Monday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Sometimes there is just not enough rocks.”

                         Forrest Gump

Your honor, it was great to see you, Mickie and David.

A while back I considered renting a vacation house near Merida, Mexico. It was a beautiful place right on the Gulf of Mexico. The man that owned the house lived in Utah and sent me a list of things to bring and what to expect while there. He said that the locals would not break in but they would take anything left outside unattached, especially charcoal grills, beach towels, etc. He also said that the police would not even pursue petty theft. He said the local police and the locals themselves have the attitude that you have a lot more than most of the people there and should not worry about the small stuff. By the way this house was about a 3 miles from where 65 million years ago a meteor struck the Earth that resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs.

I had a friend that was stationed in Puerto Rico. He said the same thing. He was having a problem with stuff in his yard being pilfered and called the cops. The cops came and said the he had a very nice house and he should not “sweat the small stuff” because there are many people that are a lot poorer than he. He said that he was going to get a guard dog and cops said that would be a good idea but if it bit a person he would go to jail, especially if the bitten person was poorer than him.

Then on “Cops” I saw the Albuquerque police set a $3,800 Mercedes-Benz bicycle on the sidewalk and left it to attract thieves. They had it staked out of course. A man came by and took it and started walking down the street. He was captured by the cops and they determined that he was from Guatemala. They asked him why he took it and he seemed incredulous that they would even stop him for taking a bicycle. He said “Someone left it out there and I took it” while looking at the cops like he could not understand what the problem was. Maybe all of this is a Latino thing. The cops used a $3,800 bicycle so it would be a felony to steal it.

I have this friend that somehow became a cocaine and “uppers” junkie. He went to rehab and got straightened out and went to work at the rehab clinic for a while. I asked him about how many heroin addicts go through rehab and come back. He said “100%, at least twice...probably more.”

I saw a disputed event on CNN. This happened in the Bronx when a cop investigating an concealed weapon charge stopped a pedestrian and asked for ID. The pedestrian refused and started walking away. The cop got in front of him and told him to put his hands behind him that he was under arrest. The pedestrian pushed the cop away (BAD MOVE) and the cop responded with a right cross to the jaw putting the pedestrian into that gray fog some of us are familiar with and cuffed him. The alleged problem was the cop never told the man why he stopped him. They had an attorney look at the event and he said the cop does not have to give a reason, he has to have probable cause but he doesn't have to tell you about it right away. And finally, after the cops says “You are under arrest” there are no options left except to comply and the cop can use what ever force he deems appropriate to make the arrest...like a right cross to the jaw. Keep all of this in mind when you start feeling rebellious with a cop.

I have been reading about the history of the Comanches. For some reason before the beginning of the 17 century they were considered the “trailer trash” of the plains Indians. Then all of sudden they were a power to be dealt with. What happened was the Comanche were the first to be able to capture wild Spanish mustangs that were running loose on the great plains and were able to break and train them. After this they quickly developed into a formidable cavalry. They took out their wrath on the other plains Indians for centuries of abuse, especially the Apaches, and systematically removed them from the southern plains where there were millions of bison. The Comanche had no permanent settlements and just followed the bison. The other tribes were partly an agrarian society and therefore had settlements and villages which the Comanches were able to find and destroy. The Comanche did not want any competition for the bison. The Apache became desperate and went to the mission in San Antonio, Texas and said that they wanted to become good little Catholics and contribute their efforts to the enhancement of the king of Spain. The priests about peed their pants and asked what they could do for them. The Apache said they wanted a mission (church) and presidio (fort) of their own on the San Sabo River near present day Menard, Texas. The priests gathered up some slave labor and set to building said church and fort at the designated location. What the Apache failed to tell the priests was that the specified location was in the very heart of Comanche territory and the Apache knew they would not stand for an encroachment. The Comanche did not disappoint and after the buildings were completed and the church and fort were fully staffed, the Comanche struck. The results were 40 Spaniards dead that had been severely tortured and mutilated which was common practice for the Comanche. The Spanish were outraged and sent out a 600 man army looking to punish the Comanche. This is what the Apache had in mind from the start, someone else to kill the Comanche. The Spanish did not catch or kill anyone. By the way, the ruins of the church and fort still exist just west of Menard, Tx.

                  This Date in History July 6

1864 In his attempt to take some of the pressure off his troops around Petersburg, CSA General Robert E. Lee orders CSA General Jubal Early to threaten Washington so as to force US General U.S. Grant to send troops to counter the threat. Earlier, Lee had sent Early to cut off US General David Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley to keep him from joining with Grant. Early soundly defeated Hunter and on this date, Early crossed the Potomac River and occupied Hagerstown, Maryland. Early sent Major John McCausland to the Hagerstown leaders and told him to demand $200,000 from them in reparation for the damage US General David Hunter had done to the Shenandoah Valley. McCausland wrote a note to that effect and handed it to the city leaders. The only thing was that McCausland had placed a decimal point in the wrong place and the city leaders handed him a bag containing $20,000. Anyway, soon thereafter Early headed for Washington and sure enough Grant had to send troops to stop him. Early engaged in a short but sharp engagement and withdrew. He had succeeded in his mission. Jubal Early remained unreconstructed (loyal to the Confederacy) for the rest of his life.

Quotable quotes:

“When I was a boy of 14 my father was so ignorant that I could hardly stand to be around him, but when I got to be 21 I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years”.

Mark Twain

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow