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