Wednesday OYSTERS

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Quote of the day:

Early during WWII the American and English bombers were taking a beating on their raids over Germany. The bombers were no match for the German ME-109's and FW-190 fighters and were being shot down wholesale. The Allies had no fighters with enough range to escort the bombers to and from their targets in Germany...then the P-51D Mustang arrived . The bomber casualties fell 75%. On one raid over Berlin, German Field Marshall Herman Goering looked up and saw the Mustangs swarming around the bombers...he turned to his aide and said “This is it, the war is over.”

A few days ago I decided that I wanted too hook up with Cindy Crawford. I read her biography and looked for her house(s) and found them. She has a 7,000 square foot house in the Hamptons up on Long Island. She also has a house on Parrot Cay down in Turks and Caicos south of Cuba. The house down there interested me in particular since I am freezing my ass off here in the Bible Belt. The house was beautiful as you might suspect and I looked into what it would take to rent it. The rent ranged from $5,800 to $7,200 PER NIGHT depending on the season and if she is not there or not. I changed my mind and decided that Cindy is over my head. So I began looking around starting with Betty White and Meryl Streep. I will let y'all know how it works out.

This Date in History January 13

1776 The so-called Battle of Prudence Island happens on this day. Prudence Island is a barrier island off the coast of Rhode Island that had but one or two structures. It was primarily used as a pasture for sheep with the structure for the shepherds. The British troops had been eyeing the sheep across the waterway hungrily. One night the British decided to cross over to Prudence Island and make off with a couple of sheep, only the pretty ones of course. They rowed over and before they could get ashore they were met with musket fire from a fairly large detachment of militia led by Patriot Captain Thomas King and are turned back, The militia had learned of the planned sheep theft a day or two before and sitting there waiting for them in the dark. The militia just was not going to give up those lovely, sensual sheep.

1128 On this date Pope Honorius II named the Knights Templar, led by Frenchman Hughes de Payens, as the “army of God”. In the year 1118 the Knights was formed to protect the Christians that are on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They took their name from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In the beginning there were only 9 of them because of their very strict rules. They had to be of noble birth, take vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. By 1127 the grateful pilgrims had contributed considerable amounts of land and other valuables to the knights. Even though the knights had sworn a vow of poverty as individuals possession of lands by the organization was allowed and the Knights Templar became extremely wealthy. I’ll bet y’all can tell me what comes next. That’s right, in 1307 the Catholic Church led by Pope Clement V along with Philip IV of Spain lusted after these riches and they attacked the Knights Templar the only way they knew how and that was with religion. They dragged up the leader the Knights, Jacques DeMolay up on charges of heresy, sacrilege and Satanism. DeMolay denied these charges of course but with a little persuasion from the rack and hot irons, DeMolay acquiesced and was burned at the stake. That was pretty much the fate of the rest of the Knights. Their valuables and lands were given away to their closest rival, the Knights of Hospitaliers with a substantial chunk going to Phillip IV of Spain, Edward II of England and last but not least the Catholic Church. Later on the Catholic Church admitted wrong doing in this case and said that Pope Clement V was pressured by secular rulers to do what he did. Hey Clement V you jackass, what has the division of worldly possessions got to do with saving my soul? Thank God you have gone on to your reward. It was/is believed that the Knights Templar has possession of the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and a piece of wood from the true cross that Jesus was crucified on. It is the possibility of these objects still being in existence that has made for today’s legends and made Dan Brown, the author of “The Da Vinci Code” a zillionaire.

1958 Peter Manuel is arrested in a pub in Glasgow, Scotland. This maniac was born in America to British parents. He got an early start when he was arrested for burglary at the age of 12, then he moved up to assault at the age of 15 a little later he was convicted of sexual assault and did eight years of hard time.

After getting out he resumed his life of crime by killing a mother, her two children and her sister during a burglary. A little later he broke into another house and killed the entire family. It is estimated that Peter Manuel had killed 25 people during his short life. They caught him by comparing bank notes that he had stolen from the family he had killed against the ones he used to buy beer in a Glasgow pub. He took the money from the father that had just been paid and the employer tracked the serial numbers of the bank notes used for salaries, shortly after Peter Manuel went to meet his maker wearing a hemp neck-tie. I don’t know what it is but sometime kids are just born with bad blood and insist on bad behavior in spite of the consequences.

I will tell y'all the brief history of a gang leader in the lower East side of New York City.

His gang did as most gangs; they raised money by selling drugs, extortion and occasional murder for hire. The leader’s name was “Yummy”. He got this name because he always had Oreo cookies close at hand. He was an uncompromising and insistent person that demanded complete loyalty among his soldiers. As was commonplace, there was a rival gang that Yummy and his boys had an ongoing turf war with that frequently brought about large battles. During one of these battles, Yummy was captured by the rival gang, tortured for several days and then strangled. His body was thrown in the street from a speeding car in the middle of Harlem. Yummy was 12 years old.

1929   Nearly fifty years after his famous gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, Wyatt Earp died peacefully in Los Angeles. A little while after the gunfight Wyatt’s brother Virgil was ambushed riding along a trail and a shotgun blast took out his right arm permanently but he survived. A few days later Wyatt was playing billiards with his brother Morgan when a shot came through the window and hit Morgan in the head and he was dead before he hit the floor. Wyatt and Doc Holiday left Arizona headed to California. But on the way out they killed Frank Stillwell in a Tucson rail yard and Florendento Cruz out in the desert as revenge for the murder of Morgan. Wyatt knocked around the west an occasional bartender even up in Nome, Alaska and was a temporary movie consultant when he passed.

Born today:

1884    US entertainer Sophie Tucker. She said “From birth to 18 a girl need good parents, from 18 to 36 she needs good looks, from 36 to 55 she needs a good personality, from 55 on she needs good money, that’s why I am saving.” Sophie was known as “The last of the red-hot mamas.”

Died today:

1929    US western legend Wyatt Earp. He said “Fast is fine, accuracy is everything.” Wyatt was familiar with firearms, to say the least.

1978   US politico Hubert Humphrey. “We should not allow the shortness of funds to prevent the cities from financing needed projects.” Hubert, shut up.

Thanks for listen I can hardly wait until tomorrow