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