Wednesday

                        Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“You can close your eyes to things you don't want to see but you can't close your heart to things you don't want to feel.”

                                           Johnny Depp

I have been telling y'all about the homeless man that is working a certain intersection in Pensacola. On the way out of town coming home I saw him again. He was on the north sidewalk on Gregory Street riding a bicycle headed for his favorite intersection...with his Lab on a leash trotting along side. I don't know where he is sleeping but he is coming from the direction of a block square park with plenty of trees. In fact there is a gazebo in case it rains. Is this a miserable life? I ain't sure.

This Date in History May 4

1970 Two days before in Kent, Ohio over 2,000 college students began rioting on the Kent State University campus to protest the Vietnam War in general and the United States incursion into Cambodia in particular. The Governor of Ohio called out the National Guard to control the crowds and the presence of the Guard dispersed the crowd. The next day scattered rioters were dispersed with tear gas. On this date the rioters gathered in a few crowds and the National Guardsmen donned gas masks and fixed bayonets after the crowds began throwing rocks. For an unknown reason the Guardsmen opened fire killing 4 and wounding 8 students. The closest was 40 yards away and the farthest was 250 yards. After a period of shock and first aid the rioters were again told to disperse by the commander of the National Guard. At this the rioters gathered and took steps at the Guardsman and a bloodbath appeared to be on the horizon but members of the Kent State faculty ran out in front of the rioters and was able stop their advance and persuaded them to go home. The Commander of the National Guardsmen that were there along with a few others went on trial for this massacre but the state of Ohio chose to drop all charges. I guess that was the best thing to do. The sooner the time of healing starts the better it will be.

1979 On this date Margaret Thatcher is elected as the first female Prime Minister in the history of Great Britain. She earned the nickname of “Iron pants Maggie” for her unbending attitude. She was no dummy either. She graduated from Oxford and was the first woman to be president of the Oxford Conservative Association. She has a degree in chemistry and is a licensed attorney. She failed in her first attempt at Parliament but attracted a lot of attention with the number of votes she garnered. In 1959 she was elected to Parliament from the Finchley district in the northern district of London. From here she rose in prominence an eventually was elected Prime Minister. She earned the nickname “Iron Pants” during the 1982 encounter with Argentina over the disputed Falkland Islands when the Argentinians invaded the Falklands. There was some guessing that the Argentinians had chosen wait until Maggie came to power before attempting to take the Falklands, a British Protectorate, because they did not think a woman would be as aggressive as a man. They were wrong. Maggie sent a message to the Argentinians that they had two weeks to get back home. That is about how long it would take the British military to mobilize their Navy and Marines and get down there. They did not go home and sure enough, two weeks later the British Navy and Marines arrived at the Falklands. In a week they had sent the Argentinians back to the house.

1776 On this date the state of Rhode Island, the home of the most the radical of religious dissidents, are the first state to declare themselves independent from the heel of King George III of England. It was Rhode Island that served as the mercantile center of the slave trade in the 18^th century. It was West Indies molasses that was brought to the Rhode Island distilleries and made into rum and then taken to West Africa and traded for slaves. Those slaves that survived the crossing were brought to Rhode Island and traded to the West Indies for molasses. That’s right folks; all the slaves that came to America did not come to Charleston, SC, Savannah, GA, or Annapolis, MD and sent to cotton plantations. Anyway, the Rhode Islanders were close to the last in adopting the United States Constitution. They are just a belligerent bunch up there.

1948 A twenty-five year old author named Norman Mailer delivered what is acknowledged to be one of the best novels about World War II in The Naked and the Dead. Norman was raised in Brooklyn, NY in 1923 and attended Harvard but enlisted in the army during World War II. After being discharged in 1946 Mailer attended the Sorbonne in Paris, France. He wrote The Naked and the Dead about his personal experiences in the war. Even though Norman is known as a two-fisted drinker and an advocate of male superiority, he has won a Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction and a National book award about a peace march that he attended. He is a very talented but violent writer. He stabbed his wife while they were attending a party.

Born today:

1796 US educator Horace Mann. He said “Trying to teach students without inspiring them is like hammering on cold iron.”

1825 English botanist Thomas Huxley. He said “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” I am trying, Tom, I am trying.

1905 US impresario Lincoln Kirstein. He said “Bringing ballet into the United States is like trying to raise a palm tree in South Dakota.”

1937 US guitarist Dick Dale. He said “I will never die. I will just explode right before your very eyes on stage.”

1941 US journalist George Will. He said “Football combines the two worst features of American life; violence and committee meetings.”

Died today:

1969 English writer Sir Osbert Sitwell. He said “In reality, killing time is a misnomer. It is time that is killing us.” Now I am depressed.

1975 Member/leader of the Three Stooges, Moe Howard. He said “We are not nearly as violent as western movies.” That’s right Moe, but you made a quantum leap toward silliness.

1984 British sex goddess Diana Dors. She said “I am the first sex symbol from England since Lady Godiva.” Perhaps, but Lady Godiva had a prettier dress.

1989 US Attorney General from California Evelle Younger. He said “An incompetent attorney can delay a trial for months. A competent lawyer can delay one for even longer.”

             Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow