Musings
and History
Quote
of the day:
“Retirement
is twice as much husband on half as much money.”
Bette
Midler
Here
is some thoughts on the Trump phenomenon:
At
brunch Sunday I was talking with a man that I see frequently. He
said that he is concerned that if Trump wins the nomination it will
mean a certain victory for Hillary in the presidential election. I
told him that I believe the reason Trump is succeeding is people are
fed up with the establishment professional politicians feeding off
the middle class, are corrupt as hell and only interested in
maintaining power. These professional politicians that are running
for office complain about federal spending and our deficit but it is
these same people that are responsible for these debts to begin with
along with many other of our woes. It is unlikely that many of them
could survive in the private sector, especially Mitch McConnell.
They are hypocrites, y'all. I am afraid of Donald myself but I
understand the fervor.
While
in the USAF I was transferred to Eielson AFB south of Fairbanks,
Alaska. Eielson was a multi-purpose facility. There was a SAC
(Strategic Air Command) recon unit and a ADC (Air Defense Command)
unit flying all-weather interceptors. The SAC recon unit had RB-47s,
RB-66s, RB-57s and KC-135s. The ADC unit had F-102s. Because of the
recon unit the security was very tight. I was working in the control
tower and got a call from an aircraft asking for landing
instruction...and casually mentioned that he had flamed out. As I
remember it, his call sign was “Youngboy 19”. I did not have
advance information about this flight meaning if he landed it would
be a breach of security. I called the OD (officer of the day) and
told him about it and he asked the call sign and I told him. He said
to go ahead and let him land...he had forgotten to tell us about it.
So I gave Youngboy 19 landing instructions. 30 minutes later he
landed...it was a U-2. There is no telling at what altitude he was
when he flamed out to stay aloft for 30 minutes. I had never seen
one before but I understood how this plane could stay aloft for so
long with no power...It had very long wings like a sailplane. Not
only that, after it landed two men ran along beside the aircraft,
leveled the wings and installed a small dolly under both wings
indicating how balanced it was. The U-2 only had landing gear in the
center of the fuselage. I found out later that this plane had
departed Del Rio, Texas. It was a hell of an aircraft designed and
built by the Lockheed “Skunk Works” led by Kelly Johnson. The
U-2 became outdated when the Skunk Works came up with the SR-71
Blackbird. Recon aircraft became outdated when satellites were
invented that can read an automobile license tag from orbit.
This
Date in History March 15
1783 Previously the
United States Congress had received word that a group of officers in
the Continental Army had planned a secret meeting in the Newburgh,
New York area to plan a revolt or mutiny, if you will, because
Congress had failed to pay them and provide them with a clothing and
food allowance that had been previously promised. On this date,
George Washington showed up at the meeting of the officers. As you
might suspect, you could hear a pin drop when Washington walked up to
the rostrum. He read them the riot act and called the meeting
illegal and unmilitary. He then pulled out a letter that Congress
had sent him about the meeting. With his hands slightly shaking he
reached in his coat pocket and retrieved a pair of spectacles and
before he put them on he said “I am shaking because I have grown
old in the service of my country, and now it appears that I will go
blind.” After this there was not a dry eye in the house because
they realized what a tremendous contribution this great man had made
for his country. They felt very small for what they were
contemplating. The officers withdrew any threat to Congress and
rededicated themselves to the service of their country. We all need
to contemplate this.
44BC On this date,
the Ides of March, Julius Caesar is murdered in the Roman Senate by
60 Senators. Leading the attack was Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius
Cassius Longinus, better known as Brutus and Cassius. After Caesar
was struck in the neck with a sword, the rest of the Senators fell
upon him and made a contribution with a stab of their own. Because
of the contribution that Caesar had made to Rome with his
organizational skills and military expertise, he was named dictator
for life. The Roman senate realized that this much power is too much
for one man and they all agreed that they had to cap Caesar. It is
legend that his last words were “et tu Brute” meaning “You to
Brutus?” Brutus and Caesar had been life long friends and Caesar
could not believe that Brutus would be part of this conspiracy. We
never know who our friends and enemies are.
1831 On this date
Edward R. Perry is born in Richmond, Massachusetts and is educated at
Lee Academy and at Yale. In 1852 he moved to Georgia to teach school
and study law. After a trip to Alabama he decided to settle in
Pensacola, Florida to practice law. At the outbreak of the Civil War
he offered his services to the Confederacy and became a member of the
Pensacola Rifle Rangers. This unit was absorbed into the 2nd
Florida Regiment which played and important role in several battles
later on. His unit was involved in the Peninsular Campaign and
especially the Battle of the Seven Days. The commander of his unit
was killed at the Battle of Williamsburg and Perry assumed command
and was promoted to Brigadier General and was given command of two
other regiments. A few months later his unit was involved in the
Battle of Antietam and suffered heavy losses. He came down with
typhoid fever and missed Gettysburg where his unit suffered heavy
losses once again. He was able to rejoin his unit just in time for
the Battle of the Wilderness where he was seriously wounded. This
wound forced him to surrender command of his unit and he spent the
rest of the war recruiting in Alabama. He served as Governor of
Florida from 1884 to 1888. With his health failing he moved to a
drier climate in Kerrville, Texas in 1889 where he died from a stroke
in October of that year. He is buried in the cemetery of Saint
John’s Church in Pensacola. The city of Perry, Florida is named in
his honor.
1767 On this date
Andrew Jackson is born in the Waxhaw villages on the North
Carolina/South Carolina border. Andy was hell on wheels, y'all.
1849 English
actress Dame Margaret Kendal. When speaking of Sarah Bernhardt she
said “She is a great actress from the waist down.” I wonder what
she meant by that.
1935 US
televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. He said “The media is run by Satan,
I wonder how many Christians are aware of that”. When it comes to
being a sincere preacher, Jimmy is a good singer/piano player.
1892 English writer
Dame Rebecca West. She said “The hatred of doing housework is the
natural progression of civilization.” Methinks the good
Dame Becky and I are related.
Thanks for
listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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