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.