Good morning
Quote of the day: This one is for DaVida
“Happiness does not necessarily mean that everything is perfect. It means that you have decided to look beyond the imperfections.”
Socrates
Over in Spartanburg, South Carolina Frank Lloyd had decided to build the house of his dreams. He found the ideal location in a heavily wooded lot with a gentle slope. The house was 75% complete when it inexplicably burned down. A couple of fire department investigators determined that the fire was arson because there was no power in the house and there were no thunderstorms in the area at the time. The cops were notified and an investigation was initiated. They quickly found out that Claude Dunagin whose house was in another part of the woods was upset because Lloyd has chosen to build a house in “his” woods and set it on fire to the tune of a loss of $750,000. Dunagin had complained to his friends and neighbors about the house and promised to burn it down. Claude was arrested for arson and was tried and convicted. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The judge originally sentenced him to 25 years but decided to be lenient.
Down at a prison pre-release center near Aiken, South Carolina an inmate walked off of the campus and disappeared. This dumb-ass was finishing up a 4 year stretch for assault and battery and he chose to escape which carries a mandatory 15 year sentence. The cops found out that he had made his way to his wife’s house, gathered up her and his 8 month old child and hit the road. They are in a 1997 Toyota. I know, y’all are doing the math about having an 8 month old child with him in the joint for a few years. That was not explained in the item but maybe conjugal visits are allowed in a pre-release center, then again, maybe not.
And now back to my adventure across America. After Newton, Kansas the next stop was the infamous Dodge City. I mentioned the OK Corral yesterday in conjunction with Dodge City. The famous gunfight was not fought in Dodge; it was fought in Tombstone, Arizona. My memory is not what it used to be. Frankly, the only thing I remember about Dodge was that there is part of that town that has been preserved as it was in the cattle drive days including the Long Branch Saloon. My partner and I went into that famous watering hole not expecting to see Miss Kitty and Matt Dillon. We knocked back a few or several beers before taking a tour of that area of town. There is a “Boot Hill” cemetery in Dodge City. It used to be on the outer fringes of the town but it is in the middle now. By the way, the Gunfight at the OK corral was led by Virgil Earp, not Wyatt. Virgil was a deputy federal marshal and he was after the Clantons, McLaurys and Billy Claiborne. A few months after the fight Virgil was shooting pool with a friend when someone fired through the front window of the poolroom killing Virgil instantly. It has not been documented for sure but Wyatt and Doc Holliday went on tour of the countryside and three men showed up dead. All of them had a connection with the Clanton family. Everybody believed that they were killed in retribution for the murder of Virgil and so do I. After Dodge City, we decided to head south and pick up route that would take us to central Tennessee. My partner had been in an automobile accident in Alaska. He was driving and had a passenger in the front seat and the passenger was killed. The passenger was from Columbia, Tennessee and my partner wanted to go visit his parents as a show of respect. He was from Sarasota, Florida. During our trip headed south we saw several roadside markers that said millions of cattle crossed this very spot headed to the rail heads. We got out and looked around at one of the markers in Oklahoma. There still is an indentation in the soil a few inches deep for several yards wide. It was a thrill for me.
I read about a three or four day seminar that was being held at the College of Charleston. The theme of this get together is to discuss what effect slavery had on the southern states after the Civil War. I had to read this item a couple of times to make sure I understood. I will tell you what effect it had; it was the rape and pillage committed by the Federal Government under the guise of “Reconstruction”. The officials that implemented this abomination had a virtual Carte Blanc to do whatever they pleased including kicking whole families out of their houses that had been in the family for generations. They wanted the house and land for themselves. Many of the Federal officials had family members killed in the Civil War and wanted nothing short of revenge and nothing could be done to stop it. These jackasses sowed seeds of bitterness that exists somewhat to this day. But I guess the old phrase “To the victors belong the spoils” is applicable. To me it would be more palatable if they held a seminar at the University of Wyoming and the topic of discussion would be what happened to the American Indians almost instantly after Jamestown was established in 1607. Our ancestors did all they could to eliminate the Indians so they could take their lands unhindered and they did it with the blessing of the US Government and the US Army. We came within an eyelash of genocide, y’all. Don’t get me started.
This date in history March 12
1930 On this date the spiritual leader of India, Mohandas Gandhi begins a march of defiance from Delhi to the sea to gather salt. If you can believe this, the British government had forbidden the population of India to buy sell or gather salt except from a supply owned by the British. Salt was a very important addition to the diet of the Indians because of the heat. As in the past with opium in China, Great Britain wanted a monopoly on what was needed in different populations of the earth to keep the economy flourishing. In fact, Great Britain went to war with the Chinese Government over supplying opium to the Chinese. It was Great Britain’s contention that they had supplied the opium to China in the first place to get them addicted; now they wanted a monopoly. The Chinese government said that the drug was harmful and a war began because of it. Anyway, Great Britain had cornered the market on salt in India and they wanted to continue the monopoly but the religious leader Mohandas Gandhi called bullshit on that and headed for the Indian Ocean to gather salt. Gandhi contended that salt was a gift from Siva (God) and no man could sell it under force of law. He started the march of 241 miles with 78 followers, and when he reached the coastal town of Dandhi, he had a following of over 60,000. In that town, natural sea salt was available for the taking at low tide. The British chose to grind the sea salt into the mud making it un attainable, but Gandhi walked down to the ocean’s edge and reached down into the mud and brought out a crystal of sea salt, washed it off and ate a bite of it which started a chain of civil disobedience events that eventually drove the British out of India and led to their independence. Gandhi was arrested but immediately began a hunger strike that if it resulted in his death, the British would have millions of angry Indians on their hands. So Gandhi was released soon thereafter. By the way, Mohandas Gandhi was a student of American Henry David Thoreau and his theories of effective civil disobedience. India finally achieved independence from Great Britain in1947 and Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated by left wing extremists a year later. This reminds me of the assassination of the Egyptian Anwar Sadat. He tried to gain some sort of peace with Israel and was succeeding but he was killed. I guess there are those out there that just like killing; world history is full of it unceasingly.
1864 Today began one of the worst fiascos in the history of the American military. In their wisdom, the American military set forth a plan to sent Admiral David Porter and 20 warships up the Red River from New Orleans into Texas with the intent of further expansion and control of the river systems in the Confederacy. The only problem here was that the put US General Nathaniel Banks, a proven loser, in command of the 27,000 ground troops that would follow along on the west bank of the river. Previously, Banks had been tasked with gaining control of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The only problem here was that CSA General Stonewall Jackson and CSA General Jubal Early awaited him and wasted no time in handing Banks his ass and sending him back to Washington. In his defense, Banks was not an experienced military field commander but had good connections with the upper military officials in Washington so they decided to give him a second chance. So on this date, Banks and his army departed New Orleans headed up the Red River with Porter’s warships close aboard. They achieved moderate success with the capture of the Confederate outpost of Fort Derussy and then Porter captured Alexandria almost single handed. The only problem here was that Banks and his army was about two weeks late arriving at Alexandria which gave the Confederates plenty of advanced notice that he was coming. Porter heads on up toward Shreveport but Banks finds the going a little soggy and heads inland to get out of the swamp. After he is about 20 miles from the river CSA General Richard Taylor (son of US President Zachary Taylor) and his army of howling Confederates ambushed Banks army and administers the mother of all ass-whippings and Porters naval guns are useless at that range. So Banks, ass in hand, says to hell with it and heads back toward New Orleans leaving Porter with no support. Poor old Porter turns his ships around and head back south toward the Big Easy with the Confederates on both banks of the river shooting his ass off every step of the way. This ain’t all. The river had fallen to the point that Porter’s ships were aground with no way out in sight. Porter was considering burning his ships and surrendering then a pretty smart Yankee engineer devises “wing dams” which raises the water a few feet and the warships head for home. A few of the ships were lost because there were waterfalls where there was none before, but essentially, the retreat was a success. Porter makes his report on the expedition and US General Nathaniel Banks disappears from view never to be seen or heard from again.
1922 Jack Kerouac is born this date in Lowell, Massachusetts. Jack had a big influence on my life at one time. He was a member of the “beat” generation who saw life in a non-materialistic way but sought inner peace and the purpose of life. Jack gave us just a few books but by far the most important of was “On the Road”. Jack had traveled the country mostly hitchhiking and getting rides anyway he could. He developed an amalgam of ideas and outlooks that forged his own philosophy. He also gave us the book “The Subterranean” which was about people he had met that had an even more slanted outlook on life and preferred to be less visible with their beliefs in non-conformity. Jack died of a brain aneurism in Saint Petersburg, Florida in 1967. He was 45 years old. What a damned shame.
Born today:
1889 English historian Phillip Guedella. He said “History repeats itself, historians repeat each other”. Good insight, Phillip.
1912 Canadian writer Irving Layton. He said of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau “Canada has finally produced a Prime Minister worthy of assassination.” Ouch!
1928 US playwright Edward Albee. When speaking to his wife he said “If you existed, I would divorce you.” That, my friends, is the best insult I have ever read.
Died today:
2001 US entrepreneur Morton Downey, Jr. When speaking about women who smoke he said “I had rather have sex with a raccoon.” I would not go that far, Morton.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Good morning
Quote of the day: This one is for DaVida
“Happiness does not necessarily mean that everything is perfect. It means that you have decided to look beyond the imperfections.”
Socrates
Over in Spartanburg, South Carolina Frank Lloyd had decided to build the house of his dreams. He found the ideal location in a heavily wooded lot with a gentle slope. The house was 75% complete when it inexplicably burned down. A couple of fire department investigators determined that the fire was arson because there was no power in the house and there were no thunderstorms in the area at the time. The cops were notified and an investigation was initiated. They quickly found out that Claude Dunagin whose house was in another part of the woods was upset because Lloyd has chosen to build a house in “his” woods and set it on fire to the tune of a loss of $750,000. Dunagin had complained to his friends and neighbors about the house and promised to burn it down. Claude was arrested for arson and was tried and convicted. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. The judge originally sentenced him to 25 years but decided to be lenient.
Down at a prison pre-release center near Aiken, South Carolina an inmate walked off of the campus and disappeared. This dumb-ass was finishing up a 4 year stretch for assault and battery and he chose to escape which carries a mandatory 15 year sentence. The cops found out that he had made his way to his wife’s house, gathered up her and his 8 month old child and hit the road. They are in a 1997 Toyota. I know, y’all are doing the math about having an 8 month old child with him in the joint for a few years. That was not explained in the item but maybe conjugal visits are allowed in a pre-release center, then again, maybe not.
And now back to my adventure across America. After Newton, Kansas the next stop was the infamous Dodge City. I mentioned the OK Corral yesterday in conjunction with Dodge City. The famous gunfight was not fought in Dodge; it was fought in Tombstone, Arizona. My memory is not what it used to be. Frankly, the only thing I remember about Dodge was that there is part of that town that has been preserved as it was in the cattle drive days including the Long Branch Saloon. My partner and I went into that famous watering hole not expecting to see Miss Kitty and Matt Dillon. We knocked back a few or several beers before taking a tour of that area of town. There is a “Boot Hill” cemetery in Dodge City. It used to be on the outer fringes of the town but it is in the middle now. By the way, the Gunfight at the OK corral was led by Virgil Earp, not Wyatt. Virgil was a deputy federal marshal and he was after the Clantons, McLaurys and Billy Claiborne. A few months after the fight Virgil was shooting pool with a friend when someone fired through the front window of the poolroom killing Virgil instantly. It has not been documented for sure but Wyatt and Doc Holliday went on tour of the countryside and three men showed up dead. All of them had a connection with the Clanton family. Everybody believed that they were killed in retribution for the murder of Virgil and so do I. After Dodge City, we decided to head south and pick up route that would take us to central Tennessee. My partner had been in an automobile accident in Alaska. He was driving and had a passenger in the front seat and the passenger was killed. The passenger was from Columbia, Tennessee and my partner wanted to go visit his parents as a show of respect. He was from Sarasota, Florida. During our trip headed south we saw several roadside markers that said millions of cattle crossed this very spot headed to the rail heads. We got out and looked around at one of the markers in Oklahoma. There still is an indentation in the soil a few inches deep for several yards wide. It was a thrill for me.
I read about a three or four day seminar that was being held at the College of Charleston. The theme of this get together is to discuss what effect slavery had on the southern states after the Civil War. I had to read this item a couple of times to make sure I understood. I will tell you what effect it had; it was the rape and pillage committed by the Federal Government under the guise of “Reconstruction”. The officials that implemented this abomination had a virtual Carte Blanc to do whatever they pleased including kicking whole families out of their houses that had been in the family for generations. They wanted the house and land for themselves. Many of the Federal officials had family members killed in the Civil War and wanted nothing short of revenge and nothing could be done to stop it. These jackasses sowed seeds of bitterness that exists somewhat to this day. But I guess the old phrase “To the victors belong the spoils” is applicable. To me it would be more palatable if they held a seminar at the University of Wyoming and the topic of discussion would be what happened to the American Indians almost instantly after Jamestown was established in 1607. Our ancestors did all they could to eliminate the Indians so they could take their lands unhindered and they did it with the blessing of the US Government and the US Army. We came within an eyelash of genocide, y’all. Don’t get me started.
This date in history March 12
1930 On this date the spiritual leader of India, Mohandas Gandhi begins a march of defiance from Delhi to the sea to gather salt. If you can believe this, the British government had forbidden the population of India to buy sell or gather salt except from a supply owned by the British. Salt was a very important addition to the diet of the Indians because of the heat. As in the past with opium in China, Great Britain wanted a monopoly on what was needed in different populations of the earth to keep the economy flourishing. In fact, Great Britain went to war with the Chinese Government over supplying opium to the Chinese. It was Great Britain’s contention that they had supplied the opium to China in the first place to get them addicted; now they wanted a monopoly. The Chinese government said that the drug was harmful and a war began because of it. Anyway, Great Britain had cornered the market on salt in India and they wanted to continue the monopoly but the religious leader Mohandas Gandhi called bullshit on that and headed for the Indian Ocean to gather salt. Gandhi contended that salt was a gift from Siva (God) and no man could sell it under force of law. He started the march of 241 miles with 78 followers, and when he reached the coastal town of Dandhi, he had a following of over 60,000. In that town, natural sea salt was available for the taking at low tide. The British chose to grind the sea salt into the mud making it un attainable, but Gandhi walked down to the ocean’s edge and reached down into the mud and brought out a crystal of sea salt, washed it off and ate a bite of it which started a chain of civil disobedience events that eventually drove the British out of India and led to their independence. Gandhi was arrested but immediately began a hunger strike that if it resulted in his death, the British would have millions of angry Indians on their hands. So Gandhi was released soon thereafter. By the way, Mohandas Gandhi was a student of American Henry David Thoreau and his theories of effective civil disobedience. India finally achieved independence from Great Britain in1947 and Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated by left wing extremists a year later. This reminds me of the assassination of the Egyptian Anwar Sadat. He tried to gain some sort of peace with Israel and was succeeding but he was killed. I guess there are those out there that just like killing; world history is full of it unceasingly.
1864 Today began one of the worst fiascos in the history of the American military. In their wisdom, the American military set forth a plan to sent Admiral David Porter and 20 warships up the Red River from New Orleans into Texas with the intent of further expansion and control of the river systems in the Confederacy. The only problem here was that the put US General Nathaniel Banks, a proven loser, in command of the 27,000 ground troops that would follow along on the west bank of the river. Previously, Banks had been tasked with gaining control of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The only problem here was that CSA General Stonewall Jackson and CSA General Jubal Early awaited him and wasted no time in handing Banks his ass and sending him back to Washington. In his defense, Banks was not an experienced military field commander but had good connections with the upper military officials in Washington so they decided to give him a second chance. So on this date, Banks and his army departed New Orleans headed up the Red River with Porter’s warships close aboard. They achieved moderate success with the capture of the Confederate outpost of Fort Derussy and then Porter captured Alexandria almost single handed. The only problem here was that Banks and his army was about two weeks late arriving at Alexandria which gave the Confederates plenty of advanced notice that he was coming. Porter heads on up toward Shreveport but Banks finds the going a little soggy and heads inland to get out of the swamp. After he is about 20 miles from the river CSA General Richard Taylor (son of US President Zachary Taylor) and his army of howling Confederates ambushed Banks army and administers the mother of all ass-whippings and Porters naval guns are useless at that range. So Banks, ass in hand, says to hell with it and heads back toward New Orleans leaving Porter with no support. Poor old Porter turns his ships around and head back south toward the Big Easy with the Confederates on both banks of the river shooting his ass off every step of the way. This ain’t all. The river had fallen to the point that Porter’s ships were aground with no way out in sight. Porter was considering burning his ships and surrendering then a pretty smart Yankee engineer devises “wing dams” which raises the water a few feet and the warships head for home. A few of the ships were lost because there were waterfalls where there was none before, but essentially, the retreat was a success. Porter makes his report on the expedition and US General Nathaniel Banks disappears from view never to be seen or heard from again.
1922 Jack Kerouac is born this date in Lowell, Massachusetts. Jack had a big influence on my life at one time. He was a member of the “beat” generation who saw life in a non-materialistic way but sought inner peace and the purpose of life. Jack gave us just a few books but by far the most important of was “On the Road”. Jack had traveled the country mostly hitchhiking and getting rides anyway he could. He developed an amalgam of ideas and outlooks that forged his own philosophy. He also gave us the book “The Subterranean” which was about people he had met that had an even more slanted outlook on life and preferred to be less visible with their beliefs in non-conformity. Jack died of a brain aneurism in Saint Petersburg, Florida in 1967. He was 45 years old. What a damned shame.
Born today:
1889 English historian Phillip Guedella. He said “History repeats itself, historians repeat each other”. Good insight, Phillip.
1912 Canadian writer Irving Layton. He said of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau “Canada has finally produced a Prime Minister worthy of assassination.” Ouch!
1928 US playwright Edward Albee. When speaking to his wife he said “If you existed, I would divorce you.” That, my friends, is the best insult I have ever read.
Died today:
2001 US entrepreneur Morton Downey, Jr. When speaking about women who smoke he said “I had rather have sex with a raccoon.” I would not go that far, Morton.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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