Good morning,
Quote of the day:
When asked what it take to be a winner he said “i can't answer that but what I do know is that 'win' comes from within.”
Michael Jordan
I read an article about a shop in Austin, Texas that only sells hot sauce. The name of this joint is “Tears of Joy Hot Sauce Shop” I ain't talking Tabasco, I am talking flame-thrower, laser beam hot lava. They have a sauce made from the hottest known pepper, the immortal Naga Viper. But that ain't the hottest concoction on premises. The hottest is a brew called “Blair's 16 Million Reserve”. This is not a sauce, it is a white powder that is sold in a small vial for $300 each. Before the shop will sell it to you, you must sign a release that you will not sue if it puts you into convulsions and then you receive a 30 minute lecture as to its use. The brew was concocted by obtaining the hottest peppers known, including the Naga Viper, boiling them down to a sludge and then drying the results into a powder. The premise is mixing tiny bits of the powder with a sauce to add a “kick”. Police grade pepper spray has a Scovile Heat Index of between 100,000 and 200,000...Blair's 16 Million Reserve has a Scovile Index of over a million. The shop has it's own brands like “Marie's Dagger”, “Pain is Good” and “Austin in August” which is titled “The bottled fury of our meanest month.” I like a little Tabasco once in a while but no really hot stuff, I am no masochist. Pain makes me mad...there ain't nothing enjoyable or sexy about pain...are you listening, Elaine?
The answer to the trivia question as to why do Pronghorn antelope have such speed and endurance if there are no predators their equal...The answer is that 12,000 years ago there WAS a predator their equal...known as the North American Cheetah which is now extinct. The Pronghorn was this cat's prime source of food. Why are they now extinct? I know not. The Pronghorn don't know the Cheetah is extinct so the idea of staying fast and enduring is still in their genes...By the way, Pronghorn have superb vision and can see with acuity of a human with 6 power binoculars.
This past Saturday the Port Royal (near Beaufort), South Carolina fire department was called to an apartment fire. After they arrived, a NAKED man jumped into the truck and sped away. Port Royal is a small but very old and quaint town. This jackass hit three or four cars and ran over and killed a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk. He continued on toward Beaufort but eventually crashed into a tree. The EMS and State Troopers met at the scene of the crash and jerked this jackass out of the cab and he wanted to fight. He changed his mind when he saw a police dog running his way. I would too, considering what was exposed. I can promise you that he will not see the light of day for years to come...and deservedly so.
I don't care what anyone says, Bill Maher is not funny...obnoxious maybe.
Yesterday I sent y'all a short bio about a famous woman. Today it will be a bio about a pirate that prowled the east coast and the West Indies...He was close friends with Blackbeard (Edward Teach) and some of his descendents live right here in good old Greenville, ain't that right Trey?
Stede Bonnet
The Gentlemen Pirate
This is a story of a well heeled Englishman of culture that became a pirate because of a woman. Stede Bonnet was born on Barbados in 1688 the son of a wealthy plantation owner. I do not know what his farm products were but in those days Barbados was famous for sugar cane and rum. Stede inherited the estate after his father’s death in 1694. In 1709 he married a woman of means named Mary Allamby also of Barbados. After several years of Mary’s bitching and in spite of having three children and also in spite of he not having but the most rudimentary sailing skills, in 1717 Stede decided to take up piracy. Stede bought a 30 ton sloop, named it The Revenge, probably because of his bad experience with his wife and outfitted it with 10 guns and hires a pirate crew of 30 and gave them a salary. This was unheard of in the pirating arena, most other pirates allowed their crewmen to share in whatever booty was captured. Stede headed for the American east coast and is successful in capturing and looting several ships but then he ran across a Spanish man-of-war and a sharp battle ensued and Stede and company are forced to withdraw after suffering several killed and many severely wounded including Stede. Stede ordered his ship to Nassau in the Bahamas, a well known refuge for pirates. It was there that he met two pirates named John Hornigold and Edward Teach, also known as “Blackbeard”. Stede was not getting any better so he turned over command of his ship to Blackbeard and out they went to the American coast looking for prey with Stede as a guest of Blackbeard. As y’all have heard the name of Blackbeard’s flagship was Queen Anne’s Revenge. Blackbeard probably named his ship that as a slap at the king of England at the time. Stede had a meeting with the Governor of North Carolina who offered him a pardon if he would go “privateering” against Spanish shipping that was coming back from Mexico and Central America laden to the scuppers with gold captured from the Aztecs, Maya and Inca and give the Governor half of everything he captured. By now Stede has healed well enough to take command of his own ship and he and Blackbeard parted company. Stede wanted to go pirating again but he also did not want to lose his pardon from the North Carolina so he decided to use the alias of “Captain Thomas” and renamed his ship The Royal James and went pirating again. The good Governor offered Blackbeard a similar deal whereby Blackbeard could use Okracoke inlet and Bath, North Carolina in particular as a secure home base but in return he must give the governor half of his booty. Stede’s ship was leaking badly and needed careening. This meant the ship was leaned over to one side and the seams on the bottom were re-packed to stop the leaks. To do this they needed shallow and calm water. Stede chose the shallow and calm estuary of the Cape Fear River North Carolina. In the mean time the Governor of South Carolina had got fed up with Stede and Blackbeard attacking nearly every ship departing Charleston, South Carolina harbor and sent a hired militia led by Colonel Robert Rhett to put a stop to it. Rhett caught Stede in the Cape Fear estuary while still careening. There was a battle for several hours but the pirates were surrounded by a force of superior numbers and were forced to surrender. Stede and company were brought to Charleston and put on trial along with another pirate named Richard Worley and his crew. Somehow Stede escaped but not before promising the South Carolina Governor that he would cut off his own arms and legs to prevent him from ever pirating again. The Governor did not buy it and sent a search party out looking for Stede. Stede had hired two slaves that had access to a boat to take him and his sailing master to safety. The four were cornered on Sullivan’s Island (the home of my favorite watering hole, Poe’s Tavern) and the two slaves were killed and Stede and his sailing master were brought back to Charleston to be tried before Judge Nicholas Trott. The Trott family was famous in South Carolina history and was mentioned in my essay on the history of Daniel Island. Anyway, Judge Trott gave no quarter and sentenced Stede and his crew plus Richard Worley and his crew to death by hanging. The whole crowd was indeed hanged at “White’s Point” which is today the southernmost point of the Charleston, South Carolina peninsula, better known as “The Battery”. The whole bunch was “buried” on the southern shore of James Island “at low tide”. We know what this means. They were left for the crabs and sharks to devour. By the way, after Blackbeard made his deal with the Governor of North Carolina, the Governor of Virginia knew that every ship entering or leaving the Chesapeake Bay was at risk so he sent a militia hunting for Blackbeard. They cornered Blackbeard near Ocracoke Island, North Carolina and after a savage hand-to-hand fight Blackbeard was eventually killed and beheaded. Thus essentially ended the pirating in the Carolinas but it still flourished elsewhere as long as Spanish ship were hauling all that gold back to Spain via the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Straights, the Bahamas and the American east coast.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Good morning,
Quote of the day:
“The more I learn about people, the more I like dogs”.
Dr. Walter Robinson, DVM
Trivia question:
There are Pronghorn antelope on the great plains of North America that can run 40 to 50 MPH for extended periods. There are no predators out there that can even come close to them for speed and stamina. Why do they have these attributes if there are no predators that are their equal?
This is just a reminder. On this date in 1945 the United States Marines had been in a battle with the Japanese army for about a week on a small island in the Pacific named Iwo Jima. The Marines were being killed or wounded at the rate of three every two minutes. It took over a month for the island and its three airfields to be declared secure. This bloodbath is the only battle where the Marines suffered more casualties than they inflicted. There were a total of 23,000 Marine casualties with about 9,500 killed. The Japanese suffered 21,800 killed and 218 surrendering. The Japanese commander and his soldiers knew that they would never get out of there alive. They knew there was no way to get reinforcements, replacements, food, water, ammo, etc. The US Navy had the Island surrounded, so the Japanese fought to the death. Their job was to make the capture of Iwo Jima as expensive in human lives as possible. When the end of the battle was near the Japanese commander sent a message to Tokyo “Our guns and ammunition have been destroyed. We have not eaten or drank for five days. But our spirits are high...we have enough ammunition for one final glorious attack tonight...may Japan exist for a thousand years.” As I said, there were 218 Japanese survivors. There were 26 US Medals of Honor awarded in this one battle alone. US Admiral Chester Nimitz said “In this battle uncommon valor was a common virtue”.
Recently Grand Central Pizza in Atlanta put a notice on their front door stating that any unruly children AND their parents will be asked to leave. Why would a business have to warn parents that their undisciplined little monster's behavior will not be tolerated like they are at home? It is because the freaking parents don't want to go through the trouble to teach them that there other people here in the world besides them. But no, they expected the rest of the world to accept their wild and raucous behavior as being normal or “cute”. I can assure your that if I was out with my parents, especially my father, there would be absolutely no obnoxious behavior or discipline would be immediately administered or promised to me later on. My parent were not mean to me and I know they loved me. I do not feel that I was scarred but I knew what my limits were and so did my parents and that, my friends, is a good thing and certainly is not child abuse. The next time you go into a Wal-mart or your favorite grocery store and just stop and listen to the yelling and caterwauling of the little kiddies running wild. The same is true in restaurants and even libraries. Recently my trusty HP laptop got sick and I went to the local library to do some research. It was “Kid's Day”. They may have been there to learn how useful a library can be but what they did was run at full speed up and down the aisles screeching in C-flat at the top of their lungs and at the volume of an F-16. The teacher/parents did the best they could at corralling these beasts but it was for naught, their discipline was already compromised. A while back I was in a super market and a child of about four was running down an aisle clearly trying to run away from his caretaker/parent who was running after him. The little brat had already ran into several people but I cornered him against a counter and kept him there until the adult caught up. Just before she dragged him away screaming and yelling he reached over and tried to bite me on the leg. Another event was a plane ride from Houston to Atlanta. There was about a six year male child about three seats back that was making everybody's trip miserable with his kicking the back of the seat in front and yelling to the stewardess about everything. He was on there by himself and was under close observation by the crew. After we arrived at Atlanta, a stewardess escorted him to an adult that was waiting for him. I followed them both and had a chat with the adult about that monster's behavior and she said “I know, but I don't know what to do about it.” I know.
Rather that a variety of historical facts, I will add one of my biographies about a famous woman.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
1122-1204
This is a biography of one of the most fascinating people in history. Her life reads like a soap opera so I will give the main characters soap opera nicknames to save space and they are:
Eleanor of Aquitaine………..Ellie
Henry II, King of England….Hank
Louis VII, King of France…..Lou
Eleanor’s real name was Alia-Aenor meaning “another Aenor”. Eleanor’s mother’s name was Aenor of Chatellerault and a female birth was of no consequence in the high middle ages, they were looking for male heirs to carry on the family name. Her father was William X, Duke of Aquitaine, one of the richest men in Europe and Ellie was his eldest child and the apple of William’s eye. William died when Ellie was 15 and he left everything to Ellie making her the richest woman in history to date. William had contacted the king of France, Louis VI earlier and requested that in the event of his death Louis VI would promulgate the marriage of Ellie and Louis’ son who would become Louis VII, king of France. Louis VI obliged William and after much pomp and circumstance, Ellie and Lou were married eventually making Ellie the Queen of France. There was one stipulation. Ellie made the Aquitaine estate exempt from being absorbed into the French realm. Aquitaine estate was in what is now south central France. Now here is where the fun starts. The 2nd Crusade began a few years after Lou became King and he being a very pious man, did the Pope’s bidding and started gathering an army to go to Jerusalem and try to kick the Muslims out. Ellie joined in the fervor and personally began recruiting men to go. She even offered 2,000 of her own vassals. Not only that, she insisted on going on the Crusade herself being the first woman to do so. Upon arrival in the Holy Land, Ellie became enamored with all those knights in shining armor and decided it was party time, especially with her uncle Raymond, a French knight. Many people were not pleased that Lou brought Ellie with him, but Lou was so enamored with his young bride that any thing she wanted was OK with him. Lou was an ineffective military leader; he was more of a religiously pious man. He was pretty wimpy on the whole. Even before leaving on the Crusade, Lou and Ellie were estranged and after they returned Ellie wearied of Lou’s weaknesses and began looking for a way out of the marriage. She found that they had a mutual relative which made their marriage illegal and Lou granted a divorce but kept custody of their two children. While all of this was going on, Ellie was scanning the countryside looking for a virile and powerful bachelor. She found one in the 19 year old Henry, the Duke of Normandy and heir to the English throne. Ellie wrangled a meeting with Hank and had a series of sleepovers. Ellie was a sexually experienced 30 year old woman and Hank was a 19 year old virtual virgin meaning that Hank didn’t have a chance. Soon after this encounter he and Ellie were married. Eventually Hank was crowned Henry II, the King of England and Ellie as Queen. Ellie and Hank squabbled from the git-go primarily because of what Ellie perceived as Hank’s indiscretions with other women. Although it was well known that Ellie’s pantyhose had been on fire continuously since the Crusades and she had innumerable trysts and brief encounters herself. You men that are married and those that have been married will understand how Ellie was able to justify this hypocrisy in her own mind. Nearly all women are capable of it. In fact one of her lovers was probably Hank’s father Geoffrey of Anjou who counseled Hank to not mess with Ellie from the start. But in spite of all of that, Ellie delivered Hank five sons and three daughters in a span of 13 years. They were William, Henry, Richard (the Lionhearted), Geoffrey, John, Matilda, Eleanor and Joan. Hank had many, many illegitimate children also. In spite of her obvious hypocrisy, Ellie went to France and starts planning the unseating of Hank with the help of the King of France among others. She calls in two of her sons to help plan a coup but her sons ain’t buying what Mom is selling and tell Hank what is going down. Hank too a ship over to France, gathered up Ellie and headed back to England. As soon as the ship docks at Southampton Hank sent her to the Castle of Winchester to cool her heel under house arrest. Ellie remained under arrest for 15 years in spite of her sons beseeching Hank to release her. While Ellie was paying her dues in Winchester, Hank strikes up a liaison with an Irish beauty named Rosemund Clifford. Normally, Hank was discreet with his mistresses, but he flaunted Rosemund for several years. Rosemund died in 1176 and was buried in the nunnery at Godstow and Hank contributed largely to the nunnery in her behalf. Hank died in 1186 and the unquestioned heir to the throne was he and Ellie’s son Richard. The only problem here was that Richard had been captured on the way home from yet another Crusade and was being held for ransom in a castle in Germany. Upon hearing of Hank’s death, Richard got word back to England to immediately release his Mother. Ellie was released and immediately beseeched the Pope to engineer the release of her son which he did, for a price. After an enormous ransom had been paid with a large chunk going to the Vatican, Richard was released and returned to England and was crowned King. During all of this time Ellie had engineered the marriage of two of her daughters to the King of Castile and the King of Navarre respectively. Ellie lived through the reign of Richard and a large part of the reign of her son King John also. It was her son King John that signed the Magna Carta declaring that the king was not omnipotent and granted certain rights. This document was the first its kind and laid the foundation for human rights in England. Ellie returned to Aquitaine for a while and in fact directed the defense of her castle from an attack by some of her grandchildren. What I am trying to tell you is that greed knows no limits even up to trying to savage your own grandmother. Ellie eventually tired of all of this hassle and went to the place of Hank and Richard’s tombs, Fontevraud Abbey, and took the oath of a nun. She lived the rest of her days in relative serenity. In 1204, at the age of 81, Ellie died and was buried along side her husband Henry II and son Richard I.
This tale of Eleanor is by no means complete with all the plots, intrigues and travels that occurred throughout her long life. But in summary she was the richest woman in history up until that time, the Queen of two countries, the mother of two Kings and the mother of two Queens. What a magnificent life.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Quote of the day:
“The more I learn about people, the more I like dogs”.
Dr. Walter Robinson, DVM
Trivia question:
There are Pronghorn antelope on the great plains of North America that can run 40 to 50 MPH for extended periods. There are no predators out there that can even come close to them for speed and stamina. Why do they have these attributes if there are no predators that are their equal?
This is just a reminder. On this date in 1945 the United States Marines had been in a battle with the Japanese army for about a week on a small island in the Pacific named Iwo Jima. The Marines were being killed or wounded at the rate of three every two minutes. It took over a month for the island and its three airfields to be declared secure. This bloodbath is the only battle where the Marines suffered more casualties than they inflicted. There were a total of 23,000 Marine casualties with about 9,500 killed. The Japanese suffered 21,800 killed and 218 surrendering. The Japanese commander and his soldiers knew that they would never get out of there alive. They knew there was no way to get reinforcements, replacements, food, water, ammo, etc. The US Navy had the Island surrounded, so the Japanese fought to the death. Their job was to make the capture of Iwo Jima as expensive in human lives as possible. When the end of the battle was near the Japanese commander sent a message to Tokyo “Our guns and ammunition have been destroyed. We have not eaten or drank for five days. But our spirits are high...we have enough ammunition for one final glorious attack tonight...may Japan exist for a thousand years.” As I said, there were 218 Japanese survivors. There were 26 US Medals of Honor awarded in this one battle alone. US Admiral Chester Nimitz said “In this battle uncommon valor was a common virtue”.
Recently Grand Central Pizza in Atlanta put a notice on their front door stating that any unruly children AND their parents will be asked to leave. Why would a business have to warn parents that their undisciplined little monster's behavior will not be tolerated like they are at home? It is because the freaking parents don't want to go through the trouble to teach them that there other people here in the world besides them. But no, they expected the rest of the world to accept their wild and raucous behavior as being normal or “cute”. I can assure your that if I was out with my parents, especially my father, there would be absolutely no obnoxious behavior or discipline would be immediately administered or promised to me later on. My parent were not mean to me and I know they loved me. I do not feel that I was scarred but I knew what my limits were and so did my parents and that, my friends, is a good thing and certainly is not child abuse. The next time you go into a Wal-mart or your favorite grocery store and just stop and listen to the yelling and caterwauling of the little kiddies running wild. The same is true in restaurants and even libraries. Recently my trusty HP laptop got sick and I went to the local library to do some research. It was “Kid's Day”. They may have been there to learn how useful a library can be but what they did was run at full speed up and down the aisles screeching in C-flat at the top of their lungs and at the volume of an F-16. The teacher/parents did the best they could at corralling these beasts but it was for naught, their discipline was already compromised. A while back I was in a super market and a child of about four was running down an aisle clearly trying to run away from his caretaker/parent who was running after him. The little brat had already ran into several people but I cornered him against a counter and kept him there until the adult caught up. Just before she dragged him away screaming and yelling he reached over and tried to bite me on the leg. Another event was a plane ride from Houston to Atlanta. There was about a six year male child about three seats back that was making everybody's trip miserable with his kicking the back of the seat in front and yelling to the stewardess about everything. He was on there by himself and was under close observation by the crew. After we arrived at Atlanta, a stewardess escorted him to an adult that was waiting for him. I followed them both and had a chat with the adult about that monster's behavior and she said “I know, but I don't know what to do about it.” I know.
Rather that a variety of historical facts, I will add one of my biographies about a famous woman.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
1122-1204
This is a biography of one of the most fascinating people in history. Her life reads like a soap opera so I will give the main characters soap opera nicknames to save space and they are:
Eleanor of Aquitaine………..Ellie
Henry II, King of England….Hank
Louis VII, King of France…..Lou
Eleanor’s real name was Alia-Aenor meaning “another Aenor”. Eleanor’s mother’s name was Aenor of Chatellerault and a female birth was of no consequence in the high middle ages, they were looking for male heirs to carry on the family name. Her father was William X, Duke of Aquitaine, one of the richest men in Europe and Ellie was his eldest child and the apple of William’s eye. William died when Ellie was 15 and he left everything to Ellie making her the richest woman in history to date. William had contacted the king of France, Louis VI earlier and requested that in the event of his death Louis VI would promulgate the marriage of Ellie and Louis’ son who would become Louis VII, king of France. Louis VI obliged William and after much pomp and circumstance, Ellie and Lou were married eventually making Ellie the Queen of France. There was one stipulation. Ellie made the Aquitaine estate exempt from being absorbed into the French realm. Aquitaine estate was in what is now south central France. Now here is where the fun starts. The 2nd Crusade began a few years after Lou became King and he being a very pious man, did the Pope’s bidding and started gathering an army to go to Jerusalem and try to kick the Muslims out. Ellie joined in the fervor and personally began recruiting men to go. She even offered 2,000 of her own vassals. Not only that, she insisted on going on the Crusade herself being the first woman to do so. Upon arrival in the Holy Land, Ellie became enamored with all those knights in shining armor and decided it was party time, especially with her uncle Raymond, a French knight. Many people were not pleased that Lou brought Ellie with him, but Lou was so enamored with his young bride that any thing she wanted was OK with him. Lou was an ineffective military leader; he was more of a religiously pious man. He was pretty wimpy on the whole. Even before leaving on the Crusade, Lou and Ellie were estranged and after they returned Ellie wearied of Lou’s weaknesses and began looking for a way out of the marriage. She found that they had a mutual relative which made their marriage illegal and Lou granted a divorce but kept custody of their two children. While all of this was going on, Ellie was scanning the countryside looking for a virile and powerful bachelor. She found one in the 19 year old Henry, the Duke of Normandy and heir to the English throne. Ellie wrangled a meeting with Hank and had a series of sleepovers. Ellie was a sexually experienced 30 year old woman and Hank was a 19 year old virtual virgin meaning that Hank didn’t have a chance. Soon after this encounter he and Ellie were married. Eventually Hank was crowned Henry II, the King of England and Ellie as Queen. Ellie and Hank squabbled from the git-go primarily because of what Ellie perceived as Hank’s indiscretions with other women. Although it was well known that Ellie’s pantyhose had been on fire continuously since the Crusades and she had innumerable trysts and brief encounters herself. You men that are married and those that have been married will understand how Ellie was able to justify this hypocrisy in her own mind. Nearly all women are capable of it. In fact one of her lovers was probably Hank’s father Geoffrey of Anjou who counseled Hank to not mess with Ellie from the start. But in spite of all of that, Ellie delivered Hank five sons and three daughters in a span of 13 years. They were William, Henry, Richard (the Lionhearted), Geoffrey, John, Matilda, Eleanor and Joan. Hank had many, many illegitimate children also. In spite of her obvious hypocrisy, Ellie went to France and starts planning the unseating of Hank with the help of the King of France among others. She calls in two of her sons to help plan a coup but her sons ain’t buying what Mom is selling and tell Hank what is going down. Hank too a ship over to France, gathered up Ellie and headed back to England. As soon as the ship docks at Southampton Hank sent her to the Castle of Winchester to cool her heel under house arrest. Ellie remained under arrest for 15 years in spite of her sons beseeching Hank to release her. While Ellie was paying her dues in Winchester, Hank strikes up a liaison with an Irish beauty named Rosemund Clifford. Normally, Hank was discreet with his mistresses, but he flaunted Rosemund for several years. Rosemund died in 1176 and was buried in the nunnery at Godstow and Hank contributed largely to the nunnery in her behalf. Hank died in 1186 and the unquestioned heir to the throne was he and Ellie’s son Richard. The only problem here was that Richard had been captured on the way home from yet another Crusade and was being held for ransom in a castle in Germany. Upon hearing of Hank’s death, Richard got word back to England to immediately release his Mother. Ellie was released and immediately beseeched the Pope to engineer the release of her son which he did, for a price. After an enormous ransom had been paid with a large chunk going to the Vatican, Richard was released and returned to England and was crowned King. During all of this time Ellie had engineered the marriage of two of her daughters to the King of Castile and the King of Navarre respectively. Ellie lived through the reign of Richard and a large part of the reign of her son King John also. It was her son King John that signed the Magna Carta declaring that the king was not omnipotent and granted certain rights. This document was the first its kind and laid the foundation for human rights in England. Ellie returned to Aquitaine for a while and in fact directed the defense of her castle from an attack by some of her grandchildren. What I am trying to tell you is that greed knows no limits even up to trying to savage your own grandmother. Ellie eventually tired of all of this hassle and went to the place of Hank and Richard’s tombs, Fontevraud Abbey, and took the oath of a nun. She lived the rest of her days in relative serenity. In 1204, at the age of 81, Ellie died and was buried along side her husband Henry II and son Richard I.
This tale of Eleanor is by no means complete with all the plots, intrigues and travels that occurred throughout her long life. But in summary she was the richest woman in history up until that time, the Queen of two countries, the mother of two Kings and the mother of two Queens. What a magnificent life.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Good morning,
Quote of the day:
“Good for the body is the work of the body, good for the soul is the work of the soul and good for either is the work of the other.”
Henry David Thoreau
Answer to trivia question as to who came in second in the 100 meter race that made Jesse Owens famous....Ralph Metcalfe.
I guess that all of y’all know about the so-called “health summit” that was held a while back at the behest of the President. It was a foregone conclusion the Democrats could ram through any health plan they felt like because of their majority positions in the legislative branch, the wishes of populous notwithstanding. What really happened was all the politicians did all they could to advance their personal political agenda. This nation is a Representative Republic meaning that our elected representatives are to be answerable to their constituency. They are supposed to be working for us. That is not what is happening, they are working for themselves and we can go to hell. I wish all of you would remember all of this when you go to the voting booth this coming November. It is time to clean house and take back control of the future of this nation.
I saw an interview of the original trainer of the killer whale Tilikum that killed its trainer a while ago. From what I could understand he said that he recommended that Tilikum not be a part of a performance group because he thought that the animal did not have the personality for it. He said that he should be kept for breeding purposes only. He did admit that the training group at Sea World was the best in the world and if anyone could train Tilikum it was them. He thought that Tilikum was in an “excited play” mood and did not have malice in mind. I detected a deep sorrow in this man and I think it was just as much for Tilikum as it was for the slain trainer.
A certain man has put his name in the hat for the upcoming election to the Richland County (Columbia area) South Carolina County Council. This man was tried and convicted of burglary and mail fraud (both are felonies) and did hard time back in 1999. I do not know what the qualification are for holding office in Richland County but being a convicted felon should not be eligible. But we all remember the mayor of Washington, Marion Berry, being convicted on a drug charge and Congress seized control of the city’s politics, and the good people of Washington electing Berry to the city council.
A friend sent me a series of movie clips about the United States Marines. It started with a Marine in “dress blues” holding a ceremonial sword in a salute. An interesting bit of trivia about the Marine ceremonial sword is this: The fledgling United States Merchant fleet was attempting to expand their trade but pirates operating out of Tripoli made Mediterranean trade difficult if not impossible. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson sent a Marine unit to take out the pirates. The Marines made an amphibious landing east of Tripoli and attacked. It was no contest and the Marines surrounded the main staging point of the pirates and killed or captured all of them. The king of the city that is now Tunis was so impressed with this victory that he gave the commander of the Marine unit a ceremonial sword. All Marine ceremonial swords since then are an exact replica of that sword.
While reading a history of WWII I ran across an account about the town of Landesberg, Germany. The Nazis had built a concentration camp about 4 miles from the town and all the prisoners were Jews. As the American army closed in, the Nazi prison guards shot as many of the prisoners they could until they ran out of ammo. After that they burned the shacks that those that were too weak to stand were housed and then they left. The camp was discovered by an 101st Airborne patrol. The commander of the 101nst, General Maxwell Taylor, took one look and declared martial law in the town. The mayor declared that he did not know that was going on. The next morning the mayor and his wife along with every adult in the town were given an escorted tour of the camp and were ordered to bury the bodies. That night the mayor and his wife committed suicide. That is not enough, as far as I am concerned.
This date in history February 27
1776 Earlier the Royal Governor of North Carolina, Josiah Martin, had ordered British Colonel Donald McLeod and 1,600 Loyalist soldiers to leave their encampment at Cross Creek, North Carolina and go to the North Carolina coastal town of Brunswick to rendezvous with another Loyalist unit. A 1,000 man Patriot force under the command of Colonel James Carswell decided to intercept the McLeod’s troops and prevent the meeting of the Loyalists. On this date the Patriots arrive ahead of the Loyalists coming from Cross Creek and prepare an ambush at the Moore’s Creek Bridge. Carswell arranges his artillery and troops evenly divided in the woods on either side of the bridge and wait. The Loyalists find out about the ambush but believing that it is just a small militia decide to cross the bridge anyway. So they gather at the bridge and yell “King George and broadswords” and begin running across the bridge only to be met with a hailstorm of musket balls and grape-shot from the Patriots. After only two salvos the Loyalists surrender. The planned gathering of a British/Loyalist army at Brunswick was cancelled and the British lost control of North Carolina. It was only two months later that North Carolina declared its independence from England. Josiah Martin knew he was in deep doodoo and departed the area. This was the first victory for the Patriots in an organized battle against the British/Loyalists. There is a monument and park there commemorating this great event
1827 Since the late 1600’s the French settlers in the New Orleans area had brought with them the tradition of the celebration of Carnival or Mardi Gras. It was mostly private parties at different homes. However, on this date a group of students that had been studying in France and enjoyed the celebration there, adorned themselves with costumes and masks and took to the streets of New Orleans to celebrate Fat Tuesday. As you might expect, it became a tradition except there was no organization and therefore in the 1850’s the celebration degenerated into a series of drunken street fights. Then a rich land owner near New Orleans organized the Krewe of Comus and they organized the parade and the tradition of the people in the parade throwing gifts at the observers. After that, many “Krewes” have been organized and the celebration is much better. However, Hurricane Katrina put a severe crimp into Mardi Gras but this year the city fathers of New Orleans tell us that the attendance at this year’s Fat Tuesday was about 90% of pre-Katrina days. According to what I have read, tourism is the largest industry in that city. Maybe so, but there is a hell of a lot of boat and barge traffic going through there.
1991 Years earlier two brother, Artie and Jim Mitchell, open a strip joint in San Francisco. The joint is a phenomenal success and the brothers become very rich. But in spite of that, they argue and fight frequently. When I say fight, I mean putting each other in the hospital on occasion. Then they decide to go into the porno film business when it was in its infancy. They being the first to make feature length porno movies made them both very, very rich but the fighting continued. On this date the 911 operator in Corte Madera, California gets an emergency call from Artie Mitchell saying he had been shot. In the background there are heard 8 shots with a 30 second break between two of them. The police arrive and find Jim wandering around in the yard with a rifle in his hand. Jim is arrested and charged with the murder of Artie. The prosecution uses the 911 tape and reconstructs what they think happened during the 911 call and make an animated movie of it and introduces it into evidence. In spite of not knowing what shots that struck Artie was fire when, the judge allowed it. The defense attacked the movie as being imaginary and had no basis in fact. Because of the long history of the brothers fighting, the jury ruled that Artie was killed during yet another fight and the killing was not intentional. Jim went to jail for 6 years, believe it or not.
1942 America’s first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, is sunk by Japanese bombers with a little help from an American destroyer. The Langley was converted from a coal carrier named the “Jupiter” in 1922. On this date the Langley, with 32 War Hawk fighters aboard departed from its convoy headed for Java and the Dutch East Indies. The ship was supposed to rendezvous with a squadron of destroyers to accompany them to Java. The rendezvous was made and the destroyers strung out on both sides. The Langley asked for fighter cover but this early in the war none could be spared. When the Langley was about 75 miles from Java it was attacked by nine Japanese bombers. The first three bombers missed but the second three hit their target and all the planes on the deck of the Langley were aflame. The ship began taking on water and began to list and the Captain ordered abandon ship. Because of the nearness of the destroyers, all but 12 crewmen were saved. One of the destroyers put two torpedoes in the Langley sent her to the bottom to keep her out of Japanese hands. The fighters on the deck of the Langley were the same type that was used by the immortal Flying Tigers.
1922 On this date the United States Supreme Court by a unanimous vote declared that the 19th amendment to the Constitution allowing women to vote was indeed constitutional. It had taken 70 years of meeting, petitions, rallies and marches to get this Amendment to even be introduced to Congress. On August 22 the state of Tennessee voted to adopt the amendment making it the required 75% and the 19th Amendment took effect on August 28.
Born today:
1930 US actress and wife of Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward. She said “Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man that makes you laugh every day, ah, now that is a real treat,” This girl has her head on straight, always has.
1917 US Secretary of the Treasury John Connolly. When speaking of fellow Texan George H. Bush he said “All hat, no cattle.” Connolly felt that George H. was a pretender.
1902 US writer and one of my favorite authors is John Steinbeck. He said “Writers are below clowns and a little above trained seals.” This man gave us some of greatest novels ever written that were mind boggling feats of sheer imagination.
1886 US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. He said “A layman’s view is that everything he likes is constitutional and everything he doesn’t like is unconstitutional.” Justice Black had his finger on the pulse of the common man.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Quote of the day:
“Good for the body is the work of the body, good for the soul is the work of the soul and good for either is the work of the other.”
Henry David Thoreau
Answer to trivia question as to who came in second in the 100 meter race that made Jesse Owens famous....Ralph Metcalfe.
I guess that all of y’all know about the so-called “health summit” that was held a while back at the behest of the President. It was a foregone conclusion the Democrats could ram through any health plan they felt like because of their majority positions in the legislative branch, the wishes of populous notwithstanding. What really happened was all the politicians did all they could to advance their personal political agenda. This nation is a Representative Republic meaning that our elected representatives are to be answerable to their constituency. They are supposed to be working for us. That is not what is happening, they are working for themselves and we can go to hell. I wish all of you would remember all of this when you go to the voting booth this coming November. It is time to clean house and take back control of the future of this nation.
I saw an interview of the original trainer of the killer whale Tilikum that killed its trainer a while ago. From what I could understand he said that he recommended that Tilikum not be a part of a performance group because he thought that the animal did not have the personality for it. He said that he should be kept for breeding purposes only. He did admit that the training group at Sea World was the best in the world and if anyone could train Tilikum it was them. He thought that Tilikum was in an “excited play” mood and did not have malice in mind. I detected a deep sorrow in this man and I think it was just as much for Tilikum as it was for the slain trainer.
A certain man has put his name in the hat for the upcoming election to the Richland County (Columbia area) South Carolina County Council. This man was tried and convicted of burglary and mail fraud (both are felonies) and did hard time back in 1999. I do not know what the qualification are for holding office in Richland County but being a convicted felon should not be eligible. But we all remember the mayor of Washington, Marion Berry, being convicted on a drug charge and Congress seized control of the city’s politics, and the good people of Washington electing Berry to the city council.
A friend sent me a series of movie clips about the United States Marines. It started with a Marine in “dress blues” holding a ceremonial sword in a salute. An interesting bit of trivia about the Marine ceremonial sword is this: The fledgling United States Merchant fleet was attempting to expand their trade but pirates operating out of Tripoli made Mediterranean trade difficult if not impossible. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson sent a Marine unit to take out the pirates. The Marines made an amphibious landing east of Tripoli and attacked. It was no contest and the Marines surrounded the main staging point of the pirates and killed or captured all of them. The king of the city that is now Tunis was so impressed with this victory that he gave the commander of the Marine unit a ceremonial sword. All Marine ceremonial swords since then are an exact replica of that sword.
While reading a history of WWII I ran across an account about the town of Landesberg, Germany. The Nazis had built a concentration camp about 4 miles from the town and all the prisoners were Jews. As the American army closed in, the Nazi prison guards shot as many of the prisoners they could until they ran out of ammo. After that they burned the shacks that those that were too weak to stand were housed and then they left. The camp was discovered by an 101st Airborne patrol. The commander of the 101nst, General Maxwell Taylor, took one look and declared martial law in the town. The mayor declared that he did not know that was going on. The next morning the mayor and his wife along with every adult in the town were given an escorted tour of the camp and were ordered to bury the bodies. That night the mayor and his wife committed suicide. That is not enough, as far as I am concerned.
This date in history February 27
1776 Earlier the Royal Governor of North Carolina, Josiah Martin, had ordered British Colonel Donald McLeod and 1,600 Loyalist soldiers to leave their encampment at Cross Creek, North Carolina and go to the North Carolina coastal town of Brunswick to rendezvous with another Loyalist unit. A 1,000 man Patriot force under the command of Colonel James Carswell decided to intercept the McLeod’s troops and prevent the meeting of the Loyalists. On this date the Patriots arrive ahead of the Loyalists coming from Cross Creek and prepare an ambush at the Moore’s Creek Bridge. Carswell arranges his artillery and troops evenly divided in the woods on either side of the bridge and wait. The Loyalists find out about the ambush but believing that it is just a small militia decide to cross the bridge anyway. So they gather at the bridge and yell “King George and broadswords” and begin running across the bridge only to be met with a hailstorm of musket balls and grape-shot from the Patriots. After only two salvos the Loyalists surrender. The planned gathering of a British/Loyalist army at Brunswick was cancelled and the British lost control of North Carolina. It was only two months later that North Carolina declared its independence from England. Josiah Martin knew he was in deep doodoo and departed the area. This was the first victory for the Patriots in an organized battle against the British/Loyalists. There is a monument and park there commemorating this great event
1827 Since the late 1600’s the French settlers in the New Orleans area had brought with them the tradition of the celebration of Carnival or Mardi Gras. It was mostly private parties at different homes. However, on this date a group of students that had been studying in France and enjoyed the celebration there, adorned themselves with costumes and masks and took to the streets of New Orleans to celebrate Fat Tuesday. As you might expect, it became a tradition except there was no organization and therefore in the 1850’s the celebration degenerated into a series of drunken street fights. Then a rich land owner near New Orleans organized the Krewe of Comus and they organized the parade and the tradition of the people in the parade throwing gifts at the observers. After that, many “Krewes” have been organized and the celebration is much better. However, Hurricane Katrina put a severe crimp into Mardi Gras but this year the city fathers of New Orleans tell us that the attendance at this year’s Fat Tuesday was about 90% of pre-Katrina days. According to what I have read, tourism is the largest industry in that city. Maybe so, but there is a hell of a lot of boat and barge traffic going through there.
1991 Years earlier two brother, Artie and Jim Mitchell, open a strip joint in San Francisco. The joint is a phenomenal success and the brothers become very rich. But in spite of that, they argue and fight frequently. When I say fight, I mean putting each other in the hospital on occasion. Then they decide to go into the porno film business when it was in its infancy. They being the first to make feature length porno movies made them both very, very rich but the fighting continued. On this date the 911 operator in Corte Madera, California gets an emergency call from Artie Mitchell saying he had been shot. In the background there are heard 8 shots with a 30 second break between two of them. The police arrive and find Jim wandering around in the yard with a rifle in his hand. Jim is arrested and charged with the murder of Artie. The prosecution uses the 911 tape and reconstructs what they think happened during the 911 call and make an animated movie of it and introduces it into evidence. In spite of not knowing what shots that struck Artie was fire when, the judge allowed it. The defense attacked the movie as being imaginary and had no basis in fact. Because of the long history of the brothers fighting, the jury ruled that Artie was killed during yet another fight and the killing was not intentional. Jim went to jail for 6 years, believe it or not.
1942 America’s first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, is sunk by Japanese bombers with a little help from an American destroyer. The Langley was converted from a coal carrier named the “Jupiter” in 1922. On this date the Langley, with 32 War Hawk fighters aboard departed from its convoy headed for Java and the Dutch East Indies. The ship was supposed to rendezvous with a squadron of destroyers to accompany them to Java. The rendezvous was made and the destroyers strung out on both sides. The Langley asked for fighter cover but this early in the war none could be spared. When the Langley was about 75 miles from Java it was attacked by nine Japanese bombers. The first three bombers missed but the second three hit their target and all the planes on the deck of the Langley were aflame. The ship began taking on water and began to list and the Captain ordered abandon ship. Because of the nearness of the destroyers, all but 12 crewmen were saved. One of the destroyers put two torpedoes in the Langley sent her to the bottom to keep her out of Japanese hands. The fighters on the deck of the Langley were the same type that was used by the immortal Flying Tigers.
1922 On this date the United States Supreme Court by a unanimous vote declared that the 19th amendment to the Constitution allowing women to vote was indeed constitutional. It had taken 70 years of meeting, petitions, rallies and marches to get this Amendment to even be introduced to Congress. On August 22 the state of Tennessee voted to adopt the amendment making it the required 75% and the 19th Amendment took effect on August 28.
Born today:
1930 US actress and wife of Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward. She said “Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man that makes you laugh every day, ah, now that is a real treat,” This girl has her head on straight, always has.
1917 US Secretary of the Treasury John Connolly. When speaking of fellow Texan George H. Bush he said “All hat, no cattle.” Connolly felt that George H. was a pretender.
1902 US writer and one of my favorite authors is John Steinbeck. He said “Writers are below clowns and a little above trained seals.” This man gave us some of greatest novels ever written that were mind boggling feats of sheer imagination.
1886 US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. He said “A layman’s view is that everything he likes is constitutional and everything he doesn’t like is unconstitutional.” Justice Black had his finger on the pulse of the common man.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Good morning,
Quote of the day:
“Lisa, if you are not happy at work don't go on strike. Go in every day and do your job really half-assed. It is the American way.”
Homer Simpson
The answer to the trivia question as to where did the wild mustangs on the Great Plains come from...They came from the first country that came to North America bringing their horses with them...Spain...especially the 16th century Conquistadors coming up from Mexico into what is now California, New Mexico and Arizona...namely Coronado and Cortez and the Spanish explorers that went into Florida and Texas...namely DeSoto and Tristan de Luna among others. Some of their horses escaped or were stolen and ended up in the perfect habitate for horses...the Great Plains.
Trivia question:
For the first time in recorded history a black American won a gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in by blowing away his competition in the 100 meter dash with Hitler watching. It was Jesse Owens. What not generally known is that the man that came in second in that race was a black American also...Who was he?
A couple of years ago NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for “meth” just before the race in Richmond and was suspended by NASCAR. The local law enforcement in Catawba, NC county where his 368 acre estate is, obtained a search warrant to look for contraband. Not only did they find a substantial amount of meth, they found over $100,000 worth of property that had been reported stolen in Catawba County. Nearby counties heard about this and wanted to have a look and see if any stolen property from their county was present. Sure enough, an additional $9,000 worth of stolen property was discovered on Mayfield's property. Mayfield stormed back with a gaggle of law suits against everybody including NASCAR. The law suits against NASCAR were a waste of time because before he could race in NASCAR sanctioned events he had to sign a “no suit” contract. Mayfield's actions were all for naught because a few days ago he was indicted by a Grand Jury for dealing in stolen property, the distribution of meth and was arrested. His trial is pending, unless he agrees to a plea bargain. By the way, some of the stolen items in his possession were identified as being stolen from his racing sponsor...Red Bull. What a guy.
I read about a US Army Green Beret that retired after several combat tours including Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, he came back to America with a severe case of PTSD. He just could not get used to not having his back covered at all times. It got to the point that he refused to leave his house unless he had someone with him that constantly checked to see if they were being stalked or followed. This was unnecessary, as y'all know but it made the veteran feel more secure. The eventual solution to his problem had four feet. It was a highly trained black Labrador. This dog was trained to make an occasional short circle while he was out on a walk with the veteran and when they stopped the dog would face backwards. This solved the problem with the vets fear and now he leads a fairly normal life. War is hell.
This date in history February 24
1836 On this date the commander of the Texas Militia , a South Carolinian named William Travis, sent out a plea for help to his embattled troops trapped in an old Spanish Mission named the Alamo in the city of San Antonio de Bexar, or San Antonio as it is known today. Colonel Travis sent a note to “The people of Texas” to come to the assistance of about 220 Militia along with volunteers under the command of Jim Bowie and another group under Davy Crockett. Travis sent his friend from the same area of South Carolina as he named James Bonham out carrying the message. Bonham was able to sneak out and sneak back in with 30 volunteers from Gonzales, Texas. But even with this help they were surrounded by a Mexican army of over 2,000 against a force of about 237 Patriots. Travis had ended the note he sent with Bonham stating those immortal words “victory or death”. The Mexican army under General Santa Ana kept tightening the noose and finally launched a night assault in early March and Santa Ana ordered “take no prisoners” and they stormed the Alamo and killed everyone to a man. The next encounter was the Texas Militia, commanded by Sam Houston, against Santa Ana southwest of Houston at a place called San Jacinto. But that is another story.
1991 In August of 1990 the ground forces of Iraq invade their tiny but oil-rich neighbor of Kuwait and occupy the major points within a matter of hours. One week later US military began “Operation Desert Shield” and started to moved the tools of war into Saudi Arabia to protect them from an invasion from Iraq. That is what they said, but you and I know they were preparing for an invasion of Iraq. Three months later the United Nations Security Council notified Iraq that if they did not departed Kuwait by January 15, 1991 they could expect military retaliation. Nothing happened and at 4:30p on January 16 the United Nations coalition launched “Operation Desert Storm” with massive air strikes on Iraqi from Saudi Arabia, aircraft carriers in the Persian Sea and the Red Sea, and various other launch points in the middle east and the Indian Ocean. Desert Storm was under the command of US General Norman Schwarzkopf. The United Nations coalition pounded the living hell out of various targets in Iraq especially Baghdad. On this date General “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf launched the ground assault. The US Marines attacked the Iraqi western border near the Persian Gulf and various coalition tank and attack helicopter units crossed the Iraqi border in force 300 miles north in the middle of the desert. General Schwarzkopf and his staff had believed that the Iraqi military would least expect an attack from that direction and they were right. In four days the coalition had crushed any opposition and was closing in on Baghdad from the northwest and the west. The Iraqi forces that were in Kuwait wisely decided that they had better get their asses out of there and headed for the Iraqi city of Basra. The coalition fighter-bombers were waiting for that when the booty-laden Iraqi troops began leaving Kuwait, they were trapped on the only road there and were utterly annihilated. This, along with the surrender of over 80,000 Iraqi troops, persuaded President George H. Bush to call an end to hostilities. The Iraqis swore to abide by United Nations peace terms. The US lost 125 troops in this operation. There is no way of knowing how many Iraqis and their allies perished but it had to be over 100,000. The last thing I remember about this encounter was General Schwarzkopf addressing his staff and said “I told you that we were going to come over here and kick ass, and that is exactly what we did.” War is hell.
1981 On this date socialite Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower. Tarnower was the author of the bestselling book titled The Scarsdale Diet. Harris and Tarnower had been lovers/companions since 1966 in spite of the fact that Harris was the superintendent of a fancy-schmantzy girl’s school in Virginia. Tarnower was a notorious womanizer but in spite of that Harris helped Tarnower write his book. Tarnower had vaguely promised Harris that he would eventually marry the 56 year old Harris but never did, and then one day Harris found out that Tarnower was going to dump her for a younger woman. Harris, accompanied by a .32 caliber revolver, jumps into her car and heads for Tarnower’s house in Westchester County, New York. Upon arrival at Tarnower’s house Harris let herself in with her key, went upstairs to Tarnower’s bedroom and confronts him. Here is where things get a little fuzzy. Harris said she went up there to commit suicide and Tarnower tried to wrestle the gun away from her and it went off killing Tarnower making it an accident. The only problem was that Tarnower was shot four times in the abdomen at very close range with the wounds very close together. The jury did not buy the accident scenario and convicted Harris of first degree murder and gave her life in prison. Harris was a model prisoner and wrote a book about how women prisoners are treated titled “They Always Call Us Ladies”. Governor Mario Cuomo commuted her sentence in 1992 and upon her release she continued her campaign for better treatment of female prisoners. I have said it a million times, men have been putting up with rejection for centuries but if a woman gets rejected...look out. I have been asked why I say this and here is the answer. If you go to a dance, any dance, you will see men ask women to dance and get rejected and he just moves on to the next one. But if a woman asks a man to dance and he says no, the woman gets really pissed off and stalks away. I know what I am talking about here.
Born today:
1500 Roman Emperor Charles V. He said “Name me an emperor that has ever been struck by a cannonball.” Hey Chuck, don’t you know that old men start wars and young men fight them?
1940 Scottish soccer player Denis Law. He said “Whoever wins today wins the championship not matter who wins.” Denis, shut the hell up.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Quote of the day:
“Lisa, if you are not happy at work don't go on strike. Go in every day and do your job really half-assed. It is the American way.”
Homer Simpson
The answer to the trivia question as to where did the wild mustangs on the Great Plains come from...They came from the first country that came to North America bringing their horses with them...Spain...especially the 16th century Conquistadors coming up from Mexico into what is now California, New Mexico and Arizona...namely Coronado and Cortez and the Spanish explorers that went into Florida and Texas...namely DeSoto and Tristan de Luna among others. Some of their horses escaped or were stolen and ended up in the perfect habitate for horses...the Great Plains.
Trivia question:
For the first time in recorded history a black American won a gold medal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in by blowing away his competition in the 100 meter dash with Hitler watching. It was Jesse Owens. What not generally known is that the man that came in second in that race was a black American also...Who was he?
A couple of years ago NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for “meth” just before the race in Richmond and was suspended by NASCAR. The local law enforcement in Catawba, NC county where his 368 acre estate is, obtained a search warrant to look for contraband. Not only did they find a substantial amount of meth, they found over $100,000 worth of property that had been reported stolen in Catawba County. Nearby counties heard about this and wanted to have a look and see if any stolen property from their county was present. Sure enough, an additional $9,000 worth of stolen property was discovered on Mayfield's property. Mayfield stormed back with a gaggle of law suits against everybody including NASCAR. The law suits against NASCAR were a waste of time because before he could race in NASCAR sanctioned events he had to sign a “no suit” contract. Mayfield's actions were all for naught because a few days ago he was indicted by a Grand Jury for dealing in stolen property, the distribution of meth and was arrested. His trial is pending, unless he agrees to a plea bargain. By the way, some of the stolen items in his possession were identified as being stolen from his racing sponsor...Red Bull. What a guy.
I read about a US Army Green Beret that retired after several combat tours including Iraq and Afghanistan. Unfortunately, he came back to America with a severe case of PTSD. He just could not get used to not having his back covered at all times. It got to the point that he refused to leave his house unless he had someone with him that constantly checked to see if they were being stalked or followed. This was unnecessary, as y'all know but it made the veteran feel more secure. The eventual solution to his problem had four feet. It was a highly trained black Labrador. This dog was trained to make an occasional short circle while he was out on a walk with the veteran and when they stopped the dog would face backwards. This solved the problem with the vets fear and now he leads a fairly normal life. War is hell.
This date in history February 24
1836 On this date the commander of the Texas Militia , a South Carolinian named William Travis, sent out a plea for help to his embattled troops trapped in an old Spanish Mission named the Alamo in the city of San Antonio de Bexar, or San Antonio as it is known today. Colonel Travis sent a note to “The people of Texas” to come to the assistance of about 220 Militia along with volunteers under the command of Jim Bowie and another group under Davy Crockett. Travis sent his friend from the same area of South Carolina as he named James Bonham out carrying the message. Bonham was able to sneak out and sneak back in with 30 volunteers from Gonzales, Texas. But even with this help they were surrounded by a Mexican army of over 2,000 against a force of about 237 Patriots. Travis had ended the note he sent with Bonham stating those immortal words “victory or death”. The Mexican army under General Santa Ana kept tightening the noose and finally launched a night assault in early March and Santa Ana ordered “take no prisoners” and they stormed the Alamo and killed everyone to a man. The next encounter was the Texas Militia, commanded by Sam Houston, against Santa Ana southwest of Houston at a place called San Jacinto. But that is another story.
1991 In August of 1990 the ground forces of Iraq invade their tiny but oil-rich neighbor of Kuwait and occupy the major points within a matter of hours. One week later US military began “Operation Desert Shield” and started to moved the tools of war into Saudi Arabia to protect them from an invasion from Iraq. That is what they said, but you and I know they were preparing for an invasion of Iraq. Three months later the United Nations Security Council notified Iraq that if they did not departed Kuwait by January 15, 1991 they could expect military retaliation. Nothing happened and at 4:30p on January 16 the United Nations coalition launched “Operation Desert Storm” with massive air strikes on Iraqi from Saudi Arabia, aircraft carriers in the Persian Sea and the Red Sea, and various other launch points in the middle east and the Indian Ocean. Desert Storm was under the command of US General Norman Schwarzkopf. The United Nations coalition pounded the living hell out of various targets in Iraq especially Baghdad. On this date General “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf launched the ground assault. The US Marines attacked the Iraqi western border near the Persian Gulf and various coalition tank and attack helicopter units crossed the Iraqi border in force 300 miles north in the middle of the desert. General Schwarzkopf and his staff had believed that the Iraqi military would least expect an attack from that direction and they were right. In four days the coalition had crushed any opposition and was closing in on Baghdad from the northwest and the west. The Iraqi forces that were in Kuwait wisely decided that they had better get their asses out of there and headed for the Iraqi city of Basra. The coalition fighter-bombers were waiting for that when the booty-laden Iraqi troops began leaving Kuwait, they were trapped on the only road there and were utterly annihilated. This, along with the surrender of over 80,000 Iraqi troops, persuaded President George H. Bush to call an end to hostilities. The Iraqis swore to abide by United Nations peace terms. The US lost 125 troops in this operation. There is no way of knowing how many Iraqis and their allies perished but it had to be over 100,000. The last thing I remember about this encounter was General Schwarzkopf addressing his staff and said “I told you that we were going to come over here and kick ass, and that is exactly what we did.” War is hell.
1981 On this date socialite Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower. Tarnower was the author of the bestselling book titled The Scarsdale Diet. Harris and Tarnower had been lovers/companions since 1966 in spite of the fact that Harris was the superintendent of a fancy-schmantzy girl’s school in Virginia. Tarnower was a notorious womanizer but in spite of that Harris helped Tarnower write his book. Tarnower had vaguely promised Harris that he would eventually marry the 56 year old Harris but never did, and then one day Harris found out that Tarnower was going to dump her for a younger woman. Harris, accompanied by a .32 caliber revolver, jumps into her car and heads for Tarnower’s house in Westchester County, New York. Upon arrival at Tarnower’s house Harris let herself in with her key, went upstairs to Tarnower’s bedroom and confronts him. Here is where things get a little fuzzy. Harris said she went up there to commit suicide and Tarnower tried to wrestle the gun away from her and it went off killing Tarnower making it an accident. The only problem was that Tarnower was shot four times in the abdomen at very close range with the wounds very close together. The jury did not buy the accident scenario and convicted Harris of first degree murder and gave her life in prison. Harris was a model prisoner and wrote a book about how women prisoners are treated titled “They Always Call Us Ladies”. Governor Mario Cuomo commuted her sentence in 1992 and upon her release she continued her campaign for better treatment of female prisoners. I have said it a million times, men have been putting up with rejection for centuries but if a woman gets rejected...look out. I have been asked why I say this and here is the answer. If you go to a dance, any dance, you will see men ask women to dance and get rejected and he just moves on to the next one. But if a woman asks a man to dance and he says no, the woman gets really pissed off and stalks away. I know what I am talking about here.
Born today:
1500 Roman Emperor Charles V. He said “Name me an emperor that has ever been struck by a cannonball.” Hey Chuck, don’t you know that old men start wars and young men fight them?
1940 Scottish soccer player Denis Law. He said “Whoever wins today wins the championship not matter who wins.” Denis, shut the hell up.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Good morning,
Quote of the day:
“Professionals built the Titanic, amateurs built the Ark.”
Anonymous
The answer to who was the only US President to serve two non-consecutive terms.
It is Grover Cleveland.
Trivia question: The horse is not indigenous to North America yet by 1750 there were thousands of wild mustangs on the Great Plains. Where did they come from?
I read a story about a soldier that was in combat in Afghanistan and was a war dog handler. He was discharged and kept the dog, a Belgian Malinois. It looks like a German Shepherd only smaller. Cairo, the dog with SEAL team 6 that capped Osama, is a Belgian Malinois. The soldier was riding down the road with his dog on a blanket on the rear floorboard. Suddenly someone jumped in the passenger side with a knife and demanded money. The soldier had seen him coming and commanded the dog to be still. He quickly got his speed up to about 60 so the carjacker could not jump out and then ordered the dog to attack. The dog jumped into the front seat and was eating the intruder's ass up. It was then that the soldier called the cops and told them what had happened and he would meet a cruiser at a specific convenience store. The 9-1-1 operator could hardly make him out because of all the snarling, barking and screaming going on. After the call, the soldier ordered the dog to “contain” which meant for him to back off but attack again if the intruder even twitched. The dog backed off but stayed about a foot from the intruder's face staring him in the eye. The soldier told the intruder that the dog would attack again if he even breathed heavily. He pulled into the parking lot of the named convenience store where a cruiser was waiting and called the dog off and allowed the intruder to exit the car. The intruder leapt into the arms of the cops glad that he was still alive. Yet another tale that makes my heart sing.
Earlier this week a country sheriff's deputy up near Candler, NC pulled over a pick-up truck for having a temporary paper tag that was unreadable and having a brake light out. The driver was a 17 year old boy and the deputy just issued a warning and let him go. A short while later the deputy was on the side of the road talking with another driver when the kid in the pick-up truck roared by at enormous speed. The deputy accompanied by another went after the kid and eventually got him stopped after a high speed chase. The deputy stopped behind the pick-up and soon thereafter the kid in the pick-up put it in reverse and crushed the front end of the cruiser. For reasons yet determined, one of the deputies opened fire with his sidearm and put the kid down. It is not yet know if the kid was in or out of the truck...the reality as of this writing is that the kid is in ICU in Memorial Mission hospital in Asheville in critical condition. Intentionally ramming a police car is attempted murder, however.
Recently an event happened that has happened before. Over near Spartanburg, SC a woman came out of an Ingles super market when she got back to her car, there was a man in the car beside her with his penis exposed. The woman yelled that she was calling the police and the man quickly departed but struck the woman on the leg on the way out. She got his tag number so his days are numbered. How can that kind of behavior be gratifying? There are a lot of strange critters out there.
A few days ago at Shamrock's Sports Bar in Myrtle Beach, SC, a 27 year old female middle school teacher named Mia Chiarella got drunker than Cooter Brown and began pushing and shoving herself through the bar. The bouncer came over and was attempting to escort this “lady” (I use that term loosely) outside. Mia struggled and ended up biting the bouncer on his left boob. He temporarily let her go and another man that saw all of this happen, came over and attempted to help the bouncer. She bit this man on the right bicep and he released her. She ran like hell trying to escape but by then the cops had arrived and was she was easily tracked by her uneven path and they eventually saw her standing on a street corner weaving back and forth to an unfelt breeze. Of course she was arrested after the two victims had positively ID'ed her as the biter. She said that she had just broken up with her boyfriend and was upset and mad. The cops were very understanding after they had her cuffed and in the back of a cruiser. I can assure you, 16 hours in the drunk tank will change her perception of life. The Identity of her school was not given.
This date in history February 23
1778 On this date the Prussian Baron Frederich von Steuben joined General George Washington at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The Baron had been recommended by the French minister of war to Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, in turn recommends him to George Washington. Baron von Steuben was the son of a famous Prussian General and became an officer in the Prussian army himself at the age of 17. Frederich proved to be an able officer and distinguished himself in combat more than once and was promoted rapidly from the infantry to the general staff of the King of Prussia, Frederich the Great. For reasons unknown, after reaching the rank of captain he was discharged from the army. I might be able to shed some light on this event. Frederich the Great was a flaming homosexual albeit a brilliant military commander. Frederich the Great would hold staff meeting on a regular basis that was attended by all the younger officers. Toward the end of the meeting the King would walk by and drop a handkerchief in one of his younger officer’s lap. This officer had the duty to stay an extra hour with the King after the meeting was ended. We can guess for what reason. Perhaps Frederich von Steuben finally resisted the advances of the King, who knows. Anyway, almost immediately after arriving at Valley Forge he began intensive training of the troops emphasizing rock-hard discipline. He also educated the troops on simple hygiene. The American troops knew nothing about this and therefore many troops were lost to disease. He insisted that the latrines be on the opposite side of the camp than the eating facility. But in fact, the troops had no latrines at all; they just took care of business wherever they felt like it. Frederich also insisted that the latrines be on a down slope away form the camp. Eventually the American troops departed Valley Forge a proud and competent fighting machine. Frederich did not speak English but did speak French so Alexander Hamilton and Nathaniel Greene interpreted his French into English. He authored a handbook for the American military parts of which are still in use to this day. The arrival of this man into the America army was none too soon. The American army had been having its ass handed to it for two years and the morale was very low. But now the pendulum began to swing the other way and our independence was finally on the horizon.
1885 A few months earlier a rich older woman was found dead in her mansion in Exeter, England. She had been severely beaten and throat cut just outside the bedroom of her 19 year old housekeeper John Lee. The police deduced that John Lee must have been the culprit even though Lee proclaimed his innocence and did not flee the scene of the crime. Lee was tried and convicted on circumstantial evidence alone and was sentenced to hang. On this day the hangman put a weight equal to John Lee on the trapdoor and released it a couple of time to see if all was in working order and it apparently was. Then they brought John Lee to the platform to be executed. Lee stood on the trapdoor and the hangman pulled the release but nothing happened. The hangman jerked on the release a couple of time more and the trapdoor did not open. They took Lee off the platform and went through the procedure again with the weights and everything worked perfectly. They brought Lee back and again the trapdoor refused to open when Lee was aboard. They tried the deal with the weights once more time with the same results and tried it with Lee again with the same result. The officials were stunned and took Lee back to the prison whence he came and declared that it was an act of God that had prevented his hanging so they sentenced him to life in prison. Lee spent 20 years in prison and was released and he immigrated to America. There had never been an explanation as to what was up with the trapdoor. There ain’t any commutation of an execution because of “an act of God” anymore. When the time comes, you are going down y’all, come hell or high water.
1940 After years on the back roads and railroads of America during the grinding depression of the 1930’s, on this date Woody Guthrie writes the song “This Land is Your Land”. Woody was born in Okemah, Oklahoma in 1912. When the depression came in 1929, Woody and millions of others hit the road looking for work and whatever they could find to stay alive. It was during this time that Woody wrote many, many songs about the poor and downtrodden during this trying time. In 1937 he went to California to try to become a country/western singing star. He appeared on a few radio programs singing traditional folk songs. But eventually he was able to do some of his own songs and that put him on the charts. He became the chronicler of the people that had been through the depression and his words and music showed that he had been there and done that. His success took him to New York City but WWII broke out and his career was put on hold while he was in the Merchant Marine. After the war he returned to NYC and tried to resurrect his career and again he was on his way up when in 1954 he was struck down with Huntington’s disease. This was the same illness that took his mother’s life. While bedridden he was visited by many musicians among which was Bob Dylan. Woody died in 1967 in New York City and was cremated with his ashes being spread across New York City. His home town of Okemah, Oklahoma put up a headstone with his name on it anyway. Many have tried to copy Woody’s style and music, few if any have succeeded.
Born today:
1824 US writer George William Curtis. He said about one of his rivals “He is so old his blood type has been discontinued.” I am A + and don’t y’all forget it.
1914 US actor Zachary Scott. He said “As you grow older the only things you regret is the things you didn’t do.” This is why I am burning the candle at both ends, y’all.
1928 US writer Michael Harrington. He said “Clothes make the poor invisible. America has the best dressed poverty the world has ever known.” I have never thought of that. Get picture in your mind of the people in poverty in India and how they dress.
Died today:
1998 US comic Henny Youngman. He said “I read where drinking shortens your life, so I gave up reading.” I miss Henny...George Burns too.
1976 US writer H. Allen Smith. He said “On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are jerks.” I think we all feel that way at times.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Quote of the day:
“Professionals built the Titanic, amateurs built the Ark.”
Anonymous
The answer to who was the only US President to serve two non-consecutive terms.
It is Grover Cleveland.
Trivia question: The horse is not indigenous to North America yet by 1750 there were thousands of wild mustangs on the Great Plains. Where did they come from?
I read a story about a soldier that was in combat in Afghanistan and was a war dog handler. He was discharged and kept the dog, a Belgian Malinois. It looks like a German Shepherd only smaller. Cairo, the dog with SEAL team 6 that capped Osama, is a Belgian Malinois. The soldier was riding down the road with his dog on a blanket on the rear floorboard. Suddenly someone jumped in the passenger side with a knife and demanded money. The soldier had seen him coming and commanded the dog to be still. He quickly got his speed up to about 60 so the carjacker could not jump out and then ordered the dog to attack. The dog jumped into the front seat and was eating the intruder's ass up. It was then that the soldier called the cops and told them what had happened and he would meet a cruiser at a specific convenience store. The 9-1-1 operator could hardly make him out because of all the snarling, barking and screaming going on. After the call, the soldier ordered the dog to “contain” which meant for him to back off but attack again if the intruder even twitched. The dog backed off but stayed about a foot from the intruder's face staring him in the eye. The soldier told the intruder that the dog would attack again if he even breathed heavily. He pulled into the parking lot of the named convenience store where a cruiser was waiting and called the dog off and allowed the intruder to exit the car. The intruder leapt into the arms of the cops glad that he was still alive. Yet another tale that makes my heart sing.
Earlier this week a country sheriff's deputy up near Candler, NC pulled over a pick-up truck for having a temporary paper tag that was unreadable and having a brake light out. The driver was a 17 year old boy and the deputy just issued a warning and let him go. A short while later the deputy was on the side of the road talking with another driver when the kid in the pick-up truck roared by at enormous speed. The deputy accompanied by another went after the kid and eventually got him stopped after a high speed chase. The deputy stopped behind the pick-up and soon thereafter the kid in the pick-up put it in reverse and crushed the front end of the cruiser. For reasons yet determined, one of the deputies opened fire with his sidearm and put the kid down. It is not yet know if the kid was in or out of the truck...the reality as of this writing is that the kid is in ICU in Memorial Mission hospital in Asheville in critical condition. Intentionally ramming a police car is attempted murder, however.
Recently an event happened that has happened before. Over near Spartanburg, SC a woman came out of an Ingles super market when she got back to her car, there was a man in the car beside her with his penis exposed. The woman yelled that she was calling the police and the man quickly departed but struck the woman on the leg on the way out. She got his tag number so his days are numbered. How can that kind of behavior be gratifying? There are a lot of strange critters out there.
A few days ago at Shamrock's Sports Bar in Myrtle Beach, SC, a 27 year old female middle school teacher named Mia Chiarella got drunker than Cooter Brown and began pushing and shoving herself through the bar. The bouncer came over and was attempting to escort this “lady” (I use that term loosely) outside. Mia struggled and ended up biting the bouncer on his left boob. He temporarily let her go and another man that saw all of this happen, came over and attempted to help the bouncer. She bit this man on the right bicep and he released her. She ran like hell trying to escape but by then the cops had arrived and was she was easily tracked by her uneven path and they eventually saw her standing on a street corner weaving back and forth to an unfelt breeze. Of course she was arrested after the two victims had positively ID'ed her as the biter. She said that she had just broken up with her boyfriend and was upset and mad. The cops were very understanding after they had her cuffed and in the back of a cruiser. I can assure you, 16 hours in the drunk tank will change her perception of life. The Identity of her school was not given.
This date in history February 23
1778 On this date the Prussian Baron Frederich von Steuben joined General George Washington at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The Baron had been recommended by the French minister of war to Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, in turn recommends him to George Washington. Baron von Steuben was the son of a famous Prussian General and became an officer in the Prussian army himself at the age of 17. Frederich proved to be an able officer and distinguished himself in combat more than once and was promoted rapidly from the infantry to the general staff of the King of Prussia, Frederich the Great. For reasons unknown, after reaching the rank of captain he was discharged from the army. I might be able to shed some light on this event. Frederich the Great was a flaming homosexual albeit a brilliant military commander. Frederich the Great would hold staff meeting on a regular basis that was attended by all the younger officers. Toward the end of the meeting the King would walk by and drop a handkerchief in one of his younger officer’s lap. This officer had the duty to stay an extra hour with the King after the meeting was ended. We can guess for what reason. Perhaps Frederich von Steuben finally resisted the advances of the King, who knows. Anyway, almost immediately after arriving at Valley Forge he began intensive training of the troops emphasizing rock-hard discipline. He also educated the troops on simple hygiene. The American troops knew nothing about this and therefore many troops were lost to disease. He insisted that the latrines be on the opposite side of the camp than the eating facility. But in fact, the troops had no latrines at all; they just took care of business wherever they felt like it. Frederich also insisted that the latrines be on a down slope away form the camp. Eventually the American troops departed Valley Forge a proud and competent fighting machine. Frederich did not speak English but did speak French so Alexander Hamilton and Nathaniel Greene interpreted his French into English. He authored a handbook for the American military parts of which are still in use to this day. The arrival of this man into the America army was none too soon. The American army had been having its ass handed to it for two years and the morale was very low. But now the pendulum began to swing the other way and our independence was finally on the horizon.
1885 A few months earlier a rich older woman was found dead in her mansion in Exeter, England. She had been severely beaten and throat cut just outside the bedroom of her 19 year old housekeeper John Lee. The police deduced that John Lee must have been the culprit even though Lee proclaimed his innocence and did not flee the scene of the crime. Lee was tried and convicted on circumstantial evidence alone and was sentenced to hang. On this day the hangman put a weight equal to John Lee on the trapdoor and released it a couple of time to see if all was in working order and it apparently was. Then they brought John Lee to the platform to be executed. Lee stood on the trapdoor and the hangman pulled the release but nothing happened. The hangman jerked on the release a couple of time more and the trapdoor did not open. They took Lee off the platform and went through the procedure again with the weights and everything worked perfectly. They brought Lee back and again the trapdoor refused to open when Lee was aboard. They tried the deal with the weights once more time with the same results and tried it with Lee again with the same result. The officials were stunned and took Lee back to the prison whence he came and declared that it was an act of God that had prevented his hanging so they sentenced him to life in prison. Lee spent 20 years in prison and was released and he immigrated to America. There had never been an explanation as to what was up with the trapdoor. There ain’t any commutation of an execution because of “an act of God” anymore. When the time comes, you are going down y’all, come hell or high water.
1940 After years on the back roads and railroads of America during the grinding depression of the 1930’s, on this date Woody Guthrie writes the song “This Land is Your Land”. Woody was born in Okemah, Oklahoma in 1912. When the depression came in 1929, Woody and millions of others hit the road looking for work and whatever they could find to stay alive. It was during this time that Woody wrote many, many songs about the poor and downtrodden during this trying time. In 1937 he went to California to try to become a country/western singing star. He appeared on a few radio programs singing traditional folk songs. But eventually he was able to do some of his own songs and that put him on the charts. He became the chronicler of the people that had been through the depression and his words and music showed that he had been there and done that. His success took him to New York City but WWII broke out and his career was put on hold while he was in the Merchant Marine. After the war he returned to NYC and tried to resurrect his career and again he was on his way up when in 1954 he was struck down with Huntington’s disease. This was the same illness that took his mother’s life. While bedridden he was visited by many musicians among which was Bob Dylan. Woody died in 1967 in New York City and was cremated with his ashes being spread across New York City. His home town of Okemah, Oklahoma put up a headstone with his name on it anyway. Many have tried to copy Woody’s style and music, few if any have succeeded.
Born today:
1824 US writer George William Curtis. He said about one of his rivals “He is so old his blood type has been discontinued.” I am A + and don’t y’all forget it.
1914 US actor Zachary Scott. He said “As you grow older the only things you regret is the things you didn’t do.” This is why I am burning the candle at both ends, y’all.
1928 US writer Michael Harrington. He said “Clothes make the poor invisible. America has the best dressed poverty the world has ever known.” I have never thought of that. Get picture in your mind of the people in poverty in India and how they dress.
Died today:
1998 US comic Henny Youngman. He said “I read where drinking shortens your life, so I gave up reading.” I miss Henny...George Burns too.
1976 US writer H. Allen Smith. He said “On Monday mornings I am dedicated to the proposition that all men are jerks.” I think we all feel that way at times.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Good morning,
Quote of the day:
“I am not a fascist. I am a priest. Fascists dress in black and tell people what to do, whereas priests...drink more.”
Father Ted Chilla
The answer to the trivia question as to what was the name of the band that performed “The Pusher” and “Born to be wild” that was in the movie “Easy Rider”...it was Steppenwolf and the lead singer was John Kay. Extra credit answers...He was born in Tilsit, Germany and his real name is Joachim Krauledat. There is an interesting story about John. He was one year old in 1945 when the Russian army was entering Germany slaughtering everything in sight. His mother fled to Berlin and ended up in what would become the Russian sector or East Berlin. Two years later John's mother smuggled her and him over to West Berlin and settled in the British sector. When he was 18 he found himself in Canada and organized a rock band that was fairly successful. From there he went to Los Angeles and organized Steppenwolf...the rest is history. As of 1990 he has been retired in Franklin, Tennessee.
Trivia question:
Who is the only US President to serve two terms non-consecutively? This means he was elected, served one term and was defeated for re-election and came back years later and elected.
Over this past weekend up in Salisbury, North Carolina a man was standing in his living room talking to a visitor. Suddenly someone opened the front door and walked in, produced a firearm and demanded money. The homeowner decided that this outrage would not be tolerated and attacked. T he two struggled and the homeowner was able to wrest the weapon from the intruder and pumped one round into his chest. The intruder fled and headed for the home next door but alas, he collapsed and died before he got there. It is stories like this that make life worth living.
Once again the rumor mill is at work to the advantage of the unscrupulous. There is a story loose on the internet that the procedure for the presentation of a folded American flag to the next of kin of an American military person has been changed. The allegation is that instead of the phrase “on behalf of the President and a grateful nation...”. has been changed to “on behalf of the Secretary of Defense and a grateful nation...”. The item offers a “snopes” verification. As I have said until I am blue in the face, the unscrupulous attach a “cookie” to items that are intended to inflame hoping it will be passed around via outraged people's address lists when it is forwarded. These people don't give a damn about the procedure used in a military funeral, they WANT YOUR MAILING LISTS and the cookie allows them to capture e-mail address on anything you forward. THEY SELL THE ADDRESS LISTS to advertisers. Where do you think all the junk e-mail comes from...where did the get your e-mail address? By the way, “Snopes” is supposedly just a man and his wife with good research skills...I cannot verify that because I do not know the truth about that personally, and I damn sure am not going to believe much that I read on the web...especially if it is intended to gain my sympathy, anger or inflame my patriotism. A friend of mine offered this advise. She said that everyone has an agenda, no one is a simple and open as they seem.
Here is example of American law enforcement tax dollars at work. A few months ago a 23 year old woman was grocery shopping at a large market in Moriarity, New Mexico. She had picked up a small pumpkin and put it on the bottom shelf of the grocery cart. The pumpkin had a value of about $2.00. She checked out her groceries but forgot about the pumpkin on the bottom. She got outside and was stopped by the store security about the pumpkin on the bottom. She said she had forgotten about it and offered to pay for it. The market would have no part of it and she was arrested for shoplifting. The next morning, mad ad hell, she met with a magistrate who said that if she would plead guilty, he would levy a small fine and issue probation. She refused. She goes on trial in a couple of days.
This date in history February 22
1777 On this date Georgia heavyweight politico Archibald Bulloch is found dead under mysterious circumstances. The ongoing opinion was that he was poisoned. Bulloch was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1730 to a minister father named James, and a Puritan mother named Jean. Bulloch was educated at the College of South Carolina Law School (present day University of South Carolina) and opened a law practice in Charleston. In 1764 Bulloch moved to Savannah, Georgia and married Mary De Veaux, the daughter of a powerful judge and landowner. Bulloch began dabbling politics and was elected to the Georgia Commons House of Assembly in 1768 and eventually into the Continental Congress in 1775. In 1776 when it became obvious that Georgia would be invaded by the British, Bulloch was elected 1st President and commander of the Georgia Militia and gave him essentially Carte Blanche to do what he wanted to combat the English invaders. He was given what were essentially dictatorial powers. It was soon thereafter he showed up dead. The reason and cause of his death was never determined. Bulloch was the great-great- grandfather of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy named his first son Archibald in honor of his ancestor. Bulloch County, Georgia is also named in his honor.
1819 Finally the disposition of the lands in Florida is determined on this date. Spanish Minister Don Luis du Onis meets with American minister John Quincy Adams and signed over Florida to the United States. The United States received these lands just for the debts owed by Spanish to the settlers. Spain had a claim on Florida ever since the days of Pensacola and Saint Augustine settlements in the 16th century. However, in their greed Spain sided with the wrong side in the French and Indian War and lost Florida to England via the 1st Treaty of Paris. Then they sided with the right side during the American Revolution and got Florida back via the 2nd Treaty of Paris. Now it was in the hands of the United States and the drug kings from Cuba and other Central and South American countries.
1847 The United States and Mexico had been squabbling over the ownership of Texas for several years. Finally, President James K, Polk who believed heavily in western expansion for the United States sends the US Army into Mexico. A 15,000 man Mexican army commanded by General Santa Anna meets up with the recently landed 5,000 man America army commanded by General Zachary Taylor at Angostura Pass and the first day of the Battle of Buena Vista began. Santa Anna sent over an emissary under a flag of truce demanding the surrender of the Americans. In typical Taylor fashion he responded with “Tell the son-of–a-bitch to go to hell.” Santa Anna began a two pronged attack on Taylor’s position. Taylor organized the greater majority of his artillery onto one of the prongs. One of the commanders of an artillery unit was “Stonewall” Jackson. Taylor then sent Colonel Jefferson Davis and his hawk-eyed Mississippi sharpshooters to attack the other prong. We all recognize Jefferson Davis as later on being the President of the Confederacy. Well, the American artillery on the left flank and the sharpshooters on the right flank lay down a blistering fusillade and Santa Anna decides to retreat. Apparently Santa Anna did not learn his lesson because he again confronts Zachary “Old Rough and Ready” Taylor at the Battle of Monterrey and has his ass handed to him even though he has Taylor outnumbered. In 1848 Zachary Taylor running as a Whig defeated the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. And 13 years after that Jefferson Davis became the President of the Confederate States of America.
2006 On this date the largest robbery in the history of Great Britain occurs at the Kent bank depot. This evening two men dressed as policemen grab Securitis Bank president Colin Dixon as he was leaving the bank and persuade him to get into the car with them. They then drive to Dixon’s home and kidnap his wife and son and drive to a remote barn and a third person takes the wife and child into the barn and then reassured Colin Dixon that they would kill his wife and child if he did not cooperate. They go back to the bank and Dixon leads the other two through the bank’s security system and the two robbers tied up and gagged 14 other bank employees. They then load 53 million pounds into a van and drive away. The take was the equivalent of about 107 million US Dollars. Eventually one of the banks workers got loose and notified the police. The police put out a net for the robbers but to no avail because most of the loot was in used bills. The bank put out a reward of 2 million pounds with no takers. There were a few people arrested but they were all released. The police were able to recover only 20 million pounds but the majority of the loot is still out there.
1942 Things did not look good for the allied forces in the Philippines. The Japanese were running rampant across the Island of Luzon and were forcing the American army into a smaller and smaller perimeter ending up on the Bataan Peninsula. At this point the Commander of the American forces, General Douglas McArthur, was ordered out of the Philippines by the President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt. McArthur hesitated at first as he was prepared to fight to the last with his troops but on this date he conceded and boarded a PT-boat and was taken to New Guinea and eventually Australia where he began planning his return.
Born today:
1732 George Washington...The father of our country...I do not believe he was here at this point in time by accident.
1857 Robert Baden-Powell...The founder of the Boy Scouts...He said “A Scout always smiles and whistles no matter the circumstances.” Obviously Mr. Baden-Powell had never been involved in a divorce action.
1824 Jules Renard...French writer...He said “Love is like an hourglass, the heart fills as the mind empties.” Ah yes, I remember it well, kind of.
1892 Edna St. Vincent Millay...American writer...She said “It is not true that life is one damn thing after another, it is the same damn thing over and over.” Obviously Ms. Millay has been involved in more than one divorce action.
1900 Luis Bunuel...Mexican film maker...He said “Thank God, I am still an atheist” No comment.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
Quote of the day:
“I am not a fascist. I am a priest. Fascists dress in black and tell people what to do, whereas priests...drink more.”
Father Ted Chilla
The answer to the trivia question as to what was the name of the band that performed “The Pusher” and “Born to be wild” that was in the movie “Easy Rider”...it was Steppenwolf and the lead singer was John Kay. Extra credit answers...He was born in Tilsit, Germany and his real name is Joachim Krauledat. There is an interesting story about John. He was one year old in 1945 when the Russian army was entering Germany slaughtering everything in sight. His mother fled to Berlin and ended up in what would become the Russian sector or East Berlin. Two years later John's mother smuggled her and him over to West Berlin and settled in the British sector. When he was 18 he found himself in Canada and organized a rock band that was fairly successful. From there he went to Los Angeles and organized Steppenwolf...the rest is history. As of 1990 he has been retired in Franklin, Tennessee.
Trivia question:
Who is the only US President to serve two terms non-consecutively? This means he was elected, served one term and was defeated for re-election and came back years later and elected.
Over this past weekend up in Salisbury, North Carolina a man was standing in his living room talking to a visitor. Suddenly someone opened the front door and walked in, produced a firearm and demanded money. The homeowner decided that this outrage would not be tolerated and attacked. T he two struggled and the homeowner was able to wrest the weapon from the intruder and pumped one round into his chest. The intruder fled and headed for the home next door but alas, he collapsed and died before he got there. It is stories like this that make life worth living.
Once again the rumor mill is at work to the advantage of the unscrupulous. There is a story loose on the internet that the procedure for the presentation of a folded American flag to the next of kin of an American military person has been changed. The allegation is that instead of the phrase “on behalf of the President and a grateful nation...”. has been changed to “on behalf of the Secretary of Defense and a grateful nation...”. The item offers a “snopes” verification. As I have said until I am blue in the face, the unscrupulous attach a “cookie” to items that are intended to inflame hoping it will be passed around via outraged people's address lists when it is forwarded. These people don't give a damn about the procedure used in a military funeral, they WANT YOUR MAILING LISTS and the cookie allows them to capture e-mail address on anything you forward. THEY SELL THE ADDRESS LISTS to advertisers. Where do you think all the junk e-mail comes from...where did the get your e-mail address? By the way, “Snopes” is supposedly just a man and his wife with good research skills...I cannot verify that because I do not know the truth about that personally, and I damn sure am not going to believe much that I read on the web...especially if it is intended to gain my sympathy, anger or inflame my patriotism. A friend of mine offered this advise. She said that everyone has an agenda, no one is a simple and open as they seem.
Here is example of American law enforcement tax dollars at work. A few months ago a 23 year old woman was grocery shopping at a large market in Moriarity, New Mexico. She had picked up a small pumpkin and put it on the bottom shelf of the grocery cart. The pumpkin had a value of about $2.00. She checked out her groceries but forgot about the pumpkin on the bottom. She got outside and was stopped by the store security about the pumpkin on the bottom. She said she had forgotten about it and offered to pay for it. The market would have no part of it and she was arrested for shoplifting. The next morning, mad ad hell, she met with a magistrate who said that if she would plead guilty, he would levy a small fine and issue probation. She refused. She goes on trial in a couple of days.
This date in history February 22
1777 On this date Georgia heavyweight politico Archibald Bulloch is found dead under mysterious circumstances. The ongoing opinion was that he was poisoned. Bulloch was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1730 to a minister father named James, and a Puritan mother named Jean. Bulloch was educated at the College of South Carolina Law School (present day University of South Carolina) and opened a law practice in Charleston. In 1764 Bulloch moved to Savannah, Georgia and married Mary De Veaux, the daughter of a powerful judge and landowner. Bulloch began dabbling politics and was elected to the Georgia Commons House of Assembly in 1768 and eventually into the Continental Congress in 1775. In 1776 when it became obvious that Georgia would be invaded by the British, Bulloch was elected 1st President and commander of the Georgia Militia and gave him essentially Carte Blanche to do what he wanted to combat the English invaders. He was given what were essentially dictatorial powers. It was soon thereafter he showed up dead. The reason and cause of his death was never determined. Bulloch was the great-great- grandfather of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy named his first son Archibald in honor of his ancestor. Bulloch County, Georgia is also named in his honor.
1819 Finally the disposition of the lands in Florida is determined on this date. Spanish Minister Don Luis du Onis meets with American minister John Quincy Adams and signed over Florida to the United States. The United States received these lands just for the debts owed by Spanish to the settlers. Spain had a claim on Florida ever since the days of Pensacola and Saint Augustine settlements in the 16th century. However, in their greed Spain sided with the wrong side in the French and Indian War and lost Florida to England via the 1st Treaty of Paris. Then they sided with the right side during the American Revolution and got Florida back via the 2nd Treaty of Paris. Now it was in the hands of the United States and the drug kings from Cuba and other Central and South American countries.
1847 The United States and Mexico had been squabbling over the ownership of Texas for several years. Finally, President James K, Polk who believed heavily in western expansion for the United States sends the US Army into Mexico. A 15,000 man Mexican army commanded by General Santa Anna meets up with the recently landed 5,000 man America army commanded by General Zachary Taylor at Angostura Pass and the first day of the Battle of Buena Vista began. Santa Anna sent over an emissary under a flag of truce demanding the surrender of the Americans. In typical Taylor fashion he responded with “Tell the son-of–a-bitch to go to hell.” Santa Anna began a two pronged attack on Taylor’s position. Taylor organized the greater majority of his artillery onto one of the prongs. One of the commanders of an artillery unit was “Stonewall” Jackson. Taylor then sent Colonel Jefferson Davis and his hawk-eyed Mississippi sharpshooters to attack the other prong. We all recognize Jefferson Davis as later on being the President of the Confederacy. Well, the American artillery on the left flank and the sharpshooters on the right flank lay down a blistering fusillade and Santa Anna decides to retreat. Apparently Santa Anna did not learn his lesson because he again confronts Zachary “Old Rough and Ready” Taylor at the Battle of Monterrey and has his ass handed to him even though he has Taylor outnumbered. In 1848 Zachary Taylor running as a Whig defeated the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. And 13 years after that Jefferson Davis became the President of the Confederate States of America.
2006 On this date the largest robbery in the history of Great Britain occurs at the Kent bank depot. This evening two men dressed as policemen grab Securitis Bank president Colin Dixon as he was leaving the bank and persuade him to get into the car with them. They then drive to Dixon’s home and kidnap his wife and son and drive to a remote barn and a third person takes the wife and child into the barn and then reassured Colin Dixon that they would kill his wife and child if he did not cooperate. They go back to the bank and Dixon leads the other two through the bank’s security system and the two robbers tied up and gagged 14 other bank employees. They then load 53 million pounds into a van and drive away. The take was the equivalent of about 107 million US Dollars. Eventually one of the banks workers got loose and notified the police. The police put out a net for the robbers but to no avail because most of the loot was in used bills. The bank put out a reward of 2 million pounds with no takers. There were a few people arrested but they were all released. The police were able to recover only 20 million pounds but the majority of the loot is still out there.
1942 Things did not look good for the allied forces in the Philippines. The Japanese were running rampant across the Island of Luzon and were forcing the American army into a smaller and smaller perimeter ending up on the Bataan Peninsula. At this point the Commander of the American forces, General Douglas McArthur, was ordered out of the Philippines by the President of the United States Franklin Roosevelt. McArthur hesitated at first as he was prepared to fight to the last with his troops but on this date he conceded and boarded a PT-boat and was taken to New Guinea and eventually Australia where he began planning his return.
Born today:
1732 George Washington...The father of our country...I do not believe he was here at this point in time by accident.
1857 Robert Baden-Powell...The founder of the Boy Scouts...He said “A Scout always smiles and whistles no matter the circumstances.” Obviously Mr. Baden-Powell had never been involved in a divorce action.
1824 Jules Renard...French writer...He said “Love is like an hourglass, the heart fills as the mind empties.” Ah yes, I remember it well, kind of.
1892 Edna St. Vincent Millay...American writer...She said “It is not true that life is one damn thing after another, it is the same damn thing over and over.” Obviously Ms. Millay has been involved in more than one divorce action.
1900 Luis Bunuel...Mexican film maker...He said “Thank God, I am still an atheist” No comment.
Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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