Wednesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“I got home and the phone was ringing so I picked it up and said 'Who is speaking, please?' and a voice said 'You are'”.

Tim Vine

Warning to m0j0: This segment may not be positive or joyful but you can be assured that unloading it made me feel better.

There has been a hell of a lot of hell raising about the recent “Indiana” law. I have not read the law but I have read the impact. If I am right in my assumption it appears that the law allows bigotry if a potential customer at a business is rejected because of the religious or personal beliefs of the business owner. I have questions. Are there black communities, Latino communities, Polish communities, Italian communities, Greek communities, German communities, Czech communities, Irish communities, Sicilian communities, gay communities etc., etc., etc., all of which exist by choice and no objections from anyone and some are vigorously patrolled by the community inhabitants to keep interlopers out? What is this called? Are their Irish bars, Polish bars, black bars, Latino bars, gay bars, biker bars, etc, etc, etc. all of which are discriminatory and exist by choice with no objections from anyone? What is this called? You don't have to answer, I think y'all get my drift. Don't get me wrong, I am not a racist nor anti-gay but I am a bigot...I hate hypocrisy. Do not complain about some business owner being discriminatory about the customers they cater to and then go back to your cozy little nest in a middle class neighborhood that is 98% white...or black...or Latino...you can't have it both ways. Rightfully everyone has the right to select some people as friends and acquaintances and reject others for a variety of reasons. Don't tell me a business can't do the same thing without being called a bigot. Has anyone seen a bar or a nightclub with a big rope and a bouncer the size of Idaho that allows some people in and rejects others. What is that called? As most of us know there are areas of the country that cater to people of an alternate persuasion and dissuades others. What is that called? How about a biker bar that caters to the rough, tough and tattooed crowd and dissuades others. What is that called? Perhaps I do not understand the crux of the law but as an ex business owner here in the buckle of the bible belt I reserved the right to refuse service to anyone and I did not have to give a reason, after all I was the one taking all the risks. I am done.

Down in West Boca, Florida an off duty police officer went to his apartment complex pool and to relax even though is was after the posted hours of operation. All of a sudden what should appear but a 47 year old man and a woman “getting it on” beside the pool. These two were not residents of the apartment complex and the off duty cop told them to leave. The two dressed somewhat and begrudgingly left...but not for long. The man returned carrying a champagne bottle and threatened the cop with it. The cop was armed, of course, and shot the man putting him in critical condition. It was not stated where the man was wounded nor what happened to his companion. We all can learn something from this...what, I ain't sure.

For some reason I am reminded of the Battle of Fallujah in Iraq. This part of Baghdad was the staging point for the insurgents to attack Allied forces. The Green Berets and the Marines were sent in to clear out the entire area. The area is a beehive of mud brick houses and each had to be cleared out one at a time. One Green Beret team went into a house and found no one but there was a separate room that was unexplored and the leader of the team, a Captain, went in alone. He was struck across the left shoulder with a 2 X 4 breaking his collar bone. The attacker and the Captain engaged in a hand to hand battle with the Captain using only one arm. Somehow the Captain got his good arm around the attacker's neck, held him tight against his chest and bit out a chunk of his jugular vein. The attacker realized that his remaining minutes on this Earth were very, very short and struggled mightily while saying a prayer to Allah. The Captain held on until the attacker bled out. The Captain much later said that he can still feel the attacker's hair on his face, the texture of his clothes and the the odor of his breath. What a nightmare, y'all.

This Date in History April 1

1789 On this date the first meeting of the United States House of Representative occured in New York City. The first order of business was to elect a Speaker of the House. They elect the Pennsylvania Representative Frederick Muhlenberg. He came from a family of important German immigrants. His father was Henry Muhlenberg and his grandfather was Johann Weiser both were important persons of German ancestry in Colonial America. His brother was Major General Peter Muhlenberg was a well known military leader in the Colonies. Frederick was a Lutheran minister and studied in Germany at the University of Halle as did his father. Frederick returned to the Colonies in 1770 at the age of 20. He preached or was an assistant at three different churches in Pennsylvania, New Hanover, Oley and New Goshenhoppen but when the British captured Philadelphia, he moved to New York City. He preached there for several years before entering the political arena. He eventually returned to Pennsylvania and played an important role in state politics. He did not join the Patriot army as his brother Peter did. Peter was also a Lutheran minister also and on one occasion while in the pulpit he said he advocated the independence of the Colonies and then took off his robe to show the congregation his military uniform that he had on underneath, it was an electric moment in our history.

Born today:

1753 French Diplomat Joseph de Maistre. He said “It is one of man’s idiosyncrasies to create problems just for the joy of solving them.” It is obvious to me that Joe has never been married.

       Thanks for listening    I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Necessity is the mother of invention.”

Plato

About a year ago a couple near Brentwood, Pa. moved to a town about 400 miles away. Somehow they had lost their pet beagle named “Sassy”. Later Sassy was returned to them. It seems that Sassy was taken in by a Beagle Rescue unit after she had been assigned a death date by an animal shelter. Sassy was adopted from the rescue unit by a family who eventually heard about some pets having a microchip buried in their skin and took her to a veterinarian to see if she had one. Sure enough, Sassy had one and the Vet was able to find the rightful owners and there was a tearful reunion. The chip is about the size of a grain of rice and it takes some pretty fancy equipment to read them but thanks to this particular vet, Sassy is home.

Down in Mobile, Alabama an athlete had been offered a scholarship to Auburn University. This young man was a superb high school quarterback but he could not pass the minimum mental knowledge requirements to be allowed into Auburn. He applied and was accepted into Gulf Coast Community College to spend a couple of years which would make him eligible for the NFL draft. A few days ago he was arrested for possession of illegal drugs with the intention to distribute. He is in the joint for an undetermined length of time and his long term life is ruined. There is no NFL team out there that will draft a “dealer”. The tests obviously were accurate..he is indeed stupid.

I do not understand all of this but a 41 year old female substitute teacher in an area in central Florida was arrested on a plethora of charges for sexual abuse of some of her students. She had several encounters with male students none of which were over the age of 15. One particular kid that she had approached agreed to a tryst but the kid chickened out and along with his parents, went to the cops. One of the cops gave him his cell phone to call this teacher and pretend to confirm the potential meeting. The teacher reassured him that he was not her first high school boy and would not be the last. The teacher told which boys she had had a relationship with and described in detail what he could expect from her. All of this conversation was recorded by the cops and it was all over for the teacher. That also is stupidity.

A couple of days ago a man with a history of diminished mental capacity walked out of a mental hospital near Georgetown, SC and the cops were called. The Georgetown police spotted a man walking down the side of Highway 17, a major thoroughfare on the South Carolina coast. The police tried to arrest the man but a foot chase evolved and somehow the mental patient made it back to the patrol car before the cops. The keys were in the car and the man hit the road, Jack. A high speed chase began near Murrell's Inlet, SC and went across state lines into North Carolina. It was near Tabor City, NC that a North Carolina trooper as able to get the car stopped and the man arrested. Those involved were the Georgetown City cops, the Murrells Inlet city cops, the South Carolina state troopers, the Columbus County, NC cops and the North Carolina state troopers...Oh yes, and one unbalanced man. He may have been unbalanced but he had to be a hell of a driver.

This Date in History March 31

1776 On this date Continental Congressman John Adams’ wife Abigail wrote him a letter saying in part “I long to hear that you and the others have declared an independency. By the way, in the new code of laws I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you to remember the ladies and be more favorable and generous to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws which we do not have any voice or representation,” Let us recap at this point. John Adams and the Continental Congress are gathered together in Philadelphia on the cusp of creating a new nation the likes of which the world has never seen. They are doing this knowing that the mightiest army and navy on the planet will bring all their forces to bear to prevent this from happening. Then one our greatest leaders is reminded to remember gender parity under the threat of a “rebellion”. Abigail Adams was a brilliant person and was as devoted to John as John was to her but to threaten a “rebellion” at this point was nothing short of baloney. This country was facing the most important decision in world history and Abigail is worried about gender parity! Abigail, this wasn't the time to start nagging about that, for crying out loud! It is at least shortsightedness if not a total lack of vision. On second thought, maybe Abigail had extraordinary vision because it took just short of 150 years for the United States Congress to enact the 19^th Amendment allowing women to vote. Abigail Adams and Barbara Bush are the only two women to be wives and mothers to two American presidents.

1492 On this date, at the direction of the Catholic Church in Spain, all Jews are ordered to become Christians or leave the country. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face, a great majority of the Jews did indeed leave rather than give up their heritage. They took with them huge amounts of money, skills and business connections with many of the countries in the Mediterranean, Europe and Scandinavia. But some of the Jews stayed and held secret Jewish ceremonies while claiming to be Christians. It didn’t help any; the Jews claiming to be Christians were treated like crap anyway. Then the Catholic Church in Spain stepped on its tongue once again and declared that all Moors (Muslims) in Spain must become Christians or leave the country also. One would think that the loss of such a money making and tax paying segment would bankrupt a country. But it didn’t. Spain remained one of the major players in Europe and the world for over 300 years afterward. They took a small dip in power when the Spanish navy was crushed by the English navy in the mid-1500’s. They took another hit when they joined with France and Napoleon Bonaparte and again were crushed by the British navy in the late 1700’s. But Spain reaped an enormous fortune from the “new world” by their conquistadors enslaving the natives in Central and South America and bringing literally tons of gold, silver and precious gems back home.

Born today:

1915 TV personality Henry Morgan. He said “A careful driver is one that blows his horn as he crosses a railroad track.”

1948 US politico Al Gore. He said “A leopard cannot change its stripes.” Al is a piece of work, y'all. Pretty dumb for someone that invented the internet.

Died today:

1631 English writer John Donne. He said “Wicked is almost the same as discreet.” I prefer discreetly wicked.

1998 US representative Bella Abzug. She said “The establishment is made up of little men, very frightened.”

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

Seen on a subway wall:

“God is dead” Fredrick Nietzsche Below that was:

“Fredrick Nietzsche is dead” God

Another air traffic control saga:

Moody AFB in addition to being an all weather interceptor school, was the home of IPIS meaning Instrument Pilot Instructors School. They were teaching instrument rated pilots how to be instructors. The aircraft they were using was B-25's, believe it or not. A B-25 is the type aircraft Jimmy Doolittle used in his raid on Tokyo in 1942. My fraternal grandfather died in Greenville, SC and the Red Cross notified my squadron commander that my presence was requested at the funeral. It was arranged for me to be flown to the nearest AFB to Greenville and that being Donaldson AFB. So two of the instructor pilots took me aboard one of their B-25's and flew me to Donaldson where my family met me. The weather was really crappy all the way. We took off from Moody and I lost sight of the ground soon after departure and I did not see the ground again until just before we touched down at Donaldson. It was rough in spots also. I normally like to fly, but not this time. It was loud, and smelly.

At a recent meeting of the “Four O'clock Club” the subject of the succession of the English crown after Queen Elizabeth II arose. Here is a brief history:

The King of England George V died in 1936. He had two sons, Edward and George. Edward was the oldest and was crowned as Edward VIII, the King of England. Within a year Edward said that he had eyes for an American woman named Wallis Simpson and wanted her for his wife. This lady had two strikes against her...she was not of royal blood and she had been divorced. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin told Edward that it would not be politically nor religiously right for him to marry a divorced woman and remain king. Edward chose the woman and abdicated the throne. After the marriage they became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. After the abdication Edward's younger brother George was crowned King as George VI. George's had two children in Elizabeth and Margaret with Elizabeth the oldest. After seeing England through WWII George died in 1952 and with no male heirs Elizabeth was crowned Queen Elizabeth II. By the way, it was about George VI that the movie The King's Speech was made. Elizabeth had four children, Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. Prince Charles is the heir apparent. However, Charles was divorced from Princess Diana Spenser and then married a divorced woman named Camilla Bowles. Keeping in mind that Edward VIII could not be married to a divorced woman and remain king, how is Charles going to make that happen when the time comes? Do to some research done by by my friend in the Big Apple I have found two opinions from experts on English Royalty. One of them declared that Charles can become king because his marriage to Camilla was illegal for not being held in an Anglican Church. It was held in what would be a magistrates court in the US. However after the wedding the couple was blessed by an archbishop of the Anglican church and Camilla has a royal title in the Duchess of Cornwall but can never be named Queen. The other “expert” says that yes Charles can become King and Camilla Queen. The end result is that I do not have an answer. It is generally believed that Queen Elizabeth II is hoping that she outlives Charles and Charles' eldest son William would become king and all of this divorce crap would go away. The rumor is that William is being finely honed to take the throne. The rules about marriage was changed three times recently. Once during Winston Churchill's term, again during Tony Blair and again during John Major. I can't verify all of that but it is interesting to contemplate.

This Date in History March 27

1775 On this date a young redhead from Virginia is elected to the 2nd United States Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson was soon recognized as an efficient composer of letters especially with his first submission called “A Summary View of the Rights of British America.” He also stunned the others with “Draft Notes on the Virginia Constitution”. Jefferson had a large part in drafting the Virginia Constitution and as a result he was tasked at drafting the instrument that the United States would use to separate from England. He was 33 years old. He came up with a document he titled “A Declaration by the Representative Congress Assembled”. This document has been recognized as the most important in the history of democracy. Jefferson presented his draft to Congress on Jun, 28, 1776 and a very few changes were made to the text and the title was changed to The Declaration of Independence and adopted on July 4, 1776. I still wonder at the bravery and courage of these men by adopting and signing this monumental declaration knowing it would bring even more pressure from the mightiest army and navy on the planet. Not only that: There was a good percentage of the American population that wanted to stay under the wing of King George III and many ended up joining the British Army. In fact, most of the combat units for the British in the Carolinas were all Loyalists led by British commanders. That is why the encounters between the Loyalists and the Patriots were so savage and bitter. Anyway, Jefferson held several positions in the Government of Virginia and the United States and ended up being elected as our third president and served two terms 1801-1809. It was Jefferson that was president for the Louisiana Purchase and for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He eventually retired to his homestead in Virginia known as Monticello. He dabbled in the formation and running of his beloved University of Virginia. He died on July 4, 1826; exactly 50 years after his draft of the Declaration of Independence became adopted. He was 86 years old. Jefferson is a giant among the framers of this great nation. We were very, very lucky to have had men of his caliber. Was he here at this place in this time frame by accident? I think not.

1836 On this date 411 Texans had assembled in the small town of Goliad to defend against the 3,000 troops of the Mexican dictator Santa Anna. The Texans felt that they would be treated as prisoners of war but Santa Anna considered them traitors because he still considered Texas as part of Mexico. Anyway, when Santa Anna arrive and encircled the town, the Texans surrendered to avoid annihilation. It did not work; they were massacred to a man anyway. But as the saying goes “What goes around comes around.” A few months later near a village called San Jacinto near Houston, Sam Houston and about 750 wild-eyed howling Texans fell upon Santa Anna’s unsuspecting troops and cut them to pieces without mercy. Santa Anna was captured and brought before Houston. Houston spared his life if he promised to leave Texas and never return. Very soon after this the Republic of Texas came into being.

Died today:

2002 British actor Dudley Moore. He said “Not all people that drink are poets; some of us drink because we are not poets.” Me too.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Not now, my good man. This is no time for making enemies.”

                                             Voltaire

Voltaire was on his death bed and was asked to rebuke Satan.

I am once again reading a Pulitzer Prize winning book about why we are what we are. Right now the part I am reading is why and where did we divert from being hunter/gatherers to more sedentary farmers. Research shows that the first attempt at cultivating wild plants into crops was done in what is known as “The Fertile Crescent” which is that area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is today Syria and Iraq. It is the first place that wild grasses were cultivated into what became emmer wheat. This was about 8,500 BC. Emmer wheat was also grown along the Nile river in Egypt but the earliest found were just 6,500 years old meaning emmer wheat migrated from the Fertile Crescent. Another curiosity to me was the aborigines of Australia who were hunter/gatherers for thousands of years but they would find wild yams, dig them up cut off a piece and then put a stem back in the ground so another yam would grow. This made them basically a farmer in addition to hunter/gatherers. The only problem was that it never occurred to them to bring the stem back to their village and plant it close by, they always put the stem back where they found it. They also traded heavily with other peoples on nearby islands that were farmers only but it had no effect on their lives. The native Carib Indians relied heavily on the papaya tree for a food source but there is no evidence that they ever tried to establish groves. They would go to a native tree and clear out brush and competing trees but it never occurred to them to try to plant seeds and raise them. The author said that all of this goes back to the old saying “Necessity is the mother of invention.” If the people are relatively happy and decently fed then why change what they are doing.

The author did much research in New Guinea which is basically an island divided by the Owen Stanley mountain range. On one side the natives until very recently used stone tipped spears and lances to kill their game because there was plenty available and they could afford to let some escape while only wounded. On the other side of the mountain range the natives would trade for anything made of metal, especially steel, that they could form into a spear point...and when they discovered firearms that was paramount in their thinking and trading. The reason...game was not as plentiful and they had to be sure of a kill. We are strange critters, y'all. By the way, on the side where the game was not as plentiful cannibalism was not unknown and was allowed as part of their religion.

Back in 2011 in a small Florida town a boy 17 years old killed his mother and father, cleaned up the blood for a few hours and then went to a bank and withdrew a sizable chunk of change and threw a party at his house with his parent's corpses in their bedroom. The kid had been treated for a depression and was on medication. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to life without parole. When asked why he did not get the death penalty the judge said that in Florida the death penalty cannot be given to anyone under 18 and the kid was 17 when he committed the crime.

This Date in History March 26

1776 The Provincial Government of South Carolina declared their independence from Great Britain, adopted a new constitution and renamed itself the General Assembly of South Carolina. They elected John Rutledge as president, Henry Laurens as Vice-President and William Drayton as Chief Justice. This was four months before the Continental Congress declared independence for the entire Colonies on July 4. During the next two years John Rutledge had near dictatorial powers in South Carolina and the others decided a change was needed. In 1778 changes were proposed to the State constitution that Rutledge was opposed to and he resigned. Rawlins Lowndes took over a Governor and instituted the changes Rutledge found objectionable. The changes took veto powers from the President and made it a law that state senators were to be elected in a general election. It also changed the office of the state President to a governorship. In spite of all of this, in 1779 Rutledge was re-elected only this time he would not be President but a Governor with a lot less power than before. It was Drayton that drafted the state constitution that gave Rutledge such heartburn. Drayton went on to serve in the Continental Congress and died in Philadelphia at the age of 37 in 1779. Rutledge lost most of his wealth when the British captured Charleston earlier but lived to see a new century and died in 1800. Henry Laurens was elected to the Continental Congress and in 1780 was sent on a diplomatic mission to Holland but was captured by the British and was imprisoned in the Tower of London where he served 15 months and was released. He came back to America and spent the rest of his years on his plantation where he died in 1792.

1987 On this date the Philadelphia police are called to a rundown house owned by one Gary Heidnik. In the basement they find a den of horrors. There were two women chained to the wall, one woman at the bottom of a deep pit. There was a fourth but she was the one that had escaped and called the cops. Hiednik had been a mental patient in the past but had made his self wealthy on the stock market. He did not pay any income tax because he had declared himself a Bishop of his own church, The Church of God’s Ministries. It was in 1986 that Heidnik had decided to have a harem and began gathering women off the streets of Philadelphia. He killed one woman by throwing her into the pit, filling it with water and then throwing in an operating electric fan. He killed another by chaining her to the wall and letting her starve to death. The grisliest of all was when he killed another woman, dismembered her and cooked and fed her to the others. Needless to say, Heidnik was tried and convicted and sentenced to death. He was executed in July of 1999. This jackass was able to live 12 years after committing these abominations. It ain’t right, y'all, it just ain’t right.

1832 On this date the American Fur Company owned by John Jacob Astor launched its newest device to capture even more of the North American fur trade. It is the riverboat Yellowstone. Astor had the boat built in New Orleans to have a shallow draft but yet be maneuverable. The boat departed Saint Louis on this date and headed up the Missouri River to the American Fur Company trading post at the intersection of the Missouri and the Yellowstone rivers. The trading post was name Fort Union and was nearly the only successful fur trading fort in the American west. Astor’s fur company was so huge that they could undercut or absorb any and all of their competition. Normally, the furs were brought down river to Saint Louis by small 12 man skiffs with them fighting off the Mandan and Blackfoot Indians most of the way. The Indians would not attack a vessel the size of the Yellowstone so the American Fur Company could transport their furs carrying many times over what the competition could carry and did not have to fool with the pesky Blackfoot. After the Astor family became enormously rich, the need for furs faded and the Yellowstone faded from memory.

Born today:

1911 US writer Tennessee Williams. He said of Truman Capote. “I have always said that Truman’s voice is so high it could only be heard by a bat.” Truman wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning book In Cold Blood which was made into a movie starring Robert Blake. It is little known that he was helped writing this book by another Pulitzer Prize winning author in Harper Lee who gave us the immortal To Kill a Mockingbird. Truman wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's which was made into a movie also.

           Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Wednesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“It is difficult to free a fool who reveres his chains.”

                                 Voltaire

You can substitute “drugs” or "government handouts" for chains.

A while back a man named Robert Laverne Henry was executed in the Raiford, Florida prison. In 1987 this animal tried to rob a fabric store in Deerfield Beach, Florida and killed two women with by beating them with a hammer, pouring flammable liquid on them and lighting them off. One of the women survived long enough to identify Henry but later died. The tax-payers of Florida have been supporting this bastard for 17 years while he was on death row. He wanted to make a speech to the families of the victims before he was executed. This beast had the freaking nerve to say things like “We don't castrate or rape a rapist and we don't cut off the hands of a thief so why do we want to murder a murderer?” He rambled on for a few more sentences but in mid-sentence one of the family yelled one word....”Die” and it was all over.

Out in Anaheim, California the local cops were out looking for a parole violator when they ran across another man that thought they were after him and he began running. One of the cops had a dog with him named Bruno, a German Shepherd. The cop released Bruno and he cornered the runner behind a dumpster. The runner shot Bruno in the mouth and the bullet lodged near his heart but Bruno is still alive but just barely. The cops capped the shooter.

Another event in my air traffic control career and again at Moody AFB:

The control tower at Moody faced east toward north-south parallel runways. A friend named Bill Cole and I were conducting takeoffs and landings (landing on the outside runway and departing on the inside runway) when we saw something coming from the southeast blowing black smoke. This sucker was gigantic and only about 800 feet above the ground. It was a B-36. These monsters were the largest airplanes ever built at the time. They were replaced by the immortal B-47 and later by the B-52. The plane reached our airport perimeter and turned due north. Bill was screaming on emergency frequency (243.0 MHZ) for the B-36 to identify himself and tell us his intentions. I had ran off all the arrivals I had and told them about this big thing flying around in contact with no one. Finally, someone aboard the B-36 called us on a discrete frequency (only used by Moody control tower) and said “This is Oatmeal 19, I am the B-36 just east of you. We are out of Ramey (Puerto Rico) and are on orders from higher headquarters...out.” All Bill and I could do is tell everybody what had just happened and to wait about ten minutes, if fuel allowed, before returning to land. The B-36 disappeared over the horizon northbound. About ten minutes later operations resumed as usual. By the way, Ramey AFB has since closed at the request of the good people of Puerto Rico. They did not like the noise and the possibility of one of those B-36's crashing. After the people of Puerto Rico realized that millions and millions of dollars would be gone due to the loss of Air Force personnel spending their Yankee dollars there, they wanted to recant their request but it was too late.

Here is an interesting fact. One of the first retailers of automotive gasoline was a man named Phillips in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He want a catchy name for the fuel and decided on Phillips 66. The reason? His first gas station was on the immortal Route 66.

This Date in History March 25

1774 On this date the British Parliament passed the Boston Port Act which was part of the so-called Coercive Acts. The Boston Port Act closed the ports of Boston and Charleston, SC to any shipping not condoned by the British navy, a blockade if you please. The Boston Port Act also had a glimmer of hope for the Bostonians in that if the city coughed up the equivalent $1 million dollars to repay the English merchants for the loss of their tea in the Famous Boston Tea Party, they MIGHT lighten up on the blockade. That was baloney because the British brought up the military commander of the British army in the Colonies, General Thomas Gage, and made him the Governor of Massachusetts. The Bostonians and the colonies in general saw correctly that this was the first step toward martial law and England’s attempt to isolate New England and Boston in particular from the rest of the colonies. It did not work, y'all. The rest of the colonies gathered together and began sending supplies to New England via different avenues and the colonies overwhelmingly decided to tell those British merchants to suck it up because they aren’t repaying them shit for the lost tea. If you take all the things the British Parliament burdened the colonies with collectively, it is a wonder the Revolutionary War did not start before Lexington and Bunker Hill. In addition to the Boston Port Act they gave us the Stamp Act which decrees that every scrap of printed matter must have a British designed stamp on it at a cost to the colonists. The income from the Stamp Act was to be used to finance the British Army in the colonies. In other words, the colonists were going to provide pay for their own invaders. Parliament also passed the Quartering Act. This act decreed that it was the responsibility of the colonists to provide quarters for the British troops to stay in, the colonist’s own homes if necessary. There were other acts but these three were the most obnoxious and clearly led to the Revolutionary War and the creation of this great experiment in freedom known as the United States of America.

1634 On this date the English passenger ships Ark and Dove arrive near the western shore of what is now Maryland and the passengers go ashore and establish the town on St. Mary on St. Clements Island. The land east of the Potomac had been given to George Calvert on proprietary basis by King Charles I. Meaning George Calvert owned the land if he would share the profits from these lands with the King. Calvert was also titled Lord Baltimore. The first settlers had an agenda. They wanted to provide a refuge for the Catholics being persecuted in England. This was OK with King Charles I because he loathed Catholics. As with all that have a religious agenda there were problems that arose and it was true here also. Along came more and more Puritans and they began challenging the freedom of religion that was part and parcel of the establishment of this colony in the first place. The Puritan wanted to dictate the “proper” religion for the settlers and as you might suspect, fighting broke out. The Governor William Stone stepped in and put a band-aid on the problem and said that all that believed in Jesus Christ were welcome into Maryland. This law did not last long as y'all know but eventually more and more religious tolerance crept in and now we have an amalgam of religions in that state as with most of the rest of this great nation. Well, not so much here in Greenville. Puritans abound here, by several other names but still Puritans.

Born today:

1940 One of the most recognizable morons in existence, Anita Bryant. She said “If gays are granted rights, then we will have to grant rights to prostitutes and to people who sleep with Saint Bernards and even nail biters.” I had forgotten why I made up my own religion, now I remember.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Half of the game of baseball is ninety percent mental.”

Yogi Berra

Here is a little something for you blues fans:

On October 4, 1954 Stevie Ray Vaughan was born in Dallas, Texas. His father was a worker in a cement plant and his mother was a secretary. He had an older brother named Jimmie that played an important role in Stevie’s life. As with most teenagers he did not know what he wanted out of life but he knew it was not high school and dropped out. While he was growing up he played with loaned guitars and arrived at his own bluesy style. One day when he was 17 he was working in a burger joint and was standing on a barrel full of cooking oil to get something off of a high shelf. The top of the barrel collapsed and Stevie found himself standing waist deep in oil. It was then that Stevie determined the direction his life would go, it was music. He joined with several different local bands in the Dallas and Austin areas and honed his guitar skills to a fine edge. He finally got a stable band together named Double Trouble that was the band in demand in the Dallas/Austin area. His soaring guitar licks caught the attention of David Bowie and Jackson Browne and was a side man on several of their albums. It is strange but Duane Allman was also a side man with these bands plus Aretha Franklin. He came into worldwide fame when his band played at the Montraux, France Jazz Festival. Many in the audience did not appreciate his “hard” blues style but other renowned guitarists in the audience knew what genius they were hearing. In a very short period of time he and Double Trouble cut three albums each one more successful than the previous one. The money began to flow in and almost as soon as he gained notoriety he got addicted to booze (Southern Comfort) and cocaine. For several sessions Stevie was stoned out of his gourd but his guitar licks prevailed. He finally collapsed during a recording session and went to a detox unit in Georgia. The doctors there said he was just days or hours from dying. He came out of detox a different man and it showed in the next album. The magic was even more evident. One year he was voted as the best blues guitarist which was the first time a white man had received such an award. Stevie was encouraged throughout his career by his brother Jimmie who was a well know blues guitarist in his own right playing for The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Stevie was invited to participate in a concert in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin sponsored by Eric Clapton and Robert Cray. After playing early in the concert on August 27, 1990, Stevie was offered a seat on a helicopter headed to Chicago. Stevie accepted and the helicopter crashed into a ski slope during bad weather and there were no survivors. Later his brother Jimmie gathered snippets of different live appearances by Stevie and came up with that Elmore James classic blues song “The Sky is Crying” done by Stevie Ray which was a smash hit. Later Texas Governor Ann Richards (one hell of a woman) declared October 4 as “Stevie Ray Vaughan Day”. I don’t know what it is but it seems that those with the greatest future in sight get snatched away from us. You never hear about those that have reached the crest and are on the down slope going away. It makes me wonder.

This Date in History March 24

1765 On this date British Parliament passed the Colonies Quartering Act making it the responsibility of the American Colonies to provide quarters, or barracks, for the British troops that have been sent to the colonies, as inflaming as it sounds. Look at the date and tell me how the colonists were able to put up with this shit for 10 years without revolting. There was an order of priorities for which type of cover the colonists had to provide of the Redcoats. The very last on the list was a colonist’s house but it was there. Just to think that it was the responsibility of the land being invaded to be responsible for the housing of the army doing the invading. The arrogance of even thinking of such a thing arouses the Scottish blood in my veins and makes me believe that freedom and liberty are indeed worth dying for. Don’t test me. Don’t even go there.

 

1862 On this date abolitionist Wendell Phillips is scheduled to make a speech in Cincinnati, Ohio. Phillips was the son of a famous and wealthy family in the New England area. Wendell never had to work so he was looking for a “cause” to occupy his time. He chose freeing the slaves as his crusade. After the Civil War broke out, the abolitionists tried to persuade Lincoln to declare the reason for the war was to free the slaves. For almost two years Lincoln called bullshit on that and proclaimed the purpose of the war was to maintain the union. Then when that didn’t work after the Union army got their ass kicked in rapid succession and the Union supporters said “to hell with it, let them have their own country”. Then Lincoln changed horses and proclaimed the War was to free the slaves making it a moral issue. Anyway, Wendell Phillips got up on the rostrum in Cincinnati and started orating about how right it was that the war was to free the slaves and he was booed off the stage and had to be escorted off the premises under armed escort. Of course I am not an advocate of slavery, but Lincoln not staying with the original “cause” as being the preservation of the Union was at least suspect if not unconscionable in its sincerity. If you weight the freeing of the slaves against the preservation of this great nation, it is no contest. The freeing of the slaves was on the horizon anyway with the invention of steam powered machinery. But in Lincoln’s defense, he got the job done, justification not withstanding.

Born today:

1874 US escape artist Harry Houdini. He said “The greatest escape I ever did was getting the hell out of Appleton, Wisconsin.” His words, Ron P.

1902 US Governor of New York. He said “No man should hold public office that cannot make more money in private life.” Does anyone know such a person?

Died today:

1603 Queen Elizabeth I of England. When speaking to Sir Walter Raleigh she said “I have known many people that have turned gold into smoke, but you are the first person that I have seen that turned smoke into gold.” She was speaking of Walt bringing tobacco into Europe.

1882 US writer Henry Longfellow. He said “Talk not of wasted affection, affection is never wasted.” Hank sure had a way with words.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“When a man talks dirty to a woman it is sexual harassment but when a woman talks dirty to a man it is $4.95 a minute.”

Steven Wright

I saw a program on “Cops” where a man in a pickup truck was stopped for suspected armed robbery. He refused to unlock the doors or open a window. The cops had a dog that was raising hell at the driver. Finally one of the cops broke out the passenger side window and put the dog inside. The man let out a high pitched scream and bailed out of the truck with the dog holding on to his right forearm. He swung around in circles but the dog did not let go and ended up going horizontal. The cops finally tackled him with the dog maintaining his grip and did not let go until one of the cops told him to. The whole scenario was funny but I was really impressed with the tenacity and obedience of the dog. It looked like a Belgian Malinois but it could have been a German shepherd. By the way, the dog that went in with SEAL Team 6 after Ben Laden was a Belgian Malinois named Cairo.

As y'all might know we have a “Christian” based educational institution here in Greenville named Bob Jones Academy. The presidents of this organization was the originally Bob Jones then Bob Jones II and then Bob Jones III. Back in 1980 Bob Jones III made a speech in which he said that all gays needed to be stoned to death among other things mongoloid. Recently a petition with about 2,000 signatures was raised demanding a apology from this Cretan. He issued an apology stating that he made the speech during a heated election and apologized, almost. He talks a lot but nothing has really changed in the institution's medieval mind set. Within the last year there were so many report of sexual harassment and/or sexual abuse on campus that an independent investigative group was tasked with finding the truth. They eventually issued what resulted in an indictment as far as I am concerned. The head of the school investigative group on campus was suspended for about two weeks and now he is back in his cave with as much power as he always has had. It was he that stated that when a sexual harassment or abuse charge is leveled he automatically assumes that there is a shared responsibility between the charged and the victim. He had the nerve to state that the girls could be partly responsible by wearing their clothes too tight and being overly friendly which could “arouse male lust” if you can believe that. This imbecile in no way changes my religious beliefs but does reinforce my belief that the length, width and depth of egotistical self-importance has no limit.

This Date in History March 23

1862 Earlier CSA General “Stonewall” Jackson was tasked by CSA General Robert E. Lee to watch for Union troops leaving the Shenandoah Valley. Lee believed that US General George McClellan was calling for all available troops in the Shenandoah to join his already gigantic army for a spring offensive as indeed he was. If such a movement was detected, Jackson was to stop or delay it. Accordingly, Jackson stepped up patrols by his cavalry commander CSA Colonel Turner Ashby. On this date, Ashby did indeed detect a troop movement near Kernstown, Virginia by US General Shields. Only this time Jackson was outfoxed by the sly Shields. Ashby sent a courier back to Jackson and informed him of the troop movement and estimated the troop strength at 3,000. The difference here is that Shields had kept most of his troops hidden, he really had 9,000 troops. After receiving the message, Jackson sent additional troops to join Ashby raising the Confederate total to 4,000. In the middle of the afternoon Jackson, in spite of it being Sunday, ordered an attack on Shields left flank. Jackson, being a very pious man, tried not to fight on the Sabbath. After the attack was well underway, Shields brought out his hidden troops. Confederate division commander General Richard Garnett, expecting a short battle against only 3,000 and provided ammo to his troops accordingly. They ran out of ammo and retreated which forced the divisions on either side to follow and soon the Confederates were in a general retreat making it a victory for Shields. This was the beginning of Jackson’s brilliant Shenandoah Valley campaign and the last battle he ever lost. After the battle, Jackson accused Garnett of cowardice in retreating no matter that his troops were out of ammo. Some believe that Jackson was trying to blame someone else for the loss because he had been outfoxed by Shields. Anyway, Garnett carried that stigma with him the rest of his career even after the death of Jackson. Garnett was determined to shed this stigma of cowardice that Jackson had burdened him with. At Gettysburg in spite of a general order that no one rides, Garnett rode a horse directly into the very teeth of Union artillery fire. No part of CSA General Richard Garnett was ever found that could be identified. The Confederates knew that he was dead because his horse “Red-Eye” returned to Confederate lines without him.

Born today:

1900 US psychoanalyst Erich Fromm. He said “Education makes machines that behave like men, and men that behave like machines.” I think Erich knew Al Gore.

1910 Japanese director Akira Kurasowa. He said “All men are geniuses when they dream.”

I think Akira knew Erich Fromm.

1912 German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun. He said “Basic research is what I call it when I don’t know what the hell I am doing”. I think Wernher knew them both.

1972 US Pro basketball player Jason Kidd. Upon joining the Dallas Mavericks he said “We are going to turn this team around 360 degrees.” Jason, shut up.

Died today:

1953 French artist Raoul Dufy. He said “My eyes were made to erase all that is ugly.” I don’t think Raoul ever met Janet Reno because human eyes cannot erase that much ugly.

1995 US actor Jerry Lester. He said “What do you give a man who has everything...Penicillin.”

     Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.

Friday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“It is the mark of many famous people that they cannot part with their finest hour.”

                                        Lillian Hellman

An example of the above quote was British General Bernard L. Montgomery. During WWII German General Erwin Rommel was kicking ass in north Africa along the Mediterranean coast. Finally due to the British navy destroying German shipping in the Mediterranean the under-supplied and under-manned German army met a well armed, well supplied and well manned allied army commanded by Montgomery at a place called El Alamein in Egypt. Montgomery unleashed a ferocious artillery barrage followed by a tank attack that drove Rommel back west across the desert into the waiting arms of US General George Patton who had recently landed on the northwest coast of Africa . After this victory, Montgomery no longer signed his name as “General Bernard L. Montgomery”...he signed simply “Montgomery of El Alamein” for the rest of his stupid, egotistical life.

Here is an interesting statistic. The movie American Sniper was released of Christmas day 2014. On January 26, 2015 the film had grossed $226 million. The budget for the making of the movie was about $59 million. As of January 2015 the movie has grossed nearly as much as all the Oscar nominees for “Best Movie” combined. It was a Clint Eastwood movie but I don't think he needs the money. I looked up Clint's homes. He has homes in Los Angeles, Carmel, Ca., and the island of Maui, Hawaii. They are all breathtaking. But to me he is The Outlaw Josie Wales.

This Date in History March 20

1778 On this date United States representatives Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee have an audience with King Louis XVI of France. They are there in order to persuade France to recognize the United States as an independent nation and become an ally. France was the prime enemy of Great Britain since their embarrassing loss to the English in the Severn Years War. This loss cost France their lands in North America and they were still smarting from it. The United States representatives were anxious to have the French Canadians as allies to protect their northern borders. King Louis XVI was cautious toward backing a losing cause but after the Patriots beat the crap out of the British at the Battle of Saratoga, he decided to recognize the United States as being an independent nation which put him at war with England. He had been covertly sending arms and ammo to the United States and now that he was an ally he sent them openly. A helping hand was given by the second most powerful man in the French Court, Charles Gravier, who wanted to become an ally with the United States for a different reason. After the British captured Philadelphia, Gravier was afraid that the Patriots would not fight without French backing. It was the French that sealed the fate of the British army under General Charles Cornwallis when the French navy sailed into Chesapeake Bay in 1782 and sealed off the avenue of retreat and supply for Cornwallis while Washington was attacking him on three sides on land. We are here because of the dynamic men we had on our side at this point in time...it was not by accident.

1965 On this date President Lyndon Johnson called Governor of Alabama George Wallace and told him that he would not hesitate to send in the National Guard to allow a peaceful march of protesters from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Previously, this protest march was stopped at the Pettus Bridge near Selma when the local police and the State troopers waded into the protesters and beat the crap out of many of them. President Johnson reminded Wallace that it was his duty to protect the Constitutional rights of peaceful assembly and protest and if he was unwilling or refused to do so, then Johnson would. Wallace countered with that he did not think he could restrain his troopers and police because of “outside agitators”. The next march was accompanied by a division of Alabama National Guard sent by Lyndon and peace prevailed.

1413 King Henry IV died and his son Henry V assumed the crown. Earlier King Edward III had promised Henry V the Duchy of Normandy which is on the northwest part of France All of this got started when William, the Duke of Normandy became the King of England. William was also known as William the Conqueror. From then on every King of England thought they had a claim on Normandy. It was Henry V that pulled off one of the greatest military feats in history with his victory at the Battle of Agincourt. Henry landed on the Normandy coast and encircled the French town of Hanfleur and eventually captured it. Henry lost half of his strength due to battle wounds and disease. He decided he had better get his young ass up to Calais, France to meet his navy and get on back to England. By the way Calais is the closest point in France to England, about 21 miles across the English Channel. On the way to Calais, Henry was cut off by a French army three times his size. Henry moved his troops into a narrow field which would eliminate the chance of encirclement and unleashed an avalanche of bodkin tipped arrows into the closely packed and heavily armored French knights. The bodkin tips were designed to penetrate armor and chain mail and they did their damage to swarming knights. Another good thing in Henry’s favor was that it had rained heavily for the last few days and the chosen field was very muddy which made the footing very treacherous for the heavily armored French infantry. The French army was packed so close together that they could not even swing their swords. Upon seeing this, Henry ordered his bowmen to pick up their terrible double-handed and double- bladed axes and swords and join with the infantry and wade into those Frenchmen and take care of business. The French suffered 6,700 casualties to Henry’s less than 1,000. It was a stunning lopsided victory for the English. This battle went down in military history as one of the greatest victories every recorded. Henry V died in Vincennes, France in 1422.

1324 On this date the brain trust at the University of Paris determined what was causing the epidemic of Bubonic Plague or “Black Death” that was sweeping across Europe. I don’t know why they didn’t think of it sooner but they said it was caused by the triple conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars on the 40^th degree of Aquarius. Damn, it was so obvious, how did they miss it before? Anyway, that fairy tale that it was caused by the Crusaders bringing disease carrying fleas, riding on rats coming back from the Middle East was not to be believed. That is until it was too late and nearly 1/3 of the population of Europe had expired. Can you believe they taught Astrology in an institution the calibre of the University of Paris? I wonder what other bullshit is being taught in institutes of higher learning today?

Born today:

43AD Roman writer Ovid. He said “Before joining into a double harness, take a good look at the other horse.” Sound wisdom.

1828 Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen. He said “It is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals, they should use journalists or politicians instead.” Here, here!

1994 US writer Lewis Grizzard. He said “The public will usually forgive a mistake, but not if you try to wriggle or weasel out of one.” (See Richard M. Nixon and/or Ted Kennedy)

Thanks for listening I can hardy wait until tomorrow

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