Tuesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“To me the problem with men and women is that men are like firemen. To us sex is an emergency and we can be ready in two minutes. However women are like a fire. They get very excited but the conditions have to be exactly right for there to be combustion.”

                                         Jerry Seinfeld

A while back Reverend Bobby Davis stood at the rostrum of his church up in Philadelphia and confessed to his flock that he had participated in an illicit love affair. Before he had finished the last word Reverend Davis dropped dead of a heart attack. God works in mysterious ways.

Speaking of God, recently the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church died. This beast has caused thousands of people much sorrow and sadness by such acts as instigating protests at burials of our military guys killed in action...carrying signs saying things like “God hates soldiers and is glad they are dead”...and the same things about homosexuals at their funerals. After reading this I had to sit down and think about how I really felt about this person that preached hatred, prejudice and intolerance for years. I am not a violent person but if someone showed up at a funeral of people I love with such a sign I could be...the 1^st Amendment not withstanding. I am still pondering my feelings here. If I am capable of hatred of this person am I any better than he? But I remember the words of William Shakespeare's Hamlet...“To thine own self be true” so I say; Hell yes I am glad that son-of-a-bitch is dead.

A few days ago a man that was number 15 on the US Army's most wanted list was arrested in Deerfield Beach, Florida. It seems that in 1974 James Robert Jones was a private in the US Army and was convicted of premeditated murder and was doing hard time in Ft. Leavenworth. In 1976 Jones escaped and headed back to his home area of Florida. He was able to obtain a Florida drivers license with a fake Social Security card and changed his appearance as best he could and dropped out of the mainstream of society. He had applied for a job in a small factory in Deerfield Beach and was hired. Part of the hiring process was when a pic was taken for a badge, the pic is sent to the FBI for a recognition scan. Even though it had been over 40 years, the computer recognized Robert for who he was. He was arrested and is awaiting trial. 40 years, for crying out loud.

This Date in History March 17

1776 On this date the hated 8 year occupation of Boston by the British ended. Thanks to Colonel Benedict Arnold, General Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, General Henry Knox, General John Thomas and hundred of dedicated Continental soldiers and workmen all commanded by General George Washington. It all began a few months earlier when a small Regiment of Continental Soldiers led by Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen made a surprise attack on the British encampment at Fort Ticonderoga on the northern end of Lake Champlain and captured the entire British garrison while firing only one shot. General Arnold woke them up and demanded their surrender or annihilation. They surrendered. After the Fort was evacuated, General Henry Knox was tasked by Washington to bring the 20 or so cannon in Fort Ticonderoga to Boston 300 miles away and do it without the British discovering it. Knox muffled the wheels of the caissons and did indeed cover the 300 miles undetected. Washington then tasked General John Thomas to take the cannon to the crest of Dorchester Heights, the highest ground in the vicinity of Boston and again, do it undetected. Thomas set out on his mission with 800 soldiers and 1,000 laborers. What roads there were to the crest were essentially cow paths meaning that Thomas and his crew had to hack their way to the top. They were discovered when they had about half finished and General William Howe, the British commander in Boston, ordered the British warships in Boston Harbor to bombard the Continental position on Dorchester Heights. But guess what happened. A two day rainstorm engulfed Boston and the warships could not fire at an unseen target. Thomas was able to finish the placement of the cannon and General Howe knew his position was untenable. Two days later, Howe and 11,000 British troops boarded their ships and sailed their young asses up to Nova Scotia to cheers of the elated Bostonians.

1804 Two months before the Lewis and Clark left on their immortal expedition James Bridger was born in Richmond, Virginia. Jim became one of the most important explorers of the American west in its history. He was the original “Mountain Man”. Little is known of Jim’s childhood but it is known the he and his family moved to Saint Louis, Missouri in 1818. Jim honed his skill by exploring the area around Saint Louis and followed the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition. When he was 18 years old he found out about an enterprise named the Ashley-Henry Fur Company. Their idea was to head west and trade with the Indian for furs, especially beaver and mink. The first person hired was Jim Bridger. Jim was successful in trading with the Indians, even the fierce and protective Blackfoot that gave Lewis and Clark so much trouble. He was successful in building the first fur trading post on the Yellowstone River. It is acknowledged that he was the first Anglo to lay eyes of the Great Salt Lake even though he thought it was the Pacific Ocean. He had an enormous recall of geographic detail that saved his ass more than once. He operated as an independent trapper for several years. Eventually he grew tired of the nomadic life and decided that there was enough traffic on the Oregon Trail to warrant a trading post so he married a Flathead woman named Cora and founded Fort Bridger in the Green River section of southern Wyoming. His fort became a regular stop for the pioneers headed west. He and Cora had three children and it looked like an idealistic life for Jim but it was not to be. Cora died, one of his daughters was killed by the Blackfoot and the third died of jaundice. After these episodes Jim would retreat into the mountains and trap, living with different Indian tribes. In 1853, Jim married a Shoshone woman he named Mary, and lived at the Fort in the summer and with the Shoshone in the winter. The Mormons in the area became jealous of Jim’s success and tried to have him arrested. But Jim and Mary escaped into the mountains along with their three children. The Mormons burned and gutted his fort and destroyed his supplies. The Mormons are not as benevolent as they would want you to believe. He was worried how to feed his family and bought a farm near Westport, Missouri and left his family there during his western adventures. He rebuilt his fort and in 1858 he sold it and made his living as a guide for the pioneers and as a scout to the US cavalry. In 1868 he retired to his farm in Westport and tended his apple orchard. With his eyesight failing and rheumatism rampant, he died in Westport on July 13, 1881 at the age of 76 . The contributions this man made to the expansion of these United States are immeasurable.

Born today:

1829 US writer Jean Ingelow. She said “I have lived long enough to thank God that all my prayers have not been answered.” Me too.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.