Monday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Happiness is the sole purpose and meaning of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”

                                                               Aristotle

It is Labor Day. To those in the 4 O'clock Club, I will not be in attendance at an alternate location wherever that may be...Too many cops out.

There are certain things that gets on our nerves here is one of mine.

I saw this on a nationwide ad. “When your going on a vacation......” WRONG!

The correct word is “When you're going on a vacation.....”

The word “your” is a possessive like ”Follow your heart.”

The word “you're” is a contraction for you are.

So the phrase without the contraction would have read “When you are going on vacation....”

This may help. When you use the word spelled “your” the next word must be a possession of someone else...like arm, leg, car, locomotive, airplane, temper, beauty, ugliness, disposition, etc. If this does not work then the appropriate word is “you're”.

You would think a proofreader for a national advertiser would have knowledge of the English language past the 6^th grade level.

Here is a continuation of my road trip from the west coast to the east coast. When my friend and I left Tacoma our intention was to drive to Santa Monica and follow the famous Route 66 at least to Oklahoma. We changed out minds and turned east at the Columbia River. My last installment on this adventure left you at a blues bar in Boise, Idaho. We knew that our route would bring us through Salt Lake City, Utah and we planned to go by the Bonneville salt flats. We found that the salt flats required us to turn back west after we had passed Salt Lake and decided not to go. We had been going almost due south since Boise with the bulk of the Rocky Mountains on our left like a wall. We decided that we should turn east soon. As I best remember early one morning after spending the night in Provo, Utah, we took a road eastward heading toward Denver and across the mighty Rockies. We went through Steamboat Springs and several other small towns where there was snow on the ground...a lot of snow. By the way, this trip was in mid-May. We reached the high point of this segment of the trip about midnight going through Rabbit Ears Pass. We were exhausted and our trusty '53 Chevy was gasping because of the high altitude...about 9,500 feet I think. The road leveled off for a short distance and then started downhill. Waaayy down below we could see the lights of a large city that turned out to be Denver. Soon after starting downhill we saw a bar made of stone on the right side of the road and immediately pulled in for a frosty adult beverage. It must have been a popular bar because the parking lot was packed. We went in and were amazed at how fancy-schmantzy this place was. The bartender was in a tuxedo and they had a table full of fancy finger food available. We got a drink and ambled over to the food. After taking a couple of bites the bartender came over and said “Pardon me, but are you friends of the bride or the groom?” It was not a bar, it was a wedding reception. Embarrassment is not the right word...burial is. We apologized profusely and put down the food and the drink and headed for the door. About then the groom showed up and we explained as best we could much to his amusement. He was very gracious and told us to wait a few minutes while he made a phone call. He came back and told us that he had booked us a room at his expense in a motel about 5 miles down the road. He told us to hang around and eat and drink until the party broke up and it would not be long. We just could not stay there after all of that and be the laughing stock so we left. We did take the motel room, however. Next memorable stop was Denver...more later.

Next is a Medal of Honor citation lest we forget the courage and bravery of our military. Here it is:

SALOMON, BEN L.
Captain Ben L. Salomon was serving at Saipan, in the Marianas Islands on July 7, 1944, as the Surgeon for the 2d Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division.

The Regiment's 1st and 2d Battalions were attacked by an overwhelming force estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese soldiers. It was one of the largest attacks attempted in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Although both units fought furiously, the enemy soon penetrated the Battalions' combined perimeter and inflicted overwhelming casualties. In the first minutes of the attack, approximately 30 wounded soldiers walked, crawled, or were carried into Captain Salomon's aid station, and the small tent soon filled with wounded men. As the perimeter began to be overrun, it became increasingly difficult for Captain Salomon to work on the wounded. He then saw a Japanese soldier bayoneting one of the wounded soldiers lying near the tent. Firing from a squatting position, Captain Salomon quickly killed the enemy soldier. Then, as he turned his attention back to the wounded, two more Japanese soldiers appeared in the front entrance of the tent. As these enemy soldiers were killed, four more crawled under the tent walls. Rushing them, Captain Salomon kicked the knife out of the hand of one, shot another, and bayoneted a third. Captain Salomon butted the fourth enemy soldier in the stomach and a wounded comrade then shot and killed the enemy soldier. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Captain Salomon ordered the wounded to make their way as best they could back to the regimental aid station, while he attempted to hold off the enemy until they were clear. Captain Salomon then grabbed a rifle from one of the wounded and rushed out of the tent. After four men were killed while manning a machine gun, Captain Salomon took control of it. When his body was later found, 98 dead enemy soldiers were piled in front of his position. Captain Salomon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. He was awarded the Medal of Honor.

This Date in History September 1

1862 On this the day after the Union army, General John Pope commanding, received a monster ass-kicking in the Battle of Second Manassas by CSA General R.E. Lee; Lee was not satisfied and sought complete annihilation of those Yankees. Pope’s army was heading east toward Washington, about 25 miles away, as fast their fat little legs could carry them, asses in hand. Lee sent Stonewall Jackson and the 2^nd Corp with Col. J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry as a screen, north, then east and them south to try and cut off the retreat of the Yankees and catch them in envelopment before they were able to get behind the Washington defenses. The US General-in-charge being Henry Halleck sitting behind a desk in Washington sent a message to Pope to make sure he protected Centerville most of all. Jackson was aware of this order and by-passed Centerville and finally US General Isaac Stevens launched a partially successful attack on Jackson’s troops at Chantilly, Virginia and scattered a Louisiana unit but soon after General Stevens received a fatal head wound and the Confederates counter attacked and drove those Yankees back. All of this was taking place during ferocious thunderstorm with much thunder and lightning. Additionally, US General Phillip Kearney was scouting ahead on horseback trying to locate the Confederates in very dense cover. He came upon a line of Union infantry who told him to go no further because the Rebs were just a few feet ahead. Kearney responded with, “I don’t see any.............” That sentence was cut short by a Confederate musket ball in the throat and he was killed. The battle was over in 90 minutes and the rainstorm persisted. Lee finally determined that an envelopment is not possible and turned his army north into Maryland toward a small village name Sharpsburg near a small creek named Antietam.

1985 Seventy-three years before the largest and “most safe” ocean liner in the world, the “Titanic”, departed England, made a short stop in Ireland and then headed out across the North Atlantic for New York. About half way over, the mighty ship struck an iceberg that ripped a hole in the ship above the flood proof bulkheads. The Marine engineer that designed the ship was aboard because this was the Titanic’s maiden voyage. He went below and looked at the damage and then went to the ships captain, Captain John Smith, and told him that the ship is fatally damaged. Captain Smith ordered the ship abandoned which was severely mishandled which resulted in the death of over 1,200 souls. The ship finally rose up almost vertical, broke into two pieces and disappeared beneath the waves. On this date a joint French/US expedition aboard the research vessel “Knorr” located a promising sonar target on the bottom of the ocean near the last reported position of the Titanic. The expedition was led by world famous explorer Bob Ballard. The crew sent down an undersea exploratory vessel named “Argo” to find out what was down there in the 17,000 feet of water. The first thing found was a gigantic boiler that was known to be aboard the Titanic and they just followed the debris field until they came upon the bow of the Titanic itself. The Argo brought back photos never before seen of this great ship.

1775 On this date American Representatives Richard Penn and Arthur Lee bring a document that had been called “An Olive Branch” document to British Lord Dartmouth to be forwarded to King George III. The document had been written by one of America’s best wordsmiths in John Dickenson. In short the document accused Parliament and other politicians of imposing insufferable laws and taxes on the American colonies without the knowledge of the King. The document stated that the colonists want their grandchildren to be raised under the wing of the King of England and suggests that the king should intervene in the colonist’s behalf. King George decided that he was too busy and disinterested in anything the Colonists had to say and the document was never opened. He should not have done that because a year later the Colonists delivered the Declaration of Independence which called King George III everything but a white man and said they did not want any part of him ever again. Thus began eight years of pain, suffering and bloodletting and did indeed result in the birth of the mightiest nation this planet has ever seen.

1981 On this date 15 year old Eric Witte shot and killed his father while he is lying on the couch. Eric claimed it was an accident when he slipped on a carpet while carrying a .22 rifle. The plea was accepted and Eric was released. A couple of years later the grandmother of Eric and his brother Butch was killed with a crossbow. The police look closer at the Witte Family and come to find out that Eric and Butch’s mother Hilma had told the boys that their father was going to divorce her and that she and the boys would end up in the street so they had to kill their father. She had been trying for years with valium and rat poison but it took the rifle to get the job done. They were living in their grandmother’s house and good old Hilma told the boys that their grandmother was going to kick them out of the house so she would have to be killed also. She tasked Butch with that mission and he chose the crossbow. After skewering Grandma, the family went to court to see if the boys could receive disability benefits because of the loss on their father. Then they came home and cut up Grandma with a knife and chainsaw and then spread the body parts all over northern California and continued to forge the signature of Grandma on her Social Security checks and cashed them for several months. They were finally found out, tried and convicted. Butch and Eric got 10 and 5 years respectively and were released in 1991. Good old Hilma got 90 years. I hope she never sees light of day again.

1802 Even back in these days we had scandals. On this date the Richmond Register printed information stating that Thomas Jefferson had a mistress which was a slave named Sally Hemmings. It also stated that he had sired several kids via this liaison. The article pointed to Sally’s son John that had “a remarkable resemblance to Jefferson”. After this Jefferson exposed the fact that Alexander Hamilton had a clandestine adulterous relationship with the wife of one of the prominent politicians to which Hamilton eventually confessed. Jefferson never freed Sally but he did free Sally’s sons and daughters. Sally Hemmings walked away a free woman in 1826 after the death of Jefferson. Recent DNA tests prove without a doubt that there are ancestors of the Jefferson/Hemmings tryst walking the earth as we speak. In Thomas Jefferson’s defense, none of this action took place until after Jefferson’s wife Martha had died. I hate politics.

Born today:

1868 US writer Frank Hubbard. He said “Sometimes the only time you see men with their wives is after they are indicted.” Especially politicians.

1939 US comedienne Lily Tomlin. She said “If love is the answer, would someone please re-phrase the question.”

Died today:

1715 King Louis XIV of France. He said “Has God forgotten all that I have done for him?” This French King was known as “The Sun King” or “Louis the Great” for all the beautiful additions he made to his country and victories his armies enjoyed. He ruled for 77 years.

1975 French writer Francois Mauriac. He said “A man’s mind is like an old palace. The owner lives is just a few rooms and blocks off the rest of the rooms where he never goes.” That is a deep but accurate thought.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Today I set a personal record for the number of days being alive.”

Anonymous

I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that that lunatic that killed the people at Fort Hood, Texas has been sentenced to death and will be sent to Ft. Leavenworth to await his execution. The bad news is the military system of appeals is longer than most states. I don't know what method of execution will be but the last person that was executed by the military was capped by a firing squad...it was in 1944. His name was private Eddie Slovic and he refused to engage in combat when ordered. He was executed for cowardice. He appealed to General Eisenhower but this was just after the Battle of the Bulge where there were about 75,000 American casualties and Ike was not in a good humor. There was a movie made about this event titled “The Execution of Private Slovic”and starred Martin Sheen.

Apparently law enforcement in my community has awakened. Since the incident I mentioned about an armed robbery within sight of the ball park and a little over a block from the heart of the “restaurant” district in downtown not to mention a manicured park with a waterfall where muggings have recently occurred, the Chief of Police has chosen to add at least 30 cops to patrol downtown after dark until the wee hours. That is probably a wise decision because the restaurant district in owned and operated by some of the most wealthy and influential in the community. This area is also a place where the wealthy and influential come to eat, drink and play. Far be it from me to suggest that law enforcement is acutely aware of the monied and influential in this new south community...right? Adding police will help but the real answer lies in the home. Nearly all of the assaults here and many other places are done by teenagers. Respect and discipline is learned at home. There is myriad of reason for the obvious breakdown in the American family unit. I am no psychologist but I have several opinions as to the cause of all of this but I have no answers...except the golden rule.

When I was an air traffic controller in Pensacola I had an assistant chief that taught me a lesson. When we air traffic controllers ran across a technical problem we would go to him for a possible solution. All technical procedure changes required an approval of management. He would say “You guys are the experts, don't come to me with any problems without three possible solutions and I will select one of the three.” This, of course, was a back door approach for us to solve our own problems...not only that it the selected solution failed, we had no one to blame but ourselves.

Speaking of respect...I recently saw a program about the best hamburgers in New York City. One of the places has been in the same place and the same owner for about 50 years and the specialty is hamburgers and it is famous for them. The owner was interviewed and he said that he gave no one priority even though the “Kennedy brothers” and other well known personae came there regularly. He said that once Jackie Onassis and her sister Lee came in for a burger and he told them there would be a 15 minute wait. Lee turned to Jackie and said “Lets go”. Jackie said “Come on Lee, lets have a beer.” They headed to the bar and even though they were three deep at the bar, the people spread out like Moses and the Red Sea and allowed them a place at the bar. I do not think that would have happened in some of the places I have been to on the west side...or in Six Mile...well, maybe in it would have happened in Six Mile.

I was taking my afternoon nap after an early dinner of chicken lo mein and a vegetable spring roll and in that half awake, half asleep zone that we all have been in, I began thinking of the most memorable sights I have ever seen...other than the first look at the faces of my daughters. One of the first would be when I was standing outside on the south side of Fairbanks, Alaska at night waiting on a bus to go back to the air force base where I was stationed. The temperature was about zero but a couple of my friends and myself were not cold. In Alaska you learn to dress for the cold with a parka lined with goose down and mukluks. Mukluks is a pair of boots made of canvas with rubber soles. Anyway, the sight that night was the aurora or “northern lights”. They were so bright and moving it was breathtaking. You could even hear a soft crackling sound when a particularly bright wave came by. I remember it well.

Another one was when I was living in Pensacola I had a boat in which I would go offshore fishing fairly often. On one particular time I was out alone about three miles and the Gulf of Mexico was flat and calm as a lake. I had located a reef with a depth finder and was anchored down fishing for snapper and grouper. A bottle-nosed dolphin (porpoise) came up along side very slowly and very close. I dipped my hand into the water and it came over and touched my fingers...we looked each other in the eye for several seconds then it swam away...there was a message sent by both of us...it was a magical moment that I will never forget. By the way, the mukluks laced up to just short of the knees. You wore a pair of regular high top socks, high top heavy woolen socks and then a fairly thick felt bootie...then the mukluks. Actually, the mukluks just held the socks on your feet.. You could not wear them if there was a chance of your feet getting wet...if that canvas and your socks got wet it was bad news, as you might suspect. Close your eyes and imagine what the most memorable sight you can remember and see what shows up first...beside the first sight of your kids, of course.

Here is a trivia question. When Manhattan island was purchased from the Native Americans, what was the boundaries of the island? The obvious answer is the Hudson River and the East River...what other body of water made it an island? Shut up, Bob.

The members of the 4 o'clock club with whom I meet with regularly are mostly readers and we swap books occasionally. I have been asked why I do not read fiction and only read history. My response is that history is far more fascinating than what someone dreams up. Even I can write about my nightmares...Miley Cyrus for instance.

                   This Date in History August 29

2005    Earlier a small Category 1 hurricane named Katrina slipped out of the Caribbean Sea, took a swipe at the southern tip of Florida and then broke loose in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico on a northwest course. The warm waters of the Gulf pumped Katrina up to a Category 3 in short order. It looked like the hurricane was going ashore in Mobile, Alabama or maybe Pensacola, Florida. But on this date, the storm took dead aim at the Mississippi River delta and New Orleans. Early on this morning Katrina quickly expanded to a Category 4 and then briefly to a Category 5 and then back to a category 3 and stormed ashore in the Mississippi river delta packing winds of 140 MPH and a storm surge of 22 feet. The eye of the storm reached New Orleans intact and the excess water and wind quickly overwhelmed the levees holding back the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. From what I have read, the majority of Big Easy is at least 6 feet lower than the River and the Lake. Once the levees failed, the center of New Orleans was flooded with the 9^th Ward being the hardest hit. Hundreds upon hundreds of people were stranded on the roofs of their houses and just had to wait to be rescued by boats or helicopters. There were some areas that boats were not allowed because of downed power lines and the rescuers just had to try to block out the screams for help in those areas. As we have all seen, the semi-flooded areas of the commercial districts were subject to unobstructed looting whilst being observed by the NOPD. The next few days were a montage of events of pure bravery and further events of battles with gangsters trying to take control of the city by force. The arrival of the long suffering 82^nd Airborne and the Louisiana National Guard put a stop to this crap. But of those that evacuated 9^th Ward to the tune of at least 100,000, almost none have returned. I do not know the exact amount of evacuees that left their homes as a result of Hurricane Katrina including parts of Mississippi, but many, many remain in cities like, Atlanta, Houston, Austin and many others, there does not seem to be a desire to return to the Gulf Coast. It looks like they are no longer evacuees but settlers in new lands. It was the worst natural disaster in United States history. I do not remember any presence of the 82^nd Airborne or any looting during the recent flooding in central Iowa. What’s up with that?

1779    On this day the American Continental army commanded by Major General John Sullivan and Brigadier General James Clinton militarily engage a combined Loyalist/Indian army commanded by British Captain William Butler and Iroquois chief William Brandt. The engagement takes place near Chemung, New York which is Elmira today. Earlier George Washington had tasked Patriot General Horatio Gates with going to the Finger Lakes region and subduing the Iroquois Indians under Chief Brandt who are on constant attack of the new settlements. Gates refused the assignment so Washington assigns the task to Major General John Sullivan. Sullivan and company depart Easton, Pennsylvania and travel by the Susquehanna River to the area of conflict. The Patriot artillery was too much for the Indians and they fled leaving a small contingent of Loyalist which were killed or captured by the Patriot infantry. Sullivan ordered his troops to burn and destroy the Iroquois villages and supplies. His troops laid waste to 40 Indian villages and mountains of supplies which made the following winter a severe one for the Iroquois but it did not belay their spirit and the attacks continued at least for a while. Eventually Iroquois leader Charles Brandt saw that the Patriots were going to win the war and took his tribe into Canada to lands given to them by the British.

1885    On this date German inventor Gottfried Daimler invented the prototype of the modern motorcycle. The motorcycle was used extensively WWI by both sides as a messenger vehicle. The popularity fell between WWI and WWII but the motorcycle was again used extensively by both sides during WWII. After the war the returning veterans had developed a taste for them and the demand rose precipitously. The down side of the rise in motorcycle craze was led by a group of hardcore gangsters led by the leader of a San Bernardino group of bikers that organized themselves into a club named the “Hell’s Angels”. Their leader was Sonny Barger. From then many “Hell’s Angels” clubs and clubs like them were formed world wide fostering a wild, unfettered lifestyle. They wanted to project a tough, “Don’t mess with me image” and they indeed succeeded. But today the greatest majority by far, is middle class America that holds meets without the gangster types. For instance a motorcycle rally is held in Sturgis, South Dakota that over 500,000 motorcyclists attend, not to mention those rallies at Daytona Beach, Fla., Myrtle Beach, South Carolina among other places and they all seem to happen without a lot of trouble. I was a rider at one time. But I did not ride on the street that much, I preferred to ride a trail bike in the mountains up and down logging trails or make my own trails, the rougher the better. It was not a glorifying type of avocation but I enjoyed the hell out of it. I can’t do it now because of my age, but I miss the challenges.

1862    Earlier President Lincoln seeing that the commander of the Army of the Potomac, US General George McClellan was not going to follow through with his a attack on Richmond, sent a large portion of McClellan’s army to join with US General John Pope’s Army of Virginia. CSA General Robert E. Lee detected this movement and he also believed that McClellan has lost his nerve and sent “Stonewall” Jackson to the north to keep an eye on Pope. Pope headed for Manassas Junction and found out that Jackson and company are on the way and began a a search. Stonewall knew that Pope is looking for him and that Pope had him outnumbered three to one. Jackson dispersed his troops in the woods and bushes along Bull Run Creek. On this date, after Pope was unable to find Jackson, the rest of Lee’s army arrived on site and Jackson’s army emerges from the trees and bushes and joins up with Lee’s army and the combined force unleashes a devastating flank attack and envelopment of Pope’s army resulting in a total rout of the Army of Virginia. This was not the first victory by Lee at this location. This engagement was forever known as the Battle of Second Manassas.

Born today:

1915  Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman. She said “A kiss is a lovely trick used by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.”

1876    US inventor Charles Kettering. He said “I am more interested in the future because that is where I am going to spend the rest of my life.” Kettering invented the electric starter for automobiles among other things.

                 Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“There are people that say they can do things and there are those that say they can't...both are correct.”

                                                       Henry Ford

As most of you know it has been proven beyond John Kerry's reasonable doubt that the government of Syria has used chemical weapons against their own people to suppress a revolt. Syria is signatory to UN declaration that forbids the used of chemical weapons at all. If this is the case, then why is the United States navy gathering along the coast of Syria with cruise missiles bristling and not the United Nations? Not only that, Russia has warned the US to not get involved in troubles in that area and make the mistakes they have made in the past. I think Putin is speaking of Iraq and Afghanistan. The United States obviously has been involved in civil wars with disastrous results and I am talking about Viet Nam, Korea, China (Boxer Rebellion), Haiti (1937), Nicarauga, Cuba (Spanish-American War), the Philippines, Bolivia, Chile' and several other dirty, nasty insurgencies world wide. Lets go back a little further. The Unites States rebelled against Great Britain and sought independence via the force of arms. The United States fought alone against the most powerful army and navy on the planet using supplies sent over from France until 1783. Then when France thought the United States could win, they sent over a substantial portion of their navy which was used to cut off the retreat of the British Army on the American east coast. This also cut off the support and supplies delivered to the British army by the British navy. The question was why was France so interested was because France owned a gigantic piece of land west of the Mississippi and they had a substantial presence in northern Florida. The land that France owned west of the Mississippi was bought by the United States a little later and was called the Louisiana Purchase. This land was purchased by the US from the regime of Napoleon Bonaparte because he needed the money to continue his exploits in Europe. I have considerable knowledge of the history of our great nation but to this day I cannot figure out why we feel the need be the world's policeman.

The President presented a Congressional Medal of Honor yesterday, Here is the citation for the first soldier to be awarded the Medal of Honor during WWII.

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR to

SERGEANT JOHN BASILONE
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action against enemy Japanese forces, above and beyond the call of duty, while serving with the First Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, in the Lunga Area, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, on October 24 and 25, 1942. While the enemy was hammering at the Marines' defensive positions, Sergeant Basilone, in charge of two sections of heavy machine guns, fought valiantly to check the savage and determined assault. In a fierce frontal attack with the Japanese blasting his guns with grenades and mortar fire, one of Sergeant Basilone's sections, with its gun crews, was put out of action, leaving only two men able to carry on. Moving an extra gun into position, he placed it in action, then, under continual fire, repaired another and personally manned it, gallantly holding his line until replacements arrived. A little later, with ammunition critically low and the supply lines cut off, Sergeant Basilone, at great risk of his life and in the face of continued enemy attack, battled his way through hostile lines with urgently needed shells for his gunners, thereby contributing in a large measure to the virtual annihilation of a Japanese regiment. His great personal valor and courageous initiative were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

/S/FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

A side note: Sergeant “Manila John” Basilone was selected to come back to America and tour the country selling War Bonds. He did that for a short while and then requested to return to his unit. He was killed shortly after coming ashore on Iwo Jima.

                      This Date in History August 28

1955 Earlier a 14 year old black kid name Emmett Till came to Money, Mississippi from his home town of Chicago to spend the summer with his great-grandfather, a farmer near Money. Emmett came from a relatively tough neighborhood in Chicago and it appears that he felt that it was important that he display his toughness to the local Mississippi black kids. He told them he was the toughest kid in his school and had a white girl friend. As expected, the local black kids near Money blew that off as bullshit and dared him to try to pick up the white woman that ran the community grocery store. Emmett accepted the challenge and went in the store. There was no one else in the store except for the woman and Emmett. No one knows what happened in the store but on the way out Emmett is heard to say “Goodbye, baby.” Two days later the woman’s husband returned form a business trip and his wife told him that Emmett had grabbed her and made lewd suggestions. The woman’s husband, Ray Bryant, gathered up his brother-in-law and they went to Emmett’s grand-father’s house looking for Emmett. They took Emmett with them and rode around for a while probably beating the hell out of him. The finally made Emmett drag a 75 pound cotton gin fan to the crest of a bridge over the Tallahatchie River. There they shot Emmett several times, gouged out his eyes, beat on him with iron bars, wrapped barbed wire around his torso and face and wrapped the other end around the fan and threw them over the side. Emmett’s body was finally found but his body was so mutilated that the only way he was identified was an initial ring he was known to have owned. Ray Bryant and his brother-in-law were tried for murder and acquitted. The jury said that the prosecution failed to prove that the body was that of Emmett Till because of the mutilation. Emmett’s mother had the body returned to Chicago and she had an open casket funeral to show what discrimination in the south was all about. Photos of the body were published in Jet magazine. By the way, Ray Bryant and his brother-in-law both died of cancer a few years later. That my friends, is Karma.

1963 On this date several hundred thousand people are gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial in a rally for racial equality. The chief speaker was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King delivered one of the most engrossing and stirring speeches ever uttered. It was the immortal “I Have a Dream” speech. Dr. King was instrumental in nearly every change in legislation toward racial equality. Five years later he was assassinated in Memphis while attending a rally for the garbage collectors of that city. The assassin, James Earl Ray confessed to Martin Luther King’s son that he did not do it knowing he (Ray) was dying of cancer. There is no doubt in this redneck’s mind that Ray went to meet his maker with a lie on his lips.

1990 On this date the bodies of two University of Florida students are found murdered in the Gatorwood apartments in Gainesville, Florida. I remember it well since I had a daughter attending Florida at the time. Not only that, she was living in Gatorwood apartments. When I read about the murders I almost peed in my pants especially since two days earlier three other students had been found murdered nearby. The corpses were displayed in an obscene manner making the police believe that all the murders were committed by the same person. The Gainesville PD was under enormous pressure to capture the villain because the parents of the students were pulling their kids out of school in droves. In desperation the Gainesville PD arrested a man named Ed Humphrey and even though they did not have sufficient evidence for the murders, they kept him in jail on unrelated charges and kept searching. Finally, the police find a campsite in a patch of woods near the University. There they found evidence enough to try and convict a monster name Danny Rolling of the murders. He was sentenced to death and went to meet his maker in 2004 with a needle in his arm. It is too bad that this was not the middle ages then we could have gotten medieval with his rotten ass.

1996 After four years of separation, Charles, the Prince of Wales and Princess Diana are formally divorced in England. When they were wed it looked like a fairy tale marriage. Here was the heir apparent to the English throne marrying a stone fox from the royal House of Spencer. This woman in addition to being beautiful was graceful and charming. She was adored by everybody world wide and the British in particular. Now we come to Prince Charles. Very shortly after, or maybe before the marriage, Charles decides to have a mistress and selects Camilla Bowles. I don’t know what to tell you about Camilla except to make this comparison. If Helen of Troy launched 1,000 ships and Princess Diana would launch 500 ships, Camilla would launch a 14 foot, 20 HP crappie boat, at best. The upside of the marriage was that Charles and Diana had two sons, Harry and William, which appear to have dealt with the separation easily and have developed into apparently well balanced young men. As all of you know we lost Diana in Paris when she was involved in a wreck while being chased by the paparazzi. It was a loss for us all.

Born today:

1749 German philosopher Johann von Goethe. He said “An intelligent man finds everything ridiculous. A sensible man finds almost nothing.”

1899 French actor Charles Boyer. He said “A Frenchwoman when double-crossed she will kill her rival: An Italian woman would kill her deceitful lover: An English woman will just break off the relationship....but they will console themselves with another man.”

1913 Canadian writer Robertson Davies. He said “Fanaticism is overcompensation for doubt.”

1940 US publisher Gloria Leonard. She said “The difference between pornography and erotica is the lighting.”

1982 US singer Lee Ann Rimes. When talking of the law suit against he father she said “I have to learn to forgive because I will become a bitter bitch if I don’t.”

Died today:

1985 US actress Ruth Gordon. She said “Never ever give up and under no circumstances never ever face the facts.”

            Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Wednesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“No one has ever had a good idea while wearing a suit.”

                             Sir Frederick Banting

I have two daughters that live in Columbia, SC. Starting tomorrow they will begin a trek back to where they spent the majority of their formative years, they are moving to Pensacola, Florida (no state income tax, by the way). At one time they both worked for the State of South Carolina or a company that did business with the state. One daughter has burned out and is just seeking serenity and I am sure she will find it on the sugar white sands of the beach. The other has landed a very lucrative position with a world renown company and travels to many locations for her job meaning she can live wherever she wants. She likes the beach also. They will be joining their other sister who has lived in Pensacola for over 40 years. I am very happy that they will be together once again. In addition to being happy for them I am very envious. Have fun together Leslie, Mardy and Jen.

Here is a story of a friend. I met this man when I was on an engineering project in Charlotte (MOX). I was a member of a social group that met at this one particular watering hole located at near the intersection of Woodlawn Road and Park Road. We met at 5:30p almost every work day. My friend was a member of this group of about 15 men and women. He was a golfer of substantial skill and loved to play and was superb at remodeling houses and carpentry work. I told him about several big jobs that he was qualified for but he said that he could not work for anyone....he was too independent. I went to his house several times and we went out to eat on regular occasions...then he had a stroke. He recovered but was dragging his left leg. I left the job in Charlotte and went on the road doing 3D piping design work working for the highest bidder. I was working in Goose Creek, SC and decided to see how he was doing. He was not doing well. He could not do big remodeling jobs because he could not climb stairs because of the leg. He was about to be evicted from his house for lack of paying the rent, his pickup truck was without brakes and a valid tag because he had no money. I went to see him in Charlotte and got him ahead in his rent and fixed his truck. I stayed a couple of days and went back to my place on Daniel Island, SC and working in Goose Creek. I called him a few times after that and he was staying at his parent's condo on the east side of Charlotte. Both parents were dead. He had a son that he had lost contact with since he went to college, if you can believe that. After he had healed a bit from the stroke, he got a fair sized job on a fancy-schmantzy condo in Litchfield Beach, SC that would take about a week. He invited me to stay with him and we had a great time there and at Pawleys Island and Murrell's Inlet. It has been a few years since we have chatted even though he is on my address listing for my daily blog. I called him once to catch up. He had just got out of the hospital for pneumonia...and that ain't all. He had been living in a tent in a park in Charlotte for about a six months and that is probably where the pneumonia came from. He also is being treated for a cancer of the kidneys and liver. He moved into a one bedroom apartment on the west side with three other guys to get in out of the rain and keep warm/cool. His doctors give him about a year to live...he is about 66 years old. He sounded fairly upbeat in spite of all of this. Think of my friend the next time you feel depressed and think the world is against you. Remember how fortunate you really are.

This is the only comment I will make about the Mosque planned to be built in New York. The argument made by Mayor Bloomberg and others is that the 1st amendment to the US Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression. This is certainly true here in the USA. But let’s suppose that I felt the need to express my disapproval with the outcome of the American Civil War and planted a Confederate battle flag at the Lincoln Memorial, or maybe I was not happy with the outcome of WWII and planted a Swastika flag at the Holocaust Memorial or the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, or I was not happy with the outcome of the American Revolutionary War and planted a British Union Jack at Valley Forge. All of these actions fall into the purview of the 1^st Amendment as exercising my right of freedom of expression. The difference is that these actions may be legal but they are inflammatory and in incredibly bad taste and I can assure you that there would repercussions.

In addition to the history lesson I am adding a biography of one of the most hard-assed women that ever existed. Here she is.

Boudicca

Queen of the Iceni

The place and time of Boudicca’s birth is lost in history but it is believed that she was born about 35 AD. It was also believed by the historians Tacitus and Dio that she was of royal descent. Historian Dio said that Boudicca was “possessed of greater intelligence than often belongs to women”. His words, y'all. She was described a being tall with red hair down to her hips, having a harsh voice and a piecing glare. She always wore a heavy gold necklace and a multi-colored tunic and a thick cloak held together with a brooch. Her husband was known as Prasutagus, King of the Iceni branch of the Keltoi (Celts). His kingdom was in what is known today as Norfolk, England but his kingdom was still a province of the Roman Empire. Today Norfolk is in eastern England, north of Dover on the English Channel. Prasutagus’ kingdom was not originally part of the Roman Empire but he voluntarily allied himself with the Romans after the conquest by Claudius in 43AD. The Iceni was a fiercely independent bunch and revolted soon after the alliance in 43AD because the Roman governor, Publius Scapula, threatened to disarm them. It was common practice in those days for Rome to allow the independence of a Kingdom if the client king willed his lands to Rome upon his death. Prasutagus live a rich and sumptuous life primarily on money borrowed from Roman citizens including the Roman senator Seneca the Younger. After Prasutagus’ death, his debtors came calling including the government of Rome. It was the responsibility of Prasutagas’ subjects to make good his debts. The Roman army moved in and virtually enslaved the nobles and nearly all lands were confiscated. It was reported by Dio that Boudicca was flogged while having to watch her adolescent daughters being repeatedly raped. In about 60AD, while the Roman governor, Gaius Paulinus, was over in Angsley in northern Wales leading an expedition against the British rebels and the Druids, Boudicca called a conference with other Celtic kingdoms such as the Trinovantes, and they decided to revolt and they voted Boudicca as their leader. In those days the Roman army hated to go into combat against the Celts because the Celtic women were there standing with the men and swung and ax or sword with the best of them which intimidated the Romans. They could not bear to think that they could be defeated or killed by women. Boudicca used a form of divination to decide the way of a battle. She would release a rabbit from the folds of the cloak and interpret from the direction it ran, and she invoked upon her goddess of victory, Andraste, for advice. By the way her name Boudicca comes from the Celtic word “bouda” meaning victory. Anyway, after doing all of these rituals, she and her army that eventually grew to over 230,000, set out to kick the Romans out of Britain. Their first target was Camulodunum, which was the former capital of the Tranovantians but was now occupied by the Romans as a colony. They burned that sucker to the ground and massacred the Romans in residence. This city is today known as Colchester. After this event the X Legion, Quintas Cerialis commanding, came running to relieve the city but Boudicca’s Army of men and women routed the vaunted Legion killing the entire infantry to a man. Only Cerialis and few cavalrymen escaped. After this debacle, Roman Governor Suetonius hurried down Watling Street through hostile territory to the newly founded town of Londoninium and briefly thought about organizing a stand there but reconsidered when he counted the number of troops available to him and sacrificed the town to save the province and pulled out and left the town to Boudicca. As you might suspect that town is present day London. Soon Boudicca and her army showed up and burned Londoninium to the ground and killed any mammal that was still there. Archeologists have found a layer of burnt debris in London that corresponds with that time period. There next target was the town of Verulaminum and the same fate fell upon that town and any person left. This town is now St Albans. Between the three towns Boudicca’s army had killed between 70,000 and 80,000 people. The historian Tacitus reported that this Celtic army was not interested in prisoners, there were only interested in killing by gallows, fire or cross. Let me tell you, Boudicca wasn’t fooling around. Tacitus also reported that “the noblest of women were impaled on spikes and had their breasts cut off and sewn to their mouths, to the accompaniment of sacrifices, banquets and wanton behavior.” In the mean time, Suetonius had assembled the XIV Legion and the XX Legion and any other he could find and decided to make a stand. The exact location is not known but it was probably in the West Midlands. Before this battle Boudicca made a speech saying that they had already met and defeated a Roman Legion that this on they were facing was no different. She said that she was not just a noble that had lost neither her lands nor a woman seeking revenge for what had happened to her and her daughters. She was a person that wanted her independence and freedom from slavery. She ended her speech with this statement which I paraphrase “I and my women warriors are resolved to win or die, If the men want to live in slavery, that was their choice.” Well, her army was so big it was unwieldy especially in close quarters and they did not have training in this aspect of warfare. Suetonius had wisely chosen a heavily wooded area with an open field for the battleground. The Celts commenced a wild charge and were met with a cloud of javelins from the Romans that killed thousands of the Celts. After the Romans had run out of javelins they formed up into their famous phalanx and waded into the screaming Celts. The Celts attempted to flee but were cut off by a ring of supply wagons that had the Celts had brought with them. The Celts were unceremoniously and methodically massacred by the Romans. Tacitus tells us that over 80,000 Celts fell on that day to only 400 Romans. After this defeat, Boudicca killed herself with poison confirming her oath to win or die. She was given a very lavish hero’s funeral and burial. There is a bronze statue of her aboard a chariot with her daughters at her side near the Westminster Pier in London (been there). Boudicca remains an important symbol in the culture of Great Britain.

This Date in History August 27

1883 On this date the most powerful volcano explosions in recorded history occurs in the Indonesian archipelago. The volcano was a small uninhabited island named Krakatoa. The volcano had sent out signals that it was restless because several cargo ships had reported a column of ash and dust several miles high over the island. The explosion was heard 3,000 miles away and produced a tsunami 120 feet high that took the lives of over 36,000 people on nearby islands. An additional 4,000 people were burned to death from the white hot ash that rained down from the ejecta that was blown up to 50,000 feet in the stratosphere and then came back down miles away on inhabited islands. Krakatoa is still active ya’ll, as is an additional 136 active volcanoes in Indonesia. Indonesia has the most active volcanoes in the world. There is evidence that an even larger volcanic eruption that occurred in the Mediterranean in about 1300 BC. The present day name for the caldera is Santorini. I am sure there were plenty of eyewitnesses but to our knowledge this event was not recorded.

1979 On this date the Irish Republican Army makes its first strike against British royalty when IRA member Thomas McMahon sneaks aboard Lord Louis Mountbatten’s fishing boat, Shadow V, and planted 50 pounds of TNT in the hold of the boat with a remote control detonator. Mountbatten and family came aboard and McMahon lit off the explosive killing Mountbatten and two others. The Irish and the British government have been squabbling since King James I formed the community of Ulster which is now Northern Ireland in about 1612. James got fed up with the irascible Irish Catholics being in almost constant rebellion. James was a devout Protestant and no love in his heart for the Catholics so he seized five shires (counties) in Ireland, kicked out the Irish and brought in some Protestant Scottish lords along with their tenant farmers. James believed that if he could dilute the Catholic population in Ireland they would be easier to control. They were....for a while. The problem in Ireland today is that when Ireland had a chance to become independent from England the overwhelming majority of the Catholics voted for independence but what was originally Ulster and almost entirely Protestant (Presbyterian) voted to stay under wing of England and that was the birth of Northern Ireland. So what it boils down to is that the majority of Ireland is Catholic and they want Northern Ireland to become part of Ireland proper but the Protestants won’t hear of it because they are afraid they will be discriminated against because they are the religious minority in Ireland. The English Army is present to prevent a violent takeover by the IRA. I don’t see an end to it. When it comes to religion, everybody thinks God is on their side.

1859 On this date Edwin Drake struck oil at a depth of 69 feet neat Titusville, Pennsylvania. This discovery was a welcome replacement for whale oil used in lamps world wide. Whale oil was expensive and not always available. Petroleum was used for this purpose for a several decades until the invention of the automobile then every continent in the world began hunting for “black gold” not just for the fuel but for the asphalt to build roads. But by far the most lucrative find was the oil in the middle east known as “Arab light” which means that there is not as much undesirable additives in the oil that need to be refined out, especially sulphur, making it much cheaper to refine adding to the profits.

1964 On this date 15 year Edmund Kemper decides to do something exciting and shot and killed his grandparents. He isn’t done yet, he called his mother and told her what he had done and said “I just wanted to see what it felt like to kill Grandma.” Edmund was a troubled youth. He began by cutting the heads off his sister’s dolls and setting fire to the family cat. His parents knew he was crazy as a loon but rather than getting him help, they just sent him to stay with his grandparents. Edmund killed a few more people before he was caught and sent to prison. Apparently prison agreed with Edmund because he was finally paroled and he was 6’-9” and weighed over 300 pounds. Very soon after being paroled he paid a visit to his mother, beat her to death with a hammer, mutilated her body and raped the corpse. I am telling y'all, this cowboy was a lunatic. He called the police and told them what he had done but they blew it off as a scam and did not respond. Two more people lost their lives and heads to Edmund before the police decided to check of the strange call about a man killing his mother and found out that it was true. They started looking for Edmund in earnest. Edmund went to Colorado and called the Santa Cruz police and confessed to the latest two murders. The police picked him up and he was convicted of 8 murders and sentenced to life without parole. But Edmund himself said that he should have been sentenced to “death by torture,” I agree Edmund, let me select the torture.

Born today:

1871 US writer Theodore Dreiser. He said “In order to have wisdom we must have ignorance.” Hey Ted, I can help you find the latter, it is everywhere.

1770 German philosopher William Hegel. He said “What experience and history has taught us is this...that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon the lessons they may have learned from it.” I second that.....

1908 US football coach Frank Leahy. He said “Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.” Frank knew what he was talking about. He was a football coach at Army.

1910 Mother Teresa. She said “Loneliness is the most terrible part of poverty.” But it was Mahatma Gandhi that said “The bed of poverty is fertile.”

Died today:

1948 Supreme Court justice Charles Evans Hughes. He said “If there is muck to be raked, it must be raked, and the people must know of it, so justice can be given.” It was Justice Evans that also said “It is better to release 1,000 guilty than to jail one innocent.” I think we are on that path now, Judge.

1950 Italian writer Cesare Pavese. He said “Life is pain and the enjoyment of love is the anesthetic.” Not when using a condom, Cesare.

1964 US comedienne Gracie Allen and wife of George Burns. She said “They laughed at Joan of Arc, but she went ahead and built it.” Good night, Gracie.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

 

Tuesday

Good Morning,

Quote of the day:

“There will be a clear cold morning when there isn't any “more”. No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat. I seems to me that one of the important things to do before that morning comes, is let your friends and family know that you care for them and finding simple ways to let them know your heartfelt beliefs and guiding principles of your life so they can say 'He was my friend and I knew where he stood.'”

Clint Eastwood

While the media is continuing to foster and promote racial unrest lets remember this. At the peak of the rioting in Ferguson there were 76 arrests of which 12 were local, the rest were from out of state. Why were they there?

 

Also, while the media I covering the funeral of young Brown like a blanket, I request that you remember the “Darkhorse” or the 3^rd Battalion, 5^th Marines who recently lost 12 men in 4 days in Afghanistan. What? You did not know that? Wonder why?

I hardly know where to begin so I will start with this. There used to be a small railroad that came through downtown Greenville and the locals called it “The Swamp Rabbit” and is about 14 miles long in this area. The rail line was discontinued but the track remained. The local powers that be decided that if the tracks and ties were gone it would be a great jogging and bicycle trail and so the rails and the ties were removed and sold and the track bed was manicured into a smooth surface. The track became very popular for joggers, bicyclists and muggers. The muggers wait in ambush in thick brush and attack the joggers and bikers. Not only that, there have been two homicide victims found near the trail. It is crap like this that makes me an advocate of medieval justice and punishments. There is little doubt in my mind that the gallows, block, guillotine, iron maiden, hot iron bars, the rack, a variety of disemboweling tools and finally a Clydesdale tied to each limb and lashed a couple of times would decrease crime...but we are above that...aren't we?

I saw a TV program that was questioning whether the mystique of Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey will be as popular overseas as it is in America. I know several people that work or have worked in many foreign countries and they all say that you can go into almost any bar in the world and say “Jack and ginger” and the bartender will know what you are talking about. According to the distiller the newest and most profitable markets are in Poland, and Australia. Jack used to be my favorite but I have switched over to Makers Mark...but almost anything will do.

Here is a trick I used on wildlife that had become a pest. I used to live in a remote forest on top of a mountain peak in Pickens county S.C. I began having trouble with squirrels (both gray and flying) trying to get into my attic by burrowing in beside my chimney. The house was wooden and the chimney was brick. Finally I bought some poplar (soft wood) I X 2's and soaked them in Tabasco for a few weeks, I then tacked them tight against the chimney in the area they had been gnawing. After a while I heard some squealing from the squirrels and they stopped gnawing...for a while.

A couple of days ago on the edge and center of the so-called “entertainment district” of downtown there have been muggings, beatings and armed robberies and nearly all the culprits are teenagers. The latest is an armed robbery within a block of the much advertised “Fluor Field” (a minor league baseball stadium) a couple was robbed of their wallets and cell phones at gunpoint. This kind of crap is on the fast track upward here in the “progressive New South”. I wonder what the media would say or do if those two teenagers that been shot and killed by the victims. I can assure you that racial prejudice would be an alleged issue because the two teenagers that were arrested were African-Americans and the couple that was mugged were white. It really does not make a difference to me because a crime is a crime but it would be fodder for the news media. By the way the last four arrests for assault and robbery downtown were African-American and Caucasian teenagers. WHERE THE HELL ARE THEIR PARENTS OR CAREGIVERS? Who would be the first to raise hell if one of the kids was killed in the commission of a crime regardless of race. It would be the parents behaving like they were grief-stricken. That is baloney and you all know it...I don't go downtown for the above stated reasons...but if I do...I know where there is this small, five shot nickel plated, .38 special revolver.....

By the way, my maternal grandfather was a policeman in the city of Greenville many years ago. He and his partner officer Kitchens raided a poker game and a gunfight erupted. My grandfather Alford Blair (I was named after him) and officer Kitchens were both killed. This happened on Park Avenue which is near downtown. My grandfather and officer Kitchens have their badges of the wall of honor in the Greenville Law Enforcement Center. The killer ran away to North Carolina and got into another gunfight with the cops and was arrested. The man that killed my grandfather was electrocuted in North Carolina 3 months later. My grandmother was invited to the execution. She refused and continued in her duties of taking care of her five children.

Here is some news, most of it bad. Nigerian law enforcement has busted a house in the capitol of Lagos where unexpurgated slavery was in progress. They found 23 children in one room from the age of 19 months to 9 that were for sale, y'all. The bad part was this house had been in business for at least 20 years but the authorities were not sure what kind of business was there until recently. DID NOT KNOW??? I smell major bribery for a lot of years here. Anyway, slavery is alive and well in this world today.

If I asked what female athlete made the most money most of you would say either Serena or Venus Williams or maybe Danica Patrick. It is neither one, it is Maria Sharapova. Even though she is not in the spotlight as often and the others, she has several big time contracts especially with Nike, Ericcson, Tiffany and others making her twice as wealthy as any other athletes. Her contract with Nike alone is rumored to be about $70 million. By the way, Maria has a kick-ass body....the last I heard she lived in Monte Carlo.

When President Obama and family was on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. At an earlier time, it is reported that he stopped by a book store and bought books for his kids to read. He made good choices here. He bought To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Red Pony by John Steinbeck (one of my favorite authors). For himself he was given Freedom by Jonathon Franzen. This book was not on the shelves yet but an advanced copy was forthcoming. Here is a few interesting facts about Harper Lee. She was born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She wrote only the one book and was awarded that Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her efforts. The book was about racial prejudice as she saw it in Monroeville while she was growing up. A little known fact was that she assisted her good friend Truman Capote in the writing of the immortal book In Cold Blood. Both books were made into Oscar winning movies. Mockingbird starred Gregory Peck and In Cold Blood starred Robert Blake.

                     This Date in History August 26

1346 Ever since William the Conqueror crossed over from France in 1066 and successfully invaded England, there had been succession of English invasions of France to try to claim the section of France known as Normandy as part of the English Empire. William the Conqueror was William the Duke of Normandy before he was the king of England and successive English kings felt that William’s lands in Normandy now belonged to the English crown. Naturally, the French kings called bullshit on that and several battles were fought in Normandy. On July 12 English King Edward III landed on the coast of Normandy with an army of 14,000. After raping and pillaging French countryside, King Edward headed toward Calais as did nearly every English invasion force because Calais was a very important deep water port on the English Channel that the English needed for re-supply. On this date, King Edward met the French army near the village of Crecy in Normandy. The French army was led by French king Philip IV at the head of 8,000 mounted knights and 4,000 Genoese crossbowmen. The French army had no idea that Edward’s army had a secret weapon, the newly perfected longbow. Anyway, Edward awaited the French attack and late in the afternoon Phillip sent in the Genoese crossbowmen who were met by a hailstorm of English arrows at a range out of the reach of the crossbow. The longbow had an effective range of over 200 yards, unheard of in those days. The Genoese crossbowmen withdrew and then Phillip sent in his 8,000 mounted knights who met the same fate as the Genoese. The air was filled with arrows from the English with the arrows tipped with the newly designed bodkin arrowheads designed to penetrate armor and chain mail. The French knights and their horses fell in writhing mass in the center of the battle ground. After all was said and done, King Phillip had lost over 4,000 men and horses whilst the English lost less than 100. This battle was significant because it marked the end of great horse cavalry attacks over open ground. The English longbow had changed the method battle and tactics forever. King Edward continued his march to Calais and began a siege. The city surrendered to Edward early in 1347.

1968 This was a time of unrest in America. The United States was involved in an unpopular war in Vietnam and there were many protesters of the war on the streets. On this date the Democratic Convention opened at the International Amphitheater in Chicago seeking to come up with a presidential candidate. It looked like it was going to be Vice President Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota. Anyway the streets outside the Ampitheater were filled with war protesters which were expected. The Democratic Party had almost changed their Convention location to Miami because of the fear that protest marches would get out of hand in Chicago, but cooler heads prevailed when Mayor Daley of Chicago assured them that his cops could contain nearly any eventuality. Daley then told the chief of police to not let the protesters get out of hand no matter what action it took to suppress them. Well, sure enough the protester showed up and so did the Chicago PD and the Illinois National Guard. At one point the head of the police force in front of the Amphitheater ordered the protestors off the street and as you might suspect, a riot broke out. The protesters did not have a chance; the Chicago PD immediately waded into them and the cracked skulls and other bones until the protesters were subdued. It was a police riot, y'all. It did not end in the street. A few police went inside the building and began roughing up some of the delegates and newsmen including Mike Wallace who received a fist to the jaw during the melee. The Chicago police arrested hundreds but released all but seven who they said was the ringleaders and put them on trial. Naturally, this caused even more riots. There were riots on and off until the United States pulled out of South Vietnam and left it to the Communist North Vietnamese in 1973.

1862 After US General George McClellan was severely out-generaled by CSA General Robert E. Lee in the Peninsular Campaign, President Lincoln pulled some of his troops away and assigned them US General John Pope’s Army of Virginia. On this date CSA General Fitzhugh Lee and his cavalry unit captured the railroad depot at Manassas, Virginia. The first large scale engagement had occurred about a year earlier at Manassas. Anyway, when General Pope heard about this he and his army came running. General Lee sent Stonewall Jackson to Manassas to keep and eye on Pope. Pope found out that Jackson was in the area but he could not find Jackson nor his army. Jackson had hidden his troops in the forests and brush along side Bull Run Creek. A day or two later the remainder of Lee’s army arrived and Jackson’s army came screaming out of the woods and joined with the rest of Lee’s Army and swept Pope and his army from the field in a total rout.

Born today:

!853 US inventor Dr. Lee de Forest. In 1952 he said “The use of transistors in radio and television is far into the future.” Dr. de Forest was an inventor; no one said he had vision.

1904 English writer George Isherwood. He said “Life is not so bad if you have plenty of luck, a good physique and not too much imagination.”

Died today:

1910 US writer William James. He said “Some people believe they are thinking when they are just rearranging their prejudices.”

1937 US banker Andrew Mellon. He said “Gentlemen prefer bonds.”

1962 Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefanson. He said “What is the difference between ethical and unethical advertising? Unethical advertisers use lies to deceive the public and ethical advertisers use the truth to deceive the public.” Good observation there, Vil.

Quotable quotes:

“History is a set of lies that has been agreed upon.” Napoleon Bonaparte

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.