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







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