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