Monday OYSTERS

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Quote of the day:

“Judiciously worn stiletto heels are remarkably effective in commanding extra help with household chores.”

                                             Vanessa Feltz

Tonight it is the Clemson Tigers against the Alabama Crimson Tide in Glendale, Arizona for the national championship.

Here is a tidbit of trivia. During the House Un-American Activity Committee hearings led by Rep. Joseph McCarthy who thought everyone in the entertainment industry was a Communist. He leaned heavily on many of them ruining some innocent people’s careers by innuendo. Actor Joseph Cotten was called to testify. McCarthy asked Cotten if he or anyone in his family had ever advocated the overthrow of the United States. Cotten said that a member of his family did indeed advocate the overthrow of the United States. When McCarthy almost shouted “And who was that?” Cotten said “My great-grandfather was a Captain in Stonewall Jackson's cavalry.”

                     This Date in History January 11

1775 On this date the first Jew elected in the Americas takes his seat on the South Carolina Provincial Congress. Francis Salvador came from a family deeply involved in the English East India Company. His father was the director of operations in the Portugal division. The Salvador family was also very high up in the Jewish Sephardic community in London. A severe earthquake virtually destroyed all the East India Company warehoused goods in Portugal which bankrupted the Salvador family. Francis decided that he would come to the colonies and try to recoup his family’s fortunes and sailed to Savannah, Georgia in spite of the fact that Jews were not permitted in the state of Georgia. I am going to repeat that, Jews were not permitted in the state of Georgia. He quickly headed into South Carolina to take control of 7,000 acres that had been given to him by his uncle. Salvador turned out to be a firebrand Patriot and was deeply involved in the movement of independence of the colonies from Great Britain. He was known as the “Southern Paul Revere” when he rode 30 miles on horseback to warn the people of Charleston, South Carolina that there was a British fleet approaching that he had spotted from his plantation. The city of Charleston was able to prepare Sullivan’s Island in the mouth of Charleston Harbor and when the British fleet under the command of Admiral Peter Parker arrived, the artillerists in Fort Moultrie opened up and Admiral Parker and and his fleet was sent running.

On another occasion he was scouting in the South Carolina foothills with a squad under command of Colonel John Wilkinson. Recent raids by the Cherokees on villages in the upstate sent Colonel Wilkinson looking for the renegade Cherokees. The renegades found them first and unleashed a wicked ambush near present day Seneca, South Carolina. Francis Salvador was knifed and scalped but he did not die right away. Colonel Wilkinson found him and assured Salvador that the victory was theirs, and then Salvador died. He was the first Jewish soldier killed in behalf of the colonies in their search for peace and independence. We need more like him.

1937 Eleven days into a sit-down strike by the United Auto Workers at the General Motors Plant #2 in Flint, Michigan, on this date the General Motors “Security Forces” and the Flint Police showed up to evict the strikers inside the plant. It eventually became a pitched battle with the strikers holding their own with fire hoses and jury rigged slingshots while the Flint PD and the GM Security responded with gunfire and tear gas. The people on the picket line did what they could by blocking the entrances so heavy equipment could not be brought in and they threw rocks and bottles to break the windows to allow the tear gas to escape. Eventually Governor Frank Murphy got fed up and sent in the National Guard to put a stop to the violence. After 44 days the strike ended with General Motors conceding to the demands of the UAW. This is the first time that any of the “big three” auto manufacturers had ever set down and negotiated with a union. I previously mentioned the GM “Security Forces”. This outfit was nothing short of a militia to use force if necessary to apply the will of management. On more than one occasion these guys would see a group of GM workers standing around a recruiter for the union and would rush out and beat the hell out of everybody present with nightsticks whether on plant property or not. This contract put a stop to that behavior everywhere.

1908 Earlier in the year 1540 one of the troops exploring with Coronado named Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas wandered upon a huge canyon in what is now southern Arizona. As far as history tells us this man was the first European to lay eyes on what is now known as the Grand Canyon. For three hundred years afterward this wonder of nature was virtually unknown to all but the Native Americans who had been living in the canyon for centuries. Anyone that took one look at the twisting pathway leading down into the mile deep canyon thought that it appeared to be too foreboding, not to mention the torrential Colorado River in the bottom. Finally in 1869 a brave soul named John Wesley Powell and eight others drifted down the Green River in Wyoming to where it joined the Colorado. Then he decided to drift the mighty Colorado and off they went. Somehow he was able to take his flimsy wooden boats most of the length of the Grand Canyon through some of the wildest rapids in North America. In fact three of his crew abandoned him and crawled out of the canyon saying it was too dangerous. A week later these three were captured, tortured and killed by a group that was probably Apache. I suppose they guessed wrong as to what was dangerous and what was not. As you might suspect, different money seekers built some flimsy hotels on the south edge to take advantage of the spectacular view. It became worse when the Santa Fe Railroad built a rail line close by. Soon the visitors reached 100,000 and the trashing of the terrain became rampant. On this date In1906 one of the greatest environmentalists ever, Theodore Roosevelt, declared the Grand Canyon a National Monument and eventually a National Park saving forever the splendor of this great wonder.

Born today:

1842 US writer Will James. He said “How pleasant is the day when we stop trying to be young....or slender.” I can identify with both.

1873 US statesman Dwight Morrow. He said “When one party takes claim for the rain, they must also take blame for a drought.” Come on Dwight, that ain’t fair.

1934 Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. He said “A proof is a proof. What is a proof? It’s a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have proof, it is because it is proven.” Jean, you’re an idiot.

             Thanks for listening  I can hardly wait until tomorrow