Wednesday

Good Morning,

Quote of the day:

“There will be a clear cold morning when there isn't any more. No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat. I seems to me that one of the important things to do before that morning comes, is let your friends and family know that you care for them and finding simple ways to let them know your heartfelt beliefs and guiding principles of your life so they can say 'He was my friend and I knew where he stood.'”

                                              Clint Eastwood

I was recently enlightened as to what is probably really going on here in the land of the free and the home of Donald. Did you know the Koch brothers will spend $900 million dollars on this election cycle? Did you know that four of the leading Republican presidential candidates spent a long weekend retreat with the Kochs about a month ago? Did you know that the Koch brothers will spread that $900 million between both parties? Why? So that no matter what happens the winner will be in their pocket. We are being played like a violin by the “main stream” media. We are lead to believe that one network is pro Democrat and another is pro Republican, etc. etc. The reality of of it all is that they don't give a shit about politicians winning campaigns. What they do give a shit about is money. Sustaining the image that this political disparity between networks exists makes all of them more money because it arouses everyone's competitive spirit and they get better ratings. I have gotten information from someone very familiar with the media that CNN, Fox, NBC, ABC and ABC are all financed by the same BIG MONEY. A lot of smoke and mirrors in the form of angst among networks is used to divert our attention from what is really going on. We are fools if we continue to be bamboozled in this fashion. Do not trust any, and I mean any news agency to report any event accurately. Only use direct information from its source. This means watching a lot of PBS and C-Span. There was one event this past week is was reported by a news network that Trump said he wanted to used drones to monitor the US border with Mexico. That ain't what he said. He said that there are many caves on the Mexican side of the border used by drug cartels as storage facilities and he wanted to use drones to find them. All of that is just more smoke and mirrors to befuddle us. The use of drones is not the issue but it is used to divert our attention. As another person said “When one family spends $900 million on an election it ceases to be a Democracy.” This person also said that this country is being sold out from under us. Could be. In 1932 the Rothschild and Krupp families among others in Europe donated millions into political campaigns and the result was Adolph Hitler. My source is confident that Bernie Sanders is the only one so far that has acknowledged that all this monetary influence exists. By the way, why is the Confederate flag distasteful but it is OK watch Cosby reruns while eating a Subway sandwich?

My maternal grandfather was a policeman in the city of Greenville, SC many years ago. He and his partner officer Kitchens raided a poker game and a gunfight erupted. My grandfather Alford Blair (I was named after him) and officer Kitchens were both killed. This happened on Park Avenue which is near downtown. My grandfather and officer Kitchens have their badges of the wall of honor in the Greenville Law Enforcement Center. The killer ran away to North Carolina and got into another gunfight with the cops and was arrested. The man that killed my grandfather was electrocuted in North Carolina 3 months later. My grandmother was invited to the execution. She refused and continued in her duties of taking care of her five children.

              This Date in History August 26

1346 Ever since William the Conqueror crossed over from France in 1066 and successfully invaded England, there had been succession of English invasions of France to try to claim the section of France known as Normandy as part of the English Empire. William the Conqueror was William the Duke of Normandy before he was the king of England and successive English kings felt that William’s lands in Normandy now belonged to the English crown. Naturally, the French kings called bullshit on that and several battles were fought in Normandy. On July 12 English King Edward III landed on the coast of Normandy with an army of 14,000. After raping and pillaging French countryside, King Edward headed toward Calais as did nearly every English invasion force because Calais was a very important deep water port on the English Channel that the English needed for re-supply. On this date, King Edward met the French army near the village of Crecy in Normandy. The French army was led by French king Philip IV at the head of 8,000 mounted knights and 4,000 Genoese crossbowmen. The French army had no idea that Edward’s army had a secret weapon, the newly perfected longbow. Anyway, Edward awaited the French attack and late in the afternoon Phillip sent in the Genoese crossbowmen who were met by a hailstorm of English arrows at a range out of the reach of the crossbow. The longbow had an effective range of over 200 yards, unheard of in those days. The Genoese crossbowmen withdrew and then Phillip sent in his 8,000 mounted knights who met the same fate as the Genoese. The air was filled with arrows from the English with the arrows tipped with the newly designed bodkin arrowheads designed to penetrate armor and chain mail. The French knights and their horses fell in writhing mass in the center of the battle ground. After all was said and done, King Phillip had lost over 4,000 men and horses whilst the English lost less than 100. This battle was significant because it marked the end of great horse cavalry attacks over open ground. The English longbow had changed the method battle and tactics forever. King Edward continued his march to Calais and began a siege. The city surrendered to Edward early in 1347.

Born today:

!853 US inventor Dr. Lee de Forest. In 1952 he said “The use of transistors in radio and television is far into the future.” Dr. de Forest was an inventor; no one said he had vision.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow.