Wednesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“When you feel you are going through hell, keep putting one foot in front of the other. Eventually you will come out on the other side or you will find a road sign that will give you directions.”

This is composite of quotes by Winston Churchill and Hunter (Gonzo) Thompson.

A few years ago the UN confirmed that there was indeed a use of Sarin gas in Damascus. The method of delivery proved that it was indeed the Syrian army that did the deed. How did they know?

The mixture of the gas showed that the missile used for the delivery was was larger that anything the rebel army could muster. Not only that, the gas had to be mixed while in the process of delivery. The rebels were no where near that sophisticated.

                  This Date in History    September 17

1932 Speed demon Sir Malcolm Campbell (no relation that I know of) set a land speed record of 76.035 MPH. Think about that folks, that is about the average speed traveled on nearly all of the Interstate highways today. Anyway, Sir Malcolm at the age of 50 broke the 300 MPH barrier at the Bonneville Salt Flats, that’s better. Sir Malcolm also was interested in the speed record over water and did so on several occasions but his last try resulted in a gust of wind getting under his hydroplane and sent it airborne at which the hydroplane disintegrated killing Sir Malcolm. If anyone had the”need for speed” it was Sir Malcolm.

1950 Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis make their debut on the TV show The Colgate Comedy Hour and are an immediate smash hit. They stayed together until 1956 when they decided to go their separate ways. Dean went on the nightclub circuit, especially in Las Vegas. Jerry made 3 or 4 movies that were a flop here in the US but were very popular in Europe where he is considered a comic genius. Dean teamed up with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop forming what was known as” The Rat Pack”. They were a nightclub act that was very popular for a long time. Dean also had a TV variety show for 9 years. After Peter Lawford died Dean was asked what had Peter died from, Dean responded with “Peter died of vodka”. Sad. Dean died in 1995 ending a remarkable life.

1862 The bloodiest single day in American history occured on this day near a small town in Maryland named Sharpsburg and near a small creek name Antietam. There were actually 3 separate battles; Dunker Church, West Woods and Miller’s cornfield. At dawn US Gen. Joseph Hooker unleashed an attack on the Confederate troops under the command of CSA Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson near Dunker Church. Hooker’s attack is stemmed by a ferocious counter-attack by the Confederates at which there was a ghastly number on casualties on both sides. The worst attack came when US Gen. Edwin Sumner was able to get artillery pieces aimed down a sunken road where the Confederates had a line of infantry lying down and shooting over the embankment. The slaughter was unbelievable. This road from then to this day is known as “Bloody Lane”. This battle was a tactical draw but it did force Lee back into Virginia to refit. The total casualty count was 22,807. What can I say here?

1957 Louis Armstrong had been asked to go to go on goodwill tour to Russia for the US and he agreed. On this day he angrily refused to go because of the happenings in Little Rock, Ark. It seems that a federal judge decreed that Central High School in Little Rock must be integrated. 9 black students showed up to go to school and were met by an angry white mob and the Arkansas National Guard sent there by Governor Orville Faubus to stop them from entering the school. Well, after hearing about this debacle Louis told the people responsible for the goodwill tour to take this tour and shove it even though President Eisenhower had sent in the airborne to get those kids in the school. Louis was not impressed and said words to the effect that “How can I go promote goodwill between the US and Russia when blacks are treated like that?” Indeed.

1868 A large contingent of Cheyenne and Sioux warriors attack US Maj. George Forsyth and 50 frontiersmen in Colorado. Maj. Forsyth leads his men to a sandbar in the middle of Arikaree River and there they make a stand. They were able to hold off the initial onslaught of the estimated 600 warriors because of the 7 shot repeating rifles they had. Forsyth knew that he and his men would be annihilated if he did not get help. Two of the frontiersmen volunteered to sneak out at night and go through the Indian lines and get help. The battle continued for 5 days until Forsyth saw that he had only 10 men still able to fight and that many of them were wounded and would die if they did not get medical help and soon. The Indians left figuring they had done enough damage. Early in the afternoon the 10^th Colorado Cavalry showed up with a wagonload of food and medical supplies which saved many of the men. By the way, the 10^th Cavalry was an all black unit known as “Buffalo Soldiers”.

Born today:

1923 US singer/songwriter Hank Williams. He said “You have to smell a lot of mule shit before you can sing like a hillbilly.” Hank was from south central Alabama. There is a portion of I-65 in that area known as the “Lost Highway” named after one of Hank’s most popular songs. Hank allowed his success to kill him with booze and drugs at the age of 30. What a damned shame.

1931 US actress Anne Bancroft. Anne was going to get married to Mel Brooks when Mel called his Jewish mother and told her that he was going to marry a Catholic woman and his mother said “OK, bring her over, I will be in the kitchen....with my head in the oven.” Now I know where Mel got his sense of humor.

Died today:

1771 Scottish writer Tobias Smollett. He said “For my part most of the nation is mad, and the remainder is unbalanced.” Sounds like present day to me.

1996 US Vice-President Spiro Agnew. He said “Youth lacks, to some extent, experience.” Now you know why Spiro resigned the Vice-Presidency in disgrace because of corruption while Governor of Maryland. He was stupid.

1997 US comedian Red Skelton. He said “All men make mistakes, married men just find out about it sooner.” I had forgotten why I ain’t married; now I remember

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow…Goodbye from the land of Black-eyed peas, collards and Brittany Spears (Brittany is from Louisiana). Brittany is having a hard time coping with success as a lot of young women in show biz do. She was a Mouskateer, too.

                 Thanks for listening    I can hardly wait until tomorrow