Tuesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“The difference between stupidity and genius is genius has its limits.”

                                            Albert Einstein

Between Columbia and Charleston, SC there are two gigantic lakes formed by the damming of two rivers, the Santee and the Cooper. These lakes are joined by a diversion canal. This canal and both lakes are world renown for excellent fishing. To devoted South Carolina fishermen this is known as “Santee” and “The Canal”. A few days ago a man from Anderson, SC caught a Flathead catfish in the canal that weighed just short of 80 pounds breaking a state record for that species. There is another species of catfish called the Blue catfish and the state record for this one is just over 130 pounds. My brother used to go down there and bring back a big cooler full of Blue catfish filets and we would have a hell of a fish fry. He and his fishing partner would have a battery operated electric knife and would filet them as they caught them. By far, my favorite fish is grouper but those Blue cats were a close second.

Some of you may know that Duke Energy is being attacked by both the state of North Carolina and the EPA for allowing large piles of coal ash to accumulate near their coal fired power plants. One in particular has polluted about 70 miles of the Dan River with poisonous toxins. The EPA has filed criminal charges against Duke for destruction of the environment. Duke filed a request to the North Carolina court that ALL of the documents pertaining to this case be sealed pending the results of the Federal action. This request was denied. Duke then requested that SOME of the documents be sealed. This request was also denied. As with the case with GM not recalling the vehicles with faulty ignition switches that resulted in fires that killed a number of people, in my opinion Duke is just weighing how much it will cost to contain the coal ash against what it will cost them in penalties, law suites and fines. That area of the Dan river that I mentioned is sterile of any wildlife because of the arsenic leeched into the river and washed downstream. It puts to question: What is the monetary value of the environment in the case of Duke or the monetary value of a human life when it comes to GM? Answers anyone?

                 This Date in History April 7

1776 On this date the first United States warship captured a British ship off the coast of Virginia. It was the newly launched USS Lexington against HMS Edward. The commander of the Lexington was Captain John Barry. Barry was a fierce naval warrior that was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1745 and came to the United States aboard his own warship named the “Black Prince” at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. The United States bought the ship from Barry and renamed it the USS Alfred and put Captain Esek Hopkins in command. Not only was Barry a superb naval officer, he was instrumental in aiding in Washington’s several victories in New Jersey. After this he returned to the sea and took command of the newly launched USS Alliance. He captured the British vessels HMS Atlanta and the HMS Trepassy. He was engaged in the last naval engagement of the Revolutionary War when he captured the HMS Sibylline in March of 1783. This great man was honored on both sides of the Atlantic. There is a bridge across the Delaware River named in his honor. There is a park in Brooklyn named for him and there is a statue of him in Villanova University. There is also a stature of him in Wexford, Ireland. I have said it before and I will say it again, I believe that it is no accident that all of these exceptional people showed up at the same place and the same point in time to guide us to independence and freedom...to what end...I ain't figured that out yet.

1994 A very tense situation in Rwanda came to the boiling point with the killing of two Hutu tribal leaders by the Patriotic Front which is the representative group for the rival tribe of the Tutsis. After word of these murders reached across Rwanda, the Hutus and the Tutsis began a mutual slaughter of each other that cost hundred of thousands of lives. At the beginning the Hutus had the upper hand because they were in command of the military, but eventually they got down to business with knives and machetes. The struggle is not completely over yet, there is an occasional hacking to this day. There have been over 800,000 killings with no end in sight. There has been warfare between these tribes since before recorded history. I don’t get, it but it does sounds a lot like the Sunnis and the Shiites, doesn’t it?

1805 On this date the Lewis and Clark expedition departed Fort Mandan, Sacagawea aboard, headed west. Lewis and Clark sent a detailed message to President Thomas Jefferson downstream toward Saint Louis aboard a 16 man cargo boat. The expedition had wintered across the Missouri River from a Mandan Indian village near present day Bismarck, North Dakota. When they left to head west they only had 6 light canoes and 2 heavy pirogues. The Missouri River had been basically mapped to the Mandan village. After that they were in unknown territory. They figured correctly that the current would get stronger the further west they went and the big cargo boats would be too tough to handle. Lewis and Clark thought they would be back through the Mandan village by winter of the next year. They did not get to meet Thomas Jefferson personally until 1807. When the expedition departed the Mandan village headed west, Lewis wrote in his diary that this was “the most thrilling moment of my life.” It would have been the same for me.

Born today:

1915 US singer Billie Holliday. She said “Don’t threaten me with love, baby. Let’s just go walking in the rain.” Billie could rip your heart out with her voice but she had a short drug-laden life. What a shame.

1939 US film maker Francis Ford Coppola. He said about his movie Apocalypse Now “My movie was not about Vietnam, is was Vietnam.”

1964 US actor Russell Crowe. He said “I am destined to be attracted to those I cannot defeat.”

Quotable quotes:

“I have an obsessive-compulsion disorder. I have to do things in threes. That is why I gained a reputation as a slut”

                                     Mimi Bombeck

“All of these disorders. When I was a kid all we had was crazy people.”

                                      Ellen DeGeneres

       Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow