Monday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Men approach sex like playing a game of pinball. We don't have any idea of the inner workings or what we should do to win, we are just going to keep the ball in play as long as possible.”

Tim Steeves

We are all familiar with what happened last Wednesday in the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. There is no explaining the actions of a twisted mind. I do not have an answer to that one...and neither does anyone else. Your President chose jump aboard the anti-gun boat while offering his condolences to those in Charleston. This was certainly not the time or place to promote his political agenda. Make no mistake, the bad guys already have their guns and additional or stricter laws will not change that. I can assure you that the Hell's Angels, the Banditoes, the Outlaws, the Mongols and smaller associated clubs (remember Waco a few weeks ago) along with the Mexican and Central American drug cartels like MS-13 and each and every street gang and organized crime crew is heavily armed already. Anyway, the Charleston shooter got his weapon as a gift. Jon Stewart mentioned that there are streets in Charleston named after Confederate Generals. Jon, wake up...some of those Generals became senators and governors. There are also streets named after Revolutionary War Generals, WWI Generals, WWII Generals, War of 1812 Generals not to mention Martin Luther King, Jr. and George Rogers, a Heisman Trophy winning football player. Racial intolerance does not start from, nor is it sustained by, the name of streets nor the appearance of flags, it begins and is sustained in the home.

Here is my thoughts on the Confederate flag. To me it symbolizes the death of over 460,000 AMERICANS in the most tragic event in this country's history. I really don't give a shit what caused that war but I am interested in what resulted, what was the cost and what we learned from it. To suggest that everyone that is NOT offended by this flag is a racist makes you the stupid bigot, not me. I am a historian...I know what price was paid by the soldiers on both sides in these four years of obscene carnage. I can't forget that. It has been my experience that everyone that belittles the American Civil War has no understanding of what happened and are just parrotting other people's thoughts. I invite all of you out there to read about Fredericksburg, Shiloh, Cold Harbor, Antietam, Gettysburg and Chickamauga just to name a few. There were also several diaries written by soldiers of both sides and none of them mention that they are fighting to keep slavery or free the slaves. Most of the Union diarists say they were fighting to preserve the Union and the Confederates say they are fighting because they felt they were being invaded but a large number of them on both sides said that they joined up just because they were bored at home. I am not interested in what the politicians crow about but I am interested in what is in the minds of the young men pulling the trigger. That is what war is all about and always has been. Many, many soldiers have been interviewed after a bloodbath and every time when asked why they fought so hard, they say “I did not want to let my unit down.” It certainly was not because of some lofty ideal. After four days and nights fighting for their lives around the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, “George” company of the 5^th US Marines was relieved. A news reporter asked one exhausted Marine what he would like most of all and he said “Just give me tomorrow”...he did not say that he wanted peace and freedom for the people of South Korea...and I don't think he gave a shit about what caused the war either.

To all of you hypocrites that suggest that South Carolina is a hotbed of racism: If you are a honkie why don't you go take a walk somewhere north of 125^th street in NYC after midnight...or down Agnew Road here in Greenville, SC....or on the north side of Chicago...or if you are black go take a walk on the south side of Boston in an Italian community...or in the Brighton Beach area of NYC...Well, why not? After all, this is the land of the free and the home of the brave isn't it? I personally don't give a damn whether the flag flies ot not, but don't tell me that the only place racial prejudice exists in near the Confederate flag in South Carolina. That is ignorant. Clean up you own damned neighborhood...or shut the hell up...by the way, Mitt Romney can kiss my ass. Hey Mitt, why don't you go up to Detroit, walk around a while and then come back and tell me about the racial serenity you found...if you are not killed by a street gang.

I am really proud at the response of those people of all races and creeds in Charleston...they drew together. But I knew that would happen rather than a mob stripping and burning down a CVS pharmacy or two and throwing rocks at the police. There is no question that it is because those people in Charleston have class, y'all. A city councilman from Charleston was interviewed on CNN and he was asked about the political ramifications of this event. In a very soft voice and excellent enunciation with a definite southern drawl this elderly black man said “We have nine funerals to arrange and grieve about. There will be plenty of time later on for all of that.” The newsman stood there in stunned embarrassment...and he should have.

I saw a program on OWN that was interesting:

The program was about the content of the human face as being beautiful or not. Plastic surgeons have the dimensions down to the millimeter of what makes human faces beautiful. I mean the distance between the eyes, the width of the face, the location of each part of the face relative to each other, the width of the nose and lips, etc. Guess what they used as a model? That's right y'all, they used Nefertiti. This woman was the queen to Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten (probably King Tut's father) and a finely sculpted and painted limestone bust of her was found in 1912 by an archaeological team. There is little question that her face is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen but to try to sculpt a living person to look like Nefertiti is ludicrous...but very profitable. “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” is a phrase first uttered in 3^rd century Greece. After seeing this program I would paraphrase it to “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder...or what you have been told it is.”

                Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow