Daily lesson

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“The problem with writing about religion is that you run the risk of offending sincerely religious people, and then they come after you with machetes.”

                                       Dave Barry

A little while later in this month demonstrators from the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas (WBC) will be apparent in the “Low Country” of South Carolina. That essentially means in the Charleston, South Carolina area. This group of jackasses has a credo of “God hates fags, God hates Jews, and God hates the military.” They plan to picket a number of high schools, Jewish Community Centers and Charleston Air Force Base. They will be carrying signs blaring “Your Parents Hate You”, Your Teachers Are Lying To You”, “Obama Hates You”, etc. On one occasion a group of these Neanderthals showed up at a military funeral with signs saying “Happiness is a dead soldier.” The Superintendent of Schools in the Charleston area has made all the arrangements possible for this invasion. He has coordinated with the local police to make sure their demonstrations do not interfere with the operations of the high schools. He does admit that the WBC is very familiar with the 1st Amendment and has obtained all the necessary permits. He also said that it is expected that the WBC will encourage violent confrontations to give them a basis for law suits against local and state governments along with individuals. By the way, the WBC website is www.godhatesfags.com. There are a lot of strange critters out there, y’all. I wonder what the themes of their Sunday sermons are.

Down in Haiti you will see the Tricolors of the French, the Union Jack of Great Britain and even the flag of Croatia but you will not see the Stars and Stripes. Obama has ordered that the US flag would not be displayed because it "it would give the Haitians the wrong impression". When was the last time the US military was anywhere without the flag on display? I hope all of you remember this when you are standing in the voting booth. I still get teary eyed when I see our flag, Obama obviously does not.

This past weekend a man was jogging down the beach near the Palmetto Dunes Resort in Hilton Head, South Carolina. All of a sudden a private aircraft lands on him killing him instantly. It seems that this private, propeller driven, four place aircraft had departed the Orlando area headed for somewhere in Virginia. The pilot stated that all of a sudden something broke in the engine spraying oil on the windshield and the propeller fell off. He said that he was able to glide to what he thought was a deserted beach and landed. The jogger was never seen because of the oil on the windshield. He stated that he was able to line the aircraft up with a stretch of beach by looking out the side window. How is it possible for this aircraft and the jogger be at the same spot on the Earth at the same instant in time? That is pretty damned spooky.

Up in Enka, North Carolina a teacher in the Enka Middle School wrote on the homework of an 11 year old the word “loser”. A little later on he deducted 20 points from this same students work and wrote on it “I deducted 20 points just because you are a loser”. I don’t know where that piece of s—t got his teacher's certificate but if it had been by child he would have had to deal with me. Neither he nor I want that, my temper is under tentative control at best. The parent of the student complained to the school principal and he promised that he would put a stop to it. The stupid teacher said that he would not do it again and that was just his way of communication but he was suspended without pay for two weeks anyway. I have a better way of communication, jackass. It involves a left jab and a right hook, comprendo?

This date in history March 17

1776    On this date the hated 8 year occupation of Boston by the British ended. Thanks to Colonel Benedict Arnold, General Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, General Henry Knox, General John Thomas and hundred of dedicated Continental soldiers and workmen all commanded by General George Washington. It all began a few months earlier when a small Regiment of Continental Soldiers led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen made a surprise attack on the British encampment at Fort Ticonderoga on the northern end of Lake Champlain and captured the entire British garrison while firing only one shot. General Arnold woke them up and demanded their surrender or annihilation. They surrendered. After the Fort was evacuated, General Henry Knox was tasked by Washington to bring the 20 or so cannon in Fort Ticonderoga to Boston 300 miles away and do it without the British discovering it. Knox muffled the wheels of the caissons and did indeed cover the 300 miles undetected. Washington then tasked General John Thomas to take the cannon to the crest of Dorchester Heights, the highest ground in the vicinity of Boston and again, do it undetected. Thomas set out on his mission with 800 soldiers and 1,000 laborers. What roads there were to the crest were essentially cow paths meaning that Thomas and his crew had to hack their way to the top. They were discovered when they had about half finished and General William Howe, the British commander in Boston, ordered the British warships in Boston Harbor to bombard the Continental position on Dorchester Heights. But guess what happened. A two day rainstorm engulfed Boston and the warships could not fire at an unseen target. Thomas was able to finish the placement of the cannon and General Howe knew his position was untenable. Two days later, Howe and 11,000 British troops boarded their ships and sailed their young asses up to Nova Scotia to cheers of the elated Bostonians.

1863    Since the beginning of the Civil War, the Union cavalry had its ass kicked by the much more skilled Confederate cavalry. The Southern cavalry was made up of men from the agrarian sector and were all good horsemen. They also had better field commanders such as General J.E.B. Stuart, Colonel Fitzhugh Lee, General Wade Hampton III, John S. Moseley and last but not least, Nathan Bedford Forrest among others. A few days before, one of the parade of Generals commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, General Joseph Hooker got fed up with the Confederate dominance of the cavalry and sent US Colonel William Averill and a select unit of cavalrymen to attack a known cavalry position near the Culpepper Court House, Virginia. Averill arrived on this date and was met by a squad of 60 Confederate sharpshooters. After repeated attacks, Averill was able to overwhelm the rifle pits. After this, Confederate cavalry leader Fitzhugh Lee arrived on the scene and was commanded by his father General Robert E. Lee to immediately attack these smart-ass Yankees. Fitzhugh Lee attacked twice and was repulsed each time. Soon after, CSA General J.E.B. Stuart arrived on the scene. Averill seeing Stuart arrive began a withdrawal thinking that Stuart had his powerful cavalry behind him. The truth was that Stuart and artillery commander Colonel John Pelham had just came over to observe. The downside of this was that Colonel John Pelham, by far the finest artillery commander in the Confederacy, was killed by a piece of shrapnel. This battle was fought near a place called Kelly’s Ford. Somehow the Union considered this draw a victory because they did not get their ass kicked by the Confederate cavalry.

1804    Two months before the Lewis and Clark left on their immortal expedition James Bridger was born in Richmond, Virginia. Jim became one of the most important explorers of the American west in its history. He was the original “Mountain Man”. Little is known of Jim’s childhood but it is known the he and his family moved to Saint Louis, Missouri in 1818. Jim honed his skill by exploring the area around Saint Louis and followed the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition. When Jim was 18 years old he found out about an enterprise named the Ashley-Henry Fur Company. Their idea was to head west and trade with the Indian for furs, especially beaver and mink. The first person hired was Jim Bridger. Jim was successful in trading with the Indians, even the fierce and protective Blackfoot that gave Lewis and Clark so much trouble. He was successful in building the first fur trading post on the Yellowstone River. It is acknowledged that he was the first Anglo to lay eyes of the Great Salt Lake even though he thought it was the Pacific Ocean. He had an enormous recall of geographic detail that saved his ass more than once. He operated as an independent trapper for several years. He grew tired of the nomadic life and decided that there was enough traffic on the Oregon Trail to warrant a trading post so he married a Flathead woman named Cora and founded and build Fort Bridger in the Green River section of southern Wyoming. His fort became a regular stop for the pioneers headed west. He and Cora had three children and it looked like an idealistic life for Jim, but it was not to be. Cora died, one of his daughters was killed by the Blackfoot and the third died of jaundice. After these episodes Jim would retreat into the mountains and trap, living with different Indian tribes. In 1853, Jim married a Shoshone woman he named Mary, and lived at the Fort in the summer and with the Shoshone in the winter. The Mormons in the area became jealous of Jim’s success and tried to have him arrested. But Jim and Mary escaped into the mountains along with their three children. The Mormons burned and gutted his fort and destroyed his supplies. The Mormons are not as benevolent as they would want you to believe. He was worried how to feed his family and bought a farm near Westport, Missouri and left his family there during his western adventures. In 1858 he sold his fort and made his living as a guide to the pioneers and as a scout to the US cavalry. In 1868 he retired to his farm in Westport and tended his apple orchard. With his eyesight failing and rheumatism rampant, he died July 13, 1881 at the age of 76 in Westport. What a contribution this man made to the expansion of these United States.

Born today:

1829    US writer Jean Ingelow. She said “I have lived long enough to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered.” Me too.

1941    President of the Orlando Magic NBA team Pat Williams. He said about former star Charles Barkley “He is so fat his bathtub has stretch marks.” Charles claims he will eventually run for the governor of his native state of Alabama. Come on Charles, face reality.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.