Thursday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“These are days that try men's souls...”

This is the opening line in one of the greatest inspirational treatises ever written. The author was Thomas Paine with help from Benjamin Rush. Both were Patriots and knew that the Continental Army commanded by George Washington was on the verge of collapse because it appeared that the British army, being the most powerful on Earth at the time, was trying to drive the Continental Army right into the ground. Washington and the army were suffering a horrible winter in Valley Forge, Pa. and their morale was abysmal. Not only that, on December 31 most of the veteran soldier's enlistments would be over and they would be headed home. There is no question that this would be the end to America's campaign for freedom for years to come. Washington gathered his troops around him and read him this pamphlet titled “Common Sense”. The last thought was to the effect that the “more bitter the battle, the sweeter the victory.” It had and effect...soldiers reenlisted...military experts from France and Prussia arrived and whipped our army into a bunch of razors and they kicked a Hessian (mercenary) army's ass at Trenton and a small light was seen at the end of the tunnel...thanks to Thomas Paine, Benjamin Rush and without a doubt guidance from God.

A recent acquaintance mentioned that it appears that the riots in Ferguson are beginning to spread to other towns and cities. I assured her that anarchy will not allowed in the good ole USA in spite of the lack of present day executive leadership. I remember back in the 60's the Black Panthers were speaking of starting a nationwide insurrection (anarchy). A very wise man name Martin Luther King, Jr. said this, “The military is is command of the white man. How many tanks, airplanes, ships and missiles do you have? How many combat trained troops do you have? You would be slaughtered for nothing.” Thank you for Martin Luther King, Jr. and to hell with Al Sharpton and Jesse (Greenville, SC born) Jackson and other pot-stirrers with no apparent skills except profiting from the misery of others.

By the way, I can prove there is a God (or superior being) using logic alone. Here is what I am talking about: Recently over in China a tomb was uncovered that was about 6,500 years old. It was packed with the dead person's personal effects. This means they believed in an afterlife. The same can be said about the Maya, Vikings, Egyptians, Iroquois, Apache, Comanche, nearly all European nations in prehistory, and almost all nations of the middle and near east. Where did the seed of the thought of an afterlife come from? This concept is universal...how did this happen? One person said that human beings are born with the instinct of self preservation and the fear of death. OK...if that is true, how did all of that end up in the human psyche? Just imagine that tadpole looking microscopic creature that is swimming round in a seminal fluid and eventually penetrates an egg that is also microscopic both of which already have the instinct for self preservation and fear of death. How is this possible? How does the tadpole know where to go and what to do? It also has a rather inventive tail-like device for moving around that automatically drops away once the penetration is complete, who designed that? Answers anyone?

There is a site in the Bolivian Andes known as Tiahuanaco. It is on the south end of Lake Titicaca. Someone built a temple there thousands of years ago using technology that would challenge what we have available today. The Temple is in ruins but there is still a doorway that is over 10 feet high made of three pieces of carved granite weighing thousands of tons. There are slabs of granite that have a surface that has been polished to within .0001 mm from being absolutely perfect. There are “H” shaped grooves cut into the granite that do not do all the way through. The surface on the inside of the “H” is also nearly perfectly polished, not only that, the corners are exactly, not almost, but exactly 90 degrees, both the inside and outside corners. This may be difficult for some to comprehend but those with a mechanical mind will. The local Indians have been asked how they were able to accomplish all of this and the say that it was not them...they say in their native language “It was the Gods” while pointing to the sky. The present day Indians (Inca), are growers of a few vegetables and herders of sheep, llama and goats, etc. Advanced engineering to them is unknown, much less what happened at Tiahuanaco. There supposedly is a man living there that is the oldest person in the world. I think he is alleged to be 126 years old. He supposedly was born in 1888...or thereabouts. He said that a diet of potatoes mixed with a specific grain plus crewing coca leaves continuously is the secret to his longevity.

The Guinness record book is looking into it. By the way, if I am not mistaken the elevation of Lake Titicaca is about 12,000 feet and is the largest in South America.

Coca leaves is what cocaine is made of. That old man may be 126 years old but I can assure you that he don't know what happened 30 minutes ago.

            This Date in History August 21

1831 On this date a slave named Nat Turner, believing he was directed by God to free the slaves, rose up and began gathering other slaves in Southampton County, Virginia and headed for the armory in Jerusalem, Virginia. Turner was educated and an ordained minister unlike the majority of the slaves in America. It was Turner’s intention to break into the armory in Jerusalem, gather as many weapons as possible and then head for the Great Dismal Swamp to hide from the eventual pursuers. On his way to the armory he gathered up seven other slaves and chose to slaughter his owner and all of his owner’s family. Over the next two days Turner assimilated 75 followers and they rampaged across the countryside killing about 60 honkies. Finally the whites gathered a defensive force and summoned the Virginia Militia who showed up with 3,000 soldiers and crushed the rebellion. Nearly all of the slaves in rebellion were caught and unceremoniously hanged. It was not until October that Turner himself was caught and hanged. The end result of this rebellion was the colonies passed laws that forbade the movement, gathering or education of slaves. These times were dark ones in the history of this great nation. But at the risk of being politically incorrect, I do not feel that I owe and apology to the blacks for what my ancestors may or may not have participated in. But I feel extremely guilty about the treatment of the Native Americans. It is estimated that at the time that Jamestown was founded there was about 28 million Native Americans in what is now the United States. By the year 1900 there were an estimated 750,000. We came within a hair’s breadth of genocide, ya’ll. Think on it.

1863 Earlier the state of Missouri became a slave holding state and next door was a hotbed of anti-slavery in Kansas. Needless to say there was much animosity that resulted in several skirmishes at the Kansas/Missouri border. Finally this fighting degenerated into guerilla warfare on of the pro-Confederate armies was known as Quantrill’s Raiders. This army had as part of their group, Frank and Jesse James, the Younger brothers, “Bloody Bill” Anderson among others. Their ferocity was legendary. For some reason a US army officer kidnapped William Quantrill’s wife and daughters and took them to Kansas City hoping to influence Quantrill to cool it. Unfortunately for all, the building Quantrill’s family was being held in collapsed killing them all. Needless to say what effect this had on Quantrill and his troops. On this date Quantrill, having gathered a huge army, kidnapped four Kansas farmers to lead him to Lawrence, Kansas. Lawrence was long known as a hotbed of anti-slavery sentiment. After Quantrill found Lawrence, he killed the farmers and sent his troops on a rampage through the town. Quantrill’s troops dragged over 185 men from their houses and killed them, sometimes in front of the man’s family. After this they burned Lawrence to the ground and hauled ass back into Missouri with the US Cavalry in hot pursuit. Once back in Missouri the US Cavalry wisely chose to discontinue the pursuit. It is very unlikely that this atrocity would never have been even considered had Quantrill’s family had not been kidnapped and died.

1986 On this date near Lake Nyos in the African country of Cameroon four villages consisting of nearly 2,000 people are wiped out from the most mysterious of circumstances. The people and thousands of cattle, rodents and even insects were killed from carbon monoxide poisoning. The Cameroon government chose to cover up this disaster and it was easy to do because that area was very remote with very little means of communications. Eventually the government had to ask for help to determine the cause. It took a while but geologists finally determined that the water lever in Lake Nyos was down four feet from normal. Lake Nyos is a body of water in the cone of an extinct volcano and the scientists determined that a bubble of carbon monoxide had gathered under waters of the lake and eventually gathered enough pressure to force its way through the water and spread across the countryside. Since carbon monoxide is heavy than air, it hugged the ground and asphyxiated whatever animal it came in contact with. Since this event sensors and warning devices have been added to rim of Lake Nyos. I saw a TV show proposing that one of the plagues that were brought upon Egypt in the time of Moses and that being the death of the first born, was caused by something similar to what happened at Lake Nyos. It was known that the Egyptian young slept on the floor or close to it because it was the coolest spot in the house. If so and a bubble of carbon monoxide escaped from somewhere and spread out, it would kill all that was at the lowest elevations. But that is just speculation. However, it is a geological fact that one of the largest explosions in written history was the eruption of the volcano Santorini in the central Mediterranean in about 1300 BC. This is the approximate time of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt if you are a follower of the Old Testament. Santorini is about 800 miles northwest of Egypt and such a shock COULD have opened a crevasse in the Nile Delta and released carbon monoxide not to mention a tsunami. I said could have.

Born today:

1921 US TV producer Gene Roddenberry. He said “The funny thing is that everything was science fiction at one time or another.” Gene was the genius that envisioned “Star Trek”.

1952 English musician Joe Strummer. He said “I smoked so much dope I am lucky I did not turn into a bush.” In that case I am lucky I have not turned into a Budweiser brewery.

1959 US football quarterback and full time free spirit Jim McMahon. When speaking of Europe he said “They don’t take baths and they don’t speak English. No golf courses, no room service. Who needs it?” Jim speaks his mind.

1967 Canadian actor Carrie Ann Moss. She said “Since I was in “The Matrix” I cannot wear sunglasses. As soon as I put them on everybody recognizes me”.

Died today:

1904 US writer Kate Chopin. She said “The voice of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft, close embrace.” 

 

Kate was a great wordsmith.

           Thanks for listening    I can hardly wait until tomorrow