Thursday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Gratitude can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

                                                   Melody Beattie

I had an occasion to be near downtown Greenville. I had a friend with me and we decided to go to a “soul food” cafeteria that we had visited before. The meats vary from day to day but there is always fish, usually fried whiting. I like fish myself but the meat loaf was too tempting. I had that along with mashed potatoes and gravy, turnip greens and cornbread. While we were eating an elderly man struggled with his tray and finally sat down near us. Soon afterward a server that was probably a relative came over and told this man that what he had to eat was not healthy for him. He said “I have four doctors telling me what to eat and not to eat, today I am going to eat what I want.” He had pigs feet (I told you it was soul food), macaroni and cheese, turnips greens, three slices of fried fatback and corn bread. Yummy!

In a previous edition I mentioned that I was reading about the history of the Comanche. They had pretty much settled their war with the Apache but continued in almost unrelenting raids of Spanish and French settlements. The Spanish were in what is now Texas, Missouri, Arizona and New Mexico and the French were in Louisiana. They were after people they could sell into slavery or trade them for needed items. The main “fairs” were in Taos and Santa Fe. If the women and children hostages they brought to the fairs were not taken in trade pretty quick they would publicly rape the women and release them then kill the children. They were mostly interested in anything metal especially axes, hatchets, knives, metal arrow heads, etc. They were a savage bunch...but so was the US Cavalry.

A while back an elderly couple was found dead in a Best Western motel room in Boone, North Carolina. The medical examiner found that the two had died of carbon dioxide poisoning. Then about a week later an 11 year old boy was found dead in the same room of the same malady. Later on after the deaths the medical examiner had opined that the swimming pool water heater was too close to that motel room air conditioner and that was where the CO2 was coming from. His opinion was accurate...but he did not tell any of the authorities who could have shut down the motel until the situation was resolved...and the 11 year old boy is dead because of it. The medical examiner resigned soon after. It is too late now. Surely there has to be some kind of procedure in effect that if the medical examiner finds something deadly he notifies others in authority to resolve it. That ex-medical examiner will carry this event on his conscience for the rest of his days.

This Date in History June 18

1812 On this date the United States Congress and President James Madison declared war on Great Britain. What the root of this disagreement was all the cause of England. They had been “Shanghaiing” American seaman into the British navy, meaning these men went into the British navy whether they liked it or not. Great Britain also was exercising financial sanctions against France because they were trading with America and finally, they were encouraging and financing the Indians along the Great Lakes against America. The war lasted 2 ½ years with the most remembered events being the burning of the White House to the ground, Dolly Madison ensuring the portrait of George Washington was saved from the conflagration and finally, the Battle of New Orleans with Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson kicking ass even though the war was over a week before. This victory by the United States ensured their independence for the foreseeable future. By the way, Andrew Jackson got the nickname “Old Hickory” when he was walking through a building in Washington carrying his hickory cane when a man ran up to him, pulled a pistol and fired but the gun misfired, the assassin pulled another pistol and tried again and that one misfired also, Jackson then lifted his hickory cane and beat the holy shit out of this guy and would have killed him had some of his entourage not intervened. I like this South Carolinian.

1865 US General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain received a near fatal wound while leading an attack against Confederate emplacements at Petersburg, Virginia. Chamberlain won a Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg nearly a year before. He was wounded at Gettysburg also but it was a minor wound, in fact he had received 6 wounds before the end of hostilities. He won the Medal of Honor by commanding 300 Maine soldiers in defending the Union left flank at a place known as Little Round Top at Gettysburg. His troops fought as long as they could but eventually ran out of ammo so Chamberlain had a choice to make. Retreat and let the Confederates turn the flank which would be disastrous; stay where they were and get annihilated and the Confederates turn the flank anyway or to charge. So Chamberlain ordered his men to fix bayonets and ordered a charge and down the hill they went. The stunned Confederates retreated and the left flank of the Union line was secure. The next day Chamberlain and his troops were moved to a more “safe” area on the battlefield, right in the very middle of the Union lines. About 11:30a one of the largest artillery barrages ever fired in North America was launched toward the center of the Union lines by the Confederates. Chamberlain hugged the ground wondering when it would stop and when it finally did he heard the thin, high scream of the Rebel yell and saw 13,000 confederate infantry about a mile away coming his way. It was the famous Pickett’s charge. I just wasn’t Chamberlain’s day.

Born today:

1913 US economist Sylvia Porter. She said “The thing to remember about economic forecasting is that what you are about to forecast usually has already happened.” It is simple Sylvia, buy low and sell high.

1939 US baseball player Lou Brock. He said “I used to complain to my Dad that I imagined animals running under my bed. He fixed that by cutting the legs off my bed.”

Died today:

1902 British writer Samuel Butler. He said “It was good of God to allow Thomas Carlyle and Mrs. Carlyle to marry each other so there will be only two unhappy people rather than four.”

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow