Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“Life is a powerful play that goes on and on, you add a verse.”

                               Walt Whitman

Here is an interesting thing about Walt Whitman. His brother was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War. He was seriously injured in combat. Whitman retrieved him off the battlefield and cared for him the rest of his life even though he was an invalid. Whitman gave us some of the most powerful American literature ever written in “Leaves of Grass”.

A couple of days ago down in a Orangeburg, South Carolina elementary school two students got into a fight. If I am not mistaken, elementary schools end at the 7th grade making the eldest students about 12 or 13 years old. One of the teachers broke up a fight and one of the fighters ran away. He then returned with a length of pipe and struck the teacher in the head opening a wound that required stitches. My question is this. Would it be legal if the teacher saw the student coming and delivered a right cross to that snot-nosed bastard’s jaw, knocking him out in self defense? Question number 2 is this. What is the parent’s liability?

Down near Austin, Texas a 56 year old man named Lloyd Yarbrough had came down with encephalitis resulting his inability to talk, eat, swallow and take care of his bodily functions, that duty fell to his 53 year old wife name Kim. After a period of years, Kim had enough and diluted a fatal cocktail of prescription drugs and injected them into Lloyd’s feeding tube causing his demise. What would be an appropriate sentence for this woman? I will tell you what she got. She got 5 years probation and 400 hours of community service. I have mixed emotions here. Is it ever appropriate to take the life of an innocent person? When I was in the Air Force there was a story that went around about a fighter plane that crashed on the base where I was stationed. The plane caught fire and the pilot was trapped in the cockpit. A rescue worker opened the cockpit and saw that he could not save the pilot so he bashed his head in with a crow bar to alleviate any further suffering. Was that murder or mercy, y’all? It is a tough call.

I have been reading items out of the Austin, Texas Newspaper, The Austin Chronicle, and for the last few days they have been reporting that the University of Texas is going to eliminate or severely cut back any and all athletic programs including Longhorn football. They further reported that the supposed starting quarterback for this coming season, Garrett Gilbert, has already transferred to the hated Oklahoma Sooners. The paper provided a time line beginning when Texas lost to Alabama in Pasadena in January until this day. If it is true, it will be the greatest sports story in fifty years. If it is not true, it is the biggest scam perpetrated in fifty years.

This date in history April 6

1862    Yesterday CSA General Albert Sidney Johnson and his army based in Corinth, Mississippi detect a US army led by US General Ulysses Grant headed his way from Tennessee. He also finds out that Grant has the army of US General Don Carlos Buell moving down the Tennessee River by boat to provide reinforcements. Johnson decides that now is the time to strike before both armies are joined. On this date the CSA army slams into the Union right flank and the battle is joined near a church named Shiloh Baptist Church which is close to Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The howling Confederates are well arrayed and well led and begin a push forcing the Union forces back closer and closer to the river. As the battle reaches a critical point, Grant knew that if the Confederates are not slowed or delayed, the Union army would be annihilated or forced to surrender with their back against the river. So he orders an infantry unit to stop the Reb advance at all costs to allow Grant to organize a defense. So this particular Union infantry dug in and would not budge. The Confederate advance was indeed slowed and when CSA General Johnson rode forward to encourage his troops to advance he was killed by a shot through the thigh and he bled out in a matter of minutes. There was a brief time of confusion before Johnson was replaced by CSA General Beauregard but the delay provided by the stubbornness of the US infantry at a place that became known as “The Hornets Nest” and the brief confusion with the death of Johnson, gave Grant enough time to set up a defense and for a few Union warships to arrive and provide naval gunfire to turn back the Confederates. Beauregard called a halt to the attack after dark then US General Don Carlos Buell’s army arrives during the night and the next morning Grant launches a counter attack that drives the Confederates from the field. This first day of this battle is the bloodiest single day in United States history. Had not that US infantry unit held their ground at the Hornet’s Nest and General Johnson had not been killed, the war probably been over that day and we would have been two nations.

1776    On this date the Continental Congress opens all its ports to international trade. Earlier the British has been trying to control the colonies by restricting trade. First the British ruled that the colonies could only trade with Great Britain and then when that didn’t work, the put an embargo of any trade with the colonies. Then they tried to seal off all the American ports and that didn’t work either. We won anyway.

1895    On this date the famous Scottish writer Oscar Wilde is sentenced to prison. A few years earlier Oscar, a flaming homosexual, had been having a relationship with the son of the Marquis of Queensbury much to the Marquis’ chagrin. The Marquis finally called Oscar a homosexual in the press and Oscar sued for slander. The Marquis had no problem with providing a ton of evidence showing that Oscar was indeed aflame which a crime was in those days in England. So Oscar lost his law suit and went to the slammer. The strange thing was that after he was released his writings became even better. I guess he got an attitude adjustment, or some kind of adjustment, while in the slammer.

1832     In 1767 the future chief of the Sauk Indians Black Hawk was born in the village of Saukenuk in present day Illinois. From the very beginning of his life he and his tribe had to deal with the encroachment of the honkie settlers coming in from the east. Eventually one of the Sauk chiefs met with a group of honkies. The honkies fed this chief a bunch of whiskey and then persuaded him to cede all their lands west of the Mississippi. Finally the honkies began moving in on Black Hawk’s village which eventually became Rock Island, Illinois. Black Hawk got fed up and on this date, began a war against these white devils. He was successful at first but units of the United States Army came in and put a stop to it. Eventually Black Hawk was forced to surrender and the Native Americans took yet another step toward oblivion.

1830    It is on this day that Joseph Smith organizes the first Church of God of Latter Day Saints in Fayette County, New York. This was the first Mormon Church in America. I guess ya’ll know the history of Joseph Smith. A thumbnail sketch is that he claimed that he was visited by a Christian angel name Moroni who led him to a buried golden book with indecipherable writings. Maroni empowered Smith with the power to read the book and he deciphered it to different people, including his wife, who translated it into English. The book was supposedly the history of an ancient Hebrew sect that made it to North America. This book was known as the Book of Mormon and is the basis for the Mormon religion. Joseph Smith and his followers were kicked out of several states primarily because of their polygamy. Joseph Smith and his son were hanged outside Carthage, Illinois but the people of the church, led by Brigham Young, moved on and finally settled in the Great Salt Lake Valley, Utah.

Born today:

1892    US newscaster/explorer Lowell Thomas. He said “After you reach the age of 80 everything you see reminds you of something else.” Say, that reminds me.....

1725    Italian writer Giovanni de Seingalt. He said “Every man is free, but not if he does not believe it”. I believe it Gio, just test me.

1882    Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. He said “Music is better understood by children and animals.” Igor did not include Rap in this generalization.

Died today:

1996   US actress Greer Garson. She said of Marlon Brando “He is a good actor on the whole but I do not enjoy those who try to commune with their armpits, so to speak.”

1998    US country singer Tammy Wynette. She said “I never said I was the best singer in the world, just the loudest.” Stand by your man, Tammy.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.