Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

"I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die and find out that there isn't, than to live my life as if there is not a God and die and find out there is."

                                             Unknown

The employees of Sonny’s Café that gunned down three teenagers that were trying to hold them up will not be prosecuted. Spartanburg County Solicitor Trey Gowdy stated that it is perfectly legal for people to execute a citizen’s arrest with force even if it is lethal. By the way, my man Trey is running for US Congressman for the 4th district of South Carolina. He gets my vote. Our present Congressman is Bob Inglis. While this guy was campaigning he said that he would stay for only one term. He is working on his 7th term. He said that he was going to try and balance the budget and then voted to bail out the banks. Finally, when the sky started falling back in 2008 Bob and his wife along with several other Congressmen and their wives went on a "fact finding" mission to the Galapagos Islands where they went snorkling and then on to Cairns, Australia and snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef. They used a US Air Force jet and crew, including a chef, for this "mission". We are going to hell in a handbasket and he is swimming around in the Pacific Ocean on my dime. I went through official channels and asked Bob about this "mission" and recieved no response. That was his worst sin.

A few weeks ago the people of Columbia, South Carolina elected their very first black man as Mayor. The next morning the Mayor-elect was on his way to a radio interview. It was about 6:00a and still dark. The Mayor’s car collided with another car at a blind intersection and the passenger in the other car was seriously injured but the Mayor was uninjured. Witnesses said that the lights on the Mayor’s car were not on. The Mayor immediately asked for a separate law enforcement office to investigate this event rather than the Chief of Police of Columbia to avoid the appearance of malfeasance. The Chief of Police continued to direct the investigation himself but he did ask an opinion from the South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMasters and another from the head of the South Carolina State Troopers. The Mayor and the City Manager believe that the enforcement arm of the Attorney General known as State Law Enforcement Division or SLED should conduct the investigation. The Chief of Police still refused to relinquish the investigation and was fired. He said that he would appeal the dismissal but it is for naught, there is a definite chain of command.

Recently a 15 year old girl went to the hospital for a minor injury and told the nurse about Danae Stukes who was an official in her church. She was staying in the Stukes home about a year ago when her parents were out of town. She said that Stukes convinced her that she should allow him and her to "practice" sex so she would know what to expect from her boyfriends in the future and they “practiced” several times. The girl was 14 years old at the time making it statutory rape. Stukes was arrested and released on a $15,000 bond. I think I will use that line…”Hey baby, do you want to go practice?”

The oil leak is still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico with no solution in sight. I did read an article by the EPA saying that oil and grease that is washed off our roads into storm sewers and eventually into our rivers that end up in the oceans contributes to the pollution of our waters far, far more than all other oil well/oil tankers accidents combined.

This date in history May 12

1937    Earlier in December of 1936 the King of England, Edward VII abdicated the throne so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. As incredible as it sounds this man gave up a spot in history reserved for English monarchs for a woman he loved. Wallis Simpson could not be Queen because she was not of noble birth and was a divorcee. So on this date Edward’s brother titled George VI and his consort Lady Elizabeth are crowned King and Queen of England in Westminster Abbey with a ceremony that was a thousand years old. King George VI and Winston Churchill were instrumental in maintaining the British morale during WWII and especially during the so-called Blitz. The Blitz was an air bombardment of England engineered by German General Herman Goering who convinced Adolph Hitler that Germany could break the morale of the English people with air power alone. It didn’t work. Thanks to King George and Winston Churchill who visited every bombed out region of London and other cities in England encouraging the citizenry and the bulldog attitude of the English prevailed. Not only that, King George and Elizabeth continued to live in Buckingham Palace in spite of the bombing as a show of defiance. King George fell ill in 1949 but continued to do his stately duties until his death in 1952. After his death, his eldest daughter was named Queen as Elizabeth II and was crowned in June 11, 1953. She is still with us and has attended the Kentucky Derby. She loves to play the ponies. I heard yesterday that a reserved box seat at the Derby is $200,000. It may be bullshit, but I would not doubt it.

1780    On this date the American army suffers its worst defeat in the Revolutionary war when the city of Charleston, South Carolina surrenders unconditionally to the 10,000 man British army led by Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton. The Continental Army in Charleston was commanded by Major General Benjamin Lincoln. Clinton chose to surround the city on April 2 and establish a siege. After the surrender, the British captured 3,000 troops and an enormous quantity of equipment and supplies with the loss of only 250. But there was a price to be paid for their victory. American guerilla leaders, Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter and Nathanial Greene stepped up their attacks to a blistering pace and eventually the British forces were forced back into Virginia where they were trapped by General George Washington and the French navy at Yorktown, Virginia and were forced to surrender virtually assuring a Continental victory in the war. Washington showed some class at the surrender, he allowed General Benjamin Lincoln to accept British General Cornwallis’s sword as a symbol of surrender. What goes around.....

1864    This began the second day of combat at the Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. It began at the crack of dawn with US General Winfield Scott Hancock attacking the center of the Confederate lines and eventually broke through. They paused for a small celebration but were soon hauling ass back to where they came from after a ferocious Confederate counter-attack. The center of the Confederate lines was in the shape of an inverted “U” known later as the “Bloody Angle”. There was close quarters contact and hand-to-hand fighting at the peak of that angle for nearly 20 hours and the eventual result was a standoff. There were bodies five deep on both sides of the “angle” that have to be cleared out to make room for the living. When it became apparent to Grant’s superior, General Henry Halleck that this operation was going to be very costly in lives he asked Grant if he was going to re-deploy and Grant answered with “No sir, I plan to fight along this line if it takes all summer”, and stay he did. The fighting ended just before dawn on May 13. Eventually Lee had to withdraw toward Petersburg, Virginia where a grinding siege began.

1832    On this date William Sublette departs Independence, Missouri with a mule pack train full of supplies headed for a rendezvous at Pierre’s Hole, Idaho. Sublette’s father moved his large family from Kentucky to the Missouri frontier about 1817. His father set up a tavern in what is now Saint Charles, Missouri. William’s father died in 1823 and he joined one of the fur trapping expeditions. He soon found soon that fur trapping was no piece of cake. His expedition was attacked by a band of Arikara Indians where several men were killed and most of their supplies were stolen. The next year he joined with the famous frontiersman Jedediah Smith in another fur trapping expedition. Smith was not anxious to encounter the Indians so he took a little used trail in the Northern Rockies and discovered the famous South Pass. By 1826 Sublette was recognized as a seasoned mountain man and was in demand as a scout and guide. It was Sublette, among others that established the “rendezvous” system whereby the fur trappers and the suppliers met once a year at a specified location and the fur trappers traded their pelts for needed supplies. When Sublette arrived at this year’s rendezvous point of Pierre’s Hole, Idaho he met with his brother Milton whom he had not seen for several years. After taking care of business, Milton headed southwest with a small group. After about seven miles, Milton’s group met with a group of Nez Perce Indians and one of the group foolishly shot and killed one of the Indians and a fight ensued. William and the others heard the gunfire and headed that way. Upon arriving William saw that the trappers had the Indians outnumbered seven to one and so joined into the fight. The fight lasted until dark with the trappers losing 25 of their number. The next morning the Indians were gone. Sublette retired from active fur trapping in 1836 and moved to Saint Louis and became a businessman and gentleman farmer. Sublette contracted tuberculosis and died in Pittsburgh in 1845. He was headed to Cape May, New Jersey to recuperate. I would have thought he would have headed for the southwestern desert. Doc Holliday did, but he died anyway come to think of it.

Born today:

1828    English artist Dante Rossetti. He said “The worst time for an atheist is when he is very grateful and has no one to thank.”

1907    American actress Katherine Hepburn. She said “If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.”

1925    US baseball great Yogi Berra. When asked about Joe DiMaggio marrying Marilyn Monroe he said “I don’t know if it is good for baseball or not but it sure beats the hell out of rooming with Phil Rizzuto.” I love Yogi. He also said “Baseball is 50% hitting, 50% pitching and 50% defense.” He also said “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow