumps in a hell of a lot of tear gas. The only problem here is that the tear gas canisters can, and very often do, cause a fire. The building catches on fire and in that brisk wind it burns to the ground in minimum time killing 80 of the occupants, men, women and children. There were 11 that escaped the inferno. US Attorney General Janet Reno accepted full responsibility for the disaster because it was she that told the commander of the forces surrounding the compound to get it over with, “We have spent too much money on it already.” Indeed, Janet, indeed.

1953    On this date Cambridge scientists Francis Crick and James Watson area able to isolate and identify a strand of DNA and determine how it is constructed. From this day on law enforcement made a giant leap forward but so did the ability to clone. We one day could have another Adolph Hitler or Attila the Hun. But then again we could have another Albert Schweitzer or Isaac Newton. I hope it is the latter.

1881    A section of the US Great Plains had been occupied by Utes, Arapahoes and Cheyenne Indians with virtually no Anglos for centuries. Then gold was discovered near Pike’s Peak in what is now Colorado. Then one of many gold rushes was underway. The gold near Pike’s Peak played out early and so the gold seekers kept moving west to the Rocky Mountains and there they found more gold and silver. On this date, the US Government decided that a new state was needed and they took a piece of Kansas, Utah and New Mexico and came up with a rectangular state and called it the Territory of Colorado.

Born today:

1940    US race car driver Mario Andretti. He said “If everything seems to be under control, you aren’t going fast enough.” That sounds like my third ex-wife.

1976    US actress Ali Larter. She said “I hate all the pretty-boy types. I had rather have one with a pot belly than one who is in the gym all the time and watches what he eats.” I think I love this girl.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“Good for the body is the work of the body, good for the soul is the work of the soul and good for either is the work of the other.”

                           Henry David Thoreau

I guess that all of y’all know about the so-called “health summit” that was held Thursday at the behest of the President. It was a foregone conclusion the Democrats could ram through any health plan they felt like because of their majority positions in the legislative branch, the wishes of populous notwithstanding. What really happened was all the politicians did all they could to advance their personal political agenda. This nation is a Representative Republic meaning that our elected representatives are to be answerable to their constituency. They are supposed to be working for us. That is not what is happening, they are working for themselves and we can go to hell. I wish all of you would remember all of this when you go to the voting booth this coming November. It is time to clean house and take back control of the future of this nation.

I saw an interview of the original trainer of the killer whale Tilikum that killed its trainer a few days ago. From what I could understand he said that he recommended that Tilikum not be a part of a performance group because he thought that the animal did not have the personality for it. He said that he should be kept for breeding purposes only. He did admit that the training group at Sea World was the best in the world and if anyone could train Tilikum it was them. He thought that Tilikum was in an “excited play” mood and did not have malice in mind. I detected a deep sorrow in this man and I think it was just as much for Tilikum as it was for the slain trainer.

A certain man has put his name in the hat for the upcoming election to the Richland County (Columbia area) South Carolina County Council. This man was tried and convicted of burglary and mail fraud (both are felonies) and did hard time back in 1999. I do not know what the qualification are for holding office in Richland County but being a convicted felon should not be eligible. But we all remember the mayor of Washington, Marion Berry, being convicted on a drug charge and Congress seized control of the city’s politics, and the good people of Washington electing Berry to the city council.

A friend sent me a series of movie clips about the United States Marines. It started with a Marine in “dress blues” holding a ceremonial sword in a salute. An interesting bit of trivia about the Marine ceremonial sword is this: The fledgling United States Merchant fleet was attempting to expand their trade but pirates operating out of Tripoli made Mediterranean trade difficult if not impossible. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson sent a Marine unit to take out the pirates. The Marines made an amphibious landing east of Tripoli and attacked. It was no contest and the Marines surrounded the main staging point of the pirates and killed or captured all of them. The king of the city that is now Tunis was so impressed with this victory that he gave the commander of the Marine unit a ceremonial sword. All Marine ceremonial swords since then are an exact replica of that sword.

While reading a history of WWII I ran across an account about the town of Landesberg, Germany. The Nazis had built a concentration camp about 4 miles from the town and all the prisoners were Jews. As the American army closed in, the Nazi prison guards shot as many of the prisoners they could until they ran out of ammo. After that they burned the shacks that those that were too weak to stand were housed and then they left. The camp was discovered by an 82nd Airborne patrol. The commander of the 82nd, General Maxwell Taylor, took one look and declared martial law in the town. The mayor declared that he did not know that was going on. The next morning the mayor and his wife along with every adult in the town were given an escorted tour of the camp and were ordered to bury the bodies. That night the mayor and his wife committed suicide. That is not enough, as far as I am concerned.

This date in history February 27

1776    Earlier the Royal Governor of North Carolina, Josiah Martin, had ordered British Colonel Donald McLeod and 1,600 Loyalist soldiers to leave their encampment at Cross Creek, North Carolina and go to the North Carolina coastal town of Brunswick to rendezvous with another Loyalist unit. A 1,000 man Patriot force under the command of Colonel James Carswell decided to intercept the McLeod’s troops and prevent the meeting of the Loyalists. On this date the Patriots arrive ahead of the Loyalists coming from Cross Creek and prepare an ambush at the Moore’s Creek Bridge. Carswell arranges his artillery and troops evenly divided in the woods on either side of the bridge and wait. The Loyalists find out about the ambush but believing that it is just a small militia decide to cross the bridge anyway. So they gather at the bridge and yell “King George and broadswords” and begin running across the bridge only to be met with a hailstorm of musket balls and grape-shot from the Patriots. After only two salvos the Loyalists surrender. The planned gathering of a British/Loyalist army at Brunswick was cancelled and the British lost control of North Carolina. It was only two months later that North Carolina declared its independence from England. Josiah Martin knew he was in deep shit and departed the area. This was the first victory for the Patriots in an organized battle against the British/Loyalists. There is a monument and park there commemorating this great event

1827    Since the late 1600’s the French settlers in the New Orleans area had brought with them the tradition of the celebration of Carnival or Mardi Gras. It was mostly private parties at different homes. However, on this date a group of students that had been studying in France and enjoyed the celebration there, adorned themselves with costumes and masks and took to the streets of New Orleans to celebrate Fat Tuesday. As you might expect, it became a tradition except there was no organization and therefore in the 1850’s the celebration degenerated into a series of drunken street fights. Then a rich land owner near New Orleans organized the Krewe of Comus and they organized the parade and the tradition of the people in the parade throwing gifts at the observers. After that, many “Krewes” have been organized and the celebration is much better. However, Hurricane Katrina put a severe crimp into Mardi Gras but this year the city fathers of New Orleans tell us that the attendance at this year’s Fat Tuesday was about 90% of pre-Katrina days. According to what I have read, tourism is the largest industry in that city. Maybe so, but there is a hell of a lot of boat and barge traffic going through there.

1991   Years earlier two brother, Artie and Jim Mitchell, open a strip joint in San Francisco. The joint is a phenomenal success and the brothers become very rich. But in spite of that, they argue and fight frequently. When I say fight, I mean putting each other in the hospital on occasion. Then they decide to go into the porno film business when it was in its infancy. They being the first to make feature length porno movies made them both very, very rich but the fighting continued. On this date the 911 operator in Corte Madera, California gets an emergency call from Artie Mitchell saying he had been shot. In the back round there are heard 8 shots with a 30 second break between two of them. The police arrive and find Jim wandering around in the yard with a rifle in his hand. Jim is arrested and charged with the murder of Artie. The prosecution uses the 911 tape and reconstructs what they think happened during the 911 call and make an animated movie of it and introduces it into evidence. In spite of not knowing what shots that struck Artie was fire when, the judge allowed it. The defense attacked the movie as being imaginary and had no basis in fact. Because of the long history of the brothers fighting, the jury ruled that Artie was killed during yet another fight and the killing was not intentional. Jim went to jail for 6 years, believe it or not.

1942    America’s first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, is sunk by Japanese bombers with a little help from an American destroyer. The Langley was converted from a coal carrier named the “Jupiter” in 1922. On this date the Langley, with 32 War Hawk fighters aboard departed from its convoy headed for Java and the Dutch East Indies. The ship was supposed to rendezvous with a squadron of destroyers to accompany them to Java. The rendezvous was made and the destroyers strung out on both sides. The Langley asked for fighter cover but this early in the war none could be spared. When about 75 miles from Java, the Langley was attacked by nine Japanese bombers. The first three bombers missed but the second three hit their target and all the planes on the deck of the Langley were aflame. The ship began taking on water and began to list and the Captain ordered abandon ship. Because of the nearness of the destroyers, all but 12 crewmen were saved. One of the destroyers put two torpedoes in the Langley sent her to the bottom to keep her out of Japanese hands. The fighters on the deck of the Langley were the same type that was used by the immortal Flying Tigers.

1922    On this date the United States Supreme Court by a unanimous vote declared that the 19th amendment to the Constitution allowing women to vote was indeed Constitutional. It had taken 70 years of meeting, petitions, rallies and marches to get this Amendment to even be introduced to Congress. On August 22 the state of Tennessee voted to adopt the amendment making it the required 75% and the 19th Amendment took effect on August 28.

Born today:

1930    US actress and wife of Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward. She said “Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man that makes you laugh everyday, ah, now that is a real treat,” This girl has her head on straight, always has.

1917    US Secretary of the Treasury John Connolly. When speaking of fellow Texan George H. Bush he said “All hat, no cattle.” Connolly felt that George H. was a pretender.

1902    US writer and on of my favorites John Steinbeck. He said “Writers are below clowns and a little above trained seals.” This man gave us some of greatest novels ever written and was mind boggling feats of sheer imagination.

1886    US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. He said “A layman’s view is that everything he likes is constitutional and everything he doesn’t like is unconstitutional.” Justice Black had his finger on the pulse of the common man.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“I told my wife that I was seeing a therapist. She said that she was seeing a cab driver, two plumbers and a bartender.”

                                Rodney Dangerfield

Note: Cesar Millan's canine companion "Daddy" has died.

For some reason a particular event came to mind that I wanted to tell y’all about. Several years ago there was a bar/nightclub here in Greenville called “Al’s Pump House”. It was owned by a man named Al Threatt. Al was about 6’-8” and weighted about 280; Al was his own bouncer. He was a blues fan also, which was right up my alley. He booked some real talented blues bands/musicians. One particular night he had Toy Caldwell by himself. Toy was the lead guitarist with the Marshall Tucker Band from Spartanburg, SC. Toy got up on stage with his electric guitar and tore the house down, y’all. He played some of the most thrilling riffs that I have ever heard before or since. Three weeks later Toy put a mixture of cocaine and heroin up his nose and his heart promptly stopped and he freaking died. Damn you, Toy Caldwell, for depriving us of your God given talent. Drugs, it is always drugs.

Back in 1991 Dawn Brancheau graduated from the University of South Carolina (Go Gamecocks) with a degree in psychology. Four year later she landed a job at Sea World as an assistant trainer. The animals there in those days were bottle-nosed dolphins and seals. Eventually they captured and trained Orcas or killer whales. Dawn became an expert trainer of these 12,000 pound animals. A few days ago a Dawn was involved in a training session with Tilikum, a sometimes belligerent Orca. Suddenly Tilikum grabbed Dawn, dragged her into the water and held her under until she had drowned and then surfaced and shook Dawn like a rag doll. Not only that, when the rescuers tried to retrieve Dawn they were held at bay for a while by Tilikum. This was the third person that had died while involved with Tilikum. The friends of Dawn said that she thought of these giants as her children and would say things like “they are a little balky today.” In my research I found out that at times these trained Orcas will just refuse to perform. They are very intelligent animals and obviously have a mind of their own. Besides, who is going to argue with them? What should happen to Tilikum, if anything? He cannot be returned to the wild. He has been hand fed most of his life and lived with a very small pod.

A couple of days ago a young couple brought home a newly born baby girl. A couple of days later the mother heard the baby crying and went and found the family pit bull standing over the infant’s bassinet. The dog had bitten the infant who subsequently died. Why in the hell were the parents allowing a dog with that kind of reputation to have access to a helpless infant? I don’t care what Cesar Millan says, pit bulls were bred to fight and it is in their genetic makeup and that trait can surface at any time. Why is it that Dade county Florida will not allow pit bulls in the county? It is because they got fed up with attacks by pit bulls. You never read about attacks by Beagles or Cocker Spaniels; it is pit bulls and Rottweiler’s by a large majority. I believe that these two breeds are meant to be a one person pet and even then kept under tight control. Even at that, they have been known to attack their owners of many years.

I had a girlfriend that owned a Rottweiler that she had raised since it was 8 weeks old and was then about 7 years old. Every day for 7 or 8 years her neighbor across the street would come over for morning coffee. She normally would come through the garage into the kitchen. My girlfriend decided to have her garage floor painted and one morning the neighbor came to the front door and rang the doorbell. When my girlfriend opened the door, the dog (about 80 pounds) rushed by and hit the neighbor in the chest knocking her to the sidewalk and was at her throat in an instant. My girlfriend was able to pull the dog off and the neighbor was not injured. There is no doubt in my mind that if my girlfriend had not been there or been a little slower the neighbor would be dead. My girlfriend put the dog down because she could not trust her around her toddler grandchildren any longer. No one knows what initiated that attack but there is no question that the dog knew the neighbor. What a damned shame.

This date in history February 26

1813    Robert R. (R.R.) Livingston dies on this date. Livingston was one of those people in the history of our country that played a major role but was not well known. Robert was the eldest of nine children to a powerful judge also named Robert R. who owned vast stretches of land along with two major estates in the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York. The main estate where the family lived was Clermont the other was Belvedere. In 1766 the elder Livingston tried to impose restrictive leases onto his tenant farmers which resulted in a tenant farmer uprising who threatened to kill the elder Livingston and burn down his estates. The British army came to his rescue and his estates remained. After this, young Robert is sent to Kings College (Now Columbia University) where he graduated with a law degree. In 1777 after the elder and younger Livingstons has declared their allegiance to the Patriots, the British Army burned down Clermont and Belvedere. The younger Robert represented the Provincial New York Congress to the Continental Congress. He was selected to be the United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs and engineered the sale of the French holdings in North America to the United States. This was known as The Louisiana Purchase. This addition to the United States nearly doubled the size of our country. He was named as “chancellor” of New York. I do not know the equivalent of this office today. But from then on his nickname was “The Chancellor”. It was he that swore in our first President George Washington. There are statues of him in New York City and in the United States Capitol building.

1862    On this date Elisha Hunt Rhodes is in camp in Washington, DC. Rhodes is a soldier in the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment attached to The Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Rhodes was a gifted writer and kept a detailed diary for the entire four years he was in the army. The resulting book made from his diary gives us a seldom seen insight into the day-in, day-out existence to the average infantryman. There are hours of sheer boredom intermixed with moments of heart stopping terror and views of horrible after-battle carnage. On this particular day he and his friend Isaac Cooper go to hear a speech by Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson and then the go to a fair in a Methodist church. Elisha and Isaac meet two girls at the fair and walk them home. I suppose even Yankees can get lucky from time to time. Just joking.

1993    On this cold and snowy morning in New York City a thunderously powerful explosion happens in the parking garage under the North Tower of the World Trade Center. There were six people killed and over 1,000 injured. The police had no choice but to evacuate both the North and South towers. The initial investigation indicated that it was a band of Serb that had done the deed but it was later found that this group was simply jewel thieves. From this the FBI was able to dissolve a large diamond theft organization. But the investigation continued into the bastards that were responsible for the explosion. Investigators found a piece of a van that carried the explosives that still had the serial number visible. From this they tracked the van back to a rental agency in Jersey City, New Jersey where a contract showed the van was rented to one Mohammed Salaamed. This jackass had reported the van as stolen on February 25 and told the agency that he was coming to get his $400 deposit back. There is no need for me to tell you that the FBI was waiting and arrested this towel head. A search of Salaamed’s apartment and records implicated two other towel heads. They also find a video tape on how to build bombs and are able to identify a fourth person in the video. An owner of a storage facility came forth and said that he had seen four men loading something into a rental van in one of his rental garages. The FBI investigated this site and found enough nitro-glycerin to build another gigantic bomb. Also one of the four had went to the AGL Welding Service and purchased steel hydrogen tanks. In the debris from the blast the investigators found a piece of a tank that still had the AGL logo on it. All four of these camel jockeys went on trial and were convicted. They all received sentences of 240 years each. I can only hope that all of them are taken under the wing of a 6’-9”, 375 lb. sex pervert that has a penchant for middle-eastern men.

1942    On this date US actress Joan Fontaine win the Oscar for best actress for her performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie "Suspicion". Right after this gossip columnist Louella Parsons writes in her column that Joan did not get the Oscar for her performances on stage but for her performances in bed with every producer west of the Rockies. By accident Louella and Joan met in the bar at the famous Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles and the verbal exchange between these two women went down in sailor history as a benchmark in the delivery of profanity.

1564    On this date poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe is christened in the Church at Canterbury, England. Two months later William Shakespeare was christened. Marlowe was recognized and being a bright person and was given a scholarship to Cambridge where he earned a B.A. degree. It was believed that he was a spy for Queen Elizabeth while at Cambridge and was nearly denied his masters degree until a representative of the Queen dropped by and suggested that Marlowe had better get his degree ”for services rendered.” Marlowe did indeed receive his master’s degree. During a search of the apartment that he and Thomas Kyd shared, some literature was found that smacked of treason and Kyd was taken to the Tower and tortured. Kyd finally said the literature was Marlowe’s. Marlowe was arrested but made bail and was free. Soon after Marlowe gets into a fight with a bartender over his tab and the bartender puts a knife into Marlowe’s liver and it is au revoir for Christopher. Marlowe gave us some immortal works like “Tamburlaine the Great”, “Dr. Faustus” and “The Jew of Malta” among others.

Born today:

1933    French financier James Goldsmith. He said “You pay peanuts, you get monkeys.” No comment

1802    French writer Victor Hugo is born. He said “An intelligent hell would be better than a stupid paradise.” He must have visited the campus of Clemson University.

1916    US personality Jackie Gleason. He said “Modesty is the artifice of actors, kind of like a show of passion by a call girl.” Well said, Jackie. I miss you.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“It is better to be an authentic loser that a false success, and to die alive than to live dead.”

                                 William Markiewicz

I guess y’all have read about this 32 year old maniac walking across a middle school campus in Littleton, Colorado with a bolt action rifle and randomly shooting at the students who were scrambling for cover. After two of the kids were hit one of the teachers tackled him and another teacher assisted; they both sat on him until the cops arrived. Both of the teachers are considered heroes and rightfully so. There is no doubt that other kids would have been shot if they had not intervened. The two that were shot will survive. As y’all know, Littleton, Colorado is the location of Columbine High School where a massacre took place a few years ago. I don’t know if I could have contained myself if I had been one of those teachers. I might not have killed him but he would have ended up blind at least.

I received several responses to my question about why Jenny Sanford chose to write a book about her husband and his “soul mate” no matter what ridicule it would bring on her boys. So far all of the responses refer me to the old adage of “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Apparently Jenny’s first thoughts were about her self esteem and sweet revenge, the boys notwithstanding. One response said that in the political arena in Columbia she is known as Capitol Bitch. I don’t know if she gained this nickname before or after the infamous event when the Governor disappeared for a few days to visit his paramour in Argentina….and the world keeps turning.

There apparently is a group of animal lovers that rank the animals that responded to life threatening events and saved their owners lives. Doc Robinson will love this. Here is the top five:

Angel, a yellow lab: Angel intervened when a cougar (not an older woman seeking a younger man) attacked an 11 year old boy up in Canada. The boy was able to escape and called on his grandfather for help. The grandfather called the Mounties and soon one arrived and dispatched the cougar with a rifle. However, Angel was badly mauled and spent several weeks in recovery but will survive.

Blossom, a pot bellied pig: Blossom’s owner went across the street to get the mail with Blossom at her side. When the owner was in the middle of the road she suffered a heart attack and collapsed. Blossom stood guard over her forcing the cars to go around the stricken owner. Finally one driver stopped and called for an ambulance. The owner will survive and so will Blossom.

Maggie, a nanny goat: Maggie’s owner was touring his property with Maggie tagging along. The owner fell, fractured his pelvis and was unable to walk. It took five days for a search party to find him and during that time Maggie never left his side, slept close to him to keep him warm and gave him goat’s milk to keep him fed.

Melba, a Beluga whale: Melba lives in a gigantic aquarium in China. A group of student divers were training in the tank when one of them had a seizure and fell to the bottom dropping the mouthpiece along the way. Melba swooped down, grabbed the diver and brought him to the surface. The diver will survive and so will Melba.

Ruffa, a Boa Constrictor: A man named Lhang-Lhang was asleep when his pet Boa crawled into bed with him and began lashing him with her tail. He got up and followed Ruffa into the kitchen where a fire had erupted. Lhang-Lhang extinguished the blaze thanks to Ruffa. Experts say that this is impossible but Lhang-Lhang is alive and so is Ruffa.

Over in England they have an award for animals. It is called The Dinkins Award. The latest winner is a black Lab name Treo. Treo was in Iraq and Afghanistan with British commandos as a “bomb-sniffer”. According to many witnesses Treo uncovered innumerable hidden bombs and traps set by the Taliban; saving many lives. Treo reacted a little when they tried to put a ribbon around his neck, but they finally did after the handler intervened. Treo was not impressed, he is all business.

Finally, I began reading about a Collie named Rob-Roy who made a few parachute jumps with the British Commandoes in WWII and was also honored with the Dinkins Award. I do not know if Rob-Roy had his own parachute but I suspect not. They used Rob to detect land mines.

This date in history February 25

1779    A few days earlier American Patriot George Rogers Clark departed the small village of Kaskaskia on the Mississippi River with 175 militia and a few French mercenaries to capture Fort Sackville near present day Vincennes, Indiana. After wading through icy cold water Clark’s men arrived at the fort from a direction that was unexpected by the British army inside. Clark called for the surrender of the fort from the British commander who refused. Then Clark personally brought five Indians that he and his group had captured along the way, out in front of the fort and Clark personally hacked them all to death and disemboweled them with a tomahawk. Clark then called again for a surrender which was readily accepted. There were just over ninety British soldiers and their families in the fort. The success of this raid put the British between a rock and a hard place in that area because the French settlers realized that they could not depend on the British military to defend them and sided with the Patriots. George Roger Clark again was one of those little known hard-asses for the Patriots that had he not been where he was when he was, things may have turned out differently.

1949    Famous actor Robert Mitchum was quietly sitting in a private home in Laurel Canyon toking on a joint when the police came rushing in and arrested Mitchum for possession of a narcotic. Mitchum yelled “Hell, this is the end of my job, my marriage; it is the end of everything.” Mitchum was going through a divorce from his wife Dorothy but she supported Mitchum throughout the trial. With the help of some fancy lawyers he ended up with a 60 jail day sentence. On this date he was released thinking that this was the end of his movie career but he was wrong. Soon after his release, he made the movie “Rachael and the Stranger” which was a box office hit. Mitchum went to that great sound stage in the sky in 1997 at the age of 80.

1576    On this date the head of then Roman Catholic Church, Pope Pius VI ex-communicates the queen of England, Elizabeth I and tells the English Catholics that they did not have to obey Elizabeth any longer. Elizabeth really did not give a shit because her father, Henry VIII got fed up with the pope interfering with the affairs of the English crown and he formed his own church, a protestant church known as the Anglican Church or the Church of England. The only difference between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church was the Pope was head of the Catholics and the King/Queen was the head of the Anglicans. Not a hell of a lot of difference for the faithful. Elizabeth did not have to stress that the English subjects had better abide by the rule of the queen or they would meet a date in a dungeon somewhere or meet a big guy with a big axe and a black hood over his head. Elizabeth proved to be one of the greatest monarchs in the history of western man.

Famous quotes:

“Some people see things that are and ask why, others see things that are not and ask why, others have to go to work and don’t have time for all that foolishness.”

                                       George Carlin

“Nothing great in this world has ever been created without passion.”

                                  G.V.H. Hegel

“Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.”

                     George Patton

“Good soldiers decide that they will be killed in battle and lose their fear. Then they can kill with no compassion and no remorse. All wars depend on it.”

                                George Patton

“I have never allowed my schooling to interfere with my education.”

                                 Mark Twain

“Water taken in moderation cannot hurt anybody”

                                Mark Twain

“Let us not be too particular. It is better to have old second-hand diamonds than none at all.

                                Mark Twain.

“Enjoy yourself; it is later than you think.”

                Socrates

“Beauty is a short lived tyranny”

              Socrates

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow







.

Daily history

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“A wise man does not need advice and a fool will not take it.”

                                     Plato

Question of the day:

Why the hell did Jenny Sanford write a book about that tawdry affair her husband (Governor Mark Sanford) was involved in? Keep in mind that she certainly does not need the money and it has to be a terrible embarrassment to her four sons. I had lunch with a friend Tuesday and we could not arrive at a logical explanation other than spite, perhaps y’all can.

A few days ago the meanest man on the planet got into an argument with his mother. He is 30 years old and was living in the same house as his mother near Georgetown, SC. The neighbors called the cops when the argument reach a crescendo and suddenly stopped. The man left the house just before the cops arrived to find that the man had hacked his mother to death with a sword. He was later stopped and arrested at a roadblock. This event reminded me of the Roman emperor Caligula. This monster was jealous of his mother’s power and he decided to do something about it. He tried poison and that did not get the job done. Next he had her aboard his boat on a deep lake and pushed her over the side. Fortunately for her, she was not wearing as much jewelry as normal and was able to swim to shore. Finally he said to hell with it and sent four or five soldiers to kill her. This group got the job done by beating the mother to death with clubs.

Yesterday I mentioned that a 16 year old boy had called his mother saying that he was unsure of his location and bleeding and needed help. I assumed an automobile crash, but that was not the case. This kid made three calls and in the last one he said “They are going to kill me.” He had been kicked out of school for bringing drugs on campus. He was very fond of “downer” prescription drugs. The night before he had been to a “party” and had been involved in a brawl over “girls and drugs”. His mother thinks that he was drugged out because of taking a downer and drinking alcohol. Anyway, the police will not seek arrests until an autopsy is performed. Drugs, it is always drugs.

Professional wrestler Rick “Nature Boy” Flair was attacked in his Charlotte, North Carolina home. Rick called the cops and the attacker was arrested. Rick is 60 years old and the attacker is his 42 year old wife. WOOOOOOO! I had forgotten why I am not married; now I remember.

Yesterday I forgot to mention that February 23, 2010 was the 65th anniversary of the raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped a photo of this event after three days of the most savage fighting ever documented. Rosenthal won a Pulitzer Prize for this very famous photo. The flag was raised by 5 US Marines and 1 Navy corpsman. There is a bronze statue of the momentous occasion on the grounds of the United States Marine headquarters in Washington. There was 23 Medal of Honor earned in this operation and we should never forget these acts of courage and dedication by our military.

This date in history February 24

1836   On this date the commander of the Texas Militia , a South Carolinian named William Travis, sends out a plea for help to his embattled troops trapped in an old Spanish Mission named the Alamo in the city of San Antonio de Bexar, or San Antonio as it is known today. Colonel Travis sent a note to “The people of Texas” to come to the assistance of about 220 militia along with volunteers under the command of Jim Bowie and another group under Davy Crockett. Travis sent his friend from the same area of South Carolina as he named James Bonham out carrying the message. Bonham was able to sneak out and sneak back in with 30 volunteers from Gonzales, Texas. But even with this help they were surrounded by a Mexican army of over 2,000 against a force of about 237 Patriots. Travis had ended the note he sent with Bonham stating those immortal words “victory or death”. The Mexican army under General Santa Ana kept tightening the noose and finally launched a night assault in early March and Santa Ana ordered “take no prisoners” and they stormed the Alamo and killed everyone to a man. The next encounter was the Texas Militia, commanded by Sam Houston, against Santa Ana southwest of Houston at a place called San Jacinto. But that is another story.

1991    In August of 1990 the ground forces of Iraq invade their tiny but oil-rich neighbor of Kuwait and occupy the major points within a matter of hours. One week later US military began “Operation Shield” and started to move the tools of war into Saudi Arabia to protect them from an invasion from Iraq. That is what they said, but you and I know they were preparing for an invasion of Iraq. Three months later the United Nations Security Council notified Iraq that if they did not departed Kuwait by January 15, 1991 they could expect military retaliation. Nothing happened and at 4:30p on January 16 the United Nations coalition launched “Operation Desert Storm” with massive air strikes on Iraqi from Saudi Arabia, aircraft carriers in the Persian Sea and the Red Sea, and various other launch points in the middle east and the Indian Ocean. Desert Storm was under the command of US General Norman Schwarzkopf. The United Nations coalition pounded the living hell out of various targets in Iraq especially Baghdad. On this date General “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf launched the ground assault. The US Marines attacked the Iraqi western border near the Persian Gulf and various coalition tank and attack helicopter units crossed the Iraqi border in force 300 miles north in the middle of the desert. General Schwarzkopf and his staff had believed that the Iraqi military would least expect an attack from that direction and they were right. In four days the coalition had crushed any opposition and was closing in on Baghdad from the northwest and the west. The Iraqi forces that were in Kuwait wisely decided that they had better get their asses out of there and headed for the Iraqi city of Basra. The coalition fighter-bombers were waiting for that when the booty-laden Iraqi troops began leaving Kuwait, they were trapped on the only road there and were utterly annihilated. This, along with the surrender of over 80,000 Iraqi troops, persuaded President George H. Bush to call an end to hostilities. The Iraqis swore to abide by United Nations peace terms. The US lost 125 troops in this operation. There is no way of knowing how many Iraqis and their allies perished but it had to be over 100,000. The last thing I remember about this encounter was General Schwarzkopf addressing his staff and said “I told you that we were going to come over here and kick ass, and that is exactly what we did.” War is hell.

1981    On this date socialite Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower. Tarnower was the author of the bestselling book titled The Scarsdale Diet. Harris and Tarnower had been lovers/companions since 1966 in spite of the fact that Harris was the superintendent of a fancy-schmantzy girl’s school in Virginia. Tarnower was a notorious womanizer but in spite of that Harris helped Tarnower write his book. Tarnower had vaguely promised Harris that he would eventually marry the 56 year old Harris but never did, and then one day Harris found out that Tarnower was going to dump her for a younger woman. Harris, accompanied by a .32 caliber revolver, jumps into her car and heads for Tarnower’s house in Westchester County, New York. Upon arrival at Tarnower’s house Harris let herself in with her key, goes upstairs to Tarnower’s bedroom and confronts him. Here is where things get a little fuzzy. Harris said she went up there to commit suicide and Tarnower tried to wrestle the gun away from her and it went off killing Tarnower making it an accident. The only problem was that Tarnower was shot four times in the abdomen at very close range with the wounds very close together. The jury did not buy the accident scenario and convicted Harris of first degree murder and gave her life in prison. Harris was a model prisoner and wrote a book about how women prisoners are treated titled “They Always Call Us Ladies”. Governor Mario Cuomo commuted her sentence in 1992 and upon her release she continued her campaign for better treatment of female prisoners. I have said it a million times, men have been putting up with rejection for centuries but if a woman gets rejected...look out. I have been asked why I say this and here is the answer. If you go to a dance, any dance, you will see men ask women to dance and get rejected and he just moves on to the next one. But if a woman asks a man to dance and he says no, the woman gets really pissed off and stalks away. I know what I am talking about here.

Born today:

1500    Roman Emperor Charles V. He said “Name me an emperor that has ever been struck by a cannonball.” Hey Chuck, don’t you know that old men start wars and young men fight them?

1940    Scottish soccer player Denis Law. He said “Whoever wins today wins the championship no matter who wins.” Denis, shut the hell up.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“A constant calm sea makes for poor sailors.”

                       Confucius

Last weekend a 16 year old boy from the Hendersonville, NC area called his mother and reported his approximate location and said he was injured. After that there was no further contact and his mother reported him missing. The sheriff’s department assembled a couple of search parties and Sunday afternoon a corpse was found in the area that the boy had reported as his location. The only thing I can think of is that he was not dressed well enough to handle the really cold weather we have been having and died of hypothermia.

All of you have learned about the passing of General Alexander Haig last week. General Haig was a highly decorated soldier especially during the Korean conflict. He was Secretary of State under Richard Nixon. When the legislative branch of our government was collapsing because of the Watergate scandal, it was Haig that instinctively took command and literally acted as President while Nixon was wilting under the investigating pressure from the House and Senate along with the Supreme Court which resulted in the ouster of Nixon. It is generally believed that it was Haig that brokered the deal whereby Nixon would resign and Vice President Ford would take over the Presidency and pardon Nixon for “whatever crimes he committed or may have committed” putting an end to this can of worms. I did not agree with the pardon but it was probably the best thing for the country in the long run. Haig was a professional at “gobble-de-gook” or language that danced around the real issue. When asked if Nixon had lied to America, Haig said “No, I think it was more of a verbal inexactitude.”

This past Sunday a 33 year old man got really hammered at a seaside bar in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He decided to take a dip in the mighty Atlantic Ocean with all his clothes on. As soon as he hit the waves the owner of the bar called the cops because he was a afraid the man would go into hypothermia and drown since the water temperature was only 47 degrees. The cops showed up and took a series of photos of this lunatic splashing around in the surf while waiting patiently on the shore. The man finally trudged ashore and was promptly taken into custody and rushed to the hospital as a precaution and to dry out his clothes. After he had warmed up and put dry clothes on, he was thrown into the joint for a nice warm dinner and a restful night’s sleep on a concrete slab. I do not know what crime he would be guilty of except flagrant stupidity and causing a temporary disappearence of his genitalia.

This date in history February 23

1778    On this date the Prussian Baron Frederic von Steuben joins General George Washington at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The Baron had been recommended by the French minister of war to Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, in turn recommends him to George Washington. Baron von Steuben was the son of a famous Prussian General and became an officer in the Prussian army himself at the age of 17. Frederic proved to be an able officer and distinguished himself in combat more than once and was promoted rapidly from the infantry to the general staff of the King of Prussia, Frederic the Great. For reasons unknown, after reaching the rank of captain he was discharged from the army. I might be able to shed some light on this event. Frederic the Great was a flaming homosexual albeit a brilliant military commander. Frederic the Great would hold staff meeting on a regular basis that was attended by all the younger officers. Toward the end of the meeting the King would walk by and drop a handkerchief in one of his younger officer’s lap. This officer had the duty to stay an extra hour with the King after the meeting was ended. We can guess for what reason. Perhaps Frederic von Steuben finally resisted the advances of the King, who knows. Anyway, almost immediately after arriving at Valley Forge he began intensive training of the troops emphasizing rock-hard discipline. He also educated the troops on simple hygiene. The American troops knew nothing about this and therefore many troops were lost to disease. He insisted that the latrines be on the opposite side of the camp than the eating facility. But in fact, the troops had no latrines at all; they just took care of business wherever they felt like it. Frederic also insisted that the latrines be on a down slope away from the camp. Eventually the American troops departed Valley Forge a proud and competent fighting machine. Frederic did not speak English but did speak French so Alexander Hamilton and Nathaniel Greene interpreted his French into English. He authored a handbook for the American military parts of which are still in use to this day. The arrival of this man into the America army was none too soon. The American army had been having its ass handed to it for two years and the morale was very low. But now the pendulum began to swing the other way and our independence was finally on the horizon.

1885    A few months earlier a rich older woman was found dead in her mansion in Exeter, England. She had been severely beaten and throat cut just outside the bedroom of her 19 year old housekeeper John Lee. The police deduced that John Lee must have been the culprit even though Lee proclaimed his innocence and did not flee the scene of the crime. Lee was tried and convicted on circumstantial evidence alone and was sentenced to hang. On this day the hangman put a weight equal to John Lee on the trapdoor and released it a couple of time to see if all was in working order and it apparently was. Then they brought John Lee to the platform to be executed. Lee stood on the trapdoor and the hangman pulled the release but nothing happened. The hangman jerked on the release a couple of time more and the trapdoor did not open. They took Lee off the platform and went through the procedure again with the weights and everything worked perfectly. They brought Lee back and again the trapdoor refused to open when Lee was aboard. They tried the deal with the weights once more time with the same results and tried it with Lee again with the same result. The officials were stunned and took Lee back to the prison whence he came and declared that it was an act of God that had prevented his hanging so they sentenced him to life in prison. Lee spent 20 years in prison and was released and he immigrated to America. There had never been an explanation as to what was up with the trapdoor. There ain’t any commutation of an execution because of “an act of God” anymore. When the time comes, you are going down y’all, come hell or high water.

1940    After years on the back roads and railroads of America during the grinding depression of the 1930’s, on this date Woody Guthrie writes the song “This Land is Your Land”. Woody was born in Okemah, Oklahoma in 1912. When the depression came in 1929, Woody and millions of others hit the road looking for work and whatever they could find to stay alive. It was during this time that Woody wrote many, many songs about the poor and downtrodden during this trying time. In 1937 he went to California to try to become a country/western singing star. He appeared on a few radio programs singing traditional folk songs. But eventually he was able to do some of his own songs and that put him on the charts. He became the chronicler of the people that had been through the depression and his words and music showed that he had been there and done that. His success took him to New York City but WWII broke out and his career was put on hold while he was in the Merchant Marine. After the war he returned to NYC and tried to resurrect his career and again he was on his way up when in 1954 he was struck down with Huntington’s disease. This was the same illness that took his mother’s life. While bedridden he was visited by many musicians among which was Bob Dylan. Woody died in 1967 in New York City and was cremated with his ashes being spread across New York City. His home town of Okemah, Oklahoma put up a headstone with his name on it anyway. Many have tried to copy Woody’s style and music, few if any have succeeded.

Born today:

1824    US writer George William Curtis. He said about one of his rivals “He is so old his blood type has been discontinued.” I am A + and don’t ya’ll forget it.

1914    US actor Zachary Scott. He said “As you grow older the only things you regret is the things you didn’t do.” This is why I am burning the candle at both ends, y’all.

1928    US writer Michael Harrington. He said “Clothes make the poor invisible. America has the best dressed poverty the world has ever known.” I have never thought of that. Get picture in your mind of the people in poverty in India and how they dress.

Died today:

1998    US comic Henny Youngman. He said “I read where drinking shortens your life, so I gave up reading.” I miss Henny...George Burns too.

1976    US writer H. Allen Smith. He said “On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are jerks.” I think we all feel that way at times.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words unsaid and deeds undone."

                             Harriet Beecher Stowe

I guess all of you have heard the motto for the Allstate Insurance Company “You're in good hands”. They are considering changing it to “Get the good finger.” They and Farmers Insurance have stated that they will not insure any houses for wind damage on the Alabama Gulf Coast. They have also quadrupled the deductible on houses in Florida on the Gulf Coast. On top of that they have stated that they will not insure mobile homes of any kind on the South Carolina Atlantic coast. I imagine that if I pursue the research I will find that they are trying and succeeding to escape the wrath of coastal hurricanes everywhere. It appears that they prefer to insure something like houses in Wyoming and Montana against hurricane damage. That thing about not insuring mobile homes on the South Carolina coast will hurt. There are thousands of mobile homes permanently planted in a variety of “RV sites” throughout the whole South Carolina Atlantic coast. We are talking about insurance companies here. Remember AIG? That was an insurance company too. They used taxpayer money to stop from disappearing into the sunset. The insurance industry can steal more money by accident that 1,000 gangsters with guns.

If you were to go the Benson house in the Cordova Park community in Pensacola, Florida and ring the door bell, a young man in a blue suit, crisp white shirt and a red power tie might answer the door and it might be Jalen Benson. After short conversation you will quickly realize that this is not your average teenager. He is brilliant when it comes to history and will move his hands in flourishes when discussing the turmoil in Jerusalem to the ramification of the construction the Great Wall of China, but his passion is the history of the progression of civil rights worldwide. He is in the PATS program at Pensacola High School and has scored first or second in the last several Escambia County education fairs. He has been in national educations fairs also. He likes reading, eating and soccer in that order. Jalen is a 14 year old black kid and has expressed a desire to be President of the United States. Good for you, Jalen…don’t deny yourself any ambitions.

My daughters sent me an article about a Swiss and a German archaeologist that have come upon a “dig” that will shake the world of archaeology to its roots. It is in southeast Turkey and the location is known as Gobekli Tepe which mean “fat hill’ in Turkish. They uncovered a temple of sculpted stone that is 11,500 years old. This means this temple was built about 7,000 years before the architects laid out the foundation of the pyramids in Egypt. This temple had decayed into ruin before the first stone was lifted at Stonehenge 6,000 years later. The archaeologists have determined that there was no agriculture, pottery and domesticated animals in used at that time. A while back I read about the discovery of a city-state name Ebril in southeastern Turkey. Ebril, along with Jericho, was estimated to be about 7,000 years old. Ebril and Gobekli are about 4 miles apart. The archaeologist believe that Gobekli was the first construction project in history and the development of agriculture, pottery and the domestication of animals may have began at this site. The site was obviously very important to those that built it and in an attempt to stay nearby, rather than use the hunt-and-gather method to survive, maybe they tried to raise their own food and domesticate animals for food and farming. What a thrill it would be to look back through that dark glass of antiquity and catch a glimpse of life at Gobekli 11,500 years ago. The reading of this article was like eating a piece of Key Lime Pie…what a treat.

This date in history February 22

1777    On this date Georgia heavyweight politico Archibald Bulloch is found dead under mysterious circumstances. The ongoing opinion was that he was poisoned. Bulloch was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1730 to a minister father named James, and a Puritan mother named Jean. Bulloch was educated at the College of South Carolina Law School (present day University of South Carolina) and opened a law practice in Charleston. In 1764 Bulloch moved to Savannah, Georgia and married Mary De Veaux, the daughter of a powerful judge and landowner. Bulloch began dabbling politics and was elected to the Georgia Commons House of Assembly in 1768 and eventually into the Continental Congress in 1775. In 1776 when it became obvious that Georgia would be invaded by the British, Bulloch was elected 1st President and commander of the Georgia Militia and gave him essentially Carte Blanche to do what he wanted to combat the English invaders. He was given what were essentially dictatorial powers. It was soon thereafter he showed up dead. The reason and cause of his death was never determined. Bulloch was the great-great- grandfather of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy named his first son Archibald in honor of his ancestor. Bulloch County, Georgia is also named in his honor.

1819    Finally the disposition of the lands in Florida is determined on this date. Spanish Minister Don Luis du Onis meets with American minister John Quincy Adams and signs over Florida to the United States. The United States received these lands just for the debts owed by Spanish to the settlers. Spain had a claim on Florida ever since the days of Pensacola and Saint Augustine settlements in the 16th century. However, in their greed Spain sided with the wrong side in the French and Indian War and lost Florida to England via the 1st Treaty of Paris. Then they sided with the right side during the American Revolution and got Florida back via the 2nd Treaty of Paris. Now it was in the hands of the United States and the drug kings from Cuba and other Central and South American countries.

1847    The United States and Mexico had been squabbling over the ownership of Texas for several years. Finally, President James K, Polk who believed heavily in western expansion for the United States sends the US Army into Mexico. A 15,000 man Mexican army commanded by General Santa Anna meets up with the recently landed 5,000 man America army commanded by General Zachary Taylor at Angostura Pass and the first day of the Battle of Buena Vista began. Santa Anna sent over an emissary under a flag of truce demanding the surrender of the Americans. In typical Taylor fashion he responded with “Tell the son-of–a-bitch to go to hell.” Santa Anna began a two pronged attack on Taylor’s position. Taylor organized the greater majority of his artillery onto one of the prongs. One of the commanders of an artillery unit was “Stonewall” Jackson. Taylor then sent Colonel Jefferson Davis and his hawk-eyed Mississippi sharpshooters to attack the other prong. We all recognize Jefferson Davis as later on being the President of the Confederacy. Well, the American artillery on the left flank and the sharpshooters on the right flank lay down a blistering fusillade and Santa Anna decides to retreat. Apparently Santa Anna did not learn his lesson because he again confronts Zachary “Old Rough and Ready” Taylor at the Battle of Monterrey and has his ass handed to him even though he has Taylor outnumbered. In 1848 Zachary Taylor running as a Whig defeated the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. And 13 years after that Jefferson Davis became the President of the Confederate States of America.

2006    On this date the largest robbery in the history of Great Britain occurs at the Kent bank depot. This evening two men dressed as policemen grab Securitis Bank president Colin Dixon as he was leaving the bank and persuade him to get into the car with them. They then drive to Dixon’s home and kidnap his wife and son and drive to a remote barn and a third person takes the wife and child into the barn and then reassured Colin Dixon that they would kill his wife and child if he did not cooperate. They go back to the bank and Dixon leads the other two through the bank’s security system and the two robbers tied up and gagged 14 other bank employees. They then load 53 million pounds into a van and drive away. The take was the equivalent of about 107 million US Dollars. Eventually one of the banks workers got loose and notified the police. The police put out a net for the robbers but to no avail because most of the loot was in used bills. The bank put out a reward of 2 million pounds with no takers. There were a few people arrested but they were all released. The police were able to recover only 20 million pounds but the majority of the loot is still out there.

1942    Things did not look good for the allied forces in the Philippines. The Japanese were running rampant across the Island of Luzon and were forcing the American army into a smaller and smaller perimeter ending up on the Bataan Peninsula. At this point the Commander of the American forces, General Douglas McArthur, was ordered out of the Philippines by the President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt. McArthur hesitated at first as he was prepared to fight to the last with his troops but on this date he conceded and boarded a PT-boat and was taken to New Guinea and eventually Australia where he began planning his return.

Born today:

1732 George Washington...The father of our country...I do not believe he was here at this point in time by accident.

1857    Robert Baden-Powell...The founder of the Boy Scouts...He said “A Scout always smiles and whistles no matter the circumstances.” Obviously Mr. Baden Powell had never been involved in a divorce action.

1824    Jules Renard...French writer...He said “Love is like an hourglass, the heart fills as the mind empties.” Ah yes, I remember it well, kind of.

1892    Edna St. Vincent Millay...American writer...She said “It is not true that life is one damn thing after another, it is the same damn thing over and over.” Obviously Ms. Millay has been involved in more than one divorce action.

1900    Luis Bunuel...Mexican film maker...He said “Thank God, I am still an atheist” No comment.

              Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Daily history

Good Morning,


Quote of the day:

“I do not know what the key to happiness is but the key to unhappiness is to live your life like you think someone else wants you to.”

                                   Al Campbell

At the meeting of “The Four O’clock Club” on Friday, as you might suspect, there was much conversation about Tiger Woods, the media, Elin and the kids, etc. The sitters at the bar quickly polarized into the fans of Tiger and those that dislike Tiger. As we all know a person’s likes and dislikes are a personal issue and the discussion of them is an endless journey to nowhere. My role at times is the Socratic method of conversation. This means that I make a provocative statement or ask a provocative question and then stand back and watch the fireworks. One of those in my little group suggested that he would not be surprised if Elin told Tiger that if he ever entered another golf tournament she would take the kids and move back to Sweden. I think he is joking but if he not, the quickest way to create a vengeful monster is to dictate to him/her how you want them to lead their lives. Either you accept a person as they are or not at all. If a person wants to make a change in their life it has to be done as a result of their decision and no one else’s. I might have told this before but here it is again. I was sitting at the bar at a bar named “Khaki’s” when a young lady came in and sat down beside me. It was apparent that she was in distress and I asked her if she was alright. She said that her husband was just thrown in jail for an 18 month stretch. I asked her what was the charge and she said “dealing drugs”. I then asked her how long she had known this man and she said “about two years”. I asked her if he had been dealing all that time and if he had, why did you marry him? I was bowled over when she said “Yes he was dealing the whole time but I thought I could change him”. In other words she was going to try to make another human being live a life that she imagined. That, my friends, is the key to unhappiness for both parties and the start of creating a monster. See today’s quote of the day.

Back in January someone broke into a woman’s bedroom in Columbia, SC and forced her to have sex with him. On February 11 this animal was arrested in Atlanta and is being held awaiting extradition back to Columbia. The cops found the identity of the culprit by the DNA in the presents he left on the girls clothing. If he is convicted I have a punishment in mind. It involves a pair of 10” vise-grips and pinking shears.

A forty-two old woman from Salley, South Carolina solicited her boyfriend to kill her husband she was separated from along with his stepson. The boyfriend went to the estranged husband and told him all about it. They arranged to record a phone conversation between the boyfriend and the wife where they discussed the details of the boyfriend setting fire to the house the husband and stepson live in. They took all this information to the cops and it was a slam dunk conviction. The wife was sentenced to seven years. When asked why she wanted to kill her husband she said that she was not happy with the money she was going to get from the divorce and wanted extra money from the life insurance policies on the husband. It is greed, y’all.

The other day a man named Billy Harrison approached a female in the yard of her house in Spartanburg County, SC and made an offer. He said that he was in the paving business and he offered the pave the driveway for a blow job. The woman began telling this weirdo that she was a Sunday school teacher and did not appreciate that kind of language. About that time the woman’s husband, who was about the size and demeanor of Dick Butkus, came out the front door and Billy beat a hasty retreat. He did not get very far in that dump truck before the cops caught up. I wonder what sex I could get for designing the piping for high pressure steam in a nuclear power plant and do it in 3D. It boggles the mind…Just joking.

This date in history February 21

1777    Earlier George Washington was involved in the French and Indian War and had a man named George Weedon that served as a lieutenant under his command during the war. Weedon was an innkeeper in Fredericksburg, Virginia and at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1775 Washington sought out the services of Weedon. He was given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and assigned to the regiment of General Hugh Mercer. In August 1776, Weedon was promoted to Colonel and given command of the 3rd Virginia Regiment. Weedon marched with his troops and was with General George Washington at battles in New York and New Jersey including Trenton, Brandywine and Germantown. He also commanded Pennsylvania and Virginia regiments in General Nathaniel Greene’s division at Valley Forge. In 1778 Weedon resigns because a rival named William Woodford was promoted to a position superior to him. Woodford was also a fighter under Washington during the French and Indian War. Weedon did not abandon his country however; he took command of a Virginia militia unit and continued fighting separate from the Continental Army. Weedon was present with his militia at the immortal Battle of Yorktown. His rival, William Woodford, was captured by the British during the siege of Charleston and died in captivity in1780. George Weedon lived to see his country as an independent nation thanks in part to him and others like him. Weedon was a meticulous records keeper and his invaluable notes and orders which he kept while encamped at Valley Forge are in possession of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia.

1965    A man child named Malcolm Little is born in Omaha, Nebraska. His father was a minister that was a black supremacist that had his life threatened more than once. The heat on the preacher got so hot that he moved his family to Lansing, Michigan but continued his inflammatory sermons. Finally a white supremacist group called Black Legion murdered the preacher. The bad part of this whole episode was that the city of Lansing and the state of Michigan refused to prosecute. This event had an immense effect on Malcolm because after this Malcolm X was brought into being. Malcolm called himself Malcolm “X” because he assumed his ancestors were slaves brought over from Africa and their last name was not known. Malcolm was even more inflammatory than his father but he had a lot more organizational skills. Malcolm eventually moved to Boston with his sister. His hatred of the white man grew in intensity year by year. He was very light skinned and said on more than one occasion that he ”hated every drop of the white rapist in his blood” even though he got his lightness from his father and there is no evidence that a rape had occurred at anytime in his ancestry. He eventually ended up in New York City, Harlem in particular, and chose to take up a life drug-dealing, gambling, racketeering and robbery. He was arrested for burglary after trying to sell stolen property to a pawn shop. He was convicted and received a 10 year sentence. While in prison he was taken under the wing of an older inmate who recognized his talents and encouraged him. Malcolm became a voracious reader and a member of a debate team that debated teams from Harvard and Yale. He became very popular with the other inmates but the authorities recognized that his knowledge and charisma could be a source of trouble. His brother Reginald wrote him about The Nation of Islam and Malcolm began to associate with Elijah Mohammed, the leader of The Nation of Islam. Malcolm became a member of the Sunni Islamic sect. He was brought in to be drafted but was rejected as having “an asocial personality with paranoid trends and schizophrenia.” The FBI had been monitoring Malcolm and came up with the same diagnosis and in fact Malcolm had gone to a psychiatrist for treatment. Malcolm’s fiery intellect along with his inflammatory attitude and speech, he climbed up in the structure of the Nation of Islam. But eventually relations between him and Elijah Muhammad became strained when he found that Muhammad was having sex with his secretaries and others in the organization were lining their pockets with Islamic funds. Malcolm visited several Islamic countries and became deeper involved in Islam. But his relationship with Elijah Muhammad deteriorated to where Elijah Mohammad put out a contract for Malcolm’s life. On this date he was to make a speech in the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. A fight broke out apparently as a diversion and as Malcolm’s bodyguards went to squelch it and another man ran up and shot Malcolm in the chest with a sawed-off shotgun. Two other men ran up and emptied their handguns into Malcolm. He was dead almost immediately by the shotgun, the handguns were unnecessary. The three assassins were caught and arrested. They were all members of The Nation of Islam No one really knows the reason for the assassination of Malcolm by people of the Nation of Islam except that he was become way more popular than Elijah Muhammad and was in the process of opening his own mosque. I guess we will never know.

Quotable Quotes:

“There is nothing more responsible for the good old days as a bad memory.” F.P. Adams

“I do not hate men. I think men are a terrific concept.” Jo Brand

“The fastest way to a man’s heart is through his chest.” Roseanne Barr

When trying to describe modern man in one sentence it would be: "He fornicated and read the paper.” Madonna

“The act of sex, as gratifying as it may be, is God’s joke on man. It is man’s last desperate attempt at supremacy.” Bette Davis

I love men, even if they are lying, cheating scumbags.” Gwyneth Paltrow

“Money isn’t everything but it ranks right up there with oxygen.” Rita Davenport

“Money isn’t everything but it sure helps keep you in touch with your children.” J. Paul Getty

Here is a message to that person it applies to....KMIM

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”

                                     Mahatma Gandhi

Back in January I sent out a lesson that had a small vignette about the US sending arms to England to help fight the onslaught of the Germans in WWII and calling it a “lend lease”. I also mentioned that the German military had been storing arms for years and had the British “severely outgunned”. A friend sent me a message relating to this situation. He had a 1941 edition of American Rifleman that had an ad in the front asking Americans to surrender some of their arms and ammo and send them to the British. This seems like a peculiar request until history tells us that in 1922 the British parliament banned firearms for personal use. The Germans began their assault on England in 1939. It is also a known fact that when the Japanese successfully attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and did not sail on to the American west coast and attack, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto the supreme naval commander, was asked why he did not attack. He said he did not attack because most of the Americans are armed. Yamamoto went to Harvard and was very familiar with what was prevalent here in the United States. Yamamoto was also asked to comment on the “great victory” at Pearl Harbor and he said “I am afraid that all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant”. He was right, y’all. One of the latter signs that a dictatorship attempt is afoot is the disarming of the citizenry. Read the history of Germany under Adolf Hitler. Be aware and be vigilant.

This section is aimed at a close friend. She knows who she is. I met a couple a few nights ago that had moved to Greenville from New Orleans. They felt that Greenville would be a better place to raise children than “The Big Easy”. During our conversation they mentioned that they had an autistic child. They said that the child was normal until he was about 3 ½ years old when a change swiftly came shortly after the child got a 5 in 1 vaccination. They are convinced that the vaccination caused the autism. My friend has been sending me information about this possibility for quite a while and now I am staring it in the face and am leaning toward that possibility as being factual. I do not know the possible cure or prevention except to abstain. Perhaps some people are susceptible to autism when injected with a mixture of vaccines…perhaps.

As y’all know there was a maniac that rented a small aircraft and crashed it into an office building housing a large IRS office in Austin, Texas. He left a suicide note. I read the note and it is not your average note it was essentially the man’s biography. He was trying to be an independent engineer in several places before ending up in Austin. He lost his retirement nest egg more than once and blamed everyone but himself for these setbacks including the IRS. He had also recently been through a divorce. The man was obviously deranged and he admitted that he needed professional counseling. It is difficult for me to feel any empathy for someone that obviously could not adapt to a situation that was not what had imagined. It reminds me of the quote “Adapt or die.” I do not recall the author nor is it important.

This date in history February 20

1985    Up until 1979 Irish law prohibited the importation and sale of contraceptives because the Catholic Church disapproved. I will paraphrase that. The Catholic Church wanted to go into the Irish bedrooms and tell them how to have sex. Well, in 1979 the Irish Supreme Court ruled that the use of contraceptives fell under purview of privacy and was not a matter for the clergy to determine. The Catholic hierarchy in Ireland about peed their pants because the weight of the opinion of the Catholic Church was paramount in Ireland and with this ruling by the Irish Supreme Court the Church saw their power, influence and possibly a hell of a lot of money going down the toilet. But the sale and use of contraceptives still had a string attached. Contraceptives could only be distributed by a licensed pharmacist and only to those with a prescription from a licensed physician. And that is the way is stayed until this date when the Irish lawmakers shook off the shackles of the Catholic Church and on this date passed a law stating that it was up to anyone’s choice as to the use of contraceptives, prescriptions not withstanding. Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I am free at last.

1725    On this date a posse from New Hampshire happened upon a group of Indians that they had been tracking and decided that they would try the Native American custom of “scalping”. The posse killed 10 of them and crudely scalped them. They brought the scalps back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony where they received 10 pounds sterling for each scalp. The act of scalping was not peculiar to the American Indian. Scalping had been practiced in Europe and Asia since before recorded history. In European, Asian and American Indian history it was believed that you gained the other person’s courage by taking his/her scalp. But as you might expect, this act by this posse set off a bloodbath of scalping between the Indians and the settlers that continued for generations.

1864    Earlier US General Quincy Gilmore had sent US General Truman Seymour and an army of 5,000 from Jacksonville, Florida to capture the rail yard at Lake City, Florida, about 60 miles west. Right behind Seymour was President Lincoln’s secretary John Hay trying to get some of the Floridians to sign and oath of allegiance to the Union and persuade them to come to the next Republican Convention so they could vote for Lincoln as the presidential candidate. He wasn’t having much luck then the US army ran across a Confederate army of 500 led by CSA General Joseph Finegan at the little crossroad town of Olustee. Seymour immediately attacked seeing that he had the Confederates greatly outnumbered. Finegan and company were able to hold their ground but were running out of ammo. Previously Finegan had sent for reinforcements and ammo and at the last minute the ammo and the reinforcements arrived and the forces were about equal at that point. After this it was no contest. The Confederates delivered a severe ass-kicking and Seymour and his army shuttled their young asses back to Jacksonville. Secretary Hay gave up on recruiting any Floridians and the state stayed under Confederate control for the remainder of the war. The US army suffered 1,800 casualties to the CSA’s 900.

1974    A couple of days before this the editor of the Atlanta Constitution, Reg Murphy had been contacted by a man named William Williams who promised Murphy that he would contribute 300,000 gallons of heating oil for the poor if he would meet him and make the deal front page news. Murphy agreed and met with Williams whereupon Williams pulled out a revolver and kidnapped Murphy. Williams wanted a ransom of $700,000 to be used by an extreme right wing militia. Williams had him and Murphy riding around Atlanta awaiting the results of his ransom demand. The second in command on the newspaper, G. James Minton rounded up the $700,000 delivered it to the pick-up point and Murphy was released. In a matter of hours the Atlanta PD was knocking of William’s door and he was arrested and the money recovered. He was originally sentenced to 40 years but he was tried again in federal court because of the kidnapping and was given 50 years. He was released after serving 9 years, believe it or not.

1950    On this date one of the most gifted poets of all time arrived in the United States to go on a reading tour. The Welshman Dylan Thomas began his reading tour with blockbuster reviews. This man was truly gifted. Before coming to the US he had published a book titled 18 Poems in 1934 and then 25 Poems in 1936. Dylan’s shortcoming was that a very heavy drinker. He met a young woman named Caitlin McNamara in a London Bar. Dylan was smitten and began to court Caitlin. Caitlin was not enamored with Dylan at first but after she heard him read his poetry in his rich and resonant Welsh voice, she was also smitten and they married. They had issue of three children. The only problem with this union was that Caitlin could hang with Dylan drink for drink and they spent many a foggy night together. In August of 1953 Dylan visits the White Horse Bar on Hudson Street in New York City and knocks back 17 shots of Scotch and promptly walks out on the sidewalk and drops dead. He was 39 years old. What a damned shame and a waste of talent. Caitlin never forgave him for that.

1942    Earlier the USS Lexington, a United States aircraft carrier, had departed Bougainville in the Marshall Islands headed for the Japanese Island stronghold of Rabaul. This was supposed to be surprise attack but somehow the Japanese got wind of the pending attack and sent a squadron of bombers to intercept the Lexington. The Lexington picked up the oncoming bombers on radar and sent a squadron of F-4-F Wildcats led by Lieutenant Edward O’Hare to intercept the bombers. In the span of four minutes Lieutenant O’Hare shot down five of the bombers making him an ace. Not only was he an ace he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on this day. The O’Hare airport near Chicago is named for him. After this action the Lexington knew they had lost the element of surprise and retreated back to Bougainville.

2003    The rock band Great White opens a concert in a West Warwick, Rhode Island nightclub with fireworks behind the band. The fireworks catch the ceiling on fire and 100 are burned to death and 300 injured. The roadie that set off the pyrotechnics was arrested for setting of fireworks without a permit and 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to four years. That is 3.65 days for each person killed or wounded.

Born today:

1888    French writer Georges Bernanos. He said, “It is a fine thing to rise above pride, but you must have pride to begin with.”

1924    US heiress Gloria Vanderbilt. She said “The fame you earn is a lot different that the fame that is thrust upon you.”

1963    US basketballer Charles Barkley. He said “We don’t need ref’s, but I guess the white guys need something to do.” Hey Charles, you forgot about Yao Ming, Steve Nash and Pete Maravich among others.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“Don’t let your victories go to your head, or your failures go to your heart.”

                                        Albert Einstein

I guess all of y’all are like me. I have heard enough about Tiger Woods to make me want to spit up. Almost every channel on the TV has Tiger’s “statement” today as their lead item. Now I have a comment.

I think we are seeing the best golfer of the last two generations, maybe of all time. There is little doubt that he will exceed all of Nicklaus’ records if his health, both physical and mental, stands up. That is what I am interested in; whatever happens in his personal life is none of my business. All we have to do is take a cursory glance at other famous athletes and celebrities that were caught in sex scandals that had little or no effect on their careers, David Letterman for instance. Letterman did even miss a show. Derek Jeter (Yankee's shortstop) had an affair with Madonna, for crying out loud. It ain’t fair, y’all. Why does the damned media make Tiger’s morality different from other celebrities? The answer is that sex scandals sells more air time, magazines and newspapers. They are vultures, y’all. They feast on other people’s misery. I saw Tiger being interviewed and he was asked what is his general strategy. He said “I want to pull an early lead over the others in the tournament and then bury them.” When he smells blood, it is all over. That is why I like to watch Tiger Woods.

Here is how our crack state legislators from South Carolina are spending their time. State Senator Mike Pitts is assembling a proposed bill that would make the use of US paper money illegal in the state and only the use of only gold and silver coins would be allowed. Pitts argues that it is unconstitutional for the United States to issue paper money with no tangible backup. The Federal Reserve notes that we all know and love have no backing since the silver standard was eliminated. The only backup our currency has is the governmental ability to collect taxes from the citizenry. Pitts acknowledges that it has a very small chance of passing but he says “It is a gut check for our useless legislators.” Hey Pitts, don’t take my money while planning something that has almost no chance of succeeding...useless indeed.

A bill has been proposed in the South Carolina legislature that would ban the sale of alcoholic beverages a few days before Christmas and Thanksgiving to a few days after. Their impeccable logic is that is when most of the fatal automobile accidents occur. I ain’t kidding.

Another bill has been proposed that would allow the use of golf carts on secondary roads in South Carolina. It is legal today that a golf cart is allowed on secondary roads as long as the cart is driven within two miles of the driver’s home, he/she has a valid driver’s license; the cart is operated in daylight hours only. The proposal would extend the range to five miles rather than two. I’ll bet y’all see what is happening here, one or more of the legislators live outside the two mile limit from their favorite golf course and want to be able to drive there from their home in a golf cart. I’ll bet that all of you can think of a secondary road where a golf cart traveled would guarantee an accident, especially in mountainous terrain that has blind curves in the roads. I ain’t kidding here either. Let’s recap. One of our legislators and his staff are working hard on a proposal that would make it illegal to use United States currency in the state and it is guaranteed to fail. We will not be able to buy a beer within a couple of days before and after Thanksgiving and Christmas because it would make the roads safer. A proposal is afoot that would allow a golf cart traveling at 10 MPH onto a road that could have a speed limit of 55 MPH. How can that be? I thought we were interested in road safety by taking away the sale of booze on the two most familiar and important holidays. Would it be logical for me to assume that a golfer in a golf cart traveling 10 MPH drinking a beer a week before Thanksgiving would be legal? I guess that is why I am not in the South Carolina legislature.

This date in history February 19

1777    On this date The United States Congress releases a promotion list to Major General and they were Thomas Mifflin, Andrew St. Clair, William Alexander, Adam Stephen and Benjamin Lincoln. Conspicuous in his absence was Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. It was Benedict Arnold that was instrumental in the United States successes at the Battles of Ticonderoga and Saratoga; he was also very skillful in saving all of his command in their retreat from Montreal. But on this particular promotion list he was absent and a few of his juniors were promoted ahead of him. Arnold immediately submitted his resignation much to the chagrin of General George Washington. In those days the US Congress felt it necessary to spread the General officer promotions equally among the states so as to keep some kind of equality. This meant that they did not promote due to merit and leadership, they promoted along political lines. I cannot think of worse criteria for promotion and neither could George Washington. Washington raised hell with Congress to no avail but he was able to talk Benedict Arnold out of his resignation but unbeknownst to Washington, the damage had been done. Arnold had his feelings hurt and to get back at the United States, he offered West Point, New York to the British for 20,000 pounds sterling. Had the British been able to take control of the armaments at West Point, they could have isolated New England from the rest of the country; a serious tactical situation would have arisen for the US. Fortunately, Arnold’s accomplice John Andre’ was captured with the details of the deal in his boot. When Arnold found out about the capture of Andre, he fled to an English warship and asked for asylum. He was accepted and spent the rest of the war fighting against his friends and compatriots as a British Major General. After the war he went to London where he died destitute in 1801. What an ignominious end to a great military leader that got his feeling hurt.

1923    Previously Egyptian explorer Howard Carter had discovered a previously untouched tomb of an ancient Pharaoh that he identified as King Tutankhamen. He contacted his benefactor the Englishman Lord Carnarvon and told him that he believed that he was close to opening the funeral crypt. Carnarvon told him to wait until he could get there for the event. After Carnarvon arrived, and on this date, Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon open the funeral crypt that had lain untouched for 4,000 years. There they found a triple encased mummy with the last one containing the mummy in a solid gold plated casket. This discovery marks one of the greatest finds in the history of archaeology and indeed the history of the world. What was found inside the tomb are some of the most beautiful treasures ever found.

1847    Back in August of 1846 a wagon train of 86 people arrived at Fort Bridger, Wyoming from Springfield, Illinois headed for California. The unofficial leader of the wagon train was George Donner. For some reason the wagon train chose to go on the recently blazed train known as the Hastings Cutoff rather than the tried and true California Trail blazed by Jim Bridger. They believed the new trail was shorter and would save time. The trail was a bit shorter but the terrain was much rougher and cost them time instead. In October the wagon train was caught on top of the Sierra Nevadas and the snows came locking them in. It was on this date that a rescue party from California reached what was left of the survivors. We all know how they survived.

1894    Sixteen years before one of the meanest gunfighters on record is caught, tried and convicted of murder and was given life in a Texas prison. John Wesley Hardin killed his first man at the age of 15 and the trail of bodies continued from then on. Strangely, it was in a gunfight where the other man fired the first shot and missed and Hardin fired and did not miss but he was arrested for murder. Hardin escaped from prison and headed for Abilene where his friend Wild Bill Hickock was sheriff. Wild Bill accepted Hardin and allowed him to stay over for a few days. In the hotel room where he was staying, there was a loud snoring man in the next room. Hardin pulled out his trusty .44 and shot through the wall killing the noisemaker. Even Hardin knew that Wild Bill would not sit still for that and Hardin hit the road. He ended up on a passenger train stopped in Pensacola, Florida when a Texas Ranger named John Armstrong captured Hardin and took him back to Texas to do his prison time. That’s right folks, I said a Texas Ranger who had no authority in Florida who took Hardin back to justice. Anyway, Hardin goes to prison, studies law and indeed becomes a lawyer. On this date after sixteen years he was given a pardon and set up a law practice in a small town in Texas but that was too boring so he hit the road. He ended up in El Paso and was recognized by a relative of someone he had killed. The relative walked up behind Hardin standing at a bar and shot him in the back of the head point blank. The sheriff of El Paso did not even arrest the relative; they did not want Hardin’s type in town anyway.

1945    On this date the United States Navy/Marines begins Operation Detachment. This operation was to capture the Japanese Island of Iwo Jima. This island was needed to eliminate the Japanese from notifying mainland Japan of US air strikes coming from Guam. It was also needed for the returning bombers to have a place to land for fuel if needed and if they were damaged. The Japanese commander chosen to defend Iwo Jima was General Kuribayashi one of Japan’s best commanders and during the upcoming battle he proved it. Japan realized the importance of this island. He carved defenses both above and below the ground. He summoned the finest mining engineers in Japan to dig the underground emplacements and personally oversaw the construction of those above ground emplacements. I think everyone knows what dimension of the slaughter of human beings occurred after the US Marines landed. The Japanese were well lead, well spirited and well armed. Kuribayashi had prepared well and his defenses were formidable and exacted a terrible price from the US Marines. Even though the US Navy fighters controlled the skies over Iwo Jima and the Japanese had no answer for the thunderous and continuous naval bombardment, the final question was as to who had the strongest will, Kuribayashi’s army or the United States Marines. It was the Marines that prevailed virtually on will power alone. It helped a lot when the United States flag was raised on the tallest peak on the island, a dormant volcano name Mount Suribachi which was seen be all the Marines on the island and by the support ships at anchor. For some reason the Secretary of the Navy, James Forestall was aboard one of the ships at anchor and upon seeing the flag rising he said “This will ensure the existence of the United States Marines for the next 500 years.” A loud cheer went up when the flag was raised and a photo was taken of the raising that is to this day the symbol of the spirit of the US Marines. General Kuribayshi showed some class when he sent his last message to Tokyo read “Our munitions have been destroyed, we have not eaten nor drank for five days, but out spirit is good, and we will mount a final attack tonight. May Japan exist for a thousand years.” Then it was all over except for mopping up. This struggle went down in history as one of the most savage battles ever fought and is a milestone in the history of the United States Marine Corps.

Born today:

1924    One of my favorite movie stars Lee Marvin. He said “Ah stardom! You work hard and end up having a star on a sidewalk in Hollywood. You go by the next day and there is a pile of dog crap on it. That says it all, baby”. Lee was in the 4th Marine Division during the attack and subsequent slaughter on Saipan. He was wounded there and received the Purple Heart. Almost his entire platoon was killed during this meat grinder of a battle.

1939 US baseball player Jackie Moore. When asked if he knew about economist John Kenneth Galbraith he said “Yeah, I know him. He is a short guy with a moustache and played 3rd base for Pittsburg.” This will give you some idea about how small of a cocoon some people live in.

Died today:

1997    Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. He said “The United States brags about their political system but their President says one thing before he is elected, something else when he takes office, something else during mid-term and yet another when he leaves office.” Hey Deng, perhaps you are right, but all of us citizens know this scam and are not surprised by it. You, on the other hand, took office by literally marching through the blood and bone of your opponents.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow