Daily history

Good morning,




Quote of the day:

“If you ask me the three scariest things facing the human race is nuclear war, global warming and Windows Vista.”

Dave Barry



In my last lesson I mentioned that Admiral Husband Kimmel, the commander of the US Naval Fleet in Pearl Harbor, and General Walter Short the US Army commander in Pearl Harbor were court martialed. That is not correct. The whole event was examined by a Congressional Committee and Kimmel and Short were relieved of their command and found derelict in their duties. Admiral Kimmel was also reduced to his permanent rank of Rear Admiral. Later on these charges were found to be wrongly administered but it was too late then. In the military, unlike Congress, when things go wrong they begin chopping at the top.



Most of y’all have read about a jewelry store owner down close to Houston that was involved in an attempted robbery. What happened was this: A man came in and pretended to look around then all of a sudden two other men burst through the door brandishing pistols and shouted “This is a robbery.” The robbers tied up the store owner’s wife and came over to tie up the owner. He pulled out a pistol from his waist band and instantly killed the closest robber. An open gunfight erupted. The store owner dove for and retrieved a shotgun and cut the other two robbers to ribbons with several shotgun blasts. The owner is in stable condition with three gunshot wounds of his own. He will survive. The three robbers went to meet their maker in several pieces.



The “Sons of The Confederacy” are planning a reenactment of the acceptance of the Instrument of Secession by the South Carolina Legislature in 1860. The President of this organization declares that slavery was indeed an abomination but this reenactment and dance afterward has nothing to do with slavery. It is about men and women that stood up for their right to secede. The NAACP plans a protest stating that secession was powered by the desire to keep slaves. The actual reason for the reenactment is determined by those participating not outside observers and their suppositions. I just have one question. How much longer would slavery have existed had it not been for the American Civil War? Be grateful for what happened when it happened. Do not grieve for what could have been. The Civil War began because several states seceded from the Union and Lincoln felt that he could not let that happen, not for any other moralistic reasons.



In day 10 of the trial of Stephen Nodine for the murder of his mistress Angel Downs continued with cross examination of a prosecution expert witness on suicide by the defense. The defense produced their own suicide “expert”. The prosecutor asked the expert on what evidence did he base his conclusion that Angel committed suicide. He responded that he had read Angels medical history from five years ago and knew that she had complained about her financial problems. The prosecutor asked if he had read the statements by Angel’s friends that she had told them that if she was found dead it would be because of Stephen not suicide, or another statement from her friends that she had begun a new relationship with another man and was excited about it and finally that she had started a plan to resolve her financial problems. The “expert” confessed that he had not read any of that testimony. There is little question in my mind that this so called expert was paid a huge sum of money to testify what the defense told him to. His confession that he had not researched recent events adds to the burden of the defense. I personally think Stephen is headed to the joint. Just think if he had not been so snot-nosed he could have had Angel. Now he might be going to have a 300 pound sex maniac for a roommate for the rest of his life. By the way, all testimony has been concluded and the jury will be charged on Monday and will retire to discuss a verdict. I will keep y’all advised.



I normally try to steer clear of pure politics but I am impelled to say this. I am really dismayed at the quality of our leadership both in the White House and the Capitol. President Obama seems to be way over his head and is at a loss for what direction to go and allows the Democratic leaders in Congress to dictate whence we are headed. That is the responsibility of the Executive branch. Obama is a good and entrancing speaker but there is much said about nothing. He appears to be wandering with no goal in sight. I personally do not believe he has the credentials to be President and may indeed be a “sleeper”. But that is way, way out in left field but is a possibility. OK, I feel better now.



One of the finest blues singers that y’all have never heard of died last Friday at the age of 55. It was Robin Rogers. Robin died of hepatitis that she probably received from a dirty needle that she used many years earlier. She ran away from a dysfunctional family at the age of 15 and slept and ate wherever she could and was easy prey for drug dealers. She learned to play a guitar and heard the blues as sung on the street by the homeless. It struck home. She was finally recognized for the talent that she was at about the age of 35 and cleaned up her act. She had 20 years of peace and fulfillment until she went to have a physical to get life insurance for her and her new husband. She was denied insurance because she tested positive for hepatitis. That was about a year ago. Anyway a wonderful talent has gone and it is our great loss. Y’all can find her on YouTube. Enjoy.



This date in history December 20

1862   On this date Confederate General Earl Van Dorn makes a successful raid on US General Ulysses Grant’s supply depot in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Grant was on his way to Vicksburg, Mississippi to capture this final Confederate bastion on the Mississippi River. Grant was approaching Vicksburg from the east and US General William Sherman was approaching from the north. This two pronged attack depended greatly on being supplied on a regular basis. The Confederates knew they could not survive a coordinated attack but they also knew that the Yankees needed their supplies. The Confederates decided to send Van Dorn with a fairly large cavalry unit from Grenada, Mississippi up to Holly Springs. Van Dorn easily ran off the small US infantry unit that was protecting the depot. He gathered up as many supplies that he could carry off and destroyed the rest. This attack caused Grant to delay the attack on Vicksburg until more supplies could be brought in. This was the high point in Van Dorn’s military career because he had been defeated in his last two engagements. Van Dorn was a notorious boozer and womanizer and five weeks from this date he was caught in bed with a married woman and her husband unceremoniously shot and killed him.



1860   On this date the South Carolina state legislature votes to secede from the United States in protest of the election of Abraham Lincoln as President because Lincoln was a Republican. This political party was formed in 1850 for the sole purpose of the abolition of slavery. Soon after South Carolina’s secession, six other states seceded and they formed the Confederate States of America. After the first shots were fired, four other states joined the Confederacy.



1986   On this date three black men were driving from Brooklyn to Queens, New York when their car broke down. They walked several miles to the pre-dominantly Italian neighborhood of Howard Beach and went into a pizza parlor to use a phone to call for help. They were told that there was no phone available so they ordered a pizza. Afterward they left and a gang of white teenager was waiting outside. The whites attacked and one of the blacks ran out into the street and was struck and killed by an automobile. One of the other blacks was able to run away but the other was not and was severely beaten but survived. This event stirred racial tensions in New York to a fever pitch that attracted national attention. The Reverend Al Sharpton organized a protest march and demanded a special prosecutor to look into this outrage because the District Attorney of Queens could not be trusted to be unbiased. Governor Mario Cuomo agreed and appointed Charles Hynes as special prosecutor. Hynes finally was able to convict three of the teenagers for the fatality. This was not the end of it. In 2005 three other black men were attacked by a group of white teenager wielding baseball bats. Two of the men escaped unscathed but one was beaten. Racial tensioned flared again. The state of New York passed severe penalties for hate-crimes and things calmed down…for now.



1987   On the day before the ferry Doma Paz had departed an Island near Leyte in the Philippines headed for Manila. The ferry was rated for 1,400 passengers but the demand for the 375 mile trip was great since it was near Christmas so they crammed about 4,000 passengers aboard. After the ferry was out in the open most of the veteran crew was drinking and watching TV with a rookie helmsman at the wheel. The ferry was approaching a busy straight when the 8,000 barrel oil tanker Victor loomed out of the darkness and the two ships collided and a violent explosion and fire ensued. Rescue ships arrived on the scene but were unable to get anywhere near because of the intense heat. There were only 23 survivors mostly from the tanker. For weeks scorched and burned bodies washed up on beaches up and down the Philippine Sea. It was the worst marine disaster in history.



1836   On this date President Andrew Jackson introduced to Congress a treaty that he had negotiated with Ioway, Fox, Sac, Sioux and Omaha Indian tribes. The tribe had agreed to move to lands designated by the US to make room for settlers. However, the US had negotiated over 400 treaties with the Indians most of which were ignored or broken by the US depending on the financial considerations. These events are a black mark on the history of this great nation.

Born today:



1865   Irish Patriot Maud Gonne. She said “The English may batter us to pieces but they will never break our spirit.” Hang in there, Maud. We Americans kicked their ass twice in fifty years.



1894   Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies. When chastised about his superiority attitude he said “Considering the company I keep in this place, it is hardly surprising.” The world hates snobs, Bob.



1902   Chicago mayor Richard Daley. He said “We shall reach greater and greater platitudes of achievement.” Dick, you were a dumb-ass, a very powerful dumb-ass, but still a dumb-ass.



1579   English writer John Fletcher. He said “I find the medicine worse than the malady.” John, you must know Doc Hammond.



Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.