Friday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Cruel leaders are killed and replaced with other leaders who turn cruel.”

                                            Che Guevara

Down in Winter Haven, Florida a 56 year old man thought he heard someone trying to break in his back door late at night. He went to the back door with a flashlight and a firearm and sure enough there was a 46 year old man named Mike Large trying to open the French doors. The home owner shouted for him to stop and even fired a warning shot but Mike kept trying and eventually opened the doors and made a move toward the home owner. By then the rest of the residents (3) of the house were there and all were all armed. The home owner shot Mike in the stomach and down he went. The cops came and found Mike dead as fried chicken. The cops also found more than one wound in Mike so either the home owner fired more than once or one of the others shot also. I was told by a cop that if you have to shoot aim for the torso and empty the weapon. But it doesn't matter, poor Mike is dead.

This case reminds me of another event a long time ago. There was a man building a house in what is now known as the Powdersville, SC community. At night he was losing a lot of the building materials and even light fixtures, light switches and carpet. He got fed up and had a signs painted stating that the house was booby-trapped...Do not Enter...and put them in the front and rear of the house. He did indeed install a couple of shotguns inside the house with trip wires. The next morning there was a 14 year old boy lying dead from a shotgun blast to the head. After the police did an investigation, the home owner was charged with manslaughter. Why? The kid was illiterate...he could not read. That was a long time ago and maybe things are different now but it gave everybody something to think about.

There had been a lot of controversy about the “stand your ground” and “a man's home is his castle” issues meaning if someone breaks into your house he/she does it at their own peril. I do not understand why any politician would be opposed to this but there are. Personally I will automatically assume that the person breaking into my house will be doing so not in my best interest and will not have my safety in mind. If that situation ever occurs, that person will be met with the three of us...me, Smith and Wesson in a .38 Special delivery package. As advised by a policeman, I will shoot at the largest part of the body and that is the torso which will be a lesser chance of a miss...I also will keep firing (6) until I am out of ammo...this also was the advise of a policeman. Anyway, I hope it doesn't happen.

A few days ago and event occurred that showed the determination of some cops. Down in Boynton Beach, Florida a Dodge Viper and a Porche 911 were drag racing reaching speeds of 80 MPH on a street with a 45 MPH speed limit. A state trooper arrived and flagged them both over and the Viper stopped and waited. The Porche driver did a quick 180 and ran away but not before the cop got his tag number. After taking the Viper driver to be booked and charged, the cop ran the tag number of the Porche and found that it was 49 year old Douglas Kelly whose drivers license had been suspended in January for 9 months for wreck while DUI. The cop went to the address of Kelly which turned out to be a gated community and the cops questioned the gate guard and he showed the cop a video tape of Kelly arriving by cab but Kelly did not answer the door. The cop ran down the cab driver who told him where the Porche was and arrangements were made to have it towed. Three days later the cop went back to Kelly's house and no one was home so he went next door an talked with a neighbor He said that Kelly had gotten a ride from his housekeeper to a Ritz-Carlton hotel. When Kelly saw police cars arriving at the hotel he ran away on foot. The cop searched for a couple hours and finally spotted him sitting at a table outside a restaurant having lunch. He was finally arrested and charged with a plethora of offenses. The cop showed a bulldog attitude on this one. Methinks Mr. Kelly is of the spoiled, rich variety and believes he is above the law...not any more.

Down in Houston a woman that killed her boyfriend with a stiletto heel (5 1/2”) shoe has been convicted of murder. The report said that the two had been out to a party and came back to his condo in a cab. The cab driver testified that the two were in a serious argument while in the cab. It seems that after they got inside the condo the argument escalated. The boyfriend tripped and fell on his back, she jumped on top of him and struck him 26 times in the face and head with her shoe killing him. That makes me look at my size 11 New Balances with a different perspective.

   This Date in History    April 10

1778 On this date one of the greatest United States Naval officers, Captain John Paul Jones, departed the French port of Brest in command of the 140 man warship the USS Ranger. His objective is the Irish Sea and to attack the British ships reported to be there. John Paul Jones was born in Scotland 1747 and went to sea at an early age sailing mostly in the Caribbean. He was off the coast of New York when war was declared between the United States and England and he offered his services to the Colonies. In December of 1775 he was given the rank of First Lieutenant in the colonial navy. After arriving in the Irish Sea, he found no British vessels and then he went to waters he knew well, the Scottish Bay of Kirkcudbright with the intention of kidnapping Lord Selkirk and exchanging him for captured American sailors but the Lord was not there. Then he sailed over to the Currifergus Sea and there he found the HMS Drake. He captured the Drake without firing a shot by simply sending over a few Marines and they capped the Captain of the ship and his First Lieutenant. Jones fought with great distinction throughout the war as did his Scottish countryman, John Barry. His most famous battle was against the 50 gun HMS Serapis. Jones’ ship, the USS Bonhomie Richard (in honor of Ben Franklin) was damaged early and was shipping water and was on fire. The commander of the Serapis signaled for Jones to surrender. Jones signaled back the famous phrase “I have not yet begun to fight”. Jones was able to stem the flooding and extinguish the fires and did indeed outmaneuver the Serapis and captured her. Jones is buried at the United States Naval Academy. When his crypt is opened for ceremonial reasons there is a Marine honor guard present.

Born today:

1778 English writer William Hazlitt. He said “Familiarity may not breed contempt, but is sure takes the edge off admiration.” Yes, indeed!

1827 US General Lew Wallace. He said “One is never more on trial than at the moment of excessive good fortune.” General Wallace did indeed achieve excessive good fortune when he wrote the immortal novel Ben Hur.

1932 Egyptian actor and bridge master Omar Sharif. He said “Working gets in the way of living.” Omar is on the right path here.

Died today:

1933 English writer Henry van Dyke. He said “Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin living.” I know some like that...It ain’t me, y'all.

       Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow