Daily history

Good morning,


Some of you may not know this but each "lesson" ends up on a blog site that is available world-wide. If any of you have anything to say within reason, I will be glad to include it on my daily blog.

Quote of the day:

“To love another person is to see the face of God".

                        Victor Hugo

In spite of having a wife and kids Ricky Martin has proclaimed that he is gay. Who the hell is Ricky Martin and who gives a shit?

I have really become concerned with my hearing and sight. Back when Barak Obama was campaigning for President he said that the best way to provide for the security of this nation was to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan. Then I saw him on TV recently making a speech in Afghanistan saying that America was in Afghanistan "for the long haul". Surely it must be my ears and eyes that must be failing because no one could be that blatantly a two-faced liar and be President of the United States.

Over in Spartanburg, South Carolina a judge sentenced a man named Paul Elliot to 10 life terms without the possibility of parole. Here is what his rap sheet indicates:

10 counts of first degree burglary; 9 counts of second degree burglary; 17 counts of grand larceny; 6 counts of petty larceny; 3 counts of obtaining property under false pretenses; 2 counts of receiving stolen goods; safecracking; forgery; attempted burglary; possession of burglary tools; malicious injury to personal property; assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and failure to stop for a blue light with serious bodily injury. The way he got this charge was he hijacked a car with a mother and two small children inside and then tried to outrun the cops and eventually wrecked the car injuring the small kids. This monster perpetrated all these crimes in Spartanburg County but he expanded his area to include Polk County where he burglarized a home and was arrested by the Polk County cops. He escaped using a stolen gun and that is when he hijacked the car. He apologized to everyone he had victimized and incredibly asked the judge for leniency. The mother of the kids that was injured in the hijacking testified at the sentencing and after she heard the sentence she said “I hope his apology keeps him warm at night because both of my children have permanent scars because of him.” How can an obvious career criminal with a rap sheet of 20 pages stay preying on the public for this many times? By the way, two of the deputies in the Polk County Sheriff’s department resigned and one was fired because of Elliot’s escape and hijacking.

A few days ago a woman was in an elevator in a building on the Spartanburg Medical Center campus. She was in there by herself with a man. As the doors closed the man suddenly grabbed her and tried his best to smooch her. She was able to fight him off until the doors opened then the erstwhile lover-boy broke and ran. The woman was shown a photo array by the cops and she picked out Jimmy Henderson, Jr. who was quickly arrested. This was not the first time that Jimmy had tried these shenanigans. I think he had been watching too many romantic movies or reading those trashy love novels. That is why I don’t read fiction (Dan Brown excluded) because it poisons the mind. In retrospect, maybe Dan Brown does too.

Monday night a young lady called the Greenville, South Carolina city cops were called to a service station where she said that she had been kidnapped by two men, taken to a house and raped several times. The cops tried to get a written statement but the girl was drunker than Cooter Brown and was unable to write. The cops decided to wait for the girl to sober up and then get a written statement. The next morning the cops approached the girl for a written statement and she confessed that she had indeed had sex with two men but it had been consensual. She lied about it because she was engaged and this tryst was an embarrassment. Why did she say anything at all? Anyway, she was arrested for filing a false police report, fined and released.

Down in Gulf Breeze, Florida a freak accident occurred. There is a three mile long bridge that crosses from Pensacola, Florida to Gulf Breeze, Florida. A couple of days ago a passenger car was traveling north on the bridge when a canopy support rod on an approaching motor home blew off, penetrated the car windshield and severely injured a passenger in the car. What are the odds of that happening? That rod had to come off at precisely the right instant and the car had to be precisely in the right position for this to happen. It is the same mystery about the airplane that killed a jogger while making an emergency landing on a Hilton Head, South Carolina beach. If the jogger had left home 10 seconds earlier or later he would not have been killed. All of this is pretty spooky to me.

This date in history March 31

1776    On this date Continental Congressman John Adams’ wife Abigail writes him a letter saying in part “I long to hear that you and the others have declared an independency. By the way, in the new code of laws I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you to remember the ladies and be more favorable and generous to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws which we do not have any voice or representation,” Let us recap at this point. John Adams and the Continental Congress are gathered together in Philadelphia on the cusp of creating a new nation the likes of which the world has never seen. They are doing this knowing that the mightiest army and navy on the planet will bring all their forces to the fore to prevent this from happening. Then one of our greatest leaders is reminded to remember gender parity under the threat of a “rebellion”. Abigail Adams was a brilliant person and was as devoted to John as John was to her but to threaten a “rebellion” at this point was nothing short of harrassment. This country was facing the most important decision in world history and Abigail is worried about gender parity! Abigail, this ain’t the time to start nagging about that, for crying out loud! It is at least shortsightedness if not a total lack of vision. On second thought, maybe Abigail had extraordinary vision because it took just short of 150 years for the United States Congress to enact the 19th Amendment allowing women to vote. Abigail Adams and Barbara Bush are the only two women to be wives and mothers to two American presidents.

1492    On this date, at the direction of the Catholic Church in Spain, all Jews are ordered to become Christians or leave the country. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face, a great majority of the Jews did indeed leave rather than give up their heritage. They took with them huge amounts of money, skills and business connections with many of the countries in the Mediterranean, Europe and Scandinavia. But some of the Jews stayed and held secret Jewish ceremonies while claiming to be Christians. It didn’t help any; the Jews claiming to be Christians were treated like shit anyway. Then the Catholic Church in Spain stepped on its tongue once again and declared that all Moors (Moslems) in Spain must become Christians or leave the country also. One would think that the loss of such a money making and tax paying segment would bankrupt a country. But it didn’t. Spain remained one of the major players in Europe and the world for over 300 years afterward. They took a small dip in power when the Spanish navy was crushed by the English navy in the mid-1500’s. They took another hit when they joined with France and Napoleon Bonaparte and again were crushed by the British navy in the late 1700’s. But Spain reaped an enormous fortune from the “new world” by their conquistadors enslaving the natives in Central and South America and bringing literally tons of gold, silver and precious gems back home.

1999    On this date a 22 year old woman is found running down a dirt road in New Mexico naked except for a padlocked metal collar around her neck. She tells a fascinating tale about being kidnapped three days ago by a man named David Ray and a woman named Cynthia Hendy and being taken to a mobile home and raped and tortured. The police find out that David Ray is an employee of the Elephant Butte State Park located near the mobile home. The woman escaped from Ray and Hendy when Ray left for work and the woman stabbed Hendy in the back of the neck with an ice pick. After an investigation the police believe that this woman is not the only victim of Ray and Hendy. There was and unsolved case of a woman disappearing from an Elephant Butte bar a few years earlier and after the news came out about this event, several woman came forward and said that they had been victims of Ray and Hendy but to ashamed to report it. Needless to say, the attendance at Elephant Butte State Park went to hell.

Born today:

1844    Scottish writer Andrew Lang. He said of one of his competitors “He uses statistics as a drunken man uses a lamppost, for support not illumination.”

1914    Mexican writer Octavio Paz. He said “Deserve your dream,” That is heavy, ya’ll.

1915    TV personality Henry Morgan. He said “A careful driver is one that blows his horn as he runs a red light.” I have seen this happen.

1925    US writer Leo Buscaglia. He said “I do not have wisdom. I can only teach you what ignorance is.” I know plenty of students for you, Leo.

1948    US politico Al Gore. He said “A leopard cannot change its stripes.” Al is a piece of work. Pretty dumb for someone that invented the internet.

Died today:

1631    English writer John Donne. He said “Wicked is almost the same as discreet.” I prefer discreetly wicked.

1898    English born writer Eleanor Marx. She said “By the time your life had ended, you have learned enough to live it well.” She is right, dammit.

1931    US Football legend Knute Rockne. He said “Prayers work best when you have the biggest players.”

1998    US representative Bella Abzug. She said “The establishment is made up of little men, very frightened.”

Speaking of little men, I saw a short news blurb about someone interviewing Dennis Koslowski the ex-president of the giant company Tyco. This jackass stripped millions of dollars from his company to provide his personal aggrandizement. He had homes on Central Park with $50,000 shower curtains, etc. On his wife’s birthday he flew his entourage consisting of 65 people to Sardinia on a chartered jumbo jet for her birthday party, all charged to the company. He was tried and convicted of a variety of illegal acts and was in the slammer mopping floors for $1.00/day. It gives me the warm fuzzies.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow