Daily history

Good morning,


Quote of the day:

“Whatever biases and/or conclusions you may have drawn or established are almost always based on hearsay unless you as an individual are an eyewitness or ear witness. If you read something in a book, in the electronic media or even talk to someone that was a witness to particular event, the descriptions are totally different from person to person. The reason is that every individual has pre-conceived ideas and beliefs and will either intentionally or subconsciously embellish certain portions of the event that agrees with what they believe and omit those parts of the event that disagrees with them. That is just human nature. That is why that the longer after a commission of a crime, the more unreliable an eyewitness testimony becomes. The ultimate conclusion is that if you are not an eye or ear witness to an event but forward a description to others that you have heard or read about, you are just fostering gossip or propaganda because the author(s) may have had an agenda. It is this human frailty that is cultivated by dictators and despots in the past and present to sway public opinion. See Germany under Hitler. Where does the truth lie? It lies in the mind of the eye or ear witness for a very short period of time. Any time subsequent to the event is corrupted by other information flooding into the senses every minute of every day. Be wary of what you read or hear and the deductions you may draw…they could be (probably are) based on corrupted, biased and prejudicial information… as Polonius told his son in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, ‘To thine own self be true’”....because no one else will.

                                         Al Campbell

I want to personally thank President Obama and the present Democratic Party for a series of screw-ups that will guarantee a flip-flop in the majorities in the House and Senate this coming November. The most recent one is the Justice Department filing suit against the “Arizona” law and the judge essentially castrating it. This is the first time in American history that the United States has used our money and their time to file a law suit against law enforcement. It is clear that the Democratically control House and Senate bailed out companies that did not deserve it, forced unwanted legislation down our throats, and finally went against 65% of the nation that wanted the Arizona Law to be enacted as written. Thank you, Barak, but come January of 2011 a dramatic change will take place in Congress that will metaphorically castrate you and your attempt at turning this great nation into a third world country. You did it with arrogance and unmitigated egotism. You should have gone to the Boy Scouts Jamboree rather that to that piece of fluff call “The View” and then tell us that what you did was best for America! You went on that show because it would be seen nationwide knowing you have sunk to an all time low in the most recent polls. Your appearance was not “what is best for America”, you did it because you thought it would be best for your image, Boy Scouts of America notwithstanding. You were wrong, but thanks again for screwing up over and over which ensures the Patriots a chance to take our country back.

I don’t know what made me think of it but during Desert Storm a US Marine unit was crossing over from Saudi Arabia into Kuwait near the coast. There was a series of bunkers built by the Iraqis and they were all occupied by less than professional Iraqi soldiers that were facing highly trained US Marines. I still have an image in my mind of a US Marine that was naked from the waist up with his undershirt tied around his head like a bandana. His arms were covered top to bottom with tattoos and he was yelling at the Iraqis to get their young asses out of those bunkers while waving an M-16 in one hand and a pistol (looked like a Glock) in the other. The Iraqis came crawling out of those bunkers with their hands on top of their heads. They would not even look at the Marine they were looking at the ground, y’all. It was funny.

It appears that in anticipation of the Republicans taking control of the House and Senate, three Republican Senators are assembling a Constitutional amendment that will disallow a child born in the United States to illegal aliens WILL NOT automatically be an American citizen. They are apparently finally hearing us. The most amazing thing of all of this is that one of the leaders of this action is that Republican Senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham. It was Lindsey that tried to get the so called “amnesty” bill for the illegal aliens passed but it failed. Like I said, the truth is negotiable…to a politician.

This date in history August 2

1939    On this date the world famous physicist Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt urging that the United States exercise “watchfulness and if necessary, quick action” to develop a nuclear device for warfare. Einstein has been talking with other European physicists like, Louis Szilard, Neils Bohr and Edward Teller; all had come to the US to escape Hitler, who was convinced that the Nazi regime led by Adolph Hitler was relatively close to perfecting a nuclear weapon. Roosevelt took Einstein’s advice and formed a “Uranium Committee” that in 1942 eventually became the “Manhattan Project” which was the name for the program to develop a nuclear bomb. The lead scientist was a brilliant but sometime obtuse man named J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer and his military counterpart General Leslie Groves clashed frequently over Groves’ insistence of air tight security which severely limited the movements of the scientists involved. But in just under three years this project delivered enough fissionable Uranium and Plutonium to produce three bombs. The test bomb (Plutonium) was detonated in the middle of a New Mexico desert in July of 1945 and the world changed forever. By the way, Einstein had no part in the development of this weapon except for his theories that had been published 20 years before.

1776    Exactly one month before the Continental Congress had accepted a proposal by Richard Henry Lee that “the colonies had a right and ought to be a free and separate nation.” Lee’s draft was taken under Thomas Jefferson’s wing and edited into what we know as the immortal Declaration of Independence. The president of the Congress John Hancock signed it immediately but the others wanted time to savor it before signing. They gathered on this date again in Philadelphia for the formal signing. The signatures began going from north to south with Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire signing first and George Walton of Georgia signing last. James Duane, Robert Livingston, John Jay and John Dickenson refused to sign. Then there were the fence riders in Carter Braxton, Robert Morris, George Reed and Edward Rutledge (SC) didn’t like it but they signed it anyway to give an appearance of unity. Five representatives were absent in George Washington (in the field), John Sullivan, James Clinton, Christopher Gadsden and the Governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry. The news of what happened on this fateful day arrived in London on September 8 and King George III peed his pants.

1865    The Confederate cruiser CSS Shenandoah was on patrol in the northern Pacific taking out Union whaling ships when on this date he was notified by a British merchantman that Lee had surrendered and the American Civil war was over. Earlier this ship commanded by Captain James I. Waddell had sailed around Cape Horn and immediately captured and burned 5 Yankee whaling vessels in the southern Pacific. Then he snuck into Melbourne, Australia for supplies and re-fitting. In January of 1865 he sailed out of Melbourne and headed directly for the whaling grounds around Alaska and raised almighty hell with the Yankee whalers, burning most of them. It is estimated that he did $1.6 million in damages to the Yankee Merchant Marine. After accepting the British word that the war was over, Waddell pulled off another spectacular feat. He sailed from Alaska to Liverpool, England non-stop. He was not about to surrender to those damned Yankees.

1942    On this date the body of Mexican-American Jose Diaz was found near Sleepy Lagoon Lake near Los Angeles. Jose had been beaten to death. The police arrested 22 teen age boys of Mexican descent and jailed all of them for the murder. The police did not have one iota of proof or evidence but prejudice against Mexicans was prevalent in those days. The police hated the “Zoot” suits that the Mexicans wore and the city council passed a law that it was a felony to wear them in the city. At the trial the police testified that the Mexicans came from a blood line (Aztecs) that believed in human sacrifice and at least bloodletting and it was just “in there blood”. A formidable defense for the 22 was formed by several actors that realized what was happening here. It didn’t help, all of them went to jail, and 12 of them went to San Quentin. Within a few days a couple of American sailors were attacked and beaten by a group of Mexicans. A few days after that, hundreds of sailors hit the streets and beat the crap out of anyone they thought was Mexican. This mini-war continued for four days until the US Navy forbade their sailors to leave US Navy property and the LA city council cancelled the law making it a felony to wear a Zoot suit. Two years later, a federal appeals judge threw out the convictions of all the Mexicans and they were released.

1876     The 39 year old “Wild Bill” Hickok is playing poker at the No. 10 saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota. Bill had settled down from his wilder days and was eking out a living playing cards. Un-typically Bill was sitting with his back to the saloon door, normally he insisted on facing the door. A wannabe gunslinger named Jack McCall walked in and came up behind Bill and shot him once in the back of the head killing him instantly. Strangely, McCall tried to shoot others but every other round in his pistol was a dud. Two weeks later, McCall went to meet his maker wearing a hemp necktie.

Born today:

1871 US writer John Sloan. He said “Since we have to speak well of the dead, lets give them hell while they are alive.”

1905    US actress Myrna Loy. She said “I think that carrying on a life that is meant to be private in public is a breach of taste, common sense and mental hygiene.” I do to, Myrna. Somebody tell that to Brittany Spears, Lindsay Lohan, et al.

1924    US black writer James Baldwin. He said “Anyone that has lived in poverty knows how expensive it is to be poor.” Baldwin was a gifted writer.

1924    Carroll “Archie Bunker” O’Conner. Archie Bunker said “God don’t make no mistakes. That is how he became God.” That is bedrock logic, ya’ll

1957    US singer songwriter Mojo Nixon. When speaking of his home town of Danville, Virginia he said “All you could do is ride around town and get drunk, or get drunk and ride around town.” That sounds a lot like Greenville, SC.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow