Monday OYSTERS

                                  Al's Most Recent

Quote of the day:

“Life is too short to deny yourself fried fatback once in a while.”

                                        Anonymous

The long awaited Iowa caucus is upon us. I hate politics, especially when one candidate quotes what another said ten years ago or longer. Any psychologist will tell you that everyone is influenced by their daily experiences. I would like to see a show of hands of everyone that has the same opinions, likes and dislikes, train of thought and emotional balance, etc. they had ten or fifteen years ago. That's what I thought, me neither.

I am back to reading the history of pirates. Does anyone know the difference between Buccaneers and Corsairs? Buccaneers were pirates in the Caribbean and Corsairs were pirates in the Mediterranean.

By far the most successful pirate in the western hemisphere was Bartholomew Roberts...better known as “Black Bart”. He was a Welshman and a member of a legal ship's crew when it was captured by pirate Howell Davis, also a Welshman. Davis discovered Robert's navigating skills and made him and offer he could not refuse. He offered him a position as a member of his crew or be killed. Roberts thought it over and decided that a life of adventure, absolute freedom and one brawling party after another was better than the alternative. Soon after that Howell Davis and a few of his crew were killed in an ambush and Roberts was elected captain. That's right y'all...a pirate ship crew elected their captain. He decided that he would make his headquarters on the Cape Verde Islands. These islands are off the west cost of Africa at the point closest to the Caribbean. He would raid the ships coming south from Europe headed for the Gold Coast, meaning that part of the African coast where slave trading abounded. Those slave ships headed from there to the Caribbean and the Americas would have to pass close to the Cape Verde Islands once again northwest bound. Over a period of time Roberts had captured many ships and kept the ones that were in the best shape as his flag ship and he always named his flag ship the Royal Fortune. He ended up with four ships in his personal pirate fleet. The English Admiralty was desperate to stop this piracy and sent one of their best admiral, Chaloner Ogle, aboard the warship HMS Swallow on dedicated mission to stop Bartholomew Roberts . He finally found the Royal Fortune during a roaring thunderstorm near Cape Lopez, Africa but attacked anyway. Roberts saw him coming, went below and changed clothes. He reappeared in a scarlet waistcoat, scarlet trousers, white stockings and a white hat with a red feather, a heavy gold chain bearing a large gold diamond encrusted cross around his neck. He stood on the rail and directed the gunfire of his own cannons and muskets. He was cut down by a sniper and fell over the side and was never seen again. He was 39 years old. The really strange part is that his pirate flag was black of course, with Roberts and a skeleton holding up an hour glass. He evidently had a premonition. By the way, there was also a “Black Bart” in American west legend that specialized in robbing stage coaches.

Here is an instance of how people’s lives change in an instant never to be the same again.

A Marine sergeant on Iwo Jima was assigned the duty as guard of the Company CP (command post) during the first night of that infamous battle. Very shortly after taking his post a Japanese soldier attacked with his bayoneted rifle. The Marine was able to parry the attack and threw the Japanese soldier to the ground. The soldier pulled out a hand grenade and tried to throw it at the Marine. The Marine was able to wrestle the grenade from the Japanese but the pin had already been pulled. The Marine grabbed the soldier in a “bear hug” holding the sputtering grenade against the soldier’s back. The grenade exploded taking the Marines hand and most of his arm with it. The Japanese was literally cut into. The Marine later said that just before the grenade exploded, he and the soldier were so close that they were touching noses and looking at each others eyes only inches apart. He said that the look on the soldier’s face stayed with him forever as well as the smell before and after the explosion, even the texture of his uniform.

            This Date in History  February 1

1781 Earlier British General William Cornwallis and his cavalry commander the infamous Colonel Banastre Tarelton were beginning to realize that the war in the Carolinas and Georgia was lost and began moving north to join with the other British troops in New England. Cornwallis had left his encampment in Camden, South Carolina earlier. But he turned around when he found out about the slaughter of the British/Loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain, NC. Finally Cornwallis determined that it was safe enough to move north and the evacuation began. Awaiting him on the north side of the Catawba River at Cowan’s Ford in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (a short distance south of Charlotte) was 600-800 North Carolina militia commanded by Brigadier General William Lee Davidson. Davidson’s father was an Ulster-Scot Presbyterian minister that had immigrated to the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area. He then moved to what is now Iradell County, North Carolina. Davidson had his troops away from the river a considerable distance in case Tarleton should cross at another location and attack the militia from the rear and pin them against the river. Finally, Cornwallis and his army arrived, supply wagons and all. The noise of the wagons awakened the sleeping guards and they open fire. The noise brought General Davidson running and almost instantly he is killed by a musket ball to the heart. The militia put up a spirited fight but Cornwallis had his army cross in two columns, infantry/cavalry in one column and the wagons in the other. The crossing is successful and Cornwallis continued north. In 1835 General Davidson’s son, William Lee Davidson II, donated land to the Concord Presbytery in his father’s name. On this land was built the present day Davidson College.

1943 In July of 1942 the Japanese landed on one of the islands in the Solomon island chain named Guadalcanal. They went there to build an airfield to provide air support for their ships invading the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. The Americans responded to the Japanese by invading all five of the islands but the heavier force went to Guadalcanal because of the airfield. Fortunately, it was bad weather and the Japanese patrol planes could not get off the ground and the 11,000 Marines assigned to Guadalcanal landed undetected and therefore there was no battle at water’s edge. After the outnumbered Japanese on Guadalcanal discovered the Marines had landed they retreated to the west end of the Island but very soon the Japanese landed reinforcements and evened the odds. The Marines took the airfield within two days of landing but kicking the rest of the reinforced Japanese off the island became one of the major battles in WWII and is a milestone in the history of the United States Marines and the United States Navy. Throughout the whole time the Marines were on Guadalcanal the US Navy battled the formidable Japanese Navy for control of the seas around the island. There were so many ships of both sides sunk north and east of the island that it became known as “Iron Bottom Sound”. The US Marines had no experience in jungle warfare unlike the Japanese that had been jungle fighters for years. There were several major battles that almost every time resulted in hand-to-hand fighting. The American commanders had never seen anything like it. One of them wrote “I have never seen nor heard of anything like this. These people simply refuse to surrender”. The American Marines became accustom to mass killing on a regular basis. Finally on this date six months after landing the Marines sent out a patrol and did not make contact with the Japanese. They then did a detailed search and found no Japanese anywhere on the island. They had secretly evacuated at the direction of the Emperor. The battle may have lasted much longer but the US Navy was able to put 48 to 90 fighter/bombers on the airfield which provided air support for the ground troops. The main fighting force for the Marines was the 1^st and 7^th Regiment. After the island was secure a news reporter came ashore and approached a ragged Marine and asked where the headquarters of the 1st Marines was. He said “Mister, there ain't no more First Marines”. War is hell, y'all.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday OYSTERS

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Quote of the day:

                                                “OK, we'll go.”

These immortal words were uttered by US General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The D-Day invasion was scheduled for June 5, 1944 but the weather was prohibitive and the invasion was delayed one day. It positively could not be delayed any longer for several reasons. The invasion forces were already aboard ships ready and eager to go. If the invasion was delayed another day the ships would have be refueled and they could not be refueled with all those troops aboard meaning they would have to disembark greatly increasing the chance of a breach of secrecy. Not only that there had to be a full moon for the paratroopers and gliders and there had to be a low tide at dawn so all the obstructions could be seen. All of these conditions would not be available for another month. It all depended on the weather report and one English weatherman in particular. On the evening of June 5 Eisenhower called in the English weatherman and his staff for a briefing. The weatherman predicted that there would be about 40 hours of favorable weather including all day June 6 and most of June 7. After the briefing by the weatherman Eisenhower asked the opinions of the members of his staff and all of the pros and cons were discussed. British General Bernard L. Montgomery was the last person to give an opinion and he said “We cannot take those troops off and wait. They have been trained to a razors edge and are ready to go.” Everybody in the room looked at Eisenhower waiting for a decision. It was then that he uttered those immortal words and the room was empty in 30 seconds...except for Ike. There were a lot of things to get done and not a lot of time to do it. The most ambitious military operation to date was under way.

Several years ago I was in Gene's restaurant here in downtown Greenville having breakfast. Gene's was close to a gathering place of the homeless. While I was there a man came in sat down at the counter and asked the price of a cup of coffee. The server told him $.25, it was really $1.00 all you could drink but the server was sympathetic. The man gave her $.50 and hugged his coffee mug. It was really cold and the man had on a heavy coat that had dead twigs and leaves stuck on the back, he obviously had been sleeping outside. When I checked out I whispered to the server to add $10.00 to my tab and give that man something to eat but don't give him any cash and don't tell him where it came from. I am not trying to appear noble but I just felt the need.

A few weeks ago I was in a sushi house here in Greenville having dinner. I sat down beside two ladies and we got into an extended pleasant conversation and they left before me. When I asked for my tab the server said that those two ladies had covered it.

I don't think I looked homeless but now I believe that you reap what you sow...God works in mysterious ways.

Several years ago football great Eric Dickerson was playing high school football in Sealy, Texas as a running back. He was one of the best running back in the nation along with Craig James and both were heavily recruited by several universities. When Eric was a senior it boiled down to between Texas A & M and SMU. Eric verbally committed to A & M and all of a sudden he was driving a PontiacTrans-Am around the campus. Eventually he changed his mind and signed with SMU. Suddenly he was not driving the Trans-Am any more...wonder why?

This Date in History January 29

1936 On this date the first baseball players were selected for the newly opened Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. They were Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson. Ty Cobb, to this day, is the most productive hitter to ever play the game. Babe Ruth was both an ace pitcher and a devastating home run hitter, Honus Wagner was a versatile infielder and a dependable clutch hitter, Christy Mathewson had the most wins in National League history up until that time and Walter “Big Train” Johnson is considered to be one of the most powerful pitchers in history. The Hall of Fame was supposed to have opened in 1935 but money was at a premium because of the Depression so the opening was delayed. The rumor was spread that Civil War General Abner Doubleday was the inventor of baseball in Cooperstown but that was bullshit. The local businesses fostered that idea to pump up business and they made contributions toward the building of the Hall. The Hall of Fame has about 350,000 visitors a year.

1820 After 10 years of a debilitating disease that lead to total insanity, King George III of England died. King George was the chief antagonist of the American colonists that resulted in the American Revolutionary War. King George knew that he was not well and was desperately seeking someone that he could trust to take care of business in his behalf. He found one in Lord North and King George was very relieved. The problem was that England lost its most profitable colony in America and the English people were furious. In 1784 William Pitt the elder gained enough power in Parliament to take control. After this the King retired from active participation in government except for an occasional interference with major issues such as “Catholic Emancipation” which was defeated in 1801. I have not researched this issue but I will soon. King George had a long history of illness beginning in 1765 when he had a nervous breakdown and in the winter of 1788-89 he had a severe bout with mental illness. By 1810 he was permanently insane but he was cared for tenderly by his wife Charlotte Sophia. His son, the Prince of Wales, was named regent and assumed throne as King George IV when his father died in 1820. It was later speculated that King George III had lead poisoning. He used pewter plates and utensils which contains a modicum of lead.

Born today:

1737 Super American Patriot Thomas Paine. He said “When we are planning for posterity, we must remember that virtue is not hereditary.” Paine was one of the greatest wordsmiths this country ever produced.

1862 English composer Fredrick Delius. He said “Music is an outburst of the soul”. Indeed Fred, indeed.

1874 US industrialist John D. Rockefeller, Jr. He said “A friendship based on business is better that a business based on friendship.” The Rockefeller dynasty began with the establishment of Standard Oil which eventually became Esso and then Exxon.

1880 US comedian W.C. Fields. He said “My illness is due to my doctor insisting that I drink milk. It is a whitish fluid that they force down helpless babies.” Fields was a famous imbiber.

1939 Australian feminist Germaine Greer. She said “Freud is the father of psychoanalysis, it has no mother.” I agree, Germaine.

            Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday OYSTERS

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Quote of the day:

During the American Civil War US General John Sedgwick rode up to a high point to observe the progress of the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Va. Upon arrival his staff told him that he ought to take cover. Sedgwick scoffed and said “They couldn't hit an elephant at this dis…..”

A comment about Donald and Megyn:

Back in during a Republican debate in August Megyn Kelly of Fox asked Trump about his comments about a woman's looks. There are two things amiss here from the git-go. The question has nothing to do with the issues facing this country and is similar to saying “Do you still beat your wife?” Megyn Kelly only asked that question to put pressure on Trump and she was not interested in the real issues...I am not freaking interested in Trump's comments about something like that and this country has much larger fish to fry. I think Kelly is a shallow thinker and Trump shoots from the hip...not a good combination. Does these names mean anything to you: John Chancellor, Lowell Thomas, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Frank McGee, Tom Brokaw, Roger Mudd and first and foremost Walter Cronkite? These people were journalists and not interested in the almighty ratings like they are today. To gain in the ratings and keep their jobs the newscasters and their producers have crossed over the line from journalism to show business. Truth in what really happened takes a back seat to how much advertising time can be sold during their newscasts...that, my friends, is show business and that includes Donald and Megyn. The media resorts to sensationalism and even yellow journalism to make it happen. Can you imagine any of the above mentioned journalists asking such a question during a debate as to how a candidate described a woman? Megyn obviously was angry at Donald because she feels he is a chauvinist and leaned on him because of it...I don't give a damn about Megyn Kelly's feelings. She has become subjective rather than objective. Which is more important for discussion: The possibility that Trump is a chauvinist or the possibility that Red China has ballistic missile submarines that may stop in Havana from time to time? The media, Megyn Kelly in particular, seems to find their personal issues are more important.

Here is a little known fact about slavery in the the British Empire. They were involved in the west African slave trade from day one. Then there came a time that it was not financially viable to continue so James II authorized the capture of those pesky “semi-human” Irishmen and selling them into slavery to the sugar plantation owners in the Caribbean and Barbados in particular. They kidnapped and sold about 1.1 million Irish into slavery. They were without a doubt racists...not against the blacks but racists none the less.

             This Date in History January 28

1777 On this date British General John Burgoyne submitted a battle plan to British General Sir Henry Clinton. Burgoyne suggested that he head a large force of 8,000 troops out of Canada and go down Lake Champlain, the Mohawk River and eventually the Hudson River and isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. Burgoyne felt that if he could accomplish this it would make Philadelphia ripe for the picking by British General Howe. The plan was approved and Burgoyne achieved a modicum of success when he captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain. What Burgoyne did not plan on was the over extension of his supply lines the further south he moved. Eventually the Patriots simply swung around and cut his supply line. Soon after this Burgoyne lost the Battle of Bennington, Vermont and engaged in a bloody draw at Bemis Heights, New York. After these battles he was unable to re-supply his troops so he retreated 16 miles north to Saratoga, New York and surrendered his remaining 6,000 troops to US General Horatio Gates. When the government of France saw this victory they officially recognized the United States as an independent nation which, of course, meant war with England. France had been covertly sending America money and the tools of war now they did it openly and with much more supplies. This decision by France assured an American victory because it meant that England would have to fight a war on both sides of the Atlantic.

1958 On this date a 19 year old high school dropout from Lincoln, Nebraska named Charles Starkweather and his 14 year old girlfriend Carol Fugate murdered a Lincoln business man, his wife and their maid. This was the last in a string of 10 murder committed by the duo. This murder spree began at the home of Carol and an argument broke out between Charles and Carol’s parents. Charles chose to shoot Carol’s parent and strangle Carol’s two year old sister. Carol and Charles stayed holed up in the house for a few days before leaving in Charles’ car. Their next victims was a farmer and two teens and after that it was the previously mention Lincoln businessman, wife and maid. They were not done yet. They shot and killed a traveling shoe salesman to get his car. They were surrounded and captured near Douglas, Wyoming. Both Charles and Carol were convicted of murder and Charles got the death penalty and Carol got life. In 1959 Charles Starkweather went to meet his maker medium rare after a visit with the Nebraska version of “Old Sparky”. Carol was paroled after 18 years. How could that girl sit in the house with her dead parents and sister for several days? They paroled her because she was so young at the time of the murders. I will have to call baloney on that.

1986 On this day the space shuttle Challenger was set to launch for the 10^th time. All previous missions with this vessel had been flawless. The shuttle had been scheduled to launch on January 22 but there were weather issues so the launch date was pushed back to January 28. Aboard with the regular astronauts was a school teacher name Christa McAuliffe from New Hampshire. The outside air temperature was below freezing and the rocket booster manufacturer warned the launch officials that some of the parts of the rocket booster do not operate well in cold weather, especially the O-ring seals. They warned that they became brittle in the cold and would not hold. The launch officials blew it off and at 11:39a the Challenger blasted off. Seventy-three seconds into the flight the shuttle exploded into a spectacular three armed display and fell into the Atlantic killing all aboard. An investigation later proved that an O-ring seal had indeed failed and the flame from the rocket boosters had not been contained inside the cylinder causing an explosion. The arrogance of the launch officials in allowing the launch in spite of being warned set space exploration back several years.

      Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Wednesday OYSTERS

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Quote of the day:

Hitler was persuaded by Herman Goering that England could be defeated by air power alone. After one particular raid the German Air force lost over 70 aircraft and Hitler knew that a land invasion would be a blood bath so he put a stop to it all and headed for Russia. Winston Churchill was asked about England's ability to withstand such a pounding and stay viable. He said “This was certainly not the beginning of the end...but it surely is the end of the beginning.”

Instead of the usual bad news of the day, I will send y’all one of the greatest love stories in history. It is the biography of Robert Dudley.

                                        Robert Dudley

This is the story of unrequited love between two people that were in love for most of their lives but were kept apart by the politics of Elizabethan England. Elizabeth l stated that she would never marry because she was fearful that her powers would be diluted by a husband. The present day Prince Phillip of England is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II and is titled as Prince Consort.

Most contemporary historians believed that Robert Dudley and Elizabeth, the future Queen of England, were born on the same day, it was later determined that Robert was probably one year older. Robert was the son of John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, Duke of Northumberland and protector of England during the reign of Edward VI. Robert was the fifth child of thirteen. He first met Elizabeth when he was eight years old, probably in a royal classroom. They became good friends and their friendship lasted throughout both of their lives. He was certainly a match for Elizabeth intellectually. He was also into the classics in addition to mathematics, astronomy and astrology. He was good athlete and a superb horseman. When speaking of Elizabeth later on he said that he knew her better than anyone, even from the time she was eight years old. He said that Elizabeth had always told him that she would never marry.

Robert married Amy Robsart in 1550 with Amy being the daughter of a Norfolk squire. Even though people thought they were in love, the marriage contract indicated otherwise. Normally daughters were not heirs to their father’s estate but Amy was the exception, she was an heiress making the marriage advantageous to both. The marriage ceremony between Robert and Amy was a glittering one with all the appropriate pomp and circumstance. The festivities were attended by Elizabeth and the Boy-King in waiting, Edward VI.

After Robert’s father tried to usurp the throne and place his sister-in-law Lady Jane Grey on the throne the crap hit the fan. This rebellion was quashed and Robert, his father and five of his brothers are imprisoned in the Tower of London in the Beauchamp section awaiting trial. Elizabeth was also imprisoned in the Tower but in the Bell section. The two wings were joined by a walkway and Robert and Elizabeth met frequently on this walkway and their friendship turned to love even though they were closely guarded. After all was said and done, Robert’s father John, his brother Guilford and Lady Jane Grey had a meeting with a big guy with a big axe out on the lawn of the Tower. All the others were released.

Robert and his brother Henry went to France to fight on the behalf of the King of France, Phillip II. Henry was killed in this war. After returning to England Robert found out that Elizabeth was in serious financial trouble and sold some of his lands and bailed Elizabeth out and she never forgot Robert’s generosity. Elizabeth ascended to the throne of England in 1558 at the age of twenty and Robert's star began to rise. He was made the Master of the Queen's Horse, a very prestigious position that required him to be in the presence of the Queen almost constantly. It was his function to plan her public appearances and personal entertainment. Robert was good at this because he and Elizabeth share the same love of drama and music. There was no doubt that he was the Queens favorite which automatically made him the most despised man in England. 

Within the first years, Elizabeth showered Robert with titles, among these was the Earl of Leicester, properties and money and spending more time with him than anyone else. Tongues wagged as to their intimacy, all assumed they were lovers. It was also said that Elizabeth was carrying Roberts child but this story was easily dismissed, but there was no doubt that they were deeply in love. They were bonded by knowing each other as children, had suffered imprisonment together, and each trusted and respected the other totally. Like any couple they occasionally argued, but Robert always spoke and treated Elizabeth with the respect that her position deserved.

No one had a good word to say about Robert except the Queen and her family. Elizabeth was an astute judge of character and it is impossible to think that she would not have detected any insincerity in Robert over their relationship of thirty years. There is no question that Robert loved her. Had the political circumstances been more favorable there is little question they would have been married. Privately she told Robert that she would marry no one else, but she couldn’t marry him. The biggest problem with the bar to their marriage was the circumstances of Robert's wife’s death. She was found dead at the bottom of a flight of stairs with a broken neck and naturally everyone pointed their fingers at Robert and Elizabeth. For a long time people had been saying he and Elizabeth were planning Amy’s death so he could marry Elizabeth. This shadow of doubt plagued the two for the rest of their days making the birth of any of their children suspect if they had married. Amy was probably terminally ill with breast cancer or as it was called “malady of the breast”. In fact medical opinions of today suggest that the cancer had probably reached her spine and it was weakened to the point that any kind of pressure would have broken it. However, such medical knowledge was unknown in those days and all, including Robert, believed she was murdered.

Robert waited for many years hoping Elizabeth would change her mind but she didn’t. At a gala celebration in 1575 in Warwick Castle, Robert formally asked for Elizabeth’s hand and as always she refused. So in 1578 Robert married the Queen's cousin, Lettice Devereux, the Countess of Essex.

He may have well been in love with her because she was a reported stone fox but the real reason he married her was that she was pregnant and a family of the stature of the house of Essex demanded that he make an honest woman of her. Robert tried to keep the news of his marriage from the Queen but she found out anyway. In 1580 Lettice gave birth to a son also named Robert. The child was a sickly one and died at the age of four which devastated Robert. The death of this child almost assured the end to Robert’s lineage. He had a child by an affair with Lady Dudley Sheffield but illegitimate children could not be an heir. Lady Sheffield claimed that she and Robert were married in a secret ceremony but there was no evidence of it and Robert always denied it.

In 1588 Robert was put in charge of the land forces during the expected assault by the Spanish Armada but Robert was not a well man, probably suffering from stomach cancer and his days were numbered. He was on his way to Buxton to bathe in the supposed “healing” waters there but he never made it. He died at his house in Oxfordshire on September 4th, 1588. Upon hearing the news, Elizabeth locked her self in her bedroom and stayed for days. She kept the last letter from Robert in her safe until the end of her days. The letter follows:

“I most humbly beseech your Majesty to pardon your poor old servant to be thus bold in sending to know how my gracious lady doth, and what ease of her late pain she finds, being the chiefest thing in the world I do pray for, for her to have good health and long life. For my own poor case, I continue still your medicine and find that [it] amends much better than any other thing that hath been given me. Thus hoping to find perfect cure at the bath, with the continuance of my wonted prayer for your Majesty's most happy preservation, I humbly kiss your foot. From your old lodging at Rycote, this Thursday morning, ready to take on my Journey, by Your Majesty's most faithful and obedient servant,

R. Leicester

Even as I had writ thus much, I received Your Majesty's token by Young Tracy.”

Evidently Elizabeth had sent Robert a gift.

It is a rumor that in Elizabeth’s last few days she could not speak and had the archbishop at her side holding her hand. Since she had no heir, everyone was waiting for her to name one. The archbishop went through a series of names and she would respond by squeezing his hand. It was determined that Elizabeth wanted James VI of Scotland (the son of Mary, Queen of Scots) to succeed her. It was a rumor that when the archbishop mentioned the deceased Robert Dudley, Elizabeth squeezed his hand for a long time and a tear fell from her eye. It has been reported that Elizabeth had another lover in the Earl of Essex. This may be true by I prefer to remember her childhood friend and her adult lover as her most favorite, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester.

               Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Tuesday OYSTERS

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Quote of the day:

A SEAL team was surrounded on a hilltop in Afghanistan. There were several wounded and the medic was busy treating them. The medic was wounded himself and was bleeding but he continued treating his men. Eventually the medic became very weak from the loss of blood and said “I am sorry guys, that is all I can do”...then he laid down and died. He apologized for dying.

                                               An American medic

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared that there would be definite retribution for a bombing at the Moscow airport. I believe this guy. The Russians do not have a Constitution whereby everyone has “human rights” and are guaranteed due process of law. I saw several instances whereby a criminal in Russia is not arrested and cuffed and quietly led to a squad car. In one instance a man had hijacked a tour bus and was caught in a road block. The police ordered him to release the passengers and he complied…15 seconds later he was dead. There was no negotiation. In another instance the Russian police had a hidden camera in a hotel room where an undercover cop was making a drug deal with some long time drug dealers. One of the drug dealers got angry and slapped the undercover cop. The cops observing from another room had enough and burst into the room guns drawn. The three drug dealers automatically fell to the floor and curled into the fetal position with their hands over their heads. They knew what was coming and the cops did not disappoint . They pistol whipped all of them senseless and dragged their butts out of there. I don’t know about these days but a while back if a criminal was sentenced to death in Russia they would not tell him the date of his execution. While in prison once in a while a guard would sneak up behind them a dry fire a pistol beside their ear. Sometimes they would take them out into a courtyard, tie them to a post and a crew of riflemen would draw down on them, not shoot and would walk away laughing.

                     This Date in History January 26

1788 Eight months Captain Arthur Phillip was commissioned by the British government to establish a colony in the newly discovered land that eventually became Australia. The strange part of it was that the British government wanted Phillip to do it with prisoners that may or may not have farming expertise. So Phillip set out with 11 ships headed to the land down under with nearly as many Marines aboard as he had prisoners. On this date he hove to off the east coast of what was labeled New South Wales and the country of Australia was born. Right from the git-go Captain Phillip found out that most of his prisoners indeed knew more about robbing and killing than they did about farming and not only that the soil was not rich enough to raise crops. Needless to say discipline among the prisoners became a serious problem. Hungry criminals can be a handful, Marines nearby or not. Finally the Marines were not up to the task and Captain Phillip himself took over control of the prisoners and he proved to be a tough but fair overseer, but many floggings and several hangings ensued. Eventually Captain Phillip, the Marines and the prisoners were on the cusp of starvation for several years. Captain Phillip returned to England in 1792 but the colony had already showed signs that it would survive and by the turn of the century the colony became prosperous with a deep sense of patriotism. In fact in 1808 an Australian historian wrote “there was a celebration of the founding of the colony with much drinking and merriment.” Australia is famous for having one of the largest quantities of beer consumed per capita on the planet, mostly Foster’s. I like it myself.

1950 After years of hassling with the British, India passed its own Constitution and became an independent nation on this date. Indian religious leader Mahatma Gandhi had been leading the fight for independence for decades and he finally succeeded. But before all of this came to pass, religious differences between the Hindus and the Muslims raised it ugly head. To settle this problem the British Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, declared that the country would be partitioned with the Muslims going to Pakistan and the Hindus to India. This seemed like a perfect plan but the Muslims and the Hindus still fought vicious battles where thousands were killed, including Mahatma Gandhi. He was a Hindu and was assassinated by another Hindu because Gandhi accepted the partition in the interest of peace. You can say what you want but the most bloody and vicious wars ever fought were in the interest of one or more religion against another. Remember the Crusades?

1936 On This date in Cleveland, Ohio the dismembered corpse of Frances Portillo was found with the head in a basket and the remainder of the various parts stuffed into burlap sacks. This was not the first nor would it be the last. The killings and dismemberments continued until the number reached double digits. Needless to say the Cleveland PD was frantic to find the “Mad Butcher”. The corpses had been dissected with precision and therefore the PD began looking for a real butcher. The arrested a butcher named Frank Dolezal and interrogated him for 40 straight hours until he confessed to killing Frances Portillo. Frank committed suicide in his cell soon thereafter. Very few of the people of Cleveland believed that Frank Dolezal was the actual “Mad Butcher” and that the real killer was a well heeled and well connected member of the community. The Cleveland PD chose to destroy any and all records about these crimes and the killings stopped after the suicide of Dolezal. But the actual identity of the “Mad Butcher” is unknown to this day.

1875 The James brothers, Jesse and Frank, had been hotly pursued by the Pinkerton Detective Agency for over a year. The Pinkertons had been hired by the railroad barons to try and stop the robbing of their trains and banks by the James gang. They were not successful, in fact one of their best detectives named James Witcher had been found dead from a gunshot to the abdomen and his upper torso had been eaten by wild hogs. It was known that Jesse and Frank would visit with their kin in Clay County, Missouri on occasion. On this date a group of men surrounded the house of Jesse and Frank’s mother in Clay County thinking that the James boys were home visiting Mom. It has never been confirmed if the men surrounding the house were law enforcement officials or Pinkerton detectives or a combination. Anyway, the people surrounding the house decided to throw in a couple of flares to flush out anyone in the house. One of the flares exploded killing Jesse and Frank’s nine year old step-brother outright and took off one of Mom’s arms. Jesse and Frank were not there and the local community came after the ones that surrounded the house with blood in their eye. The lawmen/detectives got away and no one to this day admits to who it was that committed that atrocity but after this the Pinkerton Agency cut back on their often violent methods.

Born today:

1880 US General Douglas MacArthur: He said “I will keep on living as if I expect to live forever. Nobody grows old by living a number of years. People grow old for deserting their Ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin but to give up wrinkles the soul.” General MacArthur was one of America’s greatest military commanders in spite of having an ego the size of Oklahoma.

1918 US writer Phillip Farmer. He said “The universe is a big place, maybe the biggest.” Phillip, shut up.

1929 US cartoonist Jules Feiffer. He said “Christ died for our sins, dare we make his martyrdom meaningless by not committing them?” I am working on it, Jules.

          Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday Oysters

                                       Al's Most Recent

Quote of the day:

When asked how he thought it would be possible to build a wall between the USA and Mexico he said “Think China”.

                                              Donald Trump

There has been a lot of arrogant people saying that the “natural born” clause in the Constitution should be eliminated meaning that if the parents are “illegal” then the children should be also even if they are born on US soil. Let me say this about that.

The United States would not exist if that proposal was the law when the very first “illegal aliens” stepped foot on American soil. It was Jamestown, Va in 1607 and again in Plymouth, Ma. in 1620. That make all of their progeny “illegal”...that means many of us. If either or both of these settlements had failed it is unlikely that our ancestors would have been here for another 100 years. Also, there is substantiated evidence of the presence of Vikings in Canada in the 11^th century, unsubstantiated evidence in Maine, New Hampshire and Minnesota in the 14^th century. From there our ancestors did not obtain this land by divine providence, they took it by conquest, y'all. They had no problem with the unmitigated slaughter of anyone (Indians, French, Spanish and Mexicans, etc.) and anything (bison, passenger pigeon, etc.) that got in their way. Illegal aliens...are you kidding me?

This past weekend beginning Friday my area was besieged by cold weather, sleet, snow and freezing rain. Think about all the homeless out there enduring this while hundreds of churches are warm and empty for days at a time. It bothers me...and it should bother you.

Here is another adventure from my life out of doors. Down in Pensacola, Florida four of us decided to go put out a gill net for mullet one particular night. We launched two boats one of which had 150 yards of gill net aboard and went to an area known as Grand Lagoon. This body of water is on the inter-coastal waterway so we went far from the center canal before putting out the net. One boat would pull out the net while the other one slowly ran the opposite direction. We finally got the net arrayed and joined back together to wait for a while. One of the guys that was with us had never done anything like this before and pulled out a bottle of Jim Beam. The rest of us refused to partake because we knew what a boat in the dark with barge traffic close by could mean if mixed with firewater. After a while the rookie had to urinate and stood up and promptly fell over the side. He started screaming “Help, Help, I can’t swim.” We told him “Just stand up, the water is only 4 feet deep.” He stood up while the rest of us laughed. Then he did something that was really dangerous, he got his feet tangled in the gill net. It was a hell of a struggle but we pulled the net up and got his stupid feet untangled and him back into the boat. We threw his bottle of Beam over the side and he was not invited on another expedition.

         This Date in History  January 25

1863  About two months ago Abe Lincoln had enough of US General McClellan’s snot-nose and told him to take a hike and put US General Ambrose Burnside in command of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan was a great trainer and organizer but was very shy and reluctant when it came to combat meaning that the aggressive CSA Robert E. Lee handed McClellan his ass on several occasions even though at times Lee was outnumbered two to one. The final straw came when McClellan’s army had defeated Lee’s army at Antietam and Lee headed back in to Virginia to lick his wounds. McClellan chose to stay in camp for 6 weeks and not pursue Lee. That was enough for Abe and he sent McClellan to the showers and promoted Burnside into command. Burnside had been a desk jockey most of his career with very little if any combat experience and told everyone that they should take someone else but General of the Army Henry Halleck insisted. Very soon after taking command, Burnside knowing that Abe wanted an aggressive commander, launched a movement against Lee. Unfortunately, the movement was detected by Lee and he moved his army in a position to intercept Burnside at Fredericksburg, Virginia 2 days in advance. Some of y'all may not know what happened here but the US Army walked into trap a prepared by Lee and his lieutenants that cost the Union 15,000 casualties to 5,000 for the CSA. Lincoln gave Burnside another chance and he tried a counter-move to attack Lee’s position at Fredericksburg from another direction and during the movement it rained for four straight days and the Army of the Potomac was bogged down to a stop in mud waist deep. General Burnside decided that a little booze would improve his troop's morale and sent out a few barrels. As you might suspect many of them got hammered and fights broke out between units, not only that the CSA troops were on the opposite side of the Rappahannock taunting and teasing without mercy. So Abe put a stop to it by firing Burnside after only two months of command and gave command of the Army of the Potomac to US General Joseph Hooker. Little did Hooker know that yet another spectacular victory for the CSA awaited him at a little town named Chancellorsville.

1945   On this date, after a stiff fight the Russian army broke through the German defenses near Auschwitz, Poland. What they found here was evidence of the most cruel and inhumane treatment of human beings yet recorded. It was a death camp of unimaginable proportions. There were three main camps, I, II and III with 8 other “satellite” camps. This camp had but one purpose and that was killing of human beings. The Russians discovered ovens with human remains still inside smoking, metal buildings with an opening for the insertion of poison gas. The German’s used Cyklon B gas. It was an insecticide and easy and cheap to make, the down side was that it did not kill quickly meaning that the people that were put inside those buildings knew after a short while that they were being poisoned and fought and struggled for life. The Russians found 645 corpses and 7,000 walking skeletons who told them that the guards found out that the Russians were close and they began killing all that they could until they ran out of ammo and then they began blowing up the crematoria and death buildings. The Russians also found three warehouses that were stacked to the top with women’s dresses, men’s suits and shoes that the German’s did not have a chance to destroy. And finally they discovered the laboratories and journals of Dr. Josef Mengele. Mengele performed inconceivably cruel and inhuman medical experiments on the prisoners especially twins. There are many records of what this animal did to others but I will not describe them now. But I can tell you that when the Russian army left Auschwitz, they had lost all mercy and remorse for any and all things German and killed all they found, man, woman, children, dogs, cats, geese, ducks, etc...they intended to wipe the slate clean of Germans. When one particular Russian tank crew entered Berlin they were confronted by an antitank gun manned by seven Germans no older than 14. The Russians destroyed the German crew and repeatedly ran back and forth across the corpses with their tank until there was nothing there that could be identified as human. Hate and killing with no remorse, all wars depend on it.

         Thanks for listening  I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday OYSTERS

                                    Al's Most Recent

Quote of the day:

I saw a cartoon once that showed a cowboy with a smoking gun standing over an obviously dead person. The cowboy was saying “What is the circumference of the Earth?”...”What is the average rainfall in the Amazon River basin?”...then another cowboy walked up and says “No, No Slim, 'shoot first and ask questions later' is just a figure of speech”.

A friend told me that one of his ancestors was a pirate and asked me to do an essay on him. Here is what I found:

                                      Stede Bonnet

This is a story of a well heeled, cultured Englishman that became a pirate because of a woman. Stede Bonnet was born on Barbados in 1688 the son of a wealthy plantation owner. I do not know what his farm products were but in those days Barbados was famous for sugar cane and rum. Stede inherited the estate after his father’s death in 1694. In 1709 he married a woman of means named Mary Allamby also of Barbados. After several years of Mary’s constant carping and in spite of having three children, in 1717 Stede decided to take up piracy in spite of not having even basic rudimentary sailing skills. He bought a 30 ton sloop, named it The Revenge, probably because of his bad experience with his wife and outfitted it with 10 guns and hired a pirate crew of 30 and gave them a salary. This was unheard of in the pirating arena, most other pirates allowed their crewmen to share in whatever booty was captured. Stede headed for the American east coast and was successful in capturing and looting several ships but then he ran across a Spanish war ship and a sharp battle ensued. Stede and company were forced to withdraw after suffering several killed and many severely wounded including Stede. He ordered his ship to Nassau in the Bahamas, a well known refuge for pirates. It was there that he met two pirates named John Hornigold and Edward Teach, also known as “Blackbeard”. Stede was not getting any better so he turned over command of his ship to Blackbeard and out they went to the American coast looking for prey with Stede as a guest of Blackbeard. As y'all may have heard the name of Blackbeard’s flagship was Queen Anne’s Revenge. Blackbeard probably named his ship that as a slap at the king of England at the time. Stede had a meeting with the Governor of North Carolina who offered him a pardon and if he would go “privateering” against Spanish shipping that was coming from Mexico and Central America laden to the scuppers with gold captured from the Aztecs, Maya and Inca and give the Governor half of everything he captured. By now Stede had healed well enough to take command of his own ship and he and Blackbeard parted company. Stede wanted to go pirating again but he also did not want to lose his pardon from the North Carolina so he decided to use the alias of “Captain Thomas” and renamed his ship the Royal James and went pirating again. The good Governor offered Blackbeard a similar deal whereby Blackbeard could use Okacroke inlet and Bath, North Carolina in particular as a secure home base but in return he must give the governor half of his booty. Stede’s ship was leaking badly and needed careening. This meant the ship was leaned over to one side and the seams on the bottom were re-sealed. To do this they needed shallow and calm water. Stede chose the shallow and calm estuary of the Cape Fear River, North Carolina. In the mean time the Governor of South Carolina was fed up with Stede and Blackbeard attacking nearly every ship departing from or arriving in Charleston, South Carolina harbor and sent a hired militia led by Colonel Robert Rhett to put a stop to it. Rhett caught Stede in the Cape Fear estuary while still careening. There was a battle for several hours but the pirates were surrounded by a force of superior numbers and chose to surrender. Stede and company were brought to Charleston and put on trial along with another pirate named Richard Worley and his crew. Somehow Stede escaped but not before promising the South Carolina Governor that he would cut off his own arms and legs to prevent him from ever pirating again. The Governor did not buy it and sent out a search party looking for Stede. Stede had hired two slaves that had access to a boat to take him and his sailing master to safety. The four were cornered on Sullivan’s Island (the home of one of my favorite watering holes in Poe’s Tavern) and the two slaves were killed. Stede and his sailing master were brought back to Charleston to be tried before Judge Nicholas Trott. The Trott family was famous in South Carolina history and was mentioned in my essay on the history of Daniel Island. Anyway, Judge Trott gave no quarter and sentenced Stede and his crew plus Richard Worley and his crew to death by hanging. The whole crowd was indeed hanged at “White’s Point” which is today the southernmost point of the Charleston, South Carolina peninsula, better known as “The Battery”. It is estimated that between Bonnet and Worley there were 35 or 36 men that were hanged on that day. The whole bunch was “buried” on the southern shore of James Island. They really were not buried but thrown out on a mud flat at low tide. We know what this means. They were left for the crabs and sharks to devour. By the way, after Blackbeard made his deal with the Governor of North Carolina, the Governor of Virginia knew that every ship entering or leaving the Chesapeake Bay was at risk so he sent a militia hunting for Blackbeard. They cornered Blackbeard on Okacroke Island, North Carolina and after a savage hand-to-hand fight Blackbeard was eventually killed and beheaded. This essentially ended the pirating in the Carolinas but it still flourished elsewhere as long as Spanish ship were hauling all that gold back to Spain via the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Straits, the Bahamas and the American east coast.

                 This Date in History  January 22

1980 On this date a bunch of United States college kids playing ice hockey in the Olympics knocked over the four time world champion Russian professional hockey team. It was known as the Miracle on Ice. I remember watching it to this day. With about 20 seconds to go the American announcer Al Michaels was about to pee his pants. The American team had a one goal lead and the Russians had the puck but it was stolen by the US team and they just skated around until the clock ran out. With about 3 seconds to go Al Michaels screams “Do you believe in miracles, YESSSSS!” What an exciting moment it was for us all.

Born today:

1788 German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. He said “Every man assumes that his field of vision is the limits of the world.” Art, this is not exactly true, some people live in even smaller cocoons that that. Now a-days the world is the distance between the eyes and an i-phone.

1892 US writer Edna St. Vincent Millay. She said “Life is not just one damned thing after another, it is the same damned thing over and over.” Boredom is a bitch, Edna.

         Thanks for listening  I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday OYSTERS

                                        Al's Most Recent

Quote of the day:

When accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the movie The Last Picture Show he said “It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.”

Ben Johnson

Some of you may not know who Ben Johnson is but all of us John Wayne western fans do.

One of my daughters paid me a compliment that brought a tear to my eye. Earlier I had sent out a quote saying “A pearl is the autobiography of the oyster.” She said that going by that your daughters are your autobiography. Indeed they are and they are all pearls. She said that I should consider the character and success of my girls and if it had not been for me and their mother they would have never turned out that way. She credited me and their mother with introducing them to sports at a very young age and keeping them off the streets and out of trouble. This included volleyball, softball, gymnastics, etc. I played city league softball myself. This is a compliment that I constantly carry with me and will for the rest of my days.

Here is another episode of my outdoor adventures. I decided to go offshore fishing in the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola. It was a beautiful day so I did not read the weather forecast. That, my friends, was a big mistake. I launched my boat in the small town of Gulf Breeze and was about 4 miles offshore when a blanket of fog rolled in and the visibility fell to about 30 feet. The only navigation devices I had was a compass and a depth finder. I knew that I was south of the beach but I did not know how far. I also knew that there was a barrier island and about 3 miles of open water between me and the ramp where I launched my boat. I headed north until I reached a depth of 6 feet. I did not know if I was east or west of the “pass” that got me back into the bay so I shut off the motor and listened. In addition to the surf, to the west I heard the unmistakable throb of a marine diesel engine heading north so he must be in the Pass. Whatever it was had to be radar equipped. I turned west and held 6 feet until I reached the opening of the Pass, turned north and entered the bay. I knew the ramp was east-northeast of the pass but I was not about to go across with just a compass in that fog with a steady stream of boats passing by that I could not see. I decided to follow the backside of the barrier island to a bridge that crossed from the island to the mainland and follow the bridge to the mainland and the ramp. I held 6 feet and headed east weaving north and south to maintain that depth. I finally reached the rip-rap on the west side of the bridge and turned north. I followed the bridge pilings one after another until I got to the channel where the ships and barges crossed under the bridge. I cut the motor and just listened for anything that sounded like a boat. After a considerable time and not hearing anything. I started across the channel. I got about half way across and all of sudden a fog horn sounded and it was right on top of me to my left. I gunned the motor and literally jumped another 20 or 30 feet. I cut the motor off and just sat there to regain my composure. After a minute or two my boat was rocked by a boat wake. It just was not my time to go, y’all. I finally felt my way back west to the boat ramp where a friend of mine was waiting blowing his car horn to help me find the ramp. I kept going west until the car horn was immediately to my right and I turned. I finally saw my friend and the ramp when I was about 30 feet away. I forgot to mention that I did have a two way radio and that is how I contacted my friend and told him what kind of fix I was in. I read weather forecasts from then on no matter what. By the way, I held six feet all the way so the propeller of my motor would not hit bottom and if the boat sank I would have a fighting chance at not drowning. There is reason for me being here on the planet this long. There has been many times that I could have been killed hunting and fishing. When I talk to others that have experienced nothing in their lives but boring drudgery day in and day out I realize that I certainly would not trade my life for theirs. I have experienced exciting adventures and have exciting memories...they have nothing. Henry David Thoreau wrote “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

           This Date in History January 21

1793 Earlier in 1774 Louis XVI rose to be king of France succeeding his grandfather King Louis XV. Louis the XVI was by no means cut out to be a French monarch at this point in time because France was in serious financial trouble and Louis did not have a clue as to what to do about it. In 1789 as a last ditch effort to resolve the problem, Louis assembled a group of Frenchmen known as “The States-General”. An assembly like this had not happened since 1614. The States-General was an assemblage of representatives of French royalty, the clergy, and the commoners. This gave the French people the opportunity to declare themselves “The National Assembly”. The French revolted in July of 1789 by storming a prison in the center of Paris known as the Bastille, releasing all prisoners and eventually disassembled the building stone by stone by the commoners because it was the very symbol of repression by French royalty. Although Louis outwardly accepted the revolution, he did not heed the advice of his advisers and modify the monarchy so as to save it. In October a mob stormed the Palace of Versailles, the home of Louis and his wife Marie and forced them to a lesser opulent home of Tuiliers. In June of 1791 the opposition to Louis and Marie became so heated that they decided to get the hell out of Dodge and headed for Austria, the homeland of Marie. They were stopped in the French city of Varennes and brought back to Paris and forced to accept the Constitution of 1791 which reduced the monarchy to mere figureheads. In August of 1792 Louis and Marie were arrested and imprisoned. They were tried for treason because the now National Convention had evidence that Marie had been communicating with Austria to declare war on France which would have allowed the monarchy to continue. There was no evidence that Louis had discouraged this arrangement. Both Louis and Marie were convicted of treason and sentenced to death. On this date Louis walked confidently to the guillotine and was beheaded before a gigantic, screaming mob. Nine months later Louis’ wife, Marie Antoinette, was also beheaded and also before a gigantic, screaming mob. Not long after that France became a democracy. Sometimes gigantic, screaming, bloodthirsty mobs are required.

1996 The 555 ton passenger vessel Gurita used as a ferry in the islands of Indonesia departs a port in Sumatra with 400 passengers aboard. After the ship had been at sea for just a few hours it ran into a severe storm. There was no evidence that the ship was excessively overloaded but overloaded it was. The ship began to lurch violently and take on water. This resulted in the passengers fighting over life jackets of which there was not enough to go around. The ship eventually sank putting the passengers afloat. The warm waters around Sumatra are famous for its large number of sharks. There was a lighthouse on a small island about a mile away and everyone headed for it. 47 people made it to the island the rest were consumed by the sharks. The rescuers did not find a single corpse.

Died today:

1985 US chef James Beard. He said “If the time ever came where we had to resort to cannibalism, I might survive if I had enough tarragon.”

          Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow