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