Tuesday

                       Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Growing old is like being increasingly penalized for a crime that you have not yet committed.”

                                         Anthony Powell

In December of 1937 after a stiff battle against a Chinese army defending Shanghai the Japanese army prevailed and continued on to Nanking. The commanding general of the Japanese ordered his men to rape and pillage the entire city so as to toughen them up for the battles yet to come. An orgy of the degradation and massacre of civilians followed of a magnitude never seen on this planet before or since. I will not go into the description the unspeakable atrocities but I will tell you this...Nanking had a population of 600,000 and in the span of 6 weeks the Japanese murdered 300,000 people. They did it the hard way with bayonets, knives, rifles, pistols, cans of gasoline, etc. 300,000 is about 70,000 more than the number of people killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Have you ever heard of the Japanese apologizing for this? Have you ever heard of this at all? Have you heard your president call this “evil”? It is the worst attack on civilians in recorded history. There is no doubt in my mind that your president has an agenda to debase this nation as much as he can. But he has brought about a good thing...he has taught me what complete disdain for another human being is all about. I am sorry Barry (Barack), I don't feel guilty...I take that back, I am not sorry. I invite y'all to read The Rape of Nanking.

This Date in History May 31

1862 After persuading the Union military leaders, US General George McClellan ordered the gigantic assemblage of the Army of the Potomac, 120,000 strong to sail down the Chesapeake Bay, land on the James River Peninsula and proceed northwest and attack the Confederate capital of Richmond from an unexpected direction. His forces are met by the CSA Army of Northern Virginia let by General Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston recognized that he was vastly outnumbered and slowly retreated up the peninsula using delaying tactics. On this date they finally reach the outer perimeter of Richmond and bloody battle of Fair Oaks ensued. This was one of the bloodiest of the entire war. Two important events occurred during this bloodbath. One was that McClellan rode out onto the battlefield and was appalled at the mutilation of his troops and from then on he was even more timid and cautious. The second was that General Johnston was seriously wounded and President Jefferson Davis ordered his chief military adviser, General Robert E. Lee to take command of the Army of Northern Virginia. After this everything changed.

1964 On this date 18 year old Charles Schmid murdered his fifteen year old girl friend Aileen Rowe and buried the corpse out in the desert near Tucson, Arizona. Earlier he had bragged to his friends that he wanted to kill a woman that night. Charles had a “short man syndrome” and he was very paranoid about it to the point that he wore cowboy boots with extra high heels. He was also a pathological liar and would tell girls that he had a terminal illness and/or he was Mafia connected. He was able to enjoin two of his friends to help him murder Aileen. The three lured her out into the desert where Charles raped her and then smashed her head with a large rock. The three took turns digging a shallow grave and then buried Aileen. The three provided alibis for each other and the police charged the disappearance of Aileen as being a runaway. Charles killed three other girls before he was caught because he continuously bragged about it. The end came when he enlisted one of his friends to help him bury victim number two and his friend determined that Charles was indeed crazy as a loon and was afraid he would kill his girlfriend and went to the cops. Charles was tried and sentenced to death but a short time later the Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty so he was re-sentenced to life without parole. Too bad the death penalty was outlawed; he needed to realize the terror like he made others feel.

1889 On this date one of the greatest disasters in American history occurred. Johnstown, Pennsylvania is 60 miles east of Pittsburg and is in a flood plain with the Allegheny, Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek rivers close by. The biggest threat was the Little Conemaugh so a dam was built across the river forming a huge lake behind it. The dam was 900 feet long by 72 feet thick and was built in 1840. It was made of earth making it the largest dam of its type in the country. The lake was used for years as a transportation medium but with the increase of railroads the lake transportation was abandoned and the dam was neglected. On this date, after several days of heavy rain an engineer at the dam saw ominous warning signs that the dam was on the verge of collapse. He rode on horseback to the next village downstream from the dam to warn the residences and to send a telegram to Johnstown, which was 14 miles downstream, about the danger but the telegraph lines were down. At 3:30p the dam collapsed with a thunderous roar and a wall of water moving at 40 MPH roared downstream sweeping everything in its path including nine locomotive engines. When it arrived in Johnstown the water was full of debris making it even more dangerous. Some of the residences were able to climb on the roofs of their houses and avoid the water but the debris battered their houses and they collapsed drowning or crushing them. There was a bridge across the river downstream from Johnstown that quickly became clogged with flammable debris and somehow caught fire. Some of the people caught in the flood were riding the debris downstream only to be burned alive at the bridge. One baby was on the third floor when the house collapsed and a portion of the house stayed afloat carrying the baby away. The baby was found 75 miles away alive and well. The exact number of deaths is not exactly known but it was in excess of 2,200. By the way, Johnstown has suffered deadly floods in 1936 and 1977 also. Why do people still live there?

Born today:

1819 American poet Walt Whitman. Walt gave us “Leaves of Grass”, a great piece of literature. He also retrieved his severely wounded brother from the Fredericksburg battlefield during the Civil War and tended to him for the rest of his life.

1816 English painter Walter Sickert. He said to departing visitors “Come again when you won’t stay so long.” Lighten up, Walt.

1930 American actor Clint Eastwood. He said “It seems that the less secure a man is, the more prejudicial he is”. Clint is on of my favorites especially his performance in The Unforgiven and The Outlaw Josie Wales.

1961 American actress Lea Thompson. She said “I only grow hair in places men like.” I am going to let that one alone.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

                   Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“While addressing a group of environmentalists a few weeks ago she said “We are tired of the burning of coal polluting the atmosphere, I am going to put those coal miners and coal companies out of business.” Last week she said “Donald Trump is going to bankrupt America, he will cost thousands of jobs.”

                                                Hillary Clinton

I'll bet she has a tough time every morning having to match the makeup on both of her faces.

I was watching a rodeo on TV once again. There was one cowboy named Fred Whitfield from Stephenville, Texas that caught my attention. He is a black 42 year old calf roper and has been ranked number one in the world 8 times. He is a pretty good sized man and rode a horse easily. The way it works is a calf is released and the mounted cowboy is to chase it down, lasso it by the neck, dismount and run over to the calf, throw it down and tie three of the legs together. While all of this is going on the horse is backing up to keep the lasso tight. Then the cowboy remounts, puts slack in the rope and the calf is given a chance to kick free. If that happens there is no score...if it doesn't the time it took to tie up the calf is validated.

There were 10 cowboys including Fred in this event. On this night Fred did not get the lasso on the calf's neck and he got no score. The interesting part was that two of the other calf ropers were from Canada and had moved to Stephenville, Texas to take lessons from Fred.

                 This Date in History May 30

1806 On this date the 39 year old future President of the United States, Andrew Jackson met Tennessee lawyer Charles Dickenson in Logan County, Kentucky to settle an affair of honor. Jackson had been a former Senator and Representative but this affair was to be settled with a duel using pistols at a distance of 24 feet. That is about the length of a good sized living room. Dickenson had written an uncomplimentary article in the newspaper about Jackson’s wife Rachael. Rachael had been previously married but abandoned by her husband. She and Jackson fell in love and got married thinking that her previous marriage had been annulled because of abandonment. It wasn’t, she was still legally married to her first husband making her a bigamist. The legalities were eventually settled but Jackson settled many a dispute with his fists, clubs and in this case, pistols. Jackson was born and raised in the Waxhaw which was a group of villages on the North Carolina/South Carolina border. He had a rough and hard life as a youngster. He was captured at the age of 13 by the British during the French and Indian war and beaten and tortured. This rough life formed his demeanor for the rest of his life. He was a scrapper, y'all. After the signal had been given to start the duel, Dickenson, a renowned pistol shot, raised his pistol and fired hitting Jackson in the right chest breaking several ribs. Jackson did not fall and in spite of being in what was terrible pain, raised his pistol and fired hitting Dickenson in the throat. Dickenson died the next day. Even though Jackson and Dickenson were Tennesseans, the duel was fought in Kentucky because dueling was illegal in Tennessee. Jackson went on to lead a very colorful and exciting life in both the military and in politics. On one occasion while president, he was walking out of the Capitol when a man ran up to him and fired a pistol at him almost at point blank range but the pistol misfired. The man then pulled another pistol and it misfired also. Jackson then raised his hickory cane and beat the man almost to death before he could be restrained. After this he was known as “Old Hickory”.

1593 Earlier Christopher Marlowe was born in Canterbury, England two months before William Shakespeare. He led a privileged life and attended Cambridge. A few days before he was to receive his degree, some questions arose as to his worthiness of the award. Soon thereafter representatives of Queen Elizabeth I showed up and told the powers that be in Cambridge that it would be to their advantage to give Marlowe the degree because of his “service to his country”. The professors in Cambridge did not know what the hell the Queen was talking about but they were not about to buck the most powerful monarch in Europe and Marlowe received his degree. It was found out later that Marlowe had been a spy for the Queen in Cambridge. Marlowe roomed with another author named Thomas Kyd. Representatives of the Church of England raided the apartment and found some “heretical” written material. After torturing Kyd to find out the author of these papers, he said that the papers were indeed Marlowe’s. Marlowe was arrested but made bail. He went out to celebrate and on this date got really hammered at the local pub, then he got into a fight with the bartender about his tab. The bartender inserted a knife into Marlowe’s liver and he expired very quickly. Moral: Pay your freaking bar tab and people that are hammered seldom win a violent encounter.

1942 After meticulous planning by the British Air Marshall T. A. Harris, Operation Millennium gets under way. Harris had got together every bomber-type aircraft in the realm, including training aircraft, to make a mass raid on the German city of Cologne. On this night Operation Millennium get under way with the launching of 1,046 bombers. The complete devastation administered by this raid went a long way toward the debilitation of the German morale and they were successful in the destruction of that city’s chemical and tool making factories which was the object in the first place. They lost 40 aircraft making the raid a cost of less than 4%, an acceptable loss in any military operation.

1428 Earlier a 16 year old French girl swore that she heard three saints tell her to lead the French military in kicking the English army out of France and restore the throne to French royalty. Joan went to a French military encampment and told the commander her vision. He blew it off and told her to go home. She returned once again and the commander is impressed with her piety and lets her pass to visit with the Dauphin (apparent heir to the throne). She does indeed visit with the Dauphin and convinced him that her vision is indeed a command from God. The Dauphin cannot take the throne because he must be crowned in the city of Reims which is in the hands of the English. Joan is given command of a small army and moved on the city of Orleans first. In a brilliant maneuver, she is able to outflank the English troops there and they retreat freeing the city. Joan lead the French army in several other victories and the people truly believe she was in touch with God. But eventually she was captured by the Burgundians and sold to the English. The English clerics immediately call her a witch and sentence her to death. Joan says “Wait a damned minute, what happens if I recant all that I have said in the past.” The clerics tell her that in that case she will go to prison for an undetermined length of time. You notice I keep saying the clerics are sentencing her to death or prison. Why the hell do preachers have that authority? Ever since Joan had been engaging in military operations she had been wearing men’s clothing so the English clerics dress her in women’s clothes and threw her in prison. A little while later the clerics pay her another visit and she is again in men’s clothing. They determine that she is a relapsed heretic and her punishment is the stake. On this date, Joan was burned at the stake in the French city of Rouen. She was 19 years old but it was her inspiration that turned the Hundred Years War to favor the French.

My research as to who was born or died on this date has shown that no one of significance did.

          Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

                       Musings and History

Quote of the day:

My daughter posted on Facebook a pic of her and a friend having dinner at a new restaurant in Pensacola. My college student granddaughter posted “Why didn't you invite me, Mama.” My daughter posted “You call yo Mama more you get more invitations.”

Memorial Day comes this weekend. The day began just before the Civil War and has been renamed many things since but the theme is the same. We should and ought to acknowledge the sacrifices our military makes in our behalf worldwide. As far as I am concerned, there is not a day that I do not think about the soldiers, sailors and Marines out there from northern Alaska to Okinawa from Hawaii to Kosovo serving their country...you should too.

            This Date in History May 27

1831 In 1822 the Ashley fur trapping expedition departed Saint Louis headed up the Missouri River. Included in the expedition was two men named Jedediah Smith and Jim Bridger. These two men play an immense role in the settling of the west. Jim Bridger was more of a mountain man/trapper and Jedediah Smith was more of an explorer. Bridger was the discoverer of the legendary South Pass in southern Wyoming which allowed pioneers and their heavily laden wagons and carts to cross the Rocky Mountains into Oregon and California. Bridger also was the first non-native to lay eyes on the Great Salt Lake. Some of his friends dared him to track down the end of a nearby creek and off he went. The creek emptied into the Salt Lake. Bridger had thought it was an inlet of the Pacific Ocean because of its salty taste. He had a great memory for topography and was depended on greatly as a guide to others. But it was Smith who explored Oregon in depth and survived three or four attacks by the Indians in Oregon. He also explored the northern part of California. Smith wrote down everything he saw which proved to be invaluable to the people that followed. Even though Jim Bridger discovered the South Pass he chose not to tell a lot of people about it but Smith told in detail how to get to the Pass and the Oregon Trail was born. After Smith found out that his mother and sister had died he decided to move back to Saint Louis and open a mercantile store and write a complete book about his explorations, but before he could get started a trader offered him a deal he could not refuse. He wanted Smith to guide a wagon train full of trade good to Santa Fe. Smith agreed and off they went. Smith probably was over-confident about his skills and was eager to get back to Saint Louis knowing that the Santa Fe Trail was well marked and well used. After they got started Smith decided to depart from the Trail and head down the Cimarron River which would cut off about 300 miles. Smith was confident that he would be able to find potable water on the shortcut. Fresh water sources on the Santa Fe Trail were known and the wagon train left with enough water to get them to the first water hole but now they were off the trail. On this date the potable water became dangerously low and Smith sent seven men including himself in different directions to find water. While Smith was hunting water in central Oklahoma a Comanche war party found him first. He was tortured and killed but his body was never found. We know that he was killed because of the account given by a Comanche trader in Santa Fe and who was selling stuff that was known to belong to Smith. That is what over-confidence and impatience will do for you.

1813 On this date Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his one time bitter political enemy John Adams to tell him that their mutual friend and physician Benjamin Rush had died. In the letter Jefferson reminisced about the heady days of the Revolutionary War. He mentioned that there were only six other signers of the Declaration of Independence still alive. Jefferson beat Adams in a very close presidential race in 1800. They argued bitterly about the form and power of the Federal government during this election and they remained silent to each other until this letter. Jefferson also had a tenuous relationship with Benjamin Rush over religion. Rush was a born again Christian and had accepted Christ as his savior while Jefferson was a deist meaning he believed in God but did not believe that Jesus Christ was supernatural. Jefferson and Rush had several conversations about this and had reached an impasse. Now here is where the spooky stuff happens. Jefferson and Adams both died on July 4, 1826 exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Apparently God is sentimental also.

1863 On this day United States Supreme Court chief justice Roger Taney issues an ex-parte Merryman against President Abraham Lincoln for suspending the writ of habeas corpus between the cities of Washington and Philadelphia. The reason for this is the plantation owners in Maryland were raising hell about the freeing of the slaves. Maryland was one of those states that were slave holding but did not secede. Lincoln allowed the military and others to arrest anyone that they felt was interfering or their dissent were causing unrest. Anyone they arrested could be held for an undetermined length of time without being charged or arraigned. I suspect that the President today could do the same thing in time of war. After all we interned many Japanese during WWII just because they were Japanese.

1940 As I told y'all in a previous lesson, many English boats had crossed the English Channel to evacuate the soldiers of the ill-fated invasion of Dunkirk. On this date the Germans commit one of many atrocities. They captured several English soldiers and herded them into a small depression and machine gunned them all and called in a bulldozer and covered them up. They were rotten people then. But General Eisenhower said toward the end of the war “I am not worried about the German navy or air force, I am worried about the German infantry, they die hard.”

Born today:

1912 English writer Arnold Bennett. He said “Always behave as if nothing has happened even if something has happened.” Arnold, shut up.

1894 French writer Louis Celine. He said “The more hated a person, I find, the happier they are.” You would expect something like that from a Frenchman.

1907 US naturalist Rachel Carson. Rachel wrote the immortal book The Silent Spring. She said “In every out thrust headland, in the curve of every beach, in every grain of sand there is the story of the earth.” Silent Spring had a big effect on me, as with many others.

1917 US editor Gene Fowler. He said “Every editor should have a pimp as a brother so he can have someone to look up to.” Gene obviously has animosity toward editors.

            Thanks for listening  I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

                      Musings and History

Quote of the day:

A US Navy instructor pilot was writing a synopsis on the progress of one of his students and said “He never makes the same mistake twice, but it is believed that he has made all of them once.”

A couple of nights ago I got up at 2:00a to pee and could not go back to sleep. I found a rodeo from Houston on the TV. The first event was bareback bronc riding. As with bull riding, the cowboy has to stay aboard for 8 seconds and will be judged on how well he rode and the horse is judged also on how violently they buck. The first rider was aboard a horse named “Unfortunate Karma”. This horse was 7 years old and had been ridden only 6 times. This time the cowboy was tossed on his head in 6 seconds. A meaner animal I have never seen.

              A Brief History of Rednecks

I have been reading the history of the impact of the Scots-Irish in America and naturally the author went back into the far past to trace them out to present day. By the way it is Scots, not Scotch. Scots are a people and Scotch is a whiskey. Anyway, the big movement came right after James I became the King of Great Britain. Previously, he was James VI of Scotland making him the first of the dual crowned kings of Great Britain. It got started when James financed the expedition to the new world led by Captain John Smith. But James real passion was religion. He could not abide Catholics and he began a project to oust the Catholic landowners in Ireland and seize their lands. The Catholic Irish had been in rebellion against England for centuries and James saw this as a way of diluting them. This resulted in many Catholic Irish Earls fleeing the Emerald Isle trying to escape the wrath of the Protestants and Anglicans. To fill this void, it was decided that a “plantation” in Ireland in an area called Ulster would be formed. It consisted of six shires or counties. To fill the void James and company decided to kill two birds with one stone and offered land in Ulster to Protestant Scottish lords with the stipulation that they would bring their Scottish tenants with them. The waspish Scots would fight at the drop of a hat over anything that interfered with their independence or messed with the clans, or their tight-fisted Presbyterian religion. They were a hard-ass bunch, especially the Borderers or those that lived close to the border with England. As you might expect, the disenfranchised Catholic Irish fought like hell to take their lands back to no avail. The Scottish Lords indeed took the offer and brought their Scottish tenants with them. There was a stipulation that the Lords could not employ Irish tenants, they had to import them from England and Scotland and they had to be English speaking Protestants, moreover the landowners were banned from selling land to the Irish. Whatever land that was left over was given to the Protestant Churches of Ireland including any lands previously owned by the Roman Catholic Church. James meant to castrate the Catholics in Ireland, y'all. This influx put the Protestant Irish in a hard way because they spoke Gaelic while everyone else spoke English. As a result of this turmoil there were civil wars in England, Scotland and Ireland. In 1630 many Ulster Scots went home because Charles I, the king of England declared that the Church of Ireland had to use the prayer book of the Church of England essentially making it an Anglican church. That would change the way the fiery Scottish Presbyterians practiced their religion. As I have said before, you don’t pull on Superman’s cape or spit into the wind and you don’t fool around with the Scots religion. In 1638 an oath was imposed by King Charles I on the Ulster Scots binding them to never take up arms against England not matter what. I don’t need to tell you what kind of hell was raised after this outrage. By the way, it was King Charles I presumptuousness that cost him his head as will be discussed in a future lesson. In 1641 the Irish Catholics rose up in an armed rebellion and the prime target was the Plantation land owners. Many, many atrocities were committed by the Irish on the Scottish land owners in retribution for them taking Irish lands. In the 1690s a huge immigration of Protestant Scots came over to Ulster during a famine and as a result the Protestant Scots became the majority. The planters are known as the Ulster Scots. The present partition of Ireland with Ireland and Northern Ireland gets it roots from this era. Northern Ireland is occupied by the progeny of British Protestants and wanted to keep a link with England whereas the rest of Ireland are Catholic and want independence. Later on, the Scots being fed up with restrictions on their religion began heading west to America. They primarily landed in Philadelphia. They were not welcomed by the highbred plantation owners on the Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina tidewater and not by the snooty Puritans in the northeast so they headed further west and settled in small clans in the Appalachian mountain chain starting in western Pennsylvania and then south and west down the chain into Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. They were encouraged in this endeavor because of their warlike nature they would be a good boundary against the savage Shawnee and Cherokees, and a good boundary they were. There is a legend in my family on my father’s side that one of my great-great uncles owned a huge chunk of land in Maggie Valley, NC which is the very heart of Cherokee country, but he could not hold on to it because of the repeated attacks of the Cherokees. There are many reports of atrocities committed by both the natives and the Scots. It is the root of almost constants turmoil, the love of fighting and an independent nature, especially their religion, which the so-called Scots-Irish have in their hearts and souls. Actually, the Scots-Irish are not a mix of Scots and the Irish; it is Scots that immigrated to Ulster, Ireland before coming to America and it is these Ulster Scots that are my ancestors on my father’s side. It is known that nearly all the troops fighting for the Patriots in the Revolutionary War in the south were Scots that came down out of the mountains and using guerrilla type tactics like they use against the Indians and against the staid and upright British to great effect. They demonstrated their ferocity at the Battle of Cowpens where Patriot General Daniel Morgan outmaneuvered the infamous British Colonel Banastre Tarleton and would have annihilated the entire army of British/Loyalists but some of them escaped the wrath of Morgan’s wild-eyed mountain men. But there were no escapees at the Battle of Kings Mountain. This group of Patriots was led by General John Sevier and was able to trap British General John Ferguson and his army of Loyalists on the peak of a mountain by surrounding the base. General Ferguson fought for a while but then realized that there was no escape and surrendered. Ferguson said “I surrender, but I am an officer in his majesty's army and will be treated with dignity.” Eight musket balls struck him at the same time and he was dead before he hit the ground. The surrender was not accepted and the Patriots waded in and either shot or hanged them all to a man. This massacre was brought about because of Tarleton killing 220 Patriots that had surrendered but were bayoneted by Tarleton’s troops angering the Patriots and especially the mountain men.

This epistle in no way covers everything that happened to the Ulster Scots during this time period but it gives you an idea of the mold that formed them.

By the way, I was reading about the capture of the pirate Edward Teach better known at “Blackbeard”. An English Navy lieutenant named Maynard was hired by the governor of Virginia to capture or kill Blackbeard. Maynard gathered about 60 sailors together and caught Blackbeard aboard his flag ship Queen Anne's Revenge anchored in North Carolina and attacked. Eventually Blackbeard and Maynard were engaged in a sword fight and Maynard was injured as was Blackbeard. A Scottish highlander with a two handed broadsword leaped between Maynard and Blackbeard and struck Blackbeard in the neck. Blackbeard said “Well done”...the highlander said “I can do better” swung again and beheaded him. Maynard suspended Blackbeard's head from the bowsprit and went back to Virginia.

            Thanks for listening  I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Wednesday

                       Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Men can read maps better than women...because only the male mind could conceive of one inch equaling a hundred miles.”

                                          Roseanne Barr

A TV station in Atlanta, using the Freedom of Information Act, got their hot little hands on a summary of who is crossing our southern borders in addition to the Mexicans. It turns out that in addition to the Guatemalans, Panamanians, Salvadorans, etc there are Afghanis, Pakistanis, Jordanians, Syrians and Iraqis all of which have flown into a Central American country, learned to speak Spanish and blend in with the river of illegal aliens crossing into America in Texas, Arizona and California. What are these Muslims up to? I think all of you know what is going on. So the next time you think about those poor little Mexicans that are crossing into America just to see if they can make a better life for their families and we should cut them a little slack, think about who is coming with them. In addition to the genuine day workers, we have Muslim Jihadists and “mules” for the Mexican drug cartel coming along for the ride. Our government has refused time and time again to seal our borders and allowed this avalanche of garbage that have dedicated their lives to the demise of America to set up camp on our soil.

This Date in History May 25

1660 On this date the people of the English Commonwealth invited the exiled King Charles II to return to England and assume the throne. Earlier the father of Charles II, Charles I had engaged his army of Royalist against the army of Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians and was defeated. Cromwell became the ruler of England. He could not be King because he was not of royal blood. He was a very militaristic leader and demanded puritanical behavior from everyone. After the defeat of his father, Charles II handed Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, a blank sheet of paper meaning that he would concede nearly everything Parliament wanted. But that wasn’t good enough for Cromwell, he wanted the head of Charles I and sure enough, Charles I was beheaded. After the death of Charles I, royalist in England and Ireland proclaimed Charles II as King but Cromwell still prevailed and Charles II fled to Germany and the Netherlands living in exile. Cromwell ruled until his death and then his son Richard assume command. Richard proved to be an ineffectual ruler and the people were fed up with the Puritanical military leadership. General George Monck met with Charles II and assured him that he and his army would assure his return to the English throne if Charles would grant amnesty and religious toleration for his former enemies. Charles agreed and sailed across the English channel to Dover (been there) and four days later he made a triumphant entrance to London and was restored as King of England. This event is known as the English Restoration. Eleven years later Charles II decided that Oliver Cromwell had been a traitor and dug him up and hung his corpse in Tiburon, a suburb of London designated for the execution of traitors. What a sight that must have been. I am here to tell y'all that the medieval English were a mean and spiteful bunch and they were very inventive in their machines of torture.

1787 On this date, four years after the United States had won its independence from Great Britain, the first Constitutional Convention was held in Philadelphia. It was attended by George Washington, James Monroe and Ben Franklin among other luminaries. This meeting was the defining moments of these United States and what makes it great. The country had been operating under what was called the Articles of Federation. This document did nothing but assure each state of its sovereignty. The people of America were so fearful that another monarchy might raise its ugly head here that they nailed down that as being impossible. But the Articles were unwieldy and did not work for the benefit of the entire nation and they all knew it. After three weeks of deliberation these heroes delivered brilliant document that is the spine of our present day Republic. However, several states felt that there were not enough guarantees of personal rights and refused to sign unless something was done about this. Then they delivered another document of pure brilliance called the Bill of Rights that contained 10 articles. After this enough states signed it and it became the law of the land. There was a story that while all of the discussions were going on, Ben Franklin walked out for a break and a woman asked him what form of government was being sculpted and he said “Madam, it appears that it will be a Republic, if we can hold it.” Our government is a finely balanced, well oiled machine that does not allow any one branch to over power another. It is a miracle that all of this was conceived out of mid air because nothing like it had ever existed in the past, a miracle indeed.

1862 On this date the first Battle of Winchester, Virginia occurred. This battle was part of CSA General Stonewall Jackson’s brilliant Shenandoah Valley campaign that made Jackson recognized as one of the most brilliant military minds in history. The Union army of Nathaniel Banks was right outside Winchester when Jackson struck. The Confederates were originally repulsed but Jackson brilliantly ordered a simultaneous attack on both flanks of the Yankees with devastating effect and Bank’s army broke and retreated in panic through Winchester. The good citizens of Winchester took this opportunity to shoot at them from the windows of their homes. Banks retreated all the way into Maryland and safety. This allowed Jackson to continue his unprecedented rampage against the other two Union armies in the valley. He kicked their asses too.

1944 On this date Adolph Hitler initiated Operation Knights Move. In this operation Hitler sent in a group of paratroopers to capture or kill the leader of Yugoslavia Marshall Tito. Tito had been leading his country to resist the German occupation. The paratroopers landed in a village where they thought Tito was but never found him, he had escaped. In exasperation the paratroopers shot and killed each and every air breather in the village meaning, men women, children, dogs, cats, cattle, horses, etc.

Also on this date a riot broke out in one of the sections of the infamous concentration camp of Auschwitz. This section was known as Birkenau. Several hundred Polish Jews realizing what would happen to them, rioted at night and were able to get through the fence and fled into the nearby woods. What they did not know was that the Germans had installed floodlights throughout the woods and when the turned them on it illuminated like daylight. The German prison guards casually walked into the woods an unceremoniously killed them all to a man.

Born today:

1803 US philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. He said “The more he talked about his honor, the faster we counted our silver.” Sounds like Ralph knew Harry Reid.

1897 Canadian statesman Lord Beaverbrook. He said “Buy old master paintings. They are cheaper in the long run than a young mistress.”

1898 American columnist Bennett Cerf. He said “The Detroit String Quartet played Brahms last night. Brahms lost”

         Thanks for listening I can hardy wait until tomorrow.

Tuesday

                    Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Old is when your wife or girlfriend says ' Let's go upstairs and make love' and you say 'Honey, it's one or the other'”.

                                        Red Buttons

I have been going to the local McDonalds for breakfast recently. It is because if you buy anything they will give you a sales receipt that gives you a website to go to and do a survey...your reward is a two for one quarter pounder or egg McMuffin. Two egg McMuffins and a large coffee is about $4.50 and is more than the average bear can handle.

There is a group of old guys in there every time I go. These guys move old, act old and talk old. Yesterday while I was in there one guy said “I was asleep in my recliner and my cat jumped up on my chest and scared the hell out of me.” Another one said “Ellie cooked black-eyed peas, rice and cornbread last night.” It is depressing to think that their live have become this mundane. I suspect this gathering is the high point of their day. They did read the newspaper and mentioned events only because they happened at places near where they used to live.

I was sitting by myself reading a textbook from SMU about the history of the Comanche and was probably the oldest person in there. I am not saying that I am better or worse that they but I would hope that my enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge would never wane and I would not be content with a life that shallow.

         This Date in History May 24

1543 On this date one of the most brilliant scientists in history died in what is now Frombork, Poland. Nicolo Copernicus was the first scientist to formulate the theory that it was the sun, not the earth, which was the center of “universe” meaning the solar system. It also was he that determined that it was the tilt of the earth on its axis that formed the seasons. His theories were discussed among other scientists but Copernicus would not publish his thoughts because it was adverse to the opinions of the Catholic Church and in those days no one opposed the Church at the risk of torture and death. Another Pole named Johann Kepler also fostered the theory of Copernicus but was able to make his theories known because he moved to Denmark where the Catholic Church did not hold sway. And finally the immortal Galileo determined that the theories of Kepler and Copernicus were indeed the closest to the mark as far as the mechanics of the “universe” is concerned and published his opinions. Unfortunately, Galileo lived in Italy and soon had a visit from a representative of the Vatican and was persuaded to recant his teachings under the threat of torture and was sent to exile in his country villa. But fortunately for science, Copernicus was able to get his thoughts published and distributed throughout Europe and eventually the world even though he lived in a country under the heel of the Pope. He did this by dying just days after publication so threats of torture meant nothing. God works in mysterious ways.

1844  On this date while being watched by members of Congress, Samuel F. B. Morse sent a telegraph message to Alfred Vail at a Baltimore train station. Morse sent “What hath God wrought?” A few seconds later Morse received the same message back from Vail. Morse did not invent the telegraph an Italian inventor did but it was Morse that made it into something that could be used universally. He had worked on it for 12 years and even invented the famous code that is in used to this day. After perfecting his system, Morse was able to get a patent. He had members of Congress watch him send and receive the messages in the hope that Congress would help finance the expansion of this service. Naturally, Congress agreed and within 10 years there was over 20,000 miles of telegraph lines criss-crossing America.

1989  On this date Lori Ann Auker disappeard from the parking lot of the pet store where she worked in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. The shop was at the busy Susquehanna Mall. The police were at a loss for what happened to Lori. That is until it dawned on them that there probably was a bank security camera film out there with a picture of Lori on it. And sure enough, they found a picture of Lori getting into a 1983 to 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity. Lori and her husband Robert had been involved in a bitter custody battle making him the prime suspect. Two weeks later Lori’s body was found dead with multiple stab wounds, the police also found out the Lori’s husband had been using his father’s 1984 Chevrolet Celebrity the day that Lori disappeared. The police went on a search for the car and found out that Lori’s father-in-law has sold the car two days after Lori disappeared. In spite of the car going through several owners, the police found the car and detected a few of Lori’s hairs and hair from her cat still in the car. Finally, the police felt they had enough evidence and three years after Lori’s death her husband was arrested, tried and convicted. He is now doing life without parole.

1797  On this date widower and future President Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his friend in the Angelica Church and casually asks about a mutual friend named Maria Cosway. It appears that Maria and Thomas had lit a fire a few years ago but was unable to continue. In 1786 while Jefferson was in Paris as an American representative he met Maria Cosway and a deep relationship ensued. There was no evidence that they ever slept together but there were strong implications that they had. It was reported that Jefferson acted like a giddy school boy when around Maria. He even once jumped into a fountain while walking with her. There was a small problem, Maria was married. During his jump into the fountain he had fallen and broken his wrist. Right after this Maria and her husband left for London for an expended stay. After his wrist had healed he wrote a very syrupy letter to her detailing his love sickness. I have not read the letter but I can imagine how juicy it would have been with his way with words.

1941  On this day the mightiest warship afloat, the German battleship Bismarck engaged the best English battleship HMS Hood. They met in the North Atlantic southeast of Iceland and began exchanging gunfire. The Hood was faster but the Bismarck had heavier armor. In just a matter of minutes the Hood was fatally wounded and went to the bottom carrying 1,500 English sailors with it. There were just three survivors. During the battle the Bismarck sustained damage in her fuel oil tanks and was leaving an oil trail. The Captain of the Bismarck decided that he needed to get his ship into a German held French port for repairs and headed southeast. After the loss of the Hood the British navy was going to put an end to the Bismarck come hell or high water. Over a period of several days the English navy attacked several times with no effect, they just could not penetrate her armor. But by sheer luck, one torpedo attack damaged the Bismarck’s rudder and she cannot do anything but circle. This gave the British time to bring up the heaviest ships in their navy from English waters and the Mediterranean and they surrounded the crippled Bismarck and all ships pour gunfire into the Bismarck until she disappeared beneath the waves taking 2,300 German sailors with her. There were several German survivors who spent the rest of the war in a prison camp. The Hood had been avenged.

Born today:

1870 US jurist Benjamin Cardozo. He said “Justice is not to be taken by storm, it is to be wooed by slow advances.” Ben, you dumb ass. It is well known opinion by the United States Supreme Court that “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

        Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Monday

                      Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Professionals built the Titanic; amateurs built the ark.”

                            Anonymous

Here is a true story:

A friend of mine was born near Manning, SC. Manning is in the low country where cotton and tobacco farms prevail. My friend was the son of a tobacco farmer. They lived a hand to mouth existence while working a backbreaking routine day in and day out. My friend decided that he did not want to live this way and knew he would need an education to escape. Shortly after high school he and a friend of his left home with very little money and hitchhiked to Anderson, SC. There was a junior college there (it is now a four year university). He went in and asked to speak with the president of the college. He and his friend were escorted into his office where they told him that they had no money but wanted an education. The president reached for his phone, asked them to leave the office and wait outside. He called them back in and said that their tuition and books were being paid for. The college would give them jobs in the cafeteria to get pocket money. The only stipulation was that they had to keep their nose clean and not make less than a B on any subject. He and his friend accomplished this in the two years and just after graduation the president called them in once again. He said that if they wanted to continue their education to a bachelor's degree they would get the same deal at Furman University in Greenville, SC. My friend jumped at that offer but his friend opted to go to a seminary. My friend graduated with a degree in business. He is very successful and lives a comfortable life with his wife and family. He went on a search to try and find who his benefactor was so he could thank him but was unsuccessful, his benefactor wanted to remain anonymous. A few years ago a wealthy banker in Greenville died and my friend learned that it was he that was his benefactor.

              This Date in History May 23

1934 A few years earlier a small time crook named Clyde Barrow met up with a girl named Bonnie Parker in a small Texas town coffee shop. Bonnie was 19 years old and her husband of three years was in prison. Right from the git-go Bonnie and Clyde had a thing going. Clyde went to prison soon after their meeting; Bonnie visited him everyday and even smuggled a pistol to him which Clyde used to escape from prison. But he was caught soon after and sent back to the slammer. He did three years and after he got out this time he hunted up Bonnie, his brother Buck and his wife and they set out on a crime spree seldom equaled. Clyde had a penchant for two things. The 30.06 caliber Browning Automatic Rifle better known as the BAR and the V-8 Ford sedan, the fastest car of the time. The gang went on a bank robbing spree across four states with the police hot on their ass most of the time. Clyde took on several different members as part of his gang to give him even more places to hideout. They also would not hesitate to kill anyone they thought was a threat including the police. Bonnie had killed several people herself. The Barrow gang made a raid on a Texas prison to break out one of their gang killing two prison guards in the process. The Texas prison officials hired retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer to hunt down Bonnie and Clyde and put a stop to them by whatever means he saw fit. Hamer proved to be a relentless pursuer and finally tracked Bonnie and Clyde to Louisiana. One of Clyde’s gang had kin people that lived near the small town of Sailes, Louisiana. Hamer went to Sailes and located the gang member’s father and promised him that there would be easy treatment for his son if he helped them catch Bonnie and Clyde. The father helped Hamer prepare an ambush and on this date Hamer and five other heavily armed police were hiding in the bushes waiting for Bonnie and Clyde. The gang member’s father was on the side of the road, his truck apparently broke down. Eventually, Bonnie and Clyde did indeed come by driving their stolen V-8 Ford and stopped beside the broken down truck. At this time the father dove for cover and Hamer and the others opened up with everything they had, including their own BAR. Bonnie and Clyde were literally chopped to pieces and were killed almost instantly. In the car the police found an arsenal of pistols, shotguns, rifles and yes, a BAR. It was the end of Bonnie and Clyde.

1960 In 1906 Adolph Eichmann was born in Solingen, Germany. In 1932 he joined the German elite SS intelligence service and rose in rank and esteem and after Adolph Hitler rose to power, in 1938 he assigned Eichmann to plan the execution of Jews in the newly annexed city of Vienna, Austria. Eichmann did not stop there, he did the best he could in eliminating Jews from several towns by execution squad, or sending them to concentration camps. After it became apparent that Germany had lost the war, Eichmann disappeared. Soon thereafter the establishment of the state of Israel came into being; they began a search for all the German war criminals that were never found including Eichmann. Eichmann wandered the Middle East and ended up in Argentina in 1950. There was a lot of ex-German military living in Argentina so it was easy for him to find residence there. Keep in mind that Israeli intelligence was scouring the world looking for these monsters. Finally the Israelis located Eichmann at his address in the little town of San Fernando, Argentina. They knew the Argentine government would never extradite Eichmann so they decided to kidnap him. The Israeli secret police set up an ambush and on this date, they captured Eichmann by injecting him with enough tranquilizer to knock down a mule and hid him out several days drugged to the gills. They then flew him to Israel to stand trial for crimes against humanity. Argentina raised almighty hell because Eichmann had become an Argentine citizen but Israel said “no deal” and put Eichmann on trial. He was convicted of murder and crimes against humanity. His defense was that he was just obeying orders. The Israelis said “That dog won’t hunt, Adolph” and they hanged him, cremated the corpse and threw the ashes into the Mediterranean to eliminate any scrap of that rotten animal from existence. 

1923 About 1859 a Crow Indian that was eventually called Curley was born in the Rosebud Valley of Montana. At a young age Curley participated in wars against the Crow enemies, the Sioux and the Cheyenne. When the US cavalry began warring against the Sioux and Cheyenne he considered the US cavalry as allies so Curley became a scout. Curley was with Custer and the 7^th Cavalry in his excursion into The Little Bighorn River Basin in 1876. The scouts without exception told Custer that there was much sign that there was a huge gathering of hostile Indians not far away. Custer blew it off so the scouts wanted time to sing their death songs. At this, Custer released all of his scouts and they rode away to the east, all except Curley. Curley decided that with so many Sioux and Cheyenne out there he would be safer with the troopers. After the battle heated up, Curley changed his mind and rode out toward the east and hid in various coulees and creeks. Finally he went to the top of a hill about 1 ½ miles from where Custer made his last stand and watched action with field glasses. Curley was the only non-hostile person to witness the massacre. Very little is known about what happened to Curley after he rode off to warn the other cavalry commanders headed that way and gave them a description of what happened to the 7^th Cavalry. What we do know is that he died of pneumonia in a Crow agency in Montana in 1923. Two days later he was taken to the National Cemetery at Little Bighorn and buried.

1960 On the day before an earthquake that registered 8.5 on the Richter scale occurs off the coast of Chile causing gigantic tsunamis headed north and west. The Pacific Tsunami warning System had been in effect for several years so the word was flashed to Hawaii that a tsunami was on the way six hours in advance. The wave was coming at 400 miles and hour. As you might suspect, some people blew it off and others went to the beach to watch the Tsunami arrive. Sometimes people are just lacking in good sense. I almost said they act like dumb asses but some people don’t like those words. Anyway, the tsunami arrived in Hilo Bay one minute late and piled up to a height of 35 feet before crashing ashore. As you might suspect, the water ran inland for quite a long way and drowned 65 people. Pay attention next time, y'all.

         Thanks for listening  I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Friday

                     Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Happiness is not a matter of events; it depends on the tides of the mind.”

                                      Alice Meynell

Here is some things to consider:

How does aircraft pilots tell how high they are? It is done with an altimeter. This devise is set at the atmospheric pressure on the surface. The aircraft has a “rate of climb indicator” that changes the altimeter reading accordingly until reach a prescribed altitude. When they reach 18,500 feet and above then they set their altimeter to 29.92. This means that all aircraft above 18,500 have the same altimeter setting. Not only that, all airspace above 18,500 in the continental US, Canada and Alaska is a PCA or Positive Controlled Airspace. This means if you are flying above 18,500 you will be required to be at an assigned altitude and route of flight designated or cleared by an air traffic control facility and in radio contact at all times. If not, you will be paid a visit by fighters from the Air Defense Command. I do not believe there is anywhere above the continental US that is not under radar coverage.

What about flights that cover several time zones? Do they have to keep changing their clocks? To avoid all of this confusion every clock in every long range commercial, private and military aircraft and all air traffic control facilities worldwide have the same time on their clocks. It is known as Greenwich Mean Time or as it is known in the business “Zulu time”. Greenwich Mean Time is based on the zero meridian which runs through Greenwich, England...and now you have the rest of the story. This is the way it was when I was in the business...perhaps there is a change or two by now.

1563  On this day the wife of the king of England, Anne Boleyn, was beheaded by order of her husband Henry VIII. The supposed reality of the situation was that Henry wanted a divorce from Anne but the Catholic Church disallowed it. Henry then accused Anne of adultery and sentenced her to death by beheading with the broad ax. A few women later Henry wanted another divorce and the church disallowed it again so Henry told the Catholic Church to take a hike and formed his own church, thus the end of the divorce issues.

1066  This is the day that William of Normandy, later to be known as William the Conqueror, with his infantry and cavalry engaged the army of King Harold of England. A few days before Harold had been in northern England defeating to the point of annihilation an army of Vikings led by the king of Denmark and William’s brother Tostic. Harold found out that William and company had arrived at Pevensy in southern England. He began a forced march for the intervening 225 miles gathering volunteers along the way and made the trip in nine days. On May 19 he arrived in southern England and established a defensive position near the town of Hastings and awaited William’s attack. William did not disappoint. What happened after this is worthy of a history lesson and will follow at a later time. By the way, William was a French speaking Viking.

This Date in History May 20

1873  Earlier Loeb Strauss emigrated with his family from Bavaria to the United States. In 1847 his father died and he changed his first name to Levi and took control of his father’s dry goods business in New York. In 1853 Levi was drawn west by the gold rush and settled in San Francisco and established his own dry goods business. He primarily dealt in imported dry goods. One of his customers was Jacob Davis who manufactured work pants in Reno for the nearby miners. The only difference here was that Davis made his “waist overalls” out of denim and put brass rivets at all the stress points including the bottom of the fly. Davis was one of Strauss’ customers and on one particular visit Davis showed a pair of his work pants to Strauss. Davis made his work pants virtually one at a time and did not have the money to expand. Davis suggested to Strauss that they get together and manufacture the work pants on a much larger scale with Strauss providing the capital. Strauss agreed and moved Davis to San Francisco and they set up business and the Levi’s 501 jeans were born. On this date both Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis were awarded a patent for the now famous jeans. According to nearly every worldwide poll ever taken in the last 50 years, Levis is the most recognized brand name in the world beside Coca-Cola.

1927  On this date at 7:52A a monoplane departed Roosevelt field on Long island headed for Paris, France. The difference here was that there was only one person aboard and the trip was going to be non-stop. The airplane almost did not clear the telegraph lines at the end of the runway it was so loaded with fuel. As you know by now the pilot was Charles Lindberg and the plane was named “The Spirit of Saint Louis” because the Saint Louis Chamber of Commerce sponsored him. Lindberg’s trip was as a result of a contest of who could make a solo airplane trip from New York to Paris non-stop with the prize being $25,000. Lindberg designed the aircraft himself using every spare square inch of space for fuel. In fact there was no windshield that space was taken by a fuel tank. Lindberg got what information he needed from a small side window. The biggest problem that he would have is trying to stay awake but 33 ½ hours and 3,610 miles later he landed at Le Bourget airport in Paris. The success of this trip instilled a confidence in people world-wide for travel by air and the race was on and continues to this day.

1969  After 10 bloody days and 10 even more bloody assaults on Hill 937 in Vietnam the United States and South Vietnam forces finally capture the crest. The soldiers that took the hill renamed it “Hamburger Hill” because it was such a meat grinder. On the same day, US Senator Edward Kennedy raised hell with the Nixon military policies in Nam and Hamburger Hill in particular saying that the American loss of life was unnecessary. Hill 937 was only 1 mile from the Laotian border and appeared to be necessary for watching the legendary Ho Chi Minh trail but after two days, the US army ordered the hill abandoned, saying it was just a diversion. It appears that Edward Kennedy was right after all. The next day the North Vietnamese soldiers moved back into their original position on hill 937 in a hell known as Vietnam and American soldiers were sent home in body bags.

1778  On this date the Battle of Barren Hill, Pennsylvania occurs. Barren Hill is known today as Lafayette Hill just northwest of Philadelphia. Earlier George Washington had tasked the Marquis de Lafayette and 2,200 Continental soldiers to keep watch on the English occupation of Philadelphia. The Marquis recruited 50 Oneida Indians to help him on this expedition. The Oneida much preferred the French over the English so it was easy for this Frenchman to recruit them. The down side was that the English found out about the observation post and sent 7,000 to 8,000 troops to surround and capture the Continentals. By superior maneuvering Lafayette put the Oneidas as a rear guard with several cannon and began crossing the Continentals back across the Schuylkill River to safety. The Oneida rear guard action was successful and all the Continental soldiers made it safely across followed by the Oneidas in their canoes. Lafayette and the soldiers he trained this coming winter emerged from Valley Forge a damn fine fighting machine that was instrumental in the success of this pursuit of freedom and independence.

Born today:

1919 US comic George Gobel. He said I have never been drunk, but I have damn sure been over served.” Me too.

        Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

Thursday

                   Musings and History

Quote of the day:

Even after being warned that there was an encampment of over 2,000 Sioux and Cheyenne ahead camped on the Little Big Horn river he said “You men attack from the east and I will swing around and attack from the north, we will surprise them.”

                             Lt. Col. George A. Custer

              This Date in History May 19

1836 In 1832 the family of Cynthia Anne Parker and family moved from Illinois to west Texas to a place that later on became known as Parkers’s Fort which was located about 40 miles east of present day Waco, Texas. The Parker’s build a substantial stockade that, “could withstand a large attack under the most vigorous circumstance.” The Parkers became lax in their security and frequently left the huge gates open. On this date a combined force of Comanche, Caddo and Kiowa descended on Parker’s Fort and killed almost everybody except Cynthia Ann, her brother and sister who were juveniles and took them into captivity. After the Indians and their captives reached safe territory, they were divided among the attacking tribes. Cynthia Anne went to the Comanche. About four years later (Cynthia would have been about 13) a fur trapper saw her and attempted to buy Cynthia from the Comanche. The Comanche chief allowed the trapper to speak to Cynthia and he reported that all she did was not respond and stared at the ground the whole time. Four years later she was again spotted and she ran away and hid to keep from being questioned but this time she said that she was happy as a Comanche and to leave her alone. She was about 17 years old at the time. During the interview she admitted that she was the wife of the sub-chief Peta Nacona. By all accounts Cynthia was very happy as the wife of Peta and bore him three children. Normally Comanche warriors had more than one wife but Peta was apparently happy with Cynthia and remained monogamous. Unfortunately Peta was also a warrior against the Anglos invading his tribal lands and made several raids on white settlers. As you might suspect, the US cavalry put Peta on their most wanted list and the eventually they killed Peta and captured Cynthia and her infant child Prairie Flower. By now Cynthia Anne was 34 years old. She was returned to an Anglo society very reluctantly and never adapted. She was taken to her uncle’s farm near Birdville, Texas but tried to run away several times. However, with her husband dead and her adopted people fighting a losing battle against the whites, she resigned herself to a miserable remainder of her life. Her only connection with her people was Prairie Flower and she died of pneumonia in1863. After this Cynthia gave up the will to live and starved herself into weakness and died of influenza in 1870. She was 40 years old. This is a sad tale about a person that was not allowed to live the life that she wanted and was forced to live the life as directed by others. It bothers the hell out of me.

1715 On this date the good people of the colony of New York are the first to implement specie protection. The law they passed forbade the “taking, reaping or the harvesting or bringing to market oysters between the months of May and August.” There were several other states that governed the taking of deer and other game like raccoon not to protect the species but to protect the supply of game for the hunters. It appears that New York was the first to realize that our natural resources are not unending, especially something as tenuous and perishable as oysters. We should all be as aware.

1588 King Phillip II of Spain decided that he was fed up with Queen Elizabeth I of England backing and financing the Netherlands against Spain and constructed an enormous fleet of 130 ships including 30,000 troops and on this date the so-called “Invincible Armada” departed the Netherlands headed for England and an invasion. They would have gotten started sooner but English sea-dog Sir Francis Drake had found the fleet almost finished construction and sent in “fire ships” into the Spanish fleet eliminating the threat for several months. In the mean time, Drake sailed back to England and warned the Queen of the threat. By the time the Spanish Armada was prepared to cross from the Netherlands to England, the English fleet was ready. The Spanish Armada arrived in the English Channel and then the English fleet sailed out of Plymouth (been there) and met the Armada in mid-channel. About the time the two fleets met, an enormous storm struck the channel and all hell broke loose. The English navy captains were very familiar with rough weather and their ships were well built to handle it. The Spanish ships were built for speed and floundered badly in the rough seas. The Spanish fleet was scattered and King Phillip’s dreams of invading England went to the bottom along with his fleet and 30,000 troops.

1897 Two years before the Marquis of Queensbury in England accused the brilliant author Oscar Wilde of homosexuality with his son. It was true that Oscar and the Marquis’ son had been doing their thing for over ten years but when the Marquis brought it out into daylight, Oscar had to sue for defamation because being gay in England at that time was a crime. Oscar was beaten in court which, in the court’s mind, he was guilty of homosexuality and he was sentenced to two years hard labor. On this date Oscar was released. He was still as brilliant and energetic as before. Oscar delivered to us one of the most inventive novels of all time in The Portrait of Dorian Grey. It was essentially a novel about a very evil man that all of his evil acts and aging went to his portrait rather than to him. It was pretty spooky.

Born today:

1861 Austrian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba. She said “A musical composition is not written in red, white and blue. It is written in the blood of the composer.”

1879 US multi-millionaire Lady Nancy Astor. She said “The reason I do not drink is because I want to remember when I have a good time.” Me too, but I drink a little also.

1930 US writer Lorraine Hansberry. She said “The thing that makes you exceptional, if you are at all, is the one that also makes you lonely.” Pretty deep thought, y'all.

1953 English comic Victoria Woods. She said “I advertised for a vacation companion, capable widow, no sense of humor, some knowledge of hemorrhoids preferred. I got no responses.” What an amazing vision comes to mind.

           Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow